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What's Up with My Credit?

A credit insider gives expert counsel on how to navigate business and personal credit complexities to build your credit scores and long-term credit successes.
Latest Posts

Four Business Credit Questions to Ask
November 20, 2009, 1:00 PM
Sometimes the only way to know an answer is to ask: vendors, credit card providers, the small business account manager at your bank, your accountant, or others.

Use the Weak Economy as Your Success Springboard
November 13, 2009, 1:30 PM
Plan and act to be certain your business will survive and thrive through economic hurdles ahead.

Why Customer Loyalty Is More Important Than Ever
November 06, 2009, 1:40 PM
Answers to revving up income and fending off competitors can be found in ways you demonstrate customer care.

New Bank Fees: What Recourse Do You Have?
October 30, 2009, 12:15 PM
Banks are suddenly charging new fees. Here's how to protect your business and your financial well-being.

Use the Power of Marketing to Secure a Loan
October 23, 2009, 3:10 PM
Competition for loans is ferocious, so it may take marketing to get on the good side of your lender.

How to Stabilize Your Micro-Business, Part 2
October 16, 2009, 8:05 AM
Five easy tips to set-up basic business finances plus insights into establishing business credit can help you create a solid financial foundation.

How to Test Your Micro-Business Idea, Part 1
October 09, 2009, 11:50 AM
Before you move forward to start a new business, consider these ideas and concepts to build a solid business foundation.

How Your Business Can Compete in a Sale-Saturated Market
October 02, 2009, 2:25 PM
In credit crunched times, demonstrate a unique understanding of your customers' needs by offering services that communicate your customer care.

Don't Talk to Your Credit Card Provider
September 25, 2009, 12:00 PM
Banks behaving badly is becoming the theme of major financial institutions. Know what could happen before your actions produce unintended consequences.

The Health Insurance Debate: Enlist Your Employees' Help
September 18, 2009, 1:30 PM
While the health care reform debate rages, businesses still have to figure out how to shoulder insurance costs. Take these steps to involve employees in cost-cutting and juggling the company's obligations.



Latest Comments in What's Up with My Credit? posts

Factoring leverages your customer's credit. This is important if you need fast cash and you don't have assets to pledge to a bank. (e.g., IT services, janitorial, Staffing Services, etc.)

My recommendation is not only to get cash quickly, you should look at your cash flow management processes to keep more of your own money flowing as possible.

Here's a blog post on the cash flow management process:
http://donaldhunterfinancial.com/2009/11/17/discover-how-to-avoid-titanic-cash-flowtm-disaster-before-it-strikes/ ...
By: Donald Hunter on 11/21/09 at 3:15 AM
Four Business Credit Questions to Ask
Like the rest of you I realize she is incorrect and way off base about cheching your own credit score but not only that she must be intentionally lieng to everyone! The reason I say that is she throws us numbers saying he went from the mid-700's down to the 500's IN ONE MONTH just by checking his score?!?! Does she even believe what she is saying?This makes no sence at all.
By: George on 11/12/09 at 6:43 PM
Don't Use Credit Monitoring Services
Lynette,
Your tips are generally good but lack a real test of the business idea. There is no way around market testing a business idea. The aspiring entrepreneurs should talk to potential customers to receive feedback on the business idea. They should get a sense of the patterns of feedback and whether their idea resonates with the customer. When the customer says the business idea will solve their problem, then they can move on to the preparation you describe. Hopefully Part 2 of this post can incorporate some of this.
By: Shawn Winkler-Rios on 10/26/09 at 8:01 AM
How to Test Your Micro-Business Idea, Part 1
Yes. We should rather not talk to the creditor for sometimes it just brings us no good. For sometimes they take advantage when we reach out for them truly, today it is hard to find someone whom you could trust. It is rare to find a lender that prioritize the concerns of the their clients. We all struggle with finances from time to time, due to a sudden expense or a miscalculation, and that's when a payday loan can come in handy. A payday loan is just a small loan with a financing charge that's due back on your next payday. They can be better than using credit cards or deciding not to avoid overdraft charges, and unlike overdrafts or credit cards, they don't affect your credit rating. It's a way to kind of save money, when you need some money. A payday loan can help you out during lean times, but a loan until payday is like any other financial instrument ? they have to be used with care, restraint, and with responsibility.
By: kevinn on 9/28/09 at 3:56 AM
Don't Talk to Your Credit Card Provider
You list Equifax in your list of sites that are "not the place to go," then later you say the opposite: "Because Equifax is the only CRA providing FICO scores directly to the public and their Credit Watch Gold product has an excellent reputation, that would be a wise choice for keeping tabs on your credit."

So why should we trust your list of bad sites?

You also say "The scores sold by Experian and TransUnion are commonly referred to as FAKO scores because they are frequently inflated and these are not the scores that businesses use to decide whether to extend credit to you," but this is not true. When applying for a loan, lenders in my experience are interested either in the middle score or the low score.

These two problems with your article make me skeptical of the entire thing.

Also, you're off base in saying ...
By: Auditor on 8/11/09 at 12:10 AM
How to Avoid "Free Credit Report" Scams

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