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How To Pay Off Your Student Loan Before You Graduate

Here are the HARD facts that most college graduates will be facing after school.

Not having a job or not having the job that they want, because the days of graduating from school and staying with the same company are dead and over.

“Most college graduates will have up to 3 careers or more in their lifetime”.

Well, at least that is what the economists out there are projecting.

With that being the case.

I would recommend you to start your entrepreneur career while in school.

You can start an online business or side business right out of your dormitory room and work on it around your class schedule and then turn that business into a cash cow for YOU.

Which you can then use to pay off your student loan.

I mean, you would think this would be a no-brainer for most college students but you would be thinking wrong.

Most of them are too busy using these 4 years away from home to party like crazy and follow the crowd!!

The other thing is you can use this experience to get the job that you want before you graduate.

Okay, now let’s get into a few business models.

These are just the outlines for each one.

You will have to adopt, adapt and expand on the one that you choose, and make sure that you do some research and model your business after other great businesses that are in your market.

Don’t try to re-invent the wheel.

Learn from other businesses’ mistakes and test out ideas that you think may work for your own sales funnel.

The business models are.

1). Reverse e-commerce.

This is when you set up a site or use eBay and list items that you think may sales.

First step.

You take quality pictures and list the item.

If and when they sell, you then go back and buy the item and ship it to the buyer.

This is a great way to do business because you don’t need any inventory.

This will give you the freedom to test out the market in your niche and see what is selling.

2). eBook business model.

This is when you write up a pdf and format it into an eBook with graphics.

Keep in mind though, you don’t need to create anything if you don’t want to.

Of course.

If you have a passion for an idea, try to create an eBook around that passion.

And if not.

You could just interview an expert and then turn that interview into not only into an eBook, but also an actual book and an audio product.

So, you could end up with a home study course or a membership site and earn monthly passive income from it.

Those are just 2 business model you can use and start from your very own dormitory room.

The great thing about both of these business model ideas is that you don’t need that much money to get started.

Now, can you see how this could and should work?

I would like to stress to you guys… really think about using this idea to pay off your student loan and at the same time build a successful online business!

Small Business Loan Update – Stimulus Bill Helps Bailout Businesses If They Cannot Pay Loans

As we continue to sift dutifully through the over 1,000 pages of the stimulus bill (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009), there is one provision that is not getting much attention, but could be very helpful to small businesses. If you are a small business and have received an SBA loan from your local banker, but are having trouble making payments, you can get a “stabilization loan”. That’s right; finally some bailout money goes into the hands of the small business owner, instead of going down the proverbial deep hole of the stock market or large banks. But don’t get too excited. It is limited to very specific instances and is not available for vast majority of business owners.

There are some news articles that boldly claim the SBA will now provide relief if you have an existing business loan and are having trouble making the payments. This is not a true statement and needs to be clarified. As seen in more detail in this article, this is wrong because it applies to troubled loans made in the future, not existing ones.

Here is how it works. Assume you were one of the lucky few that find a bank to make a SBA loan. You proceed on your merry way but run into tough economic times and find it hard to repay. Remember these are not conventional loans but loans from an SBA licensed lender that are guaranteed for default by the U.S. government through the SBA (depending upon the loan, between 50% and 90%). Under the new stimulus bill, the SBA might come to your rescue. You will be able to get a new loan which will pay-off the existing balance on extremely favorable terms, buying more time to revitalize your business and get back in the saddle. Sound too good to be true? Well, you be the judge. Here are some of the features:

1. Does not apply to SBA loans taken out before the stimulus bill. As to non-SBA loans, they can be before or after the bill’s enactment.

2. Does it apply to SBA guaranteed loans or non-SBA conventional loans as well? We don’t know for sure. This statute simply says it applies to a “small business concern that meets the eligibility standards and section 7(a) of the Small Business Act” (Section 506 (c) of the new Act). That contains pages and pages of requirements which could apply to both types of loans. Based on some of the preliminary reports from the SBA, it appears it applies to both SBA and non-SBA loans.

3. These monies are subject to availability in the funding of Congress. Some think the way we are going with our Federal bailout, we are going be out of money before the economy we are trying to save.

4. You don’t get these monies unless you are a viable business. Boy, you can drive a truck through that phrase. Our friends at the SBA will determine if you are “viable” (imagine how inferior you will be when you have to tell your friends your business was determined by the Federal government to be “non-viable” and on life support).

5. You have to be suffering “immediate financial hardship”. So much for holding out making payments because you’d rather use the money for other expansion needs. How many months you have to be delinquent, or how close your foot is to the banana peel of complete business failure, is anyone’s guess.

6. It is not certain, and commentators disagree, as to whether the Federal government through the SBA will make the loan from taxpayers’ dollars or by private SBA licensed banks. In my opinion it is the latter. It carries a 100% SBA guarantee and I would make no sense if the government itself was making the loan.

7. The loan cannot exceed $35,000. Presumably the new loan will be “taking out” or refinancing the entire balance on the old one. So if you had a $100,000 loan that you have been paying on time for several years but now have a balance of $35,000 and are in trouble, boy do we have a program for you. Or you might have a smaller $15,000 loan and after a short time need help. The law does not say you have to wait any particular period of time so I guess you could be in default after the first couple of months.

8. You can use it to make up no more than six months of monthly delinquencies.

9. The loan will be for a maximum term of five years.

10. The borrower will pay absolutely no interest for the duration of the loan. Interest can be charged, but it will be subsidized by the Federal government.

11. Here’s the great part. If you get one of these loans, you don’t have to make any payments for the first year.

12. There are absolutely no upfront fees allowed. Getting such a loan is 100% free (of course you have to pay principal and interest after the one year moratorium).

13. The SBA will decide whether or not collateral is required. In other words, if you have to put liens on your property or residence. My guess is they will lax as to this requirement.

14. You can get these loans until September 30, 2010.

15. Because this is emergency legislation, within 15 days after signing the bill, the SBA has to come up with regulations.

Here is a summary of the actual legislative language if you are having trouble getting to sleep:

SEC. 506. BUSINESS STABILIZATION PROGRAM. (a) IN GENERAL- Subject to the availability of appropriations, the Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall carry out a program to provide loans on a deferred basis to viable (as such term is determined pursuant to regulation by the Administrator of the Small Business Administration) small business concerns that have a qualifying small business loan and are experiencing immediate financial hardship.

(b) ELIGIBLE BORROWER- A small business concern as defined under section 3 of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 632).

(c) QUALIFYING SMALL BUSINESS LOAN- A loan made to a small business concern that meets the eligibility standards in section 7(a) of the Small Business Act (15 U.S.C. 636(a)) but shall not include loans guarantees (or loan guarantee commitments made) by the Administrator prior to the date of enactment of this Act.

(d) LOAN SIZE- Loans guaranteed under this section may not exceed $35,000.

(e) PURPOSE- Loans guaranteed under this program shall be used to make periodic payment of principal and interest, either in full or in part, on an existing qualifying small business loan for a period of time not to exceed 6 months.

(f) LOAN TERMS- Loans made under this section shall:

(1) carry a 100 percent guaranty; and

(2) have interest fully subsidized for the period of repayment.

(g) REPAYMENT- Repayment for loans made under this section shall–

(1) be amortized over a period of time not to exceed 5 years; and

(2) not begin until 12 months after the final disbursement of funds is made.

(h) COLLATERAL- The Administrator of the Small Business Administration may accept any available collateral, including subordinated liens, to secure loans made under this section.

(i) FEES- The Administrator of the Small Business Administration is prohibited from charging any processing fees, origination fees, application fees, points, brokerage fees, bonus points, prepayment penalties, and other fees that could be charged to a loan applicant for loans under this section.

(j) SUNSET- The Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall not issue loan guarantees under this section after September 30, 2010.

(k) EMERGENCY RULEMAKING AUTHORITY- The Administrator of the Small Business Administration shall issue regulations under this section within 15 days after the date of enactment of this section. The notice requirements of section 553(b) of title 5, United States Code shall not apply to the promulgation of such regulations.

The real question is whether a private bank will loan under this program. Unfortunately, few will do so because the statute very clearly states that no fees whatsoever can be charged, and how can a bank make any money if they loan under those circumstances. Sure, they might make money in the secondary market, but that is dried up, so they basically are asked to make a loan out of the goodness of their heart. On a other hand, it carries a first ever 100% government guarantee so the bank’s know they will be receiving interest and will have no possibility of losing a single dime. Maybe this will work after all.

But there is something else that would be of interest to a bank. In a way, this is a form of Federal bailout going directly to small community banks. They have on their books loans that are in default and they could easily jump at the chance of being able to bail them out with this program. Especially if they had not been the recipients of the first TARP monies. Contrary to public sentiment, most of them did not receive any money. But again, this might not apply to that community bank. Since they typically package and sell their loans within three to six months, it probably wouldn’t even be in default at that point. It would be in the hands of the secondary market investor.

So is this good or bad for small businesses? Frankly, it’s good to see that some bailout money is working its way toward small businesses, but most of them would rather have a loan in the first place, as opposed help when in default. Unfortunately, this will have a limited application.

Wouldn’t it be better if we simply expanded our small business programs so more businesses could get loans? How about the SBA creating a secondary market for small business loans? I have a novel idea: for the moment forget about defaults, and concentrate on making business loans available to start-ups or existing businesses wanting to expand.

How about having a program that can pay off high interest credit card balances? There is hardly a business out there that has not been financing themselves lately through credit cards, simply because banks are not making loans. It is not unusual for people to have $50,000 plus on their credit cards, just to stay afloat. Talk about saving high interest. You can imagine how much cash flow this would give a small business.

We should applaud Congress for doing their best under short notice to come up with this plan. Sure this is a form of welcome bailout for small businesses, but I believe it misses the mark as to the majority of the 27 million business owners that are simply looking for a loan they can repay, as opposed to a handout.

Markup – Pricing Your Services When Customers Want to Pay Less Than You Do!

After 35 years of running a marketing business, one thing still bothers me. Markup! It seems and has always seemed to be a concept of deceit: camouflaging the true price of your service in order to make a profit at the expense of your customer. And customers don’t like it one bit!

One need only glance at the daily headlines. “Obscene profits on Wall Street continue to miff the public.” “Oil company profits at record highs while the consumer is suffering at the pump.” “Big business profits outrageous during the never-ending recession.” The average person does not condone big profits in business when they are struggling to put food on the table, not to mention losing their homes to foreclosure.

So how do these businesses make such enormous profits? Price markup is one way. Charging customers more than they paid for what they are selling. Is that fair? As an accepted practice in business, it apparently is.

But in my experience with primarily small business owners, markup is a dirty word. My clients demand to know what I am paying for services I offer them. They don’t seem to mind paying me a fair rate (translation: a very low price) for services I provide from my own resources. This includes creative services like design, writing, composition, etc. of ads, websites, brochures, etc. However, if I am providing a service that involves an outside vendor for which I am being charged a price, my customers want to know what that price is and not pay a penny more for it than I do. Hence, no markup allowed!

That doesn’t give me much room to make a profit since the paltry charges for my creative services can hardly cover my overhead in this economy. But the ironic part of this is that the outside services I provide to my clients have also all been hit hard by current economic conditions, not to mention stiff competition, the changing business landscape and general hard times, forcing them to cut prices to the bone, making it virtually impossible for me to mark them up.

If I am buying printing for a customer’s brochures, my customer can get on the Internet and glance at the average prices being charged by hundreds of national printers, all of whom are bidding against each other for the limited printing business which still exists in this Internet age. So when my customer learns what price I propose to charge for his job, he can assess whether I have tried to pull the wool over his eyes and charge him some marked-up amount to make a profit on him.

Maybe he’ll let a small markup slide, but I feel like I’ve committed a crime against humanity, and suffer enormous guilt for doing so. How dare I deceive him into paying some minuscule markup just to pad my pocketbook?!! Where is the justification in that, he probably wonders, losing respect for me in the process.

Well, I can defend why we have markup. For one thing, it has taken me arduous research to find the best quality and price; hours of careful, knowledgeable effort to prepare the document to meet the parameters of the service I decide to use; a lifetime of business experience to be able to judge which printer to use and whether price should be the final determining factor in my decision; and finally, risk of job liability and client loss should the printer fail to perform his role satisfactorily. Yes, it’s my neck on the line, not my customer’s!

Time is money and everything I do for my clients takes my time, a lot of it. Isn’t that worth something? Apparently not, to most of my disgruntled clients, who are struggling on their end with the same disturbing circumstances! Almost nonexistent profits with increasing overhead. It’s not easy for anyone. So I don’t blame them for their suspicions and irritations. Yet, reality dictates that I must make a profit to stay in business.

While printing is one service that cannot bear a significant markup, there are plenty of others I offer which also are in the same boat. Mailing lists and mailing services! Domain registration and website hosting! Stock photography! Advertising!…to name just a few. These are all services which have so much competition for that coveted limited business that they in turn can only charge a pittance for what they sell. So there is virtually no room for me to charge a markup. Yet using such services requires endless investment of my time on behalf of my customers.

How? Let’s look at each one separately. My customer wants to reach a certain segment of the marketplace to present his offerings. I need to get him a traditional mailing list or perhaps an emailing list to approach that market. If the piece will be printed and mailed, I will have to strive for list quantities which will be manageable within his printing and mailing budget and offer a return on investment given expected response rates. So, with the help of a list representative, I begin the process of suggesting avenues to reach our goal by posing geographic limitations, industry sectors, commercial or residential targets, etc. This usually results in lists which are either too large to consider or too small to waste the effort on. So the process continues with parameters tweaked to try to come to a workable resolution.

In the case of stock photography, my customer and probably most of the world believes I will do nothing to deserve any justification for a marked-up price. Yet, there are hundreds of stock photo houses all with different ways to utilize their services, not to mention choosing from archives of rights-managed and royalty-free samples with strict regulations about usage and plenty of liability as the purchasing agent. And, what exactly are we looking for? Is my client an expert in assessing what kind of visual we need to present the right marketing image and communicate his message effectively? Usually not, which is why I am in the picture to begin with. Then, trying to access the available choices within a certain subject requires skill in proposing effective search terms, and concludes with having the aesthetic sensibilities and marketing savvy to wade through endless possibilities, narrow the search down to the few that can be considered the best to use…and then make that final choice, pay for it and download a huge file to work with effectively in his project. How many hours, days and years of my experience were tapped to perform this service? Countless! Yet, it is dubious I will be able to add any markup at all. And if I do, it will have to be infinitesimal!

And that doesn’t even take into account that most of my clients would rather try to take their own photos on less-than-optimal digital cameras or cell phones with poor resolution which necessitates that I perform digital enhancement services to try to correct a multitude of problems for which they expect I will not charge them anything.

Domain registration and hosting services? These are priced so competitively nowadays, companies are practically giving them away. (And in some cases… are!) Yet, the customers who need me to perform these services haven’t a clue about where to go, how much to pay, what is available, what they need, what is involved in the decision, how long it takes to perform the research, navigate the convoluted websites, set up the many aspects of each to implement them, keep them up and running all year despite problems with servers I have no control over, etc….but they are sure of one thing. Their friend or relative has told them that they are being overcharged.

Finally, traditional media like newspapers, magazines, radio and TV are eking out a living by the skin of their teeth, offering advertising rates so low they are embarrassing to divulge here. And unlike the domain businesses, they can’t even give it away. So much for the possibility of markup.

In articles I have read on markup, accountants have discussed the concept of “profit margin.” This involves applying a certain percentage to your cost in order to guarantee you will generate enough revenue to cover your overhead and net an acceptable business profit in the process. How neat.

In my reality, profit margin is a concept I’d throw out the window. I have to examine what prices the market will bear based on what my competition is charging and what my customer is willing (or able) to spend.

I have found that the best way to attract a new client into a long-term website relationship is to offer the domain registration and hosting for free for the first year because after that it is usually too mind-boggling for them to try to extract themselves from what has been set up, especially if they fear that the success of their website may be in jeopardy. But this may not work with every client and it is important to stipulate a multi-year contract so that they don’t opt out after the first free year.

I’ve also toyed with the idea of offering my creative services in conjunction with other services included as a package deal. But every client’s needs are different and they still compare whatever price I quote with a price my competition may have quoted whether we are comparing apples and oranges or not! And, as I’ve said previously, if any other services are expected, they want to know exactly what I am paying for those services.

You may ask why I let my clients push me around like that. When you are dealing one on one with a business owner who has confided in you about every aspect of his business in order to have you strategize marketing solutions for his benefit, direct questions about price sometimes become unavoidable. Since I don’t consider my clients my adversaries, I try to be as truthful as I can with them in order to build their trust in my judgment. Our collaboration and success together is the heart and soul of our business relationship. I cannot deny them the right to ask questions about cost. Even if they are my costs. They ultimately are our costs.

As for markup, I don’t like the way it makes me feel but if I can get away with it, I have to try to apply it in any situation that can handle it, as inconspicuously as possible, keeping my fingers crossed that no questions will come up. It is part of business survival that every business owner must use and therefore must understand. But to this business owner, it still seems deceitful and dishonest.

Students Guide To Making Money To Pay Student Fees Without Student Loan Consolidation

Student loans are a major factor in making students get in debt, just to have a good education. Student debt consolidation can make the problem worse, as you keep adding debts. Another alternative is to use your own initiative by bootstrapping and making your own business to pay for your tuition fees.

So, you want to leave the student loan consolidation, and find alternatives to pay for your tuition fees. Paying your student tuition fees without the need of student loan consolidation is possible, when you take a look at what is available to you. As you are reading this likely online, then I will focus on online methods, as the internet is a great place to start a project which can pay your student tuition fees, your student loan, and hopefully provide you a long term nest egg.

Now you may be thinking that starting your own business would be a costly venture marked with loads of risk. You are absolutely right, if you want a McDonald’s franchise, but what we are looking for is something small that has potential to grow, depending on how much time you invest into this.

Even with only a few hundred dollars, you could soon be on your way to not needing a student loan consolidation loan; you could even start with no money! Now, you may be wondering how is it possible to not get a student loan consolidation loan and be able to pay your student tuition fees.

First we need to take stock of your abilities, and here is where an important key will come in. Consider what you are good at, maybe it is a subject you are studying, maybe it is your passion or your hobby.

The areas we will focus on are eBay, Affiliate Marketing, and Freelancing. All these options are easy to get into, and with consistent effort, can bring you many rewards. Let us begin by looking at an example – a student who likes to DJ. In this example this person could sell on eBay DJ products, music or many other items. As an affiliate marketer you could do the same thing, but with your own web site, and with freelancing, you could make music or mix music for people who need music made.

You may be wondering what is all of these different options, you may have heard of eBay or you may not, you may have heard of affiliate marketing or you may have not. I will cover these so you can get a firm grip of how important they can be to pay student tuition fees, and also cut out the need to get a student loan consolidation program in effect.

eBay to cut out getting student loan consolidation loans:

eBay is an online auction platform. Each day millions of dollars worth of products are sold all across the world through eBay’s auction platform. The best way to cut out the need to get a student loan consolidation just to fund your new venture, is to look at old things you no longer need. You could sell old things you do not need, then you could find wholesalers or suppliers selling what you want to sell. You make a mark up (your profit – costs), and continue to do, and increase profits (part of which can be used to mitigate the need of student loan consolidation loans).

Affiliate Marketing to cut out getting student loan consolidation loans:

Affiliate marketing is similar to selling on eBay, the only difference, is that you are promoting a product which someone else sells and delivers, and pays you commission. This makes starting this project very easily to cut out the need for extra student loans or student loan consolidation loans. Though be aware that you will need to learn about online marketing and find the right formula that works for you.

Freelancing to cut out getting student loan consolidation loans:

Freelancing is pretty easy to get started in. For one, you do not need to have money in most cases to get started. If you have an experience or are studying a subject, you may have knowledge and skills which others would be willing to pay you for your time. eLance and other websites allow you to put up your details, and bid for jobs. These jobs can easily be worked around your busy student life schedule! It can also be a great way to earn money, some people even find that it pays a full times salary, depending on how much time you put in.

There are many ways to get started to earn money, and reduce the need for student loan consolidation loans. So many students today get into debts which could take over a decade to pay back. By taking your own initiative, and with calculated risk, you could easily get into a position that gives yourself a life long enjoyable career. Debt into wealth!