When Do We Get to Meet God's Parents?

If God is the creator of the universe, who is the creator of God? When I was born, I had a mother and a father and supposedly the two of them together had created me. One could not have created me without the other and therefore I am a product of my parents. I know who my parents are and I even know who their parents are but who is God's parents and were we made in the images of our parents or creators.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth but before that, we know very little about God. Did he have brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, grandparents and even God parents. If he did have brothers and sisters, did they create worlds like he did or she did, we don't know whether God is a man or a woman, transvestite, homosexual or a combination of all of these. We really don't know what God is, even though Michelangelo painted him on the Sistine Chapel.

In the book of revelations it mentions, Revelation 22:13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." God says that he is the first and the last, does this mean that there was no one or no entity before him. It goes back to the chicken and the egg, what was first the chicken or the egg, no one knows. Well god knows doesn't he. I don't know why I keep referring to God as a he but bear with me on this one.

I wonder if God was disciplined as a child or even if he was a child. Maybe God was born a full grown person or even a mysterious entity in the form of a smoky cloud. That couldn't be, because God made us in his image and I'm sure that his mother and father look like us. Well, hopefully they look better than us, maybe someone like Brad Pitt or Jennifer Aniston. I hope that he wasn't an ugly person or entity. That would be discouraging.

I guess that's enough of the humor, I rarely hear anyone talk about, who created God. If God formed out of nothingness, why couldn't our earth have formed from nothingness, without God. If God did have parents, brothers and sisters, have they created other universes and what is the purpose of their creations. Are we just one big experiment, part of a big science project?

Anyone interested in using this article to make a movie, feel free to use this information at no charge, I would love to see the movie, when it's done.

Good Christian News

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Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.

If you're really seeking the kingdom of heaven, the glory of God and the true vision that Jesus had, check out some great Christian articles. These articles are designed to teach and educate Christians.

Good Christians Really Do Inspire Me

One of the best Christians who I ever met, truly inspired me and everyone around him to become a better person. His son is now working at a church and his daughter is a teacher and they're not the only people who he inspired.

He inspired me to write this article, good Christians really do inspire me and others and he definitely was living his life, like Jesus did. He's the only person that I ever met, who didn't have anything bad to say about anyone, with the exception of one time. I actually heard him say that he hates that person, the person probably deserved it, but I still couldn't believe that the word came out of his mouth.

We all make mistakes, even he did, every once in a while. Whenever someone asked him about Christianity, he would try to avoid sharing his beliefs with them, unless they were persistent and then he would share all that he knew.

He never tried to convert anyone and never forced his opinions on anyone else. I asked him once," Did he actually read all of those books that he had in his library." He said that he actually did and I was shocked. He had three large library shelves that were each 4 foot wide and went almost all the way up to the ceiling, filled with books on Christianity and some on other religions.

He's the only man I ever met, that I would actually consider to be a good Christian. I don't know what it was about him, his honesty, compassion or simple kindness, but I valued his friendships and kept my ears open and my mouth shut... most of the time.

If you know someone like this in your life, I would advise you to take full advantage of their wisdom and let them inspire you to become a better Christian and if you don't believe in Christianity, these people can inspire you to become better person. A great life can be acquired, learning the wisdom from people who lead great lives.

Unbelievable Christian Bible Study Book

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Do you really know why you're a Christian, click on this way to get more information about Becoming Really Good Christians

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author and a inspiration to millions of people. He has been involved in religious research for almost 30 years, and his influence in the Christian community is growing. The Holy Bible, is the core to Christian beliefs and most Christians don't even question it. Was the Bible actually written by men?

His newest book," Did God Actually Say That?" Was written specifically for Christians who are interested in gaining additional knowledge about the Bible. This book provides Christians with advanced biblical knowledge, answer some tough questions and should be read by every faithful follower of Christ.

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Check This Out - 1 Corinthians 14:34

If you're a woman, you might not want to read this article. If you're a man who supports male chauvinistic ways, I guarantee that this is going to be an article that you won't want to miss.

I have watched women who believe in other religions, all over the world, consider men to be superior to them. I have watched men treat women as subservient and sometimes has subhuman beings, even though these women are someone's wives, sisters or daughters.

But the Holy Bible, come on I can't believe that this is the word of God. Read this and if you have to read it again, but is this really in the Bible, did God actually write this or is this something that was written by man, to make women live lives of servitude.

Here it is, read it for yourself, 1 Corinthians (TWB) 14:34 let your wives keep silent in the assemblies, for it has not been permitted for them to speak; but let them be in subjection, as the law also says. Is this what Christianity is all about or is this just part of what Christianity represents.

Are women really supposed to be quiet in the assemblies of God, in church or places of worship? Am I reading this right? Your wife's keep silent in assemblies, it doesn't say anything about men remaining silent in assemblies.

Oh yeah, for it has not been permitted for them to speak, what the heck are they talking about. Are you telling me that Christian women are not allowed to speak inside of their place of worship? Is that where these assemblies meet or are they talking about something else.

I would like to make a suggestion, too any Christians that are reading this article, this would be a great topic for discussion, at your next prayer meeting or Bible study group.

With religious text like this, you can understand why some women don't have equal rights to men. Its beliefs like these, that will eventually end up forcing large religious organizations to change or become part of our history.

Watch this Video on Women and Bible Problems

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site: If your interested in a different point of view READ THESE ARTICLES - Great Articles For Christians

Greg Vandenberge is a published author and a inspiration to millions of people. He has been involved in religious research for almost 30 years, and his influence in the Christian community is growing. The Holy Bible, is the core to Christian beliefs and most Christians don't even question it. Was the Bible actually written by men?

His newest book," Did God Actually Say That?" Was written specifically for Christians who are interested in gaining additional knowledge about the Bible.

Rethinking Today's Religions - Misleading Our Children

When I was a young man, my parents told me about Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny. Every Christmas, there would be presents underneath the tree from Santa Claus and on Easter I would get a basket full of candy and eggs. However, when I was 11 years old, my parents broke the devastating news to me, there was no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny.

As you can imagine, I cried for hours over the frustration and disappointment. For one, I thought that I wasn't going to get any more Christmas gifts, but my parents provided me with the needed psychological relief and told me that they were going to provide Christmas gifts for me, until I died. Even though I was upset, I was relieved and confused.

If my parents lied about this, could they have possibly lied about something else, anything else. Have you ever thought about this and is there a situation in your life today that could be an old habit that never got corrected. Some theme that your parents told you when you were a child that was a lie and they never told you the truth. Maybe they never told you the truth because they don't even know themselves that it's a lie.

Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny were obviously disappointments to me and most people that I've talked to about their experiences, with their parents and even their children. Why do we do this as parents to our children, even though we didn't like it when it was done to us. Hard to explain why we can't break certain habits and certain traditions.

I love Christmas and the joy of giving. Even though I am no longer a Christian, I enjoy going over to my relatives homes and spending Christmas or Christmas Eve with them. Now for the bad news, if you were raised to believe in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism or any other large religious organization. Let me ask you this, do you think that it could be like Santa Claus, do you think the religion you believe in so strongly could be a story that has gotten out of control over the centuries.

I've spent a life time rethinking today's religions and can't find very many facts to prove any one religion is superior over another. Do your own research and find your own answers. Enlightenment could be as simple as gathering the right information.

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended books, You Can Have It All

Greg is currently working on a self help library filled with great subjects on a wide array of topics, like religion, self help and spiritual changes in the world. His views on religious freedom are slowly changing the way people think about institutional religion.

Could Christian Pride Get You in Trouble?

There's a good chance that most of us know at least one person who seems to be very prideful. These people are often hard to deal with and can easily get their feelings hurt. When someone who has a lot of pride, gets trapped in a corner, they often come out swinging in full attack mode.

When a Christian has a lot of pride, and is faced with a problem about their religion, the opposition had better be prepared, especially if this person is large and intimidating. I'm not referring to every Christian here, I'm not even referring to every Christian with a lot of pride either, I'm referring to Christians who mix their prideful beliefs with factual evidence.

These people can often become stubborn and the more that you push or pull, the deeper they dig their heels in, until they can't even be moved in either direction. It's almost like they're feet are buried in a large concrete slab of cement.

Yes pride can get you into trouble, they key is, knowing how to get yourself out of trouble. When someone approaches you with a question about your beliefs that you don't have the answer to, simply respond with," I will have to do some research and get back with you."

Don't let your pride get in the way and create an enemy out of someone that could provide you with some useful information about other beliefs or even your own religion. Think about it, your pride can often dig holes that you might not be able to get out of.

Eliminate Bible Propaganda

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Greg Vanden Berge is a published author and a inspiration to millions of people. He has been involved in religious research for almost 30 years, and his influence in the Christian community is growing. The Holy Bible, is the core to Christian beliefs and most Christians don't even question it. Was the Bible actually written by men?

His newest book," Did God Actually Say That?" Was written specifically for Christians who are interested in gaining additional knowledge about the Bible. This book provides Christians with advanced biblical knowledge, answer some tough questions and should be read by every faithful follower of Christ.

Click here if you're Interested in Christianity.

Does Anyone Have a Direct Line to God?

I have heard Catholics tell me that the pope has a direct line to God. I don't really know if that's true, but if he does, or anyone else does, I would like to ask them to do me a favor.

I would like them to ask God a few questions, these questions aren't going to be difficult, and we could even make them in yes or no formats, but these answers need to be asked and only God can provide us with the answers.

The first question that I would like to ask God, would be about starvation, why are there so many starving people all over the world? Are we or are we not supposed to be fruitful and multiply? Is overpopulation creating more problems in the world today, than it might have 2000 years ago?

These questions above, could be a little difficult to answer, but they shouldn't be too difficult for someone like God. I believe that God can handle a few tough questions and if the Pope or anyone else has direct communication with God, I would like to suggest something to them, quit wasting your time on frivolous things and start asking God the serious questions, that every one is really interested in.

It doesn't make a lot of sense, to pray and worship to somebody who realistically won't answer or deliver the things that we are requiring. I realize that most religious people are told, that God only answers some prayers or that God isn't ready to answer your prayers yet.

Anyway, if gods not going to answer all of our prayers, couldn't he at least answer some of our questions.

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:
Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development. Check out one of his recommended authors, Don Miguel Ruiz

His newest book," Did God Actually Say That?" Was written specifically for Christians who are interested in gaining additional knowledge about the Bible. This book provides Christians with advanced biblical knowledge, answer some tough questions and should be read by every faithful follower of Christ.

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Where Did God Come From?

If you believe in certain religions, like Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and even Buddhism, there's a good chance that you believe in some sort of God like being or cosmic force, especially the one that created our world that we live in today.

Where did God come from? What are we doing here? And where are we going, after we die. Some of these questions, are hard to answer and scientifically difficult to prove. There is very little evidence to prove, where God actually came from, what are we suppose to be doing here and where we are going to go, after we die.

If nobody knows where God came from, why are there so many religions, that believe in a God? Think about it for a moment, the Christian God, was the creator of the universe, and the creator of everything. Where's the proof? Why do people continue to study the Bible, and believe in a God, that they can't really even put their hands on?

If God is truly real, why wouldn't we have ever seen him? It doesn't make a lot of sense, to believe in imaginary beings, or invisible entities and pray to a God that we might not ever see or touch. It might not make a lot of sense, but if you ask serious religious followers, of these religions a question like, can you prove that there actually is a God, there's a good chance that these religious believers will reply, with a simple yes.

They have no proof, no evidence, and almost base their entire beliefs on faith, instead of facts. Rarely do they seek any evidence or even read their religious text, with a goal to understand what they're reading. Most of these people take everything that they learn, lock it away in their head, and never ask any serious questions about their religious beliefs, like these.

If there is a God, why wouldn't he show himself? If there is a God, why wouldn't he prove that he does exist, so that others wouldn't have to doubt his existence? Something to think about, on the days that you're not going to your place of worship.

Who's God Is More Powerful

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

If your interested in a different point of view READ THESE ARTICLES - Great Articles For Christians

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author and a inspiration to millions of people. He has been involved in religious research for almost 30 years, and his influence in the Christian community is growing. The Holy Bible, is the core to Christian beliefs and most Christians don't even question it. Was the Bible actually written by men?

His newest book," Did God Actually Say That?" Was written specifically for Christians who are interested in gaining additional knowledge about the Bible.

Jesus' Missing Years in the Bible

It looks like there is a big problem in the Gospels. There are more years in Jesus' life that are missing than years of his life that were ever recorded. Why weren't these years listed in the Bible?

All the Gospels talked about the death of Jesus, the birth of Jesus and a few years in between, but all of the Gospels are missing some very important years from his life. When raising a child, some of the most important years of their lives, will be those when they were teenagers and often those of their young adulthood.

The Gospels talk about Jesus at the temple at around the age of 12 or 13. After that, there is very little known until he reaches the final years of his life. Was there someone or a group of people or even a community who influenced his life? Could Jesus have learned something from a spiritual master Guru that changed the world forever?

There is more speculation on Jesus' missing years than you could ever imagine. Some say that Jesus went to Egypt to study with their masters or priests. Egypt obviously wasn't that far from where Jesus was raised, but like most of the stuff in the Bible, there is very little evidence to support any of these speculative stories.

Could Jesus have went to India and studied with the Buddhist masters or even a Hindu scholars? Did Jesus study with advanced Jewish scholars? This is only a little bit of the historical speculation, but if the truth was ever to be known, it could help Christianity solve a lot of problems.

Most Christians rarely even question these missing years. There are quite a few Christians that don't even know that there are any missing years in Jesus' life. I wrote this article to get people thinking and hopefully to start educating themselves about early Christianity. Good luck and God bless.

Great Christian Books And Articles

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Religious Education And Fear

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author and a inspiration to millions of people. He has been involved in religious research for almost 30 years, and his influence in the Christian community is growing. The Holy Bible, is the core to Christian beliefs and most Christians don't even question it. Was the Bible actually written by men?

His newest book," Did God Actually Say That?" Was written specifically for Christians who are interested in gaining additional knowledge about the Bible. This book provides Christians with advanced biblical knowledge, answer some tough questions and should be read by every faithful follower of Christ.

Manipulating Bible Verses - Thou Shall Not Murder

If you're a Christian, you've probably heard of this Bible verse. Thou shall not murder. If you've heard of it, you probably know that it's one of the 10 Commandments or one of the original laws from Moses. However, most people don't know about its application to Christianity.

If I was to tell my children, not to lie and always tell the truth but I was a liar, would this be considered a good example for my children? If my children seen me lying and then I told them not to lie, would they consider that a lie? Does this example make sense to you?

As the parent, I'm the example. As the children, they are my disciples or followers. By lying to my children, I am showing them that it is okay to lie or stretch the truth or even manipulate the English language for my personal benefit.

How much different is this example from the example of the way some Christians use the Holy Bible? "Thou shall not murder," to me translates into," you should not kill." That's pretty simple and easy to understand, wouldn't you agree.

I could easily manipulate this Bible verse into, thou shall not murder, only applying it, to killing someone without a reason or you can kill someone in the name of God. You can change the meaning of anything if you really want to.

The point I would like to make here, is that the truth always comes out in the end, once the lying and the manipulation becomes visible. Do you have the ability to tell who's lying and twisting the Bible scriptures for their benefit or personal gain?

Bible verses that are clearly written, shouldn't have any hidden messages. "Thou shall not murder," is easy to interpret, once you understand what all four of these words mean and this task can easily be accomplished with a dictionary.

Thou - refers to you, the person being addressed or written to.

Shall - it will happen in the future or is intended to happen.

Not - is often used to express refusal, denial or the negation of the statement, just made.

Murder - the crime of killing another person deliberately and not in self-defense.

With the definition of these four words sitting right in front of us, you could still interpret this Bible verse in the few different ways. I'm going to take a stab at it and interpret it as I see it.

"You should not kill another person deliberately or outside of self-defense."

This means that I am not allowed to kill anyone, in the name of God, during war, or for any other reason except for defending myself.

When it says," Thou shall not murder," how does this apply to animals or anyone who is involved in a death sentence. Judges, lawyers, prison guards and other individuals who are directly involved in the murder of someone else.

How many other Bible verses have been manipulated for the benefit of Christianity?

God Said What

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author and a inspiration to millions of people. He has been involved in religious research for almost 30 years, and his influence in the Christian community is growing. The Holy Bible, is the core to Christian beliefs and most Christians don't even question it. Was the Bible actually written by men?

His newest book," Did God Actually Say That?" Was written specifically for Christians who are interested in gaining additional knowledge about the Bible. This book provides Christians with advanced biblical knowledge, answer some tough questions and should be read by every faithful follower of Christ.

Click here if you're interested in Basic Christianity.

When Do We Get to Meet God's Parents?

If God is the creator of the universe, who is the creator of God? When I was born, I had a mother and a father and supposedly the two of them together had created me. One could not have created me without the other and therefore I am a product of my parents. I know who my parents are and I even know who their parents are but who is God's parents and were we made in the images of our parents or creators.

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth but before that, we know very little about God. Did he have brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, grandparents and even God parents. If he did have brothers and sisters, did they create worlds like he did or she did, we don't know whether God is a man or a woman, transvestite, homosexual or a combination of all of these. We really don't know what God is, even though Michelangelo painted him on the Sistine Chapel.

In the book of revelations it mentions, Revelation 22:13 "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." God says that he is the first and the last, does this mean that there was no one or no entity before him. It goes back to the chicken and the egg, what was first the chicken or the egg, no one knows. Well god knows doesn't he. I don't know why I keep referring to God as a he but bear with me on this one.

I wonder if God was disciplined as a child or even if he was a child. Maybe God was born a full grown person or even a mysterious entity in the form of a smoky cloud. That couldn't be, because God made us in his image and I'm sure that his mother and father look like us. Well, hopefully they look better than us, maybe someone like Brad Pitt or Jennifer Aniston. I hope that he wasn't an ugly person or entity. That would be discouraging.

I guess that's enough of the humor, I rarely hear anyone talk about, who created God. If God formed out of nothingness, why couldn't our earth have formed from nothingness, without God. If God did have parents, brothers and sisters, have they created other universes and what is the purpose of their creations. Are we just one big experiment, part of a big science project?

Anyone interested in using this article to make a movie, feel free to use this information at no charge, I would love to see the movie, when it's done.

Good Christian News

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.

If you're really seeking the kingdom of heaven, the glory of God and the true vision that Jesus had, check out some great Christian articles. These articles are designed to teach and educate Christians.

Where Did God Come From?

If you believe in certain religions, like Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism and even Buddhism, there's a good chance that you believe in some sort of God like being or cosmic force, especially the one that created our world that we live in today.

Where did God come from? What are we doing here? And where are we going, after we die. Some of these questions, are hard to answer and scientifically difficult to prove. There is very little evidence to prove, where God actually came from, what are we suppose to be doing here and where we are going to go, after we die.

If nobody knows where God came from, why are there so many religions, that believe in a God? Think about it for a moment, the Christian God, was the creator of the universe, and the creator of everything. Where's the proof? Why do people continue to study the Bible, and believe in a God, that they can't really even put their hands on?

If God is truly real, why wouldn't we have ever seen him? It doesn't make a lot of sense, to believe in imaginary beings, or invisible entities and pray to a God that we might not ever see or touch. It might not make a lot of sense, but if you ask serious religious followers, of these religions a question like, can you prove that there actually is a God, there's a good chance that these religious believers will reply, with a simple yes.

They have no proof, no evidence, and almost base their entire beliefs on faith, instead of facts. Rarely do they seek any evidence or even read their religious text, with a goal to understand what they're reading. Most of these people take everything that they learn, lock it away in their head, and never ask any serious questions about their religious beliefs, like these.

If there is a God, why wouldn't he show himself? If there is a God, why wouldn't he prove that he does exist, so that others wouldn't have to doubt his existence? Something to think about, on the days that you're not going to your place of worship.

Who's God Is More Powerful

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:

If your interested in a different point of view READ THESE ARTICLES - Great Articles For Christians

Greg Vanden Berge is a published author and a inspiration to millions of people. He has been involved in religious research for almost 30 years, and his influence in the Christian community is growing. The Holy Bible, is the core to Christian beliefs and most Christians don't even question it. Was the Bible actually written by men?

His newest book," Did God Actually Say That?" Was written specifically for Christians who are interested in gaining additional knowledge about the Bible.

Is Overpopulation a Religious Problem?

Overpopulation really isn't that hard to understand. People love each other, want to reproduce and have offspring. Their parents took care of them, and they will take care of their children. People love to have families and these families love to have more families. It doesn't get any simpler than that.

Now is overpopulation a religious problem? If you listen to religious text and understand a few simple sentences, you will see that there are plenty of religions all over the world that encourage the multiplication of mankind.

In the Bible, God tells man to be fruitful and multiply. If you read this a little differently, you might take it that God wants men to eat as much fruit as he wants to and plant more trees so that he can have more fruit and be fruitful.

That's not exactly how most Christians read this Bible verse. Christians need to have more children, and their children need to have more children. This is how they interpret the words, to be fruitful and multiply.

I do believe that religions all over the world play an important part in our worlds population problem today. It's not the people who are educated, that are constantly reproducing, in today's world.

Most religions support population expansion, but what are they going to do, once the world becomes so overpopulated, that we can't even take care of ourselves. This should give you another point of view to look at, especially if you one part of the problem and not the solution.

What About The End of The World

You are free to copy this article to your site as long as you include the following resource information with an active link to my site:Greg Vanden Berge is a published author, internet marketing expert, motivational inspiration to millions of people all over the world and is sharing some of his wisdom with experts in the fields of writing,marketing, and personal development.
His newest book," Did God Actually Say That?" Was written specifically for Christians who are interested in gaining additional knowledge about the Bible. This book provides Christians with superior biblical knowledge , answer some tough questions and should be read by every faithful follower of Christ.

Thanks For Reading Our Articles

Are Postcards a Good Marketing Strategy?

Postcards are no longer just something we send to our family and friends when while we are away on vacation. Many businesses are now using them as an effective communication tool to generate website traffic and sales leads. With postcards as part of your overall marketing plan, you have a simple, cost-effective method to communicate with new and current customers. Some of the most popular ways to use a postcard is to announce a store opening, offer special discounts, or to simply give the reader a reason to find out more about your business.

The simplicity of postcards gives them their number one advantage: 100% readership. With a straightforward card, there is no envelope to open. If designed well with an attention-grabbing headline and layout, a postcard can convey your desired message in less than a few seconds.

Even if that card is tossed into the trash immediately after, your company has still gotten its foot in the door and created an instance of name recognition. With multiple mailings, postcards allow you the advantage of putting your business in front of your target audience repeatedly.

What is more, postcards are inexpensive, from designing and printing to mailing. Many printing companies offer bulk rates, and because these cards are so inexpensive, you can afford to have them mailed over and over again. And like I have said before, this increases your company's name recognition with your target audience. You practically build your business with each mailing. Additionally, if you are design-savvy or know someone who is, designing your postcard is one less thing you have to pay to have done. Recent figures estimate that you could see as much as a 700% return on the money you invest in a postcard marketing campaign.

For companies looking for a simple and budget-friendly way to enhance their marketing campaign, postcards are a practical and reliable solution.

Excell Print & Promotions, Inc (http://www.excellprint-promotions.com) is a professional printing company that offers affordable post card printing in White Plains, NY. Rachel Spohn is a freelance writer.

Article Writing Can Be Ruined by Keywords

With Internet marketing you hear a lot about keywords. It does not matter if you are new to writing online or if you have been doing it for some time. The fact is, you will deal with keywords. Did you know, though, that the time and money invested in keywords can kill articles?

The fact is, you can easily over do it so much so that you find yourself struggling to make the articles work on your website. One question to ask is, "If an investor came to this website, would they be impressed with the quality of the articles enough to invest in it?" If not, consider a few tips.

Choose keywords that are directly related to your website. In article writing, keywords should be used that actually make sense to use there. There is little benefit to words with bad correlation.

Next, consider how many times you use those keywords. If you pack them in, at five percent density, will it be very difficult to read? Will those who come to your site see keywords or content?

Placement is important. Choose locations like the title, first sentence and last paragraph for the keywords. Do not forget to use them in places like the meta descriptions, too.

There is very little benefit getting lots of traffic to a website that is so built up on keywords and gives very little information. It is very easy for individuals to close down that website and choose another resource with more information instead. Make wise decisions when it comes to article writing.

Are you really interested in driving massive traffic to your website? Here's the answer:

Secret Article Weapon - Download your free ebook now.

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Mark Abrahams is a full time internet marketer who has helped others to earn a living online.

Lower Basement Wall Staining

Keeping Your Dreams on a Wire?

Are you living or acting on your dreams or are your dreams sitting, like birds on a wire waiting on the right moment to take flight? If you do not act on your dreams, or take decisive steps to make your dreams a reality, they will remain dreams; buried deep inside of you. Here are a few suggestions to help your dreams take wings:

Believe in yourself, self-confidence is a key component to success. You know much more than you think you know because you have researched and researched your project.

Business plan: Work on a business plan. There are several free samples readily available or find some who specializes in writing business plans.

Mastermind group: Discuss your plan/idea with a trusted friend, or if you have several good friends form, (or join), a mastermind group where you will discuss ideas and come up with solutions or ideas that may be very workable.

Know your product. Do your homework, what/who is your competition. Know the pros and cons of what you are offering. Find out all you can about similar products. Ensure that your product is exceptional.

Prepare yourself to go the extra mile, offer the best of the best.

Listen to others but make knowledgeable, fact based decisions.

Network, network, network you will gather invaluable information from other entrepreneurs, business owners, managers, coaches and or consultants.

Try, try and try again; seek out different avenues and ways to do what you want to do; success does not always come on the first attempt. Trying several times affords you the opportunity to perfect your craft.

Remember, no one can dream Your dream, therefore no one can make it a reality but you. Do not let anyone, not even you, talk you out of your dream.

Joanna Parris, CSP is a Certified Home Stating Expert, a member of RESA (Real Estate Staging Association) & SEA (Staging Excellence Alliance) she can be reached at effectivestaging@rogers.com.

Wise Buys For American Garage Door Consumers

Saving for the rainy days is one of the best values a homeowner should bear in mind. Especially in this time of crisis, consumer responsibility is vital. In purchasing an American garage door, consumers should not only consider affordability but quality as well. Even if garage door openers don't come cheap these days, buyers should not worry so much. There are many door manufacturers that offer discounted prices and promotional packages for their patrons.

Wise buys for American garage door consumers include those door openers bought from manufacturers that attach coupons for freebies or discounts up to 50% or even greater. There are also free home service and maintenance repairs for a year or longer, depending upon the manufacturers. For homeowners that purchase through credit cards, manufacturers and credit card companies offer sign-up bonuses and 0% promos on credit card transfer balance.

Consumers need not fret on getting a good quality American garage door opener in their homes. In fact, the more expensive it is, the more safety and security it brings. These door openers should be bought or custom-made at manufacturer companies already known for fine quality and services in producing garage doors. Remember that one of the reasons why a home can look outstandingly beautiful is its garage and having garage door openers that is all that splendid and affordable is definitely a wise investment.

During this time when the U.S. economy is very unstable, buying new American garage door openers is a wise investment. Aside from increasing your real estate's worth, it reduces the risk of damage.

Knowing what to look for in an American garage door is not enough. Find out WHERE and HOW you can grab the top deals on the best garage door online!

Article Marketing Online - Write and Market Your Articles to Increase Your Credibility and Profits

Whether you are new online, or have been making money on the internet for several years, you must have a plan if you are going to be successful. My plan involves a five pronged approach, but is based on writing and marketing articles on my niche topics. Article marketing works, and I have spent almost two years building my library of articles, currently having about 850 articles circulating around on the internet.

My articles come from my knowledge and experiences in whichever field I am writing in. Although my main niche is internet marketing, online writing, and technology, I have several small niches that I write articles about on a regular basis. When I write these articles I am using them to market and promote an affiliate product or service. Articles are distributed around the internet, so you have the possibility of making money very quickly, as well as for months or years to come.

When I write articles to promote myself and my own online business, I write in a very different way. I still include as much valuable content as possible within the confines of a short article, but I also give added information about what I do on the internet.

In my articles I may discuss my mentor program, my various programs and courses, and my free weekly teleseminars. This allows people to get to know a little bit more about me while they are reading the article. If these people choose to click on the link in my resource box, they are much more likely to want to find out more about what I have to offer them.

Whether you are brand new to article writing and marketing, or have been writing articles for awhile, you can be sure that this is a way to increase your credibility and visibility on the internet.

And now I invite you to join me for free weekly teleseminars by visiting http://www.EbookWritingandMarketingSecrets.com to learn how to write articles, blog, become involved in social networking and learn the technology needed to build a profitable online business.

Connie Ragen Green has been online since 2005 and teaches people how to build their own online business in record time, offering free teleseminars weekly, as well as online courses in a workshop environment.

Structural Stucco Crack

Electric Vehicle Retrofitting From Home

An electric motor conversion project can be carried out by anyone who is interested to reduce their gasoline expense bill. Ever since the price of gasoline reached a historical high, refueling at the local station has become an expensive ordeal. Most American household has more than one car. Multiplied by the number of car trips we take a month, the money we spend on fuel can be very large. Are there any ways we can remove our dependency on fossil fuel? One idea is to remove the internal combustion engine and replace it with an electric motor.

Generally, an electric motor will be able to produce enough torque to propel a car forward. The concept of an electric vehicle (EV) retrofitting process is to take out the engine and its associated components such as gas tanks, radiators and fuel lines. The existing drive train such as the transmission and clutch system can still be used. The electric motor is to be attached to the transmission. To power the electric motor, a series of 20 lead acid flooded batteries will be used.

To control the speed of the motor, a variable resistor is connected between the batteries and the motor. The resistor will control the speed of the motor thus the speed of the vehicle. The whole system is connected to a centralized circuit board. The circuit board will monitor all the system and also acts as a cut off switch in case there is a power overload.

Generally, anyone who wants to convert a car to run purely on electricity can do so. What he needs is a donor car, some hand tools and a good step by step conversion guide. Most of the guides are available from the internet. All you have to do is do a query on the search engine.

Are high gasoline prices stressing you out? Why not use electricity as an alternative energy source to power your car. Cut your fuel expense bill by exploring Electric Motor Conversion guides. Read the reviews on top online resources to retrofit your car with electric propulsion system at http://www.cbElectricCar.com

Thriving During Tough Times

2009 is predicted to be a tough year for everyone! Thus, in response to the challenges of 2008 and the predictions for 2009, I have a theme of "Thriving during Tough Times" and I recommend that you do to.

While I sense that many other people are "Tumbling during Tough Times," now is not the time to quit pursuing thriving success! As Seth Godin discusses in his book, The Dip, quitting is an extremely poor tactic just because the dip is hard!

So, how do you get started on thriving during tough times? Start with The Power of 3.

The number three has special meaning in this world.

Three has special meaning in many religions and cultures including Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and the American and Chinese cultures.

Three is often described as solid, real, substantial, and complete. It is the trinity number representing fullness or something that has come full circle. It is considered divine perfection.

Most importantly, the sum of human capacity can be summed up in three components...thought, word, and deed!

These three components of human capacity, when properly applied, help you attract, get, and keep lasting success. When improperly applied, they help you create much less desirable conditions, situations, and results.

Champions use their human capacities (thought, word, and deed) to focus on the following three key components of lasting champion success:
Activate the attraction factor
Take inspired and leveraged action
Reinforce success, goals and vision

The number three also has power in process and prioritization! The process of focusing on the three most leveraged and impactful ways to achieve any goal/objective or enhance any relationship generates special results!

This is where I started creating my thriving momentum in 2008! I have also used the power of three to help individuals focus their energy, make decisions, and generate synergy among their decisions/choices countless times. This process has led to breakthrough results significantly more often than any other process and prioritization method I have seen or used!

In fact, the consistent breakthrough results that I have achieved (and help others achieve) through this process led me to want to research the meaning of the number three in religions and cultures.

If you want to find the keys to anything around you, I suggest you look for three keys that generate 80% or more of the impact. I spent the last 90 days researching the three keys to other successes during tough times. I have assembled all these key strategies, tactics, and tools that helped others "Thrive during Tough Time" and I will be sharing them in 2009.

Until we cross paths during some of this 2009 work, I suggest you focus on finding your specific three elements and components that are appropriate for your situation and will quickly accelerate your results. Everything else is just noise and distraction!

Even one of the most popular and influential books of the late 20th century, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Steven R. Covey, divides the habits into three categories; private victory, public victory, and renewal. Maybe those are the right three for you to focus on in 2009!

Cheers!!! Here's to "Thriving during Tough Times" in 2009!

About the Author:
Jon L. Iveson, Ph.D., The Champion's Coach, is a Gazelles Certified Coach who helps individuals and companies produce champion results and build champion relationships. Assess how ready you are (http://www.learningtobeachampion.com/assessments/thechampions.htm) or your company is (http://www.learningtobeachampion.com/assessments/winningcompanies.htm) to "Thrive during Tough Times."

Comedy Writing Secrets

Instead of trying to tell you about comedy writing for the stand-up comedy stage...

Let me show you one approach to comedy writing that you may be able to use right now.

Comedy writing shouldn't start from a blank sheet of paper. It should start from an observation, experience, opinion or perspective on a particular topic.

Here's an actual news headline that I saw today:

Man calls 911 as he struggles with police

Using this single headline sentence, I don't really have to much comedy writing at all to get a laugh. This headline by itself represents a guaranteed big laugh and the beginnings of a full blown stand-up comedy skit should I decide to expand it.

Here's how I would use a bit of comedy writing skill to turn this single news headline into a beginning stand-up comedy skit:

"I was online, looking at the news

I saw this news headline:

Man calls 911 as he struggles with...

The police"

I can guarantee that if delivered properly to an audience, these few lines will get a huge laugh every time.

Here's why:

Comedy Writing Secret #1: The sentences above are broken up by my own natural breath pauses (when we speak, we DON'T talk to the end of a sentence if it's a long sentence. It is broken up with natural breath pauses).

A big factor in comedy writing and editing stand-up comedy material is to capture your own natural speaking rhythm when you are writing your comedy material down on paper.

Comedy Writing Secret #2: The delivery of this bit is critical to its ability to generate the big laugh. An attitude of shear disbelief will probably get the greatest laughter response when delivering this stand-up comedy skit.

Comedy Writing Secret #3: In order to get the maximum laughter from this bit, it will be important that there is a 1-2 second pause after this line:

Man calls 911 as he struggles with...

This allows the audience to quickly form a visual in their mind of who or what the man is struggling with. Let me assure you, they won't visualize the police because that's who you are calling when you call 911.

In other words...

This single pause (represented by three dots ...) is a key comedy writing factor for getting the most laughs out of this material.

Comedy Writing Secret #4: You will need to pause for laughter after this line:

The police

HINT: A 1-2 second pause after this line can make the difference between a small laugh and a big one. The look on your face and the associated body language that you display as you deliver these two words will dictate the size of the laugh you will get.

Comedy Writing Secret #5: It would be very easy to expand upon the bit above by simply reacting to the news headline using your own sense of humor.

Here's the bottom line:

Comedy writing for stand-up comedians is much more involved than merely reciting words from a piece of paper.

If you are serious about comedy writing that gets you RESULTS on the stand-up comedy stage, check out the link below in my resource box.

Steve Roye is a globally recognized expert in stand-up comedy material development and performance improvement. He has just released a report called Starting Your Stand-up Comedy Act: Your First 60 Seconds at: http://realfirststeps.com/standupcomedysecrets/free/par1

Article Writing Mistakes - 7 To Avoid

Making your articles available for reprints by other ezine publishers and webmasters is the cornerstone strategy in building an avalanche of pre-qualified visitors to your website.

If you want your articles to be picked up and massively distributed by others, here are 7 common mistakes to avoid:

Article Mistake #1 Too many grammatical, spelling, and punctuation errors.

In addition to having your article proofed by others, you may also want to be sure that you have clearly defined paragraphs. Nothing is worse than a big blob of text with 20 run-on sentences.

Readers no longer read articles in depth and often only 'scan' your article. They want small bites of information that can be easily digested also known as "info-snacking."

Keep your "voice" in the same person throughout the entire article. If you are using the first person voice (I, me) or the second person (you, we, us) or the third person (they, them, he, she)be consistent by staying in one voice for the entire article.

Article Mistake #2 Too much hype, bragging and self-promotion.

If you are as good as you know you are, there is no reason to fill the body of the article with hype, gratuitous links to your site or blatant self-promotion. Readers are smart and will see right through your "hype-veil."

Better to only sell or pitch your company in the RESOURCE BOX below the body of the article. Research I've done indicates that the resource box often gets a 3% CTR (Click Through Rate). Be sure you take advantage of that by not selling hard in the body of the article.

Article Mistake #3 Content based on what you need to learn, not what your reader needs.

Put yourself in your reader's shoes and ask yourself, "What does this article offer me?" Research what your reader wants to read by doing survey's with your own audience or do keyword search engine research to find what people are looking for.

Article Mistake #4 Making your article broad or superficial in content.

It's better to go in-depth on a narrow topic. Define it. Explain it. Relate to it. Use bullet points or numbered lists. Offer a secret or expertise that you have around the topic. Be original in covering your topic as narrowly as possible in a way that has not been done by others. Brevity is golden.

Article Mistake #5 Headline and article summary does not grab readers' attention.

The headline is often ~95% of the initial reason why someone might read your article or pass it over for another article. Don't bore your audience out of the gate with a dull headline or worse, a boring introduction to the article.

If you have to use two sentences to make your headline, you're thinking too hard. Keep it simple and make it brief. Use keyword research tools to optimize your article title.

Article Mistake #6 Plagiarizing or 'buying articles'...

It's ok to research the Internet for article ideas, but it's not ok to copy word-for-word of any article. Paraphrasing can also be classified as plagiarism. Be original. Let the words flow from your mind into your article. You will sleep better at night and your articles will have a higher value in the marketplace.

Buying articles is not a great ideaespecially if you do not get an exclusive license to use them. What good is the same article if thousands of people call it their own? If you do outsource your article writing to ghost writers, make sure you have an exclusive right or license to the works.

Article Mistake #7 Don't burn out the RESOURCE BOX by overloading it.

The RESOURCE BOX is your pay-off for giving your article up for free reprints, but don't abuse the welcome mat by including a dozen website addresses. Stick with one website URL or two at the most and you'll find your article may find a higher distribution rate.

If you want to be really tacky, include an affiliate link in the RESOURCE BOX. A better strategy is to have a domain name registered for every affiliate program that you pitch and include the domain name that rewrites or refreshes to your affiliate link. This is much less tacky and looks more professional.

About The Author:

Christopher M. Knight invites you to submit your best quality original articles for massive exposure to the high-traffic http://EzineArticles.com/ expert author community. When you submit your articles to EzineArticles.com, your articles will be picked up by ezine publishers who will reprint your articles with your content and links intact giving you traffic surges to help you increase your sales. To submit your article, setup a membership account today: http://EzineArticles.com/submit/

(c) Copyright - Christopher M. Knight. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.

Plaster Wall Moisture Problem

How to Make Money Through Photography

This article is about earning a side income via the camera and photography.

You are an avid photographer. You have bought yourself a nice digital compact camera or a digital SLR ( Single Lens Reflex). The camera has brought you hours of joys and pleasure as you create photographic works of art with it. As your hobby grows, you also bought many add-on accessories to improve the capabilities of your camera. You like the hobby. But it is also getting pretty expensive too.

You begin to ask yourself this question. Can I make money using my camera and my photographic skill? Can I recover the cost of maintaining this expensive hobby? The answer is a definite YES!

There are many ways to make money using the camera. I will list two of the more popular methods below:

1. Take up freelance photography projects. There are many types of freelance photography works that one can undertake. Some of the more popular ones are wedding shots and product photography. For product photography, you will need a small studio setup.

2. Selling of stock photographs. Stock photographs are alway in high demand. There are used in so many areas. For example, many magazines and websites use stock photographs for their visuals. Therefore, this area is always in constant need for new and fresh photos. There are many places on the internet that transact stock photographs. For each image sold, the photographer earns a commission.

Well, these are 2 general ways of earning money from the hobby of photography. I hope the article is useful. Thank you for reading.

The author runs Photography ideas and tips, a photography related website. This site features a product call the Photography Business Pack which is a set of digital e-books and tools that is designed to help the photography enthusiast earn an income from his photographic hobby.

Self Esteem and Body Image

Our self esteem has a lot to do with our body image. How much do we accept our own bodies? Are we good enough to be ...?

Are we good enough to have ...?

Are we good enough to do ...?

The answers depend entirely on our own self esteem. Although our bodies have something to do with how others treat us, the most important factor is how we view ourselves.

If we hold an image of our bodies as being messed up then we have a negative impact on our bodies as well as our self esteem.

If we think we are our bodies, then we are building esteem for the wrong self.

We build esteem for our bodies by seeing their true perfection. The first step in doing that is accepting them the way they are. They are okay the way they are.

What effect does self acceptance have on our health?

Many people believe that we have energetic blueprints for our bodies. This energetic blueprint affects the condition of our bodies. The blueprint comes first. The actual body condition comes some time later.

If you were fortunate enough to see the movie What the Bleep, you saw microscopic pictures of water after it was exposed to prayer, positive thoughts, and various negative emotions.

The results were astonishing!

The microscopic pictures of the water exposed to negative emotions and thoughts looked like a real mess. However, the pictures of the positive emotion exposed water looked like nature's works of art. They were harmonious and beautiful.

Imagine what effect emotions have on our body!

In a later scene, the main character looked into a mirror and dramatically exclaimed "I hate you". This normally beautiful woman looked quite unattractive.

Fortunately, the leading character had a realization. She started loving herself and painted loving art work all over her body. Her whole appearance changed. She looked beautiful again. She was happy. She accepted and loved herself.

Have you ever tried to fight off negativity?

You probably noticed that it was a never ending battle. We might temporarily succeed by placing ourselves inside a protective egg shell where all the bad stuff is outside. Our world can get smaller and smaller as we do that. Pretty soon there's nothing left but us in our shrinking eggshell watching Mary Poppins video.

Have you ever tried to get rid of something by resisting it?

What happened? Did it keep coming back? Could there be a better way?

Yes, fortunately there is a better way. We can observe something and accept it the way it is. This doesn't mean we mentally push it away by telling ourselves that we accept it.

Can we really accept something? Can we allow it to continue forever? If we really can, then magic happens. That something can lift off. I can't promise that you can change physical reality. But I'm not saying that you can't.

I can tell you from experience that you can change your emotional and mental experience.

By accepting your body the way it is, you change the energetic blueprint of your body. And ...

It feels good.

Copyright 2006 by Jim Kitzmiller

Jim Kitzmiller is the author of Rocket Fuel for the Soul -- Blissercise Self-Help Manual. The book's bliss exercises (blissercises) surpass usual positive thinking approaches by bypassing the logical mind. The blissercises cover 46 different areas of life.

Jim leads self-help workshops and does spiritual coaching.

Article Writing Tips - Don't Get Hung Up on Keywords

I could make this article real short and leave you with just one sentence. Write for people...not for search engines. But most likely, you wouldn't know what the heck I was talking about. Problem is, too many article writers get hung up on keywords and miss the whole point of the article...to inform the reader. And the truth is, a lot of the myths that get circulated are mostly the cause of this problem. Well, hopefully, this article will end this problem for at least one reader...you.

Okay, so why do I say not to get hung up on keywords? Well, to understand that, you have to understanding something about content on the Internet and how things end up on search engines and WHERE they end up, whether it be at the top of the search engines or at the bottom. The general BS that gets peddled around the Internet is to take the keyword that you're targeting and plaster it through your article. Make sure you get at least a 3% saturation.

Well, here's the problem with this train of thought. Many keyword phrases don't really lend themselves to being used that often in an article. For example, one of the keyword phrases I'm using for this article hasn't even appeared yet except in the title. That's right...the first three words. Why would I need to use that phrase to the point where it gets a 3% saturation? I don't, and I can still get the point of the article across so that the person reading it actually gets something out of it...just like you are.

The better approach is to just write naturally, like you would to a personal friend. That way your articles don't end up sounding wooden and boring. I can't read half the garbage that's out there because it is keyword stuffed to the point where it's beyond obvious. Those articles don't impress readers and they don't make any money for the writer.

It's an easy trap to fall into. Don't do it. Write for people...not for search engines. If the keyword phrase naturally fits, use it. Don't force it. Your article will sound a lot better if you follow this approach.

And these are article writing tips that you can take to the bank.

That's one.

To YOUR Success,
Steven Wagenheim

Want to write articles that get people's attention and can earn you up to $200 per article written? Then check out my Complete Article Writing And Marketing Guide that you can find at http://www.honestincomeprogram.com/tcawamg.html - This is my own book that I wrote from over 30 years of writing experience.

Rim Joist Damage

Insulating Basement Wall Problems

Your basement is directly in contact with the earth. Not only that, it is prone to excessive moisture due to its surrounding water and piping systems. Taking this into account, it is therefore necessary to include insulating basement wall, floor, and ceilings in your basement design plan. This is will not only help keep your floor warm upstairs, it will save you from the trouble of unnecessary and troublesome air conditioning repairs.

Here are some of the important tips in insulating basement wall foundation:

1. Use fiberglass or specialty plastic products such as closed-cell foam. The advantage in using these type of materials is that it's light weight and strong. It's also cost effective and versatile. But before using it, take note of the different types also. There are those that are flammable. The best recommendation is to cover it with drywall to prevent flames to spread fast. The best insulating basement wall materials of these types should also be weather-resistant and durable.

2. Know a little bit of the theory in heat transfer. This is called thermodynamics. This knowledge may help you in figuring out some concerns not anticipated in insulating basement wall manuals. You might have a unique heat insulation issues that requires a more profound approach in finding the best solution. Understanding the principles in thermodynamics is one big help.

3. Check your foundation walls if there are cracks. This is where leaks of moisture and unwanted air flow passes through. Usually you can find them in wall joints between the ceiling and the floors. Moisture seeps into the wall and floor. Not only does it affects your basement room temperature, it also looks ugly. When you do find them, insulating basement wall materials should then be applied in these areas.

4. Prioritize your foundation walls. You don't need much heat insulation for the basement ceiling since this is not in contact with soil. The earth is open to moisture and is a bad insulator. When in contact with your basement wall, it transfers the heat inside your basement interior. The floor may also need some insulation. Insulating your ceiling is okay but it's not practical and will prove to be inefficient. Insulating basement wall is more important.

5. Work your insulation with other basement damage prevention control scheme. The closest to this is the waterproofing of your basement. They are closely related and share the same objective - to prevent future damage of your basement walls and fixtures. They also share the same enemies - moisture. Also, if you get these two damage control preventions done ahead, you'll save time and money.

There could be more. The best person to give an advice on this is someone who had experienced the hassles of not having any insulation. One of the many reasons why there is the need in insulating basement wall is because of safety. Neglecting this can translate situations into worse case scenarios such as in health and emergency issues.

Preventive measures are not to be dismissed. Otherwise, it can get you into more trouble in repairs along with expensive solutions. Your home is a major investment. Insulation should not be compromised.

Find more information on insulating basement wall. Get the latest offers on basement insulating products.

Communication in Business

Effective communication in business is not about creating the perfect PowerPoint presentation. It's not about writing the perfectly-pitched report. It's not even about assiduously alliterating {smile}.

Sometimes effectively communicating in business can hinge on something really simplethe habits you bring to your interactions with others.

As we all know, we all have habitual behaviours that we carry around with us and use unconsciously. It could be the "um" you sandwich between every fourth word of your presentation. It could be the nervous 'fig-leaf' gestures of your hands. It could be your constant swaying and looking away from your audience, as if you should be somewhere else far more important right at that moment.

Whoever you are, whilst you may know your facts inside-out, whilst your work ethic is the standard by which others are measured, if you don't recognise and work on your personal presentation habits you might eventually destroy all that you have strived so hard to achieve.

Whatever your particular habit is, you can best find out what it is by two great methods:

1. Ask your colleagues what you do in face-to-face encounters that annoys them

2. Have someone video a presentation to a group that you give.

We all have a communication habit that works against us in some small way. But the challenge we face is that, left unattended, they start adding up. The more you have, the more unprofessional you look.

Here's eight interpersonal communication blunders that can wreck your career over time:

Owning a weak handshake: A weak handshake signals uncertainty, hesitation, a lack of integrity, a lack of confidence and a lack of courage. It quite possibly also triggers subconscious responses in the recipient that cause them to focus more and for longer on your handshake than on your message. To butcher Nike's slogan, "Just don't do it!"

Displaying a nervous giggle: Just like a weak handshake, the nervous giggle, in the eyes and mind of your audience, turns you into a child. No one seriously does business with a child.

Over-using "I'm sorry": A 'killer' for undermining your authority, a phrase like, "I need your report on my desk by 5 o'clock, sorry" just knocks your professionalism, your communication and your career for six. You have no need to apologise if you are the boss or the client. There is a place for politeness in business, as there are for courtesy and humility. But in the shark-eat-shark world of nature and business, there is no room for the weak and mousy. Sorry to have to break that to you...

Standing passively: Crossed arms, crossed legs... they signal just one thingdetachment, as if you really don't want to be there, listening to the other person, but you have to. Passively standing kicks down the building bricks of trust, over time reducing your career reputation to rubble.

Avoiding eye contact: Whilst too much staring at someone can cause discomfort, so can too little. By not looking at your audience (of one of one thousand) in the eye, you come across as nervous and insincere. A reasonable period of eye contact is between 4 and 7 seconds at a time, per person, especially when you are talking to them.

Playing with your hands: Wringing your hands, or playing 'fig leaf' is a sure way of conveying insecurity about yourself or your message. And recently I was reminded by my Toastmasters club colleagues of a habit of mine that I need to breaktwisting my wedding ring around my finger when I present. My colleagues found themselves focusing more on my ring-twiddling than my message.

Speaking too softly: A habit that is a sure sign in the eyes of others, that you are not confident about yourself, your message or your authority to deliver it. You come across as near-invisible, weak and insubstantial, as well as make yourself difficult to be heard by those who are hard of hearing. And as I get older, my hearing is definately getting worsea legacy of spending years in front of PA stacks as a lighting manager for rock bands.

Using qualifying words: This is quite possibly one of the worst habits anyone could have. Absolutely nearly everyone qualifies their words, and most often the effect is to dilute the power and impact of your message. Seriously, using words such as "kind of", "sort of" and "maybe" make even the smartest of us appear unsure.

If you are unsure if you have any or all of these habits when you communicate in a business setting, or if you are unsure about how to rid yourself of them, please do not hesitate to contact me. I can either point you in the direction of your nearest Toastmasters public speaking club (a fantastic organisation geared specifically to help you become a powerful public speaker), or else I can offer alternative resources, including analysing your business communication performance and subsequently coaching you to greater heights.

When you match consumer psychology with effective communication styles you get a powerful combination. Lee Hopkins can show you how to communicate better for better business results. At Hopkins-Business-Communication-Training.com you can find the secrets to communication success

Power Tips to Improve Your Article Marketing

The benefits of tapping into the power of article marketing are enormous. You can be rewarded with high page rankings from the search engines, which will result in free targeted traffic and free traffic from the article directories too, if you produce articles rich with keywords.

This article will provide you with five tips that are guaranteed to improve your article writing so that you can then experience the power of article marketing.

The basics are important so begin by putting together a long list of keywords related to the online business niche that you are targeting. In order to build a list of quality keywords it will be necessary to spend time doing the research.

To put together a targeted list you can find keywords by using free keyword research tools available online such as Wordtracker and Google. Knowing what keywords to build your article around is the foundation for writing a good article.

Now we move onto the second and extremely important step in article writing which is the title. The more you practice the better your titles will become. To get some ideas have a look at the titles of some of the articles in the article directories.

When you see article titles that really catch your eye and make you want to read more jot them down or open Notepad on your computer and create a list of titles that will give you inspiration for future use. Be sure to have your keywords in your title to attract the attention of the search engines and word it so no searcher can resist clicking on the title to read more.

Thirdly, your first paragraph of your article is of utmost importance. Today, people speed read as time is short and precious and so this is your chance to capture their attention. Keep the paragraph short, but power-pack it with words which will make them want to read your entire article.

Fourthly, you will reap the rewards of focusing on writing the best article you can. If necessary, take the time to do some research. Ensure that your article is precise and to the point rather than long and drawn out. Instead of being long-winded make good use of your words.

Lastly, there are thousands of article directories on the internet but do not waste your time trying to submit to them all. Rather choose the best ones with a high Page Rank to submit your articles to.

The top article directory on the internet is EzineArticles and if you consistently just submitted your articles to them your article marketing results would improve. Alternatively, you could consider using an online article submission service such as Submit Your Article which includes the option of having your article submitted to 6 top article directories including EzineArticles.

To sum up then, you will see improved article marketing results if you take action on these five tips. Focus on writing good quality articles and be selective where you submit them and you will harness the power of article marketing and benefit for a long time to come.

Cynthia Minnaar runs her own Online Home Based Business Ideas website full-time from home. She invites you gather more article marketing tips from her step-by-step internet marketing strategies guide.

Ceiling Repairs

Consider Basement Renovation to Increase Value to Your Home

You can increase the value of your home with a good basement renovation. When you consider renovating your basement you need to determine why you want to renovate it. Maybe you want to make a basement room into a work out center, convert it to a television room, and make it into a kid's playroom or any of a number of other things.

Your project may be as simple as a new coat of paint on the dull walls or as extensive as a complete makeover into a new room. In any case there are some basic things you will need to consider and think about before you begin.

You will need to decide if the renovation to your basement will be easy enough for you to do yourself or if it will require the services of a professional basement contractor. Either way, you will have to prepare a budget.

One aspect in basement renovation that is extremely important is evaluating the quality of the air flow in the existing basement area you want to renovate. If your basement is moist, it will be prone to mildew. You will need to focus on getting the basement dry so it will be a place that you to go instead of a smelly place you avoid.

If your primary goal is to make your home a more comfortable place with the addition of quality space or improving the existing space, you need to consider basement renovation to accomplish this goal and add value to your home.

Considering basement renovation? Discover practical basement remodeling ideas online and turn cheap basement ideas into dream basements at a budget.

Avoid Contractor Scams - Home Remodeling Tips

You might think you have to live in Florida, California or a state where natural weather disasters or wildfires create a cycle of home rebuilding to be targeted by contractor scams. But in fact, anyone who owns a home is at risk for falling victim to unscrupulous contractors. It only takes one bad experience to sour a homeowner, and this is unfortunate for the majority of contractors who take pride in their work and do a good job. To avoid experiencing what can end up being a home repair nightmare, all you need to do is be aware of some common scams and don't be afraid to ask questions, require references, make the effort to check those references, never sign anything that looks suspicious or without reading thoroughly and never agree to anything in haste.

In the springtime everything starts to gear up again. Many potential buyers are shopping for a new home and there are real estate agents hosting open houses. There is new grass, leaves, flower buds, families barbequing and shady contractors cruising the neighborhoods looking for an easy mark. Unfortunately, a sad fact is that older home owners are often targeted the most, but really anyone can be duped by a convincing pitch.

One of the most frequently used lines is that the contractor was in the neighborhood doing work and just happened to drive by and see something wrong with your home. Being the kind-hearted person that he is, he took time off from his busy schedule and wanted to stop and alert you to the problem you have. And even more convenient for you, he and his crew can work you in while they are in the area. Most legitimate builders and contractors do not go door to door like salesmen. Be wary of anyone showing up unscheduled and offering to do work right away with the pitch that they'll cut you a deal because they are already doing a project close by.

The most often used pitch for this scenario is roof repair. Dishonest contractors may tell a homeowner that their roof is in bad shape, not visible to the naked or untrained eye, and by hiring them to replace it now you'll save money in the long run by avoiding water damage from leakage. This is often perpetrated on older residents who cannot keep a watchful on the repair work actually being done. The homeowner will usually end up with substandard roofing materials or shingles that are a lower grade than the ones you originally had on the roof.

Getting your driveway repaved is another common scam. Even if someone two houses down from you just had it done and it looks fantastic, don't assume the guy who shows up at your door offering to do yours is the one who did the other. Most of the time it isn't the same contractor, but another one shadowing the reputable one. This other guy will do a sub par job and you'll be left with cracks in both your bank account and driveway.

Any contractor who approaches you suggesting that with your help they can do repairs for you for free by turning it into your insurance company isn't doing you any favors. What they are doing is making you a partner in crime by having you commit insurance fraud if there isn't any real basis for the claim. And don't think the insurance company won't prosecute, because they will.

Never, ever agree to pay cash, especially up front. You may be tempted by a big discount offered for a cash payment or advance, but those savings and your money will be as gone as the contractor who just left to go get supplies and will supposedly be back tomorrow.

Never sign the deed to your home over to finance repairs. Chances are if you do this, you won't have to worry about repairs because you won't have a home to repair.

Be suspicious of a contractor who claims he has extra or leftover lumber or supplies and can give you a great quote on a project. You should wonder and ask where those materials came from and realize that somebody, even if it wasn't you, paid for those supplies.

Always ask to see identification, especially if a so-called inspector shows up claiming you need work done to meet a code and tries to fine you or make you sign an agreement to have it done. This is not standard procedure and always check with authorities to see if the person actually is who he or she claims to be. You should always ask to see a contractor's license and ask for references, then check those references. Unhappy previous customers or a complete lack of customers is a sure warning sign. And speaking of signs, never sign anything without reading it or having your lawyer check it over. There are a lot of helpful sites out there where you can find more tips, such as About Chicago Real Estate.

If you do find yourself in hot tar, shoddy shingles or crummy carpentry, contact your Better Business Bureau or State's Attorney office to file a complaint and seek help. An old builder's rule is measure twice, cut once. Remember to double check everything and always get more than one quote.

Paula Cherrist writes articles about Chicago condos for sale, home trends and new homes for About Chicago Real Estate.

What Are Business Ethics

Business ethics are a matter of much debate. Every MBA entrant is taught the meaning of them, and yet many will never follow these guidelines in their real life careers. It has become a vast and complex field, and is the subject of much research. Business ethics encompass a large and significant portion of what it takes to do business today. Under the umbrella of business ethics comes:

The social responsibility that a business is supposed to have towards the community in general, particularly the one in which it operates or has any interests. An example of this would be the Exxon Mobil oil spill. It is the responsibility of a business to protect the interests of the people, animals and environment where it uses resources. Due to improper handling of the issue, it became a public relations nightmare for the company. Exxon has now been ordered to clean up the area which it should have taken care not to damage in the first place. Indifference to business ethics in this case, caused a negative public image for the company and a huge lawsuit.

Issues regarding a companys responsibility towards its shareholders. This is a heavily regulated area but one that requires a lot of government intervention due to certain unethical practices adopted by many companies in the past. The concept of increasing shareholder value is part of the fundamental principles of a company and if business ethics are not brought into play here, the business can collapse due to the pressure exerted by shareholders.

Inter-company dealings and negotiations. Often rivalries in business can turn ugly due to the amount of money and ego riding on them. Hostile takeovers and business espionage are some of the examples of unethical behavior within the business world. If discovered, these deeds can be punishable by law or simply public opinion. To allow for fair play and keeping the best interests of the consumers in mind, the government regulates a great deal of what goes on in company dealings. Microsoft has been the target of much abuse and outrage due to its allegedly monopolistic techniques of doing business. While this has not sunk the IT giant, many say that it may have long term repercussions. The government has also stepped in to make sure that other businesses and consumers are not harmed.

Stakeholder protection. Every business has stakeholders other than its owners the employees, the stockholders and the general public. The business has to ensure that the rights and interests of all of these groups are adequately protected in the course of its operations. The recent outcry about the harassment and bad working conditions of employees in Wal-Mart led to the generation of a lot of negative press about the outsized department store. This gives the competition the lead and rivals take the opportunity to get ahead while the company is busy trying to do some damage control.

Fundamental business practices of a company. Underhanded dealings, the use of substandard products, spreading misinformation about the product, hiring illegal workers at lower than minimum wage, etc. prove that a business is run in an unethical way and that it is not a high quality work place or service provider. For instance, cigarette companies that spent most of the seventies telling people that it was not unhealthy to smoke, though they knew this to be untrue. In a recent judgment, one such company was forced to pay out $28 billion.

William King is the director of Wholesale UK Dropshipping & Wholesalers Trade Suppliers, Wholesale Dropshipping & Dropshippers Directory, Wholesalers Products & Dropshipping Supplies Directory, and UK Wholesalers & Wholesale Dropshippers. He has 18 years of experience in the marketing and trading industries and has been helping retailers and startups with their product sourcing, promotion, marketing and supply chain requirements

Article Writing - Why Bother?

Article writing when done correctly can be one of the most potent methods of promoting your business on the Internet. But why choose this method of internet marketing?

For one thing, it's F-R-E-E. For another thing, it's a lot of fun if you enjoy writing; if you don't enjoy writing, it's easy to use still, for there are inexpensive ghost writing services on the Internet that staff full time freelance writers who can research and write about any subject matter--including whatever your business is about.

Besides the fact that it's free and fun or free and easy, what's the practical advantage of using articles for marketing? On the Internet, it's about outreach. You can reach across vast distances at the speed of light and connect with people flung all over the world. You would never be able to find these people so fast for such a low cost in any other way. And--these people are prospective targeted traffic. That's highly meaningful to you. The traffic you want coming to your virtual door is not just any ol' traffic. You want to drive people to your website who have a higher than average chance of turning into customers. The only way to do this is to find and attract people who already have some level of interest in what you sell. They are "targeted traffic".

It costs too much money, or at least too much time, and often both, to just attract anybody and get a low conversion rate--that is, a small percentage of the people who visit your website turning into customers. Lots of disinterested people at your site merely take up your bandwidth, too. You don't want your site going down, especially not because you had a ton of people who will never buy from you "just looking".

Article marketing ferrets out the people who have interests in buying from you. The people who are interested in what you sell are people who choose to read your articles. True, they may not have had your products or services in mind when they read your article, but after reading it they realized they might possibly benefit from it. And, they might have already been interested, and finally they read your article and you impressed them with your free information (people love free stuff, especially free information about something). Your flowing, insightful article convinced them that you are a wise expert on this matter and you have just what they need or want. Best of all, your article didn't try to sell them anything--it simply informed them and perhaps even in an entertaining way. This got them excited about you.

You can also cultivate new prospects and leads for free with article marketing. You can show people WHY they SHOULD be interested in what you sell. Many never thought of it before, but you show them the value of what you offer by writing in detail about it.

Remember, article marketing is nothing at all like writing sales copy. Leave the copy writing at your website, the place you link back to in all of your articles. You will have your articles rejected by content sites if you come off as a copy writer anyway. You WILL need to be persistent and consistent, and use social bookmarks, to make it work for you.

It can be seen therefore that article writing can indeed be a huge contributory factor in promoting a business and in making money online

The Author of this article has been successful in many businesses and also benefits from being able to work from Home making money online

Floor Framing Plumbing Problem

When the Yeast of God Begins to Work Anything Can Happen As Prayer is Answered and the Spirit Flows

There are many people praying in the United Kingdom - and I am sure wherever you are reading this - for Revival - an outpouring of the Holy Spirit - for our gracious loving God to move again.

We have seen it over many years - Abraham - Joshua - David - Isaiah and Jeremiah and the other anointed prophets - Peter, Paul, John and James, following the death and resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ.

Down through the centuries there have been times when God has broken through. I remember seeing that what was really important was not so much Church History as Kingdom History, when there was a breaking through of the Kingdom of God.

The yeast of God was at work.

In the 1960's and 70's we witnessed a global outpouring of the Spirit of God when every nation and denomination was affected to some degree. Of course, there were those who sat with their umbrellas up hoping they would not be touched or 'splashed'!

When God moves He moves sovereignly and that is what we are looking for and praying for in these present days. Consider what happened when Moses was leading the people of God out slavery in Egypt towards the promised Land. How did it all begin? With a mighty sovereign move of God in answer to the cries of the people. We read that in Exodus.

Read of how God released the Hebrew slaves from bondage in Egypt, under the leadership of Moses. At midnight the Lord struck, and the firstborn in Egypt died. Every Hebrew home was protected by the blood of a lamb which had been slain.

Take a moment to read the actual text in Exodus Chapter 12.

Realise the supreme importance of the blood of the lamb - that lamb which had been sacrificed in accordance with the instructions of Moses as he received them from Almighty God.

For us today the Lamb - our Passover Lamb is Jesus Christ. We read of that in the New Testament. So many appear totally unaware of the significance of the blood of the Lamb.

It was not Moses job to change, modify, water down, or edit the instructions. That would have meant disaster. We are living in a day when the so-called church wants to do so many of these very things.

Although leader of the nation, Moses was, in one sense, like a message boy, where his calling, task, and role was to deliver the message and not judge the content of the message.

There is only one thing that saves us from judgement and the consequences of sin, and that is the blood of the lamb, and our Passover Lamb is Jesus Christ, Whose blood was shed and whose life was sacrificed.

Pharaoh had said he never wanted to see Moses and Aaron again, yet at this time of national crisis he called these two men in. For Pharaoh it was a bit too late.

Be careful what you do. Be careful what you say. If you are rash and impetuous you may have to retract your words, and that can be embarrassing.

Moses is told, "Up, leave and go". O, if government would call in committed anointed spiritual leaders today. There are men around who have answers and solutions to the massive problems facing the nation - and these problems are spiritual, moral, economic and political. At the time of writing the United Kingdom according to some is near to 'melt down'.

When Moses was operating so powerfully and leading so manfully, the Holy Spirit was moving and moving rapidly and radically. The yeast of God was working.

Wherever you are keep praying. Keep interceding. Do not give in or give up.

When the yeast of God is working there is nothing we can do to stop it, but there is also nothing we can do to make that yeast work.

Sandy Shaw

Sandy Shaw is Pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship, Chaplain at Inverness Prison, and Nairn Academy, and serves on The Children's Panel in Scotland, and has travelled extensively over these past years teaching, speaking, in America, Canada, South Africa, Australia, making 12 visits to Israel conducting Tours and Pilgrimages, and most recently in Uganda and Kenya, ministering at Pastors and Leaders Seminars, in the poor areas surrounding Kampala, Nairobi, Mombasa and Kisumu.

He broadcasts regularly on WSHO radio out of New Orleans, and writes a weekly commentary at http://www.studylight.org entitled "Word from Scotland" on various biblical themes, as well as a weekly newspaper column.

His M.A. and B.D. degrees are from The University of Edinburgh, and he continues to run and exercise regularly to maintain a level of physical fitness.

Sandy Shaw
sandyshaw63@yahoo.com