Forex Broker Guide

Introduction

The following is a list of questions you may like to consider before opening an account. You can use this checklist to narrow down your selection of companies that fit your requirements. You may also wish to refer to the forex broker ratings page on this site to read about traders unique experiences with particular brokers.

Important Note to Traders: GoForex recommends you do not open an account with a U.S. based forex broker regulated by the CFTC and NFA, due to excessive and over-bearing regulation imposed on retail forex brokers including reduced leverage levels, the "no-hedging" rule and the FIFO (first-in, first-out) rule which affects the way you trade.

The following links will also give you some background information on U.S. FCM's (Futures Commission Merchants).

• Selected Financial Data for FCM's
• NFA Background Affiliation Status

1. Word of Mouth

• What do other traders say about the broker? See Forex Broker Ratings & Forex Broker Reviews
• What is their customer service like?

2. Customer Protection

• Is the broker regulated?
• What regulatory organisation are they registered with and what protections does it afford the client?
• Are client funds protected against fraud?
• Are client funds protected against bankruptcy?

3. Execution

• What business model do they operate? i.e. Are they a Market Maker[?], ECN[?] or no-dealing desk broker[?]?
• How fast is their order execution?
• Are orders manually or automatically executed? [?]
• What is the maximum trade size before you have to request a quote?
• Are all clients trades offset?

4. Spread [?]

• How small is the spread?
• Is it fixed or variable?

5. Slippage [?]

• How much slippage can be expected in normal and fast moving markets?

6. Margin [?]

• What is the margin requirement? e.g. 0.25% margin = max 400:1 leverage [?]), 0.5% margin = max 200:1 leverage, 1% margin = max 100:1 leverage, 2% margin = max 50:1 leverage, etc.
• Does the margin requirement change for different currency pairs or days of the week?
• At what point does the broker issue a margin call?
• Is required margin the same for standard and mini accounts? [?]

7. Commissions

• Does the broker charge commissions? (Most market makers commissions are built into the spread)

8. Rollover Policy [?]

• Is there a minimum margin requirement in order to earn rollover interest?
• What are the swap rates like for going long or short in a particular currency pair?
• Are there any other conditions for earning rollover interest?

9. Trading Platform

• How intuitive and functional is it to use?
• Are there many disconnections during trading hours?
• How reliable is it during fast moving markets and news announcements?
• How many different currency pairs are available to trade?
• Does the broker offer an Application Programming Interface (API) to allow clients to automate their trading systems?
• Does the broker offer any other special features? (e.g. One click dealing, trading from the chart, trailing stops, mobile trading etc.)

10. Trading Account

• What is the minimum balance required to open an account?
• What is the minimum trade size?
• Can clients adjust the standard lot size traded? [?]
• Can clients earn interest on the unused margin in their account?

How to Write a CV

In the CV heading you can write your general information:

• Name
• Surname
• Local address
• E-mail address
• Phone number

(If applying for an overseas job, please remember to include your international dialling code.) Include your mobile/cell phone number if you are going to relocate soon.

CV Skills Summary

The Skills Summary section of your CV includes your main skills. You should only include keywords in his section, do not go into lengthy descriptions of your skills. The skill summary is also called personal profile.

CV Objective

The CV Objective, sometimes also referred to as CV Personal Profile states "What is the next step in my career?" This should be a short, concise statement that informs the employer what kind of position you are looking for. The type of position, the role (managerial, supervisor, contractor) should be included as well.

If you are job hunting it is a good idea to have several CV's with different profiles or objectives. For example, you can have a CV for a sales supervisor and the other for a shop floor manager. Your 'sales supervisor' CV can highlight achievements in this area, and the CV would be tuned to that particular in terms of job descriptions and achievements.

Education on your CV

List all of your qualifications in this section. Include all of your education including certifications from non-academic institutions, especially those that are related to the job vacancy. If you have more work experience than qualifications, put your work experience before your qualifications.

Write for profit and passion

Write for profit and passion

If this is your first time visiting Article Insider, take some time to browse around. If you are looking for information on a particular topic, use the Category Menu or Search. If you don't find what you are looking for, let us know or better yet, consider writing an article for Article Insider to publish. We are always looking for new freelance writing talent. Remember, freelance writers can choose to write about practically anything.

If you are seeking to write, then welcome! There is plenty of work for writers here. The team at Article Insider knows, especially in these economic times, that many writers are turning to the internet in hopes of finding writing jobs. That is what inspired us to create Article Insider. First, let's get clear on some basic terminology. Whether one is searching for "freelance writing jobs", "online copywriting jobs" or "online content writing jobs" âÄì it all basically means the same thing: jobs for writers. The internet has now become the publishing platform of choice (or necessity!). Online has become mainstream and everyone has access.

This, as many of you are acutely aware, had a transformative effect on the traditional publishing industry. It has also generated fresh possibilities for those who love to write. There are ways for writers to earn money unheard of only five years ago. Article Insider is dedicated to exploring these new avenues of earning and career development with you. We will change to reflect your desires and needs. We start from the premise that well written, thoughtful articles will attract advertisers. For those who aren't keeping track, online advertising is the principal revenue engine driving the internet economy. That is how Google makes its money. It has been true for the traditional publishing industry as well.

We want you to make money writing

We believe that what is good for Google and has been good for the publishing industry is also good for writers. This of course turns the notion of a "writing job" on its head. By eliminating the need for a publisher in the old sense, writers now face their audience directly. Here there are no editors to determine who gets which story, dole out assignments or pay for articles (and keep the advertising profits). Each of you becomes a publisher. You need to decide what to write, when to write it and most importantly, how to write it.

Over time, if your writing is solid and your topics are well chosen, your body of online writing work will likely begin to generate advertising revenue. The more people who read and find your articles interesting, the more advertising revenues you should receive. The more articles you write, the more locations there are for additional ads, hence more revenue for you. Will you see money immediately? Probably not. But if you stick with it, then your earnings can grow long after you have written the article.

Article Insider does well economically only if you do well. For that reason we have collected information and tools to help you be successful. You'll find them under "Writer's Treasure Chest", which you can access by registering and logging in to your free Article Insider account.

How Much Time Should You Spend Mortgage Shopping?

How much time should you spend shopping for a mortgage? How much effort do you need to put in to be sure of getting the best deal?

A recent report by the mortgage data company Zillow made minor waves when it found that one-third of borrowers spent only two hours or less researching their mortgage. That’s the same amount of time the average consumer spends shopping for a TV.

On average, borrowers spent five hours researching mortgages. That sounds a lot better, until you consider it’s the same amount of time the average person spends making plans for their vacation. And its half as long as the 10 hours spent shopping for a car.

Home and mortgage go together

By comparison, those same borrowers spend an average of 40 hours shopping for the house they end up buying and financing with that mortgage. That’s not to say you need to spend that long researching your mortgage, but most people will have the loan as long as they have the house - or nearly so. And a 30-year mortgage last a lot longer than the typical car or TV.

Of homeowners who obtained mortgages in the past five years to either purchase or refinance a home, two-thirds said they’d like to do things differently the next time they take out a mortgage, according to the Zillow study. And doing things differently can mean big savings. A difference of a quarter of a percent on the mortgage rate for $250,000 mortgage can mean a savings of nearly $40 a month on a 30-year fixed-rate loan – and nearly $14,000 over the life of the loan.

So how much time should you spend? If you’ve never shopped for a mortgage before, 10 hours is a pretty good rule of thumb. If you’re already familiar with the mortgage process and the fees that are involved, your time can be significantly less. But the important thing isn’t the time spent, but what you do with it that counts.

Check your credit reports first

The first thing you want to do, before you contact any lenders or even start shopping for a house, is to check your credit report. By law, you’re entitled to a free report every year from each of the three credit reporting companies – Experion, Equifax and Transunion – so just go ahead and order all three, unless you’re already ordering annual copies. Order them at www.annualcreditreport.com– that’s the official source.

Once you have your reports, check them for errors. If you find any, report them to the company in question and have them corrected. You don’t want bad information weighing down your credit score, because your score determines the interest rate you can get.

Next, start researching lenders and brokers. Choose about six to ten and call them up and ask about their rates and fees. With online brokers, you can do this electronically. Don’t focus just on the ones that advertise the lowest rates – check with a few that appear a bit higher and try to find out the reason for the difference.

Understanding mortgage fees

What you’ll find is that there are big differences in how lenders and brokers structure their fees – and understanding this is going to take most of your research time. One lender may offer a lower rate, but may charge more in points and fees, which could actually make that loan more costly than one with a higher interest rate.

When you’ve identified three or four that seem to offer the best deals, put in a loan application with each. Submitting a loan application means they must provide you with a Good Faith Estimate, which is a three-page federal form that sets forth the terms of the loan they’re offering, including interest rate and fees. Avoid lenders who insist you pay an application fee up front – there are plenty of lenders who will offer a GFE at no charge.

The new GFE, which came into use on Jan.1, 2010, is designed to make it easy to compare offers from different lender. The GFE breaks down your mortgage costs into three main categories – the interest rate, the lender’s origination fees and third-party fees charged by parties other than the lender. The form is designed to enable you to accurately compare these costs among multiple lenders and see which is the best deal.

Before committing to a lender, you may want to do one final check and request current interest rates from all of them – rates can change several times a day – before choosing one and locking in your rate. Locking in your rate pretty much commits you to a lender and you will have to pay for that. But if you’ve invested the time and done your research, you shouldn’t have anything more to worry about

Finding the Best Mortgage Lender

Mortgages have been stealing the headlines these days, from the beginning of the crisis through the anticipation concerning current financial reform. But there’s one thing that hasn’t changed – if you want a mortgage loan, you need to find a lender. With so many banks to choose from, you may feel confused and overwhelmed. If you’re looking for your mortgage lender, here are some tips to help you find the one that’s right for you.

Mortgage lender search

Step one is to search the Internet. You’ll be asked a few basic questions, like the property type, the home value, and the kind of mortgage rate you’re looking for. Then you’ll be matched with lenders who do business in your area who will give you quotes and relevant information. Next, visit any brick and mortar institutions in your neighborhood, especially the bank where you already have your account. Many offer lower preferred rates to existing customers.

If you’re working a realtor, ask her for lender suggestions. She’s been around the closing block a few times and can offer great tips on who to, and who not to, use. Warning: Don’t be compelled or pressured to take her suggestion. Her recommendation is just another quote for you to compare with the others.

Make a list of the different lenders, and what they’re offering, so that you can compare them side by side. Remember to include the various closing costs, application fees, APR, etc. so you can compare every aspect of the potential loan. Also request information about the application process, the documentation that you’ll need, and how long the entire process will take. Be wary of anyone who promises you a speedy closing. As a result of the recent mortgage crisis, every aspect of acquiring a home mortgage is taking longer to process. Plus, in Congress’s new legislation, it’s incumbent upon lenders to make sure that you have the ability to repay the loan, so they’ll be doing their due diligence.

Doing better business

Once you have a list of lenders, narrow it down to three. Then, check their records with the Better Business Bureau. When you type in the name of the organization you’re researching, you’ll have access to a reliability report, which rates the company from F to A+. Then you can scroll to read the specific complaints, and whether they’ve been resolved.

If the offers are comparable, trust your intuition, and select the person with whom you feel most comfortable. You’re going to be in a close relationship with the loan officer until your mortgage is funded, so make sure it’s someone who you can easily call to field any questions. If someone doesn’t return your calls, or is short with you, you won’t have a good experience.

Now that you’re armed with the information, it's time to find your mortgage lender. Choose the bank that offers the best deal, and a lending officer with whom you feel comfortable. Then the only headline you’ll be seeing is “mortgage successfully closed.”

House Equity Release – Source of Extra Income During Retirement Read more: http://www.articlesbase.com/mortgage-articles/house-equity-release-source-

When one is young, he waits for his retirement to get released from the daily routine and live on his pension without any financial worries. But as soon as he gets old, he starts realizing the drawbacks that one has to face after getting retired. In most of the cases, the pension that the retirees receive is insufficient for meeting their essential needs. House equity release scheme has been designed to make the life of the senior citizens comfortable during their retirement phase. Many sources exist to lend their hands to the old aged individuals so that they can continue living with the similar standard that they used to follow prior to their retirement. Release equity in home provides them an opportunity to earn extra money besides receiving their monthly pension.

One is eligible to enroll for the house equity release if he has a home ownership, minimum age required and a well-maintained household. The lenders allow the old couples to stay within their own property, while earning in lieu of it. The lenders never ask them to leave the property until they desire to do so. They might leave it as soon as they get other convenient accommodation or live within their house till their last breath. Release equity in home is the facility that gives the old home owners a fair chance to enjoy a tax free income in addition to what they get as their pension. This extra source of income, however, really help them to cater to all their needs and desires.

As soon as you apply for the enrollment to these house equity release programs, the lender would approach you for the supervision of your property. Based on the maintenance level of your household asset, he will decide the amount to be given to you. In short, the value of your property will determine the amount to be received by you after getting enrolled to these release equity in home schemes. The more is your property value, the heftier your receivable amount will be. One of the basic reasons that drive the pensioners towards these plans is to make sure that whether the property of liable to pay off the debt in case the property owners fail to repay.

The old property owners are completely free to make their repayments whenever they feel it convenient and affordable. They can pay back the release equity in home amount when alive and even after their death through their household. As soon as the old homeowners die, the right and hold on the asset gets transferred to the lenders and they are then free to sell it to get their amount back inclusive of interest. Even the expected heirs are not allowed to inherit the asset as it belongs to the lenders as per the terms of the house equity release agreement.

Hence, if you want to earn more after your retirement through the scheme of release equity in home, you must focus on the maintenance of your household from time to time. The value of your property is the sole factor that influences the amount that is to be received by you during the phase of your retirement.

how to start a small business

STEP 1 Business Ideas
To start a business you will need to choose or create a business idea. While this is an obvious step many people who want their own business don't have an idea, just the desire to be an entrepreneur. For the budding entrepreneur, there are many options; buying a franchise or an existing business, or looking to others for ideas for a start-up business. Once you have decided on the business you wish to start, then the real work begins.

STEP 2 Business Plan
Writing a business plan is your next and most important step, this is how you and others will evaluate your business. When seeking financing the investors or lenders will want to read your plan before they supply you with funding. If you're financing the business yourself, you will still want to have a written plan to develop business strategies and financial projections. A key element within the business plan is the marketing plan, which explains marketing strategies that will be used to advertise and promote the products or services. The goal setting steps of the plan will help you to analyze the success of the business in future years and clearly illustrate the capital needed to operate the company to break-even.

STEP 3 Financing
With your business plan in hand, you are ready to go find yourself some capital. Most small businesses have three options for financing: friends & family, investors or bank loans. Each of these options has different considerations for the business. Investors and even friends & family usually want ownership and control of their portion of the business. Bank loans burden the business with an additional expense of the loan payment, which can erode the business profits.

STEP 4 Getting started12
You've got the plan, the money and the enthusiasm; you're ready, right? Not yet, as with everything you need to take the legal issues into consideration. First you should choose a legal structure: Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, or Corporation. Your financing decisions will have an effect on what legal structure you choose. Now you can file with the state to incorporate and obtain a federal Identification number.

STEP 5 Opening the Doors
Okay, it's time to get on the road to making some money; this of course means spending money. Where are you going to run your business? Will a home office do or is commercial space needed to service your customers? Do you need to hire employees to help you run the business? What are your bookkeeping needs, do you need an accountant? Finally, who could forget taxes, what taxes do you have to pay and collect? Now that your business is through the start-up phase, you can now look forward to the issues of managing a small business.

Why Search Engines Fail

Imagine asking a stranger for directions to a clothing store. Chances are, the stranger will tell you one of two replies. They'll direct you to the nearest clothing store they know of, or they'll send to to the last one they just passed. But you're looking for the latest Spongebob Squarepants kid's shirt. You didn't tell the stranger that, did you? Probably not. So, you got directions to the local Disney store, which of course, would not be selling any competitor's clothing.

How did this happen? Simple.

Like most of us, when we type something into a search engine, we just assume that the search engine knows what we mean. A computer can only do what we tell it to do, so that's why we may not get the desired results that we are seeking. Back when the 'Net was young (1990), you could get away with such simple phrases because there wasn't much content on the Internet as there is now. This is why when you're searching, be sure to be as specific as possible. The Search Engine's entire existance is to provide relevant and specific results to you, the user. Tell the engine more relevant phrases, and you will be rewarded accordingly.

Even when searching for a singular or plural version of something, you will get different results. Some words are even more complex. For example, if you enter "wheelchair", Google will tell you there are about 1.4 million results. Add a space, and now you have "wheel chair" and Google will tell you that there are about 4.6 million results! Now to even complicate matters more, if you enter "wheel chairs" there are only 760,000 results. Remove the space and for "wheelchairs" you now get about 1.2 million results.

How does this happen?

Remember, the search engines are programmed to try and deliver the best document for each given keyword/phrase. Through a complex algorithm, they mathmatically determine which page has the most relevant content. They do this for every possible keyword and phrase that they are aware of. This why you see such a disparity in the search results.

How can I rank for all of my similar keywords?

Glad you asked. One of the many factors used in determining keyword relevancy is proximity. By using the variations of the spelling in a logical manner - such as the example I presented above, describing the different ways it can be spelled - the search engines will use this to determine that since your page talks about these variations of wheelchairs, this page must be relevant. Of course there are many other factors involved, but for the sake of this discussion, that's all we need.

Search Engine Breakdown

Ever notice that performing the same search on the major engines gives you different results? Yes, some of it is because of the algorithms and how the engines use different factors in their rankings, but pay attention to the results and a pattern has emerged.

For the sake of being fair, Ask has been included since they do serve up results in a slightly different manner. So here's how the engines shake out:


Google:

• Information Engine
• Loves Wikipedia and the results show it
• Relies heavily on trust factors (see Google Trustrank)

Yahoo:

• Social Engine
• Many results have ebay listings (a Yahoo partner), del.icio.us (Owned by Yahoo) and Flickr results (Owned by Yahoo)
• Tries to incorporate Yahoo Answers into many results

MSN:

• Product Engine
• Almost always has results for product based searches not found in the other engines
• Starting to use more Wikipedia results as their algorithm matures

Ask:

• Clustering Engine
• Their results try to give you all the surrounding information around your search term
• Trying to get into the mindshare of America

So, as you can see, each engine does provide a different slice of information depending on your search need. Keep this in mind when you are not only looking for something, but when selecting the keyphrase you want to be ranked for.

-To your online success!

What are YOU Worth

No, I am not talking about how much you make, or what you're assets are worth. I am not talking about how much you could get freelancing out in the big bad world either.

What I am talking about is how much do you bring to the table.

Thank about this scenario:

You want to start your own SEO/SEM conference event. So, you start to call all the speakers at past events. Almost everyone turns you down because they've never heard of you. You may get some people who feel bad and will sheepishly commit if other "big names" do the same.

Now, pretend you're Danny Sullivan. When he contacts people to speak at the conferences, the only pushback he might get is limiting people to how many sessions they can speak at.

See the difference?

Sometimes deals are made based on what you are known for (reputation capital). These opportunities do not happen by accident. When a deal is completed because of the "You" factor, think about the time you've spent responding to emails, posting to forums and blogs that have lead you to building up your name.

All those actions shaped your reputation capital.

I know in today's word it's easy to bash the silly questions and make fun of others who aren't as technically advanced - but keep in mind that just about everything that gets posted to the web leaves a trail, and when a major deal is taking place, big companies hire plebes to find any dirt they can about who you are - just to disqualify or discount you.

So remember, no one is an overnight success; it takes years of persistence and a belief in what you are doing and most importantly, consistency in delivering your point of view.

It's not always easy, but don't ever let your value decrease.
-To your online success!

Gut Genug SEO

For those unfamiliar with the German language, "Gut Genug" translates to "Good Enough".

Ever run into this situation? Maybe you've been fortunate enough that you are swamped with client work, and you have to do the bare minimum to get by. Instead of getting 50 links for the keyphrase that is most important, you only get 10.

Many times, when trying to get some work done, it is the client that impedes the progress. At that point, it's not your fault. But if you know that you could be doing more, are you really servicing the client?

The arguement could be made to say that if a client is only paying a certain amount, they should only get a certain amount of service. I can't argue that. But at some point the question needs to be asked: Are you providing value to your client? Or just taking their money?

So, enough about the rant. These situations do occur, and as I thought about it, I came up with a list of what would be gut genug:

(All of these are on a per month basis)

• 10 keyword-rich text links for each keyphrase
• 5 directory links for each keyphrase
• A review of the copy on the targeted pages
• A review of the page titles and meta tags
• Inform client on any changes in the search space
• Provide insight for client's search marketing strategy
• Be a protector of the client brand

I know this is not a complete list, but it's certainly "good enough" for most clients...
-To your online success!

Manage and Monitor Your Online Reputation

ust this past week, another strong brand was caught in the midst of an online controversy. The brand victim, Starbucks. Employees at a Miami Starbucks posted inappropriate photos of Starbucks customers online using the social media tool Flickr. Now, Starbucks is well known in the social media space, they have several followers on Twitter, so how did this happen?

A few months back the same thing happened to another company. I won’t go into details, because if you didn’t see the video, I don’t want to make you lose your lunch – let’s just say there were two employees of Domino's Pizza doing very unhygienic things to the pizza they were preparing. It made national news and the video on YouTube received over 1 millions views. The video threatened the reputation of a brand that had been developed by a company for 50 years.

Don't be mistaken,just because you are a business and you are not using social media, don't think that your brand can't be hurt by it if you are not paying attention. The reality is, whether or not you are participating in social media - you are playing. Your brand in some way or another is being represented,either by you as a company, by your customers or by your employees.

Monitoring major social media platforms and solving issues that reflect poorly on your brand is one of the most important parts of any company's social media effort. As a business, the most important thing to remember is that even if you are not using social media, you need to be aware of what’s going on in the social media realm when it comes to your brand. It doesn’t pay to turn a blind eye and, by doing so, it can, ultimately, be a detriment to your success.

We've all heard of brand monitoring and many of us, especially small to medium sized businesses, in the past haven't seen the need. We'd just treat customers well and give them what they need and they'd tell their friends and family. Now that we have the internet and social media, it’s even more important to monitor our reputations, especially as business owners. I always remind the clients with whom I consult that it’s not just seven people one person will tell about your services, now it’s in the millions. This is especially true with the social media tools that are available and widely used, such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

I don’t care if you don’t want to use social mediums to market your service or products, it’s more vital than ever to at least have an awareness of what’s being said within the social media realm about you, your brand, your products and your services. Sticking your head in the sand will only hurt you not help you.

How Can You Monitor and Protect the Reputation of Your Brand?

• Step 1: Understand how the social media platforms work. Learn how to use Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and MySpace. Become familiar with their platforms. Take a few moments and read the terms of services and watch and learn how people are using these social media outlets.
• Step 2. Don’t assume that social media doesn’t affect you. When it comes to social mediums, there are not just thousands of users, there are millions. These users consist of your customers who are bloggers, influencers, columnists and public figures. These people are talking about companies. Are they talking about yours? You need to know this and you need to know whether the chatter is negative or positive.
• Step 3: Actively Protect Your Brand. There are many steps that you can use to do this. Register your brand names with the various social media platforms, (add comma here) this way you avoid the chance of them being hijacked by someone else.
• Step 4: Create a social media policy for your company. This means creating a plan that informs and educates employees on the company policy and guidelines of using social media. This policy should inform them as to what they should and should not discuss when it comes to the company. And other appropriate practices and procedures to follow, especially in the event of a crisis.
• Step 5: Always be aware. There is no excuse not to know what is being said. It’s important to always have your finger on the pulse of what is being said, whether it be positive or negative. You always want to know when someone is talking about your and your brand – ignorance is no excuse. Monitor the social media platforms.
• Step 6: Embrace the negative when necessary. Social media is a conversation and a dialogue, so be willing to embrace the negative and dialogue in public regarding the situation. This gives you credibility with other consumers.

Upward mobility is no distraction for Woolworths

Good news, just in time for Women's Month, is Woolworths' decision to shed (no pun intended) several layers of its historically conservative approach to underwear. It will be displaying a new range of provocative lingerie soon.

Whether Distraction - as the new range is aptly named - will contribute towards lifting the share price to new levels has not yet been determined. But the lingerie goes a long way to satisfy female customer demands, especially plus-sized women who have asked for "sexier, glamorous" offerings, according to Ian Moir, the managing director of retail at Woolworths.

While its retail sales have climbed, Woolworths has lost market share in the lingerie section, Moir revealed at the group's results presentation yesterday.

Some 16 stores will be kitted out with a new lingerie set-up. A Distraction ad campaign will appear on television and in print publications.

Woolworths is on a mission to fine tune its customer-centric strategy and place emphasis on customer segmentation, a loyalty programme, getting store formats right and cultivating a sustainable online strategy - all in the interests of convenience for the consumer.

Customers can look forward to a tiered loyalty programme which will be designed to, among several things, build more profitable long-term relationships with customers, and provide a platform to use customer insights to drive sales. Smart.

It is maybe not all that innovative but still an effort from the company whose displays 10 years ago resembled a downtown men's outfitters, judging from photographs outgoing chief executive officer Simon Susman hauled out as evidence that Woolworths had indeed evolved.

Woolworths makes a convincing case for this continuing facelift, producing data showing more South Africans are drifting from the lower to the higher end of the Living Standards Measure and it wants to be well-positioned for that shift.

It will aim to have "the mind of a supermarket and the soul of a deli", according to the charismatic Moir. We'll see.



China

China has reached an important turning point in its development this year. Citi, the research arm of Citibank, says the country's ratio of dependants to total population is likely to reach a trough of just over 39 percent this year. Dependants include children aged up to 15 years and people of 65 and over. Citi predicts the ratio will be rising steadily for the foreseeable future as the population ages.

This has all sorts of implications. China has a limited social security system and its one-child policy has placed an enormous burden on the single child to care for ageing parents. As the population ages, the burden will rise.

However the good news for the workers is that they are likely to earn more.

China has had virtually unlimited resources of labour over the past few decades. As a result labour's share of gross domestic product fell from about 50 percent of gross domestic product in 2002 to 42 percent in 2005, possibly the lowest of any major country in the world, says Citi.
Now the success of the one-child policy is moderating labour force growth. At the same time rural development will reduce the flow of workers from rural to urban areas. The New York Times reported recently that big manufacturers were "moving to raise salaries because they are desperate to attract new workers at a time when many coastal factory cities are struggling with labour shortages".

And it is not just market forces that are at work. The newspaper said: "Beijing is supporting wage increases as a way to stimulate domestic consumption and make the country less dependent on low-priced exports."

Moreover, Citi says the emergence of more independent labour unions will improve the bargaining power of labour.

The news will cheer the hearts of workers all over the world. Goods imported from China have been competing successfully in most countries, including South Africa. The playing fields are levelling out.


Nafcoc

The National African Federated Chamber of Commerce's (Nafcoc's) plans to acquire 15 percent of one of the local banks before the end of this year looked set to be a modern miracle: controversy-free and peaceful.

This was in view of the fact that the new leadership at the 600 000-strong business chamber had promised stability in the organisation going forward.

But that expectation is now suddenly tinged with anxiety as we were recently informed Nafcoc's members were concerned they might not get their cash payouts promised when Nafcoc disposed of R1.5 billion worth of shares in Tsogo Sun.

Nafcoc had promised qualifying members would receive cash payouts for the value of their shares.

But it turns out some members think Nafcoc is not going to pay them this money. It would invest it all into purchasing a 15 percent stake in The Employment Bureau of Africa (Teba) Bank.

Some members claim that the deal has already been concluded and they were not made aware of this.

They feel they will be indebted to Teba Bank as the loan still had to be paid back. They want their money and nothing else.

But earlier this month, the chamber confirmed it had been in talks with the aim of obtaining a stake in Teba Bank. It, however, said this was not the only bank it was talking to. And nothing had been finalised.

The president of Nafcoc, Lawrence Mavundla, has been at pains in the past few weeks, trying to explain that this deal had not been struck.

Who exactly is stoking the fires at this organisation? Is it the bitter individuals who think they were pushed out of the organisation? If this is the case, then we have not seen the end of controversy and conflict at this trail-blazing business organisation.

Home insurance quotes: Choose carefully

Today there are countless number of people in every part of the world who rely heavily on to their work in order to earn the decent level of living. It is always in the best interest of the person to be well prepared for the unforeseen future in order to ensure that he is able to contribute his very best at the work place. The home is the place where the person seeks to get the desired relaxation and relief after working for hours. It is hence always in the best interest of the person to go for the desirable insurance policy for the home.

Accidents can never be predicted. It is hence always in the best interest of the person to be well prepared for the unforeseen future well in advance. This would enable the person to not only get the most desirable deal but at the same time it will prove to be the biggest sigh of relief in the future. The home insurance quotes have been able to play a very important role in determining the overall success of the person. It is hence always in the best interest of the person to be aware of all the desirable quotes.

Today there are countless number of firms in different parts of the world that offer the person with the most desirable quote. it is hence always for the beneficial of the person to get the most desirable home insurance policy. The home insurance policy provides the person with the essential funds at the right point of time and moreover it leads to the overall help for the person. Accidents like a minor short circuit or anything can lead a great shock for the person. Hence being well prepared in advance will always prove to be beneficial for the person.

There are countless number of firms that provide the person with the most desirable quotes. It is hence always in the best interest of the person to be well prepared in advance that is to be aware of all the does and don'ts before going for a particular home insurance quotes. It is the home insurance quote that enables the person to get the most desirable deal. Today there have been many instances where the people have recovered the desired sum of money by relying on to the home insurance policy that paid off in the time of need.

The Most Important Decision You Need to Make When Buying Homeowners Insurance

Nothing is more important when you buy homeowners insurance than correctly calculating how much of your home you want to insure. The figure has nothing to do with the market value of your home; it's based on how much it would cost you to rebuild your home if it were totally destroyed today. So you could sell your home for $175,000, but it would only cost $130,000 to rebuild it, then that's the most you'd need to insure it for. (Remember, you're just insuring your home, not your land.)

I recommend insuring your home for 100 percent of the replacement cost. This is the most expensive type of insurance, but I feel it's worth it. A good alternative is to insure for 80 percent of the replacement cost. You'll still receive the full amount it costs to replace any part of your home that is damaged. And since it's much more likely that part of your home would be damaged as opposed to your entire home being damaged, this is a fine alternative.

What you want to avoid, however, is insuring for anything less than 80 percent of the replacement cost. If you do, you'll only be paid for the "actual cash value" of your loss. That means depreciation is taken into account. So if your 10-year old carpeting is destroyed in a fire, your insurance company will pay you about what you could get if you sold it in a garage sale (in other words, a pittance.). And you'll have to buy brand new carpeting at probably three times what it cost you to buy the original carpeting. If, on the other hand, you had insured the home for at least 80 percent of the replacement cost, you'll receive not what you paid for the original carpeting, but what it would cost to replace the carpeting today.

Also, be sure to get replacement coverage on the contents of your of your home as well. This will guarantee that if the eight-year old sofa you bought for $300 is damaged, you'll receive enough money to buy a brand new sofa of the same type

Finding Online Jobs

There are many avenues to home employment on the Internet. If you look for jobs at home or work at home jobs on a search engine, you will find many Jobs at Home Websites with Job Listings. Some offer Free Membership and some charge a Monthly, Annual or Lifetime Registration Fee. Many offer Free Trial Memberships or Trial Memberships. Some jobs at home websites you will see on the Internet are: 2Work-At-Home.com, Bassador.com, HomeJobStop.com, Homeworkers.org, LegitJobs.net, SohoJobs.com, SpeedySecretarial.com, TJobs.com, Work-At-Home-Land.com and WorldWideWorkAtHome.com.

Staffing Services, No Fee Work At Home

However, there are also many more companies online offering home employment directly with no cost to you. Some of them are Outsourcing Services hiring home employees from their own websites. You will also see help wanted advertisements from temporary and permanent employment agencies looking for workers. You might consider employment agencies, staffing services, freelance websites, recruiters, help wanted classifieds or jobs search agents. An online search for virtual staffing services should provide many helpful online virtual staffing services that are looking for employees to work for their clients.

Outsourcing Services No Fees

You will find many more work at home opportunities on the Internet with Outsourcing Services. They already have a large clientele and marketing system and are looking for more employees to help their clients. There are call centers, customer support providers and customer relationship management firms that pay people for customer support work done from home, telesales specialists looking for salespeople, virtual assistant agencies looking for virtual assistants, data processing services looking for data entry typists and many other outsourcing services are advertising for employees to work online. You will also see many online Outsourcing Services that advertise editing services and recruit editors to work for their online services, or writers, typists, accountants, etc. Many temporary agencies and freelance websites also advertise for workers who will work on outsourced projects for them.

Help Wanted Classifieds

For recent help wanted classified advertisements look at http://FreshJobs.com and http://ExpertNetSurf.com. Recent classified advertisements with titles like Now Hiring, Help Wanted and Job Openings are posted in newsgroups, job boards, forums and message boards too. JobBoardMagic.com, Job-Search-Engine.com and JobLine.net check many job boards in their job search. You could also post your resume at http://HelpWantedSite.com and apply for jobs you like with your resume from their website. CareerBuilder.com, a large job and career website, and Jobvertise.com also provide this service free.

Jobs At Home Newsletters

There are also many helpful jobs at home websites that will send you recent job advertisements in a newsletter or ezine. You can join their mailing list or subscribe to their newsletters free at their websites. ExpertNetSurf.com is recommended for recent jobs at home advertisements in their free newsletter. Bassador.com, HomeJobStop.com and Telework-Connection.com also provide free jobs at home information in their newsletters. Email Alerts are also available from many job and career websites including CareerBuilder.com, HelpWantedSite.com and IHireAccounting.com

Internet Newsgroups

Another resource for job search and help wanted advertisements is Internet Newsgroups. Jobs are posted in Newsgroups at http://Google.com in newsgroups like alt.jobs.offered, misc.jobs.offered, biz.jobs.offered, us.jobs.offered and misc.jobs.offered.entry. You can find many recent help wanted advertisements in newsgroups and messages about them. You can also search for jobs. Many more jobs at home opportunities are listed in Yahoo Groups and MSN Groups.

Jobs At Home Search Engines

You will also find many jobs at home search engines and jobs search engines that you can search for jobs. You can search for home employment with jobs search engines using keywords like at home, home, homebased, job at home, outsource, remote, telecommute, telemarket, telework, virtual, work at home, and work from home. JobLine.net will do a Job Search and/or Resume Distribution for a charge. These websites have jobs at home search engines:

How To Find SEO Consultants Who Get Results

If your web site is a major source or revenue, or could be, then you should have a formal search engine optimization program that monitors and improves rankings on a daily basis. Now you might be thinking that you don’t have the resources necessary to implement a productive SEO program, but the costs of not doing so are significant.

Starting an SEO program for your business is easier than you think. There are numerous SEO consultants and experts that can show you how to radically improve your rankings for much less than you might think. In fact, many search engine optimization consultants can save you significant dollars if managed properly.

Getting the most from your SEO consultant requires a number of considerations. I have found that the most productive engagements around optimization and SEO all have these same factors in common. By adhering to these principals, mutual expectations are set and each party has a clear understanding of what is being delivered by whom.

The first step is finding a credible source. There are many people out there who claim to be search engine optimization experts but have nothing to show for it. Find a legitimate company, ask for references, or find someone who has a proven track record and is an authority on the topic. A good bet is to find someone who has achieved number one rankings for their website or the web sites of their clients.

The second step is to mutually agree upon what’s being delivered. Most clients feel that by paying a search engine optimization consultant a sum of money that their site is going to instantly rank number one on Google, Yahoo!, and Bing. I can tell you first hand that‘s not the case. The purpose of an seo consultant is to help you construct an effective strategy for the long term optimization of your web site.

The third and final step is to assemble a team to work with the consultant and implement his findings. Seventy percent or so of the companies I’ve worked with were very interested in learning how to optimize their websites but couldn’t or weren’t willing to follow through on what it takes to succeed. Commit time and resources dedicated to implementing the consultant’s finding and you will see the true value of your investment.

Whether you’re launching new website or trying to improve the rankings of an existing site, it’s important that you find a reliable resource that can help you succeed. Define what success looks like for both you and the consultant you will be working with. By doing so, you’re creating a mutual understanding of the work that’s being done and clearly understand what it means to your business.

Improve Search Engine Rankings With Proper Keyword Research

The best way to achieve search engine dominance is by focusing on keyword research. As a search engine optimization consultant, I’ve worked with hundreds of companies that miss this very important step. Achieving top search engine rankings is largely based on the competitiveness of the keyword phrase you are trying to optimize for. If your competitor is in the top spot with a well entrenched web site, then your chances of out ranking him may be limited.

In addition to focusing on a keyword phrase that doesn’t have strong competition, you need to find terms that are frequently searched on. I recently finished a consulting assignment for a foundation trying to optimize their website. They had top rankings for a keyword term that seemed to be somewhat desirable. However, keyword research proved that the term received less than 100 searches per month. As a result, top rankings for this keyword phrase were nearly meaningless.

Once you have found a keyword phrase that isn’t too competitive and receives an adequate number of monthly searches, the next step is to thoroughly check out your competition. Google the keyword phrases you want to optimize for a run a back link check on the top three ranked web sites. This indicates the strength of those web sites relative to their search engine ranking. The more links, the more difficult it will be to rank higher than they do without some type of sustained link building campaign.

After doing your keyword research and confirming your choice of keywords and keyword phrases, it’s time to focus on improving your web pages around the keywords you’ve selected. Enhance your meta tags, titles, and web copy to include your keyword phrases. This helps to tell the search engines what your web site is about so it can rank your site appropriately. In addition to the on page factors, Google weighs off page factors to determine web site ranking.

Off page optimization requires a sustained effort that uses new content and additional links from third party websites. The most effective strategies are the most basic. Begin with a link building plan. Focus on article directories, web site directories, blogs, social bookmarking sites, and other resources where you can establish in bound links.

Your plan should include daily, weekly and monthly tasks that can attract links from authority websites consistently over time. Your goal should not be to generate thousands of inbound links quickly because Google will penalize your website. Rather, focus on steady link building.

If you want to improve your organic search engine ranking, begin with keyword research. By selecting the right keywords, you’ll be able to optimize your website more quickly than your competitors. After choosing the right keywords, focus on integrating your chosen keywords into your web site. Then you’re ready for link building and other off page optimization tactics that significantly improve rankings.

Answering Service for Small Business

If you are a small business owner, you sure must know what a client call means to your business. Almost every client call presents an opportunity to make money and take your business to another level. However, if your business requires you to spend long hours outdoors, your client calls are likely to go unanswered. More so, if you do not have a full time receptionist. Often, small businesses run on a strict budget, hence are low on staff. Employing a full time receptionist can cause a dent in the budget. However, not employing one can cause you to lose on business opportunities, thereby resulting in financial loss. An answering service for small business could be your answer to this problem. So, what are these small business answering services? How does an answering service for home business work? Let us find out answers to all these questions.

What is an Answering Service for Small Business

Answering service is different from answering machine for small business. Answering machines may not be the best option for small business. Some people find them perfectly annoying and refuse to speak to a machine. You may have experienced that potential clients often hung up, if they are greeted by a computer generated disembodied voice! The irritating 'on hold' music and the never ending automated instructions asking you to press several keys before you can reach a human voice, truly test one's patience. If your potential clients have to go through such an ordeal even before they make a deal, they are bound to have second thoughts regarding the quality of your business. Besides, an answering machine often projects an amateur and unprofessional image of your business. This could be detrimental for you and your business. Every business, irrespective of its size, has to look after its brand image. Hence, you cannot afford to lose your clients just because you are single handedly running a company and you cannot afford a staff to take care of your incoming calls. An answering service for small business helps you to create a professional image of your company and that too without the expenses of a full time receptionist.

Live answering services for small business are companies that specialize in answering calls on behalf of their clients. These companies have dedicated teams of receptionists who often work round the clock answering calls, taking messages and reporting to their respective clients. When you register for such a service, all the incoming calls are automatically directed to the answering service center, whenever you are unable to receive them. The receptionist at the service center speaks to your client on your company's behalf. Then, you receive an email regarding the details of the client call, which enables you to act accordingly. Some services even text you on your mobile number, so that you can immediately call the client, without turning on your computer.

Answering services or call centers provide a range of services such as fax, toll-free 800 business number, voicemail box, etc. The biggest advantage of this service is that you can now run your business 24x7, since your client calls will be answered even when you are away. This will help you to build a professional and customer friendly image amongst your clients. The virtual receptionist also performs additional tasks such as scheduling appointments, taking orders online and customer support. This type of services cannot be achieved with the help of any automated machine. Besides, these services come really cheap, meaning, you would only be spending a fraction of what you would on a full time receptionist.

Thus, you would make a wise decision by hiring an answering service for small business. These services have helped several small businesses to flourish into bigger organizations.

Walmart Online Job Application

Formerly known as Wal-Mart, Walmart Stores, Inc. is world's largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000 of the year 2010. Walmart is a large chain of discount departmental stores and membership required warehouse stores, in the US, which was founded by Sam Walton in the year 1962. Being such a large public corporation, Walmart employment opportunities are there in various fields like store management, pharmacy, marketing, optometry, retail store associate, web designing, logistics, web developer, etc. Job opportunities in these sectors are largely attracting the youths and unemployed people. Walmart jobs also provide you several Walmart employment benefits like incentives, store discounts, profit sharing, 401k plan, health insurance, education and many more. However, you need to know everything about Walmart online job application format, in order to gain all this and more.

Process of Walmart Online Job Application

As I said earlier, Walmart job opportunities are actually endless and you can definitely get the desired job at Walmart, after you finish their enrollment formalities in the correct manner. First of all, you need to have a clear idea that Walmart employment application is completely an online procedure and hence, you will not get their printable versions. You can get more information about the Walmart employment opportunities at the nearest Sam's store or directly on Walmart hiring website itself. Let me tell you that Walmart online application process differs by the respective job for which you are applying. Well, here are a few steps that you can do to apply online for Walmart.

Sign Up
You cannot fill Walmart online job application if you are nor a registered member with Walmart. Hence, to do that, you need to sign up with them on their website. Before the registration process begins, you need to accept the terms and conditions of of the company that clearly mentions the drug testing and background checking policies of Walmart. Acknowledgment of the fact that omission or misrepresentation of any information in the form is bound to bar you from appearing for the Walmart employment test. Once you agree to some of these basic yet important terms and conditions, you will also need to present your social security number while registration. Afterwards, you can easily get the access of the Walmart online application form.

Fill Out
Filling the online application form is quite simple, wherein you are asked to fill out the basic information like gender, education, nationality, qualification, special skills, email address, contact number, two reference personalities with their addresses and contact numbers, etc. However, you can withhold information like your ethnicity and gender, if you wish. Amongst the rest of the mandatory information is the type of Walmart service that you wish to join. For instance, Walmart transportation, Sam's club, Walmart retailing or distribution, etc. Make sure that you clearly mention your employment specifications, in order to avoid future misunderstandings. In short, you need to be really frank and truthful while filling out the Walmart employment form online.

Take Care
Once you are done with filling out the Walmart online job application, you need to wait for some time, before submitting it for the final time. Well, you need to check the form twice in order to check a few things that you might have missed out while filling the form. The most important thing is that you should not leave any mandatory field empty. You also shouldn't leave any field empty even if you are afraid of filling in the correct information. In short, Walmart maintains utmost transparency and expects the same from its future associate aspirants. It is the reason why, filling previous employer's name is not enough but you also need to mention the time span of your unemployment after you left it.

Once you are sure that you have filled the Walmart online job application form without bluffing or without leaving any blank fields, then only submit the form for further processing. In the mean time, (before appearing for the test), you need to constantly stay into touch with the latest disclaimers from Walmart to become aware about the currant requirements. The company responds within two week's time span and if not, then feel free to contact them for further follow up. All the best!