A Guide to Buying a Property in Hungary

Overview

Of the ten newest members of the European Union, Hungary has the fastest growing economy. As a result, those foreign nationals that took advantage of the liberalization that has begun to occur in the real estate laws of that country have enjoyed a profitable status over the course of the past three years.

Interestingly, the largest block of foreign nationals that are purchasing real estate in Hungary are from Ireland. The remaining groupings of foreign nationals tend to come from some of the other European Union nations.

The Hungarian national government has made a consistent and concerted effort to attract foreign investment into that country. In this regard, the government of Hungary has worked deliberately to liberalize the real estate laws in that country to make real estate investment and other types of economic involvement in Hungary more attractive to foreign nationals.

Investment Property in Hungary

Many foreign nationals have joined together with Hungarians in a whole host of different types of real estate investment enterprises. These trans-national joint ventures have been found in a wide array of different types of real estate holdings. For example, multi-national partnerships have been formed in the industrial, commercial and even residential real estate arenas.

Most real estate analysts that are familiar with Hungarian real estate market recommend that a foreign national interested in investing in real estate in Hungary should look to older properties in more established neighborhoods or zones. This recommendation holds true whether a foreign national is seeking to invest in commercial or residential real estate.

These real estate experts and analysts are reporting that the appreciation of these older properties are appreciating significantly, after undergoing a modest amount of rehabilitation after being purchased. Indeed, these analysts report that the value of these older properties -- both commercial and residential -- are appreciating upwards to 30% annually an incredible return.

The Hungarian capital of Budapest has derived the greatest amount of foreign investment in real estate in the past decade. Because the Danube River runs right through the city, a river that is an important European waterway, the capital is a natural for real estate and related types of investment.

Residential Property in Hungary

When it comes to single family homes, as has been touched on previously, those homes in more established neighborhoods -- older properties -- generally are more solid investments for a foreign national. The value of these properties -- following even only a modest amount of remodeling work -- rises a substantial amount each and every year. Currently, the value of these types of house is increasing in value at the rate of 27 to 30% each year.

There are some newer housing developments on the drawing board and under construction in different parts of the country. While there are some attractive points to these properties, as a rule, these homes -- once completed -- simply are not appreciating in value as are the older residences .

Residential Real Estate - Apartments in Hungary

The demand for apartments in Hungary is very strong in this day and age. Foreign nationals make up a considerable portion of the number of people who can be found purchasing apartments in Hungary during the course of a given year. Additionally, and interestingly, the Irish make up the most significant block of foreign nationals who are buying apartments in Hungary.

For the most part, foreign nationals have be found investing and purchasing apartments in the more major cities and urban areas in the country. With the entry of Hungary into the EU, coupled with the strong economy of the country in recent times, a growing number of foreign nationals are drawn to the company for economic and business reasons and purposes.

In this regard, when foreign nationals are found to be entering Hungary for business purposes, these men and women are taking to purchasing apartments for their housing needs. In the brisk apartment market in Hungary, the costs associated with these units is moderate when contrasted with similar apartments in other cities in Europe. Indeed, apartments throughout Hungary generally are classified as affordable when contrasted with the overall residential real estate market in the European Union in the 21st century

Holiday Property in Hungarian Holiday Resorts

In many ways, the 21st century has represented the true dawn of the tourism industry in Hungary. During the 20th century, tourism really was not a top industry in Hungary. Indeed, not that many people around the world included Hungary on their list of must-visit countries.

Since Hungary's passage from communist control, since Hungary broke free of the Soviet yolk, there has been a significant increase in the number of people who now are making Hungary a destination point for holiday travel. Many people are beginning to appreciate the true historic splendor that is Hungary.

A number of foreign investors have come together in the development of resort properties for travelers to the country. In addition, a growing number of foreign nationals (again, with the Irish coming in at first place) have taken to buying apartments which are being rented to travelers who intend to spend an extended period of time in Hungary.

Not only are these apartments being developed in the urban areas of the country, but a number of such developments have been undertaken in some of the more rural areas of Hungary. Many foreign nationals have found themselves attracted to the placid lifestyle and serene beauty of these more rural regions in the country.

Specific Steps to Buying a Property in Hungary

Hungary left the Soviet and communist era behind with a much stronger economy that had other nations that formerly were kept behind the Iron Curtain. As a result, Hungary has continued to enjoy an economic advantage over many countries in Europe in recent years. Most financial analysts and economic experts maintain that Hungary will enjoy a GDP that will exceed by 50% annually over what is being experienced in other EU nations over the coming few years.

One sector of the overall Hungarian economy that has been experience significant growth and activity is the real estate market. Thanks to efforts made by the Hungarian government to liberalize and streamline its real estate laws, including those laws that pertain to foreign ownership of real estate, more and more foreign nationals are investing in Hungary.

Historically, foreign nationals could not invest in real estate in Hungary. However, at this juncture, a foreign national can invest as an individual in real estate in Hungary. With that said, prior to making the purchase of real estate as an individual, a foreign national must obtain permission from the Hungarian Land Registry to purchase real estate in that country. Again, this step must be taken only if a foreign national intends to hold title to real estate in Hungary in his or her individual capacity.

The process of preparing an application for the Land Registry is a simple matter. With that said, there can be up to a month's wait before the Land Registry will act on an application to purchase real estate.

Some foreign nationals forgo the Land Registry application process by establishing a limited liability company in Hungary that can take ownership of real estate without the requirement of registering with the Land Registry Office. A competent lawyer in Hungary can complete the documents necessary to create a limited liability company within a day -- and can have them filed immediately with the appropriate governmental authorities.

Once a foreign national determines which route he or she will take in regard to the purchase of real estate in Hungary -- with as an individual or through a limited liability company -- the next step in the real estate sales transaction process is the execution of a preliminary sales agreement. Generally the buyer is obliged to post a deposit at this juncture, usually in the amount of about 10% of the overall purchase price of the real estate. After the initial agreement is signed, the buyer embarks on obtaining his or her financing while the seller makes certain that the property is capable to being legally conveyed to the buyer, makes certain that there are no legal encumbrances attached to the real estate. The seller must make certain that the buyer can take possession and ownership of the real estate free and clear of any impediment.

The last step in the real estate sales process is the execution of the final sales agreement and the conveyance of the deed from the seller to the buyer. The deed will then be registered with the Land Registry Office which will make necessary changes in the legal records pertaining to the property to reflect the new ownership of the real estate.

Overall, the real estate sales process in Hungary has become significantly easier to undertake in the course of recent years. Whether one is proceeding as an individual or through a limited liability company, a foreign national can purchase a wide range of different types of real estate in the country in the 21st century.

Property Abroad always recommends using a Solicitor or Lawyer.

Les Calvert - the Director of http://www.property-abroad.com often writes articles and information on the overseas property market. Visit their site with useful information and properties for sale in Hungary http://www.property-abroad.com/hungary.Bee Blog45838
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The Right Rod For Your Window Coverings

At some point all homeowners buy window coverings as part of a home building or remodeling project. At these times you probably pay more attention to the curtains themselves than the curtain rods. However, it might surprise you to realize the enormous variety of rods available, and the difference that selecting the right rod can make to the overall effect of your window dressing. Hanging a rod in the correct manner and finishing it well can also have an impact. You need to find out a little more about curtain rods before you begin your next window redesign task.

You are probably aware that there are three elements to a curtain rod. The pole is the part that the material hangs from, either on rings or directly in the case of tab top curtains. There are also finials which sit on the ends of the pole to prevent the curtains sliding off, and the brackets which secure the pole to the wall. Each of these elements can be solely functional, or they can include decorative features to enhance the look of the overall window feature.

A good choice for non standard sized windows is an extending pole. This is made of two hollow poles, one slightly narrower, which fit one inside the other. The pole can then be adjusted to the required length.

The finials can be a really extravagant and ornate feature if that complements your overall design. They can be made from a variety of substances, such as blown glass, carved wood, or wrought iron. You can update your finials at any time to change the whole look of the curtain rod. If your pole is wooden you can always paint it to ensure it matches or complements the finials.

Small functional brackets can easily be hidden behind the curtain pole, but if you want to make a feature of these, there are brackets available that will coordinate with your finials. Larger brackets with fixtures for two or more curtain poles can be bought. These are great for achieving a layered effect with your curtains. The inner pole being used for a sheer fabric, and the outer pole for a more traditional curtain. Layering your curtains not only looks great but can provide additional insulation and soundproofing as well. Be sure your brackets are designed to support the weight of more than one set of curtains, and that they are securely fastened into the wall with long enough screws.

When it comes to positioning your rod, it is largely a matter of personal taste. However there are some simple rules that can help you maximize the look of your windows. If you have high ceilings but fairly short windows, you will want to place the rod some distance above the top of your window. This will add length to your window pane and draw attention up to the high ceiling. In a similar way, narrow windows can be widened by using a longer pole than necessary. You will need extra wide curtains, or perhaps a number of panels to hide the wall on either side of the window.

Rods can be used away from the window as well. They are perfect for mounting a wall hanging or tapestry on a particularly ugly wall. If you have a large expanse of open wall space that a framed picture simply will not do justice to, a beautiful throw or piece of fabric, suspended from a curtain rod can give just the right effect. Next time you are decorating, pay more attention to your selection of curtain rod, you will be amazed at the effects you can achieve with a little imagination.

Linden Walhard writes articles almost entirely for http://www.curtains-drapes-coverings.com , a web page about window coverings and home building. Working on his writings (for instance http://www.curtains-drapes-coverings.com/curtain-rods.html on curtain rods ) he affirmed his know-how in the area.Belita Blog30091
Aurilia Blog35749

They Can Get You Where You Live

Most people have a pre-conceived notion that if there computer has a firewall or the latest anti-virus protection they are completely safe from hackers. This is simply not true.

It doesnt matter if you have a firewall or not. Sure, it blocks some unwanted intrusion to your computer but it cant block them all because of the very nature of the system. Just like a tiny bug that comes from outside and enters your home all it needs is the smallest opening and its there! Web traffic has to pass through firewalls to access your computer and even the best firewalls cannot process all the hugh amounts of inbound information.

Before a hacker can hack they have to talk to a computer in its own native tongue. Much of the time its HTML (hypertext markup language), but it can be Java, XML, Perl or a number of others. Most successful hackers have much more than a basic knowledge of computer languages as well as how security systems function. A hacker can be anybody with enough knowledge of computer languages and a great deal of computer savvy to look at a URL string and read between the lines. All a hacker needs to do is request information from web sites, servers or PCs using there unique knowledge of computer languages by using simple-well placed codes that may seen trivial yet extract a great deal of what you thought was secure information about you or your business. A hacker can, with persistence get administrative control of a web page and do just about anything to it like changing colors, graphic, text or Meta tags.

The only tools a hacker needs is an internet browser and a target URL. Broadly speaking a URL structure is: Protocol://sever/path/to/resourse?parameters This roughly translates to: http://targetsite.com/directory/files

When you open your browser to a web page whats viewed is what the browser interprets and displays. There is an ocean of information behind the pictures and text. On a typical web page, not readily available to the human eye but can be found none the less is information such as the HTML source code, source code keywords, hidden parameters, hyperlinks and a whole lot more. The more a hacker knows the better they can plan an attack. These people are very good at tricking a web server to release a source code for an application or script without it being executed. With enough prodding and poking at a web server they can view the original source code of the HTML content generated by the script. The method of attack will depend on what the hacker learns from the information accumulated from the server side, browser or client side.

Protocols

HTTPS is a protocol used for encrypted traffic within an HTTP stream. HTTPS is mainly used by sites that offer security where credit card and bank account numbers are used. Another level of security is the Secure Sockets Layer set of protocols (SSL) that has become a standard way to communicate between a web browser and a web site when a high level of security is needed. Not only that, but it can help secure e-mail, file downloads, and chat line conversations by using File Transfer Protocols (FTP) that works with SSL. Without this type of security in place it is relatively easy for someone to read the information you are transmitting. The thing to know here is that SSL only secures information in transit (between computer and website). It does not and will not guarantee security at your end and the site you are viewing! You will have to trust security measures at the site you are viewing and rely on your own computers virus and firewall protection. SSL uses a symmetric key cryptography for encryption, meaning the client and server uses the same key to encrypt and decrypt communication. If a hacker can decode the encryption key they can decipher the message coming in and going out.

Cookies

Many sites you visit will set a cookie on your system when you view that site. The purpose of cookies is to give you easier and faster access to the sites resources and to identify you later if you choose to purchase a product from them. This cookie will keep your personal information such as name, address and credit card number on their file in case you visit them again at a later date. The site itself has its own cookie system with the same personal information so when some user logs in they know who they are, what was ordered previously and what credit card was used so they can give you the use same and credit card? option. Because a lot of websites have security vulnerabilities hackers can view there cookies and retrieve credit card numbers and other personal info. Most web browsers let a user delete cookies on there system, either all of them or manually but they are still on the website visited. A common problem is if you punch in http://buyitnowsite.com and it sets up a cookie on your system, the creator of that cookie may have specified the domain type as site.com rather than buyitnow.com. Your browser then will offer up that cookie to any page in the same domain like virusdownloadsite.com (for example) or any site that you visit which may not have good intentions for you. This can lead to other sites having access to your personal information not intended for them. This could have been prevented if the technician who created that cookie made it specific enough to include the whole site name (buyitnow) in the coding. Really cookies are not intended to store information like user names and passwords, but unfortunately it is a common practice with websites and a hacker can view this information when infiltrating them. The best way to combat against cookie threats is through cookie management software that gives you full control over the use of cookies, which should include:

* Disable the sending and saving of cookies

* Notification before a cookie is sent

* Control of sending and receiving cookies based on the domain

* Look at and delete the contents of cookies

Most internet browser should give you a whole lot more options for cookies in the advanced tab or you can buy cookie software to have complete and easy access over all cookies.

I have mentioned here only a few areas of concern on protecting computer systems and internet browsing but there are others left untouched due to space ( one could write a book on the subject) but I hope you can see we are at more risk than you think. Because many of us have so easy access to the internet like an always on connection computers and servers will always be a target for hackers. Also the speed of connecting increases the risk of attack and the harder it will be to filter that access and make it harder for hackers. Even though we may never be completely safe from hackers there are things we can do to make there job harder. Never store personal information (passwords, credit card numbers) on your PC; instead use a floppy dick or CD for your private information and eject it from your PC when done. A general rule on firewalls is to block all incoming traffic that you didnt initiate. Dont run applications you are not familiar with and take what you download! Most important is to backup everything on your computer and make a bootable disk that you know is clean from infection.

Robert Hanania is a student of the internet, learning about home based businesses and computers. Robert is currently promoting his web sites. All are welcome to visit him at:Alissa Blog93267
Adrianne Blog13

Battle of the Bulge in NYC

Fast food chains are fighting a recent New York ruling that says restaurants must put calorie information on their menus. The city has given restaurants until October of this year before they will start handing out fines but it looks like the battle lines are being drawn.

What have you got to hide?

A spokesperson for the fast food industry says the rules, which require calorie content displayed in type at least as large as the price, will create the need for huge menu boards and confuse the customers. I wonder if they are maybe concerned about something else like revealing that a typical burger meal adds up to about 1200 calories in a single sitting.

The industry says that they have made calorie and nutrition information available for a long time, which is true. But putting it 10-clicks deep on your website versus in the face of the customer getting ready to place an indulgent order are two different things.

The American Medical Association is backing up the movement in New York. They are asking all fast food restaurants to add nutrition information to their menus everywhere, not just in the Big Apple (which may find more people eating apples after this law takes hold).

The bottom line is that most people have no idea how many calories they are taking in at their favorite fast food stop. Many single fast food meals contain about enough calories for a whole day but without most of the required nutrition.

The health toll

New estimates from the US government predict that by 2050, when today's elementary school kids are in their mid 40s, we will have 48 million diabetics. Too many trips to the drive through are likely a big factor. Over the past 15 years, we have seen the number of new diabetic cases double per capita.

Diabetes carries with it increased risk of heart disease, blindness, deafness, loss of limbs and all kinds of other stuff you don't want yourself or your kids to deal with. But current trends suggest that 1 out of 3 of today's kids will face these problems. In the small town where I live, we have about 1500 kids in the school district. That's 500 future diabetics just from here, assuming we are an average American town.

The economic toll

Today we spend about $1 out of every $8 health care dollars on the treatment of diabetes or related conditions. The British Health System already predicts their own bankruptcy and collapse due to the increases in diabetes. What are we doing to ourselves? Why are we deliberately shooting ourselves in the foot?

Maybe in the next presidential debate we should encourage candidates to spend less time talking about how to pay for health care and more time talking about how to make it less necessary.

I applaud the movement in New York. I hope that eventually the mega fast food companies will come around to provide us with healthier food that can sustain us well into our old age instead of driving us into and early grave. Vote with your dollars and eventually you will get what you want.

Copyright (c) 2007 The Brain Code LLC

Simon Evans Arline Blog69378
Annnora Blog28140

Tips on Changing Careers - Establishing a Workable Career Plan

7 Steps to Help You Change Careers and Establish a Workable Career Plan

If you are thinking of a career change or if you are trying to lay out a tangible career plan for yourself, there are several important things to consider.

Step One Self Assessment

Self-Assessment is an important first step in considering where you are currently and discovering what direction you would like to go in the future. Some questions you might ask yourself include:

* What are my interests and aptitudes?
* What are my strengths and weaknesses?
* What are my major personality traits?
* Do I have areas of interest outside my current field?

Step Two Consider Career Assessment Testing

Have you ever considered taking a Career Assessment Test? There are many of these tests available on the Internet that can be easily accessed and completed free of charge. This can be a great starting point to help you discover areas of interest that you might not have considered before.

Step Three Set Goals and Objectives

It is also important to discover your goals and objectives for the future. Not only do you need to think about where you are in your current career, but also where you want to go, and how, when, and where you would like to advance in the future. In considering your own goals and objectives, some possible questions to consider are these:

* Where am I in my current career?
* What are the possibilities for advancement?
* Do I want to remain in the field I am currently in, or would I really like to pursue something of greater interest?
* Is there something else Ive always really wanted to do?
* If I remain in the same area, what steps will I need to take for advancement?
* Are there credentials or certifications that would be helpful?
* Do I need to upgrade my degree to a higher level?
* Do I need to earn a degree in a completely different field

Step Four Make a List of Possibilities

Making a list of all the possibilities that you are interested in considering is another helpful exercise. Start by listing all the jobs you might be interested in pursuing. If you have no qualifications in your areas of interest, think about what your options are for obtaining them. Can you attend classes locally or would online learning be a better choice for you? Many times your current family and work responsibilities weigh heavily on the choice for the convenience of online learning.

Step Five Research Your Favorite Careers

After you have a list of possible interesting careers, choose your favorites and begin researching them. There is, of course, a wealth of knowledge on the Internet, but another great avenue is to talk to people who currently work in the field in which you are interested. You can also consider making an appointment with a career counselor at a local college or community college for assistance. Your local library is always an option -- peruse the librarys collection of career guide books. Researching should give you a better perspective and understanding of the careers that interest you and what steps you will need to take in order to pursue a new career.

Step Six Narrow Your Choices

Once the research phase is complete, you must narrow your choices down and consider the pros and cons of each one. This will help you to make specific choices that you can begin to pursue.

Step Seven - Determine Educational Requirements

Once you make the choice, it is time to begin seriously considering the education options available to you. Begin by discovering what type of major is associated with the field and consider whether a minor would be beneficial in any way. Many careers do not require a degree; you can get into certain fields with certificates or diplomas. Once you establish yourself in the area of interest, you can continue to upgrade your credentials with certifications and even earn a degree online while you continue your work.

Nancy Lambert is an executive for http://www.Accredited-Online-Colleges.com. Accredited-Online-Colleges.com provides information on hundreds of degrees offered online through accredited colleges and universities. From online certificates to Associates, Bachelors, Masters and PhD degrees, Accredited-Online-Colleges.com helps students and adults discover the advantages of earning their degree online.Alena Blog78488
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Importance of Database Uptime

For many businesses, logging, warehousing and processing information about transactions is the lifeline of their corporate strategy and crucial to their profitability. Important records detailing a companys user history, product inventory and shipment tracking, supplier information, configuration settings, or any other necessary collections of information are most often stored in and retrieved from databases. Databases provide a convenient means of storing vast amounts of information, allowing the information to be sorted, searched, viewed, and manipulated according to the business needs and goals. Many companies rely so heavily on the functions of databases that their daily business operations can not be executed if databases are unavailable, making database management and maintenance a vital component of their business models.

The significance of database up time and hazard of downtime can best be illustrated with a hypothetical example. Suppose ABC Company is a subscription based web application that provides a variety of on demand services to its subscribers. Every piece of data that ABC Company uses to provide its subscription services is stored in one or more massive databases, and fulfilling user requirements relies on the websites ability to access, format and deliver database information almost instantly. However, if that database is undergoing maintenance, queries cannot access the required information that is needed to create a deliverable, thus depriving the user of the services for which he or she is paying. On a large scale, database downtime can result in lost clients and sales, and thus damage to the profitability and success of the business. Hence, efficient database management capabilities are crucial to the mere existence of many businesses.

The need for database maintenance is unavoidable, so enterprise data availability software solutions have been created to help businesses reduce downtime from hours or days to mere minutes or even seconds. Effective database management applications can reduce or eliminate downtime that renders a database unavailable, giving business owners and developers a flexible and powerful tool to protect the performance of their valuable business operations.

Companies which provide enterprise data availability software and services help businesses manage their databases by offering services such as backup and recovery, automation of maintenance tasks, and fine tuning performance efficiency, among others. With an assessment of current database maintenance practices, enterprise data availability companies can recommend the appropriate system to implement that can solve the database management shortfalls of most organizations, playing a valuable role in the protection and longevity of their clients.

Stephen J. Richards has 25 years experience in Data Management and Information Technology. This information is provided as a public service by Neon Enterprise Software, a leading provider of data retention products. For more information, please visit http://www.neonesoft.comAnstice Blog42430
Alys Blog70130

How To Create Profits Using Viral Marketing Techniques

The Difference Among Viral, Buzz, and Word-of-Mouth

There are certain words, jargon that stands in for theory, that starts with marketing industry insiders and before you know it becomes the 'in' subject of books, blogs, articles, and MBA dissertations. But as jargon filters down to the less sophisticated, the meaning and ideas behind these words becomes lost. Such is the case with the current state of thinking on Buzz, Viral, and Word-of-Mouth marketing.

These terms are often used interchangeably but are they the same thing? Dave Balter and John Butman in their book, "Grapevine,' describe Buzz as a marketing tactic aimed at generating publicity or awareness often without regard to any specific message, while Viral marketing is a means of spreading a marketing message through the use of contagious creative most often Web-video and Word-of-Mouth is the process of product story-telling. Balter's marketing agency concentrates on creating word-of-mouth campaigns for his clients but the name of his company is BzzAgent - no wonder the confusion.

Mark Huges, author of the book 'Buzz Marketing- Get People to Talk About Your Stuff' points out that in order to create buzz about your company or product you must develop a marketing campaign that incorporates at least one, and preferable more, of his Six Elements of Buzz:

1. Taboo,
2. Unusual,
3. Outrageous,
4. Hilarious,
5. Remarkable, and
6. Secret.

It would seem that these six elements are the same elements that generate the contagious spread of information - Viral marketing. In order for something to become viral, people must talk about it, ergo word-of-mouth. But people can talk and spread the word of a video or stunt without ever generating much talk about the product. The famous, or infamous, Oprah Winfrey-General Motors audience car give-away stunt is a prime example of generating talk about a stunt without generating much talk about the product. If as Balter suggest, word-of-mouth is 'product story-telling,' then there is definitely a difference between Buzz and Word-of-Mouth.

So if Buzz is the tactic for drawing attention to your company; and Viral is the method of spreading the message; and Word-of-Mouth is the result; we then have a clear distinction between the three marketing terms.

The question is how can we construct a Web-based marketing campaign that uses the Buzz tactic, Viral method, and Word-of-Mouth message to produce the ultimate marketing objective: more sales and profits; and are Huges' Six Elements of Buzz the only media attributes that deliver a marketing stir?

Solve The Marketing Mystery: Discover Means + Motive + Opportunity

We've all watched enough 'Law and Orders' on television to know that solving a mystery requires learning the means, motive and opportunity of the puzzle. For today's marketers these elements are clear.

Motive: to attract attention, breed interest, stimulate desire, and generate action that ultimately produces increased sales and profits.

Means: the advent of relatively low cost desktop digital video tools and the creation of a new class of professional multimedia Web-video producers brings affordable multimedia creative to businesses that in the past could not afford professional video content.

Opportunity: the penetration of high-speed Internet connections plus the Web's ability to delivery multimedia audio and video combined with the introduction of Web-video search databases by dominant Internet players like Google and YouTube create the necessary opportunity.

Why Web-Video Solves the Buzz-Viral-Word-of-Mouth Mystery

1. The 5 Strategic Goals of Marketing
2. The Anthropomorphization of Brands
3. Maslow's Extended Hierarchy of Needs
4. The 5 Elements of Communication

The 5 Strategic Goals of Marketing

Increased sales and profits is every company's prime motive, however, in order to achieve those goals, certain intermediate objectives must be met, especially as it concerns the Web that by its nature is a sterile, remote environment. Marketing campaigns should be constructed to provide the appropriate audiences with five essential elements:

a. Awareness
b. Emotional Utility
c. Functional Utility
d. Process Facility
e. Confidence

Target audiences must be made aware of the company's existence and must be made to comprehend its relevance to their needs; and market audiences must be provided with a platform to participate or get involved with the company.

A successful marketing campaign must tap into an audience's need for emotional utility, a quality created in the audience's collective consciousness from brand personality resulting from corporate behavior and audience experience.

The campaign must also be able to speak to the functional utility of the company's products or services. Hard information and easily understood instructions must be made available so that customers are actually able to generate the promised benefits of the product or service.

The campaign must facilitate the process of moving potential customers easily and conveniently from awareness, to utility, to incentive, to sale. The process must be transparent and mechanisms must be put in place to accommodate customers when things go wrong.

The campaign must also create confidence in the organization's ability to deliver the promised benefits both emotional and functional.

The Anthropomorphization of Brands

More marketers are beginning to appreciate the effect of brand personality on their relationships with customers and prospects. It is apparent that markets have a clear idea as to a brand's personality, whether a company pays attention to it or not. And just as significantly, it is clear that companies can't just change their television commercials or advertising agency to overcome an unwanted or undesirable personality.

Brand personality is a function of audience experience: everything from the way you respond to telephone inquiries, to users ability to comprehend packaging instructions, to your website and email inquiry response times. No amount of smiling friendly faces in advertisements will make up for the irritation of a multiple-transfer-disconnect when trying to resolve a problem over the telephone.

Companies are ultimately separate entities whose personalities are composed of a collective consumer consciousness created through experience, interpreted from a very human perspective. It is human nature to anthropomorphize non-human entities in order to better deal with them. Batra, Lehman & Singh point out in their 1993 paper that there are five significant human personality traits.

The Big Five Human Personality Traits:

1. Extroversion/Introversion,
2. Agreeableness,
3. Consciousness,
4. Emotional Stability, and
5. Culture.

Jennifer Aaker in her 'Journal of Marketing Research' article, Dimensions of brand personality, relates the Big Five Human Personality Traits to the Big Five Brand Personality Traits.

Big Five Brand Personality Traits:

1. Sincerity,
2. Excitement,
3. Competence,
4. Sophistication,
5. Ruggedness.

When companies build a website or implement any marketing initiative there are consequences in the market collective; managing those consequences is critical to not just developing a brand personality but managing and fostering it to meet your ultimate marketing motive; generating more sales and profits.

Maslow's Extended Hierarchy of Needs as it relates to Marketing

Abraham Maslow, who was the chairman of the psychology department at Brandeis University in the early 1950's, developed a theory for the hierarchy of human needs. Before his death in 1970 he revised his theory by extending the hierarchy to include higher value components.

The bottom of the pyramid starts with our physiological needs: the need to maintain physical well-being and self-preservation; as you move up the pyramid the needs become more socio-cultural: the need to be accepted in society; while at the top of the list the needs become more abstract and intellectual as they relate to self-identity and the need to communicate that identity to others.

Maslow's Extended Hierarchy of Needs

1. Physiological Needs
Water, food, sleep, warmth, health, exercise, sex.

2. Safety & Security Needs
Physical safety, economic security, comfort, peace, freedom from threats.

3. Social Needs
Peer acceptance, group membership, love, and association with successful groups.

4. Self-esteem Needs
Association with importance projects, recognition of strength, intelligence, prestige and status.

5. Self-actualization Needs
Need to take on challenging projects, opportunities for innovation and creativity, learning at a high level.

6. Cognitive Needs
Need to acquire knowledge and to understand that knowledge.

7. Aesthetic Needs
Need for beauty balance, structure.

As marketers, Maslow provides us with a blueprint for developing a brand personality that can effectively deliver a compelling, comprehensible, effective marketing message. Decide which of Maslow's needs your company satisfies and then construct a marketing plan that delivers both the personality and message that speaks to those needs.

We are lucky to live in the age of the Internet, for even the smallest of companies has the opportunity to communicate its brand personality and marketing message using the most effective communication environment ever invented, The Web.

The 5 Elements of Communication

To effectively take advantage of the Web's ability to communicate, you must understand the five elements of communication:

1. The Environment: the Web is a sterile environment that needs to be humanized in order to effectively deliver your brand personality and marketing message.

2. The Message: the Web is an information-infotainment environment where compelling, informative, memorable content is paramount.

3. The Messenger: the Web is a one-to-one communication system compared to traditional broadcast and print communication that is a one-to-many system.

4. The Audience: the Web is a place where visitors choose to visit you, do not short change them with second-rate information, poorly delivered in unimaginative, ascetically challenged presentations.

5. The Process: the Web's multimedia audio and video capabilities combined with the penetration of high-speed access makes for the perfect system to deliver brand personality and needs related marketing messages that humanize your website, speak directly to your audience on a one-to-one basis, and inform, enlighten and entertain your audience in a compelling, memorable manner.

Conclusion

There has always been an ongoing business battle between those responsible for technology services and those responsible for marketing services. The Internet may be a great technological achievement, and it no doubt can be used to provide extremely useful technological solutions, but at its core and from its earliest pre-Web days, it was always a way to connect and communicate information and ideas, and isn't that the essence of marketing?

The need for businesses to create awareness (Buzz), to spread that awareness throughout the marketplace (Viral), and to involve an audience in the spread of needs fulfillment (Word-of-Mouth) is achieved by taking advantage of the Web's multimedia communication capabilities. In short, the Web is a communication tool that can be used by marketers to speak with a human voice and human face directly to your attentive publics on a personal, human, one-to-one basis in order to achieve the prime business motive: more sales and profits.

Jerry Bader is Senior Partner at MRPwebmedia, a Thornhill, Ontario based website design firm that specializes in delivering their North American clients' marketing messages using the latest audio, video, and interactive Flash presentation techniques to create compelling, informative and memorable Web-experiences that enhance brand personality and increase sales and profits. Visit http://www.mrpwebmedia.com, http://www.136words.com http://www.sonicpersonality.com. Contact at info@mrpwebmedia.com or telephone (905) 764-1246.Angela Blog18889
Blanch Blog99555

Let a Debt Management Program get your Debts on the Track

We, the people are habitual of getting our expenses exceeding our financial recourses. We want something and we get it even if our pocket doesnt allow it. When shortfall of money is the problem, we take loans or debts for achieving what we want. This doesnt affect us till we are able to manage them. But when these debts get out of our control and instead start controlling us, we are in trouble. In such situation a debt management program can be the cure to this financial fever.

Debt management programs are meant for debt removal and managing repayments, enable the borrowers to breathe easy in a debt less environment. These days debt management program providers not only prepares debt management plans but also other services which you can avail to control your debts in future. Credit counseling, bankruptcy and debt handling education, budget plans, online counseling, credit report and status analysis, measures to stop debt from arising further etc are the benefits which you can avail under a debt management program.

These debt management program providers also arranges debt consolidation loan for consolidation of your debts. With a debt consolidation loan amount you can consolidate all your existing debts. So that now you have to make a single monthly repayment installment instead of paying each debt separately. Also this saves lot of your money as the interest rate is much low as compared to what you are paying on all your debt in total. Debt management program combined a with debt consolidation loans serves you faster and better in eliminating all your debts.

A debt management program also provides you with the automatic deposit services. Under this service the debt management program providers automatically deducts the debt amount from your checking account and pay your creditors accordingly. This removes the hassle of repaying debts on your own. Also, these service providers have tie ups with large number of lenders. They can make your repayments affordable by talking to your lenders for interest rates and repayment term.

As we know that precautions always start at home, we can take certain steps from our side along with a debt management program to manage our debts. We can make lesser use of credit cards, which is a big reason for rising debts. Make cash purchase wherever possible or use debit card. Planning and budgeting can be of a great help.

Debt management program are uniquely designed for every individual. For applying for a debt management program you can fill an online application form with following details:

Personal details Name, address and contact information, mobile numbers, email IDs.

Debt information Amount of debts with you, number of debts with you along with details about your creditors, credit statement for reference.

Employment details Your employment status and monthly income.

Enrollment process for a debt management program provider will take 30 to 40 minutes. The debt management program provider will contact you with the best possible solution after accessing your information and help you see a better world.

Loan borrowing is like once in a life time decision and much is at stake. It is indeed not a good thing that many people are misguided into taking loans that are not appropriate to their financial situation. This leads to many allied misgivings. As a financial consultant the only driving force of Ann Gibson is to provide proper knowledge. Because knowledge in respect to loan borrowing is power and exudes financial benefits. He works for uk debt consolidation site uk debt consolidations. To find a personal debt consolidation loans, Debt management programs, loans, unsecured debt consolidation loans, secured loans, debt consolidation loan, debt consolidation mortgage that best suits your need please visit http://www.ukdebtconsolidations.co.ukAnnelise Blog34760
Cathlene Blog55567

Ten Easy Rock Songs For Guitar Beginners

When I started playing guitar, nobody taught me how to do it. It wasnt easy at first. My fretting hand's fingertips were so painful that I couldnt touch anything for days! But once I got the hang of it, I discovered it was one of the most enjoyable things Ive ever done. Over the years I would look back at those times and smile thinking how my life was changed the moment I picked up the guitar. It was actually my big sisters guitar. However it turned out that I was more inclined to it that she was. She eventually turned over all the guitar playing duties to me.

I thought of making a random list of easy guitar songs that beginners might want to try playing, just to get things started. It will cover different genres but the objective is to improve playing, one song at a time. These are the criteria Ive used for the selection of the songs:

a) Minimal number of chords the less chords in a song, the easier it is to remember how to play it.

b) Minimal barre chords barre chords require us to use our fretting hands index finger to press all 6 strings in a particular fret. Less barre chords is better for beginners.

c) Familiarity of the song the songs are some of the most popular during their times.

And since were talking about beginner songs here, the primary goal of this list is to give novice players some songs to STRUM the guitar along with. No point in doing any complicated stuff yet. We have to first establish the rhythm within the player. So here it goes, in no particular order:

1. Horse With No Name America
Chords: Em, F#m7sus

2. Leaving On A Jet Plane John Denver
Chords: G, C, D

3. No Rain Blind Melon
Chords: E, D, A, G

4. Every Rose Has Its Thorns Poison
Chords: G, C, D, Em

5. Knockin On Heavens Door Bob Dylan/ Guns N Roses
Chords: G, C, D, Am

6. One U2
Chords: Am, D7, FM7, G

7. Four Strong Winds Neil Young
Chords: C, Dm, G, F

8. I Remember You Skid Row
Chords: G, C, D, Am, Em

9. Come As You Are - Nirvana
Chords: Em, D, G, Am, C

10. Wonderful Tonight Eric Clapton
Chords: G, D, C, Em, Am

Finger placement:
C (x-3-2-0-1-0)
D (x-x-0-2-3-2)
D7 (x-x-0-2-1-2)
E (0-2-2-1-0-0)
Em (0-2-2-0-0-0)
A (x-0-2-2-2-0)
Am (x-0-2-2-1-0)
F (x-x-3-2-1-1)
FM7 (x-x-3-2-1-0)
F#m7sus (2-0-0-2-0-0)
G (3-2-0-0-0-3)

Legend:
D (x-x-0-2-3-2)

D - the chord name
x - E string will not be struck
x - A string will not be struck
0 - D string open
2 - Press G string on 2nd fret
3 - Press B string on 3rd fret
2 - Press e string on 2nd fret

There you go! Most of the songs have similar chords. That way, if we can recall chords from another some and incorporate that chord into another song then you get to practice applied knowledge. Ain't that grand!

Happy practicing!

Eric Monsanto is a freelance writer. He keeps his writings in his blogsite http://monsaint.blogspot.com.Ceil Blog6795
Bobette Blog69477

Accounting Programs Online Are Good Business

Starting out in a different manner than most, I earned a masters in an online accounting program. It all started when I bought new financial software to help me manage my business accounts. However, the program did nothing but confuse me. With various charts to track the business information, the program was not meshing with my understanding. I really needed to educate myself.

Starting my own business, I soon found myself branching out into various areas. Here is a great financial related web page http://www.finanicialstory.com. Although I was able to keep sound records of my business finances, I had never been technological gifted so I had done so without software programs. With my hands on the files and papers, I was perfectly able to manage my own system, but the software was so abstract to me that I would soon become baffled.

Without papers to manipulate, I could not track the orders and money in that manner. Although my company was growing enough to need more than book keeping by hand, I still wanted it to be personal enough that I kept track of things myself, which is why I did not hire someone else to handle it. This led to my taking the accounting program online.

If I had been intending to sell myself as an accountant, I may have considered a traditional university with accreditation to earn my degree. However, since this was just to help me in my personal business, I felt the online accounting program was more flexible giving me enough time to keep working in my business.

With the online accounting program, I did not have to do class work at a certain time. Instead, I could do the homework as it fit into my busy schedule. The online accounting program was also more practical for my purposes spending less time on theory and more time on real application. I never had to leave my computer to finish the degree.

Scotty B works for in his spare time:Brynna Blog5461
Barbabra Blog46858

Microsoft Business Portal for Dynamics GP implementation: catch the trend

Microsoft Great Plains or recent name Dynamics GP has newly redesigned on Microsoft.Net & Sharepoint platform web interface Microsoft Dynamics GP Business Portal. At this time BP host such web modules as Requisition Management (former eRequisition), Order Management (former eOrder), HR and Employee Self Service, Electronic Document Delivery (distributing SOP invoices to your customers) and others. We were watching closely earlier versions of Business Portal, in our opinion, version 2.5 was the one to consider conservative implementation, version 3.0 comes together with GP 9.0, now with GP 10.0 Microsoft delivers BP 10.0. in our opinion, which is non-official, former ASP eXXX products, such as eOrder and eRequisition were very solid and reliable and we saw large number of successful implementations. Now it is the time to move to Microsoft Dynamics GP Business Portal platform

Licensing. At this time BP user license is cheaper than GP user license it is about $50 per user for small number of users, we think BP is for mid-size and large businesses, however if you are small business and have strong IT team, you can go ahead as well

.Net platform. This bullet is for clarification Microsoft Dynamics project comes together with .Net progress. In some cases Microsoft puts technologies into the intra company competition: Microsoft Dexterity vs. C#, former project Green ERP modules unification (on the base of purchased Great Plains, Solomon, Navision, Axapta later on this trend was kind of deemphasized). Business Portal is based on .Net platform, and as you may be aware, dot net is ASPX, versus former Microsoft ASP concept this is why eXXX product line had to be rewritten

From Microsoft Dexterity to BP. In our opinion, Business Portal enables the move from former Great Plains Dexterity programming to Microsoft Visual Studio C# programming, where developer will have complete control over GP objects and business processes workflow. Sometimes we hear counter opinions something like the following: it is too difficult to detach GP from its Dexterity architecture so the future might reveal complete GP redesign (where the name might be also dropped to stress generic Microsoft Dynamics ERP). Having said this, we believe that Business Portal trend is for the future and to proof its endurance

Andrew Karasev, Alba Spectrum Group, http://www.albaspectrum.com help@albaspectrum.com 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918, serving GP customers in Illinois: Chicago Downtown and suburbs: Elgin, Downers Grove, Lisle, Oakbrook, Lombard, Batavia, Oak Park, Hinsdale, Romeoville, Bolingbrook, Plainfield, North Aurora, Wheaton, Warrenville, St. Charles. With reasonable travel we serve downstate Illinois: Morris, Ottawa, LaSalle, DeKalb, Marseilles, Dixon, Sandwich, Hinckley, Rochelle, Sterling, Rock Falls, Rockford, Springfield, Normal, Bloomington, Peoria, Vandalia. Nationwide remote support service is available in USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Oceania: California, New York, Texas, Ontario, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, New Mexico, Arizona, Colorado, Iowa, New Jersey, IndianaAshley Blog1914
Amara Blog25866

I Think My Child Is Using Drugs

What is a parent to think? I see behavior changes in my child. They used to be social, outgoing and communicated with the family. Now my child is secretive, isolated & uncommunicative. Is it possible that my worst nightmare has come true? My child is using drugs?

In todays world, pressure to use drugs is quite significant. When we were children, back in the 60s, 70sand 80s; the drugs of choice were marijuana, cocaine and heroin. Todays world is much different. The children of today are exposed to numerous other rave drugs. They include ecstasy, (methylenedioxymethamphetamine), Khat, Ketamine (ketamine hydrochloride), GHB (gamma hydroxybutyrate) and Rohypnol (flunitrazepam) this is the date rape drug.

Is my child going through normal adolescence, where they begin to separate from their parents, or using drugs? There are very important signs that you will see when your child is using drugs. Some of the most important signs are:

Less attention paid to grooming. My child used to take care of themselves, brush their hair, brush their teeth, now they seem indifferent.

Loss of appetite or an increased appetite, loss of weight or increased weight, without current medical issues. My child has lost/gained 5-20lbs over the last few months and I dont know what is going on. My PCP reports all blood-work and physical examination appeared fine.

Red and glassy eyes and frequent use of eye drops. My child is using Visine on a regular basis. I smell breath mints when they walk in the door. Is it possible that they are drinking/smoking pot?

Decreased attendance and performance at school. I have received phone calls from the school stating my child is tardy/late to some/all classes.

Loss of interest in school, sports, or other activities. My child used to be involved in baseball, basketball etc. Now it seems they just want to sit and watch TV all day.

Newly developed secrecy; deceptive or sneaky behavior. My child locks his bedroom door, appears uneasy when I am within earshot of their phone calls. My child is telling me that they are at the mall with their friends, but I find out that they were at a friends house instead.

Withdrawal from family and friends. My child used to be very athletic, had at least 5 10 good friends. Now I am seeing other friends that I do not know. My child is no longer hanging out with their old friends and my child is reluctant to introduce me to their new friends.

Lying and stealing. I have caught my child stealing and lying from me on several occasions during the past year.

Disrespectful behavior. My child was always brought up to respect other people, but is now very disrespectful to others.

Changes in mood. My childs mood is very liable. One minute they are happy, the next minute they are sad and the next minute they are angry. I feel like Im walking on eggshells every time I speak with my child.

Goals for the future. My child used to have dreams and goals for the future. They used to talk about going to college or a trade school or entering a specific market field. Now they are consumed with nothing.

These are all prominent signs that your child may be using drugs. There are various ways to deal with this problem. The most important is to begin counseling, specifically with a drug and alcohol counselor whom is up to date with the current drugs of abuse and is able to test for drugs of abuse, via urine screens. If you determine via urine screens that your child continues to use drugs, then you may be best served by enrolling your child into an Intensive Outpatient Program, specifically for drug use. If your child has continued drug use, even with the Intensive Outpatient Program, then a residential drug and alcohol treatment program is suggested.

Your childs future is at stake. I have seen some children do extremely well with counseling and others that ended up in the prison system or worse (accidental overdose). The most successful cases however, had very prominent parental involvement in their childs treatment, even though the child did not want treatment or parental involvement.

Wendy McLellan is a licensed mental health and substance abuse counselor, with more than sixteen years of experience. She has recently devoted time to the efforts of http://www.safecomputerkids.com in their goal to provide parental internet safety tools and resources to the public.Albina Blog46917
Catlaina Blog66198

Enjoy Sabah's Eco-Treasures

Adventure seekers flock to Sabah to climb Mount Kinabalu, the highest mountain in South-east Asia, or go scuba diving at Spidan, touted as one of the world's best dive spots.

Sabah is located on the northern tip of Borneo, the third largest island in the world. Its capital, Kota Kinabalu, is a 2 and 1/2 hour flight from Singapore.

The other name to Sabah is "The Land Below The Wind". It is blessed with some of nature's most breathtaking wonders. It has the world's oldest rainforest's and lots of sandy beaches, tropical islands and colorful coral reefs.

For nature lovers and shutterbugs, this is also the place to come face to face with a reat diversity of wildlife in their natural habitats, such as orang utans, proboscis, monkeys, sea turtles and, if you are lucky, the world's largest flower, Rafflesia

Forest and Hot Springs in Sabah

Do not like to climb mountain? Well, you can still enjoy the sights and sounds around Moutn Kinabalu without doing much vertical exercise.

Just take a drive to Kinabalua Park, which is juts about 2 hours from Kota Kinabalua. The park is Malaysia's first Unesco World Heritage Site. It encompasses Mount Kinabalua and covers an area larger than Singapore.

>From the park's headquarters, take a stroll on one of the walking trails and enjoy the serenity, fresh air, tiny creatures and flora along the way. Go on a guided tour if you want to identify what you see. Include Poring in your itinerary if you want to try the canopy walkway and hot springs. It is about 40km away from Kinabalua park HQ.

Sabah may be home to Rafflesia, the largest flower in the flower, but it is difficult to see one because it takes nine to 15 months to bud and lasts only seven days in bloom.

Rivers and Monkeys

If you want to see wildlife, go on a river safari, such as Klias Wetlands which is 20km from Kota Kinabalua. But bear in mind that a river safari is not a zoo. So do not expect the animals to perch prominently on tree branches for you to gawk at as your boat sail by.

But the fun is that if you look hard enough, you will spot them. M sharp-eyed travel mate managed to spot a family of proboscis monkeys before our boatman did. Look out for other monkeys, birds, fireflies and crocodiles too. Bring along your binoculars or a camera with zoom lens. And do not forget to take a poncho because you never know when it might rain.

The Sand, Sea and Seafood in Sabah

In less than 20 minutes, you can hop from city to coral life - that is how close the nearest snorkel and drive sites are to Kota Kinabalua.

The Tunku Abdul Rahman marine park has five islands, which are surrounded by extensive coral reefs. You an take a short boat ride from the mainland or check into one of the island resorts for an idyllic escapade. Do not worry if you cannot swim or snorkel. You can walk under the sea while keeping your head dry and your glasses on - with the Sea-walker air-hosed helmet.

While you may feel a bit clumsy with the bulky fish-bowl helmet, you can breathe through your nose underwater. And to refuel what you have lost from all that swimming, sea walking or lazing around, hop to Manukan Island for a yummy barbecue buffet lunch under the shade of the coconut trees.

Tangopang is a frequent traveler. More unique experiences at http://www.travelbargainguide.com/search-malaysia/Anna Diane Blog72502
Anabel Blog66989

Is Commercial Auto Insurance Required for a Home-Based Business?

If youre currently in the process of starting a home-based business, the issue of automobile insurance is probably the furthest thing from your mind. Chances are that youve had a car with a personal insurance policy for a number of years, and havent given any thought to changing your policy.

It is important to remember, however, that even occasional business outings may require a commercial insurance policy, depending on the regulations in your jurisdiction. Generally speaking, even a home-based entrepreneur who uses their vehicle for business transport more than once a week should think about getting a business-grade policy.

After all, if your car is involved in an accident and the back seat is full of office supplies, theres a good chance that your insurance company is going to ask some rather awkward questions.

Getting in trouble with your insurance company is exactly the kind of distraction you dont need when trying to operate a business. Ultimately, paying the extra premium could be well worth it to avoid the extra worry and hassle.

The only way to find out for sure whether or not you need a business-grade policy is to consult an insurance agent or broker in your area, and determine the exact rules and regulations in your state or province.

If it turns out that you do need a commercial plan, its best to shop around and compare quotes from several different insurance providers. That way you can be absolutely sure that youre getting the best deal, and may actually be surprised by the available policies.

Jeremy Maddock is a successful webmaster who manages a number of informative websites, including one about http://www.bizinsurance.info/Catlee Blog30211
Bee Blog25672

SAT Sentence Completion Questions: When to Guess?

In this prepcast, Ill discuss sentence completion SAT questions. Ultimately, if you started early and developed a great vocabulary, youll be in great shape answering questions on this section of the test. If youre a little late developing your vocabularly and the SAT test is in two weeks, dont panic! Ill discuss how you can still prepare and the overall strategy on when to guess. If youre new to ePrep, I encourage you to visit our earlier series on SAT vocabulary

I want to talk to for a couple of minutes about the sentence completion questions in the critical reading section. Sentence completion is when they give you a sentence and they leave one or two blanks and youre then asked to fill in the blank or blanks with the answer choices.

My advice is this, if you can read the sentence and fill in the blank on your own on what word you think would go in there and then look through the answer choices and either find that word or one that would means the same thing thats ideal you pick and you move on.

Lets say your vocabulary is not great. You think you know what word would go in and you look through the list and you dont see that word anywhere. But you do see two answer choices that you do know the definition of and you know that those two dont work; they dont fit into the sentence. So cross out those two eliminate them you then have three left and even if you dont know what the three words mean statically speaking its to your advantage to guess at this point. If you can eliminate two or more answers go for it and guess. But ultimately you might be right before the SATs you might not be able to improve your vocabulary in the next week.

For the younger students who may be watching this video, if you get started freshman, sophomore even at the beginning of junior year working on your vocabulary you can make a huge huge difference in your critical reading score. I have a pretty good vocabulary. I go through the sentence completion questions a lot with students and their easy for me not because Ive seen them before but because I know what all the words mean.

So ultimately if you know what the words mean you have a great vocabulary its going to be easy for you. If you dont your running out of time dont panic. Again, try to pick a word that would fit in your own mind. See if you can find it or one that means the same thing. And if you cant and you only know two words out of the five and you know they dont work cross them out and guess; thats the way you maximize your score

Karl SchellscheidtCaryn Blog41028
Alison Blog32463

The Shape of a Flourishing Business

Is your business running flat? We call a business that has depth and self-sufficiency a Flourishing Business. In todays high-speed, technology and media savvy business world a small or mid-size company that is trying to really grow and establish itself cannot just plod along slowly hoping that things will get better.

Your costs are always rising. Just keeping up with inflation will put you out of business. Health insurance costs rose 7.7% last year, twice the rate of inflation. Vendors costs go up each year and they keep pace with their own rising business expenses, and in order to retain good people, you need to be able to offer them competitive pay raises.

Therefore, as a business owner you need to figure out a way to keep your revenue on a similar positive trend and do this proactively not reactively. Your business cannot just subsist, it needs to flourish. Your business can take shape if you follow the Flourishing Business Methodology.

The Flourishing Methodology has nine critical factors that are proven to result in long term business success. Unlike many short term tactics that are encouraged by other business consultants, the Flourishing Method is centered around the idea of creating natural and self-perpetuating growth. You start with the core and blossom out from there with each additional component adding depth to your strategy and resilience to your business. Shaping your business strategy like a bloom will allow your business to boom.

Picture your business like the face of a flower. The center of the flower represents the marketplace that you play in, and the products, services a company provides to that marketplace. This is ultimately the value that you provide. Your business needs to build around this value. When cultivating your value you must take into account the competitive landscape of the marketplace and plant your business on fertile ground.

You have to have a solid core, in order to expand your business. Plant your roots in a value to the marketplace that people desire and need. And be sure to continuously monitor this. Your value may need to change or expand over time. Keeping a pulse on the marketplace is one of your most important jobs as the business owner.

Once you are clear on your value, then you must add four essential petals: a focused strategy, apt employees, loyal customers and a steady cash flow. Without these four things you do not have a business, you just have an idea. This is not just for small startup companies. Many companies grow to the multi-million dollar level and find themselves in trouble having lost touch with one of these key areas. Each of these four essentials represents a key business success element necessarily to for your companys survival and future value. On the most simplistic level, if a business can take care of its customers, attract and retain great employees, keep a consistent positive cash flow, and clearly head in one focused direction, it will be alright. If you linger too long without one of these four critical components of your business, it will wither and die.

The business can then become enriched with the addition of four additional components. These aspects of your business can be optimized to create greater value and profit. To make your business the blossoming corporation that it can be, you must also optimize and add four other petals to your growing flower. They include: marketing and sales, planning and measurement, systematic processes and an optimized supply chain that includes wisely choosing and managing all of your vendor and outsourced service provider relationships.

Each of these areas must be a focused aspect of your company that you have nurtured for optimum efficiency and longevity. Just like anything in nature, things do not just stay the same; you are either growing or dying. You must know where you stand on each of these areas and have a plan for continuously improving it, making it stronger and better. As most successful business owners will tell you, the efforts that they spend upfront allowed for greater effectiveness in the long run. By using the Flourishing Business Methodology to craft your business you will find that overtime your business will run itself and bloom in all seasons.

If youd like to learn more about The Flourishing Business and how we can help you start creating one for yourself, visit http://www.flourishingbusiness.com or call 404-521-2401. The Flourishing Business is an Atlanta-based business advisory firm that assists entrepreneurs. The company has developed The Flourishing Business Methodology for business success and The Flourishing Methodology for optimal personal performance, achievement and self-actualization. The Flourishing Business is and provides the products, services and advice that you need in order to achieve it.

Elizabeth Gordon, founder and President of The Flourishing Business, LLC, is a visionary leader who has a passion for helping others achieve their entrepreneurial dreams and enjoy more of the best in life. With a vast and diverse background in many business arenas, Elizabeth regularly has the opportunity to share her business acumen with clients, large and small. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO), Atlanta and the Board of Directors of the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Atlanta. She is an Accredited Executive Associate of the Institute for Independent Business (IIB) and a certified Life Coach. Carmen Blog36677
Alli Blog67371

Tips To Overcome Insomnia To Prevent Acne, Hair Loss, Ulcer And Headache Problems

Are you suffering from acne problems, hair loss, ulcer attack or frequent headache? Or do you feel that you are constantly in stress? The most like causes of all these maybe perhaps be insomnia, or lack of sleep and rest. Today let us discuss how we can deal with insomnia.

If you have a rocky workplace, this can also be a good excuse for insomnia. You are going to be stressed and uneasy about a lot of things when you are worried about what is going on at work. You need to find out a way to work through these problems to make them better. Get help from your supervisor or manager to take this problem on. Once you get it sorted out, you will probably find that you can rest better at night and start sleeping through the night like you once did.

Do not overeat as heavy meals will drain out your energy. Instead of eating a large meal, you need to eat three smaller meals throughout the day. You need to have your blood sugar and your insulin levels more even. You will also find it easier to sleep at night if you eat this way. You need to keep watch of what you eat so that you can dream away at night. Eating rich foods will help you out a lot when it comes to dieting. Remember that overeating can not only cause insomnia, it can also cause unwanted weight gain too.

Next, are you finding hard to concentrate while you sleep? Do you know that there are as many as 100,000 car accidents and fifteen hundred deaths that are from accidents caused by people that are driving while drowsy. This is a serious problem and one that more and more people need to address. There are lots of people that are sacrificing their sleep to do other things in life. It is not going to help anyone if a person skips the sleep that they need in order to do something else.

Insomnia is a leading cause in the United States for decreased productivity. Each year insomnia will cost the United States over one billion dollars for the research and the lost work that is not getting done. This is a serious condition and one that has to be taken more seriously. There are more and more people under stress and hectic lives. They are not allowing themselves enough time for rest and relaxation and this is leading to more severe problems for them such as headache, acne problems, and even hair loss.

You should also eat a great breakfast. You need to eat foods that boost your metabolism and give the body energy to burn off. The brain will depend on the glucose for fuel and so carbohydrates for breakfast is a great idea. You should try to not skip any meals. It is important to eat healthy and to eat when you are hungry. Cereals and wholegrain bread is the best way to get a good start on your day and keep you awake.

Lastly, about a third of the average persons life is spent sleeping. This means that sleep is very important to our health and us. Healthy sleep is more important. It is vital to a human's body and it is going to be essential for the brain to function the way that it is intended. Other organs in the body also depend on the amount of sleep that a person gets to function properly.

Alright! You've now completed the easy part. From here, you have to start to plan a regular and healthier plan for your daily life. By changing your lifestyle for a better, healthier one, you will ultimately enjoy a healthier, happy life.

For more health articles on acne, visit http://acne.greenhealthinformation.com/ . And http://headache.greenhealthinformation.com/ for headache discussion. And http://hair-loss.greenhealthinformation.com/ for hair loss cures.

Christopher Wen is the webmaster for greenHealth information site where he provides articles, news, and remedies to current health issues we faced in our everyday life. Check out his blog at http://greenhealthinformation.com.Anett Blog68683
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Introduction To The Four Agreements

A number of months ago, I read a book that had a profound impacts both on me and on everyone I shared it with. A man named don Miguel Ruizs calls it The Four Agreements. Don Miguel is a nagual, or master, in the Toltec tradition. The Toltecs were a group of artists and scientists who formed a society to explore and conserve ancient spiritual knowledge. They came together at the ancient city of pyramids outside of Mexico City known as the place where "Man becomes God." Don Miguel Ruiz offers us principles from the Toltec tradition that resonate with essential New Thought principles, - or as many people are now saying - New Thought ANCIENT WISDOM because they are universal principles embraced in many traditions of many cultures and times.

Understanding our thoughts and what runs us from within is the focus of Ruiz's book The Four Agreements. Ruiz offers a long and very interesting explanation about the beliefs in our life being formed not out of a process of choosing them, but through a process of agreeing with information given us by our parents, our tribe and our culture. Society's information is passed to us from the "dream of the planet" which contains various interpretations of life, like seeing life as if through smoke or fog. These interpretations do not allow us to see who we are, which is pure love and pure light. Instead these interpretations tell us that it is normal for humans to suffer, to live in fear, to create emotional dramas and so to dream hell into our own life. In the process of agreeing with the interpretations, we store the information; we believe it, and we surrender

to the beliefs given us by our agreement with them. We live in a fog, or personal dream of life, which is what we believe of all the concepts, the human race consciousness has about what we are -- all the agreements, which have been made with others, with the self, and with God.

Ruiz writes that the whole mind is a fog, which the Toltecs called a mitote: a dream where 1000 people talk at the same time and nobody understands each other. With this dream (in India called "maya") you cannot see what you

really are, who you truly are, and cannot see that not free to be, but live trying to satisfy others' demands, living by other's points of view because of the fear of not being accepted, not being good enough for someone else.

Out of the thousands of agreements we have made with self, others, with the dream of life, with God, society, parents, mate and children, the most important agreements are ones made with self. These are agreements by which

you tell yourself who your self is, what your self feels, what your self believes and how the self should behave. These agreements define who and what your self is, what is believed, what can be done what cannot be done, what

is possible, what is impossible, what is fantasy and what is reality. One single agreement is not a problem, but we have many agreements that make us suffer, such as agreeing to what is not enough, what is not deserving. Each agreement is a commitment of energy.

It is up to us if we commit it to the truth of our being and to the thoughts that give power, or to what weakens and keeps us trapped in illusion.

It is our job to break those agreements that are fear-based and drain off our energy and claims our personal power, and instead makes agreements that come from love.

Id like to highlight today my own personal beliefs -- using Don Miguel Ruizs book -- THE FOUR AGREEMENTS as my framework and I hereby re-commit myself to these agreements PUBLICALLY and invite anyone who hears or sees me breaking them to call me to them. Id of course, like to invite YOU to make these same agreements. Are you game?

Dr. Toni LaMotta has spoken internationally, authored several books and numerous articles and has served as a consultant, and trainer to a variety of corporations. Barbie Blog33705
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Business Banking Keeping Your Accounts Healthy

Theres no room for complacency when it comes to running a business, and running your account is no different. You should check your statements carefully, and have a periodic review of the market to make sure your account is still the best one for your needs.

New accounts and special offers crop up all the time, and it may be worth your while to change banks. You can also point out the competitions rates when negotiating terms with your own bank often these are flexible and a bank may offer you improved rates if you hint that you are considering taking your business elsewhere. Stay on top of bank charges, and if any show on your account that you do not understand, contact the British Bankers Association for more detailed explanations on charges and interest: www.bba.org.uk

There are ways to minimise charges and run your account as smoothly as possible:

1. Automate Your Account

If you have frequent customers, you could encourage them to make payments by direct debit or standing order. The more electronic payments you have, the fewer charges you will incur. The same goes for your expenses try to use automated services for all your regular payments.

2. Bank Online

If your bank account has online facilities, make use of them. It is both more efficient and cost effective. Larger businesses may be offered PC banking, which involves special software being installed on your accounting computer, so that your accounting system is linked directly to your bank.

If you find yourself struggling, for example if cash is short and its becoming difficult to meet the repayments on your loan, the best course of action is to visit your bank and renegotiate your account. You should do your best not to exceed any overdraft limit that has been agreed, and stick to the terms of your account. If you break the terms of your agreement there can be stiff penalties, such as referral fees and administration costs.

If you accept a cheque which then bounces, you will lose the money owed to you and also incur a charge. Be sure to write the number of the cheque guarantee card on the back of all cheques

You should also keep your records scrupulously accurate noting all transactions and crosschecking your records with your bank statements. Not only will this mean you can query any discrepancies, but it will make filling in your tax return much quicker and easier!

Joe Kenny writes for the Loans Store offering secured loans and offer more information on car loans and other loan topics available on site.Allissa Blog80149
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Improve Your Lawns With Landscaping Supplies

Last summer, my wife, kids and I planned to makeover the landscaping in front of our home. That time, we only had plastic edging to surround our perennials. We wanted to grow these plants, but the edging would not allow us to raise beautiful perennials. It was the plastic edge that did it. It heaves out of the ground every spring, causing no plants to grow. For the past months, we have been employing a regular gardener who took care of the rest of our plants. He suggested that we may want to look into landscaping blocks as an alternative to plastic edging. And so we started planning.

One afternoon, we dropped by the nearest home improvement center and browsed through shelves of landscaping supplies. We found the blocks that we would need for the project and were surprised to know that the blocks came in several different colors. And so we hunted down coordinating stones that we planned to use as a garden path. Our plans certainly got bigger when we caught sight of all those landscaping supplies. They inspired us to take good care of the earth, of our plants and of our lawn.

It's amazing how small things can do great things. Our neighbor saw us with our landscape supplies. He offered to help with the project. And then another neighbor saw us working together and got intrigued. When he found out that we are on a landscape project, he decided to pitch in, as well. The three of us, plus my wife and kids, made the work so much easier and faster.

After getting all the supplies from the car and finally settling them into our lawn, we began working on the landscape design. I removed the old plastic edging and replaced it with landscaping blocks. Some of my neighbors had been busy installing the coordinating stones for our new garden path.

Now that we have landscaping blocks, we tried planting perennials yet again. Lo and behold! It blossomed. I cannot even begin to imagine how much improvement simple landscaping supplies can do for our garden.

Luke Cameron is owner of Home Development Today. - an online magazine offering news, tips and articles on home and garden topics. His website can be found at: http://www.homedevelopmenttoday.com and http://www.homesviews.com.Alvina Blog80274
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Student Loan Borrowers Save More with NextStudents Consolidation Program

Student borrowers who may have missed the July 1 deadline to consolidate their student loans before the interest rate increase need to know they still can consolidate at low rates especially if students are in their grace period. NextStudent, the Phoenix-based premier education funding company, advises students with federal Stafford loans issued prior to July 1 to consolidate today and automatically receive a .6 percent reduction on already low rates.

Federal student loan consolidation bundles together all of a student borrowers loans into one easy, manageable monthly payment. Savings over the long term can add up to thousands. NextStudents benefits and incentives bring down interest rates even more. In addition, with federal student loan consolidation there are no charges, fees or prepayment penalties.

Lower Rates in Grace Period

For student borrowers who had student loans prior to July 1, 2006, the initial interest rate on loan consolidation with a .6 percent rate reduction while in grace period is 6.625 percent, as opposed to the new repayment rate of 7.25 percent on student loans. The 6.625 percent rate can be reduced with NextStudents aggressive incentives:

An interest rate reduction of .25 percent for student borrowers when they sign up with Auto Debit and have their payments deducted automatically

An added interest rate reduction of 1 percent that is locked for the life of the loan following the first 36 consecutive on-time payments, OR an interest rate reduction of 2 percent following 48 consecutive on-time payments

Its Easy to Apply for Consolidation

By bundling together all of a students loans and extending the repayment period, borrowers save time and money over the long term. Depending on a borrowers balance repayment can be extended as long as 30 years. In addition, NextStudent offers the advantage of various options on repayment, including graduated repayment and income-sensitive repayment. There also are deferment and forbearance options available.

As consolidation rates are much lower than current student loan rates, now is the perfect time to consolidate and save money. Applying for NextStudents federal Student Loan Consolidation program does not take much time and easily is done online. NextStudents application is hassle-free and can be completed in four easy steps with Electronic Signature. There is no need for a co-signer and there are no credit checks. Student borrowers do not even need to know the details of their current student loan portfolio.

Now is the perfect time for student borrowers who missed the deadline to consolidate the student loans they had prior to July 1, 2006. By consolidating before the end of the grace period student borrowers can receive a low interest rate and sign up with NextStudent for other aggressive incentives to help them save even more over the long term. Student loan consolidation can rid borrowers of too many unwanted monthly bills and help make life easier and less expensive.

NextStudent believes that getting an education is the best investment you can make, and it is dedicated to helping you pursue your education dreams by making college funding as easy as possible. Learn more about Student Loans at http://www.nextstudent.com/.

Jeff Mictabor is an enthusiast on the topic of student loan issues in the news. He has been writing for the past 10 years for a variety of education publications. He now offers his writing services on a freelance basis.Brynna Blog5461
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Investing in Kenya: Tourism Industry

Wildebeest migration to and back from Serengeti into the Maasai Mara is the single most popular wildlife spectacle in Kenya. The wildebeest migration is such a phenomenon it involves movement of over 1 million animals crossing plains and rivers in the mara migration. River crossings are the most spectacular where the wildebeest of mara jump into rivers full of crocodiles and surging currents. The wildebeest is feted as the clown of the Savannah. Also known as a gnu, the animal has a structure resembling a young horse with a heavily built frontal shoulders and chest and a slender posterior. Its legs are so slender it's intriguing how it supports the proportionately larger body frame. The clown title results from its unusual behavior considered to other bovids, for example a gnu herd will usually scatter in different directions when attacked by a lion.

The Migration

What gives the gnu its worldwide repute is not its body structure however, but the sheer numbers and spectre created by its migration. The animals migrate between the Serengeti and Mara Savannahs in Tanzania and Kenya respectively, in search of grass and water. It is estimated that over 1 million of these animals are on the move during the annual migration between June and October. The numbers are so high that miles upon miles of grassland is blanketed by a mass of moving gnu. They simply stretch from one horizon to the next; of the conveniently flat and treeless Maasai Mara Savannah. It is a sight to behold when on your wildlife safari. The wildebeest migration phenomenon is so huge that satellites miles away in space are able to capture the surge as a black moving mass on the plains of East Africa. Now, thats huge: and its even more awesome watching it on the ground or with Mara balloon Safaris.

River Crossing

The most dramatic and memorable safari experience is when you observe the migrating wildebeest/gnus at the several Mara river crossings. Numbers upon numbers gather at such crossings unsure of their next move. The crossings are such notorious spots that the gnus have developed a self preservation instinct over time. Wildebeests will amass in their thousands at banks of river Mara which is rife with the dreaded Nile crocodile and raging currents. Put in the swift current, eminent stampedes and jaw snapping crocodiles in this picture and you get a guaranteed recipe for mass genocide at such river crossings. The Maasai Mara River is usually awash with bloated mass of wildebeest carcass that crocodiles feast on for days on end.

Over 250,000 of the wildebeest die from drowning, stampede, crocodiles and the predators every year. But even this annual carnage is not enough to reduce their numbers.The wildebeest deaths during migration are replenished by the over 400,000 births a year. The deaths during migration are now considered as a natural population check; natural selection at its best.

Do and Die Point

River crossings in the Mara are favourite vantage points to observe the Mara wildebeest migration on your Kenyan safari. The animals will gather hesitantly in huge numbers on the banks, unsure of when to take the plunge. The other wildebeests behind the frontline keep amassing into hundreds of thousands until the pressure on the front is too much to bear.

They finally take the leap; and when they do, even the waiting crocodiles scatter to the flanks. The fear of being trampled by the millions of wildebeest is too real for even a crocodile to risk a head-on affront. Hundreds upon hundreds make death-daring- high leaps into the water, that the splash makes a swash like a million water falls.

The Wildebeest Predators.

Wildebeest Migration is such that a smattering population of other bovids, join in the migration including Zebras and Gazelles. Lion prides also escort (as they eat some, of course) and welcome the migrating wildebeest on either side of the Mara River Crossings. The lions stark up their stomachs with gnu carcass to a point, the prey subdues the prides in the plains with little fear. As long as a lion has had his 35 odd kilos of meat a day, he poses no threat. All that is needed is to sacrifice a cousin here, a distant aunt there and we are fine. Its surely a game of numbers. Leopards on other hand, dont have to move far to hunt its prey. All they'll do is pounce on unsuspecting wildebeest as they pass by their (leopards) tree parches. The rest scatter as usual in different directions. Its just another sacrifice after all; we still got the numbers... no matter what. This is one of the most elusive picture-perfect moments when you are on your African Wildlife Safari.

Visiting the Mara.

Its not only the carnivores that will escort migrating wildebeests but humans as well. The Maasai Mara attracts such interest that the ensuring demand during the months of June-October cannot be met. You will find it difficult to get a space in the lodges if you do not book in advance. Your accommodation in the Mara ranges from 4star to 5star deluxe lodges, tented camps and simple camping tents. The wildebeest Migration takes place everyday of the 4(July-October) month duration. You are as such guaranteed a sighting irrespective of which month of the 4 you visit.

Your bookings are handled by several very professional companies which also provide transportation and transfers from airports, self drive car hire and accommodation in the Mara. Make sure you see the migration the next time you make a Kenyan wildlife safari.

Tanzania while on an -East African Wildlife Safaris Tour luxury Lodge or budget Camping, Beach Holidays East Africa Mt Kilimanjaro Climbing-Nairobi hotel bookings and airport shuttle transfers Nairobi Arusha moshi.

Robert Muhoho is a tour consultant in Kenya and has planned business and vacation safaris for over 10,000 tourists in the East African region. He is a tour operation- major and involved in National tourism policy development in Kenya.Cecil Blog24844
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