ZipDebt is an idea that I had after leaving my position as an executive with a large debt settlement operation. The idea is simple enough: Why can’t people do this themselves for a fraction of the cost?

The name is itself is nothing special. I wanted an Internet domain name that would be short, easy to remember, and contain the word “debt.” Unfortunately, just about every possible permutation was already taken – again, because there are a zillion debt websites. But “ZipDebt” gets the point across. “No Debt.” That’s the goal.

Anyway, the idea behind the name is to provide the American consumer with a NEW debt resolution option: The do-it-yourself-with-coaching program — affordable, effective, and different from what anyone else in the debt industry is doing or offering.

Most of the existing solutions don’t work. Borrowing against equity is often a trap. Credit counseling has a documented failure rate of 75%. Chapter 7 Bankruptcy is more difficult to qualify for, and Chapter 13 Bankruptcy is a much tougher program after the new law went into effect in October 2005. Debt settlement companies are up against increasing regulatory pressure and creditor backlash in a simultaneous squeeze play against the industry. Plus the fee structure of the industry is simply not in the best interests of the consumer. (See my earlier post on this subject.) Yet the mathematics of debt negotiation and settlement (minus the fees) makes a lot of sense for a wide variety of financial hardship cases.

So I recorded my Debt Elimination Success Seminar and established this website to offer it for sale, initially selling only the seminar without any coaching. After a while, I started getting questions from customers. Although I made the audio seminar as comprehensive as possible, every situation is different and collectors are pretty good at scaring people. So I started getting a lot of emails for follow-up advice. Hence the idea of coaching folks by email, which has worked out very well. You can see some of the more recent results in later posts on this blog.

Lately, I’ve shifted the emphasis a bit, from an audio-seminar that includes some coaching to a coaching program that includes a training seminar. More and more clients have told me that the seminar is great, and it really helps them to understand the whole negotiation and settlement process, but it’s the coaching they find invaluable. When you consider that the cost of the coaching program is well under 10% of what most settlement companies charge, it certainly makes sense to negotiate on your own (with help from yours truly). It means you can get out of debt much faster, since all your resources are going toward getting rid of debt and not toward fees. I should add that I really have nothing against the settlement companies. It’s just that it makes more financial sense for consumers to do this on their own.

If you have questions or concerns about this approach, then please feel free to request a free 20-minute phone consultation with me.