Mark Brandenburg MA, CPCC

There are millions of young children in this country who are being horribly mistreated by their parents.

These parents aren’t physically abusing their young children, and they may not even know that they’re mistreating them.

The mistreatment?

Millions of kids under the age of two are watching TV in this country. In fact, according to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation of over 1,000 parents, about 65% of kids under age two are watching TV, and they’re averaging over two hours of watching a day.

They’re watching even though the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends no TV for kids under age two. They’re watching even though this is a crucial period for their cognitive development, at an age when their brains are still being formed.

And the news for these kids just got worse.

Scientists at Children’s Hospital & Regional Medical Center in Seattle who studied over 2,500 children found a link between early TV watching
and attention problems at a later age.

Specifically, the chances of one and three-year-old kids developing attention problems at age seven increased by 10% for every hour of TV watched each
day.

The information from these two studies creates a chilling picture of what’s happening to millions of toddlers in this country. It’s unfair, immoral, and unjust, and it needs to be addressed.

But you won’t see an outcry from the mass media giants in this country. You see, we live in the country where “Why TV is Good for Kids” appeared as the cover story in Newsweek Magazine in 2002. The same Newsweek Magazine that’s owned by the Washington Post Company, which owns a sprawling
cable company and six broadcast stations around the country.

No, you won’t hear too much about these important studies from the Time-Warners of the world. Bad for business, you see.

But if you’re the parent of a young child, you need to know this information.

There are about nine million children who take prescription medication for ADHD in this country. The number of kids who take ADHD medication has
been doubling every two years. And while TV certainly isn’t the culprit in all of these cases, the link between the number of attention problems and the amount of TV watched is undeniable.

The days of the “harmless” argument for TV and kids needs to be put to rest. Parents need to be educated about the very real possibility of causing future attention problems with their kids.

And young kids across this country need to be given a fighting chance.

Mark Brandenburg MA, CPCC, coaches men to be better fathers and husbands. He is the author of “25 Secrets of Emotionally Intelligent Fathers”
http://www.markbrandenburg.com/father.htm. Sign up for his FREE bi-weekly newsletter, “Dads, Don’t Fix Your Kids,” at http://www.markbrandenburg.com.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Mark Brandenburg MA, CPCC

The expectations for fathers are increasing both at work and at home. Here are ten ways for fathers to be more effective in the most important job they’ll ever have:

1. See your kids as capable

The achilles heel of many fathers is to see their kids as “not good enough.” Your kids will feel this, and they’ll live up to these expectations. The more you approve of them, the greater they’ll be!

2. Make time for your kids

There will always be more work, but you won’t always have the chance to be with your kids. Are there ways to include them in chores around the house? Your kids will know if they matter to you by the effort you make to include them in your day.

3. Use positive forms of discipline

Punishment is not very effective. It tends to create more of the very behavior that fathers are seeking to eliminate. Use natural and logical consequences instead-if you don’t pick up your toys, they get put in a bag and taken away for awhile. Give them choices. Positive discipline methods help kids learn responsibility, punishment helps them learn to dislike you.

4. Have a great relationship with your wife

You are the main role model for your kids, and this is the main source of information for them about how to have a close relationship. They’re watching very closely to learn how to do it.

5. Be aware of your kids lives

How much do you really know about your kids? Are you aware of their hopes and dreams? Do you know what inspires them? Do you know their friends names? What they like and dislike about you? If there are things you don’t know about your kids, you can always ask!

6. Be nurturing with your kids

Hug and kiss your kids, and let them hear plenty of “I love you’s.” And also don’t forget to wrestle with them. Both boys and girls benefit from wrestling with their dads. Kids need to see your “soft” side, so show it to them frequently.

7. “Really” listen to your kids

Put down the newspaper and look your kids in the eye when they talk to you. Be aware of your own tendency to “filter” what your kids say. Reflect back what you heard from them. If you want them to listen to you, you’ve got to show them the way.

8. Examine your relationship with your own father

A poor relationship with your own father will affect your ability to be an effective father. Are there things you want to say to your father? Ultimately, forgiving your father will go a long way towards allowing you to father to the best of your ability.

9. Take care of yourself

It’s difficult to be kind and nurturing to your family if you’re not kind to yourself. Find ways to take the time to relax, exercise, and keep your stress levels lower. And use friends and family to support you-don’t become an “island” in your family. Your family will appreciate it.

10. Have a plan for your anger

Men can have a difficult time with the overwhelming emotional intensity that families can experience. The result is often anger, which breeds anger in your kids and creates a vicious cycle. Make a plan with a specific relaxation technique that helps to defuse your anger. Remember that one bad episode can impact your kids for a long time.

Mark Brandenburg MA, CPCC, coaches men to be better fathers and husbands. He is the author of “25 Secrets of Emotionally Intelligent Fathers” http://www.markbrandenburg.com/father.htm. Sign up for his FREE bi-weekly newsletter, “Dads, Don’t Fix Your Kids,” at http://www.markbrandenburg.com

Popularity: 11% [?]

Mark Brandenburg MA, CPCC

When you conduct parent workshops, you start to see the same issues coming up over and over for parents. The names and faces are different, but the issues are the same. And the truth is that parents are often responsible for many of these problems.

Here are three issues that keep coming up for parents, and an explanation of how parents can often solve their own problems.

Problem #1: My kids don’t listen to me

To expect that kids will listen to you perfectly all the time is an irrational thought. Kids are in a very different place than adults are in terms of their ability to listen and attend to things. Kids will often need you to repeat things a number of times in a patient, pleasant tone. And yes, your job is to be very patient with them.

It is often the “parental” tone of parents’ voices that is part of the problem with kids not listening. After all, who wants to be lectured about what to do all day? If things still don’t work, take action-kids will respond to action much better than they will to words.

Problem #2: My kids aren’t respectful-they talk back and argue too much

One of the problems with not having obedient kids anymore is that kids feel more freedom to speak their mind. This can be irritating, but it’s far better than obedient kids that just do what they’re told.

If your child talks to you in a disrespectful way, you have choices. One choice is to be angry with them and to actually create more of the very behavior that you dislike. Getting angry when your child talks back to you is a great example of creating your own problems.

A better choice is to ask them what’s bothering them in a compassionate way. Kids will often take out their feelings on someone who they feel safe with-you! And remember that you can tell them in a calm and firm manner that it’s not OK to talk to you that way.

Arguing is a choice for parents. It still takes two to tango. Most parents who complain about their kids arguing are pretty good at it themselves. You may disagree often with your kids, but arguments can usually be avoided if parents can stay disciplined.

Problem #3: My kids aren’t achieving as well as they should

Whether its’ tying their shoes, getting better grades, or success at sports, parents will always be worried about how well their kids are doing compared to other kids. While there certainly are situations that require extra help and support, most of the extreme concern about your child’s development is a problem in itself. When parents worry about their child’s capability, it sends a powerful message to this child. Remember that Einstein and Edison were poor students!

The responsibility of parents is to believe in their child’s ability to succeed and to set high expectations for them. The rest is to be patient and to be aware of your own insecurities. It is these insecurities that may be part of the reason your child isn’t doing well.

While it’s easy to point fingers at your kids, remember the old saying: “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

Parents who attend to their own issues first will find far fewer “rotten apples” in their tree.

Mark Brandenburg MA, CPCC, coaches men to be better fathers
and husbands. He is the author of “25 Secrets of Emotionally
Intelligent Fathers” http://www.markbrandenburg.com/father.htm
For more great tips and action steps for fathers, sign up for his FREE
bi-weekly newsletter, “Dads, Don’t Fix Your Kids,” at
http://www.markbrandenburg.com.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Mark brandenburg MA, CPCC

I really hadn’t meant to yell. But the aftermath
of it lay before me. My son was a wimpering mess
on the floor and my daughter sat statue-like on
the chair in front of me.

As I sat there considering my next move, it
occurred to me that I needed to do something
quickly.
The deafening sound of silence reminded all of us
that an ugly moment had just occurred. And a voice
inside me continued to insist that my kids were at
fault.

“OK, you two, I’m sorry I yelled like that, what a
dumb thing to do!” As I moved toward my son, it
became evident that he wanted no part of me. “Get
away from me!” he shouted.

I thought better of telling him not to yell at me,
so I did the only thing I could think of doing.
“Crabby Daddy is back,” I proclaimed as I
transformed my hands into pincers and crawled in
crab-like fashion towards them. “I love to yell at
children, then eat them!”

My son continued to yell at me to go away, but now
he was laughing and crying simultaneously. My
mission to undo the damage my yelling had caused
was underway. I’d been able to recover quickly
this time, but I knew that this moment would be
remembered for awhile.

Most importantly, I wanted to remember what had
really happened. What happened was that I wasn’t
disciplined. I failed to control my emotions in a
way that my children could emulate.

Were my children misbehaving? Absolutely. Is there
a part of me that wants to blame them and let them
know how badly they were acting? No question. But
this is the part of me that serves my ego. It
shows my children how to avoid responsibility and
blame others. It’s not my “best self.”

And it’s our best self which we must always search
for when we’re with our children.

Our kids don’t need perfect parents, and they
won’t get them. But they do need parents who
strive to get better. I’m reminded of the words of
Emerson, who said, “When a man lives with God, his
voice shall be as sweet as the murmur of the brook
and the rustle of the corn.”

If in our lifetime we could speak to our kids with
a voice this sweet, it would be enough.

But until we reach this level, what should we do
after we yell at our kids?

Here are five ideas:

1. Recover quickly – Recovering emotionally (or
faking your recovery) will make it much easier on
your children and show them how to be resilient
themselves.

2. Apologize, but don’t overdo it – It’s important
to say you’re sorry, but don’t dwell on it and
don’t show signs of pity. This will help create a
victim of your child faster than the drop of a
hat.

3. Avoid finding ways to blame them – It’s
incredibly easy to blame your kids when you’re
angry. It’s OK to say, “When I saw you hit your
brother I felt angry,” but avoid saying, “You made
me angry.” You’re responsible for your own
anger-teach this to your children.

4. Process the incident with them – Children can
be traumatized by yelling, and it helps to talk
about what happened for each of them. Ask them
questions about it and allow them a chance to talk
about it if they’d like.

5. Don’t beat yourself up about it – You don’t
have to envision your kids twenty years from now
telling their therapist how you screwed up their
life! Kids are pretty resilient and they’ll
recover, especially if you follow these steps and
keep working on yourself.

While we’re not perfect, we can still search for
the voice as “sweet as the murmur of the brook and
the rustle of the corn.”

It might even keep your kids out of the
therapists’ chair.

Mark Brandenburg MA, CPCC, coaches men to be better fathers
and husbands. He is the author of “25 Secrets of Emotionally
Intelligent Fathers” http://www.markbrandenburg.com/father.htm
For more great tips and action steps for fathers, sign up for his FREE
bi-weekly newsletter, “Dads, Don’t Fix Your Kids,” at
http://www.markbrandenburg.com.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Copyright 2003, Steve Robichaud and Andrew Wroblewski

In Part One, we covered the basics of searching on Google.com
and in Part Two we moved into more advanced search techniques.
In today’s third and final installment we will peer into some
ways of using Google you may have never thought of or knew
existed.

DATE RANGES: You may limit your search to an exact date of a
“range” of dates that a page was indexed by Google. To use
Google’s “daterange” function, you will need to express your
dates in “Julian” dates. This date format is express as an
integer. To convert a common date into Julian format go to:

http://www.24hourtranslations.co.uk/dates.htm

As an example, if I wanted to find pages (about a certain topic)
indexed by Google during the month of May 2003, I would type in:

“direct response marketing” daterange: 2452774-2452803

TYPES OF FILES: You can limit your Google search results to
specific files ending in a particular extension (.doc, .txt,
.rtf, .pdf etc…)

To find a file on the topic “direct response marketing” in Adobe
(.pdf) format you would type in: “direct response marketing”
filetype:pdf

You can exclude certain types of files from your search by doing
a “negative” search and placing a “minus” ( – ) sign in front of
the “filetype:”

ANCHOR TEXT SEARCHES: Allow you to just search the “anchor”
text in web page link anchors. Link anchors are the words
that appear between: < .a href="yadayada.html">Direct Response
Marketing< .a> In this case it’s the phrase Direct Response
Marketing.

PLAIN TEXT SEARCHES: By using Google’s “intext” search
capabilities, you can search JUST the body text of web pages
and not any links, urls or titles, just the body. Simply
type:

intext:”direct response marketing”

CACHE SEARCHING: This form of searching will only search for
results on sites that are stored in Google’s “cache’ or memory.
This sometimes can give you older versions of sites. Example:

cache: direct-response-marketing.net

LINK SEARCHES: Want to know how many and what sites have links
back to your site? Just search for your domain preceded by
“link:”

link: direct-response-marketing.net

INFO SEARCHING: Find out what information Google has stored
about a particular web page or site by searching:

info: direct-response-marketing.net

GOOGLE’S PHONEBOOK: Yes, Google has a phenomenal phone book
database allowing you to search for both residential and
business phone numbers. You may use the following search
orders:

FN or FI (first name or first initial), LN (last name), city
FN (FI), LN, state
FN (FI), LN, area code
FN (FI), LN, zip code
phone # including area code (ex: 111-222-3333)
LN, city, state
LN, zip code

To find the phone number of the Whitehouse you would search:

phonebook: whitehouse washington dc

To find the phone number of the John Smith in Anytown, NY you
could search:

phonebook: john smith ny

or

phonebook: smith anytown ny

or

phonebook: j smith ny

STOCK SEARCHING: Google can generate results on just about any
stock because they use the stock information from the Yahoo!
finance pages. For example:

stocks: ebay

Phew! Now, this list isn’t even exhaustive, but it will give
99.99% of you enough information and insight to start REALLY
tapping into the top ranked search engine in the world:
Google.com Go have some fun!

Did you miss one of the previous search articles? Just go to:
http://www.direct-response-marketing.net/articlelib/

Andrew Wroblewski and Steve Robichaud have been helping people and businesses learn how to effectively use the power of the internet since Moby Dick was a minnow. To contact them and/or to learn more visit or write: http://www2.direct-response-marketing.net email: admin@direct-response-marketing.net

Popularity: 11% [?]

Copyright 2003, Steve Robichaud

In “Part One” we discussed some of the more basic Google
search techniques. (If you missed it you can find it here:

http://www.direct-response-marketing.net/artcilelib/articles/

As promised, here’s the “juicier stuff”.

Google has some advanced search options which come in quite
handy, depending on what items you may be searching.

TITLE SEARCH: Allows you to search for pages and sites that
have specific words or phrases in their title. For example:

intitle: “direct response marketing”

This search would only give you results of sites that have that
particular phrase in their title.

SITE SEARCH: Gives you the opportunity to search pages ONLY
within a specific site or domain (or using the “negative”
results technique from Part One you can “exclude” results
from a specific domain or site as well). For example:

“lead generation” site:direct-response-marketing.net

This search would only provide results for the phrase “lead
generation” from the site direct-response-marketing.net

URL SEARCHES: Allows you to search for pages or sites that
have a specific word or phrase in their URL. For example:

inurl: “direct marketing”

This search would only give you a list of sites that have the
exact phrase “direct marketing” in their URL.

To do a real power search, try combining a couple of the above
techniques into one search like:

intitle: “direct response marketing” -site: ebay.com

This search would give you results for your selected phrase,
found in a title, but not on ebay.com Neat, huh?

RELATED SEARCHES: Let’s say you want to search for sites
(competitors ? ) to a specific site. Once again we’ll use
our own site as an example: related:
direct-response-marketing.net

This search will show sites that have related content and
subject matter to the site which you typed into after
“related:”

GOOGLE LIMITS: Google does have some limits and one of those
is the actually number of keywords you can search on at the
same time. That limit is (10). Type in anymore than (10)
keywords and the subsequent words will not be included in
your search and thus, are irrelevant.

Common words are ignored by Google such as: “a, about, an, and,
are, as at, be, by, from, how, I, in, is, it, of, on, or, that,
the this, to, we, what, when, where, which, with”.

You can override this limitation by putting a plus sign ( + )
in front of any of the above words when using them in a search
phrase.

WILDCARDS: A wildcard search uses the asterisk sign ( * )
(the one above the #8 on your keyboard) to represent other
non-specific characters or words. For example: “direct
response *” would turn up results for:

direct response marketing
direct response advertising
direct response television
direct response radio (and a few more).

You can use the wildcard symbol ( * ) and override the Google
keyword limit and actually search for MORE than (10) keywords
at a time because the ( * ) is not counted as a word.

Now, go practice on Google using these advanced tips and meet
us back here next time for Part Three when we offer tips about
some MORE “advanced” and “juicier” features you can use to get
the most out of your searches on the world’s most frequently
used search engine: Google.com

Did you miss the previous search article? Just go to:
http://www.direct-response-marketing.net/articlelib/

Andrew Wroblewski and Steve Robichaud have been helping people and businesses learn how to effectively use the power of the internet since Moby Dick was a minnow. To contact them and/or to learn more visit or write: http://www2.direct-response-marketing.net email: admin@direct-response-marketing.net

Popularity: 11% [?]

Copyright 2003, Steve Robichaud and Andrew Wroblewski

In a matter of a couple of short years, the Google.com search
engine has become the world’s favorite way to find what they’re
looking for online.

Now, most of you who are reading this are saying “Duh”, but
let me ask you this: Do you REALLY know how to use Google and
get the most out of this incredible search technology?

Hopefully, these tips will help you find EXACTLY what you want
the next time you head on over to “Google Land” and start
searching.

To start, unlike most search engines, Google does not care if
your search term is in UPPER or lower case. In fact, it can
even be MiXeD case and the search results will be identical
no matter how you type in your term.

The Google GOLDEN Rule: BE SPECIFIC!

When using the Google search engine, you must be specific in
what you ask and HOW you ask it to get the results you desire.

How do you be specific?

Let’s say you are interested in finding out more about the
field of Direct Response Marketing. To search for that exact
phrase you put “quotes” around the phrase like this: “direct
response marketing”. This forces Google to cough up search
results with those exact words in that specific order, only.

If you didn’t use quotes and just typed in direct response
marketing, you would get results that included the words:
direct, response and marketing mixed in with the MORE SPECIFIC
results of the precise phrase “direct response marketing”.

(BTW…….for those of you who are used to searching by
putting the word “and” between all your search words, with
Google, it’s not necessary. Google automatically “thinks”
like that by default.)

You can use the “or” feature on Google. For example:
“direct response marketing” or “direct response advertising”
and you will get combined results for both exact phrases.
The word “or” can be replaced with the “pipe” ( | ) symbol
(the symbol above the “\” forward slash on your keyboard) to
achieve the same results.

Now, let’s say you want to search for articles written about the
subject of Direct Response Marketing. You can use the Google
“require” feature and have a specific word included in the
search just by adding a “+” sign in front of the keyword you
want included.. For example you would type:
“direct response marketing” +articles and the results would
give you articles about Direct Response Marketing.

You can also “exclude” a certain word from your searches by
using the “-” (minus sign) like: “direct response marketing”
-fees which would give results about Direct Response
Marketing excluding “fees”.

Whenever you can, try to combine these three symbols (quotes,
plus and minus signs) into a single search to give you even
more targeted results.

Now, go practice on Google using these simple tips and meet us
back here next time for Part Two when we offer tips about some
of the more “advanced” and “juicy” features you can implement
to get the most out of your searches on the world’s most
frequently used search engine: Google.com

Andrew Wroblewski and Steve Robichaud have been helping people and businesses learn how to effectively use the power of the internet since Moby Dick was a minnow. To contact them and/or to learn more visit or write: http://www2.direct-response-marketing.net email: admin@direct-response-marketing.net

Popularity: 11% [?]

Copyright 2004, Steve Robichaud

This really chapped my lips…

I recently bought a new computer. Mine was getting old, had lost
its whistle, and the few remaining bells didn’t ding a nicely
as they had in the past. Yep, it was time for a new state-of-the
art dream machine with CD burner, DVD player, a bazillion
gigabyte drive and more RAM than Rambo has. I whipped out my
trusty credit card and told my local CompUSA to ring it up.

Well, needless to say I was enthralled. Blazing speed, working
whistles, and bells that were more like the Big Ben gong! I
could tear through spreadsheets with one CD-ROM tied behind my
back. One day, about three months later, my Son came home from
college. Having heard all about my new pride and joy, he sat
down behind the keyboard and fired that puppy up. He put it
through its paces for about 30 minutes and then turned and said
‘It’s nice Dad, but I thought it would be faster’. HE THOUGHT IT
WOULD BE FASTER? What was he, crazy? This box was so hot that it
came with it’s own fire department.

Then he started poking around the hard drive. ‘Dad’, he said,
‘You need an exterminator. Your PC is infested.’ ‘Infested with
what, bugs?’. ‘Nope’, he said ‘Spyware’. ‘Spy What?’. ‘Spyware’,
he replied. And then he explained.

Even thought I had a good virus prevention utility installed, it
didn’t protect me against Spyware. Spyware, it seeks, are nasty
little programs that get downloaded in similar fashion to the
way a virus does. It can be attached to an email, or even one of
those new talking E-Cards. it can hide in one of those ‘Click
Here to close this window’ boxes, or in any of seemingly a
hundred other secret ways.

There are essentially two types of Spyware. The less dangerous
type either causes lots of ads to pop up every time you go on
the Internet, or records your shopping and surfing habits in
order to report them back to Big Brother somewhere. Of course,
these steal your PC’s clock cycles, and cause your hard drive to
get bloated, which ends up slowing your entire system down. The
problem is, the loss of speed is gradual and you don’t even know
it’s happening until Mr. Big Shot college kid comes along and
tells you that your PC is slow.

OK, that’s bad enough. But then, there is the second kind of
Spyware. They are used by real spies, or at least the kind that
want to steal your credit card and personal information so they
can clean out your bank accounts and assume your identity. You
know, the scary stuff that you’re starting to hear about more
and more.

So, what should I do? Did I need to reformat my hard drive? I
hoped not because THAT was no walk in the park. Fortunately my
college geek was up on the subject and took me to a website that
specialized in safely removing Spyware. We downloaded and
installed the software in just a few minutes and then fired it
up. Holey Schmolie, I was infested. After about 15 minutes of
chunking and plunking, the software pronounced me fit and clean.
Well, at least my PC was. We rebooted and Boom! All of the speed
and performance that had gradually been lost slammed right back
into life. Even my Son was impressed.

Folks, this Spyware is serious stuff. You can’t afford to be
wiped out by some cyber terrorist half way across the world.
Protect your PC and your identity. You probably already are
infested. There’s only one way to know for sure, you need to
check it out for yourself.

Steve Robichaud and Andrew Wroblewski have been involved in online sales and marketing since 1996. For more information on finding and removing spyware from your PC, visit: http://spyware.pcwash.com/main/ email: admin@pcwash.com

Popularity: 11% [?]

Copyright 2004, Craig Romero

There’s a different kind of mortgage broker on the block and
they’re giving conventional mortgage brokers a run for their
money.

With today’s current economy, consumers have to be as budget
conscious as ever, and it’s showing in every consumer
decision they make – including shopping for a mortgage.

Gone are the days where the consumer waits with baited breath
as to whether or not the corner mortgage broker can find
financing for the home they want to buy.

Say hello to today’s new mortgage seeker; the one who has
lenders competing for their business, makes educated
lending choices and is making upfront mortgage brokers more
popular than ever.

So what is an upfront mortgage broker? The main difference
between an upfront mortgage broker and a conventional
mortgage broker is that an upfront mortgage broker discloses
their fees to the borrower up front and in writing.

The borrower will pay the broker a fee in addition to paying
the wholesale loan price. With conventional mortgage brokers,
borrowers don’t know the true cost of the loan until after
the application has been submitted.

The conventional lenders add a markup to the wholesale rate of
the mortgage to make their profit. While on the surface it may
seem like the prices quoted by upfront mortgage brokers compared
to the quotes received by conventional lenders would not be the
wise choice, don’t be fooled.

The quotes you get from an upfront mortgage broker will be an
accurate reflection of what you’re really going to pay. Just
because a conventional mortgage broker promises you the moon,
does not mean that he can actually deliver it.

There are other reasons that have conscious consumers choosing
upfront mortgage brokers over the traditional conventional
brokers.

While conventional mortgage brokers don’t always have the best
interests of their customers in mind, upfront mortgage brokers
gain nothing by providing their borrowers with anything other
than the mortgage that best suits their needs.

There are also times when mortgage brokers are given rebates
by third parties. While a conventional broker may keep this
rebate as a part of their profit, an upfront mortgage broker
will always pass this rebate on to the borrower.

With consumers appreciating honesty and no-nonsense approaches
when dealing with their lending needs, upfront broker methods
may just change the face of mortgage lending forever.

Discover how to quickly build a minimum of $40,000 worth of home equity and pay your mortgage off in 10 years or less without making biweekly mortgage payments. Visit: http://www.wisemortgageinfo.com Craig Romero is an author and mortgage analyst dedicated to helping homeowners maximize the investment in their homes.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Copyright 2002, Lamaute Capital, Inc. All rights reserved., Daniel Lamaute
Major mutual fund and investment management companies now offer
self employed individuals 401k plans that are easy to install
and administer at very low cost. What’s more independent
contractors and small business owners can borrow part of
their retirement savings tax-free and penalty free by taking
advantage of a loan provision in these new plans. Depending
on who’s offering them, these individual plans are sold under
different trademarked names such as (solo 401k, uni-k plan,
personal(k), one person 401k, mini-401k, solo-owner 401k,
etc.,.)

Small business owners can establish an individual 401k and
transfer their IRA, 401k, 403b, or other qualified retirement
funds into this new retirement plan. Once the funds are in
the plan, owners can borrow 50% of their 401k account balance
up to $50,000 tax-free and penalty free provided they pay back
the loan.

Any business owner with no employees other than co-owners or
spouses can establish an individual 401 k plan. It doesn’t
matter if you are a startup or been in business for years.
Your may work as an independent contractor with 1099 income,
freelancer, sole proprietor, or in a partnership, Limited
Liability Company (LLC), or corporation.
.
It is fairly common for employees of large companies to have
the option to borrow from their 401(k). But before 2002, small
business owners were not allowed the same privilege. Instead,
owners needing to tap their retirement funds for whatever
reasons had to take cash distributions from their IRAs or
other retirement accounts. This required them to pay federal
and state taxes on the distributions, plus generally a 10%
penalty if they were under age 59 ½. They also lost the chance
to put the money back into their retirement accounts.

Borrowing from an IRA is still prohibited. But one can
consolidate his individual retirement accounts into a
401 k and borrow from the 401k.

However, the individual 401 k is more than just a good tool
to borrow money. It also lets you contribute more towards your
retirement. You can make tax-deductible contributions to this
plan at levels more generous than other retirement plans such
as the SEP, SIMPLE, profit sharing and money purchase plans.

Every year millions of Americans start new businesses and take
cash distributions from their retirement accounts to keep them
solvent until the business gets going. In the process these
entrepreneurs forfeit a large chunk of their retirement money
to taxes and penalties. From now including a 401 k search will
probably become routine whenever small business owners look
to set up a retirement plan. With all of its features, the
individual 401(k) is bound to be a serious contender when it
comes to choosing a small business retirement plan.

Daniel Lamaute, CEO of Lamaute Capital specializes in helping people get the most benefit from their retirement investments. Take cash payments from your retirement funds the smart way. Get your FREE SOLO-OWNER 401K INFORMATION KIT. Kit includes a prospectus with detailed information about the plan, investments, sales charges and expenses. Visit http://www.investsafe.com to order kit. COPYRIGHT © 2002, Lamaute Capital, Inc. All rights reserved.

Popularity: 10% [?]

What a shame! Potentially productive public relations people
resting on their oars in a large organization. Just kind of
tinkering with tactics and leaving target audience perceptions
(and behaviors) to pretty much do their own thing.

Big pain on the way!

Unattended, key public perceptions can morph into painful
behaviors that hurt.

Just plain shouldn’t happen.

In military-speak, all it takes is some ongoing “intel.”

First, insist that that potentially productive public relations
team get busy by prioritizing your most important audiences.
They can’t work on everything at once. So for starters, they
can identify that really key target audience.

Then monitor perceptions by interacting with some folks who
make up that audience, and do it on a regular basis. Same with
other important external publics, when time allows.

What’s on their minds? Any negative feelings? See or hear
anything that needs correcting? Is there a problem on the
horizon that may come your way?

The answers to those questions help your crew form the public
relations goal – altered perceptions leading to altered behaviors.
For example, correct the impression that you sell shoddy
merchandise; or a perception that you favor one particular
ethnic group; or a belief that your services aren’t worth the
price you charge.

Setting the public relations goal let’s your public relations
team focus on which strategy they want to employ to reach
that goal.

There’s not a big choice. In fact, just three are available.
They can choose between creating perceptions (opinions)
when none exist, or changing existing opinion, or reinforcing it.

But their ammo will be the persuasive messages they
prepare for communication to that key target audience.
Messages designed to affect perceptions in a way that leads
to the behaviors you desire.

The message must outline what the problem is and what
some members of that target audience believe. Then it must
clearly set down the truth of the matter omitting any
exaggeration or hype. In other words, it must be believable,
credible and especially persuasive and compelling.

Enter “beasts of burden,” the communications tactics your
people will use to move your message to the attention of
members of your key, target audience.

There is a vast array of communications tactics from which
your public relations people can choose. They include
everything from face-to-face meetings, emailings, op-eds and
news releases to special events, speeches, trade show
appearances and town hall meetings.

Wait a minute, not so fast! How will your public relations
team measure progress? Best way is to put on the monitor
hats again and fan out among members of the target audience.

Using the persuasive message as a guide, are respondents
aware of the message? If so, what is their reaction to it?
Does your crew find evidence that prior opinion (perception)
has moved in your direction? If so, to what extent? Was the
create/change/reinforce strategy choice correct, or must it be
adjusted? Are refinements in the message in order, meaning
there is still considerable work to be done?

Obviously, the problem solving sequence must be carefully
retuned as progress is made in order to keep it on target –
alter perception, change behavior, and achieve not only a
successful, but the desired public relations result.

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks about the fundamental
premise of public relations. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.;
AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport
News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications,
U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press
secretary, The White House. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net
http://www.prcommentary.com

Popularity: 10% [?]

Something that results in your most important outside audiences
doing what you need them to do should not be warming the bench.

But that’s exactly what’s happening at organizations that allow
their public relations people to play games with tactics like
newsletters, press releases and brochures instead of aggressively
pursuing the major benefits PR can provide.

If this describes your public relations program, why not give real
PR a chance, especially since you’re already paying for it?

Tell your public relations counsel you want to see the plan for how
s/he will take advantage of the fact that people act on their own
perception of the facts before them leading to predictable behaviors
about which something can be done.

Ask her/him how aggressively s/he will create, change or reinforce
those perceptions by reaching, persuading and moving-to-actions-
you-desire those important external audience members whose
behaviors really affect your organization?

That’s the fundamental premise of public relations and you should
be getting your share of that action.

Fact is, this sequence can help you alter the perceptions, and thus
behaviors of your most important external target audiences making
achievement of your business objectives much easier.

This is good news for managers like you because, when the
behavioral changes become apparent, and meet your public relations
program’s original behavior modification goal, your PR effort has succeeded.

Done right, that’s when you’ll notice customers making repeat
purchases; prospects starting to do business with you; community
leaders seeking you out; businesses proposing beneficial joint
ventures; and legislators and political leaders viewing you as an
important member of the business community.

And that key target audience is just for starters because other external audiences
of importance to you can also be monitored for perceptions, behaviors and
corrective communications as needed.

Now, while there’s more than one way to peel an orange, here’s
one high-impact, problem-solving sequence that can work for you.

Start by listing your most important audiences whose behaviors
affect your operation in any way. Rank them by how severely their
behaviors impact you, and let’s work on the target audience at the
top of your list.

Of course you should be continually aware of how members of that
key target audience view you by taking the opportunity to interact
with folks who make up that audience, and ask questions. Have you
heard of us? What do you think of our products or services? Listen
carefully for signs of negativity and, when you hear them, probe a little
deeper to find out details. Stay alert for inaccuracies, mistaken beliefs,
rumors or misconceptions.

The answers to your questions will quickly coalesce into your new
public relations goal – i.e., the specific perception problem and, thus,
behavior change you want. As examples, neutralize that hurtful rumor,
clarify that untruth, turn around that misconception or correct an
important but inaccurate number.

As of this moment, you have a goal and no strategy. But, for
perception and opinion purposes, there are three strategies sitting
on the shelf ready to show you how to use your new PR goal.

You can create perception/opinion where there may be none,
change existing opinion, or reinforce it. Fortunately, your new
public relations goal will indicate clearly which strategy should
be used.

The message you send to members of your key target audience is
vitally important. After all, its mission is to alter people’s
perceptions or beliefs which you hope will lead to behaviors that
are more helpful to your organization.

Clarity, believability and persuasiveness are the important
ingredients of your message. It must present the truth credibly
and, to the extent possible, make a compelling case.

Now you trot out your “beasts of burden” – your communications
tactics – to carry your message to members of your key target
audience. And you have an embarassment of riches in this regard –
consumer meetings, emails, press releases, facility tours, speeches,
special events, brochures, radio and newspapers interviews, and
many others.

Progress – “Are we making any?” – will rear its head at this
juncture. Best way to find out is to go back to members of your
target audience and ask the same questions as before.

Only the big difference now versus your first perception monitoring
go-around is, you are now looking for signs that your message
and your communications tactics have combined to alter perceptions,
and thus behaviors in your direction.

Should progress be too slow, you may need to use a broader selection
of communications tactics as well as increasing their frequencies.
Also, revisit your message to determine if your facts were persuasive,
then adjust as needed.

This is the way to Get PR Off the Bench and into your battle for the
hearts and minds of your key target audiences.

By altering perceptions and behaviors in this manner, you take a
giant step towards achieving your business objectives.

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks about the fundamental
premise of public relations. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.;
AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport
News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications,
U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press
secretary, The White House. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net
Visit: http://www.prcommentary.com

Popularity: 10% [?]

Copyright Steve Robichaud

Would you agree that people are skeptical of any salesperson
or business owner? And that this skepticism is part of the
marketing problems we all face?

The reality of America in the new millennium is that no one
believes in anything the way they used to! They are extremely
skeptical.

Does this describe your prospects, or what?

Well, let’s look at their psychology to see what’s in there.
They still want something very important to them.

They want someone who truly cares about them. Who has empathy
and compassion for them. Who wants to make their life better.

So, if they want this very badly, and they don’t believe
anything any more, how do we bridge this gap? Let’s take
a look at some surefire skepticism beaters.

1. Avoid going for the kill too soon.

We still see and hear this all the time. You know what I mean.
“So, Mr. Robichaud, I would like to stop by and present my
ideas on how I can help you with your carpet cleaning needs.
You should learn how a professional cleaner would help you do
what you can’t do yourself. Would Friday at seven, or Sunday…”

Yes, people do this horrible stuff. Now, let’s think about it
for a second. You pick up the phone, and some sales person says
he would like to come over and tell you that you are stupid for
trying to buy something by yourself. That you need him for your
own good.

All you hear is someone trying make a buck off of you. Do you
think this breeds skepticism?

If you are going to do cold marketing, you sure better build
a slow and steady empathic connection with your prospective
customer. Take the time to let them see you are really
interested in them before you ask for the sale!

The right time to go for what you want comes around when the
person’s defenses have been stripped because you were careful
not to rush them.

And, yes, relationships can and do occur when prospecting. A
relationship starts with your initiative, and it only has a
chance to continue if you show people you have walked a mile
in their shoes. That you are really interested in them.

2. Avoid making claims.

Everybody, and I mean everybody, hates claims. You know, a
claim is some sort of statement that tells the listener that:

Your Whatever Is The Best Whatever, And That You Are The
Best Person To Deliver The Best Whatever, Because Your
Company Is Best At Making The Best Whatever, Because It
Has More Experience And It Has A Bigger Office!

Believe me when I tell you, though, that this stuff falls on
the deafest ears!

Read my type: No one is listening, and no one cares!

Your prospect is thinking, “You guys don’t impress me! I don’t
want to hear how good you are. I don’t want to listen to more
hype. I want you to…HELP ME!”

What a concept!

See, if your prospective customer senses a true desire in you
to want to help them, they will be very likely to keep talking.
If you pound your chest and brag about yourself and your
company, they get nauseous.

3. Don’t talk about it, show it!

This is basically, “I’m from Missouri, so don’t tell me, show
me!” An example:

In a postcard to a homeowner, the typical furnace guy says,
“We have worked with hundreds of homeowners like yourself
and we know you need to act right now…”

Instead, what if you came to a prospect and said something
like, “…Are you really sure you want to get a new furnace
right now? I’d hate to have you make a decision in haste.
Don’t you think you’d be better off waiting and sleeping
on it? I know how worried you are, but a new furnace is a
really big decision. You’ve got your other bills and
everything. How about if I call you in a couple of days,
and see if you still feel the same way?”

Anyway, you get the idea. We are not telling the prospect we
understand them, and care about them more than ourselves…
We are showing them!

Any customer would immediately know that you have been there.
That you know exactly what their life is like. That you have a
deep sense of empathy. That you are one with them. That you are
into their psychology.

Now, when you communicate empathy for their life like this, do
you really need to start bragging? Haven’t you beaten all the
skepticism away? Aren’t you proving your case without
displaying all your credentials?

If you’ve entered into someone’s life the right way, it doesn’t
matter about all your years of providing the highest level of
integrity, trust and service. Or, your company’s 100-year-old
reputation for being the best.

Talk is cheap. And, everybody is so busy laying out all the
cheap talk, they are missing the invaluable success that comes
from having empathy.

Sure, people like to know that you and the company are for real.
Of course they don’t want to write checks to “Fly-By-Night
Company.” But, you must get this message. Since everyone is
so busy bragging, the prospects don’t pay any attention to it.
All your degrees and background will be a “nice to have” …
later.

But, if you don’t ever get a chance to meet with them in the
first place, what difference does all your test-passing make?

Isn’t prospecting the art of getting in front of people who are
interested in what you can do to help them? So, save all that
professional stuff for later, after you have some interested
party across the table.

4. Get testimonials and references.

Another way to show people what you can do for them is to have
other satisfied customers tell them for you. Either in writing
or on the phone. People will be much less skeptical if they see
that other folks have found you, in fact, to be the legend you
are in your own mind!

The very best testimonials to overcome skepticism are the ones
that say how they didn’t believe you at first, and were so
pleasantly surprised after they used you. By agreeing with the
prospects’ natural skepticism-and then blowing it away-the
whole thing becomes much more believable and real!

5. There’s comfort in crowds.

Some of you have rely on things like Customer Dinners or
Customer Appreciation Days. These are events that bring groups
to you, with referrals in hand. Think of the beauty of having
a referral come to a function, of seeing a whole bunch of happy
campers. The “safety in numbers” syndrome will alleviate all of
the skepticism they may have brought with them, I assure you.
People will correctly assume that if all these others like you,
then you must be legit.

6. Get the objections out of the way, right away.

There is a very common, but erroneous, assumption in marketing
that you should never bring up anything that’s negative. That
you must always be “perfect.” Well, I’ve got some bad news for
you. You aren’t, and your prospects know it!

Therefore, one of the best things to do in any marketing piece
is to admit your faults and explain why they will not be a
problem. Let’s look at an example:

The “professional” thing to say about an independent, smaller
company is usually, “We offer the highest level professional
service, in a personal way.”

Instead, how about admitting that being small has some
drawbacks, but that the benefits outweigh the weaknesses?
Like, “Yes, we are small, and we might not have the resources
of a huge company, but we can look at the very small tasks,
while taking care of you in a personal way that no big company
could ever do!”

See the difference? By admitting to your fault, you make
prospects feel that you are legitimate, and not full of typical
hot air. Do you think this type of admission will help reduce
skepticism? It does!

This is very important, because believability equals trust.
And trust equals money.

7. Give people a guarantee. (If you can, of course!)

When a person is on the fence, a guarantee can do the trick.
You may be concerned that if you guarantee end results, people
will take your ideas and suggestions, and then run and do
business with someone else!

Well, let me assure you that while there is a chance of that
happening, it happens very rarely, if ever. Why? Because most
people who turn to you for help are not looking to rip you off.
And, even if they were, the small amount of trouble is overcome
by all the fence sitters who did business with you because of
a guarantee. If you are willing to back up your product or
service 100% and tell people they have nothing to lose, you
will eliminate skepticism big time.

Those are the 7 secrets. There is nothing more powerful than
demonstrating genuine empathy. Nothing. People are always
attracted to others who empathize with them and their lives.

If, on the other hand, you “sell” instead, you’ll bang your
head against the wall!

Why not make things easy and show empathy? It shows you want to
help and want to share information that people are interested
in.

Without all the sales hype, you really can penetrate the
skepticism barrier.

See if you can think of other ways to build empathy, and then
see if you can keep track of all your new sales (and profits)!

Steve Robichaud and Andrew Wroblewski have been involved in direct sales and direct marketing since Moby Dick was a minnow. http://www2.direct-response-marketing.net email:admin@direct-response-marketing.net To learn the 11 Secrets of Direct Response Marketing, send a blank email to 11secrets@ajwassoc9.par32.com

Popularity: 10% [?]

Copyright 2004, Steve Robichaud

Everywhere you turn – T.V., Radio, magazines, or the Internet,
someone is talking about government grants. What’s the real
story? Does the government give away real money, to ordinary
people, to use for whatever they want?

NO THEY DON’T! At least not to use for whatever you want.
However, if you want to use grant money for something that the
government is interested in funding, and you file a grant
application that gets approved, then things can get interesting.

Let’s take a closer look:

The government has loads of grant programs that they offer. In
fact, at last count, there were 1569 of them. That’s 1569
possibilities that someone in the U.S. government is going to be
willing to give you some free money. The only issue is: Which
government grant(s) do you qualify for, and how do you find out?

Broadly speaking, there are 15 major grant categories. They are:

(A) Formula Grants
Allocations of money to States or their subdivisions in
accordance with distribution formulas prescribed by law or
administrative regulation, for activities of a continuing nature
not confined to a specific project.

(B) Project Grants
The funding, for fixed or known periods, of specific projects.
Project grants can include fellowships, scholarships, research
grants, training grants, traineeships, experimental and
demonstration grants, evaluation grants, planning grants,
technical assistance grants, survey grants, and construction
grants.

(C) Direct Payments for Specified Use
Financial assistance from the Federal government provided
directly to individuals, private firms, and other private
institutions to encourage or subsidize a particular activity by
conditioning the receipt of the assistance on a particular
performance by the recipient. This does not include solicited
contracts for the procurement of goods and services for the
Federal government.

(D) Direct Payments with Unrestricted Use
Financial assistance from the Federal government provided
directly to beneficiaries who satisfy Federal eligibility
requirements with no restrictions being imposed on the recipient
as to how the money is spent. Included are payments under
retirement, pension, and compensatory programs.

(E) Direct Loans
Financial assistance provided through the lending of Federal
monies for a specific period of time, with a reasonable
expectation of repayment. Such loans may or may not require the
payment of interest.

(F) Guaranteed/Insured Loans
Programs in which the Federal government makes an arrangement to
identify a lender against part or all of any defaults by those
responsible for repayment of loans.

(G) Insurance
Financial assistance provided to assure reimbursement for losses
sustained under specified conditions. Coverage may be provided
directly by the Federal government or through private carriers
and may or may not involve the payment of premiums.

(H) Sale, Exchange, or Donation of Property and Goods
Programs which provide for the sale, exchange, or donation of
Federal real property, personal property, commodities, and other
goods including land, buildings, equipment, food and drugs. This
does not include the loan of, use of, or access to Federal
facilities or property.

(I) Use of Property, Facilities, and Equipment
Programs which provide for the loan of, use of, or access to
Federal facilities or property wherein the federally owned
facilities or property do not remain in the possession of the
recipient of the assistance.

(J) Provision of Specialized Services
Programs which provide Federal personnel directly to perform
certain tasks for the benefit of communities or individuals.
These services may be performed in conjunction with nonfederal
personnel, but they involve more than consultation, advice, or
counseling.

(K) Advisory Services and Counseling
Programs which provide Federal specialists to consult, advise,
or counsel communities or individuals to include conferences,
workshops, or personal contacts. This may involve the use of
published information, but only in a secondary capacity.

(L) Dissemination of Technical Information
Programs which provide for the publication and distribution of
information or data of a specialized or technical nature
frequently through clearinghouses or libraries. This does not
include conventional public information services designed for
general public consumption.

(M) Training
Programs which provide instructional activities conducted
directly by a Federal agency for individuals not employed by
the Federal government.

(N) Investigation of Complaints
Federal administrative agency activities that are initiated in
response to requests, either formal or informal, to examine or
investigate claims of violations of Federal statutes, policies,
or procedure. The origination of such claims must come from
outside the Federal government.

(O) Federal Employment
Programs which reflect the Governmentwide responsibilities of
the Office of Personnel Management in the recruitment and hiring
of Federal civilian agency personnel.

With all of those categories, and 1569 grant possibilities to
wade through, you could spend days searching for just one grant
funding source only to find out that you don’t qualify for some
reason. By the time you do find some obscure grant that you can
apply for, it might be too late because all of the money has
been spent. That’s why many people hire professional grant
writers to do all of the work for them. Well, that’s fine for
big companies, but what about us little guys who, if we could
afford to hire a grant writer, probably wouldn’t be looking for
a grant.

Fortunately, there are software programs that will share the
work of finding grant money. The better ones enable you to
electronically search an online database of all U.S. government
grant programs, by keywords, and returns a list of grants that
match your criteria. Then, once you read the grant’s terms and
conditions, the software helps and guides you through the
application process. So, you get the best of both worlds:
Professional assistance, just like a paid grant writer would
offer, but you save a LOT of money in the process.

There is millions upon millions of government grant money
available. All you have to do is find one that matches your
interests and apply. If your application is approved, the
check’s in the mail!

Good luck!

Steve Robichaud and Andrew Wroblewski have been involved in online sales and marketing since 1996. For more information on getting grants, visit: http://grant.help-for-me.com email: admin@grant.help-for-me.com

Popularity: 10% [?]

Copyright 2004, Colin McDougall

The Beginning of the Credit Card Era

In 1951, Diners Club issued the first credit card to 200
customers who could use it at 27 restaurants in New York
City. From that modest beginning, credit cards have become
an indispensable part of modern life. Consumers rely on credit
cards to help them achieve their lifestyle goals by letting
them take advantage of special bargains, spread payments out
over several months, and provide cash in emergencies. Credit
cards have become so widespread that they are often accepted
as a piece of primary identification.

Getting the most from your credit cards involves four main
steps:

* Use your credit cards wisely.
* Protect yourself against fraud.
* Review your credit history regularly.
* Get the right card for your needs.

Use your credit cards wisely

Follow these simple tips to get the most from your card.

Tips:

Pay your credit card bills on time. This is the single most
important thing you can do to preserve and enhance your credit
rating. Always pay at least your minimum payment and allow time
for your payment to reach the company if you are using the mail.

If possible, pay off your balance in full each month. If this
is not possible, then make as large a payment as you can
comfortably afford. Paying off or paying down your balance is
a sound financial move—one that will save you money on interest
charges.

If you can’t pay off your balance in full, then slow down on
your credit card use for the next while. Take time to step back
and have a careful look at how much you earn and how much you
spend each month. A little budgeting can save you big money
down the road.

Check your statement carefully each month. Review your statement
carefully. Do all the charges look correct? Have any required
credits been applied? Are there any unusual or unexpected
charges? Your credit card company will correct legitimate
errors, but only if you bring them to their attention in a
timely manner before you pay your bill.

Transfer your balance to a card with a lower interest rate. If
you have two or more credit cards with outstanding balances,
consider moving the outstanding balances to the card with the
lowest interest rate. You will save money each month and
simplify your record keeping by receiving only one bill.

Negotiate for a lower rate with your credit card company. If
you have a good credit history, you are a valuable asset to
your credit card company. Call them and seek ways to lower your
interest rate. This is often possible, but never advertised. If
the interest rate you are currently paying is very high, imply
you may cancel the card and go with a competitor unless they
adjust your rate downward. It doesn’t hurt to ask, and you may
be surprised at the results.

Protect yourself against fraud

While credit card fraud is a problem, here are a few simple
steps you can take to greatly reduce the risk of becoming a
victim.

Tips:

Sign new cards immediately. When you receive your new or
replacement card in the mail, sign it, in ink, right away. If
it is a replacement card, destroy the old card by cutting it
into many small pieces.

Shred old credit card receipts. You can purchase an inexpensive
paper shredder at an office supply store. All old receipts with
your credit card number and any unneeded documents with your
social insurance number or other sensitive personal information
should be shredded before disposal. This prevents the common
practice of criminals going through the trash to find receipts
and stealing your identity

Never fax your credit card number. Your credit card number can
lie for hours in the fax basket at the other end. Anyone passing
by can record your number and begin to use your card number
fraudulently. It is even possible for criminals to intercept
your credit card number while the fax is in transmission.

Use caution when giving your credit card number out on the
phone or on the Internet. Only give out your credit card number
on telephone calls you initiate to business or organizations
you trust. Never give your number out to callers who call
unannounced, no matter how legitimate the call sounds.

On the Internet, look for an Internet address that begins
https:\\. The “s” indicates that it is a secure connection and
a small padlock symbol should appear in the bottom right hand
corner of your screen, indicating it is safe to transmit your
credit card number.

Call your credit card company instantly if you suspect trouble.
All credit card companies have 24 hour lost and stolen help
lines. If you lose your wallet or purse or have it stolen, call
without delay! Much fraud happens within the first hour or two,
before the victim realizes the cards are missing. Your credit
card company will block your cards from being used and stop you
from being responsible for any charges thieves incur.

Take advantage of any security features your card offers. Many
newer cards have the option of including your photograph on the
card. This is excellent protection and is highly recommended.

Review your credit history regularly

After you have obtained the best credit card, and are using it
wisely, review your credit history on a regular basis. This
helps ensure your history is accurate and that any issues have
been resolved to your satisfaction.

North America has three national credit-reporting bureaus. Your
credit rating is held at one or more of these bureaus. When
checking on your rating, be sure to contact all three, as your
rating may be held on file at more than one bureau. The three
national credit bureaus are Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union.
Check the Yellow Pages, under Credit to find the numbers in
your area.

Get the right card

With all the choices in cards available, chances are good,very
good, you can find a better card for your needs. Today’s cards
can save you money, offer better features, and even support a
cause you believe in. Here are some tips on finding the right
card and where to check that you have the best card for your
needs.

Tips:

4 Be alert for companies offering a great interest rate for
transferring your existing balance to their card. Usually these
rates are only in effect for a short time, often six months.
At the end of this time, the rate can revert to a much higher
permanent rate. Keep your eye on the Annual Percentage Rate
(APR); this is the figure that counts in the long run.

Lower is better: read the fine print and find the Annual
Percentage Rate (APR). This is the interest rate the companies
charge you if you carry a balance. You want the lowest rate
possible; as each percentage point drop will save you money on
the months you have an outstanding balance.

Nothing can be better: Try for a credit card that does not
charge an annual fee. Many credit cards charge you a fee each
year to use their cards. While this may be offset by other
benefits the card may offer, you can find cards that do not
charge this annual fee. Why pay for the privilege of using a
credit card when you don’t have to?

Explore the options: Today’s cards offer a wide range of
excellent features, including frequent flier points, programs
that bank points toward a new car, and cards that support
charitable organizations. Other options worth having include
car rental insurance coverage, trip cancellation coverage, and
extended warranty coverage.

Colin McDougall is a successful freelance writer providing valuable advice for consumers when applying online for credit cards, student credit cards as well as other personal & mortgage loans. You can visit his sites at http://www.only-the-best-credit-cards-online.com and http://www.loans-source.info – His numerous articles offer moneysaving tips on a number of topics.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Copyright 2004, Colin McDougall

No matter what your credit history is the simple fact is that
at some point in your life you will need a loan. If you have a
few black marks on your credit report and you are feeling that
your bad credit will not enable you to qualify for loans, do
not feel despair because there are banks that will lend to
people in your situation.

If you are seeking a bad credit personal loan (
http://www.loans-source.info/bad-credit-personal-loans.html )
there are a few things to consider. Since you are looking for
a loan and you do have poor credit you should make sure that
your loan will be reported to the major credit bureaus. It is
important to check that your loan reports to the credit bureaus
because this is your chance to improve your credit rating. I
mention checking that your loan will be reported because many
people will obtain something like a prepaid credit card (
http://www.only-the-best-credit-cards-online.com/prepaid-credit-cards-home.html )
thinking that this will help build their credit rating when
this is actually not a loan, it is actually a debit card that
carries a credit card logo.

Finding a lender that offers bad credit personal loans is not
a problem because there are millions of people in the same
situation as you who have had credit problems in the past but
now have a different situation possibly because of a better
job and can now afford to make their loan payments but that
bad credit rating is still haunting them. Bad credit personal
loans are becoming more and more competitive because of the
fact that we are living in turbulent times and people have run
into credit problems. While this industry is quite competitive
and you will find better deals than a few years ago, you will
still pay a higher interest rate than somebody with good credit
because bad credit personal loans are still viewed as high risk
to financial institutions.

Before you apply for a loan you will want to make sure that you
can comfortably cover the payment, this is your opportunity to
get your credit back on track – don’t turn this into a situation
where your credit will end up worse than it was. It is important
that you pull out your pay stubs and review all your living
expenses such as rent, car (gas, maintenance, insurance, etc),
food, utilities, clothing and all other living expenses and
make sure that you are not going to over-extend yourself. It’s
too easy to put yourself on the road to financial ruin, always
remember to be responsible with your debt load and that banks
will lend you money to the point where you will be dependant
on loans of the rest of your life – after all that’s the banks
business is to make money from loans. I personally have never
taken out a loan to the maximum of what a bank will lend as it
is almost always too much because they usually calculate your
loan on before tax dollars and the fact is you need to live
off of after tax dollars.

Colin McDougall is a successful freelance writer providing valuable advice for consumers when applying online for credit cards, student credit cards as well as other personal & mortgage loans. You can visit his sites at http://www.only-the-best-credit-cards-online.com and http://www.loans-source.info – His numerous articles offer moneysaving tips on a number of topics.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Copyright 2004, Christian Csatari

Donald Trump has been synonymous with New York real estate and
beautiful women for years. He was well known for his very public
divorces, bad hair, egotistical personality, and most of all for
making billions of dollars. But master marketer?

20 million viewers a week watched for 3 months while a brand
name was created. The Apprentice however, was much more than a
TV show. It was a lesson on marketing. The Trump name has been
printed in every major newspaper in North America over this time
period. He has been showing up on every news and entertainment
program on TV. Business schools across the United States are
studying the show. He used the Apprentice as a vehicle to
promote his favourite product, himself.

Trump released a new book titled: How To Get Rich during the
run of the show, which is on every display table or window in
any bookstore across North America. He introduced his new venture
into the water business and smartly had the teams compete to see
which team could sell the most water. Brilliant marketing!
I can’t help but wonder about the next time you walk into your
favourite convenience store to buy a bottle of water and come
across that bottle with his picture and the Trump brand stamped
on the label, do you buy it?

The merits of the Apprentice itself has been and will be
debated for sometime, most notably by Yale School of Management
associate dean Jeffrey Sonnenfeld who wrote a scathing editorial
in the Wall Street Journal about Trump and the Apprentice for
unethical acts that go unchecked. Such as contestants pushing
“celebrity” autographs from one of their team to make money;
female contestants’ reliance on sex appeal; Trump’s firing of
one contestant who chose candour over loyalty. “It’s really
showing the inside of wicked corporate life,” Sonnenfeld said.
“Each episode ends with the wrong answer, misconduct and a
celebration of misconduct” by Trump. This may all be true, but
one thing is for certain if you did not know who or what a
Donald Trump was 13 weeks ago, you certainly do now.

The Apprentice also showcased lessons every entrepreneur should
know. Buy-low-sell-high (flea market), sell products you like
(art), the entrepreneurial mindset of thinking outside the box
(selling ad space on the back of a bike). These are all lessons
internet marketers should use as well.

Love him or hate him, Donald Trump has softened his image with
the popularity of the Apprentice, and created brand recognition.
But master marketer? You bet!

Christian Csatari is an internet marketer and owner of http://www.inetriches.com – Your All in One Work at Home Ideas and Opportunities Resource For The Home Business Professional! And the publisher of the Learn To Earn newsletter for the work at home professional.

Popularity: 10% [?]

Copyright 2002, Carol Tuttle

Everything at its finest level of creation is energy. We are
exchanging energy and silently communicating energetically with
every person with whom we come into contact. Energy impressions
are always our first impressions that influence what we think
or feel about others.

Everyone has an invisible energy system that flows energy on
pathways or meridians. These same meridians have multiple
pressure points that have been a means of working with the
energy to keep it flowing. Acupressure, acupuncture, and
reflexology are the more common modalities we have in the
Western world.

The Chinese term for energy is “chi” which means life force
energy. When our energy is blocked, scrambled or leaking, we
feel depleted and heavy. When you are energy-depleted, it is
more difficult to manage your emotions, think positive thoughts
and stay healthy.

In the field of holistic health, energy medicine and energy
psychology are growing rapidly. As a practitioner of energy
therapies, I have assisted numerous women who are energy
challenged.

I recently assisted a woman who was bedridden due to a severe
case of chronic fatigue. After eight weeks of working with her
body’s energy system to restore it to good health and teaching
her how to take care of her own energy health, she has had a
miraculous recovery. She is out of bed and fully active. Her
parents see it as a miracle. Our energy responds very quickly
when we know what to do to correct it. After all, it’s just
energy.

The following are some of the most common energy problems for
women and their corrections:

1. Taking on other people’s emotional energy. Our energies are
magnetic in nature. A common codependent pattern for women is
to play the role of a “pleaser.” The primary dysfunction of
this role is to always put others’ needs before your own. Women
that are pleasers tend to be very psychic in nature. This helps
them know what others need without even having to ask. A common
aspect of this role is to take on the negative emotion other
people are feeling or processing.

Emotion is energy in motion. We can attract that energy to us
when we are not safeguarded from it. It is possible to take on
the energy of people you do not even know! It can even happen at
the grocery store. All you want to do is go in and buy a gallon
of milk, and you leave not only with the milk but also with the
sadness and loneliness of ten other women in the store!

Children process a lot of negative energy for their parents. If
you are stressed, your children intuitively are aware of that
and can play the role of trying to “please” or “act-out” in
response to the negative energy you are running.

In the early days of my studies of energy medicine, my daughter
would come home from junior high school nearly every day with
a headache. As I came to understand this dynamic of taking on
other people’s energies, I realized she was doing that
sub-consciously at school. I helped her correct it, and the
headaches eventually subsided.

Correction: Your central meridian is one of your primary energy
pathways that runs from your pubic bone up to your bottom lip.
It is like a radio receiver that channels other people’s
negative thoughts and emotions into you. Pretend you have a
zipper running up your torso between these two points. “Zip
up” your central meridian starting at your pubic bone and
continuing until you reach your bottom lip. “Zipping up” your
central meridian will “zip-up” your energy. You will feel more
confident and positive about yourself and your world, think
more clearly, and be able to protect yourself from the negative
energies around you. “Zip up” your children before they go to
school.

2. Leaking energy. We have another invisible energy system
called chakras. Whereas meridians are an energy transportation
system, chakras are energy stations. The word chakra means disk,
vortex, or wheel. There are seven energy stations positioned
from the base of your spine to the top of your head. In energy
health, if you are losing or leaking energy at the base chakra
located at the bottom of your spine, you may feel depression,
anxiety and exhaustion.

Many women are energy depleted because they are not able to
hold enough life force energy or chi. In this energy condition,
you are flushing energy down and away from you, much like a
toilet flushes water down. In order to maintain good energy
health, you want energy spiraling up into your base chakra.

Correction: When there is a leak, you have to patch it. Close
your eyes and imagine you can see the energy leaking out of your
tailbone. Imagine a patch large enough to cover the leak. Place
the patch over the leak. Imagine you can go beneath the energy
and reverse the flow to spiral it up into your body through
your tailbone.

3. Homolateral energy flow. The left hemisphere of the brain
sends information to the right side of your body, and the right
hemisphere sends information to the left side. This crossing of
energy helps you feel more balanced, think more clearly, and
improves your coordination. When your energies are not crossing,
they are running a homolateral pattern-straight up and down the
body. In this state you cannot access or utilize your brain’s
full capacity or your body’s full intelligence.

Babies naturally have a homolateral flow. It is the function
of crawling that initiates the energies flowing in a crossover
pattern. Everyone that I have assisted with CFS and Epstein Barr
has a homolateral energy flow. People who actively participate
in a regular exercise program usually have healthy crossover
patterns.

Correction: To cross your energies and keep them flowing in a
healthy crossover flow, march in place lifting the opposite leg
and arm simultaneously for about 20 steps. Or just get on the
ground and start crawling! Encourage your baby to crawl and
delay walking until they are 12 months old. Early walking
interferes with their energy establishing a healthy crossover
flow.

My oldest daughter walked at nine months as a result of eager
parents! She was challenged all the way up through high school
in math, reading and spelling. In grade school, she was tutored
on a regular basis. When she was 16, I was introduced to this
process. I showed her the correction, and she faithfully marched
daily. By the end of her senior year in high school, she was
awarded a scholarship to a local university and has been on
the Dean’s list ever since.

There is much to be learned about energy health and taking care
of our own energies. Good resources are Carol Tuttle’s book,
Remembering Wholeness: A Personal Handbook for Thriving in the
21st Century, and Donna Eden’s book, Energy Medicine, about how
to boost your body’s energy.

Carol Tuttle, author of Remembering Wholeness: A Personal Handbook for Thriving in the 21st Century, is a gifted energy health practitioner. She is board-certified as a master level rapid-eye therapist, a form of energy psychology. She has assisted hundreds of clients restore their physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health. For more information on her work and writings go to http://www.caroltuttle.com

Popularity: 11% [?]

How To Prevent Dog Bites
Lateef Olajide

It is very certain that there is no guarantee that your dog
will never bite someone under any condition which you may
not even predict. However, you can reduce the risk attached
to dog bite. The popular saying is that prevention is
better than cure.

Since prevention of dog bites is not the responsiblity of
dog owners alone, here we will be discussing preventive
measures the prospective dog owners, dog owners, parents,
and general member of the public can make instant use of.

Preventive measures applicable to potential dog owners

The first thing you must do before you think of bringing in
a dog to your househood is to first evaluate your
environment and your lifestyle.

Though their is no breed that will not under any condition
which you may not predict, however it is still very
important for you to consult professionals like
veterinarian, dog behaviorist and breeder to determine the
breed that will be suitable for you, your family and most
especially that will be suitable for your environment.
Obtainning breed specification will help you alot in
avoiding any possible future trouble.

Prospective dog owner should not buy a dog that is bellow 8
weeks of age. Puppy bellow this age will not have the
opportunity to learn bite inhibition from his litter mate at
all.

Buying dog that is above 4 months is a bit risky to be
introduce to your home as you may not predict the dog
behavior. However, if you are to buy older dog at all make
sure that you did not purchase a do with any history of
aggression.

If any of your children exhibit any fear or apprehension of
dogs, make sure you delay bringing in a dog. You should know
earlier if you seek your children’s opinion during your
evaluation of your environment. However, if your child is no
yet 6 years of age it is adviciable to hold the purchase of
large dog.

Preventive measures for dog owners

According to Human Society of the United States resports
spayed and neutered dogs are three times less like to bite.
Thus is is highly essential for you to spay and neuter you
dogs. Doing this will reduce their frequent aggressive
tendency.

As a dog owner it is very important that you socialize your
dog. If you socialize your dog well it will be much likely
you will experience dog bite. Socializing you dog help boost
it’s confidence and reduce it’s been nervours or frightened
under normal circumstances.

So socialize your dog very well by introducing your dog to
your member of family, other people, and experiences that
could possibly course nervousness and fear biting in future.
Do this and make it feel at ease with people and other
dogs.

Dog training will also help you in preventing dog bite. You
have to learn proper training techniques by attending dog
training class. Attending these classes will help you
socialize your dog. Train your dog to respond to some basic
comands such as “stay, “leave it” and “come”. Also train you
dog to drop his toys on command . If you don’t do this you
will have to retrieve it from his mouth. Thus taking risk of
your finger been bitten.

For concluding part of this article or more on dog bite:
Visit: http://www.dog-bite-prevention.com

Popularity: 11% [?]

Why is RSS So Magical?

The answer is simple: RSS is news you choose.

How Does it Work?
Publishers and webmasters provide content and news in an RSS feed. Users view the content of interest in an RSS reader or news aggregator. The aggregator or reader contains the collection of feeds that are of interest to the user. As the RSS feed is updated the content in the reader or aggregator updates with the new information. At any point, users can remove a feed from their aggregator or reader and no longer receive information from that source. Ultimately, the user is choosing the news and content they wish to view.

As RSS has increased in popularity more and more webmasters and publishers have adopted RSS as an alternative communication stream. Webmasters use an RSS graphic to indicate the content is available via RSS.

RSS Aggregators and News Readers
Generally, there are three types of RSS readers that users use to view feeds that they’ve subscribed to. Feeds can be viewed in a desktop application, web-based aggregator, or plug-in aggregator.

Desktop RSS Readers
Standalone desktop applications generally run in the background, similar to an e-mail client, automatically refreshing headlines as newfeeds are updated. The RSS readers collect the feeds and refresh items in the feeds each time they are updated. An example of a popular standalone desktop RSS reader is: FeedDemon – http://www.feeddemon.com

Web Based Aggregators
Web-based news aggregators are online services. In simple terms, you can personalize a web page. Each time that page is accessed or each time you login to the service, the web page news headlines from feeds that you have selected will refresh. Examples of popular web-based RSS aggregators are: SurfPack – http://www.surfpack.com , FeedScout – http://www.feedscout.com or ActiveWeb Reader – http://www.deskshare.com/awr.aspx . My.Yahoo even has the option of including RSS feeds on My.Yahoo start pages.

Plug-in Readers
Plug-in news aggregators expand the functionality of existing applications to allow users to veiw RSS feeds from within an existing program. Some plug-ins work with web browsers; others work with e-mail clients. An example of a plugin is: NewsGator Outlook – http://www.newsgator.com/outlook.aspx

Websites containing RSS feeds usually have a colorful graphic indicating the availability of an RSS feed. The graphic is usually marked ‘RSS’ or ‘XML’. Simply click the graphic and enter the URL of the file into the reader. Regardless of the RSS reader or news aggregator used by web surfers, the process of adding feeds is generally simple. Web surfers need only to enter the URL of the RSS feed that they wish to view into their news reader. Each time the reader refreshes the feed the information contained within the feed is updated and new content in the feed will appear in the RSS reader.

Finding Feeds
In order to find topic-specific feeds, conduct a search on the RSS search engines available at RSS Specifications – http://www.rss-specifications.com/rss-directory.htm or try RSS Locator – http://www.rss-locator.com .

About the Author:
Sharon Housley manages marketing for FeedForAll http://www.feedforall.com software for creating, editing and publishing RSS feeds and NotePage, Inc. http://www.notepage.net a wireless messaging software company.

Popularity: 11% [?]