CALABARBOY

casey anthony to appeal conviction on lying

2011-07-15T21:33:00.000+01:00

ORLANDO, Fla (Reuters) - Casey Anthony will appeal her convictions on four charges of lying to detectives who investigated the 2008 disappearance and death of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee, according to a notice filed on Friday by her criminal defense attorneys.

Meanwhile, Anthony is scheduled to give sworn testimony on Tuesday in a defamation lawsuit after her civil lawyer failed Friday to secure an order blocking the videotaped deposition.

But Anthony may not answer any questions. In his motion to stop the deposition, lawyer Charles Greene said Anthony likely would assert her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination due to the status of her criminal case.

A Florida jury acquitted 25-year-old Anthony on July 5 of killing Caylee, whose skeletal remains were found in woods near the Anthony family home after a five-month search.

Anthony was convicted of misdemeanor charges of lying to the detectives searching for her then-missing daughter. Among other lies, Anthony said she left Caylee in June 2008 with a nanny named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez at an apartment complex in Orlando.

Anthony was sentenced to the maximum of four years in jail on four counts of providing false information to a law enforcement officer.

She will be released on Sunday after receiving credit for time served awaiting trial and good behavior.

The deposition on Tuesday will be conducted by lawyers for a woman named Zenaida Fernandez-Gonzalez, who claims her life was ruined by Anthony's allegation that a nanny by that name kidnapped Caylee.

The defamation lawsuit was filed in 2008 but put on hold during the criminal proceedings. Fernandez-Gonzalez's lawyers this week asked for an emergency order to compel Anthony to appear at the deposition, telling the judge they were concerned she would disappear after her release from jail.

Greene countered with a motion for an emergency protective order, arguing that Anthony was emotionally and mentally exhausted by the seven-week criminal trial and has had no time to prepare for her defense in the defamation case.

At a court hearing Friday morning, Greene immediately asked Judge Jose Rodriguez for a private bench conference.

When it was over, Rodriguez announced he would step down from the case and adjourned the hearing. Neither Greene nor Keith Mitnik, who represents Fernandez-Gonzalez, would discuss what transpired in the private discussion with the judge.

Mitnik said Anthony's deposition is still on.

"What was accomplished today in my opinion is she's now going to get out of jail, and we've got to wait and see if she shows up," Mitnik said.

(Editing by Colleen Jenkins and Jerry Norton)

james harrison

2011-07-14T06:37:00.000+01:00

NEW YORK -- Heavily fined Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison calls NFL commissioner Roger Goodell a "crook" and a "devil," among other insults, in an interview with Men's Journal.
“
If that man was on fire and I had to piss to put him out, I wouldn't do it. I hate him and will never respect him. ” -- James Harrison on Roger Goodell
He even rips teammates Rashard Mendenhall ("fumble machine") and Ben Roethlisberger for their performances in this past season's Super Bowl loss to the Green Bay Packers.
"Hey, at least throw a pick on their side of the field instead of asking the D to bail you out again. Or hand the ball off and stop trying to act like Peyton Manning. You ain't that and you know it, man; you just get paid like he does," he said, referring to Roethlisberger's two interceptions in the game. Harrison had one tackle, a sack, in the loss against the Packers.
Harrison called Roethlisberger on Wednesday morning to explain his comments. Roethlisberger told ESPN's Merril Hoge that Harrison said the writer of the article twisted many of his comments around and it was not his intention to criticize the quarterback. Roethlisberger told Hoge that he is taking Harrison at his word and that their relationship is "fine."
Mendenhall didn't take offense to Harrison's comments when he posted a response Wednesday on Twitter.
Reaction to Harrison's Epic Rant
James Harrison's inflammatory language overshadowed his criticism of the commissioner, as ESPN.com's Ashley Fox notes. Story
• NFL bloggers on the fallout• SportsNation: Weigh in on the outburst• Stats & Info: Wrong about Big Ben
"And lastly, I dont have a problem with what @jharrison9292 said because I know him. But I want you guys 2 check this out," he wrote, providing a link to ESPN.com's 2010 rushing statistics page, which showed he fumbled just twice during the regular season in 324 rushing attempts.
Harrison, the 2008 AP Defensive Player of the Year hasn't been shy about ripping the league after he was docked $100,000 for illegal hits last season. In the August issue of Men's Journal, which has Harrison on the cover holding two pistols, his rants against Goodell reach another level of wrath.
"If that man was on fire and I had to piss to put him out, I wouldn't do it," Harrison told the magazine. "I hate him and will never respect him."
His other descriptions of the commissioner include an anti-gay slur, "stupid," "puppet" and "dictator."
Harrison told ESPN that the interview took place "in April or May sometime."
If the Steelers had defeated the Packers in the Super Bowl, Harrison said, he would have whispered in Goodell's ear during the trophy ceremony: "Why don't you quit and do something else, like start your own league in flag football?"
Harrison also questions whether a black player is punished more for a hard hit on a white player than the opposite.
"I slammed Vince Young on his head and paid five grand, but just touched Drew Brees and that was 20," Harrison said. "You think black players don't see this s--- and lose all respect for Goodell?"
Steelers in the news
James Harrison isn't the first Steeler to make headlines since the team lost the Super Bowl to the Packers in February.Rashard Mendenhall• After the U.S. raid that killed Osama Bin Laden, he tweeted: "We'll never know what really happened. I just have a hard time believing a plane could take a skyscraper down demolition style" among other items viewed as sympathetic to Bin Laden. He took down the tweets and tried to clarify them, but eventually lost a sponsor. Hines Ward• Ward was arrested on July 9 in Georgia on a drunken driving charge. Ward said in a statement he was not impaired, but apologized for "this distraction." Later, police issued a report saying that Ward had glassy, bloodshot eyes and failed field sobriety tests during a traffic stop.
Harrison also criticizes other NFL executives, Patriots-turned-commentators Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi ("clowns"), and Houston's Brian Cushing ("juiced out of his mind").
Bruschi is an analyst on ESPN's "NFL Live."
Cushing, when asked to respond to Harrison's remarks, told KRIV-TV in Houston: "I'll pray for him."
While Harrison criticized some of his teammates, he had high praise for Steelers safety Troy Polamalu.
"He's the one guy in football I respect absolutely, 'cause he's spiritual and lives it like he talks it. You know, he gets more flags than anyone on our team but never gets fined for nothin'. He's so polite and talks so softly that he could tell Goodell to kiss his a--, and Goodell would smile and say thank you," he told the magazine.
Beyond the insults, Harrison makes some serious points about what he believes are the league's misguided attempts to increase safety. He explains how non-guaranteed contracts make players more likely to hit high, because in the short term, a torn knee ligament is more costly than a concussion.
And Harrison suggests the real way to prevent head injuries is to shorten the season to 14 games, start offseason workouts later and trim the length of training camp so "we're not bangin' heads so much in August; that's where the brain trauma comes from."
In a statement released Wednesday, Steelers president Art Rooney II said he hasn't read the article or spoken to Harrison. "We will discuss the situation at the appropriate time, when permitted once the labor situation is resolved," he said

Bid laden was a fan of porno

2011-07-13T22:18:00.000+01:00

A stash of pornography was found among the trove of evidence seized from Osama bin Laden's Abbottabad compound by U.S. Navy SEALs, according to a report confirmed by ABC News.
The existence of the pornography stash, which one U.S. official told ABC News was "huge," was first reported by Reuters. The official said the pornographic material was found in a wooden box in bin Laden's bedroom and included electronically recorded videos.
Though bin Laden's compound did not have an internet connection or other hard-wired networks, a video recovered by the SEALs and publicized by the White House showed bin Laden watching himself on a television while inside the compound, suggesting those in the compound could play back videos.
The discovery of the pornographic videos is just the latest in a steady stream of information gleaned from evidence obtained by the SEALs during the mission that killed bin Laden nearly two weeks ago, from invaluable intelligence on al Qaeda operations to embarrassing personal revelations about the terror leader. Officials are analyzing one million pages of data recovered and said they've learned more about al Qaeda in the past ten days than in the last ten years combined.

Rahimullah Yousafzai/AP Photo
Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden speaks to a... View Full Size

Rahimullah Yousafzai/AP Photo
Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden speaks to a selected group of reporters in mountains of Helmand province in southern Afghanistan, in this Dec. 24, 1998 file photo.

Osama bin Laden's Dirty Secrets Watch Video

Osama Bin Laden: The Porn Under His Bed Watch Video

Taliban Seeks Revenge for Osama Bin Laden's Death Watch Video

READ: Osama Bin Laden Raid: Al Qaeda 'Playbook' Revealed

The cache of electronic and handwritten materials includes numerous hallmark al Qaeda plots including attacks on infrastructure targets such as water supply and transportation including rail and air, in what one official described as a "strategic guide for how to attack the U.S." Recently, officials said the al Qaeda leader wanted to find a way to kill President Obama and had aspired to attack the U.S. rail system.
A "professional journal" apparently handwritten by bin Laden also revealed that he encouraged attacks against smaller cities in the U.S. and was in communication with the Yemeni branch of al Qaeda, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, which U.S. officials have recently described as the greatest threat to America. The al Qaeda leader even allegedly tallied how many American lives it would cost to force a U.S. withdrawal from the Arab world, according to officials cited in the AP report.

Caysey Anthony sued

2011-07-13T22:15:00.001+01:00

A volunteer search group is suing Casey Anthony for more than $100,000 claiming she insisted her daughter Caylee was alive and pleaded with them to find her, although Casey Anthony now claims that she knew her daughter was already dead.
The civil lawsuit filed by Texas EquuSearch states that the company invested over two years, 4,200 personnel, hundreds of thousands of hours and $112,000 of their donor-funded resources in massive search and rescue efforts for 2-year old Caylee.
Even worse, the group's lawsuit states, the search for Caylee used up so much of its resources they were unable to help others who came to them seeking help in finding missing family members.
"During the time TES was searching for Caylee, TES received more than 15 requests for other families for missing loved ones, and was unable to offer assistance to any of these families as TES was fully devoted to the search for Caylee," the lawsuit claims.
The lawsuit states that Casey Anthony's mother, Cindy Anthony, called EquuSearch founder Tim Miller in late August 2008 and "implored" him to assist in the search for her granddaughter. Miller traveled to Orlando, Fla., where Cindy and George Anthony told him, in Casey's presence, that Caylee was still alive.
"Casey Anthony likewise told Mr. Miller that Caylee was alive, and asked him to please bring her back," the lawsuit says.
EquuSearch said it launched the second most costly search in the organization's 11-year history, eating away 40 percent of its annual budget to finance motel rooms, rent vehicles and related expenses for the volunteers from 13 states who aided in the search.

witness tampering has been alleged in the trial of Casey Anthony

2011-07-13T20:37:00.000+01:00

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Authorities were looking into allegations of witness tampering during Casey Anthony's murder trial, a Florida sheriff said Tuesday during a wide-ranging news conference with his top investigators in what he said was an effort to bring closure to a case that polarized the country.Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings also revealed that prosecutors were considering perjury charges against Anthony's mother, but a spokeswoman for the state attorney's office later said they would not be pursued.Casey Anthony was acquitted a week ago on charges of killing her 2-year-old daughter Caylee in 2008. Anthony was found guilty on four charges of lying to law enforcement officers. She is to be released from jail Sunday.The sheriff held the news conference to defend his investigation and because his office had been besieged with interview requests since the verdict."The ultimate goal ... is that our personnel can get back to work doing the business of the taxpayers and residents of Orange County," Demings said. "This is the only way that we can move forward."Demings wouldn't say who was accused of witness tampering, but it didn't involve Casey Anthony's mother, Cindy. She stunned prosecutors during the trial when she testified that she had done searches for chloroform on the family's computer. Prosecutors believed, along with sheriff's investigators, that Casey Anthony had performed the search as she plotted to kill Caylee.Later, testimony by two of Cindy Anthony's co-workers that the company's electronic records showed that she was logged into her work system for most of the day on both March 17 and March 21 when the chloroform searches were done.Cindy Anthony said she had performed the Internet searches for chloroform while looking up information on chlorophyll, a green pigment found in plants. Chloroform is a chemical that can be used as a sedative and is fatal to children in small doses.A co-worker said the system would not have recorded Cindy Anthony's presence if a person hadn't been actively using the work computer.The government presented evidence at trial that chloroform was found in Anthony's car trunk and insinuated that she could have used it to render Caylee unconscious.As for the alleged witness tampering, detective John Allen would only say the sheriff's office has interviewed some witnesses."In regards to where we will go, it really depends on what information we get and what people come forward to provide additional information," Allen said.The investigators at the news conference sat at a table alongside a big picture of Caylee. The sheriff said it was a reminder of what his investigators were pursuing during the three-year case that dominated his resources."This is what this was all about," Demings said. "It was about a missing child. That's what motivated our staff and our community."Demings said his office followed up on more than 600 tips and worked with more than 100 FBI agents. He said he is still in the process of working with his accounting department to total up substantial investigative costs. Prosecutors want Anthony to incur those costs because they said the lies she was convicted of telling investigators directly led to the expenditures."Obviously those were resources that could have been put toward finding other missing children," Allen said.Texas Equusearch, the private group that conducted several searches for Caylee in 2008, filed a lawsuit against Anthony on Tuesday, seeking $15,000 for what it spent on searches. The lawsuit claimed Anthony made misrepresentations to the group's founder, causing extensive, costly and time-consuming searches for Caylee.Anthony's defense said Caylee accidentally drowned in the family pool and her father, a former police officer, helped cover it up. Anthony's partying and shopping during the month before her daughter was reported missing was caused in part by her father's sexual abuse, her attorneys said.George Anthony denied the claims in court, and investigators said Tuesday they were rebuffed by the defense team when they tried to interview her about the allegations.Allen and the case's lead detective, Yuri Melich, said they wouldn't do anything differently in the case, despite not winning a conviction."Ultimately, it's up to the jury to decide," Melich said. "We respect that and honor that."The sheriff did acknowledge that finding Caylee's remains earlier could have built a stronger case. The remains were found by a meter reader in December 2008, six months after Caylee was reported missing. The meter reader initially called authorities as early as August about seeing what might have been a skull in the woods.Demings said the investigator called out after the meter reader's report no longer works at the sheriff's office, and he believed authorities correctly focused on Anthony."I certainly don't have any doubt," Allen said. "... I think our work was solid.".

amendments to efcc

2011-07-13T11:10:00.001+01:00

I am pleased to learn that finally the Attorney General of Nigeria has exercised his functions under section 43 of the the Act that established the EFCC. The AG's office has issued an apparently sweeping rules and regulation aimed clearly at conforming the EFCC monster to the constitutional due process both in substantive and procedural regards.

Indeed, from the moment I was detained by the EFCC, I realized to my utter shock that the EFCC was operating like a criminal organization in forms worse than anything Nigerians saw during the worst of the military rules. I was so worried that Nigerians would allow such organization to operate at all. Not only were the EFCC leadership so terrible incompetent, the was corrupt and inept to the core. I immediately began to speak out against this menace. And they punished me for my outspokenness by holding me in detention for 90 days through a lawyer whose personal interests in the my case would soon come to light.

In a recent development, which has now been made public, the AG issued 27 rules/guidelines that could effectively deal a heavy blow on the EFCC abuses. I saw this coming, but I did not want to preempt the announcement. The new rules are to be effective from September of last year (2010). So, a number of the things that EFCC did are already in violation of the rules.

Despite this move, I am compelled to approach this development with caution. Many questions remain to be answered. First, given that the law clearly enabled the Attorney General to regulate the EFCC, why did it take the Attorney General until now to act? Why were many Nigerians allowed to suffer to much pain in the hands of the EFCC before the AG could act to uphold the constitution? We need to see concrete action and not mere pronouncements. Indeed, it is now a common fact that what the EFCC did to me and my family and business was heading toward a sweeping lawsuit in the United States. In that lawsuit, Nigeria would be on trial in a way it has never seen before. Certainly, with these rules, Nigeria will help itself by showing the world that it did not condone some of the extreme aberrations of the EFCC. Also, it is clear that I am presently representing many Nigerians whose rights have been violated by the EFCC over time. While these new measures by the Attorney General are a deep breadth of fresh air and are highly encouraged, they came too late for many victims of the EFCC.

I encourage the Attorney General to do more. I encourage President Jonathan to do more. For the abuses and corruption committed by the leadership of the EFCC, I urge that Mrs. Farida Waziri and certain officers of the EFCC be immediately arrested and prosecuted for corruption immediately. We shall keep our eyes open for further development. Thank you.

why the nigerian government created the trade and investment ministry

2011-07-13T11:04:00.001+01:00

Vanguard) THE Federal Government, yesterday, created the Ministry of Trade and Investment in line with its promise to transform the economy within the next four years. It also announced the setting up of $500million capital for small and medium scale companies at single digit interest rate. The fund which will be administered by the new ministry in collaboration with Lagos Business School is aimed at breaking the country’s vicious circle of poverty through aggressive and productive investment drive.

It will be headed by former Minister of Finance, Dr. Olusegun Aganga.

The Presidency said that with the creation of the new ministry, the Federal Government was targeting sustained double-digit growth, a private sector led investment flow of about N15 trillion in the next four years and the creation of adequate jobs to plug the country’s huge unemployment hole. The target is the creation of three million jobs annually.

According to the Vision 2020 document, the country needs to invest N34 trillion in growth oriented sectors in the next four years if it is to become one of the twenty largest economies of the world. Of the amount, the Federal Government is to provide investment outlay of N10trillion; state governments, N9trillion; and private sector (both local and international) N15trillion.

Presidency sources said the choice of Aganga to head the new ministry was based on his outstanding private sector background, result-oriented growth initiatives in his one year as Nigeria’s finance minister and experience as managing director of the world’s biggest investment bank, Goldman Sachs.

Under the new ministry, the small and medium enterprises which are the bedrock of growth in advanced economies, will enjoy the special attention that will enable them to perform their roles efficiently, thus providing the foundation for enhanced non-oil growth.

The new model was conceived based on the economic transformation achieved by the Department of Trade and Investment in the United Kingdom; the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Investment of Japan; and the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Competitiveness of Cape Verde, among others.

Historically, the UK’s trade and investment department, which is now known as the Department of Business Innovation and Skills, is headed by senior ministers with first_rate experience in investment matters.

BIS’ mission is to drive economic growth by enhancing business productivity, deepening private sector investment/involvement and developing the relevant skills for sustained growth.

For Nigeria, the functions of the former Ministry of Commerce and Industry will be accommodated under the Investment and Trade ministry, while the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigerian Investment Promotion Commission and the Bank of Industry will be strengthened to keep pace with the new drive.

Aganga, during his term as finance minister, started the campaign for the creation of the Sovereign Wealth Fund and got the bill passed under five months. The SWF is not only a tool for strengthening Nigeria’s fiscal framework, but also a vehicle for infrastructure development and wealth creation for the nation.

He successfully launched the first Nigerian Eurobond in the international capital market, which attracted credible investors from more than 14 countries across the continents. That the Eurobond was over_subscribed in an election year was also remarkable.

The new Minister of Investment and Trade was the driver behind the job creation initiative of the Federal Government, including the provision of N50bn for public works.

He pioneered the struggle for the reduction of Nigeria’s recurrent expenditure, developed the funding plan and strategy for the development of SMEs and set up a consumer credit scheme for made_in_Nigeria products to boost consumption and local production.

Under him, a $500m capital was provided at single_digit interest rates for SMEs, a feat that endeared him to the organised Private Sector.

Casey Anthony's mom to face perjury charge

2011-07-13T10:35:00.000+01:00

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A sheriff in Florida says Casey Anthony's mother could face perjury charges for her testimony during her daughter's murder trial.

Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said Tuesday that Cindy Anthony may have lied on the witness when she was testifying about who searched for chloroform on the family computer. Cindy Anthony initially told police she did not search for chloroform, but at the trial she said she did.

The sheriff also revealed that authorities are investigating a witness tampering allegation. He would not elaborate.

He spoke to reporters during a wide-ranging news conference a week after Casey Anthony was acquitted of murder in the death of her 2-year-old daughter Caylee Anthony.

Casey Anthony was found guilty of lying to law enforcement and is to be released from jail Sunday.

Is Italy too big to bail

2011-07-13T10:33:00.000+01:00

With Italy in the eye of the storm of the EU debt crisis amid rumors that the European Central Bank has intervened by buying Italian sovereign bonds on the secondary market, analysts are coming to the conclusion that Italy is 'too big to bail' given its massive funding requirements and total debt outstanding of €1.6 trillion ($2.2 trillion).

Italian equities managed to record some gains during Tuesday’s session, up 1.3% after a terrible two-day beat-down that led to some of the largest spread moves in sovereign bonds in the European monetary union’s history. Yields on benchmark 10-year Italian bonds fell marginally on Tuesday and stood at 5.66%, just below Spain’s 5.96%.

With a plethora of negative news coming out of Europe on a daily basis, it is hard to attribute this Italian crisis to one event, but what is undeniable is that markets are coming to the realization that Italy is a whole different animal from Greece, Ireland, and Portugal, and that bailing it out might deliver a final blow to the beleaguered European Union. (Read Euro Contagion: Italian Equities Tank, Yields And CDS Jump).

Differences are staggering. While funding requirements for 2012 for the three PIIGs that have already been bailed out total €91 billion ($127 billion), Italy’s funding requirements reach a massive €250 billion ($350 billion). Total outstanding debt for the country run by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is around €1.6 trillion ($2.2 trillion), compared with €345 million for Greece, and about €150 billion each for Portugal and Ireland, according to analysts at Nomura.

If Italy were to fail, the problem would be that it is too big to bail. Nomura points out that current European Financial Stabilization Facility (EFSF) mechanisms were designed to deal with the failure of relatively small countries being bailed out by a relatively large group of participating Eurozone countries. The equation changes for Italy.

Currently, the EFSF has an effective lending capacity of €320 billion ($448 billion) out of a total of €440 billion ($616 billion); Italy’s funding needs over the next two years exceed €500 billion ($770 billion). Not only would the EFSF (and its successor, the European Stability Mechanism-ESM-with total authorized capital estimated to be around €700 billion) lack the capacity to bail out Italy, the number of countries ready and willing to lend Rome a hand would be reduced to only two: France and Germany. (Read French Banks Hold $93B In Greek Debt As Sarkozy Announces Rollover Deal).

If Europe’s two big dogs were forced to cough up €500 billion for their Italian buddies, that would constitute approximately 10% of their combined GDP (around €5 trillion, according to Nomura). According to the note:

At some point the load will be too big for France and Germany too. For example, would France be able to sustain an AAA rating with contingent liabilities to Italy in excess of 10% of GDP?
There is not enough capacity to bail out Italy within the current bail-out infrastructure. And even an expanded EFSF may not be able to provide a credible backstop over the medium-term

One possible alternative is central bank intervention to lower rates. Traders on Tuesday were pretty sure they saw the hand of the ECB, through the Bank of Italy, in sovereign bond markets for Italian debt in a day when they auctioned off €6.75 billion of Italian debt at a much higher rate than usual. And on Monday, a meeting of European Finance Ministers allowed for the possibility that the EFSF could be allowed to buy sovereigns in the secondary market. (Read Europe's Debt Grind, Worry Over Italy Keep Traders Jumpy).

But this might not be enough, as FT Alphaville notes. While the ECB has already tried these interventions with Greece, Portugal, and Ireland, it has not succeeded in ensuring “depth and liquidity in those market segments which are dysfunctional,” as trade volumes in those suggest. And, given the size of the Italian bond market, with “daily turnover in May of €12 billion” and gross issuance in the third quarter of €31 billion in two, five, and ten-year bonds, it would be a disaster for the ECB to make Italy “a regular patient.”

The situation is dire indeed. The political battle in Germany over bailing out smaller nations was massive, eroding much of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s political capital. Bailing out Italy, then, seems like an economic, political, and social impossibility.

questions to ask before buying a house

2011-07-13T10:25:00.000+01:00

Open houses can be a wonderful way to find your next house. They can be just as helpful in gathering intelligence about a neighborhood, getting a feel for its housing stock or simply scoping out real-estate agents that you might like to work with.

But what should you ask when you pay a visit? In this month's Buying Advice, we consulted agents and other real-estate experts for their insights on how to navigate open houses.

We'll also update you on the latest housing and mortgage stats, and see how most people are feeling about the housing market's prospects. And real-estate author and blogger Ilyce Glink will answer one reader's question about whether he can legally have two primary residences.

Open-house questions
If you play your cards right, an open house can tell you a lot more about a property than its floor plan or the condition of its floors. The key is asking the right questions, agents say. (Or if you're looking with your agent, making sure they do it for you.)

Here are some questions to ask the listing agent and how these questions might help you in your purchase of the home:

Have you had any offers on the property? That lets you know if you have competition for the property, says Kim Drusch, an agent with Century 21 Award in San Diego. You'd also want to know if the sellers had rejected any offers and why, agents say. It could help you better craft an offer that will meet with their approval.

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Which cities spend the most online?

2011-07-13T10:04:00.001+01:00

By Bundle.com

For many people, shopping online has become as ubiquitous as shopping at the mall -- minus the part where you have to search for parking, climb escalators and dodge mallrats.

According to Forrester Research, U.S. Web sales increased by 12.6% in 2010 compared with 2009. And with more people adapting to technology and accessing the Web, Forrester says the number is likely to soar by 2015.

And so we bring you the top 10 online shopping cities in the U.S. We analyzed data for the 65 biggest cities in the U.S. and figured which was spending the most and ordering the most often from these top online retailers: Amazon.com, Overstock.com, Sears.com, Walmart.com, BestBuy.com, Apple.com, Netflix.com, Target.com and SonyStore.com.

We also looked at which cities were the most likely to have quick shipping times based on their proximity to major distribution centers, at cities' sales tax rates and at the cities where residents had the most access to the Internet.

Here are the top 10 online shopping cities (to see the list that ranks 65 cities, see the full article here):

10. Orlando, Fla.

Residents shopping online: 1.9 times the national average
Transactions: 1.92 times the national average
Percentage of residents who access the Internet: 55% (average is 49%)
Sales tax rate: 6%
Number of major distribution centers from top online retailers, including Amazon.com: 19

9. Minneapolis

Residents shopping online: 1.92 times the national average
Transactions: 2.2 times the national average
Percentage of residents who access the Internet: 51%
Sales tax rate: 6.88%
Number of major distribution centers from top online retailers, including Amazon.com: 5

8. St. Paul, Minn.

Residents shopping online: 2 times the national average
Transactions: 2.16 times the national average
Percentage of residents who access the Internet: 51%
Sales tax rate: 6.88%
Number of major distribution centers from top online retailers, including Amazon.com: 5

Click here for a larger version of this infographic.

7. Washington D.C.

Residents shopping online: 2.14 times the national average
Transactions: 2.3 times the national average
Percentage of residents who access the Internet: 58%
Sales tax rate: 6%
Number of major distribution centers from top online retailers, including Amazon.com: 0

6. Austin, Texas

Residents shopping online: 2.15 times the national average
Transactions: 2.2 times the national average
Percentage of residents who access the Internet: 58
Sales tax rate: 6.25%
Number of major distribution centers from top online retailers, including Amazon.com: 27

Article continues after video.

5. Pittsburgh

Residents shopping online: 2.4 times the national average
Transactions: 2.4 times the national average
Percentage of residents who access the Internet: 44%
Sales tax rate: 6%
Number of major distribution centers from top online retailers, including Amazon.com: 19

4. St. Louis

Residents shopping online: 2.56 times the national average
Transactions: 2.63 times the national average
Percentage of residents who access the Internet: 46%
Sales tax rate: 4.23%
Number of major distribution centers from top online retailers, including Amazon.com: 7

3. San Francisco

Residents shopping online: 2.64 times the national average
Transactions: 2.67 times the national average
Percentage of residents who access the Internet: 62%
Sales tax rate: 8.25%*
Number of major distribution centers from top online retailers, including Amazon.com: 29

* Sales tax rate from 2010. The California rate dropped by 1% in July 2011

2. Manhattan, N.Y.

Residents shopping online: 3.5 times the national average
Transactions: 3.67 times the national average
Percentage of residents who access the Internet: 55%
Sales tax rate: 4%
Number of major distribution centers from top online retailers, including Amazon.com: 13

1. Miami

Residents shopping online: 5.6 times the national average
Transactions: 5 times the national average
Percentage of residents who access the Internet: 55%
Sales tax rate: 6%
Number of major distribution centers from top online retailers, including Amazon.com: 19

I LIED OVER ALLEGATIONS ON QATAR BID

2011-07-11T14:44:00.000+01:00

Dr. Amos Adamu

The “whistleblower” behind a series of corruption allegations involving FIFA executive committee members and Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bid has told the BBC she fabricated the claims.

Phaedra Al Majid, a former international media officer for Qatar 2022, said she wanted to exact revenge after losing her job on the campaign.

She decided to go public after she said her “lies had gone too far”.

Al Majid has now signed a legal affadavit retracting the allegations.

My intentions were to make a few headlines, I never expected that my lies would be carried on and discussed in parliament

Originally made anonymously to journalists, the claims became the subject of an inquiry by the parliamentary select committee for culture, media and sport.

She says she is deeply sorry for the trouble she has caused World Cup officials in Qatar and the three FIFA executive committee members she accused of accepting bribes.

“I was very upset after I left the bid and wanted to basically hurt the bid back,” she said. “My intentions were to make a few headlines, I never expected that my lies would be carried on and discussed in parliament.

“It just went too far. I never expected it to come to this point. There was never anything suspicious or any wrongdoing on Qatar’s part.

“I cannot tell you how sorry I am. I have hurt reputations of three members of the FIFA exco, I have hurt their reputation, and more importantly I have hurt my colleagues on the Qatar bid.”

Al Majid originally said African Football Confederation president Issa Hayatou, Cote d’Ivoire FIFA member Jacques Anomua and Nigeria’s suspended exco official Amos Adamu were paid $1.5million to vote for Qatar.

The allegations were denied by all three men but were made public under parliamentary privilege when the Sunday Times submitted evidence from their investigation into FIFA to the select committee in May.

Pregnant Women At War With Jimoh Ibrahim

2011-07-08T10:43:00.001+01:00

The way things are going, shrewd businessman, Jimoh Ibrahim may have conquered many in his quest to be recognized as one of the very best business heads in the country. But what many don’t know is that the man who is used to taking over dying business concerns may have bitten more than he can chew in his bid to do something extraordinary and get noticed.
The Ondo State-born lawyer has over the years been taking over businesses. Some were successful some, while in others he was outbidded by other companies and had to re-strategize.
If it would be recalled, it was Jimoh who was denied the opportunity to own a bank in Nigeria and had to move to neighbouring Ghana to found Energy Bank. His determination to win is also evident in the ferocity of his battle to retain his ownership of NICON, Nigerian topmost insurance company in which he had acquired majority shares.
Though the lawyer turned businessman has over the years turned a dogged ,the latest challenge coming the way of the man that just acquired the former Virgin Nigeria and the late Dele Giwa-founded Newswatch Magazine may have bitten more than he can chew as the current opposition is coming from the pregnant women in his establishments.
The whole drama started some years back when Jimoh Ibrahim started acquiring companies that have married women in their employment ranks. Because he did not want to be viewed as someone who does not want his female staff to raise a family, he was forced to retain them against his better judgment. This, it appears, is now haunting him. Since he came out with a pronouncement reducing the maternity leave of pregnant women in his business empire from 12 weeks to 6 weeks, they have been spoiling for war.
This decision, according to many of the female staffers, is a ploy to force them out of his companies. And many of them are now considering tendering their resignation because they believe that six weeks will not be adequate for them to have fully recovered from the stress of childbirth, while those who are not ready to resign are spoiling for a fight over what they termed as injustice against motherhood.
Jimoh’s draconian rule is coming at a time some women groups are advocating for longer leave period for pregnant women in Nigeria . They want it extended to six months, as is currently being enjoyed by their counterparts in developed countries like the United Kingdom and USA . It is surprising that the man who would do anything to ensure the freedom of his mother from the clutches of kidnappers recently because of his closeness to her will give mothers in his establishments little time to nurture their newly born babies.
If the information at our disposal is anything to go by, the billionaire businessman may have to go back to his drawing board to fashion a strategy to pacify the angry pregnant women in his employment. If not, he will soon be fighting a war he can never win because his mother may team up with the women to fight the injustice.

The woman accused of killing her baby

2011-07-04T08:16:00.000+01:00

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Casey Anthony briefly wept Sunday as prosecutors told jurors during closing arguments that she murdered her 2-year-old daughter Caylee to reclaim the carefree life she had before the girl was born.

Prosecutors portrayed Anthony as a young mother who killed her daughter because she got in the way of her love life.

"Something needed to be sacrificed, that something was either the life she wanted or the life thrust upon her. She chose to sacrifice her child," prosecutor Jeff Ashton said during his 90-minute argument.

Defense attorney Jose Baez said the prosecutors' case was so weak they tried to portray Anthony as "a lying, no-good slut" and that their forensic evidence was based on a "fantasy." He said Caylee's death was "an accident that snowballed out of control."

Prosecutors contend Caylee was suffocated with duct tape by her mother, who then crafted elaborate lies to mislead investigators and her parents. Defense attorneys countered that the toddler accidentally drowned in the family swimming pool, and that Casey in fact was hiding emotional distress caused by alleged sexual abuse from her father. Her father has denied that claim.

Judge Belvin Perry ruled Sunday morning that there was no evidence of such abuse and that the defense could not allude to it in closing arguments. Jury deliberations are now expected to begin Monday after the prosecution gives its rebuttal arguments.

Baez began his closing argument by telling jurors they have more questions than answers, including the biggest: How did Caylee die? Neither prosecutors nor the defense have offered firm proof of how Caylee died.

"It can never be proven," he said.

Baez spent most of his four-hour argument attacking the prosecution's forensic evidence. He said the prosecution's air analysis of the trunk of Anthony's car, which allegedly showed air molecules consistent with decomposition, could not be duplicated. He said no one could prove a stain found in the trunk was caused by Caylee's body decomposing there. And witnesses showed maggots found in the trunk came from a bag of trash that was found there, he said.

"They throw enough against the wall and see what sticks. That is what they're doing ... right down to the cause of death," Baez said. He later conceded his client had told elaborate lies and invented imaginary friends and even a fake father for Caylee, but he said that doesn't mean she killed her daughter.

He also attacked Anthony's father, George Anthony, as unreliable. He said that a suicide note that George Anthony wrote in January 2009 that claimed no knowledge of what happened to Caylee was self-serving and that the attempt was a fraud. He said George Anthony claimed he was going to kill himself with a six-pack of beer and some high-blood pressure medicine.

Earlier during prosecution's closing argument, Casey Anthony appeared mostly stone-faced for about the first 45 minutes, but she began to cry when Ashton said the story that Caylee drowned was also false.

Ashton, the prosecutor, said Caylee's death wasn't an accident because three pieces of duct tape were placed on her face — one on the mouth, one on the nose and one over those to be "thorough."

The case has played out on national TV since Caylee's disappearance in the summer of 2008 and continued through her mother's trial, with spectators traveling from all over the U.S. to jockey for coveted seats in the courtroom gallery. Anthony, a single mother, was 22 when her daughter died. No one has come forward as the father of Caylee.

Ashton began his closing argument by showing a video of Anthony playing with Caylee, causing Anthony to apparently choke back tears. But she quickly regained her composure.

He then told the jury that Anthony worried Caylee was getting to the age where she would have told Anthony's parents that the woman was spending her days and nights with her boyfriend — not going to work and leaving Caylee with a nanny.

"Casey is very bright," Ashton said. "Her lies are very detailed. ... But when Casey wants to do what Casey wants to do, she finds a way."

The prosecutor then described the lies Anthony told her parents, George and Cindy Anthony, about why she couldn't come home and why she couldn't produce Caylee after the toddler was last seen June 16, 2008: that she was with a nanny named Zanny, a woman who doesn't exist; that Anthony and her daughter were spending time in Jacksonville with a rich boyfriend who doesn't exist; and that Zanny had been hospitalized after an out-of-town traffic accident and that they were spending time with her.

It only fell apart, Ashton said, a month later when a junk yard told George and Cindy Anthony their daughter's car had been towed. When they picked it up, they discovered a foul odor — George Anthony, a former police officer, and the tow yard operator said it smelled like human decomposition.

Cindy Anthony then tracked down her daughter. When she couldn't produce Caylee, her parents called police. Casey Anthony then told investigators she worked at Universal Studios theme park as an event planner. She went so far as to take them there, talk her way past security, take them to an office building. She gave up the lie as she was walking down the hall.

Ashton then attacked the defense contention that Caylee drowned and that George Anthony helped Casey Anthony cover it up. No one faced with an accidental drowning would do that instead of calling 911, Ashton said.

"It is a trip down a rabbit hole into a bizarre world where men who love their granddaughters find them drowned and do nothing," Ashton said. "Where men who love their granddaughters take an accident, a completely innocent act, and make it look like a murder for no reason. A world where a man who buries his pets will take the granddaughter who was the love of his life and throw her in a swamp."

Baez conceded that Anthony told elaborate lies, but he said those inventions should have signaled to investigators that "there's something wrong with this girl."

"Instead, they had a murder case, and that was it. That was all they were interested in was evidence of murder. There's nothing sexy about a drowning," Baez said.

Judge Perry angrily stopped Baez's closing arguments after he referred to Ashton as "this laughing guy." Television showed Ashton smiling behind his hand at Baez's contention that the prosecution's forensic evidence was based on fantasy. One of Perry's written orders is that the attorneys not show emotion to the other side's statements.

Ashton apologized and said he tried to hide his expressions. Baez also apologized. Perry warned all of the attorneys that any other incidents would result in that attorney's removal from the trial.

Casey Anthony has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. She could face a possible death sentence or life in prison if convicted of that charge.

Anthony also is charged with aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter of a child and four counts of providing false information to law enforcement. The child abuse and manslaughter charges each carry a 30-year prison term if convicted.

Lying politicians

2010-12-10T18:08:00.002Z

Why is it that in this country we are fond of suppressing the truth. I can remember the pandemonium that the then ailing president Umaru Yaradua caused aand how the cabinet led by the then Attorney General and minister of justice Michael Aondokaa and the Governor's forum tried to suppress the truth.

Now with the advent of wikileaks with documents that the United State Embassy has not denied its contents, the presidency is denying the authenticity of the document and instead trying to play us for fools.

Excerpts from the cable suggested that Jonathan told Sanders that he (Jonathan) lacked ‘political and administrative experience.’

He was quoted as saying, “I was not chosen to be Vice-President because I had good political experience. I did not. There were a lot more qualified people around to be Vice-President, but that does not mean I am not my own man.”

“I am not a politician and had very limited experience as an administrator; I will not tolerate a brawl.”

The account also said Jonathan blamed some influential persons for the political crisis in the country at the time.

“This terrible situation in the country today has been created by four people: Turai Yar’Adua (the ailing President’s wife), his Chief Security Officer (CSO) (Yusuf Mohammed Tilde), his Aide-de-Camp (ADC)(Col. Mustapha Onoyiveta) and Professor Tanimu Yakubu (Yar’Adua’s Chief Economic Advisor).”

However, the Presidency, in response to the publication, said the website’s accounts of the discussion was ‘a souped up version,’ aimed at portraying the President in a bad light.

In a statement titled, ‘On Wikileaks and all that,’ the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Communication, Mr. Ima Niboro, said Jonathan, with all his experience in public office before becoming vice-president to the late Yar’Adua, could not have told Sanders that he lacked political and leadership experience.

The statement reads, “WikiLeaks is the new travesty that international diplomacy has to deal with. Nigeria is no exception. The point to be made is that the accounts of meetings between President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and US diplomats are essentially third party narratives, and are largely inaccurate.

“The President, in those tempestuous days during which the nation tottered on the brink, held meetings, and then more meetings, with different groups, the diplomatic community inclusive. The President met with different diplomats and special envoys, who offered different suggestions on a way out of the impasse that our late leader’s health had imposed on the nation.

“We note that this account is largely silent on these suggestions. Instead, what is served up is an unfair account severely impacted by selective perception and individual expectations. For instance, how can it be said that a man who had been a Deputy Governor, an Acting Governor, a Governor, a Vice-President, and then Acting President could have described himself as lacking in administrative experience?”

“That the President holds a Ph.D, was a lecturer for 10 years and was an Assistant Director in the defunct Oil Mineral Producing Areas Development Commission do not make the statement less rankling. This only goes to show that the report itself is a souped up version of the standard conversation that takes place in such meetings.

“We find this account as wholly unfortunate and we are only employing the best of diplomatic finesse in that statement!

Christ Embassy Sued

2010-12-09T08:00:00.000Z

An Abuja High Court on Wednesday ordered Christ Embassy Church to pay N1 million to Ivory Properties, Managers of Coscharies Plaza, as damages.

Presiding Justice, Mohammed Dodo, gave the order after finding the Church liable by bridge of contract. “This court is awarding the sum of N1 million as damages, N2,167,187.50 being arrears of rent owed the plaintiff, N350,000 being cost of renovation carried out by the plaintiff after the defendant had vacated the property and N200,000 for cost of action,’’ Dodo said. The plaintiff (Ivory properties) had stated that it granted for one year a portion of the first floor Office of Cosharies plaza, Wing B, from October 1,

2005 to September 30, 2006 to the defendant (Christ Embassy) to be used as Church. “Christ Embassy stayed three months after the expiration of its tenancy without paying in full” adding that the rent to be paid by the defendant from Oct. 1, 2007 to Sept. 30,

2008 was N3,318,750, but they made part payment of N1.5 million only in July 2008. The counsel to the plaintiff Seun Olekeogun said “the defendant’s failure to pay its rent in whole sum and being in arrears is a breach of contract, thereby entitling the plaintiff to a claim of damages.” The defendant never appeared in court to defend the claims and so lost opportunity for cross-examination of witnesses.

Smart Nigerians

2010-12-09T07:56:00.000Z

An undisclosed number of the Direct Data Capture machines ordered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have been stolen from the cargo section of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

The remaining machines, some of which carry the tags of the Saudi Airlines Cargo with airway bill number 06584662572, were sighted at the National Aviation Handling Company premises yesterday. The contractor was identified as Zinox Nigeria Limited.

At the scene, Custom officials and staff of the Federal Aviation Authority of Nigeria were seen monitoring the movement of the remaining machines to the tarmac. When asked why, one of the officials who was in mufti and refused to identify himself replied, “we are asked to return them or what do you want to know?” The missing machines had led the authority to stop further clearing of other consignments.

According to clearing agents at the scene, officials of the State Security Services came to the place early in the morning to arrest the Customs Officer in charge of operation who was simply identified as W. Waziri and some other officials who were on night duty when the machines arrived the country.

Porous security

“It is not a new thing, but this must be from above,” one airport official said, adding, “Who needs such things (DDC machines) if not the politicians? So many things use to go missing here and I cannot blame anybody for that. The equipment to offload them from the aircraft are not many. So due to that, they sometimes allow the clearing agents and some individuals to go into the place, especially that place from the tarmac (pointing at the gate that linked a warehouse called Shed 4 to the tarmac) to find their goods.”

According to an official of one of the companies involved in the importation of the data capturing machines, the theft is not such a shock. He said, ”that is Nigeria for you. It is not only DDC. I heard they stole some PHCN equipment also.”

He blamed the lax security in the airport and the cargo section for the theft, observing that many people who had no business entering the place are allowed to loiter there aimlessly.

However, he said as far as the company is concerned, the consignments are still with the Customs and clearing agencies and have not been handed over to the company, “they are still at the airport. I learnt it was at the clearing point in the airport that they learnt that some equipment have been tampered with inside the shed of FAAN.’’

In a telephone interview, Kayode Idowu, the spokesman to the chairman of the Independent Electoral Commission described the news that some of the data machines have disappeared as “a bizarre piece of fiction.”

According to him, “I think somebody is playing games with fiction. Only a while ago, somebody called me to say some ballot boxes have been stolen and now this. The truth of the matter is that it is a bizarre piece of fiction. It is not true.”

Silence rules

The State Security Service whose officials were said to have come from Abuja to make some arrests refused to talk. Marilyn Ogar its spokesperson did not respond to both calls and text messages sent to her. She later told the reporter to call her this morning as she was busy in a meeting.

An e-mail to Jamil S. Zamzami, the spokesperson of the airline that brought in the cargo also went unanswered. However, airport officials who spoke to NEXT on condition of anonymity said there was no doubt that the disappearance occurred on Nigeria soil.

Although other sources said the missing items were ballot boxes, Mr Idowu described this as untrue. He said, “How could ballot boxes have been stolen? The contracts were just awarded just last week. How can it be that they are in the country already? You need to ask questions.”

Expensive equipment

Firms contracted for the manufacturing and supply of the DDC Machines include Zinox Technologies Ltd. which is to supply 80,000 units at $1, 771. 73 per unit; Messrs Haier Electrical Appliances Corp Ltd, which is to supply 30,000 units at $1, 699. 60 per unit; and Avante International Technology Inc., expected to supply 22,000 units at $1, 699. 60 per unit.

The total unit costs of the 132 units stand at about $230m, inclusive of all taxes and charges.

Already, the commission had embarked on the training of its staff that would in turn train the ad-hoc staff to be engaged for the exercise, which will be mainly Youth corps members.

The contract for the supply of about 150,000 pieces of the collapsible ballot boxes for the sum of N1.95 billion has been associated with controversies since it was awarded by Mr. Jega.

Just last week a law suit brought against INEC, the Federal Government of Nigeria and four others by Beddings Holdings Limited, was thrown out by an Abuja High Court. The plaintiff claimed he has the patent for the collapsible boxes, and has filed a new action asking that he be paid 50% of the total sum of the contracts.

SHELL IN NIGERIA

2010-12-09T07:54:00.000Z

Online whistleblower, WikiLeaks, has revealed that multinational oil giant, Shell, has inserted staff into all the main ministries of the Nigerian government, giving it access to politicians’ moves in the Niger Delta, the Guardian of London reports.

Ann Pickard, then Shell’s vice-president for sub-Saharan Africa, told US diplomats that Shell had seconded employees to every relevant department and so knew “everything that was being done in those ministries.”

The leaked US diplomatic cable said the unnamed executive boasted that the Nigerian government had ‘forgotten’ about the extent of Shell’s infiltration and were unaware of how much the company knew about its deliberations,

The cache of secret dispatches from Washington’s embassies in Africa also revealed that the oil firm swapped intelligence with the US. In one case, it provided US diplomats with the names of Nigerian politicians it suspected of supporting militant activity and requested information from the US on whether the militants had acquired anti-aircraft missiles.

Cables from Nigeria show how Pickard sought to share intelligence with the US government on militant activity and business competition in the Niger Delta – and how, with some prescience, she seemed reluctant to open up because of a suspicion the US government was ‘leaky’.

According to the report, “But that did not prevent Pickard disclosing the company’s reach into the Nigerian government when she met US ambassador Robin Renee Sanders, as recorded in a confidential memo from the US embassy in Abuja on 20 October 2009.

“At the meeting, Pickard related how the company had obtained a letter showing that the Nigerian government had invited bids for oil concessions from China. She said the minister of state for petroleum resources, Odein Ajumogobia, had denied the letter had been sent but Shell knew similar correspondence had taken place with China and Russia.

“The ambassador reported, “She said the GON (government of Nigeria) had forgotten that Shell had seconded people to all the relevant ministries and that Shell consequently had access to everything that was being done in those ministries.”

According to the paper, a spokesman of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Dr. Levi Ajuonoma, denied the report.

He said, “Shell does not control the government of Nigeria and has never controlled the government of Nigeria. This cable is the mere interpretation of one individual. It is absolutely untrue, absolute falsehood and utterly misleading.

“It is an attempt to demean the government and we will not stand for that. I don‘t think anybody will lose sleep over it.”

Pickard also said Shell had learned from the British government details of Russian energy company Gazprom’s ambitions to enter the Nigerian market.

The report adds, “Pickard alleged that a conversation with a Nigerian government minister had been secretly recorded by the Russians. Shortly after the meeting in the minister‘s office she received a verbatim transcript of the meeting “from Russia,” according to the memo.

“The cable concludes with the observation that the oil executive had tended to be guarded in discussion with US officials. ‘Pickard has repeatedly told us she does not like to talk to USG (US government) officials because the USG is ‘leaky‘. She may be concerned that ... bad news about Shell‘s Nigerian operations will leak out.”

2010-08-29T12:40:00.001+01:00

2010-08-29T11:59:00.000+01:00

Governors fooling themselves

2010-08-26T12:47:00.001+01:00

By Jide Ajani, Dayo Benson & Henry Umoru
CALABAR—CROSS River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke, said yesterday, that all the 28 governors of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, were behind the President and would carry on with their support if he decides to contest next year’s presidential polls.

This came just as President Goodluck Jonathan is expected to meet state governors in Lagos today in continuation of his consultations on his political future.

Meantime, the PDP Governors’ meeting for the purpose of picking a consensus presidential candidate for next year’s elections ended in a deadlock, yesterday, as the governors were split over the choice of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Speaking in Calabar yesterday when he granted audience to a select group of journalists, Imoke said it had become imperative for the governors to back Jonathan because as the leader of the country, he needs all the support he could get to succeed.

He said that as Chairman of the South South Governors Forum, he owed the region a duty to project Jonathan to the country and work for his success at all times.

He said though the PDP has agreed to retain the zoning formula, the party had also agreed to allow Jonathan to contest, adding that they would do everything possible to support the President.

Imoke said the support of the governors was very crucial if the country’s democracy was to make a headway, stressing that it was wrong for Nigerians to assume that the governors had become too powerful now.

He said the alleged influence of the governors played a stabilising factor for the country during the illness of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and the subsequent emergence of Jonathan as acting president in February this year.

Imoke said: “Our influence did not start today. It was not by accident. If you look at what happened in 2003 and 2007, the governors were very visible in political activities of the country. In fact in 2007, governors emerged both as the President and Vice President. So if you consider the crucial role we play in the sustenance of this democracy, you won’t say we are too powerful.”

On whether the President should sign the amended constitution before it becomes operational, Imoke urged Nigerians to savour the joy of achieving a huge feat by the amendment process, saying the country should not dissipate energy on technicalities which might later overcome the success recorded.

PDP govs split over Jonathan

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Governors’ meeting for the purpose of picking a consensus presidential candidate for next year’s elections ended in a deadlock, yesterday, as the governors were split over the choice of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Vanguard gathered that the meeting, which lasted more than four hours, became very stormy between those in support of Jonathan, who were in the majority, and those who were opposed to him

The meeting which was held at the Kwara State Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro, was billed to commence at 8.00 pm, but did not start until 9.00 p.m, Tuesday night and ended 1.15 a.m, yesterday, with the Chairman, Governors’ Forum and the Kwara State Governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki, presiding.

It was gathered that the governors had earlier discussed with President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday, and that the President informed them that he would be seeking the party’s nomination.

Thereafter, the governors returned to the Asokoro meeting to take a position.

Vanguard learnt that while the governors were meeting, the National Chairman of PDP, Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo, also held an all night meeting with the 36 states’ chairmen and that of the Federal Capital Territory.

It was understood that the meeting was designed by the chairman to reach out to all stakeholders ahead of the elections, especially before the leadership of the party issued guidelines for the primaries.

A source told Vanguard that the meeting which ended at 1.00 a..m, yesterday, was part of the chairman’s consultative meetings with the leaders on how to arrive at decisions that would be favourable to all members of the party across the country. The meeting took place at the National Secretariat of the Party, Wadata Plaza.

Vanguard gathered that at the PDP governors’ meeting, all the South South governors spoke in favour of President Goodluck Jonathan contesting, just as the Southwest governors also spoke solidly in favour of Jonathan contesting the 2011 presidential election.

The source said the President faced very strong opposition from the Northern governors, where the ten governors that had earlier insisted that zoning should be retained, maintained their position at the meeting. It was gathered that as the meeting progressed, it got to a point that the PDP governors asked their Chairman, Dr. Bukola Saraki, to tell them whether he had an interest in contesting to become the presidential candidate of the party.

The source said that when Saraki failed to give the governors an answer on whether he was contesting for the Presidency, he was then asked to state his position because of his opposition to the presidential aspiration of President Jonathan.

Governors in support of Jonathan

Those who championed the presidency of Jonathan in 2011 at the meeting were Governors Jonah Jang of Plateau, and Gabriel Suswam of Benue State.

Opposing governors

Those who were opposed to Jonathan’s presidential aspiration were Governors of Kebbi, Zamfara, Bauchi and Katsina states. It was gathered at the meeting that these governors were at the forefront of those opposing the presidential aspiration of Jonathan, even as the source said: “This is understandable, because they were the same group that insisted on zoning when we met to take a position on the same matter in Kaduna last month.”

At the end of the meeting, the governors left, just as the governors of Rivers, Kwara, Bauchi and Delta began another meeting which lasted for thirty minutes. At the end of the meeting, the Delta State governor left at 1.15 a.m, while his Bauchi State counterpart came out at 1.45am.

Chairman of the Governors’ Forum and Kwara State governor, Dr. Bukola Saraki, who left the venue of the meeting at about 2.00 a.m, refused to speak to the waiting journalists.

It was gathered that the governors’ inability to arrive at a compromise following a very strong division among them, made it impossible for the governors to issue a communiqué on the meeting.

Governors that attended the meeting

Present at the meeting were governors of Akwa Ibom, Godswill Akpabio; Isa Yuguda of Bauchi; Timipre Sylva of Bayelsa; Gabriel Suswam of Delta; Liyel Imoke of Cross River; Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta; and Martin Elechi of Ebonyi. The others were Segun Oni of Ekiti; Sullivan Chime of Enugu; Ikedi Ohakim of Imo; Sule Lamido of Jigawa; Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa of Kaduna and Ibrahim Shema of Katsina.

Abacha "go to hell"

2010-08-25T22:50:00.000+01:00

The Correspondents' Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Kano State chapter, on Wednesday rejected a consignment of rice allocated to it by Mohammed Abacha's Campaign Organisation.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Abacha is believed to be one of the four applicants for the Governorship of Kano state on the platform of the Peoples' Democratic Party.

The journalists returned the five bags given by Ibrahim Ado Gwagwarwa, director of publicity of the organisation and thanked him, after a decision which its members unanimously agreed to.

In his response, Mr Gwagwarwa, a former director of press to former Kano State governor, Rabi'u Kwankwaso, expressed dismay at the reporters' action, saying it showed their ‘lack of appreciation' towards the gesture.

He explained that the gift was of his own volition, as the chapel was not one of those listed as beneficiaries.

Meanwhile, each of the 50-kg bags of the rice carried the PDP logo and the following phrases: ‘Ramadan Kareem', ‘Compliments of Alhaji Mohammed Abacha'.

The other candidates jostling for the party's flag are: House of Representatives member, Faruk Lawan, Sen.Mohammed Bello, and former military administrator of Niger and Plateau states, Habibu Shu'aibu.

Back

First lady scolds Rivers State Governor

2010-08-25T22:42:00.001+01:00

In the Nigeria constitution, there is no place for the first ladies of the federation neither is there no place for their counterparts in the state as there are none for the first men. THE First Lady’s two-day visit to Rivers State ended in a fiasco Tuesday.

All was well, until Dame Patience Jonathan and her chief host, Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi got to Okrika – the First Lady’s home town.

The governor was explaining by video his school project in Okrika, saying there must be demolition of some buildings to have space for the schools.

Mrs Jonathan cut in, grabbed the microphone and said the governor should reconsider the way he was going about the demolition.

An attempt by Amaechi to explain the situation sent the First Lady boiling.

She shouted at Amaechi: "Listen!, you must listen to me!"

The governor was embarrassed, like a scolded school pupil. The audience hailed Mrs Jonathan, goading the First Lady on.

The President’s wife, however, described land as a serious issue in Okrika and told Amaechi to always avoid "must" when talking about waterfronts’ demolition.

The governor never mentioned "waterfronts", but Mrs. Jonathan went on: "I want you to get me clear. I am from here (Okrika). I know the problems of my people. So, I know what I am talking. I do not want us to go into crises. We are preaching peace and we must maintain peace at any time.

"But what I am telling you is that you always say you must demolish. That word ‘must, you use is not good. It is by pleading. You appeal to the owners of the compound, because they will not go into exile. Land is a serious issue."

Downcast, Amaechi shunned a reception organised for the First Lady. The reception was, however, not on the programme.

Mrs Jonathan hurriedly left for Abuja. Her planned visit to Port Harcourt prisons, where the Chief Judge, Justice Iche Ndu, was expected to release some prisoners, was cancelled. So was her visit to the new Model Secondary School at Ebubu-Eleme, among others.

A civic reception in honour of the President’s wife was held at the Sharks Stadium, Port Harcourt on Monday. Her pet programme, Women for Change Initiative (WFCI), was launched.

This was followed by a state banquet/Award Night at the Government House, Port Harcourt, where the former Miss World, Agbani Darego, who hails from the state, and some women were honoured for their outstanding contributions to society.

communication

2009-10-20T15:21:00.002+01:00

communication is indeed a powerful need. While it is a key to solving all problems, it is often the symptoms not the problem. However since the average individual loves rumours, effective communication is then very important.

In the publication, it is imperative that the organisation should establish effective communication as it is the solution to almost every organisational problem.
Interetingly, there is a poser for every organisation that handles the issue of communications with levity. "can I think of any problem at work or in my life that was not solved on some level by communication?" Think about it. It is again stressed that poor communications is often a symptom of ineffective management and other organisatgional problems, while it is not the problem itself. However, improving communications should definitely be part of the solution.

The fact that communication is also essential to the organisation underlines its importance for it is an extremely powerful force that cannot be stopped. Information would be communicated in the organisation by one means or the other. To put it staraight, if the management creates a void with regards to communication, the employees would fill it. In the end without effective communication and feedback, the organisation would be left with nothing but speculations. Hence this is why it is so difficult to keep confidential information confidential as doing this disregards this natural force.

EQUITY

2009-10-19T18:33:00.002+01:00

EQUITY is a balancing act and people expect democracy in an organisation. equity has a point of no return as it evokes powerful emtions. Equity is in the hands of the beholder.

AS a natural force for business success, equity is about fairness, either perceived or real. for employers in an organisation,perception is REALITY when it comes to fairness as people are concerned on how fairly they believe they are being treated. This is a highly sensitive fforce in the sense that it can stir up much emotion and influence employee's behaviours and attitudes toward the organisation.

A tinge of democracy is the expected organisational system; basically, employees at all levels are concerned about getting their fair share of the corporate pie. Since equity issues involve administration of policies and practices, employees are concerend whether they are being treated fairly. Moreso, equity has a point of no return in that when there is perceived unfairness in an organisation, the Natural force of Equity begins to take over. As such it manifests itself in labour conflicts or strikes, employee turnover, government intervention, legal action and lawsuits and even outright saabotage of workplace violence.

CHANGE

2009-10-19T18:03:00.002+01:00

This is the second natural force needed for business success. It is a necessity. it is that which can invole a paradigm shift. For without change there would be no progress; adapting to change is essential for survival; Change is no enemy and it must be anticipated in every organisation. change which is often called the only constant thing in life takes us out of our comfort zones and away from the safe and familiar. It is not only that, change creates a new sometimes strange way of doing things and forces us into a process that we may know nothing about or with which we have very little experience.

In other words, change may invove a paradigm shift. A paradigm as a set of rules and regulations (written or unwritten) that does two things
- establishes or defines boundaries
- tells us how to behave within the boundaries in order to be a success.
While success is measured by the problems you solve using the rules and regulations. Hence a paradigm becomes the lens through which we see the world.

Paradigm shifts are distinct form of change in that they have the potential to alter the natural order of things. It should therefore be anticipated that change is one constant, patient and anticipated Natural force that is constantly eroding the status quo in organisations. You can resist it but you will be fighting a losing battle.

NATURAL FORCES FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS I

2009-10-19T17:31:00.003+01:00

SURVIVAL
This is the most basic need, which has many faces, is unpredictable, and that has emotional costs. Survival is an innate drive in all human beings, and organisations as a whole are not different.
For employees, survival in any suggests steady employment, while for an organisation, it means maintaining operations. Once a fundamental level of survival is ensured, the next level requires feeling that the situation will continue (at least for the immediate future). Again, in the employees eyes survival simply means being able to depend on the organisation to provide jobs and paychecks for as long as they choose to remain with the organisation.
Whereas, on the part of the organisation, survival means being able not only to sustain profitability but also to improve profitability as employees know when the business is bad; they also recognise the reverse situation as well. They know when business is improving and will want their fair share of the business they helped to achieve. In certain organisations, when faced with a threat to survival, certain organisations suddenly turn into cold and cruel career executioneers sending most of their most loyal and hardworking employees into the street. it is a drive to survive that perpetrates a species just as the first stage of survival is security.

HIGHEST PRICED US STOCKS

2009-10-17T15:12:00.002+01:00

I stumbled on this article on http://www.code4gold.com/blog and thought I should also share it here for my readers

With all the talk about Google Inc’s stock pushing upwards of the $600 mark, and no split in sight, there’s been scores of people asking the inevitable question, “Is Google the Highest Priced Stock in the US”? While Google is definitely up there in terms of price (it currently ranks #9 in the US markets) there are several stocks that far exceed Google in price per share. Of course, the eternal sage of investment philosophy, Warren Buffett (pictured at the left) tops the list with Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. but do Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, their CEO Eric Schmidt and CFO George Reyes intend to topple Warren from his post with their technological marvel ? Here’s a roll call of the 10 most costly investments available through the US markets, their exchange, basic details, website address and their current price as of 10/20/2007.
#1 Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK-A) $127,100 @ share - Berkshire Hathaway, Inc. and it’s subsidiaries primarily engage in the insurance and reinsurance of property and casualty risks business.http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/
#2 Mechanics Bank (OTC BB:MCHB.OB) $19,300 @ share - The Mechanics Bank and its subsidiaries provide community banking products and services to individuals and businesses in California.http://www.mechbank.com/
#3 BERKSHIRE HATH HLD B (NYSE:BRK-B) $4324 @ share - A holding company formed by Berkshire Hathaway, whereas Warren Buffett is the major holder of BRK-A, The Gates (Bill and Melinda) Foundation is the major shareholder in BRK-B.http://www.berkshirehathaway.com/
#4 Sunwest Bank (OTC BB:SWBC.OB) $2455 @ share - Sunwest Bank provides various commercial banking products and services to small and medium sized businesses and professionals in southern California.http://www.sunwestbank.com/
#5 First National Bank Alaska (OTC BB:FBAK.OB) $2050 @ share - First National Bank Alaska operates as a commercial bank in Alaska. It engages in generating deposits and originating loans.http://www.fnbalaska.com/
#6 Seaboard Corp. (AMEX:SEB) $1743 @ share - Seaboard Corporation operates in the food processing and ocean transportation industries in the United States and internationally.http://www.seaboardcorp.com/
#7 Washington Post Co. (NYSE:WPO) $790 @ share - The Washington Post Company, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a diversified media and education company in the United States and internationally.http://www.washpostco.com/
#8 First Citizens Bancorp., Inc. (OTC BB:FCBN.OB) $666 @ share - First Citizens Bancorporation, Inc. operates as the holding company for First Citizens Bank and Trust Company, Inc. and The Exchange Bank of South Carolina, Inc., which provides commercial and retail banking services.http://www.fcbsc.com/
#9 Google Inc. (NasdaqGS:GOOG) $644 @ share - Google, Inc. provides targeted advertising and Internet search solutions worldwide. It offers intranet solutions via an enterprise search appliance.http://www.google.com/
#10 CME Group, Inc. (NYSE:CME) $613 @ share - CME Group, Inc. operates as a diverse financial exchange. The company brings together buyers and sellers on the CME Globex electronic trading platform and on its trading floors.http://www.cme.com/

Fifa under 20 final

2009-10-16T22:23:00.000+01:00

Ten-man Ghana won the FIFA U-20 World Cup Egypt 2009 by defeating Brazil in a sudden death penalty shoot-out after the two teams failed to break the deadlock in 120 minutes of football.
The African and South American champions, who had not lost a game during the competition, keep that proud record intact, but at the end of the day, it was the Black Satellites, who followed in the footsteps of Argentina, victors at Canada 2007, in lifting the famous trophy.
Brazil had the better of the early stages and went agonisingly close to taking the lead early on when Giuliano's free-kick was put into the box and Alex Teixeira was inches away from connecting with a header. Giuliano prompted A Seleção once again, playing the ball to Paulo Henrique on the left who crossed for Alan Kardec, but his volley was wide.
Douglas stung the hands of the goalkeeper with a shot from distance, but the major talking point of the first half came in the 37th minute when David Addo was given a straight red card for a foul on Alex Teixeira, after the latter was breaking quickly on the counter attack. While the Belgian believed Addo to be the last man, the Africans protested that both Jonathan Mensah and David Addy had tracked back to cover.
Ghana, who boasted the tournament's most prolific strikeforce in Dominic Adiyiah and Ransford Osei failed to muster a single shot on goal in a stop-start opening 45 minutes, punctuated by no fewer than 17 free-kicks, yet this was not the bruising encounter those statistics may suggest.
Abeiku Quansah had a goalbound shot saved four minutes after the break, but it was a routine stop for Rafael as Brazil did most of the pressing. Alex Teixeira should have done better, but headed wide from Diogo's centre and Alan Kardec had a golden opportunity, but headed straight at Daniel Agyei from Souza's cross.
As the midway point to the second half approached, Ghana had more possession, but still Brazil looked the more dangerous. Rafael Toloi slipped a perfectly-weighted pass for Alan Kardec to latch on to, but he fired wildly into the side netting. The No9 was guilty of missing yet another chance seconds later when he planted a free header from Douglas Costa's cross over the crossbar.
There was no doubt who the 67,814 in the stadium were supporting, as there was a tremendous roar from the home fans whenever their fellow Africans crossed the halfway line and the noise levels increased further when Emmanuel Agyemang-Badu's deflected shot forced Rafael to make a fine, low save to his right.
As the half wore on, the Black Satellites seemed to increasingly get into their rhythm of playing with ten men and their attacking forays became more and more regular, while at the back they defended with tremendous spirit. They earned the right to take the tie into extra time, but there was still drama to come in the latter stages of the 90 when Andre Ayew and Rafael Toloi clashed for the ball, the latter requiring serious treatment.
With Rogerio having made all three of his substitutions, there was a distinct possibility that Brazil would have been forced to play extra time with ten men. Yet despite running with a noticeable limp, the defender continued heroically to maintain the numerical advantage for his team.
The South Americans had a glorious chance to take the lead six minutes into extra time, but Agyei pulled off a world-class save to deny Maicon, who still had his hands cupped to his mouth in disbelief for a full minute afterwards.
Agyei frustrated Wellington Junior in the second period of extra time, with a smart stop at his near post, but with some players having played 11 and a half hours during this competition, the pace of the game decreased - and the game limped into a penalty shoot-out.
That is when the fireworks began. First, Alan Kardec and Ayew and Giuliano and Inkoom traded successful penalties, but Brazil got the first advantage after seeing Douglas Costa score and Jonathan Mensah miss. Souza then had his penalty saved, but Bright Addae failed to reduce the deficit when his strike from 12 yards was comfortably claimed by Rafael.
That left Maicon with the chance of winning it for Brazil, but he blasted the chance high over the bar. Adiyiah kept his cool to take the shoot-out into sudden death. Then Agyei denied Alex Teixeira before Agyemang-Badu made the victory certain with the decisive spot-kick.

US HOUSE PASSES FOI AMENDMENT TO HIDE ABUSE PHOTOS

2009-10-16T22:05:00.003+01:00

It is heart breaking that a country like The United States of America which professes to be the longest standing democratic state and also preaches the freedom of the press would pass a vote to sanction the hiding of photographs of abused detainees. This portends a very bad trend aspecially for developing countries like Nigeria. Nigeria would take a cue from US and may not pass the freedo of Information Bill.
It is deeply dissappointing that a government that derives its powers from the people and its entire existence( finances) from the citizenry would then want to hide its subversive flaws from its source of existence.

Money laundering in Nigeria

2009-10-15T13:08:00.002+01:00

Michael Kaase AONDOAKAA is soiling his hand in history as the most inefficent, stupid and tracherous justice minister in the history of the nigerian political system. Even with sufficient proves, he seems to be shorthanded in prosecuting highly placed corrupt officials. I wonder what gives him impetus to remain as justice minister. The National assembly has also failed because, I guess he is enough reason to initiate impeachment processes against lame dog Umaru Musa Yaradua. The dog that is living on part time with rabies.

Above you find money stolen by Aandokaa's friend James Ibori. Mr. Aandokaa in order to get the Metropolitan police to drop the case, had to travel to London to remind the british government of a treaty which has hitherto not been functional without recourse to the office of the Foreign minister. I wonder where this treaties lie when Nigerians in malaysia, Indonesia, China are being put on death row. I believe what is best for this foolish man is for him to be stoned to death. Imagine the quantum money stolen by James Ibori, you could even lay the foundation of a house with it as building material.

The attorney General should be cut from limb to limb

get more twitter followers

2009-10-02T18:34:00.001+01:00

RT: Great new credit system for getting followers on twitter #FastFlw . They also pay you for referrals. It just doesn't get any better. Click to check it out

The price Nigerians Pay for being patient

2009-09-29T21:19:00.003+01:00

When the tyrant General Sani Abacha died, no body not even of his supreme ruling council lifted an eye brow talk less of calling for the investigation into circumstances surrounding his death. Before him, there were many uninvestigated deaths and after him there have been more. The most recent of a state sponsored killing is that of the Boko Haram. The government labelled them militants and anti western culture. Simple civil law states that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, so what led to the assasination of the leader of the Boko Haram group, his family members, his mother and most especially his innocent children. I think if Yaradua wants to die, he shouldn't be going to his grave with human heads. I think this image calls for the immediate resignation of the President. Check out the interview just before he was assassinated on sahara reporters

Evaluating your investment

2009-09-04T16:27:00.002+01:00

There are many investment strategies that can be used in the capital market but there are certain characteristics to look for in any plan. Before developing a strategy for investing, you must have a set of critreria for judging if it is a good plan or not. The following nine criteria can be used to judge if it is a good plan or not.
　
Let gains run their course but cuts losses
This is a necessary element for any god plan of investing, especially the part of letting gains run their to their full potential. as well as a portfolio is well diversified, you can make the mistake of holding on to your losers, but you should not make the mistake of prematurely cashing on your winners. since we expect our gains over long periods to exceed 100% of our initial investment, the amount of damage that could be done for cutting our winning stocks far surpasses the damage we can get for failing to cut our losses.
A lot has been said on when to cut losses. some analysts believe losses should be cut at 10% while others feel 5% is preferable. But these two positions are rather too short and does not allow a good stock enough room for normal day to day fluctuation. Also at 5-10%, it is easy to get bumped out of a sock only to have it recover and begin soaring again without you being on board.

Aim never to lose more than 5% of your total portfolio on a single stock position
If you aim not to lose more than 5% of your cash on any one position, it will take a long string of uniterrupted losses in order to seriously deplete your portfolio capital. There is nothing magical about the number 5 but the point is that you should greatly minimise your losses so that it does not affect your portfolio. Even in bears, it is improbable that all of your positions would drop to your sell point.

Gradual entry into major positions as long as the positions remain profitable
it is inevitable that any system which attempts to let gains run will eventually build some large positions in a few stocks as the stocks grow in value. this is a good way to develop a large position. Also it is OK to build a position by adding to the position as it advances in value. In fact most professional add to their stock holding as the price moves in their favour.In this way, they maximise the the potential reward for holding a particular stock or basket of stocks. However, some approach makes an investor to plunge a large amount of his capital into and out of the market all at one time. this type of approach must be avoided at all cost. it is risky to enter into any market all at once because it maximises your ability to lose a lot of money in a hurry. One poor timing decision can result in a loss of a large percentage of your capital and those depletion of your capital really hurts your portfolio.

Minimal chance of a large loss from any one position
This is an adjunct to #2, as the gradual entry into a position is a means for minimising the chance of loss from a single bad decision. Again it cannot be over emphasised that massive loss of capital should be avoided at all cost. ideally, no stock should form more than 25% of your total portfolio value.
Clear, predetermmined criteria for initiating, adding to, or liquidating a position
In the heat of battle when you are dealing with your hard earned money, the instruction from your system must be as clear as crystal. if not you'll find yourself making judgement calls that relieve short-termstress, and yet are poor long term decisions.Precise and unambiguous signals and marching orders are the best way to head off the the effects of euphoria and fear. You may still feel these emotions but as long as your system is sound and you adhere to it fastiduously, everything would turn out well. Set exit and entry positions early in the game
Sell a stock once it begins to underperform
While we want to make sure we have a means of riding a stock's trend for as long as it can go, when it becomes clear that the trend is beginning to profoundly weaken or even reverse, we need to have a system which allows for selling the stoclk we can redeploy capital to greener pastures
　
Maximum Naira invested in biggest winners
If a strategy allowsus to build a large position in an issue that is lagging or even losing money for us, there is nothing seriously wrong with that strategy. A successful strategy has to ensure that ourbiggest investments are in our best stoccks not in the worst. Restructure your portfolio as often as the market allows especially during bull markets

Minimum naira invested in losers/ underperformers
This is the converse of#7. it is interesting to note that the only way you can accomplish having too much invested in a lose is to either plunge into it all at once and fail to cut your losses or add to a losing position once it is established as a loser

Not time consuming to maintain
This is important because tim is your most valuable asset after your mind and probably is short supply as well
　

Patience as a virtue in investing

2009-09-01T12:43:00.001+01:00

Most successful market beating investing strategies tell you to buy the right company, pay the right price and wait for the market to realise your foresight.
These strategies in themselves are great- take for instance the first that says you should buy the right companies- Isn't this the obective of every investor. the second also advises that you pay the right price- how do you establish the right price?
With the third, there is a little problem while you are waiting, it is your maoney that is at risk in the period.

From the time you make your purchase to the time your investments workout; the market would have its own ideas as to how much your companies are worth. Obviously, there would be times it doesn't agree with you.

It has been said that patience is a virtue in investing. However when you are looking at a sharp drop in price so after buying a stock, it is tough to be patient without having irregular heartbeats. Fortunately, there is a way of reducing all the anxiety by insisting on being paid while you wait. this is by buying companies that pay their owners well via dividends and look most likely to continue.This way even if it takes a while for the market to catch up with your thinking, atleast you are getting some cash for your efforts. However, there is a caveat here, to beat the market over the long haul, those businesses must be backed up with solid businesses and staying power. if a company has an attractive yield but a weak business, the dividends would surely cease. Therefore, the business must pay attention to the business behind the stockin order to be in a position to know when the dividend is at a risk.
In spite of this, patience is needed throughout the cycle of any investment ie at the entry(buying), holding and sale(exit). Lets now consider the role of patience in these scenarios.

Waiting for Entry
The investment process usually starts with determining an acceptable entry position for an identified stock. With this in mind, you are expected to wait for the price to reach your target entry point. Unfortunately, rather than moving towards the price, the stock hovers far above your stated position. This ordinarily pushes you to panic. and buy at a price higher than what your strategy dictates. Having done your homework and developed a plan,emotions can undermine your capacity to achieve your long term goals, hence the need to focus on the long term objective. It has been proven that impatient investors who violate their disciplined plan usually ended down the path of ruination.
Following a predetrmined strategy keeps the emotional side of investing at bay. Waiting for the right entry point is the essential characteristic of every successful investor.

Searching for winning positions
Patience in investing is similar to that experienced on the high seas while fishing. There are many fish in the sea and it is not essential to catch every fish that comes your net's way.It is important to note that there are many investment oppurtunities in the market, so the difficulty is not so much in finding oppurtunities but in making sure they fit into your sset plan.
The fact is that catching those few that meet your criteria is the mostimportant objective. It is vital that you concern yourself with good entry points while making sure that you have defined exit points. Having done this, even if the stock deviates from your set plan and you are sure for the underlying reasons for buying, dont panic, BE
PATIENT.

Though on the contrary, there are times that inspite of your faithfulness and patience, the price of your stock barely moves. With this it is important to re-examine your analysis of the stock. In many cases, this may be as a result of the market's interest in other sectors at the time being and this also buttresses the need for patience.

By and large, most of investing is psychological; therefore exhibiting patience at entry points and having patience

while an investment position develops are integral parts to successful investing. Moreso, investing in stocks with

good and consistent dividend pay-out history and being rewarded with numerous dividend while you wait is a plus in

this wise. Therefore, the key to success is to find the right company at the right price. in this case, the right

companies are those that have a strong underlying business; have a history of paying their owners well; and trade

at a decent price when compared to their underlying worth.

Debt recovery solutions

2009-08-31T17:25:00.001+01:00

Debt recovery is the collection of overdue debts. Whther a person owes money or is expecting payment, several key points can ensure the best experience possible. Understandingboth sides of the proverbial coin creates a stronger knowledge base in either instance. Debt recovery solutions may include learning how to write a better contract for business, but more importantly, it helps the client understand the position the business owner is stuck in. Compassion instigates creativity in matters of how money is spent. If a case describing the human-like characteristics a business owner has is conceptualised, then more often than not the money appears.
　
On the other hand, when a person cannot come up with the money required to pay a bill and serviceshave been rendered in full, honesty is the best route. financial hardships occur out of nowhere and honesty brings out the most compassionate trait even in the most serious of businessmen. However, honesty has to come from a decent understanding of personal finance. Debtors have to open their financial lives up to the people they owe money to.
debt recovery system can mean consolidation, elimination, building credit or negotiation. Understanding all these concepts enables the consumers to make the right situational decision concerning debt recovery solutions.
Consolidation of debts means paying off all the debts with a loan and making one simple payment each month. This makes the process less overwhelming,difficult and helps build credit at the same time. Sometimes, the same debt recovery services that offer consolidation also offer elimination and / or negotiation services. though this sounds tempting to simply get rid of debts, it is however not ethical nor good for credit rating. In some cases the action is worse than not paying at all. this will all depend on the credit and the attitude of the creditor at the time of the application. Although the results can be unpredictable, the best thing to do is to work hard for the best credit history as possible.
　
In regards to companies trying to collect money owed them, remember that unexpected circumstances happen even to the most well laid plans. that being said, it is not unreasonable to expect payment according to a contract. spending time with a client before starting a project in order to determine how trustworthy their word is. If any doubt remains, then clever ways to alter a contract may be required to better ensure payment when desired. likewise, not pressuring someone into more than they contracted for increases the chances of getting paid. Wanting more than a person can afford is normal but if this decision determines whether a bill collector gets paid at all, then consider the most realistic approach.

HOW TO AVOID PROBLEMS CHEAPLY
First check out
It is ridiculous for anyone smart enough to be in business not to make routine credit checks. There is no point chasing a debtor with summons when there is nothing there. You'll get plenty of legal actions but you'll pay for them all by yourself and the debtor would not be touched.

Then get it in writing
the more you get in writing, the stronger your hand would be if the debtor goes badly and if you decide to go to court, your case would be tight( yo'll not need to because the debtor realises that his position is too weak.

Have a credit management system
how much documentation you use and what sort depnds on the size of your business, how much bad experience you,ve had with debtors, how much you know about credit management, how tolerant your customers are about signing papers. and a host of other things. one very important thing is to have a right credit management system. whether or not you like it, if your credit management is wrong, it'll come back to thump you. if you get it right, you'll get your money almost every time.
There are various ways of getting your clients to pay up on time. however despite your best efforts, you may find that some still end up paying late. if this happens, you should get in contact with them to resolve the issue and review your procedures to reduce the possibility of customers paying late again in future. note that you have right to charge interest and/ or debt recovery costs for late payment. you can exercise these right at your discretion.
You can take a non court action in debt recovery which may involve a collecting agency, solicitor, or an accountant. A court action may be your last resort. keep an eye on cash flow to allow you avoid insolvency and do not allow debts to exceed assets

Paris and Berlin out of recession

2009-08-15T00:51:00.002+01:00

Fresh signs of a nascent economic recovery came from hard-hit Europe on Thursday, with Germany and France unexpectedly becoming the first major industrialized nations to officially pull out of the global recession. Though their recoveries were modest by virtually any standard and may yet stall in the months ahead, the surprising bounce back to growth in Europe's largest economies comes on the heels of steadily rising economic optimism across the globe.
Analysts are pointing to improving indicators in the United States, China and even Japan, the world's second-largest economy, which some observers predict is set to announce its own return to growth in the coming days. Though a host of other European economies -- including Britain, Italy and Spain -- are still mired in one of the worst recessions in generations, contractions are moderating even in many of those nations, an indication that they too may be close to rebounding. It underscores, analysts say, how ramped-up government stimulus spending around the globe appears to be having at least some of its desired effects.
A significant rebound in the global economy could both help and hurt the United States. Growth abroad could fuel an eagerly anticipated uptick in U.S. exports, boosting the manufacturing sector and potentially channeling more investment into U.S. soil. Yet too quick an increase in global demand could spark a painful price spike for commodities such as oil, driving up inflation before the United States and other nations have fully emerged from recession.
In the United States, the Federal Reserve this week signaled that it sees the American recession easing. The central bank said that it will begin pulling back from two years of unprecedented intervention in the economy this October. Even countries that were spiraling downward only a few months ago, such as South Korea, appear to be on more stable ground. The International Monetary Fund this week predicted that the South Korean recession, while severe, may not be as deep this year as originally thought.
The turnaround in Germany and France drove up major stock indexes from Seoul to Paris to Moscow on Thursday, while the euro gained more ground against the dollar. The Dow Jones closed up 36.58 points, to 9398.19. "We don't know whether these numbers are going to hold out in the long run, but they do seem to indicate that we're reaching a bottom a lot sooner than we thought," said Raj Badiani, senior economist for IHS Global Insight in London. "It looks like the worst might be over."
Yet analysts including Badiani caution that it is still far too early, and that the indicators remain too weak, to declare the global recession dead. Recent gains, particularly in Europe, mask the still-ample threat of more pain ahead.
In Germany, economic activity jumped 0.3 percent from April to June compared with the previous three months after a 3.5 percent quarterly contraction in the beginning of the year. Though detailed economic data have yet to be released, the rebound in the second quarter there, analysts said, came partly from consumer spending related to government-sponsored programs, such as a cash for clunkers plan, that are set to expire soon.
In addition, the German government so far has cushioned job losses through state-sponsored corporate incentives that are also due to run out, leading many analysts to predict a further surge in the unemployment rate there in months ahead.
France also reported growth of 0.3 percent in the quarter.
Economists also do not discount a fresh wave of bank rescues in Europe, where financial officials are still under pressure to do more to force the cleanup of balance sheets at ailing institutions. Recent signs of recovery will also be tested if, as many observers predict, unemployment rates across Europe continue to edge higher.
With many analysts also predicting a "jobless recovery" in the United States, such as the one following the 2001 recession, a projected global turnaround later this year may be more visible in statistical calculations than in consumer pocketbooks around the world.
Though Germany and France may have exited their yearlong recessions, Europe as a whole is still struggling. Economic activity across the 16 member nations that use the euro fell by 0.1 percent in the second quarter, the European statistical office reported Thursday. The drop was less than predicted by most economists, but it signals that the deep recession that started in Europe in the first half of 2008 continues. Just Wednesday, the European statistical office also reported that June industrial production fell 0.6 percent from a month earlier while the unemployment rate climbed to a 10-year high of 9.4 percent.
Yet optimists were taking heart on signs that Germany and France -- now statistically ahead of the United States in the race toward recovery -- were aided in the quarter from April to June by recovering global demand for everything from German-made power plants to French cheese. In both nations, exports, which had fallen off a cliff in recent months, either ceased their precipitous fall or edged upward.
Those are among the strongest signs yet, analysts say, that robust growth in China and a budding recovery in the United States may finally be pumping life back into world trade, which suffered its worst declines since World War II recently.
"They are good signs, but not yet conclusive," said Janet Henry, chief European economist for HSBC in London. "We still have to wait and see."

The Nigerian stock exchange

2009-05-28T23:03:00.002+01:00

I have realised with dismay the frustration one has to get before one gets information about activities on the floor of the stock exchange. I recently visited the site of the NSE and realised that to get information about daily trades, I must be a subscriber with a minimum annual fee of N15000. I then decidedd to visit the NASDAQ and amazingly, I didn't see any login nor subscription link.
I don't know when this corruption would stop

Detroit exhibition

2009-01-12T08:23:00.000Z

Detroit carmakers were trying to impress at a recent expo.
DETROIT – We're different, and our new stuff is really good. In a nutshell, that's what General Motors, Ford and Chrysler tried to tell consumers — and taxpayers — Sunday as they rolled out an array of new vehicles at the North American International Auto Show.
They told their stories in different ways, with Chrysler LLC making its senior executives available to assure people that it remains a viable company. General Motors Corp. held a pep rally with hundreds of cheering employees and supporters who watched a parade of 17 new and upcoming vehicles. Ford Motor Co. emphasized its plans for electric vehicles, joining the list of automakers that have promised one next year.
The fanfare, on opening day of the Detroit show's press preview, comes after a year of dismal sales that forced GM and Chrysler to get $17.4 billion in federal loans to stay alive. Ford doesn't need money now but says it might in 2010 if U.S. sales don't improve.
But industry analysts say the automakers could still be in trouble this year if U.S. auto sales don't recover. Several are predicting annual sales of around 10.5 million — almost 6 million below 2007 levels — as consumers delay major purchases due to economic uncertainty. In the third quarter of last year, GM and Ford each spent more than $1 billion per month above their income.
On Sunday, the U.S.-based automakers touted new products with a focus on fuel efficiency that they say will help return them to financial health and ensure that their cars and trucks will roll off assembly lines for years to come.
GM said it would build a 40-mile-per-gallon minicar for the U.S. market, and it unveiled an electric-powered Cadillac concept car.
Ford announced plans to put a battery-powered commercial van on the market in 2010, with an electric car coming a year later, followed by plug-in versions of its gas-electric hybrid vehicles in 2012.
Chrysler showed off a sleek new midsize electric concept car called the 200C, and one of its executives said it could be the inspiration for a new midsize car to compete with Toyota's top-selling Camry.
Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli told reporters that while its key new products won't show up in dealer showrooms until next year, the Auburn Hills automaker expects to survive 2009 and remain an independent company.
Yet many analysts say that because of Chrysler's 30 percent sales drop last year and 53 percent decline in December, and a model lineup that doesn't change significantly this year, the company will be forced to sell itself to another automaker or be sold off in pieces by majority owner Cerberus Capital Management LP, a New York private equity firm.
Chrysler Vice Chairman Jim Press said dealers are reporting they are losing 25 percent of sales in showrooms due to a lack of available credit, and says sales will improve if credit loosens. He also said the December sales drop was due to an intentional cut in low-profit sales to rental car companies and other fleet buyers.
Nardelli said the company came out with the new Dodge Ram pickup, Journey crossover and Challenger sports car in 2008, all excellent products that should sell in a better economic environment.
GM CEO Rick Wagoner said his company's restructuring plans submitted to Congress, which include concessions from the United Auto Workers union and other cost cuts, combined with GM's lineup of new products, will make the company prosper when the worldwide auto market recovers.
"We'll be in a position to run the business at break-even or profitable at a much, much smaller industry than frankly a year ago that we ever felt would be possible to deal with," Wagoner said.
The new vehicles GM introduced Sunday included the Chevrolet Spark subcompact, which was called the Beat when GM unveiled it as a concept car in 2007. The three-door hatchback with a 1.2-liter turbocharged engine is about the size of a Honda Fit or Toyota Yaris and is set to go on sale in Europe next year and in the U.S. in 2011.
GM also announced that the Chevrolet Orlando seven-passenger crossover vehicle will go on sale in North America that same year.
But the surprise of the automaker's event was the unveiling of the Cadillac Converj concept car, which is designed to go 40 miles on electric power alone after being recharged from a standard wall outlet. A small gasoline engine would extend the range to hundreds of miles.
It's the same powertrain technology GM is using in the Chevrolet Volt, a much-anticipated extended range vehicle set to go on sale next year.
GM's Wagoner said the Detroit automaker's vehicles are smaller, smarter and more fuel efficient, with "enough towing capacity" to pull GM out of its current troubles.
Toyota Motor Corp. confirmed plans to have an all-electric vehicle on U.S. roads by 2012, introducing an ultra-compact battery-powered concept car at this year's Detroit show. It also unveiled the 2010 Lexus HS250h sedan that will go on sale this summer. It's the first standalone gas-electric vehicle for the Japanese company's luxury nameplate.
Honda Motor Co. unveiled its next-generation hybrid, the Insight, which will arrive in U.S. showrooms in April. The much-anticipated car is expected to compete head-on with the Toyota Prius, which remains the top-selling hybrid in the U.S.
BMW AG said it's ramping up its production of gas-electric hybrid vehicles, giving consumers hybrid options with the 7 Series and X6 crossover vehicle.
Volkswagen AG showed off a concept sports car — the Bluesport — that is expected to get 55 miles per gallon based on clean diesel technology, while Lamborghini showed off its new Gallardo LP 560-4 Spyder, which sprints to 62 mph in four seconds and gets 20 mpg on the highway, respectable for such a high-end sports car.
The 2009 Mini Cooper convertible made its global debut. The four-seater has a powered soft-top roof that allows the driver to open and close it while going up to 20 mph.
___
AP Auto Writer Bree Fowler reported from New York. Associated Press Writers Kimberly S. Johnson, Ken Thomas and David Runk in Detroit and Dan Strumpf in New York contributed to this report.

Bazillion credit contest

2009-01-11T20:44:00.003Z

Are you a blogger and wishes to get more audience for your blog , there is a contest going on right now at entrecard

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1. Write about this contest and just mention the one prize you want to win. Then leave a comment on this blog post with the link for us to see. 1 ENTRY

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This contest will end exactly at 12:01 AM on 1/31/09.

Prizes I'll like to win:

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a Blog Review
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A mousepad.

Investment in Crude oil

2009-01-10T15:06:00.000Z

Just before Christmas Eve 2008, oil prices fell to their lowest level in four-and-a-half years -- $33.87 per barrel of NYMEX Light Sweet Crude.

Bad Santa
So forgive petro-investors if they're looking a bit glum these days. Even after Santa's conciliatory post-holiday boost in oil prices, the fact remains that when Christmas arrived, all these guys and gals got was (if you'll forgive the inexorable mixed hydrocarbon metaphor) a lump of coal.

Now, it's worth pointing out at this point that, as far as prices have fallen, we're still a ways away from the lowest price in recent memory -- $10.72, a nadir hit on Dec. 10, 1998, or $13.97 in today-dollars.

Today, oil trades for $42.63. In other words, for it to regain the crest of its recent super-spike -- $145.29, reached on Independence Day Eve 2008 -- it must more than triple in price. To revisit its lows of the decade, it must fall only 60%. And so I submit to you that ...

We're closer to the bottom than the top
Now, I'm not necessarily saying we'll see $145 oil, but at least based on these historical prices there's about 70% downside versus 240% upside. On the face of it, that makes for an interesting proposition, yes? For those of us who missed Big Oil's last bull run, now looks like a pretty propitious moment to jump in and catch the rebound.

So let's take a moment to consider a few options for how we might accomplish that:

	Price on Dec. 5, 2003	Recent Price	Return
Petroleo Brasileiro (NYSE: PBR)	$5.60	$27.08	394%
ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM)	$36.31	$79.09	137%
Chevron (NYSE: CVX)	$33.46	$74.24	122%
Transocean (NYSE: RIG)	$21.75	$56.63	160%
Halliburton (NYSE: HAL)	$11.54	$21.16	83%

Data courtesy of Yahoo! Finance. Stock prices adjusted for splits and dividends.

As it turns out, oil stocks haven't been hit as hard as oil prices. To the contrary, despite oil barrels selling for little more than they fetched five years ago, oil stocks are sitting on sizable gains. Why might that be?

Super-spike me!
I suspect that investors' memories are still fixated on that super-spike price of six months ago. Years of watching oil go nowhere but up conditioned us all to believe that this was the normal, usual, natural state of affairs. All the evidence seemed to point this way, right? After all:

We're not making any more dinosaurs, hence no new oil.
The cheapest oil has already been extracted. What's left is going to cost us.
Remember China and India? They're becoming richer than ever before and signing up for driver's ed.
Two-thirds of petroleum in the U.S. is used in transportation, so even if green energy companies like Suntech (NYSE: STP) and SunPower (Nasdaq: SPWRA) achieve grid parity, that won't have too meaningful an impact on oil prices in the absence of plug-in hybrid use.

As so oil bulls say that oil prices naturally want to gush, and today's downturn is just a temporary loss of pressure -- easily fixed. Problem is, with the global economy in recession, and oil demand dropping like a stone, it may take longer than people think for revenues to resume pumping.

Manage your expectations
But here's the thing: By the time oil is finally ready to rebound, people's recent experience may well have shifted once again. The longer oil stays down, the more people will expect this new trend to continue, and undervalue oil companies accordingly. That's just the way the human brain works -- we tend to take the recent past, and project it into the future. Fortunately, clever Fools can take this built-in psychological glitch and turn it into an opportunity for profit. Here's how.

Fools must:

Recognize that when the reversal comes, it will surprise all of us. No one can time the market, so spread your investments out over time.
When you do invest, demand a margin of safety, and make sure to buy with a 3-to-5-year time horizon. This process will take time to play out.
Meanwhile, make sure your stock pays you to be patient, in the form of regular, robust dividends.

Ready to get started? Then sign up today for a free trial of Motley Fool Income Investor, where we have eight active energy recommendations that we think will profit from this opportunity.

Fool contributor Rich Smith does not own shares of any company named above. Petroleo Brasileiro is a Motley Fool Income Investor recommendation. Suntech Power is a Motley Fool Rule Breakers selection. The Motley Fool's disclosure policy has been collecting dividends for 15 years, and is saving up to buy a Prius.

Under 1000 dollar homes

2009-01-09T10:48:00.003Z

Like a blogger once commented on my post, Real estate prices are now going for bargains. Here is a post I got from yahoo
The real estate market is so awful that buyers are now scooping up homes for as little as $1,000.
There are 18 listings in Flint, Mich., for under $3,000, according to Realtor.com. There are 22 in Indianapolis, 46 in Cleveland and a whopping 709 in Detroit. All of these communities have been hit hard by foreclosures, and most of these homes are being sold by the lenders that repossessed them.
"Foreclosures have turned banks into property management companies," said Heather Fernandez, a spokeswoman for Trulia.com, the real estate Web site. "And it's often cheaper for them to give these homes away rather than try to get market value for them."
In Detroit for instance, Century 21 Villa owner Randy Eissa has a three-bedroom, one-bath bungalow of about 1,000 square feet listed at just $500. It's a nice place with lots of light, but it needs a total rehabilitation inside, which Eissa estimates will cost between $15,000 and $20,000. But that's not bad, considering that the home last sold for $72,000 in late 2007, according to Zillow.com.
With prices this low, lenders aren't looking to make any money on these deals. They just want to get these houses off their books, so they don't have to bear the cost of maintaining them and paying property taxes.
In fact, the $500, $1,000 or $3,000 that a buyer forks over often goes straight to the real estate brokers as a commission. And often the lenders have to kick in extra cash to make it worthwhile for a realtor even take the listings, according to Eissa.
"Usually these homes are bank repossessions that the lenders have already tried to sell on the market, perhaps then put up for auction without success and then re-listed," he said.
Fixer uppers
These houses are almost always small fixer-uppers. Wiring, plumbing and heating systems have to be replaced, walls and ceilings sheet-rocked, plumbing and light fixtures installed and new kitchen cabinets and counters put in. Few come with working appliances.
Often buyers are legally required to rehab these homes to bring them up to code. In Detroit, buyers are required to sign Affidavits of Compliance Responsibility, which obligates them to make repairs outlined in an inspection report. Only after that can a certificate of occupancy will be issued, which makes the house legal to live in.
But even factoring in these costs, they're still bargains.
And as the housing crisis drags on, there are more and more four-figure listings popping up, as lenders try to unload their repossessed properties.
Cleveland is another city with many incredibly inexpensive homes. On Ardenall Avenue, in East Cleveland, McMullen Realty has a listing for a four-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath house for $1,900. It's been vandalized inside, but the outside is in good shape.
It features a deep front porch with Doric columns, double dormer windows and a separate garage. It's an excellent opportunity, according to agent Tonya Stoudamire. The last time it sold was in March of 2008 when it went for $16,677, according to Zillow.
"East Cleveland has a beautiful housing stock," she said. "These houses just need someone to come in and love them a little."
Another property for sale in Birmingham Ala. is priced at $1,900. The one-bedroom, one bathroom home was built in 1923 and has major fire damage, according to its listing broker, Tom Murphy Realty. The listing states that "Rooms are hard to distinguish."
But it's on a nice-sized lot, about 0.38 acre, close to downtown and transportation and has all utilities. Nearby, comparable homes in good condition sell for about $100,000, according to Zillow.
Rehab money
Most of these $1,000 homes can be renovated relatively inexpensively, and buyers can actually get government help to finance these repairs. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has a special loan program for just such purchases.
Its rehabilitation mortgage insurance, available through FHA-approved lenders, was designed to encourage banks to issue a single, long-term loan to buyers that covers both the acquisition and rehabilitation of a property, according to HUD spokesman Brian Sullivan.
He adds that there may also be grant money available from the $4 billion Neighborhood Stabilization Program, which was a part of the massive housing rescue bill passed by Congress in July, to assist buyers with grants for down payments.
Buying homes like these is certainly a leap of faith; they're generally not in the best of neighborhoods and they're often surrounded by many other vacant and deteriorating homes. Still, some of these neighborhoods may turn around and provide residents with good, dirt-cheap housing.
"It's a sad time," said Stoudamire. "But it's also a time of opportunity, especially for low and moderate income people."

Marketing summary

2009-01-08T12:30:00.001Z

Staying up-to-date with online marketing

The key now is to apply what you’ve learned to your business and continue to learn more. The Internet is continually changing. Six months down the road, the most effective marketing strategies may be completely different; therefore, you must stay up-to-date with what is working and what is not.

The best way to do this is to stay close to different Internet marketing websites. Many of these websites have free monthly newsletters that you can subscribe to as well as tons of free content on their sites. Some of the best marketing sites online are the following:
www.marketingtips.com
www.wilsonweb.com
www.searchengines.com
www.searchenginewatch.com
www.mycomputer.com
www.payperclicksearchengines.com
www.jimtools.com
www.ts100.com
www.business2.com
www.trafficzilla.com
www.emarketer.com
www.websitegarage.com
www.webmarketingnow.com
www.webpromote.com
www.efuse.com
www.proboost.com

Converting traffic to sales

As you implement the marketing and continue to see the amount of traffic you get to the site increase, you will want to focus more and more on converting that traffic to actual sales. Much of that conversion comes in the marketing and the preparation for the marketing of your site. However, if you need additional ideas, read the following article: www.clickz.com/sales/traffic.

Marketing and conversion are a continuous, intertwined process. You'll find the strategies that work best for you, but there's always room for improvement. Make sure to stay close to your website tracking statistics. You may find that you are losing most of your visitors at the same place on your website. If this is the case, you will want to change around that page to keep people from leaving from it. Some great tracking programs are at www.webtrends.com and www.mycomputer.com.

Creating multiple streams of income

Understand that most people don't strike it rich on their first business start-up. It is a learning process. Therefore, utilize the information and knowledge you've gained to apply to other possible Internet start-ups to create multiple streams of income for yourself. If doesn't take much more time to market five Internet businesses as it does to market just one.

Internet Success Team

If you are interested in further information and guidance on marketing your online business, you can check our MyBusinessKit.com’s Internet Success Team. The Internet Success Team consists of a group of individuals who have been down the road of online success. They’ve been in the same place you are now, and they know how to help you become successful.

As part of the Internet Success Team, you will receive a personal coach to walk you through business topics such as business set-up principles, website design strategies, and online marketing tactics.

To learn more about the Internet Success Team, call 801-787-6597.

Online websites and resources

www.marketingtips.com
www.wilsonweb.com
www.searchengines.com
www.searchenginewatch.com
www.mycomputer.com
www.payperclicksearchengines.com
www.jimtools.com
www.ts100.com
www.business2.com
www.trafficzilla.com
www.emarketer.com
www.websitegarage.com
www.webmarketingnow.com
www.webpromote.com
www.efuse.com
www.proboost.com
www.clickz.com/sales/traffic www.webtrends.com

Offline marketing

2009-01-07T20:31:00.000Z

The importance of offline marketing

Many website owners will put together a site and then think that they can advertise to the whole world, which they can. However, many people fail to realize that there is a local market in their area that they will also want to market to. That is done through offline marketing strategies.

Examples of offline marketing strategies

There are hundreds of offline marketing strategies that you could apply to an online business. Here will be listed a few of them; however, your imagination is the limit.

You will want to be creative and apply as many offline marketing strategies as you can to your website. That doesn’t mean that you should be thinking about how to design a Superbowl commercial, but there are many offline marketing tactics that can be applied to you website at a very low cost that can bring is tremendous traffic. Some examples of offline marketing strategies are listed below:
§ Word-of-mouth advertising
§ Hand out business cards
§ Put a sticker or magnet with your website address on your car
§ Sponsor a little-league baseball team
§ Hand out flyers
§ Get a billboard ad
§ Post an ad in a newspaper or magazine
§ Create a radio ad
§ Speak at seminars or hold free conferences about the subject of your website

Keys to a successful offline marketing program

Get your website address on everything – every brochure, receipt, box, anything. Make sure your website address is on it all.
Be creative. The only limit is your imagination.
Start small and inexpensive. Don’t do a commercial for your first offline marketing strategy. Start with small, inexpensive tactics, like handing out flyers for your website or putting a sticker with your website address on your car.

Online websites and resources

www.allbusiness.com
www.inc.com
www.businessknowhow.com
www.americanexpress.com
www.nolo.com
www.gosmallbiz.com

Unique marketing sites

2009-01-02T21:16:00.000Z

Why unique marketing sites

There are a lot of websites out there that offer great products and services that help with Internet marketing that don't fall under any of the categories we've covered. These sites we categorize at unique marketing websites. For example, Respond.com falls under this category.

Finding unique marketing sites

You can find these different unique marketing websites through Internet marketing newsletters. Within these different newsletters, you will find sponsoring companies with ads for their businesses. These companies usually offer some type of product or service that can help with Internet marketing campaigns. A list of good Internet marketing newsletter websites will be given in the Marketing Conclusion.

Free traffic sites

Many sites have offers for ways to generate "free" traffic to your site. Some are better than others. Most of these are not methods to center your marketing campaign around; however, they can help to generate additional traffic to your site. Some of the free traffic methods are listed below:
Browser Start Pages. When you set your home page on your browser to a Browser Start Page, you earn credits that translate into hits to your site. Some sites that offer this are www.startblaze.com, www.trafficg.com, and www.nomorehits.com.
Exit Exchanges. When a surfer accesses a page with an exit exchange code, a new window is opened in the background. The ad waits in the background for the user to close their current window. Once closed the ad in the background receives the full attention of the surfer. Some sites that offer this are www.exitexchange.com and www.exitblaze.com.
Surf for Traffic. For the most part these are not targeted and not worth your time unless you're focusing on giving freebies.
Classified Ad Multiplier Sites. Generally not very targeted or effective.
Pop-under Exchanges. Basically the same idea as with the exit exchanges.

Online websites and resources

www.startblaze.com
www.trafficg.com
www.nomorehits.com
www.exitexchange.com
www.exitblaze.com

Usenet

2009-01-02T21:14:00.000Z

What the usenet is

The Usenet consists of two areas: newsgroups and chat-rooms, or online conversation areas. Newsgroups are not live conversation areas. You can go into a newsgroup, ask a question, and then check back the next day for the answer to the question. Chat-rooms are live conversation areas. You can talk one-on-one with people about many different subjects.

Newsgroups can be very profitable because they are demographically targeted (broken up into different interest groups), easy to access, and read by millions of users each day. There are a lot more people that read along and follow conversations in newsgroups and chat-rooms than the number of people that are actually talking on them, so this can be a very powerful marketing tool.

However, you cannot blatantly advertise in some newsgroups or chat-rooms. If you do, you may get "flamed," which means that a bunch of people will send you hate email telling you not to advertise in their newsgroup or chat-room. If you get flamed, don't ever respond; it will only encourage and agitate them further.

Therefore, you have to apply schizophrenic marketing tactics. This is essentially having conversations with yourself as people follow along and read. You will be asking and answering questions that would guide people to your website.

Steps to using the usenet to advertise

There are four steps to applying schizophrenic marketing to the usenet:
Set up 2-3 free email accounts
Find newsgroups that consist of people from your target market
Register your different email accounts under different names
Apply schizophrenic marketing techniques

1. Set up 2-3 free email accounts
To talk on the newsgroups, you must have an email address and a name. To find free email accounts, go to the search engines and type in "free email" and hundreds of sites will come up that offer free email services. Many of the major search engines, like yahoo and msn, offer free email. Some free email sites are the following:
www.hotmail.com
www.yahoo.com
www.juno.com

2. Find newsgroups that consist of people from your target market
There are newsgroup categories for just about every subject under the sun. Think about the characteristics of your potential customers. Then choose some categories that would have people with these characteristics discussing things in them.

A good place to start would be to go to www.google.com. Google has a directory of online newsgroups. Your Internet Service Provider (ISP) will also have newsgroups to register and talk on.

You can also find newsgroups through searching the Internet with the different search engines. Go to the different search engines and search for newsgroups in the category of your target market. Focus on the newsgroups at the top of the searches. You don't want to waste time talking in newsgroups that don't have many people talking on them.

3. Register your different email accounts under different names
Again, in order to talk on the newsgroups, you must have an email address and a name. Don't use your own name, or they will know that you are advertising. Therefore, make up different names for each email account so it looks like completely different people.

4. Apply schizophrenic marketing techniques
Before you begin guiding people to your site in the newsgroups, you'll want to build a rapport with the people out there. Spend 2-3 weeks asking and answering questions without referring to your site at all.

When your site is completed, begin asking and answering your own questions in the different newsgroup areas guiding people to your site. Ask a question with one email address and name, and then answer that question with your different email address and name by referring to your website. For example:
Q: I’m looking for a website that offers a great budgeting spreadsheet to help with doing a family budget.
A: I was just at www.myfinancialsoftware.com and they have a great Excel spreadsheet that can help with family budgeting.

Remember, there are a lot more people that are following along and reading in the newsgroups than those that actually talk on them; therefore, as you get your website address in front of people through schizophrenic marketing, they will visit your site.

Chat-rooms essentially work the same way. You cannot blatantly advertise here either; therefore, you must apply the same schizophrenic marketing tactics.

Online websites and resources

www.hotmail.com
www.yahoo.com
www.juno.com
www.google.com

Online classified ads

2008-12-31T06:42:00.000Z

Why online classifieds are important

The search engines are not the only place where Internet surfers look for things. Classified ads are also a popular resource to find great deals on products. Online classifieds are similar to the classified ads you would find in regular newspapers. On the Internet, however, these classified ads are listed in more specific categories so that it is easier to find what you are looking for.

Steps to a successful online classified ad campaign

There are three main steps in putting together a successful online classified ad campaign:
Write the headline
Write the rest of the classified ad
Post the ad

1. Write the headline
The key to writing a good classified ad is in the headline. Make it short and to the point – about 6-12 words long. You don't want to try to sell anything in the headline, just create enough interest for a lead.

Use headlines that are packed with keyword phrases and action words that would appeal to consumers. If possible, offer something for free or at a discounted price.

Some tips on writing good headlines are the following (adapted from Bill Guting’s Marketing System for the Internet):
Make your headline newsworthy. For example, do you have a new product? Or a new use for an existing product? People want to hear about what's new, what's improved, what's different, etc. Begin your headline with the word "Announcing". One thing your customers and/or prospects are always asking is "what's new?" Well, this one word opening answers that question and gets a lot of people's attention. For example: "Announcing Amazing New Phone Tool That…" or "Announcing a Great New Way to Make a Living From Your Home…”
Create curiosity in your headline. Curiosity should be part of your headline and not a stand-alone element, this happens way too frequently. Look into any major magazine, newspaper or banner ads and you'll see advertisement after advertisement, which use nothing but curiosity in their headlines to try and get a response. Remember, if you use curiosity, make sure to combine it with a major benefit or newsworthy announcement.
Keep your headline positive. Avoid negative words, or the dark, gloomy side of the picture. For example, Dale Carnegie's first headline to his famous book was "How to Ruin a Good Marriage" and it bombed! His second attempt at a book title was "How to Win Friends and Influence People." This simple change of a title helped sell millions and millions of copies of his famous book.
Feature a free offer. Free is and probably will always be the most powerful 4-letter word in marketing. Giving something away to prove your worth is probably the most "sure-fire" strategy that leads to future sales or sign-ups. Use it in as many applications as you can.
Address your headline to a specific person or group. This type of headline does two important things: 1st it targets and hits your prospects like a laser beam and 2nd it allows you to offer up a solution that is close to your prospect's heart.

2. Write the rest of the classified ad
The rest of the ad will be just 2-3 short sentences focusing on the main benefits of your products or services. Include a link back to your homepage in your classified ads (some classified ad places do not allow this, but if they do, take advantage of it). Promote link exchanges in your classified ad. Use these networks to advertise your desire to trade links.

3. Post the ad
In posting your classified ad, the key is to get your ad circulated in as many categories as you can. For example, an ad in 10 categories running for 1 week will be much more effective than an ad in 1 category for 10 weeks.

You might place 6-10 ads in different classified categories and rotate those ads each week to build the most effective classified ad campaign. Or you can keep the same ad and just rotate the headline occasionally.

The best place to post your classifieds are at Yahoo. Yahoo has more people that look at their classified ad network than any other site out there. To register to Yahoo’s classified ad network, go to www.classifieds.yahoo.com. Other good sites are the following:
www.freeclassifieds.com
www.classifiedsforfree.com
www.uran.net/imall/mother.html

There are also many classified ad submission services that will offer to post your ad in multiple classified ad areas automatically. Once you find an ad that is bringing a lot of traffic to your site, you can submit your ad to a submission service.

Submitting to several different classified ad networks can be a lengthy process; therefore, utilizing a submission service will allow you to post your ad in large number of ad networks for a small fee. Be sure to test your ad on a free classified ad network prior to posting the ad with the submission service.

A method of finding submission services is to go to the search engines and type in "classified ad submission services.” This will pull up a list of websites that can assist you in this process.

Online websites and resources

www.classifieds.yahoo.com
www.freeclassifieds.com
www.classifiedsforfree.com
www.uran.net/imall/mother.html

Webrings

2008-12-29T16:49:00.001Z

What webrings are

Webrings are a collection of websites that have organized themselves into a circle. Each site in the ring displays a webring navigator that links it to the next site in the ring. The whole point of a webring is to share traffic with the owners of other sites in the ring.

For example, if a person is interested in basketball, they could visit every single site in the basketball webring without ever having to go back to a search engine. Webrings are usually free services that can be added to your website.

Finding webrings

The best place to find what types of webrings are available is a http://www.webring.org/. Webring.org anchors thousands of webrings. They have an easy to navigate directory where you can browse the available webrings by topic. This is a free service as well.

Once you find a webring you think is appropriate and relates to your site, take some time navigating through the ring. Compare your website to the ones you find in the webring. You will want to join webrings that have many other sites registered at the ring because they are the ones that are receiving most of the traffic.

Utilizing webrings

After you have navigated through a webring you like and that relates to your site, then you want to apply for membership to that ring. The process is simple. You only need to fill out the online application form. Your application will be reviewed to make sure that you site is appropriate to the ring (this is why you want to do your own research on the ring ahead of time, so you won't get rejected).

If you accepted then you will receive some source code (HTML) that represents the navigator for the webring, which you need to add to your website. Some webrings are strict and insist that the navigator be on the front page of member websites. Once you've done that, you will be added into the ring within a few days, and you should start receiving traffic right away.

Online websites and resources

http://www.webring.org/

Gateway Pages

2008-12-29T16:47:00.000Z

What gateway pages are

Gateway pages are free one-page websites that link to your original homepage. They are an alternate way for people to find your website, other than through your homepage. The whole purpose of gateway pages is to make your website more visible on the search engines. So instead of people having to find your website only through your homepage, they can find it through multiple pages.

In order to be found in the search engines, you must rank in the top 10-30 matches found. To do that that requires the creation of pages that appeal to each search engines' preferences. These pages are often called gateway pages, doorway pages, splash pages, or bridge pages since they act as a doorway or an alternate entrance to your website.

Methods of utilizing gateway pages

There are two main methods of utilizing gateway pages:
To focus on different keyword phrases
To build pages specific to certain search engines’ preferences

1. To focus on different keyword phrases
Remember back in the first marketing strategy when you read about what search engines look for? The emphasis was to build your homepage focused on a couple keyword phrases so that the search engines will rank you higher. Creating gateway pages allows you to build multiple pages focusing on different keyword phrases. So instead of an Internet surfer only being able to find you under a couple keywords, he or she can find you under many.

For example, if you are in the competitive category of "travel" and find it too difficult to obtain a high ranking on the word "travel," then create pages that describe in detail one particular destination or activity. Perhaps create a gateway page discussing "sailing in the Caribbean.”

Most people try to be specific in their search engines today because they know if they don't, they will get back thousands of pages that they aren't interested in. Therefore, you can create gateway pages for specific elements of your website to allow for a higher ranking in the search engines. A great website to help you research keyword phrases is http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion.

2. To build pages specific to certain search engines’ preferences
Every search engine is different and looks for different elements in ranking pages. No single page can rank well for all search engines because all search engines are different. Therefore, you must customize your gateway page to the different search engines you are registering at.

For information and tips on what the specific search engines look for, go to the www.searchengines.com, www.searchenginewatch.com, and www.searchengineforums.com.

Steps to setting up a gateway page

There are three main steps to follow in setting up a gateway page:
Find free web space
Put together page
Register page to the search engines

1. Find free web space
There are many different resources that offer free web space that you can take advantage of on the Internet. Many of these places are online builders that do not require you to know any HTML to build a page.

Some of those websites that you can use are the following:
www.freeservers.com
www.homestead.com
www.thefreesite.com

Many Internet service providers also give out free web space as well for using their services. In choosing a place to build the page, make sure the URL that they give you is not just the domain name of the site and then /whatever at the end of it. The domain name must look something like www.camping.freeservers.com instead of like www.freeservers.com/camping. This is primarily for the search engines. Many search engines are ignoring domain names that look like free sites, like in the second example.

2. Put together page
In actually building the page, you will set up a gateway page just like you would set up a regular homepage. You will want the text laid out introducing your website and products. You will also want a keyword phrase that you are focusing on to be repeated throughout the text and meta tags.

You will also want graphics on the page to make it look more eye appealing. A consistent logo on each gateway page would be a good idea so that people know that they are at the same place. As well as similar color schemes on the gateway page and your actual homepage.

The main difference between a gateway page and a regular homepage is that with a gateway page you don't need working navigation buttons. You'll usually have Click here to enter in a couple places on the site, which, when clicked on, would link to your original homepage or whatever page you'd like it to link to on your site.

3. Register page to the search engines
Once you’ve got the gateway pages built, you are now ready to register them to the search engines. The fastest and easiest way to do that is to use free submission sites like www.jimtools.com.

Online websites and resources

http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion
www.searchengines.com
www.searchenginewatch.com
www.searchengineforums.com
www.freeservers.com
www.homestead.com
www.thefreesite.com
www.jimtools.com
www.webposition.com offers a very advanced software program that automatically creates gateway pages to rank high on search engines for you. The program is called Web Position Gold.
Some great articles on gateway pages are at www.searchengines.com/doorway_pages.html and www.wordtracker.com/articles.

Press Releases

2008-12-27T21:06:00.002Z

The importance of press releases

In the newspaper business, editors hate “white space.” White space is when there are open areas in the paper that aren’t filled with articles or ads. Every now and then, an article will fall through for a newspaper at the last minute, so the editor will have to scramble to fill the area where the article was going to be placed; this space is called white space. At these times, the editor will usually look into a special file that he or she has for such occasions and find something to fill the space. This special file usually consists of press releases that have been written and submitted to the paper.

A press release is an article that is placed in a newspaper or other press area to fill the white spaces. The press release is usually announcing a major event for a business, like the launching of a website, a new product coming to market, a service project that the company performed, or just sales and growth announcements. Once your website is completed, you will want to have a press release written up and ready to be submitted to the online and offline newspapers and other press areas.

Many people first hear of websites through press releases. Millions of people read the papers every day, both online and offline. Therefore, if you can get articles making announcements about your business in these press areas, your website traffic can increase substantially.

Steps to using press releases

There are three main steps to writing and submitting press releases:
Do research on what to write in your press release.
Write at least two press releases.
Submit the press releases to both online and offline areas.

1. Do research on what to write in your press release.
A press release is essentially free advertising. Editors are not interested in putting free advertising in their papers; therefore, you will need to research as much as you can to know what the editors look for in a press release. The more research that you do, the better chance you'll have to get your press release included.

The best way to this research is to go to the search engines and type in "how to write a press release" or "writing a press release" or something like that. Make sure you put quotation marks around the phrase your searching for – this will narrow down your search. This research will give you information on what you want to have in your press release – information like articles from actual editors as to what to include and not include.

Some great press release research websites are www.press-release-writing.com and www.newsbureau.com.

2. Write at least two press releases.
Once you’ve done your research, the next step is to actually write the press release. You will want to write at least two press releases – one to a local audience and one to a national audience.

The press release for the local audience will focus on the fact that you're from the local area in which you reside. Make it personal or "hometown" sounding. The national press release will be submitted to a national audience both online and offline. Make this press release more general.

In writing the press release, make it short and to the point, and make sure that it does not sound like an advertisement. Come up with a newsworthy angle about your online business. Focus on how your company can benefit the community.

The primary functions of a press release is not to publicize your business or help sell your products, but to provide news, entertainment, and relevant information to readers. Write your press release with this in mind.

The 1st paragraph is the lead paragraph. This should not be longer than 3-4 lines long. Answer the 5 W's: What? Why? Who? When? & Where? The rest of the paragraphs should be simple sentences answering these questions. The paragraphs should be short.

Write in 3rd person so that it doesn't look like you're writing an ad for your company. To get your release noticed, position your company against competing companies in some way, the press loves conflict.

3. Submit the press releases to both online and offline areas.
Now that the press release is written, it’s time to get it out there in front of people. In dealing with submitting your press release, you will want to submit to both online and offline areas.

In working with offline submission, realize that it is very difficult to get a press release in large publications, make certain your press release stands out from the rest by tailoring it to specific magazines or newspapers. Only 1 in 10 press releases actually get submitted – this is why you want to do good research ahead of time.

Treat each editor like a unique customer, and cater to his or her needs. Develop a relationship with each editor. Get to know them. After a relationship is solid, it is quite easy to convince them to write a feature article on you, your product/service, or something special you offer.

In working with online submission areas, submit your press release to as many areas as you can. Use the free submission sites. As you do research and find sites that deal with writing your press release, you'll also find sites that will offer to submit your press release.

You can also go to the search engines and type in "free press release submission" and you will find many articles giving websites that offer to submit your press releases.

Online websites and resources
personal finance
www.press-release-writing.com
www.newsbureau.com
www.searcher.com
www.prweb.com
www.prnewswire.com
www.gebbieinc.com www.gapent.com/pr

online auctions

2008-12-27T21:05:00.000Z

The importance of online auctions

When people think of online auctions, the first thing they think about is Ebay. Ebay is the largest online auction site on the web and most people only think of Ebay as a resource for buying and selling your and other peoples’ junk. However, Ebay and the other online auction sites can be a powerful marketing tool for your business. There are three main reasons to utilize the online auctions:
To make money selling products
To build a database of customers and potential customers
To drive traffic to your website

1. To make money selling products
As you post your products on the online auctions, you will find buyers for those products. You may not make as much money selling them on Ebay as you would just selling them on your site, but the auctions are a good way to get some revenue coming in.

2. To build a database of customers and potential customers
As you start making sales on the auctions, you will creating a database of customers and potential customers to your website. Down the road, as you have other similar products that you are offering, you could send them an email letting them know about the deals that you could provide them.

3. To drive traffic to your website
The main feature of the online auctions is in the ability to link your website to your auction listing. This is a great way to generate qualified traffic to your website because even if someone doesn't bid on your product, they may be interested enough to go to your website and perhaps purchase an entirely different product. You will want to include your website address in the description of the product that you have for bid.

How online auctions work

There are many different online auction sites on the Internet and they all work a little differently. However, the basic concepts work the same and are outlined in the following steps:
A vendor, or seller, goes to an auction site and fills out a simple online form. On this form, included is all the information about the product, including the minimum bid to accept and the length of the auction time period.
This information then becomes available to site buyers on the auction website.
Buyers will then bid on the products of their choice via the Internet.
If one buyer gets outbid by another buyer, he or she will be notified by an email message, which includes a link back to the bidding area.
Once the bidding time period is over, the top bidder and seller are emailed so that they can get together and finalize the sale.

Online auction companies

There are many different online auction sites out there and Ebay is larger than all of them combined, but here’s a list:
Ebay – www.ebay.com
Ubid – www.ubid.com
Cnet.com auctions – http://auctions.cnet.com
Amazon’s auctions – www.auctions.amazon.com
Yahoo’s auctions – www.auctions.yahoo.com

For an extensive list of different online auctions on the Internet, check out www.auctionsa-z.com.

Selling on the online auctions

Before you begin selling your products on the auction sites, make sure you take some time reviewing each auction’s listing guidelines. Also, make sure to browse around the site and check out what is selling and what is not. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to even post a bid on a product to see how the process works.

Once you feel comfortable with the auction site, then set up an account with them. This will usually be free, and all it takes is providing some personal and contact information from you.

Once you’ve got an account, you will want to do some preliminary work before you post your products to sell. You will want to create the following policies: shipping, international sales, a refund, guarantee, and payment. These policies will outline exactly what you will do and will not do for the customers.

Once you’ve gotten your policies written, then you will want to also choose the type of auction you want to hold. There are four major types:
Straight – Here you will set a minimum opening bid and then sell to the highest bidder. This is the most common auction type.
Reserve – With this type you set a price below which you will not sell your item. Bidders will not know the reserve price, and you only have to sell to the highest bidder if it is above that price.
Dutch – This type of auctions allows you to sell multiple identical items to multiple bidders. Bidders can specify not only their bid price, but also the amount of items they want. All of the top bidders would pay the same amount, or the lowest successful bid.
Private – This type is the same as a straight auction, but the seller and bidders are not revealed.

Once you’ve picked the auction type, then you will want to choose a category for your item. Obviously, you will want to choose the category that best describes your product, but also one that receives a lot of traffic, which drives up the price. Usually, the more popular categories have more products up for bidding on them.

You will also want to take some pictures of your item. Most buyers won’t bid on something unless they can see it. Digital cameras work best for this. The key is to take pictures that persuade people to buy.

Next you will want to write a title for your ad. The title is usually between 40 and 50 characters long. The description is the next element. Your description should anticipate questions, impart detail, and acknowledge any flaws, all while making a compelling and convincing sales pitch. In the description, you will want to include the name of your website, this will bring traffic to your site.

Once you’ve gotten all this preliminary work done, then you are ready to post your products to the auctions. As you do so, you will want to monitor the auction’s progress and make sure to respond quickly and clearly to inquiries from bidders.

Once the auction is over, you will want to exchange information as quickly as possible with the winning bidder so that you can get them your products right away. Once you’ve exchanged information and accepted payment then ship the product out promptly.

Online websites and resources

www.ebay.com
www.ubid.com
http://auctions.cnet.com
www.auctions.amazon.com
www.auctions.yahoo.com
www.auctionsa-z.com
www.auctionwatch.com - this site offers powerful tools to manage your auction listings

Sponsors and Affiliates

2008-12-24T12:47:00.001Z

Why sponsors and affiliates are important

Sponsors and affiliate programs fulfill two primary purposes for your website:
Increase revenues to your website
Make your site look more credible to Internet surfers

1. Increase revenues to your website
Sponsors would pay you a monthly fee for you to place their logo or ad on your website. Affiliate programs pay you commissions as you refer visitors to other sites. Therefore, these two methods allow you to increase revenues to your site without having to sell your products/services.

2. Make your site look more credible to Internet surfers
Sponsors and affiliates make your site look more credible to people visiting the site because others would see name-brand companies advertising on your website. This increases the credibility to others, especially if they are not knowledgeable about the affiliate program concept.

How sponsors work

On many websites you'll see Please visit our sponsors followed by some logos of different websites that would link to the perspective sites. If you had someone sponsor your website, you would place their logo on your site, and, in turn, they would pay you a certain amount of money each month.

Having sponsors benefits both the sponsoring company and also your site because it brings traffic to the sponsoring company. It also adds credibility to your site because of all the sponsors on it, as mentioned above. Sponsoring also allows your website to earn some extra money. You can charge anywhere between $50-$200 a month to have someone sponsor your site. If you had 4 sponsoring companies on you site all paying you $50 a month, which would be $200 a month, and this is at the low end of the pay scale.

Finding companies to sponsor you

As you look for complementary companies to exchange links with, you can also look for companies to sponsor you. Usually larger organizations or companies will sponsor other sites, but any business may do this. Also, as you talk to businesses about trading links or banners, you can also ask them to be your sponsor.
Initially, you would not charge a large fee per sponsor because you would not have much traffic coming to your website. However, as your traffic increases, you can increase these fees to have companies sponsor you.

How affiliate programs work

Have you ever been on a site and seen Amazon.com's little banner on it? If you click on that banner and go to Amazon and buy something, the site that you left to go to Amazon makes 10-15% of whatever you spend.

Having affiliate programs on your site allows you, as the site owner, to earn extra income on your website. Usually it's about 10% of the sale price for most affiliate programs.

Finding and signing up for affiliate programs

As you surf the surf the Internet and look for complementary sites, you will oftentimes see on websites Become our Affiliate or Affiliate with us. If you see this, you can join those sites' affiliate programs. A couple websites that list the different affiliate programs that are available are at www.cj.com and www.linkshare.com.

When you sign up for an affiliate program, the company that you're signing up under will email you the source code (HTML code) that represents the banner or ad which you would then copy and paste to your website.

It usually does not cost anything to become an affiliate of someone else. All you need to do is sign up and add the code to your site to get involved with the different affiliate programs. Then as you get clicks on the banner or ad to the affiliate program sites, and people buy, you will get paid, usually on a monthly or quarterly basis, a commission on each sale (usually about 10% of the sale). The affiliate companies have tracking software that keeps track of your visitors and purchases. You would not want to add the affiliate program banners to your products page if you are trying to sell products of your own.

Creating your own affiliate program

Affiliate programs are a great method of driving traffic to your website, and you don't pay a cent unless someone actually buys something, so it's very effective.

In order to make your website ready to accept affiliates, you will need to apply some pretty advanced programming that will track where visitors are coming from and store a database of affiliates that have signed up. This will require hiring a professional programmer to get this type of system set up, but it will be well worth the cost. A lower cost method of starting an affiliate program on your site is to use www.clickbank.com.

Online websites and resources

www.bcentral.com/articles/whitman/102.asp
www.amazon.com
www.cj.com
www.linkshare.com www.clickbank.com

Banners

2008-12-23T13:33:00.000Z

The importance of banners

Banners are advertisements on websites that, when clicked on, link to an advertiser’s website. They are usually ¾” by 6” in size. Banners fulfill two purposes:
To increase traffic to a website. This happens as Internet surfers click on the banner they are taken to the website directly.
Establish name recognition or branding. The more people see a website’s banner, the more the company name gets branded into their minds, like commercials.

Banners are viewed a lot by many people as they surf around the Internet; however, banners are not always being clicked on all the time. Here you will learn how to effectively utilize banner campaign to increase traffic and sales for you business.

Methods of getting banners on the Internet

There are many different methods to get your banners out in front of your target customers; here three main methods will be reviewed:
Purchasing impressions
Banner exchanging
Banner placement on search engines

1. Purchasing impressions
Impressions are the number of times a banner is seen online. As someone pulls up a website with your banner on it, then that counts as one impression. The average impression cost throughout the industry is $0.02 to $0.05 per impression. A click-through is when someone clicks on your banner, which transfers him or her to your site immediately. The industry click-through rate is less than one percent. This doesn't sound too good, but here you will learn how to increase that click-through rate.

There are banner networks out there that will allow you to purchase impressions from them. You can utilize these companies to advertise; however, make sure that they allow you to control the types of websites/categories that your banners are shown in. If they are just placed on random categories, you will not get a high click-through rate. However, if they allow you pick the website categories that your banner will be shown in, this can be an effective method of placing banners online.

2. Banner exchanging
A second method of getting banners online is through banner exchanging. Through this method, you are actually finding websites that complement or go hand-in-hand with your own and offering to trade banner ads with them. So you would place their banner on your website, and then they would place your banner on their site. This is effective because you are actually controlling the eyes of who is viewing your banner. So you’ll get a much higher click-through rate.

If the company that you want to trade banners with does not want to trade, they may be interested in you just paying to have your banner placed on their site, which is also fine. However, in purchasing banner space, try to get the company to charge you on a cost-per-click (CPC) method. This means that you are only paying when someone actually clicks on your banner. Most companies will charge on a CPM method, or they charge you a flat rate for every 1,000 impressions your banner gets. Which is fine, but this does not guarantee any traffic, so paying on a CPC method is better.

3. Banner placement on search engines
A third method of placing banners online is through targeted banner placement on the search engines. Any time an Internet surfer searches for something on a search engines, a banner that relates to what they searched for will usually appear at the top of the page of the search results. This is where you would want to advertise. So you would want to pay for advertising space for the banners that appear at the top of a search under specific keyword phrases that relate to your site.

Many search engines charge on a CPM method, so you are paying for every thousand impressions. You can do this, or a better method is to find search engines that pay on a CPC method, so you do not have to pay anything unless someone actually clicks on your banner and goes to your website.

Designing effective banners

The key to a successful banner is to have a good headline. The headline is 5-7 words long, like a magazine advertisement headline. It would be a good idea to look through magazines and read through the different advertisement headlines and see what grabs your attention, and then write your headline.

Focus your headline on words that are action oriented that grab the attention of consumers. The following is a list researchers at Yale University say are the most powerful attention-grabbing words: free, secrets, discover, easy, guarantee, health, love, money, money-back, new, powerful, proven, own, results, save, tested, and you are some examples.

Once you’ve got the headline written, you’ll want some graphics for your banner. These can be either animated or static, but keep in mind that your banner is small, so your graphics cannot be really large. Some good graphic websites are the following:
www.mediabuilder.com
www.bellsnwhistles.com
www.animfactory.com
www.eyewire.com
www.andyart.com
www.photodisc.com

For the finishing touches to your banner, make sure you have Click here written on your banner somewhere. Also, you’ll want to have your domain name on the banner, this will help with branding.

When programming the banner, you can either pay a website design company to program the banner for you, which would cost between $100 and $200 per banner. Or you can design it yourself through website building and editing programs like PhotoShop, DreamWeaver, or other programs that you may find.

Online websites and resources

www.bannersgomlm.com
www.mediabuilder.com
www.bellsnwhistles.com
www.animfactory.com
www.eyewire.com
www.andyart.com
www.photodisc.com

Viral marketing

2008-12-21T19:37:00.000Z

What viral marketing is

Viral marketing is getting people to refer others to your website. Viral marketing is any strategy that encourages individuals to pass on a message to others, creating the potential for exponential growth in the message’s exposure and influence. Off the Internet, viral marketing has been referred to as “word-of-mouth” marketing.

A classic example of viral marketing is Hotmail.com. They attach a message at the bottom of every email that says: “Get your private, free email at http://www.hotmail.com.” Then they just stand back as everyone sends this message along with every email that they send out.

For a website, a good viral marketing strategy is to have a link that an Internet surfer can click on that will email the page or website to a friend. Many news websites have this feature at the bottom of the articles that are written.

Elements of a viral marketing strategy

There are many different elements that make up a good viral marketing strategy. Here we will give you five of them. A viral marketing strategy does not need to contain all of these elements, but the more the better. The five elements are the following:
Gives away products or services
Provides for effortless transfer to others
Exploits common motivations and behaviors
Utilizes existing communication networks
Takes advantage of others’ resources

1. Gives away products or services
There is not a more powerful marketing word than “free.” A good viral marketing strategy will incorporate the free concept by giving away products or services to attract attention. For example: free information, free graphics, free software programs, etc. Obviously, you will not make money up front offering things for free. However, the profits will come as you increase your potential customer base, and viral marketing does just that, it attract people to your website, who eventually turn into purchasers.

2. Provides for effortless transfer to others
Viruses only spread when they are easy to transmit. So you must make it easy to transfer your message to others. For example: “Click here to email this article to a friend” or “Send this article” are good examples. Then link that message so that when it’s clicked on, all they have to do is type in their friend’s email address and click send, and away it goes. The shorter the message is and easier to send, the better the viral marketing strategy.

3. Exploits common motivations and behaviors
Greed drives people, and so does the hunger to be popular, loved, and understood. The resulting urge to communicate produces millions of websites and billions of email messages. Design a viral marketing strategy that builds on common motivations and behavior for its transmission, and you’ll be successful.

4. Utilizes existing communication networks
Social scientists say that each person has a network of 8 to 12 people in their close network of friends, family, and associates. A person’s broader network may consist of hundreds or thousands of people. People on the Internet develop networks of relationships by collecting email addresses, adding websites to their favorites, signing up for affiliate programs, etc. Learn to place your message into existing communications between people, and you will rapidly multiply its dispersion.

5. Takes advantage of others’ resources
The most creative viral marketing plans use others’ resources to get the word out. Affiliate programs, for example, place their banner or ad on others’ websites. Authors who give away free articles try to position their articles on others’ web pages. A news release can be picked up by hundreds of periodicals and form the basic of articles seen by thousands of readers. Now someone else’s newsprint or website is relaying your marketing message. Someone else’s resources are depleted rather than your own.

How to implement viral marketing

There are many methods of implementing these principles of viral marketing to your website, here we will list a few examples.

One thing that you can do is write articles and encourage others to post them on their site as free content. Only let others use the articles if it contains links to your site. Another method is to set up an affiliate program to encourage links to your products. Make sure you pay enough to make this attractive to site owners. You could send out news releases for your site.

Word of mouth strategies are also effective. If you know some CGI or JavaScript you can install a “Email article to friend” link at the bottom of each article that you write. If you don’t know how to do this, you can just encourage readers to email the article on their own to friends.

You can also include some free products or services to get the word out like a free e-greeting card or free email or free software. Most importantly, think of unique ways you can build viral marketing techniques into your future marketing programs.

Online websites and resources

There are a number of articles on viral marketing at http://www.wilsonweb.com/cat/cat.cfm?page=1&subcat=mm_Viral that you can look into. For tips on adding the HTML to your site to apply viral marketing, try checking out www.wilsonweb.com and www.htmlgoodies.com.

email advertising

2008-12-20T23:01:00.000Z

The benefits of email advertising

Many of the large companies on the Internet find new customers through different email advertising campaigns. You can probably tell that many companies use this if you get hundred of emails a week offering different products or services.

You, like many others, probably find this process rather annoying; however, companies have found that with a good email list, they can generate about a 7-15% visit rate to their websites through this advertising medium. Therefore, this is a strategy that you will not want to ignore for your business.

How to collect email addresses

There are many ways to collect email addresses. Listed here will be three of the most effective methods:
Purchase email lists
Autoresponders
Pop-up windows

1. Purchase email lists
There are many companies that offer email lists that you can purchase and utilize for your website. These lists range in price and quality, but the general rule is that to get a decent list, it will cost a good amount of money.

Any time Internet users purchase or register for something online, they are usually asked to select boxes related to their interests to be sent more information on those particular topics. These are called opt-in and opt-out email lists.

An opt-in email list is where someone would actually select the appropriate box related to his or her interests. An opt-out list is where boxes are pre-selected and the Internet user has to deselect the box so that they are not sent the information.

You can purchase these lists from many different resources; however, they can be quite expensive if it is a good list. Two companies to look at in purchasing such lists are www.postmasterdirect.com and www.yesmail.com. If you’d rather not spend the money to purchase your lists, there are ways to create your own, and those ways are through the use of autoresponders and pop-up windows.

2. Autoresponders
An autoresponder is a tool that allows you to collect email addresses as people visit your website and request info from you. Your main goal as people visit your website should be to get them to purchase from you. Your second goal should be to collect their email address. Email addresses in Internet marketing are like gold, and autoresponders can help you to create your own email database without having to purchase an email list.

The key to an effective autoresponder is to have a good headline. For example, if you have Click here to subscribe to our guest book, nobody will ever subscribe to it. So the key is to have a headline that provides information that people would be interested in. Think about your potential customers and the type of information that they would be interested in and provide that in the headline. For example, if you are selling camping gear, you could say something like Enter your email address now to get 10 secrets to improve your camping experience. This would be something that people would more likely be interested in on a camping website.

There are many places where you can get free autoresponders for you website, a couple great ones are the following:
www.royal-responder.com
www.getresponse.com
www.infogeneratorpro.com

On those websites you can sign up for a free autoresponder and get that added to your website. Usually you will just need to copy and paste some HTML code to your site to get it going.

3. Pop-up windows
A third method of collecting email addresses is to utilize pop-up windows. A pop-up window is a window that appears on your screen as you go to a website. These windows can either pop up in front of the page that you are looking at, or they can pop behind the page. Pop-up windows force you to take action: either close the window, or click on it to learn more.

Most people find pop-up windows as rather annoying. This is because usually they do not relate at all to what is being searched for, so people just close them. However, pop-up windows can be effectively used to gather information, like email addresses, of people that visit your website. The key is to have a pop-up window that relates to what the visitor to your site is interested in. For example, if you are selling camping gear, you can have the pop-up window offer a contest for a free monthly shopping spree giveaway on your website if a visitor enters their email address.

Pop-up windows basically fulfill the same purpose of autoresponders; however, pop-up windows do a much better job collecting those email addresses because they force the visitor to either enter their email address or close out the pop-up window.

A great place to get a pop-up window program for your website is at www.marketingpopup.com. You can sign up there and then customize the pop-up window to offer anything that you would want.

What to do with those email addresses

Now that you’ve collected those email addresses either through purchasing a list or creating your own, the question is what do you do with them? One of the main things that you can do with email addresses is back-end advertising. Back-end advertising consists of sending advertisements to those on your email list offering your products or services.

The statistics show that Internet surfers will visit a website 7-10 times before they actually purchase anything. Therefore, you will want to get those visitors back to you site as much as possible if you want to make them customers. A great way to do that is through back-end advertising.

Another thing that you can do with those email addresses is called email exchanging. This consists of finding websites that complement your own and have some type of email list of their customers. Then you can offer to email your database of email addresses an ad or offer that would advertise their website in return for them to send an email to their database offering your products/services.

You would never want to just give out your email list to another company. So you would have them write the ad, and then you would just send it out. You could do this each month with a new company and really build up your customer base very quickly. And the great thing about this is that it’s free. You are just exchanging services.

Creating ezines or newsletters is another use for your email list. You could send out a monthly email with free tips and information to your potential customers. In this email you could have the free tips, an ad for your products/services, as well as an ad for another company, like an email exchange. Therefore, with the use of a newsletter you can apply all these strategies to your potential customers.

Online websites and resources

www.postmasterdirect.com
www.yesmail.com
www.royal-responder.com
www.getresponse.com
www.infogeneratorpro.com
www.marketingpopup.com

Reciprocal linking

2008-12-16T09:26:00.000Z

What reciprocal links are

Links are words or phrases on websites that link to other sites on the Internet. Many Internet surfers find websites through linking. So they would be on a website, then see an ad or link to another site, and then click on it.

Reciprocal linking involves finding websites that would compliment your own, and then offering to trade links, or ads, with them. So you would place their link on your website, and then you would have them place your link on their website.

The importance of reciprocal linking

The reason that you would want to place reciprocal links is because many Internet surfers find websites through linking, so it is a great way to increase traffic to a site. The number one way people find sites for the first time is through the search engines. The number two way is through links, or ads, from other websites. Therefore, the more places that you have linking in to you, the easier people can find your website.

Another reason that linking is important is because of a principle called “link popularity.” Many of the major search engines are starting to rank websites higher if they have many other websites linking in to them. The search engines have termed this link popularity.
Basically, search engines figure that if many other websites are linking, or advertising, to your site, then your site must be a good one. Therefore, the more companies that you get to link to you, the higher the search engines will rank you.

Some good articles on link popularity are at: http://www.searchengines.com/linkpopularity.html and http://www.searchengines.com/linkpopularityinc.html.

Steps to placing reciprocal links

In order to properly apply this marketing strategy, there are five main steps to go through:
Make sure you’ve got a links page on your website
Find complementary websites to exchange links with
Call/email the companies to offer to exchange links
Exchange links with those that are interested
Check back monthly to make sure your link is still there

1. Make sure you’ve got a links page on your website
Before you can place reciprocal links, you must have a place to put those links. Therefore, you will want to have a page on your website called links, or favorite links, or related links.

On this page you will want to have a couple paragraphs that explain the importance of trading links, and then the links underneath that listed by category. In talking about the importance of trading links, you can use the information from this document to help as we just went over that above. A good example of this is found at www.mybusinesskit.com. Go there and click on Related links, and you’ll see the type of information that you’d want to include.

The reason that you would want to include the importance of trading links on this page is because many other business owners will also come to your site wanting to advertise with you. Therefore, as they come and check out your links page, it will help sell them on the idea to trade links, so they will contact you to offer to trade links.

2. Find complementary websites to exchange links with
Once you’ve got your links page in place, you will want to find as many companies as possible to exchange links with. A complementary company is one that offers products/services that go hand-in-hand with your own product/services. These would not be direct competitors. By doing this, you are basically learning where your target audience hangs out online.

The best way to find these complementary companies is to use the search engines and type in words that would describe these companies and then check out the websites. As you find them, then keep a database somewhere of their website addresses, contact names, phone numbers, and email addresses. Many of the marketing strategies that you will be applying will be to work with these types of complementary companies, so the more you can find the better.

A great way to find out contact names and phone numbers of websites is to use the whois lookup function on places that you can register a domain name, like www.networksolutions.com. You can go there and click on whois lookup and type in a website address. Then this will pull up the name and contact information for who registered the domain name for that website.

3. Call/email the companies to offer to exchange links
Once you’ve found the companies to work with, you will then want to call or email the companies’ and offer to exchange links with them. In contacting them, calling will give you a much better success rate; however, through email, you can contact more companies in less time, so either way works.

In contacting these companies, explain that you have a website and that you are interested in advertising with them. Then you’d want to include four main points in talking to or emailing them:
Compliment their website. Tell them what you like about it. Give them specific details.
Explain your site. Explain how your site would complement, or go hand-in-hand with theirs.
Explain the importance of exchanging links. Emphasize how linking will help them bring more traffic to their site as well as get a higher search engine ranking.
Offer to exchange links. You can even give them the information to exchange links with you here so that they can just copy and paste it to their site.

This is a marketing strategy that you will continuously be applying to your website. It’s a free strategy, and very effective, so you’ll want to find as many companies as possible to exchange links with.

If you are emailing out this information instead of calling, make sure that the subject box of the email is very specific to their company. For example, you could have as the subject: Questions about MyFinancialSoftware.com (or whatever website it is). This would be much more likely to be opened because many people just go through and delete the emails that they get that look like advertisements.

4. Exchange links with those that are interested
As you find companies that are interested in exchanging links, you will want to give them your linking information, and then get their linking info. In exchanging links, you will need the following info:
Name of the website
Brief description of the site
URL address to link to

Give the company your information, and get theirs, and then add the link to your site. In talking to the company about adding your link to their site, ask them to put your link on an exit page (a page that a visitor would leave from). The homepage is the most popular exit page, so ask them to include the link at the bottom of the homepage if possible. If they have a links page, they will probably want to put it there, and that would be fine as well.

5. Check back monthly to make sure your link is still there
Make sure the company keeps your link on their site as long as you have theirs on your site. Check back to the site on a monthly basis to make sure you're both linked. And if you find that your link isn't there anymore, then contact them about it, or take their link off your site.

Online websites and resources

There are some great tools and online resources to utilize in helping you exchange links. Some of them are listed below:
www.links4trade.com is an online resource of companies wanting to exchange links. So you can register here, and then find other small business owners to trade links with.
www.cyber-robotics.com is also an online resource of companies wanting to exchange links. Go there and check out their Zeus program to read more about it.
www.linkpopularity.com will help you tell how many links are pointing to your website.

payperclick search engines

2008-12-16T08:45:00.000Z

With pay per click search engines, you pay for your listing location, or ranking, on a particular keyword phrase. The more you pay, the higher up on the list they will rank you. The benefit to the pay-per-click search engines is that you do not pay a penny unless someone actually clicks on your website, so it’s guaranteed advertising. There are not many marketing strategies out there that will guarantee results.

The most popular pay-per-click search engine is Overture.com (formerly GoTo.com). When you go to www.overture.com and type in a keyword phrase, it will tell you next to each listing what the Cost to advertiser is. This is how much the website is charged every time someone clicks on their listing. On popular keyword phrases, it might cost $3-$4 to get a top ranking. You will not want to pay any more than $.10 per click up front. If you bid too high, you will go through money rather quickly.

The overall concept

Establish an initial deposit by paying an up-front fee to the search engines that you’re listing with ($50 is the minimum initial deposit at Overture).
Research the keyword phrases that you’d like to bid on – using Overture’s Search Suggestion Tool at http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion.
Bid on as many keyword phrases that you can by entering your pay-per-click amount. This is what you pay each time a visitor comes to your websites. The pay-per-click amount at Overture starts at $.05 per click and you must spend at least $20 a month or the difference is taken out of your account.
Each time an Internet surfer goes to the search engines (www.overture.com) and enters the keyword phrase that you’ve listed under in the search box, and clicks on you site from the search, then the amount that you paid for is taken out of your initial deposit. So with $50 at Overture bidding $.05 a click, you can get 1,000 visitors to your website.

Registering at Overture & other details

To register at Overture, go to www.overture.com and click on Advertise your site and then proceed to the Self serve sign up method. This way it doesn’t cost you any more money up front. Then start typing in your search terms with the title, description, URL, and maximum bid amount. They will review your listings within a couple business days so you’ll start receiving traffic very soon.

The main benefit of Overture is their Premium listings. The premium listings are websites that are listed in the top 3 listings with Overture under a specific keyword phrase. If you are listed in the top 3, then you get listed at the top of searches done on other major search engines, like Yahoo, MSN, InfoSpace, Ask Jeeves, AltaVista, and Netscape. This list is always changing, but the main players here are Yahoo and MSN.

You will receive far more traffic from these partnership listings than you ever will from Overture directly. Therefore, getting into the top 3 search result are very important. However, don’t get sucked into the trap of bidding high just to be in the top 3 or you’ll spend hundreds of dollars a day. Follow our keys to success listed below and you should be just fine.

Google’s pay-per-click program

Another search engine that offers a pay-per-click program is Google.com. Google is one of the most popular search engines out there, and they’ve learned from Overture how to make money in the search engine game, so they’ve incorporated their AdWords Select program along with their regular search results. So by registering to this program, you can get listed on the right hand side of the Google.com searches and only pay for that listing when someone clicks on your website.

Google is a very popular search engine, and with their AdWords Select program, you have the opportunity to gain valuable visibility with the search engines for your website. Another benefit is that Google has a partnership with Aol.com, so if you are listed with Google, your search results are also shown on www.aol.com when someone does a search there for your keyword phrase. So between Overture and Google, your website can be found with the main web portals on the Internet and gain incredible visibility.

To register with Google, go to www.google.com and click on Advertise with us, then click on AdWords Select, and you can read about the program there and sign up.

Keys to success

Key #1 – Know what your per/click profit is.
The per/click profit is the average profit that you make for each click/visit to your website. This is important because with knowing your per click profit, you can then know what your marketing budget would be for each marketing strategy out there, especially the pay-per-click search engines.

For example, we’ll assume that you get 1,000 unique visitors to your site on an average day. Out of those visitors, 30 people buy and spend $1,000. After you take out your expense, lets assume that your profit is $500 from those orders. Therefore, your per/click profit is $.50, or $500/1000 visitors.

If you find that you make $.50 for each visitor to your website, then you know that if you spend more than that, you will lost money on average. You will not know this information if you are just starting out with your website; therefore, you will want to keep your bids low (at the most $.10 per click) or you will go through too much money too fast. Once you know your per/click profit, then you can increase your bids.

In order to calculate the per/click profit, you will need to know how many unique visitor are coming to your website, as well as what your revenue and expenses are. The Accounting Software from MyBusinessKit.com will help you with your bookkeeping in keeping track of your revenue and expenses, and you can get tracking software for free at www.sitemeter.com. If you’d like a more advanced tracking software package, check out www.webtrends.com and www.mycomputer.com.

Key #2 – Bid on as many specific keyword phrases that you can as low as possible.
The more keyword phrase that you bid on, the more visitors you’ll get to your website. Make sure these keyword phrases are as specific as possible because this will increase the quality of your visitors and also give you a better chance of being listed in the premium listings area with Overture.

The best way to come up with many keyword phrases is to use Overture’s search suggestion tool at http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion. Go there and type is general keywords that deal with your website and then print off the listings that it provides. Then take that list and highlight the keyword phrases that relate to your website. Then type in each one into a Microsoft Word document. Separate them by clicking return on your keyboard so you have a long list of keyword phrases. By doing this, you won’t have to retype each keyword phrase when you submit your site to other pay-per-click search engines like Google.

You’ll want to come up with hundreds of keyword phrases to bid on. Even if the phrase was searched for only 10 times at on the search suggestion tool, still bid on it.

Key #3 – Register to many of the pay-per-click search engines.
There are hundreds of pay-per-click search engines out there now. You don’t need to try to register to all of them because many are very small, but the main ones are important. At least register to Overture and Google, then you can go to www.payperclicksearchengines.com to get a list of the top other search engines to register with.

A great tool to use in getting listed with many of these types of search engines at a low cost is through PPCNow.com. PPCNow has partnerships with over 100 pay-per-click search engines. How it works is you go to www.ppcnow.com and pay them an up front fee of about $200, and then they’ll give you over $3,500 worth of combined credit with there partnership search engines. This is a great way to utilize the other pay-per-click search engines and get a ton of credit for a low price.

Online websites and resources

www.overture.com
www.google.com
http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion
www.payperclicksearchengines.com
www.ppcnow.com
www.sitemeter.com
www.webtrends.com
www.mycomputer.com

Search engines

2008-12-15T19:23:00.000Z

Why search engines are important
According to any market research study out there, you’ll find that about 90% of Internet surfers find sites for the first time through the search engines. Therefore, the first marketing strategy that you will want to focus on is the search engines.

However, in focusing on the search engines, you will not want to put aside all other marketing strategies. The search engines are important, but if you focus so much on your search engine rankings and forget about the other marketing strategies that you will be learning, you will be missing out on a lot of traffic and sales.

Different types of search engines

There are 4 main types of search engines out there:
Regular search engines
Directories
Hybrids
Pay-per-click search engines

In this article, we will focus on the first three types of search engines, and the pay-per-click search engines will be covered in the next marketing strategy. It is such an important marketing tactic that we’ve given it it’s own article.

Regular search engines
Search engines help people find information on the Internet. They maintain huge databases of web sites that users can find by typing in a keyword. These databases are compiled by programs are called "spiders." These programs "crawl" across the Internet or web by following links from site to site and then they index each site they visit. Search engines are tricky because each will use its own set of criteria to determine how they index the sites. For example, some search engines index each page in a website, while others index only the main page.

Also, the criteria each individual search engine uses to organize or rank web sites for its users vary. Some will list the results of a search according to which sites have the most links from other sites, called link popularity. Others concentrate more heavily on the summary information that is found in the Meta tags. There are actually quite a few other ways to do this and most search engines will use combination of criterion.

Directories
Directories are often confused with search engines, however they are much different in the way they work even though they appear to have similar results to Internet surfers. Instead of using spiders to crawl the web, directories, like Yahoo and Looksmart, have actual people review and determine the ranking of their sites. They have many more guidelines you must follow to be found in their directories as well. That is why directories' indexes tend to contain a smaller number of high-quality links.

Directory editors evaluate the quality of a site: its functionality, content, and design. Many directories will list sites in each category alphabetically, like the phone book. Therefore, having a company name that begins with a letter close to “A” will help with the directories.

Hybrids
Hybrid search engines are a combination of a directory and a search engine. This is a "best of both worlds" technique, done in an effort to provide users with the most complete set of results. Today the top ten search sites are hybrids. Yahoo! Actually started out as a directory, but now it supplements its manually compiled listings with search results from Google, which is a regular search engine.

What search engines look for

For the most part, search engines look at millions of variables in ranking a page. It would be impossible to know all of these, and the minute that you get close, they will all change, so it would be a waste of time. However, there are a few main variables that most of the search engines will look at that you will want to focus on. Most of these variables focus on keyword phrases, or words or phrases that Internet surfers would type in to find your website.

In dealing with keyword phrases, there are a few main words that you will want to keep in mind: relevance, prominence, proximity, and density.

Relevance
Keyword relevance means that the keyword phrases that you choose will want to be ones that people are actually typing in to find you. There is a great tool from Overture.com that will help you come up with relevant keyword phrases. This tool is called the Search Suggestion Tool and is found at http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion. Go there and type in a word or phrase that relates to your business. Then this tool will tell you how many times that word or phrase was searched for in a previous month at Overture.com as well as give you a list of phrases that were search for that have that same word or phrase in it.

This tool will give you the demand for different products/services by telling you what people are actually searching for. Overture.com is one of the major search engines on the Internet, so it will give you a good idea as to what is being searched. However, Overture.com only covers about 2.7% of all searches done, so it gives you a fraction of what the entire Internet is doing. From here, you’ll want to pick out about 50 keyword phrases that best describe your site and then type them down somewhere. And then select 5 from that list that you will emphasize on the homepage of your website.

Prominence
Keywords demand the most prominent positions on your page. The top of the page is the single most important place to include your keywords. You will want to place your top five keyword phrases as close to the top of your page as you can. This will ensure a higher ranking on many search engines.

Proximity
Keyword proximity relates to how close your keywords are to one another within the text of your site. The closer your keywords are to each other, the higher you will rank in the search engines. For example, if you have the keywords scented and candles, you could use either of the following sentences:

We specialize in scented candles of all types.
We specialize in candles, which come in a variety of scents.

In this case, the first sentence would receive a higher ranking because the keywords are closer in proximity next too each other than they are in the second sentence.

Density
Keyword Density refers to how often you repeat your keyword in relation to the rest of the text. The optimum density is between 3 and 7 percent. In other words, for every 100 words of text you have on your homepage, you should use your keyword 3 to 7 times. The areas that you will want keyword phrases repeated are in the title, headline, body text, meta tags, hyperlinks, other tags (like alt tags that appear when you roll your mouse over an image), and in the first sentence of the homepage.

Methods of registering to the search engines

There are three main methods of registering to the search engines and directories that you will want to follow:
1. Initial launch using site submission tools
2. Register monthly to the top search engines individually
3. Register to Yahoo and the other directories

1. Initial launch using site submission tools
The initial launch consists of using site submission tools, or websites that will automatically register you site to many of the search engines. There are two main websites that we will use for this: www.inktomi.com and www.jimtools.com.

Inktomi.com is a great submission service that will continuously reregister your site to the top search engines on the Internet. It costs $39 a year to utilize their services, but it's well worth it. They will get you to the top of many of the main search engines. To register, go to www.positiontech.com and register there. Many of the major search engines get their results from Inktomi, so that is why it is such a great resource.

Jimtools.com is a free submission service that will submit your web site to 46 of the top search engines and also to over 100 directories. To register, go to www.jimtools.com and click on the Submit tab. Here you can register your web site to many of the top search engines and directories for free. Only submit to the Search Engine Submitter and Directory Submitter; don't submit to the FFA links or the WAP Directory (if you do, you'll get about 1,000 emails.

2. Register monthly to the top search engines individually
The third method of registering is to register monthly to the top search engines manually. The reason that you'll do this is because search engine rankings are like playing "king of the hill." One week you're at the top, and the next week you'll have fallen, so reregistering each month is important, and it's also important to register to each search engine individually. Inktomi and JimTools will register to the top search engines for you, but the ones that you're not ranking high on, you'll want to go to and manually register.

The best way to register to these is to go to www.searchengines.com and click on Submitting to the top search engines (this is under the How to submit your site area). This site has a listing of the top search engines and direct links to the place to register your site, as well as tips on registering, so it's very effective.

With this type of registering, you don't have much control as to where you get ranked on the list. One method of controlling your rankings on the search engines is to register to pay-per-click search engines, which is discussed in detail in the next marketing strategy.

3. Register to Yahoo and the other directories
Yahoo is the largest search portal on the Internet. They are a hybrid, so a combination of a search engine and directory. Yahoo has their own directory categories that you will want to register to, and their search results come from Google.com. Yahoo searches consist of about 30% of all searches done online, so being in here is important. However, Yahoo also knows this, so they will charge you a pretty penny to get listed. Right now it is at about $300 a year. Therefore, you may not register to Yahoo initially; however, once you start making some money on your website, Yahoo is the first place to go.

In registering to Yahoo, you will want to read through their submission guidelines. These can be found by going to www.yahoo.com and clicking on How to Suggest a Site. You will want to read these carefully because if you do not follow their guidelines, they will take your $300 and not get you registered.

Once you’ve done that, you will want to pick a category to be listed in within the directory. To do this, type in main keyword phrases that you think people will type in to find you. Then look at the categories that are listed. You will want to be found within the category that comes up most often when your keyword phrases are typed in. You can also choose a category by looking at your competition to see where they are listed.

Once you’ve picked the category, then you’ll all set to register. So go to the category of your choice, and click on Suggest a Site. Then follow the registering steps.

General Yahoo tips
§ If you sell any types of goods or services on your website, you will need to go through the Business and Economy category from the Yahoo homepage. Then you must also go through either the Business to Business or Shopping and Services categories.
§ Make sure your title is the actual name of your website or company.
§ Keep the description short. They say up to 25 words long, but they like it better if it’s 10-15 words in length.
§ Pick a category that would be found if people type in the main keyword phrases for your website. These are the categories most often looked at.

Other Directories
There are other directories to be listed in as well, other than Yahoo. One is the Open Directory found at www.dmoz.org. Dmoz is another very popular directory that supplies listing to many of the major search engines as well, including AOL, which is another of the major search portals people use. To register there, go to www.dmoz.org and find the category that would be best for your website (following the same method as you did with Yahoo). Then click on Add URL. Then follow the steps to register.

Another directory is Looksmart. They are another hybrid search engine and are a good one to be listed with because MSN get their search results from Looksmart’s listings. And MSN is another one of the major search portals on the Internet. Looksmart currently has a pay-per-click feature for small businesses. This means that it will cost you a certain amount of money each time your website is clicked on. The current cost is $.15 per click. To register, go to www.looksmart.com and click on Submit a Site and just follow the steps.

Online websites and resources

§ www.searchengines.com
§ www.searchenginewatch.com
§ www.searchengineforums.com
§ www.spider-food.com

2008-12-12T08:53:00.000Z

The evolution of the Nation-State in pre-historic times brought with it some attributes, which was designed by early thinkers to make it easier for the State authorities to carry on its assigned roles in society. As the citizens of the Nation-State subdued their individual rights to that of organised civil society where they agreed to be governed by uniform rules and regulations of human conduct, and also confer on the State some rights to sanction deviant behaviour, the modern day society as we know it today gradually evolved from the “Hobbestian state of nature”, where life was nasty, brutish and short, and might was right.

One of the mechanisms through which the State, not being itself engaged in any income generating ventures, was expected to generate resources with which to provide for the common good of all, was to take a little of that income which accrued to individuals, and create a pool of funds from which common amenities like security, roads, utilities, schools, healthcare, etc., could be provided. Thus evolved the concept of taxation, as we know it today. From humble beginnings when taxation was no more than 5% of average income of individuals, the appetite of the State to more funds grew as the needs of society became more complex. Different taxes and levies started being imposed on individuals and corporate organisations, and what initially started as a voluntary contribution to the State gradually assumed a compulsive nature, such that laws were made to punish evasion of taxes by different governments.

To date, the average direct tax rate the world over is 30% of earned income, with variations from country to country. Tax relief became a tool of manipulation and political campaigns at election times. The governments which promised the most tax relief were more favoured by the citizenry, who often paid taxes under duress, obviously having better things to do with their incomes than handing it over to a bogus apparatus called the State, as they were not always able to tell the direct benefits they obtained from the government for payment of those taxes.

The level of resistance to taxation in different places differs in degree and complexity. Whereas citizens of most underdeveloped and developing countries rely on the non availability of population and income data in the hands of the taxing authorities to evade taxes, thereby leaving the burden of taxation to be borne by a few in regular employment, in the more advanced and sophisticated economies, people rely on the services of tax planners and other experts to cleverly avoid tax through lawfully recognised means. One common feature in resistance to taxation is however the perception of the populace towards their governments in the area of effectiveness in meeting their common needs. In areas where the governments are perceived to be up and doing, and people can visibly assess the impact of government on their daily lives, governments have been more able to rely on taxes as a major chunk of their national income than other places where governments are perceived as non-performing.

It must however be borne in mind that the basic justification of the state in collection of taxes remains the need to raise funds to provide amenities for the common good. Where those amenities are either lacking completely, or where they exist, are largely provided by the citizens themselves without any input from government, then the moral or legal right of the State to impose such taxes becomes suspect.

This paper attempts to examine the various facets of life in Nigeria from the point of view of the respective obligations of the citizens to pay their taxes, and the duty of the State to provide amenities, and comes to the inevitable conclusion that nowhere in the world is there a better justification for evasion of taxes than in Nigeria, as the governments here have done little or nothing to deserve any form of contribution from the citizens by way of taxes. That being so, the paper advocates a well articulated and structured resistance to taxation, especially by workers in the oil and gas industry in the country, who are undoubtedly the most unjustly taxed sector of the Nigerian economy.

For the purpose of this paper, the amenities legitimately expected from Government can be classified into Personal Security, Roads, Public Utilities, Schools, Social Security, Medicare, Housing, and a general enabling environment for economic and social activities to thrive, as would be expected of any civilised human setting. These different aspects will be discussed in turn, to establish that in all these areas, successive Nigerian governments have failed woefully in its social contract with the citizenry, and that any form of taxation in Nigeria is unjustified and amounts to blatant stealing by government.

Managing a real estate property

2008-12-11T12:24:00.001Z

At every stage in life, you’ve got to take another step. If you really, want to make money in real estates, you’ve got to take a step from single-family home level with proper finances, if you own about ten-unit apartment building or strip mal, you may be able to have good positive cash flow from the onset. How could hire someone to manage the property so you don’t have to constantly be undertaking to be collecting the rents, fixing the house, etc.
On the other hand, its not as rosy as it may sound, there is also a great potential for loss. Assuming you had just one single- family, home, you need just one need a large number of tenants.
In tough times, you may not be able to rent out the lot hence resulting in a serious negative cash flow therefore when going big, you should bear in mind that there are lots of risk to undertake. It is always good to aim at an object and not the image similarly, in investment, you’re got to know where the profits are coming from.
With single – family homes, prices go up as overall residential market value increases. If you buy with lets say 20% down and the value of the property goes up by 10%, you’ve made a profit of 50% (forgetting the costs of transaction temporarily). A house may cost twenty five million Naira and then you deposit five million naira. The value of that house goes up by 10%. The value of that house is now N27, 500,000 your equity is now N7.5million one and a half time
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what you started with for a fifty percent profit. On the other hand, considering an apartment building, prices are mainly tied to rental income. If you increase your rents, you will have significant profits in a short while rental rates of apartment building does not move the same way with single family homes. Suppose you have an apartment building lets say a 15 unit building where each unit is rented for N1,000,000 annually. The value of the property is based on that rental rate. If you decide to increase the rental rate to let’s say N1, 600,000 annually. The value of the property is a product of number of units and the new rental rate which equals N24, 000,000. this can happen without the prices of single family houses moving. If you paid N15, 000,000 for that building initially, by lifting the rents 60%, you have raised the value of the house 60%. If you kept 20% as deposit, i.e. N3, 000,000 on your apartment building, forgetting temporarily of your mortgage your profit is now 300% which is N9,000,000.
Commercial buildings operate in a similar way to apartment buildings. Their value is also directly determined by their rental income. The greater the rental income, the greater the value. If you buy a building at one level of rental income and increase the rents, you can sell at a higher price. The rent for commercial properties is determined by the front foot. Access to the public is essential for businesses to survive, the more exposure, the more valuable the location. Therefore, a tenant will pay defending on the number of people that will directly flow into their location or how many feet is directly accessible to the public. A commercial tenant on the second floor of a commercial building is most likely to pay a reduced rent than a commercial tenant on the first floor of the building.
On the otherhand, office buildings does not hold access to the public as a valuable factor rather the major factor is the total amount of floor space. Therefore, such buildings are rented out on the basis of square footage. This is the reason why most office buildings are very high as is observable in Marina, the official hob of Lagos. here the higher the building and the larger the office room, the higher the rent.
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Another vital area in real estates is investing in bare land and developing properties. The basis of all property value is the land. In most cases price appreciation is attributable entirely to land. The structure never goes up in value, it is the land. Land is immobile, it is a natural resource, it is a store of value. Working on a bareland could be very complicated or simplified. Those who specialize in bare land are called speculators. Land speculation entails buying plots of land and developing them for a resell. This is mostly common in rural areas. You could also buy a large plot of land and split it before reselling thereby making substantial profit. You could buy and Acre of a for N9, 000,000 and resell it in halves for N6, 000,000 each and make a profit of N3, 000,000. You could also buy a piece of land and change the land use to suit what you are willing to do with it e.g. you could buy an arable land for a lot low price and change the land use to industrial purposes and later resell the land for a lot of profit on capital. Although this usually involves a lot of expenses but at the end it will be worth the expenses. You could also buy broken-down buildings scrape off the serap and construct new structures on the land. You could also buy poor buildings located on a profitable land, scrape off the building and construct a new building that matches the quality of land. This is usually carried out on old houses which are obsolete but which the land underneath is a very good investment sometimes, you see that a small building stands on a massive acre of land. If such buildings are put up for sale, I will advise that you take up the opportunity immediately.
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Real estate

2008-12-10T14:21:00.000Z

Another form of residual income is real estate. Real estate is investment in landed properties. This requires a lot of work and concentration unlike investment in stocks. It is a profitable venture which one can easily take his profit because properties have a high tendency to appreciate over the years no matter its location or size.
Atimes, you may want to serve your hard earned Naira from depreciating, them you should try offshore property investment. But before we cover offshore property investment, lets consider real estates in Nigeria. Having your own home is the largest and preferential investment you’ll ever make. In buying a home, there should be several qualities a home must possess before you take ownership of it because if you do not watch out for those qualities, that house may form out to be the worst nightmare you’ve ever had. Such qualities
- Good Neighbourhood schools. This contributes a lot to the value of homes, the better the schools, the faster and higher home prices appreciate an vice versa.
- Pride of ownership. A clean Neighbourhood free from pollution with a serene environment is better. Buying a home in such is such places would yield high dividends in time to come.
- Low crime Rate: Imagine living in a neighbouhood where crime is the order of the day. It is a bitter experience that no one ever dares to face. No one ever desires to live in a battlefield neither does one ever appreciate living in places that cannot be distinguished from a jungle. You naturally love to live in areas with low crime rates. Therefore to make your home a rewarding
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investment for you, always make sure to know the crime rates of places before buying any home.
- House Size: The size of the house is very essential to enable you make a good investment on your home. Not so many people love large houses except they’re got 80 many children. Nevertheless, depending on the area of real estate you want to undertake large houses may be unavoidably advantageous.
For beginners, it’s a lot more effort investing in real estates as fulltime jobs. Basically, the best way to invest in properties is usually on a part-time basis. It’s important to note that initially, it is unlikely for your properties to yield enough income for you to live on. After a few years when the properties values and rental rates have gone up, it is a different ball game entirely. But for the first ten years, it’s better to think in terms of reinvesting rather than withdrawing income. Like stocks, real estate is planned for the long run (the more properties you own, the greater your wealth overtime). It takes a great deal of patience to make money out of your real estate. Probably 10-20 years with positive cash flow due to rise in rental rates (because of reasons like inflation and national housing shortages in many areas – rural and urban), just as prices always bound to be a degree of risk in everything an individual carries out. In real estates there could be hitches such as a bad year with a loss of job etc but nevertheless, you’ll still have the homes you own to fall back on.
There are several ways of finding good investment properties thus
- Agents: Agents with trusted experience, who is honest and has the interest of his client at heart should be picked. Tell your agent exactly what you want in a house both as a home and an investment. Agents who are hasty in the procession of real estates should be simply avoided. Work with an agent who dedicates his time to the service of his client
- Properties sold by owners. These are properties that are not usually listed but are sold directly by their owners. Buying directly from the owner is a risky business, therefore an agent is needed to handle the paper works for you. there is less risk in single family home investments than there is with
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other types of real estates investments. Never homes are better than older homes because of lower cost of maintenance.
Sometimes properties are bought to boost the age of their buyers, so depending on your financial strength and prevailing on your market conditions make your selection of high priced or cheaper properties. Before going ahead to purchase a property you should ensure that you carry out a thorough inspection of the property Never rely on the seller’s disclosures.
Another important aspect of real estate is investing in offshore property. Now, I know some people would be wondering if it is good to invest outside his country and why answer is a scintillating "yes" The growth of offshore property market has been showing positive results over the years. Such is applicable in the United Kingdom where the population and how mortality rate has led to an undersupply of homes. Offshore property investment is a good way of preserving the value of your money from depreciation. Offshore property investment is advantages because of the system in obtaining mortgage for repayment over a 25 year pen. When planning to invest in offshore property the most vital thing to do is to budget about thirty percent for the deposit and buying cost.
When buying a home, you need a mortgage except if you have the money readily available. To obtain this, you get a long-term loan from a bank or building society the terms which are set out in a legally – binding mortgage deed or agreement. The home is usually put up as security for the loan which may be for a period of 25 years.
Nevertheless, the term could be more than or shorter than the twenty five years I’ve stated. A mortgage consists of borrowed capital with an added interest paid over it.
Note: The longer the repayment term, the smaller the monthly installments but the greater the interest paid on such loans.
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The mortgage company would need an assurance on the credibility of the borrower and also whether the value of such homes covers the value of the loan should there be any default in payment conversely, the borrowers also have to consider the type of loan they want from the mortgage company. Should it be a repayment or interest-only mortgage type? The repayment mortgage type is such that part of the borrower’s monthly repayment plays off the capital while the other part pays off the interest monthly installments change as interest rate rise or fall. An interest only mortgage on the other hand requires interest to be paid on the full loan each month. The capital is repaid at the end of the term most of the mortgages cover interest loans.
Once you have determined what repayment method you want to stick with, you’ll need the services of a mortgage broker in order to determine the most suitable type of mortgage. Some terminologies associated with mortgages rates include.
- Standard variable: This moves up and down in accordance with the Central Bank of base rate instance
- Fixed rate: The interest rate to be paid is set for a given period.
- Capped: This is a variation on the fixed rate with the guarantee of an upper limit on monthly repayments within the given period. Beneath this ‘cap’, the rate moves up and down with henders standard variable.
- Discovated: offers a discount on standard variable for a defined period
- Base rate tracker: tracks the apex banks base rate
- Flexible: this allows borrowers to have a greater control on the installment payment. Here there is no cap and atimes, the borrower could take a payment holiday.
- Cash back: Offers a tax free lump sum once the mortgage is set but may be restrictive
When planning to obtain a mortgage you should arrange a meeting with a mortgage broker. Discuss how much you want to borrow know what you can afford. Be familiar with the fact that you have to cover other expenses such as deposits,
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surveys, legal fees stamp duty, council tax, utility bills, phone bill etc before venturing into owning a home. You also need furniture. The best way to succeed in mortgages is to have the mortgage agreed in principle. Failing to do this may entail your losing the desired property to a third party. The more organized you are the better off your chances by acquiring your desired property.
Once you’re found a property that matches your criteria, make an offer. If the offer is accepted, you should consider the legal and financial process in buying a home. You’ll need to find a solicitor to vet all legal aspects of the sale and carryout a local authority search, which looks for planning proposals such as developments in the vicinity which might affect your chosen property. If the survey results show good results and all legal arrangements have been undertaken, you are now ready to exchange contracts. Once this is done, you and the seller will fix a date for the exchange of keys from the previous owner to the current owner. If for any reason you opt out of the deal, you lose everything you deposited and also the seller cannot accept any higher offer for the property on the completion date, the seller’s solicitor mandates the agents to release the keys.
When buying a home, you should be very careful to follow the following
- Buy at a reasonable price. The more you overpay for a property, the lower your profit is likely to be and the longer you will have to hold unto the property before you can breakeven. You can always acquire properties at reasonable prices because of circumstances the seller may find himself at a given time.
- Don’t over borrow the fatter the deposit you are able to make on a property, the thinner your monthly repayment. This is advantageous because you could repay the monthly repayments without having to rely on tenants.
- Factor in Interest Rate increases while lower interest rates are good news for buyers, it is advisable for you to stress test" your budget before taking the plunge. You need to ensure that you do not over commit yourself
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financially while interest is low, and that you will be able to take the heat when interest rates bounce back up
- Diversify take some of the profits you realize from your real estates and spread your investment risk by investing in equities and other assets.
Now let’s look at how an individual can realize more money to cover the expenses. If your rents aren’t enough, can you increase them? In real estates, you are engaged in a competition and if you try to offset prices to suit you sarcastically, you may eventually lose tenants. Nevertheless, you could still increase rents depending on the difference between the price you want to change currently and what your competitors are charging and the quality of the property you are renting out at that price and the quality of other properties in the area.
Assuming you’ve done all you can to increase your rental income, you may want to break even on a property you already own quickly. Let’s see if you can cut down expenses. There are basically two types of expenses in owning and maintenance of a house thus:
- Fixed Expenses
- Variable Expenses
Fixed expenses include tax
- Taxes: You cannot cut your property takes except you want the erase tax. This you must pay.
- Insurance: Insurance is fixed the only way of reducing insurance expenses is by shopping around for a cheaper policy which may not be very good. How may need liability insurance in case a tenant gets hurt on the property and takes you to court.
- Maintenance: This covers all routine expenses such as water bills etc. you cannot cut this figures below what is given in the bill.
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- Repays: You may need to lay aside a particular sum of money monthly incase of repairs that may be carried out in the house. Depending on the age of the house, you could be able to reduce this sum.
Variable expense includes
- Mortgages: the mortgage payment can be reduced in a number of ways such as buying less expensive home. You could also reduce mortgage by getting a lower interest rate as I have stated before. You can plan ahead so that if interest rates are high, you can go for an adjustable rate loan. This savings can be huge. This type of loans often begin with teasers" rates that is below market. However, these teasers rates disappear rather quickly. Often within a year or two, you interest rate on the adjustable loan will rise to market or even above. At this point, you’ve got to refinance, it possible to a lower-rate mortgage.
On the other hand, if interest rates happen to be low when you buy, get a fixed-rate-30-year loan. This will lock your mortgage into the low rate so that with increased interest rates, your monthly expenses remains stagnant. Always go for the longest-term mortgage you can get to reduce your monthly expenses. It’s also very good to know the relationship between your monthly expenses and how much you put into the property.
The less you put of your own money, the greater your leverage and ultimately the greater your profits. However, you will have a greater monthly expenses because you’ll have a bigger mortgage. On the otherhand, if you put more of your money into a property, the lower your mortgage payments and the difficulty you’ll have in covering them with rental income. Put more money down and you’ll have lower mortgage payments.
Summarily, if you can find a property that offers high rent with low expenses and with proper finances, you can get by putting in little or no cash of your own. Conversely, if you buy a property with lower rental income, you’ll have to put in your own money to offset the mortgage amount to where the monthly payments
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are balanced by rental income. Some people buy properties for a resale and not for rental so you overlook buying close to breakeven and instead buy a property which the rental income is far lower than the expenses. Here putting in a lot of cash to keep the mortgage payments low is advantageous.

Google adsense payment via western union

2008-12-07T21:57:00.000Z

I bumped into this information today and decided to share it with you guys,especially adsensers from Nigeria.This is good news as the days of having to wait for your cheque to be sent to nigeria is over.Google now pays through western Union money transfer.Below are the details as copied from google adsense website.If you would like to receive your earnings by Western Union Quick Cash, please complete the following steps. Please note that at this time, this payment option is only available to individual publishers.Sign in to your account at www.google.com/adsense.Visit the My Account tab.Click the 'edit' link adjacent to the 'Payment Details' header.Select the Western Union Quick Cash radio button.Click 'Continue'.Click 'Save Changes' to save your payment type.Please make sure that the name on your account exactly matches that on the government issued ID card that you will bring to pick up your Western Union Quick Cash payments. If you need to update your payee name in your account, please let us know and we will be happy to help you to do so.Also, please note that we are unable to guarantee payment for the next payment cycle in this form if your selection was made after the 15th of the month. For example, to ensure payment by Western Union Quick Cash for your March earnings, please complete the steps above before April 15th

Obama

2008-12-06T13:22:00.002Z

This is one that very few people have had the oppurtunity of seeing. Even the President-elect before he had his day saw a reason to commit things to the father. My greatest worry now is why are they only black people praying for him. Maybe they saw it as a battle between blacks and whites. Anyway it is good

motivation

2008-11-29T10:22:00.001Z

A little boy once asked his mother: “if work is such a fun, how come rich people don’t do it?” His mother replied that rich people do not only work but do much harder work. What the little boy’s mom did not tell him is that Bill Gate who was at one time the richest man in the world(now the third) did not make his money by laying video games. He was motivated by the desire to be rich, hence he put all his time and energy to work. Every normal person is motivated to perform. So whether you are a clergy, a businessman, a sportsman, an employee or a salesman, you are motivated to do what you are doing.

What is motivation?
Motivation is a set of reasons that compels one to engage in a particular behaviour. The term is generally used for human motivation but theoretically can be used to describe the causes for animal behaviour as well. Here the focus is on human motivation which is the force within or external of a person that arouses the enthusiasm and persistence to pursue a particular course of action.
According to motivation theories, motivation may be rooted in the basic need to minimise physical pain and maximise pleasure, or it may include specific needs such as eating and resting or a desired object; hobby, goal, state of being, ideal; or it may be attributed to less-apparent reasons such as altruism, morality or overcoming mortality.
According to psychologists, employee motivation affects productivity. Therefore, part of the duties of the manager is to channel motivation toward the accomplishment of organizational goals.

Do you motivate employees?
So how do you treat your workers? Do you treat them such that they do not feel a sense of belonging? Or do you treat them as sacks of potatoes? Do you give priority to other factors of production than you give to your employees? Do you consider your employees when you take decisions that affect them? Are you too busy that you cannot attend to the needs of an employee even though they are part of your responsibilities? Do you lie to them? Do you fulfil your promises to them as well due? Do you meet your financial obligations to them? Do you at all bother that workers can be motivated and find out what motivates them? How do you motivate them
Work can be fun if people are motivated to work; that is if managers make efforts to motivate them. Happy workers lead to happy customers and happy customers lead to a successful business. On the other hand, unhappy worker leads to unhappy customers which is very disastrous for the business. When employees are unhappy, they are likely to leave the business and when they do , the organization bears the cost of replacements and the cost of waiting for them to acquire the necessary skills while learning on the job. Added to this are the loss of intellectual capital, decreased moral, increased employee stress and negative reputation. Another form of cost that arises from this is sabotage. Frustrated workers are likely to sabotage the organization and at the end it is the organization that bears the brunt. It is therefore the duty of the manager to motivate employees towards common organisational goals.

Incentive theory
Motivation is all about reward. According to psychologists, a reward, tangible or intangible is presented after the occurrence of an action i.e. behaviour with the intent to cause the behaviour to occur again. Associating positive meaning to the behaviour does this. Studies show that if the person receives the reward immediately, the effect would be greater and duration lengthens. Repetitive action rewarding combination can cause the action to become a habit. Motivation comes from two things: you and other people. There is extrinsic motivation which comes from others and intrinsic motivation which comes from within you.
What can be gleaned from the preceding argument is that there are two types of reward namely intrinsic and extrinsic. An intrinsic reward means satisfaction a person gets in the process of performing a particular action. The belief that one is making contributions to the progress of an organization or society is a form of intrinsic reward. An extrinsic reward is something given to one by another, in this case the manager in recognition of good works. Typically, it comes in the form of pay increase, promotions and gifts

Brief Analysis of Motivation theories
At lower levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, such a s physiological needs, money is a motivator, however it tends to have a motivating effect on staff that lasts only for a short period ( in accordance with Herzberg’s two factor model of motivation). At the higher level, praise respect, recognition, empowerment and a sense of belonging are far more powerful motivators than money, as both Abraham Maslow’s theory of motivation and Douglas McGregor’s theory X and theory y( pertaining to the theory of leadership) demonstrate.
Maslow has money at the lowest level of the hierarchy and shows other needs are better motivator to staff. McGregor places money in his theory X category and feels it is a poor motivator. Praise and recognition are placed in the theory Y category and are considered stronger motivators than money.
- Motivated employees always seek better ways to do a job
- Motivated employees are more quality oriented
- Motivated workers are more productive
The average workplace is about midway between the extremes of high treat and high opportunity.

Is Yaradua confused

2008-11-27T19:32:00.002Z

I don't think Mr. President has any vivid reason for being president other than just playing to OBJ's gallery. He does not have any concrete agenda for his administration. At the beginning of his administration, he came up with his seven point agenda. Although I cannot remember any of the seven but definitely, I can remember that Health was nowhere to be found in his so called seven point agenda. The only thing I hear about this administration is "due process" but they do not follow this same due process. More recently, Ribadu, a man that was able to stem down the rot in the nigerian political system, a man that gave hope to the governed about the governors was manhandled by security operatives in Kuru, Jos before the very eyes of the so called excellency goodluck Jonathan. He gave a blind eye to the situation. When the outcry of the public was so much, the same Federal Government that has Goodluck Jonathan as the second in command came out to deny Knowledge of the situation. The Question now is "When he realised that the candidates for the NIPSS awards were incomplete, why didn't he ask questions", "Why was Ribadu not thrown out of the institution before the Awards day". We are really tired of a man masquerading himself as the president of this great country when he is unable to have clear goals for the people. People have been condemning the previous administration of Olusegun Obasnajo but suffice it to say that it was during that administrationthat we recorded the most economic growth in the histtory of this great country. This man Yaradua is almost spending two years in the helms of affirs of the country but has not achieved any remarkable feat. The man is not accountable to the people if not why does he continually use the security operatives to intimidate innocent Nigerians. The same crazy man came up to enforce the stamp duties. I can't imagine why a man as poor as I am would buy a commodity and pay stamp duties on it when I have already paid value added tax. This is the worst period in the history of this country.

School

2008-11-10T09:08:00.002Z

After four months of stress at school(UNIPORT), I am now free atleast for the next two months. The exams were cheap exams from sources you never expected the funny lecturers to come up with questions from. I don't know how my vacation would be like but I'm sure it would sure be fun

Military democracy

2008-11-09T21:00:00.003Z

These military personnels it seems no longer know how to behave in a democratic setting otherwise how do you explain that the Naval ratings attached to a Rear admiral that would tomorrow want to become the chief of Naval staff would beat up and strip a lady half naked and have no coutesy of coming out with an apology. This event is one that goes on in this country without anyone raising a brow. It only takes an astute citizen that knows his rights to fight these malicious and inhumanistic elements in the military. The memory of the cyclist tht was shot dead by a rear admiral some two years back is one that wouls still linger for a long while cos the damn admiral has gone free. I wonder why those security operatives did not allow angry mobs to lynch him to death? At least that would have shown all these big boys tne public disgust of their excesses.

Stay hungry stay foolish

2008-06-17T12:15:00.000+01:00

Stanford Report, June 14, 2005
'You've got to find what you love,' Jobs says
This is the text of the Commencement address by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005.
I am honored to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.
The first story is about connecting the dots.
I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?
It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.
And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.
It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:
Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.
None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, its likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.
Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something - your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.
My second story is about love and loss.
I was lucky - I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation - the Macintosh - a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.
I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me - I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.
I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.
During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I retuned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.
I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.
My third story is about death.
When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.
Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.
About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumor on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.
I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumor. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.
This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope its the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:
No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalog, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.
Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalog, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.
Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish.
Thank you all very much.

Phentermine

2008-05-30T12:18:00.002+01:00

Taking phentermine together with other diet medications such as fenfluramine (Phen-Fen) or dexfenfluramine (Redux) can cause a rare fatal lung disorder called pulmonary hypertension. Do not take phentermine with any other diet medications without your doctor's advice.

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Phentermine can cause side effects that may impair your thinking or reactions. Be careful if you drive or do anything that requires you to be awake and alert.
Avoid drinking alcohol. It can increase some of the side effects of phentermine.
Phentermine may be habit-forming and should be used only by the person it was prescribed for. Keep track of how many pills have been used from each new bottle of this medicine. Phentermine is a drug of abuse and you should be aware if any person in the household is using this medicine improperly or without a prescription.

You may have withdrawal symptoms, such as depression and extreme tiredness, when you stop using phentermine after using it over a long period of time. Do not stop using phentermine suddenly without first talking to your doctor. You may need to use less and less before you stop the medication completely.

What is phentermine?
Phentermine is a stimulant that is similar to an amphetamine. Phentermine is an appetite suppressant that affects the central nervous system.

Phentermine is used togther with diet and exercise to treat obesity (overweight) in people with risk factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, or diabetes.

Phentermine may also be used for purposes other than those listed in this medication guide.

Who should not take phentermine?
Do not take phentermine if you have used an MAO inhibitor such as isocarboxazid (Marplan), phenelzine (Nardil), rasagiline (Azilect), selegiline (Eldepryl, Emsam), or tranylcypromine (Parnate) within the past 14 days. Serious, life-threatening side effects can occur if you take phentermine before the MAO inhibitor has cleared from your body.

Taking phentermine together with other diet medications such as fenfluramine (Phen-Fen) or dexfenfluramine (Redux) can cause a rare fatal lung disorder called pulmonary hypertension. Do not take phentermine with any other diet medications without your doctor's advice.

Do not take this medication if you are allergic to phentermine or other stimulants, or if you have:

heart disease or high blood pressure;
arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries);
an overactive thyroid;
glaucoma;
if you are in an agitated state; or
if you have a history of drug or alcohol abuse.
Before taking phentermine, tell your doctor if you are allergic to any drugs, or if you have:

problems with your thyroid,
an anxiety disorder,
epilepsy or another seizure disorder, or
diabetes.
If you have any of these conditions, you may not be able to use phentermine, or you may need a dosage adjustment or special tests during treatment.

It is not known whether phentermine will harm an unborn baby. Do not take phentermine without first talking to your doctor if you are pregnant.
It is also not known whether phentermine passes into breast milk or if it could harm a nursing baby. Do not take phentermine without first talking to your doctor if you are breast-feeding a baby.
Do not give this medication to anyone younger than 16 years old without the advice of a doctor.

How should I take phentermine?
Take this medication exactly as it was prescribed for you. Do not take the medication in larger amounts, or take it for longer than recommended by your doctor. Follow the directions on your prescription label.

Taking high doses of phentermine over long periods of time can cause severe skin problems, sleep problems (insomnia), personality changes, and feeling hyperactive or irritable.
Take this medicine with a full glass of water.
It is best to take phentermine on an empty stomach before breakfast, or at least 10 to 14 hours before bedtime.

Phentermine should be taken only for a short time, such as a few weeks.

Do not crush, chew, break, or open an extended-release capsule. Swallow the pill whole. It is specially made to release medicine slowly in the body. Breaking or opening the pill would cause too much of the drug to be released at one time.

You may have withdrawal symptoms when you stop using phentermine after using it over a long period of time. Do not stop using this medication suddenly without first talking to your doctor. You may need to use less and less before you stop the medication completely.

Do not take phentermine in the evening because it may cause sleep problems (insomnia).

Stop taking phentermine if you have increased hunger or if you otherwise think the medication is not working properly. Do not take more phentermine for an increased effect. Taking too much of this medication can cause serious, life-threatening side effects.

Phentermine may be habit-forming and should be used only by the person it was prescribed for. Keep track of how many pills have been used from each new bottle of this medicine. Phentermine is a drug of abuse and you should be aware if any person in the household is using this medicine improperly or without a prescription.
Store phentermine at room temperature away from moisture and heat.

What happens if I miss a dose?
Take the missed dose as soon as you remember. If it is almost time for your next dose, skip the missed dose and take the medicine at your next regularly scheduled time. Do not take extra medicine to make up the missed dose.

What happens if I overdose?
Seek emergency medical attention if you think you have used too much of this medication. An overdose of phentermine can be fatal.

Symptoms of a phentermine overdose may include confusion, hallucinations, feeling restless or aggressive, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, irregular heartbeat, tremors, rapid breathing, confusion, hallucinations, feeling light-headed, fainting, or seizure (convulsions).

What should I avoid while taking phentermine?
Avoid drinking alcohol. It can increase some of the side effects of phentermine.
Phentermine can cause side effects that may impair your thinking or reactions. Be careful if you drive or do anything that requires you to be awake and alert.

What are the possible side effects of phentermine?
Get emergency medical help if you have any of these signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficulty breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.
Stop using phentermine and call your doctor at once if you have any of these serious side effects:

chest pain, swelling in your ankles or feet, feeling light-headed, fainting, or feeling short of breath, even with mild exertion;
fast or uneven heartbeat;
unusual thoughts or behavior, feeling restless or confused; or
increased blood pressure (severe headache, blurred vision, trouble concentrating, chest pain, numbness, seizure).
Less serious side effects may be more likely to occur, such as:

feeling nervous or anxious;
headache, dizziness, tremors;
trouble sleeping (insomnia);
dry mouth or an unpleasant taste in your mouth;
diarrhea or constipation; or
itching.
Side effects other than those listed here may also occur. Talk to your doctor about any side effect that seems unusual or that is especially bothersome.

What other drugs will affect phentermine?
Before taking phentermine, tell your doctor if you are using any of the following drugs:

medicines to treat high blood pressure;
insulin or diabetes medication you take by mouth;
guanadrel (Hylorel), guanethidine (Ismelin);
antidepressants such as citalopram (Celexa), escitalopram (Lexapro), fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem), fluvoxamine (Luvox), paroxetine (Paxil), or sertraline (Zoloft); or
antidepressants such as amitriptyline (Elavil, Etrafon), amoxapine (Ascendin), clomipramine (Anafranil), desipramine (Norpramin), doxepin (Sinequan), imipramine (Janimine, Tofranil), nortriptyline (Pamelor), protriptyline (Vivactil), or trimipramine (Surmontil).
If you are using any of these drugs, you may not be able to use phentermine, or you may need dosage adjustments or special tests during treatment.

There may be other drugs not listed that can affect phentermine. Tell your doctor about all the prescription and over-the-counter medications you use. This includes vitamins, minerals, herbal products, and drugs prescribed by other doctors. Do not start using a new medication without telling your doctor.

Where can I get more information?
Your pharmacist has information about phentermine written for health professionals that you may read.

What does my medication look like?
Phentermine is available with a prescription under the brand names Adipex and Fastin. Other brand or generic formulations may also be available. Ask your pharmacist any questions you have about this medication, especially if it is new to you.

Adipex-P 37.5 mg--white, oblong, scored tablets with blue speckles
Adipex-P 37.5 mg--light-blue-and-white capsules with two blue bands
Fastin 30 mg--blue-and-clear capsules with blue and white beads

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Remember, keep this and all other medicines out of the reach of children, never share your medicines with others, and use this medication only for the indication prescribed

Every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided by Cerner Multum, Inc. ('Multum') is accurate, up-to-date, and complete, but no guarantee is made to that effect. Drug information contained herein may be time sensitive. Multum information has been compiled for use by healthcare practitioners and consumers in the United States and therefore Multum does not warrant that uses outside of the United States are appropriate, unless specifically indicated otherwise. Multum's drug information does not endorse drugs, diagnose patients or recommend therapy. Multum's drug information is an informational resource designed to assist licensed healthcare practitioners in caring for their patients and/or to serve consumers viewing this service as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, the expertise, skill, knowledge and judgment of healthcare practitioners. The absence of a warning for a given drug or drug combination in no way should be construed to indicate that the drug or drug combination is safe, effective or appropriate for any given patient. Multum does not assume any responsibility for any aspect of healthcare administered with the aid of information Multum provides. The information contained herein is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, warnings, drug interactions, allergic reactions, or adverse effects. If you have questions about the drugs you are taking, check with your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.

2008-03-28T14:33:00.003Z

Do you have a blog and want to make some extra money? Then bloggerwave gives you the opportunity. If you are capable of writing then you can make iot big on bloggerwave. It makes use of blogs. You write for them and thay pay you without much stress why not give it a try today and you will be glad you did. All you need is your writing potentials. This is what is called SEO where other people require your help to grow their business. Join the marketplace today

ABOUT JUICEMETRICS

2007-12-26T17:11:00.000Z

Juice Media Worldwide, LLC, a leading provider of on‐demand Marketing 2.0 software services and solutions has moved to new San Diego headquarters at 591 Camino de la Reina on the 11th floor of the prominent Valley Corporate Center building.
Located just 10 minutes from downtown San Diego, the nearly 4,000 square foot state‐of‐the‐art offices are double the size of the previous headquarters. The new office equips Juice Media with enough space for the company to grow its software development and client management staff by an additional 50 percent in 2008.
“Managing rapid growth is always a challenge for successful start‐ups. We evaluated several options for new offices to accommodate our growth and Valley Corporate Center was an ideal location for us,” said Rick Enrico, CEO, Juice Media Worldwide, LLC. ”The office tower’s expansive features and centralized location made it a great solution for our needs as we expand our staff and client roster.”
Juice Media employees have access to a number of benefits with the move including an on‐site deli, gym, ocean view offices, and a park next door. The additional meeting space also enables Juice Media to develop even stronger relationships with its clients with more frequent and productive onsite meetings.
‐more‐
About Juice Media Worldwide, LLC:
Based in San Diego, California, with additional offices in Minnesota, Juice Media Worldwide develops JuiceMetrIQs™, a Marketing 2.0 enterprise marketing management platform that is Software as a Service (SAAS) application. JuiceMetrIQs™ streamlines the marketing process by allowing companies to store customer interaction data (sales transactions, demographics, website data, email addresses, etc.) and segment that information to build relevant targeted marketing campaigns. Customer data is housed in a single data warehouse that is tied to a concise central reporting dashboard. JuiceMetrIQs™ provides seamless integrations with top enterprise vendors from online and offline marketing channels such as Email, Direct Mail, SMS Messaging, and Voice Messaging. JuiceMetrIQs™ empowers marketers with the ability to analyze, maximize, and measure cross channel customer purchase behavior across all distributed marketing channels for greater marketing success.
Juice Media Worldwide is a portfolio company of Petters Group Worldwide, which includes companies such as Polaroid, Sun Country Airlines, and uBid.com. For more information please visit http://www.juicemetriqs.com
Press Contact:
Morgan Witt
http://www.juicemetriqs.com

Juice Media is devoted to being the leader in web-based Marketing 2.0 software applications.

Juice Media created a next generation Marketing 2.0 that automates core multi-channel marketing processes and optimizes automation and analytics. True to the vision as it was originally conceived, Juice Media established itself as an early leader in this emerging space to merge communication between IT and Marketing through technology.

Juice promises customers a commitment to continue providing a high level of service and to invest in solid product advances. Juice will continue to find new ways to use technology to advance the function of marketing and sales within your organization.

We believe in our employees, our customers, and our communities. Our passion is developing success for our customers through advanced technology, innovation, leadership and partnerships. We value integrity, individuality, co-creation, vision, and execution. We challenge our employees and our customers to think and dream big. Above all we pride ourselves with the mindset that imagination is everything and through focused intention you can create anything...
Juice embraces a set of core values as guiding principles for how we manage our business and respectfully treat each other as colleagues, customers and partners. These core values have served as the foundation of the Juice positive culture since our company was founded, and they continue to be a key ingredient as we strive to build the most innovative software products. Our core values are the strength and intention behind Juice's brand promise of customer success.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dedication to Teamwork and the focused pursuit of excellence
Creation of career passions and professional growth
Cultivation of customer loyalty and success
Commitment to the highest standard of integrity and ethics
Respect for the individual and the importance of a balanced life
Responsibility for service and philanthropy in our communities
Commitment of maintaining an environment of co-creation

Juice Media Worldwide is a global leader in delivering technology that accelerates marketing effectiveness and productivity. Juice Media provides a Marketing 2.0 enterprise marketing management product to empower marketing organizations across all verticals. Juice Media's software as a service (SaaS) technology JuiceMetrIQs™ is built on the Microsoft .NET framework and proprietary dScript platform that is a Rapid Application Development (RAD) framework. This allows Juice Media to design, develop, prototype, and test web-based (including Web 2.0 and AJAX) applications up to 90% faster than standard programming techniques.

JuiceMetrIQs™ addresses the challenges and opportunities of the CMO - alignment with the business, accountability for investments, multi-channel marketing, differentiating against competitors, managing a brand and maximizing the lifetime value of the customer base. Juice Media empowering technology maximizes shareholder value and secures the place of marketing in the boardroom.

Juice Media has sales offices in San Diego and Minneapolis.

English national soccer team management, what is wrong and who should be next?

2007-12-04T18:19:00.000Z

The recruitment process for the new coach begins now and we will do everything to get the right man for the job."

A line that has been trotted out many times before by various Football Association chairmen - but this comment, made by current incumbent Geoff Thompson to announce the sacking of Steve McClaren, highlights just one of the many problems that have blighted the once proud national game.

England, quite frankly, don't need a "new coach" - they need a manager, someone who can organise the team, who can pick players in the right position, who can act in the best interests of the team as opposed to the media.

It would also help if the people at the top also had some sort of footballing knowledge.

Brian Barwick, the C.E.O and a television executive who is a fan of football but ill-qualified to appoint the next England manager when compared to the likes of Sir Trevor Brooking, came out with all the usual lines.

An apology to the nation. We care passionately. It'll never happen again.

But it will happen again if football knowledge continued to be criminally ignored.

Sir Trevor Brooking, the F.A. Technical Director, has to report to many sub-committees, one of which hadn't met for two years.

With "passion" like that, who needs enemies?

The blazers have far too much of a say in the matter - the likes of David Dein and Sir David Richards, people with too many destructive influences at heart, were allowed to interfere with the messy and public process that was used to select the less-than-inspiring choice of McClaren.

This problem seems to be eradicated at face value - Barwick has been given sole responsibility to identify McClaren's successor by the F.A.

But even then Barwick would have to recommend his choice to the F.A. Board, which could quite conceivably mean that he could be swayed into altering his stance by a bunch of faceless men, many of whom football's man and woman in the street will never have heard of.

If the FA were to fail this time round, Thompson should refer his "root and branch examination" to his own board and ensure that they all walk the plank.

Then we come to the problems on the pitch - this is where it really matters after all.

Last weekend in the Premier League (24/11/07), only 36% of those in the starting eleven were qualified to play for England.

At this rate, it's measurable to say that future managers will have to select from The Championship and, god-forbid, League One.

There must also be concerns as to whether the players coming through have the technical ability needed to compete at international level.

Croatia were assured and controlled in possession; whenever England were under pressure - and that was frequently - they resorted to the kick and rush football seen up and down the country on a Sunday morning at amateur level.

Who should be next? It would seem that Brian Barwick would have a foreign candidate in mind, having stated that he is in pursuit of "a World-class manager".

That would seemingly rule out the likes of Harry Redknapp and Steve Coppell, and any other English manager working at the top level at present - the last Englishman to manage a top four side was Roy Evans, back in 1998 when he was joint-manager at Liverpool with Frenchman Gerard Houllier.

Fabio Cappello, Jose Mourinho and Martin O'Neill, the only British candidate with half a chance, but who has also stated his lack of interest, are perceived to be the front-runners.

But whoever comes in needs to have a passion to sort out all the problems from top-to-bottom, with perhaps various English coaches in tandem so we have some home-grown successors for the future.

This was Ron Greenwood's plan in 1982 for the World Cup; Don Howe, Bobby Robson and Terry Venables were all involved in the set-up and Greenwood felt this method was the way to go.

But the toothless authorities abandoned that idea then; they can't afford to make similar mistakes this time around.

FAKE LOTTERIES

2007-12-03T19:04:00.000Z

I have been wondering where all this fake lottery announcements come from. In a day i get almost 40 confiration e-mails about me winning lotteries I never entered for. I have never contacted the foreign ones but I wonder what it would be like and what they'll have to tell me when I get to ask them of my winnings. I once contacted one of the local ones and I was amzed when one agboro(tout) answered the call.
Can someone help tell me how they get my informations ar is yahoo not as secured as it claims to be. My given storage capacity on yahoo is almost running out and The spam control is not even functioning. Each day i receive mails from addresses I spam. I am not finding it funny at all. the worst part is that their so called lottery is always done without your knowledge. I think Yahoo should tighten its security.

NETWORK MARKETING

2007-12-01T22:17:00.000Z

Network marketing is another basic stream of income for you. Now lets demonstrate how this works;, I don’t think you can run a successful marketing company without a corporate philosophy. Network marketing is a completely different way of thinking.
Network companies have realized that the livelihood, growth and stability of their company are directly related to the livelihood, growth and stability of their affiliates”, ACCORDING TO Matt Morris, founder and president of Success University, our energies are focused not only on how we can increase value for our customer but how we can increase the success of our affiliates..’
The internet has made network marketing a big plus for those engaged in it. Now lets examine network strategy. These companies do not pay a dime for advertisement, they rather rely on what is called ‘word of mouth advertisement.(referrals). If you are satisfied with a product, you will certainly endorse the product to your personal associate. With this, the company saves a lot of money that would hitherto have been used for advertisement to reward you as their affiliate. One good affiliate site is clickbank

Advantage Auto Insurance

2007-10-29T08:56:00.000Z

Advantage Insurance Quoting system allows insurance companies to compete to give you the best price on car, truck, and SUV insurance policies no matter what your driving record looks like. We offer the best rates and the cheapest most affordable auto insurance policies anywhere for all types of drivers including hard to place teenage drivers, and of course if you have a excellent driving record with no accidents or points, you will qualify for the lowest and most affordable plans. Costs of insurance will also vary depending on the amount of coverage you request and the deductibles you apply for on your policy.

We offer insurance solutions for all makes and models of vehicles, including Ford, Chevrolet, BMW, Mercedes, Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, Mazda, Toyota , and Nissan. Whether you are driving a car, truck, or SUV, we can find you the best rates on auto insurance from a reputable and reliable insurer.

Selecting an automotive insurance company can be an overwhelming task, with hundreds of companies competing for your business. Advantage Auto Quotes can guide you through the process, helping you to select the type of coverage needed for your vehicle and putting you in touch with car insurance companies that will give you the most competitive rates available. Whether you are looking to cover a car, truck, SUV, or business vehicle, whether you are insuring a teen or senior driver, and whether you have an excellent driving history and qualify for the lowest rates or poor driving record, we can save you money on your auto insurance with our online quoting services.

Get started by selecting your state above today and you can have your new lower rate auto policy secured within a short period of time. By filling out one simple form, you can receive multiple quotes on all types of automotive insurance policies. We work closely with well-known companies like AIG, Allstate, Kaiser Permanente, and Liberty Mutual as well as smaller companies like Response Insurance, The Hartford, and Nationwide. Whether you are looking to insurance a new car or change insurance policies, our company can help you find the best rates available today.

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The burn fire night

2007-10-10T11:30:00.000+01:00

Yesterday was a continuation of the SUG week in Uniport and we had a bun fire night. I waas there and it was such fun. It was declared open by the SUG president Pastor Aniele. Students had a nice time frolicking together. Lots of alcohol and cigarettes. I was amazed to see female students smoke

DEVELOP WEBSITES FOR LOCAL BUSINESSES

2007-08-03T14:09:00.000+01:00

Approach local business persons and sell them on the necessity and financial benefits of having a professional website. Local advertising may get you started as well, but expect to get a large portion of your business from referrals. Charge your clients for the initial design and setup of the website. Work with them to develop a theme for their site based on their unique advantages over the competition. Keep the site simple to start with so that the cost of producing it is not prohibitive to the business. Charge recurring monthly fees for services like web hosting, updates, search engine optimization and submission, traffic, traffic analysis, mailing list production and maintenance. You don’t need to be a master internet programmer to provide needed additional services. There are many free and low cost services of scripts and other resources available to you on the net. You could also offer your clients services such as flash introductions, animated graphics, syndicated content, traffic counters, submission forms, chat rooms, pop-up windows, auto responders and more.

EARN MONEY FROM EBOOKS

2007-08-03T14:07:00.000+01:00

An e-book is a revolutionary way to publish and distribute ideas via a medium that is more accessible to both consumers and potential authors. They are the electronic equivalent to regular hardback or paperback books. A simple definition of an e-book is an electronic file that contains literature and accompanying graphics e-books are typically downloaded online in a password protected environment.
What a brick and mortar store is to traditional books, online e-commerce is to e-book distribution. The method of propagating e-book material is by paid file transfers and then viewed with an applicable e-book reader software program. You will notice that just as a typical book have cover art, so too do e-books. Many e-books are set up to have a similar look and presentation to traditional books. The popularity of e-books extends beyond portability. In most cases, consumers spend a lot less for the e-book purchases than a traditional book. This is because you are not paying to have the book shipped to you and you do not have to pay expenses associated with actually printing the book.
In essence this is a win/win for both the author and the consumer. The product arrives when you want it, does not typically require sales tax and can be stored for future reading in a space saving electronic file.

MAKE MONEY FROM WRITING SEO ARTICLES

2007-08-03T14:04:00.000+01:00

You can make tons of money from your writing ability. There are several opportunities for you to make money without spending a dime and best without leaving the periphery of your comfort. These opportunities include.
- Writing seo articles? Search Engine Optimization (S.E.O) articles are a major medium for marketers, website owner and many other internet users to advertise their products goods and services. It is good knowledge that goods or service that are not advertised cannot sell. No matter how good a product or service is, it is not well advertised it cannot sell. As such all web masters and site owners on the internet need advertising traffic.
One of the main ways to get traffic for what ever people do online is to write articles.
You will be surprised to learn that articles are in much demand on the net because they are a very effective medium of getting sales. However, many web masters and other people in need of articles do not have time to write it themselves.
For one, managing a site, no matter how small the content is an arduous task by itself. As such, all these businessmen hire other people to write for them. This is where you come in as a writer. You write articles for the site owner and get your money in dollars. It’s that straight forward or more depending on a few factors. If you want to get started immediately click below

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EXCHANGE YOUR INFO FOR CASH

2007-08-03T13:59:00.000+01:00

There are billions of websites nowadays and plenty of information you can find wherever you want if you research properly. That is the reason why information business is a good model to follow people are consistently hungry for information. Information keeps them updated with current events

If is with the aid of information that people relate with others at a higher plane. But there are people that just want to save time, avoiding further researches and so on. Information refers to an idea which carries different implication to the one who is able to get hold of it. There are times that information is being linked with communication, knowledge, data awareness interpretations and meaning. With high demand for information, you can make money by selling information.
There are many forms of informational products you can utilize to market online. Some of them are books. You can be the writer of your business or you may opt to hire writers. Often times, topics for an e- book vary depending on the preference of your target market. For instance, couples are your target market, then you can write a book about marriage and relationship. Another way is joining to PLR sites that deliver books monthly.
- Audio tapes and CDS: some people prefer listening to reading like the e-book, the, the type of information or music you will produce under this category depends on your target market. Even you can change your e-books to audio e-books.
- Website: creating a website and completing it with content articles will make you earn an ample amount of money all you need to do is the skill and creativity to construct a website, it is free to joint and there are several e-books with tips about it.

MAKING MONEY FROM SPARE

2007-08-03T13:52:00.000+01:00

Domain names are as important on the net as real estates are on to a business Domain names are easy to get and therefore should be treated with most importance.
Have you ever gotten an idea and you rushed to buy a domain name only to quickly lose interest and let it sit undeveloped for months? Instead of letting your domain names wile away unused, you should consider “parking” them. It takes less than five minutes and once your domain is parked, you can start making money every time that a visitor clicks an ad on your page.
If you decide one day that you do want to develop the domain, it’s just as easy as to unpark it. To park a domain, all you need is a parking service. There are thousands of options out there, and of the pack, sedo and moniker stand out. Both allow you to park and list your website for free. Even if you list a domain name for sale you are under no obligation to actually sell the domain name. However listing it under one of these websites is one way of making a couple hundred dollars off a domain name that you had almost forgot about.
If you prefer to do things yourself you can always place Adsense on an unused domain name. However keep in mind that you’ll need to create some type of content for your landing page if you choose to place there ads on it.

HOW TO MAKE MONEY ON GOOGLE ADSENSE

2007-08-03T13:34:00.000+01:00

The chances are that you’ve seen “ads by Google” on a variety of websites and perhaps wondered what they were all about. The fact is that you can probably get “Ads by Google on your own site and if you do, you can look forward to being paid by google.

The system is called Google adsense and if does two things really neatly.

First of all it makes any website owner to make some money without having to do too much – all you do is put some code that Google gives you into your web pages. This code creates the ads that you see and when someone clicks on the ads, thy go to the advertiser’s site the advertiser is then charged for the click by Google and shares the money with you. You don’t have to worry about billing load of different companies or anything else. This is all done for you as part of the Adsense service.
That much is fairly straight forward and good news.

But the really clever thing about Adsense is that the ads you see are relevant to your contents. Google’s technology scans your
Web page and decides what it is all about and searches its database to find the ads.

To make money on Google Adsense you need to develop web pages that are about high valve topics.
In fact some ads pay many dollars a click whereas others pay a few cents. To start up with Google Adsense click below

(MAKING MONEY VIA GOOGLE ADSENSE)

2007-07-26T12:34:00.000+01:00

The chances are that you have seen "ads by google"on a variety of websites and perhaps wondered what they were all about. The fact is that you can also get google to advertise on your site and also get paid by Google.
The system is called google adsense and it does two things really neat.
Firstly, it allows virtual any website owner to make money without having to do much work.just by putting a code on your site.. This code creates the ads that you see and when someone clicks on the ads, you get paid for the clicks.
The really clever thing about adsense is that the ads you see on your site is relevant to your content. Google technology scans your website website and

general day to day life: CRM SOFTWARE EVOLVED

2007-05-26T15:43:00.000+01:00

general day to day life: CRM SOFTWARE EVOLVED

वर्ल्ड बैंक

2007-05-23T17:41:00.000+01:00

ई दो नॉट क्नोव व्ह्य थे प्रेसिदेंच्य ऑफ़ थे वर्ल्ड बैंक स्टील रेसिदेस विथ थे उनितेद स्टेट व्हें इत हस shown विविद्ल्य तो थे वर्ल्ड ठाट इत कान्नोत कण्ट्रोल ठाट एक्षल्तेद् पोसिशन।

LOTTERY

2007-05-21T18:22:00.001+01:00

हवे यू एवर इमागीनेद यौर्सेल्फ़ विन्निंग अ ह्यूज जच्क्पोत। तेल मे वहत यू वुड दो इफ यू वेर तोल्ड वन मोर्निंग ठाट यू'वे वों अ ह्यूज जच्क्पोत । ई ऍम नॉट त्ल्किंग ऑफ़ सकाम लिके वहत इस दोने ओं मेल साइट्स.

Wolforitz

2007-05-19T15:41:00.000+01:00

The president of the world bank not only went contrary to his stance against corruption but has clearly defiled the office in which he is. There should be no further pleas accepted from him. Recently, he attacked China for their investments in Africa. I do not understand the stance of the United state in this matter but any way, I think they are going beyond their boundaries in insisting that the corrupt Wolforitz remain in office. Nevertheless, their stand may be due to the fact that they would not want wolforitz disgraced out of office.

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