Stress Free Finance

The South Beach Diet book became extremely successful when the diet book with the obvious name was published and picked up with rapid succession among a grassroots following. Each with dieting success stories to brag about, the South Beach Diet book, authored by Doctor Arthur Agatston, The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss, continues to grow in readership, but the South Beach Diet Phase 1 keeps confusing readers.

The South Beach Diet Phase 1 is designed to be the shortest of phases 1, 2 and 3 of the diet, lasting for a 14 day period. It was created to be intense, kick-start your body and how you think about eating from that now on. The opposite to readers’ thinking and one of the harder to understand parts to Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet, you do not have to limit yourself only eating low carb foods.

In a nut-shell, Phase 1 force feeds you the thinking to: get rid of bad carbs that are not providing anything nutritionally for your body, substitute the bad carbs that are found in surplus in most American diets with substantial amounts of protein, good fats and low glycemic index (G.I.) carbs that solves your hunger and regulate your blood sugar balance.

Foods that cause you more harm than benefit: fruit, candy, cereal, potatoes, grains, etc. all are eliminated, or the dieter must wean themselves off of during the South Beach Diet Phase 1. If in doubt, if you should have any difficulty, is to consume all the salad, greens, and (most) vegetables you desire, as they are right in line for dietary benefit.

It is during Phase 1 that Dr. Agatston believes that one’s body resistance to insulin will decrease, thus depending on your body weight and condition, you may lose 3 to 8 pounds initially, just in the first two weeks, as your body begins to eliminate extra body weight.

The major purpose of the South Beach Diet Phase 1 is two fold: to test and discipline you into a routine that you stick with which keeps you free from hunger and to lay the groundwork for a mindset that ensures you get rid of the bad foods and move towards the food that sheds pounds, guarantee more energy and improve your quality of life.

When it comes to real commentary in regards to living a healthy lifestyle, there’s no independent health web site is better for speaking truthfully and minus the typical mumbo jumbo than HealthyLivingStraightTalk.com, especially when it means turning complex subjects into simple ones.

- Jackie Black

If you want to buy a horse, then horse auctions are a great place to look.Horse auctions are one of the greatest places to get a great horse. But keep in mind that you’ll need to use your better judgment and common sense. Buying a horse is a major investment and you should be just as careful as if you were buying a car. So when you go, there are some things you really need to avoid.

Don’t

- Purchase a horse impulsively. There are some horses that are given drugs in order to make them appear calm and healthy. While this is very rare, you still want to double check. Don’t be afraid to ask the dealer if you can ‘try before you buy.’ If this is a good horse dealer, he or she shouldn’t mind.

- Buy your children a young pony. A lot of people seem to do this at horse auctions. Although this may be a cute idea, it’s important to realize that no beginner should get an inexperienced horse, especially if this horse is going to be around children. It’s a better idea to purchase an older horse that is calm and relaxed.

- Choose a horse by its color! You’d be amazed by how many people seem to do this. No matter how much you love a certain color, you need to check the horse’s overall temperament, health, and demeanor before you commit. Those are the most important considerations.

- Get a horse if you aren’t ready to take proper care of it. Caring for a horse is a big expense. Someone will have to care for that horse every single day, or it will suffer from neglect. The horse will still need you to buy food for it, regardless if you lose your job or would rather but something new and exciting.

With those tips out of the way, horse auctions are a great place to buy horses, and providing you have all you need to take care of a horse, good luck!

Visit Horse Auctions Online for unbelievable horse auctions advice, tips and resources for your next Horse Auction.

- Candace Right

Jobseekers frequently underestimate the importance of resume cover letters. A well-written cover letter can mean all the difference in the world, or at least become the deciding factor in whether your resume gets read or cast into the circular file.

Jobseekers commonly make the mistake of duplicating their resume when they write the cover letter– although many of them just plain forget to write the cover letter to begin with! However, you need a cover letter that expands on and complements your resume.

Imagine sitting at a desk with piles of resumes in front of you. They’re all printed on nice, white paper. All of them are covered in objectives and skills.

Many of them have letters, some of which are quite long. Overwhelming, isn’t it? Set yourself apart. The cover letter needs to get attention from the reader and give them plenty of good reasons for them to turn the page.

So where to start? You can always learn by example. There are many example resume cover letters online. They are available in several formats, for dozens of different types of jobs. You can find them all by using your favorite search engine.

Now, if someone that the company or interviewer knows well has referred you and also gave you permission to use their name in your cover letter, do it! Employee or networking referrals can go a long way towards ensuring your resume gets considered.

Look over the job description carefully. Reference it in your cover letter, mentioning appropriate skills that make you a great candidate. The easy thing to do would be to repeat everything that’s on your resume, but this is a golden opportunity to take everything a step further. Use the job description to show the reader how your skills will benefit the company.

Above all, picture the interviewer reading the cover letter and asking, “What’s in it for me?” The interview is more than likely thinking that exact thought when he or she is reading through a bunch of resume cover letters. The interview is sure to be yours if your answer sounds good!

Need the Perfect Resume? Visit Make a Resume. We cover everything from How to Design Your Resume Layout to Samples of Resumes for Stay at Home Moms and every other position you can think of.

- Carlie Evie

Promoting your website using tried and tested traffic generating tools can bring enormous traffic to your site. This can greatly help you reach your target audience and make your site popular online. Here are some ideas to help you promote your site. Go for originality. The content of your site that includes articles, streaming videos, or images should be all original and unique. This will set your website apart from the rest.

Try using more specific keywords. By using more precise keywords, your chances of getting searched on the major search engines increases. Be sure your keywords are in all of the right places. Make sure you include keywords in your meta-tags as well as the contents for improved placement in search engines.

Frequently and consistently check the statistics of your website to pinpoint areas that are doing well, or areas that need improvement. Monitor your ranking by looking for one-way links on blogs, forums and directories. Search engines are not as useful, as they are more interested in how many links are going to your website rather than out.

Use traffic generating tools to promote your site. Article writing can benefit a site by earning quality inbound links from E-zines or article submission sites. If article writing does not appeal to the website owners or operators, some other good options include Search Engine Optimization, link building, social networking, social bookmarking and forums.

Be sure to add some customer testimonials to your website. It’s one of the best ways to establish a good reputation for present and future customers. Try inviting your loyal customers to send their feedback about your products and services, along with your website.

It’s very important to maintain communication with your customers, even if it’s only via email newsletters. Be sure to schedule newsletter releases so that customers do not feel bombarded with information. Submit your website to multiple search engines so that your target users can easily find products and services that you offer.

You can get more information about Marketing Strategy at http://www.BizRave.com . Sean Milea writes about Search Engine Marketing Firms and other topics .

- Sean Milea

Technology has come a long way. It’s progress has altered the ways that people can make money. More people have access to different forms of technology, and they use this new technology to make money in different ways. More people have found that they can earn money online, and it has become a preferred way to make money. This can be done to supplement a regular income or just for fun. Technology spans the globe, so it is easy for a company in one country to get a skilled person thousands of miles away to do jobs for them.

Making money has become easier with the opportunity to earn money online. There are severals ways to do this if you have regular access to a reliable Internet source and computer. It is becoming more and more affordable for more people all over the world to gain access to these opportunities because of falling prices of Internet service providers and computer hardware.

It does not matter if you are male or female, a college-going student or already employed individual, even if you are middle aged or over 60, if one has the basic computer skill one can easily find suitable work on the Internet to earn money online. People-friendly technologies have wonderfully made all these possible and easy for all of us and opened up unending vistas to being gainfully employed sitting in the comforts of our homes.

Based on different skills, one can get various kinds of online jobs with ease. Presently, there are a number of companies, especially in developed countries, that offer a number of jobs in different fields like legal, medical, computer programming, telecommuting, content writing, home based data entry jobs etc. The list is long and daily new opportunities are added to it as we make new innovations in technology and methods of conducting business and services.

Due to hectic daily schedules and difficulty in commuting out to offices and working places, the earn money online kind of home-based job opportunities have become more popular nowadays, particularly among women as they mostly have to attend to family needs and children and don’t find it possible to attend any out-of-home kind of job. Increased education opportunities have also made it easier for women to acquire various kinds of skills, and thus there is a vast pool of talent available for companies to exploit and get their job done through them at comparatively lesser cost.

Also, web-based business opportunities, commonly called as e-commerce or online business, have emerged as a widely used medium by entrepreneurs and companies to provide a range of services and sell all types of goods. There are a number of famous companies that have not only earned a reputation in online business and sales, but even could rake in million of profits selling their goods to their global customers far and wide, in every nook and corner of the world. To conclude, we can say that online earning medium is going to explode in coming years.

More people have found that they can earn money online, and it has become a preferred way to make money. This can be done to supplement a regular income or just for fun. Many companies offer jobs in different fields like legal, medical, computer programming, telecommuting, content writing, home based data entry jobs etc. The list is long and daily new opportunities are added to it as we make new innovations in technology and methods of conducting business and services. Opportunities for web-based business, also known as both e-commerce and online business, have become a medium used by many.

- Mark Farrar

That’s a good question… should you buy penny stocks? There are pros and cons, so let’s look into them.

First of all, what is a penny stock? In the United States, it’s a stock that’s worth less than $5 per share, regardless of the market. In common conversation, however, the term can apply to any low-priced, easily manipulated stock, and it often refers to stocks sold outside one of the three major exchanges (NYSE, NASDAQ, and AMEX).

Because they’re priced so cheaply, penny stocks are a very tempting way to break into the stock market. Another reason they’re attractive is because they could dramatically increase in value in short order. But they also have a huge potential for steep losses for the same exact reason.

If you buy penny stocks, you may find that they are harder to sell than you anticipated. Because these stocks don’t have as many investors, they are usually not traded as often as the more popular and pricy stocks.

On top of that, if the stocks you’re looking into are listed on an exchange that isn’t well known, they are probably not subject to all the minimum standards and listing requirements that other stocks are held to. That means they are more unstable, volatile.

Another thing: Penny stocks are a great source of income for fraudulent individuals. This is due to the stock’s less known status. Many of these same people have misled investors through internet message boards and spam emails.

They get investors to pour huge amounts of money into a stock that has no real potential for growth, and then selling their own shares when the price rises. This scheme, called a “Pump and Dump” results in huge profits for the fraudulent, and huge losses for the naive.

You might be tempted to buy penny stocks for their great prices. But be careful: Keep in mind all the possible pitfalls before you invest any kind of money. Educate yourself on the track record of any company you want to invest in!

Visit How to Buy Stocks and get all the free help you need in discovering How to Sell Stock, Stock Market Basics and so much more!

- Carlie Evie

Online jobs offer a simple and stress free form of income. However, it can be difficult to locate legitimate online jobs. People thinking of working online should avoid sites that make unbelievable claims or promises, request unnecessarily detailed personal data, or require the worker to pay money in advance to get work.

If the participant of the Internet job is a stay at home parent, or works at a second job, a boon of this job is the choice of the hours that you want to work. The other job could also be a work at home job. You could be hired by a physical job, but telecommute for this job from an office that is at home using the Internet.

Finding legitimate work online can be difficult. There are many sites on the internet that offer only scam jobs, or that ask their workers to earn money by sending spam emails or engaging shady advertising techniques. Anyone interested in earning money online should make sure that they are able to have a clean conscience about what they will be asked to do.

For high output writes, websites that pay for content may be an attractive and profitable option. Pay may be per piece written or a royalty for traffic to the article. Either way, there is no ceiling on the income that can be generated writing stories and non fiction content for such sites. Search for sites that want to recruit writers under such programs.

A great thing about working online is that the income is often directly proportional to the amount of work. This can be particularly appealing to someone frustrated with earning hourly pay. Convenience is another plus; just imagine working from home when outside weather conditions make travel prohibitively dangerous.

Before starting work on any Internet job, you need to be certain that the site is dependable, that the pay is reasonable for the work you will do, and that you are comfortable with the interviewing process and the work required. You should also consult a business review website, of which there are many, to be more certain that the site isn’t a scam and does not ask you to do work that is illegal.

If you can find genuine opportunities on the internet, it can be a marvelous opportunity to earn money. Such work is not embraced by the general populace, but the large number and types of tasks can be attractive. Additionally, the ability to perform these jobs without a defined schedule allows anyone to make a few extra dollars.

One of the bonuses of internet jobs is that the worker is often able to choose what time of day to work. Another great thing about working online is that the income is often directly proportional to the amount of work. This can be particularly appealing to someone frustrated with earning hourly pay. Convenience is another plus; just imagine working from home when outside weather conditions make travel prohibitively dangerous. The many types of legitimate online jobs make a wonderful way to earn money. The flexibility of this type of work makes it a great way to pick up some income on the side.

- Mark Farrar

Recent announcements by Freddie Mac ( the government backed home loan authority) shows higher fees for bad credit mortgage loan borrowers. Unfortunately with foreclosure possibilities looming over many homeowners the government has decided to make it even harder for bad credit borrowers to receive home loan financing. Lower credit scores have always meant higher fees to homeowners trying to refinance or even purchase a new home mortgage. In the past this was an unwritten rule however now with the new published higher fee figures their intentions are obvious. The lower your credit score the higher the mortgage loan fees you’ll pay, meaning it’s time to get control of your credit profile.

As the Ex Mortgage Executive, I’m always surprised at the lack of knowledge most home refinance prospects have in terms of maintaining control of their own credit report profile. Many homeowners believe they are either stuck with the credit they have or have no idea of what their true mortgage credit score is. I mention mortgage credit score specifically due to the fact that mortgage credit scores are lower than consumer credit scores. Consumer credit scores are scores used to determine creditworthiness for loans such as cars and unsecured credit, not mortgage loans.

Unfortunately most would be home mortgage borrowers never check their credit score until after they begin the mortgage loan shopping process. As you may or may not know the credit bureaus owe you one free copy of your credit report every twelve months. Notice that I said free. It still amazes me that homeowners still approach the mortgage loan shopping process with no clue as to what is contained in their credit report. Why would anyone pay higher mortgage loan fees if they really don’t have to? The answer is - as I stated above, consumers are either in the mindset that they are stuck with what they have or have no ability to change negative credit if they wanted to. That answer could be no farther from the truth.

If you’re planning a mortgage refinancing or new home purchase it’s absolutely imperative that you understand the difference between your mortgage credit score and your consumer credit score. Mortgage credit scores are always lower than consumer credit scores simply because a mortgage loan is a much higher value than say an automobile or credit card. Gaining control of your credit profile should start with getting a free copy of your credit report. Each credit bureau will provide a free copy once every twelve months. The purpose of checking your credit profile at all three bureaus is to find out if there are any negative items been reported. If you do find negative items on your credit report I’ll detail the process below of exactly how to handle such an occurrence.

Under the new Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae guidelines you’ll be paying higher than normal fees for any mortgage credit score below 680. If you currently have negative items on your credit report which are holding your score lower than 680, there is a solution to your problem. The solution is credit repair however before you run off screaming in fear with all of the credit repair myths, let me say this. Legal credit repair is real and available however if you don’t know the process or where to begin you could make some huge mistakes along the way. On the other hand if you get your hands on my step-by-step process it’s amazingly simple and can change your life forever.

The fundamentals of credit repair contain three distinct steps. Those steps include getting access to all three credit bureau reports, monitoring changes on your credit reports, and working with an online credit repair service. The speed at which negative items are removed from your credit profile is directly related to your ability to notify the credit repair agency of changes on your credit report. A smart homeowner should continually monitor their credit report profile for changes and avoid the last minute rush to dispute negative items which could take 30, 60 or even 90 days to complete. Several online credit report monitoring services are available for a small monthly fee and a potentially save thousands in higher fees and low credit scores.

Terry Lamb provides more credit repair details and a step by step guide at The Stupid Home Owner Blog.

- Terry Lamb

Would you like to inspire members of your team to work towards a common goal and love the way they achieve that goal? This ability would if you capable of leading a team which will achieve spectacular results. It doesn’t matter where you are currently - you could be a business major, have natural communication skills or are about to practice what you just learned. You could also be an absolute beginner looking to learn new communication techniques. This article will help you take yourself to a new level of business communications skill and help you create alignment with others. What is alignment, and how can you create it? Read on to find out!

~ Results = Alignment with others ~

If you’re like most people, it’s likely that the only time you think about alignment is when you need to get your car tuned up. While that’s not the “alignment” we’re talking about here, it does operate on the same principle. In order for your car to function at its best, it’s important that your tires are aligned - that they’re all moving in the same direction. The same is true for any business relationship; they’ll be at their best when both people are aligned and moving in the same direction toward a desired result.

What we’re talking about here is not about improving your communication skills or just learning new listening techniques. Effective business communication, or any interaction where people need to work together to create the best outcome, begins with alignment.

Let’s look at things from a different perspective. We have individual goals and aspirations that hold importance in our lives. At the same time, we work with others towards common business goals. Alignment is about defining overlaps between individual goals and common business goals. It aims to create a win-win situation by allowing us to achieve our individual goals as we work towards attaining strategic business goals. By visualizing our individual goals as a part of the organizational goals, we avoid situations wherein these may clash. A proper definition of overlaps allows us to achieve both, individual as well organizational goals.

~ Developing Intrinsic Order ~

To share a strategic organizational vision you must first look inward. Ask yourself: “what’s most importance to me about what I want?” “What are my personal priorities?” in order to communicate the business priorities you must first understand your own. Finding overlaps in your priorities and the other people on your team is essential for creating a shared vision.

~ How to have an Alignment Conversation ~

Once you identify your own underlying values, it’s time to discover the values that you share within a partnership or group. You start this discovery process by expressing the values you’ve identified as important to you in your work environment. Then you ask if those things are also important to the other person, or people, and if they would be willing to explore ways to create that kind of experience. This is the process of aligning your values–creating a shared vision. This shared vision might sound something like: having a more harmonious relationship or being more effective or increasing productivity. Once you define your shared vision, you’re ready to effectively negotiate strategies to achieve your desired results.

Key points for the alignment conversation:

It is paramount that everyone participates in this discussion with an open mind and a willingness to hear others without passing judgments. Let there be free flow of ideas and allow your colleagues to explain their personal priorities and aspiration in detail. At this stage, eliciting maximum information should be your priority. Then communicate to them what the organization’s vision and strategic plans are. Build an environment of trust and try to forget past failures. This conversation will help motivate them to work towards both, individual goals and organizational goals.

Some other things to cover in the conversation include:

In order to negotiate strategies that are mutually agreeable, everyone agrees to let go of judgments and/or criticisms. All wins will be vague knowledge and honored. And all past negative experiences will be left in the past.

Once everyone involved agrees on a vision, they can work toward one end result in a coordinated fashion, so that everyone can get what they want. This will make it easier to achieve those results and make everyone happy.

When you catch the vision of those around you and begin to work together in a spirit of unity and teamwork, your load will be lighter, your productivity higher, and everyone will reap the rewards.

Creating alignment is just one way we’ve found to actively create dynamic relationships and improve all your business communications. For more tips, suggestions and advice, sign up for our free thought-provoking and motivational Weekly Action Tips eMail series at: http://www.FocusedAttention.com/cmd.php?ad=317928. Each tip offers practical advice for creating the relationships that you really want. Or visit us at: http://www.FocusedAttention.com

- Beth Banning and Neill Gibson

The Internet is not just a source of fun and information anymore, it’s also a way for some people to make a living. Internet jobs have become more popular in the past few years and there are many different ways to recommend them. One of the best reasons is the fact that you save money on commuting expenses, and with rising gas prices, can become significant savings over time. Internet jobs are a way for those with health or mobility issues to be productive as well.

For the motivated self starter with little or no money for a typical business, the internet is a great way to start an online business. Most people who want to work for themselves can find many ways to begin a money-making enterprise online with not much investment within minutes of searching provided they know where to look.

If you excel at design and writing, you can create several appealing sites and sell advertising space. If your traffic, which you can attract through keeping your site appealing, clicks your ads you will profit. However, this can be difficult. Few sites can generate sufficient volume to make a living, and so many developers turn to existing Internet businesses and create affiliate pages. The established product and name will increase traffic and lead to more sales, but the originator gets a large portion of the profits.

Online auctions are another example of an online business opportunity. To make money, you simply need to gather what you would like to sell and open an account with one or more popular auction websites. Many people who use online auctions earn a living buying items at low cost and then reselling them for a profit. This online job is an excellent choice for those who love to shop and barter.

Another way to market your talents is to create web pages, blogs, newsletters, books or e-books on a subject you are familiar with. You may choose to sell cookbooks, crafting books on subjects such as needlepoint or quilting or even “how to” books. Some people have turned their talents for matchmaking into large and profitable business.

Maybe you have created some invention, or some unique item of clothing or craft. Using an online shop to sell your product is a much more feasible way of operating, and a good site can actually turn a hobby into a nice living for you. There is quite a niche for hand-made items, and with good marketing your handmade item could be a ticket to success. For those who do crafts, all you need is a little word of mouth, some good networking, to get you going.

Those considering online business ideas should beware of frauds and scams and unethical marketers. Never affiliate with a company or buy a service until you are sure that they are trustworthy and financially sound. Even if they make a money back guarantee, there is no surety that they will honor it.

The internet can be a way for some people to make a living while saving money on commuting expenses. Profitable internet jobs can be created with little or no start up money. Online auctions provide a good opportunity for an online business. If you have a hobby, you can turn that into a money making business. However, when starting a business online, don’t forget that there are countless frauds and dishonest people. Be sure you find trustworthy and financially secure oportunities or you could lose significant amounts of money.

- Mark Farrar