Ok, from the beginning I will admit that I don’t always get along with Banks, but this really frosts me.

I get my credit card statement in the mail and happen to look at the current interest rate being charged … 30.24 %!

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said not just to myself but anyone in reasonable earshot.

Naturally, I grabbed the phone (hitting the speaker button because I knew I would be on hold for awhile) and settled in for another confrontation with my credit card company.

“30.24%,” the voice from the other end of the phone finally mused after keeping me on hold for the obligatory 10 minutes. “Well, you have been a good customer for over 20 years, I can probably get that down a little for you… how about 9.25%?” the voice suggested quickly adding, “And I can take off your annual fee, how about that?” as if I wouldn’t agree.

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One of my favorite acts at the circus is the plate spinner. You know, the guy who puts one spinning plate on the pole after another until the first one begins to die down. He then runs over to the first plate again just long enough to give it a little spin to keep it going. The guy goes on spinning new plates and then old plates until he finally reaches his limit, and he has all of the plates spinning at the same time.

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by: JW Dicks 

Labor Day is just around the corner so it is time to plan your “seasonal tie-in” marketing strategy.

It has been proven that customers are more in tune to promotions when they relate to a holiday or special event and while Labor Day is not as special as it used to be, it would be a mistake not to use it as a tie in to your promotions.

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by: JW Dicks

When you are fishing and they aren’t biting you have two basic choices.  You can keep doing what you are doing and likely get the same results  or you can start making changes to your fishing and see what works.

There are several things you can do to “test” what might work.  You can change your bait, change locations or as my father always said, “change the way you hold your mouth.”  The one thing you shouldn’t do is change everything all at once.  If you do, you might catch more fish but you won’t have learned anything worthwhile that you can use again.

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