Secrets Of A Professional Dog Trainer was put together by leading professional dog trainer Adam Katz. He states that this book is his attempt to bring together all of the latest tricks, tips and crafts of the dog training profession, and make them accessible to the ordinary dog owner. In doing this I believe he has created the best do-it-yourself dog training system available today.

Secrets Of A Professional Dog Trainer is the most complete dog ownership and obedience training resource I have come across. This book and the bonuses that come with it have changed the way I think about dog training – and no doubt for the better. If you follow Adam’s cutting edge techniques, like I have, you’ll come away with so much more than just a “well trained dog”.

What You Get In The Package

Secrets Of A Professional Dog Trainer Book

This is the main book in the package, when downloaded it’s 151 pages chock full of the

best dog ownership and obedience training information I have seen in any one book. The

book isn’t slick or glossy with lots of pretty pictures, it’s just a great resource of

the latest cutting edge and useable dog training techniques. There is so much to take in and

understand that you will probably need to read through the book at least a couple of times (I still find new things each time I flick through my copy).

The book covers in precise detail every imaginable aspect of dog ownership and is presented

in a no-nonsense, take it or leave it style. Adam gets away with writing in this syle because he has an absolute confidence in his training methods which is based on years of experience and proven real-world results.

I can’t go into too much detail and give away Adam’s secrets, but I’ll just highlight some of

the many topics which are covered. These are just some of the principles I found to be crucial when working with my dogs:

• How to achieve a proper relationship with your puppy or older dog, based on trust and
  respect.

• The overriding principle of this package it to praise or reward your dog when he does something you like, and correct his behavior when he does something you don’t like (sounds simple but you need to know the right way to do this).
• Shows you how to work with the natural drives and instincts of your dog (this is crucial to understand and follow).
• Explains the 3 keys to successful dog training and behavior modification – the first key is “timing”.
• Details the three phases of dog training or the dog learning process.
• Shows you how to communicate with your dog so that your dog understands your commands and those same commands have meaning.
• Explains the top four way to effectively communicate with your dogs. You achieve this
  through replicating how dogs communicate with each other.

• Explains why you the dogs owner are the best person in the world to train your dog.

Dog problems are universal – the good news is so are the answers to these problems.

If you read, understand and then apply the above principles you are pretty much set. All of

your dog training needs can be addressed by adapting these methods to any situation, whether

you are trying to correct a behavioral problem or teach a new trick.

Some of the specific Lessons and Topics discussed within the book – again I can’t go into too much detail here but let me assure you Adam leaves his readers in no doubt about what to do and what not to do in all of these scenarios:

• How to choose the right puppy or older dog for you and your family.
• What your puppy needs at each crucial stage while growing up.
• Tells you how professional trainers raise their own pups.
• How to take any dog for a walk on a loose leash.
• How to perform and hold a perfect down-stay.
• How to prevent or fix canine aggression.
• Stop your dogs excessive barking.
• Five secrets to quickly housebreak (potty train) your puppy.
• The truth about crate training.
• Stop your dog jumping forever.
• The problem with clicker training.
• Which collar is right for your dog.
• Stop your dog digging.
• Stop your puppy biting now.
• How to stop your dog running away from you.
• How to fix separation anxiety.
• How to teach your dog hand signals.
• Socializing your dogs.
• Training with and electronic collar.
• How to give a motivational correction.

The above list of common dog problems barely scratches the surface of what’s included in this book. You’ll find the book addresses all area’s of dog ownership including building a strong relationship with your dog, obedience training and correcting any behavioral problems.

What Adam is really doing in this book is training us the reader, so we can then go and bond with and train our dogs – the right way.

Bonus 1 – Eight Secrets To Becoming The “Alpha Dog”

This proved to be the most beneficial part of the package for me and my dogs. Once I learned and applied the techniques covered in this bonus book everything else I did with my dogs seemed to become easier. Whether I was teaching them a new trick or correcting a behavioral problem, the process seemed to be easier and quicker after we established that I was the Alpha Dog. As Adam outlines in the book (you can also listen to it as an audio file) when you become the Alpha Dog your dogs do these four things:

• Quickly respond to you.
• Respect you in any situation.
• Bond with you in the proper way.
• Really want to please you.

This occurs because dogs naturally love to have a leader (you the Alpha Dog). They are

happiest when they’ve got a good strong leader, who they know will take care of them and that

they trust.

Bonus 2 – How To Fix Aggression Problems In Dogs

Again this section is available to learn in printed form or as an audio file (I actually

learned these lessons on the train, on my way to work listening to my ipod). This section of

Secrets Of A Professional Dog Trainer clearly defines the four main causes or types of dog

aggression. Adam really digs deep into how to correctly diagnose and fix these aggression

problems. He reveals one simple technique that he has used to fix 90% of the aggression

problems he encountered at his dog training school. What I learnt in this section is that it is the way we communicate with our dogs that is essential to correcting this problem – we

must be on the same page as our dogs.

Bonus 3 – How To Teach Any Dog To Walk On A Loose Leash In Less Than 10 Minutes!

The title says it all really. Adam spells out exactly what to do to stop your dog pulling

on the leash. These techniques work a treat. I’ve got to say it did take me and Pocky (my

whippet) a little longer than 10 minutes to master this skill, but we got there before long.

Bonus 4 – Free $25 E-mail Consultation With Adam

This is a great bonus. if you do decide to go ahead and purchase this package be sure to use

this service. Any specific problems you come across when training your dogs you can get the

answer to here. Also be aware that you will receive free access to heaps of training tips and

advice on Adam’s website. This includes an active forum you can read and participate in (there’s some brilliant tips to be found on this site).

Bonus 5 – How To Choose A Veterinarian

Unfortunately, as dog owners there will be times we need to call on the services of a good Vet. This book outlines some important factors to consider when making this decision. These points are general and apply to all dog owners, regardless of what part of the world you are in.

Bonus 6 – Where To Buy Dog Products At Wholesale Prices

Lists some very cheap suppliers of dog care and training products. This part of the package is most useful to residents of the U.S.A.

Bonus 7 – Dog Training Internet Resource File

This is another good little bonus. It’s an exhaustive list of dog training related web sites,

registries, mailing lists, breeders, kennels, products, articles and information. You’ll find

some real gems amongst this lot.

My Experience Using Secrets Of A Professional Dog Trainer

When I first set out to find a suitable do-it-yourself dog training system, this system is really what I hoped to find. It took me a while to wade through lots of the junk products out there, but it was worth it.

Of all the products I have tested, this one is clearly my personal favorite. It is by far

the most comprehensive and insightful product of its kind. Every stage and thinkable

situation of a dogs life is expertly addressed by Adam.

What Type Of Dog Owner Would Benefit Most From Secrets Of A Professional Dog Trainer?

I’ve recommended this package to many friends who are first time dog owners, I’d be just as

comfortable recommending it to Professional Dog Trainers. All dog owners (and their dogs)

would benefit from learning and applying Adam’s cutting edge training methods. He is the

leading authority on how to properly bond with and obedience train any puppy or dog.

Chris Smith is a dedicated dog lover and creator of http://www.dog-obedience-training-review.com

Train your dog the right way yourself at home. You may just strengthen the bond you share with your dog in the process.

If you look into a student’s room, you’ll most likely see the walls covered with posters. You probably decorated your dorm room with posters (e.g., classic movie posters, posters of your favorite band or singer, etc.) when you were a college student.

There is a huge market for classic movie posters today. These classic movie posters, sold at DVD and record shops, are mainly used by marketing outfits as marketing tools for promoting movies and persuading the movie going public to go to the theaters and watch. However, classic movie posters also serve as memorabilia for movie lovers. After all, classic movie posters are an artwork in themselves. Many of these classic movie posters are actually considered works of art because their designs become the symbols of the films.

Movie posters can convey plenty of information regarding the cast, director, crew and such, but there are movie posters whose focus is more on conveying a powerful visual image. You will notice that older classic movie posters have more words and tag lines and often feature painted images of the lead actors. Other classic movie posters use still photographs that were taken directly from the film.

Many of the images in the classic movie posters are literal. For instance, Gone With The Wind’s classic movie poster had Vivian Leigh in Clarke Gable’s arms. The King Kong classic movie poster has the heroine being carried by King Kong. The Casablanca classic movie poster has its lead stars, Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman, looking at us, their cheeks against each other.

The more memorable poster images or photographs eventually become the lead stars’ iconic images, and they stay in the moviegoer’s minds. In fact, these poster images are often what launches actors to stardom. For instance, the image of Audrey Hepburn in the classic movie poster for Breakfast At Tiffany’s is one that has endured through the years. Mention her name and the public thinks of her in an evening gown, adorned with jewels. The classic movie posters for The Great Escape captured Steve McQueen doing different motorbike stunts. And James Dean…perhaps his most memorable image is the one that appeared in the Giant’s classic movie poster: Dean posed crucified with his rifle. And who wouldn’t have seen the famous photo of Marilyn Monroe standing over an air vent, trying to hold her dress down? This image of Monroe was used to promote the Bus Stop film. You can find great information on movies and movie reviews at http://www.magiclanternpr.com

The horror genre has its share of memorable images too. The images in the older classic movie posters in this genre mostly conveyed a subtle, quiet menace. For instance, it would be hard not to feel a chill when looking at Norman Bats’ shadowy house iin the classic movie poster for Psycho. Similarly, Jack Nicholson with his head smashed through the door in the movie poster for The Shining is scary. The classic movie poster for The Candyman has a wasp sitting on the edge of an eye.

The Jaws movie poster is one of the classic movie posters that is most reproduced. This classic movie poster has a simple but very powerful image: a shark’s mouth wide open, directly facing us. Another powerful poster image is that of Taxi Driver’s Robert De Niro with his hand at his temple, pointed like a gun. And when it comes to the romance genre, the Titanic movie poster is a true classic. It captures the image of Leonardo di Caprio and Kate Winslet above the Titanic, two people forever in love.

Article by Dean Forster at http://www.magiclanternpr.com . For more great information on movies and movie reviews visit Family Movie Review

Lemmings are cute, but dumb. If you tell them to jump off a cliff, they will. Just like the people who start blogs because everyone is doing it. Guess what happens after a little while? The blogs die.

In managing a list of many Web sites, most of which are blogs, I deleted countless sites from the list because the sites and blogs no longer existed. The people ran out of steam or had no reason to start them in the first place.

How do you know when a blog is right for your business? Learn why people start blogs, how they find their niche and how blogging tools can be used for more than blogs.

Some people like to read blogs, others like to read newsletters, still others like to rely on feeds and some read a few or all of them. No matter the method the information is distributed, each medium has one thing in common: content. Having a blog connects your newsletter and your business with all of these readers and delivers important content in a particular style.

I’ve been blogging since June 2000. If you review my early blog entries in meryl’s notes, you’ll notice they’re more personal. When blogs first hit the scene in the late ’90s, they were personal diaries and journals. Like the blog business, my blog has transformed from personal to business speak, although I still add personal notes here and there.

A few bloggers tend to talk about their work, their products and their little world. That might work for celebrities where fans want to know everything about them, but it doesn’t work for the average business person. Other business people want information on how to succeed and when a blog spends time hawking products offering information of no value, few people will return. The people whose products sell well are the ones who provide valuable information. Readers already know what kind of information they’re getting, so they trust that when they buy something, it will be of the same or better quality. This value must be reflected in their blog. It’s much like people who only sign up for a newsletter after first seeing an example.

No one wants to be a lemming (I would hope). How do you decide whether or not to set up a blog? The answer isn’t black or white (what did you expect?). Ask these questions:

• Can you regularly update it — at least five times a week?
• Do you have something to say other than just linking to others?
• Do you read other blogs or feeds?
• Can you provide information of value to others not just to yourself?
• How large is your newsletter subscriber list?
• How many unique visitors do you get on an average day, week or month?

The big decider is whether or not you can write in the blog almost daily. The people behind the high traffic blogs post multiple times a day. Though resourceful, merely linking to other sites doesn’t give visitors much reason to make the effort to come to yours. Reading other blogs or feeds is a great way to learn how to carry a discussion. Find other blogs covering topics similar to yours and check them out. Disagree with their opinions? Write about it and explain your reasons. Cross-blog discussions are common, and that’s where trackback comes in handy.

Trackback is a blog feature. If you decide to comment on another blog posting in your blog instead of in that blog’s comments page, then you link to the conversation through the trackback link. Trackback is similar to the permalink, the permanent URL for the blog entry, but it has a different URL for copying and pasting in your blog’s trackback box.

Aside from the technical aspects of operating a blog on a daily basis, subscriber list size and Web site traffic are good indicators of what kind of reaction you’ll get when opening a blog. Starting from scratch with little traffic means you have a long road ahead and lots of work to do. There is no magic formula anyone can sell you for $97 to make your blog an overnight success. But with some perseverance and ingenuity, your blog can engage many prospects and clients.

Considering there are numerous blogs out there, pick a niche topic when starting a blog for a better shot at attracting and keeping an audience. meryl’s notes focuses on three areas: webby, geeky and wordy. In reality, this is too much. What I need to do for my readers is create three separate blog entry points, so those interested in writing, newsletters and Internet marketing get nothing but the wordy entries. Those interested in Web design get the webby stuff and the technophiles receive the geeky content.

I also manage a personal blog separate from meryl’s notes. It’s about cochlear implants and deafness. This could fall under the geeky category, but it’s a personal blog and doesn’t belong in meryl’s notes. This blog is written for a different audience.

The blogging tools for both of my blogs come with syndication capabilities so those using feed readers or aggregators can read the content through the software. When sending a new issue of a newsletter, comment on it or link to it in the blog, that way the blog and feed readers will get the goods, so all three bases are covered.

Blogging tools aren’t just for, well, blogging. Such tools are an excellent way to help you update your Web site more often than you otherwise would. I use it to manage the list of tableless Web sites. Using blogging tools is much easier than the way I managed it before, updating the HTML files by hand. Though using a blog tool, it isn’t a blog. In this case, the blog tool has become a content management system (CMS).

Small business owners don’t have a need for the fancy and pricey CMSes out there. They find it easier to use blogging software to manage their sites or hire someone to adapt the tool for their site.

Blogs have found a place in businesses and people are finding creative ways to use them. Some companies have a blog on the intranet for communicating project status, jeopardies and metrics. They’re used for knowledge management. With information pouring in, blog tools provide a way to share, organize and process the information.

Being a follower can be good or bad. No one wants to walk off a cliff with the lemmings, but everyone wants to succeed. Best practices won’t help, since the decision to blog is based on the organization’s mission, needs and goals along with its target market’s desires and needs. A blog about lemmings? There is one, sort of. Or maybe you’d like to start your own and talk about dumb business moves.

Meryl K. Evans is the Content Maven behind meryl.net who increases conversion rates by writing and editing content so organization can focus on their core business. She is the editor-in-chief of the eNewsletter Journal and Shavlik’s The Remediator Security Digest. Visit her Web site at http://www.meryl.net/blog/.

Lawyers face the same challenges any business does. In order to get new business they must market their services, i.e., advertise. And lawyers deal with the same marketing and advertising challenge every business does – how to beat the competition. Plus lawyers have to assume that any Internet or non-Internet marketing or advertising they do may well produce little or no results for the amount of time and money they spend — regardless of what an outside marketing or advertising advisor may say to the contrary.

Prior to the Internet the main non-Internet marketing option or advertising choice for any lawyer was to advertise in the yellow pages. To this day the print yellow pages contain plenty of colorful, one page display ads that feature lawyers offering their services, and lawyers pay a lot for these ads. How effective these ads are is anyone’s guess — it’s hard for your colored, one page display ad to stand out when you have 20 other lawyers doing the exact same thing! The yellow pages companies, however, continue to promote their marketing and advertising philosophy that “bigger is always better” and “everything we sell is an opportunity,” so they often present a lawyer with a non-Internet marketing and advertising solution that costs plenty but often produces little.

This line of thinking, along with the use of print yellow pages in general, has gone the way of the dinosaur at a very accelerated pace. The yellow pages in print form had their heyday for many decades, but the population now goes to the Internet for the information they seek, so most print directories are collecting dust. A lawyer who advertises in the print yellow pages may well get calls, but they’ll most likely be from vendors using the yellow pages as a cheap source of leads.

The major paid search providers (pay per click search engines) tend to offer lawyers Internet marketing and advertising solutions in a manner similar to the way the yellow pages do with their print directories. “Bigger is always better,” so rather than realistically discuss with a lawyer a pay per click Internet marketing and advertising campaign that makes financial sense and produces a decent ROI, the pay per click providers will tell the lawyer to go for as many top listing keywords (the most expensive) as their budget will permit and bid as high as they can. The lawyer may go broke in the process, but at least they’ll get exposure! Many lawyers get into pay per click as a quick way to get leads but quickly exit a month later after spending lots of money for Internet marketing and advertising results that produce nothing but expense.

While pay per click Internet marketing and advertising is the running favorite of Internet marketing advertisers worldwide, pay per click advertising for a lawyer is usually an extremely expensive proposition for what they get. How much a lawyer is willing to “pay for a lead” takes on a whole new meaning with pay per click. The cost per click for many lawyer related keywords, e.g., “personal injury lawyer,” “criminal defense lawyer,” can range from $5.00 to $70.00 per click depending on the market, and when the typical lawyer’s conversion rate (the number of clicks it takes to generate a lead) of one to two percent is factored in, the lawyer can find themselves paying upwards of $500.00 to $7,000.00 per lead, and a lead is not a client.

Part of the problem lawyers face when they work with pay per click (and this translates directly into poor conversion rates) is that (1) they spend little time creating their pay per click ads and (2) the ads direct traffic to the lawyer’s website. Any Internet marketing professional who knows something about pay per click knows you never send pay per click traffic to a website. Instead you create special pages, i.e., “landing pages” for pay per click traffic to be directed to. The landing pages perform the job of convincing traffic to do what the lawyer requires, which is normally to contact the lawyer via e-mail or by phone.

Legal Internet directories and portals offer the lawyer a potential Internet marketing and advertising option because of their popularity and enhanced Internet visibility. How effective a listing in a legal Internet directory or portal can be for a lawyer in terms of marketing, advertising and Internet exposure will depend upon the particular attributes of the legal Internet directory or portal in question. All things being equal, legal Internet directories or portals that charge a fee to be listed in them make more sense as an Internet marketing and advertising choice than similar sites that offer listings for free. The lawyer has to be particularly careful, however, when they consider advertising in legal Internet directories and portals that “look” like they offer a lot — and a price to go with it — but for whatever reasons simply do not produce enough leads for the amount of Internet marketing and advertising money the lawyer must spend.

Many legal Internet directories and portals exist that have a very strong Internet presence, and they are excellent resource centers for lawyers, but this does not automatically make them good places to advertise. With Internet legal portals especially it’s not how many lawyers the portal attracts but how many people the Internet legal portal attracts who are searching for legal services. People have paid thousands of dollars for advertising in Internet legal portals that have produced nothing in the way of Internet marketing and advertising results. A very wise idea for any lawyer who considers advertising in an Internet legal portal is to get some very accurate user demographics on what kind of specific traffic the Internet legal portal is actually attracting.

What is a lawyer supposed to do? Everywhere the lawyer looks, whether the marketing and advertising media is Internet or non-Internet, considerable financial risk is involved, and a guarantee that the lawyer will get good, solid results for the amount of money they spend is often hard to achieve.

Ultimately the best way for a lawyer to go with Internet marketing and advertising – the way that will ultimately get them the best long term results for the money they spend — is to focus on getting their website to rank high in organic search results. When all things are considered, people on the Internet who search for goods and services mainly search for websites to find their answers. They may look to legal Internet directories and portals, and if they don’t find what they want they may turn to pay per click listings as a last resort (only about 30% to 40% of users bother with pay per click) but ultimately people who search the Internet are looking for websites that provide them with the answers they seek.

If a lawyer is looking for an Internet marketing and advertising solution that doesn’t require being part of the pay per click crowd, the lawyer may want to look into pay per phone call programs. Pay per phone call is like pay per click, but the lawyer does not pay for a call unless they receive one. And the costs for pay per phone call are normally substantially less that what the lawyer will pay for a click in many cases. A smart lawyer may even want to consider getting involved with several pay per phone call providers with the idea that between the providers the lawyer will receive enough leads in the aggregate to make involvement with these programs worth it.

Many of the Internet marketing and advertising solutions that a lawyer chooses to look into must be tried on a case by case basis. Absolutely nothing can be assumed. A pay per click advertising campaign that works extremely well for the lawyer with one search provider might fail miserably with another.

One last thing that a lawyer should be aware of when it comes to the Internet and a website presence is that appearances really do count. Many people have been on the Internet for 10 years and have correspondingly seen websites of all types and styles. People are used to seeing professionally designed websites. The lawyer’s website should be too.

Michael Merten is an Internet marketing professional who consults with lawyers and legal finance companies. He specializes in getting legal websites to appear in first page search results on major search engines in record time. Mr. Merten can be reached at Minnesota Internet Marketing [http://www.minnesotainternetmarketing.com].

Tennis is a sport in which the more skill you have and the amount of time you put in practicing, the more successful you will be. Some tennis professionals have played tennis as far back as they can remember or their parents played tennis. For those who have tennis engrained in their blood, they still have to have some amount of practice in order to beat the other players that will be on the same or higher level than they are. There are many ways a person can train to perform at high level on the tennis court. One of the first things that you have to have is determination followed by patience and the will to succeed. Practicing your game is not unlike any other sport or art, the more you practice, the higher your skill and expertise become.

Just like many of its sports counterparts, tennis players will do what is necessary to win at their craft. Some players will begin their day with tennis and also end their day with tennis. Great players with a passion for the game can be found by joining the local country club or by heading down to the city park. When it comes to having a passion for the game, no card membership makes anyone more qualified than another. Unfortunately not everyone will have a skilled player to compete against daily so they will have to find other methods such as machinery to assist them. Hitting the ball back and forth helps the tennis pro be able to return a serve given to them by their opponents. So they would spend hours with their tennis ball machines returning the ball across the net. This ball machines tennis allow the tennis player to stay out on the court for as long as they would like.

Some players are so dedicated to their craft that they will purchase a portable ball machine to practice anywhere they go. In order to be good at tennis you have to return the ball back from where it came and put the ball where the other player cannot get to it. So some players invest in one of the most inexpensive portable machines in the twist tennis ball machine for their selves. The tennis twist ball machine can help them with their placement and their return. The good thing is for those with a budget to spend on their tennis lessons, this machine will help them tremendously in both savings and the improving tennis skill.

For those tennis players that are looking to improve their tennis skills faster and are ok with investing more money, the prince tennis ball machine is the ball machine for you. The tennis ball machine prince will give the tennis player variable speeds to choose to hit, various levels of ball trajectory and also can hold up to 250 of the prince tennis ball for your return. They will keep coming at you, so you can practice your forehand and backhand swings at the pace of a normal return from a human player.

For all levels of tennis players you can see look for the tutor tennis ball machine which is said to be the best portable machine on the market. The tennis tutor ball machine comes in a state of the art design which is considered best for traveling. It has a cubed design that can easily fit in the back of your vehicle to be taken out when you are ready to hit a tennis balls when you have the opportunity.

There is no wrong choice when it comes to how you want to train for tennis matches or to just use tennis as a way to stay in shape. You will not always be able to practice with a person so you cannot go wrong on which brand of automated machine you choose.

To learn more about a tutor tennis ball machine visit us at: http://www.royaltyuniverse.com/

When you’re looking to expand your family and bring new light into your house, few options are as efficient as the introduction of a pet in to your home. With a new pet you introduce a new sparkle into your home whose faithfulness and affection is never ending. This aids to improve the wellness of a person as they become a lot more active and focused on the well being of a life which depends totally upon them. Before picking up your new pet nevertheless it is important to ensure that you have the best supplies obtainable to aid reduce your new friend’s transition into their new home environment.

One of the best pet supplies a owner can spend in is discovered with the pet bed. The pet supplies of beds help to form an atmosphere specifically for your pet to take pleasure in as they are transforming. For the dog the supplies of a dog bed would aid to designate a particular area for your pet which they could instantly become trained to use. Many dog owners delay the supplies purchase of a bed, permitting their new pet to sleep with them at first but this then turns into a hassle when you have to train your pet not to sleep on your bed. For cats the purchase of the supplies of a bed could assist in creating their own territory where they could rest in comfort while you’re out and about completing the day to day errands you are required to participate in.

These beds are just one example of pet supplies which are a must for the owner to aid in the fitness of their animal friend. Another important kind of supplies is discovered with the necessity of pet collars. Several pet owners view pet collars as a superficial feature for pets but there are pet collars that perform a real purpose for your animal. For dogs the utilization of pet collars is an essential tool to help your pet find their way home if they ever become loose from your house.

Even they are necessary harnesses to aid control your pet when you are walking or jogging them. For cats it may be recommended to utilize flea pet collars to help keep your cat safe from flea connected diseases and keep your house flea free.

The requirement of pet beds and pet collars are merely a few of the pet supplies a pet owner might need with bringing in a new animal to their home. Pet supplies function as a form of comfort for your pet and the limited selection many stores offer do not always represent your pet’s best interest.

Do you know the important dog supplies that a dog owner should own? April’s Window’s mission is to offer an online pet store with the highest quality pet supplies to our customers, at the lowest price possible. Visit the site http://www.AprilsWindow.com to know more…

The act of offering. Christmas gifts is always enhanced if you take some trouble in matching the gift with the recipient.

Sometimes, though, it is not as easy as it may seem, especially if the gift is for someone you have not seen very often throughout the year; or someone whose tastes you do not know that well.

If that person is a cat lover, though, it is something you are probably aware of however often you may see them. There is every chance that choosing a cat related gift of some sort will be well received.

Cat gifts fall into two categories. The first is something the cat itself (or themselves) can use; the second is something for the cat owner which is adorned by something feline.

Cat Lover Gifts For The Cat Itself

The range of possible cat lover gifts that a cat can actually make use of is quite small, but nevertheless offer an opportunity to buy something both the cat and the owner appreciate. The cat, of course, would probably be happiest with a brown paper bag; at least, I have had cats in the past who would spend much of an evening hiding in such a cheap and cheerful toy.

Assuming brown paper bags are out, what other cat lover gifts can you consider? It will most likely be something the cat can utilise in the home, as when they are off on their travels they like, and need, to be unfettered. An exception, though, is a cat collar. If you know the cat does not have a collar already, then that is an option, but bear in mind that some cats just hate collars and find them uncomfortable. Also, if they are not a good fit, they can become a hazard.

It is probably better to opt for a gift that belongs and stays in the home. For example:

Cat Blanket

There are some very warm, comfortable and attractive cat blankets around, and they make nice cat gifts. We all know how cats love to curl up in front of a fire in the winter; with a warm fleecy blanket to lie on, they will be in heaven. You can add a personal touch to this gift by having the blanket personalized with the cat’s name. The cat won’t care about that, but it’s a nice touch for the owner’s pleasure.

Cat Basket

Something a little bit more elaborate as a cat lover gift is a cat basket. I am referring here to a basket to sleep in, not something that is simply for carrying a cat to the vet. Remember, though, that cat’s can be very choosy. It would not be surprising if the cat turned it’s nose up at a new basket, at least initially. If you spend a lot of money on the basket, then that can be a disappointment, even if the cat owner is very appreciative.

Cats, though, have moods. One day it may take to the basket, especially if you tell it not to get inside!

There are, of course, other things you can buy for the cat itself. Small toys, food treats (fresh salmon may go down quite well), but what is it in the home that cats enjoy most? Sleeping. That means that a cat blanket or type of bed could be a popular gift. We all know, however, that the cat will be the one to decide if they want to use it or not. Never mind, the cat lover recipient will appreciate your gift.

Gifts For The Cat Owner

The choice of gifts that are cat related, and may be suitable for the cat owner, is much greater than for the cat itself. If you think about it, just about anything in the home could have a cat theme to it. Many of these gift items have cat pictures on, or are cat shaped.

Some examples of what you can buy include plates, place mats, coasters, clocks, fridge magnets, ironing board covers, doorstops and a whole lot more. Many of these types of items will be appreciated by a cat lover as a gift.

One good idea is to find a gift that you can personalise, with a picture of the owner’s cat. If you have a digital camera, it should not be difficult to get a picture of the cat while visiting before Christmas, without arousing too much suspicion of what you are up to. Once you have the picture, then you can probable find somewhere to add that picture to mugs, place mats and other household items, and end up with the perfect Christmas gift for the cat owner.

Really, the choice of cat lover gifts is wide. That is not surprising, given the huge popularity of cats. So, enjoy looking, and try to find something just that little bit different for your cat lover friends and relatives.

This cat lover gift [http://www.gifts-for-xmas.com] article was written by Roy Thomsitt, owner author of the Gifts For Xmas website.

Relax, get in the Christmas spirit, and read Roy’s new Christmas Story [http://www.gifts-for-xmas.com/Santa.htm], for adults or children, about Santa Claus and a little girl living on the edge of a tropical rainforest.

Gourmet cooking schools are the high class educational centers focusing on imparting in-depth knowledge of not just history of the cooking techniques, but gives cultural and regional preferences and specialty learning info to all students besides ensuring that there is adequate personal interaction between teachers and taught. The highly qualified chefs and master-chefs, with a dedication to creating fine dining experiences the basis of all knowledge imparted to students enrolled herein, besides focusing on teaching in a customized format not available.

Most of these gourmet cooking schools are located in the metro cities in a nation and the top chefs, everyone knows, come from France! Earlier, cookery students keen to avail this highly specialized knowledge and base for continental cuisine styles and forms had to enroll in top cooking schools in France in order to understand and imbibe the finer nuances of French gourmand cooking; however, with technology and developments such as the internet and cooking shows on Television, this gap has bridged. Besides, many of the French chefs have opened training institutes in the heart of the United States along with setting up schools in other parts of the western world for those who love this artful cuisine.

Of course, the course fees don’t come cheap, but the top gourmet cooking schools do ensure quality training and comprehensive knowledge about all aspects about buying food, preparing and presenting it for varied occasions and people.

Knowledge you will gain at best gourmet cooking schools:

Some gourmet cooking schools focus on teaching regional cuisine, others on country cooking and still others on confectionery items; you need to decide your interest and aims before enrolling for a training here.

1. Among the 3 important things taught at gourmet cooking schools are in-depth knowledge of various kinds of foodstuff, the chemical composition of foods and their break-down in the cooking process besides choosing and planning healthy, balanced meals. Various techniques of chopping, dicing and cutting food are also taught here besides related methods of preparing food.

2. Different ways of preparing meats, veggies, seasonal fruits and fresh dairy produce besides methods of sauce and dessert making are taught too as are the uses of different types of cookware and cuisine techniques from provincial France, including the traditional methods.

3. Those signing up for the top gourmet cooking schools with the aim of becoming a professional cook need to also understand beyond the fundamentals of great cooking style, the need for kitchen safety and the skills for business development, management and customer service, useful for those planning to start their own restaurant.

In order to have a bright future as a professional chef or even a continental cuisine expert, this is the place to be!

Abhishek is a cooking enthusiast! Visit his website http://www.cooking-guru.com and download his FREE Cooking Report “Master Chef Secrets” and learn some amazing Cooking tips and tricks for FREE! Learn how to create the perfect meal on a shoe-string budget. And yes, you get to keep all the accolades! But hurry, only limited Free copies available! http://www.cooking-guru.com

INTRODUCTON – The term “health insurance” is commonly used in the United States to describe any program that helps pay for medical expenses, whether through privately purchased insurance, social insurance or a non-insurance social welfare program funded by the government. Synonyms for this usage include “health coverage,” “health care coverage” and “health benefits” and “medical insurance.” In a more technical sense, the term is used to describe any form of insurance that provides protection against injury or illness.

In America, the health insurance industry has changed rapidly during the last few decades. In the 1970’s most people who had health insurance had indemnity insurance. Indemnity insurance is often called fee-forservice. It is the traditional health insurance in which the medical provider (usually a doctor or hospital) is paid a fee for each service provided to the patient covered under the policy. An important category associated with the indemnity plans is that of consumer driven health care (CDHC). Consumer-directed health plans allow individuals and families to have greater control over their health care, including when and how they access care, what types of care they receive and how much they spend on health care services.

These plans are however associated with higher deductibles that the insured have to pay from their pocket before they can claim insurance money. Consumer driven health care plans include Health Reimbursement Plans (HRAs), Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), high deductible health plans (HDHps), Archer Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs) and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). Of these, the Health Savings Accounts are the most recent and they have witnessed rapid growth during the last decade.

WHAT IS A HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNT?

A Health Savings Account (HSA) is a tax-advantaged medical savings account available to taxpayers in the United States. The funds contributed to the account are not subject to federal income tax at the time of deposit. These may be used to pay for qualified medical expenses at any time without federal tax liability.

Another feature is that the funds contributed to Health Savings Account roll over and accumulate year over year if not spent. These can be withdrawn by the employees at the time of retirement without any tax liabilities. Withdrawals for qualified expenses and interest earned are also not subject to federal income taxes. According to the U.S. Treasury Office, ‘A Health Savings Account is an alternative to traditional health insurance; it is a savings product that offers a different way for consumers to pay for their health care.

HSA’s enable you to pay for current health expenses and save for future qualified medical and retiree health expenses on a tax-free basis.’ Thus the Health Savings Account is an effort to increase the efficiency of the American health care system and to encourage people to be more responsible and prudent towards their health care needs. It falls in the category of consumer driven health care plans.

Origin of Health Savings Account

The Health Savings Account was established under the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act passed by the U.S. Congress in June 2003, by the Senate in July 2003 and signed by President Bush on December 8, 2003.

Eligibility -

The following individuals are eligible to open a Health Savings Account -

- Those who are covered by a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP).

- Those not covered by other health insurance plans.

- Those not enrolled in Medicare4.

Also there are no income limits on who may contribute to an HAS and there is no requirement of having earned income to contribute to an HAS. However HAS’s can’t be set up by those who are dependent on someone else’s tax return. Also HSA’s cannot be set up independently by children.

What is a High Deductible Health plan (HDHP)?

Enrollment in a High Deductible Health Plan (HDHP) is a necessary qualification for anyone wishing to open a Health Savings Account. In fact the HDHPs got a boost by the Medicare Modernization Act which introduced the HSAs. A High Deductible Health Plan is a health insurance plan which has a certain deductible threshold. This limit must be crossed before the insured person can claim insurance money. It does not cover first dollar medical expenses. So an individual has to himself pay the initial expenses that are called out-of-pocket costs.

In a number of HDHPs costs of immunization and preventive health care are excluded from the deductible which means that the individual is reimbursed for them. HDHPs can be taken both by individuals (self employed as well as employed) and employers. In 2008, HDHPs are being offered by insurance companies in America with deductibles ranging from a minimum of $1,100 for Self and $2,200 for Self and Family coverage. The maximum amount out-of-pocket limits for HDHPs is $5,600 for self and $11,200 for Self and Family enrollment. These deductible limits are called IRS limits as they are set by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). In HDHPs the relation between the deductibles and the premium paid by the insured is inversely propotional i.e. higher the deductible, lower the premium and vice versa. The major purported advantages of HDHPs are that they will a) lower health care costs by causing patients to be more cost-conscious, and b) make insurance premiums more affordable for the uninsured. The logic is that when the patients are fully covered (i.e. have health plans with low deductibles), they tend to be less health conscious and also less cost conscious when going for treatment.

Opening a Health Savings Account

An individual can sign up for HSAs with banks, credit unions, insurance companies and other approved companies. However not all insurance companies offer HSAqualified health insurance plans so it is important to use an insurance company that offers this type of qualified insurance plan. The employer may also set up a plan for the employees. However, the account is always owned by the individual. Direct online enrollment in HSA-qualified health insurance is available in all states except Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington.

Contributions to the Health Savings Account

Contributions to HSAs can be made by an individual who owns the account, by an employer or by any other person. When made by the employer, the contribution is not included in the income of the employee. When made by an employee, it is treated as exempted from federal tax. For 2008, the maximum amount that can be contributed (and deducted) to an HSA from all sources is:

$2,900 (self-only coverage)

$5,800 (family coverage)

These limits are set by the U.S. Congress through statutes and they are indexed annually for inflation. For individuals above 55 years of age, there is a special catch up provision that allows them to deposit additional $800 for 2008 and $900 for 2009. The actual maximum amount an individual can contribute also depends on the number of months he is covered by an HDHP (pro-rated basis) as of the first day of a month. For eg If you have family HDHP coverage from January 1,2008 until June 30, 2008, then cease having HDHP coverage, you are allowed an HSA contribution of 6/12 of $5,800, or $2,900 for 2008. If you have family HDHP coverage from January 1,2008 until June 30, 2008, and have self-only HDHP coverage from July 1, 2008 to December 31, 2008, you are allowed an HSA contribution of 6/12 x $5,800 plus 6/12 of $2,900, or $4,350 for 2008. If an individual opens an HDHP on the first day of a month, then he can contribute to HSA on the first day itself. However, if he/she opens an account on any other day than the first, then he can contribute to the HSA from the next month onwards. Contributions can be made as late as April 15 of the following year. Contributions to the HSA in excess of the contribution limits must be withdrawn by the individual or be subject to an excise tax. The individual must pay income tax on the excess withdrawn amount.

Contributions by the Employer

The employer can make contributions to the employee’s HAS account under a salary reduction plan known as Section 125 plan. It is also called a cafeteria plan. The contributions made under the cafeteria plan are made on a pre-tax basis i.e. they are excluded from the employee’s income. The employer must make the contribution on a comparable basis. Comparable contributions are contributions to all HSAs of an employer which are 1) the same amount or 2) the same percentage of the annual deductible. However, part time employees who work for less than 30 hours a week can be treated separately. The employer can also categorize employees into those who opt for self coverage only and those who opt for a family coverage. The employer can automatically make contributions to the HSAs on the behalf of the employee unless the employee specifically chooses not to have such contributions by the employer.

Withdrawals from the HSAs

The HSA is owned by the employee and he/she can make qualified expenses from it whenever required. He/She also decides how much to contribute to it, how much to withdraw for qualified expenses, which company will hold the account and what type of investments will be made to grow the account. Another feature is that the funds remain in the account and role over from year to year. There are no use it or lose it rules. The HSA participants do not have to obtain advance approval from their HSA trustee or their medical insurer to withdraw funds, and the funds are not subject to income taxation if made for ‘qualified medical expenses’. Qualified medical expenses include costs for services and items covered by the health plan but subject to cost sharing such as a deductible and coinsurance, or co-payments, as well as many other expenses not covered under medical plans, such as dental, vision and chiropractic care; durable medical equipment such as eyeglasses and hearing aids; and transportation expenses related to medical care. Nonprescription, over-the-counter medications are also eligible. However, qualified medical expense must be incurred on or after the HSA was established.

Tax free distributions can be taken from the HSA for the qualified medical expenses of the person covered by the HDHP, the spouse (even if not covered) of the individual and any dependent (even if not covered) of the individual.12 The HSA account can also be used to pay previous year’s qualified expenses subject to the condition that those expenses were incurred after the HSA was set up. The individual must preserve the receipts for expenses met from the HSA as they may be needed to prove that the withdrawals from the HSA were made for qualified medical expenses and not otherwise used. Also the individual may have to produce the receipts before the insurance company to prove that the deductible limit was met. If a withdrawal is made for unqualified medical expenses, then the amount withdrawn is considered taxable (it is added to the individuals income) and is also subject to an additional 10 percent penalty. Normally the money also cannot be used for paying medical insurance premiums. However, in certain circumstances, exceptions are allowed.

These are -

1) to pay for any health plan coverage while receiving federal or state unemployment benefits.

2) COBRA continuation coverage after leaving employment with a company that offers health insurance coverage.

3) Qualified long-term care insurance.

4) Medicare premiums and out-of-pocket expenses, including deductibles, co-pays, and coinsurance for: Part A (hospital and inpatient services), Part B (physician and outpatient services), Part C (Medicare HMO and PPO plans) and Part D (prescription drugs).

However, if an individual dies, becomes disabled or reaches the age of 65, then withdrawals from the Health Savings Account are considered exempted from income tax and additional 10 percent penalty irrespective of the purpose for which those withdrawals are made. There are different methods through which funds can be withdrawn from the HSAs. Some HSAs provide account holders with debit cards, some with cheques and some have options for a reimbursement process similar to medical insurance.

Growth of HSAs

Ever since the Health Savings Accounts came into being in January 2004, there has been a phenomenal growth in their numbers. From around 1 million enrollees in March 2005, the number has grown to 6.1 million enrollees in January 2008.14 This represents an increase of 1.6 million since January 2007, 2.9 million since January 2006 and 5.1 million since March 2005. This growth has been visible across all segments. However, the growth in large groups and small groups has been much higher than in the individual category. According to the projections made by the U.S. Treasury Department, the number of HSA policy holders will increase to 14 million by 2010. These 14 million policies will provide cover to 25 to 30 million U.S. citizens.

In the Individual Market, 1.5 million people were covered by HSA/HDHPs purchased as on January 2008. Based on the number of covered lives, 27 percent of newly purchased individual policies (defined as those purchased during the most recent full month or quarter) were enrolled in HSA/HDHP coverage. In the small group market, enrollment stood at 1.8 million as of January 2008. In this group 31 percent of all new enrollments were in the HSA/HDHP category. The large group category had the largest enrollment with 2.8 million enrollees as of January 2008. In this category, six percent of all new enrollments were in the HSA/HDHP category.

Benefits of HSAs

The proponents of HSAs envisage a number of benefits from them. First and foremost it is believed that as they have a high deductible threshold, the insured will be more health conscious. Also they will be more cost conscious. The high deductibles will encourage people to be more careful about their health and health care expenses and will make them shop for bargains and be more vigilant against excesses in the health care industry. This, it is believed, will reduce the growing cost of health care and increase the efficiency of the health care system in the United States. HSA-eligible plans typically provide enrollee decision support tools that include, to some extent, information on the cost of health care services and the quality of health care providers. Experts suggest that reliable information about the cost of particular health care services and the quality of specific health care providers would help enrollees become more actively engaged in making health care purchasing decisions. These tools may be provided by health insurance carriers to all health insurance plan enrollees, but are likely to be more important to enrollees of HSA-eligible plans who have a greater financial incentive to make informed decisions about the quality and costs of health care providers and services.

It is believed that lower premiums associated with HSAs/HDHPs will enable more people to enroll for medical insurance. This will mean that lower income groups who do not have access to medicare will be able to open HSAs. No doubt higher deductibles are associated with HSA eligible HDHPs, but it is estimated that tax savings under HSAs and lower premiums will make them less expensive than other insurance plans. The funds put in the HSA can be rolled over from year to year. There are no use it or lose it rules. This leads to a growth in savings of the account holder. The funds can be accumulated tax free for future medical expenses if the holder so desires. Also the savings in the HSA can be grown through investments.

The nature of such investments is decided by the insured. The earnings on savings in the HSA are also exempt from income tax. The holder can withdraw his savings in the HSA after turning 65 years old without paying any taxes or penalties. The account holder has complete control over his/her account. He/She is the owner of the account right from its inception. A person can withdraw money as and when required without any gatekeeper. Also the owner decides how much to put in his/her account, how much to spend and how much to save for the future. The HSAs are portable in nature. This means that if the holder changes his/her job, becomes unemployed or moves to another location, he/she can still retain the account.

Also if the account holder so desires he can transfer his Health Saving Account from one managing agency to another. Thus portability is an advantage of HSAs. Another advantage is that most HSA plans provide first-dollar coverage for preventive care. This is true of virtually all HSA plans offered by large employers and over 95% of the plans offered by small employers. It was also true of over half (59%) of the plans which were purchased by individuals.

All of the plans offering first-dollar preventive care benefits included annual physicals, immunizations, well-baby and wellchild care, mammograms and Pap tests; 90% included prostate cancer screenings and 80% included colon cancer screenings. Some analysts believe that HSAs are more beneficial for the young and healthy as they do not have to pay frequent out of pocket costs. On the other hand, they have to pay lower premiums for HDHPs which help them meet unforeseen contingencies.

Health Savings Accounts are also advantageous for the employers. The benefits of choosing a health Savings Account over a traditional health insurance plan can directly affect the bottom line of an employer’s benefit budget. For instance Health Savings Accounts are dependent on a high deductible insurance policy, which lowers the premiums of the employee’s plan. Also all contributions to the Health Savings Account are pre-tax, thus lowering the gross payroll and reducing the amount of taxes the employer must pay.

Criticism of HSAs

The opponents of Health Savings Accounts contend that they would do more harm than good to America’s health insurance system. Some consumer organizations, such as Consumers Union, and many medical organizations, such as the American Public Health Association, have rejected HSAs because, in their opinion, they benefit only healthy, younger people and make the health care system more expensive for everyone else. According to Stanford economist Victor Fuchs, “The main effect of putting more of it on the consumer is to reduce the social redistributive element of insurance.

Some others believe that HSAs remove healthy people from the insurance pool and it makes premiums rise for everyone left. HSAs encourage people to look out for themselves more and spread the risk around less. Another concern is that the money people save in HSAs will be inadequate. Some people believe that HSAs do not allow for enough savings to cover costs. Even the person who contributes the maximum and never takes any money out would not be able to cover health care costs in retirement if inflation continues in the health care industry.

Opponents of HSAs, also include distinguished figures like state Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi, who called them a “dangerous prescription” that will destabilize the health insurance marketplace and make things even worse for the uninsured. Another criticism is that they benefit the rich more than the poor. Those who earn more will be able to get bigger tax breaks than those who earn less. Critics point out that higher deductibles along with insurance premiums will take away a large share of the earnings of the low income groups. Also lower income groups will not benefit substantially from tax breaks as they are already paying little or no taxes. On the other hand tax breaks on savings in HSAs and on further income from those HSA savings will cost billions of dollars of tax money to the exchequer.

The Treasury Department has estimated HSAs would cost the government $156 billion over a decade. Critics say that this could rise substantially. Several surveys have been conducted regarding the efficacy of the HSAs and some have found that the account holders are not particularly satisfied with the HSA scheme and many are even ignorant about the working of the HSAs. One such survey conducted in 2007 of American employees by the human resources consulting firm Towers Perrin showed satisfaction with account based health plans (ABHPs) was low. People were not happy with them in general compared with people with more traditional health care. Respondants said they were not comfortable with the risk and did not understand how it works.

According to the Commonwealth Fund, early experience with HAS eligible high-deductible health plans reveals low satisfaction, high out of- pocket costs, and cost-related access problems. Another survey conducted with the Employee Benefits Research Institute found that people enrolled in HSA-eligible high-deductible health plans were much less satisfied with many aspects of their health care than adults in more comprehensive plans People in these plans allocate substantial amounts of income to their health care, especially those who have poorer health or lower incomes. The survey also found that adults in high-deductible health plans are far more likely to delay or avoid getting needed care, or to skip medications, because of the cost. Problems are particularly pronounced among those with poorer health or lower incomes.

Political leaders have also been vocal about their criticism of the HSAs. Congressman John Conyers, Jr. issued the following statement criticizing the HSAs “The President’s health care plan is not about covering the uninsured, making health insurance affordable, or even driving down the cost of health care. Its real purpose is to make it easier for businesses to dump their health insurance burden onto workers, give tax breaks to the wealthy, and boost the profits of banks and financial brokers. The health care policies concocted at the behest of special interests do nothing to help the average American. In many cases, they can make health care even more inaccessible.” In fact a report of the U.S. governments Accountability office, published on April 1, 2008 says that the rate of enrollment in the HSAs is greater for higher income individuals than for lower income ones.

A study titled “Health Savings Accounts and High Deductible Health Plans: Are They an Option for Low-Income Families? By Catherine Hoffman and Jennifer Tolbert which was sponsored by the Kaiser Family Foundation reported the following key findings regarding the HSAs:

a) Premiums for HSA-qualified health plans may be lower than for traditional insurance, but these plans shift more of the financial risk to individuals and families through higher deductibles.

b) Premiums and out-of-pocket costs for HSA-qualified health plans would consume a substantial portion of a low-income family’s budget.

c) Most low-income individuals and families do not face high enough tax liability to benefit in a significant way from tax deductions associated with HSAs.

d) People with chronic conditions, disabilities, and others with high cost medical needs may face even greater out-of-pocket costs under HSA-qualified health plans.

e) Cost-sharing reduces the use of health care, especially primary and preventive services, and low-income individuals and those who are sicker are particularly sensitive to cost-sharing increases.

f) Health savings accounts and high deductible plans are unlikely to substantially increase health insurance coverage among the uninsured.

Choosing a Health Plan

Despite the advantages offered by the HSA, it may not be suitable for everyone. While choosing an insurance plan, an individual must consider the following factors:

1. The premiums to be paid.

2. Coverage/benefits available under the scheme.

3. Various exclusions and limitations.

4. Portability.

5. Out-of-pocket costs like coinsurance, co-pays, and deductibles.

6. Access to doctors, hospitals, and other providers.

7. How much and sometimes how one pays for care.

8. Any existing health issue or physical disability.

9. Type of tax savings available.

The plan you choose should according to your requirements and financial ability.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

1 Questions and Answers about Health Insurance- A Consumer Guide’ published jointly by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)and America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP)

2 http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_savings_account

3 2002 AHIP Survey of Health Insurance Plans

4 “How High Is Too High? Implications of High-Deductible Health Plans” Davis, Karen; Michelle Doty and Alice Ho. The Commonwealth Fund, April 2005

5 http://www.fdhc.state.fl.us/schs/pdf/hsa_tri-fold_brochure.pdf

6 HSA/HDHP CENSUS 2008 by Hannah Yoo, Center for Policy and Research, America’s Health Insurance Plans

7″HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNTS Early Enrollee Experiences with Accounts and Eligible Health Plans” John E. Dicken Director, Health Care.

8 Thomas Wilder and Hannah Yoo, “A Survey of Preventive Benefits in Health Savings Account (HSA)Plans, July 2007,” America’s Health Insurance Plans, November 2007

9 Gladwell, Malcolm, “The Moral Hazard Myth”, The New Yorker (29-08-2005)

10 2008 Benchmark Survey HAS Bank

11. Employer Health Benefits 2007 Annual Survey, Kaiser Family Foundation

12. Health Savings Accounts and High Deductible Health Plans: Are They An Option for Low-Income Families?Catherine Hoffman and Jennifer Tolbert for Kaiser Family Foundation, October 2006

13. Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003

I am an ardent reader who also loves to write as well. I am an MBA with specialization in finance.

Ever imagined owning your own clothing line? Who hasn’t been to a store to find the ugliest design you’ve ever seen charge $50 and up? Or walked down the street and wondered how any human could allow them self to be seen in such an ugly clothing article? Have you ever thought to yourself, if they could design that and someone bought it, why couldn’t I?

Learn from my mistakes how you could start selling clothing with an upfront cost less than that of a PS3 game!! No hype, just the facts. Before I get to how that’s possible, let me walk you through having your own full fledge clothing line. I am by no means an expert, but I do know that what I’ve learned through blood, sweat, and tears can benefit any one interested in the same dream I had. I’m not selling anything, so the information I present is yours to use and assimilate as you wish.

1. Know your Market- Any business book or self-help guru will tell you this, but in the fashion industry this is especially important. Your market determines how much you can sell your clothing for, what style of clothing, what colors, even your clothing line name. It’s important to do research, which doesn’t always have to be in the form of sitting behind a computer looking up boring statistical data. Get out into the market, check out malls, movie theaters, and anywhere else your ideal market goes. Look at magazines that focus on your demographics, TV shows, even your own closet. Ask yourself why you spent the money you did on your clothing items.

2. Meet your Peers- This step has personally saved me countless hours of agony by allowing me to learn from others mistakes. A simple search engine query of Fashion Forums will pull up some indispensable information on websites where other clothing line owners, both successful and not, meet to discuss the fashion industry, techniques to use on clothing, even vendors to use for printing and apparel.

3. Name It- This is one of the most time consuming yet rewarding parts. Name your clothing. Come up with a catchy clothing line name that really displays what your line is about. Ask yourself what perception you want your market to have about your clothing line, and name it accordingly. This is the most important step, you have to have a name worth mentioning, if not why would a store take a chance on your line, and why would a consumer want to wear your clothing if you name doesn’t fit the market?

4. Inc it- You know your market, you have peers in forums who are willing to answer any questions, you have a catchy name, now it’s time to put it in the record books. Incorporating can be an entire article by itself, but let me forewarn you, it’s not as difficult as it may seem. You could always pay a lawyer a couple hundred bucks to do it for you, or you can do a little research and save a lot of money. The government wants small business, they love us!! So it only makes sense that they would help us form, which they do. Go to your local state government homepage, do a search for starting a business in the state, and you’ll have all you need. Period!

5. Designs- If you’re a graphic designer you’re ahead of the game, however for the average person including myself, you’ll need someone to design your shirts. Since the invent of the internet this step is easy! Write an ad on any of the countless classified ads advertising a graphic designer for a clothing line project, then watch your inbox blow up. Graphic artist can charge by the hour or project, although I suggest only going with those who charge by the project. The basic prices can be anywhere from $30 – $1,000.00, it just depends on what you want done and who you talk to. Shop around and you’ll be glad you did. Added in this step, if you want a full blown clothing line, as opposed to just a shirt with a design, you would want to also look into getting a graphic designer to do a logo for you. Again the cost can be nominal $50 up to $800.

6. Wear 2?- You have your design but no clothes, now what? Well again doing a simple search online of wholesale dealers can pull up some great sources of blank T-shirts, Jackets and Jeans. Here is where your incorporating comes in handy. One of the forms you are going to want to fill out is the Sales & Use Tax License Number (Form names may differ from state to state). This number will allow you to purchase goods at wholesale prices instead of retail. If you don’t want to go this route, another great source is your local flea markets. They can sell at bulk rates and have some excellent quality clothing.

7. Print It- Once you have your design together and your clothing, next is the printer. This is typically the most costly part of your clothing line, and for a good reason. If you just go for the cheapest, that’s what you’ll get. Research printers in your area, ask to see their work and ask for references. This is where the forum mentioned in Step 2 is helpful. Talk to the forum about printers in your area and see if anyone has had experience with them. Word of mouth is important. The more clothing you are printing, the cheaper the cost will be per clothing.

8. Now the Fun Begins- Here is where it gets the most exciting and scary! You have your clothing, it looks good, well not that good since it’s just sitting in your living room collecting dust. Market your clothing. There are so many ways and avenues that this could be it’s own article. But keep in mind, this has to be treated like your baby, and if you put due diligence and work into your clothing, show it! Go to trade shows, open up a table at the flea market, sell out of your trunk, go to retail stores and offer wholesale prices, rent a kiosk at the local mall, give away a lot of clothes for free to create a buzz, pester your family to buy your clothing and show to all of their friends. There are enough books and resources on how to market that you should be fine by this point. Just do whatever it takes to get your clothing in front of consumers.

I said at the onset that you could start selling clothing for cost a less than the price of a PS3 game. Obviously that would be lies if you included the cost of incorporating, purchasing t-shirts, graphic designers and printing, but let me show you how. If you do a search for Opening up a free online shop, it will display companies who will allow you to open up a clothing store for free. Yes free, you don’t have to ever pay anything. So the PS3 game cost would just be the price you pay for your design. Keep in mind you can get a design for $30 depending on which artist you use.

So there you have it, by no means exhaustive, but hopefully helpful. You can start selling your own clothing on just about any budget. If you don’t have money saved for a starting a company, try opening up the online store, and use the profit from that to incorporate and start printing your clothing, or if you prefer to not have to deal with that hassle, just market your website and get paid while not having any of the overhead associated with a clothing line. Hope this helps and best of luck.

Travis L. is a young entrepreneur. He incorporated his first company at the age of 17 and has not looked back. He is also an actor, and is actively pursuing a career in theater and music. His newest venture is an urban themed clothing line with a positive message of paying homage to the past, present, and future.

My Blog

My Clothing Line [http://www.payourespect.com]

Hip, wired, cool, outgoing, active, insecure, constantly online – is this the image of the youngster or young-minded person brands marketer in the Westernised economies are chasing after? Why is this segment so important for marketing planning? What should modern marketers know about the digital channel and how should they use it? How can they reach this important market and how should they communicate with it?

PHENOMENON: Youngsters are better informed than brand marketers.

In the global launch of Sony’s PSP, several Asian consumer electronics vendors were sued. Sony felt obliged to take this action because youngsters and other eager gamers, especially from Europe, saw the chance to get their PSPs already in summer 2005, while PSP was only introduced to the markets in autumn 2005. Consumers placed their orders via the Internet to Asian vendors and goods were shipped via global delivery channels to gamers. For Sony, these companies were endangering its distribution and launch strategy. The question remains: was this sort of legal counterpunch really worth it – and will similar cases become a natural part of our global business reality?

Reaching and influencing the young-minded segment is ever more challenging. Consumption patterns are shifting from mass-media toward micro-media for the masses. Savvy media-empowered consumers, often under 25 years of age, are being influenced by trends from all over the globe. The knowledge and adaptation of these trends is sometimes even carried out at a faster pace than local marketers can introduce their products to the markets. At the centerpiece of this revolutionary behavior lies the broadband-accelerated Internet.

At first glance, global consumerism seems to be great news for marketers: Global marketing works, campaigns are rapidly localized, consumers do the marketers work themselves and thus fewer resources need be allocated to domestic promotions. Yet, is this really so? For many brands, marketing to the empowered youth and young-minded segment is simultaneously a dream and a nightmare. For example, knowledge such things as product bugs and negative experiences about features, design and usability,

fly through the globe via networks as fast as the trends themselves. Consumers can tune into to the global opinion databases of any product 24 hours a day (1). The internet-empowered consumer has more perfect market information available than ever, and more and more them are aware of their new powers.

As rumors and experiences jump from one country to another, the message the brand’s agency tried originally to communicate does not remain uninfluenced. Marketers easily lose control over their campaign messages. In our wired and wireless world, it can be a major challenge to repair this damage with local initiatives, such as when a product obtains negative feedback from consumers. For example, in 2004-2005, the famous lock manufacturer, Kryptonite, had to spend a substantial amount of its marketing budget in activities to recover its reputation after an online site posted instructions demonstrating how easy it is to open Kryptonite locks with a plain ball point pen.

Satama thinks that modern marketing is all about creating a useful and sustainable dialogue between the brand and the segment. With this we state that brands need to shift from one-way push-marketing into listening to their target groups more carefully, and be ready to a dialogue with the target group in ways that encourage them to be part of the brand experience. Moreover, if an average Western consumer living in a city is daily exposed to more than 3500-5000 marketing messages (2), we argue strongly that it is more than essential to find the means and methods to cross the constantly increasing attention barrier. Satama sees that that this hurdle will not be crossed using only traditional means of marketing – new approaches are needed.

BEHAVIOUR:I’m alive – I am @ MSN – contact me!

There will be over 600 million broadband connection subscribers worldwide by 2015, versus about 200 million at the end of 2005 (3). Thus, who cares about numbers anymore? Who cares whether it is going to be 600 million people on broadband or 400 million or 800 million? Offline versus Online – could not matter less – it’s all about reaching the target in the new mass location. Online life is here – and the markets are massive. The youth segment is obviously the most experienced and skilled with regard to digital channels. They’ve grown up with them and thus these channels play a natural part in their life on daily basis.

When looking at the online presence of the young-minded segment in more detail, the findings are convincing. More than 78% of the 18-24 age group was online in the US in late 2004 (4) and more than 85 % of them had been online more than three years. Europe lags a bit behind in this, but the trend is clear. There is only one conclusion a brand can take from this – being online is a must for successful campaigning!

Furthermore, Internet users from 12-17 years old say email is best for talking to parents or institutions, but they are more likely to use instant messaging when talking to each other (5). This is reflected even in common language expressions: “Being @ MSN” is a common status of being alive, to exist amongst one’s peers. The number of active friends in a typical MSN hotlist for the active segment aged below 16 lies somewhere between 20 to 40 invitees. Consequently, the Dutch telecom service operator, Hi! (A subsidiary of KPN Mobile), leverages the MSN phenomena aggressively in its marketing. Its “Chatman” character offers a subscription though which youngsters (or any other MSN Messenger user) can be “present” in the chats though not in front of their screens, thus appealing to the self-esteem of the identity seekers. Check me out – I am always online!

In the broadband era there is no returning to life before it. Generation C (C=Content) (6) is producing its own content with powerful PCs and making it available to their peers via dedicated sites or Peer-to-Peer networks. While baby boomers (born before 1960) had to learn what mass media is; and while Generation X (born 1960-1975) grew up with television and 1st generation video games (and are now focusing on their peaceful family lives with high debt ratios); the new Generation Next/Idols/Content (Born after 1975) member is a born media multi-tasker. If their own preferences are not met with the offering from traditional channels, there is always an alternative: the online service.

The new on-demand-consumption (7) of content is something of a Pandora’s Box. Once opened, the consumers learn that there is access to a basically limitless amount of content within one’s own preference setting (8). Consumers will no longer be happy and satisfied only with content fed to them by media companies. They want to influence, get what they want – now, everywhere, anytime. And they demand this from the media company who is now struggling with decreasing profits – not an easy equitation to handle. Look at the music industry’s falling sales figures and the reality of more music being available then ever. Who is losing, who is winning? Gatekeepers losing, consumers winning? The “long tail” (9) effect enables more streams than just the few offered by media conglomerates. We will see a lot more popular performances and peer group stars outside music charts and mainstream movies.

FRESH APPROACH FOR MARKETEERS;Be part of living – online!

Young-minded people are much more heterogeneous in their needs for marketing than more settled “30-somethings” with family and kids. Youngsters are constantly in a process of finding/defining their own identity/independence. The needs of a 14 year old differ radically from the ones of an 18 year old. This identity seeking is often expressed through subcultures (skaters, Goth, manga, sudoku-players, ravers, etc.) and identification with strong opinion leaders’ behavior (pop-stars, idols, sport-stars). If a marketer wants to segment the youth market, they should carefully distinguish trends and subcultures within the age groups and demographics.

When affiliating with subcultures (skateboarding / snowboarding / DJ-ing / graffiti) or artists (Pepsi and Britney Spears) brands need a deep, long term commitment to actually gain credibility amongst youth. This can be gained only by being positively credible among the peers and locations where the segment naturally moves and meets. A brand should never pretend to be a teenager when its not. The way young people communicate is unique, and pretending will show through. The greatest thing a brand can attract to itself and benefit from is a passionate end-user community, for example Apple’s fanatic user base, or MTV’s outstanding success since 1980s.

The digital channels are on a winning streak for the time and attention span of the youth segment. Thus, they are extremely important for marketers. Even as recently as early 2000, the digital channels’ key role in communication was to support other channels, like print or TV. Now, at the dawn of the broadband era, it seems that TV, radio, and print media are like “gateways” to digital channels. Viral marketing through forum discussions, IRC channels (10) etc. are already used. Traditional advertising methods (including internet advertising, e-mail marketing, and search marketing) do not provide enough answers. It is not about whether to use digital channels or not, it is rather about what other channel to use to get traffic to the online channel.

The very diverse digital channels and ways of communication are still difficult terrain for advertisers. Satama thinks that the role of digital channels becomes important when they allow for communication between the members of a group or when they allow for the projection of icons. In other words, allowing communication between the target group members is one of key success factors in youth marketing. It is significant to notice that most of the biggest brands online (11) today are digital channels themselves. That is, if more than 80 % of all online sessions include a search (12), isn’t it essential to be strongly present in this medium?

Satama believes that brands need alternative means for their advertising: alternative ways are needed to get their message across among youth and beyond. The best digital marketing can mean digital services instead of advertising. Not everything has to go digital though, people still value tangible things, something for all the senses. The digital channels enable youth to DO “things” (e.g. they can get, create, share and influence

things that are relevant to them in a certain situation and/or time. Moreover, brands can listen to their target groups through digital channels – interactivity is the nature of these channels.

Consequently, the borders between marketers and content providers are blurring. At least, brands may be facilitating content. It seems that brands are forced to realize that stories are becoming more important than products. Target groups want to associate themselves with the fascinating story of the brand and are willing to pay a premium of this connection. Thus we see that content can still be the king. We see also that the content can be professionally or end-user generated. But does it even matter how it’s generated, if end-users want it! Satama believes strongly that increasingly there will be interesting and surprising partnerships established between different parties, old brands, and new digital brands. Movies, music, sports, retails, etc.

Innovative channels are needed. A few examples of these are in-game advertising and event marketing. First, the gamer’s world is different (see box). Rules of human behavior and limits do not extend to this world. Anything is possible. So why do even the most modern marketers stick to putting their brand in a game only as a billboard, static ad or what-so-ever. “Hello Mr. Brand! The world it different out there!” This new virtual space can also influence how a game player perceives the real world. Computer and console games form not just a “tiny hobby area for boys” – they totaled a ~€23bn area of business in 2005! Look at gaming rules. What if they were the rules of modern marketing – what would you do in this world for and with your brand? Could it be so that the best means for modern marketing emerge from the multi-complex world of game design, in a way similar to how field interactive marketing sprang from birth of the digital channel in mid 1990s?

Second, Satama says that marketers have to invest in making their events more innovative. It is good to have an event and sponsor it. Yet, to make a lasting memory among, for example, music festival participants, they need to be involved with the brand. With over 500 event solution deliveries behind us, Satama can now confidently state that using digital channels is the key to building before-during-and-after event experiences for participants. Segments, especially the youth, try out new things more freely when the involvement of the brand is higher – touch, feel, smell, experience – but use digital means to expand it beyond the conventional. For example, Satama produced in 2005 for a Malaysian telecom operator, Celcom, an integrated 3G marketing

campaign formatted around a TV reality show. The show was supported by a website, two mobile sites, a viral campaign, push SMSs, MMS blogging, plus engagement marketing on the streets for Kuala Lumpur. The outcome was outstanding: the target group, youth, was extremely passionate about the show and the campaign became one of the most popular TV programs during its existence.

RECOMMENDATIONS:What might work?

To conclude, we’ve listed a number of recommendations below that modern marketers should execute in modern marketing planning. These best practices expand beyond the youth segment; they are actually the core variables for realizing fresh, appealing, and impact-oriented marketing operations. Moreover, we claim that there is no brand that should not re-consider the impact of the internet on their brand positions.

1. BE INNOVATIVE AND DARE TRY OUT: The best way to understand

the emerging channels is through trial and error. Knowledge about how consumers behave is gained by making exploration rounds. In marketing planning, observational and various testing methods are needed, while in the execution phase proof is collected by measurement and metrics. Yet learning happens more and more through try and error. Thus, allow errors, but learn from them!

2. ACTIVATE THE LOGICAL SIDE OF MARKETING: Marketing is extending beyond creative concepts – managers increasingly call for ROI from marketing. Tracing and calculating the effects of marketing in the digital channel is more possible than in any other channel. We are committed to a process in which the measurement of marketing should be planned as carefully as well as the creative concepts currently are within the conventional advertising channels. We see that brands should do much more to ensure that communication motivates the segment to follow up one action with another.

3. BUILD BEHAVIOURAL KNOW-HOW.: More than ever, target groups are hopping about from one medium to another. It is crucial to be present wherever the target group is. As the online channel plays a significant role in modern behavior, it should be a high priority in any corporate planning. Satama believes that knowing a target group’s behavior and developing your digital service based on their needs, is the key to online success.

4. OPINION LEADERS BRING CREDIBILITY: Each peer group is influenced by its thought leaders. Especially for the youth segment, involving leaders involves the target group and extends events into virtual space by building before-during-after experiences. Leverage the mobile channel innovatively with leading consumer brands and remember to also market offline.

5. LISTENING AND NETWORKING: Understanding the context of communications is the key to making communications work effectively with your target group. A successful marketer must dare to listen and react – it’s not about push, its about listening skills. Relationships with challenging target segments, such as youth, take place across the innovative spectrum of relevant media channels. We believe that the creation of online communities and the provision of tools for natural networking can help a brand grow closer to youth.

6. PARTNERING: Dare to take innovative approaches and to closely co-ordinate with partners. It is not about trying to do thing alone – other brands are struggling with the same challenges. Why not to find credible allies to boost one’s own goals? It’s all about intensifying openness, discussions and trials with different kinds of partners. For the youth segment, it is of utmost importance to do marketing with partners who are credible for the segment. Find them and work with them!

7. FRESH AND UNIQUE: Satama believes that brands should provide

more and more unique content. The target should be to increase the number of regular visitors by offering fresh, up-to-date, and attractive content. Investments into one’s own IPR creation and imagination may prove to be very successful in making the difference. The digital environment allows for faster reactions and launches than any channel before it.

8. CREATE SUSTAINABLE COMMUNICATIONS: We see that brands should aim to establish a dedicated communications channel for its segments. This communications platform is a much more powerful approach than transitory online campaigns. Content within this kind of marketing focused online service should be based on specific interest areas to create a communications arena that is more like a media channel operation than a marketing-only operation.

At Satama we believe that marketing planning should move from advertising planning toward planning and measuring the actual impact of integrated actions. In the 1990s the key slogan most marketers were repeating throughout the globe was: ”The media is the message”. In today’s turbulent, networked, and dynamic business Satama asserts that: ”Behavior is the message”. It is not only about where you are, but how strong an impact you can create with your target group!

You can download this article with images from our corporate blog, [http://voice.satama.com]

Sources:

1 See e.g. http://www.epinions.com or http://www.seatexpert.com

2 J. Walker Smith, 2005

3 Quantum-Web, 2005

4 ComScore Media Metrix, 2004

5 Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2005

6 Trendwatching.com, 2005

7 Business Week, Nov, 2005

8 so called “long tail”, Wired, May, 2004

9 See http://longtail.typepad.com/the_long_tail/

10 IRC= Internet-relay-chat, see

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Relay_Chat

11 e.g. Google, AOL/Warner, Vodafone, MSN, Skype, iTunes

12 Google, 2005

Tommi Pelkonen (tommi.pelkonen@satama.com) works as a senior consultant specialising in mobile telecommunications, digital marketing communications and business strategy formulation at Satama Amsterdam. He has worked on multiple mobility-related business projects. Prior to Satama, Tommi Pelkonen worked as project manager and senior researcher in LTT-Research Ltd (http://www.ltt-tutkimus.fi) analysing the developments in the Finnish interactive service provision markets. (Econ.) Pelkonen has authored several publications of the North European digital media landscape. His latest report (2006, forthcoming) was analysing the mobile industry evolution in Finland. In addition, Mr. Pelkonen has worked as IT-project supervisor and lecturer in the Information Technology Program (ITP) at the Helsinki School of Economics (http://www.hse.fi). Tommi publishes also his own personal blog in Finnish.

Unlimited movie downloads are available to us nowadays through online movie stores. Being able to download movies at the click of a mouse has opened up our 17 inch monitor into a movie theater, one that never closes at night, and screens any movie we desire to watch at our beck and call. Such is how far our technology has advanced. We will see why unlimited movie downloads online stores have revolutionized the whole movie industry and what you are missing out if you are still stuck with your VCDs and DVDs.

It wasn’t so long ago when we were still relying on VCRs, acronym for video recorders to watch movies on tapes. If you are born after the 80’s, you probably might have a very vague idea or mental image about what those gadgets are. Perhaps you have sat beside your grandma on the couch watching a recorded TV show or movie from one of those little black boxes, or you have come across one of those in the junkyard or even museum. In the 90s, the arrival of those small little discs called video compact discs or VCDs took the movie industry by storm. Compact by the standards of those days, these still have its place in the home of many Americans. However, fast forward to today, downloading and watching movies online is gaining such great speeds that we simply cannot ignore.

You may wonder what’s the big deal about being able to access unlimited movie downloads. After-all, your VCD and DVDs are working well and not giving you problems right? Let’s see what you are missing out as your neighbor next door is quietly downloading his favorite TV show.

1. Convenience of Movie Downloads

Buying a VCD or DVD is easy if you know what title you are looking for. However, if you are like me who simply want to grab a good show so that you can relax and watch it during the weekend, imagine with me then that you could be doing a little searching at the movie store reading reviews and thinking which movie is good and worth your bucks. You cannot be buying everything you like because they are costly right? Next, you would be queuing with the rest of the folks for your turn to make your payment. Compress that image and envisage you sitting in front of the computer, and with a few clicks, the movie is ready for viewing. Isn’t that cool?

Whether you want to watch a movie or TV show at 4am, or on an off day, the movie sites are there round the clock, ready to serve you with unlimited movie downloads.

2. Cheaper Alternative

Movie VCD and DVD prices have dwindled over time owing to lower costs of production. If you have studied economics, you would understand about fixed capital costs and why mass manufacturing would eventually bring costs down. Nevertheless, to cough out $10 or more for a VCD/DVD is still too expensive to me. Well, after all, you probably would only watch it once and then chuck it aside to collect dust. Download sites however run on a lifetime membership model where you can gain access to virtually unlimited movie downloads. And the best part is you don’t pay for per movie download, but one low payment for lifetime access. We are not even talking about thousands or hundreds of dollars, but the cost of one or two good DVDs.

3. Movie Downloads Are Safe & Legal

People are concerned about downloading movies online. That is totally understandable for two reasons. Downloading a file online can expose your computer to harmful adware or spyware. Worse still, if you are downloading a movie illegally, this could land you in big trouble with the law. But these two problems are well taken care of at these unlimited movie downloads sites. Firstly, they ensure secured downloading and protection against attacks of adware and spyware. Secondly, many of these sites have made agreements with the original producers of those movies such as studios, etc to release those movies online for downloading. With these two worries behind us, it becomes clear that having access to unlimited movie downloads is a strong proposition for us not to ignore these download sites.

These reasons are probably the push factors for more people flocking to their sites instead of heading to traditional movie stores or cinema theaters for a movie. Read a review about those unlimited movie downloads sites at my blog to find out which are the hot favorites among movie viewers nowadays.

Davion is a successful webmaster, author and a movie lover. Read a review of the best unlimited movie downloads sites that offer the latest TV shows, newly-released movies and more at unlimited–moviedownloads.blogspot.com.

Building your resume, based on a resume outline will give it structure and flow… it provides an outline of all the things you should include in your resume.

A resume is one of the most important documents you will ever create

First you have to decide on a particular format for your resume. The two main formats in use today are chronological and functional format. Which one is best to use will depend greatly on your situation.

To build your resume you can use free resume forms located on the web. This can provide you with directions if you are having trouble building your resume.

A sample resume outline would include the following sections:

The Heading

Your resume should start with the heading. You can list your basic details so the employer can contact you. You can include your name, address, telephone number and e-mail address.

NAME

ADDRESS

PHONE NUMBER

EMAIL ADDRESS

Job Objective

This is an optional section of your resume outline. Here you can tell readers what the objective of your resume is and what you are looking for.

Example:

Entry-level accounting position with medium to large public accounting firm.

The “Body” is the largest section of your resume outline

This is where you can enter details about your education, work experience and additional information. The body contains:

Education

Here you can list your educational background.

Educational Background Format: College, Degree, Major, Honors, Relevant Courses

Sample Education Section: Drexel University

BA Educational Leadership, May 2000

If you have a college education, do not list your high school information. You can also list any honors for academic excellence in this section of your resume outline.

If you are a graduating senior or looking for an internship, you can add a relevant courses section to your resume outline.

Employment History

This is an important part of the resume. Here you can list your previous employment history. If you are using a chronological resume format, you should list the most recent job positions first on your resume outline.

Example:

Drug Emporium, Wayne, PA

Cashier, June to September, 2001

Supervised customer check out

Handled the cash register

Managed and stocked merchandise

You can also list relevant volunteer activities or work experience programs if you do not have much job experience.

Achievements

If you have any special achievements you would like to announce, you can use this section. Maybe you made a suggestion that saved your previous boss a ton of money. You can list it in this section of your resume outline.

Special Skills

The remaining sections of the resume can include additional skills such as fluency in a foreign language.

References

You should leave this section out altogether. References are not required at this stage and stating that ‘References are available upon request’ is assumed anyway… so you just end up wasting valuable space!

Additional Optional Sections

You can add additional sections to your resume outline such as volunteer work, community involvement or honors. You also have to decide on the layout of your resume.

Choose a common font and medium range font-size, such as 12. Decide how you want to highlight the headings of the different sections. You can use bold, italics or underline to highlight section headings. Some people use bold and a larger font size to highlight their name on the resume.

The last part of your resume will probably receive little focus, so if you have a marketable skill or outstanding honor you should try to incorporate them in earlier sections of your resume.

You can find a lot of resources on the web that can provide you with free outlines and sample resume layouts. Usually an outline will differ if the resume is for a recent college graduate or a long time professional. Choose a resume outline that is specific to your career field and you can build your resume around that outline.

Roger Clark has an excellent selection of articles with templates for resumes posted on his blog and if you need some free resume templates [http://www.studentsforasecurefuture.org/ready-for-a-career-change/] then this is an article you should not miss.

Are you pregnant and your regular clothes no longer seem to be a comfortable fit? Well, it is time to shop for affordable maternity clothes. It is a fact that most of us tuck away our maternity clothes post-delivery so it would be prudent to look for cheap maternity clothes.

Getting Affordable Maternity Clothes

Many pregnant women have resorted to using their partners shirts or borrow pregnancy clothes from friends and relatives. This may seem like a cost effective way of securing your clothes but perhaps you will be compromising on comfort as these clothes may not be the right size for you.

Clothes for pregnant women are designed for comfort and are stretchable, so it may not be a good idea to opt for plus-sized clothes too. Many talented women design and stitch their own clothes. Not all of us have the time or the talent to be like them. Women who have healthy pregnancy may perhaps enjoy shopping for clothes in the local malls and discount stores or at sales. If you look hard, you may find amazing clothes of good quality at affordable prices in a few select local stores.

The best place to look for affordable maternity clothes is online. Shopping online may be extremely convenient as you have so much variety in sizes, quality, colors and design. There are affordable maternity clothes designed for petite baby dolls to the amazing amazons! There are some lovely collections for working moms-to-be, trendy maternity clothes that make them look fashionable and attractive at affordable prices.

There are many online stores that offer maternity wear at a discount. Most of the stores claim that their collections can be worn after delivery too and that you need not put your maternity wear away. While selecting your maternity collection make sure that you get the right size as well as the kind of clothes that are easy to wash and maintain.

There are affordable maternity clothes such as stretch jeans for about $16, sun dresses for about $25, maternity and nursing top at under $8 etc. The clothes are durable and of good quality and it is recommended that you buy a few clothes at a time to ensure that they fit right. There are funny maternity clothes that are extremely easy on the pocket too for the more humorous amongst us. For those on a really tight budget, stretch jeans and a few tops, t-shirts and trendy shirts may be a great solution. Add a comfortable pair of maternity pajamas and perhaps a night gown and you are set for a comfy and enjoyable pregnancy. Do not hide your growing belly but flaunt it shamelessly! Shop for affordable maternity clothes and make your pregnancy even more enjoyable!

Online maternity clothing stores and even many offline stores have a wide range of affordable maternity clothes. With maternity clothes and more so cheap maternity clothes easily available, there is no need for you to wear makeshift pregnancy clothes during your pregnancy period. Rather enjoy your most beautiful period with funny maternity clothes and trendy maternity clothes. Your free online resource Pregnancy Clothes provides more information not just about options for maternity clothing but also answers all your questions related to pregnancy, breastfeeding and motherhood.

The following article includes pertinent information that may cause you to reconsider what you thought you understood about the relationship between satellite television and Internet television. However, the most important thing is to read with an open mind and be willing to revise your understanding if necessary.

What Is Satellite Television?

Satellite television refers to television service beamed to subscribers via orbiting communications satellites high above earth from a distance of between – 22, 000 to 37, 000 miles making it possible for television programs to reach wider areas than was possible with either the traditional terrestrial or cable television which out reach was hampered by earth’s curvature and distance.

When Was The First Satellite Television Aired?

It was in 1962 that the very first television signal was up linked from Europe on to the Telstra satellite and beamed over North America. Anik1 was the first domestic North American satellite launched in 1973 in Canada.

How Does Satellite Television Work?

Well, without going technical, it will interest you to note that the television signals you receive from communications satellites are really first sent up from ground stations via very big (9 – 12 meters) dishes to an orbiting satellite that in turn beams the signals down to earth and on to your receiver’s parabolic dish’s focal point and a LNB or low noise blocker component converts ands send the signals to your decoder box where the final conversion is done to the signals so that it becomes the sound and pictures you watch.

There are also different brands of mobile none parabolic dish receivers for use in vehicles and other mobile platforms. In this case satellite television signals are received with a satellite antenna and directed through a satellite decoder box and an oscillator converts it to L-band range of frequencies that an on-board electronics finally converts to the standard frequency usable by normal television sets.

What Is A TVRO?

Television Receive Only or TVRO is the forerunner of satellite television viewing at home. The very big dish size, about 3 – 6 feet, required to run C-Band frequencies of about four G Hertz meant that not most people could own it due to the very exorbitant cost of installing one, and the space for installation.

One other hassle with TVRO is that the big dish has to be moveable to keep track of more satellite, because C-Band satellites carry less channels than KU-band satellites. This dish movement, however makes it possible to receive free channels and feeds or even unedited C-Band news material being sent to headquarters by field correspondence or a news crew, they are usually not scrambled.

What Is Direct Broadcast Satellite Or DBS And What Makes It Better Than TVRO?

Once you begin to move beyond basic background information, you begin to realize that there’s more to the future of satellite TV vis a vis Internet television software than you may have first thought.

DBS is satellite TV broadcast thorough Ku-Band satellites that work on higher frequencies with stronger signals than C-Band or TVRO, which makes it possible for you to install smaller dishes for receiving their signals.

People who live high up on apartment buildings favor the DBS since installing an 18 inches dish up there is possible. Another advantage of the DBS over TVRO is that the dish is stationary needing no maintenance plus, the installation is free in most cases.

This is made possible because DBS television satellites are usually in geosynchronous orbit that is stationary in the sky relative to the Earth, because each satellite is launched into space at around 7,000 mph to settle at around 22,200 miles above the Earth.

With this speed and height, the satellite revolves around the earth once every 24 hours in juxtaposition with Earth’s own rotation. This is what makes it possible for your 18 inches dish to remain in a fixed position with the satellite without requiring adjustment.

What is Internet Television and Is It Better than Direct Broadcast Satellite?

Internet television as the name implies refers to Television programs streamed onto a PC or Laptop through the Internet. There are different types of Internet television services. Some of them are recorded rebroadcasts while others are live broadcasts made possible with ingenious software. You can connect to thousands of satellite television services simultaneously. A wide range of viewing choices – unlimited TV shows, Movies, Sports, Soaps and more.

You don’t need any hardware such as decoder, wire, dish or antenna making. You can watch your favorite programs, even outdoors, from all over the world, so long as you have internet connection. Internet television is just a hassle free way of watching a lot more numbers of satellite TV programs and channels free of monthly satellite television subscription fees.

What Is The Future Of Satellite TV Vis A Vis Internet Television?

What would be the future of Satellite Television depends on several factors: For instance, even before the advent of Internet television satellite television companies did not depend on subscription fees for their survival.

Advertising pays a big chunk of the bill for you to watch satellite television even at the present rate you might consider very exorbitant

License fees are another way through which satellite television services are sustained. For instance, If you are in the UK and you have equipment that is capable of receiving TV signals then the law states you must pay for a TV license.

Today, there already exist broadcasters who use only advertising to pay for their service and so allow viewers free viewing of their programs, so in my opinion watching satellite television programs free on your PC or Laptop will not kill satellite television, rather Internet television will increase the number of viewers for satellite television services and lead to more and better priced advertising charges.

Of course, it’s impossible to put everything about the future of satellite TV vis a vis Internet television software into just one article. But you can’t deny that you’ve just added to your understanding about the future of satellite TV vis a vis Internet television software, and that’s time well spent.

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Are you looking out to learn more about hypertext preprocessor programming which is nothing other than what is known as PHP? Then this article can offer you plenty of knowledgeable information on the same. PHP has literally become the talk of the town nowadays. Technically it is known as a server-side script based language, which means that it is predominantly used for web developing and web hosting purposes. With its widespread application, it is not surprising that programmers in this particular software language are in great demand nowadays.

PHP is basically free software that is widely used for web development purposes. Running generally on a web server, it can create dynamic web page output with ease. Millions of websites and web servers are testimony to the power of this web-scripting language.

With the world becoming more and more dependent on the internet for conducting business, it is no wonder that PHP too is among the most popular web-scripting programs these days. You will find that the roots of the PHP programs are basically in C++, with several similarities existing in the syntax of the two. What this in turn means is that PHP is easy to learn and master for those who are well versed with other programs. MySQL is the backend tool that is used along with PHP. It is again easy software to learn and master and is extremely popular. PHP is also compatible with many other back end applications too.

Webmasters looking to make their sites automated more often than not go in for the combination of PHP programming along with MySQL. In fact, you can that this combination has been used in most of the dynamic sites that you can browse through over the internet. Similarly PHP also works well in combination with HTML. Dynamic elements display on WebPages comes out well when this particular combination is used. PHP this way provides a secure as well fast and reliable option for those looking for hosting applications on the internet.

PHP programming finds applications in various areas of web development. Shopping cars and back end administration panels are two of the most common applications. Similarly, web content management, banner advertisement management, mailing systems, visitor tracking, product catalogs, e-brochures, membership management, message boards and forums are some of the areas where it is used these days. With internet usage predicted to grow exponentially in the near future, the use of PHP programming too is predicted to grow phenomenally in the years to come.

You’ve decided to take your pet along on vacation. It will be more fun, and you won’t have to worry about leaving a member of your family behind in an unfamiliar kennel. With some extra planning and forethought, you can have a safe and enjoyable trip with your pet.

Taking a Road Trip

If you’re driving with your pet, you’ll need to find a comfortable and safe way for your pet to travel. You can place your pet in a carrier and secure it in the car. Alternatively, you can purchase a seatbelt-like harness for your pet that will allow him to be out of the carrier but still safely restrained. It isn’t safe to allow your pet to roam freely in the car. He can be seriously hurt in the event of even a minor accident, and he is much more likely to escape and become lost when you make stops.

Don’t leave your pet alone in the car, especially in hot weather. The heat can quickly become life-threatening. If your pet becomes carsick easily, you may want to ask your veterinarian for motion-sickness medicine before the trip.

Carry some of your pet’s food along with you, and feed your pet only small amounts of food at a time. If your trip is short, you may want to have your pet wait and eat when you arrive to avoid carsickness. You should also carry some of your pet’s water along, or purchase bottled water. Local tap water may contain different minerals or sulphur, which might upset your pet’s stomach.

Flying with your pet

Many pet owners do not like to fly with their pets because it can be traumatic for them, but sometimes it’s unavoidable. Unless your pet is very small, he will fly as cargo and not in the cabin with you. Check with your airline to determine what type of carrier is acceptable and what rules apply to flying with a pet. Also ask what safety precautions are in place, what conditions the pet will fly in, etc. Ask your veterinarian if your pet is well enough to fly or if there are any special precautions you should take.

International Travel

Taking your pet out of the country requires careful planning. Check the regulations for the country you are traveling to and verify that your pet has the required vaccinations. In some cases, you’ll need to have the vaccines administred weeks before your departure date.

Most countries will require a Rabies Vaccination Certificate and a Health Certificate. Your veterinarian can help you obtain both of these. The country you are traveling to may require that you complete paperwork gaining permission to bring your pet into the country. Also, some countries have quarantine regulations that may require your pet to remain in a kennel for up to several months.

Pet Friendly Hotels

A quick search on the Internet can help you find hotels that are receptive to pets. Many travel sites also allow you to specify only pet-frienly accommodations. Check with the hotel to find their specific rules regarding staying with a pet.

If your pet requires walks, ask for a room that opens on the outside. This will be more convenient for those late night trips outdoors.

Many alternative lodging sites, such as resorts, cabins and bed and breakfasts are also open to receiving pets. Check ahead of time for availability where you’re traveling. Since many of these vacation spots offer outdoor activities, they can be great options for pet owners.

What Will your Pet do All day?

You know how you’ll travel, and you’ve found a hotel that will welcome your pet, so now what? What will your pet do all day when you’re out having fun?

An outdoor vacation is an ideal choice if you’re traveling with pets. Consider renting an RV and taking a camping vacation. Many RV rental agencies allow pets with an extra deposit. A trip to the beach is another good choice for pet owners. However, keep in mind that sand can be irritating to some pets, especially dogs with deep skin folds. Some animals are bothered by long sun exposure as well.

If you’re spending a lot of time outdoors, keep plenty of cold water on hand and watch your pet for signs of heat exhaustion.

Some restaurants now provide outdoor seating that is also pet friendly. Check ahead of time if any are available near where you are staying. If you’d like to spend mealtime with your pet and no pet-friendly restaurants are close by, you might consider takeout or even picnicing outdoors.

What if you’re taking a more traditional vacation? Many tourist attractions will not welcome your pet, and it isn’t a good idea to leave your pet alone in a strange hotel room all day. You may be able to place your pet in his carrier for shorter excursions, but for all day trips, consider researching pet daycare centers or kennels available in the area. You can leave your pet for a few hours in a safe environment but still enjoy his company on your trip.

What to Take Along

Bring your pet’s food along or plan to buy it as needed. This is not a good time to change your pet’s diet, and you should certainly avoid giving your pet any table scraps. Traveling can be stressful regardless of how careful you are, and you don’t need the added complication of stomach upset for your pet.

Don’t give your dog the local water, especially if you’re traveling internationally. It’s safer to give your pet only bottled water to avoid possible stomach upset.

Bring along any medicines your pet takes, including vitamins, flea medicines, heart worm prescriptions, etc. You should also bring some basic first-aid supplies in case of injury. Ask your veterinarian what should be included in your pet’s first aid kit. These might include medicines for stomach upset and a mild tranquilizer in case your pet becomes extremely agitated. You can purchase pre-stocked pet first aid kits at many pet supply stores.

To make your pet more comfortable, bring along a few items from home. Bring some of your pet’s bedding and a few of his favorite toys. Bring only treats your pet has eaten in the past with no stomach upset. Again, this isn’t the time to try any new foods. The carrier you bring should be large enough for your pet to remain comfortably inside for a few hours. He should be able to stand, lie down and turn around easily within it. Also, be sure your pet has fresh water available within the carrier.

A Pre-Trip Checklist

Make an appointment with your veterinarian. Have your pet examined and any vaccinations done that are needed. Ask if your pet is healthy enough to travel, and ask for advice concerning any of your pet’s health conditions. Remember that if you are traveling outside the country, you may need to plan weeks in advance.

Make sure your pet has current identification attached to his collar, and that it fits well and isn’t likely to slip off. You might want to consider having an identification chip implanted before your trip, but you’ll need to discuss with your veterinarian how soon your pet can travel after the procedure.

Gather phone numbers for veterinarians, pet emergency care facilities, kennels, etc. before you leave for each place where you’ll be staying. If an accident or illness does occur, you’ll be grateful that you don’t have to take the time to find someone to care for your pet.

Make a packing list for your pet based on his needs and what your veterinarian recommends. Double-check it as you pack his things. Take your veterinarian’s phone number along with you in case you need to call and ask a last minute question or have your pet’s records sent to another clinic.

Take time to get your pet used to his carrier, especially if it’s new. If you’re driving, take your pet in the car for practice trips before the big day so it won’t be so traumatic. Another benefit to this approach is that you’ll learn if your pet become motion sick easily.

If you’re traveling with your cat, bring a litterbox and litter along with you. It’s easier to purchase cheap plastic litterboxes and throw them away rather than try to clean and transport them. If traveling with a dog, be sure to bring baggies to clean up after your pet’s walks.

Embarrassing and Alarming Moments

Pets get stressed when traveling, so accidents can and will happen. Bring some disposable wipes and plastic baggies to clean up after your pet. Another good idea is bringing a small bottle of enzyme based cleaner. If your pet selects the hotel carpet as the perfect spot for his accident, this can remove the odor and stain before it has a change to set.

Never open your pet’s carrier unless you’re in an enclosed room. Pets can move much more quickly than you can, and nothing will ruin your vacation faster than losing your traveling companion.

Traveling with your pet can be challenging, but with some planning ahead, it can also be a fun and rewarding experience. Trying a short weekend trip before a longer vacation can also help your pet acclimate to travel, and you will learn how well your pet travels.

Author Ian White is founder of pet-sitters.biz Pet Sitting Directory

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Pet owners list pet-sitting requirements and find those who meet their specific needs. Fast, easy membership Dog walkers, pet day cares also welcome!

Having a collection of striking fish in your living room that are normally only found in the ocean provides serenity and is a great attraction for family and friends visiting your home. Although it may seem difficult to maintain or expensive to setup, having saltwater fish differs little from a normal tank.

One of the first steps in having a saltwater fish tank in your home is a review of your finances to determine that you have enough money to start and maintain your tank. Approximate start-up costs for a saltwater fish tank are around $500 (USD), which doesn’t include the cost of fish or the upkeep.

The next step is to determine where your tank is going to be located and what type and size of tank you are going to purchase. Some tanks are small enough to sit on a table, while others come with their own stands. Particularly large tanks may require structural support so that the floor can bear the additional weight. When choosing the location for your tank, keep in mind its accessibility in regards to cleaning and maintenance. You must also select whether to have a glass or acrylic tank. Glass is easier to clean, but you can drill holes in acrylic tanks that allow filtration to occur out of sight underneath the tank.

After purchasing your tank you must buy other needed equipment such as a filter, air pump, and heater. You also need to choose a bed for the tank and a saltwater mixture which will create the best conditions for your fish.

Once you have purchased all your items except your fish, assemble your tank and test it out to make sure it runs properly. Once you’re certain it works okay, continue to let cycle, making adjustments to get the tank to its optimal level for the fish you are going to purchase. Once this is done, it’s time to take a trip to select your fish. The ocean, where saltwater fish live, is the largest of all the water bodies. It’s home to millions of species – playful, colourful, savage and awe inspiring, and many of these varieties are appropriate and available for saltwater tanks. When you bring your fish home, keep the fish in the bag and place it in the tank. This will allow the fish to adjust to the temperature in your tank. After a few hours, add one-fourth cup of tank water to the bag to let the fish adjust slowly to the water, and within an hour, repeat this step four times. After that you can put the fish directly into the tank or hold it in a quarantine tank for a few days or weeks until you certain it is healthy and able to thrive in your tank water. This is highly recommended if you are adding this fish to a tank already housing other fish, as one sick fish can kill all the others in your tank.

Having a saltwater fish tank not only adds beauty but is also quite easy to do. Once you have purchased all your equipment, tested it out, bought your fish and attuned it to your tank, it’s time to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ease of keeping saltwater fish in your home and what they add to it.If you are looking for more information then please feel free to visit our site at [http://www.saltwater-fishtank.com/]

Saltwater Fish Tanks Ease of keeping saltwater fish at home could not be simpler i have been keeping salt water fish now for 2 years and they really do make great pets. for more information please visit our site at [http://www.saltwater-fishtank.com/]

Suppose a woman entered an ecommerce site. The site is for clothes sale. She starts her shopping tour from the dress purchase page where she purchases a decent dress by clicking on it. The dress is added in her x-cart. Now she moves to dress accessories page and select a scarf. She clicks on the link embedded with the image of scarf. This item automatically gets added to her x-cart. Similarly she does the same with pages for shoes and handbags. The selected items are then added in to her x-cart.

Now she opts for the order page where she finds all the items she selected in the list, which shows the final calculated price for all. This is the concept of a shopping cart. Many people have a misconception that Shopping Cart means payment and other related things, but it is not true. When items are listed in the shopping cart the process of payment is done through payment gateways and it is altogether a different process. In short, Shopping Cart is a series of scripts that keep track of items a visitor picks to buy from your site until they proceed to the “checkout”.

Success of the shopping cart depends on its integration with various payment gateways. PHP is a language that can do this job beautifully. Perfect integration means complete channels for requests and transfers with the relevant financial network including Internet merchant account with your bank. Thus x-cart with PHP eases this part of integration to a great extent.

Creation of x-cart in PHP is an easy job. All the details of stocks are stored in the database. When user adds product then the IDs of that product is added in shopping cart. You can delete it by deleting the IDs of the products you want to remove from the cart. PHP shopping cart has an inherent ability to call for an external PHP file.

The biggest advantage of PHP is serialization. Serialization is not needed for all types of databases with PHP. It was a problem in the earlier versions that when you wish to pass a value without mentioning its type, it gets dumb. This problem has been solved properly in the latest version of PHP.

Use of PHP in your x-cart development makes it user friendly, this means that it allows an easy search of a product and rapid and hassle free execution means easy shopping experience. It facilitates easy calculation of taxes, refunds and other incentives. Above all, its secure and you always will have secure transactions of money and your data with PHP. Thus you will have a secure ecommerce experience with PHP.

With PHP your x-cart would have fully integrated E-commerce data marts for customer profiling, relationship management, and to facilitate marketing decision processes. It is a common scenario that you will change your prices frequently and your stocks will also change in both quantity and types. With PHP you can do the necessary update easily with just some clicks of mouse.

Last but not the least is that you will get enough support from the developer community whenever you have any problem. PHP is a young language, it is growing and expanding its horizon so you can walk with time and get every thing you need for your advancement.

Hardik mistry is php developer at IndiaNIC – a leading shopping cart firm present quality and cost effective php web application development, php e-commerce x- cart and services across the globe. For any queries related to iphone email us at enquiry@indianic.com.

Advice for creating a resume that accurately portrays your skills, experience, interests and personality.

The job market is a tough one right now, and it clearly favors employers over job seekers. There are simply more job seekers than available jobs. Competing in this market means that you need a solid resume, and one that recognizes a current reality for technical jobs. Employers are not just filling positions. They are looking to hire “the whole person” – someone who fits organizationally and culturally, and who can fill multiple job roles. The bottom line: You’ll be more competitive in this job market if you have a resume that shows “the whole person.”

The Resume Challenge

Almost without exception, no one likes to work on their resume. It ranks somewhere close to filing taxes or having cavities filled on the list of unpleasant things in life. It is one of those undesirable activities that simply must be done and done right. Many hire tax professionals to complete their returns, and nobody fills their own cavities. But all too often we struggle alone to produce resumes. My recommendation: Get some help! Seek help from your friends and colleagues, and perhaps from a resume professional. But even when you use the services of a professional resume writer, you can’t abdicate responsibility to make your resume personal and human – to let the “whole person” shine through. Creating a resume that accurately portrays your skills, experience, interests, and personality can only be done with your participation and the participation of those who know you well. Participation means reflection on who you are and what you want to do – a task that can’t be hired, contracted, or delegated.

Professional resume writers, often with good intentions, can create resumes that make interviews difficult, uncomfortable, and sometimes even defensive. Lacking the participation that is needed to make a resume personal, the hired writer will resort to superlatives and overstatements. Imagine being interviewed based upon a resume that that makes statements about you that you don’t even believe to be true. How do you respond to interview questions that arise from these statements? It is far better to be confident in the language that is used to describe you, and readily able to respond to any questions about your resume.

This statement was written by a professional resume writer who was overzealous in his desire to help a client obtain employment: “Exploited the power of system tools including scandisk and defrag to counteract performance issues in machines.” How would you answer interview questions about such a statement? Would you be comfortable to glorify such a simple task? Does it really offer a clear picture of the prospective employee, or does it cloud that picture?

Clear and Concise

I’m not particularly good at taking care of my glasses. I’m careless with where I leave them so they often develop scratches quickly. Gradually I find myself squinting more and more as I try to make out details. When the squinting becomes too severe, I become aware of the problem and replace the glasses. With each new pair of glasses I’m initially surprised by how clean and crisp everything looks. The comparison between before and after is dramatic. If your resume isn’t clean and crisp – if it doesn’t accurately portray the real you – then you have the “scratchy glasses” version with prospective employers “squinting” at your resume.

In this article I’ll illustrate resume clarity and showing the “whole person” by telling you Stephen’s story. Stephen is both a talented IT professional and a friend. His story does a good job of illustrating the importance of sincerity and clarity in resume writing. Stephen’s resume is included here for illustration and reference. The resume is not full of superlatives. It uses clear and concise language and describes Stephen’s accomplishments and abilities without embellishment.

It is a powerful resume that tells Stephen’s story quite well. But we didn’t get to this resume quickly or easily. There were bumps and bruises, starts and stops, and detours along the way. I’ll also tell you a bit of my story, as I am a resume writer who learned and grew from the experience of working with Stephen. I’ll tell this story in the form of issues, describing each issue encountered and the ways that the issues were resolved.

Issue #1-Personalization

Managers want to hire people, not marketing brochures. Your resume should give them a good sense of who are and how you might fit into their team. It’s a recipe for disaster when your resume tells one story and your interview tells another. You do a disservice to yourself when you let others describe you without comment or intervention. You know yourself better than anyone else, so it’s your decision how you are portrayed in your resume.

The first sentence in Stephen’s summary of qualifications statement answers one of my common questions when gathering information for a resume: “What is it that makes you most proud?” Stephen loves to stretch software functionality almost to its breaking point-it’s a game to see who will win. Even though he’s proficient with numerous BI and data warehousing tools, Excel remains his favorite. It was during our discussions about Excel that I captured this sentence: “Innovative technology professional who takes pride in building complex solutions with basic technology, getting the most from a company’s technology investment.”

I thought this was a powerful statement that couldn’t be a more perfect fit, so I submitted it as part of my resume certification program. The rewrite I received back was a bit of a surprise. The “resume expert” restated the sentence as “Innovative technology professional, expert in building complex solutions and extracting optimum results from a company’s technology investment.” In trying to improve what I had written, the reviewer changed the meaning and reduced the value of the statement. The more general statement sounds good, but it loses the concept of making much from basic technology. More importantly, it is a less clear statement that takes a more careful read to find the meaning. Most important of all – it loses the sense of Stephen as a person who takes pride in his technical abilities.

Stephen also has a love of learning and finds it rewarding to help others learn. He is naturally patient, and is clear and descriptive in his explanations. This important aspect of Stephen closes his summary of qualifications with the statement” “Applies natural talent to translate a love of learning into a love of teaching, and helping others to learn.” To reinforce this message we interwove elements of teaching into his resume with a section titled Business Intelligence (BI) Technical Training and Learning Laboratory Management

Issue #2 -Technology

Stephen is a gentle soul who is modest about his achievements. When I first read his resume I told him that something was missing. He asked “what? And I replied “technology.” This simple exchange highlights the fact that we often find it difficult to accurately self-describe. I know that Stephen has exceptional technical expertise, having worked with him in the past. But he had not thought to include most of it on his resume. His reasoning: he only included technology where he had an extreme level of experience and had not considered others. His measure of acceptance was so high that most technology was excluded.

I assigned Stephen the task to list every technology he had used during the past eight years. It is difficult to remember specifics over an extended period of time, so it made sense to start with an all inclusive approach then refine the list based on how and how extensively he used each technology. Together we found the right list of technologies to accurately represent Stephen on his resume.

How you position and organize technologies on your resume depends on how you view yourself. For those who feel tightly coupled with technology, placing it on the first page makes sense. In Stephen’s case, he is not so much interested in specific technologies as in pushing the limits of what the technology can do. He wants to see tangible results. We organized his technologies into five categories and placed them near the end of the resume. We focused the first page on the results instead of technology.

Issue #3-Projects

Determining which projects to include and how to describe Stephen’s roles in each of them was particularly challenging. He has worked on many projects over a span of eight years, so discussion alone was not enough to decide which projects to feature. I asked Stephen to create a list that included every project he had worked on, no matter how small. From that list we selected projects based on how well they matched Stephen’s interests and skills – how well the demonstrated “the whole person.” Then we organized them into seven categories.

Issue #4-Value

With an organized project list we were ready to tackle the question: “What’s the connection to business value?” Not everyone has statistics, such as ‘delivered 20% cost reduction’ or ‘increased new product sales by 35%’. For IT professionals, value statements are especially difficult because they often think in terms of providing technical solutions, not business value. Extending from technology projects to business value means thinking about what will work better, who will be happier, and what new capabilities will be available when the project is completed.

The following statements in Stephen’s resume effectively describe the qualitative value that he created without resorting to exaggerations, superlatives, or fictionalized quantifications:

Implemented systems to satisfy a variety of business-to-consumer requirements including web-initiated database transactions, contact management, and communications tracking. Software development – Reduced the time, cost and complexity of maintaining the ETL process by developing a rules engine to remove hard-coded rules from an existing difficult to maintain ETL process. Stephen’s project and technology lists now serve multiple purposes. The refined lists are included in his resume and the original lists serve as a quick review and reference prior to interviews. It’s best to refresh your memory before interviewing so that the facts are clear in your mind and ready when needed.

Stephen’s resume tells a story. It works as a well placed introduction that describes him in his entirety – his character, interests, and skills. What story does your resume convey? What does it say about your past, present, and future? A good resume does not come easily. It must be crafted over time and from all of the right perspectives. Put together all of the right pieces, including a pinch of this and a dash of that, to show the individual and make the resume interesting to read. Consider who you really are and how best to personalize your resume and properly position technology, projects, and value. Capture the sense of yourself that conjures up an image of you as a whole person.

About IT Resume Service

Jennifer Hay combines career coaching and resume writing skills with a broad knowledge of information technology to provide specialized and targeted career guidance services to IT professionals. Jennifer’s varied background of IT positions, technical training, career counseling, and educational advising make a solid foundation for IT career counseling.

Her interest in the human side of career development makes each career plan personal and individualized. Her unique and IT-specific assessment methods help people to make the best career decisions. A disciplined approach to planning and action helps to turn decisions and plans into real career successes.

Jennifer Hay
IT Resume Service
Phone: (425) 245-5102
http://www.itresumeservice.com

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