Bell-bottoms and boot-cut styles will appear in U.S. stores this spring. Many apparel watchers predict the eventual demise of the skinny that has spurred both adoration and revulsion. Women who hate skinny jeans can rejoice this spring when the extra-tight denim that has dominated the market for more than two years makes way for wide-leg cuts.
Wider-leg jeans made an appearance this week at the magicapparel trade show, the twice-annual Las Vegas pilgrimage where retail buyers place orders for the newest looks.
Jeans makers are looking for something new to entice shoppers who have proven scarce at the check-out line since the recession.
The move comes as jeans as a category will lessen in importance this spring, experts said. Khakis and corduroy pants are expected to steal the focus, said vendors.
True religion Brand Jeans is increasing the amount of non-denim apparel in its line to between 30 percent to 40 percent, from about 5 percent last year.
“Denim has slowed down dramatically. She doesn’t want to buy more jeans,” said Oscar Feldenkreis, president and chief operating officer of Perry Ellis, speaking of the female shopper. “And the jeggings trend has slowed down.”Jeggings, or leggings designed to emulate the tightest jeans, have been popular this past year across a variety of retailers, from high-end Bloomingdale’s to discounter Wal-Mart Stores.Despite the trends shifting to a wider look, some retailers are nervous so vendors will continue to make skinny and other styles to offer a range of options, jeans makers said.”(Retailers) are seeing it in the trend reports, they’re very curious, but they’re not really booking it heavily yet,” said Hala Jbara, director of marketing for Pepe Jeans. “They’re more willing to try boot cuts.”That fear of the unknown is also evident in a wealth of recycled styles on display on the trade show floor where distressed leggings and tops, military-inspired pants and jackets or the ubiquitous graphic T-shirt jockey for attention.
About the Author
FOTD & OOTD Late summer: ZARA, Pepe jeans, Primark
Are you looking to find great prices on Joan of Arctic boots? Then you’ve come to the right place. With each passing day, the temperature drops a little bit more and more. Whether we like it or not, winter will soon be here. That’s why thousands of women are already on the hunt for Sorel Boots. They, too, want to find these fabulous boots at a discount price.
Joan of Arctic boots by Sorel are as functional as they are fashionable. With their faux fur cuff and buckle lacing, they keep your feet snug and warm, all the while making you look good. Designed to be cold weather performance boots, these boots are rated for temperatures reaching negative 25 degrees below zero. These boots offer excellent traction with waterproof rubber outsoles. Their square lug pattern allows you to keep steady footing even on ice.
These boots are perfect for those who want to enjoy the outdoors while looking urban chic. Paired with your favorite pair of leggings or blue jeans, these boots will make you look extraordinary.
But Where Can I Find These Boots on Sale?
These boots are sold at a number of online retailers. But scouring the internet can sometimes be overwhelming. Finding the best deal doesn’t just mean finding the lowest price. It also means finding retailers who offer free shipping, free returns and offer hassle free customer service. save both time and money by utilizing an online resource that does the research for you. This well help you make sure you are purchasing your boots from a reputable company who will offer you the best value and ensure you are a satisfied customer.
Bestselling AICPA CPE Self-study Courses– March 2008
Avoiding Circular 230 Malpractice Traps and Common Abusive Small business Hot Spots, by Sid Kess
Author/Moderator: Lance Wallach, CLU, CHFC,
Publisher: AICPA
Excerpts have been taken from this book about:
Senior Abuses
The following example is unfortunately not an isolated incident of an abusive sales practice. If accountants were consulted more often by their clients, maybe the following would never happen.
Senior citizen clients thought they had every reason to trust Mr. Sell BigPolicy as a financial counselor. The insurance agent had obtained a designation recognizing him as WE DO NOT WANT TO MENTION THE NAME Senior Advisor. He obtained this designation in 2002, a credential he made sure to advertise on fliers sent to retirees.
He did not mention how easy it had been to get that title.
He had paid $1,095 for a correspondence course, then took a multiple-choice exam with questions like, “marketing can best be described as:” (The answer: “The process or technique of promoting the sale or distribution of a product or service.”) Like more than 18,700 other applicants since 1997, he passed.
insurance companies, eager for sales representatives, embraced Mr. Sell Bigpolicy, as they have thousands of other newly credentialed advisors.
The following year, multiple insurers paid him commissions totaling $720,000 as his business with retirees soared.
But many of those sales came from steering older Americans into unwise investments, regulators contend in a lawsuit.
Mr. Sell Bigpolicy denies all wrongdoing, but one of his clients – a 73-year-old widow caring for a son with Down syndrome – said he tricked her into buying complicated insurance contracts that left her unable to pay dental and home repair bills.
“His office was filled with things saying he was certified to help seniors,” said that client. “The only one he really helped was himself.”
Taking care of the finances of older Americans is a huge and potentially lucrative field, and the market is growing. Attracted by this market, many financial planners have shifted their focus to it – and bring widely varying attitudes and professional training to the consultation table. Training and certification in financial gerontology is now being offered by at least four groups.
The Securities and Exchange Commission does not regulate these groups – or any other groups that provide financial planning certification, for that matter. “The S.E.C. does not endorse any professional designation,” said Susan Wyderko, director of the office of investor education of the S.E.C.
The absence of government supervision is a problem, said Stephen Brobeck, executive director of the Consumer Federation of America. “There’s an opportunity for fraud,” he said, adding that older people need to be very careful about whom they trust for advice.
Regardless of any planner’s credentials, the S.E.C. and consumer organizations say the best approach is “buyers beware.”
Investors can learn how to check the background of a financial planner, including any disciplinary actions, at the S.E.C.’s website, www.sec.gov. Such background checks, along with a discussion about an advisor’s approach to investing, are well advised before signing up with a planner.
“We see too many investors who might have avoided trouble,” Ms. Wyderko of the S.E.C. said, “had they asked basic questions right from the start.”
Mr. Sell Bigpolicy is one of tens of thousands of financial advisers working hand-in-hand with insurance companies to market themselves to older Americans using impressive sounding credentials.
Many of these titles can be earned in just a few days from businesses concerned only with the bottom line and sound similar to established credentials that require years of study, difficult tests and extensive background checks.
Many graduates of these short programs say they only want to help older Americans. But they are frequently dispensing financial counsel that they are not qualified to offer, advocates for the elderly say. And thousands of them are paid by some of the country’s largest insurance companies to sell elderly clients complicated investments that some economists say most retirees should never own.
More than two dozen such programs now exist, and have enrolled more than 39,000 people over the last decade.
But some of the existing programs, which are often linked to insurance companies, have taught agents to use abusive sales techniques, regulators say.
Some insurers have been listed as sponsors at seminars with names like the Million Dollar Academy, where thousands of sales representatives were advised to scare retirees by saying, “I am all that stands between you and potential catastrophic loss.” Other seminars instructed agents to “drive a wedge” between retirees and their established advisors.
“The insurers are happy to turn a blind eye to what salesmen are doing, as long as they make a sale,” said Minnesota’s attorney general, Lori Swanson, who is suing several companies, contending that their products are at best inappropriate, and possibly worse.
Insurance companies say they investigate the backgrounds of all agents, screen all sales to consumers to make sure they are appropriate, and have terminated representatives using improper sales methods. Those companies said they were not aware of abusive methods taught at any seminar they endorsed.
Some insurance companies say that they do not tolerate misrepresentation.
Another insurance company, in a statement, said “Any evidence of sales agent misconduct, without exception, results in immediate termination.”
Nonetheless, complaints over sales of insurance products have soared. In particular, grievances have stemmed from annuity sales. Obviously, occasionally a buyer of a product buys it without a full understanding of the product. If the product does not perform as expected, possibly because the stock market went down, the buyer may have a selective memory failure. The buyer can then complain to the insurance company, among other places. If the salesperson sold in good faith, and the product was appropriate, sometimes the buyer may still have recourse. Is this fair?
Over one third of all cases of financial exploitation of the elderly involve annuities, according to the North American Securities Administrators Association, a regulatory group [EM1]. Hundreds of lawsuits have been filed against insurers over annuity sales to the elderly. A judge in Minnesota ruled in 2007 that just one class action suit against a large insurance company could encompass as many as 400,000 plaintiffs. Do all of the plaintiffs deserve to be compensated? Who ends up with much of the money if the lawsuit is won? If you do not know the answer to the last question, ask yourself if it is a coincidence that huge class action litigation attracts prestigious large law firms like a picnic does flies.
In interviews, sales agents who have been accused of wrongdoing invariably say that they followed the guidance of insurance companies.
But consider, for example, that the vast majority of annuity sales do not offer immediate payouts. Instead, they require buyers to wait as long as 10 years to begin receiving benefits. Such contracts, known as deferred annuities, made up 97% of all annuity sales last year.
Deferred annuities, however, offer sales agents the richest commissions, which is one reason so many of them are sold every year, regulators say. Selling a $100,000 deferred annuity, for example, typically earns a sales representative $9,000, though buyers are sometimes prohibited from touching much of their money for 10 years without incurring penalties. No-load annuities, may feature little or no commission, and may not have penalties. Annuities with shorter tie ups carry much smaller commissions.
In summation, if it is true that sales agents who push large deferred annuities with long tie up periods are only following company guidance, that may be as negative a commentary on the companies as on the agents.
“An annuity that pays a fixed immediate income offers seniors a lot of security,” said Jean Setzfand, director of financial security with AARP. “But a deferred annuity is almost always a bad idea for a retiree.”
Those concerns, however, have not stopped many insurance agents from aggressively selling deferred annuities.
Some of those agents have been trained by organizations that require only a few days of classroom instruction.
For instance, the 1,200 people who have enrolled in a different senior adviser program spent only four days in a classroom, according to a spokesman.
The organization which gave Mr. Sell Bigpolicy his credentials is a for-profit company that has trained 24,000 enrollees since it was started in 1997.
The company that gave Mr. Sell Bigpolicy his designation has a course that lasts three and a half days, according to recent participants, and includes uplifting lectures, overviews on the sociology of aging and exercises including peering through vision-blurring lenses to get a sense of how some clients’ eyesight can falter.
Regulatory authorities tend to be ultra critical of these programs.
“There are limitless phrases being coined to convey an expertise in senior finances,” said Massachusetts securities regulator William F. Galvin. “Most of them seem designed to trick seniors into listening to swindlers.”
Most insurance salespeople are honorable and are not swindlers. As in most lines of work, however, not everyone is honorable and does the correct thing.
A representative for the organization said the program’s courses and questions were written and evaluated by experts. In a statement, the company said its training was intended to supplement, not substitute for, professional credentials and education. The organization began asking titleholders in March to disclose to potential clients that designation alone does not imply expertise in financial, health or social matters.
Despite that disclaimer, the company has trained thousands of insurance agents and other financial advisors. And about 100 companies, many of them insurers, endorse the designation, said a spokesman for the group.
Soon after Mr. Sell Bigpolicy received his designation, Mr. Sell Bigpolicy started displaying it in ads and on letters inviting retirees to seminars over free chicken lunches, according to Massachusetts regulators.
At those meetings, Mr. Sell Bigpolicy told retirees that they were perilously close to financial calamity, according to Massachusetts regulators and attendees. He warned them that the stock market’s ability to offset inflation was “a big lie,” according to documents collected by those regulators. Banks contained “weapons of mass destruction,” read one handout.
But annuities, Mr. Sell Bigpolicy noted, offered guaranteed returns, attendees said. At the time, he was authorized to sell annuities offered by more than two dozen insurance companies, state records show.
Mr. Sell Bigpolicy’s script, Massachusetts regulators say, used materials from another training company that had more than a dozen insurers as “partners” or “carriers” on the company’s web site.
There are a few dozen companies, like the training company in question, that teach sales agents how to find retirees willing to buy annuities.
Some insurance companies say they endorse only training programs that are committed to ethical sales tactics and that their support is often limited to providing speakers or marketing materials. But they acknowledge that they cannot always police how agents present themselves.
Dozens of lawsuits against insurers contend that those companies failed to adequately supervise sales agents who sold inappropriate annuities to aging clients and then did not act when buyers complained.
Some insurers, in court filings and interviews, say they spend millions of dollars supervising sales agents and investigating consumer complaints.
Some insurance companies, and some state regulators, have changed the rules governing how annuity sales agents can behave.
This year, Massachusetts prohibited most financial advisers from using some titles unless they were recognized by an accreditation organization or the state. In 2007, two of the largest insurers told sales agents they could not use the designation of WE DO NOT WANT TO MENTION THE NAME senior adviser.
But in most other states and at most insurance companies, sales representatives can use any title they choose.
For his part, Mr. Sell Big Policy, while he awaits the outcome of his case, is still approved to sell annuities by more than two dozen insurers, according to state records. This is not an isolated example, which does not mean that an accountant should think that all insurance salespeople behave like this sales person. This example, in differing versions, does happen. If the customer consulted his or her accountant, which admittedly most do not, the above example, or something like it, may not happen.
Lance Wallach, National Society of Accountants Speaker of the Year and member of the AICPA faculty of teaching professionals, is a frequent speaker on retirement plans, financial and estate planning, and abusive tax shelters. He writes about 412(i), 419, and captive insurance plans. He speaks at more than ten conventions annually, writes for over fifty publications, is quoted regularly in the press and has been featured on television and radio financial talk shows including NBC, National Pubic Radio’s All Things Considered, and others. Lance has written numerous books including Protecting Clients from Fraud, Incompetence and Scams published by John Wiley and Sons, Bisk Education’s CPA’s guide to life insurance and Federal Estate and Gift Taxation, as well as AICPA best-selling books, including Avoiding Circular 230 Malpractice Traps and Common Abusive Small Business Hot Spots. He does expert witness testimony and has never lost a case. Contact him at 516.938.5007, wallachinc@gmail.com or visit www.taxaudit419.com/TaxHelp.html and www.taxlibrary.us
The information provided herein is not intended as legal, accounting, financial or any other type of advice for any specific individual or other entity. You should contact an appropriate professional for any such advice.
About the Author
Lance Wallach, captive insurance and Section 79 plan expert, is the nation’s leading authority on resolving IRS tax problems for individuals and businesses.
Mr. Wallach, National Society of Accountants’ Speaker of the Year, is a member of the AICPA faculty of teaching professionals and he is a renowned national expert witness in many 419, 412i, and financial abuse cases. To date his side has never lost a case.
Mr. Wallach is often a featured speaker at national conventions for CPAs, attorneys, and business owners and other entrepreneurs, and has over 30 years experience helping people get the most possible money back from the IRS. He can be contacted at 516-938-5007 or wallachinc@gmail.com, or visit www.taxadvisorexperts.org or www.taxaudit419.com for more information.
Lance Wallach is the author of many best selling accounting, taxation, and financial books, including:
Protecting Clients from Fraud, Incompetence, and Scams
Wealth Preservation Planning by the National Society of Accountants
The CPA’s guide to Federal and Estate Gift Taxation published by Bisk
The AICPA’s The Team Approach to Tax, Financial and Estate Planning
How to Get Perfectly Fitted jeans with Levis Curve Fit for Christmas
One of the common problem that people generally faces with jeans is that they don’t always fit perfectly. When they find right pair that fits their hips properly, the only problem they face is the gap in the waist. When the waist fits, it may sometime happens that excess skin gets pop over the top which is often called as “muffin top” look. One can easily get huge range of jeans just by visiting one giant online store named jimmyjazz.com. They also offer a best way to enjoy discount product with the help of jimmy Jazzcoupon and coupon codes.
Little well-known company like Levis has come up with great new sizing system for women that will surely help them to select the right jeans that fit perfectly with their body type which is known as Curve ID and is intended to offer right sized jeans based on shape rather than the generic size pattern.By visiting this online store website, women can easily look for wide varieties of jeans with different colors and fashionable categories. If you want to purchase it as a gift for Christmas, then it is best to choose according to your body type that best suits you. Once finding the puma jeans according to your body type, simply click on particular product and ask for delivery of the product. This site is great online store which will offer product with different style as well as with different range.
There are actually 3 basic curve types to select from, the Slight Curve for those who do have the flat behind & who don’t have large hips. On the other hand Demi Curve is for the women who are actually bit curvier with the larger hips and behind but who aren’t extremely curvy and who don’t have either the straight fit. Finally, Bold Curve which is for those women who have large behind and large hips and who need more areas.
Every woman actually loves a great fitted pair of jeans. So, it’s time to make your Christmas special by getting a right pair of great fitted Curve ID jeans and make your life happy throughout the whole year. The best place where you can easily find Jimmy Jazz coupon codes is Couponnext.com
CLOSING THE DEAL. BRANDING. DELIVERANCE. SUCCESSFUL REPETITION. SUCCESS
So.. You BATTLE through all those seemingly endless cold calling, you set up your appointments, you either seal the deals or they completely FLOP.
Why? They seemed so interested when they agreed to the appointment!
Well it could be a number of things..
How are you presenting your company? Are you just strolling in clad in jeans and a T-shirt with a couple of print outs? Maybe you have put on your freshest suit and brought in your laptop to show a live preview.
Where are you getting your products? AND the graphics? Are you outsourcing them all or are you adamant on doing them yourself? Articles?
I see so many people struggle and struggle but they’re just not seeing what’s missing.
I have seen my Grandfather just hit his 50th year in business. His turnover is EIGHTEEN MILLION POUNDS A YEAR. I have been literally under his wing ALL my life. I previously worked for him for two years and I have learnt more than I could imagine about big business. It’s in my blood to succeed.
He started out as an electrician, he quit THAT job to work as a plastic sheet cutter on the factory floor for the very business he owns now. He worked his way to MD and he then BOUGHT the company and turned it into what it is today.
He has created a BRAND. He has created COLLATERAL. TWO things that anyone reading this can achieve. How?
Let’s look at some things..
What are your competitors doing that you aren’t? Are they simply just CHEAPER. Do they have the experience whilst you are a newcomer? DOESN’T MATTER. Chuck away those thoughts of “Someone’s already doing that..” So what? YOU can do it BETTER if you know how.
People want time efficiency. People want cost efficiency. I guarantee that if you set your prices at the exact same as “Competitor” but you really over deliver and create RELATIONSHIPS with your customers than provides gracious feedback, your name will spread like fly’s through a field of.. candy.
So they’ve bought a product or service or WHATEVER for let’s just say.. $100. THANK THEM. Send them a thank you card! Make them feel appreciated! People love to be thought of and feel like they are superior. Well PROVIDE THAT THEN!
I guarantee if you start these tactics tomorrow, you will see results within a month. From now on you need to pick that phone up at least once a day and just ring around and offer your services. You never know, one guy might suddenly say, “Gosh you know what, I’ve been meaning to sort this out but I haven’t had the energy. You can do it by the end of the day? GREAT!”
There is a company called Kiddicare, you may of heard of them. Well I was fortunate enough to meet Scott only last month and congratulate him on his success and have a drink with him and learn a bit more about him. He is number 7 on the Etail powerlist and a major partner within Kiddicare. Feel free to read about his here:http://www.retail-week.com/careers/e…019116.article
Now, our family know theirs very well. And I can tell you this, they started that company on their living room floor. They made sure that when a customer ordered something, it was there the next day. They made sure the prices were the best. They made sure they only sold the best products. They have created a multi-multi-million pound business from their living room floor. Due to branding themselves as the best. HERE’S THE BEST PART. They weren’t even focusing on the branding. By providing that amazing service, by making the customers extremely happy, by being gracious and delightful with each of their customers. The brand grew it’s self. Like any beautiful flower, all they had to do was keep feeding it. The beauty of the flower, came through naturally.
Just take this away with you guys.. If your a quitter, get out now. I don’t have time for dreamers. I DO have time for action takers and play makers. You can’t get anywhere unless you are willing to just DO IT. Your dreaming of a car? What are you doing to GET that car? Your dreaming of owning the best restaurant in town one day? What action are you taking to GET THAT RESTAURANT? You can’t give up. Don’t you dare set limits either. If your proud of something you have achieved, well your not at the top, your just on a roll. Feed off your successes and only grow into something bigger. If you feel yourself slipping, remind yourself of the big guys.
Branding
Research shows that 80% of new businesses fail within the first year. This is nearly all due to the wrong strategies of marketing and branding. If your business isn’t online it should be. For £20 you can get your self some great hosting and a beautiful WordPress theme giving you an instant new look to your business and brand.
People look at the word ‘Branding’ in different ways. To some it could mean business cards, personalized stationary etc. This is the WRONG way to look at it. Branding is who you are and how you are recognized in a customers mind. Would you be more interested to look at a basic, chunky website with a few details or a sleek, professionally designed website, juicing with information about the service/product? You may look at this and think, seriously we just can’t afford that. I stated previously, it is no more than £20. http://themeforest.net/ Have some amazing themes to look at. Just go through and see which one is suitable for your business, you will be amazed at what they offer.
Branding is also how you are viewed in a sense of trust. After each purchase of service or product, an email could be sent out with a quick ‘Thank you’. This is part of your brand, a customer knows that with a purchase comes and appraisal and they may be more open to buying from you for this reason. Little things like this can go a long way, people love to be praised, it’s nature.
Deliver, Sell, Follow up on the sale
And then sell more. Provide as much value into something a customer is thinking about spending money on as possible. Providing more value to something like a womans dress could be something as simple as, “Oh my, that dress really does look beautiful on you”. This woman will now feel amazing as she wears this beautiful dress. Some simple language made this dress mean more to the person. While she wears the dress, run off and get some shoes to go with it. “Wow, I know you didn’t ask me to get any shoes but I had to run and see what these looked like on you. Incredible.” By giving this woman all your attention and complimenting her taste, you are seducing her willingness to spend. She has already been sold on the £80 dress. £20 shoes doesn’t seem like a lot of cash to part with after the initial £80, especially if they go so well with her dress. By the time she has got to the till, she could have picked up other little accessories bringing her total from an £80 dress to £140.
By also providing the woman with the service of yourself, she will feel like she has been favored. She will probably return here for the same experience. This is creating loyalty.
As you will learn in business, every customer should be treated like the first and last. The customer IS always right and whether they are or not, we really need to make them feel like they are. A service should always begin basic and then be followed up with further sales in the niche and a physical product should always be sold of the highest quality and then similar products in the niche should be shown to the customer afterwords. These little tips are really crucial and can really boost your sales. If the customer is buying, this already shows willingness to spend and if you guide them through different products that may also be of help for the situation, they will be inclined to spend a bit more to get even more value. This is why a lot of online stores such as Amazon show customers what other people have bought when they are browsing products.
If your having trouble sticking to your goals, I seriously recommend these video‘s by Zig Ziglar. Seriously amazing stuff. Find part 2-3 for yourself, I think I’ve made this post long enough Zig Ziglar
