My Buy Essay

Archive for March, 2009

It actually makes great sense for the kids. In previous articles we have told the story of the Mark Hopkins hotel in San Francisco. For those who missed it, the 1942 nightly rack rate was $5.00 single and $7.00 double. By 1974 it was $45.00 and $55.00. Last year it was $210 to $270 single or double depending on location. Carrying that price increase forward another 50 years will set the price at $9,058.00 per night!! Can’t happen, you say? It did happen and there is absolutely no reason it won’t happen again. Now what will the kids think of you when they are saving this kind of money down the road? They will think their parents were just about the brightest people in the whole world and they will think that every time they vacation. What a great legacy!!

Why, then don’t they want it now? Even for free? Well, you think back. Several years ago did you wake up one morning, look at each other and say, “This is sure a great day to go out and buy a timeshare?” We all know that didn’t happen. No, you went out not to buy, but just to pick up your free car, Hawaiian vacation or other “free” gift. After you had left the sales presentation, you said, “What happened?” Not only had you paid for your own “free” gift, but you had also paid for those of the other nine people who didn’t buy. You probably didn’t give a lot of logical thought to this purchase as you were intentionally swept away by the slick emotional sales method employed.

So now you offer it to the kids and they decline. Why is that? It is almost always the cost of upkeep that the kids focus upon. The dues of from $350 to $500 and taxes of from $30 to $90 knock them out. They can’t envision spending that much on a vacation. The fact is that they will probably spend a lot more than that even now for a product that isn’t one tenth as good. But the reality is that they have not been sold the product. How many parents will become salespeople to their kids to show and sell them on the advantages of the product before it is offered?

Part of it is timing. If the kids are too young or really financially struggling, it is not a good time to offer the gift. Wait until they don’t have those kind of pressures. Also, have you used the timeshare as a family? If not, how could they know how good it is? On the other hand, if they have used it with you as kids and really enjoyed it, and if they now have kids of their own and are struggling with the ever-increasing cost of vacations, their reception will be much different. Timing is everything.

Don’t neglect the selling of the benefits. Before offering it to them, open the RCI or Interval International catalog and show them all the neat places they can go. If you have already taken them to some of these, it will just be that much easier. Don’t overlook the fact that you should really be able to offer one to each of your offspring. Fortunately, resales offer the opportunity to pick up these additional timeshares at a fraction of what you originally spent. And what a gift it is!! They talk about the gift that keeps on giving. This is one that will provide your children with a lifetime of pleasure. And their children after that.

You might also clip out this article for your kids for the time when they will pass it along to their children.

One final caution. Don’t just add their names to the Deed! In disposing of resale timeshares one of our worst problems has been straightening out improperly deeded property. In some cases it has resulted in the property being unsaleable. In one case a mother just added her four kids names to the deed without any thought to their spouses some of whom were ex-spouses by the time we got into the picture. A nationwide manhunt insued to find the ex-spouses and talk them into signing a quit claim deed. Don’t forget that most timeshares are in fact real property and follow those rules. You are almost always better off obtaining the services of a professional.

The lifetime value of timeshares is just starting to be realized now. It will still take a few more years before it is completely obvious to everyone. When it does, the value of resales will increase dramatically.

My comments are made on the basis that one is buying a timeshare for mainly trading purposes. All of the statements I will make are actual experiences not something someone said, or I heard somewhere. My family has been involved in timesharing since 1980. First my parents then my sisters and myself, now many of my extended family members own timeshare weeks. I am average income (work everyday), average intelligence. So since I did it anyone with patience, a minimum amount of time, and dedication can achieve the same results.

Before even considering purchasing a timeshare, please talk to people who have had bad experiences first. This way you will be leery of everything going on. Better yet just follow my advice and have no problems at all (just kidding).

After deciding to purchase, remember no matter what resale is better. My reasoning for this is, there are a lot of dissatisfied owners out there willing to take a loss just to get out. So make their mistake your marvel. I have been and continue to take tours while on vacation just to stay intuned with the pricing of weeks. I have yet to find a resort that comes close to fitting into my price range of $2500.00 – $4000.00. If you are frugal then you will feel that $8000.00- $2000.00 is way too much to pay. However if a buyer goes resale through broker or individual very low prices can be attained. I purchased my two bedroom, red week/40 at SouthShore Lake Resort, rated Gold Crown in the RCI exchange system, in HotSprings Arkansas for $2800.00 in 1990. With this week my wife and I have exchanged within the RCI exchange system without many problems. Always getting a nice Resort at the desired time. Put a little time in shopping for a honest broker.

Next be sure to buy at a nice resort. This is simple to do just give RCI a call and ask about the demand for the resort and week you’re interested in purchasing. When I’ve done this for family members the counselors have always been happy to give the information I requested. You probably already know why, but just in case, better resorts and weeks give you better trading power.

Also get a least a 2brm unit, since only a handful of resorts offer more than two bedroom anything more is a waste of money. Getting anything less limits one trading power depending on the resort, so two bedrooms are safe.

Two more reasons many timeshare owners get disgusted with their week is banking and searching. First banking, with RCI which is the only exchange system I’m familiar with one must bank at least one year in advance to maximize his trading power. A simple matter, just pay your maintenance fees and call RCI to space bank your week. Simple, yes but a great deal of owners wait too late and that creates disappointment. Next is searching, this can and has been a small problem sometimes for working people trying to schedule a vacation. Again within the RCI system the earlier one starts a search the better the chance of getting the resort you want. Usually I can schedule my New Years vacation one year in advance and get a match, other vacations I’m persistent with RCI on giving me the Resort I want. RCI says that it dosen’t do any good to call back after a search has been put in however, I’ve found this to be untrue on many occasions. There are many counselors answering the phone at RCI and some will work harder to get you what and when you want better than others so I call quite often when I know I have a difficult search in.

A couple of examples are News Years week 1995 I called until I got the best Resort in Palm Springs, Ca. The Desert Springs Villas 2/brm. Then New Years 1996 we went to Hilton Grande Vacation Villas in Las Vegas, Nv another tough one to match but persistence paid off. Some people may say this is too much trouble but free phone calls and a bit of time beats paying hundreds of dollars per for these accomidations.

Just a couple of other things I would like to cover. Owning in one place and living in another, dosen’t matter. That’s how I got my two bedroom week.. The people I purchased it from moved to Florida and didn’t feel comfortable being away from their home resort, their loss my gain. Just make sure you get a desirable Resort, remember a call to RCI will take care of that.

Next I am living proof that you don’t have to own in Las Vegas, Hawaii, or Orlando to get outstanding trades. I’ve heard for many many years that “you won’t always be able to get trades like that”. This may well come to truth some day but as for now it hasen’t. We just recently got confirmed into the Quarter House in New Orleans for New Years 1997 week on that cheap ole Arkansas week.

Remember to consider these items when deciding to purchase maintenance fees, deeded property, and fixed or floating time. So ends my sermon on “KEYS TO SUCCESSFUL TIMESHARING”. Once again all my suggestions are based on the premise that one is buying mainly for trading purposes however, they are basic and should work in most situations.

I see all over the Internet people claiming to make tons of money from the latest network marketing or MLM program. All of these income claims are usually outrageous and often make you your emotions run wild as you reach for your credit card to quickly sign up with the latest program that will guarantee your retirement. So how are there a select few online who can profit, while a majority will never succeed?

I personally believe that it is not possible for the newbie Internet user to make money in network marketing or MLM online and I have listed some of the main reasons below.

I. You do not have a network of people to make you money

Another name for network marketing is MLM or “Multi-Level Marketing”. If you want to succeed in a network marketing program it is all about the size of your network. So what is a network? It’s an solid set of contacts who know you and trust you. A more common term for networks on the internet is “a list”. A list is a group of people sometimes thousands of them who have chosen or opted-in to receive a newsletter or e-mail from the list owner.

All of the major distributors in network marketing have a huge list. When they find a new MLM program to join, they send an email to their list promoting it and you guessed it…their downline grows virtually overnight. Then they can sit back and count their money as their downline promotes for them and does all the work.

II. You are unknown

Don’t think that being a unknown counts with all the millions of Internet users. In the world of network marketing being a well known marketer has a huge advantage.

If you build trust with people they are more likely to follow you. As I mentioned before, the top network marketers have a huge mailing list that trusts them and is therefore willing to sign up to almost any program that they promote. It’s no different to a top celebrity coming on your TV and telling you to buy a certain brand or product. Familiarity builds trust online.

This can also work the other way around. When you’re a well-known Internet marketing guru, people notice you, including the big network marketing distributors. They know that you have good recruiting power so they want you in their downline to build their organization as quickly as possible. However, if you’re just a little fish in the Internet marketing pond then you’ll never hear about the new network marketing programs until it’s too late.

III. You will not hear about the new network marketing program until it’s too late

The keys to success in network marketing or MLM is having a huge downline that will do the work for you. That means that you need a downline of experienced and dedicated network marketers. All the good network marketers already know about the program and have already signed up or dismissed it as unviable. They were probably on the mailing list of a big network marketing player and heard about it right after it was launched.

Who will be left for you to build your network? Not many people. Most people you approach will already have heard about the program and might even already be in it or might just be sick of hearing about it. You might be lucky enough to sign-up a few people who weren’t aware of it before. Unfortunately, those people are very unlikely to bring in lots of new recruits for your downline. In fact, the money they bring in will barely cover your own monthly fees. Eventually they’ll become fed up and quit. Leaving you desperately trying to sign someone new up so you can cover your monthly dues.

So, as you can see, network marketing programs are best avoided when you’re new to Internet marketing. You can put those dreams of signing up to a network marketing program or MLM and making huge amounts of money every month right out of your mind.

As an experienced Internet marketer you need to forget about all of the “get rich quick” and “early retirement” scams online and concentrate on building a slow and steady residual income and “get rich slow”. It is a reality, and you can start with absolutely nothing!

People typically visit the internet in search of information. They are looking for content that is relevant to their purpose. They typically are not looking for marketing ploys. There are a number of ways to increase this content, including having a search engine optimization company provide you with keyword rich articles, but there are three major reasons why more website content increases your website traffic.

The first reason more website content increases traffic is that content articles tend to be focused on a topic. This focus will then lead to the repeated use of a keyword or phrase. That repeated use leads to higher search engine rankings. Search engine rankings are the way returns come back to an internet user through a search engine. If someone searches for the term “dogs” they will come back with thousands of pages of results. The order those results are displayed on the screen depends on a number of factors including how frequently the term is mentioned on the site and where it is mentioned on the site.

Research shows that people tend only to click on the first ten results a search engine offers them. Increasing your website content will help you become one of those first ten websites. This means more people than you ever thought possible will be clicking on your site in no time simply based on your website ranking. Not only will you be closer to the top of the search engine with more content, you may also be indexed by more search engines. This could mean something like ninety percent of all internet users seeing your website in any one given internet session.

The second reason more website content increases traffic is a bit more complicated. If you have strong, well written content on your site, you increase your credibility with customers. Suddenly you are no longer a company selling homemade dog food; you are somebody who can offer knowledgeable advice about anything a responsible dog owner needs to know including house training, leash laws, and sleeping problems. This increase in credibility not only makes people believe what you have posted to your site, it also makes them want to stay at your site to read the rest of your content articles. The more content articles you have at your site, the longer they will stay. Keeping them there as long as possible is the key to selling your product to them. You have a much longer time frame in which to pitch your product and close the sale.

Not only will they stay at your site longer with more content, but this also means they may come back to your site the next time they log onto their machine. For example, if you are selling refilled printer ink cartridges, but you have content on your site related to all things printers, you have a good chance that someone might stay to look at a few of the articles. However, the next time they need digital photo printing tips, chances are good that they will remember what great content you offered them during their last internet session, and they will return directly to your site just to read more of your content. This means you have their complete, undivided attention for an even longer period of time. Moreover, if they are returning to your site on some sort of regular basis, chances are good that they will recommend the site to other users like friends and relatives which will mean even more traffic for your site.

The final way more website content increases your web traffic is that it increases the likelihood that advertisers and reciprocal link exchangers will be attracted to your site. Reciprocal links are exchanged by websites that have similar interests. The more relevant topics you are able to list, the more chances you have of someone with similar interests attempting to link to your site. This could greatly increase your website traffic because not only will people be able to find your site through search engines, they may also be able to find your site through other sites. Further, though, advertisers are looking for sites that encourage customers they want to do business with. More keywords will mean more customers for you which can mean more advertisers for you which can mean more profits and visibility for you.

No matter which reason you choose, more content will increase your website traffic. That can only mean good things in store for you and your website. You can have your content articles written for you or write them yourself. Whichever way you go, though, be sure they are well-written, as poorly written articles will do nothing to increase your website traffic.