Investing In Gold ....? Reasons Why You Should

Why Aren't You Investing In Gold? Reasons Why You Should

People still ask is it wise to invest in gold? It has always been a solid investment, throughout history, and even more so today. Gold still holds an air of mystery, sure, we all know about gold, its history, jewelry, gold coins, gold watches, but how many of us have really owned gold, I mean, a substantial amount, more than a few grams?

How many of us have investigated gold investment, and where and how to buy it? It is simply a matter of knowing where to buy at the right price and from a secure licensed dealer. Providing you deal with the legitimate companies in the gold industry, your gold investment will provide you with the financial security you have dreamed about. If these criteria can be met, then the answer to should I invest in gold is always a definite yes.

Investors who purchase gold will find that they have a hedge against market crashes, political disasters, currency crises, economic turmoil, taxes and devaluation.

Gold has always been a steadying influence throughout history, with investors achieving financial security and stability, due to the steady rise in gold, a safe haven for their investments.

Most people would want to find an investment that is secure, that can’t nosedive. With rapid fluctuations in forex and stock markets, investors want a safe place to put their money, and there are many reasons why gold ticks all the boxes.

Governments can’t make gold, they can make paper money, which is devaluation, but gold holds its value. Gold has always been around and will be around for a long time yet, steadily, or rapidly rising in value. Gold is the one perfect investment instrument which has the means to survive any financial catastrophe.

The Chinese and the Indians are starting to invest heavily in gold, they are increasing their gold reserves, and so is Russia. Investors in these countries are also looking for safe investments, and of course, realize the value of gold. Many Governments have dropped restrictions on the purchase of gold and so it is now possible to store gold with very low overheads, making gold a very viable investment.

You now can take control of your investments and protect against inflation, and create wealth when others are seeing their finances deteriorate. Governments can always rescue themselves by printing more and more money. The US and UK are printing more money now than at any time in history. This of course makes your cash worth less, but it also means that gold is worth more, gold always rises when confidence in Governments is at its lowest, with confidence in the economy at an all time low and markets sliding, what do you feel confident investing in?

In a turbulent time, if you have invested in gold, you have secured your assets, which means peace of mind for the future. Your risk is minimal against other investments because it tends to outperform others in times of turbulence. Gold has quite rightly been called the ‘crisis’ commodity.

With the US Dollar falling over 40% since 2001, and stocks at an all time low, the dollar could soon be in freefall, but gold is still a solid haven for hard earned cash, why?

Because since 2001 the value of gold has increased by 150%, try beating that. Over the last eight years it has outperformed all markets, and unlike stocks which can quickly fall, gold remains valuable and stable. For gold to collapse in line with other markets, it would need to rocket to over $6,000 per ounce (I hope it does, but if it does get out quick). Gold remains stable, therefore, is a secure way to protect your money and assets.

As a more promising outlook for the economy emerges, the focus should then fall on the possibility of inflation, which will increase with time, therefore increasing the demand for gold. The demand for gold investment in 2008 increased by 10% over previous years, and is expected to rise year on year as supply dwindles.

Gold is still going strong despite many critics predicting a fall in gold prices during last year, of course this was not the case, the bubble did not burst, with gold investors making a steady profit, from $800 to $950 per ounce, and certainly not losing as predicted. Gold is not subject to a bubble, unlike real estate or stocks; it is very rare to see a sudden movement in precious metals. No, there was no crash, indeed gold proved what a reliable investment it is, with its price during the first half of the year still producing a steady return, and should continue to do so.

Summing up, gold has, throughout history always been a strong, reliable, solid investment. Crashes in the economy, stocks and real estate we have all seen, but who can remember a serious crash in gold? If you don’t believe it now, you never will.

A good investment?

Make up your own mind.

by Raymond Carr has worked for government security for many years.He has also worked for a leading central gold bullion dealer and has also been a partner in a successful life coaching practice.A successful gold investor, he is proud to say that many people who have taken his advice on gold investing have enjoyed returns of over 30% in the last two years. If you would like to learn more about gold investing for the small investor go to > secretsofgoldinvesting.com

Gold Bull Opportunity

A bull market is associated with increasing investor confidence, and increased investing in anticipation of future price increases capital gains. And a bull market is also sometimes described as a bull run. A bullish market trend in the stock market often begins before the general economy shows clear signs of recovery. But bull markets can also happen as a result of an economic recovery, an economic boom, or investor psychology. Could we see another 1970s magnitude gold bull market again today? Sure!

Real interest rates haven’t been negative for over 20 years, when the last Great Gold Bull peaked. Negative real interest rate environments are the most potent fuel known for igniting out-of-control and spectacular gold bull markets.

So gold should form the core of a portfolio in times of depression and recession.
During the great gold bull market of the 1970s, the average monthly gold price increased from under $35 to over $675 an ounce... representing a 1,833% gain.

If today's gold bull market makes similar moves forward, gold prices could skyrocket well over $5,000 per ounce. With gold riding high peaks lately, it's hard to imagine that any investor could still remain in the dark about the potential of the yellow metal. But despite the record-breaking prices, the greater investing public just hasn't jumped on board the gold train. When you think of how much gold has risen since 2001—it's nearly quadrupled—it still doesn't seem to have excited an awful lot of people. There doesn't seem to be much public participation yet. There's no sense of a mania, at this juncture. One day, there probably will be, and then it will be really big. So some people who suggest that this is a bubble already, I think are probably mistaken.

So the danger lies in the government printing press. And true wisdom is to hold gold in the face of the devalued dollar. And as long as the world is restless with our increasing money supply, our trade deficits, our unfunded liabilities, and the complete inability of Congress to stop the government spending... the price of gold will continue to rise. Clearly, these problems won't end any time soon.

While gold has shown a healthy appreciation, the stock market still remained in the doldrums. Despite the run-up in bullion prices and precious metal shares, the bull market in gold has just begun. The analysis is mainly derived from the bullish fundamentals of the yellow metal as well as the bearish fundamentals of the U.S. Dollar. In addition to favorable fundamentals, there are sociological signs that the bull market in gold has just started.

Gold has been in a secular bear market and is now in a secular bull market. Market experts use the term secular to indicate a long time period. Not an entire century, but perhaps to represent events that occur "once in a lifetime" because they are so long. The price of gold over the last decade displays one major cyclical bear market from early 1996 to early 2000 and a major cyclical bull market from early 2001 to the present.

There continue to be very strong fundamentals driving the gold market. These fundamentals are driven by basic economics. There is a small finite supply of gold; while there is a very large and growing very significantly, supply of government bonds as governments internationally print money and create public debt on a scale never seen before in history. In the battle between the huge supply of government debt versus the small finite supply of gold, there can be only one winner for the foreseeable future.

Gold is unique among asset classes as it is the only asset class not dependent on the performance of auditors, management, corporations, financial institutions, banks, politicians and governments. Nor should physical gold be dependent on the performance of trustees, custodians or sub custodians. Gold does not depend on the performance and health of the wider economy and as importantly when you buy gold in its physical form there is no third party liability or credit risk. Gold has an intrinsic value in of itself that is not contingent on someone else’s or some entities performance or mere promise to pay. Thus, gold in its physical form is still the ultimate form of financial insurance. This is why every major central bank in the world still maintains a significant portion of their reserves in gold bullion and many, such as the Chinese, are now increasing their gold bullion reserves.

Most ordinaly people have difficulty understanding why gold is the investment opportunity of a life time. There is actually huge physical demand for gold as opposed to paper demand. A high demand for gold coins, gold bars, and it is getting increasingly difficult to deliver it, (for example the US mint) is no longer selling the american eagle gold coins, simply because they ran out of gold.

All the above fundamentals and factors are indicators that there is a large price spike on the horizon for gold. This is leading to what is clearly a real bull market in gold - and a bear market in the dollar and other currencies
source free articlesbase

History Of Gold

Gold has a place in history regardless of the country of origin. Perhaps it has to do with the fact that gold is seen as a common currency in every country in the world. Gold sees no boundaries. History states that gold coins have been minted since around 670 BC when King Gyges of Turkey minted some gold coins for his personal currency when traveling. The Roman Legions were apprehensive when Julius Caesar first issued gold coins as payment for their service. However, the tune soon changed when the legions realized that the gold coins actually increased in value.

Today, bouillon gold coins have a face value that is pretty much just symbolic. The true value of a gold bouillon is the gold weight by content and the ever-fluctuating price of gold on the world market. A one-ounce gold coin is worth the market value of one ounce of gold minus around 5% for minting and shipping. Of course, bouillon coins come in various common weights: 1/20 of an ounce, 1/10 of an ounce, 1/4 of an ounce, 1/2 of an ounce and finally a one-ounce coin. Gold bouillon is a legal tender and gold coins are guaranteed authentic by the country of origin. Almost anyone can purchase and sell gold coins because of the diverse market acceptance.

In 1489, King Henry VII introduced the first gold currency into the world market. In Britain during World War I, Britain issues banknotes because gold bouillon was needed to finance the war. Soon, these banknotes completely replaced the use of gold sovereign. The gold sovereign ceased gold mint production in 1917 and started again in 1925. Then production was stopped for World War I and restarted in 1957.

There are many famous finds of gold in various regions of the world. These gold finds caused huge gold rushes. Gold rushes caused large amounts of people to migrate to these areas. Such places as the Klondike Gold Rush of Alaska, which occurred at Forty-Mile creek in 1886. In August of 1869, gold was then discovered at Bonanza Creek - a part of Klondike River, Yukon Territory. In the one-year starting in the winter of 1896 and ending in 1897, miners pulled out millions of dollars in gold bouillon. In the year 1915, over $50 million USD was exported from Alaska to the United States. The 1898 gold rush was a modern event. With the addition of media, the gold rush had world wide media coverage. This media coverage sent people rushing to the gold locations.

The history of gold is an amazing display of human endurance. It is estimated that only 120 to 140 thousand tons of gold is available above ground. Surprisingly, there is only $1.8 trillion USD total in gold above the ground. Compare that to the total US debt of almost $7 trillion USD. In addition, only $375 billion USD is held in reserves at banks around the world; $1.3 trillion USD in gold is owned by private parties.
source free articlesbase by Steve Thomas writes about gold history

Gold Investment

Buying solid gold is a cleaver way of investing and holding gold. Over the past six thousand years gold has been regarded as a form of money and store of wealth. The use of gold has far outshined the alternatives for a number of reasons including its scarcity, brilliance, softness and resistance to rust.

Since the end of the gold standard, gold has largely lost its role as a form of currency, but is still considered by many, including some of the world’s most important central banks, as a store of great wealth and a safe haven in times of calamity. Gold along with other precious metals are seen as unique assets in that they are real value and liquid specimens, unlike some other assets like property which is real but not liquid, or company shares which are liquid but not real, its only paper.

The unique and useful properties of gold, as well as its rarity and increasing demand, make it an attractive commodity investment. Gold is known as the "crisis commodity" because during periods of political, social, or financial disaster, the price of gold tends to rise in response to the same factors which cause other investments to fall.

And gold does preserve a special position in the market with many tax regimes. For example, in the UK the trading of gold is free from taxes.

When currencies have failed or economies collapsed, gold throughout history, has maintained its bargaining power. It is hardly possible that it will ever lose all its value, unlike stocks whose value can be wiped out in short order if one or more of the numerous risks associated with them turns badly.

Buying Bullion bars is initially the most cost effective entry into the physical gold market. They can be purchased in various weights from as low as one troy ounce and up. But be sure to buy from an established dealer that provides a written certificate of weight and gold content.

As gold is a soft metal it is safe for the bars to be sealed in clear plastic protector to prevent any accidental damage or wear causing a loss in weight or identification. Most investors are not fond of keeping their bars at home so annual storage and insurance costs must be taken into account.

Many will make their investment by opening an account on line with an authorized gold depository where purchases are kept in a secure vault and can be traded as easily as stocks. If the purpose of buying is to take physical possession of the gold, then renting a safety deposit box is an answer. Also do not forget to check out the tax implications in your jurisdiction before deciding on investing in bullion bars.

For gold bullion coins currently or recently minted, that are issued by various countries, there is a possibility of getting a simple entry into the ownership of gold. Typically bullion coins are priced according to their weight, with little or no premium above the gold price.They come in a range of sizes from as low as 1/20th of an ounce to one ounce. The prices fluctuate throughout the day in line with spot gold prices and expect to pay up to a 5% premium.

The coins are easy to purchase on line and can be shipped to your door by secure delivery. They are easier to store at home, can be traded at local coin dealers or online and as they age, may increase in value as they become of interest to collectors. There is less likelihood of any adverse tax problems associated with trading in bullion coins on a limited level as they are likely to be considered as a private transaction but to be safe check before purchasing. Not to be confused with commemorative or numismatic coins.

Collectors gold coins include pre 1933 government issues. These coins trade on a highly specialized market where the spot price of gold is not the only factor to consider. 1933 was the year when President Roosevelt made holding gold coins illegal and ordered all US citizens to return them to the US Treasury where they were melted into gold bullion bars, hence the rarity. Note that while it is an unlikely possibility that there would be another gold confiscation order issued by the US or any other major government it has happened before and could happen again.

If your goal is simply to capitalize on price movement, then bullion coins will serve your purposes. If you are interested in long-term asset preservation and you have additional concerns about capital or monetary controls, then you might want to include the lower premium variety of pre-1933 European and American gold coins in the mix. These have been treated by the U.S. government since the 1930s as historical items, and, as a result, afford the privacy-minded investor a greater degree of safety than gold bullion.

If you want to protect yourself against inflation, deflation, stock market weakness and potential currency problems, to hedge financial uncertainties, there is only one portfolio item that will serve you in all seasons and under most circumstances; gold coins and bullions.

Now is a great time to invest in gold. The price is expected to continue to rise, with no clear limit in sight. As a hedge against inflation, as a store of value, as a liquid asset, and as a stable core in a diversified portfolio, gold is unmatched. source free article base

Make Money For Yourself, Not For Your Boss

How do you feel when you wake up in the morning? Do you rise with a sense of excitement and ambition or do you drag yourself out of bed with the groaning knowledge of the tedious day which lies ahead of you at work.

Well I hope that you aren’t unfortunate enough to fall into the latter category but I think that most of us probably fall somewhere in between. Dare I say it, I suspect that too many of us are a little closer to the “I can’t be bothered to go to work” end of the spectrum than we’d like to admit.

So what is the alternative to the daily grind? What is the alternative to dragging your sorry self out of a warm bed on a cold winter morning to go to work for someone who doesn’t really give two hoots about you and pays you a fairly average sort of wage?

Well I don’t want to seem to simplistic about this but the answer is: “Just don’t do it”.

There are many ways to make money in this big old world of ours and exchanging your time for money is just one of them. In fact, that is definitely the hardest way to make money of all, yet the one that 99% of us believe is the only way to do it. Surely you can see that there has to be another way, when you take a step back and think about it. Does Richard Branson work any harder than you to make his profits? Of course not. He took the trouble to set up systems that pay him money for not doing anything.

Do you like the principle of working for someone else? Isn’t it better to be your own boss and get up to do some work when YOU want to? Of course it would, but we would still be exchanging our time for money. Then again, at least you aren’t exchanging your time to make your boss money for a relative pittance of a salary. Never forget that your boss is never going to make you rich.

Have you considered the concept of earning money whilst you sleep?

Have you considered the benefits of taking the trouble to set up a business or investment that makes money for you, for ever and ever, without any further input.

I say that you should.

I say that property investment is one of the best ways to make more money than you could ever do in a regular day job.

You don’t need to be a rich person to get involved in this industry though many people think that you do. I’ll be writing more about this and other related topics in the weeks and months to come. I look forward to seeing you then.

by Dr Bradley Tomkins is an enthusiastic property investor and webmaster at PROPERTYINVESTMENTEDUCATION.COM His comprehensive website is dedicated to providing a wealth of FREE articles and educational resources for the new or experienced property investor. He writes a FREE educational newsletter on a wide variety of property investment topics, which you can subscribe to. You can get everything you need to become successful in the world of real estate investing FOR FREE.

Earn Money With PPC Ads

Do you want to make money quick? In this article we are going to talk about one of the quickest ways you can make money. Making money quick is not only possible there are people doing it everyday with PPC ads.

such as Google AdSense, adbrite, chikita, bidvertiser delivers text and image ads that match the content on your website. These are very targeted ads that you can choose the size and color of and they come across to your customer as helpful more than an ad itself.

PPC Ads require virtually no maintenance and they help you put advertising on your website without actually having to deal with advertisers yourself. If you can copy and paste a small code you can have targeted advertising on your website in minutes.

PPC Ads is simple to join and it is free to join. Whether you are an internet newbie or a veteran you can profit quickly by placing ads on your web pages.

Since they does all of the work by finding the most profitable ads for your pages you can do what you do best....provide good content and lots of it. The more web pages you create the quicker you will be making money. You can learn more here:


Once you have joined PPC Ads you will want to combine search engine to monetize more of your web pages. You can do this by placing a Google search box or Yahoo on your pages. Google AdSense combines Google's search technology with
thousands of keyword advertisers to deliver targeted text-based ads to search result pages. People find these ads useful and click on them, and when they do, Google pays you.

You can see an example of how this works right here on this web page. In fact we combine Google search and Google Adsense on almost every website and web pages we create. We have found it a very easy way to make money quick and to make money over and over. It's great. But beware if your Adsense yield more than $100 per month, and looks so suspicious of invalid cliks your account will be easily banned by Adsense, to be safe make sure your adsense only yield 2 - 5 % of your pageviews. And if your adsense account being banned by the Adsense team, there is no way you can appeal to be reinstated or open a new account, the TOS is very rigid and strict. There are many publishers has been bannded because many blogwalkers are too anxiously clicking those ads frantically.

The internet offers many ways to make money quick. The nice thing about PPC Ads is you have the largest search engine in the world doing your advertising for you. This truely allows you to make money quickly and you can do it over and over with as many products as you want.
PayPerClick
Source: Free Articles

Golden Tips to Increase Your PPC Earnings

What is the next job to do after joining adsense or other PPC ads ?
How to increase my adsense earnings?
Every junior adsense publisher will search for the answers to above questions.It is natural because of their poor earnings from adsense.
We have to follow the great tips to increase our earnings. I have discussed the valuable tips to increase the adsense revenue. So apply them for your site or blog and generate more money from your website or blog.

The Golden tips are:
1) Select a top paying keyword to design the website.you have to select the keyword in such a way that it is related to your sites data.Use your top paying keyword in the Heading of your site and in the text.
2)Choose the keyword rich text to attract good ads on your page.
3)Optimize your website with different Adsense Optimization techniques that are available on net
4)Blend you Adsense ads into your web pages
5)Use Google's Custom Channels for each of the ad units on your site
6)Optimize each page for adsense
7)Use the full allowance of ads available to you on each page
8) Maximize your success with other google products like downloading firefox with google tool bar etc.....
9)Submit articles to different sites .with this u get many back links
10)Start exchanging Links with Other Webmasters
11)Add a blog to your site and ping weblogs.com
12)Submit your blog address to different blog search sites and directories
13)Start creating RSS feeds for your site and submit the feed URLs to the major RSS feed directories online.
14)Become an active commenter and get back links from different blogs
15) follow other SEO Techniques to get more traffic
16)Submit your site or blog to different search engines.They crawl your site and index them to search engines.Then you get free traffic to your site

one advice: do not put all your eggs in one basket

sign up for several PPCs do not just one PPC alone.
Source: Free Articles

PPC-Ads and the Potential for High Profits

Chances are, you've heard of Google; the enormously popular search engine that everyone is using these days. But did you know that there's a way Google can help you make money? It's true; and the best part is you won't have to do very much to make it work. That's the beauty of PayPerClick Ads.

Google Adsense and other PPC Ads works on the principle of passive income. In other words, you will generate income with a minimal amount of active participation on your part. Think of it this way: Instead of having to do all of the cooking and cleaning yourself, imagine if you had a robot that could do it all for you, while you sat back and watched. PPC Ads works in a similar way, except instead of a cleaner house you get a fatter bank account. Sounds pretty nice, doesn't it? We will show you how to make passive income work for you.

The world's richest people all understand the concept of passive income. That's how they can jet-set off to fancy parties and exotic locales while their businesses continue to flourish. They have more than just crackerjack staffs and winning ideas. They have passive income on the payroll.

Once you've invested the small amount of time to learn about PPC Ads and set it up, all that is left for you to do is to sit back and watch as your bank account – or PayPal balance increases.

What is Pay Per Click Ads, anyway?

In a nutshell, it's a fast and easy way for a website owner to make money through the placement of ads on their site. PPC Ads takes the guesswork out of ad placement, by choosing ads that relate very closely to the content on your site. You no longer have to search for relevant ads yourself; PPC Ads does the searching for you.

Without PPC Ads, you would have to spend countless hours searching for different ads for each of the pages on your site. All that searching could seriously eat into your golf time! With PPC Ads, you will be able to concentrate on providing your site's visitors with high-quality content.

The program rewards site owners for providing web surfers with interesting content. You will generate an income stream from your website or blog just by participating in the program. Some site owners have earned monthly incomes in the thousands of dollars! of course they have to have million+ of visitors then. But for a small publisher Even if your initial incomes are small, your Ads has the potential to earn your site a very comfortable second income stream. You'll even earn while you sleep! And if you own more than one site, the earning potential is just that much greater!

The way it works is this:

PPC Ads compensates the affiliate on a pay-per-click basis. Each time an ad is clicked, the advertiser pays a certain amount. After they have deducted their amount, they will forward you the rest, usually on a monthly schedule.

Do you want to earn money while you travel the world, play with your kids or simply take time out for yourself? That can be a reality with Adsense. With a simple set up and some tried-and-true strategies for taking full advantage of the program, you will soon see the dollars rolling in. So relax, put your feet up, and let PPC Adsense work for you.

Source: Free Articles

One Adsense Website People Get Ready

As most people with an online business know already, one of the best ways of making money from a website is with Google Adsense.
If You have adsense ads on your website you know that it can be a good residual income provider without having to do a lot of extra work. It depends on how good your site is and how much traffic you get. You are also aware by now that one website is simply not enough to create a substantialresidual income. What good is $2 a day? it is not much of a residual income, and how long did it take you to get the site up an running?

We all know that when it comes to adsense that it's a numbers game i.e. the more websites you have out there means more revenue gained. One way of squeezing more revenue from adsense is to create more and more adsense websites. The idea is to keep building adsense websites and get them out there until you are satisfied with your monthly income, it might take 10, 20, or even 50 adsense websites until you are earning a substantial income from adsense alone.

You are probably thinking right now - How in the world am I supposed to create 50 websites with adsense on them when it took me 3 months to create one? Well there is a way and it is so cool that you will laugh an be amazed when you are doing it. You don't even need a domain, well, you need one domain and just create folders for the other ones based on your domain website. You only need to create one page websites with adsense on them, and they are all hosted with your web host within your one real domain.

You can create an adsense website in 15 minutes, and as time goes on and you become more efficient you'll be turning out adsense websites in 5 minutes, as many as you like to turn out a day. It is so simple.

Now you are probably thinking - Tell me how I can create an adsense website in 15 minutes and have it up and running generating revenue for me?

Here is a quote that I came up with a few years ago that you may be able to use and make sense of, It certainly helped me to get things done. It's called "DO IT" - It's better to do it than not to do it, because if you don't do it, you'll be sorry you didn't, but when you've done it, you'll be glad you did it - So Do IT.

Like anything in life, the thought of doing something worth while and constructive is much worst than the actual application. The trick is to just do ahead and do it, you'll be glad you did it.

By now you are probably thinking - enough of the nonsense talk just tell me how I can create so many adsense websites without domains?

Okay I'll tell you, you're very impatient. Just follow the Google Cash link below after my name and if you like what you see, then get going. It's time you started to increase your adsense earnings 10 fold and beyond. Here we go.

Source: Free Articles

Google Adsense Tips and Tricks...

Every single website and its owner have the opportunity to make some great money by displaying Google Adsense ads on it. Although many webmasters are making a nice income with these ads, many aren't.

Many people say that all you have to do is put up a website and you'll be making over 0 a day with Google Adsense. It does sound simple and it is, but you will need to optimize your site so that you do generate more and more clicks on the ads that are sitting on your site.

The first thing that you need to do is to Place the Google Adsense ads in the right spot of the page. This will determine how much money you will make each day. It is very important that you place the ad at the top of the page (above the fold) on your website in order to get the most clicks. What this really means is that you will want to place the Adsense code that Google gives you high enough on the page so that your visitors do not have to scroll down to see the Google ads.

If you choose to have the ads right at the top above everything else then do that. By placing the Google Adsense ads at the top of your website above the fold, there is a greater chance that people will click on the ad, which will help your site generate a higher click through rate also known as CTR. The reason for this is because the majority of your visitors will not scroll down the page and look at it.

A lot of the time, people look over the top part of the page without worrying about scrolling down. The way you blend the ads with the rest of your page can determine if the ad is visually appealing or not. It is very crucial to make theGoogle Adsense ads look like your site and not another ad. You can do this by making the font and color of the ad's text similar to the rest of the page. I also recommend that you blend the background of the ad with the background of your page. It should basically have the same color.

Google gives you the option to go into your account and customize your ads in different fonts and colors. This will help you blend the ads to your site. Make sure that you don't use the banner ads on your site because this will decrease your click through rate.

People who visit your website usually try to avoid any banner and picture ads that they see. If you want to increase your click through rate, you will want to add text ads. Google gives you that option so use it.

Here are some other small tips to increase your Adsense income:
1. Google has confirmed that using the 336x280 rectangle ad block size does have the highest click through rate. Using this ad size will increase your click through rate and the income that you generate.


2. Using a blue underline for the links can also improve your click through rate. This allows the ads to actually stand out and look clickable.
If you follow the advice given above, you can improve your CTR and make more money with Google Adsense.

Source: Free Articles

buying first home in Sydney area

sydney central business district, the finest harbour in the world

Sydney, New South Wales is one of the most affordable metropolitan cities in Australia for buying a home. As a result, it attracts many of Australian’s first time home buyers. If you’re one of the many home buyers in this category, here are some tips to help make your first home investment successful.



1) Take advantage of the $20,000 tax credit and federal subsidy! it is a lot of money to most people, but for first time home buyers this amount of savings can really make a difference on a lower scaled budget.

2) Think about resale down the road. Usually the first home or apartment you buy is just the first home you buy. You’re probably not planning on spending the rest of your life in this home, so it’s especially important for first time buyers to choose a home that will have good resale value down the road. Whether you plan on staying in your first home 3 years or 10 years, you’ll want to have a home that will appeals to future buyers. Doing this will not only ensure that you can sell your home in the future, but it will also bring a higher price when it comes time to sell. Talk with your Real estate agent about which suburb neighborhoods have performed well over the past five years as far as home sales are concerned. Off course Pennant hills or hornsby area would be much differ than Botany bay or Marrickville with busy airport, industrial area and other. Coastal suburb such as bondi, San Souci, Watson bay or cronulla would be differ than western suburb such as mount druitt, campbell town or cabramatta.

balmoral beach, a fine Sydney suburb with magnificent ocean view

3) Get pre-approved before you go look at homes. Buyers who already have a mortgage may have a good idea about what price range they should be looking in. However, if you’re a first time home buyer, there is really no way to determine this unless you talk with a lender. You may get approved for $80K or $150K. And, in Suburban area, that’s the difference between a condo and a house! It’s important to know how much money you’ll be approved for before you go look at homes. You don’t want to find the perfect house and then find out that you can’t actually buy it. Also, many buyers think that they have to use a mortgage lender who is located in the Sydney area. This is not the case. You can use any lender such st george building trust that you trust (and if you’re not sure where to start, your Realtor should be able to recommend good lenders for you to contact).



4) Don’t overextend yourself! If you currently rent a home, figure out how much you spend every month in the rent and bills. Remember that when you own a home, you’re not only responsible for the mortgage payments and regular bills, but also taxes, insurance, and other fees. The taxes and insurance will be based on your home value. The HOA completely depends on which neighborhood you choose and the amenities that it offers. The good news is that you’ll know all of these amounts before you close on your home. Be sure to talk with your lender about how much you want to spend in your monthly payments and also whether you want taxes and insurance included in that monthly mortgage payment. Also, talk with your Realtor about these costs. He or she can recommend contacts for insurance so that you can shop around and get the best rate. Your Realtor can also get HOA estimates so that you’ll know how much a neighborhood costs, so to speak, when you’re driving around and comparing these.

2 Horrible Mistakes in an At-Home Business

With the current economy, and jobs being dropped just about in every industry, its hard to think about anything other than how we're going to keep funds coming into our bank accounts. The government can't support everyone, and so, that means we all need to start looking for a reasonable way to stay afloat. An at home business opportunity might be that very thing.

However, before jumping right into the next at home business opportunity you see, I want to save you from a few mistakes that might occur.

Being in the at home business industry for a little while now, I have realized that not every at home business opportunity is the right one for me, and rather, for you as well. Here are 2 of the many critical mistakes to avoid:

1.Un-Original Product: Why promote an opportunity that can be found in your local store? It makes no sense. Most of the time these at home business opportunity companies promote products that are over-priced and very unoriginal. I'm not saying there aren't any original products available, I'm just saying.. watch out before you get sucked into a product that isn't going to sell. Sure, you Aunty or Grandpa might buy it, but thats probably because they're being nice. Research Research Research.

2.Low Compensation: What are the profits of each sale? Think of it like this, if you're going to promote something, you want to get paid BIG for it. If you're going to invest in marketing and promoting something, wouldn't it rather be on something that's going to give you HUGE upfront commissions? I'm not talking about a measly $15 dollar upfront commissions, I'm talking about $800-$3000 upfront commissions. This is where the REAL money is made, the type that will pay all your bills, and maybe even let you quit your 9-5 job. Get serious and research the pay plan very carefully.

There are so many at home business opportunity tips to make you thousands, or even MILLIONS of dollars if you desire. source: free articles

Plan Your Business Financing

Most businesses start out thinking the first thing they need is a great business plan. The popular myth is that potential lenders will place great stock in your business plan as a major consideration for approving the financing you need.

While a well written business plan will assist you when you are seeking financing, it is far down on the lenders list behind things such as your business management teams experience, your past business successes and your lending character. Having a plan for accessing the business capital you need to execute your business plan is what is required to bring your business success. Not having a viable business financing plan is the direct cause of why 90% of all new businesses fail.

Your lending character means the lender sees you having the ability and stability to repay the loan. They also ask how far they believe you can take the business to maximize the potential earnings and therefore their chances of getting repaid.

The first thing a lender is going to look at is how did you structure the business and were you responsible and knowledgeable in that. Are you Incorporated or an LLC? If not you are declined for a business loan and everything becomes based solely on you as an individual. Did you do your EIN, State, business licenses and bank filings correctly? If not, you are declined because a lender requires attention to detail.

A simple business credit report check by a lender will quickly show whether or not you are even in the ballpark for getting approved for financing. If the lender finds that you have not bothered to insure that your business has active reports with all three major business credit reporting agencies, then of course you are immediately declined.

Next, the lender will look at the character of your business credit reports. What do they say about your business? What kind of payment histories have you had with debts that are easy to get such as vendor trade lines, small business credit cards, equipment leases, etc? If your business has no credit history or very minimal history then no lender will even consider your business for a larger loan when you have no track record of paying smaller debts.

If you pass these simple tests, now a lender will get to the heart of you business loan application and it is only at this point that you even get the opportunity to present your funding request. Unfortunately as high as 90 percent of all business loan applications never get to this point, because most business owners never take the time to complete the initial steps.

So you have made it this far, The next question you need to ask is what is a lender going to want to see? Debt service! Here is where the lender finally looks at your business plan, or at least the financial pat of it, to determine if your business can debt service the loan. To make this determination a lender will test the reality of your numbers. Basically this means do your numbers add up and do they make sense.

If you do not know anything about accounting you had better get help. When a lender looks at your projected financial statement and finds simple accounting errors, then in most cases you will again be declined. They do not want to lend money to someone who cannot produce a simple proof and loss statement; or someone that cannot balance a balance sheet. There is a lot of help out there, get some.

Next, a lender will look at the market niche section of your business plan. While most business owners think that this is the place that sets them apart from the competition, it actually is the part where lenders will compare you to your competition. Here is where lenders must see that you have done you market research. Can the revenue claims that you are making in your financial projections be backed up by the actual market demographics for your specific business industry, location, customer base, etc.? It essentially comes down to the need for your product or service.

All of this can seem overwhelming and in truth it can be. It is the reason that 97 percent of all business loan applications get declined. The overriding reason is that business owners are not taught this in school and typically only gain this knowledge through years of brutal experience that normally includes having one or two failed businesses under their belts.

This will give you plenty of information to get you started on putting together a business funding request.

Source: Free Articles

Starting A Home Based Business? - Avoid These 6 Costly Blunders

A lot of people would like to start an internet home based business. However, many people do not know where to start.

Starting a home based business can be overwhelming and confusing for the inexperienced. The fact that there are a lot of 'business opportunities' on the internet does not make it any easier.

You can easily succeed with your home based business if you just avoid some common mistakes which people make.

So what are some of the common mistakes that people who are starting a home based business usually make?

? No Plans & objectives. A lot of people start their business with no plans, and this is a very costly mistake. It is important to take the necessary time and effort to plan the business and clearly state the objectives you intend to achieve. Some people start their home based business like a hobby and treat it like one. Do not expect to make millions with your online home based business if you treat it like a hobby.

? Reinventing the wheel. Some people starting a home based business make their learning curves very hard and long. The internet is full of proven money making business models. You can succeed easily by identifying the business type that you would like to have your home based business focused on, try to find someone who has succeeded with that business and learn from them, and duplicate what they have done to succeed. It is also important to have the necessary support network, which can be a relevant forum where you can learn more about running your home based business successfully.

? Thinking that you can make money overnight. This is a common misconception which people have, which is also the reason why many people fail and give up easily. Your online home based business is like any other business - you will need to apply the necessary effort and dedication to make it work.

? Believing that your online home based business doesn't need any capital. This is another very common misconception. If you think you can start and develop a home based business without spending a dime, you are misleading yourself. Be prepared to spend some money to get all the resources you will need to develop your business. Although it varies with the type of the home based business you want to set up, you would need some initial resources that you have to invest in the business. This can be for setting up your website, just as an example. You may also need to buy some resources to make your online home based business fully set up.

? No market study before creating a product or starting the business. Yet another very common mistake. For your home based business to succeed, you will need to have a market for whatever you will be offering. Demand for your products is the most important factor that determines the success of your home based business. A market study on the current market size and future potential of the product or service is therefore very important.

? Lacking focus and commitment. Your online business will need a lot of effort for it to succeed, especially during the first two years. You must therefore be prepared to give your business your total commitment.

If you avoid the 6 mistakes outline above, you will succeed with your home based business.

What You Will Need To Start A Successful Business

Starting a home business is a very important decision, and there are some typical home business resources you will need to have in order for you to succeed. Home business resources are assets, services and systems you will need to make your home business run smoothly; and also other steps you will need to take to make sure that you will succeed with your business.

So, to start a successful home business, what resources and steps do you need to take?

? A clearly laid out business plan. Without a business plan and goals to achieve, then you can not get anywhere. A business plan will map out what you need to succeed and how you will achieve your goals.

? Good research. Whatever your business will need, you will need to be well informed about it. So you will need to do me research so that you become an expert on the niche, product or service. Knowledge about the business is an important home business resource, so you must do the necessary research to be well-informed about the industry or product/service.

? A well set-up office. Your office is another important home business resource. You will need to be productive while working from home. You will therefore need an office that has all you will need to run a smooth business; a computer, printer, internet access, fax, telephone, business cards and a conducive work environment. A suitable desk and appropriate lighting in your office is also an important resource that is often underestimated in its importance. You will sometimes work for many hours in a day, and your work space needs to be comfortable. Allocate some money towards setting up a working environment you will enjoy working from everyday!

? Some money to cover capital outlay and running costs is an important home business resource which you will need. Any business requires some form of investment, and you will need to know how much you have, and how much investments and ongoing marketing your business will need for it to succeed. It is therefore recommended that you start your business while you are still employed, so that you have some income to live on while you are still building your business.

? Support system. This can be a mentor; someone who has succeeded with a similar business, or simply your family and friends. You need to have people close to you who will encourage you and give you any support you need. You can also join a forum of people with the same business like yours. A good support network is a very important home business resource.

? Business leads and clients are a crucial home business resource. Making and creating contacts and networking is very important - you need to start building your potential clients base before you launch your business. Start marketing your business by giving away some products and services. By creating a relationship with your potential customers, you build trust with them, and when you launch your business, it will be easy for them to buy from you.

? Be professional! The way you run your business and relate to your customers is very important. Be prepared to 'go the extra mile' with your customers. Care about your customers, and provide all the information they may need.

? Hire any professional help you may need. Treat your business professionally, and if you need the services of a lawyer or accountant, hire/outsource it. It is more productive and effective to get experts to do what you can not do, leaving you time to focus on your business. You will want to do the best for your business; so if there are any home business resources you do not have, outsource them.

If you have the home business resources outlined above, then your business will succeed. Although your home business may only be a small venture, treat it like a real business, and get all the home business resources any business will need in order to be successful.
by: Jeff Casmer, an award winning internet marketing consultant

Starting a Home Business Using the Internet

Starting a home business I not an easy task and to make things harder there are so many myths attached to starting a home business that it can become quite confusing. Some people get an idea in their head and just take off. Starting a business for them is easy. The majority of people, however, end up having the desire to start a home business before the actual business idea comes to them. Once they begin thinking about actually starting a home based business they are overcome with many myths that make it seem next to impossible to succeed.

One of the biggest myths about starting a home business is associated with the internet. The internet has opened many doors to home business owners, but at the same time the complexity of the internet has caused many to give up and abandon hope that they can ever get a business to be successful. Many people believe that the internet is a vast marketplace that is too he to compete in. That is simply not true. There are many small home businesses that are doing great on the internet. It is all a matter of knowing how to run a business website. A person has to understand about marketing and setting up a website. Once they've established their online presence they can make great money.

Another internet related myth about starting a home business is that there is no help available for the business owner. Anyone who has went to a search engine and typed in business will now this is not true. There are online networks of websites that are all aimed at helping people succeed in internet business. These people offer free information and plenty of support. A person can find answers to almost any question they have and even talk to others who have started their own business. The internet business environment is one of helping others.

One myth that may hold some truth is that marketing online is impossible. While it is, obviously, not impossible it can be difficult for the beginner. Starting a home business online requires plenty of research into internet marketing. The marketing tools used online are very different from those used in the traditional environment. A person has to understand how to drive traffic to their website and how to catch the attention of their target market. As mentioned above, there are plenty of resources available to help a person get their marketing plan in order.

These myths about starting a business all make it look impossible to tap into the internet marketplace. These myths are quite untrue and should be ignored. It does take hard work and dedication to start any business, but using the internet just opens up a business to a huge marketplace and offers additional opportunities that a traditional, offline business does not have. It is worth it for every business owner to look into the internet when starting a home business.

sex discount in bangkok red light

The go-go bars are empty and sex is on sale at half price as Bangkok's infamous red light districts suffer from a blockade of the capital's airports.

"It's high season, but now it's like low season," said Nan, a scantily-clad hostess at one deserted nightspot in the Thai capital's notorious Patpong area.

An old man played guitar and sang along to a karaoke machine inside. Outside, beneath the pink neon, about 10 women in almost identical low-cut dresses tried to drum up trade.

Sex tourism is no exception. Patpong depends on foreigners to keep afloat, but as the 350,000 air travellers stranded by the airport closures rush to leave Thailand, replacements are not coming in.

"Now Thailand has a problem -- no customers," said Lam, a man who works for Nan's bar, luring tourists in off the streets by posing as a friendly Thai offering unsolicited advice on good places to go.

Lam is hopeful the trade will return to Patpong, a lurid strip of live shows and sleazy nightlife.

"It is because of the airport, but now the airport is all clear," he said.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand is not so optimistic.

The group expects incoming travellers in 2009 to be half the 14.8 million the kingdom saw last year, with word of the protests causing tourists considering a trip to Thailand to book elsewhere.

At the normally standing-room-only "ping-pong" shows, five or six women swarm each new arrival. Some are following the example of Thailand's resorts and luxury hotels by offering discounted rates.

Prostitutes offer two hours of sexual services for 800 baht (about 22 US dollars) instead of the normal 1,500 to 2,000 baht that would cost.

The airport closures also hurt Bangkok's other entertainment options, such as the famous "ladyboy" cabaret shows.

"The shutdown of the airports seriously affected our business," said Nipon Boonmasuwaran, sales and marketing manager of the Calypso show in Bangkok, where flamboyantly-dressed transvestites lip-sync and dance to famous tunes.

"Our guests have dropped 90 percent -- we have less than 50 guests in our 350-seat theatre," Nipon said.

The Calypso also cancelled its second daily showing during the November 25-December 3 chaos, when images of frustrated tourists trying to flee Thailand from a military airbase beamed around the world.

"We handed out thousands of free tickets for the stranded hotel guests in order to entertain them and hope that they would buy drinks -- otherwise we will have no business," he said.

"Since re-opening of the airports business is trickling in but very slow," adding that guests normally came from Europe -- especially the Netherlands and Belgium -- and Asian countries such as South Korea, Japan and Singapore.

The blockade may have brought in some extra trade.
Thailand was until 2005 the world's leading destination for sex tourists, when its crown was taken by Brazil, according to Interpol.

Although prostitution is officially illegal in Thailand, estimates for the number of sex workers range from 80 000 to two million women and men.

At her Patpong bar, Nan says she hopes the tourists return soon, as she sends the money she earns back to her family near the Cambodian border.

"Maybe in 15 days, a month it comes back," she said.

 
article link courtesy of http://watoday.com.au