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Month: October 2017

How To Maintain Technology In Your Business

Whether you like the idea or not, most businesses today survive primarily because of modern technology. Technology is used in business for keeping records, receiving payments, paying workers, and a lot more. Even small businesses today rely on technology to further advance their cause. If there is one challenge regarding technology in business, it is in the area of upgrading and maintenance, because it requires not only a budget but also a lot of patience in your part as the owner.

Not all people can easily go with the flow of high-end computers and complicated office machines. If you are one of those people, it is important that you list down all high tech equipments and machines you have in your office and learn how to operate each one of them. Familiarize yourself with computer software and programs as well, especially those that are used for database.

Organizing a technical support team is a good idea. Look for an IT expert to lead the team in making sure that every office equipment is working at full potential and that the system has zero loopholes as possible. When assigning a person to lead your tech support team, consider not only his skills and knowledge concerning business technology but also the quality of his experience as an IT expert.

Set aside a time each week and each month to have your system checked by your tech support team or by yourself. Have someone write a report regarding the check up to be submitted to you for evaluation. The feedback should contain information regarding the status of the system and if a software or hardware needs to be upgraded or not. Moreover, encourage your workers to report glitches as soon as possible.

Finally and most importantly, create a budget for the maintenance of your business technology. Avoid the mistake of waiting for equipment and system problems to become serious before deciding to spend money for repair. The best thing to do is to dedicate a certain amount of money for maintenance and repair beforehand. Doing this will help you prevent major setbacks and help you save money in the longer run.

There is absolutely no easier way to advance your business than with careful planning and preparation not only in the promotion of products itself but in the logistics and essential organ of the business body as well which is business technology.…

Sell ​​Beats For Money

Did you know that you can actually sell beats for money? If you are a producer and you love to create your own beats, then I have good news for you. You can actually make some money in the music industry by just creating your own beats.

Everyday a lot of new andcoming artists which includes singers and rappers need instrumentals so they can start writing their music. Instrumentals actually help by inspiring them and help them in creating their song. This is the reason why they usually go online searching for some beats to purchase. This is where you come in.

Fortunately, it is easy to sell beats for money. Here is a short but effective way on how to do it.

1) Check the Requirements

Before you can start making your own beats, you need to have certain requirements. First, you will need to have a laptop and Internet connection. Your laptop will be where the beat software will be installed. This is where your beat creation process will take place. Meanwhile, the Internet connection is for selling your beats. You need to be able to visit beat websites so you can start posting and making money off your instrumentals.

2) Start Creating

Once you have the requirements ready, it is time to start creating your own beats. You can do this by carefully selecting and studying a beat making software. If you are going to browse the Internet, you will find that there are a lot of beat making software available. Choose one that appeals to you and spend your time learning it. It may take days but it will be worth it. After learning, you will now be able to create your own beats.

3) How to Sell Your Instrumentals

When you have your beats ready, you can now log online and sell your beats for money. There are many ways to sell your beats. You can either have your own website or you can simply post your beats in beat databases. Having your own website helps in attracting professional artists. It gives them a place to listen to your beats while getting to know you as a producer. Meanwhile, posting your beats on databases will give you more exposure. And you can expect that people who visit these websites are really there to purchase some beats.

While you can do both so you can sell your beats for money, you can start with posting your beats on databases if you do not have the initial money to create a website. It will get you started in the beat making industry without initial funds.

So as you can see, selling beats for money is actually easy. You just need to carefully choose your beat making software and you need to have some listening skills. Also, remember that it is better to spend more time in crafting your instrumentals. High quality will always be better than high quantity. Only expect to make lots of money when you …

Leading Female Experts and Personal Brand: Who Do You Influence?

Last week Time Magazine shared some of the world’ best known Personal Brands: the profiles of the world’s 100 Most Influential People. Jeff Bezos graces the cover and each person featured is a celebrity or political figure. The article about each person is written by another influencer. For example, Melinda Gate’s profile is written by Sheryl Sandberg. She describes Melinda as ‘a fierce advocate for women around the world and that her impact will be felt for generations’.

The edition is certainly inspiring, yet the challenge for us as women is that sometimes we see Influencers like this and think ‘what can I offer? How can I possibly make such an impact?’

And when I hear women say this, my thoughts are drawn to a special lady called Lillian Armfield.

Lillian Armfield was born on 3 December 1884 at Mittagong, New South Wales, daughter of George Armfield, a labourer, and his wife Elizabeth. Educated locally, she was highly intelligent, well schooled and was described as having a good head for numbers.

Before her time

In 1907 she became a nurse at the Hospital for the Insane, Callan Park, Sydney, where she looked after female inmates. Due to her competence and kindness to patients, in 1915, the medical superintendent recommended she apply for a newly established post. This post was as a police recruit in the NSW police force. At the time there were no female police officers in Australia, but this little hurdle didn’t deter her. She thought she would be well suited to a career on the front line.

Lillian was successful in her application and in her starting role was paid the grand sum of 7 shillings, 6 pence a day. Unlike her male colleagues, however, Lillian’s contract specified that no uniforms were to be provided and no overtime or expenses were to be allowed.

After a year’s probation she was enrolled as a special constable, however, her promotion came with a catch. In what would seem unbelievable in today’s workplace, Lillian was required to sign an agreement with the inspector-general of police. This made her subject to the same rules and discipline as her male colleagues. However, without the right to any compensation for injuries received in carrying out her duties. In addition to this quite overt discrimination, Lillian was also required to forego her right to superannuation and pension benefits upon retirement.

Overseas interest

The experiment of Lillian Armfield’s appointment was watched with intense interest overseas. She was the first plain-clothes female detective, exercising the same powers of arrest and working side-by-side her male colleagues. So foreign was this concept of a female policewoman, that it gained international attention.

In Paris, a captain for the French police declared that policewomen would be the subject of jeers and prompted the following jingle in a Sydney newspaper:

“In gay Paree no police you’ll see parading around in skirts

For France prefers her mademoiselles as dainty, pretty flirts,

No Sergeant Armfield there you’ll find, forever on the roam,

The

Home Based Internet Business – Top 5 Benefits

If you are thinking of starting a home based internet business, you are not alone. Every day on the internet, tens of thousands of people start a home based business, and even more are searching for one. So what are the benefits to having your own home based business? Here are the top 5 benefits to owning your own home based internet business.

Freedom

When you have your own online business, the greatest advantage is freedom. There is nothing in the world like being able to get up in the morning and not have to go to work like everyone else. How about a short 10 second commute to your home office, or even staying in bed and working from your laptop! That’s what I would call freedom.

Family

This benefit kind of picks up where the freedom benefit leaves off. What would it mean to you if you were able to drop off your kids at school every morning, or even attend special events at their school? How would you like to be able to take your spouse out to lunch, or maybe just spend the day at the beach? These types of things are all possible when you have your own home based internet business.

Money

When you have your own business, you can set your own income. No one is telling you that you can’t have that raise you have been waiting for. Your online income is only limited by your imagination. If you want to make more money, all you need to do is put more effort into your business. Besides being able to set your own income, you will also be able to save an enormous amount of money on commuting. How much money do you spend every month commuting to your job? This can also add up to many hundreds of dollars every month.

Tax Advantages

Once you have your own home based business, you are eligible for many tax advantages as well. You will be able to deduct for items you are already using. Things like your high-speed internet connection, cell phone, home phone, electric bill, computer or laptop. The list goes on and on. This can add up to a substantial amount of tax savings, even if you decide to keep your day job. You should consult with you tax advisor about what you will be able to deduct.

Leverage

This is one of the greatest benefits to having your own home based internet business. The Internet is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. You can also leverage yourself through the use of affiliate marketing. This is a way to leverage yourself by having your own affiliates working for you whether you work or not.

There are many different types of home based internet business opportunities available. No matter what business you decide to do, there are similar benefits to each one. For those of you who are willing to work at it, the rewards can be substantial, both …

Avoid Debt Through Practical Strategies

Smart consumers will always want to steer clear of unnecessary debt. However, this does not mean that you need to renounce necessities or things that you yearn for in this life. The key is to be realistic. Develop sensible spending and saving habits. This in essence is called personal financial forecasting. Your plan must shape proper handling of money.

Develop spending policies that are easy to achieve. You must not fight the desire to spend. Instead, understand the need for reasonable expenditures without falling into financial liabilities. It is essential to convert said guidelines into routine practices. Make your decisions anchored on what is ideal for your personal funds.

Create a rational budget. Keep track of your earnings and how much you spend for at least three months. Keep a log book if possible and retain all receipts. Create expense categories such as food necessities, household utilities, clothes, travel, and entertainment. Find out ways to limit expenses that you can channel towards savings and paying off bills. Make it a point that you always have money for credit card balances and basic monthly purchases.

Strive to earn additional income. This is a sure way of not turning out short on your monthly budget. It is also the ideal way of controlling your finances. It is as simple as earning more if you want to buy more. Deposit more money to your savings account. You will surely need this in times of emergencies.

Choose the right credit card. This may not be an easy decision since a lot of cards proliferate in the market. In fact, you can find sales representatives of credit cards selling their products almost everywhere. However, credit cards are essential to consumers so you have to find a way of getting the suitable credit card without being over-stressed. It is important to identify the different categories of credit cards. Opt for a low interest credit card has very minimal interest rates. Purchases you make will not lead to unmanageable interest costs. Consumers, who carry over balances, will find this card as a practical option. It is a solution for consumers who are not capable of paying the full amount of monthly credits. The low interest card also offers huge savings and permanence while you settle your balances.

These are just some of the useful pointers in avoiding debt. Spend time to assess your present situation. Focus on saving rather than splurging. It will come in handy especially on rainy days.…

Preparation for Marriage – An Insurance Policy For Your Life Together

So you think you have met your knight in shining armour or your fairy princess and you are thinking about taking the relationship to the next step. Maybe this is in contemplating living together or maybe even to become married.

A question I was asked recently had to do with understanding what are the essentials for marriage and the first step required when planning to get married.

Here are my thoughts on this topic.

Often when people think about marrying them primarily think about the wedding day and how they can make this the most perfect day of their life, as it describes to be. Sometimes in focusing on the day however they lose sight of what's most important and that is what happens after the wedding day, regarding their future happiness and well-being, for the years to come.

Thankfully given the increasing divorce rate couples are becoming more and more aware of the importance of not only preparing for their wedding day but also of preparing for their married life. And thankfully now more than ever couples are turning to qualified professionals to help them prepare for what happens after the wedding vows have been made and they have danced the bridal waltz.

Love Will Conquer All

Most important among these lessons is shattering the belief that "love will conquer all" . It simply is not enough.

An Insurance Policy

As a Couples Counselor and Family Law Mediator I see on a daily basis the unfair that separation and divorce causes to couples and their families. But rather than having this scare you off listen to the stories that these people have to teach and learn the lessons well.

The single most critical thing that will prepare you for marriage and make your relationship last long term is the knowledge you have of yourself and the comfort you have with that knowledge closely followed by the knowledge you have of your partner and the comfort you have with that .

The simplest way to get this is to always be curious about who your partner is and, before pushing to have yourself heard, hear them. If you both can do this in love and good will and with respect and you will find a way through every challenge ever presented to you.

And if it's too difficult to manage this task on your own then seek help from someone qualified to help you do this and do this before it blows out.

People often think that counselors are there only for when we are in crisis. They're not. The principle roll of a Counselor is to teach you the skills that everyone needs to prepare them for and teach them what they need to manage their relationships.

These skills include how you communicate with each other, how you manage your conflict and how you manage the differences in your characters and ways of being.

You see every one of us comes from a different cultural background. That is our …

2012 Year End Tax Planning for "Fiscal Cliff"

Income taxes are going up in 2013 and you can count on that! You can do some things now in December to cushion the impact a bit and plan for the future.

Whether it is a "Fiscal Cliff" or a slope or a speed bump, if you make over $ 250,000 you will pay more one way or another. President Obama may take a hard line with the GOP since he earned a great deal of political capital in his re-election. Winning by 2{4917788a0bd7aa7369c2a945027b4fe6c9853cda4150a24fe1255b18ce3083dc} is still a win and it is illegally he will budge on higher rates. Even if he does compromise on the "Bush Tax Cuts", the Affordable Care Act (ACA) better known as "Obamacare" has automatic tax increases that will kick in anyway.

There is a 3.8{4917788a0bd7aa7369c2a945027b4fe6c9853cda4150a24fe1255b18ce3083dc} surtax for Medicare as part of the ACA funding scheme. It effectively increases the top capital gains tax to 18.8{4917788a0bd7aa7369c2a945027b4fe6c9853cda4150a24fe1255b18ce3083dc} for high income people. This means married couples with over $ 250,000 or singles with over $ 200,000 will be affected. So if you have appreciated assets that you are ready to consider selling, do so before December 31st of this year. Do not sell just because of tax rates, but based on your financial planning goals taking into account the new landscape of 2013. The President would like to increase rates even higher than the 18.8{4917788a0bd7aa7369c2a945027b4fe6c9853cda4150a24fe1255b18ce3083dc} currently pending.

If you plan to do a Roth conversion, do it this year as it could increase your AGI in 2013 and affect the surtax. If you have stock options from your employer that have appreciated, you may want to discuss the possibility of cashing them in this year with your financial advisor. If your investments include CDs or Corporate Bond Funds, talk to your advisor about moving some investments to Tax Free Municipal Bonds or tax free mutual funds. Another option is investing a portion in short term traditional Annuities (2-5 year) for money that you do not have to use or hold for emergencies. Annuities accumulate tax free inside the investment. Traditional Annuities are safe from market risk and have guaranteed returns.

If you are self-employed and need a new vehicle for business, consider a "heavy" SUV or truck. Vehicles over 6000 pounds are eligible for bonus depreciation of 50{4917788a0bd7aa7369c2a945027b4fe6c9853cda4150a24fe1255b18ce3083dc} through the end of the year. That goes away in 2013 if no action is taken by Congress.

You can maximize your charitable giving this year. Congress and the President have talked about restricting the deductibility of charitable contributions. You may want to make a donation in 2012 rather than 2013. This is tricky as the deduction may survive and with rates going up could make it a better option to wait.

For 2012, the gift-tax exemption has been "unified" with the estate-tax exemption. The unified exemption is $ 5.12 million. The gift-tax exemption is scheduled to drop to $ 1 million in 2013. That is a huge change and means that serious consideration must be given to taking action …

Renters – How to Protect Your Personal Property

Many renters do not feel they have a lot of personal property, so question the necessity of protecting these assets. However, whenever you live in a large rental house or small studio apartment, you most likely have more than you realize. This means it's best to have renters insurance and also an inventory of your debts to back up any insurance claim.

After a disaster, renters without insurance are often shocked that the landlord does not have each individual's contents covered. This is entirely on the person renting, as they are the ones who own these belongings. Thus, there is a need to purchase personal property (contents or asset) insurance.

Renters Insurance
Renters are just as prone as homeowners when it comes to facing a disaster. Therefore, it is in the renters' best interest to protect their assets.

Before you feel you do not have much to insure, think of all the electronics you own, such as laptops, tablets, audio players, DVD players, televisions, stereo equipment, surround sound, etc. This one category of alliances can total thousands of dollars very easily. Now figure in jewelry, collectibles, decorative items, fine china, DVDs, CDs, clothing, linens, small appliances … the list goes on! Furniture often seems to not be worth much after you've owned it for a few years, but the money it would take to replace it will certainly place a huge amount on your credit card if you do not have the funds to pay cash for it. Therefore, anything you can not afford to purchase with cash is worth protecting.

So what can you do to protect your assets? Prepare for a disaster by having renters insurance and an inventory of your marriages.

Renters insurance is reasonably priced. If you have to replace all of your contents, or just a few items, you'll realize the value immediately when the dollars start to add up! Your insurance agent will be able to determine the amount of insurance you need when you state how much your contents are worth.

How do you know the value of your contents?
Complete an inventory of all the items you own – or hire a professional service to do it for you.

An inventory is the most valuable document to support your insurance claim. It provides proof of your marriages, and the details required to file a thorough claim. You'll be able to provide that information quickly. Your recovery will be expedited as a result of having the information already documented, compared to those who will spend hours and hours doing their best to complete the claim form, all the while knowing they forgot items.

Having a renters insurance policy and an inventory will not prevent a loss, but they will help you protect your assets. Having the proper insurance, being fully covered, and then being able to prove it will make your claims process smoother and with much less stress. …

The Four Elements To A Successful Business

Over the many years I have spent in business schools and continuing education programs, one of the most remembered items I recall are the four elements of a successful business. I would like to give credit where credit is due, but I can not recall who told me about these lovely little tidbits or in what venue I learned them. To this day, I can clearly recite these four concepts as I have lived by them for many years.

The first is that you must ALWAYS tell your customer / client / patient / whatever what you plan on doing for them. This may sound simple and easy …. maybe even blatantly stupid, but believe me, most business people out there just do not have a clue on this one important issue. Let's say you own a dog grooming business. It is important to tell the owner (and you can tell the dog too) that today you are going to cut the dog's nails, shampoo, and then blow dry the hair (sounds more like my wife's salon ….. better be careful She does not see this article!). If you deliver a nicely cleaned dog to it's owner a few hours later, and she notices the dog has bad breath, then she sees the dog has dirty teeth ….. well, she is not going to be happy with you. But, you were clear – only nails, shampoo, and blow drying – and so you are off the hook. But did it make the customer happy? Not really because you did not deliver anything special to them. You did explain what you would do, but did not deliver the expected product or service – clean teeth.

Which segues us into the next key to success: ALWAYS finish what you start. It may go without saying, but in business you need to complete the task that you have started, and I believe you must always give more than you promise. In other words, you should have at least brushed the dog's front teeth and given him a chew bone to get rid of the bad breath. This way, not only did you complete the tasks you charged for, but you put in a value added item – the tooth brushing without having to be told to do it. This is how you impress a customer and keep them coming back for more – you give more of yourself than they expect and are paying for.

The third element to a successful business is that you must ALWAYS be on time. Well, actually I disagree with this to some extent. I believed that you should be EARLY for all appointments and prepared to go without any delays. In my past articles you might remember my little trick of always keeping my waiting room empty when I was a dentist – I would have my staff swoop down on the patient as they entered the waiting room, not let them wait, and get them directly …

Car Insurance Savings Tip 1

There are many tips you can pick here and there on reducing what you pay in your car insurance. Some will result in savings of a few dollars; others could save you a few hundred dollars. In this article, I'll dwell on one that could save you a few hundred dollars depending on how you apply it …

Your premium is determined by a lot of factors. Among these factors is how much you pay as a deductible. I like ensuring everyone understands every term used in my articles due to differences in terms across locations. So, let's define the term "deductible."

When you file a claim, the insurance company expects you to contribute or pay a certain amount before they'll pay out the agreed compensation. This amount is called your deductible. If you agree to pay a high deductible, you'll get a lower premium. If for example, you increase your deductible from $ 400 to $ 1000; your premium might be lowered by as much 30{4917788a0bd7aa7369c2a945027b4fe6c9853cda4150a24fe1255b18ce3083dc}. Depending on your circumstance, this could mean savings of a hundred dollars or much more.

You must take some time to think this through before making a decision. If what you'll get as savings justifies the one time deductible (However high it is), then you're better off going for it. However, if you think otherwise then you have to go with what's best for you.

After doing all this, you must take your time to understand the fundamental process for realizing huge savings in car insurance and certain facts that you must not ignore about car insurance quotes and comparison sites. …