The Content Blender

The struggle of calling on a gaming hall can be enough not to go there unless one must go there. On a closer look traffic jams, the struggle, and umpteen things to take care of cannot seem worth the exertion only for the chance to try your hand at gaming hall, nonetheless, if you’re the sort of person who craves bets then having a try at online gaming would be the answer. Make money, have fun! Try this top online jackpot casino site.

It isn’t necessary to abandon your desk to try online video poker or related games for the reason that you’ll do everything from within your familial household if you have access to a pc including a broadband connection to the internet. Yet, before you’re getting all excited, there are numerous hints that you should swot regarding online video poker or related games, specifically if you’re a rookie. So tone down all that testosterone of yours and deliberate what comes next. Here is my blueprint which instructs you how to choose a trust-worthy online video poker or related games Web site. The topmost thing that I as a nifty Web wagerer is sure to hunt for is an online video poker or related games Web page of the sort which offers the best odds. Beyond this, here are various extra pointers regarding trying to localize your virtual card playing Web page.

You must make sure beyond doubt that the virtual card playing Web page is verifiably licensed, such as by investigating the licensing information on the casino site. If it’s impossible to pick out any licensing information on any given virtual card playing Web page, don’t think of staking with this web site. After that you’ll probably want to read and absorb very systematically the miscellaneous premiums that the virtual card playing Web page provides. Moreover, another substantial bit of advice is to place your bets at the start with modest amounts in lieu of fool away so much it can hurt on the spot. Check out the integrity of this particular virtual card playing framework rather than running any grave menace- specifically in terms of money… The final recommendation regarding online video poker. It is bound to be this: to bear in mind always that online casino betting should entirely be concerned with enjoyment rather than making big bucks. Betting is certainly no profession, but, rather a diversion that is supposed to help you feel lighthearted and life as a whole gratifying.

Thus, having gone along with all these instructions, you can now defer to the fascination of virtual card playing!

In America we salute quantity and pay lip service to quality. When manufacturers want to brag, they cite numbers of units produced, tons of ore mined, miles of cable laid, or millions of books sold. People involved in high production get gold-plated plaques, vacations in Las Vegas and outrageous bonuses. Where is quality management while this is happening? Fighting with production supervisors to maintain standards, trying to get budget to buy inspection tools, trying to get people to attend manufacturing and process improvement classes. The quality supervisor buys quality award certificates from Office Depot and fills them in himself.

Quantity has high sociological value. Producing lots of anything shows you have the “right corporate stuff”. We give high production admiration and handsomely reward those who deliver the goods.

Quality is acknowledged as a good thing, but we expect to pay dearly for it, and management is secretly willing to sacrifice quality to get better production numbers. We sneered at German manufacturing and their devotion to quality. And why not, in a long war we proved decisively that quantity could defeat quality. We out-produced them at every turn and won a great victory. When a person or group succeeds in a great endeavor, that event can become a measuring stick for all similar future activities. It is, of course, poor reasoning at best. Yesterday’s solution is seldom appropriate for today’s problems.

In years gone by, if you were successful in life, made some money, you bought a quality German automobile. You told all your pals how well it was put together, how long it lasted. It isn’t true any more. J. D. Power and Associates rates Mercedes automobiles as a little below average compared to other automobiles. Something changed. Quality is what changed.

Quantity: Hail to thee, yardstick of real success in America and the world.

What is quality? Go to your bookstore and check the section on quality. It’s big. A lot of smart people have had a lot to say about it. And still it plays second fiddle to quantity. It seems so simple.

Here’s an absolute truism. It’s very expensive to build defective products. We ought to say this again. It’s very expensive to build defective products. We could also say, it’s very expensive to produce a lemon vehicle. But it’s not enough to say it. Those who are involved in the world of production have to learn it, absorb it; have it become as much a part of their lives as knowing how to drive their car.

“Like the frog that will sit in a pot of water and let itself be slowly boiled to death, we are very good at reacting to immediate danger to our survival, but we are very poor at recognizing gradual threats.” — Peter Senge

Downplaying the value of rigorous quality programs has gradual but inevitable effects. How long did it take Mercedes to go from a premier automobile manufacturer to just average? Roughly ten years. It’s expensive to ignore or downplay quality.

The following describes some of the costs associated with manufacturing a defective automobile:

- In the beginning there was a design. Maybe it was good, maybe it was a lemon.

- The design cost big bucks. The manufacturer wants that investment returned. This is a manufacturer expense.

- The manufacturer made lots of automobiles accoding to that design. Each cost a lot of money to build. This is a manufacturer expense.

- Manufacturers ship the automobiles and trucks to dealerships. The manufacturer sets aside money to pay for warranty repairs. This is a manufacturer expense.

- Some of the vehicle shiped are lemons. This is inevitable.

- Consumers buy the vehicles. The manufacturers make money for a change.

- Consumers are outraged They retain counsel and the manufacturers either end up returning the consumer’s money or replacing their vehicle with a new vehicle. This is a manufacturer expense.

- Manufacturers have to pay for numerous warranty repairs. This is a manufacturer expense.

- Manufacturers contend with lemon law attorneys and have large legal expenses and bad public relations. This is a manufacturer expense.

- Some lemon defects are subject to massive recalls. This can be a huge expense to the manufacturer.

- Manufacturers become part of huge lemon laundering schemes. They lose serious money and it is more bad public relations. This is a manufacturer expense.

- The manufacturer much produce vehicles to replace those that were lemons. This is a manufacturer expense.

There’s not much light at the end of this particular tunnel. There isn’t much light in there. However, a focus on quality of service and prduct would certainly put some light in that dark tunnel.

When accountants do the numbers so many intangible things are overlooked. What looks like a fine bottom line in one moment is an utter failure a year down the road. The business driven entirely by the quarterly is always destructive in the long run.

Here’s another verse on the theme of this article.

“Defects are not free. Somebody makes them & gets paid for making them.” Anonymous

Lest you think it is all bad, it isn’t. Some manufacturers make real efforts to create quality products and services. But there is a Catch-22 waiting in the weeds, and it is a tough one. As we stated in an earlier article, when talking about the complexity of the modern automobile, what can one do when the average vehicle has 10,000 to 15,000 parts? The chances that something will go wrong, that lemon vehicles in large numbers will be produced, increases exponentially. But Lexus and Infinity seem to have solved the quality problem, so manufacturers are not really stuck in this Catch-22.

In the war between quality and the bottom line, the bottom line always wins out. Promotions aren’t passed out when people improve quality and sustain these improvements. The young executive fresh from Wharton or Harvard has a plan, and that plan is promotion. He or she has been taught shortsightedness in school and by our peculiar marketplace. There is no incentive to plan for quality on a long-term basis of years. But, there is every incentive to increase production and sales.

One of the results of this battle is more and more lemon vehicles on our highways. Until manufacturers become convinced that it’s cheaper to build quality vehicles than it is to build more vehicles, and hide the defects, the current situation is not likely to change. So far the accountants have the upper hand, just as they did in the 60’s when Ford Pintos were exploding all over the roads of America.

Donald Ladew, Staff Writer for Norman Taylor & Associates, is a professional writer and author of numerous articles on quality,customer service issues and many other subjects. This article approved by Norman F. Taylor Esq. For more information about this most important subject, please read Lemon Law - The Standard Reference Guide, Norman F. Taylor Esq. ISBN 0-9760058-0-8 http://www.lemonattorneys.com or http://www.normantaylor.com For further inquiries, Mr. Ladew may be reached at: donald@normantaylor.com Phone: 818-244-3905.

No matter how great your idea is, if the market isn’t ready for it, or if it’s already saturated, you just won’t profit from it, at least not at the moment. So how do you know if it’s just another great idea or a money tree ripe for the picking? How about some basic market research.

There are a few ways you can go about this. You can hold a focus group, you get a bunch of people together, explain the concept to them, with mock ups if you can, and see what they think. Let them talk openly about it, often amongst themselves without your input, and then have them fill out a questionnaire.

This is a very expensive technique, but often produces good results, as you get more than just opinions, you also get ideas on how you can improve your original concept and so on.

You could invest in a direct mail campaign, and offer something to the recipients in return for answering your survey. This too can be very costly, up to $20 per person, and the end result isn’t nearly as good as what you get with a focus group. As few as 1 in 100 people will return your mailing, maybe more depending on the reward.

You could use the telephone and conduct your survey that way. Keep in mind, however, that people will initially assume you’re a telemarketer trying to sell them something.

You could survey people coming in and going out of your local mall. You’d have to set this up with the mall management first, but it’s not an uncommon practice. In fact, where I live there are always people at the mall wanting you to take surveys.

You could also do some research online, post your question(s) in a forum - one that allows such things, be sure to read their TOS and don’t overload the board. One question at a time works best, with follow ups if and when you get a response to your initial query.

I’ve seen this done often, generally by programmers inquiring about the usefulness of a new program idea they’ve come up with. They generally ask, could you use a program like tihs, adn what kind of features would the program ideally have. The response quality is usually very good.

When it comes to your survey give a brief description of your idea, then ask:

Could you use this product/service?

If yes, how often do you think you’d use this product/service.

Do you know anyone else who could use this product/service.

Does $X seem like a reasonable price for this product/service - or alternatively - What do you think might be a reasonable price for this product/service?

Given what we’ve told you about the product/service, what improvements could be made to make it more useful to you?

That’s it, just a set of very direct questions for a basic market research study. Make sure the person being surveyed feels comfortable giving honest answers, and opinions, and don’t waste their time.

You can also check and see what the competition is in the market for similar offerings - assuming there are any similar offerings. You can look at how they’ve positioned their product, and position yours differently, what demographic they’re targeting and so on. Oftentimes you can also see just how profitable a product really is, if you look deep enough.

Competition in the market, however, doesn’t guarantee your product or service will make tons of money - on the other hand it also doesn’t guarantee it won’t. A lot of that has to do with how you market it.

Getting this kind of information from average people, getting their opinions, and their input on what they’d like to see in such an offering, is probably one of the best things you can do to ensure your success.

About The Author

Start Your Home Business at www.prosperity-net.com

Get Your Slice Of the American Pie!

© 2004 Prosperity-Net.com

Let’s face it; the line from A Field of Dreams isn’t the whole truth. There’s more to getting people to come to something than simply building it. Someone built the old run down historical mansion, but hardly anyone visits it (except maybe people you wouldn’t want to run into). People want to find a place online that caters to them, specifically. They want it to be pleasant on the eyes, up-to-date, simple to understand and easy to get around in. But, this isn’t an area where everyone succeeds. And sadly, some of the reasons for failure seem small, almost minute. Below are six website design disasters and simple steps that you can take to avoid them.

1. Sloppy Copy. Despite what you may have read in the latest free e-Book, you can’t just place any words on a page to trick you customers to spend fistfuls of cash on your site. One of the primary reasons people are cruising the net is to find information, and not just the same information over and over and over.

Solution: Your content should be unique, interesting and error free. Anything less will leave your visitors looking for fulfillment elsewhere. There are many opportunities online to find good content and sometimes you can manage to find unique copy at low prices. Or maybe you can work out a trade deal with a freelance writer; you offer free advertising space in exchange for their articles. Try not to use free content from a mass produced website simply because there are probably a lot of other places online where you can find the exact same words. You’ve got to give your visitors something special, something unique that they can’t find anywhere else. Otherwise they will - find it somewhere else.

2. Not Taking Advantage of META-tags. We all know that meta-tags are important, but sometimes we fail to take full advantage of what they have to offer. As important as they are to web designers as free promotion, meta-tags are just as important to potential visitors.

You may have just the product, membership club, newsletter or information that I’m looking for. But if I can’t find you, we can’t ever begin a commercial (or any other kind of) exchange. Since most people come across websites using a search engine, fully optimizing your title and meta-tag keywords will ensure the beginning of a match made in heaven.

Solution: When creating your title and coming up with possible keywords; make sure that you are thinking more like a customer than a website designer. Your title is important because it is the first thing that potential visitors will see when your results show in the search engine. It should be short, compelling and descriptive.

Your description Meta-tags should reiterate what your title has said, but using a new approach and a few more words. Try to limit yourself to a description that is less than 125 characters so that the entire description can be read, instead of being interrupted mid-thought by limited space. For added benefits, try to include a question in your first line of the description, one that the viewer was probably asking themselves before initiating the search. Use this same approach when coming up with your list of keywords. When you’ve come up with your list, go over each one asking yourself, “Is this a keyword used by someone who is a potential customer?” If the answer is no, then don’t include them, you’ll be wasting your time.

3. Outdate Information, Broken Links, and “Under Construction”. There is nothing more frustrating than sifting through out-dated websites when you’re in search of current information. Or clicking on a link that you hope leads to the answer to your question, only to discover that “This Page Cannot Be Displayed” or that the domain name is for sale.

Only slightly less annoying are messages informing you that the page is currently under construction or is “Coming Soon”. If it’s not here yet, don’t waste your visitor’s time leading them down dead ends.

Solution: Schedule at least a day a month scouring your website for outdated information and broken links. You can also include a link on your website that allows visitors to report broken links or outdated information. As far as “Under Construction” messages, instead announce to your visitors any upcoming changes or additions to your website. They’ll be glad to know it without getting their hopes up, clicking a link to much sought after information, and being told it isn’t available yet.

4. Hard to Find Contact Information. It’s hard to understand why any website would fail to make it easy for visitors to get in touch with the people who run it. Offering this simple bit of information will:
a. Encourage people to ask for permission before using your content &/or graphics on their own sites.
b. Make it easier for people to contact you for promotional reasons. For example, someone may desire to interview you, initiate a contract or simply make an important business contact that you may need in the future.
c. Provide people with ways to reach you and your company while they are offline. You can provide them with ways to reach you by telephone, snail mail or possibly even to stop and tour your facilities.

Solution: Simply add a “Contact Us” page and link to your website. Be sure to include pertinent email addresses, phone numbers, names, mailing addresses and (if necessary) driving directions.

5. Not Changing the Color of a Visited Link. While this may not seem like such a big deal, it’s one that has been bugging website traffic for many years. You can take that on the authority of Dr. Jakob Nielsen, the man who’s been called the “guru of Web page usability” by the New York Times.

The purpose of changing link colors is to give your site visitors an idea of where they’ve already been and where they have yet to venture. This is especially important if you have a large site with new pages being added to it often.

Solution: The HTML code is simple: Inside the body tag, add the “vlink” tag and the color code or color name. The code for blue visited link text would look like this:
or

Replace the code or color name with the color you want. There, you’re done. It’s that simple.

6. Failing to Use Your Website to Emphasize Your U.S.P. Your U.S.P., or Unique Selling Point, is that one (or more than one) thing that your company does do, or doesn’t do; has or doesn’t have, that separates your from the competition. It’s the thing that, in the long term, a person comes back for.

This is tied in closely with another Web Design no-no: not offering any information about your company’s products, services, employees, etc. This is YOUR Website. Don’t be afraid to toot your own horn. Because, really, who else is going to do it?

Solution: Whether it means you need to sit down and better identify your target market, or maybe try to discover new ways to market to them, try to look at your website with eyes undimmed by cancelled orders, constant interruptions, or other distractions. Take the time to look at your website as a customer would, as a tool. Ask yourself, “If I was a customer, why would I be here?” As you come across these answers, make note of them, and any others that they may suggest.

Create an about us page, offering news updates, press releases, employee of the month biographies, etc. In the long run, customers always appreciate transparency. And I’ll let you into a little secret: they don’t mind being led around. If fact, they rely upon.

You’ll notice that I didn’t mention anything about the command. Or flashing, moving, or magically glittering icon trailers. Or sites hosted on free servers. That’s because most people have already beat those subjects black and blue. But, that doesn’t mean that you should disregard them. They aren’t Capri pants, sneaking back into style. For about the safest bet, just consider the Golden Rule; if it would give you a headache, make you shake your head in frustration, cause you to get up and walk away from the computer or any other negative reactions - just say no! Exercise a little restraint. Better yet, if you’re not a professional, consider hiring one. When it comes to customer satisfaction, an experienced web design specialist can make or break your business.

About the author:

Could your website use some fresh, custom content, but you don’t have the extra money to pay for it? Well, Jennifer Gibbs (a 5 star freelance professional from South Georgia) is more than happy to provide your site with original, tailored and EXCLUSIVE content in exchange for free products, services or membership access. For more information send your request (along with your website URL) to: arimark@friendlycity.net.

Whether you’re giving a critical sales presentation to a client, producing visuals for a meeting, event, trade show or seminar, or unveiling the new company logo before an audience of shareholders, top-notch graphics will help ensure that you, your products, and your message receive the attention they deserve.

Yet when you decide to do the graphics in-house to reduce turnaround time or cut expenses, those logos, photos, charts, graphs, pictures, timelines, illustrations, etc. can be a source of frustration, embarrassment, stress and perhaps lost business. Following ten simple tips to surefire do-it-yourself graphic design, however, will help maximize your visual punch, minimize your mistakes, and give you the professional-look your graphics deserve. Not to mention, cut down on the headaches.

1. -Take a deep breath

   Especially if you have a key presentation looming that needs charts, graphs, and visuals and all you have are loose papers and a migraine, first take a deep breath. Put on a fresh pot of coffee. Clear your workspace. Handle those last minute telephone calls. In short, you are going to need to focus your attention on your design project, so prepare yourself. You’re about to solve your graphic design problem in classic, do-it-yourself fashion.

2. - Outline your project

   Make a simple list of the presentation graphics you think you’ll need. Don’t get into details at this point. For example, you might list: opening– photo of young couple with product and company logo; midpoint– new market piechart and bar graph of financial growth; close– photo of new satisfied customer using product. You just want to create a rough outline that can help steer you through the project.

3. - Define what you’re trying to say

   To keep your audience visually interested you must keep things simple and avoid clutter that will confuse your focus.

   Communicate one concept at a time with your graphics. Your message can contain various parts, but your communication as a whole must concentrate on the key concept you want to get across. To shoot for more is to court disaster. At all costs, avoid making everything important, as that’s the surest way to create visual anarchy. When you attempt to give great importance to more than one message (or visual item), you introduce confusion and succeed only in dispersing the viewers attention instead of directing it where you want it.

4. - Keep it simple

   Visually, simple is better than complex, especially when images will only be seen a short time. Avoid the complex since it obscures your message rather than clarifies it.

   Use pictures, illustrations, graphs, etc. to punch up an important point, and to make complex ideas simple. However, avoid literally mimicking what’s said in the text. The graphics must enhance and play on variations of the text to make it more interesting - but never stray from the spirit of the message. At their best, graphics add humor, emotion, reality, believability, and playfulness to help bring about understanding and agreement in viewers.

   Keep text simple and readable, without overdoing emphasis. Use changes of size, style, color, and position, including bullets, symbols and other devices to highlight and organize your text in moderation. To avoid distracting the reader, limit the number of fonts to two or three in no more than three or four readable sizes. Keep the background simple, and use contrast to ensure legibility. Contrast is the noticeable difference between things, and can be as simple as bolding or underlining text in some cases. But don’t fill every bit of “empty” space, as well-chosen space can serve to “frame” graphic elements you may want to emphasize.

5. - Lay out your type, graphics, and photos

   Look at how the elements blend together. Lay out the type, graphics, photos, etc. in rough format similar to how they will be presented. If you know how, use computer formatting on programs such as MS Word or Excel to experiment with layout. Or you may want to lay out the physical materials on a desk or conference table. Similarly, you may want to tape or pin them to a wall or cubicle to see how vertical display affects their visual impact.

   Now, here’s where a little strategic thinking can set your graphic design work apart from the norm:

   Visually group graphics to show similarity and build interest. Try to visually group objects using similarities of theme, color, direction, position, alignment, etc. Show what goes with what, so your viewers will draw the proper conclusions. For example, a picture of worn-out old shoes could depict a potential client’s current database management system (DBS), and brand new track cleats could depict your DBS product. Of course, things that belong together must have characteristics in common, and must be similar enough to be perceived as a group or set.

   Also, make visual order part of your message. For example, decide WHEN the viewer should notice your logo: Before reading the copy? After reading the headline? Should the viewer note your company name before or after the product you’re selling? These strategic distinctions can boost or detract both from your credibility and ability to persuade.

6. - Add emphasis with a little color and contrast

   The graphics of your piece must be easily seen and attract more attention than anything around it. If not, your audience’s attention will go elsewhere: to a competitor’s ad, booth, flyer, banner, etc. To improve the odds of getting your audience’s attention, use color and contrast in moderation to create interest. Remember to use emphasis sparingly, like spice in cooking, because a little goes a long ways but too much simply overpowers.

   That said, attention does gravitate toward the area of greatest contrast. (That’s why print is usually black-on-white, which makes the letters stand out for easier viewing, instead of say, black-on-brown). For example, in a visual ad or billboard, a single sentence on an otherwise empty page demands attention. You can’t help but read it. Other examples of good, eye-catching contrast: a white spotlight in a dark theater; a 3-D object jutting out of a flat wall; a moving object among motionless ones (or a stationary object among moving ones); and a bright, colorful poster over a dull, monochrome background. Similarly, at a trade show you’d want your signage to run horizontally if you’re competitors’ signs run vertically. In each case, your audience is visually attracted toward what stands out or offers contrast.

   Here are a few types of useful contrast to consider using in your graphics: large/small, light/dark, flat/3-D, high/low, short/long, strong/weak, smooth/course, one/many, full/empty, warm/cool (colors), before/after, complex/simple, straight/winding, round/angular, continuous/interrupted, horizontal/vertical/diagonal, etc.

   For a series of visuals, use contrasting sequences to build interest as well. Contrasting sequences such as before/after, young/old, or gradations of color can guide and build the viewer’s interest by suggesting degrees of importance, recognizable patterns, or consequences. When establishing what the viewer should notice first, second, third, etc., control the order in which he perceives the various items, using a scale of contrasts from most different to most similar. The greater the contrast, the more importance a visual item is given.

7. - Get a fresh perspective

   After focusing on your graphics project, it helps to get a fresh perspective. Ideally, you should ask someone with art or design experience a few questions. How do these graphics strike you? Do they support the message? What would you change? The less they know about your presentation, company, or product the more helpful their opinion, as it will more closely approximate your audience’s reaction. But really, anyone’s opinion helps to pinpoint strengths and weaknesses in your designs, so don’t be afraid to ask. And don’t be afraid to accept criticism. If no one is available, take a break from your project if at all possible, so you can approach your graphic project with fresher, less biased eyes.

8. - Put on the finishing touches

   Then adjust your graphics project according to the objective feedback you received. Here’s where you may brighten or lighten colors, change font sizes, or rearrange graphics for better overall layout.

   Also, round out your pictures and graphics with carefully chosen words. From caption to headline and story, words are a critical part of the message you’re visually communi-cating, so they must be chosen and arranged carefully for the whole to work. Include only what’s important, so as not to dilute your carefully crafted message.

   Along these lines, speak your viewers’ language in a way that addresses their problems and answers their needs. For example, if your picture shows a healthy Mr. Jones tussling with grandkids after successful bypass surgery, mention how your new medical product reduced recovery time to three weeks from the normal three months.

9. - Take one last look

   No matter how careful you are there’s always last minute mistakes to catch: misspelled words, misaligned margins, or graphics that still need to be rearranged to lessen distracting “white” or trapped space. Use spell and grammar checkers, then print out sample copies to test overall visual effect until you’re satisfied with the results.

10. 0 - Print out and mount your final presentation

    Since all your previous work counts for naught if the final graphic product isn’t displayed and mounted properly, it’s critical to prevent the wrinkling, bubbling, warping, and peeling that can sink an otherwise impeccable graphic presentation. To this end, I have long used and recommended Pres-On products. Well known amongst professional graphic artists and photographers, Pres-On has a broad line of do-it-yourself, self-stick mounting board products for just about every application. I’ve mounted everything from extremely large oversize prints like architectural renderings and giant logos, to small decorative items, and consistently Pres-On mounting products makes it very easy to do and gives me professional results.

    Their newest mounting product Score & Snap, is made of a thin, surprisingly strong, plastic material that’s coated with self-stick mounting adhesive. It was designed to mount logos, photos, charts, signs and other graphics quickly and easily, with the capability to correct mistakes, but with subsequent permanent positioning. Once a graphic is mounted, the protective plastic can be easily scored with an X-Acto knife, then snapped off into the desired shape. Because of the consistency of the plastic material, its versatility in positioning graphics, and its clean edges, it makes it easy to produce a spectacular looking finished product that won’t come undone at the worst possible moment.

    With a firm grip on your graphics project, you can now look forward to the presentation deadline without knots in your stomach. Who knows, with the knockout graphics you cranked out, on a shoestring budget to boot, you could be in line for a promotion. As a parting tip, ask for a raise, as you’ve just added polished graphic presentation to your list of job skills. Just keep your Graphic Design Rescue Tips handy because the next project might not be so easy.

Call Dali Bahat at (818) 765-6635 or email at ot_artist@earthlink.net for more information about Master Design. For more information on Pres-On “Score & Snap”, and other Pres-On Self-Stick adhesive mounting products contact Pres-On Corp. at 21 Factory Road, Addison, Illinois 60101; Phone (800) 323-1745; Fax (888) 543-9406; www.Pres-On.com.

About The Author

Dali Bahat is an Internationally recognized graphic designer, and President of Master Design.

ot_artist@earthlink.net

Nowadays, every time you apply for a loan you will most likely
be offered payment protection insurance. If you are taking out a
particularly large loan, the idea may seem very attractive.
These insurance policies will take over repayments on your loans
in the event of losing your job or being involved in a medical
emergency. But what are the true costs and benefits of this type
of insurance? Given that over a billion pounds is spent in
Britain on this kind of insurance annually, it is worth asking
yourself.

The Cost Of Insurance

The fact of the matter is that the lending industry has become
more and more competitive in recent years. With interest rates
getting lower and lower, lenders have sought to find out ways of
increasing their returns. One of the ways they have come up with
is to offer various additional products that accompany the loan,
such as payment protection insurance. What may come as a
surprise is that payment protection can often cost as much as
the loan interest repayments. The payment protection repayments
can, incredibly, effectively double the cost of the loan. With
such startling consequences, it is imperative that consumers
think carefully before opting for such options.

Peace of Mind?

Many people will hold the view that as lives and jobs become
more and more unstable, the peace of mind offered by such
policies are worth the price. In some cases this is true, but
not always. Every insurance policy varies, but one thing remains
the same, it is very difficult to get an insurance policy to pay
out. You should look very carefully at the fine print of your
policy and you will be amazed to find out what actually is
covered, and what exclusions and exceptions apply.

For example, unemployment protection may only kick in after a
certain period of unemployment, will not count if the
unemployment was voluntary, and can require proof that the
applicant has actively sought employment, and not turned any
down, for the period since losing their job. This will give the
insurance company literally dozens of reasons for refusing pay
out in most instances.

Don’t Accept The First Quote!

As well as these conditions, you should also shop around. The
person you are borrowing from will always offer you a policy,
but this unlikely to be the best policy available and a little
shopping around will go a long way. You will probably also find
your self better terms or terms that suit your needs more
closely. Government standards are in place to make sure such
policies are clear and in plain language, but complaints are
still pouring into consumer protection groups regarding these
policies.

The basic advice here is be very careful if opting for expensive
insurance policies. Make sure you understand the terms, and that
you think they might be of benefit to you, and if you don’t want
the policy, just say no.

In case you’ve been living on another planet for the past several months, you may not have heard that Star Jones was getting married. For the rest of us here on planet earth we couldn’t escape this joyous news unless we swore off pop culture icons like Entertainment Tonight and People magazine.

Star Jones, current co-host of TV’s chat fest The View with Barbara Walters, recently married Wall Street banker Al Reynolds in an elaborate, pull-out-all-the-stops wedding extravaganza fit for a queen - or maybe a successful diva.

That’s right. Star Jones is a world-class diva. Okay, anyone familiar with Star knows her penchant for pampering herself with the finer things in life. So, it shouldn’t be any big surprise that she went all out to have the wedding she’d been dreaming about since she was eight years old.

Star’s fairytale wedding included such niceties as a wedding gown with a 27-foot veil topped with a crystal tiara, a 60-member Broadway choir, more attendants than Princess Di had at her wedding, and a custom made 7-carat princess cut diamond wedding ring.

Of course, as soon as the juicy wedding details surfaced in the media, the Star Jones haters came out of the woodworks - - often expressing their mean-spirited views of Star, Al, and their special day with vicious glee.

All right. Maybe Star went just a teeny weenie bit over the top. But so what? In the end, it’s just one couple’s happy wedding day. Theirs just happened to have a lot more bling bling than most folks.

Admit it. Most of us would have loved to have sneaked a peak into the star-studded event, if only to gawk at celebrity guests like: Angela Bassett, Kim Cattral, Chris Rock, Hillary Clinton, Vivica A. Fox, Barbara Walters, Lisa Ling, Kelly Ripa, Al Roker, Blair Underwood, and Donald Trump.

Whew! Now that’s a lot of star powered bling right there.

When it comes right down to it, one person’s overblown extravaganza is another person’s Cinderella fairytale come true. It’s a matter of personal style and taste. I say, do whatever makes you happy. That’s all that counts in the end.

About The Author

Copyright 2004

Donna Monday
One special moment. One special ring.
http://www.1-love-rings.com

Finding great items to sell can be difficult for some people.
After all, your auction site business depends on great items
that you can purchase very inexpensively and sell for a profit.
If you are having difficulty finding items online for your
auction business, here are some easy tips.

One of the best ways to find a great ideas is to check out the
auction sites. Many people don’t realize that great ideas are on
practically every page of Ebay. You can easily look at which
products are selling, how much they sell for and the average
price that they are sold at. Using Ebay is probably the easiest
and quickest way to find great products that already have a
thriving market.

You can also check out auction site forums. Here many people
talk about great products that are hot. There are even auction
analysis companies that analyze millions of pieces of data to
come up with great items for their customers to sell.

There are many overseas manufacturers and distributors that
would love to sell their items to you for a great price, which
can be quickly converted into profit. Many of these overseas
manufacturers are usually located on large marketplace websites
which are easy to find. So if you are looking for great items to
sell on auction sites, follow the above tips.

Do you have a business partner in your online business?

I had the wonderful opportunity to undergo a course of study under a proven established online marketer before I went full time as an online entrepreneur. I was on Lesson 1 when I was shocked to read that my mentor advocated NOT to have a business partner in running my online business!

Why?

Among other factors, my mentor singled out:

1. differences in focus and priority as business develops - it is very hard to have both or more partners to have an intense focus on the businsess especially if the business is growing or there are material developments affecting the business. There are pull and push factors, and as each individual behaves differently, the response and appreciation of the difficulties and growth of the business is different. Problems grow when different individuals exert their own influence in business decisions and fail to work cohesively.

2. inability to increase capital or move together in financial decisions - when a business grows, and there are financial outlays affecting the growth, or where business deicisons involve capital expenditure, there is seldom unanimous agreement on major issues pertaining to money. This is especially true of online businesses, where capital outlays and expenditures are perceived to be low, and when action is taken to do offsite promotion or offsite related business activities which involve heavy expenditure, the online entrepreneur has to be confronted with the glaring difference of low cost online business and that of a brick and mortar business which involves capital expenditure.

3. Dilution of authority of founding members- as the business grows, the founding members will find less incentive as their hold or control over the business will be diluted, as the CEO will take on a higher profile, eclipsing the others such as the Vice President. This leads to attendant problems of the Vice President feeling being left out of the management loop, and especially where foreceful characters are in play, conflicts will start.

I have personally seen this working out in an established online business, and the picture is not healthy.

Therefore, any online business if structured properly will have the centers of influence on just one person or cohesive group, with other players contributing as affiliates, or participants whose “advice” is listened to but not necessarily followed. If this cannot be avoided, it is imperative for the partners to have a buy-sell agreement at the very onset of the online business even before the busines starts to grow. Such buy-sell agreements will allow the more aggressive partner to have the first priority to take over the other partner’s share of the business at pre-determined and fair conditions. Without such a saving technique, any online business will see a period of attrition, and members bewildered and leaving in droves as more problems arise to the surface as business partners flog their differences in the open.

Peter Lim, Certified Financial Planner is also a full time online entrepreneur, and write often on financial articles and investment articles. He is the author of Swing Trading for Gigantic Profits (http://signaldot.poolofwisdom.com/swingbook.phtml) and has a online website offerring free resources for anyone aspiring to be a profitable trader in the stocks and futures markets at http://www.online-guides.info/Swing-Trading

Gazebos are primarily elevated pavilion structures that are either octagonal or rectangular in shape and are commonly found erected in parks, gardens and spacious public places. History of these structures dates back to Chinese Civilization. However, the term ‘gazebo’ was used by William and John Halfpenny in their book ‘Rural Architecture in the Chinese Taste’. One can find very few structures that are as multifunctional as a gazebo.

Traditionally, gazebos were considered as a symbol of richness and affluence and are increasingly found in the backyard of a home. Inside a park, these structures offer shade and are actually places to sit and relax for joggers and visitors. In case of outdoor weddings, a richly-decorated wedding gazebo is used as it provides a sense of elegance and glorifies the entire feeling of celebration. A gazebo is a nice place to celebrate weekends with family and friends. Another variation is a spa gazebo, a beautiful way to relax and take bath without compromising on privacy. Sitting in a gazebo amidst the beauty of nature and enjoying a cup of tea with your beloved is such a romantic feeling one can never forget. Another important advantage of a gazebo is that it is available in different shapes, sizes, and made of different types of materials such as wood, vinyl, plastic and metal. One can select a right kind of gazebo depending on his/her preferences.