What Is a Good Business For a Veteran Retired From The US Navy?

During the 2012 election there was a debate between Governor Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama on the future of the United States Navy. Governor Mitt Romney suggested that the United States needed more U.S. Navy ships. The president stated that since the ships are more technologically advanced these days, we don't need them in the same numbers as we have in the past. It is true that our Navy is having trouble covering the oceans of the world, but it is also true that President Barack Obama is going to cut military expenditures.

The DOD has already decided that it will cut $500 billion over the next decade, and that's probably just a down payment. What does this mean for the U.S. Navy? It means there will be fewer ships. Therefore we will need fewer sailors and seamen. Where will they go? Well, the military will let these individuals go with honorable discharges, and a number of people through attrition. They've already started. Many Navy bases are down to bare-bones already. Robotic ships will take over, and there will be less need for that many seamen (in theory as per the current President's plan).

Okay so, that means that all these retired veteran Navy personnel will be looking for work in the private sector. You must also recall that our unemployment is over 8% right now, and it will surely climb after 2013 as the federal government decides to cut its budget. What if these former Navy veterans can't get work in the private sector? Well, maybe they can start their own business. They have experience, know-how, hard work ethic, and they tend to fall the rules and do everything by proper procedures.

Might I suggest a small business in the marine sector?

How about cleaning and detailing boats?

How about upkeep services for high-end yachts and sailboats?

You may not have been thinking here, but I can tell you from being in the business previously that it is a good business, albeit hard work. Boat and yacht owners will trust retired military U.S. Navy personnel because of their service. It's hard to get someone to clean your boat and do proper detailing and find someone who will be punctual. That's certainly wouldn't be a problem for a Navy retired veteran.

Doing what you say you are going to do in this sector is paramount, and it's the same way in the U.S. Navy. Therefore this might be one potential option, and therefore I ask that you please consider all this and think on it.

How To Setup A Freshwater Tropical Fish Tank

This is an 11 step guide to setting up a freshwater aquarium in your home.

Equipment you will need:

Aquarium

Aquarium gravel

Aquarium filter

Replacement filter media

Heater

Other decorations (such as plants)

Chemical test kits

Fish food

Aquarium vacuum

Fish net

Glass Scrubber

5-gallon bucket

Pasta strainer

STEP 1: Realize the responsibility involved. A tropical fish tank is just like having a dog or a cat when it comes to the amount of effort on your part. In order to have a successful fish tank you will have to work at it. Once a week, or at most once every two weeks, you will need to perform some kind of maintenance on the tank. Most of the time you will be performing water changes. You will also have to feed your tropical fish at least once a day. If you are up to the challenge, please proceed!

STEP 2: Decide on an aquarium size. It's a good idea to have in mind what kind of tropical fish you want to keep before you purchase an aquarium. Some tropical fish only grow to be an inch or two, whereas other types of tropical fish can grow 12 or 13 inches in length! Knowing what kind of tropical fish you want will help you decide the size of the tank they will need. If this is your first time with an aquarium, I would recommend going with a 10 or 20 gallon aquarium for now.

STEP 3: Decide on the aquarium's location. Place your aquarium in an area where the light and temperature of the tank won't be affected by external sources such as windows and heater vents. You will want to place your aquarium on a stand that will be able to hold its total weight. A good rule of thumb for determining the total weight of a full aquarium is 10 pounds per gallon of water. For example, a 55-gallon tank will weigh approximately 550 pounds when filled with water!

STEP 4: Buy your aquarium and equipment. Now is the time to decide on the type of filtration you will want to use. You will also need to purchase a heater capable of heating the tank size you have. Buy the gravel, plants, a power strip and other decorations. A good rule of thumb for the amount of gravel that you will need is 1 to 1.5 pounds of gravel per gallon of water.

STEP 5: Set up your aquarium and stand. Wash out your tank with water only! Do not use soap or detergents. Soap residue left behind will be harmful for your tropical fish. If you are going to use an under gravel filter (not recommended) now would be the time to set it up as well.

STEP 6: Wash Gravel, plants and decorations. Be sure to wash the gravel thoroughly before adding it to your tank. An easy way to do this is to put some of the rocks in a pasta strainer and wash them out in your bathtub. Then place the clean gravel in a clean 5-gallon bucket for transport to the aquarium. After adding the gravel you can place your plants and decorations.

STEP 7: Add water to the aquarium. To avoid messing up your gravel and plants, you can place a plate or saucer in the middle of your aquarium and direct the water flow onto the plate. Use room temperature water when filling. To remove the chlorine and chloramine, use something like Tetra AquaSafe for Aquariums. Don't completely fill up the aquarium until you are sure of the layout of your decorations. Otherwise, when you place your arm in to move stuff around water is going to spill over. Doh!

STEP 8: Set up equipment. Install your heater but don't plug it in until the thermostat in the heater has adjusted to the water temperature. This usually takes about 15 minutes or so. Hook up your filter and any other equipment you have, then top off the aquarium water to just under the hood lip. Place your hood and light on the aquarium and then check your power cords to be sure that they are free of water. I would also recommend using a drip loop on all of the power cords to be extra cautious. Plug all of the equipment into a power strip and then "turn on" the aquarium.

STEP 9. Wait, wait, wait and then wait some more. I know, you want to add some tropical fish. But, in order to do this right you must wait until your aquarium has cycled before adding any fish. There are ways of speeding up this process. Check out the nitrogen cycle page to learn more. If you must use fish to cycle, try to get a hardier species like the zebra danio or cherry barb.

STEP 10. Add tropical fish. Only add one or two fish at a time. Adding a couple tropical fish at a time gives your filtration system the time needed to take on the increased biological load that the new fish introduce. When you bring the fish home let the bag float in the tank for about 15 minutes so that the fish can become acclimated to the temperature and pH of the aquarium water. After 5 minutes of floating the bag you should add some of the aquarium water to the bag so that the fish can become acclimated to the pH level in the aquarium. This will help reduce the amount of stress imposed on the tropical fish. Stressed tropical fish often leads to dead tropical fish! Don't feed your tropical fish on the first day. They probably wouldn't eat any food on the first day anyway. Let them get acquainted with their new home.

STEP 11. Get ready for regular maintenance. Be prepared to spend some time once every week or two to clean your tank. Performing regular water changes will reduce the nitrate levels and keep your tropical fish happy and healthy.

For more tropical fish and aquarium information, please visit FishLore.com - Tropical Fish & Aquarium Information.

Google's Ranking System and Algorithms - The Top 10

The truth is that there is a great deal of mystery surrounding the exact algorithm Google uses in order to determine page rankings. In fact, their algorithms change over 500 times per year, and each time they change, they are not shared with the public. Does that mean that you have no way of knowing how your site will be ranked? Absolutely not! Through dedicated research, SEO experts have been able to determine factual information regarding exactly what factors Google takes into account in their ranking system. There are actually over 200 factors that they use to rank your site, but there are 10 that are absolutely crucial. If you want to ensure that your e-commerce website ranks high in Google's SERPs, each and every one of the following factors will need to be considered.

Backlinks

If this is your first time reading about any type of SEO technique, then you have probably not heard about a backlink. What are they exactly? Backlinks are links that are directed toward your site, and are sometimes called inbound links. When you have a lot of backlinks, this is an indication that your site is popular and important. Search engines like Google will give your site a higher ranking when you have a good number of backlinks.

Page Speed

In 2010, Google officially began to count page speed as a factor in their search engine rankings. Very few people take care of their website's loading speed, and now it is more important than ever. If you need help with your page speed, Google does provide a speed-related mini-site that has a ton of resources and videos about speeding up your page.

CTR

CTR, or the Click-through Ratio, also gets counted toward your ranking on Google's SERPs. If you aren't familiar with the term, it simply means the percentage of time that searchers click on your site when displayed in the SERPs versus another website. The more clicks you have on your site, the higher rank you will get.

Domain Age

It is a sad fact, but the age of your domain name does have an effect on your Google ranking. It should be noted that the domain age doesn't simply refer to how long you have owned a particular domain name, but rather how long ago it was that Google first indexed it, or saw a link to it. If you have a young domain name, your site will likely be devalued for the first few months or so after Google first hits on you. It will be very difficult for you to rank well in those early months.

Page Age

In contrast to domain age, Google also places emphasis on page age when ranking your e-commerce website. This means that they are not only paying attention to the age of each page of your site, but are also concerned with the display of dates on content, including articles and blog posts. While it isn't clear yet whether or not it is a direct ranking factor, page age will definitely affect your CTR. If you have older content on your site, Internet users will be less likely to click on your site.

Meta Tags

Meta tags are another piece of the larger algorithmic puzzle. These Meta tags are looked at by Google when deciding which results are relevant to user searches. Meta tags are essentially text inserted into the source code of a e-commerce website that includes keywords in order to provide information to Google about the contents of a page for SEO purposes.

Meta Descriptions

Meta descriptions are extremely important in determining search engine rankings. Meta descriptions are a kind of Meta tag used to describe a document. They are short summaries, about 200 characters or less, that allow an e-commerce website owners to define how the page will be described in the SERPs. Not all engines use them, and Google only utilizes the first 150 characters of a website's Meta description.

Original Content

Duplicate or unoriginal content will not get your page to rank high on the SERPs. In terms of duplicate content, it isn't that Google necessarily penalizes websites; they just won't show it in search results. Rather than show 20 pages with the same content, Google will attempt to present the most relevant and original content and leave out the rest.

Quality Information

Extremely useful and unique information is a very important factor in the Google ranking system. Today, it is not just enough to fill your content with keywords. With the advent of Panda, "the quality over quantity" approach really took the world by storm, and forever changed SEO approaches. The quality of the information you provide is now a major factor, which leads to the quality of your overall site. This focus on quality has dealt a major blow to a variety of online businesses and websites, including auto-blogs, scraper sites, and many article directories.

Keyword Optimization

From the very beginning of the SEO game, the optimum use of keywords has been absolutely vital to the success of e-commerce website rankings. It used to be all about filling your content with as many keywords as possible, but with an increased focus on quality content, only a few important keywords are required today. Many e-commerece websites are also developing accurate keyword phrases, rather than single words, and paying greater attention to the keyword density of their pages.

Raising Capital For Your Business - How Long Does it Take?

Most companies vastly underestimate the time commitment necessary to successfully complete a financing. In actuality, a company seeking financing needs to budget between 500 to 1000 work-hours to the capital-raising process, spread out over a 6-9 month time period.

The key processes in the capital-raising process include 1) perfecting the business plan, offering memorandum, and other company due diligence materials, 2) developing a comprehensive, targeted prospective investor list, 3) contacting this list and responding to investor due diligence requests, and 4) negotiating the transaction.

Completing the business plan typically requires at least 200 hours of work. This time is dedicated to conducting the market research to validate the opportunity, developing a comprehensive financial model, determining the most effective way to lay out the business strategy, and actually writing and proofing the business plan.

The next step, developing a comprehensive, targeted prospective investor list is also very time consuming. There are thousands of potential investors, each of which has very different tastes regarding the types of ventures that interest them. Some invest by market sector (e.g., healthcare vs. telecommunications), stage (seed stage vs. later stage), geography, or a combination of these. Many hours must be dedicated to determine which investors are the right fit for your venture. This process involves creating a master investor list, visiting each investor's website to view investment criteria and past investments, and determining who is the right contact at the firm.

To see how easily the time adds up, consider that only about 25% of prospective investors who show an initial interest in a transaction actually progress to detailed company due diligence. Only about 10% of this 25% actually progress to a bonafide offer of funds, of which only 25% of these actually result in an investment transaction. So completing a financing transaction requires, on average, contacting approximately 160 pre-qualified prospective investors.

The due diligence process, where investors scrutinize the investment, can also be very time consuming for the company. Investors often request many documents, some of which can be easily retrieved from files (e.g., prior tax returns), while others may take more time to prepare (e.g., additional market analysis, customer lists with past purchases, contact information, etc.). Finally, negotiating a transaction can take a significant amount of time depending upon the complexity of the transaction and number of parties involved.

Too many companies fail to raise capital since they are unaware of the significant time requirements to do so. Those firms who understand these requirements and budget accordingly are the ones most likely to persevere and end up with the capital they need.

Anti Spam Software for Extra Inbox Protection

Have you ever been surprised when you open your email inbox and what you can found at there is just useless and maybe dangerous mail? You don't need to be surprised and panic because your email got a spam attack. But, you also can panic because most of the spam mail that you receive contains dangerous content, like virus. This is when your antivirus takes an action to protect your computer. But, that's not the best solution for solving your spam problem. And it's often happen when your antivirus can't detect the virus that comes with the spam and let it through. And if this is happen, you will get more problems. So, the best solution is you need to block all of the spam that comes to your inbox. And for this reason, you need anti spam software.

Actually, every email server that you're using has their own spam filter. It can be helpful though, but, mostly it weak against high level dangerous spam. So, it makes an anti spam software is needed here. There are many software that can help you to filter spam. But, if you want to choose the best one, you need to choose the software that can give you protection for your entire computer. So, it's better if the software that you're use also can be function as the antivirus for your computer.

You can try the free version or paid version for the anti spam software that you need. Each of them has their own advantages. But, to make sure you get and use the best, you need to choose the software that suitable with your need, in this case your email server. So, you will fully protect from spam and the virus that mostly comes with spam mail. And if you have the best spam filter, you won't get any problem in your inbox.

To Kill a Mockingbird - A Book Review

The novel To Kill A Mockingbird revolves around a young girl named Jean Louise Finch who goes by the nicknamed "Scout". Scout experiences different events in her life that dramatically change her life. Scout and her brother Jem are being raised by their father, a lawyer named Atticus and a housekeeper named Calpumia in a small town in the south. At this point in time in the South racism and discriminations towards black was a big issue . The story begins when Scout is 6 years old, and her brother is about to enter the 5th grade. That summer Scout and her brother meet a young boy named Dill who comes from Mississippi to spend the summers there. They become fascinated with a man named "Boo" Radley, a man in his thirties who has not been seen outside of his home in years, mainly because of his suppressed upbringing. They have an impression of Mr. Radley as being this large ugly and evil man. Then comes the trial. Scout's father becomes a defense attorney for a black man, Tom Robinson, who is falsely accused of raping a white women. This has a big affect on Scout. During this trial she gets teased by friends because her father was helping this black man. Scout starts to see the racism that exist. During the trial Scout and her brother and close friend Dill witness the trial. Even though they are young they can see that Mr. Robinson is innocent. Even though Mr. Robinson's innocence was clear even in the eyes of kids, Mr. Robinson was still found guilty. Later in an attempt to escape, Mr. Robinson is shot dead. Scout is extremely disappointed at the verdict and even more at the death of Mr. Robinson and realizes the injustice that exist. Later in a cowardly attempt by the alleged rape victims father, tries to kill Scout and her brother in order to get even with her father for making him look back in court. This is when Mr.Radley makes an appearance again an stabs their attacker. Even though Mr. Radley kills a man he is not tried for murder because he was defending the Scout and her brother. Finally some justice. This gives Scout some hope that is a chance for improvement in this unjust world.

(Discussion of main themes in To Kill A Mockingbird)

There are many different themes present in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The first theme which I will discuss is "Prejudice". The whole story revolved around the prejudice views of this Southern community. The whole reason why the trial was going on was because of people views towards blacks in the south. Since the alleged rape victim's father has such a prejudice view towards black, he is embarrassed that his daughter was actually flirting with a black man. To combat this he falsely accuses the innocent Mr. Robinson of rape. If it wasn't for the prejudice view which existed in the south the accusation would had never been brought against Mr. Robinson. These prejudice views in the south created a double standard of justice. With all the negative points that can be found in the story in respect to prejudice, there was a bright spot when it came to the prejudice issue. This "ray of light" came in the form of Scout's father Atticus. Atticus represented hope. Hope that good people still exist. Even in a society filled with hate. Atticus represented the hope that one day things can change

The "Prejudice" theme also ties in well with the title of the book "To Kill A Mocking Bird." In Chapter 10, Scout and Jem Finch get air rifles for Christmas. Scouts father tells her and her brother that it is a sin to kill a mockingbird because mockingbirds are harmless creatures who do nothing but sing for our enjoyment. In the story To Kill a Mockingbird Mr. Robinson is clearly the "Mocking Bird". He is a good man who has never harmed anyone and is figuratively and literally shot by society because of prejudice. The jurors sentence him to death not because he did anything wrong but because of prejudice. He is then later shot for trying to escape this unjust ruling. Mr. Robinson just like a mockingbird is shot for no reason at all.

The second theme which I will discuss is "coming of age". The "Coming of age" theme basically entails a character who evolves to a new level of self awareness through his or her experiences in life. This is clearly the case with Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird. An example of Scout's "coming of age" can be seen when she meets her friend Dill. Dill comes from a broken home and lives somewhere beyond Alabama. Scout who comes from a good home is awaken to the different quality of life that exist and is able to come to a conclusion that life exist beyond the world she knows. Through these experiences she grows more tolerant of others, learning how to "climb into another person's skin and walk around in it." On her first day of school she finds that just like with Dill there are both social and poor classes in society, some are respectable and others not. She also learns that her father is an extra-ordinary man, fighting for a Negro's rights in court. During the trial of Tom Robinson Scout learns about equality and inequality and finally about racial prejudice. By the final chapters of the novel, Scout goes to another "coming of age experience." She learns that good people can still suffer injustice. She realizes this when she see's Tom Robinson suffer injustice even though they did nothing to deserve it. She discover that the courts does not always result in justice. In the end after all of Scout's experiences and discoveries we get the sense that she will not follow the prejudice views which her society upholds. In the end Scout had matured and grown more as a kid, than many adults will do in there lifetime.

The third and final theme which I will discuss is "Justice". In the story To Kill a Mockingbird I feel,the author, Ms. Lee portrays true justice as being best seen through the eyes of the innocent. In the story Scout and her brother, being the innocent,can clearly see the injustice being done to Mr. Robinson. In contrary to Scout and her brother other people in society more specifically the older people in the town, the people who have lived through different experiences, become blinded when it comes to true justice. Or maybe they are not blinded but just choose to ignore it. This is clearly seen when they sentence an innocent man to death. This ignorance of justice can be blamed on the prejudice views which are present and eventually instilled in society in the south. So I feel that Harper Lee is connecting justice with innocence to a certain extent. In my opinion Harper Lee portrays justice as being easily detected. The reason I say this is even the young justice. The problem is society can instill beliefs that can act as a veil and blind the people from justice. The only way to uncover this veil is through people like Atticus who can pass his morality and nobility to the young and the "blinded"

(Would I recommend this book?)

I would definitely recommend people to read the book To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I found it to be an interesting and powerful book. I feel the book does a great job in portraying the extreme prejudice that existed in the south at that time. I feel this book makes a powerful statement on how justice can be altered through racism. I also think that the themes found in the book are themes which can still be found in our current society and that makes it the more interesting. You can even make a case that prejudice still has an effect in our legal system today. So if you are looking for a powerful book of "coming of age" and the battle for justice I would highly recommend To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.

What Netflix Knows and the Reason You Should Be Hosting Teleclasses

I remember when a friend told me about Netflix and that I should check it out. At the time I thought it was a neat idea however that's as far as it got. I wasn't a big movie renter so it didn't make sense for me, however they would soon provide a service that would change everything.

When Netflix first came out in 1998 it was all about sending DVDs to customers via the mail. You'd select from a wide variety of movies and choose the order you'd like to receive them. You could keep the DVD as long as you wanted, however the next one would not appear in your mailbox until the previous was received. This was quite innovative and people quickly gravitated to the membership.

Over time I imagine members got used to the process and began desiring more with a shorter turnaround.

What if Netflix could give people a choice by offering instant play options? This would give more choices as well as allow members different platforms to view movies and TV shows. They could then watch from their computers, smartphones, iPads, or TVs. The choice would be the members as to when and where they would watch.

Do you remember when the only way to see movies was in the movie theater?

There was no "I'll wait until it comes out on cable", much less DVD or instant play. If you missed it while it was in the theater, well...you missed it.

Are you limiting your events to in person presentations only?

What if your ideal client isn't in your local area? Have you resigned to only work with those who can come to you?

If so, BIG mistake!

Blockbuster didn't think Netflix was a threat and they continued doing business the old way. When they finally realized how technology had changed the way consumers preferred to receive DVDs, it was too late. Netflix had already become known for delivering movies to mailboxes near and far. They were actually on the way to delivering movies and TV shows via the Internet.

The same thing happens when you restrict your presentation to live face-to-face events.

Where's your nearest Blockbuster?

Now you're getting it.

Blockbusters are closing left and right while Netflix is moving full steam ahead.

Who'd you rather be? Netflix or Blockbuster?

Follow the Netflix model. Offer a variety of options for your clients to get information. Host teleclasses and broaden your reach. Living in a large city doesn't necessarily mean a packed house for your live face-to-face events. It just means you've got a better hotel selection.

What's your biggest challenge when it comes to presenting or thinking about presenting teleclasses?

What If Germany Had Rejected Hitler's Style of Socialism?

The other day, I was talking with a history teacher out at one of our local Starbucks, and we both noted that famous quote; "those who fail to study their history are doomed to repeat it," and I suggested that maybe we should be teaching kids in our school about heavy handed, socialist type governments and the dangers of that style of leadership for a nation. Okay so let's talk shall we?

One thing I found amazing was that the left-leaning Democrats had tried to label President Bush as a modern day Hitler. The reason this is so ridiculous is because President Bush was a free-market capitalist, solid Christian, and although he did some interesting political maneuvers to secure votes, and thus engage in crony capitalism, he didn't do nearly the sorts of things that the Obama Administration is doing. Further, what most people don't understand from their history is that Hitler road in to power through organized labor, and then he turned the country into a socialist dictatorship. Plus, he was of no religion, so, he was the opposite of President Bush in that regard, so the comparison is laughable.

Now then, let me ask you a question. What if Germany had rejected Hitler's style's socialism after that country's legislative branch had been burned down? What if they decided, that the propaganda of change and a hope and belief for a new tomorrow was simply not viable even though Hitler was a great orator and gave great speeches trying to convince them otherwise? What if they had simply and completely rejected this man back then? The world would be a different place, and so perhaps the citizens of the United States should think about this, and study their history.

In the last four years we've moved faster towards big government and socialism than at any other time in the last five decades. What do we have to show for it? In just four years we have increased our national debt by $5 trillion, money which was said to be spent to help revitalize our economy, but we haven't increased the baseline of jobs, we are at the same place as we were four years ago. After seeing this, and what's happened, should the US citizens reject socialism? It's not working.

Interestingly enough, it's never worked in the history of mankind. So many nations have been destroyed by leaders promising the people things they couldn't deliver and running those countries into bankruptcy. Then everything falls apart, the country crumbles, and works to rebuild again. We don't need to go through that here, and it's time that we reject socialism and all of its hidden secrets, insidious potential outcomes, and debt ridden futures. Please consider all this and think on it.

Inflation Will Cause Many to File Bankruptcy in the Next Few Years

As 2013 roars up upon us, many Americans are starting to see inflation like we have never seen before. What is funny is how the Department of Commerce has changed the way they report data to make inflation seem like it's almost nonexistent. We do know that over the last year the rate of Americans filing for bankruptcy has declined slightly. Is this a trend or is it a fluke? It doesn't seem like the economy is getting better and we have now seen QE1, QE2, the twist and now QE3. Billions of dollars has been thrown into the economy and nothing is getting any better. Four years ago the average price of a gallon of gas was $1.85, now that same gallon of gas is close to four dollars. Recently, they reported that inflation was less than 2%. This doesn't make any sense if you go to the grocery store you will see that a gallon of milk is up about 25%, coffee is up 90%, orange juice is almost up 50%, Turkey is up 50% and beef is up 60%. I don't know about you but it seems to me that inflation is going to cause more Americans to file bankruptcy in the near future.

A better title for this article should have been the incredible shrinking dollar but I'm more concerned with the long-term impact of the average American. It doesn't make any sense with the news that's being put out by the mainstream media. According to them, this must be the new normal. After further investigation it makes more sense to see how the numbers have changed. The government added in housing, which is currently deflationary, to the inflation numbers and that's how they are reporting that inflation is being kept in check. When American families know that their paycheck does not go as far, they will turn to credit to fill the void. At some point in time the credit will overwhelm the budget making the idea of kicking the can down the road no longer work. This is where the idea that many more Americans will have to file bankruptcy to eliminate this debt that they have accumulated to subsidize their income.

Americans need a reality check and should not feel bad about filing for bankruptcy to eliminate debt. For many, it is not an option but it's more about survival. The idea of becoming debt-free is something that will end up in history books covered with dust. Creditors with the help of the government, have put American citizens in bondage to the lending institutions of the world. The only hope for many of these Americans is to file for bankruptcy and cut the ties. When Corporations file bankruptcy, it's good business. When an individual has to file bankruptcy, it's dishonest to not pay your bills. That is a stigma that we all need to put behind us. A capitalistic society would not survive without having bankruptcy filing is a way out when things fall apart. People should not feel embarrassed about having to consult a bankruptcy lawyer about their financial situation. Most of the time they will leave the bankruptcy lawyer being encouraged that they are not alone during these tough times.

How To Use Link Building To Increase Web Traffic

Link building is an exceptionally important task when it comes to generating traffic to a website. Through the exercise of link building, one can create links pointing to a particular site from another site. The number of links determines the online reputation of a website that a search engine always gives a due significance. Today, all search engine optimisation professionals give much importance to off page factors and their SEO campaigns focus largely on creating a number of back links for a website.

While you must have realised the importance of building links in promoting your website, it's essential to learn the ways of building links to increase your web traffic. Here, we try to enumerate some simple but effective methods:

Article Marketing: Creating high quality articles and posting them to different article directories and blogs can be a very effective way of creating links pointing to your site. If you can generate informative and interesting content, it can create one-way links for your website. Include your anchor text in the resource box and web traffic will start reaching to your website.

Create a Blog:Creating your own blog to promote your business, products or your website is another effective way of link building. Blogs can be an extremely beneficial platform to help post your informative contents and inspire people to keep visiting the blog again and again. You can submit your blog to the several blog search engines. Every time you update your content on your blog, the contents of the blog search engines also get updated. You can leave a link to the blog posts so that readers of the content will follow the link to visit your website.

Online Web Directories:An online web directory enlists all the websites category-wise, which can also be very effective in creating web links. Posting your website to these web directories could be a primary part of a SEO strategy and most of these directories are free to post. These directories are reviewed by the internet surfers and any user searching for a website in a particular category will find your website, if it's listed there.

Press Release Submission: Press Releases could be an ideal way of building an online reputation and popularise your products, services or your website. By writing newsworthy press releases and posting them to press release submission sites, you can create links to your website. There are so many free and paid press release submission websites where you can post your press releases to generate inbound links to your website.

Link Exchange: This is a very common phenomenon where two websites get ready to exchange links between each other. But while accepting a link exchange request from a website, it's essential to check the reputation of the site and nature of the traffic on that particular site. Your goal is to get the relevant or targeted traffic. Moreover, you need to avoid exchanging links from porn sites, casino sites and other such sites which may have offensive content on them.

Link building can generate lots of traffic for your website, but it's essential to understand that it takes time to generate these and the traffic to start reaching your website. Without getting discouraged, you should carry out the this task on a regular basis. It's not going to take place overnight, but it's a long-term process which requires your concentrated efforts. But once they are built, your website gets a solid foundation and the web traffic starts coming on a daily basis. This is the reason why among various search engine optimisation services, link building is an increasingly popular strategy today.

Review: FutureHype: The Myths Of Technology

Author: Bob Seidensticker

ISBN: 1576753700

In an age where there is considerable hype about the wonders of modern technology, Bob Seidensticker prods us to take a step back and put everything into a more realistic perspective or as he most aptly states, we should vaccinate ourselves against hype.

Seidensticker's principal theme in FutureHype: The Myths Of Technology Change is that the pace of technological change does not increase exponentially. According to Seidensticker, although we may be living in an era of fast change, this does not imply that we are the only ones to have experienced this phenomenon. In earlier times people had their own examples of fast change and to discover if our times are really unique, it is necessary that today's social change be compared to that of the past. In fact, as Seidensticker warns us, "the popular perception of modern technology is inflated and out of step with reality."

Divided into two parts, the book first illustrates how we fall into the trap of incorrectly and myopically seeing technology. Seidensticker underlines his contentions with several concrete examples that are elaborated upon throughout this first section.

As an example, we are reminded that a technology might be innovative, but the product that we build from that technology does not necessarily have to be revolutionary, particularly if our predictions are off the mark. It is to be remembered that predictions are often more of a picture of the present rather than the future and there is often a danger of careless extrapolation.

The Internet may be able to provide us with a great deal of information, however, will this lead us to being better informed. Probably not, as the downside is that much of the information is unreliable and pure garbage!

One of the hypes we are all bombarded with daily is that we should blindly trust modern technology and put all of our eggs in one basket. This is all great until the basket breaks, as we become increasingly dependent on software that sometimes is filled with bugs or where we have fragile and brittle technology. No doubt, all of this has created much of the insecurity we feel today in our modern world.

The second part of the book takes a look at the constancy of change in a broad spectrum of areas-popular culture, health and safety, fear and anxiety, personal technologies, and business. We are provided with an excellent survey of the history of technology that is illustrated with stories from thousands of years of human advance proving to us that technological change is not unique to our day.

FutureHype: The Myths Of Technology Change immerses readers with a challenging study wherein technology is to be considered neither good, nor bad nor neutral. As Seidensticker states: "a technology isn't inherently good or bad, but it will have an impact." It is the impact that is important, as it will have a good side and a bad side.

Bob Seidensticker has spent twenty-five years in the technology industry and he holds thirteen software patents. His broad experience is quite in evidence with his insightful and compelling study, as he alerts his readers to the dangers of technology infatuation. He also cautions us that we should never lose sight of the myths that surround technology and the unexpected ways it evolves and affects our lives, while at the same time examining its downsides. As he concludes his book, he leaves us with a very important warning, "don't be bullied into buying a particular technology because a vendor, an advertisement, or your nephew you tells you to." Ask yourself if the product is right for you?

Giving Yourself the Right to Write

"But I've only been on the Internet 3 months! How can I write an article?" That was my reaction back in 1999 when I began my online career and heard that writing articles was the key to bringing targeted visitors to my website.

But I went ahead anyway and wrote my first article. I soon discovered that writing articles is the quickest way to build your reputation as an expert in the world of online marketing.

So don't wait for someone else's permission - start writing articles and grab your space in the limelight.

Here are some other mental blocks and how to deal with them:

(1) "I don't where to start". Start anywhere - it doesn't matter where. Putting words on paper is like planting a seed in your subconscious. Your mind will go to work on it while you're busy doing other things: while you're driving, while you're sleeping, while you're doing the dishes. Suddenly, out of nowhere, will come the next idea. That's the power of the subconscious and the power of putting words on paper.

(2) "I don't know how to finish". Again, it doesn't matter. Just write and the conclusion will come to you of it's own accord.

(3) "It's just an idea". This is another mental trap - the fear of turning ideas into reality. Look around you and realize that every skyscraper, every ocean-going liner, and every symphony was once "just an idea".

(4) "I'll do it tomorrow". Tomorrow never arrives. Give yourself a deadline. Imagine that your article must be finished within the next 12 hours - you'll be surprised how much you get done!

(5) "My article will be a flop". This is a big one - fear of failure. It's much safer to never try. But remember, with every article you write you are one step closer to developing your own unique style, your "voice". In that sense, you can never fail.

(6) "I can't get it right". Some times you simply can't find the right words. Turn off your inner critic and just write. When you have something down on paper, you have something to work with. But you can't work with something that remains an idea in your head.

(7) "I can't sort out my ideas". The easiest way to organize your article ideas is to use a technique that mirrors the way the mind works. This technique is called Mind Mapping. We are taught in school to use lists to organize our ideas. But lists are linear and the mind doesn't think in a linear fashion. You can find out more about Mind Mapping at: http://www.mind-map.com/

Good luck with your articles! And remember - writing teaches writing.

Don't Do This Unless You Want SPAM, It's Just Downright Dumb!

The bane of all business owners is Spam. We can waste so much time filtering and dealing with it, even with all the great tools out there.

But some people seem to have more of a problem than others. Why?

How did they get your email address to start with?

Spam bots and email scrapers!

I see web masters place and display an email address on a web page. It's a short cut because -

Makes their job simpler. In their zest to "knock out" websites. Easy for the web visitor to contact you.

But guess what?

It costs YOU!

Sooner or later the spam bots will get it, then that email address is burned, only forever.

(Put your web developer in a headlock if they've done this to you)

What can you do about it? Nothing, it's burned. Get a new email account.

What's the better solution? A spam free contact page that has a code to protect it against spam bots, something that us humans have to fill out.

It's a better, smarter and more professional way to go anyway. Clients love it, most contact forms have a drop down selection of reasons for contacting you, this simplifies the enquiry process. Some have a cc option too which can be useful.

Anyway,l was just doing some reviews for prospects and it never seems to amaze me, here we are in 2011 and this bad web practice still goes on.

Seriously, kneecap your web master, they're costing you time and money! Does my head in!

Is Pet Health Insurance For You?

It wasn't that long ago when you could only get insurance for people and property. But for some time now, pet owners have been demanding insurance cover for their pets and the insurance companies have been listening. With the cost of veterinarian care spiraling ever higher, many pet owners are choosing to insure their pets against illness or accident. In doing so, they are not hit with unexpected medical costs that can and often do run into many thousands of dollars.

When people ask me, "what insurance company do you recommend", this is what I tell them.

Firstly, it is important that you do a little bit of research. Create your own simple pet insurance comparison chart. All pet insurance providers have differing insurance options available and of course, every pet and their owners have differing needs.

There are however, a handful of pet insurance 'must-haves' that absolutely must be included in your policy. If not, when the time comes to call upon the policy, you might find yourself out in the cold. By including these five elements in your pet insurance plan you will know you're covered no matter what happens. I'll discus these five elements in more detail in a moment so you'll know exactly what to look for.

Begin by short listing three or four pet insurance companies and request a free quote from each. The information you will typically provide is your pet's age, breed, any pre-existing conditions, and so on. You will also want to know about the costs involved, what exclusions there are, what's deductible etc. Most pet insurance companies have application forms online.

Once you have the policy information in front of you, start thinking about what your pet's needs are likely to be, how's your pet's health? Is she healthy or is here some type of medical condition. Then compare the different offerings of each company and their cost structure. By comparing the plans offered by each pet insurer, you can get precisely the type of pet insurance you need at a price you can afford.

There are some web sites that can make the process of pet insurance comparisons a lot easier. The good ones have accurate information which compares and rates the leading pet insurance providers based on real customer experience and reviews. On good pet insurance comparisons sites, the work has pretty much been done for you with easy to follow charts and reviews, even Better Business Bureau (BBB) reports and so on that will help you streamline what otherwise can be a confusing and laborious task.

Now. Back to the Five Vital Pat Insurance Must-Haves.

The facts are, there are five vital inclusions that you must have in your pet health insurance plan.

Here are the five Must-Haves.

Coverage for Chronic disease Continual coverage for chronic disease Coverage for Hereditary/congenital conditions Cancer Coverage Coverage for Breed specific conditions

Why do you need these inclusions?

If you do not include these five essential inclusions in your pet insurance coverage, you are wasting your money. Without them you will not be fully protected.

These pet ailments can and probably will affect your pet during its lifetime and each of them are singularly expensive and difficult to treat.

For example:

Almost 50% of pets over 10 years of age will die from cancer. Chronic Diseases are generally long in duration and slow in progression. Many breeds and species are predisposed to some medical conditions like hip dysplasia. These conditions can be fatal and the ongoing medical care can be upward of ten to fifteen thousand dollars and more.

The cost of pet insurance normally ranges between fifteen and thirty dollars per month. This amount varies form company to company and is dependent factors like the coverage levels you choose, your breed of animal, your pet's age etc.

When you consider how much it would cost you to meet these medical expenses yourself, pet health insurance doesn't seem that expensive.

Advances in veterinary medical technology results in our pet's living longer, healthier and happier which is a great thing but unfortunately it comes at a cost.

The Right Way To Write Web-Content For Search Engine Optimization

If in present times the playing field of top notch search engine optimization falls back on the key blueprint of actual and healthy material on the web site. Without premium information on the site principle on search engine optimization is a myth. The material, playing the role of a silent salesman could either make or break your website. For that reason, at this point we reveal to you a few effective ways which will certainly undeniably support in persuading the visitors.

1. Establish an issue - This is needless to say important when talking about growing an effective series. Choose a feasible field which will function as your web site area of interest. A search engine friendly website provides a specified subject. Choose 1 subject or theme that should be covered on your internet site. If you are trying to target prospective buyers in a particular geographic position, in that case pick one-and I truly do dictate one-main region that should function as your market.

2. Do Keyword Research- Use a keyword research application to understand what keyword terms as well as keyword phrases are searched for most. I recommend the following resources:

* Google Keyword Research Tool - Free

* Wordtracker - Free Trial (I find that it's a bit overkill for typical SEO jobs)

* Yahoo! Keyword Tool - Gives precise numerical activity of searches.

The goal of your keyword research is always to obtain a list of keyword terms regarding your website's type. Note the levels of internet searches being performed for the different phrases. This will aid you understand what you need your keywords to be.

Advice: Google's Keyword Research Tool permits you to insert your keywords to a report and additionally export them into an Excel file.

3. Figure out Major Keyword Phrase (Main KP)- To begin with, list the keywords and phrases you will find in the order of worthiness. The key terms which have been sought after the most should get higher ranking than the ones without any searches.

Second, line up the keyword phrases with regard to level of competition. If you notice a key phrase with a significant search volume but a small amount of advertiser competition, you can bet that it will probably have less competition in the organic search section also.

Single out the keyword phrase to be the Most important KP of your site that does each one of the following:

* Has the most searches with the smallest competition

* Correctly describe your web site's chosen content

* Illustrates your product or service in a very common manner

* Involves your primary geo-target (city, state, country)

4. Figure out your supplementary Search Terms (2nd KPs) - The rest of the keyword terms have a major role in the content of your web site. Keep your ranked report convenient for including into your website's posts. The fact is, these alternative key phrases will later turn out to be the Primary KPs of the inner webpages of your internet site.

5. Choose a Title - Get started writing the subject material of your web sites interior pages before you write the home page. Decide how many pages of content your site will probably have and after that choose one keyword phrase from your search engine research that most closely refers to your pattern and additionally matches your targets. Starting with merely 3-5 web pages when you first release the web site. You might want to create more pages later on.

6. Begin preparing interior web pages - Start by including your keyword phrase on the web page. This will be your title. Study your page theme and start writing essential details regarding the keyword phrase. Keep in mind that it's facts that individuals are looking for and stay away from all types of puffery. Offer the facts without a great deal of buzz. This is going to definitely pull much more keyword phrases into the equation. Feel free to intertwine keyword phrases into your content material, nevertheless take care not to inflate it as you can switch on Google's penalty triggers.

When you find yourself formulating lines only to implement keywords-don't. Stop yourself and get back to the subject. Remember when you are really writing on topic, keywords should certainly flow organically.

Webpage Content WRITING Methods

* Submit scannable written text! People browse through the internet; they don't study it so write textual content that is able to be scanned:

Use bullets like they are for sale two for one

Bold key words

Use a combination of appealing and keyword abundant headings

Implement headings liberally (pretty much for every single segment)

Write down compact, choppy lines (stretched ones are for print)

Take advantage of the shortest phrase possible to get your intention across

Write at the 9th grade level (even Rhodes Scholars favor this when looking through)

* Always remember your goal is to offer information and facts - The search engines presently have become solution engines. People today come on line wanting an answer to their concern. Providing the answer to these facts and information passionate website visitors can help you put them at ease, attract trustworthiness and develop friendship. Authenticity and rapport on line can result in the same in person at any time that web-site visitor develops into a lead.

* Include KPs and Keywords - Integrate key phrases liberally, but don't make it sound non-organic. It's practical to incorporate them to the beginning of sentences, paragraphs as well as headings. The very end of the page is also important. Staying on topic certainly is one sure way to get more than enough key terms on the webpage. Take time and make sure to not over do it. You should have a keyword occurrence of 6% per phrase to get a hold of real recognition from search engine crawlers. More than that can get you penalized.

* Don't attempt to sell prematurely or too rigorous! - Set aside your product sales copy for the bottom line. "Give to get." Render the information they demand and towards the end, propose your services. Do this rather than pushing from line one which lays people off and sets them wary. Be the one to provide consumers the right answers they are trying to find and they'll honor you for it and become more available to your soft sell policies at the end of the web page or in the right and left columns.

* At all times keep your thoughts to yourself - Working with terms like "fantastic" as well as "incredible" excessively sounds suspicious. Consider the thriving Wiki's and notice that you can find virtually no judgment taking place. Of course, your belief is beneficial, but nonetheless it's more vital to supply the information and facts.

* Amend to the bone- Be careful not to put content that's intended for print through the internet. Yuck! Content created for print is in fact very different than that on the web. The internet is a bit more short and to the point, choppier and substantially less visceral, so get out your pencil and click "delete" to many of those supplementary words and phrases you don't really need.

* Be original- You can't escape with reproducing the content material of someone else. Google will discover you, and if they even remotely Feel your written content is reproduced, your page may never see the light of day. Make it a habit to consider an angle that no one else is exercising. Be thoughtful and go the extra mile to produce information to the table from streams rather than the internet (for instance the newspapers, the tv news bulletin and also Barnes and Noble).

* Undertake a spelling and grammar check out - This applies without saying, because of the fact that it's easy to find yourself in a race off whenever publishing through the internet.

7. Write an Intro to the Series - Inside it primarily 2 primary things are done- To start with it is defined where one will be directed over the coming days. This might quite possibly include things like announcing your actual subjects (if you're that well prepared) but nonetheless can be more general at the same time. Secondly (and more substantially) the purpose of the introductory posting is to assist you to put emphasis on the 'need' that the series assists to target.

8. Inter-link your Articles - There are various of means of interlinking your series. Below are some of those:

* Central Page - In this situation you own one page/post on your blog that you link to from each and every post in your series that mentions links to each and every article in the series. For an examples of this take a look at my blog posting for first-timers series central page and the 31 days to creating a better blog central page. An alternative variation of this is usually to make your primary post the central page and while you create additional articles or blog posts include them to it.

* Links at the start and/or bottomline of submissions - Within this method each article in your series will link to different postings in the series. There are basically two strategies for accomplishing this. You may either just connect to the post before and after the post in the series or perhaps you can connect to all the posts in the series from each posting.

9. End your series properly - While it probably sounds totally obvious to 'finish your series'.It's crucial that you execute this properly. Subscribers like closure (as do bloggers on their own) and it's typically beneficial to finish off a series with a brief outline of what's been published and/or a few reflections on the process of creating the series itself. Especially favorable in a finishing post (or perhaps a concluding segment in the last post) is the invitation for readers to add their particular suggestions and points. Most of the time in my expertise a series could possibly have a few other posts added to it and so it's a very important thing to acknowledge this and request others to maintain it in remarks (or perhaps on their own website). By doing this you not only gain visitor socializing but at the same time create a more well rounded reception of the subject as your readers throw in their particular knowledge and working experience.