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The Brian Tracy Teleseminar: a Successful Case Study in Tele-training Marketing and Profits

2008-09-01T09:11:00.003-07:00

The Brian Tracy Teleseminar: a Successful Case Study in Tele-training Marketing and Profits

Author: Alex Mandossian

In previous articles I’ve given you lots of examples of how to increase your profits with Teleseminar marketing. Now let’s look at a real life example in action:

I was so excited my hands were shaking.

It was 7:13 pm (Pacific) on August 25 in 2004, and I had just completed a content-rich, 70-minute Teleseminar interview with personal development and goal achievement guru Brian Tracy.

Three hundred forty-two participants paid the $29.95 tuition without raising an eyebrow, and 83% of them opted to pay $10 more (the “Upsell”) to get unlimited download (and replay) access to the “online” release of the audio files and enhanced transcripts.

If you do the math, you’ll discover that the 70-minute call generated $13,082.90 in revenue. But the story doesn’t end there. Fifty-eight of the tele-participants decided to pay $30 more to acquire the “offline” release of the 3-ring binder (enhanced transcripts) and CD (audio recording) to chalk-up another $1,740. All told, we racked-up nearly $15K in income for just a few hours a work!

I’ve discussed before how to harness a time proven 3-step “Socratic” method to capture more profits, faster, better and with less human effort, even if you’re on a bootstrapped marketing budget.

Let’s see how this method worked in this case:

Step 1: Ask Your Market

The Brian Tracy Teleseminar didn’t start on the evening of August 25, 2004. It started 3 weeks prior with a worldwide survey posted online at www.JustAskBrian.com. After capturing over 860 questions that went into a special database I’ve developed called the Ask Database™ (See: www.AskDatabase.com) I chose the 12 most popular topics.

Step 2: Promote to Your Market

After two weeks of getting survey responses (and “opt-ins”) at www.JustAskBrian.com, I was ready to post an online sales letter not written by me (the “marketer”) but ostensibly written by my “market.”

If you visit www.JustAskBrian.com/teleseminar, you’ll see the actual sales letter that had over 22% conversion and generated over $13,000 in Teleseminar tuition fees. How? Simply by writing out the survey results.

Here's an example of how this is done. Below are the seven most popular topics the 2-week selling strategy survey yielded at www.JustAskBrian.com:

1) Closing Techniques

2) Take-Away

3) Follow-Up

4) Referrals

5) Refund Requests

6) Presentation Mistakes

7) Fear of Rejection

And take a wild guess what the sales copy bullet points are.

Step 3: Repurpose Your Content

You might recall I told you how 83% of the Brian Tracy Teleseminar participants opted to pay $10 more (the “Upsell”) to get unlimited download (and replay) access to the “online” release of the audio files and enhanced transcripts. That’s called “repurposing.”

I also told you how 18% of them paid an additional $30 to acquire the “offline” release of the 3-ring binder (enhanced transcripts) and CD (audio recording) to chalk-up another $1,740. That’s also called “repurposing.” It’s that easy.

And besides Brian Tracy, I’ve done this with other “thought leaders” such as Jack Canfield, Les Brown, Mark Victor Hansen, Vic Conant, Joe Polish, Michael Masterson, Joe Vitale, Janet Attwood, Jay Abraham, Stephen Covey, Michael Gerber, Zig Ziglar, Gay and Katie Hendricks, Harv Eker, Barbara DeAngelis, Jay Conrad Levinson and Ken Blanchard – just to name a few.

The best part? You can do this too!

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/internet-marketing-articles/the-brian-tracy-teleseminar-a-successful-case-study-in-teletraining-marketing-and-profits-327428.html

About the Author:

This is the model I've used to make $25,000 an hour, and now you can do the same. If you want to learn exactly how I did this, step-by-step, go to http://www.TeleseminarSecretsProfile.com where you'll also be able to get a free custom marketing electronic analysis. My teleseminars and online marketing strategies have helped authors, speakers, consultants, entrepreneurs and small business owners maximize their online profits with minimal time and effort.

From Online Marketing Expert Alex Mandossian

Promoting a Film Festival for the Long Tail: a Digital Marketing Case Study

2008-09-01T09:11:00.001-07:00

Promoting a Film Festival for the Long Tail: a Digital Marketing Case Study

Author: Paul Burani

Since the birth of the moving picture, film has played an important role in the way people experience culture worldwide. This is apparent at the 400 film festivals which take place around the globe each year. These events give talented artists a venue to promote their work in front of a qualified, interested audience.

Like any dynamic art form, film is forever changing. New digital media have placed unknown independent artists on the same playing field as their more established, commercially-backed counterparts. Moreover, as access to cyberspace has become more universal, reaching the right audience has never been so easy.

Why is this? Because of “The Long Tail.” Originally an abstract concept introduced in a WIRED Magazine article from 2006, The Long Tail is now a mantra of digital marketing. Applied to marketing in film, the pre-Long Tail mentality was to conceptualize an artistic work with a specific target in mind, and then develop it to invite as big an audience as possible. Marketers would then direct their resources toward the audience within distribution range.

The goal was to make the next big summer blockbuster. But according to Chris Anderson, the author of the article, “hit-driven economics is a creation of an age without enough room to carry everything for everybody.” In other words, a new day has come.

In a post-Long Tail awakened world, we’ve found that most people’s taste in film goes beyond just mainstream appeal. With the recent onset of a limitless distribution range, the audience dynamic is changing. An American producer whose film deals with even the most esoteric subject matter now has its niche audience at arm’s length. Using the right digital marketing tactics, the filmmaker can draw those people in without burning through resources they way they might have during the pre-Long Tail era.

Filmmakers, now freed from the shackles of heavy distribution burdens, can finally create that masterpiece that was once deemed implausible. And with a continued stream of artists looking for exposure, the film festival industry now has the scale to reach far and wide...and find willing consumers around every corner. This is why, according to Anderson, the “cultural benefit of all of this is much more diversity, reversing the blanding effects of a century of distribution scarcity and ending the tyranny of the hit.”

Step-by-step: How to market a film festival to a Long Tail audience.

1) Create a home for your festival on the net.

Give your contestants a platform on which they can share a trailer of the film they plan to promote at your festival. Allow visitors to vote on the trailers, with a thumbs-up/thumbs-down or one-to-five-stars approach. This allows the best ones to rise to the top, creating a channel of the highest quality content, which can be used to draw in a large audience. This widens the timeline for audience engagement, and gives you a vehicle to convey supporting messages related to the festival itself.

You want a website where entrants can upload a trailer with minimal technical know-how. The easiest way to do this is to use YouTube as the host. Users worldwide simply create their own profile and/or channel on YouTube, submit their content, and then provide your site with a URL or embed code to the video. Each trailer then has its own landing page on your festival’s site, and should be accompanied by “Send To A Friend” and “Download To Your iPod” links, along with submission links for social bookmarking sites like Del.icio.us.

(Note - It is important to limit the length of the trailer (two minutes would be a good round number), and make sure that the actual length of the YouTube video is clearly visible on your site. If a video requires a time commitment, a lot of people will click away without even looking.)

Make sure your site is scalable, in the event that you receive ten times the traffic you expected. Even if you are focused on quality content, be prepared for massive quantity as well. Your web developer needs to make you very confident that your site won’t buckle under pressure.

You’ll also want to add search capability (this is easy with Google Custom Search) do some user testing, or consult a usability expert on making your festival’s website as navigable as possible. Invest in good analytics software to follow trends in visits,

pageviews, referrals, keyword-driven traffic, and so on.

2) Give your festival a personality.

If your festival has a theme, make it very evident. Brand it consistently, from the copy writing to the graphic design to the outbound marketing communications. Everything must boil down to the seminal concept of what your festival is about. If it’s abstract, e.g. “good independent film,” that’s fine as long as you remain consistent.

Offer an incentive. Partner with local organizations in the host city, e.g. the Chamber of Commerce or a local Arts Council. Find a major event taking place which could benefit from a partnership; your contestants’ work might be a major asset to their program. The grand prize, apart from whatever you already decide to offer the winner(s), is the visibility of being associated with these organizations...and thus get in front of a large audience.

3) Define your stakeholders.

Your directors and producers are the ones supplying quality content--the lifeblood of your site and your best promotional asset leading up to the festival.

Your visitors are your primary source of feedback. Leverage their opinions wisely and you’ll find many ways to bring them back to your site, and to your festival--along with their friends.

The general public is the 6 billion people living on this planet. Some don’t have computers. Some don’t like film. But in line with The Long Tail concept, reaching just about everybody else is relatively easy...and the enthusiasts will come out of the woodwork.

Keep these people satisfied at every stage of your campaign, and your marketing engine will keep things moving with minimal intervention on your part.

4) Establish measurable goals.

How many directors do you think you could get to sign up? How many people would you like to visit the site and vote on trailers? How many views do you think a trailer of an eventual award-winner ought to receive? Arrive at a low, medium and high estimate, with a timeline of projections, and constantly measure your progress.

5) Leverage digital media channels to the fullest.

Social Networking. With a little bit of research, you can find the right social networking sites to target for your campaign. To leverage Long Tail potential to the fullest, use a network like Facebook or Myspace to co-brand content and engage new groups of people.

Facebook - Create a Facebook profile for each member of the organizing committee, and use this to administrate a dedicated Facebook Group. Have your developer create a Facebook application allowing artists to embed their trailer in their profile, with a module to solicit ratings on films. For viewers, the application should offer “on-demand” rankings of all trailers posted (across the entire Facebook network) to encourage healthy competition. It is also helpful to add calendar integration for notification of important dates in your mini-feed, and of course links back to the festival website and blog. If your festival features content from around the world, why not add a real-time updating

world map showing geographical location of all participating artists?

Myspace - On this network, you’re faced with a tradeoff. This is still the best place for artists (and art lovers) to nurture their passion. However, it may also be harder for you to cut through the spam and build a meaningful campaign. Compared to Facebook, spend far less time administrating the Myspace profile. It should simply be a “content dump” with regularly rotating trailers and blog content.

If you have a lot of manpower at your disposal, also consider a targeted approach to some of the industry-specific sites such as Flixster, MatrixMovies and Revver.

Search engines. Getting your festival to appear prominently in search engines requires an orientation toward dynamic content and inbound links. Start a festival blog in which organizers can collaborate to upload content on a daily basis. This will push a variety of relevant keywords out into cyberspace, tied to your website to bring people back for more.

For added juice, open the blog up to the general public -- if the public is properly engaged, the volume of content will grow at a furious pace, along with the number of inbound links to your site. With a little creativity, you won’t have trouble coming up with original content: event news, featured films, press mentions, staff picks, etc. Make sure all blog content is accompanied by chicklets (links for easy posting) to popular social media sites, to increase the number of viral touch points.

If particular video content speaks to a particular audience, weed out the leaders of each category and make them aware of what you’re doing. Use Technorati to find the most prominent bloggers in these categories, and approach them personally and individually, offering them your content and/or reciprocal links.

Find every event site related to film, digital media, arts & culture, as well as the city where your event will be hosted. Create a reference sheet containing your event’s title, a short description, a long list of comma-separated tags, a shorter version of the same list, and other pertinent information which will need to be standardized across all submissions. Put on a pot of coffee and hammer away.

It would also help to hire a search engine optimization (SEO) consultant to handle the keyword strategy and tactical implementation. This will make your pages friendly to the spiders sent out by Google, Yahoo! and the like.

Email Communications. Decide your strategy from the very beginning: do you force everyone (directors and audience) to register, thereby creating a nice long distribution list? Or do you scale back the mandatory registration, requiring registration only to post content? You can also find a middle ground, offering certain incentives for opt-in (such as winning a pair of free all-access passes to the festival). The registration module will allow you to also collect additional demographic information (city/state, age, gender, etc.) but if you go this route, make sure you have given some thought to your privacy policy.

Sponsorship. This will vary based on your resources and network. If you have advertisers on board for a lot of money, your marketing communications will give you a variety of venues to feature them (website banners, emails, plus your entire arsenal of offline marketing assets). If you have no major sponsors but still want to explore advertising revenue, you can always use a program like Google AdSense for a very customizable on-page sponsored link campaign.

Downtime. After your festival, you’ll be faced with a decision: do we want to do this again next year? You may not be ready to decide right away, but there’s plenty you can do to capitalize on the momentum of your event, to keep marketing your concept.

Ongoing global link sharing campaign with partners of various categories

Blog coverage of other major film festivals

In-depth profiles of festival award-winners

Discovery of worthy short films not originally submitted to the festival site

Film industry interviews (available as podcasts)

Conclusion

Once all these elements of your digital marketing campaign are off the ground, the last thing to do is convey your scope to your artists. You’re in the festival business, which in 2008 means you’re hardly concerned with the manufacturing and distribution concerns of the filmmakers. But this talented constituency is still waking up to the opportunities of the Long Tail economy.

If you have the numbers, give your artists a pat on the back by showing them the geographic reach of your festival. Repackage the most compelling feedback on submitted videos into a rotating “ticker” in the banner of your website. Do whatever you can to give these filmmakers--the authors of content without which you’d be in business--an extra incentive to keep going.

In a world in which, as Anderson says, “popularity no longer has a monopoly on profitability,” we’ll all be better off because of it.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/movies-articles/promoting-a-film-festival-for-the-long-tail-a-digital-marketing-case-study-303275.html

About the Author:

Paul Burani is an internet marketing consultant based in New York, NY. After acquiring account experience working with Fortune 500 clients in the advertising and market research industries, he has since turned his attention to startups and growing businesses. His company, Clicksharp Marketing , is a full-service digital marketing consultancy, aimed at helping entrepreneurs market themselves effectively on the internet.

Cold Sores Hurt You! Study the Effective Home Remedies for Cold Sores

2008-09-01T09:05:00.001-07:00

Cold Sores Hurt You! Study the Effective Home Remedies for Cold Sores

Author: Crex

Hope that this work will help as the following article is meant to be of great aid to you. Cold sores hurt you! Emotionally, psychologically, and physically, they hurt on a daily basis. The more you worry about your cold sores, the worse they will become. They create a low self-esteem and a bad self-image, hindering you from enjoying and share-out your talents and abilities with others.

Herpes simplex viruses are contagious during outbreak but can spread infection before and after out breaking period. Do not give cold sores as gift to others as it is very contagious. If you have an active lesion, you can spread the virus to other people in all sorts of ways, sharing drinking cups or eating utensils with others, including using a towel other people are going to be using, touching your cold sore, and then touching someone else with your hand, sneezing, coughing and kissing will lead to the transmission of the HSV-1 in a person. A kid can get this virus through a parental contact. So avoid kissing, sharing towels and washing your hands frequently. You should be careful about this.

During an outbreak, you can easily spread the virus to somebody else. You can easily spread cold sores to other areas of your body, such as your eyes. Fever blisters on the cornea can cause blindness. Avoid the itching temptation to touch the sore with your fingers. Once you've contracted the virus, a lot of things can trigger a cold sore "attack," including stress and exposure to the sun. A fever can also cause cold sores to spring up, which is why they are sometimes named fever blisters.

There are a few tips to avoid cold sores. Have a healthy diet with fresh and unprocessed foods, take a multivitamin, eat foods high in vitamin C or take a daily supplement, stay out of the sun or limit exposure, get enough rest and drink plenty of fluids, avoid intake of soft drinks, sugar and caffeine.

Home remedies for cold sores are probably your best course of action against this painful herpes sore. Here are some of the best home remedies for cold sores. Some home remedies for cold sores work best if taken internally. Some are better used externally as a topical treatment.

TEA . Apply a tea bag over the cold sores. Tannic acid, an antiviral agent that can be found in tea is effective for cold sore treatment. For speedy healing, once the sore opens up, warm moist tea bags cannot be beat. The warmth brings healing blood to the wound and tea liquid has some strong healing properties also.

ICE . Ice is the most universal home remedies for cold sores. It relieves pain and reduces swelling. Start using it as soon as the itching starts. Do not use it once the sore blossoms as it slows the healing process.

Healthy diet . Any infection can decrease with proper consumption of healthy diet. To reduce the infections try to include notorious and healthy food. Along with the proper diet exercise and adequate amount of rest is also necessary.

Therefore, you have to supplement your diet with vitamins, antioxidants, nutrition's, exercise and sleep. High intake of arginine food like peanuts, chocolates, peas, grains, oatmeal, seeds and whole-wheat products should be avoided. Regular diet need to be supplemented with vitamins and nutrition's.

You can use a cream which will help heal the cold sore while reducing inflammation and soreness, such as tea tree oil or lemon balm.

By trying some of the suggested home remedies for cold sores you can find out what particular steps work for you and over time fine-tune your own personal home remedies for cold sore.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/skin-care-articles/cold-sores-hurt-you-study-the-effective-home-remedies-for-cold-sores-375333.html

About the Author:

There are cold sore treatment that you can take to cut down Cold Sore affect on your life.

Thanks for reading, If you have any other questions why not browse through our other article at http://www.coldsoresinfo.com that may be of help to you.

Mortgage Metrics - A Great Tool To Study Risks And Levels Of Credit Enhancement

2008-09-01T08:58:00.001-07:00

Mortgage Metrics - A Great Tool To Study Risks And Levels Of Credit Enhancement

Author: Sam Miller

Mortgage Metrics is a tool to assess the risks and levels of credit enhancements of mortgage loan pools that are residential. It also provides various risk metrics at loan level.

Mortgage metrics works upon analysis of advanced performance. It is a tool that enables the mortgage professionals to proficiently estimate the ratings of credit for residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBC) proposals that are based on loan pool composition. There are million of calculations involved in every loan pool. All these calculations to analyze the performance of the loan pool are done by mortgage metrics. It is supposed to work upon all types of loans related to the field of residential mortgage.

Mortgage metrics is supposed to offer in-depth performance for jumbo loans as well as subprime loans. They are also supposed to work for the different types of new loans that have come into the market or the 1st and 2nd liens. It is also supposed to produce the performance reproductions of each loan, every quarter through different scenarios that are respectively specific to a large number of different states. Mortgage metrics should also provide different variable specific to any particular type of loan like loan to value ratio.

The work of mortgage metrics is to keep an eye upon market movements of real estate, unemployment, suggest macro interest rates and economy of state level. Mortgage metrics also provides analysis according to time series so that it can capture the real pattern of distribution of defaults over time and assess the performance of the continuing loans that have not been allocated as defaulted or prepaid. The mortgage metrics provides specifications related to risks movements across various states which help to reflect the steadiness of diversifications in geography.

Mortgage metrics is a software that is designed to enable the issuers and originators of residential mortgage and securities backed by residential mortgage to calculate the levels of credit enhancements efficiently. It also enables the users to perform an analysis that is based on different imaginary situations that might occur related to categories of mortgage loans by altering the categories and subsequently calculating the effects that are likely upon the levels of credit enhancements.

The software not only ranks the loans by the levels of risk but involves other factors as well. These factors might be the different complex links amongst the loan characteristics, shifts in the local economy, and performance of the loan. It provides an interface for cleaning data on loan level and creating related pools and/or subpools. The software also helps in maintaining the integrity of data by alerting the users.

There are quite a few companies in the market that supply this software. One can also download the software from the internet. Some companies offer different metrics that are related to different fields of mortgage. Businessmen and corporate who deal in the filed of mortgage metrics can highly beneficiate from this software which calculates the risk factors in various imaginary scenarios and hence reduces the risks in real life. So why use mortgage metrics? The answer is to stay informed about possible opportunities and current pefroamance.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/management-articles/mortgage-metrics-a-great-tool-to-study-risks-and-levels-of-credit-enhancement-267146.html

About the Author:

If you are interested in mortgage metrics , check this web-site to learn more about loan metrics.

Everyone's Told You to Study Napoleon Hill -Yet How Can You Use His Book to Think and Grow Rich?

2008-09-01T08:50:00.001-07:00

Everyone's Told You to Study Napoleon Hill -Yet How Can You Use His Book to *Think* and *Grow* Rich?

Author: Daniel Klatt

If you're an entrepreneur or in business yourself, or you're among the highest ranks in the corporate world, no doubt you've had the message drilled in your head: "If you want to be successful, you've got to read 'Think and Grow Rich.'"

And it's true - I know almost all the top guys online and many of the best marketers in the world. I'm not aware of any of them who have read it fewer than a half dozen times. In fact they'll tell you the more they read it, the more successful they became.

That's my experience, too, especially once I read it from the standpoint of helping others master Napoleon Hill's classic book from 1937 (I only use the Original Version, because it was changed many times over the years, even long after he died in 1970.)

The thing about "Think and Grow Rich", as great as it is and as much as it can transform your life… the promise of the title has not been fulfilled for most people who've read the book.

In fact statistics I've seen say "Think and Grow Rich" has sold either 50,000,000 or 60,000,000 copies, depending on what your source is. Yet the book is widely credited with creating 1,000,000 millionaires.

Why not 50,000,000 or 60,000,000 millionaires? Why have fewer than 2% of the people who bought "Think and Grow Rich" been able to Think and Grow Rich?

The simple answer goes back to the fact that the most successful business people read it repeatedly and read it often.

For example, especially when they're just starting to become successful, they keep it near them and read it at any breaks in the day - while they're on-hold, waiting in an airport for their flight to leave, on the subway to and from work. They also listen to the audios of the Original 1937 Version while they're driving.

Because it's that constant reinforcement, over several weeks and months, that transforms how they Think , which then does result in them becoming Rich .

And, again, how rich they become is proportional to how often they study the book's teachings and allow it to change how they think.

We know it takes most people three weeks to a month to make something a habit, and how we think is just a habit, too, the result of how we've become used to thinking. This is really "The Secret" to taking the wisdom in Napoleon Hill's book and allowing it to deliver on its promise of making us rich.

Let's look at it this way - most people have been trained to think of themselves as being the victim of circumstance and not having much power over their fate.

They've also been trained to lose interest in something and quickly move onto the next thing, so they don't spend much time with anything and really benefit from any of it.

"Think and Grow Rich" isn't meant to entertain you, although it will if you just read it casually. It's meant to transform how you think, and it will if you use it the way Napoleon Hill intended.

Think about it. Your habits of thought, how you think, developed over a period of probably decades, and they determine all aspects of your life from how wealthy you are to how happy, how confident and how fulfilled you feel.

If you don't have everything you want, right now, then how you think isn't entirely supporting you.

Because as you know if you've studied "Think and Grow Rich" at least a half dozen times as the most successful people you respect, your life now is the exact result of your previous thinking.

You've heard the old cliche - and they become cliches because they're true - "change your mind, change your life". That's the essence of how you will Think and Grow Rich.

The point of studying "Think and Grow Rich" six or more times is that continual exposure to this empowering wisdom will over time change your habits of thinking, replacing the old habits that no longer support who you are today. Instead, they build in you the habits of knowing and keeping in mind you have the power to create anything you want, and you have in the training the exact way of making it yours.

Once you've reached the "Thought Tipping Point" where the ongoing infusion of the Think and Grow Rich Philosophy has replaced your old habits of thought, then very quickly your life becomes better in all areas, and you start living the promise of the title.

That's when you'll Think and Grow Rich!

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/motivational-articles/everyones-told-you-to-study-napoleon-hill-yet-how-can-you-use-his-book-to-think-and-grow-rich-79943.html

About the Author:

Dan Klatt, "Think and Grow Rich Guy", created the http://ThinkAndGrowRichCDs.com

package to help you *Get It* much quicker - so you will both *Think* and *Grow* Rich and be among the top successes! Also get his $964 Think and Grow Rich Bonus Gifts at

http://MoneyFromAir.com/TAGR.html

Student Debt Consolidation Loans: Taking Care of Numerous Debts While you Study

2008-09-01T08:41:00.001-07:00

Student Debt Consolidation Loans: Taking Care of Numerous Debts While you Study

Author: Jennifer Morva

STUDENT DEBT CONSOLIDATION LOANS: FEATURES

Student debt consolidation loans help you to consolidate all the debts availed for the purpose of higher studies into one with comparatively low interest rate. This way it becomes easier to pay for you and that too at low interest rate. Student debt consolidation loans are basically of two types, secured and unsecured. To avail secured student debt consolidation loans you’ll have to place collateral against the loans amount. This can be any of your personal properties like car, home etc. On the other hand no such security is needed to avail an unsecured student debt consolidation loan. No credit check is required to avail student debt consolidation loans. It means students having bad credit history due to arrears, defaults, CCJ, IVA etc can also avail the benefits of student debt consolidation loans, but with slightly higher interest rate compared to good creditors. Student debt consolidation loans carry low interest because it’s meant for students. The interest rate may vary depending upon the type of loan availed by student and the credit history of the student. Unsecured student debt consolidation loans carry slightly higher interest rate than secured one, this is because lenders advance loans without any security.

STUDENT DEBT CONSOLIDATION LOANS: ADVANTAGES

Student debt consolidation loans are very helpful for students having multiple debts. It is very difficult to manage many debts all with high interest rates. With the help of student debt consolidation loans you can merge all your previous debts into one manageable debt with low interest rate. This way you can easily repay the loan installments. Interest rates for student debt consolidation loans are further reduced if you make regular payments of the loan installments. No credit check is required to avail student debt consolidation loans; students suffering from adverse credit history can also avail the benefits of student debt consolidation loans. You can choose a flexible repayment option depending upon your needs to repay the loan amount.

STUDENT DEBT CONSOLIDATION LOANS: APPLICATION

Visiting lenders to avail student debt consolidation loan personally can be very time taking. For faster approval and quicker transaction you should apply online. Online application has many benefits. You don’t have to meet lenders personally; it consumes less time, requires less paperwork and is approved in short period of time. You can also search for lenders offering student debt consolidation loans at reasonable interest rate. With the help of Internet you can download the loan quotes from various banks, financial institutions and lending firms and compare between them to choose the best one that suits your pocket. To apply online you just have to fill up an online application form. Lenders will then get back to you with their offers.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/loans-articles/student-debt-consolidation-loans-taking-care-of-numerous-debts-while-you-study-158343.html

About the Author:

Jennifer Morva has been associated with Bad Credit Personal Loans. Having completed his Masters in Finance from Lancaster University Management School, he undertook to provide useful advice through his articles that have been found very useful by the residents of the UK. To find secured loans, personal loans, bad credit loans, Bad credit personal loans visit http://www.debtconsolidationloans.me.uk

A Do-It-Yourself Guide for Beginners To Study Fake Tan

2008-09-01T01:03:00.003-07:00

A Do-It-Yourself Guide for Beginners To Study Fake Tan

Author: Ursula McLean

Uv gives you a sexy tan but also causes photo ageing. No need to stay under the sun for hours anymore. Getting a fake tan is just as good.

In fact, it's in! You don't even need to spend hundreds of dollars at saloons to get yourself a glowing skin and a radiant complexion. Yet another advantage is that the new formulae of the artificial tanning products give even better, not to mention faster, results. Indeed, when applied to the skin, these products result in more natural and uniform tones than the effects of natural tans.

Yes, you can now get a perfect suntan all year round, and without even getting out of your home.

Sometimes I wonder why we call it Fake Tan. I mean, a tan is a tan, no matter how you obtain it. And here the results are even more stunning. Composed of an active principle called di hydroxy acetone (dha), tanning products provoke the oxidization of the superficial cells of the epidermis, thus creating a coloration of skin that stays on average between 4 and 6 days, and then gradually fades away as the skin peels off.

These products are available on the market in different forms: cream, milk, serum, fluid, spray, and so on. But personally I prefer creams with moisturizing properties to avoid dehydration of the epidermis, especially for the face.

The advantage of sprays, on the other hand, is that - thanks to their ultra-light texture - they adjust perfectly to the fatty skin around humps and curves in the body.

Getting a fake tan nowadays not only easy and safe but also almost instant. Trusted cosmetic companies are seeing to it that their tanning products are absolutely risk-free and give you a harmonious tan without the risks bound to tanning in the sun (sunburns, allergies, accelerated ageing or photo ageing, etc.). Because cut-throat competition exists between them, as we are all aware, popular brands of beauty products are all improving their tanning products day by day, allying comfort, lightness and hydration.

Still, a few simple steps and preparations could help you achieve an even better fake tan. It is always recommended that you apply a light scrub over your skin and wash it off before the tanning product itself is applied. This will refine your epidermis, especially in areas where the layers of skin are thicker (elbows, knees, etc.).

Exfoliating the skin regularly after the tan will equally help eliminate dead cells and unify the complexion. This will also avoid the piling up of layers of dead cells over the skin, which will obviously make your complexion appear dry and dull. Regular exfoliation will ensure that your tan looks fresh and help maintain that glow you love so much.

Conclusively, we could say that having a Fake Tan is definitely better and safer than long hours of exposure in the sun, especially as uv rays get more aggressive day by day due to the depletion of the ozone layer. Anyway, in many parts of the world you don't have the sun all year round, but you would still want to have a great tan!

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/a-doityourself-guide-for-beginners-to-study-fake-tan-418281.html

About the Author:

Are you looking for a great new fake tan? Is so check out feelconfident.co.uk, they have one of the largest selections of fake tan in the UK including the new Zen Tan direct from the USA. Zen Tan is fast becoming the leading fake tan in the UK.

Case Study: a Multi-level-marketing Firm Takes Their Business to the Next Level by Making Business Cards and Integral Part of Their Marketing Plan

2008-09-01T01:03:00.001-07:00

Case Study: a Multi-level-marketing Firm Takes Their Business to the Next Level by Making Business Cards and Integral Part of Their Marketing Plan

Author: Sophie Charalambous

MLM Ventures has been struggling with high employee turnover, lack of motivation, and weak commitment to the team and product. It employs a staff of 45 and has close to 400 associates. The company sells various Herbal Supplements and other “As Seen on TV” type items and maintains in-house all operations; call center, management and fulfillment departments.

Their investment on training did not help change the company’s corporate culture. The employees had very little motivation, they did not feel part of the team and they were not accountable for anything that was taking place within the company. A new marketing director was brought on board in the spring of 2004 and decided to implement an innovative motivational plan. It was the first time that the marketing efforts of the company were aimed at the employees instead of the clients and they believe the employees are a reflection of the company and its products.

The three main objectives were 1) make employees feel part of the team 2) make employees believe and use the company products 3) make everyone, despite their title and position accountable for the company’s failure and success, and reward them for the positive.

Knowing the importance of developing strong, positive relationships with customers but without the money to launch a giant campaign, the word of mouth (within the company) approach has proven to be their best marketing tool.

The management team was instructed to hold monthly team meetings with all levels of the company, from administration to distribution drivers and packaging clerks. The company was giving all employees the opportunity to participate, express their issues and feel part of the team.

The second step MLM Ventures has taken was issuing business cards for all employees. Whether part time, full time, seasonal, even associates had all received a set of business cards, personalized with their name and contact information. Taking advantage of the prime space at the back of the card, important facts about the company and the product were included.

That was the company’s best move in years. Although the objective was to persuade all employees that they were part of the team, and to make them more involved with the company and brand, linking their name with the company’s logo on a business card setting, the long term effects were greater. On the lower level of the organization, a lot of the employees were receiving their very first business card. Taking pride not only they immediately felt important and got closer to the brand, but they also promoted the company and its products by word of mouth.

The company had succeeded. From the cleaning staff to track drivers to sales executives, they were all part of the same team and they were all working towards the same goal. For that reason they were treated the same way and they were all expected to be responsible for their actions and take pride in the company’s success.

The business card as a marketing tool had provided the company with priceless rewards. The employee turnover and absenteeism decreased and they noticed an increase in referrals. Above all, within 6 months, it helped employees believe in the product, because they realized how much they were associated with it.

If you have a story to share that might inspire others to take action, share it with us. To order multiple lots of business cards contact our sales team for gang pricing.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/small-business-articles/case-study-a-multilevelmarketing-firm-takes-their-business-to-the-next-level-by-making-business-cards-and-integral-part-of-their-marketing-plan-116093.html

About the Author:

Sophie Charalambous is a Marketing Director at BargainPrinting.com ( http://www.bargainprinting.com). BargainPrinting.com ( http://www.bargainprinting.com) uses state-of-the-art equipment and an all digital workflow to provide professional quality printing, mailing and design solutions. Located in New York City, BargainPrinting.com ( http://www.bargainprinting.com) offers print buyers nationwide competitive prices, fast turnaround and above all Fanatical Customer Service. The proprietary tools and technology on the web store makes ordering easy, fast and rewarding for all customers.

Why Dogs Do What They Do: a Quick Study of Normal Dog Behaviors

2008-09-01T00:57:00.001-07:00

Why Dogs Do What They Do: a Quick Study of Normal Dog Behaviors

Author: Sylvia Dickens

Dog behaviors can confuse human owners, which makes it that much more difficult to bond with them. Once you gain a better understanding of why dogs do what they do, however, you'll be one giant step ahead in the bonding and training process.

One of the first things to realize is that dogs come from the wolf family. Wolves are social animals that run in packs. All members have their status within those packs, from the dominant male to the submissive female.

Establishing roles in the pack is one of the most predominant dog behaviors that domestic dogs have inherited, along with other traits. Dogs like to know where they fit in the pack. That's why owners have to take the upper hand and become the leaders. Until this happens, bonding and training will be elusive.

Unfortunately, some owners are reluctant to take command because they're afraid they'll alienate their friendship and their dog won't love them. It's important to overcome this fear if you want to end up with an obedient and responsive dog. Understand that your dog will love you simply because you are his leader.

If left to find his own way, a dog will do his best to establish himself as the boss. Dominant dogs will show their dominance by growling and sometimes biting their owners to put them in their place.

It's imperative for you to reverse this situation at the very beginning by showing your dog that he must take a lesser role in the social order.

Such dog behaviors as this are ingrained from birth as part of the animal's survival instincts. Leadership dominance isn't something that develops afterwards, although it can become a problem if not addressed.

A dominant dog will reject your training efforts because he believes he's in charge. He'll want to be out front when you take him for a walk. He'll want to call all the shots, which means he's more likely to ignore you and your commands.

He'll be the protector of the pack. Some dogs become too protective and can become a danger to others. You don't want that, so establish who's the boss from the moment you bring your puppy home. Dogs are quick to accept leadership from those who show authority and dominant traits.

They respond to actions that mimic or reflect their inherent dog behaviors. Your size alone will automatically show the dog that you are the dominant member.

By using a tone of voice that projects your authority and letting the dog know that you're taking charge, your pet will soon recognize and accept his role in the pack.

Dogs don't like confusion or vagueness. It makes them unsure and their actions misdirected. Once your dog knows where he stands, he'll be better prepared to obey and love you.

Remember, growling is one of the dog behaviors wolf pack leaders use to let others know where they stand. It isn't necessary for you to hit your dog or be a tyrant to send this message. Use an authoritative voice and be persistent in your demands and he'll soon get the point.

Another one of the dog behaviors worth imitating is touch, or affection. In the pack, wolves nuzzle each other to show how they feel and to get the other's attention. Mothers lick their pups regularly, not only to keep them clean, but to show them that they belong.

A pup that gets such attention is much happier and well-rounded than one that is ignored and rejected. He is better able to adjust to his changing world and the people and animals around him.

Such dog behaviors become your responsibility as the new pack leader. Keep in mind that from the moment puppies are born, they establish their adaptability into the pack by the things that are in their immediate environment.

By showing your puppy, or even an adopted dog, that they belong and are welcome, you can help ease their transition into your pack. A well-adjusted dog is much easier to train because he aims to please and take up his rightful role in the group. Naturally, the earlier exposure to the human touch and other dogs occurs, the more socialized he will become.

Be aware of why dogs do what they do and take appropriate action to let your pet know you are the leader. Approach your new companion with normal dog behaviors in mind, and you might be surprised how easy training and bonding can be.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/pets-articles/why-dogs-do-what-they-do-a-quick-study-of-normal-dog-behaviors-404395.html

About the Author:

Get your free copy of Sylvia's latest booklet, "Unveiling the Myths & Mysteries of Owning a Puppy" by clicking Dog Behaviors .

A Case Study of a Modern Workplace Revealing Major Deficiencies in Awareness and Communication Capacities

2008-09-01T00:48:00.001-07:00

A Case Study of a Modern Workplace Revealing Major Deficiencies in Awareness and Communication Capacities

Author: Bob Calkin

I have found in my work that the majority of knowledge workers are not achieving high performance largely because of low level of what we call awareness and communication capacities.

I want to now share some data that we collected in relation to a work force carrying out Level 1 Knowledge work. We tested 99 people in a contact centre. The systems and processes were well established and people underwent a period of training in the systems and processes. I’ll elaborate on this shortly.

Level 1 Knowledge work in this case involves tasks where the workers interact through the telephone dealing with customer queries. In this residual space the worker is expected to achieve an outcome that reflects the organisation’s policies and leaves the customer satisfied that their query or concern has been properly dealt with.

The main capacity required for this work is the capacity for participating in crucial conversations. Crucial conversations are those where the stakes are high, where there are conflicting interests, and where emotions run hot. Most of the conversations between workers and the organisation’s clients are of this type.

Workers are expected to resolve the conflicting interests and retain the client as a customer of the organisation. When a worker is engaged in a crucial conversation they cannot be managed, they are on their own, this is their residual space where they need to be able to own their work, be able to evaluate their own performance, have an inner vision of the work, take unconditional responsibility for the outcome and be masters of the work.

Workers undergo training in the organisation’s processes and policies. They receive training in how to handle stressed clients. They receive guidance in confronting a range of different scenarios and how to resolve the issues relevant to each scenario. They also receive training in telephone techniques. As well as this during the training period the workers’ involvement with clients is monitored, and they receive coaching and advice as to how to correct any mistakes they might have made. The training is comprehensive and thorough.

The performance of all workers is monitored and key performance indicators are used to evaluate performance. Regular coaching and advice is provided by supervisors and team leaders. It could be expect that the work force would be capable of high performance in the light of comprehensive training and regular coaching and advice about achieving the key performance indicators.

Our data, on the other hand revealed the following breakdown of the performance standards of the workforce:

Achieved high performance 39.1 per cent

Achieved adequate performance 45.5 per cent

Not achieving adequate performance 15.4 per cent

These figures reveal that notwithstanding comprehensive training and regular monitoring around key performance indicators 60.9 % of this workforce were achieving only adequate or less than adequate performance standards.

Awareness and communication capacities

There are three awareness capacities and three communication capacities:

The awareness capacities;

Treating everything that arises as an opportunity to learn;

Taking unconditional responsibility for choices made;

Exercising emotional mastery;

The communication capacities;

• Having high level capacity for crucial conversations;

• Negotiating disagreements effectively;

• Making and honouring promises through commitment conversations.

Treating everything that arises as an opportunity to learn is about being prepared to listen to others in order to ensure that the best decisions are made. It’s also about telling your truth, but at the same time respecting other people who have a different view or represent a different set of interests to you. Finally it’s about how you replace a mindset of unilateral control to one of being open to learn new things.

Taking unconditional responsibility is about recognising that we have choices and in order to be a player in the drama of life we accept unconditional responsibility for our choices. In the workforce we analysed we found that only 17.17% demonstrated both a high level of responsibility and high performance.

Achieving emotional mastery is one of the most important awareness capacities. In the workforce that we reviewed only 26.26% showed a high level of emotional mastery and high performance indicating that the level of emotional mastery in relation to high performance within this workforce was not particularly high.

The communication capacities are about the mode and means of communications within the workforce. All work involves talking about what needs to be done. A great deal of the talking takes place in the residual space where the systems and processes don’t reach, and where workers cannot be managed. We also negotiate our disagreements to make decisions and then we make promises to ensure that things get done. These capacities encompass the communication capacities. In the workforce under review the main focus of work is talking and conversation. It’s clear from the performance data that in terms of these three communication capacities there is a great deal of room for improvement.

Our experience is that there is a low level of development of the communication capacities. This is one area where some of the greatest gains in productivity improvement can be obtained.

Most people seem to think that because they have a good mastery of language and can make themselves understood that they are good communicators. Our experience is that when it comes to crucial conversations there is a great deal of room for improvement. In this case the training programmes in place were not reaching the level required to bring the awareness and communication capacities up to the level needed to achieve high performance. This is one of the things we have found that traditional training programmes have little lasting impact on changing peoples’ behaviour.

We know more about the way to organise our collective activity, about business processes and systems and the psycho-dynamics of human activity than at any other time in history. We have also never had better qualified people technically than in this present age.

Managers and leaders tell us that they are working very hard, right at the extremes of their powers to improve the productivity and output of their organisations. This was certainly true of the contact centre that we are talking about here. The managers and leaders were working hard and right at the extreme end of their powers. They are overworked and overstressed and so are their people.

We (the sum total of humanity) also have an incredible amount of knowledge, and a great many highly qualified consultants ready to advise us about how we can create an organisation to meet the demands of the modern business regime. Why is it then that in spite of all this knowledge real change is hard to achieve? Why do training programmes and efforts at motivating the rank and file people have such dismal results?

As Kegan and Lahey observe in their ground breaking book “How the Way We Talk Can Change the Way We Work” , there is a maddening insufficiency of being well informed. We all seem to have an inbuilt immunity to change. Each of us can be committed to make changes but these commitments are like New Year’s resolutions, by the 10th January they are forgotten and we revert to our old ways. Despite all of the efforts to make things better, create a culture of trust and solidarity and relieve the management and leadership burdens of stress and burn out, the outcomes are disappointing.

Doesn’t this suggest that a new way of working, of leading and managing is needed that addresses the immunity to change that we all have?

At CMI we have developed a methodology that involves a new method of managing and leading that results in real change. This reduces the stresses and strains that managers and leaders experience and helps them achieve the results that there overworked and stressful efforts fails to do. The entry point is what we call the awareness and communication capacities, and our means of identifying how these capacities can be transformed to make change and high performance possible and to take advantage of the fund of knowledge and expertise that is available. You can learn more by visiting our site

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/human-resources-articles/a-case-study-of-a-modern-workplace-revealing-major-deficiencies-in-awareness-and-communication-capacities-249207.html

About the Author:

Dr Bob Calkin is the CEO of Career Mentoring Institute who provide on-line capacity building programs for organizations and individuals helping them transform their behavior to meet the demands and challenges of the modern workplace. You can learn more about our on-line programs by visiting our site

Iihs Study Reveals Mid-size Car Bumpers not Strong Enough to Prevent Costly Damage

2008-09-01T00:39:00.003-07:00

Iihs Study Reveals Mid-size Car Bumpers not Strong Enough to Prevent Costly Damage

Author: Natalie Anderson

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has recently released a new crash tests and this time the main focus are car bumpers. According to the new crash tests revealed by the insurance industry, most bumpers especially on mid-size cars do little to prevent expensive damage to vehicles even in low-speed crashes say, 6 miles per hour. Further research revealed that most of the crashes happen in parking lots and commuter traffic.

The testing conducted by the Virginia-based Institute showed that only three midsize vehicles namely the Mitsubishi Galant, Mazda 6, and Toyota Camry were able to sustain lesser cost of repair amounting only to $1,500 for each of the four crash tests. The crash tests conducted were to review the extent of damage from front, rear, front corner and rear corner crashes.

According to Adrian Lund, the Institute’s president, “The cars with the lowest repair bills after our new bumper tests still sustained much more damage than they should have in some o fthe tests. We got crumpled grilles and headlights plus buckled fenders in impacts at speeds equivalent to an average person walking fast.”

There were seventeen midsize cars that were used for the low-speed tests. The Nissan Maxima together with Volkswagen Passat, Pontiac G6 and Hyundai Sonata suffered damages amounting to more than $4,000. The Institute has also done similar test on the 1981 Ford Escort and was amazed to found that the front end test only caused $86 in damages. Such astounding performance of the 1981 Ford Escort according to the Institute is the result of the federal requirements that were in effect until 1982 that made it mandatory for bumpers to keep damage away from the vehicle’s sheet metal parts and safety equipment in crashes of up to 5mph. The Institute further stated that since 1982 the required test speeds have been cut in half which resulted to more damage.

According to automakers they are working to create designs for vehicles to resist low speed collision damage. Volkswagen of America Inc. exclaimed that “while low-speed collision repairs are an element of the total cost of ownership, we’re confident that Volkswagen products continue to provide exceptional customer value,” and that goes true to all the product range of Volkswagen both vehicles and auto parts such as Volkswagen wiper blade , etc.

Nissan also said that it believes that it’s Maxima “performs competitively in terms of cost of repair.” Likewise, General Motors has also expressed its view on the test saying that it “have everything to do with damageability, but they are really not an occupant safety issue. These are new tests and we are assessing the results.”

The Institute has also stressed that the tests conducted were only bumper tests and do not assess the passenger safety since serious injuries are uncommon in low-speed crashes.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/automotive-articles/iihs-study-reveals-midsize-car-bumpers-not-strong-enough-to-prevent-costly-damage-113126.html

About the Author:

Growing up with three brothers, Natalie Anderson became exposed early to the world of automobiles. This 29-year-old account manager now dreams of having her very own top-of-the-line vintage car.

How Can You Find and Study Examples of Continuing Business Model Innovators?

2008-09-01T00:39:00.001-07:00

How Can You Find and Study Examples of Continuing Business Model Innovators?

Author: Donald Mitchell

Having found that the top growth performing CEOs were continually improving their business models to become more profitable, the next challenge was to see what else could be learned about business model innovation. When I began to look at the earlier history of business model innovation, I saw that improved business models usually came from start-ups and new entrants. So entrepreneurs were obviously focused on this opportunity.

I then became curious about the frequency with which companies enjoyed ongoing success in improving their business models. Where should I find the answer?

I read the profiles of all public companies described in the Value Line Investment Survey over 12 years. I noted the companies that seemed to have completed at least two major successful business model innovations during those years, without regard to their stock-market performance. As a result of either lower stock-price growth or changes in CEOs, many of them did not make my CEO 100 lists during those years.

I contacted these companies by e-mail to request interviews with their CEO and some of the other senior executives. From these contacts, I was able to arrange CEO interviews at over 40 companies.

I performed literature searches on another few dozen companies that confirmed that they had been frequent business model innovators, but these companies declined to be interviewed. Obviously, you can still learn lessons by characterizing the direction that those companies take even if you cannot learn more fine-tuned details.

From these investigations, I became convinced that at least 70 public companies had performed at least two major successful business model innovations in the same business over the 12 years.

I began a year-long analysis. I took what was learned and summarized it in simple form so that more companies could understand how to choose and successfully follow this path. You could obviously do the same thing for the examples that interest you.

To test my thinking, I discussed the work in progress with many of the CEOs and their staffs as well as top strategic thinkers in other companies. Many valuable corrections and improvements were made as a result.

Next, I sought out individual, small company, and nonprofit examples of the themes that the larger, public companies exhibited. Many of these examples are drawn from my personal experiences with the subjects or my long-term interest in their work.

Finally, I kept in touch with all of the individuals and companies so that the information could be as up-to-date as possible.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/management-articles/how-can-you-find-and-study-examples-of-continuing-business-model-innovators-391061.html

About the Author:

Donald Mitchell is an author of seven books including Adventures of an Optimist, The 2,000 Percent Squared Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution, The 2,000 Percent Solution Workbook, The Irresistible Growth Enterprise, and The Ultimate Competitive Advantage. Read about creating breakthroughs through 2,000 percent solutions and receive tips by e-mail by registering for free at

http://www.2000percentsolution.com .

Case Study: Insurance Company Tries to Minimize Injuries to Avoid Paying Damages

2008-09-01T00:38:00.001-07:00

Case Study: Insurance Company Tries to Minimize Injuries to Avoid Paying Damages

Author: Christopher Davis

On May 6, 2002, thirty-two year-old Sarah Brown was rear-ended on Interstate 405 near the Renton S-curves. The other driver was insured by Farmers Insurance Company. Ms. Brown received injuries to her neck and back. Her medical expenses were $18,205, including $10,500 in chiropractic charges. A lumbar spine MRI revealed a protruding disc that was non-surgical according to her doctor. The last offer from Farmers was $50,000. Mr. Davis presented just four (4) witnesses, including Ms. Larsen and two of her doctors. After a 3-day trial, a jury awarded $500,000.

The Facts Of The Case On May 6, 2002, Sarah Brown was rear-ended while stopped on Interstate 405 in Renton, Washington. The police were called. Ms. Browns's car received moderate damage. She was able to drive away from the scene. The defendant, Jennifer Combs, was 23 years old at the time. She was cited for inattentive driving.

Ms. Brown drove to work but then left after a few hours. She complained of pain to her neck, shoulders, back and hip. She saw a doctor the next day. The doctor diagnosed her with straining injuries to her neck and back, and contusions to her chest and left breast. She was referred to physical therapy and given medications for pain.

Ms. Brown decided to see a chiropractor for her ongoing neck and back pain. A cervical spine MRI revealed a small bulging disc at C5-6. Her neck pain largely resolved after one year.

Approximately one year following the accident, her low back pain worsened. She was admitted to the ER at Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland, Washington. Ms. Brown continued to see a chiropractor for her ongoing low back pain. The pain had worsened by going down her legs and into her right big toe.

A lumbar spine MRI was ordered in October 2005, which revealed a protruding disc at L4-5. Ms. Brown was referred to a neurosurgeon who did not believe surgery was necessary. The neurosurgeon advised Ms. Brown to continue with chiropractic care since her complaints were being managed with this treatment.

Ms. Brown sought a second opinion from a doctor that specializes in minimally invasive spine surgery. This doctor also advised her to continue with chiropractic care instead of surgical intervention.

Seattle attorney, Christopher M. Davis attempted to settle Ms. Brown's case after she underwent the lumbar spine MRI in October 2005. However, Farmers ignored his offer to settle and tried to minimize the extent of Ms. Brown's injuries. At that point, Mr. Davis started to prepare for trial. He met with Ms. Brown's doctors and prepared trial exhibits. More than $5,000 was incurred in litigation costs.

About one month before trial, Farmers finally offered to settle the case for $50,000. Mr. Davis advised his client to reject the offer and go to trial.

The attorney hired by Farmers requested that the case be heard by a jury and paid the required jury fee to the court.

Trial commenced on June 22. Mr. Davis presented just 4 witnesses, including Ms. Brown, her friend and two doctors. After 3.5 hours of deliberation, the jury awarded $500,000, including past economic damages of $20,605, future economic damages of $275,000 and noneconomic damages of $204,395.

*Some names have been changed to protect our client's privacy.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/law-articles/case-study-insurance-company-tries-to-minimize-injuries-to-avoid-paying-damages-217780.html

About the Author:

Christopher M. Davis is the managing partner of Davis Law Group. He brings over 15 years of practical yet innovative experience to personal injury cases. He practices law in Seattle, WA. You can learn more about Mr. Davis at http://www.InjuryTrialLawyer.com or visit www.WashingtonAccidentbook.com .

Health and Safety Distance Learning - Study Online for this Socially Responsible Technical Career

2008-09-01T00:29:00.001-07:00

Health and Safety Distance Learning - Study Online for this Socially Responsible Technical Career

Author: Jim Zorn

Both the demand and the available options for Health and Safety Distance Learning are high in USA, thanks to the growing public demand for wider and stricter regulations from the government's side to ensure safe and healthy workplaces. Career options include Health & Safety Specialists, and Health & Safety Technicians. If you are responsible to the core, concerned about society's safety, and a troubleshooter by nature, nothing can be more rewarding than one of these careers.

The field of Health and Safety should not be confused with the field of Safety Engineering. The more formal title for Health and Safety is Occupational Safety and Health. While Safety Engineering is a full-fledged branch of Engineering, Occupational Safety and Health is more of a scientific, medical, technical, managerial, & regulatory domain. This is reflected in its administration in the country by Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) coming under the US Department of Labor, and The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) under the US Department of Health and Human Services.

What it Involves

Health and Safety Distance Learning involves taking an Associate, Bachelors, or Graduate Degree in Occupational Safety and Health through the distance or online mode. Several Graduate and Undergraduate Certificate Courses are also available. Those planning to become Health and Safety Technicians can go for an Associate or even a Certificate Course, while those aspiring to become Health and Safety Specialists should go for at least a Bachelors, as the main employer in the domain, the Federal and State Governments, have fixed it as the minimum qualification.

However, there are more Graduate Degree Courses in Health and Safety Distance Learning than Bachelors or Associate Degree Courses. This is mainly driven by the private sector's preference to employ Graduate experts with a firm background in supporting subjects like Science or Medicine.

Various professional certifications available in this domain like the Certified Safety Professional (CSP), Certified Industrial Hygienist (CIH), Occupational Health and Safety Technologist (OHST) require passing stringent examinations, and the training for them are also available through Health and Safety Distance Learning.

Why Health and Safety?

The discipline of Occupational Safety and Health is a fast growing field that is concerned with the safety and health of employees, customers, and the public. While the best managed companies go in for elaborate Health and Safety Departments to stand out in business ethics and cut the loss of employee productivity, many others are forced to create a Health and Safety program, at least to comply with the civil and criminal laws and thus avoid litigation. This has resulted in the field growing steadily over the past several years, and is expected to grow even further, through the next ten years.

Specialists and Technicians in this field get to work in large private firms or Governments (Federal, State, or Local), where the overall benefits will be much better than in smaller organizations. Most Health and Safety Specialists earn approximately between US $40,000 to US $80,000, while Technicians can expect a salary between US $30,000 to US $70,000.

Why Health and Safety Distance Learning?

Since it is a critical service, the private sector as well as governments demand experience in the field as a prerequisite for employment. This has resulted in a preference for those already exposed to the domain, due to work in an allied field obtained after undergraduate education in engineering, biology, or chemistry. As such, it is very important for those aspiring to be a Health and Safety Professional to undertake simultaneous work in this domain or in an allied field. The best option for such candidates is Health and Safety Distance Learning.

Universities & Colleges Offering Health and Safety Distance Learning

Many Universities and colleges offer Health and Safety Distance Learning courses, but the course names tend to be very different from each other. Tulane University offers three Graduate Degrees in the field, which are distinguished for their real-time, live interaction sessions over the internet. Spanning two years, these courses are Masters of Public Health (MPH) in Occupational Health and Safety Management, MPH in Occupational Health for Health Professionals, and Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) in Industrial Hygiene.

Indiana State University offers a Master of Science in Health and Safety, with a specialization in Occupational Safety Management. The course delivery is primarily through television, but a weekly personal interaction with the instructor might be necessary.

Montana Tech Graduate School of University of Montana offers an online M.S. in Industrial Hygiene. Featuring advanced study in Occupational Health, the course also equips the students for the certification program by American Board for Industrial Hygiene. Montana Tech makes no distinctions between its regular and online students for this course.

Apart from such prestigious Universities, many smaller institutions also offer Health and Safety Distance Learning. However, prospective students need to ascertain the accreditation details as numerous institutions with poor accreditations also offer these courses.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/non-fiction-articles/health-and-safety-distance-learning-study-online-for-this-socially-responsible-technical-career-32851.html

About the Author:

Jim Zorn is web master of the Guide to Distance Learning. Please visit to learn more about online colleges and universities, distance learning degrees, majors and courses offered.

http://www.guide-to-distance-learning.com/index.html

A Self-Defense Reality - A Reason to Study Reality-Based Martial Arts & Self-Defense

2008-09-01T00:22:00.001-07:00

A Self-Defense Reality - A Reason to Study Reality-Based Martial Arts & Self-Defense

Author: Jeffrey Miller

Imagine, if you will...

A woman walking across a dark parking lot late at night - perhaps on her way to meet her date. The lot, apparently occupied only by the vehicles parked there and the occasional cat hunting for an evening snack.

Then, as if from out of nowhere, she feels the hard, meaty arm slam into her throat from the front. While her mind races to determine exactly what's happening, she becomes more and more aware that she is not in control - her world has just changed forever.

The woman feels her muscles contract and, though she tries to move, is aware that much of her own body won't respond to her brain's commands. As the adrenaline and other chemicals flood her blood stream in natural response to danger, she is overcome by a multitude of feelings and sensations that she has, quite literally, never experienced before.

As the initial shock response and wave of panic begins to ebb, she finds herself becoming aware of the sensation of her assailant's body behind her and the fact that his arm is coming from over her right shoulder. She can now hear his hot, rasping breath in her ear and perhaps the fact that he is saying something to her; though she's not quite sure what it is.

Since she's taken a few self-defense classes, she remembers learning how to get out of this type of attack and reaches up to grab and pull his arm away from her neck. What she finds though, is that she cannot even begin to budge it in the least.

"Wait a minute," she thinks in a moment of clarity, "this isn't right."

"This isn't right!"

"It always worked in class." "This guy's holding me too tight!" "No one ever holds THIS TIGHT!"

She feels the next wave of panic start to grip her. Not because she is being attacked but...

...because she realizes that her defense doesn't work.

"Why?" "What's going on?!"

"It's supposed to work!" "He said it would wo...."

As the darkness of unconsciousness overtakes her, she is left with the feeling of a warm blanket that is being pulled over someone who will sleep for a long while.

The preceding story, believe it or not, happens several times every single day in our country and around the world. To be certain, the details are different. Perhaps the victim...

...is a man - not a woman...

...never actually trained with anyone and just had their own assumptions...

...was attacked differently, but...

...the results are always the same.

Or, are they?

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/sports-and-fitness-articles/a-selfdefense-reality-a-reason-to-study-realitybased-martial-arts-selfdefense-17458.html

About the Author:

Jeffrey Miller is the founder and master instructor of Warrior Concepts International. He is the author of "The Karate-Myth" and the Danger Prevention Tactics video, among others. For more info, subscribe to his ezine here.

The Muscle Car and the Tyrannosaurus Rex-a Study in Similarities

2008-09-01T00:12:00.001-07:00

The Muscle Car and the Tyrannosaurus Rex-a Study in Similarities

Author: Don Levy

When you saw the headline you probably wondered, what is this guy smoking. Just think about it for a moment, neither one of them is still around but both are a big part of our culture. Who hasn't heard of the T-Rex(as he's better known as) or a GTO? I think by the end of this article you'll agree with me,at least a little bit, that there are at least some similarities.

First of all let's take a look at how T-Rex evolved could have evolved. I would imagine the 1st dinosaurs were fairly small, egg layers and most likely plant eaters. Suppose (you really have to use your imagination) there was a nest of newly hatched reptiles and as usually happens the most agressive got the most food and grew to be the biggest. Now suppose the mother wasn't able to bring any more food (for whatever reason) to the babies. They would probably start fighting over what ever scraps they could find and the largest one might take a bite out of one of the others. Finding he or she liked it he would eventually eat all the rest of them. By then be he would be big enough and bad enough to take on the world. Now suppose this same scenario happened close by but with one of the opposite sex. I think you can get the picture of how T-Rex evolved. Eventually some outside forces caused the T-Rex along with all the other dinosaurs to die out, exactly how is the center of much debate about the subject.

Now then we come to the muscle car evolution. Of course we know how the muscle car died out. It took the muscle car roughly 60-70 years to evolve in comparison to the millions for T-Rex, although the life span of our subjects compared to the overall span of existence could be similar. We know the muscle car existed for approximately 9 years or about 12% of the life span of the automobile up the end of the muscle car. It's possible the T-Rex was around for the same percentage of time.

When the automobile became more than just an idea, it was inconceivable to anyone that eventually it would become the fire-breathing monster machine called the muscle car. Let's examine how this happened. The first machines that qualified as an automobile car had less than 20 horsepower while the advertised horsepower of the most powerful production muscle car was 450 horsepower in the 1970 Chevy 454. Of course today you'll find modern cars with even more but we're talking about the classic car age.

I would say the horsepower race really started in 1955 likely due to the rivalry between Ford and Chevrolet, even thought Oldsmobile had an overhead V8 clear back in 1949. In 1954 Ford came out with an overhead valve engine followed by Chevrolet in 1955 and Mopar in 1956. Chevy's was larger than Fords and Mopar's bigger still and away went the horsepower race. Even though the horsepower was starting to climb at a dizzying rate,the engines were still being put in the standard configuration of the bigger the car the bigger the engine.

1959-1960 was when the compact car made an appearance (and set the stage for the muscle car along with the bigger engines) with the Big 3 all having them. The American public had a taste of horsepower and now they were asked to go back to little 6 cylinder engines. Needless to say it was a tough sell for the compacts, but their day was coming.

Things were pretty static for the next few years with the horsepower wars marching along. Chevrolet had the 348 CI engine in 1958 and then made it into the 409 in 1961. In 1962 it was the first production engine to hit 1 horsepower per 1 cubic inch. They got to a 396 CI in 1965 and the 427 in 1966. In 1970 they were up to 454 CI.

Ford engines were kind of lagging behind until 1961 when they came out with the 390 CI and then a 406 CI engine in 1962. In 1963 they were up to 427 CI and 428 CI in 1966. The biggest one, the 429 CI came in 1969.

Mopars were up to the 392 Hemi in 1958 and the 413 Wedge replaced the Hemi in 1959. In 1966 they came out with a 426 Hemi and in 1967 a all new 440 CI monster. 1971 was the last year for these engines.

Meanwhile Oldsmobile jumped into the horsepower race with a 330 CI engine in 1964 and a 400 CI in 1965. In 1970 they came out with their biggest at 455 CI. Buick pretty well stayed out of the race until 1963 when they came out with a 401 and 425 CI. In 1967 the 430 replaced the 425 CI.Their huge 455 CI debuted in 1970. Pontiac brought out the 389 CI in 1961 with a 400 and a 428 CI coming out in 1967. Their big 455 CI came out in 1970.

During all of this engine one-ups-manship the boys at Pontiac used a GM technicality to their advantage and stuffed a 389 CI into a Tempest. Although this was reported as the first muscle car the Olds had the 442 and a number of other models had bigger engines for 1964 and earlier years.

Looking back,because GM dropped their engine cubic inch restrictions in 1970 most of the cars increased the cubes to even bigger sizes. I imagine this is one reason the insurance companies put huge premiums on the muscle cars. 1970 was also the goverment passed the Clean Air Act. Those two things started the demise of the muscle car and then the oil crisis finished them off. By 1972 all the manufacturers except Pontiac hhad thrown in the towel and that was the real end of the muscle car era. The Pontiac TransAm came out as a muscle car in 1973 and 1974 but it was a fairly toothless T-Rex.

If you follow the auctions or keep up with the prices of muscle cars you'll see that they are getting their revenge for being killed off in the prices they're bringing nowadays.

Hopefully no one will take this article too seriously and challenge me on my suppositions and treatment of history. I think the engine and car facts are correct but if not don't get too bent out of shape over it. It's intended to be entertaining rather than a treatise of history.

Just like the T-Rex the muscle car had a brief but illustrious life in the overall scheme of history. They both packed a lot of dynamics into the short time they were on earth and will both forever be a part of history that is engrained in our hearts and minds.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/classics-articles/the-muscle-car-and-the-tyrannosaurus-rexa-study-in-similarities-280916.html

About the Author:

Don Levy has a 60 year love affair with all classic cars, muscle cars and hotrods. He lived through the times that he writes about and witnessed evolution of the automobile first hand. His website at http://classic-car-hunter.com has over a thousand classic cars and trucks, muscle cars, hotrods, street rods and assorted cars for sale along with an area to list your car for sale.

This and other articles about the classic car hobby appear in his blog at http://classic-car-hunter.blogspot.com