As a seasoned search engine marketing professional, I’ve optimized hundreds of Web sites over the years. A vast majority of the time, I’m brought into the Web development process late in the game. Rarely am I brought in at the ideal time: during the planning phases of a site design or redesign. This oversight typically means higher costs and delays in the development process.

Due to this fact, my team of search engine optimization (SEO) professionals has adapted to engagement during any phase of a W eb site’s lifespan. Based on past experiences, we’ve identified critical touch points during the site development process where W eb designers and optimizers must collaborate. Each of the following W eb development steps involves one or more touch points: site planning and specification, site architecture, wireframes, design comps, beta testing, site launch and maintenance.

Site Planning & Specification

In an ideal scenario, a company looking to create a new site, or redesign an existing site, should engage SEO professionals from the very start. The planning phase usually determines site objectives, functionality and content. Building a search engine-friendly W eb site should be one of the objectives. As such, the site functionality (or code) should be clean and content should be keyword-relevant. For example, Flash, frames and JavaScript are not inherently search friendly, and should be used judiciously. Content should consist of HTML text containing keywords relevant to each pages’ theme. If one of the W eb site objectives is to be search engine friendly, the site specification should be reviewed and approved by an SEO professional.

Site Architecture
During the architectural development phase, the W eb design team typically determines the overall size and shape of the W eb site. Two important elements of site architecture to search engines are the navigation and URL structure. Ideally, the W eb site will have at least one set of HTML-based navigation that can be easily “read” and followed by search engine spiders. From a content perspective, the architecture should include a site map and custom 404-error page. For the URL to be SEO friendly, it should be keyword-loaded (i.e. www.bmw.com/5series/M5) whether it is dynamically created or not.

Wireframes
More advanced site developers often include wireframes, or early design comps, that illustrate task flow and information architecture. Even though this phase does not address creative elements or code, it does illustrate basic page layout and contents. As such, a SEO-friendly Web site should include HTML text and navigation (often in the footer).

Design Comps
The design comp phase addresses template design refinements, including layout, colors and imagery. In this phase, the design team should understand the impact of using HTML text for page headers instead of text graphics. In addition, the copywriter should be made aware of the impact of keyword density, proximity and relevance on each page. The programmers should be aware of the impact of their choice of platform and code on SEO-friendliness.

Beta Testing
All sites should undergo a thorough quality assurance testing phase prior to launch. During this stage, the SEO professional should review the site on a page-by-page basis and provide specific recommendations on ALT, META and title tags. In addition, they should review the copy to ensure it is properly optimized.

Kent Lewis, President, Anvil Media, Inc.
With a background in integrated marketing, Lewis left a public relations agency in 1996 to start his search engine marketing career. Since then, he has focused on helping clients solve business problems via the Internet. Lewis founded Anvil Media, Inc. in 2000 to help clients enhance their Web site performance, increase their visibility and generate sales online. He was also Director of Marketing and Business Development at goodguys.com, an online electronics retailer. Lewis is creator and Editor-in-Chief of Anvil, a free monthly e-zine and is an adjunct professor at Portland State University. He speaks regularly on emarketing-related topics at industry conferences like Search Engine Strategies. Lewis sits on the board for Portland Advertising Federation and is actively involved in local charitable organizations. He recently founded Anvil’s Annual Get SMART Gala event to raise awareness for children’s literacy. Lewis received Portland Business Journal’s Top 40 Under 40 Award in 2004.

In a child’s education an important factor is the parents’
expertise for the “job”. No one is born holding all the
knowledge, but we can learn and understand things from books or
take the advice of qualified persons.

Amongst the commandments a parent should strictly follow are the
following:

1. Do not underestimate your child - he can understand more than
you think he does and if you make him believe you think poorly
of him this might affect his development.

2. Don’t use threats - a child loves a challenge and once
threatened he might go on and do what he wasn’t suppose to just
to see if he can escape the punishment.

3. Do not bribe your child - if you are trying to get him to
learn for money, for example, he will fail to understand the
importance of learning, all he will get from this is the
importance of money.

4. Do not make a small child promise something - small children
can’t hold promises so don’t force them to lie and then punish
them because they did that.

5. Do not keep them under a short leash - to grow up normally
children need some space, some freedom.

6. Do not use big words or too many words when you are talking
to your child - keep your ideas simple and concise so he can
understand every thing you have to say.

7. Do not expect an immediate and blind obedience - it is not
recommended, the child has to learn to think for himself, not to
follow orders.

8. Do not indulge him too much - he can develop compartmental
disorders.

9. Do not compromise when it comes to the rules of a game - the
trick for a game to be educational is to have its initial rules
respected.

10. Don’t impose rules that don’t go with the age of your child.

11. Do not try to inflict guilt - guilt is not an appropriate
feeling for children, especially if they are little.

12. Don’t give your child orders that you don’t take seriously -
your child will try to please you and giving him an order is
drastic. It becomes cruel if that order is a joke.

All these “commandments” are addressed first to the parent. But
they need to be referred to by teachers and educators as well.
Along with the parents, they will settle upon an attitude and
strategy for the education and growth of the child, so that they
can give him all the things he needs to properly develop
emotionally and physically.

In Japan, the national delicacies are often very important and special to a family. Families will only cook these dishes for the most special holidays and events. Many times they are saved for weddings or other cultural celebration events.

Most of the Japanese delicacies involve seafood of some sort. One of the most interesting of the group is Fugu. This is the poisonous puffer fish that is often used in Japanese meals. Because the fish is so poisonous, there are only a number of chefs in the world who are allowed to sell and serve the fish. This is because they must remove the toxic parts of the fish first.

Sake kawa is another of the Japanese delicacies that you may want to try. It is actually salmon skin that is often tossed aside by other countries in their traditional meals. However, in Japan it is considered a delicacy and is often fried and used in egg rolls or seafood rolls.

Odori Ebi is a Japanese delicacy that only the toughest people can handle. It is actually live prawns. The prawns are usually used in a sushi of sorts. They are often dunked in sake so the prawns will be a little sedated, but they are very much alive and will move around as you eat them.

These delicacies of Japan might seem a little unfamiliar and different to those of different countries however they are very much loved in Japan. They are usually quite expensive and only used in the most important meals of the culture.

Ondeck Sailing has been operating as a Sailing and Powerboat School for well over 10 years. The latest venture Ondeck Sailing have made on Farr 65s means the company have built on the already current sea school business to make available a broad selection of activities aboard high performance sailing boats, for skippered charter, business sailing, race charter, mile building opportunities, cruising, adventure yachting trips, ocean passages and Caribbean charter. The firm’s main office is based in Portsmouth at Gunwharf Quays Marina though Ondeck Sailing do operate from Greenwich as well.

Sailing is an interesting sport, hobby, personal challenge or business tool. Boating is greatly pleasurable for any participants that are involved and Ondeck Sailing can provide for customers of all skills from complete beginners to yachting pros. Planning a Corporate Sailing day is easy with Ondeck!

Ondeck boating provides an enjoyable & stimulated list of packages, so there is a bit for everybody to pick from. Ondeck Sailing & Powerboat School do not only make available spectating and racing at all of the crucial events in the water sport agenda, Ondeck Sailing School also have the capability to hold exhilarating racing or boating events for corporate hospitality, rewards, celebrations, networking, team & leadership building.

There are corporate & group sailing events that provides first-rate fun & is something everyone can be involved with. In this specific surrounding it offers everyone a chance to come together and conquer problems such as motivation, teamwork & leadership those of that will improve your business. Ondeck Sailing have the ability to provide for anything between six to 600 hundred customers and can provide a broad variety of racing boats and ocean racing yachts to pick from, depending on your businesses needs.

Ondeck Sailing & Powerboat School additionally focus on Corporate and Group Sailing trips, where you can do a full days watersport work, stopping for well earned grub and then finishing in corporate boating matches with several of your colleagues so you have the ability to see how much you have learnt.

As Branding and marketing professionals, we have an in-depth understanding of the importance of a marketing plan. However, not everyone recognizes the benefits of investing in a strategic marketing plan prior to launching strategies and tactics that seem intuitive at the time. The following few paragraphs attempt to impart our understanding of a well-written plan’s importance by first defining some of key elements of the role of marketing in most organizations.

Defines Focus: Your strategic marketing plan gives the company, and everyone in it, a benchmark to measure all marketing activities against. A well-developed strategic marketing plan not only gives you a structured strategic and tactical outline, but also defines your target audience, messages, goals, and objectives, in a way that allows flexibility. A structured plan provides a benchmark to measure all marketing activities and ensure that the investment they require meet the needs and goals of the marketing plan - preventing you from spending on wasted efforts. It helps staff understand goals and become customer-focused. It also empowers them to make decisions on their own that are consistent with the company’s objectives.

Tracks Costs / Measures Value: A marketing plan provides a step-by-step guide to what you are spending money on and when. It enables you to budget marketing expenses–helping you keep control of your expenditures, manage your cash flow, track sales to marketing expense ratio, and measure success of your marketing efforts. It also ensures that product development dollars are not wasted.

Charts Success: A marketing plan helps you chart your destination point. It becomes a guide through unfamiliar territory.

Captures Thinking on Paper: The finance department isn’t allowed to run a company by keeping numbers in their heads. It should be no different with marketing. Your written document lays out your game plan. If people leave, if new people arrive, if memories falter, the information in the written marketing plan stays intact.

Reflects the BIGPicture: In the daily routine of putting out fires, it’s hard to turn your attention to the big picture, especially those parts that aren’t directly related to the daily operations. Writing your marketing plan helps in determining your current business status and provides a roadmap for business goals.

Becomes a Document to Build On: Creating your very first strategic marketing plan is a time and resource consuming endeavor, but well worth the effort. Once the plan is complete, you just need to make minor adjustments and tweaks to it; you won’t have to re-create it from scratch. It will serve as a template and benchmark for you to work from as you define your objectives and strategies for future years. It becomes a living document for measuring sales success, customer retention, product development, and sales initiatives.

Where Do You Start?

The best place to start is to evaluate where you are now. How are you positioned in the market? How do your customers see you? What are your strengths/weaknesses, and what are some emerging market threats and opportunities?

Typically the strategic marketing plan is done in sequential phases–each part of the plan builds off of the phase before it. Your strategic marketing plan also needs the help of most everyone; it cannot be completed without the assistance of many people within the company: finance, operations, sales, management, and marketing.

Your Strategic Marketing Plan Should Include Include:

Phase 1

Situation Analysis: Defines the market dynamics and identifies client’s position in the market as it currently exists and will summarize the current situation from an internal and external perspective.

Industry Overview: Defines the current market situation and explores market trends and product consumption.

Competitive Profile: Identifies key players in the market and defines their positions, strategies and initiatives. This section is designed to give the client a clear understanding of the competitive dynamics of the marketplace and will provide you with valuable information for developing your future strategies and target markets.

Customer Profile: Provides an analysis of each of the potential target markets, regarding their use of the product and the factors affecting their buying process. This information is gathered using a variety of research tactics and may include you contacting a number of organizations within each category to gather facts about the buying process.

S. W. O. T. (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats):
Provides client with an in-depth view of the strengths and weaknesses of his or her organization, both from an internal and external perspective. It also defines potential opportunities and threats. This section is critical because it provides an objective summary of both perceptions and issues that will affect the success of future marketing efforts.

Target markets: Key target markets will be identified given the competitive situation, growth potential and product offering of the client. These markets will provide the best opportunity to develop strong brand awareness and will maximize the potential for both market share and revenue growth.

Phase 2

Key Objectives: Once all of the information is gathered during Phase I of the plan, you will work as a group to define the key objectives that will be instrumental in developing future strategies and tactics.

Positioning: After reviewing the industry, competitive information, company objectives, you will then define the new positioning in the marketplace. It will tie directly to the company ’s strengths and will reinforce its objectives and strategies.

Summary: A summarization of all relevant factors and information will be completed prior to developing strategies and tactics.

Phase 3

Strategies: You will then develop marketing and communication strategies that support the positioning and key objectives. These strategies will address channels of distribution, as well as define key corporate sales messaging.

Tactics: A list of marketing and communication initiatives that support and reinforce the company’s positioning, objectives and strategies will be developed. You will identify and produce the marketing support tools that provide the largest return on investment and ones that will substantially increase a client’s brand recognition and market share.

The Strategic Marketing Plan is a comprehensive effort that will allow a company to direct its resources toward achieving a common goal. It has been our experience that a Marcom plan plays a vital role in developing accurate messaging and provides a forum for consistently delivering those messages to your marketplace. It is the one document that ensures that every dollar spent on your efforts reinforces the corporate objectives, identity, image and Corporate Branding.

Scott White is President of Brand Identity Guru a leading Corporate Branding consulting and Branding research firm located in Boston, Massachusetts.
Brand Identity Guru specializes in creating corporate and product brands that increase sales, market share, customer loyalty, and brand valuation.

This Article may be freely copied as long as it is not modified and this resource box accompanies the article, together with working hyperlinks.

A proposal for a new peace plan that potentially can save millions of lives has been submitted to the Nobel Peace Prize Committee and Academic leaders for nomination in the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize competition. Nobel Peace Prize

ATTENTION
Noble Peace Prize Staff and Academic Leaders,

I am writing to request my proposed new Not-for-Profit organization, Wonderful Life Foundation, be nominated to receive the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize. My understanding is nomination for the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize requires a motion from a qualified Doctorate level PhD officials.

I believe the American taxpayer should be repaid for the vast sums of taxpayer money poured into numerous Middle East conflicts. The poor and working class citizens within the United States of America spent billions of American taxpayer dollars to fight side by side with Osma Bin Laden for the purpose of protecting religious freedoms of all Middle East Arab citizens from a communist invasion of Afghanistan.

I intend to use the Nobel Peace Prize monetary award to (1) help lower an extremely high escalating cost of living in America by reduction of mortgage interest rates, and (2) finance scientific research performed by institutions and corporate entities truly dedicated to improving the lives of people by discovery of new highly efficient production methods that have great potential to better the human condition. Institutions and corporate entities that are purely profit driven to cheaply manufacture a new product and sell at a high cost will not be eligible for the new proposed Wonderful Life Foundation Socially Responsible Scientific Research Incentive.

Please find below URL links to freelance article content outlining a new Middle East Peace Plan that could potentially save millions of lives. My proposal for a new Middle East peace plan provides for (1) assurance of peaceful United Nations disarmament of Iraq, and (2) formation of a new high level Iraq commission that will insure protection of the ultra conservative Muslim values of all Iraq citizens.

My Peace Plan may fail. However, my new proposed Not-for-Profit Foundation, Wonderful Life Foundation, deserves to win the Nobel Peace Prize for at least trying to find a peaceful solution to the Iraq conflict imposed upon the Middle East.

I want to remind everyone that past winners of the Nobel Peace Prize include Palestine Leader Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres, and Yitzhak Rabin. Perhaps, the effort of these men to achieve peace in the Middle East was indeed sincere. Obviously, the effort to bring peace to the Middle East by all three men has failed. My peace plan may fail too, however, at least I tried.

Bookmark and/or save this page then click here to review the Noble Peace Prize Award of 1994, posted on the web site of the Nobel Foundation.

I believe in the Sovereignty of Israel and formation of a new Palestine State. The fact is that both Israel and Palestine are strict authoritarian ultra conservative religious societies that are aligned in opposition to the lax permissive free Democratic American Society. Also, the strict authoritarian belief system of ultra conservative religious societies in the Middle East appeals to highly conservative political factions within the United States.

The ultimate effect of the constantly repeated rounds of attack, retreat, and attack again is to perpetuate violent conflict and to cut a hole in the pants pocket of America. The poor and working class citizens of America spend billions of taxpayer dollars only to perpetuate war and bloodshed in the Middle East.

A highly relevant truism from days of old is, “the truth shall set you free”. The international community is using the entire Middle East region to keep America weak.

The international community is working to prevent the United States from gaining a technological competitive edge. Ultra conservative societies may fear a technological competitive edge may contribute to the making of an even more morally permissive free democratic society.

A weak American society is vulnerable to illegal criminal activity associated with pornography and drug use. Oftentimes, illegal criminal activity associated with pornography and drug use is introduced into American society by foreign powers. Pornography and drug use contribute to the making of psychological cripples that become a burden to American society.

Lawmakers in the United States and diplomats around the world participate in the game to have an important job. Please find below e-mail I have sent to President George W. Bush and secretaries for the United Nations Security Council trying to peacefully resolve the Iraq conflict. I have also informed numerous peace movements about my new proposed Middle East Peace Plan that potentially could save millions of lives.

Bookmark and/or save this page than click here to read the Mission Statement of Wonderful Life Foundation, posted on www.servenet.org.

Bookmark and/or save this page now, than click here to read my newest freelance feature article entitled, Commitment to Protect Muslim Ultra Conservative Values of Iraqi People, currently available through the freelance writer-publisher exchange service ideamarketers.com.

Also, should this peace plan be accepted by all parties involved, I would like to take credit for the sale of a high tech satalite system to the joint United Nations -Arab League. Commissions from this sale will benefit my new proposed Not-for-Profit, Wonderful Life Foundation.

Please find URL links to my new proposed peace plan that can potentially save millions of lives within content of E-mail below:

Sincerely,
Mark

__________________________________

Psychologist for Social Responsibility http://www.psysr.org/iraq%20statement.htm

>Even if Iraq has developed WMDs, their use of them >would be made more likely, rather than less likely, >by a U.S. assault, since humiliation, fear, and >desperation so often lead to irrational acts. If the >U.S. attacked, Saddam Hussein would be forced to >defend himself, or turn toward apocalyptic >endings.

ATTENTION
PsySR Management Staff,

I earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology with a concentration of course work in computer science, data processing, physiology, biology, and information systems.

As a Psychology grad, I have written three feature articles pertaining to fear of free democratic societies maintained by ultra conservative religious societies of the middle east. MY FEATURE ARTICLE CONTENT CONTAINS A NEW PROPOSED PEACE PLAN THAT POTENTIALLY COULD SAVE MILLIONS OF LIVES.

In response to the quote posted above from the web site of Psychologist for Social Responsibility, the following excerpts from the two freelance feature article I wrote are very pertinent:

In my feature article entitled, My Two Cents: A Peace Proposal No One on Earth May have Contemplated Yet, I explore fears ultra conservative societies may have in relation to western culture. The following is a poignant observation I made within the content of my feature article:

One of the major criticisms of free democratic societies is that freedom can become a license for immorality. The observation that freedom can become a license for immorality is a very valid criticism of free democratic societies.

A clear statement of major goals and final outcomes of United Nations intervention can reduce the fear of ideological westernization of ultra conservative Muslim societies.

My new Peace plan providing a provision allowing Iraq President Saddam Hussien to head a new high level government commission may allow the Iraq leader to demonstrate his sales skill by allowing the United Nations Team (consisting of Ultra Conservative Arabs from neighboring regions) to make a huge financial investment in the Iraqi infrastructure. Iraq President Saddam Hussien can boost he caught a big fish. Thus, my new peace proposal prevents anyone from feeling humiliation.

However, war will bring great humiliation. The following quote from one of my feature articles is very significant:

My peace proposal nearly eliminates all the major sociological problems pertaining to introduction of greater stability in the middle east. If Iraq does not find this peace proposal acceptable, and a human catastrophe occurs resulting in the death of millions of people than Iraq will bear the ultimate responsibility for the carnage. It will not speak well of Iraq to sacrifice the lives of millions of people when nearly all the major objections to United Nations guaranteed disarmament have been removed.

Please recommend my feature article content to a online or print media company for possible publication.

Please let me know if Psychologist for Social Responsibility may be interested in publishing my articles either online or in print publications. I am providing my content for free in exchange for (1)a byline, (2)recognition as a contributing freelance writer, (2)notification of where and when my freelance feature article content will appear so that I can build a writer portfolio.

Thank you

Sincerely,
Mark

______________________________________

Freelance Feature Article Content
Outlining a New Peace Plan
That Can Potentially Save Millions of Lifes

I would like to submit a freelance article I wrote that contains a new proposal for a Middle East peace plan. The proposed new middle east peace plan is described in my letter below addressed to President George W. Bush.

The most recent feature article explains tenets included in my new peace plan submitted to President George W. Bush. The most recent article is entitled, Preservation of Idealogical Integrity of Nations Where United Nations Must Intervene.

The URL link is: http://www.ideamarketers.com/library/article.cfm?articleid=18471&wherefrom=RESULTS

Summary of main theme:

The concept of high-level government commissions to preserve ideological structure in nations where the U.N. may need to intervene may be a concept that can ease fears of an ideological take over. Every society should have the freedom to maintain values they as a people hold dear. P> Preservation of the ideological integrity of ultra conservative societies may help prevent formation of a one world government. The formation of a one world government may dilute ultra conservative religious values. The dilution of ultra conservative religious values may allow world domination by a powerful dictator.

The United Nations should declare major goals of (1)social stability and (2) dedication to basic fundamental human rights. The United Nations should make it extremely clear that it does not support or facilitate ideological take over.

Please let me know as soon as possible if United for Peace and Justice is interesting in publishing my freelance feature articles either online or in print.

My freelance feature article is currently available through the writer-publisher exchange service, www.ideamarketers.com.

My freelance feature is available at no cost. Stipulations include: (1)an author byline, (2)recognition as freelance contributing writer, (3)notification of when and where my article will be published so that I can create a portifolio of my writing.

I can e-mail the html if this is necessary. Just let me know via e-mail.

The link to my article is posted below, but here is the link again, just in case:

http://www.ideamarketers.com/library/article.cfm?articleid=18417&wherefrom=RESULTS

Sincerely,
Mark _______________________________________

Dear Mr. President,

On February 26, 2003, Dan Rather, famed CBS News Anchorman and correspondent, interviewed Iraq President Saddam Hussein for CBS News Television Broadcast of 60 Minutes II.

The 60 Minutes II interview with Iraq President Saddam Hussein inspired me to write a freelance feature article entitled, My Two Cents: A Peace Proposal No One on Earth May have Contemplated.

In the content of my feature article I outline a proposal for a new peace proposal that to my knowledge has not yet been contemplated.

My new Middle East Peace proposal can be found at the following URL:

http://www.ideamarketers.com/library/article.cfm?articleid=18417&wherefrom=RESULTS

The following is a summary of the major strength of my new proposal for peace in the middle east:

My peace proposal insures (1) ultra conservative values of Iraq will be preserved, (2) Iraq will continue to control tremendous wealth generated by its oil reserves, (3) peaceful United Nations intervention which includes ultra conservative Arab officials from neighboring nations as well as delegates of all concerned U.N. Nations who will help the Iraq people form a more cooperative less threatening government, (4) the development of greater stability in the middle east, and (5) allows Iraq Leader Saddam Hussien to play a vital role by heading a newly formed high level Iraqi commission.

If Iraq Leader Saddam Hussien does not want to participate in this peace plan, than a newly formed Iraq commission can be created to include ultra conservative Muslim officials from neighboring nations without participation by Saddam Hussien

My peace proposal nearly eliminates all the major sociological problems pertaining to introduction of greater stability in the middle east. If Iraq does not find this peace proposal acceptable, and a human catastrophe occurs resulting in the death of millions of people than Iraq will bear the ultimate responsibility for the carnage. It will not speak well of Iraq to sacrifice the lives of millions of people when nearly all the major objections to United Nations guaranteed disarmament have been removed.

_____

I hope these ideas are helpful.

Sincerely,
Mark

About the Author

Author byline and Bio: Mark Gaffney is a contributing freelance writer. Mark has earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology with a concentration of coursework in physiology, biology, and computer science. Mark is in the process of trying to start a new Not-for-Profit Foundation entitled, Wonderful Life Foundation. Mark plans to submit his online work as a thesis project to earn his Doctorate (PhD.) degree and officially become a Nanotechnology Sociologist. Bookmark this page now and click here to review preliminary plans for organizational development of Wonderful Life Foundation currently published on www.ServeNet.org. ServeNet.org, Idealist.org, and Network-for-Good.org are associated with the government web site portal, www.freedomcorp.gov, an initiative of President George W. Bush to promote volunteerism and provide services to help Not-for-Profit organizations.

Interested in learning how to scrapbook, but not quite sure how
to begin? The following guide will help you get started with
this fun and rewarding hobby. The guide explains how to organize
your scrapbook photos, plan your scrapbook project, select your
scrapbook album, create your album pages and store your
scrapbook supplies.

Organize your scrapbook photos If you are new to scrapbooking,
the thought of organizing your photos might be somewhat
overwhelming. Breaking the task down into the following four
parts will help you get the job done: 1) Gather your photos from
your drawers, closets, shoe boxes, etc. and bring them to a
large workspace such as a dining room table, 2) Sort your photos
chronologically and by event, 3) Label the backs of some of your
photos so that it’s easy to identify what a particular group of
photos is about, and 4) Store your photos in photo-safe products
until you’re ready to put them into scrapbook albums; products
should say “photo-safe” and/or “acid-free and lignin-free.”

Plan your scrapbook project Once your photos are organized, it
is time to plan your scrapbook project. There are three things
to keep in mind when deciding what your first project will be.
First, use recent photos - work with photos that are less than
one year old so that it will be easy for you to remember what
they are about. Second, keep it small - choose a specific event
(e.g., wedding, vacation) to start with rather than tackling a
whole year’s worth of photos. Third, make it personal - use
photos of an event that you were part of; this helps when it
comes to journaling.

Select your scrapbook album After you have decided what your
first scrapbook project will be, it is time to select a
scrapbook album. You will need to choose the style, size and
design of the album. Style: There are two album styles -
strap-hinge and post-bound; the names of the styles refer to how
the pages are secured in the album. A strap-hinge album lies
flat when you open it so that you can work on your page while it
is in the album and then slip a protective sleeve over the page
when it is done. With a post-bound album you work on your page
outside of the album and then insert the page into a protective
sleeve in the album when it’s done. Size: Scrapbook albums come
in a variety of sizes. The 12″x12″ album is the most popular
size, but there are a number of other sizes including 11″x8.5″,
8″x8″, 6″x6″, and more. The albums are usually expandable and
vary as to the maximum number of pages they can hold. Design:
Scrapbook albums are available in many different colors,
patterns and textures. You’ll want to choose an album that fits
with the theme of your photos - a white album for wedding
photos, a pink album for baby girl photos, a festive-colored
album for birthday photos and so on. As long as you make sure
the album is labeled as “photo-safe” and/or “acid-free and
lignin-free”, it’s fine to use any style, size or design.

Create your album pages Once you have selected your scrapbook
album, the fun really begins as you create your album pages.
There are four components to an album page. Photos: Select 4-6
related photos and crop (i.e., trim) each one so that it focuses
on the most important part of the picture. Then arrange the
photos on your album page; try a number of different layouts to
see what looks best. Border/Background: Use scrapbook paper,
stickers and other embellishments to create a border/background
that reflects the theme of your page. Mount your
border/background and your photos on your page. Journaling:
Write about the who, what, when, where and why of your photos.
You can have captions for each photo, write in paragraph format
about the whole page, or use bulleted text to list the
highlights. Enhancements: Add scrapbook stickers, die-cuts or
other embellishments to your page. Use just a few enhancements
so that they compliment your photos rather than overwhelm them.

Store your scrapbook supplies The proper storage and
organization of your scrapbook albums and supplies is very
important. Photos and certain scrapbook supplies can be damaged
by heat, humidity, light, acid and lignin. Use storage products
that are photo-safe and keep your albums and supplies in a
temperature and humidity controlled room (i.e., not in an attic,
garage or unfinished basement). In addition to keeping your
scrapbook supplies safe, you will also want to keep them
organized so that they are easy to find whenever you are ready
to work on your albums. There are scrapbook organization
products designed for storing your photos, pages in progress,
albums, enhancements, paper, tools and more.

So those are the basics for getting started. For more detailed
information on each of the steps described above, including a
component-by-component example of how to create an album page,
see the full guide at
www.scrapbooktown.com/tutorial-introduction.html.

So,you have a mlm network and now you need to build a downline.I will inform you about building a downline for your mlm network marketing. Mlm is a hard program to build a downline in.It takes a lot of time and work to build a downline for your mlm network.Once you get a downline built you can make a lot money.You will be a success.Be prepared to work hard than reap the rewards of your hard work.

Mlm network marketing is what is called multi level marketing.Mlm started with Amway years ago and now moved into the internet era.Network marketing is a business that markets a line of products or several lines of products through inpendent salespeople. An independent salesperson is recruited; she, in turn, recruits other people; these people recruit others, and so it goes. Each representative builds her own business with her recruits and their recruits under her, and she makes commission on the sales volume of her team. The people under the independent salesperson are called the downline.

The potential for increasing the downline and earning money is exponential.The mlm network marketing is open to a lot of scams.MLM is the Last hope in America for the little person to learn how to make money and actually do it.There is millions of people today earning a full time income with part time work.The idea behind multi-level marketing (MLM) is simple. Imagine you have a product to sell. A common MLM product is some sort of panacea, such as a vitamin or mineral supplement. You could do what most businesses do: either sell it directly to consumers or find others who will buy your product from you and sell it to other people.This is not to say there is no benefit to MLM membership. You get certain tax write-offs. You get to buy products, some of which you will be happy with. You get to go to inspirational meetings, some of which will make you feel good. You may meet new friends and you may even make a few bucks.It may be true that millions of people are online now.

However, it isn’t true that all you have to do is send them an email and they are just sitting their eagerly awaiting to send you cash and join your downline or buy products from your online mall. In fact it is harder to get someone to buy on the Internet than in a normal business environment.Network Marketers all over the globe have lost thousands of dollars after throwing up a website, doing a little advertising and expecting huge profits to start rolling in.This is why you need to build a downline.This is one of the most fun and rewarding businesses today.

To Build a downline will take a little time and effort.In your efforts to recruit others into your MLM business, you’ve probably encountered people who were rude to you and you’ve been rejected by friends, family and strangers more often than not. You’ve probably wondered what you could do differently, what else could you say, how could you get past that brick wall you keep running into?You can join a mlm downline club ,pay for a guaranteed downline,or you can buy mlm leads.A downline is a lot harder to build for mlm and takes work.Getting a downline for mlm is different than getting downlines for other programs.One way to build a downline for your mlm network marketing to cerate sales letters.Sales letters work the best for mlm.You can find samples of great sales letters all over the internet.You also need to make alliances for 4 reasons.They are

1) to generate awareness and develop targeted leads (internet traffic);

2) to expand your reach faster than you could alone;

3) to take advantage of the clout or customer base of another company (or another website); and

4) to distribute your products and services through another company (or website) to increase your sales and/or reduce your costs.

In conclusion just with any business endeavor, it is the unique and creative ways that a business uses the tools available that determines its success. I challenge you to stretch your imagination. Try some new things.

Refuse to view the internet primarily as a scientific, technology-driven tool, but instead strive to use the web in highly creative ways that set your company apart. Innovation and timing count for everything on the web.Recognize the importance of tracking, and make sure that you have a plan in place to track all of your future marketing activities. The simplest way to track is to ask each new customer where or how they found out about you. The importance of tracking, and make sure that you have a plan in place to track all of your future marketing activities. The simplest way to track is to ask each new customer where or how they found out about you.Please beware of the 7 common mistakes in mlm and they are

1.) ** Using “Institutional Advertising” **Institutional advertising is advertising that does not focus on your prospects. Rather on you, your company, your pay plan, your products, your bonus pool, your packaging, or the sales people at the home office.Anything that does not focus solely on your prospect is institutional advertising. Think of Coke-A-Cola. That’s institutional advertising. Their sole purpose is brand their name into your mind. That way when you get thirsty and want a soda, you buy a Coke.You must focus on your prospects ego and their desires. What they want takes priority over what you or the MLM company you’re with wants. Tell them what’s in it for them.Solution: Create prospect focused advertising and drop your ego and appeal to the prospects ego.

2.) ** Fell Into Management Mode **This one is a biggy. In order to make money in network marketing (or in direct selling) the life blood is new business. For the first 2-3 years new business is what drives your income.If you spend all of your time managing people and none of it actually acquiring new business you’ll fall into a mode where your income levels off or just drops. This is management mode and it will stop you dead in your tracks from making long term income from MLM.Solution: Always be moving forward, building your group. Leading by example. By building.

3.) ** Making MLM Your Business **One of the most sobering and completely real facts of MLM is that you do not own your own MLM business. At any moment in time the network marketing company you’re with could shut it’s doors, change it’s policies, cut the popular products (not likely, but happens) or any number of things that would instantly stop your income or cut it by 50%.Making MLM your business limits you. Stops you from seeing all of the possibilities outside the MLM industry. Instantly turning your income into something that is in reality, not yours. Make MLM a part of your business. Not the sole reason it exists.Solution: Expand your business into other areas. Not just MLM.

4.) ** Not Being Personal **MLM takes time, money, more time and more money to develop. As does any profitable business. However, in the day of emails, fax machines, web sites, online video, and super technology, it is easier than ever to forget you are working with real live people with real live problems and worries.Adding a personal touch to the process will build your credibility, and build trust with those you plan on working with.Solution: Add a personal touch and build trust

5.) ** Not Being Realistic **Technology makes it easier for you to contact more and more people at an ever growing rate. Which leads some people to hype up their claims. Hyped up claims are not always so outrageous they instantly appear full of hype.Some of them are subtle, like, “No direct selling.” Which seems like a benefit, because people hate to sell. In truth, direct selling is network marketing. You are not as aggressive about it. But you will, and always be selling something to someone.Solution: Be Realistic and understand network marketing is a selling business.

6.) ** Losing Focus **Losing focus is easy. Thousands of ways to advertise and reach your market exist. Pick 1 or 2 or 3 of them. Not all of them. Focus on what works, and drop what doesn’t. If you know it’s not working after a few weeks, don’t do it anymore.Solution: Focus only on one, two or three advertising strategies at time. And focus on them until they prove to be ineffective.

7.) ** Becoming a Computer Jockey **A Computer Jockey? What’s that? Computer Jockey’s are people who sit there in front of their computer and try to work their MLM business completely online. 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.I hope by reading this you have a better idea about how to build a downline for your mlm network marketing.Good luck and make money.
www.downline4all.com

About the Author

John Old is editor of Downline Builder - Focus on Downline Club, MLM Downline Leads, MLM Network Marketing and Downline Building :: Don’t Buy Downline, It’s Free to Swap Downline at Downline Club Forum

I love going to the grocery store and looking at my receipt to see how much I saved. The best I’ve personally done is 70% and I’ve only been able to do that once. I really try to save between 30% and 40% when I visit the grocery store, if possible.

In addition to the tips below I also shop at a grocery store that gives me gasoline discounts. Each time I spend $50 in groceries, the store gives me 3 cents per gallon off on my gasoline. My car usually will take 13 gallons. At 3 cents per gallon off, it’s another 39 cents I’m saving when I shop. I know that doesn’t seem like a lot, but if I fill my car 26 times per year (every other week), in a year I’ve saved $10.14. That ten dollars comes to me just for shopping at a store that has great prices to begin with.

Here are several of my tips for saving money at the grocery store:

1. Buy day old meat. If you freeze the meat it will hold for several months. Sometimes I can save 50% on the cost of the meat by buying day old meat. This applies to poultry also.

2. Buy bread at outlet stores if available. Again, I save 50% by buying the day old bread. I keep bread in my refrigerator, so it will last many days. If you don’t have an outlet store, compare the price of store bought bread with the price of day old bakery bread.

3. Watch the store sales. I try very hard to not run out of items so that I only buy items when on sale. For example, we make spaghetti at least once a month. I use Prego sauce as a base. I buy it when it’s on sale, knowing I’ll use it in the next month.

4. Use coupons. If I see a coupon for a product I use, I cut the coupon. If your store offers double coupons, shop on the days your coupons will be doubled. If you can buy an item on sale and use a coupon, you’ll save even more. Consider trying a different brand, if there is a coupon and it will cut your overall grocery bill.

5. Grocery stores tend to put the higher priced items at eye level. Check the top and bottom shelves to see if a different brand or different size might be a better price.

6. Compare brands. Don’t be afraid to try store brand products. One of the major manufacturers is making the store brand product. I actually save quite a bit of money on mayonnaise by buying the store brand. We bought a small jar of the store brand and liked it. Now it’s all we use.

7. Shop with a list. Try not to impulse buy. Stick to your list. I try to only impulse buy if I find something on sale that was not in the circular and it’s an item we use.

8. Plan your shopping. We have one store in town that always sells eggs for a dollar a dozen. I seldom find them at the grocery store for that price. I make a plan to buy eggs while in the part of town where this store is. I plan ahead so I don’t run out of eggs prior to going to this one store.

9. Buy in bulk if the price is right. We use real butter in my home. I buy 6 pounds at a time. I put it in the freezer and it keeps for months. I get the best price buying butter in bulk this way.

10. Always check price per unit, or price per ounce. Larger does not always mean a better price. Laundry detergent is a great example. I’ve been able to buy 3 smaller containers for less than the cost of one larger container.

Once you begin seeing the savings, you’ll begin to look forward to shopping just to see how much you can save!

Saturday, MasterCard blamed a vendor of ALL credit card
providers called CardSystems Solutions, Inc., a third-party
processor of payment card data, as the source of loss of 40
million consumers credit card information.

As is pointed out by several newspaper and web articles over
the last few weeks, each recapping long lists of financial
information data breaches, something’s gotta give before we
entirely lose trust in financial institutions, data brokers
and credit bureaus. How much privacy loss can we take
without acting?

These types of data loss were very likely common and have
very probably been going on for a very long time. The
difference is that now, THEY ARE REQUIRED BY LAW TO DISCLOSE
THOSE LOSSES - not just in California, but in many states.
National disclosure laws on data security breaches are being
considered in Congress.

I suggest that these breaches of data security all came to
light due to the California law requiring disclosure from
companies suffering hacking loss or leaks or social
engineering or crooked employees or organized crime rings
posing as “legitimate” customers. All of the above have been
given as reasons for security lapses or poor security
policies.

About three years ago, a friend told me his paycheck deposit
to Bank of America went missing from account records after
he took his check to the bank on Friday. By Monday, Bank of
America was in the news claiming a computer glitch had
disappeared the entire day’s deposits. I mumbled to myself,
“I’ll bet that was a hack and that hacker just made a huge
offshore banking deposit with B of A depositors’ money.”

But we didn’t find out why it happened in that particular
case because there was no disclosure law in place at the
time. Now we have disclosure laws that mandate notice of
security breaches. Now suddenly - huge financial services
hacks and devious criminal social engineering outfits posing
as legitimate customers and apparently “innocent” losses by
transport companies of backup tapes begin to come to light.

This spate of data loss incidents is proof of the need for
corporate “sunshine laws” that make public notice mandatory
of those data losses that threaten customer information.

Who is going to lose here - the public, the corporations,
the criminals, or the government? I’d prefer that the bad
guys get the shaft and take down crooked company insiders
that either facilitate data loss by underfunding security
and encryption or participate in data theft or loss in any
form - even if that participation is security negligence.

Financial companies and data brokers have been covering up
the losses and keeping quiet about hacks so as not to worry
or frighten their customers. But that practice is
essentially ended now that they must notify the public and
disclose those losses instead of hushing them up.

Keeping the breaches hidden from public view is bad practice
as it maintains the status quo. Disclosure will facilitate
internal corporate lockdowns on the data and all access to
it. Disclosure will educate the public to the lack of
security and danger to the sensitive information we all
provide rather casually and routinely to businesses.

As the following link to a silicon.com story suggests, we
cannot take much more of this lack of regard to privacy and
must lock down financially sensitive data securely and must
begin to hold data brokers, bureaus and handlers VERY
accountable.

<http://software.silicon.com/security/0,39024655,39131279,00.htm>

Insist to your elected representatives that your financial
data be locked down, encrypted and guarded by those
entrusted with storing, transporting and using it. Since our
financial, medical and legal lives are increasingly being
housed in digital form and transmitted between data centers
of multiple handlers - we need to know it is secure. We also
need to know when that security has been breached and our
data compromised or lost.

Thieves are becoming more aware of the ease with which they
can find and access financial data. Hacking is not the
source of the greatest losses.

Organized crime has easily found their way into our
financial records by simply paying for it by posing as
“legitimate” business customers of information brokers such
as ChoicePoint and Lexis/Nexis. Any business can buy
financial and credit information from those information
bureaus and credit reporting agencies by meeting rather lax
requirements for “need to know” that data.

As long as it is possible to purchase our sensitive data
from brokers and bureaus, organized crime will
“legitimately” buy it from those sources, then ruin our
credit by selling that information at a higher price in
identity theft schemes.

Since disclosure laws have come into effect, those breaches
have been made public, credit cards cancelled before losses
can occur and credit reports monitored to watch for
suspicious activity. The bad guys activities are squelched
because we are made aware of the possibility our information
has been compromised.

Not all blame can go to financial institutions and data
brokers. Protect your own private data by protecting your
computer records at home, in the office, on your laptop and
in your PDA by using basic keyword security and locking down
files. Use built in encryption on your operating system and
your home network to keep data secure. Then be certain to
clear that sensitive data off the computer when you sell it
or throw it away.

Data security is something we all need to take seriously and
the corporate breaches are dramatic illustrations of how
important it has become to build digital fortresses around
our critical financial, legal and medical information.

Mike Banks Valentine is a privacy advocate and blogs about
privacy issues at PrivacyNotes.com
You can read more about identity theft issues at:
Publish101

Contact MikeValentine for Search Engine Optimization
http://www.seoptimism.com