PrePaid Heating Up – Big Growth In Spite Of Economy Presents Much Needed Opportunity For Retailers

Last year, while most considered the economy to be in a recession, prepaid card usage experienced a 61% increase in growth (source: Mercator Advisory Group). And with usage projected to triple from $120 bil in 2009, to over $440 bil by 2017, smart business owners are getting ready to ride the trend and cash in. Here’s a quick look at a few of the markets that are expected to benefit the most, as well as a few tips on how you can profit from this exciting opportunity.

What Are “Open Looped” and “Closed Looped” Cards?

There are several ways to define the prepaid card market. There’s ‘open-looped’ and ‘closed-looped’, gift cards and loyalty cards, payroll cards, one time incentive cards, and more. But what, exactly, are ‘branded’ cards? That’s easy. Both to define and to remember.

Branded cards have either the VISA or Mastercard brand logo on them. These are referred to as ‘open-looped’ because, unlike a store gift or rewards card (which can only be used at one of a specific businesses locations)… a branded card can be used almost anywhere. Anywhere that takes Mastercard and VISA that is.

By contrast, a good example of a “non-branded” card, would be a Target Card. You can use a Target card at any Target store in the country – but you can’t use your Target card at WalMart – because WalMart is out of Targets’ “loop”. That’s what is meant by a “closed loop”. Usage is ‘closed’ from anywhere except it’s own store location.

But unlike a Target or WalMart card, a VISA prepaid card can be used at WalMart, or Target, or any other place that accepts VISA. The same thing goes for MasterCard. And that, my friend, is a lot of places.

Who Uses PrePaid?

So, who uses prepaid cards? And what markets do they represent?

The answer is what makes this market so exciting. Their usage, (and therefore their markets), seem to be an ever expanding universe. Consider a few of the following and you’ll begin to understand the scope of it.

A few of the ways prepaid cards are being used are:

Payroll – many employers use them as a cost-savings alternative to traditional paper checks
Incentives – companies preload a certain dollar value onto a card (which as you remember, can be spent anywhere that accepts VISA & MC) as bonuses for qualifying sales contests, etc.
customer rebates – many vendors offer rebates on cards (vs. mailing a paper check)
gift cards – for convenience in gift giving
loyalty/rewards cards – to encourage and reward customers for repeat business
general purpose reloadable – cards which can be reloaded over and over, which appeal to those who don’t have checking accounts (i.e., the unbanked), or, anyone who doesn’t want to carry cash
In store refunds – instead of giving cash for items returned, many are giving stored value cards, insuring money for refunds will be spent in the same store
bill paying
phone cards
Who Can Benefit

Businesses that sell prepaid cards and/or services are in an ideal position to capitalize on the tripling of growth expected in this industry.

Here are a few of the types of businesses that benefit from current trends:

convenience stores – selling reloadable cards enables store owners to capitalize on the high traffic in and out of their store each day
ethnic and specialty stores – are natural locations for international phone cards and reloadable prepaid cards
retailers
most places with high traffic and either don’t want to take checks or would like to reduce their usage can offer prepaid cards as an alternative
other businesses (see list above), who could benefit form the savings from reduced pqperwork and improved tracking of electronic payment processing
In Summary

While there’s no denying the economy presents business owners with ongoing challenges, there are still sectors where money will trend… and those who trend with them can profit tremendously.

When I See You Smile – How to Make This Happen in Your PowerPoint Presentation?

Many people would be annoyed by poor PowerPoint presentation. Most of the slide presentations that you’ve seen are extremely dull and you would get out the room before the presenter finishes his final slide presentation. It could be torturing because of the total boredom of the atmosphere. Imagine that someone is doing a stand-up comedy in the meeting room. You would be expecting smiles on the crowd and sounds of laughter over the room. Has this ever happen to you?

Certainly, it would require some skills on how to make your audience smile to give you a round of applause to your spectacular performance. It is important to gain good rapport from your audience if you can make them feel comfortable in the meeting room. There are few tips on how to put a smile on your audience’s face:

· Your presentable looks – this doesn’t mean undergoing an extreme makeover. It actually means that you have to dress nicely and be comfortable with it. Don’t overdressed yourself (or putting too much make ups) because most audience is not expecting a clown in the meeting room. Please take note that being funny on stage doesn’t mean you have to be a clown but be a comedian!

· If you can’t think of a joke, then add-in some sarcasm – seriously, sarcasm on your presentation can be created by simply doing the opposites or something “rebellious” like “If the earth is flat, then the author of the book – The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman would be writing a book entitled – The World is Round”. Make sure you don’t elaborate much about the sarcasm you’ve made. Remember, a joke doesn’t need much explanation to make people laugh. If people don’t get the joke – just proceed with the other one. So, practice makes perfect – you’ll be able to learn to create more jokes related to the theme of the presentation.

· Use “copycat” jokes – Every movie needs a screenplay and you can actually plan your storytelling or jokes when you are engaging with your audience. If you’ve known or heard some jokes from a movie or a show, you can jot it down and then modify it before you include it in your presentation. Telling jokes is much appropriate when you’re presenting a product review in front of your clients especially when you’re comparing your product with competitor’s product. You can add some sarcasm when you are commenting on your competitor’s product.

· Master your facial expressions – it’s like going to an acting class, some certain facial expressions can be shown when you’re telling something hilarious to your audience. For instance, even a blink of an eye which implies certainty or approval when

These are the basic tips on how to make people feel comfortable while you’re presenting on stage. Now, it’s time to present your heart out to make your audience smile and burst into laughter.

5 Essentials For Quality Negotiations

One of the most important, although, often, overlooked/ neglected, assets, and skills, needed, to be a truly, effective, quality leader, is the knowledge, ability, and expertise, to effectively negotiate, for the best interests, of one’s organizations! Over, and over, again, true leaders, are confronted, with a variety of circumstances, where negotiations, become an essential component, and necessity. After, over four decades, of involvement, in most areas of leadership, from identifying and qualifying, to training and developing, to consulting to well – over, a thousand actual, and/ or, potential leaders, as well as serving, as a leader, for many different types of groups, I often, stress, how important this is, what it means, and the key aspects, which must become part of every leader’s skill – set. With that in mind, this article will attempt to, briefly, consider, review, examine, and discuss, what this means and represents, and why it matters.

1, Know/ recognize objectives/ goals/ priorities/ needs: Before one can negotiate, effectively, he needs to truly, understand, his organization’s, and constituent’s, actual needs, goals, and priorities, so as to know, what objectives, he must prioritize, in any negotiating. Without this knowledge, and understanding, how can anyone, best – represent, his group, and stakeholders, best – interests?

2. Study the opposite side/ party: It’s important to realize, and recognize, you will be negotiating with another party/ side, with its own set of needs, and priorities. The more one knows, his opposition’s objectives, conditions, set of priorities, etc, the more successful, one’s negotiating, will, potentially, become!

3. Proceed with an open – mind: Great leaders proceed with an open – mind, prioritizing, the possibilities, etc! When, this is the mind – set, it permits a negotiator, to see things, from a variety of other perceptions, instead of only seeing, his own – side, of any issue, etc!

4. Consider viable options and alternatives: When, one thoroughly, considers, as many possibilities, ramifications, contingencies, etc, he positions, himself, in the best place, to be able to succeed, and benefit his group. Thinking, outside – the – box, and considering various possibilities, or paths, often, brings forth, the best potential results, etc!

5. Negotiate using win – win negotiating: Quality negotiations stem from, both sides, leaving – the – table, believing, they benefited, and the process, was a fair one! To do so, win – win negotiating, must be the approach. This means, it’s not about beating/ defeating an adversary, but, rather, working – together, to generate the best result, for all involved. It requires, proceeding, consistently, in, an open, and honest manner.

Do you have the skill – set, attitude, and personal quality of character, to become a quality negotiator? Are you, up to the tasks?