Articles411.com Article Directory Featured Articles of Today!

Instant Cash Advance Loans - Take Advantage Of The Convenience Of The Payday Loans Available Online: "Instant Cash Advance Loans - Take Advantage Of The Convenience Of The Payday Loans Available Online
By: Carrie Reeder
Cash advance loans not only provide you with instant cash, they also allow you to complete the entire process online from the convenience of your home. No driving between offices and banks. No waiting in lines. No curious onlookers. You online cash advance loan is quick and private.

Quick Research

While online cash advance lenders provide information on the process, frequently asked question, and financial tips, they also post their rates in accordance to federal law. So instead of just accepting whatever rates your local lender is offering, you can quickly find the lowest rate in the nation.

You can also compare fees. In order to attract new customers, many cash advance companies are offering no fees for first time customers. Some lenders have done away with loan fees altogether. Before you jump on these offers, be sure to double-check their interest rates to be sure they are competitive.

Easy Applications

Online applications are also easier to complete. If you choose a no fax process, you don�t have to worry about finding copies of bank statements or pay check stubs. You simply fill out the online form with your basic personal and financial information.

For lenders who require paperwork, you can fax the information over the internet or at a local office or grocery store. The application is still easier than showing up at a payday loan office without the right forms and having to go back home for them. It is also a lot more discreet.

Instant Approval

With its electronic process in place"

Why You Should Choose Debt Consolidation: "Why You Should Choose Debt Consolidation
By: Jeff Dragt
If debt is currently an issue in your life, debt consolidation really can save you from the stress of bills, debt collectors, and the nagging thoughts of foreclosure or even bankruptcy. Debt consolidation can drastically change your life within weeks, months, or years depending on your current debt situation. Consolidating your debts will allow you to live with peace of mind that you are taking care of your financial obligations while continuing to live a happy life.

Debt consolidation is taking all of your bills and fitting them into one monthly payment. Fitting all your bills into one payment also means one interest rate, which will limit the amount you pay out every month, saving you a lot of money in the long run. Debt consolidation also makes paying off multiple debts easier because the monthly payments can be lowered when you take away insane interest rates. The average debtor pays more interest every month than they do on the actual principal balance of their debt! Eliminating the sky-high interest rates is a good start to getting your debts paid, without going completely broke.

Many people assume when they can�t pay the bills it�s time to just throw up their hands and consider drastic actions such as foreclosure, repossession and bankruptcy. While there are some extreme cases where bankruptcy would be the best option, foreclosure is almost always avoidable as is repossession. Banks, car dealerships, mortgage companies, and creditors don�t like to have to take back property or write off your debts, they would rather work with you on debt consolidation so that they can get back what they are owed and you can go on your way with your credit still in tact. Bankruptcy, repossession, and foreclosure are not easy"

Article Writing: How To Write A Laser Speech Summary: "Article Writing: How To Write A Laser Speech Summary
By: Jeff Herring
One of the most enjoyable things I get to do in my professional day is working with our members at BuildingYourIdealPractice.com. One of the things we teach our private practice professionals on our teleseminars is how to craft an effective laser speech.

So what's a laser speech?

When someone asks you what you do, what do you say?

I used to say 'i'm a marriage and family therapist.' This would typically get one of three reactions:

1. People would walk away, as if this was a scary thing.

2. 'Oh, so are you analyzing me?' Not until right now.

3. They would begin to tell me all their problems.

Learning about laser speeches changed all that. Here's how to craft a laser speech:

'Do you know how (fill in the blank with one of the problems faced by those with whom you work)? Well, what I do is (fill in the blank with one or more solutions you uniquely provide.')

Applied to my situation, 'i'm a marriage and family therapist' became 'Do you know how so often couples that were once close will slowly dift apart? Well, what I do is help couples rekindle the spark, get close again and stay close.'

The laser speech applied to the article summary

We've all read (and probably written) our share of put you to sleep article summaries.

For example, 'This article gives you five ways to easily write an article.' ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

As opposed to 'Do you know how sometimes it can be tough to push out another article? What this article does is give you a simple 5 step formula to write compelling articles over and over again.'

"

Controlling Compulsive Gambling Habits: "Controlling Compulsive Gambling Habits
By: Adel Awwad
When was the last time you visited a casino in a excited frame of mind, only to leave the casino in a bad mood because the majority of the bets did not go your way? I think this is an all too common issue which faces many players from occasional gamblers to the high rollers. Depending on the nature of the loss, there are different methods of approaching this issue and dealing with it.

First and foremost, it is important to remember that gambling should be regarded as a recreatonal fun activity and should never be used as a means of making money. When visiting a casino, say to yourself; 'I am here to have fun. I am not here to generate an income. Whether I win or lose, I will enjoy myself and have fun. This is my only goal'. If you visit a casino with the mindset that you need to make money and the bets don't go your way, then you will fail to achieve your objective and as a result, you will experience feelings of anger and disappointment.

Secondly, set a monetary limit for yourself. In other words, decide on how much money you can afford to spend and are willing to lose everytime you visit a casino. Once you set a limit for yourself, never ever go over that limit, so that even if you lose it, then it will not significantly affect your lifestyle because it was money that you can afford to lose.

Thirdly, try to take a minimum amount of money with you to the casino. If you have decided that you will only gamble $20 per visit, then perhaps you could take $20 and enough money to cover all of the other expenses that may come up. In other words, don't take $500 to the casino when you only plan to gamble $20, and leave all ATM cards and credit cards at home.

Fourthly, set a time limit for yo"

How To See What Pages Of Your Site Google Has In Its Index: "How To See What Pages Of Your Site Google Has In Its Index
By: Tinu AbayomiPaul
There is a lag time between the indexing or updating of your site, and the time it takes to show new results in the database. Depending on your site, where it was linked from, who it was linked from, and who knows what other factors, the amount of time varies.
With the method I teach in my book it seems to take two to four days on average for the Googlebot to stop by initially, and then another two days to one week to appear in search listings for the first listing.

You can read more about the book here:
http://lauriemeade.com/free-traffic.html

But even if it takes more than four to seven days for the Googlebot spider to show up at your site, or to return, if ever, there are several ways you can track the results. First, you can use Google itself.

Go to www.google.com and type in site: then your domain name. So for yahoo.com, youd type in site:yahoo.com.

The results will show you which pages of your site are showing up in Google.

If you know you wont have time to check on a daily basis, you can use a site called Google Alert, which you can find at

http://www.googlealert.com.

The great thing about this site is that it will track up to five terms per email address and have them sent to you via email on a daily basis. Using this you can track your ranking for your most important terms, or see how often your competitors site comes up versus yours.

To use this to see when pages of your site come up, create an account , then in the search terms section, type in, as one word, whatever is between www and your sites suffix (.com, .net, .org, .biz, .uk, etc.)"

Frugal Quotes - Frugal Quotations, Frugal Sayings: "I detest cheap sentiment.
- Bette Davis All about eve
Two can live as cheaply as one - if they both have good jobs.
- Laurence Peter
Real happiness is cheap enough, yet how dearly we pay for its counterfeit.
- Hosea Ballou
The greatest gift is the passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world and experience of a wide kind. It is a moral illumination
- Elizabeth Hardwick
How simple and frugal a thing is happiness: a glass of wine, a roast chestnut, a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea. . . . All that is required to feel that here and now is happiness is a simple, frugal heart.
- Nikos Kazantzakis (1883-1957) Zorba the Greek [1946]
My basic principle is that you don't make decisions because they are easy; you don't make them because they are cheap; you don't make them because they are popular; you make them because they're RIGHT.
- Theodore Hesburgh former president, Univ. of Notre Dame
A smile is the cheapest way to improve you looks, even if you have crooked teeth.
- Unknown
Talk is cheap because supply exceeds demand
- Unknown
Two cats can live as cheaply as one, and their owner has twice as much fun.
- Lloyd Alexander "

The Seven Secret Skills Of Seo Work: "The Seven Secret Skills Of Seo Work
By: John Fowler
There is a lot of talk on the web regarding Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and how, if you just do this one thing, you will be at the top of Google. If only it were that easy! In fact, I believe there are seven distinct skills that a search engine optimiser needs to possess. Most people possess one or maybe two of these skills, very rarely do people posses all seven. In truth, to get to all seven, people who are good at two of these need to actively develop the other skills. This takes time and effort and, if you are running your own business, do you really have the time to do this?

The seven skills that I believe are necessary for SEO work are:

Web Design � producing a visually attractive page

HTML coding - developing Search Engine friendly coding that sits behind the web design

Copy writing � producing the actual readable text on the page

Marketing � what are the actual searches that are being used, what key words actually get more business for your company?

An eye for detail - even the smallest errors can stop spiderbots visiting your site.

Patience - there is a time lag on any change you make, waiting is a virtue.

IT skills - an appreciation of how search engine programs and the algorithms they use actually work

Many website designers produce more and more eye-catching designs with animations and clever features hoping to entice the people onto their sites. This is the first big mistake; using designs like these may actually decrease your chances of a high Google rating. Yes, that�s right; all that money you have paid for the website design could be wasted because no-one will ever find your site.

The reason for this is that befo"

Ebay � Part Time Or Full? How To Decide.: "Ebay � Part Time Or Full? How To Decide.
By: Kirsten Hawkins
Going full-time as an eBay seller is living the dream: making a real income, working from home, being your own boss and all the rest of it. It�s the promise of a million scams, and it�s finally come true � at least for some.

What they don�t tell you in the success stories, though, is that becoming a full-time eBay seller is by no means for everyone. You really, really ought to try it part-time before you even consider taking it up full-time, and even then, caution is advisable. Before you burn your suit, here�s a list of questions you should ask yourself.

How Much Do I Earn From eBay Now?

Work out how many hours a week you spend doing eBay-related things (be honest here), and divide it by the average amount of profit you make in a week. If you were doing full-time hours, would you earn as much as you earn now?

Do I Have a Good Job?

Think about what you might lose if you give up your job to focus on eBay. If you�re in a well-paid job with good promotion prospects then it�s well worth reconsidering: you might get a few years down the line and wish you�d stayed in your traditional job, as you�d probably be the CEO by now.

Would I Really Make Much More Money?

Unless you�re selling a large quantity of small goods, most of what you do on eBay will be waiting for auctions to end � and you can wait at work just as easily as you can at home. This is why whether you would make more money on eBay really depends on what kinds of items you�re selling � for low value items, going full-time could be a good move. For high-value ones, the chances are you�ll hit the limits of how much money you have to invest in inventory long bef"

Article Writing; A Great Way To Get Free Traffic To Your Website.: "Article Writing; A Great Way To Get Free Traffic To Your Website. By: Terryt, [Summary]



It�s a well-known fact that to make a successful website and keep it prospering you need fresh and original content, preferably on a daily basis.

The phrase �content is king� was not coined without good reason. Search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, MSN and the many others now available online are always seeking out new content websites to add to their search results, as they have realised that this new content is what their website search visitors are looking for.

It goes without saying that if you are able to write articles to supply this fresh content demand to websites then you are a person with powerful skills and your articles will be sought after by hundreds, if not thousands of website and ezine owners.

Having written your article it is then that you need to submit your document to the best platform available so that as many people can read it as possible.

This is where the article directory comes to the forefront and gives you the greatest benefit of all publishing methods. Article directories are member based websites ideally set up for the article writer and website owner to work together with a mutual benefit.

The website or ezine owner gets fresh content to publish and the writer gets an instant audience for their work. What you should remember is that different article directories will have different members and each one will give you different opportunities to get your article published.

With this in mind then it would naturally follow that if as a writer you submit your article to as many article directories as possible, then you dramatically increase your opportunity of"

I got a kick of reading this humorous article. Of course it might not be so funny if your living it.
:o)


The Finer Points of Poverty
by Timothy Ward

I'm poor. And I'm not ashamed of it. Actually, I'm kind of proud of myself for being poor. It's an accomplishment that many people will never attain. Some people will go through their whole life and never know what it's like to experience some of the finer points of poverty like eating ramon noodles for breakfast, lunch, and dinner 5 days a week. My heart goes out to these types of people. The Fortunate Ones. People who've always had electricity, nice cars, and proper clothing.



I wasn't always poor. I had to work hard at it. I had to quit several jobs without finding new ones. I had to spend 75% of my paycheck at the bar when I knew my bills would have easily taken 90%. I had to max out credit cards and never pay on them. I had to give money to females that I knew would never pay it back. And most importantly I had to move to a small town where $6.00 and hour is considered 'good money'.



I didn't know that I was putting myself in line for poverty while I was doing all these things. I just woke up one day and realized that I couldn't pay my car note because I only had 11 cents in the bank. And that's when it hit me: I'm POOR! It took me 25 long years but I finally nose-dived below the poverty line. I was now in the same category as the homeless and welfare recipients. No more was I hindered by riches. I had shed that lifestyle. I got up and fixed myself a mayonaisse sandwich to celebrate. Delicious!



As a poor person I am entitled to certain privledges to which the well-to-do won't every be privy. I decide haved to list a few:



- Instead of lugging around a wallet full of heavy dollar bills I now pay for important purchases like gasoline and food with spare change that I scavenge up around the



house.



- I get to shop at stores with improperly spelled titles like Sav-A-Lot, Thrif-Ti-Mart, and DisKount King. These stores offer a wide variety of out-dated, slightly damaged merchandise that Wal-Mart shoppers can only dream of.



- I get to drool at resturant commercials on TV because I know I will never be able to afford meals like that again unless a rich relative dies



- I get to wear my friend's hand-me-down clothes and shoes. This means that I rarely match and my feet ache constantly from wearing shoes that are three sizes too small.



- I get to freely engage in the offical sports of the National Poor People's Association: begging and borrowing.



- I get to go to bed every night with the comforting thought that if I ever do meet Ms.Right I can't afford to date her.



I'll stop there because I see the envy rising to dangerous levels in a few reader's eyes. These readers probably have steady jobs and nice homes or apartments. Their bills are probably caught up. They probably have an immense wardrobe with properly sized shoes. Their bank account probably never drops below $5,000. I apologize to these readers if my boasting about my impoverished condition has made them feel inferior and totally removed any self-esteem they may have had left. All I can say is that I never meant to be poor. I was just in the right places at the right times. Maybe one day all of you will find yourselves on the Road to Rags as well. Until then you can check in with me if you want to know what it's like. I'll be the guy on the side of the interstate off-ramp with the 'Will Work For Food' sign. Pull your Mercedes right up and ask me anything. I promise I won't laugh.





About the Author

Timothy Ward invites you to subscribe to his humor column 'I Never Said I Was Normal' at http://timward.1afm.com

Good ideas about article marketing.



Article Distribution: How Will Your Results Vary?

by Glenn Prialde
It’s not enough to just sit around and expect that your articles will bring you a good amount of traffic right after you submitted your articles for distribution.





Might as well think of some factors… Is your article worthy to be reprinted? Do the content and title ring a bell to most webmasters and publishers?





Questions like these are just some of the many factors that could greatly affect your article distribution results.





Some basic factors are:





1. Topic of your article…





Submitting your article to article sites and article announcement groups totally depends on the topic of your article, not all of these sites and groups accept general topic articles. Some groups (aprox. 30%) are niche or content-specific, meaning they only accept articles under specific topics, e.g. aainet group - accepts only internet related articles…





2. Your content





Submission sites are just tools, never think of them as an assurance that once your articles are distributed they are sure to bring you back big results. Article announcement groups and sites are just there to display your articles for readers (Who might be interested with your articles) and for publishers to pick your articles and reprint them in their site or ezine. Thus, getting greater results totally depends on your article, how interesting it is to readers and how it gets the publisher’s attention/interest to make them publish it.





My advice, do not just write an article for the sake of distributing it and hoping to get traffic out of it. Write an article that will surely give you results after using the article distribution services and sites as tools for distribution.

Glenn invites you to submit your article at http://www.isnare.com and visit http://www.isnare.com/distribution.php

Since I have a daughter that is soon to be a teen, this article was of interest to me.


Acne And Teenage Girls
by Terry Lowery

Over 70% of teens say that acne has affected them in a negative way. An estimated 20 million teens suffer from acne, but even the fact that they're not alone doesn't ease the pain they feel. Teens are embarrassed at a time when they are unsure of themselves. They may become depressed and withdrawn. Acne is especially hard on teenage girls. At a time when they're noticing boys, and visa versa, acne can be devastating. They're surrounded by visions of beauty all around them on TV, in movies, in magazines and on line. We live in a society that worships youth and beauty.



Parents can help their teenage girls through this time by offering a supportive and sympathetic ear. Parents should help the child focus on all their positive attributes, which will help to strengthen the child's self esteem. The parents need to be actively involved with helping their child find the best possible cure for their particular form of acne.



Parents should also educate themselves about acne causes and treatments. Thirty years ago it was thought that acne was caused by eating the wrong foods. Chocolate and potatoe chips were culprit. It's now known that this isn't true. Food is not thought to play a large role in acne. It also has nothing to do with cleanliness of the skin.



What is fact is that acne in teenagers is caused by the action of hormones on the skin's oil glands. During puberty both boys and girls have an increase in the hormones called androgens. These hormones cause sebaceous glands under the surface of the skin to enlarge. The sebaceous glands in response produce excess oil. This excess oil mixes with bacteria and dead skin on the skin's surface and blocks pores. Inside these pores the bacteria multiple and cause inflammation.



Most cases of light to moderate acne can be treated by over the counter medications. There are many to choose from. Some find that benzoyl peroxide or salicylic acid works well. Benzoyl peroxide is known to readily kill acne bacteria. Benzoyl peroxide can be found in cleansers and in spot treatments. Benzoyl peroxide is very drying and can make your face look even more irritated, especially when you first start washing with it. Many acne suffers use a moisturizer on their face after washing. There are many moisturizers available that are specifically designed to help with acne such as Cetaphil, Eucerin, and Neutrogena.



Severe acne, or acne that has not responded well to over the counter products, can be successfully treated with the knowledge and expertise of a dermatologist. A dermatologist will consider many things before suggesting treatment. He will perform a thorough evaluation of the patient, considering things such as severity of acne, patient age, lifestyle, and co-existing conditions. The dermatologist then may suggest a combination of two or three different therapies for best treatment.



Whatever one of the literally hundreds of treatments you decide to choose, or if you seek the help of a dermatologist, remember that acne takes time to disappear. Overnight or miraculous results don't happen. It takes six to eight weeks to see results from treatment. Unfortunately, in a teenage girl's life six to eight weeks can feel like a lifetime.

This article courtesy of http://www.acne-treamments.com

This article is great. In my opinion, anything that saves time is very helpful information.


Ezine Article Writing:
A Template Saves Time and Aids Structure
by Rikki Arundel

Writing articles and submitting them to article directories is a great way to generate publicity and expert reputation but can be a time consuming and frustrating process unless you approach it systematically. Having written hundreds features for printed media for 20 years, I soon found I needed a very different approach for online articles and developed this template to help me produce articles that work.

The first thing I learned is that you are writing for four audiences with different sets of needs.

1. The Publisher – Web sites, ezines, blogs and printed media all require different lengths and styles of content so you need to be flexible with lots of choice from short punchy to in depth analysis to personal commentary. Articles need to be topical, from an expert and contain no overt promotion and self serving links. The more articles you write the more of an "expert" you become.

2. The Reader - People search the internet for content so the article needs to provide topical, fresh ideas with plenty of easy to digest, practical advice.

3. The Search Engines – You need to do extensive keyword research for your web site then select a specific primary keyword or phrase for each article and use it liberally for maximum search engine ranking

4. The Directory – They each have specific requirements regarding format, structure and topic. Each article will be checked to see that it does not beach their content guidelines and formatting rules.

Before you start the article – type out the headings below to form the template – then use the notes to guide you.

Article Title

Maximum 100 characters (including spaces) - that’s about 12 words.

Make it grabby to catch the attention of readers and publishers but start with your primary search engine keyword phrase. In printed media titles starting “How to…” or “10 top tips for…" are very popular – they are not good for search engines. This will go in the title of a web page.

Abstract

Maximum 500 characters - about 90 words but 50 or 60 is better.

Make it enticing to hook the publisher and make them want to read the full article. The abstract is primarily targeted at the publisher and will be displayed just below the title on the search pages in the directory, but is secondary to the title in getting attention. Some publishers may also use it.

Description – Meta Tag

Maximum 200 characters but preferably 150 – two lines of text.

Shorter punchier version of the abstract which must contain your primary keywords – you will need this if you publish on your own web site.

Keywords – Meta Tag

Maximum 100 characters - about 12 words comma separated

Start with your primary keyword of phrase then add other relevant keywords used in the article.

Article Text

Length really depends on your market and style. Much advice suggests about 250 to 750 words, but some publishers want in-depth analysis and I have had a 1700 word article reproduced at least once. Research your market and be flexible, with a mix of lengths and perhaps long and short versions of the same article.

Write the basic article with NO FORMATTING WHATSOEVER – if you are using word, disable all the auto-formatting like smart quotes, automatic hypertext links and paragraph spacing because they will all cause you problems. You can always reset them later.

Get your Primary Keyword Phrase into the first sentence if you can and provide a liberal sprinkling of keywords throughout. Don't overdo it. The article still has to be a good read and remember though you are writing for four audiences, Content is King.

Absolutely no advertorial copy - Do not promote your products and services you will kill the article.

Absolutely no self serving links – No links to your web site or affiliate sites in the body of the article, if you do you will not be published. If you have links to resources show them as text - many sites do not allow live html links in the article.

Copyright

Copyright, date, name, country

Few directories ask for this but it makes sense to put it at the bottom of the article or in the field requested.

Resource Box

Maximum 500 characters, "including spaces and html code." This is the limit for many sites so best to stick to it for all.

This is your opportunity to promote yourself but limit to 1 or 2 self serving links and write in the "Third Person." The publisher has to live with this on their site or ezine so make it palatable for them. I offer an incentive for people to visit my web site, but make sure that live links show the web address not keywords. If the publisher doesn’t use live links, you still want people to see the web address.

HTML Formatted Article

Once you have completed the unformatted text article – you can then make an HTML formatted copy if you wish. Most sites do not need HTML, a lot of publishers don't accept it and some directories forbid all html. Remember "Content is King." If you do format – keep it simple – too much formatting and it will never be published.


About the Author:

Founder and First President of the Professional Speakers Association, Rikki Arundel is an International Keynote Speaker, Trainer and Writer and an expert in sales and marketing communications with an impressive track record particularly in seminar selling.

Get your free eBook How to Get Customers Queuing up to Buy at http://www.SpeakingandMarketingTips.com

Read this article, I think it speaks for itself as to why it was picked for today's feature!

Instant Frequency Boosters: 10 Fast and Simple Ways to Raise Your Vibration

by Julia Rogers Hamrick

When you're feeling "low," or out of the flow, it's a sign that you need to raise your frequency. There are infinite ways you can lift yourself up—pretty much anything that makes you feel better is a frequency booster—even eating ice cream! (The problem with that, though, is that, along with the pleasure in consuming it comes the guilt and remorse about the future ramifications of the indulgence, as well as the immediate toll that the sugar takes on your body and mind, all of which can easily lower your frequency!)



Think—what is it that always makes you feel better when you're feeling less than great? Is it exercise? A soak in the tub? A walk in the park? Time in your garden? A snuggle with your sweetie? Why do these activities lift your spirits? It's because they raise your frequency. The higher your frequency, the better and more joyful you feel! The most effective frequency boosters are the ones that quickly align you with your divine design and purpose, and bring you into synch with the natural world.



Here are some extremely simple, sure-fire strategies for climbing up to a higher level in no time flat!



1) Do something meaningful for a total stranger without putting judgments on whether or not they deserve it, and of course, without expectation of reward. And do it anonymously! You will be amazed at how great this feels. (Pay someone's restaurant tab, take someone's newspaper up to their porch, put some money in an envelope and put it on someone's windshield with a note "You are loved," pick some flowers from your garden and take them to a nursing home to be given to someone of the administration's choosing. The ideas are endless!) When you are a conduit for divine blessings, you are automatically raised in frequency.



2) Go out in nature and instead of expecting nature to rejuvenate and nurture you, consciously transmit your love and appreciation to nature. Zap! Up in frequency you go!



3) Say "thank you." Visit, call, or write someone to thank them for a kindness—even one from long ago. They'll be thrilled to hear it and you'll feel wonderful, too. Gratitude is powerful.



4) Breathe! Just by taking some deep, conscious breaths, you will find yourself in a clearer space. When you imagine yourself rising higher with each breath, you will!



5) When you find yourself under stress, put your hand over your heart “Pledge of Allegiance” style. It will calm and center you. A calm, centered person’s frequency is always higher than a freaked out, scattered person’s!



6) Step outside, take in some fresh air, and let the sun kiss your face (even on a cloudy day, the sun is still there, though invisible to our eyes). This one is SO simple, but how often have we forgotten to do it?!



7) Say a heartfelt “thank you” to your Spirit for anything that occurs in your life, even—no, especially—that which you aren’t too thrilled about! (You know that when something inharmonious occurs, it’s a signpost that alerts you that you have wandered off course so that you can navigate yourself back to alignment!) Gratitude puts you back in alignment and raises your frequency.



8) Look at yourself in the mirror and smile!



9) Hug yourself and say “I love you” to YOU on behalf of your Spirit!



10) Last, but most importantly of all, consciously, unconditionally radiate Love to all Creation. This is your primary job as a human being, and you are hard-wired to do it, so no instruction should be necessary, but here's a hint: it will be easier to do if you center yourself in your heart and do the breathing exercise in #4 first!

©2005 Julia Rogers Hamrick

Julia Rogers Hamrick has been a spiritual-growth facilitator for over two decades, and is the author of Recreating Eden: The Exquisitely Simple, Divinely Ordained Plan for Transforming Your Life and Your Planet. Julia writes about and leads seminars on proactive joy, and the relationship between frequency and experience. For more information on Julia and on recreating Eden, visit http://www.recreating-eden.com

Hi, I really liked this author's perspective on how to look at selling.
Enjoy.......

A Simple Sales Strategy: Define What Selling Is!

by Tessa Stowe

How do you define selling? A lot of people think of selling as persuading/convincing people to buy things they may or may not want or need. To some, selling is all about closing a deal. Thinking of selling like this is not very empowering to you. Frankly, if you have this perspective on selling, it's no wonder if you hate it. I would too!

So what perspective can you take about selling that will make it enjoyable, exciting and something you look forward to? Sounds like a bit of a tall order doesn't it? Read on.

Hopefully by now, you have made the list of all the problems that you can solve for your target market. You're going to be surprised how long that list grows over time. So really, if you look at your list and you think about it, you are a master problem solver. What you're really doing is helping people. Correct?

So try on this perspective about what selling is: Selling is helping people. Selling is serving. Selling is a process of identifying and solving people's problems.

See, feel and know that selling is serving. This will cause a big shift for you. With this perspective, you will really become passionate about wanting to help people. Find this passion and let it shine through.

It is your purpose, your moral obligation, to have as many sales conversations with people as you can so you can help as many people as possible. If you're not having these types of sales conversations, you are holding back the gift you have to offer the world. You owe it to people to be there for them with your expertise and wisdom.

Next time you're talking to a potential client, think about how you can help them, how you can serve them. Forget about trying to sell them something. If what you have to offer does solve their problems, and you facilitate the conversation using the strategies we are covering, people will sell themselves and will subsequently buy from you.

If you have a perspective on selling which is one of service and helping people, how do you think the people you're talking to will feel? Think about this: people hate to be sold. The minute they feel they're being sold, they often want to get away - fast. Don't you? On the other hand, if they feel you are sincerely trying to help them solve their problems, they will relax and open up to you.

If you have a perspective on selling which is one of service and helping people, how do you think you will feel? Does energized, excited, relaxed, and natural come to mind?

This perspective is simple but powerful and very attract-tive to clients.

(c) 2005, Tessa Stowe, Sales Conversation. You are welcome to "reprint" this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered (including the "about the author" info at the end) and all links are made live.
Tessa Stowe helps Coaches and Consultants stop struggling to sell, and instead attract clients like magic! Her FREE e-course tells you how: "Attract More Clients Naturally: 10 Simple Strategies That Work... Even If You Hate Selling!" Sign up now at
http://www.attractmoreclientsnaturally.com

Today's choice was made simply because we have gone over 100 articles in our first 10 days, and this author is currently our top poster.

Congratulation!


Mommy & Baby: Teething & Weaning

by Kirsten Hawkins

These are two topics that strike fear in the hearts of all parents: what will happen when my baby starts teething? How will he respond when it’s time to wean him (from the breast)?


Teething



Teething is not a disease, but a condition of growth. It shouldn’t be dreaded, but simply seen as an accomplishment of a healthy, growing child. Most babies begin teething between 6-8 months of age, but as in all children, it may vary wildly. Some babies are known to teethe as early as 2 months or as late as 14 months. Pediatric dentists agree that the longer it takes a baby to teethe, the stronger and healthier the teeth are. Additionally, the later the teeth take to arrive, the later they will fall out and be replaced by permanent teeth.



Teething should not affect nursing in any way, unless your baby begins chomping down on your nipple. While this is painful and one’s natural response would be to yelp, if you can stay calm and remove him from your breast while saying, “No, no!” you will have a much better response and less biting later on.



Some babies will experience fussiness, irritability, increased salivation, and a slightly raised temperature as they teethe. A proactive dose of infant Tylenol will help greatly, especially before bedtime.



Weaning



Weaning is defined by the process in which parents offer food supplements in place of or in addition to mother’s milk. This process begins the moment parents offer a bottle of formula or when their baby first tastes cereal. It is a gradual process.


When weaning from breastfeeding, it’s typically easier to drop the late-afternoon feeding first. Replace each feeding dropped with six to eight ounces of formula or milk, depending on the baby’s age.



Weaning from the bottle typically begins with your baby’s arrival at his first birthday. Again, it is a gradual process. Most moms wean straight to a sippy cup with great success. As you replace each bottle (one at a time, though) with a sippy full of milk, be patient. It will take time for your child to catch on to drinking from one of these cups, and you don’t want to unduly frustrate him in the process.

Kirsten Hawkins is a baby and parenting expert specializing new mothers and single parent issues. Visit http://www.babyhelp411.com/ for more information on how to raising healthy, happy children.

I picked today's feature article for a few different reasons.

1. I live in a house that is more than 50 years old, so this is a definite concern to me personally.
2. It is interesting and differnet than most of the articles I have reviewed so far.
3. It is something that everyone should educate themselves about.

Mesothelioma Prevention: Dealing With Asbestos At Home

by Mona Luxton

Mesothelioma is a rare cancer, usually associated with previous exposure to asbestos. 70% to 80% of people diagnosed with the disease had a history of exposure to asbestos containing material. Mesothelioma is extremely painful and usually fatal unless detected early.





Asbestos was widely used in many building and industrial materials, including siding panels, roof shingles, mortar, flooring and insulation. Asbestos containing material still exist in many homes. Here are some EPA recommendations for dealing with asbestos around the home:





Leave asbestos alone. Generally, material in good condition will not release asbestos fibers. The danger occurs when fibers are released and inhaled into the lungs. For a list of materials that possibly contain asbestos, visit http://www.epa.gov/asbestos/



Inspect asbestos-containing material regularly for visible signs of wear without touching it.




Generally limit activities in any areas having damaged asbestos material. In particular, keep children away from such areas.





Avoid sweeping, or vacuuming debris that may contain asbestos. Also avoid sanding, scraping, or drilling holes in materials that possibly contain asbestos.





Have removal and major repair done by people trained and qualified in handling asbestos. It is highly recommended that sampling, cleaning and minor repair also be done by asbestos professionals.





If you need to discard asbestos material, check with local health, environmental, or other appropriate officials for proper handling and disposal procedures.





For more information on dealing with asbestos, please visit http://www.epa.gov/asbestos/



Mona Luxton is a writer specializing in health and medicine. She may be contacted at http://www.mesotheliomawise.org/








This is our "Featured Article of the Day" from our
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This is our "Featured Article of the Day" from our
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Post your article at http://articles411.com
and you may see your article featured here tommorrow!


With the "Biggest Loser" Season 2 just beginning, and the frequent talk in the news about how Americans are becoming serously obese, I decided, that Angie's article below would be a great topic for todays feature article. Read on and enjoy.



Toxic Overload by Angie Lewis

A thirty-six-year-old construction worker withered in pain as the ambulance rushed him to the hospital. Andy’s cramps were excruciating and he thought he was going to die. The doctor told him that his gall bladder would need to be surgically removed and there was no time to waste. Three hours later, this otherwise apparently healthy young man lay recuperating in his hospital bed minus a vital organ needed to help the body system run properly, similar to a car with a leaky gas valve. And where do the gallstones go now since Andy had his gallbladder removed?



A fifty-six-year-old widowed secretary and grandmother of six began experiencing severe abdominal pains, throbbing back pain, nausea and vomiting. Abigail was told about a simple intestinal cleanse that might alleviate her condition, and maybe even eradicate her symptoms, but she was skeptical and didn’t believe a cleanse would really work. She continued with her way of eating and hectic lifestyle. Six months later, this wonderful woman had her colon removed; she now expels bodily wastes into a bag attached from her waist that she hides under her smock.



Modern-day diets are clogging our pipes and suffocating vital organs that are needed to run our bodies mechanisms efficiently. But there is something we can do. Cleanse the body of these toxic overloads. “Every tissue is fed by the blood, which is supplied by the bowel. When the bowel is dirty, the blood is dirty, and so on to the organs and tissues.” Dr. Benard Jensen



Our intestines are like a sewage system, because they too need periodic maintenance to keep running properly and effectively. When the toilet becomes clogged and you flush it, what happens? It overflows all over the floor. Either the toilet itself is clogged, or maybe it is the sewer line a thousand feet from your toilet. You try fixing the problem by using a plunger, but the toilet still overflows, because you are not attacking the source of the problem. Now you have to call rotor rooter to unplug the sewage line where it is clogged. In the same way with our intestinal tract, if it is clogged we need to unplug the intestinal pipes, so that the toxins can escape. Rotor rooter can’t do this for us; we need to cleanse our bodies by flushing out the old waste and deposit buildup. By fine-tuning the entire intestinal tract by cleansing, we are attacking the source of numerous health problems, and eventually many disease systems that cause numerous health problems.



How will you know if you have clogged intestines? Do you have, aching joints, high mucus levels, nagging backaches, allergies, obesity, boils on the face and back, persistent headaches, irritable bowl syndrome, pains in the gut, pot belly, sluggishness? Do you catch the common cold or flu easily, and do you feel weak and rundown? All of these are symptoms of toxic overload. The funny thing is, these symptoms don’t show up at the place it is overloaded, but at the weakest part of the body.



When I was a teenager every morning before school I ate sugary-boxed cereals for breakfast and waited at the bus stop drinking Pepsi. Before school I bought candy and chips to keep me satisfied before buying donuts for lunch. After school I ate toasted pop-tarts, and another Pepsi. My taste buds liked the sweet sugary sensation because I was addicted to sugar and caffeine.



Candies, cakes and cookies filled our cupboards and kitchen counters; we even had a drawer in the kitchen called the junk drawer that was always filled with processed snacks for the taking. Sound familiar? When I was young, eating this way did not phase me, I was a top runner in track, arm wrestling champion for the girl’s middleweight, and won several presidential awards for my athletic ability.



But soon this all changed. I got married and had three children, and started eating a little bit better, only because my husband was more health conscience than I. About eight years later, my athletic and muscle-toned body began taking on a new shape and feel. I didn’t like the way I felt. At thirty years old, I had persistent nagging lower back pain; I could barely sit down or get up without looking like the hunchback of Notre Dame. For two years I carried around a consistent throbbing in my lower back. I was fearful for my health because the doctors, or I did not know what the problem was.

I had huge pimples on my shoulders even though I scrubbed them vigorously with a loufa pad every day. I wasn’t fat, but I began exhibiting a potbelly, and days several days would go by without a bowl movement. My back, obviously being the weakest part of my body was severely getting worse. I went to the doctor, and was told, I was healthy as an ox, and nothing was wrong. He told me to do several exercises that would help lessen the pain in my back. He also informed me that lower back pain runs in 70% percent of the population at sometime in their lives, and is something most people just learn to live with. This wasn’t good news.



I tried the exercises, and it helped for a little while, but soon the throbbing came back. With two babies and a toddler, I certainly couldn’t lay on the floor all day doing exercises. At this point, besides always being tired, I became frustrated, edgy and nervous, but I was still determined to find the cause. I eliminated all processed foods from my diet, and bought a juicer and drank fresh-juiced vegetables and fruits daily, my three boys, and husband were enjoying the variety of fresh fruit juices and they were getting healthy as well.



I bought diet and herb books, and I even grew my own herbs and greens. Sprout sandwiches became the normal lunch in my home. My diet consisted of half raw foods and half cooked foods. Still, I had the lower back pains, not as bad, but I still couldn’t sit down like a refined lady supposed to sit down, I had to crouch my whole body into a semi-roll before sitting and I needed pillows under me for the persistent and aggravating hemorrhoids I got from being constipated, and another pillow behind me for back support. This went on for over two years, yet the doctor told me I was healthy.

“Every tissue is fed by the blood, which is supplied by the bowel. When the bowel is dirty, the blood is dirty, and so on to the organs and tissues.” Dr. Benard Jensen



When I was almost thirty-four-years old, a miracle cure was brought to the attention of a Pastor friend of mine who now writes, publishes, and distributes the book, “Cleansing or Surgery” The naturopathic doctor said my symptoms were so closely related to the effects of toxic overload that he was sure the cleanse would indeed work. Promise and hope came back into my spirits. My husband even decided to take the intestinal tract cleanse with me. The great part about the intestinal cleanse is we could still eat the same foods we had been eating before!



We took the three month intestinal cleanse, and my backache, constipation, potbelly, pimples, hemorrhoids, and my groggy and tired feeling vanished, just like that! Since then, I have done my own extensive research into why, when I changed my eating habits and eliminating processed foods, and eating half of my food intake raw, I was still showing and feeling the toxic overload symptoms. Simply because I wasn’t going to the source of the problem, but rather covering up the root of the source and health problems, which was a clogged and caked up intestinal tract.



When the intestines are caked with hardened fecal matter, nutrients and wastes cannot be transferred efficiently. The nutrients in the foods I was eating were not absorbing into my blood stream properly because of my clogged up intestinal tract. Now, after six years, and doing much research, I find how all of this makes so much sense.



The intestinal cleanse is effective at relieving these afflictions: Constipation, chronic fatigue, asthma, flues and colds, allergies, backache, respiratory disorders, digestive problems, such as gas, indigestion, and abdominal pain; prostrate troubles, headaches, and skin disruptions, colitis, and much more.

Every system in the body will function better once the intestines are cleaned

Intestinal Cleanse Ingredients:



You may contact me for any questions you may have associated with doing the intestinal cleanse. Angie @heavenministries.com



1) Premium quality whole psyllium husks- these husks provide fiber and lubrication for the bowels. When taken with liquid, they expand into a gelatinous mass, scrubbing the intestinal wall, by gathering up old fecal matter and caked on waste deposits. You can buy this at your local health food store; do not buy the tablet form or powdered form, they do not work. Get only the whole psyllium husks that you mix with water. The tablets and powder are already broke down and processed, therefore will not scrub the walls of the intestines like the whole husks do.

2) Blackstrap molasses- Blackstrap molasses is a rich source of minerals and vitamins. It is a bowel regulator and helps prevent constipation and colitis. Blackstrap molasses doesn’t digest entirely in the stomach like most other sugars. It only partially digests in the stomach, than goes into the intestinal tract and is consumed in the intestines. Because of this, nutrients are available in the intestinal tract where they are needed to help assist in the cleansing process. Molasses helps to regulate the bowls, and is an essential part of the intestinal program.

Whole Psyllium Husks and Blackstrap molasses are the only two ingredients needed for the intestinal cleanse. You may need to call your health food store ahead of time to make sure they have the whole husked form in supply.

Doing the Cleanse:

First week, take four times per day before meals.

1 level tsp. whole psyllium husks

1 tsp. blackstrap molasses

Dissolve in 8 to 10 ounces warm water

Drink immediately

Drink another 8 to 10 ounces water

Advance to full dosage, four times per day before meals.

1 level tbs. whole psyllium husks

1 tsp. blackstrap molasses

Dissolve in 8 to 10 ounces warm water

Drink immediately

Drink another 8 to 10 ounces water

Do this cleanse for a full three months for a complete digestive tract cleansing. After the three month period is over, you may discontinue taking the psyllium husks.



The most important thing we can do for ourselves is to keep an open mind to the cleansing possibilities regarding our health. After all, If I had not had the knowledge of this cleanse, or even worse, was skeptical of its properties, I could have very well ended up in my later years with a bag attached to my waist or without a gall bladder. Yet, here I am enjoying life to its fullest, completely healthy and grateful to the talented and open-minded people who have discovered ways to clean up our bodies without the use of conventional medicines, drugs and surgery.



“It is the bowel that invariably has to be cared for first before any effective healing can take place, “ Dr. Benard Jensen.



Try the intestinal cleanse and see the results for yourself, it is unbelievable the end result. Best wishes to you and your health, as you experience the natural properties of cleansing without surgery. Happy cleansing!

Angie Lewis
copyright 1998 Heaven Ministries
Cleansing or Surgery book: http://www.heavenministries.com/heavenbooks.htm/


For more information about the book, Cleansing or Surgery, please go to my website.
New release!
Journey on the Roads Less Traveled - unique Christian book
It's not about religion, it's about coming to terms with who we are spiritually!
It's about love, family, faith, children, and hope.
http://spiritual.journeybooks.4t.com/



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I am currently offering a free submission article service for the first 25 people who register and post an article at my new article database. http://articles411.com The list is growing fast and I have to limit this offer to groups of 25 at a time, so I don't get overwhelmed. After all submitting 10 articles for each, thats 250 articles.

So far there are 3 on the list, so jump on over and get registered. If you have any problems registering, (our database, which for your information was free) is still in the beta stages and their are a few bugs they are working on. Anyway if you have any troubles email me laurie (at) articles411.com and I will respond to your email quickly.

Here is today's feature article:




The Great Sale(s) After the Sale
by Jorge Pinkus

The service you give to your clients and customers does not begin some time after they already bought. On the contrary, it should begin right at the moment you shake their (virtual) hand, in signal of their acceptance of your proposed deal.



Depending on how you act from that precise moment on, you’ll be assuring, or neglecting, the future of that sale and of many more future ones. With those same clients and with their referrals.



Let’s see and review some points that you may want to put into practice to be even more professional in your sales:





Point 1.

Don’t make the mistake of keep on talking once you already made the sale — If you do, you risk letting the (already decided) prospect to involve you in some argument about the sale. And this may remind her of some points or objections of minor importance. Normally, then, these will make her want to “think the whole deal a little more over.”





Point 2.

Prepare your exit — Thank the new client for his time and congratulate him for his decision and for buying from you.





Point 3.

Schedule at once the next interview — Establish with the client the date and time of your next appointment, where you’ll bring him his documents or the product he already bought. Inform him when and how he’s going to receive his products (if you don’t do the actual delivery) and tell him that in that next interview you’ll answer any new questions he should have.





Point 4.

Keep the client informed at all times — If you are going to be late (you personally, or the delivery of your products, service, documents or bill), for any reason, make sure your customer is fully notified. And that she’s agreed to the new date or time.





Point 5.

Make sure the client understood perfectly and clearly any special requisite or condition. And that she is willing and able to comply with these.





Point 6.

Manage the non-productive interviews — If you truly feel that some sales interview are not going to end positively, finish it diplomatically, but let the door open for an interview later on. Of course, do NOT leave without asking for at least one referral.





Point 7.

Avoid the prospects that never buy — Don’t fall into the trap of keep on calling on those prospects that never quite say no, but neither buy. You’ll be much better off trying some other prospect or servicing a customer. And you’ll have the energy and disposition to do it at your best.





Point 8.

Make sure to ask for referrals — Ask for referrals. Ask for referrals. Ask for referrals. If you made the sale, ask for referrals. If you didn’t made the sale, ask for a number of qualified names and additional prospects. The referrals obtained in unsuccessful sales interviews could turn into successful ones, if the other person buys from you. Did I already say you have to ask for referrals?





Point 9.

Control your facial expression — Whatever may be the end result of your sales interview, control your expresions, especially the non-verbal ones. After a good sale, don’t start to smile like the proverbial cat who earnt the commision.





Point 10.

Maintain the dignity at all times — Leave the impresion that the sales interview is part of the service you offer. And don’t look too disappointed if the candidate didn’t buy.





Point 11.

Assure the client that you will keep in touch through your service — And be true to your word.





Point 12.

Be in contact continuously — So the clients could not tell you that they only see you when you have something to collect or to sell them.

========================
Jorge Pinkus is CEO of
http://www.123-sites.com

Get your own website, domain name
registration, UNLIMITED email addresses,
999 autoresponders, 999 email lists,
and much, much more.
=======================

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Top 7 Reasons to Submit Your
Articles to A New Article Directory Submission Site

by Laurie Meade

Surfing around and doing searches under "submit your article" or free content to republish" you will find hundreds of sites that you can submit your articles These sites are willing to help you grow your web traffic.

You benefit by receiving incoming links to your website. They benefit, as their website grows with good content in a variety of different categories. It is a win-win situation.

Why would you want to take the time though, to submit your articles to a site that is just starting out or has very few articles posted yet.

Here are several reasons:

• 1. If you have several to submit you can become a top
  publishing author at their site quickly.

New sites, having limited numbers make it easy to climb to the top of the list fast.

• 2. New article database owners are going to be promoting heavily to get their sites growing.

They are ambitious, full of enthusiasm and excitement to watch their numbers grow, you can benefit from this fresh promotion.

• 3. Google and other search engines are always looking for fresh, new content.

The older sites, yes, get lots of traffic and have high page ranking. But the search engines like to find fresh new material and a link from another source will had one more inbound link in Google eyes to your sites hyperlink in your article.

• 4. You may be able to get the new article submission site owners to help you get several of your articles posted. (see resource box below)

Ambitious article directory owners are willing to go beyond and above the call of duty to help make there content grow. At least the author of this article is, she is currently offering a totally insane offer.

• 5. If you submit regularly, they are likely to consider special joint venture promotions for you.
  

They are most likely to want to reward frequent publishers and show gratitude to the authors that help their directories grow. This means, approaching you with joint venture ideas for e-books, conference calls and many other promotion ideas that may be planned in their promotional plans.

• 6. You may even be able to suggest a specific category and have it created for your particular subject.

As a new growing directory, they will be more willing and helpful to tailor their category choices to work with your specific article. This would be especially true, if you had already posted previous articles before approaching them with a category request.

• 7. Your article is more likely to be read, because of less competition from other articles.

While the article directory submission site is growing, granted yes, they may not get as much traffic as the big guys. But that means that the visitors that they do get, are more likely to see and READ your article. This means your article can find its way to ezines that want unique and fresh new content.

It is a well known fact with successful online internet marketers
that writing articles to promote traffic to your website is a very
successful avenue to pursue. It is however, an ongoing and sometimes tedious task.



There are several pieces of software that automate the process, and
there are also places that will do this service for you, but there are
pros and cons to these approaches. However that is the topic of another article.

The best way is to submit each article is to do it yourself. By hand
submitting your articles, you have complete control over the submission process, choice of categories and the ability to modify and code your resource links to each specific submission.

So why consider doing this time consuming task to a brand new article directory? When you help others, they help you. It is sometimes called Karma, In the spiritual communities, it is known as the law of attraction. What you put out comes back to you in ways you can't even imagine. With this article's author there is a more important reason.

Read on....

Laurie Meade is a Writer, Online Researcher and a single WAHM.

She has an Associate of Arts Degree, majored in journalism in college.
3 years experience writing and promoting online websites with article writing tactics. The Administrator of
http://articles411.com Content for Promotion Article Directory!

For details* on how to get 10-15 of your articles hand submitted at no cost to you, visit

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True Romance for Couples with Kids: 10 Inexpensive Ideas
by Susie Cortright

Anyone can splurge on a formal dinner or a pricey bottle of perfume, but it takes creativity and forethought to be truly romantic.



The key lies in personalizing your celebration. Here are ten ideas to fuel your own creativity:



1. Empty a box of chocolates. Then cut out 50 to 100 hearts from lace doilies, construction paper, or fabric. On each cutout, record something about your mate that you love. Be specific, "The way you smell when you come to bed at night," "The way you take care of me when I’m sick," "Your recipe for pancakes"...



Fold the cutouts, place them in the chocolate box, and top with a red satin bow.



The time you spend coming up with these ideas will contribute to your own romantic mood, and what your partner thinks is a plain-old box of chocolates will instead be a treasured gift for years to come. Plus, you can add to the box for future birthday, holiday, or Valentine's Day celebrations.



2. Build a romantic fire. Before the kids go to bed, have fun roasting marshmallows. After their lights are out, host your own indoor picnic, complete with a bottle of wine and chocolate-covered strawberries.



3. Recreate your first date together. What were you wearing? Where did you go? Do you remember what you talked about? Spend the evening reminiscing and reflecting on how far you’ve come as a couple.



4. Spoon all night.



5. Choose a book in which you are both interested, fiction or nonfiction. Read a new chapter each night before bed. This cozy tradition will allow you to spend some quality time together and often makes for thought-provoking breakfast conversations.



6. Make a tape of the songs special to your relationship. Include "your song," songs from your wedding, songs from favorite movies. Add a personal voice dedication and leave it in your partner's briefcase, Walkman, or car stereo.



7. Turn off the TV.



8. Kidnap your spouse. Arrange for a babysitter for a few hours--or a few days. A friend of mine had a lot of success with this one. She knew her husband had always wanted to get married in Vegas, but he had agreed to a large, formal ceremony hosted by her family. So, after they had been married 10 years, she surprised him at work with a packed suitcase. They caught an evening flight and renewed their vows before an Elvis impersonator in a Vegas chapel. Years later, they’re still talking about it.



9. This one requires a babysitter, too. Next time you’re visiting your parents or in-laws, leave the kids with the grandparents and travel to another town, where no one will recognize you. Check into a hotel or B&B. Dress like another person. Act like another person. It’s fun to slip into another persona from time to time.



10. Have a scavenger hunt. Write a few poems, wrap candy kisses inside, and hide them around the house. Each poem should be a clue to finding the next one. Make sure the final clue lands your mate someplace you want to end up for the entire evening. A romance package, including a bottle of champagne and new lingerie, is a nice touch.



Create some romantic memories today. Now with your pocketbook, but with your imagination.



Copyright 2004 Susie Cortright

About The Author

Susie Michelle Cortright is the author of Rekindling Your Romance after Kids and More Energy for Moms. She is also the founder of the award-winning Momscape.com, a website designed to help busy parents find balance.
Visit http://www.momscape.com
today and get Susie's *free* course-by-email "6 Days to Less Stress."




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A Consumers Guide To Mortgage Brokers And The Evil Yield Spread Premium by William J Archambault, Jr
Kick backs, hidden cost, back points, HUD (Housing and Urban Development)

calls it “Yield Spread Premium” (YSP), money paid by the a lender to mortgage brokers outside of closing. Money paid by the lender to the broker because you got a higher mortgage interest rate. Mortgage brokers are suppose to show this on line 801 of their “Good Faith Estimate” and escrow will show it on the estimated and final closing statements (HUD-1) when closing a loan for a mortgage broker. You’ll never see these “points” on a loan from a bank, mortgage banker. Savings and loan, thrift, or credit union! Several Congressman and Senators have expressed concern over YSP’s in recent years citing undo enrichment of mortgage brokers and their agents. The news media often mentions “kick backs” to mortgage brokers, and yet this practice continues!



First we need to understand mortgage pricing. The traditional bank offered one mortgage interest rate that fluctuated occasionally, after WW II loans often included an “Origination” fee (normally 1 point, 1% of the loan amount) more recently we have seen many additional bank and third party fees. Until about 1973 mortgage banks and mortgage brokers as we know them dealt mostly in “government” loans (FHA and VA) the rates were set by the FHA and VA respectively if these rates were below the current market these lenders added “discount points” to increase the “Yield” sufficiently to make money available. We soon saw wide spread use of these “discount points” to buy-down interest rates on all types of mortgage loans. After 1974 when mortgage brokers began their dominance of the mortgage origination market (current estimates have mortgage brokers originating 75 to 90+% of all mortgage loans) your bank normally had 1 rate and it included 1 origination point, mortgage bankers normally have “the rate” and one “buy down” rate. Strangely, mortgage brokers have many rates in 1/8% increments of rate, spanning 2 or more % interest. This is strange because most money offered by mortgage brokers comes from mortgage bankers, the same banks that offer only, the afore mentioned, two, higher cost, rates to their retail clients. About half the rates available to mortgage brokers were the traditional “Buy-down” rates costing up to 2 points more than the so called “par rate” (no discount cost to the broker) the other half were “buy-up” rates paying the broker up to 4%.



The payments, kick backs, hidden cost, back points, etc... were finally named “yield spread premium” by HUD about a decade ago. It’s not uncommon for a mortgage broker to have available a 6 point spread (4 points YSP to 2 discount points) available on any given loan program. That 6 points on a $300,000 loan means up to $18,000 difference in closing cost, regardless of all the other closing cost. Yet, all that extra cost only means about 2% difference in the interest rate. Most consumers don’t have the luxury of choice, they seldom have an extra $18,000.00. Unless they need the lower rate to qualify for the loan the lowest rates seldom make sense.



A quick glance at the rates and discount points might make you think that you’d always save money after 3 years ( 6 discount points divided by 2% interest reduction) but that’s not true. The idiosyncracies of loan amortization mean that the breakeven point is normally closer to 5 years, not counting the time value of money. In today’s society it’s rare in deed that a mortgage loan actually exists for five years, either the house is sold or it’s refinanced long before the breakeven point.



Yet HUD and certain congressman keep holding hearings about the evil YSP and the abuses by mortgage brokers of this “hidden” cost. Selected witnesses offer tales of over charges and hidden cost they are bone chilling. Claims of over charging abound. The problem is they can’t explain why mortgage brokers originate almost all residential mortgage loans, and why it’s almost always less expensive and more successful to finance with a mortgage broker.



There have been abuses, many of them, you’re more likely to be abused by a broker and or his agent than other lenders, because: there are more of them, remember up-to 9 out of 10 mortgages come from brokers.. These abuses and promises of reform make great head lines. “Reformed” is always an interesting term, it implies you’re better than the un-reformed. The argument is that only mortgage brokers charge YSP, but is it a charge? Yield is the return on investment or the product of an investment. Spread is the difference between cost and return, or gross profit. Premium is something extra above the cost.



In it’s simplest form, if a $100,000.00 loan is at 6.000% it will yield $6,000.00. If the cost of funds is 2.000% then the spread is 4.000% or $4,000.00. If administrate and overhead cost the lender 0.5% then the premium is $3,500.00. YSP is a relatively new term coined by HUD. When most of us went to school if you subtracted cost from yield you determined profit!



Why don’t banks and mortgage bankers have to report their profits and why do we call it YSP? We don’t require any business to report their profits to anyone except to stockholders and the IRS. We have to further define YSP, it is that portion of the anticipated profits the lender shares with the mortgage broker. In that 10% or so of mortgage loans originated by lenders they pay commissions and overhead to their own in-house sales department it is considered cost. It is only when the loan originates with an outside mortgage broker that the commission is called YSP.



Shouldn’t the consumer go to direct lenders to save money? It sounds good but it doesn’t work that way mortgage brokers do most mortgage loans for two very good reasons. Loans from mortgage brokers are almost always less expensive, because of competition! Thanks to mortgage brokers the mortgage origination business is possibly the most competitive business in the country! Secondly, success! Mortgage brokers are able to close more loans because they have more than one source for a loan. When the consumer doesn’t qualify for a banks program he’s turned down, that’s the end of the application. The turned down consumer will never know that several other lenders would take his loan, mortgage brokers will get the loan approved.



Mortgage brokers have all those fees! Yes there are a lot of cost in closing a mortgage loan. Ads are always telling you, you can be finance for only $395 to $995, that’s true. But they are not talking about third party cost! Direct lenders advertising these low closing cost are simply using some of the spread to absorb those costs, mortgage brokers do this all the time using the YSP to off set the consumers cost. Normally the direct lender can avoid showing you the real cost, where the broker will have to show all the cost and issue a credit, he’ll also show the YSP adding to the consumer’s confusion. When a consumer sees a long list of costs he may never notice the total at the bottom of the page may be less than the direct lenders short list. All other terms being equal, the only way to compare loans is to check the amount out of pocket and the monthly payment.



Lenders who paint them selves in to a corner advertising fixed fees (like $395) limit their ability to provide the best loan for the individual. Mortgage brokers have a lot more flexibility to aid the consumer and normally will have a lower rate for any given cost, or a lower cost for any given rate. You have to compare apples to apples!



If Congress and HUD are investigating the evils of YSP, won’t we be better off? A few years ago the same people investigated “predatory lending” a couple of large direct lenders had preyed on a southern state. To cure the problem we now have new law “Section 32.” The new law did nothing to help the people suffering form the “predatory” lenders. What the new law did was to drive more morally cognizant lenders out of the business of helping troubled lenders! If the lender now makes one of these high risk loans they must have the client sign a new form in escrow 3 days before closing that says if you don’t make your payments you could lose your house! I’ve only been in lending since 1969 but I’ve never seen a mortgage or deed of trust, that didn’t very clearly say if you don’t make the payments you could lose the house. The only thing the new law accomplished was to reduce competition in this already expensive field driving up prices, and cause a few people to lose their home or worst because their loan was delayed.



The horror stories are true and all the same. The predatory victim explains: I agreed to pay $1,000/ month, I spent the money, I can’t make the payment, they foreclosed on me! There’s enough sin to go around, who’s more immoral? The lady who spent the loan proceeds knowing she couldn’t make the payments or the lender who should have known she’d never make the payments? The evil YSP story goes like this: I agreed to pay 6.5% , he told me I only had to pay 1 point origination, I found out this YSP thing was the lender paying him 2 points! Where’s the problem, the bank would have given her the same loan for 6.5% at 1 point origination, it’s what she agreed to pay. Consumers never ask the bank what there making The evils of YSP are imaginary but they make great sound bites! We can only hope HUD and/or Congress doesn’t solve a non-existent problem.



Copyright 2005 William J Archambault Jr

The author: William J Archambault Jr
has been in lending and real estate since 1969.
He’s a mortgage broker in Las Vegas, NV
He’s the author of:
“One House At A Time/
Finding And Buying Single Family Rentals”
a book for real estate investors available at http://www.reii.org
and “Counting On Your Fingers”
a math text book for mortgage lenders and REALTORS®
available this winter at http://www.countingonyourfingers.com

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