Understanding Basics of GPS Tracking Units

Learning the ropes - GPS / GPRS vehicle tracking systems

1. GPS: Global Positioning System - (Source: Wikipedia) The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a space-based satellite navigation system that provides location and time information in all weather, anywhere on or near the Earth, where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites. It is maintained by the United States government and is freely accessible to anyone with a GPS receiver.

2. GPS Receiver : This is also known as GPS unit, is a gadget which allows you to acurately pinpoint your position, its job is to locate 4 or more satellites. Using the mathematical principle - trilateration - it can find out its own location anywhere on the earth.

3. GPRS - General Packet Radio Service: This is a packet oriented mobile data service on the 2G and 3G cellular communication system's global system for mobile communications (GSM). You know this as Internet Data Connection on your mobile, and use it for browsing internet, checking emails, downloading softwares / songs on your mobile device.

Devices supporting GPRS are divided into three classes:

3.1 GPRS Class A device: Can be connected to GPRS service and GSM service (voice, SMS), using both at the same time.

3.2 GPRS Class B device: Can be connected to GPRS service and GSM service (voice, SMS), but using only one or the other at a given time. During GSM service (voice call or SMS), GPRS service is suspended, and then resumed automatically after the GSM service (voice call or SMS) has concluded. Most GPRS mobile devices are Class B.

3.3 GPRS Class C device: Are connected to either GPRS service or GSM service (voice, SMS). Must be switched manually between one or the other service.

How does GPRS device make connection

A GPRS connection is established by reference to its access point name (APN). The APN defines the services such as wireless application protocol (WAP) access, short message service (SMS), multimedia messaging service (MMS), and for Internet communication services such as email and World Wide Web access.

In order to set up a GPRS connection for a wireless modem, a user must specify an APN, optionally a user name and password, and very rarely an IP address, all provided by the network operator.

GPS + GPRS = Unit deployed in your vehicle for real time tracking

A GPS receiver and the GPRS hardware sit side by side in the same box ( normally referred as: GPS tracking Unit ), powered by same battery source. At regular intervals or predefined events, the unit sends the GPS data using the GPRS connectivity to the central server ( referred as: GPS tracking Server )

The basics are clear, in nutshell - A unit that has both GPS receiver and GPRS hardware module interfacing together forms the GPS tracking unit. Once this unit is installed inside your vehicle, the self locations reported by the unit indicates the location of the vehicle. All the data that is send to the tracking server is then presented to the user on the maps / reports.

Understanding Basics of GPS Tracking Units   

Resume Tips To Take You From SAHM to WAHM

When looking for a telecommuting position, it is very important to have your resume in tip-top shape. This is often the only thing that a potential employer has to base a hiring decision on since they most likely will not be interviewing you in person, your resume has to make that great first impression for you.

When your resume comes across the fax line or is opened in an email, it needs to be presented as professionally as possible. Besides the obvious typos and misuse of words, your resume needs to be highly organized and make a great impression as quickly as it reaches your potential employers hands. With some organizational skills and a little work your resume can be the one that stands out.

Where should you start, I would suggest starting with a list of your skills. Most people would probably not start in that manner but I think that it gives you a more positive basis to work from. When I speak of skills, I don't just mean how many words you type or that you can operate a hundred programs on your computer. Use skills from volunteering with every organization from the school PTO to your church. You might be surprised when you really stop and think of everything that you learned while being an officer in the PTO or organizing the volunteers for the Little League concession stand. All of these are skills can be effectively used when organizing your resume. Not only do they require leadership and organizational skills but an ability to work well with others.

Now that you have your skills listed, you should be pretty proud of yourself. Sometimes making a list of your attributes is the hardest part. We should all know what year we graduated and when we finally got the nerve to resign from that dreaded 9-5 office position.

Next, I would recommend making a list of all previous positions with your job title as well as a brief description. Make sure that you use some "key words" that will easily grab the attention of the eyes scanning your resume. If you don't have a solid work history , I would recommend a functional resume format. The functional format highlights your skills rather than the time line of your work history.

Remember to see your resume as a marketing tool. On a billboard you only get a few key words to catch the attention of the traffic speeding by. Your resume needs to serve the same purpose. It needs to spark the interest of the potential employer so that they will want to know more about you and your assets. That is how you land the interview.

Resume Tips To Take You From SAHM to WAHM   

Cincinnati Karaoke

Cincinnati, like most cities these days, has a multitude of Karaoke bars to choose from on any given night. If you are ever out on a Friday night, you might want to try the Pirates Den on Anderson Ferry Rd. in Western Hills, where Cincinnati Karaoke host Robin Saint James brings her unique style of Karaoke entertainment to the public. She and her sidekick Sean Caldwell provide lots of laughs and guaranteed fun.

Robin is also a writer for local Cincinnati newspaper, and the author of a book called "Karaoke Krazy! Is This On?" The book is a humorous, satyrical, look at the Karaoke phenomenon, and also gives tips on singing and various other topics, including how to create you own television show. Here is an excerpt from the chapter entitled "What is Karaoke Anyway?":

Several years ago, someone in Japan thought there was a need for this type of entertainment ---and they were right.

In Japanese work environments, people are expected to contribute to the common good of the whole and not to draw undue attention to themselves.

American culture dictates a sense of individualism. We are conditioned to “stand out” from the crowd. But this is not so in Japanese culture, where modesty and a sense that one does not “blow their own horn” is the norm.

But we are all human and we like to get attention regardless of our cultural upbringing. In my opinion, the Japanese were more than ready to channel their hidden desire for individuality and acceptance into something “allowable.”

Singing has long been a part of the Japanese culture as it has brought them feelings of happiness. Corporate workers tend to feel a sense of relief from their fast-paced lives when they sing, so Karaoke is a natural outcome of their desires.

When whoever the Japanese genius was that created Karaoke did so, the masses were ready to jump in with both feet.

A few decades ago (in Japan), “Karaoke boxes” were created for people who wished to hear themselves sing. They were soundproof, just in case the singer was not so good. These boxes were set up anywhere the need warranted, from subway stations to street corners.

Eventually, Karaoke bars began to spring up all over Japan. It soon became so popular that there were even “Karaoke cabs” that provided people the means to sing on their way home from work! Sometimes the singers would be required to pay to sing. This became a good source of income for many business owners.

Karaoke also has practical uses for the Japanese. They like to sing western tunes and invariably they are able to learn English or other languages. It is also a significant tool regarding socialization, given that it holds no prejudice in terms of ‘good singers vs bad.’

The Karaoke phenomenon eventually spread throughout Asia and Europe, and of course, the United States.

Laser discs helped to bolster the popularity of this new form of entertainment. These 12-inch albums were first produced, as far as I know, by Pioneer Audio. I assume they were made in the same format as the 12-inch movie discs that started to become popular and then fizzled when DVDs hit the scene.

The Pioneer laser disc is really a work of art. Each and every song has its own video behind the lyrics. This entertained audiences as much as the actual singing. I had people that would come to my shows just to watch Karaoke videos.

I have to credit Pioneer for putting so much effort into their product. It was one of the reasons that my early shows were so successful. Everyone wanted to see what Karaoke was all about. To have videos on top of the singing was simply icing on the cake.

Unfortunately, other companies that eventually got into the Karaoke act and quickly found out that compact discs with graphics (words only) would work just fine. CDGs were far cheaper to produce and manufacture than laser discs and therefore far more inexpensive to the consumer. 12-inch laser discs were sold at about $130.00 per item. The smaller CDGs could be purchased for the cost of a CD. Therefore, the giant Pioneer laser disc was out and CDGs were in.

Although the giant disc era ended several years ago, I became so programmed to them, I still find myself starting shows by rolling off “Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to “Laser Video Karaoke.” I am your host….”

I think it is too bad that “cheaper” won out over “better quality.” Pioneer had a good product but it could not keep producing it when other companies were pumping out cheaper versions at a fraction of the cost.

By cheaper I don’t just mean ‘without the video.’ (Albeit the video cost more to produce than the music.) The orchestration on some brands of CDGs leaves a lot to be desired. It pales in comparison to the fully orchestrated sounds of the old Pioneer discs.

Pioneer used studio musicians, the best sound technicians, the works. You could easily tell that Karaoke versions of songs were as well put together as the artist's originals.

However, other companies were obviously using a cheaper means of getting there by simply programming keyboards to do what an orchestra once did. Thus, the demand for pioneer discs with video decreased. As far as I know, videos no longer accompany songs....

If you would like to read more, check out the Karaoke Krazy website at www.karaokekrazy.org [http://www.karaokekrazy.org]. You can also order the book at Amazon.com

Cincinnati Karaoke   

Cincinnati Karaoke

Cincinnati, like most cities these days, has a multitude of Karaoke bars to choose from on any given night. If you are ever out on a Friday night, you might want to try the Pirates Den on Anderson Ferry Rd. in Western Hills, where Cincinnati Karaoke host Robin Saint James brings her unique style of Karaoke entertainment to the public. She and her sidekick Sean Caldwell provide lots of laughs and guaranteed fun.

Robin is also a writer for local Cincinnati newspaper, and the author of a book called "Karaoke Krazy! Is This On?" The book is a humorous, satyrical, look at the Karaoke phenomenon, and also gives tips on singing and various other topics, including how to create you own television show. Here is an excerpt from the chapter entitled "What is Karaoke Anyway?":

Several years ago, someone in Japan thought there was a need for this type of entertainment ---and they were right.

In Japanese work environments, people are expected to contribute to the common good of the whole and not to draw undue attention to themselves.

American culture dictates a sense of individualism. We are conditioned to “stand out” from the crowd. But this is not so in Japanese culture, where modesty and a sense that one does not “blow their own horn” is the norm.

But we are all human and we like to get attention regardless of our cultural upbringing. In my opinion, the Japanese were more than ready to channel their hidden desire for individuality and acceptance into something “allowable.”

Singing has long been a part of the Japanese culture as it has brought them feelings of happiness. Corporate workers tend to feel a sense of relief from their fast-paced lives when they sing, so Karaoke is a natural outcome of their desires.

When whoever the Japanese genius was that created Karaoke did so, the masses were ready to jump in with both feet.

A few decades ago (in Japan), “Karaoke boxes” were created for people who wished to hear themselves sing. They were soundproof, just in case the singer was not so good. These boxes were set up anywhere the need warranted, from subway stations to street corners.

Eventually, Karaoke bars began to spring up all over Japan. It soon became so popular that there were even “Karaoke cabs” that provided people the means to sing on their way home from work! Sometimes the singers would be required to pay to sing. This became a good source of income for many business owners.

Karaoke also has practical uses for the Japanese. They like to sing western tunes and invariably they are able to learn English or other languages. It is also a significant tool regarding socialization, given that it holds no prejudice in terms of ‘good singers vs bad.’

The Karaoke phenomenon eventually spread throughout Asia and Europe, and of course, the United States.

Laser discs helped to bolster the popularity of this new form of entertainment. These 12-inch albums were first produced, as far as I know, by Pioneer Audio. I assume they were made in the same format as the 12-inch movie discs that started to become popular and then fizzled when DVDs hit the scene.

The Pioneer laser disc is really a work of art. Each and every song has its own video behind the lyrics. This entertained audiences as much as the actual singing. I had people that would come to my shows just to watch Karaoke videos.

I have to credit Pioneer for putting so much effort into their product. It was one of the reasons that my early shows were so successful. Everyone wanted to see what Karaoke was all about. To have videos on top of the singing was simply icing on the cake.

Unfortunately, other companies that eventually got into the Karaoke act and quickly found out that compact discs with graphics (words only) would work just fine. CDGs were far cheaper to produce and manufacture than laser discs and therefore far more inexpensive to the consumer. 12-inch laser discs were sold at about $130.00 per item. The smaller CDGs could be purchased for the cost of a CD. Therefore, the giant Pioneer laser disc was out and CDGs were in.

Although the giant disc era ended several years ago, I became so programmed to them, I still find myself starting shows by rolling off “Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to “Laser Video Karaoke.” I am your host….”

I think it is too bad that “cheaper” won out over “better quality.” Pioneer had a good product but it could not keep producing it when other companies were pumping out cheaper versions at a fraction of the cost.

By cheaper I don’t just mean ‘without the video.’ (Albeit the video cost more to produce than the music.) The orchestration on some brands of CDGs leaves a lot to be desired. It pales in comparison to the fully orchestrated sounds of the old Pioneer discs.

Pioneer used studio musicians, the best sound technicians, the works. You could easily tell that Karaoke versions of songs were as well put together as the artist's originals.

However, other companies were obviously using a cheaper means of getting there by simply programming keyboards to do what an orchestra once did. Thus, the demand for pioneer discs with video decreased. As far as I know, videos no longer accompany songs....

If you would like to read more, check out the Karaoke Krazy website at www.karaokekrazy.org [http://www.karaokekrazy.org]. You can also order the book at Amazon.com

Cincinnati Karaoke   

Web Chat Agents

If you are into e-commerce business, you will be aware how important customer support is. History has witnessed many successful e-commerce sites that started up well with impressive sites, products but failed miserably in customer service. Your customers are the most important assets you gain and if you are able to develop good relationship with them, you will definitely survive in this business.

Now, the legacy systems of email support and telephonic support are not adequate enough to keep customers happy. Main reason behind this is the time of response in case of email communication and pain in telephonic conversation. By the time you read customer emails and reply them, the customer might lose interest and go to some other site. This is where you can see the advantages of live chat support. Here, the web chat agents can help you catch hold of your site visitors and convince them to become your customer.

Web chat agents with the help of chat support software are able to keep a track of your website visitors. They can see any visitor entering your website and communicate with them. This not only gives the site visitors the confidence to invest in your site, it also creates a good impression of you being customer caring. The chat agents should be educated to be polite and patient since the site visitors may be arrogant sometimes. The agents should also have good product knowledge so that they are aware of any question thrown at them.

The web chat agents can really contribute to your sales graph and can bring a real difference in your business. They can easily make out the interest of the site visitor and guess what they are looking for. Accordingly they can tune up and convince the visitor so as to convert them into potential customer. Apart from this, the chat agents can be a good source of collecting real-time reviews and feedback from your customers. Overall, the presence of a virtual attendant makes your store more lively and interactive. The site visitor does not feel alone in the store and any queries get clarified almost instantly.

The chat agents also play a major role in entertaining your permanent customers by paying them more attention and following up with their orders. Here you have a good opportunity to gain long-term customers and retention rate will obviously rise. Finally, the liberty to place the chat agents remotely gives you even more independence in terms of maintenance of site.

Internet Marketing - How To Build A Website With a High Conversion Rate - Part 2   What Should a Business Owner Be Aware of When They First Start Out Promoting Their Website?   Cost Per Action Facebook Ads   Calculate Your Website Value   Searching for Answers?   

Content Means Money

Your online business needs a website, and you build Websites (you can also build traffic and make money with other online article writing sites such as Squidoo, or HubPages, or many others.) There is a learning curve that you must learn about and that is increasing traffic and creating needed content. This helps you learn that content is a must, and then building traffic from there.

How Does Content Help Traffic?

You need traffic... If you want to make money with Google AdSense or any other affiliate program this is a must. Even if you are not getting paid through these affiliate programs directly, you can learn how to build a better business, from your profile to your information that you give your readers and more. The point is that traffic needs content and content needs more "power." That power comes from building your content to the point that people will look for them in the search engines, such as Google, or Bing or Yahoo.

Quality and Quantity and a Target Makes You Money?

You learn quality and presentation-- in other words what gets people there and what makes people stay, and click on an ad. Your business needs you to learn these things, and you need to learn them to enjoy your work. This is a huge online world, and it is an important business where you will see success and build on that as long as you are willing to take the time to learn about what makes you the money you want.

Google AdSense and other affiliate programs need traffic and they need good targeted traffic. At the same time, if you have no traffic you will need to find a way to increase your traffic. Your business, websites and blogs need to be seen. This means that beyond great content you will need links.

Of course you can ask what does content mean to Google AdSense?

Simple, you ads are based upon three things, your titles, your content and your choice of keywords. Also the more specific you can make all three the more you target your traffic. By making your content useful to your readers, they are more likely to click on your pay-per click ads than some of your more regular readers.

If you notice that the ads do not seem to correct in terms of your content, then your content might not be useful to the programs. Use the preview tools to your advantage and continue to improve your content to make more money.

Using All Of Your AdSenses   AdSense Earnings Can Really Pile Up   Buy Google AdSense Account: Ads by Google   Does Google AdSense Really Work?   

Stop Squeaking! Align Yourself for Business Success!

Even for a remarkable business owner like you, from time to time, you may still loose motivation in continuing the expansion of a service or product line. At time, you may seem to have a hard time figuring out why this once fantastic business that got you so excited every morning is making you feel like a heavy weight now.

Remember the last time you heard that squeaky sound in your car? What happened? Parts are not in alignment and there was no lubricant, so there was tension, there was unpleasant sound. If you don't fix it fast, there is going to be smoke and there is going to be a you in frustration.

The same thing is true when your every business tasks are not in alignment with your vision, mission and values. In your soul, you experience that "squeaky" feeling that you have a hard time to explain.

Most of us are familiar with having a clear vision and mission, so I will not get into it here.

I would like to talk with you today about your values.

Before investing more time and efforts to take your business to a fascinating new level, you must re-evaluate first what your primary values are, how you prioritize them inside you. And, see if your business activities support and are in alignment with the priority of your values.

Let's say, you just became a father or mother. You used to travel a bit to speak to specific groups of people to market your business. Now, to take your business to the next level you need to travel and speak and network more frequently.

But, family life is on the very top of your priority list, in a place higher than business or career success. So, whenever your work requires that you travel for an extensive amount of time, your inner self experiences a misalignment. You may still go ahead and do what your "head" tells you what you are supposed to do, but your heart is centered to your value. When the head pulls the whole body to do what it dictates it to do, the heart starts to send out signals to you that if you don't make adjustments, you will not stay in wholesome health any longer. The heart sends out signals by decreasing your enthusiasm, motivation and self-esteem. You start seeing yourself get down more easily, you feel lonely, not understood and you feel that you get angry easily or you get blamed for shutting your emotions.

One of the easiest ways to figure out what your values are and in what priority they are in is to make a "Desire List."

Ask yourself or have a trusted friend ask you, "What do you want?" Then, begin to jot down your list of answers.

Don't judge yourself for your wants. You need to create a safe and open environment for yourself so that your true self gets uncovered. Don't be ashamed to say, "I want to own a house by the lake with an amazing view to the mountains and a dock for launching your very own boat." Or, "I want to be a millionaire." Or, "I want to be a famous dancer!" Just let things flow.

Let the same question come at you for 10 to 15 minutes. You may start getting bored of the same question, but you may start seeing what is hiding under those wants. Your initial "wants" are really saying, "I want to be recognized." "I want to be trusted and respected." "I wanted to be loved by my family members.' "I want to be understood and loved for the real me." "I want to make a difference in this world."

Your wants and desires express your values.

Take your top 5 values and complete the following questions to get an inner alignment

1. What are you doing on a daily basis to support these values?

2. What are you doing on a daily basis that does not support these values or that are in conflict with these values?

3. How can you modify your business life so that you support your most important values? How can you eliminate or start eliminating business activities that are in conflict with your values? If these business activities are important to the growth of your business, what else is out there for you to consider for the replacement of such activities. Take the example above; ask yourself if you can find out ways to market the same audience through the phone, internet and other ways? Hold a teleseminar?

If you are a busy business owner, you will have many activities and to-do's everyday. Form the habit to run your business tasks through these results-proven questions and get a sleek business owner's inner alignment from time to time.

Everything we do is an opportunity for personal growth. As you get better at integrating your business activities with who you are and your priority of values for the period of time that you are in, you will begin to see yourself operating your business in a superior new level of effectiveness and profitability.

Stop Squeaking! Align Yourself for Business Success!   

Stop Squeaking! Align Yourself for Business Success!

Even for a remarkable business owner like you, from time to time, you may still loose motivation in continuing the expansion of a service or product line. At time, you may seem to have a hard time figuring out why this once fantastic business that got you so excited every morning is making you feel like a heavy weight now.

Remember the last time you heard that squeaky sound in your car? What happened? Parts are not in alignment and there was no lubricant, so there was tension, there was unpleasant sound. If you don't fix it fast, there is going to be smoke and there is going to be a you in frustration.

The same thing is true when your every business tasks are not in alignment with your vision, mission and values. In your soul, you experience that "squeaky" feeling that you have a hard time to explain.

Most of us are familiar with having a clear vision and mission, so I will not get into it here.

I would like to talk with you today about your values.

Before investing more time and efforts to take your business to a fascinating new level, you must re-evaluate first what your primary values are, how you prioritize them inside you. And, see if your business activities support and are in alignment with the priority of your values.

Let's say, you just became a father or mother. You used to travel a bit to speak to specific groups of people to market your business. Now, to take your business to the next level you need to travel and speak and network more frequently.

But, family life is on the very top of your priority list, in a place higher than business or career success. So, whenever your work requires that you travel for an extensive amount of time, your inner self experiences a misalignment. You may still go ahead and do what your "head" tells you what you are supposed to do, but your heart is centered to your value. When the head pulls the whole body to do what it dictates it to do, the heart starts to send out signals to you that if you don't make adjustments, you will not stay in wholesome health any longer. The heart sends out signals by decreasing your enthusiasm, motivation and self-esteem. You start seeing yourself get down more easily, you feel lonely, not understood and you feel that you get angry easily or you get blamed for shutting your emotions.

One of the easiest ways to figure out what your values are and in what priority they are in is to make a "Desire List."

Ask yourself or have a trusted friend ask you, "What do you want?" Then, begin to jot down your list of answers.

Don't judge yourself for your wants. You need to create a safe and open environment for yourself so that your true self gets uncovered. Don't be ashamed to say, "I want to own a house by the lake with an amazing view to the mountains and a dock for launching your very own boat." Or, "I want to be a millionaire." Or, "I want to be a famous dancer!" Just let things flow.

Let the same question come at you for 10 to 15 minutes. You may start getting bored of the same question, but you may start seeing what is hiding under those wants. Your initial "wants" are really saying, "I want to be recognized." "I want to be trusted and respected." "I wanted to be loved by my family members.' "I want to be understood and loved for the real me." "I want to make a difference in this world."

Your wants and desires express your values.

Take your top 5 values and complete the following questions to get an inner alignment

1. What are you doing on a daily basis to support these values?

2. What are you doing on a daily basis that does not support these values or that are in conflict with these values?

3. How can you modify your business life so that you support your most important values? How can you eliminate or start eliminating business activities that are in conflict with your values? If these business activities are important to the growth of your business, what else is out there for you to consider for the replacement of such activities. Take the example above; ask yourself if you can find out ways to market the same audience through the phone, internet and other ways? Hold a teleseminar?

If you are a busy business owner, you will have many activities and to-do's everyday. Form the habit to run your business tasks through these results-proven questions and get a sleek business owner's inner alignment from time to time.

Everything we do is an opportunity for personal growth. As you get better at integrating your business activities with who you are and your priority of values for the period of time that you are in, you will begin to see yourself operating your business in a superior new level of effectiveness and profitability.

Stop Squeaking! Align Yourself for Business Success!   

Purchasing Property With No Money Down: My Personal Experience

Have you ever seen those infomercials about buying houses with "No Money Down?" They are really well done. They have all kinds of people offering great testimonials about how they have gotten rich, buying rental properties, with absolutely no money out of their pocket. You see this guy, standing on a street corner, talking to someone, and he says, "I own that one," pointing to a beautiful colonial. "I also own that one next to it, and the one two doors down, and I'll be closing on the one directly across the street from it, next week." He then assures us that he has purchased 17 homes in the last eight or ten months, with zero money down on the properties. Plus, in many cases he's also paid no closing costs.

And, let's not forget, this same guy is grossing tens of thousands of dollars monthly, and his net worth is nearly one million dollars. So, he says.

Now, all of this looks wonderful, so when the person selling the course that will teach you how to do this, at a nifty price of just $297.00, speaks, you are glued to his every word. "Real estate is the safest and fastest way to make money, today," the expert will tell you.

So, can this really be done? Can you purchase houses with no money down? Can you become a landlord in as little as one month's time and start raking in the cash from those rent payments? The answer is an absolute "Yes." It can be done, and I am proof positive, because I've done it. The question you should be asking yourself is not can I buy real estate with no money down, but should I?

You see, this is a question that the guy selling the No Money Down course, with all of his people and their great testimonials hopes you never ask. His advertising and marketing strategy would collapse, if he gave anyone a chance to ask this question, because he would be forced to lie if he answered it.

Rarely is the whole truth anywhere to be found in infomercials, especially when the advertising is about No Money Down real estate programs. The infomercial makes the idea and the program look so easy that any child could handle it. It makes it seem like every American should be doing it, and we'd all be millionaires. But every American is not doing it, and many of the ones who are doing it not only are not getting rich, they are actually going broke. The infomercial won't tell you this. That's why I'm here.

The Truth

Now, let's get started with the truth about buying real estate with no money down and the truth about being a landlord. The first thing you need to know is that they are both very bad ideas. Let me illustrate by using my own experience in these areas. I started buying rental property nearly 10 years ago. The first property I bought was a deal orchestrated by some real estate con artist, who told me I needed just $2,000 to take ownership of this home and, in the process, help out a woman who was about to be foreclosed upon.

In two years, she would clean up her credit, refinance the loan on the house, and I would make $10,000. Sounded good to someone who was quick to buy into anything that returned big dollars in a short time.

This worked for the first year, as the woman paid on time, and I pocketed an extra $100 monthly. Later, though, things began to collapse, as the house began to need repairs, all of which the woman couldn't afford, so I had to pay for them. I put nearly $5,000 into the house in a four-year period. When I was finally able to sell it, I didn't quite make back what I had put into it.

Meanwhile, I was eager to overcome this problem by adding many more. A slick mortgage broker got hooked up with an even slicker real estate prospector, and the two of them convinced me that they had a way I could buy houses rapidly, with absolutely no money out of my pocket. Although my experience will probably be enough to enlighten you to the pitfalls of this model and of being a landlord, let me say that I can't emphasize enough how dangerous buying property with no money down is.

In six months time, I had purchased eight houses - many with loans from the same wholesale lender. These lenders should have been concerned with all of the debt I was building, but they kept approving loans, based on my good credit and rents covering the mortgage payments. One of the biggest problems, which I was not experienced enough to detect, was that most of the rents were just $50 to $100 above the mortgage payment.

"Don't worry," the investor/ hustler would say. "You'll make all your money on volume. We'll get you into 30 or 40 houses, and you'll be pocketing $4,000 to $5,000 every month."

As you might imagine, my mind raced. I was making the huge deposits at that very moment. My bank account was fattening up at breakneck speed.

The Illusion

This is what people who buy houses, using the No Money Down plan envision happening. After all, if you can buy one house with no money down, why not five or ten or fifty? For some reason - the vision of the dollar sign, most likely - I failed to seriously consider the maintenance of these houses, the possibility of missed rent payments, and the chance that renters might actually stop paying, altogether, forcing me to evict them - a time-consuming and extremely costly undertaking.

As you may have already guessed, all of these things happened to me, after I had amassed 26 rental properties. In fact, oftentimes, all of these problems happened in the same month. Now, for awhile (when I had about 10 houses), if one person failed to pay rent, I could cover it with the nine other payments. But when two, three and sometimes even five tenants didn't pay in the same month, it was devastating to my business. I had to go to my business account and pay up to $3,000 at a time in mortgage payments, with no income to cover it. Plus, I had to pay a property management company to get my tenants to pay or to evict them.

Soon, this became the norm, not the exception. There were constant problems at my houses. Unhappy tenants led to poor upkeep of the property and even more maintenance problems. About one year, after I had amassed 26 houses, I was having problems with roughly 10-15 houses and/or tenants each week. I was evicting at least two tenants each month, and approximately four to seven tenants were either behind on rent or not paying at all. Promises were made, payment plans arranged and few, if any, ever followed through.

It didn't take long for me to realize that this was no way to make money in real estate. Consequently, I got rid of these houses as fast as I possibly could. There were plenty of buyers, willing to take over my headaches, because they had the ability to make it work, they believed.

In 10 years of being a landlord, I lost thousands of dollars and likely took some years away from my life with all the stress I had endured. So, whatever you do, avoid the No Money Down Trap. There are much better, still inexpensive ways to make money in real estate.

Learn the best ways at Directlendingsolutions.com

Purchasing Property With No Money Down: My Personal Experience   

Purchasing Property With No Money Down: My Personal Experience

Have you ever seen those infomercials about buying houses with "No Money Down?" They are really well done. They have all kinds of people offering great testimonials about how they have gotten rich, buying rental properties, with absolutely no money out of their pocket. You see this guy, standing on a street corner, talking to someone, and he says, "I own that one," pointing to a beautiful colonial. "I also own that one next to it, and the one two doors down, and I'll be closing on the one directly across the street from it, next week." He then assures us that he has purchased 17 homes in the last eight or ten months, with zero money down on the properties. Plus, in many cases he's also paid no closing costs.

And, let's not forget, this same guy is grossing tens of thousands of dollars monthly, and his net worth is nearly one million dollars. So, he says.

Now, all of this looks wonderful, so when the person selling the course that will teach you how to do this, at a nifty price of just $297.00, speaks, you are glued to his every word. "Real estate is the safest and fastest way to make money, today," the expert will tell you.

So, can this really be done? Can you purchase houses with no money down? Can you become a landlord in as little as one month's time and start raking in the cash from those rent payments? The answer is an absolute "Yes." It can be done, and I am proof positive, because I've done it. The question you should be asking yourself is not can I buy real estate with no money down, but should I?

You see, this is a question that the guy selling the No Money Down course, with all of his people and their great testimonials hopes you never ask. His advertising and marketing strategy would collapse, if he gave anyone a chance to ask this question, because he would be forced to lie if he answered it.

Rarely is the whole truth anywhere to be found in infomercials, especially when the advertising is about No Money Down real estate programs. The infomercial makes the idea and the program look so easy that any child could handle it. It makes it seem like every American should be doing it, and we'd all be millionaires. But every American is not doing it, and many of the ones who are doing it not only are not getting rich, they are actually going broke. The infomercial won't tell you this. That's why I'm here.

The Truth

Now, let's get started with the truth about buying real estate with no money down and the truth about being a landlord. The first thing you need to know is that they are both very bad ideas. Let me illustrate by using my own experience in these areas. I started buying rental property nearly 10 years ago. The first property I bought was a deal orchestrated by some real estate con artist, who told me I needed just $2,000 to take ownership of this home and, in the process, help out a woman who was about to be foreclosed upon.

In two years, she would clean up her credit, refinance the loan on the house, and I would make $10,000. Sounded good to someone who was quick to buy into anything that returned big dollars in a short time.

This worked for the first year, as the woman paid on time, and I pocketed an extra $100 monthly. Later, though, things began to collapse, as the house began to need repairs, all of which the woman couldn't afford, so I had to pay for them. I put nearly $5,000 into the house in a four-year period. When I was finally able to sell it, I didn't quite make back what I had put into it.

Meanwhile, I was eager to overcome this problem by adding many more. A slick mortgage broker got hooked up with an even slicker real estate prospector, and the two of them convinced me that they had a way I could buy houses rapidly, with absolutely no money out of my pocket. Although my experience will probably be enough to enlighten you to the pitfalls of this model and of being a landlord, let me say that I can't emphasize enough how dangerous buying property with no money down is.

In six months time, I had purchased eight houses - many with loans from the same wholesale lender. These lenders should have been concerned with all of the debt I was building, but they kept approving loans, based on my good credit and rents covering the mortgage payments. One of the biggest problems, which I was not experienced enough to detect, was that most of the rents were just $50 to $100 above the mortgage payment.

"Don't worry," the investor/ hustler would say. "You'll make all your money on volume. We'll get you into 30 or 40 houses, and you'll be pocketing $4,000 to $5,000 every month."

As you might imagine, my mind raced. I was making the huge deposits at that very moment. My bank account was fattening up at breakneck speed.

The Illusion

This is what people who buy houses, using the No Money Down plan envision happening. After all, if you can buy one house with no money down, why not five or ten or fifty? For some reason - the vision of the dollar sign, most likely - I failed to seriously consider the maintenance of these houses, the possibility of missed rent payments, and the chance that renters might actually stop paying, altogether, forcing me to evict them - a time-consuming and extremely costly undertaking.

As you may have already guessed, all of these things happened to me, after I had amassed 26 rental properties. In fact, oftentimes, all of these problems happened in the same month. Now, for awhile (when I had about 10 houses), if one person failed to pay rent, I could cover it with the nine other payments. But when two, three and sometimes even five tenants didn't pay in the same month, it was devastating to my business. I had to go to my business account and pay up to $3,000 at a time in mortgage payments, with no income to cover it. Plus, I had to pay a property management company to get my tenants to pay or to evict them.

Soon, this became the norm, not the exception. There were constant problems at my houses. Unhappy tenants led to poor upkeep of the property and even more maintenance problems. About one year, after I had amassed 26 houses, I was having problems with roughly 10-15 houses and/or tenants each week. I was evicting at least two tenants each month, and approximately four to seven tenants were either behind on rent or not paying at all. Promises were made, payment plans arranged and few, if any, ever followed through.

It didn't take long for me to realize that this was no way to make money in real estate. Consequently, I got rid of these houses as fast as I possibly could. There were plenty of buyers, willing to take over my headaches, because they had the ability to make it work, they believed.

In 10 years of being a landlord, I lost thousands of dollars and likely took some years away from my life with all the stress I had endured. So, whatever you do, avoid the No Money Down Trap. There are much better, still inexpensive ways to make money in real estate.

Learn the best ways at Directlendingsolutions.com

Purchasing Property With No Money Down: My Personal Experience   

Purchasing Property With No Money Down: My Personal Experience

Have you ever seen those infomercials about buying houses with "No Money Down?" They are really well done. They have all kinds of people offering great testimonials about how they have gotten rich, buying rental properties, with absolutely no money out of their pocket. You see this guy, standing on a street corner, talking to someone, and he says, "I own that one," pointing to a beautiful colonial. "I also own that one next to it, and the one two doors down, and I'll be closing on the one directly across the street from it, next week." He then assures us that he has purchased 17 homes in the last eight or ten months, with zero money down on the properties. Plus, in many cases he's also paid no closing costs.

And, let's not forget, this same guy is grossing tens of thousands of dollars monthly, and his net worth is nearly one million dollars. So, he says.

Now, all of this looks wonderful, so when the person selling the course that will teach you how to do this, at a nifty price of just $297.00, speaks, you are glued to his every word. "Real estate is the safest and fastest way to make money, today," the expert will tell you.

So, can this really be done? Can you purchase houses with no money down? Can you become a landlord in as little as one month's time and start raking in the cash from those rent payments? The answer is an absolute "Yes." It can be done, and I am proof positive, because I've done it. The question you should be asking yourself is not can I buy real estate with no money down, but should I?

You see, this is a question that the guy selling the No Money Down course, with all of his people and their great testimonials hopes you never ask. His advertising and marketing strategy would collapse, if he gave anyone a chance to ask this question, because he would be forced to lie if he answered it.

Rarely is the whole truth anywhere to be found in infomercials, especially when the advertising is about No Money Down real estate programs. The infomercial makes the idea and the program look so easy that any child could handle it. It makes it seem like every American should be doing it, and we'd all be millionaires. But every American is not doing it, and many of the ones who are doing it not only are not getting rich, they are actually going broke. The infomercial won't tell you this. That's why I'm here.

The Truth

Now, let's get started with the truth about buying real estate with no money down and the truth about being a landlord. The first thing you need to know is that they are both very bad ideas. Let me illustrate by using my own experience in these areas. I started buying rental property nearly 10 years ago. The first property I bought was a deal orchestrated by some real estate con artist, who told me I needed just $2,000 to take ownership of this home and, in the process, help out a woman who was about to be foreclosed upon.

In two years, she would clean up her credit, refinance the loan on the house, and I would make $10,000. Sounded good to someone who was quick to buy into anything that returned big dollars in a short time.

This worked for the first year, as the woman paid on time, and I pocketed an extra $100 monthly. Later, though, things began to collapse, as the house began to need repairs, all of which the woman couldn't afford, so I had to pay for them. I put nearly $5,000 into the house in a four-year period. When I was finally able to sell it, I didn't quite make back what I had put into it.

Meanwhile, I was eager to overcome this problem by adding many more. A slick mortgage broker got hooked up with an even slicker real estate prospector, and the two of them convinced me that they had a way I could buy houses rapidly, with absolutely no money out of my pocket. Although my experience will probably be enough to enlighten you to the pitfalls of this model and of being a landlord, let me say that I can't emphasize enough how dangerous buying property with no money down is.

In six months time, I had purchased eight houses - many with loans from the same wholesale lender. These lenders should have been concerned with all of the debt I was building, but they kept approving loans, based on my good credit and rents covering the mortgage payments. One of the biggest problems, which I was not experienced enough to detect, was that most of the rents were just $50 to $100 above the mortgage payment.

"Don't worry," the investor/ hustler would say. "You'll make all your money on volume. We'll get you into 30 or 40 houses, and you'll be pocketing $4,000 to $5,000 every month."

As you might imagine, my mind raced. I was making the huge deposits at that very moment. My bank account was fattening up at breakneck speed.

The Illusion

This is what people who buy houses, using the No Money Down plan envision happening. After all, if you can buy one house with no money down, why not five or ten or fifty? For some reason - the vision of the dollar sign, most likely - I failed to seriously consider the maintenance of these houses, the possibility of missed rent payments, and the chance that renters might actually stop paying, altogether, forcing me to evict them - a time-consuming and extremely costly undertaking.

As you may have already guessed, all of these things happened to me, after I had amassed 26 rental properties. In fact, oftentimes, all of these problems happened in the same month. Now, for awhile (when I had about 10 houses), if one person failed to pay rent, I could cover it with the nine other payments. But when two, three and sometimes even five tenants didn't pay in the same month, it was devastating to my business. I had to go to my business account and pay up to $3,000 at a time in mortgage payments, with no income to cover it. Plus, I had to pay a property management company to get my tenants to pay or to evict them.

Soon, this became the norm, not the exception. There were constant problems at my houses. Unhappy tenants led to poor upkeep of the property and even more maintenance problems. About one year, after I had amassed 26 houses, I was having problems with roughly 10-15 houses and/or tenants each week. I was evicting at least two tenants each month, and approximately four to seven tenants were either behind on rent or not paying at all. Promises were made, payment plans arranged and few, if any, ever followed through.

It didn't take long for me to realize that this was no way to make money in real estate. Consequently, I got rid of these houses as fast as I possibly could. There were plenty of buyers, willing to take over my headaches, because they had the ability to make it work, they believed.

In 10 years of being a landlord, I lost thousands of dollars and likely took some years away from my life with all the stress I had endured. So, whatever you do, avoid the No Money Down Trap. There are much better, still inexpensive ways to make money in real estate.

Learn the best ways at Directlendingsolutions.com

Purchasing Property With No Money Down: My Personal Experience   

Internet Billion Dollars Review - Why Download Internet Billion Dollars?

Internet Billion Dollars is a yet to be launched online course that aims to enable users to earn the amount that it mentions, through the internet. Of course, a billion cannot be easily achieved overnight, but can certainly be done with the right steps. While the number may seem out of the world, or even preposterous, to most people, the fact remains that Erick Trejo, the man behind Internet Billion Dollars, aims to do just that - let people earn a billion dollars for themselves, via the internet. Of course, the first question that pops into anyone's mind is, "how is he going to do it?"

Well, here's your answer: Internet Billion Dollars is a unique online instruction course, that has incorporated audio, video and text instructions, and combines these three to teach members the strategies and tricks that Erick has developed over time, and using which members can easily begin earning money online. Erick says he has not one, not two, but four money making machines rolled into one, and has named it Internet Billion Dollars. Now you might have heard of systems that provide you with one or two individual courses at the most, but four? Now, that's something that is indeed unheard of. Well, what are these four strategies, and how far are they actually useful? Read on to find out.

Erick says he has titled these four strategies as Simple, Powerful, Smart and Subtle. The course contains step by step instructions to all these guides, and has been proved to be a success and Erick is so confident of this, that he gives a 100% success guarantee on the Internet Billion Dollars. Now something like this has to come from a solid foundation. Upon looking closer into the system, it is found that not only are the four strategies all different, unique and well worked upon, but Internet Billion Dollar's customer service also provided beta testers with fast responses, and the course will teach one enough to start making money within less than a month.

Another feature of this online course is that while you do need to work quite a bit in the beginning, as time progresses, these strategies develop into self sufficient money making machines. Once that stage is reached, the user no longer has one got to sit for long times at the computer and can leave it to generate residual income.

Before anyone starts thinking, "is all of this even possible?", they should know that if they are not satisfied with the product in any way, they can always return it and receive a full refund. Erick places honesty before anything else, and it is evident in this returning policy. It is also essential to remember that there are no get rich quick schemes, not even Internet Billion Dollars. What it does is provide a medium and instructions that people can put to use to earn money, but it does not do it for the individual. Each member needs to put in a bit of effort and time, because without those, it is not possible to earn money anywhere, online or offline. After the wheels have been set in motion though, the beta testers then sat back and relaxed while the system generated traffic and commissions for them.

Affiliate Marketing - Starting From Scratch   Succeed With Ease: Affiliate Marketing Tips For Pros   How To Do Affiliate Marketing Like A Pro   How To Achieve Unstoppable Success With Affiliate Marketing Courses   

Beat Other Affiliate Marketers By Using Camtasia

Affiliate Marketing is one of the most popular methods of making money online - great if you are considering setting up your own home based business. But you have to remember that competition is fierce and you must use all options available to set yourself apart from the rest. I am about to share an absolutely fantastic way of doing just that!

How about creating, recording and publishing your own, high quality videos with Camtasia? Before you dismiss this wonderful idea, thinking it's not for you - well that's the mistake other affiliate marketers are making. You should grab this opportunity and make the most of it! Don't be afraid to give it a go! Video marketing is fast becoming an important of both online and offline marketing as it immediately engages all the senses. Imagine your customers watching your products in use and then clicking the "Buy Now" button. Isn't that what you are striving towards?

To put your mind at rest, you do not need to have any previous experience in this area. Camtasia offers step by step guides and tutorials to take you through the processes and are with you all the way. So how does it work?

• Camtasia allows you to record your actual desktop activity with just a click saving you the hassle of compiling and saving your own files. You can capture Powerpoint slides and demonstrations too. These can be enhanced by adding music or having themed or animated backgrounds. There are so many possibilities.

• Your videos can easily be converted to web pages, ready for your visitors. Nowadays people are more likely to remain on your site longer if you have video productions rather than just lots of text which they can become bored reading. Sad, but it's a fact! Demonstrations of products work really well. This also cuts down on returns and refunds as your customers are being shown exactly how to use the products. It also has the benefit of educating your customers before they even reach your site.

• Make sure your videos are visible by adding them to content pages on other authority websites too. They can also be added to any blogs. Remember everyone who watches your video is a potential customer.

Although this may be a new venture for you, it is one that is very much worthwhile researching and trying out for yourself. This could just be the piece of jigsaw you've been missing!

Affiliate Marketing - Starting From Scratch   Succeed With Ease: Affiliate Marketing Tips For Pros   How To Do Affiliate Marketing Like A Pro   How To Achieve Unstoppable Success With Affiliate Marketing Courses   

What Are Acrylic Paints - 10 Things You Must Know Before You Start

Acrylic paints are one of the most popular medias in our days. They are very convenient, easy and cheap therefore are a perfect medium for beginners. Today, also professional artists use this media due to the various ways to use them.

Acrylic Paint Features

Acrylic paints are water based therefore they dry quickly and can be dried with a hairdryer if needed. In case you don't want the paint to dry so fast you can dilute them with water, or with any other acrylic medium to slow the drying process for longer blending abilities. You can clean acrylic paint brushes, hands, and other equipment with water and soap. Make sure your brushes stay moist while you are painting or they will dry with the paint on them and you won't be able to use them again. Acrylic paints are Époque that means they can look thick like oil paints. When you dilute them with water the paintings can look like watercolors depending on the amount of water diluted. The colors are permanent, not transparent, so you can paint in layers and the previous color won't see through. The paints are flexible and will not develop cracks like oil paints. Acrylics can be painted on a variety of surfaces that's why many artists and craftsmen use these paints. Canvas is the most popular surface for acrylic paintings but you can apply them on to wood, fabric, ceramic, plastic, cardboard paper, metal, leather, dolls, stones, panels, models for trains, cars and houses. In some cases the surface needs to be sealed with an appropriate sealer for acrylic paints You can create different textures with acrylic paints by adding gel, molding paste, sand, rice and more. Acrylic paints are permanent and don't come off from fabric so be aware of what you are wearing. I recommend you wear painting clothing or a good apron and cover your sleeves too. If you get a stain on your clothes remove it immediately before it dries with water and soap. Paintbrushes, rollers, painting knives are all good to use when you are painting with acrylics. Some artists use different artistic ways to get different textures - like painting with their own fingers. Once the painting is dry and finished it tends to attract dust and dirt therefore you should apply a thin layer of varnish. Varnishes come in three different finishes - satin, matte and gloss. I must mention that many artists don't use varnish on their paintings because it can damage the paint or yellow the painting overtime. So make sure you choose a good brand and you know what you are doing.

These are the 10 basic things you must know before you start, there is a lot more to learn about. Take your time and enjoy discovering this medium, its fun and relaxing.

Should I Buy Mounted or Unmounted Rubber Stamps?   

Should I Buy Mounted or Unmounted Rubber Stamps?

Most brick and mortar retail stores carry "mounted" rubber stamps. These usually come with the foam pad and the pink rubber stamp adhered to a piece of oak called a block. They will have the stamped image on the outside of the block for easy recognition. This type of rubber stamp is the most convenient and hassle free way to buy rubber stamps.

These types of rubber stamps are more expensive and when you accumulate a lot of them, they become very hard to store unless you are lucky enough to have a room dedicated to them. Online stores and shops will also offer "unmounted"stamps as well as "mounted." When you purchase these types of stamps, you will only receive the pink rubber stamp that is not trimmed, put on a cushion, or have a block. You will have to purchase some kind of mounting system. You will need special scissors to cut the stamps out and trim them, and then you need acrylic blocks and a storage system.

It sounds like so much extra work, time, and money right? There is a big advantage to buying theses "unmounted" stamps. Once you have initially bought the above tools, you will only need to buy foam cushion and cling pages for storage. The best thing about them is that they are about half the price of the "mounted"ones.

Another great advantage is it takes just a little space to store them in. I bought a 5" binder and bought cling sheets. The stamps stick to the cling sheets and you can make a stamped reference on the opposite side so you can identify them quickly. As your inventory increases, you add more binders, and cling pages. Soon you will have enough stamps to put into categories or different colored binders.

I have well over one thousand stamps and I can't imagine them all mounted to blocks of wood that have to be stored somewhere. If you shop around and do your home work, you can find the items you need to mount your stamps with on sale at different times of the year. Buy binders during back to school sales, sign up for sale notifications at you favorite online store, and don't be afraid to shop the bargain bins.

I know I have given you a lot of information based on my experience and now it is up to you to decide how to buy your rubber stamps. There is no right way or wrong way, it depends entirely on your needs, your time, and your finances. To those who stamp to make a few cards or scrapbook pages, you may want to buy only "mounted" stamps that you can store in shoe boxes. Those of us who do stamping on a regular basis may choose to invest in "unmounted" rubber stamps and all the accessories. It doesn't matter whether you choose "mounted" or "unmounted" rubber stamps as long as they perform adequately for your stamping project with minimal stress and frustration.

Should I Buy Mounted or Unmounted Rubber Stamps?