The Zoo Tribe

Archive for December, 2009

On the Back1. Print a team’s sports schedule on the back. Fans will keep them handy and keep your name in front of them2. Print a special discount offer or coupon on the back. People will keep it because they intend to use the coupon.3. If you do seminars, print key principals on the back. Your attendees will refer to them later and think of you.4. Hand write on the back your “unlisted” 800 number. This adds value to your card, making people keep it longer because they don’t want to lose the special number.Ad Specialties5. Make the business card the ad specialty: Print your company information on letter openers, CD openers, magnets, pens, highlighters, keychains, mousepads, mugs, luggage tags, and other items that people will keep because they are useful.6. Attach a business card to an ad specialty: For example, give business card holders as a thank you gift and place your business card in as the first one. Or, have your card designed as a Rolodex card7. If you routinely give out seasonal gifts or specialties, attach your business card. Examples: candy canes at Christmas, heart shaped containers filled with candy for Valentine’s Day, or even a sandwich bag of candy with a card stapled to it.Unique Places to Put Them8. Tuck them into the product before delivery: If you are a florist, cut a hole in it and tie a ribbon around the flowers and through the business card. If you sell gift baskets, Tuck one inside the basket before delivering it to your customer. The same goes for Mary Kay or Avon Cosmetics – place your card in the bag. You’ve seen how some restaurants staple a menu to their bags for takeout; if you use bags, staple your card to the outside of the bag.9. Send a business card in every piece of correspondence – letters, invoices, even your electric bill. Sooner or later, those cards will be used.10. If you are crafty, incorporate them into your designs: embellish them with rubber stamps, or blend them with other art projects. You can also mount them to greeting cards you create and send to customers and prospects.11.When mailing out information: Take a number 10 envelope, facing you and upside down. Fold the envelope in thirds. When you turn it around, there is a little pocket to tuck your card in. Include it in the mailing. Using a colored envelope makes the presentation even more dramatic.12. Scan your card in and use it as a graphic for when you exchange links with other websites. The other site can use your graphic as the link.13. Place them in library books as if you used them as bookmarks. Visit bookstores place them in books related to your business.Keeping Them Handy:14. Use them as bookmarks so you’ll always have some readily available if you meet someone at school, in the library, on the bus, or at the park where you like to read.15. Have your spouse, family, and friends carry some of your cards with them in case they meet someone who might be interested in your product or service.16. Wear them! Use them as nametags at meetings and conferences instead of the “Hello, my name is …” type of tags.17. Keep a stack of cards everywhere you might need them – in your car, your jacket pocket, your briefcase, your purse or wallet, in your planner, at home, anywhere you can think of. Then you’ll always have some on hand when you meet a prospect.When to Use Them:18. Give them out during your personal meetings when you meet someone new: at your church, your children’s soccer games, at lunch with your friends when someone brings a guest. To be more polite, you could have a personal “calling card” printed up with your information to use in these situations.19. If you do seminars, have your participants exchange cards with each other. Have them write a compliment about the person on the back before they hand them out. Everyone will have a wealth of contacts; they will remember each other and it will also give participants a boost of confidence.20. Ask neighborhood businesses if you may display your cards near their registers.21. Tack them to bulletin boards at supermarkets, restaurants, retail stores and the library – anyplace that has a bulletin board.22. Give out two cards at a time – one for your prospect or client, and one for her/him to give away.23. Place some on the table when you leave a restaurant.24. Agree to mail the cards of other businesspeople in the mailings you do, if they will do the same for you. Your networking circle will grow as your cards are passed around.How Not to Use Business Cards:25. Don’t give them to a member of the opposite sex in the hopes that s/he will call you. I have a friend who was told this wouldn’t work. He did an experiment for six months to prove it, and his friend was right! Sadly, not one woman called him. Although he does have a girlfriend now!26. Some people don’t give out business cards when they meet a prospective client. Instead, they send a follow- up note later with their card enclosed.Other Types of Business Cards to Have27. Business card CD-ROM. If you haven’t seen these yet, they are a mini-sized CD that plays in any CD player and has your contact information on it, as well as an introduction to your business.28. Email Signature. Put your contact information into a signature file for email, along with a link to your website (be sure to include the “http” in order to make it “clickable.”)29. Vcard. These are electronic business cards that recipients can click on and automatically add to their address books. Do a web search for “vcard” to find software that supports this technology. Then use it in all your emails!30. One consulting company, which works with designers of products for people with disabilities, prints their cards in Braille. It reminds their clients how they can help them comply with disability laws. It also gets people asking for information.Linda Elizabeth Alexander is a business writer and marketing consultant based in Longmont, Colorado, USA. Improve your writing skills at work! Subscribe to her FREE ezine. Write to the Point at lalexander@write2thepointcom.com or visit http://www.write2thepointcom.com/articles.html.GO OFFLINE FOR ONLINE PROFITSJennifer JohnsonAccording to a new survey carried out by Alliance & where ID_NUM=9270; Leicester, one in five small business owners view tax as their greatest concern. The Chancellor has announced in his last budget that companies with profits below œ10,000 will not have to pay any corporation tax with effect from 1 April 2002. The question to be asked is: does that announcement make incorporation a more attractive option compared to being a sole trader’the answer is that from a tax point of view, it is advantageous to trade through a limited company as long as the income is drawn from the company by the owners as dividends from their shares and the amount of dividends drawn is restricted below the 40% band rate (i.e. œ31,063 for tax year 2002/03). That way, the owners have no further personal tax (“income tax”) to pay. Moreover, dividends are not subject to national insurance contributions. This is excellent news of course. But, if dividend income falls within the higher rate bracket of income tax (i.e. above œ34,515), they will be taxed at 22.5% on the excess, which of course will increase the tax burden. The company profits are subject to corporation tax rates. Those are lower than income tax rates.The most catastrophic scenario is when the director takes his reward from the company as salary. Then his/her salary is taxed at income tax rates (like a sole trader’s income). That is because, unlike sole traders, the tax system treats companies as separate from their owners because a company is a separate legal entity. The problem is that the income taxes are higher than corporation tax rates. On top of that, they will be subject to employee and employer national insurance contributions, which of course increase the tax burden and render his position worse than even an unincorporated business (“sole trader”), because NIC Class 1 on payroll are higher than NIC Class 2 paid by self employed.In contrast, a self employed person (“sole trader”) is taxed at income tax rates on the profits from his business, which are added to his other sources of income. As it has already been mentioned, income tax rates are overall higher than corporation tax rates. On top of income tax, national insurance contributions class 4 are payable on the business profits within a specified band (7% on profits between œ4,615and œ30,420). National insurance contributions Class 2 are also paid by self-employed people, although those are lower than those payable by company directors on their salaries.To illustrate the above, let’s take a simple example. We have a limited company and a sole trader. They both make œ60,000 profits each in the tax year 2002/03. We assume that the company director takes a salary equal to the amount of his personal allowances (untaxed income) of œ4,615 and the balance as dividends. The company will pay corporation tax at 19% equal to œ10,523 and nothing else. The sole trader will pay income tax œ16,542, National insurance Class 2 œ104 and National insurance Class 4 œ1,806. Total œ18,452. The bottom line is that the person that has incorporated his business into a limited company will make a tax saving of œ7,929 compared to a sole trader! Isn’t that fantastic’somebody might be wondering: why is this entire happening? The official explanation is that, this government, to help the economy grow, encourages people to leave as much profits within their businesses to be reinvested, instead of being taken out and spent.The “unofficial line” is that, as a matter of fact, for years the Inland Revenue has tried to reclassify the self-employed. The 1% in NIC hike on staff salaries above the NIC threshold from next April adds to both the employees’ and employers’ tax burden and may more than offset the saving from the corporation tax zero rate on the first œ10,000 of profits.Aren’t there any other matters to consider in deciding whether to incorporate or not?Higher administration costs to comply with company law, payroll and bookkeeping is one factor. Another issue is pension planning. Extracting profits out of the company as dividends rather than salary means that there will be no “net relevant earnings” and therefore pension contributions can’t be made. But the advent of stakeholder pension plans has meant that contributions up to œ3,600 per year can be made without the need for any earnings. If a person does not wish to transfer funds in existing plans into stakeholder because of high charges, there is a way out: the best net relevant earnings (i.e. salary) in five consecutive years can be used for making contributions for the next five years, even if there were no salaries in the remainder four years. It is comforting to know that entitlement to basic state pension is not affected by taking a salary from the company at the level of a person’s personal allowances i.e. œ4,615.Furthermore, an individual may decide not to bother with pension plans and instead invest in ISA. Often, these can be more efficient than pensions but that’s beside the scope of this article. If that option is taken, no salary is necessary.Another factor is business motoring. It might be tax advantageous for an unincorporated business that owns many cars not to incorporate because if these cars have some private use there will be benefits in kind taxed on the users. These are generally higher than the straight apportionment between private and business for all car running costs in the case of sole traders.The conclusion is that there can be considerable tax savings waiting the sole trader who decides to go down the road to incorporation. But, one needs to proceed with caution and careful planning. And don’t forget the biggest advantage of incorporation, which is Protection from Personal Liability. Incorporating is one of the best ways to protect a business owner from personal liability. Shareholders of a company are generally not liable for the obligations of the company. Creditors of a company may seek payment from its assets, but not the assets of the shareholders. This means that business owners may engage in business without risking their homes or other personal property.Thank you for taking the time to read this Article. I hope you’ve found it useful. If you have, please drop me an email and let me know what you think.You can email me at…constantinesavva@accamail.comAlternatively, you can visit our website at http://www.tax-accounting-london.info and read a series of other full length articles that present the complete picture on a variety of interesting topics.If you would like to know how to save tax and make sure that more of your hard earned cash stays with you to expand your business and increase your profits, we have a Free Special Report addressed to small businesses either starting up or already in business. This Exclusive Free Special Report is available automatically when you subscribe to our regular series of Free Newsletters on finance advice and tax planning by visiting our subscription area on our website www.tax-accounting- london.info. It is complied from real life situations dealing with small business tax affairs for over 10 years and it is loaded with down-to-earth advice and practical, understandable examples.LEGAL NOTICE
Whilst every care has been taken in the preparation of this article, the author cannot accept responsibility for any errors or omissions. Proper professional advice should be taken at all times.We retain copyright for the contents of this article. Any unauthorized copying or onward distributions are prohibited without our consent.Jennifer Johnson is the owner of Logo Design Zone. She can create a 100% unique, totally memorable logo for your business – for UNDER $200! Does your current logo make the grade? Take Logo Design Zone’s free logo quiz and find out!

Growing old is a condition that most people are not happy about. This is particularly true of women. There are women who wish that the lines on their faces would disappear, there are others who are concerned with bringing back the vitality that youth offers. The ability to move around and do work with that spring in the step is something that most miss with the passing years.There is a school of thought that says that when hormonal changes turn down the inner thermostat in our body, aging occurs. So then if the hormone levels are replaced to those of a young healthy adult it would restart our brain, so to speak and the cell receptor sensitizers would do the needful.One of the reasons for depression, mood swings, fatigue, loss of memory and weight loss that has no explanation, is that there is an imbalance between the estrogen and progesterone levels. There are over-the-counter medicines available to correct this imbalance like soy products and creams that provide the extra hormones when absorbed by the skin.It has also been found that free radicals are becoming increasingly dangerous to our health. Free radicals are defined as unstable renegade molecules of oxygen. When these collide with other tissues in our body they cause a burst of light. Then they look for other molecules to combine with them and gain some stability. The free radicals which are good for you will help your body fight to keep itself healthy and keep the muscle tone smooth. These muscles, in turn, keep your internal organs working properly.On the same note, an excess of these free radicals tend to run wild and cause damage to healthy and unhealthy areas of the body. This is where the incidence of problems like cancer and heart diseases come up. In defense of these attacks by excess of free radicals, the concept of antioxidants has come up. These have proved to be an effective shield against these free radicals.Antioxidants are seen to alter cancer growth and do the job of anticarcinogens. They work on the principle of donating an electron to the free radical and helping it convert to a relatively harmless molecule. It protects against damage to blood vessel membranes which in turn ensures a good supply of blood to the heart and the brain thereby preventing problems.Antioxidants can be found in fruits, vegetables and grains. Among the many antioxidants, some of the important ones are Lycopene, Lypoic, Xanthones, Dopamine and Carnosine. Lycopene is found in tomatoes and is needed by the adrenal and prostrate glands, the liver, colon and the testes and it is effective in protecting the digestive tracts from cancer.Lypoic can quench the free radicals found in water and fat cells. It is an acid and aids converting carbohydrates into energy and antioxidants by breaking down sugars.Xanthones is a bitter compound that has very strong antioxidant effects on the person’s nervous system. It is useful in treating depression, is able to reduce the appetite and take care of other obsessions. Here a series of hormonal reactions leads to the release of dopamine that exists in the brain’s pleasure centers. Dopamine is an energizing neurotransmitter that aids reduction in appetite and stimulates the pituitary gland. This gland’s job is to release the growth hormone and works to improve the immune system. There is an incidence of motor dysfunction that comes with aging and blueberries are considered a good source of dopamine which plays an important part in decreasing the rate of aging.And finally, Carnosine found in the muscle tissues, the brain and the lens of the human eye is a natural antioxidant and an important amino acid. It can protect cell membranes and structures and works to cope with stress reduction, hyperactivity, muscle fatigue and improves sleep patterns.

About the Author: Karina Jacobsen is a staff writer at Nutrition Review and is an occasional contributor to several other websites, including Alternative Health Advisor.

Buying a New Computer? Or Car? on the Internet
For over two decades, Dell, Inc. has been wildly successful at bypassing the traditional stores and selling computers directly to consumers, custom-assembled according to a selection of options. The promise of convenience and savings, along with Dell’s strong company reputation and their backbone of customer service have helped ease consumer fears of buying a relatively expensive product sight unseen. Gateway and other computer makers have since embraced the online medium and are now enjoying a similar success at a varying degree. It won’t be long before buying a new car online is not going to be much different than ordering a new computer. Some German manufacturers have already caught on to this emerging trend. A BMW enthusiast, for example, could configure and order a new M6 months before its official entry into the US market. He or she could then track its progress through the manufacturing facility online similarly to the way one would track the progress of one’s new Dell. However, buying a new car online sight unseen is not a very risky proposition. One knows what one is getting and there is franchise dealer and a manufacturer standing behind it.

Buying a Used Car on the Internet – a New Breed of Shoppers
What about the used car market online? How can consumers quantify the risk they are taking buying a used car sight unseen to make sure it is justified by the savings of such purchase?

Historically, conventional used car buyers have been able to kick its tires, take it for a spin, and haggle over the asking price of the car they like at their local dealer since the invention of the automobile. Because of the internet, a considerable number of these ?conventional? used car buyers have found a myriad of ways to harness the power of the ever expanding online automotive resources and tools available at their disposal to make informed buying decisions.

It is from those online savvy buyers that a new breed has emerged – those who buy their used cars online, sight unseen. Although they represent a relatively small portion of the used car buyers, these brave souls see an unmatched advantage and find ways to minimize the risks. But what’s in it for them, one might ask? Simple, actually: selection and price. The internet offers easy access to a vast selection of vehicles worldwide – online car portals, classifieds, conventional dealers with online presence and pure online-only outfits, online used car brokers, to name but a few. Since most of them are looking for a specific vehicle, their chance of finding ‘the one? is far greater online compared to the confines of their local area.

Needless to say, virtually all of them are looking for a bargain. Our brave souls take risks, but these are justified, at least in their eyes, because of the savings they realize by utilizing the online channel. How do they do it? They, too, are well-armed with the online tools they need to make intelligent buying decisions. Here is how these online tools help them through the decision-making and buying steps of the process.

Fair Market Value
Determining whether a particular car is a bargain is a function of understanding its fair market value given its condition in the context of the current supply and demand. For the non-economists, of course, there are a number of excellent online market valuation sources available. Kelley Blue Book, NADAGuides, Edmunds.com are some of the most widely used car pricing providers. They all base estimates on a large number of recorded transactions and provide appraisal adjustments for the year, make, model, mileage, options, condition and even local market trends. As their appraisal algorithms differ slightly from each other, the estimates may vary, so checking more than one source is recommended. There are three major price levels: trade-in (or wholesale), private party and retail. Trade-in is what one would expect to get from a dealer for one’s used car – it is the lowest of the three averages, but it’s important to know as a baseline. Private party is what one would expect to get if one sells a car to another person, and retail is what one would pay for that car at a used car dealership.

Third Party Vehicle History Reports
In addition to the seller’s honest word and availability of service records our prudent innovators tap into the same third party vehicle history report providers the rest of the used car buyers use. CARFAX and Experian’s AutoCheck, initially serving the automotive professionals only, have been available to the general public for a number of years now. For $24.99 CARFAX offers 30 days and AutoCheck offers 60 days of unlimited vehicle history reports. These provide extensive reporting on the vehicles? recorded history: date and type of registration and renewal events, as well as checking for recorded incidents, odometer rollbacks, junk, salvage, rebuilt titles, insurance loss, theft, lemon buybacks, etc. Many dealers realize the convincing power of stating the recorded facts and now offer free vehicle history reports for the cars they sell.

Car Inspections
Independent vehicle appraisal/inspection services with online presence have also seen a boost in their business. For $99.95, CARCHEX offers to give any automobile a 155-point pre-purchase auto inspection almost anywhere in the USA. Not too high a price for peace of mind, especially if it can save one from having to deal with surprise repairs. For half of this amount, one can find a mechanic in the local directory who can check out the car and even take it for a test drive on one’s behalf and then fax a detailed report. Nevertheless, some of the more thrifty buyers have found ways to save themselves the nominal fees mechanics charge without depriving themselves of the peace of mind of a pre-sale inspection. Say, I live in Boston and happened to find a 1974 BMW 2002tii that I really wanted all the way in San Diego. Now, I would definitely want the car inspected prior to buying it. My thrifty side, however, wants to avoid the $150 fee a local company would charge me to inspect the vehicle. The solution? I would ask a fellow member of the BMW enthusiast community who lives in San Diego to take a look at the car for me. There are plenty of BMW forum members that would be more than happy to offer their time and expertise to a fellow east coast bimmerphile in need.

Shipping
There is a sea of car shipping companies that would gladly bring our pioneers their newly acquired vehicles home at a reasonable price. One example, Dependable Auto Shippers operate a fleet of state-of-the-art, satellite tracked vehicle shipping transporters, which allow one to track one’s car while it’s on its way much like one would track a package. Yet, a healthy number of this new breed of used cars buyers opt for driving their new purchase home on their own instead. It’s cheaper, it’s faster, and admittedly, it’s much more exciting. Sellers specializing in online sales of this kind have also adapted to accommodate the demands of this new kind of used car buyer. Airport pickups for our weary yet eager buyers are more or less industry standard, these days. Sellers specializing exclusively in online sales, providing a hot meal for their ?guests? at the family table before they depart on their voyage home, is not unheard of.

Although buying a used car online sight unseen is not for the faint of heart, it is a growing phenomenon, which if executed carefully, could be a very rewarding experience for all parties involved.

Chris Herbert is an automotive expert associated with Motobidia.com – a direct business-to-consumer online used car broker of high-end pre-owned cars available at dealer auto auctions nationwide.

There are many ways to market your travel business or team up with others in the travel industry for fundraisers. And some popular ways involve the use of travel vouchers.

Travel vouchers are generally issued by companies in the travel industry like airlines for complimentary airfare, hotel stays and other perks. They might be given out for stranded travelers who’ve missed connecting flights or as bonuses or for any number of reasons.

You can also use vouchers in fundraising efforts. Here are some popular promotional ideas:

1 Invite your customers to get really excited about your business so they will tell their friends by giving them a free vacation voucher, certificate, a coupon, etc. Offer these vouchers at fundraisers at local community events and let your customers know to notify you when their own businesses and places of employment host fundraisers, too, so that you can participate by contributing vouchers to them as well.

2. The kind of award or rewards you want to donate as vouchers for fundraisers should depend on your budget and what your business can afford. Less expensive travel vouchers might be in the form of offering food coupons, gift certificates, movie passes or clothing accessories and travel items like suitcases and watches. More expensive rewards ideas might be costume jewelry, short vacations, complimentary bed and breakfast gift certificates, long distance calling cards.

3. You could donate something travel-related to a fundraiser, like a carry-on suitcase on wheels. And then tuck a voucher inside the suitcase as a free bonus gift. Or if flyers are allowed at the fundraising event, mention on promotional flyers an offer to potential customers with a free voucher, coupon or travel gift certificate as a back end product or service, a bonus item for sales that close before a certain deadline. (This can also help to increase your chances for repeat purchases.)

So put on your thinking cap and come up with creative ways to incorporate travel vouchers in with fundraisers. You will not only be giving back, but sharing valuable resources with others, putting plenty of smiles on faces. And that’s fun!

About the Author:

Visit Dawn OrBeck at http://coastalvacations-blog.com for more info and at dawn@CoastalVacations-Blog.com or call: 810-895-4408. She also invites you to call their Sales Center to learn more today at: 800-378-1169 and mention ID# 5802DO for more info.

Miami football tickets are always hard to find, and that’s because the Hurricanes have been one of the most dominant college football programs in the country over the past 20 – 25 years. Few teams can match the sizzling style of play, intensity and pure intimidation that the ?Canes bring to the field every time out. Many an opponent has in effect lost the game before it started due to the aura of Miami.

However, that aura is in a downward cycle, and the piranhas are starting to turn their appetite towards their embattled coach. Larry Coker has done almost nothing but win since he took over for Butch Davis, and fans, students, alumni and boosters are starting to call for his ouster now that the team has gotten off to a bad start and finds itself out of the Top 25 for the first time in years.

There are several reasons, therefore, that of all the ?big-time? college football jobs out there, Miami’s is the worst of the lot. No one goes to Miami and is set for life, as is the case for programs like Notre Dame, USC and Nebraska if a winning tradition is established. There are several reasons for this reality, and we’ll examine them below.

Expectations

No school, not even Notre Dame, puts the same level of expectations into their football team that they do at Miami. The Hurricanes have won five national championships, and basically, any year that doesn’t conclude with another national championship trophy is considered a failure. Although the team has always been very good, this all started with Howard Schnellenberger’s teams of the 1980’s and the tradition they established. This tradition was continued with the likes of Jimmy Johnson, who brought home his share of hardware as well.

Fans

Although Miami football tickets are always snapped up, the program is in some ways a victim of its own fervent fans, as this group is always ready to create a loud and intimidating environment, but they’re also quick to turn when things go bad. Simply put, the fans have become spoiled with winning, and any coach who doesn’t meet their expectations is run out of town on a rail. No one cried when Dennis Erickson left for the NFL, and all he did was win a national championship and post the highest winning percentage by a Miami coach in history.

National Disdain

Given all the winning Miami has done and the program’s ?bad boy? image, college football fans around the country generally like to watch Miami lose. The team is disliked for its reputation of being brash and over-the-top with its confidence, and the Hurricanes are known to dance on an opposing team’s logo before the start of a road game.

This reputation generally rubs off on the coach, which is why Johnson, Davis, Erickson and now Coker are generally not seen as popular figures. It’s always been an ?us against the world? mentality in Coral Gables, so when the Hurricane’s own fan base turns on the coach, he has nowhere to turn for support.

This is why Johnson, Erickson and Davis all left after establishing a winning tradition, and no coach has stayed at Miami for more than six seasons. The coaches burn out, and that’s also an unspoken tradition at Miami. They all know that they have to continue to help pump up demand for Miami football tickets and merchandise, and even a loss or two can drive them to the edge. This is why Miami’s job is the worst in college football, and Larry Coker may be the latest coach to realize just that.

About the Author:

Written by Jay Nault, sponsored by http://www.stubhub.com/ . StubHub sells Miami football tickets, sports tickets, concert tickets, theater tickets and more to just about any event in the world.

Now maybe the reason you’re interested in setting up a home business is because you’ve seen an ad somewhere, or you’ve been approached by someone. It was all about a great work-from-home money-making opportunity, and you’re excited. Finally, you can quit your job!

If you’re thinking of working from home by someone else’s rules, though, you have to realise that at least 99% of the offers out there are scams – after all, if it was that easy to pay a few dollars and make thousands, wouldn’t everyone be doing it by now? Here are the biggest scams out there, how to recognise them, and how to avoid them.

Location, Location, Location.

Where did you see that work from home offer? If you got it in the post, or by email, or saw it on a poster taped around a telephone pole, then I can guarantee you right now that it’s not a legitimate offer. If you saw the ad in a newspaper, in a jobs magazine or on a jobs website, then it’s a little more likely to be legit – but not much. Always check out any offer, and assume it’s a scam until you have iron-clad proof to the contrary.

Envelope Stuffing.

This is the most established work-from-home scam, and it’s been going for decades now. Basically, once you pay your money and sign up to work from home, you’re sent a set of envelopes and ads just like the one you responded to. You might make some money if someone responds to your ad, but eventually there just won’t be a market for it any more. Anyway, work from home offers like this are illegal pyramid schemes.

You won’t make any money putting letters in envelopes – get over it.

Charging for Supplies.

The practice of charging for supplies is hard to pin down to any one scam – it’s the way almost all work-at-home scams work (including the envelope stuffing, above). You’ll be asked to make a small ?investment? for whatever materials would be needed to do the work – and then you’ll be sent very shoddy materials that aren’t worth anything like what you paid, and you’ll find that there’s no market for the work anyway.

If anyone asks for money upfront, run. A real company should be willing to deduct any ?fees? from your first paycheque – if they won’t do that for you, then that’s because they don’t ever plan to pay you.

Working for Free.

This variation on the scam is common with crafts. You might be asked to work at home making clothes, ornaments or toys. Everything seems legitimate – you’ve got the materials without paying out any money, and you’re doing the work. Unfortunately for you, when you send the work back, the company will tell you that it didn’t meet their ?quality standards?, and will refuse to pay you. Then they’ll sell on what you made at a profit, and move on to the next sucker.

Never do craft work from home unless you’re selling the items yourself. Note that you don’t need to be selling to consumers (you could be selling to wholesalers), but you still need to be the one deciding what you make and getting the money.

Home Typing, Medical Billing, and More.

There are lots of work-from-home scams that involve persuading you that some industry has more work than it can handle, and so has to outsource to people working from home. For example, you might be told that you?d be typing legal documents, or entering medical bills into an electronic database. These scams have one thing in common: they all say that all you need is your computer, and they all then go on to say that you need to buy some ’special software?.

This software might appear to be from a completely unrelated company, but don’t be fooled – the whole reason the ?work-from-home? ad was there to begin with was simply as cynical marketing for the software.

As you can see, running a ?home business? that just involves ?working? for one company is a bad idea. You don’t know who you’re dealing with. Here’s the clincher, though: even with entirely legal work-at-home offers that do pay you for your work, you still won’t make anywhere near as much as you can with your very own home business. So why bother with them at all?
About the Author: James Calvin will show you how to market your product to the World using the only REAL techniques that make the Internet pay off. Go to http://www.MillionaireMarketingManual.com NOW. You may freely distribute or publish the above article as long as this bio and an active hyperlink are accompanied with it.

Desktop video conferencing is the consumer version of the “picturephone” services used by large corporations. If the analysts are correct, desktop videoconferencing is set to take off. Technology such as VOIP can be used in conjunction with desktop videoconferencing to enable face-to-face business meetings without leaving the desktop. Desktop PC videoconferencing promises to make this a reality, although it remains to be seen whether there is widespread enthusiasm for video calling. We have everything you need for audio, video and desktop conferencing. We expect that the roll-out of desktop conferencing kit shouldn’t take anywhere near as long as that.

The vastly improved technologies, in particular high-quality desktop options, and the productivity and cost benefits make an overwhelmingly powerful case for flexible conferencing. As broadband connections increase, expect to see desktop videoconferencing blossom. As a result, desktop conferencing is not yet widely implemented for business and educational use. You can meet face-to-face with colleagues and clients using desktop video conferencing and real-time audio conferencing. Room-based vs desktop conferencing Video conferencing uses telecommunications of audio and video to bring people at different sites together for a meeting. Desktop video conferencing is a form of communication and as such it utilizes one of the communication field’s favorite words: bandwidth. The quality of the service provided by desktop video conferencing is limited by the amount of bandwidth available in the chosen communications channel.

Audio Conferencing is generally used to hold group meetings or live presentations through audio channels. It’s a kind of video as well as audio conferencing, in which both the people can view as well as hear each other. Audio ConferencingAudio Conferencing can help improve efficiencies across all departments, whether that means planning budgets, making company-wide announcements, or holding training sessions. VITA’s data conferencing can be combined with a wide range of audioconferencing options including toll-free calling and conference recording.

Welcome to the future of audio, video and web conferencing. provides premium audio conferencing, web conferencing and webinar solutions to small and mid-sized businesses and the world’s leading enterprises. TotalView combines audio conferencing, videoconferencing, and data collaboration in one compact and affordable center-of-the-table device. The DM64x family is capable of simultaneously handling both audio and video encode/decode for IP based video conferencing applications. Buy video conferencing equipment that can include text and audio conferencing options for your home or office today. The high-quality, life-like video and crisp, clear audio guarantee that meeting participants are experiencing the best videoconferencing quality available. TEN Audio Visual is an independent and impartial e-communications supplier of audio visual, video conferencing and audio conferencing facilities.

The main video conferencing system is located on the second floor in room 2-52. recently announced QuickTime Conferencing, a system extension to the Macintosh operating system, and a new component building upon the original QuickTime architectural framework. Imagine a video conferencing system that is battery-powered, wireless and network-enabled. If all access to your conferencing system will be made via the Web, then compatibility with other environments is not an issue. A conferencing system is Web-based if it uses Web browsers and servers to provide most of its functionality. Operating system platform might also be a key determining factor, especially if circumstances require you to run conferencing from an existing Web server. Select a webconferencing system that support application broadcasting, and you can show the application directly from your computer.

Spend no more than two minutes to introduce your event and cover the features of your webconferencing system. “A hacker could very easily take administrative control over the entire conferencing system. Caucus is a web conferencing system that can be used for both public and private discussions. But there is more to a conferencing system than any particular structure. MOREnet e-Conferencing users should seek system setup technical assistance from their local technical personnel or Event Manager. PicoSpan, a Confer-like conferencing system, which was originally meant to be light-weight version of MicroSpan.

http://www.conference-teleconferencing.info/conferencing/

About the Author

Amporn Saechin is The Webmaster Desktop Video Conferencing Consumer Version Technology Such As VOIP – Quickly and Easily! http://www.conference-teleconferencing.info/conferencing/

I hear what you’re saying. It is the middle of the season. Your fantasy football team is on the right track to win your championship. You have studied the Yahoo cheat sheets religiously. Or, you have looked at the ESPN Fantasy Football Rankings until you can’t see straight. Or, on the other hand, maybe your team is headed right for the cellar. Despite your best efforts, you haven’t been able to make your fantasy football team work. You actually showed up for the draft. You bought the Athlon fantasy football guide. You had the best fantasy football draft software. You had every fantasy football cheat sheet and fantasy football rankings sheet. Yet, you couldn’t make it work. Don’t despair. There is still time.

Before you get to the cellar, I ask that you take a minute to read this article, read a few mid-season fantasy football tips, and perhaps, you can get your fantasy football team on the right track to success. However, if you are the guy who is operating the fantasy football team that is on the right track, you just might benefit from a few tips also that will make the rest of your season a success. Trust me; these tips are better than digesting more fantasy football rankings.

Here are my five mid-season fantasy football tips to getting your fantasy football team ready for the fantasy football playoffs:

1. Check your fantasy football team. Now, I know this sounds common sense and completely ridiculous. You have been checking your fantasy football team the entire season, right? Well, if you have been checking your fantasy football team and making changes, hopefully, you’re on the right track. But, if you are not, realize that at this point in the season many fantasy football owners have thrown in the towel. They are tired of adjusting their line-ups and reading fantasy football rankings. This will enable you to be able to capitalize on their late-season laziness. Simply checking your fantasy football team and making the appropriate changes (e.g., benching players who are injured, etc.) will enable you to possibly pick up one or two wins that you otherwise might not get late in the season.

2. Look ahead at the NFL schedule and get play-off bound players out of your fantasy football team line-up. Every single year, I see a great team in one of my leagues get destroyed due to a lack of planning. And, for a serious fantasy football player, a lack of preparation is tragic and inexcusable. Many fantasy football owners think that they can simply operate with Yahoo fantasy football rankings, ESPN fantasy football rankings, CBS SportsLine fantasy football rankings, Athlon fantasy football rankings, or the fantasy football rankings from another publication. But, at this point in the season, you have to start looking at the schedule. This season, it is fairly clear that the Colts will win the AFC South, for example. You need to be looking at your fantasy football schedule-at week’s 14, 15, 16, and 17. You need to look at your fantasy football playoff schedule and compare it to the NFL schedule. Examine who you have at running back. Examine who you have at wide receiver. Are these players on teams that are absolute shoe-ins for the playoffs? I will give you an example to illustrate my point. A few years ago, when the Philadelphia Eagles locked up their home field advantage early on and Donovan McNabb was having such an outstanding fantasy football season, a friend of mine in a league that I?m in had his fantasy football team implode because the Eagles benched McNabb. You do not want this to happen to you. Look at the NFL standings, see who will be benched, and plan ahead to get them out of your fantasy football team’s lineup.

3. This goes along live Tip Number Two. Look ahead at the NFL schedule and find backups to place in your lineup. When you see that certain teams are locking up home-field advantage or getting to the playoffs (and they don’t have a hope for home-field advantage), capitalize! If you know the starting running back will be on the bench late in the season, grab his backup. If you know the starting wide receiver who has been your go-to guy all season will be benched because his team is going to the playoffs, grab his backup if you are in need of depth at that position. Even if you are not in need of depth at the particular position, it may be advantageous for you to grab that player anyway to prevent your fantasy football competition from doing so.

4. Analyze your competition. This is what separates great fantasy football owners from average fantasy football owners. Most fantasy football owners do not plan ahead. Sure, they read fantasy football rankings every week. They do not think beyond next week. As you get close to championship weeks (weeks 14, 15, 16, and 17), you should look ahead at your potential field of competitors. Figure out what their weaknesses are. If a particular wide receiver owned by a potential play-off competitor of yours is playoff bound and you know that the player may get benched during the playoffs, go ahead and grab his backup. Prevent your fantasy football competition from being able to fill that niche.

5. Know your league’s deadlines. One of the leagues that I am in has a trade deadline that has already passed. You may need to make a big trade late in the season. But after the deadline has passed, you are stuck with your team. Know what your league’s deadlines are, and make the deals at the appropriate time.

Although it is helpful, reading fantasy football rankings, cheat sheets, and benching injured players is just not enough. You have to be pro-active and strategic. Fantasy football is a chess match. And, you have to think like a chess player. Analyze your opponents and block them from moving. Follow these guidelines and you will be equipped to combat your late-season competition and excel in the playoffs.

Phil Ayres is one of the original founders of My Fantasy Ball.com. My Fantasy Ball Football is a free online provider of the fantasy football news, analysis, rankings information, cheat sheets, draft software, and draft advice.

Planning to go for an adventurous trip to some distant countries? Then you should not step out of your home without adventure travel insurance. Adventure travel insurance ensures that whatever problem you face during your travel, those will be taken care of by it.

Travel be it normal or adventurous involves risks to some extent such as accidents, natural catastrophes etc. But when it is adventurous travel, the intensity of the risks becomes even larger. This is because the name adventure itself implies some unconventional activities. You might get severe injuries while on your adventurous traveling spree. There are several risks involved in bungee jumping, trekking, mountain climbing etc. these risks may land you up in hospitals of foreign countries. But the cost of medical treatments can be very high in those countries. These can lead to negative consequences upon your savings account. With a proper adventurer travel insurance policy, you can handle these expenses without having to shell out much from your pockets.

Adventure travel insurance acts like an extra security to your travel plans. A normal travel insurance policy might not provide you with an extensive cover for your adventurous travels. It may not provide security for activities like bungee jumping, mountain climbing etc. But, with an adventurous travel insurance plan you can avail for yourself all the security that you might need on your risky trip.

You can get single trip adventurous travel insurance for your single trips and you can get annual or multi-trip adventurous travel insurance for your adventurous travels all round the year. If you are frequent risk taker, you should surely purchase an annual adventurous travel insurance policy. This way you can save your money and time.

Before investing in an adventure travel insurance policy, you need to undertake a thorough research of the insurance market. You are required to study the various pros and cons of different policies. Nowadays almost all the companies have their own websites and all the required information are made available in those websites. All you need to do is sit in front of your computer and invest in an adventure travel insurance policy when you are satisfied that a particular policy is meeting your expectations. So do not delay your purchase; go and buy an adventure travel insurance policy now!
About the Author

Henry Bell is an author who can certainly identify the kind of insurance that you will need. He is proficient in the insurance world; he is an MBA(finance) from University of Oxford. Insuranceb.co.uk endeavors to find the best possible deals for its customers. To find Adventure travel insurance, medical insurance, building insurance, business insurance, holiday insurance in the UK visit http://www.insuranceb.co.uk

Tips For Buying Used CarsSubmitted By: Mark Robinson

A new driver is always better off buying a used car instead of a new car. With the used car, you will be able to refine your driving skills and thus be able to buy a better and more expensive new car.

The main reason people prefer buying used cars today is that it is available at a lower investment; lower depreciation and its financing rates have considerably reduced. Another advantage of buying a used car is that you can afford a luxury car at a reasonable rate and with the developed used car market of today, you are sure to find the used car you were always looking for.

All things in life come with its bad side; and so do used cars. They usually call for higher maintenance and are more susceptible to frequent breakdowns. This is why it is better to follow these tips for buying used cars.

The most important point to bear in mind is to decide on your budget before looking for the car. This helps you avoid going over your budget when buying your used car. Don’t forget to add insurance and other running costs to your budget for your used car.

It is not possible to be very specific when looking for a used car. If you want a specific model, color or a car with a certain mileage or specification, it may be difficult to find such cars at a bargain. However if you are willing to settle for something similar to the car you have in mind, you are sure to have a wider choice of used cars to choose from.

When buying the used car from a dealer or an individual, it is important that you find out the reason for selling the car, how much the car has been used and permission to have the car inspected by a car mechanic before buying the used car. It is only if the mechanic approved of the car should you consider buying the used car.

Sometimes though individual sellers may permit you to have the car inspected by a mechanic, a used car dealer may not be so obliging. In such circumstances, you have to do some inspection of your own on the car. Check the engine for smoothness on starting and no hesitation when accelerating. On looking at the chassis of the car, you will be able to know if the car has met an accident or not.

Check the trunk, hood, doors, the condition of the battery and the wheel alignment of the car. The air conditioning, headlights and indicators should all be in working order. Once this is done, take the car for a test drive to get a feel of the car and thus, help you decide whether or not to buy the car.

The next thing to do is to ensure the paperwork is in order. The registration book should be up to date, the taxation book should show that the lifetime tax has been paid by the original owner of the car, insurance should be intact and don’t forget the invoice for details for engine no., chassis no., date of delivery and if the car was financed or not.

If everything is intact, negotiate on the price for the used car while bearing the condition of the car in mind. If there are some repairs to be done, the price of the car has to be reduced accordingly. And once the sale is done, ensure that the ownership papers are transferred to avoid future confusions.

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