Your Questions About The Real Biz

Jere answers:

Yes, by all means use your stage name, then you won’t have to change it later. When you find an agent, of course let them know your real name. You can have checks sent to your agent or to the union (once you become a member) and they will forward money to you. You can even let your bank know that you use a separate name, or you can open a separate account if necessary. You only want to be known by one name in the biz, so don’t confuse things. Good Luck!

Jere answers:

There’s two things you have to deal with. One is getting it set up on the internet. The other is getting it set up in real life.

On the internet, you did the first step – reserve a domain name. Being private on whois just keeps you from getting some spam but it doesn’t do much beyond that. It just means that if I want to see who owns hairstylist.com, I can’t. You still have to advertise or otherwise get it known, and, of course, build a website to go with it.

The second is in real life. There are a few ways to do business. One is as a sole proprietor – just your business. This is the easiest way to do business – you report it on your personal tax form under schedule C. If you are using a name other than your own given name (like a company name, like hairstylist.com) then you would register with your state’s Secretary of State office, usually the division of corporations. You register your name, which keeps others in the same state from using it. You would be a “d.b.a. (or d/b/a)” which means “doing business as”, as in Joe Smith d/b/a Hairstylist.com

Other ways of forming a business are to incorporate, or do limited liability formations. A lawyer and/or accountant can advise you on the proper configuration, but if you simply want to get up and rolling, do the d.b.a. Thing, and then you can always move to another. There are considerations, such as if you have equipment, employees, liability, etc., so without knowing all that I can’t suggest one thing over another.

Finally, if you have a distinctive symbol or logo, put a “TM” after it in small letters – this means you claim it as a trademark. Written material you write Copyright (c) 2007 by Joe Smith d/b/a hairstylist.com. All Rights Reserved. (assuming you’re not publishing anything in 2006. You can worry about official filings for trademarks later.

Good luck!

Jere answers:

I think the best way is to find a partner but if you knew someone with that kinda cash you probably would have already asked them right? Ok the next best way is to find a HARD MONEY LENDER (google it) i found this out through a real estate program i had to pay for. Now the best ones to find are in your local newspapers like pennysaver and or thrifty nichol. You can find the hard money lenders online but with the amount of traffic coming thru ads they tend to be more strict in the lending process. When looking in the newspaper look for tems like “payday loans” these are private companies or private investors that realize the potential in this type of lending and will fund your project. Be careful of the charges or interest rates because they tend to be higher than a normal loan. Most people that use this type of service plan to flip the property quickly so the interest rate is not a factor to them when they get the loan. If this doesnt work try going to a REAL ESTATE CLUB, and pitching your idea to an investor . If that doesnt work submit a profile to http://www.prosper.com/join/loan/deandreda1. They will look at your investment idea and your credit worthiness and make a decision to finance it or not. If they do , investors will then bid on your loan by interest rate(lowest rate in a certain time period will win the right to finance the loan) most interest rates will start at around 19-20% and then lower to around 13% at the end .

GOOD LUCK!!

Jere answers:

It’s a real ball buster .

The family will suffer .

I did it , but I paid a price .

Sacrifice and determination .

Jere answers:

Your job is sales. Life insurance just happens to be the product. After 40 years of selling I’ve learned that there are some things that are common to all sales jobs;

The best salesmen are not good talkers, they’re good listeners. If you give people the chance, they will tell you everything you need to know about how to sell them. A good salesman doesn’t have a “pitch”. He listens and responds directly to the customers needs. Life insurance is a good example. There are lots of different products term, whole, universal etc. The real pros know their product and how to tailor it to the individuals needs.

Presentation without demonstration is simply conversation. All sales come down to FAB (Features, Advantages and Benefits). Fortunately one of the benefits of life insurance is peace of mind, a very desirable commodity. You, as the salesman, has to lead your customer down the path and FAB is the way you do it.

Price is never an issue. Value is the only issue. If someone values something, they will find a way to pay. The job of a salesman is to create value.

And the final and most important factor,

Trust and confidence. It doesn’t matter how well dressed you are or how good looking. If people don’t trust you you’ll never make it in sales, especially life insurance. Confidence is infectious. If you have it, you will give it to your clients.

As to your leads. If you’ve done the above correctly, your customers are your best lead generators.