Federal Court Reporters Record Proceedings and Produce Transcripts

There are various types of court reporters. But the first characteristic that separates them is whether they practice in state court or in federal court. While the same reporting technologies are used in both situations, the requirements for becoming a federal court reporter are greater than the requirements for becoming a state reporter. In addition to passing the Registered Professional Reporter certification from The National Court Reporters Association, reporters must also have four years of reporting experience before they can qualify as a federal reporter. Most reporters must also pass a stringent test given by the federal district (Northern, Southern, Eastern, Western) that they intend to work in, after which a judge must approve their selection.

Due to the additional hurdles that come with federal reporting, hiring a quality federal court reporter is generally easier than hiring a quality state reporter, especially for government offices that have their own human resources departments. But for law firms and companies, hiring federal court reporters can be more difficult, particularly concerning the potential of the traditional interview process to overlook crucial elements of court reporting that affect a reporter's ability to produce quality transcripts. As a result, many law firms and companies use additional tactics to insure the quality of federal court reporters, or state reporters, as the case may be.

One commonly used tactic is seeking a professional referral. Most organizations that need reporters know other organizations that need reporters, and can take advantage of their advice. However, if an organization would rather go straight to the source, then contacting a reputable reporting agency is the answer. In some cases, organizations prefer the referral method due to the perceived difficulty of identifying a reputable reporting agency, as every agency says that its reporters and litigation support are the best. But identifying a top agency isn't as difficult as it seems when you know what to look for.

While some organizations try to evaluate an agency's overall quality by evaluating the quality of its reporters-which is extremely time consuming if not impossible-the best way to evaluate agencies' overall quality is to evaluate their screening processes. All agencies evaluate prospective reporters' training credentials, work history and references. But the best agencies also test prospective reporters' reporting skills and screen their personality in order to detect traits that could compromise their reporting ability, such as prejudice, a quick temper or a tendency to easily be bored. Whether you need to hire a state reporter or a federal reporter, choosing a court reporting agency with a thorough screening process can take the guesswork out of hiring the best reporter.

In my research on court reporting and litigation support, I've researched the best ways to hire quality federal reporters.

Desperate Times Produce Desperate Thinking

A penny saved may be a penny earned. But don't count on it still being worth the same amount when you want to spend it - especially if Harvard economist Kenneth Rogoff gets what he wants.

As the Federal Reserve does everything it can to dump new money into the economy, many people, myself included, are convinced that we are headed toward a period of potentially serious inflation. Most of those people are equally convinced that inflation is a bad thing. It is, after all, one of the two ingredients in the so-called misery index.

In recent comments, however, Rogoff has advocated intentionally creating "moderate inflation of, say, 4 to 6 percent for several years." (1) In an opinion piece in the Financial Times, he acknowledged that his proposal might be anathema to some, but said "a once-in-75-year crisis calls for outside-the-box measures."

The idea behind the inflationary solution is to get people out of debt by effectively reducing the amounts they owe. A $100,000 mortgage stays a $100,000 mortgage, but if a government can churn up a 4 to 6 percent inflation rate, that $100,000 becomes a smaller amount relative to the cost of other goods and wages. According to Rogoff, the main issue facing our economy is "a huge overhang of debt," so anything that helps debtors pay back what they owe for less is a good thing.

Rogoff's view has been a particularly hot topic in the financial press, since he is generally known as a conservative thinker. As recently as 2008, he specifically rejected the idea of temporary inflation as salve for personal debt, writing in the Financial Times, "However convenient it may be to have several years of elevated inflation to help bail out homeowners and financial institutions, the gain has to be weighed against the long-run cost of re-anchoring inflation expectations later on." (2)

What Rogoff recognized then, and seems to have forgotten now, is that what goes around comes around. When debtors pay less, creditors get less back.

Back when banks operated as banks, rather than as government-backed hedge funds, savers deposited their money in the bank in exchange for a reasonable rate of interest. Banks would then lend that money to borrowers at higher rates of interest. Borrowers accepted those rates, either because they were willing to pay a premium to have money now rather than later, or because they believed they could get an even higher rate of return themselves. Banks made their profit on the spread between what they paid depositors and what they charged borrowers.

Following the bank failures of the Great Depression, a fourth party, the federal government, entered the equation to ensure that savers would not lose their money if a bank made too many bad loans and was unable to absorb its losses. Now the government guarantees depositors' money in exchange for banks' insurance premium payments and the ability to conduct oversight.

For quite a while, that system worked pretty well. Then it stopped working. Banks made too many loans to people who could not repay them. Meanwhile, the federal government changed from an independent overseer to one of the biggest borrowers in town. Both events have given the government a substantial interest in trying to make money cheaper, both for itself and for all the other borrowers whose debt the government supports through instruments like the government sponsored mortgage bankers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The result is that savers get punished. Instead of banks actively seeking out depositors, savers are increasingly being seen as a burden. Citibank and others have even started charging customers to hand over their cash, while Bank of America made headlines recently with its plans to start charging most customers for using their debit cards. For many savers, banks have become places to spend money rather than a place to make money.

This is not just unfair to savers. It indirectly harms borrowers as well, and, ultimately, it keeps the economy from recovering.

Since talking about the "price" of money can be confusing, let's talk about eggs.

Imagine that Americans develop a huge appetite for eggs. Unfortunately, they can't afford as many eggs as they want. To appease both the people and the White House chef - who, it turns out, is a dedicated connoisseur of egg-filled dishes - the government steps in and offers to sell eggs at five cents apiece. For a while, everyone is very happy. Quickly, though, they realize that farmers are unwilling to compete by selling their eggs at a price that would result in a loss. All the private farmers abandon the egg business, leaving the government as the sole purveyor of eggs. Soon, there is an egg shortage. Price controls almost always result in scarcity of the goods in question.

The lesson here is that if the government makes a business unprofitable, private parties get out of it. Low interest rates and high inflation make the money-lending business as unprofitable as the egg business in our example. As a result, while loans are cheap for those who can get them, savers and banks are reluctant to lend, and many people are unable to borrow money at all. These people then can't make the sorts of investments that are necessary to fuel economic growth. Instead of rescuing the economy by getting people out of debt, the plan of cheapening money through inflation produces stagnation.

There is also the problem that, sooner or later, banks and foreign governments are going to stop lending money to the U.S. government. If the government announces its plan to pay back its debts in currency worth less than what it's getting, lenders are going to raise interest rates to make up the difference. The cost of servicing our national debt will skyrocket, placing more pressure on taxpayers and draining more money that could otherwise be used for investment.

Rogoff says desperate times call for desperate measures. Yet his comments seem to be evidence that desperate times produce desperate thinking. All of the objections he raised to inflationary policy in the past still apply. What has changed is that we have come to the scary but true realization that much of the money that has been borrowed cannot be repaid. The losses left over from our runaway spending holiday need to be allocated somehow. To the extent that banks can absorb the losses and survive, they will need to do so. When they cannot, the rest of us will end up paying the difference through a combination of higher taxes, higher interest rates and, yes, higher inflation, which is the almost inevitable result of the money the government is creating so it can be shoveled into the banking system.

No society has ever built lasting prosperity by deliberately devaluing money. Prosperity is built on savings and investment. Inflation inhibits both. We keep trying to get the economy back to normal by making the credit markets more and more abnormal. It has not worked yet, and I don't think it is likely to work anytime in the future.

Instead, the "new normal" will likely look surprisingly like the old normal - the one that came before the illusory growth and binge spending of the 1990s and the 2000s. Borrowers need to be prepared to pay back what they borrow, banks need to be encouraged to make loans, and savers need to be allowed to save.

Sources:

1) Harvard Magazine, "Rogoff: A Whiff of Inflation Now?"

2) The Financial Times, "The world cannot grow its way out of this slowdown"

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Modern Debt Management Systems Can Produce Tremendous Savings

Consumer and personal debt is, perhaps, the number one problem facing most American families today. The reasons behind the tremendous surge in debt have been related to emerging socio-economic patterns suggesting that we've become a nation obsessed with lifestyles and consumerism.

America has always been a nation of consumers and the American people have always enjoyed one of the highest standards of living in the world. Something else has contributed to this national crisis.

What has changed in the last several decades is that we have developed very sophisticated technology to acquire debt. Debt acquisition is as close as your cell phone or personal computer and can be accomplished in a matter of seconds.

However, we have been slow in developing such sophisticated systems to manage that debt at the consumer level. We have been the victims of a technological gap between debt acquisition and debt reduction.

If you do not manage your debt, it will manage you. Or more precisely, your creditors will manage your debt for you and they will, of course, manage it in a way that is most favorable to them, not necessarily you.

At the consumer level, we tend to keep our debts separated, divided, and isolated in separate accounts, making it impractical, until recently, to strategically manage that debt.

Automated debt management systems have been in use by banks, insurance companies, and other institutions as needed to maintain cash reserve requirements but, until recently, have not been available at the consumer level due to the cost of developing and supporting these specialized cash flow management systems.

Many people in other parts of the world have had access to various debt reduction systems. In this country, however, it is a relatively new opportunity to systematically manage our personal and consumer debt. We now have access to affordable technology to manage our debt rather than allowing it to manage us.

First, let me explain what a modern debt management system is not.

It is not a set of instructions or a "How To..." book available from a variety of well intentioned sources which simply overstate the obvious; instructing us to "stop spending so much money", or "cut up our credit cards". It is not a "makeover" system which painfully rearranges our daily spending patterns.

It is not a static spreadsheet or plan for debt reduction which does not consider our day to day personal financial circumstances.

It does not involve the refinancing of existing debt or consolidating smaller short term debts into larger long term debts. It is not a self administered or pre-calculated repayment acceleration plan. It does not involve negotiating with your creditors or any means of debt reduction which avoids the repayment of legitimate debt on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

Just like the bank model, modern debt management systems are integrated with your daily and monthly financial transactions. They are dynamic. Modern debt management systems have the ability to analyze and manage all of your debt, including your mortgage debt, side by side in a single environment and make strategic adjustments based on your daily or monthly cash flow.

A modern debt management system is programmed for liquidity. Liquidity is to debt what water is to fire. If you have an abundance of liquidity, you could be out of debt in very short order. On the other hand, if you have a shortage of liquidity, it could take decades to get out of debt.

A modern debt management system focuses on ways to harness current liquidity and seeks to fully develop your potential future liquidity. It utilizes that liquidity to systematically eliminate debt. It can develop multiple sources of liquidity and utilize that liquidity as leverage against debt.

Because of the importance of liquidity, modern and effective debt management and debt reduction systems are fully integrated with your current monthly income and expense cash flows. That is not to say that increasing your income and/or reducing your expenses is a requisite. A good debt management system takes advantage of existing cash flow, not necessarily changing it.

A modern debt management system is relatively painless to follow and does not require significant changes to your established spending patterns. It can be set to aggressively pay down debt, to maintain a certain level of debt but reduce the carrying cost, or fund a retirement or college savings plan.

Today's sophisticated, versatile, and effective debt management systems are not inexpensive. However, in terms of future interest savings, they can make up the cost of the system in the first few months of use and, over time, produce interest savings in excess of the total amount of current and future debt.

An inexpensive or do-it-yourself system is probably not a good alternative. While you might be able to redirect some liquidity and do some good, you would not be able to recreate the integrated mathematical algorithms which drive a more sophisticated system producing the best possible results.

Any current financial plan worth its' weight in paper should address both sides of the balance sheet and include a modern debt management system.

David Haslett is Senior National Director of the Freedom Equity Group. To discover how modern debt management technology can help you pay off your mortgage and other debt, go to: http://www.fastestmortgagepayoffplan.com

How To Produce Taxi Driver Accounts Plus Tax Returns In Less Than 2 Hours

Since the majority of taxi drivers, but certainly not all, have little accounting or bookkeeping knowledge the lower the level of expertise required the more suitable such an accounts package will be. Data entry basically consists of just 3 records, being an excel spreadsheet for taxi receipts; another for taxi expenses plus a further worksheet in which assets such as a vehicle can be recorded.

Taxi receipts are entered on a series of excel worksheets within the taxi income work book preset with each day of the financial year. Weekly and monthly totals are added and transferred through the linking system from the taxi bookkeeping sheets to the taxi financial accounts sheet.

Taxi expenses are listed on a series of twelve monthly spreadsheets which have preset columns with appropriate headings for taxi drivers to record office and rental costs, fuel bills, other vehicle costs and licence fees. The total of each expense is entered on each row and a single letter used to then analyse the taxi expense to the column required. As with the taxi income sheet the columns are then automatically added which includes a check on data entry accuracy before being transferred to the taxi driver accounts sheet.

Cash and bank spreadsheets are not provided as not required by taxi drivers as taxi drivers do not need to produce a balance sheet.

In addition to entering purchases on the taxi expense sheet the only other entries required from the taxi driver to produce a set of taxi driver accounts is to also enter vehicle and any other assets purchased on the fixed asset spreadsheet. The fixed asset spreadsheet having already been preset with both depreciation rates and the capital allowances that taxi drivers can claim. The taxi accounts software is then complete.

The financial accounts file contains formulae to produce a monthly profit and loss account that includes the taxi capital allowances from the fixed asset schedule.

A unique feature is that both mileages covered and vehicle running costs can be entered. The tax rules in the UK state that drivers cannot claim both mileage allowances and vehicle running costs. It has to be one or the other and only at the end of the financial year when it becomes clear which is the most tax efficient.

This taxi accounts package compares both the mileage cost and the vehicle running cost and automatically selects the most expensive. This ensures the highest costs are selected into the calculation of the net taxable profits and highest cost equals lowest tax bill.

Also in the taxi accounts file is an excel spreadsheet designed with the same layout, colour codes and box numbers as the inland revenue self assessment tax return. The taxi self assessment tax return is completed automatically by the cabsmart taxi accounts software. No entries are required leaving the taxi driver only to click print to produce the self assessment tax return.

Finally having calculated the net taxable profit for the year the accounting package also has a tax calculator that calculates the amount of income tax and national insurance to be paid.

The taxi driver accounts package has been tested many times and the annual receipts and expenses for a full year take approximately 2 to 3 hours to enter, and have been completed in less than 2 hours. The end product is a full set of taxi driver accounts including the self assessment tax return.

Both couriers and van drivers have similar businesses to taxi drivers in that they move items from one place to another in a similar way in which taxi drivers move people from one location to another. And because of the similarity in business activity then this taxi accounting package would be equally suitable for couriers and van drivers.

Terry Cartwright, a qualified accountant in the UK, designs Taxi Accounts software on excel spreadsheets specifically for the Taxi Driver wishing to save money and prepare the Taxi Driver Accounts and produce the self assessment tax return in the process.

Traditional Marketing Tactics Fail to Produce Results in Today's Business Environment

Is your marketing message getting through to your target audience? Is it as effective as it once was or should be? Probably not and here is why.

The National Association of Realtors reports that they have 1.1 million members and there is no mystery that existing home sales are down significantly. There are simply too many agents chasing too few transactions. Add to that the fact that there have been many forces at work in recent years that are changing the way consumers respond to advertising and marketing messages. We are living in an over communicated world that has consumers tuned out and trusting less. What follows is an outline of the problem and the contributing factors.

Business through the ages:

What follows is a look at how our economic base has changed over the years. It is important to know where we came from to understand where we are today and where we are going.

The Agrarian Age

Farming and livestock formed our early economic base. The land gave us what we needed to feed and shelter ourselves. Trade amongst businesses was very prevalent at this time.

The Industrial Age

In the early part of the 20th Century, we witnessed the Industrial Age. We not only worked the land for food but also started to extract natural resources and raw materials to manufacture products. The challenges that companies faced were based on the productivity of workers and the efficiency of factories. Manual labor and hard work were thought to be the answer to higher output and increased profits.

The Information Age

The latter half of the 20th Century ushered in the beginning of the Information Age. The use of High Technology starts to change the game and the basis for our economic output. The Information Age gave us global companies like Microsoft and Intel and the products they produce enable even the smallest of companies to work smarter and not harder. We have gone from using our hands to using our heads. One of the most valuable assets a technology firm has is the knowledge and intellectual capital of its workers.

The Relationship Age

We are now entering a period where we are starting to understand the power of relationships. It is through human relationships that we are seeing new ways to capture and keep customers. If done properly, you create customers for life. The rapid rise in Social Media sites shows peoples true desire to connect with each other. When you take all of this into consideration, it is clear we are living in a Relationship Age

The following key factors have also brought us to this Relationship Age

The Cocooning trend

Faith Popcorn coined the term Cocooning in the 1980's. This trend sees people socializing less and retreating to their homes more. The trend is commercially significant in that it changes the way we reach out to obtain and retain customers. This trend is also a direct assault on brick and mortar businesses. Some examples of cocooning are working from home, internet home delivery of goods, home theaters, gated communities, surveillance cameras and many other services that allow the consumer to retreat and stay home. The Internet has enabled this trend to continue and further points to the need to embrace new tactics for the Relationship Age.

Mistrust in corporations

Over the last decade, consumers have started to develop mistrust in companies. You only need to think back to the Enron, WorldCom and Cendant scandals, to name a few, to see how we got here. For many corporations, regaining the trust of the consumer has been their primary mission. Mistrust in businesses is at an all time high. A recent survey by the public relations firm Edelman shows that only 44% of Americans said they trusted business as a whole. This is down from 58% in the fall of 2007 and the downward trend continues. Consumers are fed up with the status quo and are not going to take it anymore. Now more than ever, advertising messages are being viewed through skeptical eyes.

Mistrust in leaders

Along with a general mistrust in business is mistrust in public figures and leaders. On an almost daily basis, we see another disgraced Politician, CEO, Religious figure or Celebrity grace the front page of the newspaper. Whom we thought to be solid citizens giving sound advice has become anything but. This has also caused business to rethink how they go about advertising and marketing to new and existing customers.

These factors all lead to the consumers need to have a louder voice in what they buy and how business is transacted. The increasing popularity of consumer review sites is aiding them in protecting one another from unscrupulous businesses. As countries around the world struggle with economic challenges, people are yearning for deeper relationships and more say in the process. People worldwide seek more than material wealth and superficial contacts. They want environmental consciousness, business reform and a deeper level of connection with companies, people and the products and services they provide.

The new forms of communication and technologies developed during the Information Age are changing the game. Our past frustrations with corporate performance, government, health care, education and environmental policy are providing the motivation for a new mindset. Enter the Relationship Age.

From Transactional Marketing to Relationship Marketing

The days of "doing the deal" and hit and run marketing are gone. Social Media tools and online technologies are allowing us to deal with customers on a more personal and cost-effective basis. We now have the technology to deal with each customer on a personal level and if done properly, create an outspoken advocate and a customer for life.

To do this you need to move from the old mindset of being product centric to the new reality of being people centric. It is all about the customer. By putting the customer first and serving their needs, we will back into running better businesses via a stronger brand and deeper relationships with our clients.

In the Information Age, employee's knowledge and intellectual capital were the primary currency for companies to keep their competitive edge. In the Relationship Age, it is the number and depth of connections with the customer that is the primary form of capital. It is a shift from Knowledge Capital to Social Capital. We move from serving companies by getting people to buy as much product or services as possible to serving the customer at the highest level and inducing them to buy and remain loyal to your brand over time.

Slow Sales Cycles

Real estate has one of the slowest sales cycles of any product or service. A typical client only needs your services once every 5 to 7 years at best. This makes staying in close touch with the client, adding value and gaining their referrals more important than in any other sales profession.

A Call for Change

When you take all of these factors into consideration, a change in the way you market your service is needed now more than ever. Change is inevitable and the rate at which our environment changes is getting faster and faster each year. How you adapt to that change will determine your level of success moving forward. You need business and marketing systems that speak to today's economy and demography to remain viable. You cannot employ the same old tired methods and tactics and expect to be successful in today's Relationship

Age.

Meeting the Challenge

Marketing has always been a costly endeavor, however, networking and the effective use of your networks and connections is often overlooked. Networking is the most powerful and professional form of selling when done properly. The rapid rise in social networking tools gives you the ability to learn an incredible amount of information about a contact and market to them in a personal and powerful way. Having a sound relationship management system will allow you to remain viable during the long sales cycles and garner a steady stream of referrals. People do business with and refer those they Know, Like and Trust. You must maintain that level of connection with everyone you know to reap the reward of referrals. By adding value to the lives of others, you will gain the success you deserve. If you want to make money, add value to the lives of others. If you want to make a lot of money, add a LOT of value. I have found that by helping others gain what they need all of my needs are met as well. These are RENA's principals of working in the Relationship Age. It starts with a mindset of giving. You need to give to others with the expectation of getting nothing in return.

Most of the marketing methods used by Realtors today have become common and generic. You need to stand out from the crowd if you expect your message to be heard in today's over communicated society.

Becoming a Commodity

Almost all real estate companies and agents are providing the same general services. When you become generic, the only thing you have left to compete on is price. This is one of the major reasons we have seen the decline in fees agents can charge. The public views real estate services as a generic commodity and are refusing to pay what they used to for the service. There are other factors involved in this as well such as the dramatic increase in average sales prices over a relatively short period. This makes the 6% fee much more significant. The internet has dealt a heavy blow to many other financial services and businesses such as insurance, stock brokerage and travel. It is actually amazing that the real estate industry has held up so well for so long. The fact is, our day is coming. If you want to remain viable, you need to provide unique and valuable services.

Niche and Specialization

One of the best ways to cut down on the amount of competition is to have a niche or area of specialization. If you look at the most successful people in the world, they share a few common traits. They all have great networks; they have top-notch coaches and have a specific niche they fill. Establishing yourself as an expert in a specific area gives you the ability to transmit a unique message and stand out from the crowd. You will also increase the amount of referrals you get from within your industry. Your niche does not necessarily have to be real estate specific, like first time buyers etc, you can specialize in a particular industry or represent a particular demographic.

Advanced Database Marketing

Your database holds the key to your success in building your business and relationships. A good database will allow you to do so much more than have contact information for mailings. By acquiring high value data, that is information on your contacts beyond name and address, you can begin to provide a high level of personalized services. Along with custom tailored marketing, you can also employ my cross endorsement and circle of endorsement strategies. Your database is the lifeblood of your business. Maintaining a database rich in information will put you on the path to creating a saleable business.

Identify Key Professionals

You can market your services to two different groups of people. You can spend a lot of time and money trying to find individuals that need to buy or sell real estate or you can work with other professionals that deal with MANY people that buy and sell on a regular basis. By understanding whom these professionals are and how to connect and add value to their lives, you will ensure you will have a steady stream of referral business in any market. You also need to understand the various roles people in your networks play such as Mavens, Subject Matter Experts and Thought and Opinion Leaders. By identifying these key people, you will find it much easier to broadcast your message and brand.

Become a Connector

As I stated earlier, by adding value to the lives of others, your business will grow to new heights. One way to do this is to connect the people in your database with others that will add value to each other. The average database contains 250 contacts. Within those contacts, there are people that should know each other and can add great value to each other's businesses. It is up to you to identify these connections and bring them together.

Branded Unique Services

Another way to stand out from the crowd is to have unique services you offer that are branded to and associated with your name. This is a process of looking at all of the tasks you do on a regular basis and putting your own unique spin on them. A simple example of this would be holding a new home orientation for buyers. After the close of escrow, have the property inspector join you at the home with the buyers for an orientation of the homes systems. You can use the internet to print out instructions for just about all systems and appliances the property may have. This is an excellent way to present the new home to the buyers and leave a lasting impression of service. There are so many steps throughout a transaction you can apply this thinking.

After Sale Services

Another important tool for operating in the Relationship Age is having strong after sale service programs. The actions you take add value to your client's lives and keep you top of mind for referrals. Things such as sending a repair person in for a few hours of free work for a buyer or rekeying the locks make strong statements about your service and make you stand out. I have a long list of service programs I am happy to share with you, just ask.

Referral and Reward Programs

In order to build a strong referral business you must have programs in place that reward that behavior. Teaching people how to refer you, giving them information they can pass on and rewarding them for their efforts are essential for you growth. I recommend having a "referral kit" that your clients can have readily available to aid in recommending you. The kit should contain you resume or bio, specific verbiage for them to use, references and some gift cards.

Conclusion

The economy and business climate has changed dramatically over the last few years yet most people continue to employ the same tactics and strategies that were created 20 or more years ago. The real estate industry is in dire need of fresh thinking for agents to remain viable in the coming years. Many well-funded enterprises are attempting to replace Realtors and reinvent the industry. This is a small sample of many unique strategies that I have created in my 20 plus years in the real estate business.

I urge you to contact me to learn more about RENA and the services I provide.

About Larry Klapow
Larry Klapow has been a luminary in Bay Area real estate for over 19 years. He has been an influential leader holding every position from top producing agent to President of the largest real estate firm in Northern California throughout his career. Using fresh thinking and creative ideas, he has mentored both individuals and entire offices to amazing success. Currently, Larry is the founder and CRO of RENA Professional Networks Inc. RENA is an innovative company that manages powerful networking teams, produces highly impactful seminars and coaches and mentors business leaders to their highest levels of achievement. Larry is also the author of the book "Effective Networking in the Relationship Age" and a member of the National Speakers Association.

Larry Klapow was the President of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage's San Francisco Bay Area Region - incorporating 16 offices and a talented team of more than 1,000 real estate professionals. Prior to being named President in 2007, Larry was the Senior Vice President and Regional Manager of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage's San Francisco-Peninsula region, a position that he held from 2001-2007. During his tenure, the San Francisco-Peninsula region's offices earned several outstanding accolades. Most notable was the San Francisco Van Ness office's achievement of number two producing office nationwide. This impressive accolade, combined with countless others, positioned the San Francisco-Peninsula region as one of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage's most notable and productive regions in the country.

Prior to serving as Senior Vice President and Regional Manager, Larry was Manager of the company's award-winning Morgan Hill/Gilroy offices. Among Larry's impressive list of managerial accolades: member of the President's Council of Managers (1999-2006) and during his tenure, the Morgan Hill/Gilroy office earned the coveted Premier Office - honoring offices with consistent sales achievement for four consecutive years.

Commercial Truck Insurance Basics: Produce Haulers Insurance

Commercial truck insurance is extremely specific. This is a direct result of the trucking industry itself being both highly regulated and extremely vital to the nation's economy.

If commercial trucking were to come to a standstill, so would our nation's commerce and food supply-it's scary to think of what might happen in big cities if commercial trucking shut down-there would be mass shortages of food, water, fuel-everything we take for granted to survive in our society.

Because of this, and to ensure the safety of people on the road as well as the goods we depend on daily, commercial truck insurance is very specific and regulated.

One example of regulated specific cargo insurance is produce haulers insurance. Here's a little more about it!

Produce Truck Insurance

Produce haulers insurance is a type of cargo insurance that produce and food haulers typically carry. Produce haulers make up a large chunk of the trucking industry and there are many motor carriers that deal with produce exclusively.

For these company's, blanket produce haulers insurance policies are available to cover all the trucks they use in their rotation.

Produce Truck Insurance Policy Specialties

One reason produce haulers is super specialized is that the trucks used in this industry are typically refrigerated, adding a whole extra system of equipment to the actual truck and an added variable that would affect the truck's cargo if it were to fail.

Furthermore, a certain percentage of hauled produce is guaranteed to spoil due to impact, shelf life or temperature. Good produce driver insurance can account for this annual spoilage and help save its industry workers money in the long run.

Other Policies To Carry With Produce Cargo Insurance

Primary liability is a coverage that's always required by law. Comprehensive coverage can help protect your truck if you're involved in an accident or it gets damaged from things like fire, theft or vandalism.

Patrick Winchester is a commercial truck insurance writer. He might even be able to write you up a truck insurance policy that can save you money. Find out how at http://www.royaltytruckinsurance.com.

Hormone Therapy Plus Radiation Therapy Produce Better Survival Outcomes

Recently, there has been numerous study reports published that address the benefits of Hormone therapy combined with Radiation therapy in treating prostate cancer. This article wishes to provide readers some helpful updates with regards to the new standard treatment for prostate cancer.

In 1995 to 2005, a randomized study was jointly conducted by the National Cancer Institute of Canada, the United Kingdom Medical Research Council and the Southwest Oncology Group in the United States. 1,205 men with high risk prostate cancer in the United States, Canada and in United Kingdom were part of the study. These men were assigned with either receiving hormone therapy alone or a combined hormone therapy (with external beam radiation treatment). Follow ups were made among patients for an average of at least 6 years and findings from this study presents that adding radiation therapy significantly reduced the risk of death among the study group given with the combined therapy.

In another study report published by Bolla et al from an EORTC study in 1997 showed an increase in the probability of a progression-free and overall survival of European patients diagnosed with a locally advance prostate cancer high risk (T1-2 and T3-4NO-1MO) tumors. Patients who were given external beam radiation therapy plus an adjuvant hormonal therapy for three years showed an increase in survival rates compared to the patients who received external beam radiation therapy alone. Additional data from the American studies show similar results. According to this study, two to three years of hormone therapy combined with radiotherapy improves survival among patients but is accompanied by a number of adverse effects such as impotence, hot flashes and risk of acquiring heart attacks.

Horwitz et al reported a US study (RTOG 92-02) in 2008 that radiotherapy plus extended adjuvant hormone therapy for 28 months increased the probability of the disease-free survival and disease-specific survival rates among its study group. The group who received a combined therapy obtained a lower probability of a local progression of the prostate tumor and biochemical failure rates were also lowered. The combined therapy prevented further metastasis (spread) among its study group compared to the radiation therapy group. Overall the survival rates in this study showed an increase rates among patients with a pre-treatment Gleason score of 8-10 with no metastasis to the lymph node or the pelvis with a PSA level of 150 ng/ml and below.

Prostate cancer is believed to be caused by an exposure to the male hormones testosterone. An increase in the testosterone levels in the body stimulates prostate cancer cells to grow. Hormone therapy is given to patients diagnosed with prostate cancer as a means to decease the testosterone levels in the body, it is also referred as the Androgen Deprivation Therapy (in which production of male hormones are prevented). Radiation therapy is given to directly kill and destroy the cancer cells by using external beam radiation.

Numerous studies conclude that combination of hormone therapy plus radiation therapy promotes good survival rates. Hormone therapy helps by reducing tumor growth. It also potentiates killing of the cancer cells when combined with radiotherapy.

Urieashashlu Ul is an experienced prostate cancer health expert who has been helping people with prostate cancer. You can visit his site to learn more about the prostate cancer treatments.

Are You Concerned About Finding Safe Eggs? Produce Your Own!

There have been several food recalls over the past few years that have many consumers becoming concerned about their food sources. The huge egg recall has been in the national news for some time now and the outlook is not very encouraging. It has turned many consumers to other sources for their eggs. If you are concerned there are some choices that you have.

1. Select an organic farm to get your products from.

2. Seek out a small local farm that is in your area and contact them for fresh eggs.

3. Raise your own chickens so you have control over the products produced!

The Organic Farm

This is not a bad idea however you still do not have control of the outcome and can still be a source of stress and worry.

The Small Local Farm

Again you don't have control but you will be able to seek out and observe their farming practises and will be able to determine to some degree whether or not you have a safe source.

Raise Your Own Chickens

This is by far the most absolute control you can have. You will be able to construct your own hen houses and decide the number and types of hens you will raise. This can be very rewarding on several levels because you will have a new hobby that can also save you money and give you peace of mind that your eggs are fresh and safe!

There is another benefit that may present itself in the future and that is raising hens for show, raising chickens for resale and also selling eggs. However all that aside the most rewarding benefit is knowing that you have a fresh safe source for eggs.

If the idea of raising your own chickens is an appealing idea the best place to start is providing a chicken coop for them!

http://www.mysheddesigns.com/

How to Produce Effective Local Advertising

Everyone knows that the internet is now a major force when it comes to promoting your business on a local level. However, that doesn't mean that local newspaper advertising is dead, and when used in the right way it can be a very effective lead generator for your business.

The first thing you need to realize about local advertising is that the people who sell it, the ad salespeople, are not your friends. They want to get you to spend as much money as possible, and the success of your business is a low priority. Once you realize this, you can stop thinking that their advice is good advice, and start to think more about what's best for your business.

The first piece of advice you want to ignore is that the people who produce the ads for the newspaper actually know what they're doing. They don't. Many of them have no skills in writing copy, or designing ads in a way that gets a response. So forget the large ads with beautiful photographs, and instead think about making your ad look like a piece of editorial. That means more text, fewer pictures, and printed in black and white. (A splash of color is fine. Just don't overdo it)

Next you want to write the ad like a piece of editorial, and make it look like a piece of editorial. Why? It's a fact that people read editorial, but generally speaking they don't read ads. So by making your ad look like a news story, you immediately stand out from all the other ads.

Somewhere in your "news story" you want to offer the readers something for free. A good idea is a free report that tells people how to choose the right product or service provider in your industry. You need to offer useful information, and people will be glad to read it.

In order to get the free report, the reader has to call you, or send in the coupon you placed in "ad".

You also want to give the reader the opportunity of downloading the report from your website. In order to do this, get your web designer to set up a dedicated page with an email capture form. Once the prospect gives you the email address (and ask for physical addresses and phone numbers too), they can download the free report automatically. Any web designer worth his salt will know how to do this, and if yours doesn't, find one who does.

Put all these techniques together, and your advert immediately becomes more effective because the advertisement is no longer trying to sell directly from the page, but is being used as a lead generation tool. Once you have people's details, you can then market to them at will, by email, by post (direct mail and postcards) and even by telephone.

Using advertising in this way also has the added benefit that it can cut your advertising costs, because your advertisement can be much smaller once you cut out the pictures and huge headlines and concentrate on a simple message that enables you to collect leads.

The newspaper might not like you doing this, and might want you to place the words "Advertisement" or Advertisement Feature" above the ad. But many newspapers are stretched for cash at the moment, and they're unlikely to turn down revenue. The ad salesman certainly won't like it, especially when he sees his commission has been chopped down in size. But you're in business to make money, not subsidize the newspapers. Use the techniques mentioned above, and local advertising (or any kind of advertising, regional or national), can be made to pay, and pay very well.

Steve Prescott is a direct response copywriter and marketing strategist who specialises in creating results-based marketing systems by integrating direct response copy with internet marketing techniques.

His report Small Business Power Marketing is a blueprint for creating a lead-generation system using a mixture of traditional advertising and internet technology. Visit http://www.mrsteveprescott.com/powermarketing to claim your copy now.

Produce Momentum by Hiring the Right People First

The economy of today is pretty tough. Thousands of people have been laid off or lost their jobs completely. Add to those numbers the thousands of college graduates newly out of school looking for their dream job. There are very few areas that haven't been hit by this economic trend. What this does to business is that it creates a huge hiring pool for new openings and overwhelmed recruiters standing knee deep in resumes and applications. For recruiters and human resources departments nation wide, the process of efficiently reviewing all job applicants for a given position can be a big task.

The larger the pool of applicants, the more businesses and organizations struggle with the decision of whom to hire. Those in a hiring position know that the standard background, reference and credit checks along with drug testing don't give a complete enough picture of the personality you will be adding to your organization. Many companies and organizations are turning to online assessment tools to both improve profile accuracy and streamline their hiring process. In addition, they can save time on employee evaluations and performance reviews, as well as, providing employee assessment tools, leadership and managerial assessment tools within their organization.

Online assessment tools are both easy to distribute and easy to use. They offer clear and straightforward reports for employee profiling and personality profiling. These tools offer a glimpse inside the mind of the new hire. Because humans beings are so complex, no single assessment will ever reflect the entire picture. You can, however, expect to receive a comprehensive initial review of your prospective hire.

Hiring managers who want to streamline their hiring process logically incorporate online assessment tools for assessing new hires. It's important to stress that hiring managers not rely exclusively on tools for hiring; personal interviews are an essential part of the hiring process. However, employee profiling tools are unsurpassed for taking your thousands of applicants down to a strong top 5 for personal interviewing.

Recent surveys have shown that over 75% of HR Managers are utilizing personality employee profiling to improve their hiring decisions. It is, however, key that those reviewing completed assessment tools be trained in their use and that they have the appropriate human resources experience to impart insight and value to the reporting. With proper use, assessment tools allow business owners and/or hiring managers to benefit from the insight gained through leadership assessment, managerial assessment and employee evaluation.

Personality profiling can also help a hiring manager identify great talent as well as a great work ethic. Additionally, assessment tools allow that same hiring manager to create an effective plan for employee development. One important aspect of an employee assessment is in the analysis of both an employees cognitive abilities and their ability to handle different situations on the fly. Hiring tools are designed to allow a manager to measure these elements long before a real situation arises. Employee profiling lets managers see how a potential candidate or employee may judge a particular situation, how they evaluate their surroundings and the results that come from their decision making, as well as their ability to judge with clarity.

Another valuable aspect of the pre-employment assessment tool is its ability to analyze a candidate's values and motivations. For a sales position, it's particularly important to understand what motivates that candidate. Later, in the midst of an employee's career, it is helpful to ensure that they are on the appropriate career path for both themselves and their company.

Today's businesses need real momentum to produce the results they desire. When hiring managers lacking the right tools become overloaded with applicants, companies can suffer poor hiring decisions and high turnover rates costing them astounding amounts of money and time. Online assessment tools for employee profiling, leadership assessment and managerial assessment streamline the hiring and promotional process allowing businesses to grow in a profitable direction.

Build your business Momentum with online assessment tools for hiring well, developing well and thriving in business. Get the tools for success from Momentum

Produce Hefty Sales Results With These No-Cost Promo Tools

We're in a darn tough economy. Add to that the fact that writing generally is not the most lucrative of professions even in better times. So it's little wonder that the average author finds the cost and the challenge of promoting his/her book daunting.

Long months of writing. Days of intense anticipation. And at last this new gem rolls off the press. What should be time for glee often turns into somewhat of a horror with the sudden realization that the challenge is yours, not your publishers. Your plans to hire a PR firm are dashed when you see the fees they expect. You flounder when you realize you are there alone with no one to help you.

While this is particularly true for novice authors-and there are thousands of them coming out of POD houses-more experienced writers discover the old days of subsidized book tours and fancy launch parties are relics of the past. Publishers today expect YOU, the author, to pay the bill and do the work necessary to make the public aware of your masterpiece.

There is no question a quality PR firm, and there are several in our industry, can jump start your book on the path to success. But you likely don't have the thousands of dollars to retain them. Don't despair. There are ways to promote your book and build sales without breaking what little budget is available.

Writing articles on the Internet, much as I am doing right now, bears great fruit, but costs you nothing. Syndicators like EzineArticles and isnare are free to use. Yet they place your article in front of up to 40 or 50,000 readers. You add an appealing Resource Box at the end of your piece touting your book and giving full information on where to find it. You'll see your numbers grow quickly.

Reach out for quality book reviewers. Readers always pay more heed to favorable comments from an objective third party than they do to your pitch or that of your publisher. Cherry pick those you think are right from Amazon's Top 1,000 Reviewers. Head to Jim Cox's Midwest Book Review on the Internet for great advice and highly respected reviewers. Try Dan Poynter's ParaPubnewsletter for more possibilities. And you won't have to spend a penny.

Carefully dip your toe into social networking. Try Facebook because it has such a huge membership, Twitter because of its current popularity and if you have the time, LinkedIn particularly if your book deals with business or professional issues. Schedule a limited amount of time each week to keep your site updated and active, but don't let the fun of participation steal hours from your basic routine---writing.

Never overlook the incredible reach of broadcast. Radio talk shows are the activity of choice. There are many of them that deal with a wide variety of subjects, many of which will be related to the topic of your book, whether fiction or nonfiction. If your home area has a local TV station, go for it. National television is tough to crack, but it becomes a lot easier if you have a track record of regionals and lots of talk radio.

Getting booked on the air costs nothing. But it will take some effort on your part to reach and convince producers of your worth as an interviewee. There are companies that can help to place you on air. Steve Harrison's Bradley Communications, Annie Jennings PR, Rick Frischman's Planned TV Arts and Francine Silverman, author of "Talk Radio Wants You."

With the exception of broadcast, most of what I have introduced you to can be accomplished online. But don't ever forget the value of print publications. Whether you are seeking reviews from a newspaper or magazine or want to place an article, the exposure will benefit you tremendously.

Newspaper book sections have shrunk or disappeared completely. But think of the value of a review in a section of the paper that relates to your subject. Perhaps it's business or food, sports or finance, travel or the arts. Possibilities abound. The situation is similar for magazines. They are published in every imaginable field. Use directories like "Writer's Digest," published in on and offline versions or "The Wooden Horse" which I think is the best of the online directories.

There certainly are many other low cost or free promotional possibilities, but space does not allow me to cover them all. Use your imagination. Study what other authors are doing on the Web and off.

Most of all, make sure you have an active, interesting website crammed full of worthy information. (Post every article you write on your site,) Give the visitor an easy pathway to learn more about your book and hopefully to buy from a sales page on your site.

With these simple techniques and a strong website to act as a base to send material from and to receive responses, you will catapult your book to unexpectedly strong sales. But always remember: while it may take no money, it will take effort. Without real participation, no promotional program will succeed. Good luck!

Charles Jacobs is an author, book coach and writing instructor. His latest book, "The Writer Within You," has been named a BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR seven times. It has won gold and bronze medals. The book can be purchased at http://www.retireandwrite.com.

How to Produce Big B2B Marketing and Sales Results With a Small Budget

Many small- to medium-sized businesses fail due to a lack of an effective marketing and sales program. Entrepreneurs may be very good at their core business, but know very little about marketing. Certain people suffer from the theory espoused by Ralph Waldo Emerson, "If you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door." They are innocently caught up in a love for their own products or services and believe the world will indeed beat a path to their door when prospects hear about the fantastic new product. This attitude is wrong, dangerous, and not in line with the practices of successful B2B marketers. In fact, more often than not, superior marketing beats a superior product.

Another reason for failure is that an effective marketing campaign is hard work. Since marketing is probably not what motivated the entrepreneur to open his or her business, it receives less priority than product development and other tasks. Marketing also often comes up short when scarce funds are allocated. Sadly, there are start-up companies that spend tens of thousands of dollars on furniture and equipment, while complaining that there is nothing left for marketing.

New companies also make a mistake by hiring expensive advertising agencies that are incapable of cost-effective, low-budget marketing. Or they hire marketing and sales talent from big companies, and these people are often clueless about how to get results on a limited budget. So if you are in a small company, be careful about hiring the hotshot from a big company to come solve your problems. It often doesn't work. This is not to say that everyone from a big company is incapable of being effective with a smaller budget-some are great no matter the company size.

Small to medium businesses and start-ups face two major obstacles not shared by larger, entrenched companies. First, if you happen to be a small fish in a large pond, you will be confronted by competitors with much larger advertising and marketing budgets. Second, you may have to spend a larger percentage of your revenues on marketing than older, established organizations.

Given the reality of this situation, you need to squeeze as much efficiency as possible out of every dollar. Be assured that you can do a lot on a limited budget, and expensive does not always mean better. I've often used limited-budget strategies to beat the big players and you can do the same. And the lessons you learn by doing it the frugal way will serve you well, no matter how successful you become, or how far your marketing budget expands. Here are a collection of small budget strategies and tactics you can use to beat the big guys:

Small Budget Website Strategies:

1. Don't overbuild your Website. There are ways to create an impressive site using less-complex open source or template approaches.

2. If possible, have an easy-to-remember Website address that relates to what your company does.

3. List your Web address (URL) on all of your corporate materials.

4. Make sure your Website is optimized for organic search terms. This is a low-cost strategy that will make you much easier to find.

5. Try narrowly focused low-cost pay per click search terms.

6. Give some information away for free to increase your Website stickiness.

7. Create many links with other sites to increase your search engine visibility.

8. Refresh your content often. Do not let the site go stale.

Small Budget Social Media Strategies:

1. Start your own blog and comment on other blogs.

2. Always list your Web address on your blog postings and any electronic communication.

3. Leverage LinkedIn and other networking sites.

4. Use Twitter to find relevant posts and prospects.

5. Be controversial (but not too controversial) to attract attention.

6. Choose a niche where you can be an expert.

7. Write articles and get them published in online media.

8. Focus on one or two social media outlets. This concentrated attention will bring more attention than throwing your efforts at five or six outlets.

Small Budget Email Strategies:

1. Work hard to build your email prospect file of opt-in names. This will be a gold mine of low-cost leads and sales.

2. Include a promotional message and your Website address as part of your standard email signature.

3. Provide links to valuable information in your emails, not just product pitches.

4. Make your emails interesting and/or unusual.

5. Run your email copy through a spam detection tool like EmailExam, Acxiom Digital, or Lyris ContentChecker to ensure your emails will not be caught in the spam filters.

6. Have an easy opt-out process. You do not want to keep sending emails to people who want to be removed from your list.

Small Budget Direct Marketing Strategies:

1. Target your lists more effectively by using demographics, psychographics, and some of the other list segmenting tools available. The object is to mail fewer packages and achieve greater response.

2. Test your mailing and telemarketing in small quantities before committing large sums to full-blown programs. Equally important, use the information you learn on every program to make the next work better.

3. Try a postcard mailer. The production costs are low, the first-class postage is less expensive than letter mail, and they pull very well. You can drive prospects to a Web form or toll-free telephone number.

4. Cut back on four-color process direct mail packages. Unless you sell food, magazines, resort properties, or other products requiring excellent graphic reproduction, you can probably pull as much response using two-color printing.

5. Consider mailing with third-class postage instead of first-class. Depending on whether you presort the file, this will save you a great amount of money, and most prospects will not notice the difference. The exception is with time-sensitive offers, since third-class mail can take a week longer to arrive than first-class.

6. If you mail to large numbers on a national basis, or send highly concentrated mailings into local or regional areas, use postal pre-sorting to lower postage costs.

More Cost-Cutting Ideas:

1. If you are a small company (a flea), find a big company (a dog) to partner with. This will make it much easier for you to sell to bigger companies.

2. Read the chapter on public relations carefully and begin carrying out its advice. PR is a low-effort, high-reward vehicle that is often under-utilized by small-budget marketers.

3. Be persistent. Remember the eight times rule: You don't have to spend a lot of money on each communication, but you must repeat your message up to eight times to gain prospect awareness.

4. Write handwritten personal notes to prospects and customers. They are cheap but make a big impact.

5. Ask for referrals. They are much easier to sell, at lower cost.

6. Utilize experts. An expert's advice will cost you something in the short term, but can save you money and aggravation in the long term.

7. List your primary products and services on your stationery and business card, or anything else you give to potential buyers.

8. Since consistency is vital for those with small budgets, make sure every one of your marketing efforts supports and reinforces your unique selling proposition (USP).

9. Sharpen your bargaining skills. Media outlets are hungry for business and many have unsold inventory. Use this to your advantage by negotiating aggressively.

One other important principle to practice is leverage. Try to create content once and use it in multiple marketing scenarios. This is less expensive and time-consuming, and the consistency of message is important.

For more information, please visit Fusion Marketing Partners or Get the Book.

Will Global Warming Produce More Intense Hurricanes Such As Katrina?

Although the 2005 hurricane season is finally over, the intense

beating our southeastern coastline and its residents took still

has us shaken. Many of us are also starting to connect the dots

between global warming and the more intense hurricane activity we

are experiencing, such as with Katrina this past year. Even to a

layman, logic dictates the warmer air and water temperatures may

have something to do with what appears to be a change for the

worst in hurricane acitivity along our Atlantic coasts.

Unfortunately, research indicates these suspicions may not be

unfounded. According to information gathered from the PEW Center

on Global Climate Change in Arlington, Va., due to the effect

global warming is considered to have on the intensity of

hurricanes we may have more years such as we experienced in 2005.

In addition, the center predicts this may be the case for at

least the next decade or two.

The PEW Center reports because of the link between higher ocean

temperatures and hurricanes, there is speculation that hurricanes

will increase in frequency or intensity in a warmer world, with

higher wind speeds and greater precipitation. In other words,

even though studies show the frequency of hurricanes has not

increased on average over the long term, scientists believe that

global warming will result in more intense hurricanes, as

increasing sea surface temperatures provide energy for storm

intensification.

Higher ocean temperatures may also increase the likelihood of

hurricanes tracking through the Caribbean or making landfall on

the U.S. east coast. Although the phenomenon is not yet

completely understood, a track of unusually deep and warm water

appears to have led Katrina directly to the Gulf Coast when it

struck.

In addition, a recently published MIT study provides the first

data analysis indicating tropical storms are indeed becoming more

powerful over time. The following statistics recorded by the

National Hurricane Center seem supports this data.

The NHC describes the 2004 Atlantic hurricane season as having

had "well above-normal activity," and it predicted even greater

activity for 2005. With the season at its end, the past year has

exceeded those expectations, as well as all previously recorded

activity for a single season.

The Atlantic hurricane season runs from June 1-Nov. 30. An

average season produces 10 tropical storms, with six becoming

hurricanes, two of which reach sustained wind speeds at or above

100 miles per hour (i.e. category three or higher). This is based

on a long-term average, but there are variabilities from year to

year.

As of Nov. 22, 2005, the following activity has been recorded:

** 24 named tropical storms for the first time since systematic

record keeping began about 150 years ago;

** 13 hurricanes, with seven major hurricanes;

** The most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic

basin (Wilma);

** Three of the six most powerful hurricanes ever recorded in the

Atlantic basin (Katrina, Rita, Wilma);

** The first time three category five hurricanes have ever been

recorded in the same year in the Atlantic basin;

** The most destructive hurricane in U.S. history (Katrina).

The PEW Center informs although the average number of hurricanes

between 1995 and 2005 is probably unprecedented, we have not seen

a long-term increase in hurricane frequency during the 20th

century overall. Instead, we have seen periods of high-hurricane

activity that last for several decades, followed by decades of

low activity. (The 1920s-30s and the 1950s-60s were active

periods.) In 1995, we entered and are currently in the latest

natural phase of high hurricane frequency, which i

Laurie Huffman is a reporter for several northeastern Ohio newspapers owned by Dix Communications. She won two awards in 2005 from the Ohio Newspaper Association for best feature and best overall news covera

How To Produce Successful Television Commercials

Do you often get fascinated with an ad on the television? Do you often wish if you could produce a creative and successful ad as such to help your business grow? The next time you see a fascinating advertisement on the TV, try to figure out what are the things that you like the most about that ad. Think about the style, the tag line, idea and the overall presentation of the ad that makes it stand out from the rest of the ads. If you view the same ad over and over again, you may notice that what makes that ad successful is probably not the big budget, but the creative and innovative ideas used.

Producing an ad is not that a difficult task, but producing the best ads is indeed difficult. Presently, making television commercials has become really simple with the availability of ad production tools. If you have sufficient knowledge of the production process, it can be quite easy to produce television commercials. But, in order to make an impact on the audience, you need to be creative and given below are some tips which can help you make the best ads.

Identify Your Target Audience

One of the first things to do before making an ad is to identify your target audience. Once you have determined this and have a clear idea about your target audience, it will become easy to choose the message that you would like to convey and also work on a style that will influence them. Your task can become even easier if you go by the market data which is available on a number of websites today.

Objective

The very next step towards producing the best ad is to establish your objective. To be successful in whatever you are doing, you must understand what your objective is and what you are trying to achieve with the ad. Whether you are trying to focus on the price of the products that you are offering, free services offered by your business or the quality of the products, you must have a clear objective.

Budget

It is also important to set a budget that you can afford. Remember, it is creativity that will determine the success of your commercials and not the big budget. If you are able to reach your target audience through local channels, you should not shell out loads of money on making ads for the national channel.

About the Author

Garima Oberoi is a shopaholic who has blended her passion for shopping with her technical expertise. Garima has been in the online commerce space for more than a decade and has co-founded shopatindia.com, a shopping marketplace that provides comprehensive information about features, prices and availability of all the latest products launched in India. Visit my website for more information on the best ads in India

The Energy Saving House - Sun, Wind and Water Can Produce Nearly 100% of Your Home's Energy

No one has to be reminded of the energy situation that embroils the world today. People are more and more concerned about the choice of an energy saving house.

Parents wonder about their children's future or perhaps tomorrow some third world oil producing nation will get angry with our country and cut off our supply of petroleum resources.

The fact of the matter is that these concerns should have been addressed long ago by all free governments so this situation would not have come to fruition. But alas, as is so often the case the populace needs to take matters into their own hands and demonstrate the way to go.

Forward thinking citizens of the world have always tried to figure out ways to be self sufficient. Using natural, renewable energy sources instead of paying someone else for the privilege of eating away precious energy supplies that will in time be depleted.

Housing has long been the obvious choice in striving to employ energy conservation methods as dwellings are the number one energy guzzlers worldwide.

The energy saving house now utilizes a wide variety of techniques that allows the homeowner to become partially, or totally independent of outside sources of combustion type heating and cooling such as oil and coal provide.

Today's energy saving house makes use of sun, wind and water to produce nearly 100% of a home's energy needs. Solar panels collect the inherent energy that the sun's rays offer the world free for the taking.

Windmills and waterwheels drive turbines that produce power in much the same process that your local electric company charges you an arm and a leg for.

The use of these natural resources also reduces air pollution and greenhouse gases. Energy saving techniques can be incorporated into your home whether it is new construction or retrofit and it will take extensive planning and a large initial monetary outlay but the savings you will realize will recoup your initial costs in just a few short years.

Above all, the rewards will be tremendous in your fight against outrageous energy bills and reducing environmental waste.

Get more information on how to save your home thermal energy [http://www.getenergysavingideas.com/how-to-save-your-home-thermal-energy/]. There's a wealth of information on making your home more energy efficient so you can continue to live a comfortable life style whilst cutting your utility bills.

To receive 12 more energy saving ideas, register now [http://www.getenergysavingideas.com/optin-page.html]

Regional Mideast Peace Parley Likely Won't Produce Major Breakthroughs

On July 16, 2007, President Bush called for "an international meeting" to be attended by "representatives form nations that support a two-state solution" to the historic Israeli-Palestinian dispute, "reject violence, recognize Israel's right to exist, and commit to all previous agreements between the parties." The meeting would be chaired by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. It would review institution-building progress in the West Bank, seek to explore "innovative and effective ways to support further reform" and lend "diplomatic support for the parties in their bilateral discussions and negotiations." In other words, it would likely be a meeting that is intended to provide a visible symbol that the Middle East is turning the proverbial corner toward peace. Assuming the conference is held--and it is not yet a certainty--no big breakthroughs are likely. There is even the danger that the outcome could demonstrate, not that progress is being made, but reveal just how formidable the barriers to progress are. In any case, if the conference's focus is narrowed to that of restarting bilateral negotiations between Israel and the West Bank Palestinian leadership with the objective that such future talks would reach an interim settlement, the conference can make a contribution toward Middle East peace.

If there is a historic model that can be referenced, it is the 1991 Madrid Conference. This conference was co-hosted by the United States and Soviet Union. It brought together Israel, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestinian leaders with the Palestinians comprising a joint Jordanian-Palestinian team. Its objective was to create a framework that produced peace agreements between Israel and Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan. It also sought to create a mechanism by which Israel and the Palestinians could reach an interim arrangement and then move on to final settlement negotiations. Following the conference, a bilateral track culminated in the Jordan-Israel peace agreement of 1994. A separate track led to the Oslo process with the Palestinians, but that effort eventually collapsed amidst the violence of intifada and Yasser Arafat's refusal to accept President Clinton's bridging proposal for a historic final settlement. The Syria-Israel negotiations ended with Syria unwilling to compromise over a tiny strip of land a few hundred meters in width.

This time around, any international conference will likely produce a lesser outcome. In 1991 the Cold War had ended with U.S. preeminence, the U.S. was fresh off a smashing military victory over Iraq that had liberated Kuwait, it enjoyed goodwill among numerous Arab states, and the its contribution to the Middle East's balance of power gave it enormous leverage in striving to alter the region's political dynamics. Then, the region's Arab states had a strong incentive to cultivate a political and strategic relationship with the United States. Today, the U.S. is locked in a virtual stalemate in Iraq, its grand ambition to build a liberal democracy there has been narrowed to the minimalist goal of leaving a self-sustaining government in Baghdad, Iran is now the region's rising power, Arab public opinion toward the United States is overwhelmingly negative, and President Bush and a Democratic Party-led Congress are locked in their own power struggle in Washington. As a result, the U.S. lacks the military, political, and diplomatic credibility it possessed back in 1991. In addition, Israel's indecisive outcome during last summer's military operation against Hezbollah has damaged its bargaining leverage.

Should such a conference take place, a number of dynamics could conspire against any major breakthroughs. First, as President Bush will not be chairing the conference, the extent of U.S. commitment could be discounted. Second, the conference could provide a forum for public posturing by the various parties. If so, rather than bridging differences in laying a path toward future bilateral negotiations, the conference could open up fresh divisions. Third, with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert facing difficulties stemming from the Winograd Committee's investigation into the Israel-Hezbollah fight and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas having lost control of the Gaza Strip, political weakness could limit the extent of commitments each party can grant. Fourth, Syria could take an intransigent stand in seeking to use future cooperation as a means to leverage concessions from the United States. For example, it could attempt to link participation in future talks to the UN's dropping the Hariri investigation. Fifth, it could attempt to thwart a separate peace track with the West Bank. After all, if the West Bank's leadership later reached agreement with Israel, Syria would be the lone holdout and this could further isolate it diplomatically. In turn, because President Abbas indirectly holds Syria responsible for Hamas' seizure of the Gaza Strip on account of its hosting a number of senior leaders from Hamas, Abbas could attempt to undermine prospects for a Syria-Israel track. Sixth, the shadow of rising Iranian power will likely overshadow the conference. With Iran on a path toward regional hegemony, Arab states might be unwilling to commit to too much so as to leave options open for dealing with a dominant Iran down the road, particularly if they calculate that the U.S. could disengage, at least to some extent, from the region following the 2008 Presidential election. For Arab leaders, it might be worth it to await the outcome of the U.S. elections before proceeding too far down a path on which a future U.S. President could place reduced emphasis. Seventh, the inclusion of too many parties could lead to Arab states "ganging up" to reaffirm demands that Israel withdraw to the pre-1967 War boundaries.

All said, if the international conference is held--and there is a real chance it will never take place--it is unlikely to bring about any major breakthroughs on the substantive issues that currently divide Israelis and Arabs. If progress is to be achieved, rather than focusing on lofty but unattainable goals, it should pursue the specific objective of creating a framework for a new round of bilateral discussions between Israel and the West Bank's Palestinian leadership. Those new negotiations should be aimed at reaching an interim agreement that would seek to write a new narrative of co-existence and mutual trust between Israelis and Palestinians.

Under such an arrangement, the West Bank's Palestinian leadership would be required to make a serious good faith effort to apprehend and prosecute those who threaten or carry out attacks against Israelis. The Palestinian leadership would also work to dismantle all armed militias outside the security forces, something President Abbas has already pledged to do. In return, Israel would remove its security restrictions and armed forces from agreed portions of the West Bank. It would also bar new settlement construction in those areas. Any existing Israeli settlers would be offered the choice of returning to Israel with reasonable relocation compensation or falling under Palestinian jurisdiction. The Madrid Quartet would monitor implementation of the agreement.

In the end, a conference that avoids "internationalizing" the long-running Arab-Israeli dispute, but instead seeks to re-open the proverbial door to bilateral tracks, starting with the one between the West Bank's Palestinian leadership and Israel, has the best chance to make some progress. However, to do so, its organizers will need to avoid the temptation of seeking grand legacy-making objectives that might appeal to President Bush as his tenure approaches an end, as none of the parties are in a position to pursue, much less reach, a final settlement. Modest and incremental progress is possible. The conference should aim to realize that possibility.

Don Sutherland has researched and written on a wide range of geopolitical issues.

How To Produce Taxi Driver Accounts Plus Tax Returns In Less Than 2 Hours

Since the majority of taxi drivers, but certainly not all, have little accounting or bookkeeping knowledge the lower the level of expertise required the more suitable such an accounts package will be. Data entry basically consists of just 3 records, being an excel spreadsheet for taxi receipts; another for taxi expenses plus a further worksheet in which assets such as a vehicle can be recorded.

Taxi receipts are entered on a series of excel worksheets within the taxi income work book preset with each day of the financial year. Weekly and monthly totals are added and transferred through the linking system from the taxi bookkeeping sheets to the taxi financial accounts sheet.

Taxi expenses are listed on a series of twelve monthly spreadsheets which have preset columns with appropriate headings for taxi drivers to record office and rental costs, fuel bills, other vehicle costs and licence fees. The total of each expense is entered on each row and a single letter used to then analyse the taxi expense to the column required. As with the taxi income sheet the columns are then automatically added which includes a check on data entry accuracy before being transferred to the taxi driver accounts sheet.

Cash and bank spreadsheets are not provided as not required by taxi drivers as taxi drivers do not need to produce a balance sheet.

In addition to entering purchases on the taxi expense sheet the only other entries required from the taxi driver to produce a set of taxi driver accounts is to also enter vehicle and any other assets purchased on the fixed asset spreadsheet. The fixed asset spreadsheet having already been preset with both depreciation rates and the capital allowances that taxi drivers can claim. The taxi accounts software is then complete.

The financial accounts file contains formulae to produce a monthly profit and loss account that includes the taxi capital allowances from the fixed asset schedule.

A unique feature is that both mileages covered and vehicle running costs can be entered. The tax rules in the UK state that drivers cannot claim both mileage allowances and vehicle running costs. It has to be one or the other and only at the end of the financial year when it becomes clear which is the most tax efficient.

This taxi accounts package compares both the mileage cost and the vehicle running cost and automatically selects the most expensive. This ensures the highest costs are selected into the calculation of the net taxable profits and highest cost equals lowest tax bill.

Also in the taxi accounts file is an excel spreadsheet designed with the same layout, colour codes and box numbers as the inland revenue self assessment tax return. The taxi self assessment tax return is completed automatically by the cabsmart taxi accounts software. No entries are required leaving the taxi driver only to click print to produce the self assessment tax return.

Finally having calculated the net taxable profit for the year the accounting package also has a tax calculator that calculates the amount of income tax and national insurance to be paid.

The taxi driver accounts package has been tested many times and the annual receipts and expenses for a full year take approximately 2 to 3 hours to enter, and have been completed in less than 2 hours. The end product is a full set of taxi driver accounts including the self assessment tax return.

Both couriers and van drivers have similar businesses to taxi drivers in that they move items from one place to another in a similar way in which taxi drivers move people from one location to another. And because of the similarity in business activity then this taxi accounting package would be equally suitable for couriers and van drivers.

Terry Cartwright, a qualified accountant in the UK, designs Taxi Accounts software on excel spreadsheets specifically for the Taxi Driver wishing to save money and prepare the Taxi Driver Accounts and produce the self assessment tax return in the process.

Miami College And Universities Produce Many Graduates

Applying for college can be quite daunting if you have no idea what you are looking for. In the following article, you will find a synopsis of some of the schools located in Miami, Florida. All of the three colleges offer different things.

Miami Dade College

Why attend?

Miami Dade College, founded in the 1960s, is a state funded college with approximately 175,000 students. It is named as the largest institution of higher education in the nation. Students can choose to attend one of the eight campuses that Miami Dade offers. The college stands on their values of providing the opportunity of education. Sustainability is important for the college, and it has gone through many steps to continue the sustainability on campus and in the community. Miami Dade has also been named the number one college in the nation in awarding the most Associate's degrees to minorities.

Courses and student life

Both undergraduate and graduate students at Miami Dade can excel in their studies. Associate's degrees in areas such as business, computers, and aviation make the transition from high school to college easy for its scholars. Students who are ready to pursue a four-year degree can choose from options like film, television, and digital production, physician assistant studies, and public safety management. If you are a professional already working in the field of your desires, Miami Dade also has career training courses to keep you up-to-date with information and skills.

University of Miami

Why attend?

The University of Miami, which opened its doors in the 1920s, is a private research university with over 15,000 students actively taking classes. The US News and World Report ranked the University of Miami number 38 in their "Best Colleges" listing this past year. Students interested in attending a mid-sized school, should look into a visit at University of Miami.

Courses and student life

This university provides its students with a wide range of bachelor and master degrees. For instance, an undergraduate may take courses in subject areas such as finance, health care management, or marketing. After gaining a four year degree, students have the option of continuing their education at University of Miami and taking courses from programs like architecture, English, or psychology. In regards to extracurricular activities, the sports teams at University of Miami are superb. The teams are part of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Popular men's sports are basketball and tennis, while popular women's sports are basketball and swimming.

Florida International University

Why attend?

Florida International University is Miami's first and only four-year public research university. With almost 46,000 students, Florida International University is one of the 25 largest public universities in the nation. Research is a major component of its mission, where the expenditures for research are more than $100 million per year.

Courses and student life

With more than 180 Bachelor's, Master's, and doctoral programs available for students, Florida International University has something for everyone. Individuals attaining their four-year degrees can take up topics such as botany, business administration, and accounting. If you already have a Bachelor's degree and are looking for a good graduate program, this school has many topics to pick from. Florida International University has Master's programs in mechanical engineering, music, and linguistics, for example, and doctoral programs in areas like economics, exceptional student education, and curriculum.

Now that you have some information on some of the colleges in Miami, Florida, be sure you do addition research on the schools and all that they can provide to meet your career goals. Visiting these South Florida colleges can provide hands-on experience to see how the environment really is.

Homemade Solar Panels For Your Home - Produce Your Own Free Electricity At Home

Is it possible to generate your own electricity at home with homemade solar panels?

A large number of nations around the world have started lowering their dependencies on unsafe sources of energies (conventional sources) through the process of selecting various other cleaner, Eco-friendly and sustainable energy sources. Top of the list of these alternative energy sources is solar power, generated and converted by means of a solar panels and wind generated power.

Solar power is an electrical energy produced from the sun through homemade solar panels, that could be utilized to deliver electricity into your residence, heat the water and even operate several other electrically powered accessories. Essentially the number of choices are unending with just a tiny bit of creative and imagination. However, do you know you can solve your more expensive power bills by just transitioning to solar technology by making use of homemade solar panels or wind energy generated electricity? This tends to solve your addiction to standard fuels and will help protect our environment, minimizing the level of carbon (greenhouse gas) that is released during production with the conventional method.

Not surprisingly there are lots of disbelief among individuals, that setting up solar technology is expensive and requires to always be professionally done. The fact is that they're very much more affordable options available where you can make your own homemade solar panels to produce a source of electricity for a fraction to the price of manufactured panels. All you need to undertake is locate competitively priced (PV) solar cells and build the panels yourself. A single homemade solar panels will include many solar cells interconnected collectively. The PV cells use a semiconductor elements, for instance silicon, to permit the sunlight for being converted into an electrical source. Typically the mounting of the Photovoltaic cells straight to the panels does not require high level of DIY expertise and may be undertaken only using a few number of tools.

How could you yield electricity using homemade solar panels?

Actually, Photovoltaic is a technique of transforming the sun's rays into electrical energy. The Photovoltaic solar cells generate household power (DC) energy source coming from sun energy, which often can consequently be used to power electronic devices as well as to charge a battery. A good inverter is necessary to change the DC to AC electricity. There are plenty of tutorials accessible that could show where to track down low-cost solar cell components that includes a step-by-step handbook on building a homemade solar panels. The panels may be put in on top or roof of the house as well as could even be ground mounted depending on your particular situations as well as the amount of electric power you want to generate.

Naturally the main element to the installation of an efficient homemade solar panels is to locate a highly recommended user guide which gives straightforward directions on where you should purchase the components from and how to construct the exact homemade solar panels (usually backed-up by video tutorial guidance). An average panel can be done for approximately $200 by means of materials acquired out of your localized home improvement center.

Solar energy system is among the most cleanest and most realistic types of alternative energies and can be taken in a number of methods to power the energy requirements of your home or back garden. The technological innovations is actually becoming even better all of the time and homemade solar panels grown to be more compact and a lot more successful.

Creating your own electrical power from the sun will help dependencies from conventional sources of energy and decreases carbon footprint making the environment cleaner and free from pollution.

In a situation where you are generating more power than you need, you could offer this extra electricity for sale to your electrical power supplier, a good source of additional income.

Building your own homemade solar panels can greatly benefit both people and mother nature. Solar power for homes really a clean and renewable energy that we should take advantage. Imagine if majority of the households all over the world are using this clean and sustainable source of electricity, how much percentage we can reduce the dependencies of fossil fuels. Visit http://www.BuildYourOwnSolarPanels.org for details on how you can get started leveraging this free, renewable and abundant energy from the sun.