12.29.08

Color Psychology Will Make Or Break Your Sales Success

Posted in Life Of Sales at 5:01 pm by admin

Color psychology is the biggest question I receive on a
regular basis. The reason being is it’s importance. Color
is a trigger that is associated with traditions and used in
marketing over the years so well that they must be honored
or sales are lost.

Color will also trigger reactions. It is a given. This is
why you must know how to choose the right color for the
right reaction at the right time.

Because of a color’s relevance to success in marketing, I
always like to continue sharing and repeating in some cases,
what colors to use and when.

Here are eleven of the basic colors. These colors work for
triggers on Americans only. Every country, culture, have
different representations for color. If you are even
selling to the Asian culture in the United States, the
colors will change. Learn the colors of whom you are
selling too and sales will blossom just like a rainbow of
tulips in your garden.

Quick List

Red
Red creates excitement, displays strength, is used to
express s*e*x, passion, speed and danger. Use
appropriately and it works extremely well.

Blue
This is the most popular color. Why? Because it builds
trust, reminds people of sky gazing/dreaming. Thus,
builds trust, conveys reliability, a sense of belonging,
coolness (in the 1980’s sense), refreshing and clean.

Yellow
We think of the sun and sunshine, it’s warmth, being
cheerful and happy. Place it together with blue and
thoughts of sitting on the beach or looking out over the
ocean connect.

Orange
Orange isn’t used much in marketing. On a computer screen
it looses its hue. When it is clearly visible that it is
orange, it conveys playfulness, triggers child-like
behavior — great in workshops if you want to take people
to that place, it also conveys warmth and vibrancy.

Green
When we think of green we associate with trees and grass.
This brings up associations with nature, freshness,
coolness. It also means growth and abundance. Money is
green and we are automatically associating green with
prosperity.

Purple
Royal purple brings up pictures of royalty. Conveyed
through the centuries from religion and palace decorations
isn’t going to change any of our associations today.
Purple means spirituality and dignity as well.

Pink
Usually associated with femininity, it means soft, sweet,
nurturing and many times security. The security of
motherhood and all that it represents. As females mature
they sometimes lose their feminine side due to business
stiffness. To bring it back in surround yourself with
pink for a year. Pink blouse, suit, watch, and household
items.

White
White and black aren’t really called a color but we
recognize them as such. White represents pure, purity,
virgin, clean, youthful and mild. This is why white
backgrounds work better than black backgrounds on a
website.

Black
Black can trigger representation of the dark side of
things in certain situations. Usually when black is the
dominant color on the page. It can also represent
sophistication, elegance, mystery. Black in clothing is
seductive and thus will represent the same thing in many
marketing materials — even though it is only a mindful
trigger and not a voiced one.

Gold
Gold is worth more than silver or copper but not diamonds.
Since we’ve been taught to associate gold with value, that
is exactly what is triggered when we see it in marketing
materials. It can seldom be used in marketing materials
though because the color usually isn’t duplicated well.
On the Net it gets confused with yellow a lot and what
yellow represents.

Silver
Silver also represents prestige just like gold. It too,
is a hard color to express on the Internet or in printed
materials. It sends signals of cold or scientific. This
is why silver kitchen appliances sell so well. It also
represents cleanness in some instances, especially
kitchens.

This isn’t all the colors of the rainbow, they are the most
important ones in marketing. Use them wisely and they will
make a difference in sales — or the type of response you
are looking for.

Catherine Franz is a Life and Business Coach and Master
Practitioner in the Laws of Attraction. Catherine guides
others in finding the light of their own existence and walking
an attractive truth in their own lives.
http://www.abundancecenter.com;
http://abundance.blogs.com

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12.28.08

The 9 Retail Technologies That Will Propel Your Small Business Forward

Posted in Uncategorized at 10:29 pm by admin

Here are 9 retail technologies that I believe will give retailers the biggest benefit and maximum return on their technology investments. Your small retail operation can be just like the Big Box stores when it comes to being efficient and productive. Every retail operation must have technology in place to manage it s pricing, sales and inventory.

1) Point of Sale (POS) and Inventory Control Software A POS / Retail Management System are mandatory. A good POS system will track all your sales. It replaces your cash register and allows a multitude of features that will save you time and help you manage your inventory. Immediate benefits include:  Simplify and improve inventory management.  Improve the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.  Show where you’re making and losing money so you can make adjustments and increase profits.

2) Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software Building a successful retail business is to build relationships with your customers. CRM software is a critical tool for the retail business. A CRM system will help you improve your customer loyalty it will help you market to potential prospects and generate new business. CRM software allows you to track your customers, identify market segments and then easily communicate with them via email, telephone, and direct mail. It can also track your customer buying patterns and manage information.

CRM software can also be integrated within a contact centre system or your POS system.

3) Bar Code Scanning and UPC Codes Bar Code and UPC Code scanning allows you to check products at the point of sale much faster and more accurately than can be done on the keyboard. It can also maintain your inventory system to be up to date.

The technology is very robust and can easily be implemented using hand held scanner devices.

4) Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) EDI technology allows you to send purchase orders, created in your POS software (based on order levels and sales history) to your suppliers electronically via the internet. This can ensure your inventory is never oversold and there is ample stock for your customers to purchase. No stock on fast moving items means lost sales.

5) Retail Accounting Software Accounting software can be purchased stand alone or can be integrated with your POS software. This allows a small business owner to manage their accounting in a very timely manner. This is not to replace your Accountant but to provide reports in between your meetings with your accountant. The most important modules are the Accounts Receivable, Inventory and Cash Flow Analysis.

6) Store Traffic Counters These valuable devices will help you improve sales ratios, tally store traffic, and manage your advertising campaigns. You need an accurate measure of your store traffic so you can better schedule your sales staff because they identify actual foot traffic in your store during certain time periods. You can also determine if traffic goes up or down during marketing promotions so you can figure out what works the best.

7) Web Presence Websites can be powerful tools to promote your retail business. For example, you could link to your website from business cards and newspaper ads. This gives you an opportunity to tell your story, show what you sell, and convince them to stop by your store. Many Bricks and Mortars operation use web presence to either advertise their business or generate traffic to their physical store.

You can also utilize a website shopping cart so customers can place orders and pay you right from the website.

Portable Data Terminals and Hand Held Computers Portable data terminals are great tools that allow you to quickly count your inventory and easily update your POS system. You can simply carry around this portable terminal, scan your merchandise, and then enter your quantities. This allows you to more easily and accurately count your inventory. They are also invaluable as price checkers.

Hand held computers have become very popular and cost effective. They allow you to create orders and complete various tasks on a computer that fits in the palm of your hand. They can perform various tasks especially if linked to your POS system using WiFi or be used as a way to manage customer contacts and selling information.

9) Digital Video Recorders Digital Video recorders have become the tool for loss prevention. Video cameras capture activity in real time and can record to a digital device for storage and later recall. They can integrate with POS systems and can include powerful tracking software. Simple installations can be a few cameras with a monitor and DVR to large installations that include traffic counters and 2 way audio.

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The Father Of Virtual Real Estate Investing Comments On His Industry

Posted in It's Your Business, Life Of Marketing, Universe Of Real Estate at 8:12 am by admin

Landlords and rehabbers take notice - you may soon be focused on the new concepts of “Virtual Real Estate Investing“. What is meant by “Virtual Real Estate Investing” ranges from online games like SecondLife (where real profit can be made) to the use of internet technologies to make normal real estate investors more profitable.

To get the facts, I sought out the man generally considered to be the father of virtual real estate investing: Bryan Ellis.

“I began using the term ‘virtual real estate investing’ in the late 1990’s when I realized the clear similiarities in profit strategies, regardless of whether the “real estate” is “virtual” or “physical” said Ellis.

Bryan Ellis cites the similar strategies one can employe to make money from “virtual property” and “physical property” as a primary parallel of the two markets. He points out that control of a domain name or even a specific web page is much like controlling a real estate property ” those assets can be monetized in similar ways: By selling them for a profit, by leasing them, by offering advertising, etc.

The similarities really are obvious. For example, if you’re the owner of a desirable property, its desirability is (in a business context) largely due to its being in a location that is of interest to others. Similarly, ownership of a desirable domain name is valuable for the same reasons. Regardless of the type of asset, you can sell or lease or use any number of strategies to turn the assets into cash.

In our next installment of this series on virtual real estate investing, Bryan Ellis will share the internet analogies to the physical concept of real estate development.

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High Protein Diet & Foods For Muscle Building

Posted in Nutrition at 12:34 am by admin

High protein diets have always been popular with athletes. Their popularity increased tenfold during the past 5 years with the introduction of the low carb type diets to the public that include high protein foods.

Regular people who do not exercise can eat moderately high protein foods. On the other hand athletes and people on muscle building diets must eat at least 1gram per lb of bodyweight in order to build muscle. A high protein diet is the staple of bodybuilders. Bodybuilding athletes always include a high protein food source in their daily diet.

High protein foods you can include in your diet are:

Turkey breast
Chicken breast
Lean cuts of red meat
Lean cuts of pork
Fish (most fish is high in protein)
Eggs & Egg Whites
Skim Milk
Low fat cottage cheese
Protein powders & bars

Whether you are going for muscle building or fat loss, a high protein diet plan can certainly help you either way.

If you are trying to build muscle, you need a high protein intake in your daily diet in order to recover from workouts and build muscle tissue. Protein provides the building blocks for muscle and without it muscle building and growth simply will not occur. During weightlifting and hard training, muscle tissue is broken down. In order for that muscle tissue to be rebuilt and grow stronger, we need to eat a diet high in protein. It’s pretty simple.

If fat loss is one’s goal, a high protein diet is also an absolute must. Most high protein foods are very low in carbs and saturated fats. Therefore by eating high protein foods in your diet, you also also eating quality low calorie foods. In order to accelerate the fat loss process, reducing carbs and overall calories is usually recommended. High protein foods can help you in achieving that.

An average person who trains hard and weighs 180lbs requires a minimum of 180grams of protein in his diet per day. This means at least 1gram of protein per pound of bodyweight. Anything less and muscle building/recovery will not be optimal. Some hard training athletes consume up to 2 grams of protein per lb of bodyweight in order to accelerate the muscle building process. This is not recommended for most people who require a moderately high protein intake. The total amount of protein taken every day should be spread over 5 to 6 meals throughout the course of a day.

Timing of high protein foods is also very important. You should be consuming high protein foods at all times but more for your breakfast, post workout meal and before-bed meal. Start your high protein daily diet by giving your body good quality protein to start the day. Then, right after your workout, consume a protein shake that will help kick start the muscle repairing process. Last but not least you have your before bed meal where you must consume a slow digesting form of protein (casein mostly) that will give you a steady release of high quality amino acids throughout the night.

Eating high amounts of protein in your diet can be very demanding. It requires a lot of time to cook high protein foods like chicken and turkey. The best way to get all of your protein is to use protein powders. Protein powders are extremely high in protein and they are very convenient to use. Just one small scoop of protein can provide 20-24 grams of the highest quality protein available. Make sure you choose your high protein supplements wisely. Do not get caught up in the marketing frenzy of magazines. A tub of high quality protein should not cost you more than $30 at any given time.

For more information about protein foods vs. protein supplements visit: http://www.bodybuildingapplied.com/index_center_articles.asp?newsId=88

If you decide to embark upon a high protein diet, make sure you include a lot of vegetables and fibrous carbs with your meals in order to help protein digestion. Try to eat at least two salads per day and/or steamed vegetables. Furthermore, try to stay consistent with your high protein diet, day in day out, in order to keep a steady influx of aminos to your muscles. Always remember that if you are not eating enough protein & calories in your diet, your body will use existing muscle tissue to repair itself.

For more information on specifically what to eat in order to start building muscle mass, visit Http://www.BodybuildingApplied.com

Copyright © 2006 Konstantinos Marangopoulos

Kostas Marangopoulos is a certified personal trainer, natural bodybuilder and owner of one of the best natural bodybuilding websites on the web, Bodybuilding Applied.com. To get Kostas’ free monthy bodybuilding diet & training secrets newsletter, please visit http://www.BodybuildingApplied.com

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12.27.08

Cisco Certification: How To Become A Truly Valuable CCNA

Posted in Uncategorized at 9:47 am by admin

I’ve been active in the Cisco Certification track for four years, working my way from the CCNA to the coveted Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert title, and during that time I’ve conducted job interviews and casual conversations with hundreds of CCNAs and CCNA candidates.

The CCNA is an exciting beginning to your Cisco career, but just having the certification simply isn’t enough. A recruiter or interviewer isn’t going to be impressed just with the cert; you’ve got to have some real-world knowledge to back it up.

I’ve been down that road myself, and sat on both sides of the CCNA job interview table. With that in mind, I’d like to offer to you some tips on becoming a truly valuable and employable CCNA.

1. Get some hands-on experience. I know the trap well; you can’t get experience until you get a CCNA, and you can’t get a CCNA without real experience. Well, actually, you can, but do you want to? Working on simulators is fine to a certain extent, but don’t make the classic mistake of depending on them. I’ve seen plenty of CCNAs who were put in front of a set of routers and really didn’t know what to do or how to put together a simple configuration, and had NO idea how to begin troubleshooting. Simulators fail to help you develop the analytical and logical skills that you must have to be an effective troubleshooter.

There are CCNA classes that offer you the chance to work with industry experts on real Cisco equipment. Beyond that, you can put together your own CCNA rack for less than $500 by buying used routers. Some people think that’s a lot of money, but this is the foundation of your career. Treat it that way. The work you do now is the most important work you’ll ever do. Do it on real Cisco equipment. The skills I learned as a CCNA helped me all the way up to the CCIE.

Besides, after you get your CCNA (and after that, hopefully you’ll choose to pursue the CCNP), you can always get some of your money back by selling the equipment. The hands-on experience you gain this way is invaluable.
(I’ll also soon be offering remote equipment access for CCNAs and CCNPs. Watch for it!)

2. Know binary math. Do NOT go the easy route of memorizing a subnet mask chart for the CCNA exam. I know some people brag about being able to pass the CCNA exam without really understanding binary math. I’ve seen those people on the other side of the interview table, and they’re not laughing when I ask them to do a subnetting question. They’re not laughing when they can’t explain or create a VLSM scheme. That chart does nothing to help you understand what’s going on.

If you can add and know the difference between a one and a zero, you can do binary math. Don’t let the name intimidate you. Become a REAL CCNA — learn binary math !

3. Run “show” and “debug” commands. No commands help you truly understand how things work in a Cisco network than show and debug commands. As you progress through the Cisco certification ranks, you’ll be glad you started using these at the CCNA level.

Do you need to know these commands for the exam? Probably not. Do you need them to be successul in the real world? Absolutely.

The Cisco certification track has been great to me, and it can boost your career as well, whether you stop at the CCNA, CCNP, or go all the way to the CCIE. It’s the skills you develop today that will truly make you a networking engineer.

Don’t take shortcuts or get the attitude of “just passing the exam”. It’s what you achieve after the exam that counts, and it’s the work you put in before passing the exam that makes those achievements possible.

Good luck!

Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933, is the owner of The Bryant Advantage (http://www.thebryantadvantage.com), home of free CCNA and CCNP tutorials, The Ultimate CCNA Study Package, and Ultimate CCNP Study Packages. Video courses and training, binary and subnetting help, and corporate training are also available. Pass the CCNA exam with Chris Bryant, CCIE #12933!

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Increase Your Sales With Future Pacing

Posted in Life Of Sales at 3:16 am by admin

To succeed at selling your product your service you must be able to demonstrate to your prospects and customers how they will gain a special benefit or result from dealing with you. The best way to do is to employ future pacing in all of your sales strategies.

Future pacing is showing your customer how his or life will be benefited and improved by buying what you sell. You do this by clearly explaining the advantage and benefit your product or service brings to you prospect or customer’s life. In other words, you must communicate the positive impact that your product or service will have on your prospect or customer’s life or business.

If you can’t show your prospects or customers how their life will be improved by your product or service you won’t make the sale. For example, if you’re selling a big screen TV with a great picture and surround sound, you must show the prospect what it would be like in his or her home.

Suppose your prospect is a sports fan. If your prospect is a football fan then use future pacing to paint a picture of how he or she will actually feel when they’re watching a game on the TV. Paint a clear and vivid picture of them feeling as though they were actually at the game sitting on the 50-yard line. Tell your prospect they will feel as if they can actually reach out and touch the players.

You have to be able to paint a picture of what you product or service will be like in the life of your prospect or customer. Once you’ve done that, then you must focus on explaining what unique advantage your product or service will bring them that your competitor’s product or service doesn’t. This is where you need to understand the difference between intangibles and tangibles.

Intangibles are all the things that you do that your competitors don’t. For example, an intangible aspect of selling would be the warm relationship you have with your customers. Not just to sell them but to advise them and make sure that what they buy really benefits them. It’s taking the time to be really interested in them as opposed to just making the sale. That’s the power of intangibles.

The tangible parts of the sale are you products and services. You should always remind yourself that you will only do well if your customers do well. You are interconnected with your customers and the more you invest yourself in their well being the more prosperous and successful you will be.

You need to always look for more and better ways you can do things for your customers. Every time you sell them something, you have the opportunity to add more things to the sale that will benefit them. You can add things that are beneficial, yet inexpensive. You can do things for them, like calling them, sending them emails on new things to try out with no obligation. Doing these things makes your business distinctive.

Suppose for example, you own a woman’s clothing store and you are friends with the owner of a very good beauty salon. You give them a coupon for a percentage off that is exclusive for your customers only and you could tell them that if they don’t like the way they look, you’ll reimburse them for the cost. Doing something like this is powerful tangible reinforcement of your intangible commitment to your customers.

To be successful in business you have to look at your customers as a lifetime relationship. You’ve got to look at them the same way you would look at a dear and valued friend. It’s a long-term relationship that, unless you breach it, will go on indefinitely. It’s a relationship that will grow and bring you more referrals in the future.

Future pacing will cause a dramatic increase in your sales. Painting a picture of how a person’s life will be improved by using your product or service is very powerful, but it is after you’ve made the sale that the use of intangible and intangibles strengthen the ties with your customers creating both a human and a business bond.

Copyright©2006 by Joe Love and JLM & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.

Joe Love draws on his 25 years of experience helping both individuals and companies build their businesses, increase profits, and achieve total success. He is the founder and CEO of JLM & Associates, a consulting and training organization, specializing in personal and business development. Through his seminars and lectures, Joe Love addresses thousands of men and women each year, including the executives and staffs of many businesses around the world, on the subjects of leadership, achievement, goals, strategic business planning, and marketing. Reach Joe at: joe@jlmandassociates.com Read more articles and newsletters at: http://www.jlmandassociates.com

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12.25.08

Independent Testing Confirms Radware’s Intrusion Prevention Capabilities and Denial of Service Prote

Posted in Uncategorized at 9:36 am by admin

Radware DefensePro Nets NSS Approved Status for its IPS Solution

Helping organizations secure, optimize and ensure performance for mission critical applications, Radware (NASDAQ: RDWR) the leading provider of Intelligent Application Switching solutions, announced that recent independent tests by the NSS Group, an independent security testing facility, confirm that DefensePro offers comprehensive and reliable Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) capabilities.

Realizing that application security involves more than strictly blocking malicious content, Radware submitted its DefensePro 3000 to the NSS Group’s IPS testing program, during which they conducted a series of real-world tests that examined DefensePro’s ability to thwart attacks while ensuring the availability and performance of mission critical applications. The NSS Group’s rigorous, independent tests proved that Radware’s DefensePro 3000 secured mission critical applications across high-speed and high capacity environments. Moreover, NSS Group found DefensePro’s throughput and latency are excellent under almost all network loads and across all packet sizes, underscoring Radware’s assertion that DefensePro offers industry leading defense and application availability.

“Beyond blocking or preventing attacks, an IPS solution must also guarantee network security and application performance and reliability,” said Assaf Ronen, vice president of research and development, Radware. “The NSS Group’s tests confirmed that only DefensePro’s advanced security features can block all manner of attacks while leaving these mission-critical applications unaffected.”

The NSS Group tests underscored the unique capabilities of DefensePro and concluded that:

Under eight hours of extended attack (comprising millions of exploits mixed with genuine traffic), DefensePro blocked 100 percent of attack traffic, while passing all legitimate traffic.

DefensePro’s switching architecture helped it post excellent latency figures under all traffic loads.

DefensePro demonstrated impressive SYN protection, processing 100Mbps of SYN flood traffic with negligible latency while safeguarding against illicit traffic patterns and hacking.

DefensePro blocked application attacks at a speed of 1-Gigabit per second by identifying and mitigating protocol and traffic anomalies in real-time.

“Radware’s overall performance is quite impressive,” said Bob Walder, Director, NSS Group. “Our tests found that DefensePro detected and, more importantly, blocked all attacks -even when subjected to extreme conditions.”

About Radware Radware (NASDAQ:RDWR) is the Global Leader in Intelligent Application Switching, enabling the full availability, maximum performance and complete security of all mission critical networked applications while dramatically cutting operating and scaling costs.

Radware’s integrated Application Security , Application Infrastructure and End-to-End Connectivity solutions are deployed by over 2,500 enterprises and carriers worldwide. Radware offers the broadest product line in the industry meeting application needs at every critical point across the network including Web and Application Servers, Firewalls, VPNs, ISP links, Anti-Virus Gateways and Cache.

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12.24.08

Federal Flood Insurance Programs: Helping to Lower the Cost of Flood Insurance

Posted in House Of Insurance at 3:54 pm by admin

Thousands, if not millions of homes, are damaged each year due to flooding. Flooding is an event that can not always be prevented. It is often hard to predict well in advance when a large amount of rainfall is going to cause flooding in a specific area. This has caused a large number of individuals to be unprepared when the weather does cause flooding in their area.

It is a known fact that flooding can occur at just about any point in time and in any location in the United States. While flooding can occur just about anywhere, there are some locations in the Untied States that are more prone to flooding than others. This means that a specific area may be likely to see flooding on a yearly basis. Individuals in these areas are often charged higher premiums for flood insurance.

High premiums are something that can be prevented, but homeowners cannot prevent them all on their own. That is why the National Flood Insurance Program was developed. The National Flood Insurance Program is a federal flood insurance program. The goal of this federal flood insurance program is to offer affordable flood insurance coverage to all homeowners.

The National Flood Insurance Program offers affordable flood insurance coverage that can be purchased directly through the federal flood insurance program or it can be purchased through a licensed agent. The National Flood Insurance Program works to get insurance affordable by monitoring the coverage plans and the amount of money they cost.

Another way that this federal flood insurance program works to help Americans is by improving cities and towns across the United States. By working with the National Flood Insurance Program a city or town could receive flood insurance reductions. These reductions are most often seen when a city or town agrees to make improvements to their area that will limit or restrict the amount of flooding that occurs. If these improvements are made and kept up-to-date, flood insurance reductions may be offered by the National Flood Insurance Program.

In addition to requesting that a city or town make flood improvements, the National Flood Insurance Program also works to save Americans money by allowing agents to sell their coverage plans. As previously mentioned, an agent must be licensed to offer flood insurance coverage from this federal flood insurance program. In many states, licensed agents are able to offer flood insurance for less. This is most commonly seen in the form of upfront rebates. AmeriFlood is one of the few agents that are offering this amazing discount that is 12% off the traditional cost.

If you are interested in receiving low-cost flood insurance premiums, then you should get working now. Whether you choose to get your community to take action or you start looking for a licensed flood insurance agent, you could be saving money on flood insurance in no time at all.

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Antioxidant Vitamins

Posted in Nutrition at 9:16 am by admin

The antioxidant vitamins found in fruits, vegetables, teas and supplements are proving to be powerful agents in the fight against disease causing free radicals.

The original concept was to take recommended daily allowance (RDA) of vitamins to a level that would prevent acute deficiency diseases like the Sailor’s disease scurvy. These are the standards by which RDA’s were created.

However, in recent years, research has shown that Vitamins taken in higher doses can prevent sever chronic diseases like cancer and heart disease. A debate still rages, but there is a plethora of research being done on Vitamin A, C, E, the antioxidant vitamins.

A National Institute of Health clinical trial involving people at high risk of developing advanced stages of Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), showed that patients’ risk decreased by 25 percent when treated with high doses of antioxidant vitamins and zinc.

Another study at the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta showed that taking Vitamin E along with multivitamins reduced risk from stroke and heart illness. Among patients who took the combination, mortality risk decreased by 15 percent for these two diseases.

This September, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) concluded a study investigating the relationship between Vitamin C and cancer, suggesting that Vitamin C may fight cancer. They found, in a laboratory setting, that high doses of Vitamin C injected directly into the bloodstream killed cancer cells.

Though the current RDA for Vitamin C is stuck at 60 mg, many researchers suggest that raising the RDA to between 100 and 200 mg would be a great way for people to get the antioxidants that they need to maintain overall well being.

Be careful when purchasing vitamins and supplements though. Research has shown that whole food vitamins, or vitamins with their co-factors, are much more effective than isolated nutrients. Nutrition is a complex process of thousands of chemical reactions within our bodies. Vitamins are always better in their natural state - in the foods we eat. Supplements should never be used in place of a poor diet.

The smart choice is to look for whole food vitamins to supplement an already good diet for the times you can’t get everything you need at meal time.

Alan LeStourgeon along with his wife Jean run the web site http://www.ezHealthyDiet.com where they explore what it means to eat a healthy diet, have a healthy home and live a healthier life.

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12.21.08

Life Insurance - a gamble on your life!

Posted in House Of Insurance at 2:23 pm by admin

Insurance may be described as a hedge against life’s uncertainties. To that end, it can never be taken too seriously. Every year, the person insuring himself bets that he will not be living another year and the insurer is betting that he will. If the person lives, and loses the bet, he pays the insurer a small premium; if he dies, the insurer pays the lump sum “jackpot” to the person’s nominee. While the person taking up the policy has only one life to bet on, his insurer is playing the same game with millions of other people like him. Since the insurer’s risk is spread, he can offer huge odds. Moreover, the insurer invests the premium he receives each year, and has employees (called Actuaries or Actuarial Officers) who calculate the odds on each policy based on mortality rates, the mortality experience of the insurer, and the return on investment which the insurer is likely to get. These in essence, form the framework of determining the premiums paid by policy holders, and the returns expected from the policies.

It is the Life Advisors of each company who are responsible for creating the relation between the insurer and the policy holder. He meets with the prospective policy holder, and in conjunction with him, determines which policy would best suit his needs. Indeed, it is through the Life Advisors that every Life Insurance Company manages to maintain a personal relationship with its clients.

It is the requirement of each company to constantly try and establish an identity for itself, and to provide to its customers, both existing and prospective, that which its competitors can’t.

In other words, to establish one or multiple Points of Differentiation. Again, the customer for life insurance ends up paying a rate of premium which has been determined upon data which is sadly loaded in the insurers favor.

As stated earlier, the insurance premiums are calculated by the insurer’s actuaries after taking into account mortality rates, and mortality experience. In many countries, especially the poorer countries, neither private insurance companies, nor the LIC are permitted to conduct the nationwide studies required to determine the mortality rates.

The information is provided by the governments, for a fee, from data taken during the Census. Since this data in itself is old, and mortality rates have significantly decreased in the last 14 years, the customer is actually paying more premium than he should for a life insurance policy.

Interested in this subject? Try this link for more of the same

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