08.05.04
Posted in Ecommerce at 12:00 am by admin
How To Accept Credit Cards Without a Merchant Account
By J. Stephen Pope
To increase sales on your website, you must accept credit
cards. To process credit cards, you could apply for a
merchant account through your bank or other financial
institution.
Sometimes, though, you would be further ahead to use the
services of a credit card processor. This is especially
true when you are first starting out and have more
limited resources. In this way, you may process credit
card transactions without the high front-end costs and
requirements of a merchant account.
Here, then, are just a few ways of accepting credit cards
without a merchant account. I personally use all of these
vendors and can recommend them wholeheartedly.
1. Clickbank
If your product is downloadable (such as electronic books
or software), you might consider ClickBank.com . For a
$49.95 initial fee, you can process credit cards and
on-line cheques for $1.00 per transaction plus 7.5% of
sales.
You receive additional exposure through free listing on
their website and through the search facilities of other
websites, such as CBMall.com .
As an added bonus, you have your own built-in affiliate
program. You decide what commission (from 1% to 75%) you
would like to pay your affiliates.
2. PayPal
PayPal.com has no initial fees. For just 2.9% of sales
and $ .30 per transaction (and sometimes less), you can
receive money from anyone.
Also, you can pay others by credit card or chequing account
without supplying your personal credit information to the
payee. PayPal can be used to collect money from your
auctions, website sales, or even from friends or clients.
3. PaySystems
PaySystems.com can handle either intangible (downloadable)
or tangible (shippable) products. For an initial fee of
$49.00, you can accept all major credit cards as well as
online checks. Fees are just 3.95% of sales and $1.00 per
transaction. Alternatively, you may pay 5.5% of sales and
$ .35 per transaction.
For this, you receive shopping cart, integration with
third-party affiliate programs (such as ClixGalore.com ),
fraud screening, multi-currency transactions, toll-free
support, marketing tools, and more.
For more information on how to accept credit cards without
a merchant account, visit:
http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/creditcards.html
RESOURCE BOX:
J. Stephen Pope, President of Pope Consulting Inc.,
http://www.popeconsultinginc.com/ has been helping clients
to earn maximum business profits for over twenty-five years.
For valuable Work at Home Small Business Ideas, visit
http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/
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Posted in Management at 12:00 am by admin
Using Outlook to Count Responses
By Robin Henry
Here’s a productivity tip that will save you a lot of time and trouble if you need to collate responses from staff for any reason, especially if you work for an organisation with a lot of staff.
Case Study: I worked for a financial institution with 3,000 plus employees and had to identify how many employees needed compulsory training in certain legislation so that we could plan and resource the training.
I emailed everyone within the centre with a request that if they had not completed the training within the last three months, they were to reply to my email without changing the subject line. They were to reply by a certain deadline … any queries were to be sent via a new email addressed to me and I explained why.
I created a folder called ‘Legislation Training’ and used Rules Wizard to divert any email received with the subject line: ‘Legislation Training Requirement’ into the folder. Every time a new email arrived it automatically went into the folder and Outlook incremented and displayed the number of unopened emails in the folder in brackets at the end of the folder name. It looked like this: ‘Legislation Training (125)’.
By the deadline all I had to do was look at the end of the Legislation Training folder to see how many people needed the training. No counting … all done automatically by our productivity tool Outlook 2002.
As the fast talking salesman on the television said, ‘And there’s more!’
When I was asked for a list of the names of those who had responded, all I had to do was export the Legislation Training folder emails to MS Excel. Excel allows you to choose the fields you export. I chose the ‘From’ field and finished up with a list of names since all email addresses were in the format WILLIAMS Royston. Once in Excel it was a simple matter to sort them into alphabetical order.
Not only that, I could now email 20 people at a time and advise them when and where they had to attend this mandatory training.
This is an excellent way to deal with large numbers of people and, although Outlook does have options for creating forms with yes/no buttons and so on in them, it is more complex than this option.
I hope this short article has been of interest to you and that it helps you improve your work performance.
Robin Henry is a human resources specialist who provides support to small businesses keen to improve organisation and methods. He operates his home-based business from Central Australia and his site is found here http://www.dwave.com.au
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Posted in Uncategorized at 12:00 am by admin
Primitive Navigation in the Outdoors
By Greg Rouse
Everyone has been in the outdoors at some point and wondered which direction they where traveling or possibly even been lost. So if you don’t have a compass, how does the average person figure out direction of travel?
Here’s 3 different methods to try during the daytime:
- Shadowless Stick Method: Place a stick in the ground and then move or adjust it until the shadow disappears completely, soon it will reappear with the shadow running roughly East/West.
- Shadow Stick Method: Place a stick in the ground and mark the tip of the shadow it casts with a small stick or stake in the ground. Then wait 10 minutes and repeat, after 30 minutes or longer, you’ll have a row of small sticks marking the East/West line (North/South is perpendicular to this line).
- Watch Method: Take a fine stick and place it in the center of the watch hands (do not use a digital watch), hold the watch level and rotate the whole watch until the sticks shadow is parallel with and/or falling over the hour hand. 1/2 way between the hour hand and 12 o’clock is North/South.
(Here’s the digital watch version: Just draw a basic watch pattern on paper with the hour hand indicating the correct time and repeat the steps above based on the correct time).
And lets not to forget you nightime travelers, here’s 4 different methods for you to try during the nighttime:
- Cresent Moon: Draw a line from tip to tip in a straight line and where the line hits the horizon is roughly South.
- Big Dipper Method: Draw a straight line through the two stars that make up the end of the pot (opposite the handle) and continue this line away from the opening of the pot until it intersects a star known as “Polaris” (the North Star) and you have North.
- Latitude Method: Look at the North Star and hold your 1st arm straight out and parallel with the horizon, now point your 2nd arm straight at the North Star. The angle between your arms is roughly the degrees latitude (i.e. 45 degrees).
- Latitude Stick Method: Put a vertical stick in the ground, align a 2nd stick with the 1st stick and the North Star, then place it vertical in the ground. Now, slide your thumb and eye down the 2nd stick until the North Star is aligned with the tip of the 1st stick. Mark the spot and measure the angle from a parallel line with the ground and the line you created from the tip of the 1st stick to the spot you marked on the 2nd stick. This is your latitude and the 2 sticks are pointing in a North/South line, which means perpendicular to this line is the Easy/West line.
In the final analysis, there’s many ways to navigate with a little help from nature. Our forefathers used these methods for years and probably only got lost once in awhile…
About the Author:
Greg Rouse has been teaching wilderness sports and emergency response at the university and college level for over a decade. He is also the founder of a unique web site called WildernessTrip.com, a one-stop resource for self-guided wilderness trip planning. This web site is basically; a free online guidebook that photo-documents trips with interactive maps and detailed route descriptions. Each trip has free pictures and free topographic maps of the trail, all in a print-friendly format. Check it out at http://www.WildernessTrip.com
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Posted in Taxes at 12:00 am by admin
Home Based Business: Your Ultimate Tax Shelter
By J. Stephen Pope
Starting and operating your own home based business is
the ultimate tax shelter.
Although this article has been written from a Canadian
income tax perspective, the principles should be
practical in other tax jurisdictions.
1. Non-Deductible Personal Living Expenses
All of us have expenses that we incur in everyday
living.
Either you rent an apartment or house or you own your
residence. Utilities, insurance, rent, mortgage
interest, property taxes, and maintenance and repairs
are typical costs of operating your home.
Likely, you have a vehicle which also consumes large
amounts of cash.
Add to this, dining out, entertainment, gifts,
alcoholic beverages, office supplies, telephone and
many other expenditures, and you have a significant
cash outflow.
In most cases, as an employee, retired person,
investor, student, or homemaker, few of these
expenses are tax-deductible to you.
This means that you must earn a considerable income,
pay your income taxes first, and then use what is
left to pay all your expenses.
Some employees may be able to write-off some of
their employment related expenses, if such are
required by their contract of employment. However,
even in this situation, the tax deductions are very
limited.
2. Your Own Home Based Business Means Tax Deductions
Now consider the situation where you decide to start
your own home based business.
Suddenly, many of your everyday expenses are now being
used for business purposes and are now tax-deductible.
If you use one quarter of your home exclusively for
business use, you will be able to deduct (or write-off)
one quarter of all related occupancy costs. These
expenses may include maintenance and repairs (that are
not capital in nature), rent, mortgage interest, house
or apartment insurance, power, heat, water, and
property taxes.
As well, your vehicle expenses used for business
purposes are another tax write-off. If you use your
car ninety percent for business purposes, you can
deduct ninety percent of your vehicle insurance, gas
and oil, maintenance and repairs, car washes, license
and registration, auto club, loan interest (within
certain limits), and other costs from your income.
You may also write-off one hundred percent of your
business related parking. Capital Cost Allownance
(C.C.A.) on your vehicle is also allowed for income tax
purposes; depreciation is the accounting term for this
tax deduction.
The Canadian government also allows as a deduction,
fifty percent of your business related entertainment
expenses.
Also tax-deductible are business related telephone
expenses, Internet access, office supplies, travel,
books, memberships, and a host of other expenditures.
3. Income Splitting with Your Home Based Business
If you have a high paying job, you will pay higher
taxes because the rates of tax increase as your income
does.
With your own business, you can pay reasonable wages to
your spouse and children. In this way, you can legally
divert income taxed at your higher rate to your family
members that are in a lower tax bracket.
This tax saving technique is called income splitting.
It is another good reason why your own home based
business is the ultimate tax shelter.
4. Even a Part-Time Home Based Business Works
Even if you have a full-time job, running a part-time
business can be advantageous.
Of course, you must actually run a real, moneymaking
business. Any attempts to write unprofitable hobbies
off will ultimately fail with the taxation authorities.
If you earned eight thousand dollars during the year
from your part-time business and were able to deduct
eight thousand dollars in car expenses, home office
expenses, entertainment costs, office supplies, and
other business related expenditures, you would have a
net business income of nil. You would pay no tax on
this additional income.
Don`t miss this important point! Although these tax
deductions are actual, legitimate business expenses,
these are expenditures you would probably have made
anyway, whether you had a business or not.
Thus, by rearranging your affairs to start and operate
a home based business, you have been able to convert
non-deductible personal expenditures into legally
deductible business expenses. You have successfully
sheltered your income from tax and have split your
income with family members in lower tax brackets.
Yes, indeed, your home based business has become
your ultimate tax shelter.
RESOURCE BOX:
J. Stephen Pope, President of Pope Consulting Inc.,
http://www.popeconsultinginc.com/ has been helping
clients to earn maximum business profits for over
twenty-five years.
For valuable Work at Home Small Business Ideas,
visit: http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/
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Posted in Business at 12:00 am by admin
Drop Ship Your Way to Wealth
By J. Stephen Pope
Your customer sees a marvelous array of products on
your website. After thoughtful consideration, she
purchases the product she wants. Amazingly, you
have never actually seen the product. That is
because your supplier shipped the order directly to
her.
1. Problems With Stocking Inventory
After deciding what products you will sell, you are
immediately faced with many challenges.
First: “To stock my products, will I need to rent
store or warehouse space? I was hoping to sell
by Internet, mail order, or export, but I don`t
have much storage space for inventory at home.”
Second: “Will the supplier even deal with me if
I don`t have a retail location? I was counting
on keeping my overhead down by operating from
home.”
Third: “I know that many manufacturers and
distributors have a minimum order, sometimes in the
thousands of dollars. I don`t have that kind
of money!”
Fourth: “Even if I did have the money, why should
I tie it up in inventory? How do I know if the
product will even sell?”
Fifth: “I guess I will have to add extra insurance
coverage for my inventory. Maybe I better upgrade
my security system while I`m at it.”
Sixth: “The shipping charges are going to kill me.
First, I have to pay to get the goods here
(freight-in). Then, I have to pay to ship the goods
out to my customers (freight-out).”
Seventh: “If I expand and hire employees, how will
I control the inventory? How will I know if my
employees are stealing from me?”
Eighth: “How much time and money am I going to spend
packaging and fulfilling orders?”
These problems can be reduced or eliminated by drop
shipping.
2. Drop Shipping to the Rescue
Drop shipping is a method of selling products
without stocking inventory yourself. You don`t need
to stock inventory, because you only order an item
when a customer requests it.
With drop shipping, when you make a sale you contact
the manufacturer or authorized distributor and make
arrangements to pay for the order at your wholesale
cost. Your distributor then ships the product to
the customer with your invoice and shipping label.
For example, let`s assume that you have just sold a
product to a customer for $100.00 plus shipping
charges of $15.00. Having received the customer`s
payment, you now need to fax or otherwise send your
order to your drop ship supplier. You will need to
pay your supplier, by credit card or other means,
your cost of $50.00 plus $15.00 shipping. This
leaves you a $50.00 gross profit. Your supplier
will now ship the product to your customer.
With this arrangement of not having to stock
inventory yourself, there are many advantages.
You eliminate the high costs of holding inventory.
There is no need for you to rent expensive storage
space, finance high minimum orders, get stuck with
goods that don`t sell, or pay other expenses
associated with maintaining inventory.
Indirectly, you do pay inventory costs. Your drop
ship supplier must maintain his inventory and pay
all associated costs, including freight-in, storage
space, insurance, accounting, shrinkage, and so on.
To make a profit, he must pass these costs on to you.
The real advantage to this drop shipping arrangement
lies in keeping your costs variable. Instead of being
stuck with these expenses up front, whether you sell
or not, you pay only when you make a sale.
3. Profit From Drop Shipping
Many legitimate drop ship suppliers may not require
you to have a retail location, but they will want to
see evidence that you are in business. They may
require you to produce a resale license or retail
sales tax permit.
To be sure, there are pitfalls to watch out for in
drop shipping. For example, some suppliers claim
to sell at wholesale prices but are actually selling
closer to retail. Also, margins are very slim in some
competitive areas, such as electronics. However,
with proper research and information, you should be
able to avoid these problems.
Whether from your home, retail store, directly from
your website or through an online auction, you can
arrange to sell an item before you purchase it. That
way you have nothing invested in inventory and won`t
get stuck with stock that won`t sell.
Rather than financing and stocking inventory yourself,
consider drop shipping your way to wealth.
For more information about drop shipping, visit
http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/dropship.html
RESOURCE BOX:
J. Stephen Pope, President of Pope Consulting Inc.,
http://www.popeconsultinginc.com/ has been helping
clients to earn maximum business profits for over
twenty-five years.
For valuable Work at Home Small Business Ideas,
visit: http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/
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Posted in Business at 12:00 am by admin
How to Give Job-Winning Answers at Interviews
By Bonnie Lowe
Human Resources personnel, professional recruiters and various other career experts all agree: one of the best ways to prepare yourself for a job interview is to anticipate questions, develop your answers, and practice, practice, practice.
There are plenty of websites that offer lists of popular job interview questions, and knowing the types of questions to expect can be very useful. But knowing how to answer those questions can mean the difference between getting the job and getting the “reject letter.”
HOW TO ANSWER QUESTIONS
First, know these important facts:
1. There is no way to predict every question you will be asked during a job interview. In other words, expect unexpected questions–they’ll come up no matter how much preparation you do.
2. Treat any sample answers you find, such as in discussion forums, books or on Internet job sites, as GUIDES only. Do not use any sample answers word for word! Interviewers can spot “canned” answers a mile away, and if they suspect you are regurgitating answers that are not your own, you can kiss that job goodbye. You must apply your own experiences, personality and style to answer the questions in your own way. This is crucial, and it will give you a big advantage over candidates who simply recite sample answers.
3. Job interview questions are not things to fear, they are OPPORTUNITIES TO EXCEL. They allow you to show why you are the best person for the job, so instead of dreading them, look forward to them! The key is to give better answers than anyone else, and that’s where your preparation comes in.
Now, take these actions:
1. Make a list of your best “selling points” for the position. What qualifications, skills, experience, knowledge, background, personality traits do you possess that would apply to this particular job? Write them down and look for opportunities to work them into your answers.
2. In addition to any sample job interview questions you find through various resources, you absolutely must develop your OWN list of probable questions based specifically on the job for which you are applying. Put yourself in the hiring manager’s shoes… what kinds of questions would you ask to find the best person for this job?
3. Write down your answers to likely questions. Study the job announcement carefully. (If you don’t have one, get one!) Note the phrases they use when describing the desired qualifications. You’ll want to target these as much as possible when developing your answers. For example, if the announcement says they want someone with “strong customer service skills,” make sure you include “strong customer service skills” in at least one of your answers. That will make a better impression than saying “I helped customers.”
4. Review and edit your answers until you feel they are “just right.” Read them over and over until you are comfortable that you know them fairly well. Don’t try to memorize them; don’t worry about remembering every word. Practice saying them out loud. If possible, have a friend help you rehearse for the interview.
Be A (Short) Story Teller
Make use of this old marketing tip: “Facts tell but stories sell.” During a job interview, you are selling yourself. Whenever possible, answer questions with a short story that gives specific examples of your experiences. Notice I said “short.” You don’t want to ramble or take up too much time; you want to be brief but still make your point.
For example, imagine two people interviewing for a job as a dog groomer are asked, “Have you ever dealt with aggressive dogs?” Candidate Joe answers, “Yes, about 10% of the dogs I’ve groomed had aggressive tendencies.” Candidate Mary answers, “Oh yes, quite often. I remember one situation where a client brought in his Pit Bull, Chomper. He started growling at me the moment his owner left, and I could tell from his stance he wasn’t about to let me get near his nails with my clippers. I think he would’ve torn my arm off if I hadn’t used the Schweitzer Maneuver on him. That calmed him down right away and I didn’t have any problems after that.” (NOTE: I know nothing about dog grooming; I made the Schweitzer Maneuver up for illustrative purposes.)
Don’t you agree that Mary’s answer is better? Sure, Joe answered the question, but Mary did more than that–she gave a specific example and told a quick story that will be remembered by the interviewers.
In today’s job market where there are dozens of highly qualified candidates for each opening, anything you do that will make you stand out and be remembered will greatly increase your odds of getting hired.
Keep the Interviewer’s Perspective in Mind; Answer His “What’s in it for Me?” Question
While many questions asked during job interviews appear to focus on your past accomplishments, here’s an important tip: they may be asking about what you did in the past, but what they really want to know is what you can do NOW, for THEM.
The key is to talk about your past accomplishments in a way that shows how they are RELEVANT to the specific job for which you are interviewing. Doing advance research about the company (such as at their website or at www.hoovers.com) and the position will be extremely helpful.
Here’s another example with Joe and Mary. The interviewer asks, “What is the most difficult challenge you’ve faced, and how did you overcome it?” Joe answers with, “In one job I was delivering pizzas and I kept getting lost. By the time I’d find the address, the pizza would be cold, the customer would be unhappy, and my boss was ready to fire me. I overcame this problem by purchasing a GPS navigation device and installing it in my car. Now I never get lost!” Mary answers, “In my current job at Stylish Hounds, management ran a special promotion to increase the number of customers who use the dog-grooming service. It was a bit too successful because we suddenly had more customers than we could handle. Management would not hire additional groomers to help with the workload. Instead of turning customers away or significantly delaying their appointments, I devised a new grooming method that was twice as fast. Then I developed a new work schedule. Both efforts maximized productivity and we were able to handle the increased workload effectively without upsetting our customers.”
Joe’s answer shows initiative and commitment (he bought that GPS gadget with his own money, after all). But Mary’s answer relates specifically to the job they are applying for (dog groomer). And Mary had done research about the company and discovered it was about to significantly expand it’s dog-grooming operations. So she picked an example from her past that addressed an issue the interviewer was likely to apply to a future situation in his company. See the difference?
Here’s one more example. Joe and Mary are asked, “What’s your greatest accomplishment?” Joe answers, “I won two Olympic Gold Medals during the 2000 Olympics in the high-jump competition.” Mary answers, “I was named Stylish Hounds’s Dog Groomer of the Year in 2003 for increasing productivity in my section by 47%.”
Joe’s accomplishment is pretty spectacular. But remember the interviewer’s perspective. He might be impressed, but he’s thinking “What’s in it for me? What does being a world-class high-jumper four years ago have to do with helping me to increase sales in my dog-grooming department?” Mary’s answer is much less spectacular than Joe’s, but it’s relevant to the position and indicates that she has what it takes to be successful in this particular job. It tells the interviewer, “I have what you’re looking for; I can help you with your specific needs.”
Looks like Mary has a new job!
Do Not Lie
Last but not least, tell the truth. It’s sometimes very tempting to “alter” the truth a bit during a job interview. For instance, say you quit instead of being fired. But the risk of being discovered as a liar far outweighs the potential benefit of hiding the truth.
If you are thinking about telling a lie during the interview, ask yourself these questions (this technique has helped me make many major decisions): “What is the BEST thing that could happen? What is the WORST thing that could happen? Is the best thing WORTH RISKING the worst thing?” In this instance, the best thing would be getting the job. The worst thing would be getting discovered as a liar, which could lead to getting fired, which could lead to unemployment, which could lead to more job searching, which could lead to another interview, which could lead to the stress of deciding whether to lie about just getting fired, and so on… a cycle that can go on indefinitely. Is all that worth getting the one job, perhaps on a temporary basis?
Always consider the consequences of your actions.
In Summary, Here’s What You Need To Do When Preparing To Answer Job Interview Questions:
1. Study the job announcement.
2. Research the company.
3. Anticipate likely questions.
4. Prepare answers to those questions that are relevant to the position and the company.
5. Promote your best “selling points” (relevant qualifications, capabilities, experience, personality traits, etc.) by working them into your answers.
6. Practice. Practice. Practice.
Bonnie Lowe is author of the popular Job Interview Success System and free information-packed ezine, “Career-Life Times.” Find those and other powerful career-building resources and tips at her website: http://www.best-interview-strategies.com.
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Posted in Business at 12:00 am by admin
Bootstrap Financing Your Way to Business Success
By J. Stephen Pope
Do you need to start or grow your business but have
little money? Before you look to banks and similar
sources of financing, why not bootstrap your way to
business success?
A bootstrap is a small loop of leather or other
material that is found on the top rear or sides of a
boot. The purpose of the bootstrap is to help you
pull your boot on.
In business, bootstrapping has come to mean helping
oneself without seeking outside help. It means using
your own resources to finance, promote, and develop
your business.
Here, then, are some ways of financing your own
business by using your own initiative and depending
less on outside bank financing.
1. Operate a Home-Based Business
Operating your business from home could save you a
fortune. First of all, you eliminate the costs of
expensive commercial rent, commuting, et cetera.
As well, your business use of home expenses would be
deductible for income tax purposes. Since your home
is your base of operations, your travel and automotive
expenses from your home to clients would be deductible.
2. Accept Credit Cards
Rather than financing receivables and assuming the risk
for bad debts, why not accept credit card payments?
For more information about accepting credit cards, visit:
http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/creditcards.html
3. Drop Ship Products
Rather than financing and stocking inventory yourself,
consider drop shipping.
With drop shipping, when you make a sale you contact
the manufacturer or authorized distributor who ships
the product to the customer with your invoice and
shipping label. Advantages include no warehousing,
shipping, or inventory costs.
For more information about drop shipping, visit
http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/dropship.html
4. Use Your Customer`s Money
Selling memberships, subscriptions, gift certificates,
and coupon books are just a few ways of getting your
clients to pay upfront. Obtaining advance deposits
and retainers from your customers can help finance your
business operations and reduce or eliminate the need
for bank financing.
5. Licensing
Instead of trying to finance the manufacturing and
marketing of your invention, which could cost millions
of dollars before you have your first sale, why not license it
to a company with the necessary expertise and capital?
You will then receive royalties in return for your idea.
For more information about licensing, visit:
http://yenommarketinginc.com/licensing.html
6. Other Bootstrap Financing Methods
Aggressively control costs, barter, get extended terms from
suppliers, establish strict credit and collection policies
and procedures, rent (or lease) instead of buying equipment,
buy used equipment instead of new, sell off excess inventory
and equipment, obtain free publicity instead of paying for
advertising, and do whatever else is necessary to generate
cashflow and profits.
In these ways and many others not listed here, you may be
able to start and grow your business successfully with very
limited capital. Thus, you will avoid having to obtain
expensive debt or equity financing.
Many who were unable to obtain financing from any other source
have successfully bootstrapped their way to business success.
For more information about financing your business,
visit: http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/financing.html
J. Stephen Pope, President of Pope Consulting Inc.,
http://www.popeconsultinginc.com/ has been helping
clients to earn maximum business profits for over
twenty-five years.
For valuable Work at Home Small Business Ideas,
visit: http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/
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Posted in Auctions at 12:00 am by admin
Negating Negative Feedback on eBay
By J. Stephen Pope
Taking some pride in my one hundred percent positive
feedback score on eBay, I was horrified to see a
negative feedback appear against me.
What had I done wrong? Had I overlooked an auction win
and failed to deliver product as promised? Had I given
poor, slow service? Was I rude to the auction winner?
Certainly, if I had been guilty of any of these things,
the negative feedback may have been deserved. But,
wait a second! The auction had just ended!
Within minutes (perhaps seconds) of the auction`s end,
I was being awarded negative feedback. Not only did I
not receive any chance to fulfill the order or to right
any wrong that I may have committed, I also received an
e-mail from the perpetrator threatening to have me
suspended from eBay if I didn`t meet certain demands.
This wasn`t fair! Obviously, I had been victimized by
an online bully. (You would honestly think that people
had more productive things to do with their time.)
What could I do about it? I e-mailed eBay and told
them my story. I mentioned how libel was a cause for
civil action. I forwarded to them the e-mail extorting
me. Extortion is a criminal offense.
Happily, eBay took action. The negative feedback that
appeared on my member profile was almost immediately
removed. eBay also took disciplinary action against
the suspected abuser.
Yes, it took extra time and effort to deal with the
problem, but isn`t your reputation worth it?
J. Stephen Pope, President of Pope Consulting Inc.,
http://www.popeconsultinginc.com/ has been helping
clients to earn maximum business profits for over
twenty-five years.
For valuable Work at Home Small Business Ideas,
visit: http://www.yenommarketinginc.com/
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Posted in Uncategorized at 12:00 am by admin
Understanding Frostbite
By Greg Rouse
Often a misunderstood hazard in the outdoors because it has a tendency to sneak up on us, frostbite is defined as the actual freezing of human tissue. Most often it’s a combination of cold temperatures (temperatures must be below freezing), wind, and moisture. It occurs most often in the feet or more precisely the toes as a result of cold wet feet in tight boots (i.e. poor circulation).
Some of the other common sites are the exposed extremities of the ears, face and nose. It can happen in the hands and fingers, but not as often as you would think because of our ability to easily place our hands in a more environmentally friendly area. Even though the fingers are similar to the toes with limited circulation and mass, the hands are more prone to contact and flash frostbite than prolonged exposure.
There are 3 major causes of frostbite
1. Prolonged Exposure (the most common cause): This is the one we traditionally think of and it’s brought on by prolonged exposure to cold temperatures, hence the name. Usually wind and water are also factors in the equation.
2. Direct Contact: This is when skin contacts cold metal and freezes upon contact. The movies have had fun with this one, such as when a certain person decides to put their tongue on a pole and sticks.
3. Flash Frostbite (the nastiest one): This one occurs when you spill cold fuels on exposed skin at sub-zero temperatures. We’ve chemically designed fuels to not freeze so we can work and use them at sub-zero temperatures. The only downside is that if spilled on the skin they will literally eat through the skin.
There are 3 major types of frostbite
1. Superficial: Known as frostnip, it’s where the first layer of the skin is frozen and is very similar to a superficial burn or sunburn. The skin turns red and can peel.
2. Partial Thickness: Considered true frostbite where the skin often looks white, waxy and moldy, it involves the first two layers of the skin. If you push on the skin it may dent and the dent will linger. When re-warmed this type of frostbite often forms Blebs, a fluid filled blister that’s the bodies way of fighting dehydration. Note: if the blebs are clear damage is minimal, if they are dark damage is more severe and tissue loss is highly likely.
3. Full Thickness: This form of frostbite is where it involves all three layers of the skin and even muscle and bone. Often characterized by a wooden sensation or numb and colorless, this form of frostbite is severe with amputation highly likely.
So how do we treat frostbite?
Because frostbite is the actual freezing of tissue, what happens are crystals form in the fluid between cells which draws fluid out of the cells and then dehydrates them. As the body part re-warms the crystals then evaporate resulting in vasoconstriction and further dehydration. Because there are crystals we never want to rub frozen body parts, so as not to slice and dice or do damage internally.
For frostnip one of the best ways to re-warm is skin to skin contact. That could be placing your hands on your ears, fingers in your armpits or feet on someone’s belly (not the easiest proposition to make).
For partial thickness frostbite the best method is to soak the frozen part in 100 to 105 degree water until thawing is complete. Soaking helps minimize the damage from dehydration. Thawing is complete when color and sensation return. The skin will usually look red and blebs will often form. Note: keeping the water temperature constant is important but difficult with a frozen body part in the water, so do your best.
For full thickness frostbite thawing can be done in the same way as partial thickness. This is a very painful process and care should be taken not to allow the person to use the thawed body part until a doctor has checked it out. It is extremely bad to refreeze a body part; it will completely destroy the tissue and guarantee amputation. The thought in the medical community is to insulate and keep it frozen until you can properly treat it without the chance of refreezing.
So how do we prevent frostbite? As the saying goes prevention is the best medicine, so here’s a nice list to remember:
1. Use the buddy system. Have a friend keep an eye out for any signs of frostbite.
2. Wear proper cold weather clothing, including rain and wind gear, mittens and boots.
3. Avoid tight fitting clothes that constrict blood flow, especially boots.
4. Monitor your feet for moisture.
5. Stay hydrated and maintain calories in order to produce proper metabolic function and circulation.
6. Reject tobacco, it greatly increases your chance for frostbite.
7. Avoid contact with cold metals or fuels by wearing gloves or mittens when handling such items.
8. Condition your hands and feet for the cold by using a moisturizer. Pliable skin resists freezing more than dry skin.
About the Author:
Greg Rouse has been teaching wilderness sports and emergency response at the university and college level for over a decade. He is also the founder of a unique web site called WildernessTrip.com, a one-stop resource for self-guided wilderness trip planning. This web site is basically; a free online guidebook that photo-documents trips with interactive maps and detailed route descriptions. Each trip has free pictures and free topographic maps of the trail, all in a print-friendly format. Check it out at http://www.WildernessTrip.com
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Purchasing Property With No Money Down: My Personal Experience
By Mark Barnes
Have you ever seen those infomercials about buying houses with “No Money Down?” They are really well done. They have all kinds of people offering great testimonials about how they have gotten rich, buying rental properties, with absolutely no money out of their pocket. You see this guy, standing on a street corner, talking to someone, and he says, “I own that one,” pointing to a beautiful colonial. “I also own that one next to it, and the one two doors down, and I’ll be closing on the one directly across the street from it, next week.” He then assures us that he has purchased 17 homes in the last eight or ten months, with zero money down on the properties. Plus, in many cases he’s also paid no closing costs.
And, let’s not forget, this same guy is grossing tens of thousands of dollars monthly, and his net worth is nearly one million dollars. So, he says.
Now, all of this looks wonderful, so when the person selling the course that will teach you how to do this, at a nifty price of just $297.00, speaks, you are glued to his every word. “Real estate is the safest and fastest way to make money, today,” the expert will tell you.
So, can this really be done? Can you purchase houses with no money down? Can you become a landlord in as little as one month’s time and start raking in the cash from those rent payments? The answer is an absolute “Yes.” It can be done, and I am proof positive, because I’ve done it. The question you should be asking yourself is not can I buy real estate with no money down, but should I?
You see, this is a question that the guy selling the No Money Down course, with all of his people and their great testimonials hopes you never ask. His advertising and marketing strategy would collapse, if he gave anyone a chance to ask this question, because he would be forced to lie if he answered it.
Rarely is the whole truth anywhere to be found in infomercials, especially when the advertising is about No Money Down real estate programs. The infomercial makes the idea and the program look so easy that any child could handle it. It makes it seem like every American should be doing it, and we’d all be millionaires. But every American is not doing it, and many of the ones who are doing it not only are not getting rich, they are actually going broke. The infomercial won’t tell you this. That’s why I’m here.
The Truth
Now, let’s get started with the truth about buying real estate with no money down and the truth about being a landlord. The first thing you need to know is that they are both very bad ideas. Let me illustrate by using my own experience in these areas. I started buying rental property nearly 10 years ago. The first property I bought was a deal orchestrated by some real estate con artist, who told me I needed just $2,000 to take ownership of this home and, in the process, help out a woman who was about to be foreclosed upon.
In two years, she would clean up her credit, refinance the loan on the house, and I would make $10,000. Sounded good to someone who was quick to buy into anything that returned big dollars in a short time.
This worked for the first year, as the woman paid on time, and I pocketed an extra $100 monthly. Later, though, things began to collapse, as the house began to need repairs, all of which the woman couldn’t afford, so I had to pay for them. I put nearly $5,000 into the house in a four-year period. When I was finally able to sell it, I didn’t quite make back what I had put into it.
Meanwhile, I was eager to overcome this problem by adding many more. A slick mortgage broker got hooked up with an even slicker real estate prospector, and the two of them convinced me that they had a way I could buy houses rapidly, with absolutely no money out of my pocket. Although my experience will probably be enough to enlighten you to the pitfalls of this model and of being a landlord, let me say that I can’t emphasize enough how dangerous buying property with no money down is.
In six months time, I had purchased eight houses – many with loans from the same wholesale lender. These lenders should have been concerned with all of the debt I was building, but they kept approving loans, based on my good credit and rents covering the mortgage payments. One of the biggest problems, which I was not experienced enough to detect, was that most of the rents were just $50 to $100 above the mortgage payment.
“Don’t worry,” the investor/ hustler would say. “You’ll make all your money on volume. We’ll get you into 30 or 40 houses, and you’ll be pocketing $4,000 to $5,000 every month.”
As you might imagine, my mind raced. I was making the huge deposits at that very moment. My bank account was fattening up at breakneck speed.
The Illusion
This is what people who buy houses, using the No Money Down plan envision happening. After all, if you can buy one house with no money down, why not five or ten or fifty? For some reason – the vision of the dollar sign, most likely – I failed to seriously consider the maintenance of these houses, the possibility of missed rent payments, and the chance that renters might actually stop paying, altogether, forcing me to evict them – a time-consuming and extremely costly undertaking.
As you may have already guessed, all of these things happened to me, after I had amassed 26 rental properties. In fact, oftentimes, all of these problems happened in the same month. Now, for awhile (when I had about 10 houses), if one person failed to pay rent, I could cover it with the nine other payments. But when two, three and sometimes even five tenants didn’t pay in the same month, it was devastating to my business. I had to go to my business account and pay up to $3,000 at a time in mortgage payments, with no income to cover it. Plus, I had to pay a property management company to get my tenants to pay or to evict them.
Soon, this became the norm, not the exception. There were constant problems at my houses. Unhappy tenants led to poor upkeep of the property and even more maintenance problems. About one year, after I had amassed 26 houses, I was having problems with roughly 10-15 houses and/or tenants each week. I was evicting at least two tenants each month, and approximately four to seven tenants were either behind on rent or not paying at all. Promises were made, payment plans arranged and few, if any, ever followed through.
It didn’t take long for me to realize that this was no way to make money in real estate. Consequently, I got rid of these houses as fast as I possibly could. There were plenty of buyers, willing to take over my headaches, because they had the ability to make it work, they believed.
In 10 years of being a landlord, I lost thousands of dollars and likely took some years away from my life with all the stress I had endured. So, whatever you do, avoid the No Money Down Trap. There are much better, still inexpensive ways to make money in real estate.
Learn the best ways at Directlendingsolutions.com
Check out more great loan information now at Direct Lending Solutions
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