Seven Easy Steps to Planning Your Dream Holiday

There is so much to do in planning a dream holiday; it sometimes feels very overwhelming, especially if you have been thinking about choosing a completely new destination. And now with the internet, so much information is available to us, how can we sift through the overload? Here are seven easy steps that will make planning your next dream holiday much easier. Follow these, and you'll be enjoying that first celebratory drink on arrival before you know it.

1. We start the countdown at twelve weeks before departure with initial research. You have holidays coming up in December and you want celebrate a hard year's work with something special; the latest you should start dreaming about what to do is September. There are several resources to look at to choose a destination:

Government travel advisories - these are usually found from your government's foreign affairs department website.

Research specific activities you may want to do and where those are offered. For example, if you are interested in engaging with communities or volunteering, you might check out local NGOs who are looking for assistance or tour operators that facilitate community visits.

Set your own personal goals for the holiday. What's your dream? Do you want to photograph wildlife? Do you want to learn about a specific culture? Do you simply want to relax and reconnect with your family after a stressful work year?

2. This research will narrow down your options so that around ten weeks before departure, you are ready to make specific enquiries and request information. Who do you ask?

Contact tour operators for itinerary suggestions
Determine your preferred travel style - basic, mid-range or luxury
Travel forums are an excellent source of information. Try Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree, Fodors, and Trip Advisor to start with, there are plenty more though!

3. Eight weeks before departure is recognised as the optimal time to book flights. There's a few ways to do this:

Online flight search engines give you a selection of airlines and prices. My suggestion is to use the search engine to find the most suitable flight (according to your preferences for price, less transfers, etc) and then book directly through the airline's website. Examples are Kayak, Expedia, SkyScanner, Wotif, etc.

Go to your travel agent to book flights. You could take the fares you found on the search engines and ask the agent to match it or beat it.

Your passport should have six months validity from the end of your holiday and at least one blank page for every country you will visit. Your government passport office can offer assistance in applying for or renewing your passport.

4. Six weeks before departure is when you should be ensuring your traveldocuments are in order.

Fully comprehensive travel insurance should be taken out, covering emergency medical treatment and repatriation as well as lost luggage and cancellation fees. iSelect in Australia compares insurance policies to help you decide what is best for you

Check specific visa requirements for the countries you will visit and your nationality. Do not rely on a travel agent or tour operator, check with the embassy yourself to ensure you have the correct information for the nationality of passport you hold. Some visas need to be obtained before travel and you should allow sufficient processing time for this.

Visit the travel health clinic to find out what vaccinations you need for your destination.

5. Four weeks before departure, your dream itinerary should be finalised.

Complete booking or client information forms as required by your tour operator
Pay deposit and/or final balance as required by your tour operator
Start to learn a bit of the local language

6. Two weeks before departure and we are getting excited now! It's time to pack.

Check climate information through guide books and weather bureau websites
Arrange pet care
There's an online tool called the Universal Packing List, which allows you to enter your trip information and it will produce a tailored packing list.

7. The final countdown! Just a few last minute checks before getting on that flight.

Pack some small gifts or souvenirs from your homeland to give to people you meet in your travels.

Check your luggage allowance for your airline and ensure your luggage is not overweight. If it is under weight, consider topping it up with some clothing or stationery supplies to donate to a community project.

Finalise transport arrangements, both to get to the airport in plenty of time for checking in and passport control, and also the arrangements for a pick up when you arrive at your destination.

Now you are set to go. By following these seven easy steps your holiday should be well-organised and fulfill your travel dreams. Bon Voyage! Safari Njema!

Tracey is the owner of Overland Travel Adventures, a philanthropic tour company based in Nairobi, Kenya. She has travelled to over 50 countries and led tours in most of those. Overland Travel Adventures is running a 20 day safari from Nairobi, Kenya to Kigali, Rwanda through Uganda in November. It includes game viewing in Amboseli and Masai Mara Parks in Kenya, trekking the mountain gorillas in Uganda and some time Kigali to soak up the Rwandan vibe. Check the website http://www.ota-responsibletravel.com for more information, or email tracey@ota-responsibletravel.com

Seven Steps in Selling Your Insurance Agency

Most agency owners have put their time, energy and heart in building their business. The business is a part of their life. The sale of one's business is usually a one-time event. It therefore makes sense to take the time and get it right the first time.

Just like building a business, there is no exact cookie cutter approach in selling the business. However, there are general guidelines to follow.

The following seven steps outline the overall approach one should take in selling their business.

Step One - Planning to Sell

You wake up one day and realize it would be great to spend more time you're your spouse, grandchildren or even playing golf. Perhaps, some client or underwriter gave you a hard time and you figure that was the straw that broke the camel's back. You lost a key market and don't have the energy or time to remarket your accounts.

It may seem funny, but situations like these are usually the trigger point for many owners to actually do something about selling their business.

When deciding to sell the business, an owner needs to check inside to see what the real expectations are. Selling a business is not like selling stock in GM. The agency is part of the owner's life and it is not a simple commodity to trade.

Snap decisions to sell usually result in long drawn out negotiations or other complications. When an owner spends some time planning the sale of the business, many common problems are minimized or avoided.

The first step is to work on a plan to sell the business. Theoretically, this plan should be started the day one becomes an owner. More practically speaking, planning to sell the business should start at about five years out.

Planning should include a review and initial analysis of the areas covered in the next six steps in the process.

Step Two - Who To Sell To

The thought process on who to sell to is basically a decision tree. First, should the sale be internal (to someone in the agency) or external (to another agency or outside party).

If the sale is to be internal, who are the candidates? Will new talent need to be brought in to help with the sale?

If the sale is to be eternal, will it be to a local agency, large regional agency versus, a publicly traded national broker or even a bank. It is a seller's market - finding a buyer is not a problem. Finding the right buyer is what it is all about.

Regardless of who the buyer is, it is important to do a thorough compatibility analysis. The goal is to match up the expectations and philosophy of the buyer to the seller. This will lead to the next step.

Step Three - Hire Professionals

Should the owner of a business research, analyze and buy insurance without an agent or broker? Most of the readers of this article would say "no." Agents and brokers provide a value added service through their experience and training. Likewise, there are professionals that can greatly assist with the sale of a business.

The merger and acquisition consultant should be brought in early, to help out in the planning process. A good consultant will advise on when to sell, who to sell to and what to expect. Consulting firms, like Oak & Associates, that specialize in insurance agencies will work with sellers and buyers to determine the best fit so that any sale or acquisition is a win-win deal. The work of a qualified consultant should develop the framework for the deal, which will be refined by the CPA and the attorney.

The CPA is needed to review the terms of the deal to see the tax implications. In most cases, taxes are the main driver in the structure of the terms of a transaction. Attorneys should review the sale of any business. Often, the buyer is the party that drafts all the legal documents. The seller's attorney is the final advocate for the seller in making sure that all is fair.

Step Four - Agency Value

Many agency owners describe the value of an agency in terms of a multiple of revenue or commission. While this rule of thumb is useful, its limitations need to be understood as well.

The astute buyer will determine value as a multiple of profit - after reasonable income and expenses are established. The multiple of earnings typically ranges between 4.5 and 7.5 based on the perceived strengths and weakness of the agency or book of business.

Agency owners should always be conscious of how business decisions impact the value of the business. Owners should always strive to run the agency in a way to maximize value. This concept should be a fundamental part of the business perpetuation planning process.

It is important to keep in mind that value, price and net proceeds from a sale can all be different. Think of value as a theoretical benchmark. Price is the number of dollars agreed to between the buyer and seller, as what it will take to transfer ownership. Net proceeds from the sale are the actual dollars the seller can put in his or her pocket - after taxes, and after other expenses.

Step Five - What to Sell

The question is: "should the owner sell the stock or the assets?" If the business is an "S" corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship or a LLC this step is usually straightforward - just sell the assets. For "C" corporations, that is another story.

A buyer will want to buy just the "assets" of the firm, which is just the good will of the book of business - sometimes called the expiration list. This is because it helps limit liability and the cost can be amortorized over 15 years. Buying stock does not allow either of these goals.

Sellers want to sell the stock in a "C" corporation to receive only capital gains treatment and avoid the double tax (corporate and personal). Thus the taxman has set up the conflict between the buyer and the seller. If the buyer is willing to buy the stock of a "C" corporation, the seller should be willing to negotiate on price since the tax treatment is more favorable to them.

There are creative ways to structure a deal to minimize tax impact for both the buyer and the seller. Assigning value to consulting agreements and non-compete agreements is commonplace. Both are ordinary income to the seller and can be written off by the buyer. Some deals assign up to 50% of the value to these agreements.

In some cases assigning value to personal goodwill can be used. Personal Goodwill is not owned by the business, but by the individual. Thus any gains from the sale of personal goodwill can be taxed under capital gains only - avoiding the corporate tax from the sale.

Also, the use of a deferred compensation plan could lower the value of the stock and thus lower the double tax. The buyer, however, is still obliged to pay the seller the deferred compensation, which is now an expense to the buyer that can be written off for tax purposes and just ordinary income to the seller.

Consult with a knowledgeable CPA to determine the best approach and the tax implications on the allocation.

If the business is a "C" corporation run, don't walk to convert to an "S" corporation. Keep in mind there is still a ten-year transition period per IRS regulation before the owner can receive full "S" corporation tax treatment.

Step Six - Determine the Terms

As a seller the goal is to get a fixed price with as much paid in cash as possible. As a buyer the goal is to put very little down and pay over several years a percentage of commissions as they renew. In other words, the buyer and the seller usually have opposite goals.

Most deals today tend to be asset deals based on retention of the business. Retention can be limited in scope to just the riskier parts of the book of business. Terms typically include a down payment of 10% to 30% with the balance paid out over three to seven years. The seller typically finances the sale of his or her own business. Keep in mind EVERYTHING is negotiable.

There are many other terms that need to be negotiated and the list will vary. Most important, is the seller staying on? Sellers that remain on for a period of time after the sale will need to have a clearly defined role defined and compensation plan for that role. There is no "typical" situation, but it is not uncommon to have the former owner help with the transition of the business for three to five years.

Step Seven - Close the Deal

Once the terms are agreed to a Letter of Intent should be drafted. This is a semi formal document written in plain English that outlines the key components of the deal. Typically the M&A consultant will draft it and then both parties will sign it.

The Letter of Intent is the blueprint that the CPA and attorney will use to finalize all the documents. A word of caution, the Letter of Intent is intended to save time and money. It is the starting point for the CPA and Attorney. Don't let the CPA or attorney start all over again and renegotiate the deal.

As mentioned earlier, the buyer typically prepares all the necessary documents. The main document is the Purchase Agreement, but there could also be employment agreements, producer agreements, consulting agreements, separate non-compete agreements, personal guarantees, etc. The seller's attorney needs to review these documents and ensure that they meet the goals of the Letter of Intent and are in the best interest of the seller.

A Final Thought

Know up front, there will be bumps in the road. Despite all the planning, there is a good chance some unforeseen situation will pop up. These glitches should be handled using a professional systematic approach. Remember, it is not personal, its just business.

When it is all in place, sit back and relax. Enjoy the fruit of your labor.

Bill Schoeffler is a business consultant and coach with 20 years of experience working with small business owners and individuals. Bill's unique background includes engineering, financial analysis, and inter-personal skills.

He can be reached at (707) 324-5531 or bill@chrysalisfinancial.net. You can find out more at http://www.chrysalisfinancial.net

6 Steps to Destroy the American Infidels

The United States has enemies, which call the country the land of infidels. They have been plotting ways to attack. Some of their plans are quite ingenious using the system against us. But the best way to kill the Americans is to destroy their economy. So how would they best do this? I will give you a step-by-step plan on how to destroy America, it can be used to bring down any nation. Once the tactics are refined in the destruction of the US you can take this plan to other nations too.

First introduce Sarbaines Oxley and attack American businesses. Make the Corporations jump through impossible hoops in over regulation and hire lawyers and accountants to lead companies and call all the shots, prevent them from the inherent efficiencies possible in business. Get corporations to dismiss any sense of value, quality or price to the consumer only following incessant rules, which you make up as you go and enforce selectively on whims. Honor people like Elliot Spitzer and promote them to governorships so junior regulators and lawyers will attempt to emulate. This will insure making the perception of all innovators and entrepreneurs into Satan like characters of greed. Thus they can be used as examples of evil so they will stop producing. This is a key ingredient of the plan to destroy America. These folks bring everything we see, everywhere we go in America to the point of abundance, this level of quality of life is an atrocity.

Second any plans made against America by International Terrorists must be sure not to attack any State Capital City where the most lawyers and politicians are. Especially Washington DC because they are doing more to make the United States of America an economic wasteland than any International Terrorist ever could dream of. The politicians and lawyers are on the team of the International Terrorists and should be kept safe from harm they are helping the cause of America's decline and eminent fall. As a matter of fact if theses lawyers and politicians are allowed to stay in power there is no need for any International Terrorists in the first place, because at the current rate the infidel nation will implode on its own.

Third introduce a society of tattle tales, whistle blowers and crybabies who will not own up to their own incompetence, lack or productivity or personal commitment. Enlist misfits of society to run around and complain about everything and everybody, reward them and put them on a pedestal. Find regulators, politicians and whistleblowers and promote them to the highest levels of society. Then get those who are up and coming to emulate them. Hitler knew he could count on the next generation to serve his will.

Forth make sure to elect lawyers to office who have never had to make a payroll. Who argue over semantics and words and never get anything done. Give them worthless and ridiculous controversies to argue over. The more ridiculous the better, it keeps them busy doing nothing and causing more minutia to slow any efficiencies or progress.

Fifth stifle innovation and preach hate and divide the nation, making each person take sides. Prevent forward progression of the nation with complicated laws and rules. Attempt to protect people from having to be responsible for their actions and regulate morality at every possible chance. This is best to be done through religion or government. Both will be best to destroy America.

Sixth attack anyone who attempts to alert everyone of your secret plan to divide the nation and cause its crash through these tactics.

Sound familiar? We have spent a trillion dollars on Department of Homeland Security; are we better off, safer or protected? We have volunteers patrolling our leaking borders. What are we really protecting? Or are we helping in our own demise? Think on this, the media is warping your reality.

"Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/. Lance is an online writer in retirement.

7 Steps To Determining The Market Value Of Your Business

I help business owners improve, turnaround, sell, or even buy a business. Among the most common questions I get asked is this: How do you determine the market value of a business?

Here are-pretty much in order--7 basic steps for how a business is valued.

1. Black Ink

What is the net income of the company? This one will surprise no one. We are talking about pre-tax profit here. In the last analysis, we are in business to make a buck. Hence, the blacker the bottom line, the greater the value of a business.

Be careful here. Make certain your accountant (even if that's you or a family member) constructs a profit and loss statement that shows the true profitability of your company. By that I mean one that includes only expenses that are absolutely tied to the business. Most businesses are rife with what I call "gray expenses." Gray expenses are those that may be accepted by the IRS but are not necessarily critical to the business in question. Traveling, entertainment, even medical and insurance expenses can be gray. Get those out.

Does an unprofitable business have no value Not necessarily. I can tell you as one who does turnarounds, that if there is evident potential for turning it around it may have real value. Besides that, there is the Hardware Store, our next point.

2. The Hardware Store

The printing industry is capital-intensive. Heavy equipment dollars need to be spent to make your operation competitive

That hardware (and not so hard-ware) has value. It is called tangible assets. Value the equipment at cost and add that to the valuation. A buyer wants a turn-key operation, not just a profitable enterprise grinding away with equipment in disrepair and needing replacement.

There are businesses that are currently not profitable but not due to any recession, but rather to recent equipment acquisition. Such businesses may become profitable once the sales and marketing capitalizes on the efficiencies of that equipment.

3. Service with a Smile

The more a business depends on the quality of its service the better. The reason is that service is far less costly to a company than constant equipment upgrades.

Now I understand niche printing and all the rest. But if you have a unique mousetrap, chances are it won't be long before your competitors find the right cheese to make a similar one.

If you can bullet-proof your service and show that the income flows heavily from that service you have a stronger company.

4. Rain Coat

Insurance companies, huge tax firms, funeral homes, even large pest control companies are raincoat clients. They do business no matter the economic weather. People need to be insured in every economy, the tax man comes annually recession or not, termites don't knock off during economic downturns, and people keep dying in good times and bad.

This is more a matter of degree than kind. In other words, companies are more or less affected by the economy. The point is this: the more accounts you can get that hold up in good and bad times the stronger you are.

4. Goliath is not Your Friend

The broader the base the better.

I once had an east coast printing client, let's call him Harry. He was swimming in wealth because he had a contract with a national company based in NYC. They placed the orders, he produced them, and the cash register sounded like the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

Until that national Goliath opted to redo the contract. That's right. Year after year, as Harry's costs went up, Goliath wanted better pricing. Sound familiar? Of course it does. Harry wound up selling his company under duress.

The broader the base, and the less dependent on Goliaths the better.

5. Up, Down, or Sideways

Are sales increasing, stable, or decreasing? More particularly, how much are they increasing or decreasing or how long have they been flat-lining?

This is a complex issue. Sales may be driven the economic conditions, internal issues at the company, seasonality, or any of a variety of other factors. The point is this. Is the arrow pointing upward or at least straight out or not. If not, can this be turned around?

6. Instant Coffee

Believe it or not, coffee was not always instant and fast-food restaurants did not exist.

We are less patient now-with everything.

What does this have to do with the market value of a business? Just this. Smart valuators look at a business and ask themselves: Could a new owner walk in and run this business the day he or she took over? This involves the key personnel, the hardware store, and how well organized the operation is.

The closer the answer is to being truly turn-key, the better the business.

7. Do You Have Tenure?

Professors and Supreme Court justices are pretty much the only people in this country that get tenure-lifetime job security.

Printers surely don't. But the older and more established the company the better.

This one doesn't rank very high, because clients often could care less about how "Graybeard Service has been meeting the needs of our metropolitan area for the last 14 billion years," but it does speak to company visibility in the marketplace and, as such, merits note.

Disclaimers

Remember, this is just a start, my friend. Every business is unique and so one size doesn't fit all. Moreover, there a variety of multipliers used to arrive at a dollars and cents value of a company. These change regularly and are affected by region, type of company, the economy, whatever.

This grid, however, is pretty solid. The last 7 businesses I valued drew buyer interest almost immediately because of they did nicely on these 7 steps.

Do you have a question for Dr. David? First, visit his website: Businessbuysellnow.com [http://businessbuysellnow.com/]. Call him directly at 702-354-7000 or email him drdc25@yahoo.com

The Future is Here - What Are You Afraid Of? 11 Simple Steps to Release Fear and Move Forward

We are bombarded every day with information and images warning of approaching disasters. I'm not just talking about the collapse of the housing market and the world banks or fluctuating gas prices and rampant unemployment. While these are major disasters in and of themselves, they are minor compared to some of the things looming on the horizon.

Here are some of the challenges we may face in the near future:

The NIAID - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease - part of the National Institute of Health (NIH) conducts and supports research to understand, treat, and ultimately prevent the myriad infectious, immunologic, and allergic diseases that threaten hundreds of millions of people worldwide. Here's the short list of the diseases being looked at: anthrax, antimicrobial resistant, botulism, dengue fever, E. Coli, group A streptococcal infections, Lyme disease, SARS, salmonella, shingles, smallpox, tularemia, West Nile, botulism, plague (Yersinia Pestis), viral hemorrhagic fevers, Lassa viruses, hanta viruses, Ebola, tick borne hemorrhagic fever viruses, yellow fever, tick born encephalitis viruses, Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus, multi drug resistant TB, and influenza.

An article on the NIAID website for the C.W. Bill Young Center for Biodefence and Emerging Infectious Diseases notes that there are about 275 BioSaftety Level 3 laboratories in the U.S. Designed to conduct research on infectious agents. BSL 3's are specifically constructed to prevent scientists and the environment from being exposed to these agents. In addition BSL Level 2 labs are in place to study viruses and agents that effect humans and can be cured with treatment.

We have only to look to Hollywood to know that these concerns are not limited to the scientific community. Movies such as I Am Legend, Twelve Monkeys and Outbreak speak to our fears and feelings of helplessness when it comes to this invisible threat. Based on the information above, it's safe to say that our government is a bit concerned as well.

At the writing of this article, there are 6.874 billion people in the world and growing by 1 birth every 3 seconds. The increase in global population will strain all our shared resources specifically our food and water supplies. In April of 2008, we saw rice shortages threaten the lives and economies of Pakistan, India and China which set off a shoppers panic in the U.S. Sam's club had to limit the amounts of rice and flour members could purchase as a result.

According the University of Arizona's College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, "the World Bank reports that 80 countries now have water shortages that threaten health and economies while 40 percent of the world - more than 2 billion people - have no access to clean water or sanitation." At home, ground water in the U.S. is threatened by industrial, agricultural and household pollution, making it either impossible or too costly to purify for individual use. Fifty years ago household water came from wells dug on the home owner's property. Water was referred to as "well water" or "city water", the latter referring to water pumped into the city from a suburb or rural area. Today well water is no longer an option.

Megan Mansell Williams, in the January 9, 2008 issue of Discover Magazine, notes that male minnows possessing female characteristics had produced eggs as a result of the hormones from human birth control pills in their water. She also noted that the minnow populations in local waters studied at the Canadian Rivers Institute at University of New Brunswick were now extinct as a result of this pollution. We must also consider the impact on the larger fish, animal and human populations who ate these minnows before they died off. By the time the impact is discovered and measured it is already too late - the damage has been done. We have to wonder what we are eating today that will come back to haunt us tomorrow?

It appears as though our eco-systems have reached tipping points after decades of irresponsible actions and lack of protection from the fiscal bottom line. If we continue to act under the premise that it is less costly to be reactive than proactive, we will continue to see the consequences of those choices.

To this list of concerns we must also add all the catastrophic 2012 predictions circulating such as gravitational shifts, collapsing infrastructures, disturbed weather patterns, etc. These are also real concerns and have been addressed in previous articles.

So what can we do about all these fear inducing facts? We must first recognize them. Survival fears are the strongest. They will seek a place to anchor themselves in your psyche and urge you to take action. However, you may be thinking, "but what can I do?"

Taking action gives us a sense of control and empowerment; it eliminates the feeling of helplessness in the face of looming disaster. Take action by being prepared. Choose an area to begin with such as clean water, clean air, whole food, healthy body, positive mind. Make a list and focus on one thing at a time rather than trying to do everything at once. If you allow yourself to become overwhelmed, you'll give up and that won't help anyone.

Here are some guidelines to help you:

1. Begin an exercise regime that you can live with. Start small and stay with it. A healthy balanced body at any weight will have a stronger immune system. Your body will function more efficiently and you'll feel better too.

2. Invest in a personal water purification system, preferably one that works without electricity. Those living in densely populated areas or places prone to flooding will especially want to have clean water available to them in the event of sudden storms, etc.

3. Change diet and shopping habits to include foods that give more nutrition value for your dollar. Although cheap processed and sugar filled foods will fill you up but have little nutrition. I'm not saying live on sprouts and juiced vegetables alone, just make some substitutions. Experiment with your diet, try new things.

4. Start a garden in your yard or window box and grow your favorite food. Healthy unmodified seeds can be purchased on line so you won't be forced to use commercial products to produce the results you want. Get the neighbors involved and share your harvest, everyone loves home grown tomatoes and veges.

5. Create or update disaster preparedness kits for your locale. If you already have one, be sure nothing has expired and that your pets are included in your plan. Place insurance information and passports with cash in safe deposit boxes. This will speed the process up if you need to file claims and confirm your identity.

6. Invest in a healing modality that works quickly and effectively as a preventative against all those diseases. I recommend Soma Pi because I teach it and have used it for years. Find what works for you and then work it. You'll save money in the form of insurance co-payments and sick time at work as well as the costly medical treatments you won't need.

7. Use your intuition to determine whether or not you need flu shots or other vaccines. Remember that every medication has the potential for adverse side effects and will want to know if you are in the small percentage that will have them.

8. Strengthen your connection to your inner truth. Hone your intuitive skills to make correct decisions for yourself and help those you love with theirs. When you know what's right for you, fear goes away.

9. Develop a skill that will be useful to others like cooking, playing music, building, growing food, healing, singing, sewing, etc. Be of service to others. When you are helping others you become part of a greater community that in turn supports you. Share your talents and give without the expectation of reward and you'll feel better about the future.

10. Laugh fully and regularly - laughter is a wonderful way to dispel fear. It provides a vehicle to release all that pent up anxiety from the body. It is cleansing, healing and just plain fun. Besides who wants to survive the future with a dour sour mirthless person next to them?

11. Pray or connect with God daily. Without prayer and a connection to God we are floated helplessly throughout the universe with no guidance or safety net. When you are connected to God, you know that that you are safe and secure. Fear can't exist in the same space a God, so keep God in your mind and fear will be gone.

Remember that there will always be something "out there" that can get you. It is unproductive and crippling to worry about each and everything that comes along. Although the media works hard to keep us constantly informed of all the current terrible horrible life threatening possibilities just waiting to destroy us, resist the urge to buy in to that way of thinking and living. Start at the bottom on my list with prayer and work your way back into a fearless healthy life in community with others.

Susan Zummo is a highly motivated and qualified teacher of higher awareness. She is one of only three certified Perceptive Awareness Technique, Inc. (P.A.T.) facilitators and Soma Pi? healing teachers in the world today. Susan, an Integrated Awareness graduate with over 20 years of experience, has been helping clients connect with their Higher Mind through Intuitive Counseling sessions, P.A.T. seminars and healing workshops. Susan became a P.A.T. facilitator 9 years ago and has helped many students gain access to their intuition via soul contact. Her teachings have helped her workshop attendees to reinforce their belief in self and their connection to a higher source. Susan's workshop participants regard her as one of the most committed and positive spiritual teachers they have had the fortune to meet. Susan's professionalism and compassion are her trademarks. Most of her students come to her through the glowing recommendations of former students. For more information on classes and private sessions contact Susan by email: susanzummo@verizon.net; on line at: http://www.susanzummo.com

5 Steps for a Good Night's Sleep

Let me see if this accurately describes how you slept last night. You're exhausted from a long day of work. During the last 16 hours you've dealt with:

o The morning rush hour to work.

o The mental and physical stresses at work.

o The return trip back home hoping for sanctuary only to be confronted with the physical and emotional challenges of managing a household.

All the while your mind is going through the mental gymnastics of what you still need to finish today while getting prepared for the events in tomorrow's schedule. The news is over, it's bedtime, you need a good night's sleep, and you say to yourself, "Please Lord, just one good night's sleep!" So you turn off the lights, get into bed, and lay your head down on the pillow only to lie awake. All of a sudden that distressing wave of anxiety that has become your constant nighttime companion says to you, "We've got to get some sleep or we'll never function tomorrow!" Finally, just before the alarm clock goes off, you fall asleep only to be awoken by the constant buzz of the alarm reminding you that you're exhausted but work and family commitments won't allow you to stay in bed.

You drag yourself into the shower, pump your body with caffeine, get dressed and repeat the days' events all over again.

"Nah' Dan, I just lay my head down and I'm out like a light until that alarm goes off!"

Men and Women and Sleep!

The little scenario above has two different sleep outcomes, and if I were sitting next to you as you read them, 75% of the men would agree with the last statement in quotes and 75% of the women would relate to the bullet points and paragraph. According to a recent National Sleep Foundation survey, 75% of women between the ages of 30 and 60 do not get eight or more hours of sleep. They get approximately 6 ½ hours of sleep per night during the workweek. This also applies to older women. Again, in a poll sponsored by the National Sleep Foundation, older women reported more often than older men that the quality of their sleep had declined over the past ten years of their life.

Sleep Loss Affects All Aspects of Your Life!

The amount of sleep you get can have a direct affect on your health. Here are some statistics to confirm this last statement:

o Research shows that sleep deprivation may increase blood pressure. A recent study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine correlated chronic sleep loss with an increased risk of heart disease. Specifically, women between the ages of 45 and 65 who slept an average of five hours or less per night were 39% more likely to have heart problems than women who slept eight hours per night.

o Research from the Journal of the American Medical Association has suggested that sleep loss increases hunger while decreasing the body's metabolism. That is not a winning combination for weight management or weight loss but is a recipe for weight gain.

o It has been shown that sleep loss also interferes with the body's ability to metabolize carbohydrates resulting in high levels of blood glucose. This, in turn, promotes the overproduction of insulin which could play a significant role in adult-onset diabetes.

o A recent National Sleep Foundation poll found that 51% of women say that their sleep problems affect their ability to perform daily activities, 46% reported interference with carrying out household duties, 27% reported interference with their job performance, and a significantly large percentage (66%) felt that lack of sleep caused problems with family relationships.

o Lack of sleep can decrease the effectiveness of your immune system and lead to premature aging.

Proper Sleep Can Be A Complex Problem!

Getting a good night of deep, restful sleep is important. Not just for you but also for all the people around you. Many people are resorting to over-the-counter medications, as well as prescriptions from their physicians, to help aid them in their search for meaningful sleep. It's important to remember that every drug you put into your body has an affect on the health of your liver which, in turn, has an overall affect on your wellness and aging. If you haven't gone the medication route to help with your sleep, then you might want to try the following steps to aid you in a good night's sleep. If you're on medication, then certainly continue unless you and your doctor feel that it is time to reduce your dependence on the medication and help you find a natural solution for achieving restful, deep sleep.

5 Natural Steps to Deeper, More Restful Sleep!

These are steps you can take to help you achieve your goal of a better night's sleep. My suggestion is to read each step and then decide which one best fits for you. Don't try all of them but start with one step and then add a second step if it doesn't give you the kind of sleep you're looking for. Unlike medication, none of these steps will interfere with each other but it is always best to start with just one. Whichever one you decide to start with, give it a good week to evaluate the results.

Step 1 - Your Partner!

If you're single and live alone then this step won't apply to you unless your dog or cat is sharing your bed. If they're keeping you awake at night, then it's time to find them their own soft cushion and place on the floor or in another room. Now, if it's your sleep partner who snores, tosses and turns, repeatedly gets up and goes to the bathroom, talks in their sleep or does all of the above, it might be a little hard to get them to sleep on the floor. And, even if you did convince them to do so, the sound of snoring would still keep you awake. An easy suggestion for those who snore would be to get them to use "Breathe Rite Strips!" Seriously! They do work since a lot of people have slightly swollen nasal passages and these strips help to open up the passages so that better air flow can be achieved. My wife can vouch for this. Although I wasn't a snorer I was a very heavy breather at night because of my allergies. Until I found a natural product that eliminated my allergy symptoms, I used the "Breathe Rite Strips" and it made a significant difference for both of us.

Maybe there are more serious underlying sleep disorder problems for your partner that would require a sleep expert to help them get a handle on some of their sleep issues. Maybe you might have to implement the extreme version of Ozzie and Harriet and actually sleep in separate rooms. It's only for sleep purposes. You can always get together. In fact, it might be kind of romantic that way: "Hey fella, you want to come to my room tonight?!"

Step 2 - Turn Off The News!

Instead of taking the last 30 minutes of your day and adding to your stress by listening to news stories about all the violence in the world or how you're going to have to deal with weather problems for your morning commute or how your favorite team lost a big game in the final minutes, why not do something to help you relax. Maybe it's reading a book or meditating, praying or knitting, spending time on a hobby or soaking in a nice warm bath. Use the last 30 minutes of your day to unwind not keep yourself wound up. When you're feeling tired enough to go to sleep then hit the sack.

Step 3 - Reestablish the Sleep Environment!

There's a lot that could be done in this step like:

o Get a new pillow! When your pillow starts to smell like you it's time to get a new one. All the allergens contained in and on your pillow could be your problem. There are a lot of pillows to choose from so be willing to invest in a good pillow that supports your sleep comfort.

o Block out noise! If you live in a creaky house that makes sounds at night or live next to a fire house or along a busy highway, then you might want to add some "white noise" to the background. It could be from a fan to circulate the air in the room or a little waterfall that gives you the tinkling sound of running water. Maybe you enjoy the peaceful sounds of the ocean or the wind through the leaves or the sound of the tall grasses on the prairie. There are CDs available that can provide you with this background noise. Just play it low enough to hear and allow your mind to take you to that relaxing spot where the stresses of life melt away. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ! Sorry, I dozed off for a second.

o Reduce the light! This isn't just for your eyes. Light also affects the way your brain produces the hormones that regulate your sleep cycle. For some people even a minimal amount of light can disrupt their sleep.

o Adjust the room temperature! A room that is too hot or too cold will usually affect your sleep. Adjust the thermostat, open or close a window, add or take off clothes, and adjusting your bedding can all help. If you like it cold and your partner likes it warm, then adjust your half of the bed to reach your comfort level.

o Move the clock! Not only can the light from the clock affect your sleep but if you're already anxious, staring at the time on your clock is not going to help.

o Adjust your bed! Maybe it's time to get a new mattress as well as a new pillow. They now make beds that allow you to adjust your sleep comfort on your half of the bed. This can take pressure off of the pressure points to help to reduce your stiffness or soreness.

Step 4 - Avoid the Following!

Some activities done too close to bedtime can interfere with sleep like:

o Caffeine - Avoid caffeinated drinks and foods because they can delay your sleep as well as cause you to wake up in the night. If you consume them, then ideally try to stop taking anymore after 12 noon and certainly don't consume any at least 3 hours before bedtime.

o Smoking - Nicotine is a stimulant so try to avoid smoking at least 6 hours before your bedtime. Plus, smoking affects your liver which can compound your overall health and add to your sleeping disorder.

o Exercise - This is not an excuse to stop exercising just avoid exercising within 3 hours of bedtime. Many people find exercising in the morning, afternoon and early evening helps them sleep better at night.

o Alcohol - Avoid excessive alcohol since it can disrupt your normal sleep patterns during the second half of the night.

o Liquids - Avoid large quantities of fluids just before bedtime. This will help decrease your chances of waking up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.

Step 5 - Try the Following Foods for a Good Night's Sleep!

The following foods can relax tense muscles, quiet your overly active mind, and provide your body with the sleep-inducing hormones serotonin and melatonin:

o Bananas - Ever wonder why in the afternoon after you've eaten your banana, you have a hard time staying awake? People have labeled the banana the "sleeping pill in a peel." Bananas contain melatonin and serotonin as well as magnesium which can act as a muscle relaxant.

o Chamomile Tea - Warm chamomile tea provides a mild sedating effect to help calm a restless mind and body. And, it's almost calorie free!

o Warm Milk - Yes, mom was right about this. Milk has some tryptophan which is an amino acid that has a sedative-like effect. Plus, the calcium helps the brain use the tryptophan more effectively. Just make it skim milk to save on fat calories.

o Honey - Lots of sugar is a stimulate but a little honey drizzled in your warm milk or herb tea provides just enough glucose to tell your brain to turn off orexin, a recently discovered neurotransmitter that appears to be linked to alertness.

o Oatmeal - Oats are a rich source of melatonin so a small bowl of warm oatmeal with a splash of honey or maple syrup will warm your tummy, take the edge of your late-night hunger and leave you feeling warm and cozy.

o Almonds - You only need a small handful since these heart-healthy nuts contain both typtophan and that nice muscle-relaxing mineral magnesium.

o Turkey and Whole-Wheat Bread - Yes, turkey is famous for tryptophan but when overstuffed with tons of protein, tryptophan doesn't make you sleepy. All the blood in your abdominal cavity, instead of your brain, trying to digest your Thanksgiving meal puts you to sleep. But, if you take a lean slice of turkey on one slice of whole-wheat bread, fold it in half for a mid-evening snack, then you've just created a sleep inducer.

I hope this information helps you like it has helped so many others. It's not going to solve everyone's sleep issues but it can have a profound effect for many. And, for those who are still unable to get a good night's sleep than it's time to see a sleep specialist who can help you develop a plan to bring those much needed "ZZZZZZZZZZZ" into your life.

Dan Hammer has a background in biology, chemistry and exercise physiology. He used to run one of the largest health club operations in the Chicagoland area and has been helping people with their wellness issues for more than 25 years. His website http://www.AgingNoMore.com provides current information on how to slow down the aging process. He offers a free daily email that breaks this information down into actionable steps that are easy to understand and implement.

How To Fix The US Economy With Four Simple Steps

This article proposes steps to fix our economy through changes in FICA taxes, an executive order, and infrastructure investments, selling National Debt Bonds and creating a National Debt Federal Lottery. The FICA fix, National Debt Bonds and the National Debt Federal Lottery will pump money into our economy we can use to create jobs and fix our infrastructure while expanding our tax-base. My hope is to give us some ideas to ponder and start a conversation outside of Congress, which seems unable or unwilling to find solutions that don't include class warfare or just positioning for the next election. It seems if any solutions to our problems are to arise they are going to have to come from outside of Congress. The Constitution states the power resides in the people, so it looks like we the people will have to grab the bull by the tail and face the situation; create our own solutions and stuff it down the throat of Congress through voting and the right to assemble to make our grievances known. Ponder these solutions; if you agree let Congress know. If you don't agree make changes or state your own solutions that we can all ponder, but please don't wait for Congress which created these problems by putting their Aristocracy and hunger for power before America's well-being.

1. Reduce FICA taxes from 7.65% to 5%; get rid of the $106,000.00 ceiling; lower the retirement age to 64; means test recipients; lock the Social Security box and prevent the Government from borrowing from that locked box until it's solvent for one hundred years continually. Lowering the rate to 5% will give every American worker an immediate 2.65% raise and lower employers matching by 2.65%. This immediately puts money into our economy two ways; Americans have more to spend and American employers have more money to hire or invest. I can hear the cries of socialism from our politicians and from those that have no idea what socialism means. It's a cry intended to divide and conquer us or scare us into fighting one another. Socialism is the Government controlling the means of production and the distribution of wealth, which means there is some socialism in all Governments, just look at your taxes, Government contracts and International Treaties. I guess socialism is fine and dandy for mega-corporations, Wall Street and bankers when it's our taxes footing the bill and fixing their self-made mess. But the middle class doesn't get any of that socialist help from the private sector. Let them eat freedom cake. Congress wants to fix Social Security by increasing the retirement age and lowering benefits or by getting rid of Social Security entirely. That's not a solution, that's slavery. Politicians will tell you that people live longer so increasing the retirement age makes sense. I say if people live longer, lower the retirement age to 64 and at that age workers stop paying the 5% FICA taxes. Give it to them on the back-end when they'll need more money to live and pay expenses. Can you imagine the money that will pour into our economy from just this one fix? A company with a million dollar payroll will save $26,500.00. A worker making $30,000 a year will save $795.00 a year. It doesn't sound like much and it isn't, it's only $66.25 a month or $16.50 a week. In today's economy most people will pay a bill, buy extra groceries, four gallons of gas or a pizza. But this is money that goes right back into our economy, about one and a half billion per week. Think of how much money small businesses will save; those who have to match their own FICA taxes will save 5.3%. Large employers like Walmart, McDonald's, UPS and those with hundreds of thousands of employees will save millions of dollars a year, including the Federal Government. Means testing is probably the biggest problem because it sounds so anti-American. You mean I pay in to Social Security for 40 or 45 years and get nothing back. You get it on the back-end. If you live to 75 or 85 that's 11 to 21 years of not paying the 5% and most people make more money after they turn 50 years old or later. Plus it's the patriotic thing to do to save our country and help the next generation. Remember; ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country. It isn't socialism to preserve our form of Government and it isn't terrorism to criticize or try to fix what's broke. It might be justice to have the people who broke it, pay to fix it, but that's another solution for another day.

2. This fix is so simple and quick that all we need is a President with a spine. The President can do this with a stroke of his or her pen without any input from a stalemated, do-nothing, juvenile-twisted, baby-bickering Congress. As the executive of the Federal Government the President should sign an executive order telling every Federal agency that including but not limited to every pencil, pen, desk, chair, carpet, computer, roll of toilet paper, bullet, bomb, gun, tank, car, airplane or ship that they buy must be 100% manufactured in the United States. We can't do it overnight, but within 60 to 90 days the President can have a report on his or her desk stating what can be U.S. bought immediately and aim for buying only American at 25% per year per agency until all agencies reach 100% in four years. Can you imagine all the start-up businesses and job creation? Foreign companies will have to build factories on American soil and hire American workers. This has to be 100% USA made, no skipping around the executive order by shipping parts here from overseas and assembling it here and calling it 'Made in the USA'. Think of the steel factories coming back, the rail and shipyards coming back. This one fix will be long-term and last for generations, if the best Congress that foreign money can buy doesn't screw it up. I guess we will not only need a President with a spine but an American voter that isn't swayed by emotional issues used to divide us and keeping us hyphenated-Americans until we believe there's no hope. Remember, we can always rebuild our country, other generations have done it before us, but getting back the rights and power given to us by our Constitution after we take it from one another will be much harder. Vote, write, call, email, snail mail, Fax and visit your Congressperson until your neighbor is fully represented or replace the bums.

3. This step takes a kind of courage you won't find in politicians who only look toward the next election and their own lobbyist filled deep pockets. We need to invest in our infrastructure and create jobs that will expand the tax base. We can create jobs by fixing our railways so that goods can move to central hubs and then trucked to its destination. We can save fuel without destroying the trucking industry. We can produce steel for railways and shipping. Just think how much cheaper it is to move goods by rail. We'll still need truckers to move the goods from a central hub to its final destination, so truckers will not lose jobs; they'll save on fuel; and be home with their families at night. Our waterways will need ships, seamen, sea-women, and dock-workers. That's a lot of steel and jobs which can be the beginning of bringing manufacturing back to the USA, along with fix number two, all for half the cost or less of the wars we're now fighting. Historical evidence tells us we need to put this country back to work and to do that we must spend money and increase investments. The last stimulus package wasn't nearly enough to do the job. We tried to fix a 15 trillion dollar economy with less than a 6% stimulus that went to the people who fraudulently and criminally broke our economy and never came to justice. The stimulus we need now should be at least 15% of our total economy and it should go to the individual states by population, two thousand dollars for each person in every state to fix our highways, bridges, tunnels and power grid. The money won't go directly to the state or its people in a lump sum. The Federal Government will pay for the infrastructure improvements and treason laws will ensure honesty. There are three hundred and thirty million people in the United States and going by population this stimulus will cost six hundred and sixty billion dollars, less than the last stimulus cost and going to the right people to do the right thing. To help pay for this stimulus we can ask the bankers who got the last stimulus to pay us back with interest. States with a million people will get two billion dollars, states with five million people will get ten billion dollars and states with twenty million will get forty billion dollars and so on. How many bridges, highways and tunnels can Rhode Island fix with two billion dollars? There will be jobs for many years. What about Wisconsin, Minnesota and Colorado, what can they do with ten billion dollars? And how about our larger state populations like California, Texas and New York, what can they do for jobs and the infrastructure with forty or forty-five billion dollars? How much politicking and corruption will there be in this system if all the principal players are constrained by treason laws? I don't know, but I'd sure like to give it a shot and see. Of course with this step we will need a strong whistle-blower law which means Congress will have its say, so I guess it's all a pipe dream. This step is bold and daring so we will have to force the cowardly hearts of Congress to comply because now that money is free speech the guy with a hundred dollars has more free speech than the guy with one dollar; and these fixes will cost more than a trillion dollars. How much free speech can you buy with a trillion dollars?

4. Sell war bonds like we did in WWII and hold a yearly Federal lottery, all for the purpose of paying the National debt. We'll call the bonds National Debt Bonds and sell them in $5.00 increments and their only use by law will be to pay the National debt. You'll be able to sell them, trade them and inherit them for a ten-year period after the National debt is paid. For those ten years you can deduct them from your taxes dollar for dollar at 10% per year, and they'll still be sell-able, trade-able and inheritable. Buy more bonds and have more chances to win. On December 1st of each year we will randomly pick three groups of twelve people from each state, the first twelve people who come closest to picking a randomly generated number will win one million dollars free of all Federal taxes; the next twelve closest to the random number will receive three hundred thousand tax-free and the last twelve closest to the random number will receive one hundred thousand tax-free. This will cost 840 million to pay off the winners; let's say an even billion with the cost to run the program. If the program doesn't create one billion dollars in any given year then the Government will take 50% plus the cost of running the program and the chosen 1800 people will split the rest equally. We can easily guarantee reaching over four billion per year by deducting five dollars from the 80 million checks the Federal Government mails out every month and automatically entering the 80 million recipients for the National Debt Federal Lottery. They will be able to sell, trade or inherit the $60.00 per year compulsorily taken from their checks. And to show good faith and leadership, we will deduct $1000.00 per month from all Congressional members, the nine Supreme Court Justices and the President, which will bring in $545,000.00 per month or $6,540,000.00 per year to the National Debt Federal Lottery, more if we add cabinet and staff members at a reduced rate. And because Congress, the Supreme Court and the President love America so much they will exclude themselves and immediate family members from any winnings, including cabinet and staff members if added. With the $5.00 from every Federal check, if just 10% of the population participates in the National Debt Federal Lottery at $5.00 per month, we should be able to bring in a minimum of over six billion dollars a year. With the cost to run the program kept under 10% by law and the payment to the winners, we should be able to pay off our National debt at four billion a year with this program alone. Add in the other three steps and the increased tax base with some other steps including tax reform and spending cuts, we will be able to pay off our National debt at about two trillion dollars a year. That means we can pay off our total National debt in less than ten years without killing the poor, plus rebuilding the middle class. Of course Congress and their deep pockets and their willingness to destroy this country for the fleeting glow of power and the greed of their souls will fight these steps with every trick at their disposal. Being that Congress makes the laws and in effect are American Royalty, above all laws, it will take an educated, strong and willful American populace to spring up from grassroots to take back our Constitutional powers and stop Congress from being part of the problem and force them to be part of the solution. There are more simple steps we can take to fix the problems our politicians in cahoots with bankers and greedy power brokers have caused this great country, but that is for another time.

Tom C. Watson is the founder of The Bunny Brigade. Tom uses this site as a means of dedication to support the reinstating of the original concepts as depicted in The Constitution of the United States along with its Bill of Rights. Tom also suggests that the federal government should stop over regulating business as well as eliminating of federal deficit spending. The site features Benny The Bunny and the site tells about the founding of the bunny brigade organization. The Web site also addresses solutions to fixing the nation's ills. Lastly, the site's author also has produced free bunny videos that you may view. Please visit the bunny site as often as you desire. It is located at http://thebunnybrigade.com/.

Five Easy Steps to Create a Corporate Presence for Your Virtual Business

There is a strong entrepreneurial spirit in the UK at present. Whether that is driven by the intrinsic individualistic nature of the population, a genuine wish to better ourselves, a need to get rich quick or just get out of the traffic jam is open to debate. The fact is it is there, the government is keen to promote it and there are lots of people doing it: some succeeding, some surviving and some, unfortunately, failing.

The perennial problem that all new startups have to face is how to not look like a start up when you are pitching for that large job that will feed you for the next 6 months and will allow the business to get on its feet.

The internet is a good starting point of course and although the phrase is less used these days it is still true that: "on the internet no-one knows you are a dog". Not unless you 'let' them know of course.

But the same can be as true off-line as well as online these days as technology makes it easier and easier to create that corporate presence from your back bedroom.

Before getting started on this in earnest, it is as well to address one specific issue that may already be in the back of your mind. Yes, it is possible to address this issue by tying up with a national business centre that will offer at least some of the things I am going to outline below. Before leaping into this, check the pricing - it will make you think again. The steps below will cost you a great deal less.

Step 1 - Establish an Address This can be a surprisingly tricky one. It is a relatively simple step to set up a post box with the UK Post Office. There is information on the Post Office website about this and at a basic level it will cost you about £60 per year - more for additional services such as mail forwarding etc.

If you are operating as a sole trader or partnership, this may be enough. After all you will see many very large businesses giving their correspondence address(es) as a post box, or range of post boxes these days as it is a good way to manage or re-direct mail towards the correct specific department.

If you are setting up through a Limited Company, then you may have difficulties in deciding upon the right head office address and using your home address sort of gives the game away. In this instance it is worth looking at an alternative business address that may be prepared to handle your company related mail. As long at it is restricted to Companies House type mail and not much more, you may find your accountant would be willing to have their premises used as your registered head office. After all, a large proportion of your Companies House correspondence might end up going their way anyway. Failing that, try a friendly solicitor or a even a friend with an established business that may be willing to help.

Obviously what we are looking for here is something for free. Remember that a post box can still be used for normal business correspondence - we are just looking for a head office address at this stage.

Step 2 - Get One or More Telephone Numbers Do not mess about here. If you are working from home to begin with you will need to put a second line in for four main reasons: 1 - it will be much easier to manage your bills / accounts 2 - you need to know when the phone rings that it is a business call and everyone in the house needs to know how to deal with it (and / or behave) when a business call comes through. 3 - The last thing you need is your phone tied up with your family chit chat while a business customer is trying to get through 4 - You do not really want to have your private telephone number bouncing around in the public domain from both a privacy and security perspective. More of this later.

Yes, the additional line will have an associated cost, but not having it will have a much greater hidden cost.

Least Cost Routing (LCR) can be used to cut your outbound call costs if you have a BT line and there is a link on the bottom of this article to Phone Lines 2u who offer a very competitive service in this area.

In terms of the number you give out, it makes a great deal of sense to mask the location of the number by using a national 'marketing' number. Remember, we are wanting to look like a substantial business here. Initially there are three types of number you might consider using:

0870 - national number with a national cost no matter what the origination location 0845 - Local call rate number no matter what the origination location 0800 - free to the caller, the receiver pays

All of these numbers are re-directable ones. That is, you will still have your normal phone line and phone number, but when someone calls your dedicated 0800, 0870 or 0845 number they will be re-directed to your normal phone line.

From a general marketing perspective, 0845 and 0800 numbers make good sense. However they will cost YOU money to RECEIVE the call and in a start up situation it is difficult to recommend these numbers unless you have substantial funding behind you.

The 0870 number option is commonly used with large businesses these days and has the added benefit of generating an income from inbound calls. This can make good sense if you expect to receive many calls, but it might be a high expectation if you are just starting up.

What the marketing number can do you for you is provide a mask to the real destination number. This makes you look like a bigger player, but can also have the added benefit of maximising your flexibility behind the number. So if things go well and you move out of the back bedroom into dedicated business premises, your literature, business cards, website and advertising do not need to be changed.

Equally, you can have a range of numbers and may choose a different number for each advertising campaign so that you can measure the relative effectiveness of each. Phone Lines 2u offer a reporting service on these numbers for free on 0870 numbers, so you do not even need to do any work to get the analyses.

Step 3 - Get a Fax Number

This does not necessarily mean get a fax machine as it is possible to receive faxes via e-mail for very moderate fees. Again, you can choose a national number in line with the telephone number you may have selected in step 2 to cement the national presence. Faxes arrive by e-mail as an image so you can view them on any standard PC or Mac with a whole range of viewing and printing software - the vast majority of which is either available for free or bundled with other software you may have (e.g. MS Office).

A link to advice on how to set this up is on the bottom of this article.

Step 4 - Get a Virtual PBX By PBX I mean a telephone exchange system. Like the big boys use, but virtual. A telephone call comes into a virtual call handling centre and handles calls just like a large business would, eg: "Welcome to our company, press 1 for sales, press 2 for accounts, 3 for production and 4 or hold for all other enquiries."

You may have 2 or three colleagues all working in different places: one who handles sales, one handling accounts and one responsible for producing the service overall. Depending upon the choice made, the caller will be directed to the right person.

There will be a charge for the redirected call, but if you are using an 0870 contact number, the chances are that the total amount you make on the O870 call will negate any re-direct call charges from internal transfers.

Setting this is up is easier than you think - details are available on the Phone Lines 2u site - see below

Step 5 - Get to grips with Video / Audio Conferencing If there is more than one person in the virtual business, you will need to meet up / talk on a regular basis. The quickest and cheapest way to do this is 'virtually', either through video or audio conferencing.

Basically what means this is everyone involved in the meeting on the line at the same time, controlled by a chairman.

Lets begin with video conferencing first as this can be done for free. All you need for this is a PC each, a basic web camera on each machine and a microphone of some sort. I saw a basic video conferencing pack on sale in the supermarket the other day for £10 - so you do not need to break the bank to set this up. Software to manage the call is available free from Skype or MSN and it is relatively easy to set it all up.

Failing that, or in the (probably common) instance that not everyone can get to their PC at the time of the meeting, then audio conferencing works the same way, but over telephone lines instead of the internet. Yes there is an added cost to this either by subscription or additional call charges, but it will be minimal when measured against fuel costs, travel time and lost productivity if every one has to travel into a central location for a face to face.

Audio conferencing also work well for those who work in low tech environments, out on the road a great deal or for people who are just plain technophobes. It is as simple as making a call at an allotted time, putting in a pin number and getting on with the meeting. There is a little bit of additional skill involved in managing this type of meeting, but that is something for a future article I think.

In conclusion then, having a small startup (or even larger ongoing) virtual business is cheaper and easier than you think. You can look like a big player to your customers on the one hand, but the tools and techniques above will also make the whole operation much cheaper to run and more effective too. Yes there are some associated costs, but the savings and increased sales opportunities far outweigh any downside they may present.

Not only that, but the virtual business is environmentally friendly - it is nice to know that making the business more efficient and saving you money can also save the planet too.

More details on Marketing Numbers, Virtual PBX, Fax to E-Mail and Audio Conferencing can be found on the Phone Lines 2u website at: http://www.phonelines2u.co.uk.