Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Rick Santorum Woos Voters with Apple-Inspired 1984 Ad [Video]

Apple's 1984 Super Bowl ad is incredible. I still get the shivers every time I see it, which is probably why Rick Santorum's campaign is trying to use it to rally the people against Mitt Romney. But what exactly is Santorum's revoltution? More »


Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/_9rNmd6e2j0/rick-santorum-woos-voters-with-ad-inspired-by-apples-1984-spot

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Don't wait too long to trade your iPad 2

7 hrs.

via Gadgetbox

News and reviews about the hardware you want and the software you need.

When's the best time to trade in your iPad 2? Yesterday. But since that's gone, the next best answer is: As soon as possible.

You'll get top dollar for the iPad 2 if you trade it in or sell it within the next week. Once the iPad 3, as it's unofficially called for now, is announced by Apple March 7, prices on used iPads could drop by as much as 25 percent or more from what they are at this moment (er, make that "this second"-- that's how volatile the trade-in market can be).

What is top dollar? For a 16 GB, Wi-Fi only iPad 2, now selling for $499 by Apple -- which will likely cut that price when the new iPad is unveiled -- here's a snapshot look at pricing for that same model from two top trade-in websites, Gazelle and NextWorth (and again, the pricing may change even within hours of this story being posted):

The same iPad, but with both Wi-Fi and 3G, will net you $338.99 ("like new/flawless")? from NextWorth, or $308.18 ("good" condition).

Gazelle pays slightly more for iPads that use AT&T's GSM technology (which is more widespread around the world) than Verizon's CDMA network (only used here in the U.S.).

So, if you have an AT&T 3G iPad 2 you're looking at a trade-in price of $310 if it's in "flawless" condition, and $290 if it's in "good" condition. If you've got a Verizon 3G iPad, you'll fetch about $20 less.

There are other places to trade your iPad, including CExchange, and via major retailers like Amazon, Best Buy and Radio Shack.

  • NextWorth says it will pay $286.49 for that model in "like new/flawless" condition; in "good" condition, $260.45.
  • Gazelle says an iPad 2 in "flawless" condition -- including no scratches, comes with original box, all parts working -- is $260; in "good" condition (which most iPads are, Gazelle says): $240.

"The best time to trade in an iPad 2 and get the most value is now," a spokesperson for NextWorth told msnbc.com. The trade-in website has seen an 814 percent increase in iPad 2s being sold by their owners "from January to February already."

Gazelle, which will honor your trade-in price for 30 days, said it, too, has seen a huge jump in trade-ins in the past few weeks, even before Tuesday's news of the iPad 3 announcement.

"On Feb. 9 (when there were iPad 3 rumors), Gazelle saw a 500 percent increase in trades, compared to the previous day," Anthony Scarsella, Gazelle's chief gadget officer, told msnbc.com. "iPads alone on that day were 8 percent of our total trade-in volume. Heading into the next six days, Gazelle then witnessed a 400 percent increase in iPads as the March 7 release date rumors landed."

Interestingly, "with this uptick we also saw a 50 percent increase in Android tablets which included a 25 percent increase in Amazon Kindle Fire tablets," Scarsella said.

"With the possibility of an iPad 2 price cut, and or an iPad 8-inch model, our iPad prices are at their highest point. They should stay steady heading into the launch but will quickly start to downward spiral soon after the (March 7) announcement."

Check out Technolog, Gadgetbox, Digital Life and In-Game on?Facebook,?and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.

Source: http://www.technolog.msnbc.msn.com/technology/technolog/dont-wait-too-long-trade-your-ipad-2-238366

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Tuesday, February 28, 2012

CHAMPS2: Change Management ? Innovation by Design ...

28 February 2012

Birmingham?s transformation programme -?CHAMPS2 is a proven, vision led, benefit driven business change methodology supporting holistic change across processes, organisation structure and technology. The method was developed in 2006 by Birmingham City Council in conjunction with its partners and has supported the delivery of the most comprehensive IT-enabled transformational change programme in the UK public sector.

Large IT-enabled transformational change projects are notoriously risky ? according to figures from the Boston Consulting Group, on average 71% of major change programmes fail to deliver the benefits on which they were originally based. CHAMPS2 was designed to manage out that risk, and it has succeeded. Birmingham?s business transformation programme (with ?683m of investment probably the largest IT-enabled change programme ever undertaken in local government), is on track to deliver over 95% of the intended benefits.

IT-enabled change projects fail because they focus on:

  • implementing the technology, not the comprehensive change that is required; and
  • managing inputs and milestones and ignore the need to manage outcomes.

CHAMPS2 was designed to overcome these limitations ? it is both systemic and systematic. Systemic means that it takes an holistic approach to service redesign, encompassing all components of the future service model ? people and process as well as technology. Systematic means that it insists on clear definition of outcomes and then follows a defined path to the realisation of those outcomes.

Specific local challenges

The main challenge that Birmingham City Council faced in delivering an IT-enabled change programme was not specific to Birmingham, it was far more general. IT projects in the public sector so often fail to deliver the expected benefits that failure is now the expectation. And despite numerous attempts to investigate and propose remedies (the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee first looked at this in 1983 and has carried out well over twenty subsequent investigations), failures continue to occur.

That was core challenge facing the City Council. Significant change was required to improve a number of under-performing services. In addition, whilst the Council was prepared to make initial investment in improving those services, overall the change programme was required to realise substantial savings. It therefore needed a way to ensure that the improvements and the savings flowed from the investment.

A secondary challenge was that a change programme of the scale envisaged would inevitably need to be broken down into subsidiary projects. A single approach to business transformation was required that would provide consistency across the Council and its partners. Adopting the common approach across the partnership was designed to establish a common language, reduce duplication of effort, provide best practice tools and templates and minimise risks and reduce cost. The common approach provided programme teams with a best practice and benefits-driven method, tools and templates, complemented by a quality management framework.

To address these challenges, working with Service Birmingham, a joint venture established through a strategic partnership with Capita, the Council developed CHAMPS2. And it has succeeded in its ambitions. The result is that in Birmingham IT-enabled change projects do not fail.

Key achievements

CHAMPS2 has supported the delivery of a major IT-enabled change programme, the largest such programme ever delivered in the UK public sector. It set out to:

  • To achieve a step-change in the quality of services, placing BCC in the top decile compared with other UK local authorities, with an emphasis on significantly increasing customer satisfaction
  • To deliver a 15% productivity improvement
  • To increase employees? job satisfaction, again placing BCC in the top decile of UK local authorities.

At the mid stage of Birmingham?s ten year transformation, by April 2011 the change programme has realised major improvements for taxpayers, for customers, for managers and for employees.

Benefits for taxpayers

  • Recurring annual savings have now reached ?100m and the total saved to date is ?250m.
  • By streamlining processes and using the latest mobile technology, rent arrears reduced by ?5 million;
  • Contribution based incremental progression has been implemented, realising a 50% saving in the cost of increments.
  • Off contract spend reduced to less than 1%.

Benefits for customers

  • Streamlined customer services with first time resolution through channel of choice.
  • Real-time information for customers on the progress of their requests.
  • Customer insight capability introduced to develop a deep understanding of customers? needs and preferences.
  • Introduced a choice based lettings service which puts customers in control when they are looking for a new home.
  • More than 30% of eligible adults had an individual budget by end of March 2011.
  • Better for business customers too ? 95% of invoices paid on time (compared with less than 70% previously).

Benefits for managers

  • Clear objective and target setting for individuals which allows the Council to maximise and reward contributions.
  • A consistent performance management framework with timely, accurate, and accessible management information.

Benefits for employees

  • A self-service HR system cutting out layers of unnecessary administrative process.
  • Refurbished, fit-for-purpose offices supporting agile working with 50% increase in occupancy.
  • All financial transactions available on-line and consistent across the Council.

In many ways the most significant achievement, however, is the development of CHAMPS2, which has enabled the realisation of all the other achievements.

By using the CHAMPS2 eight phase framework, organisations can create the vision but, critically, also ensure the programme defines and refines benefits at every stage. The vision is supported by defined outcomes; with each outcome linked to key, demonstrable benefits. The framework prompts the organisation both to define the required outcomes, and the measures that will be used to demonstrate whether or not outcomes and benefits are achieved.

Taking this approach ensures CHAMPS2 can support an organisation in managing risk and in sustaining its focus on realising benefits throughout the programme lifecycle. The model is split into 8 phases. The first phases take the organisation through the development of the business case, strategic, outline and full. This provides an organisation with a comprehensive business case, supported by detailed outcomes, plus the costs and benefits of the new approach.

In the middle phases of the CHAMPS2 programme, the solution is designed, developed and tested before it is fully implemented. Throughout these phases, the outcomes and benefits models are continually refined and benefit ownership is allocated to ensure specific individuals are tasked with the responsibility for achieving these benefits.

The last two phases of CHAMPS2, arguably the most crucial ones, focus heavily on realising these benefits. Monitoring and alerting is used to raise awareness of any problems in achieving benefits delivery, allowing the organisation to undertake rapid review and reallocation of resources or skills as required ensuring the benefits realisation gets back on track.

CHAMPS2 is both comprehensive (there are over 500 potential activities, supplemented with templates, guidance, and completed examples) and flexible (which of the activities you deploy depends on individual circumstances).

The full CHAMPS2 methodology has been placed in the public domain (www.champs2.info) and is available free of charge. Training with formal qualification is available, accredited by APMG International

http://www.apmg-international.com/APMG-UK/CHAMPS2/CHAMPS2home.asp

Supporting Evidence

In addition to the evidence of success presented on the previous section, the business change projects supported by CHAMPS2 have garnered numerous awards:

  • Innovation and Progress Customer Service Award in the Guardian Public Service Awards
  • e-government national awards 2010; e-government excellence: Innovation in strategy at a local level.
  • HR Efficiency & Business Impact Award ? Public Sector People Management Association
  • ACCA Award for Talent Retention ? Chartered Management Institute
  • The Personnel Today Awards ? Award for Excellence in Public Sector HR
  • British Council for Offices Regional Award Winners ? Fit-out of workplace (Lifford House)
  • West Midlands Safeguarding Awards 2010 ? Focus on Lessons Learned Award
  • Municipal Journal Awards Highly Commended 2011 -?workforce transformation achievement of the year?
  • BREEAM (environmental assessment method) rating ?excellent? (10 Woodcock Street)

There is worldwide interest in CHAMPS2. Over 1,600 people from over 40 countries and all sectors have registered their user membership on the CHAMPS2 website, which is increasing at an average rate of 40 new members per month.

Secret of Success

There were three key secrets to the success engendered by the creation of CHAMPS2:

  1. The recognition that IT-enabled transformational projects fail not because of the IT, but because their focus is on the technology and the inputs. CHAMPS2 focuses on outcomes and how people, process and technology need to be shaped to deliver those outcomes.
  2. Working with partners to draw on their wide experience of change elsewhere in both the public and private sectors to shape the development of CHAMPS2. Central to this were the partners involved in Service Birmingham, in particular Capita and HCL-Axon.
  3. Realising that transformational change was not somehow a magical process, or one that required a charismatic leader; it could be turned into a systematic process that can be applied consistently and which will deliver the required outcomes.

The CHAMPS2 method provides answers to the questions posed by change programmes which make a real and lasting difference.

  • How do we radically rethink our processes, organisation and technology?
  • What is the potential scope for transformation?
  • What are the real benefits for our customers and stakeholders?
  • What happens if the change programme goes off course?
  • How do we ensure that we deliver real results?
  • What can be done to make sure the solution is implemented consistently and efficiently?

Value for Money

The Council has invested ?683m in its business transformation programme, with the spend profiled over a ten-year period. Financial years 2010/11 and 2011/12 represented a critical period on that decade-long journey, as it when that the annual savings delivered from transformation exceeded the annualised costs. As at 2011/12, the business transformation programme is making a net contribution of ?44m to the Council?s revenue budget, which will rise to ?96m by 2014/15. To put this in context, to gain this ?44m through local taxation would have required Council Tax to increase by over 14%.

CHAMPS2?s contribution to this cannot be overstated. CHAMPS2 has provided the golden thread that has linked the definition of outcomes at the start of each transformation project to their final realisation. Benefits definition and tracking is the core of CHAMPS2; through using it the Council can monitor the realisation of each individual benefit and combine these into a comprehensive picture of the progress that has been made.

Summary

In the last year Birmingham?s major IT-enabled change programme started in 2006 has made good on its promise to greatly improve services and to realise very significant efficiency gains. In the last year, recurring annual savings have reached ?100m and the total saved to date is ?250m. Substantial service improvements have been achieved in both the back and the front office, including enabling customers to join up their interactions with the Council through creating a citizen account.

Central to this success story has been the creation CHAMPS2, an approach to IT-enabled change that is both systematic and systemic. CHAMPS2 brings the accumulated knowledge about transformational change together in one package and has been placed the public domain for others to freely access the method on-line www.champs2.info

CHAMPS2 supports you on a logical change journey ? scoping; identifying and quantifying benefits; designing, building and implementing new ways of working; and realising the identified benefits. It is both comprehensive and flexible. Most importantly, it is proven in practice through Birmingham?s successful business transformation programme.

In essence, CHAMPS2 is about enabling innovation. That means not only having great ideas but providing the tools and techniques to turn them into reality. It takes the rhetoric of ?better for less? and puts into practice.

Source: http://www.sustainablegov.co.uk/local-government/sustainable-ict-local-government/champs2-change-management-innovation-by-design

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Monday, February 27, 2012

Oil slips below $109 after 14 pct gain in Feb. (AP)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]

FILE - In this Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2012 file citizen journalism image provided by the Local Coordination Committees in Syria, anti-Syrian regime activist Khaled Abu-Salah stands in front of flames and black smoke from a bombed oil pipeline, in Baba Amr neighborhood in Homs province, central Syria. Syrian troops intensively shelled rebel-held neighborhoods in the restive central city of Homs, on Friday and killed at least five people, activists said. Britain and France urged the opposition to unite and said it needs more international support to resist the deadly government crackdown. (AP Photo/Local Coordination Committees in Syria, File) THE ASSOCIATED PRESS IS UNABLE TO INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, CONTENT, LOCATION OR DATE OF THIS HANDOUT PHOTOAP - Oil prices fell below $109 a barrel Monday in Asia after a 14 percent gain this month that was driven by signs of an improving U.S. economy and fears of an Iran supply cut.


Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/energy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120227/ap_on_re_as/oil_prices

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Jeremy Evans received 29% of the three million votes cast by fans via text message, twitter and the internet

Jeremy Evans received 29% of the three million votes cast by fans via text message, twitter and the internet

Jeremy Evans of the Utah Jazz during the Slam Dunk Contest at the 2012 NBA All-Star Weekend on February 25. Late replacement Evans won the Slam Dunk Contest, the highlight of the festivities on the eve of the NBA All-Star game.

Source: AFP - Copyright AFP 2008, AFP stories and photos shall not be published, broadcast, rewritten for broadcast or publication or redistributed directly or indirectly in any medium

Source: http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=iafpCNG.11c268acdbae7c2fca8e77ebbad0f6bc.711p0&show_article=1

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Sunday, February 26, 2012

Classmate testifies in Rutgers webcam spying trial (AP)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]AP - A Rutgers University student who says she saw a webcast of a classmate's intimate encounter with another man says one of the men had his shirt off but nothing more graphic than kissing was shown.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120224/ap_on_re_us/us_rutgers_suicide

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Saturday, February 25, 2012

Want To Write A Book - Start Blogging! | Sabrina&Company Social ...

Everyone has a unique and interesting story to tell. Often, those stories are a rich source of inspiration, hope and/or information for others.

Putting pen to paper (or staring at a blank word processing page) for some can be overwhelming and for others may even seem like an insurmountable challenge. Some adventurous folks may eventually overcome their anxiety about writing, but because they consider themselves poor writers they don?t take their book projects any further. If any of these scenarios sound like you, please know there are likely thousands of people that can benefit from your experience, and your story doesn?t have to remain in your head or be shared only with those closest to you. And, also know, there?s a ghostwriter out there that can advance your project.

A great way to start with your inspirational or informational story is to blog. Recently, I had a client approach me about the possibility of ghostwriting her book. She wants to share her experience and journey with her infant son?s health issues. Over the course of one year, she systematically journaled, researched, and tested a variety of solutions, including her own diet. This client is not a writer, not a child health expert, nor a dietitian. She has experiential expertise, months of research, and trial and error under her belt, which can most assuredly help other mothers facing the same or similar situations.

Shortly, I will be helping my client set up a blog so she can start sharing her story. Along the way, I?ll be guiding her in how to craft her blog posts, reviewing her content to ensure clarity of her message, and helping her build her following. Before long, her book will be well underway.

Thanks to Carole for sharing these ?kick-start? tips ?for all inspiring authors!
Sabrina Espinal
Sabrina&Company?

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Carole Audet is a ?Certified Ghostwriter and Certified Professional Author?s Assistant at In Touch Online. ?A journalism graduate, Carole loves speaking with people to write about their unique stories. She also enjoys helping busy professionals get their expertise out of their heads and into published books.

?

?

Source: http://sabrinacompany.com/want-to-write-a-book-start-blogging

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Santorum on Romney endorsement: ?He proved me wrong? (Washington Post)

Share With Friends: Share on FacebookTweet ThisPost to Google-BuzzSend on GmailPost to Linked-InSubscribe to This Feed | Rss To Twitter | Politics - Top Stories News, RSS and RSS Feed via Feedzilla.

Source: http://news.feedzilla.com/en_us/stories/politics/top-stories/204369458?client_source=feed&format=rss

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Friday, February 24, 2012

Existing Affairs Country wide Along with Global ? Mitrakov

Athletics, criminal offense, meals, emergency, every one of the latest media, rumours as well as extramarital relationships in India as well as international. The current media in The year 2010 and the occurrences involving 2011.the last finish towards the Arushi Kill puzzle, expensive red onion, as well as was rahat the offender? Issue involving existence or even loss of life pertaining to kasab. What exactly is happening around the globe, the particular international extramarital relationships, precisely how beef might cause you cancer malignancy, repercussions of global warming up

Latest extramarital relationships really, with all the concluding of the year, several extramarital relationships discovered any closing, while many obtained new beginnings.

Arushi Talwar scenario last but not least wraps up to closing

Balance hyped Arushi Talwar scenario has wanted closing. As a result of lack of enough evidence, true should be shut. It turned out inside the top media for 2 many years but there was clearly no accomplishment inside the procedures and it last but not least shut. But nevertheless, according to the reports Rajesh Talwar, the particular victim?s father may be the leading suspect.

Onion goes rocket high

The involving red onion reach the sun stage. Using the ongoing increase in prices of just about everything about, the normal open public is actually grieved on the increase in prices involving yellow onion, which is the sole compound to outlive in every single house. The fee has escalated approximately 70 urs per kg. Which makes it tough domki holenderskie for many from the population to use the idea.

India as well as The far east : signing up for palms pertaining to wealth

India as well as The far east get closed a legal contract to achieve business goals involving A hundred dollars zillion simply by 2015, that is a lot more than the objective for 2010 which has been $6 thousand. There are more deals among India as well as tiongkok lately in metallic, energy, meals as well as sea merchandise, compared to among India as well as The us.

Using the introduction of the Year, a whole lot has been happening about us. Nationally as well as around the globe 2011 has provided us new 777live rumours to share with you as well as new extramarital relationships to look into.

? Probably the most recent media is Rahat Fateh Ali khan ? the particular Pakistan artist who?s given quite a few hits in boll wooden, in reference to his supervisor Maroof has been ticketed 20 lakh rupees following the law enforcement officials lately restored foreign exchange which has been repossesed through the administrators. They were boarding a flight to Dubai whenever they were detained on the Indira Gandhi International Airport.

? Cricket enthusiasts all over the country are usually honoring the huge accomplishment from the American indian cricket team inside the beginning match up involving Globe cup 2011. India defeat Bangladesh with 87 runs. Awesome improve ? up involving self confidence for that American indian team to keep inside the upcoming collection.

? a unique university is being set -up pertaining to eunuchs ,who like people living in any democratic land, possess the to certainly stay and most importantly, the right to schooling. They might also be furnished professional instruction. Chief executive of All India payday loans Kinnar Connection Sonia Haji mentioned ?that it was an important stage toward uplift involving eunuchs inside the country?.

? Inside the north asian express involving tripura. Four thousand geese as well as chickens have been murdered inside a plantation operate through the federal government simply because they were screened beneficial pertaining to chicken flu virus.

In spite of the particular occurrences about us. You should realize get recognition regarding the ongoings around the globe. The following is many of the top International latest extramarital relationships.

? Winter months wheat harvest has been horribly harmed by a drought in north tiongkok. this has still left the ground extremely dried out rendering it tough to become ploughed pertaining to springtime. Oahu is the most detrimental drought in 60 years and contains affected a lot more than Six.Four zillion hectares involving harvest.

? In accordance with legally to have simply by federal government researchers many experts have revealed that individuals eating beef are more susceptible to cancer malignancy.

? Within one more recent review researchers get said that global warming may lead to a significant development of algae as well as toxic bacterias inside the globe?s oceans by having an result that could be sensed in Ten years. It is said that this recent alternation in areas are making the particular oceans more prone to this sort of unwanted organisms according to research workers coming from Nationwide Oceanic as well as Atmospheric Government (NOAAA).

Because of the earlier mentioned latest media involving The year 2010 country wide as well as international and plenty more to come you need to be knowledgeable as well as aware about the particular occurrences about in order to keep in pace with all the expanding as well as busy globe.

Source: http://mitrakov.org/?p=860

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Ishikawa rallies in Match Play

Japan's Ryo Ishikawa reacts after sinking a putt on the first green in the first round during the Match Play Championship golf tournament, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012, in Marana, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Japan's Ryo Ishikawa reacts after sinking a putt on the first green in the first round during the Match Play Championship golf tournament, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012, in Marana, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)

Dustin Johnson tees off on four as Jim Furyk, left, waits in the first round during the Match Play Championship golf tournament, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012, in Marana, Ariz. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

Japan's Ryo Ishikawa hits from the rough along the second fairway in the first round during the Match Play Championship golf tournament, Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2012, in Marana, Ariz. (AP Photo/Matt York)

(AP) ? One putt changed everything for Ryo Ishikawa and sent Riviera winner Bill Haas home early Wednesday from the Match Play Championship.

Ishikawa was on the verge of losing on the 17th hole when he hit 7-iron to 18 feet. Haas was 1 up and hit his approach to 5 feet. But the Japanese star holed his birdie putt, Haas missed, and Ishikawa won on the 18th hole with a par to advance to the second round at Dove Mountain.

The format lived up its reputation as the most exciting in golf. Five of the opening six matches went to the 18th hole, and three required extra holes.

Tiger Woods lost the first two holes, but squared his match against Gonzalo Fernandez-Castano on the seventh with a 50-foot birdie.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2012-02-22-GLF-Match-Play/id-dcf19563a8b34578b3c2b529512c1f7e

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Thursday, February 23, 2012

Strictly Business: Paramount Sues to Halt Publication of New ...

February 22, 2012, 10:08 am By DAVE ITZKOFF

Fredo Corleone was memorably warned by his brother Michael, ?Don?t ever take sides with anyone against the family again.? But now it looks as if a judge will have to come down on one side of the media empire that has grown up around the Corleone clan and the ?Godfather? novels that spawned them, in a lawsuit that pits Paramount Pictures, the studio that released the ?Godfather? movies, against Anthony Puzo, the executor of the estate of Mario Puzo, the author of the books.

Paramount has sued Anthony Puzo, a son of the novelist, seeking to stop publication of a new ?Godfather? novel called ?The Family Corleone,? Reuters reported. The studio says that it gave permission for a 2004 sequel, ?The Godfather Returns,? written by Mark Winegardner and published by Random House, but not for a 2006 follow-up, ?The Godfather?s Revenge,? also by Mr. Winegardner and published by Putnam.

The studio says in its lawsuit, filed Feb. 17 in U.S. District Court in New York, that the second sequel ?tarnished? the ?Godfather? series and misled readers to believe it had been authorized by Paramount. It is seeking an injunction to stop the release of ?The Family Corleone? by Ed Falco, which is planned by Grand Central Publishing for May, as well as unspecified damages, saying that it wants to ?protect the integrity of ?The Godfather? trilogy, one of the most acclaimed and beloved artistic works of the past 50 years.?

A lawyer for Mr. Puzo and a press representative for Grand Central Publishing did not immediately reply to requests for comment on Wednesday morning.

Source: http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/22/strictly-business-paramount-sues-to-halt-publication-of-new-godfather-novel/

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VIDEO: Inside the iVillage Entertainment Awards Winners

 

Source: http://www.ivillage.com/ivillage-entertainment-awards-winners-video/1-a-430742?dst=iv%3AiVillage%3Aivillage-entertainment-awards-winners-video-430742

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Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Syria shelling of Homs kills 2 Western journalists (AP)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]AP - A French photojournalist and an American working for a British newspaper were killed Wednesday by Syrian government shelling of the opposition stronghold of Homs, France's government said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120222/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_syria

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Improve Your Relationship: Know When It is Best Not to Say ...

By Suzanne Phillips, Psy.D., ABPP

Whether you have just begun dating or you are celebrating a Golden Anniversary, most partners are aware that communication is a crucial component in relationship happiness and satisfaction. Most self-help books extol it, and most experts working with couples encourage and facilitate improved communication.

Dr. Marianne Legato, author of Why Men Never Remember and Women Never Forget contends that without effective couple communication, there is no relationship at all.

A crucial but often overlooked communication skill for partners is knowing when it is best not to say anything.

This skill is not about suppression, quiet compliance, the silent treatment, dismissal or neglect. It is a choice that reflects attunement, empathy, regulation of emotions and prioritizing the bond you share.

It is knowing those times when your comment, critique, opinion, question or news not only fails to add value ? it makes matters worse!

While there are always differences among couples relative to their personal histories and dynamics, here are some situations that many face for which the decision not to say anything may be best.

Fueling the Fire

  • A real stumbling block for old and young couples who are arguing is knowing when ?enough is enough.? ?More specifically, recognizing that it is an illusion to think that there is something to gain in ?having the last word.?
  • In almost all cases insisting on one more comment does nothing productive. Usually it escalates the tension and anger and jeopardizes resolution.
  • As Ferguson author of Reptiles in Love?suggests, when partners are in fight/flight mode, logic is gone and no one wins.
  • Stopping is a protective and important step in anger management. It prevents saying the unsayable ? those words we can?t take back. It also prevents the dangerous escalation from verbal to physical aggression.

Breaking the Confidence

  • One of the ingredients in the intimacy of any couple is what they share as confidantes. Feeling safe, partners share dreams, frailties, imperfect body parts, traumatic memories and self-doubts in a way they share with no one else.
  • Regardless of what others are disclosing, which family member is asking, or how much everyone is?enjoying ?partner bashing? ? don?t take the bait.
  • Protecting each other?s confidence is a gift of trust only partners can give to each other.

But I Was Just Trying to Help

  • Despite the fact that every couple self-help book recommends that unless asked, don?t give advice ? most of us err in favor of ?just trying to help.?
  • Actually on close reflection, it is often our own sense of anxiety and helplessness in face of?a partner?s distress that throws us into advice mode.? We have to do something!
  • Listening with eye-to-eye contact and hand-to-hand reach is far more powerful than unsolicited advice.? A partner who feels your support is more empowered to solve his/her problem and will more likely ask for help if needed.

?Getting To Not Know You

? I know just what he/she is going to say!?

  • As much as you think you know your partner ? think again. What makes a relationship interesting and vital is recognizing what you still don?t know about each other.
  • Toward this end one verbal talent you want to drop is the compulsion to finish your partner?s sentence. (trust me) ?Listening instead of speaking puts you in a position to hear what you may or may not expect from your partner. Finishing the other?s sentence changes dialogue into monologue. It often shuts down present and future discussion and precludes more knowing.
  • When partners do this to each other in public ? the audience is sent the message that he/she cannot speak for himself/herself or that you need to be in control ? neither option is desirable.

Disqualifying The Compliment

????Great? That?s ridiculous. You know I hate my hair.?

  • Sometimes a childhood history can take its toll on self-esteem or you can hit a tough time in life when a job or a?health situation saps too much of your confidence. These are times when having a loving and affirming partner can be a powerful source for healing and restoring self.
  • These are the times, however, when you may feel compelled to speak? i.e.?to verbally debate, discount or argue away a partner?s compliment. While these are times when nothing feels right, to verbally undo a compliment is to disqualify something important ? a little bit of light sent in by someone who loves you.
  • Positive emotions have the unique quality of broadening and building both social and psychological resources. Accepting a compliment is a positive exchange for both of you.

Taking Up The Family Fight

  • It is inevitable that partners will complain about their families of origin to each other and will enjoy the support of the other in seeing it their way.
  • What never works, however, is feeling entitled to verbally criticize, belittle or put down your partner?s family.? Yes, you have heard about these people. Yes, you have felt outraged and protective of your partner. But your partner needs you to hear it and contain the feelings more than he/she needs you to keep bringing up how outrageous or unacceptable they may be.
  • As difficult as it may be, it is emotionally more supportive to listen than speak about his/her family?because regardless of whether families are bad or good, most people feel connected with them. Often adult children of dysfunctional families carry considerable shame and self-blame which is exacerbated when someone reminds them about it. Needing to feel different and vital, your partner prefers that you focus more on him/her than the family of origin.
  • Listening is what no one may have done in the childhood ? your partner finally has someone willing to do that ? you.

No News is Good News

As much as it is very valuable for couples to share experiences together, it is?also important?to show?respect for and encouragement of each other?s passions and interests in other people, places and things.

His love of watching sports, her weekly book club, his commitment to teaching, her love of nursing are actually valuable to the relationship as they nurture and support each as individuals.

That said, it is important to think twice about verbally intruding into your partner?s recreation or workspace. If you feel a sense of urgency ? put yourself in your partner?s shoes and re-evaluate your urgent need to speak.

  • Does he really need to hear about the painter?s estimate in the middle of the game?
  • Does she really need a call about your 5th grader?s science project at her book club?
  • He does care about the news of your brother in law ? but not in the middle of his workday.
  • She may not fully appreciate your enthusiasm about discount plane fares if she has to hear about it in the hallway at work.

When partners feel that their time and space?are respected, they usually can?t wait to share and hear what the other has to say!

Sharing the Sounds of Silence

  • Often people remark that the way they know that they are really connected is that they can be together without saying anything.
  • This is the place where no one is speaking but a great deal is being communicated.
  • This is the place where both are safe enough in the relationship that they feel the other without having to verbally hold the tie or check the mood with words.
  • This is the place where partners embrace the silence between them as intimate space.

As valuable as the words are between us ? silence can be the most powerful communication of all.?

?

Suzanne B. Phillips, Psy.D., ABPP is a licensed psychologist. She is Adjunct Professor of Clinical Psychology in the Doctoral Program of Long Island University and on the faculty of the Post-Doctoral Programs of the Derner Institute of Adelphi University. Suzanne Phillips, PsyD and Dianne Kane are the authors of Healing Together: A Couple's Guide to Coping with Trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress. Learn more about their work at couplesaftertrauma.com . Visit Suzanne's Facebook Page HERE.

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????Last reviewed: 21 Feb 2012

APA Reference
Phillips, S. (2012). Improve Your Relationship: Know When It is Best Not to Say Anything!. Psych Central. Retrieved on February 21, 2012, from http://blogs.psychcentral.com/healing-together/2012/02/improve-your-relationship-know-when-it-is-best-not-to-say-anything/

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Source: http://blogs.psychcentral.com/healing-together/2012/02/improve-your-relationship-know-when-it-is-best-not-to-say-anything/

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Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Begin job ? Article Directory ? Structured Settlements or Lump Sum

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTDu5KD28cT0vxWHn1AZMUOpaKXNaLr4EIC0wiNBoxHCYyzaywGtBVQ4zrlIf you are to receive a large sum of money from a company, you might have been offered a structured settlement. If so, there is nothing to worry about. In fact, unless you have precise plans for the use of such a large sum (such as buying a house), a structured settlement would actually work very well for all the parties involved in the settlement. Here?s how:

To start with, a structured settlement does not in any way reduce the amount of money you are to receive. The difference between outright payment of the entire lump sum and a structured settlement is that, in the latter case, the amount is divided into small but significant sums of money and is paid at regular intervals. The structured settlement payment might either be done by the company itself or, the company might invest the settlement amount in an Annuity plan with some financial structured settlement companies (such as an insurance or bank), which in turn will pay out the amounts.

The introduction of such third parties into the selling structured settlement isn?t anything to worry about in fact it ensures that the structured settlement is handled more professionally. The paying company often might not have the expertise in drafting a structured settlement document and then administering it. The introduction of third parties (known as ?Assignment Company?), therefore brings in an element of standardized professionalism to the deal. These Assigning companies are usually either banks or non-banking financial institutions such as Insurance companies. The Assignment Company will usually invest the money in long term government bonds or other forms of secured, long-term structured settlement investment and pay out the principle amount along with the interest in regular fixed amounts. The quantum and periodicity of such payments would naturally be dependent on the terms of the structured settlement.

Receiving regular fixed amounts enables you to plan ahead. You can plan your own or your child?s education. Or use the payouts to fund an existing mortgage on your house, etc. The cash structured settlement is always legally enforceable. So once the structured settlement documents are signed, they cannot be altered and will remain in force the entire duration of the structured settlement term. In case the structured settlement payment is stopped for any reason and so long as you have kept your side of the bargain, you are free to initiate legal action against the Assignment Company as well as the paying company, i.e. the second party in the settlement.

Since no one knows how the future is going to play out, in the event you find yourself in need of a large sum of cash, you can mortgage the structured settlement documents and receive a loan against it. There are also companies that will buy your structured settlement for cash. This buyer of structured settlement payments will pay the residual value of your settlement less service charges and commissions.

A structured settlement should therefore be viewed more as a sound financial investment that not only secures you the long-term benefit of regular income but in a pinch, it can be mortgage or sold for cash.

Check it out also for Structured settlement funding and Sell structured settlement payments

Source: http://beginjob.com/finance/structured-settlements-or-lump-sum.html

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Monday, February 20, 2012

NJ girl in transplant visa flap leaves hospital (AP)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]AP - A 5-year-old New Jersey girl whose bone marrow transplant was in doubt at one point due to a visa dispute involving her older sister emerged from the hospital Monday, ready to begin the slow process of resuming a normal life.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/cancer/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120220/ap_on_re_us/us_visa_dispute_cancer

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The Psychology Behind Working Motivating | hot trends

Motivation is a key element if you want to obtain success within your corporation. With out suitable tactics, it is unlikely to have motivated employees. This in turn has a direct influence on employee performance, job satisfaction, and retention. Thus, workplace motivation is crucial to encourage and engage employees. With out an helpful model of motivation in location a firm can by no means hope to grow to be a leader in the market. Even so, to assure the exact same, it is crucial to comprehend the psychology behind motivation.Prior to an organization can effectively implement a effective motivation program, it is crucial to recognize the nature of motivation necessary and its implications. Secondly, the organization have to develop a clear understanding of how its employees will react to its this program, prior to it puts the exact same into practice. To ascertain this, an organization and its managers will need to be aware of the workplace motivation psychology of its employees. Only after they tailor made their methods to get desired results from every single employee, can they expect it to be effective.

Psychology defines motivation as the reason for engaging in a certain behavior. Thus, it merely questions the ?why? behind a unique action. This is applicable to motivation as well. Thus, even though creating a workplace motivation program for a organization, the managers require to ask why a particular employee will give his or her 100% to a job. As soon as they can answer this for every single of their employees, they will have a high level of workplace motivation.Essentially, there are 3 external components that a motivation can employ to drive its employees. These are reward, manipulation, or punishment. A motivation program can use all 3 elements to get their employees to give their finest to the job at hand. High motivation can also make use of the internal driving elements of employees such as genuine interest in work, studying and overall self-improvement. A workplace motivation program can use a combination of the above mentioned aspects to get optimum outcomes.Motivation can also draw pointers from Abraham Maslow?s motivation theory of ?Hierarchy of Needs?. According to this theory, human beings are motivated by meeting their most pressing wants 1st and this applies to motivation as well. These contain physiological requirements, security needs, social requirements, esteem requirements, and self-actualization. A workplace motivation program that targets to fulfill these needs will prove extremely productive. Once you have decided on a rudimentary model of motivation program, establish its direct influence on employees? psychology and you will get a winning resolution.Written by: Robert SpeersI work in LA for a marketing/pr firm and live my life to help others.

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motivation, sales help, motivating others, robert speers, robert speers idaho,

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Source: http://hottrends.wikiaspace.com/2012/02/18/the-psychology-behind-working-motivating/

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Sunday, February 19, 2012

Data collection arms race feeds privacy fears (Reuters)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Reuters - This week's revelations that Google Inc, Twitter and other popular Internet companies have been taking liberties with customer data have prompted criticism from privacy advocates and lawmakers, along with apologies from the companies.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/internet/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120219/wr_nm/us_data_collection

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Cheap Real Estate Marketing Will Become Increasingly Less Effective

Custom web site design / The SEO Adventure / Real Estate /

Posted by at 7:50 PM on Friday, February 17, 2012

Below I attempt to make an argument that perhaps REALTORs are not allocating enough resources to marketing real estate, and are incurring too much expense in other areas of their lives. Marketing real estate is supposed to be the primary goal if you are a listing agent. If you are a buyer's agent, most likely you are going to have more trouble earning higher commission levels since having a diverse portfolio of listings allows you to capture commission even if someone else sells it. Theoretically, the listing agent will always make more money because of this as long as they have an effective marketing campaign.

I usually see the buyer's agent become a listing agent as they become more successful and perhaps even a broker with agents underneath them in the end. ?It seems like buyer's agents are unable to develop strong marketing campaigns, so they choose to focus on the parts they can do. Perhaps, if I personally build a marketing plan and competing real estate sales team that I will be more effective in demonstrating an effective way to sell real estate. In the process, we can refine our web site systems to more accurately to facilitate the needs of REALTORs through our own experiences selling real estate. The additional income will fund these developments and help create a more diverse range of services.

The concern is that if all my clients refuse to allocate the proper amount of resources, then we will be perceived as a failure to them. ?However, we have all the talent and skills of any world-class design, development and marketing firm. ? I am continuously trying to consider ways to achieve more affordable services, but there are always sacrifices with reducing price. ?In the future, it may no longer be effective to offer certain services unless there is a reasonable chance of success for both sides of the transaction. ? This philosophy of feeling responsible for mutual success should apply to all sales, not just our business.

How many hours of work occur between closings for a REALTOR?

What does the income per hour worked come out to.?? How does this average out with failed contracts and unqualified time wasters eating up your days???What are the pay expectations for a REALTOR and have they become unrealistic??? I don't understand why many REALTORs are unable to afford a reasonable amount for their web site and marketing, yet they dream of selling homes that have $100,000 commission checks. A successful business demands around 80% of its expenses to go towards advertising / promotion efforts even if you need to use your personal time & resources to achieve this. ?Certainly, smaller businesses have trouble doing this, some sacrifices are made, but perhaps a marketing budget that is 5% of your gross income is too small. ?Finding a better balance of perhaps 1/3 or 1/2 income is a more sure way to grow.

If you spent half your money on advertising and shared commission/desk fees and worked 175 hours to make 3% on a $235,000 home, that would be around $7,000 gross income, $3,500 net.? This works out to making $20 per hour and you'd have to sell one a month to make the equivalent of a $45,000 annual salary.?? $45,000 is actually quite a good salary and this is like the equivalent of having a college degree and some seniority in a normal job.? Even at this modest level, it would be possible to invest several thousand per year into additional advertising to grow your business.

If you take home only 2% commission on a 1 million deal, that's $20,000 gross, $10,000 net perhaps in reality.?? If someone had spent an equal amount of time selling this more expensive property (175 hours), that would be $57 per hour,? equivalent of a $120k annual salary assuming another $120k was eaten up in expenses to achieve this.? This is what a full time realtor should be making if they have some actual skill and a small team selling homes between $300,000 and $2 million every month.

Is selling a $235,000 home once every month a realistic amount for 1 full time realtor?

In the worse case, someone makes $40,000 and best case $200,000 annual salary at current 2012 median home prices.?? So lets say a full time realtor expects to make $80,000 a year to have a decent year.? To live a modest life close to work, you might need $25,000 for the whole year.?? If you have a mortgage, maybe double that. ? If you have your own office space, an assistant and a mortgage, you might need all $80,000 to barely cover it. ? So that leaves like $0 to $50,000 per year for buying things, investing, starting a family, etc.?? Investing in the growth of your business seems like it should be a higher priority expense especially if you are already close to maxing out your expenses because you need to be able to get ahead to be able to afford your current expenses.?

If you have almost no time or money to spend on doing the marketing for a job that is essentially a marketing job, something is wrong??Managing yourself to go back and forth between sales efforts and marketing is what I already do so this process of selling homes is nearly identical to my job and I realize it's not easy. Pushing yourself to be a market leader demands you to manage your time better then the competition and not overemphasize one aspect of your business.

Can't afford to spend anything extra right now?

If you simply can't afford to spend any additional time or money, it sounds like steps should be taken to downsize your mandatory recurring expenses and recover your time so you can once again invest in growth.?? I have been doing this for the last year and have managed to decrease my monthly expenses $600 and increase monthly cash flow $600 without raising prices.? This leaves me in a much healthier situation with being able to grow my business without financial pressures.?? If you aren't closing deals, maybe downsizing is better until you grow again.? Don't think you can downsize any further? Here are some ideas:

  • Get a smaller car with better gas efficiency.
  • Move your office back to your home.
  • Move to a different real estate franchise with low or zero fees. Or even start your own.
  • Consolidate your debts and pay them off.
  • Find local markets where you can pay for goods at a lower price instead of the convenience of larger stores.
  • Start cooking your meals again instead of eating out every day.
  • Live with your family or roommates instead of isolating yourself in a huge castle.
  • Motivate your staff to be successful by paying them more for success and either less hourly wages or no wages.
  • Be more modest with gifts & holidays.
  • Try to control your addictive tendencies better by reducing stress and increasing exercise.
  • Make an effort to car pool and share for common needs like shopping and errands.

If you do all of this, suddenly, you'll have another $1000+ per month in free money just like I was able to achieve.?? You'll be back on the healthy track to enjoying life and growing again.

Real Estate Ethics And Administering Some Self Control

When the seller calls to complain that their house is not sold yet and they want to drop you as the listing agent, this is the probably the most stressful situation for a REALTOR. You want to figure out a way to salvage the 3% in additional commission.?? You try to manipulate them into re-listing at the last minute and lose the battle half the time. Perhaps, this is another part of the importance of not overindulging with the commission money. Ultimately, your job is to sell homes and the seller expects you to put your due diligence into marketing their property.

This is not about getting a $10,000 commission for nothing. It's about you effectively selling the home within a reasonable amount of time. Don't make agreements with sellers that you can't honor and be realistic when you fail. Lying to get ahead will eventually come back in the form of increased pressure & anger from the people you have hurt.

Making a profit on every sale might not be a reasonable expectation for you to become a market leader. In fact, most of the largest most successful businesses have intentionally lost money for a period of time to beat their competitors. For example, Netflix was quite affordable until Blockbuster went bankrupt and they have been continuously raising prices ever since. Nearly all cell phones, printers and game consoles have been sold at a loss with the intention of making the profits back in subscriptions, accessories, licensing and software. Gaining market share in a tough economy might be more important that amassing a fortune. You want to build a reputation and network of people that can ensure your future. A more successful marketing campaign can give you the momentum at the right time to have it all come together. Later, ensuring that your marketing campaign is up to date and modern becomes important as well. This means, comparing yourself to competitors, other web sites and to investigate emerging technologies.

You need to enjoy serving people's needs

Over the years, some REALTORs have secretly told me they have a distaste for the actual work of showing homes, talking with buyers and helping people. I would urge REALTORs to reignite an interest in caring about the people they are working with and reduce the negative energy they feel. Providing a service to someone else is an important part of living a good life. It doesn't matter how large or small your act as long as it is with good intention. Don't forget that you're taking a large commission check for relatively unskilled work and if you applied these skills to other industries, you may find your pay to be substantially less and the work even more difficult.

Of course, it's important to make sure buyers aren't lying to you by qualifying them properly. If you have a qualified buyer, you must have the patience and determination to see that they are taken care of regardless of whether you will profit to the level you'd prefer. By treating people with honesty and fairness, you'll earn a reputation for really helping people. Becoming rich at the expense of everyone around you has to be one of the worst choices a person can make. Don't forget to reward the people who influenced your deals appropriately and stay true to your word. Imagine a world where the rule of law did not exist and you had to answer to that person directly - This is a situation where your true integrity would be tested. We all need to treat each other with respect and not hide behind contracts and legal processes.

We Have Amazing Resources For Self Improvement

Steven R. Covey has written one of the most popular and true self-improvement books titled, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (1989). I have read this book and I can guarantee that if you live your life according to these principles, you will be happier. I believe sales people are often put in a dangerous position where abuse can easily arise if they start to believe that selfish closing practices are ok. You want to ensure both sides will meet their goals, but this can often only come by first solving the problems that cause you to think you need to be selfish. It can become more important for a salesperson to have strong ethics then people in other types of work because a bad deal can ruin the lives of the buyers.

I Might Be Your Next Business Partner or Competitor

For my web design business, we've previously always let the clients take the risk by paying us in advance for services that may someday let them profit excessively.? This limits my equity and security in the relationship quite a bit since there is no reason for them to pay us after they are successful or even to have a web site in the future.

In 2012, we will be able to have new pricing levels with low cost template offerings and perhaps a shared equity offering that only costs after leads occur.

I'm also considering finding a unseasoned REALTOR to partner with that I would do the online/offline marketing for free, and I'd own the web site / marketing materials 100%.? I'd develop resources for buying/selling presentations, videos, copywriting, link building, web sites, subscriptions to third party services, signs, brochures, everything.? I'd take a cut of the gross commission earned regardless of the lead source in exchange for their efforts and hopefully deliver the best real estate marketing in town.?? The realtor would be responsible for managing the leads, showings and closing processes. This could provide me the ability to build the best real estate web site for our sales efforts above and beyond what we can achieve on web sites for individual clients. ?

My future business partner will want to do it because they will receive world-class marketing services at no cost until the money is earned. ?We could perfect our web site conversion rates and do tests and take risks without having to get permission to do so.? I could flood the market with sites in different niches. ? We could figure out additional problems with our systems that aren't visible now because I'm not yet a realtor.? It could be a good way to grow our services into other areas.

Creativity Has Been Stifled By Limited Budgets

It often feels like my client undervalue technology and online marketing by having more limited budgets with us and a lack of interest in getting involved. Starting a competing real estate business where we invest aggressively into becoming a leading sales team may give us the evidence and system that are needed for other to succeed and our hopefully high sales volume will further justify the value of our marketing services.

The Recruiting Process Begins

If you are a motivated individual who is looking for a semi-permanent business partner to bring you to the next level with your marketing effort in real estate sales, please contact Bruce Kirkpatrick to discuss this further.


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Source: http://www.farbeyondcode.com/Cheap-Real-Estate-Marketing-Will-Become-Increasingly-Less-Effective-5-2312.html

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Friday, February 17, 2012

Email Marketing for Success

Email marketing is fast becoming the medium in which to expand your business. Whether your business is online or off, email marketing will help you out in making sure that your business will make a profit.

How does email marketing help?

Since email is the most popular application in the internet, it is the preferred means of communication for businesses.? It is being constantly checked for updates most of the day by business users and by most internet users at least 6 times a day. It is a powerful communications tool that can help you reach your clients.

Email marketing can save you money. It saves money since you are no longer charged for postage fees and mail house charges. Since traditional mail can take a long time to be delivered, sending emails is the best solution. By the click of a button, your mail would be sent directly to the customer.

It also saves you from worrying as to whether they received their mail or not.

Marketing by email also saves you a lot of time. It sometimes takes forever for a reply to be sent via regular mail. Other times, your mail can be lost and that can cause the loss of a potential client. This can be avoided by having mail sent electronically. No more worries, no more stress.

Email marketing is also a way for you to increase sales of your product. ?Using emails can be convenient for your clients to respond to your messages. It can also be a way for you to find new clients and educating them to your product. You can attach your product line to your email and send it to many people. This often generates positive response from many people who have become acquainted with your product and want to learn more about it.

This form of marketing can generate instant results.

Since most people check their emails constantly, they would immediately be alerted if a new mail has arrived. This would generate an instant response from the client and save both of you a lot of time.

Making Money thru Email Marketing

Some businesses make money by selling spaces on their newsletters. These paces are utilized by placing ads from different companies or products. Since these news letters are being sent to a lot of people, it can be a lucrative business to sell ad spaces on your newsletters.

It usually takes a lot of time and money to reach a certain number of people to promote your business. With email marketing, this has been made easier. It no longer takes forever for your mail to arrive. More importantly, your customers can be constantly updated thru email for progress reports on your business. This is a truly magnificent tool to have in your business.

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If you need assistance with your email marketing or internet marketing in general, Irish Web Solutions can help you get started on your marketing project. Visit their site to learn more.

Source: http://www.1directory.net/internet-and-businesses-online/email-marketing-for-success-4943.html

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Zimbabwe civic groups dismiss charity groups ban (AP)

HARARE, Zimbabwe ? Civic activists say moves to ban 29 humanitarian organizations in southern Zimbabwe are a breach of the nation's laws and affected groups need to ignore banning orders by the president's party.

In a new crackdown of non-governmental organizations, a provincial governor appointed by President Robert Mugabe suspended the activities of the groups on Wednesday, alleging they did not clear their operations with his office.

An alliance of independent civic groups said in a statement Thursday the governor did not have legal powers to wage "this fresh onslaught" against humanitarian work providing food, medication, water and vital services in the drought-prone Masvingo province.

Mugabe's party accuses private charities of supporting its opponents and has repeatedly threatened to shut them down.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/africa/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120216/ap_on_re_af/af_zimbabwe_crackdown

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Thursday, February 16, 2012

Perfect Home Improvement Recommendations, Tricks, And Goodies ...

Whatever you?re seeking to do in life, discovering how to make it happen is a superb point from which to start out. This can be certainly real when confronted with renovation. The final thing you need is really a free downstairs room stair or possibly a leaky rooftop. Take a look at these development tips before you start any venture.

Before doing remodeling on your own residence, you should ensure you get the enables you need well ahead of time from the genuine remodelling project. If you do not get these allows, you then will not be able to carry out your project if the time arrives. In case you are undecided about the proper enables you need, employ a skilled basic service provider.

Dressing up up pillows to get a younger adult?s area can be very simple. Try taking some older clothes including band t shirts, tshirts with cool styles or perhaps aged set of denim jeans chop these to sizing to suit your creative pillows and sew them together with each other. This can produce a great individual accessory for any teenager?s place, and present their room some character.

Update your cooking area kitchen cabinets. In case you are on a tight budget, a straightforward way to improve your home cabinets and drawers is actually by changing the computer hardware. Knobs and pulls can be bought in a design and style to match each one?s style, from modern-day to vintage to classic. When you substitute the hardware, don?t fail to remember to wash your kitchen cabinets thoroughly. You will be amazed the quantity of individuals think that you have basically replaced your cabinets!

New ground addressing is a great way to revise the feel and look for any room in your house. An established floor business can put in new hardwood, carpeting, laminate or tile floors in well under one day or visit your community renovation retail store for do-it-yourself choices.

When putting in your new interior lights, move from candescent lights to much more energy efficient light bulbs. Lightweight Fluorescent lamps, often known as CFLs, final considerably longer and can greatly reduce your vitality bill by conserving energy. CFLs do consist of mercury, so be certain and keep to the particular legislation for fingertips.

Once you are taking on a home advancement task within the toilet or even the kitchen area, be sure you switch off water very first. Any time you work around h2o pipes, any sort of accident can occur causing a leak. You want to make a plan to reduce the damage to ensure you usually do not end up getting a flooded place. Make sure you know the place your h2o shutoff valves are, and change the water away before you begin your perform.

As you can tell, redecorating can be a multifaceted business. Frequently, your understanding of a kind of process determines the success of it. Which means that investigation is a fantastic first step in virtually any home improvement venture. These tips needs to be a valuable starting point inside your path to studying renovation.

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Tags: home improvement

Source: http://clubpenguin.back2backgames.com/?p=95398

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