Admin, Author at BOLLYWOOD SURKHIYAN

How to Become a Photographer 1

Truly, many professionals in the photography business are having a degree in photography from one of the different schools of photography, schools of art with a specialization in photography or press photographers education on schools of journalism etc. Programs like Professional Photography, Digital Photography, Mass Communication and Graphic Design are among the offers at colleges and universities to get a professional photographer degree.

But what I am focusing on is the possibility of people skilled in photography without the basic training and with another full time day job who want to live out their dream of being a photographer. The individual history of now well established photographers are showing a diversity of paths to their career as photographers but here I will first emphasise the potential of starting the photographic career as a part time stock photographer.

If the dream is to become a photographer and the question accordingly is how to become a photographer this could be a no-risk opportunity for the engaged amateur photographer who wants to change his/her life situation. As the stock photography business is a very dynamic field it might be difficult to give advice of any persistency, but let my try anyway.

How to become a photographer through work for stock photo agencies

Income for photographers from stock photography has been under attack for years but the kinds of photography that keeps the income and position best is related to up to date model released photography with a focus on lifestyle and with a strong conceptual mood.

As that is also an area that are most difficult for the general amateur photographer to deliver of professional quality I strongly recommend this field as the focus point for the potential full income professional photographer. The submissions of photos to one or more of the professional photo agencies of this kind of stock photography will be able to direct the person who wants to become a full time professional photographer.

This will come through the continuously improvement of his or her style for shooting, as stock photography is a tuff marketplace with rather fast response to trends and buyers requests. At the same time these photos might generate enough income to support further training to become a full time photographer.

Let me underline that I cannot recommend the potential photographer to engage in micro stock agencies. They pay too little, and you will have too many pictures flowing around in cyberspace without having enough control of their use.

May be my advice on life style shooting isn’t making you happy as your dream was to become a wildlife photographer or a similar kind of specialization as a photographer. Never mind, include that kind of stock photos among your submissions to your chosen stock photo agency and let the sales reports tell you what to focus on. But remember the life style photos.

Commissioned photography as an alternative to stock photography to become a photographer

An alternative to the approach mentioned becoming a stock photographer is to focus on the needs of individual customers and to develop a reputation as one of the freelance photographers available for special photo needs like:

– Shooting special events in a company

– Private weddings for couples that cannot afford to hire a fully professional wedding photographer

– Photography for small business’ websites, including product photography.

– Pet photography, as many people have their pet as their most valued partner in life. Pet photographers specializing in taking pictures of people’s dogs, cats, hamsters, birds etc. might be able to do very well.

– Equine photography. Similar to pet photographers equine photographers might be able to get a decent income part-time as a path to becoming a full time photographer. Often the sessions on equine photography can be scheduled for weekends making it easier to combine with a full time job.

The beauty of this answer to the question how to become a photographer is that some of these kinds of photography can be combined with submitting selected pictures of the commissioned work for stock agencies; just keep in mind to get all needed kinds of releases.

Well established areas populated with lots of party photographers, school photographers, travel group photographers etc. might be difficult to dig into, unless you have a nerve for it and want to go for it. To run a portrait studio might also be a difficulty part time area but to offer portraits etc. at homes of people might be an option, too.

Conclusion: To become a photographer through engagement in stock photography might be your best option.

Learn How To Start Making Money Online In 10 Steps

In this article I will describe the basic steps how to start your online business. First of all I would like to say that there are many ways to make money online but in order to be successful, you have to follow certain steps. So here we go.

Step 1.

In order to make money online, you have to sell or promote something. So the first thing to do is to decide what to promote or sell. Here you have two options.

a. Promote your own product

b. Promote an Affiliate product

If you don’t have your own product, you can create one, but it will take you some time and also an investment is involved to create the product. If you decide to promote an affiliate product, there is no investment involved and also you save a lot of time. After you decide what to promote, you can go to the next step.

Step 2.

If you have decided to promote your own product, you have two options.

a. Create your own website and promote the product exclusively from there

b. Open a ClickBank account and list your product there, so other internet marketers will promote it for you, and you will pay them commission for every piece sold.

If you have decided to promote an affiliate product, again you have to open a ClickBank account, but here you do not list a product but you have to choose from the market place other people’s products to sell and get commission.

Step 3.

If you are promoting your own product, start creating your website. It is better to hire a professional for this job, because you don’t want other people to think that you are not an expert. The website should look professional.

If you are promoting an affiliate product, now is the time to choose the right product that will make money for you.

Step 4.

This step may be skipped by those promoting their own products.

How to choose product to promote from ClickBank?

In order to choose the best and most profitable affiliate product for you, look for the following things:

a. Your affiliate product must be related to topic that you like or to your hobbies or passions

b. To offer high commission in matter of cash and not percentage from the price

c. To have high Gravity (gravity above 80 and bellow 200 is perfect for beginners)

d. To have high quality Sales Page

e. To have high conversion rate (anything above 2.5% is good)

f. To have support by the vendor

Step 5.

This step may be skipped by those promoting their own products.

After selecting your affiliate product, you have to generate your Hop Link from Click Bank and then purchase your first domain name. I personally recommend Go Daddy for your domain. After purchasing your domain name, set up the forwarding option so when somebody visits your domain name, will be forwarded to the sales page of the product.

Step 6.

Generate your keywords related to your product. Start with the single keywords and then go to the long tail keywords.

Example for keywords related to Money Making Products: money, money making, make money, win money, earn money, easy money, etc.

Example for long tail keywords related to Money Making Products: make money online, make money online from home, how to make money online, home based business making easy money, how to make my online business profitable, etc.

You have to make a list of at least 50 keywords related to your product. Try to find keywords that have big number of searches in the search engine, but relatively low results.

The best tool to start is Google Keyword Tool

Step 7.

Start You Promotion

Here you have many options to choose from.

No matter if you promote your own product & services or an affiliate product those methods will bring you customers.

In order to get customers, you need traffic to your website or your domain and then forwarded to the sales page.

More traffic means more money in your bank account.

There are two options.

Option 1 – pay to get traffic

Option 2 – get traffic for free

The first method will bring you traffic relatively fast, but if you are beginner there is a risk of losing money.

The second method may take some time to bring you traffic but it is free of any risk and it is also totally free of charge. You have to spend some time working however

Step 8

Free Methods of Getting Traffic

a. Article Writing – write different articles about your product and publish them to the net. The best article publishing website is Ezine Articles

b. Social Networking – create accounts in Facebook and Twitter and start making friends and then inform them about your product.

c. Video Posting – create You Tube account and upload funny videos, then include your website or domain name in the video.

d. Free Classified Ads – USFreeAds is the best to start

e. Create your own blog and invite people to visit and tell you their opinion

f. Yahoo Answers – create an account and start answering questions related to your product and send the people to your articles and from there to the product.

There are hundreds of free methods to generate traffic but those are the most popular and effective. It is better if you focus on one or two of those methods at a time and not get involved with all simultaneously.

Step 9

Paid Methods of Getting Traffic

a. Google Ad Words – open an account and start you first advertising campaign. Be very careful with the keywords you use because there is a possibility of losing money

b. Press Release – create an account with PR Web and start publishing your press release. It is an expensive and more advanced technique however the results are great.

c. Hire a professional from Elance to write articles for you and publish them to the different websites.

Step 10

Make your first Online Dollar

If you follow the previous steps one by one and be consistent with your work, definitely you will make money online

The foundation of being a successful internet marketer is the knowledge you have in order to be able to implement all those steps. If you don’t have the knowledge or someone to help you and teach you, unfortunately you may be trying to make money online for years without any success.

If you want to be couched by the best internet marketer and have 24/7 live phone support and access to more than 450 hours of DVD quality tutorials, detailed blueprints how to use the hundreds of methods to make money online and more than 75 turnkey products for you to sell, and many more…

Visit the website bellow and join the club

How to Conduct an Impactful Media Interview

The news release has been issued to the media and now they are calling asking for an interview. Do you pick up the phone and start talking? No. Take a few minutes to read this article and learn some techniques to make sure your media interview is impactful.

Preparation is the key to a successful media interview. Think about it this way – would you step on the stage and give a presentation to thousands of people without preparing your thoughts and fine tuning your message? Hopefully not. You would spend some time reviewing your notes, checking out your appearance and making sure you remember your key points. Think about your media interview as a presentation to a large group of people. Even if you can’t see them, hundreds or even thousands (possibly millions) of people will read the article, listen to the interview or watch the clip.

Okay let’s get started with some basic ways to prepare.

1. Write down your three key messages. When you are done your interview, what are the three key points you want the reporter, and audience, to remember?

2. Formulate your interview around these key points. When asked questions that are “off message” go back to these points. Use them to transition out of sticky questions. Example – while that’s a good question, I want to stress what’s important to remember is… insert key message.

3. Determine what media outlet you are talking to and the average length of audio or video clips or story length for print. If it’s radio and the interview’s for a short news story, keep your interview short as they will likely only use a 10-30 second clip. If it’s television or video, you might get 60 seconds of you speaking in the story.

4. Tailor your message to meet the needs of the audience of the media outlet. Is this a local news outlet? National? Is the audience your peers or the general public? Each media interview should be unique, tailored to meet the needs of the specific audience, versus repeating the same information the same way in 10 different media interviews.

5. Take stock of your appearance. Solid colours are best for video interviews. No crazy patterns or logos (unless it’s your own company’s logo). For women – no clunky jewellery or exposed cleavage. And for men – button up your shirt and empty your pockets so you aren’t tempted to jingle your keys.

6. Don’t ramble. Stick to your three key points. This way when your comments are edited, what appears in the story will be on topic.

7. Thank the reporter. Too few people take the time to say thank you.

Once the story is live, review the coverage to see how well you delivered your message and identify how you can improve for future interviews.

Finding A Good SEO Agency

Well done search engine optimisation, often called SEO for short, is designed to allow websites to show up in search results when people search for products and services rather than simply company names. The idea is that people looking for things online are able to find a business website without any prior knowledge of the business or its name. There are all manner of tricks and techniques which fall under SEO, but the good sustainable methods (also sometimes called “white hat SEO”) are based around the idea of making your website easier for search engine to read and understand, meaning they rank you higher in searches for appropriately relevant terms.

It is not uncommon to decide to outsource SEO to external marketing agencies and other companies, but there are far too many dodgy types out there who like to take companies seeking SEO – especially local and small businesses – for a very expensive ride. How then does one actually go about finding a good, honest and legitimate search engine marketer?

It is actually incredibly easy to find a decent SEO agency online. Go to a search engine like Google or Bing and type in “SEO agency.” Ignoring the paid ads at the top, whichever firm has landed at the top of the search results are what you want – they must be pretty good at SEO or their own website wouldn’t be so high in the natural listings!

To narrow things down a bit, you could try extending your search. Say you live in Essex and want a local agency – just type in “SEO agency Essex.” Or if your website is specialised and you want particular help with it you can add your industry or site type – “SEO tourism” or “SEO eCommerce” for example. This can be a great way to find niche SEO agencies who have specialist expertise in your field.

Sometimes SEO agencies (or at least people claiming to be SEO agencies) try to solicit companies by sending them emails or submitting contact forms with various enticements and offers. However if you see something like this come in then it is best to ignore it – if a company which supposedly specialises in search engine optimisation is reduced to spamming inboxes to get business rather than, say, doing SEO so their own website ranks highly and people can find them anyway, chances are they aren’t very good. The same is true of SEO services advertised on paid ads at the top of search engines or on banner ads on other websites. If their search marketing is any good, why are they having to pay for their placements?

Another thing to bear in mind is to steer well clear of any SEO agency that promises you “top position for x keywords” or something similar. Nearly all modern search engines used personalised searching, meaning that everyone sees websites in slightly different ranking positions depending on their personal search history. Absolute rankings are a thing of the past, any anyone claiming to deliver this kind of service is lying through their teeth. Modern SEO will use sustainable “white hat” techniques in order to bring useful traffic to your website, not use exploits and dodgy tricks, which will constantly get them slapped by search engine updates like Google’s infamous Panda and Penguin algorithm changes.

Once you’ve found an SEO company that looks mostly all right you’ll need to ask them some questions before you leap into their services. As well as the usual checks like existing client list and testimonials, it is a good idea to speak to someone directly on the phone or in person. Here are some good questions to ask them.

Who does their search marketing work? Is it handled by in-house staff? Do they do any outsourcing, especially to foreign companies? A lot of agencies outsource to cheap link builders in Asia who tend to produce very low quality work that can have a negative impact on websites in the medium to long term.
How often do they report, and what format do these reports take? Any professional SEO agency should be providing regular updates to all its clients, along with written reports detailing actions taken and progress made.
What kind of skills and qualifications do they have? Take a look at their existing client lists for any recognisable big names, and see if they have anyone who is Analytics qualified. Some companies even use quality standards like ISO 9001 which is an excellent sign.
What else do they do? A lot of these companies are primarily website designers who are resellers for outsourced SEO services to boost their profits. It is better to look for an online marketing specialist to ensure you get a good quality service.

If you don’t have the money to hire a professional SEO agency there are other options available. Some companies will let you pay for a one off website review to make recommendations on how to improve your site from a search marketing perspective, or you could research current techniques and ideas to do SEO for yourself.

Many online marketing methods are in fact startlingly simple. Boost your domain authority by getting other relevant sites to link back to yours. Get a backlinks boost as well as general marketing benefit by using social media like Facebook. Keep your website full of regularly updated and good quality content to encourage people to link to you as well as grow the site’s visibility and importance. Use a good, solid SEO plugin for your content management system, and make sure your website’s code is error free.

Remember you’ll get a natural boost from modern search engines if your website is

Well designed, easy to use and nice to look at
Full of good, up to date and useful content designed for real people, not search engine robots
Free of errors, fast loading and devoid of spammy ads or buggy code

Happy website marketing, everyone!

8 Great Reasons For Starting a Network Marketing Business

Network marketing has changed the lives of millions of ordinary people just like YOU and me around the globe and if you’re hesitating in joining a network marketing business, then take a look at some of the benefits you’ll gain.

Benefit #1: This Business Can Be Build On A Part Time basis.

No need to quit your current job to join a network marketing company; hence stressing to be able to put food on the table and provide for your family and other household expenses.

While you still got a regular job, you can dedicate a few hours a week to work on your home-based business…The training we offer once you join will literally give you tips on how to work less and earn more.

I’ve met many full time students that have been able to build successful businesses and are earning a lot more money for themselves while they get their school degrees.

Benefit #2: Very Low Start-Up Cost (Meager Investment Required)

If you wanted to start a regular business from scratch, then you’ll definitely need to invest thousands and thousands of dollars to get started.

Buying a McDonalds franchise can cost you up to $300,000 as a start-up cost and most people don’t got that kind of money.

With a network marketing company, you can own your own franchise and begin making money Right Away with ONLY a few hundred dollars!

Benefit #3: No Income Ceiling

By becoming a better marketer with the tools and training you’ll receive from us, growing your business will be a lot more easier and with this business, you got the potential of earning as much money as you’d like without being in debt from the beginning.

Benefit #4 Residual Income (Passive Income)

Residual income is what all entrepreneurs are seeking for in the long-term with their businesses…but what does it mean?

To make it simple to understand, residual income is the money that you’re able to earn on a constant basis from your business without working.

In other words, rather than exchanging your time for money like you’ll do at a regular 9-5 job, you spend some time to build a potent business by leveraging the efforts of others, then the income will keep flowing in no matter what.

Building a residual income from your business is doable but it requires lots of work and perseverance. You must become a leader and create new leaders in your team in order for your business to duplicate.

Network marketing easily allows you to build a residual income for life…If done properly; you’ll continuously get paid without getting your hands dirty.

Benefit #5: Tax Advantages

There are a lot of tax advantages that you can benefit from simply because you own a business. With a home-based business, you get paid first without any tax deductions, invest all you can into your business, and then be taxed on whatever is left.

That’s one of the biggest loopholes EVER. Get paid, invest your earning through corporations, and then get taxed on whatever money is left.

You definitely do not have this opportunity as an employee because before you even you see your paycheck, the government already took his share…and it doesn’t stop there since your first line of expense as en employee is taxes.

After all this, you’ll be forced to struggle and live on whatever money is left.

It really aggravates me when I hear people say that business owners are heavily taxed and have a lot less advantages than employees. That’s total ignorance and here’s why…

Tax laws are written in the rich and wealthy people’s favor since they possess power and influence.

In addition to this huge benefit, you will be able to get better and higher tax returns because you can claim every PENNY that you spend in building your business. These may include the following:

*Electricity

*Rent (spaces that you use to run your business)

*Internet

*Telephone

*Home insurance

*Food supplies

*Business tools (computers, printers, ink, webcams, microphones, etc…)

*Business related travel costs

*Advertising expenses (Fliers, Press Releases, Ezine ads, PPC, etc…)

*And much more…

So why pay more taxes when there’s a L-E-G-A-L way to avoid them?

Benefit #6: Time Flexibility

Having a home-based business is a dream come true for a lot of people around the world. You and only you manage your time.

There’s no boss looking behind your shoulders at all times making sure that you’re getting the job done.

You work and build your business at your own pace. There’s really no stress and you could be in your pajamas all day and be building a successful business from the comfort of your home.

By joining a network marketing company, you own and control your business…It’s not the other way around.

Benefit #7: Meeting Great People

Throughout your network marketing endeavors, you’ll meet incredible people that share the same values as you. You know what’s even better, you’ll be in constant contact and surrounded by successful people from whom you can learn and get great advices from.

Instead of discouraging you, these people have the same views as you and therefore will be there to support and guide you all the way. That alone is priceless!

Benefit #8: Great Free Training

By joining any network marketing company, you’ll receive some sort of training.

They’ll teach you things like personal development, pubic speaking, sales, marketing and many other life-time valuable skills that you’ll be able to use in your everyday life.

I truly hope that all these *BENEFITS* will help you make a better decision about network marketing and why there’s so much to gain.

Thinking About Becoming a Professional Poker Player?

Becoming a professional poker player is difficult. Not only do you have to be good at the game you have to have a good business head. To that end you have to learn to treat your beloved card game as a business, rather than a pastime which in the past you have been good at.

If you are thinking about becoming a pro read this first.

Business Element

Like most businesses there will be good times and bad times. You must be prepared for the latter and use the former to offset your losses. Professional poker playing also needs capital like any other business, and for poker this means having a substantial bank roll.

To that end you must try and work out how much you will need to maintain a steady income from playing poker. A highly competitive profession if ever there was one. From the income figure you can estimate how much you will need to bankroll your career as a pro player.

Every player has a severe losing streak no matter how good they are. You must be able to deal with this financially.

You are going to be self employed. This is scary and hard at the best of times, and rather than making a sale, you are going to have to win a considerable amount of money to make your business thrive.

Evaluate Evaluate

To become a pro and a better pro, you have to be able to honestly evaluate your play style after every game. Ideally, having an honest opinion from someone you trust is best. A fresh, unbiased pair of eyes will be able to tell you if you are leaking too many tells, if your bluff was too obvious, and generally pick up on your weaknesses. In essence you must be able to take criticism and be honest with yourself to know when your big loss was down to you. All of this will improve you as a player.

As a professional poker player constant improvement is needed. Otherwise it is a long walk to the poor house and back into mainstream work.

The evaluation of your poker play should have already started. If you can find a mentor or at least someone you trust who understand the game, so much the better. Many players record their games in the form of notes. How much they staked, how much they won, nearly every statistic you can think of. They then refer to them constantly.

Why?

Many professionals started our as good amateur players and realised that playing a game they love for a living would be a good way to live. The chances are you are of the same mindset. On the surface there is edginess to the lifestyle that is very appealing. A little like being a spy. The reality is however, that it is a business and a job. In ten years time will you enjoy the game so much?

You may not ever view the game again like you do at the moment. A point to ponder perhaps?

Social Life

Once you embark on being a pro your social life will be centred on poker. Poker will dominate: Your friends will be poker players, your partner will be from a poker background, and even your pets will be able to shuffle cards. You will study poker when you are not playing it, and your maths will improve.

This is an aspect you need to think about to become a professional. Are you prepared for the change and sacrifice?

Percentages

If you have not worked it out already, you are going to have look at poker as a business. This means working out percentages to the nth degree and then perform in tournaments. You will start to think of the game statistically and indeed start to study your own game in the same terms. This is common to most gambling.

Summing up

A career in poker is hard. Make no mistake big losses and incredible lows are coming your way. There will be times when you wonder why you thought it was a good idea.

With a clear steady mind however, a good business head, and a mentor or friend who is willing to help you, you might just make it.

Emergence of Photovoltaics

Photovoltaics offer consumers the ability to generate electricity in a clean, quiet and reliable way. Photovoltaic systems are comprised of photovoltaic cells, devices that convert light energy directly into electricity. Because the source of light is usually the sun, they are often called solar cells. The word photovoltaic comes from “photo,” meaning light, and “voltaic,” which refers to producing electricity.

Therefore, the photovoltaic process is “producing electricity directly from sunlight.” Photovoltaics are often referred to as PV. PV systems are being installed by consumers who already have grid-supplied Electricity but want to begin to live more independently or who are concerned about the environment. For some applications where small amounts of electricity are required, like emergency call boxes, PV systems are often cost justified even when grid electricity is not very far away.

When applications require larger amounts of electricity and are located away from existing power lines, photovoltaic systems can in many cases offer the least expensive, most viable option.

In use today on street lights, gate openers and other low power tasks, photovoltaics are gaining popularity around the world as their price declines and efficiency increases.

Total peak power of installed solar photovoltaic arrays worldwide was around 5,300 MW at the end of 2005 and grid-tied systems represented the largest growth area. Note that solar photovoltaic arrays have capacity factors of around 20%, which is lower than many other industrial sources of electricity. Therefore the 2005 installed base peak output would have provided an average output of something like 1,060 MW (20% × 5,300). This represented 0.03 percent of global demand at the time.

Large-scale incentive programs, offering financial incentives like the ability to sell excess electricity back to the public grid (“feed-in tariffs”), have greatly accelerated the pace of solar PV installations in many countries including Japan, Germany, and the United States.

Although solar photovoltaic power does not cause any direct emissions during operation it may indirectly cause pollution due to the industrial processes used in the manufacture and later disposal of PV modules. Over a module’s lifetime, the years of clean energy produced will more than make up for this initial pollution.

PV cells convert sunlight directly into electricity without creating any air or water pollution. PV cells are made of at least two layers of semiconductor material. One layer has a positive charge, the other negative. When light enters the cell, some of the photons from the light are absorbed by the semiconductor atoms, freeing electrons from the cell’s negative layer to flow through an external circuit and back into the positive layer. This flow of electrons produces electric current.

To increase their utility, dozens of individual PV cells are interconnected together in a sealed, weatherproof package called a module. When two modules are wired together in series, their voltage is doubled while the current stays constant. When two modules are wired in parallel, their current is doubled while the voltage stays constant. To achieve the desired voltage and current, modules are wired in series and parallel into what is called a PV array. The flexibility of the modular PV system allows designers to create solar power systems that can meet a wide variety of electrical needs, no matter how large or small.

Unlike fossil fuel based technologies, solar power does not lead to any harmful emissions during operation, but the production of the panels leads to some amount of pollution.

While PV systems may require a substantial investment, they can be cheaper than paying the costs associated with extending the electric utility grid.

Technical Support Services

What if someday you just woke up and find all your computer files vanished away? Everybody who has been using computers for quite sometime may have encountered numerous pesky errors like blue screen of death. Whether the problem includes software or hard drive, you can actually pull yourself through the mess. Thinking how? Simply with the help of online technical support services.

Whether it’s about troubleshooting PC errors or internet optimization or computer optimization or any other, the tech support is just a call away nowadays. The simplicity of these services has helped the technical support company to grow rapidly. Tech support services either online or by phone are very affordable, especially if the users have valid warranties. You can locate numerous online computer repair specialists by using simple keywords like technical support, computer support, online computer support etc on the Internet.

In spite of paying technicians for their home or office visit every time your computer gets a problem, you can avail exclusive support services for a one time payment. That’s again just possible with online computer support companies. They keep on bringing different support packages including a comprehensive array of services for a one low price. Since computer gaining importance and becoming critical to our everyday lives, you can’t take any risk with your PC’s functionality.

After narrowing down on the shortlisted results, you can visit each website to have a good idea about the services they undertake.

A remote computer repair person watches everything on a PC screen while working on your problem. Technology has advanced so much that you can even assume control anytime, just in case you feel that there is a breach of security. In certain cases, the instructions are given from a remote location and you follow these instructions to repair your computer. Most of the remote computer repairers disconnect the connection program, until and unless you want to reinstall the program for future use. Although the entire method is popular, it is always preferable that you get good references from the remote repairing company. This way you will able to verify their credentials better and ensure the safety of your data.

Remote computer repair is of great help in things like computer optimization support spyware removal, troubleshooting, virus and pest removal, software installation, up gradation, cleaning up of disk, and PC optimization. Needless to say, the success rate is also pretty high when it comes to remote computer repair. Another advantage with remote computer repair lies in the fact that it will save you money in the long run, since the technicians are working from their own location.

Showing Appreciation to Workplace Un-Sung Heroes

Millions of Un-Sung Heroes are born every minute! They are found everywhere–on street corners, in our homes, offices, and communities–wherever there are people in need of rescue. These special people, whose positive actions and initiatives are performed to benefit others, are not famous or in the news for what they are doing; but their efforts affect, enrich and touch countless lives.

Every business has these Un-Sung Heroes. They are the receptionists, secretaries, and administrative professionals we rely on daily to keep the wheels of corporate America turning.

The role of the office professional has changed significantly as reliance on technology and office automation has increased. Downsizing or organizational restructuring has led secretaries and administrative assistants to assume a wider range of new responsibilities that were once the property of management and senior professional staff.

How to Identify the Un-Sung Heroes in Your Office

Un-Sung Heroes are easy to recognize, but just in case you can’t find them in your office, here is a simple way to help you spot their contributions.

You frequently go to them for coordination of office administrative and support activities.
They are walking libraries of information you need to service your clients.
You often rely on them for training and orientation of new staff members.
You would be lost without their expertise in researching on the Internet and operating and troubleshooting new office technologies.
When they are absent the office just doesn’t seem to run smoothly and efficiently.
You haven’t a clue how to make your own travel arrangements; they do this with dexterity and ease.
They are walking desktop publishers and proposal and presentation writers.
They’ve taught you so many important things as well as how to be self-sufficient and get your own coffee or tea.
They are excellent team players who understand the value of being flexible and working with others to share their expertise.
Let’s face it, without their assistance you would not be able to perform your own job efficiently and resourcefully.

If you were able to spot at least one of these behaviors, you have caught a glimpse of a real live Un-Sung Hero. Your task, if you choose to accept it, is to show your appreciation for all their efforts and hard work.

Every April, we celebrate National Administrative Professionals Week, which was originally created in 1952 as National Professional Secretaries Week to emphasize the importance of secretarial work and to encourage more women to become secretaries. Included in this week-long celebration is National Secretary’s Day–a special holiday to honor, acknowledge and express appreciation for secretaries throughout the United States. Over the years as men became secretaries, the role changed significantly to that of an administrative support function. As a result the name changed to Administrative Professional’s Day.

It is customary to give a politically correct gift (cards, gift certificates, flowers, etc.) or to take the administrative professional to lunch. However, don’t wait for the next holiday to acknowledge the many contributions your Un-Sung Heroes make.

Going forward, develop a positive recognition habit and commit to finding at least one thing each week you can do to thank your administrative professional.

North Korea – Getting Out

Here is a very recent picture of how things in North Korea are changing while staying the same. “The same” is the constant desire of people who discover the truth to get out of North Korea. What’s developing into a news story is the organized business that is evolving to get them out.

“Planned escapes” are making not a few brokers financially comfortable, even if the business is a bit risky. Any there’s a whole range of prices, from a budget plan $2000.00 to a super deluxe escape that runs about 5 times that much. Now, the low-cost exit involves some difficult river-crossings, pedestrian travel, and even several weeks in a Thai immigration jail. But at least you’re out. Free from Kim. The high-end plan will get you a forged Chinese passport, and an airplane ride from Beijing to Seoul. The whole ordeal can be over in three weeks!

Though one hears regularly of crack-downs and tighter security, this article explains that the bigger change is the conduct of bribe-hungry guards. The word has got ’round that looking the other way is a great method of having a little extra spending money, and that’s surely hard to come by, by any legal means in Kim-land.

It was the Christians who led the way out of North Korea, thanks be to God. They did it out of love and serious compassion, risking their lives only because of the workings of the Spirit within them. But others caught the idea and decided it would be a great way to make a living. Now there are more paid than unpaid “rescuers.”

The description of the refugees has changed over the years too. A trickle of mostly 30-40 year old males with “important” jobs was the original flow. For them it was not such a difficult thing to get out. A total of 41 such people made the journey from North to South Korea in 1995. But the numbers have grown exponentially since then. With agents galore willing to help, the count rose to over 2,000 in 2006 alone. And there are more women and children now than men.

Not everyone uses an agent. There may be 100,000 self-led North Koreans hiding in China waiting for their breakthrough to the South, or somewhere safe.

For those who do buy their way out, there is always someone willing to take their money. There are scams. But generally the men come through on their promises. And no one is claiming this is easy money. Some get caught. A former NK military officer who defected in ’99 says the “policy is for 100 percent execution of those caught helping people to defect. I personally saw several such executions.” Of course, citizens trying to escape are accused of treason. 5 years in prison with all the accompanying horrors, is possible for them .

Even those who reach the South have a serious issue to deal with: guilt over those left behind. In fact, families of escapees are quite often imprisoned. One such lady heard that “her mother, father, and sister were forced from their homes by the authorities and relocated to a farming area in the interior.” She then hired brokers to find them, but they too were arrested. She says, “You cannot know how heartbreaking it is to leave your family in this way.”

We will not judge them. We simply cannot comprehend… We will pray that the reason for all this sorrow and grief will soon be taken away. And that North Koreans will continue to be pointed Upward as they are directed outward.

Facts from above article gleaned from a recent MSNBC story.