Here’s a question for you, what would really make you happy? Is it that new car you’ve always wanted, a big house, a beautiful spouse or as many people would answer, all the money you could ever want.

Many people think that just by having enough money to buy whatever they want can lead to happiness. Have you ever read those stories about lottery winners winning a huge jackpot wishing they had never won the lottery? Well, it might sound ridiculous to us but having so much money made their lives worse.

Here are a few reasons on just why winning the lottery won’t make you happy.

1. Same Thoughts Different Circumstances

The huge increase to your bank account has allowed you to buy whatever you desire. So, picture yourself sitting in your large mansion in front of your 100″ Plasma TV drinking one of the finest wines that has ever existed. What a difference to this time last week you may say. However, there is one thing that hasn’t changed, your thoughts.

Your thoughts are the only thing that can affect how you feel and ultimately your happiness. Unfortunately money will not change this.

The truth is that if you were an unhappy person before winning the lottery then chances are that you will still be unhappy after your big win.

2. An Unhealthy Lifestyle

Money can allow people to throw some of the best parties around and live a life of decadence. This means that there is a wealth of opportunities to drink more and smoke more. Lottery winners often end up having worse lifestyles than before and end up with long term health problems.

The “lucky” winners suddenly have more money to spend on things which they may have liked to indulge in only occasionally before their win such as alcohol, cigarettes and gambling. They also believe that they can pay their way out of any health problems by seeing the best doctors. Unfortunately, this does not hold true.

3. Money Makes People Look at You Differently

People you have known your whole life will suddenly start to see you as their meal ticket. If you start saying yes to some people and no to others, a lot of people will start to resent you.

Not only this, but due to your new found wealth people will always expect more and more money just because you can afford to give it to them. When you have money, it starts to become very hard to say no to people.

4. Where’s the Drive?

Most people like to have a reason to get up in the morning and feel like they are achieving something in their day. All of a sudden you find that you can sleep in until midday everyday and spend the day however you see fit.

However, while this may sound great in reality it is not. Sudden wealth means a loss of ambition and drive. I’m finally a millionaire so now what? a lottery winner may ask. Boredom at times can be a good thing and can provide the catalyst for many creative endeavours, but more often than not, it can also lead to a slippey slope when you have so much money.

5. You Feel As If You Don’t Deserve the Money

Let’s face it lottery winners get extremely lucky to win the jackpot. The odds are an astronomical 1 in 116 million depending on which game you play. They didn’t exactly have to suffer through blood, sweat and tears for that £1 ticket. This is why a third of lottery winners end up squandering all of their money after 5 years.

A person who has built up a successful company over the years through nothing but hard work and determination tends to invest the money wisely. They worked so hard for it so inevitably they want to look after it. This is their reward for all the years of sacrifice. A lottery winner on the other hand, subconsciously sees this money as something they never really deserved so they will tend to squander it all living the good life for a few years.

If you’re considering the various options for boosting your staff’s performance and encouraging clients to buy your products or use your services, consider schemes that use gift vouchers. To find out why these are so popular and how they could help your business, read on.

Gift vouchers can be harnessed for a variety of purposes – and it’s this that forms a large part of their appeal. Whether you plan to launch a consumer-focused scheme or something for your staff, you’ll find gift vouchers are an effective tool to have in your arsenal.

There are a number of ways they can be used to improve your engagement with clients, for example. If you plan to launch a new product, why not offer a gift voucher with each purchase to encourage more sales?

Or, you could simply use them to acquire more customers – or encourage existing clients to keep choosing your services. Indeed, the latter could prove particularly beneficial if you operate in a competitive marketplace, as it will help to differentiate your business from your rivals – and even potentially gain some of their client base.

When it comes to staff performance, meanwhile, you’ll find reward schemes and incentives can be an incredibly effective motivational tool.

For example, you could boost employee morale by offering rewards for long service or loyalty. Alternatively, you can encourage workers to meet their full potential by offering sales incentives, such as gift vouchers for meeting targets.

Of course, different people are interested in different things, which means what is considered valuable by some may not be by others. This brings us to the next benefit of vouchers and cards – their wide appeal.

Unlike other forms of reward, vouchers can offer tangible benefits for everyone. Should your client base be broad or your staff have a wide range of interests, consider multi-option gift vouchers that can be redeemed at an abundance of familiar names on the high street.

Alternatively, vouchers catering for travel services, leisure attractions and spas – to name but a few – are also available should you be happy to go with something a little more specific.

In addition to these great benefits, such schemes are typically simple to implement and wonderfully cost-effective – something most companies will be concerned with during the current troubled economic climate.

So, why not consider harnessing the power of vouchers to help achieve your business goals today?

For anyone that has been through hedge fund interviews in the past, you’ll know that the hedge fund case study is commonplace in the industry. Why is this? Because this is a test of how you’ll perform in the actual job. Hedge fund analyst’s day-to-day duty is researching investment ideas on both the long and short side. Investment case studies test your knowledge of being able to properly prepare an investment idea. If you can’t pitch a stock then forget trying to get a hedge fund job.

There are traditionally two types of hedge fund case studies: in-house and take-home.

In both cases I find it very helpfully to fully understand what the company does and how they make money before trying to express an opinion. Some of the most useful ways of ramping on a company is through the MD&A in the annual 10K, earnings transcripts, and sell-side initiation reports. Try not to let the sell-side equity research team guide you in the decision. Sell-side analyst’s are almost always “perma bulls” and have often-time wrong as many times as they’re right.

The in-house case studies are less structured (i.e. the big hedge funds have guidelines for take-home but in-house the Portfolio Manager decides what they want to give you). The funds will give you a sell-side model so you won’t have to build your own, usually there is not enough time to have you build a model yourself (i.e. if they did it would be more of a “modeling test” than a case study). You will usually be limited in time so my biggest advice is: try to spend as much time as possible trying to understand the thesis.

Take-home case studies are much more common in hedge fund interviews. Usually you will be assigned a company and be asked to give your opinion on it with a written write-up within 7 to 10 days. There is a frame-work of 4 questions I like to follow when writing up a take-home case study:
1. What is the consensus opinion?
2. What’s your variant perception?
3. How do we get paid (what has to happen for your variant perception to play out)?
4. How much do you expect to make?

When building out your hedge fund case study I always find it helpful preparing a decision tree highlighting the upside and downside case with expected returned. Make sure you are fully prepared to discuss your probably distribution in the interview. The most important part is to be confident, nobody is going to be believe you if you don’t believe yourself.

When it comes to starting a new business in Latin America, the general misconception on the part of the potential investors is that the legislative limitations of the countries situated in this area outweigh the benefits. It is fairly true that in the past many governments imposed restrictive laws which deemed the business environment constraining.

However, nowadays, business in Latin America seems to be picking up the pace quickly due to several favorable modifications of the legal system and new regulations that favor development and the expansions of companies in the region. Although the following article will exemplify the highlights of these changes, it is advisable to employ the services of specialized consultants if you are not familiar with the Latin America market.

For Brazil, the most notable modification comes from the tax system, which has now synchronized the federal and the state taxes, for the convenience of the companies. It is necessary to point out that the old system of taxes made it very complicated and confusing for businesses to stay up to date with the full array of taxes in order to avoid penalties. Furthermore, those interested in the Chilean market will be happy to learn that the authorities have implemented an online business registration method as well as one that allows you to file publication requests. Moreover, Chile now promotes corporate transparency and regulates the transaction approval, all in the interest of investors.

In Colombia it is much easier now to obtain construction permits, as the pre-building certificates are verified by the authorities online. There is no other notable achievement for Ecuador except for the implementation of the online system that manages social security registrations. In Mexico, on the other hand, several changes have been made, the first one being the one-stop shops which allow companies to register their business. At the same time, it is now much easier to obtain construction permits, as two major services (utilities and zoning) have been merged and streamlined. However, corporate taxes in this country have been increased, although the administrative tasks are much simpler due to the widespread popularity of online payment methods and high usage rate of accounting software programs.

Nicaragua, while it has regrettably imposed several new taxes (10 percent withholding taxes for the gross interest generated by a deposit) on companies and increased the preexisting ones has substantially improved the trade using innovative electronic data transfer systems for the department of customs and one-stop shops for goods exports. In addition, the investments made in the equipments for Corinto, one of the major ports of the country will also facilitate exports and imports trading.

In Uruguay, entrepreneurs will find it easier to register properties due to the elimination of the preemption rights waivers, which was required up to now. At the same time, Paraguay also allowed companies to obtain a construction permit with less hassle thanks to the improved administrative structures and the superior tracking systems which eliminated a great deal of bureaucracy. In a nutshell, many countries are striving to make business in Latin America enchanting for investors and many more changes are yet to come.

Twenty seven countries of Europe belong to the so-called European Union (EU). They include Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Spain. All of them are in the throes of an economic crisis. But right in the middle of Europe, there is a small country which is not a member of the EU yet is doing rather well – Switzerland. Why are all its bigger neighbours in trouble? There is a simple answer:

The dominant countries of the EU have allowed their dream of rivalling the USA as a powerful federal state to blind them to economic, democratic and political reality. They have taken their eyes off the ball.

The name of the game at the foundation of the EEC (European Economic Community, precursor to the EU) was economic cooperation between self-governing independent nations. The nations of Europe speak English, Spanish, German, French and Italian and the languages of many smaller countries. And they have diverse systems of government. So you cannot create a single patriotic nation like the United States of America just by sitting down and writing a European constitution. But this is what France and Germany have tried to do – they have created a European Parliament (EP) which aims to overrule centuries-old national parliaments. But it does not work. The people of Britain, for example, only become aware that it exists when they get a ballot paper asking them to elect their “MEP” from a list of candidates, few if any of whom are known to them. The turnout for the elections is small. A United States of Europe (USE) may be a reasonable aspiration, but only on a time-scale of many decades, one small step at a time, responding to democratic demand, not imposed on reluctant peoples.

Not satisfied with the paper European Parliament (which absurdly and expensively meets in two place, Brussels and Strasbourg), they have created a European Central Bank (ECB) to oversee a new “federal” currency, the euro. Of the present 27 member states of the EU, 17 discarded their national currencies for the euro. It was meant to be another step towards a federal Europe, but they have put the cart (a single currency) before the horse (democratic wish for federation). The result is an economic and political crisis.

This was foreseeable. How could you expect a single bank, the ECB, to protect the individual national interests of 17 different countries? Before the merging of currencies, each country had its own Central Bank which cooperated with its national government to regulate the currency according to the economic interests of that country. That power has now gone and we see the disastrous result in the present Euro Crisis. The interests of Germany and of Greece are in opposition. Germany experienced terrible inflation in the 1920s and is resolved never to let any such thing happen to them again. So they insist that the Greek government must balance its budget by cutting jobs and pensions, regardless of the political consequences. But Greece is already experiencing public protests against the cuts and wants the ECB to come to its rescue. At present there is deadlock. In the old days, Greece could have devalued the drachma to become more competitive and get growing again. Now they share their currency with Germany. The EU’s solution to the problem seems to be to overrule Greece’s hitherto sovereign government and let EU commissioners tell them what they must do.

Welcome to the burgeoning USE; farewell to European democracy.

]]> http://www.frontiersnewsmagazine.com/crisis-in-the-non-united-states-of-europe/feed/ 0 http://www.frontiersnewsmagazine.com/online-salon-marketing-give-yourself-thumbs-up/ http://www.frontiersnewsmagazine.com/online-salon-marketing-give-yourself-thumbs-up/#comments Mon, 20 Feb 2012 03:40:28 +0000 auth http://www.frontiersnewsmagazine.com/?p=1433

Every opportunity to optimize your online salon marketing videos must be taken. The smallest details make a difference. It can determine whether someone clicks on your video. We have covered the obvious forms of optimization for your salon videos – metadata, keyword placement, title, tags and description. One of the areas that needs optimization is what is always staring us in the face. To our audience it is the obvious. To us, the salon Internet marketer, it is many times overlooked – The Thumbnail.

What is a Thumbnail?

A thumbnail is obviously not your thumbs up. Every one of your videos has a thumbnail image that can be assigned. This thumbnail image is what searchers and your audience see before they click to watch. It is your mini-marketing poster for your created video.

What Makes a Great Thumbnail?

In order to capitalize on your online salon marketing videos you want to make an effort into creating a great thumbnail. There are Do’s and Don’ts of what makes a great thumbnail.

• DON’T assign a blurry image……….DO be clear and in focus when shooting your video but most importantly when choosing your thumbnail.

• DON’T create video(s) using dark lighting……………DO have bright, high contrast lighting so that the image is seen.

• DON’T have a boring general image……….DO use a specific interesting image that will engage and make you want to click to see more.

• DON’T use an image that appears far away and distant……….DO use close up shots for your thumbnail image.

• DON’T have out of frame shots……..DO have well framed shots.

• DON’T have your background as the focus………..DO have the foreground as the focal point and not the background.

• DON’T misrepresent the content by using an image that is unrelated…….DO use images that represent the content of the video.

Why are Thumbnails Important?

Your online salon video thumbnails are important to your marketing campaign because it is the first element along with your title that your viewers will see. When your thumbnail is interesting, clear and in focus it compels people to click which drives traffic to your channel. Your thumbnail is what shows up in searches, related video searches and your channel. Don’t overlook this seemingly small detail. It really adds up to be a big punch in your marketing.

Thumbnail Tips:

• Make sure you shoot your videos with good lighting and contrast. Keep in mind your thumbnail image will be coming from your video efforts
• You can use photographs as a thumbnail
• Edit your thumbnail image using an editing software if needed so that it can be the right size, shape, look, etc.

If you’re considering the various options for boosting your staff’s performance and encouraging clients to buy your products or use your services, consider schemes that use gift vouchers. To find out why these are so popular and how they could help your business, read on.

Gift vouchers can be harnessed for a variety of purposes – and it’s this that forms a large part of their appeal. Whether you plan to launch a consumer-focused scheme or something for your staff, you’ll find gift vouchers are an effective tool to have in your arsenal.

There are a number of ways they can be used to improve your engagement with clients, for example. If you plan to launch a new product, why not offer a gift voucher with each purchase to encourage more sales?

Or, you could simply use them to acquire more customers – or encourage existing clients to keep choosing your services. Indeed, the latter could prove particularly beneficial if you operate in a competitive marketplace, as it will help to differentiate your business from your rivals – and even potentially gain some of their client base.

When it comes to staff performance, meanwhile, you’ll find reward schemes and incentives can be an incredibly effective motivational tool.

For example, you could boost employee morale by offering rewards for long service or loyalty. Alternatively, you can encourage workers to meet their full potential by offering sales incentives, such as gift vouchers for meeting targets.

Of course, different people are interested in different things, which means what is considered valuable by some may not be by others. This brings us to the next benefit of vouchers and cards – their wide appeal.

Unlike other forms of reward, vouchers can offer tangible benefits for everyone. Should your client base be broad or your staff have a wide range of interests, consider multi-option gift vouchers that can be redeemed at an abundance of familiar names on the high street.

Alternatively, vouchers catering for travel services, leisure attractions and spas – to name but a few – are also available should you be happy to go with something a little more specific.

In addition to these great benefits, such schemes are typically simple to implement and wonderfully cost-effective – something most companies will be concerned with during the current troubled economic climate.

So, why not consider harnessing the power of vouchers to help achieve your business goals today?

1. Dividends received by high wage earners (singles over 200k and married couples over $250k) would be taxed at 39.6%, from 15%.

2. The top rate for capital gains would go from 15% to 20%.

3. The minimum tax rate for individuals with income of at least $1 million would be 30%. (This is what Buffett proposed.)

4. Obama wants the interest from municipal bonds which is currently federal tax free (and state tax free if you buy a bond from the state you live in) to be taxed! Yes taxed! The max rate would be 28%. I don’t think this will happen (see below).

In the 2013 budget, there also would be a 3.80% tax on unearned income for married couples making over $250k and singles making over $200k.

So how should you invest based on Obama’s 2013 budget proposals if they’re passed?

- In most cases, the tax rate you pay on dividends could be more than the rate you would pay on capital gains. So buying dividend stocks becomes less important.

- If you plan on selling an investment (apple stock?) that has appreciated, take the gain in tax year 2012 rather than 2013. This is only assuming that you plan on selling the stock.

Caveat #1: If you plan on leaving highly appreciated stock to your heirs, you probably don’t want to sell and pay the capital gains taxes because when your heirs inherit the stock, they will automatically get a step up in basis. For example, if you bought Apple at $20 and you plan on giving it to your nephew while you are alive, your nephew’s basis is $20. But if you give your stock to your nephew after you pass away and Apple is at $500 the day you die, your nephew’s basis is $500, not $20.

- Invest in a Roth IRA, or consider converting your IRA to a Roth IRA. The tax rate on the conversion may be lower today than it will be in 2013 and beyond.

- I think municipal bonds will continue to be tax free. If they were to become taxable, the borrowing costs of municipalities would go up. The interest investors would get would need to be higher because it would then be taxable.

Bottom line? With Obama’s 2013 budget plan (and even in the future,) tax rates are going up. Consider taking some gains now if it fits your objectives. The Roth IRA is the easiest way to hedge against tax rates going up in the future.

On the internet, promotion is key.

In order to make any kind of money online, you have to be able to promote your business by any means you can. With the power of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube you can divert thousands of visitors, followers to your landing page and hopefully, convert the visitors into customers.

All of these factors need to link to one another, these will contribute to links to your site, which will help with your Google rankings. There are many ways you can arouse interest in your business and product, on Facebook, one of the very small but effective ways and getting people to buy from you.

Facebook allows you to create a unique discount code that appears to followers who ‘like’ your business page on Facebook. You need to set your check out to allow the discount on your site. Once to visitor has liked your business page, they will be given a code that they will enter at the check out of your site. This activity means the customer gets the maximum reward for clicking one button. Use the hook line:

Get a 10% Discount on your purchases is you ‘Like’ our Facebook page. Or something similar.

Once they have clicked ‘like’ every time you update your companies Facebook status or photos, the customer will receive a notification about it, giving you an increased chance of repeat business. Not only that, once they have purchased a product from you, if you have captured their email address, you are able to include them in your weekly/monthly newsletters with more offers or new products that have just come out.

Getting traffic to your site is the most important factor. You are able to buy traffic, real human traffic that can increase your traffic rankings and increase your conversion rate and get extra sales. These services can provide as much or as little traffic as you need and more importantly at a low cost price. Whether its Twitter, Website traffic, Facebook Fans or YouTube Videos, with a 99% hit rate and most are geographically targeted, no matter where you are and what sector your business is in, companies such as wedivert can provide start up business’ as well as established outfits with the traffic to boost sales.

What is Self Storage?

Self storage is a simple idea where customers rent out a storage unit at a secure site for their own personal use. Self storage is appealing because it is a low cost flexible storage solution. Customers control how much they store, for how long and can access their unit whenever they want.

Self storage has become popular across the UK but in particular the South West region, and the counties Devon and Cornwall, has seen an increase in the number of self storage providers in recent years.

Why is it so popular in the South West?

There are several geographic and demographic reasons why self storage is popular in Devon and Cornwall. The South West of England has large rural areas with several major cities, the most noticeable being Plymouth and Exeter. Rural areas have a large number of small businesses and self employed people such as builders and farmers. Often these types of businesses are run from small premises or homes and therefore do not have a great deal of on-site storage space. Small businesses and the self employed can benefit from commercial storage by storing tools, equipment, stock and archives at secure sites close to where they work. The low cost of self storage in North Devon outweighs the increased expenditure required for larger premises.

In the major urban areas like Exeter and Plymouth, many people use self storage to free up space at home. This is true for other areas of the country too but the average wage in the South West is lower than many parts of the UK. Therefore affordable housing is limited and many home-owners find it cheaper to rent secure storage units and free up space that way than move to a bigger home. This partly explains the popularity of self storage in Exeter and storage in Plymouth.

There is also a high number of second home owners in areas of Cornwall like St Austell. Often these properties remain unused during the winter months and their owners use self storage in St Austell to store summer garden furniture, hobby equipment and other seasonal goods. Self storage is secure and the storage sites are usually monitored by CCTV and access controlled by electronic gate systems.

The South West has an ageing population compared to other areas. The picturesque surroundings of Devon and Cornwall means it is popular with people retiring and looking to move down from other areas. Downsizing from a large family home is common among the retired as it frees up money for their retirement. But a smaller home means there is less storage space. Many people do not want to get rid of belongings they have had for many years but also do not want to clutter up their homes. Self storage is the solution for people in this situation.

It is not just business goods and personal belongings that can be put into storage. All types of vehicles including cars, boats, motorhomes and caravans can be stored too. Devon and Cornwall have long coast lines and maritime and tourist industries. This means there is a need for secure vehicle storage and equipment storage for shows and exhibitions during the summer months.

Self storage has grown in popularity across the UK and is considered by some to be recession proof as people look to downsize or close business premises. However, as illustrated, there are some unique reasons that explain the concentration of self storage facilities in the South West.