Posted by admin on May 31st, 2008 — Posted in Sports Center
Cool sites are out there, but sometimes they are hard to find. Not anymore! This article lists some of the most useful, interesting, or fun websites that every cyclist should bookmark.
So here’s the list:
www.mtbreview.com
Find reviews of about every mountain bike, part, or accessory available.
www.bloombikeshop.com
I may be a little biased towards this site, but hey, it has repair and maintenance information, product reviews, articles, a photo gallery, and a bunch of other cool stuff.
www.bicycling.com
The website of BICYCLING magazine.
www.mountainbike.com
The website of MOUNTAIN BIKE magazine.
www.nashbar.com
An online store that has a good selection of hard-to-find items and always has stuff on sale.
www.roadbikerider.com
Cool tips, articles, and books for road bike riders. They also publish a weekly e-zine.
www.velonews.com
The best source for road race coverage and news.
That’s it for now, but this article will be updated regularly to ensure that all the cool sites are listed. (And that the uncool aren’t)
Levi Bloom is the founder and owner of Bloom Bike Shop. You can find more cool sites, tips, and advice from Levi on his website in the Info Database.
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Posted by admin on May 31st, 2008 — Posted in Your Business
Want to be a web host? What you NEED to know!
After a good amount of time in the business of web hosting, I have come to realize many things. Learning these things has helped me in my business more then anything else! It wasn’t any costly SEO company, it wasn’t any overpriced Google or Yahoo ad program. It was hard work, it was hours and HOURS that turned into days and then weeks of time spent working on the website, editing the website (then editing again), making sure my keyword relevancy was up to par using my favorite keyword analyzer at Submit Express, checking to make sure my packages were priced to compete with other host’s that offered the same quality services that I provide (not the kiddie host’s that offer 25gb disc space and 200gb bandwidth for $5.00 a month), and also taking care of my clients to ensure they got anything they wanted or needed.
So anyway, let’s get on to what has worked for me. Some of you other host’s may disagree with me, or have had different experiences then I, so again, this is only what worked for me, and is my opinion only.
I started my first web hosting business in November of 2004. I can’t disclose the name of that business due to the agreement of sale, but I can tell you that it was a very successful host, and was on track to be a big player in the web hosting game. I just burnt out and had to sell! I was working 16-20 hours a day taking care of clients via Yahoo, MSN, ICQ, AOL, Skype, PHPLive, and any other live chat program I could use, email, and phone. This leads me to my first assessment, and bit of knowledge to pass on.
1. Support : This is (in my mind) the most important part of a web hosting business, and can make or break a starting business FAST, either way. If you offer TRUE 24×7 support to your client’s, and the support they receive is fast, accurate, and friendly. Your brand (host name and logo) will spread like wildfire, in time, you just have to be consistent with the support. You can’t let tickets lay around because you had to go to school, or you had to mow the lawn, or your girlfriend wouldn’t let you, or you just didn’t feel like dealing with it.
This can prove to be a very difficult task after awhile. The first few customers you get will submit a few tickets a month. Then, when you have a few more, maybe 25, you will start to have tickets, live chats, emails, pre-sales questions, all of it pouring in at once. Then you get up in to the 50-100 client range and you are swamped. This is when you start to loose sleep and begin to burn out quick!
If you have 50-100, or ever 30 or so, you should look into an outsourced support solution. I have used BobCares and have found them to be the most professional and reliable for the package they offer resellers, and starts at $24 a month to cover 12 clients 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
Some hosts, and customers, frown upon outsourcing support, but until you have the money to hire your own support staff, I suggest you look into outsourcing. Another company I have heard good things about is Root Support, though I haven’t tried them, I have noticed that they have some very good prices, and as I said, good reviews.
So that’s the upside, the bad side is easy. You don’t offer good support, and you find yourself in 3 months telling the 500 FREE hosting clients, and no paid clients that you have, that they need to find another host because you are shutting down.
2. Choosing a host: When you are searching for a reseller , or VPS host, you may be tempted by the low prices of some overselling host (run by a 15 yr old kid) that offers the world or, my favorite, “Unlimited”..LOL. You show me a host that has a hard drive with unlimited space, and I’ll show you some pictures of Big Foot that I took in Buck Snort Tennessee! If you choose a host by price alone you are destine to fail. You will end up with nothing but downtime, nothing to tell your clients when it happens because your host is no where to be found, and when the server IS up, it will be so overloaded that it will run like an epileptic chicken!
I heard it described best on a forum, “There is no perfect host, there is only the host that is perfect for you”. I suggest you look at Web Hosting Talk.com. Be sure to look in the “Advertisements” section, there are always a few good offers there for whatever type of hosting you are needing. You can also Google the words “web host review.” That will bring up hundreds of different resources for use in choosing a web host. This can be quite overwhelming also, so try and be as specific you can in your search terms.
When looking at the prices offered by offered a host, ask yourself a few questions.
A. Does the website look professional, or does it look like something you could have made when you were 13? This is not always the best way to determine your host, so again, do not base your decision on the website alone either!
B. What type of server specs (CPU, RAM,) does the host say that your account will be held on? If you do some further research, you’ll see that a reliable server with even a single P4 3.0GHz HT server with 1gb RAM is going to cost $150 AT CHEAPEST, and if you go up into the dual CPU servers, the price of a single server can go up to $300 a month EASY. So, if the host is offering 5gb disc space and 100gb bandwidth for $5 a month, you can be pretty sure you are not getting as good a deal as it may seem!
C. Check their support link, does it even work? If they offer live chat, use it, send them an email and ask questions specific to your needs, ask as many questions as you want, in as many different emails or tickets as you want, it’s a very important decision, be SURE you get what you need from a provider that will GIVE you what you need.
D. Uptime: a lot of hosts offer shared hosting plans for as cheap as $1.00 for the first month. I suggest you sign up and pay for one month. Tell the host what your intentions are, and that you want your account to be placed on the same server that your reseller will be placed on so you can review the resources. Then place a free uptime monitor such as DotUptime on it and see what the uptime is like in a 1 month time period. Spending a couple of dollars to make sure you get what you want will save you a TON of headache in the future!
E. Search as many web hosting forums and / or Google pages as you can for “whateverhost”. Look and see what others have to say about the host. But, keep in mind also that no host can please EVERY customer, and some people just can’t be pleased.
F. Finally, is it within your budget? Don’t be afraid to spend some money if you can, but don’t go overboard either. Remember, you have to spend money to make money. I am one to go all out from the start. I believe that the more you put into a GOOD host, the more you get back, and the happier your clients are, in turn attracting more customers. So we have our servers at LiquidWeb.com . They have proven to be the most reliable in terms of managed dedicated servers.
3. Choosing a billing system : There are many different billing systems available, and searching for one that’s fits can also be a wearing task. There are the first few big name scripts such as ModernBill, WHMAutoPilot, ClientExec, and Lpanel. Most of these options allow for automated account creation, meaning when a customer signs up and pays, it automaticly creates their account and emails the customer their login information.
It isn’t wise to use this feature though, unless you also pay for a fraudgate to check all your orders before setup. If you allow instant (automated) account creation without a fruadgate, you will find yourself swamped with spammers and fraudulent orders that result in charge backs, in no time at all!
ModernBill is by far the best in my opinion, and goes for about $25 a month. It keeps track of everything you can think of, ands some very key features that others don’t have, such as the ability to update package price depending on the upgrades they choose. WHMAutoPilot is the next step down at the same price ($25). It is still a very powerfull billing system, but lacks a few small features that ModernBill has. ClientExec is the best choice for a beginning web host, and starts at $12 a month. It is all you need to get ready to sell and keep track or your clients. It also has a built in support desk (most good billing scripts do). When you choose your billing system, be sure you read the description of that package. Some of them charge per client after a certain amount, and that can get costly.
4. Advertising : It’s no secret that any websites success depends on the amount of traffic it receives. So, in order to get traffic you have to let people know that your website and packages are out there!
Some good ways I have found for doing this are:
A. Forum posts: Register at as many web hosting forums you can find in Google. Most web hosing forums have “Requests Hosting” sections, so you can post offers to requests there, and you can also post offers in the “Offers” section usually. Be sure of the forum rules BEFORE posting your offers though. If you post an offer and it is edited by a moderator and only reads “Read the rules” your not going to look like the most trustworthy host. Remember to put a link to your hosting website, and maybe a little sentence or 2 about your services in your signature on the forum. Try and make it eye cacthing, add some color, or some symbols (>> +ll whatever).
B. Look on web hosting forums for people offering ad space. I use WebHostingTalk.com for my ad searches, and it has worked very well. Don’t buy ad space on just any website. Try to only buy ad space on websites that pertain to yoru market. For example, you wouldn’t put ads for a hunting website on an animal rights activist website! Try to only place ads for your hosting business on design sites, or hosting search forums, hosting directories, script development websites, anything that they might need a web host for!
C. Banners: Some say banner ads are dead, but I disagree. I know when I go to a website and see an eye catching banner ad, I tend to click on the ad to see what it’s all about. Whether this results in a sale or not, it is still a great avenue for brand awareness. So, if you decide to do some banner advertising, be sure to have an ad that looks professional, and eye catching. Otherwise you have an ad that no one notices.
D. Word of mouth: Without a doubt, the BEST type of advertising! When you provide good service and support to a client, he goes and tells his friends ” Hey, I got this host you guys should check out”. Then, those friends tell their friends, and their friends tell their friends, and their….You see where I’m going with this!
E. Local Market: Never underestimate your local market. You can start by making some fliers to post around town, or place some business cards on post-it boards. Ads in your local paper or ad magazine are sometimes good also. You can also think about sending a little packet of information about your business and what you can do for a client to small businesses in / around your area that might need a website and/or web host. If your budget allows for it, radio and tv ads are great sources, but can be very costly.
5. Prices: Don’t try to be the cheapest host on the block, you will only run yourself into the ground over time. If you look at the “Big Boys”, or as I like to call them, the “Oversellers who can”, you will see that if you tried to beat their prices you would be out of business within 2 -3 months.
Instead, take a look at your hosting package, whether it be a reseller, VPS, or Dedicated Server, and do a little math:
Lets say you have a reseller package with 10gb disc space, and 100gb bandwidth (a little large for a starter reseller I know, but it’s an easy round number to use J ). We’ll say your reseller costs you $25 a month.
You can look at your costs in a couple of different ways, here’s a couple that I use:
Disc Space Cost (monthly) Bandwidth
10GB $25.00 100GB
5GB $12.50 50GB
2.5GB $6.25 25GB
1.25GB $3.12 12.5GB
612MB $1.56 6.25GB
Or, you can split the costs and look at it like this:
Disc Space Cost Bandwidth Cost
10GB $12.50 100GB $12.50
5GB $6.25 50GB $6.25
2.5GB $3.12 25GB $3.12
1.25GB $1.56 12.5GB $1.56
612MB $0.78 6.25GB $0.78
Or, do a little chart like this:
Disc Space 10GB 5GB 2.5GB 1.25GB 612MB
Bandwidth
100GB $25.00 $18.75 $15.62 $14.06 $13.28
50GB $18.75 $12.50 $9.37 $7.81 $7.03
25GB $15.62 $9.37 $6.24 $4.68 $3.90
12.5GB $14.06 $7.81 $4.68 $3.12 $2.34
6.25GB $13.23 $7.03 $3.90 $2.34 $1.56
Remember to ad in your other costs, such as your billing system, your sitebuilder (if you have one), processor fees, and any other cost you may need to add.
After you have added up all of your costs, then decide what you think is a fair price to charge OVER your costs. So if a package costs you $5 a month, then maybe you would charge $8 - $7 - $6 a month. Just be sure to allow for enough profit to upgrade when you need to.
Again, don’t try to be the cheapest, you’ll be shooting yourself in the foot for sure!
6. Overselling : Overselling is the practice of selling more disc space and/or bandwidth then you actually have. So for an example, lets say you have 1 apple, you tell 8 people that you will sell them %25 of the apple. So if the people actually eat all of their apple, you are in trouble! Some overselling is ok, not a lot, you don’t want to overload your reseller or VPS, or dedicated server. You can safely assume the following (usually).
If you have 10gb disc space, and 100gb bandwidth, you can sell it as if you had 12gb disc space, and 120gb bandwidth. It’s a small percentage, but can help to increase profits. But be sure to keep a close eye on things, and upgrade when / if needed.
7. Professionalism : When you are posting an ad on a forum, replying to a pre-sales email, talking a to customer in chat, or replying to a support ticket, you must always maintain a professional attitude through your speech, or typing. A person looking for hosting isn’t going to be interested in a post that reads like a 12 year old wrote it. Try to use proper punctuation, I am not the world’s best at that (as you can see), but I try J.
Never discuss business matters or private customer information in public situations such as forums. This can lead to serious legal issues!
8. Free Hosting: A lot of hosts offer free hosting in hopes that the user will eventually upgrade. The truth is, only about %5 of your free hosting customers will upgrade to a paid plan. Also, it is usually those seeking free hosting that have no idea what they are doing and send hundreds of support tickets a month. Or, they sign up with a free host, send out a few thousand spam emails, and then move on to the next free host.
So to make a long story short, free hosting isn’t worth the time or frustration. Instead, maybe offer a small, shared package for $1.00 a month. This is low enough to reel them in, and then have them upgrade.
If you do decide to offer free hosting, be sure to put free hosting customers on one server or reseller, and paid clients on another reseller or server. That way if one of your free clients overloads the server, your paid clients are not affected at all, and you have no worries of loosing them!
9. Firm, Fair, and Consistent: I have found that you have to be fair overall, but you must also be firm, and consistent with your clients. If they are late on their payments all the time, start to penalize them with a late fee, their payments will soon show up on time for sure. I don’t mean to penalize them $100 for the first time their late, but there should be some sort of “push” to make them pay on time.
If you have a client who is requesting a refund because of an extended amount of downtime, you would want your money back to, so give it to them, always be fair.
Stay on top of your billing system and system resources, and when you come across a problem, take care of it right then, don’t wait!
I hope some of this helps some of you!
Owner of My-E-Space.com. A web hosting business offering reliable hosting, and excelent support.
Mike Brown
My-E-Space.com
http://my-e-space.com
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Posted by admin on May 31st, 2008 — Posted in Commerce World
What sort of qualities and features would one be looking for in a top 10 online affiliate program? It is important and indeed a useful thing for every affiliate to be able to recognize those features that make a particular affiliate program special enough to be ranked amongst the top ten.
One of the most important aspects to look for in a top 10 online affiliate program is a high conversion rate. To me this is important because it will always impact rather dramatically on the results. For example an affiliate program that tends to have a high conversion rate will need less leads to produce a sale. This is the single aspect that decides whether a particular affiliate program is appropriate for your site or not. This is because of the simple fact that traffic can hardly be increased overnight. So even as you work on ways and means of improving traffic, you want an affiliate program that can yield something for you with the current traffic that you already have. The conversion rate is what will determine this important question.
That is precisely why testing is so important for any affiliate program you want to join and not just a top 10 type online affiliate program. Testing will always give you an exact and precise conversion rate which you can compare with that of other affiliate programs and in effect compile your very own top 10 best paying online affiliate program list. Your top 10 online affiliate program list can be in terms of revenue earned monthly and the conversion rate as well.
Learn more about the best home business opportunity from a blogger who rakes in thousands of dollars… and growing from their home business.
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Posted by admin on May 30th, 2008 — Posted in Management Parlor
We all know that nothing runs without a plan, and a plan cannot run without having its objectives set.
That applies to any kind of plan, whether we’re talking business or personal finances, university degrees or NGO programs, website promotion or weight loss.
Setting objectives and milestones is of crucial importance for any planning activity and is the core of its success, or failure.
Knowing how to set objectives is not exactly rocket science in terms of complexity, but any strategist should know the basic rules of how to formulate and propose objectives. We will see in this article why objectives play such a major role within a company’s planning and strategic activities, how they influence all business processes, and we will review some guidelines of setting objectives.
The Importance of Setting Objectives
One might wonder why we need to establish objectives in the first place, why not let the company or a specific activity just run smoothly into the future and see where it gets. That would be the case only if we really do not care whether the activity in discussion will be successful or not: but then, to use a popular saying, “if something deserves to be performed, then it deserves to be performed well”. In other words, if we don’t care for the results, we should not proceed with the action at all.
Setting objectives before taking any action is the only right thing to do, for several reasons:
- it gives a target to aim to, therefore all actions and efforts will be focused on attaining the objective instead of being inefficiently used;
- gives participants a sense of direction, a glimpse of where they’re going to;
- motivates the leaders and their teams, since it is quite the custom of establishing some sort of reward once the team successfully completed a project;
- offers the support in evaluating the success of an action or project.
The 5 Rules of Setting Objectives: Be SMART!
I am sure most managers and leaders know what SMART stands for, well, at least when it comes of establishing objectives. However, I have seen some of them who cannot fully explain the five characteristics of a good-established objective - things are somehow blurry and confused in their minds. Since they can’t explain in details what SMART objectives really are, it is highly doubtful that they will always be able to formulate such objectives.
It is still unclear from where the confusion comes: perhaps there are too many sources of information, each of them with a slightly different approach upon what a SMART objective really is; or perhaps most people only briefly “heard” about it and they never get to reach the substance behind the packaging.
Either way, let us try to uncover the meaning of the SMART acronym and see how we can formulate efficient objectives.
SMART illustrates the 5 characteristics of an efficient objective; it stands for Specific - Measurable - Attainable - Relevant - Timely.
1. Be SPECIFIC!
When it comes of business planning, “specific” illustrates a situation that is easily identified and understood. It is usually linked to some mathematical determinant that imprints a specific character to a given action: most common determinants are numbers, ratios and fractions, percentages, frequencies. In this case, being “specific” means being “precise”.
Example: when you tell your team “I need this report in several copies”, you did not provide the team with a specific instruction. It is unclear what the determinant “several” means: for some it can be three, for some can be a hundred. A much better instruction would sound like “I need this report in 5 copies” - your team will know exactly what you expect and will have less chances to fail in delivering the desired result.
2. Be MEASURABLE!
When we say that an objective, a goal, must be measurable, we mean there is a stringent need to have the possibility to measure, to track the action(s) associated with the given objective.
We must set up a distinct system or establish clear procedures of how the actions will be monitored, measured and recorded. If an objective and the actions pertaining to it cannot be quantified, it is most likely that the objective is wrongly formulated and we should reconsider it.
Example: “our business must grow” is an obscure, non-measurable objective. What exactly should we measure in order to find out if the objective was met? But if we change it to “our business must grow in sales volume with 20%”, we’ve got one measurable objective: the measure being the percentage sales rise from present moment to the given moment in the future. We can calculate this very easy, based on the recorded sales figures.
3. Be ATTAINABLE!
Some use the term “achievable” instead of “attainable”, which you will see it is merely a synonym and we should not get stuck in analyzing which one is correct. Both are.
It is understood that each leader will want his company / unit to give outstanding performances; this is the spirit of competition and such thinking is much needed. However, when setting objectives, one should deeply analyze first the factors determining the success or failure of these objectives. Think of your team, of your capacities, of motivation: are they sufficient in order for the objectives to be met? Do you have the means and capabilities to achieve them?
Think it through and be honest and realistic to yourself: are you really capable of attaining the goals you’ve set or are you most likely headed to disappointment? Always set objectives that have a fair chance to be met: of course, they don’t need to be “easily” attained, you’re entitled to set difficult ones as long as they’re realistic and not futile.
Example: you own a newborn movers company and you set the objective of “becoming no. 1 movers within the state”. The problem is you only have 3 trucks available, while all your competitors have 10 and up. Your goal is not attainable; try instead a more realistic one, such as “reaching the Top 5 fastest growing movers company in the state”.
4. Be RELEVANT!
This notion is a little more difficult to be perceived in its full meaning; therefore we will start explaining it by using an example in the first place.
Imagine yourself going to the IT department and telling them they need to increase the profit to revenue ratio by 5%. They will probably look at you in astonishment and mumble something undistinguished about managers and the way they mess up with people’s minds.
Can you tell what is wrong with the objective above? Of course! The IT department has no idea what you were talking about and there’s nothing they can do about it - their job is to develop and maintain your computerized infrastructure, not to understand your economic speech. What you can do it setting an objective that the IT department can have an impact upon, and which will eventually lead to the increase you wanted in the first place. What about asking them to reduce expenditures for hardware and software by 10% monthly and be more cautious with the consumables within their department by not exceeding the allocated budget? They will surely understand what they need to do because the objective is relevant for their group.
Therefore, the quality of an objective to be “relevant” refers to setting appropriate objectives for a given individual or team: you need to think if they can truly do something about it or is it irrelevant for the job they perform.
5. Be TIMELY!
No much to discuss about this aspect, since it is probably the easiest to be understood and applied.
Any usable and performable objective must have a clear timeframe of when it should start and/or when it should end. Without having a timeframe specified, it is practically impossible to say if the objective is met or not.
For example, if you just say “we need to raise profit by 500000 units”, you will never be able to tell if the objective was achieved or not, one can always say “well, we’ll do it next year”. Instead, if you say “we need to raise profit by 500000 units within 6 months from now”, anyone can see in 6 months if the goal was attained or not. Without a clear, distinct timeframe, no objective is any good.
Otilia is a young certified professional with expertise in eMarketing and eBusiness, currently working as independent consultant and ePublisher. She developed and teach her own online course in “Principles of eMarketing” and is also a volunteer Economics teacher.
You can contact her via her Marketing resources portal at TeaWithEdge.com
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Posted by admin on May 30th, 2008 — Posted in Marketing Management
I’m sure that you’ve had those Eureka! moments, too. When a piece of information suddenly helped you see or understand something that hadn’t been apparent before.
For me, one came when I discovered means-end analysis, a marketing concept that helps us understand why listeners or readers might respond — or not respond — to our messages. It does this by clarifying the relationship between product features and the benefits experienced by consumers.
I also believe it has great potential for developing communication strategies.
But first, let’s review the marketing connection: Consumers know about products in three general ways:
* by the attributes (features) they possess;
* by the consequences of ‘consuming’ those attributes; and
* by the way the consequences help satisfy personal needs.
As the list suggests, these types of knowledge are linked, providing connections among attributes, consequences, and the value-fulfillment benefits we derive from them.
For example, a luxury car offers a number of attributes (features) that make it distinctive. Owning and driving one has some personal consequences, which might include showing others that the owner is affluent and successful. That, in turn, satisfies the owner’s value-driven need to be seen as successful…
Now, let’s look at the same example another way. A low-end car’s attributes might include an inexpensive purchase price and economical operation. One personal consequence of owning a car with these attributes might be to have more money available for saving. And, that could provide value satisfaction by giving the owner a sense of accomplishment as she watches her savings account grow.
In developing a communication strategy, the means-end concept offers a couple of important tools. First, it suggests a way to structure messages. Start with attributes, link those attributes to personal consequences, and then link the consequences to satisfying personal value-needs. Second, it may help us predict the impact of our messages.
For example, say your manufacturing plant is about to buy and install a major piece of machinery, and you want employees to know about it. For the plant newsletter, you write an article, starting with attributes of the new machinery. Now, link those attributes to personal consequences: The new equipment enhances the long-term viability of the plant, which makes employees’ jobs more secure. And, secure jobs satisfy an important value requirement among employees, which is to provide their families with a good standard of living.
But, suppose you finish writing about the attributes, and you can’t get a grip on the personal consequences for employees, or how it will satisfy their value needs. That should help you predict that the message will fall on deaf - perhaps even hostile - ears.
Given that knowledge, you can rethink what you’re doing, what you’re saying, or how you’re saying it.
In summary, by linking features and benefits, we give ourselves an opportunity to understand and construct effective messages, for both marketing and other purposes.
Robert F. Abbott writes and publishes Abbott’s Communication Letter. Learn how you can use communication to help achieve your goals, by reading articles or subscribing to this ad-supported newsletter. An excellent resource for leaders and managers, at: http://www.communication-newsletter.com
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Posted by admin on May 30th, 2008 — Posted in Stuff for Kids
The best time to wean your baby onto solid food is at about age 6 months. This is because your baby’s mouth will start to change around that time to help her cope with the transition. Another guide is to start when baby doubles in weight.
Before then your baby’s digestive system and kidneys are able to cope only with breastmilk and formula. But don’t leave it too late as baby may find it difficult to adapt to swallowing food, and she will need a balanced varied diet.
What You Will Need
- Bibs - and plenty of them! At first she will spit out more than she swallows and feeding will be very messy.
- Unbreakable bowls and spoons.
- Lidded containers for storing the food.
- A food processor. You could manage with a fork and a sieve, but the one thing you won’t have plenty of is time, so a blender will make life easier.
You don’t need a high chair, not at this stage anyway. Baby won’t be able to hold her head up until about age 12 months, so feed her while she is in your lap or in a seat that supports her head.
Foods To Try And Some To Avoid
- Baby rice is usually the first solid for babies, it has a low protein content and is unlikely to cause an allergic reaction. Mix with milk (expressed breast milk or formula) to make the rice easier to swallow. Rice also has the advantage that it can be mixed with both vegetables and fruit, so after a few days, mix in a little puréed potato, vegetable or fruit. You may wish to start with vegetables to ensure she establishes a taste for savoury foods as well as the sweeter fruits.
- Foods to try include: potato, carrot, swede, parsnip, sweet potato; and apple, banana and pear. Cook where appropriate and purée. If the result is too dry or lumpy, add milk (breast milk or formula).
- Avoid cow’s milk until she is about 12 months old. Other dairy products like cheese and yoghurt can be introduced after a month or so.
- Avoid soft-boiled eggs; nuts; blue-veined cheese; salt; sugar or sweeteners, including those found in fruit drinks and squashes; bread and pasta; and rusks.
The Transition
The move from milk to solid food can take place only gradually. At first, solids should take the place of one of the milk feeds. Then, over the next 3 or 4 months, introduce more solid food and cut down on the milk; and chop and cut food rather than purée after a few weeks.
Vegetarian
If you are vegetarian and want your baby to avoid meat and fish, this should not be a problem. The same nutrients present in meat are also available in other foods and you will be familiar with what is required for a balanced diet. However, if you are a vegan, your baby could miss out on certain vitamins as well as sufficient protein. Prolong breastfeeding as long as possible, and take expert advice on any necessary supplements.
Baby’s In Charge
Of course no two babies are the same and there are no rules laid down regarding exact timing. Appetites vary too and your baby will tell you by her actions whether she needs to be ‘topped-up’ with a bottle of milk.
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Author: Tony Luck who runs a website offering advice to moms-to-be and new moms. Included on the site is the Chinese Conception Chart which supposedly tells you whether the baby you are expecting will be a girl or boy.
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Posted by admin on May 28th, 2008 — Posted in Travel Resources
When we analyse closely at the business of 118 118 you will probably discover just how very much 118118 have finished and what they have reached inside such a short period of time. 118118.com is not the single telephone number enquiry service which is accessible, the new competition is immense. During 2002 the United Kingdom telephone number enquiries industry opened up to competition by phasing away from the monopoly that was 192 and renewing it by a wide range of different six digit number which are 118118. A a vast range of brand new directory enquiries companies have grasped the chance to take hold of a slice of a potentially rewarding trade, paying vast amounts of pounds on a marketing opportunity which is going to be no where close to being as prosperous as the company 118118.
The 118 118 business telephone number is the leading telephone number enquiries company in the UK. Every week workers join huge amounts of its service callers through to people, places and companies 118.com call for, due to the result of this 118118 company is currently the most often called telephone numbers of the Great Britain
Findings at present signal that the UK’s Directory Enquiries industry is the greatest in the EU area. 118118.com sell a wide range of services inc. the crucial which is the phone telephone number service and then other added extras such as cinema times and locations, train schedules and train and tube locations.
The telephone numbers continues to be the only UK 118 provider to sell a complete free telephone directories business aimed at their callers from across all major landline networks. From the 18th March 2008, 118118.com company is pleased to state its company adjustments. at present 0800118FREE this offering is free from BT and major non mobile networks. Prices by mobile phone networks vary. 118811 is currently 40 pence per minute and the business of 118 118 is 69 p per call, 25 pence per minute, which is a huge improvement when considering it used to be expensive than one great British pound. If you should be looking for cinema times, train times, or telephone numbers, give 118.com a try.
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Posted by admin on May 28th, 2008 — Posted in Miscellany
Free email services are in abundance all over the web. There are literally
hundreds (if not thousands) of different services to help you with your
messages. Why do companies provide these services? Because they can sell
advertising space, and they have several ways to do it.
- They can append a small ad to each email message which is sent or received
- They can display banners
- Their sites can issue popup windows with advertisements
Why would you want to use a free email service? Probably the most important
reason is simply to help you with spam. You can use a web based free email
account to receive messages from signups to various services. Then, you can
access the account only when necessary for the service. This way, any spam
messages will be directed to the free mailbox, which you do not use very
often if at all.
Another great reason to use these services is to be able to pick up your
email from your browser. This is great for when you are traveling or on
those occasions when you want to read your home email when at work (see “Is
surfing the internet safe at work?”)
Each of the four basic types of email services are described below, along
with some examples of some of the free services that are available.
Web Based Email - These services allow you to retrieve, send and manage your
email from your browser. In general, the services are advertising (banner)
supported, although most offer an ad free paid version of some kind.
Hotmail.Com
http://www.hotmail.com
The first and oldest web-based email system. Good interface, reliable and
reasonably fast.
Mail.Com
http://www.mail.com/mailcom/login.jhtml
Probably the best free web-based email service available. Choose from dozens
of different email domains. Very easy to use and flexible. Premium service
is available at a low cost.
Startrekmail
http://www.startrekmail.com/member/login.page
Create your own Star Trek email address. Choose from many domains,
including:
@StarTrek.com
@USSEnterprise.com
@Klingons.com
@HesDeadJim.com
@ToBoldlyGo.com
@DeepSpaceNine.com
Yahoo Mail
http://mail.yahoo.com/
Another popular, nice email system. Lots of features, very reliable and
fast.
POP Email Services - POP email is virtually always supplied as part of the
services you receive from your web host and ISP. Your messages are stored on
a server, and you use your email client (Outlook, Outlook Express or Eudora,
for example) to send, receive and manage your messages.
E-OmniNet
http://eo.yifan.net/
E-Omninet provides online services of all kinds with a single account. It
includes the file manager, address book, bookmarks, solar and lunar
calendars plus event reminder, free POP3 email and web hosting.
Mail Options
http://www.mailops.com/
Provides mail and news access in a web based browser. Mail is stored on a
POP server.
RunBox
http://www.runbox.com/
Runbox Mail Manager is a server-based email application that enables you to
store all your email online. They provide 100 MB of storage space, extensive
management features, and the ability to access email on any device.
Web-based POP Email Services - These services allow you to receive your POP
email using your browser. Some of them will read from your own supplied POP
email account (such as your ISP account) and others have their own POP
servers.
Email Planet
http://www.emailplanet.com/
Allows you to manage your email from your browser.
FetchMail
http://www.fetchmail.com/
Let’s you read your POP email using your browser.
Mail2Web
http://www.mail2web.com/
Will read POP mail from any POP server using your browser. Looks like a nice
service.
MailAndNews
http://mailandnews.com/
Another web based service allowing you to access your email. In addition,
this company lets you read newsgroups.
Email Forwarding Services - These services will forward your email from an
existing email account to another account.
Bigfoot
http://www.bigfoot.com/
This service will forward email from your email account to another email
address. This is very useful when you are on vacation. Also has the ability
to distribute and filter messages. A premium (paid) service is available
with more options.
HotPop
http://www.bigfoot.com/
HotPop provides a full featured email client, with POP capabilities and
email forwarding.
Return Receipt Services - Sometimes you just have to know that an email was
received by someone. The problem is that support for return receipts is
dependent upon the email client, and can be turned off entirely by the user!
These services get around that problem.
ReturnReceipt
http://www.returnreceipt.com/
ReturnReceipt is a web-based email system that notifies you when your email
has been received and read. It functions much like the U.S. Postal System’s
certified mail, with senders receiving an electronically “postmarked”
receipt documenting the exact time and date an email was read. Use it for
all your important email and anytime you need proof your email was read.
Miscellaneous email services - Some services that are useful but do not fit
into the above categories.
OneHopMail
http://www.bluefingers.com/ohmhtml/ohm_send.html
This service is very cool. Let’s say you are on the road and need to send an
email message. You want it to appear as if you sent it from your home email
but cannot access (or don’t want to for some reason) your email account. Use
HopMail to enter your email address and a message. The service will send a
test message to your email account. If the message makes it okay, it will
send your message on it’s way, as if it came from you.
About the Author
Richard Lowe Jr. is the webmaster of Internet Tips And Secrets at
http://www.internet-tips.net - Visit our website any time to read
over 1,000 complete FREE articles about how to improve your
internet profits, enjoyment and knowledge.
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Posted by admin on May 28th, 2008 — Posted in Skin Care
Cosmetic surgery is becoming a normal practice for many people, almost to the point that it’s like going to the dentist. However this does not mean all is well in this cosmetic candy land. Yes, plastic surgery is very common and you have lots of doctors and surgical choices available to you, but there are other factors one needs to think about before making their way to the doctor’s office. Along with deciding on the right doctors and particular surgical procedure you want done; it would be wise to contemplate if the risks are worth the potential results.
When you are deciding on what doctor will perform your surgery be sure you have reviewed all of his or her credentials. It’s also advisable to talk with the doctors past patients and staff. If you have any friends or family that have had cosmetic surgery; talk with them about their doctor and how their procedure went. When deciding on a surgeon it is very important you verify that they are certified and properly accredited. There are many horror stories related to cosmetic surgery based on people not doing their due diligence on this important detail.
After choosing your doctor you may want to factor in the distance and travel time from your home to the hospital. This plays an important role after your surgery since you will need to visit with your surgeon for follow up care. Make sure you arrange for a friend or family member to pick you up after your procedure. You will most likely be unable to drive due to medication or other surgery related reasons. However, not all surgeries require you to have another person drive you home, but you probably will not feel like driving after the operation even if you feasibly could.
Most procedures are not covered under insurance policies unless your health is adversely affected and can only be corrected through a particular operation. Even then you must get a referral from a specialist who must provide in written detail why it’s imperative you have the procedure done. It is important to note that insurance companies are getting more lenient with their approvals on certain plastic surgeries; especially if the operation could lower the risk of you needing future medical care in the short and long term.
Taking care of yourself post and pre-op will play an important role on how well you heal after your cosmetic surgery. You must keep all bandages on and clean. Avoid over exerting yourself as you will likely be restricted in most normal everyday activities. In many cases swelling will be present and persistent as your body readjusts to its new look and feel.
Mentally you may feel fatigued or even disappointed, but these feelings resolve once the bandages have been removed and surgical areas have reduced in swelling. With cosmetic surgery you are changing your physical appearance so it will take getting use too. Some after post-op are still unsatisfied with the results and may need or want further procedures. Cosmetic surgery should be well thought through and you must be mentally ready for any adverse outcome. So take time deciding what will be right for you.
For more resources on cosmetic surgeries and tummy tuck cost with more articles on related topics, visit us at tummy-tucks.info-journal.com
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Posted by admin on May 28th, 2008 — Posted in Helpful Tips
As I mentioned in Part One in controlling our thoughts and
attitudes, visualisation is a great help in setting your
personal goals. Use it as a tool, be persistent, like a yappy
dog biting at your ankles and you’ll get there in the end.
(That’s a simile, BTW).
American John Kehoe has written extensively on this subject in
various works. He is the one who hibernated in the woods of
Canada or Alaska for five years contemplating the mind and
talking to the trees, like Bonnie Prince Charlie talking to the
plants! I should have been a lumberjack instead of a writer; but
then I can’t imagine myself floating down a swollen river and
balancing on a log!
I too am writing in virtual hibernation. Perhaps it’s good for
writing by forcing one to focus. Anyway, the creative juices
seem to flow well here in Gisborne, New Zealand. (Incidentally,
the country has produced some great Kiwi writers).
Some more on VISUALISATION…
Work out what your goal is. What you want to become? What sort
of person do you want to be? Picture what changes you want to
make in yourself and in your life…for the better, of course.
Set stepping stones (or sub-goals) as sign posts along the way.
To guide you and ensure that you stay on track. They can be your
short-term or medium term goals, say one month to one year. The
marathon runner doesn’t think of the finish line , but, the lamp
post in the distance…or the next drink spot. Thinking of the
big picture often seems impossible, so it can be very
discouraging. Take small steps… and one at a time. You can get
get loads of satisfaction from taking one step at a time.
Attaining sub goals can help you with a more immediate focus and
it rewards you along the way in your pursuit of the grand plan.
Make daily affirmations to yourself to keep yourself positive
and focussed on the way ahead. (Remember, affirmations and self
talk from Chapter Five). Have written goal checks to ensure that
you are on track - on the right path. These are a good aid in
reassessing your performance and how well you are doing on your
chosen path. I’ve gone so far down my track, if it’s the wrong
one it’s a bit late to turn back. I’ll just visit the soup
kitchens! “What a stuff up”! Seriously (for a change) though,
it’s never too late to change direction; look at South Africa
and apartheid, the fall of Communism, Yugoslavia, Israel and
Palestine… Set priorities. It is important to have flexible
goals; they are not set in concrete and can be changed as you
change and develop. Remember changing goals in mid stream
doesn’t mean losing ground (or “the plot”). As long as you grow
personally, you are making the most of yourself.
SUMMARY:
1. Set big goals
2. Make long range goals
3. Make short term and daily goals
4. Goals should be specific
5. Goals should be realistic
6. Luck is not involved in achieving goals
7. Don’t make goals to please someone else - they are for you
alone.
It’s your life and no one else can live it for you. Listen to
your parent’s advice; but young adults, you make the decision
about the career you want. Not knowing what I wanted to do after
finishing school (and then university), I followed my father
into insurance, not thinking that I would have to spend half my
working/waking life in that occupation, “dumbo”!
In setting goals we need to allow for our future growth and
development. If you want to grow, you’ve got to eat your
“veggies” and use your potential to the fullest.
Life is one long journey of self discovery. It is also a great
opportunity for self improvement - to grow day by day, even
though you might have the occasional stumble. If you accept
yourself and are happy just the way you are, that’s fine by me
too.
“Plant the right seed to get the right plant” - anon
“Keep your mind on what you want and off what you don’t want” -
Napoleon Hill
“You will become as small as your controlling desires; as great
as your dominant aspiration” - James Allen
Now that we’ve defined and set our goals, lets look at
ACHIEVING them by getting and then staying FOCUSSED…
* HOW TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOALS:
There are a number of important factors that make people
successful in achieving their personal goals… and I believe
goalsetting is the key ingredient to personal success. What else
determines whether we will achieve our goals? I think the
following attributes are critical:
* A strong belief in oneself and one’s ability to succeed
* Good self esteem
* Self confidence
* Self discipline
* A burning desire to achieve your pre-set goals
* A sound strategy with a great deal of thought given to PLANNING
* A desire to give something back to society and invest in
people; ie. to make some contribution to your “little patch” of
the world. This leads into the next one…
* Having worthy goals which benefit one self and others
* A winning focus and a positive attitude. This is very very
very important.
* Consistancy and commitment
* The ability to avoid distractions, ie. the ability to FOCUS
* Affirming oneself daily that you are of value to the world
* An ability to take calculated risks. I’ve taken a few chances
in my time (perhaps too many) … maybe you have as well.
* An ability to learn from your mistakes and to overcome the
fear of making mistakes
* The ability to handle stress well (I’m not so “hot” on that
one!).
* Taking frequent exercise - because a healthy body keeps the
mind healthy
* Taking time out for relaxation
* Self motivation, and most important of all,
* Personal integrity and a sense of ethics. Who says
millionaires and other successful people lack integrity and rip
off gullible people in the street? I for one, definitely don’t
believe it. I think quite a few businessmen may be ruthless, but
most of them have high moral codes of behaviour. But most
importantly, they have the “bucks” to improve people’s lives in
the community…as long as they are not too stingy.
BALANCE:
Remember, it is vital to live a balanced life. So look at your
goals in all areas of your life: material, physical, career,
psychological and most importantly, spiritual. I think it’s
terribly important to BELIEVE and have FAITH that things will
work out in the future for you. That BELIEF (either in yourself
or in a Higher Being) will largely determine your attitude…how
happy or unhappy your life will be.
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