Michelle Dunn's newest book, The Guide to Getting Paid

Michelle Dunn is an award winning author and columnist frequently featured in the Wall Street Journal, CNN and Forbes. She has over 24 years experience in credit and debt collection. Her newest book, "The Guide to Getting Paid, Weed Out Bad Paying Customers, Collect on Past Due Balances and Avoid Bad Debt”, was just released by Wiley Publishing and is now available on Amazon.

How big a problem is debt collection for small businesses, including writers?

Debt collection has always been a problem for small business owners but due to the economy it has become an even bigger problem that is even harder to solve.

Small business owners go into business because they are good at a particular thing, and that is what their business is usually based upon. Most small business owners are not experienced in debt collection and so when it comes up – they have a problem. A problem they don’t know how to avoid, a problem that they don’t realize is preventable and a problem they want to ignore and hope that goes away.

How do you collect the money that is owed to you?

The most effective way to collect any money that is owed to you is to make a personal visit to the person who owes you the money and ask for it. Most business owners do not want to do this – and so I offer the second most effective way to get paid, which is making a phone call.

My advice when someone owes you money:
1. Visit them and ask for it.
2. Start buying your morning coffee where they get theirs – and say good morning.
3. Call them
4. Call them again
5. Keep calling them
6. Send a collection letter
7. Put their account on hold
8. Report the debt to a credit bureau
9. Revoke their credit
10. Send a final notice in a flat rate priority mail envelope
11. Take them to court


What are the most effective/least effective tactics?

Most effective:
Personal visits
Phone calls
Revoking credit
Putting an account on hold
Collection letters sent in non-traditional ways
Offering solutions to continue having a relationship while getting paid
Credit reporting
Court

Least effective:
Ignoring the account and hoping they will pay
Not calling because you don’t want to make them mad
Not having a signed credit application
Not having specific payment terms that the customer is aware of
Not contacting the customer
Accepting their excuses and still not getting paid

These are very helpful suggestions, thank you Michelle. I understand in addition to writing and marketing your books, you are a self syndicated columnist for 10 newspapers and publications as well as an Editorial Advisor for "Collector Mentor" magazine. How can we learn more?

You can reach me online at MichelleDunn.com and Credit-and-Collections.com.

I'm offering a free e-book to your readers for a limited time. It is called "Effective Collections: A Proactive Approach to Credit Management". You can check it out and download a copy here.. You can find my new book on my web site and on Amazon.

Michelle Dunn - Expert on Credit & Collections

Michelle Dunn of Plymouth, New Hampshire is the nation's top expert on credit and debt collection. She has seven published books on the subject and has 20 years of experience in the industry. I’m pleased to welcome her to Writers In Business.

~ You have certainly found your niche in the book market and are a respected expert on the topic of collections. Congratulations! Can you tell us what inspired you to write your first book on this?

I wrote my first book titled "Starting a Collection Agency, how to make money collecting money" based on the demand for information on this topic. I had started my agency and had been working in the industry for about 11 years, when I started getting some national media attention. This media attention brought me many phone calls, letters, and emails asking me how I started my agency and became successful at it. This prompted me to write a book on this topic since there were none out there at that time on this subject.
~ I understand when you started your own collection agency in 1998, debt collection was a field dominated by men. You found the strength and courage not only to enter this field, but to become a successful author of books on collections. Did you feel it was an uphill battle to break into this field or did you find support along the way?

I found the strength and courage to enter this field based on my knowledge of the industry and based on how good I was at collecting. I also was getting a divorce and wanted to be home and spend more time with my children. I found that I could not accomplish this while commuting 2 hours a day to my job. I decided to start my own business from home so I could have more flexibility for my family.

In the beginning I did not find much support which is why I started my Credit & Collections Association, (www.Credit-and-Collections.com) and started a networking discussion group, with a website full of resources and information I had been compiling as I started my agency.
~ You have been featured in some well known media outlets including Ladies Home Journal, Forbes.com, PC World, Home Business Magazine, and The Wall Street Journal. You were also a guest on (NPR) National Public Radio and the CBS Early Show. I’m sure lots of our readers would appreciate this level of publicity. Can you share with us some of your tips on securing this media attention?

I have always loved marketing as much as collecting. I have read many books, magazines and blogs on the subject in order to learn how to effectively market myself, my association, my books and my business.

I have been very successful at it, mostly because I am passionate about what I do and I don't take failure as an answer.

~ I’ve been reading about your new marketing series of books entitled, Mosquito Marketing. Can you tell us more about this concept and your plans for the series?

The first book in my Mosquito Marketing Series is being printing in the next few months, it is called "Mosquito Marketing for Authors". I wrote this book based on so many people asking me marketing questions.

For example, as you mentioned all the media I have achieved, I tell people in my book how I did that and how they can do it too. I tell them what I did that did not work so they won't waste time and money doing things that aren't effective. The next book to be published in this series will be at the end of the year and is called "Mosquito Marketing for Collection Agencies".

Michelle, thank you for joining us on Writers In Business. To learn more, please visit Michelle’s web site MichelleDunn.com or her blog on Mosquito Marketing Mosquito Marketing Blog. Her books are available through her web site and Amazon.com.