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November 30, 2006
Is Your Crystal Ball Showing A Roth 401(k)?
by Joshua Geary
When does it make sense to turn your company 401(k) plan into a ROTH 401(k) plan so that you could start earning tax free savings through monies invested in the 401(k)?
A ROTH 401(k) makes sense if you want to save more for retirement. Since you’ve already paid the tax ahead of time, the money you withdraw from your ROTH (401)K is all yours, tax free, when the time’s ripe for you to withdraw it.
It also makes sense if you think you’re going to be in a higher tax bracket when you retire. If taxes go up between the regular contributions you make and the time you withdraw them, you shall have paid taxes already when the rates were low, hence protecting you from taxes on the upswing.
Finally, a ROTH 401(k) makes sense if you desire a greater degree of flexibility at retirement. Since we can’t predict what taxes will be like in the years to come, we might as well have control over how much tax we want to pay each year when we start making withdrawals. Maintaining a combination of tax-deferred accounts like the usual 401(k) and traditional IRAs, tax free accounts like the ROTH 401(K) and ROTH IRA, would put us at an advantage when we start using that money for our retirement needs.
For more information on Roth options with your 401K click the link.
Posted by David at 3:59 PM | TrackBack
Fun is When You Get Paid Cash for Online Survey Taking!
Get paid cash for online survey taking and redefine what work is all about. Taking online surveys is an easy way to earn a living. It isn't easy, like not working at all, because taking surveys does take work. But taking surveys online is easy because you can do it from the privacy of your own home. You can make money while listening to your music or watching your favorite show on T.V.
Participating in a study or survey online is extremely easy. Simply find a reputable paid survey site and sign up for a free membership. Most good survey companies will offer a free membership, so be wary of any company that wants you to pay. Your survey pay day should come free of charge without you having to pay in money first.
Once you have signed up with a company, you will get emails asking you to qualify for a survey. Usually this is a three to four question survey that determines if you are the person they are looking for. Sometimes companies have a specific type of person that they want to take a survey. Don't worry if it isn't you...there will be plenty of survey offers you can choose from that will want you.
The initial questionnaire does not pay any money. Only when you get into the system and actually take the full survey will you get paid. After you complete the survey, you will become one of the companies statistics. They will use your information for a variety of purposes, but never will they use any identifying information like your name.
A cash paid survey career isn't the easiest money in the world. If you actually want to make a living from paid surveys, you will have to work extremely hard. It is not unusual for paid survey takers to spend hours in front of their computer every day. But that is usually how they make money...by spending hours and hours taking surveys.
People who spend their days at computers can often complete paid surveys while they work on other things. Stay at home parents and other people who have access to computers during the day can easily make money as a paid survey taker. But you do not have to spend hours and hours every day on the computer in order to make money doing paid surveys.
If you just want to earn a little extra cash, you can try just taking one or two surveys a day and progress slowly to taking more surveys. Usually you will find that the money is nice and taking surveys is a pretty convenient way to make some extra cash.
So the next time you see an ad for paid survey taking, look into it and see if it is for you. Survey companies are always looking for new and diverse people to take their surveys and you are always looking for new and diverse ways of making money. Try taking a paid survey!
Posted by David at 1:02 AM | TrackBack
November 29, 2006
Affiliate Marketing - Does it Really Pay?
Affiliate marketing's been a staple of the internet marketing scene for many years now. It's highly touted as a money maker for newbies and experienced marketers alike. But does it really pay to be an affiliate marketer? Let's take a look to learn more...
Basically affiliate marketing is an agreement between a web site owner and a merchant. The web site owner's actually an advertiser for the merchant or product creator. The agreement is a contract between the two parties that stipulates that the site owner can use various methods including the space on his site to promote the merchants goods. The merchant meanwhile agrees to pay a percentage of each sale generated through the affiliates personalized link.
This benefits both sides because the product creator spends nothing to advertise their goods and the affiliate pays nothing to research and develop new products.
This creates a win-win situation.
The product creator wins by saving money on advertising, which is one of the most costly aspects of doing business, by passing this cost on to affiliates. Basically it's a pay-per-performance deal because the merchant doesn't accrue any costs until the sale's made and the merchant pays the specified commission.
The affiliate marketer wins by being able to sell an already developed product, thus saving the time and money on the front end by not having to deal with R
Posted by David at 10:42 PM | TrackBack
November 28, 2006
Leveraging Your IRA to Capitalize on the Real Estate Market
by Daniel Cordoba, CEA
These days, with the lackluster performance and uncertainty of the stock market, it's no secret that many investors would prefer to have more choice, and control over, where they invest their retirement accounts. With close ties to the housing market, realtors and other industry professionals are in a prime position to capitalize on a growing trend - investing in real estate with a self-directed IRA.
Though it is not an option offered by most conventional financial planners who operate on commissions from stocks and bonds, a growing number of real estate professionals are learning that they and their clients can invest in real estate and other non-traditional assets with their IRAs. For individuals that do not have cash on hand, or who simply want to diversify their retirement portfolios, this option offers the ability to invest in real estate - historically less risky than the stock market.
Doug Cady, a realtor in the Kissimee area of Florida, used his industry knowledge and experience to purchase two properties last year with his IRA. He made minor cosmetic renovations and put them back on the market for a total profit of $110,000. As a realtor, Cady's past experience and familiarity with the local market helped him to know which properties would make the best investments for what he was trying to do.
"I looked for the cheaper houses in an area, the ones that didn't have upgrades to begin with and maybe needed some cleaning up," says Cady. "Those are the properties that don't cost that much, and by making some minor cosmetic renovations and touch-ups, like paint, you get your return back."
Cady also knew that the best deals were on houses that had been on the market for awhile. His returns on both properties totaled nearly 26% on a total investment of $429,000 in five months - money that had been sitting in mutual funds and hadn't changed much in value over the last five years, he says.
Cady says he wanted to invest in real estate because it's good money, especially for the short term, and being a realtor gives him knowledge that helps him to be in the "driver's seat" when it comes to his own retirement. "There aren't a lot of deals out there since homes are bringing top dollar, so you have to be a little creative and looking all the time. Being a realtor helps with that. I also knew that buying the houses that needed major renovations wasn't the way to go," he says.
The appreciation and cash flow that can result from purchasing investment real estate with an IRA provides industry professionals with a number of favorable tax benefits. Also, unlike with 1031 exchanges, there are no specific investment timelines or requirements to purchase "like kind" investments when buying real estate with an IRA. When the property is sold, the IRA prevents any capital gain exposure, since taxation of an IRA does not occur until distribution.
A Roth IRA provides even greater tax savings benefits, since it is tax-deferred while growing, and tax-free upon distribution (unlike with a traditional IRA, which is taxed at the time of distribution). In addition, a Roth IRA has no minimum distribution, so it is up to the investor, when (after 59½), and how much he or she takes as a distribution. The Roth IRA may also be passed on to heirs without taxation.
Realtors familiar with this self-directed IRA option can offer their knowledge as a value-add to clients and associates. Like Cady, Janice Campbell and her husband Sunny of Austin, Texas, are realtors who purchased a residential property using their IRA, renovated it and resold it for a $20,000 profit.
The Campbells say they are happy with the outcome and are always looking at different avenues for other real estate IRA investments. "When we first learned about this, no one else in our area had tried it. So when the investment opportunity came along, we decided to try it under the guidance of Asset Exchange Strategies," says Janice, who used the self-directed IRA advisor to provide advice, set up the necessary entities and handle all the paperwork. "It ended up being simpler, faster and much more convenient to us than having to get a conventional mortgage."
Now, Janice and Sunny regularly educate potential clients and prospects about using their IRAs to invest in real estate, because they see it as a win-win situation. "They can't believe how simple it is," she says. "And it's a benefit to us because it allows us to build a niche in the market. By getting investors interested in this option, we can work with them to help them find the right properties to invest in and make a commission from those sales."
Although it is an option quickly growing in popularity, investing in real estate with a Roth or other type of IRA is not something that investors - even those in the real estate industry - should undertake on their own, primarily because of the strict rules and transaction guidelines the IRS sets forth. Instead investors should enlist the help of a self-directed IRA advisor to guide them through the process. Unlike a traditional financial advisor, they will have an extensive understanding of the legal considerations involved in self-directed IRAs and a strong background to provide solid advice.
A self-directed IRA advisor should also possess the knowledge to leverage IRA LLCs, a specialized vehicle compliant with IRS regulations, offering substantial control and flexibility to the IRA holder. Kelly Troy, a real estate investment mentor found out during his investigation that the garden variety LLC operating agreement created by individuals without the expertise could actually cause your IRA to be disqualified. "Sometimes people try to do things themselves and the cost is many times more the cost of doing it right the first time." says Troy who has also helped several of his students set up IRA LLCs.
Good investment opportunities often require the ability to act quickly and write checks for IRA funds, which can be accomplished through "checkbook control" offered by the IRA LLC. In addition to giving the investor more freedom in making transactions and enabling him/her to act quickly in a competitive real estate market, the IRA LLC also helps to protect the assets and retirement account.
Rick Prekup of Horseshoe Bay, Texas, is currently in the process of putting his IRA into an IRA LLC in order to have the ability to write checks for his self-directed IRA investments. As VP of sales and business development for a company that makes printed circuit boards, Prekup does not have the time to buy houses and fix them up, but is happy to fund the process. Most recently his investments involve lending money from his IRA to rehabbers at 14% interest, which he then rolls back into the IRA after it is paid back, typically in six to seven months.
When he does come across a good investment opportunity, "The IRA LLC gives me the ability, when I find a deal, to put 20% down by writing a check from my IRA," he said.
Prekup had already bought and sold several properties over the years using traditional methods before he started investing in real estate with his IRA, but cites substantial tax benefits he receives from the latter, especially since he converted his self-directed IRA to a Roth IRA, which means the investments will be exempt from taxes on all future gains. But he agrees you must follow the rules and choose your team carefully. "I am the master of my destiny. I've always done well," he says. "But you have got to do your homework. Trust no one and follow up on everything. I looked into Asset Exchange thoroughly before I decided to go with them and made sure everything checked out."
With the many advantages that non-traditional IRA investments enable - including greater control over investment options, tax favorable income and perhaps most importantly, the potential to count on higher returns with less risk than with stocks and bonds - they can be a highly valuable vehicle for investors of all levels. Working with an advisor that can meet their needs, real estate professionals and others can put their expertise to work for them in intelligently looking to real estate as an alternative investment for retirement.
Article originally posted at:
Posted by David at 4:48 PM | TrackBack
IRAs in Foreign Real Estate Potential Hazards - Part II
Tip # 3 - Count on paying cash: The US is known for its impressive schlep of financing schemes, but in other countries, these schemes or mechanisms may not be as sophisticated. For instance, you won't have dozens of mortgage lenders begging you for your business. In countries like Mexico, Greece and Spain, Ms. Willis says that transferring of property has been historically paid out in cash.
Tip # 4 - Title check: Ensure the property is really yours. In the US, a title is as clear as day. You're the owner, no one else is. In some countries, the distinction may not be clear. For instance, Ms. Willis' article said that boundaries have changed in some continents in the last decade. It can happen that someone who is seven generations removed from the original owner could come and make a claim on your property (of course the burden of proof is on him). This phenomenon could happen in an Eastern European country as an example.
If you're beginning to get cold feet, don't. There's still a lot to be gained by investing overseas. While some may have been burned by the experience, the reason is usually because of a lack of due diligence.
Play it smart and engage the services of country experts and a battery of lawyers and accountants. There are numerous reliable organizations based in the US who know what they're doing. They make it their business to do the research and have helped thousands of clients find their niche abroad. If push comes to shove, contact the US Department of State who will no doubt have the intel on things like stability, currency fluctuations, etc.
For more information on how to purchase foreign IRA real estate visit the link...
Posted by David at 5:28 AM | TrackBack
November 27, 2006
Online shopping tips for the holiday season
The holiday shopping season is in full swing and once again this year, online retailers are expecting record sales as Americans shop on line instead as standing in line. Before you start your cyber shopping, here’s some tips for online success.
Before you click… compare. The Net is awash in comparison-shopping sites and my best advice to you is use them. Sites They make it so easy. Type in the item you’re looking for and zap… back comes a roundup from the Web on who has it and at what price.
Shopzilla is another great comparison site.
So is eBay… yes… e-Bay. The auction site has lots of online stores which, because of low overhead and no middleman markups, offer really good buy-it-now pricing.
But price isn’t everything. Look for online specials like free shipping. Thast can add up to big savings and most merchants have stocked up on the best selling ones so prices can be kept at a minimum.
If you don’t know the online site, look for buttons from the BBB or the Hacker Safe security site. Stores that show these have to be checked out for reliability,meaning you can shop in confidence.
One last tip. Shop early. If you order this week or next, delivery will be in plenty of time for Christmas. But the longer you wait the busier shipping companies will get.
And don't foget to look for opportunbities, too, like sites which help you make money on the web by setting up your own online sites and selling popular items like audiobooks or clothing or whatever interests you.
It's a wide open world wide web.
Posted by David at 9:23 PM | TrackBack
Why the Audiobook market is about to explode
There's a hot new hot online business opportunity for Internet entrepreneurs: Audiobooks.
The audiobook market is about to go through the roof.
In 2004, the off-the-shelf audiobook industry (i.e. cassettes and CDs) was $800 million strong (Source: Audio Publishers' Association). By the end of 2005, industry estimates reported that audiobooks had become a $2 billion industry. That means it grew by 150% in just 1 year!
To give you an idea of the kind of money that can be made in this industry, consider this: The leading audiobook download company, Audible.com, generated sales of $65 million in 2005 exclusively from downloadable audiobooks. But that's only the tip of the iceberg since that's only a 3.25% share of the total two billion dollar audiobook pie.
That means the rest of the market share (96.75%) is up for grabs by any number of entrepreneurs -- like you -- who want to seize the opportunity.
But sales won't stop at $2 billion dollars a year.
Here's why:
People are busier than ever -- and time has become a dwindling commodity. Therefore, people are constantly looking for ways to make the most use of their "dead time" -- such as the time they spend commuting, jogging, gardening, working out, doing chores, running errands, etc.
With the rising popularity of MP3 players such as the iPod, people have just started to discover that music is not the only thing they can listen to while going about their day.
Now, people can "listen" to books, teleseminars, lectures and podcasts while they're on-the-go -- and when they don't have time to read.
And since today's selection of downloadable audio books is not limited to just fiction and literary works, but runs the gamut from how-to manuals to business books and self-help information, today's mobile society has found out that they can download an unlimited amount of information into their brain, learn a skill, enjoy a murder mystery or an epic romance novel -- and even increase their cultural literacy instead of listening to drive-time radio.
Audio books and other spoken word recordings have become brain food for the time-strapped multi-taskers of the world!
Posted by David at 2:49 AM | TrackBack
November 26, 2006
IRAs in Foreign Real Estate- Potential Hazards
By Joshua Geary
We’re saying this tongue-in-cheek really, but you know how we’ve touted the many benefits of buying real estate overseas with your self directed IRAs and LLCs which everyone seems to be doing. Remember how 20 years ago Americans were on the prowl for some Costa Rica land they could call their own? Today, it’s going to be twice as difficult because Costa Rica real estate – or a good part of it – is already in the hands of foreign investors.
The other day we also mentioned about Donald Trump’s Ocean Tower in Panama where pre-construction values start at $200K for a condo unit in the 65- story skyscraper. If construction goes like clockwork, think how wealthy the initial buyers will be 10 years down the road.
Now, looking at the other side of the coin, it’s fine and dandy to encourage you about investing globally, but when it comes to buying property overseas, it would only be fair if we also spoke of the potential hazards. Two sides of the coin – Jack and Jill – yin and yang, remember?
Gerri Willis of CNN Money wrote an excellent article about investing in overseas real estate. She said there are 5 things to watch out for.
1. Look at the larger picture
2. Get help
3. Pay cash (if called for)
4. Check that title
5. Grease the wheels
We’ll explain the first two in this blog, and then the final three in the next blog. But you can read Ms Willis’ article here if you want to:
http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/23/real_estate/tips/willis_tips/index.htm?postversion=2006032311
Looking at the larger picture means that before you plunk down your retirement savings on a piece of property, study the country on which that piece of property stands. If Costa Rica has become too crowded, you might be attracted by Switzerland’s neutral global position but Ms. Willis said that foreign ownership in that country is restricted. Going to the far end of the globe, she says Vietnam is a great Asian country but is still in the developmental stage.
Get help. If you’re thinking of buying property in Malaysia, Ms. Willis says you’re welcome to, but when you decide to sell it, your money has to stay in a Malaysian bank account. So you’ll need some expertise in this issue.
Posted by David at 1:01 AM | TrackBack
November 23, 2006
Five ways to guarantee your business leadership success
No matter the industry, no matter whether you run your business from a corporate boardroom in a high rise or a spare bedroom at the back of your house, leadership brings lots of challenges.
We all get tired. Most leaders work longer hours than anyone else and yet have all the same family responsibilities that jam-pack our schedules. But whether a work-at-home entrepreneur or a board-of-directors hired CEO, leaders need one key trait: the ability to focus and stay on track for success. So, knowing that business success demands efficiency, remember that failure is not an option.
That said, here are five practical suggestions for business success - along with what we hope is some encouragement and inspirational wisdom - that will help you succeed.
Step #1: Pace yourself -
It's human nature to wait to the last minute. Don't. Plan your time. Understand that we all have the same 24 hours in a day. Identify your priorities, break them down into tasks and put them in your schedule. Review that schedule at the start and end of each day.
Similarly, be selective in accepting invitations to take on more work. Think carefully before saying yes. Your "down time" and sharpening-the-saw time is not a luxury. It's critically important to your physical and mental health. But some time for solitude, medication, prayer, thinking time into your schedule. Think of it as a recharging period, as critical to your energy levels as plugging your laptop into a wall is to its power supply.
Step #2: Know what your job is... and what it isn't
One job all leaders have is to be an example to the people they lead, do business with and influence. Let your lifestyle be one of integrity. Know that people are watching. We teach by more than words so look at your life carefully. If you have employees, they will model their behavior after yours.
Leaders are also to be an encourager and a guide. Don't be a stern taskmaster. Let your words build up and inspire.
You can’t fix everything. You also can’t do everything. Real leaders know how to delegate. Leaders are facilitators, teachers, mentors. If you are a one person operation, see what tasks you can outsource. See what tasks you have that take away from your most important functions. Concentrate on the most important and be ruthless in letting the trivial pull you away.
Step #3: Recognize your limitations
You will make mistakes. Understand that. Learn from them. If you have hurt others, apologize promptly and seek to make things right. Don't let mistakes bring you down. Use them to build you up. Experience is a great teacher and we learn more from failure than success. Similarly, be quick to forgive coworkers, clients or others when they make mistakes or hurt you.
Set goals. Work to learn more, gain wisdom and experience. write down those goals. Identify your weaknesses and then figure out how to turn them to strengths. Spend some time every day learning new things about your business and about leadership. Practice patience.
Step #4: Realize there is a cost
Leadership indeed does have its perks. But realize that l;eadership is work. It requires lots of time. Something will have to go. Weed out from your life the distractions and pursuits that needlessly drain your energy and steal your time like too much TV watching or Internet surfing.
Also know that whenever a person steps up to leadership, you have have a target on your back. You will be criticized, sometimes with cause, often with out. Realize it just goes with the territory. Develop a thick skin. Leaders see things others don’t. They dream dreams others don’t have. They work towards a future others can’t imagine yet.
That means that leaders can get lonely. Network with other leaders. You need to be mentored, too.
Step #5: Realize you will succeed
Leaders are confident of success. We may not see how or understand exactly how that will happen but yu need to be absolutely, 100% certain that you will succeed. .
That means that the people you lead should see that confidence in you. So should your clients and customers. So should your family. Confidence breeds success.
Go… be confident… succeed!
Posted by David at 2:36 PM | TrackBack
November 20, 2006
VoIP Takes Yet Another Pioneering Move, Albeit Small.
‘Global Crossing’s’ merger with ‘Stealth Communications’ Voice Peering Fabric (VPF) in October this year had a mixed reception. The positive side was that the VoIP business appeared to be making the right moves towards becoming more interconnected and simple. On the other hand the industry was seen to have quite a few VoIP problems to overcome before such goals could be met.
The so called ‘joining’ of these two companies actually meant both companies sought to improve the connections between VoIP providers and the VPF peering points via the various Ethernet links running over Global Crossing’s widely spread MPLS network. Joint marketing and technical collaboration is believed to smooth out the process of interconnection.
This deal is going to let VoIP providers around the world exchange traffic amongst each other more easily without the need to touch the PSTN. Money will therefore be saved, features will be possible now that were restricted to end-to-end IP connections. In its entirety this merger means the first steps are being made away from the infamous islands of VoIP into the direction of seamless service delivery that the internet and PSTN offer.
Unfortunately the deal won’t let either Global Crossing or Stealth VPF customers finish IP phone calling to each others users whilst paying nothing per-minute or long-distance charges.
The future of VoIP , as yet as dynamic as ever, looks set to try to move in the direction of VoIP providers trying to sell their services in the simpler way that the traditional phone companies did, whilst at the same time conversely being as up-to-date and technologically advanced as possible.
Posted by David at 11:08 AM | TrackBack
November 19, 2006
Online marketing poised to grwo as industry
One thing you have to say about the Internet: It's where creativity and ambition can truly turn anyone into a millionaire.
Online Internet marketers are continuing to rake in fortunes and there's always room for one more.
Could that be you?
That said, if you are considering a change in careers and looking for information on how to start an Internet business, you need to know that despite what the hyper-excited online sales pitches say, there is no get-rich-quick system.
Let me phrase that differently: If you want to make it in Internet marketing, you are going to have to work as hard or harder at it than anything you've ever done before. And you are going to have to be patient. It takes months to even start a trickle of income, a year or more before you see your efforts really start to pay off.
Here are three tips on how to start a successful Internet business:
1) Research, research, research. Learn all you can. Read all the sales pithes and look at all the tutorial videos that you will find through sites like YourInfoConnection.com and other target="_blank">Internet marketing resource sites. And read the forums, too, on those sites, where real users will give you an unvarnished dose of reality. You need a solid education on how Internet business is done, both from the technology end and the business and marketing ends.
2) Don't buy every offer that comes your way. And believe me, once your name is on the lists of those interested in Internet marketing, you'll be deluged with come-ons and touts almost daily. All are breathlessly written and filled with glorious testimonials. You'll soon see the pattern and recognize the key phrases. Most are seldom what they claim to be. Don't buy any software or any plan until you know exactly what's required of you, how many other people are using the same system and whether it fits your time and schedule.
3)Understand that this will require time. For moderate success, it's going to take two to three hours a day, five days a week, to start building traction. Besides the work of setting up sites, you will need to market them. people don't automatically flock to your site once it goes live.
Still intersted? Good! Now, knowing a little bit of what's required, you have even a better chance of success.
See you online!
Posted by David at 1:59 PM | TrackBack
November 17, 2006
iPod Video Displays are Soon to be on Airline Seats
United Airlines, among a handful of other airlines (Air France, Continental Airlines, Delta Air Lines, KLM and Emirates), are looking into the idea of ‘upgrading their entertainment systems’. iPods will soon be able to get connected to passenger seats.
Battery life as a result won’t be used up for the time spend flying, stored iPod movies being able to be viewed on much larger screens placed in the back of the seat in front of the passenger.
It remains to be seen whether this technology is going to filter down to the packed isles in economy or not. What seems certain is that those people booking into business class will gain these benefits.
The actual reasons for this move are simple. Airlines will be able to provide a cheaper form of entertainment for their passengers whilst at the same time promoting Apple’s share of the digital music player market.
What further ipod tricks will be played remains a mystery. One thing we, the consumer, can be assured is that the evolution of this product will remain constant.
Posted by David at 11:27 AM | TrackBack
November 16, 2006
Social Bookmark Away...
Social Bookmarking is a way for you to bookmark websites that you would like to visit again. There are many social bookmark sites on the web, which allow you to group and share any websites that you deem worthy.
My favorite Social bookmark site is by far Del.icio.us and here is my Social bookmark page
You have the ability to share information with others who are looking for the same type of information. The Bookmarks that you make helps everybody in the social network.
The search functionality of these social bookmarking sites also help you to find what is popular and often which sites are worthwhile - so the human element checking websites helps to ensure that the spam sites don't make it to the top. And if they do, they don't stay long.
This is especially helpful when doing research on a given topic - as it makes it much easier to find the information that you're looking for.
Social Bookmarking is also a great way to market your websites as it allows you to get links to your sites - and hopefully get some eyes going that way aswell. This works especially if you do link baiting - which is writing content that gets links and bookmarks. Always put ways on your website for ppl to bookmark your pags.
So join in the fun, and let the world know your favorite websites.
Posted by David at 10:02 AM | TrackBack
November 15, 2006
All Dressed Up with Nowhere to Go
If you have a great website, but no search engine or web presence it is like getting all dressed up on Friday night without anywhere to go.
How many people do you know that put on their best duds to prepare for a Friday night on the couch? Probably none, but website owners do it everyday when it comes to their business sites. They spend thousands – if not tens of thousands – of dollars building incredibly ornate and functional websites but they are missing one important, if not the most important element of all for their website: TRAFFIC.
If you build it they will come...
Having a nice website does not guarantee quality traffic. Driving traffic to your site takes work day in and day out. Did you see that movie with Kevin Costner "Field of Dreams"? If you did it, then I am sure you would agree that it was a great movie. One of the lines in the movie went something like this... "If you build it, they will come". Well, that may work in Hollywood, but it does not work so well online where there are over 18 billion websites (3 for every human walking the planet today and growing at an exponential rate.)
Why is traffic so important? Traffic is essentially the flow of people who are actively searching your website for either your product or service. If you are most relevant to what the client is looking for and are able match the client's needs with your product or service, then a marriage takes place and you will turn a visitor into a customer. Ka-ching!
Do you sell gadgets? Then you want everyone looking for gadgets, not widgets, to find you. Problem is, there may be thousands of other companies selling gadgets. You need to distinguish yourself on the search engine placement list. This could mean spending hours of your precious business time running reports, tweaking your ads and adding content to your website. You can use your time selling your goods while we spend our time doing all the "technical stuff" and get you higher up the search engine placement list.
Search engines work as the yellow pages of the information age, connecting those looking for something with those selling something.
In fact, search engines are used more than newspapers and yellow pages these days.
One of the great benefits of advertising through search engines advertising through search engines is that you can control where your ad shows up on the web. Once the yellow pages are printed you are locked into the ad space for a year.
You can constantly change what your web site and what your online ads say because they exist in a dynamic environment. The yellow pages are static. What if you run an ad in the yellow pages that does not sell?
You can't change it for an entire year. This could be potential business suicide in the information age.
Even if your visitors don't buy your products directly from your website, many consumers begin the buying process online as a way to research products, compare prices and make decisions. They then head to their local brick and mortar store to buy the product they researched. Even if you don't sell your product or service online, it is imperative that every business have a well stocked website – stocked full of information.
You may have heard the term "search engine optimization" or SEO as you began to research online entrepreneurship. Your website, if created for SEO, is your single best and least expensive advertisement. Search engines are constantly sending out crawlers, like roots from a tree, to search the vast Internet for content. While the actual measuring stick they use to compute the strength of content is proprietary and heavily guarded, we do know they place sites with the following features (or lack thereof) higher on the search engine placement:
• Original content – write or hire a writer to create content that is unique to your site about your product, your industry or your service.
• Keyword dense content – we'll help you discover which keywords are being searched and together we'll create content rich in those words.
• Readable content – articles should be written for a reader, not for a search engine. They will lower your search engine placement if they find keywords strung together. Example: "Use our green gadget to pick potatoes" scores higher on the search engine placement test than "green gadget potatoes".
• Text sites are best – crawlers can't read pictures, graphics or fancy features. If you must have these, offer everything in written form as well.
• Single frames are a must – crawlers can't read frames so avoid them.
With so many other ways to display multiple menus, pages and section your web pages, frames aren't needed anymore.
While these "rules" seem very simple, they are actually quite complex.
Sure, you could do it on your own but we have the tools in place ready to put to work. We know how to achieve higher search engine placement, that's our business. You know how to sell your gadgets, that's yours.
So don your best duds and get ready to head out. We'll help you find your way to the bank on Friday night, and every night.
Owner of 3 profitable web businesses, Joshua Geary also helps his clients improve their search engine placement through the proper use of Search Engine Optimization Services - SEO. To get more information about his company visit his website, BestOnlineResults.com.
Posted by David at 9:34 PM | TrackBack
Watch For a New PLR Membership on Dec. 1,2006
Pre-launch for a new and VERY benefit laden PLR membership will begin on Dec. 1, 2006. This membership will be restricted to only 200 members. The content is being written by our own team of writers, so we KNOW that it is unique content.
The website will be live on Friday, Dec. 1 and I have already announced the prelaunch to my list of over 25,000. So if you want in on this, you will have to act FAST.
You can register to be notified on the time the site will go LIVE by filling out the form located at Prelaunch Announcement
The site will have three separate levels of membership to choose from.
1. 450 PLR Articles each and every month
2. 8 PLR ebooks each and every month
3. Both packages.
This membership also includes a forum where you can learn and teach others how to make the most of your PLR Content and establish yourself within a community of other marketers for possible Joint Ventures, team building or just to get answers to your questions.
We also have created a Blog to help keep you informed on what will be coming in the next few weeks and months. There are also Teleseminars that you can attend to hear from some of today's top marketers.
Here is that Notification link again:
Prelaunch Announcement
Posted by David at 3:52 PM | TrackBack
Data Recovery Program
When the data of your programs are fragmented all over your hard drive, a data recovery program helps you immensely. The program is designed to put all of the fragmented material back in the files they are meant to reside in. There are a few different things that your these programs can do for you.
One Good Reason to Own a Data Recovery Program
Wouldn’t it be stressful if you restored your computer because it was too fragmented only to find out that you had deleted your parents’ important tax documents? Now you know that your parents are going to just be fuming, so you need to find out what you should do. The very first thing you should do is use a data recovery program.
A data recovery program can get this useful tax information back for you. Usually they can easily get back your parents deleted Quicken and Excel files. You can even find as demo versions so that you can try to retrieve these files first. The data recovery program should recover the files so that they are presentable and usable.
Read the whole article Data Recovery Program
Posted by David at 3:34 PM | TrackBack
IT Asset Management Software
With IT asset management software, you can have completely web-based internal help desk and asset management software for your business. This is to be used within an organization and one of these programs offer an integrated solution that manages requests, assets, contracts, purchases and finds vendors at very affordable prices.
The service desk at your IT asset management software should be web-based. It should help with ticketing, asset tracking, purchases that are being made, contract management and should have a well- equipped knowledge base. Your IT asset management software should improve your productivity and keep the end users in your company happy.
What Are some of the Features With IT Asset Management Software?
There are easy to use help desks with your IT asset management software. It should help automate the customer service and support processes and will deliver consistent and reliable service to both the internal and the external customers. You should also have a self-service portal that reduces the call volumes to the help desk with a web-based self- service portal. This way the end users can research the knowledge base, send in a request or check on the status of a request. This feature will keep the call volume down at the help desk.
Read the whole article IT Asset Management Software
Posted by David at 3:08 PM | TrackBack
Offering Investment Alternatives to Address Growing Employee Demand
In today’s economic climate, there are those employees that concern themselves with minor money issues such as entertainment costs, status purchases and frivolous home improvements instead of learning how to make more money and make it work for them. But this trend is changing, as more employees are choosing their own investment routes. This is especially true when individuals reach a certain age and begin thinking more seriously about retirement. And a growing number of these individuals are looking at non-traditional investments—such as investing in private stock, hedge funds, real estate and tax liens using retirement funds as their primary choice.
Providing the ability to invest in assets other than securities through retirement plans available at work would be a welcome opportunity for a growing number of employed investors. Increasingly, business owners also want to be able to invest in alternative options. The owner of a construction company, for example, might prefer investing in real estate over a more traditional portfolio, and may do better investing in the former, given his or her knowledge of the industry. Similarly, owners of private companies may want to invest in their own organization’s success through private stocks and invite employees to do the same or provide stock for retirement for individuals as an incentive.
Many options exist outside the realm of traditional retirement investing. And without knowledge of these, investors may be missing out on an opportunity to earn more on their retirement nest eggs, while also enjoying added tax advantages that investing with an IRA provides (profits made from the investment grow tax-free with a Roth IRA, for instance. This can be a huge benefit upon retirement). At one time investing in real estate or private stock with an IRA might have been considered obscure and risky, not to mention an unknown option for many. But these views are dissipating as friends and family are making greater returns with less risk, and many are educating themselves through courses offering training on due-diligence, locating assets, negotiating and selling assets for a profit.
Added Fuel for Alternative Investments
Additionally, the likelihood of Social Security being able to sustain the demands of the retiring baby-boomer is becoming a concern with taxpayers and their representatives. This is encouraging more people to look for alternative investment options in markets in which they may be more familiar and the government to also help to facilitate new methods of investing. To help alleviate the potential burden, President Bush recently enacted a bill submitted by congress to protect pension beneficiaries and force companies that offer pensions to make good on their obligations. The new law also brought forth a few benefits to IRA holders. In 2010, anyone will be able to convert their traditional IRA into a Roth IRA regardless of their income status. This means that more investors will be able to enjoy tax-free benefits on income earned from IRA investments. In contrast, today a married couple cannot have a Modified Adjusted Gross Income greater than $155,000 to convert to a Roth IRA.
In addition, contributions to an IRA will now be tied to an index, presumably for inflation purposes. This means that the maximum contribution that investors can make may increase as inflation increases. As a result, investors may be able to contribute more and to enjoy even greater tax-free benefits on income made with a Roth.
How Investors and Their Companies Can Get Started in Investing in Alternative Investments
Many company executives would agree that providing more investment opportunity is a good thing; how to go about implementing such a program is the question. Benefits providers and advisors can team up with professionals in the alternative asset industry to distinguish their offerings and help companies that are interested in making this leap, transition to providing a more comprehensive offering for business owners and employees.
Companies don’t have to scrap what they have with a broker or advisor or make drastic changes. Changing the plan document to allow for early rollover of contributions allows employees the opportunity to take alternative investments on their own if they wish. This change can be made on the next review of the retirement plan.
Engaging a self-directed IRA Advisor to help executives make alternative asset offerings can help advisors and the companies they represent to identify proven investment strategies. For example, if tax liens are of potential interest, then learning how to properly investigate and value tax liens is a must. A qualified instructor can prevent capital loss and maximize returns.
Using a self-directed IRA custodian (versus an “advisor”) is useful as well, but be aware that custodial firms do not bear responsibility for the success or failure of strategies nor do they offer advice, but are instead focused on facilitating transactions and record keeping. An example of one such self directed IRA custodian can be found at http://www.sunwestira.com.
Important Considerations that Companies and Individuals Should Know
Brokers and the employers that they work for should make sure that a qualified advisory group offer the information they need, so as not to inadvertently make prohibited transactions (for instance, it is prohibited for a person buying real estate with an IRA, and/or his or her immediate family, to live in the property). Keeping the costs down for employees is also an important factor. The same advisors should be able to provide the needed information to evaluate pricing and the value that will likely be received from alternative investments.
Daniel Cordoba, CEA is principal and founder of Asset Exchange Strategies, LLC. Asset Exchange Strategies is an Advisory Group for self-directed IRA structures. You can visit his website at http://www.myrealestateira.com
Source: Benefits and Compensation Solutions, October 2006
For a .pdf version of this article go to:
http://bcsolutionsmag.com/archives/BCS-Oct06-web/BCS-Oct06-RetireDept.pdf
Posted by David at 5:41 AM | TrackBack
Top 4 VoIP Providers
VoIP telephony has caught the imagination of business leaders and today there is fierce competition among providers to be a leader in the Industry. For the consumer the choices are mind boggling and it is becoming extremely hard to make an educated choice.
To guide users there are several sites like www.saveonvoip.com/ which present comparison charts, grading, as well as in depth analysis of services by VoIP providers. Factors considered are financial stability, customer support, services, as well as adaptability.
According to VoIP industry watchers the top 4 VoIP providers are:
1. Vonage is the acknowledged leader offering VoIP services for USD 24.95 and a basic plan for USD 14.99. The company has a growing subscriber base of 7, 500,000 users and offers great services and competitive packages. Apart from standard packages they have free phone support and a 24/7 customer care e-mail option.
2. Sun Rocket is a new entrant which is providing tough competition for other leaders in VOIP. They offer services for USD 9.95 limited and USD 24.95 unlimited. The company waives activation fees, has no hidden costs, offers the phone adapter free and they are a special offer of a Uniden cordless phone free. Innovative the company is offering an annual plan for USD 199 which means you only pay USD 16.58 a month for a bouquet of services.
3. Packet 8 brings VoIP at a low cost of USD 19.95 along with great service. They offer free activation and one month free. In addition, they offer 911 emergency service calls for a small extra fee.
4. Lingo benefits those consumers who make calls to the US, Canada, as well as Western Europe. For USD 21.95 they allow unlimited long distance calls to 17 countries in Europe. For a small nominal fee they company provides two phone numbers.
Giants in the VoIP market are Cisco, Motorola, Clariys, and Juniper among others and the race for getting a slice of pie is hot and happening. The strategy is to provide more and more subsidies and free bees to capture users and to make up revenue through other avenues.
The golden keys to success in the world of VoIP have proven to be: quality, reliability, and cost effectiveness.
Posted by David at 12:34 AM | TrackBack
November 14, 2006
Article Writing Tips To Make Your Articles Stand Out From The Crowd
Writing articles is a good way to promote your website or business and to explain product benefits. But you can't just put anything together and expect it to do its job of bringing in traffic. You need to think about what it is you want to say and then put some effort into saying it well. You can enhance the written polish of your article by observing a few article writing tips:
Develop a plan and imagine objectives and potential outcomes
There is nothing worse than not knowing what you want to get out of writing your article. Do you want to be considered an expert in your field? Do you want to be thought of as innovative? Do you want to be controversial? Before you actually say or write anything, work out your pitch.
You need a framework for your article
A standard way to layout an article is with an opening paragraph which sets out what the article is going to be about. Then comes the main bulk of the article - usually several paragraphs that cover the topic in depth, followed by a closing paragraph which needs to pull the different points together into a natural conclusion.
Avoid saying too much
Don't feel that you have to tell your reader everything you know about a subject in one article. The ideal article length is around 400 words. It is better to focus on one aspect of a particular topic and cover it well than try to cram too much information in.
Be Professional
Keep the content of your article professional and don't make personal comments about others or use an article solely to pitch your products or website. You need to offer information of value to the reader to make them want to read what you've written.
Use specific details where possible
For your article and views to be considered valid you need to explain exactly what you mean. For example, if you are writing a product review then say exactly what you liked and disliked about a product and wether those particular aspects are important or not. If you are providing tips then use examples to illustrate your points.
Keep the personal stories short. It's not about you!
Keep personal anecdotes very short and use them to demonstrate a point, but not as the focus of the article.
Have a strong opening and closing
Your opening needs to be catchy enough to hook your reader into reading the rest of your article. The closing is important because it should reinforce the key message you want them to take away and lead into them taking action after reading your resource box which can be more specific about the action you want them to take. Think of the conclusion as the warm up to the resource box.
Do several drafts
If writing articles isn't something that comes easily to you then you'll want to take your time to develop a voice for writing, a style that feels comfortable to you but that also gets across to the reader what it is you want to say. It is a good idea when article writing to do a first draft and then put it aside for a day or two and then go back to it and re-read it to see how it flows.
Whether you are writing articles for promotion or web writing, it is a skill like any other and one that you would be wise to learn more about. Seek help writing if you find it difficult and follow the article writing tips above and when the visitors start rolling in you'll be pleased you did.
Posted by David at 4:27 AM | TrackBack
November 13, 2006
The No-Fail Way To Work Towards and Reach Your Goals
If you really want to reach the goals you set for yourself this year, simply
writing them down as a list and telling your friends is just not going
to cut it.
Reaching your goals is easy when you use this formula...
Consistency Desire - Fear = YOUR GOAL
There are 3 simple keys to setting and acheiving your goals...
Key #1: Consistency
If you're going to reach a goal, you NEED to be consistent. Most people jump
on the "goal setting bandwagon" around the New Year, setting goals for
themselves with NO PLAN for how they're going to reach these goals.
And before they know it, they get caught up in everyday life and never think
about their goals again.
This is what I call "goal setting and forgetting". Consistency is CRITICAL
when it comes to reaching your goals.
Here's how to be consistent in reaching your goals...
Have a routine.
If your goal is to lose 10 lbs by the end of the year, do something every day
(or week) that will bring you closer to that goal.It could be a morning walk or
eating at least 4 healthy meals per week.
Or maybe your goal is something that is not as "cut and dry" as losing
weight. Let's say you want to improve your confidence.
To accomplish this, you still need to be consistent in your THINKING. You
need to shift your ways of thinking and start a new ROUTINE. (There's that word
again.) ;-)
For instance, to help you remember what you learned from your favorite
self-improvement book, write down on a sticky note next to your bed, the key
points that had the biggest impact on you.
Key #2: Desire
Goal setting is merely wishful thinking if you don't have a
strong desire to reach your goal. You must organize your list, separating the
goals that you desperately want to acheive from those that "would be nice".
Here's how...
write down all the goals that you've ever wanted to acheive. This is where
key #3 comes in, so I'll continue with key #2 in a moment...
Key #3: Be Specific
When writind down your goals, don't just say you want to "lose weight".
Instead, set a SPECIFIC amount of weight to lose.
Okay, back to Key #2...
Once you've finished writing down your SPECIFIC goals, rate your level of
desire for each goal using a scale of 1-10.
(10 = "Yes, I want it the most!")
(1 = "It would be nice, but it's not that important to me.")
When you're finished, separate the page into 3 columns below your goals.
Label the first column as "Easy", the second as "Somewhat Difficult" and the
third as "Challenging".
Then re-write each of your goals into the 3 columns, including your level of
desire for each particular goal.
Ask yourself, "How easy (or difficult) will it be for me to reach this goal?"
and put the goal in the appropriate category.
Now that you've organized your goals, start with in the Easy column with the
highest Desire score.
By starting with the easiest goal first, you'll be mentally rewarding
yourself by thinking, "Oh, I can do this!".
Once you've reached your first goal, continue with the next goal in your Easy
column with the highest Desire score and so on until you eventually start
reaching your most challenging goals.
By the time you reach your most difficult goals, you'll have "trained"
yourself to routinely think about and consistently reach your goals.
This makes acheiving future goals a WHOLE LOT easier.
But before you jump ahead and start reaching your first goal, you must create
your action plan for reaching it. Be sure to ONLY create an action
plan for the goal you're CURRENTLY working on.
There is no need to create a plan of action for your other goals. DO NOT try
to reach more than one goal AT THE SAME TIME.
It's easy to feel overwhelmed when you've got a lot to accomplish, so don't
fall into the trap of thinking you need to get everything done in one month...or
even one YEAR for that matter.
Take your time and you WILL reach your goals at your own pace.
This is NOT a race.
There's an old saying that's been around for a long time...
"THOSE WHO FAIL TO PLAN, PLAN TO FAIL."
And it's true. If you don't have a clear picture of where you're going,
you're not going ANYWHERE.
No Goals No Plan = The same results as LAST
YEAR.
I've laid out a step-by-step system you can use to accomplish your goals, so
now there's NO WAY you can fail, right?
WRONG.
Fear of failure can stop you. THAT is what stops most people
from reaching their goals. Don't let it happen to you! You will never TAKE
ACTION if you let your FEAR get in the way of what you want to accomplish.
Oh, and one more thing...
DON'T listen to other people who try to discourage you. Some people may try
to discourage you whether it's out of pure jealousy or just plain ill will.
I don't care if they're your family members, your spouse or your best
friend. NOBODY knows what you're capable of so it's up to YOU to prove
them wrong!
So what are you waiting for? Get started on this today. This is YOUR YEAR,
the year you'll prove to everyone else (and yourself) that you can
accomplish ANYTHING when you set your mind to it.
Larry Bilotta's FREE, 7-day email course shows you how to instantly eliminate your negative thoughts, STOP dwelling on your problems and START feeling better about yourself. Go to Larry's Self Esteem web site to overcome your negative feelings today.
Posted by David at 9:09 PM | TrackBack
November 10, 2006
Information On Laptop GPS
The Laptop GPS is a great place to store pertinent information that one might need to analyze in further detail at some point in the future and this could be considered to be one of the main reasons for utilizing such a device. Such hardware is easy to purchase and install but is it right for you? Anyone in the information business who is not yet informed should be informed that the Laptop GPS is the ultimate in collecting all kinds of information, especially because the software is easy to use.
Read more about the laptop GPS...
Posted by David at 7:41 PM | TrackBack
Exotic Mortgages and CPA Letters
Exotic Mortgages and CPA letters
There is hardly universal agreement that exotic mortgages are bad. In fact, some suggest they merely represent a change in mind-set among house buyers — namely, that they have no intention of buying their house. Instead they are essentially renting the home until they move to another one.
There is a new emerging phenomenon. People don't look at paying off their mortgage because they know they are going to go buy something else in a few years.”
But that is a gamble of timing. Consumers who aren’t buying equity in their homes through their mortgages are betting on a force beyond their control — an unpredictable housing market. A falling, or even flat market could leave many “upside down.”
Should they have to relocate, they will not be able to sell their homes without paying the bank. And refinancing likely will be too costly.
For consumers who choose these exotic loans, there is most certainly a day of reckoning sometime in the future — perhaps one, three or five years out, depending on the terms of the mortgage. Unless the buyer has sold or refinanced by that time, their mortgage payments will rise, perhaps substantially.
Why a CPA letter?
For a lender to make a exotic loan the mortgage broker or lender really wants an attest report from a CPA, then the CPA may audit, review or compile the personal financial statements of the borrower, the CPA may report on pro forma or prospective financial information of the borrower, or the CPA may perform and provide to the client and lender an agreed-upon procedures report, as long as the agreed-upon procedures do not provide any assurance on matters relating to solvency.
Lenders tend to ask for as much assurance as they can get without understanding or knowing the cost or consequences. In our experience, typically, once we would call them with a client on the line, and explain to them the cost entailed, they would quickly back off their request. What our clients and we would find is that what they’re really after is a simple letter from the CPA acknowledging that the income reported to the broker or lender is the amount that has been reported to the IRS on the tax return. Obviously, the client would need to agree to have us send such a letter, but I would find that an attestation or audit report was not really necessary.
We call this type of letter as a “CPA Letter.”
Posted by David at 6:45 PM | TrackBack
November 9, 2006
Paid Survey Review Offers Great Opportunities
Getting a pay check to give your opinion often seems too good to be true. But many times the details of the offer are specifically laid out and your survey pay day is honestly described. By using a paid survey review to analyze an offer you are doing what you can to make sure the offer is legitimate. Most survey offers will specifically state what you have to do in order to get the money that is promised to you. Make sure to read all the fine print before signing on to complete a study.
Read the rest of paid survey review...
Posted by David at 5:58 PM | TrackBack
Get ready for Office 2007 - It's going to take some getting used to
Whatever PC use use, be it a desktop or a notebook computer, get ready for Office 2007, the most sweeping update to Microsoft’s popular suite of productivity applications.
An extensive re-education awaits those who will upgrade to Office 2007. It’s truly a redesign. The menu bar and navigation buttons for Word, Excel and PowerPoint, for example, look completely different. And there's an intergrated blogging feature, too.
There are a great many new features and controls.
Microsoft uses a different format to save files with Office 2007 that, without a special viewer that will have to be downloaded, makes them unreadable with earlier versions. When saving a document with Office 2007, you have the option of saving as a previous version — which makes them compatible with earlier versions — but I’m betting this change alone is going to cause massive amounts of confusion among the early adapters.
That said, the beta of Office 2007 that I’ve been testing for the past couple of weeks is faster, more powerful and lots more intuitive and interconnected to other programs and files. Once you figure it out.
There are lots of subtle new features, too, like built-in blogging functionality and something called the ribbon that replaces the traditional toolbar and gives greater control over each program’s various functions.
Office 2007 is the biggest change Microsoft has ever made to the interconnected suite of software tools so many of us depend upon.
So big, it’s going to take a learning curve to master.
Buying Office 2007 also promises to be confusing. There will be no fewer than eight versions to choose from, all aimed at different markets ranging from home and student users, to small businesses, midsized companies and corporate conglomerates. Depending on what software you have bundled into Office, the prices will range from $147 to $679.
Posted by David at 12:40 AM | TrackBack
November 7, 2006
Making Money With Blog: AdSense Ads
If you’ve been on the Internet more than 1 day you’ve probably seeing Google AdSense Ads on many websites. Webmasters and marketers have been adding AdSense ads to their blogs to make money with blogs and now it’s your time to ad AdSense Ads to your blog and make money with it.
Let me tell you a little more about Google AdSense and how the program works and runs.
AdSense is an ad serving program run by Google. Blog owners like yourself can enroll in this program to enable text, image, and more recently, video advertisement on their site. These ads are administed by Google and allow you to make money with blog on either a per-pay-click and per-thousand impressions basis. Google is also currently beta-testing a cost-per-action based service which should be more profitable than regular cost-per-click AdSense Ads program.
Posted by David at 5:37 AM | TrackBack
November 6, 2006
Online Survey Can Be Fun
Most people don’t realize that there are a lot of fun online paid surveys out there. They are not all long and boring, and you can find sites that speaclize in making surveys fun and enjoyable. When you do find a fun survey to do you will find that you will get through it quicker and will want to do more of them. Some times the fun ones can be hard to come by but if you know where to look and what to look for you can still make good money targeting the fun ones.
Turn Surveys from Boring to Fun
There are lots of ways to make online surveys fun you can try to find surveys that interest you or are based on some thing you care about. This really is one of the best ways to turn a boring online survey into a fun online survey, the thing is to try and pick particular types of surveys that you know about, from sites that offer a search function (to make it easier). The other option is to find a site that specializes in a particular type of fun online survey and if you can find one of them you are set.
Some people find all online surveys fun and just enjoy trying them out but other people do it for the money and don’t really care about having fun. I think if you can do it and make money that’s fine but if you can do it, make money and have fun at the same time, why not do it then?
Read the entire article Fun Online Survey
Posted by David at 1:19 AM | TrackBack
November 5, 2006
How To Get A Cheap Data Recovery Solution
If you want to have cheap data recovery because your recovery software doesn’t work with USB, but you are capable of using IDE, you only need a 44 to 40 pin IDE adapter. These adapters are cheap. They usually cost around ten to twenty dollars. You can usually find them at most local stores that carry supplies for computers.
It is a good idea to make an image of your whole drive with a disk imaging software. Do this before you decide to start work on the drive. There are chances your drive may not ever work on your computer again. The procedure that you are about to learn will help prevent you leaving being important data without knowing it. Inadequate software can be the cause of what is called “feather” damage to your drive.
How Does Recovery Software Serve Its’ Purpose?
Read the entire article Cheap Data Recovery
Posted by David at 12:32 AM | TrackBack
November 2, 2006
No Medical Life Insurance
What is no medical life insurance?
No medical life insurance, to use a well-known phrase, does exactly what it says on the tin! It is a life insurance product where no medical examination is required. You may not even have to answer medical questions and yet still be guaranteed acceptance for life insurance. No medical life insurance is open to people of all ages, so whether you're 20 or 65, no medical life insurance can give you the peace of mind that your loved ones will be financially secure in the event of your death during the term of the life insurance policy.
Posted by David at 5:19 AM | TrackBack
Learning Basic HTML
Ok, no getting around it, you've got to learn some HTML! You don’t have to be great at it, but you really do need the basics. Even if you choose to write and format everything in Word and use PDFs for your ebooks, white papers, articles and the like. You will still need to be able to change headlines on your website, create or change ‘thank you’ and ‘sales’ pages, and add things quickly to your website.
There is a wonderful membership website that I once enjoyed. The site is filled with Internet Entrepreneurs who are successfully running an internet business. There are a series of detailed interviews discussing how each of them got to be successful. Without exception, every single business owner said ‘you have got to do your own website’. The number one regret by those who hired others was the money they spent on web designers. They all learned HTML in the end.
Now I am not saying that you will be stuck building your own websites forever and ever… in fact, I encourage everyone to have "propellerheads" on their team. Its just that even when others are building the sites for you, you will still want to be able to gain access and do some minor changing of copy, colors, font sizes and the like.
HTML is the language of websites. You use HTML to make your fonts large, change colors...
Start a new paragraph, insert a picture…
I am not the best source to teach you. However, Annabella is! She has a wonderful website where I learned HTML. It’s located at:
www.annabella.net/html.html
Once you get through Annabella’s site here is a handy HTML reference guide:
www.devx.com/projectcool/developer/reference/tag-table.html
Here is one more great learning site:
www.utoronto.ca/webdocs/HTMLdocs/NewHTML/htmlindex.html
There are other languages that have been created after HTML. Java, php, and others. However, you will find that for most needs, a bit of HTML is all you need. Anything more complex is best handled by your propellerhead, unless you have plans to really master this area of web design.
At some point you will need an HTML editor. This is a handy tool that lets you see what it is you have created. Let’s take a quick look at the most popular ones.
Microsoft FrontPage® is very popular. It has a lot of great functionality allowing you to build a site from scratch. It’s a WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editor that lets you graphically design your web pages. It’s one of the easier ones to learn. Though you will still spend a week or two banging your head trying to figure it all out (assuming you are a beginner). One of the things I like about it is the ability to “split” the screen and see the HTML code along with what the web page looks like.
best. It’s the high end program that does everything but the dishes with regards to website design. The learning curve is high. And frankly, if you aren’t going to be building sites right along, it’s expensive.
There are website builders out there that take all the pain out of building websites. You provide the copy and the graphics, and they manage the rest. The one we like at the moment is XSitePro. It is relatively easy, quick and inexpensive as these things go. They also don’t appear to leave a “footprint”… something that the search engines look for to see if your sites are mass-produced.
Check out our resource page at www.BizRecipes.com for this resource along with our many, many favorite things.
I have used a little free HTML editor that is quite delightful.
You can download it at: www.evrsoft.com
It’s called 1st Page 2000 and we used it for several years before moving to FrontPage®. I always like to include a free tool wherever possible for those who must be extra careful with their dollars.
What can I say? You just have to sit down in front of your computer and do it. This is one of those skills that you will have forever. And you will be very glad you learned it.
Robin M Powers makes it easy to get started making money on the Internet. For more information and to claim your free 7 day eCourse, Learn the 7 Critical Steps to Your Internet Marketing Success, go to: Business Recipes.com
Posted by David at 3:26 AM | TrackBack
November 1, 2006
UPS Awards Three Small Businesses Big Prizes for Their Innovation
Financial lessons for children and alzheimer’s products helping students make it through college in four years. Teaching children the basics of money management. Providing products and compassion to Alzheimer’s patients and their caretakers. These “out-of-the-box” ideas from their innovative creators are helping to drive the small business economy.
And the companies behind these ideas are the winners of the 2nd annual UPS Best “Out-of-the-Box” Small Business Contest. UPS (NYSE:UPS), the world’s largest package delivery company and a global leader in supply chain services, today announced the winners of the contest launched in May to recognize innovation in small business.
The first-place winner is Application 2 Graduation, LLC of Chicago, founded by Mary Wayman. Second place goes to Money Savvy Generation of Lake Bluff, Ill., started by Michael and Susan Beacham. The Alzheimer’s Store of Cumming, Ga., founded by Mark and Ellen Warner, garners the third-place prize.
“UPS has always been a partner of small businesses and, in fact, the company was started in 1907 as a bicycle messenger service on just $100,” said Kurt Kuehn, UPS senior vice president, worldwide sales and marketing. “UPS understands that a small business owner’s passion and focus is on running and building their business, not operational details like shipping. UPS makes shipping easy and fast for small businesses whether they’re shipping around the corner or around the world.”
This year’s winner said her inspiration came from a desire for her son to attend a good college and obtain a degree in four years. “The business grew from the goal I had set for my child. It’s nice to know some of the big companies, like UPS, are looking for ways to help small businesses continue to grow and prosper,” Ms. Wayman said.
Each of the winners has a compelling and unique story of innovation.
Application to Graduation (A2G) – Ms. Wayman was determined to see her son graduate from college in four years. Realizing other parents had the same goal, she developed a business that begins assisting college-bound students while they’re still in high school. A2G assesses a student’s learning style, recommends colleges that best suit the student, reviews college applications and essays, completes financial aid information and accompanies the student on college visits.
Once the student is admitted, A2G assigns an Advocate with whom the student meets once a week. The Advocate monitors the student’s class load, assists with any meetings with deans or professors and supports the student through the emotional changes associated with this new stage of life.
Money Savvy Generation – The Beachams wanted to make sure their two daughters grew up to be financially competent by teaching them good money choices as children. They created a curriculum that meets social studies and math standards for students in K-12.
They also developed the Money Savvy Pig®, a piggy bank with four slots and four chambers – each representing a key financial principle -- save, spend, invest, or give. Money Savvy Generation has expanded its line based on feedback from customers and now carries several types of banks and lessons adapted for home use. A DVD series and activity books also accompany the line. To date, the products have reached more than 500,000 stud