6 Things Dating Teaches Us About Investing

Bad date last night?Don't despair.It's not as bad as you may think.Here's some good news: you may not know it, but when it comes to your money, that bad date can teach you an awful lot about successful investing.

Think I'm joking?Think again.Although I was a far cry from being the King of Dating, I did have a few albeit rare lucky streaks in me.And looking back over those rare few times, my moderate success on the dating circuit did teach me quite a few things about prudent investing.

Here's a few quick examples:

1) DON'T JUDGE A BOOK BY ITS COVER

Dating: The guy was over a half-hour late, his outdated shirt barely matched his Taco Bell stained pants, the rain gave him a lethal dose of bed-head and back then the busboy was making more than he was.

If that wasn't bad enough, his humor was a bit stale and the car he drove had a weird putter that attracted nothing but aliens from the evil Planet X.While at first the girl thought it was going to be a dinner date from fiery hell, little did she realize that guy was I, and I'd soon wind up being the one she'd marry.

Investing: The receptionist was sure nice, but the carpets were dull and the musty furniture reminded you of grandma's place in Brooklyn.You were ready to take your money to that Private Wealth Management Firm --- the one with the white marble staircase and baby grand --- but when the well-mannered financial advisor appeared, you figured you'd be courteous and give him a few minutes of time.A little into his pitch, you were most pleasantly surprised when he touted low cost, tax efficient investments that perfectly matched your goals.It was then you realized there's a reason the furniture in his place is a bit out-dated, mainly, because the guy isn't touting the high fee investments.

Lesson Learned: First impressions can easily get the best of us.Whether it's a date or your money, taking a step back to peek behind the curtain will typically put both your money and heart in a much better place.

2) COSTS COUNT

Dating: She liked Dylan Thomas, idolized Ginsberg, despised the conformists and was clinically depressed that she missed last year's Monterey Pop Music Festival.

The perfect 10 from down in the Village strummed an acoustic, wrote poetry and even donated your favorite Levis to a homeless guy on the street.While at first lust got the best of you, months after helping her pay the rent, her organic meals and for all those Warhol movies you pretended to like, you were finally worn out, leading you to realize that when it comes to dating, costs most definitely do count.

Investing: The mutual fund was barely moving.Five years into it, you just couldn't quite figure out why you weren't making much money.Then, one fine day, you wisely took the time to research the fees you were paying, only to realize the fund was charging you way too much per year in annual costs and causing you all sorts of taxes.

Lesson Learned: When it comes to investing and dating, costs most definitely do count.Taking the time to evaluate how much you're paying for your dates and funds is an essential part of anyone's success.

3) DIVERSIFICATION IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS

Dating: Adam looked like Alan, Alan acted like Arnold, Arnold smelled like Arnie and Arnie reminded you of Alex.

And just when you thought you found the Perfect-A, Aden stood you up just like Albert and Abe once did (or was that Alfonse?).It was then, in one fleeting moment of revelation, you finally realized the problem had nothing to you, but everything to do with guys whose names start with the letter "A."

Investing: Dot-coms, late 90s.

Financials, 2008 Need I say more?

Lesson Learned: Diversifying your investments is a critical key to investment success.Load up in one sector or stock and it's not a question of if disaster will strike, it's usually a question of when.Spread the risk, diversify your investments into the prudent, timeless fundamental asset classes and of far more importance, consider dating guys whose names start with the letter A.

About the Author

Nationally recognized personal finance expert and bestselling author.

His unique strategies have helped people across the nation significantly reduce their investment risk, taxes and fees.For More Info: www.haftreport.com

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Writing Fact Sheets For Your Business

Many businesses are looking for ways to differentiate themselves from their competitors.If you look around there are hundreds of competitors to your business just in your local area.So why should people buy from you and not your competition?

You could choose to compete on price ...but that is self-limiting as often you end up in a price spiral and cut dramatically into your profits.You could choose to compete on range ...but this means you are caught up in additional costs for stock or administration.

One of the most effective competition means is through service and one of the hallmarks of exceptional service is sharing your knowledge and expertise to make your customer's life easier.

If you have talented staff, they can personally share this knowledge with customers.But they can only serve one customer at a time.The more effective method is to capture this knowledge and to share it with multiple customers.That way, you are extending your service and reputation beyond just one person at a time (and beyond just one salesperson).

One way to do this is through creating a series of Fact Sheets for your business.

Fact Sheets can address:

* frequently asked questions,
* little known but useful facts about your product or service,
* instructions on how to best use the product or service,
* general information about your company and its ethos.

So how do you go about writing Fact Sheets for your business?Here are my top 10 tips:

1.

Work out the basics first.Are they going to be electronic or hard copy?If hard copy how big are they going to be A4, brochure style or DL?

All your company Fact Sheets should look and feel the same to give a professional image and to reinforce your brand.Having an eye to design and layout also means you will know if you need 150, 250 or 500 words for your fact sheet.

2.Work out your intent.For each Fact Sheet you are writing, you need to work out why you are writing it.What feeling are you trying to share with your customer?What difference are you trying to make?

3.Brainstorm the key points.Every Fact Sheet has key messages, facts or information that need to be included.It helps to brainstorm the most important pieces of information so that you don't miss anything when you write.Ask your top salesman what are the most important features of the product or service, and jot down their replies.

4.Brainstorm the benefits.Once you have a list of dot points, go back and work out the benefits of each of the main features.So if you have an automatic outdoor umbrella that opens by pushing a remote control (feature) one benefit could be that you can quickly close the umbrella as soon as you see an approaching storm from the safety of your home.

5.Brainstorm the actions.Work out what you want the customer to do with the information once they have read it.Make sure you jot down a call to action, this could be as simple as "To order, call the office on XXXX-XXXX".

6.Write the content.Next, convert your dot points into smoothly flowing sentences taking into account all of your intentions, key points, features and benefits.It is great to break up the paragraphs with bullet points to help improve the readability of your document.

7.Remove the jargon.Ensure you go back over your content to remove jargon and complex language.Aim for about a Grade 6 reading level.

8.Add in headlines.Headlines and sub headlines make a difference.They help to keep people reading, grab attention and reinforce key points.Make sure each headline is as powerful as you can make it.

9.Get someone else to read it!It is easy to miss spelling mistakes, typos and places where you are not as clear as you could be.By getting someone else to read over your document they can help identify areas for clarification and improvement.

10.Distribute widely.When you have a content-rich, powerful and persuasive Fact Sheet for your business, be sure to share it with people.Include a copy on your website, send a copy with quotes or invoices, include it in your business magazine as a feature article, hand it to customers with their purchases and have them available at trade shows.The more widely you distribute your Fact Sheets, the more powerful your marketing becomes.

About the Author

Ingrid Cliff is a freelance writer and the Chief Word Wizard of Heart Harmony - a writing services studio that helps put your business into words.

For a free copy of the "7 Secrets of Compelling Copy & Powerful Words" visit her website http://www.heartharmony.com.au "> www.heartharmony.com.au .

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