Shopping Cart Abandonment Is About Losing Customers

But there is a way to regain them.

You research the market. You conduct focus groups to measure desire. You design and test a prototype tailored explicitly to answer the needs of your customers. You name your product enticingly, package it alluringly and price it attractively. Then you build a Web site that displays it appealingly, with a design that highlights it attractively and copy that describes it reverently.

Yet sometime between the moment they arrive on your site and the moment they must commit by entering their credit card numbers, too many of your customers vanish. This is called Shopping Cart Abandonment.

Shopping Cart Abandonment is one of the biggest problems every E-commerce Website's management must overcome. Here's how:

FIRST: If customers are navigating your buying process up to the point of credit card submission, you should realize that it's unlikely your product is the problem. The problem is your customer's assessment of your site's level of Internet security as LOW.

SECOND: It is, therefore, advisable for you to secure solid trust assurance and security tools to diminish Shopping Cart Abandonment. This takes an SSL Certificate. But you shouldn't stop there. Since Shopping Cart Abandonment is about losing sales, doing everything you can to prevent buyer apprehension is the solution.

What IS that solution? It's the SSL Certificate's advanced big brother, the EV SSL Certificate. The EV SSL is a vast improvement over the typical cheap SSL Certificate. It comes with the renowned Green Address Bar that announces total trust, safety and ID security to every single customer who arrives on your site. It comes with trust marks you display on as many pages of your site as you deem advantageous. These are Interactive insignia that actually tell every customer whose mouse cursor glides over them that your company has taken steps to ensure the security of their credit card transaction. The EV SSL also comes with unlimited server licenses. And the best EV SSL Certificates even come with a built-in PCI (Hacker Vulnerability) Scanning and Compliance Service, 24/7 phone support and impressive warranties.

Today, E-commerce customers are picky about purchasing, skittish about security, and all too ready to weigh the benefits of items on multiple Websites before they buy. You need all the Shopping Cart Abandonment defeating help you can get. And a highest quality EV SSL Certificate is the best way to go.

So here's the tip of the day: Google EV SSL Certificates and find out more ASAP!

Under The Leaded Sky in Serbia

When one population in one century survived five wars, two wars in just ten years, enforcment by self a question it`s the war destiny of Serbian people or his dare. With what a Serbian people has merit this - with his frankness, levity, with collective and national damnation or just with that fact which they are living in the territories which from its geopolitical consideration always were interesting orbit of much other populations. Maybe all this is a colective spread why is Serbian people with centuries had carry on contest for survival in Balkan, together attest its claim and necessity for protection of a national identity and his roots. In that permanent war people had obtained and dissipates but often had pass a golgote, and invigorated in every countenance .

His "armature" must be stronger than steel to resist not just external compressions but and inner pressures which sometime were of nourish intensity from the right once, with constant undergo political and economic exhaustions. Besides this, this people had remain immaculate in his hart and sanity, which have had help them to understand against of often irrationality and incriminations from other populations, must hang out in its defeat to show to the same universe their real face and improve genuineness of his intention that they wish to survive and live same like normal world without other aspirations. Then even thought often had not received a desirable indorse from the world and remained a lonesome in their bother and misfortune, have not lost confidence in that same world with belief that this world will keep them under its wing and incorporate in integrative process with other countries and populations. , brought to the brink of the desperation and a general debasement, Serbian population in last time has much more felled a slowness arrange with other populations, with a fear of a absolute fade and footstep from them. That it was a plenty superior calmness and waste its patience. A high disappointment it must in one moment rise and reached its culmination . And that was happen when people had not proceed suffer and hopeless .It had burst from them a certain boisterously and freak energy which revolt had converted in expansive collision against all of that what had choked and made filthy (muddy) for this all last years. In Serbia was happen people .When in this territories its happen people , that means a big cession and profound (intensive) reverse, in which were to many await not just ten years but much more. Certainly ready over the night one people rightly had obtained all attributes of valiant (heroic) nation, because it had afford energy to overturn all barricades and limitations shortly which have had been in systematic way pushed for many years. Maybe that was only way to this people to have eligibility and get its destiny in their hands, and after this happenings world accepted them and easy keep them in " their companion", whom is with all attributes ever had belong. A time will show, which is a essential equalize and wish of heroine of this book to Serbia being a prosper country in which will be return not just departed Serbian's around the world, but and all other people who can find here a lift for a beautiful and comfortable life.

(Preview taken from book " UNDER THE LEADED SKY IN SERBIA", by dr Mirjana Radovic ( it is traslated from Serbian to English)

Book should not be accepted like a political handwork, but just like one record of an hardly time through which had pass one nation requiring a different shapes for self protection and salvation. Author of this book had taken like a model from that point, one family from Belgrade in which issue had try to show up their adaptive skills and struggle for survival in a frenzy social escalation of community and generally political occurrences.

Your Car Stereo's System - 5 Tips to Professional Results

You have chosen your new car stereo and now it is time to install. The final result will depend on the quality of the installation. It won't matter how expensive your car stereos system is if you do not install it correctly. Your speaker sound will depend on the amplifier and the type of enclosure. Your amplifier will depend on the current, and the current will depend on the alternator and the wiring. Mistakes will leave you with disappointing results. Here are a few tips that will make the installation of your car stereos system a success:

The first thing you should do is determine the location of the speakers. Speaker location is the key to quality sound. The distance between the left and right speakers and the distance between the left and right ears is not always the same. Try to make the difference between the left and right speakers as little as possible. You may have better luck if you place the speakers on the floor, but you do run the risk of the sound seemingly coming from below. The location of your speakers is imperative to the sound quality you get from your car stereo. When installing your car stereos system, place the speakers temporarily in various locations to find the perfect sound before you install them permanently.

After you have determined the perfect location for your speakers, you must use Dynamat or other similar materials to stop vibration. This is to prevent the metal panels from becoming part of your sound system. How you connect your cables and the location of the cables is essential to achieving a top quality sound from your car stereos system. Some install huge amplifiers in an attempt to get the best sound from their speaker. The fact is you do not need to over do it on the amplifier; you simply need good quality cables to connect it.

Now you can begin the installation of the amplifiers and head unit. You can choose to use the factory wires or you may want to give the head unit a separate circuit. If your car stereo has excellent quality factory audio you should have no need for an additional circuit. Use good quality cables and do not cut costs on clamps and distribution blocks. This is the time to install filters as well.

Building a speaker enclosure is the next step. There is no set rule on which type of enclosure will work best with your car stereos system. You should determine which type of enclosure will give you the sound you desire. Different sizes and shapes of enclosures will produce different sounds. The best type of enclosure is an individual choice. You should experiment with various shapes and sizes until you find the sound quality you are looking for.

After your speakers are installed to your satisfaction, be sure to upholster your door panels with colors that match your car interior. Installing your car stereos system is a highly personal experience. Experiment with various locations and connections until you find the sound quality you are looking for.

George Steiner

www.1-caraudio.com [http://www.1-caraudio.com]

Hang a Deck Gate - How Tos and Expert Tips

GATE INSTALLATION INSTRUCTIONS:

Tools Required:

Power Drill/Driver Screwdriver Pencil Awl Center Hole Punch or Centering Drill Bit (optional) Plumber's Level and/or a 24" long Level Styrofoam block length to support gate (included)

STEP 1 (Clean Working Area):

Using the Gate box and/or Styrofoam packaging material as a cushion, place the deck gate on your deck floor (being careful not to scratch or mar the finish).

STEP 2 (Install Hinge to Gate):

Make certain that you have purchased a good quality outdoor gate hinge and hardware of sufficient size and weight-grade to support a gate weighing at least 35 pounds! Also, be certain to use all of the screws that are provided by the manufacturer. Before continuing, determine the orientation needed for the hinges purchased so that the gate opens from the correct direction (inward or outward).

Place your first hinge just about even with the bottom of the Top Rail in a vertical alignment that is square/perpendicular to the edge of the gate. If available, have a second person hold the hinge in place for you.

(Note: Depending on the hinge product used, a small Plumber's Level may be helpful to ensure that the hinge is plumb & aligned properly.)

Use a Center Hole Punch or an Awl to mark the center of the screw holes. Using a Centering Hole Drill Bit will be more accurate and will allow you to skip this step.

Using a drill bit that is smaller in diameter than the screws being used, pre-drill the hinge holes to a depth that is slightly less than the length of the screw. If you have a Drill Bit Gauge, use a bit that is two sizes smaller than your hinge screws.

Use a power driver to attach/screw the hinge to your gate being careful to NOT over-tighten or strip the screw holes. If you are not experienced in the use of the power driver, be sure to practice on a piece of scrap material. Repeat above for the bottom hinge.

STEP 3 (Attach to Deck Newel Post):

Special Note: Depending on the material, size and final weight of your gate, it is critical that your newel post is plumb and strong! Preferably, the post should extend down through the deck floor and be blocked to the joists/beams underneath the deck. This is required for Trex Accents gates.

It is helpful to have a second person to attach the gate to your deck. Hold the gate up next to the newel post at the proper height desired (close to the top of your railing).

A long piece of Styrofoam (the same as the width of your gate) is provided. Place it underneath the bottom edge of the gate to help hold it in place.

Properly align the top hinge where it attaches to the newel post (according to the hinge design being used).

Use a 24" level to make sure the gate is positioned plumb & level. It will be helpful to use wood shims as part of this step.

Use a Center Hole Punch or an Awl to mark the center of the screw holes. Using a Centering Hole Drill Bit will be more accurate and will allow you to skip this step.

Using a drill bit that is smaller in diameter than the screws being used, pre-drill the hinge holes to a depth that is slightly less than the length of the screw. If you have a Drill Bit Gauge, use a bit that is two sizes smaller than your hinge screws.

Use the power driver to attach/screw the hinge to your Post being careful to NOT over-tighten or strip the screw holes.

Keeping the length of Styrofoam in place and using available shims, level the gate in place. Then attach the bottom hinge in the same manner as described above.

STEP 4 (Attach Latch to Gate):

After making certain that your gate is hanging properly in the correct position and smoothly swings open and closed, begin to attach the latch purchased.

First attach the gate latch part by placing it at the desired comfortable height (normally about even with the top hinge). Depending on the hardware design being used, you should attach it on the inside face of your gate.

Hold the latch in place on your gate and lightly mark the holes with a pencil. After verifying you have the latch marked in the proper position desired, pre-drill your screw holes in the same manner as mentioned above. Then attach/screw the latch using a power or hand screwdriver.

STEP 5 (Attach Latch to Newel Post):

Hold the latch part that attaches to your newel post in position so that it lines up with the gate latch part and closes/locks in place properly. Make a light pencil mark to keep the position.

After verifying that you have the latch marked in the proper position desired, pre-drill your screw holes in the same manner as mentioned above. Then attach/screw the latch part using a power or hand screwdriver.

Maintaining A Healthy Diet While At Work

One of the problems that many of us face when we work for a living is the fact that it can be quite difficult to eat healthily through the day. As a matter of fact, we may find that we are simply grabbing something as quick as possible from vending machines or candy machines that may be at our place of business. Quite obviously, this is not going to result in our having the optimum health that we would desire and it can actually cause problems in the long run that are difficult to control. That being said, what are some of the things that you can do to ensure that you are eating as healthy as possible when you are stuck at work?

One of the more obvious points to eating healthy is the fact that you must be prepared in advance. If you are leaving everything to chance, it is likely that you are going to be hitting one of the candy machines in your office at sometime during the day. This can be disastrous for your waistline, as well as your overall health. If you plan in advance, on the other hand, and bring yourself some food that is healthier than what comes out of the vending machines at work, you will be in a better position. What are some of the options that are open to you?

Some people find that it is very beneficial to do all of their cooking on one or two days every week. If you cook on the weekend, it is often possible for you to cook enough that you will be good for the majority of the week. Having the food prepared in advance and even distributed in smaller Tupperware containers will make it easy for you to grab a pre-prepared lunch and take it with you in the morning. This will help you to avoid the fast food restaurants and the other unhealthy options that are available to you in the work environment.

Another thing that you are going to need in order to be successful with eating healthy is proper motivation. When you are first starting some type of a healthy eating regime, it can be very difficult to stick with it for the long run. As a matter of fact, it is often estimated that you have to go at least 21 days without a particular food or type of food before it becomes a habit. If you are able to stick with it for that long, you may just find that you are able to avoid it for the rest of your life.

One final thing that you should consider is the fact that being healthy is not just a matter of eating healthy. Exercise and getting plenty of rest are also going to play key parts in being healthy at work and in your home environment. Get outside and get some fresh air when possible and if all you can do is walk, by all means go for a walk. The more you spend time exercising, the less you will have a problem with your health.

Why Extended Warranty Plans Make No Economic Sense

The idea of an extended warranty is simple: for a small fee, all repairs for a period are covered by the store providing the service. These may seem like an attractive option; for only a few dollars a month, the store will pay hundreds for a potential repair. Many stores offer warranties on expensive purchases, especially on big-ticket consumer electronics. However, there is a profit motive behind offering these warranties, and this motive accounts for the reason extended warranties make no sense for the consumer.

In an extended warranty plan, for a one-time fee, or a couple of dollars a month, the service provider will pay for repairs to the covered item. Obviously the per month cost of the plan, or the plan in total is less than an expected repair bill. This is an attractive option, as repair bills for appliances can be hundreds of dollars, or even require the complete replacement of the product. However the provider would not offer these warranty plans at a loss to themselves. On the contrary, they build the cost of the potential repairs right into the cost of the plan sold to the consumer.

An example might be the extended warranty on a new television. For a few dollars a month, the store will cover any repairs required by the new television. But how much should the store charge for this? To set their price for the extended warranty, the store calculates the average repair bill for the television, adjusted by the likelihood the television will need repairs. The resulting price would be the cost to the store to repair the average number of problematic televisions.

For a simplified example: suppose this television would cost on average $500 total to repair. Approximately 2% of the covered televisions have a problem per month. To repair all covered televisions would cost $10 per month. Hence the store would have to pay $10 per month to cover all repairs. All things equal, this would also be the average cost to the consumer: the price of a repair, weighted against the likelihood of a problem occurring.

However, the store also has a motive to make money in the process, and they will almost always build a profit figure into their price. If the average cost of repairs comes to $10 per month, the store would charge a premium for their own gain. This is not accounted for in the statistical derivation of the extended warranty's per month cost. This usually results in the store charging more than what it would statistically cost to repair the television. By charging for example $12 per month for the extended warranty, the store makes $2 per month per plan (if the statistics are accurate). Ignoring overhead, this is 20% profit. Some stores charge as much as 50% or more on extended warranties, all at the customer's expense.

While most extended warranty plans are designed to cost the consumer more in the long-term than they statistically save, some extended warranty plans have other benefits. Repairs for essential items such as automobiles or homes may be too expensive at one time, but the consumer has no option but to pay for repairs immediately. If the cost of a repair is more than the consumer could afford at once, warranty programs can help spread the cost over several months or years.

Most consumer warranty programs are not worth the price. If the statistics are accurate, and the store is interested in making a profit (they all are), most consumer warranty programs are priced significantly higher than their cost. This is inherent to their design, so they are almost never worth it.

Yet Another Victory for Community Spouse Medicaid Compliant Annuity Planning

On March 26, 2008, Leroy and Glenda Morris requested that a resource assessment be conducted for Medicaid eligibility purposes. The Morrises' countable resources were found to be $107,812. After dividing that figure in half, Mr. Morris' community spouse resource allowance ("CSRA") was determined to be $53,906, leaving a spend-down amount of $51,906 after Mrs. Morris' individual resource allowance of $2,000 was retained. As such, Mrs. Morris did not qualify for Medicaid at that time.

On April 1, 2008, the paid legal fees of $4,000, purchased two prepaid burial contracts at $7,500 each, and purchased a Medicaid Compliant Annuity for $41,000. The Medicaid Compliant Annuity held a term of 36 months, and provided Mr. Morris with monthly income of $1,140.47.

Mrs. Morris then applied for Medicaid benefits on April 3, 2008. A denial notice was provided by the Oklahoma Department of Human Services ("OKDHS") on April 7, 2008, stating that Mrs. Morris was over-resourced. The OKDHS provided two reasons for the determination:

In that all the couple's resources in excess of Mr. Morris' $53,906 CSRA must count towards Glenda Morris' $2,000 limit, Mrs. Morris exceeded the resource cutoff. Glenda's decision to use $41,000 of her resources to buy an annuity for Mr. Morris is of no consequence in determining eligibility and did not count as a spend-down of her resources.

In the alternative, the annuity purchase was a disqualifying transfer resulting in a 309-day divestment penalty period. Mrs. Morris made a transfer to her spouse without receiving fair market value in return - only Mr. Morris benefitted from the annuity purchase. Furthermore, inter-spousal transfers of resources are only permitted in an amount necessary to bring the community spouse's resources up to the CSRA.

The Morrises then filed suit in a federal district court. The district court ruled in favor of OKDHS, affirming that the community spouse was prohibited from purchasing an annuity above that spouse's CSRA after an initial determination of eligibility. The Morrises appealed.

As a result, the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of OKDHS was reversed. Both of OKDHS' above rationales were rejected for several reasons, to-wit:

OKDHS' rational regarding the annuity purchase not counting as a spend-down was not consistent with the Medicaid statutes, thus rejected.

The limited transfer provision of § 1396r-5(f) to community spouses applies only after an individual has been found to be eligible for Medicaid.

The initial resource assessment was not an actual determination of whether an applicant is eligible, and if Congress sought to limit spousal transfers following CSRA calculations it would make little sense to focus on eligibility determinations but not on resource assessments. As such, the annuity purchase occurred prior to a determination that Mrs. Morris was eligible for Medicaid.

An institutionalized applicant needs not spend-down his or her spousal share; rather, the couple must spend-down any excess resources beyond the CSRA. Any division of the couple's resources prior to eligibility is immaterial because resources held by either spouse are considered available to the institutionalized spouse.

Qualifying annuities are not considered available to the institutionalized spouse pursuant to § 1396p(c)(1)(G) and 20 C.F.R. § 416.1201, and the CSRA is rendered unavailable to the institutionalized spouse under § 1396r-5(c)(2). These separate provisions create two different mechanisms by which a Medicaid applicant can render resources unavailable, and the statute does not require an applicant to pick one or the other.

Similar to the closing remarks of the recent Geston v. Olson case, the appeals court stated "although we understand the district court's concerns regarding the exploitation of what can only be described as a loophole in the Medicaid statutes, we conclude that the problem can only be addressed by Congress."

Is It Worth Your Money To Purchase Traffic For Your Website

Something you might or might not be aware of is the fact that obtaining traffic to your internet site is one of the hardest things that any Online Marketer will need to face. When it comes to producing this traffic I should point out that there are quite a few ways that folks can go about getting it. Just about the most popular techniques for getting the traffic men and women are making an effort to get is through the search engines like google by utilizing proper search engine optimization. There are programs on the net today which will allow men and women to actually purchase website traffic. Needless to say when you choose to purchase traffic there are some things you are going to have to know so you don't waste your cash.

Loads of web sites that wind up selling web site traffic to individuals will not wind up providing these individuals with the quality traffic they need in order to produce cash. In fact you're going to see that some of the so called website traffic suppliers use various kinds of automated software or bots to create hits for your site. So while you are sitting back and watching your hit counter roll away as you think you are getting traffic, the fact of the matter is it is nothing more than a computer created visit. This also means that the money you spent on this traffic was a total waste mainly because not one real person came to your site.

As a result of the fact that many individuals are buying traffic these days, more and more of these dishonest organizations are popping up all over the place selling useless traffic. And you're going to have to try and avoid these kinds of scams no matter what, and there are some suggestions below which will help.

In relation to spotting a scam site, one of the primary indicators you are going to find is the actual website itself. Individuals wind up throwing these sites up left and right to be able to try and scam people out of cash, so if this site looks poorly created or just very cheesy you may want to stay away from it. You may end up coming across to an internet site selling traffic that looks very professional with a good design, at which point you ought to go through and see if there are any spelling or grammar mistakes made on the website. You ought to never find mistakes like this on a web site that is being run by a professional company, often made by an individual person sitting within their basement setting up these sites.

You're in addition going to want to see if they have their contact information somewhere on the web site. Web sites that do not have a contact page or any method to get in touch with them are probably just looking to scam you out of money. Some of these scam sites will have a page that offers contact information, in which case I would highly recommend that you contact these individuals to see exactly how long it takes for them to return to you. If it ends up taking longer than one day, you may possibly see that this is an additional site run by one particular person and it might be another scam.

If you talk to any successful Internet Marketer they're going to usually tell you that purchasing hits for your internet site is usually an entire waste of time and money. If you're looking to spend cash on purchasing traffic for your internet site I would suggest using a reputable program such as Google Adwords. Although you may wind up investing more money per visitor by using a pay per click program, at least you will know you are getting good quality traffic to your web page.

How To Do Cost Per Action Marketing

There are so many programs out there over engineering the internet marketing game, it is crazy; site after site, program after program, telling you to promote here, promote there and follow these directions. Personally I believe there are more sites and programs over engineering when the internet is becoming easier for everyone in terms of promoting and SEO especially. The search engines are starting to pay closer attention to the normal Joe.

Marketing online shouldn't have to be hard at all. In fact, if you can find out how to get traffic to your site, then you will be able to eventually double those efforts and ultimately outsource those efforts to expedite the process even more.

CPA marketing is no different from any other marketing on the internet. Why do you think every time you buy a program out there promising you "secret" information ends up telling you the same thing I'm telling you?

It's not rocket science. If you are a beginner, then you have come to the right place. Let's talk about some sources of promoting CPA programs online.

1. Craigslist

This is number one because you can pretty much leverage any program on this site. There are so many different categories on this platform, it's ridiculous. All you have to do is just look through CPA network and find out which programs fit certain categories. If they fit, then you will be able to set up an ad surrounding that CPA program.

You never want to use your affiliate link directly on the ad. Always use anchor text or link an image with the site. However, it's even better if you have a splash page or some other type of information gathering site. This leads me to this.

2. Blogging (Blogger)

You can use blog as your source for obtaining leads as well. It will work for you even better if you buy a domain name and use it as your main lead funnel on Craigslist or any other site. You have so much leverage with a blog. People will respect you and they will feel like you are approachable and knowledgeable enough to help with whatever they are looking for or for whatever it is you are offering them.

These two sources are very good for your CPA marketing business and can get your plenty of traffic to your site. The best part about this is the consistency of traffic you get for free!

What Is an Insurance Lienholder?

Many people jump into financial decisions hoping to pursue their material needs such as loans for cars, homes and other forms of personal loans. When this happens, there will be various parties involved in this decision which would greatly affect the future of the borrower. The parties involved would be the borrower, the bank or financial institution giving financial assistance, the provider or developer or car seller and lastly the insurance company. It is a process involved when you borrow money or ask for financial assistance. You need to have all the qualifications and you must be financially capable of paying your dues. But before you even intend in lending the money, it is already known or assumed that you want to buy a specific car or home for your use.

In most cases, cars and vehicles are the most common reasons for loans. Once the bank decides to allow you to loan the money and pay it to the car seller, it would then be necessary or it is highly required that you would seek insurance for your vehicle. In this case an insurance company would ask you questions regarding the model, the type, the make, the series, etc. All of which is considered a necessary information in calculating your car's worth. The need to have insurance is mandatory because in cases of damage and if you haven't fully paid your loan, the insurance company would compensate for the damages incurred.

Due to some irregularities and personal reasons, some borrowers would not declare minor damages to insurance companies and just let it be. Because of this the lien holder would decide to either add charges to the loaned amount or pursue their rights of part ownership on the vehicle of your choice. The lien holder has every right to take part in every action in your vehicle's activity such as damages for they still partly own the vehicle.

The insurance lien holder is the one responsible for your financing, usually banks and loan institutions. In the case that you haven't fully paid your loan, they have the right to acquire your vehicle in any way they can if in cases of major damages. There are also times that if a vehicle gets seriously damage like car accidents, the bank would ask for computation from the insurance company regarding the coverage and the amount. After getting the estimated amount, they would compute the coverage and the amount you have paid. Whatever would be the difference would be the one you should be paying for.

Always remember that in insurance, there are rules and regulations to take note of. The important thing is that you know it by heart so in cases of accidents or unexpected events you would be ready.

The Truth About Anesthesia

What exactly is anesthesia and how does it work? It is most often used during surgery so that the patient does not have to be awake or feel any pain during the procedure. It can also be used to relax the patient and make them forgetful. The medicine used to achieve these results is called anesthetics, but other medicines could be added as well.

There are three main types of anesthesia, including local, regional, and general. Local anesthesia only affects a certain part of the body. In less serious surgeries, the doctor and patient may choose a local anesthetic because the patient is able to remain awake while not feeling any pain in the area where the surgery is occurring. Regional anesthesia does not put the patient entirely to sleep, but blocks pain to a larger portion of the body than a local anesthetic. General anesthetic affects the brain and is administered to the patient through an IV or a gas. A general anesthetic causes the patient to feel no pain as well as forget the entire procedure.

General anesthetics are usually referred to as "going to sleep," but how exactly does it work? The truth is that experts are not exactly sure why this drug affects people as it does. They believe that the spinal cord is affected as are portions of the brain (brain stem reticular activating system and the cerebral cortex). This then changes the electrical activity of the body. When the general anesthesia is first administered, the patient can feel the drugs taking effect, but they are still awake.

Once the patient is unconscious, they may exhibit unusual breathing and heart rate, but this usually does not last for an extended amount of time. After this stage, the patient is considered anesthetized. If the amount of drugs is not regulated and the patient gets too much, the consequences could be brain damage or death.

How does the doctor determine what type of anesthetic to use? First of all, they will examine if the patient has any allergies as well as what their overall health is. They will also take into account the type of surgery and how painful or uncomfortable it will make the patient. Whatever type of anesthesia is chosen, there is always a certain amount of risk. As this is a drug, it can travel throughout the body and affect the individual's blood pressure, breathing, and heartbeat. As different people will react to the same medication in different ways, in some cases there is no way to predict the side effects.

How common are anesthesia errors? Studies have shown that they may be even more common than we think as errors are corrected during surgery and the patient never finds out. In some cases, these errors cannot be corrected without notice, as when they result in serious injury or even death. The anesthesiologist may give the patient too much of the medication or not enough.

The medical staff may fail to properly monitor the patient during the surgery and may therefore not notice serious problems. If the equipment with which the anesthesia was administered was faulty, it could result in serious complications as well. The anesthesiologist is also responsible for checking on the patient's medical history and educating them on the possible risks of anesthesia.

If you lost a loved one because of a mistake on the part of the anesthesiologist or doctor, they should be held responsible for medical malpractice. If you were the victim of an anesthesia error and suffered as a result, you could also have a case. Contact a qualified legal representative to learn more!

Retail History

It is one of the biggest employers in the world. It eats up a large chunk of our money. It is the retail industry.

Retailing is a massive, passive beast that pervades just about all our lives. Virtually all of us shop, sometimes as a pleasure and sometimes as a burdenous chore.

But when and how did it all begin? The answer is probably to do with surpluses. As we got better at cultivating the land, some people found that even after feeding their families and animals and putting food into storage, there was some left over. Rather than waste this surplus, it was traded for other surpluses or perhaps tools or other objects.

Those that had enough land and were particularly good at producing food from it would have realized that they were on to a good thing by deliberately producing surpluses. Eventually the informal trade in goods would have become more organized, with central markets being formed where these producers could get together on a regular basis in order to exchange goods.

Of course, trading goods for other goods is all very well until you have just about every thing you are likely to ever need, or the product you want has yet to be produced. In order to get around this, people started to owe goods to other people. Early forms of credit may have just been verbal agreements. As time passed, some traders and producers decided to keep a record of what was owed. One way this was done was by the debtor leaving some collateral with the creditor - some object or an animal that was held by the creditor until the debt was paid. This was OK until the debtor needed the tool or animal in order to produce the very goods that were owed. An alternative way of denoting credit was to use a symbolic object, such as small animal. Since small animals are not very portable, it became more normal to use small inanimate objects such as pebbles. Over time these small object became more decorated and valued and eventually metal coins and paper notes became more and more familiar. So early trading gave rise to money.

As time passed, some producers would have found they were better at selling the goods than growing them (or perhaps enjoyed it more!). Others preferred to stick to growing. So there was a gradual separation of the producers and the traders.

And it was not just food that was sold. Tools, trinkets, jewelry, cups, plates and many other objects would have been traded as well.

The informal markets would, over time, become more formal and more permanent. So shops began. Other traders would prefer to travel around selling their goods. These became known as peddlers. Selling from a regular market, from a permanent shop or peddling goods are known collectively as retailing.

Good Low Carb Foods

Many people don't begin a low carb diet, or don't stay with it, simply because they can't find tasty choices that are also low in carbohydrates. Actually, there are many foods that can be used for meals, in recipes or for snacks, when you're trying to maintain a diet that is low in carbs. Consuming a variety of foods that are naturally low in carbohydrates will allow you to eat a healthy diet that's tasty and also good for you.

Everyone is unique, and the same foods won't work for everyone, but there are foods that are very popular on low carb diets, and you can tailor your recipes to suit your tastes. Fish is a popular staple on low carb diets. But you don't need to restrict yourself to just the well-known types. There are many good low carbohydrate foods, and fresh fish are a healthy part of your low carb diet that you should eat at least several times a week. The best fish for your diet may include orange roughy, Alaskan halibut, trout, wild caught salmon, sea bass, cod and mackerel. Shellfish are healthy low carb choices that are full of taste, too. They include scallops, crab, shrimp, oysters, clams and lobster.

Eggs and egg whites can be included as breakfast essentials or as ingredients in other meals. Free range eggs are often preferred in low carb diets. You're not limited to chicken eggs, either. You might wish to try quail or duck eggs, to keep your diet alive and different from one day to the next.

Red meat is an important staple in low carbohydrate diets, because it allows you to get enough protein for a healthy diet. Lamb is a good choice, as is venison or deer meat. Cattle that have been grass-fed will be a positive choice, as will buffalo or bison meat, as long as the animals were not treated with antibiotics or growth hormones.

Poultry can be included in many low carbohydrate recipes, to make them tasty. Consume only poultry that was never treated with antibiotics or hormones. Some of the most popular poultry choices are chicken, duck, goose and turkey. Wild bird meat is also on the list of good low carb foods that provide quality low carbohydrate recipe mainstays, so add pheasant, wild turkey and quail to your list.

You should include vegetables and fruits in any diet, too, so that you reap the rewards of their many vitamins and nutrients. Vegetables that are not starchy are the best for your diet, including collard greens and spinach. Good tasting vegetables to use for recipes and healthy snacks or salads include Romaine lettuce, cauliflower, asparagus, cucumbers, mushrooms, turnip greens and celery. You can also add cabbage, zucchini, cilantro and mustard greens. Vegetable leaves and stems can help you to prepare healthy salads that are low in carbohydrates.

Fresh fruits are good choices, as parts of recipes or as snacks. Include fresh strawberries, raspberries and blueberries, and deduct any carb count from your allowance for each day. These do contain sugar and carbs, so they should be enjoyed sparingly.

Oils add omega fatty acids to your diet, so use them as desired in your recipes. Some of the best choices are extra virgin olive oil, flaxseed and canola oils. By using all these different good low carb foods, you can add good taste to your low carb, heart healthy diet.

Electrical Contractors and Outsourcing

Reliability, hiring and termination costs are persistent problems in the electrical contracting industry. Thorough screening, testing and interviewing techniques can help prevent reliability issues. The question is, do you have time to do all of these things and maintain focus on the job site?

First review a list of functions your company must do to hire, maintain and retain an employee. Place a cost on each item using the time value of the person who must handle each separate item. For example and simplification, your office manager earns $15.00/hour and spends a half-hour a day dealing with employee issues. The time value is $7.50 to perform that function. Do this for each item listed below and come up with a daily total amount. Divide the total by 8 and determine if you are performing the functions cheaper than the staffing company can. Most electrical contractors can not because they are set up operationally, not administratively.

If you need a guideline to compare costs, most staffing companies charge a very small amount on top of each hour billed; use 5-7% as a general rule. Keep in mind this includes all labor burden costs including state/federal payroll taxes, worker’s com, liability insurance, payroll processing, etc (see list for the rest).

Outsourcing your human resources function eliminates the need for:

Placing job ads, handling phone calls from ads, processing job applications,checking references,performing criminal background checks, scheduling and paying for drug testing (if required), scheduling and conducting interviews, controlling Worker’s compensation insurance costs, maintaining liability insurance on employees, paying for office staff human resources training, employee handbook development, safety program development, administration and injury reporting, payroll administration, mailing checks and setting up direct deposit accounts, payroll tax accounting – weekly payroll and annual mailing of W-2’s, time tracking of field employees (electricians), offering and administering health and savings plans, worker’s compensation claims processing, processing unemployment claims, handling court ordered garnishments, paying attorney’s fees if a suit is filed against your company, addressing and processing NLRB issues, dealing with and paying for other post-employment obligations (wrongful termination suits, HIPPA notifications, etc)…and all of the other time consuming costs not mentioned above that chew into your bottom line!

What many electrical contractors do not take into consideration is the amount of time away from production and the amount of time their office staff devotes to recruiting, hiring and maintaining each employee on the payroll. This is a variable cost outsourcing labor solves.

Going back to the numbers, variable costs are costs that can be varied flexibly as conditions change; like the number of electricians you need to carry on your payroll at any given time. The point made here is that labor is a much more flexible resource than capital investment. Outsourcing labor provides you and your staff with freedom away from time consuming human resource functions. The time you save is better spent marketing, dealing with customers, suppliers, and focusing on the work at your project site.

Spend time to add up the time and cost of the listed functions involved in hiring and retaining electricians. Ask a staffing company to provide you with a cost breakdown of their hourly charge for each electrician’s skill level. Keep in mind staffing companies cover all the costs you would and charge a nominal account administration fee (the fee is normally much less than what companies spend on the list of HR functions). Compare the costs. Remember to consider the intangible benefits of reduced liability, time savings and increased freedom to focus on your customer.

Most contractors will agree that for any given electrical contracting project, outsourcing is cost effective. One key point that must be emphasized is outsourcing labor is not a “one size fits all” solution to controlling variable costs. Businesses that are comfortable where they are do not make good candidates. On the other hand, a business that wants to grow while maintaining tight control over variable costs makes an excellent fit.

We can never predict when an employee will decide to leave a company but, we can control what it will cost to replace that person using effective outsourcing strategies. Keeping the right mix of permanent and temporary employees is the key to controlling the priciest variable costs in our industry – labor. Outsourcing electricians allows you to control variable costs that are discussed in the next few paragraphs.

As you are aware, variable costs are the costs directly linked to the tempo of operations in electrical contracting. They are called variable because they vary with the size and workload of the business. This means that the more projects bid and won; the more labor, material, etc. costs will rise. The more labor costs rise, the more employee-related administration costs go up.

This, of course, is in contrast with fixed or overhead costs. These costs are those that are incurred regardless of whether or not your company works one or ten projects. These costs do not vary as the pace and size of your operations change unless a dramatic change is made. Variable costs are project specific, whereas, fixed costs are associated with the entire company. Office leases/mortgages have to be paid no matter what is produced or in what numbers. Hence rent or a mortgage is a fixed cost.

Consider a situation where you determine your electrical contracting service yields a 25% contribution margin. Your figure can then be used to determine whether variable costs for your project(s) can be reduced. You can choose to bump up the price of materials and/or reduce your labor costs.

Material pricing adjustments is the easy part. Labor costs are not. To attract and retain quality electricians, you must pay more than the competition, offer benefits and training.

Remember your bottom line or net profit is determined by how you decide to spend each penny of your contribution margin on fixed costs. We know you can control your fixed costs by deciding on how much to spend on vehicles, equipment, tools, phone service and all the rest of your business needs

But, what is the true cost to attract, hire, manage and retain a qualified electrician for a three month project and what is the cost to hire a permanent/full-time employee? You probably know the answer, the cost is the same. It is the replacement cost of the employee that will eat into your bottom line after you conduct all of your human resource or human capital management functions in-house. And what price do you place on the expenditure to bring someone new into your company? And what does it really cost to replace that person? The answer is simply the cost of time – your time, your staff’s time and all time removed from project related activities.

Learn more about outsourcing electricians [http://www.strategy-construction.com] at Strategy Construction's Web Site.

Are You Putting Off Productivity?

I recently took a good look at what was keeping me from accomplishing what I needed to do. After all, I had my goals. I had them written down. I read my affirmations daily. And still, I was not achieving what I wanted to do. Leaving town was a major undertaking. And that's not good when you're a professional speaker! I need to be able to leave at a moment's notice and arrive ready to give my full attention to my audience. So it was time for a look at what was holding me back. Here's what I found. 1. I used my desktop computer in the office. However, my accounting program and contact databases were on that machine, so my assistant also needed to use it. We sometimes found ourselves waiting for the other person to get off the machine before we could do what we needed to do. 2. I used a 3-lb laptop on the road. Though I rarely used them, I had to pack the CD player and floppy drive, plus the docking bar with the parallel port on it - just in case I needed any of those items. 3. I often found myself without a file I needed or a contact's information. It took me up to an hour or two before I left town each time to decide on and transfer what I needed to my laptop, then another 30 minutes or more when I returned to update my desktop with all I had worked on while I was gone. 4. I had an early 2MB Palm V that could not hold any e-books and did not sync with my Outlook calendar and contacts. So again, I spent a lot of time copying and pasting information between my desktop or my laptop and my Palm. In general, things were not working well and the problems were pretty obvious. Here's how I resolved most of my issues. 1. I bought a new laptop. This is 3 years newer than the other, but it's four times faster and has a larger screen. And while I traded a 3-pounder for a 7-pounder, my new laptop has a built-in floppy and a built-in CD burner. That means all the pieces are with me all the time. And with the CD burner, I can back up data quickly or move it to another computer easily - very nice when you need to use someone else's computer! 2. I moved my desktop to another office for my assistant. That means she and I can be working at the same time on the rare occasions I'm in the office - what a concept! 3. I only put the programs I need for my tasks on my laptop. So if I don't think I should be doing it, I didn't load the software. I did not put my accounting program or my databases on my laptop; instead, I'm delegating those tasks to my assistant (another new concept!) If I need to look at anything on those programs, I'll walk into her office and check. 4. I purchased a new color Palm. It's color with lots of memory. Best of all, it syncs with Outlook contacts, tasks, calendar and notes. Plus it uses Word and Excel, as well as Adobe Acrobat Reader. This is truly revolutionary! To ensure I have the information I need with me, I put the Palm into its cradle and it automatically syncs everything. No more deciding what to take, then copying and pasting it! I find I'm editing Word documents on the plane, plus I'm getting a lot of the e-books read in airports and sitting alone in restaurants. When I want to create an article from scratch (as I'm doing with this one), I use the keyboard. In short, my travel life has changed dramatically in the past 2 weeks! And as I walk back into my office this afternoon, I'll pull my laptop out and put it on my desk, then sync it with my Palm. I will have everything with me that I've had on the road for the past 10 days. My assistant's work life won't be interrupted and we'll never lose a beat in getting the job done! Just the sense of calm and control are worth it. No more frantic transferring of files as I leave. No more waiting to use my computer while she prints invoices for the month. No more... well, you get the idea! I'm thrilled with the make-over! Do you need to review your productivity? Take this short quiz and see: 1. Do you always have the information you need with you - either on your cell phone, your laptop, and your PDA (personal digital assistant, such as a Palm Pilot or IPAQ)? 2. Are you trying to share a computer with anyone else? 3. Can you get on the Internet as often and as long as you need to? 4. If you need a client file while you're traveling do you have it? Can you get it within 15 minutes - even after hours? 5. If you need to move a file or print a file, so you have a way to do that while you're traveling? 6. Are there tasks that are not getting done? Why? Could it be cured by shifting or adding technology? Remember: Technology is a tool that works FOR us. If you're working harder and longer because of the technology, it's not working the way it should. Don't put off productivity! For more on productivity, get Jeanette's special repor "Ten Most Overlooked Productivity Tools" at TechTamers.com