Debunqed

Tag: services

  • Peer-to-peer service

    Peer-to-peer service

    History has taught us that a fully centrally controlled government system fails completely – well, in the long run.

    The idea of a communistic system has its merits and could still work in some sectors of our economies. It, however, omits the very thing that was provided to us as human beings – choice.


    Knowledge is empowering – but the power to do the things you would like to do effortlessly without fear of error.


    This shared knowledge emanates from scientific, biological, or financially proven theories and tests.


    They can help you make the right investments. Such as saving money on the best deals, obtaining rights to social benefits, travel to great destinations. Or simply just helping other people achieve their personal and spiritual goals.

    Monopolistic behaviour

    Those that cling onto knowledge though, serve their interests alone and should not be revered but rather shunned for power-hogging.


    Sadly, some governments monopolize access to information, basic services, resources, and even education to create an artificial demand for ´their services’.


    This forms the basis of a centrally controlled or outright communistic state.
    In business, this is a common practice of a monopoly to control the price of their good or service as they are the only ones providing it.


    The quality of that good or service, however, can and will be determined by them and them alone!


    Can you imagine then, based on the previous sentence, a situation that only governments have this power to dictate a basic service such as healthcare or education for you?


    Scary thought and if you look at most developing countries, the evidence of this is overwhelmingly sad.


    But we are not here to talk about the governments as there would be several cases to point out and this is not a political platform.
    Case in point, the concept of a centrally controlled system nevertheless is less efficient and prone to failure to disseminate the very items it sets out to provide.


    Deploying software by a global firm like IBM, via a centrally stored-located server would be absurd because the infrastructure of the recipient regions or end-users might not be well equipped to handle it.
    So one begs to question, why would you do it for social services for instance?

    Decentralized systems

    Decentralizing a system can improve efficiency because it gives options to get the best quality possible. It also removes power from one or a few providers and shares it equally amongst other stakeholders.


    This way all will stand to mutually benefit from a working system indirectly rather than just the state collecting monetary compensation or tax and deciding what to do with it alone.

    Centralized systems can learn from the blockchain to efficiently provide services.

    eMule


    Let’s take the now “illegal” peer-to-peer file-sharing and downloading software such as eDonkey/eMule (developed by Microsoft).
    Or take BitTorrent for example     you could with them, build together any file by downloading “bits” of the file by many connected servers or PCs  (peers).


    This system leads to faster downloads and allows one to source from the best quality of the available digital bits to get the data to form the e-book, music track, or movie that you were after.


    Leaving your download running would enable others to get the files you have already amassed (you reciprocally upload the files). The cycle continues until everyone acquires the same great quality file from the best ‘seeds’.


    Downloading from a sole server for the same product, on the contrary, could crash the server.


    Let’s not forget the delays due to operational differences in time-zones, or complete failure to download if the file source is corrupted or the file quality is bad.

    Application of decentralized systems

    Naturally, the entertainment industry put a stop to this because it meant that people could attain their copyrighted material.

    Many fines and warnings were dished out to individuals as well as companies hosting the sharing servers.


    You can, however, still access them via carefully planned entry gateways to hide your IP address using VPNs. Those of you who are IT experts can use (old-school) backend protocols like FTP.

    BitTorrent -> Bitcoin…Torrent -> Tor ..anyone seeing a pattern here?

    There is now even a new digital currency designed to help artists curb piracy and reward the artists for their work.
    Such protective software is already in the pipeline thanks to blockchain technology.


    Decentralizing services such as money transfers in the advent of Cryptomania removes power from regulated financial institutions. They tend to charge high fees for sometimes slow and error-prone services because they can.

    Conclusion

    So, swiftness and security are a prime reason for the adoption the Blockchain technology. Everything else such as the price of digital alternative coins or ‘altcoins’ boils down to basic supply and demand for it.

    Governments and other institutional service providers can take a leaf out of the blockchain technology tree and its true intention.

    The aim is to decentralize the provision of a service to give everyone access to it. This will reduce associated costs of using it and improve efficiency!
  • Manage your own trading portfolio

    Manage your own trading portfolio

    The natural inclination for anyone that hears about a new means of making money is: “how do I get involved?” It is therefore only right to not just dangle the carrot in front of faces but also to share tips.

    Despite the fact that investing in shares, securities and now Cryptocurrency, as mentioned in the previous blog, comes with a very high risk. 

    Your portfolio can be managed carefully to minimize the risk and here is how. Before we progress, please note that this is not fail-safe advice but only a guide, so do take heed of our disclaimer.

    Preparation

    As a rule, this applies to any website offering advice. We would like to warn you that just like eating regularly at a fast food joint – the risks are clear.

    So if you know your appetite for risk or have a lack of financial discipline and take this as information gathering to enhance your awareness.


    Additionally, we would like to reiterate that running and maintaining your personal investment portfolio requires practice before jumping straight in.

    The first step is to identify the types of securities available. Research new articles and the respective financial statements. Once you’ve done that, start a free trial with an online trading account.

    There are several institutions offering online trading (each with its criteria for entry and for trading).


    Banks also offer this service but might charge a monthly service fee for it so the first step is to do a little shopping around.


    Not all online trading platforms are offered globally so one must find one that follows the financial compliance laws in your country/continent or territory.

    Taxation

    This is important because, like any other investment, your profits from trading are subject to tax (tax evasion is fraud). The type of tax, in this case, is Capital Gains Tax (CGT).


    This is payable as a percentage of up to 25% of your profits once you have closed a position and cashed out from the trading account.


    The CGT would have to be declared and paid for directly to your local authorities when you fill out your tax returns.


    There is still a grey area as to whether Cryptocurrencies are to be classified as taxable assets – which might work to your advantage.

    In Germany apparently, if you hold (without selling) Crypto on an online platform for more than a year – you are not liable for taxes.

    Nevertheless, be sure to factor CGT into your calculations, and don’t get caught out with that!

    The act of trading


    The actual trading itself requires some strategy. you should be including a combination of high risk and lower risk asset classes in your portfolio. ETFs and Equities are more on the “lower risk” side as they are purchased on a long-term outlook.


    Purchasing equities in well-grounded tech companies such as Amazon; Microsoft; Google; telecommunications and energy companies are considered as long buying. We highly recommend this option.



    However, while you sit on those over the months or years you would still want to make some short-term gains. This is where your high-risk high returns securities (Forex, Indices, Options, and Cryptos) come into play.

    As a rule of thumb, your high-risk assets should only be between 15-20% or less of your overall portfolio.


    This way any losses incurred can be absorbed or regained over the following few months allowing you to accumulate more stable/longer-term equities.

    Like a business, your trading portfolio can grow exponentially if you continue to re-invest your gains-profits.

    Your gains made in the short-term can be used to purchase the next long-term security. But n case of emergencies, they can be withdrawn to cover other needs (holidays, unexpected debts). It is better to regard your collective portfolio as a long-term asset.

    Four quick basic steps to getting into trading.

    Step 1:

    Decide on an amount outside your other investment vehicles (property, savings, mutual funds, or bonds) that you would set aside for trading. Again, this must only be a fraction of your overall investment.


    Most online trading platforms require a minimum amount to open a trading account of between 50 – 200 USD/EURs (you can use that amount for trading).


    You will need to ensure you have a good enough Laptop/PC and broadband with all the required security software installed. You can also use your mobile phone for short-term securities such as for binary options etc.


    Platforms such as IQOption and are available via Apps for phones and tablets as well.

    Step 2:

    Before choosing the platform, make sure you understand the costs to be incurred while trading (it’s wise to compare options).

    One main charge is commission. You pay it with a purchase of an online traded asset, interest from leverage (margin trading) to purchase the asset, deposit fees, and some even charge for withdrawal of funds.

    So, while one platform may charge a 0% commission on trading with some securities, they may offer other securities that require leverage or just charge a higher deposit fee. They are after all there to make money as well.

    Use your free trial to work out which pricing model suits your trading needs in addition to learning the market trends and getting a handle on technical analysis tools.

    Click here to see a video below of one of such tools.

    As part of the service, you would also get access to online chat, a personal assistant to call during office hours about anything to do with your account/portfolio and the option to upgrade your account. So you are never on your own really!


    Some trading platforms offer you benefits (in the form of cashable tokens or direct cash commission) for trading profitably, referring someone onto the platform and when they make money.


    One such platform called eToro is known as a social trading platform.
    It allows you to “shadow” successful traders and pays “leaders” handsomely in return for the number of “followers” you acquire.


    Many platforms like IQOption will reward you if the person you referred makes profitable sales of their assets. This comes in the form of a direct cash commission paid to their account.

    Step 3:

    So now that you have familiarised yourself with the tools, and have analyzed the technical aspects of the platform, you can begin real-time trading. This means switching from a trial to a paid account. You will need to provide your banking details (chequing account, credit card, or digital wallet). This is where deposits and withdrawals will be made from.


    Most platforms, which are usually located in your geographical region, allow you to pay from your local (debit) bank account, a PayPal, or other types of online money transfer services.


    The next step, which is important for security from both parties as well as for the financial and monetary authorities, is account verification.

    You will need multiple forms of identity: passport, proof of residence, social security or tax reference number, and of course contact details such as email and mobile (cell) phone number for various forms of authentication (e.g. two-step authentication to protect your account from unauthorized access or in case of password resets).

    Once completed and have been approved/verified you are good to go! This can all take 30 mins (and processed online) if you have everything in place.

    Step 4:

    The final step to running your own successful trading portfolio is to exercise the skill of patience. Learn to watch the market trends and do not act on impulse.


    The rule is simple: buy low and hold. Selling should only be done if you have credible information on the impending total meltdown of a company you own shares in. Otherwise, like a rollercoaster, be prepared to watch your stocks go up and down.


    When it comes to the risk of a downward trend you will have the tools on most of the platforms to help you control losses from price movements automatically (Stop Loss). with this tool, you don’t have to always be glued to your PC to monitor the longer-term securities.


    Binary Options (illegal in some countries) are different though and require quick execution of trades. Have a look at the first section of the resources page to familiarise yourself with how high-risk securities work.


    But for all others, you will have tools such as stop-loss orders, take profit/limit orders, pending orders, and trailing stop orders. These will help you protect your profits and prevent colossal losses.
    Go forth and make a fortune – or at least some passive income and a decently rewarding long-term investment supplement!

    Start with a demo trading account now!

    RISK WARNING: YOUR CAPITAL MIGHT BE AT RISK.

  • One tool to serve them all

    One tool to serve them all

    When working in retail, finance, and manufacturing (sales) industry, you often come across one unavoidable piece of software.

    A Customer Relationship Management software or what is abbreviated to CRM.

    Now what really is really astonishing is when people ask how a CRM can actually help their business. Often one gets asked what CRM stands for or even means!
    Now granted, it is a technical and industry-specific jargon depicting an online tool. More specifically, it is software used on hardware like PCs, tablets, scanners, point-of-sale devices, and modern cash registers).
    What it does, however, is something many businesses both small and large take for granted – and mostly to their detriment.

    The purpose

    We use CRM solutions a lot more than we think. Take our Smartphones for instance: they are basically miniature customer (data or content) managing tools and though personalized, they serve the same function.
    Now to put this into perspective very quickly and simply: our phones store and manage all our contacts. Our friends, family, businesses, and clients are kept in records primarily to help us access and communicate with them quickly.
    Mobile phones, have also evolved to now enable you to not only manage your contacts to just make calls or send SMS. You can now share all sorts of  content with via the various social media platforms.
    Each of these platforms naturally has its own purpose and account. Android phones, for instance, come with (need to be activated by) a Google account.
    You can then subsequently use it to access many applications (via an app store) and not just your email.
    CRMs manage a company’s accounts in a similar way. They enable you to quickly get a hold of people to either sell directly to, create or follow-up on a sales lead, or nurture the lead until it becomes a sale.
    This is carried out by software that sits on the front-end of a database stored on a local server or on the cloud. The software is normally user-friendly for it to be adopted and used frequently by end users.
    This enhances your productivity and therefore increases  revenue for your business.

    Practical uses of CRM

    They are used more by salespeople and staff of companies that offer a service via their customer support services or front-end teams.
    So, when you call your local phone company because you are behind on a payment or would like to hand in a product for repairs, it is a CRM system that is used to log, track and manage the case till is solved.
    The transcript, along with the call logs and resolutions are kept for a later date or time for if you make a follow-up call, request a new service. These records are stored in a database or what is called an instance.
    Depending on what your company does, it will have several (national or regional) instances to help access data even faster.
    A CRM can help you manage a healthy relationship with your clients to ensure that you are not calling them several times a day to put them off.
    It will stop you from forgetting to follow-up on scheduled calls or emails or worse yet, sending them the wrong product or information about your offerings.

    Salient features

    A good CRM package also comes equipped with a means for you to create and store brochures, create effective and targeted marketing campaigns, generate quotes and invoices (PDFs). It will also come with a solid built-in knowledgebase.
    This is a stored pool of resources containing processes and scenarios to help you quickly resolve a problem, prescribe a product or log a case.
    And nowadays, like a mobile phone, a good CRM software can seamlessly help you integrate with social media platforms to follow, service or attract customers from those digital marketplaces.

    Several CRM tools out there that offer different functionalities and depending on the size of your business, you can get a basic one that just manages your contacts and interactions.
    Then you have ones that handle full-scale operations (back-office processes like warehousing, inventory, accounting, finance, payroll, and HR).
    Those fall under another high-level category of CRMs known as Enterprise Resource Planning tools or ERPs. A topic for another blog perhaps as they are a totally different animal altogether.
    CRMs are however, an component of ERPs and bigger companies would need both to handle large scale operations.
    So you see how useful a CRM is in helping to run your company. They are now being even more automated with the help of Business Intelligence and AI.
    That makes it even easier for you to use them to grow your business to levels where ERPs you would eventually need an ERP.

    Many CRM suppliers offer free trials and even free online software, so take a shop around to see which one fits your needs.
    The current industry leaders in CRM solutions are Dynamics (Microsoft), Salesforce, Oracle, SAP CRM and Zoho.
  • Sales misconception – debunqed!

    Sales misconception – debunqed!

    The ‘great’ art of selling is about earning and keeping your client’s trust. In business or commerce, there is nothing greater than the feeling of completing that successful sale.

    By successful, we refer the whole process: from convincing the customer that your product or service will meet his/her long or short-term needs. This is after listening carefully to their requirements through thorough discovery.  The client is then able to the payment without hassles and take timely delivery of the goods.
    Finally, the customer acknowledging and thanking you for it with the hopes of coming back should be the most rewarding part of the sale. That coupled with your commission of course!
    A successful sale is a step-by-step process and must have all the above elements.
    Anything short of that is paramount to a quick-fix or even a scam. It is only lazy salespeople (taking shortcuts) that give the trade a bad reputation.
    Granted, not all of your sales interactions will turn out to be complete success. Some elements of the above process could be stymied by aspects out of your control.  For instance, the client’s lack of funds, suppliers’ delivery delays or a faulty product can mess up a good sales cycle.

    A true story

    Some of the most successful sales are even conducted by faceless agents. Once, while based in Johannesburg, we sold a product (that was mass produced in China) and had it delivered from New York to Cape Town via air-freight.
    This was based on a demand (order) that was placed on a then operational website. The actual sales were brokered via correspondence by email and phone.
    Luckily, the product (and delivery) quality was good enough not to warrant a face-to-face visit, though in those days having Skype for Business would have been a great resource to at least give ‘a face’ to the sales rep.
    They were, however, willing to deal with the agent several times without having met them personally based on the quality of the (medical) product. This was in addition to the vote of confidence and guarantees provided throughout the intensive sales interactions.
    This little anecdote proves that it doesn’t matter what you sell, if the product is of good quality, and meets all (compliance) requirements including the recent GDPR law – the sale actually becomes the easy part.
    You will, however, still require a little bit (and the right kind) of presentation skills to position the product/service adequately enough to execute the sale.

    There is no real art to selling – we all do it all the time without realizing it. From the time we apply to a kindergarten or high school, to university and finally to all the jobs in our working career.

    Reinforce the brand

    As salespeople, we must present ourselves (our unique skills and character) and persuade a ‘buyer’ to take us on. This is also something no automated sales agent or Chatbot can do and is an area that Artificial Intelligence (AI) will not beat us on.
    And just like a brand, everything we do is intended to enhance our value and the more we beef-up our brand (with educational, mentorship and technical qualifications). The better our brand, the more demand for your offering.
    250x250But back to selling. We sell people ideas: something as simple as convincing your mate to meet at the pub after work or your girls to join you for a weekend spa takes skilful persuasion. And even more so if they had other plans or options.
    That is essentially what sales is about – persuading a buyer to choose your product or service over that of others using tools such as the consumer black box.
    Such persuasion obviously can be genuine or fraudulent. Those salespeople trained by their leader Jordan Belfort as illustrated in the 2013 Wolf of Wall Street movie are a testimony. The revealed how persuasion can be used effectively when capitalizing on with an inherent human trade – greed.
    Being truthful, however, (even if it means letting go of a sale) will determine whether you get repeat customers. This is something most successful salespeople make use of to boost their conversion rates and pipelines.

    Mentorship

    Debunqed.com likes to follow unconventional salespeople who use unorthodox but effective methods.  These are not necessarily the textbook style of selling but will help to inspire you to address the potential client’s needs honestly.
    Such ‘on the ground’ learning is done with the help of a mentor. Shadowing one or two mentors that are passionate about what they do can rub off a few skills that can supplement traditional sales theory.
    Sales is a skill best learned on the ground and you will hardly find an institution offering it as an elective course.
    Such revenue-multiplying potential that repeat-customers can provide for your sales portfolio or pipeline beats getting a quick-fix by conning people no matter how big the ‘score’ is.
    What you should be doing as a salesman is gaining your customers’ trust whilst solving their problem.
    A trusting customer will always look you up for more purchases.

    If you operate in an industry where you have multiple products or one that needs to be renewed – you earn revenue for life!
    https://rcm-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/e/cm?o=2&p=22&l=ez&f=ifr&linkID=932c8c541e355401d543251fcbe101a3&t=debunqed-21&tracking_id=debunqed-21
Translate »

This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this site, you accept our use of cookies.