Stylepilot

On a recent shopping trip to New York, my husband bought four pairs of jeans, two shirts and four pairs of shoes.  I tagged along behind with a single pair of jeans, a top and a tee shirt from The Gap.  This is why he is a prime candidate to sign up to a new site called Stylepilot.  This new website allows men to express their preferences in terms of style, brands and lifestyle and the site then serves up a selection of offerings designed to suit the individual.  Why are things always so easy for the guys?

My husband seems to spend many hours every week planning his 'look', whether for the office or for our rare days off.  He has reached an age when he has left men's fashion behind, but revels in men's style.  Steve McQueen is one of his idols, and I understand why - for me he is the epitome of a guy who understood men's style.  He wore a Harrington jacket in the 1970s, and over thirty years later that item was on my husband's birthday wish list. The new Stylepilot site features a range of brands, from Topshop through to Paul Smith, so it will help any guy find his style, regardless of budget. 

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salt

If you have elderly parents or other relatives, then you need to read this. The best Christmas present that you can possibly buy them this year is a huge bag of rock salt for their safety outside the house during the winter months. Forget packs of toiletries that just end up in a cupboard, or sock that they never open, buy something with a purpose - Rock Salt for paths! One slip on the ice could mean three months in plaster - and I speak from experience. My Mother is currently lying in a hospital bed with a fracture that happened four weeks ago. This has caused her loads of pain and means she cannot live at home again until the plaster is removed. This kind of product should be supplied free of charge to old people, in my view. It has the potential to save the hospitals £000s in avoiding fractures. But it isn't, so we have to buy it. A nice big bag of rock salt should deal with this winter's big freeze and the good news is that you can get it delivered to the doorstep. This is top quality stuff, and far more effective than sand or cinders. Do not take chances with your health or that of your parents.

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Self promotion

If you need to promote your business, as we all do, there are many ways of getting your message in front of your target audience. Something that seems as everyday as a promotional product - say a pen - is used by the recipient, who looks at your name and your message every time they use it. I got a small promotional diary from a local firm of accountants at the end of last year, and I use it to record all my daily expenses. And guess what - when I needed to find an accountant for my business, they were the first people I rang. So those corporate pens and diaries can still play a part in the marketing and promotional mix, even in these days of Twitter, Facebook Pages et al.

One new addition to the fold is the reusable shopping bag. Over the past few years these have become a staple and fashionable item that most shoppers use - I've got several. If you present your clients with well-designed, smart Promotional shopping bags, they are going to use theirs day in and day out, like a mobile advertisement for YOUR business. Imagine how mush you would have to pay for prime outdoor poster sites in a major city, then consider how little these bags cost to produce.

Any promotional item that fills a need is going to be retained and used by the recipient, who becomes your best unpaid publicist. So before you pay yet another flash online advretising agency, maybe you should go back to basics and consider how printed promotional products can get your business to where you want to be.

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Next step

Thousands of people who want to keep improving their chances of getting a better job, or starting a successful business, are turning to all sorts of Online Courses as a means of achieving their education objectives. Learning online is a cost-effective and time-effective way of studying for qualifications or vocational certificates. For an aspiring entrepreneur, there is a tempting array of online degree programs in business where you can study all business disciplines, and get to grips with the less exciting aspects that can bring a business down - accountancy, for example.

To start looking for the right college and course to further your education, you could have a look at the Institute of Education Science College Navigator on http://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/ . This website has been set up to help you find the right college for you, so make good use of it - it's free, after all.

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Ticket Talk

Over here in the UK, the talk this week was revolving around tickets for the top Olympic events. Millions are fretting to find out if they won tickets for this race or that, while the rest of humanity goes on buying tickets for their favourtite gigs with far less fuss and bother. If you want Keith Urban Tickets you should be able to buy them without breaking the bank, of if, like my youngest niece, you used to lust over a certain uncool singer, you can be sure to obtains the best seats for your favourite venue. Yes, I am talking about Bon Jovi Tickets so if you are a fan, you should be OK to go. And what about Kenny Chesney Tickets, or even that great United States based band, Dave Matthews Band Tickets? Well if you want to save money, make sure you buy through one of the best online ticket agents. And if your tastes run to Rush concert Tickets
then you should also be very well catered for.

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Scrubs

Have I ever told you the story about my alcoholic friend who contracted a rare blood disease, unrelated to his lifestyle habits and landed up in one of the best London teaching hospitals? He really had a fantastic time - transfusions apart - and when we went to visit him we found something unexpected. Instead of our sickly friend tucked up in a hospital bed, we discovered him with some mates, wearing standard issue medical dental uniforms, and enjoying a drink in the pub in the street below. On reaching trhe empty bed we were quite alarmed, but one of the laid back nurses told us where we'd probably find him. He so enjoyed this new persona that he decided scrubs were his next fashion look, and would not discard them on his return home. So he soon started shopping for http://www.blueskyscrubs.com/ to keep the cool image when he was discharged.

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Job hunt

We have a friend who worked for years as a journalist on a key regional newspaper. It was a fairly cushioned existence, which came to an end about a year ago. Since then she has been looking without success for another fulfilling job. Instead of simply looking at local press for the sits vac, she is now moving her job search online.

Most good quality jobs in York now tend to be advertised on the internet, and it is reasonably easy for a job hunter to submit an electronic Curriculum Vitae and get a far quicker response. Already she has seen at least two jobs that seem to fit her profile so we are hoping that the quest for a new job could soon be at an end.

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Uniform matters

I was watching my favourite drama last night on BBC Three, 'Being Human'. I am a big fan of the acting as well as the star, Aidan Turner. In his role he works in a hospital where the nursing uniforms are of that modern design where nurses, doctors and porters all wear similar garments. The nurses no longer wear those ridiculous starched outfits of the 'carry on' films. Instead they have comfortable tops and trousers that allow them to move and look good.

The actors probably have custom made scrubs, as they do fit particularly well. Each of them wears a different type of nursing scrub uniform as one is a qualified nurse and the other two are porters. I can see why this fashion has spread from the United States to UK hospitals, and i am sure it saves a lot of money on uniform costs.

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Car choices

I have always been a fan of straightforward town cars as most of my motoring fits that bill. Something like the Infiniti Qx56 2Wd pretty much suits my needs from day to day. Some years ago I had a rather stylish Saab 9 5, which was a real head turner but pricier on the pocket. Now we are living in a country town and, although our immediate neighbourhood is very urban, we are surrounded by rural lanes. Added to that the fact that many parts of the town flood after any major storm, and my husband's mercedes benz no longer proves to fit the bill. It struggles with snow and ice, and like any saloon car it cannot cope with potholed roads. We are now thinking of changing to a jeep, which will handle everything that you throw at it. Cars like this are also great if you have pets.

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Tickets

There is a growing market in selling tickets to major concerts and events online. Sometimes this means that we, the fans, end up paying more - that last time we looked for George Strait Tickets, for example, they were almost sold out and only the top priced seats were still available. Fans of the major bands are willing to spend a small fortune every year buying Backstreet Boys Tickets, and middle aged followers of the songstress are devoted to getting hold of Celine Dion Tickets whenever she decides to make the effort and earn a few thousand for her talents.

We bought our son a Linkin Park Ticket for his last birthday present, which was far better than a pair of socks! If you want Rascal Flatts Tickets it is a good idea to go to one of the most reputable ticket agencies as there has been an increase in scam sites and sellers popping up with fake tickets. Imagine how you'd feel if you had shelled out all your hard-earned cash only to find the ticketes were worthless. Companies like ACheapSeat offer genuine seats for all major events, with fast secure shipping.

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Teeth

Last week I had to go to the dentist: I told him we had up to £500 cover for this year, and he explained that I would need that and more - just for a filling, checkup and polish. I am so glad my husband insisted on taking out a dental plan to cover us for this. After all, bad teeth really let you down in public. Unless you are unemployed the bill is always going to be steep, so any kind of medical plan will make a difference to the proportion you have to pay for.

When I ran a work from home business I visited the closest dentist but now I have found an excellent dentist near my work. He made a video of my teeth, showing detail of every single filling - not for the fainthearted.

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Velvet rope

I am constantly surprised at the mania for celebrity watching, especially since my wife is now one of the people taken up with the hobby. She surfs the web for photos of her favourite stars at first night events and will soon, I fear, be one of the thousands on the wrong side of that velvet rope lenaing over for a better view of the star, their outfit and their latest squeeze. Wherever these so-called A list people appear there is an element of crowd control, whether it is by their own personal security staff or by using physical barriers. The props and stanchions denote the areas where the public are not welcome, and anyone crossing the line will be promptly ejected. Why they want to be treated this way is beyond me, but celebrity watchers are gluttons for punishment, I suppose.

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Window boxes

The last time we went on a walking holiday we visited the Dolomites, where almost every house has a window box at every window, filled to overflowing with brightly coloured geraniums. They are all in peak condition, even though the summer is short in that part of the world. It is almost as if someone passed a law that made it compulsory to decorate the outside of your house with window boxes. The other thing that fascinated me was how they all managed to keep them in tip top condition all the time. Then, one day the weather changed and I discovered the secret - when it rains, each house has a set of covers for their garden window boxes. These consist of a long polythene cover with two rods to keep it steady. This just flips over the flowers and protects them from rain without resting on the blooms. Like all the best ideas, it is brilliant but simple.

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Lockers

I have an interesting dilemma since opening my new business - how to store a substantial amount of cash at home? Because we live in a small village, there is no branch of my bank in easy reach of my home or business. I do not have room at home for any lockers in the workplace, and I cannot be certain of the security in any case. I have worrying memories of the poor security in public places ever since I saw a guy have his car keys stolen from the allegedly secure Gym Lockers at my favourite gym a few years ago. He was followed by some local characters after they saw him park his new car outside, and after he went up to the weights room they raided the Wood Lockers and made off with his cherished car. Fortunately they were soon picked up by the police, but the guy still had to endure the stress of returning to find he had been robbed. So I am looking for a strong box that can be fixed to the floor in the house, with a good lock.

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repair credit score

It is all to easy to end up with a poor credit score if you have had a disagreement with a service provider or credit company, and there are millions of people with a low score around the world. The problem is that most of us will later need to enter future credit agreements in order to rent or buy a home, buy things for the home or even sign up for a gas supply, so the need to fix credit history is a sad reality. So you may have heard that there are any number of organisations around who can help you with credit repair.

If you consult a reputable company they can help you with a full credit repair service, The way to do this could include taking out a new credit agreement that enables you to demonstrate your ability to repay regularly and on time. Then when you want to take a bigger loan the institution can see that you are a better risk and your chances of getting a loan at normal rates will be vastly improved.

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Homework assistance

This must make me sound old, but when I was at school there was no help with difficult subjects or homework help like there is today. We did not even have a phone at home, let alone access to
Homework help from experts at any time of the day or night. Today, students can find assistance as well as online tutoring throughout the school term. You can find someone to help you grasp difficult concepts at all stages of learning - for example, K-12 or college tutoring.

A lot of young people find Algebra hard to get their heads around, not surprising since math is a subject where you either get the answer right or wrong. There are no fluffy areas as there are in subjects that involve essay writing. Hours of sleep can be lots while you try to work out a problem, so finding someone providing Free Algebra help can be a blessing for children and their anxious parents. These services can be accessed for a low monthly fee and save an awful lot of anguish.

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tutoring

Bringing up children these days is fraught with difficulties - if you are not worrying about their behaviour, then you are concerned about their education. Most parents have to keep checking their offspring's homework to ensure they are maintaining the required standards. Having an Online Tutor to call on seems like an unreal option, but in fact they can help with parenting and make life a lot easier. you might think that there is little free education around, but you can actually get Free Online Tutoring to help you and your child through the hurdles.
If your young one is having trouble with figures it is also simple to get Math help
from a qualified online tutor. that saves you, the parent, from losing face at least.

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Web hosting advice

If you are about to start a website of your own, here is some advice from someone who had to learn the hard way. The first tip is to avoid the deals where you are told you are getting a free domain name with your web hosting package. If you do this, you could find that the domain belongs to your web host and not you.

If your site becomes successful you could find that you end up in a battle over its ownership. Imagine if the domain becomes the next Facebook and someone else takes it over and makes all the money. So the second advice is to find a good Linux Web Host - that is the most common system on offer. There are a growing number of Windows web hosting arrangements and these are a lot more user friendly, in my opinion.

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Little ones

It is all change here at the moment, as our family has suddenly expaned in size with the arrival of our eldest son who wants to find fame and fortune here in sunny Sussex. He is a young looking (good looking) young guy, not exactly a baby. But an old lady outside the supermarket yesterday demanded to know why he was not at school! 'Come off it' I said, he outgrew kids placemats
years ago. They say the police look younger as you get older, and it seems the rule applies to everyone. Things have changed so much for kids in the last few years.

When ours were little we had no tailor-made childrens activity packs to amuse them - we had to think up games ourselves. The games were not always a great success, either. They did not think a long walk in the woods was the most fun thing for three small girls to do, and they whined all the time to go for a pizza. Now they are all grown up they will find out how hard it is to entertain the next generation.

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recyling

Today was rubbish day - not a rubbish day, but the day when all good citizens are expected to put their refuse in the right receptacle to save the planet. It has crept up on us really, and I can dimly remember the times when we put all our stuff in one bin, or a bag, and left it on the doorstep on the same day every week. Then gradually the message built up that it became the responsible thing to
recycle e waste and we are all expected to take the things to specially situated bottle banks. These then developed into recycling centres, and the whole thing became serious.

Then someone worked out how much petrol was being used to make trips to the dump, and doorstep recycling was born. Of course these collections do not cover major refurbs, and on those occasions a service like skip hire sydney is a requisite. Here in our small village there is no space for skips, and our builder has to take everything away in his van.

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Beach break

It is still quite affordable for us to fly to the States for a holiday, in spite of the exchange rate, because the holidays over there are actually better value than many European resorts. And I am not talking about Miami, which is now like a Stateside version of Blackpool. The latest 'in' place, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, has amazing beaches. It is relatively uncrowded with miles and miles of southerly sandy shores fringed with palm trees.

You can rent a condo on the oceanfront at Avista resort, something which is unaffordable for ordinary families in other areas. Imagine spending your holiday overlooking the beach directly, going to sleep to the sound of waves lapping gently on the shore .... You can stroll for miles, or take a spa escape while the rest of your family play safely on the beach. I really need to indulge myself, and very soon.

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Travelling soon

After such a long spell of cold and dull weather, my thoughts are definitely turning to holidays. yesterday was the first afternoon when we still saw the sun after 4pm, and the birds were singing as well. Where to go, though? I have received plenty of offers for deals at cheap hotels -both at home and abroad.

I think I need to get further south to soak up some rays after all the snow and ice, so unfortunately that will mean we need airline tickets as well. I am fed up with the poor service from some of the budget carriers, but the good news is that 'proper' airlines like BA can usually match their fares if you go to the right comparison sites.

It is also easy to find a great hotel for not-much money if you look at one of the big travel review sites. These have recent reviews by real holiday makers, giving an honest opinion of how they enjoyed their stay - or not!

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Planters

After the coldest spell of weather for 30 years this January, we are all counting the cost. This morning I noticed that one of my terracotta Planters is disintegrating around the rim, and looking very sorry for itself. Of course we all know that a soft material like this is vulnerable to damage by frost and snow, and it really is not a great choice for use in an Outdoor Planter. When we had the chance to buy some new Decorative Planters after moving house last year I chose the lead imitation versions, which are made from a synthetic material. To me they look almost as good as traditional Versailles planter, with two important differences. First the cost and second, the weight. The new ones are much lighter and easier to move round the garden. I think they look great, and so far they have stood up to the bad weather.

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Homework

Getting extra help with areas of study that are proving difficult used to be costly and time consuming. One positive development on the internet is the availability of online tutoring. This offers help for your children with topics like Algebra 2 if they are finding it hard to assimilate the salient points. When you miss a vital lesson even a straight A K12 student can find that they need some help in finding the solution to Algebra 1 Problems.

The cost of an all inclusive tutoring package for your little ones is probably a lot less than you might think, so it is worth checking out. Unless both parents are maths professors, chances are that your ability to help them with Algebra Problems is quite limited, so it is best to get some professional backup. This way, you can give them a head start for the next exams and help them pass first time. If you are still unsure, remember that you can try the service for free

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Lock it

I never thought, at my great age, that Lockers would still loom large in my life. Memories of dusty School lockers are still with me, as these were the area where the best gossip was exchanged! They were never big enough for all the books and kit I needed with me, and I still needed to drag a bag of stuff backwards and forwards on the school bus.

Then of course, later in life I joined a health club where the Gym Lockers wer certainly of a higher standard. They came in two sizes and naturally I needed to use the larger one. They had to be made more secure after a member's car keys were stolen from his locker and the thief made off with his new car.

And now I am about to open my cafe, where I will need a locker or safe place to store valuables while the premises are open. This will need to be big enough for an oversized handbag and coat - I think a wardrobe is going to be required, as packing light has never been my strength.

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Translate

Despite what you might read to the contrary, the world is still multilingual. English, Spanish and Chinese are the most widely spoken languages but there are still millions of occasion every day when a translation is required to allow all those involved to understand the contents fully. The career possibilities for a qualified translator are still enormous, as they are involved in high level meetings between importers and suppliers, politicians, diplomats and many others.
Being employed to translate at important negotiations can include travelling to other countries and, of course, working very long hours. Using a specialist agency is a practical option for all of us, and despite the highly qualified staff involved, the cost is still manageable.

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Going out

When you are young, free and single, going out to all the top ball games can be one of the most important things you do. If you want to impress your friends, you need to show that you can get hold of exclusives such as Notre Dame Stadium Tickets. But do not let money sense go out of the window in your enthusiasm, as it is not always necessary to pay top dollar for those coveted seats.

By using a professional ticket broker you can be at all your favourite events and still get the cheapest prices. They can offer you the best seats for sports and shows like
Rosemont Theater Tickets throughout the year.

There is an extensive list of event tickets that can help you make huge savings. By dealing with such a big agency you get a share of the discounts they negotiate. If you are looking for Soldier Field Tickets you could get there with all your friends and family, often for the same price as your local cinema.

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Crowd control

If you ever read the gossip columns and check out the photos of celebrities who have appeared on the red carpet at glittering events, you will have seen the stanchions that are used to keep us lesser mortals away from the chosen ones who need to be seen by their public. These pieces of kit are used for all sorts of crowd control purposes - outside the most popular clubs, for example. But they have more innocent applications as well. Next time you visit an art gallery or an ancient cathedral, or any major venue that generates queues, have a look around. Chances are that you will spot a velvet rope at reminds vistors to stay in a certain area or not to touch the exhibits. These passive methods of restricting access are discreet and certainly much more acceptable than an aggressive security guard. But remember, there may also be an infra red beam passing over the line as well, so if you do cross it there could be some very noisy alarms going off.

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Field telephone systems

A new website that I noticed today is a specialist supplier of field telephone systems, to help military personnel maintain communications when they are on active service in the field. This kind of infrastructure if they are to be kept up to date with movements and new challenges that they are going to have to deal with. These communications systems have moved at an even faster pace than our own domestic telecoms as far as I can see - most personnel should now have access to a
digital field telephone,which can call up colleagues on the ground or those flying helicopters. As we know to our cost over here in the UK, the standard of equipment supplied to armed personnel can make all the difference to their survival. Maybe improved field telephone systems would have protected some of them better, had the money been invested properly.

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Search Engine News

There are millions of web sites trying to get listed in the top ten spots of the major search engines. That amounts to an awful lot of competition for you and your business, and even after spending hours and hours on Search Engine Optimization techniques you may still not be able to achieve a high ranking for your competitive keywords. However, there are still ways that you can get to the top as long as you bring in the experts at a good SEO Company.

They are employed full time to get websites like yours to the top of the search results and they know what is important. For example, did you know the nature of your Web design could be causing problems for the spiders? They will look at all the factors of your website and prepare a free proposal for your search engine optimisation needs.

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Legitimate Work at Home Business Opportunities

How to Find Legitimate Work at Home Business Opportunities

If you're considering working from home, you know that getting started can be overwhelming. It's difficult to find the work at home business opportunity for you, and once you have, it's even harder to know if it is legitimate. You want to work at home, but you don't want to become the victim of a scam and wind up losing your hard earned money. This article will show you how to find legitimate work at home business opportunities, so that you can begin your work at home career.


One work at home business opportunity is to work for a call center. Many call centers are hiring work at home parents to take calls from their homes. To take advantage of this work at home business opportunity, you must have a computer and a landline home phone, in most cases. Working from home for a call center would involve a shift of several hours, answering the phone and taking orders or performing customer service duties.

Another work at home business opportunity to consider is going into business for yourself. Starting your own business can be an extremely profitable venture, and a great work at home business opportunity. If you have an idea that works, and possess some basic web design skill, this may be the option for you. Depending on whether you plan to offer goods or services, this work at home business opportunity could require some start up capital, so be prepared.

If you know how to use eBay or other auction sites, you may be able to turn your knowledge into a great work at home business opportunity. Many work at home parents make a good part time or full time income by purchasing items at thrift stores, auctions, and yard sales and then selling them on auction sites for a profit. Auction sites offer guides for beginners, and you can get started with this type of home business opportunity without investing much money. If you have basic computer skills and a digital camera, this may be the work at home business opportunity for you.

Working from home can be a great way to earn money while spending more time with your family. When researching work at home business opportunities, avoid any type of program that requires you to pay money to sign up or receive information. Instead, devote your time and hard earned money to legitimate work at home business opportunities that will earn you an excellent return on your investment. Soon you'll be a full or part time work at home parent, enjoying the schedule and lifestyle you've been dreaming of.

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Rebekah Mack Bono is an expert in the work at home field, providing work at home ideas, tips, and resources through The Best Work at Home Resource website, which she owns. She is also author of eBook, The Best Work At Home Resource Guide, which offers ideas for freelancers, stay-at-home moms, or anyone looking to work from home, as well as job banks.
http://www.best-work-at-home-resource.com

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TV matters

Just before Christmas we decided to buy a plasma TV - finally. Of course these purchases can be quite complex, because you need to buy the set and decide where it is going to be located. The more devices you are connecting to your television, the more wires there are likely to be so you must make up your mind how to conceal them.

My head was spinning, but fortunately I did a search and found out about Just TV stands. After that it was easy as they guarantee the lowest prices on all their stock so I simply looked through their range and read the explanations. They understand that nobody wants to look at a mess of wires so they include tidy up gadgets with every stand.

There are a lot of trendy new designs available and they are all here - makes like Origin, Ateca and GT TV stands. These are some of the best on the market, designed and manufactured using the very highest quality materials. The attraction for me was that Just TV stands is a UK firm, from Yorkshire, and all orders are delivered from there. The last thing I wanted was a long wait for the thing to be delivered: after all it took me long enough to choose! By the way, there is no extra charge for delivery - the price you see is the price you pay.

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Seven things not to say when selling

Seven Words You Cannot Say In Sales

In the early 70's, George Carlin created quite a stir with his comedic "Seven Words You Can't Say on Television." So much so, that his original routine is still talked about today. His choices were funny to some and grossly offensive to others. The fact remains, that despite a steady decline in moral standards on television, those seven words remain off-limits to this day, at least on network television.

Our word choices and uses are important. They often convey our level of intelligence and understanding to others. Incorrect usage of words displays ignorance, causing others not to take us seriously. Words help to create pictures in our minds. This is critically important, especially in selling, where perception often means everything. "What you are doing speaks so loudly, that I cannot hear what you are saying." says Ralph Waldo Emerson. One might re-phrase that expression to say "I hear what you are saying, but I understand what I am perceiving."

The following words depict negativity and are perceived by your customers as evasive, uncaring, non-interested and non-committal. Trust me, if you are being perceived in this manner, you have already dug yourself into a deep hole and further speech will likely bury you. Lose these seven immediately:

1. forgot

2. blame

3. excuse

4. can't

5. don't-care

6. won't-do

7. no

People want to be part of business and personal relationships where they feel they have importance and matter to the other person. Is that not what you want? There is no place for words or a mindset such as these on the journey towards success. These seven words represent apathy and self-serving, traits that seldom lead to sales growth. It is not only these exact words but the attitudes behind them that must be eliminated.

Development of superior selling skills begins with sincere interest in others. It begins with having the genuine desire to be of service. Our customers not only expect these but demand them as well. It is the base of what will develop into a relationship.

We are in the early stages of another presidential election season. There are seldom more opportunities to witness words, intentions and records more highly scrutinized than right now. Will President Clinton ever live down his scrutiny of the word "the" in defense of his actions? Learn from seeing how words will surely be separated from context, twisted and edited to mean something totally new. "What did you mean when you said...?" will be a commonly asked politically-charged question.

Choose your words carefully. Mean what you say. Forget vulgarity. Forget off-color humor. Forget clouded meanings. Be direct in your communications so that your customer knows exactly what you can, cannot and will do for them. Make certain that they thoroughly understand your intentions and expectations. This is where integrity shines. Clear word choices lead to clear communication which in turn leads to satisfying relationships. Choose your words carefully and win.

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Daniel Sitter, author of both Learning For Profit and Superior Selling Skills Mastery, has garnered extensive experience in sales, training, marketing and personal development spanning a successful 25 year career. Experience his blog at http://www.idea-sellers.com

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get paid to do this

Get Paid To Give Away Credit Cards - Is This A Legitimate Home Business?

There is a new type of home based business where you can get paid to give away credit cards. At the time of writing, this new type of business is still treated with caution by some people and is not widely available. It is early days, but I have a feeling that giving away credit cards is going to be a popular way of making money at home and might even overtake the online survey and online data entry business in the ways to make money at home charts. If I am right, in a very short time, we will start to see new credit card promotion programs springing up in copy-cat style offering people generous commissions to promote credit cards.

When you consider the fact that this business involves you showing people where they can easily obtain something they want, you will understand how easy it can be to make money giving away credit cards. This is one of the best home based business ideas currently on offer for three reasons:

1. It involves promoting an in-demand product;

2. The way the program is set up makes the business very simple to work at;

3. The business is ideal for promotion both online and in the bricks and mortar world.

First, a quick word about the way the credit card promotion business is set up. (The set-up I describe belongs to one particular credit card promotion company but, it is a pretty safe bet that the copy-cat companies will adopt a similar system.) The company provides a pre-built customizable website, promotional tools, and full training on how to promote the business. The training covers offline promotion as well as Internet advertising and includes using free advertising resources. In addition you will be given some nice bonuses (eg personalised business cards). The website will be automatically updated, so you don't need to know anything about coding web pages. Free hosting is provided for your website, so there are no hosting fees for you to pay.

Back to the question of whether this is a legitimate way to earn money. I can fully understand why people would have reservations on this point; I always shy away from the idea of promoting an unknown company offering loans of any type. There are probably honest companies offering some of these credit facilities but I would not like to have to live with the idea that I might be promoting loan sharks. You can easily clear your mind of this kind of doubt in regard to promoting credit cards: a look at the names of the credit card companies included in the program will reassure you because you are bound to recognise some, if not all, of the banks involved.

Another reassuring thing about giving away credit cards is that you are not trying to persuade people to sign up for any one particular credit card: you are offering a choice, so they can pick the credit card that best suits their individual needs.

To sum up the situation: giving away credit cards is an excellent way to make money working at home. It is a legitimate home business and a fairly easy way to earn money from home.

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To learn more about how you can get paid to give away credit cards visit Elaine Currie's Top 30 Work At Home Directory at http://www.huntingvenus.com/homebusinessarticles/canyoumakemoneygivingawaycreditcards.html featuring the best home business for women at http://www.HuntingVenus.com




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New online businesses

Starting an Online Business and Staying On Purpose

Starting an online business is something that many people are seeking as a way out of their regular jobs and routine. Many believe it will be easy, and are later disappointed when they find out it takes as much work, if not more, than a regular job.

That's why it's so very important to start an online business with purpose so that you don't get easily discouraged. What does it mean to be, or do things "on purpose"?

It simply means that there is a good reason why you are doing what you are doing. Living a life "on purpose" means that you do what comes naturally to you, as well as what you love doing. In doing so, you are living according to the hidden master plan that each one of has within us, whether we realize it or not.

When starting an online business, you will most certainly have a better chance of success when you choose a business that suits you. It's true that most people don't know what their purpose in life is, or what their calling is. Sometimes we have to try things out to find out, even if it doesn't work out in the end. Each experience, good or bad, is something we can learn from, and life is all about learning.

One of the reasons why people don't follow their innate purpose in life when starting an online business is because they don't listen to their intuition, or don't have a well-developed sense of intuition. Intuition is the gut feelings that tell you to do or not do something, or to follow one path instead of another. Many of us fail to listen to these.

What we must keep in mind is that intuition is very real, and it's trying to tell us something. When we don't pay attention to that, we usually end up doing things that are not in line with our purpose.

We end up being aggravated, frustrated, angry, hurt, embarrassed, or unsuccessful. If we don't clue in that this is not our true purpose, we may even end up putting ourselves in the exact same situations over and over again.

When you get into a rut like that when you are starting an online business, or whatever else, it's time to pay attention to the fact that you are in a tornado-like whirlwind of repeated unsuccessful life and online business situations. You will only get out of it if you are aware of the cycle, and make some changes to free yourself from it.

When starting an online business, there are some ways to keep your purpose in mind. As mentioned above, listen to your gut instincts and follow through with them. Know yourself and what your strengths and weaknesses are. Pay attention to what attracts you, and when your soul is restless and seeking change.

Remember that your life is a creation, and you are in control to paint the life you want. If you're starting an online business and it's not going well, then start by changing how you think about things. If you want more money and aren't getting it, change your thoughts and actions to paint the picture of your business that you desire.

How do we know what our true purpose is when starting the online business of our dreams? One way to find out is just by knowing that there is a reason for everything that happens to us, and that anything is possible.

If something bad happens to us, realize that this misfortune is leading us to our true purpose. When you think that you can accomplish anything you dream about, then you are open to receiving the true potential of your life, and drawing into your life circumstances that lead you to fulfill your dreams.

Start your online business by being self-aware, being open to changing your thoughts when things don't go your way, being in tune with your purpose by following intuitions, and following that path.

This will all make starting an online business that much easier, and you will find that things flow smoothly and successfully when you are in line with, and "on purpose".

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Liane Bate owns a Plug-in Profit Site web business, and is author of 110+ articles related to online business and internet marketing.
Is your online business your true calling? Find out here: http://www.HonestMoneyMaking.com
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Gift Cards

This year most of us are looking differently at the gifts we buy for friends and family over the holiday season. The need to get value from the money we spend has never been such a priority in my lifetime, the good news is that we no longer have to run around looking for pointless trinkets that will amuse for five minutes. This was always a frustrating exercise as most of those gifts were returned to the store straight afterwards, or ended up in a charity shop! It is now trendy to buy gift cards, leaving the recipient to choose exactly what they would like.

Make sure when you are buying these tokens that the card will be widely accepted, so that your friend or family member can use it in their favourite store, like the cards sold by
Gift Card Mall™. Their cards are redeemable by a wide range of retailers, allowing the user to get the gift they would have bought for themselves, and they will be very well received this year.

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Stem business

When women think about their general health and their reproductive prospects they are usually prepared to be open minded. So it is women who are ready to look at the new options available to them thanks to the new stem cell application called C'Elle. All About C'elle - well, it is possibly like nothing you have considered previously. This stem cell provision consists of cells that have been previously harvested from menstrual fluid. There is nothing unethical or controversial about this use of the substance. It can be used for so many applications that benefit humanity that sensible individuals recognise the huge benefits for this humane intervention. And the exciting part is that women, having understood the benfits, can Become C'elle Distributor and spread the message of this positive use of stem cell technology. If you consider the positive ways that this discovery can be used - for heart muscle, cartilage, nerve and bone stem cells. This translates into the potential for therapeutic development to treat major diseases like MS, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's, then you will want to Become C'elle Distributor today

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DIY Debt Help

Do-It-Yourself Debt Consolidation: Does It Ever Work?
You have a lot of debt piling up and, uninvited, you get a
letter from a credit card company suggesting that you write
one of their handy checks and pay off your high-interest
debts and put them on a brand new credit card. The kicker
to the offer is that this new credit card is going to
charge you no interest.

Should you do this?

In a way, this is a mini-version of what debt consolidation
is all about. Debt consolidation is a way of dealing with
overwhelming debt by gathering it together (consolidating
it) into one large debt. The idea is that you can likely
get better terms (less interest) on one large debt than on
several smaller debts. Besides that, one payment a month
keeps life simpler than having to make a dozen or more
smaller payments (and there is less risk of missing a
payment and getting a black mark on your credit report).

Still, caution is warranted. The first thing you need to do
is review the actual offer extended by the credit card
company. While zero interest is no doubt true, no company
is going to extend that offer to you without some strings.
Typically, the two main strings to look for is "how much?"
and "how long?"

For instance, you may only be able to consolidate a
specific amount of money to the new zero-interest offer.
Let's say it's $5,000. If you want to consolidate about
$5,000 worth of debt or less, this is a workable amount. If
you're facing $80,000 worth of debt, this isn't going to
help much.

Next, you need to realize that the company will set some
very specific time limits on the offer. You may get zero
interest for a few months or even a year or more. But there
will come a day of reckoning when you go back to a regular
(or even higher-than-regular) interest rate.

Some offers for no-interest loans require that the loan be
paid in full by the due date otherwise all of the interest
is due. Furniture stores often extend this kind of credit.
Let's say you buy $10,000 worth of furniture and the store
says you can borrow that money free for one year instead of
at the store's usual rate of 22% (yes, a lot of furniture
stores charge rates that high). If you pay off the entire
$10,000 before the year is up, you owe no interest. But
let's say you paid $9,950 before the year was up but on the
day the offer expired, you still owed $50. In this example,
the company would be within its rights to charge you
$2,250-that's $50 for what you owe and the $2,200 interest
you owe because you did not pay the loan in full by the due
date.

So find out how much money you can consolidate and how long
the zero-interest offer lasts (and what happens when it
expires). Then you need to do some number crunching and
soul searching to figure out if you can honestly expect to
pay it off on time. For instance, if you owe $5,000 on a
variety of credit cards, you can take two or three years to
pay it off. If you consolidate this to a zero-interest
offer, you may put yourself under the gun to pay it off in
one year. Can you do that? Sit down and figure it out (in
this case, it means paying in about $417 a month, minimum,
without fail).

The other issue involved in debt consolidation involves a
process I call "stopping the bleeding." Debt is like a
money hemorrhage. Just as no person can hemorrhage blood
indefinitely without suffering dire, even fatal,
consequences, nobody can hemorrhage money for too long
without financial disaster.

If you are still hemorrhaging cash, there is not much point
in consolidating your debt. That's like taking an aspirin
when you need a tourniquet. Debt consolidation works best
when the debt is a finite thing (for instance, you got in
serious debt over an accident or medical problem) or when
you have figured out how to end the cycle of spending more
than you make. In other words, debt consolidation will help
you clean up your financial mess once you have solved the
root cause of your indebtedness.

Are these low-interest or no-interest loans a good deal?
Actually, they can be, but they are better deals to highly
disciplined money managers than to the debt-laden. If you
are already struggling with too much debt, taking on a
somewhat large debt with a ticking clock can be a lot of
stress-and require more financial discipline than you have.

Another downside of the no-interest credit card offer is
that it puts another credit card into your wallet, and one
that you will be encouraged to use. If you already struggle
with credit, you really don't need to add more temptation
to your life.

That does not mean debt consolidation is not a good
solution. If you can get a handle on your debt situation,
figure out how to stop the downward spiral, and then work
out a budget and plan to get free of debt, debt
consolidation can be a great solution. In fact, it's a
financial method used by large businesses and wealthy
individuals to handle special financial situations. The
trick is that there are many ways to consolidate debt and
other ways that can be much more advantageous to those
struggling with overwhelming debt.


----------------------------------------------------
Wondering if debt consolidation might be right for you? Are
you struggling with debt and wonder what debt consolidation
is all about? Get your free financial profile at
http://www.debt-consolidation-diva.com .
Debt-Consolidation-Diva provides information only (no
financial services) and is a good, relaxing, safe place to
get information. Check it out!

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sew at home

I have always had a sewing machine at home, even though I am not a serious dressmaker. Zigzag machines were introduced more than thirty years ago, and a fairly simple Janome sewing machine can be bought for a reasonable price. Once you have bought one you can carry out repairs to clothes and linens around the house. If you are thinking of buying one of these useful machines you can get advice from someone who has also bought one recently and find out their honest opinion of their Janome sewing machine on an interactive website called wize.com. Using their rating scale you can find out reviews for individual models, and the reviews give a score on each. This rates from 'buy with confidence' (90-100) through to 'not recommended' (under 50). The Janome sewing machine reviewed on the site scored a whopping 98!

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German travels

For me, there is a certain something about the land of castles and forests - Germany. This country has held a fascination for me since childhood when I travelled there with the school. The quality of hotels in germany is high, and you will find your room is equipped with a fluffy downy duvet - the stuff dreams are made of. Wherever you travel in Germany you can be sure of a warm welcome, and the hoteliers are dedicated to making sure that you enjoy your stay with them.

If you would like to visit the country's capital, you will find that the hotels in berlin
are quite cosmopolitan, with an international clientele. But the old values still remain - in particular the endearing habit of leaving a vodka bottle and tomato juice on the breakfast buffet, just in case you fancied a cocktail at 8am.

When you travel around to the Lande you will find more of the countryside hospitality again, and the big peak time for hotels in munich is the Oktoberfest, a season of rejoicing over the grape harvest and looking forward to next year's vintage - essentially there is no need of an excuse for a party.

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