The traditional clips that keep identification cars, visitor passes, and law enforcement badges affixed to a pocket or collar are slowly being replaced by a not so new technology that does not fray or wear on clothing. Magnetic badge holders are simple, inexpensive and most of all unobtrusive to your expensive clothing. Large corporations are making this an option for their employees to use for their everyday photo ID’s, and the female gender especially have taken quite a shine to them thus far.
There are some drawbacks if the magnets have too strong of a field, as they render magnetic pass keys useless in seconds, and some people with pacemakers and or hearing aids may find fault with them in severe ways. Overall, this inexpensive alternative works very well in several industries, and one in particular is the exposition and tradeshow arena. They not only use them for their vendors and participants, but sell advertising on the information holders as well. Many overseas manufacturers have jumped on the bandwagon in producing this product, at low competitive prices that will make them affordable for any commercial or institutional budget.
Even schools have come to embrace the ID with magnetic badge holders as a way to identify students and faculty members, as they have become a regular and required part of the students uniform. One added item that most employees and students are not even aware of, is the use of RFID chips installed in their badges to track their every move while they are on campus or in the work place. RFID readers are wireless much like Linksys networking routers, and can be placed strategically to keep track of thousands of people at one time.
So the next time you are issued a badge with a magnetic or clip on holder, know that big brother is watching and can track you within fifteen feet of your present location.
There are certain tips and strategies you can follow in order to maximize your trade show exhibiting results. It’s a matter of how you present and it wing it during the show. Trade Show Exhibits are an essential part of advertising. You may not always get the best results but in the process, you can always try by following these four tips to get you as far as you can. There can be no harm in trying anyway and its best to get advice in order to scale the waters of your show.
First, ensure that your team has a plan created and stick to it! When you work as a team, you are most likely to generate more sales through the unity of your plan. The key is making use of your resources. Your most knowledgeable staff and the most motivated people are could be used as your front runners from the beginning to the end. In any organization, when the people have a common goal and work towards that vision together, the aim could be achieved or realized faster than you think. As they usually say, there is strength in numbers.
Second, is through establishing the show. Go out and send some invites and make a call tree to establish a phone call invitation to all your contacts. This will not only increase your attendance but it keeps people aware and talking about your show. Creating more personalized invitations can do wonders to a customer who might feel more important by your simple invite.
Third, it pays to be early. Get there a few days before the big event. Once you are there, ensure to establish ground such as sighting the media, create you sales representation, create a network with the people around and help others as well.
Lastly, take care of yourself. Do not over work your staff. Keep them happy and motivated and ensure that everyone is well fed. Dress comfortable and enhance a good disposition.
Medical centers have felt the recent slowdown in the economy as well. Despite popular belief on Capitol Hill, medical clinics need money to operate. When the economy is bad, it takes patients and insurance companies longer to pay off their bills. This has led many health care centers to consider selling these receivables to garner instant cash flows: a process known as medical receivable factoring.
Critics of factoring have been quick to point out that it is more expensive than traditional financing options (bank loans or issuing bonds). A bank loan for a medical center is usually somewhere in the ballpark of 10 percent per year. Whereas medical receivables financing is usually somewhere around 2 percent per month which is the equivalent of 24 percent per year. It’s not hard to see why critics have been lambasting factoring as a viable option for financing medical centers.
However, it should be noted that factoring is a different animal than borrowing. When a medical center works with a factoring company it is performing a sales transaction. When a center works with a bank, it is performing a loan. The two are quite different and make direct comparisons hard to understand.
If a medical center were to borrow 1.2 million dollars for a year at 10% at the end of the year the center would have to pay back the 1.2 million plus 120k in interest charges. However, if a medical center were to factor or sell 1.2 million dollars worth of insurance claims or receivables then at the end of the year the medical clinic doesn’t have to pay a dime, in fact it should be receiving money from the medical factoring company.
Assuming you understand the math behind a traditional loan, let’s look at how the medical receivables factoring arrangement would work out. The medical clinic sells 100k of receivables a month to the factor. The factor charges two percent per month and at the end of every month the factor is paid for the receivable by the patient or the insurance company. This means that the monthly factoring charge for the medical center is 100k X 2 percent or two thousand dollars a month. Because the receivables are paid for every month this amount resets every month instead of building on itself. So every month the medical center pays 2k for its advances. After 12 months the rate is only 24k, much lower than the 120k charged by a bank, and the same amount of money was borrowed. The difference is the amount of time the money was borrowed. In the above medical factoring example, the money was only borrowed for 30 day increments. Whereas with the loan it was borrowed for a whole year before payment was made.
As is usually the case, both the opponents and proponents of medical invoice factoring have good points. Factoring is probably not the best idea for the long haul because you’re selling your assets at less than their market value. However, it’s also not the complete scam that some critics claim it is.