Ness Notes (Feb 21)

Duke is back on top of the college basketball world with its 108th No. 1 ranking by the AP. Only UCLA, which has been atop the AP poll on 128 different occasions, has more No.1 rankings to its credit. U Conn, No. 1 the past four weeks dropped to No. 3, with Villanova matching the school's best-ever ranking at No. 2 (was also No. 2 for two weeks in December 1995).

My free play for Tuesday is on the Det Pistons over the Atl Hawks at 7:35 ET. The NBA is BACK and I'm ready to pick up where I left off. I took an 8-0-1 run into the break and I'm 13-2-1 in the NBA since Feb 3. Join me for two HUGE 10* plays on Tuesday, my Non-Conf and Eastern Conf Games of the Week. In college hoops, I've got an exclusive Las Vegas Insider Play plus one of my coveted 15* plays. Get them NOW!

Memphis, despite not losing, fell to No. 4 and Gonzaga stayed at No. 5. George Washington is at No. 6, the school's highest ranking since it was No. 5 in February of 1955. GW and Gonzaga own the nation's longest current winning streak at 14 straight, while Memphis is one game behind, winners of 13 consecutive games.

Four top-25 teams were in action last night, with only No. 14 West Va losing. The Mountaineers lost for the fourth time in their last five games, 60-58 at Syracuse. West Va did not attempt a SINGLE free throw in the game, partly because it spent most of the game 'bombing away' from the three-point arc (made just 12-of-33). No. 5 Gonzaga won its 14th straight game, 81-71 at Portland (non-cover). The Bulldogs are now 12-0 in the WCC (one of five Division I schools still winless in conference play) and own 21 straight WCC wins going back to last year.

No. 22 Oklahoma escaped with a 71-70 win at Texas Tech, as a tip-in with 4.5 seconds remaining was not only the game-winner but the Sooners' only FG in the game's last eight minutes. Nevada, celebrated its return to the rankings at No. 25 (tied with Northern Iowa), by squeaking past Idaho in Moscow, 74-68.

Four top-25 teams are in action tonight and ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU have four televised games. No. 3 U Conn hosts Notre Dame at 7:00 ET. The Irish opened Big East play 1-8 but have won three straight over Rutgers, South Florida and Seton Hall. However, the Huskies are another matter, as U Conn is 13-0 at home, outscoring opponents by an average of 85-59. U Conn is favored by 13 1/2 points with a total of 153 1/2.

No. 11 Boston College visits Virginia at 7:00 ET. BC has won 10 of its last 11, losing only to Duke (83-81). However, Virginia is 11-2 at home this year. BC is favored by 2 1/2 points with a total of 133 1/2. No. 16 Kansas hosts Baylor at 8:00 ET and the red-hot Jayhawks have won nine straight (8-1 ATS) and 16 of their last 18. Baylor, which didn't play a non-conference schedule this year because of probation, enters 2-10 in the Big-12. Kansas is favored by 23 points with a total of 134.

No. 8 Illinois (up from 14) is at Michigan on ESPN (7:00 ET). Michigan has lost four of five lately and takes an 11-game losing streak against the Illini into this game. Illinois is favored by 1 1/2 points with a total of 134 1/2. The second half of the ESPN doubleheader is Alabama at Arkansas (9:00 ET). Arkansas is favored by 7 1/2 points with a total of 137 1/2.

Rounding out the TV matchups are Xavier at Dayton on ESPN2 (7:30 ET) and Southern Illinois at Evansville on ESPNU (9:00 ET). Xavier is favored by 1 1/2 points (total is 131 1/2) and Evansville is favored by seven points (total is 120).

South Florida (0-12 in the Big East) and losers of 14 straight is at Providence at 7:30 ET. Along with The Citadel, which stayed winless last night in the Southern Conference (0-13) when it lost to Furman 64-41 (lowest point total this year), the Bulls join the Bulldogs as the only two Division I schools still winless in conference play. Providence is favored by nine points with a total of 132 1/2.

The NBA is back in action tonight with a 12-game schedule. The Pistons, owners of the league's best record at 42-9 but just 5-4 over their last nine games, host the Hawks at 7:35 ET. Atlanta upset the Pistons 99-98 on Feb 7 in Atlanta as a 10-point 'dog'. Detroit is favored by 14 points with a total of 191.

The two teams chasing Detroit for the league's best record, 41-11 Dallas and 40-12 San Antonio, are also in action. The Mavs have won 15 of their last 16 (in all 15 wins held their opponents to under 100) and enter their game tonight with the Clippers (8:35 ET) on an 11-game (8-3 ATS) home winning streak. The Clippers, who had won nine of 10 games from Jan 27 through Feb 7, lost four of five right before the break, three times to teams with sub-.500 records. Dallas is favored by 8 1/2 points (total is 192).

The Spurs lost their final two games prior to the break, allowing 100 points in back-to-back games for the first time all year. SA is No. 2 in the league allowing 88.4 PPG and gets the struggling Sonics tonight in San Antonio (8:35 ET). Seattle, which won 52 games last year, is just 20-33 this season and enters having lost eight of its last 10 both SU and ATS. The Spurs are favored by 12 1/2 points with a total of 195 1/2.

Ness Notes is available by 1:00 ET Monday through Friday. A feature story runs on Saturday and Sunday.

About the Author

Larry Ness is a documented member of the Professional Handicappers League.

How To Pick The Right Backpacks

A person who has to carry several things and keep them handy whenever needed should get a multi purpose bag that will not only be functional but will also fit any occasion. Of course, a person cannot carry a huge luggage all the time just so he can put in all his required items. That would be nice for airplane rides but how about for going around downtown or riding trains?

Anyone who has this problem need not worry because there is a solution and it is very cheap and handy at the same time. It is also very convenient to carry and can be appropriate for any occasion depending on the type ordered by the user.

The solution comes in the form of a backpack or a rucksack, whatever name you call it. People may think that backpacks are used only by mountaineers to carry their heavy mountaineering load. Of course, backpacks are also ideal for city and everyday use.

Backpacks come in all shapes, sizes and colors. The manufacturers of backpacks worldwide have seen to it that users can choose backpacks of any design depending on where the backpacks are going to be used. There are backpacks specifically for students, mountaineers, ladies, and all sorts of activities.

Backpacks are easy to carry because they are generally characterized by two straps that can be worn on the shoulders. The backpacks used by mountaineers are more complicated and are specifically made for the equipment that is commonly used by these people.

A person who carries a backpack need not worry about using his hands for other things or purpose like carrying other bags or perhaps eating because backpack carriers are hands free. Just sling the backpack straps on the shoulders and the user is ready to go. Backpacks are ideal for heavy loads but even those who carry light loads can make use of the backpacks.

It is amazing how people who carry backpacks are able to carry heavy loads and still be comfortable walking. The reason is that the load of the backpack is concentrated on the shoulders of the carrier.

Backpacks are particularly useful for students who can place as many books as possible inside the backpacks. Backpacks are also ideal for soldiers who have to carry so many things especially during an operation. Their backpacks can carry food, extra ammunition, medicine, or even parachutes.

People who love to shop have made it a habit to bring their backpacks because they can fashionably wear them when they are still empty and then fill them up with the packages or items they have bought. Shoppers can still go on shopping even if they are already carrying the backpacks on heir shoulders.

So how does one pick the right backpack? The first thing to do is to determine the use of the backpack. A student who is about to purchase a backpack will definitely choose one that is hip but at the same time able to carry his books and other school paraphernalia. On the other hand, the requirements of a mountaineer would be totally different from that of a student because a mountaineer would definitely opt for a bigger and waterproof backpack that can carry a lo of things like tent, ropes, water container and other climbing gadgets.

There are backpacks designed for rugged and heavy use and these are suited for backpacking or outdoor activities. Of course, there are also backpacks that are stylish and classy for people who want to use them even in the office or during important meetings.

The next thing to consider when picking up the right backpack is to choose the material from that the backpack is made. There are water proof backpacks, nylon backpacks and even leather backpacks. Backpacks are also becoming a hip among women who want to avoid carrying flimsy shoulder bags even for important occasions. Some office girls prefer leather backpacks as these can be used even when they are wearing a dress.

When choosing a backpack, determine the capacity of the backpack and try to match it with your need. A person can purchase backpacks of all shapes and sizes and not worry about overspending because backpacks are generally affordable. Imagine having different backpacks to cater to your different needs and lifestyles.

By: Peter Sterling

Parents Guide To High Chairs

If you are looking for the best kind of high chair for your toddler or baby. This high chair is very cleanable, durable, and has many other good simplicity features that are available today to entertain your child.

The known number one best high chair that every one seems to agree on is the fisher price healthy care high chair. This high chair has a vinyl cover that can be very easy to wipe off when it is dirty and it can also be machine-washed which is a very good feature to have. Also the cushion vinyl cover on this high chair is very comfortable that your child will actually want to set with you at the dinner table and eat actually meals with you.

The high chair frame is a very sturdy frame and can be folded for easy storage and is portable. It also can be adjusted to several different heights to fit your child. It also comes with a feature for those busy moms that only have one hand to spare; the bottom part of the food tray can be removed easily and is dishwasher safe so you go not have to do it the old fashion way of washing the tray. The seat of this high chair is very roomy and can recline back if your child ends up falling a sleep in it to use it like a relining chair for nap times. There are many different kinds of fisher price healthy care high chairs out there and some of these chairs come with some very fun toys for your child's entertainment. The cushion on the chair is going to make your child comfortable.

This fisher price healthy care high chair usually, depending on what store and depending on what type of a healthy care high chair you get like if they have toys or not, cost around about sixty to little over one hundred dollars. The fisher price healthy care high chair also can convert into a booster seat for your growing toddler. Another fisher price healthy care high chair is the aquarium highchair, which has a water filled toy tray, which can be removed at feeding time, that has floating bubbles, swimming fish, and a sights and sounds feature that is activated by your baby. This high chair plays four sound effects and plays six different songs. The wheels for this fisher price healthy care high chair also lock out so your baby's movements will not move the high chair when he or she is in it. Furniture for children is great for your home, and for keeping your toddler seated.

Some other features that a fisher price healthy care high chair includes are a five-point restraint, a durable steel frame, convenient towel bar, and a footrest. When storing the high chair away the tray just snaps onto the back legs. You can keep your high chair for years, and it will then become an antique.

About the Author:

Helen Walters provides a variety of information on issues important to parents. http://www.greatbabygear.com/high-chairs.html is home to a large selection of High chair Reviews and related resources.

Sarasota Housing Market: Behold the "ThreeBuyer" Rule

The buyer, appraiser and underwriter must all agree with the price of the house before it can go to settlement (particularly if there is no large down payment involved.) Here's how it happens.

Buyer is First

When you visit the grocery store and examine the prices of produce and goods, you normally do not walk up to the check out and bargain the price listed on the sticker. The eggs are $1 per dozen all day long and most everyone will pay that amount or go without eggs.

In real estate (and other large investment items), the price is not necessarily what one is going to pay. It is merely the list price or asking price set by the seller. While Sarasota real estate agents may have some sort of control in determining if a house is overpriced or under-priced, they are not the ones buying the house. Hence, the real decision maker is the buyer. Thus, the buyers must be confident enough that the asking price and the terms almost certainly reflect the real market value of the house.

The savvy real estate seller will make sure that the asking price is as close to the realistic price in order to draw offers. Particularly, in a transitional market or dropping sales price environment, such as the Sarasota housing market at present, do not squander time holding off for the ?right? buyer to come along and pay the price being asked for. The smart real estate seller will realize what the price trend is and move in front of it.

Sellers over the last few years in the Sarasota housing market have had the benefit of price trending upward. Negotiation for buyers seemingly went up on its head?You want $350,000. What, are you crazy? I'll pay $375,000 and not a dollar less. Of course, they got beat out by the guy willing to pay $400,000 and include a vacation for the sellers.

When the Sarasota housing market begins to trend downward, a seller must get at the forefront of the trend. This is even more important than a market heading upward if you do not want your house floating on the market over a long waiting period. Every week you wait, you literally lose money, which sometimes could be thousands of dollars each week. Do not wait. When prices trend downward, sellers must forget what their neighbor's sales price was two months ago. It certainly has no bearing the day you receive your contract.

The moral here for the seller is that the buyer must believe the house is worth the asking price. Next, one has to convince the appraiser.

Appraiser is Second

Despite what others may believe, the appraiser is the most important visitor who is going come by your house. Sometimes even the appraiser understates his or her visit to the property.

If you have to impress the buyer to persuade him or her to write a contract, then you better mesmerize the appraiser. This is the person who is going to take a first stab in confirming that the buyer and seller have come up with a realistic price for the property.

With a contract price of $351,990, you want an appraisal of at least $351,990. If the appraisal is high, it has no bearing on the contract. If the price comes too far below, and the buyer does not possess enough down payment funds to cover the difference, then the seller and buyer will have to renegotiate who is going to absorb the financial hit to make the loan work. Is the seller coming down in price, the buyer up in price or are they going to split the difference?

Underwriter is Third

Finally, one has to satisfy the person in the back office?the underwriter of the mortgage. Underwriters calculate the risk factors for the lending company or group of investors. If they underestimate the risk of default on a loan and the buyer indeed defaults on the mortgage in time, then either their investors lose or they must sell the loan at a loss. Because of this, while they are not on the street monitoring if prices increase in the Sarasota housing market and if their analysis reveals that the house may not be worth what the contract is asking, they can withhold the loan process and the negotiations must start anew.

Let?s say I want to sell my house for $1 million. The problem is, while I might think it is worth that amount, I keep running into buyers who disagree. Thus it is worth $1 million solely in my perception.

I therefore have to satisfy three other people to get my price. In pricing my property, I must keep these three other people in mind if I want my ?asking? price to become my ?sold? price.

Earl Juanico

Sarasota Real Estate

Exploring the Explorer

Released in 1990 and is continually being manufactured at present, the Ford Explorer is a midsize sport utility vehicle that is crafted by the Ford Motor Company. Since its introduction, the Ford Explorer has never failed to be the best-selling midsize SUV in the United States. Also, its claim to fame is that it is one of the vehicles that is instrumental in turning the SUV from a special-interest vehicle to become one of the most popular vehicle types out on the road. The Ford Motor Company is certainly proud of this vehicle because amongst many vehicles in its segment, the Ford Explorer was one of the nominees for the North American Truck of the Year Award for 2006.

This vehicle was released in March 1990 as a 1991 model, and it replaced the Bronco II. The make of this vehicle was based on the Ford Ranger compact pick up truck and it held a 4.0 liter 155 horsepower V6 engine that held a 4-speed automatic transmission. The Ford Explorer was made available in four trim levels and this included the base XL, the XLT, the Sport which was a two-door version, and the upscale Eddie Bauer. This vehicle offered automatic headlights, fog lamps, an automatic transmission as standard equipment, an auto-dimming rear view mirror, a center roof console with compass and outside thermometer, special wheels, and a special grille. Come 2001, the Ford Motor Company then introduced the Explorer Sport Trac which was mainly a small pick up bed behind the four normal SUV doors.

As per the latest changes done to the Ford Explorer, this vehicle now sported a new, stronger base, a new interior, redesigned rear suspension, and power-folding third-row seats. Also standard for this vehicle is a tire-pressure monitoring system and electronic stability control. It also contains power running boards that retract when the vehicle is in motion. It will hold a 210 horsepower 4.0 liter V6 as its base engine. It has more power, an improved fuel economy, low emissions, new advanced safety technologies, class-leading interior quietness, improved ride comfort and a bolder styling. The Ford Motor Company certainly bothered to take time to facilitate a safe driving and experience in the 2006 Ford Explorer. It has ten standard advanced safety technologies in it among which seven of these are new to the mid-size SUV class. This includes AdvanceTrac? with class-exclusive Roll Stability Control that helps out in preventing accidents from occurring. It also has side-impact roll over protection and new safety technologies that assist in altering frontal-impact protection.

Phil Martens, group vice president of Ford Motor Company's Product Creation department was noted to state, We are fortunate to have the largest base of SUV customers in the industry. The input of more than five million owners helped influence the changes we made to the 2006 Explorer. The result refines what has made the Explorer such a success, while improving everything from the towing capacity to the choice of interior trim.

Locating Ford Explorer parts and Ford parts is made available 24 hours a day at Ford Parts Online's online store.

About the Author

Jay Stevens works as a consultant for an established auto parts store in the country. He has expertise in automotive technology and has inside knowledge on the auto parts industry.

Great Gifts for Young Grads From PreK to Middle School

So your son or daughter has finally graduated middle school and is about to take that huge, nerve-wracking, terrifying but exhilarating step into high school. You can remember that feeling with almost perfect clarity, right? The fear, the excitement, the nervousness of the unknown ? it was almost too much to bear!

What kind of gift do you give to commemorate such an event? Or a graduation from kindergarten to elementary school for that matter?

Buying gifts for younger grads can be a fun experience if you're willing to get creative. Whether you go with something educational, commemorative, or just something fun, there are plenty of great gifts out there that any kid would love to have.

If you want to go the educational route, then dictionaries are always a good choice (they do make dictionaries geared towards younger readers as well). You can also buy encyclopedia software for homework, a globe that will tell them all about the country they're pointing at with a special stylus, or any number of cool kits that will allow them to uncover fossils, peer under microscopes, or mine for jewels. Remember, to a kid the world is still a relatively new place, so anything that will allow to them to see or experience something new will be well-received.

You can also think about putting together a few different gifts. Perhaps a bunch of school supplies (but the really fun ones that you usually wouldn't spend extra on). Themed pens, pencils, notebooks, pencil cases, etc. could all be put into a brand new backpack or messenger bag. PDA's or planners would also be good for the older elementary or middle school graduate.

Think about getting your grad a new desk if he or she doesn't already have one. It might get them excited to start doing all the homework they're going to be getting!

If you'd rather go with something a bit more fun and whimsical, the world's your oyster. What you choose is obviously going to depend on the age of the graduate, but here are a few fun ideas.

Why not give the new graduate their own camcorder? Of course, this is only good for the older graduate (can you imagine how long a camcorder would last with a 6 year-old?), but it will allow them to start recording memories of their life and their friends. The videos will no doubt be treasured keepsakes after high school graduation.

If you'd like to take them on a special day trip, you could both go to the local aquarium or zoo, hit the special hands-on museum, and try lunch in a new restaurant you think your graduate would enjoy. It would be a whole day of fun for your child, and would make him or her feel like king or queen for a day.

If you're able to get away for a weekend and want to do something really special, why not take a train trip somewhere new? Sleeping overnight on a train would be very exciting to any child, and it would be a memory he would never forget! And don't forget to take those photos ? they're good for a lifetime.

By putting a little time and energy into a graduation gift for the younger child, you have the opportunity to give them something truly special.

Copyright (c) 2007 Pat Brill

Pat Brill is co-founder of http://www.SilkBow.com which supports Busy Moms with free gift ideas and helpful tips to meet the challenges of motherhood. She is also co-founder of http://www.WellnessArticles.net , a directory of articles covering many areas of wellness. You can reach Pat at pat@SilkBow.com.

Consumer Reports Crib Mattresses

There are two general types of crib mattresses: foam and innerspring. Both tend to keep their shape well. There are differences, of course. For one, foam is lighter. The densest foam mattress is usually no more than 10 pounds, compared with 20 to 25 pounds for some innerspring mattresses. So changing your baby's sheets may be easier with a foam unit. Foam is also less springy and therefore less apt to encourage your baby to use the mattress as a trampoline. Still, innerspring crib mattresses remain the most popular.

If you're considering a foam mattress, keep in mind that low-priced models tend to be mushy and flimsy, with a thin vinyl covering and vinyl edging. They may also be unsafe. Putting a baby to sleep on a soft mattress increases the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Higher-priced models tend to be firmer (and therefore safer), with thicker, reinforced vinyl or cotton coverings.

To assess foam density (which has a direct relation to firmness), compare the weight of different foam models. That's not always easy to do in a store, but if you're able to lift several different mattresses, do it. In general, the heavier the foam mattress, the denser the foam. You can also give the mattress a squeeze test in the center by pressing your palms into both sides of it at once. A dense mattress won't allow you to press very far. A denser foam mattress is also likely to have firmer edges, which is another important performance factor.

To judge the quality of an innerspring mattress, don't go by the sales gimmick of coil count. While the cheapest innerspring baby mattresses have about 80 coils and the most expensive can have 600 coils, a high coil count doesn't always mean a firmer mattress. In fact, a model with 150 coils can be firmer than one with 600. You can judge by picking up mattresses to compare their weight and by squeezing them to test for firmness. Innerspring models generally have firmer edges than foam mattresses, but squeeze the edges to do a comparison. You may also feel border rods at the top and bottom perimeter, which provide extra edge support for safety and durability.

The number of layers of padding, what that padding is made of, and the quality of the covering add to the price and increase comfort. The cheapest innersprings, like low-end foam mattresses, have thin vinyl coverings and edgings, which can tear, crack, and dry out over time. As prices go up, coverings become thick, puncture-resistant reinforced double or triple laminates, and edgings have fabric binding, which is a sign of quality. Beyond that, reversibility, the presence of ventilators, and thickness are factors that differentiate one model from another.

The mattress you select should also be in compliance with a new flammability law that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2004. Though this is a state law applying only to California, crib mattresses sold in other states are expected to comply with it.

SHOPPING SECRETS

Compare mattresses in the store. Do this by squeezing them.

Confirm store return policies. And keep your receipt. A store's return policy is more important than a mattress maker's warranty. The store should be willing to exchange a mattress that doesn't fit properly, which is a major safety concern.

WHAT'S AVAILABLE

The major brands of foam and innerspring mattresses are, in alphabetical order: Child Craft, Colgate, Evenflo, Kolcraft, Sealy, and Simmons. Prices range from $30 to about $230.

RECOMMENDATIONS

You don't have to spend the most to get a good quality mattress, but don't skimp, either. A budget somewhere between $90 and $150 will generally serve your baby well. A good, firm mattress may also promote proper posture and is more likely to be durable, which is important if your baby will be using the same mattress as a toddler bed or you'll be passing it down to future siblings.

In the case of innerspring models, look for a firm mattress with good support from border rods. Border rods provide extra firmness, durability, and edge support. A mattress with reinforced or embossed vinyl is leakproof; it is also less likely to tear on the metal edge of a mattress foundation and should hold up better over time. Also look for air vents along the sides of the mattress, which not only help keep the mattress ventilated but may prevent seams from splitting when your tot inevitably starts jumping.

When selecting a foam mattress, go for one with high-density foam. Do the squeeze test for firmness in the center and at the edge. Pinch the mattress covering or ticking; it should feel thick, not flimsy.

Make sure any mattress you buy passes the two-finger test for fit in the crib. That is, if you can place more than two fingers between the mattress and the crib, the fit isn't snug enough. Check that fitted sheets fit snugly and securely, overlapping the corners so that you can't easily pull them up at the corners. Ill-fitting crib mattress sheets are a strangulation and suffocation hazard. And never use an adult sheet as a crib sheet, not even in a pinch.

Copyright ? 2002-2006 Consumers Union of U.S., Inc.

For the latest information on this and many other products and services, visit www.ConsumerReports.org.

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Crib Mattresses with Easy Dealat
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About the Author

FamilyFriendly Travel Tips and Products Created For Children's Safety

Family-Friendly Travel Tips and Products Created For Children's Safety

Families Flying Together
Times have changed since 1994 when our children were young. We arrived at the airport, all excited about our vacation to Florida. On this trip the kids packed a few personal items to keep themselves entertained during the flight. When we arrived at the security gate our youngest son's bag set off the alarm, which was no problem. It was a friend traveling with us who almost created a major incident by laughing as he made a reference to our son's small army men and guns. Even at this time the security officer said it was a serious matter not to be taken lightly. Today, jokes like this can result in delays, detention, hefty fines, or jail.

When preparing for a flight speak to your children about the screening process before you arrive at the airport. As we did at the time of our friend's outburst; we explained such jokes are taken serious; this is especially true in our world today. Explain to your children what to expect at security checkpoints so they are prepared and not frightened. If traveling with a large family asks if a private screening if possible to avoid delays.

Be Aware Of Your Environment

Some of the simplest lessons we teach our children are those which can save their lives. Although our sons are all older now I still find myself advising them to, Be Aware Of Their Environment. It's a simple statement which means nothing to a stranger, but our children understand its importance. To be aware of your environment includes a few basic rules like looking both ways before crossing the street and never talking to strangers or when they get older, which strangers may be dangerous. When they were older it included knowing when to leave a situation or where to find the closest exit, or when to scream and run for help in an emergency. It's true; in today's world you can never be too safe. This doesn't mean you need to fear traveling and enjoying a vacation with your family and friends. It simple means everyone traveling with you should be aware of their environment for their own safety.

Wander-Wear
Wander Wear tags are simple to use and attach easily to children's clothing or outer wear. Wander Wear feature whimsical characters children enjoy while providing a safe place for important details and contact information in case of emergencies.

Who's Shoes ID

Something as simple as a tag on a child's shoe can make a world of difference when children are lost. Who's Shoes ID fits all types of shoes, including laces, sandals, and straps on shoes, plus they can be attached to outfits, belts, backpacks, and swimsuits.

The versatility of Wander-Wear (www.wander-wear.com) and Who's Shoes ID's (www.whosshoesid.com) make it simple for parents, family members, and caregivers to easily and discreetly write important information and emergency contact details on the tags which will aid in quickly reuniting children with loved ones. Both reusable products are endorsed by parents and child safety advocates, and provide important child safety tips on their website.

To find out more details about these unique, child safety products or to place orders visit their websites.

Wander-Wear (www.wander-wear.com)

Who's Shoes ID's (www.whosshoesid.com)

When reviewing these child safety products or others on the market we suggest parents consider their needs and safety concerns. No product; however good it is can replace a parent's role in child safety.

For security information on airports and travel precautions visit the Transportation Security Administration website: http://www.tsa.dot.gov./

Explore America's Backyard, and discover thrilling helicopter tours in Hawaii, bed and breakfast, spas, antique collectibles, fishing, hunting, whitewater rafting, roller coasters, concerts, poker games, national parks, civil war battle reenactments, the carnivorous Venus fly trap, and many more unique travel destinations and attractions. Visit USA Travel Magazine online at http://www.usatravelmagazine.com or by mobile at: http://www.usatmm.com.
About the Author

Real Estate Investing By Mail?

One of my favorite real estate investing stories is about a man in California who used to just send out offers on a hundred MLS listings at a time. He never looked at the properties. He just offered 25% less than the asking price on each one, trusting that the listing agents were pricing these homes somewhere near the actual value, and so assured that he had a good deal if the seller accepted.

Sometimes a seller would accept his lowball offer. This happens more often when you make hundreds of offers instead of just a few. Of course, he always included an inspection and approval clause in the offer. This is common, and it meant that if the home had real problems, he could back out of the deal later without forfeiting his deposit. In the meantime, he very efficiently found the truly motivated sellers.

My favorite part about this story, apart from it being true, is that it demonstrates that success in real estate investing, as in life, is often just a numbers game. Try enough times, and you are more likely to succeed.

The story also demonstrates that with a good clause or two in the contract, you don't have to worry about making an offer before you see a property. This is true with buy investment property or your next home. If you make the offer in the right way, and the property it isn't everything the seller says it is, you can reject the deal with little or no loss. However, why wouldn't you want to look at the property?

Real Estate Investing By The Numbers

You might skip looking at a property before making an offer because of time constraints, especially if the property is far away. If you can't get it for a price that makes sense, why spend your time traveling to look at it? A good price and terms that make sense - these are what is most important.

You'll probably want to look at the actual property eventually, but whether or not you see the property before you make an offer isn't nearly as important as making sure the numbers make sense. For example, investors value income property according to current cash flow, or at least they should if they want safe and viable real estate investments, so start by verifying income. Ask for actual income figures for the past 12 months. It's a good idea to think about the potential income if the rents are raised, or vending machines are added, but you should base your offer on the current income.

Fortunately, this can be done by phone and by mail. You can also verify all expenses this way, but if any expenses listed by the seller seem unusually low, they most likely are. Substitute your own best guess in place of any suspicious numbers.

Subtract the expenses from the gross income to determine the net operating income, then apply the appropriate capitalization rate to arrive at the value. Not sure how to do this? Learn how, don't just ask someone to do it for you. You really should understand the principle of how to figure value based on a cap rate. Real estate investing is all about the numbers.

Subtract your expected loan payments (talk to your banker), from the net operating income to see how much cash flow you'll have. Now you can figure your cash-on-cash return based on how much of your own money you put into the deal. Simply divide the annual cash flow by your investment.

Do the numbers work? Then you can safely make an offer. The various inspections will tell you if there are problems that will affect the cash flow, and you can always renegotiate if there are such problems (assuming you made your approval of all inspections a contingency of your offer). Of course you can go look at the property now, but real estate investing is about the numbers.

Steve Gillman writes on all real estate topics. Visit his website for:

1. A photo of a beautiful house he and his wife bought for $17,500.
2. A free book on how to save thousands buying your next home.
3. A free real estate investing course.

Visit
http://www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com

Nursing Entrance Test An Introduction

One of the biggest hurtles that aspiring nursing school students must face is the Nursing Entrance Test. This is a nationally standardized test that is administered prior to placing students on the long waiting list for nursing school. Even if the student has passed all the prerequisites required for admission, such as anatomy and physiology, English 131 and 132, Sociology, Pharmacology, and Chemistry, this doesn't guarantee admission to nursing school.

Most RN as well as LVN/LPN nursing schools are now requiring an entrance exam. The most popular is the NET, or Nursing Entrance Test. It is a computer-based test which consists of seven parts. These include:

* math skills (from basics through algebra)

* reading comprehension (at the 10th grade level) for science textbooks

* a reading rate exam

* an evaluation of test-taking skills

* a stress level profile

* a social interaction profile

* learning style evaluation

Although there are required passing grades, of a C at the least, the Nursing Entrance Test must be passed in order to be put on the list for admission to nursing school. This is by far the most nerve racking test that students must face. The main reason for this anxiety is that many students have come into the test either unprepared or just overconfident. Unfortunately, the preparatory literature that is currently available does not do complete justice to covering all that is necessary for the Nursing Entrance Test.

Most schools require at least a score of 50 on the math and reading comprehension sections. Students must be able to comprehend science textbooks which are written at a 10th grade reading level. This is considered to be the orm for adult reading levels for college applicants. Algebra is essential for medication calculations. The two combined give a good indication of the ability to use critical thinking skills which are essential to RN programs.

If you're a prospective nursing student still in high school, you can do a number of things to prepare yourself. First, talk to your school guidance counselor. He or she can point you in the direction of appropriate schools and help determine your course of study. Most nursing programs will look for two to four years of math and science, four years of English, one to two years of health studies, and some foreign language and computer science skills.

Most of the prep books cover a plethora of topics associated with various exams offered in the many fields of health care. This is insufficient for the knowledge that is required for passing the Nursing Entrance Test. Those who feel that the test is simply a remedial exercise in review are surprised when they sit for the test, because many have forgotten some basic math and algebra principals. Unfortunately, there are those who have been away from school for such a long time that when they sit for the exam they do very poorly. Some students have never learned math skills efficiently enough to be able to apply them in a test setting. The key to remedy much of this stress is to provide those students that are going to be taking the test with materials that will prepare them for exactly what to expect in the same method that the test is administered.

There is another level of stress that has been added to the test recently. That is, that the student is now only allowed to fail up to three times. After which, the student can no longer enroll in the nursing program at that particular school. For instance, Henry Ford Community College has now adopted this rule. This is very annoying and frustrating to those students who have taken all of their prerequisites and are on their last chance. They are faced with having to transfer their credits to another nursing school program and take the test again at another school. This prolongs their admission to nursing school which is usually a two to three year wait at the minimum. Some students have opted to take a refresher math course. However, this is in no way a guarantee that they will pass the Nursing Entrance Test. Much of the math in a remedial math course is not sufficient to pass the Nursing Entrance Test.
About the Author

Melih (may-lee) Oztalay, CEO
SmartFinds Internet Marketing
Web: www.thenetstudyguide.com
EMail: melih@hsfideas.com
The nursing entrance test study guide provides nurses the assistance they need with the nursing entrance test. The nursing study guide helps nurses.

Men's Formal Dress

When you receive an invitation card for the formal party, this may be a sign that you are having a move up your career path or it is your first formal charity event. As you read the invitation you see listed among the details lack tie. Does that mean you need to wear a tuxedo? Will a suit do just as well?

If you want to feel comfortable and impress your host, determine what formal attire is expected based on the terms used in the invitation as well as the many choices available to you.

1. Black Tie is a common reference to a formal affair. If the invitation specifically states 'black tie' you WILL be expected to come in a tuxedo. You do not have to wear a black tuxedo - a grey tuxedo would be equally acceptable.

You may also prefer to add some color or distinction to your outfit by choosing a cummerbund, vest and tie that is a patterned or solid color. Choose a sophisticated cuff link and finish the look with black patent leather shoes.

The variety of styles available today allows you to customize your look with the cut of the coat, the color of your accessories and they style of neck wear. Depending on the event and your hosts you may determine if too much self-expression would detract from the evening. If you are unsure it is wise to stick with traditional black and white.

2. White Tie is the most formal dress request. It requires a strict attention to tradition and does not permit the guest to deviate from an accepted standard.

A White Tie event requires the men to be wearing a black, full dress tailcoat, wing collar shirt, white pique vest and tie. You may also wish to add such elegant touches as a top hat, cane and white gloves.

3. Traditional (or Formal) Morning Attire - Another take on formal wear for day time events is the traditional morning attire. The most formal suit is composed of a grey cutaway coat, striped trousers and grey vest with a wing collar shirt and ascot. Less formal dress would substitute a Stroller coat; lay down collar shirt and four-in-hand tie.

For non-traditional formal wear at a day time event you can wear a black or grey tuxedo or even a white tuxedo for warm weather events.

4. Semi-formal allows the guest to wear either a black or grey tuxedo or a suit. Seasonal appropriate colors can be used for day time affairs.
About the Author

Bridal Bras

Getting married is any woman's dream come true, and there is nothing more exciting than choosing a wedding dress. Yet, to feel extra special on this very important day, you need to have the best undergarments to go with your dream-wedding gown.

The bra you choose should not only compliment your dress; it should make you feel extra special, feminine, sexy and confident. It should be very comfortable.

The best time to start shopping for a bra is as soon as you decide upon the wedding dress. The first place to start is the boutique that you buy your dress from. Talk to the sales person to get an idea of the type of bra that would best go with the dress. Ultimately, much will depend on the neckline of the dress and also whether it is strapless. Another thing to keep in mind is that the wedding dress is figure hugging, so the fabric of the bra should be very soft in order to prevent itching and to prevent you from feeling very uncomfortable on your special day.

If you have a strapless gown, you should consider buying a bustier instead of a strapless bra. The bustier not only surrounds the torso, it has the advantage of pushing the breasts upwards.

In case you have chosen a halter style or backless gown, you can opt for a strapless bra or also the ones with straps designed to wrap over the shoulders.

The best place to start checking for the right bra to wear under the most important garment that you will ever wear is the Internet. You will come across many online stores or websites offering catalogues, and you can check them out to get an idea of what you would like to buy.

When you go to a department store, remember to take a photo of the wedding gown showing the front and back of the dress. Show the photo to the sales person to get a better idea of the bra that would best go with the dress.
About the Author

Bras provides detailed information on Bra Sizes, Bras, Nursing Bras, Push Up Bras and more. Bras is affliated with Maternity Bikinis.

Tips to choosing the right promotional bags

Choosing a promotional bag for your campaign is sometimes difficult with the wide range available.

With such a diverse selection of promotional bags available, including business bags, laptop bags, promotional backpacks, sports bags, travel bags, tote bags and cooler bags, it can sometimes be difficult to know how to choose the right bag. First, work out the campaign?s approximate budget, and then check exactly what is and is not included in any quotations.Establish the marketing objective. Inexpensive promotional bags are ideal as giveaways to raise awareness at a trade show, whereas branded designer bags are more suited as corporate gifts to reward loyal customers.Get to know the audience. A good understanding of the target market?s interests and lifestyle will make it easier to identify what kind of promotional bags will have the greatest positive influence on them.?? Remember that a quality brand requires quality merchandise, with poor quality products likely to have a detrimental effect on the brand. Promotional bags should therefore be in line with the brand?s current or desired external image.Be innovative. The most successful promotions are those that stand out from the crowd. A good supplier should be able to come up with an exciting range of original ideas.Consider the question of branding as this is often as important as the choice of bag. Options include screen printing, transfer print, embroidery, foil blocking or blind embossing. Finally, choose a supplier that places high value on providing a quality service as this can make or break a campaign. Promotional bags are a highly effective means of advertising for a company, but it is important to choose the right bag to meet the campaign?s objective.

Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR


praveen samra

Launching Your Career Into The World: Just Start Dancing And The Band Will Find You

 



Launching Your Career Into The World: Just Start Dancing And The Band Will Find YouSubmitted By: Tama J. Kieves  

T he following is a book excerpt from THIS TIME I DANCE! Creating the Work You Love (How One Harvard Lawyer Left It All to Have It All!) by Tama J. Kieves (www.ThisTimeIDance.com) reprinted by permission of the author.

I don?t know a better way to march our dreams into the world other than to just march our dreams into the world. You could wait for the world to invite you to the banquet and the ball. Or you could just show up in your red dress and your headdress ready to boogie. I think the red dress is in order. The universe has invited us all to thrive in our lives and no one and nothing is ever holding us back.

I know so many creative soul friends who cloister their abilities like pearls in oyster shells beneath the sea, praying, hoping, sinking, aching and waiting, waiting, waiting. They wait for their chance like some kind of leprechaun to appear in the tall grasses with an embossed invitation from the queen. You are the queen. And it?s not chance that creates our chances.

We have enough opportunities to share, showcase, and refine our talents right in the here and now. Belt out your song over the baked beans at the company picnic now, paint postcards to your friends, practice telling your stories at the Jewish nursing home where somebody?s mother sleeps in loneliness for most of the day, interview a fascinating person for your community newspaper, or design a Web site for a firecracker organization you believe in. Tiny actions taken with huge-heartedness awaken big breaks and breakthroughs. Some of the richest opportunities come in the plainest of circumstances.

Fling those precious pearls like dandelion seeds to the breeze. Let life get wind of you. Sharing your gifts invigorates and promotes them. Talents intensify with use. Meanwhile, guarding your gifts keeps them in the dark where they do not grow or glow. Waiting until ?the right time? usually means waiting in your sea cave until you have achieved artistic perfection in this lifetime? which you will never do; and this can make it tricky to attract a client?le. There is a time to go inward. But then comes the time to no longer hide your love.

Alice, a former nurse and budding photographer, says she realized one day that the National Geographic wasn't going to ship her off on safari until she logged some mileage on her own khakis and camera. So she assigned herself an expedition, shooting cactus flowers in the dawn of a California desert. She bought an airline ticket, a dozen rolls of film, and a journal with a sunrise on the cover. Later, she titled and matted and framed the prints as though they were destined for gallery walls. She labeled them with her biography and vision statement, and distributed them as Christmas presents to family, friends, and some acquaintances. Alice presented her art as art instead of as an apologetic hobby she?d stuffed in her closet and hid from the world?s awaiting embrace.

Months later, an assistant to a travel magazine editor studied a photograph she liked in the bathroom of her hairdresser?s house at a New Year's Eve party. Three months later, the editor of the magazine gave Alice an assignment and a reason to believe in a destiny filled with sunrises. ?Did you ever observe to whom the accidents happen? Chance favors only the prepared mind,? noted scientist Louis Pasteur.

Years ago, when I decided to start creativity coaching, I sweet-talked a few friends, even begged and bribed some, to sit with me on my seen-better-days, beige couch and let me work my seedling magic on them. I just couldn?t wait to help creative people honor their inspired dreams. Yet throughout each session, I flourished when our work together unlocked a hidden wonder. My experimentation matured into expertise and even more enthusiasm for my work. Later, these ?clients? became walking advertisements for me that attracted real, non-bribed business. I started an entrepreneurial momentum by starting in an innocent moment.

So can you. Start somewhere, anywhere, and the magnetism of heartfelt action will take you to the next destination. Just hop on the train. Our world needs your inklings and original abilities, your caring hands, and customized pipeline to the infinite and sublime. There are whispers and pleas in the air calling your name. Please don?t hold yourself back any longer, waiting in isolation for your invitation. The hours that you ?give away? will give you back golden soul feathers in your cap, hands-on training, a spiral notebook of contacts, fire in the belly, smoke signals in the heart, and friends in the field. You just can?t beat that rate of exchange.

So gorge yourself on experience. Experience is power. Experience is exposure. Experience leads to experience which leads to expertise and glowing auras. And, boy, when you?re talking glowing auras, there?s no telling what you?ll attract after that.

It?s easier to assume your place in the world than you think.

Opportunity always rushes to experience. And we can give ourselves experience at any moment?by giving of our gifts.

About the Author:

Tama J. Kieves, an honors graduate of Harvard Law School, left her law practice with a large corporate law firm to write and to embolden others to live and breathe their most meaningful self-expression. She is a sought-after speaker, leading visionary career coach and best-selling author of THIS TIME I DANCE! Creating the Work You Love/How One Harvard Lawyer Left It All to Have It All! (Tarcher/Penguin) She is also on the faculty of Omega Institute and the Kripalu Health Center and teaches at Canyon Ranch, the six star spa. Learn more about Tama?s workshops, coaching, monthly email newsletter, or download her Free Report on Finding Your Calling Now at http://www.AwakeningArtistry.com .

Article Tags: experience, waiting, world

Chicago Real Estate Appraisal

The first thing to do before selling your real estate property or buying one is to get an appraisal. This is essential in all situations. Whether you are a first time seller or a savvy real estate investor, you need to get your property appraised before you put it on the market.

Real estate appraisal means determining a piece of property's monetary equivalent based on its highest and best use value. A real property's value differs in many ways: market value, value-in-use, insurable value and investment value.

In order to optimize the sale of your property and get every cent you deserve, refer to a reliable appraiser. An accurate Chicago real estate appraisal is important for loan financing, real estate tax and financial planning.

The real value of property is not in its physical appearance but its use. For example, a certain area of land may be given its highest and best value as a commercial lot rather than as a residential property. So if you are looking for a place for your family, it would be best to opt for real estate labeled as residential. For one, dwelling in a commercial space may not be legal. And two, most commercial spaces are more expensive than residential areas.

So to be on the safe side, acquire a Chicago real estate appraisal before you take action. There are plenty of appraisal companies all over the Chicago area that will put you in touch with qualified appraisers. A quick visit to any appraisal company is all you need to get a Chicago real estate appraisal.

Protect your investment with a Chicago real estate appraisal. Whether your property is a 2-room apartment or a sprawling mansion, a log cabin in the mountains or a high-rise condo-you should get an appraisal before you put it on the market.

Chicago Real Estate provides detailed information on Chicago Real Estate, Chicago Commercial Real Estate, Chicago Suburb Real Estate, Chicago Real Estate Developments and more. Chicago Real Estate is affiliated with Atlanta Commercial Real Estate.

Five Stunning Ways to Accessorize Prom Dresses for 2007

Prom night only happens once in a lifetime and you want it to be very special. You have found your favorite prom dress and now you are shopping for the accessories that will flatter you and your dress.

Here are 5 Stunning Ways to Accessorize Prom Dresses 2007

1. Accent Your Prom Dress with Stunning Jewelry

Your jewelry plays a big role in accenting your gown and adding to your beautiful look. Always keep the jewelry simple, but elegant. When choosing jewelry for your prom dress, always consider the color carefully.

With a strapless style gown, a choker necklace would be the perfect choice. For a little extra charm, add earrings or a bracelet. For the spaghetti strap gown, you can choose a pair of stud earrings. Along with the earrings, you can wear a bracelet, but be sure your date will not be bringing a wrist corsage. You can be stunning in your deep V-neck gown with a delicate choker or long lariat. Just remember, do not go overboard with your jewelry. Your jewelry should compliment and not take away from your attire.

2. Hair Style Hints

Your hairstyle plays a very important role in the way your prom dress looks on you. Several weeks before the prom, experiment with your hair and see what style best suits you. This will also help you determine if you can style your hair yourself or if you will need to go to a beauty salon. If you have long hair, wearing your hair up will give you the elegant look, especially with a strapless gown. With short hair, try a new outrageous style where you will look entirely different than usual. If you have length hair, go for a bob. This is a great look especially when blown-out. Whether you style your own hair or go to a stylist, be sure your hairstyle compliments you and your prom dress.

3. Make-up and Prom Dresses 2007

One big step for looking beautiful is the way you apply your make-up for the prom. It is very important to find a foundation color that matches your skin tone and gives you that healthy glow.

For those small blemishes and dark circles under the eyes, you can use a concealer that is a little lighter than the foundation makeup. You should cover the top eyelid with an even coat of a light eye shadow. If you feel you need more color, add a little darker shadow in the crease of the lid. Next, apply your mascara, but don't overdo it. Too much mascara will weigh down the lashes and give a clumpy appearance. For the finishing touch, add some light loose powder on the face. This will keep the shine off when you are having your prom photos made. Just remember, your facial look will be remembered just as much as your prom dress.

4. Prom Shoes

Don't forget the prom shoes. The shoes must be matched with your gown in order to make this a stunning combination. If you're wearing an elegant formal dress, try low-heeled slingback or satin shoes. These will compliment your outfit. With a simpler dress, wear prom shoes that feature beadwork or rhinestones. For a more casual dress, sandals would be an excellent choice. If you are wearing sandals, just be sure to have that pedicure!

5. Prom Handbags

Remember, the right handbag can compliment your gown and your figure. If you are a tall and slim person, you should carry a purse that is round or square shaped. A bottle-shaped handbag would look best for the not-so-tall person. Handbags come in so many assorted colors and sizes. Remember to purchase the handbag that is the right color for your dress and the right size for you.

Your prom is a special night for you to remember and have some fun. There will be many more special nights. Search online for more stunning dresses for 2007 such as homecoming gowns and Quinceanera gowns.

Chris Robertson is an author of Majon International, one of the worlds MOST popular internet marketing companies on the web. Learn more about prom dresses.

Dora The Explorer Online Games: Giving Your Child Fun For Free

What can be better than getting your children something to play with in your computer that provides fun, excitement, challenge, and education for free?

The internet provides these kinds of games that will really get your children excited. An example of free online games for children is Dora the Explorer. You may have seen Dora the Explorer on TV. And, you may notice how your child can really learn about math, music, physical coordination and even learn how to speak some basic Spanish language with Dora the Explorer.

Dora the Explorer online games will let your children interact with Dora and her friends and can take them to the imaginative world of Dora where your child can meet Dora?s friends.

You may notice that Dora the Explorer television show can also teach your children how to observe situations and solve problems. Because of this, you may want to consider letting your children play Dora the Explorer free online games.

Dora the Explorer free online game is available in a number of websites where you can easily access it and let your child start playing the game. All you have to do after the play page load is to read the instruction and orient your child how to play with Dora the Explorer online game.

Dora the Explorer online games, like the TV show will let your child interact with Dora and her pet monkey, Boots, to help them solve different situations and problems. And, like the TV show, your child can learn a bit of Spanish language.

Dora the Explorer online game can be fun for your child to play with and it is also a great way to spend some time with them. Dora the Explorer online game has easy to understand instruction where your child can easily comprehend and figure out how to play the game.

There are a number of different kinds of Dora the Explorer free online games available, some are adventure games, some are puzzle games and some are downloadable games that you can play even if you?re offline or when you?re not connected to the Internet.

These games usually include Dora?s voice to make it more appealing to your children. Another great feature is that it teaches your children about things while they are having fun. Playing these games can really develop a child?s problem solving skills. This is because, it provides fun and as you may know it is easier to learn something when you are having fun.

Dora the Explorer online games can also make your children more outgoing and sociable with other children. They will be more willing and eager to explore their surroundings and learn new things about it. Dora the Explorer online games can really make your child very eager to explore their surroundings and can really develop their situational skills and problem solving skills.

So, if you want a free online game that is both fun and educational for your children, Dora the Explorer is perfect for it. It will provide your children fun and excitement and at the same time, learn something from it.

Dora the Explorer TV and games will really develop your child?s mind at an early age. Just imagine your 6 year old child can already speak basic Spanish simply because of playing Dora the Explorer games and watching Dora the Explorer TV shows.

About the Author:

This content is provided by Low Jeremy. It may be used only in its entirety with all links included. For more information on dora, wallpapers, websites, information & story, please visit http://dora.articlekeep.com

Facts About Alzheimer's Disease

The most frequently asked question I receive as an Internet home business consultant usually goes something like this; "I would really like to start my own home business on the Internet, but I don't know what." The short answer is - Start with what you know and enjoy.

There are a number of good reasons for this

By drawing on existing knowledge, you can concentrate on building a business rather than learning about a new trade, product, or service.

Starting and running a home business means long hours and sacrifice. It is easier to do when you are doing something you enjoy.

Selling what you know and enjoy is less difficult for non-salespeople.Selling what you know and enjoy is less difficult for non-salespeople.

The Internet offers unique opportunities for the home business netrepreneur. It creates the ability to reach a much larger potential market for your product, service, or information at a much lower price than through conventional advertising mediums.

The Internet and World Wide Web are still in their infancy. Right now, you can get everything you need to put your business online - free. It is like someone offering you a store (web hosting), full time staff (web pages, auto responders) and advertising (lots of advertising) for free. All you have to do is come up with an idea for a product or service to put in the store. 

One of my favorite examples is my mother's home business. She builds very creative and unique birdhouses. She uses scrap lumber from a local sawmill (free) and driftwood from the local beach (free), to keep her material costs low. Another local artist provides the miniature sculptures for a percentage of the sales. She started by building and selling these for the local tourist trade in Homer Alaska, and was doing ok. But when we put them on the Internet (http://www.ptialaska.net/~cortez/) sales really began to soar. Not everyone that would be interested in the birdhouses can afford to visit Homer, and we certainly couldn't afford to advertise to the world in any other way. We were able to reach this larger market by using free web hosting, design, and promotion services. Once we developed a flow of traffic, we were able to create additional income streams by selling other peoples products as well. (I'll discuss this further later in this article)

This business model can work for just about any product that can be shipped. What unique item can you build using local materials? Do you have a craft or gift idea that is unique? How about a kit or plans for something you have built?

Information is another type of product. What do you know or know how to do that would be of interest or value to others? You can either sell that information as a report, or a tip booklet. Or you can give the information away at your store and sell other peoples related products for a commission. The advantage here is that once you put your information in the store it is done. You don't have to keep building it and shipping it. If your not comfortable with writing your own material you can use a ghostwriter (http://www.home-work.net).

Another home business opportunity that is unique to the Internet is based on common interests. What do you have a special interest in that others may share? Music, books, computers, cars, gardening, collectibles, etc…? The idea in this business model is to create a site with information and resources available online of interest to others. Then you select products to sell of interest to people that would be visiting your site. For instance, if you had an avid interest in a particular type of music. You could develop a site that was a resource for others with that same interest. The site could include links to artists sites, reviews of the latest releases, concert tour information, photos, sound clips, interview excerpts, a chat room, or discussion board. You become an "associate" of one of the CD distributors online and receive a commission on CD's that are sold. The distributor does the entire order fulfillment. The number and variety of companies that have an associate program online is growing daily. They cover all kinds of products and services from gifts to computers or web hosting to credit cards.

Start with what you know, apply some imagination, and open your low cost home business online. The market is growing everyday - world wide.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
Bob Cortez has 20 years of sales and marketing experience. Through Total Quality Marketing he is providing consulting services to home based entrepreneurs looking to expand their business online and take advantage of  the tremendous opportunities available.

Total Quality Marketing
PO Box 338
Homer Alaska 99603

The most frequently asked question I receive as an Internet home business consultant usually goes something like this; "I would really like to start my own home business on the Internet, but I don't know what." The short answer is - Start with what you know and enjoy.

There are a number of good reasons for this

By drawing on existing knowledge, you can concentrate on building a business rather than learning about a new trade, product, or service.

Starting and running a home business means long hours and sacrifice. It is easier to do when you are doing something you enjoy.

Selling what you know and enjoy is less difficult for non-salespeople.Selling what you know and enjoy is less difficult for non-salespeople.

The Internet offers unique opportunities for the home business netrepreneur. It creates the ability to reach a much larger potential market for your product, service, or information at a much lower price than through conventional advertising mediums.

The Internet and World Wide Web are still in their infancy. Right now, you can get everything you need to put your business online - free. It is like someone offering you a store (web hosting), full time staff (web pages, auto responders) and advertising (lots of advertising) for free. All you have to do is come up with an idea for a product or service to put in the store. 

One of my favorite examples is my mother's home business. She builds very creative and unique birdhouses. She uses scrap lumber from a local sawmill (free) and driftwood from the local beach (free), to keep her material costs low. Another local artist provides the miniature sculptures for a percentage of the sales. She started by building and selling these for the local tourist trade in Homer Alaska, and was doing ok. But when we put them on the Internet (http://www.ptialaska.net/~cortez/) sales really began to soar. Not everyone that would be interested in the birdhouses can afford to visit Homer, and we certainly couldn't afford to advertise to the world in any other way. We were able to reach this larger market by using free web hosting, design, and promotion services. Once we developed a flow of traffic, we were able to create additional income streams by selling other peoples products as well. (I'll discuss this further later in this article)

This business model can work for just about any product that can be shipped. What unique item can you build using local materials? Do you have a craft or gift idea that is unique? How about a kit or plans for something you have built?

Information is another type of product. What do you know or know how to do that would be of interest or value to others? You can either sell that information as a report, or a tip booklet. Or you can give the information away at your store and sell other peoples related products for a commission. The advantage here is that once you put your information in the store it is done. You don't have to keep building it and shipping it. If your not comfortable with writing your own material you can use a ghostwriter (http://www.home-work.net).

Another home business opportunity that is unique to the Internet is based on common interests. What do you have a special interest in that others may share? Music, books, computers, cars, gardening, collectibles, etc…? The idea in this business model is to create a site with information and resources available online of interest to others. Then you select products to sell of interest to people that would be visiting your site. For instance, if you had an avid interest in a particular type of music. You could develop a site that was a resource for others with that same interest. The site could include links to artists sites, reviews of the latest releases, concert tour information, photos, sound clips, interview excerpts, a chat room, or discussion board. You become an "associate" of one of the CD distributors online and receive a commission on CD's that are sold. The distributor does the entire order fulfillment. The number and variety of companies that have an associate program online is growing daily. They cover all kinds of products and services from gifts to computers or web hosting to credit cards.

Start with what you know, apply some imagination, and open your low cost home business online. The market is growing everyday - world wide.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
Bob Cortez has 20 years of sales and marketing experience. Through Total Quality Marketing he is providing consulting services to home based entrepreneurs looking to expand their business online and take advantage of  the tremendous opportunities available.

Total Quality Marketing
PO Box 338
Homer Alaska 99603

The most frequently asked question I receive as an Internet home business consultant usually goes something like this; "I would really like to start my own home business on the Internet, but I don't know what." The short answer is - Start with what you know and enjoy.

There are a number of good reasons for this

By drawing on existing knowledge, you can concentrate on building a business rather than learning about a new trade, product, or service.

Starting and running a home business means long hours and sacrifice. It is easier to do when you are doing something you enjoy.

Selling what you know and enjoy is less difficult for non-salespeople.Selling what you know and enjoy is less difficult for non-salespeople.

The Internet offers unique opportunities for the home business netrepreneur. It creates the ability to reach a much larger potential market for your product, service, or information at a much lower price than through conventional advertising mediums.

The Internet and World Wide Web are still in their infancy. Right now, you can get everything you need to put your business online - free. It is like someone offering you a store (web hosting), full time staff (web pages, auto responders) and advertising (lots of advertising) for free. All you have to do is come up with an idea for a product or service to put in the store. 

One of my favorite examples is my mother's home business. She builds very creative and unique birdhouses. She uses scrap lumber from a local sawmill (free) and driftwood from the local beach (free), to keep her material costs low. Another local artist provides the miniature sculptures for a percentage of the sales. She started by building and selling these for the local tourist trade in Homer Alaska, and was doing ok. But when we put them on the Internet (http://www.ptialaska.net/~cortez/) sales really began to soar. Not everyone that would be interested in the birdhouses can afford to visit Homer, and we certainly couldn't afford to advertise to the world in any other way. We were able to reach this larger market by using free web hosting, design, and promotion services. Once we developed a flow of traffic, we were able to create additional income streams by selling other peoples products as well. (I'll discuss this further later in this article)

This business model can work for just about any product that can be shipped. What unique item can you build using local materials? Do you have a craft or gift idea that is unique? How about a kit or plans for something you have built?

Information is another type of product. What do you know or know how to do that would be of interest or value to others? You can either sell that information as a report, or a tip booklet. Or you can give the information away at your store and sell other peoples related products for a commission. The advantage here is that once you put your information in the store it is done. You don't have to keep building it and shipping it. If your not comfortable with writing your own material you can use a ghostwriter (http://www.home-work.net).

Another home business opportunity that is unique to the Internet is based on common interests. What do you have a special interest in that others may share? Music, books, computers, cars, gardening, collectibles, etc…? The idea in this business model is to create a site with information and resources available online of interest to others. Then you select products to sell of interest to people that would be visiting your site. For instance, if you had an avid interest in a particular type of music. You could develop a site that was a resource for others with that same interest. The site could include links to artists sites, reviews of the latest releases, concert tour information, photos, sound clips, interview excerpts, a chat room, or discussion board. You become an "associate" of one of the CD distributors online and receive a commission on CD's that are sold. The distributor does the entire order fulfillment. The number and variety of companies that have an associate program online is growing daily. They cover all kinds of products and services from gifts to computers or web hosting to credit cards.

Start with what you know, apply some imagination, and open your low cost home business online. The market is growing everyday - world wide.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
Bob Cortez has 20 years of sales and marketing experience. Through Total Quality Marketing he is providing consulting services to home based entrepreneurs looking to expand their business online and take advantage of  the tremendous opportunities available.

Total Quality Marketing
PO Box 338
Homer Alaska 99603

The most frequently asked question I receive as an Internet home business consultant usually goes something like this; "I would really like to start my own home business on the Internet, but I don't know what." The short answer is - Start with what you know and enjoy.

There are a number of good reasons for this

By drawing on existing knowledge, you can concentrate on building a business rather than learning about a new trade, product, or service.

Starting and running a home business means long hours and sacrifice. It is easier to do when you are doing something you enjoy.

Selling what you know and enjoy is less difficult for non-salespeople.Selling what you know and enjoy is less difficult for non-salespeople.

The Internet offers unique opportunities for the home business netrepreneur. It creates the ability to reach a much larger potential market for your product, service, or information at a much lower price than through conventional advertising mediums.

The Internet and World Wide Web are still in their infancy. Right now, you can get everything you need to put your business online - free. It is like someone offering you a store (web hosting), full time staff (web pages, auto responders) and advertising (lots of advertising) for free. All you have to do is come up with an idea for a product or service to put in the store. 

One of my favorite examples is my mother's home business. She builds very creative and unique birdhouses. She uses scrap lumber from a local sawmill (free) and driftwood from the local beach (free), to keep her material costs low. Another local artist provides the miniature sculptures for a percentage of the sales. She started by building and selling these for the local tourist trade in Homer Alaska, and was doing ok. But when we put them on the Internet (http://www.ptialaska.net/~cortez/) sales really began to soar. Not everyone that would be interested in the birdhouses can afford to visit Homer, and we certainly couldn't afford to advertise to the world in any other way. We were able to reach this larger market by using free web hosting, design, and promotion services. Once we developed a flow of traffic, we were able to create additional income streams by selling other peoples products as well. (I'll discuss this further later in this article)

This business model can work for just about any product that can be shipped. What unique item can you build using local materials? Do you have a craft or gift idea that is unique? How about a kit or plans for something you have built?

Information is another type of product. What do you know or know how to do that would be of interest or value to others? You can either sell that information as a report, or a tip booklet. Or you can give the information away at your store and sell other peoples related products for a commission. The advantage here is that once you put your information in the store it is done. You don't have to keep building it and shipping it. If your not comfortable with writing your own material you can use a ghostwriter (http://www.home-work.net).

Another home business opportunity that is unique to the Internet is based on common interests. What do you have a special interest in that others may share? Music, books, computers, cars, gardening, collectibles, etc…? The idea in this business model is to create a site with information and resources available online of interest to others. Then you select products to sell of interest to people that would be visiting your site. For instance, if you had an avid interest in a particular type of music. You could develop a site that was a resource for others with that same interest. The site could include links to artists sites, reviews of the latest releases, concert tour information, photos, sound clips, interview excerpts, a chat room, or discussion board. You become an "associate" of one of the CD distributors online and receive a commission on CD's that are sold. The distributor does the entire order fulfillment. The number and variety of companies that have an associate program online is growing daily. They cover all kinds of products and services from gifts to computers or web hosting to credit cards.

Start with what you know, apply some imagination, and open your low cost home business online. The market is growing everyday - world wide.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
Bob Cortez has 20 years of sales and marketing experience. Through Total Quality Marketing he is providing consulting services to home based entrepreneurs looking to expand their business online and take advantage of  the tremendous opportunities available.

Total Quality Marketing
PO Box 338
Homer Alaska 99603

The most frequently asked question I receive as an Internet home business consultant usually goes something like this; "I would really like to start my own home business on the Internet, but I don't know what." The short answer is - Start with what you know and enjoy.

There are a number of good reasons for this

By drawing on existing knowledge, you can concentrate on building a business rather than learning about a new trade, product, or service.

Starting and running a home business means long hours and sacrifice. It is easier to do when you are doing something you enjoy.

Selling what you know and enjoy is less difficult for non-salespeople.Selling what you know and enjoy is less difficult for non-salespeople.

The Internet offers unique opportunities for the home business netrepreneur. It creates the ability to reach a much larger potential market for your product, service, or information at a much lower price than through conventional advertising mediums.

The Internet and World Wide Web are still in their infancy. Right now, you can get everything you need to put your business online - free. It is like someone offering you a store (web hosting), full time staff (web pages, auto responders) and advertising (lots of advertising) for free. All you have to do is come up with an idea for a product or service to put in the store. 

One of my favorite examples is my mother's home business. She builds very creative and unique birdhouses. She uses scrap lumber from a local sawmill (free) and driftwood from the local beach (free), to keep her material costs low. Another local artist provides the miniature sculptures for a percentage of the sales. She started by building and selling these for the local tourist trade in Homer Alaska, and was doing ok. But when we put them on the Internet (http://www.ptialaska.net/~cortez/) sales really began to soar. Not everyone that would be interested in the birdhouses can afford to visit Homer, and we certainly couldn't afford to advertise to the world in any other way. We were able to reach this larger market by using free web hosting, design, and promotion services. Once we developed a flow of traffic, we were able to create additional income streams by selling other peoples products as well. (I'll discuss this further later in this article)

This business model can work for just about any product that can be shipped. What unique item can you build using local materials? Do you have a craft or gift idea that is unique? How about a kit or plans for something you have built?

Information is another type of product. What do you know or know how to do that would be of interest or value to others? You can either sell that information as a report, or a tip booklet. Or you can give the information away at your store and sell other peoples related products for a commission. The advantage here is that once you put your information in the store it is done. You don't have to keep building it and shipping it. If your not comfortable with writing your own material you can use a ghostwriter (http://www.home-work.net).

Another home business opportunity that is unique to the Internet is based on common interests. What do you have a special interest in that others may share? Music, books, computers, cars, gardening, collectibles, etc…? The idea in this business model is to create a site with information and resources available online of interest to others. Then you select products to sell of interest to people that would be visiting your site. For instance, if you had an avid interest in a particular type of music. You could develop a site that was a resource for others with that same interest. The site could include links to artists sites, reviews of the latest releases, concert tour information, photos, sound clips, interview excerpts, a chat room, or discussion board. You become an "associate" of one of the CD distributors online and receive a commission on CD's that are sold. The distributor does the entire order fulfillment. The number and variety of companies that have an associate program online is growing daily. They cover all kinds of products and services from gifts to computers or web hosting to credit cards.

Start with what you know, apply some imagination, and open your low cost home business online. The market is growing everyday - world wide.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
Bob Cortez has 20 years of sales and marketing experience. Through Total Quality Marketing he is providing consulting services to home based entrepreneurs looking to expand their business online and take advantage of  the tremendous opportunities available.

Total Quality Marketing
PO Box 338
Homer Alaska 99603

In these days, it's becoming increasingly difficult to make ends meet with just one source of income. Thus, more and more people are investigating the possibilities of starting their own extra-income business. Most of these part-time endeavors are started and operated from the comfort and privacy of the home.

Most of these people are making the extra money they need. Some have wisely and carefully built these extra income efforts into full-time, very profitable businesses. Others are just keeping busy, having fun, and enjoying life as never before. The important thing is that they are doing something other than waiting for the government to give them a handout; they are improving their lot in life, and you can do it, too!

The fields of mail order selling, multi-level marketing, and in-home party sales have never been more popular. If any of these kinds of extra income producing ideas appeal to you, then you owe it to yourself to check them out. But these aren't the only fields of endeavor you can start and operate from home, with little or no investment, and learn as you go.

If you type, you can start a home-based typing service; if you have a truck or have access to a trailer, you can start a clean-up/hauling service. Simply collecting old news papers from your neighbors can get you started in the paper recycling business. More than a few enterprising housewives have found success and fortune by starting home and/or apartment cleaning services. If you have a yard full of flowers, you can make good extra money by supplying fresh cut flowers to restaurants and offices in your area on a regular basis. You might turn a ceramics hobby into a lucrative personalized coffee mug business. What I'm saying is that in reality, there's literally no end to the ways you can start and operate a profitable extra income business from your home.

The first thing you must do, however, is some basic market research. Find out for yourself, first-hand, just how many people there are in your area who are interested in your proposed product or service, and would be willing to stand in line and pay money for it. This is known as defining your market and pinpointing your customers. If after checking around, talking about your idea with a whole lot of people over a period of one to three months, you get the idea that these people would be paying customers, your next effort should be directed toward the detailing of your business plan. The more precise and detailed your plan - covering all the bases relating to how you'll do everything that needs to be done - the easier it's going to be for you to attain success. Such a plan should show your start-up investment needs, your advertising plan, your production costs and procedures, your sales program, and how your time will be allocated. Too often, enthusiastic and ambitious entrepreneurs jump in on an extra income project and suddenly find that the costs are beyond their abilities, and the time requirements more than they can meet. It pays to lay it all out on paper before you get involved, and the clearer you can see everything before you start, the better your chances for success.

Now, assuming you've got your market targeted, you know who your customers are going to be and how you're going to reach them with your product or service. And you have all your costs as well as time requirements itemized. The next step is to set your plan in motion and start making money.

Here is the most important secret of all, relating to starting and building a profitable home-based business, so read very carefully. Regardless of what kind of business you start, you must have the capital and the available time to sustain your business through the first six months of operation. Specifically, you must not count on receiving or spending any money coming in from your business on yourself or for your bills during those first six months. All the income from your business during those first six months should be reinvested in your business in order for it to grow and reach our planned first year potential.

Once you've passed that first six months milestone, you can set up a small monthly salary for yourself, and begin enjoying the fruits of your labor. But the first six months or operation for any business are critical, so do not plan to use any of the money your business generates for yourself during that period.

If you've got your business plan properly organized, and have implemented the plan, you should at the end of your first year be able to begin thinking about hiring other people to alleviate some of your work-load. Remember this: Starting a successful business is not a means towards either a job for yourself or a way to keep busy. It should be regarded as the beginning of an enterprise that will grow and prosper, with you as the top dog. Eventually, you'll have other people doing all the work for you, even running the entire operation, while you vacation in the Bahamas or Hawaii and collect or receive regular income from your initial efforts.

For more details on market research, business planning, advertising, selling, order fulfillment, and other aspects of home-based businesses, watch World Wide Information Outlet for future reports.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
Reprint permission for any medium is granted only if all information below this notice, including the WWIO web site link and authors biography are included as written.

In these days, it's becoming increasingly difficult to make ends meet with just one source of income. Thus, more and more people are investigating the possibilities of starting their own extra-income business. Most of these part-time endeavors are started and operated from the comfort and privacy of the home.

Most of these people are making the extra money they need. Some have wisely and carefully built these extra income efforts into full-time, very profitable businesses. Others are just keeping busy, having fun, and enjoying life as never before. The important thing is that they are doing something other than waiting for the government to give them a handout; they are improving their lot in life, and you can do it, too!

The fields of mail order selling, multi-level marketing, and in-home party sales have never been more popular. If any of these kinds of extra income producing ideas appeal to you, then you owe it to yourself to check them out. But these aren't the only fields of endeavor you can start and operate from home, with little or no investment, and learn as you go.

If you type, you can start a home-based typing service; if you have a truck or have access to a trailer, you can start a clean-up/hauling service. Simply collecting old news papers from your neighbors can get you started in the paper recycling business. More than a few enterprising housewives have found success and fortune by starting home and/or apartment cleaning services. If you have a yard full of flowers, you can make good extra money by supplying fresh cut flowers to restaurants and offices in your area on a regular basis. You might turn a ceramics hobby into a lucrative personalized coffee mug business. What I'm saying is that in reality, there's literally no end to the ways you can start and operate a profitable extra income business from your home.

The first thing you must do, however, is some basic market research. Find out for yourself, first-hand, just how many people there are in your area who are interested in your proposed product or service, and would be willing to stand in line and pay money for it. This is known as defining your market and pinpointing your customers. If after checking around, talking about your idea with a whole lot of people over a period of one to three months, you get the idea that these people would be paying customers, your next effort should be directed toward the detailing of your business plan. The more precise and detailed your plan - covering all the bases relating to how you'll do everything that needs to be done - the easier it's going to be for you to attain success. Such a plan should show your start-up investment needs, your advertising plan, your production costs and procedures, your sales program, and how your time will be allocated. Too often, enthusiastic and ambitious entrepreneurs jump in on an extra income project and suddenly find that the costs are beyond their abilities, and the time requirements more than they can meet. It pays to lay it all out on paper before you get involved, and the clearer you can see everything before you start, the better your chances for success.

Now, assuming you've got your market targeted, you know who your customers are going to be and how you're going to reach them with your product or service. And you have all your costs as well as time requirements itemized. The next step is to set your plan in motion and start making money.

Here is the most important secret of all, relating to starting and building a profitable home-based business, so read very carefully. Regardless of what kind of business you start, you must have the capital and the available time to sustain your business through the first six months of operation. Specifically, you must not count on receiving or spending any money coming in from your business on yourself or for your bills during those first six months. All the income from your business during those first six months should be reinvested in your business in order for it to grow and reach our planned first year potential.

Once you've passed that first six months milestone, you can set up a small monthly salary for yourself, and begin enjoying the fruits of your labor. But the first six months or operation for any business are critical, so do not plan to use any of the money your business generates for yourself during that period.

If you've got your business plan properly organized, and have implemented the plan, you should at the end of your first year be able to begin thinking about hiring other people to alleviate some of your work-load. Remember this: Starting a successful business is not a means towards either a job for yourself or a way to keep busy. It should be regarded as the beginning of an enterprise that will grow and prosper, with you as the top dog. Eventually, you'll have other people doing all the work for you, even running the entire operation, while you vacation in the Bahamas or Hawaii and collect or receive regular income from your initial efforts.

For more details on market research, business planning, advertising, selling, order fulfillment, and other aspects of home-based businesses, watch World Wide Information Outlet for future reports.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
Reprint permission for any medium is granted only if all information below this notice, including the WWIO web site link and authors biography are included as written.

In these days, it's becoming increasingly difficult to make ends meet with just one source of income. Thus, more and more people are investigating the possibilities of starting their own extra-income business. Most of these part-time endeavors are started and operated from the comfort and privacy of the home.

Most of these people are making the extra money they need. Some have wisely and carefully built these extra income efforts into full-time, very profitable businesses. Others are just keeping busy, having fun, and enjoying life as never before. The important thing is that they are doing something other than waiting for the government to give them a handout; they are improving their lot in life, and you can do it, too!

The fields of mail order selling, multi-level marketing, and in-home party sales have never been more popular. If any of these kinds of extra income producing ideas appeal to you, then you owe it to yourself to check them out. But these aren't the only fields of endeavor you can start and operate from home, with little or no investment, and learn as you go.

If you type, you can start a home-based typing service; if you have a truck or have access to a trailer, you can start a clean-up/hauling service. Simply collecting old news papers from your neighbors can get you started in the paper recycling business. More than a few enterprising housewives have found success and fortune by starting home and/or apartment cleaning services. If you have a yard full of flowers, you can make good extra money by supplying fresh cut flowers to restaurants and offices in your area on a regular basis. You might turn a ceramics hobby into a lucrative personalized coffee mug business. What I'm saying is that in reality, there's literally no end to the ways you can start and operate a profitable extra income business from your home.

The first thing you must do, however, is some basic market research. Find out for yourself, first-hand, just how many people there are in your area who are interested in your proposed product or service, and would be willing to stand in line and pay money for it. This is known as defining your market and pinpointing your customers. If after checking around, talking about your idea with a whole lot of people over a period of one to three months, you get the idea that these people would be paying customers, your next effort should be directed toward the detailing of your business plan. The more precise and detailed your plan - covering all the bases relating to how you'll do everything that needs to be done - the easier it's going to be for you to attain success. Such a plan should show your start-up investment needs, your advertising plan, your production costs and procedures, your sales program, and how your time will be allocated. Too often, enthusiastic and ambitious entrepreneurs jump in on an extra income project and suddenly find that the costs are beyond their abilities, and the time requirements more than they can meet. It pays to lay it all out on paper before you get involved, and the clearer you can see everything before you start, the better your chances for success.

Now, assuming you've got your market targeted, you know who your customers are going to be and how you're going to reach them with your product or service. And you have all your costs as well as time requirements itemized. The next step is to set your plan in motion and start making money.

Here is the most important secret of all, relating to starting and building a profitable home-based business, so read very carefully. Regardless of what kind of business you start, you must have the capital and the available time to sustain your business through the first six months of operation. Specifically, you must not count on receiving or spending any money coming in from your business on yourself or for your bills during those first six months. All the income from your business during those first six months should be reinvested in your business in order for it to grow and reach our planned first year potential.

Once you've passed that first six months milestone, you can set up a small monthly salary for yourself, and begin enjoying the fruits of your labor. But the first six months or operation for any business are critical, so do not plan to use any of the money your business generates for yourself during that period.

If you've got your business plan properly organized, and have implemented the plan, you should at the end of your first year be able to begin thinking about hiring other people to alleviate some of your work-load. Remember this: Starting a successful business is not a means towards either a job for yourself or a way to keep busy. It should be regarded as the beginning of an enterprise that will grow and prosper, with you as the top dog. Eventually, you'll have other people doing all the work for you, even running the entire operation, while you vacation in the Bahamas or Hawaii and collect or receive regular income from your initial efforts.

For more details on market research, business planning, advertising, selling, order fulfillment, and other aspects of home-based businesses, watch World Wide Information Outlet for future reports.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
Reprint permission for any medium is granted only if all information below this notice, including the WWIO web site link and authors biography are included as written.

A database is more than a simple list of names and addresses. What turns a list into a database is the additionalinformation, coupled with your ability to select names from or report on the list using any combination of data elements.

In this report, you'll see some examples of the benefits of developing and maintaining a database. Then, the specific information that a database can contain will be detailed.

BENEFITS OF A DATABASE

By maintaining your list as a database, you can segment in many ways for targeting. Targeting improves the productivity of your offers. You can use a database to isolate the segment of your list most likely to respond to a particular offer. With a good database, you're not mass-mailing your offer to parts of your list that may have no interest in it (based on their characteristics). Because the number you're mailing is smaller, your response rate (number responding/number mailed) - one measure of productivity - should be higher. (And, of course, you'll save on printing and postage costs.)

Here are two simple examples of targeting using database information:

You're the owner of a neighborhood beauty salon. For each customer, you keep a record (with dates) of all the services you've provided to that customer. You're planning a special pre-summer promotion on permanent waves for the month of May.

Instead of mailing an announcement of the sale to your entire customer list (many of whom don't have their hair permed), you select only those customers who had a permanent at least three months ago. In this way, you're targeting those customers who are most likely to take advantage of your upcoming sale.

You're the dinner chairperson of a local fund-raising organization. Your mailing list is made up of a wide range of contributors, from those who've donated only a few dollars to those who give annual gifts of thousands of dollars. For each contributor, you maintain a record of all past donations and functions he/she has attended, in addition to basic mailing information.

This year, you're asking for donations of $100 a plate for the annual dinner dance. To get the best response to your invitation, you first target those contributors who were at last year's dinner dance. Then you target those who weren't at the dance, but who donated more than $100 in the past year. Depending on the response you expect from these first two groups, you may next want to target those names on your list that didn't attend the last dance, but contributed $50 in the last year. You may even want to have a phone follow-up to the first two groups but use the mailing only for the third group.

A properly set up database can provide many benefits for your business or organization. But the usefulness of a database depends entirely on what elements you include in it.

WHAT TO INCLUDE IN THE DATABASE

Depending on your type of business or organization, you will want to include different fields in your database. Later in this report you will see some examples of the fields that are appropriate in specific instances. For all businesses or organizations, though, certain basic information is always necessary.

By including basic information in your database, you ensure that the people or companies on your list are deliverable. That is, the mailings you produce using your list will get where you want them to go - into the hands of the individual who is most likely to respond to your offer.

Basic information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, you will need to include the following fields for each name on your list:

A unique account number.

This number should not be tied into any other information about the customer, for example, phone number or address, since this sort of information may change over time. The account number should never change throughout the life of the customer. A sequential numbering system is simple and effective.

Company name.

Street Address.

Suite number, is necessary

P.O. Box, if necessary.

City

State

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

Job title or name of contact.

Some business mailers maintain the name of the individual within the customer's business or organization. Others simply use the appropriate job title. The alternative you choose will depend on the nature of your business and the amount of turnover associated with the position that is your contact.

Basic Information for Individual (Non-Business) Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you will need to include the following data for each name on the list:

A unique account number.

Individual's name.

Street address or P.O. Box.

Apartment number, is necessary.

City.

State.

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

The basic information listed above is necessary to make sure that the names on your mailing list are mailable. But how do you decide which names are more productive?

Data Elements to Evaluate - Recency, Frequency and Monetary Value

Regardless of whether you're mailing to businesses or individuals, there are three factors - recency, frequency and monetary value - that are commonly used to measure the value of a name.

Recency: Recency refers to the last time that the customer ordered or responded to an offer.

Frequency: Frequency is the number of orders or responses that the customer has made since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

Monetary Value: The monetary value is the amount of money the customer has spent since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

How do these three factors determine the value of a customer (the likelihood he/she will order again)?

• The more recently a customer has ordered from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more often a customer orders from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more money a customer spends with you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  

All three factors - recency, frequency, and monetary value - are considered to be good indicators of whether or not a customer is likely to respond to a future offer. But they are not equal. Recency is thought to be the best indicator, followed by frequency and then monetary value.

In order to use these valuable pieces of information, here are the specific fields you need to maintain on your database:

• For recency: The date of the last transaction with the customer - the date of the customer's last order, purchase or donation.
  
  
• For frequency: The dates of all previous transactions with the customer over a certain period of time.
  
  
• For monetary value: The size (in dollars) of all of the customer's previous purchases or other transactions. (It is also common to maintain the dollar amount of the customer's most recent order as the monetary value indicator.)
  
  

In addition to evaluating the recency, frequency, and monetary worth of your audience, you will probably find that there are many other important ways to analyze the names on your database.

Additional Information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, there is additional descriptive information, some specific to your product or offer, that could be valuable to have.

You might want to consider storing some of the following data elements for each of the names on your database:

Number of employees in the business/organization.

Type of business/organization.

The United States Government four-digit coding system, the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, is commonly used to identify businesses. For example, the codes 5211 through 5999 identify Retailers. Within that category, 5411 is the code for Grocery Stores, 5441 the number for Candy, Nut and Congectionery Stores. The SIC Manual is available through the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

Annual sales volume.

Credit status code

The credit status code could be developed by you, based on the customer's payment history or perhaps obtained from a commercial credit report.

Items ordered from you.

With data in this field, you can select customers for programs designed to get them to reorder an item, or to order complementary or supply items.

Location.

Is it a headquarters, subsidiary, branch, division, etc.? If you are making an offer that requires a decision by someone at the headquarters of a company, you may not want to send it to the branch office (unless there are employees involved in the decision too).

Source of the name.

This field is usually a code representing where you got the name. Assign a unique code for each referral program, publication advertisement, list, etc., you use to get a new name. Assigning a source code to each new customer allowsyou to evaluate the effectiveness of each technique you use to get customers or to collect prospect names.

Additional Information for Individual Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you may want to collect information on the household unit, often the most relevant purchasing unit. Here are some suggestions for demographic information that could be useful to you in analyzing the names on your mailing list.

Household income.

Occupations of household members.

Number of people in the household.

Ages of the members of the household.

Genders of members of the household.

Marital status of members of the household.

Information on property belonging to the household:

• Type of living quarters.
  
  
• Owned or rented living quarters.
  
  
• Number, make, model, etc. of each
  
  automobile.
• Number, make, model, etc. of each major appliance.
  
  

Political affiliation.

Hobbies and leisure time activities.

Now you know the secrets of how a database can turn your mailing list into a valuable asset for your business or organization. You understand what basic fields to include. And you have had an overview of what additional fields might be added to the basic ones that make a list mailable. Be sure to carefully analyze your own needs and to include information that would be of help to you in mailing smarter. In a future report, we will explain the details of how to go about collecting the names for your mailing list, starting with your customer list.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
If you need an online database just email us and let us know. Database prices start at $99.

This article may be used online or off line in publications as long as credit is given to World Wide Information Outlet in the above resource box.

A database is more than a simple list of names and addresses. What turns a list into a database is the additionalinformation, coupled with your ability to select names from or report on the list using any combination of data elements.

In this report, you'll see some examples of the benefits of developing and maintaining a database. Then, the specific information that a database can contain will be detailed.

BENEFITS OF A DATABASE

By maintaining your list as a database, you can segment in many ways for targeting. Targeting improves the productivity of your offers. You can use a database to isolate the segment of your list most likely to respond to a particular offer. With a good database, you're not mass-mailing your offer to parts of your list that may have no interest in it (based on their characteristics). Because the number you're mailing is smaller, your response rate (number responding/number mailed) - one measure of productivity - should be higher. (And, of course, you'll save on printing and postage costs.)

Here are two simple examples of targeting using database information:

You're the owner of a neighborhood beauty salon. For each customer, you keep a record (with dates) of all the services you've provided to that customer. You're planning a special pre-summer promotion on permanent waves for the month of May.

Instead of mailing an announcement of the sale to your entire customer list (many of whom don't have their hair permed), you select only those customers who had a permanent at least three months ago. In this way, you're targeting those customers who are most likely to take advantage of your upcoming sale.

You're the dinner chairperson of a local fund-raising organization. Your mailing list is made up of a wide range of contributors, from those who've donated only a few dollars to those who give annual gifts of thousands of dollars. For each contributor, you maintain a record of all past donations and functions he/she has attended, in addition to basic mailing information.

This year, you're asking for donations of $100 a plate for the annual dinner dance. To get the best response to your invitation, you first target those contributors who were at last year's dinner dance. Then you target those who weren't at the dance, but who donated more than $100 in the past year. Depending on the response you expect from these first two groups, you may next want to target those names on your list that didn't attend the last dance, but contributed $50 in the last year. You may even want to have a phone follow-up to the first two groups but use the mailing only for the third group.

A properly set up database can provide many benefits for your business or organization. But the usefulness of a database depends entirely on what elements you include in it.

WHAT TO INCLUDE IN THE DATABASE

Depending on your type of business or organization, you will want to include different fields in your database. Later in this report you will see some examples of the fields that are appropriate in specific instances. For all businesses or organizations, though, certain basic information is always necessary.

By including basic information in your database, you ensure that the people or companies on your list are deliverable. That is, the mailings you produce using your list will get where you want them to go - into the hands of the individual who is most likely to respond to your offer.

Basic information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, you will need to include the following fields for each name on your list:

A unique account number.

This number should not be tied into any other information about the customer, for example, phone number or address, since this sort of information may change over time. The account number should never change throughout the life of the customer. A sequential numbering system is simple and effective.

Company name.

Street Address.

Suite number, is necessary

P.O. Box, if necessary.

City

State

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

Job title or name of contact.

Some business mailers maintain the name of the individual within the customer's business or organization. Others simply use the appropriate job title. The alternative you choose will depend on the nature of your business and the amount of turnover associated with the position that is your contact.

Basic Information for Individual (Non-Business) Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you will need to include the following data for each name on the list:

A unique account number.

Individual's name.

Street address or P.O. Box.

Apartment number, is necessary.

City.

State.

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

The basic information listed above is necessary to make sure that the names on your mailing list are mailable. But how do you decide which names are more productive?

Data Elements to Evaluate - Recency, Frequency and Monetary Value

Regardless of whether you're mailing to businesses or individuals, there are three factors - recency, frequency and monetary value - that are commonly used to measure the value of a name.

Recency: Recency refers to the last time that the customer ordered or responded to an offer.

Frequency: Frequency is the number of orders or responses that the customer has made since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

Monetary Value: The monetary value is the amount of money the customer has spent since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

How do these three factors determine the value of a customer (the likelihood he/she will order again)?

• The more recently a customer has ordered from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more often a customer orders from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more money a customer spends with you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  

All three factors - recency, frequency, and monetary value - are considered to be good indicators of whether or not a customer is likely to respond to a future offer. But they are not equal. Recency is thought to be the best indicator, followed by frequency and then monetary value.

In order to use these valuable pieces of information, here are the specific fields you need to maintain on your database:

• For recency: The date of the last transaction with the customer - the date of the customer's last order, purchase or donation.
  
  
• For frequency: The dates of all previous transactions with the customer over a certain period of time.
  
  
• For monetary value: The size (in dollars) of all of the customer's previous purchases or other transactions. (It is also common to maintain the dollar amount of the customer's most recent order as the monetary value indicator.)
  
  

In addition to evaluating the recency, frequency, and monetary worth of your audience, you will probably find that there are many other important ways to analyze the names on your database.

Additional Information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, there is additional descriptive information, some specific to your product or offer, that could be valuable to have.

You might want to consider storing some of the following data elements for each of the names on your database:

Number of employees in the business/organization.

Type of business/organization.

The United States Government four-digit coding system, the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, is commonly used to identify businesses. For example, the codes 5211 through 5999 identify Retailers. Within that category, 5411 is the code for Grocery Stores, 5441 the number for Candy, Nut and Congectionery Stores. The SIC Manual is available through the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

Annual sales volume.

Credit status code

The credit status code could be developed by you, based on the customer's payment history or perhaps obtained from a commercial credit report.

Items ordered from you.

With data in this field, you can select customers for programs designed to get them to reorder an item, or to order complementary or supply items.

Location.

Is it a headquarters, subsidiary, branch, division, etc.? If you are making an offer that requires a decision by someone at the headquarters of a company, you may not want to send it to the branch office (unless there are employees involved in the decision too).

Source of the name.

This field is usually a code representing where you got the name. Assign a unique code for each referral program, publication advertisement, list, etc., you use to get a new name. Assigning a source code to each new customer allowsyou to evaluate the effectiveness of each technique you use to get customers or to collect prospect names.

Additional Information for Individual Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you may want to collect information on the household unit, often the most relevant purchasing unit. Here are some suggestions for demographic information that could be useful to you in analyzing the names on your mailing list.

Household income.

Occupations of household members.

Number of people in the household.

Ages of the members of the household.

Genders of members of the household.

Marital status of members of the household.

Information on property belonging to the household:

• Type of living quarters.
  
  
• Owned or rented living quarters.
  
  
• Number, make, model, etc. of each
  
  automobile.
• Number, make, model, etc. of each major appliance.
  
  

Political affiliation.

Hobbies and leisure time activities.

Now you know the secrets of how a database can turn your mailing list into a valuable asset for your business or organization. You understand what basic fields to include. And you have had an overview of what additional fields might be added to the basic ones that make a list mailable. Be sure to carefully analyze your own needs and to include information that would be of help to you in mailing smarter. In a future report, we will explain the details of how to go about collecting the names for your mailing list, starting with your customer list.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
If you need an online database just email us and let us know. Database prices start at $99.

This article may be used online or off line in publications as long as credit is given to World Wide Information Outlet in the above resource box.

A database is more than a simple list of names and addresses. What turns a list into a database is the additionalinformation, coupled with your ability to select names from or report on the list using any combination of data elements.

In this report, you'll see some examples of the benefits of developing and maintaining a database. Then, the specific information that a database can contain will be detailed.

BENEFITS OF A DATABASE

By maintaining your list as a database, you can segment in many ways for targeting. Targeting improves the productivity of your offers. You can use a database to isolate the segment of your list most likely to respond to a particular offer. With a good database, you're not mass-mailing your offer to parts of your list that may have no interest in it (based on their characteristics). Because the number you're mailing is smaller, your response rate (number responding/number mailed) - one measure of productivity - should be higher. (And, of course, you'll save on printing and postage costs.)

Here are two simple examples of targeting using database information:

You're the owner of a neighborhood beauty salon. For each customer, you keep a record (with dates) of all the services you've provided to that customer. You're planning a special pre-summer promotion on permanent waves for the month of May.

Instead of mailing an announcement of the sale to your entire customer list (many of whom don't have their hair permed), you select only those customers who had a permanent at least three months ago. In this way, you're targeting those customers who are most likely to take advantage of your upcoming sale.

You're the dinner chairperson of a local fund-raising organization. Your mailing list is made up of a wide range of contributors, from those who've donated only a few dollars to those who give annual gifts of thousands of dollars. For each contributor, you maintain a record of all past donations and functions he/she has attended, in addition to basic mailing information.

This year, you're asking for donations of $100 a plate for the annual dinner dance. To get the best response to your invitation, you first target those contributors who were at last year's dinner dance. Then you target those who weren't at the dance, but who donated more than $100 in the past year. Depending on the response you expect from these first two groups, you may next want to target those names on your list that didn't attend the last dance, but contributed $50 in the last year. You may even want to have a phone follow-up to the first two groups but use the mailing only for the third group.

A properly set up database can provide many benefits for your business or organization. But the usefulness of a database depends entirely on what elements you include in it.

WHAT TO INCLUDE IN THE DATABASE

Depending on your type of business or organization, you will want to include different fields in your database. Later in this report you will see some examples of the fields that are appropriate in specific instances. For all businesses or organizations, though, certain basic information is always necessary.

By including basic information in your database, you ensure that the people or companies on your list are deliverable. That is, the mailings you produce using your list will get where you want them to go - into the hands of the individual who is most likely to respond to your offer.

Basic information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, you will need to include the following fields for each name on your list:

A unique account number.

This number should not be tied into any other information about the customer, for example, phone number or address, since this sort of information may change over time. The account number should never change throughout the life of the customer. A sequential numbering system is simple and effective.

Company name.

Street Address.

Suite number, is necessary

P.O. Box, if necessary.

City

State

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

Job title or name of contact.

Some business mailers maintain the name of the individual within the customer's business or organization. Others simply use the appropriate job title. The alternative you choose will depend on the nature of your business and the amount of turnover associated with the position that is your contact.

Basic Information for Individual (Non-Business) Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you will need to include the following data for each name on the list:

A unique account number.

Individual's name.

Street address or P.O. Box.

Apartment number, is necessary.

City.

State.

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

The basic information listed above is necessary to make sure that the names on your mailing list are mailable. But how do you decide which names are more productive?

Data Elements to Evaluate - Recency, Frequency and Monetary Value

Regardless of whether you're mailing to businesses or individuals, there are three factors - recency, frequency and monetary value - that are commonly used to measure the value of a name.

Recency: Recency refers to the last time that the customer ordered or responded to an offer.

Frequency: Frequency is the number of orders or responses that the customer has made since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

Monetary Value: The monetary value is the amount of money the customer has spent since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

How do these three factors determine the value of a customer (the likelihood he/she will order again)?

• The more recently a customer has ordered from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more often a customer orders from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more money a customer spends with you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  

All three factors - recency, frequency, and monetary value - are considered to be good indicators of whether or not a customer is likely to respond to a future offer. But they are not equal. Recency is thought to be the best indicator, followed by frequency and then monetary value.

In order to use these valuable pieces of information, here are the specific fields you need to maintain on your database:

• For recency: The date of the last transaction with the customer - the date of the customer's last order, purchase or donation.
  
  
• For frequency: The dates of all previous transactions with the customer over a certain period of time.
  
  
• For monetary value: The size (in dollars) of all of the customer's previous purchases or other transactions. (It is also common to maintain the dollar amount of the customer's most recent order as the monetary value indicator.)
  
  

In addition to evaluating the recency, frequency, and monetary worth of your audience, you will probably find that there are many other important ways to analyze the names on your database.

Additional Information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, there is additional descriptive information, some specific to your product or offer, that could be valuable to have.

You might want to consider storing some of the following data elements for each of the names on your database:

Number of employees in the business/organization.

Type of business/organization.

The United States Government four-digit coding system, the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, is commonly used to identify businesses. For example, the codes 5211 through 5999 identify Retailers. Within that category, 5411 is the code for Grocery Stores, 5441 the number for Candy, Nut and Congectionery Stores. The SIC Manual is available through the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

Annual sales volume.

Credit status code

The credit status code could be developed by you, based on the customer's payment history or perhaps obtained from a commercial credit report.

Items ordered from you.

With data in this field, you can select customers for programs designed to get them to reorder an item, or to order complementary or supply items.

Location.

Is it a headquarters, subsidiary, branch, division, etc.? If you are making an offer that requires a decision by someone at the headquarters of a company, you may not want to send it to the branch office (unless there are employees involved in the decision too).

Source of the name.

This field is usually a code representing where you got the name. Assign a unique code for each referral program, publication advertisement, list, etc., you use to get a new name. Assigning a source code to each new customer allowsyou to evaluate the effectiveness of each technique you use to get customers or to collect prospect names.

Additional Information for Individual Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you may want to collect information on the household unit, often the most relevant purchasing unit. Here are some suggestions for demographic information that could be useful to you in analyzing the names on your mailing list.

Household income.

Occupations of household members.

Number of people in the household.

Ages of the members of the household.

Genders of members of the household.

Marital status of members of the household.

Information on property belonging to the household:

• Type of living quarters.
  
  
• Owned or rented living quarters.
  
  
• Number, make, model, etc. of each
  
  automobile.
• Number, make, model, etc. of each major appliance.
  
  

Political affiliation.

Hobbies and leisure time activities.

Now you know the secrets of how a database can turn your mailing list into a valuable asset for your business or organization. You understand what basic fields to include. And you have had an overview of what additional fields might be added to the basic ones that make a list mailable. Be sure to carefully analyze your own needs and to include information that would be of help to you in mailing smarter. In a future report, we will explain the details of how to go about collecting the names for your mailing list, starting with your customer list.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
If you need an online database just email us and let us know. Database prices start at $99.

This article may be used online or off line in publications as long as credit is given to World Wide Information Outlet in the above resource box.

10 Ways to Maximize the Impact of TrainingRon Kaufman

A database is more than a simple list of names and addresses. What turns a list into a database is the additionalinformation, coupled with your ability to select names from or report on the list using any combination of data elements.

In this report, you'll see some examples of the benefits of developing and maintaining a database. Then, the specific information that a database can contain will be detailed.

BENEFITS OF A DATABASE

By maintaining your list as a database, you can segment in many ways for targeting. Targeting improves the productivity of your offers. You can use a database to isolate the segment of your list most likely to respond to a particular offer. With a good database, you're not mass-mailing your offer to parts of your list that may have no interest in it (based on their characteristics). Because the number you're mailing is smaller, your response rate (number responding/number mailed) - one measure of productivity - should be higher. (And, of course, you'll save on printing and postage costs.)

Here are two simple examples of targeting using database information:

You're the owner of a neighborhood beauty salon. For each customer, you keep a record (with dates) of all the services you've provided to that customer. You're planning a special pre-summer promotion on permanent waves for the month of May.

Instead of mailing an announcement of the sale to your entire customer list (many of whom don't have their hair permed), you select only those customers who had a permanent at least three months ago. In this way, you're targeting those customers who are most likely to take advantage of your upcoming sale.

You're the dinner chairperson of a local fund-raising organization. Your mailing list is made up of a wide range of contributors, from those who've donated only a few dollars to those who give annual gifts of thousands of dollars. For each contributor, you maintain a record of all past donations and functions he/she has attended, in addition to basic mailing information.

This year, you're asking for donations of $100 a plate for the annual dinner dance. To get the best response to your invitation, you first target those contributors who were at last year's dinner dance. Then you target those who weren't at the dance, but who donated more than $100 in the past year. Depending on the response you expect from these first two groups, you may next want to target those names on your list that didn't attend the last dance, but contributed $50 in the last year. You may even want to have a phone follow-up to the first two groups but use the mailing only for the third group.

A properly set up database can provide many benefits for your business or organization. But the usefulness of a database depends entirely on what elements you include in it.

WHAT TO INCLUDE IN THE DATABASE

Depending on your type of business or organization, you will want to include different fields in your database. Later in this report you will see some examples of the fields that are appropriate in specific instances. For all businesses or organizations, though, certain basic information is always necessary.

By including basic information in your database, you ensure that the people or companies on your list are deliverable. That is, the mailings you produce using your list will get where you want them to go - into the hands of the individual who is most likely to respond to your offer.

Basic information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, you will need to include the following fields for each name on your list:

A unique account number.

This number should not be tied into any other information about the customer, for example, phone number or address, since this sort of information may change over time. The account number should never change throughout the life of the customer. A sequential numbering system is simple and effective.

Company name.

Street Address.

Suite number, is necessary

P.O. Box, if necessary.

City

State

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

Job title or name of contact.

Some business mailers maintain the name of the individual within the customer's business or organization. Others simply use the appropriate job title. The alternative you choose will depend on the nature of your business and the amount of turnover associated with the position that is your contact.

Basic Information for Individual (Non-Business) Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you will need to include the following data for each name on the list:

A unique account number.

Individual's name.

Street address or P.O. Box.

Apartment number, is necessary.

City.

State.

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

The basic information listed above is necessary to make sure that the names on your mailing list are mailable. But how do you decide which names are more productive?

Data Elements to Evaluate - Recency, Frequency and Monetary Value

Regardless of whether you're mailing to businesses or individuals, there are three factors - recency, frequency and monetary value - that are commonly used to measure the value of a name.

Recency: Recency refers to the last time that the customer ordered or responded to an offer.

Frequency: Frequency is the number of orders or responses that the customer has made since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

Monetary Value: The monetary value is the amount of money the customer has spent since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

How do these three factors determine the value of a customer (the likelihood he/she will order again)?

• The more recently a customer has ordered from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more often a customer orders from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more money a customer spends with you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  

All three factors - recency, frequency, and monetary value - are considered to be good indicators of whether or not a customer is likely to respond to a future offer. But they are not equal. Recency is thought to be the best indicator, followed by frequency and then monetary value.

In order to use these valuable pieces of information, here are the specific fields you need to maintain on your database:

• For recency: The date of the last transaction with the customer - the date of the customer's last order, purchase or donation.
  
  
• For frequency: The dates of all previous transactions with the customer over a certain period of time.
  
  
• For monetary value: The size (in dollars) of all of the customer's previous purchases or other transactions. (It is also common to maintain the dollar amount of the customer's most recent order as the monetary value indicator.)
  
  

In addition to evaluating the recency, frequency, and monetary worth of your audience, you will probably find that there are many other important ways to analyze the names on your database.

Additional Information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, there is additional descriptive information, some specific to your product or offer, that could be valuable to have.

You might want to consider storing some of the following data elements for each of the names on your database:

Number of employees in the business/organization.

Type of business/organization.

The United States Government four-digit coding system, the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, is commonly used to identify businesses. For example, the codes 5211 through 5999 identify Retailers. Within that category, 5411 is the code for Grocery Stores, 5441 the number for Candy, Nut and Congectionery Stores. The SIC Manual is available through the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

Annual sales volume.

Credit status code

The credit status code could be developed by you, based on the customer's payment history or perhaps obtained from a commercial credit report.

Items ordered from you.

With data in this field, you can select customers for programs designed to get them to reorder an item, or to order complementary or supply items.

Location.

Is it a headquarters, subsidiary, branch, division, etc.? If you are making an offer that requires a decision by someone at the headquarters of a company, you may not want to send it to the branch office (unless there are employees involved in the decision too).

Source of the name.

This field is usually a code representing where you got the name. Assign a unique code for each referral program, publication advertisement, list, etc., you use to get a new name. Assigning a source code to each new customer allowsyou to evaluate the effectiveness of each technique you use to get customers or to collect prospect names.

Additional Information for Individual Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you may want to collect information on the household unit, often the most relevant purchasing unit. Here are some suggestions for demographic information that could be useful to you in analyzing the names on your mailing list.

Household income.

Occupations of household members.

Number of people in the household.

Ages of the members of the household.

Genders of members of the household.

Marital status of members of the household.

Information on property belonging to the household:

• Type of living quarters.
  
  
• Owned or rented living quarters.
  
  
• Number, make, model, etc. of each
  
  automobile.
• Number, make, model, etc. of each major appliance.
  
  

Political affiliation.

Hobbies and leisure time activities.

Now you know the secrets of how a database can turn your mailing list into a valuable asset for your business or organization. You understand what basic fields to include. And you have had an overview of what additional fields might be added to the basic ones that make a list mailable. Be sure to carefully analyze your own needs and to include information that would be of help to you in mailing smarter. In a future report, we will explain the details of how to go about collecting the names for your mailing list, starting with your customer list.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
If you need an online database just email us and let us know. Database prices start at $99.

This article may be used online or off line in publications as long as credit is given to World Wide Information Outlet in the above resource box.

A database is more than a simple list of names and addresses. What turns a list into a database is the additionalinformation, coupled with your ability to select names from or report on the list using any combination of data elements.

In this report, you'll see some examples of the benefits of developing and maintaining a database. Then, the specific information that a database can contain will be detailed.

BENEFITS OF A DATABASE

By maintaining your list as a database, you can segment in many ways for targeting. Targeting improves the productivity of your offers. You can use a database to isolate the segment of your list most likely to respond to a particular offer. With a good database, you're not mass-mailing your offer to parts of your list that may have no interest in it (based on their characteristics). Because the number you're mailing is smaller, your response rate (number responding/number mailed) - one measure of productivity - should be higher. (And, of course, you'll save on printing and postage costs.)

Here are two simple examples of targeting using database information:

You're the owner of a neighborhood beauty salon. For each customer, you keep a record (with dates) of all the services you've provided to that customer. You're planning a special pre-summer promotion on permanent waves for the month of May.

Instead of mailing an announcement of the sale to your entire customer list (many of whom don't have their hair permed), you select only those customers who had a permanent at least three months ago. In this way, you're targeting those customers who are most likely to take advantage of your upcoming sale.

You're the dinner chairperson of a local fund-raising organization. Your mailing list is made up of a wide range of contributors, from those who've donated only a few dollars to those who give annual gifts of thousands of dollars. For each contributor, you maintain a record of all past donations and functions he/she has attended, in addition to basic mailing information.

This year, you're asking for donations of $100 a plate for the annual dinner dance. To get the best response to your invitation, you first target those contributors who were at last year's dinner dance. Then you target those who weren't at the dance, but who donated more than $100 in the past year. Depending on the response you expect from these first two groups, you may next want to target those names on your list that didn't attend the last dance, but contributed $50 in the last year. You may even want to have a phone follow-up to the first two groups but use the mailing only for the third group.

A properly set up database can provide many benefits for your business or organization. But the usefulness of a database depends entirely on what elements you include in it.

WHAT TO INCLUDE IN THE DATABASE

Depending on your type of business or organization, you will want to include different fields in your database. Later in this report you will see some examples of the fields that are appropriate in specific instances. For all businesses or organizations, though, certain basic information is always necessary.

By including basic information in your database, you ensure that the people or companies on your list are deliverable. That is, the mailings you produce using your list will get where you want them to go - into the hands of the individual who is most likely to respond to your offer.

Basic information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, you will need to include the following fields for each name on your list:

A unique account number.

This number should not be tied into any other information about the customer, for example, phone number or address, since this sort of information may change over time. The account number should never change throughout the life of the customer. A sequential numbering system is simple and effective.

Company name.

Street Address.

Suite number, is necessary

P.O. Box, if necessary.

City

State

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

Job title or name of contact.

Some business mailers maintain the name of the individual within the customer's business or organization. Others simply use the appropriate job title. The alternative you choose will depend on the nature of your business and the amount of turnover associated with the position that is your contact.

Basic Information for Individual (Non-Business) Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you will need to include the following data for each name on the list:

A unique account number.

Individual's name.

Street address or P.O. Box.

Apartment number, is necessary.

City.

State.

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

The basic information listed above is necessary to make sure that the names on your mailing list are mailable. But how do you decide which names are more productive?

Data Elements to Evaluate - Recency, Frequency and Monetary Value

Regardless of whether you're mailing to businesses or individuals, there are three factors - recency, frequency and monetary value - that are commonly used to measure the value of a name.

Recency: Recency refers to the last time that the customer ordered or responded to an offer.

Frequency: Frequency is the number of orders or responses that the customer has made since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

Monetary Value: The monetary value is the amount of money the customer has spent since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

How do these three factors determine the value of a customer (the likelihood he/she will order again)?

• The more recently a customer has ordered from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more often a customer orders from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more money a customer spends with you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  

All three factors - recency, frequency, and monetary value - are considered to be good indicators of whether or not a customer is likely to respond to a future offer. But they are not equal. Recency is thought to be the best indicator, followed by frequency and then monetary value.

In order to use these valuable pieces of information, here are the specific fields you need to maintain on your database:

• For recency: The date of the last transaction with the customer - the date of the customer's last order, purchase or donation.
  
  
• For frequency: The dates of all previous transactions with the customer over a certain period of time.
  
  
• For monetary value: The size (in dollars) of all of the customer's previous purchases or other transactions. (It is also common to maintain the dollar amount of the customer's most recent order as the monetary value indicator.)
  
  

In addition to evaluating the recency, frequency, and monetary worth of your audience, you will probably find that there are many other important ways to analyze the names on your database.

Additional Information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, there is additional descriptive information, some specific to your product or offer, that could be valuable to have.

You might want to consider storing some of the following data elements for each of the names on your database:

Number of employees in the business/organization.

Type of business/organization.

The United States Government four-digit coding system, the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, is commonly used to identify businesses. For example, the codes 5211 through 5999 identify Retailers. Within that category, 5411 is the code for Grocery Stores, 5441 the number for Candy, Nut and Congectionery Stores. The SIC Manual is available through the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

Annual sales volume.

Credit status code

The credit status code could be developed by you, based on the customer's payment history or perhaps obtained from a commercial credit report.

Items ordered from you.

With data in this field, you can select customers for programs designed to get them to reorder an item, or to order complementary or supply items.

Location.

Is it a headquarters, subsidiary, branch, division, etc.? If you are making an offer that requires a decision by someone at the headquarters of a company, you may not want to send it to the branch office (unless there are employees involved in the decision too).

Source of the name.

This field is usually a code representing where you got the name. Assign a unique code for each referral program, publication advertisement, list, etc., you use to get a new name. Assigning a source code to each new customer allowsyou to evaluate the effectiveness of each technique you use to get customers or to collect prospect names.

Additional Information for Individual Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you may want to collect information on the household unit, often the most relevant purchasing unit. Here are some suggestions for demographic information that could be useful to you in analyzing the names on your mailing list.

Household income.

Occupations of household members.

Number of people in the household.

Ages of the members of the household.

Genders of members of the household.

Marital status of members of the household.

Information on property belonging to the household:

• Type of living quarters.
  
  
• Owned or rented living quarters.
  
  
• Number, make, model, etc. of each
  
  automobile.
• Number, make, model, etc. of each major appliance.
  
  

Political affiliation.

Hobbies and leisure time activities.

Now you know the secrets of how a database can turn your mailing list into a valuable asset for your business or organization. You understand what basic fields to include. And you have had an overview of what additional fields might be added to the basic ones that make a list mailable. Be sure to carefully analyze your own needs and to include information that would be of help to you in mailing smarter. In a future report, we will explain the details of how to go about collecting the names for your mailing list, starting with your customer list.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
If you need an online database just email us and let us know. Database prices start at $99.

This article may be used online or off line in publications as long as credit is given to World Wide Information Outlet in the above resource box.

A database is more than a simple list of names and addresses. What turns a list into a database is the additionalinformation, coupled with your ability to select names from or report on the list using any combination of data elements.

In this report, you'll see some examples of the benefits of developing and maintaining a database. Then, the specific information that a database can contain will be detailed.

BENEFITS OF A DATABASE

By maintaining your list as a database, you can segment in many ways for targeting. Targeting improves the productivity of your offers. You can use a database to isolate the segment of your list most likely to respond to a particular offer. With a good database, you're not mass-mailing your offer to parts of your list that may have no interest in it (based on their characteristics). Because the number you're mailing is smaller, your response rate (number responding/number mailed) - one measure of productivity - should be higher. (And, of course, you'll save on printing and postage costs.)

Here are two simple examples of targeting using database information:

You're the owner of a neighborhood beauty salon. For each customer, you keep a record (with dates) of all the services you've provided to that customer. You're planning a special pre-summer promotion on permanent waves for the month of May.

Instead of mailing an announcement of the sale to your entire customer list (many of whom don't have their hair permed), you select only those customers who had a permanent at least three months ago. In this way, you're targeting those customers who are most likely to take advantage of your upcoming sale.

You're the dinner chairperson of a local fund-raising organization. Your mailing list is made up of a wide range of contributors, from those who've donated only a few dollars to those who give annual gifts of thousands of dollars. For each contributor, you maintain a record of all past donations and functions he/she has attended, in addition to basic mailing information.

This year, you're asking for donations of $100 a plate for the annual dinner dance. To get the best response to your invitation, you first target those contributors who were at last year's dinner dance. Then you target those who weren't at the dance, but who donated more than $100 in the past year. Depending on the response you expect from these first two groups, you may next want to target those names on your list that didn't attend the last dance, but contributed $50 in the last year. You may even want to have a phone follow-up to the first two groups but use the mailing only for the third group.

A properly set up database can provide many benefits for your business or organization. But the usefulness of a database depends entirely on what elements you include in it.

WHAT TO INCLUDE IN THE DATABASE

Depending on your type of business or organization, you will want to include different fields in your database. Later in this report you will see some examples of the fields that are appropriate in specific instances. For all businesses or organizations, though, certain basic information is always necessary.

By including basic information in your database, you ensure that the people or companies on your list are deliverable. That is, the mailings you produce using your list will get where you want them to go - into the hands of the individual who is most likely to respond to your offer.

Basic information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, you will need to include the following fields for each name on your list:

A unique account number.

This number should not be tied into any other information about the customer, for example, phone number or address, since this sort of information may change over time. The account number should never change throughout the life of the customer. A sequential numbering system is simple and effective.

Company name.

Street Address.

Suite number, is necessary

P.O. Box, if necessary.

City

State

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

Job title or name of contact.

Some business mailers maintain the name of the individual within the customer's business or organization. Others simply use the appropriate job title. The alternative you choose will depend on the nature of your business and the amount of turnover associated with the position that is your contact.

Basic Information for Individual (Non-Business) Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you will need to include the following data for each name on the list:

A unique account number.

Individual's name.

Street address or P.O. Box.

Apartment number, is necessary.

City.

State.

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

The basic information listed above is necessary to make sure that the names on your mailing list are mailable. But how do you decide which names are more productive?

Data Elements to Evaluate - Recency, Frequency and Monetary Value

Regardless of whether you're mailing to businesses or individuals, there are three factors - recency, frequency and monetary value - that are commonly used to measure the value of a name.

Recency: Recency refers to the last time that the customer ordered or responded to an offer.

Frequency: Frequency is the number of orders or responses that the customer has made since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

Monetary Value: The monetary value is the amount of money the customer has spent since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

How do these three factors determine the value of a customer (the likelihood he/she will order again)?

• The more recently a customer has ordered from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more often a customer orders from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more money a customer spends with you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  

All three factors - recency, frequency, and monetary value - are considered to be good indicators of whether or not a customer is likely to respond to a future offer. But they are not equal. Recency is thought to be the best indicator, followed by frequency and then monetary value.

In order to use these valuable pieces of information, here are the specific fields you need to maintain on your database:

• For recency: The date of the last transaction with the customer - the date of the customer's last order, purchase or donation.
  
  
• For frequency: The dates of all previous transactions with the customer over a certain period of time.
  
  
• For monetary value: The size (in dollars) of all of the customer's previous purchases or other transactions. (It is also common to maintain the dollar amount of the customer's most recent order as the monetary value indicator.)
  
  

In addition to evaluating the recency, frequency, and monetary worth of your audience, you will probably find that there are many other important ways to analyze the names on your database.

Additional Information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, there is additional descriptive information, some specific to your product or offer, that could be valuable to have.

You might want to consider storing some of the following data elements for each of the names on your database:

Number of employees in the business/organization.

Type of business/organization.

The United States Government four-digit coding system, the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, is commonly used to identify businesses. For example, the codes 5211 through 5999 identify Retailers. Within that category, 5411 is the code for Grocery Stores, 5441 the number for Candy, Nut and Congectionery Stores. The SIC Manual is available through the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

Annual sales volume.

Credit status code

The credit status code could be developed by you, based on the customer's payment history or perhaps obtained from a commercial credit report.

Items ordered from you.

With data in this field, you can select customers for programs designed to get them to reorder an item, or to order complementary or supply items.

Location.

Is it a headquarters, subsidiary, branch, division, etc.? If you are making an offer that requires a decision by someone at the headquarters of a company, you may not want to send it to the branch office (unless there are employees involved in the decision too).

Source of the name.

This field is usually a code representing where you got the name. Assign a unique code for each referral program, publication advertisement, list, etc., you use to get a new name. Assigning a source code to each new customer allowsyou to evaluate the effectiveness of each technique you use to get customers or to collect prospect names.

Additional Information for Individual Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you may want to collect information on the household unit, often the most relevant purchasing unit. Here are some suggestions for demographic information that could be useful to you in analyzing the names on your mailing list.

Household income.

Occupations of household members.

Number of people in the household.

Ages of the members of the household.

Genders of members of the household.

Marital status of members of the household.

Information on property belonging to the household:

• Type of living quarters.
  
  
• Owned or rented living quarters.
  
  
• Number, make, model, etc. of each
  
  automobile.
• Number, make, model, etc. of each major appliance.
  
  

Political affiliation.

Hobbies and leisure time activities.

Now you know the secrets of how a database can turn your mailing list into a valuable asset for your business or organization. You understand what basic fields to include. And you have had an overview of what additional fields might be added to the basic ones that make a list mailable. Be sure to carefully analyze your own needs and to include information that would be of help to you in mailing smarter. In a future report, we will explain the details of how to go about collecting the names for your mailing list, starting with your customer list.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
If you need an online database just email us and let us know. Database prices start at $99.

This article may be used online or off line in publications as long as credit is given to World Wide Information Outlet in the above resource box.

A database is more than a simple list of names and addresses. What turns a list into a database is the additionalinformation, coupled with your ability to select names from or report on the list using any combination of data elements.

In this report, you'll see some examples of the benefits of developing and maintaining a database. Then, the specific information that a database can contain will be detailed.

BENEFITS OF A DATABASE

By maintaining your list as a database, you can segment in many ways for targeting. Targeting improves the productivity of your offers. You can use a database to isolate the segment of your list most likely to respond to a particular offer. With a good database, you're not mass-mailing your offer to parts of your list that may have no interest in it (based on their characteristics). Because the number you're mailing is smaller, your response rate (number responding/number mailed) - one measure of productivity - should be higher. (And, of course, you'll save on printing and postage costs.)

Here are two simple examples of targeting using database information:

You're the owner of a neighborhood beauty salon. For each customer, you keep a record (with dates) of all the services you've provided to that customer. You're planning a special pre-summer promotion on permanent waves for the month of May.

Instead of mailing an announcement of the sale to your entire customer list (many of whom don't have their hair permed), you select only those customers who had a permanent at least three months ago. In this way, you're targeting those customers who are most likely to take advantage of your upcoming sale.

You're the dinner chairperson of a local fund-raising organization. Your mailing list is made up of a wide range of contributors, from those who've donated only a few dollars to those who give annual gifts of thousands of dollars. For each contributor, you maintain a record of all past donations and functions he/she has attended, in addition to basic mailing information.

This year, you're asking for donations of $100 a plate for the annual dinner dance. To get the best response to your invitation, you first target those contributors who were at last year's dinner dance. Then you target those who weren't at the dance, but who donated more than $100 in the past year. Depending on the response you expect from these first two groups, you may next want to target those names on your list that didn't attend the last dance, but contributed $50 in the last year. You may even want to have a phone follow-up to the first two groups but use the mailing only for the third group.

A properly set up database can provide many benefits for your business or organization. But the usefulness of a database depends entirely on what elements you include in it.

WHAT TO INCLUDE IN THE DATABASE

Depending on your type of business or organization, you will want to include different fields in your database. Later in this report you will see some examples of the fields that are appropriate in specific instances. For all businesses or organizations, though, certain basic information is always necessary.

By including basic information in your database, you ensure that the people or companies on your list are deliverable. That is, the mailings you produce using your list will get where you want them to go - into the hands of the individual who is most likely to respond to your offer.

Basic information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, you will need to include the following fields for each name on your list:

A unique account number.

This number should not be tied into any other information about the customer, for example, phone number or address, since this sort of information may change over time. The account number should never change throughout the life of the customer. A sequential numbering system is simple and effective.

Company name.

Street Address.

Suite number, is necessary

P.O. Box, if necessary.

City

State

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

Job title or name of contact.

Some business mailers maintain the name of the individual within the customer's business or organization. Others simply use the appropriate job title. The alternative you choose will depend on the nature of your business and the amount of turnover associated with the position that is your contact.

Basic Information for Individual (Non-Business) Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you will need to include the following data for each name on the list:

A unique account number.

Individual's name.

Street address or P.O. Box.

Apartment number, is necessary.

City.

State.

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

The basic information listed above is necessary to make sure that the names on your mailing list are mailable. But how do you decide which names are more productive?

Data Elements to Evaluate - Recency, Frequency and Monetary Value

Regardless of whether you're mailing to businesses or individuals, there are three factors - recency, frequency and monetary value - that are commonly used to measure the value of a name.

Recency: Recency refers to the last time that the customer ordered or responded to an offer.

Frequency: Frequency is the number of orders or responses that the customer has made since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

Monetary Value: The monetary value is the amount of money the customer has spent since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

How do these three factors determine the value of a customer (the likelihood he/she will order again)?

• The more recently a customer has ordered from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more often a customer orders from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more money a customer spends with you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  

All three factors - recency, frequency, and monetary value - are considered to be good indicators of whether or not a customer is likely to respond to a future offer. But they are not equal. Recency is thought to be the best indicator, followed by frequency and then monetary value.

In order to use these valuable pieces of information, here are the specific fields you need to maintain on your database:

• For recency: The date of the last transaction with the customer - the date of the customer's last order, purchase or donation.
  
  
• For frequency: The dates of all previous transactions with the customer over a certain period of time.
  
  
• For monetary value: The size (in dollars) of all of the customer's previous purchases or other transactions. (It is also common to maintain the dollar amount of the customer's most recent order as the monetary value indicator.)
  
  

In addition to evaluating the recency, frequency, and monetary worth of your audience, you will probably find that there are many other important ways to analyze the names on your database.

Additional Information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, there is additional descriptive information, some specific to your product or offer, that could be valuable to have.

You might want to consider storing some of the following data elements for each of the names on your database:

Number of employees in the business/organization.

Type of business/organization.

The United States Government four-digit coding system, the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, is commonly used to identify businesses. For example, the codes 5211 through 5999 identify Retailers. Within that category, 5411 is the code for Grocery Stores, 5441 the number for Candy, Nut and Congectionery Stores. The SIC Manual is available through the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

Annual sales volume.

Credit status code

The credit status code could be developed by you, based on the customer's payment history or perhaps obtained from a commercial credit report.

Items ordered from you.

With data in this field, you can select customers for programs designed to get them to reorder an item, or to order complementary or supply items.

Location.

Is it a headquarters, subsidiary, branch, division, etc.? If you are making an offer that requires a decision by someone at the headquarters of a company, you may not want to send it to the branch office (unless there are employees involved in the decision too).

Source of the name.

This field is usually a code representing where you got the name. Assign a unique code for each referral program, publication advertisement, list, etc., you use to get a new name. Assigning a source code to each new customer allowsyou to evaluate the effectiveness of each technique you use to get customers or to collect prospect names.

Additional Information for Individual Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you may want to collect information on the household unit, often the most relevant purchasing unit. Here are some suggestions for demographic information that could be useful to you in analyzing the names on your mailing list.

Household income.

Occupations of household members.

Number of people in the household.

Ages of the members of the household.

Genders of members of the household.

Marital status of members of the household.

Information on property belonging to the household:

• Type of living quarters.
  
  
• Owned or rented living quarters.
  
  
• Number, make, model, etc. of each
  
  automobile.
• Number, make, model, etc. of each major appliance.
  
  

Political affiliation.

Hobbies and leisure time activities.

Now you know the secrets of how a database can turn your mailing list into a valuable asset for your business or organization. You understand what basic fields to include. And you have had an overview of what additional fields might be added to the basic ones that make a list mailable. Be sure to carefully analyze your own needs and to include information that would be of help to you in mailing smarter. In a future report, we will explain the details of how to go about collecting the names for your mailing list, starting with your customer list.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
If you need an online database just email us and let us know. Database prices start at $99.

This article may be used online or off line in publications as long as credit is given to World Wide Information Outlet in the above resource box.

A database is more than a simple list of names and addresses. What turns a list into a database is the additionalinformation, coupled with your ability to select names from or report on the list using any combination of data elements.

In this report, you'll see some examples of the benefits of developing and maintaining a database. Then, the specific information that a database can contain will be detailed.

BENEFITS OF A DATABASE

By maintaining your list as a database, you can segment in many ways for targeting. Targeting improves the productivity of your offers. You can use a database to isolate the segment of your list most likely to respond to a particular offer. With a good database, you're not mass-mailing your offer to parts of your list that may have no interest in it (based on their characteristics). Because the number you're mailing is smaller, your response rate (number responding/number mailed) - one measure of productivity - should be higher. (And, of course, you'll save on printing and postage costs.)

Here are two simple examples of targeting using database information:

You're the owner of a neighborhood beauty salon. For each customer, you keep a record (with dates) of all the services you've provided to that customer. You're planning a special pre-summer promotion on permanent waves for the month of May.

Instead of mailing an announcement of the sale to your entire customer list (many of whom don't have their hair permed), you select only those customers who had a permanent at least three months ago. In this way, you're targeting those customers who are most likely to take advantage of your upcoming sale.

You're the dinner chairperson of a local fund-raising organization. Your mailing list is made up of a wide range of contributors, from those who've donated only a few dollars to those who give annual gifts of thousands of dollars. For each contributor, you maintain a record of all past donations and functions he/she has attended, in addition to basic mailing information.

This year, you're asking for donations of $100 a plate for the annual dinner dance. To get the best response to your invitation, you first target those contributors who were at last year's dinner dance. Then you target those who weren't at the dance, but who donated more than $100 in the past year. Depending on the response you expect from these first two groups, you may next want to target those names on your list that didn't attend the last dance, but contributed $50 in the last year. You may even want to have a phone follow-up to the first two groups but use the mailing only for the third group.

A properly set up database can provide many benefits for your business or organization. But the usefulness of a database depends entirely on what elements you include in it.

WHAT TO INCLUDE IN THE DATABASE

Depending on your type of business or organization, you will want to include different fields in your database. Later in this report you will see some examples of the fields that are appropriate in specific instances. For all businesses or organizations, though, certain basic information is always necessary.

By including basic information in your database, you ensure that the people or companies on your list are deliverable. That is, the mailings you produce using your list will get where you want them to go - into the hands of the individual who is most likely to respond to your offer.

Basic information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, you will need to include the following fields for each name on your list:

A unique account number.

This number should not be tied into any other information about the customer, for example, phone number or address, since this sort of information may change over time. The account number should never change throughout the life of the customer. A sequential numbering system is simple and effective.

Company name.

Street Address.

Suite number, is necessary

P.O. Box, if necessary.

City

State

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

Job title or name of contact.

Some business mailers maintain the name of the individual within the customer's business or organization. Others simply use the appropriate job title. The alternative you choose will depend on the nature of your business and the amount of turnover associated with the position that is your contact.

Basic Information for Individual (Non-Business) Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you will need to include the following data for each name on the list:

A unique account number.

Individual's name.

Street address or P.O. Box.

Apartment number, is necessary.

City.

State.

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

The basic information listed above is necessary to make sure that the names on your mailing list are mailable. But how do you decide which names are more productive?

Data Elements to Evaluate - Recency, Frequency and Monetary Value

Regardless of whether you're mailing to businesses or individuals, there are three factors - recency, frequency and monetary value - that are commonly used to measure the value of a name.

Recency: Recency refers to the last time that the customer ordered or responded to an offer.

Frequency: Frequency is the number of orders or responses that the customer has made since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

Monetary Value: The monetary value is the amount of money the customer has spent since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

How do these three factors determine the value of a customer (the likelihood he/she will order again)?

• The more recently a customer has ordered from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more often a customer orders from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more money a customer spends with you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  

All three factors - recency, frequency, and monetary value - are considered to be good indicators of whether or not a customer is likely to respond to a future offer. But they are not equal. Recency is thought to be the best indicator, followed by frequency and then monetary value.

In order to use these valuable pieces of information, here are the specific fields you need to maintain on your database:

• For recency: The date of the last transaction with the customer - the date of the customer's last order, purchase or donation.
  
  
• For frequency: The dates of all previous transactions with the customer over a certain period of time.
  
  
• For monetary value: The size (in dollars) of all of the customer's previous purchases or other transactions. (It is also common to maintain the dollar amount of the customer's most recent order as the monetary value indicator.)
  
  

In addition to evaluating the recency, frequency, and monetary worth of your audience, you will probably find that there are many other important ways to analyze the names on your database.

Additional Information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, there is additional descriptive information, some specific to your product or offer, that could be valuable to have.

You might want to consider storing some of the following data elements for each of the names on your database:

Number of employees in the business/organization.

Type of business/organization.

The United States Government four-digit coding system, the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, is commonly used to identify businesses. For example, the codes 5211 through 5999 identify Retailers. Within that category, 5411 is the code for Grocery Stores, 5441 the number for Candy, Nut and Congectionery Stores. The SIC Manual is available through the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

Annual sales volume.

Credit status code

The credit status code could be developed by you, based on the customer's payment history or perhaps obtained from a commercial credit report.

Items ordered from you.

With data in this field, you can select customers for programs designed to get them to reorder an item, or to order complementary or supply items.

Location.

Is it a headquarters, subsidiary, branch, division, etc.? If you are making an offer that requires a decision by someone at the headquarters of a company, you may not want to send it to the branch office (unless there are employees involved in the decision too).

Source of the name.

This field is usually a code representing where you got the name. Assign a unique code for each referral program, publication advertisement, list, etc., you use to get a new name. Assigning a source code to each new customer allowsyou to evaluate the effectiveness of each technique you use to get customers or to collect prospect names.

Additional Information for Individual Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you may want to collect information on the household unit, often the most relevant purchasing unit. Here are some suggestions for demographic information that could be useful to you in analyzing the names on your mailing list.

Household income.

Occupations of household members.

Number of people in the household.

Ages of the members of the household.

Genders of members of the household.

Marital status of members of the household.

Information on property belonging to the household:

• Type of living quarters.
  
  
• Owned or rented living quarters.
  
  
• Number, make, model, etc. of each
  
  automobile.
• Number, make, model, etc. of each major appliance.
  
  

Political affiliation.

Hobbies and leisure time activities.

Now you know the secrets of how a database can turn your mailing list into a valuable asset for your business or organization. You understand what basic fields to include. And you have had an overview of what additional fields might be added to the basic ones that make a list mailable. Be sure to carefully analyze your own needs and to include information that would be of help to you in mailing smarter. In a future report, we will explain the details of how to go about collecting the names for your mailing list, starting with your customer list.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
If you need an online database just email us and let us know. Database prices start at $99.

This article may be used online or off line in publications as long as credit is given to World Wide Information Outlet in the above resource box.

A database is more than a simple list of names and addresses. What turns a list into a database is the additionalinformation, coupled with your ability to select names from or report on the list using any combination of data elements.

In this report, you'll see some examples of the benefits of developing and maintaining a database. Then, the specific information that a database can contain will be detailed.

BENEFITS OF A DATABASE

By maintaining your list as a database, you can segment in many ways for targeting. Targeting improves the productivity of your offers. You can use a database to isolate the segment of your list most likely to respond to a particular offer. With a good database, you're not mass-mailing your offer to parts of your list that may have no interest in it (based on their characteristics). Because the number you're mailing is smaller, your response rate (number responding/number mailed) - one measure of productivity - should be higher. (And, of course, you'll save on printing and postage costs.)

Here are two simple examples of targeting using database information:

You're the owner of a neighborhood beauty salon. For each customer, you keep a record (with dates) of all the services you've provided to that customer. You're planning a special pre-summer promotion on permanent waves for the month of May.

Instead of mailing an announcement of the sale to your entire customer list (many of whom don't have their hair permed), you select only those customers who had a permanent at least three months ago. In this way, you're targeting those customers who are most likely to take advantage of your upcoming sale.

You're the dinner chairperson of a local fund-raising organization. Your mailing list is made up of a wide range of contributors, from those who've donated only a few dollars to those who give annual gifts of thousands of dollars. For each contributor, you maintain a record of all past donations and functions he/she has attended, in addition to basic mailing information.

This year, you're asking for donations of $100 a plate for the annual dinner dance. To get the best response to your invitation, you first target those contributors who were at last year's dinner dance. Then you target those who weren't at the dance, but who donated more than $100 in the past year. Depending on the response you expect from these first two groups, you may next want to target those names on your list that didn't attend the last dance, but contributed $50 in the last year. You may even want to have a phone follow-up to the first two groups but use the mailing only for the third group.

A properly set up database can provide many benefits for your business or organization. But the usefulness of a database depends entirely on what elements you include in it.

WHAT TO INCLUDE IN THE DATABASE

Depending on your type of business or organization, you will want to include different fields in your database. Later in this report you will see some examples of the fields that are appropriate in specific instances. For all businesses or organizations, though, certain basic information is always necessary.

By including basic information in your database, you ensure that the people or companies on your list are deliverable. That is, the mailings you produce using your list will get where you want them to go - into the hands of the individual who is most likely to respond to your offer.

Basic information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, you will need to include the following fields for each name on your list:

A unique account number.

This number should not be tied into any other information about the customer, for example, phone number or address, since this sort of information may change over time. The account number should never change throughout the life of the customer. A sequential numbering system is simple and effective.

Company name.

Street Address.

Suite number, is necessary

P.O. Box, if necessary.

City

State

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

Job title or name of contact.

Some business mailers maintain the name of the individual within the customer's business or organization. Others simply use the appropriate job title. The alternative you choose will depend on the nature of your business and the amount of turnover associated with the position that is your contact.

Basic Information for Individual (Non-Business) Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you will need to include the following data for each name on the list:

A unique account number.

Individual's name.

Street address or P.O. Box.

Apartment number, is necessary.

City.

State.

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

The basic information listed above is necessary to make sure that the names on your mailing list are mailable. But how do you decide which names are more productive?

Data Elements to Evaluate - Recency, Frequency and Monetary Value

Regardless of whether you're mailing to businesses or individuals, there are three factors - recency, frequency and monetary value - that are commonly used to measure the value of a name.

Recency: Recency refers to the last time that the customer ordered or responded to an offer.

Frequency: Frequency is the number of orders or responses that the customer has made since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

Monetary Value: The monetary value is the amount of money the customer has spent since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

How do these three factors determine the value of a customer (the likelihood he/she will order again)?

• The more recently a customer has ordered from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more often a customer orders from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more money a customer spends with you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  

All three factors - recency, frequency, and monetary value - are considered to be good indicators of whether or not a customer is likely to respond to a future offer. But they are not equal. Recency is thought to be the best indicator, followed by frequency and then monetary value.

In order to use these valuable pieces of information, here are the specific fields you need to maintain on your database:

• For recency: The date of the last transaction with the customer - the date of the customer's last order, purchase or donation.
  
  
• For frequency: The dates of all previous transactions with the customer over a certain period of time.
  
  
• For monetary value: The size (in dollars) of all of the customer's previous purchases or other transactions. (It is also common to maintain the dollar amount of the customer's most recent order as the monetary value indicator.)
  
  

In addition to evaluating the recency, frequency, and monetary worth of your audience, you will probably find that there are many other important ways to analyze the names on your database.

Additional Information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, there is additional descriptive information, some specific to your product or offer, that could be valuable to have.

You might want to consider storing some of the following data elements for each of the names on your database:

Number of employees in the business/organization.

Type of business/organization.

The United States Government four-digit coding system, the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, is commonly used to identify businesses. For example, the codes 5211 through 5999 identify Retailers. Within that category, 5411 is the code for Grocery Stores, 5441 the number for Candy, Nut and Congectionery Stores. The SIC Manual is available through the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

Annual sales volume.

Credit status code

The credit status code could be developed by you, based on the customer's payment history or perhaps obtained from a commercial credit report.

Items ordered from you.

With data in this field, you can select customers for programs designed to get them to reorder an item, or to order complementary or supply items.

Location.

Is it a headquarters, subsidiary, branch, division, etc.? If you are making an offer that requires a decision by someone at the headquarters of a company, you may not want to send it to the branch office (unless there are employees involved in the decision too).

Source of the name.

This field is usually a code representing where you got the name. Assign a unique code for each referral program, publication advertisement, list, etc., you use to get a new name. Assigning a source code to each new customer allowsyou to evaluate the effectiveness of each technique you use to get customers or to collect prospect names.

Additional Information for Individual Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you may want to collect information on the household unit, often the most relevant purchasing unit. Here are some suggestions for demographic information that could be useful to you in analyzing the names on your mailing list.

Household income.

Occupations of household members.

Number of people in the household.

Ages of the members of the household.

Genders of members of the household.

Marital status of members of the household.

Information on property belonging to the household:

• Type of living quarters.
  
  
• Owned or rented living quarters.
  
  
• Number, make, model, etc. of each
  
  automobile.
• Number, make, model, etc. of each major appliance.
  
  

Political affiliation.

Hobbies and leisure time activities.

Now you know the secrets of how a database can turn your mailing list into a valuable asset for your business or organization. You understand what basic fields to include. And you have had an overview of what additional fields might be added to the basic ones that make a list mailable. Be sure to carefully analyze your own needs and to include information that would be of help to you in mailing smarter. In a future report, we will explain the details of how to go about collecting the names for your mailing list, starting with your customer list.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
If you need an online database just email us and let us know. Database prices start at $99.

This article may be used online or off line in publications as long as credit is given to World Wide Information Outlet in the above resource box.

A database is more than a simple list of names and addresses. What turns a list into a database is the additionalinformation, coupled with your ability to select names from or report on the list using any combination of data elements.

In this report, you'll see some examples of the benefits of developing and maintaining a database. Then, the specific information that a database can contain will be detailed.

BENEFITS OF A DATABASE

By maintaining your list as a database, you can segment in many ways for targeting. Targeting improves the productivity of your offers. You can use a database to isolate the segment of your list most likely to respond to a particular offer. With a good database, you're not mass-mailing your offer to parts of your list that may have no interest in it (based on their characteristics). Because the number you're mailing is smaller, your response rate (number responding/number mailed) - one measure of productivity - should be higher. (And, of course, you'll save on printing and postage costs.)

Here are two simple examples of targeting using database information:

You're the owner of a neighborhood beauty salon. For each customer, you keep a record (with dates) of all the services you've provided to that customer. You're planning a special pre-summer promotion on permanent waves for the month of May.

Instead of mailing an announcement of the sale to your entire customer list (many of whom don't have their hair permed), you select only those customers who had a permanent at least three months ago. In this way, you're targeting those customers who are most likely to take advantage of your upcoming sale.

You're the dinner chairperson of a local fund-raising organization. Your mailing list is made up of a wide range of contributors, from those who've donated only a few dollars to those who give annual gifts of thousands of dollars. For each contributor, you maintain a record of all past donations and functions he/she has attended, in addition to basic mailing information.

This year, you're asking for donations of $100 a plate for the annual dinner dance. To get the best response to your invitation, you first target those contributors who were at last year's dinner dance. Then you target those who weren't at the dance, but who donated more than $100 in the past year. Depending on the response you expect from these first two groups, you may next want to target those names on your list that didn't attend the last dance, but contributed $50 in the last year. You may even want to have a phone follow-up to the first two groups but use the mailing only for the third group.

A properly set up database can provide many benefits for your business or organization. But the usefulness of a database depends entirely on what elements you include in it.

WHAT TO INCLUDE IN THE DATABASE

Depending on your type of business or organization, you will want to include different fields in your database. Later in this report you will see some examples of the fields that are appropriate in specific instances. For all businesses or organizations, though, certain basic information is always necessary.

By including basic information in your database, you ensure that the people or companies on your list are deliverable. That is, the mailings you produce using your list will get where you want them to go - into the hands of the individual who is most likely to respond to your offer.

Basic information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, you will need to include the following fields for each name on your list:

A unique account number.

This number should not be tied into any other information about the customer, for example, phone number or address, since this sort of information may change over time. The account number should never change throughout the life of the customer. A sequential numbering system is simple and effective.

Company name.

Street Address.

Suite number, is necessary

P.O. Box, if necessary.

City

State

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

Job title or name of contact.

Some business mailers maintain the name of the individual within the customer's business or organization. Others simply use the appropriate job title. The alternative you choose will depend on the nature of your business and the amount of turnover associated with the position that is your contact.

Basic Information for Individual (Non-Business) Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you will need to include the following data for each name on the list:

A unique account number.

Individual's name.

Street address or P.O. Box.

Apartment number, is necessary.

City.

State.

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

The basic information listed above is necessary to make sure that the names on your mailing list are mailable. But how do you decide which names are more productive?

Data Elements to Evaluate - Recency, Frequency and Monetary Value

Regardless of whether you're mailing to businesses or individuals, there are three factors - recency, frequency and monetary value - that are commonly used to measure the value of a name.

Recency: Recency refers to the last time that the customer ordered or responded to an offer.

Frequency: Frequency is the number of orders or responses that the customer has made since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

Monetary Value: The monetary value is the amount of money the customer has spent since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

How do these three factors determine the value of a customer (the likelihood he/she will order again)?

• The more recently a customer has ordered from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more often a customer orders from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more money a customer spends with you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  

All three factors - recency, frequency, and monetary value - are considered to be good indicators of whether or not a customer is likely to respond to a future offer. But they are not equal. Recency is thought to be the best indicator, followed by frequency and then monetary value.

In order to use these valuable pieces of information, here are the specific fields you need to maintain on your database:

• For recency: The date of the last transaction with the customer - the date of the customer's last order, purchase or donation.
  
  
• For frequency: The dates of all previous transactions with the customer over a certain period of time.
  
  
• For monetary value: The size (in dollars) of all of the customer's previous purchases or other transactions. (It is also common to maintain the dollar amount of the customer's most recent order as the monetary value indicator.)
  
  

In addition to evaluating the recency, frequency, and monetary worth of your audience, you will probably find that there are many other important ways to analyze the names on your database.

Additional Information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, there is additional descriptive information, some specific to your product or offer, that could be valuable to have.

You might want to consider storing some of the following data elements for each of the names on your database:

Number of employees in the business/organization.

Type of business/organization.

The United States Government four-digit coding system, the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, is commonly used to identify businesses. For example, the codes 5211 through 5999 identify Retailers. Within that category, 5411 is the code for Grocery Stores, 5441 the number for Candy, Nut and Congectionery Stores. The SIC Manual is available through the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

Annual sales volume.

Credit status code

The credit status code could be developed by you, based on the customer's payment history or perhaps obtained from a commercial credit report.

Items ordered from you.

With data in this field, you can select customers for programs designed to get them to reorder an item, or to order complementary or supply items.

Location.

Is it a headquarters, subsidiary, branch, division, etc.? If you are making an offer that requires a decision by someone at the headquarters of a company, you may not want to send it to the branch office (unless there are employees involved in the decision too).

Source of the name.

This field is usually a code representing where you got the name. Assign a unique code for each referral program, publication advertisement, list, etc., you use to get a new name. Assigning a source code to each new customer allowsyou to evaluate the effectiveness of each technique you use to get customers or to collect prospect names.

Additional Information for Individual Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you may want to collect information on the household unit, often the most relevant purchasing unit. Here are some suggestions for demographic information that could be useful to you in analyzing the names on your mailing list.

Household income.

Occupations of household members.

Number of people in the household.

Ages of the members of the household.

Genders of members of the household.

Marital status of members of the household.

Information on property belonging to the household:

• Type of living quarters.
  
  
• Owned or rented living quarters.
  
  
• Number, make, model, etc. of each
  
  automobile.
• Number, make, model, etc. of each major appliance.
  
  

Political affiliation.

Hobbies and leisure time activities.

Now you know the secrets of how a database can turn your mailing list into a valuable asset for your business or organization. You understand what basic fields to include. And you have had an overview of what additional fields might be added to the basic ones that make a list mailable. Be sure to carefully analyze your own needs and to include information that would be of help to you in mailing smarter. In a future report, we will explain the details of how to go about collecting the names for your mailing list, starting with your customer list.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
If you need an online database just email us and let us know. Database prices start at $99.

This article may be used online or off line in publications as long as credit is given to World Wide Information Outlet in the above resource box.

A database is more than a simple list of names and addresses. What turns a list into a database is the additionalinformation, coupled with your ability to select names from or report on the list using any combination of data elements.

In this report, you'll see some examples of the benefits of developing and maintaining a database. Then, the specific information that a database can contain will be detailed.

BENEFITS OF A DATABASE

By maintaining your list as a database, you can segment in many ways for targeting. Targeting improves the productivity of your offers. You can use a database to isolate the segment of your list most likely to respond to a particular offer. With a good database, you're not mass-mailing your offer to parts of your list that may have no interest in it (based on their characteristics). Because the number you're mailing is smaller, your response rate (number responding/number mailed) - one measure of productivity - should be higher. (And, of course, you'll save on printing and postage costs.)

Here are two simple examples of targeting using database information:

You're the owner of a neighborhood beauty salon. For each customer, you keep a record (with dates) of all the services you've provided to that customer. You're planning a special pre-summer promotion on permanent waves for the month of May.

Instead of mailing an announcement of the sale to your entire customer list (many of whom don't have their hair permed), you select only those customers who had a permanent at least three months ago. In this way, you're targeting those customers who are most likely to take advantage of your upcoming sale.

You're the dinner chairperson of a local fund-raising organization. Your mailing list is made up of a wide range of contributors, from those who've donated only a few dollars to those who give annual gifts of thousands of dollars. For each contributor, you maintain a record of all past donations and functions he/she has attended, in addition to basic mailing information.

This year, you're asking for donations of $100 a plate for the annual dinner dance. To get the best response to your invitation, you first target those contributors who were at last year's dinner dance. Then you target those who weren't at the dance, but who donated more than $100 in the past year. Depending on the response you expect from these first two groups, you may next want to target those names on your list that didn't attend the last dance, but contributed $50 in the last year. You may even want to have a phone follow-up to the first two groups but use the mailing only for the third group.

A properly set up database can provide many benefits for your business or organization. But the usefulness of a database depends entirely on what elements you include in it.

WHAT TO INCLUDE IN THE DATABASE

Depending on your type of business or organization, you will want to include different fields in your database. Later in this report you will see some examples of the fields that are appropriate in specific instances. For all businesses or organizations, though, certain basic information is always necessary.

By including basic information in your database, you ensure that the people or companies on your list are deliverable. That is, the mailings you produce using your list will get where you want them to go - into the hands of the individual who is most likely to respond to your offer.

Basic information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, you will need to include the following fields for each name on your list:

A unique account number.

This number should not be tied into any other information about the customer, for example, phone number or address, since this sort of information may change over time. The account number should never change throughout the life of the customer. A sequential numbering system is simple and effective.

Company name.

Street Address.

Suite number, is necessary

P.O. Box, if necessary.

City

State

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

Job title or name of contact.

Some business mailers maintain the name of the individual within the customer's business or organization. Others simply use the appropriate job title. The alternative you choose will depend on the nature of your business and the amount of turnover associated with the position that is your contact.

Basic Information for Individual (Non-Business) Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you will need to include the following data for each name on the list:

A unique account number.

Individual's name.

Street address or P.O. Box.

Apartment number, is necessary.

City.

State.

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

The basic information listed above is necessary to make sure that the names on your mailing list are mailable. But how do you decide which names are more productive?

Data Elements to Evaluate - Recency, Frequency and Monetary Value

Regardless of whether you're mailing to businesses or individuals, there are three factors - recency, frequency and monetary value - that are commonly used to measure the value of a name.

Recency: Recency refers to the last time that the customer ordered or responded to an offer.

Frequency: Frequency is the number of orders or responses that the customer has made since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

Monetary Value: The monetary value is the amount of money the customer has spent since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

How do these three factors determine the value of a customer (the likelihood he/she will order again)?

• The more recently a customer has ordered from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more often a customer orders from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more money a customer spends with you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  

All three factors - recency, frequency, and monetary value - are considered to be good indicators of whether or not a customer is likely to respond to a future offer. But they are not equal. Recency is thought to be the best indicator, followed by frequency and then monetary value.

In order to use these valuable pieces of information, here are the specific fields you need to maintain on your database:

• For recency: The date of the last transaction with the customer - the date of the customer's last order, purchase or donation.
  
  
• For frequency: The dates of all previous transactions with the customer over a certain period of time.
  
  
• For monetary value: The size (in dollars) of all of the customer's previous purchases or other transactions. (It is also common to maintain the dollar amount of the customer's most recent order as the monetary value indicator.)
  
  

In addition to evaluating the recency, frequency, and monetary worth of your audience, you will probably find that there are many other important ways to analyze the names on your database.

Additional Information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, there is additional descriptive information, some specific to your product or offer, that could be valuable to have.

You might want to consider storing some of the following data elements for each of the names on your database:

Number of employees in the business/organization.

Type of business/organization.

The United States Government four-digit coding system, the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, is commonly used to identify businesses. For example, the codes 5211 through 5999 identify Retailers. Within that category, 5411 is the code for Grocery Stores, 5441 the number for Candy, Nut and Congectionery Stores. The SIC Manual is available through the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

Annual sales volume.

Credit status code

The credit status code could be developed by you, based on the customer's payment history or perhaps obtained from a commercial credit report.

Items ordered from you.

With data in this field, you can select customers for programs designed to get them to reorder an item, or to order complementary or supply items.

Location.

Is it a headquarters, subsidiary, branch, division, etc.? If you are making an offer that requires a decision by someone at the headquarters of a company, you may not want to send it to the branch office (unless there are employees involved in the decision too).

Source of the name.

This field is usually a code representing where you got the name. Assign a unique code for each referral program, publication advertisement, list, etc., you use to get a new name. Assigning a source code to each new customer allowsyou to evaluate the effectiveness of each technique you use to get customers or to collect prospect names.

Additional Information for Individual Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you may want to collect information on the household unit, often the most relevant purchasing unit. Here are some suggestions for demographic information that could be useful to you in analyzing the names on your mailing list.

Household income.

Occupations of household members.

Number of people in the household.

Ages of the members of the household.

Genders of members of the household.

Marital status of members of the household.

Information on property belonging to the household:

• Type of living quarters.
  
  
• Owned or rented living quarters.
  
  
• Number, make, model, etc. of each
  
  automobile.
• Number, make, model, etc. of each major appliance.
  
  

Political affiliation.

Hobbies and leisure time activities.

Now you know the secrets of how a database can turn your mailing list into a valuable asset for your business or organization. You understand what basic fields to include. And you have had an overview of what additional fields might be added to the basic ones that make a list mailable. Be sure to carefully analyze your own needs and to include information that would be of help to you in mailing smarter. In a future report, we will explain the details of how to go about collecting the names for your mailing list, starting with your customer list.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
If you need an online database just email us and let us know. Database prices start at $99.

This article may be used online or off line in publications as long as credit is given to World Wide Information Outlet in the above resource box.

A database is more than a simple list of names and addresses. What turns a list into a database is the additionalinformation, coupled with your ability to select names from or report on the list using any combination of data elements.

In this report, you'll see some examples of the benefits of developing and maintaining a database. Then, the specific information that a database can contain will be detailed.

BENEFITS OF A DATABASE

By maintaining your list as a database, you can segment in many ways for targeting. Targeting improves the productivity of your offers. You can use a database to isolate the segment of your list most likely to respond to a particular offer. With a good database, you're not mass-mailing your offer to parts of your list that may have no interest in it (based on their characteristics). Because the number you're mailing is smaller, your response rate (number responding/number mailed) - one measure of productivity - should be higher. (And, of course, you'll save on printing and postage costs.)

Here are two simple examples of targeting using database information:

You're the owner of a neighborhood beauty salon. For each customer, you keep a record (with dates) of all the services you've provided to that customer. You're planning a special pre-summer promotion on permanent waves for the month of May.

Instead of mailing an announcement of the sale to your entire customer list (many of whom don't have their hair permed), you select only those customers who had a permanent at least three months ago. In this way, you're targeting those customers who are most likely to take advantage of your upcoming sale.

You're the dinner chairperson of a local fund-raising organization. Your mailing list is made up of a wide range of contributors, from those who've donated only a few dollars to those who give annual gifts of thousands of dollars. For each contributor, you maintain a record of all past donations and functions he/she has attended, in addition to basic mailing information.

This year, you're asking for donations of $100 a plate for the annual dinner dance. To get the best response to your invitation, you first target those contributors who were at last year's dinner dance. Then you target those who weren't at the dance, but who donated more than $100 in the past year. Depending on the response you expect from these first two groups, you may next want to target those names on your list that didn't attend the last dance, but contributed $50 in the last year. You may even want to have a phone follow-up to the first two groups but use the mailing only for the third group.

A properly set up database can provide many benefits for your business or organization. But the usefulness of a database depends entirely on what elements you include in it.

WHAT TO INCLUDE IN THE DATABASE

Depending on your type of business or organization, you will want to include different fields in your database. Later in this report you will see some examples of the fields that are appropriate in specific instances. For all businesses or organizations, though, certain basic information is always necessary.

By including basic information in your database, you ensure that the people or companies on your list are deliverable. That is, the mailings you produce using your list will get where you want them to go - into the hands of the individual who is most likely to respond to your offer.

Basic information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, you will need to include the following fields for each name on your list:

A unique account number.

This number should not be tied into any other information about the customer, for example, phone number or address, since this sort of information may change over time. The account number should never change throughout the life of the customer. A sequential numbering system is simple and effective.

Company name.

Street Address.

Suite number, is necessary

P.O. Box, if necessary.

City

State

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

Job title or name of contact.

Some business mailers maintain the name of the individual within the customer's business or organization. Others simply use the appropriate job title. The alternative you choose will depend on the nature of your business and the amount of turnover associated with the position that is your contact.

Basic Information for Individual (Non-Business) Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you will need to include the following data for each name on the list:

A unique account number.

Individual's name.

Street address or P.O. Box.

Apartment number, is necessary.

City.

State.

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

The basic information listed above is necessary to make sure that the names on your mailing list are mailable. But how do you decide which names are more productive?

Data Elements to Evaluate - Recency, Frequency and Monetary Value

Regardless of whether you're mailing to businesses or individuals, there are three factors - recency, frequency and monetary value - that are commonly used to measure the value of a name.

Recency: Recency refers to the last time that the customer ordered or responded to an offer.

Frequency: Frequency is the number of orders or responses that the customer has made since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

Monetary Value: The monetary value is the amount of money the customer has spent since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

How do these three factors determine the value of a customer (the likelihood he/she will order again)?

• The more recently a customer has ordered from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more often a customer orders from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more money a customer spends with you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  

All three factors - recency, frequency, and monetary value - are considered to be good indicators of whether or not a customer is likely to respond to a future offer. But they are not equal. Recency is thought to be the best indicator, followed by frequency and then monetary value.

In order to use these valuable pieces of information, here are the specific fields you need to maintain on your database:

• For recency: The date of the last transaction with the customer - the date of the customer's last order, purchase or donation.
  
  
• For frequency: The dates of all previous transactions with the customer over a certain period of time.
  
  
• For monetary value: The size (in dollars) of all of the customer's previous purchases or other transactions. (It is also common to maintain the dollar amount of the customer's most recent order as the monetary value indicator.)
  
  

In addition to evaluating the recency, frequency, and monetary worth of your audience, you will probably find that there are many other important ways to analyze the names on your database.

Additional Information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, there is additional descriptive information, some specific to your product or offer, that could be valuable to have.

You might want to consider storing some of the following data elements for each of the names on your database:

Number of employees in the business/organization.

Type of business/organization.

The United States Government four-digit coding system, the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, is commonly used to identify businesses. For example, the codes 5211 through 5999 identify Retailers. Within that category, 5411 is the code for Grocery Stores, 5441 the number for Candy, Nut and Congectionery Stores. The SIC Manual is available through the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

Annual sales volume.

Credit status code

The credit status code could be developed by you, based on the customer's payment history or perhaps obtained from a commercial credit report.

Items ordered from you.

With data in this field, you can select customers for programs designed to get them to reorder an item, or to order complementary or supply items.

Location.

Is it a headquarters, subsidiary, branch, division, etc.? If you are making an offer that requires a decision by someone at the headquarters of a company, you may not want to send it to the branch office (unless there are employees involved in the decision too).

Source of the name.

This field is usually a code representing where you got the name. Assign a unique code for each referral program, publication advertisement, list, etc., you use to get a new name. Assigning a source code to each new customer allowsyou to evaluate the effectiveness of each technique you use to get customers or to collect prospect names.

Additional Information for Individual Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you may want to collect information on the household unit, often the most relevant purchasing unit. Here are some suggestions for demographic information that could be useful to you in analyzing the names on your mailing list.

Household income.

Occupations of household members.

Number of people in the household.

Ages of the members of the household.

Genders of members of the household.

Marital status of members of the household.

Information on property belonging to the household:

• Type of living quarters.
  
  
• Owned or rented living quarters.
  
  
• Number, make, model, etc. of each
  
  automobile.
• Number, make, model, etc. of each major appliance.
  
  

Political affiliation.

Hobbies and leisure time activities.

Now you know the secrets of how a database can turn your mailing list into a valuable asset for your business or organization. You understand what basic fields to include. And you have had an overview of what additional fields might be added to the basic ones that make a list mailable. Be sure to carefully analyze your own needs and to include information that would be of help to you in mailing smarter. In a future report, we will explain the details of how to go about collecting the names for your mailing list, starting with your customer list.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
If you need an online database just email us and let us know. Database prices start at $99.

This article may be used online or off line in publications as long as credit is given to World Wide Information Outlet in the above resource box.

A database is more than a simple list of names and addresses. What turns a list into a database is the additionalinformation, coupled with your ability to select names from or report on the list using any combination of data elements.

In this report, you'll see some examples of the benefits of developing and maintaining a database. Then, the specific information that a database can contain will be detailed.

BENEFITS OF A DATABASE

By maintaining your list as a database, you can segment in many ways for targeting. Targeting improves the productivity of your offers. You can use a database to isolate the segment of your list most likely to respond to a particular offer. With a good database, you're not mass-mailing your offer to parts of your list that may have no interest in it (based on their characteristics). Because the number you're mailing is smaller, your response rate (number responding/number mailed) - one measure of productivity - should be higher. (And, of course, you'll save on printing and postage costs.)

Here are two simple examples of targeting using database information:

You're the owner of a neighborhood beauty salon. For each customer, you keep a record (with dates) of all the services you've provided to that customer. You're planning a special pre-summer promotion on permanent waves for the month of May.

Instead of mailing an announcement of the sale to your entire customer list (many of whom don't have their hair permed), you select only those customers who had a permanent at least three months ago. In this way, you're targeting those customers who are most likely to take advantage of your upcoming sale.

You're the dinner chairperson of a local fund-raising organization. Your mailing list is made up of a wide range of contributors, from those who've donated only a few dollars to those who give annual gifts of thousands of dollars. For each contributor, you maintain a record of all past donations and functions he/she has attended, in addition to basic mailing information.

This year, you're asking for donations of $100 a plate for the annual dinner dance. To get the best response to your invitation, you first target those contributors who were at last year's dinner dance. Then you target those who weren't at the dance, but who donated more than $100 in the past year. Depending on the response you expect from these first two groups, you may next want to target those names on your list that didn't attend the last dance, but contributed $50 in the last year. You may even want to have a phone follow-up to the first two groups but use the mailing only for the third group.

A properly set up database can provide many benefits for your business or organization. But the usefulness of a database depends entirely on what elements you include in it.

WHAT TO INCLUDE IN THE DATABASE

Depending on your type of business or organization, you will want to include different fields in your database. Later in this report you will see some examples of the fields that are appropriate in specific instances. For all businesses or organizations, though, certain basic information is always necessary.

By including basic information in your database, you ensure that the people or companies on your list are deliverable. That is, the mailings you produce using your list will get where you want them to go - into the hands of the individual who is most likely to respond to your offer.

Basic information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, you will need to include the following fields for each name on your list:

A unique account number.

This number should not be tied into any other information about the customer, for example, phone number or address, since this sort of information may change over time. The account number should never change throughout the life of the customer. A sequential numbering system is simple and effective.

Company name.

Street Address.

Suite number, is necessary

P.O. Box, if necessary.

City

State

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

Job title or name of contact.

Some business mailers maintain the name of the individual within the customer's business or organization. Others simply use the appropriate job title. The alternative you choose will depend on the nature of your business and the amount of turnover associated with the position that is your contact.

Basic Information for Individual (Non-Business) Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you will need to include the following data for each name on the list:

A unique account number.

Individual's name.

Street address or P.O. Box.

Apartment number, is necessary.

City.

State.

Zip Code, five or nine digit.

Phone number (with area code).

The basic information listed above is necessary to make sure that the names on your mailing list are mailable. But how do you decide which names are more productive?

Data Elements to Evaluate - Recency, Frequency and Monetary Value

Regardless of whether you're mailing to businesses or individuals, there are three factors - recency, frequency and monetary value - that are commonly used to measure the value of a name.

Recency: Recency refers to the last time that the customer ordered or responded to an offer.

Frequency: Frequency is the number of orders or responses that the customer has made since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

Monetary Value: The monetary value is the amount of money the customer has spent since becoming a customer (or during the last year or other specified time period).

How do these three factors determine the value of a customer (the likelihood he/she will order again)?

• The more recently a customer has ordered from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more often a customer orders from you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  
• The more money a customer spends with you, the more likely he/she will be to respond to your next offer.
  
  

All three factors - recency, frequency, and monetary value - are considered to be good indicators of whether or not a customer is likely to respond to a future offer. But they are not equal. Recency is thought to be the best indicator, followed by frequency and then monetary value.

In order to use these valuable pieces of information, here are the specific fields you need to maintain on your database:

• For recency: The date of the last transaction with the customer - the date of the customer's last order, purchase or donation.
  
  
• For frequency: The dates of all previous transactions with the customer over a certain period of time.
  
  
• For monetary value: The size (in dollars) of all of the customer's previous purchases or other transactions. (It is also common to maintain the dollar amount of the customer's most recent order as the monetary value indicator.)
  
  

In addition to evaluating the recency, frequency, and monetary worth of your audience, you will probably find that there are many other important ways to analyze the names on your database.

Additional Information for Business Audiences

If your audience is made up of businesses, there is additional descriptive information, some specific to your product or offer, that could be valuable to have.

You might want to consider storing some of the following data elements for each of the names on your database:

Number of employees in the business/organization.

Type of business/organization.

The United States Government four-digit coding system, the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, is commonly used to identify businesses. For example, the codes 5211 through 5999 identify Retailers. Within that category, 5411 is the code for Grocery Stores, 5441 the number for Candy, Nut and Congectionery Stores. The SIC Manual is available through the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402.

Annual sales volume.

Credit status code

The credit status code could be developed by you, based on the customer's payment history or perhaps obtained from a commercial credit report.

Items ordered from you.

With data in this field, you can select customers for programs designed to get them to reorder an item, or to order complementary or supply items.

Location.

Is it a headquarters, subsidiary, branch, division, etc.? If you are making an offer that requires a decision by someone at the headquarters of a company, you may not want to send it to the branch office (unless there are employees involved in the decision too).

Source of the name.

This field is usually a code representing where you got the name. Assign a unique code for each referral program, publication advertisement, list, etc., you use to get a new name. Assigning a source code to each new customer allowsyou to evaluate the effectiveness of each technique you use to get customers or to collect prospect names.

Additional Information for Individual Audiences

If your audience is made up of individuals, you may want to collect information on the household unit, often the most relevant purchasing unit. Here are some suggestions for demographic information that could be useful to you in analyzing the names on your mailing list.

Household income.

Occupations of household members.

Number of people in the household.

Ages of the members of the household.

Genders of members of the household.

Marital status of members of the household.

Information on property belonging to the household:

• Type of living quarters.
  
  
• Owned or rented living quarters.
  
  
• Number, make, model, etc. of each
  
  automobile.
• Number, make, model, etc. of each major appliance.
  
  

Political affiliation.

Hobbies and leisure time activities.

Now you know the secrets of how a database can turn your mailing list into a valuable asset for your business or organization. You understand what basic fields to include. And you have had an overview of what additional fields might be added to the basic ones that make a list mailable. Be sure to carefully analyze your own needs and to include information that would be of help to you in mailing smarter. In a future report, we will explain the details of how to go about collecting the names for your mailing list, starting with your customer list.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
If you need an online database just email us and let us know. Database prices start at $99.

This article may be used online or off line in publications as long as credit is given to World Wide Information Outlet in the above resource box.

60 Second Window #26 Color at a price...None
Fred Showker

Newsletter tips beyond computers and software...

As we've said many times before, publishing a newsletter can be one of your best marketing activities.

For most however, the cost of adding a second or spot color to each issue of a newsletter can be prohibitive. This requires a second plate and in most cases a second press run.

Newsletters in the four to twelve page range can enjoy an additional color at very little per-issue cost by printing a year's supply of lanks in advance. Plan your year, or perhaps the next nine months, into the budget to cover the initial cost.

Design your blank with a color masthead, logo, tint boxes, or page graphics, leaving the body blank to be imprinted with each new month's text and graphics. (In the old days we called this a dough-nut!) Design carefully though, your color elements must remain the same for each issue. Make arrangements well in advance so your printer can print at his convenience, and when the color you want happens to be on the press for another job. You can probably make him happy, and get a little off the job if you ask what colors are coming up soon for other jobs and make your selection from those. Don't forget - each time the printer changes colors, he has to do a wash-up.

For small circulation NLs, monthly imprints can be printed by a less complicated, less costly jiffy-print type printers - or even on your own photo-copier. It will make your job a little easier, less expensive and will provide a nicer looking newsletter as well.

Put that marketing partner in high gear by adding easy, low-cost color!

Happy publishing,

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
Fred Showker is a 27-year veteran of the publishing and graphic arts industry, author and speaker. He is editor and publisher of DT&G: The Electronic Journal of Design, Type & Graphics, the design and publishing industry's longest running online magazine. The Design & Publishing Center hosts Photoshop Tips & Tricks, WebDesign & Review, The Designers Bookshelf and departments for the four areas of the graphic arts fields.

DT&G Magazine ('97 APEX Grand Award Winner)
The User Group Network News Service
http://www.user-groups.com/
Now serving 165,000 readers per month!

Newsletter tips beyond computers and software...

As we've said many times before, publishing a newsletter can be one of your best marketing activities.

For most however, the cost of adding a second or spot color to each issue of a newsletter can be prohibitive. This requires a second plate and in most cases a second press run.

Newsletters in the four to twelve page range can enjoy an additional color at very little per-issue cost by printing a year's supply of lanks in advance. Plan your year, or perhaps the next nine months, into the budget to cover the initial cost.

Design your blank with a color masthead, logo, tint boxes, or page graphics, leaving the body blank to be imprinted with each new month's text and graphics. (In the old days we called this a dough-nut!) Design carefully though, your color elements must remain the same for each issue. Make arrangements well in advance so your printer can print at his convenience, and when the color you want happens to be on the press for another job. You can probably make him happy, and get a little off the job if you ask what colors are coming up soon for other jobs and make your selection from those. Don't forget - each time the printer changes colors, he has to do a wash-up.

For small circulation NLs, monthly imprints can be printed by a less complicated, less costly jiffy-print type printers - or even on your own photo-copier. It will make your job a little easier, less expensive and will provide a nicer looking newsletter as well.

Put that marketing partner in high gear by adding easy, low-cost color!

Happy publishing,

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
Fred Showker is a 27-year veteran of the publishing and graphic arts industry, author and speaker. He is editor and publisher of DT&G: The Electronic Journal of Design, Type & Graphics, the design and publishing industry's longest running online magazine. The Design & Publishing Center hosts Photoshop Tips & Tricks, WebDesign & Review, The Designers Bookshelf and departments for the four areas of the graphic arts fields.

DT&G Magazine ('97 APEX Grand Award Winner)
The User Group Network News Service
http://www.user-groups.com/
Now serving 165,000 readers per month!

Newsletter tips beyond computers and software...

As we've said many times before, publishing a newsletter can be one of your best marketing activities.

For most however, the cost of adding a second or spot color to each issue of a newsletter can be prohibitive. This requires a second plate and in most cases a second press run.

Newsletters in the four to twelve page range can enjoy an additional color at very little per-issue cost by printing a year's supply of lanks in advance. Plan your year, or perhaps the next nine months, into the budget to cover the initial cost.

Design your blank with a color masthead, logo, tint boxes, or page graphics, leaving the body blank to be imprinted with each new month's text and graphics. (In the old days we called this a dough-nut!) Design carefully though, your color elements must remain the same for each issue. Make arrangements well in advance so your printer can print at his convenience, and when the color you want happens to be on the press for another job. You can probably make him happy, and get a little off the job if you ask what colors are coming up soon for other jobs and make your selection from those. Don't forget - each time the printer changes colors, he has to do a wash-up.

For small circulation NLs, monthly imprints can be printed by a less complicated, less costly jiffy-print type printers - or even on your own photo-copier. It will make your job a little easier, less expensive and will provide a nicer looking newsletter as well.

Put that marketing partner in high gear by adding easy, low-cost color!

Happy publishing,

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
Fred Showker is a 27-year veteran of the publishing and graphic arts industry, author and speaker. He is editor and publisher of DT&G: The Electronic Journal of Design, Type & Graphics, the design and publishing industry's longest running online magazine. The Design & Publishing Center hosts Photoshop Tips & Tricks, WebDesign & Review, The Designers Bookshelf and departments for the four areas of the graphic arts fields.

DT&G Magazine ('97 APEX Grand Award Winner)
The User Group Network News Service
http://www.user-groups.com/
Now serving 165,000 readers per month!

Newsletter tips beyond computers and software...

As we've said many times before, publishing a newsletter can be one of your best marketing activities.

For most however, the cost of adding a second or spot color to each issue of a newsletter can be prohibitive. This requires a second plate and in most cases a second press run.

Newsletters in the four to twelve page range can enjoy an additional color at very little per-issue cost by printing a year's supply of lanks in advance. Plan your year, or perhaps the next nine months, into the budget to cover the initial cost.

Design your blank with a color masthead, logo, tint boxes, or page graphics, leaving the body blank to be imprinted with each new month's text and graphics. (In the old days we called this a dough-nut!) Design carefully though, your color elements must remain the same for each issue. Make arrangements well in advance so your printer can print at his convenience, and when the color you want happens to be on the press for another job. You can probably make him happy, and get a little off the job if you ask what colors are coming up soon for other jobs and make your selection from those. Don't forget - each time the printer changes colors, he has to do a wash-up.

For small circulation NLs, monthly imprints can be printed by a less complicated, less costly jiffy-print type printers - or even on your own photo-copier. It will make your job a little easier, less expensive and will provide a nicer looking newsletter as well.

Put that marketing partner in high gear by adding easy, low-cost color!

Happy publishing,

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
Fred Showker is a 27-year veteran of the publishing and graphic arts industry, author and speaker. He is editor and publisher of DT&G: The Electronic Journal of Design, Type & Graphics, the design and publishing industry's longest running online magazine. The Design & Publishing Center hosts Photoshop Tips & Tricks, WebDesign & Review, The Designers Bookshelf and departments for the four areas of the graphic arts fields.

DT&G Magazine ('97 APEX Grand Award Winner)
The User Group Network News Service
http://www.user-groups.com/
Now serving 165,000 readers per month!

Guidelines' Guidelines. (Is there an echo in here?)Ed Churnside
Fred Showker

Newsletter tips beyond computers and software...

As we've said many times before, publishing a newsletter can be one of your best marketing activities.

For most however, the cost of adding a second or spot color to each issue of a newsletter can be prohibitive. This requires a second plate and in most cases a second press run.

Newsletters in the four to twelve page range can enjoy an additional color at very little per-issue cost by printing a year's supply of lanks in advance. Plan your year, or perhaps the next nine months, into the budget to cover the initial cost.

Design your blank with a color masthead, logo, tint boxes, or page graphics, leaving the body blank to be imprinted with each new month's text and graphics. (In the old days we called this a dough-nut!) Design carefully though, your color elements must remain the same for each issue. Make arrangements well in advance so your printer can print at his convenience, and when the color you want happens to be on the press for another job. You can probably make him happy, and get a little off the job if you ask what colors are coming up soon for other jobs and make your selection from those. Don't forget - each time the printer changes colors, he has to do a wash-up.

For small circulation NLs, monthly imprints can be printed by a less complicated, less costly jiffy-print type printers - or even on your own photo-copier. It will make your job a little easier, less expensive and will provide a nicer looking newsletter as well.

Put that marketing partner in high gear by adding easy, low-cost color!

Happy publishing,

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
Fred Showker is a 27-year veteran of the publishing and graphic arts industry, author and speaker. He is editor and publisher of DT&G: The Electronic Journal of Design, Type & Graphics, the design and publishing industry's longest running online magazine. The Design & Publishing Center hosts Photoshop Tips & Tricks, WebDesign & Review, The Designers Bookshelf and departments for the four areas of the graphic arts fields.

DT&G Magazine ('97 APEX Grand Award Winner)
The User Group Network News Service
http://www.user-groups.com/
Now serving 165,000 readers per month!

WHOLESALE - SOME PRICING CONSIDERATIONS

Your ideal goal here would be to set your price at 2x your Total Cost. But, you will more often have to settle for a lot less mark-up. The compensating factor here is that when selling wholesale, you are selling in larger volumes than when selling retail. The larger volumes should help you reduce the costs of your parts, since you can buy those in volume. It should also result in a lot more cash flowing through your bank accounts. While you don't measure cash flow in actual dollar amounts and profits, cash flow definitely has a value because it enables your business to keep operating smoothly, and with less fits and starts.

The minimum return you should settle for with wholesale is the ability to price your items at 1.25x your Total Cost. If any less, you need to rethink your product or your marketing strategy.

A reasonable return you should aim for with wholesale is 1.5x your Total Cost.

Again, your ideal goal would be 2.0x your Total Cost. [If you are only wholesaling a few pieces at a time, then 2.0x might be your minimum acceptable amount.

CONSIGNMENT: SOME PRICING CONSIDERATIONS

Many artists and craftspersons are dependent on consignment sales, since many of the retail outlets for these types of products must share the isk of sales with the artist. That is, the retail outlet cannot afford to buy the pieces outright. They can only afford to create a retail environment conducive for the sale of crafts and artwork.

Thus, the retailer, in consignment, basically agrees to accept a little less of a profit from the sale of any item. The artist/craftsperson also agrees to accept a little less money.

Typically, the retailer and artist/craftsperson might negotiate an item's price based on what they think someone will pay for it. Then they will agree how to split the money. A very common split is 60% of the sales price goes to the retailer, and 40% goes to the artist/craftsperson. Also common is 70% retailer/30% artist craftsperson. Less common is 50/50, 40/60 or 80/20.

Now the artist/craftsperson has to determine if the return is sufficient to result in a profit. If the decided-upon price for an item was $10.00, and the negotiated split was 60/40, the artist would expect $4.00 from its sale. This $4.00 would have to cover the cost of the parts, the general overhead costs, and hopefully some or all of the artist's labor, as well as some extra money to reinvest in the business.

Suppose the item was a pair of earrings, the cost of the parts was $1.00, the cost of labor $2.50, and overhead .88. The cost to the artist would be $4.38 -- .38 more in cost then in return. The artist could decide to take less for his or her labor. Or, the artist could renegotiate with the retailer to set a higher price for the item. The retailer would evaluate whether the item could sell at a higher price, or would sit around gathering dust, thus costing the retailing overhead costs, that could otherwise be offset with a better, faster selling item. [Retailers need to urn merchandise around at least 2x, and ideally 3x each year. That is, each square foot of selling space must generate a certain number of dollars each year to enable the retailer to pay the rent and other overhead costs generated by that square foot of selling space. If the retailer is resistant to raising the price, and the return is insufficient to cover the artist's costs, then the artist needs to re-evaluate the product or the location for selling that product.

One of the greatest thrills of all time is when someone pays real money for something you have designed and created.

The first question pops up: Can I make some serious money making jewelry?

Why not? With smart planning, strategizing and marketing, you should even be able to make a living from your creative impulses.

Some advice:

First, buy your parts cheaply.
Limit your inventory at first. Buy a few parts in large quantities.

The more expensive your parts, the harder it will be to mark up your finished product in order to make a profit.

If you try to design your business so that you can meet every contingency -- that is, respond to every request or market niche -- you'll end up buying a lot of different parts to have breadth, rather than depth, of inventory. This will cost you. Each part will have to be bought in smaller quantities, and thus will be more expensive.

If, instead, you concentrate on replicating a limited number of designs, (perhaps varying certain design-features rather than coming up with completely new and different designs), you'll be able to buy parts in larger quantities, making them less expensive.

[As your business develops and matures, your goals will change, and you will seek greater breadth -- but this is a subject for another article.

Second, know your market.
Who are your customers?

What will your customers be willing to pay, say, for a pair of earrings?

Where are your customers located? How will they get to you, or you to them?

What will it cost you to link up to your target market? - travel, displays, packaging, timing

You don't want to make a $100.00 beaded watch band if your most likely target market customer will only be willing to pay $20.00 for it.

Third, know your competition.
Check out similar merchandise in stores, flea markets and other places that sell jewelry like yours, and that target customers like the ones you want to target. How have they priced similar merchandise?

Fourth, mark up and price your products so that you will make a sufficient profit.

Sufficiency means that (a) you can buy replacement parts, (b) you can pay your overhead costs, (c) you can pay yourself, and (d) you can reinvest 5-10% of your earnings back into your business, such as expanding your inventory, or buying display fixtures and the like.

Remember, it's always easier to lower a price, than raise a price. Customers smile at lower prices, but frown on raised prices.

Some Formulas To Help You Price Your Pieces

You need to write down this information:

1) Cost of All Parts

Use your ypical costs. If you got a good buy on some parts, don't use the discounted cost, unless this is going to become your ypical cost.

2) Cost of your Labor

Figure out what you would expect to make per hour if someone were paying you a salary. $10.00/hour is reasonable for a beginner. Determine on average, how many hours it takes to make the piece. Figure out the hours to the nearest quarter of an hour. That is, if you took 1 hour 6 minutes to make a piece, consider that 1 1/4 hours. The number of hours times the hourly rate is your cost of labor.

3) Overhead costs (rent, electricity, consumable supplies, cost of travel to acquire your supplies, and the like).

Assume your overhead costs equal an additional 25% of the total cost of parts plus the cost of labor.

Now, compute your TOTAL COST:

TOTAL COST = Cost of All Parts + Overhead + Labor

It's always difficult to recoup your labor, that is, the amount of time you put into making a product. You usually have to discount your labor. Thus,

TOTAL MINIMUM COST = Cost of All Parts + Overhead + (Labor * 0.0)
TOTAL MAXIMUM COST = (Cost of All Parts + Overhead) * (1.5)

(1.5 is a labor cost adjustment factor)

If your parts costs $10.00 and labor cost $2.00, your overhead would cost an additional $3.00.

Your TOTAL MINIMUM COST (where you have charged nothing for your labor) would then be $13.00.

Your TOTAL MAXIMUM COST (where you have charged the maximum amount for your labor) would be $19.50.

Now you have to translate your cost into a price.

For jewelry, you want to price your items at least 2 times your Total Cost, and preferably 2.5 to 3.0 times your Total Cost. Too many people underprice their products.

Don't be afraid to adequately price your products. Jewelry is typically marked up higher than other goods. There are many reasons for this. The cost of getting and maintaining an inventory of parts is high; you can't buy just 1 bead at a time as needed. Jewelry fashions change every 3-4 months, often radically, leaving you with some unsaleable stock.

In our example above, if your product cost:

$13.00 (Total Minimum Cost), it would be priced between $26.00 (2*cost) and $39.00 (3*cost)

$19.50 (Total Maximum Cost), it would be priced between $39.00 (2*cost) and $58.50 (3*cost)

Sit back and evaluate your situation. If you feel your target market won't pay at least, in this example, $26.00 for the finished product, you need to rethink. Either reduce your costs or redesign the product.

YOUR PROFITS: Assuming your cost was $13.00 plus $2.00 labor, or $15.00, and you sold your item for $26.00, your profit would be $9.00. You would want to set aside between 25% and 50% of this profit for einvestment into your business. Thus, after you paid your labor ($2.00), bought replacement parts ($10.00), and paid all your associated overhead ($3.00), you would put between $2.25 and $4.50 towards purchasing additional things for your business, and the remainder in your business bank account.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
LAND OF ODDS - The South's Most Unusual Shop
150 Second Avenue North, Ste. 110, Nashville, TN 37201
PHONE: 615/254-4341, 726-1665
FAX: 615/254-4341
http://www.landofodds.com
oddsian@landofodds.com

WHOLESALE - SOME PRICING CONSIDERATIONS

Your ideal goal here would be to set your price at 2x your Total Cost. But, you will more often have to settle for a lot less mark-up. The compensating factor here is that when selling wholesale, you are selling in larger volumes than when selling retail. The larger volumes should help you reduce the costs of your parts, since you can buy those in volume. It should also result in a lot more cash flowing through your bank accounts. While you don't measure cash flow in actual dollar amounts and profits, cash flow definitely has a value because it enables your business to keep operating smoothly, and with less fits and starts.

The minimum return you should settle for with wholesale is the ability to price your items at 1.25x your Total Cost. If any less, you need to rethink your product or your marketing strategy.

A reasonable return you should aim for with wholesale is 1.5x your Total Cost.

Again, your ideal goal would be 2.0x your Total Cost. [If you are only wholesaling a few pieces at a time, then 2.0x might be your minimum acceptable amount.

CONSIGNMENT: SOME PRICING CONSIDERATIONS

Many artists and craftspersons are dependent on consignment sales, since many of the retail outlets for these types of products must share the isk of sales with the artist. That is, the retail outlet cannot afford to buy the pieces outright. They can only afford to create a retail environment conducive for the sale of crafts and artwork.

Thus, the retailer, in consignment, basically agrees to accept a little less of a profit from the sale of any item. The artist/craftsperson also agrees to accept a little less money.

Typically, the retailer and artist/craftsperson might negotiate an item's price based on what they think someone will pay for it. Then they will agree how to split the money. A very common split is 60% of the sales price goes to the retailer, and 40% goes to the artist/craftsperson. Also common is 70% retailer/30% artist craftsperson. Less common is 50/50, 40/60 or 80/20.

Now the artist/craftsperson has to determine if the return is sufficient to result in a profit. If the decided-upon price for an item was $10.00, and the negotiated split was 60/40, the artist would expect $4.00 from its sale. This $4.00 would have to cover the cost of the parts, the general overhead costs, and hopefully some or all of the artist's labor, as well as some extra money to reinvest in the business.

Suppose the item was a pair of earrings, the cost of the parts was $1.00, the cost of labor $2.50, and overhead .88. The cost to the artist would be $4.38 -- .38 more in cost then in return. The artist could decide to take less for his or her labor. Or, the artist could renegotiate with the retailer to set a higher price for the item. The retailer would evaluate whether the item could sell at a higher price, or would sit around gathering dust, thus costing the retailing overhead costs, that could otherwise be offset with a better, faster selling item. [Retailers need to urn merchandise around at least 2x, and ideally 3x each year. That is, each square foot of selling space must generate a certain number of dollars each year to enable the retailer to pay the rent and other overhead costs generated by that square foot of selling space. If the retailer is resistant to raising the price, and the return is insufficient to cover the artist's costs, then the artist needs to re-evaluate the product or the location for selling that product.

One of the greatest thrills of all time is when someone pays real money for something you have designed and created.

The first question pops up: Can I make some serious money making jewelry?

Why not? With smart planning, strategizing and marketing, you should even be able to make a living from your creative impulses.

Some advice:

First, buy your parts cheaply.
Limit your inventory at first. Buy a few parts in large quantities.

The more expensive your parts, the harder it will be to mark up your finished product in order to make a profit.

If you try to design your business so that you can meet every contingency -- that is, respond to every request or market niche -- you'll end up buying a lot of different parts to have breadth, rather than depth, of inventory. This will cost you. Each part will have to be bought in smaller quantities, and thus will be more expensive.

If, instead, you concentrate on replicating a limited number of designs, (perhaps varying certain design-features rather than coming up with completely new and different designs), you'll be able to buy parts in larger quantities, making them less expensive.

[As your business develops and matures, your goals will change, and you will seek greater breadth -- but this is a subject for another article.

Second, know your market.
Who are your customers?

What will your customers be willing to pay, say, for a pair of earrings?

Where are your customers located? How will they get to you, or you to them?

What will it cost you to link up to your target market? - travel, displays, packaging, timing

You don't want to make a $100.00 beaded watch band if your most likely target market customer will only be willing to pay $20.00 for it.

Third, know your competition.
Check out similar merchandise in stores, flea markets and other places that sell jewelry like yours, and that target customers like the ones you want to target. How have they priced similar merchandise?

Fourth, mark up and price your products so that you will make a sufficient profit.

Sufficiency means that (a) you can buy replacement parts, (b) you can pay your overhead costs, (c) you can pay yourself, and (d) you can reinvest 5-10% of your earnings back into your business, such as expanding your inventory, or buying display fixtures and the like.

Remember, it's always easier to lower a price, than raise a price. Customers smile at lower prices, but frown on raised prices.

Some Formulas To Help You Price Your Pieces

You need to write down this information:

1) Cost of All Parts

Use your ypical costs. If you got a good buy on some parts, don't use the discounted cost, unless this is going to become your ypical cost.

2) Cost of your Labor

Figure out what you would expect to make per hour if someone were paying you a salary. $10.00/hour is reasonable for a beginner. Determine on average, how many hours it takes to make the piece. Figure out the hours to the nearest quarter of an hour. That is, if you took 1 hour 6 minutes to make a piece, consider that 1 1/4 hours. The number of hours times the hourly rate is your cost of labor.

3) Overhead costs (rent, electricity, consumable supplies, cost of travel to acquire your supplies, and the like).

Assume your overhead costs equal an additional 25% of the total cost of parts plus the cost of labor.

Now, compute your TOTAL COST:

TOTAL COST = Cost of All Parts + Overhead + Labor

It's always difficult to recoup your labor, that is, the amount of time you put into making a product. You usually have to discount your labor. Thus,

TOTAL MINIMUM COST = Cost of All Parts + Overhead + (Labor * 0.0)
TOTAL MAXIMUM COST = (Cost of All Parts + Overhead) * (1.5)

(1.5 is a labor cost adjustment factor)

If your parts costs $10.00 and labor cost $2.00, your overhead would cost an additional $3.00.

Your TOTAL MINIMUM COST (where you have charged nothing for your labor) would then be $13.00.

Your TOTAL MAXIMUM COST (where you have charged the maximum amount for your labor) would be $19.50.

Now you have to translate your cost into a price.

For jewelry, you want to price your items at least 2 times your Total Cost, and preferably 2.5 to 3.0 times your Total Cost. Too many people underprice their products.

Don't be afraid to adequately price your products. Jewelry is typically marked up higher than other goods. There are many reasons for this. The cost of getting and maintaining an inventory of parts is high; you can't buy just 1 bead at a time as needed. Jewelry fashions change every 3-4 months, often radically, leaving you with some unsaleable stock.

In our example above, if your product cost:

$13.00 (Total Minimum Cost), it would be priced between $26.00 (2*cost) and $39.00 (3*cost)

$19.50 (Total Maximum Cost), it would be priced between $39.00 (2*cost) and $58.50 (3*cost)

Sit back and evaluate your situation. If you feel your target market won't pay at least, in this example, $26.00 for the finished product, you need to rethink. Either reduce your costs or redesign the product.

YOUR PROFITS: Assuming your cost was $13.00 plus $2.00 labor, or $15.00, and you sold your item for $26.00, your profit would be $9.00. You would want to set aside between 25% and 50% of this profit for einvestment into your business. Thus, after you paid your labor ($2.00), bought replacement parts ($10.00), and paid all your associated overhead ($3.00), you would put between $2.25 and $4.50 towards purchasing additional things for your business, and the remainder in your business bank account.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
LAND OF ODDS - The South's Most Unusual Shop
150 Second Avenue North, Ste. 110, Nashville, TN 37201
PHONE: 615/254-4341, 726-1665
FAX: 615/254-4341
http://www.landofodds.com
oddsian@landofodds.com

In much the same way that a resume displays your work experience to a prospective employer, a credit report provides prospective creditors (and in some cases employers and insurers too) with a detailed picture of your credit history. And like a resume, your credit report can influence whether you will receive what you are applying for.

Ideally, your credit report is an accurate, up-to-date reflection of your credit history. However, since we don't live in an ideal world, there are many reasons that your credit report could contain inaccuracies that might prevent you from receiving the credit you deserve. The good news is you can take action to keep your report accurate. Here are the top five reasons why you should make a practice of regularly reviewing your credit report:

Inaccuracies & Mixed Credit Files

Many inaccuracies on a credit report can be the result of simple human error, and are therefore are not difficult to dispute. Of course, if you don't order your credit report, you might never know about it. Whether the inaccuracies relate to payments not credited, late payments, or data mixed in from the credit file of someone else with a name similar to yours, you will want to contact the credit bureau to dispute inaccurate information promptly. If you would like to get a free copy of your credit report right now, click here.

Tracking Payments

One of the most important elements of credit is a demonstrated history of on time payments. Once you send the check though, anything can happen--a delay in the payment being received can kick you over to a 30-day delinquency. If you call your creditor and explain the situation, they might adjust the information. Of course, if you don't read your credit report, you won't necessarily know which payments are being received and reported properly. If you would like to get a free copy of your credit report right now,click here.

Identity Theft

This issue alone is reason to order your credit report immediately. Identity theft is an insidious crime, involving a thief who assumes your name to open new accounts, divert your card statements to another address, and run up all sorts of bad debt without you ever knowing about it until collectors come calling. Over time, identity theft could jeopardize your ability to obtain further credit. The best way to catch a thief who is using your name is by getting a copy of your credit report, which will show you if there are accounts listed you know you haven't opened. For example, if a thief has intercepted a pre-approved credit card offer in your name and sent it in with a change of address, your credit report will include the account. If you would like to get a free copy of your credit report right now, click here.

Inquiries

If you're shopping around for a loan or more credit, you should know that when creditors check your credit, it places an inquiry on your credit report. Inquiries can add up, which is often interpreted as a negative by creditors. For this reason, too many inquiries can actually make getting credit more difficult. Moreover, if you didn't authorize someone to look at your credit report and they did, they may have broken the law. If you would like to see who's been looking at your credit, click hereto get a free copy of your credit report right now.

Credit Fraud--Unauthorized Charges

Credit fraud involves the theft of your credit card or account number to make unauthorized charges to your account. Though consumers are protected financially from this abuse, other creditors may take note of all this activity and decide to raise your interest rates or refuse to grant you a loan. Ordering your credit report will help you catch new activity on accounts that you haven't been using, or may have closed. If you would like to get a free copy of your credit report right now,click here.

When it comes to managing your credit worthiness, your credit report is your best resource. Ordering your credit report gives you the opportunity to manage your credit wisely today, while planning your credit strategy for achieving future goals--a credit-savvy move every consumer should make! click hereto get your credit report right now, for free!

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
Reprint permission for any medium is granted only if all information below this notice, including the WWIO web site link and authors biography are included as written.

In much the same way that a resume displays your work experience to a prospective employer, a credit report provides prospective creditors (and in some cases employers and insurers too) with a detailed picture of your credit history. And like a resume, your credit report can influence whether you will receive what you are applying for.

Ideally, your credit report is an accurate, up-to-date reflection of your credit history. However, since we don't live in an ideal world, there are many reasons that your credit report could contain inaccuracies that might prevent you from receiving the credit you deserve. The good news is you can take action to keep your report accurate. Here are the top five reasons why you should make a practice of regularly reviewing your credit report:

Inaccuracies & Mixed Credit Files

Many inaccuracies on a credit report can be the result of simple human error, and are therefore are not difficult to dispute. Of course, if you don't order your credit report, you might never know about it. Whether the inaccuracies relate to payments not credited, late payments, or data mixed in from the credit file of someone else with a name similar to yours, you will want to contact the credit bureau to dispute inaccurate information promptly. If you would like to get a free copy of your credit report right now, click here.

Tracking Payments

One of the most important elements of credit is a demonstrated history of on time payments. Once you send the check though, anything can happen--a delay in the payment being received can kick you over to a 30-day delinquency. If you call your creditor and explain the situation, they might adjust the information. Of course, if you don't read your credit report, you won't necessarily know which payments are being received and reported properly. If you would like to get a free copy of your credit report right now,click here.

Identity Theft

This issue alone is reason to order your credit report immediately. Identity theft is an insidious crime, involving a thief who assumes your name to open new accounts, divert your card statements to another address, and run up all sorts of bad debt without you ever knowing about it until collectors come calling. Over time, identity theft could jeopardize your ability to obtain further credit. The best way to catch a thief who is using your name is by getting a copy of your credit report, which will show you if there are accounts listed you know you haven't opened. For example, if a thief has intercepted a pre-approved credit card offer in your name and sent it in with a change of address, your credit report will include the account. If you would like to get a free copy of your credit report right now, click here.

Inquiries

If you're shopping around for a loan or more credit, you should know that when creditors check your credit, it places an inquiry on your credit report. Inquiries can add up, which is often interpreted as a negative by creditors. For this reason, too many inquiries can actually make getting credit more difficult. Moreover, if you didn't authorize someone to look at your credit report and they did, they may have broken the law. If you would like to see who's been looking at your credit, click hereto get a free copy of your credit report right now.

Credit Fraud--Unauthorized Charges

Credit fraud involves the theft of your credit card or account number to make unauthorized charges to your account. Though consumers are protected financially from this abuse, other creditors may take note of all this activity and decide to raise your interest rates or refuse to grant you a loan. Ordering your credit report will help you catch new activity on accounts that you haven't been using, or may have closed. If you would like to get a free copy of your credit report right now,click here.

When it comes to managing your credit worthiness, your credit report is your best resource. Ordering your credit report gives you the opportunity to manage your credit wisely today, while planning your credit strategy for achieving future goals--a credit-savvy move every consumer should make! click hereto get your credit report right now, for free!

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
Reprint permission for any medium is granted only if all information below this notice, including the WWIO web site link and authors biography are included as written.

I, (1), of (2), hereby appoint (3) of (4), as my attorney in fact to act in my capacity to do any and all of the following: (DESCRIBE THE EXTENT OF AUTHORITY YOU ARE GIVING TO YOUR ATTORNEY-IN-FACT) The rights, powers, and authority of my attorney in fact to exercise any and all of the rights and powers herein granted shall commence and be in full force and effect on (5), 19(6), and shall remain in full force and effect until (7) or unless specifically extended or rescinded earlier by either party. Dated (8), 19(9). SIGNED (10) STATE OF (11) COUNTY OF (12) BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority, on this (13) day of (14), 19(15), personally appeared (16) to me well known to be the person described in and who signed the Foregoing, and acknowledged to me that he executed the same freely and voluntarily for the uses and purposes therein expressed. WITNESS my hand and official seal the date aforesaid. (17) NOTARY PUBLIC My Commission Expires:(18) 1. Your full name
2. County or city in which you reside
3. Full name of person you appoint
4. County or city in which they reside
5. Day and month this becomes effective
6. Year this becomes effective
7. Last day, month and year this is effective
8. Day and month in which you signed it
9. The year in which you signed it
  10. Your full signature
11. The state in which you reside
12. The county in which you reside
FILLED OUT BY NOTARY PUBLIC 13. Day you signed the form
14. Month you signed the form
15. Year you signed the form
16. Your full name
17. Notary Public signature
18. Notary Public commission expiration date
NOTICE

The information in this document is designed to provide an outline that you can follow when formulating business or personal plans. Due to the variances of many local, city, county and state laws, we recommend that you seek professional legal counseling before entering into any contract or agreement.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
Reprint permission for any medium is granted only if all information below this notice, including the WWIO web site link and authors biography are included as written.

I, (1), of (2), hereby appoint (3) of (4), as my attorney in fact to act in my capacity to do any and all of the following: (DESCRIBE THE EXTENT OF AUTHORITY YOU ARE GIVING TO YOUR ATTORNEY-IN-FACT) The rights, powers, and authority of my attorney in fact to exercise any and all of the rights and powers herein granted shall commence and be in full force and effect on (5), 19(6), and shall remain in full force and effect until (7) or unless specifically extended or rescinded earlier by either party. Dated (8), 19(9). SIGNED (10) STATE OF (11) COUNTY OF (12) BEFORE ME, the undersigned authority, on this (13) day of (14), 19(15), personally appeared (16) to me well known to be the person described in and who signed the Foregoing, and acknowledged to me that he executed the same freely and voluntarily for the uses and purposes therein expressed. WITNESS my hand and official seal the date aforesaid. (17) NOTARY PUBLIC My Commission Expires:(18) 1. Your full name
2. County or city in which you reside
3. Full name of person you appoint
4. County or city in which they reside
5. Day and month this becomes effective
6. Year this becomes effective
7. Last day, month and year this is effective
8. Day and month in which you signed it
9. The year in which you signed it
  10. Your full signature
11. The state in which you reside
12. The county in which you reside
FILLED OUT BY NOTARY PUBLIC 13. Day you signed the form
14. Month you signed the form
15. Year you signed the form
16. Your full name
17. Notary Public signature
18. Notary Public commission expiration date
NOTICE

The information in this document is designed to provide an outline that you can follow when formulating business or personal plans. Due to the variances of many local, city, county and state laws, we recommend that you seek professional legal counseling before entering into any contract or agreement.

Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
Reprint permission for any medium is granted only if all information below this notice, including the WWIO web site link and authors biography are included as written.

You can, if you are ambitious, start a Mail Order Business selling collectibles to hobbyists. To begin, you must first find a hobby that appeals to you. Next, you must spend several weeks researching that hobby. You must learn what collectors want and how much they are willing to pay for it. You should also know what other dealers are willing to pay for the merchandise which they sell. And you must be willing to pay the same amounts.

Perhaps you already know exactly what you want to sell. If you have been collecting old Valentines, then start a Mail Order business buying and selling old Valentines. Or stamps. Or comic books. The first rule of Mail Order Selling is to sell what you yourself would buy.

To give you an idea of what collectors buy and sell by mail, here is a partial list of today's collectibles!

Phonograph Records
Cigar Labels
License Plates
Beer Labels
Circus Posters
Music Boxes
Salt/Pepper Shakers
Greeting Cards
Old Pencils
Atlases
Military Medals
Sheet Music
Doll Clothes
Gems, Minerals
Belt Buckles
Airplane Photos
FBI Posters
Automobile Manuals
Antique Barbed Wire
Old Jewelry
Street Car Tokens
Fruit Jar Labels
Old Magazines
Gun Catalogs
Paper Currency
Cartoon Books
Theater Programs
Political Buttons
Baseball Cards
Children's Books
Stock Certificates
Indian Relics
Railroad Books
Fishing Licenses
Cigar Boxes
Comic Books
Old Calendars
Postcards
Arrowheads
Railroad Passes
Boat Photographs
Advertising Cards
Dog Pictures
Movie Magazines
Autographs
Dolls
Hunting Licenses
Valentines
Cookbooks
Beatles Items
Stamps
Old Toys
Menus
Maps
Thimbles
Train Photos
Newspapers
Diaries
Coins
Buttons

I would like to suggest that you send for sample copies of two magazines. They are read avidly by hobby dealers and hobby collectors alike:

THE ANTIQUE TRADER WEEKLY
Box 1050
Dubuque, IA 52001
THE COLLECTORS NEWS
Box 156
Grundy Center, IA 50638

Each of these publications contain around 70 or 80 pages of ads from dealers and collectors. Almost every hobby publication, large or small, if listed within its pages.

Once you have selected your field, start a file. Keep copies of all the ads selling your kind of merchandise. Also keep ads showing the dealers buying prices. If price lists are offered in ads, send for them and STUDY them. MAKE YOURSELF AN EXPERT IN YOUR FIELD.

Try to locate any publication that deals with your field. Often, you can locate small mimeographed publications and newsletters which will give you all kinds of useful information.

Your next step is to look for merchandise in your own community. Here are some suggestions:

Start by attending flea markets and antique shows. Don't be afraid to make inquiries of dealers. They often have what they consider junk stashed away, assuming that it isn't of much value to anyone. I once discovered a fabulous stamp collection that way!

Browse around through Thrift Shops.

Study the garage sale ads in your local newspaper. Visit any that sound promising. (Sometimes, it pays to telephone, they may be able to direct you to others who have exactly what you need!)

Place Wanted to Buy ads in your local Swapper's News, or your local newspaper. Be sure to list your phone number.

It is amazing what you can find in your local community if you work at it. However, if you can't find enough merchandise locally, run ads in the Collector's Magazines listed above. Their rates are very, very low. And you will soon discover that they are widely read!

Once you have accumulated a decent stock of merchandise, you are ready to begin selling it. If there are publications specializing in your field, by all means advertise there. You have a ready-made audience! Also run ads in the big hobby magazines.

Type up a list of what you have and have an Instant Printer make a hundred or so copies for you. Hobbyists don't mind typewritten, laser printer, or xerox copies - it's half the fun of collecting. Then run your ad. Your ad can merely offer your list to interested collectors free (or for a SASE, to weed out coupon clippers). Or you can offer to make a sale straight from the ad. If you do the latter, stick in your price list with the merchandise. It will be read...eagerly!

Here are a few sample ads run by hobby dealers for your consideration:

• Railroad Timetables, 1940's
  Four Different - $4.00 postpaid.
• Old Children's Books and Texts.
  #10 SASE for List.
• 85,000 Comic Books, Movie Magazines,
  Funnies, etc., 1900-1957. Catalog
  $1.00 (Refundable).
• Original Movie Posters, Pressbooks,
  Stills, 1919-1975. Catalog - $.50
• Sleigh Bells! SASE for list.

Just in case you are not familiar with the phrase, SASE means Self-addressed, stamped envelope. As you progress, you will learn continually. Most hobby dealers will tell you that they learn more from the collectors who buy from them than they could ever learn from any other source.

Below are some other hobby publications that may interest you. (At the time this article was written, these publicationswere available. However, we cannot guarantee that they are still in publication. There are several things you can do beforesending a letter or money to them. You can check your local library in the Index of Periodicals or a local book store may beable to verify current addresses for them. Good luck). You can write to these publications and request a sample copy. However, it would be a good idea to include postage when requesting copies from the publisher.

HOBBIES
1006 S. MICHIGAN AVE.
CHICAGO, IL 60605

THE AUTOGRAPH NEWS
7540 S. MEMORIAL PARKWAY
HUNTSVILLE, AL 35802

WESTERN STAMP COLLECTOR
BOX 10
ALBANY, OR 97321

COIN & STAMP TRADING NEWS
BOX 11101
SANTA ROSA, CA 95406

STAMPS MAGAZINE
153 WAVERLY PLACE
NEW YORK, NY 10014

LYNN'S WEEKLY STAMP NEWS
BOX 29
SIDNEY, OH 45365

DOLL CASTLE NEWS
BRASS CASTLE
WASHINGTON, NJ 07882

JESSIE'S HOMEMAKER
731 BLUE BELL STREET
FT. COLLINS, CO 80521

CANADIAN HOBBY SHOPPER
BOX 3382 - HALIFAX SOUTH, NS
CANADA B3J 3J1

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IN-HOUSE SOURCES

Before you think about a list of prospective customer names, you should first create a database for current customers' names and develop a mailing list. (Remember, your current customers are most likely to respond to your future offers.)

Finding the data to include on the customer portion of your mailing list can be fairly straightforward if you have your own in-house records. But even then you may have to develop more sources to obtain additional data about your customers.

Here are some of the in-house records you can use to develop your customer database:

Sales Receipts/Invoices/Order Forms:

These documents can give you the following information: date of last purchase, dates of all purchases over a period of time, and amount of money spent with you. You may also be able to determine what products/services were ordered from you. When using invoices to compile your customer list, be aware that in businesses they may be addressed to the Accounting Department rather than the individual/title most likely to purchase from you.

Especially if your customers are businesses, they may use two addresses. One is the Ship-to address, where ordered items are sent. The other is the Bill-to or Mail-to address, where invoices and catalogs are sent. Make sure you're using the correct address every time you correspond with the customer.

Shipping Records:

Shipping records can be an important source of customer names, particularly if your product is sold through a dealer or distributor, and you don't have direct access to customer order forms. Again, be aware that some customers may have different billing and shipping addresses.

Membership Lists:

Every organization is sure to have a list of its members. If your organization has several membership categories, this information should be associated with the member name when you add it to your list.

Registration Forms:

If your organization does not maintain a membership list, you may still be able to identify your customers from the registration forms and sign in sheets you use at your events. One approach to collecting names is to ask attendees to add their names to your mailing list.

Contest Entries:

The entry forms for a sweepstakes, contest, or raffle can be used effectively to get the names of your customer. This approach might be most useful if your organization lacks customer records because you provide your product or service free of charge.

OTHER SOURCES

Sometimes, your own records don't hold enough information about your customers or members. You may have to rely on other sources to capture additional database information:

Warranty Cards:

Warranty cards included in packages of merchandise can be an effective way to gather information about customers. On the card, you can request that the customer complete the demographic information and return it when he/she registers the product.

Surveys:

Phone or mail surveys are another way to gather (and later update) information on your customer database.

Phone surveys can be used in a number of different ways to collect database information. For example, you can call customers and administer full questionnaires to gather complete information about them. This can be a very costly way to collect data - especially for a large number of customer. Mail surveys (which will be discussed later) may be a better technique for this type of database information collection.

Phone surveys are useful if you are updating or adding single fields to your database. You may avoid the phone cost altogether by asking a few short questions each time a customer calls in - to place an order, get a price quote, etc.

Mail questionnaires can reach a larger number of customer at a lower cost than phone surveys. Mail questionnaires can be sent individually to customers. However, to save postage costs, surveys can also be inserted in mailings, included in packages of merchandise, or printed on any other correspondence with customers, such as invoices.

If you have a store or office, you can also conduct surveys by having customers fill out questionnaire cards when they visit.

Other sources you can use to build your list include:

• point of purchase questionnaires.
  
  
• membership application forms.
  
  
• questions on purchase orders, statements, invoices.
  
  

Your customer names are the core of your mailing list. This report has described some sources for collecting database information on current customers. You should consider every contact with a customer a potential source for collecting such information.

After you collect this information, you need ways to initially get it into your database and then to regularly make sure it's current and accurate. (Out-of-date, inaccurate mailing lists waste money and reduce results.) Brought to you by: World Wide Information Outlet - http://certificate.net/wwio/, your source of FREEWare Content online.
If you need an online database just email us and let us know. Database prices start at $99.

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Opps! The link you followed may be inaccurate or outdated.NoneOpps! The link you followed may be inaccurate or outdated.NoneOpps! The link you followed may be inaccurate or outdated.NoneSmokers Beware!!Dr. Robert Osgoodby

By now, most people are well aware that smoking causes lung cancer. Cigarettes, pipes, cigars, and chewing tobacco kill more than 434,000 Americans each year accounting for one out of five premature deaths in this country. Lung cancer is just the first in a long list of tobacco related illnesses:

• Bladder Cancer - Smoking causes 40% of all cases of bladder cancer.
  
  
• Breast Cancer - Women who smoke are 75% more likely to develop breast cancer.
  
  
• Cervical Cancer - Up to one third of all cases of cervical cancer are directly attributable to smoking.
  
  
• Childhood Respiratory Ailments - Children exposed to parents tobacco smoke have six times as many respiratory infections as kids of nonsmoking parents.
  
  
• Diabetes - Smoking decreases the body's absorption of insulin.
  
  
• Emphysema - Smoking accounts for up to 85% of all deaths attributable to emphysema.
  
  
• Esophageal Cancer - Smoking accounts for 80% of all cases of esophageal cancer.
  
  
• Gastrointestinal Cancer - Smoking at least doubles the risk of cancer of the stomach and duodenum.
  
  
• Heart Disease - Smokers are up to four times more likely to develop cardiovascular disease than nonsmokers.
  
  
• Infertility - Couples in which at least one member smokes are more than three times more likely to have trouble conceiving.
  
  
• Kidney Cancer - Smoking causes 40% of all cases of kidney cancer.
  
  
• Mouth Cancer - Tobacco causes the vast majority of all cancers of the mouth.
  
  
• Premature Aging - Constant exposure to tobacco smoke prematurely wrinkles the facial skin and yellows the teeth and fingernails.
  
  
• Stroke - Smoking doubles the risk of stroke among men and women.
  
  
• Throat Cancer - The vast majority of cases of pharyngeal cancer are directly related to smoking.
  
  

While smoking has officially been recognized as a cause of lung cancer, scientists have also confirmed another tobacco danger, that breathing the air containing someone else's smoke (second hand smoke) poses many of the same risk as smoking yourself.

Doctors and Scientists have been reporting on the dangers of tobacco and smoking for nearly four decades. Many serious illnesses are directly attributed to smoking. If you want to live a longer, healthier life quit smoking today!

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Dr. Osgoodby was a finalist in the EAS Body for Life Contest. Stop by his web page at http://bestbodyever.com to see his before and after pictures and subscribe to his monthly newsletter.

Get Back to BasicsDr. Robert Osgoodby

WARNING!! Always seek the advice of a Medical Doctor before starting, or making changes in your diet or exercise program.

If you want to build a strong healthy body, proper nutrition is a keystone for your success. What constitutes proper nutrition? Great question! Unfortunately for John Q. Public, the greatest challenge is not a lack of information, but too much information. If you study the experts you will find endless contradictions and false conclusions that create uncertainty, and leave most people confused and clueless. We are in an information frenzy that makes it hard to know which way to turn.

On any given day you can walk into a bookstore and find several books on the best-seller list, prescribing totally different solutions for proper nutrition. One expert tells you to cut out carbs, another tells you to eat more carbs, the next tells you to eat more protein, while another tells you to eat less protein.

With this nightmare of mixed messages, no wonder why millions of people are left in the dark on which plan to follow. This month's newsletter is dedicated to share some basic fundamental truths for optimal nutrition for decreasing body fat percentage, increasing energy and building muscle. Let's get started.

Don't Starve Yourself - This is one of the most common misconceptions and mistakes most people trying to lose weight make. If your trying to shed fat, drastically decreasing your caloric intake in an effort to lose weight or get cut is almost as destructive to achieving your goals as eating large amounts of ice cream and fried foods for every meal! Studies show this type of dieting actually decreases your basal metabolic rate, which is the last thing you want to do if you are looking to lose weight and decrease your body fat percentage. On this type of diet, most of the weight you lose is not fat - it's lean body mass. You are actually keeping your fat and burning your muscle!

Eat At Least Four Meals A Day - By eating four to six small healthy meals a day, properly spaced, you will burn fat at a faster rate. The traditional hree square meals is antiquated advice that will slow down your metabolism and increase body fat storage. Studies have shown, eating four to six small meals a day promotes optimum food absorption, stable blood-sugar levels, and increases your metabolic rate. A meal can be as simple as a serving of fruit or vegetables, a small baked potato, a cup of yogurt, or a meal replacement shake.

Monitor Your Portion Sizes - Instead of worrying about what ratio of protein, carbohydrates and fat you should be eating, concentrate on portion control. Most people's focus has been distorted by the huge emphasis placed on cutting fat intake. Fat is a necessary component in a healthy diet. The fact is, most people just eat too much. A good rule of thumb is that a portion should be no larger than your clenched fist.

Design An Eating Schedule - Most people eat when it's convenient, not on a schedule. This type of behavior slows your metabolism and sabotages your body transformation efforts. To get optimum results, you should eat four to six small meals a day, spread three to four hours apart. Your initial reaction to this principle may be there is no way this can be incorporated into your busy schedule. With a little bit of pre-planning and commitment, it can be done. You can cook up to one week's worth of food on the weekend and refrigerate and freeze it. Broil your chicken breasts, put them in a food storage bag and throw them in the refrigerator. Make a huge salad! Take your Tupperware out of storage and pack several small meals to take to work with you. Another thing you can do is make sure your cupboards and refrigerator are overflowing with quality sources of protein, carbohydrates, fruits and vegetables. This will also help you stick to the plan and not cheat during the week.

Drink 8 To 10 Glasses Of Water A Day - Believe it or not, water actually helps you control your appetite. If you find that a portion of food has not satisfied your hunger, drinking a large glass of water will help alleviate those nagging hunger pangs. The vast majority of your body is comprised of water. Water is an essential transport vehicle for an array of nutrients, vitamins and minerals. It also helps eliminate waste products in your body including uric acid, ammonia, and toxins. Another misconception is that if you are retaining water, you should decrease your water consumption. This is just not true. One of the best ways to get rid of water, is to drink more water. Just like starving yourself decreases your basal metabolic rate, water retention is another example of your body's survival mechanism.

If a golfer or football player's performance decreases, getting back to the basic fundamentals can help them regain their edge. The advice in this month's newsletter is simplistic and fundamental, but sometimes you have to go back to the basics to get back on track.

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Dr. Osgoodby was a finalist in the EAS Body for Life Contest. Stop by his web page at http://bestbodyever.com to see his before and after pictures and subscribe to his monthly newsletter.

Excuses, ExcusesDr. Robert Osgoodby

WARNING!! Always seek the advice of a Medical Doctor before starting, or making changes in your diet or exercise program.

In today's fast paced world, sometimes it can be challenging to find the time to get to the gym to workout. I am sure you have heard many people say, There just aren't enough hours in the day. The number one excuse for not training on a regular basis is not being able to find the time.

Ninety nine percent of all excuses are not valid! If you are serious about getting in shape, if it is a top priority, nothing will get in the way of you achieving your goal. If you want something bad enough, it is amazing what you will do to get it. Here are a few things you can do to eliminate the I don't have time excuse.

Get up an hour earlier, or stay up an hour later. Dedicate this extra hour of time to training and achieving your fitness goals. Fact: Most people spend more time sleeping than they need to. Eight or nine hours of sleep can be great, but by no means necessary to maintain your health and let you feel good.

Personally, I find it easier and more effective to get up an hour earlier and train first thing in the morning for two reasons. Training first thing in the morning increases your metabolism and keeps you burning calories at an increased rate throughout the day. Another great reason to train first thing is to eliminate the possibility of procrastination and blowing off a workout. By the end of the day, the last thing in the world you want to do after a long day of work and responsibility is workout. Getting your training in first thing will also increase your energy level and make you feel good about yourself. It gives you a sense of accomplishment which will help you tackle the rest of your day and insane schedule with a smile.

I am sure that at least one morning person reading this said to themselves, Get up an hour earlier, he must be out of his mind! Even if you get up half an hour earlier, this equates to three and a half hours of exercise time a week that you didn't have before. With only investing a half hour a day, you can get quick, noticeable results.

Put together a home exercise program for those days you just can't get to the gym. For about $150.00, you can buy some dumbbells, a bench, and a floor mat for abdominal training. Although you can not get as thorough a workout as you could in a health club - it's better than nothing! Herschel Walker, a pro football player, has one of the best physiques around and he has never touched a weight! His workout consists of push-ups, sit-ups, and cardiovascular exercise. You can get great results sticking to the basics. Remember, consistency and intensity are your key ingredients for success.

If money is an issue and you can't afford to buy the equipment mentioned above, all you need is a VCR. There are hundreds of great video tapes designed for toning, weight loss and fat burning. If you don't want to go to a gym, this allows you to exercise in the privacy and comfort of your own home.

All exercise video tapes are designed with music as a background. Music is a powerful tool when it comes to exercise. It lifts your spirits and increases your enthusiasm. Music also takes your mind off the clock and makes your workouts seem to go faster.

Exercise to music that you enjoy. If you like music from the 50's, 60's and 70's, Richard Simmons Sweating To The Oldies, or Cory Everson's Step In Time are great beginner level programs. If you like martial arts and self defense, purchase a tae bo tape.

If you are in decent shape, semi-coordinated and like today's dance music, you can choose from several of MTV's The Grind Workout Hip Hop Aerobics, Paula Abdul's, Get Up And Dance, Milo Levell's Hip Hop Body Shop, Kathy Smith's Latin Rhythm Workout, or Christy Lane's Funky Freestyle Dancing.

If you have two left feet like me, you will quickly be able to master Denise Austin's Xtralite Beginner's Aerobics.

All of these tapes and hundreds more are available for sale at most music and major department stores. If you want to check out a tape before you buy it, most of these video tapes can also be rented at your local video store.

Incorporating these simple principles into your daily routine will make it much easier for you to stick to the program, improve your health, and move closer to your fitness goals.

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Dr. Osgoodby was a finalist in the EAS Body for Life Contest. Stop by his web page at http://bestbodyever.com to see his before and after pictures and subscribe to his monthly newsletter.

Avoiding The Common MistakesDr. Robert Osgoodby

WARNING!! Always seek the advice of a Medical Doctor before starting, or making changes in your diet or exercise program.

On any given day, you can walk into any gym and find well-intentioned, but frustrated members. No matter what exercise program they try, they can't seem to achieve their goals. Some have gotten positive results for awhile, but have flatlined and just can't seem to get off a plateau. If you are serious enough to dedicate your valuable time to improve your health and appearance, then make it count and get the maximum return from the time you are investing. If you avoid the following common mistakes, you will have a much better chance of building the physique you desire.

Too Much Time Between Sets - Most people socialize far too much in the gym. If you want to socialize at the gym, do it after you finish your workout. Make your lips the last muscle group you train. Unless you are a powerlifter, you should never let the muscle group fully recover between sets. A good rule of thumb for minor exercises (ex. bicep curls, calf raises, tricep extensions) is 60 seconds of rest between sets. For major exercises like squats, 90-120 seconds may be necessary.

Trying To Reduce Fat In A Certain Area - I know men who do endless sit-ups to burn the fat in their abdominal area to get that six pack of abs and get rid of those love handles. I receive e-mail from women who want to get rid of unwanted fat in their legs, rear-end and arms, and think the solution is increased weight training for that particular body part. You can not spot reduce bodyfat. To get positive results, you need to reduce your bodyfat throughout your entire body. You can not pick and choose. To reach your goals you need a balanced program of weight training, proper diet and cardiovascular exercise. As you decrease your overall bodyfat percentage, your problem areas will improve.

To Gain Size And Muscularity, You Must Stick With Free Weights - This is a common misconception. Barbells and dumbbells are a staple for increasing muscularity, but by all means complement them with machines. Machines and cable exercises allow you to specifically concentrate on certain areas of a muscle group, and significantly decrease your risk of injury.

Rushing Through A Set - A classic example that comes to mind is the young novice trying to show off on the bench press. With no form, rhyme or reason, he bounces the weight off his chest fast and furiously. Other than increasing your chances of injury, this serves no purpose. By slowing down the pace and concentrating on muscle contraction and form, you will get the maximum return from your weight training and significantly decrease your chances of injury.

Doing The Same Old Routine - One of the main reasons people plateau is they do not shake things up a little. By doing the same thing day after day, your muscles adapt to the routine and you will stop making gains. Mix things up by adding in new exercises, switching exercise order, and varying the amount of weight and the number of repetitions in a set. Changing your routine will shock your muscle groups and help prevent stagnation.

More Is Better - For a large muscle group like your chest, you may do 12 sets to muscle failure. If you train your triceps after chest, they are already pre-fatigued from your chest exercises. All you really need is 6-9 sets to properly finish off your triceps. Two or three exercises, three sets each is plenty. Anything more is over training which increases your chances of injury and slows your progress.

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Dr. Osgoodby was a finalist in the EAS Body for Life Contest. Stop by his web page at http://bestbodyever.com to see his before and after pictures and subscribe to his monthly newsletter.

Most smokers sincerely want to quit. They know cigarettes threaten their health, set a bad example for their children, annoy their acquaintances and cost an inordinate amount of money.

Nobody can force a smoker to quit. It's something each person has to decide for himself/herself, and will require a personal commitment by the smoker. What kind of smoker are you? What do you get out of smoking? What does it do for you? It is important to identify what you use smoking for and what kind of satisfaction you feel that you are getting from smoking.

Many smokers use the cigarette as a kind of crutch in moments of stress or discomfort, and on occasion it may work; the cigarette is sometimes used as a tranquilizer. But the heavy smoker, the person who tries to handle severe personal problems by smoking heavily all day long, is apt to discover that cigarettes do not help him/her deal with his/her problems effectively.

When it comes to quitting, this kind of smoker may find it easy to stop when everything is going well, but may be tempted to start again in a time of crisis. Physical exertion, eating, drinking, or social activity in moderation may serve as useful substitutes for cigarettes, even in times of tension. The choice of a substitute depends on what will achieve the same effects without having any appreciable risk.

Once a smoker understands his/her own smoking behavior, he will be able to cope more successfully and select the best quitting approaches for himself/herself and the type of life-style he leads.

Because smoking is a form of addiction, 80 percent of smoker who quit usually experience some withdrawal symptoms. These may include headache, light-headedness, nausea, diarrhea, and chest pains. Psychological symptoms, such as anxiety, short-term depression, and inability to concentrate, may also appear. The main psychological symptom is increased irritability. People become so irritable, in fact, that they say they feel like killing somebody. Yet there is no evidence that quitting smoking leads to physical violence.

Some people seem to lose all their energy and drive, wanting only to sleep. Others react in exactly the opposite way, becoming so over energized they can't find enough activity to burn off their excess energy. For instance, one woman said she cleaned out all her closets completely and was ready to go next door to start on her neighbor's. Both these extremes, however, eventually level off. The symptoms may be intense for two or three days, but within 10 to 14 days after quitting, most subside. The truth is that after people quit smoking, they have more energy, they generally will need less sleep, and feel better about themselves.

Quitting smoking not only extends the ex-smoker's life, but adds new happiness and meaning to one's current life. Most smokers state that immediately after they quit smoking, they start noticing dramatic differences in their overall health and vitality.

Quitting is beneficial at any age, no matter how long a person has been smoking. The mortality ratio of ex-smoker decreases after quitting. If the patient quits before a serious disease has developed, his/her body may eventually be able to restore itself almost completely.

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When someone is injured or suddenly becomes ill, there is usually a critical period before you can get medical treatment and it is this period that is of the utmost importance to the victim. What you do, or what you don't do, in that interval can mean the difference between life and death. You owe it to yourself, your family and your neighbors to know and to understand procedures that you can apply quickly and intelligently in an emergency.

Every household should have some type of first aid kit, and if you do not already have one, assemble your supplies now. Tailor the contents to fit your family's particular needs. Don't add first aid supplies to the jumble of toothpaste and cosmetics in the medicine cabinet. Instead, assenble them in a suitable, labeled box (such as a fishing tackle box or small tool chest with hinged cover), so that everything will be handy when needed. Label everything in the kit clearly, and indicate what it is used for.

Be sure not to lock the box - otherwise you may be hunting for the key when that emergency occurs. Place the box on a shelf beyond the reach of small children, and check it periodically and always restock items as soon as they are used up.

Keep all medications, including non-prescription drugs such as aspirin, out of reach of children. When discarding drugs, be sure to dispose of them where they cannot be retrieved by children or pets.

When an emergency occurs, make sure the injured victim's airway is not blocked by the tongue and that the mouth is free of any secretions and foreign objects. It is extremely important that the person is breathing freely. And if not, you need to administer artificial respiration promptly.

See that the victim has a pulse and good blood circulation as you check for signs of bleeding. Act fast if the victim is bleeding severely or if he/she has swallowed poison or if his/her heart or breathing has stopped. Remember every second counts.

Although most injured persons can be safely moved, it is vitally important not to move a person with serious neck or back injuries unless you have to save him/her from further danger. Keep the patient lying down and quiet. If he/she has vomited and there is no danger that his/her neck is broken, turn him/her on his/her side to prevent choking and keep him/her warn by covering him/her with blankets or coats.

Have someone call for medical assistance while you apply first aid. The person who summons help should explain the nature of the emergency and ask what should be done pending the arrival of the ambulance. Reassure the victim, and try to remain calm yourself. Your calmness can allay the fear and panic of the patient.

Don't give fluids to an unconscious or semi conscious person; fluids may enter his/her windpipe and cause suffocation. Don't try to arouse an unconscious person by slapping or shaking.

Look for an emergency medical identification card or an emblematic device that the victim may be wearing to alert you to any health problems, allergies or diseases that may require special care.

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What is Good HealthThomas Eldridge

There are many ideas, and opinions, on what constitutes good health, orwhat a meaningfully healthy lifestyle feels like or looks like. It could besaid that health should be a natural condition, or at least a consistent stateof well being. But what is this natural condition? There are some peoplewho accept pain and discomfort in the body as a necessary part of living. This pain is considered to be a motivator, something for the body to fightagainst. They accept this condition because they observe that there areso many people with health complaints and so few people free of problems. It is even taken for granted today that dying of a degenerative disease isacceptable if the person had led a 'good life'.

My parents both died of cancerous type diseases. I seem to be the onlyone who is not saying, but they 'lived a full life'. Keep in mind that I amthe one nobody can understand. I am not quite the black sheep. I am thedifferent one who stopped eating sugar thirty years ago. No one couldunderstand why I would go to so much trouble to read food product labelstrying to find something that did not contain sugar. Today it is manytimes worse because of all the sugar substitutes in our food products. If Iwere reading labels today I would choose sugar before the sugar substitutes ifI had no other choice. My choice today is to not buy any processed foodproducts. I believe that my continuing good health depends on me makingmy own food from simple organic ingredients. I seldom read food labelsthese days because I buy very little with a label on it.

Is good health some sort of perfection? In homeopathy good health issaid to manifest when a person's vital force is being expressed by perfectfunctioning of all parts of the body and by a sense of general wellbeing. This holistic approach to health states that nature, of which we are animportant part, has a constant tendency toward what is best for it. This vital force of nature reaches its masterpiece in the human body and thehuman consciousness. Harvey Diamond in his part of the book Fit forLife II: Living Health states that humans are constructed for health andhappiness. Life on earth lived in its ultimate achievement is aconstant and unshakeable zest for well being and enthusiasm, says Diamond. I havea lot of respect for the diet that the Diamonds recommended. It still isan excellent diet for cleansing out toxins. I am not a great fan of beingall that you can be, going for it all or pursuing excellence as a lifestyle. To me this is a short road to burn out and premature grey hair. I wasunconsciously going for it all in my younger years. I worked very hard. I cannot say that I experienced good health or happiness back then.

If we wanted this 'ultimate achievement' of good health our goal would beto reach old age and maturity without aches and pains, to be well-balancedand spared emotional traumas and stress-related illnesses. To have zest forlife we would wish to be like the beaming, healthy-looking 90-year-oldsfeatured in vegetarian magazine articles. Working out at the fitnessclub at 91 years of age could demonstrate the principle that the bestcondition for the body is resilience and flexibility. To take up piano lessons at83 years might demonstrate an absence of constricting contractions in bodyand mind. The problem is that we tend to extrapolate these stories intobelieving that this example of 'good health' is the best way to go. Pushing yourself into the gym when you are exhausted and should be resting isnot good health.

It seems apparent to me that for millions of years people lived in somesort of harmony with the natural forces of nature. Good health was some sortof consistent state of being. Otherwise, how would we be here? If we werealways in poor health for millions of years I cannot see how we wouldhave survived. A long time ago the dinosaurs disappeared suddenly. Todayspecies of plants and animals are becoming extinct at an acceleratingrate. Throughout history at least some of us must have maintained aninstinctive natural knowledge about how to live healthily enough to allow our speciesto continue. How we are doing today is a mute question. Are we going tocontinue to survive or is our current acceptance of sub-marginal healtha sign of something?

Perhaps it is time to take a look at what this instinctive naturalknowledge of good health might look like in our modern culture. I feel that it isnot that much different than it has been for millions of years. This'knowledge' probably includes simple things like sunshine, pure water,sleeping when the sun sets, relying on wholesome foods from nature,having daily alone time in the outdoors and living physically active lives incommunities of loving supportive people.

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Thomas Eldridge is the founder and director of The Center for Highly Sensitive People. The motto of the Center is 'Sensitivities are a Blessing, Not a Weakness'. You can find more information at http://www.thomaseldridge.com. If you enjoyed this article you can go to http://www.thomaseldridge.com/email.htm and subscribe to a weekly email newsletter of similar articles. You can contact the author directly at thomas@thomaseldridge.com.

Alzheimer's Disease is the term used to describe a dementing disorder marked by certain brain changes, regardless of the age of onset. Alzheimer's disease is not a normal part of aging - - and it is not something that inevitable happens in later life. Rather, it is one of the dementing disorders, a group of brain diseases that lead to the loss of mental and physical functions. The disorder, whole cause is unknown, affects a small but significant percentage of older Americans. A very small minority of alzheimer's patients are under 50 years of age. However, most are over 65.

Alzheimer's disease is the exception, rather than the rule, in old age. Only 5 to 6 percent of older people are afflicted by alzheimer's disease or a related dementia - - but this means approximately 3 to 4 million Americans have one of these debilitating disorders. Research indicates that 1 percent of the population aged 65-75 has severe dementia, increasing to 7 percent of those aged 75-85 and to 25 percent of those 85 or older. As out population ages and the number of alzheimer's patients increases, costs of care will rise as well.

Although Alzheimer's disease is not yet curable or reversible, there are ways to alleviate symptoms and suffering and to assist families. And not every person with this illness must necessarily move to a nursing home. Many thousands of patients - - especially those in the early stages of the disease - - are cared for by their families in the community. Indeed, one of the most important aspects of medical management is family education and family support services. When, or whether, to transfer a patient to a nursing home is a decision to be carefully considered by the family.

The onset of Alzheimer's disease is usually very slow and gradual, seldom occurring before age 65. Over time, however, it follows a progressively more serious course. Among the symptoms that typically develop, none is unique to Alzheimer's disease at its various stages. It is therefore essential for suspicious changes to be thoroughly evaluated before they become inappropriately or negligently labeled Alzheimer's disease.

Problems of memory, particularly recent or short-term memory, are common early in the course of the disease. For example, the individual may, on repeated occasions, forget to turn off the iron or may not recall which of the morning's medicines were taken. Mild personality changes, such as less spontaneity or a sense of apathy and a tendency to withdraw from social interactions, may occur early in the illness. As the disease progresses, problems in abstract thinking or in intellectual functioning develop. You may notice the individual beginning to have trouble with figures when working on bills, with understanding what is being read, or with organizing the days work. Further disturbances in behavior and appearance may also be seen at this point, such as agitation, irritability, quarrelsomeness, and diminishing ability to dress appropriately.

The average course of the disease from the time it is recognized to death is about 6 to 8 years, but it may range from under 2 years to over 20 years. Those who develop the disorder later in life may die from other illnesses (such as heart disease) before Alzheimer's disease reaches its final and most serious stage.

The reaction of an individual to the illness and the way he or she copes with it also varies and may depend on such factors as lifelong personality patterns and the nature and severity of the stress in the immediate environment.

As research on Alzheimer's disease continues, scientists are now describing other abnormal chemical changes associated with the disease. These include nerve cell degeneration in certain areas of the brain. Also, defects in certain blood vessels supplying blood to the brain have been studied as a possible contributing factor.

There is no way at the present time to determine who may get Alzheimer's disease. The main risk factor for the disease is increased age. The rates of the disease increase markedly with advancing age, with 25 percent of people over 85 suffering from Alzheimer's or other sever dementia.

Other things often noticeable may be depression, severe uneasiness, and paranoia or delusions that accompany or result from the disease, but they can often be alleviated by appropriate treatments.

Alzheimer's disease has emerged as one of the great mysteries in modern day medicine, with a growing number of clues but still no answers as to its cause. Researchers have come up with a number of theories about the cause of this disease but so far the mystery remains unresolved.

Because of the many other disorders that are often confused with Alzheimer's disease, a comprehensive clinical evaluation is essential to arrive at a correct diagnosis of any symptoms that look similar to those of Alzheimer's disease. In most cases, the family physician can be consulted about the best way to get the necessary examinations.

Stress on the family can take a toll on both the patient and the caregiver alike. Caregivers are usually family members - - either spouses or children - - and usually wives and daughters. As time passes and the burden mounts, it not only places the mental health of family caregivers at risk. It also diminishes their ability to provide care to the diseased patient. Hence, assistance to the family as a whole must be considered.

As the disease progresses, families experience increasing anxiety and pain at seeing unsettling changes in a loved one, and they commonly feel guilt over not being able to do enough. The prevalence of reactive depression among family members in this situation is disturbingly high - - caregivers are chronically stressed and are much more likely to suffer from depression than the average person. If caregivers have been forced to retire from positions outside the home. They feel progressively more isolated and no longer productive members of society.

The likelihood, intensity, and duration of depression among caregivers can all be lowered through available interventions. For example, to the extent that family members can offer emotional support to each other and perhaps seek professional consultation, they will be better prepared to help their loved one manage the illness and to recognize the limits of what they themselves can reasonably do.

Though Alzheimer's disease cannot at present be cured, reversed, or stopped in its progression, much can be done to help both the patient and the family live through the course of the illness with greater dignity and less discomfort. Toward this goal, appropriate clinical interventions and community services should be vigorously sought.

While Alzheimer's disease remains a mystery, with its cause and cure not yet found, there is considerable excitement and hope about new findings that are unfolding in numerous research settings. The connecting pieces to the puzzle called Alzheimer's disease continue to be found.

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DepressionJoan-Marie Moss

If you're not suffering from depression yourself, chances are that anywhere from 15 to 50 of every hundred people you know are. It is an insidious illness that sucks an individual further and further into a state of impotence and at the same time impacts the well-being of everyone who comes in contact with him/her. The numbers offered here are somewhat ambiguous because depression is only recently recognized as a real illness and not a figment of one's imagination.

Diane, who has been suffering from depression for more than eleven years, is one of those who are willing to talk about her illness. She says, Most people are still very much surprised that I admit and am willing to talk openly about my depression. There is still a stigma associated with the disease. People still don't understand. For this reason, we won't use real names in this article although the people who shared their stories are very real.

Incidences of this illness are staggering. An estimated 10-14 million Americans suffer from depression, according to a recent article in the Alliance for the Mentally Ill publication. Other estimates range as high as 35-40 million.

No one is immune from an attack of depression. Keep in mind that everyone feels down or lue at times. That's normal. But it's been estimated that 26 out of 100 women and 12 out of every 100 men will have a major depressive episode at least once in their lives. For creative individuals the estimate increases to 38 out of 100.

Statistics can be deceiving and any attempt to quantify this disease could be challenged. Particularly since, according to the Alliance for Mentally Ill, we're talking about those who are only now beginning to and seek help -- 80 % of those suffering from depression never seek treatment and suffer needlessly.

DuPage County is not immune. In fact, Dr. Martin Russo, a physician working with Central DuPage Hospital with offices in Bloomingdale, reports that easily forty to fifty percent of his patients are suffering from depression. Social workers and doctors throughout the county report similar statistics.

For this article only the most conservative numbers will be used. The indication, then, is that at least 150 out of every thousand suffer from this debilitating disease. In DuPage County, Illinois that translates to more than of 132,000 -- in Elmhurst, approximately 6,300 people -- live with some level of depression.

THE HUMAN FACTOR

Sondra Dodds at Family Service DuPage in Wheaton, IL says that those who are depressed often feel isolated and alone, different and unusual, misunderstood by family and friends, powerless and defeated. Many also feel the need to hide their real feelings, even from those they love. Those who are more willing to share their experiences share many common experiences although each case is dramatically different.

They share a common bond. They live in a no-man's land that's sapping the community of its most valuable resource...competent contributing citizens. They don't choose to live there. And they can't will to get out of there without help.

An insidious disease, depression is multi-faceted. The onset and the symptoms of depression are not always the same. Frequently depression is an outward manifestation of undetected physical illnesses such as cancer.

For some the disease can be traced to low self esteem; for others to excessive drain on their physical health and energy or chronic illnesses; for others to abnormally high levels of stress-related life experiences; for others realization that life is passing them by and their goals will never be reached.

In all instances the illness points to imbalances: physical, mental and spiritual. A depressive illness is a whole-body illness involving your body, mood, thoughts and behavior. It's not just a passing bout with he blues. You cannot will or wish it away.

Rose had frightening bouts with burning sensation in all parts of her body. It was as if her stomach, head, nerves were all aflame. Katherine began to withdraw from friends and acquaintances.

One Elmhurst resident tells of his experiences, I felt helpless and unable to cope with every day stresses. I saw myself as worthless as a part of the community I worked for. Frequently I entertained thoughts that my family would be better off if I just disappeared or died. I knew I was on a self destruct kick...ignoring my health, setting myself up for failure in my job and getting myself in no- win situations. The harder I tried, the worse things got in my life. I saw myself reacting to even the simplest setbacks with uncontrollable rage.

Anna, who has been treated both in and out of the hospital for depression said, Over the years, I've seen a big change in the people who are suffering depression. They're getting much younger now and they are filled with anger.

Some deal with the constant sensation that they are ot connected with the rest of the world and unimportant. For yet others, the illness may just hover at the point where there's a gnawing stomach ache and the constant knowledge that something just isn't right. Nearly all report that their level of productivity fell dramatically. Many find that they just can't attend to the task at hand. In the worst case scenario, suicide seems to offer the only way out.

The bad news is depression renders a person unable to cope adequately with life events and, frequently, it goes undiagnosed for months -- even years -- because the victim generally blames him or herself for uncontrollable problems and their inability to function in a reasonable manner. It's a vicious downward spiral that sucks its victim into a hopeless pit of despair.

IMPACT ON THE COMMUNITY

While many manage to function at some level of competence, their difficulties connecting and attending to task often limit them to minimum-wage positions although they may, under normal circumstances, be highly competent workers.

Heddi reports that her income dropped from nearly $3,000 per month to less than $800 a month while she was working much longer hours. A significant number of others have found themselves homeless. Evidence of this can be seen at the DuPage PADS site, where a striking number of clients are middle-management professionals who have lost their jobs.

The June 1995 county reports indicate that there are just over 884,000 people in DuPage County. Of those, the Labor force in DuPage numbers 492,169. If we calculate just 15% of those and figured that 73,800 people lost just $10,000 in earnings during the course of a year due to depression we're talking about the kind of losses that would be considered intolerable in business.

It's a vicious cycle. Stress, illness or financial difficulties strike sapping the individual and breeding a sense of hopelessness which aggravates the situation. Meanwhile, the sufferer must cope with others who are frequently equally depressed and stressed with their own problems. At the same time they have to deal with others who haven't the foggiest clue about what severe depression does to a person. In all cases misunderstanding and the inability to communicate the real pain lead to further hopelessness.

Stress continues to build in today's society where people dealing with stressful situations attempt to find solutions. When people dealing with any kind of stress or depression try to resolve difficulties or get answers to problems and get trapped into voice mail and mechanical phone menus or are put on waiting lists. When they feel treated like number, taken advantage of or overwhelmed constantly by circumstances they can't change, depression mounts.

In a society where both parents in a dual income family may hold down two or more jobs just to keep the bills paid, a person's value is equated with how much money they bring into the household rather than unconditional love and appreciation. One, or both, can slip easily into depression. The situation is much worse for single heads of households.

Barbara Hayes, a Family Service DuPage Licensed Clinical Social Worker, believes that ole strain is a major contributing factor in the higher incidence of depression in women. Not only are women parenting or grandparenting a younger generation, while, frequently caring for elderly parents; but, they are also required to cope with the challenges of maintaining a certain level of career growth in an uncertain economy -- frequently as sole support of their entire family structure. To meet the demands of each of these roles, a woman must maintain an exterior facade of strength. For many there is precious little time for attending to personal needs. All too frequently, functioning on far too little sleep and nutritious food, they cave in.

Meanwhile, the media, particularly women's magazines, focus on introspection, self analysis, poise and youthful figures, mounting anxiety, anger and insecurities. At the same time they juxtapose these weaknesses that turn us inward upon ourselves, with idealistic reports of the affluent life that many of the population will never achieve.

IT'S NOT A CASE OF BUZZ WORDS

Depression is not a new disease of the 20th century. Sufferers are among the elite. Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Edgar Allen Poe, Mike Wallace, Joan Rivers and Dick Cavett are among the many who have been afflicted.

Indications are that those who are more sensitive, creative and intelligent are more prone to suffering from depression. One study performed in the '80s found that 38% of 47 writers, poets and artists had taken medication, sought psychoanalysis or had been institutionalized for depression and bi-polar disorder. Another study performed in the 80's showed that more creative people suffered from emotional strife synonymous with certain neurosis. (Time-Life Books, 1992)

THE GOOD NEWS

Although the problem appears to be hopeless, there is good news. If you're going to have an illness, you want it to be depression. It's the most easily treatable.

The afflicted needs to work at getting back in balance. Professional counseling, support groups and the medical profession are learning to work together to speed recovery.

The medication is a critical aspect of treatment. The new drugs are marvelous even with the occasional discomfort of side effects. They work to re-balance the synapses that are responsible for the transmission of brain impulses.

Social workers and psychiatrists, too are much more skilled at identifying symptoms today than ever. Group counseling, support groups and crisis lines are more accessible. There's help and information out there for those who have the courage and determination to find it.

Much of the work, says Barbara Hayes, a licensed clinical social worker who oversees a 12-session group that's been running throughout the summer at Family Service DuPage, focuses on teaching cognitive reasoning techniques. Those who participate in this therapy learn to evaluate the validity of their thought processes and to recognize distorted thinking patterns. Then they learn to restructure their thought processes more positively and realistically. It's a sort of de-programming that allows individuals to discover that there are other ways to look at one's life experiences. Hayes has found this kind of therapy most productive when participants have the appropriate medical support. She assures her patients that using medication is not wimping out. Trying to pull yourself out of depression without the proper medical attention just doesn't work, she says. It's like a diabetic telling his pancreas to shoot insulin into his system, she says.

Unfortunately current health care programs, both private insurance and public aid, put unrealistic limits on treatment. All too often they cut short coverage long before the patient is able to cope without the medication and psychological support. When this happens they hamstring the health care providers, said Rose. It's not at all uncommon for these programs to cut off the payment for medication and counseling sessions just about the time a patient starts to show some progress and before the patient is sufficiently recovered. The only recourse in cases like that, short of going cold turkey, is to get on a waiting list for services that are offered on a sliding scale fee. All too often the patient is not financially able to handle that.

Fortunately it's the patient who does the real work of recovery. Those who discover that they control of their own destiny have the greatest hope of recovery. They can then learn how to maintain balance in their lives and their habits. They practice being less compulsive nurturers. They begin to trust themselves and be a bit more open with others. They learn to maintain a childlike attitude of gratitude and wonderment. And, they learn to be less sensitive to outside turmoil.

One of the key ingredients to healing lies in getting away from introspection and self-centeredness and to reach out to others. Those who have been afflicted and have made the most progress typically have found ways to give of themselves to others less fortunate or to share their unique talents with the community...the challenge being that a person who is severely depressed has great difficulty breaking through his/her feelings of isolation.

One group of women developed a phone network that they said was particularly helpful. One of the women is dealing with a pregnant teenager, another with a financial problems, a third with the death of a mother and a fourth with an overbearing aging mother. These women discovered that being able to pick up the phone and connect with someone who they knew would understand helped to speed recovery. In short order, often a matter of minutes, they managed to break the downward spiral of day-to-day crises. These calls provided the ladies a life-line that they turn to before the crisis could escalate. Most often within a very few minutes, they found they could put the experience into perspective and they'd find themselves laughing. And therein they found a cure, because you simply can't be depressed and laugh at the same time.

Dr. Russo's findings confirm that depression is indeed a multi-factorial disease that encompasses genetic, biological and environmental factors. He voices the concerns of many when he says, The reason that depression is so pervasive is that society is losing its sense of security and moral fiber in both the family and in the community. As it's losing its fiber we're losing our sense of purpose and personal value. At the same time we need to look at the spiritual component that gives us a sense of wholeness and peace when looking for solutions.

Those who understand depression agree, with Heddi, I need people, but I need people that I can be myself with. And, I need to find a way to make sense out of the madness I face every day I walk out my front door. When things get off balance, I need to make some changes. Alone I can't do it.

NOTE: Although most of the quotes here are those of women, the situation is far from a woman's problem. Women are simply more susceptible to depression. Role strain is a factor, according to Barbara Hayes. We are more aware of depression than we were in the past, but there are more stresses in society today for women to fulfill multiple roles. They make very heavy demands upon themselves. Women traditionally are the nurturers and very often in the process of nurturing others they forget to nurture themselves....as a result, at some point, people just start caving in.

The experts tell us that women today suffer twice as much depression as men. While one in four women can expect to develop depression during their lifetime, one in eight men can, too.

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JOAN-MARIE MOSS is a non-fiction author published in both national and regional markets. She specializes in business communications and public relations for businesses and professionals. She serves as consultant and communications/public relations specialist offering a full range of services from writing to desktop publishing and public speaking. Joan-Marie teaches Business Writing, Copyediting and Public Relations at Oakton Community college and has been guest speaker on WWCN and WDCB Radio. She currently writes for the Daily Herald and Press Publications, and is working on her second book.

Visit her web site at: http://cyberrealm.net/
~joanmari/CreativeOptions/Welcome.html

Natural CyclesSamten Williams, B.S.N., R.N.

The top income, the best job title: these markers are no longer the standard of success. So reports CNBC's show Power Lunch recently. This show reviewed results of a survey indicating the top priority for business school graduates now is a balance between family life and work.

Natural cycles awareness helps us get on the balanced-life track. This month we look at one part of natural timing, the retrograde motion of planets.

As viewed from earth, the planets sometimes appear to be traveling backward. This backward travel, called retrograde motion, is a phenomena recognized in both astronomy and astrology.

Retrograde motions are about patience. They are times when our plans to go forward are halted. Retrograde periods are times to bring play and family into the forefront of our lives. During retrograde periods we are reworking plans. We are going backward to get something we overlooked -- an idea, an opportunity. These kinds of creative discoveries are best realized through the spontaneity of play and the supportive comfort of family and friends.

Mercury, one of the planets in our solar system, goes retrograde three times a year. Energetically, Mercury is associated with communication, technology, and things which are mechanical. Retrograde periods of Mercury are the times when miscommunications, delays, or technical and mechanical challenges seem prevalent.

Just picture it: energy is trying to go backward and we are trying to go forward. Something has to give. You can guess it is not going to be the planet that gives, in this case Mercury. The planet is going to go it's way. We can either be aggravated, impatient, frustrated. Or, we can stop and reassess.

With knowledge of Mercury retrograde periods we can stop personalizing delays. We can start cushioning expectations, knowing we can only go so far when the motion is not forward. We can take the pressure off of over-work and bring in a little play.

Mercury turned retrograde on April 14. On May 8 1997, Mercury turns in a forward motion again. The point where Mercury turned retrograde on April 14 is called a station. Mercury passes this station on May 26. For the three week period when Mercury is retrograde one may expect natural delays and possible communication, technological or mechanical challenges. When Mercury turns direct on May 8 these matters start to clear up. When Mercury passes it's station on May 26 one can expect forward motion in the areas of communication and technology.

We have another retrograde energy we are dealing with now, Mars retrograde. Mars is the planet of drive and initiative. Many people have been experiencing delays in their work and the forward motion of projects.

On February 6 of this year Mars turned retrograde. Mars turns direct on April 29. On July 2, Mars passes it's station, the point where it turned retrograde in early February. During this Mars retrograde period we have the opportunity to come to a deeper sense of what energizes us -- what we want. As plans are delayed we keep refining them. After April 29, and especially after July 2, we will start to feel forward momentum again. This motion forward is in the areas of our personal power within business and relationships.

How can planetary motion possibly affect my business? is a question I am sure some readers will ask. The new physics teaches us gravity is not the only force in nature. Through electromagnetism and strong and weak forces the new physics tells us that everything in nature is interconnected. As above, so below.

Paying attention to the information of natural cycles helps us feel part of, rather than separate from, the fluid movement of energy. We can move with the natural clock, rather than against it. Check out the events of your life in relation to the dates mentioned above. See if there are links. If you do not see a match, that is fine, too. No one world view is for everyone.

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Samten Williams, B.S.N. R.N., is a nurse journalist and astrologer. Through hercompany FRESH PERSPECTIVES she offers writings, consultations, andworkshops on the applications of astrology for intuitive living. She can bereached at P.O. Box 76 Boxford MA 01921
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samten@shore.net

What You Should Know About LeadSheila Saucier

Lead, the toxic metal known to be harmful to man, has been sneakingunoticed into the bloodstreams of millions of Americans over many years.It seeps insidiously into our water risking the lives of our unborn and ourchildren, often going unnoticed until it's too late. It enters our homeson the feet of every occupant, picked up from the soil outside. It can cover the work clothes of mechanics, plumbers, lead smelter workers, and other high risk occupations. The same clothes that we wash along with our children's clothes, unknowingly endangering them.

Lead is an invisible enemy, often in the form of simple dust thatenters our home. Dust that can be both inhaled or ingested especially by young children who tend to put everything in their mouths.

In other words lead poisoning is still a very real threat present inour environment, damaging the brains and nervous system of many of it's victims, the majority of which are children.

Of great concern is our water supply. The EPA (EnvironmentalProtection Agency) estimates that about forty two million Americans use household water that contains unsafe levels of lead. Precisely, levels in excess of 15 ppb (parts per billion), which is the highest recommended safety level. However, there is no truly safe level of lead, because it does not belong in the human body, and it does not leave our bodies once it has entered. Instead, it is stored just like calcium and other minerals in the bone matter where it continues to build up over our lifetime.

It's no wonder that as many as one out of eleven children in theUnited States have dangerously high levels of lead in their bloodstream according to the EPA. Some other sources suggest this number is as great as one in eight children!

As hard as this is to believe, the facts are very real. Lead isdecreasing the I.Q.'s of many young victims, creating learningdisabilities, such as speech and behavior problems, not to mention hearing loss, muscular coordination problems, and much more.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that regular leadscreening should be done on children up to age six, with the first testdone between six to twelve months of age. However, it has been my personalexperience that Pediatricians are not routinely checking for lead inchildren. Certainly none have ever suggested it to me, and my childrenhave seen a dozen different Pediatrician's over the years.

It appears that few people really believe their families are at riskand feel their homes are safe. The reality is however, that your home's water probably does contain lead in some amount, and in fact, an estimated 10 million children receive significantly high amounts of lead in theirdrinking water in our country every day.

Following are some other common sources of lead.

bone china

crystal

painted surfaces

brass faucets

painted toys

antique pewter

foreign made crayons

ammunition, pellets

chalk

fruits

air

water

porcelain

earthenware

plastic mini-blinds

solder

stained glass

storage batteries

gasoline additives

water pipe corrosion

water pipe solder

vegetables

soil

dust

Today experts regard soldering as the major cause of lead contamination ofhousehold water in U.S. homes. New brass faucets and fittings can alsoleach lead during corrosion, even though they claim to be lead free.

It's sad to note that the newer the home, the greater the risk of leadcontamination. Why? Because normally, as time passes, mineral depositsform a coating on the inside of water pipes, (if the water is not corrosive.) This coating insulates the water from the lead-containing solder present. But during the first five years, before the coating forms, water is in direct contact with the lead and carries it into your home.

Some recent studies suggest that food is our main source of adulthuman exposure with as much as 60% of total ingested lead coming from the food we eat, air inhalation accounting for 30%, and water for 10%.

Children, pregnant women, and calcium deficient individuals are in thegreatest risk group for lead toxicity. What's frightening to realize isthat dangerously high levels of lead do not necessarily present any symptoms in children. So it's no surprise few Physicians or parents ever suspect lead toxicity in their children.

It's also interesting to note that many of the symptoms of ADHD,(Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder), mimic those of lead toxicity.I can't help but wonder how many children diagnosed with this disease mayactually be lead toxic instead. Take a look at the symptoms that may ormay not present themselves.

In children:

fatigue

crankiness

hyperactivity

convulsions

restlessness

headaches

insomnia

stupor

constipation
 

poor appetite

behavior and learning problems

brain and nervous system damage

slowed growth

earing and speech problems

nausea/vomiting

abdominal pain

anemia

lack of muscular coordination

  In adults:

difficulty during pregnancy, such as miscarriage, etc.

reproductive problems (men and women)

high blood pressure

digestive problems

nerve disorders

anemia

muscle and joint pain

memory and concentration problems

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Copyright © 1997 by Sheila Blythe-Saucier. Founder and owner of Safety Net-Child Safety Consultants, Sheila Blythe-Saucier is in the business of protecting children from the hazards that exist in their homes and communities. An R.N. for the last 20 years, Sheila extensively researched and authored a child safety book, which lead to the development of her business. Through a home inspection covering over 600 hazards commonly found in and around homes with young children, parents receive an education on protecting their kids fully, in a few hours time.

Live a Longer and Healthier LifeHerlan Westra

An unexpected research finding with great practical significance isthat experimental animals live longer with much lower rates of diseasewhen they consume less than the recommended daily allowance of calories.The finding is unexpected because we associate less-than-optimalnutrition with poor growth and health, and common sense tells us that wedo better if we are well nourished. In fact, most of us may beovernourished, and too much of a good thing may be doing us harm.

An adequate diet is one that provides not only enough calories butalso all of the nutrients necessary for efficient metabolism without anyexcesses that promote disease. What constitutes a good diet is a matterof controversy, and much of the controversy is based on emotion ratherthan reason.

An average person needs less than 2,000 calories daily, with 300 to400 of the calories coming from fat. Present labeling laws are helpfulin determining your caloric intake, but maintaining your weight orlosing weight is much more complicated. The FDA supports two ways todiet: increase exercise and decrease the intake of food.

Dieting Can Make You Fat

That's it? The secret to a long and healthy life is diet andexercise? Not really! Metabolism slows down during a diet, and the bodyburns fewer calories, causing more fat to be stored as a protectionagainst extended famine. When the food supply is restored, themetabolism is slow to respond, and the body stores even more fat. Inhumans, this yo-yo phenomenon is harmful - starvation diets simply foolthe body into starting a famine cycle. Once the diet is over, we areback to where we started, or worse.

Granted, exercise programs help keep the metabolism active, but mostof us are about as committed to our exercise programs as we are to ourdiets. We fall off the exercise program at the same time we end thediet, increasing the yo-yo effect. Then how should we combine dietingand exercise into a healthy life?

First we need to modify our diets, lowering caloric content withoutgreatly reducing the amount or the appeal of food we consume. The bestway of lowering caloric content is by cutting the fat content in ourdiets. Fat has almost twice as many calories per gram as protein andcarbohydrate.

Second we need to restrict caloric intake either by fasting or byeating a limited diet one day a week. Our body's metabolism will notreact quick enough to begin a famine cycle during a one-day diet.Fasting should include plenty of liquids, with enough fruit juices tomaintain a minimum caloric intake. When fasting, reduce the intake ofsupplemental vitamins and minerals, as some supplements may become toxicif not consumed with adequate amounts of food.

Vitamin Supplements

Our bodies don't benefit from the food we eat, but rather by what isdigested, assimilated and eliminated. The food is taken in, broken intosmaller and smaller parts until it can be absorbed and the by-productsdiscarded. Enzymes digest all of our food and make it small enough topass through the intestines into the blood. Enzymes are a part of everymetabolic process in the body, from the working of our glands to theproper functioning of our immune system. Enzymes require vitamins andminerals to do their work.

Many manufactured vitamin and mineral supplements, because they arefractionated (broken down into basic elements), are treated as toxicwaste in the body. Some minerals in an unnatural form can accumulate andcause harmful effects. Fortunately, many commercial vitamin and mineralsupplements are so badly formulated that they pass right through ourdigestive systems without breaking down and being absorbed.Unfortunately, we haven't received the benefit that we paid for.

Many people are now using all-natural herbal forms of vitamin andmineral supplements. Because these are in a natural form, they are moreeasily absorbed than manufactured supplements. They are also much lessconcentrated than manufactured supplements, and so are often safer.However, it is always best to consult with your personal physicianbefore taking any nutritional supplement.

The proper supplements, combined with proper diet and exercise, canhelp you live a longer and healthier life.

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Herlan Westra is the editor of Rhode Island Foghorn OnlineMagazine, which provides information and entertainment for a rapidly-growing audience nationwide. Herlan welcomes suggestions for future articles.

WHAT is Too Fat?Teresa King

In this day and age, it seems that more and more women and young teensare starving themselves to be in the current skinny mode. Why is thishappening?

In this overly commercially orientated world, with skinny models all overthe world, and people trying to emulate that look. I am quite sure it started withTwiggy, in the 1960's. I think Twiggy was smart. She looked at her skinny littleframe and realized that she was not like most girls, so instead of hiding herselfshe flaunted it.

Hence, comes skinniness, and billions of dollars are spent each yearwhile women, young and old, try to stay thin.

Health is going down hill. Years ago women had a bit of meat on theirbones and were beautiful. Now, they have dry skin. No extra energy. And, in myopinion look like skeletons.

It is one thing, to keep yourself, in shape, by exercising and keepingyourself toned up. It is quite another when you are starving your body, and robbing itof proper nutrients.

One thing that a lot of people are not aware of is what happens when youdon't eat enough calories. Your body, a wonderful machine, was built for starvingtimes and feasting time, as food was scarce sometimes and abundant at others. So,when you don't feed your body, your metabolism says oh, dear, here comesstarving times. And, it promptly slows down. Hence, starving and slow weightloss. So what does a person do. He/she eats less calories, and on goes the cycle.

Now we come to the Yoyo syndrome heavy, thin, heavy thin, heavy thin,and guess what happens? It gets harder to get the weight off each time. Whyis that? Because your body is confused. I was starved, I must slow down. I amgetting fed, I must store for starving times. Hence the Yoyo syndrome.

Now, what is too fat? Too fat is when you are carrying too much fat, andit is hard to move. Hard to breath. Too fat is not because at 5'4 inches you weigh 140lbs, and the Twiggy friend weighs 115lbs. Each person has a different bonestructure and some people have more muscle than others. And, yes, muscle weighs morethan fat. Hence a person at 140 lbs may actually have less fat then a personwho is the same height at 115 lbs.

If after reading this you still think you are too fat. Or, if you arereally too fat. Then the best diet is to exercise, cut down on junk food. Eat healthy foodssuch as fruits and veggies, whole grains, etc. Drink lots of water. Do not STARVEyourself. Try to get off hydrogenated fats. (And, this will take some reading. You will besurprised how much hydrogenated fats are in packaged foods) your body needs oil,just like a car. It is just some oils are better for you then others. Hydrogenatedfats are not needed.

Think build health. Get proper vitamins (all natural are best!) In thisday and age there is no way you can get the vitamins you need in the food you areeating. Unless, you watch every single bite, and read a tremendous amount ofliterature to learn and do so, plus growing your own food, so you know where it iscoming from. Do not go hungry. If you want to lose weight don't stuff yourself. Eatfrequent small meals, so you never get those out of control binges that low blood sugarcauses. So, there you have it in a nutshell.

As you build your health you can smile at that mirror and accept yourrosy cheeks, glossy shiny hair, soft skin, and an amazing abundance of energy. So whatif you weigh more than you think you should. You are you. Accept yourself. Goodluck!

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Copyright Teresa King
Visit Teresa's site at: Tips for Top E-books

Human Growth Hormone: Fountain of Youth or the Same Old Hype?Dr. John H. Maher and Dr. Bruce Howe

In this day and age, it seems that more and more women and young teensare starving themselves to be in the current skinny mode. Why is thishappening?

In this overly commercially orientated world, with skinny models all overthe world, and people trying to emulate that look. I am quite sure it started withTwiggy, in the 1960's. I think Twiggy was smart. She looked at her skinny littleframe and realized that she was not like most girls, so instead of hiding herselfshe flaunted it.

(A Brief Guide to Hgh Enhancement Supplements, the Current Rage inAnti-Aging, Longevity, Building Lean Body Mass, and Rejuvenating SexualPotency.)

What if you had a natural and safe product with clinically provenresults in the battle against aging? What if you could reverse aging? Looking,feeling, and performing 10, even 20 years younger?

What if you could burn fat without dieting or exercising; increase yourmuscle mass without exercise; improve your sexual drive and performance;enhance your athletic performance and endurance; have younger, tighter,thicker skin; eliminate cellulite; dramatically support truly refreshingdeep sleep; build stronger bones; alleviate menopause and maleandropause; improve your cholesterol and triglyceride profiles;strengthen your heart while lowering blood pressure; even improve yourhair growth and texture; improve mood, memory and concentration; strengthenyour immune system; and likely add years to your life?

Well... with human growth hormone (Hgh) enhancements you can. Over28,000 medical studies say you can!

Indeed, a 10 year study just completed in June 1998 for the NationalInstitute of Aging state the results with human growth hormone, alsoknown as Hgh, are too good to be true!

What is Hgh?

Nestled in the center of our heads there sits a rather tiny but verypowerful gland called the pituitary gland. Hgh is one of 7 hormonessecreted by the pituitary. Growth hormone, like thyroid hormone, hasan effect on almost all our tissues and organs. As the name implies, itenhances the growth of various organs and tissues, especially muscle andbone. Basically, human growth hormone increases protein synthesis. Proteins are the major building block out of which our body is made. Normal secretion of Hgh occurs in a daily cycle, like a tide. It varieswith exercise, sleep, stress and nutrition.

Why Does Hgh Enhancement Help?

As we hit middle age, there is a natural decline in hormone production,not only of Hgh, but estrogen, progesterone, DHEA, androstenedione, andtestosterone. With advancing age, an increase in the incidence ofosteoporosis, heart disease, diabetes, mood and memory disorders, lossof libido, , etc. occurs. Also, central obesity increases and musclesshrink. Scientific studies are demonstrating a causal relationship between thedecline in hormone levels and an increased incidence of theaforementioned conditions. The exciting development is that by replacing thesehormones, these developments can actually be reversed. Hormone replacement forestrogen, thyroid and now progesterone are commonplace. Is Hgh next?

What's the Downside?

Hgh was only used for children with certain growth disorders until themid 1980's. It was extremely expensive, as the only source was humancadavers!

Then recombinant DNA technology made it possible to engineer bacteriato produce Hgh. Still it cost about $200 to $300 per week to buy suchrecombinant Hgh! Plus, you need frequent blood tests, costing $100 pluseach time to monitor the proper dosage. And you have to give yourselfshots twice a day, though these are more inconvenient than painful.

There is some debate as to whether Hgh shots might stimulate cancer. Proponents counter that Hgh actually builds the immune system, thereforelikely helping to prevent cancer. The informed consensus opinion atthis time seems to be that those with cancer should not take Hgh as it mightstimulate cancer growth too!

Another concern is that Hgh shots, as with any hormone replacementtherapy regularly taken, tend to inhibit our own natural production. So, if youstop, you could really crash, having become dependent on an outsidesource of Hgh.

In Part II, we will continue our discussion on human growth hormone.

We will present information on natural Hgh secretagogues, a safer and much more affordable way to benefit from Hgh enhancements. And we willdiscuss ways to optimize your Hgh levels with nutrition, exercise, restand stress reduction.

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Dr. John H. Maher
Dr. Bruce Howe

Longevity Resources Int'l. is dedicated to providing you with thecutting edge in natural health products, scientific information, andprofessional guidance with quality, service, convenience, and economy, guaranteed!

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Human Growth Hormone: Fountain of Youth or the Same Old Hype? Part 2Dr. John H. Maher and Dr. Bruce Howe

Natural Human Growth Hormone Enhancements: the Hgh Secretagogues

Fortunately, for anti-aging enthusiasts, there are a variety of naturaloral Hgh enhancers that are much less expensive. Because they support,not replace, pituitary gland function, they don't shut down your ownnatural production. These are called secretagogues because they coaxor support your own glands to secrete their own hormones, not replace them.

Which Secretagogues Are Best?

As the oral Hgh enhancers (secretagogues) hit the market, caveatemptor! (buyer beware!) Most marketers will quote study results from Hghinjections and then claim them for their product! Here are 4 importantquestions to ask:

Has the Hgh product been independently lab tested, proving itraises IGF-1 by 50% or more on average? (IGF-1 stands for insulin like growthfactor and is the accepted way to measure Hgh response to oralsupplements and injections.) Were the studies conducted by a M.D. with expertcredential in anti-aging?

Has the Hgh anti-aging product been utilized by scores of doctorsfor several years to insure safety and effectiveness?

Are there testimonials not only from lay persons, but from M.D.'sfrom major universities with credentials in anti-aging medicine.

Does the Hgh enhancing product cost more than $2 per day? (Itshouldn't!)

My general opinion is to avoid legumes or bean based secretagogues asthey may increase estrogen. Oral recombinant Hgh sprays and drops are veryeffective, but too expensive, and too new to know about safety. Plusyou don't support your own production with oral recombinant Hgh, rather youare replacing it. Generally, combinations of amino acids like glutamine,arginine, orthinine ,lysine, flush free niacin and herbs are best. Pickproducts that have been used safely for at least several years, provento increase IGF-1 levels by 50% or more, have endorsements from wellcredentialed authorities, and cost less that $60/month.

Do I Need To See A Doctor First?

My personal opinion is that anyone serious about anti-aging should havea professional anti-aging health coach. Unfortunately, medical anti-agingclinics with Hgh injections cost about $20,000 per year, cash! Doctorslike myself who try to make available more modest longevity programs tofit to the middle class budget are rare indeed. Generally however, the moreover 40 you look, feel, and perform, the more likely you could probablybenefit from high quality, proven safe and effective Hgh secretagoguesas described herein. But be careful. You don't have too be much of anentrepreneur to figure out that youth in a bottle is a marketer's dream.Buyer beware!

How You Can I Enhance Your Hgh Levels Naturally

As you may recall from Part I, Hgh levels are affected by stress, restpatterns, nutrition and exercise.

Stressful lifestyles tend to focus the body on producing stress hormoneslike cortisol and ACTH . Too much stress hormone actually breakdownsmuscle tissue, inhibits repair, and interferes with sleep. If a long, vital,and happy life is on your busy agenda, then make fun, rest, play, and quiettimes a priority!

Hgh levels are strongly effected by our nutritional status. In theinfirm elderly Hgh levels have doubled from admittedly very low levels bysupplementing with 20 grams of protein from whey. Correcting suboptimalzinc status in otherwise apparently healthy subjects increased Hghlevels by 20%. As human growth hormone's effect is to stimulate growth, it willmaximize your results if you supply yourself with the necessary proteinand mineral building blocks through a nutrient dense diet. A high qualitymulti- vitamin/mineral, rich in anti-oxidants, is also to your health'sadvantage.

Exercise stimulates Hgh by reducing stress and promoting restful sleep.

However, weight lifting and to a lesser extent running wind sprints,directly enhances Hgh levels. Heavy weight lifting, like dead lifts,squats, and bench presses are the best. Performing 5 to 8 reps, 3 sets,at maximum effort is best.

Unless very experienced, be sure to get guidance from a trainer at yourgym or home.

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Dr. John H. Maher
Dr. Bruce Howe

Longevity Resources Int'l. is dedicated to providing you with thecutting edge in natural health products, scientific information, andprofessional guidance with quality, service, convenience, and economy, guaranteed!

FREE Longevity News e-zine. http://www.galaxymall.com/health/lri