Medicare Supplement Plan N - Smart Alternative To Medicare Advantage

What makes Medicare supplement plan N a good alternative to an Advantage plan? Your Medicare Advantage plan can change every year. The benefits can change, the premium can increase or the plan may not renew for the following year. What if you don't like the changes? Or maybe your Medicare Advantage plan is not renewing for the following year. Take a look at Medicare supplement plan N as a viable alternative. Plan N was introduced in June 2010 as one of the new Modernized Medicare supplement plans. Plan N offers more freedom than an Advantage plan, as well as lower premiums than most other Medicare supplement plans. In some cases, it will have lower premiums than some of the Medicare Advantage options that are available. Benefits are fairly comprehensive Benefits of plan N include: Medicare Part A:

Part A hospital deductible Part A hospital coinsurance Skilled nursing facility coinsurance Blood Hospice co-payment/coinsurance

Medicare Part B:

Part B outpatient coinsurance Blood

Other Benefits

Foreign travel emergency - 80% to lifetime max of $50,000 after $250 calendar year deductible

Premiums for Medicare supplement plan N are less than other supplements because the policy holder will share some of the outpatient costs. If you purchase this supplement, you will be responsible for:

The Part B deductible - currently $155 annually Up to a $20 co-pay for a doctors visit Up to a $50 co-pay for an emergency room visit

Why Medicare supplement Plan N is a smart alternative to a Medicare Advantage plan When you purchase plan N you are not bound by any network restrictions like many Advantage plans. Also, supplements offer standardized benefits from one company to the next and are readily accepted by medical providers. Because these are standardized plans, it is easy to compare one company to another. The difference between plan N from one company to the next is price and the perceived level of customer service.

Other than the small co-pays for doctors visits and ER visits, you will have very little out-of-pocket expense. No deductibles or daily co-pays for inpatient hospital stays are required. You may have less out-of-pocket expenses for some outpatient procedures. Many Advantage plans require the same coinsurance levels as original Medicare for outpatient surgery and other medical services. Your plan N supplement will cover the 20% coinsurance for outpatient surgery that Medicare doesn't pay. Unlike an Advantage plan, plan N is not an annual plan and you are not subject to enrollment periods. Many providers are offering plan N with limited underwriting and pre-existing conditions are not relevant in many cases. If your Medicare Advantage plan is not being renewed you are guaranteed acceptance into a Medicare supplement plan.

What are you missing?

Supplements fill in the gaps left by Medicare. You are generally not afforded additional benefits, like dental, vision or gym memberships. So you need to determine the importance of these ancillary services compared to the freedom and level of coverage offered by the supplement. Medicare supplements do not include Part D drug coverage. You will need to purchase a separate drug plan and will still be subject to Part D enrollment periods. Whether or not the plan will fit your budget is obviously a huge factor. But that said, there are Advantage plans with higher premiums than plan N.

One benefit of a standardized plan, is that it lends itself to being easy to shop for online. Unlike an Advantage plan, you don't need to review dozens of brochures to learn about the differences from one plan to the next. The benefits are the same with Medicare supplement plan N no matter which company you are looking at and you should be able to compare plans online with little trouble.

How Can You Find Best Medicare Supplemental Insurance Plans?   Get Event Insurance Online   How Does a Medigap Policy Work?   A Guide To Medicare Supplemental Insurance   

Maternity Swimsuits for 2012

Maternity swimwear is essential wear for all pregnant women during summer and is also essential part of your maternity wear wardrobe. In our experience, swimming is by far the best exercise for pregnant women (besides maybe pilates..) plus a great excuse to show off your amazing maternity swimwear. We know what you are thinking. "A maternity swimsuit... come on. I don't want to wear a tent to the beach!" Those days are OVER! Maternity swimsuits come in all shape and color. Actually there are maternity swimwear models that you can actually nurse in!

What type of maternity swimwear is out there? You would be amazed by the selection on the market these days. There are one-piece maternity swimsuits, maternity tankinis (just like a bikini but the top is longer to cover the majority of your bump), the bikinis, the halterkinis, the nursing swimsuits, the sarongs and many others! There is no doubt you will find a type of maternity swimwear that will suit you and make you comfortable on the beach. Don't let pictures from webstores mislead. You really don't have to look like a pregnant model to feel good about yourself! Being relatively fit and above all, healthy, it's what is all about!

Swimming is one of sporting activities for pregnant women that is highly recommended by the medical experts. There are a lot of benefits of swimming for pregnant women: - It really is a great way to stay fit and healthy during pregnancy. - It's not weight bearing, so you don't have to put pressure on your temporarily loosened joints. - It uses both large muscle groups (arms and legs) and provides good cardiovascular benefits. - A low risk of injury in comparison with other kinds of exercise. - You will feel less fatigued, and better manage with pregnancy's physical challenges.

We listed below our opinions regarding wearing maternity swimwear from extensive research on this topic: - Maternity fashion does not mean wearing a tent or hiding behind your man at the beach. - Modern maternity swimwear is a reflection of a taste. - Wear it comfortably. - Choose the swimsuit that will support your body in the right places. - Choose the right size.

While you might be focused on purchasing maternity swimwear and become occupied with it, don't forget to protect your self from the strong sun! Wear a hat to protect your face and neck, put some sunblock and best of all, stay out of sun at it's peak!

Getting Ready For Your Baby: Some Tips   Getting Ready For Your Baby: Some Tips   

A Mother's Love for Her Children

A mother is someone who worries about minor things relating to her child's well being. Little things that rob her of her a peaceful sleep can include; "Is my child cold now? Is my child happy? Is she/he hungry?"

Ever since I became a mother I found out what true love really means. The bond between a mother and a child is unique and exceptional. My boys are the light of my life and I have enjoyed every minute of their childhood. To be honest, some moments were painful and others a little frustrating. However, when I go to their beds at night to say good night and watch their sleeping and beautiful innocent faces, I sometimes have to hold my own tears back. The joy my children bring to my life is very difficult to express because it is beyond description. How can I express that they have changed my life in a drastic way? How can I tell them that they are the most important beings in my life? That the thought of something awful happening to them makes me short of breath and my heart ache? Not only have they changed the meaning of life, but they have also taught me more than I can ever teach them. My sons have taught me strength and courage, but most importantly, the meaning of TRUE LOVE.

They might not be aware at such an early age that life has not been perfect for them. Although they know we faced challenges that other families have not faced, such as the younger sibling's three open-heart surgeries and abandonment from their biological father, they still have so much joy in their faces that can illuminate a whole city. Their smiles and confidence radiates to others and their compassion and intelligence makes me the proudest mother in the world.

Our circumstances do not shame us. On the contrary, my biggest effort as a single mother is teaching them with love and example that adversity and obstacles are only opportunities in disguise. We will continue to use every opportunity to share our love for humanity and life. With gratitude and love, life is magical. Embrace motherhood and know you are never alone.

If life problems are thrown at you, it only means God knew you could handle it. You see, you don't know how strong you really are, until being strong is the only option you have.

Getting Ready For Your Baby: Some Tips   Getting Ready For Your Baby: Some Tips   

How to Maintain a Clean Email List

As a business targeting success, your work doesn't end in acquiring email addresses and devising your Unsubscribe and opt-out process. There are a couple of things you would want to ensure are happening in order to keep a clean list and keep running a successful email marketing campaign. It is highly advisable, for instance, to use email validation services to determine validity and metadata information about email addresses.

Here are some steps to take to manage and keep your email list in its healthiest, fittest shape possible.

Here's a fact: email addresses eventually atrophy or go bad over time, no matter how much monitoring or checking you do. Email users may either abandon an email account (until inbox becomes too full to receive any more message) or shut it down for good. This is why a "bounce" happens - an email that you attempted to send bounces back and remains undeliverable.

More bounces means more impact on your sender reputation, since most service providers believe that responsible email senders delete bad addresses from their lists on a regular basis. As it is, spammers usually have high bounce rates. Would you want to be associated with spam practice or have bounced or bad addresses regularly removed from your database?

It is suggested that you do not remove email addresses as soon as they bounce ounce, because, for example, what if it's just temporary technical failure on the part of the service provider? You may keep your email list clean by having a threshold of three to five bounces before removing it from your database. Track undeliverable addresses and make sure that they are removed from your email list, too.

Use a web-based email address checker: it has flags that provide detail beyond whether or not an email can get past a server. Through this, marketers like you get the kind of information they need to reduce bounce rates and improve open rates in their campaigns. To verify an email address also means protecting yourself against getting blacklisted by email messengers.

Many email marketers simply continue sending to their email lists even if many users have not opened a single email in months. You don't really lose money here, but this scenario impacts your sender reputation score as determined by email service providers. What can you do to address this problem and avoid landing in the spam box for a segment of low-activity email users?

You have to know what is considered "low activity" usage. An active user may be one who opens one email a month (if you send weekly newsletters) or someone who opens an email every three months (if you send monthly newsletters). There is really no metric that you can apply here, which means you should use your own judgment.

Query all of the email addresses that do not meet your ideal criteria for your email database and place them on a separate list. This isn't to ignore them; you just want to limit your frequency of emails to them. You should also identify those who may be looking at your email but not registering as an opened email due to images that don't load or those who are forever on a preview-pane view.

Email everyone on your low email usage list and inform them that you are doing regular email maintenance. Ask them if they are still interested to receive your mails (of course with a call-to-action to continue subscription), and if they are, provide a confirmation link or an email address where they can complete steps to return to your main email list.

All these may seem like a lot of work, but in the long run they will spell profound benefits to your direct marketing. If you are past the startup-business level, how about investing time and money on efficient tools like email validation and reaping long-term gains and savings?

Email Marketing Etiquette   Cutting to the Chase   Capture Attention With Email Marketing   5 Tips to Boost Your Email Marketing   Six Simple Ways to Engage Your Email Subscribers and Strengthen Relationships   Don't Ask Too Much From Strangers   

The Essential Steps To An Effective Patent Search

Creation Submission is about obtaining a patent on your invention. Securing a patent for your invention when you've got a terrific idea that you have worked on is very possible in this day and age. The principle reasons why inventors obtain patents for their plans are to generate protect their work so that they might either sell the rights on the patent or market or manufacture the item for profit.

Patent search Before an inventor initiates the process of applying for patent, they must conduct a patent search to ensure that their invention, plan or process is eligible. An individual can conduct the search on his or her own through the database of the US patent office. This can be a time-consuming effort if you don't know your way around the system.

Many inventors hire a patent lawyer to handle the paperwork as well as the extensive search required to ensure that the patent application process goes smoothly. Since the system is computerized, it is possible to go online and conduct a thorough search. You can also research the USPTO's Patent and Trademark Depository Library for other patent-related publications.

US patent and trademark business office The US Patent and Trademark Business office, website defines an invention as "Any new and valuable approach, machine, manufacture, or composition that can make a difference, or any new and helpful advancement thereof, which, taken together, involve pretty much everything that is definitely created by a gentleman."

The US Patent and Trademark Office issued patents to inventors which give them the option to exclude many others from making, making use of, or marketing their invention while in the United States of America. In exchange for this grant, the inventors must disclose their invention to the public in an easily accessible format. A patent doesn't grant inventors the right to create, use, sell, or import their inventions. It just excludes others from doing so without permission.

The US Patent and Trademark search To buy a in-depth patent search utilizing a patent search service is about $1000. "An inventor's idea or product might have been available on the market before but the cost was too great to continue manufacturing, or it might be patented under another use that is unrelated to the search criteria. If nothing turns up when using the free U.S. Patent Office patent search database, it might be time to hire a patent attorney or patent search firm at an initial price of about $1,000 for any more in-depth search. The price of a basic patent search within the Washington D.C., area runs between $200 and $300.

If you have been given the all clear signal to go ahead and apply for your patent after the search has concluded, it's time to make sure all your paperwork is organized and ready for presentation. The patent agent who handles your claim may take an average of three days to review and investigate the claim but it will take a lot longer to get your patent approved.

Gene Patenting Fact   Software Patent Infringement Strategies   Why Can Patents Be Granted for Multiple Similar Inventions?   Using Archived Software Products As an Intellectual Property Portfolio   

5 Tips For Claims Writing

Without claims, a patent will be like a boat without a rudder. Claims provide some exclusive rights or scopes of protection to the inventor or patent holder. Phrasing or wording sense of claims is responsible for giving a defined legal protection to the patent holders. Valuable claims also help in stopping the infringing activities of other competitors or third parties.

Tips for claims writing

1. Systematic order of claim writing

- Independent claim should be write first. And, it should have broad scope of protection.

- After writing the independent claim, dependent claims should have to write in a well delineated manner, so that all limitations of independent claim can be covered aptly.

2. Clear and crisp in meaning

- Claim sentences should be clear and crisp. Because, these sentences are responsible for defining more transparent and valuable meanings of the claims.

- Try to avoid the use of those words that have broad meaning or not having a defined limitation. For example, "heavy", "large", "used in large extant", "mostly required" etc. Because, they have subjective idea or sense in their meaning, not to an objective judgment.

3. Fully structured and having all elements

- All necessary elements or words should be present in a claim means it must not be incomplete.

- It should cover all inventive features, embodiments, technical applications of invention as well as scopes of protection.

- Each claim should be written in single sentence.

- Introductory phrase part, linking part and body of the claim part all should be arranged in a well delineated manner.

4. Fully supported by description part

- The basis of claim writing should be sufficiently mentioned in the description part of patent application.

- Each part or term i.e. mentioned in claims should be directly or indirectly inferred from the description part of the patent application. Sometimes, when claims are not supported by the description part, then the chances of cancellation during patent office examining gets increase.

5. Use of best suited phrases and words

- In introductory part, we generally write about the field or type of invention.

- In body part, inventive features should be written in association with valid legal scopes of invention.

- As we know that linking words or phrases are used to describe the relation between introductory part and body part.

- Some famed phrases or words those are generally used in linking part mentioned below

a. "consisting of" b. "consisting essentially of" c. "including" d. "which comprises".

Gene Patenting Fact   Software Patent Infringement Strategies   Why Can Patents Be Granted for Multiple Similar Inventions?   Using Archived Software Products As an Intellectual Property Portfolio   Patent Riches Through Licensing   

The Software Patent Process

Software is a huge and expanding market characterized by rapid product innovation. In addition, software is also increasingly key to distinguishing and adding value to other products ranging from automobiles to video books. As a result, software patents are important to prevent competitors from taking advantage of one's software inventions. However, many software inventors are unclear about the process of patenting software.

The software patent process typically begins with a patent search. A search helps determine if the subject matter of the invention is patentable, and the likely scope of a patent. The search finds similar inventions, referred to as art, that may limit the breadth of the patent or preclude allowance of the patent altogether. The information is invaluable in deciding whether to file a patent application, and how to structure it. However, much of the art for cutting edge software technology is still not public at the time of the search, so the decision must include estimates of the current state of the technology.

If you decide to proceed with a patent application, the inventors disclose the details of the invention to a patent attorney. From that disclosure, I prefer to prepare an initial set of claims and drawings that I then review with the inventors. The second (and third) discussion of the invention usually brings out additional aspects of the invention that can be protected. After the inventors are satisfied that the claims and drawings accurate capture the invention, I draft the application. The application must be prepared to anticipate and provide alternatives for multiple technical obstacles to allowance of the patent. After an inventor review, we file the application and drawings with inventor declarations, assignments, and information disclosure statements.

And then we wait. Examination usually begins 1-3 years later, although there are ways to accelerate this. Occasionally examination begins with a restriction requirement, where the examiner asserts that the application includes more than one invention. This may be because we intentionally included multiple inventions to differ costs, and sometimes because the examiner things the invention is too broad. There are a number of effective ways to deal with restriction requirements.

Usually there is no restriction requirement, and the examiner rejects all or most of the claims because of prior art that is found in the examiner's own search. The examiner will assert that this art shows that your invention is not novel or was obvious. We analyze these rejections, and determine which arguments are valid and which don't hold water. We then create a strategy combining persuading the examiner and modifying the patent claims to overcome the rejections. We discuss this strategy with the examiner to get feedback and to persuade. To help get broad claims allowed, I take time to determine the best persuasive strategy for each examiner.

We then file a formal response based on the strategy, which the examiner considers. The examiner usually conducts another search, and may find a new reason to reject your application. Sometimes a number of iterations are required before finding the right combination of language and scope to both protect your invention and have the claims of the application allowed by the examiner. The number of iterations is highly dependent on the breadth of the claims that you want. Broader, more valuable claims take more work, and sometimes even an appeal to be allowed. After the application is allowed, there are issue fees and then maintenance fees after 3.5, 7.5, and 11.5 years.

Protecting a software patent is a long and expensive process. However, when compared with the economic costs of allowing a competitor to copy your innovation and take advantage of your development work, a software patent is bargain.

Gene Patenting Fact   Software Patent Infringement Strategies   Why Can Patents Be Granted for Multiple Similar Inventions?   Using Archived Software Products As an Intellectual Property Portfolio   Patent Riches Through Licensing   New Simplified Process of Filing of PCT National Phase Applications in India   

Use Podcasting To Help Build Your Initial Personal Brand

Podcasting can be a very easy way to establish your personal brand on the Internet quickly. Setting up and recording a podcast can be done in less than 10 minutes. Although podcasting is not as popular as it was 3 years ago, it is still popular with many people who do not have time or patience to sit through lengthy videos but would rather download audios to their phones, iPods, or other devices.

If you are new to Internet or Home-Based business and need a way to get noticed, podcasting can be both easy and quick. Podcasting can be done for no cost at all. All you will need is an audio recorder and converter, both can be found free on the Internet. The best recommendation for free audio recorder is Audacity and the converter Lame. Google those terms and you will be directed to both download links.

Where do you place your podcasts so that others might find them?

There are many free podcasting directories where you can host your recordings. Since there are several podcast directories available, a good idea would be to Google the term "podcasting directories" and look for one or two that might be niche-specific for your business. Most directories offer free accounts, making this marketing avenue a great idea for new marketers.

Select one or two directories, open an account, and you are all set to upload your podcasts.

When you create your podcasts, be sure and title your recording using your selected keywords so that search engines can place them in search pages competition.

This is just how simple it is to create podcasts:

Download and install Audacity and the Lame converter. Copy and paste one or two of your blog posts or articles onto a notepad. Go through each article and separate 2-3 key paragraphs. Use these to create brief, 3-minute podcasts. Listen to them, if you are not happy with the recording, just erase it and do it again. A little practice in the beginning will make you an expert after just a couple of tries.

After you feel comfortable with creating brief podcasts, go through your other content and create ten or more podcasts and place them in your podcast directory accounts as you record them.

Later, when a potential customer or subscriber "Googles" your name, your podcasts will show up along with the written content or videos you have created. The perception they will have from this experience will prove your expertise in your niche.

As well, podcasting offers great training, selling, and recruitment avenues. You can add the links to your podcasts into your ezine issues, place the links in social networks, and any other locations where they can be located and downloaded.

Podcasting is easy, free, and will get your noticed. Give it a try and you will be pleased with the simplicity and value podcasts can offer in your business marketing.

How to Make a Podcast For a Website   How Do You Promote a Podcast and Get More Listeners?   Is a Podcast Difficult to Produce?   School and College Radio   

How Podcasting Can Be Used As a B2B Lead Generator

Podcasting is fast emerging as a popular technology that is specifically being used in B2B lead generator. A podcast basically consists of an mp3 audio file that is similar to a radio talk show. Users can easily download it from either from a website or with the help of RSS feed and then listen to it with the help of their systems mp3 player.

Podcasts can prove helpful as B2B lead generators by encouraging conversations related to the various features of the websites. With the variable length of a podcast, ranging from 5 minutes to 30 minutes, a website can use the same to discuss the various products and services being offered. Websites can also use podcasts to highlight how their products are different and better from other products.

However, it is vital to design a podcast in such a way that it incites curiosity amongst its listeners and leaves them wanting to seek more information. They can be developed in many formats including a talk show format, a descriptive format or even a question and answer type format. The format used depends on the type of B2B leads one wants to generate with the help of podcasts. Other way of helping podcasts in lead generation is by using them for recording client testimonials.

Podcasts are definitely revolutionizing the way in which people are generating leads in business-to-business marketing. This unique new technology has been especially successful for marketers who generate appropriate and reliable information targeted at a specific group of audiences.

How to Make a Podcast For a Website   How Do You Promote a Podcast and Get More Listeners?   Is a Podcast Difficult to Produce?   School and College Radio   

Podcasting How-To - A Pretty Good Podcast is All You Need

A pretty good podcast, or really a succession of pretty good podcasts, is all you need to attract an online audience. But just what does a 'pretty good podcast' entail?

First, let's look at how to make a podcast. A podcast is just creating MP3 files from your audios - it can be you reading an article, giving advice, teaching how to do something or an audio recording of a teleseminar or webinar you did. If you've been creating MP3 audios and putting them on your blog, you're already a podcaster whether you knew it or not.

So don't be frightened of becoming a podcaster, especially since you don't have to get it perfect - a pretty good podcast will see you through. Your best podcasts will be the ones that deliver the most information, information helpful to your target audience, irregardless of the quality of your MP3 audios.

Now that doesn't mean you should have a lot of background noise or poor recording quality - your best podcasts should be crystal clear and easy to understand. But creating a pretty good podcast can be done with the standard mic and headset combinations for computers, or even with the mic built into most laptops and netbooks these days.

If you need a podcast tutorial there are a lot of Podcasting 101 type of resources online, but really it's just a matter of recording the material you want and then uploading the audio MP3s to your blog or using an RSS feed to submit your podcast site to a podcast directory like Podcast Alley or iTunes.

But the main point here is it doesn't have to be perfect - you don't need fancy intros, background music, audio effects and the like - nor do you need to have that perfect 'radio voice'. As long as you speak clearly and don't have a heavy accent you'll be fine - or, of course, you can always have a friend, colleague or pro voiceover artist do the MP3 recording if you feel your voice isn't 'right' for your podcasts.

In general though, don't get too wrapped up in the technical side of RSS feeds, creating MP3 audios, building an RSS script, etc - focus on the content you deliver, and on delivering that helpful content on a regular schedule. As any successful podcaster can tell you, consistency is more important than the quality of your MP3 audios, as long as you're producing a pretty good podcast at the minimum.

How to Make a Podcast For a Website   How Do You Promote a Podcast and Get More Listeners?   Is a Podcast Difficult to Produce?   School and College Radio   

How Simple Podcasts Add Value to Your Small Business Website

In the technology based world we all now live in, portable information and media is the reality of today. Any small business that can capitalise on that fact is head and shoulders above their competition. Audio podcasts are the simplest way for anyone to tap into that market.

Blue tooth headsets and headphones have almost become a fashion accessory. Everyone is connected to their iPods, smart phones or iPads almost every waking moment and the day. By providing your web content or information in a format that is portable, you will have the opportunity to broadcast your message to anyone at any given time of the day. People do not need to be in front of their computer screen to connect with your business.

Every business with a blog should also be offering that content in audio format through podcasting. Your subscribers can then download your audios and listen at the gym, during their daily commute, while jogging or any other scenario you can think of.

The fact is, no matter what type of business or service you offer, you have a very vital commodity that you can provide to any potential customer. That commodity is information, expertise or entertainment. We live in an information hungry society. We also live in a society where people want ease of use and instant results. Providing an audio version of your web content means the user does not have to read, they can have the content delivered to them in whatever medium they choose.

The great thing about audio files is that they are so easy to create. A simple USB microphone that you can purchase for a few pounds is all you need. Actually, you don't even need that as there are ways for you to record audio files using your land line or mobile phone. It has never been easier to create podcasts than it is today.

You can also make your audios available in popular sites such as iTunes or you can create Talk Radio channels and have your own broadcast. There are also podcast blog sites like podbean that make it very easy to create audio blogs that will create the embed codes that you can put into your business website.

No matter how you choose to do it, it is important that you just do it! It is so easy and, for many people, they find it much simpler than sitting down to write a blog post. It is as easy as talking on the telephone to a customer. Sure, you may feel nervous the first time or two, but you will quickly become comfortable with it and it will be as simple as a 10 minute process within a very short period of time. If you are really still not comfortable with it, hire someone to do it for you.

This could pay big dividends to your business and most likely your competition is not doing it. Bring your business into the new age of technology and reach more customers where they live. In the mobile age.

How to Make a Podcast For a Website   How Do You Promote a Podcast and Get More Listeners?   Is a Podcast Difficult to Produce?   School and College Radio   Internet Marketing - Using Podcasts   Six Benefits of Podcasting   

The Secret to Saving on Photo Printing Costs

We're all familiar with the concept of clipping coupons for the grocery store, but did you know you can use online coupons and discount codes to save big bucks at digital photo printing companies? Most of us wouldn't dream of paying retail at a brick and mortar store when items go on sale so frequently, and we can apply the concept when printing photos or making photo gifts online.

Creating custom photo books and other projects is a popular hobbyist activity, however it can be pricey. How can you cut costs but still use your favorite photo service? The answer is taking advantage of coupon codes. Virtually all of the main digital photo printers including Snapfish, Shutterfly, Mixbook and others feature frequent coupon offers for discounts on products. Commonly you will see discounts of 10, 15, 20 percent or more, with new promos showing up frequently. Bargain hunters will be on the lookout for the occasional buy 1, get 1 free promo known as a "BOGO." Another favorite is a no-cost shipping offer. Be aware that a minimum order amount is typically needed in order to qualify for gratis shipping.

Getting Online Photo Service Promo Codes

It's easy to take advantage of these discounts. All you need to do is enter the coupon code when you check out and the savings will automatically be applied to your order. Where are the coupon codes listed? Oftentimes they are available on the photo service's website either on the home page or a special promo section. The insider's secret, though, is that the best savings may not even show up on the website. A good way to be sure you get the best deals is to subscribe to a photo company's newsletter. Look for their emails with special deals in your inbox or "like" them on Facebook and you're more likely to obtain special coupon codes.

Occasionally you'll uncover more discount codes by conducting a web search for "Mixbook discount code," for example. There are a number of sites that list promotional codes for photo companies as well as a myriad of other products.

Note that sometimes they are only short term offers so you may need to jump on them quickly. Except when I "need it now" I often make my photo project and save it in my online photo account until a big promo comes along, then I just add it to my cart and enter my code and save.

If you use online coupons, you'll never have to pay retail for your photos, photo books and gifts.

Scrapbook Supplies For Less   Three Steps for Making Time to Scrap   The Importance of Scrapbook Supplies   An Introduction to Scrapbooking   How to Capture Your Kids Memories - Digital Scrapbooking for Parents   

Three Swimming Pool Concerns and the Swimming Pool Supplies Needed To Resolve Them

Swimming pools are facilities installed in homes, hotels, spas, resorts and recreation centers to provide a means for refreshment as well as exercise. They come as above ground or in ground models and are made from a selection of materials, specifically metal, plastic, concrete and fiberglass. Usually, a variety of swimming pool supplies are needed to keep them safe, ready and enjoyable to use. These range from vinyl linings to chemical cleaners, pumps, solar covers, nets and toys. To know which materials take care of which pool concern, here is a brief overview of what you can expect out of owning a swimming pool.

The first thing attached to having swimming pools is sanitation. It is imperative that the water used has low levels of viruses, algae, fungi and bacteria so that it does not promote sickness among children and adult users. This can be achieved with the use of chemical disinfectants such as chlorine and bromine. Depending on how heavy the usage is, chlorine treatment can be done on a daily or weekly basis. Sometimes, salt water systems are used as an alternative since they provide a steady and renewable level of chlorine in the water and will therefore need minimal human intervention. In addition, electronic oxidation is also applied if people do not want to deal with the smell and irritation associated with chlorine. However, the latter has been known to be toxic to aquatic life. In conjunction, pool cleaners are used to suck up the water and clear it up of visible, tangible contaminants. They make use of a hose, pump and filter and can either be bought as suction, pressure or robotic.

The second obligation associated with a swimming pool is beautification. And it will require the application of swimming pool supplies like patterned and colored pool liners, pool accessories and pool toys. Beautification is not only meant to make the facility more inviting and interesting. It also ensures that you get to enjoy it more. A waterfall may seem like just an ordinary accent. But it actually helps the keep water circulating so that the risk of contamination is minimized. The same goes with pool slides, ladders, lights and floaters.

Finally, there is security. The measures may differ among different types of pools. But the thought generally is the same. As we all know, wet surfaces are not that conducive to physical activity. As a pool owner, you need to make sure that your swimming pool is safe from users and vice versa since this could very well produce negative effects. With the lack of supervision, a pool can be a dangerous place. However, applying swimming pool supplies like covers, mats, fences, floating alarms and warning signs should lessen the chances of people meeting accidents in and on the poolside. There are a lot of shops today that offer safety measures and advice to help you manage your pool, whether in the summer or winter. So you shouldn't find it difficult to address the requirements, even if you've just newly acquired your pool.

With the Help of a Hot Tub Cover   Salt Water Pool FAQs   How to Landscape Around Your Swimming Pool   How to Clear a Green Pool   Healing Aspects Of Water In Spas, and Pools   Credible Shopping Guidelines For Spas Or Hot Tubs   

Pitch Offers And Deliver Content In Your Email Messages

You're building a list of email opt-in subscribers but those subscribers don't do you any good unless you broadcast emails out to them. When you do those broadcasts, there are basically two kinds of messages you can send. One's to promote an offer for people to buy and ones that don't. In other words, you can either pitch an offer or you can give away free content. How much pitch and how much content should you have in your emails?

It's very simple, just start with the content email and pitch at the end. That way, if someone is not interested in your offer but might be in the future, if someone has already taken you up on your offer and purchased, they can still get something out of that email, they just don't click on the link. Likewise, if they have not bought from you or they have not purchased this particular offer yet, they can read that same piece of content and understand why the pitch is important and click on it already pre-sold for what you are offering.

The only tricky part is transitioning from the free to the paid and many people get nervous and chicken out. But if you think of it instead of as content and pitch as why you need this into here it is, it becomes easier. If you're promoting a course on how to design a webpage, your content might explain the alternatives to making your own webpage. You can hire it out, you can buy an existing template and your content is listing all the alternatives or all the different ways to go about it. But then you should transition and say, "Here are all the bad ways to do it but the best way, the perfect way, my way is to buy this training course on how to design your own webpage. That way you pay one time, you can use it over and over again and the webpage comes out exactly the way you want it."

When it comes to email marketing, the thing you have to remember is that you're automatically better than most other email marketers because you are the one who sticks around. You are the one who sends them messages and follows up when everyone else forgets about it. Just by sending emails to your subscribers on a regular basis and building that relationship will increase your click through rate to the web pages and your conversion rate to those order buttons.

Autoresponders - Secrets to Success With This Powerful Tool   Email Signature - What's the Message That You Are Sending to Your List?   GetResponse Vs AWeber - Which Autoresponder Is Best for Your Needs?   Autoresponders - What You Should Know   

How Often To Mail Your Email Subscriber List?

Many people put a lot of effort into having an opt-in page, making a list and getting traffic to that list so that you can gather new volunteer email subscribers who will then read your messages and click on whatever links you send in those messages. Obviously, you want to have fans and you want to have people on your list who will go to your latest blog post, your latest affiliate link, your latest forum post or you later sales letter but how often should you mail? How often is too much? Is it possible to not mail often enough?

You should email your list at least once a week if not every day. I know that asking you out of the gate to email your subscribers every single day is a lot to ask which is why once a week is a good place to start until you get used to sending short and to the point messages and you make it a daily habit or routine to contact these subscribers. It's okay to email your subscribers every single day because you're giving them good information which leads me to the next common issue of "Should I send content emails or should I send pitch emails? Should I share lots of free tips or should I give them links on what to buy?"

The answer is both, you just emails that are a blend of content and pitch. You share with them a tip and then you explain how they can use that tip by buying this course. You solve one of their problems and say, "Now that this problem has been solved, the next step is to click on this link and buy this thing." Your email is not 100% content but they are also not 100% pitch. Note that I said, not 100% content. That means that every one of your emails should lead to something.

You should have a call to action underneath this short message you're sending. A call to action is just "Here is what to do after you read the email." That might be, "Be on the lookout for my email tomorrow." It might be, "Click on this link and read and comment on my blog post." It might be, "Reply to this message," or it might be, "Click on this link, go to this webpage and buy." But make sure that your email messages don't just leave your subscribers hanging. There's a very clear step to take after they are finished reading.

Autoresponders - Secrets to Success With This Powerful Tool   Email Signature - What's the Message That You Are Sending to Your List?   GetResponse Vs AWeber - Which Autoresponder Is Best for Your Needs?   Autoresponders - What You Should Know   Affiliate Marketing Tips: Use an Auto-Responder