Nigeria Requests $1 Bln African Development Bank Budget Support Loan

Nigeria, reeling from the oil price plunge that has slashed vital revenues, has asked the African Development Bank for a $1 billion loan to help fund an increased budget deficit, the AFDB said on Tuesday.

The bank said it was considering the loan to Africa’s largest economy and oil producer, where the drop in crude prices has hit growth, and that an appraisal mission would visit soon to work with authorities. Nigeria is planning to borrow as much as $5 billion to help fund a deficit due to the slump in global oil prices, which have also sent its naira currency into a tailspin.

Finance Minister Kemi Adeosun said this week Nigeria had held exploratory talks with the World Bank and looked at options to borrow from the AFDB and China Exim Bank. Earlier this month she said that about $4 billion might come from international institutions and the remainder from eurobonds. Nigeria expects a budget deficit of 3 trillion naira ($15 billion) in 2016, up from an initial 2.2 trillion naira ($11 billion) estimate.

The budget, presented by the president at the end of last year, is sitting with parliament, which aims to pass it at the end of this month. At 6.08 trillion naira ($30.6 billion), it is a more ambitious budget than under the previous administration and will see capital expenditure tripled compared to 2015 to about 30 percent of the total. 

Source: Guardian Newspaper.

Auditor General queries FIRS over ‘missing N400b’

• Tax Agency raises N25.782 trillion in 6 years

• Non-oil contributes about N10 trillion

• We’re auditing our processes, says Fowler

For failing to account for how it has expended about N400 billion, representing four per cent cost of non- oil tax collection between 2010 and 2015, the nation’s tax agency- the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) has earned the ire of the Auditor -General of the Federation (AuGF) Mr. Samuel Ukura.

FIRS is entitled to a four per cent of non oil taxes it generates and the sum is disbursed to it every month at the Federation Accounts Allocation Committee ( FAAC) where federation revenue is collated and distributed amongst the three tiers of government.

The Nigerian Customs Service ( NCS) on the other hand is entitled to seven per cent of its revenue generated from import duties and export fees. FIRS during the period under review generated nearly N26 trillion out of which the non- oil components was around N10 trillion for which the tax agency was entitled to four per cent translating to about N400 billion.

But the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation has come up to say that it was yet to receive statement of account detailing how FIRS deployed the sum, in spite of repeated reminders.

This information was brought to the fore yesterday during interaction between the new Executive Chairman of the FIRS , Mr. Tunde Fowler and the visiting members of the Senate Public Accounts Committee led by its chairman, Dr.Andy Uba.

According to Uba : “ We are just coming from the Office of the Accountant – General of the Federation (OAGF ) for a similar oversight function and while we were there, there is a question I asked the Accountant General, Alhaji Idris Ahmed about Ministries, Departments and Agencies’ (MDAs) compliance with accounts  and he said it is on record that four per cent cost of collection enjoyed by the FIRS had not been included in the financial statement of FIRS since 2010 despite  the Auditor General’s persistent queries.”

Reacting, Fowler informed the committee that the FIRS management under his leadership had just commenced a comprehensive audit of the agency as well as other MDAs, including banks with a view to ascertaining if all the taxes due to the government have been duly remitted to Government’s Account. .” We also wrote them in September that if there are any amounts unapplied because sometimes tax payers pay them and quote the wrong account number and it goes into suspense account and so we have told them to remit any amount unapplied that belongs to the Federal Government directly to our account”, he added

A breakdown of the about N26 trillion tax revenue generated by the agency within the period 2010 to 2015 indicated that that it generated a sum of N2.839 trillion in the year 2010; another sum of N4.61 trillion in 2011 out of which non-oil constituted the sum of N1.40 trillion; in 2012 , the sum of N5.07 trillion was generated, out which the non oil component contributed the sum of N1.792 trillion.

In 2013, a cumulative sum of N4.805 trillion was generated with non- oil contributing N2.096 trillion while the balance was from oil mineral taxes. The following year, total collection was N4.715 trillion, out. of which non oil yielded they sum of N2.096 trillion. Also in 2015 , taxes fetched the sum of N3.743 trillion out of which the sum of N2.059 trillion was contributed by non -oil taxes.

Source:Guardian Newspaper.

Govt’s import bill on petroleum products hits N1.8tr in nine months

The Federal Government spent N1.82 trillion on importation of petroleum products between January and September last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).

NBS disclosed in its petroleum products import statistics 2010 to 2015 released recently that the country imported N1.4 trillion worth of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) during the period under review.

Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) gulped N305.2 billion while N118.7 was spent on Household Kerosene (HHK).

The country imported N109.1 billion worth of PMS in January 2015; N116 billion in February; N209 billion in March; N178 billion in April; N188 billion in May; N147 billion in June; N182 billion in July; N185 billion in August; and N133 billion in September.

Also, about N29 billion worth of AGO was imported into the country in January 2015; N41.9 billion in February; N21.2 billion in March; N26.1 billion in April; N36.8 billion in May; N45.9 billion in June; N50.3 billion in July; N30.4 billion in August; and N22.5billion in September.

The amount of kerosene imported into the country in January stood at N17.8 billion; N11.4 billion in February; N11.2 billion in March; N21.8 billion in April; N26.1 billion in May; N4.8 billion in June; N2.6 billion in July; N6.7 billion in August; and N15.9 billion in September.

The agency noted that the volume of products discharged within a month was based on actual quantities discharged during the month.

It added that average landing cost per month was the average landing cost of the product during the period of discharged. “The value of the product is estimated value based on the average landing cost of the product as at the month of discharge.

Meanwhile, the declining crude oil prices may have affected the country’s capital importation in 2015.

According to NBS in its capital importation report for third and fourth quarter of 2015, the level of capital imported between 2012 and 2014 was markedly higher than the year under review.

This, it said, may have been due to some external factors, such as the globally low interest rates triggering a search for higher yields from investors over this period.

It added that the drop in 2015 may be partly a result of these factors unwinding, as well as the tougher economic environment in Nigeria resulting from the effect the lower oil price has had on export earnings. Furthermore, the widely anticipated decision to raise interest rates in the United States may have played a part in the drop of capital inflows in the final quarter.

It stated: “The total value of capital imported into Nigeria in the Third quarter of 2015 was $2.7 billion, up 3.07 per cent from the preceding quarter.

“This was followed by a total of $1.5 billion in the fourth quarter, a decline of 43.34 per cent from levels recorded in the previous quarter. The total for 2015 was recorded at $9.6 billion. This is represent a 53.53 per cent fall on the previous year, when the total was $20.7 billion. Each consecutive quarter of 2015 saw a larger annual fall than the previous; in the third and fourth quarter, capital inflows were respectively 58.00 per cent and 65.40 per cent lower than in the same quarters of 2014”.

Source: Guardian Newspaper.

Asia stocks subdued before U.S. jobs data, dollar wobbles

Asian stocks were subdued on Friday and the dollar wobbled ahead of the closely watched U.S. jobs report, which could provide clues on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy outlook.

Spreadbetters expected the cautious mood to prevail in Europe, forecasting a flat to slightly lower open for Britain's FTSE, Germany's DAX and France's CAC.

Shanghai stocks, crawled up 0.2 percent and Australian shares dipped 0.1 percent. Japan's Nikkei underperformed, dropping 1.4 percent and headed for its fourth straight day of losses.

"The biggest concern for the Japanese market now is whether the dollar will weaken against the yen further," said Yutaka Miura, a senior technical analyst at Mizuho Securities in Tokyo.

"You don't know how U.S. stocks will perform after the jobs data release, so most investors are nervous."

Hong Kong's Hang Seng drew cues from an overnight Wall Street bounce and rose 0.8 percent, while other gainers included Malaysian and Singapore shares.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.5 percent. The index was still on track to end the week roughly unchanged.

The dollar remained firmly on the back foot after being hit this week by lacklustre economic data and dovish comments from some Fed officials that curtailed expectations of a near-term U.S. interest rate hike.

The dollar stood little changed at 116.745 yen after sinking 1 percent overnight. The greenback, which soared close to 122 yen recently, was heading for a 3.5 percent loss on the week. It was poised to hand back all the gains made on the Bank of Japan's surprise decision last Friday to adopt negative interest rates.

The euro dipped 0.2 percent to $1.1188, trimming some of the gains from Thursday's surge. The common currency was headed for a 3.3 percent gain on the week, its biggest in more than four years.

The markets will look to the U.S. jobs data for direction, with the employment report expected to show employers adding 190,000 jobs in January, the median estimate of 108 economists polled by Reuters.

"Markets seem so determined to price out the risk of a Fed rate hike any time soon that it is hard to imagine a January U.S. employment outcome strong enough to reignite pricing for March or June," wrote Sean Callow, a senior strategist at Westpac.

"Even after the US dollar's sharp fall in recent days, there still seems to be greater scope for a USD fall on a weak reading than for a rally on a strong outcome."

The dollar index stood at 96.640 after stooping to 96.259 overnight, its lowest since late October.

U.S. crude was up 0.2 percent at $31.79 a barrel, enroute for a 5.4 percent weekly loss. Crude has been volatile this week, boosted momentarily by a weaker dollar but also continuing to face downward pressure from concerns towards a slowing global economy crimping demand.

Brent crude was down 0.2 percent at $34.41 a barrel, poised to end the week down 1 percent.

Spot gold hovered near a 3-month high of $1,157.20 an ounce, having soared this week on diminished prospects of the Fed raising rates soon. Higher interest rates would in theory reduce the appeal of non-yielding gold.

Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange slipped 0.5 percent to $4,662 a tonne. But the industrial metal was still headed for a third week of gains as a weaker dollar nudged traders to close positions ahead of China's Lunar Year holidays next week. [MET/L]

A weaker greenback tends to lift the appeal of dollar-denominated commodities like oil and copper in the eyes of non U.S. buyers.

Source: www.reuters.com

Starting a Business in 2016? Avoid These 5 'Beginner' Mistakes.

If you are planning on starting a business this year you are undoubtedly full of excitement. While raw excitement, infatuation and determination are all great, you need to make sure that you proceed with caution so as not to encounter the common pitfalls that lead to business failure.

Avoid making these five beginner mistakes many new entrepreneurs often make -- and good luck with your new business venture!

1. Expecting overnight success 

Very few businesses are going to go from launch to successful revenue monster overnight. Yes, it happens, but not as often as one might think. The media is always going to talk about a unicorn startup that was conceived on a bar napkin and valued at $100 million two months later, rather than a business that’s been plugging away for the past few years, barely staying above water.

So, go into it knowing that you may potentially need a long time to get your business off the ground. If it happens quickly, that’s a bonus, but it’s better to have realistic expectations and not be disappointed. 

2. Sitting back and assuming sales will roll in

It doesn’t matter how great your product or service is -- if nobody knows it exists, your business will die. You have to market your business and put it directly in front of your target audience.

My online marketing company receives a lot of inquiries from startups that all have the same question: “What do we do if we don’t have a marketing budget?” Actually, there are plenty of things that you can do if you are willing to put in the work. A well-thought-out content marketing strategy and media outreach campaign can be executed with little to no marketing budget. 

Simply assuming that your target audience will magically discover your brand is foolish -- be prepared to grind hard in the beginning to generate momentum.

3. Failing to perform simple due diligence

Will your business name be infringing on an existing trademark? 

Is there a domain name available that will make it easy for potential customers to find your business online?

Is your business name available on all the popular social profiles?

These are just a few examples of basic due diligence that can help you avoid problems down the road. A basic word mark search through the Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS) should be your first step. If it looks like your business name isn’t going to infringe on a mark, see if the domain name is available and then move on to social media profiles.

There are plenty of coupons floating around online that will allow you to register a domain for a dollar, and creating social media profiles won’t cost you a dime. Just be sure to secure your online footprint first.

4. Not going in with a long-term plan

Running a business "on the fly" without a well-thought-out plan is entrepreneurial suicide. On the fly can lead to mismanagement of funds and resources, which will ultimately sink your ship.

While you can’t predict (or prevent) all obstacles you will encounter, setting up some long-term planning will help you avoid inexcusable mistakes. For example, a long-term marketing budget will help ensure that you have funds to cover the marketing, while still leaving enough money to handle operations and payroll. 

Imagine that you didn’t have a long-term plan mapped out and instead allocated a large chunk of money to an advertising campaign that didn’t pan out as expected: You'd lack the funds to cover operations and payroll -- and you'd be dead in the water. 

5. Not embracing the lifestyle 100 percent.

Being an entrepreneur is perceived as "cool" these days, thanks to mainstream media, the hit TV show Shark Tank (which places business owners on a pedestal) and billion-dollar companies, like Facebook, Uber and Snapchat, dominating the news headlines. 

But starting a business requires more than media smarts. It requires that you embrace the lifestyle that comes with the territory. Long hours, constant problem-solving and stress are just a few things to expect, along with:

Saying goodbye to a major chunk of your free time and sleep

Limiting time for family and friends

Putting hobbies and personal interests on pause

Making your new business the top priority in your life

Are you up to it? Then you have surmounted one of those five big "beginner" mistakes and are on your way.

Source: www.entrepreneur.com

Global stocks rise as weak dollar, U.S. rate outlook keep oil strong

Stocks advanced in Europe and Asia on Thursday, with the focus on energy companies as speculation U.S. interest rates may not rise at all this year left the dollar nursing hefty losses and oil held most of the previous day's big gains.

U.S. stock futures SPc1 pointed to a higher open on the Wall Street as well.

The dollar fell sharply on Wednesday after weak U.S. data and comments from a Fed policymaker interpreted as signaling further rate hikes could be delayed.

The U.S. currency fell 0.7 percent against a basket of its peers .DXY on Thursday and was on track for its deepest weekly fall since mid 2009. It hit a 3-1/2 month low against the euro and held close to its weakest for a week against the Japanese yen JPY=.

"The dollar is on its knees," said Richard Benson, head of portfolio management with currency fund Millennium in London. "Probably we will now have some stability ahead of U.S. payrolls tomorrow."

Dollar weakness, and unconfirmed talk that oil-producing countries in and outside the OPEC group may meet soon to discuss output cuts, helped crude prices add to Wednesday's sharp gains.

Brent, the global benchmark LCOc1, was up 35 cents at $35.39 a barrel, having fallen as low as $27.10 in mid-January.

Commodity-related shares pushed higher in Europe. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index .FTEU3 rose 0.6 percent while the STOXX Europe 600 Basic Resources Index .SXPP gained 4.9 percent and oil and gas index .SXEP 3.2 percent.

Shares in Anglo American (AAL.L), Glencore (GLEN.L), BHP Billiton (BLT.L) and BP (BP.L) rose 3.5 to 11 percent.

Britain's miner-heavy FTSE 100 index .FTSE rose 1.4 percent. On the debit side, Swiss bank Credit Suisse (CSGN.VX) slid 10 percent after posting its first full-year loss since 2008.

"Now we see that the U.S. dollar has broken down quite significantly and based on the cross-asset correlation, that certainly helps commodity prices and stocks," said Gerhard Schwarz, head of equity strategy at Baader Bank in Munich.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan .MIAPJ0000PUS jumped 2.3 percent. Australia's resource-rich index rose 2.2 percent.

Tokyo's Nikkei .N225 fell 0.9 percent, pressured by a stronger yen, which harms exporters, and by weak earnings forecasts from leading companies.

Chinese shares gained, with the CSI300 .CSI300 index closing 1.2 percent higher as the weaker dollar eased concerns of a sharp near-term depreciation in the yuan currencyCNY=.

Stocks globally have had a rough start to 2016, hurt by tepid U.S. growth, falling oil prices, and concern the world faces a China-led slowdown.

But another potential worry -- that the U.S. Federal Reserve would keep raising interest rates throughout 2016 -- has receded somewhat.

Fed policymaker William Dudley told Market News International in an interview published on Wednesday that monetary conditions had tightened since the Fed raised rates on Dec. 3. and that rate-setters would have to take this into account.

Investors interpreted this as meaning future rate rises might be delayed. The federal fund futures market FFZ6 indicates traders no longer expect a Fed hike this year.

Sterling GBP= retreated from a one-month high against the dollar after the minutes from the Bank of England's latest policy meeting showed the lone policymaker voting for a rate hike dropped his call. In its Quarterly Inflation Report released simultaneously, the BoE cut its economic growth forecasts.

The euro was up 0.6 percent at $1.1170, having firmed by about 2 percent on Wednesday.

LOW-RISK

Stock market strength lessened the appeal of low-risk, low-reward government debt. Yields on German 10-year Bunds DE10YT=TWEB, the euro zone benchmark for borrowing costs, rose 4 basis points to 0.32 percent.

Ten-year U.S. Treasury yields US10YT=RR edged up 2 basis point to 1.90 percent.

"The pressure from oil is easing...and tranquillity is returning to other markets so we can expect a bit of a step back from bonds, and yields should trend higher," KBC strategist Piet Lammens said.

The revised U.S. rate outlook lifted gold XAU=, which hit a three-month high at $1,147.40 an ounce.

Source: www.reuters.com

Wall St. opens lower after weak economic data, earnings

U.S. stocks were lower on Thursday after weak economic data and a spate of poor corporate results heightened investors' fears of a slowdown in the economy.

Data showed that the number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits rose more than expected last week and nonfarm productivity fell in the fourth quarter at its fastest pace in more than a year.

The numbers come before the keenly awaited monthly employment data released by the government on Friday.

"Right now you have a lot of seasonal adjustments related to the winter weather," said Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James in St. Petersburg, Florida about the economic data.

"Spring is when most firms really step up their hiring and the housing market really gets going."

Fourth-quarter S&P 500 earnings are expected to have fallen 4.4 percent from a year earlier, according to Thomson Reuters data.

Oil prices rallied and added to the previous day's 7 percent gain as the dollar weakened after weak U.S. data and comments from a Fed policymaker signaled that further rate hikes could be delayed.

The dollar index .DXY which measures the greenback against a basket of six major currencies, hit 96.55, its lowest level in more than three months.

Data due at 10 a.m. ET is expected to show a 2.8 percent drop in factory orders in December after a 0.2 percent dip in November.

At 9:56 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average .DJI was up 13.77 points, or 0.08 percent, at 16,350.43, the S&P 500 .SPX was down 3.06 points, or 0.16 percent, at 1,909.47 and the Nasdaq Composite index .IXIC was down 21.12 points, or 0.47 percent, at 4,483.12.

Microsoft's (MSFT.O) 1.3 percent fall weighed the most on the S&P and Nasdaq, while Home Depot's (HD.N) 1.8 percent fall dragged on the Dow.

Six of the 10 major S&P sectors were lower, with the consumer discretionary index's .SPLRCD 0.93 percent fall leading the decliners.

Stocks globally have had a rough start to 2016, hurt by tepid U.S. growth, falling oil prices and concern that the world faces a China-led slowdown. The S&P 500 has fallen 6.4 percent this year.

UBS cut its year-end target for the S&P 500 index .SPX to 2,175 points from 2,275 on Thursday and trimmed its earnings estimate for S&P 500 companies to $119 from $126 on weaker U.S. growth prospects.

However, chances of future interest rate increases this year are steadily fading.

Fed policymaker William Dudley said in an interview on Wednesday that monetary conditions had tightened since the Fed raised rates and that rate-setters would have to take this into account.

The federal fund futures market FFZ6 indicates traders no longer expect a Fed hike this year.

Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren and Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester, voting members on the Fed policy-making panel, are scheduled to speak on Thursday.

GoPro (GPRO.O) slumped 13.5 percent to $9.26 after the company forecast current-quarter revenue below analysts' estimates.

Ralph Lauren (RL.N) was down 16.4 percent at $96.31 after the retailer reported a decline in sales.

Viacom (VIAB.O) jumped 5.4 to $47.07 after chairman Sumner Redstone stepped down from his executive role at CBS (CBS.N), igniting speculation that the aging mogul will step down from his role at Viacom too.

Advancing issues outnumbered decliners on the NYSE by 1,739 to 1,028. On the Nasdaq, 1,359 issues rose and 982 fell.

The S&P 500 index showed 4 new 52-week highs and 7 new lows, while the Nasdaq recorded 9 new highs and 34 new lows.

Source: www.reuters.com

Crude oil prices slide as hopes of production cut dim

. Oil giants record loses in fourth quarter results

West Texas Intermediated (WTI) crude oil declined by 6.33 per cent at $31.62 a barrel and Brent fell by 0.14 per cent to $34.69 a barrel as hopes for a deal on production did not scale through.

Russia had last week sent mixed signals about possible cooperation with Organisation of Petroleum Corporation (OPEC) to support prices. It first suggested it should start talking to the cartel before saying there was no decision to do so.

As crude oil prices continued to fluctuate, oil giants are counting losses in their respective financial results.

Specifically, British Petroleum (BP), yesterday reported yearly loss of $6.5 billion for 2015.

It noted that despite strong operational performance and growing cost reductions, the lower underlying result was predominantly driven by the impact of steeply lower oil and gas prices on BP’s upstream segment, which reported a pre-tax loss for the quarter.

BP said it would cut 3,000 jobs in its downstream unit by the end of 2017 on top of 4,000 cuts already announced in oil and gas production as part of a $2.5 billion restructuring programme announced last year.

The company’s Chief Executive, Bob Dudley stated: “We are continuing to move rapidly to adapt and rebalance BP for the changing environment. We’re making good progress in managing and lowering our costs and capital spending, while maintaining safe and reliable operations and continuing disciplined investment into the future of our portfolio.

“Our plans set out a clear course for BP for the medium term and will allow us to deliver growth in the longer term. All of this underpins our commitment to sustaining our dividend and then growing free cash flow and shareholder distributions over the long term.”

Also, Exxon Mobil on Tuesday, posted a 58 per cent drop in quarterly profit as the languishing oil price continues to eat into the performance of the company.

Chairman and Chief Executive of the company, Rex Tillerson, stated: “While our financial results reflect the challenging environment, we remain focused on the business fundamentals, including project execution and effective cost management. The scale and diversity of our cash flows, along with our financial strength, provide us with the confidence to invest through the cycle to create long-term shareholder value.”

Source: Guardian Newspaper.

Wall Street closes higher after late-day rally

U.S. stocks staged a late-day rally to end higher on Wednesday as an 8-percent jump in oil drove up beaten-down energy shares and financials rebounded.

The Dow Jones industrial average .DJI rose 182.98 points, or 1.13 percent, to 16,336.52, the S&P 500 .SPX gained 9.53 points, or 0.5 percent, to 1,912.56 and the Nasdaq Composite .IXIC dropped 12.71 points, or 0.28 percent, to 4,504.24.

Source: www.reuters.com

6 Ways to Market Your Small Business for Less Than $100

For large brands with big marketing and advertising budgets, one or even several hundred dollars is just a drop in the monthly marketing budget. But for entrepreneurs and small business owners, every dollar counts – and investments need to pay off in real and immediate marketing ROI.

But could a marketing strategy be executed with as little as $100? We think so. That’s why we came up with these six scenarios that show how you can distribute a mere $100 (or perhaps even less) while still having a robust marketing plan that can help you grow your business.

1. Research your market

Cost: $0

The more time you can invest in identifying not only your target markets but the characteristics that would describe your ideal buyer types, the more you will be able to:

• Focus marketing efforts with laser-like precision

• Hone your marketing messages to attract and engage likely buyers.

And all-stars teams don’t just study up on their own game plan, they check out what competitors are doing so that they can look for opportunities to beat them. Going head to head with a competitor in areas where they are stronger or more well-established is usually going to result in a loss. On the other hand, if you spend time analyzing the competitive field to look for their areas of weakness or gaps in the marketplace, you can discover opportunities where your business will have the best chance to grow.

2. Turn email into your heavy hitter

Cost: From $20 to 50 per month (up to 5,000 contacts) via email marketing platforms such as Constant Contact or Campaigner

Email marketing comes in high on our list of recommendations for small businesses and startups, because it works. Regardless of industry or organizational size, marketers across the board point to email marketing as the tactic that produces their highest return on marketing dollars invested. ExactTarget.com’s 50 Email Marketing Tips and Stats for 2014 reported that marketers received an average return of investment of $44.25 for every $1 spent on email marketing.

Not only is it effective, it’s also desired. In study after study, consumers regularly say that email is their preferred channel for brand communications. The marketing gurus at MarketingProfs.com shared data from a Message Systems study that found for nearly one-third of all consumers, email is the communication channel they prefer when it comes to marketing.

3. Add speed to your line up

Cost: $9 per month (or less)

The faster you can engage, intrigue and convert your audience members, the better. Most consumers start their search for a business, product or service online. What’s more, in many cases online research has replaced the traditional buying cycle to the extent that by the time a buyer contacts a sales person for information, they are already completely through the buying journey (or nearly so).

To ensure that prospects who arrive at your website can quickly and easily access the information most likely to convert them from browser to buyer, you’ll need to be sure that your website can automatically detect what type of device they are using. Creating a semi-customized mobile version of your website on a site like Duda can be done in just a few moments, for a few dollars a month. It’s an investment that is likely to pay off over and over again in increased engagement and conversions.

4. Optimize for crowd appeal

Cost: $0

Although many small-business owners claim that word of mouth is their best marketing, it probably shouldn’t be. When it comes to making big purchases, 81 percent of consumers go online before heading out to a store and may spend from two to three months gathering the information they need to make a decision, according to GE Capital Retail Bank’s second annual Major Purchase Shopper Study.

Even when it comes to low-ticket items or the type of small businesses a consumer is likely to buy on a daily basis, the Internet, accessed via desktop, tablet or mobile, is often the starting point that leads to a buying decision. In fact, when it comes to mobile searches, more than half (55 percent) resulted in conversions within one hour, according to a Mobile Search Moments report, (which is also another great argument for investing in mobile-friendly web design).

Whether your products or services would be classified as big ticket or extremely affordable, the conclusion is the same: small-business owners and entrepreneurs that do keyword research and build out their web sites in accordance with best practices in search engine optimization (SEO) will be rewarded by search engines with more favorable SERP (search engine result placement) in organic search results. In other words, they will get more website traffic because their business listings will be placed directly in the path of prospective buyers who are researching products or services, or who are looking for a business online.  

5. Be strategically social

Cost: $41-71 per month (depending on what’s left of your $100 budget!)

If you invest that $41 in sponsored posts on Facebook or LinkedIn, you can put your brand, products or services in front of thousands of members of your target audience each month. Even a small investment in social marketing can produce hundreds of new followers on social networks as well as increased web traffic, brand awareness and hopefully bottom line profits that can be traced back to initial engagement on social media.

Because of their popularity with consumers (Facebook) and with business buyers (LinkedIn), social platforms have done small-business marketers a big favor. Not only do they allow you to set a limit on the amount spent to sponsor a post or page, they have also built tools which allow you to drill down into demographics in order to put these ads and posts directly on the feeds of individuals who meet your ideal buyer type criteria.

6. Strengthen your team

Cost: $0

The idea of establishing informal partnerships with other businesses for the purposes of cross-promoting or marketing cooperatively can be extremely beneficial, in particular for entrepreneurs, startups and small-business owners who have yet to build out large contact databases. Sharing contacts and working with other business owners whose target markets overlap with yours could help you build brand awareness -- and grow your organization -- much quicker than you would be able to do on your own.

Source: www.entrepreneur.com

Asia stocks edge up after Japan policy boost; debt shines

Asian stocks started a new month on a cautious note on Monday, with the Bank of Japan's surprise policy easing sparking some buying but further signs of economic weakness in China and a fall in oil prices keeping investors on guard.

European stocks were broadly expected to open steady with spreadbetters expecting Britain's FTSE 100 to open up 0.4 percent, Germany's DAX to open 0.2 percent higher, and France's CAC 40 to be unchanged.

The greenback continued to benefit from the growing monetary policy divergence between the U.S. and its counterparts in Europe and Asia while bonds, especially investment grade debt, received a boost after Japan's surprise decision to introduce negative interest rates last week.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up 0.1 percent, after losing 8 percent in January.

Australia and Japan led regional markets with gains of 0.8 and 2 percent, respectively, while Chinese stocks slipped in afternoon trade.

"In the short-term, the surprise move by Japan will be a catalyst for global equities but it only underlines the weakness of the global economy and we need to see some strong economics data for a sustainable rally," said Cliff Tan, head of global markets research with Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ.

Monday's batch of economic data from China added to worries about the health of the world's second-largest economy and only increased calls for more policy easing from China.

Activity in China's manufacturing sector contracted at its fastest pace in almost three-and-a-half years in January, missing market expectations, while growth in the services sector slowed, official surveys showed on Monday.

"As deflationary pressures remain high, further reserve requirement cuts are still needed to support the slowing economy and permanently inject liquidity into the market," ANZ strategists wrote in a note. They expect a total of 200 basis points of cuts this year with a 50 basis points cut coming in the first quarter.

"In fact, refraining from further easing could risk an even weaker economy, which will then intensify depreciation expectation and capital outflows."

The Shanghai Composite Index fell more than 2 percent, while the CSI300 index of the largest listed companies in Shanghai and Shenzhen falling by 2.2 percent, extending its dismal performance from January.

January was the worst monthly performance for the Shanghai market since the 2008 crisis with more than a 10 percent loss.

The Bank of Japan said it would charge for a portion of bank reserves parked with the institution, an aggressive policy pioneered by the European Central Bank (ECB). Earlier in January, the ECB indicated it could cut rates further in March.

"The fact that both the BOJ and the ECB suddenly showed additional easing stance after the markets' rout suggests policymakers in Japan and Europe share concerns and take actions," Masafumi Yamamoto, chief currency strategist at Mizuho Securities, said.

In contrast, the U.S. Federal Reserve has so far stuck to the script that it will gradually raise interest rates this year even though bets have been pared back with Federal Fund rate futures pricing in barely one hike this year.

Elsewhere, fixed income markets cheered a fresh round of policy easing from a major global central bank with investment grade debt in Asia ending a torrid January on a high note.

In government debt, the rate-sensitive U.S. two-year yield fell to a three-month low of 0.766 percent on Friday before bouncing to 0.779 percent.

The U.S. 10-year debt yield fell to 1.93 percent, edging near a double-bottom around 1.90 percent made in August-October, also helped by speculation Japanese investors will go after U.S. bonds as local bond yields plunge.

On Monday the 10-year Japanese government bond yield hit a record low of 0.050 percent while the two-year yield hit a record minus 0.100 percent.

Negative interest rates pressured the yen, which traded briefly at 121.38 to the dollar, near the six-week low of 121.70 touched on Friday.

The euro was steadier at $1.08455.

Oil prices fell, with international benchmark Brent sliding 1.8 percent to $35.35 per barrel.

Still, oil has bounced more than 30 percent from a 12-year low hit less than two weeks ago, taking some pressure off reeling global equity markets but that bounce is proving to be fleeting.

A 19-commodity Thomson Reuters/Core Commodity CRB Index, a global benchmark for commodities edged higher and up more than 8 percent from a 13-year low hit in late January.

Source: www.reuters.com