Special events occur around the world, in every country, and every place where human kind survive. The greatest moment of our lives are found hidden in our memory. But, for one moment to stand out above the rest, most certainly comes from some type of social gathering.

Special Event

Tractor Pull

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kvDrHTEhEEc&feature=channel_page

Flame Thrower

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZXUYEdSNhY

Boat Launch

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO0GbYK661g

63 Pound Blue Catfish

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xrwmT2UTDIo

Helicopter Landing

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJiTv9ySgqg

Speed Boat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tD38chKTUg&feature=channel_page

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What will do you when your investment nest egg is empty?

The 2009 recession has delivered a heavy blow to investors. Before you think about reinvesting, first decide how much money you are willing to risk. You might be able to save $2,500 a year, but are you prepared to risk all of it on a single investment?

To anyone who is new to investing, or to seasoned professionals, I strongly suggest you consider the principle of diversification. This simply is the art of investing portions of your money in different things so that, if one of them goes south and bottoms out, you will not lose the entire portfolio of wealth. This is also a good way to reduce your risk.

However, you must also give careful thought to how widely you wish to diversify what proportion of your funds you want to dedicate to various investments. The real reason this should be a concern is that if you divide your money into smaller amounts, you reduce the number of investment alternatives available for each portion of your portfolio.

For example, let’s say you set a limit of $1,000 for any particular investment, you restrict your choice of bonds, CDs, stocks worth $10 a share or less. And yes, since stocks are usually traded in round lots of 100 shares, gold coins, and a couple of other instruments are available for consideration.

Another example — you increase your investment to $5,000, you can also consider small real estate properties, such as rental houses and duplexes, and stocks up to $50 a share. With a $10,000 limit per investment, you can include on your list of possibilities small commercial real estate properties, such as small apartment buildings, T-Bills, and stocks worth $100 a share or less.

The good thing is the larger amount you are willing to commit to any one investment, the broader the range of choices open to you. But, keep in mind too that the greater amount you commit as an investor, the more your whole financial standing will be affected by the success or failure of the ventures into which you have place your money.

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Time Management Tips for the Unemployed

For the millions of US workers who lost their job, planning a daily routine around basic survival is a greater challenge. The desire to seek another job, or start some extra income producing project may be difficult to fit into your daily time schedules. There is a solution that will make it less painful than you think.

Today’s current economic climate tells us that people are very busy trying to find money to pay the bills. There’s no time to waste! If you discover that you simply can’t give up or change a few of your favorite past-times, plan to write out your daily schedule regardless of your income status. If you try this, you will have all the time you’ve ever wanted for doing whatever you want to do.

To begin, list your current daily schedule. You will need this to compare with your new list. Start by listing what time you wake up. Followed by everything you do during the day. Typically, you’ll have about 3-4 hours each day that can be used for more constructive and efficient things to do. Planning your daily schedule around job hunting will require basic time management practices without back-tracking.

Next, make another list of the things you want to do tomorrow. Do this every evening (or whenever) before you go to sleep. This is the key to managing your daily schedule. Write out your plans to go wherever to coincide with other things you have to do. Organize your trips to take care of as many things as possible while you’re out. Take notice of the time you spend standing around doing nothing, especially the time you spend on the phone, or the Internet, and eliminate non-productive things.

Make sure to list all your household chores. Set aside a specific time to do them. For example; you need to mow the lawn, paint a section of your house, fix your vehicle, repair a leaking faucet. Spending an hour each day on one particular task becomes more productive so you can accomplish other things. Don’t attempt your “to do” list in a week and try to hurry it along. Instead, do each task on your list and check off each one. You will be
amazed at your progress.

The bottom line here is to arrange your priorities. When you receive your mail, try not to let bills or letters pile up. If you’re unable to pay a bill immediately, file it in a special place that’s visible and note on the envelope the date you intend to pay it. Answer your letters the same day you get them. If this disrupts your list, simply make sure to include an hour each day to accommodate your mail chores. The same applies to any top priority on your list.

Always think of your time as your most valuable asset. Plan what you must do and what you want to do on a daily basis. Once you start listing and planning what you want to do, you will find extra time to relax. If you take a moment and think about the time you waste each day, imagine what it will be like when you reorganize your daily activities. It’s a matter of managing your time in everything you do. When you find that you can accomplish a lot more, you will become much more satisfied and happier with yourself.

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A major investment objective that investors aim for is always capital growth. With the current state of the economy, this is the most popular, but also the most difficult goal among investors today. A capital gain is achieved whenever the original item is resold above its purchase price. Profit is always the purpose of a growth investment where regular income is a secondary consideration from growth stocks, commodities, or raw land.

With a growth stock or raw land, the investor receives low or no yield, but the possibility of an increase in value. One such example could be a company show definite signs that its earnings are on the upswing, but management has decided to reinvest most of them in new equipment instead of paying increased dividends to shareholders. The results are good growth prospects and very low yield. Sound familiar?

Another example you could look at, let’s say you buy some undeveloped land on the out-skirts of a fast expanding metropolitan area. The yield will be zero, because you’re collecting no rent, but the prospects for growth will soon be promising. The only thing is when you sell the land for a profit or develop it as income property you will receive a capital gain, but at a lower value due to the current economic downturn.

If you are willing to forgo present income for the sake of possible increase in the value of your funds in the years to come, then I strongly suggest a growth investment. The difference between income and capital gain is very obvious during a recession or depression. Income is normally received regularly, while capital gains are much more uncertain and can be realized only when you sell. The difference in time pattern of return is critical to your objectives as an investor. If you rely on a definite amount of return, you will need this for your present consumption. Capital gains, however, are for acquiring wealth for future consumption.

The safety/income/growth (capital gain) choice is not a 1 out of 3 decision. Selection is a matter of emphasis. Many securities offer you a combination of two needs, playing down the third. It may be necessary for you to choose a mixture of investments.

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Whatever amount of money that you want to keep intact for a specific purpose, safety of principle will be increasingly vital during the economic downturn. You may want to save your home mortgage, protect your children’s education, or establish a special emergency fund in the event of illness.

The investments you make for this purpose has a low yield. This means the percentage of profit on the principle will grow in value relatively slowly. In reality, it is next to impossible to lose the principle with government securities, CDs and strong corporate bonds in insured institutions.

But, while those securities with a fixed interest return with a constant number of dollars, the purchasing power of those investments, when liquidated, decreases in times of inflation. The results are, as prices go up, dollars buy less, and less! In many instances, this creates increased interest rates which may counteract inflation. Whether you are lending your money to others, or you actually own all or part in an investment, make sure you put safety of principle and income return at the top of your list. In fact, make it top priority.

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Our political system is screwed at every angle and cannot be defended by American people at any angle. Too many bad habits have turned into rotten decision making. If America wants to reverse the recession, then leave government out of it.

If America wants to regain making money a wonderful habit, there’s certain rules everyone must follow before that habit takes root. Good investment decisions and superior money management practices must be ingrained into your daily living!

Everyone must take control of their personal finances and learn various money management concepts. Each U.S. citizen must learn negative spending habits and quickly discover how to reverse them. All Americans must form a systematic plan of action that can produce important financial benefits in a relatively short period of time.

Financial security and wealth do NOT result from luck!

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One of the most effective and painless ways to save money without altering your standard of living is by earmarking earmarked money. Money that can add up to thousands of extra dollars, which can give you an unusually strong boost towards a better savings plan.

When you get down to the last couple of coupons in your loan payment book, don’t think about the extra cash you’re about to have. Instead, think about a personal savings plan vehicle into which you can divert it, or into a high interest account where you can hold it while you analyze other possible investments.

After the loan is paid off, keep writing a check to yourself and desposit it where it will do you some good. You won’t miss the money since it has been going out anyway. You will be surprised at how fast you can accumulate extra funds to help save you more money.

Ultimately, saving money from a one time or intermittent expense should be everyone’s goal. For example, you may have been paying off your student loan for the past 10 years at $75 a month. Or for two years you may have been sending your doctor $100 a month for a minor surgery.

Let’s say you finance your car for three years, but trade it in every five years. During the intervening two years, where does the installment money go?

These payments are fixed expenses budgeted into habits like any ordinary rent or mortage payment. But, what’s shocking to know is they aren’t fixed. They come to an end, and when they do, where does the money go? For most people – it evaporates!

These expenses exist in:

–Mortages, which some people do actually pay them off.

–Tuition for private schools, universities, housing.

Finding more money doesn’t just stop there. Knowing the metrics to become a superior saver moves into what to look for in mark-ups and business services.

Because of the necessity for stores to arbitrarily mark up the price of their products and services, it’s extremely important that you never assume that listed prices are set in stone. Only under highly unusual conditions is there no reason for you to get a price reduction.

Mark-ups on some goods and services include:

– Jewelry and Furniture 100%

– Luxury Automobiles 25%

These money saving areas has multiple paths that can lead you to even greater savings. Remember, the more money you can pay yourself into a savings account, the more you will learn how to make saving money a wonderful habit!

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Most small businesses are more flexible organizationally than ever before. They have set aside their cultural and organizational differences to predominantly better equip their company with quick decision making, where risk taking is encouraged and failure is merely an education.

A company with conventional free advertising methods usually find it a generally unsatisfying experience. They utilize every part of their imagination and energy to be a guest on radio and television talk shows. They produce and distribute advertising circulars on all the free bulletin boards at coin operated laundries, grocery stores, and beauty or barber shops.

What they eventually find, is that increasing complexity in their company has resulted in inflexibility and slow decision making processes. The more routine free advertising methods have a tendency towards internal conflict and stratification, as well as a leadership that would tend to emphasize capital investment as a solution to all problems.

Consumers have acquired organizational habits that are not well aligned to the needs of a tough economy, therefore, they discover undesirable traits or behaviors found in many organizations. They have become smart consumers in the movement towards centralized control. This characterizes a typical consumer goods business, and will carry with it limited coordination among departments and divisions resulting in a weakened sense of market trends and increased dissatisfaction.

Free Advertising must embrace the initial contact and emphasize that your product or service would be of interest to the listeners or viewers of the program, perhaps even saving them time or money. This also must carry an increased willingness to seek appropriate alliances and partnerships that will provide convergence to the integrated business model required to overcome these mismatches in our current economic culture and outlook.

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Imagine that you’re home alone one afternoon, fall asleep in your easy chair, and begin to dream. In your dream you meet someone who gives you the greatest moneymaking device known to man. It has the potential to create an enormous and unlimited amount of wealth for you.

The stranger gives you the moneymaker at no cost. But he hands it to you with serious look and warns, “read the manual first. The money maker is a two-edged sword. Use it correctly and you’ll become wealthy beyond your wildest dreams. Misuse it and you’ll encounter nothing but misfortune and poverty. It doesn’t come with a warranty and you can’t return it. But with proper maintenance and use, it will only get better. Good Luck!”

The stranger vanishes and you wake up, disappointed to realize that is was only a dream. Oh Boy! it seemed real! You were given the solution to all your material problems, and in an instant, reality took it away.

No it didn’t. The truth is that you already own a money maker. But unlike in your dream, your money maker is capable of much more than just making you rich or poor. It can make you happy or sad, literally take you anywhere you want to go, and allow you to create the life of choosing. In fact, that’s what it has been doing for your entire life. You see, the real money maker is in your mind.

Unfortunately, the real life money maker doesn’t come with a owner’s manual, and that’s one reason why it’s so often unused, misused and abused. Most of us just don’t realize how much potential is lying dormant between our ears. So, we take this tremendous gift for granted. Use it for relatively small jobs, and consider it a cruel twist of fate that a few people have so much while they have so little. We rationalize the wealth of others with statements like:

They’re gifted.
They’re a special case.
They have all the right connections.
They were in the right place at the right time.
They inherited money or can’t miss opportunity.

And let’s not forget the all time favorite, “They’re just Lucky.” Lucky? do you know that 80% of today’s millionaires are self made?

What keeps most of us from acquiring the wealth and freedom we want isn’t our IQ, family history, level of education, race, sex or bad luck. It is the way we think. Life is a game played between the ears. The way we think determines the decisions we make. The decisions we make determines what we do. And what we do determines how successful we become. Change your thinking and you change your decisions. Change your decisions and you change your behavior. Change your behavior and you change your life. Most people don’t realize this, and those who do, how many are willing to change? very, very few.

A lot more of us would be willing to change if we only realized the freedom and riches that come out of it. But that leads to a very important question. “what kind of thinking does it take to become financially independent in today’s world, working a small business with employees?” That’s the question you have to ask yourself with a perfect business mind set. With the right mind set you’ll make more right decisions and success will follow your decisions.

Are you making the right decisions today?

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Finding additional funds can change your financial position permanently for the better. But, without changing spending habits first you will never begin to uncover money that you can take advantage of for future investment opportunities.

Before I continue on with the insurance buried treasure, the first thing you must do is to reduce any existing debt. You may often achieve a higher return by reducing debt than by committing funds to new investments.

The interest rates are quite high on funds borrowed through charge accounts, credit cards, or consumer finance companies. It is seldom less than 15 percent and often 20 percent or more. You will want to reduce or eliminate these debts before committing to investments with lower expected yields.

The general practice is simple: Pay down or eliminate existing debt whenever the interest cost saved is above the prospective gain on the alternative. If the prospective returns are only slightly above the cost of the debt, you may still prefer to reduce the debt. The interest saved is a certain gain, the prospective return is not!

Look Deep Into Your Insurance

Whole life insurance policies and a few others allow you to build up a sizable cash value that you can put money into for efficient use. The insurance company will lend most of the cash value to you at an attractive interest rate. You can then invest that money, earning a much higher return than any interest the insurance lender charges.

Currently, the U.S. tax law states that the interest expense on a loan from your life insurance policy may be considered consumer interest and not deductible. If you can’t borrow the cash value on your life insurance policy, take another hard look at the policy. Eliminate unneeded coverage to reduce your premiums, and use the savings for other investments. But, it’s the same story as with bankers: Insurance agents will not tell you that you need less coverage. This initiative must be yours.

To do this, simply increase deductible limits for auto and home loans $250 – $1,000. The higher premiums you pay every year that has a low deductible is not worth the few extra hundred dollars you would get with your claim in the unlikely event of damage or loss of property. What’s amazing to know, people don’t even make a claim for less than a large damage loss, because they fear their premiums will increase.

You can make an even larger savings by raising the deductible on your health insurance plan. This is of course unless your employer pays for your coverage. The so called “first dollar” coverage is the most expensive health insurance you can buy, and the price tag for having the insurer pay for routine doctor visits and occasional prescriptions may be greater than it’s worth. A policy with a $250 or $1,000 deductible generally will cost hundreds of dollars a year or less.

If your vehicle is over five years old, take the maximum deductibles on comprehensive and collision coverages. You may also want to eliminate these coverages altogether if the repair/reimbursement will be relatively low due to the vehicle’s age. Some insurance companies allow you to insure against the damage to your vehicle with a few dollars premium that applies only if you don’t carry regular collision coverage and the damage is proven to be the fault of the other driver.

To go even deeper, discuss your policies with your insurance agent to be sure you are receiving all discounts to which you are entitled. Make sure any changes in status since you bought your coverage are reflected in your policies. Some of the things for which auto owners can get premium discounts include:

a) Having two or more cars on the same policy.
b) Having student drivers in the family take driver’s ed class.
c) Installing a security system.
d) Having a driving record free of accidents or violations.
e) Living in low risk – low accident area.

Homeowners can benefit on their insurance, which include:

a) Being non-smokers.
b) Having smoke detectors.
c) Living near a fire station.
d) Having a home security system
e) Living above the ground floor.
f) Often by using same insurance company for car and home.

Depending on your insurance company, these factors can make you eligible for premiums lower than those that you started with. If they don’t, then consider changing companies and find one that will listen and work with you. You may also want to compare larger reputable companies. This may allow you to save hundreds of dollars each year on auto, life, and homeowner policies. After all, you are entitled to the full value of what you pay for.

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When people borrow money in today’s financially burdened society they are faced with leverage obstacles never before seen since the depression. People use what they have got to get more, and use both to earn higher investment income in hopes to generate larger capital growth. Not only is this technique effective, it’s also reinforced by government tax policy.

But, what does all this mean?

Basically, if you are going to borrow money, either you a) want to strategically borrow using other people’s money as part of your wealth building program, or b) you need money to pay unexpected costs. These are the only two good reasons to borrow money. Flexibility and choice, however, raises a question you must ask yourself: Which is the better strategy? The answer lies in a list of cautions when using leverage.

If an investment seems to have good potential returns, after taking interest payments and taxes into consideration, you can afford to carry the loan, then borrowing to invest is a reasonable risk.

Wherever you look in the world of investing, it is unlikely you will find something for nothing. The greater the risk you are willing to take, the greater your chance for large profits. When you look at it another way, lending your money, or invest in debt, you expect to receive some benefit in the form of interest. And, you expect to get all your money back at some point.

Simply put, your money is in a savings account, and you are saying to the bank, “I want to lend my money in the form of deposit, but I make no commitment as to how much or how little I will lend, or how long I will leave it with you. I also want you to guarantee to pay me back all the money I put into deposit.” Although the probability that you will get all your money back is very high, your level of risk and return on investment is very low.

On the other side of the coin, for example, if you invest in equity by buying shares of a venture, you are accepting a much higher risk. There is no guarantee of growth, and you could lose your entire investment. Most investments, whether they are in debt or in equity, fall in between two extremes. Only you can decide how much risk you want to take and what kind of risk it will be.

One of the most important things to remember when borrowing money, even if you don’t need the money, is to establish a credit rating. You then repay the loan promptly. The argument is that this will establish you as a good credit risk and will enable you to borrow more easily in the future if you need money for an emergency.

A simple analysis will give you a better idea whether you are in the position to borrow money. Enter the following:

The figure on line 8 is the amount of additional repayment which experts say you could afford each month. It’s based on the commonly used criteria that no more than 35 percent of household gross pay should be earmarked for debt repayment. This is the absolute maximum you should commit to debt repayment. You can try 25 or 30 percent conservatively, if you feel this will not leave you strapped or compromise your lifestyle.

Well managed borrowing can be an immensely powerful way to build your wealth, or take care of unexpected expenses.

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If you can momentarily think of plastic as another source of instant cash that you already have put away somewhere, then you are set to beat credit card psychology. The real eye opener to save a lot of money using credit cards is by limiting the use to categories of spending.

Use of instant money for limited premeditated purchases and looking at credit cards as the last resort is the key. You can control this by taking a long hard look at what it’s costing you to carry around those credit cards in your wallet. To do this, simply create a chart on a piece of paper.

Start by drawing three vertical columns. In the first column, enter your user fee for the credit card(s) you carry. In the second column, enter your interest charges for the last 12 months for each card. In the third column, enter your annual cost for carrying the card by adding column one and column two. Then total all your credit card costs at the bottom.

If the number at the bottom is a shock to you, then it’s time to take action!

To better understand credit card institutions and how they function, there are three basic types:

1. Bank Cards like MasterCard and Visa charge a yearly fee of up to $35 or more, with an average of $18. Interest rates vary from state to state with an average around 16 percent.

2. Travel and entertainment cards like AMEX and Diners Club charge annual fees ranging to $350. Typically, you pay off what you owe each month with no finance charge.

3. Department store cards have their own cards, and they do not charge an annual fee, but do often charge interest rates higher than bank cards – amazingly up to 24 percent.

Credit cards have always been, and always will be money makers for financial institutions. Besides the high interest they charge the consumer, they receive another 1 to 6 percent in account service fees from merchants who buy a credit card franchise. It’s no surprise when you become Pre-Approved for a new credit card. The financial institution is poised to make a whopping 24 percent or higher by extending your credit.

Credit card lenders make it easier for you to pile up your debt by offering to let you pay off only a small portion of the outstanding balance each month. These smaller payments will allow you to hold more cash each month, but this adds up to be a unwanted major expense.

For example, you have a balance of $500 at the beginning of the month and the credit card company allows you to make a minimum payment of $35. During the month, you charge another $100. The interest on your account is 18 percent, which is computed as 1.5 percent of the unpaid balance. The interest charges are added after you make your payment, however, many credit card companies compute interest on the average daily balance, which result in even higher charges.

Your minimum payment sends your balance to $465. Adding the interest raises it to $471.98, and your new purchases take it to $571.98. If you make another $35 payment, the next month’s interest charges will be based on $536.98. For the second month, your interest will be $8.05. This is nearly one fourth of your minimum payment, which is interest on top of interest. If you continue to charge more than you pay off, you will continue to accumulate interest on interest, as well as on your charges, you’ll soon discover there’s no chance of paying off the debt.

As long as you are making the minimum payment on a regular basis, the credit card lender will encourage you to borrow more, even offering to raise the maximum line of credit, especially if you get too close. To get a handle of the situation, make a checklist for categories of spending.

a) If you carry multiple credit cards, keep only one bank card, one travel card, and the most useful department cards. Destroy the rest. Carrying multiple cards only encourage unnecessary spending.

b) Avoid upscale cards that has prestigious appeal with gold, silver, or platinum higher line of credit packages. They charge higher interest rates for that line of credit, which is by no means a bargain.

c) Shop around for bank cards, even though they are the same, what you pay for them is not. Some charge no annual fee, while others up to $35. Some charge less than 6 percent interest, while others charge 24 percent. The highest annual percentage rate is often charged by major bank card advertisers, which you bear the cost in user fees.

d) Apply for a credit union credit card. They usually offer more favorable terms than bank cards, however, they do require a membership with other value benefits for premium use of their card.

e) Pay the full amount back that you charged – every month. Take advantage of paying off your balance to avoid finance charges.

f) Do not use department store cards for big tickets items. If at all possible, borrow the money from a bank at a lower rate.

g) Compare credit card’s finance charges with others you may have. While these charges may vary, your bank card might be lower than your department store card.

To save more money and reduce credit card costs, try not to charge more than you can pay back in a month. If a larger amount is charged, don’t just make the minimum payment, pay at least 40 to 50 percent of the outstanding balance.

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To Maximize the profits of a small business you need to increase sales. To increase sales, you need more customers. To attract more customers and keep them coming back, you need to improve your business constantly.

Every business environment has it’s own special technique of operation. knowing and understanding all 15 key elements will help it start off successfully. Not knowing, will make it more difficult to survive.

The 15 Key elements are:

1. Begin with an Idea. There’s always one right in front of you.

2. Start Small. It’s much better than starting at all.

3. Earn a Smaller amount first. It’s good practice before earning at a larger scale.

4. Think with a vision. Always look at the Big Picture.

5. Keep the Faith. Believe in yourself and your business even when others don’t.

6. Ready, Set, Go! If you think too much about it, you may never start.

7. Profit or Perish. Increase sales, decrease costs. Anything less and your business will perish.

8. Be Positive. Overcome obstacles by keeping a positive attitude.

9. Continuously Improve Your Business. It’s the best way to attract more customers, and generate sales.

10. Believe in Your Employees. Build trust and credibilty.

11. Never Run Out of Money. this is the most important.

12. Attract New Customers Every Day. Keep awareness and trial in your plans at all times.

13. Be Persistent. Never give up. You only fail if you quit.

14. Build a Brand Name. Earn your reputation.

15. Opportunity waits for no one. Study it. Go After it.

All successful businesses offer their customers something of value, but that’s not enough. Customers constantly evaluate what they get against what they pay, and their criteria for making repeat purchases are very simple. They want everything: better, faster and cheaper! Even if you’re clever enough to build a perfect business the first time and your product or service is ideal for your customers, your position will eventually erode because the marketplace is not static.

Your product or service may be unique, but it’s not as though someone blew the whistle and stopped innovation. Sooner or later, and very soon if you’re noticeably successful, other businesses will copy you. If they can provide a similar product or service better, faster or cheaper, they’re going to surpass you.

Never forget that as a business owner you’ll be in a constant race against an ever-improving marketplace and no matter where you are in the hunt, making improvements is a daily necessity.

One common mistake when trying to improve any of these 15 key elements is if procedures are constantly changing trying to improve a better system, there will never be a stable operating business. A knowledgeable business owner should not let this happen instead, set a standard of operating procedures and implement these key elements into a company policy making it the golden rule.

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Since the headline is the first contact your readers have with your message, it must reach out to them. Promise them a benefit. Tell them how they will be better off if they read the rest of the ad. Use action verbs. Save ten dollars is a stronger heading than Savings of ten dollars because of the verb.

Headlines can be classified into the following five basic types; effective headlines frequently combine two or more of these kinds.

News Headlines

This form tells the reader something he or she did not know before. Using the word news does not make it a news headline. “Now – a copy machine that copies in color” is an example of this type headline.

Advice and Promise Headline

Here you are promising something if the reader follows the advice in your ad. “Switch to Amoco premium, no-lead gasoline, and your car will stop pinging.”

Selective Headline

This headline limits the audience to a specific group. For example: “To all gray-haired men over forty.” Caution! Be absolutely sure you do not eliminate potential customers with this type of headline.

Curiosity Headline

The intent here is to arouse the reader’s interest enough to make him or her read the ad. The danger is that this headline often appears “cute” or “clever” and fails in its mission. An example: “Do you have trouble going to sleep at night?”

Command or Demand Headline

Watch out for this one as most people resist pushiness, especially in advertising. “Do it now!” or “Buy this today!” This headline generally can be improved by changing to less obtrusive wording such as: “Call for your key to success!”

One common misconception about headlines is that they must be short and easy to understand. This is not always true. Here is a headline that was used extensively in print ads by Ogilvy and Mather for one of their clients: At 60 miles an hour, the loudest noise in this Rolls-Royce comes from the electric clock.

Illustrations

There are three primary reasons for using illustrations in an advertisement.

- To attract attention to the ad.
- To illustrate the item being featured.
- To create a mood in the mind of the reader.

Everyone has heard, A picture is worth a thousand words; in advertising, the illustration frequently helps the reader visualize the benefits promised. You can almost feel the warmth of the tropical sun when you see the photos in January travel ads. Cost and practicality may dictate whether your ad uses photographs, artists’ drawings or merely canned artwork. Any of these can make the ad more appealing to the reader’s eye.

Copy

If you follow the three principles of good copy, your ads will be effective:

- Good copy should be clear.
- Good copy should be crisp.
- Good copy should be concise.

Clear, crisp and concise . . . the three Cs of copywriting suggest that the words in your advertising message merely do a good job of communicating. Do not use big words when small words can make your meaning clear. Use colorful, descriptive terms. Use the number of words necessary to make your meaning clear and no more-but also no less! Selecting the right words is critical to the success of the ads. Recent research conducted at Yale University found that the following 12 words are the most personal and persuasive words in our language.

You       Discovery    Safety

Money   Proven        Results

Love     Guarantee   Save

New     Easy           Health

Notice the overused word free is not on the list.

REMEMBER THAT WHEN YOUR MESSAGE IS PRINTED IN ALL CAPITAL LETTERS INSTEAD OF UPPER- AND LOWERCASE LETTERS, IT IS FAR MORE DIFFICULT FOR THE READER TO FOLLOW AND REMAIN INTERESTED. EVEN IN HEADLINES ALL CAPITAL LETTERS SHOULD BE AVOIDED.

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It’s just not enough to work hard for your money. In order to grow more wealthy than you are now, you must start making your money work harder at your bank.

Start from where you are now and eliminate any kind of service charges. Read over your bank statement to see how much you are being charged, and for what specific services. Talk to other banks and compare what they charge for the same services.

You may find your bank may offer you a better deal. For example, you opened your checking account with $500 flat fee service charge of $5 per month. Now, its a few years later and your balance may have risen so that you now qualify for free checking or debit cards. Your bank will NOT automatically change your plan as long as it can keep collecting your $5 over, and over. One phone call or a visit to your bank could save you $60 a year.

Never let your money accumulate in a noninterest bearing account, such as some checking accounts. Instead, ask your bank for a checking account that pays interest as long as you maintain a minimum balance.

Set up a money market account, in addition to a checking account. These out pay regular savings accounts with an interest rate tied to movement with the prime rate. You can then write a monthly check to your regular checking account to pay for bills.

Once you have chosen the highest interest account, make regular deposits into it. Put your paycheck and any other receipts into this account. Transfer to the lower paying checking account only the amount needed to cover regular expenses. A realistic goal is to hold on for savings to at least 10 percent of all the money deposited to your money market account.

Consistent deposits are the key. For example, let’s say it’s January 1 and you’ve made a decision to start investing next year at this time. You have set your mind to save $1,000 (plus interest) especially for that purpose. If you’re not used to parting with $1,000 in cash all at once, you may have difficulty meeting your regular expenses.

You can reach your goal by December if you put $85 per month ($85 x 12 = $1,020) into the highest interest money market account, compounded monthly. But, you then start thinking about giving up $85 each month. So, you don’t deposit the $85 for the entire 12 months. In December, you get more at ease and put $1,000 into your money market account. Sounds great right?

You have the investment money you promised yourself and you haven’t lost a penny, or have you? December is the twelfth month of your savings year. Due to the way interest is truly computed for example, your $1,000 will earn one month’s worth or 5.5 percent, or $4.58 (1/12 x .055 x $1,000).

Compare this with regular $85 deposits, January through December, earning 5.5 percent in that same money market account. If you desposit $85 per month, you get a total of about $26 in interest. This may not seem like a lot of money, but look at what $26 really is: almost one third of one month’s $85 deposit. Money that you don’t have to earn for your money market account.

Look for other investment alternatives in the accounts department. Checking accounts are fully liquid, however, they are designed to hold only small amounts of money. If you have the minimum required, and you can get along with less liquidity, put a larger sum of money into a six month or one year CD or short term government securities – term accounts. These overlooked vehicles pay rates higher than regular savings or checking accounts and offer almost immediate liquidity.

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