Thrift Savings Plan Investing for Beginners | Fresh Articles Daily

The Thrift Savings Plan is a wonderful defined contribution retirement plan for US government employees. But a lot of its members are unsure on how to participate in it and make their investment allocations. While each investor?s situation is unique , and we cannot offer individualized investment advice, what follows are general guidelines which may be useful in reaching your TSP retirement goals.

Determine how much money you need to get you through your retirement years. A good guideline is approximately eighty and 90 percent of your typical yearly expenses. Next, depending on the investing strategy that you choose, figure out a likely average expected return on your investments. Finally, convert this into your required monthly savings amount. Many investment sites on the Internet provide retirement calculators to guide you through these steps.

Determine how much risk you can take. It is extremely important that you pick a portfolio allocation and strategy which is compatible with your ability to tolerate investment volatility and occasional declines in your TSP account value. It is normal to experience some losses during periods of economic decline and bear markets. Failure to match your investment allocation to your risk profile often leads to behavioral investing no-no?s which are all too common, such as selling your risky investments like stocks at the bottom of bear market lows, and buying back in only after prices have risen and recovered substantially.

Decide on an investment approach. Choose whether you would like to be a passive investor or actively manage your investment portfolio. If you choose the former, decide on an appropriate allocation to the available TSP funds (always keeping in mind your own risk profile). If you decide to manage your investments actively, it?s up to you to choose a strategy that is likely to have good performance. As you review the options, look for a long-term performance record and clearly defined strategy rules that you understand. If you?re not sure, then you may be better off sticking to a passive asset allocation or investing your savings in one of the TSP Lifecycle Funds.

Always strive to consistently contribute to your TSP every month. While you?re early in your career and have not yet reached your full earnings potential, it may be challenging to meet your minimum monthly contributions. But take them seriously and cut your living expenses as necessary to meet your savings plan, since this is the best time to accumulate investments, while you?re still a long time away from retiring.

Let your retirement savings grow for as long as possible, to take full advantage of the power of compounding interest. This comes down to two things: start saving as early as you can, and try to avoid making any premature withdrawals before your planned retirement date, because you will owe the IRS a tax penalty on these.

Investors who stick to these principles are on the right track to meeting their Thrift Savings Plan retirement goals.

Learn about the benefits and disadvantages of investing in the Thrift Savings Plan and TSP funds.. Free reprint available from: Thrift Savings Plan Investing for Beginners.

VN:F [1.9.15_1155]

Rating: 0.0/10 (0 votes cast)

Tags: Business, business and finance, Investment, Retirement, retirement savings, saving for retirement, Thrift Savings Plan, tsp funds, tsp strategy

Source: http://www.fresharticlesdaily.com/thrift-savings-plan-investing-for-beginners/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=thrift-savings-plan-investing-for-beginners

national defense authorization act national defense authorization act seven days in utopia seven days in utopia big 10 championship game big 10 championship game state of play

Business Networking - Affiliate Marketing ? Working Online Earn Life

Affiliate Marketing has been the hook into the internet marketing for many years. He promotes a product enough to make much money that both novice and experienced salespeople. But what should really be an affiliate marketer? Let?s look at this to learn more ?

Basically, affiliate marketing is an agreement between the owner of a website and a seller. The website owner is actually the seller who advertises or creator of the product. The agreement is a contract between two parties which states that the website owner can use various methods, including space for your site to promote the products of the seller. The seller meanwhile, agrees to pay a percentage of each sale generated through the affiliate?s customized link.

This benefits both because the product creator spends nothing to advertise your affiliate products and spends nothing on research and create new products.

This win-win.

The product creator wins saving money on advertising, which is very expensive business, with the member in charge of it. Basically, it?s a deal ?pay for performance? because the seller does not need to make any payment until the sale is made, when he pays the specified commission.

The affiliate earns by selling a product that has already been created by another, thus saving time and money from the start by not having to undertake research and product creation. The product has already been created and tested by the vendor and all you have to do as an affiliate is find as many prospects as possible to generate profits for the seller and you.

Another benefit for the affiliate is that most programs admission is free and sales materials are made in advance, so it is not necessary to have considerable experience in marketing.

Probably the biggest benefit of being an affiliate marketer on the Internet is the Internet itself.

With the global reach of the internet, it?s pretty easy to get thousands of prospects for almost any product line. It is also very easy to intensify your efforts as an affiliate marketer to exploit new and productive strategies such as viral marketing, ebooks, special reports and autoresponders.

Finally, as affiliate marketer, you can choose between many different products to promote. No need to tie you to a product or specific product type. Your risks are minimal because there are no contracts that will link long-term and, if a product will generate profits, you can easily and quickly replace it.

Everything in the affiliate marketing is still an excellent way of generating income online. Organize, find a market eager to please, find a product and DO IT!

Source: http://adsgroundcare.com/business/affiliate-marketing-working-online-earn-life/225.htm

black panthers mauritania mark sanchez obama open mic jefferson county colorado extenze tenacious d

Judgement Day for Peter Mericka and Lawyers ... - Real Estate Law

DISCLAIMER: NEW-YORK-REAL-ESTATE-LAW.COM HAS SUPPLIED THE INFORMATION ON THIS WEBSITE FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY. THE INFORMATION ON THIS WEBSITE MAY NOT BE 100% ACCURATE AND SHOULD NOT BE INTENDED AS LEGAL ADVICE. THE USE OF THIS WEBSITE DOES NOT CREATE A LAWYER-CLIENT RELATIONSHIP. HIRING AN ATTORNEY IS A VERY IMPORTANT DECISION. BEFORE HIRING AN ATTORNEY IT IS IMPORTANT TO ASK FOR WRITTEN AND VERIFIED INFORMATION ABOUT THE ATTORNEYS QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE.

Source: http://new-york-real-estate-law.com/blog/2012/03/judgement-day-for-peter-mericka-and-lawyers-real-estate/

dallas cowboys ndaa timberwolves weight watchers office space rawhide bigfoot

Nursing jobs - why nurses will always be in demand | Free Videos ...

[unable to retrieve full-text content]March 26, 2012 | Author: LabornAslanian454 | Posted in Health & Fitness. If you may be considering a career in nursing you ll be satisfied to hear that there is always be jobs available. Regardless of how bad the economy gets we should ...

Source: http://www.freevideosinfos.com/2012/03/nursing-jobs-why-nurses-will-always-be-in-demand/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nursing-jobs-why-nurses-will-always-be-in-demand

meryl streep martin scorsese sacha baron cohen best picture nominees 2012 academy awards 2012 albert nobbs a star is born

Progress in Saudi talks to send women to London

LONDON (AP) ? Saudi Arabia could send female athletes and officials to the Olympics for the first time after talks with the IOC on a list of potential competitors for the London Games.

Saudi Arabia is one of three countries that have never included women on their Olympic teams, along with Qatar and Brunei. The International Olympic Committee is now hopeful that all three will send female representatives to London, marking the first time every competing nation does so.

"The IOC is confident that Saudi Arabia is working to include women athletes and officials at the Olympic Games in London in accordance with the international federations' rules," the IOC said Monday.

The IOC said it held a "very constructive meeting" last week with Saudi Olympic Committee officials in Lausanne, Switzerland, about the inclusion of women in London and "Saudi Arabia's culture and traditions."

A list of potential female athletes was presented to the IOC, and those names will now be studied by the Olympic body and relevant international sports federations to assess their level.

The list includes four athletes, an Olympic official familiar with the talks told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the talks. At least three female officials are also being considered for inclusion in the Saudi delegation, the official said.

A formal proposal for the participation of Saudi women will be submitted to the IOC executive board at its meeting in Quebec City from May 23-25.

Because the women may not meet the international qualifying standards, the IOC may grant them Olympic entry based on "special circumstances," the official told the AP.

The IOC wants more than one woman on the Saudi team, the official said.

IOC President Jacques Rogge said in an interview with The Associated Press last week that he was "optimistic" that Saudi Arabia would send women to London.

"It depends on the possibilities of qualifications, standards of different athletes," he said. "We're still discussing the various options."

One potential contender for a place on the Saudi team could be equestrian Dalma Rushdi Malhas, who won a bronze medal in show jumping at the 2010 Youth Olympics in Singapore.

Qatar announced last month that it will use IOC wild-card invitations to send at least two women ? a swimmer and sprinter ? to London. Two others could be added to the list.

Brunei is also expected to include women this time, according to the IOC.

A recent report by Human Rights Watch accused Saudi Arabia of violating the IOC charter on gender equality. In interviews with Saudi women and international sporting officials, the group found that Saudi government restrictions put sports beyond the reach of almost all women in the Gulf nation.

In Saudi Arabia, deliberations of a select group of men on sending women to the Olympics remain wrapped in secrecy for fear of a backlash from the powerful religious establishment and deeply traditional society.

There are no written laws that ban and restrict women from participating in sports in the ultra conservative Muslim country that is the home of Islam's holiest shrines. The stigma of female athletes is rooted in conservative tribal traditions and religious views.

___

Associated Press writer Barbara Surk in Dubai contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/progress-saudi-talks-send-women-london-132045597--olympics.html

underwear bomber randy travis unclaimed money godspell heart attack grill media matters whitney houston news

Microsoft patent application gives us hope for head-mounted successor to Virtual Boy

Patent applications are full of hope and broken dreams, as it's far too easy to let a rampant imagination read beyond the layers of patent-attorney penned boilerplate. In the realm of the realistic, this application from Microsoft concerns a head-mounted display with a narrow-beam laser packing two dilation optics (us neither). If you then variate the diffraction grating between the two eyepieces, you create a three-dimensional virtual reality display. As much as we'd like to prowl the digital touchlines in Fifa Soccer with the Xbox equivalent of the Virtual Boy, it's more likely that we'll be stuck prowling our couches for years to come.

Microsoft patent application gives us hope for head-mounted successor to Virtual Boy originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Mar 2012 20:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PatentBolt  |  USPTO  | Email this | Comments

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/19/microsoft-application-head-mounted-display/

occupy oakland occupy oakland morgellons disease arik armstead sag awards red carpet torrey pines nhl all star game 2012

2 soldiers shot dead in southwest France

By msnbc.com staff and news services

A gunman on a motorbike opened fire on three French paratroopers at a bank machine in southern France, killing two and critically wounding one of them Thursday, officials said. It was the second such attack in a week targeting French soldiers in a public place.

The incident occurred in Montauban around 2:10 p.m. local time (9:10 a.m. ET), police said, according to France's Le Figaro newspaper?(link in French).

The incident follows a shooting on Sunday in Toulouse, 29 miles south of Montauban, in which a gunman on a motorcycle shot dead another soldier.

---

The three soldiers, who were reportedly wearing their uniforms, were near some shops and a bank when the helmeted gunman opened fire and then fled on his scooter, Le Figaro said.

The BBC reported that the soldiers were trying to withdraw cash from an ATM near a military base housing France's 17th Parachute Engineer Regiment. Montauban is some 390 miles southwest of Paris.

Two paratroopers -- aged 26 and 24 years old, respectively -- died on the spot. The third, 28, was critically injured.

Defense Minister Gerard Longuet expressed his condolences to the soldiers, their families and their regiment. French officials said a large number of police officers are searching for the gunman.

Earlier, the Defense Ministry had issued a statement saying all three paratroopers had died, but a local police official and a Defense Ministry official later said one of them was in critical condition.

The motives for the shootings are unclear. Police said further investigation was needed before they could determine whether the attacks were linked.

Witnesses said Sunday's attacker was also on a motorcycle and wearing a helmet, according Toulouse Prosecutor Michel Valet.

Valet said the soldier in that attack was on his day off. He was in the courtyard of a gym in a residential neighborhood during the afternoon when the attacker opened fire, then fled. The soldier was shot in the head.

The solider served in the 1st paratrooper train regiment, based in Francazal, south of Toulouse.

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

More from msnbc.com and NBC News:

Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world

?

Source: http://worldnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/15/10702544-two-soldiers-shot-dead-in-southwest-france

julia gillard julia gillard pecan pie the hobbit trailer prometheus trailer red velvet cake recipe josh krajcik

Is Refinancing Your Home Right for You? ? Rochester Real Estate ...

With the various fluctuations in interest rates over the past few years, you have no doubt thought about whether or not refinancing your home is a good idea. Countless consumers have done so in the face of favorable interest rates over the past few years, but does that mean that it is always a good idea when interest rates dip? There are some key questions you need to ask yourself when contemplating a refinancing move for your piece of real estate.

Know Your Situation

When deciding on whether a future refinancing move will net you benefits, you must first examine what your present situation is like. That includes all of the factors that play into a loan arrangement, including how long you plan to stay in your home, the terms of your credit loan and the likelihood of getting a favorable interest rate on a new loan.

Obviously, the interest rate you currently hold is and your credit rating are probably the two most important bits of information concerning a possible refinance. If you are able to get a lower interest rate with your current credit history than the interest rate currently on your mortgage, there is a potential (not a guarantee) for savings via refinancing.

Spread Your Options

Competition can ultimately help provide a lower interest rate over the long run, which should serve as great motivation to interview a number of different lenders. While that is a solid reason, landing a lender with terms that are fair to you and that you feel comfortable with is just as valid a reason to interview a slew of lenders.

Help More Than you?re Mortgage Payment

Most people hope for a reduction in their mortgage payment amount through refinancing, but there are other benefits to be had through locking in a different loan. Chief among those benefits is the prospect of shortening your loan term to make fewer payments, though it may leave your current mortgage payment the same.

Of course, the benefits here are obvious, basically shaving time off of the duration of your loan by locking in a lower interest rate. It may be more attractive initially to pay a lower mortgage amount over time, but the benefits of paying your loan off sooner could outweigh a lower payment. A longer loan duration piles up more interest on your loan and anything you can do to pay it off sooner saves you from those costs.

Factor In Costs

There are always fees in modifying your mortgage, sometimes wrapped into the cost of your new mortgage. During refinance proceedings, there is also a time and effort cost that must be factored in to deciding whether you want to pursue the possibility. If your new interest rate turns out to be lower only by a small amount, it is possible for certain fees to eat into that amount and possibly make it not worth the time and effort. Factor that additional cost in when deciding whether or not you want to commit to pursuing a real estate refinancing.

In a climate of low interest rates, refinancing your home can yield a host of benefits for your long term payment obligations on your real estate. However, those benefits come at a time and effort cost that must be committed to when you begin to investigate the viability of refinancing.

Make sure you do your homework both on the current state of your real estate loan and the possible future state of your real estate loan before embarking on the process. Spending some time to think about these points before making a full decision can spare you refinancing headaches down the road.

Source: http://svindigni.wordpress.com/2012/03/14/is-refinancing-your-home-right-for-you-28/

avengers joost joost how to get ios 5 how to get ios 5 avengers trailer the avengers trailer

Barrier to faster graphene devices identified and suppressed

ScienceDaily (Mar. 13, 2012) ? These days graphene is the rock star of materials science, but it has an Achilles heel: It is exceptionally sensitive to its electrical environment.

This single-atom-thick honeycomb of carbon atoms is lighter than aluminum, stronger than steel and conducts heat and electricity better than copper. As a result, scientists around the world are trying to turn it into better computer displays, solar panels, touch screens, integrated circuits and biomedical sensors, among other possible applications. However, it has proven extremely difficult to reliably create graphene-based devices that live up to its electrical potential when operating at room temperature and pressure.

Now, writing in the Mar. 13 issue of the journal Nature Communications, a team of Vanderbilt physicists reports that they have nailed down the source of the interference inhibiting the rapid flow of electrons through graphene-based devices and found a way to suppress it. This allowed them to achieve record-levels of room-temperature electron mobility -- the measure of the speed that electrons travel through a material -- three times greater than those reported in previous graphene-based devices.

According to the experts, graphene may have the highest electron mobility of any known material. In practice, however, the measured levels of mobility, while significantly higher than in other materials like silicon, have been considerably below its potential.

"The problem is that, when you make graphene, you don't get just graphene. You also get a lot of other stuff," said Kirill Bolotin, assistant professor of physics, who conducted the study with Research Associate A.K.M. Newaz. "Graphene is extraordinarily susceptible to external influences so the electrical fields created by charged impurities on its surface scatter the electrons traveling through the graphene sheets, making graphene-based transistors operate slower and heat up more."

A number of researchers had proposed that the charged impurities that are omnipresent on the surface of graphene were the main culprits, but it wasn't completely certain. Also, several other theories had been advanced to explain the phenomenon.

"Our study shows without question that the charged crap is the problem and, if you want to make better graphene devices, it is the enemy that you need to fight," Bolotin said. At the same time, the experiment didn't find evidence supporting one of the alternative theories, that ripples in the graphene sheets were a significant source of electron scattering

In order to get a handle on the mobility problem, Bolotin's team suspended sheets of graphene in a series of different liquids and measured the material's electric transport properties. They found that graphene's electron mobility is dramatically increased when graphene is submerged in electrically neutral liquids that can absorb large amounts of electrical energy (have large dielectric constants). They achieved the record-level mobility of 60,000 using anisole, a colorless liquid with a pleasant, aromatic odor used chiefly in perfumery.

"These liquids suppress the electrical fields from the impurities, allowing the electrons to flow with fewer obstructions," Bolotin said.

Now that the source of the degradation in electrical performance of graphene has been clearly identified, it should be possible to come up with reliable device designs, Bolotin said.

According to the physicist, there is also a potential advantage to graphene's extraordinary sensitivity to its environment that can be exploited. It should make extremely sensitive sensors of various types and, because it is made entirely of carbon, it is biocompatible and so should be ideal for biological sensors.

University Distinguished Professor of Physics & Engineering Sokrates Pantelides and Research Associates Yevgeniy Puzyrev and Bin Wang contributed to the study. The research was funded by an award from the National Science Foundation.

Share this story on Facebook, Twitter, and Google:

Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:

---

Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Vanderbilt University, via Newswise. The original article was written by David Salisbury.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

---

Journal Reference:

1. A.K.M. Newaz, Yevgeniy S. Puzyrev, Bin Wang, Sokrates T. Pantelides, Kirill I. Bolotin. Probing charge scattering mechanisms in suspended graphene by varying its dielectric environment. Nature Communications, 2012; 3: 734 DOI: 10.1038/ncomms1740

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/03/120313185234.htm

golden globe nominations 2012 war in iraq war in iraq government shutdown jacksonville jaguars jacksonville jaguars iraq war over

Acne Cures World of golf Travel Conditions Avoid Family vacation ...

Avoid most of the grief! Sets are embarrassing and serious to lug around especially when youve definitely got some other luggage to include. Golf travel and leisure cases might make your life easier if you ever get the suitable kind. Theyre a must have for almost any golfer who would like to take their clubs with each other. Lets skin it, rental organizations are truly not possible because theyre just distinctive from your own. Here are few basic but imperative things to take into consideration in a car or air carrier golf travel and leisure case. You may check out payless shoe coupon code .

The Construction

This aspect can vary considerably depends upon if you are searching for a challenging or fluffy travel event. The harder exterior ones are improved for air carrier travel for the reason that can take a whole lot of abuse while you are on this plane. They usually tend to cost a little more money nonetheless are worthy it to protect your investment as you?re cant see what they go through during on / off boarding.

The less harsh ones are perfect for car travel because they are a a lot more flexible. They are generally a ton better with regard to storage thoughts is broken at a destination for the reason that fold down into a nice compact create. You have to be sure that both these types of golf travel and leisure cases contain a fully padding interior create top to bottom avoiding potential damage to your organizations. Also ensure that is easily accessible with two-fold zippers or even latches that will open thoroughly. Check with regard to rugged two-fold stitching in the softer ones. Try also to get ones with an I. D. window at the pinnacle along using a small padlock. Take a look at payless coupon codes .

Compartments and Safe-keeping

If you can discover one with a great deal of additional storage space you dont will need to put everything within your other luggage pieces. They should have recessed footwear pockets that is additionally locked to help keep the organizations snug in travel. Out edge clothing pockets are likewise available of all models. Just try to be sure that they are expandable with regard to maximum storage space. All zippers should have padlock tabs for secure closing. The case should have some sort of an within just security strap that aids in preventing the travelling bag from moving much more during transfer.

Wheels together with Carry Techniques

Make sure that that a golf travel and leisure cases have some sort of wheels in the bottom. These has to be made of an durable polymer or even just inline skate wheels that will be basically indestructible. This is important considering that last thing you would like is to have a wheel destroy forcing you to ultimately carry a bag. Also ensure that the bottom in the bag is sometimes a hard convertible top or clear plastic that won?t leak and may also take a few abuse. This better allow this bag to stand vertical.

The take system should have handles on top and bottom combined with side in the bag that can help in getting it in and out of the car. These handles ought to be a the least double sewn or bolted to the case again to cover they don?t break. Essential have some durable get strap or even pulling handle that?s adjustable with regard to easy vehicles.

One some other thing to remember, make sure that if you end up shopping, whatever the you get it really need to be water challenging. That along with all those other vital tips should generate your experience more pleasurable. Whether you require a hard air carrier golf travel and leisure case or a lot of soft golfing travel cases with the family inside car each one of tips will assist you to avoid almost any unnecessary mishaps on your next escape.

Source: http://acnecures180.com/world-of-golf-travel-conditions-avoid-family-vacation-mishaps-just-by-protecting-ones-clubs-earlier

gmail app phentermine port of oakland grand theft auto 5 grand theft auto 5 kris jenner kris jenner

Business Marketing Strategy

What is it and who needs one?

?

The term business marketing strategy might sound like it is esoteric or stratospheric, so let?s take the mystery out of it so you can devise and implement your own business marketing strategy that fits in to your small business plan.

Strategy comes from a Greek word ?stratagein? meaning ?to be a general?.? Think of a strategy as an overall plan of action needed to win a war.? The smaller, detailed actions are called tactics.? You can have tactical plans, which help you achieve your strategic marketing plan or overall business marketing strategy. That?s simple enough, isn?t it?

?

A business marketing strategy or strategic marketing plan is an overall plan of marketing actions you intend to take in order to accomplish a specific goal for your company.

?

Start with a goal: $ 2 million in sales this year; expand into new premises by a certain date; double the size of the company in 2 years? whatever the goal may be.? Something realistic but challenging.? That?s the ?war? you want to win.? Guess who the general is.

Then work out a simple, overall plan of the major marketing steps needed to accomplish that (for example):

Publish a newsletter for all existing customers and mail out quarterly.

Work out 4 special offers in the year and promote them to all our customers.

Set up on-line shopping and expand the web site.

Direct mail campaign promoting the web site to all customers.

?

Get mailing lists of (target markets) and do a series of 3 mailings of postcards to them and follow up on and close all leads.

Etc

You get the idea.? Don?t rush this. Do your homework.? What worked in the past?? Read up on successful marketing campaigns.

Your business marketing strategy needs to be laid out in the right sequence and you should have some idea of budget when you write it.? ?Run a series of 30 second TV ads during the Superbowl? might sound like a good thing to do but can you afford it?? On the other hand, when you build your business marketing strategy you mustn?t try and cut corners. If you don?t promote heavily, it doesn?t matter how good your product or service is, no one will know about it and you will go broke.

What really works when it comes to marketing?

??

Many business owners don?t have a good enough answer to this important question. I learned by a combination of study and trial and error.

From my own hard won experience I have discovered that a real marketing campaign will take into consideration at least the seven points which are outlined below:

1.? Target Your Market

Your marketing will produce the best results for the lowest cost when you target prospects with the greatest need for what you offer.

Identify the best people to send your postcards to. Design your postcards to appeal to their greatest need.

If you are able to break down your target market into sub markets you can then write postcards that specifically speak to the needs of those people (an example is breaking down your own customer list into customers who buy most often, customers who spend the most money with you, customers who have been your customers the longest and then making them special offers based on the category they fit into).

2.? Create A USP For Your Business.?

USP stands for ?Unique Selling Proposition?.

It is a statement of what is different about your company and its products. Your USP gives the reason people should do business with you. It amplifies the benefit of doing business with you and your company. My USP is POSTCARD MARKETING EXPERTS.

Create your own USP and put it on all your promotional materials, invoices, shipping labels etc.

Use your USP to communicate the benefit of doing business with you and why you are better than any of your competitors.

?

3.? Always Make an Offer.

??

Make sure you ask your prospects and customers to do something when they receive your postcard. By offering them something you know they are likely to want and giving them a smooth path to respond on, you are making it easy and desirable for them to respond.

4.? Create and Maintain a Database of The Customer Information You Collect From The Responses To Your Mailings.?

Most people who receive a postcard from you won?t contact you the first time they receive one.

But once they contact you, you must create and maintain a database which allows you to repeatedly contact them with offers to respond to.

Fifty percent or more of many businesses? sales come as a result of following up with people who were previously contacted, but didn?t buy right away.

No kidding, repeat contact does drive sales. One-time mailings can get response, but are bound to leave sales on the table. Those sales can be picked up with repeated mailings.

5.? Take Away the Fear of Loss?

People don?t want to be fooled, plain and simple. Unfortunately trust does not run high today between customers and businesses in general. People have been disappointed too many times by being sold one thing and getting another.

A guarantee or warranty is a good way to reduce or eliminate the customers? risk of getting something other than what they bargained for.

Guarantees and warranties increase response and sales by reducing customer risk.

6.? Expand Your Product Line?

Getting new customers is more expensive than selling to existing ones. By regularly developing new products and services to sell to your customers and offering these new products and services to them, you can expand your business efficiently and easily.

7.? Test Your Postcard Promotions?

??

Track the effectiveness of your postcard mailings. How many people responded to your mailing? What dollar amount of sales resulted from those responses?

Is the money you are spending to attract new business giving you a good return? What can you do to make your marketing more effective? Change your offer, headline, price, the timing of your offer. When you do track the results and improve your response.

These are the points to follow when designing your own marketing strategy.? When you are done, you will have laid out the steps needed to accomplish your goal using existing resources to achieve a great marketing ROI (return on investment).

?

After that, you simply have to get those steps executed and that might require further planning but it is all in the context of your main business marketing strategy.

Joy Gendusa began PostcardMania in 1998 out of her home, with nothing but a phone and a computer, never taking a dime of investment capital. Joy originally started PostcardMania as a full-service postcard marketing company helping clients create turn-key marketing campaigns with graphic design, printing, mailing list acquisition and mailing services. Over the years, Joy has grown PostcardMania into one of the nation?s most effective, top marketing agencies specializing in lead generation for small to large-sized businesses. Since then, PostcardMania has expanded to offer its clients more services including website and landing page design and development, email marketing and full marketing evaluations ? all while continuing to educate clients with free marketing advice.

?

Joy and PostcardMania have won many awards for creativity, best business practices and expansion and have been recognized on the Inc. 500 and 5000 lists. By 2008, revenues reached nearly million and the company now employs over 160 people, prints 4 million and mails 2 million postcards each week, and has more than 40,000 customers in over 350 industries.? Visit www.PostcardMania.com

Download the first three chapters of Joy?s book ?The Ultimate Postcard Marketing Success Manual? here: www.PostcardMarketingSuccessManual.com

Source: http://www.1directory.net/internet/business-marketing-strategy-19605.html

taco bell breakfast menu ener1 national chocolate cake day epstein joshua komisarjevsky barney frank barney frank

All About The Experts Video to DVD Conversion Tips Entertainment ...

Sorry, Readability was unable to parse this page for content.

Source: http://www.entertainmentartsmusic.com/2012/all-about-the-experts-video-to-dvd-conversion-tips.html

tacoma narrows bridge weather nyc open marriage department of justice doj dept of justice weather chicago

How you can Beats By Dre Choose A Golf Health and fitness Trainer ...

I can?t begin to let you know how a lot of Casque Beats instances I?ve been asked this question in the course of my travels about the nation and world on the golfing circuit; ?Sean, I?m searching for a golfing fitness coach in my location, what do you suggest??

Discovering a golf physical fitness trainer for you, merely will take Beats By Dre a little understanding and time on your portion.

Bottom line you will find a large number of fitness authorities, private trainer, instructors, and conditioning coaches accessible to you personally. Some are much more certified than other individuals to assist you enhance your golfing sport. Lets initial off check out some common qualifications to appear for in candidates.

The golf trainer?s training would be the first thing I?d think about. On the planet of individual education and physical fitness, there are no academic requirements, governing bodies, or condition boards. Basically, anyone can hang a signal on their front door and phone their selves a ?personal golf health and fitness trainer?. It?s regrettable, but unqualified individuals are education men and women every day.

A highly qualified golfing health coach will most likely possess a college degree within the field of kinesiology, biomechanics, well being sciences or perhaps a connected area. There are various other organizations that accredit trainers also. These organizations provide extreme educational programs supplying the coach with certifications. Accreditations from the Nationwide Power and Conditioning Association, Nationwide Academy of Sports activities Medication, and American Council of Physical exercise are extremely regarded inside the field. I would recommend looking for a golfing health and fitness coach with a diploma inside the area and at least one particular additional certification in the above organizations. This tells us that they have taken the time to turn out to be a lot more specific and better educated.

The Proof is in the Pudding

Knowledge inside the field is completely crucial. First look in the trainer?s general knowledge and dig deeper. Generally, I?m speaking about how extended they?ve been inside the sector. Are they just starting out or are they a seasoned veteran inside the area? What areas with the sector have they labored? Have they worked only inside the well being club setting, have they labored inside a collegiate or professional athletic atmosphere, or knowledge directly related to the golfing sector?

I?d appear for a golf physical fitness trainer with some encounter in athletics. A trainer with encounter in aggressive athletics understands the demands on your physique beneath competitors, whether it?s the weekend round with your buddies, the club tournament, or even the Masters for that make a difference.

Visit the best Mechanic to acquire Your Automobile Fixed

Now I don?t learn about you, but when I had an motor issue with my vehicle, I probably wouldn?t go to a bike mechanic to acquire it fixed.

Would you appear for a personal trainer www.officielbeats.com that specialized in let?s say, youth football, to assist your golfing video game?

Most trainers within the industry normally have a repeat client base. The client base can tell you a whole lot about the trainer?s location of knowledge. The trainer?s cliental base might be very particular, for instance working with elderly folks or with athletes only. Other trainers may work with quite a few sorts of individuals from youthful young children, homemakers, to the budding collegiate star. Over anything a trainer?s shopper base offers you an concept if they have experience working with somebody like you, and when they fit your personal demands.

I?d recommend looking for a golf physical fitness coach which has some experience working with a person such as you. For instance, in case you are Nationwide Tour player, I?d possibly suggest searching for a golf health and fitness coach who has experience working with specialist athletes. The experience of working with expert athletes is just likely to help using the interaction between the 2 of you.

Can?t We Just Get Alongside

Outside of training and knowledge, the final region to take into consideration could be the trainer?s personality. Some personalities will perform well with you and others won?t.

To acquire the top outcomes Beats By Dre for you personally, you must discover a coach that you are comfy with on a skilled and private level. This may allow to the instruction sessions, development of one?s program, along with the romantic relationship to be a constructive knowledge for each. Bear in mind, you should trust the golf fitness coach which calls for an amount of ease and comfort with them.

Overall, I suggest using some time on the Monster Beats entrance finish and interviewing a sequence of trainers. This can allow you to evaluate and contrast all of the requirements we?ve mentioned, and help you produce a selection you feel very good about.

Bear in mind, deciding on the proper golf health trainer for you are able to suggest the difference amongst reaching your goals around the golf program or not.

Sean Cochran

Buy low-cost Beats By Dre,Monster Beats,Casque Beats from official Casque Beats Store today with Quick Shipping, Tighten Payment & Good Customer Service at www.officielbeats.com.

Source: http://artikel-schrijven.com/artikelen-buitenland/recreation-and-sports/how-you-can-beats-by-dre-choose-a-golf-health-and-fitness-trainer

bears lions heavy d heavy d taser gun patriots vs jets adventureland sean hannity

Sports Camps

What do you think of when you think of sports camps? Most of us think of the summer camps that we went to as kids. Keep in mind that sports camp weren?t all that popular back when we were kids. Most camps consisted of a few activities and a few volunteer counselors to attend to the sugar- high loaded kids that had been dumped on them for the summer. Sport camps are more modern and safer for kids than it was 20 years ago. Now there are just as many camps as there are sports.

Many of you would probably think of sports such as, hockey, baseball, basketball, football, fishing, archery, and racing. If you play it, they have a camp for it. Even for the events that you may not think is a sport. Such as, horseback riding, jumping, showing, or even hunting is considered a sport. They are not just for the athletes anymore. They are for anyone who has any interest in sports.

Many people join sports camps to become more active and to have healthier lives.

Camps are beneficial for many reasons. Athletes take advantage of them to stay in shape and improve their skills for the next season, and parents see them as social playgrounds for their children to meet and make new friends, and quite possibly to learn the skills to become the next greatest player. Not only will they learn the skills of sports, but they will also learn skills of socialization and sportsmanship. Those who play as a team benefit the most.

Most camps provide their own equipment and activities for the campers to enjoy. Camps usually only last a few weeks out of the summer, but there are a few that last all summer long. Those are usually for the serious competitors looking to get an advantage on honing their skills to perfection.

Some campers may get an opportunity to meet a scout for a chance to play professionally, and if all goes well they could play for the big leagues.

So when you are thinking of sending your children to camp for the summer keep in mind that they can learn and have fun at the same time. Get them involved in choosing which camp they would like to join and if they want they can join more than one. I think children should be diverse in sports. Let them try more than one to see which they are best at.

Find out more about Motor Sport and Sport and Recreation Company

Source: http://www.a1article.net/recreation-and-sports/sports-camps-7144.html

ketamine tracy morgan ground hogs day 2012 goundhog day punxsutawney egypt soccer riot facebook ipo

2012 Home Trends: What They Mean to Sellers | San Juan Realty, Inc.

The word is out on the home building and remodeling trends for 2012. If you?re selling your home, knowing what buyers are looking for can help you plan your strategy. Is the home improvement you?re considering likely to pay off when you sell? What can you do to make your home more attractive to buyers? A look at the latest trends can help you decide. Here are the top trends being talked about today:

? Greener homes: Energy efficiency and sustainability are big home trends now. Real estate agent Rose Price reports that buyers are looking for sustainable building materials, green building practices, and savings on their energy bills. Investments in insulation, windows, and more efficient appliances will pay off when you sell your home.

? Great fakes: Larry Bilotti of the Bob Vila home-improvement blog reports that real wood and stone flooring, tiles, decking, and countertops are out, and tougher, less expensive, and often more sustainable fakes are in. Look for hard-wearing, easy-care vinyls and laminates that mimic beautiful marble, granite, wood grain, and more.

? Easy homes to move around in: The Baby Boomer generation is populous, relatively wealthy, and ready to retire, so it makes up a large portion of today?s homebuyers. As this generation chooses homes they plan to grow old in, they are looking for amenities that make life easier for people with limited mobility. Think about walk-in showers, grab bars in bathrooms, and one-story home layouts.

? Smart technology: Both the Bob Vila blog and the ReliableRemodeler.com blog report that buyers are favoring homes wired with the latest technology. Programmable thermostats, high-tech kitchen workstations, and remote controls for lights, shades, fans, and appliances are big attractions now.

? Modernization matters: According to this real estate report from TribLocal, home sellers can no longer get away with outdated floor plans, kitchens, or bathrooms. Beyond making basic repairs, you?ll need to keep everything looking current in order to stay competitive. Recent fixtures, appliances, carpeting, and paint colors make a big difference in your home?s value now.

The Staff at San Juan Realty, Inc.

Tags: Home Selling Tips, Home Trends, real estate news

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 1st, 2012 at 8:24 am and is filed under Weekly Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Source: http://sanjuanrealtyinc.com/2012-home-trends/

free shipping esophageal cancer marfan syndrome marfan syndrome britney spears engaged craig smith craig smith

Under lockdown: Life inside dissident Tibetan town

ABA, China (AP) ? China's stifling lockdown of this Tibetan town has not only been about patrolling its sleepy streets, but also policing the minds of a community at the center of self-immolation protests against Chinese rule.

Soldiers with helmets, rifles, sticks and shields march in rows along this monastery town's main road against a backdrop of snow-speckled mountains, while police stare at passing cars, scanning license plates and faces of passengers for unwelcome visitors. In school dormitory rooms in the county, there are random checks for books that go against the ruling Communist Party establishment ? and the constant questions about political leanings.

"They'll ask you questions and if you answer with your true feelings, they will be very unhappy. If you keep quiet, they will also be unhappy," said a Tibetan who teaches at a school in Aba county and who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals.

"They want you to say that the party is good and their policies are good," he added.

Teachers also are banned from making any mention ? positive or negative ? of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, the teacher said during an interview in the neighboring county of Hongyuan.

Earlier this week, an Associated Press reporter managed to get through several checkpoints along the road leading to Aba, for a rare glimpse of a town that has been under lockdown for more than three years, as well as an apparent uptick in security this week ahead of sensitive anniversaries.

The Aba township government referred telephoned questions about the heavy police presence to Aba prefecture, where government and Communist Party offices denied that security was high.

The town sits among high-altitude valleys grazed by yaks on the Tibetan plateau in southwestern Sichuan province. The town's Kirti Monastery, a large compound with an enormous white stupa, occupies a position in Tibetan society like that of a major university. Its monks have been at the forefront of unrest since Tibetan communities across western China rose up in a rebellion in 2008 that was quashed by a massive and continuing show of force. Many of the nearly two dozen Tibetans who set themselves on fire in the past year were monks or former monks from Kirti.

During this week's trip, the county surrounding Aba was cordoned off with roadblocks, usually manned by paramilitary police in green uniforms. On the way into town, a large signboard declared in Chinese, with no translation in the local Tibetan language: "A peaceful Aba is built by all, a peaceful Aba is shared by all."

Authorities had used traffic cones and barricades to narrow the town's main two-lane thoroughfare to one lane. Military trucks with green canvas covers and police vehicles were parked in rows in front of shops and restaurants. An armored paramilitary police van followed a group of marching soldiers on patrol.

Police stood close by as Tibetans huddled with crimson-robed monks over games, repaired cars or sawed wood. Multicolored prayer flags strung up on rooftops or tied to lampposts fluttered in the wind.

Plainclothes security men ? easily identifiable by their close-cropped hair, dark clothing and sunglasses ? sat on the sidewalk, newspapers in hand.

Barricades and a police minivan were perched at the junction to the narrow lane leading to the monastery. The first thing visible down the lane was a large white-and-blue police station, a Chinese flag atop it.

Internet and cell phone text messaging services in the area have been cut. Only telephone calls are allowed, and many believe that most calls are tapped. Describing a code he uses to ask friends in Aba about trouble with authorities, the teacher said: "Sometimes I ask them, 'Is the wind over at your end strong?' If they say it's strong, then there is a problem."

The authorities have dragooned Tibetans working in the governments of neighboring counties to serve as surveillance staff in Aba ? putting them in the awkward position of policing their ethnic brethren, said another Tibetan teacher, from Hongyuan, who stayed for three days in Aba last week.

The Tibetans have been deployed with red armbands at shop and hotel entrances, said the teacher, who also spoke on condition of anonymity.

"When ordered to, they don't dare to say 'I won't go,'" he said. "Once they get there, the people in Aba look at them accusingly, as if to say: 'You're a Tibetan and you're also coming here to treat us this way?'"

By nightfall, the street turns quiet and most security forces retire to hotels, while four or five military trucks patrol until morning, the teacher said.

"The locals are definitely feeling very heavy-hearted, very frustrated, all day. The soldiers are everywhere," said the teacher. "At every moment, people wonder what will happen to the person next to them, what the soldiers will do to them."

Security appeared to be tightening ahead of March, a month of sensitive anniversaries including that of the deadly anti-government riot among Tibetans in Lhasa in 2008, when frustration about Beijing's constant vilification of the exiled Dalai Lama boiled over. The period also marks the anniversary of the Dalai Lama's flight from the region in 1959 after an abortive uprising.

While the Chinese government has sought to win over the region by boosting economic growth, Tibetans worry about the gradual erosion of their culture and religion amid an influx of majority Han Chinese.

"In the people's hearts, what they probably can't stand the most is that the authorities scold our living Buddha, the Dalai Lama. We cannot stand it when they scold him," the teacher said. "He's the person we are most loyal to."

Dozens of security vehicles poured into the Aba area throughout the first few days of the week, lights flashing. They drove past a school where a red painted slogan on a wall reminded students: "Without the Communist Party, Tibetan areas would not be where they are today."

___

Follow Gillian Wong on Twitter at http://twitter.com/gillianwong

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2012-03-01-AS-China-Tibet-Lockdown/id-ac31b238ad6a4782958a01a2d0f5b77c

2012 state of the union address state of the union sotu boehner john boehner jorge posada maurice sendak