Dog Rescue Network
Ever heard of Mill Dog Rescue Network? Neither had I until I read an article recently from the Colorado Gazette. The story was both heartbreaking and inspirational at the same time. The story was about a lady named Theresa Strader who rescues dogs from mills and restores them to health for adoption to loving families. She started Mill Dog Rescue Network for this purpose.
The state these dogs are in when taken from the mills is heart wrenching. All they’ve ever known is a wire cage where they’ve lived and also had to defecate. No attention or love is ever provided to them. Ms. Strader takes the injured and neglected dogs to her Black Forest property and puts them outside in the fresh air in straw-lined dog pens during the day.
At night they sleep in dog carriers and dog crates in two heated houses that used to be chicken coops. This is such a big improvement over the wire cages they were kept in at the mills that injured their paws and their teeth from chewing on the wires.
Her rescue operation includes the cost of all the dog pens, dog carriers, dog beds and dog crates mentioned above as well as veterinary care, toys and food. I wanted to highlight the Mill Dog Rescue Network she started in an effort to let those that weren’t aware of it be aware of it.
This type of loving activity toward helpless animals should be acknowledged. Hats off to Strader and her group of volunteers!
Designer Handbags – Making Money Selling Wholesale Designer Bags Using Auction Sites
Selling designer handbags, either as a retailer or on online auction sites, can be quite a profitable business. Brand name bags come in every variety and are so versatile, many women covet the thought of owning not just one, but many. Designer accessories are sought for their high quality material, style, and popularity.
While designers and trends change frequently, there are several designers that are in demand all the time including Gucci, Prada, Coach, and Versace. How does a business make money by selling these pricey accessories? They buy the bags wholesale so they can offer the products to the public at a discounted price and still make a decent profit from each sale. In this economy, no one is looking to buy anything at full price. Luxury stores and outlets are suffering, but online retailers are making a killing offering the same products at reduced prices.
If you are interested in selling designer bags on an auction site, like eBay, here are some useful tips. You can often make more money by offering a top quality bag that is in demand as an auction item, as opposed to merely selling it retail or utilizing the Buy It Now option. Consumers can become quite competitive when bidding on an item they truly desire. Use this in your favor. Price the bag as low as you feel comfortable selling it and watch customers fight to own it.
Also, make certain the merchandise you are selling is authentic. Buyers are more informed than ever when searching for bags online. They know how to do their research and can spot a replica bag. Not only is it illegal to traffic in fake bags, but the best way to ensure repeat business is to make certain you are selling legitimate products.
If you choose the wrong wholesale or dropshipping company to purchase from, you may also be fooled into investing in knock-offs. Take your time when selecting a supplier to work with to make certain they are reputable and reliable. Consider using an online wholesale directory, like Salehoo, to help narrow down your options.
With a little bit of preparation and know-how, you too can be making a great profit selling wholesale designer handbags online.
Television Advertising On The Increase Again
Over the past five years advertising on television has decreased along with its broadcast budget spends. Television advertisement spending is now thought to be slowly on the move upwards and is beginning to make people within the industry very optimistic but also very cautious.
Advertising spend has increased in double figures since last year but people are very optimistic to predict an upturn within the television industry regarding the advertising revenue gain. There are still some very sharp reminders of the industries downturn over the past few years such as ITV’s axing of “The Bill” after 27 years on our screens and the news that X Factor’s production company Talkback Thames had axed 100 jobs.
It is reported that companies such as ITV, Channel 4, and Channel 5 have increased their advertising returns by over 15% from last year. Even with this money trickling into the companies they are still holding back and spending very cautiously to ensure that they preserve themselves deep in the knowledge that they may never bounce back to historic levels.
It is thought that production companies over the past five years have kept themselves afloat with low advertising revenue by increasing overseas programme sales. This trend is not limited to the UK; in America many of its cable stations and production companies have reported a strong increase in advertising revenue entering the second part of the year. Some have even reported that they have filled most of their advertising slots.
There have been many factors this year that have helped increase viewing figures and advertising revenue alike. One such factor was the World Cup, it is reported that people had increased their viewing time by over 2 hours per person between January and June. The average viewer watched 45 adverts per day in the first part of the year compared to 43 the year before.
Television companies are trying to not only increase revenues from traditional advertising but also improve revenue through the development of their own digital terrestrial channels.
ITV has recently released plans about its step towards Pay-TV using high definition versions of its ITV 3/4/5 channels to coincide with its current revamping of daytime television. The increase in its programming and production budget is hoping to improve the stations revenue and return over the next 18 months.
Owner Financed Buying Techniques Revealed
Buying homes owner financed and with no money down are increasingly on the rise. Many reasons for this phenomenon are unfolding and include: inventory of homes on the market, sellers not being able to sell properties, and increased tightening of conventional lender requirements to name a few.
Let us begin by reviewing some of the basics of buying homes with seller financing. Buying homes in this fashion is when the seller participates in all, or a large portion of the sell of the property. The terms of the payments are completely negotiable between the buyer and seller. If the buyer and seller agree to principal only payments, that is possible. Should the seller decide on interest only payments, not a problem.
Owner Carry Financing is usually done in one of three ways. The first way is the traditional method where a deed transfers title to a property, and a promissory note and mortgage is retained by the seller as collateral. The second method of owner financing involves having the seller deed the property to the buyer. The buyer is purchasing the property subject to the existing liens, which may encumber the property. The third way of selling a property with owner financing is by utilizing an installment land contract. The land contract conveys an equitable ownership interest in the property, but the deed is held is in escrow until the payment obligations of the land contract are satisfied.
As you can see, there are many different ways to purchase homes without using your credit to purchase the property. The benefits of this are many. One of the greatest advantages of buying homes with owner financing is there are no limits to how many properties you can buy. The sky is literally the limit. If you want to stop after purchasing 100 properties, you can. If you only want to buy one home, no problem.
Selling A Life Insurance Policy – The Health Factor
More than a few people are casting about for different ways to raise cash now as the Great Recession lingers on far beyond what pretty much anyone had predicted. One tool in your financial arsenal that you might not realize you have is a life insurance policy. You can sell it to raise hard, cold cash.
A life insurance policy is a contract between two parties. You agree to pay premiums to a life insurance company. In consideration, the life insurance company agrees to pay out a death benefit lump such of cash should you pass away during the term of the policy. While this is a two party contract, there is no provision that precludes you from selling your policy. There are investment groups that will buy the policy in the hope of making a profit on it.
Investors make money buying policies when the life of the insured is extinguished in a relatively short time. That is a rather PC way of saying the insured dies. It may sound a bit macabre, but it is perfectly legal and fairly common. In determining which policies to buy, investors look at two factors – health and age. Obviously, the older you are, the more likely the policy is to pay off soon, but what about health.
Health is a huge factor in determining whether to buy a life insurance policy. Why? Simple. It is health, not age, that determines the life span of a person moving forward. Consider this simple example. Who would you expect to live longer – a 25 year old with terminal stomach cancer or a 85 year old in perfect health? All things being equal, the answer should be obvious.
If you are considering selling your policy, you might be told you are not old enough to do so. This might be true, but then again it might not. In the life settlements field, it is the combination of health and age factors that are critical to the decision making process, not just one or the other.
Using the USPTO’s Policy of Compact Prosecution Against It
The Policy of “Compact” Prosecution
Patent prosecution before the U.S. Patent Office is conducted under a policy of “compact” prosecution. Under this policy, prosecution of an application is generally designed to conclude with the Examiner’s consideration of one response to one non-final Office Action. That is, a second Office Action, responding to an applicant’s reply to a first Office Action, is usually final, unless an applicant places the application in condition for allowance. Stated goals of this policy of “compact” prosecution are to provide applicants with prompt and complete examination of their applications. To achieve these goals, the policy imposes specific obligations on Examiners. As the Office itself has explained, “[t]he Office’s policy of compact prosecution requires that both examiners and applicants provide the information necessary to raise and resolve the issues related to patentability expeditiously.” (Official Gazette of 07 November 2003).
The Office’s Obligations
A first Office Action on the merits should ordinarily identify every issue that stands between the applicant and allowance of the application. (See The Manual of Patent Examining Procedure (MPEP)
Buying Or Selling a Fixer
Buying a Fixer-Upper
The definition of a fixer-upper is broad; it really depends on each individual. What may be a fixer to you may seem like a tire down to someone else. It can be a house that simply needs “cosmetics” like fresh paint and updated fixtures – or a major renovation requiring foundation work and structural repairs. It’s important that you assess your own abilities and interests before deciding to buy a fixer-upper. The best would be to get a trade person to inspect the property. Great insurance to have.
What are you capable of doing and what would need to hired out (such as painting, carpentry or installing carpet)?
What are you willing to pay for?
How much money are you willing to spend?
How long do you think the project will take? Sometimes the repairs to a fixer-upper can take weeks or months. Are you ok living in chaos for a period of time?
There are several advantages to buying a house in need of repair or remodeling. Mainly price, most buyers don’t want to deal with this type of project. Look around the area find out what the potential is. Sometimes you will find properties that are just a few blocks away that are selling for one, two or three times the amount of your purchase price. Please keep in mind that these homes are in mint condition with all the amenities that are in vogue. Many homeowners because of the condition of the house are able to buy the home for less than the market price.
When you’re buying a fixer-upper, it’s crucial that you consult with an expert who can give you a thorough report outlining which repairs or updates need to be done.
A home inspector or contractor may be able to help you prioritize the repair items. New homeowners who choose fixer-uppers are sometimes working with limited budgets and therefore are unable to address everything all at once. So what should be done first – roof repair, foundation work, electrical system upgrades or plumbing? Let the professional, and your common sense, guide you in terms of making this priority list.
Many fixer-uppers have “good bones” – meaning they’re structurally sound and simply need to be updated or remodeled, these are ideal when you are on a limited budget. For the majority of first-time buyers, this is a great entry into the process of fixing up property. Try to avoid dealing with the larger structural issues until you get some experience or have a larger budget and can hire an architect. Focus on applying fresh paint, installing new hardware in the kitchen and bath, or pulling out old carpet and redoing hardwood floors underneath.
Buying A House In Spain
If you have been sitting at home watching the TV about owning a property abroad as a holiday home or maybe to live, chances are Spain would have been one of you considerations. It is cheaper to live in Spain than many North European countries and is on par with Florida. Then when you consider that some world authorities have labeled certain parts of Spain as one of the healthiest places to live in the world, there is no doubt why more and more of us are buying property there. However many make decisions before they have visited the area and really understood what it is about to live or invest in another country.
First of all, property is not as cheap as it was, it is still cheaper than probably the house you are living in now, but the unbelievable bargains have pretty much gone. As the developments are growing and growing, getting a property near a beach is also becoming harder unless you are prepared to move where little foreigners are, say in a small village. This sounds romantic, but often the realities of not having a corner shop, or a bar or restaurant to visit without taking the car, can take some of the dream away. If you visit Spain for the first time purely to consider buying a house, you may be surprised how built up it is and unromantic some of the property can be, especially if this has been on an inspection trip. So my first bit of advice is to fly out there first and not on an inspection trip, for no other reason to get to know the area and the culture. In fact once may not be enough. Then only when you know the area, have an idea of what property and prices may be in the area, sign up to an inspection trip, presuming you are buying new of course.
If you are buying a used property, do not do this without advice. For example many in Spain do not get a structural survey on the property, they assume what they see is what they get. I have heard stories of property been bought, just to find out they were originally a barn then converted, which do not have any substantial foundations. You also need to be aware of the controversial “Land Grab” issue in Valencia. Where the local councils have decided to develop the area around a house, the house owner has had to pay the council for this privilege and loose land in the process. Straight away a dream villa is in the middle of a housing estate and paid thousands for the privilege. You will find that most new properties, which are fully developed, should escape this local law, but please check first.
My point is not to put you off Spain, but to fully understand what issues can go wrong by being impulsive. There are however many thousands of ex pats now living in Spain and say it is the best thing they have ever done, and I will be joining them soon. The next question is to ask yourself, do I want to rent this property out to help with the mortgage or only use it exclusively. This can make a big difference about where this property should be. Having your dream property many miles from anywhere will not attract potential clients. The proximity to the airport, the beach and golf courses are all considerations. The aim of renting property out is to have you clients come back again and again, especially if its for the annual golf trip or to visit friends. So to summarise, take your time with any decision, make sure you know the area, make sure you know why you are buying the house and if it is to earn money, consider what a client would want.
Steps to Selling Your Home
Whether you need to downsize or upsize, the neighbors are creepy, the wallpaper is grating on your last nerve or you “just can’t live in this hell anymore,” you’ve officially decided to sell your home. “What next”? is the question most often asked, and I hope to answer that in the following step-by-step guide to the home-selling process. Although a Realtor can walk you through the process better than I can in an 1100-words-or-less article, I’m going to start the ball rolling.
Find a Realtor.
The reason this is the first step is because it’s the most important step. Yes, I’m a Realtor so I tend to advocate representation, but there are several excellent reasons to call an agent. The first is that it’s a good way to avoid lawsuits, property disputes and contractual no-nos when you have a knowledgeable professional watching your back. We’ve had extensive schooling and keep our knowledge up-to-date with classes and informative postings. We know real estate. Very few real-estate-related incidents crop up that surprise us.
Another reason to use a Realtor is we have resources at our disposal to better sell your home. Besides the MLS, Homes magazine, signage and other tools, we talk. We talk to each other. We talk to our buyers. We talk to strangers. We sell your house at charity events and soccer games. We’re not afraid of alienating people talking up your home! We are marketing gurus, and we’re the greatest advocates for your home. What a combination!
Having said that, finding a Realtor is easy. Talk to people you trust. Ask them if they liked their Realtor, and why. Good Realtors should get more business from word-of-mouth than soliciting folks at their doors.
Preparing your home for sale.
There’s a lot of information available regarding this subject, including an article I’ve written, aptly titled, “Preparing Your Home for Sale.” But because it’s not included in this one, I’ll just cover the highlights.
The first impression is oftentimes the most important, so tackle the outside. Mulch, trimmed foliage and flowers go a long way toward beautifying your property, as does power-washing the exterior of your home and painting trip and shutters. Fix broken windows (and yes, clean them).
Next is the interior. My personal rule of thumb is this: If you haven’t used it in a month (excluding holiday fare) or didn’t even know you owned it, let it go.
Clutter is the silent killer of home sales. A “busy” room will make even the most sedate buyer twitch. Countertops should be swept clean of all but the most necessary items. The smaller the room, the less clutter. A fresh coat of paint on walls will work wonders too. Remember, though, dark-colored paint makes a room feel smaller and . . . well, darker.
Make those repairs that you’ve put off and put off. If the light bulb is out, replace it. If you have to jiggle the toilet handle to flush it, fix it. Because if it doesn’t come up when the buyers are looking at your home, it will certainly be revealed in the home inspections.
Putting it on the market.
Your Realtor will be able to go into more details, but here’s the synopsis: You’ll sign a contract with the agent agreeing to list it for a certain amount of time for an agreed-upon commission. In most instances, that commission will be split with the agent that brings the buyer. Your agent will then take photos and write remarks about your home making it sound much, much better than it is. Don’t fret. You’ve become used to your home. It actually is as good as it sounds!
Then your agent will likely put your home on the Multiple Listing Service (MLS). Every Realtor and anyone who uses a Realtor to buy their home will have access to the MLS. Used to its full potential, it’s a wonderful tool with which to entice buyers.
Selling your home.
If you’re in the majority and your home doesn’t sell the first day, you won’t believe the amount of people that will traipse through your home without buying it. It’s enough to discourage even the most stalwart Pollyanna. But persevere. There’s a buyer out there somewhere who will love your home!
Receiving an offer.
The buyer’s agent will submit the offer to your agent, who will then present it to you. You will have a limited amount of time to either accept it, reject it or counter it. Once the offer or counteroffer is accepted, you move on to the next (and sometimes scariest) stage.
Home inspections.
As a buyer, home inspections are vital . . . as a seller, home inspections are just plain frightening. And I’m going to take just a moment to enhance that fear. Don’t be thinking your home will pass inspections with flying colors simply because you haven’t had any noticeable problems. Home inspectors delve deeper than oceanic treasure hunters. You may not know that the polarity is reversed on 14 of the 32 outlets in your home or that the insulation in your attic is insufficient or you’ve got standing water in your crawlspace that could lead to the M” word (mold). Be prepared to be unprepared for the results.
And remember, this is a negotiation, just as the terms of the original contract were. The best real-estate transaction is a win-win for both parties involved. You’re both just people, and you both just want the best for yourselves and your families.
Escrow.
Escrow is just the period of time from contract acceptance to closing. Not to put too fine a point on it . . . it’s boring. Use this time to pack up your home.
Utilities.
Remember to call the utility companies a week ahead of the closing date to schedule the turning off or transfer of service for the day of possession.
Closing.
More often than not, closings for the seller are bittersweet. A lot of memories are compacted within four walls and a roof. But take heart, when you’re sitting across from the buyers at the closing table, know that you’ve made their dream of homeownership come true. But please don’t forget to hand over the keys . . .
And not all-important, but certainly significant enough to warrant a shout out, don’t forget to recommend your Realtor to others. We love referrals!
The Death Of Traditional Selling
Far too many people waste time pursuing leads that refuse to pick up the phone or return calls. In your initial interactions, the prospect seemed ‘hot’ for your services. You did your song and dance. You sent literature. Now, nothing. The prospect has turned cold to all attempts to further the selling process.
Why? Because they suffer from an ailment more common than the common cold; salespressuritis. A sickening fear of being sold.
There is a simple cure for this fatal ailment. Avoid selling in the first place. I don’t mean to steer clear of all contact. I mean toss out the gimmicky, 1980s talk-your-head-off, push-for-a-close techniques the ‘gurus’ of the past preached.
In corporate sales, gimmicky sales pitches DON’T WORK. If anyone buys they buy in spite of the gimmicks, not because of them. Gimmicky sales pitches don’t work in big ticket sales situations either. There are two reasons why they never have worked and never will.
Today’s market is far too sophisticated. They’ve “seen it all” with respect to alternate choice closes, Ben Franklin close, and all the other stupid techniques that insult a buyer’s intelligence.
Second, fast-talking, outsmart-your-listener, old school techniques don’t work if you’re selling anything over a few hundred bucks. And lets face it, there’s not an industry alive that will pay sales reps to make sales under $100 (except maybe MLM). So chances are what you’re selling qualifies as a big ticket item.
The key to sales success in today’s corporate and big ticket markets is to talk less and listen more.
Here’s proof. In 1992 I came across a small case of sales training booklets that would change my selling career forever. The case was labeled, Xerox’s Professional Selling Skills System III. The promises of the system seemed somewhat outrageous. And the sales model was unlike any sales system I had ever seen before then. But I reserved judgment and like Mikey… I tried it… I read every page of the system. I worked through the sample case studies and scenarios. I had no clue if my efforts would pay off or not.
The results? My sales more than doubled. In fact, finally finding a selling “system” instead of winging the sales process made me the top salesperson in under 30 days at that company where I had previously been struggling just to keep my job. People with more experience than I had years on this planet were selling less than me.
Pretty impressive stuff considering the month before I received a written warning of dismissal if my sales didn’t turn around. And here, all of a sudden, I became number one on the totem pole. Sweet!!
However, I DON’T recommend using the Xerox Selling System today.
The Xerox sales model is a tedious process to use. Yes, it’s more effective than “winging it”. But the problems the system brings are many.
The process is easily fouled if you forget one or more techniques or miss hearing your “cue” for what to say next. And worse, the Xerox selling model often causes objections where none existed before.
How? By encouraging you to attempt to force replies from your listener, by requiring you to follow a bunch of predetermined hoops to get your listener to jump through (which they probably don’t want to do) and by encouraging you to move them towards a close. People aren’t stupid. They will notice your efforts to ‘close’ them even if your closing process is merely parroting back to them what they liked about your offer, then doing some lame alternate choice close. You just destroyed your credibility and created unnecessary resistance.
That’s why I decided to look for something that’s just as effective but less mentally taxing — for me and for the client. What I found isn’t a single selling system. It’s a combination of two. Reverse Selling by Ari Galper (available at http://www.unlockthegame.com) and SPIN Selling by Neil Rackham (available through Amazon.com).
The SPIN Selling model is easier to use than Xerox model because there are only four elements to focus on: situation, problem, implication, needs. This simplifies the needs-based selling model.
To give an idea how simple it is, I use Microsoft One Note to separate each of the S.P.I.N. elements into four individual tabs. Basically each tab contains one or more questions to help me understand the client’s interests and needs, and whether or not there’s a match for what they want and what I do. This is NOT a collection of those lame sales closing gimmicks.
SPIN Selling confirmed what I had discovered on my own… listening and asking sincere questions is far more effective than using lame brained canned sales pitches. Trying to push people to do stuff they don’t want to do is just plain stupid. It doesn’t work in professional selling environments and it’s mentally draining on you and the person you’re speaking with.
As effective and simple as SPIN Selling is, it’s isn’t strong enough on its own for today’s sophisticated market either. Just like the Xerox model, the SPIN Selling method has holes too. Reverse Selling plugs those holes.
The underlying focus of Spin Selling is similar to that of the Xerox model: closing. “Sharpening Your Skills” (chapter 12 of SPIN Selling Fieldbook) with the aim of preparing a bunch of features and benefits in advance and then ‘vomiting’ that noise onto a client is a disaster for consultative selling. That type of selling is the main cause of unnecessary skepticism and objections in a sales call. Don’t do it.
Reverse Selling forces your attention away from closing and back where it belongs… determining if you and the client are a true match for each other or not. And if not you simply say so and thank them for their time. The focus is NOT closing. It’s helping people. That’s what’s missing from the SPIN Selling and the Xerox model.
That’s why I recommend using Spin Selling for its structure: situation, problem, implication, needs. But for what to say or ask during a sales call, I merge the Reverse Selling “no sales pitch” approach into those four elements.
I recommend you do it too. You’ll eliminate all selling pressure from you and the person you’re speaking with when you focus on their needs, instead of yours. And instead of reflecting an ‘always be closing’ mentality, your sincere concern and willingness to help will shine through.
And you’ll develop a selling structure that presents you as a concerned and competent professional. But best of all, by tossing out the archaic old school sales pitches you make it easy, even a joy for others to pick up the phone and talk with you.