6 Steps to Make More Money with Social Networks

By Sean Ray

Social networks connect all kinds of people, business, organizations, groups, etc., so they can benefit each other. The network itself is made of nodes and ties. The nodes are the individuals and the ties link them together. Everyone from widely scattered families to countries and professional groups use it. Here are 6 steps to making more money with productive social networking.

Step 1: Spreading the Word
Using social networking to advertise by word of mouth is common. You should get into networks that are comprised of the kinds of people who would buy your product or service, or who are already showing interest.

Step 2: Finding Customers
Finding the right people is critical to productive social networking. People with common interests stay together, and also spread your information to others who aren’t on the network. You can use both of these tendencies to your advantage.

Step 3: Getting to Know You
Once you have found a good social networking site and a good group to advertise to, you should participate as often as possible and keep your name in front of the others on the site.

Step 4: Friendships
Don’t think short term when thinking of social networking. If you do, why bother? You should strive to be a constant figure so you can create your productive social networking long term.

Step 5: Depend on the Other Members
You can use this networking site to get new ideas for your business just by listening to others. For example, you may not sell red widgets yet, but the idea may come to you if someone on the site claims an interest.

Step 6: Just Be a Good Businessperson
You can get all kinds of one-time customers on the internet, but keeping them is cheaper than replacing them. Strive to be good and reliable, and you will retain them easily.

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Sean Ray is an accomplished internet article writer, and uses articles to drive online traffic.

How To Write A Killer Father Of The Bride Speech

By Gabriel J. Adams

An ideal father of the bride speech is something that conveys the significance of the event with added humor and eloquence that is perfect for the occasion. Here are some guiding patterns on how to write a great father of the bride speech.

1. First part is the welcoming and the wishing part. After greeting every person in attendance start the speech by telling about yourself and introducing yourself to the guests who still don't know you well.

2. Inject some humor by relating events in the planning and eventual wedding itself that you think is funny. This is to make everybody comfortable and having them laughing at the start will get your confidence rising.

3. The next part should be directed to the bride, by complimenting on how beautiful she looks or adding lines such as "I still remember that cute baby that cries at night, I can't believe that baby has grown to be such a beautiful bride today"

4. Relate to the wedding guests about your own daughter, her achievements prior to getting married, emphasize on the kind of special relationship you shared with each other as father and daughter. Add some humor, by telling some funny things she'd done in her life but in the end make sure it all comes out good and praise her by being a father and a gentleman.

5. Silly stories about your daughter or the bride is a welcome addition to the speech. This is needed to lighten up the situation and have everyone laugh a little.

6. Talk about some of the standout moments before her wedding, events that make the bride as an unforgettable individual. What makes you proud of having her as your daughter?

7. Next part would be to include a short part about how you and your wife see your daughter while growing up.

8. Tell the guests about your dreams for your daughter and how she accomplished some of it and enough to make you proud. Mention the ups and downs of her life, but please do not mention stories about her former boyfriends.

9. Lastly conclude the speech by telling everyone how happy you and the rest of your family of seeing your daughter take on a new role as wife and soon as a mother. Tell them how she made you proud of her.

10. Have a toast with the family of the groom and the rest of the guest; wish the newlywed the best things to come.

The following is a simple pattern to follow in writing that perfect father of the bride speech. Anybody is free to add to the speech as long as it will bring more emotions and sincerity to the occasion. One important thing to remember is that the father of the bride speech is an opportunity to honor the bride and uplift her spirit in this momentous and wonderfully special event in her life.

Relax, smile and be confident that way you can honor your daughter with a great father of the bride speech.

Find tips on father of the bride speech, best man toasts.

Gratitude Attitude vs Entitlement

By Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD

Several of my readers have asked me if the hoopla about expressing gratitude—saying, thanks to everything in our life—is all what it is touted to be. It is important to question the latest buzz phrase or tagline. Many people, who followed the latest fad, discovered they were being duped by its originator.

American society has become a society of entitlement. The entitlement attitude says, "life owes me something," "people owe me something," "the government owes me something," or "God owes me something."

First allow me to give some history as to how American society became a society of entitlement.
Beginning with the New Deal program, Franklin D. Roosevelt initiated between 1933 and 1938 with the goal of providing relief, recovery, and reform to the people and economy of the United States during the Great Depression people have become indoctrinated to an entitlement attitude. Following the New Deal, dozens of agencies were created, which introduced class conflict, especially between business and unions. New Deal programs still in existence today are Social Security, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and the primary regulator of Wall Street. Source: Allswang, John. The New Deal and American Politics (1978), voting analysis.

You can quickly and easily determine if you are in entitlement attitude, because the result you experience leaves you constantly feeling angry, resentful, or frustrated. If you believe that someone owes you something and that person does not come through, you feel angry. You resent being ripped-off and cheated out of something you think you deserve. However, that is what people with an entitlement attitude expect and demand.

Entitlement is a lie. It is a perversion of reality—as much as the government programs beginning with the New Deal is a perversion of reality. In truth the government can not provide enough programs or possibly meet all the demands of all the people all the time.

Expressing gratitude for everything in our lives, including, the things that we would prefer to have been different, is powerful and empowering. Expressing gratitude is within the Law of Cause and Effect. The Law of Cause and Effect embodies the truth that Law pervades the Universe; that nothing happens by Chance, that Chance is simply a term indicating cause existing, but not recognized or perceived, that phenomena is continuous and without fail or exception.

The Principle of Cause and Effect underlies all scientific thought, ancient and modern, and was enunciated by the Essenic Teachers in the earliest days. The universal laws are based on metaphysics and have been spoken of by the greatest thinkers, writers and leaders throughout time—Plato, Aristotle, Albert Einstein, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Dale Carnegie, The Power of Positive Thinking, Carl Jung; “What you resist persists.” Buddha, “All that we are is a result of what we have thought.”

If one authentically expresses gratitude without skepticism, it is awesomely life altering. When one is grateful for everything in their life--the good, the bad, the ugly, they are in charge of their life and therefore, can change the bad, the ugly and enjoy the good more. If we 'hate,' 'reject,' 'deny,' or 'pretend,' the bad and the ugly has nothing to do with oneself, one is dis-empowered and helpless. When we take responsibility for everything we experience--the good, the bad, and the ugly, we are empowered and powerful to effect change. We can not change that which we do not acknowledge. Expressing gratitude for the good, the bad or the ugly, is acknowledging what we have created (casued), therefore we can do something about it, if we so choose. Without acknowledgement we have NO choice.

Dorothy M. Neddermeyer, PhD, Life Coach, Hypnotherapist, Author, "101 Great Ways To Improve Your Life." Dr. Dorothy has the unique gift of connecting people with a broad range of profound principles that resonate in the deepest part of their being. She brings awareness to concepts not typically obvious to one's daily thoughts and feelings. http://www.drdorothy.net

The Ace Cover Letter for Teachers

By Mario J. Churchill

Many people will agree that a teacher is someone that is well-respected and loved individuals in this world. They play such a big role in our society. This role particularly focuses in molding the capacities of the young ones who will take charge of our future. This is one of the reason why most teachers aim for getting the best results at whatever they do to live up to the expectations, even in the simple act of doing cover letters.

Writing an A+ cover letter for teacher is a big deal for someone who wants to become a part of this profession. Most of those who aspire a teaching position think that it is a must to impress right away any knowledge and skills possessed. However, many people may find this task of making an A+ cover letter quite a difficult task to hurdle. Is it really needed to stress out yourself to make an impressive cover letter?

Acing the Cover Letter Requirement for Teacher Positions

People who aspire to become a teacher must find it easier to write their cover letters. There are styles and approach that can be used to come up with one. However, it is best to know what you are aiming for to be able to find the right style in your way of writing.

To feel good about your cover letter, it is very important to be able to make one that will win over the heart of the prospective employer. Teacher cover letters must particularly have a certain appeal so that they will achieve their purpose. The teaching profession is far from being a cold and distant task. Teaching puts emphasis on good communication and passion for the job.

Tips for Writing the A+ Cover Letter for Teachers

Addressing properly the recipient of the cover letter is a must. You cannot rely on the usual formal but impersonal words used in cover letter templates. You must know the name of the person to whom the cover letter is addressed. This impresses that you know the person you want to contact and that you have a definite purpose in your act. This is the right way of starting you’re A+ cover letter.

Do not be afraid to give words to your passion for teaching when you write the cover letter. It is not bad to put in some thoughts on how you strongly you particularly feel for the job. It also helps to highlight certain personality traits, interests and attitudes that will emphasize how more fit you are for the teaching profession.

Be sure to personalize the body of the letter. It is not enough that you put the right name on the address area. You must be able to refer to the name of the school, designation of the addressee and even the particular area or position that you are applying for. This will impress that you have done your research for the job. This can also show that you are really interested in the profession and that you have a heart to work at that particular school. Do this in every school that you will apply for.

Last Words on the A+ Cover Letter for Teachers

Writing a cover letter for teachers need not be an arduous task. Just be true to yourself. Show your interest and desire in the teaching profession. Dedicate a time to be able to focus on it and you can always look forward to an interview and eventually a teaching job.

Mario Churchill is a freelance author and has written over 200 articles on various subjects. For more information on cover letter for teacher checkout his recommended websites.

How to Master the Art of Small Talk

By Peter Murphy

Why do many people often talk about the art of small talk? Is there really an art to making small talk? Actually, there is.

One person who wanted to propagate the art of making small talk was the late President Franklin Roosevelt. To see if his listeners were paying attention to him, he would often greet people saying: I murdered my grandmother this morning. Most of the time, people did not notice - until he met one alert woman who replied: I am sure she had it coming. Thus, the President proved that most people have neglected the art of small talk.

Making small talk means making pleasant conversation on casual topics. It is different from conversations which pursue deep topics because making small talk means you do not engage in heavy debate about such deep topics. The point of small talk is to find topics that you and the other party have in common, so that you can form deeper ties with the other person. The preferred effect of small talk is to form ties of friendship with the person you are talking to.

Why is the art of small talk deemed important? It is because small talk can:

1. Create a friendly atmosphere wherein you and the other person can exist.

2. Help you make a favorable first impression on the other person.

3. Permit two people to learn a lot about one another within a short period of time.

4. Help you learn more about a topic that you are interested in.

How can you master the art of small talk then? There are ten steps to doing so:

1. Prior to an event where you know you will have to engage in some small talk, try to bone up on various topics you believe will be of interest to all concerned. It helps if you are actually interested in such topics yourself.

2. Avoid topics which are controversial, too personal, or which may be offensive in some way to the other party. (These could include topics such as problems with your health, family, finances, or other personal issues; death; divorce; violent crimes; loss of employment; poor view of the current state of the economy; incidents of famine, pestilence, war and terrorism; issues that are known to make people react emotionally; religion; politics; and sex.)

3. Learn to gauge the receptiveness of other people to the small talk topic you have selected.
This means that if the other party gives you subtle vibes that he does not like the issue at hand, you should find a way to excuse yourself politely from the group and join another group which is more receptive to making small talk.

4. Smile and maintain eye contact with the person you are making small talk with. This helps to raise the comfort level for both you and the other party.

5. Introduce yourself first then lead the conversation by asking an open-ended question. Some people though are naturally shy so if you find this hard, let someone ask the first question then make it a point to join in afterwards.

6. Make it a point to use the name of the other person in the conversation. This shows the other party that you are paying attention.

7. Listen closely so that you can catch key phrases and words, facts and opinions vented by other people in the group. This allows you to make intelligent comments yourself.

8. Self-disclosure is important because it shows the other people around you that you trust them enough with certain information about you. The trick is knowing how much personal information to disclose.

9. Encourage other people to join in by asking for their opinion about the topic.

10. Restate information disclosed in the conversation to show you are attentive.

As you can see, the art of small talk can be kept alive if enough people were to follow these guidelines.

Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert. He recently produced a very popular free report: 10 Simple Steps to Developing Communication Confidence. Apply now because it is available only at: conversation starters

Smile, You're On Candid Cellphone - Privacy in the Digital Age

By Madison Lockwood

There is currently somewhere north of seven hundred fifty million cell phones out there with some sort of video capture capability. There are also millions of ever-smaller and ever-cheaper videocams. Finally, roughly two thirds of American households have an online computer in the house.

All of that information is just a collection of latent facts about electronic devices, until you throw the online social networking phenomenon into the mix. Every computer day brings millions of visitors to YouTube, MySpace, FaceBook, Flickr, Friendster - and too many others to name.
Most of these sites allow their enrollees to post photos and videos to their own pages on the site and to email videos or pictures that they find interesting to their friends.

Those phones and videocams have been put to work capturing spontaneous and occasionally embarrassing moments of individuals, unbeknownst to the filmee - and many of those video files have found their way to the internet. The most notorious of them - an inept amateur sportscast, a clumsy dance imitation, an iPod singalong at the beach - have become cultural flares, drawing millions of viewers as the video is passed from site to site.

The result has been international embarrassment for a few unfortunate souls; it has also led to a general awareness that the contained nature of most faux pas may no longer be contained at all, but may be fodder for a worldwide guffaw. Out of this mix has come a fundamental question of how to define privacy in this world of connectivity - or more appropriately, how to maintain it.

For some people, these incidents have put them in a miserable social situation, recognized for their online video fame and mocked for it. A few have sued the posters of the videos, but that has not changed the personal and irrevocable negative impact. Some of these videos have been viewed millions of times - and some, hundreds of millions. Those single embarrassing moments have become defining images for those individuals who have been targets of these postings that have taken off.

Taking pleasure in the discomfort of others has often been relegated to high school behavior, but the volatile viral nature of these videos suggests that the appeal is much more widespread.

There is an entire site now dedicated to embarrassing moments that have been uploaded:

ebaumsworld.com. Mr. Baum has dedicated his site to this stuff and racked up ten million in advertising revenue last year.

The legal opinions on uploading videos without the subject's permission are many and varied.
One general view is that if the incident took place in public, there is a degree of carte blanche allowed the poster of the video because the public exposure was the subject's choice. If the recording was made by the subject him/herself, then that person holds a copyright to the video and may be able to exert some control over its distribution. And if invasion of privacy is involved, such as a "voyeurcam" posted outside someone's bedroom window, then the legal view is that there is a valid privacy protection issue.

There is a strong, legally defined right to protect the use of one's image for commercial purposes - endorsing products or being used in the production of commercials. In the case of these viral videos however, there is no commercial involvement by the poster or the viewer, and the websites that host these pages are simply intermediaries. The principal recourse in these cases, as in the case of mainstream journalists, is against the creator of the image and not a neutral platform such as MySpace or YouTube.

Madison Lockwood is a customer relations associate for ApolloHosting.com. She brings years of experience as a small business consultant to helping prospective clients understand the ways in which a website may benefit them both personally and professionally. Apollo Hosting provides website hosting, ecommerce hosting, vps hosting, and web design services to a wide range of customers. Established in 1999, Apollo prides itself on the highest levels of customer support.

How To Quit Smoking

By Steve Hill

Do you smoke? Would you like to quit smoking? Are you looking into the best ways to quit smoking? Now is the time to stop smoking, it is no longer cool to smoke, the cost of a packet of cigarettes is just incredible and smoking is banned in almost every public place. In this article I will attempt to help people to stop smoking by giving advice on how to quit.

Lets start by being nice, if the first few pieces of advice are not enough to get you to stop smoking then I will start to get tough towards the end of this article.

Lets face it, the cost of a packet of cigarettes is just plain stupid, they are far too expensive. If you were able to quit, it could be the equivalent of having a five percent pay rise at work, now wouldn't that be nice? What you need to ask yourself is what is the maximum amount you would be willing to pay for a packet of twenty cigarettes. Eight pounds, ten pounds, twenty pounds? In a couple of years time they are likely to cost this amount. Who gains from these huge increases?

The government mainly but also the tobacco companies themselves of course. We all moan about how much tax we pay from time to time but here you are seemingly happy to pay way over the odds for your dirty little habit.

After smoking a fag, the clothes of the smoker really smell, and a really vile smell at that. After smoking for a few years, the teeth of the smoker turn slightly yellow, hardly sexy is it?

Has this worked so far, are you now going to stop smoking? No, I did not think so, it is therefore time to get tough.

Despite of all of the things that I have said about people who smoke cigarettes you may be surprised to learn that I also used to smoke. My father, who is quite a rough, tough man, was disgusted by my habit. One day in a fit of rage he drove me to our local hospital. He took me through to the cancer the wards. I was left numb by the whole experience. Young men and women, barely into their fifties, lying their with lung cancer, cancer no doubt caused by smoking.

I would like to thank my father as I have now not smoked a cigarette for the last five years.

Stephen Hill runs The How To Stop Stammering Centre, he has a number of websites including:

stuttering

dvd replication

stuttering treatment

Why Youth Football Players Quit and How to Avoid it

By Dave Cisar

I was driving with my wife and family on Sunday discussing with my her some of the conversations I had with youth football coaches over the phone this week. In many ways she is much smarter than me and looks at things through perspectives I rarely consider. She astutely recognized that youth football players have no clue if the scheme they are being taught is fundamentally sound, age appropriate or is being taught correctly. In most cases they look up to their coaches because of the position the coach holds and views him as the expert. In the youth football players mind, if they are failing with the scheme and or technique it is because they are not a very good football player and never will be. But the truth is when they fail, it is often because the scheme makes no sense for the age, practice time, coaching expertise and skill level of the player and team. How would they know?

Something like a zone blocking scheme where the youth player has to read the defensive front, make line calls, double team block the first level, come off the block at the exact right time to then go block a moving linebacker is impossible for 95% of youth linemen to do. The youth football player has no idea or perspective that what the coach is asking him to do is impossible at his age, experience level and with his athleticism. He most likely thinks he is not good enough, never will be good enough, won’t have much success in football and he quits. He becomes part of the 70% of all youth players who NEVER go on to play High School football per a Michigan State study. Most kids are going to determine if they feel they can play the game in their first season or two. If they feel they can’t compete, most often they move on to something else, in todays world there are MANY choices.

In all likelihood if the player is playing on a youth football team using something like a zone blocking scheme, his team is losing most of its games. My research has shown teams that consistently lose also have significantly higher drop rates than those teams that are competitive.
Add up the two and you have a recipe for lots of kids not going on to play “at the next level”, the supposed goal of many of the guys using this type of scheme.

Help your youth football players stick with the game by wisely coaching the game. Pick schemes that allow your players to have some success even if they aren’t great athletes. Heck, pick schemes that don’t require great athletes so your teams can succeed and even thrive. Zone blocking and spread offenses are some of the main culprits of getting kids to quit in youth football. If a player can’t taste some individual success and some team success, in most likelihood he won’t be playing the game very long. If this is your team, as a youth football coach you will have failed in performing one of your most important jobs, retaining kids and getting them to fall in love with the game of football.

Put the kids in schemes that anyone can do, like great angle down blocks, wedge blocks, double teams and with a simple and easily to teach blocking rule. Don’t use complex blocking rules that require kids to recognize fronts, make line calls and block players they have no chance of making a block on. Doing so will only frustrate the kids and you and lead to unnecessary turnover on your team. You will have failed in what I consider your main duty.

Everything we suggest in the books and DVDs is time tested and has been successful with a wide variety of youth football teams. Some teams had players, many had very few, some teams had experienced coaches and many had rookie coaches. That is one of the main reasons I coached 5 different teams in the last 6 seasons in different leagues, with 4 different coaching staffs. It didn't matter, it worked with them all.

For 150 free youth football coaching tips please stop here: Youth Football Plays
Dave Cisar-

Dave has a passion for developing youth coaches so they can in turn develop teams that are competitive and well organized. He is a Nike "Coach of the Year" Designate and speaks nationwide at Coaches Clinics. His book “Winning Youth Football a Step by Step Plan” was endorsed by Tom Osborne and Dave Rimington.

With over 15 years of hands-on experience as a youth coach, Dave has developed a detailed systematic approach to developing youth players and teams. His personal teams to using this system to date have won 97% of their games in 5 Different Leagues. His web site is: Football Plays

Practice Does Not Make Perfect in Youth Football, More Effective Practice Methods

By Dave Cisar

While there are many great youth football coaches out there, I see some very poor ones as well. The poor ones do not hold the players accountable to a perfect standard in football practice on something as basic as a football stance or formation alignment, yet they seem to be frustrated and amazed when their kids are in poor stances or alignments during games.

The old adage “Practice Makes Perfect” is baloney; you can practice the wrong technique or with no technique 6 days a week 3 hours a day and never get any better. The correct adage should be; ”Perfect Practice Makes Perfect”. This is one of the facts revealed in the 2 year study I did of youth football programs, there WAS NO CORRELATION TO AMOUNT OF PRACTICE TIME AND WINS. Some of the worst teams I studied practiced more than the great teams I studied. Why? Practice Priorities, Technique and Holding the kids responsible to a perfect standard.

Some things EVERY youth football player should be held accountable to:

Listening with complete focus when asked to do so
Attending practice and games
Hustling when on the field at all times
Respect for themselves, the coaches, their team mates, officials and opponents
Proper care of football equipment issued
Good sportsmanship
Obedience to the coaches on field requests
Perfect StancePerfect Pre-Snap Alignment
Correct identification of responsibilities on all offensive and defensive snaps for their particular position
Correct first step for their position on all offensive and defensive snaps
Perfect Crab Block
Perfect fit on form tackle
Perfect fit on base block
Ball Fakes must be carried out 20 yards downfield
Correct ball security (Fumbling is OK as long as they are holding the ball correctly)
Knowledge of what special of what special teams, offense and defensive teams they are onKnowing the play naming conventions

It is extremely important to make sure this accountability is communicated and enforced day 1.
If you try and enforce a perfect standard once a lower standard has been allowed (which is an endorsement of the lower standard in the kids minds), the battle will have already been lost.

Youth football players and people for that matter will only perform to the level you expect or hold them accountable to. If you have low or no standards, low performance is the result you will get every time.

An example: One of my pet peeves is the running back stance in my offense, it is very specific and very easy for anyone to do. It is a key reason why my offense works and is so deceptive and there are just a handful of coaching points to it. Yet every year I get film of teams with kids not getting down correctly into that stance.

In my own practices, if we see our backs not in the correct stance we just have him go to the end of the line, he does not get the ball on that practice rep. If we are running our football plays out on air and I catch one of our backs not in the correct stance, I call his name out, say “Bad stance” and shout the name of another back to take his place in the rep. We never snap the ball if any of the backs are in a bad stance. In games we may make mistakes, but we will always be in good stances and in perfect alignment. You can do the same if you hold your players accountable.

Hold players accountable to things they can choose to do or choose not to do. Then praise and reward positive choices and provide them incentives or disincentives to make the right choices.
Perfection for many if not most coaching points are choices that require little to no athleticism on the part of your players. Success in youth football is really a choice for most youth football players and teams.

For 150 free youth football coaching tips please stop here:
Football Plays
Dave Cisar-

Dave has a passion for developing youth coaches so they can in turn develop teams that are competitive and well organized. He is a Nike "Coach of the Year" Designate and speaks nationwide at Coaches Clinics. His book “Winning Youth Football a Step by Step Plan” was endorsed by Tom Osborne and Dave Rimington.

With over 15 years of hands-on experience as a youth coach, Dave has developed a detailed systematic approach to developing youth players and teams. His personal teams to using this system to date have won 97% of their games in 5 Different Leagues.His web site is: Football Plays

Disney Cruise Ships Offer Something for the Entire Family

By Richie Wells

If you are looking for a different type of vacation that the entire family can enjoy, a Disney cruise is certainly one to consider. Of the many cruise lines that are on the ocean today, few can cater to every age and preference as well as the Disney Company can. Disney Cruises makes it possible for even families with young children to enjoy a vacation at sea with complete comfort and entertainment available for everyone. You can take a quick trek to the Bahamas or spend a week in the Caribbean and Mexico. For longer vacations, there are Mediterranean and transatlantic itineraries available as well. No matter where you want to go, Disney Cruises will get you there in plenty of style and fun.

The Ships of Disney Cruises
Currently, Disney Cruises has two ships in its fleet; the Wonder and the Magic. These two ships are sister ships meaning that they are similar in size and structure. The ships were created in the style of the classic cruise liner, and this timeless elegance is found throughout the interior and exterior of the ships. The only difference between the two ships is primarily the itinerary that you choose. In 2011 and 2012, Disney plans to add two more ships to its fleet that will be considerably larger than the current ships. While the Wonder and the Magic hold about 2400 guests, the new ships will hold up to 4000. There has not yet been information about what the itineraries will be for these new additions, but you can bet that there will be considerable excitement when these new Disney cruise ships make their debut.

Unusual Dining on Disney Cruises
One of the features that makes Disney cruises unique is their rotational dining system. Instead of one large dining room, or two matching dining areas, Disney provides three unique dining experiences that are all completely enhanced with the Disney magic. Each night, you get to try out a new dining room to enjoy the ambiance and menus that each area offers. The really exciting part of this rotational dining idea is that your wait staff travels with you to the various locations. So while you are checking out the splendor and beauty of each dining area, your wait staff will come right along side you, remembering your drinks of choice and exactly how you like your food cooked and served. It is truly an advantage for families traveling with children, since the kids never have time to get bored at meals with new things to look at every night!

Besides the beautiful ships and unique dining, Disney cruises has created an entire vacation at sea with the entire family in mind. State rooms are bigger, and there are family suites available to house groups of four or five. Entertainment is consistently up to the Disney standard, and is always family friendly. You will never be at a loss for things to do, or places to see. Try a Disney cruise for your next family vacation and watch the magic come alive.
Rich Wells runs his own online travel business. His particular specialty is cru
ises. Check these great Cruise Ships ideas and info.

Business Growth Via Strategic Email Marketing, According To Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach

By Glenn Ebersole

Today’s businesses, regardless of their size, must realize how critical it is for them to engage in strategic marketing activities in order to grow and survive in our business world. Using strategic thinking in deciding which channel can offer you the best return on your marketing investment is also essential for success. A strategic marketing approach requires investment of time and money. A strategic marketing approach will include several different tactics that will provide a marketing system that continuously works toward customer acquisition and retention. One of the most strategic and cost effective marketing initiatives is Email marketing.

Strategic thinking and planning for marketing requires that goals be set. A major goal of any marketing initiative is retention of existing clients and customers and acquiring new clients and customers. So, what might be some defined goals for each email marketing campaign you develop? Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach offers the following goal thoughts.

+ Drive your existing clients/customers and your prospects to your website.

+ Maintain a planned number of contacts with your existing clients/customers and prospects through a strategic client/customer relationship management system.

+ Keep clients/customers and prospects informed about you and your company through an E-newsletter.

+ Introduce a news product or service to existing and prospective clients/customers.

+ Feature a product or service for a limited time.

+ Invite and entice clients/customers to attend a seminar, workshop
or special event you are sponsoring.

+ Invite clients/customers to a trade show where you will be exhibiting

Strategic thinking reminds us that you must be absolutely clear why you are sending the email and that you must monitor the results you have set achieve. Using strategic thinking to understand the intended audience for the email is critical when developing the right message to the right audience. It is always critical to have your email entice the reader first to open it and then motivate them to click through to your targeted landing page.

The landing page is the critical target since this is ultimately where it all happens. If your reader has clicked through to the targeted landing page, then he or she expects to see what your email offer promised. It is very important that you understand in the clearest terms that if your landing page fails to fulfill your reader’s expectations they will click away in seconds with feelings of frustration and annoyance. And that means that you will have wasted your strategic marketing effort and worse yet, it could mean the loss of an existing client/customer or prospect for good. Make sure you make their visit to your website an enjoyable experience.

The timing of your email marketing is also paramount to your success. You must be sensitive to when and how often you are going to send each email. You need to know that new and existing clients/customers will have different comfort levels about how often you send them emails. The best way to understand what they are comfortable with regarding your emails is to simply ask them: “How often would you like to receive information by email?” Then let them choose from a variety of options. This will demonstrate to them that you do value their preferences and their time.

A clearly defined and focused strategic email marketing campaign that targets the right segment of your existing client/customer base or prospective new clients/customers can be a very effective way to generate business. And Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach encourages you to fully realize the benefits of business coaching to strategically and effectively market your business for growth.

Glenn Ebersole, Jr. is a multi-faceted professional, who is recognized as a visionary, guide and facilitator in the fields of business coaching, marketing, public relations, management, strategic planning and engineering. Glenn is the Founder and Chief Executive of two Lancaster, PA based consulting practices: The Renaissance Group, a creative marketing, public relations, strategic planning and business development consulting firm and J. G. Ebersole Associates, an independent professional engineering, marketing, and management consulting firm. He is a Certified Facilitator and serves as a business coach and a strategic planning facilitator and consultant to a diverse list of clients. Glenn is also the author of a monthly newsletter, “Glenn’s Guiding Lines – Thoughts From Your Strategic Thinking Business Coach” and has published more than 275 articles on business.

To find out more about the benefits & rewards of effectively working with a strategic thinking business coach, please contact Glenn Ebersole through his web site at http://www.businesscoach4u.com or jgecoach@aol.com

How to Talk to People - 9 Super Success Tips

By Peter Murphy

We admire those who know how to talk to people, or have the innate ability to easily engage in a conversation even in an unfamiliar gathering. Others believe that some are born with the natural ability to talk to people or they have what they call the gift of the gab. However, the ability to talk or convey ideas whether in a small group or up on stage before a large audience is not an innate ability but an acquired skill. It can be learned, enhanced, and perfected. All you need are the right information and the determination to do it.

Were you disappointed before because you were not born with the gift? Then worry no more and start to learn the skill. To begin with, here are some helpful tips on how to talk to people.

1. Be presentable. You do not need to get the best couturier in town to have you packaged. All you have to do is to be dressed appropriately. It is one way of building your self-confidence and it will help you to act confidently.

2. Keep a pocket full of information. Be up to date with the current events, and keep a mental list of good topics of discussion. These are handy tools to keep you ready to talk to almost anybody.

3. Get yourself centered and focused. This is a basic if we want to establish connection with the person or people we are talking to. Develop the ability to shake off recent events that somehow ruined your day. Take a few minutes if you need to before engaging in any conversation.

4. Be respectful. Respect the feelings, emotions and opinions of others. Everyone has the right to their opinion and it is healthy to agree that we disagree. Let every one have their moment to be heard and sincerely listen to them. That way it would give them a sense of importance.

5. Maintain eye contact. It is one way of showing interest in the person we are talking to.
Women, they say, maintain eye contact more than men but men could acquire the skill through practice. Movements or stray thoughts tend to sidetract a person. Be aware of them and learn to ignore them.

6. Listen. Listening is a serious business. It is easy to talk and talk but we defeat the purpose and lose the chance of establishing rapport. There are situations that are more important where active listening is imperative. You will not miss the cue for your turn if you listen attentively.

7. Establish rapport. It is not an easy thing but sincerity is the key that unlocks the door in establishing rapport. Synchronizing behavior or mimicking the pose, facial expression, gestures, body language, and tone of voice of the other person are ways of building rapport.

8. Adopt a positive attitude. Make sure your words, tone and gestures are all saying the same thing. Find out what you have in common, or if you seem to have nothing in common, adjust.
Try to become the other person for a short time.

9. Always ask an open ended question. This will help the continuous flow of conversation and will help you and the group to keep the encounter alive and flowing with information.

Discovering how to connect with others and employing these strategies will make one successful in talking to people. Talk means to express, exchange ideas by means of spoken words or to convey information or communicate in any way. Take these simple steps and you are sure to make the act of talking to people fascinating and memorable for all. One day someone may come up to you and ask where you learned how to talk to people.

Peter Murphy is a peak performance expert. He recently produced a very popular free report:
10 Simple Steps to Developing Communication Confidence. Apply now because it is available only at: conversation starters

Rhode Island Divorce Tip - A Checklist Helps

By Christopher Pearsall

A Rhode Island Divorce filing has it's own forms and its own procedure. It can help to have all the forms you need. All the forms you need to file your Rhode Island Divorce Action from any of the Family Court Clerk's Offices.

So what are the typical Rhode Island Divorce Forms you'll need?

1. Summons Form (in Duplicate)

2. Complaint Form

3. Nominal Track Notice Form

4. Notice of Automatic Orders

5. Family Court Statement Listing Children of the Marriage (in Duplicate)

6. Family Services Counseling Unit Form

7. Rhode Island Department of Health Report of Divorce Form

8. Family Court Statement of Assets, Liabilities, Income and Expenses (DR-6)

9. Affidavit of Non-Military Service (if the Defendant Does not Appear).

There are other forms that are necessary in your checklist depending upon the length of the process. Hopefully your divorce process will be short. Let's assume for the sake of argument that you have a very agreeable divorce that leads up to a 10 minute Nominal Hearing where everything is agreed to and is just formally placed upon the record of the court. In that instance your checklist expands as follows:

10. You must prepare an Interlocutory Decision Pending Entry of Final Judgment that must be checked by one of the clerks of court for the vital case information and then ordered (signed) by the Judge and Entered by the Clerk. This is the temporary order of the court that governs the parties before the entry of the Final Judgment of Divorce and should mirror what the judge orders at your nominal hearing.

11. After the expiration of the 91 day waiting period by statute the Judge may then sign a Final Judgment of Divorce which again is checked by the clerk, ordered by the judge and then entered by the clerk to finalize your divorce. The final judgment would, with minor exceptions, mirror the temporary order.

Keep in mind that this is just a basic checklist and details change with each case. Most assuredly Paragraphs #10 and #11 pose the greatest challenge to those people who are representing themselves as well as attorneys who are not well versed in verbage necessary to protect their clients, to include on the record, and insure are in the temporary order and final decree.

This article is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice. You should not take legal action without legal advice from a licensed practitioner who has been fully informed about your specific circumstances.

Visit http://www.ChristopherPearsall.com for More Helpful Rhode Island Divorce Tips

And Discover Valuable Rhode Island Divorce InformationPLUS . . . enjoy detailed Rhode island Divorce Information at Rhode Island Divorce Tips Blog

Credit Card Debt Management- Improves Your Present And Future

By Elaine Owen

Carrying a credit card is a good privilege to avail as it helps the borrowers in making their purchases on credit. But the problem arises when we start using the credit card more than our ability to repay. This leads to unpaid debts of the borrower. To tackle this situation, credit card debt management can be availed.

Credit card debt management helps in managing the unpaid debts that have been created due to the uncontrolled expenditure through a credit card. All the unpaid credit card debts are removed with assistance from credit card debt management.

Through credit card debt management, a loan can be taken up which pays off all the debts that are owed by the borrower. This loan is borrowed at a rate which is lower than the rate of interest on the credit card debts. This way the borrower saves money also, along with clearance of these debts. If the person has debts of more than one credit card, this debt consolidation loan helps him get rid of multiple lenders and repay the loan to only one lender.

Along with the clearing of debts, credit card debt management also provides advice to the borrower as to how he should go about the usage of the credit card in the future. Special care should be taken by the borrower about this aspect as he should not get stuck in a similar situation.

While availing credit card debt consolidation, the debtor should take care that he is seeking advice from a lender or an agency which has a good reputation in the market. for this, he can research online for credit card debt consolidation. Many lenders and advisory agencies are available online which solve the purpose of the borrower.

Bad credit is not an obstacle in availing credit card debt management advice. They can research online and get low rate loans too, for the consolidation of their credit card debts.

Credit card debt management is a very helpful tool which removes all the debt worries of the borrowers and advises them for the future also.

Writing for loans for Elaine Owen is not just about giving advice to people but offering sensible ways to revamp their financial condition in a reconstructive way.He is working with Debt Consolidation Loan. To find Credit Card Debt Management, bad credit debt consolidation, Credit Counselling,debt management,credit card debts visit http://www.e-debt-consolidation.co.uk

5 Questions To Ask Before You Buy Investment Property

By Alexandria Anderson

Deciding to buy investment property is one of the best decisions you will ever make for your future. However, it isn't something you can decide to do one day and then rush out and do the next. There is a process that you have to learn and lots of information to digest. If you think you have done that already and you are now prepared to go out and make your first purchase, here are five questions to ask that will help you to prepare.

What type of investment property are you interested in? Are you interested in a duplex, multi-unit complex, or perhaps just a single family home? Are you interested in commercial real estate? What about undeveloped land? How you answer this question will determine other things that you do later, such as how you go about financing your investment. It is also best to focus on a particular type of property so you don't go on wild goose chases and so your team knows what they need to clue you in on.

What area am I interested in? Are you going to invest in the city where you live? If not, what part of the country do you want to invest in? The Internet is the best resource for determining what area of the country you would like to put your time and resources into. Ken McElroy, author of “The ABCs of Real Estate Investing,” calls this Level I research. Later, when you have determined a part of the country and a city in which to look, you will need to decide what neighborhood interests you. You will find that during McElroy's Level II and Level III research.

Do you have a financing strategy? The type of property you are looking for (as well as your own assets) will determine how you can make your purchase. If it is a small property such as a house, you may want to pay for it outright. However, even if you don't have the money to pay for it, if it is a piece of property that has made money in the past, the bank will probably give you the finacing you need. They know that they will make money on the deal regardless of what happens to your investment. If you are looking at a large property that you can't afford outright, you will probably be able to find other investors to partner with you.

Is my team in place? You can't do this successfully without a team. That is simply because of the large amount of work involved, and so many different types of expertise needed, that you simply can't do it all. There is not enough time for you to become proficient enough with real estate law and accounting, plus broker your own deals and manage your own properties. You have to delegate. That is why McElroy recommends you start with an attorney, an accountant, a broker and a property manager. After that, you may also need appraisers, tax consultants, a surveyor, a structural engineer, an architect, an estate planner and more.

How much do you have to spend on repairs? This is essential. Knowing this will help you determine what areas to look around in because some areas may be full of old buildings or some newer buildings may actually be in need of a lot of upgrades. You will want to what you are getting into and whether you can handle it.

This isn't a a complete list of questions. Once you embark on your real estate investing adventure, you will find a never-ending list that you will need to address. But these will get you going on the road to asking yourself the right kinds of questions. Sometimes asking the right questions is more important than the answers themselves.

About the Author: Alex Anderson is a licensed Realtor from Minneapolis, MN who specializes in Minnesota Investment Property. Visit her website at
http://minnesota.greatinvestmentproperty.com for more information on Minnesota Real Estate Investing.

Biometrics and Individual Human Scent

By L. Winslow

Did you know that no two humans have the exact same scent and that dogs can smell the difference? It is true. In fact a dog can smell the finger print mark left on a glass and then tell the difference between the human that left it and one that didn't and you can have other people touch the glass too and it knows the difference between the ones that touched the glass and those that did not. Amazing.

Additionally, there are many ways this can be used as a biometric identifier. For instance for security purposes the same a finger print, DNA, blood sample or face recognition. Human scent is unique to the individual and trained dogs only mess up and cannot tell the difference with identical twins and even sometimes that can't fool them. There are many research papers on this notable anomaly and you thought every one smelled the same except for that lady with the weird perfume at the office.

Well the difference is human pheromones and chances are you have heard of that. Many perfume makers comment about this saying that certain pheromones can attract the opposite sex. Is it true? Some scientists believe so, in the animal kingdom it has been absolutely proven, insects too. Can we use these laws of nature and the chemistry of the human body to guard against International Terrorism? Apparently, so, question is why are we not using these truths of science to our advantage?

There are many biometric markers we can use, and we should not rule any of them out. If the human scent is that distinct then it is a valuable source of information and we ought to take this into consideration, so please think on this.

L. Winslow is an Economic Advisor to the Online Think Tank, a Futurist and retired entrepreneur http://www.worldthinktank.net . Currently he is planning a bicycle ride across the US to raise money for charity and is sponsored by http://www.Calling-Plans.com and all the proceeds will go to various charities who sign up.

How Can I Get Out of Google's Supplemental Results? 4 Tips for Being Supplemental Free

By JT Palmer

“Supplemental Result” – the term no company wants to see next to their website on the search page. Unfortunately though, millions of websites reside in Google’s purgatory, destined to receive only minimal traffic. Why does the supplemental index exist? How can a website get out of it? The following will suggest the top 4 ways to get out of Google’s supplemental results.

Remove Duplicate Content 90% of the time, a website is in the supplemental index because it contains content (usually text), that exists on many other websites. A few examples of this would be manufacturer product descriptions or syndicated content such as news or articles. How do you fix this? Simple, re-write content and make it original to your website.

Cleanup Complicated URL Parameters Many websites, especially sites that rely on databases, use query strings in the URLs. For example, the parameter after the url might look like:

ID=123&SOURCE=1234. Unfortunately, many search engine spiders don’t like crawling these pages. One reason is that engines consider each url as a unique page, even if it has the same content. So although the pages with or without the parameter may have the exact same content, you may incur a duplicate content penalty.

What’s the solution for this? Try to minimize using parameters if possible. While using them for external campaign tracking may be alright, definitely avoid them in the internal linking structure.

Many websites now are re-writing their ugly URL’s with re-writing software. This also has search engine optimization benefits as well. Software such as this is available for both Windows and Apache servers.

Practice Deep Linking While links to the homepage are great, targeted links to detail pages within your site will ensure that pages don’t get orphaned and ignored by the spiders. If the crawler always starts at your home page, it’s likely it will abandon the effort before crawling your whole site. Deep linking to content gives spiders a new starting point to find fresh and relevant pages.

Only the Beginning The ideas listed above are only a few of the many tactics necessary to ensure your site stays out of Google’s purgatory. However, implemented properly, they will begin to show the search engines that your content is fresh, relevant, and trustworthy. Because after all, supplemental free is the way to be.

About the Author

Justin Palmer has been involved in internet marketing for 5 years, specializing in search engine marketing for small business

His current project is C28.com, a specialty retailer of Christian apparel, Christian Hats and accessories.

How do you know if your content is duplicate? Try this tool: http://www.webconfs.com/similar-page-checker.php

5 Things You Need To Start A Daycare

By Lucy Doyle

Before you start you daycare you need to make sure you have some things. Starting a daycare isn't hard but it does take some initial preparation. Don't start you daycare before drawing up a checklist of things you must do and have. Only after you've completed checking off your list, should you actually start your daycare.

Here are some must have things in order to start a successful daycare center:

1. Permits - Each state and sometimes even each county has its own set of permits for starting a daycare. You have to make sure you have all the necessary business permits before you start your daycare.

2. Insurance - Starting a business, any business, without some sort of business insurance is not a good idea. If you're worried about premiums, don't be. As long as your daycare is small the premiums will be low. And if you ever get to the point when you want to expand your daycare, it means you're doing so well that you can afford the higher premium.

3. Toys, children's books, sleeping mats - If you want to be able to keep the kids occupied, you're going to need toys. You don't have to spend a whole lot to get some, but a few toys are a must.
Children's books are also great since they help you get the children to take an afternoon nap which give's you a much needed break. Of course, in order for the children to sleep, you also need some sleeping mats.

4. Application and registration forms, receipt book - Make sure you have all the necessary forms so when a new customer shows up at your door, you can sign their kid up to your daycare without a pointless delay. Also make sure that you have all the accounting forms and receipt books that you need.

5. First aid kit - Make sure to have a full stocked full aid kit around just in case one of the children gets hurt. Don't let this scare you. Children run around, fall down, and get hurt all the time. Just make sure you can put on a band-aid when you need to.

Starting you daycare can be fun, profitable and rewarding. Having the things I wrote above can help you make an easy and profitable start of it.

To learn more on how to start and run a highly successful Daycare Center, visit this webpage:
Starting A DayCare Center Lucy Doyle runs a home business. To read how you can too become a successful businesswoman by starting your own profitable daycare visit Lucy Doyle's webpage on starting daycare centers at this dedicated webpage, click here: How To Avoid Costly Daycare Mistakes

Cash Advance Payday Loans

By Kelli Rallin

A cash advance payday loan is defined by its name. It is a loan which is meant to be held only until the borrower's next payday. This is not the type of loan is not meant to be used to purchase items such as houses or vehicles. These loans are meant for people who have unexpected financial responsibilities and do not have the money until their next paycheck comes.

Molly did not realize that she was behind with her gas bill and she let it go past due. She received a shut off notice in the mail and her paycheck was still five days away. Molly had seen the commercials on television and on the radio for cash advance payday loans and she thought it may be her only hope. Molly was worried. She thought that it was too good to be true so she began doing her research.

Molly learned that these types of loans were usually for small amounts of money. Typically between $100 and $1000. These loans were short term as well. They were usually held for between a week or two. Because Molly was getting her paycheck in five days that worked out well for her.

As Molly continued to read, she learned that credit wold not be an issue with this type of loan.
She learned that there were just a few simple requirements which must be met by the borrower. The first requirement is that the borrower must have a provable income. This means that the borrower must have income which can be verified by the lender. This way the lender knows that the money will be paid back. Most types of income are acceptable. Wages from a job, unemployment checks, temporary disability checks, Social Security checks, child support checks and Worker’s Compensation checks are all acceptable forms of income. There are also a couple types of income which are not acceptable. State welfare checks and Social Security checks in another person other than the borrower’s name are two examples of unacceptable income. Because Molly had both wages from a job and child support, she knew that she would meet that qualification.

Another qualification the borrower must meet is having an active bank account. This is necessary because this is how the borrower will receive the money as well as repay it. Molly learned that when she qualified for the loan, the money would be direct deposited right into her bank account. When the loan became due, the lender would withdraw the money directly from Molly’s account.

Molly was worried about the fees and the finance charges. She thought that a loan that was as simple as a cash advance payday loan would have outrageous interest fees. After reading the information on the website, Molly learned that the interest charges were not that high at all. The interest rate depends on how much the loan was for. The more money borrowed, the higher the interest rate. Molly read on to learn about the penalties that would be incurred if she did not repay the loan on time. If she did not have the full amount of the loan including the interest in her account on the due date, the lender would automatically give her an extension, usually about a week. Along with this extension comes an additional interest fee. For each week the loan is extended, the borrower must pay another interest charge. This can add up so Molly learned that it would be very important to have the money in her account on the due date.

After doing all of the research on cash advance payday loans, Molly decided it would be a good idea. She got the loan and payed her gas bill before the shut off date.

Cash Advance Payday Loans are a great way of getting fast cash, when you know that you got some money on its way. Get more Payday Loan Info at http://paydayloansexplained.com

3 Crohn's Disease Diet Options

By Lisa Maria

Dealing with Crohn’s disease can be a frustrating process. You can use medication to alleviate symptoms and even opt for surgery. However, many Crohn’s disease sufferers find that engaging in a specific Crohn’s disease diet is beneficial to their condition as well as overall health. Plus, they have complete control when they modify their diet.

Before we talk about a specific Crohn’s disease diet let’s get a few facts out on the table. First of all, this diet may not work the same for each person. This means that you will need to try different diets and foods to find out which foods aggravate or lessen your Crohn’s disease symptoms. Therefore, this Crohn’s disease diet is a suggestion or roadmap to set you on the path to a healthier life.

Secondly, make sure that you consult a dietician before you modify and tweak your diet. You want to make sure that you are getting enough of the appropriate nutrients. A dietician can work with you to understand your health needs as well as your food preferences.

Now let’s take a look at a few diets that may benefit someone dealing with Crohn’s disease. We will also look at the advantages and disadvantages of each diet.

Crohn’s disease diet option #1: Dairy-free diet. Milk and various dairy products tend to worsen Crohn’s disease symptoms. The culprit is often the lactose found in milk. It can be difficult to digest lactose which means that the person is lactose intolerant. If you are lactose intolerant and drink milk then you can suffer extreme bloating and gas. You can steer clear of milk, take lactase pills, or drink lactose free milk such as Lactaid.

Other dairy products can irritate your digestive tract leading to increased inflammation. This inflammation can cause abdominal pain, bloating, gas, cramps, and diarrhea. Therefore, eliminating dairy from your diet can help alleviate your Crohn’s disease symptoms.

Crohn’s disease diet option #2: Clear liquid diet. This is a temporary diet lasting just a few days.
You shouldn’t stay on this diet any longer because it will not give your body the nutrients it desperately needs. You can have broth, gelatin, clear juices (apple or white grape), and popsicles. An advantage of a clear liquid diet is that it enables your bowel to have a break from solid food for a few days. If you are having a colonoscopy it will clear your colon prior to your surgery.

Crohn’s disease diet option #3: Elimination diet. In this diet you eliminate specific foods to see how your body responds. You can determine which foods you are sensitive to and cause your Crohn’s disease to become worse. Many people eliminate common trigger foods such as chocolate, dairy, gluten, spices, nightshade vegetables, and processed sugar. You eliminate the food for two weeks or as long as it takes your symptoms to lessen or even clear. Then you add back in one new food every two to three days to see how your body responds. If your body reacts negatively to the reintroduced food then you will recognize your sensitivity to that food.

Are you wanting to discover exactly what is crohn's disease? Or maybe you have a child with Crohn's, and you want to learn about crohn's disease in children?

You can find useful articles, tips and guidance about Crohn's Disease at:
http://www.crohnsdiseasefree.com/

My Spoiled Dog and Spoiled Rugs

By Jan Gamm

Two thirds of the floors in my house are covered in ceramic tiles. The rest is carpeted. Tell me, why is it that my dog has to vomit on the carpet? I have actually observed him, in his nauseous quest for somewhere to throw up, search through the house for a convenient rug, then chuck up all over it, rather than stay where he was and be sick onto the tiles, which are oh so much easier to clean.

Dogs are strange creatures, I have decided. Our pooch is particularly spoiled, as we rescued him from an unhappy life and we believe we should somehow atone for his early misery. As a result he has grown in dignity and craftiness. He can hear a treat packet being opened from fifty yards, and he knows by instinct when his bath is being planned and manages to escape capture indefinitely.

There is one corner of our garden which is thickly covered with a bush giving out sticky burr-like woody beads, and these little beads can entwine themselves into our dog’s long fur and resist all efforts to extract them. He makes a bee line for this bush every time he goes out, in spite of going through numerous painful sessions of burr extractions from his face, legs and undercarriage. I am now certain he does it for attention, as he knows if he is covered in sticky burrs, then someone must remove them.

The latest foible of this spoilt mutt is to refuse to eat his dinner unless my husband and I are sitting next to him. This sounds little enough to do for him after his early traumas, but in fact it can be very inconvenient to give up that particular ten minutes of the day, especially as it coincides with the preparation time of our own meal. All the same, we do sit there like two idiots, totally in the control of this small furry despot.

Someone suggested to me we need to take him to obedience classes, but I really think that what we need is a doggie psychiatrist. Or perhaps just a psychiatrist.

Jan Gamm writes reflections on life with an emphasis on world travel. She has lived in many countries and traveled extensively in the Far East, the Middle East, America, South America and throughout the South Pacific. She writes for fun and for money whenever she can manage it.

Government Regulatory On-going Education Tests with Unethical Questions on Ethics

By L. Winslow

The government is requiring more and more businesses to comply with on-going education and yet we see that amongst these tests are tests in every industry on ethics. One might ask what the government knows about ethics, yet this is not the topic that came up in discussion recently in our think tank, instead we discussed that on these ongoing education tests on ethics it is impossible to get 100% correct, because one question is always impossible to get right, there is No right answer?

Well it there is no right answer and the test indicates there is then there is a problem with Trickery questions and is that really ethical? No of course not. It is nearly impossible to understand all the verbose rules and regulations, ambiguous definitions and intent of the laws sometimes, and all this is a clear sign of over regulation, over regulation is unethical, because it is like saying there is a problem in an industry that does not actually exist.

Even if you know the Letter of the law, over time the case Law is inconsistent with any sort of real ethics. Regulations are most often used as tools, like the regulators who write the legislation in order to attack a competitor in the market place. Of course, once attacked from a government agency, no matter why or who instituted the investigation, fine or finding; it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend and slows the progress of the company in question in the market place.

Thus most of our regulations are not made to help consumers, rather they are made so one business can get the upper hand of another. One has to ask why the government takes sides and why the government cannot practice what it preaches with regards to ethics or listen to the warnings of Adam Smith. So, if we really wish to discuss ethics, it is time to clean up the government's hand in it, from the on-going education tests to the actual market place extortion. Think on this.

L. Winslow is an Economic Advisor to the Online Think Tank, a Futurist and retired entrepreneur http://www.worldthinktank.net . Currently he is planning a bicycle ride across the US to raise money for charity and is sponsored by http://www.Calling-Plans.com and all the proceeds will go to various charities who sign up.

Survival Tips for the Working Mom

By Lata Tokhi

It is easy to get frustrated with life when you feel like you are managing more than you can really manage and doing a thankless job at that because things never seem to be perfect. But what is difficult is to fight back like most of the working mothers out there have to do in order to continue with their own careers. 'Everything Done To Perfection' is never going to happen and even stay at home moms can't boast of that, so once and for all, get out of that frustration. But that said, there are some surefire ways that can help you manage your time and your entire life in a better way. We share with you some of the ways that successful working moms have shared with us in their interviews on Dot Com Women and who want all the working moms of the world to read and benefit from their experiences.

1. Organize Your Time
Wake up before kids do. Grab a peaceful fifteen minutes for yourself and do whatever you like. It could be reading the morning newspaper with a cup of coffee or doing stretching exercises or meditating or just sitting in your porch or garden with a cup of tea or coffee. Have a shower, make the kids' lunches and your own if possible. Before you leave for work, put your laundry into the washer and use slow cookers to start cooking the dinner.

After you come back from work, spend time with kids. Talk to them about what happened at school and check their school work. Use the evening to get prepared for the next morning. Lay out children's clothes and chop/freeze for the next day's meals.

2. Get Help from Your Family
Enlist your husband and kids' help in doing household chores. While you still need to do the most of the work yourself, divide a considerable amount of work between other members of the family so that the work gets done quickly and none of the other members feel bogged down by too much work. Tasks such as cleaning the house which otherwise never get done, can be performed daily if you assign it to the kids. This will also teach your kids to be responsible.

You can also ask your husband to take the kids out to the nearby park so that you can get an extra couple of hours. This is especially handy when you have overdue housework or an important work assignment from your office.

3. Make Your Life Easy
Make your lifestyle easy by buying gadgets and using services that can really make things easier for you. Look for small appliances that can help you in the kitchen in your busy mornings. Keep some easy-to-make or ready-to-eat food at hand for emergency situations when you do not have the time to prepare full meals. Hire household help if you can. Utilize community services that charge you a small sum for bringing home your groceries, washing your car or paying your bills for you. Use the internet to shop from home and save valuable time which you can spend with your kids instead.

4. Prioritize
It is for you to decide and prioritize your day. Is it a spotless home that you really want or do you think you should do something special for your husband or your kids. Is there a way to do both? Similar questions arise when you get stuck between an important meeting with a client and attending your child's ballet recital. Learn to set your priorities right. While you obviously want to be at the recital, you cannot always set it to be your top priority. Ask your husband for support and make sure that at least one parent is there for your kids. Be aware that your husband could also need such support and you should make it possible for him to miss your son's baseball match for his meeting while you take his place at the match.

And when you do miss out on anything that is of special importance to your kids or your husband, take the time to make up for it by asking about it with interest and getting all the details no matter how tired you yourself are. Chances are, that your husband and children will really understand your situation and support you.

The key to being a good mother is staying happy and sane, whether you work or not. Minimizing your guilt feeling about not doing enough for your family and feeling at peace deep inside your mind is what will help you manage your personal and professional lives in a more efficient way and enjoy your life with your dear ones.

Working Mothers all over the world can relate to this article and we hope, find some support in it. For more tips, advice and resources forWorking Mothers, Freelancing Careers and Household Finance & Budgeting, visit the Work & Finance Channel of DotComWomen.com.

Choosing the Perfect Engagement Ring

By Anita Marks

Guys, this guide’s for you! So you’ve finally decided to take the plunge and propose to your sweetheart. Now comes the hard part: choosing her engagement ring.

An engagement ring is probably the second-most important purchase you’ll ever make (your house being the most important), so you need to choose wisely. This guide will help you make that choice and will hopefully result in you wooing her with the perfect engagement ring.

One word of caution before we begin: The perfect ring is probably the one she chooses herself. Who has a better idea of what she’s looking for, than her? I know what you’re thinking, it’s not very romantic to give her an “IOU for 1 engagement ring” when you propose, but buying a ring together can be just as romantic as surprising her with one. It’s all in the delivery.

One way to get around this problem is to present her with a stone when you propose. Then once she accepts she can choose the engagement ring setting herself. For more information on choosing the right stone, see our handy guide.

For those of you who’ve decided to do it the old-fashioned way, with a ring on bended knee, the following tips will put you on the right track.

Determine Your Budget: Before you go shopping, figure out how much you can afford to spend. The standard used in the diamond industry is two months salary. Depending on your situation, this may be a reasonable place to start.

Do Some Reconnaissance: Like all good soldiers you’ll need to do some reconnaissance before you go into battle. What color metal does she like? Yellow (gold) or white (silver)? What’s her style of jewelry? Is it modern or classic, flashy or understated? If you’re uncertain, note down the designs of her rings, necklaces, bracelets and earrings. You’ll be able to use these designs to determine her favorite style later.

A creative way to find out what she likes is to go window shopping together. Tell her you’re looking for some earrings for your mom or a new watch and steer her through the engagement ring aisle. But be discreet! You don’t want her to steal your thunder.

Choose the Metal: If she prefers yellow metals, yellow gold is the ideal choice for her. If she prefers silver metals, you have a choice between white gold, platinum or titanium.

If you’ve chosen gold, you’ll need to choose the purity or karat (kt). Gold comes in three purities: 10kt, 14kt and 18kt. 10kt gold contains 41.67% pure gold, 14kt gold contains 58.33% pure gold and 18kt gold contains 75% pure gold. The higher the purity, the more expensive the ring, so you need to factor this into your budget.

Platinum and titanium are 95% pure, so you don’t need to make any choices about the purity of these metals. For more information on the different metals, check out our Guide to Choosing a Metal.

Choose the Stone: A diamond seems to be a no-brainer, but some women these days prefer other gemstones in their engagement rings. Rubies, sapphires, emeralds, tanzanite, tourmaline, and aquamarines can be just as stunning as diamonds and they have the added benefit of costing less. If you're set on diamonds, make sure you check out our Guide on Choosing a Diamond.

Once you’ve decided on the type of gem, you need to select the size, shape and cut. Gems come in all kinds of shapes, including round, oval, square, rectangle, pear, heart, the list goes on.
What’s important here is to choose a size and shape that fits with your sweetheart’s hand.

Longer gem shapes work better on longer, slimmer fingers, but a setting that's very delicate will get lost on larger hands, making the ring look smaller. Round and square shapes work better on shorter fingers. An elongated shape such as an oval or marquise make shorter fingers look sleeker but be careful not to overdo the look.

The kinds of gems your significant other wears now will give you an indication of what looks good on her fingers.

Choose the Setting: After you've chosen your stone, next comes the setting. Since you’ve already decided on the type of metal, you’re almost done! Those notes that you took about her favorite jewelry style will come in handy now. If she likes a “busier” look, you might want to go with an engraved band. If she likes a simpler look, go with a simple band. The length of her fingers will give you an idea of how thick the band should be, the longer the finger the thicker the band, usually.

The setting of the gem is the final choice. There are three main settings: the solitaire, which features the single gem set on the band with a number of prongs (the less prongs, the less cluttered the look); a solitaire with sidestones built into the band; or the three-stone setting, which features the main gem surrounded by another gem on either side. The choice of setting is down to the type of style you think she's going to like and how much you're willing to pay.

Determine her Ring Size: There are a few ways to find out her ring size. Does she ever wear a ring on that finger? While she’s not wearing it you could take it to a jeweler to size it, or if you don’t have much time you can trace the inside of it on paper and take that to a jeweler for sizing.
Is she a heavy sleeper? Wrap a piece of paper or string around her finger and measure that.
Once you've got the length you can check out our sizing chart to determine the ring size.

Get a Second Opinion: Once you’ve decided on the perfect ring, seek a second opinion from a trusted source. It could be your sweetheart’s mom, sister or friend - just make sure they can be trusted with your big secret. Getting advice from your future mom-in-law is a great way to bond and you’ll be getting premium insider information too!

Buy from a Quality Jeweler: Make sure you purchase from a reputable jeweler who offers a solid return policy. Make some calls, read their customer feedback, ask them a lot of questions. By going with "mom and pop" jewelers and avoiding the big chains you’ll get better service and quality, since many of the big retailers sacrifice quality for quantity.

Plan Ahead: Selecting the ring, ordering it and having it delivered will take time. Saving up to pay for it will take time too. And if you want to have it engraved, you’ll also need to factor that in. Get started early so that you’ll have plenty of time to do it right.

About The Author: Anita Marks from is a writer based in Washington state. She has written numerous articles about topics like online shopping, platinum wedding rings and platinum jewelry.

Self Employed Health Insurance - Save Money By Educating Yourself Before You Buy

By Joe Stewart

Self Employed Health Insurance can be expensive, especially if you have a family. There's no reason to "sugar coat" the facts. The fact of the matter though is that, unfortunately, it's something that you must have, especially if you have a family. You can save yourself money and give yourself peace of mind by knowing how the basic health insurance policies work and the coverage that they provide. This is generally the same, whether you're in need of self employed health insurance or not.

Basic Medical Policies

Basic health plans have low limits of coverage. Also, there are no deductibles or coinsurance used, which means that it pays first dollar coverage and pays only the usual and customary fees. These are standard fee rates that are set by your insurance company for each medical procedure. Even if the doctor or hospital you see charges more, your policy will only pay according to their own guidelines.

Basic medical can include any or all of the following policies.

Basic Hospital

Pays a stated daily amount only while you're in the hospital (confined). An example would be $500 per day for a limited number of days, like 30 or 60. This type of coverage can be issued by itself or in combination with Medical Expense policies.

Other miscellaneous ancillary expenses while in the hospital include; physical therapy, dressings, drugs, operating rooms, x-rays, recovery rooms and more, up to a specified limit, like $10,000. Your coverage could be based on a multiple of the daily benefit amount, like 30x. Example, we used $500 per day in the previous example so that multiplied by 30 would be $15,000.

Both of these are reimbursement contracts.

Surgery Expenses

Basic medical policies provide what's called a "schedule of benefits". This schedule shows the maximum amount payable for each covered procedure. This coverage is normally provided on what is called an "absolute" basis. This means that it will only pay a specific amount for a certain procedure.

Don't let this stuff intimidate you. Just like anything else in life it must be learned. Basically, my intent here is to give you a brief education on what you'll need to be discussing with an insurance agent when you're ready to buy your self employed health insurance policy. Wouldn't you want to know what was actually covered within your policy and for how much rather than find out later that you didn't have enough coverage? Of course you would. Educate yourself now and save in the long run.

Joe Stewart Is A Former Health Insurance Agent. He's Made Understanding Health Insurance Easy For Others. You Can Learn More About Health Insurance And Get Free Health Insurance Quotes For Individual And Family At His Website TheHealthInsuranceGuys.org or by clicking on Self Employed Health Insurance

Luxury Cruises - Debunking the Myths of Elite Cruises

By Liz McDougall

Recently I’ve talked with some people that think that the luxury cruise market is only for the uber-rich, or star-struck contest winners that wander around Titanic-like ships with first and third classes. They worry about dress codes, fork placement, the dreaded last-day invoice, and a whole host of possible faux-pas they could make while onboard, like stumbling into the Captain’s personal brandy stash, and being thrown overboard for “bad form”.

First, let me put your mind at ease. Luxury Cruises, while being, well, luxurious, are very approachable and very affordable. The staff onboard the ships are used to folks experiencing a higher level of service, food and ambiance for the first time, and they are very happy to help you discover all there is to offer.

Here are some suggestions:

Relax and Talk to Experts.As you prepare for your cruise, be honest with your travel planner about your concerns. The more information they know about you and what you expect, the better they can match you to the right cruise line and right ship. There are some luxury cruise lines which cater to an older crowd and so the nightlife won’t be as expansive. There are some that have added educational seminars rather than Karaoke (both are fine, by the way…) - just be sure and communicate your likes and dislikes clearly so you’re not disappointed.

Sticker Shock Averted.Your travel planner’s motto should be, “We can work with any budget, What’s yours?”. Don’t be offended by this question; they aren’t trying to wrangle more money out of you. It helps them (and you) to weed out options which clearly won’t work - but will allow them to perhaps get some extras included by way of their relationships with the cruise lines if they have a little wiggle room. Be sure you know exactly what’s included and what’s not in the cost of your cruise fare, and consider flexibility in terms of dates, departure ports and even length of your cruise. It could be the cruise of a lifetime even if it is only a four-day, rather than a sixty-eight-day sojourn.

Shopping & Gambling OnboardI have a confession to make. I love to play blackjack, and I especially love to play on cruise ships. I can imagine myself in a 40’s spy film being watched by some tall, dark, handsome man who buys me a drink… and… I digress. Reality is, its usually my dapper tuxedoed husband desperately trying to keep me from losing our next month’s mortgage on one hand. The point is: have a budget in advance and stick to it. Things can add up quickly when you’re shopping and gambling onboard.

Do your Research, but Validate Them ProfessionallyI wouldn’t make a move without a travel professional these days. I simply can’t call the Internet, although I do love to surf for ideas and research and despite the fact that I can connect with people around the globe and get first-hand information, having someone that knows me, what I like, what I dislike and can tell me without fear of offense that I would be making a terrible mistake by doing such and such. That kind of unbiased “travel therapy” is crucial today, and I appreciate it.

So, dive in. Explore the world of the uber-rich and take a luxury cruise. It may be a once-in-a-lifetime trip, but aren't you worth it?

Liz McDougall is the Senior Staff Writer and Cruise Review Expert for CruiseMatch.com which specializes in helping travelers plan and prepare for cruises of all types. As an avid traveler, she loves to see and discuss the world with other lovers of travel.

Which is Better - Fixed Rate Mortgage or Variable Rate Mortgage?

By Victor Thomas

To choose the right type of mortgage between a fixed rate mortgage and a variable rate mortgage (more commonly known as an adjustable rate mortgage or ARM); you need to understand the difference between the two. Fixed rate mortgages are that the interest rate remains fixed at a certain percentage over the life of the loan and therefore your monthly mortgage payment (principal and interest) never changes. With an ARM, the interest rate can and probably will change at periodic intervals during the life of the loan based on the market index your lender uses.

Know the positives and negatives of Fixed Rates mortgages Fixed rate mortgages are some of the most common mortgages available on the market today. Since you always know what your monthly payment will be until the loan is paid in full, fixed rate mortgages are considered a safe and a predictable way to borrow money with little downside risk. Usually with this steadiness comes higher interest rates and, consequently, higher monthly mortgage payments.

Know the Ins and Outs of ARMs Interest rates for ARMs are based on the market index. Your lender uses common indexes which includes the amount of money lenders pay on the money they borrow as determined by the FDIC, how much money the Treasury pays on the money it borrows, how much home buyers are paying on new mortgages nationwide etc.

Typically, interest rates for ARMs can fluctuate on a six-month, 1-year, 3-year or 5-year basis.
With an ARM, there are limits on just how much the interest rate can change. These 'caps' has to be outlined in your contract and fluctuations in the rate can only be made based on those terms.

Know the Benefits and the Risks The benefit of a fixed rate mortgage is that you always know what your monthly mortgage payment will be. The downside is that it' is more difficult to qualify for this type of loan and typically, you are not able to borrow as much money as you can with an ARM. The benefit of an ARM is that the initial interest rate is often lower than a fixed rate which means your initial monthly payments are lower, and it's a much easier mortgage to qualify for great for home buyers with lower incomes.

The downside of an ARM , however, is that your interest rate will fluctuate as your lender's index rate changes. This could mean higher monthly mortgage payments - an important consideration in determining whether or not you can afford the greatest possible increase in the interest rate and ultimately, the greatest possible increase in your monthly mortgage payment.

Select your Mortgage Provider and just check edealsuk.com for Cash Back Mortgages where you can save your money on various Online Shopping Deals. Even you can get cashback for your selecting your Online DVD Rental Service Provider in UK .

How To Make A Good Salary As A Java Programmer

By Leo Chavez

It appears we are in software boom. Java programmers are a hot commodity once again. A quick search in any job search site will return you hundreds of postings from employers looking for Java developers. 70K salaries and higher are once again the norm. This does not mean that just anyone calling themselves a programmer will get 70K. In this article I give tips on what employers are looking for and what you should focus on if you're looking to make good money as a Java programmer.

CertificationMost companies prefer someone with certification. If you have a Java certification, it lets potential employers know that you like taking initiative and that you like keeping up to date. This will separate you from other non-certified programmers.

FrameworksThis is essential. If you’ve never worked with a framework, the employer knows that your Java abilities are limited. If you know Struts or JSF it will be a big plus. If you don’t know either one I suggest JSF because it’s not only a framework; it also provides countless tools that make development a lot simpler.

Database PersistenceAnother essential tool in the Java world is Hibernate. Every job opening you find, you will see Hibernate. Hibernate is just a tool / API that helps you work with relational databases. If you don’t know it, read up on it. Job openings that don’t ask for Hibernate are rare.

XmlIn every Java job opening, you will find xml. Try to become confirmable with one of these Java parsers: JAXP, Xerces, SAX. These will look great on your CV. Having some experience with a parser is a must.

Tomcat/JbossYou should know tomcat. You can’t run a Java web application with out it. It’s as essential as knowing JSPs and Servlets. Plus it’s simple and easy to use. Jboss is another keyword that you’ll find in many job openings. Jboss is a j2ee web application server. Very popular and will look great on your resume.

That’s it. If you have all of these in your CV, the chances of getting your dream job go up substantially. Experience plays a big part as well. But if you have a couple of years experience combined with the tools above, employers will be more than eager to snatch you up and pay you a hefty salary.

Leo Chavez is a developer with almost a decade of experience in the software industry. You can read more articles from him at www.JavaInTenMinutes.com The goal of the site is to help programmers learn java quickly.