Black and White Digital Photography Basics
Most amateur photographers choose to use colour and light to enhance the composition of their photographs but many don’t realise what effects can be created using black and white. Here are some tips on black and white digital photography basics.First of all the amateur photographer needs to remember that black and white isn’t just as simple as plain black or plain white. Don’t forget all the shades of grey in between and the possible contrasts.Lighting is just as important in black and white digital photography basics as it is in colour because of the contrasts and textures it can create.Photographing landscapes: On a bright sunny day with a cloudless sky, it’s probably best to stick to colour but if there are some clouds, creating shadows on the ground, this can provide fantastic contrasts. A really stormy lowering sky with billowing clouds look great in monochrome, as do really craggy, rocky landscapes. A grassy meadow full of wild flowers won’t create the right effect at all.The point of monochrome landscape photography is to produce drama using contrast between bright light and dark shadows. Don’t concentrate on aspects of your photo that would normally require colour to show them to their best effect.Photographing portraits: Another of the black and white digital photography basics is portraiture. Most people have seen professional wedding photographers at work and their resulting monochrome portraits. The lack of colour means that the subject is the total focus of the photo and the muted tones lend an air of timelessness and romanticism.The absence of colour also lends an artistic tone and modern digital cameras often have different tonal modes such as greyscale and sepia as well as plain black and white.Here are some more technical and artistic black and white digital photography basics:1. Get a camera which will shoot in RAW (this is not an abbreviation, it literally means unprocessed) and will enable you to do the processing on your computer and will give you much more flexibility.2. Use the lowest possible ISO to reduce the grainy appearance. You can add it back later, if you wish but you can’t take it out.3. Take photos outside on a cloudy day.4. As you can’t focus on colour, seek out textures and tones to give interest to your photos.5. Use movement in your photos to give impact and drama.6. Invest in a good software program such as Adobe Photoshop for your post production manipulation.If you follow these black and white digital photography basics, you’ll soon be turnout out professional quality photographs.
Automotive Business Cards Will Get Your Repair Shop Or Dealership’s Motor Running
If there is a country that is obsessed with cars, then that would definitely be the United States. After all, this is where mass production of affordable cars for the masses first took place.For an American, a car is some sort of a birthright. At some point of our lives, it is really a personal necessity to have a car. It is not surprising that the US has one of the highest car populations in the world.The U.S. Department of Transportation Statistical Records Office estimates that there are 254.4 million registered passenger vehicles in America. That means that more than 80 percent of Americans have automobiles.It is not surprising, therefore, that the automotive industry, despite the recent setbacks suffered by the Big Three, is definitely one of the cornerstones of American economy.There will always be an automotive business regardless of the status of the economy.But competition in the automotive industry is at a very high level these days. More and more automotive business players are coming into the play. If you are in the automotive industry, you should certainly invest on strategies that would give you an edge over your competitors.Some would say that putting up a website is a sure way to gain more clientele. After all, are not we living in a digital age where almost all people do things over the Internet? Certainly, a website would do a lot for your business.But you should not rely on a website alone. You should come up with various marketing strategies to ensure your long-term survival. No serious businessman would limit himself to just a single marketing tool option. To ensure that you will gain an edge over your competitors, it is necessary to invest on automotive business cards.If you have an auto repair shop or a dealership, chances are your business thrives because of loyal customers who keep on coming back for your services. There are guys who will just walk into your shop occasionally, but the main lifeblood of your enterprise is those folks who have been seeking your service for several years. So, a great long-term strategy is to generate more loyal customers.This is where automotive business cards come into the play. Satisfied customers tend to recommend the services of a particular business to their co-workers, friends, and relatives. Business still is marketed in the old word-of-mouth fashion. It would be, thus, a great advantage for you if you supply current loyal customers with automotive business cards. When they refer you to their friends or relatives, the referrals would get to readily know about basic information about your business, such as your shop’s location. And if that referral would be satisfied with your services, there is a high possibility that he will seek your services again and would become another loyal customer.Points to Remember on Getting Automotive Business Cards:As with other business, your card should have a professional look. If you have a poorly designed business cards, people would think that you don’t care about your business. Appearances matter in business. Automotive business cards printed on high-quality gloss or uncoated stocks would surely attract customers.The size of your automotive business cards is also essential. Business cards should not be bulky. Credit card sized automotive business cards are perfect because they can be easily stored in wallets.
Garbage Disposal – Brief Synopsis on Kitchen Improvement!
If you are health conscious then you must be aware of the symptoms of garbage which is usually found in and outside your home. The major cause of several severe and minor health problems is the garbage which is the compound of the waste products that are not under our use anymore. Therefore, to get rid of such diseases that can affect your health and immune system always try your level best to make proper arrangements to dispose garbage.Below, few important guidelines are given that can play a vital role to get rid of this dilemma efficiently and you can easily keep yourself away from several diseases.As you know that the obnoxious smell usually comes out from the garbage and waste products and to tell you the truth this smell is the major cause of transferring several kind of diseases that can easily affect your health. So, to get rid of these bad odor issues always try to cover the garbage box.On the other hand, the place where you usually put the boxes of waste and garbage products different germs and bacteria start producing very quickly. So, to stop the growth of these germs use proper sprays and medics to get rid of these germs efficiently.If you are still facing health issues among you or your family then I will suggest you to go for a proper garbage disposal supply. Such kitchen supplies are easily available from big shopping malls and all you have to do is to select the proper one for your kitchen and to install it. I am sure after having this supply in your kitchen you will never face any kind of health issue. These products are designed in such a way that the germs can not flourish easily from them to the outside atmosphere of your kitchen.For further details on garbage disposal products you can also follow the links given below.
Some Of The Reasons You May Need To Consider A Commercial Loan
Commercial loans are taken out as a variety of different types and terms. Often business need to take out loans in order to keep their company in operating order. This is a very common practice.Banks are the main provider of commercial loans to businesses. Although businesses occasionally need to finance the entire operating costs they are generally considered short term loans in that they will be paid in full within a very short length of time.Occasionally companies need to borrow funds for seasonal items such as holidays and sports seasons. The most common reason for this type of loan is to boost inventory for items needed at a time when supply and demand is greatly increased. For instance, as during the Christmas holiday season, at this time of the year a company may need increased inventory due to increased sales potential. Stores that which sell the majority of their inventory during the Christmas season commonly take out seasonal commercial loans. These are intended specifically to insure they will have an ample supply of inventory on hand to sell. Without such loans it would likely be very difficult to purchase enough inventory to supply the demand otherwise.Another common type of commercial loan is the short term loan. These types of loans are often just as the name implies, short term. Short term loans may be necessary for a variety of reasons, commonly they are used for companies needing to purchase or pay for bulk shipments that will be sold later. These shipments have been bought in bulk for a lower cost or perhaps in anticipation of a large upcoming sale. These types of loans are sometimes taken out many times a year but also repaid quickly with little interest accrued. These types of commercial loans are very helpful especially to small businesses that may lack or have little capital and profit.Permanent capital loans are yet another common type of commercial loan. These types of loans are often used in start up or even property purchases for businesses that anticipate a good rate of growth and revenue. These are longer in term and accrued interest for the borrower. The lenders often expect significant amounts of collateral to receive these types of commercial loans.Regardless of the type of business you may choose to invest in most companies have at least one commercial loan that is current. Commercial loans make it possible for new businesses to get up off the ground and operating better. Some of the reasons companies may take out a commercial loan vary but are generally for reasons such as to increase inventory due to anticipated sales, start up and land purchase.
The Two Best Ways to Make Money Online
Are you tired of hearing the phrase “It’s easy to make money online”, but when you actually try to make money online, you have a hard time making any money at all? The fact of the matter is – yes it’s quite easy to make money online, but only if you have the KNOWLEDGE and the DETERMINATION to do it. The good news is – if you are reading this, then you are one step ahead of everyone else. Using the information I have outlined here, you should be able to quickly start using the internet to make extra (or full time) income for yourself.If you go around the internet searching for ways to make money online, chances are that you will run into a lot of scams. These online “gurus” will try to make you believe that their ‘new’ way to make money online will make you rich before you know it. The truth is – no one will make money online off these bogus methods except for the money they make selling it to you. All of the people who REALLY make money online stick with two tried and true methods.The first of the two methods is Google AdSense. Google AdSense is a great way to make money online! Using AdSense, you can have Google display small, non-obstructive, targeted ads on your website that will earn you money every time a visitor clicks on it. This is also by far one of the easiest ways to make money online. All you have to do is find information that people want to know, provide this information for free on your website, and have Google display ads on your website so you can make money online from it. Its as simple as that.Two questions might be running through your mind right now. The first might be, “What if I don’t have a website?” Not a problem! You can still make money online through AdSense by going to sites like blogger.com or wordpress.com and setting up a free blog. Blogs are relatively easy to set up and they take little internet knowledge to update. Many people who make money online have blogs, some reaching six figure revenues. The idea is to keep these blogs updated with fresh content that people will want to read. If you have a large amount of people counting on your blog for information, then you can make money online using a blog.The second question you may be asking is, “What if I don’t have anything to write about?” Also not a problem! You can still make money online with free content by going to article sites that allow you to reprint their articles. Simply copy the articles that pertain to the topic of your blog and repost a few every week. Alternatively, you could go to free content sites (do a Google search) that offer free e-books. Search for a book that you would rarely find online, but also something that interests you and pertains to the topic of your blog. Break this book down into little sections (Possibly a chapter each, or less) and post a section every day. After you are done with the whole book in a couple of months, you will have good traffic, and you will be indexed in search engines. If you want to make money online, this is a sure-fire start. However, another crucial part to success is once you have one of these blogs going – REPEAT IT! Create more and more blogs on different subjects. The more times you repeat your successful projects, the more money you make.The second way you can make money online is through marketing information products. Do you have a special talent? Everyone does! You can make money online through your talents by writing an e-book about something you are passionate about. Make sure, however, that when you are thinking of an idea for an e-book its going to be something that will train others, or solve problems. People will be more likely to purchase your information product online, if they feel like they need it quickly. Say for example that you like to bake cookies. You might write a book about the history of cookies, how many different types of cookies there are, and what ingredients work best in cookies. This might be an interesting book, but no one would feel the need to buy it anytime soon. However, if you instead write an e-book about hundreds of different cookie recipes, people that want to bake cookies right away will download your e-book the same day. This is how a vast majority of people make money online. Even if you are doing AdSense, you should strive to have at least one e-book selling online at all times. This is because once you have done the work in setting up the e-book and the website for it, all the income is passive from that point on and you can focus your attention on other methods to make money online.Alternatively, if you don’t know how to write, you can still make money online selling e-books by having some one write the book for you. There are many websites that will allow you to hire freelance writers. It will cost you, but it will take the burden of creating your product off your shoulders and you will be able to focus on marketing the book to make money online. If you are creating the sales pitch for your website, try to look at some successful sites that sell products similar to yours. See the way they sell their products and what makes the way they market it enticing. Try to implement strategies from successful marketers in your website.
Promissory Note Types – Which One Is For You?
A promissory note is essentially an investment tool and comes in different kinds. Each kind of promissory note has specific characteristics and one should know the correct application of each. Appropriate tools are needed for planning finances, retirement and even for making usual investments, since each is meant for accomplishing a specific purpose. Here is a brief introduction to some of the most encountered types of promissory notes.The Common NoteThe common or ordinary promissory note is best defined as a written, signed, absolute promise for paying a specified amount of money at a predefined time. It is a promise in writing to pay funds or pay back a loaned amount, or for taking any additional loan. It is most frequently used for all the kinds of loans given by the bank, like auto financing, financing for homes and for financing for appliances and furniture.The Self- amortizing Real Estate Mortgage NoteThis type of note makes it obligatory for the borrower to pay back a borrowed sum in equal payments, comprising of the principal amount and the interest. It may be paid every month, quarter or year. At the maturity of the loan, the borrower is not required to make any lump sum payment. Lenders typically give amortization tables that clearly define the amount of interest plus principal payable for the entire duration of the loan.The Balloon NoteThis is also known as a balloon loan. A balloon note implies a loan with one big principal payment due on its maturity.
Since the principal amount is to be paid in one go at the maturity of loan, the borrower mainly pays interest only, requiring little capital expense during the tenure of the loan.The Commercial NoteA Commercial promissory note is a loan agreement between a borrower and a lender with some business background. If the borrower fails to repay the loan, the commercial lender can legally implement a lien on the borrower’s assets. Under such circumstances, the lender is not obliged to wait for receiving the dues, and can demand for full amount to be paid immediately.The Bank NoteA bank note is a promissory note issued by a bank payable to a bearer on demand. Such notes are issued for the circulation of money and not as a loan. Though a bank note is quite like a promissory note, it provides no security for loan money. A bank note is transferred through delivery. The possessor of a bank note is at liberty for immediate payment. Fraud made by a previous holder in getting a bank note will not affect a present holder.Summary – The Right Tool for the Right JobThere is a large selection of promissory notes, each required for fulfilling specific monetary goals. It is critical to select the appropriate one for your specific need. As a common man is not knowledgeable on this subject, it is best to seek the help of an experienced professional.
Luxury Home Improvement
There comes a time when a family house may need a major make over. An increase in your income or a promotion may also prompt you to upgrade your home so that it fits your new economic status. Or maybe you just want a little luxury in your home so that a relaxing time is just that; for relaxing. Regardless of the reasons why you may want a little more luxury in your home, the luxury home improvement tips will give you the ideas on where to start.
If you would like to give your home a face lift and you don’t have much to spare, don’t worry. There is something for everyone in the luxury home improvement plans. For example, if you are one of those people who can’t sleep before they read, then an elegant bookshelf may give a classy touch to your home. If you would like to upgrade your bath area, there are a few ideas that you can adapt from the luxury home improvement plan.
You can decide to increase the size of the master suite, or include a walk in closet or simply improve your bathroom amenities from the luxury home improvement suggestions. Vaulted ceilings may work magic to give your home the feel of extra space. Others may prefer to have steam rooms in their homes, while for those who cannot resist the temptation of a relaxing hot soak, Jacuzzis may work just fine.
You may be among those people who have got it big this time round, so the cost of implementing the luxury home improvement plan is not much of a bother. There are grandiose plans that may work for you as well. For those who are not bothered by stairs, a storied house may be fun to try out this plan.
For those who are inclined to sports, a bowling alley is a great idea from a luxury home improvement plan. You can also include a workout room. For those who find water relaxing, a swimming pool will shorten those tiresome afternoons. Multiple car garages may work well for those who foresee more fortune. For more fun, a media center can be included in your home. If you are among those who love nature, you may want to include a conservatoire in your luxury home improvement plan. A guest house or servants quarters may also be worth consideration.
Do not forget to compare the luxury home improvement plans that you have been given before you settle down to what works best for you. If you do not find a plan that suits you but there are a couple of ideas you like from those plans, and then make your own luxury home improvement plan. Combine all ideas you have for your home, and then discuss them with a professional.
Keep away from improvements that will draw unnecessary attention to your home. The main objective of these luxury home improvement plans is to add comfort to your home. Make sure you choose improvements that will enjoy. After all, didn’t you pay that much to increase the fun and comfort?
The Secret to a Successful Coaching Business – It Isn’t Where You’ve Been
Are you more focused on doing coaching than on running a business of coaching?
Your Success Comes From Designing a Business, Not Just in Doing What You Do
Here’s the difference.
If you find yourself wanting to coach, and avoiding marketing and sales, then you are playing at coaching and not running a business of coaching. Your chances of success are small.
If you are wanting to coach, and not spending time designing and redesigning a business of coaching that delivers exactly the DOLLARS that you WANT, in the TIME that you want to put into this, then you are playing at coaching instead of running a business of coaching. Your chance of making a lot of money coaching is small.
I’ve seen that same pattern among most of the small business owners I’ve coached, and it’s even more rampant among the coaches that I coach. Strange, isn’t it, that coaches have the same problems that their clients have? But it’s very true.
Are you more comfortable coaching than in marketing and selling? Do you know what needs to be done to successfully bring in tons of new clients in marketing, and getting them to buy in sales? And stepping back even further, from the 10,000 foot level to the 30,000 foot level, where you’ll start designing and redesigning the whole business, that’s where you’ll be asking questions like, how do I go from $150/hour to $500/hour, and then from $500/hour to $1,000/hour. As long as you are working as a coach and not as a business designer you’ll be stuck making $150/hour decisions and never selling many of those. So, in reality you are making way less than $150/hour.
In any business, the more focused the business owner is on “what they do” instead of building a business around what they do, the less likely they will succeed.
Coaches, who discover the principles to resolve this will be even better at helping their own clients design and redesign their business for more success and higher income.
More Time Thinking . . . Coaching . . . Than Designing and Then Redesigning the Business of Coaching
Do you spend more time thinking about coaching than designing and redesigning a business of coaching? How much time do you spend working on coaching, and how much time on building a business of coaching?
As a coach, don’t you work with people to help them get focused?
So, what should you be focused on as an owner of a coaching business?
Obviously you want to focus on becoming a better coach, thinking about how you coach, however, if you never spend time thinking about marketing better, selling better, and, at an even higher level, how would you design this business to make more money, to find clients that would spend more money, and on making exactly what you’d like to be earning from your coaching business, then it’s likely that you aren’t finding those answers that are even more critical to your success than coaching itself. Am I right?
Let’s look at one of my clients who was a cook in a restaurant. As the cook, he believed he could run a business better than his boss. However, do you want a bet that his focus was around making a better meal than in how to become successful at a restaurant business? So, he went across the street and started his own restaurant.
Where do you think he was working? In the kitchen! He believed that his success depended upon how well he cooked and what kinds of fantastic meals he cooked, yet no one was walking through the door. Does that sound like your coaching business?
It Doesn’t Matter How Good You Are at What You Do If You Can’t Sell Any
One of the things I preach to my clients would likely be defined as sacrilege in business schools, but it is the truth. It doesn’t matter how good you are in the kitchen (or in coaching) if you aren’t getting anyone to walk in the door (that’s marketing), and if you aren’t getting anyone to set down to buy (that’s sales).
To restate that: It doesn’t matter how good of a coach you are if no one is walking in to discover you, nor to buy your services. You could be the best, or the worst, and your results will be exactly the same if no one is there to buy it.
You Can Have a Successful Business If You Can Get Tons of People Walking in and Buying Even If You Aren’t Good at Delivering
In fact, let’s look at it from the other side. Let’s say that you are absolutely fantastic at marketing and sales, and aren’t any good in the kitchen (or coaching) at all. In that case you are good at getting people in the door and getting them to set down and buy, but the food (or your coaching) is absolutely horrible. The money is flowing (imagine what that would be like for coaching), yet the food is horrible. What happens is that there are a ton of people coming through the door and buying, but they’ll never come back. As long as you are out there marketing and selling there are still people flowing through the door and you are successful.
In no way am I suggesting that you do it this way, only emphasizing to you that without marketing and sales you’ll never be successful, and that with them you could be even if you aren’t any good at coaching, so marketing (the ability to get tons of people in the door), and selling (getting those that do come through the door to buy) are critical, and the ability to design and redesign a business that includes all of the pieces of your business, marketing, sales, coaching are all critical pieces.
Coaching, and how good you are at it, doesn’t even come into the picture until you’ve got them coming in the door, wanting what you have, and then getting them to buy. Sounds logical, however, most coaches start with coaching and never have many clients.
How to Become the Top 1% of All Coaches
Do, you know the statistics are that over 90% of all coaches and consultants will fail within months, and that, of those that do succeed, most will never make more than $20K? Your success will come only when you can get your hands around the BUSINESS of coaching, learn what makes less than 1% of all coaches the top earners, and design the business that not only works in all of those areas, and then focus on how to make that business deliver EXACTLY what you want it to in dollars and cents, and in the time you want to put into it.
One of the coaches I worked with was having problems getting enough people to even show an interest, let alone someone who would buy. She kept saying, but I’m good at coaching, but I can’t get anyone interested in coaching. When I finally got her to look at how to refocus on the RIGHT customer, how to sell, and THEN even how this business was to make her more and more in less and less time, she changed everything and went from less than $10K in a year to $6,000 an hour. Yes, I said that correctly.
It wasn’t just learning to market and sell, which is very important, but it also was a total redirection of what she was doing, and how she was doing it. It was redesigning her business so that it will deliver the dollars you want in the time you want to spend, and the way you want to do it.
Instead of focusing on selling at $5,000 per client, which wasn’t working the way she was doing it, she developed a marketing funnel that leads people in steps toward coaching. Each step moved from giving a free taste of coaching, to a low cost group session, to full blown coaching. She’s now making $5,000 an hour, not just per job, doing Intro to Coaching at $250 a month for groups of about 100, and has a waiting list for her one-on-one coaching, which, by the way, she now charges a lot more for and spends very little time doing. She spend 4 1-hour sessions a month with about 100 people, $25,000 a month total income for 4 hours of work. And that leads to a waiting list of people wanting her coaching.
Your Job Isn’t Just to Coach . . . It’s Designing and Redesigning a Successful Coaching Business
So, your job isn’t to coach. It is to design, and redesign a business of coaching that delivers exactly the dollars you want in the time you want to put into this. And, of course go do it.
It’s designing the business at the highest level around what you want to make and how you’ll do it, and then breaking it down to how many leads are needed from marketing, what percentage of those will be closed in sales, and, finally the delivery, your coaching.
Do you know how to deliver exactly that many leads each and every week?
Are you delivering that many each and every week?
Is your sales process converting exactly the percentage of those leads into sales that are necessary to hit your target sales in number of customers and dollars per customer?
Do you know how to fix your marketing to make it deliver at that rate, or better?
Do you know how to fix your sales to deliver at that rate, or better?
What are you going to do next to start delivering on all of those critical goals? Those are critical in that if you deliver each and every one of them each and every week, you will get the dollars you want this year in the time you are willing to put into it.
And, if you miss even one of these goals you not only won’t hit your goals for amount sold in the time you want to put into it, but you are likely going to fail in business. That’s critical!
Do you know how to make marketing work to deliver the number of leads a month you need?
Do you know how to close 40-50% of those leads?
What would it be worth to you to be able to do that?
So, would you like to do a quick assessment of your critical business goals? The things that are absolutely critical to your business?
Be sure to look for the next article, “Assessing You and Your business success, The Critical Issues of Coaching Business Success” to grade just how well you are doing at building a successful coaching business.