More instruction manuals needed in alternative formats

Good morning, we the team at www.sterlingcreations.ca are pleased to bring you an editorial written by our president Donna J. Jodhan.  An editorial that focuses on the importance of producing more manuals in alternate formats.

We wish you a great weekend.

 

 

More instruction manuals needed in alternative formats
 
It's really interesting and in many cases mind boggling when I come across companies that do not understand when I ask for manuals to be provided in alternative formats.  Maybe someone can help me out here.  The problem is this!  I go to a store that sells products for blind and visually impaired persons.  I purchase my product but before paying I ask the sales person at the store if the product comes with a manual either in Braille, on cassette or CD, or even on a diskette.  The sales person tells me that the manual is only available in printed format. 
 
I ask the sales person whether or not the manufacturer can provide me with the instruction in an alternate format and 99% of the time the sales person asks me if I can find someone to read it to me.  When I respond with an emphatic no, they phone the manufacturer to inquire if there is a manual in alternate format.  At this point the sequence of events becomes even more interesting.  The manufacturer says no, they do not have the instruction manual in alternate format, and I would just have to get by with a printed manual.  The same thing happens when I order from a store.
 
A few months ago I ordered a Sudoko game from Maxie Aids and when I attempted to obtain a Braille manual from the manufacturers, R. E. B. Magnetics, there reaction was that it was just too costly to put the manual into Braille and they were not planning to do anything about it.  Thankfully, Maxie Aids decided to come to my rescue and they are in the process of putting it on to cassette for me.  The same problem just occurred at Independent Living Aids where I recently purchased a multi language Webster dictionary.  I received my purchase with a printed instruction manual but without any manual in alternate format.  When I phoned Independent Living Aids last week to complain, their initial reaction was to ask me if I could find someone to read it to me but after persisting for a few minutes they agreed to try and help me out.
 
It is time for blind and visually impaired persons and even the print disabled to stand up and say no more.  No more of this nonsense!  If you are either not willing or able to provide instruction manuals in alternate formats then you should not be selling products for those of us who are print disabled.  It is an insult and extremely discourteous to do so.  If you can't do something properly then don't do it.  How would these companies react if they were to receive a product with an instruction manual in Braille or on cassette but no print manual?  They would probably be screaming fowl!  I am just a bit too tired of this nonsense and I hope that more of our readers feel the same.  Time for action!

 

 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan wishing you a terrific day.
To reach me, please send an email to info@sterlingcreations.ca and I would be delighted to send you an electronic copy of our latest newsletter.
 
 
Here is a complete list of where you can view Donna's blogs and editorials.

Donna Jodhan!  advocating accessibility for all

http://www.donnajodhan.blogspot.com 
a weekly feature on important answers to consumers concerns
http://www.untappedwealth.com/businessdesk.html
Weekly blogs for language professionals and special needs business consultants
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog/blog.html
a monthly editorial on business issues and concerns
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/magazine.html 
weekly editorials on accessibility issues in Canada
http://www.accessibilitynews.ca/acnews/editorials/donna.php
Editorials:  An International perspective on issues of accessibility and disability
http://www.accessibilitynewsinternational.com
A general perspective on issues of access and accessibility
http://numpadplus.com/blog/?page_id=7 

Cellphone makers woo talkers with new gizmos

Hello there!  We your Accessibility team at www.sterlingcreations.ca have some breaking news for you today.  News, that is threatening to change the landscape of our mobile phone technology and what sellers are doing in order to attract more buyers during this recession time. 

To learn more, please read our esteemed article.

Have a terrific day.

Your Accessibility team.

 

 

Cellphone makers woo talkers with new gizmos
In the face of a global slowdown, wireless players hope new-and-improved
technology, updated software will boost sales

 

SIMON AVERY
February 18, 2009

 

>From touch-screen cellphones to more powerful software, the wireless
industry is rushing forward with new technology to try to lock down market share, even
as sales of handsets tumble.

 

The annual fashion extravaganza of the wireless world is a toned-down affair
in Barcelona this week, with fewer attendees and fewer product launches than previous
Mobile World Congress trade shows. But big players from Google Inc. to Microsoft Corp.
and Nokia Corp. to Research In Motion Ltd. are still investing heavily to bring
richer, more powerful features to market.

 

"They are very conscious about the market this year. All of them, they are expecting
a market slowdown so there is no point to launching high-end devices and
[dropping them] after a quarter or two," said Francisco Jeronimo of the market
research firm IDC.

 

With product cycles still turning about every six months, every device maker knows
it has to offer something new just to keep pace with competitors.

 

"Nokia's rhetoric against RIM seems more heated than usual with new
messaging devices,"
said Mark Sue of RBC Dominion Securities Inc.

 

Global sales of mobile devices will likely plummet 20 per cent in the
current quarter from a year earlier, the analyst wrote in a report from the show. But the
downturn isn't cooling Nokia's efforts to compete. The world's largest maker of
cellphones has added predictive text messaging to its latest high-end "E" series
devices. RIM is already using a similar feature called SureType, which predicts words as
users type them, on several of its models, including the BlackBerry Pearl Flip.

 

Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is aiming to increase its market share by
adding touch-screen features to all of its new smart phones. The South Korean company is
offering an eight-megapixel camera that can also record high-definition video, and it
introduced a handset that can be charged with solar power. Sony Ericsson, meanwhile, is
boasting a 12.1-megapixel camera on its "Idou" smart phone due later this year.

 

Google's new open-source operating system for cellphones won the backing of
Vodafone Group PLC, the world's largest mobile carrier, which will soon begin selling
a phone from HTC Corp. that runs on the second incarnation of Google's Android
platform.  The device will launch this spring in several European countries. The first
version of Android was introduced last year, running on an HTC device sold
exclusively by Deutsche Telekom AG's T-Mobile.

 

Microsoft's launched its own updated operating system, Windows Mobile 6.5,
which the company says will manage multimedia more effectively than the current
version.  New features include large icons on the screen designed for fingers to
touch. Previous versions had smaller icons created for tapping with a stylus pen, said Tim
McDonough, a senior director at Microsoft.

 

Perhaps one of the most widely felt developments announced at the trade show
will turn out to be a commitment by at least 17 wireless phone companies and
handset makers to standardize battery chargers by 2012 for most of the
world's cellphones. The chargers would be interchangeable, making it
possible to power most brands with the same cord.

 

 If you would like to learn more about us and the services we offer, then please visit www.sterlingcreations.ca
If you would like to keep abreast of some of the most important happenings affecting your lives today, then please visit www.untappedwealth.com/businessdesk.html.  There you will get the latest news roundups on such topics as:
Stress, anxiety, and depression. News for retirees, seniors, and aging baby boomers.  Security tips for home computer users.  Home business opportunities, Internet business opportunities, small business opportunities, business opportunities in Asia.  You will also learn how to obtain tremendous personal and financial satisfaction by selling your knowledge and experience.

 

 

The Power Of Popular Opinion

Hello there!  We your Research team at www.sterlingcreations.ca have a very interesting article to share with you this day.  One that talks about the power of popular opinion.  Ah, popular opinion!  

To learn more about this fascinating topic, please read on.

We wish you an enjoyable day.

Your Research team

 

 

    The Power Of Popular Opinion
By Brian Easter (c) 2008 

 

Why should I care about Social Media Optimization?

 

You should care about Social Media Optimization (SMO), because you care about your company's image. There's an old saying that goes something like, "A happy customer will tell one other person about his good experience. A disgruntled customer will tell ten people about his bad experience." Good or bad, that's powerful marketing. Social Media Optimization gives you the power to take an active role in managing your brand by interacting with your current and potential clients by discussing your products, their comments and concerns and continually promoting your brand.

 

 

Social Media Optimization Defined

 

In its most basic form, Social media optimization is any method used to raise your website's online visibility through meaningful communication. SMO opens a dialogue between you and your clients, using the power of popular opinion to fuel your marketing campaign. The open format strengthens your search engine optimization efforts by fostering a mutual connection with your clients through the myriad of online communities, also called social media sites. Current examples of SMO include:

 

Creating profiles in social media communities such as MySpace, Facebook, and VIRB.
Participating in and/or creating blogs.
Disseminating your blogs or articles using RSS feeds.
Creating and sharing content through community based sites like Flickr, YouTube, and more.
Not to incorporate unnecessary buzz words, but SMO is a very Web 2.0 approach to Search Engine Optimization. Of course, Web 2.0 merely refers to the perceived second generation of Web-based communities and hosted services - the social-networking sites, wikis and folksonomies, which facilitate collaboration and sharing between users. SMO allows you to become an active member of your online community, quite an important aspect of marketing your brand. Through participation, you establish yourself or your company as an industry leader and improve your online visibility.

 

As you can imagine, Social Media Optimization is most effective when the viral nature of the technique and its communities are utilized in a positive manner. Creating legitimate content, building relationships and instilling trust in your community is the very backbone of SMO. You may initiate the process, but effective SMO will take on a life all its own. A true forum is bred through the act of continual communication between your company and your online audience.

 

Of course, not everyone plays by the rules. In every aspect of life, you will find those who would cheat the system to receive short term gains. Like most schemes, the underbelly of SMO may seem attractive to anyone looking for a quick fix, but don't make that mistake. Just as it's true with SEO, erroneous SMO will backfire. Using questionable techniques will very likely yield the exact opposite results you were hoping to see.

 

 

SMO Etiquette

 

Legitimate SMO techniques are centered on sharing information and exposing your community to your interests. As such, you want to focus on promoting proper SMO etiquette. The MySpace super fríend, the guy or gal who adds anyone and everyone, would be a good example of improper Social Media Optimization. The whole concept behind Social Media is to create a community with similar interests for meaningful discussion and let the power of popular opinion grow your online visibility. Of course, you may belong to several different communities and you may even have some of the same friends in those different communities. That's perfectly fine. The idea is to remain active in your communities by adding friends and contributing relevant content. Adding friends in bulk, for no reason, is no way to optimize.

 

Communal sites like MySpace and Facebook, or even YouTube and Flickr to some extent, are indeed popularity contests. However, simply trying to catalog massive amounts of unrelated, uninterested "friends" is totally counterproductive. Let the high school kids worry about who's got the most friends. For the purpose of SMO, you should concern yourself with quality, not quantity.

 

Using unsavory SMO techniques is the Web 2.0 equivalent to spam. Unfortunately, we're all far too familiar with spam. Unsolicited bulk messaging and link heavy advertisements instead of useful comments are two of the more prevalent methods of Social Media spamming. However, Social Media spamming is even more atrocious than email spam, because the offending text is visible to everyone on the site. It doesn't hide in your inbox, so it can really dilute the appeal of the site. Your kindergarten teacher was on the right track. If you don't have something relevant to say, don't say anything at all.

 

Is SMO right for my firm?

 

There are many different types of Social Media sites currently available. To put it in perspective, think about all the different interests you have in life. Now, consider the possibility that there's at least one Social Media site for each of your interests. Of course, you're not the only person on the Internet, so it's a safe bet there are literally millíons of sites dedicated to countless interests around the globe. Believe it or not, there's a group out there looking for your company, product or service. You just have to make it available. Therefore, understanding how to submit to and maintain your content on each community is absolutely crucial when developing a successful SMO strategy.

 

A few examples of the different Social Media genres include:

 

• News - These sites allow users to submit news articles. Once an article is published, users can submit their comments and vote to promote the story and/or author.
Examples include: Digg, Propeller, Newsvine

 

• Media - These sites allow users to upload and share a variety of different media files. The overwhelming majority of these sites are dedicated mainly to photo and video files.

 

Examples include: YouTube, Flickr

 

• Wiki - These sites allow users to add and edit informational articles as determined by the individual users.

 

Examples include: Wikipedia, WikiHow, Million Dollar Wiki

 

• Networking - These sites allow users to create profiles and network with others according to similar traits, tastes, and interests.

 

Examples include: MySpace, Facebook, Virb

 

• Bookmarking - These sites allow users to compile public bookmark collections of sites they find interesting, informative, or helpful. The more a site is bookmarked, the higher the ranking.

 

Examples include: Stumble Upon, Technorat, Del.icio.us

 

When executed properly, Social Media Optimization can be quite a beneficial marketing tool. However, SMO may simply not be the right fít for your organization. Some questions you might like to consider before launching your SMO campaign are:

 

Most SMO sites share very specific information. Would your products benefit from this type of content specific market?

 

The audience for most Social Media sites is more of a young, tech savvy group. Would your company, product or service appeal to their fickle nature?

 

Does your web site contain a blog, or similar media outlet, you can regularly update with relevant content?

 

Given the fact that community based sites focus on individual profiles and commentary, are you comfortable with developing unique profiles across multiple sites?
In summary

 

Social Media Optimization has become a successful marketing tool for one simple reason. It works. The gap between old media and new has gotten smaller and smaller with the majority of the prominent television and print media outlets finally embracing the Internet by launching sites of their own. The different Social Media sites, like MySpace and Facebook, have exploded with profiles for everything from 8th graders discussing their favorite bands to full scale ad campaigns for Blockbuster movies.

 

If done correctly, SMO can expose your brand to markets you didn't think possible. Whether it's used alone to drive a campaign or in conjunction with your current interactive marketing strategy, Social Media Optimization offers you a significant advantage.

 

About The Author
Brian Easter is the CEO of NeboWeb. As CEO, Easter has led NeboWeb to explosive growth, attracting Fortune 500 clients and driving strategic partnerships which have fueled NeboWeb's expansion.

 

 

If you would like to learn more about us and the services we offer, then please visit www.sterlingcreations.ca
If you would like to keep abreast of some of the most important happenings affecting your lives today, then please visit www.untappedwealth.com/businessdesk.html.  There you will get the latest news roundups on such topics as:
Stress, anxiety, and depression. News for retirees, seniors, and aging baby boomers.  Security tips for home computer users.  Home business opportunities, Internet business opportunities, small business opportunities, business opportunities in Asia.  You will also learn how to obtain tremendous personal and financial satisfaction by selling your knowledge and experience.

 

 

 

Call centers need to provide proper language services

Top of the day to you out there!  I'm Donna J. Jodhan, president of www.sterlingcreations.ca.

Today, my attention turns towards those controversial call centers in India.

 

 

Call centers need to provide proper language services

 

One thing that still has me baffled is this:  Why is it that when you phone a call center for help, most companies do not provide you with staff that are able to converse fluently or adequately in your requested language?  Take for example:

So many companies have relocated their call centers to India in order to save costs but they seem to have forgotten one major factor.  Most of the call takers in India do not really understand English well enough to provide acceptable service.  It is difficult to understand and decipher their accents and in turn they are unable to understand the English language well enough in order to provide quality service.  These two factors often lead to frustration on both sides of the phone and on both sides of the world and it is why so many companies are constantly running into problems with their customers.

 

On the one hand companies are saving money but on the other they are greatly neglecting the needs of their customers.  So which is more important?  Cutting costs but at the same time losing customers who are very dissatisfied with their phone service?  I think that maybe, just maybe, many companies have either failed to take into consideration that they should be employing call takers who are able to converse fluently in English or they believe that they can get away with this type of shoddy service.  I think that when I phone a company's customer service line, I am entitled to receive service in my requested language from reps who can converse with me in my chosen language, who can understand my request and who have enough knowledge to provide me with a solution in my chosen language.

 

It is an absolute insult to provide one's customer with sub par service when for example they request service in English but they receive service from a rep who is unable to converse in English, speak properly in English, and understand a request made in English.  I hope that companies take note and do something about this growing problem sooner than later.  Maybe it is time for them to re-examine the work force possibilities right here in North America.

 

 

If you require translation services then please visit www.translationpeople.com, a subsidiary of www.sterlingcreations.ca.

I'm Donna J Jodhan wishing you a terrific day.

Donna J Jodhan is the president of Sterling Creations

Now you can view blogs and editorials written by Donna at:

 http://numpadplus.com/blog/?page_id=7 (access and accessibility)

http://www.accessibilitynews.ca/acnews/editorials/donna.php (accessibility issues in Canada)

http://www.accessibilitynewsinternational.com (accessibility and disability issues on the international scene)

http://www.onestopbookcafe.com (under the café talk link) 

http://www.untappedwealth.com/businessdesk.html (important answers to consumers concerns)

http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/magazine.html (monthly editorial)

http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog/blog.html (blogs for language professionals and special needs business consultants)

The Most Reliable, Certain, Steady, Trustworthy and Loyal Investment being Exposed

Hello there!  We the Business team at www.sterlingcreations.ca would like to start the week by sharing an article with you that talks about a very reliable investment that you may want to check out.

Our source is impeccable and we hope you find this article useful.

We wish you a great day.

Your Business team

 

 

The Most Reliable, Certain, Steady, Trustworthy and Loyal Investment being Exposed

 

so you want to Retire... or you're already Retired?
So what happens to your portfolio if the Market continues to tank for the next couple years?
Read on My Friends to find out how you can Collect Safely WITHOUT Buying Stocks, or Options...

 

Dear Gryphon Financial Reader,

 

Before I continue further, let's get something out in the open. This newsletter does not guarantee or make any claim that you will be "doubling your money" or that you will make "triple digit gains" overnight.

 

But here's the good news. I am able to show you a way of investing your hard earned money where it can mature SECURELY and STEADILY... no matter what the market does... Whether it goes Up or Down for months or years! IT DOESN'T MATTER!!

 

Allow me to introduce you to a new investment newsletter service that is proven to be more valuable in this market than any other out there.

 

Our latest recommendations from this service have prized 12% and 17% over the last five weeks... while stocks have gotten demolished!

 

And you should also know that these recommendations did NOT require playing stocks short or buying them at all... it also didn't entail buying currencies,..options...commodities... or government bonds either!

 

Hope you're not worried, because this is just as easy as buying Stocks or Options I assure you.

 

This venture offers shelter and great profits. What could be better right now? This method can give you your peace of mind back...you can sit back and relax knowing your money is safe...without having to worry about what the markets are doing...How's that sound?

 

One of the Safest Ways to Invest Right Now
This is the best alternative to stocks and the market that will enable your portfolio's growth, adding to it double-digit profits, year after year...without risk, without dealing with a dormant bear market.

 

The plan, well it's called the, "Corporate PAYBACK System". It is the only way for you to gain 10% - 50% (or maybe even more!) in a brief time period. I can't think of a better time for you to move your money into a safer and more consistent venture then right now!

 

Allow me to explain ...

 

The Most Reliable, Certain, Steady, Trustworthy and Loyal Investment being Exposed
Just mull over a small amount of the various advantages of this approach:

 

Obtain Compensation Even during a Catastrophe - Market lunges... terrorist attack... pathetic financial news... reduced earnings... you still get compensated!
Returns AND Security - Receive profit s that surpass the stock market, with limited danger and practically no instability
Broaden your Horizons - Effortlessly extend your assets across numerous and diverse segments of the financial system
Predictable and Consistent Earnings - Your profits are mandatory by law and distributed to you on an exact day. A relief to know how much and when you are getting paid!
Bare Minimum Investment - With just $5,000 to $10,000 you will be able to out of harm's way using this system 
PASSIVE Income=Capital Gains - Earn reactive income, while  producing generous capital gains

 

Escape From the Most Treacherous Market Of Our Lifetime
My mind just can't recall a more challenging and problematical market than the one we are encountering on a daily basis. Anyone can profit from a bull market, No? But this is extremely difficult to deal with. Our markets fluctuate so uncontrollably it is almost impossible to avoid the exploitation, the emotional swings, the innuendoes and the government involvement...no one is safe!

 

So...with all that said I am absolutely elated to be introducing you to system you can use that will afford you the same or better profits that stocks do, but without all the volatility and the risk!

 

QUESTION #1
Retirement... Are You Ready? This may be your last window of Opportunity to secure your FUTURE
If you're like me, within a decade of retiring - or you're retired already - do you think you can risk being a victim of today's market? The system I am speaking about can get you those market returns you so desire...but you won't have to keep running to your computer every time the market plummets. You will be able to rest easy every night...no more market anxiety...no more having to ponder over when to sell or if you should buy at all. Investing the "Corporate Payback System" way won't leave you cringing on a daily basis.

 

One of the Safest Ways to Invest Right Now
So, do you want to know about "Corporate Payback System"...?

 

CORPORATE BONDS!
Short term-Investment Grade Corporate Bonds

 

You may have to consider the downward market swing and get heavily invested in corporate bonds for the sake of your savings, for the sake of your future.  

 

 

 

Listen to what some others have to say...

 

 

 

"High- quality bonds pay off even for the most cautious investor"
"With many investors terrified of the stock market and afraid to touch anything but U.S. Treasuries, investment advisers are trying to steer clients into bonds that are paying higher interest, while still being light on risk: the safest municipal bonds and high-quality corporate bonds... Shorter-term bonds can be even more attractive." Gail MarksJarvis, www.BondsOnline.com

 

Don't Forget About Corporate Bonds
By MICHAEL KAHN "With their intense popularity, Treasuries lack a proper payoff. But investment-grade, company-issued bonds are starting to look attractive again."

 

"Money also found its way into highly rated corporate bonds, with the iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond Fund ...up 1.0%, or 87 cents, at $88.47"    Javier Espinoza and Lisa LaMotta, www.Forbes.com

 

 

 

 

 

"BONDS are not Boring nor are they slow in growth! Most wealthy people...I'm talking about Multi-Millionaires and Billionaires know better.  If they are carefully picked, BONDS yield high income, large profits and protect your capital.

 

AIG...LEHMAN...Bear Stearns... Shareholders Wiped Out... Bondholders Still Get Paid!

 

Your Very Own Personal Bond Professional...
At Your Assistance!
In the last couple years, the readers of Gryphon Financial have asked me time and time again, when we would  have a service and newsletter that catered to Bond trading, something that recommended safe, high profit, low risk Bonds.
Being as the market is these days, I knew there is no time like the present. Although these things take time, I mean finding the right person for the job. Bonds are an area of expertise, I needed a skilled "authority" to distribute this guidance to our faithful readers. Well without further ado allow me to introduce you to Gryphon's newest guru...

 

David Sparks. Who we kindly refer to as "Sparky"

 

David Sparks a familiar name I am sure you know, worked with one of our largest competitors, who I dare not name, where he was the Chief Editor and Bond Trader for the last 5 years. David's specialty has been in Investment Speaking. With a retirement aged clientele, David's specialty quickly became centered around conservative investments and bonds. He is an accomplished risk management professional and is more than ideal for the task at hand.

 

GET EXCITED BY FORGETTING THE HUSTLE AND BUSTLE OF THE MARKET
Here's what you need to know...

 

There are several ways companies raise money for their operations, expansions or improvements. They 1. Go through their existing return, 2. By releasing new stock, or 3. By borrowing money through bonds.

 

David will be recommending "INVESTMENT GRADE" Bonds. These bonds are issued by companies who have the best of credit and are the safest bets. These bonds are some of the best investments in the world when it comes to low risk and high gain. When you begin to invest in Bonds you will be joining some very influential groups. Groups like major financial institutions, pension funds and insurance companies.

 

So...How Will You Make Money...
All Bonds are issued at a value of $1000.00. With time of course, there are numerous aspects in the market that may cause a Bond to trade for less than its value. This being called a "discount" allots the trader to be paid the discount amount to be paid out at its maturity. David's forte is recommending Bonds that are trading at a discount. This is how you will be able to secure profitable gains, plus interest. THIS IS TOTAL EARNINGS!
Watch how it works...

 

An Example of a Company that is Legally Obligated
to pay You 40%...
David is presently recommending a Bond from a very well know, and reputable company. The Bond cost today is $795 and it does not mature until January 2010. The interest due on this bond is a rate of 7.75%, which is due in January and again in June of 2009, and again in January of 2010.So, you would receive three payments of $116.25 in interest and the face value of $1000 in January of 2010, which corresponds to a profit of $205.
Mathematically...

 

BOND COST = $795

 

INTEREST AND PROFIT = $321.25

 

=40.4% TOTAL RETURN or 32.3% ANNUAL RETURN

 

Sure beats losing money in the stock market!

 

I'm Proud to Present to You
The Bond Authority
The opportunities in high yielding, high quality bonds is astonishing! Under any circumstance corporate Bonds are one the most striking investments you could own in your portfolio.

 

This is why Gryphon Financial has joined forces with David Sparks, so you can enjoy the profits, get the information you need, give you commentary and advice and above all recommendations for profitable, high quality Bonds. 

 

GRYPHON is taking action to protect your hard earned money plain and simple!

 

THE BOND AUTHORITY will show you how to get the high profits, long term results  without any of the Stock Market Risk or Volatility.

 

Listen... you need to consider some more benefits:
NO JUNK! Only Investment Grade Bonds! - For the turbulent times we are seeing right now, loaning money to companies that are a credit risk won't happen with THE BOND AUTHORITY. You will only receive information and recommendations for the best and strongest companies out there!

 

 Various and Diverse - A wide variety of bonds in your portfolio will minimize further risk. THE BOND AUTHORITY will advise you of many different companies, in many diverse areas In time you will have anywhere from 15-30 different Bonds in your portfolio

 

High Fees are Avoided -  We're talking about anywhere from1% to about 5%.

 

Broker commissions are ONLY about a $1 - Brokers only charge you about a $1.00 per bond, cheaper than buying stocks, right? All your broker needs is the name, the coupon, a maturity date and a CUSIP number (9 digit # attached to all traded securities). SIMPLE AND EASY!

 

The Holding Periods Will Help You Beat Inflation - The Bond Authority will choose Bonds with short holding periods, let's say (12-24 months) that way you can still invest the principal monthly and keep up with the market.

 

Buy It and Forget! -  The norm is buy a bond, collect your interest and principle at maturity. No constant worry, because you'll know the precise amount you are collecting and when you are getting paid.

 

YOU can Be paid Interest Every Month - If you structure your portfolio you can receive interest and maturity payments each month. You will then be able to have a source of income to reinvest or spend as you wish.

 

GUESS WHAT? IF YOU START NOW YOU WILL BE ABLE TO COLLECT YOUR FIRST PAYMENTS ON JANUARY 15, 2009!
Here's What THE BOND AUTHORITY Members Will be Receiving:
Bond Fundamentals a 28 Page SPECIAL REPORT (retail value $200)  - The nitty-gritty of Bonds. A members only report that will show you step by step the basics and important elements of investing in Bonds. David will also show you how, when, what and why. A must read for Bond investing.

 

New Suggestions - David will be sending you 2-3 Bond recommendations every month, specifying the exact details, including payout dates and amounts you will be receiving. So...For the next entire year you will be getting anywhere from 24-36 Bond positions that will enable your portfolio's growth and it give it new life with diversification.

 

Bi-Weekly Observations to bring you up to date - Every other week, David will send out his newsletter THE BOND AUTHORITY MANAGER highlighting Bond and market commentary, updates on your portfolio and continuing Bond Education helping you become a savvy Bond investor.

 

CLICK HERE TO ORDER
How Much Are You Willing To Pay For A Bullet-Proof Vest?
Isn't it an understatement by saying you are getting shot at right now in the market? I can't impress upon you enough how imperative it is to be able to protect your hard earned money in today's economy. You worked hard, right? This is more than a couple bad weeks in the market. You need to protect your assets by adding and supplementing with Bonds. They will rescue you from taking another hit you just can't afford, or quite honestly may put you in the financial hospital!
THE BOND AUTHORITY will show you how you can remain safe during turbulent times. You will be able to take significant profits off the table without stock market risk, volatility or emotional stress. You will be able to make money, and lots of it, when everyone else is losing theirs.

 

Here's a FACT you probably didn't know... The Dow Corporate Bond has not lost, not even 5% since 1956! AMAZING RIGHT?

 

THE BOND AUTHORITY retails at $1200.00 per year, and when we go public my friends, that is what we will be charging, but for our loyal subscribers of Gryphon Financial we will discount the full retail price so you won't have to pay anything even close to that!

 

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Jeanne Grecco, Publisher
Gryphon Financial
October 2008

 

P.S.-  HELP A FRIEND! Forward this offer to a friend and help someone else get themselves Bailed out of their own mess. It's the humane thing to do. Click Here to Forward to a Friend

 

P.S.S.- This offer ends on January 1, 2009 and the price will go up to  $1200.00!

 

 

If you would like to learn more about us and the services we offer, then please visit www.sterlingcreations.ca
If you would like to keep abreast of some of the most important happenings affecting your lives today, then please visit www.untappedwealth.com/businessdesk.html.  There you will get the latest news roundups on such topics as:
Stress, anxiety, and depression. News for retirees, seniors, and aging baby boomers.  Security tips for home computer users.  Home business opportunities, Internet business opportunities, small business opportunities, business opportunities in Asia.  You will also learn how to obtain tremendous personal and financial satisfaction by selling your knowledge and experience.

 

 

P.S.S.S - Don't Forget after you join you will immediatley receive your Free Bond Fundamentals, a 28 Page SPECIAL REPORT (retail value $200)

 

 

   

Are call centers in India a barrier to employment?

Good happy weekend to you out there! 

We the team at Sterling Creations are delighted to bring you an editorial by our president Donna J. Jodhan. 

We wish you a great weekend.

Your Sterling Creations team

 

 

Are call centers in India a barrier to employment?
     
This is the big question of the day.  On the one hand I can understand why so many companies have chosen to relocate their call centers to India; mainly to reduce their costs.  However, and this is the big topic of the day, how this strategy on the part of companies continues to affect employment for persons with special needs.
 
According to the majority of business experts, the relocation of call centers to India continues to reap havoc among the following types of persons:
Retirees seeking to supplement their incomes.
Single parents who find it more flexible to work call center hours.
Students that seek income to help pay for their tuition.
Persons with disabilities who are faced with employment barriers.
 
In a recent survey carried out in the United States, it was revealed that the majority of persons with disabilities surveyed felt that call center jobs were more suited to them, that they had a better chance of finding employment with call centers, and that the barriers to employment were much lower.  There are many who would argue against these results but these were the thoughts of those who felt most affected.
 
My final thought on this topic is this:  Unemployment among persons with disabilities is one of the highest in North America at the present time and companies need to realize that there is a very untapped labor force out there just waiting to be discovered.  Yes, the persons with disabilities labor force. 
 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan wishing you a terrific day.
To reach me, please send an email to info@sterlingcreations.ca and I would be delighted to send you an electronic copy of our latest newsletter.
 
 
Here is a complete list of where you can view Donna's blogs and editorials.
 
a weekly feature on important answers to consumers concerns
http://www.untappedwealth.com/businessdesk.html
Weekly blogs for language professionals and special needs business consultants
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog/blog.html
a monthly editorial on business issues and concerns
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/magazine.html 
weekly editorials on accessibility issues in Canada
http://www.accessibilitynews.ca/acnews/editorials/donna.php
Editorials:  An International perspective on issues of accessibility and disability
http://www.accessibilitynewsinternational.com
A general perspective on issues of access and accessibility
http://numpadplus.com/blog/?page_id=7 

 

The Sterling Creations Winter 2008 newsletter

 

                   Hello and welcome to the Sterling Creations Winter 2008 newsletter, which is produced quarterly.  We hope that you enjoy it and encourage you to pass it along to those who may be interested in the types of services that we offer.  We welcome your feedback and invite you to give us your comments for it is only through you and with you that we can improve our services. 

 

Table of contents

1 Message from the president

2 The year in review

3 Sterling services

4 Our partners

5 Contact info

 

 

Message from the president

Hello there!  My name is Donna J Jodhan, and I am the president of Sterling Creations.  Sterling Creations is delighted to bring you their latest newsletter and we invite you to read more about some of the exciting and interesting things that we have been doing for the past year.  2008 has been extremely rewarding and exciting for us, as we have managed to expand our business as well as our partnerships despite the continuing uncertainty in our economy. 

 

2009 is already shaping up to be very interesting for our company and we are looking forward to it with great anticipation.  We are expecting great things for all of our teams as they strive to continue their work in their respective disciplines.  We hope that you enjoy this winter and we wish you good health, good luck, and good sailing for 2009.

 

On behalf of the Sterling Creations team I thank you for your continuing support and feedback because with it we can only get better and without it our hopes will only dwindle.

Best wishes for 2009.

Donna J. Jodhan, president.

 

 

The year in review

We would like to start our year in review by saluting our president Donna J. Jodhan for the award that she received on December 03 2008.  Donna was one of six recipients to have received the Unsung Heroes award from the City of Toronto.  This award was a part of the United Nations celebration of the day of the disabled, which is celebrated each year on December 03.  Donna was nominated by the Alliance for the equality of Blind Canadians for her work on her ongoing charter challenge in which she is suing the Canadian government over their inaccessible websites. 

 

This charter challenge is one of the first of its kind in Canadian history and Donna is being supported by a highly motivated and esteemed team that includes David Baker and his group of lawyers, Jutta Treviranus of the University of Toronto, and the Alliance for the Equality of Blind Canadians.  The Bakerlaw team of lawyers are well known for their string of continuing successes in representing the rights of special needs Canadians while Jutta is one of the most highly respected experts in the accessibility arena both at home and internationally.  Please visit http://www.toronto.ca/diversity/intl_day_disabilities.htm to learn more about the award ceremony that was held on December 03 2008.

 

Donna launched her charter challenge in late 2006 when the Bakerlaw team submitted a letter of demand to the Honourable John Baird asking for the Canadian government to make their websites accessible to blind and visually impaired Canadians and when Mr. Baird refused the team filed court papers.  This was done in July 2007 and when the Canadian Government's attempt to have the proceedings thrown out of court was struck down, the two sides attempted to settle out of court but this too failed.  At the present time, cross examination of witnesses by both sides is proceeding at a swift pace and this case will probably head to open court barring any unforeseen events.  Stay tuned! 

 

Donna has been invited to deliver the keynote speech at the 2009 annual general meeting of the Alliance for the Equality of Blind Canadians, which will be held from May 01/03 in Vancouver British Colombia.  A very exciting time for our president who has asked us to thank the AEBcfor their gracious invitation; in particular John Rae and Denise Sanders. 

 

In September 2008 Donna became involved with researchers at the University of Toronto to engage in a very exciting venture that has great potential.  Donna has been working with researchers at the University of Toronto on a project that explores how community engagement can be used to help screen reader users in evaluating the credibility of information they seek online as part of everyday life.  All of this hard work has paid off and we are delighted to share some wonderful news with you!

 

In March 2009 Donna will be traveling with Sambhavi Chandrashekar, a PHD student from the University of Toronto, to attend the CSUN conference.  Donna and Sam will be co-presenting a paper on the "FRAMEWORK TO SUPPORT ONLINE CREDIBILITY EVALUATION BY WEB USERS WITH VISION LOSS."  We look forward to reporting the outcome of this presentation in our next newsletter.

 

Our president also managed to add one more prize to her bulging bag last year.  In an article-writing competition sponsored by T-Base Communications of Ottawa,  Donna J. Jodhan was victorious through the submission of her article entitled "Making important decisions with outdated information."  In her article, Donna discussed the serious problem that Canadians presently face when making financial decisions that involve such things as investments, retirement and pension plans, plus other types of day-to-day decisions. 

 

Donna received the highest possible score on the three

pre-determined criteria as follows:

Writing Style and Tone.  Clarity and Thoroughness.  General Organization.

The panel of judges included editors from some of Canada's top newspapers.  We salute Donna on her victory.

 

Our accessibility team continued to make inroads into the accessibility arena and one of its highlights for 2008 was the project that it worked on to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Louis Braille.  This team designed and developed a website for the CNIB as part of the commemorative celebrations.  The accessibility team worked closely with Barbara Marjeram and Don Taylor of the CNIB to complete the project.  Visit www.braille200.ca to see the work of our accessibility team.

Congrats to the accessibility team!

 

Not to be outdone:  Our writing team continued to work with clients in England and Australia to write, proofread, and edit fiction novels and children's books.  In addition, it continued to support the business team at www.untappedwealth.com to produce blogs.  The writing and research teams also became heavily involved in supporting our president to produce blogs and editorials at www.accessibilitynews.ca, www.accessibilitynewsinternational.com, www.numpadplus.com, and www.onestopbookcafe.com. 

 

At www.sterlingcreations.ca we introduced a blog in November 2008 and this blog produces editorials by our president as well as publishes relevant articles from various sources including WebProNews, Gryphon Financial, and various top newspapers from around the world.  Our president writes editorials of interest for those who work with foreign languages as well as for special needs business consultants.

 

The Sterling Creations translation team at www.translationpeople.com also managed to score some very exciting successes for 2008.  This very creative and highly diversified team managed to attract clients from as far away places as Spain, and gained some very important business right here in Toronto.  The translation team worked mainly with clients to translate to and from Chinese to English and Spanish to English.  We are anticipating some very bright prospects for our translation team for 2009.

 

In 2008 we formed some very exciting partnerships.  First with Geof Collis to produce editorials at www.accessibilitynews.ca and www.accessibilitynewsinternational.com.  Geof is a highly respected web designer and developer of accessible websites.  He recently launched www.accessiblenewsinternational.com to compliment his very successful www.accessiblenews.ca website.  His weekly electronic newsletter presently boasts a subscription list of over 1200 subscribers. 

 

Geof Collis is a very hardworking entrepreneur who is not content to sit back and let things happen.  He makes them happen and has additional big plans for 2009.  Sterling Creations is delighted to be associated with Geof Collis.

 

In the summer of 2008 Sterling Creations was given an opportunity to produce blogs for Vashaun Jones at www.numpadplus.com.  Vashaun is another up and coming entrepreneur who is doing very well for himself in the United States.  He works closely with the National Federation for the Blind and was recently elected president of one of the NFB's chapters.  Sterling Creations looks forward to a long and fruitful association with Vashaun Jones and hopes that this partnership will help to create further opportunities in the United States.

 

The following is a list of websites where you can read blogs and editorials written by Donna J. Jodhan:

A weekly feature on important answers to consumers concerns

http://www.untappedwealth.com/businessdesk.html

A weekly blog for language professionals

http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog/blog.html

A monthly editorial on business issues and concerns

http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/magazine.html 

Weekly editorials on accessibility issues in Canada

http://www.accessibilitynews.ca/acnews/editorials/donna.php

Editorials:  An International perspective on issues of accessibility and disability

http://www.accessibilitynewsinternational.com

A general perspective on issues of access and accessibility

http://numpadplus.com/blog/?page_id=7 

 

We look forward to continued success for 2009 and will be seeking to expand opportunities to produce blogs, editorials, and product reviews for those who are interested to share their knowledge and information.  Despite the present economic downturn,  Sterling Creations is committed to soldiering on in the spirit of helping others to become successful.

 

 

Sterling services

OUR ACCESSIBILITY SERVICES

Meet our accessibility team!  Made up of a hard working group of very dedicated professionals.  

This team offers compliance and evaluation services.  They can help you to test and evaluate your websites for W3C compliance.  They are experienced at what they do and some of their tasks include:

Accessible website design and development.

Accessible website testing and evaluation.

Accessible content development.

Creation of user testing, technical support, high level, and detailed evaluation documents.

Managing of user testing teams.

User and technical support.

Hardware and software evaluations of access technology.

Presentations, seminars, and workshops.

 

Meet our research services team!  Our newest edition.

This team can help you to research info on all kinds of topics.  From simple subjects to the more complicated ones.  This team can do it.

At the present time the research team is heavily involved in helping clients to research info for some very complicated Human Rights cases and in addition, they are assisting several authors to find ways to market their books.

They also offer their research services to home businesses, small businesses, and to individuals.

Some of their tasks include:

Researching of requested info.

Producing well-written documents containing the requested info.

This team can carry out Internet, phone, and library research on your behalf.

 

Meet our writing team!  Known as the one stop writing shop.

This team is probably the busiest of our groups.  Working with authors, students, and marketing personnel from companies of all sizes.

Some of their tasks include:

Proofreading and editing. 

Copy writing.

Re-writes.

The writing team can help you to enhance and expand your articles, blogs, newsletters, online magazines, and web content.

To see samples of their work you can visit www.untappedwealth.com/businessdesk.html and there you'll find daily blogs produced by this team. 

 

Meet our translation team!  Made up of translators and language coaches.

This team works in English, French, Spanish, Cantonese, and Mandarin.  They are heavily involved in the translation of storybooks for kids into several languages.

Their language coaches are also heavily involved in helping business professionals and new Canadians to become more proficient at writing and speaking English.

Our dynamic team of translators and language coaches can help you to improve and translate your articles, blogs, emails, faxes, newsletters, and online magazines.  In addition, they offer services to help you improve your phone conversation.

Some of their tasks include:

Translation.

Language coaching.

Transcription.

Proofreading and editing.

 

To learn more about our accessibility, research, and writing services, please visit www.sterlingcreations.ca and while there, check out our free monthly online magazine.  You can go directly to this magazine by visiting www.sterlingcreations.ca/magazine.html.  This magazine is filled with articles of interest to the special needs population; there is also a section on helpful tips, and an editorial written by Donna J Jodhan.  The helpful tips section contains tips on a wide range of topics.  From the kitchen to your diet, and from your computer to tidbits on disabling diseases and even some tips on the workplace.  You can even submit your comments to this magazine by emailing us at info@sterlingcreations.ca.

To learn more about our translation team, please visit www.translationpeople.com and while there, check out their weekly blog on the free useful info page.  This page contains some very helpful news for translators and language professionals and in addition, there is an editorial on various types of opportunities for language professionals.

 

Our new sister website!  If you would like to make some lighthearted contributions at absolutely no cost, then please send your contributions to info@onestopbookcafe.com.  Visit our new sister at www.onestopbookcafe.com and there you will find a lot of interesting information, books to read, plus more.

 

 

Our Partners

 

We would now like to introduce you to our partners and invite you to check them out.

 

About MIAD

With over 15 years of business experience, MIAD Information Systems Ltd. is a full-line supplier of IT Hardware/Software and Service and Support for the GTA.  MIAD provides custom and name brand servers, laptops, notebooks and workstations, as well as warranty and non-warranty repairs service for major laptop/notebook brands such as IBM, Lenovo, HP, Compaq, and Dell.  MIAD has formed strategic partnerships with major IT manufacturers to deliver integrated business solutions that enable our customers to compete and grow in these demanding economic times.  We specialize in Customizable IT Solutions for Small/Medium businesses and custom tailor our solutions to the individual needs of your organization. Recognized across Canada for our Service Excellence by our customers and our Service Partners, IBM/Lenovo, HP, Apple and others. At MIAD we understand information technology and its use in solving problems. MIAD is more than just a company that fills orders; we specialize in developing creative, cost-effective solutions for our Clients, large and small. The commitment to quality and performance is proven by the successful partnerships we have formed with significant companies and institutions in the Canadian Educational, Health and Corporate sectors.

 

About Texthelp Systems' Browsealoud

 Texthelp Systems' Browsealoud is the preferred solution for speech enabling website content and increasing access for individuals with literacy difficulties. This award winning web accessibility solution, reads aloud all website content including Alt Tags, embedded PDF and Microsoft Word documents, and secure pages.  Reading text aloud combined with dual color highlighting makes it easier for users to read the web, interact online, or even learn to read.  Browsealoud is a subscription based service with a free download for your website visitors. It's easy to implement and even easier to use, and is the only truly accessible text to speech solution for both website owners and visitors. 

 

See for yourself how Browsealoud works on these Browsealoud enabled sites:  

 City of Ottawa –

http://ottawa.ca/index_en.html

·                                 Province of Ontario –

·                                 http://www.gov.on.ca/ont/portal/!ut/p/.cm/cs/.ce/7_0_A/.s/7_0_252/_s.7_0_A/7_0_252/_l/en?docid=STEL01_100996

·                                 Yukon Workers' Compensation Health & Safety Board –

·                                 http://www.wcb.yk.ca/

·                                 Cambrian College –

·                                 http://www.cambriancollege.ca/in dex.php

·                                 Niagara College –

·                                 http://www.ni agaracollege.ca/accessibility_browsealoud.htm

 

·                                 About www.badeyes.com

·                                 President Geof Collis

·                                 "Bad Eyes Design and Consulting builds industry leading, accessible

·                                 websites using today's best practices and in accordance with the W3C

·                                 standards and provides

·                                   accessibility audits. Visit them on the web at

·                                 www.badeyes.com.

·                                  

·                                 About numpadplus.com

·                                 President Vashaun Jones

·                                 Are you in search for that perfect job?

·                                 Do you have a software application that you need training on or a computer operating system that you want to advance in?

·                                 If the answer to either of these questions is yes then we are the company to assist you. We are NumPadPlus.com LLC, specializing in online training for Mac, Windows and Linux operating systems.

·                                 If you work during the day or are in school and need a flexible time to train then we are here to help. We employ a staff of over 50 access technology specialist all over the globe, so we are able to provide training on your schedule and best of all it's all done from the comfort of your own home.

·                                 If you need to learn Microsoft Office, Terminal in Mac or a flavor of Linux then we are only a click away.

·                                 For any readers of this newsletter NumPadPlus.com LLC is offering a 20% discount if you use the coupon code "advancement".

·                                 For more information and other fun stuff like our blog, mailing list or podcast, check us out on the web at http://numpadplus.com or send an e-mail to info@numpadplus.com.

 

 

Contact info

To contact us by email:  Please send your email to info@sterlingcreations.ca

To contact us by phone:  Please give us a call at (416) 491-7711

 

 

The dark side of technology

Hello everyone!  We your Sterling Creations Accessibility team would like to end your week with a very somber article.  One that focuses on the darker side of technology.  An article that speaks about how technology is affecting our lives in a negative way.  For believe it or not, technology can be easily described as a double edge sword.

We urge you to read this very insightful point of view.

We bid you a pleasant day.

Your Accessibility team

 

 

The dark side of technology
 
David Ljunggren
Ottawa Citizen , Jan. 8, 2009

 

Perhaps 2009 will be the year when we turn away from our computers and start
learning to think for ourselves when we run into trouble. I hope so, because
otherwise we're all going to morph into zombies who know only one thing: how
to access the Internet.

 

In mid-October last year I happened to sign into an e-mail account I rarely
use and discovered a message from a major New York radio station which
wanted to interview me about the upcoming election. By then I'd missed the
deadline to talk to them but thought I'd call up to figure out why they
hadn't done a better job of tracking me down. The producer was polite and
friendly -- and young.

 

It turned out that she'd looked me up on Google and discovered that one of
the first listings for me had a particular e-mail address, so she fired off
a message. And that was all she'd done -- she gave up when I didn't respond
quickly. This really bugged me, since I am not a hard person to trace. So I
asked her why she hadn't called directory inquiries to find my home number.

 

"Oh, who does that any more?" she said with a little laugh. So for want of
two very basic tools -- a little imagination, some knowledge of how the
world works -- bang went the station's interview. The fact that I remained
unfound means the producer must have a really lenient boss. A real
professional would have told her: "This guy lives in Canada. People there
are easy to find. Try again."

 

At the same time I also received an interview request from the youth
programming section of an Austrian radio station. And yes, the producer
there had also made the minimal effort, typing my name into Google and
sending off a single e-mail. Much more of this and you'll find me on a park
bench feeding the squirrels, stroking my beard and muttering about young
folks today.

 

For me, one of the most important skills is the ability to improvise. If
your attempts to uncover news or find an individual hit a brick wall, you
have to know how to get round it. Typing entries into Google only gets you
so far. You need some imagination too -- this, for example, is why our
office is filled with out-of-date phone books. Mr Smith's number is unlisted
today, but was there an entry for him a few years ago? Let's take a look.

 

At home we limit our daughter's access to the computer, in part because we
want her to learn to think for herself. A few weeks ago she came home with a
school project, complaining that her class had been banned from looking up
any information on the Internet. Give that teacher a bonus, I thought. We
went to the library and -- how inconvenient -- not all the facts she needed
were in one book. So she had to get out several, reminding her how to work
without instant access to everything she needs.

 

Computers and the Internet are fantastically convenient but I wonder what
long-term effect they will have on the way our brains are wired. If you can
always do what you have to in the most efficient way, never being forced to
work out solutions to complicated problems yourself, what happens when the
power goes out one day? In a thousand years' time, will we still have the
ability to think as imaginatively as we do today?

 

I recently drove down to Buffalo with a friend to see a football game. I
asked him whether he had directions to get there. "No need for that, I have
maps and a GPS system on my BlackBerry," he replied. The cursor showed our
position to within a few yards and steered us all the way there and back
without a hiccup. It was addictively convenient -- and scared the heck out
of me.

 

One day this could make map reading obsolescent and I don't think mankind
needs to be forgetting how to read a map. A road atlas doesn't need a
battery but you do have to know how to use it. Over the centuries we've done
a fantastic job of inventing things to make our lives easier: electric
lights, cars and hospitals, to name just a few. But I'm not sure we should
be trying to short-circuit our own brains.

 

Most complex organizations have a back-up system built in and there's a very
good reason for that -- you don't ever want to be in a position where you
can only do a certain thing one way. Learning how to work and think more
indirectly and with more imagination takes time and may seem inefficient in
this modern era but one day your life could well depend on it.

 

David Ljunggren's column appears every other week.

 

E-mail: davidljunggren@yahoo.ca

 

 

If you would like to learn more about us and the services we offer, then please visit www.sterlingcreations.ca
If you would like to keep abreast of some of the most important happenings affecting your lives today, then please visit www.untappedwealth.com/businessdesk.html.  There you will get the latest news roundups on such topics as:
Stress, anxiety, and depression. News for retirees, seniors, and aging baby boomers.  Security tips for home computer users.  Home business opportunities, Internet business opportunities, small business opportunities, business opportunities in Asia.  You will also learn how to obtain tremendous personal and financial satisfaction by selling your knowledge and experience.

 

 

 

The campaign killers: 12 People You Need To Fire

Hello all!  We your Sterling Creations Research team would like to deliver a very crucial message to you this week.  One that many should be heeding during this hard economic times.

As many companies struggle to stay alive, one of the things that they should be looking at is how they carry out marketing campaigns.  This area of anyone's business is very crucial at any given time but especially now; it is even more important.

Our article for this week centers around who you should be keeping and who you should be firing.  We are sure that when you read this article, a lot of it will make perfect sense to you.

We wish you a great day.

Your Research team

 

 

The Campaign Killers:  12 People You Need To Fire
By Jerry Bader (c) 2008 

 

Sometimes it seems like the hardest thing to do in business is to get things done: so little time, so many obstacles. And when it comes to marketing it gets even worse, after all there are all those administrative details that need to be dealt with, emails, inquiries, suppliers, and on and on. Finding the time to devote to creating a sustained, focused marketing effort seems like it's near impossible. But the biggest obstacles of all are some of your trusted colleagues and advisors; you know the ones I'm talking about, the ones that are a royal pain-in-the-ass. So lets just call them on the proverbial carpet and fire their butts; but first let's check the files and find out who they are.

 

File One: Mr. Inertia
Everybody knows this guy. He's the one who hasn't had a new idea in five years. This is the fellow who thinks everything is just fine the way it is, so let's not rock-the-boat, everything is just hunky-dory, thank you very much.

 

 

 

 

You have to treat your business like it's a shark: no standing still, if you don't keep moving forward, you won't survive. It's a competitive world out there, and in the Web-centric marketing environment, you're not only competing with the shop down the street, you're competing with the whole world, so standing still is not an option. Mr. Inertia, you're fired!

 

File Two: Mr. Know-It-All
I love this guy, he knows everything, he's done everything, and if you ask him he'll tell you he invented it. It doesn't matter what it is or even if it relates to your business, he's done it all and seen it all, or so he says. This is Mr. Know-It-All; he stopped learning, stopped improving, and stopped listening years ago.

 

Despite all his self-proclaimed knowledge and insight, this guy hasn't contributed anything meaningful to the marketing effort since a Blackberry was something you ate. Mr. Know-It-All, you're fired!

 

File Three: Mr. My-Business-Is-Unique
We all like to feel that we have created something unique, something different, something that no one else does. The fact is business is business; it's very dangerous to think that your company is so unusual that it's irreplaceable, so different that you don't need to market, so special that branding isn't required, and so singular that positioning is a waste of time.

 

Don't be fooled, finding your 'mark of differentiation' is just as much an exercise in marketing as it is an exercise in product development. Mr. My-Business-Is-Unique, you're fired!

 

File Four: Mr. We-Always-Do-It-This-Way
At one point in my career I ran a company that manufactured photo albums. We had a large competitor who always undercut our price no matter what we sold our product for. In an effort to find out how they were gaining this advantage, we cut open one of their new albums and found that they were using cheap corrugated cardboard as a stiffener instead of the more expensive traditional 80-point board everybody in the industry used.

 

Our sales manager made an appointment with a major photo chain known for just buying quality. He made a dramatic presentation by cutting open our competition's product illustrating the superior nature of our product and demonstrating how they were being duped into buying the inferior junk our competitor was selling them. The buyer, who was also one of the owners looked at the products on his desk, uttered an expletive-deleted and laughed, "Yea," he said, "but they are cheaper."

 

 

Just because things were done the same way forever, doesn't mean that you can keep doing it that way. Keep innovating, experimenting, challenging the status quo. Mr. We-Always-Do-It-This Way, you're fired.

 

File Five: Mr. Everybody-Is-Stupid (But Me)
This clown's a real buzz-kill. In brainstorming sessions this is the guy who shoots down every idea that comes up without offering any alternatives. If some idea is actually adopted he immediately begins to try and change it. You'll usually find him with a coffee in one hand and a donut in the other, standing over someone who is actually trying to work, telling them to move it a pixel to the right or add a little blue or saying stuff like, "I think it needs a pony, ya add a pony." This jerk is like a dog going from hydrant to fencepost depositing his mark without any purpose or validity other than leaving his scent. Not only is this guy unproductive, he makes everybody around him less productive. Mr. Everybody-Is-Stupid (But Me), your fired!

 

File Six: Mr. I-Know-All-The-Customers-Worth-Knowing
Hard to believe but this guy does exist. I once called on a potential client who told me he didn't need a website because he knew all the customers worth knowing, all six of them. He was a manufacturer and he did sell to the six largest retail buyers of his merchandise but one thing I've learned over the years, you never have enough customers, and as soon as you think you've got them all sewed up, watch out, because every competitor is out to take them away from you. And as good as you are or as good as you think you are clients will eventually be pursued by a competitor offering something better or cheaper. Never stop prospecting, never stop looking for new business, and never be satisfied. Mr. I-Know-All-The-Customers-Worth-Knowing, you're fired.

 

File Seven: Mr. I-Know-All-The-Benefits
We all could be guilty of this marketing sin if we're not careful. Thinking you know everything that people do with your product or service is a risky mindset and speaks to a lack of vision. This guy goes to the appropriate conventions, listens to all his industry's experts and reads only stuff about his own established market. If it's about something else, he's just not interested, and he doesn't see or understand the relevance.

 

 

The fact is all your customers are people who have lives outside of business; they all have problems, insecurities, hobbies, and interests that have nothing to do with business. And they may have a totally different point-of-view as to what you provide and how they can use it. You must pay attention to what's going on in the world and how people think and react to events and situations. The market is an emotional and psychological minefield and you must pay attention to outside forces because if you don't you're limiting your potential. Mr. I-Know-All-The-Benefits, I'm sorry but you're fired!

 

File Eight: Mr. Everything-Is-Bulls@%t
This employee is not just useless, he's downright destructive; no matter what marketing plan you're considering implementing this guy thinks it's bull. He doesn't believe in branding, positioning, or any form of sophisticated marketing. He doesn't believe that psychology or emotion plays any part in the sales process and is probably the master of wining and dining clients resulting in the biggest expense account in the company but not much else. His clients were customers before he arrived and will probably be there after he leaves unless he pisses them off. This guy still doesn't see the benefit of a website and keeps repeating, 'it's just an electronic brochure.' His answer to a dip in sales is always the same, to cut prices. Mr. Everything-Is-Bulls@%t, you're fired!

 

File Nine: Mr. I'll-Get-Around-To-It
Nobody really knows what this guy does. He is pleasant, tells good jokes, and he most likely is the guy who brings coffee and cookies to the office for everybody once a week. His desk is always piled high with papers, files, and binders, and when you ask him for something he invariably starts to rummage through this heap of junk ultimately telling you that he'll bring it along as soon as he finds it, he's just been 'sooo' busy. It takes him three days to answer an email, a week to return a phone call, and at least two weeks to respond to a request for a quotation. This guy just has to go. Mr. I'll-Get-Around-To-It, you're fired!

 

File Ten: Mr. Automatic Pilot
This chap believes that the great benefit of having a Web-based business is that he doesn't have to work. This guy spent a considerable sum of money having a bunch of programmers, probably from one of those offshore sweatshops, develop a website system that automatically answers emails, fills orders, and processes inquiries. The only problem is that it doesn't matter if a customer has a question or complaint they all get the same email-response that says they can order even more stuff they can't figure out how to use. Mr. Automatic Pilot, you're fired!

 

File Eleven: Mr. I-Don't-Need-No-Stinking-Creativity
This guy doesn't believe in any kind of creativity, he thinks everything is based on rational dollar-and-cents decision-making. His website lists as many features and benefits in 48 point red Times Roman as he can think of; he highlights each point in yellow and underlines them in green with a big purple checkmark beside each one. He adds several royalty-free photographs of fake customers with quotations he made-up while sitting on the john. And just to enhance his specíal offer page, he tacks-on a bunch of extra bonus gifts like a useless free e-book. This guy's idea of marketing got stuck in the fifties; so Mr. I-Don't-Need-No-Stinking-Creativity, you're fired.

 

File Twelve: Mr. Get-Me-the-Coast
You run across these types every now and again. I once went to a meeting with this guy who was the Vice President of Whatever Mega Corporation. At first glance, he was very impressive, handsome and tall with a big office and lots of hair, and a voice made for AM radio. He talked faster than anyone I ever met. As we made our presentation, he slammed his hand down on the intercom and bellowed to his secretary to "Get me Johnny on the coast!" Before I knew what hit me, he's talking to his guy in California who's on his way to his dry cleaner to pick up his laundry. He asked him a couple of questions as fast as I ever heard without much reference to anything we were discussing and slammed down the phone with a thud. I had no idea what we were talking about or if this guy heard a single word we said. This guy was the master of taking meetings and impressing people, but with what I am still not sure. Mr. Get-Me-the-Coast, your fired!

 

A Final Thought
The single most important thing about managing good staff or contractors is that they will only be as good as you let them. So now that you've laid-waste to a staff of deadweight, what's next? You need to hire or outsource the right people; people who are creative, innovative, and talented; people who are interested in getting things done, whether it's filing or creating your next marketing campaign.

 

About The Author
Jerry Bader is Senior Partner at MRPwebmedia, a website design firm that specializes in Web-audio and Web-video. Visit MRPwebmedia.com, 136Words.com and SonicPersonality.com. Contact at info@mrpwebmedia.com or telephone (905) 764-1246.

 

 

If you would like to learn more about us and the services we offer, then please visit www.sterlingcreations.ca
If you would like to keep abreast of some of the most important happenings affecting your lives today, then please visit www.untappedwealth.com/businessdesk.html.  There you will get the latest news roundups on such topics as:
Stress, anxiety, and depression. News for retirees, seniors, and aging baby boomers.  Security tips for home computer users.  Home business opportunities, Internet business opportunities, small business opportunities, business opportunities in Asia.  You will also learn how to obtain tremendous personal and financial satisfaction by selling your knowledge and experience.

 

 

 

   

Tongue-tied: Americans lack multi-lingual edge

Top of the day to you!  My name is Donna J. Jodhan, and I am the president of www.sterlingcreations.ca. 

Today, I would like to shine the light on how well we are doing when it comes to being able to compete against others in the foreign language arena.

 

Tongue-tied: Americans lack multi-lingual edge

 

This statement is only too true and it is one that we as a country should and must be paying more attention to if we hope to keep our position as the number one economic power in the world.  For the past few years, China has been quickly and quietly making strides towards helping its people to become more in tuned with foreign languages.  Especially so when it comes to training its younger population.  However, and regrettably so, we cannot say the same for the United States.

 

In my reference below, you will see why I have made this comment but for the time being, allow me to make a few suggestions as follows:

 

If we are serious about wanting America to remain the number one economic giant of the world, then we need to start now to do this and where do we start?  By equipping our youngsters with the necessary tools.  Introduce language studies at an earlier stage of our Educational system and teach the languages that are the most important to learn.  I.E, Chinese, Spanish, Japanese, and so on. 

 

Next, provide our students with detailed geography of those countries that use these languages and include lessons on culture and customs.  The entire picture would not be complete if these types of instructions are not included.  As we all know, Spanish is our second language but we need to go a few steps further to provide our students with a greater understanding of those persons whose first language is not English. 

 

If we have any hope of retaining our position and creating opportunities and advantages for tomorrow's America, then we need to act now as our Chinese counterparts are doing.  Introduce more foreign language and cultural studies into our school system.  Introduce it to students at a younger age.  Do it in such a way as to show them why it is necessary.  I will close by providing you with a reference below.

 

Tongue-tied: Americans lack multi-lingual edge

Medill Reports - Washington,DC,USA

An estimated 200 million school-aged children in China study English, according to a 2006 Education Department release. Just 24000 of their US counterparts ...

Read more at:

http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/washington/news.aspx?id=109681

 

 

If you require translation services then please visit www.translationpeople.com, a subsidiary of www.sterlingcreations.ca.

I'm Donna J Jodhan wishing you a terrific day.

Donna J Jodhan is the president of Sterling Creations

Now you can view blogs and editorials written by Donna at:

 http://numpadplus.com/blog/?page_id=7 (access and accessibility)

http://www.accessibilitynews.ca/acnews/editorials/donna.php (accessibility issues in Canada)

http://www.accessibilitynewsinternational.com (accessibility and disability issues on the international scene)

http://www.onestopbookcafe.com (under the café talk link) 

http://www.untappedwealth.com/businessdesk.html (important answers to consumers concerns)

http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/magazine.html (monthly editorial)

http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog/blog.html (blogs for language professionals and special needs business consultants)

Financial ilete have no shame

Hello there!  We your Sterling Creations Business team are pleased to share a very interesting article with you this week.  One that truly exposes the selfish behaviour of our financial elite.   Behaviour that is selfish, reckless, and wilful.  Behaviour that comes from a group that says one thing and means another.

Here now is the perspective as seen through the eyes of Gryphon Financial, a very well known group of experts of the day.

We wish you a pleasant day.

Your Business team

 

 

Financial elite have no shame

 

Even in face of crisis, they continue to push for tax cuts instead of
stimulus.

 

by Linda McQuaig
January 27, 2009

 

Let's imagine, for a moment, how different the public debate would be today
if it had been unions that had caused the current economic turmoil.

 

In other words, try to imagine a scenario in which union leaders - not
financial managers - were the ones whose reckless behaviour had driven a
number of Wall Street firms into bankruptcy and in the process triggered a
worldwide recession.

 

Surely it's time to rethink this resistance to government acting as an agent
of the common good.

 

Needless to say, it's hard to imagine a labour leader being appointed to
oversee a bailout of unions the way former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson
was put in charge of supervising the $700 billion bailout of his former Wall
Street colleagues.

 

My point is simply to note how odd it is that the financial community has
emerged so unscathed, despite its central role in the collapse that has
brought havoc to the world economy.

 

Of course, not all members of the financial community were involved in Wall
Street's wildly irresponsible practices of bundling mortgages into
securities and trading credit default swaps. But the financial community as
a whole, on both sides of the border, certainly pushed hard to put in place
an agenda of small government, in which financial markets largely regulated
themselves and citizens (particularly high-income investors) would be spared
the burden
of paying much tax.

 

The agenda advanced much further in the US, but had an impact in Canada,
particularly on the tax front.

 

One would think that those who pushed this agenda so enthusiastically would,
at the very least, be a tad embarrassed today.

 

But so influential are those in the financial elite - and their hangers-on
in think-tanks and economics departments - that they continue to appear on
our TV screens, confidently providing us with economic advice, as if they'd
played no role whatsoever in shaping our economic system for the past
quarter century.

 

Of course, we're told there's been a major change in their thinking, in that
many of them are now willing to accept large deficits in today's federal
budget, in the name of stimulating the economy.

 

While this does seem like a sharp departure from the deficit hysteria of the
1990s, a closer look reveals the change may not be that significant.

 

In fact, financial types have always accepted deficits - when they liked the
cause. Hence their lack of protest over George W Bush's enormous deficits,
which were caused by his large tax cuts for the rich and his extravagant
foreign wars.

 

What they don't like is governments going into deficit to help ordinary
citizens - either by creating jobs or providing much unemployment relief.

 

So the Canadian financial community has been urging that the stimulus
package consist mostly of income tax cuts - even though direct government
spending would provide much more stimulus and do more to help the neediest.

 

If the Harper government follows the financial community's advice, we will
simply move further along with the small government revolution launched by
Ronald Reagan in the early 1980s.

 

Of course, tax cuts are not the same as financial deregulation. But they are
twin prongs of a bundled package aimed at reducing the power of government
to operate in the public interest.

 

Surely it's time to rethink this resistance to government acting as an agent
of the common good. And maybe it's time for a little humility on the part of
a financial elite that long has enjoyed such deference while turning out to
be so spectacularly inept.

 

http://www.straightgoods.ca/2009/ViewFeature.cfm?Ref=53

 

 

 

If you would like to learn more about us and the services we offer, then please visit www.sterlingcreations.ca
If you would like to keep abreast of some of the most important happenings affecting your lives today, then please visit www.untappedwealth.com/businessdesk.html.  There you will get the latest news roundups on such topics as:
Stress, anxiety, and depression. News for retirees, seniors, and aging baby boomers.  Security tips for home computer users.  Home business opportunities, Internet business opportunities, small business opportunities, business opportunities in Asia.  You will also learn how to obtain tremendous personal and financial satisfaction by selling your knowledge and experience.

 

 

Travel industry needs to pay more attention

Hello there!  We the Sterling Creations team are pleased to bring you an editorial today written by our president Donna J. Jodhan. 

We wish you a pleasant day and weekend.

 

 

Travel industry needs to pay more attention
 
Yes, this is a call to the travel industry to start paying more attention to special needs travelers and when I say special needs travelers, I mean those with special needs. Seniors, those with visual impairments, the hearing impaired, those with physical disabilities, those with learning difficulties and mental challenges and!  Yes, those families with toddlers and those requiring special diets and other types of facilities because of illness or disabling diseases.
 
True it is that several cruise lines have started to make their ships more accessible, but we need to see a greater push towards access and accessibility.  These types of travelers that I just mentioned are going to start making up more and more of the traveling public as time marches on, because it will be the seniors who will have the most disposable income to spend.  Did you know that by 2010 it is expected that seniors will make up about 60% of our North American population and at the same time it is expected that they would own about 70% of our banking assets? 
 
Cruise lines, airlines, hotels, and other travel related agencies and organizations need to keep these two very important statistics in mind as they plan and develop their marketing strategies and facilities for the future.  The special needs traveler is your bread and butter consumer of today and they will definitely be so for the future and for a very long time to come.  So, focus your attention on making your physical facilities and services more accessible.

 

Build more ramps, provide more personalized services, train your staff to work better with those who need help, provide information in accessible formats, and you will be amazed to see the results.  
 
I'm Donna J. Jodhan wishing you a terrific day.
To reach me, please send an email to info@sterlingcreations.ca and I would be delighted to send you an electronic copy of our latest newsletter.
 
 
Here is a complete list of where you can view Donna's blogs and editorials.
 
a weekly feature on important answers to consumers concerns
http://www.untappedwealth.com/businessdesk.html
Weekly blogs for language professionals and special needs business consultants
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog/blog.html
a monthly editorial on business issues and concerns
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/magazine.html 
weekly editorials on accessibility issues in Canada
http://www.accessibilitynews.ca/acnews/editorials/donna.php
Editorials:  An International perspective on issues of accessibility and disability
http://www.accessibilitynewsinternational.com
A general perspective on issues of access and accessibility
http://numpadplus.com/blog/?page_id=7 

Internet and the brain

Hello there!  It's our turn and we the Accessibility team at www.sterlingcreations.ca are pleased to bring you an article that is going to probably get you to sit up and take note. 

So many of us continue to ponder how much of an effect is the Internet having on our brain, our social behavior, and our overall being.  Well, our choice of article for this week has a few very interesting opinions to express.

Enjoy your day!

Your Accessibility team

 

 

Your brain on Google: Scientists examining whether digital age rewiring
young people's minds

 

By MALCOLM RITTER
Newsday.com, December 3, 2008

 

What does a teenage brain on Google look like? Do all those hours spent
online rewire the circuitry? Could these kids even relate better to
emoticons than to real people?

 

These sound like concerns from worried parents.  But they're coming from
brain scientists.

 

While violent video games have gotten a lot of public attention, some
current concerns go well beyond that.  Some scientists think the wired world
may be changing the way we read, learn and interact with each other.

 

There are no firm answers yet.  But Dr.  Gary Small, a psychiatrist at UCLA,
argues that daily exposure to digital technologies such as the Internet and
smart phones can alter how the brain works.

 

When the brain spends more time on technology-related tasks and less time
exposed to other people, it drifts away from fundamental social skills like
reading facial expressions during conversation, Small asserts.

 

So brain circuits involved in face-to-face contact can become weaker, he
suggests.  That may lead to social awkwardness, an inability to interpret
nonverbal messages, isolation and less interest in traditional classroom
learning.

 

Small says the effect is strongest in so-called digital natives people in
their teens and 20s who have been "digitally hard-wired since toddlerhood."
He thinks it's important to help the digital natives improve their social
skills and older people digital immigrants improve their technology skills.

 

At least one 19-year-old Internet enthusiast gives Small's idea a mixed
review.  John Rowe, who lives near Pasadena, Calif., spends six to 12 hours
online a day.  He flits from instant messaging his friends to games like
Cyber Nations and Galaxies Ablaze to online forums for game players and disc
jockeys.

 

Social skills? Rowe figures he and his buddies are doing just fine in that
department, thank you.  But he thinks Small may have a point about some
other people he knows.

 

"If I didn't actively go out and try to spend time with friends, I wouldn't
have the social skills that I do," said Rowe, who reckons he spends three or
four nights a week out with his pals.  "You can't just give up on having
normal friends that you see on a day-to-day basis."

 

More than 2,000 years ago, Socrates warned about a different information
revolution the rise of the written word, which he considered a more
superficial way of learning than the oral tradition.  More recently, the
arrival of television sparked concerns that it would make children more
violent or passive and interfere with their education.

 

Small, who describes his modern-day concerns in a new book called
"iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind,"
acknowledges he doesn't have an open-and-shut case that digital technology
is changing brain circuitry.

 

Still, his argument is "pretty interesting and certainly provocative,"
although difficult to prove, says brain scientist Tracey Shors of Rutgers
University.

 

Others are skeptical.  Robert Kurzban, a University of Pennsylvania
psychologist, said scientists still have a lot to learn about how a person's
experiences affect the way the brain is wired to deal with social
interaction.

 

Life in the age of Google may even change how we read.

 

Normally, as a child learns to read, the brain builds pathways that
gradually allow for more sophisticated analysis and comprehension, says
Maryanne Wolf of Tufts University, author of "Proust and the
Squid: The Story and Science of the Reading Brain."

 

She calls that analysis and comprehension "deep reading." But that takes
time, even if it's just a fraction of a second, and today's wired world is
all about speed, gathering a lot of superficial information fast.

 

Wolf asks what will happen as young children do more and more early reading
online.  Will their brains respond by short-circuiting parts of the normal
reading pathways that lead to deeper reading but which also take more time?
And will that harm their ability to reflect on what they've read?

 

Those questions deserve to be studied, Wolf says.  She thinks kids will need
instruction tailored to gaining reading comprehension in the digital world.

 

Some research suggests the brain actually benefits from Internet use.

 

A large study led by Mizuko Ito of the University of California, Irvine,
recently concluded that by hanging out online with friends sending instant
messages, for example teens learn valuable skills they'll need to use at
work and socially in the digital age. 
That
includes lessons about issues like online privacy and what's appropriate to
post and communicate on the internet, Ito said.

 

Rowe, the 19-year-old, said he and his buddies often debate whether
technology might actually be bad for you.  That includes kicking around the
argument that computer use makes people socially inept.

 

Of course, he added, "we spend a lot of time on the computer and still have
totally normal and perfect social lives."

 

 

If you would like to learn more about us and the services we offer, then please visit www.sterlingcreations.ca
If you would like to keep abreast of some of the most important happenings affecting your lives today, then please visit www.untappedwealth.com/businessdesk.html.  There you will get the latest news roundups on such topics as:
Stress, anxiety, and depression. News for retirees, seniors, and aging baby boomers.  Security tips for home computer users.  Home business opportunities, Internet business opportunities, small business opportunities, business opportunities in Asia.  You will also learn how to obtain tremendous personal and financial satisfaction by selling your knowledge and experience.

 

 

Should Small Businesses Invest In SEO During A Recession?

Hello there!  We your research team at www.sterlingcreations.ca would like to address a very important concern that many small businesses are asking themselves these days and that is:

Should they be investing in SEO services during a recession?  We believe that we have found the answer for you through the following article.

Please read on to learn more. 

We wish you a great day.

Your Research team

 

 

Should Small Businesses
Invest In SEO During A Recession?
By Mike Tekula (c) 2008  

 

These are tough times, no doubt. The pinch is on every business to cut unnecessary costs and improve efficiency. Those businesses that were squeaking by to begin with are now in danger of closing their doors.

 

Advertising is usually one of the first items on the chopping block (though it shouldn't be). You've got to cut costs, and you certainly don't want to lay off any employees if you can help it, so you start looking a bit more closely at your marketing budget to see where you can rein in ad spending. It's a natural reaction to a tightening budget, and there is a good reason for it.

 

 

 

 

Most business owners know that you need to advertise. Sure, word of mouth is great - there's nothing like a referral from a happy client to instill trust in a prospect - but you still need to be proactive in getting the word out. The trouble with advertising in the traditional sense is that it is difficult to know whether your efforts are working and what is generating the best value for your dollar. The uncertainty makes it hard to keep throwing money into your ad spend. When your budget tightens it is even harder to justify the cost when the benefits are fuzzy at best.

 

But marketing on the web is different. The costs are lower, return on investment can be much higher and traffic data allows you to chop out the dead wood and optimize your budget. Search engines are a primary driver of traffic on the web (second in use only to email according to a report by Pew Internet & American Life Project and comScore). Search engine optimization (SEO), as a result, has receíved an increasing amount of well-deserved attention.

 

For most small businesses, SEO is new. Some have considered it, perhaps even done a bit of research on the topic, but haven't yet invested in it. Others have invested in it in the past and found themselves disappoínted with the results. A few have found real success.

 

In this economy, why should a company consider a new marketing channel like search when they're already looking to cut their budget? What about the risks involved in such a new endeavor? What if it doesn't work? These are all valid questions. For those who spend most of their time building and maintaining their businesses and systems, reading up on what makes search engines tick is unlikely. Understanding SEO enough to truly leverage it for growth can seem a long way off.

 

So Why SEO, and Why Now?

 

1. Unparalelled ROI
A 2006 MarketingSherpa survey of 3,053 client-side marketers determined that SEO was viewed as the most valuable marketing solution in terms of ROI, even higher than email marketíng to in-house email lists. ROI is everything - especially in uncertain economic times.
2. Targeted Traffíc
Traditional "push" marketing/advertising options often have you publishing an advertisement in a place where you're hoping it will get a lot of eyeballs. That's great, but the real question is: who owns those eyeballs? Are they the right people? Do they want or need what you're offering? With SEO, up front keyword research can tell you a lot about your market and what kind of language they're using. When you choose your keywords and optimize for them, you're addressing an existing need or desire - and you know that at least a good portion of visitors referred from search engines through your target keywords are looking for exactly what you're offering. In short, SEO helps to drive high quality traffic to your website and gets your message in front of the right people at the right time.

 

3. Precise Tracking
Web analytics allow you to track your users with a great deal of granularity. The most basic and easy to set up analytics platform is Google Analytics - and it's free. Out of the box, Google Analytics will tell you where visitors are coming from (including what search engines and keywords), what pages bring in the most users, what keywords have the lowest bounce rates (the measure of users who immediately leave your site after viewing one page), what keywords drive the most pages per visit and average time on site and a lot more. With basic conversion tracking you can even tie keywords to conversion rates - an incredibly valuable way to identify the most valuable keywords and focus on them. Bottom line: with web analytics you can identify the dead wood in your campaign and focus on better opportunities to optimize your marketing budget in real time.

 

 

How should you approach SEO?

 

If you're considering investing in SEO as a marketing channel there are two basic options:

 

1. Take the SEO work on in-house
2. Hire an agency or consultant and outsource SEO

 

The In-House Option

 

Hiring for an in-house SEO position is often out of the budget range for small businesses - in this economic climate especially. Existing employees, on the other hand, can play an important role - especially those who are already regularly updating your website. It requires careful research, planning and execution, but with the right training and guidance much of the work required can be handled in-house.

 

There are also some simple things you can be doing in-house to improve your SEO.

 

That company you partner with - do they have a website? If so, consider asking them to link to you (after you link to them). Links are a powerful way to improve your search engine rankings.

 

That trade organization you belong to - do they have a directory on their website where they list and link to members? That could be the source of a quick and easy link.

 

Thinking about starting a blog? It's a great way to build content on your site and bring in attention and links - just keep in mind you've got to be serious about it and actually post regularly.

 

Search engines are very complex, but in the end the websites they reward with high rankings are those that get the simple things right: they feature interesting content on a regular basis, they stick around with the same domain name and with the same topic for years and they build links over time and from other relevant and trusted websites.

 

The Outsourcing Option

 

Full disclosure: I am biased. I run a search engine marketing agency. But I hope you'll hear me out anyway.

 

Hiring an SEO agency to either handle the full scope of work or to consult on research and strategy and delegate to your web developer makes sense in many situations. SEO agencies usually spend a great deal of time researching strategies and tactics and compiling resources - all of which can help you hit the ground running with your SEO campaign. But you need to find the right agency.

 

Let's be clear: no SEO agency can guarantee you rankings or growth. If they tell you they can, they're being either dishonest or foolish, or both. The bottom line is that SEO experts don't control the search engines. Changes to Google's algorithm can, and usually do, come unannounced. That is out of our hands.

 

This doesn't mean, however, that the burden of risk should fall entirely on your shoulders. Failure of a campaign shouldn't mean you lost your investment, the agency "did their best" and it just didn't work out. Smart agencies recognize that the best thing they can do is share the risk with the client. How? Simply: they set specific goals and benchmarks and stick to them. That may mean they continue working at a discounted rate if they don't reach a goal. On the other hand, they may choose to work on a performance-based contract from the start so their compensation will be linked directly to the return on your investment. The point is, it should be more of a partnership than a client/vendor relationship. That is as important now as it ever has been.

 

SEO is scalable - you don't have to throw everything and the kitchen sink into it. Sometimes just taking a few small steps here and there over time adds up to success. Other times you need a one-time overhaul of your site, or maybe a long-term relationship with an expert who can help chart the course. It will depend on the goals you set for your website and how realistic they are given the limits of time and resources. But search engines are going to remain the primary driver of traffic and sales on the web for the forseeable future. SEO, for that reason, shouldn't be an afterthought to your marketing plan, even in tough economic times - indeed, with such a high potential return on your investment, it should be a priority.

 

About The Author
Mike Tekula is the President and Founder of Unstuck Digital, Inc., a Long Island SEO company that provides clients with effective and affordable search engine marketing strategies.
 

 

If you would like to learn more about us and the services we offer, then please visit www.sterlingcreations.ca
If you would like to keep abreast of some of the most important happenings affecting your lives today, then please visit www.untappedwealth.com/businessdesk.html.  There you will get the latest news roundups on such topics as:
Stress, anxiety, and depression. News for retirees, seniors, and aging baby boomers.  Security tips for home computer users.  Home business opportunities, Internet business opportunities, small business opportunities, business opportunities in Asia.  You will also learn how to obtain tremendous personal and financial satisfaction by selling your knowledge and experience.

 

 

 

Why hotels should go all out for their foreign guests

Top of the day to you!  I'm Donna J. Jodhan, president of www.sterlingcreations.ca.

Today, I would like to chat a bit about why hotels should go all out for their foreign guests.

 

 

Why hotels should go all out for foreign guests       

 

Hotels should always strive to go all out for their guest but when it comes to their foreign guests:  Then there is no question.  Most foreign guests would tend to revisit and return to hotels that cater to them in their spoken language.  They truly appreciate any hotel that can provide them with such services in their spoken language as:

Room service, front desk service, menus and signs that are in multi languages, and staff that can converse fluently in their language of choice.

 

There is nothing worse than going to a hotel where both services and staff are in a language that you are unable to understand.  There is nothing worse than not being able to communicate with staff in your own language or be able to read the signs because they are not in your language.  Think of this situation:

You are in the mood for room service so you open up the room service menu to choose your meal.  Bingo!  You are unable to understand the menu because it is not in your language.  So you phone the room service desk to get some assistance and lo and behold!  The call taker is unable to understand your request and you are unable to understand their questions.

 

I would like to close by giving you a reference to investigate.

Hotels go all-out for foreign guests

        Atlanta Journal Constitution - GA, USA

        He is fluent in English, French, German and Hebrew. At the Four Seasons Atlanta, the city's only five-star hotel, languages spoken include French, Spanish, ...

Read more at:

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/printedition/2008/10/22/hoteltalk.html

 

 

If you require translation services then please visit www.translationpeople.com, a subsidiary of www.sterlingcreations.ca.

I'm Donna J Jodhan wishing you a terrific day.

Donna J Jodhan is the president of Sterling Creations

Now you can view blogs and editorials written by Donna at:

 http://numpadplus.com/blog/?page_id=7 (access and accessibility)

http://www.accessibilitynews.ca/acnews/editorials/donna.php (accessibility issues in Canada)

http://www.accessibilitynewsinternational.com (accessibility and disability issues on the international scene)

http://www.onestopbookcafe.com (under the café talk link) 

http://www.untappedwealth.com/businessdesk.html (important answers to consumers concerns)

http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/magazine.html (monthly editorial)

http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog/blog.html (blogs for language professionals and special needs business consultants)

Not all investors have what it takes to become an elite option trader

Hello there!  We your Business team at www.sterlingcreations.ca are delighted to share an article with you that shines the spotlight on the type of investor who succeeds as an option trader.  At this time when everyone or almost everyone is safeguarding their savings with iron fists, it would do you a world of good to read this article.

We wish you a pleasant day.

Your Business gteam

 

 

Quite frankly, the elite option service is not for everyone.
Not all investors have what it takes to become an "elite" option trader. Many have tried and millions have failed. If you feel you have the patience and the "brass balls" to hold an option from $2.00 to $90.00 like I have, continue reading! If you feel you do not have the "brass balls" that are required to join the "elite" and battle like a Spartan Warrior on the front lines of the battlefield, there are plenty of other services available, that will produce profit margins similar to a bank C.D.! If you are still reading that means you take the road less traveled and are not comfortable making anything less than $250,000.00 a year. 

 

If you take the first step in the right direction and join this service, I would like to personally welcome you to the club and also give the 1st 50 people who sign up, the opportunity to exclusively work one on one with me and receive the trades before they enter my portfolio. 

 

How the service works.... It's very simple - you will be receiving the most explosive option trades just as I am about to hit the "buy" button with my multi-billion dollar finger!!!  The basis of this service is not to overwhelm you with too many option trades, because if you do....that's when you lose control of managing your positions and spread yourself too thin. My investment strategy is more about putting quality trades in my portfolio as opposed to a quantity of trades and hoping I get lucky. The reason I am so successful trading options is my ability to seek out the most explosive trades every week and put the vast majority of my weekly investment capital into these positions. By using my investment strategy, I raise my success rate and profit margin per trade..... through the roof!!! 

 

(ALL POSITIONS HELD LESS THAN 30 DAYS AND HELD WITHIN AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER 2008)  

 

"APA JC" @ $5.60 SOLD @ $10.50 88%.......
"GS UT" @ $1.20 SOLD @ $6.70 458%.....
"MS UF" @ $2.20 SOLD @ $6.60 200%.......
"DVN JA" @ $3.60 SOLD @ $8.00 122%.....
"LYH UK" @ $2.75 SOLD @ $16.50 500%........ 
 I can tell you how great I am at trading options, but there is only one way to find out for yourself...... and that's by joining me in my "Elite Option Service", and if I do not meet or exceed your expectations over the next 12 months I will personally give you 6 months of service for free......on me!  That's how confident I am you will love joining the ranks of the "elite" and trading options like a stone cold killer!!!  I will see you at the top, real soon!!! 

 

12 MONTHS FOR $199.00....
1 - 2 OPTION TRADES PER WEEK (BASIC CALLS AND PUTS).......

 

 

 

                           

 

ROBERT ANTHONY 

 

 

 

If you would like to learn more about us and the services we offer, then please visit www.sterlingcreations.ca
If you would like to keep abreast of some of the most important happenings affecting your lives today, then please visit www.untappedwealth.com/businessdesk.html.  There you will get the latest news roundups on such topics as:
Stress, anxiety, and depression. News for retirees, seniors, and aging baby boomers.  Security tips for home computer users.  Home business opportunities, Internet business opportunities, small business opportunities, business opportunities in Asia.  You will also learn how to obtain tremendous personal and financial satisfaction by selling your knowledge and experience.

 

 

 

 

Seniors facing an accessibility gap

Hello there!  We the team at www.sterlingcreations.ca are pleased to bring you an editorial written by our president Donna J. Jodhan.

 

Seniors facing an accessibility gap
 
There is a very interesting yet concerning problem that seems to be deepening these days and I am referring to the accessibility gap being faced by our seniors at the present time.  It appears that as more and more seniors begin to lose their vision they become less and less able to access information because of the following reasons.
 
1.  They are unable to access the Internet because they either do not possess the technology to do so or simply because they do not know how to access the Internet.  Many of these persons grew up in the pre-Internet era and accordingly they are very hesitant to try new technology. 
2. Many of them no longer have sufficient vision to read the newspapers let alone read their own personal mail.
3. Many of them are extremely hesitant to learn new technology that may enable them to read their mail and newsprint.
4. Many of them are unable to read what they write.  They did not need to use Braille while they were fully sighted and now they are finding it extremely difficult to adjust to learning Braille or using an accessible note taker. 
5. Many of them face financial barriers when it comes to being able to learn and purchase new technology.
 
So in summary we have the following picture:
More and more persons losing their vision at a later age.
They are unable to access information for several reasons among them being; Inability to use modern technology, a hesitance to learn new technology, unable to afford to learn and purchase new technology.
 
As I see it, this problem is going to become more serious as time marches on and it may be time for us to work on a solution to find a way for our seniors to stay in touch with the rest of the world.  The earlier we find a solution; the better it would be for all of us because we are all going to become seniors one day in the future and chances are that many of us will end up losing various degrees of vision.
 

I'm Donna J. Jodhan wishing you a terrific day.
To reach me, please send an email to info@sterlingcreations.ca and I would be delighted to send you an electronic copy of our latest newsletter.
 
 
Here is a complete list of where you can view Donna's blogs and editorials.
 
a weekly feature on important answers to consumers concerns
http://www.untappedwealth.com/businessdesk.html
Weekly blogs for language professionals and special needs business consultants
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog/blog.html
a monthly editorial on business issues and concerns
http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/magazine.html 
weekly editorials on accessibility issues in Canada
http://www.accessibilitynews.ca/acnews/editorials/donna.php
Editorials:  An International perspective on issues of accessibility and disability
http://www.accessibilitynewsinternational.com
A general perspective on issues of access and accessibility
http://numpadplus.com/blog/?page_id=7 

Get 'family-friendly,' or recession will last longer; study concludes

Hello all!  We your Accessibility team at www.sterlingcreations.ca would like to share a very important article with you today.  One which we honestly feel you should be paying attention to.

This article focuses on the importance of family relationships during this ongoing recession and suggests how friendly family relationships can help to weather the recession.  Please read on.

We wish you a great day.

Your Accessibility team

 

 

Get 'family-friendly,' or recession will last longer; Employers, government
must repair work-life balance, major study concludes
 
Kathryn May
Ottawa Citizen, Jan. 22, 2009

 

 Canada may not pull out of an economic slump unless governments and
employers deal with the crushing workloads that are forcing a growing number
of Canadians to delay or have fewer children, says a leading expert in
balancing work and family life.

 

Linda Duxbury, a business professor at Carleton University's Sprott School
of Business, delivered her sixth and final report on work-life balance
yesterday with the warning that the federal government's stimulus package
should include policies that support working families to get the economy
rolling again.

 

She argued policy-makers must recognize that heavy workloads and their
interference on family life are key reasons for Canada's declining birth
rate and labour force. They need to develop strategies, polices and
interventions to help stem this work-life "tsunami."

 

"We're going to hire all these construction workers to buil d roads,
which we need; but what about support for elder care and child care?" she
said in an interview.

 

"Governments aren't paying attention to this issue. All the focus is on the
economy and how to stimulate it. ... We aren't paying attention to
fundamental issues like our fertility rates and labour shortages, which are
as big, if not bigger, issues for our long-term competitiveness."

 

Ms. Duxbury said her study showed that Canadians are already overworked
because of the massive downsizing of the 1990s as they enter the latest
economic crisis, and the burden will only get worse as the recession
deepens. Employers will cut jobs and lay off workers, which will dump more
work on employees who survive the cuts.

 

Her previous 2001 study found 60 per cent of working Canadians cannot
balance the demands of their family and work, and it's typically work, not
family, that takes priority -- a trend she predicts will only get worse as
Canadians face the biggest economic crisis since the Great Depression.

 

One in four work more than 50 hours a week -- compared to one in 10 in 1991
-- and all indications are those working hours will rise as the economy
worsens. One in four also said work interferes with their family
responsibilities.

 

But the survey found that half of Canadians coped with the growing stress
and workload of their jobs by delaying or not having children. Canadians
haven't been producing the 2.1 children per family needed to repopulate the
country since 1971, and Ms. Druxburty argues that the demands of work -- and
bosses' expectations that work comes first -- are a chief reason.

 

The only way to boost Canada's fertility rates are by creating
"family-friendly" work cultures backed by social policies that help families
manage, such as better day care and support for elder care.

 

Ms. Duxbury pointed to Quebec, which boasts some of the best family-friendly
policies in the country and has the highest birth rate.

 

Ms. Duxbury co-wrote the series of reports, National Study on Balancing Work
and Family, based on a 2001 survey of nearly 33,000 workers.

 

The survey was commissioned by Health Canada to examine how Canadians are
coping with the demands of their work and family lives. It was conducted by
Ms. Duxbury and Chris Higgins of the University of Western Ontario, and it
surveyed workers in 100 major organizations in the private, public and
not-for-profit sectors. The findings are considered accurate within 1.5
percentage points, 19 times out of 2.

 

She said the typical response of any company facing the economic crunch is
to lay off people and cut jobs --usually the experienced people who take
critical corporate knowledge with them. This may give employers the
"short-term" bump they need for the balance sheet, but it piles more work on
a smaller, already-overworked staff. On top of that, employers manage their
workers like "liabilities," such as the federal government's recent decision
to legislate wage cuts and take
away employees' right to strike, which saps morale and trust.

 

When employers finally come out of the recession in a couple of years, they
will have a worn-out workforce, in some cases ready to retire, and they will
have to recruit and retrain in a "sellers market" for labour, Ms. Duxbury
said.

 

She said employers have dumped the burden of all this additional work and
stress onto employees, forcing them to make sacrifices or cope whatever way
they can: taking prescription drugs, drinking, losing sleep, doing
lower-quality work, giving up social lives and activities, and having fewer
children.

 

But she argues that reducing workload and the conflict it creates at home
will benefit all Canadians -- reduce health costs, increase productivity and
fertility, and improve global competitiveness.

 

Ms. Duxbury said the time has come for employers and governments to
recognize that "workers are family members and family members are workers."

 

She said workload, if left unchecked, will become a critical economic and
social issue as Canada's population ages. A huge exodus of retiring workers
means
more strain on the health system and a greater demand for elder care. As
Canadians delay having children, more workers will find themselves
"sandwiched"
between taking care of children and aging parents.

 

She said these issues raise "disturbing" questions about Canadians' values.

 

"Why is caring for our seniors and children causing so much strain? Why are
Canadian men and women forgoing having families or reducing the number of
children
they have? Is that the Canada we want? Are we a culture of work or family?"
she said.

 

 

If you would like to learn more about us and the services we offer, then please visit www.sterlingcreations.ca
If you would like to keep abreast of some of the most important happenings affecting your lives today, then please visit www.untappedwealth.com/businessdesk.html.  There you will get the latest news roundups on such topics as:
Stress, anxiety, and depression. News for retirees, seniors, and aging baby boomers.  Security tips for home computer users.  Home business opportunities, Internet business opportunities, small business opportunities, business opportunities in Asia.  You will also learn how to obtain tremendous personal and financial satisfaction by selling your knowledge and experience.

 

 

Internet Marketing Blogs that Beg to be Bookmarked

Hello there!  We your Research team at www.sterlingcreations.ca would like to present you with an article that can certainly help you to improve your Internet marketing.  There are always strategies that you can learn about in order to improve your Internet marketing and at this time why not take advantage of some very wise words of wisdom from a very reliable source.

We wish you a pleasant day.

Your Sterling Creations Research team

 

 

Internet Marketing Blogs that Beg to be Bookmarked
By Merle (c) 2008 PayPerClickResearch.com 

 

Let's face it, Blogs on the topic of Internet marketing are a dime a dozen. Everyone and their dog seems to have one. I'll be the first to admit it takes a lot to impress me. Some blogs are just boring and uneventful. But then there are some that make me want to come back again and again.

 

So, what are the qualities of a great blog? Well, for me it's one that offers me something of value, whether that be in the form of valuable information, or points me in the direction of free products or services. It's all about me. By the same token, I do appreciate a blogger with a sense of humor or strong personality. If you're stiff and mechanical it's just not for me. Show me who you really are and what makes you tick.

 

 

 

 

One final point. Don't forget about design. Blogs that are easy on the eyes, uncluttered and simple get my vote every time. If it has a black background and white text, I'm out of there in a big hurry.

 

So, who has some of the best blogs online today? So glad you asked. Listen closely as I enlighten you and point you in the right direction.

 

1) Willie Crawford:

 

An experienced online marketer, Willie is considered one of the world's leading Internet marketing experts. Listen to Willie, he "walks the talk" and can teach you a lot about the world of online marketíng.

 

He also has a radio show at: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/WillieCrawford

 

2) Michael Fortin Blog:

 

Copywriting and marketing tips from a man who is too brilliant for words. Michael is an expert copywriter who has done work for John Reese and many of the other top marketers. Without good copy you can't sell a thing, so learning all you can about persuasive writing is a must for your to do list. Also see: http://www.copywritersboard.com

 

3) Skip Mcgrath:

 

If Ebay is your thing then Skip's blog is a must. An expert at selling items on Ebay, and an experienced author of several books, Skip covers all of the ins and outs of earning money with Ebay.

 

4) Jensense:

 

Jennifer helps you to make sense of contextual advertising and helps publishers to earn more money. Topics include Google Adsense and other similar contextual ad programs.

 

 

5) Marketing Pilgrim:

 

Originally launched by Internet marketer Andy Beal way back in 2005. This blog covers the latest marketing news, reviews and other items related to online advertising.

 

6) Yahoo Publisher Network:

 

Everything you ever wanted to know about Yahoo's Publisher Network but were afraid to ask. All of your questions are answered here.

 

7) Matt Cutts:

 

A Google employee since 2000, Matt discusses all things Google on his Blog. He also covers search engine optimization and other interesting gadgets he runs across online. If Google is your thing, all is revealed here.

 

8) Bruce Clay:

 

Since 1996 way before it was cool to be on the net Bruce Clay has been teaching those about search engine optimization and online marketíng. He really knows his "stuff" and you can tell that by his concrete informative posts which go into great detail.

 

9) Clickz:

 

Clickz always has the latest dish on Internet marketing. Serving news and expert advice since 1997.

 

10) Jim Edwards:

 

Jim Edwards blog "I Gotta Tell You" is a multi-media blog. Covering numerous topics related to makíng money onlíne, Jim always has a funny story to tell. He has a strong personality, so if you like that you'll enjoy Jim's blog.

 

 

11) Marnie Pehrson:

 

Marnie is the creator of IdeaMarketers.com and covers all things related to article marketing and other online marketíng strategies. Again, she's been online for years and has much wisdom when it comes to gaining traffic from your short articles.

 

12) Google Adsense:

 

If you use Adsense by Google to generate an income you'll want to subscribe to this blog. Tons of tips and tutorials to improve your earnings.

 

13) Search Engine Diva:

 

Ginette Degner has been providing search engine optimization and Internet marketing consulting for over 16 years. She's good and also has a great sense of humor.

 

14) Income.com:

 

When you talk about Internet marketing you can't forget about John Reese. The only online marketer I know of who made a million dollars in one day when he launched his Traffic Secrets course.

 

15) Joel Osborne:

 

Joel has been making a living online for the past several years and has numerous web sites and products. Another expert when it comes to learning how to improve traffic and sell online.

 

16) Jonathan Leger:

 

Jonathan Leger has been earning a living online since 2004. His blog discusses search engine optimization, Adsense and online marketíng.

 

17) Pay Per Click Journal:

 

This blog is written by the website marketing experts at Brick Marketing. They cover all aspects of pay-per-click search engine marketing.

 

When it comes to marketing online there are plenty of blogs that can keep you up to date on the latest and greatest trends. This is just a small sample of what's out there. Make sure that no matter whose blog you're reading, that they thoroughly know and understand the topic they're discussing. If not, you're just wasting your time, and if that's the case you might as well be reading your dog's blog. But who knows it just might be more interesting.

 

About The Author
By Merle - The pay-per-click Authority when it comes to paid search engine advertising. With helpful articles, how-to's and tips that will help you make the most from your advertising investment. Download a Free "How To" ebook by subscribing to our ezine at PayPerClickResearch.com .

 

 

If you would like to learn more about us and the services we offer, then please visit www.sterlingcreations.ca
If you would like to keep abreast of some of the most important happenings affecting your lives today, then please visit www.untappedwealth.com/businessdesk.html.  There you will get the latest news roundups on such topics as:
Stress, anxiety, and depression. News for retirees, seniors, and aging baby boomers.  Security tips for home computer users.  Home business opportunities, Internet business opportunities, small business opportunities, business opportunities in Asia.  You will also learn how to obtain tremendous personal and financial satisfaction by selling your knowledge and experience.

 

 

2Checkout Globalizes Purchase Routine Adding 14 Language Translations

Top of the day to you!  I'm Donna J. Jodhan, president of www.sterlingcreations.ca.

Today, I am delighted to feature a very dynamic and up and coming company.  One that is going places and one that I believe has the makings of a giant.

 

 

        2Checkout Globalizes Purchase Routine Adding 14 Language Translations

 

There are those online merchant companies that somehow miss the boat when it comes to providing languages services to their consumers.  The way I see it, if any company dares to offer services to global consumers, then they must be prepared to offer their services in various languages.  Languages that are the most spoken and written around the world.  If they are not prepared to do this, then they may as well fold their tents and remain local.

 

So many companies fail to grasp this concept and it is why in so many cases they do not stick around for very long.  Their services may be first class, but if they do not offer their services in more than one language, then they are doomed.  A perfect example of a company that is doing just what I am talking about is one called 2checkout.  I have watched this company grow from a small-time shop to one that is highly thought of.  From a kid idea to a giant and I would like you to check out my reference below.  This company is definitely going places and is poised to streak way ahead of its competition.

 

The message here is this:  If you want to play in the global arena, then it is paramount for you to offer your services in multi languages.  Languages that are the most popular on the Internet.  If you do not, then you should rethink your strategy and consider just playing at home.  Here now is my reference.

 

                      Business Wire (press release)

        2Checkout Globalizes Purchase Routine Adding 14 Language Translations

        Business Wire (press release) - San Francisco,CA,USA

        In addition to English, the new purchase routine will include Traditional Chinese, Danish, Dutch, French, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, ...

Read more at:

http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20090108005022&newsLang=en

 

 

If you require translation services then please visit www.translationpeople.com, a subsidiary of www.sterlingcreations.ca.

I'm Donna J Jodhan wishing you a terrific day.

Donna J Jodhan is the president of Sterling Creations

Now you can view blogs and editorials written by Donna at:

 http://numpadplus.com/blog/?page_id=7 (access and accessibility)

http://www.accessibilitynews.ca/acnews/editorials/donna.php (accessibility issues in Canada)

http://www.accessibilitynewsinternational.com (accessibility and disability issues on the international scene)

http://www.onestopbookcafe.com (under the café talk link) 

http://www.untappedwealth.com/businessdesk.html (important answers to consumers concerns)

http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/magazine.html (monthly editorial)

http://www.sterlingcreations.ca/blog/blog.html (blogs for language professionals and special needs business consultants)

 

"When It Comes To Creating Wealth, Wealth Is A Mindset

Hello there!  We the business team at www.sterlingcreations.ca are delighted to bring you an article that is in keeping with the times.  Some of you may scoff at our choice for today given how many of us are struggling to keep our heads above water during these difficult economic times, but if you do not feel that this article could help at this time then why not tuck it away for when times get better?  The authors of this article are well respected experts in their field.

We wish you a pleasant day.

Your Sterling Creations Business team

 

 

"When It Comes To Creating Wealth, Wealth Is A Mindset. It's All About How You Think"

 

 

 

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THE GRYPHON INSIDER

 

 

 

Keep Your Eye On the Prize!
 In this fast-moving age, it is so easy to take your eye of the prize.  Short-term trends can easily throw one 'off track'.  For every analyst who will tell you a stock or commodity is going up, there is another one who will tell you it is going down in price.
Who to believe?

 

These charts are updated at regular intervals and there is no charge for looking.

 

One powerful force that is currently causing many people to take their eye off the prize is the outcry of deflation.  While there can be no doubt that there is 'asset deflation' going on, (houses, used cars, stocks and many commodities) are tumbling downhill as people panic.  There is however no 'monetary deflation' going on.  On the contrary, there is currently unprecedented 'monetary INFLATION' taking place, and never before in history have so many countries inflated the various money supplies with this much additional money in such a short period of time.

 

 

 

The Federal Reserve has just updated its latest Adjusted Monetary Base chart (courtesy St. Louis Fed).  Since early September the increase is 650 billion.  On an annualized basis this is an increase of 450%.  The reason this monetary inflation has (not yet) shown up in consumer price is for two reasons.  First, too many people are mesmerized by the assets deflation that is going on around them and second, it takes time for money to work its way through the system.
 
If history is a guide (and it is), then you can bet the farm that monetary inflation ALWAYS results in price inflation down the road.

 

Angola 1991-1999
Argentina 1981 - 1992
Belarus 1993 - 2008
Bolivia 1984 - 1986
Bosnia - Herzegovina 1992 - 1993
Brazil 1986 -1994
Chile 1971 - 1981
China 1948 - 1955
Georgia 1993 -1995
Germany 1919 -1923
Greece 1943 - 1953 At the high point prices doubled every 28 hours. Greek inflation reached a rate of 8.5 billion percent per month.
Hungry 1944 - 1946
Israel 1971 - 1985 (price controls instituted)
Japan 1934 - 1951
Nicaragua 1987 - 1990
Peru 1987 - 1991
Poland 1990 - 1994
Romania 1998 - 2006
Turkey 1990 - 2001
Ukraine 1992 - 1995
USA 1773 - not worth a Continental
Yugoslavia 1989 - 1994
Zaire 1989 - present (now the Congo)
Zimbabwe - 2000 to present. November of 2008 - inflation rate of 516 quintillion percent

 

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Quite frankly, The Elite Option Service is not for everyone. Not all investors have what it takes to become an "elite" option trader. Many have tried and millions have failed. If you feel you have the patience and the "brass balls" to hold an option from $2.00 to $90.00 like I have, continue reading! If you feel you do not have the "brass balls" that are required to join the "elite" and battle like a Spartan Warrior on the front lines of the battlefield, there are plenty of other services available, that will produce profit margins similar to a bank C.D.! If you are still reading that means you take the road less traveled and are not comfortable making anything less than $250,000.00 a year.

 

If you take the first step in the right direction and join this service, I would like to personally welcome you to the club and also give the 1st 50 people who sign up, the opportunity to exclusively work one on one with me and receive the trades before they enter my portfolio.

 

How the service works.... It's very simple - you will be receiving the most explosive option trades just as I am about to hit the "buy" button with my multi-billion dollar finger!!!  The basis of this service is not to overwhelm you with too many option trades, because if you do....that's when you lose control of managing your positions and spread yourself too thin. My investment strategy is more about putting quality trades in my portfolio as opposed to a quantity of trades and hoping I get lucky. The reason I am so successful trading options is my ability to seek out the most explosive trades every week and put the vast majority of my weekly investment capital into these positions. By using my investment strategy, I raise my success rate and profit margin per trade..... through the roof!!!

 

READ ON....

 

http://www.gryphonfinancial.net/index.aspx?page=112108ELITEOPTION

 

 

 

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The photograph shows a German young lady using worthless paper money to heat her home in 1923.

 

The above list does not include a number of countries that saw hyper-inflation as a result of World War II. 

 

Why does history repeat?  The answer is human nature.  The officials in charge of the money supply, whether is was the Czar, the King, Caesar or the head of a central bank, simply cannot resist the 'easy way out' of a monetary crisis, by adding to the money supply.

 

Here is an example of the consequence of monetary inflation.  Imagine yourself in an auction hall.  Just before the auction begins, a rich man walks in with a briefcase filled with hundred dollar bills.  He hands a few to each of the patrons, till his briefcase is empty.  What do you think is going to happen to the prices at the auction?  This is exactly what happens in the larger economy.

 

How do you protect yourself from the ravages of monetary inflation?  You buy the things that government cannot produce, such as:  income property in an area where prices are stable, or have just come down in price.  Stock in companies that produce goods that we cannot live without, including oil and gas producers, since we are a long way from converting to alternate sources of energy. 

 

Finally, and this is the simplest protection against monetary inflation:  Buy some gold and silver.
For some 5,000 years gold has provided a safe haven against the ravages of inflation.
While there are periods when it behooves the investor to cash in his gold, during periods of monetary inflation (like now), gold and silver are a must in any portfolio.

 

Featured is a 100 year chart that shows you when to be 'in gold' and when to be 'out of gold'.  Clearly now is a time to be 'in gold', and not to worry about the daily fluctuations!

 

This is the most important chart any investor needs, to look at for the long-term direction of both the DOW and gold.

 

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  Do you think you can out-perform our short-term positions?
With 6am you don't have to... here's why...

 

Just follow our recommendations and our performance becomes yours.

 

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Those of you with a shorter time-frame, might like to keep an eye on 'real interest rates'.  Real rates are T-bills less the cost of living, or CPI.  While the official CPI is usually less than totally reliable, (due to massaging of numbers), we will use the chart provided by the St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank for this article, and for those who are skeptical, we would recommend using the information provided by John Williams at www.shadowstats.com

 

Chart courtesy St. Louis Fed.
As seen by this chart, the 'official real rate' of interest is currently -3.5%.  Gold always flourishes while rates are negative.  While some will argue that inflation expectations will be lowered due to the lower oil and wholesale prices of agricultural commodities, we must remember that the effect of 'negative real interest rates' take a long time to change peoples investing behavior.  'Real rates' would have to be positive for a year or more before the effects of negative rates would be erased.

 

                        BULLISH  GOLD FUNDAMENTALS..

 

Dollar demand reached an all-time quarterly record of US $332 Bn in Q3/08.
This figure was 45% higher than the previous record set in Q2/08.
ETF's are sitting on 382 tonnes, double last year's tonnage.
Retail investment demand rose 121% to 232 tonnes in Q3/08.
Demand in Greater China rose 18% to 109 tonnes, with the majority of this increase attributable to a strong rise in demand in mainland China (+16 tonnes).
Jewelry demand in the Middle East rose 47% to US $2.8B in Q3/08.
Gold supply was down 9.7% from year ago levels.
My sources in Switzerland reported this morning that two Swiss banks (UBS and Credit Suisse) have written off  US$60 billion dollars.  You know it's bad when even the conservative Swiss bankers are having problems. 

 

There are also rumors, as yet unconfirmed, that the Swiss no longer keep financial information secret from the IRS.  If this turns out to be factual, it will cause money to move from Swiss bank accounts into gold.

 

 

 

We close with the daily gold chart.  Price has put in an ABC bottom.  The RSI and MACD are positive.  A close above the blue arrow sets up a target at the green arrow.  My Gold Direction Indicator is at +85% this morning.  While this article is focused on gold, the fundamentals for silver are even more bullish than for gold.  The ratio between gold and silver has widened to 83:1, while the historical ratio is 15:1, and my research leads me to conclude that the ratio will narrow to 10:1 over time.

 

 

 

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The most profitable single trade of all time revealed for the
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READ ON....

 

http://www.gryphonfinancial.net/index.aspx?page=112108wowad
 

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