Did you know that 74% of Americans use the internet? And, on average, children who live in the United States spend approximately 14 hours a day watching television and surfing the web? When it comes to businesses in America, it is almost necessary to devote time and money to internet marketing strategies. For example, social media.

According to finance.yahoo.com, the amount of people using the social media platform, Facebook, averages 1.01 billion people per month! These numbers are simply staggering.

If you are part of a financial company, or any company for that matter, internet marketing is a powerful way to get people to know about your business. However, there are certain ways to go about doing so.

If you have ever researched internet marketing strategies, you may have heard of SEO or Search Engine Optimization. What SEO does is increase the “strength” or popularity of your website. When done correctly, search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Bing will place your website on the front page of their search engine results. However, if you have done research on the costs to hire SEO companies or SEO experts, you may already know that these services can cost a pretty penny. That’s where social media comes in.

Social Media platforms such as Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook are free and fairly easy to use. For a successful social media marketing campaign, you want to spend an hour a day on these social media platforms connecting and networking with people and other businesses.

It is not difficult to start and manage a social media platform for your company. First, sign up and register with the social media program and start browsing. The main goal of utilizing social media is to connect and network with others and so you want to find the right people to keep in touch with.

You also want to provide content such as posts, pictures, discounts on your services etc. For example, if you run or work for a financial company, you might want to post something like your opinions on good investment options. Be sure that you are genuine in your connections. The last thing you want to do is to seem like you are only using social media networks to spam people with your business services. See your social media network as a gathering of people. You wouldn’t want to just talk business to the people you meet, would you? You want to get to know them, genuinely.

So, if you own or run a financial company, be sure to spend some time learning more about social media and how it can improve your marketability and profitability.

The wedding day promises to be a couple’s most joyous day, but unfortunately many aspects of it can take their toll not the least of them being finances. Who will pay for what and how much is enough are issues that may make or break the day, if not the bank.

Traditionally, the bride’s family covers all of the wedding expenses which usually include flowers, invitations and photographers but can also include a bridal brunch. The groom’s family also has traditionally expected expenses. They include rehearsal dinner, paying the minister, providing transportation for the bridal party and paying for the honeymoon.

Since many are experiencing a financial crunch or maybe just a desire to break from tradition, more couples are being creative and flexible when it concerns who pays for what. Various etiquette gurus have different views on how the costs should be divided. But they agree that sitting down with all the involved and interested parties and discussing what everyone expects and what everyone is willing and able to contribute helps tremendously to alleviate most of the stress and disappointment down the road. Commonsense and circumstances are taking on a greater role in dividing the responsibilities. If Dad has been saving since his daughter’s birth for the big event and is more than eager to foot the bill, graciously accept his generous contribution. But if such finances are just not available to the bride’s family there are no laws broken if the groom’s family picks up more of the share of the costs than tradition used to dictate. And the couples themselves are taking on a greater share of the responsibility. Some experts are advising that the couple plan their budget around their own finances and look upon their parents’ contributions as an added bonus.

One last piece advice to take seriously, resist the temptation to accept a wedding loan from a financial institution. Banks seemingly offer attractive loans that would cover the most elaborate wedding event, but fail to emphasize that the newly burdened couple will be paying that loan off at a rate that can be as high as 28%. Experts agree that putting the bill on a credit card and paying it off over time would be less expensive.

If cool heads and realistic expectations can prevail the financial landscape of your wedding can keep pocketbook stress to a minimum without sacrificing the frills and fancies you’ve waited a lifetime for.

The first step to managing your finances smartly is to devise a plan and to stick with it. Once you create a plan, you’ll be able to put everything into perspective. A great way to accomplish this is to give yourself a set budget every month for your expenses.

Create a fixed budget for your groceries. Allow yourself to spend just enough money to buy all the food you need for the month. Only go shopping once a month, and when you do make a list of all the items you need for that month. Making a list is the best way to ensure that you only spend money on the items you need, instead of spending money on items you want.

If you cannot put forth the money for a whole month’s worth of groceries, buy what you can for the entire week. Always look for off brands or store brands if they are available and compare prices. While it may not seem like you are saving much money on the items you buy, a little money goes a long way and can add up to some serious savings over time.

You can also save money by shopping for produce at your local farmers market. Most cities have farmers markets that are open all year round.

Get rid of unnecessary expenses. For instance, you can save serious money on your cell phone by shopping around for a less expensive cellular service, downgrading your cell phone plan or getting a prepaid phone.

Another great way to get your finances under control is to have a certain amount of money deducted from your paycheck and put into your savings account. At first, you might notice a difference in how much money you have, but after a while, you’ll adapt just fine.

Get quotes for your car insurance. You can save anywhere from a couple of hundred dollars to thousands of dollars over time, simply by switching the type of car insurance you have.

You can also combine your house, car, and life insurance policies to save even more money. Many places also give you discounts for bundling more than one type of insurance.

Get rid of cable or downgrade your current cable plan. Cable can be expensive, but unless you watch television 24 hours a day, you’ll most likely be able to save enough money every year to take a nice vacation.

The Small Business Association (SBA) has been floating down “guaranteed financial borrowing parachutes” for decades, and continues to do so even as this article is being written. Of course the success of this government program is also dependent on the approved lender who actually funds the loan; and there are thousands of takers in this scenario. It can be a powerful and useful quinella: SBA and Lender, and both entities love being participants. The lender funds the loan; the Small Business Administration guarantees the deal. Sometimes you’re the cake; sometimes you’re the frosting, but not in this case.

There will be plenty of “hoops” to jump over getting a small business loan using any SBA programs, but at least you can avoid the “minefields.” Following the proper guidelines will give you a smooth trip to receiving those green pieces of paper with pictures of dead presidents on the front. SBA.gov should be your information destination and your query should be targeted to the SBA 7(a) Business Loan Program. However, to save time, preparation is the “key word” when doing business with any government loan program. So in order to have a “smooth sailing” trip, here are the necessary items required for most all business loan submissions, not just the SBA:

1.  Commercial loan application
2.  Brief reasoning why you need the financing
3.  Resumes of all participants or principals signing on the loan
4. Personal credit reports on principals (business report if currently in operation)
5. Business and cash flow projection information
6. Real estate lease on property where business will be located
7. Purchase agreement if buying an existing business
8. Copy of business license
9. Personal tax returns on all principals (2 years)
10. Personal balance sheet on principals: bank accounts & REO for collateral purposes

Once completed you’re ready to submit to the SBA or any other lending entity. However, for a little peace-of-mind, the processing of SBA loans to help small business entrepreneur’s usually results in applicant approvals over 90 percent of the time. Also, another approach to consider in searching for a small business loan would be a small business grant. A free catalog publication called: Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) offers a list of thousands of agencies geared toward issuing grants, especially those directed toward minority business development. Grants are also available from various state programs but mostly awarded to medicine and educational fields with strict eligibility criteria.