Thursday, June 28, 2012

Amba Accreditation Process

There are many accrediting agencies for online MBA course. One of these agencies is the Association of MBAs, or more popularly known as AMBA. This article is about how AMBA accredit its MBA programs.

The Association of MBAs, or AMBA in short, was established in 1967 by eight MBA graduates from Wharton and Harvard. The association is the advocate of MBA and they provide accreditation services for MBA programmes for course providers throughout the world.

The accreditation service provided by AMBA is internationally recognised as an acceptable global standard for all Masters of Business Administration (MBA), Doctorates in Business Administration (DBA) and Masters in Business and Management (MBM) programmes. Their accrediting services currently covers MBA, DBA and MBM programmes at 145 business schools in 68 countries.

AMBA offers independent quality assessment on online MBA course offered by providers. They are focused on international accreditation and design their criteria to be applicable to business schools around the world.

AMBA began their MBA accreditation services since the early 1980s. They are currently accredit MBA programs at more than 140 schools in over 65 countries, worldwide. Any college who wished to have their online MBA course accredited are advised to contact the association directly.

AMBA's latest accreditation criteria, was launched in March 2005, and focus on every aspects of MBA course provision, including online MBA course. In the context of an online MBA course, these accreditation criteria include:

The College or University offering the online MBA course

The college or university offering an accredited MBA program should have a clear strategy and mission. AMBA require that this college or university have very clear understanding of the market for the online MBA course that they offers.

The Faculty offering the online MBA course

The faculty that offers the Masters of Business Administration courses, including Online MBA Course, should be have sufficient resources for all its activities. The faculty should ensure the institution is of national or international standing.

Students of the Online MBA Course

AMBA requires that the college or university offering the accredited MBA programs show evidence on admission standards, which should include academic criteria and work experience. AMBA also has a criteria for some minimal intake of MBA students per year.

Curriculum of the Online MBA Course

AMBA requires that the curriculum of the accredited MBA programs to be generalist in nature and cover core business skills. These include marketing, economic and legal environment, accounting, finance, organisational theory and etc. This online MBA course curriculum should also reflect international aspect of business, and should also pay attention to ethical and social issues.

Assessment on the Online MBA Course

Assessment refers to the learning outcomes of the online MBA course.

The followings describe the accreditation process for an MBA program.

The first step of the accreditation process involves an initial discussion with the college or university seeking accreditation for its MBA program. The second step involves self-audit. Once the self-audit is satisfactory conducted, the institution shall request for an assessment visit.

The next step involves the assessment visit by AMBA. The assessment team comprise of four to five members from AMBA. This assessment team is always mutually agreed with the Institution.

Following the assessment visit, a report is prepared for the Association's International Accreditation Advisory Board (IAAB), which will recommend if the institution seeking accreditation may be accredited or not. Accreditation is valid for a period up to a maximum of five years after which the institution would be invited to submit an application for re-accreditation.

With an understanding on how AMBA accredits its MBA programs, we trust that you are able to choose your Online MBA Course wisely.

Impact Of Global Slowdown On Leather Exports And Remedies

Problem behind leather export industries :

Indian Leather industry is moving towards an unprecedented crisis with the slowdown of global economy. With the economies of US, Europe and Japan plummeting together, India has also witnessed fall in GDP growth from around 9% last financial year to 7% in the current financial year. It is projected to dip even further to around 5.5 % - 6% for Year 2009 10.

The leather exports sector which witnessed a growth 20% in the first half of 2009 got dented by the global slowdown in the subsequent months. The main reason is attributed to the decline in orders from Western markets, especially the US and UK. The European Union and the US are the two biggest markets for Indian leather export firms which stand at 65% and 25% respectively in terms of India's export share of Leather products.

Secondly Chinese Govt. is generously helping Chinese exporters to follow an aggressive exports policy which help them to bag the orders in the competition.

It is a matter of big concern for our Leather Industry which is mainly dependent upon its exports rather than domestic sales. Indian exports of leather is estimated at 3.5 billion INR and its domestic market is hovering around 2.5 billion INR. The main reason behind this could be that our leather industry cannot rely on its domestic market as the retail sector is still immature to sell the export products.
Leather exporters are being inextricably caught in a situation where buyers are delaying fresh orders besides delaying their payments on existing orders and on top of that they are also asking for huge discounts. It seems that if the problem is not addressed on time, it would adversely affect the small scale and tiny industries and also have an impact on big businesses, leading to job-loss and closure of units over the next few months.

It is estimated that around 2-3 lakh workers can lose their jobs in leather industry which has employed around 25 lakh total workers.

Remedies to boost leather export industries:
Need of the hour is to take proactive and logical steps to tackle the situation effectively which can only happen with the matched efforts on the part of both Government and Industry.

Mr. Habib Hussain (Chairman of leather exports council) while addressing the issue has suggested a three-pronged approach to tackle the situation.

He emphasized on creating the required infrastructure and have long-term plans,
Providing subsidized term loans to exporters who have suffered losses due to slow down
Treating US and Europe in focus markets scheme.
Innovative product designs at competitive rates.
In addition to the above, some immediate measures are needed to alleviate the plight of the leather exporters. Govt. should increase the drawback rates, reduce delays in export incentive reimbursement, Increase duty free import limit for manufacturing exporter on the % of export value, and increase weight age of leather goods under focus product scheme.

All these steps are necessary to retain the big global brands which source from India which can otherwise go to China who has cost advantage to play with.

After Cyprus, Is Slovenia Next?

Successive Slovenian governments have refused to privatize the country's banks, which made disastrous loans to politically connected business interests and now threaten to drag the country center stage in the euro zone debt crisis. A span of unfinished apartment blocks in the Siska complex on the outskirts of Ljubljana is emblematic of the former Yugoslav republic's woes, just as many such ghost neighborhoods in Europe's debt-choked south stand testament to the depth of the broader continent's economic problems.

The rows of buildings, housing 833 flats in all, stand mostly empty, casualties of a property boom turned bust and a subsequent recession. Alongside, Vegrad, a company once led by a well-placed politician, also planned to build a hotel, but got no further than digging an enormous hole. An apt symbol, as Slovenia comes under growing pressure to seek a bailout to fill a financial hole, just as Cyprus did last month.

The countries are different in many ways, but they have at least two things in common: like Cyprus, Slovenia needs to recapitalize its biggest banks, and it does not have the money to do so.

Slovenia was the only former communist state to refuse to sell most of its state-owned banking system after the fall of communism, so now it is taxpayers alone who must foot the bill of healing lenders after years of political influence and bad management loaded them down with bad loans equal to about a fifth of the economy.

Joze Damijan, an economics professor who was development minister in 2006, said state ownership meant a number of people and firms got special treatment from the lenders because of ties between political parties and the banks' management.

In the case of the Siska project, Vegrad borrowed from Slovenian banks -- it owes 107.8 million euros to the largest lender Nova Ljubljanska Banka -- then defaulted.

Vegrad's CEO was Hilda Tovsak, a former top official in the conservative Christian Democrats, who Damijan said benefited from her connections.

"The power of the director of Vegrad was very big. She had connections everywhere," he told Reuters.

A court sentenced her to 14 months in prison last month for arranging bids with two other construction firms for an airport control tower in 2008. She is also being tried for using money from a Vegrad-linked mutual fund in 2009 and 2010.

Tovsak has denied wrongdoing in both cases, and no evidence has been produced that Tovsak or Vegrad acted unlawfully in connection with the Siska loans. Her lawyer said she was not available to comment for this article.

Damijan left the government after only three months when he found that a plan to sell NLB was being undermined by political pressure to keep it in state hands where politicians could continue to exert control.

"I resigned because it became clear that there will be no privatization of NLB, that the state was determined to even increase control over it," he told Reuters. "It was already clear then that the state was a bad owner."

Media have reported that other bad loans are stacking up for the bank: 187 million euros owed by builder SCT, 100 million by construction firm Primorje, and 115 million by investment firm Zvon 1 Holding. All three firms are now bankrupt.

NLB disputes those figures but has given no other details, saying it cannot reveal client information.

BAILOUT?

Slovenia and Cyprus both joined the EU when the bloc launched its "big bang" expansion, opening the door to 10 mostly ex communist countries in 2004, which then swapped their currencies for euros a few years later.

But while banks in Cyprus suffered heavy losses due to large Greek bond holdings, Slovenia has virtually none.

And Cyprus faced criticism for hosting an offshore banking sector that was eight times the size of its economy by luring depositors, especially from Russia and Britain, who sought to avoid high taxes at home. Slovenia's bank sector is just 1.4 times as big as its economy, less than half the euro zone average.

But the source of the two countries' problems are similar. One was the cheap funding that poured into Slovenia, Cyprus, Spain, Ireland and other euro zone periphery states that helped inflate real estate bubbles.

In Slovenia's case, this was exacerbated by a lack of adequate oversight in the state-owned financial system.

"There was excess liquidity which blurred the judgment of some," said newly appointed central bank governor Bostjan Jazbec who will take over in July. "It is clear that in Slovenia we were not very successful in the management of the state companies."

The two countries also share the same vulnerability through their banks. According to the IMF, Slovenia will need to recapitalize its three largest, which are majority or largely state owned, by a total of 1 billion euros this year, or about 3 percent of GDP.

Last year non-performing loans reached 14.4 percent of the banks' loan books.

Repeated protestations by Ljubljana officials that "Slovenia is not Cyprus" echo other countries' efforts to calm markets before they too were forced into bailouts.

And while Slovenia still has access to international markets, investors have pushed its borrowing costs to above 6 percent, not far from the 7 percent considered unsustainable for a country to fund itself.

An opinion poll by Delo Stik in March showed 48 percent of Slovenians believed the country would not survive without international help, versus just 44 percent who thought it could.

"They say Slovenia is not like Cyprus, but I'm afraid things may get just as bad," said a woman named Nada, 63, who works part-time in a garden center. "They just told me this week that there is no work for me for at least two months. Who cares about flowers at a time like this?"

MIXED SIGNALS

Prime Minister Alenka Bratusek, who took power after a wave of protests against graft and austerity helped topple the previous government, is pushing ahead with a plan to create a "bad bank" to quarantine 7 billion euros in non-performing loans, most of which are burdening three main lenders, NLB, Nova KBM and Abanka Vipa.

The government must also inject up to 1 billion euros in new cash into the banks to lift their value and then sell them, although no date has been mentioned.

That cash must come from an overall 3 billion euros the government must borrow, a goal complicated by the crisis in Cyprus.

Conflicting statements from the top don't help, either.

Former Prime Minister Janez Jansa, ousted earlier this year, has said Ljubljana must issue a bond by June 6 or it would not be able to pay back a 907 million euro treasury bill coming due.

Last week, however, new Finance Minister Uros Cufer said the country could hold on until autumn to wait until markets calmed.

Cufer also said Slovenia could sell a major state asset this year. He gave no details, but the government has big stakes in the country's biggest telecommunications, fuels and insurance companies worth about 780 million euros at the moment.

Analysts are not sure who to believe. Although Slovenia sold enough debt at the end of 2012 to create a cash buffer that could last until about September, they said delaying a new debt issue until the last minute would be unwise.

"Post Cyprus, I think managing market and depositor sentiment is key ... Waiting for September or October is probably not a good thing," said Standard Bank head of research Tim Ash.

"They need to remain ahead of the market by really showing they have reform plans in place and can address the issues without resort to a Troika bail-out. Even then, it might not be possible."

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Importance Of Website Security Settings And Ssl Certificates

People are getting smart about online security. Now a day's more and more of them are look for the lock icon and "https" prefix in the address bar of their browser before submitting personal information online. If your website doesn't have an SSL Certificate, visitors may leave before making a purchase, creating an account or even signing up for a newsletter and in the end you'll be at loss.

An SSL certificate contain important details of the owner of the website, e-mail address, the period of validity, DN with the ordinary name and also the detection of the certificate of the person issuing it. The certification authority (CA) maintains a total list in which we can find the names of signed certificates and also more information about the SSL certificate revocation. In addition, SSL increases answerability and visibility of the company and creates goodwill and a positive image among customers. The CA maintains the integrity of transmitted data. It is therefore a good tool to meet the security, privacy, and essential to protect the personal and responsive data security values.

SSL is mostly important when we give our personal information and credit card details online. SSL secured website cannot be easily accessed by hackers because certificates have the right key to encrypt data. So, the SSL security certificate supports in all aspect so one can actually rely on the certification power.

Internet has shaped no doubt new opportunities for electronic commerce. However, that the growth also attracts a growing number of criminals. Fake web sites try to seduce the innocent customers into revealing personal information without knowing. The only solution to this difficulty is to take advantage of SSL and to implement on your Web site. On the bottom line, every website that deals with sensitive data such as credit card numbers or other personal information should have valid certificates SSL in place to protect their customers.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Credit Cards For Everyone

Nowadays Dubai market offers variety of credit cards. There are many credit cards in Dubai therefore it certainly suits the rising demands of the customer. It's not difficult for the card issuer to fool the customers by issuing the credit card with very high interest rate. This is not going to be a very great deal. Thus comparing different credit cards is really important. It will help you to buy best credit card which is offered in the market.

Compare credit cards to get the best out of it. Comparing is one of the essential thing which should be done in order to get best credit card. One cannot ignore its significance particularly at the time of occasional s[pending or holiday shopping. Therefore whenever you think of buying credit cards then remember one thing that you need to compare credit cards.

You will find different credit cards in the market. Some of these credit cards are gold credit card; master cards etc. when you are making trips to some great destinations, shopping and traveling then master cards are really useful. Dubai's financial market is very famous when you are looking for best master cards. For the people of Dubai it has become a kind of status symbol. This credit card has become so popular because of its great facilities and usage.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Credit Track Record Post Bankruptcy

There is really nothing at all pleasant about personal bankruptcy. It is a criminal record item, you have to head to court, your possessions and bad debts are usually published for expert review and disapproval, and your friends and neighbors cease inviting you around for dinner. Ok, that does not happen, nevertheless it feels just as poorly as if they had.

Usually the one redeeming thing that hails from a bankruptcy is a discharge from the financial obligations which might be covered within the patio umbrella of the filing. Right now, there are different sorts associated with bankruptcies that a person can file Body that liquidates his or her possessions completely and completely releases any further requirement in most cases (i.electronic. - income tax, supporting your children at all exceptions) and something that is essentially because repayment plan that is used by the court assignee.
Because of this article - we have been concerned only with your credit track record POST bankruptcy.

Those things that are filed with all the bankruptcy (the list regarding debts you are seeking defense against) cannot be listed while individual bad debts following your filing. They must become reported as part of chapter 7. How does it help a person? Well, think of it as a large file folder associated with problems you've had with your past, but in which folder are prepared neatly and are trapped in the spare space you never visit. It really is there, but not a real big part of your existing. If you have never attempted to fix your credit report (which could remove the bankruptcy using equal success just like any other negative merchandise) potential lenders will certainly see it. But it is a self contained part of your current past history that you have ( ideally) overcome with a beneficial payment history consequently. It is not uncommon for those only two years away from bankruptcy to have robust 700 + credit scores, that enables them to be successfully treated as an The credit risk.

Okay, so what should you stays away from you are asking, appropriate? I'll tell you. Quite often a creditor may violate this apply and report your own delinquency separately, not in the umbrella of the BK submitting on your report. This specific takes our record folder example earlier mentioned, and adds something like a bunch of loose cardstock lying around your house, appearing like you have had OTHER problems outside the house and even since the declaring. This can not only mean trouble for your credit rating and ability to proceed with your life, it may also mean BIG difficulties for the creditor performing the reporting.

Why? Well, all the way around the Supreme Court of the us, our judicial system provides protected and offered homage to YOUR to use the BK laws to advance on with your life. As well as reporting bad debts outside this filing, that have been contained within, is often a direct, (if not purposive) violation of your economic future.

You can manage this yourself. Or perhaps, you can call the lawyer. Either way, you should be aware of the laws and regulations that protect an individual, and the potential punitive measures for the creditor breaking your rights. If they are made aware, with me with others, it is an extremely swift resolution. But you should get copies of one's reports regularly, perhaps innocuous, innocent errors like this happen every day - and people such as yourself are the ones whom pay. Don't be the victim. Knowledge is actually power!

The Basics of Yahoo Finance

Investment for future is a wise thing to do for your retirement. One form of such investment is purchasing stocks, which represent a fraction of the company, so that when you purchase stocks of that company, you are in a way purchasing into that company. You can get profit if the company gets profit, and lose money if the performance of the company goes down. Success in purchasing stocks on the net comes from the ability to see the bigger picture of the market and from concentrating on even the smallest details.

Yahoo Finance is one of the services provided by Yahoo that gives almost all kinds of financial information including stock exchange rates, stock quotes, financial reports, corporate press releases and famous message boards to discuss the stock valuation and prospects of a company. In addition to that, it also provides some host tools for the management of personal finance.

At Yahoo Finance, you will have access to a huge range of financial resources including
- Latest market information including delayed quotes, historical price data, tracking of personal portfolio, SEC filings, mutual funds and stocks charts, data of insider trading, exchange rates of currencies, estimates of earnings and research, recommendations of brokerage and listings of industries and sectors.
- The service also includes display of financial news from different news agencies world wide, editorial contents from various experts and external links for news from other web sites.
- Personal finance tools like calculators, rates and glossary.
- Content on personal finance including how to guides, comments from experts and latest finance news.
- Interactive features like stock chat rooms and financial message boards.
- Quotes and information from European markets of UK, France, Italy and Germany, Asian markets of South Korea and Japan and markets of Australia and New Zealand.
- And an ample directory of other web sites.

If you want to start investing and want to learn the basics about financial planning and stock market, the category of Investment References and Guides on Yahoo Finance directory can be a great help to you. In this, you will find numerous resources which will assist you to get started with the stocks, mutual funds, bonds and other vehicles of investment. However, in regard to trading actually, Yahoo Finance is not a provider of brokerage service, but you will have to register with a stock brokerage firm for selling and buying stocks. For that purpose, you will have to go to brokerage listings present in the Yahoo Directory.

Yahoo Finance contains the most updated financial information on the net. Prices, annual high & low, changes in dividend rates and outstanding common shares are updated daily; corporate action items like exchange changes and stock splits, officer changes and flash earnings announcements are updated as and when they are announced; quarterly financial statements, company phone numbers and addresses and shares that are held in public hands, the float, are updated after every 3 months; officer names, number of employees and annual financial statements are updated every year; the mutual fund reports are updated once a day at around 6 pm; 2-year, 5-year and max charts are updated once a week on Friday, after the market gets closed; Research reports are updated every day; Downgrades and upgrades are updated 3 times a day; IPO news is continuously updated during the whole day.

Friday, June 22, 2012

How To Sustain Small Business Growth

Many small businesses often ignore the minor glitches which cause major problems in their small businesses. There are people or situations which we often get used to and ignore, without realizing that they may be the main cause of a crisis situation. You could be strangling your small business growth without even realizing it.

Organizational growth demands updated strategies every quarter. It does not matter whether you are self-employed, running a home-based business or an employer. Leaders have to implement organizational updates every now and then in order to enhance growth strategies and speed up the entire growth process. Some hire help, while others acquire business cash advance in order to progress and expand.

We have created a list of how you can upgrade your growth strategies and take your small business to the next level. Firstly, you should

Remove the outlived
There might be services being offered and products being produced which may not be of any value to your business. You need to make a list of such services which no longer add value to your small business growth and have outlived the market demand.

Re-organize and strategize company's strategic goals
Reevaluate whether your mission statement matches your goals or not. You will know how much work being done is irrelevant to your small business needs and market demand. Redefine your objectives in pragmatic measureable terms.

Distractions and competitions among your employees is another point which should be considered. Other issues may have distracted them from your small business goals. There may be continuous concerns hampering growth among the employees and creating problems in their professional relationship and everyday work.

Create different ways to leverage employee talents
Work efficiency can only be improved by leveraging employee talent in different areas. Set meetings with them; ask them what they want to do and how they can add value to your company's goals. Help them review their skills in order to sharpen them. There might be unproductive or negative employees, but firing them may not be the solution. Hence, move them to positions and projects where their skills can be utilized effectively.

Check the Budget Lists
In many cases you subscribe, acquire business loans, purchase and hire help which may not be required by the company anymore. And all these might be charging you a lot of cash without you even realizing it. To save your working capital, these budgetary leaks should be evaluated and diminished. Conducting a quarterly review is extremely useful, knowing where your money is going will help you fight the unnecessary charges involved and will help you improve your credit score. Check your taxes and be ready for the upcoming TAX season.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Getting Over Your Break Up The Five Steps Of Recovery

Just as there are stages of grief when mourning someone who has died, there are also steps that must be taken when getting over a break up. One woman whose first husband died and second husband divorced her said that it was actually easier getting over the death of a husband than it was recovering from divorce. That is because there's societal support when someone dies, but you are supposed to go about getting over break up on your own.

First: You should do is sit down and write a long letter to your ex. Pour out your heart. Share the experiences you had together. Tell him or her why you loved them. Put on paper how you feel about the break up. Call them names. It's okay to emote in this letter because no one is ever going to see it. That is because you are going to light a candle and burn the letter over the candle's flame. There are not many rituals that go along with breaking up, but this one can help you on the road to emotional recovery.

Second: You need to arrange to exchange stuff. If you have been in a relationship of any length, you probably have some stuff of his at your place and he's got your things at his. You probably want much of this stuff back and he or she is equally eager to get theirs. Work out a time for a mutual exchange.

If there are things of your ex's that aren't going to be exchanged, either box them up or throw them away. Don't leave your ex's toothbrush lying around the bathroom because it will only remind you of them as you are trying to go about getting over the break up.

Third: It is also a good idea to box up any gifts your ex gave you for a time. Wearing a watch that your ex gave you will make you think of them every time you check to see what time it is. That's just not a good idea when getting over a break up.

Fourth: There are sometimes financial matters that need to be straightened out when getting over a break up. If you owe your ex money, try to either pay it off from your own funds or get another loan to pay it off. If you have a checking account together, work out how you are going to divvy it up and then go to the bank to close it.

What you should be seeing is a pattern of closing out the parts of your lives that you shared. This is essential to getting over break up.

Fifth: After you have done what is necessary, agree to have no contact for thirty days. This will allow you to start building separate lives. You shouldn't call, text, email, or meet the other person during this time. You may even want to agree that some places such as a specific bar or even a given church belong to one party or the other during this month long period.

After you have had time to begin building a separate life, you will be able to interact more normally once again. This is a difficult time, so give yourself the space you need in order to go about getting over a break up.

Getting over a break-up, even an amicable one, can be a lonely road but you just have to get through each step and each day one at a time.

An Introduction To Realty Trac Foreclosures

If you've been looking around online for information about buying foreclosures, you've probably come across the name RealtyTrac a few times. What exactly makes RealtyTrac foreclosures so popular and different from the other lists out there, though?

Types of Foreclosures
RealtyTrac foreclosures include pre-foreclosures (default homes), properties soon to be auctioned, and bank- and real estate-owned homes. Their database includes homes from more than 94 percent of U.S. Listings are aggregated from a wide variety of sources and they update the whole database twice a day.

Foreclosure listings
RealtyTrac foreclosures are listed along with a variety of information to help you decide whether or not the property is something you want to investigate further. Some 10 percent of the listings include photos and they're all accompanied by mapping technology that lets you see not only the location, but aerial photos, too.

Their specially designed algorithms provide an estimate of property value for you. This comes along with information on comparable property sales recent sales of nearby homes so you can form your own idea of the property's market value.

Listings of RealtyTrac foreclosures also won't leave you in the dark about critical financial and legal matters like liens, bankruptcy filings, and loans out on the properties. This gives you the chance to pass over any home that might end up too expensive or complicated to bother with.

Services
RealtyTrac is more than just a list of foreclosures, though. The company also provides a wide variety of services. With their interactive mapping system, you can easily search for properties within your chosen geographic area. To keep you up to date, ReatlyTrac lets you set up a profile with your purchase criteria so you can receive email notification whenever a property you might be interested in enters the database. If you want to contact an owner, instead of calling, use RealtyTrac's postcard service to directly contact the homeowner easily for free. Tired of foreclosure lists that force you to transfer listings individually into Excel files or mail merge lists? At RealtyTrac, their software makes large scale data sorting easy.

RealtyTrac reviews
Naturally, before you invest money and time in trying out a foreclosure list, it's wise to take a look at the reviews. Among the companies that have reviewed and use RealtyTrac foreclosure listings are MSN Real Estate, Yahoo! Real Estate, and The Wall Street Journal's Real Estate Journal. These companies use ReatlyTrac's listings and services on a daily basis to keep their readers up to date. Who else is better qualified to provide ReatlyTrac reviews?

Of course, with a company this size, there are bound to be a few complaints here and there.

Some users have found out-of-date listings and have had trouble canceling their subscriptions. With the huge number of ReatlyTrac foreclosures processed daily, it may well happen that some sold homes were overlooked and left in the database for a while. As for subscription cancellations, if you've ever used automatic payments, you know problems can happen with nearly any company, no matter how reliable.

Purchasing access to the database of Realtytrac foreclosures has its pros and cons, but if you're looking for a large national database with homes in all stages of the foreclosure process and access to solid training material, RealtyTrac is worth looking into.

Friday, June 15, 2012

Free Printable Forms, Documents, Calendars and Cards

Thirty years ago when you needed a business form or letter template, you had to open a book to look at a sample. Then you had to get out the typewriter and start processing the document from scratch. Otherwise, you were ordering blank forms that just did not exactly suit your purpose. If you wanted a calendar, invitation or greeting card, you went to the nearest retail store.

Soon word processing applications became the standard for creating letters and even basic forms. Spreadsheets became more popular for table based layouts and auto calculations. As the Internet emerged it has become possible to share and download these files. New file formats have also allowed a more pleasing graphical presentation such as PDF files that are capable of producing quality printed vector based graphics.

That brings us to today. Both businesses and individuals need to be aware of the opportunities that exist to find quality resources in printed document templates online. A number of sites specialize in offering these types of free resources. Not only will you have option to download a free word processing document, spreadsheet, PDF or graphic file, but in most cases you can edit and customize that file to suit your need perfectly.

In the case of business documents, it is fairly easy to do a search and find personnel forms, business letter templates, accounting tables, financial forms and budgeting spreadsheets. Most of these template files provide the basic function but allow you to modify and customize the document. For example, you may find an employee time sheet form that helps your business track daily hours and auto totals it for each week. You can easily type in all of your employee names in the sheet and change those names when you add or remove employees. You can modify the document to add a table column to track employee social security numbers. It is a much better option over writing in those names in on a blank form.

Furthermore, the same type of convenience can be found in free printable cards, invitations and calendars for individual use. Even 5 years ago, most households did not possess a quality printer that could replicate the commercial printers. But technology has improved greatly in this field. It is not all that expensive to get a good quality photo printer. And those photo printers are not just for family photos, they do an amazing job of printing vector graphics as I mentioned above. You can order blank greeting card stock or invitation stock online or pick it up at most office stores. With this stock, you can download and print quality PDF based greeting cards or modify invitation templates and print them in the convenience of your own home. Even if you do not have that stock on hand, most people that own photo printers will have standard 4x6 photo paper that can be used to print a simple one page card (on those occasions you forgot to get someone that birthday card).

So do not get stuck in old thinking. Search the web and you will find an abundance of free printable business forms, financial documents, greeting cards, calendars and invitations.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Astrology 2011-success And Your Time Of Birth

Astrology predictions 2011 for people born from 4 to 6 a.m. (Sun in House 1)

You're very proud and have the power to succeed in what you propose. Fully expressed with the characteristics of your Sun sign and be the focus in all of the places you stay. You have strong will, self-confidence and optimism. You will be an outstanding person, extroverted and with great skill to lead others, although you get a bit of selfishness and tendency to exaggerate. Your success is related to the expression of your creativity and the realization of your personal initiatives.

Astrology predictions 2011 for people born 2 to 4 a.m. (Sun in the House 2)

You have the ability to draw money into your life. It's likely that you earn enough by your own efforts and initiatives. You should have a materialistic sense of life you will look very sharp and very attracted to the possessions that represent standing, worth and luxury.
Although the money is coming into your life, it is important that you learn to manage because you sneak out of your hands. Many times you will make purchases or investments or incur unnecessary expenses that you'll regret later. You must learn to share your property and not leave yourself dazzled by the luxurious possessions. This position emphasizes your value scale, whereas concentrating on material things don't neglect your spiritual values and those of others. Your success depends a lot on your personal self-worth, your administrative capacity and relationships with lofty and powerful.

Astrology predictions 2011 for people born from midnight to 2 am (Sun in House 3)

an outstanding mind; you will think very personal and devise solutions to your problems. It is important to study and to grow intellectually because it builds confidence in you. Your success in life is related to your brothers and your cousins: they exert a powerful influence in your life and probably you have a very special attachment to one of them. Because of considerations in your thoughts, you travel a lot and connect with people. On the negative side these influences can lead to being impatient, fickle, boastful or domineering with your opinions.

Astrology predictions 2011 for people born between 10 and 12 p.m. (Sun in the House 4)

Success in life is related to real estate business, or if you're dedicated to something humanitarian, this influence makes you a natural psychologist.
This position of the Sun will certainly improve in the mature stage of your life, making you some full time and great achievements. You feel very proud of yourself and what you have accomplished throughout your life. It's possible that during this time you find a lot of recognition to your work and obtain certain awards or honors.

Astrology predictions 2011 for people born between 8 and 10 p.m. (Sun in the House 5)

Your success is related to any creative, inventive, sports activities, recreation or education, particularly to children. Moreover, that influence brings business success and brings speculative investments that contain risk related to gambling. The Sun in this position brings successful children.

Astrology predictions 2011 for people born 6 to 8 pm (Sun in House 6)

You're hardworking, organized and efficient. You excel in your job by your ability and dedication. You're a perfectionist in everything. Analyze in detail the situations and have the ability to see what no one sees. You need to control the tendency that makes you very critical and always dissatisfied with your love. Although you have a sense of authority, your success will probably be more related to work.
Your interest in health and hygiene of the body can lead to excel in fields related to medication, nursing, dietary or services usually.

Astrology predictions 2011 for people born under the sign of water.

This position may generate timidity and lack of self-recognition, which ultimately will result in disappointments or frustrations in every thing you do.

Astrology predictions 2011 for people born from 4 to 6 p.m. (Sun in House 7)

Your success is related to the associations, the public, justice and the expression of your good manners and personal magnetism. This affect gives you the possibility to win every trial or legal proceedings wherein you find yourself involved.

Astrology predictions 2011 for people born 2 to 4 p.m. (Sun in the House 8)

Your success is related to asset management and other people's money, or making other investments or transactions. In addition, your perception and instinct will take your interest in the occult, the mysteries of life, which makes you inclined to be a researcher. You must learn to trust your hunches and impressions. Throughout your life you will receive property; they might come from an inheritance or marriage.

Astrology predictions 2011 for people born from noon to 2 pm (Sun in House 9)

Your success is related to long journeys, the study of other cultures, languages, philosophy, politics and religion. You feel an urge to know and it will take you travel the world. You will successfully attain your material in a different nation you were born. If you don't definitively settle in another place, make many trips and keep up a correspondence with people abroad. It is doubtless that your father or other family members come from another country.
Additionally, you will have a fantastic sense of justice and, if you study law, can be very good professional. Additionally you can successfully perform as a teacher in any subject. You wish to explore and learn about nature, in addition to abstract ideas. Your religious feeling might be intense and can show a great devotion to your beliefs.

Astrology predictions 2011 for people born from 10 a.m. at noon (Sun in House 10)

You have a great capability to lead others and excel in the professional field. You will put a lot of energy and have a successful career.
You will feel excessive pride, arrogance and strong material ambitions. You will manage to transcend your initial status and achieve greater status and recognition. You feel very comfortable and satisfied with your achievements. You're competitive and will have a firm position of security and authority in your life.

Astrology predictions 2011 for people born 8 to 10 am (Sun in the House 11 )

Your sociability and skill to relate known personalities will lead to important and influential positions, particularly men, that will benefit you in the future. Success in your life is connected with relationships you build and your participation in certain public events. You have friends that would lead you to positions of authority, as managers, directors, governors, etc.
You've big aspirations and perspectives in your life. You are idealistic and are keen to fight to attain what you propose. On the other hand, you perform very well in group activities and turn out to be leader everywhere. You are worried about social issues and would like to know about factors that collaborate with the renovation and improvement of life in your society.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

How Looking For Real Estate In Boise Idaho Can Be Made Easier

The Internet can make our lives a lot easier; this is especially true when it comes time to shop for new things. You can read testimonials, price compare, and learn all the details you need to about a service or product before trying it for yourself. The Internet is a fantastic tool for people buying all sorts of things, including Boise Idaho real estate. Previously, it was necessary to view in person each piece of real estate you were thinking about buying; now you can view preview photos to help you narrow your list of potential purchases. You can learn something about the neighborhood a piece of real estate is found in. You can read up on the real estate company you're considering purchasing through. If you're interested in aquiring a home, retail storefront, or other structure custom built for you, you can research different construction agencies, architectural firms, and interior decorators; you can even view an online portfolio showcasing the work done for other clients. Real estate browsing is made a lot more easier when using the Internet as a valuable tool.

The easiest way to start learning about the Boise Idaho real estate market is to look for regularly used review sites on the Internet. The best review websites to look for will contain reviews posted by individual users. Testimonials should be current and not from a long time ago. Read through the reviews left by other users. Look for comments regarding customer service, the helpfulness of the agents, and other useful concerns. People occasionally leave feedback based on personal inconveniences that have little to do with the services supplied so take the time to read the most current reviews carefully to get an accurate understanding of the agency listed on the site.

These same review web pages will also inform you about design and construction firms. You can learn exactly the same things about these firms as you did about various real estate agencies. One other good way of finding out about these firms is to visit their websites. Individual company websites can offer photos of properties and structures they have available or have finished in the past. Many of these online galleries will also have information such as the client's name and the date of project completion. Perhaps visiting the construction sites or completed projects yourself is possible, where you can get a clear perception of the companies services and their professionalism. While it's unlikely that you could visit private dwellings on your own, it's certainly possible to drop by commercial and public buildings completed by these organizations.

Reading reviews and looking at pictures is very helpful but you can also contact people directly and ask about their experience with various Boise Idaho real estate agencies and construction companies. People are usually eager to share their experiences with different businesses; whether these experiences were negative or positive, you're certain to get a great deal of information.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to real estate investments so be sure to do your research and determine what specifically you are in the market for. Rate the different agencies, while making a list of pros and cons to help you establish who to go with. Consider keeping a file with your paperwork, pictures, and the contact information of diverse agencies. With a little meticulous planning, it's possible to make the real estate shopping experience significantly easier. Whether your searching for the perfect store front for your new business or a new home for you and your family, real estate shopping does not have to be difficult.

When Do You Pay Cash Or Finance A Fishing Boat?

The following article presents the very latest information on when you should pay cash for a fishing boat or finance it. If you have a particular interest in how you can afford to pay for the fishing boat of your choice, then this informative article is required reading.

Knowledge can give you a real advantage. To make sure you're fully informed about when you should by a boat, keep reading.

Of course you already know the answer to the title of this article. It's when you have enough cash. Here's a little advice to go along with the obvious. Before you go out and purchase your boat, remember that boating is a hobby and you shouldn't go overboard with it. Unlike your house, boating isn't really worth going into debt for.

To get the most out of your boat, it's always a better idea to simply save up for a while. If you don't want to wait that long, there are viable alternatives online to earn the money to actually pay cash for the boat of your choice. I'm not talking about some internet scam. I'm talking about a real way to put your computer to work and spend some time taking advantage of one of the hottest moneymaking activities online. In the meantime, you should carefully study the boating market. When you manage to get a hold of the required amount of cash, go ahead and buy the fishing boat you want.

Whatever you do, make sure you've carefully thought out what your expenses are going to be. You don't want to spend all of your money on just the boat itself. When you purchase the boat, you'll need to have enough money for taxes, registration, storage, towing insurance, gas, equipment, and even minor repairs if your boat requires them.

When buying a fishing boat, used or new, cash is always better than financing. And you can save money with cash, as there are no finance charges. Financing charges can get high, very high in fact if you don't know a lot about it.

For some people who have financed a boat purchase, they were advised to use a home equity loan. I mean after all it's tax deductible right? I wouldn't recommend that at all. You wouldn't want to put yourself in a situation where you could possibly lose your home. Always be on the lookout for boat show financing too. Never use it! There are boat show financing ploys that will extend a loan out over the course of 10 - 15 years. That's just ridiculous!

Sometimes it's tough to sort out all the details related to whether you should finance a boat or pay cash for it, but I'm positive you'll have no trouble making sense of the information presented above.

Monday, June 11, 2012

Business Plan, For Mortgage Professionals, Targeting First Time Home Buyers

The housing market, combined with the recent tax incentive, has created a new target audience for Realtors and Loan Officers. The need for a sales and marketing plan to address education, building relationships, and communication will generate increased business for the Loan Officer and Realtor to provide assistance to first time home buyer.

The housing downturn has created significant demand for homeownership, especially among first-time home buyers (FTHB), according to a survey on Realtor.com. That is great news for the real estate market, but there are some significant challenges that Realtors and Mortgage Professionals will face.

First challenge: Looming Deadline with NO PLAN

November 30th, 2009 is the date the tax credit goes away. That's 5 months from the day this article was written, which seems like a long time but the reality is that it will be here before we know it. Those who plan on taking advantage of this opportunity need to have a well thought out, fool-proof plan to execute. The sad reality is that people have been/were so busy with refinance business that they didn't have time to build a plan. Others are starving for direction and want a plan but don't have the "know-how" to build one. A strategic sales and marketing plan includes tactics that keep your plan within the necessary timeline.

Second challenge: Weak Relationships

FTHBs are tricky and require a strong relationship and good communication between the Realtor and Loan Officer. As a result of the recent low interest rate environment or "mini refi-boom, mortgage companies focused much of their efforts and time on capturing the refinance opportunities, not building relationships with Realtors. The result: many Realtors were left unattended. Relationship marketing tactics are needed to generate a successful partnership to meet this challenge.

Third challenge: Weak Value Propositions

Everyone knows that Loan Officers need to partner with Realtors but the question is , "why would they partner with you?" Good service and low rates are overused clichs and don't differentiate. Relationships are great, but at the end of the day the relationship needs to lead to "value creation" for both parties for it to be sustainable. A sales marketing plan will outline the strategy needed to create value for the Loan Officer and Realtor.

Fourth challenge: Education Gap

The Obama administration is hoping that a recently enacted tax credit can generate housing demand and help mop up the existing unsold inventory. But according to a survey by Move, Inc.--which operates Realtor.com--nearly half (47%) of home buyers don't even know the tax credit exists! A marketing communication plan is needed to target the first time home buyer educating them about this tax incentive.

Fifth challenge: Fear in the Marketplace

-52% of Americans are concerned that they or someone they know will face foreclosure in the next six to 12 months.
-18.9% (one out of five) of homeowners plan to take advantage of the administration's new program to help prevent foreclosures.
-21% of all homeowners with a mortgage contacted a lender to restructure their loan in the last 12 months.
-Half (10.6%) of those homeowners that contacted their lender experienced success while 5% still await an answer.
-27.1% of adults believe that they or someone they know may default on their mortgage because of unemployment or because they owe more on their home than it's worth.

I won't even begin to mention the media's contribution to this fear. The reality is that people are scared and need guidance. The question is , "who will they trust?" They will trust those whom they have a strong relationship with and/or those who have unshakeable credibility. To meet this challenge create a marketing plan that brands you as experienced in your field and a knowledgeable professional that can be trusted.

The good news in all of this is that there is a ton of opportunity out there. Take a look at the statistics of when Americans are planning on buying:
-23% of all adults plan to purchase a home in the next five years
-5.8% within next 12 months,
-12.8% within the next two years

Here is the opportunity -

First-time Home Buyers make up over half (53.5%) of the market, and the government is offering them an ,000 tax credit to purchase a house. But here's the kicker: 47.6% of Americans don't know about the tax credit! That's almost half the American population! What this means to you is that a lot of people want to buy a home in the next 12 months and most of them are FTHBs who aren't even aware of a huge incentive (,000 tax credit).

Okay, so now you see the opportunity, and the question that should be going through your mind is, "how do I maximize this opportunity given the challenges outlined above?" Great question!

This is a great opportunity and the Million Dollar Challenge was created to assist Mortgage Professionals and Realtors to take advantage of it. The Million Dollar Challenge is a call to action and a business plan example to help First Time Home Buyers receive ,000,000 in tax credits.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

2011 Toyota Sienna's Recalled Over Brake Light Problems

Toyota has fought the recall bug quite a bit in the past year, and it appears a new problem has come to light. The high-profile automaker is recalling approximately 94,000 2011 Toyota Sienna's because of a potentially severe issue involving the brake light switch bracket near the parking brake pedal. All of the vehicles incorporated in this Sienna recall were produced before November of this year. Toyota has had enough recalls to require them to take out an enormous payday loan to fix the problems.
Toyota stomps on the Sienna recall
Because of the position of the brake light switch bracket to the parking brake pedal, the Sienna recall had to take place, states Toyota. The brake switch light may malfunction and bend when the parking brake comes into physical contact with it when fully deployed. Toyota described that the brakes could become engaged due to the warped bracket if the damage is sufficient as the brake lights sometimes stay on even if the brakes are not going. Then brake drag can occur, which can eventually impair overall braking performance.
At this time, Toyota has stated that the business isn't aware of any accidents or injuries that have resulted from the brake light switch bracket problem, although the potential for impaired braking could effortlessly cause such trouble, given time.
Getting in contact with 2011 Toyota Sienna users
Any Toyota Sienna drivers will get first class postal mail sent to them as notification. The middle of January, 2011, is when Toyota plans to start sending this mail. Instructions for how Sienna drivers ought to proceed can be included within the letter. The recall section of Toyota's website may also have this information on it.
By late February, Sienna owners facing recall could be contacted again via first-class mail with data concerning replacement parts for the brake light switching bracket. Also, Sienna owners can be expected to go to the nearest Toyota dealer for an installation appointment. Users won't be charged for the service done to their car. Thinking about the parking brake position, a new switching bracket could be installed.
Toyota taking questions
For those who have any kind of questions about the Sienna recall and are a 2011 Toyota Sienna owners, then visit www.Toyota.com/recall or call the Toyota Customer Experience Center at 800-331-4331.
Articles cited
PR Newswire
prnewswire.com/news-releases/toyota-announces-voluntary-recall-of-certain-2011-sienna-vehicles-to-replace-stop-lamp-switch-bracket-111791049.html

Provab-it Service: Provides Web Design,seo,cms,portal Development,ecommerce Solutions,sem.

PROVAB is a promising offshore IT service provider based in Bangalore, India. Our strategies help in pursuing emerging opportunities in providing end-to-end IT solutions and services through onsite, offshore and outsourcing methods. PROVAB proficiency guarantees quality, competent and rapid execution of any projects - from small websites to complex ecommerce software and custom solution programming.

PROVAB experts deliver unsurpassed business value to customers through a combination of process excellence, quality frameworks and service delivery innovation with latest version of technologies. Our professional designers, developers and managers are committed to services, and best quality work. Our SERVICES include Web Application Development, Website Designing, E-commerce Solutions, Web Portal Development, Search Engine Optimization, Content management system, website promotion, travel portal development, real estate portal development etc.

We provide the following services to USA, UK, Australia, London, Paris, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Portland, San Diego, Seattle, Washington, Argentina, Austria, Canada, Egypt, France, Great Britain, Greece, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE.

Website Design and CMS
PROVAB is one such organization which offers a comprehensive list of services to meet all the designing factors including custom website designing, bespoke corporate designs, dynamic web designing, content management system, website template design, flash designs.

Application Development
Our organization provides Web application development focusing on quality, application design, development and programming with implementation of latest technology in different industry verticals. PROVAB offer widest range of web application development services like custom application development, product development, E-learning solutions, Intranet development and application maintenance.

Portal Development
PROVAB deliver portal development services for pioneering knowledge & use them effectively to enhance user features. We design and develop multi dimensional web portals including web portals, B2B portals, B2C portals, travel portals, real estate portal development and social networking portals and our services include offshore portal development, portal maintenance and designing.

SEO & SEM Solutions
With the right Search Engine Optimization and Marketing (SEO/SEM) plan, we reach to the top of each search engine.Our services cover the complete lifecycle of SEO/SEM that includes: site analysis, on-page optimization, off-page optimization, link building, SMO, PPC etc.

We consign to work with clients and determine the most effective means of achieving maximum benefit through the appropriate combination of the technologies. Our expert technical support staff has in-depth knowledge and experience in software products and tools to maximize system efficiency. You can view our Portfolio as we delivers quality web designs to customers across the globe.

Friday, June 8, 2012

The Top 10 Small Business Web Design Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

You're probably aware that Google gets over 600,000 daily searches for local services and that's likely leaving you wondering, "Where the heck are yours?" And if you're like most small business owners, you probably currently have a website but aren't satisfied with those traffic and leads generated. You might know you need to do something to increase you internet presence and reach more clients online and you're just trying to get from point A where you have little traffic and even less leads and create a simple-to-use site that Google and people love.
But it's not that simple, is it? Well today, we're going to make it a little bit easier and show you the top 10 small business web design mistakes and again how to avoid them.
The first one is hiring a web designer. The art and science of online marketing are very different when we look at aesthetics versus functionality and when you hire a web designer, search and usability are often lacking.
That just means that you can end up with a nice-looking hotel in the middle of the desert. By that, I mean most designers that go to design school and have that type of background are very good at aesthetics and looks and creativity but not so much in the science of finding the right keywords and doing the right things to make your sites search engine-friendly and ultimately a valuable tool for lead generation.
The second mistake is not implementing SEO basics and by that, we mean page titles which is using the most popular keywords on the title of every page on your site, ensuring that you incorporate those keywords and important places on your site meaning your articles, blogs, your service pages and everywhere in your site where you want to attract people. You need to use those keywords. And the last thing is just backlinks. Even though that's not a design element per se, I would like to sneak that in there because it's so important to list your business in the right places to get found by your clients.
The third mistake is not using a CMS or content management system and they're very - a handful of very effective ones being WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, are the most popular and they allow you to easily manage content yourself with little or no technical knowledge.
We only use and recommend WordPress and it's important to have a CMS there folks because lack of ability to access or log into your site is a reason why most small business owners don't have a successful site because they're disconnected from the site.
The fourth mistake that we see a lot is just failing to add content. Again, this ties into not having a friendly site or not seeing that it's important enough or making a priority out of adding content on a regular basis; and the result of this is that most websites are online brochures, just static, boring text information about you instead of about the needs of your clients. And we believe you should blog at lease once a week and you should address the needs of your audience, not yourself. Contrary to popular belief, outsourcing is better than not publishing at all because if the result is that you have four new blog posts a month that aren't ideal, at least if they're high quality, you're adding content that's going to attract search engines and people to your site which is the whole point. So doing this bears huge traffic and reputation benefits and it's important to add content frequently.
The fifth mistake we see is omitting local address information and what we mean by that is Google Places and other directories validate this. They look at your website and they try to match your online listings with your site itself to see if you're legitimate and you have to have your physical location and address entered the right way in your site and it should match those other searches, other sites where people are doing searches rather.
A lot of people don't know this but mobile search use is growing over 400 percent each year. So if you can imagine how important it is considering that you're a local business to show up when people are doing local mobile searches, you have to have that local information on your site. Doing this also builds trust and confidence with clients. They feel more comfortable if you're seen as a person of authority and you have local information everywhere on your site. The last thing you need to do is just make sure you list your address on the header or footer of every page; not just on your Contact Us page but list out local information on every page.
The sixth mistake we see is forgetting a strong call to action. So, this tells visitors what the next step is and how. So in a lot of sites, you will see a lot of great information but then a visitor just leaves and they go to another site when they finally make a purchase or engage a doctor or lawyer or dentist like yourself because you were not providing a clear path in telling them what to do next. You need to make it easy for clients to contact you.
So by using lead forms in multiple places on every page and even a traffic magnet like an ebook, a video or tip sheet, you're really making it easy to contact you. A lot of clients don't feel comfortable using contact forms or large phone numbers but you have to do that because if you think about your website as a filter and you're getting probably several thousand - for the average small business owner, 12,000, 15,000, 20,000 visitors a year coming to your site and it's all about how many of those are sticking and actually contacting you and becoming leads.
So if you do something like write an ebook or a quick video or even a tip sheet that they have to enter their name, phone number or email address to download, you're going to have a lot better results by using a traffic magnet.
Number seven is failing to engage clients. So really what this boils down to is that text is dead. Online attention span of people is about 15 seconds and we like to say at AttentionVideo.com that a picture is worth a thousand words but a video is worth a thousand clients. So you can imagine that a video would probably increase a time on website. It usually does but more importantly, it allows clients to get to know you right away.
So instead of looking at some boring text that they're going to glance at and they go to the next provider online, they're going to get to know you and get a feel for your style and see you as a provider of good services and authority in your area. You can almost use the internet as a virtual sales force, qualifying people instead of just have them come to a boring site and leave.
The eighth mistake we see is not tracking the results. Most business owners say they're just too busy to do this, which goes back to the e-myth and the popular (business management) books out there. They will tell you that you're in the business of marketing and selling products and services, not just providing them so you must track your search rankings, how many people are coming to your site, those of your visits and then the leads and clients in order to improve results. And considering that Google Analytics is free and easy to use, there's really not an excuse to not do this because you're probably wasting money each and every week or month by not tracking which of your expenditures are not producing a positive return on investment and cutting those out and it's important to test various methods and eliminate the lame ducks out there. That's the best way to get traction to your marketing is to test everything and throw out the underperformers. OK?
The ninth mistake is missing trust and social icons. So people place great value on reviews and peer validation meaning if you are going to order a pizza or get LASIK surgery or going on vacation at a lodge in Costa Rica, you're probably going to use Yelp!, Facebook and other review sites to evaluate your decisions, so everything from Amazon.com to restaurants to senior care and Caring.com. You're going to use reviews to place - as a form of wading out your potential options. It's really important to use social icons. They also build trust out there and finally with other elements like Better Business Bureau or trade association logos. These things all build trust with your market and show them that you're a trusted authority out there.
And the tenth and final mistake is using vanity domains. So when I say vanity domains, I mean just your name dot com and the truth is that Google and people value keyword-rich domains. So as I said, having a website like ClevelandBankruptcy.com would be much more effective than SteveJankinsLaw.com especially if you want a bankruptcy lawyer. So many names are still available. Use dot com and dot net only and it's important to do this because you're going to, again, show people that your website has the content they're looking for. They will get to know your name later. Branding is for large organizations but if your name is not Coca-Cola, you're better off going with a keyword-rich domain.
OK. The last thing I want to cover is questions to ask an online marketing firm. This is really important because now we've established that you have to have a CMS like WordPress. You have to deal with a firm that can help you market your site and design it with an eye for conversion and performance. We need to ask a couple of questions of these firms, prospective firms to see if they're a good fit for you.
The first thing is samples of work in your industry. Ask for references. If I'm a dentist in Chicago, I want to say, "Show me other dentist sites you've done and how they're ranking on Google." So example of client search results, "Dallas Mexican restaurant". As long as I'm not a chiropractor, that should be pretty impressive if a firm can produce those results and show them and demonstrate them to me.
And finally - not finally, but again is the site built on WordPress or some other CMS? It's so important to use a CMS because the next question is, "Can you log in and manage content?" and yourself updating and adding photos or blogs, et cetera.
If you think that someone is just going to design you a site that's going to work magic for you, you're mistaken. You have to have a vested interest and ownership of your marketing and quite frankly, be passionate about it because you're not going to invest the time required to master marketing and part of that is whoever you work with to help design and market your site, "Is there training and support provided?" Is it a one-time deliverable or are you going to establish a relationship with these folks? And if you know how to measure and evaluate return on investment, you should be willing to do that because a website is a living organism that needs to constantly be tweaked and improved and nurtured in order to produce the results that you want. Like anything good in life, it takes work, right?
And finally, are there any ongoing hosting or maintenance fees? That's really something that a lot of - especially dealing with a lot of attorneys, I see a lot of attorneys get burned with really high maintenance fees, 0, 0 or 00 or more dollars just for maintenance which there's no active marketing or advertising going on.
So really ask those questions. Take time to read the agreements and one more thing I wanted to bring up is just that to ask, "Do you own the domain and website properties?" because a lot of website companies have a leasing model because they're just trying to get more residual money out of companies. So they will not only charge you to customize or design a site but they actually own the IP that's associated in the creative assets and actually own your website. So you want to ask those questions.
Hopefully, you found this was helpful and I provided some good information to steer you on the right track on your marketing and hopefully you feel a little bit of relief knowing that if you avoid these top 10 mistakes, you will probably be better off when it comes to designing and maintaining your website. But if you need more info, we can direct you to a couple of resources that basically what we do at Geek-Free Marketing and Ninja Web Designs is we make websites that are friendly for you, obviously for your customers and for search engines. OK?
So search engines, you and your customers all love our sites because we always think about the three legs of the table, three legs that it takes to hold up the table and that is the foundation of a strong marketing platform. So you have to think about all three entities in everything that you do.
If your website isn't friendly for you, you're not going to invest time and use it. Obviously if it's not friendly for your clients, they're going to come there and bounce which means they leave without contacting you, if they ever find you at all; and in order for that to happen, you need to be friendly for search engines. So remember, those are the three legs of the online marketing table that you need to have when it comes to web design.
Feel free to contact us now if you want to learn more about our services. Thank you very much and I appreciate your time and if you want to get pointed in the right direction, Geek-Free Marketing, Attention Video and Ninja Web Designs are our brands.
Geek-Free Marketing provides online marketing, coaching and consulting for small business owners. Attention Video provides killer online videos that engage your audience so we can put those on your website and everywhere else in the web people are looking and help you actually rank those videos in search results. And finally, NinjaWebDesigns.com makes WordPress websites that rock.
Thank you and have a good day.

Highlighting Winter 2013 Atlanta Symphony Concerts

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, under the musical direction of Robert Spano, has a full winter season of concerts planned. The symphony is one of the leading orchestras in the South. They perform in the Woodruff Arts Center in midtown Atlanta. Single ticket prices range from -, depending on seating level. Here are some of the highlights of the 2013 winter season.

The symphony will start the New Year with a world premier work commissioned by the Atlanta Symphony. On January 10-12 Laura Ardan, principal clarinetist for the Atlanta Symphony, will perform composer Michael Gandolfi's The Nature of Light, a work for clarinet and string orchestra. Gandolfi's previous works have been performed by leading orchestras including the Boston Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra. The program will also feature Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade and Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 5, with guest pianist Juho Pohjonen. A sought after performer all over the world, Pohjonen is one of the brightest young talents from Finland.

On January 24 and 26, the symphony will present Gluzman's Bruch and the Scottish. The evening will begin with the Overture from Euryanthe, a German romantic opera by Weber. Israeli violinist Vadim Gluzman will be the featured soloist for Violin Concerto in G minor by Max Bruch. Gluzman regularly appears as a soloist with symphonies around the world, including the Chicago Symphony, the London Philharmonic, and the Munich Philharmonic. He plays a Stradivari violin on extended loan to him through the Stradivari Society of Chicago. The program will conclude with Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3, Scottish. Guest conductor will be Kazushi Ono, Music Director of La Monnaie, the Royal Opera House of Belgium.

Xian Zhang, Music Director of Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi, will be the guest conductor on February 7, 8, and 10. The program will feature two works by Tchaikovsky, Romeo and Juliet Overture Fantasy and Symphony No. 2. The symphony, known as Little Russian was inspired by three Ukrainian folk songs. Guest artist Milos Karadoglic, classical guitarist from Montenegro, will be featured in Rodrigo's Concerto de Aranjuez.

On February 21-23 the Atlanta Symphony will perform Overture to La Forza del Destino, Verdi's opera. Guest pianist Olli Mustonen will be featured in Respighi's Piano Concerto. The program will also include Symphony No. 2 by Brahms. Alexandra Arrieche will be the guest conductor.
The Woodruff Arts Center is located at 1280 Peachtree Street NE. Parking is available in the Woodruff Arts Center garage. The Arts Center MARTA Station is located adjacent to the Woodruff Arts Center.

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Career Goals For Teachers

Teachers are vital for igniting young minds and shaping the future of a nation. Career goals for teachers are a must to make them more efficient and productive. Know more about them in this article.

It seems quite a simple and formal task but writing career goals increases focus and concentration. This goes true only if you're making efforts to achieve your goals. If your actions are propelling you in the right direction, writing your goals frequently and then meditating on it, even for couple of minutes daily, helps you to remain focused. Goal setting has several other professional advantages. It is always required in your resumes and profiles. You're expected to sum up your career goals within few sentences and lines. This demands clarity of thoughts regarding your aims and objectives. Career goals for teachers, just like for any other professionals is essential to break free from the monotonicity of doing same tasks every day. No matter you're a kindergarten teacher or university level professor, writing career goals for yourself, will help you to achieve holistic personal and professional growth.

How to Write Career Goals and Objectives for Teachers

Writing career goals for teachers must not be a difficult task. Teachers can try to foray in other fields or develop new hobby and skills. Numerous examples of career goals will reveal to teachers that they can include anything in their career goals, right from teaching a subject in a new way to their personal life goals, like achieving work life balance. Some essential points that teachers must give a thought to while writing career goals for themselves are:
1. Think of the area you feel you need to improve yourself. Write your professional goals and personal life goals, in two separate columns, in a notebook.
2. It is better to write your goals and objectives in points, in short sentences. Try to put your goals in words but not more than one sentence.
3. Make a record of your actions for achieving your goals on a daily or weekly basis.
4. Career goals for teachers in their profession may include organization goals, enhancing teaching skills, improving student participation in class, adopting effective teaching strategies, better teacher parent communication etc.
Sample Career Goals for Teachers

There are various areas in which teachers can improve their professional work. Even the veteran teachers can try to sharpen their organizational and teaching skills. The more efficiently a teacher will plan his or her strategy for working, better will be the teaching experience as well as the career development path. Good teachers, mind you, are always assets for an educational institute. Similarly, when it comes to teaching, incorporating interesting ideas and methods to teach students is one of the most ideal career goals for teachers. Here is the list of some career goals examples that teachers can include in their goals and objectives list.
1. Incorporate the use of technology in classrooms to enhance understanding of students.
2. Spend some time on alternate days in a week to improve vocabulary and general awareness of students.
3. Motivate students to read books by conducting 'reading sessions' in classroom, at least once or twice a week.
4. Build stronger professional relationships with other teaching staff.
5. Plan teaching work based on every week basis.
6. Continue learning by keeping oneself updated about latest developments in the interest area.
7. Help first year teachers in work and solve students queries regarding suitable career path.
8. Instill confidence in special children by giving them focused and goal - directed instruction.
9. Read some popular books about teaching and try to bridge the parent teacher student communication gap.
10. Manage time effectively to balance work and personal life. Plan ahead of the day regarding tasks and duties to be carried out that specific day.
11. Organize desk and children files for recording information properly.
These are just some of the short and long term career goals for teachers. Besides, career goals statement examples and teachers can write their own goals. Making goals can surely help you improve your teaching career. So teachers if you have no written goals, it is the time to write some and enhance your work.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Credit History - A Report Card Determining A Person's Financial Standing

Credit history is thought to be a credit report-card when it comes to an individual's past borrowing history. It has all the information about late bankruptcy and payments. It has such importance that t it is considered to be a person's credit reputation, the main point to consider while applying for any kinds of credit.

US nationals are entitled to get a free copy of their credit history reports from any US consumer credit reporting agency and even national specialty consumer reporting agency. The credit history report is available once a year upon request. Nonetheless, these free credit history reports don't include a consumer's Credit Score. They provide only a list of accounts so the users can corroborate the financial details.

You may get lucky enough to discover free government publications which may help you understand your credit report and scores. The best way to go about it is to search for sources online. You are bound to find codes and notations along with various explanations and tips to better your Credit History. What you could also do is sign up for a free online credit services which could keep you posted on various matters concerning your individual credit history.

IF what you are looking for is a complete free service then you may have to go a long way to compare online offers. With every Credit Score hosting virtually the same subscription charges and content, what you really need to look for is which one will successfully demystify the credit landscapes.

Check if the site has preference settings so you can customize the format in which you want to receive your credit report. Credit score and credit simulators comparisons are essential tools you will need to search for in a credit score site.

What you will also need to make sure is if the Free Credit report and scores are collected securely and directly from the best credit bureaus. Look for security settings and understand what all account information is taken while signing up.

Concealed fees can be a bad experience and the best way check this is to know how soon and how much of the service subscription be cancelled. Some websites will continue billing your account well after the said trial period if you do not discontinue your service.

Farm Property, Trusts & Llc: Preserving Ohio Family Farms For Future Generations

Placing farm property in a trust-owned limited liability company (LLC) is often a key component of protecting a family farm against estate tax laws, creditors, law suits, nursing homes and other risks so it can continue to be enjoyed by future generations. Specifically, the LLC holding your farm property must be owned by an irrevocable trust.

If you're a farmer in Ohio, undoubtedly you've worked hard for the success of that farm and you want that hard work to benefit your family for many generations to come. Unfortunately, state and federal estate tax laws, debt obligations, nursing homes and other factors can put your farm at risk upon your death if proper succession planning is not in place.

While proper succession planning consists of many parts, an important part is often to create an irrevocable trust to own the LLC holding your Ohio or Dayton real estate. A lawyer can help you with this by drawing up the necessary legal documents that form the irrevocable trust, designate the beneficiaries, and describe what is to happen to the property and LLC upon your death.
Property in a Trust-Owned Limited Liability Company is Protected Against Most Debts and Lawsuits; Estate Taxes can be Minimized
By placing your farm property in a trust-owned LLC, the property becomes owned by the LLC, which is a legal entity just like a corporation, rather than being owned by you. Since you don't own it any more, the property is protected from many forms of debt and lawsuits. The irrevocable trust that owns the LLC adds another layer of protection and ensures that the LLC and property it holds is passed on to your chosen beneficiaries.

To more fully protect your Ohio or Dayton real estate, a lawyer with expertise in estate planning and business law can draft legal documents to create limited liability corporations, insurance trusts and other entities that work together to protect your farming business and personal assets for inheritance by your family.

Farm property in a trust-owned LLC can also avoid estate taxes. Estate tax law usually takes effect when property transfers to the beneficiaries. However, the legal documents for your irrevocable trust can specify that your beneficiaries can make use of the property while ownership is retained by the irrevocable trust and the LLC. Since the property is never transferred to the beneficiaries, estate tax laws never come into play.

Placing property in a trust-owned limited liability company is just one tool used to minimize estate taxes and other risks to your Ohio or Dayton real estate. A lawyer knowledgeable in succession planning and estate planning can show you additional ways to help you prepare a complete succession plan for your farm.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Payday Loan Easy Cash Advance No Teletrack

If you are suffering from financial diseases due to lack of finance, payday loan easy cash advance no teletrack will soothe you like an ointment. The lenders of described loan offer you monetary help to come out from your financial crisis. Getting monetary help from the lenders of payday loan easy cash advance no teletrack is very simple. Besides filling online application form of described loan with required details you have nothing to do. As soon as you fill and submit online application form of above mentioned loan then an executive of loan Provider Company contact you within few hours of applying. After making a short verification about your provided details accepted amount is transferred into your running account.

The good side of payday loan easy cash advance no teletrack is that teletrack process is not include in the verification process. Therefore, the bad creditor including CCJS, IVA, arrears, defaults, outstanding checks and bankruptcy may also apply. Thus, mentioned loan is being liked by a numerous customers in the U.S.A. and that's why payday loan easy cash advance no teletrack is flourishing day by day. A great number of people like to take this loan at the time of unexpected emergency between the paydays. This is an ideal solution for emergencies like sudden accident, medical bills, and sudden car repair, paying forgotten bills of electricity, water supply and telephone And even outstanding debts at the time of recovery.

If you are too victim of mentioned conditions, you are most welcomed through the lenders of payday loan easy cash advance no teletrack. You can avail amount within few hours of applying to meet your emergencies. Being short term the lenders of described loan charges higher rate of interest in comparison of other loans. There are so many loan lenders of payday loan easy cash advance no teletrack which offer loan to the needy people between the paydays. Every loan lender in loan market has its own interest rates and terms to qualify. Making a wide search over internet you can find a good loan lender which can provide you loan amount on affordable interest rates.

Monday, June 4, 2012

Is Bankruptcy A Way To Pardon Student Loans?

The Condition of Undue Hardship

Many people are in debt due to the student loans they took out in order to pay for their college education. With many possible solutions to remove the debt once and for all, however the most favored is bankruptcy. But being students, claiming bankruptcy is defiantly a problem because the legal terms and conditions of the student loan clearly states that the loan is non dischargeable. Due to this very reason, the loan repayment causes the borrower undue hardship. This hardship only occurs at time when the person is facing a high degree of financial problems that he or she will not be able to satisfy his or her basic needs once the loan is repaid. In order to claim bankruptcy, the borrower needs to affirm that he or she is facing undue hardship; however hard it may be.

History of Undue Hardship Clause

In the past, students were able to get rid of their student loans. However, lenders criticized the system, which lead to changes in the rules and regulations of the student loan contract. Now it is harder for students to get their loans discharges. Even thought this may seem unfair, the system was criticized because students took advantage of the system as they declared bankruptcy immediately after completing their students before they even got a job. This is why the rules and regulations of the contract had to be changed, as the lenders were losing out.

What the Clause Says About Student Loan Discharge

After the change in rules and regulations of private loans, the government felt it was necessary to apply this clause to government loans as well. This made student loan discharge even more impossible. However, in order to get a student loan discharge, you will need to prove to the government that your living of standard is not high and that you have tries every possible means of paying back the loan. Only then will your loan be pardoned.

The Sign of the Co-Signer

Even when you have met all the terms and conditions in the clause, you will need a co-signer. The co-signer is the person who signed the contract with you when you took out the loan in the first place. That specific co-signer will not be able to take into account his hardship exclusion.

What to Keep In Mind

When you decide to claim bankruptcy, you need to make sure that you have thought about it very clearly. You should only file for bankruptcy if it is necessary and there are no other options available to you. Make sure that when you are going to claim bankruptcy that it will pardon your student loan, otherwise declaring you are bankrupt will do you no good.

If you are in debt and you need to pay your student and other loans but are unable due to a low income job, you will need to visit the court. By visiting the court, you will be able to find ways to declare hardship and have a new start to your life debt free.

Visa Black Card - The Look Of Luxury

We've all seen the wistful and dreamy commercials for the Visa Black Card, featuring a lovely-figured model in a very obvious black-covered theme. Black jets and black boats, and even a black helicopter to whisk the fair maiden off to a life of leisure. The makers of the commercial for the Black Card knew exactly what they were doing; these visions of wealth and relaxation appeal to most people, and more than would care to admit it appreciate and desire status and prestige.

How did the black card come about, exactly? Well, the original black card was the AMEX Centurion, which was virtually unknown by the general public, and available to even the rich only by invitation. It could literally purchase anything the card-holder desired, and there were outlandish reports of magnificent and quixotic purchases made. The AMEX still exists today, and has such requirements as an annual expenditure of 0,000 before an invitation is forthcoming from American Express, as well as a ,000 activation fee, with a 00 annual fee thereafter. Clearly, this is the kind of true black card that Maybach owners use.

The Visa Black is Advertising 101; it capitalizes on the mystique and prestige of the AMEX, offering luxury, although nowhere near the same level as the Black Card. Generally, the Black Visa is intended for those who spend between ,000 and 0,000 per year on credit, which comes out to around 1% of Americans. It has several outstanding attributes that serve notice:

- For the first 6 months, they give you 0% APR on balance transfers

- For every purchase, you get to choose between 1% cash back and airfare reward points

- A crisp, cool matte black Patent-pending Carbon card - no cheap plastic

- An all-day, all-night concierge service

- Luxury gifts from the rewards program, sent by mail to your address multiple times throughout the year

- A Priority Pass to over 600 exclusive airport lounges in almost 100 countries worldwide

- Restaurant dinner reservations for two at top eateries, steakhouses, etc

The benefits that the Visa Black Card offers don't stop there, either; multiple avenues of insurance are offered with the card, from travel and purchase security, to luggage and even automobile security. There is a 5 annual fee, which comes out to just monthly. With the cash-back and rewards program gifts, this amount is easily recouped by card holders.

The Visa Black Card is really just a luxury card for the rest of us, whereas the Centurion is virtually inaccessible. What if you are the type of person who makes enough to spend 0,000 per year? The AMEX black card is way out of reach even so; the Black Visa exists to take up the slack, and serve as an emblem of prestige, status and access for those that can afford it. It isn't recommended that you carry a balance on this card, however; it's main attraction are all the perks it offers, especially for a frequent traveler. Get a low-interest card to act as a supplement for those months when you wish to carry the balance on the Visa Black, and you'll be able to benefit greatly from using the Black Card.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Why Wells Fargo Home Loans With Bad Credit Are A Leading Option

It is no secret that not all mortgage providers are the same. While many big names boast an extensive nationwide reach, and others affordable mortgage packages, very few can boast both at the same time. But Wells Fargo is one of them, making home purchase financing affordable for every pocket. In fact, getting Wells Fargo home loans with bad credit is arguably the least complicated process.

Wells Fargo is a huge name in the US mortgage sector, but it has grown chiefly as a result of specializing in solution-orientated mortgage products to bad credit borrowers and those in difficult financial situations. This makes them a favorite amongst those applicants seeking approval despite low credit scores.

The range of products available is such that practically every kind of home loan situation can be successfully addressed, from reverse mortgages to the adjustable rate mortgage. But it also structures mortgage programs to suit specific home buyer situations.

Who Is Wells Fargo?

As already mentioned, Wells Fargo is one of the largest mortgage providers in the US today. In fact, of every 16 homes sold in the country, Wells Fargo has sold one of them. But it is its commitment to affordable lending that has earned it its reputation. Little wonder that getting a Wells Fargo home loan with bad credit ratings is so possible.

In recent years, it has grown further, buying into the mortgage giant, Wachovia Corporation, and spreading its reputation for granting approval despite low credit scores to a wider market.

This merger, effectively created an unbeatable mortgage corporation, ensuring its customers gets the very best in services, offers, policies and care when they seek or secure a home loan.

Home Loan Options Available

It would be easy to look upon Wells Fargo as just another mortgage provider, but the company has grown to dominate the US home financing sector for a very good reason - it offers services that borrowers need. Getting Wells Fargo home loans with bad credit scores is straightforward, but the options available offer solutions to specific needs too.

In fact, there is considerable effort on the part of the company to structure individual loans in a way that benefits the borrower. So, getting approval despite low credit scores is just a start, with fast and reliable services that are void of those frustrating bureaucratic dead ends.

Amongst this list of services and home loan products are affordable New Home Construction loans, competitive Home Equity Loans, helpful and supportive First Time Buyers Programs and carefully agreed Timed Withdrawals Programs, where repayments are cued to ensure no late or missed mortgage payments.

Wells Fargo Extra Services

Most mortgage providers are happy to offer consultation services, but when seeking a Wells Fargo home loan with bad credit scores, borrowers can benefit from a greater level of customer care. It is not just about good terms and competitively low interest rates, but ensuring the mortgage deal suits the borrower.

There are several programs available, but arguably the most valuable are the provision of closing guarantees, credit counseling and loan counseling. While getting approval despite low credit scores is important, successfully closing the deal is crucial. Wells Fargo can guarantee the deal is closed properly, thus removing uncertainties.

Credit counseling provides prospective applicants with advice on how to boost their credit scores in advance of submitting an application, to increase the chances of getting a better home loan deal. Loan counseling, meanwhile, is designed for first-time home buyers, with Wells Fargo offering a step-by-step guide to help them through the entire mortgage loan process.