Let’s face it, not everyone needs life insurance. Determining whether you really need it is the first step towards making the right decisions regarding the types and amounts of coverage to choose. And, to be blunt, life insurance is really meant for your family and loved ones, or anyone else who relies on your income. That being said, the type of insurance that you need the most just happens to be the least expensive.Reasons You Buy Life InsuranceLife insurance was originally created so that, if you die, your loved ones could continue to live the same kind of lifestyle that they currently have. That being said, life insurance is simply a means of replacing your income if you die. Period. That is all it is really meant to do. If you don’t have anyone who depends on you to provide for them, or you don’t have earnings, you don’t have nearly the same need for protection as someone who is working and might be supporting a young family for example. The need may still be there due to other financial obligations, but again, it is not necessarily so great.Two Flavors To Choose FromOnce you have decided that you need coverage, you have to select the type that best suits your needs. Life insurance comes in two basic forms: term and permanent (also called “whole life”). The overwhelming majority of cases that I write consist of term coverage as it is the type of protection that fits most people’s needs.Keep It Super SimpleTerm life insurance is insurance against the risk of your dying during the term of the policy. As a policy holder, you pay your premiums regualrly and if you die during the time frame, or “term”, that your insurance is in force, your beneficiaries will receive a payout equal to the face amount of insurance you bought. The ‘term’ is the length of time the policy is guaranteed to remain in force at the premium you have been approved for. Policies are typically issued for 10, 20, or 30 year terms. At the end of the guaranteed term period you can renew your policy, let it lapse, or buy another policy. The major benefit of term insurance is that it’s very inexpensive in most cases and is very simple to understand.Permanent, or cash-value insuranceThe other choice is cash-value insurance. People are initially attracted to cash-value insurance because it can allow them to save a small amount of their premium and can ultimately be “paid up,” which means the insurance will have enough cash value that the policy will remain in force without further premium payments. The theory behind this type is that, if you pay for life insurance for 20, 30, or 40 years, you might as well get some of your money back.Sounds good, right? The problem is that cash-value insurance usually isn’t a very good investment, even if you hold the policy for many years due to the higher fees associated with it and the relatively low rates of return you will earn. It’s and even worse option if you only keep the policy for a few years and have to drop it due to job loss or some other financial hardship. These policies build value very slowly and it takes years to amount to much.While permanent policies do have their place in financial planning on rare occasions, they do not suit the needs of most people. If your financial planner is recommending you to take this type of coverage I suggest that your financial planner not be the same person from whom you are buying the insurance.The Bottom LineThe bottom line is that you need to simplify your financial plan as much as possible, and cash-value insurance is complex and is not properly suited for the needs of the vast majority of people. Instead, opt for an affordable term life insurance policy and use the money that you would’ve otherwise spent on he high premiums of a cash-value policy to invest in an option that’s tax favored. Investment accounts such as your employer’s 401(k), or an IRA are good options to consider.Hopefully you consider my advice when it comes to shopping for your life insurance, and you will consider a term life policy. Be sure to verify with your agent that the policy cannot be canceled as long as you are current on your premiums. Also, only choose policy that is guaranteed renewable. You have no way of knowing what your health will be like at the end of your term and it is comforting to know that you can keep the policy should you need to, without having to under go a medical exam.
Why Marketing Automation Boosts Sales by 220% for Start-Ups & Smbs?
The Marketing Automation market is swelling at an incredible pace. Thanks to its affordability and key features of being an enabler and accelerator, now more and more start-ups and small businesses are signing up to its benefits.Need more reasons?Run through these quick FAQs to know just why Marketing Automation is the undisputed armour in a start-up’s kitty.Q. As a start-up founder, I am willing to go for the free-trial, but why would I want to use it thereafter?A. More than two-thirds of the companies that sign up for a free trial of Marketing Automation, end up realizing they should continue using it.Q. How long does it take to see the initial ROI after automating my marketing system?A. Of all the businesses that use marketing automation, nearly 3.75% witness a progressive ROI within the first year. For a start-up, this is insane!Moreover, start-ups can boost their ROI by using marketing automation and stand to gain from prominent features like zigihub’s micro-segmentation which can enhance campaign efficacy by 40-50%.Q. What is the biggest benefit of using marketing automation for my start-up?A. The biggest benefit is “saved time” as reported by most marketers. Marketers have expressed their delight for the amount of time they have been able to save with marketing automation. It is tremendous time… time that can be efficiently utilized in performing other equally important tasks.Q. What would my lead management be like after using it?A. Marketing Automation (MA) automatically captures twice as many leads as companies generate with a basic email system.Q. How does marketing automation help scale up my small business?A. Small businesses using MA outgrow their competitors by 63%, according to a finding by Lenskold Group.And what’s more?A whopping 451% surge in qualified leads have been reported by companies using MA system, as per a Wishpond study.To top it all, start-ups have seen their sales increase by 220% after using Marketing Automation.That for one, is quite a number!In a nutshell, your start-up or business journey can be best viewed through this flowchart… which points out the role and significance of marketing automation and what it can do for the success of your business.Voila! That is some challenging job!
Yes, but there are trusted experts like zigihub who can do this job for you effortlessly with its in-built intelligent algorithms.zigihub is a marketing automation platform for businesses and sales and marketing professionals to integrate all their marketing efforts under one umbrella. Using data science and machine learning algorithms, this CRM platform eases the job of marketers and makes the entire process of marketing a cakewalk. For small businesses, MA is full of advantages, as it literally sweeps away a large chunk of time-consuming efforts allowing businesses to scale up faster.The Enablers of Marketing AutomationCampaign ManagementCreate, run and evaluate campaigns across various channels; micro-segmentation of customers based on behaviour, buying patterns, demographics, etc. for executing targeted campaigns.Event Driven MarketingTriggered responses are generated based on customer-specific personal events like birthday or after payments, subscriptions, signing up for free trials, website visits, etc.Website MonitoringIntegrated website monitoring system uses intelligent analytics to increase website traffic and lead conversion rate.Social Media IntegrationIntegrates various social media channels into your marketing strategy by engaging customers in the digital world, thereby identifying and obtaining a holistic view of your existing customers.zigihub’s social media integration efficiently works towards 360? understanding of customer’s social behaviour. It uses fuzzy logic algorithms to match active social media users in the customer base.Email MarketingOn-the-fly segmentation of customers and leads to send personalized marketing messages through templates for increasing open rates.The Accelerators of Marketing AutomationPersonalized CommunicationFor engaging customers, segmented lists are created on the basis of their behaviour, interests and activities for sending personalized messages.Customer ProfilingSummarizing your customers and creating individual profiles from their specific purchasing patterns, demographics, etc. is known as customer profiling.Reference EngineThe Marketing Automation and CRM platform zigihub uses more than 60 algorithms through predictive analytics and machine learning to identify most promising deals and leads.Customers are increasingly looking forward to receiving product recommendations that match their preferences, buying history and likes.Campaign EffectivenessMonitoring and evaluating campaigns closely to improve its effectiveness is crucial to the success of any campaign. It includes detailed insights into analytics like opened, read, deleted, etc.MA platforms are retaining existing customer base with strategic development of their tools in line with the customer’s tastes and preferences. This helps in offering novelty, safeguarding the interests of customers and making them feel valued.These attributes of MA work in perfect harmony to drive a start-up engine and help small businesses scale up.So, if you are planning to start your own business or already have a start-up or SMB, you will find all your marketing related synergies being taken care of by Marketing Automation.As most marketers using it say, it is a silver bullet for start-ups and SMBs.
Five Greatest Myths About Food, Health And Fitness Busted
There have been countless suggestions and theories regarding health and fitness over the centuries. In fact health and fitness is the only topic where so many contradictions exist at the same time. Every few years, a new diet system or exercise regime is introduced to the world and it quickly becomes the fad only to be thwarted by experts after sometime. But during their short-lived glory these fitness fads give birth to lots of false beliefs and information. This article will try to clear up some of the confusions and myths so that people around the globe can develop healthy eating and living habits and stop repeating ineffective or dangerous fitness routines.1) Packaged Fruit Juices Are Good For HealthWhen bottled or packaged fruit juices were first introduced to the commercial market, people immediately became big fans of these beverages. Eating fruit is a healthy habit but people become impatient very quickly when they have to buy, wash, peel and juice each fruit before getting the nutrients inside their body. The bottled juice was the perfect solution for them. Now-a-days, people believe that gulping down a bottle of Real Grape juice is the quickest and best way to make up for their otherwise unhealthy lifestyles. Unfortunately, this is not entirely true. Yes, there is no harm in drinking these juices but there are hardly any benefits either.The manufacturers extract a large volume of juice from the fruits and store them in tanks. This stored juice is then packed and sold throughout the year. This is the reason you can easily find orange juice during summer and Pineapple juice during fall. All the Oxygen from the stored juice is taken out to keep it fresh for months. But as the Oxygen is sucked out, almost all nutrients, vitamins and minerals of the juice are lost as well. So next time you feel like grabbing a bottle of juice, buy some fresh fruits instead. That will give you a lot more benefits at a fraction of the cost.2) Crash Diet Is Great For Losing Weight QuicklyNo matter how much the fitness experts try to preach otherwise, there are still a lot of people who believe that the best way to shed off extra pounds is to go on random diets. Yes these crash diets can help in shorter term but cause much more damage to the digestive system and the body in the longer run. When people eat very less for a month or two, they lose some weight pretty quickly but their body becomes increasingly weak from the lack of electrolytes, vitamins and other nutrients. A month or so in the crash diet, most people often feel tired, dizzy and weak.A greater danger of crash diet is weight gain instead of weight loss. Our body has several defense mechanisms that trigger under different circumstances. When you are eating very less each day, your body can mistake it for famine. It then stores almost all the calorie from the ingested food and spends very less for daily activities. Once this cycle sets in, you will be gaining weight instead of losing. A well planned diet with lots of vegetables and fruits is still the best way to lose fat.3) Certain Fruits Can Give You A Cold If Ingested At NightSome people believe that certain fruits are cold in nature and they can give a person cold or flu if eaten during night. Banana, Sweet Lime, Pineapple and Apple are considered the main culprits behind this phenomena. This theory, however, is absolutely wrong. Cold and flu are caused by viruses and the viruses can spread from anywhere. Coldness of these fruits have nothing do with you catching cold. So next time you feel like grabbing an apple after dinner, do so happily.4) Gluten Free Foods Give More EnergyYes, they do. But only to the people who are Gluten intolerant or suffering from Celiac disease. These people can feel fatigued, tired and sick after eating food that contains Gluten. Once they start ingesting Gluten free food, they feel more energetic and vivacious in all aspects of life. The best example of this phenomenon is tennis star Novac Djokovic. After he started his Gluten free diet, his game improved manifolds and today he is one of the top four tennis players of the world.But for regular people, Gluten free food offers no incentives at all. They might feel more energy after eating Gluten free food but the reason for that is more mental than physical. Also these special diets cost much more than regular food. So before you go munch on Gluten free food, get yourself checked for Gluten intolerance. If you are not Gluten intolerant, stick to your regular diet.5) You Can Eat As Much As You Want As Long As You Exercise RegularlyThis is true to a very small extent. If you are eating a cheese sandwich and expecting your workouts will cancel out the extra calories, it probably would. But if you are ingesting too much carbohydrate and fat, then your exercise routine may not be enough to shed off the calories unless you exercise like professional athletes. Getting calorie inside the body is much easier than driving it off. So do not set any wrong expectations.I sincerely hope that these tips will help bust some long-lasting myths about food and diets. There are tons more that can be written on this topic but that is for another article.