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Friday, October 28, 2005

Find A Secured Loan. Okay Let's Do A Poodle Again.

Obtaining a Secured Loan is now even easier than before, the only dilemma you will have is choosing a lender. There are literally hundreds of lenders to choose from and you don't even have to go to your own bank, you can apply on-line and search through hundreds of lenders in seconds for a no-obligation decision on your loan, or approach a reputable Broker who will sort out all your paperwork, sometimes free of charge.

Secured loans UK are available to those who own their own home, how it works is simple and straight forward, you can borrow anything from �½5,000 to �½100,000 possibly more depending on the individual lender and your home is used as collateral against the loan.

In order for you to do this you will have to ensure there is either sufficient equity to borrow against, it is however possible for banks and financial institutions to approve Secured loans against properties

that do not have sufficient equity, often this may be the case if you have just moved into a new property and have not made enough Mortgage payments. If you already have a Secured Loan against your property, in order for you to obtain another one, the first one will be redeemed from any future advances.

Secured Loans are ideal for releasing cash in a hurry, whether you require the money for a business venture, new car, wedding, holiday or home improvements or you may wish to use the money purely to consolidate any existing debts, so that you will be left with one affordable monthly payment, some lenders will even allow you a six-month payment break when money is tight.

Those with adverse credit such as CCJ'S (county court judgements) defaults, mortgage arrears and even secured loan arrears can apply for a Secured Loan. The majority of lenders do not credit score and have individual plans that allow for some adverse credit.

You can even

be accepted if you are self employed with no proof of income or accounts, the interest rate will undoubtedly be higher for these cases, however if you are willing to shop around, you can find an interest rate and repayment method that will suit your circumstances.

Ian Duncan is the owner of http://www.dm-loans.co.uk who offer information on secured loans and other finance products.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/



My wife and I have been married for 32 years. In that time our pets, more commonly known to us as dogs, have taken a large part of that shared life together. It is no secret that these sometimes small friends are able to take the sting out of loneliness, the hurt out of bad relationships, or in our case, add happiness to an already happy time.

The first dog we had was a mix of german shepherd and black lab. The dog was a female, with mostly black, and some brown. We called her "Berny", after her long name of Bernecia Bernard the first. My wife had picked her up when we first decided to tie the knot. She showed me this small puppy when we met the next day after she received her. I was glad, for I did like dogs.

It wasn't long before I moved to another city some twenty miles away and took the small dog with me. A short time later, we were married and started our new life together. It was sheer h___, the first six months of our marriage. Two strong personalities that had trouble getting along. But, eventually we learned as other couples do. That is,that those differences when you were first married , you know the ones. Those things in each other you simply could not put up with, well after time and years, along with age; you decide that those things were not as bad as you thought. You simply stop fighting and started enjoying each other. It was during those times of the early years this german shepherd mix would be the friend to both of us. She was trained to go ask to go out, well trained to sit and stay, and a number of other commands. After awhile, it seemed the dog could just understand us as we spoke to her. We had her some 12 years, before she died. We missed her terribly. A good friend had left us. One we loved very much. A tear still fondly fills my eye as I recall this.

It was this shortage of dog power around, that led us to get our next dog. This one lasted fifteen years. A registered toy poodle named "Lady Cocoa Puff Bon Bon". She was a fiesty chocolate color, with spit and vinegar in her spirit. We loved her from the start. She too became potty trained and with Berny, could almost seem to know what we wanted just by our talking to her. She, though, unlike our other dog, was stubborn at times. If she wanted to go with you and you left her home, be prepared to find her leaving a mess of torn up paper and anything else she could get ahold of. As she grew older, her sight went bad, she could not move well. In the end, she left us as well. I chuckle now, thinking of this small spitfire. We have had two dogs, some 27 of the 32 years of marriage. We never got another dog, as of yet. We keep looking, but with already having two of the finest dogs ever put on Gods earth, it is hard to think we could find another one as loyal, loving, and of independent character as the two we have had.

In all, we decided to, if we get another, "lets do a poodle again"...

The above is a Modern Psalm, written by Dana G Smith. Mr Smith is an avid writer of Psalms, articles, news stories,and experience as a news stringer, and more. He maintains a mega web site at Wingswatchman.org and the Watchman Powerbase Resource archive as well as theWatchman Blog - Please stop by and visit us there.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/



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6:02 AM |

Thursday, October 27, 2005

Dehumidifiers Wring Out Your Home. Poker Tournament Freerolls Payout in Seven Figures.

Anyone that has

a home office or bedroom in the basement knows how valuable a dehumidifier can be. Without it, the basement would be damp and useless, mold and mildew would grow promoting ill health and insects would have a perfect place to live. Your basement is underground, humid and in constant contact with the cool damp earth. If you don't control the moisture and humidity throughout the year through dehumidifiers, your carpet and furniture could be ruined, even photographs can be destroyed. I have always found that I am more comfortable when the humidity is lower. I don't like hot weather, but I would rather have it be dry and hot than cool and damp. What is it they say? "It's not the heat, it's the humidity." You might want to consider installing a ceiling fan to work in tandem with the dehumidifier. They help circulate the air, will dry out the basement even more and you will feel much more comfortable. Ceiling fans don't cool the air, but you will feel better because of evaporation than if no fan were there at all.

Excessive moisture can be present in the air any time of the year, so it is important to have a dehumidifier that can deal with hot and cold climates. In order to dry out all parts of the home, consider a portable dehumidifier with wheels and a handle for ease of movement from room to room. Place your portable dehumidifiers in various positions around your apartment or home. Experiment with the settings depending on the local forecast and the time of day. Generally, the humidity level decreases at night as a result of cooler temperatures. When using a dehumidifier in rooms that are especially damp such as a basement, keep the doors and windows closed as much as possible. Keep closet doors open to dry out shoes and clothing. Also make sure you put only clean clothes in the closet or in enclosed places as just a little bit of soil is enough to breed mold and mildew. You must clean your dehumidifiers on a weekly basis. Mold spores, bacteria, mildew can accumulate in the dehumidifier's grate. Make sure you unplug the unit before removing water or doing any cleaning.

Living in a home with mold and mildew is terrible for your respiratory system. All kinds of allergy symptoms can arise when your home is too humid. When you take control of your environment through the use of a dehumidifier, ceiling fan, air conditioner, or other cooling system, you will have a better place for your family to live and work. Portable cooling systems also reduce the strain on the environment. You are only working with one small space and not a complete home so you are using less energy, saving you money and power usage for the community. If you have a particularly hot and humid summer, this can really make a difference. The technology we have today gives us many reasonably priced options for keeping cool, dry and comfortable.

Mae Marshall is a successful freelance writer offering guidance and suggestions for consumers buying portable air conditioners, dehumidifiers, air filters and more. Her many articles can be found at http://www.portable-air-conditioner-4u.com. She gives information and tips at http://www.portable-air-conditioner-4u.com/dehumidifier.htm to help you save money and make informed buying decisions.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/



Poker tournaments freerolls are free poker tournaments that are hosted daily by the best online poker rooms. Poker tournament freerolls are often just called freerolls. Freerolls are loved by the poker

playing community as they offer the poker players the chance to practice their tournament skills and win some cash prizes without spending a dime. The entry to these freerolls is - as the name suggests - free and prize money can range from a few dollars for a placing to a million dollars for winning the largest Texas Holdem poker tournament freerolls.

So why do the poker sites have freerolls? Is it because of their extremely generous nature and the fact that they make vast sums of money so they feel a moral obligation to give some of it back?

No of course it isn't, the reason that the big poker websites offer freerolls is to attract people to their site. You can take advantage of these freerolls by visiting websites that list the most lucrative freerolls on the internet.

Websites like No Limit Freerolls http://www.nlfreeroll.com have daily listing of poker tournament freerolls and other poker tournament promotions.

Just recently, Paradise Poker hosted a million dollar freeroll poker tournament. Imagine winning a million dollars online for no entry fee. These huge cash prize freerolls are gaining popularity and we should see more of these in the future. No Limit Freerolls keeps up to date listings of the largest poker freeroll tournaments with the biggest payouts.

Free poker tournaments are here to stay. Don't miss out on this exciting poker action!

C. Feather is a professional online player and poker write. You read his weekly blog at http://small-stakes.blogspot.com or visit his No Limit Freerolls website at http://www.nlfreeroll.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/



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11:13 AM |

Tuesday, October 25, 2005

Day Trading Success- The Key Is Survival. Home Day Care Facility.

Most new traders tend to focus just about all their time and energy on finding nearly perfect "setups", but trade setups, even very good ones, are *not* the key to successful trading.

It's the *way* you trade your setups that keeps your losses smaller than your gains. And this is the single most essential key to trading success. To me, the process of limiting losses is more than just money management...it is survival.

I can't give you a list of mechanical survival rules that will take the place of experience and make you a successful trader overnight, but if you stick to the following principles in your trading, you'll be on track. You'll be doing just about the opposite of the crowd, and you'll eventually learn to limit your losses. Limiting your losses is the only way I know to make money in this business.

The following guidelines will sound radical, but they have guided me in making my living from trading for many years.
1. If a trade doesn't go your way within the first one to five minutes, get out. I usually get out within one or two minutes as soon as my perceived edge is gone.

2. If a trade goes against you in the first few seconds, begin drawing in your hard stop and/ or your target, trying to get out of the trade at break even.

3. Never let your hard stops get hit. When it happens, you may want to take a break and get some fresh air.

4. Hard stops are adjusted to market conditions. At the moment (July 6,2005) I am using 1.50 point hard stops on the SP futures.

5. Never move your hard stop away from your entry point, hoping that a bad trade will turn around.

6. If you find yourself *hoping* as you trade, it is a clear sign that you are not following good survival (money management) principles.

It will be impossible to put these principles together without a set of high-probability setups. Without good setups, trading is just a flip of the coin.

Mike Reed is author of TradeStalker's RBI Trader's Updates.

He has been trading the Market for 23 years. When he got his start as a trader, Mike was plotting prices on paper tape as the internet had not yet been "born" as we know it today. Years of experience have really given him a feel for the Market action. His support and resistance numbers have been published on the internet since 1996. He has a wide readership that includes day traders, floor traders, locals and hedge fund managers. Mike's nightly support and resistance zones are specific and incredibly accurate. He offers an unlimited free trial of his nightly TradeStalker RBI Trader's Updates. http://www.TradeStalker.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/



Starting a home day care facility

A well-managed home day care center is an essential part of any modern community. Working parents seeking a secure place to leave their kids during the day often look to a recommended home day care facility to supply that need. Many individuals start in home day care facilities, but often find it a struggle and eventually give up.

The reason that many in home day care services fold is because people aren't always aware that financial profit is seen only after a year or so of business. Sound financial planning is therefore essential for anyone desiring to run a successful home day care center.

Starting your own home day care service is an extremely serious undertaking and home day care requires thorough research and understanding on your part. To begin with, you need to make enquiries pertaining to your state's minimum licensing requirements with regard to in home day care facilitation. By visiting the State Licensing Requirements & Regulations website, you can download all the information.

When planning a home day care business, it's also important to make a detailed list of all the possible costs that might arise. Bear in mind that if you receive a start up loan for your home day care facility, it will need to be repaid with interest. Not only will your home day care business require various furnishings and carpentry, you will also need to consider the amount of staff needed to run a home day care business.

Every facet of staff costs such as salaries, insurance, sick leave and substitute teachers must be planned before opening up a home day care center. It's also important

to remember that the smooth functioning of a home day care center depends upon dedicated staff who understand children and have experience in the home day care field. It's vital that the employees at your home day care facility understand your needs and vice versa.

The safety of the children at your home day care must be top priority, so keep this in mind when planning the layout of your home day care business. Choosing playground items that are child friendly in design and function will ensure a safe and fun home day care experience for those in your care.

Other costs that might arise when starting a home day care service could include garbage removal, monthly utility bills, insurance payments and food supplies. A working fire alarm system is another vital necessity for any home day care business. Fire emergency equipment must be easily located in the event of a fire hazard at your home day care.

Before starting up a home day care service, it's a great idea to visit a few other home day care facilities and see how they are managed. By contacting the owners of successful home day care centers and chatting to them, you might find them willing to tell you about any difficulties you could expect. This could give you important knowledge about home day care while helping you avoid the pitfalls associated with starting a home day care service.

Realize that your home day care facility might earn minimal profits for at least six months to a year or more, so you need to have sufficient income to sustain you through any lean times! You should also be a strong-minded individual who can work long hours and face the challenges associated with starting a home day care business.

Efficiency, tolerance, a great sense of humor and boundless energy are other traits that could ensure a successful home day care business.

The children in your care will benefit greatly from any previous home day care or other childcare experience you might have.

The more understanding you have with regard to in home day care, the easier it will be to start and maintain a successful home day care facility where parents can be assured of their children's well-being and safety.

Copyright 2005

Starting a Day Care Center

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/



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Relevant Ads Increase Adsense Profits
Relevant Ads Increase Adsense Profits

If you've started using Adsense as a way to increase advertising income, but the numbers just aren't adding up to what you expected, the problem might be with the ads themselves. If the ads being generated by Google's Adsense aren't relevant to your website, visitors won't click on them. And, no click-y, no money. It's that simple. And it's a simple situation to fix.

One way to know if the ads are working is to monitor the click-through-rate (CTR) on a page. If it's low, it's usually an indication that once a visitor arrived at your page using a certain keyword, that visitor did not find any ads relevant to that keyword. And unfortunately for you, the visitor found no reason to click on the ads.

How do I know this? It happened on my website. On one of my sites, I had a page dedicated to PHP programming (a programming language). The page had a low CTR. Upon further examination of the page, I noticed that not one of the ads was related to programming or even to technology.

What I did notice was that the ads were related to guitars. Guitars? I thought to myself, "What relevance do guitars have to PHP programming?" And I imagined visitors to my site wondered this as well.

After studying the ads, I noticed that one word seemed to keep jumping out at me. The word was "strings" as in guitar strings. Well strings are used in programming too, but Google was not able to make this distinction which is why it was generating guitar ads!

The solution to this problem was simple. I removed from my webpage the words "string" and "strings" (or I just used another word in place of string or strings). After Google found this page again and updated its view of it, the guitar ads were replaced with relevant ads. And best of all? CTR on this page immediately increased and so did my advertising income!

If you have a page with a low CTR, you may need to tweak your text so Adsense generates ads that are more relevant to the page. When making these types of changes to your webpages, use the same ideas you use for search engine optimization. Why?

Because Google uses the same logic to determine the appropriate Adsense ads to display on your page as it does to determine if your article should rank high for "blue widgets."

Some areas on your page that might need a bit of text tweaking include:

- The title of the page

- The H1-tags used in the page

- The number of occurrences of the keywords in the text of the article

- Changing the filename (this can be very effective, but only do this for new pages that are not yet in the search engines or you risk losing traffic)

One word of advice: Don't forget that your keywords determine your search engine rankings so take small steps when changing keywords.

And remember, the only ads that will bring you the extra Adsense income you're looking for are relevant ads!

Bas de Baar is the author of the e-book "Analyzing Adsense For Niche Websites." To learn how you can increase online profits by testing and analyzing what will work for YOU, go to: http://www.AffiliatePotion.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/


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Monday, October 24, 2005

The Mirror Man. The 9 Commonest Mistakes That Students Make When Sitting Exams.

Lady Twilight felt angry. It was one of those days when she was doing her best to be nice to everyone but nobody was being nice to her.

What if people could be friendlier she thought to herself as she wandered through the open air market. It was a warm, sunny day so there was no use blaming the weather. In that case it must mean that people just do not like me, she decided.

The chatter of voices was all around while she sat at a table by the side of the shopping crowd. She sipped a glass of green juice and felt very alone despite all the shoppers rushing about the street. Just then she spotted a young man and the newspaper headline on his paper... Lead And They Will Follow.

Twilight finished her drink and wandered along the street, feeling heavy, tired and still a little angry with this world full of unfriendly people. She turned to the left and walked right past the mirror man, he was there every week selling mirrors of all shapes and sizes. He was singing away to himself until he spotted Twilight, then the sparkle left his eyes and his face froze into a stern harsh expression.

She glared at him and out of the corner of her eye she caught her reflection in a mirror. She looked so angry and so bad tempered that she even surprised herself. So shocked was she by her look of rage that she burst out laughing.

The mirror man started laughing too and the two of them laughed until it hurt. With a sore belly, Twilight bade farewell to her friend and skipped along through the market with an inner happiness and a smile for everyone she met.

Something weird happened though. At this end of the market everyone wanted to talk to her, and most people seemed pleased to see her. People went out of their way to help her and it was a pleasure dealing with these nice people up this end of the street.

She walked past a news stand and there was that headline again... Lead And They Will Follow. Something clicked - so that is how it works. Smile and people will smile back, give first and then you will receive. The world is like a mirror and people reflect back to you what you give out.

Although not everyone will be nice back the odds certainly are in your favor if you take the risk and give first. Lead and let others follow your example.

People want to be liked, let them know that you like them and they will feel safer with you and the quality of communication will improve dramatically.

Lady Twilight smiled and the world smiled back.

Peter Murphy
*Would you like a free weekly ezine full of practical tips for communicating at your best under pressure* All new subscribers receive a free e-book with powerful strategies for being at your best.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/



If you are not sitting exams right now keep this until you need it or pass this on to someone else.

Each of these mistakes really happens, so I am sure some have happened to you own friends. Exams are very stressful times and people make easy mistakes. Don't fall for them!

General Advice : Get in the habit of doing everything slowly and carefully with anything to do for exams and with your mind in the 'here and now' and fully switched on.

1) Not turning up or turning up to the wrong exam or the wrong place

PROBLEM:

Although it may seem amazing year after year, an unlucky student 'forgets' about the exam, thinks it is the next day or the morning instead of the afternoon. I am sure that you are 'way too good' to make this mistake.

SOLUTION: Take the time to review on several occasions with your brain 'switched on' your exam timetable, and even review it with someone else. Do not rely on what your friend thinks or even what you think! Only believe in written down black and white ! Double-check for yourself with the original information.

Review it on Saturday morning a week before the start of the exam and then every morning when you get up or before you go to sleep. Make sure you are certain where the exam will be held - don't assume!

2) Turning up with the wrong equipment

PROBLEM: The exam assumes that you have a calculator with you, but you didn't bring yours! You either waste time trying to borrow one, but the person you borrow it from is going to need it too, or you try and make do. Neither very satisfactory!

SOLUTION: Check what you are allowed to take into an exam and make sure that you have all the equipment neccessary one week before you will need it. If you can have two of everything - at worst you will be very popular with any friend that is not so organized as you!

3) Missing out parts of the exam

PROBLEM: Out of 100 students several will miss parts of the exam by mistake.

SOLUTION: Go through the paper backwords

at the very start of the exam starting from the back page so you can see where every question is and make sure that you have identified all the questions. ie if you have to choose 2 out of 6 questions to answer make sure that you have read all 6 questions.

4) Doing 'all' the questions when only say 3 out of 5 are asked for.

PROBLEM: Students will answer all the questions when only some are needed.

SOLUTION: Read the instructions carefully and slowly. Do not think you know it. It might have changed from exams you have had before.

If you are a brilliant student who writes really fast there is not a problem here. For the rest of us you have spent only 60% of available time answering questions that will be marked. The other 40% of your time you have completely wasted on answering questions that will not be marked. Chances are the examiners will choose the first, not the best. If you are not sure how many questions should be answered ask!

5) Getting the numbering out of order

PROBLEM: This nightmare can happen when you take questions out of order. However in order to use your time efficiently you sometimes have to do this.

SOLUTION: Always speak the number of the question to yourself when you are answering it. Double check every question and answer especially in multiple choice questions

6) Spending too much time answering one question.

PROBLEM: Even if you write a brilliant thesis on one question if the total marks available is only 20 out of an exam of 100 marks that is the most you can get.

SOLUTION: In general make sure that you allocate time according to the marks available. If you have time left over you can come back and add points.

7) Not making enough points in short notes or essays to get the marks available.

PROBLEM:If a part of a question is for 5 marks, You must say at least 5 seperate thing if you want to get all the marks assuming there is one mark for each point. If you only say two things you will only get two points. If you say five things, you must have read the examiners mind and know exactly what he wants to get 5 marks.

SOLUTION: In a short notes question like what were the reasons why...(5 marks) try to come up with 7 reasons, if you can, that way you can get one or two 'wrong' and still get full marks (check with your teacher that this will work). If you are given 5 lines to write on, then just give 5 and hope for the best. Similarly if an essay is for 25 marks then you must make at least 25 seperate different sentences about the question to have a hope of getting all the marks - far better to make too many than too few.

8) Not answering what is asked.

PROBLEM: This is dreadful - you work hard you do a great job but the examiner will be forced to give only a few marks or maybe zero because you have not read the question properly.

SOLUTION: Take your time reading every question. Take it one--word--at--a--time--real--slow--like. Read it again. Go though it backwards with one finger under each word if there are say only 5 essay questions. Underline each important word. Then read again forwards. Reading the question is not the place to rush or whizz through.

9) Getting stressed out because the first question is really difficult

PROBLEM: I once got stuck on a question that took me 1 1/2 hours in a 2 1/2 hour exam. I then had 1 hour to do 4 more questions!

SOLUTION: I've left the best till last this is really the single best idea for any exam:- Let your backbrain do the work.

Read one question, if you do not really know the answer well,leave it (without allowing yourself to be stressed!) and move to the next. Keep going until you find one you know all about. If you don't find the easy question - no matter!- go back through to the beginning of the exam paper again and find your 'least bad' question.

In the few minutes during which you have gone through the paper the question will have gone into you brain and the back brain will have done some work so you have a better chance of coming up with the answer. If you just look at the question waiting for the answer to come you can stress out and make a perfectly fine question seem like its been set in a totally different language! Let your back brain do the work -it keeps your stress levels low.

This report helps make sure that you perform at your best in the exam room.

In order that you do your best you need to be organized and use your time wisely.

Good luck with your exams.

Stephen Pickering
http:/http://www.effective-learning-now.com Review a book or lecture at a glance. Link to important infomation anywhere in the world or on your own computer. Free software uses a keyword map that turns your computer into an efficient effective "learning machine". No computer skills needed. I'll show you exactly how in less than 60 minutes.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/



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10:39 AM |

Sunday, October 23, 2005

Weight Loss : Keep It Simple. Cold Calling Does Not Generate Sales Leads.

An increasing trend over the last few years has been for diet books to make things complex.

I expect it's because each one vies with the other to come out with some brand new theory or other about why we gain weight and why their diet plan is the only one to help us lose it. And the low fat, low calorie stuff has already been covered!

My problem with this new trend is that the diets all involve more counting and while basic maths was never a problem at school I don't want to use it at the dinner table to know what I can eat. And while counting calories is one thing (most of us are probably walking encyclopaedias by now with how many calories our usual choices contain) the new diets are so much more complex.

With the new diets we need to know carbohydrate counts and fat grams, GI index and all sorts. And sometimes it's not enough to have a straight count we have to work out our percentage of carbohydrates, proteins and fat (yes, follow one particular diet and you have to balance these at EVERY meal).

Somehow I think food was not meant to be eaten like this. It was meant to be enjoyed. Most of us know what is healthy and what is not. Most of us know we'd be better with an apple than a cream cake. Most of us know we need a good variety of all types of food to feel great.

The new diets will not last. More complex stuff will come along and it's sad because we could all lose weight with a few SIMPLE changes.

  1. Make healthy choices for most of the food you eat
  2. Vary your choices
  3. Occasionally enjoy a small portion of whatever it is you love even if it's high in fat or sugar or whatever
  4. Eat only when you're physically hungry
  5. Stop when you're just satisfied, not stuffed
  6. Fill half your plate at lunch and dinner with vegetables or salad, quarter carbs and a quarter protein.

If everyone who wanted to lose weight just followed these simple guidelines there would be many more successful dieters around and a lot less hassle in losing weight.

Why not start today?

Janice Elizabeth is a successful weight loss coach, slimming club owner and author of "The Diet Exit Plan", an 8 week coaching program for automatic permanent weight loss. Request

her F.REE 15 page report "How to lose weight without dieting - 7 secrets the diet industry doesn't want you to know" at http://www.SimplySlimming.com TODAY!

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/



It is a fact of life for most new sales people; they get the dream sales job with unlimited earning potential and expect to earn so much money that they can now enjoy the fruits of their coming wealth. Everything seems perfect until they realize that before closing a sale and earning the big commission, they must first prospect for new customers (read, cold calls). Cold calling is hard to do. People hate to make cold calls and people hate being on the receiving end of them as well.

Prospecting is the most difficult part of the sales job. There are many ways to go about it but, for some reason, sales managers preach cold calling as the only way for young sales people to generate leads. As someone who has been through it, I wish that these attitudes would change.

I recently read one of the best selling books on cold calling. In this book, the author stresses persistence. He uses the 15-3-1 rule. That is, you need to make fifteen cold calls to make three appointments with prospects. Out of these 3 appointments you will close one sale. By being persistent and making fifteen cold calls a day, this will translate to, on average, one sale a day, five sales a week, twenty sales a month, etc. Further, the author explains that he doesn't mind the rejection that he gets when he cold calls. The reason is that since it takes fifteen calls to get an appointment, that means that he will hear the word "no" (rejection) fourteen times before he hears the word "yes."

This is simplistic and anybody reading this book may get overexcited and think that this is easy. It's not easy and the author's arguments don't hold up in real life selling.

Take the fifteen cold calls a day rule. Anybody reading this book will think that fifteen cold calls a day is nothing. If it takes 2-3 minutes to make a phone call, it shouldn't take more than 45 minutes to make your mandatory 15 calls. Then the rest of the day is spent selling in front of prospects.

But it doesn't work this way. If you've ever cold called, you will know that it usually takes at least 10 phone calls to reach a decision maker. Think about it, executives aren't sitting in their offices waiting for your call. They're either on the phone, in meetings, on vacation, or they just don't want to talk to you. So now, to talk to fifteen people, you need to make 150 cold calls. This is not 45 minutes of work; this can take days.

Further, for someone to say that he enjoys hearing the word "no" because it means he is getting closer to a "yes" is just misleading. Although a select few people can take this kind of rejection day in and day out, most cannot. It is only human nature to be discouraged by so much rejection.

There are better ways to get sales leads and increase your sales. People buy from people that they trust. Your time should be spent networking with your friends, colleagues, and business contacts. Get referrals, get introductions, get testimonials and the sales will come. Not only that, your job will be better; nobody likes the rejection and time consuming nature of cold calling.

Tino Buntic is a former insurance broker and ex-cold-caller. He is currently an entrepreneur and has created a system to reduce cold calling with his website, http://www.trade-pals.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/



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3:52 PM |

Friday, October 21, 2005

Planning Permission Tips UK: The Value of Design Statements When Submitting a Planning Application. Investment Clubs.

In theory every Planning Application should be supported with a design statement. This is simply a written document that explains certain aspects of the design and why it is required including the clients needs.

The advice of Planning Policy Guidance:

General Policy and Principles (PPG1) is that all applicants should be able to demonstrate how they have taken account of the need for good design in their development proposals.

However, most small scale developments do not require a separate design statement to support a Planning Application as most issues & principals can be demonstrated on the actual drawings. Regretfully, Local Planning Authorities are under increasing pressure from Central Government to have this written support statement with applications & complicated or contentious schemes usually require a design statement in any case.

How will a Design Statement help?

It will help the Council, Councillors, neighbours, the public to: understand fully your proposals and the principles of the design; consider the proposals against design policies in the Local Plan; consider the proposal against design objectives in Planning Policy Guidance Note 1 from which the Design Statement requirement comes.

There are three essential steps to producing a Design Statement and these are:

Step 1 - site analysis and evaluation.

This is a factual account, which should be essentially based upon drawings and sketches explaining the site within its context, e.g. urban, residential, conservation area, sloping, industrial, vegetation etc. It is important that this analysis has its basis in fact and reason rather than opinion and should include: building styles and sizes, street patterns, the nature of spaces between buildings and their uses, the character of the area, proximity to Listed Buildings, etc.

An explanation of the constraints and opportunities the site has in terms of its design, e.g. important views, features worthy of retention or protection, features which are detrimental and need to be addressed, and an explanation of the constraints and opportunities the site has in terms of its context, e.g. local building, changes of levels, physical features such as underground services, drainage systems, overhead powerlines, service trenches, trees, ecology and wildlife habitats etc.

Step 2 - Identifying the design principles

These should be the main criteria that the design needs to fulfil. These principles should be so important that they are not easily changed. They should not be a list of preferences but a clear list of what needs to be included in the design and should remain consistent irrespective of any approach taken. These principles may also include critical constraints to the applicant such as minimum floor space to be achieved, the importance of signs to a commercial proposal, financial constraints, etc. It should also include principles that are a requirement of the Council as may be set down in Local Plans and Development Briefs or other Guidance Notes.

It is important to understand that each site and proposal is unique and there is no right or wrong set of design principles.

The design principles should clearly relate to the site analysis and evaluation findings. The design principles will vary in number and complexity from proposal to proposal.

For extensions or alterations to dwellings it is likely that there may be only one or two principles, e.g. the extension should be designed to be sympathetically related to the existing property and not to cause harm to the neighbour.

In more complex proposals, design principles may include the retention of important public views, mass and scale of buildings should be similar to those in the street or conversely a new building ought to be larger because of the relationship of the site to neighbouring buildings. Important trees may need to be kept or the buildings may need to face a particular way or be in specific positions to meet the needs of industrial activities etc.

Step 3 - Creating the design solution.

The third stage is to produce the design solution. The important factor is that the design solution should incorporate the design principles, which in turn can be justified against the site analysis and evaluation.

So what will a Design Statement look like?

There are no set rules or ways of presenting a Design Statement. Much depends upon the scale and nature of the development proposed. It should first comprise a detailed site analysis based upon drawings and sketches setting out the constraints, opportunities and design principles. Written statements alone may not be enough and photographs of the site and its surroundings can be helpful. The Statement should relate to the wider context of the site and not just to the site itself.

Our 'Maximum Build Planning Guide' explains further the issues involved when developing or extending a property for planning permission.

http://www.planning-approval.co.uk

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/



Because you don't feel too sure about which stock or mutual fund to buy you decide to become a member of an investment club. Each of the members contribute a certain amount of money each month and then meet to decide what to buy or sell.

It is a nice camaraderie, but what do you know about making money in the stock market? The members decide what services to buy to obtain information on stocks and funds. Certain members will be designated to do research on a particular stock and bring it to the next meeting.

The members become buried in gathering data - doing research and forget that the end result is to make money. It is relatively rare to do any technical analysis. They gather reports from so-called investment analysts at the big brokerage firms. Recently the Securities and Exchange Commission has been investigating the recommendations of their in-house analysts because of the very poor results of their calls. Some have been accused of giving buy recommendations on stocks it was obvious were dogs. Let's hope the SEC does something besides a slap on the wrist.

We used to have a guy where I was a broker who wrote reports. He was told to do a report with charts and graphs. He said, "OK, do you want it to be bullish or bearish?" He could slant it any way we told him using the same facts and statistics and never tell a lie. The small investor is at the mercy of these people.

One of the greatest sources of information is Morningstar. They have every bit of information that is available about a company and they will sell it to you at a reasonable price. My problem with all this information is there is one important thing they cannot tell you - if I buy it, will it go up?

After more than 30 years in the business I will tell you that all the information you can gather about any company or mutual fund is totally and completely worthless. Trying to pick a winning stock is very difficult so what I do is let a very smart guy do it for me and he does it at no charge. How? Simple. I hire the manager of a no-load mutual fund that is currently going up and I buy that. As long

as his fund is advancing in price I will keep it and as soon as it starts down I sell it and find a new smart fund manager who can make money for me.

There is no such thing as a "good" mutual fund. At times they are good and at times they are bad. Good is going up. Bad is going down. If a fund has been advancing for more than 60 or 90 days at the rate of more than 2% per month it will show up on my Buy list. I don't need to know anything else about it and no further research is necessary.

Show this to your investment club members. A chart is helpful, but the numbers will speak for themselves. The only research your club needs to do is find a no-load mutual fund that is advancing the most in the last 90 days. Forget about 3-year and 5-year performance. What has it done lately? Your club can be a winner every year.

Al Thomas' book, "If It Doesn't Go Up, Don't Buy It!" has helped thousands of people make money and keep their profits with his simple 2-step method. Read the first chapter at http://www.mutualfundmagic.com and discover why he's the man that Wall Street does not want you to know.

Copyright 2005

al@mutualfundstrategy.com; 1-888-345-7870

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/



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4:12 PM |

Thursday, October 20, 2005

The Resonance of a Childhood Memoir. What's Your Reason For Waiting?.

Lost, is

the resonance of a childhood memory, in the scuddle of daily work routines, home maintenance and the juggling of career and family.

Allow yourself, for one moment, to fade back to your long-forgotten childhood. You know, the one that you've replaced with morning traffic drudge, scurrying to your office, hectic business meetings, work and more work. Just for sixty mere seconds, close your eyes and imagine yourself displaced from your present situation - No work. No hurrying to get your shopping completed. No kids. No spouse. No household chores or car repairs. Suddenly, you find yourself drifting through a long tunnel of fog. It's peaceful there. Absolute quiet with an allure of common mystique. When you exit the tunnel, you have returned to a childhood place.

Where is it, that you have arrived? Is it the child within that longed to see Santa Claus magically flying 'cross rooftops in the dark, starry night? Or the child who sat in wonderment of how the moon stayed in its place and never fell down? Perhaps you're the child who marveled at fairy-tale endings and the long-awaited rescue of the knight in shining armor? Better still, you've arrived at a stage in your life that invokes the lost innocense of childhood imagination, playful intrigue and blissful creativy. There are no boundaries here. The world is your playground.

Now think - what is it, at this precise moment that is the most important objective in your life? It's not obtaining the Hummer at your auto dealer, nor is it the promotion at work or the house on the hill... your only objective as a child is to have fun. Your overwhelming desire to play and enjoy life is your only goal. It's not getting up at 4am to fight shoppers at the local department store for the day-after-Thanksgiving sale. It's not making a deadline to get that business proposition in... no, for just that moment, you've realized where your heart truly lies.

Children, in retrospect, are the morning's glory, and the ultimate hope of all that we manifest. You see, for that moment in time, we've rediscovered the meaning of our life. Children present themselves as the untapped passion of life's zest. When we permit ourselves to take a back seat to life's sometimes, very fast lane, we lose track of our own personality and individual conceptions. Caught up in "keeping up with the Jones'" theory, we struggle for acceptance in a sometimes cruel world.

Our battle for riches can often cloud our vision and leave us in a tailspin of unhappiness, greed and false pride. There is no longer a true sense of achievement, rather a vicious cycle of envy that disallows ultimate happiness and personal fulfillment. By miscalculating our motives, we diminish our own morals, ethics and personal quest for growth and enlightenment.

Do you sometimes ask yourself, "What am I doing with my life?" Good. This is a query that more persons should truly begin to focus on. In life, there should be no imitations or fraudulent manifestations of the human potential. We should not begin to confuse ourselves of what is real and attainable, with what is superficial and unreliable. You see, when you take a look into your childhood and rehash the subconcsious memory of what is really important, you will find that love and happiness are the true aspirations of mankind. Success and prosperity are always sure to follow.

Perhaps today is the day you can make that trip to memory lane and decide for once, what life means to you. Just some thoughts.

©2003 - All Rights Reserved
The Resonance of a Childhood Memoir
C. Bailey-Lloyd / Lady Camelot

About the Author: C. Bailey-Lloyd/LadyCamelot is the Public Relations Director & Writer for Holistic Junction -- Your source of information for Holistic Practitioners; Naturopathic Schools, Massage Therapy Schools, and Reflexology Schools; Alternative Healthcare; Insightful Literature and so much more!

NOTICE: Article may be republished free of charge as long as Author Resource Box (above) is included, and ALL Hyperlinks REMAIN in tact and active.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/



The fever had been high late into the night, but at 2:30 A.M., it broke.

The little girl's mother breathed out in relief. She'll be O.K. in the morning, she thought.

Harry shifted into second as he approached the top of the hill. It's 2:45 and 330 miles to go before Tulsa, he told himself, as he started imagining the hotcakes and sausages at Dolly's Diner. He looked to the eastern horizon. Stars stared back at him from the very rim.

Bernice peered through the gap in the curtains, careful not to move them for fear someone would notice. Though it was ten minutes 'til three, the noise next door continued: words and objects sailing through the air, hurting and crashing when they hit. Bernice wondered if this apartment had been a good move after all. Cheaper is not always better, especially when you're 77 and all alone. She stayed close to the phone, its 9-1-1 programmed into the auto-dialer. If only morning would come, she worried. Surely they'll be worn out by then. She expected a gun shot at any moment.

Paul's eyes popped open at 3:02. Still dark? he frowned. Every year the same thing. The night before the State Fair seems to last forever. He rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

All four longed for dawn, each for his or her own reason.

The poet says: "My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning" (Ps. 130:6). Whether your reason is concern for an ailing loved one, a desire to complete your task, fear of physical harm, anticipation of something wonderful, or some other reason, wait for the Lord--eagerly and confidently. Like the dawn, the Lord is worth the wait.

Copyright ©2005 Steve Singleton, All rights reserved.

Steve Singleton has written and edited several books and numerous articles on subjects of interest to Bible students. He has taught Greek, Bible, and religious studies courses Bible college, university, and adult education programs. He has taught seminars and workshops in 11 states and the Caribbean.

Go to his DeeperStudy.com for Bible study resources, no matter what your level of expertise. Explore "The Shallows," plumb "The Depths," or use the well-organized "Study Links" for original sources in English translation. Sign up for Steve's free "DeeperStudy Newsletter."

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/



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10:05 PM |

4 Steps to Creating Good Credit. Best of British: Gizmondo Doomed To Fail?.

As a consumer you've learned the importance of establishing a good credit rating with your lenders. Whether you are shopping for a new home or auto, or searching for the best deals on insurance, your credit worthiness will be judged by your credit rating or credit score.

A bad credit history or bad credit habits will place "black marks" on your credit profile. These include things such as late payments, having an account assigned to a collection agency, and of course bankruptcy.

Establishing good credit habits and therefore a good credit rating will improve your credit worthiness. This will be reflected in potential lenders offering you substantially lower interest rates and better deals on credit offers.

Here are 4 tips to help you create a shining credit profile:

1) Pay Your Bills On Time

Lenders only have your past payment history on which to decide the type of credit risk you present to them. How you pay off your debts now indicates to them how you will pay off future debts.

2) Don't Use Too Many or Too Few Credit Cards

How much is too much ? How little is too little ? Many credit experts and financial planners suggest two to four credit cards is just the right mix.

3) Pay At Least The Minimum Due

Always pay at least the minimum due payment, but never less. And remember, just paying the minimum payment means it will take you years and years to pay off that credit card.

Example: Paying off a $2,000 credit payment at 18% APR with a minimum monthly payment of 2% ($40 dollars or less) will take you 30 years to pay off the amount plus interest.

4) Review Your Credit Report Regularly

Monitor your credit report from all three major credit bureaus - Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax - on a regular basis. Check your credit profile at least annually. Review it carefully and make sure that any past mistakes or disputes have been corrected.

Also, if you notice an account listed that you know that you have not personally opened, contact that creditor and the credit bureaus immediately. This could be a sign that you've had your identity stolen. Request to have a fraud alert placed on your profile and account to protect yourself and your credit. Identity theft is the fastest growing consumer crime in America, with an estimated 1 million people victimized each year.

Establish good credit habits early in life and reap the benefits that your good credit rating will provide you for the rest of your financial future.

© 2004, www.yourfreecreditreportnow.com
Author: James H. Dimmitt.

Get your FREE credit report online now and subscribe to our FREE weekly newsletter for consumers, "TO YOUR CREDIT". Visit http://tinyurl.com/bgo9 for details.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/



Best of British: Gizmondo Doomed To Fail?

The Gizmondo combined media player, phone and gaming gadget went on sale in the last month for �½229. The device sports an impressive spec: - It can be used to play games, music tracks and movies, it can take and store digital photos and can send SMS, MMS and emails, GPS, GPRS and Bluetooth for multi-player gaming.

From April 22nd you'll be able to buy a Gizmondo for �½100 less - a cool 44% saving. In return, for this discount, Gizmondo users will have to watch three "Smart Adds" per day.

The Smart Adds will mainly consist of video clips and small games that come with redemption codes or barcodes that are wirelessly delivered to your Gizmondo over its GPRS connection.

I'm not so sure that this option is cheaper....Ok, 44% less but who pays the data cost for downloading the ad? Even if each ad is only 100Kb (I'm guessing they'll be more but I'm being generous) then on my network (Vodafone) at �½2.35/Mb these ads would cost me �½257!!!

Other reasons why I think the Gizmondo is destined for failure are:

- It costs �½229. Nintendo's DS handheld costs �½99, and a PSP is expected to cost �½129 - far less than the cost of a Gizmondo

- The DS already has a pool of fans of earlier Nintendo handhelds to draw on (87,000 DS handhelds were sold in the first two days in Europe) and the PSP is also likely to have a strong following

- Most importantly, it doesn't have a killer game for launch

I'd love to be able to 'Buy British' but I think the Gizmondo will go the way of the C5, Sedgeway etc. May be worth buying one as I bet it will be worth a bit in 10 years!

Maybe in a year I'll be proven wrong.

The author runs a blog following developments in the internet and mobile internet sectors. With over 10 years experience in strategy consulting and business development, and has seen and lived through the highs, and the lows of the industry.

Based in London, the author can be contacted on admin@connectedinternet.co.uk and his blog can be found at http://www.connectedinternet.co.uk

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/



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