Upon getting information about an upcoming school science fair and the need to consider a topic of interest, many students will typically have no idea where to get started. While the science fair is typically a common occurrence in any school at any grade level, there are different types of topics that should be taken a look at depending on the age of the student. After first taking a look at the many different categories of science projects, you will be able to locate a suitable choice of topic to take to the next level.There is a wide variety of categories that fall under the types of science projects that can be chosen for a school science fair. These include biology, chemistry, physics, microbiology, biochemistry, medicine, environmental, mathematics, engineering, and earth science. While you may not have yet learned very much in any of these categories, don’t be afraid to see what each one entails. Taking a good look at your interests will allow you to focus on the right direction to take.Many resources are also available for those who are unsure as to the topic they are wanting to use to create their science projects. If you take a look at the topics that fall under the biology category, you will likely notice that there are topics that deal with plants, animals, and humans. For those who are in 2nd grade or 3rd grade, an interesting topic may be to determine if ants are picky over what type of food they eat. While this topic might not be of interest to an 8th grader, it is certainly something in the biology category that an elementary school student would enjoy.Along with the biology category, a high school student may want to take a look at diffusion and osmosis in animal cells as this would be a more appropriate topic for the grade level. A student in 6th grade would be more advanced than an elementary school student, but not as advanced as a high school student. At this middle school grade level, a topic of how pH levels effect the lifespan of a tadpole may be of interest.Whichever resource is used to locate a topic for science projects, it is always a good idea to consider the grade level of the student prior to making a selection. It is always assumed to be best to have a project at an appropriate level in order to keep the attention of the student and provide a fun and enjoyable learning experience.
Become a Social Worker
What Does a Social Worker Do?
They provide psychosocial counseling and support to individuals and families facing acute or chronic illnesses. They should practice staying calm in stressful environments and have a strong background in psychology. They often work in treatment centers, hospitals and other medical facilities.They help protect children at risk by coordinating a host of services for both the children and their families. The profession is also known as family services social workers, child welfare workers or child protective services workers. These professionals go out into the field to work with needy children by providing the personal, social or psychological help they might need.Online Degrees for Child Social WorkersMost child social workers require a minimum of a bachelor’s degree in social work. However, if you plan to work in a clinical setting with children and their families, a master’s degree in social work will be needed. Many others in the field also earn master’s degrees, particularly if they want to advance to a management level.Online Degrees for Medical Social WorkersA career as a MSW requires a master’s degree, licensure by state and supervised work in a clinical setting for one to two years. Obtaining a bachelor’s degree in social work, psychology or health and human services could prove beneficial for aspiring MSW’s.Child Soc. Worker TrainingBecause a CSW may be called upon to provide a variety of services to at-risk children and their families, experience in the following may be helpful:
Dealing with teen pregnancy, eating disorders or truancy
Handling behavioral disorders in both children and teenagers
Rescuing children who have been neglected or abused
Overseeing the adoption processMedical Soc. Workers TrainingConsider gaining experience in some of the following areas to prepare for a career in social work:
Answering phones for crisis hotlines
Working as a research assistant for psychological or social studies
Volunteering at hospitals or other medical facilitiesAccording to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, job growth for social workers is expected to increase much faster than average for all occupations through 2016.Learn More
How Are You Smart?
How smart are you? I sometimes pose this cruel question to students at the outset of a workshop on intelligence and learning. Some students sense the tease, and I get my desired response through quizzical and hazy answers from students clearly not happen with my question! And nor should they be. It is a dumb question, and the wrong question. How smart are you assumes two things:
1) intelligence is one dimensional and we all are placed somewhere along it’s continuum
2) intelligence is fixed
This has significant implications for students, especially those who do not see themselves as being smart. Not only is their self esteem injured, but they will very often give up on the effort required to improve their ‘smartness’.
Changing the sequence of words in this question to ‘How are you smart’ fixes the first problem. This question rightly assumes that we are all smart but in different ways. Howard Gardner is recognised as a key figure in liberating intelligence from its narrow dimensions to the multi dimensional, but the concept is hardly Copernican. Put simply, just because a person is good at something does not guarantee proficiency in another thing. As I see it, the main problem in school education is a kind of reversal of this, and we need to proclaim that just because a child is not good in certain areas – for example numeracy or literacy, does not warrant their intellect to be written off.
The triumvirate of maths, science and literacy is all pervasive in schools, commanding large tracts of time at the expense of other ways of knowing and learning. I can’t speak for all students of course, but having worked with students in many countries recently I have found in their interpretation of intelligence, a common denominator almost exclusively bound to written words and maths. The broader view of multiple intelligences is wonderfully empowering for students. I take school groups through the Gardner model of 8 MI asking students to identify the areas they are strong in. Kids love this. They observe in their class a diversity of human capacity that surrounds them, and they see that all students can identify strengths in at least some areas. Interestingly -and of some concern is that of the eight MI, less hands are rising for number smart and word smart than for almost all other MI. Given the time allocation to these departments, why is this so? Maybe this is connected to a fixed view of intelligence within these subjects, or maybe it has to do with a compartmentalization and isolation of the subject from context. Stanford University professor and psychologist Dr. Carol Dweck is convinced that learning effort is seen as fruitless by students when views of intelligence are fixed. This fascinating area of educational psychology requires further expansion in another article (read her book ‘The Mindset’). In a nutshell fixed intelligence implies a deterministic view of the world whilst movable intelligence embraces challenge, effort as the pathway to mastery, persistence, and in general gives students a greater sense of free will.
Which of Gardner’s eight MI is the most important intelligence? This seemingly ‘wrong’ question can precipitate a fascinating exploration of the value in all intelligences. As we move from one MI to another, students speak up on the merits of each until a conclusion is reached: they are all equally important. This has the makings of a wonderful debate. Yes, numeracy, literacy and science are most definitely important but not to the exclusion of the arts, physical education, emotional and naturalist intelligence. So at this point we embrace two essential learnings:
1) We are all smart, but in different ways
2) All types of knowing are important and there is no consensus as to what is the most important. Fully human diversity embraces all MI.
This self knowledge about our strengths and weaknesses is valuable, but needs to be applied. What intelligence area do you resonate with and are really good at?
Do you want to be an expert?
What do we need to do to get really good at something?
How can you support your quest to advance in your favoured intelligence?
We talk about finding groups of like minded people, mentors, reading books, watching documentaries and so on; that learning is most successful when driven by the self, and internalised. We also discuss deep learning skills like metacognition, repetition, slow learning, chunking and the 10 000 hour rule. Intrinsic motivation via Csiksentmihalyi’s Flow model is referred to. What about the weaker learning areas we need to strengthen? Such a question invites students to reflect on what they recognize a need to improve in. This is where a movable against fixed view of intelligence is vital. “I’m just not good at maths” is deterministic and belies the role of effort. Indeed we are born with or without certain natural dispositions and inclinations, but who is to say that over a period of sustained effort we cannot fulfill our potential and improve our capacities? Students must believe in improvement through effort. Further essential learnings:
3) The nature of expertise begins with a degree of genetic disposition, passion and opportunity, but cross-discipline studies in expertise have found the most significant factor is sustained effort over a period of time.
4) We are not destined to be ‘poor’ at something forever. We can always improve on our acuity, with effort.
5) We should further develop our strengths in terms of increasing complexity, but also shore-up our weaknesses. Our lives will be all the richer if we fully embrace the physical, social, emotional, artistic and academic opportunities given to us.
The intelligence paradox is that successful learning often involves a symbiotic relationship between learning domains. For example, I think better after I do physical exercise, or in the case of Einstein, after I play the violin. It is ironic that the compartmentalization and focus of learning areas has apparently led to lower learning outcomes, as evident in some western education systems. This brings us to the wonderful world of trans-disciplinary learning, making connections and more fully using our brain – a topic for another day.
5 Keys To Unlocking The Secret To A Successful Online Business
The Way Most People Look At Online BusinessMany people start an online business, or any small business that doesn’t require a huge amount of start-up capital, and then just… give up! What’s worse, they blame the business model saying, “Oh, that thing doesn’t work”.What’s really funny to me is that a lot of people lump an online business into the likes of network marketing, or multi-level marketing models, which is distinctly not true at all!It’s just their ignorance of the subject showing!My mentor and online marketing expert says there are primarily 5 keys needed to create a sustainable online business.So What Are the 5 Keys To Unlocking the Secret To A Successful Online Business?Key #1: It’s A Business Not A HobbyYou must differentiate between earning a living online and making money online. Earning a sustainable income involves learning the business of how to provide more value to people online, whereas making money online involves chasing the “new thing” to hit town, or that get rich quick scheme your neighbor is doing. You know, that deal that says, “You can become a millionaire for $99.95!” Generally, opportunity seekers.It’s important to learn the skills required to build and operate a successful business. It’s like the difference between flying a simulated plane program and flying a real plane. You wouldn’t expect to jump into a real plane and just.. fly… would you? Of course not! You need to learn how to fly a plane successfully, from an expert!Why would you expect to just “know” how to build a profitable online business? You need to learn from someone, preferably an expert! Always choose to learn from someone who is experiencing the success you want. Never from someone who just teaches theory.Key #2: Be Prepared To Take Action And Get StartedNo experience is necessary to start learning how to build an online business. You really just need to be teachable!There is no age requirement. In fact, the average age of students in one cutting edge online business training platform is 48. There are students ranging from 16 through 75.The only thing really required is that you have a strong work ethic and a big dream.A great business training program should consist of plug and play style training modules, including a personal success blueprint.You should be able to work in these modules at your own pace and have access to live and recorded training workshops.The best advice is to use the 80/20 rule for training.You should spend 20% of your time learning and 80% of your time applying that knowledge.Too many people can get stuck in training mode and never take a step into action. Also called, “Information Constipation”.Not using the 80/20 rule leads to overwhelm, and overwhelm doesn’t lead to action.Key #3: Provide Proper ValueIn order for you to stand out, and not be mistaken for one of those less than authentic individuals that you can find online, or anywhere really, you need to provide value, real value to your prospective customers.When you provide real value to people you don’t have to talk them into anything using phony language. Just be yourself, be genuine.Real value consists of providing the tools and information your prospects need to help them make an informed decision and improve their life.Key #4: Learn How To Drive TrafficMany folks believe that if you build it (a slick website) they will come (people by the dozens!). Unfortunately it’s not that simple.A new website is like a new brick and mortar shop tucked away in a dark little part of town that nobody knows is there.You have to learn how to “drive traffic” to your website. This is the “meat” of any good business training, and is the cornerstone of an online business. No traffic = no salesKey #5: Learn How To Convert The TrafficLearning how to convert traffic is about providing the right offer.Providing the right offer is about solving your prospective customer’s problem.We all have a problem, (some of us way more than one!) something that keeps you awake at night, or that you tend to worry about.It could be mounting medical bills, or the fear of illness and how it could impact your life, the job market & job security, sending kids to school, helping aging parents, not enough retirement income, the list goes on… and on.Part of the education process is learning about people, how to communicate, how to help them solve their problems, along with the process of buying.Side note: The beauty of developing an online business is that you can sell your own products or somebody else’s products as an affiliate marketer. Or, with the right guidance and education, you could discover what you are really passionate about and build a business around it. It really is possible for anyone to build an online passion business.I would add one more key to these 5.I would add that you have to want to help people. If you are only interested in making money you will be building your business on shifting sand rather than a solid foundation.Not that there is anything wrong with making money, but it shouldn’t be the primary reason to be an entrepreneur.Being An EntrepreneurBeing an entrepreneur is more about building something, helping people, and changing their lives. It’s solving a problem. Being innovative. Be someone who wants more than just to change one life, theirs! Be someone who can have an impact on the world by just being honest, authentic and caring.
Simplified Telecommunications Project Management
In the world of project management, consistency in process is crucial. At a high level all key areas of a project should be followed as well as the processes within those key areas.Telecommunications is a unique industry with its own special language. In order to effectively manage a project in the telecommunications industry, you must first learn the language. Managing the implementation of a PRI circuit can be much different than managing the implementation of a DS3 or Advanced Features.However, there are some basic high level guidelines you can follow on almost every telecommunications project that will help guide you through the process. These steps are by no means the only considerations in a telecommunications project, but they will help make sure you have a basic understanding as to how these projects move along. You can then embed basic project management principles with these specific telecommunication steps to comprehensively manage a circuit implementation project.Basic Telecommunications Project Steps:
In telecommunications, it is likely that the sales person and the project manager are two different people. As the project manager, you need to make sure you talk with both the sales person and the customer to gain a full understanding of the customer’s objectives and timeframes. Make sure you have a good understanding as to how the customer plans to use the new telecommunications circuit.
Be sure you understand if there is new building construction involved. If a large pipeline is required such as a DS3 or larger, talk with whomever you can on the service provider that actually works with resources near the customer’s install site to ensure special construction is not required. Construction of any kind can vastly change a project timeline. A good salesperson may have already done this type of up-front legwork, but many will not.
Make sure you understand basic installation timeframes for specific circuit types. There are hard timeline limitations with telecommunications and you want to be sure you do not promise dates where you have no business doing so. You can quote typical timelines for specific types of circuits, but be sure not to over promise if you do not know every last detail involved in the implementation. Telecommunications can offer many surprises, so tread lightly.
Once you review the technical specifications of the project with the customer and a telecom service technician, make sure the timeline for the project matches the customer’s expectations.
There are specific telecom related steps in a circuit implementation project that ring true for most circuits. You can monitor whether these tasks have taken place to help keep the project on track. Steps A. through E. should be able to occur within a 30 day timeframe. This includes:
The project going into circuit design quickly after the technical specifications are reviewed
Receipt of the Circuit ID’s (generally 10 business days after going into circuit design)
The ASR being submitted to the actual service provider
The FOC date being issued
The Actual FOC date itself (usually 5 business days after FOC date is issued)
Carrier Test and Acceptance of the Circuit, prior to activation of the circuit with the customer (generally takes 2 days after the FOC date)
Actual Customer circuit activation and cut-over date
How to Use the Google Finance Search Tools
Stocks and the stock market is a fast-paced world to keep up with. In order to stay ahead of the game, you’ve got to be organized, aware of what’s going on, and have easy access to the latest financial news. The Internet has quickly become the number on means of getting and sharing information immediately. This is crucial for keeping up with finance. Furthermore, websites like Google.com have additional tools and resources to stay updated and informed about the financial market. Google Finance is a branch from Google.com that focuses solely on the financial information and news that is so vital to you.To access Google Finance, click “more” at the top of the page on Google’s homepage, then click Finance. On the home page of Google Finance is five tools that will help you stay updated and organized. Here’s a brief description of how to use each of these tools:*Markets*This is a great way to get a quick overview of the current position of global markets. The top section, “Market Summary” shows articles from leading stock market analysts and is updated quite frequently. You will see a link to the original article, a summary, who provided the information, when it was posted (in minutes), and include a picture of any grafts or images were included in the article. This is a great way to see what the latest news is, and decide from there if you want to read the full story.The next section in the “Markets” tool is the top news stories relating to the market. Under that is the “Sector Summary” showing the increase or decrease percentages for stock in certain sectors, like Basic Materials, Conglomerates, and Energy. The last section in “Markets” is a basis analysis of market trends, including for categories:* Popular-showing the trends for the most popular, most researched corporations and businesses.
* Price-showing the top 5 stocks that are currently gaining and losing percentages.
* Mkt Cap-showing the top 5 gainers and losers with the highest market cap.
* Vol-showing the top 10 stocks with the highest volume.*News*Basically, this is a listing of all the news stories about the market. The news is listed in the order that they were posted with links to the original article, a summary, and the company that provided the information. To the right is a subsection of “Top Stories”, to see the most popular news stories.*Portfolios*You must have an account with Google to use this section. This is where you can organize your current stock investments. You can add ticker symbols of the stocks and mutual funds you are purchasing or watching, add transaction data, etc. You will then be able to track your progress and see recent activity in your stocks.When you add a stock to your portfolio, either to watch or buy shares, you will then see a basic preview of the stocks, and have the option to see the overview, fundamentals, performance, and transactions (shown is separate tabs) for each stock.*Stock Screener*This tool will help you get information on current stock. You can search for stocks based on their market cap, P/E ratio, Dividend yield, and 52w price change, or a combination of all or some of these criteria. You will then be shown a list of matching stocks in alphabetical order below. Each stock is a link to a page summarizing this stock’s detailed information, like shares and recent activity, etc. From here you can click to watch the stock, which automatically adds it to your portfolio. Under the basic summary is a listing of related companies that you might also be interested in, including their current status.*Google Domestic Trends*This tool will show you trends of searches performed on Google by US users, compared to the actual sales in that area. Since the majority of Internet users use search engines to gain information, and Google is the number one (by far) search engine used, this could be a valuable resource. You can compare the rise and fall of searches performed on Google to actual purchases to see a different prospective on the popularity of certain markets. There are several market sector categories to choose from, like computers and electronics, durable goods, and real estate.For all your finance and stock market needs, check out Google Finance!
6 Advantages of Pay Per Click Advertising
What are the main advantages to be had from marketing your business online via pay per click advertising?1. Anything from a local to global audience at the touch of a button
The first top advantage of pay per click advertising is that worth nothing is the fact that you can easily select the focus and scale of your target audience at the click of a button in your account.If you want to focus your online advertising on a small, localized area, within a few square miles of your business or store, you can choose to do so. If you want to advertise your products or services across more than one continent, you can choose to do so thanks to the technical advantages of PPC.Being able to geographically target your audience is a huge pay per click advertising advantage, particularly because the boundaries that you set can be changed at any time. There are also lots of other ways to continue targeting your audience, such as their social or cultural preferences which can be gleaned from your audience’s social networking activities for example.When using print advertising or other forms of online advertising, it is very difficult to get this kind of control over your target audience. The advantage is in the control and freedom that you have regarding geographical targeting.2. Online advertising that is financially accessible to all
The second main advantage is the fact that you can advertise via pay per click regardless of your budget.PPC is an effective form of online advertising that can be run on anything from a few dollars a month to millions of dollars a month. Regardless of the amount of money that you spend on your pay per click advertising, it can also still be highly successful, which is another advantage to bear in mind.It is not how much money you spend that counts. It is how that money which you invest is spent which will start to bring in new clients and new customers to your business.The advantage of paid search advertising as opposed to other kinds of online advertising or print advertising is the fact that you can achieve fantastic results from that advertising on any budget whatsoever.3. Making changes is quick and easy
If you use print advertising to market your business, it is very difficult, expensive and time-consuming when you want to make changes to that advertising campaign. When you advertise, the third advantage is the fact that making changes to your campaign costs nothing (unless you are changing how much you are spending) and can be done at the click of a mouse.You can make changes to the advertisement text within your advertisements, you can make changes to the times of day when your advertisements are shown, you can make changes to the landing pages on your website that your advertisements lead to. All of these changes can be made within a few minutes. It is that simple.The list of what you can change is endless and therefore the advantage lies in the ease and speed at which you can market your business via this medium.4. Development and improvement using advertising tools is never ending
The fourth advantage comes in the form of ppc tools which are under constant development and designed to make your pay per click advertising campaigns even more successful every time.For example, if you need help optimizing your campaigns, you can use Google Analytics to make sure that you make informed decisions. You can also use other pay per click advertising tools to run a second campaign in secret for a period of time. In this way you can test out theories for that campaign to see what kind of results you might get from that campaign. All of this can be done as a test run without actually running the campaign for real and having to invest money into it.Paid search experts are developing and improving these tools every day. These developments are never ending. The constant development behind the scenes is another clear advantage for all the advertisers who market their businesses using this medium.Feeling constantly supported is nothing but a clear advantage to be had from marketing via this kind of advertising.5. Online advertising that can be managed by advertising experts
In addition to all the advantages outlined above, one of the most important advantages is that you can outsource your needs to experts in the field. This then frees up your time to concentrate fully on running your business and you can also be safe in the knowledge that the best of the best are in control of your campaign from the very beginning.People choose to outsource their pay per click advertising needs to our firm because they know that with our help their advertising is going to be more successful. We are trained, experienced and knowledgeable so that you don’t have to be.6. Google AdWords campaigns and Google AdWords marketing
It is highly recommended that you choose to advertise your business via Google AdWords for the following reasons.One of the advantages of Google AdWords relates to the fact that Google is the largest search engine in the world. Therefore if you want to make sure that your advertising is seen by your target audience, you have the best possible chance of doing so via Google.Through AdWords the advantage is that you can either market your business via text-based advertisements or advertisements too. The Google Display Network is huge and full of effective image advertisements run by a whole host of advertisers all over the world.If you really want to make the best success out of your advertising, the advantages to paid search and display network advertising via Google AdWords are clear and indisputable.
What Are The Focus Areas in Small Business IT For 2008?
2008 will be here before you know it, are you ready with what the market will throw at you in a couple of months. With 2008 just around the corner, now is a good time to start the discussion of what needs to be the focus areas in 2008 for the small business IT professional and small business specialist.In 2007 we experienced a tremendous amount of innovation in the small business technology world. Innovation included releases of a new desktop operating system, new productivity suites of applications and enhanced methods to share information and communicate with each other. 2008 will be no different! The excitement around new versions of the Windows Server operating system that will scale from the smallest of business requirements right through to the largest of enterprises offerings. Plus we will see new innovation with how business manage, share and secure corporate data and how applications are written that deliver solutions to today’s global economy.However, I personally do not feel that our focus be totally on the ones and zeros around all of this new technology. Small business owners, managers and users today do not care about what the technology specifications are, they have business needs that must be addressed and they need to be running all the time. Downtime, breakdowns and complicated solutions are not an option in today’s one world market.Where will today’s IT professional or small business specialist be focusing their efforts for the upcoming year in order to grow their business sustainably in 2008? Here are some ideas to kick start the planning processes for 2008:Focus on people – Small Business does business with those who they trust and can establish a relationship with. It is not about the speeds and feeds any longer, small business owners don’t care about how fast something runs or how much memory is in a laptop. Meeting business needs is no longer expectable by throwing technology at a problem, it is now about exceed expectations and having their technology investments work. The systems or software most of the time is transparent to the end user.The importance of data – Having their data accessible and secured is very important to small business. Data has to be managed and controlled and combined with ease of access. Complicated file shares and network systems are no longer acceptable to the end users. Data must be accessible to enhance collaboration and sharing throughout any organization. Small Business IT firms that understand and promote the importance of data, who can offer their clients services like the SharePoint Starter Site and Exchange mail services through their mail clients, mobile telephones and web access will win in the end.Securing Small Business – As the world shrinks in size when it comes to business, emerging threats continue to show their ugly face and threaten commerce. Securing small business will continue a challenge for the small business specialist. It must be a main focus for many of us in the IT community. Luckily, we haven’t seen a major virus outbreak for a while; however, the threats are still out there. Educating small business against the threats from social engineering, corporate espionage and also the “threat from within” must be a major focal point in 2008. As social networking gains momentum, small business needs to understand the importance of ensuring information flow is secure without jeopardizing productivity. Small Business IT Professionals that offer their clients a managed firewall service that controls SPAM, virus, spyware and other threats will have a competitive advantage of those who offer transactional firewalling solutions.Business Process – How small business does business will be an important trend for the small business IT professional to understand in 2008. If a small business consulting firm can master how small business does business and how information flows within their clients will end up ahead in 2008. Business Intelligence services that once purely an enterprise play will start to move into the small business space. Those who master this will come out of 2008 with a definite advantage.IT as a Service – Managed Services is all the buzz in the SMB community it has been for a number of years, however, in 2008 the focus on “as a service” will grow, firms that can offer software or hardware as a service will have a competitive advantage over those who do not, and those that can bundle their complete IT solutions as a service will win in the end. It will no longer matter how it is structured from a billing perspective, (annual, monthly, weekly or hourly) the service component is the important key and this is what small business is after.The Complete Solution – SMB consultants that can deliver the complete solution will win in 2008. This is nothing new, small business wants a solutions partner that can offer the complete end to end offering. From systems, software, solutions and service, today’s small business client needs to be “under” one umbrella. Partnering will continue to be an advantage in the marketplace. Partnering to extend geographic service, specialty services and complete services must be on the top of your list to achieve in the early part of 2008. Those firms that can extend their service offering to other partners will have a strong advantage over those who just stick to their own small silo.Marketing – The small business consulting firm that can market all of this effectively will hold the trump card over those that do not see the importance of marketing. There has been a lack of focus on the importance of marketing with small business partners over the past few years, while those that continued to actively market have grown faster and have separated themselves from the masses. Small Business partners must have a resource dedicated to marketing in 2008. This can be outsourced or hired in-house. One word of advice to the owners of small business firms, you are responsible for the strategic marketing direction, never outsource that component. If you are not comfortable with marketing, seek the advice of someone who can help you. There are a number of great marketing coaches and consultants that can assist you.Strength in Peers – Teaming up with peers will continue its strong momentum in 2008. Once again, no IT firm can know everything nor do everything. This is where having a strong peer group relationship is vital to the success of your business. Information and idea sharing, technical specialties, and relationships are keys to success in the IT business. TechSelect and Heartland Technology Groups offer peer group services to firms that specialize in small business and are open to sharing information, best practices and resources with each other. Our involvement in the Heartland Peer Groups has been a key to the success of my business and offers us a competitive advantage over firms that have not engaged in this business practice.”I think the marketing continues to present great opportunities for partners who execute, deliver great service, and provide true solutions to clients…and that’s where we’re focusing for 2008,” states Erik Thorsell, President of Minneapolis’ Success Computer Consulting. “Managed services support for network infrastructure is important, but that doesn’t get our business owner-clients excited…solutions do! If we can provide technology that solves business problems, makes work better, faster or cheaper, then we all win!”2008 will be an exciting year in the small business space across the globe, boundaries will continue to disappear in our global economy, peer relations will strengthen, and collaboration will continue to become more and more important to small business, however, it needs to happen in a secure fashion so that small business can maintain a competitive advantage in the marketplace that they service.
3 Reason You Should Use A Credit Union For Your Business Loan Needs
Most of the time, when business owners (new entrepreneurs or experienced proprietors) think about financing their businesses, they think about their local banks – which they should. After all, they drive by these organizations everyday and might even have an account or two with them.But, there are times when these banks might not be the best options for landing a needed business loan – either because the bank does not offer the loan product your company needs or because (like most of us these days) you just do not qualify under their heighten standards.However, that does not mean that you still cannot get the financing your business wants – from start up funding to growing an established business – from a local financial institution other than your bank.Did you know that some local credit unions also offer business loans? And, do you know that if they don’t, they do offer other financing products that you can use to start or grow your business?Credit Unions For Business FinancingIf you can get a loan from your bank – great. You should start there. But, if you can’t, simply drive right over to your local credit union and see what loan programs they offer.Not only do you stand a good chance of getting the capital you need but you might be able to do it cheaper and with a lot less hassle.Let me explain: First let’s call these CU for simplicity.CUs, when it comes to business financing, offer the following benefits:1) Business Loans – Some CUs do provide true business loans – the same products that your local bank offers. And, there are more of them doing this then you think.Further, in many cases, if the CU does make business loans they usually don’t have such high credit standards that other lenders do. CUs tend to focus more on how your business and their loan impact the community at large – not just their bottom line. Most CUs have lower credit score requirements, better debt ratio limits, lower overall collateral value levels and usually spend less effort on scrutinizing income and tax return information. Simply put, their business loans (the same products that banks and other business lenders offer) are easier to qualify for.According to State Employees’ CU in Raleigh, NC, when talking about how they underwrite their loan products:Our focus is not on profits, but on fair, quality service.So, not only are there underwriting criteria easier to pass, but since they make their loan decisions locally, they tend to take more of your story into account – which only benefits you and your ability to get approved.2) Personal Loans – while banks also offer personal loans, again, CUs have easier approval standards. And, they are more flexible in the products they offer – making their loans fit you and not the other way around.Now, you might think that you don’t want a personal loan for your business. But, I am here to tell you that all loans, business, personal or otherwise, from banks, CU, or private lenders, are in fact all personal loans.Here’s why. You apply for a business loan – the type of lender does not matter – and you jump through all the hoops required to qualify. They look at your revenue or income, they look at your current debt, they look at and valuate your collateral and in the end, they approve your request.They tell you what your monthly payment will be, they tell you how they are going to attach a claim to your assets and then – here is the kicker – they make you sign a personal guarantee – even on a business loan.And, it is this personal guarantee that washes away all that other stuff about business credit facilities. Because, if you or your business do not pay as agreed, that personal guarantee allows that lender – bank, CU, private lender – to come after your personal income and assets to make that loan whole – which is the very definition of a personal loan. The one single item that you are looking to avoid by getting a business loan – avoiding personal risk – is also the one single item you cannot avoid, no matter what type of loan you are requesting.However, there is nothing that states that you cannot use the proceeds from a personal loan in or for your business.Bottom line here for you is this: If you can’t get a business loan, look to the personal or consumer products CUs offers. Money is just money after all and CUs make getting your hands on that needed money (personal or business) easier.3) Cheaper All The Way Around – As CUs are non-profit, they have lower application, origination and processing fees on their loan products. They have lower annual fees if any (say on lines of credit). And, they usually charge lower interest rates.All items that do nothing but benefit you and your business. Why over pay when you don’t have too?From MyCreditUnion.gov credit unions offer:Fees and loan rates at credit unions are generally lower, while interest rates returned (dividends paid on deposits) are generally higher, than banks and other for-profit institutions. Credit unions are democratically operated by members, allowing account holders an equal say in how the credit union is operated, regardless of how much they have invested in the credit union.ConclusionAs I have hoped to point out here, if you already have a relationship with a local bank, then by all means approach that bank for your business loan needs. But, if you don’t or if they turn you down, there is no reason that you cannot just drive right over to one of your local credit unions and see if they will say yes to your same request.Credit unions offer a lot of benefits when it comes to business financing, namely being easier to qualify for. So, in the end, does it really matter where or what form your business loan come in? Money is just money after all.
5 Reasons Why An Online Business Is The Best Home Business
Over recent years, people from all walks of life have had their entrepreneurial spirit sparked into looking for the easiest business to start. The recessionary climate and increasing unemployment levels mean millions of people are waking up to the fact that they need to take control of their future. To do this, new entrepreneurs want good businesses to start so that they can generate a new and sustainable income stream.So what is the easiest business to start? It’s sensible that the best business to start will have the least expensive set up expenses, they will have services and products that people want to buy and will have the biggest possible client base. Welcome to the world of online business! It’s not a secret that a growing number of people are purchasing products and services online because of convenience, choice, cost and service. Starting up an online business and joining the thriving e-commerce world really is easiest business to start.1. Low set up costs.The beauty of starting an online business is that the start up costs are very low as compared to a conventional bricks and mortar business. Starting conventional business requires substantial investments in human resources, inventory and financial capital. Industry is becoming more information-intensive and less labour and capital-intensive.This means that more and more traditional barriers to success in business are being removed.2. You do not need to have your own products.An online business is the easiest business to start because you don’t even need to have your own products to sell. In fact, you don’t have to stock any products, set up payment systems or worry about distribution or product fulfillment. This is possible with one of the most popular and best home business models called affiliate marketing.This is where you promote and sell other people’s products. It’s like being an online commission-paid sales person. When you make a sale, you get paid a commission.The creator of the product is responsible for the whole development and fulfillment of the product. They will supply the marketing resources, manage the product delivery and follow up customer assistance. Your task is to find the customers and push them to the vendor’s online sales pages. There is an almost unlimited amount of products, services and online business ideas that you can promote this way. You can become an affiliate for services and products available on websites such as Amazon, CJ Affiliate, ClickBank or JVZoo. You can sell any products you want and receive commissions on every sale.3. Your business is open 24/7 to customers all over the world.One of the best advantages of an online business is that you can work from anywhere you want so long as you have a computer and access to the internet. The internet makes it possible for you to have customers from all over the world meaning that your business can quickly grow. You are not restricted to finding customers who live near to you. When you have an online business, your business is open all day long, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. You can literally earn money while you’re sleeping.4. Use software to your advantage.The great reasons for starting an onlne business is that a lot of tasks can be automated. For example, it is important to introduce your business to prospective customers, maintain contact and build relationships with customers and send out special offers. This can easily be done with email autoresponder marketing software that works on autopilot. An autoresponder works day and night for you, while you concentrate on other aspects of your business.5. Easy access to training.Although an online business is the easiest business to start, it’s possible that you will need guidance with certain areas at some time or another. To help you, there are a wide variety of high quality online business training programs available on the internet. Your journey to success will be quicker if you make an investment in your online business education. Remember that you can learn as you earn. Learning from a successful person who has gone before you can make a big difference to your business. They can precisely evaluate your efforts, help you make progress with your marketing and profits and explain the way around stumbling blocks.