Submitted By: Patrick Schwerdtfeger
Blogging has become a central pillar in the online world. Internet technologies come and go with increasing frequency but blogging has staked a claim and is here to stay. A variety of platforms allow people to start a blog in minutes and without a penny changing hands. In addition, countless other service providers have developed widgets that can enhance a blog with additional functionality and style. This article will look at a few of the basics so you can get off to a running start.
There are two decisions you need to make right at the beginning. The first is which platform you’ll be using to build your blog and the second is whether you’ll host it on the provider’s servers or your own. Let’s look at both decisions in a bit more detail.
The two primary platforms out there are Blogger and WordPress. Blogger is owned by Google and is probably the easiest platform to get started on. It’s really designed for the novice. Functionality features are easy to use and the interface is simple and intuitive. WordPress is an open source platform. That means it’s developed by individual programmers all over the world and is available for anyone to use, free of charge.
Open source software is a fascinating phenomenon. People with all kinds of different business objectives end up developing extensions to facilitate their needs and those extensions then become available to the entire community. As a result, you can search for just about any extension you can imagine and build your own custom blog with precisely the features you want. WordPress is designed for a more sophisticated user but the advantages for the final product are substantial.
The next decision revolves around where you host your new blog. You can host it on the Blogger platform or the WordPress platform. In both cases, you would end up with a URL something like YourBlog.Blogger.com rather than your own custom URL. The upside is that it’s easier and your blog will then be part of a HUGE website. That may improve your search engine ranking. The downside is that the ultimate control is out of your hands and your branding isn’t complete. In other words, you will never have your own free-standing web address.
Once you have created your new blog, you’re well advised to register it with all the free blog directories. Not surprisingly, there are dozens of them and they can help you drive traffic. You can also cross reference other people’s comments, leaving them with a free banklink. That will help you get established in the community and encourage others to reference your comments on their blog. Depending on the blog, you could easily get the majority of your traffic from such a link.
A number of companies have developed platforms that add functionality or aggregate information and their widgets can easily be added to a blog, simply by adding a small piece of java script to your platform. This has become so common that Blogger, WordPress and others have designed specific modules to easily accept such scripts. Done properly, these widgets can make a simple blog look impressive and professional.
Tactical Execution is devoted to helping people and companies position themselves for tomorrow’s opportunities. Learning the mechanics of blogging can contribute directly to your ability to capitalize on those opportunities. Visit the website to learn countless other strategies as well.
www.isnare.com
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Your Home Insurance And Making A Claim
Submitted By: Wade Robins iSnare Expert Author
When an individual takes out a home insurance policy, he or she will usually think that they are wasting their money. Most home insurance policies are only taken out of habit and that niggling doubt at the back of the mind that if home insurance is left to lapse then something will almost certainly happen. The course of life is never smooth and things will go wrong, but at least with home insurance you can make a claim. Homeowners insurance claims, however, are nowhere near as straightforward as they sound and so this is your guide to making a claim.
The first thing you should do when taking out home insurance is to make a home inventory. A home inventory is essentially a list detailing all of your belongings. Whilst this may sound like a hassle to compile, it can be a vital aid if your house is destroyed in a flood or a fire, or even if it is burgled. It is the only sure fire way to keep track of what you own. An inventory should be kept up to date at all times so that you are prepared for the worst from the start. A list with all of the necessary facts is only the basic beginning of an inventory. You should also take pictures or a video, keep receipts and store them all in a safe deposit box away from your home. This will help no end if you do need to make a homeowner’s insurance claim because there is no way that you will remember all of the details otherwise.
The first step in making a homeowners insurance claim is actually filling in the necessary paperwork. You will need to obtain the form direct from the company and fill it in completely or else it will be returned to you. They will ask for complete details of any items damaged, destroyed or lost. This includes but is not limited to brand, price, age and description. The form is a legal document and so only the facts should be documented on it, rather than speculation. If need be, the specifics can be determined by experts.
Home insurance companies will often need proof of any items lost or damaged when making a homeowners insurance claim these days as a result of the rise in home insurance fraud in recent years. This actually costs home insurance companies millions of pounds every year and makes it a lot more difficult for genuine homeowner insurance claims to get through the system. If a household item is damaged, an oven for example, the company may insist that an agent comes into your home to assess the damage to make sure that your claim is valid. As a result, your claim may take up to a month to resolve so be prepared for a wait.
Once homeowners insurance claims are settled, payment can come through in a few days because it is only the actual paperwork that takes time. As long as you deal with your claim in a logical way and contact the home insurance company if you have any queries then you shouldn’t have a problem. Just be honest with home insurance companies and you will not go far wrong.
www.isnare.com
When an individual takes out a home insurance policy, he or she will usually think that they are wasting their money. Most home insurance policies are only taken out of habit and that niggling doubt at the back of the mind that if home insurance is left to lapse then something will almost certainly happen. The course of life is never smooth and things will go wrong, but at least with home insurance you can make a claim. Homeowners insurance claims, however, are nowhere near as straightforward as they sound and so this is your guide to making a claim.
The first thing you should do when taking out home insurance is to make a home inventory. A home inventory is essentially a list detailing all of your belongings. Whilst this may sound like a hassle to compile, it can be a vital aid if your house is destroyed in a flood or a fire, or even if it is burgled. It is the only sure fire way to keep track of what you own. An inventory should be kept up to date at all times so that you are prepared for the worst from the start. A list with all of the necessary facts is only the basic beginning of an inventory. You should also take pictures or a video, keep receipts and store them all in a safe deposit box away from your home. This will help no end if you do need to make a homeowner’s insurance claim because there is no way that you will remember all of the details otherwise.
The first step in making a homeowners insurance claim is actually filling in the necessary paperwork. You will need to obtain the form direct from the company and fill it in completely or else it will be returned to you. They will ask for complete details of any items damaged, destroyed or lost. This includes but is not limited to brand, price, age and description. The form is a legal document and so only the facts should be documented on it, rather than speculation. If need be, the specifics can be determined by experts.
Home insurance companies will often need proof of any items lost or damaged when making a homeowners insurance claim these days as a result of the rise in home insurance fraud in recent years. This actually costs home insurance companies millions of pounds every year and makes it a lot more difficult for genuine homeowner insurance claims to get through the system. If a household item is damaged, an oven for example, the company may insist that an agent comes into your home to assess the damage to make sure that your claim is valid. As a result, your claim may take up to a month to resolve so be prepared for a wait.
Once homeowners insurance claims are settled, payment can come through in a few days because it is only the actual paperwork that takes time. As long as you deal with your claim in a logical way and contact the home insurance company if you have any queries then you shouldn’t have a problem. Just be honest with home insurance companies and you will not go far wrong.
www.isnare.com
First Step To Eliminates Computer Slow Down – Registry Cleaning
Submitted By: Kok Choon Kow
Microsoft Windows based computer will gradually slow down from time to time. The biggest issues are caused by registry growing. Registry growth is unavoidable because of:
1. Uninstalled programs don’t clean up the registry.
2. Too many information stored in the registry instead of database.
3. Temporary information not cleans up.
4. Too many programs installed.
Window Registry was first introduced in Windows 95, it was design to replace the old .ini file, which allows not just 2 levels of grouping in settings, but unlimited levels of tree settings! Microsoft likes complexity, they think of simplicity as outdated technology, which still widely use in other operating system, like UNIX and Linux.
Because of the Advance technology, windows’ user has to upgrade their computer to process the registry information! And this is bad news for me, because I am just like others, cannot afford to upgrade the computer every single year! The cheapest way is to do regular maintenance on registry.
Until .NET platform become popular (3/5 years down the road), we still need to rely on this bad design architecture, and we have learn how to live with it – Use some registry cleaning tools.
I remember my first registry cleaner was from Norton utility. That was the old days where Norton utility was the only few proper tuning tools for windows! Nowadays we have over hundreds types of registry cleaning tools; some are pure registry cleaner, some are subset of a larger toolset.
I prefer to use more professional registry cleaner, larger toolset doesn’t provides a very effective cleaning. The ideally best registry cleaning tool must be able to identified unwanted registry entry, safely remove identified items and able to optimize and compress the registry to its’ minimum!
If your personal computer is slowing down, first thing you should do is to uninstall all unused, unnecessary and unwanted software from your operating system, try to keep your window software as less as possible (Not to say you can’t have more), and focus on the tools that you really need.
Secondly, you should use one or few proper registry cleaning tools to tidy up the registry, eliminates all unused settings, information in the window registry, but remember to backup the registry first! Most registry cleaning tool will provides backup function for restore, if the cleaning “too much” and cause unstable behavior to the software or window operating system.
Never, ever use a registry cleaner without backup function! (Unless you want to backup manually every time before cleaning)
After cleaning up the window registry, you should restore 30% or more of your computer performance. If you still feel that the system is slow, you might be infected by virus or spyware, scan your computer with Anti Virus and Anti Spyware Software.
If you want to regain more speed, better startup and shutdown, free up your memory and unleash the power of your window, you should visit my web site for more information and tools on how to speed up your slow computer.
www.isnare.com
Microsoft Windows based computer will gradually slow down from time to time. The biggest issues are caused by registry growing. Registry growth is unavoidable because of:
1. Uninstalled programs don’t clean up the registry.
2. Too many information stored in the registry instead of database.
3. Temporary information not cleans up.
4. Too many programs installed.
Window Registry was first introduced in Windows 95, it was design to replace the old .ini file, which allows not just 2 levels of grouping in settings, but unlimited levels of tree settings! Microsoft likes complexity, they think of simplicity as outdated technology, which still widely use in other operating system, like UNIX and Linux.
Because of the Advance technology, windows’ user has to upgrade their computer to process the registry information! And this is bad news for me, because I am just like others, cannot afford to upgrade the computer every single year! The cheapest way is to do regular maintenance on registry.
Until .NET platform become popular (3/5 years down the road), we still need to rely on this bad design architecture, and we have learn how to live with it – Use some registry cleaning tools.
I remember my first registry cleaner was from Norton utility. That was the old days where Norton utility was the only few proper tuning tools for windows! Nowadays we have over hundreds types of registry cleaning tools; some are pure registry cleaner, some are subset of a larger toolset.
I prefer to use more professional registry cleaner, larger toolset doesn’t provides a very effective cleaning. The ideally best registry cleaning tool must be able to identified unwanted registry entry, safely remove identified items and able to optimize and compress the registry to its’ minimum!
If your personal computer is slowing down, first thing you should do is to uninstall all unused, unnecessary and unwanted software from your operating system, try to keep your window software as less as possible (Not to say you can’t have more), and focus on the tools that you really need.
Secondly, you should use one or few proper registry cleaning tools to tidy up the registry, eliminates all unused settings, information in the window registry, but remember to backup the registry first! Most registry cleaning tool will provides backup function for restore, if the cleaning “too much” and cause unstable behavior to the software or window operating system.
Never, ever use a registry cleaner without backup function! (Unless you want to backup manually every time before cleaning)
After cleaning up the window registry, you should restore 30% or more of your computer performance. If you still feel that the system is slow, you might be infected by virus or spyware, scan your computer with Anti Virus and Anti Spyware Software.
If you want to regain more speed, better startup and shutdown, free up your memory and unleash the power of your window, you should visit my web site for more information and tools on how to speed up your slow computer.
www.isnare.com
Number Plates Of The Rich And Famous
Submitted By: Ross O'Donnell
People of all ages and backgrounds are becoming aware of the joys and benefits of owing their own personalised number plate. However, private number plates have not always been so affordable and were once seen as a status symbol for the rich and famous. Here is a glance at some famous registrations over time and the proud owners of these number plates.
To start with we can look at our Royal Family, who are no strangers when it comes to personal number plates with some excellent examples owned in the family. Queen Elizabeth 2nd owns the registration A7, which is one of the most prestigious car registrations ever released, originally issued by London Council in 1903. A1 was the first registration number ever issued in London and was picked up by Earl Russell, who set up camp outside the registering offices in order to secure the ultimate number plate. Other Royal registration owners have included the late Queen Mother who owned NLT 2 and HRH Prince Philip who has OXR 1. Princess Margaret used to own the registration 3 GXM whilst YR 11 is the Duke of Kent's personal number plate. Last but not least is Princess Ann who once owned 1 ANN; however she gave it up for security reasons.
Another “Royal” number plate that has graced the number plate market was sold at a DVLA auction in 1993. K1 NGS was bought buy an anonymous bidder for the royal sum of £235 000. For over 13 years this held the title of the most expensive private number plate ever sold until it stripped of its title by 51 NGH (SINGH) for £254 000. Since then the record has been broken again and again.
The owner of Chelsea Football Club Roman Abramovich recently increased the spending at Stamford Bridge, only this time it was on his very own personalised number plate! It is reported that Mr Abramovich paid £285 000 for the registration VIP 1, which at the time equated to the most expensive personal number plate signing in the country! It was initially issued by the DVLNI (which is the Northern Ireland equivalent of the DVLA) for the forthcoming visit of Pope John Paul II. Since then it changed hands a few times before being signed up at Chelsea.
Currently the most expensive private number plate ever sold is the registration M1, bought for the eye popping sum of £331 000! This was the first car registration to be issued by Cheshire Council over 100 years ago. It was sold on behalf of the National Trust who acquired the registration when Tatton Park was donated to them in the 1960’s. The money raised from the sale of the registration is being used by the National Trust for on going work and projects.
These registrations all have fantastic stories to go with them. Understandably there are many famous people who choose to keep their registrations a secret. Next time you are out on the roads why not see what number plates you come across, and who knows, you may even get a glimpse of your favourite celebrity!
www.isnare.com
People of all ages and backgrounds are becoming aware of the joys and benefits of owing their own personalised number plate. However, private number plates have not always been so affordable and were once seen as a status symbol for the rich and famous. Here is a glance at some famous registrations over time and the proud owners of these number plates.
To start with we can look at our Royal Family, who are no strangers when it comes to personal number plates with some excellent examples owned in the family. Queen Elizabeth 2nd owns the registration A7, which is one of the most prestigious car registrations ever released, originally issued by London Council in 1903. A1 was the first registration number ever issued in London and was picked up by Earl Russell, who set up camp outside the registering offices in order to secure the ultimate number plate. Other Royal registration owners have included the late Queen Mother who owned NLT 2 and HRH Prince Philip who has OXR 1. Princess Margaret used to own the registration 3 GXM whilst YR 11 is the Duke of Kent's personal number plate. Last but not least is Princess Ann who once owned 1 ANN; however she gave it up for security reasons.
Another “Royal” number plate that has graced the number plate market was sold at a DVLA auction in 1993. K1 NGS was bought buy an anonymous bidder for the royal sum of £235 000. For over 13 years this held the title of the most expensive private number plate ever sold until it stripped of its title by 51 NGH (SINGH) for £254 000. Since then the record has been broken again and again.
The owner of Chelsea Football Club Roman Abramovich recently increased the spending at Stamford Bridge, only this time it was on his very own personalised number plate! It is reported that Mr Abramovich paid £285 000 for the registration VIP 1, which at the time equated to the most expensive personal number plate signing in the country! It was initially issued by the DVLNI (which is the Northern Ireland equivalent of the DVLA) for the forthcoming visit of Pope John Paul II. Since then it changed hands a few times before being signed up at Chelsea.
Currently the most expensive private number plate ever sold is the registration M1, bought for the eye popping sum of £331 000! This was the first car registration to be issued by Cheshire Council over 100 years ago. It was sold on behalf of the National Trust who acquired the registration when Tatton Park was donated to them in the 1960’s. The money raised from the sale of the registration is being used by the National Trust for on going work and projects.
These registrations all have fantastic stories to go with them. Understandably there are many famous people who choose to keep their registrations a secret. Next time you are out on the roads why not see what number plates you come across, and who knows, you may even get a glimpse of your favourite celebrity!
www.isnare.com
Online Money Making Reviews
Submitted By: Leter Privott
Let's face it there are a lot of ways to make money on the internet, and a lot of companies trying to promote work at home solutions. When digging deeper into the work at home craze you will notice a couple of similarities between them:
Most of the pages look exactly the same long and drawn out
They never tell you how long it took them to start making $10,000 p/month working at home
They are all pitching an ebook or something of that nature that you must purchase to learn these secrets
These similarities are things that we have to live with when it comes down to online business opportunities. Notions, Inc. has done reviews on the top work at home opportunities and will continue to review new online business opportunities as they come available. The main difference that you will find in the top business opportunities that we list on this site are the 30 or 60 day money back guarantee. Let's be realistic for a minute if you are trying to make it rich online you can't expect to do it in 30 or 60 days the real money comes from commitment/perseverance. Push yourself and press on the money is out there you just have to be patient and diligent enough to get it. Notions, Inc. will continue to do the reviews for you and bring the top online business opportunity reviews, and all you have to do is come back periodically to find the one that suits you.
Notions, Inc. also has information about driving traffic to your site and underground secrets free of charge. You can have the greatest website in the world but if you don't have traffic then you will not make sales. Sales and lots of them is the life blood of an internet business. Notions, Inc. is in the process of reviewing some traffic generating methods that will be documented and outlined on our site. We feel that everyone deserves the right to live the dream life they have always wanted.
Notions, Inc. has also added two new products to our site that will help you in your online business ventures. The Online Success Kit is by far the most informational product that you will be able to find on the net today. Also, if you purchase either one of the products on the site you will be able to advertise your business on the Notions, Inc. site as well. What can I expect from the Online Success Kit?
Internet Entrepreneurship Survival Guide
Master The Plan Mechanics
10 Most Common E-zine Publishing Mistakes
Debt Free Network Marketing
Develop You Financial IQ
Guide to Successful Online Freelancing
Profit Funnel Ideas
Supreme Affiliate Marketing Wizard
The 7 Most Common Mistakes Made in Affiliate Marketing
The E-Entrepreneur Success Mindset
Web 2.0 Sites Exposed
Why Start an E-zine
This package is the most comprehensive package of it's type on the web today. You will receive free advertising on the Notions, Inc. site after your purchase.
Feel free to visit our site if you would like additional information.
www.isnare.com
Let's face it there are a lot of ways to make money on the internet, and a lot of companies trying to promote work at home solutions. When digging deeper into the work at home craze you will notice a couple of similarities between them:
Most of the pages look exactly the same long and drawn out
They never tell you how long it took them to start making $10,000 p/month working at home
They are all pitching an ebook or something of that nature that you must purchase to learn these secrets
These similarities are things that we have to live with when it comes down to online business opportunities. Notions, Inc. has done reviews on the top work at home opportunities and will continue to review new online business opportunities as they come available. The main difference that you will find in the top business opportunities that we list on this site are the 30 or 60 day money back guarantee. Let's be realistic for a minute if you are trying to make it rich online you can't expect to do it in 30 or 60 days the real money comes from commitment/perseverance. Push yourself and press on the money is out there you just have to be patient and diligent enough to get it. Notions, Inc. will continue to do the reviews for you and bring the top online business opportunity reviews, and all you have to do is come back periodically to find the one that suits you.
Notions, Inc. also has information about driving traffic to your site and underground secrets free of charge. You can have the greatest website in the world but if you don't have traffic then you will not make sales. Sales and lots of them is the life blood of an internet business. Notions, Inc. is in the process of reviewing some traffic generating methods that will be documented and outlined on our site. We feel that everyone deserves the right to live the dream life they have always wanted.
Notions, Inc. has also added two new products to our site that will help you in your online business ventures. The Online Success Kit is by far the most informational product that you will be able to find on the net today. Also, if you purchase either one of the products on the site you will be able to advertise your business on the Notions, Inc. site as well. What can I expect from the Online Success Kit?
Internet Entrepreneurship Survival Guide
Master The Plan Mechanics
10 Most Common E-zine Publishing Mistakes
Debt Free Network Marketing
Develop You Financial IQ
Guide to Successful Online Freelancing
Profit Funnel Ideas
Supreme Affiliate Marketing Wizard
The 7 Most Common Mistakes Made in Affiliate Marketing
The E-Entrepreneur Success Mindset
Web 2.0 Sites Exposed
Why Start an E-zine
This package is the most comprehensive package of it's type on the web today. You will receive free advertising on the Notions, Inc. site after your purchase.
Feel free to visit our site if you would like additional information.
www.isnare.com
Debt Consolidation Loans – Giving You A Second Chance At A Debt Free Life
Submitted By: Jason Hulott1
Becoming bogged down in debt is no fun, but unfortunately it is the situation that millions of people live with every single day of their lives at the moment. As of July 2007, over 2 million people were struggling to make monthly repayments on their debts. This may be because a high percentage of them have several debts spread across as many providers. Another factor may be the high interest rates that many credit card debts are subject to. However, in the long term this can damage an individual’s credit rating as well as setting him or her firmly on the road to bankruptcy unless they deal with it sooner rather than later. Debt consolidation loans give any individual a way to cope with debt and improve future prospects.
Debt consolidation loans are readily available from many high street banks and lenders today because there is a real demand for them. With so many people in need of a debt solution, providers actually market debt consolidations loans and highlight just how useful they can be in getting an individual back on even financial terms. There are many advantages to the debt consolidation loan, including the following:
• An applicable lower interest rate than current debts – Debt consolidation loans generally have really low rates of interest attached to them and so you actually end up paying less back than you would if your credit card debts were left as they were.
• One easily manageable repayment every month –The fixed payment will be due on a regular day of the month and will be a regular amount so you know exactly where you stand. This will enable you to plan your finances far better than would otherwise be possible.
• A fixed period in which you can pay off your loan – You can see the light at the end of the tunnel because debt consolidation loans will ensure that you have a fixed debt free day up ahead. You can choose to pay your debt over one to seven years if the loan is unsecured, and even longer if it is secured so, again, you know exactly where you stand.
• It would improve your credit rating – Making regular payments and reducing your debt will improve your credit rating so make the most of he opportunity to kill two birds with one stone!
Of course, there are other advantages that apply to debt consolidation loans, but many of them are specific to certain loan products from identifiable companies. For example, some allow you to pay off your debt as and when you can within the given period of time. You can make overpayments, underpayments and even take payment holidays, as long as you actually inform the provider of the latter two and get ahead in your payments when you can. This is a big plus for those individuals that actually do not have a secure financial future as such, those that work on commission as well as having a set wage for example.
All in all, debt consolidation loans can really help you to face and banish your financial demons so the possibility of having one is worth looking into. If you want to get debt free and stay debt free without future negative repercussions then they may well provide one of your better options!
www.isnare.com
Becoming bogged down in debt is no fun, but unfortunately it is the situation that millions of people live with every single day of their lives at the moment. As of July 2007, over 2 million people were struggling to make monthly repayments on their debts. This may be because a high percentage of them have several debts spread across as many providers. Another factor may be the high interest rates that many credit card debts are subject to. However, in the long term this can damage an individual’s credit rating as well as setting him or her firmly on the road to bankruptcy unless they deal with it sooner rather than later. Debt consolidation loans give any individual a way to cope with debt and improve future prospects.
Debt consolidation loans are readily available from many high street banks and lenders today because there is a real demand for them. With so many people in need of a debt solution, providers actually market debt consolidations loans and highlight just how useful they can be in getting an individual back on even financial terms. There are many advantages to the debt consolidation loan, including the following:
• An applicable lower interest rate than current debts – Debt consolidation loans generally have really low rates of interest attached to them and so you actually end up paying less back than you would if your credit card debts were left as they were.
• One easily manageable repayment every month –The fixed payment will be due on a regular day of the month and will be a regular amount so you know exactly where you stand. This will enable you to plan your finances far better than would otherwise be possible.
• A fixed period in which you can pay off your loan – You can see the light at the end of the tunnel because debt consolidation loans will ensure that you have a fixed debt free day up ahead. You can choose to pay your debt over one to seven years if the loan is unsecured, and even longer if it is secured so, again, you know exactly where you stand.
• It would improve your credit rating – Making regular payments and reducing your debt will improve your credit rating so make the most of he opportunity to kill two birds with one stone!
Of course, there are other advantages that apply to debt consolidation loans, but many of them are specific to certain loan products from identifiable companies. For example, some allow you to pay off your debt as and when you can within the given period of time. You can make overpayments, underpayments and even take payment holidays, as long as you actually inform the provider of the latter two and get ahead in your payments when you can. This is a big plus for those individuals that actually do not have a secure financial future as such, those that work on commission as well as having a set wage for example.
All in all, debt consolidation loans can really help you to face and banish your financial demons so the possibility of having one is worth looking into. If you want to get debt free and stay debt free without future negative repercussions then they may well provide one of your better options!
www.isnare.com
What Is Spam?
Submitted By: Jene Pedder
So the question what is spam or spamming as its also know as, there are so many different definitions on what spam actually is so I will list a fee so you can make your own mind up:
· Junk email which is usually unsolicited – sending a mass of emails from commercial sites to people who haven’t ask for the email and also emails sent to annoy or harass the receiver which may include crashing their computer.
· Unsolicited email – advertising a product and or service, which will overload the receiver’s computer which will slow the computer down.
· The using of mailing lists – to blanket online groups, private email boxes with indiscrimination, unsolicited messages of a promotional nature.
· An activity – that tricks search engines into giving their site a higher ranking on searches via hiding keywords and submitting webpage’s daily to the search engine.
· Ian an inappropriate attempt to – send emails and use emails to send the same email message to numerous people who didn’t ask for the information as well as other network communications.
Spam emails has got worse over the last few years in 2001 only 8% of emails sent worldwide were spam at the end of this year 2007 50% of all emails sent will be spam. If you have a company website this is likely to get worse, as spam emails will come through your business email address.
Spam cannot only cause you the inconvenience in having to delete them all, it can crash your computer, overload your email account stopping you from receiving and sending other emails but also time and money lost. Money can be lost by stopping you from receiving important emails and also by the time colleagues spend deleting and filtering spam emails, which will stop them from doing their normal job. Worms and viruses may also be included in spam emails, which can destroy data and your system information
There are ways of filtering spam emails with the use of anti spam software and spam filtering software. There are free packages available on the Internet to help you protect your home computer and your email accounts but if you are a business looking for anti spam and spam filtering software your best bet is to look into the many companies selling specially designed packages for businesses.
There isn’t a complete cure for spam but anti spam and spam-filtering software can help your spam emails reduce but you will always get a few that filter through to your inbox. There are other ways to minimize your spam including: -
· Don’t use your personal email account when you sign up to newsgroups, forums, mailing lists etc.
· Use web filters to filter out your spam.
· Don’t click on any links that are in spam emails, don’t give them any of your personal information and don’t buy anything from them.
· If you have a website remove your email address from the website, this can be done by using a form to do with validation.
www.isnare.com
So the question what is spam or spamming as its also know as, there are so many different definitions on what spam actually is so I will list a fee so you can make your own mind up:
· Junk email which is usually unsolicited – sending a mass of emails from commercial sites to people who haven’t ask for the email and also emails sent to annoy or harass the receiver which may include crashing their computer.
· Unsolicited email – advertising a product and or service, which will overload the receiver’s computer which will slow the computer down.
· The using of mailing lists – to blanket online groups, private email boxes with indiscrimination, unsolicited messages of a promotional nature.
· An activity – that tricks search engines into giving their site a higher ranking on searches via hiding keywords and submitting webpage’s daily to the search engine.
· Ian an inappropriate attempt to – send emails and use emails to send the same email message to numerous people who didn’t ask for the information as well as other network communications.
Spam emails has got worse over the last few years in 2001 only 8% of emails sent worldwide were spam at the end of this year 2007 50% of all emails sent will be spam. If you have a company website this is likely to get worse, as spam emails will come through your business email address.
Spam cannot only cause you the inconvenience in having to delete them all, it can crash your computer, overload your email account stopping you from receiving and sending other emails but also time and money lost. Money can be lost by stopping you from receiving important emails and also by the time colleagues spend deleting and filtering spam emails, which will stop them from doing their normal job. Worms and viruses may also be included in spam emails, which can destroy data and your system information
There are ways of filtering spam emails with the use of anti spam software and spam filtering software. There are free packages available on the Internet to help you protect your home computer and your email accounts but if you are a business looking for anti spam and spam filtering software your best bet is to look into the many companies selling specially designed packages for businesses.
There isn’t a complete cure for spam but anti spam and spam-filtering software can help your spam emails reduce but you will always get a few that filter through to your inbox. There are other ways to minimize your spam including: -
· Don’t use your personal email account when you sign up to newsgroups, forums, mailing lists etc.
· Use web filters to filter out your spam.
· Don’t click on any links that are in spam emails, don’t give them any of your personal information and don’t buy anything from them.
· If you have a website remove your email address from the website, this can be done by using a form to do with validation.
www.isnare.com
Top 10 Tips For Choosing The Affiliate Program
Submitted By: Kanaga Siva
[Word Count: 626 words] [Viewed: 3 time(s)] [Don't forget to rate this article] [Report this article]
The cherished dream of a lot of people is to own a Home Based Business one day and be their own Boss. Becoming an Affiliate and promoting the product is no doubt one of the easiest and cheapest ways of becoming a Home Based Business Entrepreneur. Choosing an Affiliate Program has never been an easy task for most people. The Internet abounds with all kinds of Scams and the hype is so powerful and tempting that the gullible often fall prey for it.
The question is how do you identify the genuine Program and which one should you choose? Here are top ten tips you may want to look over before choosing an affiliate program that is best for you.
1. You have to identify a product or service for which there is a need. The product should be such that you would love and enjoy promoting it. You could start by searching for “Affiliate Programs” in the Search Engines.
2. The product or service should be relevant to your website. It will be unwise promoting a product that has no relevancy. Your website visitors will click off the moment they enter your site since they have no interest at all in these products.
3. It is always wise to join an affiliate program that is long standing, safe and secure and has a good reputation in the Internet world. This can be easily verified from the Better Business Bureau or other similar organizations. Visits to Forums and Discussion Groups will also provide you with a lot of useful information.
4. Most affiliate program providers provide a commission of 5% to 50%. The commission you earn for the sale of a product is your main income. So while choosing an affiliate program you should study the commission paid out and decide on a program that pays at least 35% for you to run your business successfully.
5. There should be a proper tracking system in place to record all the clicks and sales made through the text links and banners placed on your website, e-mails and other advertisements.
6. One important factor that is often overlooked is the “hits per sale ratio”. This indicates the number of hits that have to be made to a Text Link or Banner to generate a sale. This will give you an idea as to how much traffic is needed before a sale is made. You should be satisfied if the product converts at 2% or more.
7. How often are commissions paid? This is another important matter that should be considered. Most reputed organizations pay their affiliates monthly or when they accumulate a minimum commission of $50 to $ 100 or as indicated by you. You should avoid any program that requires too many sales to reach the minimum amount.
8. Affiliate Programs are generally single tier or two tier. A single tier program pays you for whatever business you have generated. On the other hand a two tier program pays you for the business you have generated and also a commission for the sales generated by a sub- affiliate, you have sponsored. A two tier program is always advantageous.
9. Long standing reputed organizations provide a whole range of tools and resources such as Banners, Text Links, Brochures, Websites and training for their affiliates. When choosing look out for such organizations because they certainly make life much easier and helps you grow your home based business.
10. Finally, you must read and understand the agreement before you join as an affiliate even if it happens to be the best organization in the world.
Choosing an Affiliate Program that is right for you might be time consuming but a worth while process. Going through the above process will also be a learning curve for new entrepreneurs who are serious about starting a successful Home Based Business.
www.isnare.com
[Word Count: 626 words] [Viewed: 3 time(s)] [Don't forget to rate this article] [Report this article]
The cherished dream of a lot of people is to own a Home Based Business one day and be their own Boss. Becoming an Affiliate and promoting the product is no doubt one of the easiest and cheapest ways of becoming a Home Based Business Entrepreneur. Choosing an Affiliate Program has never been an easy task for most people. The Internet abounds with all kinds of Scams and the hype is so powerful and tempting that the gullible often fall prey for it.
The question is how do you identify the genuine Program and which one should you choose? Here are top ten tips you may want to look over before choosing an affiliate program that is best for you.
1. You have to identify a product or service for which there is a need. The product should be such that you would love and enjoy promoting it. You could start by searching for “Affiliate Programs” in the Search Engines.
2. The product or service should be relevant to your website. It will be unwise promoting a product that has no relevancy. Your website visitors will click off the moment they enter your site since they have no interest at all in these products.
3. It is always wise to join an affiliate program that is long standing, safe and secure and has a good reputation in the Internet world. This can be easily verified from the Better Business Bureau or other similar organizations. Visits to Forums and Discussion Groups will also provide you with a lot of useful information.
4. Most affiliate program providers provide a commission of 5% to 50%. The commission you earn for the sale of a product is your main income. So while choosing an affiliate program you should study the commission paid out and decide on a program that pays at least 35% for you to run your business successfully.
5. There should be a proper tracking system in place to record all the clicks and sales made through the text links and banners placed on your website, e-mails and other advertisements.
6. One important factor that is often overlooked is the “hits per sale ratio”. This indicates the number of hits that have to be made to a Text Link or Banner to generate a sale. This will give you an idea as to how much traffic is needed before a sale is made. You should be satisfied if the product converts at 2% or more.
7. How often are commissions paid? This is another important matter that should be considered. Most reputed organizations pay their affiliates monthly or when they accumulate a minimum commission of $50 to $ 100 or as indicated by you. You should avoid any program that requires too many sales to reach the minimum amount.
8. Affiliate Programs are generally single tier or two tier. A single tier program pays you for whatever business you have generated. On the other hand a two tier program pays you for the business you have generated and also a commission for the sales generated by a sub- affiliate, you have sponsored. A two tier program is always advantageous.
9. Long standing reputed organizations provide a whole range of tools and resources such as Banners, Text Links, Brochures, Websites and training for their affiliates. When choosing look out for such organizations because they certainly make life much easier and helps you grow your home based business.
10. Finally, you must read and understand the agreement before you join as an affiliate even if it happens to be the best organization in the world.
Choosing an Affiliate Program that is right for you might be time consuming but a worth while process. Going through the above process will also be a learning curve for new entrepreneurs who are serious about starting a successful Home Based Business.
www.isnare.com
Your Modern Auto Body Repair Shop
Submitted By: Amy F. Goodmann
Most of us never would want to see the inside of an auto body repair shop. At the most we can often smell the solvents being emitted by automotive body vehicle repair shop as we drive by and wonder how those people can make it through a work day never being precise and accurate in both matching the color of car panels and repairing auto, truck and S.U.V bodies after vehicle collisions.
It is only by accident – car accidents that most of us end up inside the premises of our local, dealer or a chain auto body shop.
Most shops now bear little relation to the establishments you may remember as a child – dark and dusty surrounded by both piles of used and new car parts as well as a mean guard dog in the yard. There may be a few of those still around but they are a dying breed. Repairing cars now, especially with the electronics in today’s vehicles, requires both skill, education and training, sophisticated tools and an ultra clean, modern shop.
Modern body shops now seem to be uniformly clean, well laid out and well lit. As well many body shops are laid out in several distinct separate staging areas. Vehicles are estimated in one area, body work done in another, electronic repairs in yet another area, painted in a very separate area, and finally detailed and presented to the customer in a display area.
If the vehicle has major damage, then it is moved to a disassembly area and onto a frame machine. Unibody construction is utilized by most autos today. Unibody is a an automotive and mechanical body term which describes how sheet metal is stamped, formed and welded together to form the structural portion of the car or truck body.
The purpose of the “frame machine” is not to straighten the car frame now – rather it is to straighten the unibody construction of the vehicle.
Measuring the vehicle body for correct unibody alignment is more than critical. As little as one millimeter error is all that is allowed by most car, truck and S.U.V. manufacturers. Laser measuring systems are used by many body shops along with the frame machine to ensure that everything is straightened accurately to the decimal point.
With the unibody of the vehicle straight, the car, truck or S.U.V. moves to the metal work area where new sheet metal is mounted and damages area straightened. This work is still done by skilled technicians and tradesmen using hammers and dollies, but even the work done by body shop technicians has been changed by modern technologies. Overhead vacuum lines are connected to the grinders and sanders to pull dust and dirt away from this part of the shop. Modern body shops can remain very clean and dust free- indeed modern electronics , and even the most modern hi tech electronics of hybrid vehicles demand this.
With the entire metal straight, it’s on to the paint preparation area, commonly referred to as “paint prep”. Quality shops will use dust extraction systems to remove the dust when sanding and spraying the paint primers. Infrared lighting systems may be used to cure primer paint quickly and properly. These infrared lights can shorten the cure time from 24 hours remarkably to as little as 20 minutes. All of these procedures both help you to get a higher quality assured job and get you back on the road in a minimal time span.
Painting the final colors and clear coats is done in a paint booth. There are many types and brands of paint booths, however it is generally accepted the best are the “downdraft” units where fresh filtered air enters the top of the booth and any underspray is pulled downward and out through grates in the floor. The downdraft procedure of paint booths can produce the best and most consistent of paint finishes. In addition a well trained operator can make a great difference in final paint and appearance quality and consistency. A dust free paint booth of any design is better than a dirty and dusty paint booth of the highest end. Before spending your money or committing yourself to the job or repairs it is always best to ask to examine several examples of the shops work on several vehicles. In addition ask to see finished examples of several different body types – cars, trucks, vans and SUVs. Look for smooth finishes with minimal dust specs and colors that match from panel to panel. These are the signs of a quality paint job done by a skilled and professional painter.
It goes without saying that a professional paint shop will be proud of their faculties- the layout, equipment, training of their staff – and most of all their people.
Such a shop should have no trouble, barring practical logistics, of allowing you a tour of their facilities. Indeed after all of their careful efforts they should be most proud to give you a tour and point out their strong points and capabilities as well as examples of their finished product.
After all it’s your vehicle that is being repaired – whether it is your new S.U.V, car, truck, van or bus.
www.isnare.com
Most of us never would want to see the inside of an auto body repair shop. At the most we can often smell the solvents being emitted by automotive body vehicle repair shop as we drive by and wonder how those people can make it through a work day never being precise and accurate in both matching the color of car panels and repairing auto, truck and S.U.V bodies after vehicle collisions.
It is only by accident – car accidents that most of us end up inside the premises of our local, dealer or a chain auto body shop.
Most shops now bear little relation to the establishments you may remember as a child – dark and dusty surrounded by both piles of used and new car parts as well as a mean guard dog in the yard. There may be a few of those still around but they are a dying breed. Repairing cars now, especially with the electronics in today’s vehicles, requires both skill, education and training, sophisticated tools and an ultra clean, modern shop.
Modern body shops now seem to be uniformly clean, well laid out and well lit. As well many body shops are laid out in several distinct separate staging areas. Vehicles are estimated in one area, body work done in another, electronic repairs in yet another area, painted in a very separate area, and finally detailed and presented to the customer in a display area.
If the vehicle has major damage, then it is moved to a disassembly area and onto a frame machine. Unibody construction is utilized by most autos today. Unibody is a an automotive and mechanical body term which describes how sheet metal is stamped, formed and welded together to form the structural portion of the car or truck body.
The purpose of the “frame machine” is not to straighten the car frame now – rather it is to straighten the unibody construction of the vehicle.
Measuring the vehicle body for correct unibody alignment is more than critical. As little as one millimeter error is all that is allowed by most car, truck and S.U.V. manufacturers. Laser measuring systems are used by many body shops along with the frame machine to ensure that everything is straightened accurately to the decimal point.
With the unibody of the vehicle straight, the car, truck or S.U.V. moves to the metal work area where new sheet metal is mounted and damages area straightened. This work is still done by skilled technicians and tradesmen using hammers and dollies, but even the work done by body shop technicians has been changed by modern technologies. Overhead vacuum lines are connected to the grinders and sanders to pull dust and dirt away from this part of the shop. Modern body shops can remain very clean and dust free- indeed modern electronics , and even the most modern hi tech electronics of hybrid vehicles demand this.
With the entire metal straight, it’s on to the paint preparation area, commonly referred to as “paint prep”. Quality shops will use dust extraction systems to remove the dust when sanding and spraying the paint primers. Infrared lighting systems may be used to cure primer paint quickly and properly. These infrared lights can shorten the cure time from 24 hours remarkably to as little as 20 minutes. All of these procedures both help you to get a higher quality assured job and get you back on the road in a minimal time span.
Painting the final colors and clear coats is done in a paint booth. There are many types and brands of paint booths, however it is generally accepted the best are the “downdraft” units where fresh filtered air enters the top of the booth and any underspray is pulled downward and out through grates in the floor. The downdraft procedure of paint booths can produce the best and most consistent of paint finishes. In addition a well trained operator can make a great difference in final paint and appearance quality and consistency. A dust free paint booth of any design is better than a dirty and dusty paint booth of the highest end. Before spending your money or committing yourself to the job or repairs it is always best to ask to examine several examples of the shops work on several vehicles. In addition ask to see finished examples of several different body types – cars, trucks, vans and SUVs. Look for smooth finishes with minimal dust specs and colors that match from panel to panel. These are the signs of a quality paint job done by a skilled and professional painter.
It goes without saying that a professional paint shop will be proud of their faculties- the layout, equipment, training of their staff – and most of all their people.
Such a shop should have no trouble, barring practical logistics, of allowing you a tour of their facilities. Indeed after all of their careful efforts they should be most proud to give you a tour and point out their strong points and capabilities as well as examples of their finished product.
After all it’s your vehicle that is being repaired – whether it is your new S.U.V, car, truck, van or bus.
www.isnare.com
Find Files On The Hard Disk Faster
Submitted By: Sam Miller
Another application that is downloadable or can be purchased from the internet is available to aid your usage of the computer most especially in locating your files. You might be in a business that requires you a multitude of recorded files in your laptop or desktop every minute of the day. Let us say a newspaper or a publishing company is your main business. There are bunches of diversified files forwarded to your networks of computer the whole time! Your hard disk is your electronic notebook where you store everything you have created or recorded. Once this hard disk is almost reaching its capacity, it means you have a whole lot of files in it.
Even if your files are rooted to specific folders or subfolders, confusion and time wasted are unavoidable. With assorted files like word document, excel, web pages and PDF, you will really need a helper in finding your desired file. Using the search function in your Windows application might give you similar keywords and might cause delay in your precious time. Similar file names or keywords are unavoidable. If this happens, you will still have to open each of those related files to be sure on what you are looking for.
With the assistance of an application to find files in the hard disk, you can just search the files by typing the keyword and it shows you results of the files with matching keywords highlighted. It is also possible for you to move or transfer the files in a folder of your choice for easier retrieval and visibility on your next search. And not only that, you will be seeing some updates too if there are changes with some of the files, like moving or relocating them. It is like a history list of the previous actions done with the files.
Nothing more is convenient with this functionality provided by technology. The applications allow you to find the files on the disk in various ways. You can make a general search or you can narrow it down into specific ones. If you are trying to find a certain folder, then all you have to do is find the folder.
But if you're not sure which folder the file is in, then choose to find the file in all directories or drives. Sometimes, for security purposes, you tend to hide files and unintentionally forget about them. The application can also help you find some hidden files in your disk. And if there are changes made in your files, your archive files are still searchable after the files were changed after a backup operation.
Well, you will really need this type of support most especially if you store up a huge number of data in your computer. From time to time, you also make some changes with the files without remembering the full details. So by learning that using a backup program or application in finding these files on the disk, you will be somehow reminded of the changes you have executed with out scanning the whole disk the whole time. Find what you are looking for in your hard disk using an assistant and save much of your time more than usual.
www.isnare.com
Another application that is downloadable or can be purchased from the internet is available to aid your usage of the computer most especially in locating your files. You might be in a business that requires you a multitude of recorded files in your laptop or desktop every minute of the day. Let us say a newspaper or a publishing company is your main business. There are bunches of diversified files forwarded to your networks of computer the whole time! Your hard disk is your electronic notebook where you store everything you have created or recorded. Once this hard disk is almost reaching its capacity, it means you have a whole lot of files in it.
Even if your files are rooted to specific folders or subfolders, confusion and time wasted are unavoidable. With assorted files like word document, excel, web pages and PDF, you will really need a helper in finding your desired file. Using the search function in your Windows application might give you similar keywords and might cause delay in your precious time. Similar file names or keywords are unavoidable. If this happens, you will still have to open each of those related files to be sure on what you are looking for.
With the assistance of an application to find files in the hard disk, you can just search the files by typing the keyword and it shows you results of the files with matching keywords highlighted. It is also possible for you to move or transfer the files in a folder of your choice for easier retrieval and visibility on your next search. And not only that, you will be seeing some updates too if there are changes with some of the files, like moving or relocating them. It is like a history list of the previous actions done with the files.
Nothing more is convenient with this functionality provided by technology. The applications allow you to find the files on the disk in various ways. You can make a general search or you can narrow it down into specific ones. If you are trying to find a certain folder, then all you have to do is find the folder.
But if you're not sure which folder the file is in, then choose to find the file in all directories or drives. Sometimes, for security purposes, you tend to hide files and unintentionally forget about them. The application can also help you find some hidden files in your disk. And if there are changes made in your files, your archive files are still searchable after the files were changed after a backup operation.
Well, you will really need this type of support most especially if you store up a huge number of data in your computer. From time to time, you also make some changes with the files without remembering the full details. So by learning that using a backup program or application in finding these files on the disk, you will be somehow reminded of the changes you have executed with out scanning the whole disk the whole time. Find what you are looking for in your hard disk using an assistant and save much of your time more than usual.
www.isnare.com
How To Apply For Bad Credit Loans
Submitted By: Jason Hulott1
If you are experiencing debt problems then you may feel stressed and extremely anxious about how your financial future is going to work out, but there are available solutions out there that you can tap into if you are prepared to explore the possibility. Many individuals are in severe debt today with over 2 million UK residents on the brink of financial ruin because they are unable to cope with the level of debt that they are in, therefore it comes as no surprise to find that providers are actually beginning to offer products to match poor credit needs. Bad credit loans take pride of place on that list.
Bad credit loans are available to those individuals that have overstretched themselves financially and are looking for viable solutions to continuing debt problems. They come in several forms, of which the unsecured and secured bad credit loans are the most popular. Secured loans do not tend to take credit ratings into account if they are marketed towards a bad credit audience because an individual’s home is put up for security. Should the individual in question be unable to make repayments then his or home would be repossessed to pay the remainder of the balance. Unsecured bad credit loans are available but the interest rates that are payable on them are inflated to around 20% for the most part, and in some cases even higher.
Both options suit very different people, and your own personal debt solution should be tailored to meet your own needs. For example, a homeowner may plump for the lower interest of the secured loan, but the non-homeowner would have no choice but to go for the unsecured loan. Regardless of what loan you choose, you should follow the procedure below when applying for bad credit loans:
1. Assess your options fully. Make sure that you know what products are available out there and how they can actually assist you. You should then compare them to find which ones actually suit you best. There are online tools to help you to do that.
2. After making your decision, contact the provider to discuss your needs and question them about the terms and conditions. The terms and conditions are important, perhaps the most important part of any financial product. Make sure that you know exactly what it is that you will be signing up for and clarify anything that you are a little shaky on.
3. Get a quote and then think about whether you need that product or not. You can also use this time to calculate exactly how much money you owe. It is always best to borrow the whole amount to cover your entire debt so it is essential to work it out to the nearest £100, rounded up.
4. If you are satisfied with the product and your debt solution choice then you should go ahead and apply at that point. An Internet application is often best because you can save the application and go back to it later if you run out of time. You application for bad credit loans will then be reviewed and, hopefully, approved so you can settle on the road to your ultimate goal – your debt free day!
www.isnare.com
If you are experiencing debt problems then you may feel stressed and extremely anxious about how your financial future is going to work out, but there are available solutions out there that you can tap into if you are prepared to explore the possibility. Many individuals are in severe debt today with over 2 million UK residents on the brink of financial ruin because they are unable to cope with the level of debt that they are in, therefore it comes as no surprise to find that providers are actually beginning to offer products to match poor credit needs. Bad credit loans take pride of place on that list.
Bad credit loans are available to those individuals that have overstretched themselves financially and are looking for viable solutions to continuing debt problems. They come in several forms, of which the unsecured and secured bad credit loans are the most popular. Secured loans do not tend to take credit ratings into account if they are marketed towards a bad credit audience because an individual’s home is put up for security. Should the individual in question be unable to make repayments then his or home would be repossessed to pay the remainder of the balance. Unsecured bad credit loans are available but the interest rates that are payable on them are inflated to around 20% for the most part, and in some cases even higher.
Both options suit very different people, and your own personal debt solution should be tailored to meet your own needs. For example, a homeowner may plump for the lower interest of the secured loan, but the non-homeowner would have no choice but to go for the unsecured loan. Regardless of what loan you choose, you should follow the procedure below when applying for bad credit loans:
1. Assess your options fully. Make sure that you know what products are available out there and how they can actually assist you. You should then compare them to find which ones actually suit you best. There are online tools to help you to do that.
2. After making your decision, contact the provider to discuss your needs and question them about the terms and conditions. The terms and conditions are important, perhaps the most important part of any financial product. Make sure that you know exactly what it is that you will be signing up for and clarify anything that you are a little shaky on.
3. Get a quote and then think about whether you need that product or not. You can also use this time to calculate exactly how much money you owe. It is always best to borrow the whole amount to cover your entire debt so it is essential to work it out to the nearest £100, rounded up.
4. If you are satisfied with the product and your debt solution choice then you should go ahead and apply at that point. An Internet application is often best because you can save the application and go back to it later if you run out of time. You application for bad credit loans will then be reviewed and, hopefully, approved so you can settle on the road to your ultimate goal – your debt free day!
www.isnare.com
Ebooks – Get To The Point
Submitted By: Scott Lindsay
If you have ever thought about developing an ebook you need to know that ebooks do not have to be the same length as traditionally published books. You can, in fact, develop an ebook to any length you desire. Your ebook can be chapbook length to an industrial epic, the choice is yours.
One of the more common lengths for knowledge-based ebooks is 10,000 – 20,000 words. This is less than half the length of many traditional manuscripts.
I suppose one of the primary reasons for the abbreviated length is that for many niche subjects it can be counter productive to include irrelevant information in an effort to simply add length to the manuscript.
Ebooks often cut to the chase by striking at the heart of a topic and allowing that topic to be developed in a compact frame that helps the reader not only get through the details, but also allows them to get through the information more rapidly so they can use the provided information more quickly.
Ebooks are often held to a different standard than traditional books. No-nonsense customers who want practical ways to gain a new level of proficiency on a topic of interest often purchase Ebooks. The subject could be fishing skills, online marketing or one of another thousand topics. The niche nature of ebooks makes that possible.
The downloads are easy, the cost is less expensive than a typical book and the end result is a concise publication that helps you move forward more quickly in an area of interest. Men may find ebooks a good alternative to reading. Since most guys prefer doing something to reading something the concise nature of ebooks allows them to learn something and then go apply what they know with the least amount of downtime.
Of course, ebooks also come in other interesting flavors including novels and children’s books. You see, ebooks are flexible and can be fashioned in virtually any ideal or target demographic you might have in mind.
I know of writers that will write 40,000-80,000 word manuscripts for publication, but for the most part manuscripts of this length are not the standard in most ebook downloads.
Perhaps one of the reasons for the more concise nature of ebooks has to do with an odd phenomenon. You see, when it comes to reading on the computer it isn’t long before there is eye strain that forces you to take time away from the computer. The quicker an ebook gets to the point the better for the ebook owner.
Most of us aren’t adept at reading lengthy documents on a computer screen so ebook content needs to be very clear, helpful and pointed.
Just like online content you should work to make your ebook scanable by using bullet points so your reader can skim for pertinent information they may find valuable.
Ebooks are a good answer to the fast paced life most of us lead as well as making economic sense for cost-conscious consumers. Have a point, make a point and allow your readers to ‘get’ the point – and then do something with it.
www.isnare.com
If you have ever thought about developing an ebook you need to know that ebooks do not have to be the same length as traditionally published books. You can, in fact, develop an ebook to any length you desire. Your ebook can be chapbook length to an industrial epic, the choice is yours.
One of the more common lengths for knowledge-based ebooks is 10,000 – 20,000 words. This is less than half the length of many traditional manuscripts.
I suppose one of the primary reasons for the abbreviated length is that for many niche subjects it can be counter productive to include irrelevant information in an effort to simply add length to the manuscript.
Ebooks often cut to the chase by striking at the heart of a topic and allowing that topic to be developed in a compact frame that helps the reader not only get through the details, but also allows them to get through the information more rapidly so they can use the provided information more quickly.
Ebooks are often held to a different standard than traditional books. No-nonsense customers who want practical ways to gain a new level of proficiency on a topic of interest often purchase Ebooks. The subject could be fishing skills, online marketing or one of another thousand topics. The niche nature of ebooks makes that possible.
The downloads are easy, the cost is less expensive than a typical book and the end result is a concise publication that helps you move forward more quickly in an area of interest. Men may find ebooks a good alternative to reading. Since most guys prefer doing something to reading something the concise nature of ebooks allows them to learn something and then go apply what they know with the least amount of downtime.
Of course, ebooks also come in other interesting flavors including novels and children’s books. You see, ebooks are flexible and can be fashioned in virtually any ideal or target demographic you might have in mind.
I know of writers that will write 40,000-80,000 word manuscripts for publication, but for the most part manuscripts of this length are not the standard in most ebook downloads.
Perhaps one of the reasons for the more concise nature of ebooks has to do with an odd phenomenon. You see, when it comes to reading on the computer it isn’t long before there is eye strain that forces you to take time away from the computer. The quicker an ebook gets to the point the better for the ebook owner.
Most of us aren’t adept at reading lengthy documents on a computer screen so ebook content needs to be very clear, helpful and pointed.
Just like online content you should work to make your ebook scanable by using bullet points so your reader can skim for pertinent information they may find valuable.
Ebooks are a good answer to the fast paced life most of us lead as well as making economic sense for cost-conscious consumers. Have a point, make a point and allow your readers to ‘get’ the point – and then do something with it.
www.isnare.com
The Automotive Industry And 2008 - What Will The Future Hold?
Submitted By: Marketing Buzz
Rising fuel prices, unstable financial markets and taxation changes with the apparent aim of getting us to use our cars less often (or at least pay more to use them) have been just some of the issues that have affected the automotive industry in the past 12 months. This article looks at what 2008 may hold for the automotive industry and road users in general.
The US economy and the resulting weakness of the dollar looks like it may well contribute to the price of crude oil continuing to rise as investors have been holding the commodity instead of dollars. This means that as the cost of a barrel of crude oil comes close to the $100 figure then so fuel prices have also continued to rise.
So do higher fuel costs mean we are likely to buy or use cars, vans and Lorries less in 2008? Well seemingly not based on a latest poll of motorists. Despite fuel prices increasing at alarming rates a whopping 79 percent of motorists questioned said they had not changed their petrol and fuel buying habits and had no plans to do so. In fact the motorists questioned said petrol prices would have to increase at even more alarming rates to stop them from filling up.
Environmental issues would it seem not be as important as governments throughout the world as over 1 in 3 motorists confirmed they had no plans to replace their vehicles for more environmentally friendly cars before 2010.
And so if motorists are seemingly unaffected by rising fuel costs and are prepared to continue driving despite increased road tax and the impact on the environment surely positive times are ahead for the industry in 2008?
Well before car manufacturers and dealers start doing cartwheels, caution would certainly be advised as whilst General Motors can seen promising performance in emerging markets they have seen big losses in both American and European markets.
And with the world economy in such an uncertain state as 2007 draws to a close 2008 could well see new car sales fall with used car sales increasing. Car sales and indeed sales of all types are also likely to increase via the internet in 2008 so car dealers (new and used) without an internet presence should really be looking at establishing themselves in this emerging marketplace.
And what of the actual motorist, what does 2008 have in store for us? Well how about further increases in vehicle tax, more toll roads, increased congestion charges and still a seeming lack of a viable alternative to road use through reliable, clean and safe public transport.
The good news for some motorists on one front is that whilst the government is seemingly do all they can to penalise the motorist, insurance premiums including car insurance, van insurance and motor trade insurance are pretty stable. In fact with such competition in the insurance industry the cost of insurance like combined motor trade insurance could even fall and savings could be made.
And motor traders who are looking to make savings on their motor trade insurance premiums in 2008 using a specialist insurance broker could well be the route to take to make sure they get the protection they need at a price that is right.
www.isnare.com
Rising fuel prices, unstable financial markets and taxation changes with the apparent aim of getting us to use our cars less often (or at least pay more to use them) have been just some of the issues that have affected the automotive industry in the past 12 months. This article looks at what 2008 may hold for the automotive industry and road users in general.
The US economy and the resulting weakness of the dollar looks like it may well contribute to the price of crude oil continuing to rise as investors have been holding the commodity instead of dollars. This means that as the cost of a barrel of crude oil comes close to the $100 figure then so fuel prices have also continued to rise.
So do higher fuel costs mean we are likely to buy or use cars, vans and Lorries less in 2008? Well seemingly not based on a latest poll of motorists. Despite fuel prices increasing at alarming rates a whopping 79 percent of motorists questioned said they had not changed their petrol and fuel buying habits and had no plans to do so. In fact the motorists questioned said petrol prices would have to increase at even more alarming rates to stop them from filling up.
Environmental issues would it seem not be as important as governments throughout the world as over 1 in 3 motorists confirmed they had no plans to replace their vehicles for more environmentally friendly cars before 2010.
And so if motorists are seemingly unaffected by rising fuel costs and are prepared to continue driving despite increased road tax and the impact on the environment surely positive times are ahead for the industry in 2008?
Well before car manufacturers and dealers start doing cartwheels, caution would certainly be advised as whilst General Motors can seen promising performance in emerging markets they have seen big losses in both American and European markets.
And with the world economy in such an uncertain state as 2007 draws to a close 2008 could well see new car sales fall with used car sales increasing. Car sales and indeed sales of all types are also likely to increase via the internet in 2008 so car dealers (new and used) without an internet presence should really be looking at establishing themselves in this emerging marketplace.
And what of the actual motorist, what does 2008 have in store for us? Well how about further increases in vehicle tax, more toll roads, increased congestion charges and still a seeming lack of a viable alternative to road use through reliable, clean and safe public transport.
The good news for some motorists on one front is that whilst the government is seemingly do all they can to penalise the motorist, insurance premiums including car insurance, van insurance and motor trade insurance are pretty stable. In fact with such competition in the insurance industry the cost of insurance like combined motor trade insurance could even fall and savings could be made.
And motor traders who are looking to make savings on their motor trade insurance premiums in 2008 using a specialist insurance broker could well be the route to take to make sure they get the protection they need at a price that is right.
www.isnare.com
Increase Your Google Adsense Earnings
Submitted By: Brad Jensen
If you have been earning money from your blog or websites with Google AdSense, you might be interested in some simple tips that can help you get more money from the same traffic you are getting now. What? Shouldn’t you be concentrating on more traffic?
It’s always great to find more sources for traffic, and you should continue to work on your Search Engine Optimization, and on getting inbound links to your pages to bring targeted visitors to your site.
But chances are there are some simple things you can do to your pages to improve the Click Thru Rate (CTR) and the value of each visitor (eCPM). If you can raise your eCPM by 50%, for example, it will have the same bottom line effect as leaving the eCPM the same and raising the traffic by 50%.
And if you raise your eCPM and your traffic continues to increase, you will make even more money!
eCPM is a number that appears in our AdSense earning reports, and it is computer from your CTR and the average amount you earn from an ad click. It’s an estimate of how much you earn from each 1,000 page views (not clicks).
So if your eCPM is $10.00, and one hundred thousand visitors come to your pages, you can expect to earn about $1000 (100 times $10).
The value of eCPM as a measurement tool is that it lets you take your attention from individual clicks, and think of the value of the page to advertisers – and to your visitors.
Your eCPM is likely to vary a lot from day to day unless you have a large number of clicks each day (hundreds, or even thousands). For most smaller sites, it is good to look at eCPM for 7 days at a time, or even a month. You can easily pick a period to look at by selecting the time period from the drop down box in the AdSense reports.
Your eCPM will rise if your CTR increases while the price of an average ad stays the same. It can also increase if the price of an average ad increases while the CTR stays the same.
And of course, in the best of all possible worlds, both your CTR increases, and the average value of an ad.
Think of eCPM as like a temperature measurement, but of the advertising value of your pages.
There are two basic principles to improving your eCPM, and those will be the subject of the next two articles in this series. The first is making the format and layout of your pages more friendly to ad serving, and the second is to focus your content and your visitors better to attract more highly targeted ads.
While at first blush it might seem these are ‘tricks’ to increase AdSense revenue at the cost of your site’s quality, that really isn’t so. The same things that improve your site for AdSense, will improve the visitor’s experience of your site.
We will talk about this soon. In the meantime, take a look at your eCPM, and start thinking about what you can do to increase it.
www.isnare.com
If you have been earning money from your blog or websites with Google AdSense, you might be interested in some simple tips that can help you get more money from the same traffic you are getting now. What? Shouldn’t you be concentrating on more traffic?
It’s always great to find more sources for traffic, and you should continue to work on your Search Engine Optimization, and on getting inbound links to your pages to bring targeted visitors to your site.
But chances are there are some simple things you can do to your pages to improve the Click Thru Rate (CTR) and the value of each visitor (eCPM). If you can raise your eCPM by 50%, for example, it will have the same bottom line effect as leaving the eCPM the same and raising the traffic by 50%.
And if you raise your eCPM and your traffic continues to increase, you will make even more money!
eCPM is a number that appears in our AdSense earning reports, and it is computer from your CTR and the average amount you earn from an ad click. It’s an estimate of how much you earn from each 1,000 page views (not clicks).
So if your eCPM is $10.00, and one hundred thousand visitors come to your pages, you can expect to earn about $1000 (100 times $10).
The value of eCPM as a measurement tool is that it lets you take your attention from individual clicks, and think of the value of the page to advertisers – and to your visitors.
Your eCPM is likely to vary a lot from day to day unless you have a large number of clicks each day (hundreds, or even thousands). For most smaller sites, it is good to look at eCPM for 7 days at a time, or even a month. You can easily pick a period to look at by selecting the time period from the drop down box in the AdSense reports.
Your eCPM will rise if your CTR increases while the price of an average ad stays the same. It can also increase if the price of an average ad increases while the CTR stays the same.
And of course, in the best of all possible worlds, both your CTR increases, and the average value of an ad.
Think of eCPM as like a temperature measurement, but of the advertising value of your pages.
There are two basic principles to improving your eCPM, and those will be the subject of the next two articles in this series. The first is making the format and layout of your pages more friendly to ad serving, and the second is to focus your content and your visitors better to attract more highly targeted ads.
While at first blush it might seem these are ‘tricks’ to increase AdSense revenue at the cost of your site’s quality, that really isn’t so. The same things that improve your site for AdSense, will improve the visitor’s experience of your site.
We will talk about this soon. In the meantime, take a look at your eCPM, and start thinking about what you can do to increase it.
www.isnare.com
Monday, November 19, 2007
Why You Need to be Trading Online
By: Jack Green
Despite the growing availability of cheap or free resources for online trading, many investors, particularly older generations, still cling to the notion that they ought to interact directly with a stock broker in order to make a trade. "Call my broker" is the phrase they use. But why? What exactly is it that a live broker gets for you?
It certainly isn't saved money. Trades executed live via a broker cost a great deal more than self-directed trades in just about every context. It isn't speed, either. Executing online trades is much faster than calling, waiting to get a human on the horn, chatting about the weather, then making sure your broker hears your order type, number of shares, and all the other details correctly. It isn't quality of execution, either. Most live brokers use the exact same system to execute their trades that Web trades are executed on.
Some may say that advice and guidance are the primary benefit. They should take care, however. A broker at a full-service house is essentially a sales position. Their income has absolutely nothing to do with your investment success. Rather, they make money primarily based on how often you trade. It always pays to question the advice of one who has a conflict of interests of this sort.
So if it isn't quality, price, speed, or good advice that's keeping you away from online trading, what is it? I think for many it boils down to discomfort with the technology. This can be remedied, however. Most online trading sites offer virtual online trading where you can learn the platform without risk. So ask yourself, why not give virtual online trading a try?
You can start off by mirroring the trades you're making with your live broker. Track the difference in commissions you'd pay with an online trading platform. Many traders are surprised at just how big a difference trading online can make in their overall returns.
If you're still clinging stubbornly to your live brokerage service, you really would be better served taking the plunge and giving online trading a try. It really is a much better value for most investors.
www.articlebiz.com
Despite the growing availability of cheap or free resources for online trading, many investors, particularly older generations, still cling to the notion that they ought to interact directly with a stock broker in order to make a trade. "Call my broker" is the phrase they use. But why? What exactly is it that a live broker gets for you?
It certainly isn't saved money. Trades executed live via a broker cost a great deal more than self-directed trades in just about every context. It isn't speed, either. Executing online trades is much faster than calling, waiting to get a human on the horn, chatting about the weather, then making sure your broker hears your order type, number of shares, and all the other details correctly. It isn't quality of execution, either. Most live brokers use the exact same system to execute their trades that Web trades are executed on.
Some may say that advice and guidance are the primary benefit. They should take care, however. A broker at a full-service house is essentially a sales position. Their income has absolutely nothing to do with your investment success. Rather, they make money primarily based on how often you trade. It always pays to question the advice of one who has a conflict of interests of this sort.
So if it isn't quality, price, speed, or good advice that's keeping you away from online trading, what is it? I think for many it boils down to discomfort with the technology. This can be remedied, however. Most online trading sites offer virtual online trading where you can learn the platform without risk. So ask yourself, why not give virtual online trading a try?
You can start off by mirroring the trades you're making with your live broker. Track the difference in commissions you'd pay with an online trading platform. Many traders are surprised at just how big a difference trading online can make in their overall returns.
If you're still clinging stubbornly to your live brokerage service, you really would be better served taking the plunge and giving online trading a try. It really is a much better value for most investors.
www.articlebiz.com
Automatic Forex Trading Software
By: Paul Bryan
Forex trading has gained tremendously in interest and popularity in recent years mostly due to the introduction of automatic and automated forex trading systems. The market that was open to banks and similar big financial institutions is now luring medium and even small investors.
Forex market is the place where currency of one country is traded for currency of another country. These trades happen round the clock with transactions of billions or perhaps trillion of dollars everyday, making it one of the largest and most active financial markets.
With the advent of the internet, network, communication technologies, and sophisticated automated forex trading systems, participating in the forex market is now open to virtually anyone having a computer, an internet connection, a forex brokerage account and a good trading platform.
But staying on top of a forex position requires constant monitoring, as this global market is practically open round the clock. Automatic and automated forex trading systems is a tool that lets you specify a currency, an asking price, and a selling price beforehand. With a small seed amount and with the help of a broker, your purchase and sell orders will be executed instantly.
An automatic and automated forex trading system allows you to benefit from the profitability of the forex market without having to become an expert in trading. In automated trading through managed accounts, the trading program or human experts executes the trades for you.
With a reliable auto trading platform, you are not required to do the actual trading yourself and therefore you save your time. And if you can watch the market constantly, you can mange multiple accounts from your trading platforms, simultaneously, which was never possible with manual trading. Automated forex trading systems present advantage of trading multiple systems and multiple markets.
An automatic and automated forex trading allow your trades to be made at any time of the day or night, regardless of your presence. You do not miss a single profitable trade even if you are not present in front of your computer terminal.
An automatic and automated forex trading helps you in taking advantage of multiple forex strategies and different systems. Because different systems are designed to be triggered by different trade indicators, you can diversify your investment as well as your risk.
An automatic and automated forex trading also eliminates human emotions and psychology that can often affect proper and profitable trading decisions. With an automatic and automated forex trading system, you will be capable of monitoring many currency pairs at a time and you can follow and execute all of them.
But, even with automatic forex trading systems, you will have to learn the basics of the forex trading, methods of fundamental and technical analysis, market indicators, etc. for enjoying consistent profits.
Just being automated, the trading system never guarantees you success as the market is influenced by many variables and parameters. The forex automated system is not just mechanical, but is fully programmable and you can customize them according to your needs.
www.articlebiz.com
Forex trading has gained tremendously in interest and popularity in recent years mostly due to the introduction of automatic and automated forex trading systems. The market that was open to banks and similar big financial institutions is now luring medium and even small investors.
Forex market is the place where currency of one country is traded for currency of another country. These trades happen round the clock with transactions of billions or perhaps trillion of dollars everyday, making it one of the largest and most active financial markets.
With the advent of the internet, network, communication technologies, and sophisticated automated forex trading systems, participating in the forex market is now open to virtually anyone having a computer, an internet connection, a forex brokerage account and a good trading platform.
But staying on top of a forex position requires constant monitoring, as this global market is practically open round the clock. Automatic and automated forex trading systems is a tool that lets you specify a currency, an asking price, and a selling price beforehand. With a small seed amount and with the help of a broker, your purchase and sell orders will be executed instantly.
An automatic and automated forex trading system allows you to benefit from the profitability of the forex market without having to become an expert in trading. In automated trading through managed accounts, the trading program or human experts executes the trades for you.
With a reliable auto trading platform, you are not required to do the actual trading yourself and therefore you save your time. And if you can watch the market constantly, you can mange multiple accounts from your trading platforms, simultaneously, which was never possible with manual trading. Automated forex trading systems present advantage of trading multiple systems and multiple markets.
An automatic and automated forex trading allow your trades to be made at any time of the day or night, regardless of your presence. You do not miss a single profitable trade even if you are not present in front of your computer terminal.
An automatic and automated forex trading helps you in taking advantage of multiple forex strategies and different systems. Because different systems are designed to be triggered by different trade indicators, you can diversify your investment as well as your risk.
An automatic and automated forex trading also eliminates human emotions and psychology that can often affect proper and profitable trading decisions. With an automatic and automated forex trading system, you will be capable of monitoring many currency pairs at a time and you can follow and execute all of them.
But, even with automatic forex trading systems, you will have to learn the basics of the forex trading, methods of fundamental and technical analysis, market indicators, etc. for enjoying consistent profits.
Just being automated, the trading system never guarantees you success as the market is influenced by many variables and parameters. The forex automated system is not just mechanical, but is fully programmable and you can customize them according to your needs.
www.articlebiz.com
Forex trading tools
By: Ac Markets
Forex is the largest and most happening financial market of the world. It is the venue where one currency is traded for the other. The market place is distinguished from the rest because of its high trading volume and geographical dispersion. A trader with sound knowledge of currency trading can earn substantial profit in forex market. Along with the knowledge of trading, he should have access to a few tools of forex trading. These tools are made to strengthen the confidence of a trader and can prove out to be a great help for a winning currency trading in forex.
Being an awakened trader of forex market, you should remain aware about every latest happening of currency trading. Therefore, it’s important for you to have access to daily forex trading summary for important currencies and currency pairs. Add to this, a weekly forex trading summary is also beneficial as it will encompass detailed analysis of your sought subject. Tools that help you to access and monitor the interest rates, financial calendar, glossary database are also worthwhile.
Apart from the above, there are several other tools of currency trading available around you. Several software containing detailed analysis and information about currency trading are also available at your disposal. All these tools and software packs are important for a successful forex trading. With access to such tools, a trader can easily execute his trading. Now, how to get these tools easily and satisfactorily? Well, it’s easy.
With the availability of internet, you need not to get out of your home to access these tools and software packs. Just a single click and you can access valuable information and tools regarding currency trading in forex. Several online forex firms have been established only to offer you tools and software packs for forex trading. Some of them may charge money from you to download or access the software packs and tools. If you are not at all interested to cut your pocket, go for those forex firms, who offer free download facility.
Online forex firms are beneficial in many ways. They not only offer you currency trading tools and software but also keen to give you an insight into the latest incidents of forex market. They also publish economic reports and influential topics on their websites with an aim to update a trader about what matter in currency trading. You can also access live charts of the forex market and trading secrets from such online firms. These forex firms are usually run by experienced professional, who own years of experience in currency trading. So, you can trust them.
Thus trading in forex market has become easy with the availability of tools and software packs. And the advent of internet has made it easier. Today any one from any corner of the world can access forex trading tools for simplifying his currency trading.
www.articlebiz.com
Forex is the largest and most happening financial market of the world. It is the venue where one currency is traded for the other. The market place is distinguished from the rest because of its high trading volume and geographical dispersion. A trader with sound knowledge of currency trading can earn substantial profit in forex market. Along with the knowledge of trading, he should have access to a few tools of forex trading. These tools are made to strengthen the confidence of a trader and can prove out to be a great help for a winning currency trading in forex.
Being an awakened trader of forex market, you should remain aware about every latest happening of currency trading. Therefore, it’s important for you to have access to daily forex trading summary for important currencies and currency pairs. Add to this, a weekly forex trading summary is also beneficial as it will encompass detailed analysis of your sought subject. Tools that help you to access and monitor the interest rates, financial calendar, glossary database are also worthwhile.
Apart from the above, there are several other tools of currency trading available around you. Several software containing detailed analysis and information about currency trading are also available at your disposal. All these tools and software packs are important for a successful forex trading. With access to such tools, a trader can easily execute his trading. Now, how to get these tools easily and satisfactorily? Well, it’s easy.
With the availability of internet, you need not to get out of your home to access these tools and software packs. Just a single click and you can access valuable information and tools regarding currency trading in forex. Several online forex firms have been established only to offer you tools and software packs for forex trading. Some of them may charge money from you to download or access the software packs and tools. If you are not at all interested to cut your pocket, go for those forex firms, who offer free download facility.
Online forex firms are beneficial in many ways. They not only offer you currency trading tools and software but also keen to give you an insight into the latest incidents of forex market. They also publish economic reports and influential topics on their websites with an aim to update a trader about what matter in currency trading. You can also access live charts of the forex market and trading secrets from such online firms. These forex firms are usually run by experienced professional, who own years of experience in currency trading. So, you can trust them.
Thus trading in forex market has become easy with the availability of tools and software packs. And the advent of internet has made it easier. Today any one from any corner of the world can access forex trading tools for simplifying his currency trading.
www.articlebiz.com
Basic Money Management for Forex Trading
By: Marcus Masters
There can be and are whole books written on the topic of money management, but I like to keep things simple so I will just give you a few simple rules that you can follow to implement successful money management in your forex trading.
Actually, to make it even simpler, I believe that money management when it comes to the currency markets can really be summed up in a nice way with just one sentence:
......(wait for it)......
Make sure that you always trade the same number of lots on every trade that you make!
Ok, that's it, end of article. Just kidding, but if you were to walk away and remember just that one sentence you would probably end up making your trading more profitable on the whole.
I will let you in on a few some other aspects of good money management, but CONSISTENCY is a very important part that you should never neglect.
First off, forex traders are able to take advantage of large amounts of leverage, which greatly magnifies any profits or losses. Because of this, doubling your trading account balance is just as easy as completely wiping out your account.
The first simple rule of proper forex money management is to always fund your live trading account with RISK CAPITAL. Simply put, risk capital is just money that you do not need to survive or pay the bills.
When you only fund your account with risk capital, you will feel much more emotionally detached from that money and it will be easier for you to adhere to the rules of your trading strategy.
Something else that many novice forex traders fall victim to is over-trading their account. This will usually happen in a rage after a losing series of trades, and it is very reminiscent of a losing gambler trying to double his bets to recoup his losses, but only ends up losing more.
The second simple rule of money management is not to over-trade your account, and only enter the market when you have SUFFICIENT REASON or justification for entering.
Also realize that it is pretty unrealistic to believe that you can have winning trades 100% of the time. Losing trades just happen sometimes, so deal with it! Because even the best forex traders will still have losing trades occasionally, it is wise to make sure that you always trade with a stop loss in order to minimize your losses (that is rule #3).
But more than anything else, it is important to be consistent in the amount of money that you place on each trade. Do not trade 1 lot, and then later that day trade 8 lots, as this is a sure-fire indication that you are not confident in the rate of success of your trading system.
So remember, be consistent and trade the same number of lots each time!
www.articlebiz.com
There can be and are whole books written on the topic of money management, but I like to keep things simple so I will just give you a few simple rules that you can follow to implement successful money management in your forex trading.
Actually, to make it even simpler, I believe that money management when it comes to the currency markets can really be summed up in a nice way with just one sentence:
......(wait for it)......
Make sure that you always trade the same number of lots on every trade that you make!
Ok, that's it, end of article. Just kidding, but if you were to walk away and remember just that one sentence you would probably end up making your trading more profitable on the whole.
I will let you in on a few some other aspects of good money management, but CONSISTENCY is a very important part that you should never neglect.
First off, forex traders are able to take advantage of large amounts of leverage, which greatly magnifies any profits or losses. Because of this, doubling your trading account balance is just as easy as completely wiping out your account.
The first simple rule of proper forex money management is to always fund your live trading account with RISK CAPITAL. Simply put, risk capital is just money that you do not need to survive or pay the bills.
When you only fund your account with risk capital, you will feel much more emotionally detached from that money and it will be easier for you to adhere to the rules of your trading strategy.
Something else that many novice forex traders fall victim to is over-trading their account. This will usually happen in a rage after a losing series of trades, and it is very reminiscent of a losing gambler trying to double his bets to recoup his losses, but only ends up losing more.
The second simple rule of money management is not to over-trade your account, and only enter the market when you have SUFFICIENT REASON or justification for entering.
Also realize that it is pretty unrealistic to believe that you can have winning trades 100% of the time. Losing trades just happen sometimes, so deal with it! Because even the best forex traders will still have losing trades occasionally, it is wise to make sure that you always trade with a stop loss in order to minimize your losses (that is rule #3).
But more than anything else, it is important to be consistent in the amount of money that you place on each trade. Do not trade 1 lot, and then later that day trade 8 lots, as this is a sure-fire indication that you are not confident in the rate of success of your trading system.
So remember, be consistent and trade the same number of lots each time!
www.articlebiz.com
How To Write The Perfect Letter Of Resignation
By: Richard Adams
Resignation is the event that not only affects the person but the professional life of a person. Resignation can be of various reasons which can be personal as well as professional. Leaving a job can be a painful or a happy incident. It can be painful if you are leaving because of any personal problems whereas if the reason is to switch over to a new organization where you are given a better salary package, it will be something really different.
Whether you have a personal or a professional reason, you need not include any such information in your resignation letter. Professionalism is one thing that needs to be learned to work efficiently in any business organization.
Whether you are an engineer or a doctor, every profession calls for professional ethics that need to be followed if a person wishes to have a nice professional profile. How you perform does make a difference to your profile but how you depart from the organization you work for is also one factor that reflects you ethics and morality.
A resignation letter needs to contain a valid reason why an individual wishes to leave a job but it has to sound positive and not criticizing to the organization for which you worked for.
When you are about to write a letter of resignation there are a few things you need to take care of. A resignation letter is a kind of declaration that you are leaving the designated post and the responsibilities related to that post. So, it is important that your resignation letter should be short or rather brief and simple. What comes next is that you need not include unnecessary details or any kind of criticism about the employer or the organization you have been working in.
Your resignation letter should also include the details about what position you worked on and also when you are suppose to leave, in other words, which date you are leaving. There are various resignation letter samples available on the Internet that can actually help you write a perfect one.
You must include a few of the very important things according to the codes or courtesy in a resignation letter. Do not forget to say thanks and avoid any kind of criticism as it will be a clear indication of your frustration. If you somehow include any such matters, it means that you bear an ill will to the company.
Make sure that you submit your resignation letter at least 15 days before leaving the job. Every individual should make sure that he/she submits his/her resignation application a few days before to give the organization some time to prepare for recruitment for the position. According to the professional ethics, you must not use any kind of controversial or ambiguous language to explain your motive.
When you format a resignation letter, make sure you place the news of your departure in between the words of admiration and respect for the company. When you start the letter make sure you address the company with respectful words and end in the same way.
www.articlebiz.com
Resignation is the event that not only affects the person but the professional life of a person. Resignation can be of various reasons which can be personal as well as professional. Leaving a job can be a painful or a happy incident. It can be painful if you are leaving because of any personal problems whereas if the reason is to switch over to a new organization where you are given a better salary package, it will be something really different.
Whether you have a personal or a professional reason, you need not include any such information in your resignation letter. Professionalism is one thing that needs to be learned to work efficiently in any business organization.
Whether you are an engineer or a doctor, every profession calls for professional ethics that need to be followed if a person wishes to have a nice professional profile. How you perform does make a difference to your profile but how you depart from the organization you work for is also one factor that reflects you ethics and morality.
A resignation letter needs to contain a valid reason why an individual wishes to leave a job but it has to sound positive and not criticizing to the organization for which you worked for.
When you are about to write a letter of resignation there are a few things you need to take care of. A resignation letter is a kind of declaration that you are leaving the designated post and the responsibilities related to that post. So, it is important that your resignation letter should be short or rather brief and simple. What comes next is that you need not include unnecessary details or any kind of criticism about the employer or the organization you have been working in.
Your resignation letter should also include the details about what position you worked on and also when you are suppose to leave, in other words, which date you are leaving. There are various resignation letter samples available on the Internet that can actually help you write a perfect one.
You must include a few of the very important things according to the codes or courtesy in a resignation letter. Do not forget to say thanks and avoid any kind of criticism as it will be a clear indication of your frustration. If you somehow include any such matters, it means that you bear an ill will to the company.
Make sure that you submit your resignation letter at least 15 days before leaving the job. Every individual should make sure that he/she submits his/her resignation application a few days before to give the organization some time to prepare for recruitment for the position. According to the professional ethics, you must not use any kind of controversial or ambiguous language to explain your motive.
When you format a resignation letter, make sure you place the news of your departure in between the words of admiration and respect for the company. When you start the letter make sure you address the company with respectful words and end in the same way.
www.articlebiz.com
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Democrats Urge George Bush To Run For Third Term
by: Tom Attea
Congressional Democrats, delighted with George Bush’s stubborn resistance to their every request, have invited him to run for a third term. Forgoing support for their own roster of Democratic candidates, they have offered to vote for an exception to the 2-term limit.
Senator Harry Reid, outspoken opponent of the war in Iraq said, “We’re just having such a darn good time failing to get the President to listen to common sense that we’d like to keep it up for four more years. Think how dull it will be having someone who’s actually responsive to Congress.”
Bush seemed pleased by the offer, saying, “I’ve been concerned that, if by a long shot, a Democrat gets elected, my policy on Iraq might get changed. So I welcome the Democratic initiative to help me keep the war on track.”
Hillary Clinton, a bit miffed by her loss of Democratic support, commented, “I just don’t understand what Democrats are doing asking George Bush to run for another four years when they could have just as much fun bashing me.”
Senator Barack Obama joined in the disinclination to support the initiative, saying, “While I understand the entertainment value four more years of George Bush would offer the Democratic party, support for this alarming idea is enough to make me consider becoming a Republican.”
Exactly how the new Democratic push to reelect President Bush will work out remains uncertain. Apparently, their support for it depends on the unwavering obstinacy of the President.
www.articlecity.com
Congressional Democrats, delighted with George Bush’s stubborn resistance to their every request, have invited him to run for a third term. Forgoing support for their own roster of Democratic candidates, they have offered to vote for an exception to the 2-term limit.
Senator Harry Reid, outspoken opponent of the war in Iraq said, “We’re just having such a darn good time failing to get the President to listen to common sense that we’d like to keep it up for four more years. Think how dull it will be having someone who’s actually responsive to Congress.”
Bush seemed pleased by the offer, saying, “I’ve been concerned that, if by a long shot, a Democrat gets elected, my policy on Iraq might get changed. So I welcome the Democratic initiative to help me keep the war on track.”
Hillary Clinton, a bit miffed by her loss of Democratic support, commented, “I just don’t understand what Democrats are doing asking George Bush to run for another four years when they could have just as much fun bashing me.”
Senator Barack Obama joined in the disinclination to support the initiative, saying, “While I understand the entertainment value four more years of George Bush would offer the Democratic party, support for this alarming idea is enough to make me consider becoming a Republican.”
Exactly how the new Democratic push to reelect President Bush will work out remains uncertain. Apparently, their support for it depends on the unwavering obstinacy of the President.
www.articlecity.com
Foreign exchange market
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Foreign Exchange
Exchange Rates
Currency band
Exchange rate
Exchange rate regime
Fixed exchange rate
Floating exchange rate
Linked exchange rate
Markets
Foreign exchange market
Futures exchange
Products
Currency
Currency future
Non-deliverable forward
Forex swap
Currency swap
Foreign exchange option
See also
Bureau de change
The foreign exchange (currency or forex or FX) market exists wherever one currency is traded for another. It is by far the largest financial market in the world, and includes trading between large banks, central banks, currency speculators, multinational corporations, governments, and other financial markets and institutions. The average daily trade in the global forex and related markets currently is over US$ 3 trillion.[1] Retail traders (individuals) are a small fraction of this market and may only participate indirectly through brokers or banks, and are subject to forex scams[2] [3].
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Market size and liquidity
* 2 Market participants
o 2.1 Banks
o 2.2 Commercial companies
o 2.3 Central banks
o 2.4 Investment management firms
o 2.5 Hedge funds
o 2.6 Retail forex brokers
* 3 Trading characteristics
* 4 Factors affecting currency trading
o 4.1 Economic factors
o 4.2 Political conditions
o 4.3 Market psychology
* 5 Algorithmic trading in forex
* 6 Financial instruments
o 6.1 Spot
o 6.2 Forward
o 6.3 Future
o 6.4 Swap
o 6.5 Option
o 6.6 Exchange Traded Fund
* 7 Speculation
* 8 References
* 9 See also
* 10 External links
[edit] Market size and liquidity
The foreign exchange market is unique because of
* its trading volumes,
* the extreme liquidity of the market,
* the large number of, and variety of, traders in the market,
* its geographical dispersion,
* its long trading hours: 24 hours a day (except on weekends),
* the variety of factors that affect exchange rates.
* the low margins of profit compared with other markets of fixed income (but profits can be high due to very large trading volumes)
According to the BIS,[1] average daily turnover in traditional foreign exchange markets is estimated at $3,210 billion. Daily averages in April for different years, in billions of US dollars, are presented on the chart below:
This $3.21 trillion in global foreign exchange market "traditional" turnover was broken down as follows:
* $1,005 billion in spot transactions
* $362 billion in outright forwards
* $1,714 billion in forex swaps
* $129 billion estimated gaps in reporting
In addition to "traditional" turnover, $2.1 trillion was traded in derivatives.
Exchange-traded forex futures contracts were introduced in 1972 at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and are actively traded relative to most other futures contracts. Forex futures volume has grown rapidly in recent years, and accounts for about 7% of the total foreign exchange market volume, according to The Wall Street Journal Europe (5/5/06, p. 20).
Average daily global turnover in traditional foreign exchange market transactions totaled $2.7 trillion in April 2006 according to IFSL estimates based on semi-annual London, New York, Tokyo and Singapore Foreign Exchange Committee data. Overall turnover, including non-traditional foreign exchange derivatives and products traded on exchanges, averaged around $2.9 trillion a day. This was more than ten times the size of the combined daily turnover on all the world’s equity markets. Foreign exchange trading increased by 38% between April 2005 and April 2006 and has more than doubled since 2001. This is largely due to the growing importance of foreign exchange as an asset class and an increase in fund management assets, particularly of hedge funds and pension funds. The diverse selection of execution venues such as internet trading platforms has also made it easier for retail traders to trade in the foreign exchange market. [4]
Because foreign exchange is an OTC market where brokers/dealers negotiate directly with one another, there is no central exchange or clearing house. The biggest geographic trading centre is the UK, primarily London, which according to IFSL estimates has increased its share of global turnover in traditional transactions from 31.3% in April 2004 to 32.4% in April 2006. RPP
The ten most active traders account for almost 73% of trading volume, according to The Wall Street Journal Europe, (2/9/06 p. 20). These large international banks continually provide the market with both bid (buy) and ask (sell) prices. The bid/ask spread is the difference between the price at which a bank or market maker will sell ("ask", or "offer") and the price at which a market-maker will buy ("bid") from a wholesale customer. This spread is minimal for actively traded pairs of currencies, usually 0–3 pips. For example, the bid/ask quote of EUR/USD might be 1.2200/1.2203. Minimum trading size for most deals is usually $100,000.
These spreads might not apply to retail customers at banks, which will routinely mark up the difference to say 1.2100 / 1.2300 for transfers, or say 1.2000 / 1.2400 for banknotes or travelers' checks. Spot prices at market makers vary, but on EUR/USD are usually no more than 3 pips wide (i.e. 0.0003). Competition has greatly increased with pip spreads shrinking on the major pairs to as little as 1 to 2 pips.
[edit] Market participants
Financial markets
Bond market
Fixed income
Corporate bond
Government bond
Municipal bond
Bond valuation
High-yield debt
Stock market
Stock
Preferred stock
Common stock
Stock exchange
Foreign exchange market
Retail forex
Derivative market
Credit derivative
Hybrid security
Options
Futures
Forwards
Swaps
Other Markets
Commodity market
OTC market
Real estate market
Spot market
Finance series
Financial market
Financial market participants
Corporate finance
Personal finance
Public finance
Banks and Banking
Financial regulation
v • d • e
Top 10 Currency Traders % of overall volume, May 2007 Source: Euromoney FX survey[5] Rank Name % of volume
1 Deutsche Bank 19.30
2 UBS AG 14.85
3 Citi 9.00
4 Royal Bank of Scotland 8.90
5 Barclays Capital 8.80
6 Bank of America 5.29
7 HSBC 4.36
8 Goldman Sachs 4.14
9 JPMorgan 3.33
10 Morgan Stanley 2.86
Unlike a stock market, where all participants have access to the same prices, the forex market is divided into levels of access. At the top is the inter-bank market, which is made up of the largest investment banking firms. Within the inter-bank market, spreads, which are the difference between the bid and ask prices, are razor sharp and usually unavailable, and not known to players outside the inner circle. As you descend the levels of access, the difference between the bid and ask prices widens (from 0-1 pip to 1-2 pips only for major currencies like the Euro). This is due to volume. If a trader can guarantee large numbers of transactions for large amounts, they can demand a smaller difference between the bid and ask price, which is referred to as a better spread. The levels of access that make up the forex market are determined by the size of the “line” (the amount of money with which they are trading). The top-tier inter-bank market accounts for 53% of all transactions. After that there are usually smaller investment banks, followed by large multi-national corporations (which need to hedge risk and pay employees in different countries), large hedge funds, and even some of the retail forex market makers. According to Galati and Melvin, “Pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds, and other institutional investors have played an increasingly important role in financial markets in general, and in FX markets in particular, since the early 2000s.” (2004) In addition, he notes, “Hedge funds have grown markedly over the 2001–2004 period in terms of both number and overall size” Central banks also participate in the forex market to align currencies to their economic needs.
[edit] Banks
The interbank market caters for both the majority of commercial turnover and large amounts of speculative trading every day. A large bank may trade billions of dollars daily. Some of this trading is undertaken on behalf of customers, but much is conducted by proprietary desks, trading for the bank's own account.
Until recently, foreign exchange brokers did large amounts of business, facilitating interbank trading and matching anonymous counterparts for small fees. Today, however, much of this business has moved on to more efficient electronic systems, such as EBS (now owned by ICAP), Reuters Dealing 3000 Matching (D2), the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, FXMarketSpace, Bloomberg, and TradeBook(R). The broker squawk box lets traders listen in on ongoing interbank trading and is heard in most trading rooms, but turnover is noticeably smaller than just a few years ago.
[edit] Commercial companies
An important part of this market comes from the financial activities of companies seeking foreign exchange to pay for goods or services. Commercial companies often trade fairly small amounts compared to those of banks or speculators, and their trades often have little short term impact on market rates. Nevertheless, trade flows are an important factor in the long-term direction of a currency's exchange rate. Some multinational companies can have an unpredictable impact when very large positions are covered due to exposures that are not widely known by other market participants.
[edit] Central banks
National central banks play an important role in the foreign exchange markets. They try to control the money supply, inflation, and/or interest rates and often have official or unofficial target rates for their currencies. They can use their often substantial foreign exchange reserves to stabilize the market. Milton Friedman argued that the best stabilization strategy would be for central banks to buy when the exchange rate is too low, and to sell when the rate is too high — that is, to trade for a profit based on their more precise information. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of central bank "stabilizing speculation" is doubtful because central banks do not go bankrupt if they make large losses, like other traders would, and there is no convincing evidence that they do make a profit trading.
The mere expectation or rumor of central bank intervention might be enough to stabilize a currency, but aggressive intervention might be used several times each year in countries with a dirty float currency regime. Central banks do not always achieve their objectives. The combined resources of the market can easily overwhelm any central bank. Several scenarios of this nature were seen in the 1992–93 ERM collapse, and in more recent times in Southeast Asia.
[edit] Investment management firms
Investment management firms (who typically manage large accounts on behalf of customers such as pension funds and endowments) use the foreign exchange market to facilitate transactions in foreign securities. For example, an investment manager with an international equity portfolio will need to buy and sell foreign currencies in the spot market in order to pay for purchases of foreign equities. Since the forex transactions are secondary to the actual investment decision, they are not seen as speculative or aimed at profit-maximization.
Some investment management firms also have more speculative specialist currency overlay operations, which manage clients' currency exposures with the aim of generating profits as well as limiting risk. Whilst the number of this type of specialist firms is quite small, many have a large value of assets under management (AUM), and hence can generate large trades.
[edit] Hedge funds
Hedge funds, such as George Soros's Quantum fund have gained a reputation for aggressive currency speculation since 1990. They control billions of dollars of equity and may borrow billions more, and thus may overwhelm intervention by central banks to support almost any currency, if the economic fundamentals are in the hedge funds' favor.
[edit] Retail forex brokers
Retail forex brokers or market makers handle a minute fraction of the total volume of the foreign exchange market. According to CNN, one retail broker estimates retail volume at $25–50 billion daily, which is about 2% of the whole market and it has been reported by the CFTC website that unexperienced investors may become targets of forex scams.
[edit] Trading characteristics
Most traded currencies[1]
Currency distribution of reported FX market turnover Rank Currency ISO 4217
code Symbol % daily share
(April 2004)
1 United States dollar USD $ 88.7%
2 Eurozone euro EUR € 37.2%
3 Japanese yen JPY ¥ 20.3%
4 British pound sterling GBP £ 16.9%
5 Swiss franc CHF Fr 6.1%
6 Australian dollar AUD $ 5.5%
7 Canadian dollar CAD $ 4.2%
8 Swedish krona SEK kr 2.3%
9 Hong Kong dollar HKD $ 1.9%
10 Norwegian krone NOK kr 1.4%
Other 15.5%
Total 200%
There is no unified or centrally cleared market for the majority of FX trades, and there is very little cross-border regulation. Due to the over-the-counter (OTC) nature of currency markets, there are rather a number of interconnected marketplaces, where different currency instruments are traded. This implies that there is not a single dollar rate but rather a number of different rates (prices), depending on what bank or market maker is trading. In practice the rates are often very close, otherwise they could be exploited by arbitrageurs instantaneously. A joint venture of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Reuters, called FXMarketSpace opened in 2007 and aspires to the role of a central market clearing mechanism.
The main trading centers are in London, New York, Tokyo, and Singapore, but banks throughout the world participate. Currency trading happens continuously throughout the day; as the Asian trading session ends, the European session begins, followed by the North American session and then back to the Asian session, excluding weekends.
There is little or no 'inside information' in the foreign exchange markets. Exchange rate fluctuations are usually caused by actual monetary flows as well as by expectations of changes in monetary flows caused by changes in GDP growth, inflation, interest rates, budget and trade deficits or surpluses, large cross-border M&A deals and other macroeconomic conditions. Major news is released publicly, often on scheduled dates, so many people have access to the same news at the same time. However, the large banks have an important advantage; they can see their customers' order flow.
Currencies are traded against one another. Each pair of currencies thus constitutes an individual product and is traditionally noted XXX/YYY, where YYY is the ISO 4217 international three-letter code of the currency into which the price of one unit of XXX is expressed. For instance, EUR/USD is the price of the euro expressed in US dollars, as in 1 euro = 1.3045 dollar. Out of convention, the first currency in the pair, the base currency, was the stronger currency at the creation of the pair. The second currency, counter currency, was the weaker currency at the creation of the pair.
The factors affecting XXX will affect both XXX/YYY and XXX/ZZZ. This causes positive currency correlation between XXX/YYY and XXX/ZZZ.
On the spot market, according to the BIS study, the most heavily traded products were:
* EUR/USD: 28 %
* USD/JPY: 18 %
* GBP/USD (also called sterling or cable): 14 %
and the US currency was involved in 88.7% of transactions, followed by the euro (37.2%), the yen (20.3%), and the sterling (16.9%) (see table). Note that volume percentages should add up to 200%: 100% for all the sellers and 100% for all the buyers.
Although trading in the euro has grown considerably since the currency's creation in January 1999, the foreign exchange market is thus far still largely dollar-centered. For instance, trading the euro versus a non-European currency ZZZ will usually involve two trades: EUR/USD and USD/ZZZ. The exception to this is EUR/JPY, which is an established traded currency pair in the interbank spot market.
[edit] Factors affecting currency trading
See also: Exchange rates
Although exchange rates are affected by many factors, in the end, currency prices are a result of supply and demand forces. The world's currency markets can be viewed as a huge melting pot: in a large and ever-changing mix of current events, supply and demand factors are constantly shifting, and the price of one currency in relation to another shifts accordingly. No other market encompasses (and distills) as much of what is going on in the world at any given time as foreign exchange.
Supply and demand for any given currency, and thus its value, are not influenced by any single element, but rather by several. These elements generally fall into three categories: economic factors, political conditions and market psychology.
[edit] Economic factors
These include economic policy, disseminated by government agencies and central banks, economic conditions, generally revealed through economic reports, and other economic indicators.
Economic policy comprises government fiscal policy (budget/spending practices) and monetary policy (the means by which a government's central bank influences the supply and "cost" of money, which is reflected by the level of interest rates).
Economic conditions include:
Government budget deficits or surpluses: The market usually reacts negatively to widening government budget deficits, and positively to narrowing budget deficits. The impact is reflected in the value of a country's currency.
Balance of trade levels and trends: The trade flow between countries illustrates the demand for goods and services, which in turn indicates demand for a country's currency to conduct trade. Surpluses and deficits in trade of goods and services reflect the competitiveness of a nation's economy. For example, trade deficits may have a negative impact on a nation's currency.
Inflation levels and trends: Typically, a currency will lose value if there is a high level of inflation in the country or if inflation levels are perceived to be rising. This is because inflation erodes purchasing power, thus demand, for that particular currency.
Economic growth and health: Reports such as gross domestic product (GDP), employment levels, retail sales, capacity utilization and others, detail the levels of a country's economic growth and health. Generally, the more healthy and robust a country's economy, the better its currency will perform, and the more demand for it there will be.
[edit] Political conditions
Internal, regional, and international political conditions and events can have a profound effect on currency markets.
For instance, political upheaval and instability can have a negative impact on a nation's economy. The rise of a political faction that is perceived to be fiscally responsible can have the opposite effect. Also, events in one country in a region may spur positive or negative interest in a neighboring country and, in the process, affect its currency.
[edit] Market psychology
Market psychology and trader perceptions influence the foreign exchange market in a variety of ways:
Flights to quality: Unsettling international events can lead to a "flight to quality," with investors seeking a "safe haven". There will be a greater demand, thus a higher price, for currencies perceived as stronger over their relatively weaker counterparts.
Long-term trends: Currency markets often move in visible long-term trends. Although currencies do not have an annual growing season like physical commodities, business cycles do make themselves felt. Cycle analysis looks at longer-term price trends that may rise from economic or political trends. [6]
"Buy the rumor, sell the fact:" This market truism can apply to many currency situations. It is the tendency for the price of a currency to reflect the impact of a particular action before it occurs and, when the anticipated event comes to pass, react in exactly the opposite direction. This may also be referred to as a market being "oversold" or "overbought".[7] To buy the rumor or sell the fact can also be an example of the cognitive bias known as anchoring, when investors focus too much on the relevance of outside events to currency prices.
Economic numbers: While economic numbers can certainly reflect economic policy, some reports and numbers take on a talisman-like effect: the number itself becomes important to market psychology and may have an immediate impact on short-term market moves. "What to watch" can change over time. In recent years, for example, money supply, employment, trade balance figures and inflation numbers have all taken turns in the spotlight.
Technical trading considerations: As in other markets, the accumulated price movements in a currency pair such as EUR/USD can form apparent patterns that traders may attempt to use. Many traders study price charts in order to identify such patterns. [8]
[edit] Algorithmic trading in forex
Electronic trading is growing in the FX market, and algorithmic trading is becoming much more common. There is much confusion about the technique. According to financial consultancy Celent estimates, by 2008 up to 25% of all trades by volume will be executed using algorithm, up from about 18% in 2005.
[edit] Financial instruments
There are several types of financial instruments commonly used.
[edit] Spot
A spot transaction is a two-day delivery transaction, as opposed to the futures contracts, which are usually three months. This trade represents a “direct exchange” between two currencies, has the shortest time frame, involves cash rather than a contract; and interest is not included in the agreed-upon transaction. The data for this study come from the spot market. Spot has the largest share by volume in FX transactions among all instruments.
[edit] Forward
One way to deal with the Forex risk is to engage in a forward transaction. In this transaction, money does not actually change hands until some agreed upon future date. A buyer and seller agree on an exchange rate for any date in the future, and the transaction occurs on that date, regardless of what the market rates are then. The duration of the trade can be a few days, months or years.
[edit] Future
Main article: Currency future
Foreign currency futures are forward transactions with standard contract sizes and maturity dates — for example, 500,000 British pounds for next November at an agreed rate. Futures are standardized and are usually traded on an exchange created for this purpose. The average contract length is roughly 3 months. Futures contracts are usually inclusive of any interest amounts.
[edit] Swap
Main article: Forex swap
The most common type of forward transaction is the currency swap. In a swap, two parties exchange currencies for a certain length of time and agree to reverse the transaction at a later date. These are not standardized contracts and are not traded through an exchange.
[edit] Option
Main article: Foreign exchange option
A foreign exchange option (commonly shortened to just FX option) is a derivative where the owner has the right but not the obligation to exchange money denominated in one currency into another currency at a pre-agreed exchange rate on a specified date. The FX options market is the deepest, largest and most liquid market for options of any kind in the world.
[edit] Exchange Traded Fund
Main article: Exchange-traded fund
Exchange-traded funds (or ETFs) are Open Ended investment companies that can be traded at any time throughout the course of the day. Typically, ETFs try to replicate a stock market index such as the S&P 500 (e.g. SPY), but recently they are now replicating investments in the currency markets with the ETF increasing in value when the US Dollar weaknes versus a specific Currency, such as the Euro. Certain of these funds track the price movements of world currencies versus the US Dollar, and increase in value directly counter to the US Dollar, allowing for speculation in the US Dollar for US and US Dollar denominated investors and speculators.
[edit] Speculation
Controversy about currency speculators and their effect on currency devaluations and national economies recurs regularly. Nevertheless, many economists (e.g. Milton Friedman) have argued that speculators perform the important function of providing a market for hedgers and transferring risk from those people who don't wish to bear it, to those who do. Other economists (e.g. Joseph Stiglitz) however, may consider this argument to be based more on politics and a free market philosophy than on economics.
Large hedge funds and other well capitalized "position traders" are the main professional speculators.
Currency speculation is considered a highly suspect activity in many countries. While investment in traditional financial instruments like bonds or stocks often is considered to contribute positively to economic growth by providing capital, currency speculation does not, according to this view; it is simply gambling, that often interferes with economic policy. For example, in 1992, currency speculation forced the Central Bank of Sweden to raise interest rates for a few days to 150% per annum, and later to devalue the krona. Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is one well known proponent of this view. He blamed the devaluation of the Malaysian ringgit in 1997 on George Soros and other speculators.[9]
Gregory Millman reports on an opposing view, comparing speculators to "vigilantes" who simply help "enforce" international agreements and anticipate the effects of basic economic "laws" in order to profit.
In this view, countries may develop unsustainable financial bubbles or otherwise mishandle their national economies, and forex speculators made the inevitable collapse happen sooner. A relatively quick collapse might even be preferable to continued economic mishandling. Mahathir Mohamad and other critics of speculation are viewed as trying to deflect the blame from themselves for having caused the unsustainable economic conditions.
Jump to: navigation, search
Foreign Exchange
Exchange Rates
Currency band
Exchange rate
Exchange rate regime
Fixed exchange rate
Floating exchange rate
Linked exchange rate
Markets
Foreign exchange market
Futures exchange
Products
Currency
Currency future
Non-deliverable forward
Forex swap
Currency swap
Foreign exchange option
See also
Bureau de change
The foreign exchange (currency or forex or FX) market exists wherever one currency is traded for another. It is by far the largest financial market in the world, and includes trading between large banks, central banks, currency speculators, multinational corporations, governments, and other financial markets and institutions. The average daily trade in the global forex and related markets currently is over US$ 3 trillion.[1] Retail traders (individuals) are a small fraction of this market and may only participate indirectly through brokers or banks, and are subject to forex scams[2] [3].
Contents
[hide]
* 1 Market size and liquidity
* 2 Market participants
o 2.1 Banks
o 2.2 Commercial companies
o 2.3 Central banks
o 2.4 Investment management firms
o 2.5 Hedge funds
o 2.6 Retail forex brokers
* 3 Trading characteristics
* 4 Factors affecting currency trading
o 4.1 Economic factors
o 4.2 Political conditions
o 4.3 Market psychology
* 5 Algorithmic trading in forex
* 6 Financial instruments
o 6.1 Spot
o 6.2 Forward
o 6.3 Future
o 6.4 Swap
o 6.5 Option
o 6.6 Exchange Traded Fund
* 7 Speculation
* 8 References
* 9 See also
* 10 External links
[edit] Market size and liquidity
The foreign exchange market is unique because of
* its trading volumes,
* the extreme liquidity of the market,
* the large number of, and variety of, traders in the market,
* its geographical dispersion,
* its long trading hours: 24 hours a day (except on weekends),
* the variety of factors that affect exchange rates.
* the low margins of profit compared with other markets of fixed income (but profits can be high due to very large trading volumes)
According to the BIS,[1] average daily turnover in traditional foreign exchange markets is estimated at $3,210 billion. Daily averages in April for different years, in billions of US dollars, are presented on the chart below:
This $3.21 trillion in global foreign exchange market "traditional" turnover was broken down as follows:
* $1,005 billion in spot transactions
* $362 billion in outright forwards
* $1,714 billion in forex swaps
* $129 billion estimated gaps in reporting
In addition to "traditional" turnover, $2.1 trillion was traded in derivatives.
Exchange-traded forex futures contracts were introduced in 1972 at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and are actively traded relative to most other futures contracts. Forex futures volume has grown rapidly in recent years, and accounts for about 7% of the total foreign exchange market volume, according to The Wall Street Journal Europe (5/5/06, p. 20).
Average daily global turnover in traditional foreign exchange market transactions totaled $2.7 trillion in April 2006 according to IFSL estimates based on semi-annual London, New York, Tokyo and Singapore Foreign Exchange Committee data. Overall turnover, including non-traditional foreign exchange derivatives and products traded on exchanges, averaged around $2.9 trillion a day. This was more than ten times the size of the combined daily turnover on all the world’s equity markets. Foreign exchange trading increased by 38% between April 2005 and April 2006 and has more than doubled since 2001. This is largely due to the growing importance of foreign exchange as an asset class and an increase in fund management assets, particularly of hedge funds and pension funds. The diverse selection of execution venues such as internet trading platforms has also made it easier for retail traders to trade in the foreign exchange market. [4]
Because foreign exchange is an OTC market where brokers/dealers negotiate directly with one another, there is no central exchange or clearing house. The biggest geographic trading centre is the UK, primarily London, which according to IFSL estimates has increased its share of global turnover in traditional transactions from 31.3% in April 2004 to 32.4% in April 2006. RPP
The ten most active traders account for almost 73% of trading volume, according to The Wall Street Journal Europe, (2/9/06 p. 20). These large international banks continually provide the market with both bid (buy) and ask (sell) prices. The bid/ask spread is the difference between the price at which a bank or market maker will sell ("ask", or "offer") and the price at which a market-maker will buy ("bid") from a wholesale customer. This spread is minimal for actively traded pairs of currencies, usually 0–3 pips. For example, the bid/ask quote of EUR/USD might be 1.2200/1.2203. Minimum trading size for most deals is usually $100,000.
These spreads might not apply to retail customers at banks, which will routinely mark up the difference to say 1.2100 / 1.2300 for transfers, or say 1.2000 / 1.2400 for banknotes or travelers' checks. Spot prices at market makers vary, but on EUR/USD are usually no more than 3 pips wide (i.e. 0.0003). Competition has greatly increased with pip spreads shrinking on the major pairs to as little as 1 to 2 pips.
[edit] Market participants
Financial markets
Bond market
Fixed income
Corporate bond
Government bond
Municipal bond
Bond valuation
High-yield debt
Stock market
Stock
Preferred stock
Common stock
Stock exchange
Foreign exchange market
Retail forex
Derivative market
Credit derivative
Hybrid security
Options
Futures
Forwards
Swaps
Other Markets
Commodity market
OTC market
Real estate market
Spot market
Finance series
Financial market
Financial market participants
Corporate finance
Personal finance
Public finance
Banks and Banking
Financial regulation
v • d • e
Top 10 Currency Traders % of overall volume, May 2007 Source: Euromoney FX survey[5] Rank Name % of volume
1 Deutsche Bank 19.30
2 UBS AG 14.85
3 Citi 9.00
4 Royal Bank of Scotland 8.90
5 Barclays Capital 8.80
6 Bank of America 5.29
7 HSBC 4.36
8 Goldman Sachs 4.14
9 JPMorgan 3.33
10 Morgan Stanley 2.86
Unlike a stock market, where all participants have access to the same prices, the forex market is divided into levels of access. At the top is the inter-bank market, which is made up of the largest investment banking firms. Within the inter-bank market, spreads, which are the difference between the bid and ask prices, are razor sharp and usually unavailable, and not known to players outside the inner circle. As you descend the levels of access, the difference between the bid and ask prices widens (from 0-1 pip to 1-2 pips only for major currencies like the Euro). This is due to volume. If a trader can guarantee large numbers of transactions for large amounts, they can demand a smaller difference between the bid and ask price, which is referred to as a better spread. The levels of access that make up the forex market are determined by the size of the “line” (the amount of money with which they are trading). The top-tier inter-bank market accounts for 53% of all transactions. After that there are usually smaller investment banks, followed by large multi-national corporations (which need to hedge risk and pay employees in different countries), large hedge funds, and even some of the retail forex market makers. According to Galati and Melvin, “Pension funds, insurance companies, mutual funds, and other institutional investors have played an increasingly important role in financial markets in general, and in FX markets in particular, since the early 2000s.” (2004) In addition, he notes, “Hedge funds have grown markedly over the 2001–2004 period in terms of both number and overall size” Central banks also participate in the forex market to align currencies to their economic needs.
[edit] Banks
The interbank market caters for both the majority of commercial turnover and large amounts of speculative trading every day. A large bank may trade billions of dollars daily. Some of this trading is undertaken on behalf of customers, but much is conducted by proprietary desks, trading for the bank's own account.
Until recently, foreign exchange brokers did large amounts of business, facilitating interbank trading and matching anonymous counterparts for small fees. Today, however, much of this business has moved on to more efficient electronic systems, such as EBS (now owned by ICAP), Reuters Dealing 3000 Matching (D2), the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, FXMarketSpace, Bloomberg, and TradeBook(R). The broker squawk box lets traders listen in on ongoing interbank trading and is heard in most trading rooms, but turnover is noticeably smaller than just a few years ago.
[edit] Commercial companies
An important part of this market comes from the financial activities of companies seeking foreign exchange to pay for goods or services. Commercial companies often trade fairly small amounts compared to those of banks or speculators, and their trades often have little short term impact on market rates. Nevertheless, trade flows are an important factor in the long-term direction of a currency's exchange rate. Some multinational companies can have an unpredictable impact when very large positions are covered due to exposures that are not widely known by other market participants.
[edit] Central banks
National central banks play an important role in the foreign exchange markets. They try to control the money supply, inflation, and/or interest rates and often have official or unofficial target rates for their currencies. They can use their often substantial foreign exchange reserves to stabilize the market. Milton Friedman argued that the best stabilization strategy would be for central banks to buy when the exchange rate is too low, and to sell when the rate is too high — that is, to trade for a profit based on their more precise information. Nevertheless, the effectiveness of central bank "stabilizing speculation" is doubtful because central banks do not go bankrupt if they make large losses, like other traders would, and there is no convincing evidence that they do make a profit trading.
The mere expectation or rumor of central bank intervention might be enough to stabilize a currency, but aggressive intervention might be used several times each year in countries with a dirty float currency regime. Central banks do not always achieve their objectives. The combined resources of the market can easily overwhelm any central bank. Several scenarios of this nature were seen in the 1992–93 ERM collapse, and in more recent times in Southeast Asia.
[edit] Investment management firms
Investment management firms (who typically manage large accounts on behalf of customers such as pension funds and endowments) use the foreign exchange market to facilitate transactions in foreign securities. For example, an investment manager with an international equity portfolio will need to buy and sell foreign currencies in the spot market in order to pay for purchases of foreign equities. Since the forex transactions are secondary to the actual investment decision, they are not seen as speculative or aimed at profit-maximization.
Some investment management firms also have more speculative specialist currency overlay operations, which manage clients' currency exposures with the aim of generating profits as well as limiting risk. Whilst the number of this type of specialist firms is quite small, many have a large value of assets under management (AUM), and hence can generate large trades.
[edit] Hedge funds
Hedge funds, such as George Soros's Quantum fund have gained a reputation for aggressive currency speculation since 1990. They control billions of dollars of equity and may borrow billions more, and thus may overwhelm intervention by central banks to support almost any currency, if the economic fundamentals are in the hedge funds' favor.
[edit] Retail forex brokers
Retail forex brokers or market makers handle a minute fraction of the total volume of the foreign exchange market. According to CNN, one retail broker estimates retail volume at $25–50 billion daily, which is about 2% of the whole market and it has been reported by the CFTC website that unexperienced investors may become targets of forex scams.
[edit] Trading characteristics
Most traded currencies[1]
Currency distribution of reported FX market turnover Rank Currency ISO 4217
code Symbol % daily share
(April 2004)
1 United States dollar USD $ 88.7%
2 Eurozone euro EUR € 37.2%
3 Japanese yen JPY ¥ 20.3%
4 British pound sterling GBP £ 16.9%
5 Swiss franc CHF Fr 6.1%
6 Australian dollar AUD $ 5.5%
7 Canadian dollar CAD $ 4.2%
8 Swedish krona SEK kr 2.3%
9 Hong Kong dollar HKD $ 1.9%
10 Norwegian krone NOK kr 1.4%
Other 15.5%
Total 200%
There is no unified or centrally cleared market for the majority of FX trades, and there is very little cross-border regulation. Due to the over-the-counter (OTC) nature of currency markets, there are rather a number of interconnected marketplaces, where different currency instruments are traded. This implies that there is not a single dollar rate but rather a number of different rates (prices), depending on what bank or market maker is trading. In practice the rates are often very close, otherwise they could be exploited by arbitrageurs instantaneously. A joint venture of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and Reuters, called FXMarketSpace opened in 2007 and aspires to the role of a central market clearing mechanism.
The main trading centers are in London, New York, Tokyo, and Singapore, but banks throughout the world participate. Currency trading happens continuously throughout the day; as the Asian trading session ends, the European session begins, followed by the North American session and then back to the Asian session, excluding weekends.
There is little or no 'inside information' in the foreign exchange markets. Exchange rate fluctuations are usually caused by actual monetary flows as well as by expectations of changes in monetary flows caused by changes in GDP growth, inflation, interest rates, budget and trade deficits or surpluses, large cross-border M&A deals and other macroeconomic conditions. Major news is released publicly, often on scheduled dates, so many people have access to the same news at the same time. However, the large banks have an important advantage; they can see their customers' order flow.
Currencies are traded against one another. Each pair of currencies thus constitutes an individual product and is traditionally noted XXX/YYY, where YYY is the ISO 4217 international three-letter code of the currency into which the price of one unit of XXX is expressed. For instance, EUR/USD is the price of the euro expressed in US dollars, as in 1 euro = 1.3045 dollar. Out of convention, the first currency in the pair, the base currency, was the stronger currency at the creation of the pair. The second currency, counter currency, was the weaker currency at the creation of the pair.
The factors affecting XXX will affect both XXX/YYY and XXX/ZZZ. This causes positive currency correlation between XXX/YYY and XXX/ZZZ.
On the spot market, according to the BIS study, the most heavily traded products were:
* EUR/USD: 28 %
* USD/JPY: 18 %
* GBP/USD (also called sterling or cable): 14 %
and the US currency was involved in 88.7% of transactions, followed by the euro (37.2%), the yen (20.3%), and the sterling (16.9%) (see table). Note that volume percentages should add up to 200%: 100% for all the sellers and 100% for all the buyers.
Although trading in the euro has grown considerably since the currency's creation in January 1999, the foreign exchange market is thus far still largely dollar-centered. For instance, trading the euro versus a non-European currency ZZZ will usually involve two trades: EUR/USD and USD/ZZZ. The exception to this is EUR/JPY, which is an established traded currency pair in the interbank spot market.
[edit] Factors affecting currency trading
See also: Exchange rates
Although exchange rates are affected by many factors, in the end, currency prices are a result of supply and demand forces. The world's currency markets can be viewed as a huge melting pot: in a large and ever-changing mix of current events, supply and demand factors are constantly shifting, and the price of one currency in relation to another shifts accordingly. No other market encompasses (and distills) as much of what is going on in the world at any given time as foreign exchange.
Supply and demand for any given currency, and thus its value, are not influenced by any single element, but rather by several. These elements generally fall into three categories: economic factors, political conditions and market psychology.
[edit] Economic factors
These include economic policy, disseminated by government agencies and central banks, economic conditions, generally revealed through economic reports, and other economic indicators.
Economic policy comprises government fiscal policy (budget/spending practices) and monetary policy (the means by which a government's central bank influences the supply and "cost" of money, which is reflected by the level of interest rates).
Economic conditions include:
Government budget deficits or surpluses: The market usually reacts negatively to widening government budget deficits, and positively to narrowing budget deficits. The impact is reflected in the value of a country's currency.
Balance of trade levels and trends: The trade flow between countries illustrates the demand for goods and services, which in turn indicates demand for a country's currency to conduct trade. Surpluses and deficits in trade of goods and services reflect the competitiveness of a nation's economy. For example, trade deficits may have a negative impact on a nation's currency.
Inflation levels and trends: Typically, a currency will lose value if there is a high level of inflation in the country or if inflation levels are perceived to be rising. This is because inflation erodes purchasing power, thus demand, for that particular currency.
Economic growth and health: Reports such as gross domestic product (GDP), employment levels, retail sales, capacity utilization and others, detail the levels of a country's economic growth and health. Generally, the more healthy and robust a country's economy, the better its currency will perform, and the more demand for it there will be.
[edit] Political conditions
Internal, regional, and international political conditions and events can have a profound effect on currency markets.
For instance, political upheaval and instability can have a negative impact on a nation's economy. The rise of a political faction that is perceived to be fiscally responsible can have the opposite effect. Also, events in one country in a region may spur positive or negative interest in a neighboring country and, in the process, affect its currency.
[edit] Market psychology
Market psychology and trader perceptions influence the foreign exchange market in a variety of ways:
Flights to quality: Unsettling international events can lead to a "flight to quality," with investors seeking a "safe haven". There will be a greater demand, thus a higher price, for currencies perceived as stronger over their relatively weaker counterparts.
Long-term trends: Currency markets often move in visible long-term trends. Although currencies do not have an annual growing season like physical commodities, business cycles do make themselves felt. Cycle analysis looks at longer-term price trends that may rise from economic or political trends. [6]
"Buy the rumor, sell the fact:" This market truism can apply to many currency situations. It is the tendency for the price of a currency to reflect the impact of a particular action before it occurs and, when the anticipated event comes to pass, react in exactly the opposite direction. This may also be referred to as a market being "oversold" or "overbought".[7] To buy the rumor or sell the fact can also be an example of the cognitive bias known as anchoring, when investors focus too much on the relevance of outside events to currency prices.
Economic numbers: While economic numbers can certainly reflect economic policy, some reports and numbers take on a talisman-like effect: the number itself becomes important to market psychology and may have an immediate impact on short-term market moves. "What to watch" can change over time. In recent years, for example, money supply, employment, trade balance figures and inflation numbers have all taken turns in the spotlight.
Technical trading considerations: As in other markets, the accumulated price movements in a currency pair such as EUR/USD can form apparent patterns that traders may attempt to use. Many traders study price charts in order to identify such patterns. [8]
[edit] Algorithmic trading in forex
Electronic trading is growing in the FX market, and algorithmic trading is becoming much more common. There is much confusion about the technique. According to financial consultancy Celent estimates, by 2008 up to 25% of all trades by volume will be executed using algorithm, up from about 18% in 2005.
[edit] Financial instruments
There are several types of financial instruments commonly used.
[edit] Spot
A spot transaction is a two-day delivery transaction, as opposed to the futures contracts, which are usually three months. This trade represents a “direct exchange” between two currencies, has the shortest time frame, involves cash rather than a contract; and interest is not included in the agreed-upon transaction. The data for this study come from the spot market. Spot has the largest share by volume in FX transactions among all instruments.
[edit] Forward
One way to deal with the Forex risk is to engage in a forward transaction. In this transaction, money does not actually change hands until some agreed upon future date. A buyer and seller agree on an exchange rate for any date in the future, and the transaction occurs on that date, regardless of what the market rates are then. The duration of the trade can be a few days, months or years.
[edit] Future
Main article: Currency future
Foreign currency futures are forward transactions with standard contract sizes and maturity dates — for example, 500,000 British pounds for next November at an agreed rate. Futures are standardized and are usually traded on an exchange created for this purpose. The average contract length is roughly 3 months. Futures contracts are usually inclusive of any interest amounts.
[edit] Swap
Main article: Forex swap
The most common type of forward transaction is the currency swap. In a swap, two parties exchange currencies for a certain length of time and agree to reverse the transaction at a later date. These are not standardized contracts and are not traded through an exchange.
[edit] Option
Main article: Foreign exchange option
A foreign exchange option (commonly shortened to just FX option) is a derivative where the owner has the right but not the obligation to exchange money denominated in one currency into another currency at a pre-agreed exchange rate on a specified date. The FX options market is the deepest, largest and most liquid market for options of any kind in the world.
[edit] Exchange Traded Fund
Main article: Exchange-traded fund
Exchange-traded funds (or ETFs) are Open Ended investment companies that can be traded at any time throughout the course of the day. Typically, ETFs try to replicate a stock market index such as the S&P 500 (e.g. SPY), but recently they are now replicating investments in the currency markets with the ETF increasing in value when the US Dollar weaknes versus a specific Currency, such as the Euro. Certain of these funds track the price movements of world currencies versus the US Dollar, and increase in value directly counter to the US Dollar, allowing for speculation in the US Dollar for US and US Dollar denominated investors and speculators.
[edit] Speculation
Controversy about currency speculators and their effect on currency devaluations and national economies recurs regularly. Nevertheless, many economists (e.g. Milton Friedman) have argued that speculators perform the important function of providing a market for hedgers and transferring risk from those people who don't wish to bear it, to those who do. Other economists (e.g. Joseph Stiglitz) however, may consider this argument to be based more on politics and a free market philosophy than on economics.
Large hedge funds and other well capitalized "position traders" are the main professional speculators.
Currency speculation is considered a highly suspect activity in many countries. While investment in traditional financial instruments like bonds or stocks often is considered to contribute positively to economic growth by providing capital, currency speculation does not, according to this view; it is simply gambling, that often interferes with economic policy. For example, in 1992, currency speculation forced the Central Bank of Sweden to raise interest rates for a few days to 150% per annum, and later to devalue the krona. Former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad is one well known proponent of this view. He blamed the devaluation of the Malaysian ringgit in 1997 on George Soros and other speculators.[9]
Gregory Millman reports on an opposing view, comparing speculators to "vigilantes" who simply help "enforce" international agreements and anticipate the effects of basic economic "laws" in order to profit.
In this view, countries may develop unsustainable financial bubbles or otherwise mishandle their national economies, and forex speculators made the inevitable collapse happen sooner. A relatively quick collapse might even be preferable to continued economic mishandling. Mahathir Mohamad and other critics of speculation are viewed as trying to deflect the blame from themselves for having caused the unsustainable economic conditions.
Dispelling Fears About The GoogleBomb Algorithm Update
by: Bill Platt
Google algorithm updates always bring the fears of webmasters to a boiling point. In the aftermath of an algorithm update, some people come out swinging, making claims that Google is trying to put them out of business. Others look at their Google rankings and pat themselves on the back for having survived another "algo" update.
It has been known in search engine optimization (SEO) circles for quite some time that one could successfully implement what is referred to as a GoogleBomb. The best example was a search on the phrase "miserable failure". A search on those words within Google would show George W. Bush's biography at the White House website, in the top three or four results of the search results. This would occur, despite the fact that neither word in the search criteria resides on the White House website. At one time, Bush's biography had been in the #1 spot, but counter-bombing campaigns moved Bush's listing down the page a bit.
Many people have written about this phenomenon in time's past. I have even written about it myself. When I wrote about it, my point was to show the importance of anchor text in a link to build the value of a web page in the Google search engine result pages (SERPS).
The "miserable failure" GoogleBomb came to exist within a loophole within the Google algorithms. Google puts a lot of value on the anchor text that point to a particular web page. It is part of their "one link – one vote" philosophy as to the value of a web page.
Bloggers joined forces to create thousands of links pointing to the White House website with the words "miserable failure" in the anchor text. The shenanigans of the George W. Bush bashers were eventually countered by their fellow bloggers on the other side of the political aisle. Eventually, the search phrase "miserable failure" would also bring up the Michael Moore and Jimmy Carter websites in the top few results for that search phrase.
The average person who did not understand the nature of the SEO game would occasionally stumble across these esoteric search phrases and get him or herself into a huff, because they thought that Google was stating their own political views. Of course, Google really does not have an opinion, at least not one that would ever appear in their search results.
The GB Update...
In this case, the GB Update is not so-named because "George Bush" disappeared from the "miserable failure" search results. Instead, it is so-named because it is the "GoogleBomb" update, which Google implemented in January of 2007.
Once the update was implemented, the "miserable failure" search began to only return pages that talked about GoogleBombs from a technical standpoint.
With the GB update officially rolled out (http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2007/01/quick-word- about-googlebombs.html), people began the standard Google-update panic process.
Hundreds of posts began appearing on forums concerning the GB updates and the fear that link-building efforts undertaken by search engine marketing (SEM) companies and webmasters would be hurt as well.
So, I did a bit of research. I have run several linking campaigns on my own behalf, and on the behalf of clients. Those campaigns were put together with a mix of keyword phrases nestled in the anchor text of links to our websites. I checked the status of all of the websites I represent, and without fail, our linking campaigns had not been hurt by the GB update.
Interesting Changes From The GoogleBomb Update
According to Matt Cutts of Google, the changes in the GB update were all completed within the Google algorithm. Cutts has always said that Google does not like to manually rearrange the search engine results, so an algorithmic solution to the GoogleBomb was in order. A few of the Google engineers worked together to find a solution to the GoogleBomb issue.
In an attempt to understand what had changed, I looked at a few of the more notorious GoogleBombs of past and discovered some interesting facts.
Broken Google Bombs:
* "Miserable failure" no longer returns George W. Bush, Michael Moore, or Jimmy Carter websites. * "Worst president ever" now only returns pages that make the claim the GW Bush has earned that title. * "Waffles" no longer returns results that point to the John Kerry website. * Tony Blair's homepage no longer comes up under the search term "liar".
Unchanged Google Bombs:
* A search for "Scientology" still has the "Operation Clambake" listing in the #2 spot (2007-01-31). Operation Clambake is a website that is critical of Scientology. * "Click here" still points to the Adobe website (although this was not actually a GoogleBomb). * "French military victories" still goes to the same page on Albino Black Sheep when you hit "I feel lucky" on Google's search page. (I still get a kick out of this one.) * The "great president" GoogleBomb survived. It still points to Bush's bio on the White House website.
The Question On Everyone's Mind
Everyone seems to be asking the same question. How does Google defuse Google Bombs?
Well, Google isn't saying, so we are left to figure it out on our own. Based on what I was able to uncover in my study of Google Bombs, I came up with a theory.
What I have been able to take from the results shown above is that Google may have targeted only "negative links". If you want to review what is shown above, all of the Google Bombs that are now gone had negative connotations to them. All of the Google Bombs that survived can be construed as having positive, or at least non-negative, connotations to them.
If my assertion is correct, then average, ordinary webmasters will have nothing to fear from the Google Bomb update. My sites and my client's websites also reflect that the Google Bomb update did not have any affect on us.
Maybe I am just grasping at straws, but I don't think so. You be the judge... "Worst president" is gone, and "great president" survived. To me, that says a lot.
The Google Bombing Legacy Continues...
Following my logic, Google Bombing is still a possibility for those who Google Bomb with a positive set of anchor text keywords. So, some Google Bombs will continue to live well into the future.
In 2004, Search Engine Watch suggested that Google Bombs are better defined as Link Bombs, since they can affect all of the major search engines, including Yahoo and MSN.
Google has finally addressed link bombing in a positive way, but Yahoo and MSN are still prone to link bombing attacks. For example, as of this writing, MSN still has George in the top spot for "miserable failure" in the MSN Live results.
www.articlecity.com
Google algorithm updates always bring the fears of webmasters to a boiling point. In the aftermath of an algorithm update, some people come out swinging, making claims that Google is trying to put them out of business. Others look at their Google rankings and pat themselves on the back for having survived another "algo" update.
It has been known in search engine optimization (SEO) circles for quite some time that one could successfully implement what is referred to as a GoogleBomb. The best example was a search on the phrase "miserable failure". A search on those words within Google would show George W. Bush's biography at the White House website, in the top three or four results of the search results. This would occur, despite the fact that neither word in the search criteria resides on the White House website. At one time, Bush's biography had been in the #1 spot, but counter-bombing campaigns moved Bush's listing down the page a bit.
Many people have written about this phenomenon in time's past. I have even written about it myself. When I wrote about it, my point was to show the importance of anchor text in a link to build the value of a web page in the Google search engine result pages (SERPS).
The "miserable failure" GoogleBomb came to exist within a loophole within the Google algorithms. Google puts a lot of value on the anchor text that point to a particular web page. It is part of their "one link – one vote" philosophy as to the value of a web page.
Bloggers joined forces to create thousands of links pointing to the White House website with the words "miserable failure" in the anchor text. The shenanigans of the George W. Bush bashers were eventually countered by their fellow bloggers on the other side of the political aisle. Eventually, the search phrase "miserable failure" would also bring up the Michael Moore and Jimmy Carter websites in the top few results for that search phrase.
The average person who did not understand the nature of the SEO game would occasionally stumble across these esoteric search phrases and get him or herself into a huff, because they thought that Google was stating their own political views. Of course, Google really does not have an opinion, at least not one that would ever appear in their search results.
The GB Update...
In this case, the GB Update is not so-named because "George Bush" disappeared from the "miserable failure" search results. Instead, it is so-named because it is the "GoogleBomb" update, which Google implemented in January of 2007.
Once the update was implemented, the "miserable failure" search began to only return pages that talked about GoogleBombs from a technical standpoint.
With the GB update officially rolled out (http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot.com/2007/01/quick-word- about-googlebombs.html), people began the standard Google-update panic process.
Hundreds of posts began appearing on forums concerning the GB updates and the fear that link-building efforts undertaken by search engine marketing (SEM) companies and webmasters would be hurt as well.
So, I did a bit of research. I have run several linking campaigns on my own behalf, and on the behalf of clients. Those campaigns were put together with a mix of keyword phrases nestled in the anchor text of links to our websites. I checked the status of all of the websites I represent, and without fail, our linking campaigns had not been hurt by the GB update.
Interesting Changes From The GoogleBomb Update
According to Matt Cutts of Google, the changes in the GB update were all completed within the Google algorithm. Cutts has always said that Google does not like to manually rearrange the search engine results, so an algorithmic solution to the GoogleBomb was in order. A few of the Google engineers worked together to find a solution to the GoogleBomb issue.
In an attempt to understand what had changed, I looked at a few of the more notorious GoogleBombs of past and discovered some interesting facts.
Broken Google Bombs:
* "Miserable failure" no longer returns George W. Bush, Michael Moore, or Jimmy Carter websites. * "Worst president ever" now only returns pages that make the claim the GW Bush has earned that title. * "Waffles" no longer returns results that point to the John Kerry website. * Tony Blair's homepage no longer comes up under the search term "liar".
Unchanged Google Bombs:
* A search for "Scientology" still has the "Operation Clambake" listing in the #2 spot (2007-01-31). Operation Clambake is a website that is critical of Scientology. * "Click here" still points to the Adobe website (although this was not actually a GoogleBomb). * "French military victories" still goes to the same page on Albino Black Sheep when you hit "I feel lucky" on Google's search page. (I still get a kick out of this one.) * The "great president" GoogleBomb survived. It still points to Bush's bio on the White House website.
The Question On Everyone's Mind
Everyone seems to be asking the same question. How does Google defuse Google Bombs?
Well, Google isn't saying, so we are left to figure it out on our own. Based on what I was able to uncover in my study of Google Bombs, I came up with a theory.
What I have been able to take from the results shown above is that Google may have targeted only "negative links". If you want to review what is shown above, all of the Google Bombs that are now gone had negative connotations to them. All of the Google Bombs that survived can be construed as having positive, or at least non-negative, connotations to them.
If my assertion is correct, then average, ordinary webmasters will have nothing to fear from the Google Bomb update. My sites and my client's websites also reflect that the Google Bomb update did not have any affect on us.
Maybe I am just grasping at straws, but I don't think so. You be the judge... "Worst president" is gone, and "great president" survived. To me, that says a lot.
The Google Bombing Legacy Continues...
Following my logic, Google Bombing is still a possibility for those who Google Bomb with a positive set of anchor text keywords. So, some Google Bombs will continue to live well into the future.
In 2004, Search Engine Watch suggested that Google Bombs are better defined as Link Bombs, since they can affect all of the major search engines, including Yahoo and MSN.
Google has finally addressed link bombing in a positive way, but Yahoo and MSN are still prone to link bombing attacks. For example, as of this writing, MSN still has George in the top spot for "miserable failure" in the MSN Live results.
www.articlecity.com
Internet Marketing
by: Derek Robson
Part 1
This article is written from my own experiences, on the many problems facing South African based internet marketers. As a South African, myself, I have been trying to establish myself in internet marketing, for the last three years, but have come across a number of obstacles, which have proved seriously detrimental to my efforts. If you are South African, you can probably relate to this. If you have been battling what seem insurmountable odds, or if you are new to this concept, the message is the same. Stop wasting your time and your money on what is bound to be nothing less than - wasting your time and your money and I will explain why I said that. If you are an internet marketer, who is not South African, you should also read this article, because you are, unwittingly, leaving a lot of money on the table.
As we all know, South Africa is a part of Africa and is unfairly considered as a third world country, with the incorrect perception that this second largest continent, is nothing more than a waste of time, in the field of internet marketing. Well, I beg to differ. I will attempt to outline some of the misconceptions, obstacles, causes and remedies that I have encountered.
Yes, it is true that Africa has not progressed as much as the so called first world countries, but it is taking giant strides towards that. The advent of the internet, is only just beginning to catch on and the vast majority of the population, still have no access at all, but it is coming and it is coming fast. The internet is now available in all countries around the world and Africa is no different. We all know about the Nigerian internet scams. It is just that the vast majority of the population are poverty stricken and cannot afford the service, many are illiterate and the majority of the continent consists of large open spaces and small villages, making the physical provision of any basic services such as electricity, clean water, telephones and other communication devices extremely difficult. It is also an ongoing problem, where these desperate people steal cables and anything that can be traded for a meal. So, at this stage the internet is only available in the bigger metropolitan areas. It makes sense, doesn't it? Imagine how easy it is to supply services to a very densely populated area like England and where everyone is literate, in a fixed abode and living above the poverty line.
South Africa is the most technically advanced country in Africa and not far behind the standards of the other technology rich countries, but we are seriously lacking in internet technology. The internet is still very new to South Africa and has only just begun to catch on. It is experiencing a phenomenal growth rate and more and more businesses and individuals are "hooking up". All of the major cities are able to offer various means of connection such as ADSL, bluetooth, wireless and people are getting connected on their pcs, laptops and cellphones. The rural areas are battling to get connected and the only option available to them at this stage is the old antiquated dial up system using a telephone line, or via satellite. Promises have been made by government, that in a few years, everyone will be able to get a telephone and therefore, will have internet access available to them. This represents an enormous potential for wary marketers.
This is the overview of the situation with internet access in Africa and more particularly, South Africa. In the next article, we will look at some of the problems faced by South African users and the effects they have on internet marketing.
Part 2
Recent political changes, have reversed the fortunes of the South African population, in that the previously disadvantaged black community, now have money and the fine things in life, including access to the internet. Whereas before they wouldn't have been considered a viable market, they are now able to access the internet and dabble in small business. They want more. The whites, on the other hand, now find themselves out of work, unsure of the future and desperately seeking an alternative means of income. Both groups make good target markets, and both are particularly keen on using the internet to improve their lot in life. Remember, the internet is the biggest employer in the world and does not recognise age, colour, education, physical disabilities, wealth etc. People hear of the successes achieved on the internet and are fooled into looking for a quick fix. The internet and marketing via this medium, gives everyone an equal opportunity, well, almost everyone. Not South Africans, unfortunately.
Something like 70% of the S.A internet community, access the internet on the computers at their places of employment and as much as two hours each workday, is lost to private usage of the internet. Obviously these people are not all looking for ways to make money, but a large percentage are. These people who are newly exposed to all the hype on the internet are easily sucked in to believing the sales pitch. A lot of money is being spent on all sorts of junk and causing many heartbroken families. I was like that too. I firmly believed I could make a lot of money on the internet and set about joining all sorts of schemes. They do not work, but these desperate and naïve people don't know that. Imagine if it was possible to guide them, to channel all that energy and curiosity and of course all that money into your bank account? If those people all trusted you and listened to your advice, if you were able to develop well thought out plans and business opportunities? If those people all joined your membership site?
One of the biggest drawbacks in S.A is that the internet and allied services are still very expensive and difficulty in finding a good service provider. Other first world countries have direct, fast, unlimited service at very reasonable prices and if they do experience problems with the service provider, there are plenty of others to try. According to a recent survey, something like 70% of all internet users, regularly access the 'net from their places of employment. The employer provides pcs and internet for business purposes and these curious people cheat their employers, by using his service for private usage. People send emails to friends, go shopping, download files, look at pornography, play games, gamble and read classifieds and other adverts for a better job, or an easy method of earning more money. From this survey it was estimated that as much as 85% of this target group were looking for self employment opportunities. Now, that's a lot of people! If the price of internet access was cheaper, all these people would use it at home. In fact, most do have internet access at home, but due to small caps on their usage and exorbitant prices, they rather use the employer's service. My point is that millions are searching for opportunities on the internet and the fact that crime is rampant only makes them more determined, to start a business from home. This is a huge potential for marketers. So what is the problem? Why are more South Africans actively getting involved? In the next article, we will start looking at these problem areas.
Part 3
As the internet is still relatively new to South Africa, we don't have many experts, or experience in the field. Those calling themselves experts, have only a limited knowledge and are far too expensive, when compared to overseas competitors. Simple things like service provision, web hosting, design and site building, software, tools, optimisation and advertising, are grossly overpriced. In most cases, they are bought overseas and resold here. I was given a quote, last month, of R120 ($17) per month, for basic, small webhosting service, excluding the domain registration and excluding the internet service provision. That was only the hosting! I was quoted R6000 ($857) for a designer, to look at one of my websites and to make a couple of small changes. It is crazy. We pay between R8 and R12 for an mp3 song, which costs from 10c to 90c in the U.S.A.
The state owned telecommunications company, Telkom, have the monopoly and squash all opposition. This has led to very highly priced access and an indifferent service. Nearly all packages offered by them, or sub contactor service providers, are restricted and capped. The actual service, the technical help and the customer relations are dreadful. The dial up service is very unreliable, the speeds are far lower than advertised, due to the poor state of the physical 'phone lines and the modems cost the earth. Take the U.S.A for example, where there are something like 800 million people with regular access and hundreds of competitors all offering better prices. The internet is a way of life and the huge speeds and download capabilities are taken for granted. In South Africa only something like 27 million have any form of access, largely due to the high costs. I got a quote from Telkom last week for satellite service. The basic installation cost is R3100 ($443), paid upfront. The monthly rental for the satellite service, capped at 3 Gigs, is R1263 ($180) and I still need a service provider who comes in at a basic charge of R284 ($40) plus consumption and of course I still need to keep my basic phone service for R110 ($16) plus call usage. Once the cap is reached, the service is suspended and additional packages can be purchased for R120 ($17) per 250 Megs. So in all it will cost me, monthly, around R2317 ($331) for a basic internet service of 4Gigs and a phone at home. Obviously there are cheaper options available in the cities, but living out of town, there is no choice. By the way, a friend living in the U.S.A got a similar quote for only $40 (R280) per month and his service boasted more facilities and no capping whatsoever.
For some reason, probably the old apartheid days, South Africa was boycotted by the wealthy first world countries and nobody has told them yet, that times have changed. South Africans suffer many discriminatory obstacles in the use of the internet and over the last few years, I have repeatedly been stumped by these. I have two messages of advice here. To the frustrated, aspirant South African marketers and those who will follow shortly, stop and listen. Do not waste more time and money trying all sorts of offers, you will not succeed. Rather use the time to brush up on your skills. Select a market niche and learn to use control panel, FTP, html, php, hyperlinks and all the other things, that will help you to run your business. Wait for the solution. I have enlisted the help of two of the world's top marketers to find a way around the problems, for you. To the marketers who are knowingly, or unknowingly discriminating against certain countries, you are leaving money on the table and missing out on a huge potential market. But, that's okay, I'll take it. These are some of the more general problems experienced by South Africans. In the next article, we will look at some of the specific problems affecting our marketing abilities.
Part 4
By now, you are probably wondering what other problems I'm talking about and how they are affecting our chances of success. If you have been involved for a while, you have probably encountered a few of these yourself and if you are a newbie, you are likely to still come across these problems soon.
There are obvious generalities that exclude South Africans from participating. We joined about 163 survey companies, when we first started out on the internet. We soon found out that most were American companies and only for Americans. That makes sense, when the product, or service being rated is only available there, but why do they mislead us and take our money. You must have seen the misleading ads about how quick and easy it is to earn money by doing simple surveys. A lot of them claim to be international, for anybody who understands English. The same thing happens. You are invited to do the survey, but as soon as you type in your address, you are told it is not available in your area. We wasted a lot of money on these. The foolproof unconditional money back guarantees are a lot of hogwash. Just ignore them.
The same thing happened with the typing services. My wife joined a few of them, with the promise, that as long as she had a basic working knowledge of English, no experience was necessary. Money as easy and fast to earn, on simple assignments. Well, she wasn't given any assignments and on enquiring as to the reason, she was told that we spell differently. That was not ever mentioned at the time of joining and was also money wasted. For Pete's sake, we speak and spell correctly. It is the Americans who changed the language.
We also joined a lot of companies who promised to pay us for surfing and reading emails. We worked our butts off and eventually, after almost a year, had earned a whopping $247000! We tried to cash in, but were then told that no cheques could be issued. Monies were only paid into American bank accounts. They said they were an international company and anyone in the world could join. But, not get paid.
We often see special promos on free hosting, free domain registration and other all too important services. All looks great from the outside, but as soon as we apply we find out that we are unfortunately not eligible. I don't know how many times I have won prizes. Cash, free products, a trip, ocean cruises, but on trying to claim them, I'm told they don't apply to South Africans.
Very often, freebies are included to sweeten a deal. I joined a music site for mp3 downloads. The price was inclusive of a whole bunch of bonuses. I was to get meal tickets, petrol (gas) coupons, membership of some or other club, discounts on shopping, blah, blah, blah. Needles to say, I joined and paid full price, but never got any of the goodies that all my American counterparts received. I am very into music and 2 years ago I purchased Music Match Jukebox, with free updates for life, access to the online music shop and full usage of something I think was called Radio Gold. It was full access to 150 live radio stations. After I received my purchase, all I had was the jukebox and the promise of updates. On enquiry, I was told "Sorry, but this offer doesn't apply to you", but I paid the full price. Why don't they tell us before we pay? Why don't we get a discount? This seems to be common practice and apart from the obvious discrimination and disappointment is false advertising.
Anyway, these are some problems I have experienced, but not really connected in any way to our functionality at internet marketing. What are the problems facing South African marketers? More in the next article.
Part 5
We have covered quite a few problems facing South Africans already and here are some more.
Overseas companies, particularly those in the U.S.A, offering opportunities, services and resources, usually require a fixed email address, at the time of joining. This is to prevent temporary accounts and others such as Hotmail, from being used, as it is very easy to cancel, or change, after joining and the marketer is left with a useless address, in his contact list. South Africans have another problem, in that most of our suffixes, such as .co.za, telkomsa, za, are not allowed. Usually your country is required and many of the drop down menus have small, insignificant countries such as Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mauritius, Ivory Coast listed, but not South Africa. So we have to get ourselves an email address with an overseas company, just to comply. Why?
We, as South Africans, have no shopping carts, or payment processors, suitable for international use, or integration, into overseas websites and the biggest culprit is PayPay. They are the first choice, worldwide and any marketer not offering PayPal, as a means of payment, is seriously disadvantaged. Why then, do they not deal with South Africa? Sure, you can make a purchase through them, but they will not collect monies for you, or allow you to make a withdrawal, if you are South African. Other smaller countries are catered for, but not S.A. There are other options, but none as popular. Most payments, affiliate plans and opportunities, pay through PayPal. I joined dozens of respected affiliate plans and spent a great deal of effort, on advertising, before I found out the truth.
A few months ago, I was experiencing the common problems all new marketers face. I knew what I wanted to do, but not how to actually get it done. I'm talking about the setting up, in order to start business. I needed a domain name, a website, content and products, a hosting service, a shopping cart, a mailing list facility, a form for grabbing visitor's details, a payment processor, or two, etc etc. You know what I'm talking about. There are so many options available. The web is full of them. Some are free, some cheap, some having special offers, but which was the best for my needs? Nobody tells you that sort of information. How much space do you need for a bookstore, how much bandwidth do you need for customer downloads? How does the speed affect you? I had played around a bit with wysiwyg editors and done a little html coding. I had used a couple of free websites and hey, the last one I built without their website templated builder. I thought I was getting good, but still a little out of my depth. That scared me a bit, so I decided to look for a ready made, turnkey business. They all say the only thing you need to do is to enter your password and account details, then sit back and watch the money roll in. Well I eventually found something that sounded ideal. It was expensive, but I thought I would be saving in the long run. I wanted to sell ebooks, articles, plr, courses and so on. I paid for this business, as I had seen the example and even test drove the shopping cart prior to purchase. Just when I thought I had found a shortcut to starting my business, the problems began. What problems? Read the next article to find out and to see the solution.
Part 6
We were talking about the problems I encountered after I had bought the bookstore. Well firstly, the whole bookstore was inphp with cpanel control panel, my sql and a whole lot of Greek terms. You remember I had worked with online and offline editors in wysiwyg and a little html. Well now I was lost. I was warned not to try to edit in an html editor, or I would corrupt the php. I had never used these before and couldn't understand why I couldn't find the pages, to edit them. Then I found that the currencies shown on the products were not compatible with the Rand, but I thought so what, I'll just sell in dollars. Then I found that PayPal was not an option. Damn, but hey, I could still use NoChex, or the other one, I forget the name. No way, Jose, those weren't allowed either. I had to have a banking account in USA or UK. I eventually got EGold to work, but how many people pay with gold? That bookstore is still sitting, gathering dust.
There are no local, South African internet companies, for memberships, product sourcing, resources, search engine optimisation etc, so we have to look abroad. Although these are offered reasonably, overseas, we are still subjected to the exchange rate. At present the rate is 7 to the $, 14 to the Pound and around 9 to the Euro, but even so, it is usually cheaper, than our own prices and of course you are spoilt for choice.
Training is another area seriously lacking. With all the conferences, seminars, teleseminars, video training and group discussions unavailable to us in S.A, how are we expected to learn and to keep abreast of developments? Dial up is not powerful enough and anyway it is limited to times between 7pm and 7am, which is a bad time, as even if you stay up all night, it is roughly midnight to midmorning in the States. So how do we learn?
So, with a very limited number of companies prepared to do business with us, with our lack of choice, with our very expensive internet service, with very little access to all the great offers, with our SA email addresses, with our antiquated dial ups, without access to genuine training videos, with the exorbitant exchange rate, with our different spelling, without any reciprocal banks or payment processors, without a compatible shopping cart, with the scams and rip offs and all the rest we have discussed, can South Africans ever hope to get involved in internet marketing?
The truth is rather bleak. Nobody is worried about us, or the problems we have and nobody seems to care. The big "guru" marketers don't seem to be able to think outside their statelines and regard us as a waste of time. They are happy to take our money, though. But wait, there does seem to be a solution for you. As I said earlier, I have teamed up with two of the world's top marketers and together, we are trying to resolve these issues. We will put together a complete, turnkey package deal, a ready to run business, with domain, hosting, website, content, decent affiliate plans, a stream of products, an exclusive membership, a working shopping cart and payment processor, training and ongoing support, a proven plan, optimisation, adsense and other monetised methods for those poor South Africans, who want to be marketers. The hardest part of having your own business, is setting it up and getting it working. You will be able to enter the market place and do very well for yourselves, with our help, so in the meantime, there are a few things you must do.
Familiarise yourself with market trends and choose a niche market, in which you want to trade. Start practicing the basics and learn how things work. Get your mind sorted out. Tell yourself you can do it and will change your life. Sign up to our newsletter and mailings. If you really want to finally realise your dreams, give up the job, work from home, earn a good income, have flexibility and satisfaction, and be competitive in the international arena, then there is only one way you are going to acquire this - through us.
To remain informed of our progress, by newsletter and mail, to get recommended tools and lessons and to start your journey to wealth, sign up here. It's free. Click this link : http://dersalsites.com/newsletter/
Part 1
This article is written from my own experiences, on the many problems facing South African based internet marketers. As a South African, myself, I have been trying to establish myself in internet marketing, for the last three years, but have come across a number of obstacles, which have proved seriously detrimental to my efforts. If you are South African, you can probably relate to this. If you have been battling what seem insurmountable odds, or if you are new to this concept, the message is the same. Stop wasting your time and your money on what is bound to be nothing less than - wasting your time and your money and I will explain why I said that. If you are an internet marketer, who is not South African, you should also read this article, because you are, unwittingly, leaving a lot of money on the table.
As we all know, South Africa is a part of Africa and is unfairly considered as a third world country, with the incorrect perception that this second largest continent, is nothing more than a waste of time, in the field of internet marketing. Well, I beg to differ. I will attempt to outline some of the misconceptions, obstacles, causes and remedies that I have encountered.
Yes, it is true that Africa has not progressed as much as the so called first world countries, but it is taking giant strides towards that. The advent of the internet, is only just beginning to catch on and the vast majority of the population, still have no access at all, but it is coming and it is coming fast. The internet is now available in all countries around the world and Africa is no different. We all know about the Nigerian internet scams. It is just that the vast majority of the population are poverty stricken and cannot afford the service, many are illiterate and the majority of the continent consists of large open spaces and small villages, making the physical provision of any basic services such as electricity, clean water, telephones and other communication devices extremely difficult. It is also an ongoing problem, where these desperate people steal cables and anything that can be traded for a meal. So, at this stage the internet is only available in the bigger metropolitan areas. It makes sense, doesn't it? Imagine how easy it is to supply services to a very densely populated area like England and where everyone is literate, in a fixed abode and living above the poverty line.
South Africa is the most technically advanced country in Africa and not far behind the standards of the other technology rich countries, but we are seriously lacking in internet technology. The internet is still very new to South Africa and has only just begun to catch on. It is experiencing a phenomenal growth rate and more and more businesses and individuals are "hooking up". All of the major cities are able to offer various means of connection such as ADSL, bluetooth, wireless and people are getting connected on their pcs, laptops and cellphones. The rural areas are battling to get connected and the only option available to them at this stage is the old antiquated dial up system using a telephone line, or via satellite. Promises have been made by government, that in a few years, everyone will be able to get a telephone and therefore, will have internet access available to them. This represents an enormous potential for wary marketers.
This is the overview of the situation with internet access in Africa and more particularly, South Africa. In the next article, we will look at some of the problems faced by South African users and the effects they have on internet marketing.
Part 2
Recent political changes, have reversed the fortunes of the South African population, in that the previously disadvantaged black community, now have money and the fine things in life, including access to the internet. Whereas before they wouldn't have been considered a viable market, they are now able to access the internet and dabble in small business. They want more. The whites, on the other hand, now find themselves out of work, unsure of the future and desperately seeking an alternative means of income. Both groups make good target markets, and both are particularly keen on using the internet to improve their lot in life. Remember, the internet is the biggest employer in the world and does not recognise age, colour, education, physical disabilities, wealth etc. People hear of the successes achieved on the internet and are fooled into looking for a quick fix. The internet and marketing via this medium, gives everyone an equal opportunity, well, almost everyone. Not South Africans, unfortunately.
Something like 70% of the S.A internet community, access the internet on the computers at their places of employment and as much as two hours each workday, is lost to private usage of the internet. Obviously these people are not all looking for ways to make money, but a large percentage are. These people who are newly exposed to all the hype on the internet are easily sucked in to believing the sales pitch. A lot of money is being spent on all sorts of junk and causing many heartbroken families. I was like that too. I firmly believed I could make a lot of money on the internet and set about joining all sorts of schemes. They do not work, but these desperate and naïve people don't know that. Imagine if it was possible to guide them, to channel all that energy and curiosity and of course all that money into your bank account? If those people all trusted you and listened to your advice, if you were able to develop well thought out plans and business opportunities? If those people all joined your membership site?
One of the biggest drawbacks in S.A is that the internet and allied services are still very expensive and difficulty in finding a good service provider. Other first world countries have direct, fast, unlimited service at very reasonable prices and if they do experience problems with the service provider, there are plenty of others to try. According to a recent survey, something like 70% of all internet users, regularly access the 'net from their places of employment. The employer provides pcs and internet for business purposes and these curious people cheat their employers, by using his service for private usage. People send emails to friends, go shopping, download files, look at pornography, play games, gamble and read classifieds and other adverts for a better job, or an easy method of earning more money. From this survey it was estimated that as much as 85% of this target group were looking for self employment opportunities. Now, that's a lot of people! If the price of internet access was cheaper, all these people would use it at home. In fact, most do have internet access at home, but due to small caps on their usage and exorbitant prices, they rather use the employer's service. My point is that millions are searching for opportunities on the internet and the fact that crime is rampant only makes them more determined, to start a business from home. This is a huge potential for marketers. So what is the problem? Why are more South Africans actively getting involved? In the next article, we will start looking at these problem areas.
Part 3
As the internet is still relatively new to South Africa, we don't have many experts, or experience in the field. Those calling themselves experts, have only a limited knowledge and are far too expensive, when compared to overseas competitors. Simple things like service provision, web hosting, design and site building, software, tools, optimisation and advertising, are grossly overpriced. In most cases, they are bought overseas and resold here. I was given a quote, last month, of R120 ($17) per month, for basic, small webhosting service, excluding the domain registration and excluding the internet service provision. That was only the hosting! I was quoted R6000 ($857) for a designer, to look at one of my websites and to make a couple of small changes. It is crazy. We pay between R8 and R12 for an mp3 song, which costs from 10c to 90c in the U.S.A.
The state owned telecommunications company, Telkom, have the monopoly and squash all opposition. This has led to very highly priced access and an indifferent service. Nearly all packages offered by them, or sub contactor service providers, are restricted and capped. The actual service, the technical help and the customer relations are dreadful. The dial up service is very unreliable, the speeds are far lower than advertised, due to the poor state of the physical 'phone lines and the modems cost the earth. Take the U.S.A for example, where there are something like 800 million people with regular access and hundreds of competitors all offering better prices. The internet is a way of life and the huge speeds and download capabilities are taken for granted. In South Africa only something like 27 million have any form of access, largely due to the high costs. I got a quote from Telkom last week for satellite service. The basic installation cost is R3100 ($443), paid upfront. The monthly rental for the satellite service, capped at 3 Gigs, is R1263 ($180) and I still need a service provider who comes in at a basic charge of R284 ($40) plus consumption and of course I still need to keep my basic phone service for R110 ($16) plus call usage. Once the cap is reached, the service is suspended and additional packages can be purchased for R120 ($17) per 250 Megs. So in all it will cost me, monthly, around R2317 ($331) for a basic internet service of 4Gigs and a phone at home. Obviously there are cheaper options available in the cities, but living out of town, there is no choice. By the way, a friend living in the U.S.A got a similar quote for only $40 (R280) per month and his service boasted more facilities and no capping whatsoever.
For some reason, probably the old apartheid days, South Africa was boycotted by the wealthy first world countries and nobody has told them yet, that times have changed. South Africans suffer many discriminatory obstacles in the use of the internet and over the last few years, I have repeatedly been stumped by these. I have two messages of advice here. To the frustrated, aspirant South African marketers and those who will follow shortly, stop and listen. Do not waste more time and money trying all sorts of offers, you will not succeed. Rather use the time to brush up on your skills. Select a market niche and learn to use control panel, FTP, html, php, hyperlinks and all the other things, that will help you to run your business. Wait for the solution. I have enlisted the help of two of the world's top marketers to find a way around the problems, for you. To the marketers who are knowingly, or unknowingly discriminating against certain countries, you are leaving money on the table and missing out on a huge potential market. But, that's okay, I'll take it. These are some of the more general problems experienced by South Africans. In the next article, we will look at some of the specific problems affecting our marketing abilities.
Part 4
By now, you are probably wondering what other problems I'm talking about and how they are affecting our chances of success. If you have been involved for a while, you have probably encountered a few of these yourself and if you are a newbie, you are likely to still come across these problems soon.
There are obvious generalities that exclude South Africans from participating. We joined about 163 survey companies, when we first started out on the internet. We soon found out that most were American companies and only for Americans. That makes sense, when the product, or service being rated is only available there, but why do they mislead us and take our money. You must have seen the misleading ads about how quick and easy it is to earn money by doing simple surveys. A lot of them claim to be international, for anybody who understands English. The same thing happens. You are invited to do the survey, but as soon as you type in your address, you are told it is not available in your area. We wasted a lot of money on these. The foolproof unconditional money back guarantees are a lot of hogwash. Just ignore them.
The same thing happened with the typing services. My wife joined a few of them, with the promise, that as long as she had a basic working knowledge of English, no experience was necessary. Money as easy and fast to earn, on simple assignments. Well, she wasn't given any assignments and on enquiring as to the reason, she was told that we spell differently. That was not ever mentioned at the time of joining and was also money wasted. For Pete's sake, we speak and spell correctly. It is the Americans who changed the language.
We also joined a lot of companies who promised to pay us for surfing and reading emails. We worked our butts off and eventually, after almost a year, had earned a whopping $247000! We tried to cash in, but were then told that no cheques could be issued. Monies were only paid into American bank accounts. They said they were an international company and anyone in the world could join. But, not get paid.
We often see special promos on free hosting, free domain registration and other all too important services. All looks great from the outside, but as soon as we apply we find out that we are unfortunately not eligible. I don't know how many times I have won prizes. Cash, free products, a trip, ocean cruises, but on trying to claim them, I'm told they don't apply to South Africans.
Very often, freebies are included to sweeten a deal. I joined a music site for mp3 downloads. The price was inclusive of a whole bunch of bonuses. I was to get meal tickets, petrol (gas) coupons, membership of some or other club, discounts on shopping, blah, blah, blah. Needles to say, I joined and paid full price, but never got any of the goodies that all my American counterparts received. I am very into music and 2 years ago I purchased Music Match Jukebox, with free updates for life, access to the online music shop and full usage of something I think was called Radio Gold. It was full access to 150 live radio stations. After I received my purchase, all I had was the jukebox and the promise of updates. On enquiry, I was told "Sorry, but this offer doesn't apply to you", but I paid the full price. Why don't they tell us before we pay? Why don't we get a discount? This seems to be common practice and apart from the obvious discrimination and disappointment is false advertising.
Anyway, these are some problems I have experienced, but not really connected in any way to our functionality at internet marketing. What are the problems facing South African marketers? More in the next article.
Part 5
We have covered quite a few problems facing South Africans already and here are some more.
Overseas companies, particularly those in the U.S.A, offering opportunities, services and resources, usually require a fixed email address, at the time of joining. This is to prevent temporary accounts and others such as Hotmail, from being used, as it is very easy to cancel, or change, after joining and the marketer is left with a useless address, in his contact list. South Africans have another problem, in that most of our suffixes, such as .co.za, telkomsa, za, are not allowed. Usually your country is required and many of the drop down menus have small, insignificant countries such as Zimbabwe, Malawi, Mauritius, Ivory Coast listed, but not South Africa. So we have to get ourselves an email address with an overseas company, just to comply. Why?
We, as South Africans, have no shopping carts, or payment processors, suitable for international use, or integration, into overseas websites and the biggest culprit is PayPay. They are the first choice, worldwide and any marketer not offering PayPal, as a means of payment, is seriously disadvantaged. Why then, do they not deal with South Africa? Sure, you can make a purchase through them, but they will not collect monies for you, or allow you to make a withdrawal, if you are South African. Other smaller countries are catered for, but not S.A. There are other options, but none as popular. Most payments, affiliate plans and opportunities, pay through PayPal. I joined dozens of respected affiliate plans and spent a great deal of effort, on advertising, before I found out the truth.
A few months ago, I was experiencing the common problems all new marketers face. I knew what I wanted to do, but not how to actually get it done. I'm talking about the setting up, in order to start business. I needed a domain name, a website, content and products, a hosting service, a shopping cart, a mailing list facility, a form for grabbing visitor's details, a payment processor, or two, etc etc. You know what I'm talking about. There are so many options available. The web is full of them. Some are free, some cheap, some having special offers, but which was the best for my needs? Nobody tells you that sort of information. How much space do you need for a bookstore, how much bandwidth do you need for customer downloads? How does the speed affect you? I had played around a bit with wysiwyg editors and done a little html coding. I had used a couple of free websites and hey, the last one I built without their website templated builder. I thought I was getting good, but still a little out of my depth. That scared me a bit, so I decided to look for a ready made, turnkey business. They all say the only thing you need to do is to enter your password and account details, then sit back and watch the money roll in. Well I eventually found something that sounded ideal. It was expensive, but I thought I would be saving in the long run. I wanted to sell ebooks, articles, plr, courses and so on. I paid for this business, as I had seen the example and even test drove the shopping cart prior to purchase. Just when I thought I had found a shortcut to starting my business, the problems began. What problems? Read the next article to find out and to see the solution.
Part 6
We were talking about the problems I encountered after I had bought the bookstore. Well firstly, the whole bookstore was inphp with cpanel control panel, my sql and a whole lot of Greek terms. You remember I had worked with online and offline editors in wysiwyg and a little html. Well now I was lost. I was warned not to try to edit in an html editor, or I would corrupt the php. I had never used these before and couldn't understand why I couldn't find the pages, to edit them. Then I found that the currencies shown on the products were not compatible with the Rand, but I thought so what, I'll just sell in dollars. Then I found that PayPal was not an option. Damn, but hey, I could still use NoChex, or the other one, I forget the name. No way, Jose, those weren't allowed either. I had to have a banking account in USA or UK. I eventually got EGold to work, but how many people pay with gold? That bookstore is still sitting, gathering dust.
There are no local, South African internet companies, for memberships, product sourcing, resources, search engine optimisation etc, so we have to look abroad. Although these are offered reasonably, overseas, we are still subjected to the exchange rate. At present the rate is 7 to the $, 14 to the Pound and around 9 to the Euro, but even so, it is usually cheaper, than our own prices and of course you are spoilt for choice.
Training is another area seriously lacking. With all the conferences, seminars, teleseminars, video training and group discussions unavailable to us in S.A, how are we expected to learn and to keep abreast of developments? Dial up is not powerful enough and anyway it is limited to times between 7pm and 7am, which is a bad time, as even if you stay up all night, it is roughly midnight to midmorning in the States. So how do we learn?
So, with a very limited number of companies prepared to do business with us, with our lack of choice, with our very expensive internet service, with very little access to all the great offers, with our SA email addresses, with our antiquated dial ups, without access to genuine training videos, with the exorbitant exchange rate, with our different spelling, without any reciprocal banks or payment processors, without a compatible shopping cart, with the scams and rip offs and all the rest we have discussed, can South Africans ever hope to get involved in internet marketing?
The truth is rather bleak. Nobody is worried about us, or the problems we have and nobody seems to care. The big "guru" marketers don't seem to be able to think outside their statelines and regard us as a waste of time. They are happy to take our money, though. But wait, there does seem to be a solution for you. As I said earlier, I have teamed up with two of the world's top marketers and together, we are trying to resolve these issues. We will put together a complete, turnkey package deal, a ready to run business, with domain, hosting, website, content, decent affiliate plans, a stream of products, an exclusive membership, a working shopping cart and payment processor, training and ongoing support, a proven plan, optimisation, adsense and other monetised methods for those poor South Africans, who want to be marketers. The hardest part of having your own business, is setting it up and getting it working. You will be able to enter the market place and do very well for yourselves, with our help, so in the meantime, there are a few things you must do.
Familiarise yourself with market trends and choose a niche market, in which you want to trade. Start practicing the basics and learn how things work. Get your mind sorted out. Tell yourself you can do it and will change your life. Sign up to our newsletter and mailings. If you really want to finally realise your dreams, give up the job, work from home, earn a good income, have flexibility and satisfaction, and be competitive in the international arena, then there is only one way you are going to acquire this - through us.
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