Carmon

First of all, you need to think about exactly what sort of home based business you want. Although you may already know what home based business you want to have, choosing one can be a lot harder than you might think. After all, theyre so many types of home businesses to choose from! So a great place to begin is to start thinking about your interests. What do you love? Do you love children? Cars? Cooking? Helping people? Making jewelry? Any of these interests can be turned into a successful home based business because when you do something you love, youre far more likely to be successful at it.

Now you want to make a home business plan. It doesnt matter whether youre going to try and get financing for your home based business or not. You still need to have a plan for your home business. Think of it like building a birdhouse. You need a blueprint or building plans, right? The same is true for a home based business. You need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and what steps are necessary to reach your goal. Youll also want to look at the demand for the product or service your home based business will offer and how youll get the word out about your home based business.

Next you will want to talk to your family. Having your familys support is vital to having a successful home based business. After all, it is their home. So you need to make sure your family members are open to the idea and understand the demands and restraints that will be involved in having a home business. Let each person talk about any issues they may have and try to resolve them. Also, anticipate family problems that may come up because of your home based business, and let everybody work together on plans for handling them.

After this, designate a home based business space in your houseand make sure everyone knows the space is off-limits for anything else. When choosing the room or place for your home office, consider the equipment youll need and any storage room youll have to have for your home based business. If youre going to need a great deal of storage space for your products, you may want to consider renting space in a warehouse or storage facility.

Finally, purchase your equipment for your home based business. Youll want a computer, desk and chair of course, but dont forget other important equipment your home based business may require. For instance, do you need special tools to make your product? What sort of filing system is best? Is there any special software you need to purchase? Do you need a postage meter or mail scale? What about phones? Special shipping items? Make a list of everything, down to pens and legal pads, youll absolutely have to have. This will ensure you stay focused on the essentials when making your purchases.

And dont try to buy everything you want for your home based business at first. Leave unessential items until a later time so you can spend more on what you really need. When making your purchases, dont forget you can often get great used and refurbished office and business equipment for your home based business. Just make sure its in good working condition before you buythe last thing you want is to have your home based business equipment spend more time in the shop being fixed than it does in your home office.

Charles Fuchs
http://www.charlesfuchs.com
http://www.workathomesociety.com

I grant permission to publish this article, electronically or in print, as long as the bylines are included, with a live link, and the article is not changed in any way.

Copyright 2006, Charles Fuchs, President of Vision Management Enterprise Inc., is an established online marketer who specializes in helping people start their very own Work at Home Based Business.

You have to give some of these gals credit when it comes to fund raising. It doesn't matter what kind of weather it is. Come rain, snow or blistering heat, they're out there with their tin cans and smiles trying to raise a buck or two for the charity of their choice. And it's not just street corners where these gals can be seen. Shopping centers, supermarkets and just about any public place is fair game for collecting for charity. So just what's involved in being able to do this? After all, you can't just go out, tin can in hand and start begging for bucks. There are some rules and things that must be done before you can collect even one quarter.

The very first thing you have to do is decide what organization you're going to do your fund raising for. Not every organization will allow you to beg publicly for loose change. So you have to first decide on the organization and find out if they allow such collecting. If they do, then you have to send away for the necessary materials. Aside from the cans, which must be clearly marked with the organization you're collecting for, there are papers that need to be filled out and a license that needs to be displayed. True, most people walking out of the local supermarket are not going to ask to see your authorization to collect money. However, you do have to have it with you should anybody want to see it. So what's on these documents?

Well, that depends on the organization, but most of them are pretty standard. They'll have the name of the organization on them and what the money is being collected for, such as what cause. For example, if the organization is the International Order Of Rainbow and they're collecting for The National Cancer Society, this will be stated on the document. If the organization and the cause are the same, then there is no need to state what the donations are for. It's understood.

Another thing you usually get from these organizations is some kind of uniform, even if it's just a hat. Some splurge for vests, but usually there's something to wear that identifies who you're collecting for. One of the most famous of these uniforms are the vests that the Knights Of Columbus wear. These are bright yellow and actually glow in the dark so you can see them at knight. And these guys are out at all hours of the day. They can usually be seen at busy intersections near shopping malls. That's where most of their business comes from.

Fund raising by standing on a corner or in the middle of a large intersection is a thankless job. Unlike a dinner, which is a few hours, these people stand outside for the better part of a whole day and it doesn't matter if it's nice out or the worst day of the year. These are the people who probably work harder than anyone else when it comes to fund raising. So when you see one out on the street, drop in a couple of coins. You'll be glad you did.

Michael Russell
Your Independent guide to Fund Raising

The advent of wireless broadband has put a new twist on people's mobility and communications. Wireless broadband connections can take many different forms. From an extension of conventional wired networks in your home or office, to wireless coverage of entire metropolitan areas, to the proliferation of WiFi hotspots all over the world - the Internet truly makes the world a global place.

Wireless Broadband and IP Telephony

Companies like Clearwire and Mobilepro Corp are connecting college campuses, even whole cities to the Internet wirelessly. Using fixed point to point, point to multipoint, and Non-Line-of-Site (NLOS) technologies, these companies can eventually cover areas of dense population that will rival the cellular networks.

Worldwide, even in remote locations, WiFi hotspots only need a little electricity and a satellite uplink to connect to the world.

Wireless broadband and IP telephony have the most potential in the small business and traveling community. A small business with branch offices spread around the country (or the world for that matter) could save considerably on their telecommunication expenses utilizing VoIP. As would the traveling salesperson staying at a far away hotel, more and more of which have their own wireless networks. Just pick a provider, find a hotspot and watch your phone bill drop.

IP Telephony over wireless broadband is emerging as a viable alternative to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), and is even encroaching on the cellular communications industry. Whereas the big cellular networks put in place by companies like Sprint and Verizon have done a good job blanketing North America, and Europe, the cost to the consumer can be cut even more by utilizing the Internet to transport voice.

VoIP and the Cellular Networks

IP telephony is a disruptive technology, meaning that it has the potential to turn an existing market upside down. Imagine how the Telco's felt when a long distance call for which they used to charge a dollar a minute can now be made for pennies. Needless to say, the Ma Bells and mobile phone companies will resist this change, but as the technology evolves, adoption seems inevitable.

Just as the sound quality on cellular networks are generally less than land lines, massive adoption of mobile phones show that people are willing to tolerate loss of quality for convenience. Quality of sound over an IP connection can be anywhere from a dropped call to cell phone quality, to the equivalent of a land line connection, depending on network utilization.

The advantages of VoIP over conventional telephony are becoming clearer, but what would be the advantages of IP Telephony over cellular phones? While both cell phone companies and the pure-play VoIP providers have monthly plans, internet phone companies do not charge more for prime time, and the monthly service charges are significantly less. Most mobile phone companies offer free nationwide long distance in the U.S., whereas Vonage, for example offers free calls throughout the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, and Europe.

One major trend in the telecommunications industry is Fixed Mobile Convergence (FMC). The technology would allow cell phone handsets to seamlessly switch between cellular networks and a landline network infrastructure. The landline network would be WiFi or Bluetooth, and would connect directly to the PSTN, or a broadband Internet connection, allowing both cellular and/or VoIP and PSTN phone calls.

International rates with VoIP are the lowest to be had, to some countries as low as 2-3 cents a minute for a call to a PSTN number. Calls to cell phones however, are charged at a much higher rate.

WiFi Cell Phones

Essential to the widespread implementation of wireless VoIP is, of course, the hardware- the phone itself. While many pure-play Internet phone companies have had WiFi telephones for a while, the ideal solution would be a cell phone that goes both ways. Companies like Truphone have furthered the cause by developing an Open Source application based on the widely accepted Session Initiation Protocol (SIP), which allows a seamless transition from the Internet to the PSTN.

Nokia, a leading manufacturer of cell phones, has developed a line of "Smart Phones" starting with its E60 series that is dual band and can switch between cellular and WiFi networks. Their latest innovation, the N80, combines all the latest technology and truly is a "smart" phone. These phones will automatically switch back and forth while roaming between cellular and WiFi networks, purportedly without dropping the call.

IP Telephony over wireless networks is a technology just out of its infancy, and is yet to become wide spread. The cost effectiveness of routing voice packets over the internet as opposed to land lines, or even cellular networks, cannot be denied. But don't expect the Telco's or the cellular phone companies to embrace this technology wholeheartedly until they can figure out a way to make a profit.

Author Michael Talbert is a certified systems engineer and web designer with over 7 years experience in the industry. For more information on Voice over IP Telephony, visit the website VoIP-Facts.net, or the VoIP Blog for up to date industry news and commentary.

It seems like only yesterday when this fun game started appearing in Casinos in the United States. As you might expect from the name, Caribbean Stud Poker got its illustrious start in the Caribbean. It eventually worked its way onto cruise ships and one day the game finally docked on U.S. shores.

This exciting game is now offered in just about every casino, both online and in the real world. It's usually considered a party game, because, like Blackjack, everyone is playing against the dealer.

Caribbean Stud Poker is played on a Blackjack-style table and seats multiple players. If you're playing the game online, you might be the only one playing-some online casinos are offering multi-player games now.

The layout for the game has three main betting areas. First, there's the Ante spot, which is where your initial wager goes. Next there's the Bet spot, which is why you bet to stay in the game-more on this later. Finally, there's the progressive jackpot wager slot. When you drop $1 into this slot, you're entered into the progressive jackpot.

Quick Game Play

In other articles, I'll go over the game play and strategy in more detail, but for now, let's run through the general game play of Caribbean Stud Poker.

Before the hand is played, you must enter a wager. The lowest betting limit I've ever seen in the real world is $5. You might find limits lower online. So, let's imagine that you placed $5 on the Ante spot.

Next, you need to decide if you want to be entered into the progressive jackpot. If so, put $1 into the slot. You can't be entered into the jackpot after the hand is dealt.

After all players have made these two moves, the hand is dealt. You'll be given five cards. This game doesn't have many big decisions. Unlike video poker, there are no draw cards, so these are the only five cards you'll get. At this point, you need to decide if you think your hand will beat the dealer's hand or not.

You can choose to fold now and lose your Ante wager, or you can stay in the hand and place a Bet wager. This new wager is equal to two times the Ante wager. So, if you made a $5 wager to start the hand, your Bet wager would be $10.

After all players have decided, the deal flips over his or her hand and bets are either taken or paid. At this time, any progressive winners are paid.

Time to Learn More

This article was just a quick intro to Caribbean Stud Poker. In other articles, I'll go further into detail about playing the game, including progressive payouts, game decisions, playing strategy and more.

For now, I hope I've wetted your appetite for this fun game.

Will Win is a professional gambler, ex casino dealer and author. For the best Online Casino Visit http://www.casino-magic.org

In order to get that promotion you feel that you deserve, its often necessary to further your education. One of the best, and most convenient, ways to do this is to explore earning your Masters degree online. This innovative and exciting method of personal and professional improvement has the benefit of allowing you to enhance your career opportunities by earning a graduate degree.

Earning your Masters degree will get you on the right track toward higher pay, more interesting and challenging work, and unlimited growth potential. Getting a Masters degree online is perfect for those who are looking to promote within an organization, seek employment elsewhere, or who want to change the course of their professional lives entirely. It is convenient and flexible. Several online Universities offer accelerated degree programs, and most all Universities permit students to seek their graduate degrees on a part time basis.

There are many advantages of choosing to earn a Masters degree online. There is no need to live near or commute to a school when classes can be attended and coursework submitted online. This provides a vast array of excellent accredited University from which you can choose to attend. Attending graduate school online is a great option if you have reservations about returning to school after several years. Choosing this route can make it easier to ease into the routine of class work and projects, and can reduce the stress of feeling the need to fit in with younger classmates. Additionally, course availability if often convenient for those who work full time and/or care for a family. Universities often offer evening and weekend sections of courses, which will interfere very little with personal and professional commitments.

There are many Masters degree programs available to earn online. M.B.A. programs, Nursing, Information Technology, Healthcare, Education, and Liberal Arts are but a few of the examples of graduate degrees available. These degrees are available from many accredited colleges and Universities. These institutions may be online-only schools that offer cutting edge technology in distance learning. Nearly all major traditional colleges and Universities are now offering some type of Masters degree programs via online learning, seeing the advantages of becoming part of this exciting time in technology.

You might be concerned about affording graduate school. After all, graduate tuition is significantly more expensive than undergraduate tuition. This is no different from attending a traditional face-to-face college or University. Financial aid is often available to students who wish to earn their Masters degrees online. This aid comes in the form of grants, loans, and even scholarships awarded to qualifying students. Make sure to check with the University of interest, as some only award certain types of aid to full-time students. Also, many employers may be willing to pay for part or even all of an employees tuition. After all, investing in an employees future is also investing in the organizations future.

There is a big misconception that earning your Masters degree online will not be as enriching an experience as attending face-to-face classes at a traditional University. This is not necessarily the case. While it is true that attending school online does require a certain amount of self-discipline and motivation, programs offered online present the same opportunities for group work, independent study, and interpersonal communication as their traditional counterparts. In fact, earning your Masters degree online might help to facilitate the learning process as well as develop time management skills. It also gives you the added benefit of increasing your knowledge of the Internet and its technologies, which may help to advance your career even more. Earning your Masters degree online is a valuable, convenient, and flexible way to broaden your career opportunities.

Learn the essential information for picking the right online degree course at Online Master Degree

If you are suffering from acid reflux it does not matter what you eat you will find that it just keeps reoccurring. In order to help improve the situation you will need to start using a special acid reflux diet. This particular diet will help you to find those foods which are safe for you to eat and those which you should be avoiding at all costs.

If you find yourself suffering from acid reflux a great idea to find out just what foods are causing you problems is to keep a food diary for 2 weeks. So when ever you have something to eat you write down what it is you have eaten and beside it not any symptoms that may have occurred after you have eaten it. This will not only help you in understanding just what may be aggravating your condition, but it will provide the doctor with a better understanding as well so that they will be able to suggest the best type of acid reflux diet for you and ways in which you should be changing your eating habits.

A good acid reflux diet should contain plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables such as apples, bananas, broccoli, cabbage, carrots and peas. Also you can still have meat which is very lean and fish as well. If you are still wanting to include dairy products into your diet it is best if you eat either feta or goat's cheese as well as cheeses that are either low in fat or fat free. Also when it comes to include bread into your acid reflux diet you should really eat multigrain or white is perfectly satisfactory.

As you can see from above an acid reflux diet does not restrict everything that you would normally enjoy. But is certainly a diet which contains more healthy products. However, what you should do is avoid processed foods as much as possible as these often can cause the problems you are to be exacerbated further.

There are many sites available on the web today which are able to provide you with a complete list of all the foods which are safe and can included into an acid reflux diet.

Bart R

The http://www.acidrefluxcureinfo.com website is brought to you by Bart R. For more great acid reflux information and tips read here....

The trickiest question that an interviewer can ask a candidate interviewing for a student newspaper job-any student newspaper job, is Which department is the most important? Advertising, business, editorial or production?

Indeed, it's a tough question when you are sitting in the hot glare of the interview. You probably would be tempted to answer that the most important department is the one for which you are applying. Beware of that trap. The best answer: all are equally important.

Symbiosis

Student newspaper production is an excellent, working example of symbiosis. A functioning and successful partnership that is shared among the newspapers departments. In order for the editorial staff of a newspaper to have the space for its copy, the advertising sales reps must make sales. The advertising staff must depend of the art department to create eye-catching, effective ads that work for the advertiser. The sales staff rely on the writers and editors to create informative and engaging copy that advertisers will be interested in supporting. Of course, there is the business department, whose accounts receivable efforts fund the publication of each issue.

Sometimes overlooked, but critical to the process are the legions of support personnel that work behind the scenes. Consider the example of the duties of distribution specialists. All of the work that is devoted to creating an issue is meaningless until the final product is in the hands of the readers.

Production Cycle

A production cycle refers to the entire process of publishing one issue of your newspaper. This cycle begins with the first ad sold for that particular issue and ends with the last copy of that issue being delivered to its distribution point. Everything that the reader enjoys in that particular issue from the days editorial, to the 25 percent off coupon, to the horoscope is the product of that days production cycle.

A production cycle can be thought of as a relay race. Just as the runner waits for his teammate to pass the baton, so does the editorial staff wait to see the amount of advertising sold, which determines the allotted editorial space. Once the advertising deadline has been met, the composition department prepares the page layout, which will be transformed into the next issue of the paper.

Deadlines are critical to the successful completion of the production cycle. The issue's final deadline is impossible to achieve unless the other deadlines, such as advertising, are met. When deadlines are "blown," momentum and progress are greatly impeded.

The production cycle cannot be completed without the dedicated cooperation and support of every staff member in each department of the newspaper. As the cycle progresses, the most important ingredient for success is productive communication.

Productive Communication

Communication is a concept understood by many, but mastered by few. Productive Communication is critical to the successful accomplishment of the production cycle.

Productive Communication - is the relaying or sharing of important information:

• to the correct people
• in a timely manner
• to successfully achieve a goal

Although everyone working in a newsroom has a shared goal (a strong and influential profitable paper), different staff members have a wide variety of tasks that need to be accomplished to reach the goal. As a result, the road through the production cycle can be bumpy. Effective use and practice of Productive Communication will make the ride much more smooth.

The dictionary describes symbiosis as a close association between different types of organisms in a community, working toward a common goal. Except for describing our colleagues as organisms, this definition is very descriptive of the strong, working cooperation needed to publish a newspaper. Strong newsroom symbiosis will lead to success.

And dont forget to thank your distribution specialists.

Joe Lawley has been a student publications director for more than twelve years and is a consultant with J&S Solutions, student media consulting. Need more advice on the workings of your student publication? Visit us at http://www.jnssolutions.net

The vast majority of working people are in debt. The vast majority of people who are now in debt are always struggling to find better jobs with higher pay checks. As strange as it may sound the more you think about it the more you will come to realise that the more money people make the deeper they get into debt. It almost seems that finding another job with better pay check is not the most effective solution to get out of debt.

These same people are now so weary that they are wishing to be out of debt forever, dreaming to never have to worry about money, craving to be financially free.

As you know, jumping from being deep in debt to having financial freedom is not a small leap at all. To attain real freedom takes concrete planning and self-discipline in taking orderly and progressive steps from where you are now to where you want to be.

Before your finances can actually soar you need to get out of your deep hole of debt first. This should be your first goal. As soon as you are out of debt, you can easily embark your journey to your financial freedom!

Track your daily expenses

The aim for doing this is to know exactly where your money goes everyday. Record every incoming and outgoing penny and evaluate every week how much money you spent on necessities and how much money you could have saved. Was it really necessary to buy those $200 shoes using your credit card? Could you have bought something less expensive with the money you actually had in your wallet instead of using your credit card again?

By recording and evaluating your expenses regularly you will come to see that there actually are ways to reduce expenses and save money! The more money you can save everyday the more money you will have to pay off your debt completely.

Dont rob Peter to Pay Paul

Some people are so deep in debt that they dont know what to do. It is common that at some point they would obtain cash advance on one visa to pay other credit card bills.

Do not go through this kind of rob Peter to pay Paul strategy! They usually dont work. Most people are too easily tempted to further use the visa or the cash which was initially intended to pay other bills for shopping. Eventually, they wind up accumulating even more debt.

As you see there is no financial advantage for you in having more than one credit card. On the contrary, the robbing Peter to pay Paul strategy would only make your debt worse.

Cut up your credit cards and keep one card (if really necessary) for emergency ONLY.

Now that you are trying to get yourself out of debt and have actually started saving money to pay it off, stick to your plan and stop accumulating more debt. This should be your next goal.

One credit card can be very useful in case of emergency and having one credit card is usually still manageable. But if you are in debt with more than one credit card, in addition to other kinds of debt like car loan, mortgage etc., there will be times when you feel that you are drowning in it.

Choose one credit card to keep and cut up the rest. If you dont trust yourself enough lock up the one card you have in your drawer at home to make sure you never use it for shopping. Discipline yourself not to use it unless in an emergency. Remember: you want to get out of debt, not accumulate it!

Plan Your Debt Elimination Process

The best ways to start your debt elimination process is by first sitting down and making a plan of attack.

Write down each debt that you have: Visa, MasterCard, Amex, car loan and so on. Now, make a list of your debt, starting from the smallest total balance to the biggest.

What you are going to do is concentrate on one debt for the next few months (or years depending on how big your debt is) and start paying off all of them one by one. Focus on the smallest debt first. Write down the monthly minimum payment of the smallest debt you have and add the number up with a percentage of your net income.

Lets say the smallest debt you have is your Visa with the minimum payment of $148. The 5% of your net income is $70. For the next few months (or years) you will be paying off your Visa with the minimum payment PLUS the 5% of your net income, which is $218.

While you are focusing on your Visa, you should pay off the rest of your debt according to each monthly minimum payment agreement. This should go on until your Visa is paid off completely.

As soon as your Visa is paid off, you focus on the smallest debt. Like before, add up the minimum payment with 5% of your net income. But this time add the sum with the minimum payment of your Visa that is already paid off.

If your next smallest debt is the MasterCard with minimum payment of $183, this should be added up with the 5% of your net income AND the Visa minimum payment. The total payment for your MasterCard would be $401. Now that your Visa is paid off you have more money to pay off the rest of your debt faster.

Your next debt should be paid with the money you used before to pay off your Visa and your MasterCard minimum payment. This process should be repeated on and on until all your debt is eliminated.

By doing this you will shorten the years of your debt elimination process.

Manage Your Time and Money Wisely

Time and money is the most precious resources everybody has to actually attain financial freedom. But yet, none of us are taught in schools to manage them wisely.

Now you are in the process of paying off your debt. If you manage your time wisely to make more money to save or help to pay off your debt, you will not only speed up your debt elimination but retirement process and your financial freedom.

Devote some of your spare time to reducing your expenses and increasing your income. The sooner you become debt free the sooner you can save more money and invest to start working on your early retirement process and attain financial freedom.

Everybody knows the disadvantages of being in a debt. But not many of us are aware of the advantages of being debt-free. By being debt-free you have more money to save and invest to prepare for your retirement. And this should be your next goal. Use your time wisely to create extra money and use your extra money wisely to prepare for your retirement and eventually your financial freedom.

Create Passive Income

Now you have paid off your debt, taken up a side job and saved money for investing.

Your next important step to financial freedom is creating passive income.

Passive income is income which requires little or no work at all. Although it is possible to attain freedom just by saving, it will take decades to actually accumulate wealth. Some people never even make it there. By creating passive income you will not just be able to speed up your debt elimination and retirement process but also your journey to attain financial freedom.

The most powerful way to create passive income is by having your own small business or home-based business. This type of business does not require a lot of capital.

Keep your business expenses low and try to put aside a percentage of your net income for saving and another percentage for investing in your own business. Note that for the next 1-2 years you will be experiencing negative cash flow from your new business. But keep in mind that if you persistently invest your spare time, effort and money in your business, you will have all the quality time you want to spend with your family and friends, all the money you dream of for you, your family and even your grandchildren and all the freedom to live your life abundantly.

To learn more about financial freedom and how to achieve it visit http://www.financialfreedomawaits.com.

Resource Box: Dinar P. Wiria-Atmadja is the owner of FinancialFreedomAwaits.com, helping families and individuals achieve financial freedom in years instead of decades. Visit the site here at http://www.financialfreedomawaits.com. You are free to publish this article to your site as long as the article is not changed and the resource box is included.