When picking out a new car, many consumers will consider which has the best gas mileage, is least expensive to insure or has the most positive safety record. However, the most important decision might be whether to buy or lease the new vehicle. There is no right or wrong answer, because each buyer has to consider their own situation.

Why you should buy

For many years, most of those shopping for a new car only considered buying it by financing. That is still the best option for many consumers.

*Equity – Buying a car allows the driver to build equity and own the vehicle outright after the loan has been paid off. This allows the owner to have something of value that they can control. A leased car has to be turned back in after two or three years.

*No cycle – After the car is paid off, typically in about five years, the owner can keep it for as long as they want, provided it continues to run. As mentioned above, a leased vehicle has to be returned to the dealer at the end of the agreement, meaning the consumer will have to start the shopping process over again.

*Less worry – When buying a car drivers don’t have to worry about how much they drive it or if they might be moving in the near future. There are no restrictions and if they move, they can take it with them. When leased, vehicles have a mileage limit applied that can result in hefty penalties if exceeded. Moving long distance can be difficult since the car has to be returned to the dealer at the end of the deal. More fees will apply if the deal has to be broken early.

*Comfort – Drivers who own their vehicle won’t have to get used to a new, different car every two or three years.

Why you should lease

Leasing a vehicle makes sense for a lot of people, especially in this day and age when technological advancements come so fast.

*Lower prices – Leasing a vehicle often results in lower monthly payments, especially when auto loan interest rates are high. This can sometimes allow someone to drive a car that would normally be out of their price range if buying.

*Maintenance – Many of the repair costs will be borne by the dealership since the vehicle will likely be on warranty throughout the agreement.

*Test drive – A consumer that is undecided about what vehicle they might want can use a lease as an opportunity to decide if they really like it or not. If they do, they can buy one at the end of the lease. If not, they can move on to another in three years.

Buying a car is a big decision to make. The vehicle will be owned for several years, so the buyer should be sure they are picking the right one. If there is any indecision on the part of the buyer, leasing might be the better option.

Melanie Lewis writes for a site that has more information about automobile financing, including tips on leasing a vehicle.

What is invoice discounting?

If you’re looking to grow your business and keep it financially stable, then you might want to take a chance at invoice discounting. Invoice discounting is a method that allows you to borrow money against cash that is owed to you by your company’s clientele. Say your company needs money, but your clients have yet to cough up the cash that they owe you; the amount your clients owe you can all be summed up and a percentage can be given to you by a lender as a form of financial relief. Simply put, it is a sale of receivables. It also can help with commercial finance.

When is the right time to make use of it?

Fact is it takes a long time for clients to pay back the money they owe you. It may take a couple of weeks, or it may take more than a month. And the time between sending out an invoice and receiving what is due is a crucial moment for a business. Your business has its own financial responsibilities, and these may come knocking during the said time frame, causing you to have a dilemma regarding cash flow. If you anticipate this kind of problem and if you think you can handle an invoice discounting arrangement, then it will definitely be of big use to you.

How do you go about it?

Like any type of loan, you would have to go through the necessary application process. For you to be approved for an invoice discounting arrangement, you will need to prove that your company is profitable and has audited accounts. It is also important to emphasize that you have a sound credit control system. You can approach lenders, such as an invoice discounting facility, who can agree to give you that much needed percentage. Usually, they give you around 70% to 90% (a full value equivalent) and are able to give you the advance as soon as invoices are raised. With invoice discounting you could have the money immediately as lenders don’t normally look at how long your clients will be able to render their payments.

How much does it cost?

Since it’s an advance, you also need to pay back the amount you had received. Interest rates are usually from 1.5% to 3.0%, and lenders also require you to pay a management fee of between 0.2% and 0.5%. Because of this, your profits won’t be as high as you expect, but at least your company doesn’t have to struggle. You can choose a lender that will best suit your company’s needs, as well as ones with fees that won’t affect your company significantly. Invoice discounting is a step in the right direction.

Camera Awesome

One of the advantages Camera Awesome has over Instragram is native iPad support. This app offers the ability for users to enhance photos using a variety of options, and has several humorous filters to select from including “More Cowbell,” “Hoth” and “Joan of Art”.

Flickr

Flickr has been a favorite photo sharing website for some time. The recent update to its mobile app now sees it joining the growing trend of allowing users to use filters on their photographs. Users can select from 15 different filters, such as the traditional and popular black-and-white, enhanced color and warming filters, as well as extra filters like Chameleon and Panda. Flickr also has the added advantage of hosting its own website.

Pixlr-O-Matic

One of the key selling points of this app is that it is available across multiple platforms and is not exclusive to just iOS and Android devices. Login is available through Facebook and Twitter, and it also hosts its own standalone website. Users of Pixlr-O-Matic can apply overlays and borders to their images, add special effects and then save the new image and share it with others. It also has an option for the built-in randomizer to select effects to add for you, if you can’t decide which to add for yourself.

Streamzoo

Available for iPhone and Android devices, Streamzoo offers multiple possibilities with its various filters, borders and preset crops. Users can also select specific themes to create special streams and earn achievement badges based on their activity within the app.

Twitter

After losing its ability to integrate photos from Instagram into tweets, the popular social network has developed its own set of filters to use on photos uploaded by the user. Currently, there are only 8 filters to choose from as the feature is still new, but look for more to be added in the near future.

Other Alternatives

If none of the above 5 seems to be what you are looking for, there are other alternatives out there that you can try, including Snapseed (available on iOS and Android), Tadaa (available only on iOS) and EyeEm (available on iOS and Android).

Retrieving Instagram Photos

If you are one of the people looking to leave Instragram, but don’t want to lose all of the photos you have uploaded to the service, the app has an option to save each image you upload to your phone’s camera roll.  The problem is that you would lose all of your instagram followers and instagram likes. If you don’t have this enabled, or have deleted the photos from your device already, you can use an export service such as Instaport to retrieve the photos, or alternatively save them individually to your computer using Webstagram.

This article was provided by Steve of Buy-Instagram.com – a leading Pro-Instagram site.

Entrepreneurship, like most things in life, has its good and bad points.  For some, the bad points accumulate until there are no other options but to take a bow and quit.  Trying is more commendable than failing is deplorable, but the latter can be a bitter pill to swallow.

What signs signal a time to throw-in the entrepreneurial towel?

Personal Funds

Entrepreneurship warrants risk and initial investment.  The first months of a business are not expected to be prosperous.  The break-even point comes sooner for some, but the devotion of personal funds into an entrepreneurial pursuit must be closely monitored.

While hope and patience helps time pass, a draining bank account does not ease anxieties.  When too much of one’s personal funds are being devoted to a failing business, it’s time to quit.

Undercutting

Undercutting the competition is one method startups use to get more leads.  However, there comes a point where it’s not good business for business revenue to be aligned with overhead, especially when one’s time and energy must be factored.

How much money is your business generating per week?  Could you afford to charge more money for services?  If not, think about how long it’s logical to sustain the meager growth rate.  After some time, quitting may be the most practical decision.

Lost Passion

A lot goes into operating one’s own business, including passion.  Do you truly enjoy what you do?  Would you do it even if you had the financial means not to work at all? When an entrepreneurial pursuit begins feeling more like a job, it may be time to quit.

Lost passion may stem from starting an entrepreneurial pursuit for the wrong reasons, such as escaping a job one dreads.  Think whether you truly enjoy what you do.  If so, it’s likely you’ll find some way to sustain it, because it’s really what you want to do.  Otherwise, if it’s just another job, you’re likely to have lukewarm feelings about it, as you may have had regarding prior jobs.

Conservatism

Some people are more conservative than others.  Endeavoring at entrepreneurship does take initial bravery.  However, some people are more willing to take an ongoing gamble.  A conservative person may begin to remember the benefits of working for others, such as medical benefits, paid vacation, structure, and a steady income.

Furthermore, entrepreneurs may have other people to consider, such as family members.  A young person in their twenties, with no family, may consider taking a turn at entrepreneurship.  However, a person in their late thirties, with a mortgage and family to feed, may elect to work for other people, because the pursuit seems more stable and reliable.

Too Big

Getting too large too quickly is a good problem to have, but it forces one out of sole entrepreneurship, making them decide whether to sell their business model or partner with other individuals.

Getting too big does not force one to quit entrepreneurship altogether, yet it forces one to change the nature of running the business.

For example, some owners quickly realize going public with a business makes them more susceptible to the wishes of investors and the demands of producing quarterly profits.  In the beginning, it was about getting to tomorrow.  Success is the ultimate goal, but an entrepreneur may need to modify their initial approach as they become more profitable.

About the Author:
Gwen Stewart is a business development professional and writer for Outbounding.com on behalf of http://www.ShareFile.com. Her line of work requires she have reliable file backups as well as a solid strategy for meeting tight deadlines. Any spare time she can scrape together finds her hiking, reading and enjoying the company of great friends.

Fill in the Blank

Fill in the blank.  I started a business to…  Complete the sentence.  If you did not fill in “provide value” or something similar, you are doing it wrong.  A number of owners fill in “make money.”  Of course, money is needed for one’s livelihood.  No one will argue your right to make money away from you.  However, a business makes money in exchange for providing a valuable product/service, warranting consumer dollars.  If you’re setting out to give and not get, it’s a lot harder to build advocacy to your brand.  Owners who get advocates understand the business’ focus stays on the customer.

Ongoing

As identified, advocates maintain an ongoing relationship.  Owners can initiate the long-term sentiment by offering memberships or issuing savings cards.  Have you ever noticed grocery-chain cashiers inviting you to save money through a club card?  It saves you money; it also assumes you’ll be coming back as a regular customer, now that you own a club card.  It’s a subtle gesture that makes a lot of money for grocers.  Most grocers don’t dramatically differ in offered goods.  Planting the seed of saving money creates a distinction in the minds of consumers.

Give and Take

Advocacy is a process of reciprocity.  The more you give to your consumers, the more likely they are to become advocates. Focus on the giving.  You can’t give so much away to the point of threatening your business; however, you don’t always have to think about short-term profit.  Understand an investment is not always directly related to money.  If you invest resources, time, and some profits into creating advocates, in theory, that money and attention should come back to you.  Every interaction counts; that person you excused for not having the extra $.15 for the sandwich is going to come back next week with five friends to have lunch at your establishment.

Listen

Great customer service comes from listening to consumers rather than guessing, assuming, or making broad guesstimates based on a small data set.  Always invite your customers to share, and listen to what they have to say.  Great advocacy comes from the notion of wanting to improve the level of service.  Your business future relies on pleasing your target market.  No one knows their needs and wants better than them.  Ask and listen to them.

Interaction

In-store interaction is crucial.  It allows an owner to better express genuine sentiments.  However, owners can also interact online through social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter.  Many owners are perplexed as how to use social media to accelerate business.  Use it to communicate.  Use it to listen.  Use it to build relations.  Advocacy spawns from better relations.

Not One-Time, All-the-Time

Building advocacy needs to be a part of an owner’s ongoing strategy.  Building advocacy is not a tactic, but a mindset.  Share the mindset and its importance with staff.  Ensure your staff understands the importance of providing value to customers.  Some news organizations host an editorial calendar, identifying upcoming stories of focus.  Create an advocacy calendar, initiating to-be stratagems facilitating the notion of advocacy.

About the Author:
Valerie Cecil is a research coordinator, marketing specialist and writer for Outbounding.com. Her work allows her to investigate many topics, ranging from online consumer relations to effective communication in the workplace. When she is not working, she enjoys kayaking, watercolor, and scouting out the perfect giftbag for every occasion from RetailPackaging.com.

In order to create such a campaign, one needs to think long term—for the whole year—and not just short term, one project at a time. This is because marketing trends go up and down, often with the seasons, and the business owner has to take past experiences into account so that he can project into the future. Here are a number of tips for organizing a successful marketing campaign. Since all important companies do their business online as well as in the brick and mortar world, a large part of the article will deal with conducting the campaign on the Web.

Search engine optimization

Search engine optimization (abbreviated SEO) is the number one element of any Internet marketing campaign. Briefly put, it involves composing the textual element of a website so that certain keywords that relate to its content, and which web surfers are likely to type in, occur with sufficient frequency that such a search is likely to place that site at or near the top of the list. Many workers specialize in this kind of work, so try and look for such people in your area.

Social media

The various social media websites—Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the like—are valuable tools, not only for keeping in touch with friends, both old and new, but also for promoting one’s business. The icons for these sites have now, in fact, become a standard element in websites, so that visitors can connect with them there. Place the icon of your business on your social networking pages so that your friends will see them and can tell others about it, and make posts to their pages telling them about your latest company developments. But make sure that every post that you make fits in with the overall campaign message.

LinkedIn in particular is an excellent tool for business promotion because it is primarily a professional network service where people connect with each other for business, rather than personal, reasons. Businesspeople can used LinkedIn to follow each other and join in communities of people with the same goals as themselves. Other professional network sites include Open Science Lab, Viadeo, Wisetep and XING.

Managing the content of your website

The content of your business site itself is another crucial element in the business campaign. It should be two things at once—(1) relevant to the campaign message and (2) interesting and eye-catching for the consumer. Have a free newsletter to which customers can subscribe, and include elements of your campaign in that newsletter.

Beyond all that has been stated, remember that in the business world, “it’s a jungle out there” and always will be. There is no predicting what direction the market will take in the future. Every business—even the biggest and most successful—started out small and struggling to survive amidst others with more experience.

Think of your company as a ship that needs to be continually monitored in order to stay afloat and headed in the right direction. Never allow yourself to be distracted from your economic goals of success and self-sufficiency even for a moment. Always keep those goals in mind when setting up a marketing campaign.

Author Bio

Alex Hudson is a technical advocate writing on a variety of topics including: asset ID tags from Camcode, product reviews, and business decisions.

Avoid going deeper into debt

As long as you already have a debt that needs to be paid off, it is important that you avoid borrowing any more money, thus making the amount you owe even greater. This is one of the biggest problems that gamblers face—finding themselves racked with gambling debts that they could not possibly pay back in a lifetime, they gamble even more in the hopes of winning enough money to get themselves out of the hole, but what in fact happens is that they lose and have to pay back even more. And the cycle continues… Besides, the more people you owe money to, the more difficult it becomes to sort out how much you owe to whom and how to schedule repayment.

Spend less money than you make

Whether you are a private individual, a businessperson or a nation, one principle regarding money remains constant: Always make sure that the total amount that you spend in a given period does not exceed your income for that period. The only way in which people, businesses and nations go into debt is by spending more than they have. For that reason, you need to separate the expenses that you need to pay from those that you do not, balance the latter amount against your income and defer discretionary spending until all necessary expenses have been paid. It is the amount you have left over that qualifies as wealth.

Use the difference to pay of your debt

By the difference we mean, of course, the figure that you get by subtracting your necessary expenses from your income.

Some other tips

In addition to the points listed above, you should also be wary of those who try to persuade you that it is easy to get out of debt, when in fact it never is. Books like Debt Cures by Kevin Trudeau make such claims—they should be shunned like the plague, as following their “advice” can only make the situation worse than it already is or needs to be.

Calculating your debt

The first thing that you need to do about your debt is to put it all down on paper. There are also software programs and apps that you can use to make the calculation process easier. Quicken is one of the best programs of that type—it can be used to make graphs that enable you to see exactly how much money you have in your account at any given moment and where your money is going, and best of all to have all that information available right in one place! With Quicken you can also get email alerts so you will know if something has changed. Microsoft Excel is also a great tool for expense tracking. Budgeting tools, such as BudgetTracker and PearBudget, are also available online, so take advantage of them.

Finally, some debts should have priority over others—high interest over low interest, non-resolving over resolving. If you follow these steps, you can get out of debt in no time!

Author Bio

Grace Kelly writes for Zintro, a marketplace of experts in various fields that helps connect investors, lawyers, analysts, entrepreneurs,  and more. Find an expert on Zintro.com consultant directory on a variety of topics including biotechnology experts and consultants a Zintro.

1) Establish a definite set of social media goals

No enterprise that is worthwhile can be done without first having a plan of some sort set up, and brand building is definitely no exception. So before you go into using social media, first ask yourself what you expect to achieve through this undertaking. Are you looking, for instance, to provide customer service? Are visual elements important to your brand image? Are you seeking to have your brand extended with the help of “brand advocates”? Once you have decided upon a definite answer to each and every one of these questions, then you can start planning your marketing strategy.

2) Establish an online brand “persona” for yourself

It is one thing to have an idea for your brand; it is quite another thing to translate that brand into terms widely used by the social world. The “voice” that you give should reflect your personal nature and should also be the same both online and offline. The things that you should consider at this step along the way include: the things that you do differently than those of similar, competing businesses; what your company is focused on; and how formal or informal your “tone of voice” will be. The last category is important as different social media sites use different levels of formality—Facebook and Twitter tend to be casual while LinkedIn is more formal.

3) Control customer service

Customer service is the most important part of any business’s activity. When you provide products and services to people, you know that some of them are going to have problems with what they get, and you want to be able to figure out in advance what kinds of problems those are going to be. You thus need to figure from there how you will answer their questions and help them solve their difficulties. As the old adage goes, “The customer is always right.” Always be available to answer customers’ questions—you want to create the impression of somebody who cares about the customers whom he serves. Never delete bad reviews from your social media page: You want other prospective customers to see how you deal with and respond to those things.

4) Form a relationship between yourself and the media

Brand building is formed first of all on relationships, without which it simply cannot be done. The media, and not just the customers, plays a crucial role in building your brand image. So follow those journalists whom you want to “pitch” on Twitter and find out where they go. If they put out queries, then answer them!

5) Build a team of “influencers”

By “influencers” we mean people who have the online clout to shape the opinions of vast numbers of people. The most active ones are the ones to target; they can easily persuade people to come flocking to buy your brand.

Follow these steps and you may find yourself surrounded by bunches of customers who are so loyal to your brand that they would never dream of buying any other.

Author Bio

Katelyn Roberts is a frequent contributor for NQ Mobile security software. She writes on a wide variety of topics including technology,green living and entertainment.

Golf Gift Suggestions

• Anything Pink – If you know that your lady friend likes pink, then give her a pink item that will serve useful on the greens. A pink visor perhaps paired with pink gloves will complete her golf ensemble. Pink crystal golf balls are also great ideas in giving her something that she can really use on the course. Most women like the pink color and this shade is featured in lots of golf gift items that you can choose from.
• Accessory bag – Your lady friend may already have her own golf bag for her clubs. Try giving her an accessory bag or a bag that she can use to keep her personal belongings. This bag can be in the form of a belt bag or a small bag that can be kept inside her primary golf bag. Accessory bags with lots of small compartments are great as your lady friend can properly organize her things.
• Water Bottle Holder – These water bottle holders come in different designs to suit a woman’s flair for style. You can get a tribal inspired bottle holder for ethnic style. You can also choose plaid, floral and striped designs for a really stylish water bottle holder.

How to Choose the Best Golf Gift

Women love receiving gifts but the best one is of course the one that she treasures the most and uses frequently. Do a little bit of research and find out what your friend likes. Also try to observe what she doesn’t have yet. If you know that she loves zebra patterns, for instance, then you can give her a golf bag with zebra prints. Cute items like flowers and nature may be a favorite among the girls but try to know the person well so you get to choose a design that matches her personality. Age appropriate items are also important in gift giving as seniors may tend to like different things as opposed to the younger generation.

Give from the Heart and Make a Woman Smile

Now go ahead and shop for that special gift item for your lady golfer. Wrap small items in lovely gift boxes. As for larger items, just add a ribbon to design the package. Don’t forget to write a lovely note as well and tell that person how special she is. A golf gift that comes from the heart is more meaningful than the gift itself.

Ladies Golf Clubs and Their Special Features

Women’s golf clubs may look similar as men’s clubs, but they have actually higher lofts and shorter shafts. The sizes of these clubs are based on the average female height and a lady player’s swing speed. A man who decides to use a lady’s golf club will find it very much lighter and easier to use. Hence, women players should find the appropriate size if they want to succeed in the game of golf.

One set of ladies golf clubs may include one or more of the following:

• Fairway wood – With a large head and a long shaft, this type of club is used for great distances. It is the longest club in a set and is also the most powerful.
• Hybrid – This type of club has the long distance feature of woods and the familiar swing of irons. These clubs are ideal for achieving great distances at slower swing speeds.
• Iron – This club has a shorter shaft than a wood and is usually made with a solid, all metal head. This club is designed for various types of shots such as from the tee box on short or tricky shots like lobbing over trees. A set of golf clubs is usually composed of several irons.
• Putter – This club is for the purpose of rolling the ball from one point towards the cup.
• Wedge – This club can be described as one with greater loft when compared to the iron. These are used for a variety of short distant shots as well as shots that need a high level of accuracy.

Ladies Golf Clubs

Ladies golf clubs are usually sold in sets in bags of feminine colors. The maximum allowable pieces of clubs that a golfer can carry are 14. Strict rules disallow players to share clubs most especially if you have your own set. However, if you’re new in the game and don’t have your own set yet, you can share with one player as long as your combined number of clubs doesn’t exceed 14.

In different colors and designs, ladies golf clubs are visually interesting and attractive apart from the functionality that each club provides. Women essentially get their knack for fashion while enjoying a fabulous tee time with friends and family.