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The pros and cons of homeschooling are many, but do the advantages outweigh the disadvantages? With total control over your child’s homeschooling needs you have the flexibility to teach your child values that cannot be taught in a public classroom. On the other hand your time will not be as free as it used to be.

The education a child can gain from a loving and concerned parent will be much greater than is possible to receive in a public school system. You don’t need a teaching credential or even a college degree, just the desire to give your child a quality education. If there are subjects that you don’t feel comfortable teaching it is possible to hire a tutor for those classes. And on the positive side your home school curriculum can incorporate other things such as your own religious and moral beliefs, something that will not be taught in a public school system. By taking control of a child’s education a parent can shape that child’s value system better than anyone else.

There are two main requirements necessary to achieve a rewarding home schooling experience for both you and your child. Obviously you must have a desire to teach your children, that is number one. If you are doing it out of duty or obligation you may soon find yourself in way over your head and wanting to get out. The second requirement is determination. You must truly want your child to succeed and be willing to put forth the time and effort it takes for your child to reach his or her potential. With these two ingredients your child may be able to realize an education that could not be achieved in a public classroom.

You, more than anyone else, want your child to reach their full potential. This is usually not possible in a crowded classroom environment. A child, to learn at their best, must have one-on-one instruction from someone who truly cares for them. And who better than you can give that to them? Public school teachers are overwhelmed by the sheer number of students they must control every day. With the many different learning styles, discipline problems, regulations that need to be followed and other factors a public school teacher cannot spend the individual time with each child that is necessary to bring out that child’s best. Home schooling can help children to blossom and bring out a child’s full potential like nothing else can.

Do you have doubts about your ability to teach? All you have to do to overcome your fear is to visit a public classroom for a day. Visit a kindergarten class or a first grade class and you will see that much of the time spent is merely controlling the children’s behavioral problems. And the lessons that are taught are usually very simple. In a one-on-one home atmosphere you will be able to progress at your own pace.

With a few home school books and lesson plans you will be able to get started very easily. Remember, you are starting your teaching experience with a very young child. And you will actually be able to learn as you go. With a little preparation it is possible to grow with your child. And the first time you see some of your instruction sink into your child’s brain you will feel satisfied that you are performing a very important task. You will surely be surprised at how effective you can be as your child’s homeschool instructor.

Public school teachers have their curriculum all laid out for them. They must follow programs and use materials that others have already approved for them. They must also move at a predetermined pace so that they can get through their study programs even if it means going forward at the expense of a child understanding what has been taught. You, on the other hand, can come up with your own homeschooling curriculum which can include religious or moral beliefs. You can take a field trip anytime you desire. You can make sure your child fully grasps a specific subject before moving forward. This will allow your child the opportunity to learn as they should be learning and at a pace they can keep up with. In a public system the slower children are often left behind.

There are negatives as well as positives however. The biggest negative to home schooling is your time. Your child will most likely receive a idn poker more rewarding education at home, but you will be devoting lots of your time to this cause. This could be a big sacrifice, especially if you are struggling financially and need to work. However, with a real desire you may be able to live without luxuries that will give you the time you need to offer your child the education they deserve. Search the internet for lesson plans, other pros and cons, christian home schooling information, home schooling requirements, home schooling books, eclectic homeschooling and other topics of interest. After researching this subject you may find that teaching your child will be even more rewarding for you than it is for your child. If you would like to develop a special bond with your child homeschooling may be the way.

You’ve written and compiled an ebook. Now you have to decide how much to charge for it. Finding the right price is essential to the success of your product. If you charge too little, people will think it’s of little value, and they won’t purchase it, or even it they do buy your book, you will have to sell thousands of copies to get to the point where you can begin to see a profit. If you price it too high when compared with your competition, you will find yourself steadily lowering the price, which will cause you all idn poker kinds of new problems in the future. For example, if you sell your ebook at first for $39.99, and later reduce it to $24.95, don’t you think the people who bought it for $39.99 are going to be PISSED?

Choosing the right price for your ebook is one of the most critical parts of the marketing process. The first rule of pricing ebooks is to never underprice. Determine the highest price your audience can afford, and then if you find your book isn?t selling, you can always reduce the price. Before you take that step, make sure you are promoting your book like crazy on the Internet and on websites. The price should be aimed at bringing in profits, but you should never forget that price is one of the factors that people use in judging the value of your ebook ? before they buy it. So always start with the highest price, and then launch a mega-marketing campaign.

Pricing an ebook is particularly difficult because ebooks are a fairly new commodity. Since they are digital, the value of an ebook is as confusing as the understanding of what digital actually is to the average layperson. This means that we must look at ebooks in a different light in order to determine their actual worth in this brave, new cyber world.

Let’s look at the difference between a book in print and an ebook. A printed book is an object you can hold in your hand, store on your bookshelf, even hand down

to the next generation. It is priced on factors such as paper stock, design and production costs, and marketing.

But the fact that unites ebooks and print books is that they are composed of ideas. It is the ideas in these books that have the ability to change, or possibly transform, people’s lives.

What do you think an idea is worth when evaluated against the cost of paper and ink?

It is the IDEAS that are valuable! That is how you determine the cost of your ebook.

What should I charge for my ideas?

There are all different formulas and methods for determining the correct price for your ebook. Let’s begin with honing in on your ultimate goals.

Decide if your goal is to get wide distribution and maximum exposure. This goal is aimed at drawing customers to your business or service, or to establishing the credibility of your reputation. If this is your main goal, you should aim to keep your price on the low side. Some authors have even priced their ebooks at a profit loss to draw a high number of new customers. The key is to find a price that maximizes your profits and the number of books you sell.

This is an excellent pricing strategy if you are looking to acquire long-term customers. Long-term customers are extremely likely to buy from you again and again ? as long as the first ebook they buy is of exceptional quality and beneficial to the customer.

However, if your book contains valuable ? and more importantly NEW information, references, or techniques ? then you should aim to price it on the high end.

After you figure out your goal, you must figure out what your audience’s need is for your ebook. For example, does your book solve a particular problem? If it does, and solves it in a way that hasn’t been written about in one hundred other ebooks, you will be able to achieve high sales at a high price. If your book solves a problem or answers questions in a new and unique way, you should price your book as high as you can go. You will achieve larger profits this way, but bring in fewer customers. Just make sure the question or problem that your book solves is one that is important and relevant to the majority of your market audience. If your ideas are not common knowledge, or you are presenting a brand new technique, you will be able to sell books at a high price. Just be prepared for your competition to

undercut you on price as soon as they hear about your book.

Keep in mind that the above pricing strategy is temporary. Eventually, you will cease to sell books at this high price. So figure out in advance how long you plan to offer your ebook at this high price, and when that time is up, change your pricing strategy.

If you want to see large profits over customer draw, aim for an audience that is looking for easy solutions to their problems at a low price. If your book is

aimed at solving one particular problem rather than general advice, then you can charge more. Start at the highest price the market will bear to bring in the

largest profits, and plan to discount the book a number of times throughout the year.

Marketing Strategies

The key that unlocks the sales potential of your ebook is to find a single sentence that becomes your selling handle. This sentence states what question or problem

your book answers and the benefits your ebook can provide. Then be sure to use that sentence in every piece of sales and promotional material, and every time anyone asks you about your ebook.

Besides promoting your books assiduously online, there are several other strategies that can help you sell more books.

One is to give something away for free with your book, such as a valuable bonus item. Or bundle several ebooks under one price, which lowers the price for each ebook if they were sold separately.

An effective technique for figuring out a price is to send out a survey to your current customers. If these customers have already bought an ebook from you, ask for their opinion in terms of price. Do this by creating a sales page for the new book, but don’t include a price on that page. Instead, add a number of links to survey questions that ask pointed questions to aid you in assigning a price to your ebook.

Another strategy is to test out prices by creating a number of duplicate sales pages with different prices on each page. Make sure your sales copy is exactly the same on every page, and includes your selling-handle sentence. Then figure out for each page the conversion ratio between visitors to your site and sales of your book. This will tell you what your optimum price is.

Ultimately, if you’ve written a book that solves a problem or presents a new technique, your book will bring in both traffic and profits. So be sure to write that selling-handle sentence that sums up what problem your book solves and what the benefits of your book will be to the customers who purchase it. And then watch your market come to you!

Based on my research, this seems to be the basic principle that website owners have been following to get passive income online:

* Get many people to come to your website

* Get them to click on your Adsense links

Sounds simple enough. Get people into your website from Google search, then link out to an Adsense Ad. Search In Adsense Out.

Practically applying it to get sufficient commendable income, however, can be quite a challenge.

The first problem is how to get many visitors to your website.

Thats where Search Engine Optimization comes in. However, this is really easier said that done. Its a bit of an artwork. You basically have to read the mind of an Internet user. What keywords would he use? Why would he visit your website? Do you have the content go get people interested enough to get to your website?

Basically, your goal is visibility. You have to be seen. You can do this using SEO or using traditional brand-building methods. Tell your friends, family and colleagues. If they have websites, politely ask if you could link with each other.

For those lucky few that are already on top of the search engines, this is not a problem. Others (including myself) would have to work hard at it. Look at FilipinoLinks.com. Its been around for a very long time and has made quite a foundation. It would not be too difficult for its owners to tweak the website for SEO.

Experts have varied opinions on what to poker online put in a website. Some say, put relevant important content with around 500-1000 words on each of your website. Some say provide simple 300 word news posts.

Another option to get clicks would be to advertise online for keywords. Adwords is an example of a tool that can allow you to do this. There will be marketing expenses in this scenario. The goal here is to get more Adsense income than Adwords Expenses which is really basic business sense. This is easier said than done, I tried it and got dismal results.

The next problem would be how to get visitors to click on Adsense links.

Well, the first thing that needs to be done is to get an Adsense account. Its pretty easy to setup. After that, you need to put the Adsense links on your website. There are people who say make it blend it when the rest of your pages. Here, on my website, you can see my Adsense Ads that seem to be part of the overall theme.

Other experts say the more noticeable the advertisements, the more they will be clicked. In this case, the Ads stand out prominently with a different, and sometimes contrasting color scheme. One tip given was actually position the Google Ad right next to an image/picture. Viewers tend to click on picture links, so more income potential income there.

What does this all mean for a Filipino Entrepreneur?

In my point of view, it means opportunities. Although I have just started experimenting on all of this myself, there seems to be a real possibility of gaining a little revenue. For example, I started this website (last January) and have,in my first month I gained US$7 from Adsense. Its not much but consider this:

* My expenses so far have been the webhosting (US$4 monthly), and domain name (US$3 for one year got it at a discount).

* If I continue getting US$7 a month, that would be, US$84 a year.

* My years hosting would be US$48

* My theoretical income for one year would be US$33.

There are other costs, of course, from writing the content for this website electricity, less time to do other things, etc I didnt include it yet. If you had pre-existing content, this wouldnt matter to you. Just upload it and you should be ready.

For example, if you had a song lyrics database, you could find a pretty reliable web developer, have him upload your database, and include AdSense. Optimize it for search and you should soon get some revenue. It will probably not be big, but enough to get you interested.

I remember on my last test with the wordtracker application, Pinoy Ako Lyrics were some of the top keywords I found. People were actually looking for lyrics of Filipino songs. Since new songs come out every month, whoever gets the lyrics out soonest would be found earlier.

If you had a database of all Philippine Lotto Results ever since it began, you could probably have a statistics analyzer custom-made from your website. It could give suggested lotto numbers based on historical info. That would be something a lot of people would go to.

There are probably other more interesting opportunities for the web-savvy Pinoy entrepreneur. As long as you get people to your website, and get them to click on an advertisement, there will be revenue.

When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone, little did he realise the positive effect it would have on customer service or the negative effect it could also have!

Yes, the telephone can be a great tool in helping to provide exceptional customer service but it can also quickly destroy a customers perception of your service. What steps can you take to ensure that, whenever you or your staff use the phone, it adds something positive to the customer experience?

Here are some ideas.

Answer Promptly

Its an old tip but one usually ignored! You are sitting at your desk, deep in thought, writing your monthly report and the phone rings. Ill just finish this sentence quickly you say to yourself and before you know it, the phone has rung 10 times. The caller is unlikely to be in a good mood assuming he hasnt already hung up!

Just try and remember the last time you sat on a phone with it ringing and ringing. What pictures came into your mind while you were waiting? An image of the person you are trying to call sitting at his desk chatting or casually drinking a cup of coffee? Didnt get you in a good mood did it? So why put your customers through it?

Aim to answer your phone within 3 to 5 rings. A prompt pick-up will get the conversation off to a positive start and also avoids you having to open your conversation with an apology.

So, get to the phone as quick as you can.

Be Enthusiastic

When you answer the phone make sure your voice conveys the message, Really happy to be speaking to you! Make your voice light, bring a feeling of enthusiastic emotion to your tone and most importantly sound eager. You dont want the caller thinking that you would rather be doing something else even if you do!

Get a real upbeat feeling into your opening greeting. Say your Good morning or Good afternoon with a strong, enthusiastic tone. This will immediately lift your callers spirits and get you both off to a good start.

If you really are having a bad day (and we all get them!), and enforced enthusiasm is going to be struggle, stand up and take the call. This helps makes your voice lighter and the change in position and body language can have a positive impact. Try it out.

Listen To What They Have To Say

You may think that you listen intently to all conversations you have. Its difficult enough to do this when you are face-to-face with someone, but over the phone without eye contact, keeping your attention is even more difficult. Its too easy, especially if the caller has a habit of padding out every point he wants to make, to think about the task you were just interrupted on, or about that chat you had with one of your suppliers earlier. Before you know it, youve lost track of what the caller is on about.

Actively listening to what is being said is a skill everyone needs if they are to use the phone as a tool for great customer service. But how can you keep your attention focused on what is being said?

-> First of all, commit to yourself that you will actively listen. Without a clear commitment nothing ever happens

-> Take notes during every call, even if you dont need to. The act of having to capture the callers key points, will force you to listen. Just focus on writing down keywords, not complete sentences otherwise youll be concentrating on writing and not listening!

-> If an important statement has been made, repeat it back in your own words. This will force you to listen for the key points worth repeating

-> Ask questions. Dont go too far with a constant barrage of questions but ask just enough to keep your mind alert

Active listening is not just about making sure you pick up all the key points; its also about respecting the caller. They will feel they have been treated with importance and respect if its clear you have been listening. Relevant questions and the occasional Umm can go a long way to making the caller feel they have been listened to.

Avoid Distractions

If possible, try and remove as many distractions as you can while speaking on the phone, especially if the call is important. If your office door is open and general office noise is affecting your listening, ask the caller to hold for a moment and close the door.

If someone walks into your office while you are taking an important call, indicate for him to stay outside or come back. It can be very distracting having someone sitting at your desk while you are talking.

If you were working on your PC when the call came through, turn and face away from it. You dont want your eyes and mind wandering back to look at the document you were working on!

Respect the callers time and remove or avoid anything which may cause your mind to drift off.

Finish Strongly

When the call is coming to an end its important to finish in a strong, convincing way. Summarise what has been agreed, what actions are to be taken and by whom. Leave the caller in no doubt as to what the next step is.

Just as your opening was full of enthusiasm, so should your closing statement. A good, strong and positive, Good to talk you and speak to you soon closer will bring the call to a satisfactory end. Your customer will hang up knowing that the call was worthwhile.

Answer Phone and Voicemail Messages

If you are not at your desk or in the office, any recorded message you leave is just as important in creating the right impression as the actual call itself. Some people dont like leaving messages but if your phone has the capability then use it. By leaving a message at least your customer will have the opportunity to partly satisfy the reason he called. Not being able to say anything can be frustrating.

Here are some thoughts on how to record effective messages:

-> Write out the message before you record it. Dont do it off the cuff as it will probably be full of umms and pauses. It wont sound professional

-> When recording, speak slowly and carefully, making sure that the caller can understand everything you say. This is especially the case for telephone numbers where you can be reached in an emergency

-> Make the message punchy and too the point. Dont fill it with unnecessary information

-> Call your number and listen to the message. If it doesnt sound right record it again and again until it does

-> Regularly change your message to reflect what you are doing. poker online If you are going to be away on holiday, give a date when you will be back. If you are out only for the morning, tell the caller you will return their call in the afternoon. Messages which are up to date will make the caller more confident about leaving a message

If used correctly the telephone can be a great asset in building a reputation for providing exceptional customer service. Used incorrectly, it can damage your business and give another reason for your customers to go and take their business elsewhere.

It has taken me decades literally to finally pick up another C.S. Lewis book and read it. In high school I read Lewis book, That Hideous Strength and completely missed Lewis message. One decade later I read Lewis Mere Christianity and fully understood what Lewis was saying. With The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, part of C.S. Lewis Chronicles of Narnia series, the gospel message is clearly made evident in an allegorical/mystical style. Lewis used the Narnia series to explain Christs love for humankind to children, who are the series principal readers.

This first novel in a series of seven books is currently a major motion picture now completing a successful run on theatre screens across the U.S. I have yet to see the movie, a Disney production, but I understand that it holds very true to Lewis storyline. I expect to see the movie before it leaves theatres later this month; it will become available on DVD this April.

Back to the story! The theme of The Lion centers around four children, the Pevensie siblings, who get caught up in a land of magic. Entering Narnia through a wardrobe [a tall cabinet that holds clothes] located in a home where they are boarding the children enter a land where it is always winter, but never Christmas. Under the spell of the White Witch, Narnia is forever in the grip of evil. The land is occupied by talking animals [beavers, for one], spirits, goblins, sprites, but no humans. That is until Lucy Pevensie shows up followed by her brother Edmund and, later, Susan and Peter.

Quite obviously the White Witch a/k/a the Queen of Narnia is most interested in humans so she resorts to all sorts of magic and trickery to lure them in. Edmund, the most impressionable of the siblings, is quickly captivated by the White Witch and then sets out to betray the others.

Without giving away the storyline, the theme of Narnia clearly reflects the captivity of this present world under Satan, but its past and future deliverance through Jesus Christ. In the form of a lion, Aslan, Lewis brings a savior to Narnia who eventually releases the land from its winter grip and vanquishes the White Witch.

For those unfamiliar with the gospel message, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe may be hard to follow. However, Lewis wrote the book in 1950 immediately after the horrors of Word War II and with the Nazi air battle for London fresh in the minds of British citizenry. Lewis may have been responding to a strong spiritual hunger of his time when he wrote the series as Narnia successfully points seekers to Aslan, much as the Bible points readers to Jesus Christ.

I am not sure if I will read the remaining six books in this series, but I am definitely interested in exploring several other writings of Lewis.

C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Charles Williams were contemporaries who were a part of a group of writers and intellectuals known as The Inklings who met during the 1930s and 1940s at a public house in Oxford. idnplay Tolkien, like Lewis, used Christian allegory in many of his writings including, The Lord of the Rings, another series of books that was recently released as a major motion picture.

Clearly, the renewed interest in C.S. Lewis works is a positive step especially for a generation of children not familiar with the gospel message. Disney, for their part, is interested in developing the remaining six books of the series into individual movies. So, expect Narniamania as some have called it to continue unabated for many years to come.

How Industrial Suppliers can promote their website off the Internet to increase traffic and sales opportunities

By Conrad Bailey

According to a survey conducted by IndustrialLeaders.com, most buyers today of industrial products use the Web to source for supplies, equipment and machinery. However, the same survey has showed that over 92% of industrial and technical buyers that log on-line to source for products or services have no particular supplier in mind.

Experienced online marketers understand how to reach these people when they go online via pay-per-click, targeted banner ads, relevant link building and other Web marketing methods. But the idnplay smartest marketers realize the best time to actually reach these buyers is offline. This gives them a significant advantage over their competitors that are in constant battle with one another for keywords, page rank, link popularity, etc. This article was written to give you the same competitive advantage.

Make Your Website The First Place They’ll Visit

Few internet marketers realize or will admit that promoting a website offline is just as important – and sometimes even more important than online. How you decide to promote your site off the Internet depends on your budget, needs, target market, industry and other criteria.

Nevertheless, the first important part of any offline promotion campaign is to take an inventory of the things in your office that can display and promote your website address, including:

Media releases

Brochures and catalogs

Stationary (business cards, envelopes, letterheads, shipping labels, boxes, etc.)

Ad specialties (calendars, pens, caps, t-shirts, mugs, etc).

Newsletters, reports and white papers

Every other marketing document or item you use to connect with prospects & customers.

Once you take that inventory, you need to keep in mind that no matter how many tools or resources you employ to promote your website, just presenting your web address is not going to do much. That’s because, not many people will visit a website without a convincing reason to do so. Thus, every time you advertise or display your website on anything, make sure it always carries a message that persuades people to visit your site.

I cannot overemphasize this importance. Look at it this way. If I say to you visit us at MyDomain.com. Are you going to take the time out of your busy schedule to visit? Not likely. With so many websites and the abundance of information available on the Web, you are probably not going to visit a site just because someone mentioned their URL address, at least not without some kind of incentive that’s part of the offer or message.

Promoting A Website Using Media Releases

I’m sure you’re smart enough to never send out a press releases without including your URL address. But again, even press releases must carry a message of ‘why’ the reader should visit your site. This requires some creative thinking because editors almost never publish press releases that sound like a sales offer. One way around that is to write a release that is solely intended to promote something new about your site or product line.

For example, your media release can be about a new product you’re now offering on your site, newly designed e-catalog, employee of the month featured, or even recent improvements made to your site. Or perhaps, a new segment on your website that benefits your customers with timely information, useful tools or environmental friendly resources. Indeed, press releases of such nature, mailed or faxed to local media sources, are more likely to get published. And when they do, better results can be expected because your web address will now include a compelling reason to visit your site.

Brochures & Catalogs

With the rising costs of paper and postage, traditional brochures and catalogs are getting more expensive to use as marketing documents. Because of this, many suppliers are moving their entire catalog to the Internet where distribution and production costs are minimal compared to the expense of printing and mailing a catalog.

Although going totally electronic is a wise decision for cost-cutting purposes, it’s still important that you continue to offer your brochure and/or catalog in both print and electronic versions. There will always be prospects that prefer good old ink and paper catalogs, and that’s a nice advantage to have over competitors that no longer offer them.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when promoting your website via traditional catalogs.

Your web address should be on every page (top & bottom areas), not just on the cover like most catalogs;

Give different reasons (real incentives) throughout the catalog to visit your website (e.g. Visit Here To See Today’s Specials; Go Here To Get A Free Gift; etc.);

The back of your catalog should include your website’s ‘Main Menu’ or ‘Site Map’ describing the most important pages of your site along with its url address;

In addition your phone number, the inner-back or inner-front cover of your catalog should include the email addresses of your customer service and sales departments. Why? Because some people prefer sending RFQ’s via email rather than dealing with the possibility of a pushy salesperson.

Your catalog can even have a ‘Bargain Page’ that ties into your website. Just provide the url address on the cover, where it will get the most exposure, so prospects and customers can get instant information about the latest bargains you are offering.

Promoting Your Website Via Catalogs Does Not Have To Be Expensive

As you know, cost is a major issue when it comes to printing and mailing catalogs and brochures.

You can cut costs by using fewer colors and lighter paper, but the cost can still add up even if you take the cheapest route.

If you already have a good number of catalogs or brochures in stock, you can affix ‘promotional labels’ on the front and back covers that carry your marketing message, along with your website’s address. Labels are extremely versatile because they can be used to promote different specials you are offering at anytime. It’s a great way to test different offers with prospects… without the high cost of printing additional pieces. The right labels, if designed fittingly, can really stand out and make the reader take notice.

Use Stationary To Promote Your Website

Do you have business stationary? Business cards? Letterhead? Envelopes? Shipping labels? Is your URL address presented on these items? Does your website address include a benefit or incentive for visiting? If not, why not? However you slice it, every item you use to connect with your prospect that does not carry your web address, and a reason for visiting, is wasting some fraction of your money.

When it comes to promoting your site using stationary, due to lack of space, your message should focus on the biggest benefit your company offers. This is especially true on your letterhead and envelopes where there is limited space.

One exception is your business card where you have the space to promote your website in much more client-centered detail. Indeed, business cards integrated with your website are like mini-billboards advertising your company and products all year long.

One of the best business cards I have ever seen was from a Steel & Iron Company. The front of the card had the standard black ink on white stock design and a basic layout. But at the bottom of the card, in bold text, it read, “Flip over to visit us.” There, on the back of the card the company listed the web address to its Home Page, Catalog, Rebate Section, About Us and Company Profile page.

The card was so well done, I just had to call the company to ask them about it. To shorten the story, I was forwarded to the sales manager, and according to him, the card was designed by a marketing consultant agency in California. And it receives a lot of good feedback from customers and prospects praising how clever and useful the card was. Need I said more?

Advertising Specialties

A lot of industrial suppliers at one time or another have used promotional items to advertise their company logo. Now, shrewdly I may add, more of them are using these pens, calendars, t-shirts, mugs, caps and other items to also promote their website.

Most ad specialties however still have nothing on it but a company logo. I suppose the advertiser is hoping it will increase awareness or generate some publicity when the items are giving away as premiums. But unfortunately, other than spawning some goodwill with the ones that received these gifts, it’s difficult to accurately measure the results in terms of actual sales.

Now I ask you, if you saw a baseball cap with a company’s logo imprinted on it, what would you think? What would you do? What would you remember? The answer to all three of these questions, 9 out of 10 times would be, Nothing!

In contrast, if the same baseball cap also included the company’s web address along with an incentive for you to visit the site. Well, now you will probably be interested, and you just might at least want to remember that address to visit later. Especially if the site was relevant to something you or your company needs.

The best advertising specialties to purchase and giveaway are wearables such as hats, t-shirts, caps, jackets, golf shirts, etc. That’s because of the exposure they generate since they are “mobile advertisements.” Wearables that display your web address can increase traffic to your site, generate sales leads, publicity, word-of-mouth and build awareness of company’s capabilities..

Newsletters, Reports and White Papers

If you publish a traditional ink and paper newsletter, white paper or report, whether it be weekly, monthly or annually, be sure to dedicate a portion of each issue to promote your website. That can be done in a number of ways and through various formats. Newsletters, reports and white papers are premier tools to promote your website. They allow you to keep each prospect and customer informed, and remind them to stop by your site and see the latest client-centered benefits.

Last Words About Promoting Your Website Outside The Internet

Every manufacturer and supplier has to invest money, sometime lots of money to promote their products, whether it be online, offline or both. Unfortunately, much of what is spent often does nothing to recoup the investment in terms of increased sales, profit and company growth. That is why you must integrate your website with multiple mediums to increase your company’s exposure on the Internet, and improve effectiveness through the power of unity.

You see, the Internet, although will be much different ten years from now, it is undeniably here to stay and it’s only going to spread wider, impact more people and become increasingly important to employ. Make sure you position your website to grow for the long haul. Following the advice in this article, and using the resources it provides, is a great start – but it’s just the beginning until you put the actual ideas into action. I hope you do that.

The word Tweaking simply means to fine tune.You want to fine tune your computer so that it will boot up faster.Tweaking your computer so that it will run at peek performance will cause you to enjoy your computer like you never imaged.

There are procedures you can perform that will speed up the operating system boot-up.When tweaking your startup process,take care not to allow your computer to boot up too fast.Too fast booting will cause your PC to miss valuable data and not check all peripherals it needs to allow the computer to run at its best.

Speeding up your booting process will reduce the waiting time you can use the computer.Here are some procedures you can perform that will help speed up your PC startup.Be sure to backup your hard drive in case you should make an error.Take your time and perform these tasks at your own risk.

Take notes of everything you do.Backup your BIOS with such utilities as Cmos14.zip.This file is just 5,569kbs zipped and You can download a copy from our site at the url www.ultimatepcrepair.com/files/cmos14.zip

FIRST….Use Scandisk and Defragment on your hard drive if you are not performing these two maintenance steps regularly.Over time,your files become scattered all over your hard drive.This causes the computer to hunt for every piece of file fragments throughout the drive.

SECOND…..Clean Up Your Registry.The installing and uninstalling of applications cause your registry to have many files it does not use.Your system slows down at startup because these files are loaded into memory every time the PC is started.Registry Healer which is a trial ultility will scan your registry for problems.

And Registry Tuner allow you to view and remove unwanted software in your registry.Windows Reg Edit is a small ultility within Windows that will perform the same function. You may want to give Registry First Aid a try as well.

Visit the online version of this newsletter at http://www.ultimatepcrepair.com/news/35.html to download the trial versions of the above utilities.

THIRD…….Edit Your SysEdit Configuration by Clicking on Start,Run,and then type “sysedit” in the open block. You will be presented with your system files.Check and remove any files you know are not needed.You can type “REM” at the start of a line to disable it to see if your computer has need for it.

Take notes of any changes you make so that you can undo what you did should any problems arise.The ultility Bootvis is a good Windows XP ultilty that helps your boot process,We used it on our Windows Home XP computer and we noticed a difference.To learn much more visit www.microsoft.com/hwdev/platform/performance/fastboot /BootVis.asp and download your copy.

FOURTH….Remove unwanted programs that may be starting up in your Startup Folder.This folder as well as your Sysedit file may have programs slowing the PC down. Click on Start,Settings,Taskbar and Start Menu Tab, Start Menu Programs,Remove,and go down to the Startup Folder.There you can expand and remove any unwanted programs.

FIFTH…..Go to Start,Run,type “msconfig” in the open box and press enter.Click on Startup and here you idn poker can remove programs here as well.The thing to remember is to take notes of any program you remove just in case you find that program useful after all.Be sure to take the time and backup your system files so that you can restore these files should something go wrong.Take notes of files you remove from Sysedit or msconfig.

SIXTH….Enable your Quick Boot option in your BIOS.Access your Bios and locate this feature that bypasses some of the checks your computer makes at POST.The downside to enabling this feature is that it increases the chances of a hardware failure going undetected.You may want to use this feature from time to time and see if the difference in bootup speed is worth it.

We hate it when our computer creep alone when we turn on the power button,when we play our favorite Hi-Resolution star wars game,or when we decided to go on the internet,that is,if it doesn’t take a couple minutes to logon.Upgrading and tweaking your PC to run faster can be performed quick and easy,if we put to use the neat utilities Windows as well as many third party software has to offer.

Online bingo bonus offers, hands-down, are the widest used and most popular incentive being offered to Internet bingo players. The bonuses are designed to attract new bingo sign-ups and to encourage real money players to continue making subsequent deposits. Clearly, the growing popularity in online bingo proves bonus offers are doing precisely the goal wished-for!

Bingo Bonuses generally fall into three categories: (1)New Player/New Sign-up Bingo Deposit Bonuses (2)2nd Deposit/Reload(or Retention) Bingo Deposit Bonuses, and (3)No Deposit or Free Bingo Bonuses There may be different options available to choose from within the three categories, these of course, being subject to the bingo websites specific bonus offer.

(1) New Player/New Sign-up Bingo Deposit Bonuses

The sign-up deposit bonus is a popular offer with bingo players. If used correctly players can sometimes triple their money when using this bonus! The bingo websites will match the amount of money (by a set percentage amount; on average 50%-300%) deposited by a new player. For example, if you deposit $50.00 and receive a 100% match bonus, you will have a total of $100.00 to play with ($50.00 from your own deposit and the $50.00 given as a deposit match bonus). Some sites pay deposit bonuses in real money, others in bonus money.

(2) 2nd Deposit/Reload(or Retention) Bingo Deposit Bonuses

Many websites offer bonuses for players making subsequent deposits. These bonuses, similar to the sign-up idn poker bonus vary and range from 50% to 300%. Deposit bonuses are not only to encourage players to continue depositing, but also to give them something extra for their loyalty. Research and careful consideration to all current bonuses offered is highly suggested. Even a relatively small deposit, can give a player quite a bit of funds to play bingo with, when matched by a good bonus! There are also bingo sites that will increase the match deposit bonus given by preset increments for each additional or larger deposit sum made. These types of bingo bonuses or loyalty rewards are given to thank the bingo player for their business. Additionally, there are even bingo sites that offer not only the deposit match, but will also reward their players with a monthly bonus to keep them as returning real money players.

(3) No Deposit or Free Bingo Bonuses

This bonus offered to new sign-ups, whom after registering with an online bingo site; receive a free cash bonus to play bingo at their site. The player has the opportunity to play bingo for free and to win real cash. Most online bingo sites offering the No Deposit Bonus give new players between $5.00 and $30.00. Another free bonus offer from bingo sites is free bingo cards, usually five to twenty cards that players can use to play a free bingo game. The rules for cashing out on a free bonus, participating in chat room games for BBs (bonus bucks) or having access to all bingo rooms and games are always more restrictive than any placed on players making deposit bonuses. The rules vary from site to site and the player needs to understand them prior to playing at the website.

There is also an in-house bonus that players can earn while playing in an online bingo room. These bingo bonuses are awarded to players participating in online chat games. Most bingo sites offer a variety of fun chat games where players can earn bingo bucks or BBs to buy additional bingo cards for a chance at winning a bingo pot. Chat games draw many players to bingo sites because they are enjoyable and are a very easy way to win BBs.

Overall, it seems the current trend for online bingo bonuses has shown a decline in free/no deposit bonuses. In contrast, more emphasis has been placed on the deposit bonuses. The popularity of online bingo playing and the increased numbers of real money players is most likely the reason why. An online search of popular bingo site bonuses show much of the spotlight is on the deposit bonus type. It is becoming more difficult to locate any free bingo bonus offers above the amount of $10.00. Many of the current $30.00 free bonus offers by Internet bingo sites specify for play in free rooms only and all bingo wins considered just play thus no win is eligible for cash out. Although the free bonus seeker will find slim pickings, this is good news for the depositing and serious player. Those seeking the most lucrative offer possible before deciding to make a cash deposit to play bingo will find a large variety of deposit bonuses with bingo sites vying for your business with an array of special offers and unique bingo bonuses for players to choose from.

There seems to be a relatively large population of Canon owners who are affected by the E18 error. In this article I will teach you a few simple methods you can try to repair the error yourself.

This article is intended for people whose cameras are out of warranty. If your camera poker online is still under warranty, go to your nearest Canon repair shop and let them fix it. If its not, you can either choose to pay around 150$ for the repair or try one of these simple techniques.

First I should explain what exactly an E18 is. According to Canons web site, it is an error that involves the lens unit or lens cover. The lens gets stuck in the extended position, and refuses to move either to focus the lens or to retract when powered off. It can happen if you apply pressure to the area surrounding the lens while it is in the recording mode (this includes dropping the camera), or if sand or dirt get into the lens area. The lens gets stuck, you get a black screen with a small “E18” sign in the lower-left corner, the camera beeps a few times and turns off.

Lately, I noticed a number of people online who are having troubles with this error. It happened to my Power Shot A520 as well a couple of weeks ago, but fortunately, the camera was still under warranty so Canon fixed it free of charge. In order to help the unlucky ones whose cameras are out of warranty, I decided to write this article.

Basically, there are a couple of simple things you can try. I cant guarantee they will work for you, but I know these methods have helped some people get rid of their E18 problems:

1) One method is to tap the padded USB cover part on a hard surface, for example, a desk. I know it sounds to simple to work, but this can get some of the dirt out of the lens.

2) Try compressed air. With a fine tip blow off gun and dry compressed air set the tip between the lens turret and the camera body and turn on the air while moving the tip around the lens. It should remove all of the dust and sand. Turn the camera on and it should function fine.

3) Another solution is to try and push the lens back into place. This is the least preferable method. Try it only if the camera is out of warranty and DONT apply too much pressure! If the lens can be set back into place with a light push, great! If not, dont force it!

4) If nothing else works, there are a couple of online guides in different languages for dismantling the camera and cleaning the lens thoroughly. Try this only if your camera is out of warranty! Some of them are:

– http://www.ixus-world.de/tips/repair_guide/e18_01en.htm – a guide in English

– http://menthol.hit.bg/E18.html – a guide in Bulgarian

– http://www.artecdesign.ee/~jan/Kaamerad/PowerShotA70/index.html – Estonian guide

The last two are not in English, but they have a lot of pictures which should help with the whole process.

So youve learned how you can try and rescue your camera. Try out the methods for yourself, and contact me with good news.

If you want more information about the E18 error, or would like to read other peoples experiences with it, stop by my site at http://www.e18error.com. Feel free to drop me an email.

There seems to be a relatively large population of Canon owners who are affected by the E18 error. In this article I will teach you a few simple methods you can try to repair the error yourself.

This article is intended for people whose cameras are out of warranty. If your camera is still under warranty, go to your nearest Canon repair shop and let them fix it. If its not, you can either choose to pay around 150$ for the repair or try one of these simple techniques.

First I should explain what exactly an E18 is. According to Canons web site, it is an error that involves the lens unit or lens cover. The lens gets stuck in the extended position, and refuses to move either to focus the lens or to retract when powered off. It can happen if you apply pressure to the area surrounding the lens while it is in the recording mode (this includes dropping the camera), or if sand or dirt get into the lens area. The lens gets stuck, you get a black screen with a small “E18” sign in the lower-left corner, the camera beeps a few times and turns off.

Lately, I noticed a number of people online who are having troubles with this error. It happened to my Power Shot A520 as well a couple of weeks ago, but fortunately, the camera was still under warranty so Canon fixed it free of charge. In order to help the unlucky ones whose cameras are poker online out of warranty, I decided to write this article.

Basically, there are a couple of simple things you can try. I cant guarantee they will work for you, but I know these methods have helped some people get rid of their E18 problems:

1) One method is to tap the padded USB cover part on a hard surface, for example, a desk. I know it sounds to simple to work, but this can get some of the dirt out of the lens.

2) Try compressed air. With a fine tip blow off gun and dry compressed air set the tip between the lens turret and the camera body and turn on the air while moving the tip around the lens. It should remove all of the dust and sand. Turn the camera on and it should function fine.

3) Another solution is to try and push the lens back into place. This is the least preferable method. Try it only if the camera is out of warranty and DONT apply too much pressure! If the lens can be set back into place with a light push, great! If not, dont force it!

4) If nothing else works, there are a couple of online guides in different languages for dismantling the camera and cleaning the lens thoroughly. Try this only if your camera is out of warranty! Some of them are:

– http://www.ixus-world.de/tips/repair_guide/e18_01en.htm – a guide in English

– http://menthol.hit.bg/E18.html – a guide in Bulgarian

– http://www.artecdesign.ee/~jan/Kaamerad/PowerShotA70/index.html – Estonian guide

The last two are not in English, but they have a lot of pictures which should help with the whole process.

So youve learned how you can try and rescue your camera. Try out the methods for yourself, and contact me with good news.

If you want more information about the E18 error, or would like to read other peoples experiences with it, stop by my site at http://www.e18error.com. Feel free to drop me an email.

How To Add Dynamically Generated Graphs And Charts To Web Pages And Applications

Not so very long ago adding a graph or chart to a web page or application required a fair amount of programming knowledge and was rather time consuming for even the most experienced. However with the tools available today it is possible for almost anyone to add graphs and charts to web pages. With just a little bit of HTML, dynamically generated graphs and charts can be added to web pages and/or applications.

Why use Graphs and Charts

The web is about making information available. Today’s users tend to be in a hurry and require that information is presented to them clearly and quickly. If your web site has a message to convey, which is currently being presented as a table of figures, then it is highly likely that you will benefit from using graphing and charting functionality. With a table of figures most people find it hard to see the meaning immediately, however if those figures are presented as a picture (i.e. a graph) then almost all will instantly get the point. What’s more presenting your information graphically is both colorful and adds a touch of professionalism. People tend to have more confidence in information when it is presented in both a pleasing, clear and professional manner.

The Easy way to create a graph

There are now many graphing and charting packages on the market which make it very quick and easy for you to build idn poker in professional quality graph images. The time saved in using an ‘out of the box’ solution is so great that even the most seasoned professionals are using these packages. In addition most graphing packages are very reasonably priced.

Before choosing a package there are a couple of things to consider. For instance do you simply want to present the graph image to your visitor or would you like some level of interaction. e.g. making certain areas of the graph clickable or pop-up data displays when the mouse passes over certain area’s. Another consideration is the source of your data. Is it held in a database, file or somewhere else. Ideally you would want a graphing package that is capable of fetching the data directly from the source itself.

Which Graphing packages are available

At the time of writing there are many graphing solutions on the market which fall into the following technology categories:-

– Java Applet Graphing Solutions

This type of software, in addition to the standard graphical capabilities, also provides interactive features like clickable link area’s and mouse-over popup displays. These solutions can be installed on any web server without any server side configuration or set-up.

– Java Servlet Graphing Solutions

These solutions are powerful server side functionality. Although probably not for the beginner they are very beneficial to the ‘web application’ developer.

– Flash Graphing Solutions

The Flash environment provides some very sophisticated graphics capabilities which has lead to some of the best looking graphing solutions. Unfortunately the technology can only work when the user has flash installed on their browser. Although becoming more widespread there is still a very large proportion of browsers which cannot view flash content.

– PHP Graphing Solutions

These are probably the easiest solutions to use and implement. With these solutions it’s possible for a complete novice to add graphing functionality to their web page and applications. But make no mistake they are also very powerful offering very good graphic results. Most web servers today can run this software without any further configuration.

– ASP.NET Graphing Solutions

Again these solutions offer some very good graphical results. At the time of writing the number of web servers capable of running these packages is far less than those of other categories.

Creating a Graph

With the right software package the process of adding a graph to web page involves little more than the following:-

1) Inserting a small piece of HTML into your web page. (usually the code is provided and all you have to do is ‘copy and paste’)

2) Setting some values in a configuration file (e.g.. setting things like graph colors and titles etc.)

3) Setting some values telling the graph where to acquire the data from

Although this is fairly straight forward sometimes a problem may be encountered. A big advantage of using a good professional package is that help is at hand. If you get stuck at any stage then simply ask for help from the software provider, a good one will always be happy to help. Contrary to popular belief good software companies answer requests for technical help in both a timely and helpful manner.

How To Add Dynamically Generated Graphs And Charts To Web Pages And Applications

Not so very long ago adding a graph or chart to a web page or application required a fair amount of programming knowledge and was rather time consuming for even the most experienced. However with the tools available today it is possible for almost anyone to add graphs and charts to web pages. With just a little bit of HTML, dynamically generated graphs and charts can be added to web pages and/or applications.

Why use Graphs and Charts

The web is about making information available. Today’s users tend to be in a hurry and require that information is presented to them clearly and quickly. If your web site has a message to convey, which is currently being presented as a table of figures, then it is highly likely that you will benefit from using graphing and charting functionality. With a table of figures most people find it hard to see the meaning immediately, however if those figures are presented as a picture (i.e. a graph) then almost all will instantly get the point. What’s more presenting your information graphically is both colorful and adds a touch of professionalism. People tend to have more confidence in information when it is presented in both a pleasing, clear and professional manner.

The Easy way to create a graph

There are now many graphing and charting packages on the market which make it very quick and easy for you to build in professional quality graph images. The time saved in using an ‘out of the box’ solution is so great that even the most seasoned professionals are using these packages. In addition most graphing packages are very reasonably priced.

Before choosing a package there are a couple of things to consider. For instance do you simply want to present the graph image to your visitor or would you like some level of interaction. e.g. making certain areas of the graph clickable or pop-up data displays when the mouse passes over certain area’s. Another consideration is the source of your data. Is it held in a database, file or somewhere else. Ideally you would want a graphing package that is capable of fetching the data directly from the source itself.

Which Graphing packages are available

At the time of writing there are many graphing solutions on the market which fall into the following technology categories:-

– Java Applet Graphing Solutions

This type of software, in addition to the standard graphical capabilities, also provides interactive features like clickable link area’s and mouse-over popup displays. These solutions can be installed on any web server without any server side configuration or set-up.

– Java Servlet Graphing Solutions

These solutions are powerful server side functionality. Although probably not for the beginner they are very beneficial to the ‘web application’ developer.

– Flash Graphing Solutions

The Flash environment provides some very sophisticated graphics capabilities which has lead to some of the best looking graphing solutions. Unfortunately the technology can only work when the user has flash installed on their browser. Although becoming more widespread there is still a very large proportion of browsers which cannot view flash content.

– PHP Graphing Solutions

These are probably the easiest solutions to use and implement. With these solutions it’s possible for a complete novice to add graphing functionality to their web page and applications. But make no mistake they are also very powerful offering very good graphic results. Most web servers today can run this software without any further configuration.

– ASP.NET Graphing Solutions

Again these solutions offer some very good graphical results. At the time of writing the number of web servers capable of running these packages is far less than those of other categories.

Creating a Graph

With the right software package the process of adding a graph to web page involves little more than the following:-

1) Inserting a small piece of HTML into your web page. (usually the code is provided and all you have to do is ‘copy and paste’)

2) Setting some values in a configuration file (e.g.. setting things like graph idn poker colors and titles etc.)

3) Setting some values telling the graph where to acquire the data from

Although this is fairly straight forward sometimes a problem may be encountered. A big advantage of using a good professional package is that help is at hand. If you get stuck at any stage then simply ask for help from the software provider, a good one will always be happy to help. Contrary to popular belief good software companies answer requests for technical help in both a timely and helpful manner.

In the world of Azeroth, life can be cheap but saving up for that much desired epic mount can take months of labour. Welcome to the World of Warcraft, currently the worlds largest MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). In the World of Warcraft, the auction house presents the avid window shopper with a cornucopia of wonders, from fabulous swords to armour guaranteed to make you the hardest elf in your neck of the woods. To purchase such wonders, the player needs gold, something that requires quite literally hours, days or weeks of in-game labour. However visit Ebay or Eye on MOGs, a price comparison engine for virtual commodities, and you have the opportunity to convert real life earnings into virtual gold, platinum, ISK or Credits, depending on the virtual world that you alter ego(s) inhabits.

The world of Real Money Trading has come a long way since its fledgling days when gamers departing from a virtual world would use websites like Ebay to convert their in-game assets into real world money. Today it is a multi-billion dollar industry, with industry insiders like Steve Sayler of IGE estimating that as much as $2.7 billion will change hands within this secondary market during the course of 2006. This lucrative industry is now catered for by companies like MMORPG SHOP, Mogmine and MOGS, which have entire infrastructures set up to farm for in-game gold and valuable items. Not only can you purchase in-game spending power with real world money from such sites, but many are service driven, for example offering power levelling to fast-track your avatar to new heights of maturity, turn you into a master craftsman in days rather than months, or boost your reputation within the world you inhabit. Sites like Mogmine offer specialised services like fruit picking, specified item farming, or will take your character through that instance thats been weighing so heavily on your mind.

What we are experiencing here is a whole new type of economy where the border between the real and virtual world is blurring. There are currently hundreds of companies catering to this phenomenon, with some virtual items being sold for hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Virtual real estate is earning real world money, with people like 43-year-old Wonder Bread deliveryman John Dugger purchasing a virtual castle for $750, setting him back more than a weeks wages. According to Edward Castronova, an economics professor at Indiana University who has performed extensive research into online economies, Norrath, the world in which EverQuest takes place, would be the 77th richest nation on the planet if it existed in real space, with players enjoying an annual income better than that of the citizens of Bulgaria or India. A visit to GameUSD indicates the current state of virtual currencies against the US dollar, demonstrating that some virtual world currencies are currently performing better than real world currencies like the Iraqi Dinar.

Real Money Trading and gold farming are met with mixed feelings in the gaming world, with some gamers criticizing the fact that real world wealth can affect in-game prestige and capabilities. Critics of the secondary market believe that such activities within the virtual economies intrude on the fantasy and provide the more economically empowered with an unfair in-game advantage. However this ignores the real world fact that earning money and advancing ones character within a virtual world takes a good deal of time, and some gamers have more money than time on their hands. The average age for gamers is 27, and approximately half of all gamers are in full time employment. For a group of friends playing together, it can thus be relatively easy for the cash rich to fall behind the time rich in terms of gameplay, as they are obliged to spend the lions share of their time working their real world jobs while friends are spending time levelling their characters. For such individuals, for whom time translates into money, a few dollars is a small price to pay to ensure virtual survival the next time they enter an instance with their high level friends.

Companies set up to farm virtual commodities are furthermore criticised as being little more than sweatshops, an attitude encouraged by the fact that many of these companies reside in low wage economies like China. However, pay and work conditions in such companies, where workers are paid to spend their days playing enjoyable, stimulating games, cannot compare to that of their compatriots who spend their days mindlessly producing the components that go into our computers, or the trainers that we wear while playing. Essentially the objection is a moral one, with many Westerners objecting to low wage economies catering to this type of leisure idn poker activity. Often workers are paid partly in kind, with food and accommodation included in remuneration packages, with the pay received thus presenting largely surplus. While pay may not equate to Western standards, this type of economic activity reminds us that we are living in a continually globalising economic environment where quality of life and spending power should be taken into account as much if not more so than say a straight dollar for yen exchange rate. Companies like Mogmine provide their staff with health benefits, holiday pay and share options, along with the chance for advancement within the organisation. Brian Lim, CEO of Mogmine, comments that many mid- and high-level management started out as gamers and now they have equal or more pay than respectable managers in more conventional businesses. Within these lower wage economies, these thus represent desirable jobs.

Other complaints centre around the negative effect of such farming activities on in-game economies. At Mogmine, Brian Lims gamers play the game as it is meant to be played, but hone good techniques for gold generation along the way, thus ensuring that the work remains interesting to staff. Jonathan Driscoll comments that competition for resources has always been a feature of gameplay, and points out that his World of Warcraft farmers do their work within instances, and thus do not impact on others gaming experiences in the least. Complaints that farmers are responsible for in-game inflation smack of sour grapes when compared to common factors like players with high level characters acting as benefactors for their low-level alts, and thus facilitating the unrealistic in-game spending power of such low level characters. While some developers do not condone real money trade on their servers, others like MindArk, with their game Project Entropia, have included the secondary market as a part of their services. Even Sony Online Entertainment, who until recently stood staunchly against real money trade, have jumped on the band-wagon with the release of their Station Exchange service, actively facilitating Real Money Trading in Everquest 2. Other games, like the upcoming Roma Victor, embed the secondary market as part of their financial model rather than relying on the common subscription model, with players purchasing Sesterces to play and advance in the game.

Such trading of virtual goods for real world money is potentially just the tip of the iceberg for the development of virtual economies where people come together within virtual worlds to promote and trade real world products. Games like The Matrix Online already sell advertising space to real world companies to promote their products to gamers who spend their leisure time within the world.

We are thus embarking on an entirely new type of economic activity, where real and virtual worlds are meeting within an economic sphere. As a fledgling economy, it is difficult to chart where this phenomenon may take us, but the sheer weight of currency being spent and earned within these economies and the development of services to monitor real to virtual exchange rates and market prices indicates that they are here to stay.