After I graduated college I had a mountain of debt. I had 4 different student loans all due at different times during the month. I was barely able to make all the payments, never mind remember when each one was due. When I first graduated it was also hard to find a good paying job right away. This made my stress level quite high as I didn’t know how I would ever be able to pay off these loans. Fortunately I found a good student loan consolidation service which made my life a lot easier.

A good student loan consolidation service can reduce your monthly debt by as much as 60%. The interest rate and repayment times are all dependant on your credit rating and monthly income. I cut my monthly debt by around $400 when I consolidated, and it really helped me to start saving money.

One of the reasons you can save so much money is because you can choose to lengthen your repayment time by as much as 30 years. Even without an interest rate reduction, you should be able to save at least 40% on your monthly payments this way. The other thing I liked was that I didn’t need to think about 4 different bills every month with 4 different due dates. All I had was one easy payment a month. What a great way to start fresh after college. Once I got a good job I was able to make larger monthly payments and pay my loan off early!

When I consolidated my student loans my income to debt ratio also went down. If you don’t know your income to debt ratio is very important to banks when deciding if you qualify for a loan or not. Let’s say that you make $4000 a month and you have $2000 a month in bills. Your income to debt ratio would be at 50%. Most banks like to see your income to debt below 50% when deciding if you qualify for a loan and at what interest rate. Student loan consolidation services can reduce your income to debt ratio.

Consolidating my student loans was one of the best decisions I made in my early adult life. It allowed me to take my time in finding the right job and gave me peace of mind. If you are buried in student loan debt, then I highly recommend a good student loan consolidation service.

I am currently hosting a free website with loads of information on student loan consolidation services
Please stop by at http://studentloanconsolidationservices.org for reviews and info on some of the best programs.
We will also be adding a forum, so check back often!

The Babel Talmud says: “If a widower marries second time, he will still always remember his first wife. Once Abraham Lincoln told a funny story that describes that saying:

“During the sermon, the priest said that Jesus was the only perfect man in the entire world, and there is no mention of a perfect woman in Tanah or anywhere else. And at that moment one woman in the church stands up and says embarrassed: I have been listening to stories about one perfect woman for the last 6 years! -And who is she?- asks the priest -My husband’s first wife.

When wife dies, the world for a man becomes darker. Life without her seems to be empty and useless and very often a deep depression may occur in this situation. What’s important is not to break down. Any person sometimes gets into terrible situations, often connected with close relatives death, but it is important to stand up and go on with life!

Majority of men feel uncomfortable to date women after their wives pass away. And that is why it is very important for a matchmaker to create special atmosphere during the process of introduction.

When you start your correspondence with an Eastern European (Ukrainian or Russian) lady, you should explain her your situation. Tell her why you are willing the new relationship and this explanation will make your relationship grow stronger.

Assure the lady that you are sincerely willing to start new life and not planning to look back at the past all the time. One very important thing is children, if you are not willing to have children in future, you should state that, because most of Russian and Ukrainian ladies want to mothers. In this case it will probably be better to find a woman who has a child already.

Don’t try to find a lady who will be same as your late wife. It is impossible, as there are no same people in the world, it will only bring more sorrow to your heart, and second the girls who are you are meeting or talking to, will feel that she is being compared.

There are several ways to meet Russian girls nowadays. There are huge sites with multi thousand galleries and pictures of ladies from all over the Former Soviet Union. Another way is Personal agency, that doesn’t have so many ladies, but personally interviews those ladies and does the pictures of them. The bad thing about a Personalized agency is that the fees of such an organization (if it really does the work) are rather high, they include running a full time office, advertisment campaign, staff etc. But the good thing is that a Personalized agency knows in person all the female clients.

Here’s what an American guy says: The agency price is not low, and it takes a “leap of faith” to wire that kind of money to the other side of the world, but my result was excellent. I am now engaged to an exceptionally intelligent, beautiful Ukrainian lady. I know in my heart that she loves me dearly. In Ukraine, “love” is not an expression used flippantly as in the USA. it is an emotion with extremely serious gravity.

Wish you good luck in finding your soul mate!

Mishael Mordinson is a representative of A Mordinson Introduction http://www.mordinson.com Elite Dating and Marriage Club in Kharkov, Ukraine. Presenting some of the most Attractive Traditional Life values Russian Brides. Learn more about Marriage Minded Women from Ukraine at http://www.mordinson.com

Mordinson company was started by Efim Yankelevich Mordinson as a family organization in 1980, the main direction of it was photography business. The new direction “Introduction service” has been developed in 1999.

During the years of successful work A Mordinson Introduction has matched many happy couples. The photographs and the personal experience sharing of some Mordinson clients you can find at Love stories.

The Mordinson works towards your unique needs and requirements for a significant relationship. A Mordinson Introduction specializes exclusively in long-term relationships.

Are you a recent graduate, just out of school? Are you looking
for a career change? Have you recently been laid off and need
to find a new job now? Regardless of your current employment
situation, you can use these job hunting tips to help you put
together a job search that will see you in your dream job in no
time.

Your job search is your job! Unless you’re as lucky as that one in a billion person discovered
while waitressing and whisked away to fame and fortune, your job is not going
to come to you. You have to go out and find it. And the best way to do that
is to treat your job search like a job itself.

You need to put together a job search plan. What kind of job do you want?
Where do you want to work? What kind of work environment are you looking
for? What is your salary range? What about a career path and opportunities
for advancement? These are the types of things you need to know about yourself
and your job search before you start sending out resumes.

You need to identify your skill set as part of your job search. The better
you can match your skills to potential employment opportunities, the better
chance you’ll have of landing the interview, and eventually the job.

Not only do you need to identify your skills that an employer is looking for,
you need to showcase your skills and sell the employer on them as well. You
need to do this in your cover letter, your resume, the job interview, your
follow up thank you letter, and any phone calls in between. These are your
only opportunties to shine and let your potential employer know that they’d
be crazy to offer anyone else the job but you.

A lot of people are uncomfortable with selling themselves. They don’t want
to seem egotistical. While it’s true that you don’t want to come off as
arrogant or condescending in your job search, resume or interview, remember
that your employer needs to know that you are the right person. And no one
is going to sell them on that fact if you don’t. You don’t have to sound
like a know it all, but you do need to convey to your potential employer
why you are the right person for the job.

Learn more about how to plan an effective job search with Freddie Johnson’s free articles on resumes, cover letters, interview and job search tips at http://www.resume-cover-letter-and-career-tips.com

With the numerous resources available to assist employers with motivating their people, I’m concerned that all we’re doing is creating a bunch of overachievers. Overachieving is over-rated.

In order to be fair and balanced, I think we need a good lesson in how to demotivate people. It’ll do their over-sized egos some good. Toughen up the masses.

Besides, recent studies show that we’re spending WAY too much time trying to boost everyone’s self-esteem. So let’s step back a bit from the compliment and think more in line with containment.

I really think it might catch on. When was the last time your heard of a conference where they brought in demotivational speakers who gave demotivational advice? The goal would be to bring everything down to the lowest common denominator. The theme could be - United & Conformed: We Are The Weakest Links!

Do you know people who are too excited and too positive? Why not spend some time demotivating them. Here’s just a few suggestions:

* Give them MEANINGLESS work.
Nothing says, “You’re not important” more than assigning the mundane tasks to the same person over and over again.

* Set expectations extremely low or too high to reach.
And if they get too close to the high ones, sabotage their results.

* Ask them to do things you haven’t trained them for.
I love a good POP QUIZ. Keeps the troops on their toes. Let the creative one in your bunch spend an afternoon running the accounting department. C’mon…it’ll be fun!

* Don’t just reward one person, reward everyone the same…no matter how much one person worked to pull the thing off.
Equality rules. Overachieving drools. If one person works too hard, it makes all the mediocre ones look bad.

* Charge your people for everything.
Paperclips, toilet paper, even their office space. Nothing says you’re part of the company more than being nickled and dimed by the company.

* Only talk to them when they do something wrong.
Because if they do something right, there’s plenty of other people to pat them on the back. Why do they need to hear that from their leader? You should only show your face when they screw up. That way, they’ll respect you more…or something like that.

* Forget their name…or better yet, keep calling them by a different name that sounds similar.
Look how cool James Bond is! His people called him by a number. He always had to go around telling people his name…Bond…James Bond. That’s cool. Why not call the people in your organization by a number. “Employee #32, please come here and see me…you’ve screwed up again!”

* Claim the credit for your organization’s success.
You’re the boss. You deserve it.
You made it happen. You’re in charge. Everyone below you exists for your success. If you take all the credit, nobody gets overconfident. Just make sure you point out the people who messed up when things go bad. Why would you want to take credit for that?

As I look back over this list, I’m surprised more people haven’t caught on to this. I mean, this is why the television show, The Office, is so popular…right?

I’m just saying…

Tim Milburn develops student leaders through his organization, Studentlinc.

Please visit Studentlinc at http://www.studentlinc.net

You can subscribe to the Studentlinc blog by following this feed: http://feeds.feedburner.com/studentlinc

Sometimes in business we are so involved in the little things that we forget to refer back to the top of the pyramid. At the top of this pyramid is your company’s brand. This is a reminder as to how important your brand is and how properly executing it illustrates its true essence.

The Umbrella Over Your Brand

Your brand is how you want to be perceived and what your consumers expect. It is the umbrella over your entire company. Some may think logos, commercials, and glossy photos make up a brand. This is not true - those are marketing plans that only present the brand.

A businesses brand is the overall character and quality of the business. Big businesses have sub brands for other products and services, yet they all relate back to the overall brand, never shying away from the businesses true personality.

It is important that this umbrella covers your products and services. You should also remember that employees, consumers, shareholders, and the media must reinforce your brand. Everyone that comes into contact with your business must know the same brand.

Starbuck’s is a great example of a business that umbrella’s their brand. When hiring employee’s, corporate to café, they look for a certain personality. This is not someone who can just do the job, but someone who already embodies the Starbuck’s brand personality. Starbuck’s drinkers, employees, shareholders, and media all know Starbuck’s to be a delicious, tasteful, and exotic treat that recognizes diversity in its coffee and people. Starbuck’s has a brand for Starbuck’s and also a sub-brand for its environmental leadership - each appealing to a different audience while sharing common characteristics, but emphasizing slightly different personalities, values and goals.

An umbrella over your brand can be done with conscious thought and a well-developed plan. Define yourself as one business brand then accentuate the qualities inside that brand to develop sub-brands. Your communication and marketing plans will follow brilliantly.

Let Kinetica Media guide you through the process and open your new world of communication. Visit us at http://www.kineticamedia.com The author Malerie Giaimo is a spring Public Relations intern at Kinetica Media.

The New Year started with high hopes. By now reality has set in and you’re taking a long hard look at your numbers. If you’re tracking behind quota, you may think you still have plenty of time. But considering the average sales cycle, it’s time to get a clear picture of what’s in your funnel today to put your quota within reach.

Many salespeople tell us they put prospects “into the pipeline,” “into the hopper” or “into the top of the funnel” and then wait for completed orders and contracts to come out the other end. But you’ve got to work the funnel – routinely and aggressively – so that your deals (and your income) are predictable.

What does it mean to “work the funnel”?

Your funnel is a tool to help manage your selling time more effectively. It helps you sort, re-sequence, allocate, track and forecast. It can be viewed as containing several different levels, and each of these is associated with a particular kind of selling work.

Each part of the funnel is associated with one, and only one, kind of work. As a sales professional, you must be able to do all four. You have to be able to prospect, qualify, cover the bases and close the deal. You’ll achieve the predictable income you want only if you consistently do the right kind of work on each possible deal at the right time.

Now is your opportunity to be sure you’ve sorted your funnel properly and that you’re matching each level with the appropriate actions. Look at what is in the funnel, what needs to happen next and see if you can move your deals to the next level.

Universe – Prospect for new business
Ask: “From what I know about this prospect’s business, is there at least a possibility that there’s a match between their way of doing business and my ideal customer profile?”

Above the funnel – Qualify your prospects
Ask: “Do I have concrete data suggesting there’s a possible fit between their current business needs and my product or service?”

In the funnel – Cover your bases
Ask: “Have I spoken to at least one buying influence about a growth or trouble issue?”

Best few – Close the deal
Ask: “Do I know the specific ‘end’ tasks I need to perform to close this deal?”

Want to know more? Need a refresher course?
Strategic Selling® workshops are held frequently near your location. Go to www.millerheiman.com to find a Strategic Selling® sales training in your area.

Miller Heiman brings science to the art of selling. We help salespeople develop strategy, implement a practical process and build sales skills to rise to the top of their game, hit their numbers and make quota. And we help sales organizations drive revenue, predictability, operational efficiency and superior performance.

Miller Heiman has been a thought leader and innovator in the sales arena for almost thirty years, helping clients worldwide win high-value complex deals, protect and grow key accounts, manage talent and optimize sales strategies and operations.

With a prestigious client list that includes Fortune 500 clients, Miller Heiman helps companies in virtually every major industry to build high performance sales teams that deliver consistent sustainable results to drive revenue through consulting and sales training.

When branding a product or your business it is important that you give your consumers what you have promised them from the beginning. Two branding musts that will ensure success are: one, make a promise for life and two, be consistent in your market. Learn how one company made giant waves in the consumer spending pool.

Make A Promise For Life

Give your customers your promised brand all the time. They like something about your business, that’s why they chose you. When discussing plans or projects be certain that both parties understand and like the perspective outcome. Still - it must stay true to your distinct brand.

A great recent example is the Motorola RZR. This cell phone was the thinnest of its kind and its sleek soft look was a must have. Not to mention it had music, video and Internet. This modern product enabled Motorola to brand its business all over the cell phone industry. The RZR in time sold to every cell phone service provider. Motorola used every bit of the consumer craze to assist in marketing their brand. There branding promise of hip, stylish and fun once again won over consumers.

Be Consistent In Your Market

This means once you determine your brand don’t ever leave it. A brand gains recognition with time and dedication. It is gained by the respect and appreciation of its consumers. If you produce an excellent product that your business prides in, your brand will gain recognition.

In reference to the Motorola example, Motorola’s brand is known for its sophisticated, smooth design and innovated software and technology. When the RZR hit stores, Motorola’s brand made a mark in consumer buying power. Consumers now know the name Motorola better than before. They also expect the same brand in the future, empowering them to believe Motorola is the better the brand.

Stay true and consistent to your consumers. They will reward you buy purchasing your product over and over again. Create, design and have pride in your brand.

Let Kinetica Media guide you through the process and open your new world of communication. Visit us at http://www.kineticamedia.com The author Malerie Giaimo is a spring Public Relations intern at Kinetica Media.

In the event a loan becomes non-performing, commercial lending institutions that hold mortgages in Indiana need to be familiar with deeds in lieu of foreclosure.

Who. The parties to a deed in lieu are the mortgagor (generally, the borrower) and the mortgagee (usually, the lender). Both sides must consent. Most lawyers will say that it isn’t advisable to accept a deed in lieu if there are multiple lien holders. Lenders will have to negotiate releases of those liens in order to secure clear title. The better approach may be to proceed with foreclosure, which will wipe out such liens.

What. A deed in lieu of foreclosure is a document that conveys title to real estate. What is unique about this particular deed is that the mortgagor surrenders its interests in the real estate to the mortgagee in consideration for a complete release from liabilities under the loan documents. The release, among other things, usually is articulated in a separate settlement agreement.

When. Lenders normally pursue deeds in lieu when there is no chance of collecting a deficiency judgment –the mortgagor is judgment proof. For example, this option makes sense with non-recourse loans. Another consideration is when the value of the property unquestionably exceeds the amount of the debt. If the lender thinks it may be able to liquidate the real estate for more than the borrower owes, pursuing a money judgment may be superfluous.

The parties typically will explore a deed in lieu of foreclosure early on in the dispute - once a determination is made by the lender to foreclose. Although this is the point in which deeds in lieu are best utilized, in Indiana it’s possible to execute the deed right up until the time the property is sold at a sheriff’s sale.

Where. Deeds in lieu are the product of out-of-court settlements. The process of the securing of a deed in lieu is non-judicial.

Why. The fundamental reasons why a lender may want to take a deed in lieu of foreclosure involve time and money. A deed in lieu grants to the lender immediate possession of the real estate. Several months, conceivably years, can be saved. Just as importantly, spending thousands of dollars, primarily in attorney’s fees, could be avoided by cutting to the chase with a deed in lieu. Expediency and expense are the primary factors that motivate lenders to accept a deed in lieu of foreclosure.

How. Other than the obvious – executing a deed – there are certain steps a lender should consider taking before it enters into a deed in lieu. The lender should know whether it is acquiring clear title. A title insurance policy commitment should be ordered to examine the status of any liens, taxes and other potential clouds on title. Work also may need to be done to get a handle on the value of the property. This may include an appraisal, an inspection or an environmental assessment. These things generally are recommended when evaluating how to proceed with any distressed loan.

One potential land mine must be specifically highlighted here. Without getting too technical, in Indiana there needs to be language in the deed protecting against a merger of the mortgagor’s fee simple title and the mortgagee’s lien interest, which merger could extinguish the mortgagee’s rights under the mortgage. Without the appropriate language expressing the intent of the parties in the deed, the lender’s interest in the property could become subject to junior liens without the right to foreclose. So, be sure that you or your lawyer inserts an anti-merger clause into the deed. Please contact me if you want to see an anti-merger clause our firm has used.

John D. Waller is a partner at the Indianapolis law firm of Wooden & McLaughlin LLP. He publishes the blog Indiana Commercial Foreclosure Law at http://commercialforeclosureblog.typepad.com John’s phone number is 317-639-6151, and his e-mail address is jwaller@woodmclaw.com.

It’s a fact… at least 80 percent of all millionaires have built their wealth in one way or another with real estate and the good news is today it can be easier for you to do than ever before.

“I wish I had bought 5 years ago”… everyday someone asks me; “when’s the right time to buy”?… today!
(Real Estate Guru Ozzy Jurock)

Yes, in 5 years today will be 5 years ago! When is the best time to get started? Today. It’s a mistake to think that you’ve missed out, or there aren’t any more good deals out there. Remember Mark Twain’s famous quote… “Buy land, they’re not making more of it!” If you live in a big city and the prices are just too high for you to get in the market, you need to look at smaller towns several hours away where the prices may be just a fraction of what they are in the big city that you live in. You must investigate, locate, then negotiate.

Before World War Two only the rich could buy real estate, but since then there has been an almost unlimited supply of mortgage money. Even better, these days there are so many lenders that they are fighting over each other to lend you money. And gone are the days when you had to have 20% of the down payment in cash. Because of this fierce money lending competition most financial institutions will give you the mortgage you need for 100% of the property cost.

Investing in real estate is also the easiest and safest way to create wealth… can you image going up to your banker and asking for a $200,000 loan to buy some really hot stock you just learned about? I don’t think so. But find a great property and you’ll have no problem because there’s no chance it will lose it’s value, unless there is a natural disaster and for that there is insurance so this doesn’t have to be a risky business.

Top reasons why real estate is better than any other investments:

1. You build equity while using it (living in it)
2. It’s a tax shelter
3. Possible investment returns of 40%, 50%, or more
4. Great leveraging with OPM (other people’s money)

… with a small amount of money you can control a large amount of assets - if you put $10.000 down on a $200.000 property that means with just a 5% down payment you control a $200,000 investment.

Also, with some creative strategies, you can buy real estate even if you have no money. You can’t do that with gold, silver, bonds, stocks, and art. Look seriously at real estate investing, it’s the world’s number one wealth Builder!

Get more free tips and information on beginning real estate investing and how to build your wealth the way most millionaires have through investment techniques such as flipping and foreclosures at http://www.Real-Estate-Wealth-Builder.info
John Ferreira is a successful musician, recording artist, investor, webmaster living in Canada touring and surfing the world!

Let’s begin with defining what an “ezine” is and how it can help you drive tons of traffic to your website and help you sell products and services. An ezine (electronic magazine) is much like a traditional magazine or newsletter. However, it is only delivered via email. People sign up to receive ezines for free or a monthly subscription fee. Most ezines are published weekly, but some are published daily, monthly or bi-monthly.

Generating Traffic with Ezines (Ads)

Classified Ads: the cheapest ads you can buy. Classified ads are limited to two or three lines and placed at the end of the ezine. Unless you place a classified ad in an ezine with 30,000 subscribers or more, your chances of getting a response are very small.

Sponsor Ads: these are more expensive than classified ads, but will give you much better response. Sponsor ads can be placed at the top, middle or bottom of an ezine issue. You can include more text in a sponsor ad so it’s a good way to test your copy before going all out on a solo ad.

Solo Ads: these are the king of all ezine ads because your offer is sent exclusively to everyone on the mailing list and gets the full attention of the subscribers. No articles or other content is included. Solo ads can be expensive, but they can increase your response by as much a 100% over sponsor ads. You can usually expect a 10% response rate from a good solo ad. In other words, if you purchase a solo ad for $100 in an ezine with 10,000 subscribers, you should expect about 1,000 highly targeted visitors.

Note: Solo ads can be purchased for as little as $10. You will usually get a better response from a $10 solo ad sent to 500 subscribers than you will from a $10 classified ad sent to 5,000.

Here’s your step-by-step guide to successful ezine advertising.

Step One: Subscribe to 3 or More Ezines

Subscribe to ezines that offer top sponsor and solo ads within your budget. Subscribing to ezines before you place your ads will allow you to determine the quality of the list and potential profitability of your campaign before you spend any money. You can also make sure your ad goes out.

You can find a wide variety of ezines in these directories:
http://topezineads.com
http://www.directoryofezines.com

Step Two: Contact the Advertisers

The surest way to maximize your results from any ezine is to ask people who have already advertised. Take a few minutes to contact one or more people who have placed ads similar to the one you want to place. Tell them you’re new to ezine advertising and are afraid of losing money. Most people will be glad to help you out. And if they had a bad experience, they’ll definitely let you know.

In addition, if you see the same ad running multiple times, that’s a good indication that it was profitable. Smart marketers will run the same ad at least three times if the first one was successful.

Step Three: Contact the Ezine Publisher
Contact the publisher to find out if anyone has else has purchased an ad within the last month for the same product you want to promote. This is critical because you don’t want to advertise the same product to people who may have already purchased.
Here are some additional questions to ask (if they are not stated on the website):

• Can I personalize the subject line?
• Can I personalize the message?
• If yes, what are the personalization codes?
• How often to you publish?
• When is your next opening?
• What is the maximum word count?

Step Four: Set Up an Ad Tracker

You will want to create a tracking campaign for each ezine that you advertise in. The system will create a link for you to use and it will track your visitors and commissions just like your regular affiliate link.

Never pay for adverting unless you can track the response. You need to know how many visitors and sales you get for each ad you place so you can determine whether or not you want to run another ad in a particular ezine.

This information is critical for determining how well each ad campaign does and how well you’re converting visitors into sales. Sometimes you just need to tweak your ad copy and run the ad again for better results.

If you get good results the first time, run your ad again in a week or two. Not everyone will buy the first time around. And many who were “on the fence” the first time they saw your ad, may purchase the second time around.

Step Five: Write Your Ad

Most affiliate programs provide pre-written ads for you to use. While that is convenient, you’ll get much better results if you don’t repurpose them word for word. Make them unique and follow some of these suggestions:

• Add a personal endorsement. With all the hype online, people are more likely to read and click on something that you personally recommend.

• Use a testimonial from the sale letter for the product you are promoting. That’s an easy way to get content for a good solo ad.

• Use other people’s ads. One of the bests ways to come up with ideas for good ads is to read ezines. Look for ads that catch your eye. Modify them to fit the product you’re promoting and add your own personal touch.

Step Six: Place Your Order

This is the easy part. You simply fill out a form with your ad copy and credit card information. After you process the order you will receive a confirmation telling you when the ad will run. And since you are already subscribed to the ezine, you can verify it yourself. Don’t rely on them to send you a “courtesy copy.”

Step Seven: Put Half Your Profits Back Into Advertising

Once you start generating sales from your ezine ads (this is why you need to track them accurately), take half of your profit and use that to purchase more ezine space. This ensures profitable growth and proper allocation of your marketing spend.

Ezine marketing and advertising is the same as any other online marketing vehicle. The key is to start small, test, evaluate the results, and channel your marketing to those ezines that produce a positive return. Once you’re up and running, continue to tweak your ad to see if you can increase response rates.

Michael Fleischner is an Internet marketing expert with more than 12 years of marketing experience. He has appeared on The TODAY Show, Bloomberg Radio, and other major media. For your copy of the free SEO report visit MarketingScoop.com.