Finance Coach Vol. 4

Here's a copy of Monday's message from my Facebook group - Finance Coach (by Gareth Cotten)...

Finance tip: Debt

Debt reduction. If trying to pay off various types of debt, make sure to take note of the different interest rates being charged. Generally, store cards, personal loans and credit cards will charge the highest rates, with mortgages and vehicle finance being at the lower end of the scale. Then, to make the biggest savings impact, aim to pay off the debt with the highest interest rate first. So, while, maintaining the minimum payment on all your other debt, put everything extra into paying off the most expensive debt. Once that's paid off, take the money saved from no longer having those particular repayments, add it to the extra from your other debt repayments, and then pay off the debt with the next highest rate of interest. Keep doing this until they're all gone! This way, once each respective debt is paid off, you have a large chunk of extra cash to pay off the remaining debts, and they get paid off faster and faster.

Business tip: Marketing

Email marketing. One of the most difficult things today, with the amount of spam and junk-mail being sent around, is to get potential customers to actually open and read your emails, rather than just binning them as they come in. You can get a much higher read-rate by taking a few extra minutes to work on a compelling email subject line, as well as a heading or headline for your email. For your subject line, using the word 'you' has a strong effect, as the reader feels that the email is specifically addressed to them. Words that inspire action include 'exclusive', 'exciting' and 'introducing'. Also, keep the subject line short, or you risk losing your reader's attention. Now, a good subject line will get them to open the email, but it takes a great headline or heading to get them to read the whole thing. Use exciting adjectives, or action words, to really inspire them to continue reading. Also, ask yourself if the reader will know what's being offered if they only read the header and skipped the rest - is it explanatory enough, while still being punchy?