We all get a little crazed at times when we are about to head off on vacation. When we travel, we think we remembered to do something, but then we find that we did not do it. Others might find that there are some things which people have heard to do for so long that we just brush it aside and never take these travel tips. Here are a few for you.One of the biggest things we have seen is that people do not give themselves enough time to plan. When you plan, you need to be able to book things far enough in advance as there might be times when they fill up. You need to know when these times are and start getting dates so that you can make it there in time.Making sure you have everything you have to have can seem like a tedious task. We have all been there before, but here is what we have learned from traveling. We have learned that it is usually just best to buy a new toothbrush just for travel so you do not have to worry about if you remembered yours or not. Buying travel size is usually well also. Make a list of the things which you need to get.Arriving early and leaving early is always a good suggestion too. Too many people leave at the last minute or so forth. However, when you do not factor in road construction or long waits, then you might find that you miss a flight or show up late. This can ruin your plans greatly. We even suggest bringing with you a book so that you can read and if you have kids, bring something that can keep them entertained.As you look at how you are going to pay for things, one must know of a few tips we have for this as well. One such thing is to make sure that you go to call in your cards. If you spend too much money and they cannot call you, they might cut off your limits. Others think they can just carry cash, but that is not a very good idea to carry that much cash on you.While this should be something you already know, your safety as you are a tourist should be a priority. Therefore, you should carry ID with you in case something does happen. The other thing to remember is that women should never travel alone. You should try not to walk places after dark as well.One of the very last things would be how to stay safe at the hotel. You need to be sure you lock your door. Make certain to carry things that might be of value with you. If not, you need to ask for a safe. This ensures that you do not get ripped off. While you want to assume that you would be safe, you could never be certain. Do not even take the chance.These are things to remember. When you travel, think wisely. There are tips that people will tell you over and over again, but many do not stop to listen. Read about the area and read about the things they tell you to be mindful of and be prepared of. This can allow you to have a fun time.
Commercial Agents – Tips to Increase the Sales of Commercial Property Today
When it comes to the sale of any commercial property today, there is plenty of competition to contend with. In most cities and towns, there are many good properties listed and being actively marketed. The biggest frustration in selling commercial property today is in finding the right buyers who can act with appropriate finance. In simple terms there are fewer buyers around; the experience and expertise of the real estate agent is more important than ever before in the sale process.From the outset of the property marketing campaign, the specific target market should be the focus. All of the advertising should be written with a view to the targeted buyer. Clarity is important here.All of the advertising for the property should be structured around the target and what they are looking for today; the advertisements, promotional material, Internet listings, and direct mail campaigns should all be similarly structured.To understand this target market ask yourself these questions.
Where is the buyer for the property coming from?
What is the buyer looking for in selecting a property?
How much can they spend and on what terms?
What are the real features of the property that the advertising should be built around?
What is the best time of year to attract a buyer to the property?
What is the best method of sale that will attract the buyer to enquire and then to purchase?
What are the negative issues relating to the property that should be addressed prior to the campaign commencing?
What are the comparable properties nearby that frustrate the marketing process?
So these questions are critical to the property promotion strategy. The buyers in today’s property market are selective and fickle. There are fewer buyers around and negotiations take longer. That being said, the experience and skills of the real estate agent in the promotion, inspection, and closing of a property transaction is now more important than ever before. Knowledge and practice will help the process.Every marketing campaign has to address the target market and promote the individual property. The days of generic marketing are gone. Specific target marketing with dedicated advertising that really encourages enquiry should be the main focus of every campaign.The best ways to increase the levels of enquiry in every commercial property campaign include the following:
The buyers of commercial property typically come from the local area. This means that your campaign should be directed to the local property owners and the local business owners. To achieve this focus, it is best to direct mail and telephone the owners and the businesses that own or occupy local property. Every piece of direct mail should be followed up to optimise the enquiry and the information.
When any property comes on the market, within the first 24 hours ensure that flyers and information brochures are personally delivered to the neighboring properties and businesses within a radius of 500 metres.
Place a prominent signboard on the property at the start of the campaign. This is perhaps the best and most cost efficient way of promoting any property. If possible ensure that the signboard has specifically been created with property information and sale details.
When you draft your advertisements for the property promotion, use the keywords that apply today to the property type and location. These keywords will help the Internet Marketing and Internet listing. You can research the keywords from the larger search engines on the Internet. These keywords will be the words that the buyers of property are entering into the search engines when looking for properties to purchase.
When the promotion of property commences, make personal contact with the database within your office. This means telephone calls and meetings with the appropriate people. The information and leads that you gather from the campaign will be helpful in other property promotions at a later time. All the information should be entered into your database.
E-mail marketing will be a useful tool for every property promotion. Most agents are selectively sending out e-mail marketing each week. Any property promotion can be merged into this process.
To sell a property today, the best method of sale should be selected. That will be the method that buyers respond to and act within. Do not choose a method of sale that can frustrate the potential purchasers. The
Vendor paid marketing remains the normal and sensible alternative in every marketing campaign. Any serious property vendor will commit marketing funds to the promotion of their own property. Always ask for vendor paid advertising to comprehensively cover the target market.
Create an inspection process and strategy that covers the property and its features. Understand exactly how you will take people to and around the property. Identify the right things to talk about with buyers, and get market information to support your presentations or inspections.
Even in this tougher property environment, good properties will sell. It is a matter of the agency working hard to locate the buyers and then promote the property effectively. This is a personal process when it comes to each and every property.Open listings are generally a waste of time today as they always take longer to sell. Every serious vendor that needs to sell their property should commit to an exclusive listing and marketing campaign with one specialist commercial agency for a period of at least three or four months. If the property is unique then that time line will be longer.
Using Video To Market Your Business
Why Video?
Video is a big deal these days. Yet many businesses do not use it at all. Using video to market your business is a great opportunity. Part of the reason it’s a great opportunity is that so many people who could benefit from it are not using it! Much of your competition is not using video!
Video is a great online marketing tool. Many people would rather watch how something is done than read copy from their computer screens.
When you know the routine it’s easy to create videos. The process has a few tricks to maximize results. But it’s relatively quick and easy once you get the hang of it.
Video and Search Engines
When we talk about online video we have to talk about YouTube. YouTube is the largest video website in the world. YouTube videos are uploaded at a rate an astonishing rate. It is estimated that 60 hours of video are uploaded every minute! The site is growing fast.
Google often shows videos listed among their search results. They call this “Universal Search”. Many times there are just one or two among the 10 results listed on a page. But wow do those they stand out. Even if a video is listed at the bottom of the search page it seems to attract more attention than all the other text-only listings. Having your video on a search results page can be a great advantage.
Creating Your Video
Making your own video is easier than it’s ever been before. Thanks to the many choices of cameras and easy to use websites you can begin making videos right away.
Many smart phones can record videos. This is the handiest way to do it since you always have your phone with you. To get better quality you should use a camcorder. Digital camcorders are common and do not require tape or disks. They are easy to use. Copying video to your computer is easier too!
There are numerous resources and video tips online to help you with the creation of your videos. The biggest tip is to use an external microphone or separate digital audio recorder to get good sound. If you don’t try this you won’t even realize the difference it can make. Getting good sound really does add a lot of quality. Lighting is another obvious concern. For indoor videos you should have plenty of lights. Outdoor lighting is best on shady days because shadows can be tricky to control.
Editing Your Video
You can get by without editing your video. But if you want it to be a bit more polished then using a video editor will do the trick. Many editors are available in the under $100 range. I’ve used Corel Video Studio for several years. Other editors in the same price range include CyberLink PowerDirector, Adobe Premiere Elements, Roxio Creator, and Sony Vegas Movie Studio. Check the web for a review of video editor software. With a video editor you can easily cut out unwanted pieces of video, add music and narration, and add on screen titles. After editing you will end up with a polished version of your video. This is the version that will be ready to upload to the internet. I usually create videos in the MP4 format, then upload them to YouTube.
Getting Your Video Online
As mentioned in the previous paragraph I use YouTube. You must set up a YouTube account before you upload your videos to it. I recommend creating a Google account and using that account when signing up for your YouTube account. You’ll have one Google login that will get you into all of your Google products. Once your YouTube account is set up you should create your YouTube channel. Fill it in with all of your business information as completely and accurately as possible.
Use a video aggregator to publish your video to multiple video sites at one time. I don’t use aggregators but many internet marketers do.
I recommend putting your website URL (“http://www.yourwebsite.com”) in the description of your YouTube video. Also put the link to the YouTube video into your YouTube video description. The reason is that some websites copy videos from YouTube and display them on their own website. This helps optimize your Video and can generate more traffic as it gives you a back link.
Integrate Video on Your Website
After you’ve uploaded your video to YouTube the next step is to integrate the video in your website and other online properties. The video below shows how this is done. YouTube makes it very easy to embed videos on your website. Google places and other online business directories make it easy to include video within your business listings too.
More Reasons to Use Video
Besides that benefits of generating more leads for your business, video can make a much more personal connection between you and your potential customers. So much of the Internet is impersonal. There is a big lack of trust online, and rightfully so. To get customers and do business you must build a trusting relationship with your customers. Video can get this done faster than most things. I always recommend a simple, short welcome message on a website home page. One that greets the visitor and makes them feel welcome. Here’s more video tips that will help with your video creation.
The Joys of Self Employment
It used to be that the overwhelming majority of individuals spent their entire careers working for larger organizations. However, with the number of corporations that went through the phase of downsizing in the last twenty years, many individuals were introduced to the world of self employment. The self employed now make up nearly ten percent of the workforce and is growing each year. The opportunity to be self employed offers a great many challenges to those who take it. It is quite common for individuals who are accustomed to working for others to at first be caught off guard by the demands of being self employment. Nonetheless, those who are willing to work through these differences can make themselves a satisfying career.When many think of self employment, they often think of the freedom to set one’s own hours or working from a home office their pajamas. While this is somewhat true, there are also times when self employment means long hours. Individuals who choose this method of employment need to be self motivated, goal oriented and comfortable with being the sole decision maker. They are responsible for making sure their own Social Security and Medicare taxes are paid and they must also file quarterly taxes. At the same time, they have great freedom to take things in any direction they see fit and many of their expenses are tax deductible.Before jumping into the role of the self employed worker, one should study up on as many resources as possible. Books, websites, seminars and workshops are readily available for those seeking information. There are many aspects to learn about self employment, from how to deal with the isolation of the work at home office to legally collecting past due debts. These resources also show how to lessen tax burdens and how to keep expenses to a minimum until real profits start coming in. Joining groups and organizations for the self employed is a great way to stay connected and get firsthand tips and advice.While there are no rules, it is said that older individuals are more likely to choose self employment and stick with it. Their years of experience and knowledge give them a bit of an edge when it comes to the ups and downs that self employment can sometimes bring. At the same time, younger individuals are more likely to be able to put in the longer hours that being self employed sometimes requires. At any rate, the option of being one’s own boss is becoming more and more attractive with the shifting job market.
Three Time Free Strategies For Maximizing Health and Fitness
Everyone is always trying to “get fit” but for many working adults there aren’t enough hours in the day. Four evenings in the gym can take away as many as eight hours out of an already busy schedule. While the hours in the gym may be rewarding, the hours stuck in traffic on the way to the gym are just wasted time. However, going to the gym isn’t the only way to improve your health and get fit. Here are three simple “time-free” things that all adults can do to improve their fitness and stay in shape.Maximize the time doing “chores” – Chores are a tedious time consuming activity, but are still essential to having a clean, nice home. So why not maximize the time you spend doing chores and get fit at the same time? When looking to maximize your chore-time; think outside the box. For example, use an old-fashioned traditional broom with a heavy wooden handle instead of a lightweight plastic broom. Sweeping a kitchen floor with an added three pounds can increase the calorie burn and help tone muscles.Walk and Climb – It’s becoming a cliche to ‘take the stairs’ or ‘walk more’; but that doesn’t make it false. People often waste time driving to the gym in order to walk on a machine for thirty minutes when they can do the same activity at home or at work. With a pedometer you can easily track your additional steps. The Harvard Alumni study of walking showed that walking 6,000 steps in a day can help maintain health and fitness and 10,000 can significantly help lose weight. The good news is that it is easy to begin to maximize your steps while doing everyday activities. For example, rather than spend two or three minutes driving around looking for that “perfect parking spot”; park in the back and enjoy the extra exercise. Often you’ll actually save time by parking in the back of the lot and walking the extra distance instead of driving around looking for that “perfect spot.”Multivitamin and Nutrition – The truth is, no matter how much you exercise, you cannot stay healthy and be fit while depriving your body of needed nutrients. Fortunately it can be easy to get needed nutrition (for you AND your children) by making a few simple changes. You can adjust the nutritional intake in your diet by simply substituting pastas and breads made with whole grains rather than the old white flour. You can buy juices and snack drinks made with real fruit juice rather than ‘juice cocktail.’ And you can readily and easily take a multivitamin to help cover your daily needs. Multivitamins are like a safety net for any balanced diet. They provide blanket coverage of your daily nutritional needs, independent of the particular meals for that day. And because it almost impossible to get “too much” of a vitamin, multivitamins are safe to take daily.
Trick Photography and Special Effects – A Photographer’s Magic
If photography is your passion and you are troubled for not owning an expensive camera, you need not worry. Trick Photography and Special Effects’ is at your disposal! This eBook has everything that could be instrumental for a budding photographer as the name very well indicates. The book has everything from photographs by professionals, video tutorials and a long set of instructions.A True DelightThe Trick Photography and Special Effects eBook is nothing short of taking professional classes from an accomplished photographer. It has captured almost all sorts of photography at the same timing revealing all the tricks that help capture the perfect photographs.The picturesque shots contained in the book are enough to take your breath away. It seems even Photoshop could not accomplish the feat of making pictures look that attractive. The book is rage because of the variety of pictures it caters to like freezing motion, light painting techniques, motion blur, star trails, special effects, 3D images, long exposure effects and much more.Sharboneau’s ExpertiseEvan Sharboneau has indeed opened avenues for many passionate photographers out there who cannot afford to indulge in luxuries like expensive equipments and classes. Sharboneau has been at his creative best in the book and this reflects in the satisfaction and exhilaration of the readers after having read Trick Photography and Special Effects. In fact, the book is a revolutionary attempt as many pro-photographers do not like to reveal their photography secrets.To begin with, the book does not require the reader to be a master in photography. Moreover, the numerous photos and videos are adept to make an amateur develop an interest in photography. You could sometimes be lost in these photographs and videos. The book has all the tricks for capturing infrared lights to taking surreal pictures. It just makes your imagination come true.A Must ReadTrick Photography and Special Effects is a photographer’s magic journal and has an immense potential to contribute to his growth as an artist. It answers all the hows’ of photography. Along with tricks and techniques of photography, the book also mentions the best editing tricks.I would highly recommend this book. The ideas are original and explained in the simplest manner possible. However, there is no substitute for hard work and practice. So, perseverance will take you much ahead. The eBook format of the book makes it all the more helpful and accessible. You can do full justice to the book by grabbing a copy because some things can be best understood by self-analysis.
Discount Homeowners Insurance – Where to Get It
Homeowner’s insurance protects you against financial loss if your home or property is damaged by theft, fire, lightning, smoke, or other disasters. Thanks to the internet, you can easily find discount homeowners insurance that meets your needs. Here’s how …Complete Your InformationYou can get quotes for discount homeowners insurance by visiting an insurance comparison site. On the site you’ll complete a simple questionnaire with information about your home and your insurance needs, including …* How much coverage you want for your home and for your home’s contents. It may be helpful for you to make a detailed inventory of your home’s contents to figure out what coverage amounts you need. (You’ll also need this inventory if you ever need to make a claim.)* The deductible you want to apply to your homeowners insurance.* The square footage of your home and the year it was built.* The number of miles from your home to the nearest fire station and the number of feet to the nearest hydrant.* Any discounts for which you might be eligible. For example, many discount homeowners insurance companies give discounts to non-smoking customers, as well as for security features such as deadbolts and smoke detectors.Get Answers to Your QuestionsThe best insurance comparison sites will also have a chat feature available. With the chat feature, you can get answers to all your homeowners insurance questions from insurance professionals. (See link below.)Get Your Discount Homeowners Insurance QuotesOnce you complete the questionnaire, you’ll quickly receive discount homeowners insurance quotes from multiple A-rated insurance companies.What if the Quote is too High?If the quote for your discount homeowners insurance is more than you can afford, follow these tips to try to get it lower:* Lower your coverage limits and raise your deductibles. Note that your mortgage company probably requires a specific minimum coverage.* See if you can qualify for more discounts. Perhaps you can install more smoke detectors, burglar alarms, or buy fire extinguishers.* If your credit is poor, work on improving it.
Automotive Advertising Agencies Focus on Consumers Vs Auto Dealers to Sell Cars Because Google Does
Consumers prefer to go to the Internet to shop for a vehicle to get information to make a buying decision without having to visit a dealership. Sometimes they turn to the World Wide Web vs. their local car row to avoid being pressured by a self serving car salesperson — real or imagined. Other times their objective may be to save gas and time before they jump into the real world where they may be pressured into making a premature buying decision based on emotion and limited information. Frankly, in many cases, they are right; can you say — spot delivery.Job one for search engines, like Google, is to provide relevant information to their online customers to help them narrow down their list of vehicles of interest and answer associated questions like trade-in value, payment options and the many items that must be addressed before they can select — the — vehicle vs. — a — vehicle. Once those issues are resolved, they need to help their online shoppers find an auto dealer that can provide a vehicle that best satisfies those terms and conditions; in that order — vehicle first and dealer second. My point is that when Google first directs their customers to the most relevant source for their desired information it is not necessarily limited to a particular dealership. Today’s car shoppers are much better educated than yesterday’s. They know what questions they need to ask before they can make a buying decision so their online search words are more able to target vehicles that warrant their consideration rather than limiting their search to their local car dealerships. For better or worse, auto dealers can’t put that horse back in the barn!The adversarial relationship between consumers and auto dealers that governed old world selling processes originated in the real world to help auto dealers control the shopping and negotiation process and they survived briefly on the virtual showrooms being built one on the Internet, but — today and tomorrow — not so much! Once auto dealer’s realized — or more correctly — once customers told auto dealers that they no longer controlled the access to the information that they needed to purchase a vehicle the dealers tried to control the information on the Internet; how is that working out for auto dealers!Automotive advertising agencies first assumed that S.E.O. and S.E.M. was a way to put Google on the auto dealer’s side of the Internet Super Highway. If they placed the right search words, meta tags, URL names — and the various manipulations of the Google search algorithms that automotive advertising agencies have memorized as fast as Google changes them — then they could manipulate the search results to place their auto dealer clients as the most relevant source for the information that customers were searching for and earn the auto dealers a position on the car shoppers short list. Given the vertical priority placed by Google to position a listing on page one based on relevancy to their customers search words or phrases, that technique certainly has value. However, since customers are prioritizing finding a vehicle before a dealer and/or to answer related questions before they open negotiations on a specific vehicle at a particular auto dealer, auto dealers that base their online marketing efforts to accomplish that priority are positioning themselves mid-sales cycle and they may be a day late and a dollar short for a large portion of today’s and tomorrow’s shoppers/buyers.Automotive advertising agencies have attempted to answer customer’s questions on their auto dealership’ websites in an attempt to earn them a top position on vehicle based searches. Their assumption is that the more information the better — as long as it is relevant — however, once at the auto dealer’s site the more accurate priority is “transparency!” More time on page, and more page visits used to be considered a good thing but today, once again — not so much! The easier and faster the online car shopper can find the specific information that they need to make a buying decision the better! Site designs are being simplified with more intuitive user interface and dedicated landing pages or linked micro sites to allow customers to limit the amount of “clicks” or wasted exposure to information that may be relevant to the dealer but not necessarily to the customer; at that time in their shopping cycle at least.Once the shopper actually ventures onto an online showroom the plan is to keep them there by providing direct or linked access to anything that they need to move themselves further down the sales/buying funnel. The dealer may see these information resources as a conversion tool or a lead generator but if they lose track of the truth — that the customer is still in charge — they risk losing them with the click of a mouse. Sorry, but throwing their trade-in keys onto the roof won’t work in your virtual showrooms!The solution is for auto dealers to listen and learn from their online customers before they presume to sell them anything! Human nature has survived on the World Wide Web and relationship based selling still has a strong influence on consumers. Today’s online shoppers are being directed by Google and the other search engines to social networking sites because the marketplace is a conversation and people are social animals. Auto dealers who want to attract customers with a message that they are the best source for information to serve the customer’s interest vs. their own are better served to have their customers make that case for them.Next generation inventory based search portals — like ronsmap.com — accept an auto dealer’s inventory for free with the ability to push their vehicles into social media using their vBack application to Ask-A-Friend or Tell-A-Friend about the vehicle — and the dealer –that they are considering within their social networking communities of online friends. Google has already admitted that they are prioritizing real time social media to establish relevancy, and automotive advertising agencies already know that more vehicles on a site provide more relevancy to more online car shoppers. As a result, they have found that the way to attract more online customers to find their auto dealership as the place to go to get all of their questions answered will be the message that is carried along with their individual vehicles listed on this communal consumer-centric site; which is what the customers are looking for to begin developing their shortlist of dealers to do business with!Customer friendly applications that distribute the information on an auto dealer’s individual website which have the secondary value of functioning as a conversion tool or lead generator are also key differentiators that quickly build branding value for an auto dealer’s virtual showroom and enhance their online reputation as the place to go to get customer’s questions answered vs. their being sold something. For example, GetAutoAppraise.Com is a next generation appraisal tool that provides credible third party trade-in values sourced through NADA with integrated inventory information that allows the customer to review the entire transaction more efficiently. Their trade-in appraisal form includes vehicle, price and payment information to and from both parties to the transaction in one easy transparent and customer friendly process.Video platforms, like SiSTeR Technologies Video CarLot, is another transparent Google friendly application that converts pictures on an auto dealer’s website into interactive videos with human voice that are also pushed out onto the World Wide Web through their dedicated API to You Tube and soon to be announced applications that push their vShock platform onto social networking communities like Face Book. Their proprietary video platform is fully index able for the search engines and it provides relevant information to the customer from within the video as well as direct links through their vShock application that opens a dedicated micro site with similar vehicles chosen from the dealer’s inventory using algorithms and business rules custom designed by the dealer to improve the customers vehicle selection. This process is another example of a customer friendly information delivery system that will improve transparency for the customer once they find an online dealership which will also extend the auto dealers S.E.O..The point is, the more information that an automotive advertising agency provides through their auto dealer client’s websites in the most relevant and transparent manner the better. However, auto dealers need to get online car shoppers to find and visit their virtual showrooms first, and since information is a key differentiator between them and their online competition — or according to Google and online shoppers, it should be – then the information alone won’t make it! Automotive advertising agencies must focus on consumers’ interests in order to best serve their auto dealer clients because Google does; and Google does it because their customers demand it!
Online PhD in Education: What to Think Of?
Are you tense from your higher education? Don’t want to get away from your home? Do you really strive for a PhD? Why delay then? This may be the perfect time for you to get on with your PhD education. If you are thinking of the time and distance or regarding the universities, then I can assure you of a PhD by sitting and holding your bed coffee within your bedroom. Hard to believe, isn’t it?Our global communication and technology has enhanced much that even a PhD is never an issue to end up your education or dreams of higher studies. It may be difficult sometimes to pursue a full time course for professionals like teachers. They may be most of the time busy with their seminars, lectures, academic assignments and what not. Internet is a world where many impossible things itself says that ‘I m possible’, obviously. It could owe you much more than what you imagine of and will make both your life and carrier much easier to go through. They have brought classrooms even more closely than our one arm distance.At first you have to search for the internationally known, accredited universities that will owe you online PhD education. Determine whether you are eligible or not for an online education. Once you are eligible. Then get to an online means of application and also mail every single document to the destined address. You will be given all guidance and advices by the experts of the field. Online PhD education is essentially fulfillment of dreams. You will be given all references and this latest idea of learning and practice could make you more perfect and easy in your carrier anyway.You will be provided with all study materials online and if you need any extra information then you could also download. It will be really a unique opportunity to many to get taught or coached by the best of the global academic wing. You need to complete the assignment, undertake projects, and fulfill every necessities of the course as it is in the real regular course and the same amount of pressure is placed on the candidate until the completion of the course. Online phD in education mainly deals with school safety and problems on health, planning as well implementation of activities related to education, social educational foundation d theory and practice of teaching and learning.There are many promising carriers waiting after online PhD education. You may carry on as an academic researcher, managerial posts in elite organizations, educational consultant etc. The only thing or advantage that you could expect from online PhD education when compared to regular course is that the daily routines are not time bound. All time timetables are kept by you. You will get even opportunities to speak with the administrative and business experts as well as with the students taking the same degree as you. It will give you an ambience of a real class room and you need to submit all requirements at the correct time. You may need just a system and an internet connection to own this online PhD education.