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Cheap Christmas Presents 2009 – The Three Most Popular Sites For Finding Cheap Gifts This Year

Cheap Christmas presents are best found at the dollar store, or on the internet. Actually, the internet is probably the best place to find tons of cheap gifts for family and friends. If you are new to the Internet, or you just don’t like to spend a lot of time online, I am going to give you a few ideas of great places to find cheap gifts where you don’t have to spend a ton of money.

Everyone’s favorite site for cheap presents has to be eBay.com. They are probably the most well-known cheap place on the internet. You can all kinds of junk over at that website. You can also find tons of ridiculous gag gifts over there. While this is a great place to find cheap Christmas gifts, you can also look at several other sites.

You have probably heard of Craigslist.com. They also have tons of things for sale all over the place. While they are most recently famous for the erotic postings, they are really a much better place to find cheap stuff. In some cases, people are just giving stuff away at that site. You really should do yourself a favor and checkout Craigslist.com and do a search for the items you are looking for this Christmas. You do not have to spend a ton of money or time to find what you are looking for there.

Another excellent site to checkout is Amazon.com. Most people have heard of Amazon, but many people do not realize that Amazon is an excellent website for other things besides books. They sell pretty much anything at Amazon, and they also sell used items there too. You can find what you want there. I even found one website where they tell you the top 10 Christmas gifts for 2009. There they give you 10 of the hottest gifts for this holiday season, and they include links to the products at the Amazon website.

Cheap Christmas Presents are available online if you know where to look. Make sure you go to trusted websites to do your shopping, and make sure you check out the best deals on everything before making a purchase.

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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.

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The How To’s of Investor Presentations

Investor presentations take time and patience to prepare. Doing your homework, settling on strategy, developing messages, honing a pitch and delivering it well, will all be required. The judgment on whether you’ve hit your mark however will be swift. Your audience will usually decide within the opening minute of your pitch, whether they want to hear more.

With so much at stake, there is simply no room for error on the basics. Investors won’t be sold on a good idea poorly presented. However powerful your product or idea, your presentation must be targeted to this very specific audience to be successful. Keep these basics in mind when preparing for your investor presentation:

o Where’s the beef? It’s simply not enough to explain your product or idea. Investors want to know whether that product or idea presents a worthwhile market opportunity for them. You must show you understand this potential and have done your homework well enough to be able to describe it from their point of view.

o Know the lay of the land: Know what others are doing in your field and how your idea or product stacks up to the competition. Who are your competitors, and what makes your product unique in comparison to them?

o Short and succinct: Investors will not invest in something they cannot understand or explain easily to others. No matter how complex or sophisticated your idea is, you simply have to be able to talk about it in a way that anyone, even those outside your field, can understand.

o Confidence is catching: Enthusiasm and confidence are essential in convincing investors of the need and worth of your idea. Hone and practice your pitch as much as possible to nail this one.

o Present like a pro: Keep your pitch short and powerful with a clear flow and a logical progression. Don’t forget to close the deal with a call to action and a clear “ask” about what you’ll need financially to make this investment a success for all.

Remember — let your passion and your confidence shine through!

Aileen Pincus is founder of The Pincus Group, providing communications training worldwide. www.thepincusgroup.com

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