Jane Yao's Blog

“Fear Factor” is one of my favorite TV shows. It highlights the courage of the participants to engage in the most fearsome and disgusting acts.

Most of the contestants are willing to sacrifice their dignity for the sake of the prize money. So what does that imply? It implies that with the proper mindset, determination, and will power, you can conquer your fear.

Everyone has some sort of fear. It may be brought about by any one or more of the following reasons.

1) by a traumatic past incident (like being bitten by a dog)

2) by the influence of other people

3) by their own negative way of thinking

But are you going to let fear take over your life? Will you remain a hostage of your fear forever?

You must take the necessary steps to overcome your fright. It’s all in the mind.

Do you envy other people when you see them enjoying wild rides, and you’re just stuck in a corner because you’re too terrified to give it a try?

My suggestion is to face your fear head-on. Imagine yourself enjoying the experience instead of exaggerating the things that make you worry. (Unless of course you have health problems, then taking wild rides may not be a good idea).

Do you want to be a doctor but you’re afraid that your intellect can’t handle the pressure or you’re worried about financial insecurity?

Well here’s the good news. If you’re really determined to achieve your deepest desires, a powerful force will enable you to reach them amidst every obstacle that comes in the way. I’m not kidding.

Someone or something will always be there to help you attain your goals. Just have faith in your abilities. Your will power have the utmost capacity to accomplish anything with the proper mindset.

You could use visualization to help you in defeating any kind of fear.

Are you afraid of heights? Then imagine yourself being on top of a mountain, overseeing the magnificent sights. Enjoy and feel the moment. Take away all worries and anxieties.

Then just do it! Face it head on! Go to the top of a building and savor the great feeling of being able to face your fear.

This applies to whatever thing that triggers your fear factor. Just imagine being able to defeat it, then confront it with the definite belief that you have the capacity to do everything you want if you just put your mind to it.

Face the thing you fear the most and you’ll never have to fear anything again in your life.

CCNAs and CCNA candidates hear it all the time: ‘Get some hands-on experience’. From my personal experience climbing the Cisco certification ladder, I can tell you firsthand that there is no learning like hands-on learning. No simulator in the world is going to give you the experience you will get cabling and configuring your own routers.

Whenever I mention this to one of my students, they always say it costs too much. The truth is, it is cheaper now to build your own CCNA and CCNP lab than it has ever been. The secret? Used routers.

The word ‘used’ turns off a lot of people; not many of us buy used computers or used servers. Cisco routers, though, are robust; I personally own a Cisco 4000 router that I use as a Frame Relay switch in my lab that I’ve had for about four years, and I’ve never had a problem with it.

The good news for current CCNA and CCNP candidates interested in building their own labs is that used Cisco equipment has never been more plentiful or cheaper. eBay is a good way to get an idea of what’s out there and what the prices are, but you don’t have to assemble your lab one piece at a time. Many eBay vendors who sell used Cisco equipment sell ready-made CCNA and CCNP labs for one price, including cables.

I asked one major vendor of CCNA and CCNP labs, http://www.ciscokits.com, what the most common questions are regarding building your own home lab. Here’s what they had to say:

Why do I need real routers instead of a simulator?

You need a physical router as the simulators just don’t have the ability to give you the ‘hands on’ you need to see what happens when you disconnect a cable or put a cable in the wrong location. You will come to find quite quickly that mistakes you make on Router 1 are affecting Router 5 all because you did not screw in a cable properly. No simulator can simulate that.

How many routers do I need?

Two routers really are required to see if anything works. If you have a very limited budget, you can receive value from only purchasing a single router over working with a simulator. However, you will not be able to see the main thing we are trying to accomplish. The propagation of route tables! The only way you can see if your configurations work, is to have at least two routers. Therefore, I strongly recommend that you purchase a dual router kit that comes with all the accessories you need. Otherwise you can spend days trying to find all the little extra pieces you need to get your lab up and running.

Do I need a switch?

Well, it is nice to have. However, with only about 2 questions on the test dedicated to ‘hands on’ switch knowledge, if you have to skimp on something, skimp on the switch.

What routers and switches should I buy?

Choices, choices, choices! Which 2500/2600 router do I pick? I will list some pros and cons of each router below, along with current prices (note that prices are generally lower if you buy a dual router kit instead of a single router):

1) Cisco 2501 Router with 16 MB Flash/16MB DRAM $94.99. The cheapest introduction router, and it can support a vast majority of the commands that you will need to learn for your CCNA test. All 2500 routers that we will discuss come with a minimum of two serial ports and an Ethernet port. You will need to add a transceiver to this unit to convert the Ethernet AUI port to an RJ-45 style Ethernet port.

2) Cisco 2503 Router with 16 MB Flash/16MB DRAM $119.99. This is the same as a Cisco 2501, except it adds an ISDN port so you can complete all your ISDN commands for the CCNA test. You will need to add a transceiver to convert the Ethernet AUI port to an RJ-45 style Ethernet port.

3) Cisco 2505/2507 with 16 MB Flash/16MB DRAM $109.99. The same as a Cisco 2501 except it has a built-in 8 or 16 port hub so you do not have to purchase a transceiver.

4) Cisco 2514 Router with 16 MB Flash/16MB DRAM $149.99. This router is the same as a Cisco 2501 except instead of one Ethernet port you have two. You may ask, what is the big deal? Well, you can use this as your Cable Modem/DSL Modem router. Now you can test your ability to setup a firewall and router in a live environment on the Internet. Lots of fun! You will need to add two transceivers to convert the Ethernet AUI ports to an RJ-45 style Ethernet ports.

5) Cisco 2520 Router with 16 MB Flash/16MB DRAM $119.99. This is the same as a 2503 but it also adds two more serial ports so you can use this as a frame relay switch later in your CCNA studies. It costs the same as a 2503, so this is a great money saving tip.

6) Cisco 2612 Router with 32 DRAM and 8 MB Flash $199.99. This is a modular router unlike any of the 2500 series routers. So the big benefit of this is you can buy extra modules to add functionality such as more serial ports, ISDN ports, Ethernet ports, WICs and such. However, due to the flexibility you will pay a bit more. One day it is a frame relay switch, the next it is your ISDN router. In the long run it will be cheaper than purchasing a bunch of dedicated routers for each discipline you want to learn.

7) Cisco 1912 or 1924 Switch with Enterprise Software $109.99. This is a good low cost switch.. The only draw back is it is a 10 MB switch except for the two 100 MB uplink ports. Not a big deal since you have 10 MB routers.

Cisco 2912 or 2924 Switch with Enterprise Software $249.99. This switch will run all the current commands needed for the test and is a full 100 MB switch.

And should you desire to sell your lab after you complete your certification, you can either negotiate a price with the vendor who sold it to you, or you can sell it yourself on ebay. It’s my experience that 95% of candidates who earn their CCNA go on to pursue their CCNP within one year, though, so don’t sell it too quickly.

In the end, you spend only a few hundred dollars, and you gain invaluable experience and knowledge that will help you both in your certification quest and your job performance. Having been there, I can tell you that you will learn much more from actually configuring and cabling your own equipment than you ever will from any simulation of the real thing.

To your success,

Anyone considering Bankruptcy may have experienced fear after reading an article written in The Mail on Sunday with the headline “Bankruptcy cheats face crackdown”. But, how much of what was written was in context of the reality of Bankruptcy as it is today?

The article implied that since The Enterprise Act 2002 the rise in the number of people going bankrupt was due to them using the Bankruptcy route as a “Get out of jail free card”. The assumption being that The Enterprise Act 2002 made bankruptcy an easy option. However, the writer didn’t take into consideration the actions the DTI have taken to raise financial awareness and to ensure better advice is given regarding people’s options when faced with personal debt issues.

The article gave the impression that one of the restrictions of bankruptcy was that you could not open a bank account until you are discharged from bankruptcy. However, there are infact 40 basic bank accounts, half of which will allow an undischarged bankrupt to open an account. This in itself indicates the writer of the article is not fully aware of the effect of bankruptcy, therefore giving the impression that the article could possibly be the result of poor research.

The Enterprise Act 2002 (bought into force in April 2004) was made to give honest people a fresh start in life, which would be free from the stress of debt. Not for the purpose of encouraging people to “use insolvency as a way of shaking off creditors”. The writer implied that the provision, which allows the IP to request a restriction order on a bankrupt, is hardly used. Perhaps this is because, people who lodge petitions for bankruptcy have not gone out to get themselves into huge amounts of debt and are genuinely unable to repay their debt due to unforeseen circumstances, rather than fraud, recklessness or dishonesty.

If an Insolvency Practitioner suspects fraudulent or criminal behaviour, they will apply for a Bankruptcy Restriction Order (BRO) for the court to assess and decide what action to take.

The writer also states that “New” Government proposals due out in the next few days will make it easier for creditors to set up plans for repayments, an “Individual Voluntary Arrangement”. Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVA’s) have infact been around since the 1986 Insolvency Act and used by employees and self employed people.

This only further questions the credibility of the writer and The Mail on Sunday for publishing such an article.

What the writer also doesn’t realise is, people who have failed IVA’s or not able to get an IVA add to the percentage of people petitioning for bankruptcy.

The worry that this article will have placed on people is not only unnecessary, but also misleading. The reduction in the terms of discharge from bankruptcy is supposed to be a positive change in The Enterprise Act 2002, not a negative one as implied in this article.

If you have sought advice, and you know you have no other option than to take the bankruptcy route then you should not be put off. “Nothing has changed”, as Simon Wiggins of Ask the Expert informed one of his posters who read the article and was concerned by it.

If you would like further advice regarding your financial situation FCL Debt Clinic offer free debt advice which will enable you to see what your options are regarding resolving your debt problems.

When most people want to find something on the web, they use a search engine. Millions of searches are conducted every day on search engines such as: google.com, yahoo.com, msn.com and many others. Some people are looking for your website. So how do you capture people searching for what your site has to offer? Through techniques called search engine marketing (SEM).

This tutorial is foundational information for anyone looking to implement search engine marketing. This tutorial will also help you understand how the search engines work, what SEM is, and how it can help you get traffic. What is a Search Engine?

All search engines start with a “search box”, which issometimes the main focus of the site, e.g. google.com, dmoz.org, altavista.com; sometimes the “search box” is just one feature of a portal site, e.g. yahoo.com, msn.com, netscape.com. Just type in your search phrase and click the “search” button, and the search engine will return a listing of search engine result pages (SERPs). To generate SERPs the search engine compared your search phrase with information it has about various web sites and pages in its database and ranks them based on a “relevance” algorithm. Search Engine Classes

Targeted audience, number of visitors, quality of search and professionalism is what determines a search engine’s class. Each search engine typically target specific audiences based on interest and location. World-class search engines look very professional, include virtually the entire web in their database, and return highly relevant search results quickly.

Most of us are familiar with the major general search engines; google.com, yahoo.com, msn.com. A general search engine includes all types of websites and as such are targeting a general audience. There are also the lesser known 2nd tier general search engines; zeal.com,ask.com,whatyouseek.com. The primary difference is that 2nd tier engines are lesser known and generate significantly less traffic.

There are also several non-general or targeted search engines that limit the types of websites they include in their database. Targeted search engines typically limit by location or by industry / content type or both. Most large metro areas will have local search engines that list local businesses and other sites of interest to people in that area. Some are general and some are industry specific, such as specificallylisting restaurants or art galleries.

Many other targeted search engines list sites from any location but only if they contain specific types of content. Most webmasters are familiar with webmaster tools search engines such as; webmasterworld.com, hotscripts.com, flashkit.com and more. There are niche SEs for practically any industry and interest. Search Engine Models

There are two fundamentally different types of search engine back ends: site directories and spidering search engines. Site directory databases are built by a person manually inputting data about websites. Most directories include a site’s url, title, and description in their database. Some directories include more information, such as keywords, owner’s name, visitor rankings and so on. Some directories will allow you to control your website’s information yourself others rely on editors that write the information to conform to the directory standards.

It is important to note that most directories include directory listings as an alterative to the search box for finding websites. A directory listing uses hierarchal groupings from general to specific to categorize a site.

Spidering search engines take a very different approach. They automate the updating of information in their database by using robots to continually read web pages. A search engine robot/spider/crawler acts much like a web browser, except that instead of a human looking at the web pages, the robot parses the page and adds the page’s content it’s database.

Many of the larger search engines will have both a directory and spidering search engine, e.g. yahoo.com, google.com, and allow visitors to select which they want to search. Note that many search engines do not have their own search technology and are contracting services from elsewhere. For example, Google’s spider SE is their own, but their directory is and Open Directory; additionally aol.com and netscape.com both use Google’s spider SE for their results.

There are a few other search engine models of interest. There are some search engines that combine results from other engines such as dogpile.com and mamma.com. There are also search engines that add extra information to searches such as Amazon’s alexa.com, which uses Google’s backend but adds data from its search bar regarding tracking traffic to the site. Getting In

One of the most important things to understand about the SE database models is how to get into their database and keep your listing updated. With a search directory, a submission needs to be done to provide the directory all the information needed for the listing. It is generally recommended that this be done by hand, either by you or a person familiar with directory submissions. There are many submission tools available that advertise they automate the submission process. This may be fine for smaller directories but for the major directories, manual submissions are worth the time.

Not all search directories are free; many charge a one-time or annual fee for review. Many of the free search directories have little quality control. For free directories you may have to submit your site several times before being accepted.

There are three different methods for getting into spidering search engines; free site submission, paid inclusion and links from other sites. Virtually all spidering SEs offer a free site submission. For most, you simply enter your url into a form and submit. Paid inclusion is normally not difficult, except for the credit card payment. For free site submission there is no quality control. The SE may send a spider to your site in the next few weeks, months or never. Typically with paid inclusion you will get a guarantee that the page you submitted will be included within a short amount of time. The other standard way to get included is to have links to your website from other web pages that are already in the SEs database. The SE spiders are always crawling the web and will eventually follow those links to find your site.

Once you are in a search engine database, you might change your site and need the search engine to update their database. Each directory handles this differently; generally each database will have a form for you to submit a change request. Spidering search engines will eventually find the change and add your updates automatically. Getting High Rankings

Getting into a search engine database is only the first step. Without other factors you will not rank in the top positions, a prerequisite for quality traffic. So how do you get top positions? You can pay for placement with sponsored links that is covered in the next section. To place well in the free, organic SERPs, you will need to perform search engine optimization.

Search engine optimization is one of the most complicated aspects of web development. Each search engine uses a different algorithm, using hundreds of factors, that they are constantly changing, and they carefully guard their algorithm as trade secrets. Thus no one outside of the search engines employ knows with 100% certainty the perfect way to optimize a site. However, many individuals called search engine optimizers have studied the art and derived set of techniques that have a track record for success.

In general, there are two areas to focus on for top rankings; on-page factors and linking. On-page factors mean placing your target keywords in the content of your site in the right places. The structure of and technologies used on your website also play a role in on-page factors. Linking, refers to how other website’s link to yours and how your site links internally. Search Engine’s Marketing Offerings

Search engines in the early days of the web were focused solely on serving the visiting searcher. They worked to capture as much of the web as possible in their database and provide fast, relevant searches. Many early website owners learned to reverse engineer the relevancy algorithms and to make their sites “search engine friendly” to get top rankings. They were the first search engine optimizers, manipulating the search engine’s natural or organic SERPs as a means of generating free web traffic.

Often times these optimized sites compromised the integrity of the SERPs and lowered the quality for the searcher. Search engines fought, and continue to fight, to maintain the quality of their results. Eventually, the search engines embraced the fact that they are an important means for marketing websites. Today most search engines offer an array of tools to balance website’s owners need to market while maintaining quality for the searcher.

You can generally break search engine marketing tools into free and for-pay. Realize these classifications are from the search engine’s point of view. Effort and expense is required to setup and maintain any search engine marketing campaign.

Organic rankings are still one of the most important ways to drive quality traffic. Search engines now seek to reward ethical, high-quality websites with top rankings and remove inappropriate “spam” websites. While organic rankings can produce continual free traffic, it takes time from an experienced individual to achieve optimum results. Additionally, organic placement offers no guarantees, it generally takes months to get listed and can be unpredictable once listed.

Some search engines offer services that add more control to your organic campaign. Most of these services will list / update your site faster or will guarantee that all essential content is listed. For integrity reasons, no major search engine offers higher organic rankings for a fee.

If you need top rankings quickly, pay-per-positioning (PPP) is the most popular way to go. PPP rankings appear in normal organic SERPs but are usually designated as “sponsored listings”. PPP listings use a bidding process to rank sites. If you are the top bidder, e.g. willing to pay the most per click on a given phrase, you will have top placement. The 2nd highest bidder is two; the next is 3 and so on. While most PPP works using this model, some search engines offer modifications such as Google’s AdWords where bid price and click-through rates are both factors for positioning.

Search Engines have many other marketing tools, such as search specific banner ads; listings on affiliate sites and more. Getting Started

The majority of websites have sub-optimal search engine marketing. Most sites have no effective search engine marketing and are continually missing out on valuable leads. Many other websites are too aggressive, wasting money on low value traffic or harming the functionality of their site due to over optimization. Too many sites are even paying money and receiving no results because they have trusted unethical or inexperienced search engine optimizers.

All SEM campaigns should start with a strategic evaluation of SEM opportunities based on return on investment (ROI). You need to assess how much each lead is worth for each keyword phrase and determine which SEM tools will achieve the best ROI for the phrase.

You also have to decide how much you want to do in-house vs. retaining an expert. A qualified expert will typically produce better results faster, but the high expenses may destroy the ROI. Often it is best to work with an expert as a team, the expert to develop the strategy and internal staff to perform implementation and ongoing management.

When you receive a sales letter with typos or grammar mistakes in it, do you take it seriously? Probably not. As soon as I see a few eighth-grade English blunders in any marketing effort, I quickly decide the author’s product or service is not deserving of my time.

E-mail is so quick and easy to write and send, that we don’t give it the same attention as we would a printed letter. It’s VERY important to make sure any communication you send to clients, customers, and prospects represents you only in the best light.

Now, if good grammar isn’t your strength, no worries! I write and edit for a living, so this stuff is my bag. My point is that you should *check and double-check* all communications you send out, or you risk blowing your credibility.

Here are the five most common (and embarrassing) grammar mistakes I see in sales letters every day. And they’re all for words that sound alike, as you’ll see.

1. IT’S and ITS.

   it’s – contraction for “it is.”
   “It’s really beautiful outside today.”

   its – possessive, something belongs to “it.”
   “Our company credits its new CEO for this year’s successes.”

   TIP: One of my grade school teachers taught me to remember that an “it” can’t own anything, so it doesn’t deserve an apostrophe as the possessive.

2. AFFECT and EFFECT.

   affect – to influence (always a VERB)
   “Your tardiness has affected the whole team!”

   effect – to bring about or execute (VERB), result (NOUN)
   “We’d like to effect this policy immediately.” (verb)
   “Those legwarmers definitely lend your outfit an ’80s effect.” (noun)

   TIP: I relate the “a” in “affect” to the “a” in “action.”

3. WHO’S and WHOSE.

   who’s – contraction for “who is”
   “Jeff’s the guy who’s giving us a ride.”

   whose – the possessive of “who.” Something belongs to someone.
   ” Whose notes are these?”

   TIP: Again, you’re only using the apostrophe with the *contraction* (like in “it’s”).

4. YOU’RE and YOUR.

   you’re – contraction for “you are”
   ‘You’re really asking for a raise?’

   your – the possessive of “you.” Something belongs to someone.
   “Mrs. Henley, your dog is digging in our yard again.”

   TIP: And yet again, you’re only using the apostrophe with the *contraction* (like in “it’s”).

5. THERE, THEIR and THEY’RE.

   there – use this spelling when you’re talking about a place (literal or figurative).
   ” Sit over there.” “Stop right there.” “I absolutely agree with you there.”

   their – the possessive of “they.” Something belongs to them.
   “She thinks the Joneses are so cool because of their new BMW.”

   they’re – contraction for “they are”
   “They’re ready to quit their corporate jobs and go retire in Maine.”

   TIP: And, once more folks, you’re only using the apostrophe with the *contraction.* (See the pattern here?)

Okay, Got All That? : )

Now, if you can’t memorize all these right away, don’t worry! The idea is to realize what you DON’T know well, and have the sense to look it up when you’re not sure.

In fact, why not print this e-mail and keep it handy?

(c) 2002 Alexandria K. Brown

‘TANSTAAFL’, the acronym for ‘There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch’, may be familiar to those of you who have taken a college economics class or two. Whenever you hear the word ‘Free’ in association with a product or service it’s a good idea to keep it in mind because, in truth, nothing is free. Someone, somewhere, somehow, is bearing an economic cost; and so it is with free Wi-Fi hotspots. For the most part any of the free Wi-Fi hotspots you’ll come across will have some sort of quid pro quo associated with them.

If you go to a McDonalds, for example, you can get a bit of free Wi-Fi with the purchase of a meal, if you go to Panera Bread or Port City Java, although not explicitly stated, it’s implied that you’re expected, as you should be, to buy something for the privilege of taking up table space while surfing the ‘net’.

Along with businesses several Municipal and International Airport Authorities, as well as a growing number of airline club lounges, are providing free Wi-Fi in an effort to sway travellers, who may have a choice between several carriers or nearby airports, to choose them. Similarly, more and more hotels are offering free Wi-Fi for their guests so, while the Wi-Fi hotspot may be advertised as free, it’s cost is rolled into the room rate or expensed to advertising.

There are a few venues in which, although funding may come through taxation of some sort, no direct user cost is associated. An increasing number of public libraries, for example, are offering free Wi-Fi and, amid increasing controversy, several towns and cities have either set up free Wi-Fi Hotzones or they’re exploring the possibilities.

Finding these free Wi-Fi hotspots is not that difficult. JiWire.com sponsors the Wi-Fi-FreeSpot Directory and some Wi-Fi aggregators, like GoRemote, are beginning to include the listings of free hotspots in their directories.

When you’re accessing a free Wi-Fi hotspot there are a few things you should keep in mind:

• Don’t expect much tech help. The waiters, waitresses or baristas may have some working knowledge but, don’t count on it, that’s not why they’re there.
• Don’t overstay your welcome. If there’s a line of people trying to find a seat and you’ve been nursing a latte for two hours you, and others like you, may be contributing to the venue owner’s growing desire to start charging a hefty fee for the Wi-Fi access they provide.
• Make sure you follow good Wi-Fi Hotspot Security practices.

So, while free may not be entirely free, it’s definitely reasonable. With a bit of planning you should be able to save yourself a few dollars a month while enjoying the ambiance of your favorite free Wi-Fi hotspot.

I spend a lot of my time reading books and listening to tapes about business and marketing. I guess that’s understandable.

Many of the authors of these materials are known as experts, gurus or marketing geniuses. However, a few weeks ago I was listening to a discussion about marketing and one of the participants made a point that struck me like a ton of bricks.

He said: “The only true marketing genius is the customer”.

What a succinct and powerful statement!

The truth of the matter is that no matter how much good advice or information or training we get in marketing, the only person’s opinion that really matters is the customers. No matter how good the idea seems to be, if the customer doesn’t respond then nothing else matters.

What’s the moral?

Simple. You need to constantly stay in tune with your customers interests and desires and give them what they want, how they want it, when they want it. If they don’t respond to a particular offer, you need to do your best to find out why (through follow-up surveys or any other method at your disposal).

If they do respond to an offer it’s still a good idea to find out why. It may be for a different reason than you think.

We should all certainly continue to study marketing and listen to what the “experts” say, but we need to give just as much (or more) attention to what our customers are saying as well.

Vacation Home Exchange V Renting Trade and save, or do you ?

Ever thought of trading your home with another family for a few weeks instead of renting a Vacation Home?. Lets look at the differences and see if it’s an option you might consider.

Renting a vacation property is easy enough, pay a rent for as many weeks as you need. Rent direct with the owner or via the thousands of rental agents, or via a travel agent.

The choice is pretty vast and often you can select properties from a book or brochure, there are sizes and prices to suit everyone. Many allow pets and come fully fitted out.

Bigger properties housing 7-12 or more offer a low cost break as you pay for the property, rather than per person, as you would in a hotel. Downside is you get to do all the work, although some rentals can come with housekeeping or maid duties.

The attraction of renting is usually one of cost and choice, and works best in your own country. Renting abroad involves a high travel cost (per person) and unlike a package tour you are often

down to organising and paying for travel from airport to the property. There is usually someone on hand to see you in, the owner or their agent, and most properties provide a good break.

Risky sometimes to book direct with foreign owners, large agencies vet both the properties and the owners and although perhaps more costly give better piece of mind. Paying $1,000 and arriving at a run down hut may not be the sort of vacation you seek.

Home swapping offers 2 choices, first to trade a few weeks or longer with another persons normal home. Or trade a period in a second vacation home or time share they, or you own.

The attraction is obvious in that no rental monies change hands and this gets better the longer the stay is. Older, retired folk often look for 3-6 month trades which clearly would be too costly on a rental basis, but a workable option for 2 retired families to trade homes for a long period.

Again a DIY vacation, unless maids are on hand. Number of choices are less, so to succeed you need to be open minded rather than have fixed dates, locations and types of properties in mind. Most experienced swappers seek good clean accommodation in the area they wish to visit. You get to know the owners before agreeing the swap before you go. You rarely build friendships with rental owners you usually do with home swappers.

A home trade often comes with an auto thrown in, so this is a big plus if you can arrange pick up at the airport and makes a big difference in local travel during your stay. Do check insurance cover though and make sure you agree miles and damage costs.

With the advent of the electronic age many home swap offers are viewable on Internet web sites so you can review property (and owners) details, get to know the area through web site links and then open up discussions with potential trade partners. using E-mail the world is just a few seconds away.

More complex to organise than a rental, it can be both an exciting family interest or a drudge, which can put you off the concept. Worries and concerns about having someone else in your home and loads of “what if” questions can again excite you or deter you.

One of the best routes is a Tutorial on the subject which is freely available at the Homes Seekers web site with advice from some of the leading home exchange experts .

In summary – renting is easy, choose your property, book, pay and go – there is a big choice. Home swapping is a way of life, you get more involved and the money saving is not in practice the reason for most people trading homes. The desire to make new friends and contacts, see new places, new countries, learn the language and so on takes over. Home swapping does not suit everyone but it does offer an alterative and to many an ideal way of taking vacations – for many the only way they would go.

If you want to save a few hundred if not thousands of dollars on a Vacation break take a serious look at vacation home exchanging as a useful alternative to traditional house rental breaks.

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MSN messenger is a pretty cool invention. I mean I’m not really into serious discussions on the email, answers to questions can often take a few days to arrive because people are so busy these days. I’ve just been ‘hooked up’ into Messenger and it’s really a different kind of communication, quick, simplistic and even humorous with the capability to express your feelings with ‘emotion’ cartoons.

 

With Messenger you can communicate with a group of close friends or business partners instantly whenever they are at their computer. When a message is received you are informed instantly on your desktop, you don’t have to be at an email site. A little box appears flashing the name of the sender, you read the message and send a reply when you’ve got a second free.

 

There’s a contact list and when you go on-line, it automatically tells you who of your connections are on and off-line at that moment. If someone goes on-line after you’ve already been at your computer, a small box appears on your screen to tell you who are now also instantly message able. It’s like the spontaneity of a telephone call but you don’t even have to dial any numbers! Just log in your password and you’re connected.

 

The huge array of smiley faces and other ‘emotional’ icons add another dimension to the conversations. Some of the smiley faces actually move (sticking their tongues out etc.) and there are many other symbols to express the moment. E.g.: Show a little sun when it’s sunny in your neighborhood, flash a wilted rose when your love life isn’t going to well, put up a black sheep when you’re feeling disconnected from society. How about expressing your dream of a holiday by flashing up the tropical island icon when you’re stuck in dreary office working hard on a cloudy day. They say a picture speaks a thousand words…

 

Well I certainly don’t work for Microsoft but I guess Bill Gates and his buddies have made a few bucks because they’ve had a couple of good ideas. They’re helping the world with their knowledge, and I reckon their MSN Messenger is another step forward in bringing the Earth together into one world. Besides the normal email format you can also have web cam and audio conversations, as well as sending files and photos instantly. It’s as sweet as that first time you kissed your honey bunny, well maybe not that sweet.

The start of a new year is a time for a clean start. Resolutions

are made, you clear your files of last year’s paperwork, and you

swear you are going to start the year off keeping your financial

house in order.

It all sounds good when you say it on January 1st. But now, after

only one month into the New Year, how many of you have done ANY

of the above? I can’t raise my hand, can you? Here are a few easy

to follow tips that will benefit all business owners.

Learn to use the software you have

If you purchased software last year, and it’s still shrink

wrapped and sitting on your bookcase, get it open and install it

onto your computer. Until you do that, you’ve done nothing more

than waste money. You shouldn’t have to hire a professional to

handle the software installation.

If it’s already installed, but you can’t seem to figure out what

to do next, read the manual, do the tutorial, ask for help. Do

whatever is necessary for you to learn how to use the software

that you spent good money on. You had a need when you purchased

the software, and until you start using it, the need remains

unfulfilled.

Automate common tasks

Once you’ve got the software you already purchased up and running

put together a software budget for this year. Start by making a

list of all the work-related tasks you wish were automated. Here

are just a few ideas: contact management, inventory management,

project management, bookkeeping, billing, appointment and

employee scheduling and your new employee orientation program.

Next prioritize your software automation wish list. Put together

a realistic budget for each of the four quarters. Then as money

allows, purchase one piece of software at a time. Then, remember

to actually install it AND use it!

Protect your Data

If you’ve not already done so, you must install virus checking

software on every desktop that receives email. Failure to do this

one thing can stop your business dead in its tracks. You don’t

have to spend a lot of money on this type of software; it’s

readily available and relatively inexpensive. Regardless of the

cost, its cost is far lower than the price you will pay once your

computers become infected. The costs of lost productivity as well

as lost data will be steep.

Another thing you need to do to protect your valuable company

data is to install a backup and restore utility and BE SURE TO

USE IT! The price of this type of product will vary, and the

amount you spend will probably coincide with the amount of

information you need to backup. The more data, the more you’ll

pay for protection.

So many business owners purchase these types of software products

only after a catastrophe has occurred. It’s true that it’s better

late than never. But be smart and be prepared for disaster

because it will happen.

Order the CD version

In some cases, you’ll be able to purchase and download your new

software right from the vendor’s website. You’ll have your new

software installed and ready to use in no time. But, should your

hard drive ever crash, you’ll need the CD version of the software

so that you can reinstall it right away. Most software vendors

let download customers buy the CD at a huge discount. It’s worth

the money because, remember, hard drives will crash.

Register All Your Software

It’s annoying, but important. You’ll want to keep informed of

such things as new versions and other important software-related

issues.

And there you have it – five simple software tips for business

owners.