September always means Back To School, and for thousands of families it also signals Off To College. In addition, more and more young people are opting to continue their education with post-graduate studies.
Once a student is past the Mandatory - Freshman - Year - In - The - Dorm Policy that many colleges have, parents face an interesting dilemma: should they continue to shell out rent, or considering buying a property for their children to occupy while attending school
Here is a TRUE Story.
In 1994, A young man decided to attend North Carolina State University. He enrolled in a combination Master/Ph.D. program. This meant he would be in Raleigh, NC for the next four -six years. After investigating the rental options in the area, his parents decided to help him purchase a townhouse.
This was the deal. A 3 bedroom, 2

Weve all heard about certain ways to cut your grocery bill like avoiding the grocery store when youre hungry, using coupons on double coupons day, and buying only the items on your list. These are all good tips and we should keep using them. However, Ive found a few pointers that might help you save even more on your grocery bill.
The first thing you need to do after youve made your grocery list is to try to figure the total cost of your grocery bill. Make sure youve got everything on the list that youll need because after youve made an educated guess youre going to go to your purse or wallet, take out the cash and leave the rest behind. Believe me, this will definitely cut back on the unnecessary extras because you wont have the credit cards to fall back on. And if youre like me, youd rather be hung upside down by your toe nails than be found short at the check out.
Dont be afraid to look on the day-old bread rack or in the "about to expire" section of the meat department. You have to be careful, but youll probably be able to tell whether the item is good. Just make sure to use it right away, dont let it sit in your refrigerator for a week. Who knows, it just might "meat" your expectations and save you money in the process!
Another thing to think about is the time of day, time of week and even time of month that you are shopping. Ive found that early in the morning and in the middle of the week is when the grocery stores are less busy and youll be able to get more efficient shopping done. Be careful not to go on the first day or two of the month. Some stores have been known to raise prices because that is the time that social security and welfare checks go out.
Buy in bulk when it makes sense. If youre shopping at Costco or Sams Club you still need to comparison shop. Ive found that some of the items are just as inexpensive at our local grocery store and there have been times when Costcos or Sams Club prices where higher. So most of the time it makes sense for me to get most of our groceries at my local store because we live two hours away from Sams Club
Look high and low for savings, literally. The grocery stores purposely place the higher-priced name brand items at eye level. The lower priced generic and store brands are usually higher and lower than the brand name items. Remember that the generic brand or store brand isnt always the less expensive. Some stores Ive been to list the cost per ounce, or per item trash bags so be sure to compare these prices when shopping.
Last but not least, if youve got kids at home try to find another mom to trade shopping times with. Its a lot easier to shop without kids, you wont be tempted to buy extras just to keep them quiet and youll have more time to comparison shop. Your chances of having an enjoyable shopping experience will go up as well as their chances for survival!

About The Author

Shannon Jarvies is a work at home mom with five beautiful children and a wonderful husband. Visit her Debt Management Website for debt consolidation, budgeting help and money saving tips and ideas. And join her Money Management Discussion Group

http://consolidationdebtfree.com

shannon@consolidationdebtfree.com

Are you a victim of any credit card fraud or identity theft Then you definitely need an enhanced defense from those menaces. You can get superior security from http://www.gotocreditreport.com. Actually, those financial offenses take place due to the lack of knowledge of your personal credit status. But, with GotoCreditReport.com , you will get an in-depth analysis of your personal credit with speed and accuracy. Thanks to our comprehensive credit service, we will relieve you from credit worries.

A credit report comprises different information. All the information mentioned in your credit report is very important. For example, there will be some identifying information like your name, address, Social Security number, date of birth and employment information. We will make sure that your personal identifying information doesnt get into wrong hands. Then a credit report will consist of your trade lines i.e. your credit accounts. The type of account i.e. mortgage, bankcard, auto loan etc, the date you opened the account, your credit limit or loan amount, your payment history and the account balance - all will be mentioned in the credit report. Lenders will give you loan on the basis of your credit report. So, any illegal or surreptitious access to your credit report will wreck havoc to your credit scores and your creditworthiness. So, play safe, opt for a credit service from http://www.gotopatches.com.

The fate of your loan application by and large depends on the credit report. So, if your credit report contains some blots or bad credit information, then obtaining loan will become far more difficult. As a matter of fact credit inquiries, credit rejections, late payments, past due and unpaid payments, court judgments, collections, loan defaults, repossession, foreclosure and bankruptcy are the ten worst things that people always try to avoid in credit report. That negative information, once inside in your credit report, will stay on your credit file for anywhere from 3 to 7 years and will make your life miserable. But, to rectify your credit reports, dont opt for any credit repair agency. They may do more harm than good. Actually promising you a new credit identity, they will force you to shell out hefty consultation fees. And ultimate they wont be able to provide you that elusive fresh credit identity. So, stay away from those temptations and think wisely. In no way can they get a new credit identity for you. You just cant remove all those errors almost instantly. Its a systematic and time-consuming affair. And you should consult with the experts who have enormous experience in handling credit reports of varied specification. In other words, simply opt for http://www.gotocreditreport.com. Let us take care of your credit report.

At GotoCreditReport.com , we will leave no stone unturned to rectify those errors in your credit report. We follow a simple yet effective strategy. We will challenge the accuracy and completeness of your existing credit report before the credit bureau. Sometimes it may so happen that the bad credit information becomes too old to be mentioned in the credit report. At that time, we can help you restructure your credit report in your favor. We simply send the ball to the credit bureaus court. Now, its up to the credit bureau to take action. If credit bureau fails to verify the items within 30 business days, you have won. The Fair Credit Reporting Act enables you to remove those items from your credit report.

Like credit report, the importance of a good credit score cant also be undermined. The credit score will give an indication of your future credit risk. But to make your credit report eligible to be counted for credit score, your credit report should have at least one account that is six-month-old. That signifies that your credit report is in great shape and up-to-date.

There are multiple benefits of having great credit scores. An outstanding credit score is the stepping-stone to become eligible for getting loans. Actually, before lending money to any loan seeker, the lender would like to take a quick and objective measurement of the credit risk of the person concerned. And thanks to the credit score system, credit granting process has become faster.

As credit scores have enabled lenders take credit decisions swiftly. So, if your credit report has some rough edges, patch up them with our credit service. Redefine your creditworthiness with http://www.gotocreditreport.com.

About The Author

George M Noceti, Managing Partner for http://www.gotocreditreport.com. George has designed a web site to help consumers fix their credit reports in an easy fashion. He can be reached at mailto:george@gotospp.com.

Has your once well-organized marketing plan come to resemble the jumble of stuff in your closet not to mention the garage and the attic If you are like most people, each time you come across a new marketing idea you try to adopt it and add it to your existing approach.

Strategies and tactics tend to accumulate and linger even when they may not be working as well as youd like. Like the ill-fitting clothes that accumulate in your closet or the broken tools still in the garage, they are hard to get rid of, whether because of habit, emotional attachment or just plain not getting around to cleaning them out.

To improve your marketing, youll need to clean out some old ways of working. While I dont want to get anywhere near your closet, and in fact I could use some help with mine, I can show you how to clean up your marketing plan so youre ready to take advantage of the New Year to grow your business.

Cleaning Up Your Marketing Plan

Every morning my friend Michael Angier of SuccessNet.org sits down at his desk and asks himself the following three questions about his business.

1. Whats working

2. Whats not working

3. What can I improve

You may not want to review your marketing plan five times a week, but it is a good idea to do it at least once a year. So take out your pencil or fire up your computer and assess your marketing plan:

Your Marketing Plan

1. Is your plan working

2. Do you have a well defined marketing strategy that helps you achieve the three phases of marketing: Getting Attention, Positioning, and Selling

3. Do you need to write or rewrite your marketing plan

4. Do you need additional information or coaching to complete your marketing plan

5. What are you going to do to improve your marketing plan

Getting Attention

6. Does your marketing message prompt prospects to contact you

7. Do your ads, letters, and web site motivate prospects to contact you

8. What are your conversion rates

9. What steps can you take to improve them

Positioning

10. What are you doing to establish your credibility with prospects, to help them know and trust you

11. Is it working as well as youd like

12. What could you improve

13. Is the value of your products and services clear to your prospects or do they question you about merits and price

14. Want to learn how to ensure that your prospects understand the value of your products and services

Selling

15. How successful are you in selling, that is, in getting commitments for everything from appointments to orders

16. Whats your conversion rate of prospects contacted to clients and customers

17. Do initial s/ales generate repeat s/ales and referrals for years to come

18. Want to learn how to generate more s/ales from each client

Evaluating Your Marketing Plan

Use Michaels three questions to summarize your comments

about your marketing plan and your success in getting

attention, positioning and selling.

1. Whats working

2. Whats not

3. What do you want to improve

The hardest part about cleaning out your closet, attic, garage or your marketing is getting started. It may be time to straighten up or throw out some of your old marketing strategies and tactics and replace them with new more effective ones. Start 2005 with a well organized marketing plan, one that helps you Get Attention, Position your products and services and Sell and youll find your business growing in leaps and bounds in the coming year.

About The Author

2004 © In Mind Communications, LLC. All rights reserved.

The author, Charlie Cook, helps service professionals and small business owners attract more clients and be more successful. Sign up for the Fr

Imagine this scenario by the end of next August...
You contact your favorite supplement distributor to purchase some of your usual vitamins and other supplements and you find out that they have all been banned!
Gone.
The joint support supplement you depended upon to keep your knees healing and pain free is now gone. The vitamins you loved to take to keep your energy level high and immune system strong - all gone.

When building your first site the main things that you will probably think about is what types of content you will be adding to your site, how you are going to get visitors to your site and how you are going to generate good revenue from your site.
Well, all of the things mentioned above are crucial things to consider, but then again, what

Which email format is more effective to use, Text or HTML
A good question, many experts have been debating over for awhile now, is which email format is more effective. It all depends on who you ask, many people prefer the text format over the HTML format. There are also many people who would rather use HTML over the text format. You can pretty much draw a line right down the middle between the text users and the HTML users, its that close.
The truth of the matter is that the most effective format to use for your email really depends on the offer youre presenting.
Both text and HTML email formats have their advantages and disadvantages. In this article I am going to go over the advantages and disadvantages of text and HTML email formats. Lets jump right in and start with the format text.
Text
Obviously the real advantage to using a text format is that you have a white background with black font making it very easy to read. The text format loads fast, no matter what size the email is.
If the email loads fast and is easy to read how can text formats have a disadvantage
Easy!
The real disadvantage of using text format is when you are using email as a source of marketing. To effectively use email marketing you need to use some sort of tracking software. Without tracking you will never know if the subject line and/or email offer needs work.
The point I am trying to make is that people are very cautious about clicking on tracking and affiliate links. As soon as they see a lengthy url, they get the impression that you are trying to sell them something and immediately delete the email. With a text formatted email you cannot hide long tracking urls from the recipient. With an HTML format you wont run into this problem, which brings us to...
HTML
The biggest advantage of using HTML is that you can hide your tracking urls from the viewer. Instead of having a long url in your email offer, you can use a simple "click here". Not only can you hide your tracking url, but you can also mask it from appearing in the browser window.
Moreover, HTML has a lot of disadvantages. For instance, some people cant view HTML email, while others can view it with a limited amount of space. HTML email files can be sizable and take up a lot of space. Most people who use HTML formatted email use a lot of images and other graphics to make their email have a professional appearence. But they dont stop and think about the size of the email that they are sending, and whether or not their recipients may have limited space.
Sending large email files is a sure way to get your recipients upset. You dont want to strike out before you have the chance to swing!
You can see that both email formats have their advantages, as well as their disadvantages. As for which format is the right one for you, it all depends on your offer.
If you are sending an email offer that doesnt require any lengthy tracking urls or has no affiliate urls, then text should be your format of choice.
Moreover, if you do have tracking or affiliate urls in your email offer, then HTML is the way to go. When using an HTML format be conservative, not everyone has broadband, youll find that a lot of people are still using 28.8k modems for their Internet connection.
When sending out an HTML email offer it should have a solid white background with black text, and absolutely no images or graphics. This way the email offer appears to be text and loads fast, when its actually HTML. Your viewer wont be able to see your long tracking or affiliate url which will increase your click through ratio and that means more sales.
Most autoresponders and email softwares have the ability to send email in both formats, but not all of them. There are still some that dont.
Rich Hamilton, Jr is the CEO/President of www.ElitesMarketing.com a.k.a. Elites Marketing, Inc and the Author of: "Inside Internet Marketing" http://www.InsideNetMarketing.com

About The Author

Rich Hamilton, Jr is the CEO/President of www.ElitesMarketing.com a.k.a. Elites Marketing, Inc and the Author of: "Inside Internet Marketing" www.InsideNetMarketing.com.

So, you were pleasantly surprised to learn that you are getting a refund on your taxes. Congratulations! The IRS expects to issue approximately $54 billion dollars in refunds for the 2003 tax year. The question for most taxpayers expecting a return is, "Where is my refund"
Check Your Refund Status Online
The easiest way to check on your refund is to ask the IRS through IRS.gov. On the home page of the site, you will see a "Wheres My Refund" link. Using the service is fairly easy. You will need a copy of your tax return to provide the necessary information to get the status of your refund. Specifically, you need to provide your social security number, you tax filing status and the exact amount of your refund. The reason the IRS requires all of this information is purely for security purposes, to wit, the agency wants to make sure it is giving access only to the taxpayer. Again, all of this information should be on your return. If it is not, something is very wrong!
Once you submit the required information, the IRS will provide online results typically showing:
1. That the return was received and is in processing;
2. The expected mailing date or direct deposit date of your refund; or
3. Whether your refund could not be issued because of a delivery problem.
In some cases, the results may alert you to the fact that the IRS is reviewing your tax return because of errors or questionable entries. In such a case, it is highly advised that you review your return with a qualified tax professional and make absolutely sure that the return will stand up to scrutiny.
How Long Do You Have To Wait Before Checking
If you filed your tax return electronically, you should be able to access the status of your refund within 48 to 72 hours. Since the return is coming into the database electronically, it should be assimilated into the system fairly quickly. If you do not file your return electronically, you are going to have to wait three weeks or more before the status of your return can be checked. As you can imagine, the IRS is receiving an enormous amount of paper tax returns and it takes time to organize and enter the returns into the system.
How Long Should It Take To Receive Your Tax Refund
If you are expecting a refund, the time to issue the refund will depend upon how you filed your return. If you filed a paper return via regular mail, you refund should be issued in six to eight weeks from the date it was received by the IRS. Alternatively, if you filed your return electronically, you should expect to receive your refund in three to four weeks. If you elected to have your refund directly deposited in your banking account, you should take one week off of the above estimates.

About The Author

Richard Chapo is President of BusinessTaxRecovery.com. Visit BusinessTaxRecovery.com to subscribe to a free newsletter offering monthly tax deduction tips for small businesses or contact Richard at Richard@businesstaxrecovery.com.

How To Raise Your Fees
There comes a time when it is inevitable that you must raise your fees in order to maintain both your profit margin and income level. You will find that the greatest resistance to this comes from your oldest clients.
There appears to be a direct correlation between the length of time a client is with you and the amount of outrage they show to your rate increase. This article will discuss the types of clients and how they usually react.
Keep in mind, no matter how you raise fees, how you approach telling clients or amount of lead time you give them, you will lose some clients. This is a given. I have found over the years that a very high percentage of clients lost are those that Im not crazy about working with anyway. Its worked out, for me anyway, that these former clients who complained the most about your fee increase, were responsible for 85-90% of the aggravation I encountered.
Clients are attracted to you for a variety of reasons. We would all like to think that it is because of our brilliant promotional pieces, our award winning designs, outstanding service, etc. The reality is that many clients are using your services strictly because of price. I refer to these clients as price loyal. They are loyal to whomever has the lowest price. This type of client is not particularly sensitive to quality of work or level of service you provide. They go strictly with the lowest price and if you have the opportunity to examine how they run their business, your see it operates on this principle. For me anyway, this type of client is no loss.
There is a second type of price conscious client that is concerned with the quality and type of service being provided to them. You may lose this type of client with a price increase, but youll find that they will be very apologetic about it. These clients truly can not afford the higher rates. They are usually a dream to work with, and I hate to lose them. In this situation, I will try a number of ways to keep them.
Your newer clients usually react in a more neutral manner to a rate increase. They havent been with you long enough to get a true baseline on your fee structures. You stand a very good chance of keeping these clients if the reasons for the rate increase are explained to them and not just dropped on them.
I find that I lose about 5-6% of my clients when I raise my fees. Usually, I suffer no income loss because my higher rates absorb their loss. Remember, the bottom line is you are selling your time, you must make the most efficient and profitable use of it. If your rates stay around market level, you should have little or no trouble finding new clients.
Copyright 2003, DeFiore Enterprises

About The Author

Interested in having your own successful, home based creative real estate investing business Chuck and Sue have been helping folks start successful home based businesses for over 17 years, and we can help you too! To see how, visit http://www.homebusinesssolutions.com for the latest FREE tips and tricks, educational products and coaching in creative real estate investing and home based businesses. No time to visit the site Subscribe to our FREE "how to" Home Business Solutions Digest, its like having your own personal coach: mailto:subscribeHBS@homebusinesssolutions.com

coaches@homebusinesssolutions.com

Creating your own site can be a satisfying experience. Here are some tips to help get you up and running.
Before doing anything on the technical side, you need some kind of basic idea to work with. I suggest first getting some paper and a pencil. Start by sketching a layout of how you would like your web page to appear. For example, a simple title at the top, the area in which you would like any content, pictures and so on. Now its time to do some programing!
Dont let the word programing scare you. Anyone can learn and there are several sites that offer free tutorials. One such site is http://www.w3schools.com/html/default.asp. Although it is not necessary to be a top notch programer to build and operate your web site, you should learn the basics of html. I recommend that you thoroughly learn about tables. They are widely used and with them, you can create a professional looking layout even as a beginner.
You can use any basic text editor, like notepad, to write, edit, and save your code html. When saving your work for the first time, choose Text Document for type of file, then save with the extension htm for example index.htm. Your home page the first page people usually see is normally saved as index.htm. To see how your page looks, double click on the file and it should automatically open up in your browser.
Now that youve got your web page ready to go, its time to find a host a place for your web page to live. Since this is your first site, I suggest you use Free Web Hosting. Some host will put advertising, such as a banner, on your site as the cost of free hosting. Others will only charge you to register your Domain Name www.YourSite.com. Be careful not to accidentally sign up for extras such as url protection, spam control, etc. unless you feel you need them as they will add to your cost. These sites will have a limit on bandwidth how much data that can be transmitted per month, email accounts, and maybe a few other things, but are still great for first timers. If later on you feel you need more, then you usually can upgrade. To find a host, just use any search engine and the keyword phrase Free Web Hosting.
Ok! Youve sketched a layout for your web page, learned some basic html, coded your web page, found your host with the most couldnt resist, and registered your URL www.YourSite.com. Now its time to upload transfer your file web page to your host. To do this you need a FTP program. FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. When using this application, there are usually two windows. The left window shows your computer files, and the right window shows the files stored on your host. For a good tutorial and to download a freeware FTP program, FTP Commander, go to http://www.nexcess.net/hosting/support/tutorials/ftp/ftpcommindex.php.
Now you should be up and running. But dont stop there. Continue to tweak, add pages, learn to link to other pages and sites, and frequently add new content. Who knows, you could eventually learn to profit from your creation.

About The Author

Tim Querrey is the owner of http://www.homerunbusinesses.com