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How Attraction Marketing Can Be Used by the Network Marketer For Success

Jan 8

Posted by Nigel Gittens in business, marketing, strategies, wealth | No Comments

Attraction Marketing starts with from the basic premise of giving people what they need and want. In order for this to occur you have to intimately want to know what their needs, hopes, desires and pains are and genuinely want to help them. You have to first ask three basic questions which are:-

1) Who is the target market that you want to help?

2) What kinds of assistance are they wanting/needing, what are they thinking and talking about?

3) What are some of the issues that your offer can help address successfully?

These three questions if answered completely is an important first step in your ability to attract large numbers of highly interested prospects with a level of confidence that traditional methods cannot provide. Building your business and recruiting persons then is not as hard as traditional methods have made it, you just have to use this basic formula. And this applies to any type of product or service whether it be real estate, health and wellness, coaching, legal, consulting, travel and leisure, etc.

Let’s look at our three basic questions a little more closely. The first one – Who is our target market? This can be better amplified if we look at a specific market, say the health and wellness market. This is a huge and still growing market of persons are interested in functional health and longevity, those who would like to change their diet and lifestyle to avoid the statistical inevitability of disease as they grow older. This market may include those who are not happy with their current energy and well being levels, etc. The point is that a brainstorming exercise is necessary to begin to list all those stakeholders who consume in this market. An important place where clues could be had is the internet. You can do a search on Google or any other engine to gain a sense of who these stakeholders are and what they are looking for.

After you have listed your stakeholders, you then begin to brainstorm what would be their personal concerns, problems, fears as well as what they are thinking about, talking about, reading about, etc. Again the internet can provide great clues in this regard, especially if you can access any blogs or forums of your target market and read what the discussions are about.

You can begin to appreciate that there is nothing complicated in the process. All that is required is some effort. This process of brainstorming and doing some research on the internet should not be underestimated because it is all about knowing your target market intimately so that you can in the end really know what they want and what they need.

At this point it is necessary to point out the following. When a network marketer attempts to sell a product or service, what in fact he is selling is HIMSELF. This is not understood by the vast majority of persons involved in this business. If this were not so then prospects would buy or be recruited by anyone but as we well know, prospects are not recruited by anyone but by someone who they have come to know and trust. Prospects then have to buy into the network marketer first. They have to buy into someone who can really assist them in setting up and building their business, someone who can teach them the nuances of the business and who they can trust to point them in the right direction.

So that one has to sell himself as the person who can do all these things. The question then is – How do you sell yourself first before selling your prospect the opportunity?

You have to first build trust and pre-sell your prospects on you as a successful leader. The product being sold is in fact YOU, and when that is sold then you can easily achieve success with your offering. The prospect wants to know if you can lead them to success and this is first done by reflecting back to them what their needs and wants are and then providing them with plausible solutions before you introduce them to your offering.

Let’s now show how this can be done in an example. For this we go back to our first three basic questions:-

1) Who is our target market?

2) What kinds of things are they searching for, thinking or are concerned about?

3) What are their wants and needs, problems and what possible solutions can you provide?

Let’s use network marketers as our target market. Within this target market, the possible sub-categories can be:-

a) People who have been involved with a network marketing opportunity before.

b) People who are contemplating joining a network marketing opportunity but who are looking for a suitable offer/guide or up-line.

c) Entrepreneurs who are looking for new business opportunities.

We can expand this list but we will leave it at three sub-categories. It makes sense to target the first group because there will be less work involved, they having been already introduced to the concept and possibilities that network marketing offer. The second group may be novices who would have been introduced to the concept and are looking for the best opportunity and guide. The third group are persons who are desiring to have an extra stream of income and who also desire to eventually work from home perhaps. They have not been introduced to network marketing as yet but may be open to your opportunity.

For the first group – people who have been involved with network marketing before, we now answers the two questions;- a) What kinds of things are they searching for, thinking or are concerned about? And b) What are their wants and needs, problems and what possible solutions can you provide?

The answers to the first may be a marketing tool or system, a resource or expert, or a just a relevant book. They maybe looking for network marketing training on the internet or specifically how to generate genuine leads or information on how to build their MLM business. The list of things searched for, thought about or concerned about may be endless. One just has to do a search on Google to realize this.

The response then is for you to have your presence on the internet as one who can provide plausible advice and answers to these needs and wants without pushing your offering in the first instance.

And you do not need to have a website to do this. There are many free online services such as ezines or social media engines (Web 2.0) that will allow you to place your articles so that searchers can access them. These engines will also put your articles on the larger search engines such as Google and Yahoo where the real traffic is. You have to have some knowledge of search engine optimization for them to rank highly there.

Your articles are the main tool in your attraction marketing program and you must have enough of them so that your presence on the internet is substantial. Topics that can be written about are issues related to network marketing, a review on any such company, person, news, products or services, books, training, resources, etc. The following then is a list of topics (which is reflective of the problems they may have) which can be the basis of your articles:-

- Making money on the internet

- Spending less money on leads and finding better quality prospects

- Getting prospects attracted to them rather than pursuing prospects

- Choosing a better up-line

- A better way to build my network marketing business

- Getting effectiveness and efficiency with my network marketing business

- Clarity on what to do to build my network marketing business

- Effectively selling myself as a leader

- Creating more cash flow for my network marketing business

- What to say and do to sponsor more people

- How to use the internet to build the business smarter

The other two target markets identified earlier -

a) People who are contemplating joining a network marketing opportunity but who are looking for a suitable offer/guide or up-line,

b) Entrepreneurs who are looking for new business opportunities, should be treated in the same way that the first target market has been treated. These treatments can then form the basis of other articles to publish.

This then is your first activity of attraction marketing, getting your content on the internet. When this is done you will be surprised at the response had by interested searchers. As said before you have to post enough articles such that your web presence is substantial and you have to have a basic knowledge of search engine optimization in order for your articles to rank highly.

When these interested searchers respond, you then have to get their permission to send them more valuable content and this is done with the use of lead capture pages where they will provide you with their name, email address and telephone number (not mandatory). These correspondences will be your email marketing component of your attraction marketing program.

Your program of emails which are usually between ten and fifteen will then be sent one every five days or so and will be on subjects related to your prospects interests. The subjects of these emails can be on related books, interviews with industry coaches, information on MLM companies, information on network marketing related systems or topics, encouraging stories or tips, etc. In your email marketing you should also provide the opportunity for your readers to comment as provided in blogs. At the end of your articles you can now provide a link or make reference to your service or offering (which must be related to the subject), where a solution to the issue can be had. If you feel that your writing abilities are limited, you can easily higher expert writers at about $15.00 per article where you just provide them with the topic.

You can also use attraction marketing methods to sell other persons products or services. You may already be promoting a product or service (as an existing network or affiliate marketer) where your activity will now only be attracting prospects through your article marketing and directing them through links to your company’s lead capture page, from then on the company’s attraction marketing effort (if a suitable one exists) can then lead to a successful recruit of your prospect.

This then is a summary of the great benefits to be had by using attraction marketing techniques. A full expose on attraction marketing methods can be had at the Renegade Professional where this approach is outlined in workshop format in very great detail. You can also get at the Renegade Professional workshops on the following:- a) How to set up a lead capture page, b) How to set up a blog, c) How to set up an email marketing campaign with auto responders, d) How to write articles for the internet, e) How to use the telephone in your marketing campaigns, and many, many more topics that will complete your training in attraction marketing and make you the professional internet marketer that you can become.

Thank you for your kind attention.

Nigel Gittens

　

Author: Nigel Gittens
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Low-volume PCB maker

What is a Mutual Fund?

Mar 10

Posted by Paul Cris in stocks, strategies | No Comments

Mutual fund is a corporate body, which works as an intermediary and invests in financial markets. Mutual funds collect money from the public and invest in financial instruments like equity, government securities, bonds, debentures etc.

Investing through mutual funds is good for people who do not have much knowledge about the financial markets. Instead of burning the fingers in the stock market, investing in mutual funds does make sense. There are various types of mutual funds available for investment. There are different types of mutual funds available, like, a fund, which invests only in Pharmaceutical companies, is called as Pharma fund and the mutual fund companies name the funds on their own. The mutual fund companies provide prospectus when they launch a fund. In the prospectus information like risk involved, amount of money invested in stocks, bonds etc are mentioned.

The money collected is invested by professionals who have experience in the financial markets. They know the time to buy and sell the stock. Their main aim is to create wealth for their investors. They diversify their portfolios and invest in growth related companies. Mutual fund companies hire professional fund managers who have very good experience in handling large amount of money. While buying a mutual fund you should check the experience of the fund manager and his team, who will be investing your money. You should also take a look at the past performance and the returns offered.

You can start buying mutual funds for a very low amount and you can also invest every month. This is called as systematic investment planning. There are various types of funds like open ended fund, close ended fund, growth fund, income fund, balanced fund etc.

Author: Paul Cris
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Netbook, Tablets and Mobile Computing

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5 Powerful Strategies For Depressed Entrepreneurs

Feb 27

Posted by admin in strategies | No Comments

Ok, so you have not made your first million within
90 days as you thought. Your idea crashed and you
feel gutted. Worst, your partner says I told you so. You
and your get rich ideas. Well, I salute you because
you tried and failed. Guess what? The more you fail, the
faster you will succeed. So keep falling forward. Get up and keep moving. The distant dream is getting closer with each step.

Now some of you depressed entrepreneurs want to stay
down. You crawl into a depression. You want to hide from
the cruel, unforgiving world. Rest if you must but die you
will not. So dust yourself off and read the following
strategies to get you fired up. Here goes..

1) Go Out Into The Light and Sunshine.

Lack of exposure to sunlight is responsible for the
secretion of the hormone melatonin, which could trigger
a dispirited mood and a lethargic condition.

Melatonin is only produced in the dark. It lowers the
body temperature and makes you feel sluggish. If you
are always cooped up in your room (with the curtains
closed), it would be difficult to restrain yourself
from staying in bed.

This is the reason why many people are suffering from
depression much more often in winter than in the other
seasons. It’s because the nights are longer.

If you can’t afford to get some sunshine, you can
always lighten up your room with brighter lights.
Have lunch outside the office. Take frequent walks
instead of driving your car over short distances.

2) Get Busy. Get Inspired.

You’ll be more likely to overcome any feeling of
depression if you are too busy to notice it. Live
a life full of inspired activities.

Do the things you love. If you’re a little short
on cash, you could engage in simple stuffs like
taking a leisurely stroll in the park, playing
sports, reading books, or engaging in any activity
that you have passion for and would love to pursue.

Set a goal – a meaningful purpose in life. No
matter how difficult or discouraging life can be,
remain firm and have an unshakable belief that you
are capable of doing anything you desire. With
this kind of positive attitude, you will attain
a cheerful disposition to beat the blues.

3) Take a Break.

I mean it.

Listen to soothing music. Soak in a nice warm
bath. Ask one of your close friends to massage
you. Take a break from your stressful workload
and spend the day just goofing around. In other
words, have fun.

4) Eat Right and Stay Fit.

Avoid foods with lots of sugar, caffeine, or
alcohol. Sugar and caffeine may give you a
brief moment of energy; but they would later
bring about anxiety , tension, and internal
problems. Alcohol is a depressant. Many people
would drink alcohol to “forget their problems.”
They’re just aggravating their conditions in the
process.

Exercising regularly is a vital depression buster
because it allows your body to produce more
endorphins than usual. Endorphins are sometimes
called “the happy chemicals” because of their
stress-reducing and happiness-inducing properties.

5) Get a Social Life.

No person is an island. Your circle of friends are
there to give you moral support. Spending time
and engaging in worthwhile activities with them
could give you a very satisfying feeling. Nothing
feels better than having group support.

Never underestimate the power of touch. Doesn’t
it feel so good when someone pats you on the back
and gives you words of encouragement during your
most challenging times? Hug or embrace someone
today. You’ll never know when you have saved
another life.

Get intimate. Establish close ties with your
family and friends. The love and care expressed
by others could tremendously boost your immune
system and fend off illnesses. Best of all, you’ll
live a more secured and happy life.

Now, that feels better.

About the Author
Hirini Reedy is a mental toughness expert who helps people find inner strength. A former military officer, martial arts founder and NLP mind coach, he has designed short sharp mind-body fitness workouts to toughen you up. Check one-minute focus principle at www.instantfitnessplans.com

Article source:
5 Powerful Strategies For Depressed Entrepreneurs

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Free Business Books for Your Kindle

Feb 18

Posted by admin in business, Leadership, mindset, strategies | No Comments

Free Business Books for Your Kindle

http://tinyurl.com/4zeahur “Best Practices for Persuasive Presentations” — This is actually a collection of three separate guides, including the amusing titled “So What? How to Communicate What Really Matters to Your Audience.” “Instant MBA” — Don’t confuse this with a study guide. Instead, the book teaches you the best of “MBA thinking,” all with the idea of accelerating career advancement. “The Lazy Project Manager” — A humorous take on project management and how managers can and should strive to be “lazy” by being intelligent about organizing and running their projects. “Leading at a Higher Level” — Renowned management guru Ken Blanchard offers his take on becoming a better leader, serving your customers at a “higher level,” and coaching to boost performance at every level. “Marketing in the Moment” — Published just eight months ago, this guide for business owners explains how to choose from the growing array of “new marketing” options (Tumblr, Ustream, etc.) and make them work to their fullest potential. In case you’re wondering, each of these books is rated at least four stars out of five, and most of them normally cost around $20. The total value is well over $100.

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The Real Estate Sector

Jun 5

Posted by Manish Marwah in real estate, strategies | No Comments

Boom & Bust of Indian Real Estate Sector

Engulfing the period of stagnation, the evolution of Indian real estate sector has been phenomenal, impelled by, growing economy, conducive demographics and liberalized foreign direct investment regime. However, now this unceasing phenomenon of real estate sector has started to exhibit the signs of contraction.

What can be the reasons of such a trend in this sector and what future course it will take? This article tries to find answers to these questions…

Overview of Indian real estate sector

Since 2004-05 Indian reality sector has tremendous growth. Registering a growth rate of, 35 per cent the realty sector is estimated to be worth US$ 15 billion and anticipated to grow at the rate of 30 per cent annually over the next decade, attracting foreign investments worth US$ 30 billion, with a number of IT parks and residential townships being constructed across-India.

The term real estate covers residential housing, commercial offices and trading spaces such as theaters, hotels and restaurants, retail outlets, industrial buildings such as factories and government buildings. Real estate involves purchase sale and development of land, residential and non-residential buildings. The activities of real estate sector embrace the hosing and construction sector also.

The sector accounts for major source of employment generation in the country, being the second largest employer, next to agriculture. The sector has backward and forward linkages with about 250 ancilary industries such as cement, brick,steel, building material etc.

Therefore a unit increase in expenditure of this sector have multiplier effect and capacity to generate income as high as five times.

All-round emergence

In real estate sector major component comprises of housing which accounts for 80% and is growing at the rate of 35%. Remainder consist of commercial segments office, shopping malls, hotels and hospitals.

Housing units: With the Indian economy surging at the rate of 9 % accompanied by rising incomes levels of middle class, growing nuclear families, low interest rates, modern approach towards homeownership and change in the attitude of young working class in terms of from save and buy to buy and repay having contributed towards soaring housing demand.

Earlier cost of houses used to be in multiple of nearly 20 times the annual income of the buyers, whereas today multiple is less than 4.5 times.

According to 11th five year plan, the housing shortage on 2007 was 24.71 million and total requirement of housing during (2007-2012) will be 26.53 million. The total fund requirement in the urban housing sector for 11th five year plan is estimated to be Rs 361318 crores.
The summary of investment requirements for XI plan is indicated in following table

SCENARIO Investment requirement
Housing shortage at the beginning of the XI plan period 147195.0
New additions to the housing stock during the XI plan period including the additional housing shortage during the plan period 214123.1
Total housing requirement for the plan period 361318.1

Office premises: rapid growth of Indian economy, simultaneously also have deluging effect on the demand of commercial property to help to meet the needs of business. Growth in commercial office space requirement is led by the burgeoning outsourcing and information technology (IT) industry and organised retail. For example, IT and ITES alone is estimated to require 150 million sqft across urban India by 2010. Similarly, the organised retail industry is likely to require an additional 220 million sqft by 2010.

Shopping malls: over the past ten years urbanization has upsurge at the CAGR of 2%. With the growth of service sector which has not only pushed up the disposable incomes of urban population but has also become more brand conscious. If we go by numbers Indian retail industry is estimated to be about US $ 350 bn and forecast to be double by 2015.

Thus rosining income levels and changing perception towards branded goods will lead to higher demand for shopping mall space, encompassing strong growth prospects in mall development activities.

Multiplexes: another growth driver for real-estate sector is growing demand for multiplexes. The higher growth can be witnessed due to following factors:

1. Multiplexes comprises of 250-400 seats per screen as against 800-1000 seats in a single screen theater, which give multiplex owners additional advantage, enabling them to optimize capacity utilization.

2. Apart from these non-ticket revenues like food and beverages and the leasing of excess space to retailer provides excess revenues to theatre developers.

Hotels/Resorts: as already mentioned above that rising major boom in real estate sector is due to rising incomes of middle class. Therefore with increase in income propensity to spend part of their income on tours and travels is also going up, which in turn leads to higher demand for hotels and resorts across the country. Apart from this India is also emerging as major destination for global tourism in India which is pushing up the demand hotels/resorts.
Path set by the government

The sector gained momentum after going through a decade of stagnation due to initiatives taken by Indian government. The government has introduced many progressive reform measures to unveil the potential of the sector and also to meet increasing demand levels.

100% FDI permitted in all reality projects through automatic route.
In case of integrated townships, the minimum area to be developed has been brought down to 25 acres from 100 acres.
Urban land ceiling and regulation act has been abolished by large number of states.
Legislation of special economic zones act.
Full repatriation of original investment after 3 years.
51% FDI allowed in single brand retail outlets and 100 % in cash and carry through the automatic route.

There fore all the above factors can be attributed towards such a phenomenal growth of this sector. With significant growing and investment opportunities emerging in this industry, Indian reality sector turned out to be a potential goldmine for many international investors. Currently, foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into the sector are estimated to be between US$ 5 billion and US$ 5.50 billion.

Top most real estate investors in the foray

Investors profile

The two most active segments are high networth individuals and financial institutions. Both these segments are particularly active in commercial real estate. While financial institutions like HDFC and ICICI show high preference for commercial investment,the high net worth individuals show interest in investing in residential as well as commercial properties.

Apart from these, the third most important category is NRI ( non-resident Indians). They mostly invest in residential properties than commercial properties. Emotional attachment to native land could be reasons for their investment. And moreover the necessary documentation and formalities for purchasing immovable properties except agricultural and plantation properties are quite simple. Therefore NRI’s are showing greater interest for investing in Indian reality sector.

MAJOR INVESTORS

Emmar properties, of Dubai one of the largest listed real estate developer in the world has tied up with Delhi based MGF developments to for largest FDI investment in Indian reality sector for mall and other facilities in Gurgaon.

Dlf India’s leading real estate developer and UK ‘s famous Laing O Rourke (LOR) has joined hands for participation in airport modernization and infrastructure projects.

A huge investment was made by Vancouver based Royal Indian raj international cooperation in a single real estate project named royal garden city in Bangalore over period of 10 years. The retail value of project was estimated to be around $ 8.9 billion.

Indiabulls real estate development has entered into agreement with dev property development, a company incorporated in Isle of Man, whereby dev got subscription to new shares and also minority shareholding the company. But in recent developments indiabulls have acquired entire stake in dev property development in a 138 million-pound sterling (10.9 billion ruppees) share-swap deal.

Apart from this real estate developments opens up opportunity for associated fields like home loans and insurance. A number of global have shown interest in this sector. This include companies like Cesma International from Singapore, American International Group Inc (AIG), High Point Rendel of the UK, Colony Capital and Brack Capital of the US, and Lee Kim Tah Holdings to name a few.
Following are names of some of the companies who have invested in India

International developer Country Investment
(US $ million)
Emmar properties Dubai 500
Ascendas Singapore 350
Salem & ciputra group Indonesia 350
GE commercial finance U.S 63
Tishman Speyer Properties U.S 300

Simultaneously many Indian retailers are entering into international markets through significant investments in foreign markets.

Embassy group has signed a deal with Serbian government to construct US $ 600 million IT park in Serbia.
Parsvanath developers is doing a project in Al – Hasan group in Oman
Puravankara developers are associated with project in Srilanka- a high end residential complex, comprising 100 villas.
Ansals API tied up with Malaysia’s UEM group to form a joint venture company, Ansal-API UEM contracts pvt ltd, which plans to bid for government contracts in Malaysia.
Kolkata’s south city project is working on two projects in Dubai.
On the eve of liberalization as India opens up market to foreign players there is tend to be competitive edge to give quality based performance for costumer satisfaction which will consequently bring in quality technology and transparency in the sector and ultimate winners are buyers of this situation.

However this never ending growth phase of reality sector has been hard hit by the global scenario from the beginning of 2008. Analyst say situation will prevail in near future, and latest buzz for the sector comes as a “slowdown”.

Sliding phase of the reality sector

In this present scenario of global slowdown, where stock markets are plunging, interest rates and prices are mounting, the aftermath of this can now also be felt on Indian real estate sector. Overall slowdown in demand can be witnessed all across India which is causing trouble for the major industry players. Correcting property prices and rentals are eroding away the market capitalization of many listed companies like dlf and unitech.

Fundaments behind slowdown…

Propetry prices move because of the basic principle of demand and supply
when demand is high and supply low prices will go up
When demand is low and supply high prices will go down.

For example let’s assume that somebody has bought a property for Rs X and he is trying to sell the property (say after a year), there can be three options, assumption being that the owner is in need of money and cannot wait for more than 3 months to sell the property.

1. When the property prices are gliding everywhere : now owner will try to add as much premium to the property as possible, in order to book profits, therefore he will wait for 3 months and sell off in last month at the highest bid. Where he ill get total of Rs X + Rs Y.
2. When property prices have stabilized: here owner will not be able to sell at premium and book profits due to market stabilization & since he don’t want to sell at a loss, he will try to get same amount he brought the property for. Where he’ll get total of Rs X = Rs Y
3. when property prices are going down : owner will try to sell the property at least profit or least cost. Therefore he ill get Rs X-RsY.

Reality deals in major cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad have shown enormous downfall from October 2007 – March 2008. The downfall had been cushioned by fall in stock markets as it put a stop for wealth creation, which leads to shortage of capital among investors to invest in real estate activities. Apart from this in order to offset their share losses many investors have no choice, but sell their real estate properties.

Other factors which have contributed to this slowdown are raising interest rates leading to higher costs. Due to this almost all the developers are facing serious liquidity crunch and facing difficulties in completing their ongoing projects. Situation seems to be so disastrous that most of the companies have reported 50-70% cash shortfall. The grade A developers which are facing cash crunch include DLF,MGF, Emmar, Shobha developers, Unitech, Omaxe, Parsvnath Developers, Hiranandani Group, Ansal API, BPTP Developers and TDI Group. As a outcome of this liquidity crunch many developers have started slowing down or even stopped construction of projects which are either in their initial stages of development or which would not effect their bottom line in near future.

Also with increasing input costs of steel iron and building material it has become it has become inviable for builders to construct properties at agreed prices. As a result there may be delays in completion of the project leading finical constraints.

At the same time IT industry which accounts for 70% of the total commercial is facing a slowdown. Many residential buyers are waiting for price correction before buying any property, which can effect development plans of the builder.

Aftermath of reality shock to other sectors

Cement industry hit by reality slowdown

The turbulence in the real estate sectors is passing on pains in cement industry also. It is being projected that growth rate of cement industry will drop down to 10% in current fiscal. The reasons behind such a contingency are higher input costs, low market valuations and scaled up capacity which are in turn leading to reduced demand in the industry. High inflation and mounting home loan rates have slowed down the growth flight of real estate sector which accounts for 60% of the total cement demand. The major expansion plans announced by major industries will further add to their misery as low market demand will significantly reduced their capacity utilization.
Setting up new facilities will impart additional capacities of 34 million tone and 45 million tone respectively in 2008-09 & 2009-10. This is likely to bring down capacity utilization in the industry down from current 101% to 82%. Even as it loses power to dictate prices, increased cost of power, fuel and freight will add pressure on input costs.

Ambuja Cements too is trading at a higher discount than previous down cycle, suggesting bottom valuations. However, replacement valuations for Madras Cements and India Cements indicate scope for further downslide when compared to their previous down cycle valuations.
All this has added to stagnation of the cement industry.

Dying reality advertising

The heat of reality ebb is also being felt by the advertising industry. It is being estimated that all major developers such as DLF, omaxe, ansals & parsvnath have decided to cut down on their advertising budget by around 5%. The advertising industry in India is estimated to be around 10,000 crore. This trend can be witnessed due to weakening spirits of potential buyers and real estate companies call it a reality check on their advertising budgets. A report from Adex India, a division of TAM Media Research, shows that the share of real estate advertisements in print media saw a drop of 2 percent during 2007 compared to 2006. According to Adex, the share of real estate advertisement in overall print and TV advertising last year was 4 percent and 1 percent, respectively. It’s a known fact that infrastructure and real estate companies are responsible for advertising industry maintaing double didgit growth rate. Therefore its understood that a recent slowdown in iindian reality sector has made things worse for advertising industry. The Adex report indicates that the top 10 advertisers shared an aggregate of 16 percent of overall ad volumes of real estate advertising in print during 2007. The list include names such as DLF Group, Parsvnath, Sahara, HDIL and Omaxe group. However, the real estate had maximum share in South India publications followed by North and West publications with 32% and 26% share, respectively, during 2007.

According to many advertising agencies consultants, this phenomenon is taking a toll as all real estate companies want a national foot print and also these companies are turning into professionals. Therefore they are setting standards when it comes to advertising to sales ratio.

Falling stock markets knock down reality stocks

Reality stocks have been hard hit by uncertainties prevailing in the stock market. The BSE reality index is the worst performer having shed 51% of its 52-week peak reached in reality. The BSE benchmark index has shed 24% since January. The country’s largest real estate firm DLF scrip lost 54% while unitech lost 64% from its peak. The scrips of Delhi bases parsvnath and omaxe have lost 68% each since January.

The sector is facing a major downfall in sales volume in most markets of the country. The speculators have exit the market and Mumbai and NCR, the biggest real estate markets in markets are cladding subdued sales. In Gurgaon and Noida, which had seen prices almost treble in four years, sales are down 70%, leading to a price correction of 10-20%.
Lets us have a look how major cities are affected by reality downfall.

Top 4 metros taking the lead – in slowdown

Delhi &NCR

While bears are ruling the stock market, the real estate sector in Delhi & NCR region has started facing departure of speculative investors from the market. According to these developers based in region the selling of flats has become very complicated at the launch stage due to lack of interest from the speculators. Developers attribute this to stability in prices against the past where prices were up surging on monthly basis. The scenario has changed so much in the present year that developers are now facing difficulty in booking flats which may delay their projects and reduce their pricing power for instance a year ago, if 100 flats were being sold in month at launch stage now it has come down 30-40 per month. Till mid 2007 speculators made quick money by booking multiple flats at launch of the project and exiting within few weeks or months. But now due to the stabilization of the property prices little scope is left for speculators to make money in short term. Therefore outcome is their retreat from the sector.

Mumbai

Mumbai real estate market, which witnessed huge increase in prices in recent years, which made the city to enter in the league of world’s most expensive cities, is now feeling the heat of slowdown. Property sales that have been growing at a clank of around 20% every year have been plumped by 17% in 2007-08.

Though slowdown news of property market in country’s financial capital has been much talked about, but it was first time that figures proved the extent of slowdown. Information about residential and commercial property sales from the stamp duty registration office show almost 12,000 fewer transactions during the last financial year compared to the year before. From April 2007 to March 2008, 62,595 flats were purchased in Mumbai as against 74,555 in 2006-07.
According to reality analyst sales volume can die out further in south as developers persist on holding to their steep prices and buyers anticipate a further fall with current rates beyond reach. They further add that market is on a corrective mode and downward trend is anticipated for another 12 months.

Between 1992-96, the market ran up the same way it did during 2003-07. Post-’96, the volumes dropped by 50%. This time again it is expected to drop substantially though not so steeply. The demand is now extremely sluggish and customers do not want to stick out their necks and transact at prevailing rates.Chennai in past few years we witnessed reality index gaining huge heights on BSE and it also impact could be felt allover India. Amongst them Chennai was no exception. With IT boom in past few years and pumping of money by NRI’s have led to prices touching skies. Chennai also witnessed a huge boom property prices over the last few years. However in past few months it has been facing slowdown in growth rate.

Following factors can be attributed to this:
This is one of the common factor prevailing all over India- rise in home loan interest rates, which has made it extremely difficult for a normal salaried person to be able to afford a house.
Depreciation of US dollar, which means NRI’s who were earlier pumping money into the real estate are now able to get less number of rupees per dollar they earn in US. Therefore many of them have altered their plans for buying house in India.
The Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) has imposed stricter norms for apartment construction and penalties for violations are more severe than before.
Failure of the legal system of chennai to prevent intrusion, forged documents and illegal construction has added to the problem as many NRI’S are hesitating to buy plots in chennai.
Apart from this tsunami of 2004 has shaken the confidence of many investors to invest in real estate.

However many analyst are quite bullish about this region. Especially in areas like old mahabalipuram, south Chennai etc because of numerous IT/ITES/ electronics/automobile companies are expected to set up their centers in these areas. Once these projects are complete and companies begin operations their, many people would like to live near to such areas and outcome will be boom in residential sector.

Bangalore

As discussed for above cities Bangalore is also dwindling between the similar scenarios. Bangalore seems to be in midst of low demand and supply. This trend is due to myopic developers, due to sudden growth in Bangalore in last few years, lot of builders have caught the opportunity of building residential houses thinking their will be lot of employment, increase in salaries and hence demand for housing. Past few years have been jovial for Bangalore as IT industry was doing well and banking and retail sectors were expanding.

However with this sudden economic slowdown, due to which Indian stocks markets are trembling, interest rates are high, jobs and recruitment put on freeze have led to cessation of investment in local property markets.

According to the developers real-estate industry of Bangalore has experienced a drop of about 15- 20% in transaction volumes. Adding to it grade A developers have faced a dropdown of 50% on monthly levels of booking compared to what they enjoyed in December 2007.

Future outlook

The real estate explosion in Indian real estate is due to by the burgeoning IT and BPO industries. The underlying reason for all these moves is that the Indian real estate is tremendously attractive, because of basic demographics and a supply shortage. Truly Indian real estate is having a dream run for last five years.

However in the current scenario Indian real estate market is going through a phase of correction in prices and there are exaggerated possibilities that these increased prices are likely to come down.
In this scenario hat will be the future course of this sector?

Many analyst are of view that tightening of India’s monetary policy, falling demand and growing liquidity concerns could have negative impact on profiles of real estate companies. Slowing down would also aid in the process of exit of some of the weaker entities from the market and increasing the strength of some of the established developers. A prolonged slowdown could also reduce the appetite of private equity.

Its also been projected that large development plans and aggressive land purchases have led to a considerable increase in the financial leverage (debt/EBITDA) of most developers, with the smaller players now being exposed to liquidity pressures for project execution as well as a general slowdown in property sales. Property developers hit by falling sales and liquidity issues would need to reduce list prices to enhance demand, but many still seem to be holding on to the asking price – which, would delay the process of recovering demand and increase the risk of liquidity pressures.
It was being witnessed that before the slowdown phase the projects were being sold without any hook at an extravagant rate. But at present negative impact is highly visible as lot of high end projects are still lying unsold. In such a scenario, there may be blessing in disguise as high profile speculators will be out making way for the actual users.

But here also sector faces trouble as correction in prices has been accompanied by increase in home loan rates by the banks which have led to erosion of purchasing power of middle and upper middle class majority of whom are covered in the category of end users or actual users.
Therefore for future of real estate sector analyst call for a wait and watch method to grab the best opportunity with the hope of reduction in loan rates.

Author: Manish Marwah
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Guest blogger

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No Load Mutual Funds: Investment Hype vs. Investment Help

May 29

Posted by Ulli G. Niemann in mutual fund, stocks, strategies | No Comments

With the internet such a huge part of our daily lives, many investors have access to a wide range of instant investment information.

Whether youre into stocks, bonds, mutual funds, futures or options, there are tons of electronic investment newsletters offering to turn your small stake into a giant fortune. All you need to do is subscribe and watch your portfolio soar.

Yeah, right!

As a practicing investment advisor specializing in no load mutual funds, I have received my share of e-mails from disillusioned subscribers wanting to know how to better evaluate newsletter services.

While there are no absolutes, I can give you a few pointers that might help you make a better decision:

1. Stay away from the most obvious hype. Ads promising to turn your $10,000 into $1 million in 2 years by buying this incredible stock or hot commodity are not promoting investing they are selling gambling. Follow the “If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is” rule.

2. Most mutual fund newsletters wont make those outlandish claims, but some of them are still pushing the truth as far as they can. So try to get a free issue or two to examine. If you can’t get a sample, check if they have a trial period? How about a money back guarantee? If not, pay with your credit card. These days youre pretty well protected by this payment method even if the newsletter doesn’t offer a satisfaction guarantee.

3. Consider the editor as well as the disclaimer notes. Is he or she only publishing a newsletter? Or is he also an investment advisor with a practice?

Why would that last point matter? I may be biased, but I believe that you get far better advice from a writer who also is in the trenches every day investing their own as well as their clients portfolios. They would have far better insights as to what works and what doesnt than someone who has the theory down but no practical experience.

4. Look at the investment recommendations. Are they suggesting you buy into a certain orientation such as mid cap, small cap or large value? Or are they picking specific investments based on a variety of technical indicators?

In my no-load mutual fund practice I use specific recommendations, even for my free newsletter subscribers. They are first based on my trend tracking indicator giving us the green light and secondarily on the selection of mutual funds based on momentum analysis.

The more specific the recommendations, the better, because that allows you to follow along either just on paper (which you should do at first) or with your actual portfolio.

5. Are they recommending when to sell a mutual fund either because of gains or to limit your losses? This to me is the most important issue. If there is no plan in place for getting out, how will you ever know when to sell? This has been the greatest downfall of most publishers (and investors!) since the bear market of 2000 not selling even if market conditions dictate it would be in your best interest to do so.

The advice of most newsletter services can make you money in bull markets. However, with the continuation of the bear market still a distinct possibility; be sure to look at any newsletter’s investment advice record since 2000.

For many people investing is an emotional issue. The pendulum swings between fear of loss and greed for greater returns. If a complete methodology for buying and selling is offered in a newsletter, such as one I advocate, be sure that it fits your emotional make up.

There is no sense in following an investment approach, which may have merits, if it means sleepless nights for you. You wont stick with it for the long term and long-term investing is essential for making your portfolio grow and prosper.

So, the bottom line is to look for a newsletter that:

  • does not promise the moon,
  • has a track record through up and down markets, and
  • recommends an approach that not only is compatible for your investment style but also has an exit strategy so you can capitalize on your gains — in the bank, not only on paper.

Following these guidelines may not make you rich, but it will help you avoid some bad advice.

Author: Ulli G. Niemann
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
Provided by: Excise Tax

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