Sunday, October 28, 2012

A Guide On Tax Deeds

Taking the time to learn about the different rules and regulations that govern the sale and purchase of tax deeds can keep you from making some unwise investments. You need to make sure that any property or real estate you purchase is one that is going pay off and a significant amount of profit in the long run.
Anytime you happen to come across a real estate listing or advertisement about properties that are being sold because there are delinquent taxes owed, it is the deed to the property that is being sold. The ownership papers to properties that previous owners have neglected to pay the tariffs are called tax deeds.
Anytime a property owner doesn't pay his or her local property taxes, the city or local government can essentially seize the property and sell it by making it available to the public for anyone to buy at auction. Many smart investors tend to take advantage of property auctions since it allows them to purchase real estate at prices that are well below the current market values. Some investors also use this as a convenient means to "flip" property by selling it for more money than what they paid.
There is no way a person can legally neglect to pay their financial obligations on their home and expect to remain the legal owner of the establishment. When the owner defaults, then the local government can seek legal recourse to get the money they are owed by holding an auction. The city government issues tax deeds for each and every property that ends up on the auction block. Of course, even if the highest bidder wins a specific property, there is still a redemption period in which the original owner can regain possession of their property by paying off what is owed.
Auctions that have real estate up for grabs are advertised by the respective city or jurisdiction in which the property is located. Prior to the actual auction, the properties are listed and the information is made available to the general public. This gives anyone that is interested enough time to get all the information they need for any tax deeds they are interested in.
Keep in mind that the opening bid for any property in the auction is going to be comprised of the delinquent tariffs, any accumulated interest, listing fees and other costs that may have been assessed by the county. Regardless of the total, the actual total is much lower than the market value of the property that is being sold.
Many people, who invest in these types of properties, do so because there is a significant chance that the original owner will come up with what is owed plus the interest and pay it off. When the original owner decides to take advantage of the redemption period and purchase back their property, they have to pay the person who holds the tax deeds the delinquent fees and interest. Usually an investor can gain as much as fifty percent of their initial investment by investing in certain types of properties.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Storage and Transportation of Dangerous Goods

You must store and transport dangerous goods in specialized containers that are manufactured to certain specifications. Packaging of such goods must be done in compliance with the state regulations as mispackaging or another error can lead to a disaster.
Packing dangerous goods is an issue significantly different from the packing of normal goods. Packing and shipping regulations are stringent and you have to take care that these are followed in both word and spirit. A slip up would attract harsh penalties or severe consequences to others and you will certainly be not pleased with that.
There is a long list of items that are classed as dangerous goods and all these have distinctly different regulations regarding storage and transport, so you need to very sure what rules you have to follow. It could be a truck carrying hazardous chemicals or a ship transporting radioactive material. You must know exactly how to deal with these scenarios and ensure total compliance with the law.
As you do not transport such goods every day, you must double check the regulations and, if you have any confusion, you must consult with the appropriate authorities. Usually, you would need a special license to store or transfer these goods.
Goods that need special arrangements are usually segregated in three categories - Explosives & highly combustible items, Chemicals, Medical items and nuclear items. You need containers with certain specifications for storing such items. These will ensure that dangerous goods can be transported with ease with little or no security or safety risks as long as the specifications are met.
Containers used for the transportation of hazardous materials are hazmat boxes. These come in convoluted urethane foam for the protection of fragile products shipped within a corrugated box, ensuring that the dangerous goods are stored and transported safely.
The packing of such goods must also be done by trained personnel. They will know how to handle such materials minimizing the associated risks. When done by untrained people, handling and packing such materials will always carry a higher risk.
Separate containers come for storing different kinds of materials. For instance, there are innovative and flexible solutions having a variety of inner containers for storing lab samples. However, you must make sure that these fall within the required maximum gross weight of inner packaging as well as gross weight of the completed package to ensure overall safety.
There are two types of packaging styles - Combination and Single packaging. Combination packaging involves one or more types packaged together, inserting cushions in between for proper transportation. Single packaging, on the other hand, involves only one container.
Get your containers from vendors who have sufficient packaging experience in design, testing and customization of the packaging of dangerous goods. They will sell these using tags like UN approved packaging, DOT approved packaging, etc. Procure the containers from a manufacturer who has appropriate certification. It is in your best interest to avoid

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Using Humour for Persuasion in Business

The ability to introduce humour appropriately into a business conversation is a vastly underrated skill. There are two main reasons for this:
  1. People confuse 'comedy' with 'humour'; so they believe adding humour to a business interaction requires them to act like a comedian. And, they think if they get it wrong they'll look like a clown.
  2. People under-estimate the power of intelligently used humour; and, so, are less willing to commit the effort to apply it. They believe it is inappropriate or, worse still, disrespectful to try to be funny in a business conversation.
Using humour does not mean doing a poor impersonation of your favourite comedian... for your client's sake - please don't do it! Humour (especially business humour) and comedy serve completely different purposes. Comedy exists to make people laugh - sometimes drunk people. If they don't laugh it fails. Humour in business is used as you might use soy sauce or chilli - it's the seasoning, not the meal.
In a business setting humour can serve many purposes:
  1. To lighten the moment - giving a difficult message with a soft touch
  2. To focus the interaction on your personal (rather than business) connection
  3. To make the communication more interesting
  4. To draw attention to a particular point
  5. To gauge a client's feelings about a particular point
  6. To make a client more open to new concepts
This might seem like an ambitious list, but appropriately applied humour can achieve all of these.
The last two are probably the most powerful. Comedian John Cleese is also a great observer of human behaviour. He said, "If I can make you laugh, you like me better, which means you are more open to my ideas. If I can get you to laugh at a particular point that I make, by laughing at it, you acknowledge its truth." For example, your product is the most reliable - and expensive - in the market. To gauge how well this reliability is perceived by the client, you might say, "The one disadvantage of the product is that it won't generate the same number of service calls as some of the other brands!" Follow with a smile and eye contact and watch for their reaction. It will probably be a wry smile, perhaps a nod of agreement. Your aim is not to get a belly-laugh. In business humour a chuckle, grin or nod is all you need to know it has served its purpose.
This works in business because at the core of all humour is truth and what you are doing is reinforcing an accepted fact in an enjoyable, memorable way. Even if they don't laugh, it's still done its job because it's telling you that this point is not a high priority for the client. Note the message and move on. Don't apologise or try to excuse your 'failed' humour - the client probably hasn't even noticed.
The last point above is the most interesting. Put simply, humour messes around with our brain's judgement system making it more easily persuaded. A lot of humour is based on a 'twist'. The first part of the joke - the 'set-up'- sets you up to expect a certain outcome. The second part - the 'twist' or punch-line gives you a different outcome. This leap in logic triggers laughter which releases endorphins; so the brain is rewarded for accepting the unexpected outcome. It has been shown that a person is more likely to be persuaded by new ideas following laughter. For this reason Harvard Business Review nominated humour as the most powerful persuasive tool of all.
Many of us have had our confidence in using humour diminished because at some time we have tried to repeat humour and it's bombed. Here's the scenario: somebody says something at a social gathering and you think it's so funny you make appoint of remembering it. Later, at another social gathering you try to repeat the humour - and it fails miserably. The message we take away from this is that we're simply not funny.
Of course, this is wrong. For everyone there are two styles of humour:
  1. The style of humour that makes us laugh
  2. The style of humour that we use to make others laugh
In the earlier scenario, you have obviously chosen a style of humour that is of the first type - but not the second. Every day, we all do something to make someone else laugh. Take note of what you do spontaneously - it might be word play, exaggeration, characterisation, satire, joke-telling, story-telling or something else - but you will notice one style emerges as your dominant one. When you try to actively introduce humour, use your natural style to give yourself the best chance of success.

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Adhesive Should I Use To Glue Neodymium Magnets

Neodymium magnets are powerful magnets used in many different applications. Most magnets purchased from stock are nickel plated. Nickel is an excellent choice to protect the magnet as it is very resistant to attack by corrosives. Unfortunately, the same great properties of nickel that make it ideal to protect the magnet make it difficult for adhesives to form a chemical bond to adhere to the substrate. In addition, the process of plating with nickel creates a surface that is extremely smooth and hard, further reducing the ability of the adhesive to create a satisfactory bond to the metal.
When using stock neodymium magnets, the types of glue that actually work are very limited. The best choice is a two part epoxy adhesive. These glues are mixed just before use, creating their own chemical reaction to adhere the magnets to another object.
Before attempting to glue stock Neodymium magnets, users should take time to prepare the surface to interact with the glue and create the best possible bond. Begin by cleaning and degreasing the surface of the nickel plating. This will require the use of an industrial solvent degreaser. Household detergents and alcohol do not have the degreasing power to effectively clean the magnet and prepare it for gluing. Once the grease is removed, use a 200 grit emery cloth to abrade the surface. The goal is to create a surface with enough texture for the glue to grip and without breaking through the nickel, which would allow the magnet to corrode. After abrading the surface, clean and degrease a second time. To test the preparation, place a few drops of water on top. If the water spreads to wet the surface and does not bead, it is ready to receive the adhesive and form a strong bond. Be sure to allow the surface to dry before mixing the adhesive and attempting to glue the magnet to the surface.
The surface to which the magnet will be adhered will also need to be prepared to receive the magnet. Be sure that it is also free of grease, dust or other debris. If this surface is also extremely smooth like the nickel plated Neodymium magnet, it may be necessary to abrade this surface as well.
Mix the epoxy according to package directions. Normally, this involves mixing equal parts of the hardner and the adhesive. Only mix the amount of adhesive that can be used in a short period of time. Apply to the magnet and attach to the surface. Clamp in place to dry if necessary.
Stock Neodymium magnets are plated with extremely hard and smooth nickel, which prevents bonding with most adhesives. With proper preparation, the magnets will adhere to most surfaces using a good quality two part epoxy adhesive.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Use a Display Rental for Your Next Trade Show

Each year, businesses spend thousands of dollars on advertisements that are designed to gain them more customers for their products. Now that the economy has caused even the most profitable businesses to take an in-depth analysis as to how effective their marketing and advertising efforts are, more and more companies are start to make some cutbacks. By making these cutbacks, they can turn their attention to utilizing more effective marketing campaigns to gain them more customers. One effective and low cost way to increase the visibility for your business is to take advantage of the crowds that go to trade shows.
You don't have to rely on the media for all of your advertising needs. Thanks to the internet, a vast majority of potential customers do not even watch television, let alone see commercials that have your products in them. You are missing out on a big customer base by not setting up exhibits at trade shows. If you take the time to learn how to give an effective presentation that gains the attention of your audience and engages them, you can leave the actual exhibit décor and setup to a company that specializes in display rentals. Keep in mind that using display rentals in trade shows can help to minimize your overall costs, so you can still use other ways of effective advertising as well. If you want to reach the most customers and make more profit, you need to use more than one form of marketing and advertisement.
If you are just starting off in the world of trade shows, until you have decided to make this an integral part of your marketing efforts, you should use display rentals. You don't want to purchase exhibits that you may not use in the future. By using rentals, you can learn what is more effective by changing up the exhibits as needed without being financially committed to one.
Instead of purchasing exhibits for the first few trade show circuits you decide to participate in, consider using display rentals instead. This will take the pressure off of you while you are getting a good idea of how profitable trade shows are. The less you spend can help you develop an effective marketing strategy to further increase your profits without making a major financial investment.
Don't be afraid to incorporate different designs and think outside of the box. The more variety you use in your exhibits, the more you will gain customers. This does not mean to change your exhibit drastically each and every time, just a little so you can tweak the exhibits overtime to see what design gives you the most customer response. This also allows you to come up with the best design without having to be concerned about any additional expenses.
Take notes and pay attention to the reactions of your customers, especially if you have made any changes to your display rentals. By utilizing a leasing company, your exhibits are covered for transportation, setup, and insured against damage or lost parts.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Reveal Your True Magnificence To Your Audience This Way

In this article you see the secret sauce that enlivens your impact on your audiences. You harvest 7 strategic actions. These actions, wisely engaged, yield you a magnificent public persona that raises your perceived market value as a paid speaker.
Every outstanding achievement starts with a minority of one. When Mohammed Ali announced I am the greatest, only he believed it. And he believed it in the marrow of his bones.
Then he prepared himself. He practiced, drilled, rehearsed. Just as you are to do. He strengthened his muscles as he strengthened his resolve. Just as you are to do.
He became a powerhouse of implacable commitment to be what he said he was. Just as you are to do.
Think about it. An affirmation, a bald, bold, audacious affirmation became reality. And within his sphere and his time in history, he made himself the greatest.
Is there an idea here for you? I think so. OK, how do you create the conditions and circumstances, the vivid, living, breathing, palpitating reality of you--and I do mean you--being personally great in your sphere, in your time in history--being personally great as an expert who speaks.
It's not so hard. Not if you have a plan.
1. Start with your Pubic Speaking essence.
I mean with your personal public speaking essence. What are you really about? What right do you have to stand before audiences sharing your wisdom? What have you to offer that is unique and special? What sets you apart from all other experts who speak? This is your core value. Identify and exploit your core value. Until you do you're not ready for the big room, the main stage, the general sessions or keynote slots.
2. Develop an hour of pure value.
Actions, what-to's. Timeless content based on principles. Lace it with a touch of humor. Plus your personal stories. Include pauses to let your key ideas sink in. Do your out-of-town tryouts, your shakedown cruise at service clubs. Trim it down. Get the bugs out.
3. Then create a couple of hours of how-to's.
This is your concurrent session. Be ready to expand this to whatever time length best works for the clients you want to serve. To see if this will play in Peoria, offer to present fund raisers for Chambers of Commerce near your home. They promote. You present. You split the take 50-50. They love this because it shovels cash into their treasury while it serves their community.
4. Now put on your marketing hat.
Start to write articles revealing your expertise. If you have case studies, before-and-after tales of the difference your insights make, share them. Discover how to do both inbound and outbound marketing.
5. Market relentlessly
Develop your on-line profile and your other marketing tools. Include great letters of commendation: How it was before you came along compared to how it is now. Glowing words of praise by your clients about the outcomes you produce.
6. Design your Mission Statement.
Make it magnificent. Better yet, let it be transcendent. Allow it to be your guiding light, your north star, your reason-to-be.
7. Energize your actions.
Get behind your intentions with bulldog tenacity. Believe wholly in what you're about. Back your belief with fire in your belly. Be resolute about making yourself the master of your personal universe. One morning you will awaken to realize the wisdom you engaged from your past has morphed into your magnificent personal reality.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

9 Ways to IMPROVE Your Options Trading Today

Here are 9 actionable steps you can start TODAY to improve your options trading.
1. Learn and Master Options Trading Fundamentals
It is imperative that you understand the basics of options before you venture out and learn intermediate to advanced option trades. It's the order in life. It's the reason why we learn how to do basic math and subtraction before we go into division and multiplication.
You need to know everything about "puts" and "calls" -- from how they work and when it's best to use them. This also includes knowing everything related to them like expiration dates to where they are found on basic option tables. Skimming over the basics to get into more advanced trading is simply gambling.
2. Read Books on Options Trading
Technically, they don't have to be all about options trading since there is overlap in every investment book. The goal is to learn different approaches to trading the market. You'll learn about things you have not known about before and you'll even be able to refine your original trading strategy.
One great takeaway from reading books is that you can also learn more about the hidden trading factors you don't see everyday like investor psychology or market psychology. Did you know that these psychologies are the reason why technical analysis exist?
3. Streamline Your Technical Analysis
If you are looking at 6+ more technical indicators and use multiple technical analyses concepts against other technical analyses concepts, then you're probably doing yourself a disservice.
Simply learn and use the basics like MACD, support/resistance, trending channels, divergence/convergence, and moving averages.
4. Continue to Paper Trade
Just because you are trading real money it doesn't mean you need to stop learning and trying out different strategies. You have to continue playing the market from all angles. If you are a market conformist (you tend to go with the trend), you can try a contrarian strategy. If you usually close out credit spreads, try keeping one open while legging in an OTM put option.
Experiment and continue to tweak out your strategy
One great tip is to create 2 identical trades. One in your regular account and the other in your paper trading account at the same time. Then you can make experimental adjustments to your paper account over time and see how it fairs against the live account. This is a nifty way you can test different strategies while having a baseline.
5. Choose an Option Trade That You Love and Master It
A great way to improve your options trading is by mastering a bread and butter trade. Learn all the ins and outs of your practice by back-testing historical data, testing current conditions using paper trades, and reading about your favorite trade in books.
When you completely understand the intricacies of your go-to trade, then you'll be able to better recognize situations and markets that your trade will flourish in. In turn, you'll receive a higher probability of success and profit.
The key is to stick to a basic trade like an iron condor or credit spread. No advanced layered trades.
6. Stick To Your Trading Plan
All successful traders have a trading plan. This means, they have a strategy to get into a trade, make adjustments, and exit positions based on SPECIFIC events. Successful traders DO NOT make random decisions. Everything they do is calculated, measured, and analyzed.
You can make an easy-to-follow trading formula based on technical analysis if you want to as well.
7. Wait For Opportunities
This is a huge problem for novice traders. It was even an issue for me when I started trading. I would have a few stocks on my watchlist that I wanted to get into, but knew it wasn't the right time. And then when I'm not looking the stock takes off. On a few occasions, I have actually chased stocks that eventually turned against me.
These types of situations hurt in 2 ways: 1) dents your ego and 2) dents your portfolio balance.
If you have the same issues, don't fret. Luckily, it's been well documented that more often than not, solid annual portfolio performance is often caused by having a strong exit plan.
8. Document and Learn From Your Previous Trades
Every trade is a learning experience. Don't focus solely on losing trades, but also look at your winners. There is always something you can learn.
For losing trades, look into why the trade lost or possible ways you could have prevented it from happening. Analyze your entry, the adjustments you made, the exit, and the overall market behavior.
For winning trades, look into why the trade won and possible ways you could have even profited more. Analyze your entry, the adjustments you made, the exit, and the overall market behavior.
If you notice, it's the same analysis for both types of trades. After a few trades, you'll begin to recognize key characteristics to why some trades win and why some trades lose. From there, you'll be able to recognize what adjustments need to be made in order to mitigate a loss or increase profit gain.
9. Continue to Learn From Successful Traders that STILL Trade
When you have a mentor, they will often look over your shoulder and ensure that you are setting yourself up for the best trade possible for the current market. You'll know that their advice is sound when you see them trading their own recommendations.
I find that it's quite suspect to receive trading advice from someone that doesn't trade themselves.
If you don't think you need on-going options trading education and assistance, ask yourself these questions:
• Why do professional athletes have coaches?
• Why do Fortune 500 companies hire consultants?
• Why does the President have advisers?
The answer to all of these questions is simple:
Mentors hold you accountable, help you define & reach goals, are on the outside looking in, and they can provide a wealth of knowledge when dealing with the subject matter at hand. Basically, mentors help you become BETTER traders.