Special Speech

With the dawn of the new era of technology, everything seems to be possible under the sun. With high tech gadgets and innovative devices, you can detect a fingerprint, a person lying, and even determine the father of your baby through paternity test.

Since the beginning of modern technology, paternity test has quite gained popularity since rape cases have escalated to greater height. Paternity tests, today, are one of the methods being used in solving cases that involve pregnancy, rape, child claims, and for very simple reason that the mother would just like to know who the father of the baby is.

Sounds quite peculiar isn’t it? But these things really do happen and there are women who just don’t know who is the father of their baby. Paternity test is also common in situations wherein the man does not accept the truth that he is the biological father of a certain child.

Generally, paternity test are conducted through a comprehensive DNA testing and analysis of different enzymes, proteins, and HLA antigens.

The utilization of DNA, when checking for confirmations of the alleged claims of fatherhood, has been a breakthrough in the world of science. It is also an effective measure because, in reality, the DNA of an individual is almost exact replicas of every “somatic cell” of the parents. The combination of these DNA from the parents is united during sexual reproduction wherein these combinations will form another new cell.

The paternity test, on the other hand, has three test options available: prenatal testing, viability test, or in-home testing.

The Prenatal Paternity Test

The very first option is the prenatal testing. This is done when the pregnant mother is still on its 10th through the 13th week or 14th to 24th week of pregnancy, depending on the procedure to be used.

Mothers who undergo through this option wish to determine the paternity even before the baby is born. The baby’s DNA is enough to determine and prove the paternity of the father.

Most people contend that it is not advisable to conduct paternity test during pregnancy. In contrast, conducting paternity test during pregnancy is already reliable and effective in determining the paternity. This is because the baby’s DNA is already developed since the start of conception.

Alternatively, the prenatal paternity test may be conducted either through amniocentesis or chronic villi sampling (CVS).

When using a chorionic villi sampling, the process is conducted during the 10th through the 13th week of pregnancy. In this process, the cells from the placenta are collected. This is done by inserting a catheter through the vagina to collect cells. The ultrasound will be the one to guide the OB-GYN during the process.

In amniocentesis, the process is the same. Though, it must be done during the 14th to the 24th week of pregnancy. Also, the type of cells to be collected is the loos fetal cells embedded in the amniotic fluid. It is the fluid that is collected.

The Viability test

This type of paternity test uses remarkable samples so as to check for the DNA. This is commonly used when the supposed to be father is not present or cannot be found. In this process, they use preserved samples like hair, body tissues, and blood.

The In-Home Test

This is the most convenient procedure among the three. The in-home testing, as its name implies, is done within the comforts of one’s home.

In most cases, people who uses this kind of method is not at all determined to make such a fuss about the issue. It is usually for some personal reasons or other rationale and usually wouldn’t want other people to know about it. Though, it must be kept in mind that the results derived from this process is not admissible in court in the light of rape cases, divorce, child custody, or other legal issues where determination of paternity is important.

In this process, the DNA is collected using the buccal swab. This buccal swab resembles to the common cotton-tipped swab but has a special component known as the “Dacron.” It is then rubbed against the interior of the individual’s cheek. Several loose cheek cells stick to the swab. Here, the DNA can be obtained.

After the DNA is collected, it will be brought to the laboratory for some series of tests. It is a must that DNA samples must be in a sealed and tamper-evident packing.

Usually, paternity test results are available after 5 working days. It can also be earlier depending on the viability of the samples.

Indeed, paternity test had definitely made a major breakthrough in the world of science. Because of these innovative procedures, paternity tests are now considered as one of the most effective investigative methods in the society today.

For more great paternity test info and advice check out: http://www.dnatestinghq.com

Are you shopping for a memory foam mattress? Are you feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the jargon that’s out there?

There are really only three main things you must know, in order to get a mattress that will serve you well for years to come…temperature sensitivity, density and the thickness of the memory foam layer.

Selecting the correct memory foam mattress is an important decision, and by adopting these tips, you will have no anxiety about selecting the correct one.

In fact, you’ll know more about memory foam and how to select a good mattress than most mattress store salespeople.

Select A Mattress With Temperature Sensitivity

Not every memory foam mattress that’s available, on the market, will be sensitive to temperature.

But, temperature sensitivity is one of the most crucial features that makes a memory foam mattress so unique and so downright comfortable.

When shopping for a mattress, if you are able to buy one that adjusts to the temperature, please do so. You will find that the mattress will absorb your body heat and soften up.

The same is true when the environment is cooler, the mattress will become firmer.

It’s easy to check for temperature sensitivity. Just place a zip lock bag of ice on it for a few minutes and it will be much firmer under the ice than on the rest of the mattress.

Select A Mattress With The Correct Density

One of the main things to consider, when choosing the correct memory foam mattress, is the density of the memory foam. The density of the memory foam can be described as the weight, of the mattress, measured in a cubic foot of memory foam.

For example, if you were to cut a piece of memory foam into a 12 x12 x 12 shape of a cube, or giant dice, and take its weight, the resulting weight would be its density.

There are various theories, whirling around out there, about which is the correct density of a memory foam mattress to select. Some mattress sellers will try to sell you something in a 3 lb density range.

However, it is better to select a memory foam mattress between densities of 5.0-5.9 lb., because at densities lower than 5.0, the mattresses will not support your lower back, shoulders and hips.

Beyond the density of 5.9, memory foam mattresses will be too dense to allow for proper support. If you like a futon, that’s what it might feel like at this density.

Select A Mattress With Enough Top Layer

When going out to purchase a memory foam mattress, it is important to select one that has enough memory foam on the top layer.

Usually it is best to get a mattress that has been manufactured with at least 3.5 inches of memory foam as its top layer.

The importance of selecting a mattress with the correct thickness of memory foam on top, cannot be stressed enough.

If this layer is too thin, then the person ends up sleeping, partly, on the underlying polyurethane foam, and runs the risk of an uncomfortable night’s sleep.

Select A Mattress Under Warranty

Another great idea when selecting a memory foam mattress is to buy one with a warranty. Buying a product under a warranty is not only a great idea for a mattress but for anything in general.

These mattresses can be purchased with a 20-25 year limited warranty, giving you the ability to have any defects repaired or have the item replaced. Having a warranty on your memory foam mattresses can make you feel much better about purchasing one.

Overall, this might seem like a lot of information to digest, but keeping these tips in mind, when selecting your memory foam mattress, can help make it easier for you to decide on the right one for your needs.

Getting a great night’s sleep is too important to sleep on anything else but a memory foam mattress!

Chuck Harmon’s article How To Avoid The 5 Deadliest Sins Most People Commit When Buying A Memory Foam Mattress is the benchmark for making informed. buying decisions. Get it at www.memory-foam-buyers-guide.org

There are those among America’s managerial cadre who will
write off public relations because they’ve been getting little
more for their PR dollar than brochures, special events,
reporter chatter and press releases.

While they have a right to expect more - a LOT more, from
their PR investment, truth is, they ARE getting valuable
tactical devices which they can call upon from time to time to
move a message from here to there.

But it’s what they are NOT getting that causes unhappiness
with their business, non-profit, government agency or
association’s current public relations expenditure.

Like assembling the resources and action planning they need
to alter individual perception leading to changed behaviors
among their most important outside audiences. And doing
something to persuade those important folks to their way of
thinking, then moving them to take actions that allow their
department, group, division or subsidiary to succeed.

No wonder they decide to write off public relations!

What they need is the right public relations plan, one
dedicated to getting every member of the PR team working
towards the same external audience behaviors which insures
that the organization’s public relations effort stays sharply
focused.

Not just any plan, but one based on a solid approach to
public relations. One, perhaps, like this: people act on
their own perception of the facts before them, which
leads to predictable behaviors about which something
can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that
opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-
action the very people whose behaviors affect the
organization the most, the public relations mission is
usually complete.

That manager shouldn’t have to wait long for results to
appear, such as membership applications on the rise,
bounces in showroom visits; new proposals for strategic
alliances and joint ventures; customers making repeat
purchases; prospects starting to work with them; and
capital givers or specifying sources looking their way.

Heads up managers always get results with this approach
by finding out who among their key external audiences is
behaving in ways that help or hinder the achievement of
their objectives. Then, they list them according to how
severely their behaviors affect their organization.

Next they decide how most members of that key outside
audience perceive their organization. If resources to
cover professional survey counsel aren’t there, the man-
ager and his or her PR colleagues will have to monitor
those perceptions themselves. Of course the PR folks
should already be up to speed about assessing and gathering
perception and behavior data.

Once back in the field, they must meet with members of
that outside audience asking questions like “Are you
familiar with our services or products?” “Have you ever
had contact with anyone from our organization? Was it
a satisfactory experience?” And if you are that manager,
you must be sensitive to negative statements, especially
evasive or hesitant replies. Watch carefully for false
assumptions, untruths, misconceptions, inaccuracies and
potentially damaging rumors. When you find such, you
will need to take steps to correct them, as they inevitably
lead to negative behaviors.

Now it’s time to identify the specific perception to be
altered which then becomes your public relations goal.
You obviously want to correct those untruths, inaccuracies,
misconceptions or false assumptions.

Once you isolate your public relations goal, you
immediately need a strategy to show you how to get there.
The wrong strategy, of course, will taste like pickled beets
on your Braunschweiger sandwich. It’s just not right.

When you pick out one of three strategies (especially
constructed to create perception or opinion where there
may be none, or change or reinforce it,) you must insure
that the goal and its strategy match each other. You
wouldn’t want to select “change existing perception” when
current perception is just right suggesting a “reinforce” strategy.

Here you create a compelling message carefully constructed
to alter your key target audience’s perception, as specified
by your public relations goal.

Fortunately, you can always combine your corrective
message with another news announcement or presentation
which may give it more credibility by downplaying the
apparent need for such a correction.

It seems obvious that the content of your message must be
compelling and crystal clear about what perception needs
clarification or correction. Of course you must be truthful
and your position must be logically explained and believable
if it is to hold the attention of members of that target
audience, and actually move perception in your direction.

With our own PR jargon, you may notice folks in the PR
business alluding to the communications tactics necessary
to move your message to the attention of that key external
audience, as “beasts of burden” because they must carry
your persuasive new thoughts to the eyes and ears of those
important outside people.

Luckily, there is no shortage of communications tactics.
They include letters-to-the-editor, brochures, press releases
and speeches. Or, you might choose radio and newspaper
interviews, personal contacts, facility tours or customer
briefings. There are scores available and the only selection
requirement is that the communications tactics you choose
be on record as reaching people just like the members of
your key target audience.

The good news is that you can always move things along
by adding more communications tactics, AND by increasing
their frequencies.

Someone is bound to bring up progress reports which will
lead you to return to the field again remonitoring perceptions
among your target audience members to test the
effectiveness of your communications tactics. Using
questions similar to those used during your earlier
monitoring session, you’ll now be on ready alert for signs
that audience perceptions are beginning to move in your
general direction.

You will be well-served to keep your eye on the core of
this approach: persuade your most important outside
audiences with the greatest impacts on your organization
to your way of thinking. Then move them to take actions
that help your department, division or subsidiary prevail.

In this way, rather than measuring the narrow results
achieved by the tactical subsets of your public relations
program like special events, brochures, broadcast plugs
or press releases, you will have discovered the only true
measure of public relations: the results of your strategic
efforts to alter individual perception among your key
outside audiences leading to changed behaviors, helping
you achieve your managerial objectives.

Put another way, instead of writing off public relations,
managers are best advised to assemble the resources and
action planning they need to achieve changed behaviors
among their most important outside audiences. Then do
something to persuade those important folks to their way
of thinking, and move them to take actions that allow their
department, group, division or subsidiary to succeed.

end

Please feel free to publish this article and resource box
in your ezine, newsletter, offline publication or website.
A copy would be appreciated at bobkelly@TNI.net.
Word count is 1245 including guidelines and resource box.
Robert A. Kelly © 2005.

Bob Kelly counsels and writes for business, non-profit and
association managers about using the fundamental premise of public
relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has published over
200 articles on the subject which are listed at EzineArticles.com, click
ExpertAuthor, click Robert A. Kelly. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola
Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport
News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S.
Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The
White House. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Columbia
University, major in public relations.
mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net Visit:http://www.PRCommentary.com

Prefab homes have been available for years. They are affordable options for people who want a home but can not afford the down payment or financing associated with a traditional style home. It used to be that prefab homes were of lower quality and you could tell what was custom built and what was merely a prefab home. However, nowadays, there are many styles of home to choose from and prefab homes can look as attractive as any traditional style home. Most prefab home builders have several varieties of home from which to choose and they styles range from traditional to rustic to modern. Whatever your personal home style, there will be prefab homes that are available to suit your needs.

Prefab homes are constructed mostly in a factory and then assembled on the site where the home is supposed to go. This helps speed up the construction process by a lot. There are various types of prefab home available and some are more appealing than others. Fr example mobile homes are generally considered a type of prefab home. However, even though the quality of a mobile home is good, they are not up to the quality of other types of homes. There are also often restrictions on this type of home in certain communities. Because of home owner associations, there may be restrictions on the type of home that can be built so be sure to check with the area in which you are building before committing to anything.

Modular homes are often not as restricted as mobile homes and there is a lot more flexibility to these. They can be customized or made from an existing design then put together on the site for the home. Panelized homes are those that are whole walls that are shipped to the job site to be assembled. Once there, insulation is added. Many of these types of home are also not

allowed in neighborhoods so check on restrictions. Log cabins are fast becoming a popular choice in prefab homes. It lends a rustic feel and is perfect for a small piece of privately owned land for a vacation getaway.

Quickly, easily get in your new

HREF="http://www.prefab-homes-slab.info/" rel="nofollow">prefab home with our prefabricated home tips and link resources..

Just because you have bad credit does not mean you can not find a home loan that is perfect for you. The best place to start is online. You can find several lenders online that can help you purchase a home even if you have bad credit.

The first thing you should do before you begin searching for a home loan is to get together all your information. You will need any financial statements that you have including your IRS tax form and any other information regarding your income now.

If you are looking to buy a home, you should know the price of the home you are planning on buying and how much you can afford to use as a down payment. Most lending companies for home loans for people with bad credit require at least 10% down. But, if you can afford 20% percent you can save hundreds of dollars of year by avoiding private mortgage insurance.

Check out the lending company. Some designed for high risk loans, which are people with bad credit. These companies usually charge a couple of interest points higher than other lending companies, because they do accept high risk clients. They will also require a down payment so they will get something if they have to foreclose on your loan. So, be sure that you read all the fine print before you agree to a loan.

Remember to compare rates. Home loan lending companies vary in their mortgage rates and this amount can be as much as 5% which can really add up to hundred or thousands of dollars over the length of your home loan. It is always best to receive quotes from several different home loan lending companies before you actually make a decision.

Always be sure to look for other fees that may be added to your home loan. These fees should be taken into consideration along with the interest rate.

When you receive a good quote you should take it, these quotes do not always last while you take your time to decide. Mortgages rates vary daily.

Copyright Attila Z. Jancsina Home Loans

I was recently speaking with a mutual friend who has been in
sales for several years about the benefits of CRM. (For the sake
of this newsletter, we’ll call him Jim) Jim was quick to comment
on how he didn’t like any of the current CRM software packages,
and had used several of them for his various employers. Jim told
me how he swore by Outlook and that he had used it for many
years, and had developed such efficiency that every other
solution was less effective for him.

**************************************** We will talk in a few
weeks about how important the CRM system end user experience is
to the success of any CRM deployment, but for today, I would
like to focus on another topic.
****************************************

You see, if “CRM” is only being implemented as a new contact and
appointment manager, then Outlook probably is an appropriate
tool. ACT! is the world’s leading contact manager and there are
tens of thousands around the world that swear by it. These are
both good, solid, workable tools for some remote salespeople.

However, Customer Relationship Management is a much more
comprehensive endeavor than simple contact management, or even
efforts to automate the sales force’s daily activities. It
requires integration of processes, software applications, and
databases.

**************************************** We are now talking
about strategically making the customer experience better,
across the organization…

When they interact with their salesperson… When they call the
finance department… When they need technical support… When
they visit your website… and when they are marketed to.
****************************************

Outlook cannot possibly enable such things, or capture
information to be analyzed.

When I began to dig a little deeper to understand why Jim had
this apprehension and distaste for CRM products, the picture
became a little clearer. You see, he really let me know that his
main problem was not necessarily the CRM products themselves,
but rather the executive team and sales management’s perception
of the system and what is was supposed to do.

Many times, management recognizes the need for CRM. Their
competition is “Implementing CRM”. The press is talking about
CRM. They know that they need to change something, increase
their sales, while reducing costs. But a lot of times, CRM is
reduced to just another contact manager, implemented with three
times as much administration for the sales team, so that
management can see what the heck they are doing. Tough sell? You
bet. Especially to salespeople who are used to working
autonomously, and earning six figures a year.

It is important for executives and senior managers to recognize
that CRM is more than just getting information for themselves.
This is a very critical requirement, and an essential gain for
any implementation. However, we must go back to positioning CRM
as an initiative focused around making the customer experience
better. One of the ways to do this is to arm the people who are
dealing with the customer with relevant, timely, easily
retrievable information. It is also important to empower them
with applications that make it easy for them to enter new
information they discover during their interaction. The next
step, the critical factor we are discussing today is to make
that information available to all parties within the
organization who might be able to take advantage of it -
executives, managers, sales reps, marketing, tech support reps,
finance, customer service, etc.

CRM truly is a mindset. It is the implementation of customer
centric business strategies and processes that are intended to
make the customer feel like they are the company’s first
priority. Implementing these strategies generally require the
proper technology as an enabler to successfully deploy and
implement the new systems and processes.

**************************************** If you missed my
article about customer centricity last month, take the time to
review it here “Why Customer Centricity?”
****************************************

My converation with Jim continued, and went something like this:

BRIAN: “I assume you don’t do any of the order processing, when
your prospects sign a purchase agreement for your products and
services.” JIM: “No, once I receive the signed contract, I fax
that back to headquarters, and they follow up with fulfillment
and billing”

BRIAN: “Are you ever aware of any issues that the customer has
after the order has shipped?” JIM: “Not always. Occasionally,
when they are really mad, or are having serious trouble, I’ll
get a call.”

BRIAN: “Have you ever gone to call on an existing customer, and
walked into a landmine because they have a nagging issue with
your tech support or finance department?” JIM: “Yeah, that
definitiely happens. It would be nice to know ahead of time
somehow, but unless tech support is really proactive and knows
our schedules, they really never notify us, especially because
we are in different timezones”

BRIAN: “So you have no idea what is going on with your customer
with other departments in your company, the other “touch points”
your customer has with your organization?” JIM: “Well, I try and
stay in touch with the customer as much as possible, but no, I
don’t generally know what is going on with them unless there is
a serious issue.”

BRIAN: “Is it fair to say that the rest of your organization
really has no visibility to what is going on with you and the
prospect/customer either?” JIM: “Pretty much. I sent in a report
monthly of my activity to my boss, but that is about it.”

BRIAN: “How about any financial information? Do you have access
to any of that?” JIM: “Quarterly we get a spreadsheet from
corporate. I compare my personal spreadsheet to theirs just to
make sure that my commission is right.”

Perhaps some of you can relate to this situation. It is not that
uncommon, but more and more companies are realizing the benefits
of moving towards being a customer centric organization through
a CRM initiative.

I went on to begin to paint a different picture for Jim about
how his life could be made a lot easier and how he could be more
productive with his time. Below are just 4 ways that integrating
department silos, and disparate applications and data could
improve a salesperson’s life. I could expand and share a similar
list about each end user of a CRM system, but I think that you
can probably draw some conclusions on your own about how
integrating information would help Sales Managers, Customer
Service Personnel, Technical Support representatives, and
Accounts Receivable specialists.

****************************************

1. What if you could turn a quote into an order with the push of
a button, and have it automatically inserted into your
ERP/Financial system? Wouldn’t that cut down on time and errors
spent entering orders in two systems?

2. What if you had visibility about all the open tech support or
other customer service issues that your customer had called
about, and you were able to proactively contact them, instead of
being blindsided when you are trying to sell them additional
products or services? Do you think they might be impressed with
your level of service and attentiveness? Do you think that your
unsolicited follow up might communicate to them that even when
things go wrong, you are truly interested in helping them?

3. What if you had access to see how much a customer had spent
over the past year, the products they had purchased, and whether
they were on time with their payments? Do you think this might
give you increased visibility to who your most valuable
customers are? Do you think it might help prioritze who you
should be calling on?

4. What if you could sort your customers easily by product line,
and easily market to them with complimentary products and
services that you offer? Do you think it might help enhance
collaboration between Sales and Marketing departments in cross
selling efforts? ****************************************

“An effective CRM implementation will have to be able to account
for an entire spectrum of customer-based systems and how they
interact with customers themselves. This is likely to include
conventional personal interactions, paper-based transactions,
Web site browsing, e-commerce, telephone contact or voice/data
interaction via wireless technology. Organizations must be able
to manage and maintain these multiple points of interaction to
say they have an effective CRM system.” says Charles Saunders in
the September 24, 2001 edition of EAI Journal.

Outlook can be effective for managing your day to day tasks. But
how much time is spent on the phone, through email, looking at 4
different spreadsheets to gather fragmented, out of date
information? No wonder so many people are frustrated.

To learn more about how Initium Technology can help integrate
your applications, data, and information silos into an efficient
customer relationship system, please call us at 1-800-250-5732,
or visit our website http://www.initiumtech.com/rfi.htm

Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day and President’s Day weekend! Be
sure and take the time to express your love to the special
people in your life!

Kind regards,

Brian Vellmure Initium Technology bvellmure@initiumtech.com

Copyright 2003 Initium, LLC. All Rights Reserved

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competitive advantage through a more customer centric approach
to their business? Please forward this to email to them. To
subscribe to this newsletter, please click on the link below:
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Imagine a pile of fresh-cooked chips, crisp outside, meltingly smooth and starchy inside. A soft, squidgey doughnut, oozing jam. A mound of ice-cream. A whole box of chocolates…just for you. A big bag of salty, crunchy crisps.

Hard for most of us to refuse — and for people with food cravings, almost impossible. Cravings are strong desires for particular foods or types of food, almost always high-fat and often high-sugar as well. These are danger foods, diet busters with a vengeance. Once you start eating them, it’s very difficult to stop, and the desire for them can seem irresistible and uncontrollable.

Cravings aren’t fuelled by hunger. They are often set off by emotional needs, and can also be caused by food allergy. Since many diets do leave you feeling hungry, how can you tell whether that sudden passion for chips is an emotionally-based craving or simple semi-starvation?

Craving

* Is in the mouth and mind. You long for the taste, texture, mouth-filling qualities and feel of a certain food:

* Is sudden and urgent

* Is specific, for a particular food or type of food

* Is semi-automatic; you just can’t stop shovelling it in

* You may go on eating past the point of physical discomfort

* Leaves you feeling ashamed

Real Hunger

* Is in the stomach, with rumbling, emptiness, discomfort

* Grows gradually

* A wide range of food would do

* Is under conscious control

* You stop when you’re full

* Leaves you feeling satisfied

Food cravings can make your life a continuing misery, trapped in a hideous vicious circle. You feel fat, unattractive and unlovable. So you binge to distract yourself, to fill the emptiness inside, to cheer yourself up. It doesn’t — or not for long. What it does do is make you feel out of control, disgustingly piggish and profoundly ashamed. Your self-esteem ends up even lower and your hips even larger.

Knowing the pointless harm you’re doing yourself doesn’t help you stop. Lecturing yourself, blaming yourself, hating yourself — these reactions not only don’t stop the cravings, the stress makes them worse.

There are three games your cravings play to make you feel it’s OK to give in to them — just this once.

*persuading yourself that giving in will positively improve things in the present situation — some chocolate will really energise you.

*telling yourself that bingeing will help relieve anxieties, depression or other discomforts … cream cake is so soothing.

*believing that you deserve it … you’ve stuck to a diet all week, you’re entitled to some chips tonight.

All harmless enough — unless you have food cravings and you know that once you start, you won’t stop. Obviously it’s a good idea to find other things which relieve stress, make you feel good and act as rewards.

Five ways to beat bingeing

Half the battle in learning to cope with cravings is realising that you CAN resist them. These six key tips will point the way.

* Keep things in proportion. Thinking of your cravings as ‘overpowering’ urges it would be ‘unbearable’ to resist, that you just ‘couldn’t live without’ chips or whatever is just so frightening and stressful that you’ll head straight for the fridge to calm down.

Such over-the-top descriptions are simply not true, so change your inner language. Is walking past the chip shop really unbearable — compared with breaking a leg? Use words like ‘uncomfortable’ to yourself instead. Remember that millions of people have overcome full-scale addictions — for drink, tobacco and drugs. You can certainly cope with chocolate. You can bear the feeling, you won’t go crazy.

It helps to remember past times when you’ve denied a strong urge. You survived then, you can survive now.

* Visualise the results of giving in. Counter the immediacy of the craving by making the long-term consequences very vivid. Urges are very shortsighted; it’s hard to see past that tub of ice cream. So ask yourself: How will I feel later if I give in?

Imagine someone whose opinion matters to you watching you stuff yourself, finding out you can’t control yourself. Imagine how you’ll feel once you’ve, yet again, proved to yourself that you’re a slob with no willpower? Now, feel the glow of achievement you’ll have when you walk away from the food. See yourself as a size 12, slipping easily into terrific clothes in a communal changing room.

Warnings on the fridge door can help. So can talking to yourself as if you were advising a friend. Use to yourself the arguments you would use to her.

* The Inner Beast! Think of the craving as something quite separate from yourself. Give it points on a ten point scale. Even a name, perhaps — one woman called her food cravings ‘the Beast’. Distancing it this way makes it easier to fight.

* Mental distraction. Create a vivid mental picture of a peaceful setting — a warm beach, perhaps — and use it to relax. This will help if you mainly overeat as a response to stress. However, if being relaxed just makes cravings stronger for you, choose some challenging mental activity … planning the perfect holiday, designing your dream house, creating a business, working out what makes your boss tick…

* Physical distraction. Leave the place where you feel the craving. Get out of the kitchen and take a walk or do some gardening. Monitor yourself to find out when and where you feel most tempted, and change or avoid those particular situations.

* Food allergy. If you mainly crave one type of food .. ie wheat (bread, pasta, pizza, cakes, biscuits) … suspect you may have a food allergy/addiction. Try stopping ANY wheat (read every label) for a week, then try a little again. If you’re allergic/addicted, you’ll feel bad as withdrawal kicks in, great after a week, craving again once you try the food again. If you stay off the wheat, you’ll be free of cravings. But having ‘just one biscuit’ is like an alcoholic having ‘just one drink’ … Be warned! And consult a nutritional professional.

Why haven’t I talked at all about understanding the emotional reasons behind food craving?

Because you can gain control of your eating without analysing the reasons. It’s so tempting to use introspection as a substitute for action and a way of finding excuses and justifications for going on giving in. ‘I have to binge, I had such a miserable childhood.’

You don’t have to, and you can learn not to. Good luck!

Jane Firbank’s site, http://www.secretsofchange.com/, has over 100 fascinating and helpful problem letter replies, plus scores of articles and book reviews.

Jane Firbank is a psychotherapist working from the new Human Givens approach to counselling. This unites cutting-edge psychological and brain research with the new insights of evolutionary psychology and the ancient insights of the traditional healing and spiritual disciplines. The Human Givens approach is powerfully and rapidly effective in helping people move on from depression, stress and anxiety, obsession, psychosis, relationship problems and addiction. Phobias, traumas and Post Traumatic Stress can often be removed in one or two sessions using the latest knowledge of how the brain works.

Jane Firbank, BSc (Psych), HG Dip, GHR, is in private practice in London, England where she also regularly writes and consults on psychological matters for the Press, TV and radio.

What does your dream dining room look like? Is it rich in color and texture, romantic, cozy, warm, comfortable and inviting all at the same time? Would you love to incorporate colorful fabrics and rich textures in your dining room’s décor but are not sure how to pull it off? You are not alone. The truth is: Many people long to incorporate the use of textured and patterned fabric into their decorating style but are not sure where they should begin.

One of the easiest and least expensive steps that can be taken to create a room that is rich in texture and exquisite color is to purchase a piece of dining room furniture such as a parsons chair. Parsons chairs are usually perfect for most people who are just beginning to experiment with decorating with fabrics because they are both beautiful and versatile. Parsons chairs are also very classy and appeal to those who are afraid to step out of the traditional norm.

With parsons chairs you can choose a piece of furniture that is truly unique and captivating without having to replace all of your room’s existing furniture or rearrange the room’s layout overmuch. If you are daring, you can choose a parsons chair with an interesting design or pattern which will bring that added flair to your room without having to commit to a huge change. If you are looking for a something a little more subtle, perhaps a parsons chair featuring a fabric similar in color but different in texture to your existing furnishings may be in order. Or if you prefer something with an Old World feel to it, perhaps you might like to incorporate the use of a parsons chair with a deep velvety fabric.

The bottom line is that there are numerous options when it comes to parsons chairs. And the beauty is that they can be placed in any dining room no matter what the style or existing furnishings.

Take for instance the Red Toile Roll Back parsons chair by Powell. This parsons chair features a roll back design and a box skirt with Red Toile 1907 Fabric. A set of these parsons chairs would be the perfect addition to any style dining room from traditional to casual contemporary.

As you can see from these few examples, there is a wide variety of decorating options associated with parsons chairs. So if you are looking to incorporate rich color and texture into your living space, perhaps you should browse the selection of parsons chairs. You may just find something that is perfect for you.

Jennifer Akre is a successful business owner of numerous furniture websites such as http://www.GourmetDecorStore.com. Her websites offer product and information about parsons chairs, bakers rack styles and other furniture and decor for your home and garden.

Your website is an important part of your business. Not only for your online but also for many offline business. Your online presence means that you can tap into the huge and growing market of the Internet. Many people think that having your own website and setting it up is complicated and expensive but it is not necessarily so. Here are some tips to have you up and running with ease.

1. Planning your website

1. Analyzing your desired visitors
2. How to attract them and warm them to the sale
3. Writing good content
4. Your sales letter
5. Your domain name
6. Optimizing content

Before you build a website you will need to put some thought and planning into it. Your first step will be to decide who are your most wanted visitors. Analyze them carefully, who are they? What interests them? Where do they go? Make a thumbnail sketch and write it down for reference.

Then list all the ways you will attract them and make them stay at your site. What info content are they looking for? What sort of newsletter will interest them? Most important of all find out their needs and wants, so that you can build your product/service to fulfill these needs. List all these and keep record of them.

Make a list of all the info articles that will interest them and warm potential buyers for the sale. Put a couple on your website and keep the rest for future newsletter material.

Your sales letter: This is the heart of your business and should be done right. If you are an experienced copywriter then go ahead and write a warm persuasive personal sales letter. If you do not have experience then it is worth hiring a professional to write one for you. You can hire professional writers at http://Elance.com for a reasonable price. You should place your sales letter on your home page and have your info articles link into it.

Your domain name: Should have at least 1-2 keywords or even be made up of your key phrase for your business. This will help with Search engine placement and will help to brand your business in your visitors minds.

Ideally your content should be optimized so that you can be placed well with the search engines.

2. Choosing an HTML editor.

1. Which one is right for you?
2. How to get a free one with hosting
3. Do it yourself VS having a website designed

There are 2 major HTML editors that are used commonly, Front Page and Dreamweaver. They can run you about $300-$400 but if you want to work on your site yourself will be worth it. Front page is a basic HTML editor but if your site requires PHP scripting is a little hard to work with. Dreamweaver does allow PHP scripts and is also easy to use. Do a comparison check and see which one will work for you.

If you have Yahoo hosting they provide a free HTML editor, which is quite easy to use.

If you have the funds you may want to have your site designed, especially if you have a service, where credibility is very important. Making your own website can be quite time consuming and although rewarding is not for everyone.

3. Designing your website

1. Your content-Preselling points
2. Free give a ways
3. Layout/Presentation
4. Use of graphics
5. Forms instead of email
6. Basic web promotion
7. Newsletter

When you write your web content you can use a couple of your best articles about your subject. Visitors will enjoy this and see you as an expert in your field. This boosts your credibility, wins trust and warms your potential buyer for the sale.Product reviews are also good selling points. Landing pages for direct advertising is always good; these can and should be optimized for search engine traffic.

Free info can be offered in the form of reports and e-courses. These can be given as a bonus for subscribing to your newsletter.

Your layout is important. Navigation should be simple and easy for your visitors, usually on the left hand side. Keep your layout professional and businesslike with normal font (Times Roman, Ariel or Veranda in normal size font). Black on white background is good for a business site. Try to use just 2 colors at the most to keep it looking businesslike. A simple template looks good for a business website. Try to find one that matches your topic.

Use graphics sparingly. Business websites should always look sober and professional. Small graphics are good to emphasize a point and book covers help to sell e-books and software.

Use forms instead of email addresses on your website for the contact us and about us section. This will cut down Spammers harvesting your email address.

Basic web promotion includes search engine submission, Pay-per-clicks, Google ad campaigns, and linking to related sites. Article distribution is also a powerful way to get targeted traffic to your site.

A free newsletter is a must for capturing visitors email addresses and building your business list.

Building your website can be a fun and rewarding task. However it does take time and good planning. With these few points you will be able to build a profit pulling website, that will continue to make you money for years to come.

I was born in September 20, 1955 in Romania, and I am a Romanian citizen. Married, 2 beautiful daughters 18 and 20 years.
I graduated Faculty of Automatics in 1983 becoming a System Engineer, with a full degree. I worked in Ultra Sonic and High Frequency Power Supply Converter research institute in Bucharest, Romania until 1990.
After the fall of Ceausescu’s regime, I have worked in sales since 1994. I now run my own company FOX I.E. in Romania. Starting in 1997 my company has dedicated its whole efforts to internet software activity.
In 2003 I founded my own US based corporation IT PRO VISION, Inc. Both companies have their own websites at FOX SOFTWARE and IT PRO VISION, Inc.
More articles can be found at marketing.itprovision.net

I was doing some keyword research on the Google AdWords site
recently, and discovered something interesting. There is intense
demand for keywords having to do with digital TV topics. Google
AdWords will predict the average CPC (cost per click) for any
given keyword (or phrase). “TiVo” averages $3.82 per click.
“DirecTV” is $7.27. “Dish Network” is a whopping $12.46.
I kid you not. People are willing to pay Google $12.46, on
average, to get their text ad listed at the top of the pile.
This doesn’t mean everyone pays this much, of course. It just
means that’s how much you have to pay to come out on top.

Now the obvious question becomes: “Why on earth would anyone pay
more than $12 for a single click?” The answer, I discovered
today, is that Dish Network has a pretty extensive multi-level
affiliate program. They don’t let individuals work with them
directly, but there are a number of resellers out there who do
most of their business through individual affiliates. The reason
people are willing to pay $12 for a click, is that if it results
in a sale, the affiliate can make $100 or more.

I did some more research, and I believe I’ve found the highest
paying site out there: BuyMyDish.com.
You can earn $120 per sale right off the bat, increasing to $140
if your volume increases. Also, if you get others to sign up for
the affiliate program, you can make a little extra on any sales
they make. Just Go
here, select “Affiliates” from the top menu, and then select
“Join”. It takes only about 2 minutes to get signed up. The
program is managed through MyAffiliateProgram.com, a reputable
online affiliate management company. They give you a wide range
of tracking tools, so you can figure out how often your banners
are being displayed, where your clicks come from, and which ones
result in sales. This is far more advanced than anything you’d
see from Clickbank. They also offer a pretty good “Affiliate
Training and Education Center”. This site has all sorts of
resources and ideas on how to be more successful as an
affiliate, including how to set up your own website easily, and
start to drive traffic to it.

One reason these affiliate sales programs are doing so well, is
that Dish Network is currently giving away the equipment. You
get a free dish, free receivers in up to four rooms, free DVR
upgrades, and free HD upgrades. Add to that the fact that the
service is cheaper than cable, and it’s pretty easy to get
people to make the switch. Satellite service from the likes of
DirecTV and Dish Network has been steadily gaining on cable for
the last several years now.

Once you’ve signed up, the question is how to get your affiliate
links out there for people to click. The easiest way would be
using Google AdWords. The problem with that, as you may have
figured out by now, is that it’s going to be expensive. One way
to get around this is to look for lower cost keywords that might
still grab interested visitors. Try some common misspellings.
“Dsih Network” and “Free Dsih” will be much cheaper, but you may
end up getting some decent traffic anyway. Also try some related
phrases like “satellite comparison”. This will be particularly
helpful if you have a website that has some sort of comparison
on it.

The other easy way to get some links out there is to set up a
blog. See my previous article about how to get set up with your
own blog site.

I think this is a pretty good program. You can’t really lose
anything, and it has potential for big profits if you start
making sales. Sign
up, and let me know how it goes!