Self Hypnosis,Mind Power

Internet Explorer Plug in

2008-07-01T14:19:00.000+07:00

Do not trust Internet and please read this ….!

Just what is Intelligent Explorer? For your safety, you really need to know

I recently hit, by mistake, what I thought was an Explorer upgrade option. It turned out to be a pop-up appearing legitimate but really was not. It uploaded a product called Intelligent Explorer on my machine. What a nightmare!

I did some research on the web and found messages like this one from a BullGuard Antivirus Forum,

"PLEASE HELP!!! I HAVE A SPYWARE, TROJAN AND HIJACKER ON MY COMPUTER. I HAVE RUN BULLGUARD, CWSHREDDER AND AD-AWARE. ALL HAVE PICKED UP THE VIRUSES AND SAID THAT THEY HAVE BEEN MOVED/REMOVED BUT WHEN I LOG ONTO THE INTERNET THAT DAMN INTELLIGENT EXPLORER TOOLBAR IS SHOWING"

Another message from spywareinfo Forum goes something like this:

"Hey I'm having issues with something called Internet explorer toolbar - Intelligent explorer. I can’t find a way to remove it from my comp and I really don’t want to reinstall windows. I've used spybot, ad-ware, and cw shredder but nothing seems to work."

It appears that Intelligent Explorer allows other software to be downloaded to your machine and this is where the problem occurs. What is even more remarkable is that by downloading Intelligent Explorer, their license grants them the right to install software add-ins on your computer at their will. Take a look at what the software license for Intelligent Explore says (go to http://www.ieplugin.com/terms.html to read it all):

"You grant to us the right, exercisable by us until you uninstall the Software or this agreement is otherwise terminated, to provide to you the Service of downloading and causing to be displayed advertising material on your computer, through ‘pop-up’ or other display while you use your browser. You acknowledge and agree that installation of the Software may automatically modify toolbars and other settings of your browser. By installing the Software you agree to such modifications."

The company, IBC incorporated, is incorporated in Belize. I really can't believe this license!

One end user found highly objectionable pop-up advertisements generated by this software bundled with Intelligent Explorer in the form of extreme pornography.

I have yet to break this.

Intelligent Explorer is a plug-in, which can create a new home page, as well as start up and endless loop of pop-ups. You can remove the view bar, but then starting up Internet Explorer will cause it to reappear. I asked some friends to help, and no one could tell me what to do.

This is what I did:

I bought a copy of a program called XoftSpy and it removed the software. It took two scans and a reboot to do it. This is not an advertisement for this product. They advertised it was free, which it was to run, but then I had to buy it to actually fix anything. It cost me $40 and I am sure that there are freeware products out there as well, but that is what ended the nightmare for me. Other spyware products I have seen out there include spybot, NoAdware, Spyware Eliminator, Pal Spyware Remover, and Spyware C.O.P.

Let the buyer beware!

SEO / Internet Marketing Tips Round-Up

2007-07-02T12:43:00.000+07:00

SEO / Internet Marketing Tips Round-Up
Posted by Michael Bonnar under Hobo News

We’ve been really busy recently with moving offices, awards ceremonies, conferences, seminars, winning seo competitions, sponsorships and a punishing website design and search engine optimisation work schedule recently, hence why most of the additions to the blog recently have been about us - in the news.

So we thought it might be useful to remind you of a few of the more educational posts on the Hobo website that you can implement yourself to increase traffic to your website and win more on-line sales from it.
10 Link Building Tips For Your Company
7 Tips Every Business Owner Should Know
10 “What Not To Do” SEO Tips
Joomla Search Engine Friendly URLs
Does Google Prefer Valid HTML?
Avoiding Google Supplemental Index
Google Results Change Constantly
Test Your Website Design In Different Browsers - Online!
5 Ways To Tell If You Are Being Screwed By Your SEO Firm
Ethical Social Media Marketing - 1 Hour SEO

Hope you find these more popular posts of use! For regular visitors to the blog, you might be interested to hear (if you haven’t already, Shaun has his own internet marketing and search engine optimisation blog. I’ll warn you now, the language used is definitely for adults only! There are some useful tips to be had there too, though:
Online Reputation Management
Keyword Density
Google Page Rank, Supplementals & SERPS

Of course if you need to hire the services of a professional web design company, or require professional seo services, don’t hesitate to contact our sales team at Hobo

Gobala Krishnan has an interesting post about Google as the decision-maker on who to praise and who to condemn amongst the Internet marketing companie

2007-07-02T12:42:00.001+07:00

Gobala Krishnan has an interesting post about Google as the decision-maker on who to praise and who to condemn amongst the Internet marketing companies.

Here’s how Gobala finds Google, the billions of dollars worth gorilla:

Job Title: The almighty god of the Internet

Job Scope: Decides which website goes to Internet marketing heaven and which ones go to hell.

Biblical Reference: Came out of nowhere in 1997/98 and crushed all other search gods and goddesses, rules from the kingdom of heaven (Mountain View, California). A few centuries ago, Nostradamus predicted the rise of Big G. It was foretold that Big G will crush the Devil (Microsoft) and that the people will love him. But in time, Big G will assume the role of the devil as well. Spiritual leaders are still analyzing the data on their Windows Vista. It may take some time.

Why you should cover in fear: Big G can crush your life in an instant. Therefore, you should log into Internet marketing forums everyday and see what message Big G’s carrier pigeons (so called SEO experts) bring. You may also find some fake prophets that claim to carry the mandate of Big G. They will tell you they know how to get past the system, and get a free ticket to heaven.

You gotta check out the rest of Gobala’s thoughts about Google’s own casino and charity project.

Google, IMHO, is business as usual, a stroke of genius, a greedy monster, and a fun tool rolled in one.

How about you? How do you find the Google?

Godfather internet

2007-07-02T12:39:00.000+07:00

"Godfather" of the Internet, Mark Joyner, Releases his 7 Day Business Turnaround Kit to the Public

Mark Joyner, often referred to as the "Godfather of the Internet" due to his major contributions to common Internet marketing practices such as integration marketing and e-books, is launching his highly-anticipated "7 Day Business Turnaround Kit" on the net July 1, 2007.

Camden, TN (PRWEB) June 30, 2007 -- Mark Joyner, often referred to as the "Godfather of the Internet" due to his major contributions to common Internet marketing practices such as integration marketing and e-books, is launching his highly-anticipated "7 Day Business Turnaround Kit" on the net July 1, 2007.

Several weeks ago, Mark Joyner created a stir when he announced that he was going to allow seven small business owners to beta-test his new course called the 7 Day Business Turnaround Kit. According to Mark Joyner's blog, 963 hopeful applicants applied. Finally Mark decided to allow 16 to become what he lovingly referred to as "Space Monkeys." These were selected on purpose to provide an interesting range.

"We wanted to prove that anyone-no matter what your skill level- and no matter what state your business is in, could experience radical change with the 7 Day Business Turnaround Kit," Mark explained. "These guys range from "rank novice" to "business superstar." We have people who do business in the "real" world, and also some who do business exclusively on the net."
Over $5000 in 3 days - and money is still coming in from the injections

Steve Mayo, Kristi Sayles, Tellman Knudson, Dawn Bournand, Tom Justin, Mike Morgan, Kate Russell, Joe Lavery, Laura Klemm, Reed Floren, Tara Johnson, Andy Duncan, Jason Henderson, Ladan Lashkari, Tammy Lewis, and Jewel McKeon were chosen to go through the extensive course.

At the end of the seven days, each was asked what they would say to a friend that was considering investing in the course...

Tom Justin:

"I would tell them to DO it not TRY it. I would suggest they be an "open-minded skeptic." The experienced business person may find some rudiments that are "beneath" them, but within the training are some pure core nuggets along with formulas that can be business changing almost instantly. I would suggest that if they are on a high horse they are due for a long fall unless they bore down and find the root causes of the most basic challenges that face most businesses today. Mark set a genius level course in Simpleology, so it's of little surprise that he's managed the same thing here."

Dawn Bournand:

"Go for it! As with all of the Simpleology products, the value is extremely high for what you pay and you will not be disappointed by what you will learn. The simplified content makes it all the more easier to retain and then use in the moments that you are feeling confused or overwhelmed."

Jason Henderson :

"Do it now or you're an idiot (seriously) When there is no secret, when the law of attraction fails, there is and always will be, Mark Joyner. (If that has bad grammar, sue me! I have to get to the gym.")

The focus of the kit containing informational videos, audios, PDF's, and calls is to teach the owners to create what Mark calls a "fast cash injection mission." This allows the business owners to boost their present incomes to a level that they can begin to think of ways to restructure their business to be more productive in the future.

Participants are trained to look for ways to both save and make money.

Did anyone experience a quick cashflow?

"Over $5000 in 3 days - and money is still coming in from the injections," said Tara Johnson.

"Over $1000 in 6 days," said Kristi Sayles, second grade teacher at Camden Elementary School in Camden, Tennessee. "I'm just a part-time Internet marketer, but I'm definitely feeling empowered to take my business to the next level. The course was exactly what I needed to turn my business around. I'm going to be a guest speaker on two teleseminars soon. I look forward to teaching others to experience success with the course too. I'll be around on the Simpleology forum if anybody wants to ask me a question after the launch."

Joe Vitale gave the course two thumbs up. "I don't think I've ever seen anything so comprehensive, so detailed, so caring, and so strategically designed to help," he said.

To learn more about this 7 Day Business Turnaround Kit, go to Simpleology.com

The kit will be available to the public at July 1 at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.

Contact Info:
Anne Reilly
anne @ markjoyner.name
Simpleology.c

Google Adsense - The Easiest Money To Make Online

2007-06-19T08:57:00.000+07:00

Google Adsense - The Easiest Money To Make Online?

For the last couple of months, Google Adsense has dominated forums, discussions and newsletters all over the Internet. Already, there are tales of fabulous riches to be made and millions made by those who are just working from home. It seems that Google Adsense have already dominated the internet marketing business and is now considered the easiest way to making money online.

The key to success with Adsense is the placing of ads on pages that are receiving high traffic for high demand keywords. The higher the cost-per-click to the advertiser, the more you will receive per click from your site. Obviously, it does not pay to target low cost-per-click keywords and place them on pages that do not receive hits.

With all the people getting online and clicking away everyday, it is no wonder why Google Adsense has become an instant hit.

For some who are just new to this market, it would be a blow to their pride knowing that their homepage is buried somewhere in the little ads promoting other people’s services. But then, when they get the idea that they are actually earning more money that way, all doubts and skepticism is laid to rest.

There are two major, and clever, factors that some successful webmaster and publishers are learning to blend together in order to make money easier using Adsense.

1. Targeting high traffic pages on your website. If you check on your logs, you will discover that many of your visitors are taking advantage of the free affiliate marketing resources and ebooks that you are offering on your site. In simple words, your ads are working effectively and are generating more clicks. It also means more money for you.

2. Placing Adsense links on pages that are producing little, or better yet, no profit. By placing Adsense on a free resources page, you will reduce the amount of potential customers being lost to other sites. Tricky, but effective nonetheless.

When learned to work effectively, these two factors are actually a good source of producing a minimal amount of revenue from a high traffic page. Many people are using this strategy to pick up some extra and cash with Adsense. This is also especially rewarding to informational sites that focus their efforts on delivering powerful affiliate link free content to their visitors. Now they can gain a monetary return on their services.

With the many techniques that people are now learning on how to make the easiest money by their Adsense, it is not surprising that Google is trying everything to update and polish their Adsense in order to maintain their good image.

The possibility of adding is 2nd tier in Adsense is not impossible. With all the people spending more time in their Adsense now and still more getting into this line of marketing, there is no doubt about the many new improvements yet to be made. Imagine the smiles on the faces of the webmasters and publishers all around the world if ever they sign up for sub-affiliates and double or even triple the amount that they are already earning.
The one particularly handy money-making feature that is available with Adsense now is the ability to filter out up to 200 urls. These gives webmasters the option to block out low value offers from their pages as well as competitors to their websites. Talk about taking only those that are advantageous and discarding the ones that seem “useless”.

With Google Adsense, the possibilities are limitless. Yet there is also the possibility of someone taking advantage of the easy money process that this internet marketing is doing. If you think more about it, these negative factors may force Google to break down and thrash Adsense in the process. If that happens, people would have to go back to the old ways of internet marketing that does not make money online as easy as Adsense.

For now, however, Google Adsense is here to stay. As long as there are people wanting to earn some easy cash online just using their talents, the future ahead is looking good. Besides with all the strict guidelines that Google is enforcing over Adsense, it will take awhile for the Adsense privileges to be spammed and even terminated.

Don't Get Caught With Google Adsense Click Fraud

2007-06-19T08:55:00.000+07:00

Don't Get Caught With Google Adsense Click Fraud

Many web site owners are getting their Google Adsense account terminated when they have done nothing wrong to deserve the punishment. Considering the money that they are getting from Adsense, they would certainly want to get back into it.

Considering the money to be made with Adsense, it is no wonder that they would want to get back into it.

It is that same consideration why the Google Adsense click fraud is thought of and why many people are getting into it.

Click fraud is the act of clicking on ads for the purpose of costing the advertiser money. It is simply the same as paying out cash for false leads. Many people website owners are aware of this fraud and are sharing the same sentiment that this is the one big problem that Adsense is facing.

How do you prevent being involved in this fraud?

Majority of web hosts are offering access logs. Once this is offered to you, it is necessary that you hand it over to Google as well. This allows them to look for any suspicious activity on your site. Problems like this are very serious and giving it to them is saying that you would want to help them in any way you can in solving the problem.

It can also help if you have a click monitoring software. If you do not have one yet, you should try and get one. There is absolutely no major factor preventing you from having one because most of this software is free.

As usual, all the information you have received should be turned over to Google. This is showing Google that you too are fighting against click frauds and is in no way a part of it.

Study your server logs and watch for any activity that seems suspicious. Report anything that you may find odd, may it big or small thing.

You may want to consider disabling ads for your own IP address and local geographic area. This will certainly prevent accidents and will not make Google mistake another user as you. You can do through a htaccess file. This will avoid Google mistaking as clicking on your own ads and be kicked out because of it.

Keep your Adsense off on pop ups and pop unders. Your ads should not be displayed on content sites that promote illegal activity or tampering of the legal rights of other people or business. Included in this are the content that is considered adult and gambling ones. If you think that you may be breaking this rule, immediately remove your content or Adsense from the web page.

Be truthful and confess up to Google about times when you might have clicked on your own as, whether accidentally or intentionally. Or the times when you have done something that is against the Terms of Service that they are implementing. Be honest about anything that you may have done that is wrong. Confessing is way better than Google learning about it eventually. It would mean eventual termination and no getting back what you have worked so hard for.

Do not tell your family or friends about Adsense on your website. Chances are they may start clicking on them to help you make money without you knowing it. They may be doing more harm to you than help by trying it in the first place.

If ever someone you know chanced upon your Adsense, make sure they understand that they cannot click on your ads under any circumstances. It would be wise to brief them on important things about Adsense and what not to do with them.

Most pay per click networks have different measures in hand to protect website owners against click frauds. Other search engines can track more than 50 data points, IP address, browser’s information, user’s session info and pattern recognition. They also have “systems” available that detects fraud. Not to mention the specialized teams monitoring how things are going and helping advertisers stop click frauds.

Google offers suggestion on how to avoid click fraud. Using “negative keywords” can be used to keep your Adsense showing on products and services that are in no way related to yours. Adding tracking URLs to your links so you can track the traffic coming from Google.

Do not be caught in the Google click fraud. Be aware and be wary.

5 Ways To Improve Your Adsense Earnings

2007-06-19T08:54:00.000+07:00

5 Ways To Improve Your Adsense Earnings

If webmasters want to monetize their websites, the great way to do it is through Adsense. There are lots of webmasters struggling hard to earn some good money a day through their sites. But then some of the “geniuses” of them are enjoying hundreds of dollars a day from Adsense ads on their websites. What makes these webmasters different from the other kind is that they are different and they think out of the box.

The ones who have been there and done it have quite some useful tips to help those who would want to venture into this field. Some of these tips have boosted quite a lot of earnings in the past and is continuously doing so.

Here are some 5 proven ways on how best to improve your Adsense earnings.

1. Concentrating on one format of Adsense ad. The one format that worked well for the majority is the Large Rectangle (336X280). This same format have the tendency to result in higher CTR, or the click-through rates. Why choose this format out of the many you can use? Basically because the ads will look like normal web links, and people, being used to clicking on them, click these types of links. They may or may not know they are clicking on your Adsense but as long as there are clicks, then it will all be for your advantage.

2. Create a custom palette for your ads. Choose a color that will go well with the background of your site. If your site has a white background, try to use white as the color of your ad border and background. The idea to patterning the colors is to make the Adsense look like it is part of the web pages. Again, This will result to more clicks from people visiting your site.

3. Remove the Adsense from the bottom pages of your site and put them at the top. Do not try to hide your Adsense. Put them in the place where people can see them quickly. You will be amazed how the difference between Adsense locations can make when you see your earnings.

4. Maintain links to relevant websites. If you think some sites are better off than the others, put your ads there and try to maintaining and managing them. If there is already lots of Adsense put into that certain site, put yours on top of all of them. That way visitor will see your ads first upon browsing into that site.

5. Try to automate the insertion of your Adsense code into the webpages using SSI (or server side included). Ask your web administrator if your server supports SSI or not. How do you do it? Just save your Adsense code in a text file, save it as “adsense text”, and upload it to the root directory of the web server. Then using SSI, call the code on other pages. This tip is a time saver especially for those who are using automatic page generators to generate pages on their website.

These are some of the tips that have worked well for some who want to generate hundreds and even thousands on their websites. It is important to know though that ads are displayed because it fits the interest of the people viewing them. So focusing on a specific topic should be your primary purpose because the displays will be especially targeted on a topic that persons will be viewing already.

Note also that there are many other Adsense sharing the same topic as you. It is best to think of making a good ad that will be somewhat different and unique than the ones already done. Every clickthrough that visitors make is a point for you so make every click count by making your Adsense something that people will definitely click on.

Tips given by those who have boosted their earnings are just guidelines they want to share with others. If they have somehow worked wonders to some, maybe it can work wonders for you too. Try them out into your ads and see the result it will bring.

If others have done it, there is nothing wrong trying it out for yourself.

3 Reasons Why Adsense Is Essential For Content Sites

2007-06-19T08:52:00.000+07:00

3 Reasons Why Adsense Is Essential For Content Sites

To know why Adsense is essential for your content sites is to know first how this works.

The concept is really simple, if you think about it. The publisher or the webmaster inserts a java script into a certain website. Each time the page is accessed, the java script will pull advertisements from the Adsense program. The ads that are targeted should therefore be related to the content that is contained on the web page serving the ad. If a visitor clicks on an advertisement, the webmaster serving the ad earns a portion of the money that the advertiser is paying the search engine for the click.

The search engine is the one handling all the tracking and payments, providing an easy way for webmasters to display content-sensitive and targeted ads without having the hassle to solicit advertisers, collect funds, monitor the clicks and statistics which could be a time-consuming task in itself. It seems that there is never a shortage of advertisers in the program from which the search engine pulls the Adsense ads. Also webmasters are less concerned by the lack of information search engines are providing and are more focused in making cash from these search engines.

The first reason why Adsense is essential for content sites is because it already has come a long way in understanding the needs of publishers and webmasters. Together with its continuous progression is the appearance of more advanced system that allows full ad customization. Webmasters are given the chance to choose from many different types of text ad formats to better complement their website and fit their webpage layout.

The different formatting enables the site owners the possibility of more click through from visitors who may or may not be aware of what they are clicking on. It can also appeal to the people visiting thus make them take that next step of looking up what it is all about. This way the people behind the Adsense will get their content read and making profit in the process.

The second reason is the ability of the Adsense publishers to track not only how their sites are progressing but also the earnings based on the webmaster-defined channels. The recent improvements in the search engines gives webmasters the capability to monitor how their ads are performing using customizable reports that has the capacity to detail page impressions, clicks and click-through rates. Webmasters and publishers can now track specific ad formats, colors and pages within a website. Trends are also easily spotted.

With the real-time reporting at hand, the effectiveness of the changes made will be assessed quickly. There would be time to sort out the contents that people are making the most clicks on. The ever-changing demands would be met while generating cash for the webmasters and publishers. The more flexible tools are also allowing webmasters to group web pages by URL, domain, ad type or category, which will provide them some accurate insight on which pages, ads and domains are performing best.

The last and final reason is that the advertisers have realized the benefits associated having their ads served on targeted websites. Thus increasing the possibility that a prospective web surfer will have an interest in their product and services. All because of the content and its constant maintenance. As opposed to those who are no using Adsense in their sites, they are given the option of having other people do their content for them, giving them the benefit of having successful and money-generating web sites.

Adsense is all about targeted content, the more targeted your content is, the more target the search engines’ ads will be. There are some web masters and publishers who are focused more on their site contents and how best to maintain them rather than the cash that the ads will generate for them. This is the part where the effectiveness is working its best.

There was a time when people were not yet aware of the money to be achieved from advertisements. The cash generated only came into existence when the webmasters and publishers realized how they can make Adsense be that generator. In those days, the content were the most important factors that is taken quite seriously. It still is. With the allure of money, of course.

You Can Sell Anything on eBay – Or Can You

2007-06-11T08:42:00.000+07:00

You Can Sell Anything on eBay – Or Can You?

Over 100 million people are members of eBay.
Through eBay, you can buy items in almost any
category that you can imagine – at great prices.
You can also sell almost anything you can
imagine on eBay – people often sell items that have
absolutely no real value for very high prices. There
are limits, however, to what can be bought and sold.

eBay does not allow certain items to be auctioned
through their website. Services are one type of ‘item’
that cannot be auctioned – simply because it is not
an item. Some seller’s blatantly ignore this however.
The sell of other items is illegal, even if it isn’t being
sold through eBay. eBay restricts the sale of any
type of item that is considered ‘illegal for sale’ in any
other selling format. Illegal items such as satellite
descramblers are forbidden as well.

Anything that is copyrighted - such as copies of
DVDs, CDs, or software - may not be sold through
eBay auctions. You can, however, sell a DVD, CD,
or any software that you bought legitimately…as
long as you are not just selling a copy that you
made of these types of items. eBay does not allow
the sale of ‘replicas.’ A replica is a knockoff version
of designer items, such as purses, dresses, shoes,
or sunglasses that look identical to those that have
designer labels.

Items that are regulated by the state or federal
government are forbidden on eBay. These items
include alcoholic beverages, weapons and firearms,
all tobacco products, and both prescription and
illegal drugs. There are small exceptions to this rule,
however. If you have a collectable, such as a tin that
contains tobacco, you may sell that item if the
package has never been opened, and if you state the
contents of the package are not meant for
consumption. There are other conditions that must be
met as well when selling these types of collectables.

Any type or breed of animal or reptile may not be
sold through an eBay auction. This includes animals
that were once living, and are now stuffed and
mounted. This rule may also apply to items that are
taken from endangered species, such as Ivory. When
it comes to these types of items, when in doubt,
don’t.

Tickets may be sold, but it is illegal to sell tickets
for a higher price than you originally paid for them.
This is called ticket scalping, and it is illegal.
Lottery tickets are also banned from eBay
auctions, as well as raffle tickets. Again, if you are
not sure if your item is eligible for an eBay auction,
either don’t put it up for auction, or contact eBay to
get an answer one way or the other. Don’t risk
breaking the law!

Using the eBay Security and Resolution Center

2007-06-11T08:41:00.002+07:00

Using the eBay Security and Resolution Center

Whether you are an eBay buyer or a seller, problems
may arise at some point. That is why the eBay
Security and Resolution Center was created. Even
if you have never had a problem on eBay, and you
don’t expect to, a visit to this eBay resource can be
very enlightening, and it may even help you to
protect yourself in all of your online activities.

If you do not receive an item that you bought from
eBay, this is where it is reported. The same is true
if you sold and shipped an item and did not receive
payment for it. But there are many other ways to
use the security center as well. You can learn how
to protect yourself from identity theft, how to protect
your eBay account and the eBay guidelines that
are designed to make everyone’s buying and selling
experience safe and enjoyable.

If you are an eBay seller, you will learn how to
become a trusted seller, which will ultimately bring
you more profits. There is something for everyone at
the eBay Security and Resolution Center – even if
you have never had a security problem at eBay.

The eBay Trading Assistants Program

2007-06-11T08:41:00.001+07:00

The eBay Trading Assistants Program

If you excel at eBay auctions, you might want to
consider an additional source of revenue as well. The
eBay Trading Assistant Program will allow you to
sell items for other eBay members on consignment.
Being successful at your own auctions is the key
to becoming a successful trading assistant for other
people.

Often, newcomers simply don’t know how to make
their items sell. Many people who are auctioning off
a one time big ticket item, such as cars or real
estate, will often employ the services of an eBay
Trading Assistant. Items such as these can add
up to very big commissions for serious trading
assistants! Usually, trading assistants are
responsible for every aspect of the auction,
including shipping the product to the customer and
collecting payment. For high ticket items, the person
who hires

Trading Assistants get access to trading assistant
marketing materials which are quite helpful. In order
to become an approved trading assistant, you must
have sold at least ten items in the last ninety days,
have a feedback score of at least 100 with 97%
positive feedback or higher, and your eBay account
must be in good standing.

The eBay Shipping Center

2007-06-11T08:40:00.001+07:00

The eBay Shipping Center

eBay wants to help sellers with every aspect of their
eBay business. The eBay shipping center was
created to help ensure that you get your items to
your customers in a timely manner, in the most
efficient and economical way possible.

The eBay shipping center will help you print shipping
labels, help you figure shipping costs, and even help
you with International shipping. Shipping information
for all of the major shipping companies, including the
USPS can be found through the shipping center. You
can even purchase insurance for packages that will
be shipped by the USPS directly through the shipping
center.

One of the greatest features of the eBay Shipping
Center is the ability to order free co-branded shipping
boxes for USPS shipments. These boxes are
delivered to you, at no cost! This will cut a great deal
of your shipping expenses because you won’t have to
purchase your own boxes! There is also a great video
that will teach you how to save time and money on
your shipping, and whether you are a buyer or a
seller, you can easily track your packages through
the eBay shipping center as well.

The eBay Item Listing Rules

2007-06-11T08:39:00.002+07:00

The eBay Item Listing Rules

Because eBay is such a huge marketplace, with
members from all walks of life, in almost every single
country around the world, it is no wonder that there
are many scammers lurking about. In order to better
protect the buyers, eBay has specific rules
concerning the items that can be auctioned off on
the site. These rules must be followed, or the
person posting the item for auction can be banned
from the site.

Even though there are numerous categories, items
that are put up for auction really only fall into one of
four categories at eBay: Prohibited, Questionable,
Potentially Infringing, and Approved. Approved is the
simplest category to define and understand. An
approved item is any item that does not fall into one
of the other three categories. That is fairly simple,
right?

After the ‘approved’ category, however, it starts to
get a little harder to understand – with the exception
of prohibited items. A prohibited item may not be
auctioned on eBay for any reason, under any
circumstances. Prohibited items include alcohol,
drugs, animals, tobacco, human remains or body
parts of any type, lottery tickets, and
governmental property. There is quite a bit more
on the list, and that list can be viewed at the
eBay website.

Questionable items are those that are not prohibited,
but are not necessarily infringing. Adult material falls
under the ‘questionable’ category. Tickets of any
type may also be questionable. Law enforcement
related equipment, as well as guns, knives, and
other weapons are questionable items. Artifacts,
food items, batteries, all hazardous chemicals
and materials are also on the list of
questionable items. You can auction questionable
items at eBay, as long as those items meet certain
conditions.

Potentially Infringing items are those that violate
copyrights, trademarks, and other legal rights. These
items are almost always some type of media, such
as software, DVDs, and CDs, but the list contains
other items as well, such as counterfeit items and
illegal recordings. You can find out more about
‘potentially infringing’ items at the eBay website
as well.

If you are unsure as to which category your item falls
into, you should contact eBay with this question
before setting up the auction. As a buyer, you
should carefully consider the consequences of
purchasing items that fall under one of the three
categories above. In some cases, it may be very
illegal to have some of those items in your
possession – no matter how they were obtained.
Before making such a purchase, or bidding on such
an item, you should find out more details about the
item in question, and then get some legal advice.

Shipping eBay Items to Customers

2007-06-11T08:39:00.001+07:00

Shipping eBay Items to Customers

If you stock the products that you sell on eBay, as
opposed to drop shipping, you probably spend a
great deal of time and money shipping items to your
customers. If you are a big success on eBay, this
could quickly become a problem. Organize your
shipping practices before they get out of control!

Keep stamps, packing materials, and boxes on
hand. You can have these items delivered to you,
which will save you a lot of time. Use large padded
envelopes instead of boxes whenever possible. These
envelopes are easier to handle, and usually cheaper to
purchase. Furthermore, they often weigh just a little
less than cardboard boxes do, which will save a bit of
money on the postage. Purchase stamps and packing
materials online. Not only will you save time, you will
save money as well.

If you ship a lot of packages, purchasing your own
set of postage scales will increase your efficiency –
the expense will more than pay for itself. Other items
you should invest in include a rubber stamp, label
printing software, a good printer, and labels. Either
use a stamp for the return label, or keep a large
stock of pre-printed return labels. All you need is a
plan and a little bit of organization to successfully
ship your eBay items.

Increase Your eBay Profits Without Relying on

2007-06-11T08:37:00.002+07:00

Increase Your eBay Profits Without Relying on
eBay!

While it is possible to earn a full time living on eBay,
it is a mistake to depend solely on eBay for your
income. You could be using your eBay auctions to
generate a huge amount of business for other
products and services! Many people, however,
fail to fully utilize eBay’s resources to this end.

eBay has over 100 million members, and they
gained those members by continually running major
marketing campaigns. Essentially, they do your
marketing for you. But you have to help yourself as
well. The key is to drive people to your auction page,
which in turn can be used to drive traffic to your
website.

You can sell many different items on your website,
including items that are up for auction at eBay! This
is a fabulous way to earn income that does not rely
on eBay auctions. You can easily accept website
payments with a Paypal account, so there is no
need for an expensive merchant account!

You are not allowed to include the website address
of an outside website on your auctions – you are,
however, perfectly welcome to place a link to your
website on your eBay ‘About Me’ page. Invite your
bidders and potential bidders to view your about me
page, and watch the website traffic roll in!

How to Use the Promotional Tools on eBay

2007-06-11T08:37:00.001+07:00

How to Use the Promotional Tools on eBay

eBay wants you to be successful. Essentially, if
their sellers are not making any money, eBay is
not making any money – or not enough money.
eBay does have one other very small source of
revenue, which comes from the sellers. This revenue
is realized from the promotional tools that actually
help you, as a seller, have more successful auctions.

The promotional tools on eBay are very inexpensive.
For instance, you can have a bold listing for just a
few cents. Highlighted listings are equally inexpensive.
These two tools could easily raise your final price by
as much as 25%! Not all promotional tools cost money.
Many of them are free. The available promotional tools
found on eBay are product finder, gallery, bold,
highlight, border, gift services listings, subtitles, featured
home page, featured plus, featured gallery, keywords,
co-op advertising, and optimized listings.

If you are serious about making money from your eBay
auctions, or if you are selling just one high ticket item,
you should definitely take advantage of the eBay
promotional tools that are available to you. These can
easily be found through your sellers account.

How to Use eBay Escrow Services

2007-06-11T08:36:00.002+07:00

How to Use eBay Escrow Services

If you buy or sell big ticket items on eBay, you need
to know about the available escrow services. An
escrow service is designed to protect buyers and
sellers from being ripped off. The funds for the sale
go to the escrow service, and then the seller ships
the item to the buyer. Once the item has been
received, the funds are released from the escrow
service to the seller.

In some instances, both the item and the funds go
through the escrow service, and the service makes
sure that the buyer gets the item, and the seller
gets the money. There is a small fee for the service,
and it is usually a fixed percentage of the sale price.
It is up to the buyer and seller to decide who will
pay the fees. Often, the fees are split between the
buyer and seller.

If you want to use an escrow service, there is only
one service that eBay recommends, and they back
that service up. This service is Escrow.com. Over
the years, there have been many ‘look-alike’
escrow services, using variations of the escrow.com
domain name, but they have shown to be less than
reputable companies. Make sure you use the
services of escrow.com for the greatest protection.

How to Sell Expensive Items on eBay

2007-06-11T08:36:00.001+07:00

How to Sell Expensive Items on eBay

Selling expensive items on eBay is really no different
than selling low cost items. Essentially, no matter
what you are selling, it all comes down to how you
market the item. This doesn’t mean you have to
surf around the Internet placing ads here and there –
when it comes to eBay auctions, the marketing is
all done at the eBay website. Basically, when you
set up your auction, you are setting up an
automated marketing campaign.

First, you must determine what the value of your
item is, in three different ways. This will help you
determine what your reserve price is. On eBay, the
reserve price is the lowest price that you are willing
to accept for your item. First, have your high priced
item evaluated to determine what the actual market
value is. Next, research similar items from past
auctions at eBay to see what price those items sold
for. Finally, determine what the value of the item is to
you. With this information, you should be able to
determine the lowest amount you are willing to sell
the item for.

Set your reserve price, and then set your opening bid
price lower than $50 – no matter how high your
reserve price is. This is a marketing tactic. It will be
hard to attract potential buyers to an auction for an
item selling for hundreds or thousands of dollars –
but getting them to an auction where the opening
bid is only $50 is quite simple. Remember, you don’t
have to sell the item to anyone who bids less than
your reserve price – unless you choose to do so at
the close of the auction. This method of price setting
resembles marketing gimmicks used by offline
businesses that are simply designed to ‘get customers
in the door.’

Work hard on the description for your listing. Use
words that really describe your item well. Provide as
many details as possible, including details that prove
the authenticity of collectible items. Include pictures
of the item as well. Do not try to deceive potential
buyers! If the item has marks or scratches, simply
be honest about it, and make sure that the pictures
convey this as well. State how the item will be
packed and shipped. Also let potential buyers know
that shipping insurance must be purchased as well
– in case the item is damaged once it leaves your
possession.

For higher priced items, most eBay buyers feel more
comfortable using an escrow service. Offer this as
an option in your auction, with the understanding that
the buyer must pay for the service. This protects both
parties from fraud, and it makes many buyers more
open to spending the money to obtain the item.
eBay has partnered with an escrow service that is
commonly used for high ticket items.

How to Find Great Deals at eBay

2007-06-11T08:35:00.002+07:00

How to Find Great Deals at eBay

Everyone loves a great deal! Many people spend
quite a bit of time searching for good deals on the
items that they want and need – and when they find
those deals, they experience a certain amount of
satisfaction. These people typically haunt garage
sales, stores that are holding sales, wholesale
warehouses, flea markets, and especially online
and offline auctions. With the incredible number of
auctions that are constantly going on at eBay, it
can be difficult to find the items you want, at the
price you want to pay. But it isn’t impossible to find
great deals!

There are steps you can take to ensure that you are
getting a great deal on the items you purchase
through eBay. In fact, these same steps will also
help to protect you against fraud. Participating in
online auctions is a great deal of fun, but you must
use caution as well. This caution entails doing your
research before you place any bids.

Start with the auction in question. Make sure that
you read every word of the description and the
auction details. You can never have too much
information – especially if that information is
about an individual that you may be doing business
with. Pay special attention to what the description
and auction details do not say. For instance, is a
guarantee mentioned? Is the item new? Is it
authentic? Is there proof of authenticity? Look for
auctions that provide the right information – and
the right amount of information. Avoid those that
do not.

Who will pay the shipping and handling costs? Often,
the buyer pays these costs, and sometimes, the
seller tries to charge more than the actual shipping
and handling costs are. Beware of high shipping
costs, especially for items that will be auctioned
off at a very low price. Also note when the item is
supposed to ship after the bidding has ended.
Depending on what you are trying to purchase the
item for, it may not arrive in time.

Don’t make the mistake of bidding on an item simply
because it is a ‘good deal.’ It is only a good deal for
you if the item is something that you really want or
need. Many people simply bid for the sake of
bidding – or winning – without having any real need
or desire for the item in question. Before bidding on
items that you do want or need, check prices
around the Internet and the prices available from
offline sources as well. Just because it is on eBay
does not guarantee that it is the cheapest price
available!

Finally, learn more about the seller. Can you trust
them? What is their rating? Read their feedback
page! Failure to learn more about the seller can be
costly. Not everyone is as honest as you are – and
the seller may be trying to take advantage of people
that simply don’t know enough to find out more
about them. Sometimes scammers make their
auctions sound like really great deals. Beware of
prices that seem extremely low!

How to Avoid Losing to eBay Snipers

2007-06-11T08:35:00.001+07:00

How to Avoid Losing to eBay Snipers

Sniping occurs when a bid is about to end. Some
yahoo rushes in and bids a little higher than the
highest bid as the clock runs out of time – winning
the bid. Sniping is against the rules at eBay, but it
doesn’t slow the snipers down! In most cases, even
if you report it, the sniper will get away with it, and
you will have lost the item that you wanted to win
so badly. Unfortunately, in order to avoid losing the
items you want to snipers at eBay, you have to
take on the sniper mentality. You also need to
snipe in a way that will not violate eBay’s rules.

Snipping can be done in one of two ways. The first
way is the safest, but not necessarily the easiest.
Simply keep up with the item you are bidding on.
Make a note of the date and time that the auction
will end, and make sure that you are in front of your
computer and logged into the auction well before that
specific time. The objective is to either bid higher than
the highest bid during the last few seconds – which is
what snipers do - or to simply make sure that you are
not outbid by a sniper.

Remember that sniping is against the rules, so you
should log in about thirty or forty five minutes before
the bidding ends, and get your bid up until it is the
highest bid. At that point, all you need to do is to
keep an eye out to make sure that nobody else
raises the bid. If you’ve been logged in for a while,
this cannot be considered sniping.

Using this method, you must be aware of automatic
bidders. It is very hard to bid against people who use
bidding software. That software has been designed for
the purpose of snipping, and your chances of
outbidding the software manually are very slim –
which leads us to the second method of snipping
– Snipping services.

Snipping services are very easy to find online, and
they are relatively inexpensive. You can also
purchase your own snipping software. If you want to
become a sniper, purchasing your own software is
usually the best way to go if you bid on a lot of items.
You just set up the software, tell it which auction to
watch and what the highest price you are willing to
bid is, and let it do the work - just remember that it
is against the rules, and while eBay seldom enforces
this rule, you will be running the risk of getting
banned from eBay.

Sniping is bad if someone does it to you, but if you
use it yourself to win bids, it can be a wonderful thing.
On the other hand, it may not be very ethical.
Outbidding someone is one thing, sniping is
something altogether different!

How to Avoid Failure on Your eBay Auctions

2007-06-11T08:34:00.000+07:00

How to Avoid Failure on Your eBay Auctions

Many first time sellers have one thing in common –
they fail. Many of them fail time and time again,
never understanding what is going wrong. They do
hours of research looking for the perfect item to sell,
get the auction set up, and wait for the bidding to
begin. Hours go by and no bids are placed. Days go
by, and there are still no bids – or there are very low
bids. Finally the auction ends, and it turns out to be
a total failure. Considering the huge number of sellers
who run eBay auctions, there are specific things you
must do, and specific things you must not do if you
are to be successful.

There are many reasons why auctions fail. The most
common reason is that the item is not in high
demand. This problem can be avoided by doing the
necessary research to determine which items sell
well, and which items should be avoided. This
research takes a great deal of time – but in the end,
you will find that it is time well spent.

Another reason for eBay failure is pricing. No matter
what your reserve price is, your opening bid price
should never be more than $50 or so. This is how you
will attract potential bidders to your auction. If you
set that opening bid too high, most people won’t
even click the link to read the description for your
item. Another pricing problem is lack of research.
Before you set your reserve price, you must
determine what the item is really worth, and the price
similar items have sold for in past eBay auctions.

Poorly written descriptions are another cause of
failed auctions. Poor grammar and misspelled words
drive people away. Failing to post a picture of the
item will also keep people from visiting your auction
page. Make sure that your description is well written.
This is essentially your ‘sales copy.’

Shipping prices scare people away from auctions if
they are too high. Find the lowest shipping prices
that you can find, and consider paying for the
shipping yourself if it won’t cut into your profits too
much. Do not charge handling fees.

Offer great ‘customer service’ for all of your auctions,
and ask your buyers to give you feedback. If the
items that you sell are everything that you said they
would be, and you offer great customer service, you
can expect wonderful feedback – and this
feedback will help a great deal in your future auctions.

How to Avoid eBay Scams and Fraud

2007-06-11T08:33:00.002+07:00

How to Avoid eBay Scams and Fraud

Countless people have been scammed and
defrauded on eBay. eBay is a fun place to bid on
items and to sell items – but you must know how to
recognize a scam, and how to avoid them, them or
you quickly join the ranks of those who have lost
their money to eBay scams. Of course, if you are
scammed, there are some actions you can take the
correct the situation – but in many cases, the
scammer does indeed get away! The best option is
to avoid being scammed.

You can easily avoid many scams with the payment
method that you use – whether you are a buyer or a
seller. eBay owns Paypal, and in most cases,
Paypal is the payment method you should use. First,
as a buyer, if you are scammed or less than
satisfied with the item when it arrives, you can
dispute the charge easily, and demand a refund. The
seller must reply and show proof that the item was
shipped, and that it arrived in the condition that you
expected, or Paypal will return your funds to your
account.

As a seller, you can protect yourself by only
accepting Paypal. This will eliminate the chances of
receiving a bad check or having the buyer dispute a
credit card charge. Instead, they must dispute the
charge through paypal, and you of course will be able
to prove that you shipped the product. You cannot,
however, prove that the product arrived in the
condition that was expected. In this case, you should
demand that the product be returned to you before the
refund is issued.

Another common scam that buyers use is the
bidding scam. This type of scam is run either with
two separate eBay accounts – with one person in
control of both of them, or with two friends with
separate eBay accounts. A very small bid is placed
on your item, using one account. This is followed by
a very high bid, from the other eBay account. Right
before the bidding ends, the high bid is cancelled or
withdrawn, leaving the low bid as the winning bid.
This bid can only be avoided by setting a reserve price
– the lowest bid that can be placed is the same as the
reserve price that you set.

If you are an eBay seller, you can further protect
your auctions by placing a notice on your auctions
page, declaring that you have the right to back out
of the sale if you suspect potential fraud. As both a
buyer and a seller, also beware of spoofed emails.
These emails appear to be from eBay. The email
may claim that you need to verify your information,
and ask you to login to your eBay account, using
the link provided. If you follow that link, the site looks
exactly like eBay, but it is actually a scam to get
your eBay login details, as well as your credit card
details! eBay will never ask you to do this. If you
suspect a spoofed email, report it to eBay
immediately!

Don’t let scammers ruin your eBay fun! Just use
good common sense, and a reasonable amount of
caution, and everything should run smoothly. Report
suspicious activity to eBay, and if a deal doesn’t feel
right, simply back away from it and move on to the
next auction.

Hot Selling Items for eBay Auctions

2007-06-11T08:33:00.001+07:00

Hot Selling Items for eBay Auctions

Many people who are trying to start an eBay
business spend a great deal of time trying to figure
out which items sell the best on eBay. Many of these
people have elaborate systems for determining this
information, and many others purchase expensive
courses that teach them how to find this information
as well. None of that is necessary. Everything you
need to know is right in front of you – on the eBay
website!

Take a look at any category, and you will see the
word ‘hot’ beside some items. These items are not
marked as hot sellers randomly – there is a method
to the madness! Items only get marked as hot when
there have been more than thirty bids placed on
the item. All you have to do is wonder around the eBay
website for a while to find an item that will do well.

However, most power sellers will agree that there is
more to figuring out which items sell best than this.
In fact, they claim that it is a science. A great way
to start your search for items that will result in a
successful auction in the future is to do research on
the auctions that were successful in the past. You
can view old listings that have completed at:
http://listings.ebay.com .

A new way to determine what items sell best on
eBay is ‘eBay Marketplace Research.’ Marketplace
Research will allow you to view important statistical
information on the buying trends at eBay. This
product contains all of the data one could possibly
ever need to determine how well – or how poorly –
an item will do in an eBay auction. There is a small
fee for using the eBay Marketplace Research tools,
however.

Another tool that will be very useful in your quest for
finding hot selling items for your eBay auctions is the
listing of popular eBay search terms that is found on
the site. This list can be found at:
http://popular.ebay.com/ . This list is divided into
categories, which will make it easier to determine
how popular your potential item may be.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that an item will
do poorly, or that it will do well without doing your
homework on the item first. Some of the strangest
things sell for the highest prices, while items that
would sell quickly in any other environment just sit
there. Almost any eBay Power Seller will tell you
that the key to a successful auction rests in the
amount of research you put into the items you
hope to sell.

Getting Started on eBay

2007-06-11T08:22:00.002+07:00

Getting Started on eBay

You’ve probably heard about how much money can
be made on eBay. With dreams of quick riches and
easy money, you are probably ready to jump in with
both feet – right now! The best thing you can do if
you are serious about making money with eBay,
however, is to slow down. In fact, just stop for a
minute. Don’t rush straight in. Take your time, and
do it right.

eBay has over 100 million members. Think about
that number for just a minute or two. When you get
your eBay business set up, that is how big your
customer base will be – instantly. 100 million people
- 100 million people who are just waiting for you to
get set up and running so that they can throw money
at you! Well, not quite. It is true that there are over
100 million members, but at this point, they don’t
know that you exist. In fact, no matter how well you
do on eBay, most of them will never know that you
exist. 100 million is a very large number.

The most successful eBay sellers started out as
buyers – and you should too. This will give you a
sense of how everything works. It will also show you
how things are from the buyer’s side of the fence.
Let’s call this period of time ‘consumer research.’
You are literally studying how eBay works, from a
customer’s point of view. You may not realize this,
but this eBay buyer experience will
actually make you a much better seller – right from
the very start.

Really pay attention to the customer service you
receive from the buyer. Think about how you want to
be treated as a buyer, and take notes. Take your
time during this process. Interact with the sellers.
Get involved in hot auctions to see what they are
like. In your spare time, start making notes about
the hot items that you see. These notes will come
in handy later.

eBay works just like any other business. You have
to determine what people want to buy before you can
hope to be successful. There are very specific items
that sell really well on eBay – you just have to figure
out what those items are. There are many
resources for finding out this information. Start with
the lessons that eBay offers to their sellers.
Strongly consider attending the eBay University as
well. This is the next step in the process. After you
have had the eBay buyer experience, it is time to
learn how to be an eBay seller.

Read all of the information eBay provides for you at
the site. The information is free and you will learn a
great deal from it. Take full advantage of this – before
you start setting up your first auction or your eBay
store! By reading through all of the resources, you
will avoid making numerous mistakes that so many
before you have made. This is another step towards
building a successful eBay business. Once you’ve
made it through the learning process, you should
know everything you need to know to get started
with a money making eBay business of your very
own.

eBay University – What Is It All About

2007-06-11T08:22:00.001+07:00

eBay University – What Is It All About?

eBay University is the learning program that eBay
established to help people become successful eBay
merchants. For convenience, eBay classes are held
in many locations throughout the United States, and
classes may also be completed from home, using
your computer.

You should note that all of the information you will
learn through eBay University can be found on the
website – for free. However, understanding that free
information isn’t always easy. eBay University will
teach you how to open a seller’s account, how to
conduct research and create listings, how to improve
listings for greater success, how to integrate Paypal
with eBay, how to monitor your auctions, and how to
complete transactions.

Once you’ve finished the Selling Basics course, you
are ready for the ‘Beyond the Basics’ course. This
advanced course will teach you how to start and
grow an eBay business, how to choose and create
listing formats that sell, how to use all of the eBay
resources, how to market your business, how to
pack and ship your items, and much more. Both
courses are reasonably priced, and well worth the
short amount of time that it takes to complete
each course.

eBay Success - How to Price Your Items

2007-06-11T08:21:00.000+07:00

eBay Success - How to Price Your Items

Many new sellers don’t realize how important pricing
is when it comes to eBay auctions. Many don’t even
realize that ‘pricing’ needs to be done. eBay is an
auction site after all! But eBay auctions are not quite
the same as the auctions you attend in the offline
world. In fact, quite a bit of work goes into
determining and setting prices.

Essentially, there are only three prices that can be
set for an eBay auction: the ‘buy it now’ price, the
reserve price, and the starting bid price. Of these
three, the starting bid price is the only one that is
required for an eBay auction. The reserve price and
the ‘buy it now’ price are optional. The starting bid
price is fairly simple – never set it higher than $50 or
so – no matter what your item is really worth. This
low opening price will get bidders to your auction.

Setting low starting bid prices creates the need for a
reserve price. A reserve price is the absolute lowest
price that you want to get for your item. You may sell
the item below the reserve price, but you will not be
required to. In other words, if you set your reserve
price at $100, and your highest bid is only $50, you
do not have to sell the item to the highest bidder.
You can close the auction without any negative
feedback or repercussions. Set your reserve price
at the absolute lowest price you are willing to sell
your item for. Keep what the item is worth, as well
as what it cost you in mind.

The ‘buy it now’ option will allow you to set a price,
and buyers can buy the item immediately, without
bidding, for that set price. This option can be used
for any type of item, and it should be set to match
your reserve, give or take a few dollars. This option
is great if you have multiple identical items to sell.

Shipping has a price, and potential buyers take this
into consideration when they are looking at an
auction. If you can see your way clear to offer free
shipping, you will find that people are placing more
bids. Make sure that your potential buyers realize
that you are offering free shipping!

Before setting any prices, you need to determine
what the item is really worth. The value of the item in
different markets might be quite high. However, you
are selling on eBay, and it is a different world
altogether! Find out the price that similar items sold
for on eBay before setting any prices. If it is a
collectable, or a high ticket item, have the item
evaluated to ensure that you aren’t going to lose
money!

eBay Scams – Steps to Take if You Have Been

2007-06-11T08:20:00.001+07:00

eBay Scams – Steps to Take if You Have Been
Defrauded

eBay is a relatively safe marketplace. Unfortunately,
like most online marketplaces, it is vulnerable to
scams. eBay tries to keep instances of scams
occurring, but with more than 100 million members,
and approximately $40 million moving through the
site on a daily basis, this can be a little difficult.
Sometimes, scams occur.

If you have been scammed, there are certain steps
you need to follow to report the incident, and to try
to come to a resolution. If you paid for the item
through Paypal, the first step is to login to your
Paypal account and open up a dispute for the
payment. If you did not pay through Paypal, contact
your credit card company. In most cases, if you have
used one of these two cases, you will recover your
money.

The next step is to use eBay’s dispute process to
report the seller. This is specifically for items that
were not received, or items that were significantly
different than what was described in the auction.
eBay also has a purchase protection program to
further protect buyers. If a settlement cannot be
reached with the buyer, the next step is to make
an eBay buyer purchase protection claim.

eBay Gift Certificates – The Gift Solution Suitable for

2007-06-11T07:56:00.001+07:00

eBay Gift Certificates – The Gift Solution Suitable for
Everyone

We all know one. There is at least one in every
family, and one in every circle of friends. There is
even one in every office! There is always that one
person that you know who is absolutely impossible
to buy a gift for! These people either have everything,
or want nothing. They don’t drop hints at all, and
when asked, they simply say that they don’t know,
they don’t care, or they don’t want anything.

Well, now you can buy a gift for that person. The
solution lies in an eBay gift certificate! This will allow
your loved one to essentially buy anything that they
want, in a very exciting way. eBay gift certificates
can easily be purchased through paypal, in varying
amounts.

There are things that you should point out to the gift
recipient, however. For instance, eBay gift
certificates do expire. eBay gift certificates will not
be accepted for all auctions either – they can only
be redeemed for those auctions that accept Paypal
as a form of payment. Other than that, your loved
one should not have any problems redeeming their
eBay gift certificate!

eBay Data and Research – How Important Is It

2007-06-11T07:46:00.000+07:00

eBay Data and Research – How Important Is It?

eBay is a business anyway you look at it. Sure, it is
a great deal of fun for both the buyers and sellers,
but when you look at it from another view point, you
will see that it is a business from the seller’s point
of view, the buyer’s point of view, and eBay’s point
of view. 40 million dollars a day travels through eBay.
Selling items on eBay successfully is an art, and
eBay offers many different forms of Data and
Research to ensure that you are selling the right
items, to the right people, in the right way.

Some of the data and research is not free, but much
of it is. The available resources include hot items by
category, eBay Pulse, merchandising calendar,
sales reports, marketplace research, buyer
behavioral report, and the eBay solutions directory.
These tools are quite easy to use, and the
information that can be gleaned from them is
extremely valuable.

The Data and Research tools are all accessible
through your seller’s account, by clicking on the
‘Advance Selling’ link. Learn to use those tools, and
get your piece of that $40 million eBay revenue each
day.

eBay Courses – Are They Worth It

2007-06-11T07:44:00.000+07:00

eBay Courses – Are They Worth It?

There are numerous eBay courses that are available
on the Internet today. These books and courses are
designed to help you become more successful on
eBay. Unfortunately, not all of these courses are
worth the money that you will pay for them. Some of
them are full of what used to be good information –
when it was relevant – and others are simply junk
information, written by someone trying to make a
quick buck.

Before you purchase any eBay course, find out when
the course was written. If it was written in 2004, for
instance, you don’t want it. Even though that hasn’t
been very long ago, eBay changes so fast that much
of the information will not be relevant. However, if the
original issue of the course was written several years
ago, but the course is updated each year, this will
probably be a good course for you.

Again, use care when purchasing eBay courses.
They can be quite helpful and enlightening, but only
if the information in them is still good. Talk to other
eBay sellers – preferably successful ones – to find
out what courses are recommended.

eBay Business Solutions

2007-06-11T07:40:00.001+07:00

eBay Business Solutions

If starting an eBay business is your goal, as
opposed to just auctioning a few items off for some
extra cash, you need to use the eBay business
solutions that are available to you. Because eBay’s
success depends on the success of its sellers,
they strive to help you at every turn. eBay Business
Solutions is the key to starting an eBay business.

eBay Stores is one of the better solutions for eBay
business owners. An eBay store will allow you to
list multiple quantities of the same item, and allow
you to keep them listed for longer time periods.
eBay Store owners also enjoy lower auction fees,
and have access to advanced merchandising tools.
Eventually, you should consider upgrading to an
eBay Pro Store, which will allow you to customize
your storefront with your own brand and web
address.

There are many other eBay Business Solutions,
such as seller tools, the eBay solutions directory,
and the merchant solution center, but you should
definitely start with your very own eBay store,
followed by an eBay Pro Store.

eBay and Drop shipping – Getting the Product to

2007-06-11T07:39:00.001+07:00

eBay and Drop shipping – Getting the Product to
Your Customer

If you hope to own an eBay business, and make a
full time living at it, you can easily make that dream
come true – even if you don’t have a product of your
own to sell. eBay provides many people who want to
quit their corporate nine-to-five jobs with a way to
make a good living, without having to put up a lot of
start up capital. This is made possible with the help
of drop shippers. Drop shippers send merchandise to
the customers of business owners. If you have an
eBay business, you are a business owner. This will
allow you to offer a wide variety of stock in your
eBay store, without having the need to warehouse
all of those products!

All you have to do is set up your auction, and sell
the product. You then pass the customer’s
information on to the drop shipping company. The
drop shipper does the rest, and they will even use
your company information, as well as your company
logo if you have provided it to them. When the product
arrives at your customer’s home, they will have no idea
that your company didn’t send it. The drop shipper
will package, label, and ship the products that you
sell, allowing you more time to set up even more
auctions, for greater profits.

You must establish a relationship with several drop
shipping companies in order to become successful.
In the beginning, most companies will require you to
pay for the items that your customers order before
they are shipped. You need to fill orders in a
timely manner, so you should pay for the items with
a credit card for speedy service. Eventually, you will
be able to have the drop shipper fill your orders, and
then bill you for them later.

When you set up your eBay auctions, make sure
that your reserve price is set higher than the price
that the drop shipper will be charging you for the
item. The idea, of course, is to earn a profit!
Depending on the item you are selling, a markup
of about 10% should be about right, but you should
do some research to see if the item is selling for a
lower price in another eBay auction, or through
other online sources.

By starting an eBay business using the drop
shipping method, there is essentially no financial risk
involved. The product will be sold before you pay the
drop shipper for the item. This is one of the few
businesses where you can actually turn a profit
before you have expenditures!

eBay and Customer Service

2007-06-11T07:37:00.000+07:00

eBay and Customer Service

If you are running an eBay business, you may not
realize that the need for great customer service still
exists – even for online auctions. When a buyer
receives quality customer service from you, they
will potentially do one of two things – or both. They
will give you great feedback, and they may look for
more of your auctions in the future. If you hope to
make a living from eBay, you have to stop thinking
of it as an ‘auction’ and start running it like a
‘business.’

If you owned a brick and mortar business, how
would you treat your customer while they were
standing at your counter, waiting for you to finish
ringing up their order? You would be helpful and
respectful of course! You would do everything that
you could to guarantee that customers return to
your establishment in the future. You would bend
over backwards to make sure that their buying
experience with you was both satisfactory and
enjoyable. Why would you do any less at the
close of one of your eBay auctions?

First, act quickly at the close of your auctions.
Contact the winner, and congratulate them. Describe
the item they have won and how the item will be
shipped – even if this information is already part of
the description for the auction. Remind them of their
winning bid amount, and give them payment options
and instructions. Let them know when the item will
be shipped.

Close your email by thanking them for participating
in your auction. You might even take this opportunity
to tell them about other open auctions that you have
as well. Think of this contact with the winner as a
conversation that you are having with a customer
who is standing at your counter in that imaginary
brick and mortar store.

Once the payment and shipping details have been
taken care of, contact your buyer again. Let them
know when the item was shipped – the exact date
and time – and when it is expected to arrive on their
end. During this contact, let them know that if they
have any problems or questions, that they should
contact you through the eBay site. If they do
contact you in the future, make sure that you
answer promptly, and that you do all that you can
to make them happy with their purchase – even if
it means issuing a refund.

Yes. You should be open to issuing refunds,
depending on what the item is. Furthermore, you
should issue refunds promptly. Of course, it is
reasonable to expect the buyer to return the item to
you, at your expense, before the refund is issued –
but once you receive the item, issue the refund
promptly. This is just good business!

Consolidate Student Loans and Shop Online

2007-06-04T13:35:00.002+07:00

Consolidate Student Loans and Shop Online
by: Nick Smith

If you run a home business, you know that budgets can be pretty tight. Saving money wherever possible can be the difference between the business that succeeds and the one that fails. This article represents a broad survey of things you can do, from consolidating your student loans to getting small business deals on supplies, that will help you spend less each month.
Next Time You’re Online, Buy Something

Billions of dollars are spent each year online. Rather than suggest that you hurry and move your business online, I’d like to suggest that you add some of your dollars and cents to those billions already spent. Companies who move operations online reduce their overhead costs and often pass on those savings to you. Computers, airplane tickets, even student loan consolidation, can be purchased or arranged online. It has been my experience that I can find almost everything I want online for less than I can find it anywhere else. Next time you’re thinking about biting the bullet and making that big purchase, spend a little time shopping around online and see if you can’t save a few dollars.
Consolidate Student Loans and Get Your House in Order

Chances are good that you’ve been out of school for a while, but don’t skip this paragraph. If you consolidate student loans or other financial obligations, you will typically save a great deal of money each month on your monthly payments. Running a home business often blurs the line between personal expenses and business operating costs – do yourself a favor and make sure you have your personal financial affairs taken care of before you find yourself overwhelmed with past obligations. The government might not have cared about your credit score when they gave you those student loans, but banks looking to give business loans are a whole different story. Making sure everything is taken care will keep financial doors open that, once they’re closed, are very difficult to reopen.
Score One for the Little Guy

Believe it not, most people want small businesses to succeed. There are a lot of people willing to give you a break on prices because you own a home business, but you might need to ask about it. Office supply retailers and computer distributors sometimes offer discount prices to registered small business owners. The savings are not always monumental, but even the smallest savings multiplied over a year or two start to add up to pretty substantial amounts. Shop around to see if the suppliers you use are willing to offer you a discount on supplies or equipment.
Do Without…For a While

I’m probably not the only person that drove a car that was older than I was during college, or who ate Ramen noodles more than once almost everyday. Don’t forget the lessons you learned while you were a poor college student – the same ability to make do with what you have can save you a lot of money in the long run. I had just graduated from college and I wanted to get a new computer to replace the older, though fully functional one I was using. This was before I took my own advice to consolidate student loans, so money was still pretty tight. I wanted to kick myself when I saw that the price on the computer I bought dropped $300 in three months. Some expenses are necessary and unavoidable. For everything else, look to see if you can manage with what you have for a while longer.
Don’t Do It Alone

Nobody likes data entry – it’s time consuming, boring, and time consuming. If you find yourself spending too much of your day punching numbers into spreadsheets, consider hiring someone or outsourcing it to another company. If you think that you can’t afford the part-time salary, do an inventory of your time and see if what you would pay someone is worth the amount of time you’ll be able to invest into the meatier matters of your business.

I know I’m risking sounding like your father giving you a lecture about money, but remember that a penny saved is a penny earned. A successful business minimizes costs while maximizing profits.

About the author:
Nick Smith is a client account specialist with 10x Marketing - More Visitors. More Buyers. More Revenue. For information about how to consolidate student loans, check out Agilix GoBinder.

Business Meeting Etiquette

2007-06-04T13:35:00.001+07:00

Business Meeting Etiquette
by: Jeff Schuman
What makes up proper business meeting etiquette? How do you have
a meeting everyone can leave feeling good about? Meetings have
become an inevitable part of doing business for almost every
business owner. There are meetings with clients, meetings with
employees and meetings with peers or associates.

Almost everyone has suffered through meetings that take up your
valuable time and accomplish very little.

In fact, you may find that you yourself have now become numb to
that fact that your meetings aren’t as good as they could be.
And everywhere you look, it seems as if somebody has another
idea about how to fix your meetings, and make them more focused,
more productive, and – dare I say it? More fun!

So what can you do about it? Simple business meeting etiquette
can help you put on a quality meeting. Here are a few tips and
ideas for meeting planning –

1. Schedule your meetings at the best times -

2. Make sure your meetings all start on time - (and whenever
possible, avoid scheduling meetings when someone is up against a
deadline, or on a tight schedule).

3. Maintain a consistent focus on what topics will be covered –
(use an agenda).

4. Ensure there is a good level of rapport in the group –
(people can talk to each other and exchange ideas about what is
being discussed).

5. Arrive at a decision - (find new ways to avoid covering the
same ground, and ask for input to help create a plan of action.)

6. Use parliamentary procedures - (so that the correct methods
for amending or making a motion, following the agenda and taking
turns before speaking are being followed).

7. Choose the best location and environment for your meetings -
(for example, trying to fit 15 people into a closet-sized room
that doesn’t have windows or a proper ventilation system is poor
planning on your part.)

8. Do not schedule meetings to go over routine topics - (you can
send a memo or email for this.)

9. Talk to your group and make your meetings interactive -

10. Alwaysr ask for feedback from participants and allow them to
present ideas or get involved.

These ten simple business meeting etiquette tips that
guarantee a better meeting for everyone. Follow these and you
will see results on what you covered as well as a better
attendance at future meetings.

About the author:
Jeff Schuman's small business resource website has the
best of everthing to help you run your own small business.
http://www.sites-plus.com/business-meeting-etiquette.html

Business Laws: What you Need to Know

2007-06-04T13:34:00.002+07:00

Business Laws: What you Need to Know
by: Matt Bacak
There are a myriad of things you must think about when opening any type of business whether it is a small business or a large corporation and one of those is how business law may affect you. Failure to pay attention to business and corporate law can land you in a world of trouble-both legal and financial. The good news is that you do not necessarily need to be a graduate of a fancy business law college or have a business law major to brush up on the basic ideas of small business law and corporate business law.
If you've paid attention to the headlines lately, you probably know that employment law for business is one of the number one areas where you can get into trouble if you aren't up on all the employment laws and regulations. There are numerous laws that govern the employment of both regular employees and contract employees. Just for a broad overview, take a look at all the employment business laws you must meet:
· Civil Rights Act of 1966.
· The Equal Pay Act of 1963
· Americans with Disabilities Act
· The Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986
· The Age Discrimination in Employment Act
· The Equal Employment Opportunity Act
· The Bankruptcy Act
· The Occupational Safety and Health Act
· FMLA, the Family Medical Leave Act
· Employee Polygraph Protection Act Labor Law
· FLSA, the Fair Labor Standards Act
And that's not even counting the various state employment business laws that might apply to your business! If you aren't sure of whether you are meeting all the regulations, it's a good idea to get a checkup for your HR department.
Do you happen to work in the international arena? If you have anything at all to do with international business, then you should be aware of the many ways in which international business law can affect you, your business and your bottom line. At a minimum, you need to make sure that you meet general international business laws, specialized export laws, import laws and any laws of the foreign country in which your business operates.
And what about the business law scene at home? Were you aware that in addition to Federal business law and international business law, you are probably required to meet State business law regulations? Do you know whether you need a business permit or license? Failure to obtain one can result in the shutdown of your business and hefty fines and penalties. This is just one of the ways that state business law, such as California business law, can affect the health of your business if you aren't careful to stay on top of things.
Finally, what about Internet and online business laws? Were you even aware that there was such a thing? The Internet has exploded so much in the last decade that the government has found it necessary to institute Internet compliance laws. If you operate a website of any kind and do not meet the compliance regulations, that site could be shut down and you could face criminal prosecution and hefty fines.
Of course, no one should ever attempt to navigate the complexities of any type of business law alone and the best course of action is to always seek the qualified professional advice of a business law firm, but hopefully these tips will help you to understand a little bit more about business law requirements.
Summary: When operating a business, regardless of whether it is a small business or a large corporation, you need to be on top of business law compliance. Even if you hire a business law firm, it's still a good idea to understand what regulations you must meet.
About the author:
Matt Bacak became "##1 Best Selling Author" in just a few short hours.
Recent Entrepreneur Magazine’s e-Biz radio show host is
turning Authors, Speakers, and Experts into Overnight Success Stories.
Discover The Secrets http://promotingtips.com

Business Goal Setting

2007-06-04T13:34:00.001+07:00

Business Goal Setting
by: Jeff Schuman
How many times have your decided to set a goal for your business
and set it aside because the task seemed too huge or difficult
to begin? I have seen this happen over and over so I decided to
write and article on business goal setting.

When setting your business goals it is interesting to see that
the thought process is no different than personal goal setting.
You have to clearly define your goal and write it down. Here are
7 steps that will help your business achieve th goals you are
setting for it.

- Think about the goal you want to set for business

- Write the goal down as soon as you visualize it. Writing the
goal on paper for posting on a wall or desk where you may review
it daily is very important.

- As you develop and write your goal, make room for changes and
put it on a type paper that can be easily updated as needed.
This just means you will need to be ready to revise and change
the written procedures as you move forward with the
implementation of your goal. Change is inevitable a necessity of
life.

- Start taking the steps neccessary to implement your goal.

- Be sure to write down the date you want the goal to be
completed! Also write down the time and day of the week you will
start working toward the goal!

- Begin reflecting on how you are doing working towards you
business goal. You can always make adjustments as needed.

- Develop an attitude of I will do whatever it takes. Too many
business owners set goals and then give up do to laziness or
they just get to busy to follow thru.

Business goal setting is a long term process and you are going
to have to work at it to make it happen. It's your business so
you determine the success and failure. Business goal setting is
one step that will help you fall into the success category.

About the author:
Jeff Schuman's small business resource website has the
best of everthing to help you run your own small business.
http://www.sites-plus.com/business-goal-setting.html

Business Disaster? Won't Happen to Me

2007-06-04T13:33:00.002+07:00

Business Disaster? Won't Happen to Me
by: Denise OBerry
Copyright 2005 Denise OBerry

As fast as you can say business disaster, your business can go up in smoke. That's what happened a while back to Castle Carpet One. Gone were thousands of dollars worth of equipment and carpet, plus two smaller businesses that were housed in the same building. Luckily the owners, Larry and Diane Cox, had plenty of business insurance to cover their physical losses. But they lost their most important business asset - customer records - because of failed back up systems. Rebuilding their customer base will be tough and the long-term revenue impact is hard to measure.

With disasters like hurricanes, tornados, fires, floods and terrorism, to name a few, it's critical for small companies to have a disaster plan. And for companies with only one location, it's even more important. One location companies have the potential to lose the entire business if disaster strikes. For a home-based business, it's even worse. You could lose your home and your business in one swoop. Any small business owner can minimize the damage by simply having proactive strategies in place to deal with an emergency when it happens. What if:

- You arrive at your business to find it vandalized and all of your customer records missing?
- Your most critical employee becomes ill and requires an extended absence?
- Your computer hard drive (or network) crashes?
- You become the primary care giver for a sick family member?
- You become ill and can't manage your customer commitments?
- Your business becomes inaccessible because of an emergency on your street?

What would you do? Would your business survive? What would you grab if you had to leave your business quickly? After the emergency, how would you communicate with your employees? Customers? How long would it take to get back to business as usual?

Without a disaster plan, you'll have a harder time getting back to work. Most businesspeople think it will just take two or three days. That's tough to do if you have no plan for action and little money to move forward. The reality, experts say, is more like several months and at least 25 percent of businesses that experience a disaster never reopen.

But most small business owners just don't make time for planning. We think it's "never going to happen to us." It could. The time to formalize a game plan for an emergency is before it happens. Do it now.

About the author:
Denise O'Berry is a small business consultant located in Florida. For disaster planning tools and tips, visit http://www.myhurricanecenter.com

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Business Disaster Won't Happen to Me

2007-06-04T13:33:00.001+07:00

Building Great Business Relationships

2007-06-04T13:32:00.002+07:00

Building Great Business Relationships
by: Cynthia Morse CAP
If you’re in a business relationship with anyone – a client, vendor, or customer – how important is that relationship to you? Do you value the relationship? Do you want to nurture it?

A business relationship, like any relationship, is a two-way street. The expectations of both parties needs be clear and easily understandable. Applying the Golden Rule is also a good idea: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” That is a very powerful statement, and one I try to practice in my daily life, both in business and personal matters.

Good communication is key for any business relationship to grow and thrive. Even when conflicts surface (and they will), keeping the lines of communication open at all times is extremely important. Meet conflicts head-on, no matter how frightening they may seem at the time. The sooner the issues are out on the table and dealt with, the sooner you can get back on track and back to business-as-usual.

Another thing to keep in mind is letting people know you appreciate them. Thank you notes, cards and e-mails are always a good idea, and they never go out of style. People love to be appreciated. If you are receiving great business from someone, always be sure to let them know. You will feel better for it, and so will they.

Another great idea is to reach out and “touch” your clients and customers on a regular basis by sending them monthly newsletters. This is a wonderful way to keep in touch, both to let them know you are thinking about them, and to remind them about you as well.

Remember, you get out of a great relationship what you put into it. Value those you do business with. Nurture the relationships, so they are always growing and prospering. Keep this up and you will always have a garden full of healthy, happy business contacts.

About the author:
© 2005 Cynthia Morse, Virtually At Your Service. All rights reserved.

You’re welcome to reprint this story. If you do, please include this reference: Cynthia Morse CAP is a Virtual Assistant, and the owner of Virtually At Your Service, http://www.virtuallyatyourservice.biz
She offers remote administrative support to small business owners and other busy professionals from her home office, allowing them the time to focus on what they love and do best. Sign up at http://www.virtuallyatyourservice.bizto receive her e-zine “Virtual Service Connection” for monthly tips and resources benefiting small business owners.

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Are You Using the Right Form of Energy

2007-06-04T13:32:00.001+07:00

Are You Using the Right Form of Energy?
by: Al Hanzal

As we near the end of summer, here is a question I have for you, “Are you using the right form of energy to grow your business?” Are you having trouble growing your small business as fast as you want? Are you making all the right moves and still the business just inches forward? Read this article and see if you are using the right form of energy to grow your small business?

Head Energy
My consulting experiences have taught me there are two types of business energy. I call the first type “head energy”. This is the energy that comes from wanting to do better or more with your small business.

• You want more profits.
• You want more customers.
• You want better marketing.

Head energy is very powerful. It can inspire. It can achieve dreams. It can drive you forward.
Head energy also has limitations. Head energy promises fulfillment in the future. Before the future arrives you must sustain yourself along the way. If you fail to sustain the head energy, your hopes and aspirations tumble down. They become “the good idea that was never achieved!”

Gut Energy
I call the second type of small business energy “gut energy”. This energy involves your current business worries; your current business mistakes; the business issues that need fixing right now.

• What is decreasing your profits now?
• What is preventing you from having more customers now?
• What are your current marketing mistakes?

I call this gut energy because it sits right in your gut, churning away. This is extremely powerful energy because it is so immediate. It is right now! It calls for immediate attention. Fix the situation now!
Gut energy is not as glamorous as head energy. It is always more fun to dream about your future than to do the hard work of fixing your current mistakes. But when you want to see immediate improvements in your business, turn to your gut energy.

9 Common Small Business Mistakes

Here I list the 9 most common small business mistakes. Ask yourself if you are making mistakes in any of these areas. If so, you have the opportunity to find powerful energy to move your business forward.

1. Lack of cash flow
2. Poor planning
3. Forgetting your customer
4. Selling versus marketing
5. Lacking needed expertise
6. Misunderstanding credit
7. Becoming an advertising victim
8. Poor customer shopping experiences
9. Making yourself the center of your business

If you find yourself wondering how you can use your mistakes to grow your business, you may want to request my free report, 9 Mistakes That Can Kill Your Small Business. In the report, I provide more details about each of these business mistakes and ways to fix them. You can achieve powerful results in fixing your business mistakes. The report will help you find ways to use this energy to grow your business faster.
To obtain this free report, 9 Mistakes That Can Kill Your Small Business, click here, Free Report, a preaddressed email will be pop up, press the send button. The report will be sent to you via email with the report attached.

Conclusion

Head energy is a necessary part of every small business operation. It provides the vision you need for the future. For quick and immediate improvements, do not over look the gut energy you will find in fixing your current business mistakes. Your gut energy will offer a wonderful opportunity for growing your business in a fast and easy way.

© Al Hanzal August 2004

About the author:
Using simple, low costs strategies, Al Hanzal has helped small business owners improve their profits.

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Alternative Venture Finance: Federal Grants and Loans

2007-06-04T13:31:00.004+07:00

Alternative Venture Finance: Federal Grants and Loans
by: Dave Lavinsky
While most companies seeking venture capital initially think about angel investors and venture capitalists, a large alternative source of financing is federal grants and loans. The two largest federal grant programs are run by the Small Business Administration (SBA), and by Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs).

An SBA loan, regardless of whether it is a direct loan from the SBA, or, as is more common, a bank loan guaranteed by the SBA, is essentially a bank loan. The benefit of it versus a traditional bank loan is the rate. SBA rates are typically much less than traditional business loan rates.

In most cases, in a guaranteed SBA bank loan, the SBA guarantees 90 percent of the loan will be repaid to the bank. As such, banks are at much less risk than in most other loans, and are a bit more flexible with regards to who they offer these loans. However, the SBA usually requires the founders of the company to personally guarantee the loans, which makes them risky should the venture collapse.

Alternatively, Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs) are privately organized corporations that are licensed and regulated by the SBA. Small or emerging businesses which qualify for assistance from the SBIC program can receive equity capital and/or long-term loans from these companies. Essentially, these companies provide their own capital, which is supplemented by federal funds, to the companies they fund.

Interestingly, U.S. taxpayers benefits from the SBIC program as tax revenues generated from successful SBIC investments have more than covered the cost of the program. Likewise the program has created hundreds of thousands of jobs.

In summary, SBA and SBIC financing are viable alternatives to financing from angel investors and venture capitalists and should be considered in the capital raising process. Similarly to angel and VC financing, companies seeking SBA and SBIC financing need a strong management team and value proposition, and a highly professional and compelling business plan in order to raise the capital they need.

About the author:
GT Business Plans has developed over 200 business plans for clients that have collectively raised over $750 million in financing, launched numerous new product and service lines and gained competitive advantage and market share. GT Business Plans is the sister site of GT Venture Capital

After the latest advice concerning small business insurance rates.

2007-06-04T13:31:00.003+07:00

After the latest advice concerning small business insurance rates.
by: Tom Brown
After the latest advice concerning small business insurance rates. Often when you are looking for superior advice about small business insurance rates, you'll find it difficult separating value packed information from misguided small business insurance rates submissions and proposals so it's prudent to know how to qualify the information you are often given.

Now we'd like to give you a few tips which we advise you to use when you are trying to find information about small business insurance rates. Bear in mind the guidance we put forward is only relevant to internet information about small business insurance rates. We don't offer any assistance or guidance if you are receiving information offline.

A great tip to pursue when offered information or advice on a small business insurance rates page would be to confirm the sites ownership. This may show you the people behind the site small business insurance rates credibility The quickest way to work out who owns the small business insurance rates site is to find the 'about' page.

All highly regarded sites providing information about small business insurance rates, will almost certainly provide an 'about' or 'contact' page which will list the owner's details. The fine points should tell some indication concerning the owner's requisite knowledge. You can then make a judgement about the vendor's insight and appreciation, to provide advice to you regarding small business insurance rates.

About the author:
Tom Brown is the webmaster at secretspecialnews.info

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Advertising vs. PR in Your Small Business Marketing Strategy

2007-06-04T13:31:00.001+07:00

Advertising vs. PR in Your Small Business Marketing Strategy
by: J D Moore
Copyright 2005 J D Moore

A great small business marketing strategy includes a mix of tactics. Advertising and PR are two very important tools that all small business owners need to be using regularly. Many small businesses I talk to do one of the other, but don't commit to doing both. Each has its strengths and weaknesses and are complimentary to each other.

Small Business Advertising Strengths:
-The biggest advantage with small business advertising is your complete control over the message. You get to focus on whatever you want, write the text, and choose the visuals. You ensure that your marketing message is delivered.

-You control placement. You choose the exact timing and media in which your advertising is placed. This is a huge advantage because naturally you are going to choose to place your ads where your target market is most likely to see them.

-You can repeat your messages over and over again. Effective small business marketing incorporates a high degree of repetition and consistency. Advertising can and should be run on regular schedules.

-With advertising, you (and your budget) control your marketing saturation. You can run the same ad across different publications serving the same market, run matching Internet advertising, put an ad on the radio, do cable TV, do outdoor advertising, etc. Ideally you need to be reaching your target market at least 4 different ways for them to respond.

Advertising Weaknesses
-Advertising generally costs money. Most small businesses don't have a huge budget for marketing. Sometimes being creative can help defray costs. Sometimes you can trade for advertising space. You may be able to do co-op advertising.

-Small business advertising needs to be very targeted to be effective. Sometimes the only choices you have in your community are mass-market like newspapers. You still need to advertise, but some of your marketing dollars will be spent to advertise to people who don't want or need what you're selling.

-Most small business advertising stinks. I hate to say it, but it's true. Many do-it-yourself advertisers don't understand that there are advertising fundamentals that work. A good ad will always out-pull a bad one. Here's my plug: If you can't invest the time and money to learn how advertising REALLY works, get yourself a small business marketing coach to help you build more effective campaigns. It will be money well invested.

PR Strengths:
-It's FREE! OK, you might incur a very small charge if you hire someone to write and distribute a press release for you, but this is minimal. I think the reason why most small businesses don't do PR is that they don't know how it's done. Again, get some coaching, or pay someone to do it for you.

-Press is trusted more than advertising. If you read a review that says that a new restaurant is the best thing in town, there's some credibility there. We tend to assume that a person who is writing an article is an expert, and that they are an uninterested third party.

-You can distribute PR globally. As long as what you are doing is actually interesting globally, you can distribute your press releases globally. This isn't necessarily as targeted as your advertising needs to be, but you're not paying for editorial. By the way, never pay for editorial, and don't advertise with media that promises to give you editorial as long as you advertise. This is unethical and transparent - and the credibility of the media will always be in question.

PR Weaknesses:
-You have no control over what the press is actually going to write or say about you. They may spell your name wrong, they may get some details wrong, they may choose to focus on something you don't want to highlight. In general this isn't a big issue, as long as they are saying good things about you.

-PR tends to be single exposure. Unless circumstances are really unusual, the press is not going to run the same story over and over again. I have been involved with an exception to that. I was doing something that corresponded with a current event and the press came to me again and again over 4 weeks for TV interviews. This was pure timing. It's difficult to engineer press like that without seeming mercenary.

-There is no guarantee that you're even going to get coverage. I was called to do a TV interview once and rushed into the city to meet the reporter and photographer. On my way in ,the reporter called me on my cell phone to tell me they were pulling the story because there was breaking news that they had to go cover. Depending on what's going on you may get tons of press or none at all.

You see that small business advertising and PR are different things. You need them both, and you need to work at both of them consistently. They are two important tools in your small business marketing toolbox.

About the author:
J D Moore - Marketing Comet Does your small business marketing stink? Let's fix it! http://marketingcomet.typepad.com

Accounting Methods – Cash and Accrual

2007-06-04T13:30:00.003+07:00

Accounting Methods – Cash and Accrual
by: Richard A. Chapo
When starting a business, you have to determine the method you are going to use for accounting and paying taxes. The two choices are the cash method and the accrual method.

Cash Method

If you are looking for simplicity, the cash method is probably your best accounting choice. Generally, income and deductions can be claimed when payment is actually received or made. This is best shown with an example.

I open a small business and have to order business cards and stationary. I receive the products and pay the invoice on November 18, 2005. Under the cash method, I can deduct the cost on my 2005 tax return.

Some businesses are restricted from using the cash method. C corporations may only use the cash method if they have less than $5 million in gross revenues for a particular year. Professional Service Corporations can use the cash method without limit, while farming corporations can due so if gross revenues are less than $25 million. Tax shelters are prohibited from using the cash method.

Accrual Method

The Accrual Method of accounting is a bit more complex. Under this method, the focus in on the date the expense is incurred, not paid. Although this may seem a small difference, it can play havoc with your books and piece of mind.

Using our previous example, assume I order business cards and stationary on the December 18, 2005. I receive the products on December 30th, but don’t pay the invoice until January 20, 2006. When can the expense be claimed? It depends on when economic performance occurred.

Generally, economic performance occurs when goods or services are provided to you. In the above example, economic performance would arguably occur when the business cards and stationary were delivered with the invoice on December 30th. Thus, I would be able to deduct the expense for the 2005 tax year.

In Closing

As you can see, the cash method is the easier of the two accounting methods. To determine the best method for your business, speak with a tax professional.

About the author:
Richard Chapo is with Business Tax Recovery - Stop overpaying small business taxes. Read more business tax articles.

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A $40 Million Dollar Little Known Referral Strategy

2007-06-04T13:30:00.001+07:00

A $40 Million Dollar Little Known Referral Strategy
by: David Frey
Copyright 2005 David Frey

Would you like to know how a car wash chain with only 12 locations has cleaned over 33,373,975 cars and has an annual revenue of over $40 Million (that is not a misprint) using little to no paid advertising?

Well, sit forward because I'm about to tell you. The company name is "Car Spa" and here's how I discovered their brutally effective referral strategy. I often go to Taco Bell to have lunch and read a book. I noticed a little flyer next to their cash register.

A few days later I stopped in with my family to get a frozen yogurt and right next to the cash register was the same flyer.

The next day, I took my family to our favorite buffet restaurant and low and behold, there was a stack of Car Spa flyers.

I then started asking the people at these locations what the deal was with the Car Spa flyer that they had next to their cash register and they all said that some old guy comes around every week and replinishes their stack.

I asked them, "Do you have some type of reciprocal arrangement with Car Spa?" They all said, "No...they asked if they could put their flyers there as a gift to our guests and we said sure."

Here's a copy of the referral flyer that Car Spa uses to drive traffic.
http://www.marketingbestpractices.com/temp/car_spa.pdf

Pretty simple. Notice the 48 hour guarantee.

______________________________

They're All Over the Place!
______________________________

Before you knew it, I started noticing their little discount flyers ALL OVER THE PLACE.

The copy center I use had a stack of Car Spa flyers.

The barber I use had a stack of Car Spa flyers.

The oil and lube place I use had a stack of Car Spa flyers.

The local handicraft shop my wife goes to had a stack of Car Spa flyers.

My son's dentist had a stack of Car Spa flyers in his office.

My local chiropractor friend had a stack of Car Spa flyers in his office.

An apartment complex office I visited had a stack of Car Spa flyers.

Everywhere I went, I saw a stack of Car Spa flyers. It was amazing. The have these little "referral lead generation magnets" all over the place.

______________________________

So I Finally Visited Car Spa
______________________________

And it wasn't any surprise that they were so busy that it took about 15 minutes of waiting just to get my car into their car wash.

I then went inside their office to wait for my car and noticed that they did NOT have one flyer from another business inside their office.

They were able to get all those other businesses in the area to send them referrals without having to do one reciprocal referral arrangement. And they did it simply by asking the business owners. That's all.

Car Spa probably gets 100 times the amount of referrals of any other business in the area as a direct result of this simple referral tactic.

If you have a brick and mortar business, what's stopping you from doing the same thing? All it takes is a couple of hours a day and a handful or referral flyers to pass out.

About the author:

David Frey is the author of the best-selling manual, "The Small Business Marketing Bible" and Senior Editor of the highly-acclaimed, "Small Business Marketing Best Practices Newsletter." To get your free lifetime subscription simply visit http://MarketingBestPractices.com

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20 Small Business Tips, For Success

2007-06-04T13:29:00.002+07:00

20 Small Business Tips, For Success
by: Dave Ryan
These are just some general tips to keep in mind as you design/operate your small business:

1. Take the time out to explore and understand whether or not you are compatible with running our own business. Some people are just plain happier and better off financially on the other end of the paycheck.

2.Get your personal finances in order. Before you jump into the entrepreneurship world, get your own money matters squared away.

3. Pick your niche. Many small business owners succeed in businesses that are hardly unique or innovative. Take stock of your skills, interests, and employment history to select the business that is best suited for you.

4. Benefit from your business plan. The exercise of creating a business plan is what pays the dividends. Answer the tough questions now before the meter starts running.

5. Do not think you need bankers and investors at the outset of your business. The vast majority of small businesses are bootstrapped.

6. Acquire the proper background. In the early months and years of your business, you will have to acquire many skills. Gain the background you need to oversee all facets of your business well, but determine what tasks you should outsource or hire employees.

7. Remember that nothing happens until a sale is made – How many good products go nowhere because they do not reach the shelves? Sales drive your business. You will need a good marketing plan to sell your product or service.

8. You have to see a customer to know one. N o matter how busy you are, spend at least 25% of your time with customers. You cannot make the proper business decision without understanding their viewpoint.

9. Solve your customers’ problems. The best way to satisfy your customers is not by selling them products but by giving solutions to their problems. There is a big difference.

10.Quality takes minutes to lose but years to regain. Quality is not a destination, it is a never ending journey. After you have strayed from quality’s path, your journey maybe sidetracked forever.

11. Put profitability first, rewards seconds. In small businesses, profitability must come first. Find out how to measure your cash flow and understand key financial ratios.

12. Hire supporters. If you intend to create a growing business, your number one duty is to assemble a great team of employees.

13. Do not do it alone. Find such help from small business peers, a mentor, even trade associations. They can help take some of the trial and error of beginning your business.
14. Vendors are partners too! Treat your vendors like customers and watch your partnership grow.

15. Make use of benefits. Understand how to provide insurance and other benefits for your employees and cut your tax bill at the same time.

16. Ignore regulatory issues at your peril. Federal, state, and local governments require licenses, registrations, and permits. Obey them or face losing your business.

17. Know the tax laws. Invest in understanding tax issues that affect your small business.

18. It’s the people! Whatever happens to a small business happens at the hands of the people who work for it. The evolution of the business is a result of their efforts.

19. Fast, good, cheap. Pick any two. Serious trouble awaits those who attempt to be all three in the market place. Stick with what you do best.

20. Develop a passion for learning. As your business grows, you need to change and grow along with it. One common denominator can be found in all successful business owners and that is a passion for learning.

About the author:
For more great business, marketing and mind power ideas to develope your business visit the Higher-Profits Blog at www.higher-profits.com

9 things you must do to maximize your chances of obtaining a small business loan

2007-06-04T13:29:00.001+07:00

9 things you must do to maximize your chances of obtaining a small business loan
by: Neil Best
To get approval for your small business loan application, you must be able to meet the lending criteria set down. Some organisations are more risk averse than others, and will therefore have more stringent criteria.

To vastly increase your chances of a successful funding application, you will need to present the following information:

1. The reason for the loan. The lender will be looking for something that fits within the normal range and expertise of your business. The amount may cover a number of items, so you will need to cover each.

2. The amount required, and the repayment term of the small business loan you want. (e.g. $10,000 term 5 years, payable quarterly).

3. Details of how you will repay the amount borrowed. For example, “From the increase in profits of reduced running costs of the Whizzbang Go4It”

4. Details of security you will be able to offer to the lender. This will act as reassurance for the lender. If you’re not prepared to put up some aspect of security, then why should they?

5. You will need to include your business plan which will serve to answer essential questions relating to management capabilities, information about the market you operate in. What kind of business you are in etc.

6. 3 Years financial statements. You will need to present quality financial information from your accounting software, preferably signed off by your accountant or tax advisor.

7. Latest Set of Management accounts. Again produced from your accounting software.

8. Accounts receivables (debtors) and payables (creditors) ageing reports.

9. Principals financial statements. – Particularly required if some form of security is necessary.

If you are a new company, the emphasis is going to be on your business plan , and the security (also called collateral) you or your business can provide against the loan.

You must take the time to practice presenting your case to the bank or lender to iron out any glitches. Practice on your colleagues and family (you never know, they might be so impressed, they'll invest or lend!). It may help to role play the lender and come up with as many pointy questions as possible. The more time you take the better your chances will be. (But remember, don’t fall into the analysis paralysis trap!)

Good luck!

About the author:
Neil Best is an accountant with over 15 years experience in business finance. This article and other useful business finance information such as making effective business plans and sourcing and applying for business grants can be found at http://www.smallbusinessfinancetips.com/small-business-loans.html

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7 Things to Consider Before Buying Small Business Accounting Software

2007-06-04T13:28:00.000+07:00

7 Things to Consider Before Buying Small Business Accounting Software
by: William Siebler
The world of small business accounting software can be a minefield for any business owner. However choosing the right package is one of the most critical business decisions you will make.

Here are the seven things you must consider before making a purchase that will help you achieve your businesses goals.

1. Scalability

Businesses change over time so it's critical that the small business accounting software you choose can change too. Some things that often change are the number of products and services offered and the number of employees. When you choose your package try and imaging the business in 5 years or 10 years time and how different it will be. Use this information to guide your purchase decision. It may well be better to pay a little more now for the software knowing that it can be easily
upgraded when needed with minimum disruption and cost to your business.

2. Support

It is important that any software has great support for when something goes wrong (and it always does). Most major companies offer support but you also need to think about support in your local area. It's often much easier to have someone locally come in and do things you need done with your software than have someone trying to help you over the phone. Make some
enquiries with other businesses about the package they use and who helps them.

3. Accountant Interface

It's most unlikely you will handle every aspect of your businesses accounting. Your accountant is an important factor in making the right decision. What software are they used to working with and what do they prefer? Can you easily supply them data and reports from your package without the need for any extra work (which you'll have to pay for). Don't be afraid to ask their opinion as they live and breathe this stuff.

4. Best Value For Money

Once you have selected the right package for your business you may as well get the best value. Shop around as the price can vary greatly and the product is exactly the same. Online merchants such as Amazon may offer better pricing because of the sheer volume of products they sell. However price is only one part of the equation so if their is great merchant locally with support or installation assistance this may be far more valuable.

5. Major Brands

There are two major players in the small business accounting software market. They are QuickBooks and Peachtree. Microsoft is expected to enter the market soon. I recommend choosing a major brand so that you can get regular updates and you know the company will be around as long as your business needs them.

6. Ease of Use

Ease of use is a personal thing but it is worth trying the software before you buy it if you can. Remember to get the person who will be the main user to test the software as well. Also consider how well the package can interact with other software you use. This is an advantage the Microsoft package may have when it's available.

7. Features Needed

I touched on this earlier when talking about thinking ahead as to where you business will be in 5 or 10 years time. Most accounting software packages come in several different versions. If you don't need certain features now and can't see a need for them in the future then don't buy them. The major differences are usually - number of users allowed, inventory management capability and number of reports available.

To sum up think ahead when planning your purchase of small business accounting software. You will make a much smarter business decision that will save you plenty of trouble and money in the future.

About the author:
Please visit us for more information and a feature by feature comparison of:
Small Business Accounting Software

3 Essential Tools for Starting and Maintaining a Small Business

2007-06-04T13:27:00.000+07:00

3 Essential Tools for Starting and Maintaining a Small Business
by: Ryan Hough
We believe that there are 3 factors that drive the success of small businesses.

1) Acquiring start-up capital
2) Finding customers
3) Accounting for, budgeting and controlling sales and expenses

The following resources will help your small business achieve these success factors.

Acquiring Start-Up Capital

An adequate supply of capital is essential as many profitable businesses fail because they don’t have enough cash to pay their employees and suppliers. But what is an adequate supply of capital? The only way to tell is by doing a significant amount of research on your potential market and formally documenting this in a business plan. I’m sure you know that a business plan is a very important document that is crucial to convincing your banker to lend you money.

There are two ways to obtain a business plan.

1) Do it yourself by amending a business plan template, or
2) Hire a professional to do it for you.

Obviously obtain 1) will be a great deal cheaper.

Our research led to a website that has over 60 high quality and free business plan templates. We also found a directory that you can use to easily find a business plan writer in your city – where ever you live in the world.

Finding Customers

Finding customers is a difficult and expensive task for service business owners such as accountants, lawyers and plumbers. We believe that a cost effective marketing strategy for service business owners is to simply give all their personal contacts a few business cards.

Our research led to a few websites that have pre-designed business card templates. We felt that the diversity and quality of these designs was outstanding. In addition, we found that you can obtain a significant saving by finding a printing service on the Internet. We found that you could get 2,000 full color business cards for as little as US $150.

Accounting For, Budgeting and Controlling Revenue and Expenses

Accurate accounting is very important for small business owners. It’s essential that you have timely access to information that could make or break your business. If stocks are running low – you need to know about it. If a large proportion of your debtors haven’t paid – you need to know about it. If you do not react to these situations quickly you may have a situation where you don’t have enough money to pay your employees – or worse still someone is stealing cash out the till.

Our research led to a website that compares and reviews top accounting software for small businesses. The cheapest software cost US $89.99 and the most expensive software cost US $1,499. It was interesting to note that the top 3 ranked websites were not the most expensive and cost between US $250 - US $300.

Hopefully you now have an idea of some of the tools that you can use to grow and maintain your small business. If you would like to benefit from our research please visit our website. We do not charge for this research and offer the content freely on our website.

About the author:
http://www.best-quality-small-business-resources.com/

Ryan Hough is the webmaster of best quality small business resources.com, who's aim is to help you save time and money by finding reviews and case studies that will enable you to choose the best resources at the right price

Hello from Barcelona

2007-05-30T13:31:00.000+07:00

Hello from Barcelona
by: Susanne Pacher

This is my first ever blog and I´ll have to be very brief since I only have about 11 minutes left at the Internet cafe. I am sitting here at the Maremagnum shopping mall in the port of Barcelona.

Theresa and I just came back from our tour on the blue Tourist Bus. (20 Euros for 2 days). What a fabulous city!

Yesterday we had dinner in the Gothic Quarter and got serenaded by one musician / music group after another. And today the bus tour, beautiful weather, brilliant sunshine, about 28 degrees Celsious.

We started in the port area, snaked our way past the Casino, the Olympic Village, the Zoo, through the Gothic Quarter to the hussle and bustle of Plaza Catalunya. Along the way we had a quick peak at Gaudi´s masterpieces: Casa Battlo and La Pedrera. The we came across the middle part of the city, up to the hill of Montjuic where we visited the Poble Espanyol (Spanish village), a beautiful 1929 replica of buildings from villages throughout Spain.

Then we passed the Olympic stadium, the Teleferic cablecar and came back down into the city where we are just starting to relax now in the harbour.

Tonight we´ll probably head up the Ramblas and check out some authentic Barcelona Nightlife.

About The Author

Susanne Pacher is the publisher of a website called Travel and Transitions (http://www.travelandtransitions.com). Travel and Transitions deals with unconventional travel and is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, interviews with travellers and travel experts, insights and reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and many other features. You will also find stories about life and the t-ransitions that we face as we go through our own personal life-long journeys.

Submit your own travel stories in our first travel story contest (http://www.travelandtransitions.com/contests.htm) and have a chance to win an amazing adventure cruise on the Amazon River.

"Life is a Journey Explore New Horizons".

The story with photos is published at Travel and Transitions - Travel Stories (http://www.travelandtransitions.com/stories_photos/hello_ibiza_1.htm).

How To Win At Sports Betting

2007-05-30T13:30:00.000+07:00

How To Win At Sports Betting
by: Ellison Mansfield

If you've read any of my articles before, you know I always emphasize the fact that there are many viable systems for any type of gambling. Sports betting is no exclusion. I've tested and found success with several sports betting systems (see http://www.insidersystem.com/sports.html), several of which would allow someone to quit their job and make a full time living at it. Here is just one simple system for you to test for yourself...

Take your fixed odds coupon and decide on one of the following three numbers - 13 - 32 - 38. For this example we will choose number 32. Once you have made your choice place the score of 1-1 in the correct score section next to the teams that are playing at number 32 on the coupon for that week.

We simply back this number every week until we have a win. The three numbers I gave you have proved themselves to be quite consistent at attracting the score of 1-1 (One all).

With this bet you will need to increase your stake after a few weeks if you haven’t won by then. The following is recommended;

- Weeks 1 to 5 use a 1 point stake.
- Weeks 6 to 8 use a 2 point stake.
- Weeks 9 to 10 use a 3 point stake.
- Week 11 - 4 points
- Week 12 - 5 points
- Week 13 - 6 points
- Week 14 - 7 points
- Week 15 - 8 points
- Week 16 - 10 points
- Week 17 - 12 points and so on....

A point can be anything, £1 or £2 etc. If we assume that we have a win on week 6 we would have placed a 2 points bet here. This would win us back 11 points at odds of 11/2, plus our 2 points stake, making 13 points. During the previous 5 weeks we lost 5 lots of 1 points, so all in all we’ve made 8 points profit.

As you can see, this system played consistently over the long term can bring you regular winnings. Until next time, please bet responsibly, and continue to educate yourself to master your skills and gain the edge over the casino, the bookie, or whoever you're playing against!

About The Author

Ellison Mansfield

Yes it's true: Ellison Mansfield has made a career out of gambling. He's flown under the radar for virtually his entire adult life, beating the casinos and stockpiling his winnings. After holding onto these secrets and amassing a private fortune over the past 16 years, he finally decided it was time to come out and share some of his knowledge with the world. Please see http://www.insidersystem.com for the latest winning tips and strategies.

Learning How to Play Poker Online

2007-05-30T09:36:00.000+07:00

Learning How to Play Poker Online
by: Jeff Dragt

Poker is not entirely a game of luck, but rather a game of skill and how you can take the cards you are dealt and make them win. This requires knowledge of odds, bluffing, and the general rules of the game not to mention the other cards opponents have showing. So, if you are interested in playing poker online you can really learn how to play well and win money. It's not just about what you are dealt, it's how you play the cards you are dealt so focus on learning rules and strategy before you begin playing poker online for money.

Learning how to play poker in a real casino or with other people can frequently be intimidating and your nervousness and anxiety will take over making it more difficult to think and play your hands efficiently. Of course, in time, this wears off as your confidence builds, however there is a way to avoid this situation altogether and that is with online poker. You can easily enter an online poker room and start practicing and learn how to play. Also, most of the top poker sites have poker rooms where you can practice and play for free, so take advantage of this situation and log some hours in the practice poker rooms. You will build your knowledge of the game as well as your confidence and once you have become good enough you can give a paying room a try. You wouldn't enter a marathon without training and you should not enter an online poker site without practicing if you do not want to lose your money.

Strategy Strategy is important and this is the key factor that will help you win many games even if the cards did not fall just as you were hoping. Also, many players lack strategy and are too cocky to think they need it, so simply do some research on the strategy for your preferred poker game and implement these as you are practicing. The more your practice the easier strategy will become and before you know it your brain will simply be thinking in a strategic way. This is important and it will train you to become a really great poker player.

Of course, the online free poker games seem silly to many and just a way to pass the time like Solitaire or any other computer game. However, if you are truly interested in becoming a better player all you have to do is really focus on the practice games as if they were real games and the money was real as well, implement the strategies you are learning, focus on mistakes and why certain moves did not work, and you will really become a better poker player. When you are a better poker player you may begin playing for money online and will be prepared to play against the many talented card players that are in the online poker rooms.

Keep in mind, however, that the play tables are not as well laid out as the money tables, so after a few hands you should be able to learn and start winning a few hands. However, if you are not winning with the play hands after a couple hours of playing then you either play poorly or are not implementing the strategies you have learned, and likely a combination of both. Remember, if you are losing on a regular basis in the play tables then there is no reason to enter the money tables because you will lose again and this time real money. So stay focused when you are learning how to play and understand that if you can't win at the free tables you will never win at the pay tables. Once you have played the free games for a while and start winning some, then you should move on to some of the cheap real games. There are games for one cent and two cents online, so you should consider playing those as your second step in the quest to become a good poker player. While the free games will help you learn how to play the game and the basics, you must take a step up every once in a while to challenge yourself and to learn more in order to become a better player. As long as you continue practicing and moving up a step at a time you will become a great poker player and win a lot of money. However, if you try and join the professional players when you still are learning the rules of the game you will simply lose money and your self esteem. Don't let this happen and take it one step at a time.

Becoming a Player Now that you know how to become a player you need to start practicing. Check out some of the top 10 poker room sites on the Internet and then start playing the practice hands. By doing this you will be able to learn a lot faster and save your embarrassment for a bad move because you are in front of your computer screen and nobody can see you. In the past, learning to play poker took a lot of time and guts because individuals had to endure playing with those better than themselves and individuals who would surely beat them for some time. However, you can avoid this situation altogether by simply playing the free games online and taking advantage of all that is made available to you. Then, when you finally do make it to the money games you will be able to hold your own and will likely win which is a ego booster and will only help you to continue playing well. Don't think the free online poker games are a waste of time, but rather utilize them and make them teach you the ins and outs of poker so you become a truly great player.

About The Author

Jeff Dragt has been writing for a variety of poker websites and has been playing poker online for over 5 years. http://www.holdemgambling.com.

Poker Know Your Limits

2007-05-30T09:18:00.000+07:00

Poker – Know Your Limits
by: Adel Awwad

Whether you’re playing poker in a casino with your chips right in front of you or playing an online poker game in an internet casino, it’s easy to get carried away when you’re betting. If you’ve had to hitchhike home from Las Vegas because you broke the bank or if you are on the verge of getting a divorce due to the fact that you can’t afford to pay the internet bill because of your internet casino habit, take the problem seriously. There are meetings and support groups available for you. Ask your doctor for help.

However, if your problem is a little less serious than that: you tend to get a little overzealous with your betting when stakes are high and the heat of the online poker game is at a boiling point, then here are a few things for you to try. You can have fun playing online poker without losing your shirt – or having to worry about money at all. All you need to do is set a few guidelines for yourself!

-Set a limit. Just like you might hand your credit cards and ATM card over to your best friend and go to a brick and mortar casino with a specific amount of cash in your pocket, so too should you go to an online casino, use your credit card for one specific amount and then put it away.

-Enjoy a free amateur game. If you’ve bet your limit but still feel like playing online poker, play a few free amateur games. Most internet casinos have plenty to offer. If you enjoy yourself, maybe the next time around, you’ll throw your money onto their online poker table.

-Keep track. By all means, don’t lose track of how many deposits you’ve made into your internet casino account. Just because you might forget doesn’t mean it didn’t happen!

About The Author

Adel Awwad is the webmaster of Online Casinos - Copyright © 2005 http://www.casinoguide.ws All Rights Reserved. This document may be freely redistributed in its unedited form and on the condition that all copyright references are kept intact along with the hyperlinked URLs

Poker Lingo For Amateurs

2007-05-30T09:17:00.000+07:00

Poker Lingo For Amateurs
by: John Harding

The World Series of Poker has sprouted many followers in the last couple of years. Amateur tables are popping up all over the world and friendly cash games are everywhere come Friday night. Whether it is for thrill or profit the so called sport of poker has the attention of many onlookers year round. While Amateurs know the basics of the game they usually get lost in all the poker lingo spoken at the casino poker tables. While some is lingo is made up by experienced players to throw off the amateurs, some are actually well known terms in the poker world that any amateur trying to make it big should know. Below is a guide to all the poker lingo you could ever want to impress your friends or intimidate an experienced opponent. Take a look.

Ante: The initial money thrown into the pot to induce betting. This is done before the flop.

All In: When a person decides to put all his chips in to bet on a certain hand. No Limit Hold’Em is the most popular game and All Ins are allowed as many times as a player wants. In Limit Hold’Em you cannot bet more then the pot itself.

Backdoor: Backdoor is a reference to when players are chasing a card that has not come up yet but has a good chance to. Having 4 cards of the same kind is a backdoor flush draw, having four cards in a row is a backdoor straight draw.

Bad Beat: A Bad Beat occurs when a player has a large advantage over the other and the last card beats the big hand by luck. Bad beat is usually used to imply that the player with the weak hand should not have been in the hand at all and it was by mere luck that he won his underdog hand.

Blind: In Texas Hold’Em, the game uses blinds instead of antes. The blinds are forced bets to induce some money in the pot by the two people sitting to the left of the dealer. The first person to the left of the dealer is the “small blind” and bets a smaller amount. The second person to the left of the dealer is the “big blind” and bets twice what the small blind has.

Bottom Pair: The lowest pair out of the cards out on the table.

Check: When a player decides to not bet he calls “Check”. This is the option of betting zero dollars.

Check Raise: When a player checks with a strong hand hoping another opponent will raise. The player then re-raises with his strong hand thus getting more money out of his opponent in the pot.

Drawing Dead: When a player is trying to make a hand that will still not win the pot.

Flop: The first three cards that are “flopped” onto the table. These are also called community cards.

Heads Up Play: When there are only two players playing a certain hand they are considered “heads up”.

Muck: A pile of unused cards usually in front of the dealer. These come from folded or burned cards. To “much your cards” is to fold them by throwing them into the muck pile.

The Nuts: Likely the favorite expression of any poker player. The Nuts indicates a hand that is mathematically unbeatable with the cards on the table.

Offsuit: When the two cards you are dealt are of different suits.

Pocket: The two cards dealt to you in Texas Hold’Em that only you can see.

Rake: The total amount of money that the casino’s dealer takes out of every pot.

The River: The last card to be flopped on the board. The 5th card to come out in a Texas Hold’Em game.

Short Stack: The short stack is referring to the player with the least amount of chips at the table.

Tell: A tell refers to a players action when he or she has a good or bad hand. Some players take off their sun glasses when they have a bad hand. Other players tend to itch their right hand when they have a good hand.

The Turn: The fourth card to be flopped onto the table in a Texas Hold’Em game.

These are the necessary terms in order to keep up with the pros. There are hundreds of other terms in the world of poker, yet they are much less needed or too experienced for the amateur. Learn this lingo and impress your friends or play at experienced tables and wow the crowd. Lastly, poker is a great game, but the greatest player in poker knows one this: When to know you’re beat. Everyone likes to hold’em, but sometimes you get that feeling and you just have to fold’em.

About The Author

John Harding is a respected poker author. More articles can be found at http://www.poker-prophet.com Poker Prophe

Slot Machines -Buy Your Own For Fun And Excitement 2

2007-05-30T09:15:00.001+07:00

Slot Machines - Buy Your Own For Fun And Excitement!
by: David Olsen

Whether you’re searching for the perfect game room item, or avidly love slot machines, you’re sure to find just the right one to fill your desires. Not only does the Internet offer several gaming sites, there’s also a wealth of slot machines for those who want to purchase that special machine.

One machine you’ll find that is very appealing is the pachislo slot machine. The pachislo slot machine is imported from China. Remember these are real slot machines that are just like ones that you’d find in a casino. The prices of the pachislo slot machine is very reasonable. These slot machines come with a full user’s manual s well as information as to how they have been tested.

There is some basic information you’ll want to get the best benefits from your slot machines. You’ll want to know about things like how to do modifications that will change the style of play, payout percentages, payout combinations and other important ways to have fun with your slot machines. After all that’s the whole goal… to have fun.

Most slot machines are tested before shipment by running 10,000 coins through the machine. This give a purchaser a real-time test of the factory configured payout results. You’ll have an idea of what to expect as far as payout levels and operation of the slot machines.

If you’re looking for some of the older slot machines that were used before computerization of slot machines occurred, the Internet is still the first place to search. You can find lots of information about different slot machines, as well as people who will have these collector items for sale.

You can’t find a better conversation piece for those special entertainment occasions than slot machines. A brand new model or one of the collectible slot machines, either way it’s sure to liven up any crowd and be one of the most spirited and entertaining events you’ll have.

If you’re interested in starting your own collections of antique slot machines, you should definitely begin by searching the Web. While you may know just which slot machines you want to begin your collection, you search will be much easier of you do it online. In addition, you may get the best deal for your money online.

No matter what your reasons, owning your own slot machines is a fun and exciting adventure. Nothing revs up the excitement quite like slot machines. Have fun and enjoy.

About The Author

David Olsen has been writing about online casinos and casino strategy for over five years and is considered an authority in the online gambling world. His latest website is all about the many variations of Online Slots. Visit His site to learn more http://www.onlineslotmachines.us. Mr. Olsen works from home and is married with one young son.

Slot Machines Buy Your Own for Fun and Excitement

2007-05-30T09:10:00.002+07:00

Slot Machines - Buy Your Own for Fun and Excitement!
by: David Olsen

Whether you’re searching for the perfect game room item, or avidly love slot machines, you’re sure to find just the right one to fill your desires. Not only does the Internet offer several gaming sites, there’s also a wealth of slot machines for those who want to purchase that special machine.

One machine you’ll find that is very appealing is the pachislo slot machine. The pachislo slot machine is imported from China. Remember these are real slot machines that are just like ones that you’d find in a casino. The prices of the pachislo slot machine is very reasonable. These slot machines come with a full user’s manual s well as information as to how they have been tested.

There is some basic information you’ll want to get the best benefits from your slot machines. You’ll want to know about things like how to do modifications that will change the style of play, payout percentages, payout combinations and other important ways to have fun with your slot machines. After all that’s the whole goal… to have fun.

Most slot machines are tested before shipment by running 10,000 coins through the machine. This give a purchaser a real-time test of the factory configured payout results. You’ll have an idea of what to expect as far as payout levels and operation of the slot machines.

If you’re looking for some of the older slot machines that were used before computerization of slot machines occurred, the Internet is still the first place to search. You can find lots of information about different slot machines, as well as people who will have these collector items for sale.

You can’t find a better conversation piece for those special entertainment occasions than slot machines. A brand new model or one of the collectible slot machines, either way it’s sure to liven up any crowd and be one of the most spirited and entertaining events you’ll have.

If you’re interested in starting your own collections of antique slot machines, you should definitely begin by searching the Web. While you may know just which slot machines you want to begin your collection, you search will be much easier of you do it online. In addition, you may get the best deal for your money online.

No matter what your reasons, owning your own slot machines is a fun and exciting adventure. Nothing revs up the excitement quite like slot machines. Have fun and enjoy.

About The Author

David Olsen has been writing about online casinos and casino strategy for over five years and is considered an authority in the online gambling world. His latest website, Play Video Poker, is all about video Poker with special attention paid to Online Poker. Visit His site to learn more http://www.playvideopoker.us. Mr. Olsen works from home and is married with one young son.

The Evolution of Video Poker

2007-05-30T09:10:00.001+07:00

The Evolution of Video Poker
by: David Olsen

Video poker has been around for over 30 years. It started out when casinos noticed that many people liked to play cards but were too scared to actually sit down at a poker table. Video poker allowed these players to play poker without having to look their opponents in the eye. With the explosion of online casinos Video Poker’s popularity grew exponentially. This growth in turn led to the development of new versions of video poker. Here we'll take a look at some of the more important developments in the video poker world.

1. Multi Hand Video Poker

Multi Hand Video Poker is like "normal" video poker on steroids. As its name implies, you're playing more then one hand at a time. Common variations include Jacks or Better (of course), 10's Or Better, Deuces Wild and more. The Games come in 4, 10, 50, and even 100 hand versions. Multi hand video poker is an exciting twist on standard single hand video poker. Today, most online casinos have at least one multi-hand version.

2. Power Poker

Power Poker is Microgaming's version of Multi-Hand Video Poker and is probably the most popular multi-hand version on the web. Currently there are 11 different Power Poker Games in 4, 10 and 50 hand versions. Playing Power Poker is like playing the single hand version of the game. You start with the same 5 cards in each hand. You then select the card(s) you wish to hold. The remaining cards are discarded and new cards replace the discarded ones. Winning hands are determined by a redefined payout schedule.

3. Progressive Video Poker

Progressive Video Poker is yet another exciting variation of good old video poker. Progressive Video poker follows the same rules as a non-progressive version of the same game. The difference is in the payout of the royal flush. Often times, progressive jackpots build through multiple casinos, so potentially the pot can be huge. When playing a Progressive machine, it's crucial to play the max coins on every play, that's the only way to win the jackpot.

4. Online Poker Rooms

Online Poker is not technically a video poker; however, since there are obvious similarities between the two, I felt a brief overview should be included here. In video poker you are playing against a machine, winning and losing hands are determined by a static payout schedule. However, when you're playing online poker, you are playing against real people. There is no predetermined payout schedule, you can win as much as your opponents are willing to wager on each hand. Also, and more importantly, Online poker allows you to bluff, meaning in theory, if you're a good enough bluffer, you can have the worst hand at the table but still win, if you've been able to convince your opponents to fold. This is the main reason for the huge popularity in online poker.

Lastly, as you can see, video poker continues to evolve. What started out as a game for would-be poker players who were too intimidated to sit down at a real table, has, with the advent of Online Poker, come full circle. Today a poker player can sit down at a virtual table with players from around the world. Amazing...

About The Author

David Olsen has been writing about online casinos and casino strategy for over five years and is considered an authority in the online gambling world. His latest website is all about the many variations of Video Poker. Visit http://www.playvideopoker.us to learn more about Progressive Video Poker, Online Poker, Multi-hand Video Poker and Power Poker

The Legality of Online Poker

2007-05-30T09:08:00.000+07:00

The Legality of Online Poker
by: Jeff Dragt

The topic of whether online poker is legal or illegal is frankly quite interesting. Typically, gambling is managed by each individual state, and as a result some states have legalized gambling and casinos and others do not. However, the internet is not something that can be managed by each state because it is global, there are no controls so to speak by individual countries, states, or governments on the Internet because it is like another world. But, back to the legality of poker online, a question that has no answer or many answers depending on how you look at it. There is no precedent set for gambling online, as a result there is no way to say that gambling online is legal, illegal, or none of the above. In fact, you could answer yes, no, or maybe, and be just as right with any of these answers. The Wire Act is one issues people say that makes gambling online illegal because it bans gambling by phone, however there is no precedent set that makes this statement valid regarding Internet gambling. As a result, while there are plenty of ways to infer gambling online is illegal, there is no way to prove so until a precedent is set. Setting a legal precedent requires someone being charged with playing online poker and then being found guilty. As of yet, not one single American soul out of the millions who play online poker each and every day has ever been charged, fined, or convicted of this act.

You might find this information not very helpful because your question is whether or not you can safely play poker online and not worry about breaking the law or being subjected to prosecution or fines of any type. Well, there is no outright answer, which favors playing poker online because there is nothing saying you absolutely cannot play poker online. Even if your state does not have legalized gambling or casinos, you can still play poker online and not worry about the authorities catching you and giving you a ticket. At the moment in time, finding all the online poker players, and fining them is not the main goal of states, and until there is some definitive statement regarding online poker you should play your heart away. Additionally, the fact that no legal precedent exists regarding online poker means you really have nothing to worry about.

However, if you are really concerned about the legality, or illegality, of playing poker online you should play and keep your ear out for any new information on the subject, or else avoid the game altogether because if you are so worried about the legality of online poker you won't really be able to enjoy playing the game.

Online Poker Beginnings Poker and gambling has been popular for years, however many states have outlawed the activity relegating die hard fans to travel to the likes of Las Vegas, Atlantic City, or even the Cherokee Reservation in North Carolina to play their beloved game. However, not everyone can afford to travel to one of these destinations to play poker, nor do individuals have the time to do so on a regular basis. So, what was the average person who loved poker supposed to do if his buddies couldn't play one Saturday night? Before online poker there were few options, now, no matter where you live you can play poker online to your hearts desire. You can play at night, in the morning, while eating lunch, or working as well. Online poker allows you to play your favorite game whenever and wherever you like!

At first, people thought this was an amazing idea, but they were also very cautious as well because the Internet was new, there was little understanding on how one could actually win money in an online poker game and then receive the money, there was mistrust, and simply confusion. But, the poker websites started offering security measures, large bonuses, and benefits for online players and little by little individuals started playing poker online.

The first players of online poker shared their success stories with friends and family members, as well as boasting about the security measures and the safety of playing online. This word of mouth advertising in addition to the advertising by the online poker sites really attracted new players and now in just a few short years online poker sites are some of the most popular sites on the web and there are people who play online poker every single day. If you had asked poker players 20 years ago what they thought of playing poker at home on a computer rather than in the casino you probably would have gotten some really strange looks and resounding negative responses. However, the age of the Internet has changed people and whether it is shopping, paying bills, or playing poker online the Internet is making everything easier and more accessible to the masses. Before, poker was a game of the wealthy who had the money to spend on a long vacation to a poker hot spot. Now, poker is a game of the every day man or woman that enjoys a hand of poker, but has neither the time nor the money to travel all over the country to play.

This huge growth in online poker is what has so many people worried about the legality of it and whether or not laws will be passed to regulate online pokers sites. While the future is unknown regarding online poker sites and whether they will be considered legal, illegal, or just another website remains to be seen, but until then simply log on to your favorite online gambling website and play to your hearts desire.

About The Author

Jeff Dragt is a writer for http://www.onlinepokerchaser.com

Your Book is a Business

2007-05-30T09:06:00.000+07:00

Your Book is a Business
by: Dr. Jamie Fettig
Think like a businessperson, not an author.

Once the final draft is written, you’re no longer an author. You’re an entrepreneur with a product to sell, and it’s critical that you start thinking that way. Instead of spending your time on editing and proofreading, you’ve got to invest your time in marketing activities. That means finding the answers to three critical questions:

a. Who is your audience?
b. What will compel them to buy your book?
c. What methods should you use to reach them?

At this stage, you need to think about capturing leads, producing sales material, getting testimonials and positive reviews, and arranging publicity events. Your focus should be on all the ways you can create awareness of your book.

The best way to get started in thinking like a businessperson is after your final draft is done but before you go to print, sit down and write out the answers to these questions:

• What is my marketing budget?
• What resources do I have in place already?
• What people do I know who can help me?
• What are my sales goals for the year?

Keep your expectations realistic.

The average self-published book sells only about 3,000 copies, and the average book issued by a publisher sells only a few thousand more. For every bestseller, there are hundreds of books that sell moderately and disappear. So you’ve got to keep your expectations realistic, or you’ll set yourself up to get discouraged and quit trying to market your book.

Rather than worry about the overall number of copies sold, I recommend to people that they set their goals, especially for a first book, like this:

a. Monetary goals. For most authors, selling enough copies to break even is a very worthwhile goal. If you can do that, you’ve done great!
b. Career goals. Your book might give a big boost to your speaking career, medical practice or other endeavor.
c. Publicity goals. Your book could position you as an expert in your field, so that you get invited on radio programs, TV, speaking engagements, etc.
d. Publishing goals. Maybe your book is noticed by a publisher who wants to re-release it, or you are offered a chance to write future books.
e. Networking goals. You meet agents, designers, journalists and others who could be wonderful contacts for the future.

Your expectations for your book should not be centered on copies sold. Instead, focus on developing and executing a brilliant marketing and PR plan, making key contacts, and finding ways to create value for readers, for the media and for organizations who might make big bulk purchases. If you focus on those things, sales will take care of themselves.

Concentrate on meeting all 5 types of goals. That way, even if your sales are only moderate, but you do brilliantly in getting publicity and making contacts, you can consider your book a success.

Have a solid, long-term marketing plan.

Before you ever get close to even finishing your first draft, sit down and map out the basics of your marketing and promotional plan. The key questions you’ll need to answer:

• What is my marketing budget?
• When should my book be ready?
• Who is my audience and what need does this book meet?
• What will my price point be?
• How many copies do I need to sell to break even?
• How many copies do I want to sell?
• What marketing channels will I use to reach my readers?
• What relationships can I leverage to make bulk sales?
• What relationships can I leverage to get press coverage?
• Who will design my Website?
• Do I need a marketing staff?
• Will I do an e-newsletter?
• Will I hire a distributor or ship the books myself?
• Do I want to be in the bookstores?
• Will I do “guerilla” marketing?
• What ancillary products can I produce (tapes, CDs, etc.)
• How can my seminars/consulting/current business support this book?

That’s a lot of material, but it’s all important. Take a couple of months and figure it out. You can also cut some time off your learning curve by learning from others who have done it already.
About the author:

Are you interested in the one seminar that has created more Best-Selling authors than any other seminar? A seminar put on by the guy who has sold more books than every other book in the history of the world except the bible? Then get yourself to the Mega Book Marketing Seminar and train yourself to be a mega-successful author and become a sought after speaker. Make the difference with your book that you want to make. To Register and for more information go to http://www.bazuji.com/book

Your Book Not in Book Stores? Don't Worry

2007-05-30T09:05:00.001+07:00

Your Book Not in Book Stores? Don't Worry
by: Dr. Jamie Fettig

Trying to figure out how to get your self published books into book stores? Don't worry about it because you can get more book sales easier and with less effort elsewhere. Some useful tips for you and your book from Mark Victor Hansen, who has sold more than 100 million books so far.

Sure, we all want to look on the shelves at Barnes and Noble and see our books there. It's thrilling. But it's really not necessary. I see so many authors waste their time and money paying distributors and driving from store to store, delivering books when they should be selling directly to the public. The Internet makes it possible.

In fact, there are many good reasons NOT to be in bookstores:

* You don't have to pay a distributor, who will take a cut of your profits.
* You don't have to worry about shipping and returns.
* You don't have to fight for shelf space.

In most cases, selling direct to the public, or through bulk sales to institutions, is a much better way to turn your book into a revenue stream. With the Internet, tradeshows and other events, and seminars, you have multiple ways to sell direct, pocket 100% of the profits, and save yourself the hassle of trying to get into Borders.

I also recommend selling on Amazon.com. They do take a substantial chunk of your sales price, but it's a wonderful way to generate buzz about your book. Otherwise, unless you can truly benefit from the prestige of being on the bookshelves, leave the bookstores to John Grisham and Stephen King.

Pursue bulk sales.

Ninety percent of new authors are only focused with getting people into bookstores to buy their book. And it's great if you can do that, but I give them all the same advice: do not overlook bulk sales. They can turn your book from a money-loser into a profit center in a few months. Bulk sales are a gold mine.

What do I mean by bulk sales? I mean selling your books in large quantities to an organization, which could mean anything from a corporation to a school district to a non-profit group to a church. You'll have to give the organization a price break for buying in bulk, but you'll get dozens, hundreds or even thousands of your books into people's hands, which dramatically increases your word-of-mouth and viral marketing.

Promoting bulk sales is a pretty straightforward deal. Simply look at your book and ask yourself what companies, organizations or affinity groups would be interested in the book for their employees or members. If you've written a book on corporate team building, make a list of corporations where you have personal contacts. If your book is about exercise for seniors, try contacting AARP. And so on. Marketing bulk sales is usually about personal contact, either by letter or direct mail.

When you're going after bulk sales, try to get to the "gatekeepers," the people who can make the decisions for a large organization. It makes much more sense to talk to 20 people who have the potential between them to order 10,000 books than to sell them one at a time. Even if you only get orders from three of those gatekeepers, you'll sell a few thousand books.

Be sure to offer a good bulk rate discount for your bulk buyers. The more books they buy, the bigger the price break. If they buy over 1,000, give them 50% off. You'll still make money and you'll start winning readers.

Always build your mailing and e-mail lists.

There are two kinds of lists: physical mailing address lists and e-mail lists, and you should always be building both. They are your promotional lifelines to your potential readers and customers, and everything you do to market your book should have some component that gathers contact information of prospective buyers.

The best way to build your list is quite simple: get people to come to your Website, offer them something of value, and require them to give you (at a minimum) their name and e-mail address to get it. The kinds of things you can offer:

* Downloadable excerpts from your book.
* A subscription to your e-newsletter.
* An advance discount on your book.
* An audio CD or other ancillary product.

Be creative. Is there something that pushes your target audience's buttons? Offer it to them. This kind of "opt-in" list, where people consent to receiving future information from you, is the gold standard of marketing.

Some other reputable ways you can build your list:

* Take names or business cards at a tradeshow or conference.
* Membership lists from organizations of which you are a member
* Get respected colleagues to e-mail their lists asking their contacts to go to your site to find something of value to them.

But always, always be building your list. And make sure that your database software is solid, proven, regularly maintained, and backed up weekly.

About The Author

Dr. Jamie Fettig

Are you interested in the one seminar that has created more Best-Selling authors than any other seminar? A seminar put on by the guy who has sold more books than every other book in the history of the world except the bible? Then get yourself to the Mega Book Marketing Seminar and train yourself to be a mega-successful author and become a sought after speaker. Make the difference with your book that you want to make. To Register and for more information go to http://www.bazuji.com/book

Tips For Football Betting

2007-05-29T14:55:00.000+07:00

Tips For Football Betting
by: Rob Mellor

How depressingly gray would be a world where everything is governed by a set of universal rules rigorously shaping everything? Isn’t it better if we strike back with a chance to confound the tweed coated straight laced brigade and weave a little exotic odds into life that are not really approved of. It is precisely this change that inspires even the most sober of us to risk a couple of quid. But the art of a successful competition is to not only create a game that has a real chance of success for the entry stake, but allows us to lose that stake without significant damage to our ongoing lifestyle. Placing bets on football matches using various tips and tactics helps us achieve this motive.

In this article we shall thus discuss about the major tips and tactics that help us make the best of our money. Football betting is not like the other traditional casino games. Those games are games of chance where the house always has a built-in edge. Football betting is different in that you can choose which games to wager on and which games to pass on. By only betting on games that have a positive expected return and passing on games that have negative expected return, the football betting enthusiast can thus turn the tables on the sports book and put himself in the position to always have the edge.

Basic knowledge of sports handicapping is required

Football betting requires a basic knowledge of sports handicapping. You need to understand what goes into determining the spread and how to arrive at an educated guess at the game outcome. Football handicapping is part science and part art. The best football handicappers not only know how to analyze the statistics, they also have an instinct gained from years of experience. To acquire these skills and instincts the punter needs to do handicapping for him self using picks and recommendations from other bettors as simply a starting point.

Handicapping is all about acquiring and using the right information

Handicapping is all about acquiring and using the right information. You are attempting to predict the future. You do that by looking at what has happened in the past, which is where statistics are useful, and by looking at the current situation, which is where the latest news is critical.

However one should always remember that even the best handicappers are rarely right more than 58% of the time. Our goal should be to win more than 50% of the bets.

About The Author

Rob Mellor owns the www.football-systems-uk.com website helping people change there life and earn a second or even first income from soccer betting. Please visit the site to get a free football betting tips.

Video Poker Games – How Real Do They Play

2007-05-29T14:54:00.001+07:00

Video Poker Games – How Real Do They Play?
by: David Olsen

Video poker games are the software version of a simulation of playing poker in a real life setting. While nothing beats the real life game, these video poker games offer real fun and lots of winning chances.

Another type of video poker games is those that are designed to help you learn and improve your skills in a real life games. There’s video poker games available for just about every type of traditional poker games. Here’s a list of some of the more popular video poker games: Omaha Hold 'em, Texas Hold 'em, Seven Card Stud, Blackjack, the World Series of Poker event, and Caribbean Stud Poker. You will also find many variations.

There’s video poker online, as well as in your land casinos. You can also get these video poker games for your handheld electronics. No mater how you choose to play video poker games, you’re sure to find excitement, fun and lots of chances to win.

Some of the most popular online video poker games are Texas Hold’em, jacks or better video poker and deuces wild video poker. There’s several sites online where you can download the software, and play for free or real money. For the poker fan, there’s a wealth of opportunity for fun, excitement and many winnings.

If you’re looking to learn strategy, several video poker games have been designed to teach you strategies and the rules. There’s several produced by the world’s most talented professional poker players. What better way than to learn from the professionals.

Just as in person-to-person poker, the video poker games involve chance and skill. One of the neat things about video poker games is that they are available whenever you want to play. The online gaming sites that offer video poker games are never closed. You don’t have to worry about who is going to show up or if you’ll have enough people to play. There are always people playing online video poker games no matter the time of day or night.

The basics of the rules are pretty much the same as when you’re playing with the traditional 52-card deck. With video games, the rules, the table bets, and other things that must be determined in real life are already set for you. All you have to do is read the rules, and begin play.

If you haven’t played video poker games, you owe it to yourself to check them out. Beware, they’re lost of fun and can be addictive.

Have fun and good luck.

About The Author

David Olsen has been writing about online casinos and casino strategy for over five years and is considered an authority in the online gambling world. His latest website, Play Video Poker, is all about video Poker with special attention paid to Online Poker. Visit His site to learn more http://www.playvideopoker.us.

Virginia Is For Lovers With Plenty Of Bed And Breakfasts

2007-05-29T14:53:00.000+07:00

Virginia Is For Lovers With Plenty Of Bed And Breakfasts
by: Shawn Everett

The state slogan for Virginia is "Virginia is for lovers" and there are plenty of bed and breakfast locations to help lovers spend some quality time together in a peaceful, relaxing and special atmosphere that simply cannot be found in a hotel. As a result, if you live in Virginia or are simply passing through, consider a Virginia bed and breakfast for your accommodations and you will certainly enjoy your stay even more.

Virginia is a very diversified state in the fact that there are mountains, city, the beach, and everything in between. And, no matter where you find yourself in Virginia there will be a bed and breakfast to meet your needs. Of course, there are more bed and breakfast locations in the cities especially closer to Washington D.C., but there are so many bed and breakfast locations that you can truly find just what you are looking for no matter where you find yourself. It might be difficult to just happen across a bed and breakfast in Virginia however because they are generally houses with signs, but nothing to compete with the big lit signs of hotels. As a result, you should plan ahead and look for Virginia bed and breakfasts in one of the many bed and breakfast directories available. Doing this will allow you to find all the bed and breakfasts listed in Virginia and you can check out rates, amenities, and then contact the b and b to make a reservation. Having your stay planned in advance will make you rest easy.

A bed and breakfast in Virginia is really a great option because it is almost as if you are staying at home, but with someone preparing a full breakfast for you and willing to meet your every need and even whim. As a result, a bed and breakfast can be an enjoyable and very romantic place to stay. If you are planning a trip to Virginia, check out the bed and breakfast options and you will more than likely choose to stay in a bed and breakfast on your next trip to Virginia.

About The Author

Shawn Everett is the owner of The Bed and Breakfast Connector http://www.bbconnector.com, a directory of bed and breakfast inns accross North America including Virginia.

What Is A Good Weight For Poker Chips

2007-05-29T14:09:00.001+07:00

What Is A Good Weight For Poker Chips?
by: Johnny Hand

I have been playing poker since my college days. I went to a small school in western Massachusetts. The funny thing is back in those days we would use anything as poker chips. It was not uncommon for us to scrape our pennies together or even break open a bag of potatoes chips that we heisted from the dorm room across the hall to use as our poker chips. Well since then I have matured and in this article I will talk about 13.5g poker chips.

I highly recommend using 13.5g poker chips.13.5g poker chips are the heaviest chips available on the poker market today and are typically of the highest quality grade. These poker chips feel like casino quality chips because they usually are casino quality and are a ton of fun to play with. In fact, these chips are usually better then casino quality poker chips. Think about it a little. The companies that produce these chips have stiff competition and casinos would not pay that much money for the quality of the chips we get on the market! A typical casino uses the 11.5 gram chips that are 39mm in diameter.

The 13.5 gram chips are a little heavier and usually a stronger chip. Again I recommend these. For example, when you have your buddies over playing a tourney and they are dropping the chips on the floor and spilling beer on them. Figuring out what kind of poker chip to splurge on, especially if you play often is important too. Those of you who host poker games should make sure your chips can withstand the consistent handling. (see above about dropping on floor) 13.5g chips are perfect for regular players because the wear and tear that human hands place on chips can be a force. Poker chips are often handled aggressively, (everyone likes to shuffle them etc..) and the cheap ones just may fall victim to the trash can after a dozen games.

Your 13.5g poker chips will compliment your poker set nicely. Good poker supplies make a huge difference in the world. Don't ever even think about short changing your game if it is something you really like. Spend a few extra bucks to get something nice that will last you a lifetime.

You can find 13.5g poker chips pretty much anywhere now. I have seen them at casinos, novelty stores, gaming stores but more importantly online gaming stores. Online gaming stores are turning up all over cyberspace and will often provide you with far cheaper price options for your high quality poker chips. If you don't feel like hopping in your car and heading to a local store, then do yourself a favor and take a peek and see what you can find on the web. However, be careful, do some homework, and don't settle on a store that is not highly suggested by other poker nuts!

In conclusion, take your time when choosing your 13.5g poker chips. Do some quick research and find a reliable source for your poker chips and accessories. Make sure you find the cheapest price for the amount of chips your willing to purchase. So at your next poker tournament that you host you will look like a king and not a peasant!

About The Author

Johnny Hand writes for http://www.the-poker-outlet.com

Johny recommends:
http://www.the-poker-outlet.com/400-pc.-poker-chip-set-with-case.htm
http://www.the-poker-outlet.com/700-pc-poker-chip-set.htm
http://www.the-poker-outlet.com/ace-poker-chip-set-sale.htm

What to Look for In Online Poker Sites

2007-05-29T13:49:00.000+07:00

What to Look for In Online Poker Sites
by: Jeff Dragt

Online poker game websites have become more and more popular these days as a casino establishment alternative. They are a convenient way of playing a variety of poker games in the comfort of your own home. Online poker websites make virtual poker games readily available to the beginner and advanced poker player alike. However, there are a few things one should consider when trying to choose the perfect online poker website in which to play this entertaining game. Safety is one key thing to consider when looking to play poker games online and researching the site ahead of time may make your poker play a bit safer than if you were to simply jump right in without a second thought. Secondly, another thing that a prospective online poker player should look into with regard to an online poker website prior to beginning play is good odds as people who play this game online for money are looking to win. A third thing to search for within online poker websites relates to the type of poker games that the websites are offering. Lastly, it is always good to do some research with regard to what the betting limits will be prior to choosing an online poker website which you would like to utilize.

As internet safety is becoming a more serious concern these days, it is extremely important to know how your money will be exchanged before, during and after the poker games and what financial information you are going to have to give out in order to play poker online. In a world where internet scams are overly present, it is important to make sure that you are utilizing an online poker website that is a secure website. Therefore, it is important to know in advance that your financial information will not be transmitted in such a manner where there may be an opportunity for someone to get a hold of it and use it in a wrongful manner. Checking into all available safety features prior to starting to play online poker on a particular website is definitely a smart move and one which I highly recommend that you look into.

Another thing to look for when choosing a particular online poker website prior to playing this wonderful card game is what type of odds are going to be present in the online poker game. Online poker is a great way of having fun and maybe making a little bit of money in the process; however, it is important to know what your odds will be prior to sitting down at the virtual poker table. You will most likely be able to research odds by going onto the online poker website which you are thinking about using and seeing what they have to say on the subject. If that particular website does not post any odds information on it, then you might be better off moving on to another site that does publish that type of information.

As there are a variety of online poker games available to the beginner and advanced online poker player alike, it is important to know what online poker game websites offer with regard to particular types of poker games. It will not do you any good to start using a poker game website that only hosts a few types of poker games, especially if all of the ones which the website offers are ones in which you may be unfamiliar with. Therefore, it is best to research the online poker website prior to beginning a poker game so that you know what type of poker game will be played. If you are unfamiliar with the type of poker game being played but still want to give it a shot, why not try looking at a few other websites that describe the type of poker game which is being played on your chosen website. By doing a little research you will be able to brush up on the rules of that particular game thereby increasing your odds of winning.

Since many individuals have a set amount in mind that they wish to spend on entertainment such as online poker playing, it is important to look at different online poker game websites to see what their betting limits may be prior to utilizing a poker website. By searching different online poker websites you will be able to determine which website best fits your means. By doing a little research up front you are able to find out whether you want to use that particular website or if another poker gaming website is more your speed. Therefore, checking out the betting limits prior signing on with a particular online poker game website is highly advisable for poker players wishing to play online.

Because using the internet to peruse different online poker game websites will only tell you so much, you should also consider asking for recommendations from friends and family members. If you know any friends or family members that play poker online for fun, you should inquire whether or not they have any recommendations concerning the better online poker game websites. This will allow you to gain insight into what websites host the best odds, what ones have the lower betting limits and things of that sort. It is also a good way of finding out whether these individuals have had luck with a particular website or have been not so lucky with regards to winning on another online poker game website. Recommendations are a great way of retrieving some background information prior to getting settled with one particular online poker website. Always consider your options prior to choosing an online poker website because there will be ones that are better than other websites.

These are just a few things to consider when looking to find the perfect online poker website. If you take these tips into consideration, chances are that you will find the perfect online poker website that will make all of your gaming dreams come true.

About The Author

Jeff Dragt is an avid online poker player who has been working in the poker industry for years. If your new to poker and want to find out more then please visit my website. http://www.onlinepokerreports.com.

Stuck With A Zero Marketing Budget For Client Gifts?

2007-05-28T16:35:00.002+07:00

Stuck With A Zero Marketing Budget For Client Gifts?
by: Sean D'Souza
Would you really dare to give each client a gift of $500 this Christmas? What about something worth $2000? Or maybe $5000?

You think I’m joking right? I mean, here you are struggling with your 50 cent marketing budget and I’m giving you the key to your bankruptcy. At Christmas time, too!

Step up to the roller coaster and you’ll find out how Marie beat the system with some simple, yet smart marketing tactics and how you can too. Yeah, just like that…

Marie Ain’t No Santa Claus!

Nope! She’s just like you and me.

She can do the Ho! Ho! Ho bit, until she’s faced with the prospect of expensive client gifts. Oh sure she wants to revel in the spirit of giving, but her bank balance is screaming for some mouth to mouth resuscitation. And that’s something she can’t ignore.

What’s Worse Is Marie’s Clients Probably Won’t Even Like The Gifts!

Look at yourself. Did you really like that burgundy sweater you got last year? Or that gift basket full of calorie-ridden chocolates that made you wish you hadn’t seen them at all.

Let’s face it. Murphy’s Law, kicks in bigger and bolder at this time of the year than any other. On average (and often because you’re buying gifts in bulk) you’re giving your client a gift that’s so far off the mark that you might as well throw it in your own trash can and save him the trouble.

How Can Marie Play Scrooge And Santa Simultaneously?

There’s one simple concept every business ignores. It’s called Spare Capacity. Hotels are never totally booked, flights are never quite packed to the gills, and by golly, most businesses like yours and mine (no matter how busy) always have some free space and time.

Marie could use this factor to her advantage. If she approached my business, these are the steps she would logically follow.

1-2-3, Cha, Cha, Cha (Here Are The Steps!)

Step 1: It’s all in the way Marie puts it. If she simply asked me to speak to her clients, I might decline, but if she made it extremely tantalizing, I’d be only too willing.

“How would you like to meet with 20 new clients, that would be very keen to do business with you?”

That kind of question would get my curiosity wound up pretty quickly. She can then explain how she would be introducing me to 20 of her top clients. All I had to do was offer each of them an hour of my time. If I did a good job, I would get a whole bunch of new clients that would be quite eager to meet me.

Let’s say I charge $500 for a consultation. Marie could qualify her clients well, and give them each a voucher to meet up with me. In this consultation, they would have the opportunity to throw me any of their marketing issues and I would have the chance to wow them with my fancy footwork.

Step 2: Once we’re in agreement, she would create a voucher that she can give to her clients. This voucher offers them the specified time at my convenience (I only need to meet them in my free time). This voucher would offer them the benefit of some radical, unusual marketing either via the net, phone or in person. To make the deal sweeter, Marie could offer me 20 hours of her time to meet my clients.

Step 3: We give these vouchers to our respective clients for Christmas. We tell them that we’ve bought them a gift that will help them tremendously in their business and that the gift is worth $500 or $2000, as the case may be.

Any one of those solutions would be worth anything from $200 to $20,000, depending on what the client did with the idea.

How does that compare with your $20 gift right now?

Where Do You Start Looking?

There are no rules. Just because you sell product, it doesn’t mean you have to do this Christmas swap with products.

If you sell products like beds, start looking at chiropractors, massage therapists, interior designers. If you look around you, you will find dozens of businesses that will be more than willing to play Christmas gift if there is something in it for them.

If you sell services…ditto. Look for services as well as products. Every one has spare capacity. Services are most highly valued because they’re abstract and based on the person themselves, but you can find products that are sitting in someone’s warehouse and they’d be glad for you to take them off their hands, in return for access to your top clients.

Best of all, this solves the problem of the suitability of the gift. Wouldn’t a business be more excited by a highly prized service than another daily planner?

Why This Concept May Not Work For You

Marie, has got to make sure that I give solid information in the consulting session to her clients. Sales pitches are a no-no. Your swap must be a REAL gift, not some shoddily disguised sales pitch.

Pick your Christmas Partners carefully. A lot could go wrong here if all they’re seeing is dollar signs.

The second reason why this may not work for you is sheer laziness. You might find it easier to step into a gift shop and blow $1000 on gifts for your clients. It’s easy and it beats having to knock on doors and trudge through snow or sun (depending on where you live on the planet).

Hopefully You’re Not That ‘Duh!’

When you give your gift, all you’re doing is trying to make your current client happy (and that’s great!). With Marie’s concept, you’re actually getting a chance to meet another 20 new clients.

Say that quietly to yourself: Twenty new clients without you having to do any selling. You don’t even have to spend any advertising or marketing moolah to get them in the door. Best of all, they will actually be grateful to have you over.

Does that send a chill down your spine? What if you could do this deal with three people just like Marie? Would 80 appointments be good enough for you?

Are You Going To Have a great NEW YEAR Or What?

No one ever told you about Santa Scrooge did they? Well, now that you know, what are you going to do about it? This rocks, my friend. Now go there and create a New Year that’s really worth big bucks in your balance sheet.

If you do, the next time your banker hears Ho! Ho! Ho, he knows it’s not Santa!

About the author:
Wouldn't you love to stumble upon a secret library of small business ideas? Find simple, yet electrifying ideas onmarketing strategy,psychological tactics and branding. Head down to http://www.psychotactics.comtoday and judge for yourself.

The Art of Employee Motivation

2007-05-28T16:35:00.001+07:00

The Art of Employee Motivation
by: John Morris
If you think that your employees’ poor performance on their designated jobs is costing you a whole lot of loss profits, then instead of just doing a total overhaul of your employee roster, why not try to do some employee motivation tactics to get them to actually come around and be able to save your company from looming bankruptcy. It really is fairly easy and simple to rouse some employee motivation, you just have to take these techniques to heart:

People nowadays are concerned of the lack of importance that is being put into health care plans. Is your company one of those companies who does not provide their employees with the health benefits that they should be entitled too? This is a possible reason why your employees’ morale are down. You need to reassess the situation and try to give them the health benefits that will ensure them that they will be protected by the company that they have been loyal even in their times of sickness. Always remember that a happy worker is a satisfied worker so make sure to use this employee motivation tool in order to give your employees morale a much needed boost.

Remember, companies are usually employed with some women who will, most often than not, become mothers. So it is highly important that you know their needs especially during the time when they would want to avail of their maternity leave. It is important that your company, no matter what kind of product or service you offer, is always sensitive to your employees needs, no matter what gender.

When it comes to having a good health plan for your employees, you must be sure that your health plan is actually of any good or else it would not really do any good to your employees’
morale. Make sure that the health plan will be able to cover all their basic needs and it wouldn’t really hurt if you throw in some added kicks.

Basic health care plans that you can use for employee motivation actually covers the following: full coverage for any basic illness or injury, coverage of hospital payments in case the employee has to be checked in at the hospital or if there are some minor surgeries that need to be done.

Added benefits to further boost employee motivation through a health care plan is through having their dental health covered as well as their optical needs, eyeglass subsidies as well as free dental cleaning and check-ups will be a good treat for your employees and will surely be a great added employee motivation move.

Apart from having a good health care plan for your employee motivation tactics, you must also be able to provide for them some other additional care such as an insurance plan which they can rely on in case something bad happens to them and they are still of service to your company. Even if this employee motivation move will not be availed by the employee’s family during the time of his or her service, your employee can still choose to continue on paying for the premiums of the insurance plan even after he or she has retired from your company. Unfortunately for your employees, once they resign
from a job position at you company the said insurance plan will be revoked since the company will not be able to play for your insurance premiums anymore (remember, all the payments from these employee motivation tactics will actually come from the employee’s salary).

Another great employee motivation move for loyal employees of your company is to have a car loan ready for them, employees who have already served some considerable amount of years in the company should be entitled to a car plan wherein deductions from their salary will be used to pay for their vehicle of choice. This is a great employee motivation move since those who are not able to afford a car (a brand new car at that!) would actually want to continue staying in your company because of this added employee motivation benefit.

From time to time, especially during special occasions, you need to be able to give your employees some added morale boost by organizing events or parties that will foster camaraderie among your employees. A little good time certainly wouldn’t hurt anyone and this will all be in the spirit of good ole’ company fun. Employee motivation directed events such as Christmas parties and company picnics are surely a welcome treat to your seemingly overworked and over fatigue employees.

You must also remember to give your employees some time to unwind like providing your regular employees the benefit of having a two-week paid vacation leave. That’s the least you can do for your employees who you have held captive for the majority of the year in your office.

These are really simple and easy employee motivation tactics that you can do in order to boost your employees’ morale and be able to ensure a good upkeep of your company.

About the author:
For more great employee motivation info and advice check out: http://www.profitable-employees.com

The Basics of Borrowing Money

2007-05-28T16:34:00.001+07:00

The Basics of Borrowing Money
by: Jose Valdez
Are you thinking about starting a business but have no money to do it with? Well, you're not alone. This article will tell you the basics of borrowing money.
A loan is money that is borrowed, and has to be paid back along with interest. If the money is borrowed from an institution such as a bank, this is called a commercial loan. Money that is borrowed from a friend or a relative is called a personal loan.
The borrower, or debtor, is the business or individual that takes out the loan. The lender, or creditor, is the source from which the money was borrowed. The term, or period, is the time that is specified during which the borrower has to use the money borrowed before he has to repay the loan. The maturity of a loan is when a loan term reaches its end. The Principal is the amount that is borrowed from the lender. When you or your business borrows money, the lender wants to know when they will get their money back. Keep this in mind when you are looking for a lending source.
If the business is not able to repay the loan, the lending source has a right to legally come after assets to recoup it's money. The extent to which you are personally liable depends on the business structure your business is operating under.
If you are approved for a loan, that you will have to make scheduled payments (typically on monthly basis) plus interest. A loan can sometimes be set up as a balloon loan. A balloon loan will typically require smaller initial payments and one lump sum of what was borrowed as the final payment at the end of the term.
Borrowing from Institutions
Business loans generally fall into two main categories: short term and long term loans. A short term loan is a loan that is to be payed back within one year. Examples of short term loans include:
Working capital loans
Accounts receivable loans
Lines of credit
Long term loans are loans that are to be payed back typically from one to seven years. Long term loans are typically used for:
an expansion of a business
the purchase of equipment
real estate
Most business loans that are used for starting a business are long term loans.

When you approach an institution for a business loan, it will be looking at you as the business owner as closely as it will be looking at the business itself. One of the ways lending institutions make money is by lending money and they want to be as sure as possible that they get back their money with the interest owed.

The time between applying for a loan and learning that you have been approved (or disapproved) can vary. If you are disapproved, you may be told almost instantly. If you are approved, it may take a few days though it usually takes longer. It may even take several months to learn whether you or your business has being approved for the loan.
Borrowing from Family and Friends
If you don't want to, or can't get a commercial loan, you can consider getting a private loan from family or friends. This is usually real informal. However, you need to be careful because this can lead to ruined relationships.
If you are getting a private loan, it is in the best interest of the lender to have an agreement put in writing. The written agreement should state the principal, the interest charged and the terms of repayment. This puts the lender in better position either write off the loan on his or her tax return or to legally come after you.
You are free to reprint this only if the article text link is included:

If You are Starting a Business visit www.AGuideToStartingABusiness.com
Jose Valdez is the owner/operator of www.AGuideToStartingABusiness.com and www.AllHomeBasedBusinessIdeas.com

About the author:
Jose Valdez is the owner/operator of www.AGuideToStartingABusiness.comand www.AllHomeBasedBusinessIdeas.com

The Importance of Personal Background Checks -

2007-05-28T16:33:00.002+07:00

The Importance of Personal Background Checks -
by: Steve Valentino
The purpose of personal background checks is to get a feel for the applicant’s character. Personal and professional references are a good starting point, however, experts in the investigative field caution employers on using this method solely. Prospective employees are obviously going to give references of people whom they trust will provide a good character reference for them. Those references may not necessarily be fabricating information regarding the applicant; they simply may not know pertinent information about him or her.

Another method employer’s use is obtaining a credit report on the prospective employee. While privacy advocates argue the necessity in reviewing credit reports, many employers find them to be full of important information. An employer can determine what types of credit accounts the applicant has open and their history of paying bills on time. For some employers, this is a good indicator of how responsible of an employee he or she will be. Employers also may draw a correlation between credit history, job performance and employee retention. Though these conclusions are heatedly debated, according to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, employers do have the right to investigate much of a person’s credit history as a pre-employment tool.

Credit reports also contain pertinent job and address information. Some employers and private investigation firms use credit reports as a means of cross-referencing information supplied on the employment application. Though credit reports contain much needed personal information, they should be used in conjunction with other personal background check methods in order to have a well-rounded view of the applicant’s character and ability to perform the job duties.

This type of consumer report also contains information that may be valuable, although legally questionable, to the employer. Age and marital status are data that are often reported. Employers should already be familiar with privacy and equal opportunity legislation and be careful not to discriminate on the basis of these facts. The purpose of performing personal background checks is to ensure the safety and security of the company and violating Federal laws is out of the question.

Identity theft, criminal prosecutions, outstanding debt and bankruptcies are all examples of information that can be acquired through a personal background check. As an employer, it is your responsibility to only gather what information you need; information gathered should be directly related to the safety and quality of the company and more specifically, the job performed. For example, if a company needs to hire a receptionist, it might not be necessary to know whether or not he or she has filed bankruptcy recently. Other than using that as a tool to judge character, some information gathered through personal background checks may not be relevant to the position.

If an employer should require a more extensive background check, things such as who someone has dated, use of alcohol or drugs or personal lifestyle can also be obtained. Usually when a firm investigates a person’s background, they may interview neighbors, friends, associated, former co-workers and others to gain a picture of the person as a whole. Some of the information may be of interest to the employer and some may be irrelevant. It is important when hiring an investigator, to let them know specific information you are looking for.

When investigating a prospective employee’s background, it is vitally important to be honest about your intentions. Federal law requires employers to provide separate consent forms for each type of investigation to be conducted; it is also good business practice to be forthcoming about these matters. Background checks on employee’s can save companies money by avoiding potential lawsuits, theft, and costly employee retention. It is usually best to outsource the work to a private firm, if the information is very detailed. For some employers, searching at the local or state level is much more cost-effective and may produce the results they need without outsourcing.

About the author:
Background Checks Info provides detailed information about criminal, employment, online, executive, and personal background checks. Background Checks Info is affiliated with Original Content Web.

The Ins and Outs of Credit Card Debt Settlement

2007-05-28T16:33:00.001+07:00

The Ins and Outs of Credit Card Debt Settlement
by: Kevin Erickson
Are you a self-confessed shopaholic who buys anything and everything that you get your shopping addicted hands on? Such thoughtless and impulsive buying will most likely result in the accumulation of a bunch of junk that will simply collect dust. Can you even remember that silk scarf you just had to have and since it was a virtual steal at 50% off you just had to buy it? Where is it now and how many times have you actually worn it? Is it still fashionable?

If you're like most people, chances are you'll have to rummage through bins and bins of collected shopping "litter" which you've accumulated through the years, just to be able to see that once precious scarf. You may still be in a state of denial by saying "Fashion goes round and round and that scarf will have its shining moment once again."

Unfortunately, many people fall into this mode of impulsive buying that they really can't afford and before they realize it they become saddled with debt. If you fall into this category, you'll soon need to learn a thing or two about debt settlement which can assist you in extracting yourself out of that self-imposed state of financial trauma and begin to start rebuilding your life bit by bit. And the time to start is now! Of course, you have to be honest with yourself, admit that you've got a serious debt problem and then humble yourself enough to seek the help you need to pull yourself out of this devastating ordeal.

First things first, a lot of people may actually think that they only have a few choices when it comes to solving their debt problems. The two most common options for those who are burdened with enormous amounts of debt are either to consider declaring bankruptcy or debt consolidation. Unfortunately, if you take the easy way out by declaring bankruptcy, it will leave an embarrassing and indelible mark on your credit report for up to 7 years, which will result in higher interest rates, less credit and if you try do qualify for a mortgage (some lenders do give loans immediately after bankruptcy) you will most likely not be able to get a loan to cover 100% of the financing you need. Normally, an 80% first mortgage and if you can get a second mortgage, it will be at much higher interest rate and probably only 10% of the loan value for a total of 90% of the loan to value and you'll have to come up with 10% down.

Clearly, everything will come with a higher price for a period of time but you'll have to weigh that with a straight debt consolidation solution in which you pay off your debt. However, in many cases you can negotiate with the collection agency and it's realistic to get 25% - 50% of the debt forgiven, if you can show that you'll continue to make monthly payments until the remainder is paid off.

Many of the debt settlement / debt consolidation companies were actually established by the credit card companies themselves. Why, you ask... because it only makes sense for the credit card companies to help you pay off your debt because they can either forgive some of the debt or reduce the interest rates, lower the monthly minimum payment requirements or some combination and get paid a portion of the money owed or receive nothing if you declare bankruptcy. What would you do if you were in their shoes? The answer is obvious. This is why a lot of people who have been saddled with debt are now being offered debt settlement. Of course, not all debt consolidation service companies are owned by credit card companies but many are.

Some groups offer debt settlement programs through arbitration. The "selling point" when it comes to these kinds of solutions is that debt settlement will actually help end your debt problems, without having to go through declaring bankruptcy, without having to pay overcharged debt consolidation program fees as well as helping you avoid getting caught in the debt consolidation trap that a lot of people have fallen victim to.

In many cases, what the organizations do that offer debt settlement services is negotiate your debt down with the collection agencies that have been given your case. I would encourage you to contact a number of companies to ensure you feel comfortable and that you are working with a quality company that doesn't over-charge you for their services.

On the other hand,if you would really like to save money, which only makes sense since you are already heavily in debt... then negotiate with the collection agency yourself. It's not difficult, rather than getting upset when you get called night after night simply tell the collection agency rep that you would like to pay off your debt but you can only do it if you can get it reduced and then ask them that you would like to get the debt you owe reduced by 50% - 60%, even 75% and ask them to see what they can do. Ask for a lot up front because as in any negotiation there's always a give and take. Believe me, they will go to work for you and your offer will be seriously considered because they only get paid when they collect and it's better to get their percentage on a smaller amount than "diddly squat" on the full amount.

Of course, you'll have to decide what route you want to take... bankruptcy versus debt settlement but shop around and realize that you do have options. The internet is full of companies offering their bankruptcy or debt settlement services, but be careful and don't let them push you around and never work with anyone you don't feel 100 percent comfortable with.

About the author:
Kevin Erickson is a contributing writer to the following websites: http://www.aneyeondebt.com/and http://www.debtmergeresources.com/.This article may be reproduced only in its entirety.

What to Consider when Filing for Personal Bankruptcy

2007-05-28T16:32:00.003+07:00

What to Consider when Filing for Personal Bankruptcy
by: Roy Barker
President Bush in April signed into law The Bankruptcy Abuse and Consumer Protection Act. This bill promises many changes to law, and will make it more difficult for the average person in financial trouble to have debts removed with bankruptcy. Recent social and economic changes indicate that those considering a bankruptcy should do so now, as the queue is getting longer.

It will be now be harder to file under Chapter 7 of the code, which allows the courts to wave consumer debt and give the debtor a new start. Filings posted will be tested and those who have a decent income it seems will have to file under a more strenuous Chapter 13, which demands repayment by installments and the assistance of a lawyer. Now looming, bankruptcy filings are not only higher than they were previously, but are also higher than expected. Acros the country, filings are substantially higher than last year, and some bankruptcy practitioners say that their business has increased dramatically.

To make it more confusing is another law, that requires credit card companies to establish a payment schedule that permits consumers to repay debts in amended installments. Since early year, most credit card providers have doubled their minimum payments. An average person with say $12,000 in credit card debt, will have approximate monthly payment increases from between $150 to $450, an increase most people can ill afford.

This increase in bankruptcy filings has overwhelmed bankruptcy lawyers, who face a burden of being liable for false information filed by clients once the new law takes effect. Certainly an unwelcome change. This additional liability, together with the additional tasks, has prompted many lawyers to raise fees subsstantally over the same time as last year.

What does this mean for bad debt? From here on, bankruptcy filings will be more confusing, complicated and costly. The system is already overloaded with bankruptcy cases. If you suspect you're in the bankruptcy category, you should move on it now. Waiting even another day could be too late.

About the author:
A contribution from Roy Barker owner and publisher of www.bankruptcy-aid.coma resource for attorneys and anyone seeking information.

What You Don't Want to Know About Bad Meetings

2007-05-28T16:32:00.001+07:00

What You Don't Want to Know About Bad Meetings
by: Steve Kaye
Bad meetings are a cultural malady that senior executives pass on to new employees.

Long pointless meetings are useful in that they keep incompetent people from interfering with those who are working.

An employee who needs permission to buy a box of paperclips can spend tens of thousands of dollars worth of employee time on bad meetings.

Many people attempt to save time by Not planning. This false short cut guarantees that everyone will spend more time later.

Unstructured spontaneity leads to serendipity, which (in business) leads to bankruptcy.

Meetings are a magnetic opiate that keep people from the tasks they were hired to perform.

The main activity in many meetings consists of simple chit chat. If it's an important meeting, then this becomes sincere chit chat.

A meeting without an agenda is like a journey without a map.

A teleconference without an agenda is like a journey without a map, in the dark.

Most meetings are social street lamps attracting the unproductive moths in an organization.

People fail to prepare an agenda for two reasons. They think they’re saving time and they don’t know what to put in it.

Expecting a meeting to produce results without an agenda is like expecting the Easter bunny to leave eggs on your doorstep.

Bad meetings waste a fortune. My surveys show that companies waste almost 20% of their payroll on bad meetings.
About the author:

IAF Certified Professional Facilitator and author Steve Kaye works with leaders who want to hold effective meeting. His innovative workshops have informed and inspired people nationwide. His facilitation produces results that people will support. Call 714-528-1300 or visit his web site for over 100 pages of valuable ideas. Sign up for his free newsletter at http://www.stevekaye.com

10 Ways To Bring More Balance To Your Life

2007-05-28T10:31:00.000+07:00

10 Ways To Bring More Balance To Your Life
by: Michelle L. Casto

The World Health Organization has called stress a modern day epidemic affecting every person of every culture, educational status, and financial level across the world. Too much stress is the reason we end up sick and burned out. We know there must be something more than the hustle and bustle of modern-day life and yet forget to take the time to find our unique sense of balance.

Gandhi once said, “There is more to life than increasing its speed.” This is even more true in the modern world. It is essential then that you discover what will bring you a harmonious and balanced lifestyle. There are many ways to bring more balance to your life. Here are 10 ways I have found that work, which should get you thinking of even more uniquely suited to you.

1. Have Faith in a Higher Power

Voltaire once said, “Faith consists in believing when it is beyond the power of reason to believe.” Having faith in a higher power helps you face even the darkest hours. Faith gives you peace of mind and an open heart. It lights the dark tunnel and allows you to walk forward courageously.

Action Step: Choose a favorite inspirational quote about faith and put it in your wallet.

2. Assess Your Life

Human beings are similar to a computer: we both operate on programming. What we put in, we get back. And if we put in or take on too much, we get overloaded, and then burn out. Assessing where you are now will help you to know what to do, where to go, and what to leave behind.

Action Step: List all the stressful events that have happened to you in the last year.

3. Live By Your Values

Choose to make life choices that stem from your core values---those things that feed your soul. Values are intrinsic beliefs and feelings that develop from our experiences, backgrounds, and culture. You will be pleasantly surprised to find that when your orient your life around your values that life is much more to your liking.

Action Step: Identify and define your top 5 values.

4. Develop Boundaries

Boundaries are physical, emotional, and spiritual barriers that keep us safe, protected and nurtured. Having healthy boundaries empowers us to say no when appropriate and attract what we want into our life and keep out “garbage.” Boundaries show others that you love, care, and value yourself.

Action Step: Set a clear boundary with someone close to you this week.

5. Change Your Self-Talk

Balanced living requires balanced thinking. When negative thoughts come up, shut them out and focus on the positive. Your personal operating software is often running off of outdated and old tapes. Consciously create a new tape and upload it to your brain!

Action Step: Choose an affirmation that you love and say it out loud ten times every day.

6. Take Control

You are in control of your own life. Nobody makes you stay in bad situations. If you are in a job you despise, an unhealthy relationship, do not wait until you get fired or dumped. Choose to change. Recognize the cause of your discontent and take action.

Action Step: Make a change for the better starting now.

7. Clean up and Clear Out

Your physical surroundings have a major impact on your sense of balance. So if you live and work in chaos and clutter, you will feel off center. Cleaning up and clearing out your personal (mind-set and relationships) and environmental (home, office, car) spaces brings instant rejuvenation.

Action Step: Tackle a drawer, closet, or garage by the end of the week.

8. Eliminate Tolerations

If you are like most, you are tolerating way too much. A toleration is anything that is stressing you, for example: things that are undone, incomplete projects, and toxic people, places, or situations. Eliminating tolerations is a great way to unleash stored energy and power.

Action Step: Eliminate 3 tolerations from your life today.

9. Practice Wellness

Wellness means having a holistic program (mind, body, and spirit). Take care of your body by eating healthy, getting regular exercise and enjoying rest. Nurture your heart and mind with good friends, fun adventures, and learning new things. Refresh your spirit by reading inspirational books, attending church, spending time in nature, etc.

Action Step: Do 3 extra things to take care of yourself this week.

10. Simplify Your Life

The key to live more simply is to downsize and release unnecessary things from your life. Simple living is about living deliberately. You choose your existence rather than sailing through life. It is about finding your unique balance. Simplicity asks: Is it right for me? How do I want to live my life?

Action Step: Write your philosophy of an ideal life, incorporating elements you most cherish.

There are many ways to bring balance to your life. It starts with making smart decisions and becoming more aware of what makes you happy. Stress is not going away anytime soon, so you may as well start today by creating a program to manage it. Discover what works best for you and commit to doing it on a daily basis. You will quickly learn that balance is not just a nice idea, but an actual reality!

About The Author
Michelle L. Casto, M.Ed., is a Whole Life Coach, Speaker, and Author of the Get Smart! LearningBook Series, which includes books and workbooks on romantic relationships, career development, life purpose/life strategy, and stress management. Her coaching practice is Brightlight Coaching. She empowers people to live with passion, purpose, & possibility and inspires people to freely shine their brightlight to the world. To learn more or to subscribe to the Get Smart! Live Smart newsletter, Visit virtually: http://www.getsmartseries.com or http://www.brightlightcoach.com. coach@getsmartseries.com.

12 Steps To Turbo-charge Your Visualisation

2007-05-28T10:27:00.000+07:00

12 Steps To Turbo-charge Your Visualisation
by: Colin Joss

1. Every night, half an hour before retiring, go to your room, where you can be entirely alone and as remote as possible from noise and distraction.

2. Seat yourself in a wide and comfortable chair, or, better still, lie down on your back at full length. See that your clothing is loosened, so that you will suffer no distressing annoyance on this account. Compose yourself as if for sleep, assuming a position of restfulness, abandon and utter relaxation. Close your eyes, letting the lids rest lightly on your cheeks.

3. Shut your mind resolutely against every form of bodily sensation. Forget for the time that you are encumbered with a body.

4. Bar out of your consciousness every memory, every thought of the past.

5. Build a mental picture of the thing you want to have, to do or to be - the one thing that you immediately desire first and most of all. By this we mean nothing indefinite. We do not refer to ultimate aims that can come only as the result of long periods of effort. We mean something specific, something that can be yours tomorrow, something that in itself constitutes the next step in your chosen career.

6. See yourself finding the ways and means of realizing your desire, overcoming obstacles one after another, all the obstacles that can possibly arise. See yourself called upon to display, and displaying, alertness, promptness, courage, confidence, resourcefulness, patience, push, enterprise, expert knowledge, insight, shrewdness, tact, self-control, decision. See yourself face to face with the situation that confronts you in real life and manifesting the qualities and doing the things necessary to your purpose. Put yourself body and soul into this picture. Multiply details. Rivet your mind upon it.

7. Advance step by step, logically, wisely, consistently, to the climax of the drama. See yourself winning out. See yourself solving the problem, getting the thing you want, acting the part you desire to play. Detach your spirit from the flesh of this world and incorporate it in the mental image of yourself. Live the victory mentally until a sense of its reality permeates your soul.

8. Make your dream picture as delightful as possible. Dwell upon it with joyful satisfaction. Warm your heart with a feeling of thankfulness that that which you have so long desired is really yours. This feeling of gratitude, this emotional element, will bring forth associations that will give life to the picture and will animate your faith. Keep yourself tight shut in this dream world for at least fifteen minutes.

9. Arise and make your preparations for the night. Then upon retiring once more close your eyes and let your mind dwell upon your vision for five or ten minutes or until you fall asleep. Let it be the last thing in your thoughts as you become unconscious.

10. Every time you are awake during the night call the mental picture before you and keep it in consciousness as long as you remain awake.

11. In the morning, immediately upon awaking, repeat the procedure set out in the third, fourth and fifth instructions.

12. The more of your spare time you spend in this way, the more promptly will you actualize your ideals. By repeated concentration, every detail of the image of your desire will be so deeply engraved upon your mind as to exert an influence throughout the day. It will inhibit wasteful emotions and impulses. It will give you poise and self-possession. It will so inspire you with its promise as to awaken an energizing response in the profoundest depths of your subconsciousness.

By Colin Joss © 2006

About The Author
Colin Joss is the founder of Back Roads Marketing and publishes a free 'On the Back Roads' newsletter at http://www.colinjoss.com.

How to Motivated other people

2007-05-28T10:25:00.001+07:00

The difference between a motivated employee and an unmotivated one can result in the improvement of a task at hand hundred times or better! So theoretically, a highly motivated employee can out produce or help lead an unmotivated employee one hundred or more times also.

This answers the question why some companies perform much better than similar companies with the exact same resources.

Since the earliest times, leaders have recognized the power of motivation. Motivation can dramatically increase production in factories and the workplace in general. Motivation can win wars, being a contributing factor that leads to lopsided victories on the battlefields.

Motivation can make dull, lackluster students into topnotch class performers. Large companies are constantly looking for ways to motivate their employees. That's why great deals of money are spent and invested by businesses, seeking out ways to challenge and motivate their workforce.

People who possess the gift of motivating other people are a rare breed. People who possess the power to motivate tend to be highly-motivated individuals themselves. But fortunately for all, deep within, the average person has the ability to motivate other people and help them perform miracles.

There is no magic formula for motivating other people. Motivating an individual is very simple. The mere act of praising an employee or subordinate for his little achievement will definitely make him feel better about himself. This results in the increase of an individuals output and productivity.

Praise him more and expect him to improve by leaps and bounds. Of course you can employ this motivation technique to others beside employees or subordinates. You can create this motivational atmosphere for your kids (to make them perform better in school or make them behave better), for your business partner, for your affiliates, or for your sales associates (to help them generate more sales).

One of the peculiarities of the human character is its extreme vulnerability to outside forces. The average person feels good about himself when he is appreciated, admired or praised.

Ones personal sense of well being is dictated by the balance of the positive and negative forces. The greater the positive forces over the negative forces, the better a sense of well-being exists for an individual and the feeling he has of himself.

You can start changing people's lives starting today. Congratulate your subordinate for a work well done. Commend your wife for the delicious cake that she has baked. Praise your kid for the sketch that he has just scrawled. Congratulations for reading this article to its conclusion - you have just completed the first step in laerning how to motivate other people! Don't you feel better already!!

By Raul R. Bancod & John Urman
The authors of this article are the owners of Niche Marketing Ideas. Find out more self-improvement ebooks at Nichemarketingideas.Com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Raul_Bancod

Law attraction

2007-05-28T10:23:00.001+07:00

Law of attraction...again !

I hear and I read a lot about the law of attraction lately. The recent book The secret by Rhonda Byrne has generated a lot of interest for millions. But then, as it so happens every time a breakthrough occurs, everybody seems to be willing to add his or her two bit. Am I any different ?

YES !

I just wanted to mention that this is nothing new. Mind you, the book is great. Even the format and the look of it is awesome. But I was recently sent an ebook written in 1910 and it was basically the inspiration behind the more recent aforementioned literary success. So again, this is not new.

And everybody knows this !

Everybody knows that by thinking negative things you seem to attract negative consequences. Well the opposite is true too ! We have all undergone phases in our lives that seems to be a never ending circle of bad or good occurrences. Coincidences ? Nah ! Your brain does not believe in coincidences. In fact , your brain does it.

Your brain has a tremendous capacity for concentration, for single-mindedness. Ever noticed that whenever you decide to buy a new car, a new dress, a new...something, that you start thinking about it ? And when the purchase is completed, you feel smug about it, thinking how smart and satisfied you are and how unique you must look...that is until you get out of the car dealer yard and notice that the whole world has suddenly purchased the same car...not only that, but the same car of the same color !

Your brain does it !

By focusing on a single thing , your brain will gather all the information relevant to this single, focused thought/concept. You therefore perceive the reality through a cerebral distortion. It works when you purchase a car, a dress or a new CD. It works when you are in a paranoiac binge at work, when you feel spied upon by your boss, when you are in a competition with a colleague or when you have this distinct impression that the whole world has leagued against your new business project. You focus on this single concept/idea and your brain makes sure that all the information related to IT gets to you, filtering out the rest, that is LIFE !

Because LIFE goes on, with or without you. Your brain is just a tool for YOU to use. YOU have to train that great machine to work for you. You can meditate, exercise, work your heart out but in the end YOU have to take control of that brain of yours. This conscious mental work-out is important, essential to your success in life. Choose your method but choose, do not let your brain lead your where a stray thought would go. TAKE CONTROL !

Oh...by the way... writing works too ! I did just this , just now !

Earl said it : you become what you think about !

So beware : you might change !

The conclusions :

1- Your brain is IT : cerebral distortion of reality.

2- Control your brain.

3- Control your thoughts

Master in Molecular Biology 1989. Pharmaceuticals since 1994. Training since 1996. Professional speaker since 2005.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=François_Lavallée

Dumb Idea

2007-05-28T10:19:00.000+07:00

In 1988 I had the idea of setting up a Personal Training centre in Melbourne. There were no commercial PT facilities in this country at the time. It would be Australia's first appointment-only gym. I was young, had no business experience, no tertiary qualification and not much money.

Clearly, a perfect plan.

On top of all that... the majority of (allegedly) well-intending, much-wiser-than-me 'advisers' suggested that there was no market for this type of business concept in Australia. It wouldn't work, I would lose my money and if anything, PT would be a short-lived fitness industry fad.

Thank goodness they were all around to 'help' me.

Fortunately for me, I found a way. Despite my numerous short-comings, challenges and 'helpers'.

The idea became a reality and the 'business concept that wasn't commercially viable' now completes around 80,000 appointments (training sessions) per year and provides careers for over fifty people in my Brighton centre alone.

Pretty good result for a dumb idea.

Now before you get the wrong idea... no, this is not a story about how clever I am (trust me, I do many dumb things), it's more a lesson in what might happen when we take our thinking cap off and put our doing sneakers on. Sometimes we think too much. For way too long.

At some stage every success... was simply an idea.
An idea that was possibly had by many... and acted upon by one.

A thought, a concept, a theory, a vague notion, a possibility floating around in someone's head.
A possibility that became a reality.

At some stage somebody stopped talking, theorising, planning, waiting and took a chance. They dealt with their fear, their insecurities, their lack of ... whatever... and got off their butt.

They found a way.

While others with the same idea did nothing, they did something.

People who walk the talk (as opposed to the multitudes who talk only)... invariably find a way.

While the superstars with the great ideas live in a constant state of analysis paralysis, rationalising and justifying why "now is not the right time", people with less talent, more courage and more drive are turning dreams into realities.

Every successful organisation, business, program, product, endeavour was, at some stage, a theoretical concept which had life breathed into it by someone who had the vision, the attitude and the drive to make something from nothing.

Nine months ago I was a writer, business man, educator and professional speaker who had no idea what a blog site was. I met the bald man (Johnnie) and he ran an idea, a concept by me.

And while I'm still (happily) an internet rookie, I'm also a blogger with an international audience, a web-site which is growing and gaining momentum by the day, I'm helping a few people, doing some good, having a ball and learning new things daily. An idea... became a reality. Thanks Baldy.

BUT... (there's always a but) success doesn't always come easily and it hasn't fallen on our heads from a great height. We (Johnnie and I) work our (respective) asses off to make this blogging thing work. My goal (by the way) is not to make money from the site (no requests for donations.. ever) but to simply create an amazing personal development resource for people all over the world (I hope you're getting something out of your visits).

We're definitely not there yet, we make mistakes daily... but we're having a big crack at it and we won't die wondering. Between us, we invest about sixty hours per week into the site to ensure the look, the function and the content of the site is where and what we want it to be to achieve our desired outcomes... a lot of hours when you consider we both have real careers outside of our work on the site.

I know I won't die with my best ideas left in me.

I'm gonna milk every ounce of my potential and ability... and have some fun doing it.

Waddabout you?

Craig Harper (B.Ex.Sci.) is an Australian motivational speaker, qualified exercise scientist, author, columnist, radio presenter, and owner of one of the largest personal training centres in the world.

He can be heard weekly on Australian Radio SEN 1116 and GOLD FM and appears on Australian television on Network Ten's 9AM.

Motivational Speaker - Craig Harper

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Craig_Harper

Why Is A Work At Home Business Now Easy?

2007-05-26T10:29:00.000+07:00

Why Is A Work At Home Business Now Easy?
by: Dean Shainin
Copyright 2005 Dean Shainin

Why not work at home and make money online using today’s internet technology?

With a home business using proven internet marketing techniques and opportunities it’s easy. Really!

Now, more than ever, we are seeing a revolution of people starting a work at home internet business.

If you’ve ever dreamed of having a home business, you owe it to yourself to check it out. All you have to do is follow easy steps to start growing your income.

It all has to do with marketing and creating residual income.You make money using a home business opportunity and use internet marketing tools to promote it.

Now we have email, autoresponders, search engines, marketing websites, affiliate programs, marketing experts, all of which are now very low cost and instantly available.

Think about this for a moment. A few years ago, starting a work at home business would cost at least a few thousand dollars. Now you can get started for under one hundred dollars.

A traditional business can cost thousands per month for rent, employees, insurance and inventory.

If you’re a stay at home mom, retiree, currently unemployed, or just looking to make money online, this may be the answer for you. With thousands of internet marketing home businesses out there, why not become one of them.

Others are taking advantage of the many resources, tools, and proven techniques. Be a work at home mom, a work at home dad, or just someone who is not satisfied with their job. You can start today. The possibilities are endless!

Thousands everyday log onto the internet for their fist time.

Internet marketing and having a home business is a great opportunity that is simply too good to pass up, because it’s so easy to get started. You don’t have to take my word for it, check out some work at home business websites and see for yourself.

With a home business you are in charge. You make the hours, take the orders and collect the income! Sound easy? Well, it is.

As I mentioned, the marketing tools you need to make money online are now all provided. Now, not tomorrow, or the next day. Many have seen their home business income grow, all the while working from the comfort of their own home.

Do you have children? Wouldn’t you rather be with them as much as possible, while still making money working from home?

Would you like to have your own hours? Are you tired of a long commute? How does your boss treat you?

These are some of the questions you may want to ask yourself.

Granted, a home business opportunity isn’t for everyone. You do have to put some time and energy into making it work, it really depends on you! But if you are serious about building a home business, then you really should look into how to start one.

As a member of the Better Internet Bureau, (certified quality site) and a Member of i Cop, (protecting the consumer) we are committed to upholding the highest business and ethical standards possible. It’s important for you to feel comfortable using a marketing service to get you set up and started in the right direction.

It’s never too late to start taking advantage of a work at home opportunity. Turn many hours of research with proven methods into your own home business and make money online.

There are many internet marketing services, affiliate programs and web masters, that can help you get started today. Many others, like yourself, are making money online with their own work at home business. You owe it to yourself to look into ideas on how to get started today!

About the author:
Dean Shainin is a work at home internet marketing trainer at: http://www.EndlessIncomeForLife.comWe can build you a profitable home business working part-time from home. Training, support, Websites, and products are all provided. *COMPLETE* Money Making Site Setup F-R-E-E! For details visit this site now: http://www.EndlessIncomeForLife.com/pips

Working From Home – The Online Business Reality

2007-05-26T10:21:00.000+07:00

Working From Home – The Online Business Reality
by: Lynn VanDyke
According to a recent Harris poll, 72% of American households are thinking about starting a home based business. This is quite frankly a staggering statistic. Almost three quarters of Americans are unsatisfied with their current employment situation for one reason or another. Many of these unsatisfied workers are turning to the Internet to fuel their work from home dream jobs.

Quitting the never ending rat race is a personal decision that many work from home entrepreneurs face. Their reasons for wanting to work from home vary. Some people find that they simply have no other choice but to work out of their home office. Perhaps they have to take care of their elderly parents or their children, or they themselves are house-bound. Some people are retired and find that finally having an opportunity to spend time in their own home is a huge comfort and joy. Even college kids, stay at home spouses, and those recently downsized are finding that the Internet is simply the best option for starting and running a profitable home based business.

Working from home is a serious commitment that all entrepreneurs should consider. However, they must be aware of the negatives and risks of the Internet. The Internet is fraught with get rich quick schemes. It is also overflowing with misleading business building hype and flat out work from home lies. Any program or opportunity that promises big bucks with little work is a fraud. Proper research and common sense should eliminate many frauds and scams. Developing a solid Internet business requires partnerships with strong and professional companies.

Building a real business, no matter what kind of business, requires hard work. That's the bad news. The good news is there has never been a better time to start a business from home because the Internet makes it a low-cost and low-risk venture. Building an online business or work from home business does not require massive amounts of start up capital. With that said, it is possible to over spend on your business simply by neglecting the research.

Learning about web hosting companies and traffic building strategies in the beginning of your work from home business plan is a tremendous positive step. There are many web hosting companies that offer cheap domains and seemingly endless features. The problem many web entrepreneurs face is they invest in the wrong web hosting company at the start up phase of their business. They soon discover that they have not built an online business. They have simply built an online brochure that sits unvisited by the millions of web surfers. Now they must invest more and more money into building a bigger and better site, or paying a firm to optimize their web pages, or paying a search engine to display their ads.

A web business that sits unvisited is not a business at all. Online entrepreneurs know they need an income to be successful. They also realize that building an online business is a series of steps. They must rank well in the search engines by providing excellent content filled web pages. In return for ranking so well, the search engines send droves of targeted customers to the online business. Now that the online business has customers, it can begin to develop a relationship with them. It warms the customer by creating a welcoming and personal feel. All of the great information and the atmosphere of the website will build a trust between the business and its customer. It is this relationship of that leads to profitability.

Forget the long string of classic work at home dead-end jobs like envelope-stuffing and telemarketing. Use the Web to build something terrific that excites you, a business to be proud of, that you own, and that earns you substantial income. Working from home rewards entrepreneurs in so many ways. If you are interested in an online business or a work at home business, you must be smart enough to do the research. You may receive a free step-by-step guide to building your online and work at home business by visiting the author’s website.

About the author:
Lynn VanDyke’s website now ranks in the top 1% of all sites in the world. Her Alexa ranking is 115,146 of over 56 million websites. For your free step-by-step guide to starting your own online business or work from home business visit:
http://strength-training-woman.com/sone.html

A Recipe for Rye Bread

2007-05-26T07:50:00.001+07:00

A Recipe for Rye Bread
by: Kit Heathcock
The more I make bread, the more I am convinced of the importance of the kitchen being in the best position in the house. When we designed and built our house, I was determined that the kitchen should have a view and be on the front of the house. Now that it’s six-fifteen of a summer morning and I’m up early, kneading bread, because we’ve run out again, I’m especially happy to be looking out over a sun-soaked landscape to the distant mountains. Every time you make bread you’re guaranteed a good ten minutes of contemplation as you knead it, the mechanical rhythmic activity frees the mind to wander or switch off…very therapeutic. Having a view thrown in as well is just an added bonus.

I haven’t always made bread. It is a comparatively recent development. Making jam was the first breakthrough into self-sufficiency, then came the day when our local supplier of rye bread, who made a loaf that (miracle of miracles), all the children would eat, decided to switch recipes and use caraway in it…instant rejection by the whole family.

We’d stopped the wheat bread to try and help my son’s allergies and found it helped most of us, so apart from the occasional indulgence of fluffy white bread, I wanted to stay off it. There was no alternative; I would have to take the leap into bread making. The main reason that I’d resisted was that it seemed to take so long. First the mixing and kneading, then the rising, then knocking down and forming loaves, a second rising and finally the baking. Who could keep track of all that in the chaotic life of a three-child family?

So eventually I take the plunge, turn to my friend Nigel (Slater, not namedropping but he and Nigella (Lawson) are ever-present in my kitchen, in book format of course) and find a foolproof recipe for a white loaf, simpler to start off with white I think. Well the first try produced a reasonable, if huge, loaf, though my son still remembers that it was a bit doughy in the middle. Second try, I got two pretty perfect loaves and I was on a roll.

Now to find a recipe for rye bread. It seems that 100% rye is usually made by the sour dough method and I couldn’t see my family going for that, so settle for a half and half rye/whole-wheat recipe… triumph. Ok, my son the food connoisseur complained it was a bit too sweet, so next time round I reduced the amount of honey, but this recipe has been our staple diet ever since, and I am now truly ensconced in my kitchen, looking at the view, every other day, while I endeavour to keep the supply level with the ever increasing demand.

Any way, finally to the recipe:

500g rye flour
450g whole-wheat flour plus more for kneading
50g plain flour
1 tablespoon salt
1 10g sachet of instant yeast
1 tablespoon honey
3 tablespoons oil
670 ml milk
125 ml water

Warm the milk to lukewarm. Mix the flours and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the middle and put in the yeast, then honey, then oil, pour on the warmed milk and water and mix. When it gets doughy turn out on to a well floured surface (it will be extremely sticky) and knead for 10 minutes. You will need to keep adding flour as you knead. It is better for it to be too sticky than too dry – you can always add more flour, but too dry will make a dry, hard loaf. After 10 minutes, put it back into the bowl with a plastic bag over it and leave in a warmish place for two hours or so. Then knock down, firmly pressing out the air, but not over kneading, then form into two or three loaves on a baking sheet, cover again and leave to rise for another hour. Then bake for 30 minutes at 190C until they sound hollow when you tap on the bottom of the loaf. Cool on a wire rack

So how do I keep track of the bread making, in between school runs, mealtimes and the rest? Well I don’t always. There are times when I optimistically start the bread off, leave it to rise and four hours later remember about it, knock it down, forget to switch on the oven so it has had an extra day or so in rising time by the time it gets cooked. It does seem to be very forgiving though – whatever you do to it, you do generally get bread out at the end, it may not always be the perfect loaf, but then variety is the spice of life after all. There was one time it hadn’t quite finished cooking by the time I had to do the school run, so I asked my husband to take it out in ten minutes….. By the time I got back we had a very useful weapon against intruders. We didn’t eat that one…I think it was ryvita for lunch…!

Good luck with yours.

Copyright 2005 Kit Heathcock

About the author:
Sometime flower photographer, keen observer of the resonances of life and fulltime mother. Born in the UK but now living on a farm in the southern hemisphere. Contributor to the creation and maintenance of http://www.aflowergallery.comone of the homes of chakra flower art.

Original Ways To Make Money With No Money-a Short Education

2007-05-26T07:49:00.001+07:00

Original Ways To Make Money With No Money-a Short Education
by: Jack Reynolds
An opportunity should never be bought into. By definition, an opportunity is something that people will never sell you. From franchises to swamp land in Florida, to patents and inventions, it makes no difference. Theres nothing wrong with any of the things mentioned, however if somebody is trying to sell you these things, then they are not opportunities by definition.

An opportunity is an advantage that you can see that others cannot. I dont care about the dictionary definition, this is the real world definition. Opportunities are free. They dont cost money to observe. Of course I dont mean they wont cost you money, you may need some money to act on it. But if you are paying money so somebody can sell it to you (a sales commission) You should run for the hills.

So, getting back to my definition of an opportunity.

"Its an advantage that you can see that others cannot"

So what that means is that you have vision while others do not. We are awash with money around us. Money or "value" is everywhere. As "Hayden Muller" says, "it permeates our lives like oxygen" The difficulty is not finding opportunity. It is literally everywhere all the time. We are suffering from snow blindness if we still work for a living when such abundance is around us in our every day lives.

The difficulty is not money either. Having access to a few hundred dollars is all you need to take advantage of a million daily opportunities that present themselves in our daily lives. Anyone with some determination can find that much.

No, the real difficulty is knowledge, or education. Its what seperates action from indifference. The question becomes, "so what?" "so what if I took this opportunity and made a few dollars, what next?" You see, without education, opportunities are meaningless. They lead now-where because we lack vision. Don't worry, I lacked plenty of vision myself.

Today you could drop me out of the sky into any free city on the Planet with nothing but the shirt on my back and I would be living well within 3 months and be financially secure within 2-4 years. I know I can do that because my vision tells me I easily could.

Put me in the middle of New York, I would immediately find markets to deal in. Even before I found a place to sleep, I would begin learning about what free markets are available and what they most want and need. I would quickly establish contacts with suppliers and retailers to become the "middle man" my favourite place to be.

Within a week, I would have a few hundred dollars saved. I would use those funds and pyramid my purchases for faster and faster turn over until I had enough to buy small assets that are in high demand. Cars, boats, anything that was being sold that I could find really cheaply. My charm and good looks would make sure I got the best deals and sold them for the highest price (winks)

Charm and good looks aside, the one thing you need is a clarion plan. A master plan that gets you from A to B

Making money with no money is easy and rudimentry. Its the opportunities you spot that makes the real difference. But really its the propensity to take action that delivers the results. Before you can take that action, you need to know where you are going.

Your situation is alot better then the scenario I presented above. You live in a place where you know. You have intimate knowledge of the markets available already present. You have skills and have contacts already that can be of use.

Get a quick short education and go to it. Your first million is not as difficult as you may imagine.

May success find you fast and knowledge find you sooner.

About the author:
Jack Reynolds is Operations manager for http://www.opportunity-investor.comJack is a professional investor who trades in real estate, Art, Precious Stones and Sea going Vessels. He has followed Martin Thomas his mentor and CEO of the company for over 5 years and has managed to accumulate a large fortune during this time.

More than Just Money: Barter

2007-05-26T07:47:00.002+07:00

More than Just Money: Barter
by: Donald Lee
By definition, barter is the when parties swap services or resources. But in business terms, it’s an exchange that ends usually with everyone a winner. All parties involved in bartering hold onto their cold hard cash and don’t lose a cent. There’s no worries about getting ripped off as a buyer or seller, so it’s an exchange that’s high on trust, low on tension. And finally, the government doesn’t get its hands on any of the proceeds. Bartering is such a great system, it’s no wonder it’s been around nearly forever.

Historians and archeologists reckon that bartering is a human business practice for the ages. It goes back as far as written history, and perhaps even further into mankind’s (and womankind’s) history of business practices.

Between humans, the actual business practice of money came long before money was invented. In written history, as far back as 9,000 BC, shepherds used cattle as a means of exchange—from sheep to cows, camels to goats. Then when farmers came along during the course of the next couple thousands of years, grains and plants became the hot commodity in the world of bartering.

Bartering may have dissipated over the years, but it by no means went away. That’s the amazing thing about bartering. It still is, to this day, the ideal method of business exchange for some business folk, including companies with millions in assets. But it’s especially helpful for small businesses looking to get a leg up on their competition.

Listen to people talking in today’s business world, and you’ll hear stories such as the programmer who helped to code an interactive Web page for a startup graphic-design company, in exchange for a logo design for his own startup surf-board design shop. Then there’s the story of the new Internet advertising firm rolling out an ad campaign for a restaurant. Later that year, the restaurant hosted a “free” party and dinner for that ad firm’s clients.

Examples in today’s business world abound for bartering. The reason is that bartering still has many advantages to it in this modern business world.

For instance, for companies that are just starting to build up their assets, bartering is an opportunity to save their hard-earned cash. Even established companies love the chance to keep their money in the bank. With bartering, a company can get what it needs, while providing a service that the other company needs.

And because there is no money passed between pockets, the taxman does not even need to know about it. That saves you, and your accountant, the trouble of figuring out one more piece of business income or expense.

Lastly, deals involving money may whip up the old Scrooge mentality—a combination of greed and mistrust. With money deals, you may always be left wondering if you got the short end of the stick. Not so with bartering. With bartering, you get exactly what you need. And in return, you give a fair share of goods or services.

There’s no need to be a Scrooge here. Instead, the whole transaction is one of trust and understanding. Generally speaking, bartering for goods and services feels more worthwhile than paying money, whether you’re bartering for a dinner party for your clients, Internet advertising space, or whatever it is that you and your bartering partner agree to. Perhaps it’s because you can actually feel the value of your own goods and services. Or it may be just because you don’t have to open your wallet.

About the author:
Donald Lee is the public relations manager for Buysellcommunity.com Buysellcommunity provides free classified listing services. Buy, Sell, and trade (barter): auto, computers, household items, real estate, pets and much more. For localized classifieds, please visit

http://www.buysellcommunity.com
Free Buy & Sell Classifieds

Make Money With No Investment -Starting From Scratch

2007-05-26T07:47:00.001+07:00

Make Money With No Investment -Starting From Scratch
by: Jack Reynolds
In the begining it's a tentative situation. Your first few deals are small potatoes. To make money with no investment is not entirley accurate. Everyone has access to something. Some small amount that will be allocated for wealth building. I think back to when I was starting from scratch and at the time my cynical attitude made it painful, but looking back I remember the experience fondly.

It's challenging to make money with no investment capital but when you are starting from scratch you have nothing to lose. With your back to the wall, you can go forward confidently in the knowledge that you literally have little to lose.

Curiously, all great wealth once began from scratch. To make money with no investment capital is exactly the situation you need to be in if you want to succeed and get that first million under your belt.

You see, it's not how much you started with that counts. It's not how much you have made that counts. What matters is the system. HOW you do it. If that is based on sound principles then you will never fear poverty again.

I could make money with no investment capital if you dropped me in any free City on the planet. I guarantee you within a few months I'd be living well (providing I spoke the language).

Starting from scratch, the first thing I would do is find a market. No money, but I have my self. I can offer a service. As soon as I make a few hundred dollars saved, I would begin applying the principles of opportunity investment. I would trade up and up until I had borrowing capacity.

I would use the leverage that borrowing allows me to manufacture obscene compounding returns in real estate and large ticket items like used trucks and yachts. I would work until I was comfortable, then start spending on myself.

You are in a better situation than my scenario. You have friends, contacts, and knowledge of your town. You have experiences and intimate perceptions of the existing markets in your home town. All you need is the knowledge to make it happen.

To make money from scratch with no investment capital is easy. Don't be fooled into thinking your situation is hopeless. You need knowledge, tools, and skills. It's time you took a real shot at your first million, believe me the second and third will be easy.

"The pain of discipline is less then the pain of regret" -- Martin Thomas

Copyright2005 Opportunity Investor.com

About the author:
Jack Reynolds enjoys offering valuable insights about wealth creation. If you want to discover how to build your own money machine and you dont have much money to start with then follow this link http://www.opportunity-investor.com

Make Money Fast With No Investment-how Andrew Made $100,000 In 6 Months

2007-05-26T07:45:00.000+07:00

Make Money Fast With No Investment-how Andrew Made $100,000 In 6 Months
by: Martin Thomas
Andrew Newberry is a distant family friend that knew about my business acumen. He knew how I had been in his position only 24 months previously and had heard about the new life I was leading with the wealth I had generated. I could hear the earnest desperation in his voice, when he asked me "how'd you do it Jack"? His question was open and sincere. In my eye's he was at a point where there was only one direction for his life to go...up.

Andrew needed to make money fast. His family were in danger of losing the roof over their heads and although Andrew worked a fulltime job, there were difficulties that created this current crisis.

He couldn't understand how I had done so much considering my humble beginings, while he had worked at his current job for over 10 years and was saddled with the difficulties he was currently experiencing. He told me he had no money to invest or anything like that, but could I advise him on what if anything was possible.

This was my response to him.

You see, what he was asking me specifically was, "how do I make money with little or no investment" My mind ignored his emotional pain and focused on the reality. That is the reality of what he needed answering.

Talking about Real Estate investment or anything that needed a capital injection was futile for Andrew, he needed to hear something different. This is what I told him to do, step by step. I told him that if he followed these two steps, he would have $100,000 within 12 months. He did it in 6!

Step one, get a little money. Not much needed, a few hundred dollars would do, but he has to find something as a seed capital account. I gave him the URL of a broker that does paid surveys online. These brokers represent companies that pay ordinary people for their opinions. They typically pay between $50-$300 per hour. He got his wife busy doing these through the day and evenings, they had $1000 within 2 weeks.

Step two, Go Shopping I explained to Andrew the mechanism behind my success. Compounding, intrinsic value, leverage, rapid capital gains, pyramiding profits. I then asked him to compound that thousand dollars by 30% 19 times. In other words, I told him to find 19 investment-objects that were for sale that he could buy, that had at least 30% or more spare intrinsic value.

Intrinsic value is everywhere. Whether you are buying New York sky scrapers of marble pool tables or Bertram boats, every market has a percentage of sellers offering their goods at well below market value.

Andrew started with old cars because he was a mechanic and now he had a game plan he was going to compound his money with his existing skill set. He traded up and up until he had $12,000 in six weeks.

Get your calculator out and see how he did it, how he evolved his money without a hitch. Start with 1000 then multiply by "1.3" which is the same as 30% Don't press equals, just hit "1.3" and multiply symbol again. Do that 19 times.

When Andrew sold his last auto deal, he was ready to get involved in Real Estate. With $12,000 it wasn't much but it was enough to start applying the same principles with Real Estate. This is where his compounding really escalated.

It escalated, because now he was using leverage....borrowed money. He called me on the day he was ready to start compounding with Real Estate with another problem. As I advised him "get into Real Estate Andrew as quickly as you can, around the $10,000 mark its time to get into that game"

He had a problem. The houses in his area were dear, he couldnt see how having $12,000 was enough to get involved.

I advised him that he should forget about houses until he had at least $40,000 He should focus on raw land. Raw blocks are cheap, and easily re-zoned into a higher purpose. With just a small investment at the local town planning department he could re-zone a residential into a commercial or the other way around where appropriate. Its called a "soft" or "paper" rennovation. No painting, no work, just a few simple forms and a fee to pay.

Creating a new use is just one way to add value to raw land, there are many others. Andrew researched and discovered them all. He stuck with land after all was said and done. He discovered buying a large block and subdividing it was very profitable. The second deal he did, he bought a block of over an acre, surrounded by established homes for $300,000 (with a bank loan) It was a corner block and he split it into three handsome sized blocks, tailored to the upper market. The first two blocks paid out his loan and put profits in his pocket, the last block he used as collateral for another bank loan where he built his own beautiful mansion on.

He sold it for a final profit of $354,000

That was about 8 months after our little chat on that cold evening.

To your health and rapid success.

About the author:
Jack Reynolds enjoys offering valuable insights about wealth creation. If you want to discover how to build your own money machine and you dont have much money to start with then follow this link http://www.opportunity-investor.com

How Your Intuition Can Make You As Rich As Conrad Hilton

2007-05-26T07:43:00.001+07:00

How Your Intuition Can Make You As Rich As Conrad Hilton
by: Saleem Rana
Conrad Hilton relied on his hunches to make his fortune. His intuition was so finely-honed that it was uncanny. Although he denied any psychic talent, he was often baffled by the accuracy of his intuitions.

“Most of the time I can reconstruct the circumstances of these hunches,” he confessed, “and I can figure out in a general way where it came from. I mean I can explain it—not completely but enough to make it less strange. There have been times, though, when I couldn’t come up with a good explanation.”

Once his remarkable intuition helped him buy a prestigious old hotel in Chicago. The sale was based on sealed bids. All the bids were to be opened on a select day and the hotel would go to the highest bidder.

Some days prior to the deadline, Hilton offered a bid of $165,000, but that night he went to bed feeling restless and did not sleep well. The next morning he changed his mind. “It just didn’t feel right,” he said afterward. He increased his bid to $180,000. This was just right—he outbid his close rival by a mere $200.

The Success Principle

Conrad Hilton had a strong desire to win the bid. Although he made a calculated guess at what to bid, it did not feel right and he tossed and turned all night long. In the morning, he upped his bid. His new figure was arbitrary, but it was perfect.

His hunch arose from the wealth of knowledge stored in his subconscious. He had been in the hotel business ever since his purchase of a hotel in Texas as a young man. He had spent many years learning about the field and must have gathered a staggering number of facts.

In bidding for the Chicago hotel, he was consciously aware of the value of the real estate, the owner’s estimate of its value, and his competitor’s ideas about how much to stake. Based on this understanding, he placed his first bid. However, while he slept, his brain probably ruminated over numerous subtle pieces of information—perhaps the personalities of the owner and the other bidders, perhaps a remark heard, perhaps the memory of a offer on another similar property, and so on. This nonspecific and unconscious information forced him to raise his bid by an additional $15,000 when he woke up the next day.

Thus while he made a rational decision based on his conscious knowledge, his subconscious went through its own files during the night, and, upon awakening, prompted him to increase his offer.

About the author:
Saleem Rana got his masters in psychotherapy from California Lutheran University. His articles on the internet have inspired over ten thousand people from around the world. Discover how to create a remarkable life. Free information.
http://theempoweredsoul.com/enter.html

Copyright 2005 Saleem Rana. Please feel free to pass this
article on to your friends, or use it in your ezine or
newsletter. It's a shareware article.

How Millionaires Get to Be Millionaires

2007-05-26T07:42:00.001+07:00

How Millionaires Get to Be Millionaires
by: Daegan Smith
Money is not just a necessity nowadays; it has become a supplement for sustaining wealth and luxury. Anybody of practical reason who’s being asked will have to say that riches should provide for the next generations. Having this thought in mind, everyone are craving for millions even teenagers earn and work out to look forward the future having a house with a large open space, elegant façade and wheels in the garage. Yet there are only few steps, hints of answers revealed by these millionaires global wide.

Before you can manage a large amount of money learn to handle the coins in your hand. Lisa Van Duesen, a Vietnamese now a mini mogul at US was once sunk in debt and penniless. She sold her house and mortgages an amount of $ 200,000, paid her debt and move to settle in the green pasture of US. They sacrifice from eating lavish foods and satiated in rice and soy sauce as their everyday meal. She worked hard as a real estate broker after college and invested her money to real estate properties that soon earned her 40% equity. Learning fro her work, she buys and sells using the bank's money wisely placing them according to her needs. She purchase whatever that has value and can be sold with interest and plan it financially. She recovered from having sky-high debts to rising assets using only what she has into a profitable cause.

Follow your parent’s advice, earn a degree.

Education is a key factor in understanding how money talks and that are by having one potential, being knowledgeable. Invest in your mind. Acquiring a degree is gearing yourself with skill that can be used and valuable in the market. Arturo Gonzalez, son of the Mexican railroad worker dreamt of making it on top. He has promised himself of two possibilities in his life, Harvard or Bust. Later on he was accepted and pulled himself with ambition to Harvard Law School. He then land a job in San Francisco based law firm and has an income about $ 740,000 in 2003, according to the American Lawyer Magazine. This undeniable manifest how education could earn you a living.

Positive attitude towards life spiced with perseverance.

Behavior towards work and the optimism that boost up your moral after you tried hart. Starting a small business is already hard enough, to most of people especially when the resources is scarce and debts is high, study shows 20% are struggling small enterprise, according to SBA ( Small Business Administration office of Advocacy).

Rossie Herman, 42 and a resident of Tomball, Texas had experience a lot of struggle just to get her she is now. She took all the risk even placing her in $ 75,000 debt going form one credit card to another which normally happens to about 46% of small business as of 1998, SBA says. She is a manicurist who has two daughters to raise and convicted herself to get out from debt. Often people slam their door in her face during her marketing strategy of house to house delivery." It was frustrating and tough", she admitted. Yet willingness to succeed paid off. The key there is not by quitting but pursuing.

Invest and Save.

The problem of the most entrepreneurs are recognizing only on what goes in the pocket but not knowing what goes out. Spend only what is not more than your budget and compromise from it. Save, save and play out to invest it when the economy is not shaky. One of Oprah’s best advices during her talk show is that a good financial planner must always sign their own checks. This is to monitor what is left and what needs to be saved or else you’ll end up bankrupt without even knowing it.

Time is always essential.

Multi tasking is the best way of achieving your goals in a short time, this means use your potential in dividing the task to others while focusing on what needs to be done. Most of us try to do a lot of things in a short amount of time and end up finishing nothing at all. Always get your priorities straight and focused baring in mind that investing on it will profit you in the end.

About the author:
Daegan Smith is the leader of the fastest growing team of successful home business enterpernuers on the net. Find out how we're creating financial freedom all across the globe and how to get in on the action FREE =>http://www.comlev.com Team Blog: http://www.turnkeyinternetbusiness.blogspot.com

Canada Plays China Card

2007-05-26T07:41:00.000+07:00

Canada Plays China Card
by: Carl Delfeld
Trade friction and energy leverage has led to an unprecedented Canadian policy of “speak loudly and carry a big piece of lumber” policy towards the United States.

The long running dispute over American tariffs on Canadian lumber escalated to the point last week that Canadian Prime Minister Paul Martin indirectly linked settlement with continued U.S. access to Canadian energy supplies. Meanwhile, Canadian Natural Resources Minister John McCallum was off to China to meet with Chinese oil, mining and forestry officials.

This is serious business. Part of the 1994 NAFTA Free Trade Agreement guaranteed that Canada would remain the favored supplier to the U.S. It might surprise you to learn that Canada supplies 17% of U.S. oil imports, 16% of our natural gas and nearly all of our hydroelectric power. The Canadian government owns the vast majority of the country’s energy resources and Canada exports more than 1.5 million barrels a day to America representing 8% of U.S. consumption.

China’s Lengthening Reach

Meanwhile, China’s aggressive moves in Canada’s energy sector are raising eyebrows in Washington. Chinese government has earmarked $100 billion for overseas acquisitions of oil and gas. The Chinese are going on a buying spree investing in Canadian energy companies and recently plunked down $2 billion to build a thousand mile pipeline from Alberta tar sands to port on the west coast and onward to Beijing and Shanghai. While the oil reserve numbers for Saudi Arabia are under scrutiny, Canada has recoverable reserves of roughly 175 million barrels. Much of it is in oil sand that is processed profitably at oil prices of $20 or higher and T. Boone Pickens thinks that Canada’s oil sand production could reach 6 million barrels a day

There are now about 1 million ethnic Chinese residing in Canada and China is now Canada’s second largest trading partner. Last month, Chinese President Hu Jintao visited Canada and declared that the two countries had upgraded their relations to a “strategic partnership”.

The US’s Waning Grasp

This Chinese-Canadian power play puts America in real jam. You could write a book about the long simmering lumber dispute but a Nafta panel recently ordered the U.S. to return $5 billion of collected tariffs to Canadian lumber companies. Relations with Canada were also weakened earlier this year when Canada announced that it would not contribute to the American-led missile defense program even though 90% of Canadian citizens live within 100 mile of the border between the two countries and Americans purchase 85% of total Canadian exports.

What’s going on? Part of the answer is that the vast majority of Canadians oppose the policies of the Bush Administration. The issue is sensitive in many areas across Canada that are highly dependent on the lumber industry and Mr. Martin and his party are preparing for national elections expected early next year. It is always a vote getter to poke a stick in the eye of the elephant to the south.

How to Play

While Canadian-American relations have seen better days, the energy boom has certainly been beneficial to investors in Canadian markets. The Canada iShare (EWC) tracks the MSCI Canada Index that has 40% exposure to Canada’s energy and materials sector. While the S&P index is up only 3%, the Canada iShare is up 16.6% year to date and 28.8% over the past twelve months.

Speaking of timber, it is smart to have some timber exposure in your portfolio and I have had timber REIT Plum Creek Timber (PCL) in our core portfolio for over two years. Here is why I like it. First, timber is a great inflation hedge and over the past 100 years has risen 3% above the average annual inflation rate. Secondly, timber is not correlated to stocks or bonds and thus is a great “shock absorber” to cushion your portfolio when shares are declining. During the 1970s bear market, timber rose in value while stocks went down. Thirdly, from 1973-2000 timber yielded an average annual return of 15%. Last but not least, timber valuations are attractive after some declines during 2000-2002 especially relative to real estate prices. During 2004 Plum Creek was up 23% and this year it has traded between $34 and $39 finishing last week just over $35 with an attractive dividend yield of 4.3%.

It behooves the U.S. to negotiate a settlement to the lumber dispute as soon as possible and lock up Canadian energy sources before the Chinese get the jump on us. Investors can’t do much about improving Canadian-American relations but they can improve their portfolios by adding exposure to timber as well as to Canada as both an energy and China play.

About the author:
Chartwell Partners publishes the investment newsletter "Asia-Pacific Growth." http://www.chartwellasia.com719-264-1503

Why Write an eBook?

2007-05-26T07:40:00.001+07:00

Why Write an eBook?
by: Karen Martin

It's not true that everything that has been said has already been written. Since that unfortunate axiom came into use, the whole universe has changed. Technology has changed, ideas have changed, and the mindsets of entire nations have changed.

The fact is that this is the perfect time to write an ebook. What the publishing industry needs are people who can tap into the world as it is today - innovative thinkers who can make the leap into the new millennium and figure out how to solve old problems in a new way. Ebooks are a new and powerful tool for original thinkers with fresh ideas to disseminate information to the millions of people who are struggling to figure out how to do a plethora of different things.

Let's say you already have a brilliant idea, and the knowledge to back it up that will enable you to write an exceptional ebook. You may be sitting at your computer staring at a blank screen wondering, "Why? Why should I go through all the trouble of writing my ebook when it's so impossible to get anything published these days?

Well, let me assure you that publishing an ebook is entirely different than publishing a book in print. Let's look at the specifics of how the print and cyber publishing industry differ, and the many reasons why you should take the plunge and get your fingers tapping across those keyboards!

Submitting a print book to conventional publishing houses or to agents is similar to wearing a hair shirt 24/7. No matter how good your book actually is, or how many critique services and mentor writers have told you that "you've got what it takes," your submitted manuscript keeps coming back to you as if it is a boomerang instead of a valuable mine of information.

Perhaps, in desperation, you've checked out self-publishing and found out just how expensive a venture it can be. Most "vanity presses" require minimal print runs of at least 500 copies, and even that amount will cost you thousands of dollars. Some presses' minimal run starts at 1,000 to 2,000 copies. And that's just for the printing and binding. Add in distribution, shipping, and promotional costs and - well, you do the math. Even if you wanted to go this route, you may not have that kind of money to risk.

Let's say you already have an Internet business with a quality website and a quality product. An ebook is one of the most powerful ways to promote your business while educating people with the knowledge you already possess as a business owner of a specific product or service.

For example, let's say that you've spent the last twenty-five years growing and training bonsai trees, and now you're ready to share your knowledge and experience. An ebook is the perfect way to reach the largest audience of bonsai enthusiasts.

Ebooks will not only promote your business - they will help you make a name for yourself and your company, and establish you as an expert in your field. You may even find that you have enough to say to warrant a series of ebooks. Specific businesses are complicated and often require the different aspects to be divided in order for the reader to get the full story.

Perhaps your goals are more finely tuned in terms of the ebook scene. You may want to build a whole business around writing and publishing ebooks. Essentially, you want to start an e-business. You are thinking of setting up a website to promote and market your ebooks. Maybe you're even thinking of producing an ezine.

One of the most prevalent reasons people read ebooks is to find information about how to turn their Internet businesses into a profit-making machine. And these people are looking to the writers of ebooks to provide them with new ideas and strategies because writers of ebooks are usually people who understand the new cyberspace world we now live in. Ebook writers are experts in Internet marketing campaigns and the strategies of promoting and distributing ebooks. The cyberspace community needs its ebooks to be successful so that more and more ebooks will be written.

You may want to create affiliate programs that will also market your ebook. Affiliates can be people or businesses worldwide that will all be working to sell your ebooks. Think about this? Do you see a formula for success here?

Figure out what your subject matter is, and then narrow it down. Your goal is to aim for specificity. Research what's out there already, and try to find a void that your ebook might fill.

What about an ebook about a wedding cake business? Or an ebook about caring for elderly pets? How about the fine points of collecting ancient pottery?

You don't have to have three masters degrees to write about your subject. People need advice that is easy to read and easily understood. Parents need advice for dealing with their teenagers. College students need to learn good study skills - quickly. The possibilities are endless.

After you've writtten your ebook

Getting your ebook out is going to be your focus once you've finished writing it, just as it is with print books. People will hesitate to buy any book from an author they've never heard of. Wouldn't you?

The answer is simple: give it away! You will see profits in the form of promoting your own business and getting your name out. You will find affiliates who will ask you to place their links within your ebook, and these affiliates will in turn go out and make your name known. Almost every single famous ebook author has started out this way.

Another powerful tool to attract people to your ebook is to make it interactive. Invent something for them to do within the book rather than just producing pages that contain static text. Let your readers fill out questionnaires, forms, even crossword puzzles geared to testing their knowledge on a particular subject. Have your readers hit a link that will allow them to recommend your book to their friends and associates. Or include an actual order form so at the end of their reading journey, they can eagerly buy your product.

When people interact with books, they become a part of the world of that book. The fact is just as true for books in print as it is for ebooks.

That's why ebooks are so essential. Not only do they provide a forum for people to learn and make sense of their own thoughts, but they can also serve to promote your business at the same time.

P.S.

If you've enjoyed this article, please be sure to forward it to a friend.

About The Author

Karen Martin is the Sub-Editor of 'The Internet Affiliates Resources Directory' where subscribers have the opportunity to have their Affiliate programs promoted absolutely free and on a permanent basis. To get the details & Free sample subscription send a Blank email to: bizzyman@auto-responder.co.uk. Unsubscribe with one click. You have my full permission to 'Steal' the above article which may be freely distributed in your E-zine, on your web site or in your e-book provided this entire resource box is kept intact. If featured a sample copy of your E-Zine would be appreciated. Thank you.

Why You Need a Newsletter

2007-05-26T07:39:00.001+07:00

Why You Need a Newsletter
by: Stephen Earley Jordan, II

If you’re a small business owner you definitely need promotion. And, if you’re a freelancer—you ARE the product—so you’ll ultimately need self-promotion. Newsletters can not only inform your customers of future events, discounts, and services, but can serve as a helpful source of information for you to analyze the growth and success of your business.

Newsletters can be published and distributed according to individual business needs (weekly, bimonthly, quarterly, and annually, etc.). Printing costs can be kept to a minimum with black & white printing; or if your budget is a bit more expendable, capture your reader’s attention with a vibrant-colored logo, text and graphics. Whether you use b&w or color printing, adding a newsletter into your budget keeps and attracts new clients! Let’s see the different types of newsletters and discover which best suits your needs. Newsletters can range from In the Office (ITO) Newsletters to Out of the Office (OOTO) Newsletters. More importantly, each one serves its own separate purpose.

Inter-Office (ITO) Newsletters. ITO Newsletters may be somewhat casual generated simply for the purpose of notifying those with whom you work. Educate employees by placing this type of newsletter in their office mailbox or on their desk.

* New Procedures, Policies and Guidelines. Rules and regulations change within a company without a moment’s notice. Give employees no excuse for claiming the e-mail was never received regarding the new methods in which the office may be run. Eliminate constant runs to Human Resources.

* Promotions, Employment Announcements. Assist employees in celebrating their joy by introducing the new employees, the latest promotions, the latest job openings and even the continued growth of the company.

* Miscellaneous (Birth Announcements, Retirement Parties, etc.). Allow your employees to be a part of the family and feel at-home while in the office by listing personal, yet instructive, data regarding their lives. Better still, inform the employees of the holiday parties.

Out of the Office (OOTO) Newsletters. OOTO Newsletters are a bit more formal. Here’s your chance to win, gain and retain customers. Think of this as a promotional tool sent out via postal mail or distributed face-to-face.

* Press Releases. Here, you can inform people of your new (or already established) business and why your services are so innovative.

* Latest Discounts. Often businesses will offer discounts or coupons to be redeemed during the holiday season or perhaps you want to offer a referral discount to those who recommend your services. If this is the case, a newsletter is the place to inform the customers of the price cut.

* Latest Services. During the past few months you’ve built-up your business to the point where you’re comfortable adding new services. Here’s the chance to explain how these services can best assist their needs, and how this addition is merely a fulfillment of the customers’ requests.

* Ingenious tips. Why else should people use your services? Well, because you’re always filled with wonderful tips regarding your products and services. Share some of your wonderful ideas with customers to allow them to feel even more confident in your services. Keep them coming by offering an insider’s tip in each issue.

Keep the number of pages to a minimum. After all, this is a newsletter, not a magazine or newspaper. Newsletters are best if designed to be read in one sitting.

About The Author

Stephen Jordan has five years experience within the educational publishing industry. Stephen was a freelance editor with such educational foundations as Princeton Review, The College Board, New York University, and Columbia University. Away from the office, Stephen promotes his creative writing with his home-freelance business OutStretch Publications and his artwork. Stephen holds two Bachelor of Arts degrees in writing and literature from Alderson-Broaddus College of Philippi, West Virginia
Editor@OutStretch.net

Ten Tips Articles

2007-05-26T07:33:00.000+07:00

Ten Tips Articles
by: Tom Antion

“Ten Tips” articles are the easiest piece to write because they are made up of only an introductory paragraph, your Ten Tips, and a conclusion. Print editors love these because they can easily be shortened if there is a lack of available space.

Your articles can be used in book chapters, on websites, in E-zines and anywhere else you would like to put them. If you publish an article in a magazine, that publication now holds some or all of the rights to your work. Compiling many articles into one book works well, but what happens if other people own the copyrights? Read on.

First off, there are many rights involved with publishing your work. I only give up all rights if it is a big magazine, and in all other cases, I give up what I absolutely must in order to still get published. If you have an opportunity to be published in Newsweek or some other large publication, that is a far bigger deal than having to rewrite a portion of your book. So don’t give up all of your rights unless you absolutely have to. Especially be sure never to give electronic rights to a print publication unless you receive some money for it.

For other information on publication rights check out these sites:

http://www.authorsguild.org Do a search on this site for the keyword “rights”

http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/dec97/cew3.htm A Novice Writer’s Guide to Rights

About The Author

Tom Antion is a veteran of the public speaking circuit. He has been paid for more than 2,500 entertaining presentations. Tom has helped thousands of people to become highly effective communicators, through professional 1-on-1 and group sessions. For more information about how Tom can help your public speaking skills, visit his website: http://www.antion.com. Tom is also a success story in Internet marketing and he can show you how he makes hundreds of thousands of dollars promoting his products and services online. For more information, go to: http://www.greatinternetmarketingtraining.com. To reach Tom directly, you can e-mail him at orders@antion.com.

Freelance Writing on the Internet

2007-05-26T07:30:00.000+07:00

Freelance Writing on the Internet
by: Mridu Khullar

So, you’ve decided to take up a career in freelance writing. You’ve hooked up the computer, installed the printer, and learnt the nitty-gritty of your word processor. You’ve maybe even been published a couple of times. You’re all set to conquer the world of publishing. But wait. Do you know all the options available to you?

We’ve compiled a list of all the jobs a freelance writer can find on the Internet to keep the cash inflow steady:

Magazines

Most of the freelance writing industry focuses on magazines, so let’s start there. You’ll find magazines on every topic imaginable. From teen issues to running, you’ll find at least one magazine to fit your interests. But while magazine publishing is huge and widespread, don’t try to get published everywhere at once. Find a few niche topics and start your way up from there. As your expertise and interests grow, branch out to other magazines as well. Topics most writers start out with include health and nutrition, computers, parenting, teens, relationships, disability, travel, etc.

Fillers in Magazines and Newspapers

Not all writers make it to the cover pages of magazines. At least not at first. In the beginning, you might just have to make do with fillers. And they pay as much as they’re fun to do. Jokes, opinion pieces, short lists, news items and other short pieces are termed fillers. Editors are always on the lookout for good fillers, so you stand a good chance of breaking through.

Greeting Cards

With e-cards, paper greeting cards seem to have taken a backseat. Nevertheless, the sale of paper cards is still ongoing and they are still preferred when it comes to special occasions. Despite popular myths, greeting card markets are not as easy to break into as they seem, can take a long time to respond and an even longer time to get your card into print. The upside is that greeting card markets pay extremely well for short writing. What’s more, though limited, opportunities exist for e-card writers too. So when you need to take a break from the regular work, dip your fingers into the greeting card pool

Doormats, Magnets, Bumper Stickers, T-shirts, etc

If you’ve wondered how those words made it to t-shirts, stickers, doormats and magnets, think no more. Freelance writers are often required to write the slogans for such material and are paid quite well for it. If you have the ability to coin a catchy or humorous one-liner, this could be your shot to riches. You won’t get a byline, and certainly no fame, but you could be earning as much as $50 per word!

Posters

They’re up in your room, you’ve seen them in your friend’s office, and you often find a funny one at the fast-food place down the street. Someone must have written them. Why not you? A lot of companies sell posters and generate handsome sales from them. In fact, writers of posters are usually paid in royalties, that is, a percentage of each poster sold. So, instead of being paid one-time, you’ll be paid over and over again for something you wrote years ago.

Resumes

Practically every one needs a resume (yes, even us freelance writers). Some people write them up themselves, some prefer to take the help of professionals. Write up a resume for a friend or two at work (even if she doesn’t need one!) as samples and respond to advertisements and calls for resume writers. Keep in mind though that resume writing isn’t your regular every day writing. You’re not supposed to decorate the page with flowery prose or funny anecdotes. You need to be professional, crisp and attention-grabbing. Practice with a few fake ones, and you’ll soon be on your way.

Advertising

Advertisers need writers, commonly known as copywriters. They’re the flesh and blood of the campaign. Getting into advertising can be a tricky business, but with a few credentials and a polished resume, you’ll have no trouble at all showcasing your talent to the world. If you are indeed good at what you do, advertisers will line up to get you to work for them. If you prefer not to work for someone, you could set up your own copywriting business and promote it to get clients.

Website Copy

With the Internet revolution finally having realized in its full form, small and big companies alike are looking for writers to write content for their websites. Not only do these companies pay well, but they also give the writer a much-desired break. If you’ve written website copy, you’ll have no trouble finding more assignments of the same kind. Simply guide the prospective client to the website and he’ll know what kind of work he can expect from you. Aim for start-up companies at first. They’ll usually hand over the whole work to you and you can make a great portfolio.

E-books

E-books are not here to replace print books. They’re here to provide an alternative resource for distribution. However, as opposed to print books, e-books are short, contain lots of web links and usually provide answers to a customer’s immediate needs. They can be downloaded off the Internet in seconds, and you can profit from a single e-book long after you’ve written it. Don’t get fooled though-- writing e-books takes just as much time and dedication as writing print ones. It’s only the mode of delivery that’s different.

E-zines

Online newsletters, or e-zines as they are frequently called, are becoming the rage of the publishing industry. Many of these e-zines are paying markets and run regular features and columns. Many of them have associated website,s too. While the pay in this market is less, you’ll be writing shorter articles in much less time.

Newspapers

Generally, when we think of newspapers, we think news. But newspapers hold a lot more information than that. With regular columns, reviews and updates, latest findings, and point-of-view articles, newspapers are the writer’s best bet. And if you’ve gained entry into one section of the newspaper, the other sections of writing open up to you automatically. Though slow on the income, getting published in your local daily is still a major ego-booster!

Newsletters

There are many households and small companies that publish newsletters. And all the more are springing up each day. These newsletters are a great way to break into freelancing and gather clips. Their requirements are not as tough to meet as those of magazines and most editors are quite quick in their response times. To add to that, some newsletters also pay quite well, sometimes almost as much as small magazines.

Ghostwriting

If it’s the fame you’re after, you won’t get it here. But you can earn a decent amount of money ghostwriting memoirs, books or even articles for people who don’t want to or can’t write themselves. Ghostwriters are quite in demand today with more and more people trying to preserve their family history by getting memoirs or biographies written. However, apart from the money, there’s nothing else. You don’t get the credit, the fame or sometimes, even the byline.

The prospects for writers today are immense provided you’re ready to experiment in different areas. The Internet has made it easier than ever to find writing assignments not only in your own country, but around the world. A simple e-mail is all it takes to apply for a job and send in the assignment.

It’s easy for a freelance writer to get stuck doing the same old thing over and over. It’s not only fun, but sometimes necessary to introduce a little spice into your writing routine. If you’ve been writing articles all your life, try doing some greeting card writing instead. If the money is slow, and you could really use some extra money, apply for a resume writer job. If the book manuscripts are lying unsold, try selling short stories for a change.

With a little variation now and then, you’ll not only find your income shooting up, but also your inspiration. So next time you find yourself waiting for word on that manuscript, send out a few short pieces instead. It’ll definitely be worth the effort.

About The Author

Mridu Khullar is the editor-in-chief of www.WritersCrossing.com, a free online magazine for writers. Sign up for the free weekly newsletter to get a complimentary e-book with 400+ paying markets. Also check out her e-book, "Knock Their Socks Off! A Freelance Writer's Guide to Query Letters That Sell," available at http://www.writerscrossing.com/queries.html

6 Tips For Your Writing Journey

2007-05-26T07:27:00.001+07:00

6 Tips For Your Writing Journey
by: Laura Hickey

So, you'd like to be a writer? Congrats! Writing not only is a great way to express yourself, but can provide an income. Keep in mind not all writers make a fortune, some still cant quit their day job. Below are some tips to start your writing journey.

1. Start Writing

Okay, so this tip is obvious. For some, it's a question of what to write about, for others how to write. Write how and what you want. What kind of books do you like to read? Fiction, Mystery, science fiction, how to books? How about articles, reports, maybe you're interested in journalism. Whatever the case may be, to get your creative juices flowing, start writing! Don't worry about how it sounds, grammar or other mistakes, you can go back to fix these.

2. Join online and offline groups/message boards and chats

If you already know what you want to write about, consider joining writer groups at your local library, or online groups, along with message boards and chats. It's a great way to network with other writers and published authors. It's also a good place to share your work and receive feedback. Many places online are free to join, some require a membership which usually consist of a user name, e-mail address and password for your user name. Some request more information such as a name, address and sometimes phone number.

3. The Library

You've probably heard about some books that writers refer to, this could be writer markets, e-book publishing, self publishing and generally how to improve your writing. Bu what do you do when you can't afford to buy these books from your local bookstore or online? A trip to your library is the key. Many libraries carry writer resource books, which if you have a library card, are free. If you're living out of the area, the library may require a fee for membership. The book you're looking for may not always be at your local library, however libraries borrow from other libraries in and out of state. The method of receiving outside books is called Inter-Library Loan. Later on, if you find the book to be a great resource, you may be able to purchase a used copy online.

4. Researching

The Internet is also another good resource for information. Keep in mind that not every resource you find online is going to be an honest good resource. It will take time to sort out which websites are useful. Most information is free, so you can sit back and research in the comfort of your home. If you don't have a computer with Internet access, check your local library and see if you can use one of theirs.

5. Workshops

Workshops taught by experts is a great way to learn from the professionals, but only if you can afford it! Make sure the topic of the workshop is based around your interest. For instance, if you love fiction..it wouldn't be a good idea to go to a workshop based only on non-fiction. It's a good idea to register early to ensure a spot at the event. Bring a new legal pad, plus a few writing tools to take notes.

6. Contents

After writing a while, you may want to enter contents. Some require an entry fee. I suggest staying away from the entry fee contents until you've entered some other free ones. That way you can get a feel for how contests work. Spend some time writing and re-writing your entries. If you've written your entry in 5 or so minutes, th judges will notice it immediately. You wouldn't want a reputation for sloppy work.

There you are, 6 tips to get you started on your journey to writing. Good Luck!

About The Author

Laura Hickey is the author of the children's book Mysterious Chills and Thrills- 10 short stories to tickle the imagination. It may be purchased at http://www.laurahickey.com. Access Laura's press kit...interviews, book reviews, PR's and more.

3 Low Cost Ways To Meet Agents and Editors

2007-05-26T07:21:00.000+07:00

3 Low Cost Ways To Meet Agents & Editors
by: Sophfronia Scott

These days it's common knowledge that it's hard to meet an agent or an editor through an unsolicited mailing. They are more likely to pay attention to a submission coming from someone they have met in person. To that end, writers flock to conferences so they can get some face time with real live agents and editors. And that's great. I believe writers should get out and network. But those conferences can be pricey. It's best to combine attending conferences with a few other strategies that are easier on your wallet. Here are 3 you may find useful.

1.) Attend Author Readings

Make a point of keeping track of writers who do work similar to yours. When they're in the vicinity go hear them read. Sometimes--not all the time--but sometimes the author's agent and editor will be in the audience. If they aren't, see if you can steal a few moments with the writer and ask with whom he or she works and whether they have been pleased with the experience. You can either ask for an introduction or contact the people on your own. If you're going to do the former, first develop a rapport with the writer and stay in touch. They may not feel comfortable referring you to their agent or editor right off the bat, but in time as they get to know you and your work, an introduction may be a possibility.

2.) Attend Classes Offered by Continuing Education Groups Such As The Learning Annex

Agents and editors are in the business of looking for the next hot writer and making a name for themselves in the publishing world. That's why you'll often find agents and editors teaching classes related to their work at places such as The Learning Annex, which has locations in New York City, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Minneapolis, Chicago, Atlanta and Boston (http://www.learningannex.com). Recent instructors include literary agent Katharine Sands, editor Marcela Landres (formerly of Simon & Schuster) and Vickie M. Stringer, founder and CEO of Triple Crown Publications. The courses can cost as little as $30 or $40 and last about three hours so you have some time to find out if the instructor can help you or point you in the direction of someone who can.

Remember the agent or editor probably has aspiring authors handing them manuscripts all the time, so make sure you stand out from the pack. Have a killer query letter and synopsis (if your book is a novel) or book proposal (for non-fiction works) at the ready. You'll make a great impression simply because you're not making them lug a 500-page behemoth home in their briefcase!

3.) Look for Agents and Editors Who Have Their Own Personal Websites

When you come across the name of an agent or editor who may be appropriate for you, Google them to see if they have their own websites with email addresses that may be different from their corporate mailboxes. Some are authors themselves (like literary agent Donald Maass, author of Writing the Breakout Novel) and have books of their own to promote. Email them and, again, try to develop a rapport and get a sense of what they're working on and what they're looking for. It's best to know as specifically as possible before going through the trouble of making a submission. I recently heard about a writer who submitted to an agent looking for African American authors, but in fact the agent was looking for African American authors who wrote urban romance--which was not the writer's genre at all.

One Last Note: These ideas should get you started and I hope they'll inspire you to try other creative routes. It does get easier because you will find that as you go to more events and tell more people what you're doing, the more likely you will be to find the connector that will build the path between you and your future agent or editor.

© 2005 Sophfronia Scott

About The Author

Author and Writing Coach Sophfronia Scott is "The Book Sistah" TM. Get her FREE REPORT, "The 5 Big Mistakes Most Writers Make When Trying to Get Published" and her FREE online writing and publishing tips at http://www.TheBookSistah.com The Book Sistah, 230 South Main St. Ste. 319, Newtown, CT 06470 203-426-2036, Info@TheBookSistah.com

How I Make Money In My Home Business Myspace Marketing;Vol 3

2007-05-26T07:04:00.000+07:00

Attract money is art mind games, hoping after wacth this short presentation your mind will open for building wealth, I found this videon in you tube and i like it

you can find any related topic with search this blog , have a nice day
God Bless us

Joe Vitale ,My Idol

2007-05-25T19:37:00.000+07:00

Apparently the word is out that I control the universe, or at least parts of it, and on good days.

See the entire story, which appeared on the front page of the lifestyle section of today's Austin Statesman newspaper, online at --

www.statesman.com/life/content/life/stories/other/05/24/0524coffee.html

I guess this counts as three minutes of my 15 minutes of fame.

Ao Akua

joe
www.mrfire.com

If you like the free articles on this blog, let Joe know by buying him his all-time favorite gift - an Amazon gift certificate. His email is joe@mrfire.com Click Here!

Getting Small Business Loan

2007-05-25T17:55:00.000+07:00

Getting a Small Business Loan
by: Dave Ryan
Are you in need of financial resources in order to start or even maintain your small business? Most of us are. The fist step is to take a look at the vast number of commercial loan sources that offer help in this area such as Chase, Citibank, etc. Also, with the Small Business Administration (SBA), you should be able to arrange a connection with one of these banks. This is one of many organizations that specialize in loans to small businesses.

Contrary to the belief that bankers actually look for reasons to turn down prospective clients in need of a loan, they are in the business to lend money. This means that every time a banker is sitting in front of a potential client, they are hoping to make the deal work just as much, if not more than the client wants it to work.

A bank’s primary role in the small business lending area is funding growth. An example of this would be to finance the expansion of small business with a proven track record. Most banks can offer a wide variety of loan packages designed to finance expansion of an already existing small business.

Below are a few examples bank loan packages :

1. Asset Based Financing. Asset Based Financing is a general term describing a transaction whereby a lender accepts collateral and assets of a company in exchange for a loan. Most asset based loans are collateral against other accounts receivable, inventory, or equipment. Accounts receivable is the most favored of the three because it can be converted into cash quickly. Banks will only advance funds on a percentage of receivable or inventory, typically being around 75% of the receivable and 50% inventory.

2. Line of Credit. A line of credit involves the bank’s setting aside designated funds for the business to draw against for the cash it needs. As the line of credit is used, the credit line is reduced and when payments are made the line is replenished. One major advantage of a line of credit is that no interest is accrued unless the funds are actually used.

3. Floor Planning. Floor Planning is another form of asset based lending in which the borrower’s inventory is used as collateral for the loan. Car dealerships are a prime example of a business that often uses floor planning as their primary financial tool.

About the author:
For more great business, marketing and mind power ideas to develope your business visit the Higher-Profits Blog at www.higher-profits.com

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