Inn Financing Without Tears

You have been dreaming for years. Those glossy magazines and snazzy web sites with those wonderful, historic lodgings, glorious gardens, and inviting rooms are a regular mainstay. Your travels have taken you to places where you were greeted by strangers who treated you like old friends. You slept on feather quilts and abundant pillows, awakening to the aroma of fresh coffee and baked breads, then shared breakfast with others like yourselves: road warriors of the bed & breakfast circuit. You just love these quaint and ornate homes, the unfaltering hospitality, the sumptuous meals. After all, entertaining has always been a love of yours and you think, “We could do this!”Cut to six months later: you’ve been talking to innkeepers about the Inn-keeping lifestyle, and they told you it wouldn’t be easy. You attended one of those seminars, and they told you it wouldn’t be easy. You’ve been taking stock of what it would really mean to quit that job or take early retirement and live on an innkeeper’s “salary,” and now you realize it won’t be easy. But this is Inn-keeping! You’ve always wanted to do this. It can’t be that bad, or why would so many take the plunge?Good question. It’s a question that all prospective innkeepers must ask themselves. Just for a moment, let’s assume that you have satisfied yourself that you are, indeed, cut out for Inn-keeping. You would like to be your own boss, even if your life will be guided by your guests. You can still decide to close for a week (if you plan ahead) to take a vacation. You can always be closed on Mondays if you want. You are prepared for the cut in income, figuring you can get by fairly modestly, and besides, you have a little something extra from wise investments or pensions. You’ve been checking out ads on countless web sites looking for the perfect bed & breakfast for sale, have actually received information and consider yourself to be actively “in the market.” Well, maybe a couple of years away. That’s OK. It’s better to plan ahead and know what you’re getting into.You are really serious about buying an inn now, and you want to make an offer but need to figure out exactly how to finance the purchase. This is where the dream of owning a bed & breakfast can start to slip away unless you’ve done your homework and planned adequately. Because financing is where most contracts fall apart.A bed & breakfast inn is a hybrid entity. Alas, it’s neither a “house” nor a “hotel.” If it were just a house you wanted to buy, a lender would look at your available cash for down payment and closing costs, would review your income and “other debt,” would work with certain ratios to determine how much of your income could be used to finance a home, and could tell you, within a very narrow range, how much you could afford to pay for a house. No furniture. No business. You keep your job. That assumes, of course, that the house appraises out for the purchase price and your credit is squeaky clean.For a hotel or motel, or maybe a convenience store or other business, a lender will look at the business, will examine and analyze the cash flow, will determine the value based on actual and projected cash flows, will consider how much you can put down initially (they generally want 30% plus with reserves for operating capital, etc., though there are exceptions). If all of this pans out, and you can convince that lender that you know what you’re doing (past experience in the same business, hopefully) you might get the loan and be on your way.But a bed & breakfast? What’s that? It’s a bit large as a home, a significant portion of which will be used for business. This, of course, creates some interesting tax considerations when applying your rollovers, but that’s another story. A bed & breakfast is typically very heavily weighted by the real estate component as opposed to the business component, where that convenience store is often just the opposite. Nevertheless, the dream B&B you’ve found may, in fact, have a fairly decent cash flow. If it does, there are a number of avenues you can pursue. The first, and by far the easiest (though hardly the most common), is owner, or seller, financing.If an innkeeper has owned the inn for a number of years, especially if they converted it into a B&B from a house, they may have experienced a substantial amount of appreciation and have little or no debt. Often these owners are interested in moving on and will consider owner financing as a good investment.Like any lender, they will want to know your credit history, see a credit report, have a complete, certified financial statement from you, and will be confident that the cash flows from the business will cover debt service and living expenses on top of operations. However, don’t expect many sellers to finance 90% of the deal. Maybe you can buy a house with 5% or 10% down payment, but it’s unlikely that many innkeepers will finance that much. Keep in mind that, like a bank, security is paramount. You will be purchasing the real estate, the personal property (fixtures, furnishings, etc.) and probably will be paying for intangibles (good will) as well. Your initial investment will likely have to cover the intangibles, the personal property, and a substantial portion of the real estate. That can amount to a sizable outlay. You need to keep something in reserve for improvements you may want to make and to cover you in those slow early months.Let’s say your seller doesn’t want to finance, and many don’t. They have other plans for their money. If the business is really solid and can be documented (current innkeepers take note!), the next best bet is often a local bank. Despite strict regulations about lending parameters, many bankers still take an interest in local ventures and, especially, real estate. If the loan is “non-conforming” but there is value in the property and a sufficiently large down payment to protect their investment, money may be forthcoming as a portfolio or “in-house” loan. An introduction to the local banker by the current innkeepers (if they’ve had a good relationship) can be a good way to get started, especially if there’s been any bank financing in the past.If your intention is to acquire a full service inn with a restaurant, then the Small Business Administration (SBA) may be the best way to go. There are a number of banks and non-bank lenders who process SBA loans, some better than others, so shop around. Doug Carleton, who is an approved SBA lender and member of The B&B Team of Professionals, is one of the best. Remember two things above all else: restaurants have a very high failure rate, and most lenders are leery of making restaurant loans unless you have a track record to demonstrate your expertise. Also, SBA loans can be slow (depending on the bank) and expensive due to the SBA guarantee fees, so you need to be prepared for a process that may take six months and the expenditure of several thousand dollars in surveys, environmental studies, etc. Often times, however, the fees can be financed, and, if you are prepared and working with a good lender, the process can be expedited. Some SBA loans are assumable, so be sure to ask if the current owners have an SBA loan and look into its assumability.As to bank financing, there are some lenders who will extend “no doc” (no documentation) loans. With 20%-40% down payment on the real estate, they will assume that you won’t walk away from the property, and if you do, their investment will be covered. How you pay for it, in their mind, is your problem. Please note that I said “real estate” not “bed & breakfast.” That down payment will apply to the appraised value of the real property, and you will have to pay for the personal property and intangibles separately. In the end, there’s still quite a lot of cash going out.You’re starting to feel depressed. You’ve exhausted the banks, the SBA lenders have turned you down, the owner owes too much to finance you (or just wants cash), but you really want to buy and the seller really wants to sell. What to do now? One possibility, and this is usually a last resort, is the use of an investment company that specializes in the purchase of mortgage notes. In reality what happens at closing is that the owner finances the sale. He simultaneously sells the note to an investor (for a discount), the original loan is paid off, the seller goes away with cash, and you own the property but will be making your payments to the new investor who holds the note. The best way to make this arrangement work is to plan ahead with a note investor so that the interest rates, the amounts paid, the size of the discounts, etc. can be juggled to reach a happy medium that works well enough for everyone. In these cases, most likely the buyer will have to pay a bit more, the seller will walk away with a bit less, and the investor will be very happy! But if it works, who’s to complain?Needless to say, there are many ways to finance a bed & breakfast or country inn, but none of them is without problems. Almost all will require a sizeable capital investment up front. In every case the entire financial picture of the purchaser must be taken into account. Are there other assets? Is there independent income, either from investments or retirement? Will one of the purchasers be working an outside job or telecommuting? If you are working with a knowledgeable inn broker, be prepared to provide enough information that he or she can find a property that has the potential of meeting your personal and financial objectives. In the end, the best advice is to plan ahead, become informed, and be realistic. If you do, you’ll be happily on your way to Innkeeping! Good luck!

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8 Questions To Ask Once You’ve Built Your Photography Website To Assess Its Photography Marketing IQ

There’s a very good chance that you know how to build a photography website – they’re very easy to do these days with the advancement of technology. You’ve also probably heard that a photographer without a photography website is not taken seriously. What you may not know are key questions that will assist you to build and maintain a successful photography website.For me, it is very difficult to be objective when assessing the photography marketing effectiveness of my website. I have a great deal of trouble being objectively honest with my assessments of my websites. But, fortunately, I’m able to use a series of questions that helps me not to get sabotage by my inability of be objectively honest when assessing my website’s effectiveness.I’m a firm believer in photographers building their own websites. It’s much easier to do these days – if a photographer can send and receive email, they have enough computer skills to build and manage their own photography website. I build all of my photography websites. And, as mentioned, I’m too biased to accurately assess the photography marketing effectiveness of my photography website.Consequently, I ask myself – and answer – the following questions:

Do your pages load quickly? I never cease to be amazed at all the photography websites that have home pages that take a long time to load. Most of the times, it’s the flash type pages. Unfortunately, many of us photographers don’t realize that most web surfers don’t have computers sophisticated enough to handle all of the latest website gimmicks. The home page should load instantly – always!

Is it instantly apparent what type of photography niche your business is in? Too often, our creative artsy side blocks what should be clear messages. You should know your photography niche and communicate what that niche is on your website. Your visitor shouldn’t have to guess what it is that you do. They visit your website looking for information – not interested in guessing what it is that you do.

Is your website menu viewable and easy to navigate? Links and navigation buttons should be simple and take your visitor where they want to go. Also, a navigation menu should be on every page.

Is your website free of unnecessary gimmicks and graphics? On a personal note – when I visit a photography website and music begins to play, I click away from the site immediately – always! Because you and I might like specific music doesn’t mean that everyone likes it. Visitors go to “music” sites to “hear” music. Research companies that track web surfing habits and trends, report that most visitors leave when they come across irritants like music, pop-ups, slow-loading pages, etc.

Does your website offer valuable information? Too many website owners, especially photographers, forget that people use the internet looking for information, not looking to spend money or look at pictures. Displaying your best work on your website is preferable. But, keep in mind that new customers will find you on the internet by looking for information (typing in keywords at internet search engines). If your website doesn’t have that information (content), visitors will never find you – never! Put content on your photography website. Help your visitors find you. Do a little research about optimizing your web pages (don’t let the word optimizing intimidate you, it only means putting certain words in the content on your page) – don’t overdo it. Less is more! Always offer valuable information on your website and visitors will keep coming back.

Does your website reflect your commitment to quality? In my opinion, too many photographers confuse flashy bells & whistles with quality. The flashy bells & whistles usually only impress web designers (who build the flashy bells & whistles websites in the first place) and photographers with websites that don’t have these eight questions. Also, you should only display your best work in your galleries offline and in your online galleries. Categorize your various photos and display them together.

Would you want to do business with your photography business? This is a key question and maybe the most difficult to be honest in answering. But, your honesty is critical here.

Is your contact information easily accessible? Website visitors expect to see normal things at different websites. For example, your contact information must be available and easily accessible.
These 8 questions aren’t the only questions that will assist you to put your objective judging hat on and take a clear look at the photography marketing strength of your photography website. The questions will put your website through a process that should make it more magnetic to visitors. Sometime, the components that make out sites work aren’t as obvious to us. Give the questions to a trusted friend and ask them to help you by using them to assess the effectiveness of your website – the least internet savvy that they are, the better.Your photography website can be your most productive photography marketing tool. It doesn’t require a lot of time or money – just regular consistency. And of course, objective assessments are like taking the pulse and heart rate of your website. Keep an eye on them. It’s like keeping your website healthy and you happy!

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Complementary & Alternative Medicine (CAM)

Going to the doctor is not like it used to be. In olden times doctors visits were more personalized and in depth. Now traditional medicine is very impersonal and doctors send you home with up to 5 prescriptions that you need to start taking right away. The only problem is you will return next week because of all the side affects that you have from all the medicine the doctor prescribed you in the first place and your original problem still won’t be solved. Unfortunately, the reason behind all the new prescriptions is because of all the kickbacks that doctors get for prescribing them. Although, these medications don’t help the patients and will undoubtedly cause more symptoms. So many Americans have started looking towards complementary and alternative medicine.Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is a group of diverse medical practices that are not generally accepted by conventional medicine, conventional medicine being medicine practiced by an M.D., D.O., psychologist, registered nurse, or physical therapist. This group of medicine is continually changing and types of medicine are very broad, however the ultimate goal of this type of medicine is find whole body health and wellness. The principals and guidelines for each individual type of CAM although diverse are based on holistic properties, whereby treating the body as a whole and resolving the underlying problems are far more important in the long run rather than just reducing the symptoms.CAM involves the connection between the mind and body and not only relieves symptoms but works to resolve the underlying problems as well. Although, used in conjunction with one another, complementary and alternative medicines are two completely different groups of medicine. Complementary medicine unlike its cohort is used in conjunction with traditional medicine. Therefore the treatment or medicine complements conventional means of resolving pain, disease or illness. Where as alternative medicine, is used in place of conventional medicine to promote self-healing, and preventative medicine.In the past, CAM was not accepted due to its lack of scientific basis and evidence. However, because many CAM practices are deeply rooted in Eastern history and are based upon traditional medicine, folk knowledge, and spiritual beliefs people are now turning to this type of medicine. Not to mention that patients are seeing and feeling results from CAM. There is no greater influence than someone else’s testimonial, which is causing the rise in CAM. Western medicine, although still hesitant, is just beginning to use some alternative medicines as complements to their conventional methods. Additionally insurances have turned the corner and started allowing several alternative medicines as part of their covered benefits. That’s not to say that CAM is completely accepted by the medical community, it is a long way off. However it has opened the door for new approaches to healing some of which are old ideas with new methods.Due to the diversity of available CAM’s, it is easier to group them together to understand what type of medicine and treatment is rendered. The categories include natural products, mind-body medicine, and manipulative and body-based practices. Natural products include a variety of herbal medicines, vitamins, minerals and other “natural products”. Products considered natural can include dietary supplementation, herbal or botanical, and probiotics. Mind-body medicine focuses on the connection between the mind and the body to heal and promote health. These practices include meditation, yoga, acupuncture, deep-breathing, guided imagery, hypnotherapy, and tai chi. Lastly manipulative and body-based practices focus on the body systems and their structures. Spinal manipulation from chiropractic care and massage therapy are two commonly used body-based practices.Before you choose a CAM it is best to research and ask your friends and coworkers for suggestions. It is normal to be nervous or apprehensive because it is not mainstream, however with the popularity and growth that it continues to receive, CAM’s are the next group of conventional medicine.

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The Energy Healing Power of Natural Medicine

Natural medicine is a system that uses a variety of therapeutic or preventive health care practices such as homeopathy, naturopathy, chiropractic, and herbal medicine. Alternative medicine is also known as traditional, naturopathic, natural or holistic medicine. Proponents of alternative medicine are not refuting the validity of discoveries in and the practical uses of conventional medicine, but are merely trying to put some things into perspective. Due to the widespread interest in natural medicine along with the disappointment and disenchantment with Western medicine, many people, especially in the United States and Europe, where conventional medicine has taken a dominant foothold, are seeking the advice and treatment from naturopathic physicians. These practitioners include herbalists, acupuncturists, naturopaths, chiropractors, and others, who advocate preventative health measures as well as recommend wholesome foods and nutritional supplements for their patients and clients. Considering the growing popularity and effectiveness of alternative health treatments and products, certified and licensed professional practitioners of such medical practices should be given their rightful and respectful place in medical society. Natural medicine has been proven not only to be safe, but more effective than Western medicine in treating many chronic illnesses such as diabetes, hypertension, asthma and many other diseases as wellThe history of Natural Medicine and its roots can be traced back thousands of years to ancient cultures such as India and China. Ayurvedic (E. Indian) and Chinese medicine, along with their diagnostic and herbal systems, are still used in these countries extensively, as well as in the United States, especially in Europe, where alternative medicine is well respected. Chinese herbal medicine has a documented history of over 2500 years in China, and is now widely used by practitioners all over the world. It has been legally practiced in the United States. since the mid seventies by licensed acupuncturists. Homeopathy is also a well-known form of alternative medicine discovered in the 18th century by German physician Samuel Hahnemann, but was practically stamped out in the U.S. in the late nineteenth century by the American Medical Association. In 1938, though, the U.S. Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act finally recognized homeopathic pharmacopoeia as the legal equivalent of allopathic medicine.Another more contemporary and popular form of herbal medicine, called Western herbalism, can be traced back about two hundred years in America. Samuel Thomson, born in 1769, is considered the father of Western herbalism. He discovered over sixty different medically effective native plants by clinical testing, and on the basis of these findings, devised a theory of disease and botanical drug action. Randy Kidu, D.V.M., Ph.D., writes in his articled entitled A Brief History of Alternative Medicine: “The history of herbal medicine is interesting because herbs have been a part of our diet and pharmacy since man began roaming the earth. Coprophytic evidence (seeds and other plant part(found in preserved fecal pellets) points to herbal use by cavemen. Early herbalists practiced their trade since before recorded history in all parts of the world including China, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Africa, England, the Americas, and Europe. Many herbs are also mentioned in the Bible. Today, based on sheer numbers of folks who use one form of herbal medicine or another, it remains the most-used medicine worldwide.”Twenty-five hundred years after the advent of allopathic medicine, modern medicine is still grappling with the idea that herbal medicine could be an effective treatment, and not just quackery, although thousands of years of recorded history has proved its efficacy. A new model of understanding in medicine needs to be incorporated into the existing allopathic model. Because of the growing popularity and effectiveness of natural medicine, practitioners may eventually be given their deserved place in medical society. The incorporation of natural medical practices into the existing model of conventional Western medicine, including the training of new medical doctors, is now called Complimentary Medicine. In order to solve our health problems, this modern paradigm for treatment in medicine must be promoted. This can only truly emerge when bias, self-interest, greed and discrimination is discarded and diverse medical knowledge is promoted and shared, not only between university trained scientists and medical doctors, but among Alternative Medicine practitioners, philosophers, metaphysicians, and other intelligentsia of society as well.

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3 Questions You Must Answer Before Trying to Make Money Online

Question 1:Why do you want an online business, or income?

If you answered “to get rich,” then I have to admit that you are probably misguided about online businesses, and making money online. Let’s be upfront right now, there is no magic pill or elixir (or online program or software, either) that will have you raking in money; despite what all the “guru’s” and make-money-online “experts” are willing to bait out. You may well be better suited to play the lottery.

If you answered “to work five minutes a day and spend the rest of the time traveling/doing what I want.” See bullet one. Any venture, whether it is virtual or not requires time, effort and in almost all cases, at least to a certain degree, capital. Starting an online business, or acquiring an online income is not simply working for “five minutes” and expecting cash to role in. if you believe that, you have likely been hooked by a “guru.” You must expect, and be willing to, invest time (at least) in your new venture – a lot of entrepreneurs starting out spend 10-20 hours a week above and beyond their current job working on their online business.

If you answered “for financial freedom, independence and self-reliance” then you have as good of chance as any to succeed with you own online business or money-making opportunity. As long as you don’t fall into any traps from the “guru’s”, and know upfront the time, effort and sacrifices that has to be made upfront.
Question 2:What do you want to achieve?

If you answered “to get rich” or “to get rich quick” – see the first bullet point above. You have to be realistic with what you want to achieve, and honestly, “to get rich” or “to get rich quick” just is simply not realistic. It does not happen.

Begin with a reasonable goal. Something you can see, and obtain. Something that will, once met, give you inspiration for moving forward, and for continuing with your endeavor. Beware not to set your sights too high as failure in this realm is the leading cause of online entrepreneurs dropping out, giving up and cashing in.
Question 3:Do you have the desire, commitment and self drive?

This is probably the single most question that you must answer truthfully to be able to achieve any and all goals for your online business. Are you the type that can create the initiative to go out on your own, get up daily and know what you must do at any certain time of the day?

Or, are you the type that has to be managed. To be given a task or tasks to achieve in a given time frame? Now, there is nothing at all wrong with this type of person, if you are indeed one of them. But, online entrepreneurship may not be the best option for you.
To be successful in online entrepreneurship, as is true with any business, you must be aware that “get rich” or “get rich quick” goals/hype are scams. You must be able to set achievable and measurable goals. And, most importantly, you must be able to do this on your own. You must have the resolve and determination to set, manage and achieve your own goals.

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Excellent Tips To Help You Make Money Online

Making money online is something that seems impossible, especially if you don’t know much about it. But, it is simpler than you might imagine, as long as you are educated. This article contains information that will help you do just that.If owning your own blog is a bit too time consuming, but you would still like to write and earn money, thing about creating articles for existing blogs. There are a number out there, including Weblogs and PayPerPost. With a little research and a bit of initiative, you could get set up with one of these sites and start earning money in no time.Consider the things you already do, be they hobbies or chores, and consider how you can use those talents online. If you make your children clothing, make two of each and sell the extra on the internet. Love to bake? Offer your skills through a website and people will hire you!Start out small when you want to make money online, to minimize potential losses. For example, something that looks promising could turn out to be a bust and you don’t want to lose a lot of time or money. Do a single task, write just one article or order only one item until the site you choose proves to be safe and worthy.Freelancing is a great way to work online. There are a number of sites that will allow you to log on and put in an idea or proposal. Buyers then search the available options and figure out what they would like to purchase. Freelancing is best suited for skills that involve things like programming and data entry.Create honest reviews of some of the new software that is out on the market today. SoftwareJudge is a site that will pay you to try out this new software and create a review of how good or bad you think it is. This will skyrocket your earnings if you can do this often.There are legit ways to make money, but there are also scams online. Research any site before you do business with them in any way. Check out the BBB for any complaints that may have been lodged.If you have a blog or website ready to go, think about selling advertising space on it. You will earn money each time one of your visitors stops what they are doing and clicks on the ad. The best way to be successful and earn money with pay-per-click advertising is to have a good website that offers valuable information. This will increase your traffic flow as well as the number of clicks you are getting. Google AdSense is one program that can get you started.To make real money online, consider launching a freelance writing career. There are numerous reputable sites that offer decent pay for article and content writing services. By checking into these options and reading feedback of each company, it really is possible to earn an income without ever leaving your home.Now you have the information you need to earn cash online. There are many opportunities, but you need to stay vigilant and try these tips. Take each day step-by-step. With time, you’ll see your bank account grow.

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How Bad is Your Nutrition

Chances are your nutrition is terrible. Or at the very least, your nutrition plan is good but you allow yourself far too many treats. Take today for example. How many Halloween candies have you treated yourself to at work? And you still have to go home and resist the leftover candy bowl or your child’s Halloween loot. The bottom line: You can’t succeed in your fat loss program if your diet is average.I need to bring up this point because of the many emails people send me about their nutrition. From what I read, most people’s nutrition plans are far too poor to allow them to lose fat. And yet they are working harder than ever in the gym and wondering why they aren’t losing fat. No workout will help you build muscle and lose fat if you keep eating at fast-food restaurants, drinking sugary sodas, and raiding bags of leftover mini-candy bars.And it’s frustrating because the secrets to fat loss nutrition are so simple. The best approach is eating several small meals per day, with each meal containing lean protein, vegetables, and other whole foods. You must eliminate unnecessary calories such as soda and high-fat, high-sugar snacks (like that mini-Snickers bar that’s on your desk right now). If you’re trying to lose fat, you can’t have treats every day. If fat loss is the goal, then cookies, apple pie, ice cream, nachos, fried foods, etc. just don’t make the cut, as unfortunate as it is.Research shows that an increased intake of fruits and vegetables is associated with fat loss (nutritionists never put a limit on the number of vegetables that people should eat – provided they are not fried or covered in fat or sauces). Other research suggests that replacing carbohydrates with almonds (a source of fiber, protein, and monounsaturated fats) leads to greater weight loss. Almonds are a very healthy snack and help curb hunger. A typical serving is 1 ounce of almonds (about 22 pieces) and can replace chips, chocolate bars, and cookies in your diet.Make sure you are logging your food intake and making notes about your energy levels when you eat certain foods. Soon you will identify the nutritional reasons for your fatigue or for your consistent energy levels. You will quickly associate sugar and fried foods with poor mental performance, while noticing that small, whole, natural food-based meals and snacks help keep you alert and full of energy.If you are overweight and just starting to improve your nutrition, I have some good news for you. You should begin losing at least 1 pound per week (probably 2 or more) simply from the nutritional changes.Nutrition is that powerful. Don’t expect to start eating perfectly tomorrow, but you should slowly build up to eating much better and healthier than you were yesterday. Try to improve your nutrition plan everyday. Stay consistent and focused with your nutritional approach. You can do it. Here are three nutrition changes that would pay huge dividends for a fat-loss beginner:1) Eat several small, whole food meals per day.2) Don’t consume any unnecessary liquid calories (i.e. no soda, alcohol, or sweetened beverages). Drink more water – nutrition experts recommend 3 liters per day.3) Eliminate processed carbohydrates and sugar from your nutrition plan (no soda, cake, chips, white bread, or chocolate bars).If you’re fed up with the body fat and spare tire around your middle, then it’s time to take a structured approach to fat loss.If your current nutritional plan is preventing you from losing fat, then it’s time for you to start working on building better eating habits. This can be as simple as committing to one small nutritional improvement per day (such as replacing your lunchtime soda with water) and one large nutritional change per week (such as setting aside time on a Sunday to prepare a weekly menu and all of your meals).But you need to have a plan to make this work, just like how you have a plan for your workouts. Your nutrition plan should include the contents of every meal, as well as your grocery list for the week. This will enable you to have meal alternatives for nights when you might need to be running from one event to the other with no time or healthy snack alternatives when you are on the road between meetings.It’s important that you make your plan something you can follow. If you are currently eating 7 meals per week at the golden arches, it wouldn’t be realistic to plan to replace those meals with carrot sticks and tofu this week. A better plan would be to substitute a couple of those meals with healthier sandwich options and then work on improving things even more in the following weeks.So here’s a three-step guideline on building a better nutrition plan:1) Prepare a weekly menu. Outline each meal and snack for every day of the upcoming week. Take into account the possibilities that you might work late or get invited out to lunch. The more options you have and preparations you make, the better you will be able to stick to your fat loss plan.2) From your menu plan, you’ll now know what foods and ingredients you need to make it through the week. Make your grocery list and stick to it (see mine below). Grocery shopping is your first opportunity to break some bad nutritional habits. You can’t eat chips, cookies, or cakes if you don’t have them in the house – so don’t buy them and you’ll avoid any future temptation.3) Prepare the meals or prepare the ingredients so that making the actual meal doesn’t take a lot of time. Like shopping, it’s best to do all of these preparations at one time (such as on a Sunday or another day off).My shopping list includes:Fruits· Apples· Oranges· Blueberries· Melon· Peaches· Grapefruit· RaspberriesVegetables· Peppers (red, yellow, green, & orange),· Spinach· Asparagus· Broccoli· Snow Peas· Mushrooms· Frozen mixed vegetables· Tomato sauceProtein Sources· Chicken breasts· Turkey breasts· Salmon fillets· Lean beef· Skim milk & low-fat, low-sugar yogurtCarbohydrates· Oat bread· Oatmeal (no sugar added)· Whole-wheat pastaOther· Green tea· Unsalted, not roasted, AlmondsYou’ll notice that most of these foods come without a food label. Most of the foods that you should avoid come in a bag or a box. Building a shopping list that contains very few bagged or boxed items is something to aim for. But when you do purchase something with a label, make sure to avoid two of the unhealthiest ingredients created by man:1) High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS)2) Hydrogenated or partially-hydrogenated vegetable oil (the sources of trans-fatty acids)You might have heard of these two ingredients. They are strongly associated with obesity and other lifestyle-diseases (such as diabetes).

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How a Mental Health Counselor Can Change Your Life

You do not have to suffer mental stress and depression alone. Instead, you should seek professional help and learn how a mental health counselor can change your life. Mental health statistics show that twenty-eight percent of Americans can actually benefit from counseling, although only a third of them will actually look for one.A mental health counselor can effectively improve your mental health by working through your past and present issues. Using writing techniques, reading aloud what you wrote, and by talking, you can identify the source of your anxiety and learn how to overcome them effectively. Counseling gives you valuable tools to handle daily problems and long-term relationships. A good counselor can be a real lifesaver.Whatever you do for a living, everyone today experiences different levels of stress at work and at home. Some people deal with stressful situations by over eating, or abusing drugs and alcohol. However, counseling sessions can provide way healthier solutions to everyday troubles that cause you to feel depressed and anxious. A benefit of mental health counseling is that you are approaching your problems naturally through therapy, instead of using prescribed medications.Sometimes, you need an outsider to listen and provide objective opinions on your issues. A mental health counselor is one such person who is trained to give you such valuable advice. It is their job to help you deal with the problems that are causing an upset in your life. Your counselor can also recommend other medical professionals to address all the physical problems that you may be experiencing. This is important as your physical well being significantly affects your mental health.How a mental health counselor can change your life is by giving you the motivation and energy you need to lead your life in a more optimistic manner. No one can really understand how you feel unless you are willing to open up and share thoughts and feelings. Counseling therefore effectively helps reduce the symptoms of anxiety disorders such as irrational fear, heart palpitations, and difficulty in concentrating, speaking, and sleeping. Signs of depression include fatigue, hopelessness, constant crying, and loss of interest in normal activities, headaches, and thoughts of suicide.Through counseling, one can gain new perspectives on managing issues that occur in our daily lives, as well as pick up social skills to better handle them mentally and emotionally.A mental health counselor can help you understand your personal habits and behaviors, and find real contentment by analyzing if what you are doing it is best for you. Mental health counselors strive to stay up to date on the latest developments in mental health care. Their education and practice has exposed them to many theories and procedures on developing good mental health. So, their professional experience will definitely be useful in helping you recover from all your mental problems.Suffering from mental disorders can be very stressful and tiring. It takes a strong person to admit his or her problems and actively seek treatment for them. Seeking out a counselor does not mean that you are less capable than others as you are simply getting help when you need some. As such, learning how a mental health counselor can change your life will enable you to better utilize their expertise to solve your problems efficiently.

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Short, Intermediate, And Longer – Term Impacts On Home Sales, When Rates Rise!

For many reasons, some, economic, while others, related to the pandemic – related, so – called, fatigue, etc, home prices, in most areas, have gone up, at, or, near, record amounts! Because of the prolonged period of artificially – created, low – interest rates, mortgage rates, have been at historic lows! Since, for most home buyers, using financing is essential to affording a purchase, when a low rate, causes cheap money, and, thus, the ability to afford more home – for – the – buck, prices usually rise! It permits qualified buyers to qualify for more money/ loan, because the ratio of monthly mortgage, to overall income, is artificially – reduced! How long will this trend continue, will it become the new – normal, will previous trends/ cycles return, and how will pricing be affected, in the immediate, intermediate, and longer – run, are, all factors, to consider! With, that in mind, this article will attempt to, briefly, consider, examine, review, and discuss, some possibilities, to consider, and understand.

1. Short – term: Since, the Federal Reserve Bank, announced, they planned to raise rates, three times in 2022 (of course, this was before the potential implications, and ramifications, from the Omicron variant), many feel pressure, to act quickly, to take advantage of today’s low rates, before they go up! Three increases will probably translate to, at least, a 0.75% higher rate, which will translate, for most mortgages, to hundreds of extra dollars, per month. Some things to consider, and pay attention to, is, this rate of increased home prices, will, probably, not continue, especially, at such a large degree! How longer one, expects to keep a specific house, is, one issue, to consider, thoroughly, and wisely, before proceeding!

2. Intermediate – term: Although, many believe, to – know, the precise timing of any projected rate – hike, is uncertain! The Fed has changed, and/ or, altered its strategies and approaches, in the past, What the intermediate – term, may bring, including potential inflationary pressures, how long the economic conditions, and unknown factors, related to the pandemic, etc, will determine, largely, what this phase, may bring! In addition, the attitude, and perceptions of buyers, and their confidence, etc, largely impact this real estate market!

3. Longer – term: In the longer – run, will things, restore, to what we have seen, so often, in the past, which is, alternating cycles, between, Sellers, Buyers, and Neutral Markets? The possibilities, include: a continued large escalation; a more – gradual, but persistent – one; some leveling; and/ or, will we see, at least, in certain areas, some sort of falling prices, for a period.

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Affiliate Marketing Coach – Speed Up Your Affiliate Progress With A Coach

An affiliate marketing coach is someone who can help you lift the invisible ceiling which may be holding your affiliate business back. So much in business it is the limits of our thinking which stop us from achieving the things we set out to achieve.

In affiliate marketing this is very much the case. You don’t know what you don’t know! You may even be running down a rabbit hole in the complete wrong direction. I did this for years before finding an affiliate marketing coach who helped me.

Before this point I was trying to do everything alone. Many affiliates are doing the same but don’t realise their actions aren’t aligned with their desired outcomes. For me, I was focusing only on the things I liked to do, not the things which would drive my business forwards.

A clear perspective from a coach who isn’t so myopic in their thinking can change everything. If you keep doing what you’ve always done as an affiliate, your results will likely be the same. But if you’re prepared to step outside your comfort zone, you can make far greater changes in a small amount of time.

Much of affiliate marketing is about trial and error. You try several things and focus on the things which work. This is Pareto’s principle, or the 80:20 rule. But if you have no results to draw from, you could easily be focusing on strategies which will take years to gain any traction.

A few of the small shifts I made in my affiliate marketing endeavours are: shifting to promoting products which offer recurring commissions, I stopped promoting small value, low commission products, and I started using high ticket digital products instead.

These steps alone hugely helped me start generating tactics in my affiliate business. But I also got coaching and mentoring, and decided to take affiliate marketing more seriously. In the beginning, it was just a hobby, and I treated it like a hobby. But if you look at your affiliate business like a hobby, you’ll earn a hobby wage from it. Treat it more seriously, and focus on building a sustainable income which can replace existing work, and you can achieve much more. You get what you focus on!

Goals are useful signposts for affiliates too. For such a long time I was without a rudder as an affiliate. A goal gives you a specific destination you can measure and work towards. If you don’t have either a goal, or a strategy you can stick to with affiliate marketing, it’s easy to lose purpose and drift off in another direction.

When you’re looking for results and don’t have any, it can become completely demoralising! You need to stoke the fire of your own enthusiasm continually or you’re likely to become disillusioned and drop out. This happens to around 95% of affiliate marketers.

But you need to be in the 5% who stick at it and eventually break through and start making consistent sales. When this occurs will depend on the actions you take and how long you keep going for. If something isn’t working, try something else. Focus on the small wins like a hit on a website, or an email lead. Keep your enthusiasm high and you’ll be able to surmount the obstacles which come with the territory. But if you allow yourself to become dissatisfied, it’s much more difficult to keep going.

Affiliate marketing isn’t easy. It’s performance related which means that if you don’t make a sale, you don’t make any money. This is tough in the beginning because you can do a lot of activity which is unrewarded. But once you make a sale, there’s some light at the end of the tunnel. This is the goal of many new affiliate marketers – to make their first sale.

Once you have some positive feedback in terms of success, you can focus on the activities which brought it about. But until this happens, you very much need to trust the process. If you’re also paying a membership fee while this is happening, there can come a point where you decide it’s simply not working! This is common, and people drop out. But if you have a coach you can trust, things are so much more sustainable.

An affiliate marketing coach can help you overcome negativity, indecision, hesitancy and self belief issues. A coach can help you see things in a different light and to notice limitations in your thinking.

For me this has been a complete game changer, and not just for affiliate marketing. When you notice your own self talk is talking away your success and happiness, you realise you are the creator of your own outcomes. As you remember to change your self talk and thinking habits, you realise without belief there is no action. So belief is everything.

The person we listen to more than anyone else in life is ourselves. We talk to ourselves in our head constantly. Re reaffirm what we think and believe about ourselves continually. If we can learn to tap into this power, and start giving ourselves more positive commands, then we can grow both personally and professionally in a much more congruent way than simply through thinking, planning and attempting things in only the physical aspect of our affiliate business.

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