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Building Customer Relations

Border closures in New Zealand has seen a lot of KIwis stay at home and take their holidays domestically, a market that has been ignored due to the overseas tourist market. It has become all the more important to build good customer relations in order to encourage repeat business.

Taking Customers for Granted can backfire

Businesses who just assume that their regular customers will just walk into their premises and shout “serve me” are long gone. The border closures have left tourist and hospitality businesses in New Zealand’s tourist hot spots literally begging Kiwis to fill the gap. 

To some extent they have because New Zealanders who would have otherwise travelled abroad have instead taken their holidays within New Zealand due to  limited options for travel mainly due to the quarantine fee of of three thousand dollars on their return.

For many in the tourist hotspots local tourism as much as it is appreciated is not sufficient to keep their head above water but those who are able to ride out the drought repeat business it extremely important.

If tourist operators think that they can just take their customers on the ride of their lifetime whether it is jumping out of a moving plane, walking on the glaciers, quad biking, or bungee jumping and then not have any further contact with them again then they are missing out on repeat business.

Every customer probably knows at least one hundred people.

Those people are potential customers which come from repeat business. 

In order to keep your regular customers it is important to keep your customers informed. That means communicating with them regularly.

Communication is the key to any relationship; it encourages customer loyalty for without communication a relationship is doomed.

An autoresponder enables you to send a bunch of emails to people on your list in one hit for a minimal cost.

You can reach potential customers from all corners of the earth with a few clicks but until covid is a thing of the past the domestic market has to be nurtured and key to this is an autoresponder.

It may be true that once a bucket list item is ticked, that’s it, travellers will try something else but people do visit the same place more than once; take Queenstown as an example. The South Island tourist resort gets an influx of visitors during the ski season. Many of whom are regular visitors to Queenstown. Therefore, it makes sense to keep past and present customers informed of events coming up.

An autoresponder gives recipients the opportunity to opt out of mailings if they no longer wish to receive them. 

It is the fear of missing out on something that stops people from clicking on the “unsubscribe” link and that is the whole purpose of tourist activities; to give customers the experience of a lifetime, one that they will never forget. 

That old saying, “Don’t die wondering” will bring people out of their shell and that is what tourism is all about. Selling experiences that will become tomorrow’s memories.

Take your first step towards building better customer relations here: www.aweber.com/aweber-shopify.htm?id=499027

ABOUT THIS ARTICLE

You have my permission to use this article anyway you choose without any restriction. Check out my site www.robertastewart.com for other articles

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HARD TRUTHS ABOUT THE LOTTERY EXPOSED

INTRODUCTION

Is it possible to use a system to beat the odds and live a life of luxury? The lottery or lotto as it is called in New Zealand first began in 1987 and I have never heard of any lotto winner claiming to have found a system to beat the odds. Most have won using lucky dips or lucky numbers, others have just selected their own numbers. 

The odds of winning the lottery

Lotto is played by millions of people worldwide in the hope of one day becoming lucky but for the vast majority of people that lucky lotto day never arrives. The huge odds against winning lotto ensures that millions contribute to the pool but only a few hit the jackpot.

In New Zealand a lotto player is required to select six drawn numbers out of forty. It is called division one. The odds of any one set of six numbers being the successful six are in in three million+

Powerball is when you have selected division one + the powerball number which is 1-10. The odds of winning a powerball are so remote that one is more likely to be struck by lightning. It is not surprising that the powerball often jackpots to huge amounts.

Some mathematicians have described the lottery as a tax on stupidity.

At least 66% of New Zealanders play lotto at least once a year. I do not know how many of them play every single week.

People who would otherwise consider themselves intelligent fall for the enticing advertising in order to participate in a gamble that is unlikely to succeed. Rationality simply goes out of the window.

A song and dance is made about the fact that 20% of all lotto sales is donated to various charities.

What I have to say about that is the lottery sucks out more money from communities than it returns. 

If one was simply donating to charities directly the person making the donation is able to claim 33% back in tax. (New Zealand). The advantage of donating to charity directly is one can choose who to give money to.

Lotto players will completely ignore all of the mathematical statistics with the argument, “You have got to be in to win.”

Problem with that kind of thinking is that few people ever do and often when they do win something, the payoff is usually one of the smaller prizes which is often spent on buying more lottery tickets or quickly frittered away in the blink of an eye.

ANNUAL LOTTERY SPENDING

If a lotto player spends $10 per week on the lottery that equates to $520 per annum. Think of what else that could have been invested in or put to better use.

There are so many sharemarket trading platforms around today that the $10-$20 per week spent on lottery tickets could easily be used to start an investment portfolio.

LOTTERY SYSTEMS

Many people will swear by systems; whatever you are told the statistical odds of any set of six numbers being drawn are the same, however, if you choose numbers or a combination of numbers that are not chosen by other players then you will share the prize pool with fewer players if it is your lucky day. This is the type of strategy used by some system promoters.

Do not be deceived into thinking that any system will increase your chances of winning. This is not true!

As far as finances are concerned, I am saying that the money spent on lottery tickets is better directed at investments where you at least have something to show for it.

ABOUT THIS ARTICLE

You are welcome to use this article to post on your site, as content for your ebook, or share it on social media. Visit my site www.robertastewart.com for other articles on finance.

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WEIGHT LOSS ADVICE

Introduction

The weight loss industry is worth an enormous amount of money with women being the target of advertisers. It is important for those intending to go on a diet to question their motives and ask themselves, “Am I doing it for myself or am I being fat-shamed into doing it?” It is important to just be happy being you before you consider changing anything in your life because unless you are content there will always be something that you need in order to be happy.

Just be yourself

The human race is like licorice all sorts, you never know what you are going to get. There are as many personalities as there are people and there are a variety of shapes and sizes. It is therefore to accept who you are but at the same time change what you can change.

You may have no control over your build but you can choose what you put in your mouth. You may have no control of what talents you have been given but you have control over what you do with what you have been given.

The world puts unrealistic expectations on people and especially young women. They are expected to look as glamorous as those who appear in the glossy women’s magazines. Is it any wonder that so many women suffer from low self esteem?

If women think that they have too much pressure on them to look as fabulous as a Hollywood star, many of them expect men to have the perfect physical body. Let me tell you my story:

I have always been skinny; all through my life I meet women from time to time who say “You’re too skinny,” and so on. Once a young lady was telling me about her boyfriend and how he looks after himself. He had a good physical body. She was having a dig at me. At the time I was jogging six miles+ per day and was competing in athletics every weekend. Sometimes on both Saturday and Sunday.

As with all of the comments that have been made about me being skinny I have never taken offence nor suffered from an inferiority complex or low self esteem because of it. My shape has never bothered me. I have just accepted it as who I am.

But…

I can understand why women would have their self-esteem attached to their weight when there is so much pressure on them to have a nice figure, but what they are really doing is living to please others rather than accepting who they really are.

It is important to accept who you are and not let your body shape determine your self worth.

You shouldn’t allow comments by others to determine your self worth either. If others cannot accept who you are then that is their problem not yours. 

The bottom line is that you can only live your life according to your own circumstances and not compare yourself with others because it will be similar to comparing apples to pears.

Your value is not determined by what others say about you. It is not determined by your dress size, or by your achievements. You may see the achievements of high profile sports people being applauded on TV but this will all pass. There are thousands of unsung heroes whom society takes for granted but they do their work day after day without complaint and without even a modest round of applause.

My suggestion is to focus on a “healthy eating” mindset rather than a “lose weight.”

It is far easier to achieve a goal based on what you eat and how much you eat rather than it is to lose weight. 

Like all things in life worth striving for, losing weight takes effort and sacrifice and only you can decide whether the outcome was worth it all.

ABOUT THIS ARTICLE

Robert Stewart has a site www.loseweightnz.weebly.com with information about the keto diet. Feel free to share this article, post it on your blog, use it as content for your ebook, or to do anything you wish with this article without any restrictions.

 

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Three kinds of people…

INTRODUCTION

There are three kinds of people; those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who wonder what happened. If you want things to happen in your life you have to make things happen and not wait for others to do it. As the saying goes, “If you want something done you have to do it yourself.”

Three kinds of people…

Those who make things happen..

These are the people who see an opportunity and take advantage of it. They are action people; they take action and because they take action they are often subject to a lot of criticism from those who have a need to give their self-esteem a boost. Action people do not allow the negative comments of others to influence their mindset because they are so focused on what needs to be done that what others say is given the attention it deserves. 

History is full of examples of those who have reaped the rewards of their actions. Bitcoin is one example; those who invested in Bitcoin at the very beginning have done extremely well. 

Action people make fortunes out of negativity.

How?

When the markets have taken a dive and negative investors are selling positive people go shopping for bargains in the markets. 

Negative people make things happen alright; they create opportunities for positive people to cash in.

Those who watch things happen…

These are the people who want everyone else to be their guinea pig, to test out every new idea that comes along. They watch other people get rich on ideas that they themselves did not get involved in. They are the type of people who do not know anything unless a book points it out to them. An example of these people could be found in England who caught covid during the vaccine roll out but for one reason or another chose not to be vaccinated.

These people are procrastinators; they keep putting things off which means they are constantly missing out on opportunities to better their lives. Change scares these people. You know the story. “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.”

Those who wondered what happened..

These are the people who do not want to do anything for themselves. They refuse to learn anything new whether it is personal finance, technology, or up-dating their skill base. These people have no desire to better themselves and want everything handed to them on a plate. The sad thing about these people is that they want to bring others down to their level because it makes them feel better about themselves.

You certainly do not want to align yourself with these people as your own self-esteem will suffer.

The bottom line is if you are in the first group of people then expect to cop a lot of ridicule and criticism from the third group. It is best to spend as much time as you can with like-minded people and not be drawn into trivialities which fill the minds of the third group of people.

ABOUT THIS ARTICLE

You are welcome to share this article, post it on your website, or use it as content for your ebook. Visit my site www.robertastewart.com for other articles you can use.

www.robertastewart.com

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HOW TO GAIN FINANCIAL LITERACY

INTRODUCTION

There is no excuse for financial ignorance when there is so much finance information available on the internet and in printed form. Becoming familiar with the various forms of investments will hold you in good stead for the future.

How to gain financial literacy

Your financial literacy is your ability to make financially smart decisions. You were not born financially smart or dumb; your financial knowledge or ignorance was developed over a period of time. I assume that you are not ignorant otherwise you would not be reading this. So without further ado, here are some ways of gaining financial literacy.

Your own experience

There is no better teacher than your own experience but that does not mean you have to go ahead and make all of the mistakes it is possible to make. It is more a case of using your personal judgement based on your knowledge and the advice of others but you will make mistakes along the way; it is a part of the learning process. It is a matter of who to take advice from and whose advice to treat with a grain of salt. 

An excellent way of gaining financial literacy is to register with one or more of the sharemarket online platforms where you are able to buy and sell shares online. Only a minimal amount of money is needed to get involved. In New Zealand sharesies.nz is one such platform but is by no means the only one around. Other countries have similar such share trading platforms available.

Experience of others

The easy way to learn is from the mistakes of others. All you need to do is to keep your eyes open; many people do not do this and instead follow others like sheep. This is not necessarily the best way. In fact history has taught me that following the crowd is often the wrong way. A classic example is the share market when a stock is valued well above it’s true worth because so many people have jumped on the bandwagon and bought shares in that particular company because everyone else is doing it. It is young people without experience in the markets who are prone to this mistake.

It pays to go against the crowd; what this means is that you look for bargains in the markets whether it is gold, shares, property, and so forth. You do not have to experience what others are experiencing if you have the ability to assess what is a good investment and what is not.

Be prepared to listen to what the older generation has to say. Many of their opinions will be based on their own experience.

Books

Ignorance is no excuse as far as not being financially educated because your local library will stock books on finance. There are some terrific books on finance, some I recommend are, “Rich Dad Poor Dad,” by Robert T. Kiyosaki with Sharon L. Lechter. They have several other books which are recommended reading. “How to Be Rich & Happy” by Hans Jakobi, Australia’s wealth coach is another book I recommend. Hans also has several other books published, “Underground Knowledge” and “Due Diligence,” are two of them. “Making money made simple” written by Australian financial advisor Noel Whittaker is a good read. Mary Holm and Martin Hawes are other excellent financial authors.

The internet

There is a lot of information available online on finance and investing; a simple google search will bring these up but like listening to your mates you have to use your own judgement when assessing the information from some sites and how it relates to your own personal situation. Martin Hawes and Mary Holm are both reputable advisors with good websites.

Newspapers

Most newspapers carry financial information and these are worth reading. Cut out articles that interest you; they make good reading in a year or so. 

www.robertastewart.com

ABOUT THIS ARTICLE

Feel free to share this article or post it on your site. You also have permission to use it as content for your ebook. My blog www.robertastewart.com has down to earth information about everyday finances.

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KIWISAVER RETIREMENT SCHEME

HOW TO MAKE 50% ON YOUR MONEY TAX FREE

Do you want to make 50% return on your money tax free?.

Sounds too good to be true?

Some people will now be thinking that I must have fallen for one of these internet scams. The truth is thousands of New Zealanders are doing this every year which has helped to build up their wealth and it is really no secret; in fact people are encouraged to participate in this scheme by the government.

Over a million Kiwis are making 50% of their money in this scheme every week and if you have not guessed what it is, it’s KIWI SAVER.

The government will contribute $520 to your kiwisaver account per annum but you must contribute at least $1040 to get the $520. If your annual contribution is less than $1040 then your tax credit will be 50% of whatever your contribution is.

Let’s look at an example.

If 4% of your gross income is deposited into your kiwisaver account and you earn on average 50k per annum then your contribution to kiwisaver per annum is 2k. 

There are countless thousands of New Zealanders who are living from payday to pay day who may struggle to contribute even $1040 annually to their kiwisaver account. If you can find a way to contribute money to your kiwisaver then it will be worthwhile in the end. What you spend your money on is what takes priority in your life so if you want a way you will find a way to reach the $1040 target.

Your employer will contribute 3%  of your gross income to your kiwisaver account; it all contributes to your retirement savings.

When signing up for Kiwi Saver, you are given several options of which funds to invest your money, the degree of risk each of these funds carry depends on where your money is being invested.

The funds offering the highest return are also offering the greatest risk of loss, the thing to bear in mind us that if there is a chance of a capital gain then there is also a chance of a capital loss and there is no guarantee that a share market crash such as the 1987 black Monday one will not occur again and it is the higher risk funds which will be affected mostly.

Your tolerance to risk is another factor to consider, there is no point in investing in higher risk funds if  the possibility of loss is going to cause you to lose sleep. Your age is another factor to consider; if you are young then you have the luxury of time on your side.You have more time to recover from financial setbacks.

These are just some things to think about but it’s best to speak to a financial advisor before making any decision.

www.robertastewart.com

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THE ART OF AVERAGING

INTRODUCTION

Investors must realise that investing in the markets has its ups and downs (literally) that it is important to keep it all into the right perspective if investments do not go your way. There is a method of playing the markets in a way that you can take advantage of the market drops. 

The Art of Averaging 

Averaging is a term one may come across in the markets now and and again; what this refers to is the average price paid for a particular share if you had bought shares in that particular company.

To calculate the average price paid for a particular share you add up the total amount you have paid for the shares and divide that by the number of shares you have bought in that company. 

The answer is the average amount that you have paid per share.

Try this mathematical question:

There are five numbers 10, 20, 30, 40, 50

What is the average number?

The calculation: 

Add up the five numbers:  10 + 20 + 30 + 40 + 50 = 150

Divide the total of the five numbers (150) by 5

150 divided by 5 = 30 (answer)

You can do this easily with a calculator.

There are so many share trading platforms available these days that investing directly into the sharemarket has never been easier for the ordinary man and women.

So how does averaging work?

If you purchase stock at regular intervals you will pay different prices for each stock because share prices go up and down. Imagine if you bought something at the supermarket last week at the full price then bought the same item this week on special. The average price you paid for the item will be somewhere between the higher price and the lower price.

The sharemarket works like that. By purchasing a particular stock at regular intervals you will manage to pick up some shares in it when the price is lower. This is the advantage of saving regularly. 

In fact I think there is a case for purchasing more shares when the price is low. The average price paid per share is determined by calculations as explained earlier. 

The averaging strategy can also be used in cryptocurrency investing. 

Bitcoin is more volatile than the sharemarket so an astute investor who has an eye for a bargain can invest when the price has dropped.

There are so many share trading platforms available that playing the markets are accessible to everyone. I have joined two of them in New Zealand. Most countries have share trading platforms available. Signing up for them is easy; you require some form of identification. Just follow the directions and you are all set up.

TO SUMMARISE

Playing the markets requires a positive mindset and a cool head. If you have these you can profit from falling markets. Averaging is a method that takes advantage of falling markets.

www.robertastewart.com

 

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RETIREMENT YEARS

INTRODUCTION

Spending your retirement years is not all about how you will spend your time but your money also. Ticking off those items on your bucket list becomes your priority. This all takes money. A financial advisor  thinks older people should spend their money while they can and travel while they are able to.

Spending your money during your latter years

Written by R. A. Stewart

“Spend your money while you can.”

That is the message of New Zealand Financial Advisor Mary Holm who has recently published another book. 

This message was aimed at retirees. Ms Holm says you should not just leave your money to your children.

She says that she has received letters from people in their eighties and nineties who have said they wished they had done more travelling when they were able to. They were of course referring to when they were in their sixties and seventies.

Holm does have a point but it all depends on how responsible your children are with their money. If they have a house and a retirement plan then you can stipulate that the money can go toward these things. 

Doing stuff while you are able to is probably the best way to live for those who have reached the retirement age and that all takes money.

What Mary says makes sense; helping your children get their foot on the property ladder or through university is one thing but if they are irresponsible with their money then that is another thing altogether. 

This all highlights the importance of teaching your children financial literacy. 

Teaching your children how to invest is just as important as teaching them how to save. Most people are able to save money but most are saving to spend rather than saving to invest.

It is investing which will make life easier in the long-term.

Your priorities will determine how you are going to spend your latter years and there is no law to say that you have to retire at a certain age; a lady in her eighties was still working at our local supermarket. Everyone is to their own I suppose but I don’t see the point of that since our country (New Zealand) is very generous to its retirees. It was only ill health which caused her to stop working and then she succumbed to her illness not long after.

Deciding what is important to you is all about setting goals; Anthony Robbins book, “Awaken the GIant within,” is certainly worth reading. 

In the chapter on “Goal Setting,” he talks about taking the rocking chair test. If you were to sit in your rocking chair at the age of ninety what would you regret about your life?”

“Don’t die wondering,” is a saying worth remembering. It is important to enjoy the stage of life you are at because there may come a day when you regret not having made the most of that particular stage of life.

Planning for the future is just as important; its getting that balance right which is the key. There is no point in blowing your retirement fund during your first year of retirement if it is going to leave you in poverty for your remaining years.

SUMMARY

A work colleague said to us once, “I can’t understand these old people who live frugal lives only to leave their money to someone else.” Making sacrifices in order to save money is understandable when you are younger but not when you are past the retirement age. (unless you are living from paycheck to paycheck). Live your best life now while you can and not just hoard your money for the younger generation to fritter away.

www.robertastewart.com

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PYRAMID SELLING

INTRODUCTION

Pyramid selling is a marketing system which involves enticing others into the scheme and training them to do likewise who in turn train others. Network marketing is a similar system of selling but the difference between the two is that with legitimate network marketing companies, products are being sold. It is important to know the difference between the two and not be pressured into joining something which you feel uncomfortable with.

Pyramid Scheme doing the rounds in New Zealand

A pyramid scheme targeting Pacific Islanders has been doing the rounds in South Auckland. A few people who are also Tongan have been promoting the schemes which has seen people part with sums ranging from $300-$1500.

The scheme is some kind of gifting program where each person sends a gift to those higher up in the chain.

Promises have been made to would be participants about the large sums of money they can make in the scheme but this is dependent on them recruiting others into the scheme and convincing them to invest money into it. They then must do likewise in order to make money and so on.

Somewhere during this chain the money trail stops as fewer people get involved while others drop out. The scheme relies on a large number to join in order to make it work. In the end the only person who makes any money from it all is the originator of the scheme.

Some people who had been a participant in one scheme had left to create their own and have persuaded others to join them telling them “Come over to my one, this is a whole lot better.”

“If something is too good to be true it most probably is.”

So what are the tell tale signs of a pyramid scheme?

There are some keywords to look out for with the main ones being recruit, network marketing, upline, downline, gifting program.

The one question which should be asked of those promoting the scheme is, “What products are being sold?” 

Any marketing scheme which requires its members to recruit others in order to make money without any products being sold is almost certainly a pyramid scheme which is illegal in New Zealand and other countries.

Legitimate companies such as Amway, Melaleuca, Herbalife, Kleeneze (UK) all sell products as do a heap of other companies which involve recruiting others but even so, the tactics employed by these companies can be downright pushy that people who are not suited to this type of selling get talked into joining the scheme without any hope of ever making any money. There are some pyramid schemes which masquerade as network marketing companies so you need to be on the ball.

What can people do to protect themselves?

The most obvious one is to take financial advice and this does not need to cost an arm and a leg. Get free legal advice at the citizens advice bureau. You can also go to your bank and just ask for their advice. Of course the people who are promoting these schemes don’t want you to do that but it is your money they are after and they do not want you to expose their scheme.

It is those who can least afford it who are taken in by these schemes; the thought of a financially free life with little or no effort. Promoters of these schemes are selling a dream; who says, “Dreams are free?”

The bottom line to all this is that these schemes are illegal in most countries so if you could get into trouble if you are a participant.

TO SUMMARISE

Certain types of people are attracted by pyramid schemes; the desperate, the greedy, the ignorant, and the financially illiterate. Therefore it is important to get financial education and to take advice from well informed people. My blog www.robertastewart.com has lots of information of a financial nature.

Here is an ebook with some of my thoughts on personal finance; you can grab a copy here.

https://payhip.com/b/frA7 (Financial steps)

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AN AFFILIATE MARKETING MENTOR CAN HELP YOU SUCCEED

The Value of using an Affiliate Marketing Mentor 

“He who walks with wise men shall become wise but a companion of fools will be destroyed.” Proverbs 13:30

The value of having an -affiliate marketing mentor cannot be underestimated; in fact whatever business you are in, it is important to have someone teaching you along the way.

Imagine if you needed financial advice on where to invest in a windfall. would you go to someone who has no savings of their own or someone who has investments in the markets?

The one who has no money will advise you on what to spend the money on while the one who has investments will give you his or her financial opinion.

As far as – affiliate marketing goes, a mentor who has made mistakes along the way will share with you his experience in order that you do not have to make the same costly errors.

A television pastor once said, “There are three ways to learn, they are; The easy way is when you learn from other people’s mistakes, the hard way is when you learn from your own mistakes, or the tragic way, when you never learn from your own mistakes.”

The bottom line is learn from those who have gone before you before making the same mistakes you made. 

It is important to stress, however, that making mistakes is just part of the learning process and – affiliate marketing is no different; having a mentor can help you to minimize your mistakes.

John Crestani is one such leader in affiliate marketing he created the Super affiliate system for ordinary men and women who desire to escape the rat race once and for all start their own home business from the comfort of their own home with just a computer with internet access.

John is currently making six figures per month with nothing more than a computer with internet access and a phone.

All this from affiliate marketing

He created the system which has been so successful and can help you to follow suit.

I am not saying that you will become as successful as John because it is really up to you, but if you want to be successful at  affiliate marketing then you need to follow the guidance of those who have been successful.

Sadly, so many people listen to what their family have said, what the friends have said, and what others have said and are talked out of taking a leap of faith and trying something new. They then go on living a life of mediocrity, not living life on their terms but rather what others would consider normal.

I can’t stress this enough; if you want to succeed at affiliate marketing then you must follow the example set by those who are successful at affiliate marketing. 

You must remain teachable and at the same time be responsible for your own mistakes. A mentor’s role is not to spoon feed you  to success but rather to give you instruction and your role is to follow the advice given, affiliate marketing has helped others earn a reasonable living, are you going to take the next step?

Click on the link below for further information: – http://bit.ly/3uQXf7I

www.robertastewart.com