Kayland Monopoly

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Safety Advice – Planning A Children’s Play Area

When it comes to planning a children’s play area, safety is always at the top of the priority list. Below we look at some of the safety aspects you need to bear in mind.

Children love nothing more than having a great area specially dedicated to them which they can run around and play in. So, it’s hardly surprising that more and more adults are spending time working out just how they can fit that ideal play area into their garden and planning all aspects of safety is a big part of this. Here are some safety tips to consider during the planning process and once the play area is in place:

Safety Surface – As more than 70% of all injuries within the children’s play area are caused by the children falling, it is important that you make the surface as safe as possible. Ensure that you install a shock-absorbing surface of about six inches deep. This should exceed the play area itself by about six foot. Consider using play bark, wood chippings or sand.

Location – Carefully consider the position of your play area. Avoid placing it near to greenhouses or fencing. For smaller children consider placing the play area where you will be easily able to keep an eye on them.

Children-friendly – The play area needs to be totally child-friendly, so check every part of the designated area for any potentially dangerous obstructions. Remove protruding tree roots, branches etc. Also think about small spaces when younger children might become stuck, such as climbing ladders etc.

Regular Maintenance – Make sure that you regularly maintain the play area. This will entail raking through any loose material and removing any foreign objects. Check all the play equipment and replace or repair appropriately.

Establish Play Area Rules – Children need to know how they should behave in the play area. This should include how they should use the play equipment and understanding the reasons why glasses or other objects shouldn’t be allowed in the area. Furthermore, adults will benefit from agreeing clear supervision rules.

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Saturday, August 22, 2009

Campfire Safety Tips

By: Jeremy Biberdorf

Camping and campfires go hand in hand. It is difficult to imagine going camping without building a fire to roast marshmallows over and to tell ghost stories around. Without proper safety etiquette, your campfire could turn your camping trip into a disaster.

Choosing a Safe Location For Your Campfire

Most commercial campgrounds already have preexisting fire rings to use. Unless the fire ring is in a dangerous spot, you should build your fire there. The campground owners have likely already deemed this as a safe location to build a fire. The fire ring will help contain sparks and prevent your fire from spreading.

If your campsite does not have a fire ring, you will need to create one. First find a spot that meets these criteria:
-downwind at least 5 feet away from your tent and firewood
-away from trees, bushes, logs, stumps and overhanging branches
-away from dry grass and forest debris
-away from any other flammable items

If your campsite does have a fire ring already, check if it meets the above criteria too. The landscape around your campsite could have changed since the fire ring was initially built. There might now be a branch that overhangs the current fire ring.

Preparing Your Campfire Area

Once you have chosen where to build your campfire, you need to ensure that the area is completely clear of anything that could ignite. It is best to clear the ground right down to the soil within about 5 feet of your fire pit. Surrounding twigs and dry leaves could easily catch fire from a wayward spark.

Next dig a shallow pit about 2 feet across and encircle this pit with a ring of medium sized rocks. These rocks should be placed snuggly together without any gaps where sparks could fly through. Remove any small, loose stones from the pit that could potentially explode from the fire's heat.

Before you begin building your campfire, make sure you have equipment on hand to extinguish your fire. You will need a large bucket of water and a shovel. Keep these things close enough to your fire pit that they are quickly accessible in an emergency. If the ground around your campsite is too hard to shovel, also keep a bucket of sand or dirt nearby.

Safely Igniting Your Campfire

Avoid using lighter fluid or other chemicals to start your fire. These fuels are dangerous to use in the wilderness. They can unexpectedly flare up and catch your clothing on fire. Instead just use a lighter or match to ignite your kindling. Do not discard any used matches until they are cool to the touch.

It can be tempting to build a large bonfire instead of a reasonably sized campfire. Resist the temptation and put safety first. A large fire will emit more potentially hazardous sparks. These sparks from a large fire are capable to drifting further away than sparks from a small fire. Also it can be much more difficult to extinguish a large fire.

Maintaining a Safe Campfire

While your campfire is burning, never leave it unattended! Despite other safety precautions, your campfire could spread from your fire pit. You need to be around to ensure your campfire doesn't spread.

Be careful of what you burn in your campfire. Try to stick to manageable pieces of firewood that easily fit within your fire pit. It is not a good idea to burn large logs that stick out past your fire pit. Also avoid burning fresh branches that give off excess sparks.

Properly Extinguishing Your Campfire

Before you go to sleep or when you leave the campsite, you must fully extinguish your campfire. First, douse the flames by pouring water on the fire. You are not done yet though. Just because you can't see flames, it does not mean the fire cannot reignite itself. There are usually still hot embers that will continue smoldering for hours. To deal with the embers, stir the coals and add more water. Then cover the coals with dirt or sand.

Conclusion

It is far too easy for a campfire to spread becoming a forest fire. When you are camping, it is your responsibility to protect the forest from your campfire. Follow these simple campfire safety rules and use your common sense. Sometimes it simply is not safe to have a campfire at all. If the forest is too dry and forest fire danger is high, there is often a ban on campfires. Respect these bans as they are for your own safety. Strong winds make for dangerous campfire conditions too. So use your own judgment if necessary. Do what you can to protect our forests.

Article Source: http://www.articleszoom.com About the Author : Check out Taiga Works for a wide variety of outdoor gear, including down sleeping bags and Gore-Tex jackets. Buy quality outdoor gear at discount prices.

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Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Guidelines for Bathroom Remodelling

A bathroom of a house represents the hygiene, cleanliness and order of its residents. Old uninteresting tiles, cluttered boxes, and aged bathroom suite tells yo

u that the time has come for a bathroom refurbishment. With the only notion of bathroom remodelling, so many thoughts start incurring our mind like whom to contact first, a plumber, an electrician, a decorator or a sanitary ware company. Where to shop from and what to buy and what sort of cost to expect and many such questions leave our mind baffled. A little planning with a modest awareness can ease down the task.

Budgeting

Scrutinize your pending credits and the forthcoming expenses for the month and then decide how much you can spend on bathroom refurbishment. Many refurbishment companies when contacted online can give you the remodelled bathroom design and the estimate of expenses on your email only. Many companies take the whole chore of refurbishment thus keeping you away from the tension of synchronising the tasks of a plumber, an electrician and the other skilled professionals. Moreover these companies may recommend the one stop shops accommodating your needs and suiting your pockets.

Create your own model

Before consulting any professional, give a closer friendly look to the entire bathroom and make some analysis like do the tiles really need to get replaced or the bathroom suite can come to life again just by repainting. Sometimes just small changes as that of lights, shower curtains, mirrors, rugs, doormats, wall hangings and sanitary accessories bring out the desired look. If it is the space that you find invaded in your bathroom, remove the extra boxing. Get the pipe work moved wherever possible to generate more space. Get the old tiles replaced by a combination of dark and light coloured tiles to give a spacious appearance.

Rebuilding

With grown up children or sometimes added members in the family, most of us find a need of an extra bathroom, especially females. Many smart people get the built in wardrobes or the under stairs storage converted in to a handy en-suite. The refurbishment professionals deal with such requirements on a daily basis and can recommend you a solution most suitable for your needs.

With these guidelines in mind you can attain a spanking new, unsoiled and roomy bathroom for your house.

Article by Joanna. Joanna is a well renowned Polish Journalist specialising in Polish, Russian and English translation services. She has been residing in th UK for 3 years where she has made her home among the Polish community in Tooting, South West London.

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Monday, August 18, 2008

A Glance or Maybe a Stare at Olympic Beijing

Weather.

The daily weather in Beijing is referred to as being “overcast” with a one to two kilometer thick by several hundred kilometer wide pall of smog. You hardly see the tops of buildings, or clearly across the wide boulevards. You can feel the smog on your skin, in your nostrils and taste it in your mouth. A haze usually hangs over the city for the early part of the day. Anyone with breathing or respiratory problems must have a hard time with it. Or you better not come.

The temperature is rather warm. At street level with the crowds, the temperature must be about 95 F. Everyone is sweaty, and when greetings are exchanged, the hugs and handshakes are slick.

People

The people of Beijing are wonderful. They are promptly hospitable, friendly and helpful. They love to have pictures with foreigners for posterity perhaps.. Everyone you’d have any interaction with would bring you joy from to waiters to taxi drivers. Just get prepared to be swarmed and run over on the sidewalks. There are literally hundreds of thousands of others sharing the sidewalks and boulevards with you - men, women, students, children - but they move deftly around you. There is no rudeness or pushiness. Yes, they are among the friendliest people in the world.

It will really surprise you and impress you mainly with the people and the energy you’d feel from the people. They're just pretty happy people and a great sense of humor and they really are welcoming the world there and that's what you’d feel like. They're really fun people. They're really serious and really intense and you have to be also to get ahead and to be competitive in anything with 1.3 billion people. But they also have a really funny side and you’d see just how proud these people are and how much it means for the local Olympic volunteers to be part of the great event.

Food

At a Chinese restaurant you’d be served very large dishes of fresh, hot steaming food, plus a couple of large beers and sodas worth a whopping 137 yuan ($23) – that’s for eight people. And no tips for such gracious and prompt service. Speaking of sense of humor, there was some pretty good Chinglish on the menu when you’d go to a restaurant to enjoy a traditional Chinese hot pot. Among the items was "obese beef," "aftertaste sausage," and "cube roll of moo cow." Doesn't matter what they call it; it was awesome.

There would always be a 24-hour lounge somewhere where those working on the 24-hour clock could stay and relax with a cold beverage whenever the day is done. Here’s an account from a pal: As I’m picking up a tray or two for the crowd, I need to ask the comely young barkeep how late the joint may be open, trying to figure out how early I’d have to get there. She goes, confers with some supervisor ‘cause I don’t think she quite understands my English and comes back to report: "Sir, we are open all the hours.” A local with some knowledge of the place looks at me like I’ve got three heads and says, “Don’t worry, you can smoke in restaurants here. I think you can smoke in hospitals if you want.”

Streets & Suburbs

Hutongs are the narrow streets or alleys that are formed by the traditional courtyard residences all over Beijing. The neighborhoods where these alley ways exist are usually referred to as hutongs. You’d have a lot of offers from the bicycle rickshaw drivers to take you around, but you can stay on foot and maybe much more exciting. Taxi cabs, so far, represent the only element of this Olympic experience that needs a serious upgrade. The drivers seem to be from anywhere except this city, for some reason, and don’t know their way around town, or how to find anything. That’s even with the little specialized maps that Olympic organizers have printed out. Sometimes a cab driver misses the mark, but still does you a favor. Even when they’re lost and clueless, though, the drivers are polite and friendly and provide stories for the telling. If you miss the mark a mile away, a local would insist on escorting you for a walk of the entire distance and he wouldn’t even accept beer money in return. What a walk, though. But you could have beautiful grounds, with lakes, giant trees, gardens, temples, fine old buildings, groups of people doing the Tai Chi thing on flawless green lawns. Well, if you get on the right place…

You see a lot of things in the first class lounges of various train stations and airports – and you can go there very often in these budget-conscious times. Things like famous people sometimes. Free food. The odd drink. Comfortable chairs. Shopping venues, And, apparently, bugs. Big, stinking scorpion-like bugs.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

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House Insurance Rates

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Personal Cash Advance

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Get The Best Auto Loan Review

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Wednesday, April 9, 2008

The Advantage Of Bad Credit Offers

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Tuesday, March 11, 2008

You Can Reduce Your Contracting Risks

One frustration all risk managers experience is being brought into the contract process when it is too late to reduce the risk. Only yesterday, I was asked to review a contract for the acquisition of health equipment. When I sent my recommendations back to our contract negotiator I was told “But it’s too late – we already told the supplier that the draft they approved was the final version.”

The best time to negotiate contract terms and conditions is before the contract is signed!

Contract law is complicated, involving numerous federal, state and municipal laws (not to mention internal policies, procedures and protocols!) that apply different conditions depending upon the type and cost of the item under consideration.

Terms in the tender document or request for proposal are the starting point for most acquisition processes. The language of the tender or RFP is critical to successfully achieving a satisfactory relationship with the supplier of goods or services. The terms of the tender document, with the terms of the successful bidder’s response, are substantially the terms that will be included in the final contract. Procurement officers need to know the extent of negotiating ability they have upon receipt of bids or proposals. The variety in responses possible from bidders can often lead to very good reasons for going off in a new direction. But, straying too far from the tender specifications can quickly lead to multiple claims from unsuccessful bidders.

Purchasing and Risk Management Departments must work closely with other corporate colleagues to review or create business contracts that limit the organization’s liability exposure. Well-drafted, the indemnification and insurance clauses ensure that if something goes wrong it is clear who will bear financial responsibility.

The Risk Manager’s Role

The importance of risk transfer requires Involving risk management early in the process. The risk manager can help examine the purpose of the contract from an ‘outsider’s perspective. Specifically - what could go wrong with the work (or product/service)? If something were to go wrong – what are the implications of that problem? “Implications” can be financial cost, a delay in using the end result (e.g. a building), negative publicity or any combination of these three outcomes.

Risk manager can provide advice and consultation in structuring tender or RFP, assist colleagues in properly drafting contracts consistent with corporate policies and minimize financial risk by identifying and dealing with possible contingencies. They do this because they know that poorly prepared contracts can lead to nasty surprises. You want to enter into contracts with some assurance that the end result will satisfactorily meet your expectations.

The classic risk management process is helpful in conducting a review of any proposed transaction. To avoid surprises, you need to identify risks by considering what potential downsides can arise from the project. Once this step is complete, assess the risk by determining how likely it is that something will go wrong and if it does, how expensive the problem is likely to be.

The contribution of the risk manager to the contract language is central to successfully achieving risk transfer. Clearly define the circumstances under which the contractor will hold harmless and indemnify the municipality for losses arising from the supply of goods or services. If a serious loss occurs, these clauses can be analyzed word-by-word. Any ambiguity is likely to be held against you. Review and revise both the hold harmless and indemnify clauses until it is absolutely clear to you and to your procurement officer.

The term “Contractual Risk Transfer” is used by risk managers to avoid saying ‘passing the buck’. The goal is to always make the party who has control over the products or services accept financial responsibility.

Usually insurance does not cover problems arising from poorly-drafted contracts, negligence in the procurement process or poor performance of the work described by a contract. For example, there is usually no coverage for situations where unauthorized employees engage in work under an unapproved contract or for breach of contract claims. Poor business judgments and financial mistakes are also the responsibility of the organization. Claims arising from these errors typically must be paid by the municipality as those costs are rarely transferable to insurers or anyone else. The municipality is likely to incur all of their own costs arising from problems, plus any award to the claimant.

Always use written contracts and state terms and conditions clearly. In many situations verbal agreements are legally permissible. Properly drafted written contracts, however, reduce the chance of misunderstandings in the future. Documented business transactions protect the rights of all parties to the contract. The written contract provides an audit trail and authorizes the use of funds when paying invoices. Further, if the subject of the contract becomes an adversarial issue due to a lawsuit, the contract can show the intent of both parties at the outset of the work.

Written agreements ensure both parties have an opportunity to clear up at the negotiation stage any confusion or differing interpretations. The main purpose of written contracts is to prevent conflicts or litigation caused by inadequate documentation of crucial points. It is time-consuming and expensive to take issues to court for interpretation. Judges may interpret the contract differently than either party intended. The courts do not usually consider very great weight to verbal evidence as verbal statements are considered unreliable once a dispute has arisen. When contracts are vague or indefinite, or the intended performance cannot be determined, the court may rule the contract unenforceable - to the disappointment of both parties.

Power does not always prevail – when one party is larger than the other it may make them feel that they can dictate contract terms and conditions. Remember that you want a contract that is enforceable. When unfair bargaining strength is used, it can become contentious later if other problems arise. It is in all parties’ best interest to avoid ambiguous language and unreasonable or unlawful conditions. Always be prepared to be flexible and to take the time required for a good result!

Remember, it is important to note that any language showing a clear intention to negotiate cannot defeat an inherent duty of fairness with which the municipality must conduct themselves at all times. The trade-off is clear: the more extensive the negotiations, the more stress it puts on the municipality’s duty to be fair to all bidders.

To ensure changes are binding make them in writing and have the amendments signed by duly authorized representatives of both parties. This documents the change, provides clarity and binds both parties should problems arise later.

Three clauses complement and support the risk management process. They are hold harmless, indemnification and insurance. I recommend that these clauses be written separately.

In most vendor-provided contract documents, the Indemnification/Hold Harmless provision is far broader than what your organization would want to accept. Many vendor-provided indemnification and hold harmless clauses are limitless. If you accept these clauses you may be accepting responsibilities that your organization never wanted nor intended to assume and may not be able to insure. Usually you want to only sign contracts where the language limits your liability to acts over which the municipality has control and to the extent that it exercises that control. Assuming liability for independent contractors and consultants who are not under the municipality’s control is unwise.

The intention of the hold harmless clause is to describe exactly what type of circumstances the supplier accepts responsibility for. In particular, they specify who will pay for loss or damage arising out of the performance of the work contemplated by the contract. Most corporations will only enter into contracts in which the indemnification language limits their liability to acts over which they have control and to the extent that they exercise control. The hold harmless clause however, is only one clause of the trio needed to adequately protect the parties.

The second clause used is an ‘indemnity clause’. It will state that if something does occur leading to a loss, of a type that I/we have held you harmless for – then we will pay on your behalf (or reimburse you) any costs arising from our negligence. In other words, ‘the buck stops here’.

The final clause of the trio is the insurance clause. The insurance clause promises that the party performing the work (e.g. builder, supplier, etc.) will obtain and maintain the type and amount of insurance that you have stipulated to pay for any claims, losses and related expenses that may arise out of their negligence in performing the work planned in the contract. The intention is to ensure that the contractor has sufficient financial resources to support the indemnification provision in the contract.

With these three clauses, you have obtained a promise from your supplier or contractor to:
1. accept responsibility for their own errors or negligence,
2. pay any costs arising from those errors or negligence, and
3. carry insurance evidencing sufficient resources to keep their promises.

Often, I find that contract document presented by contractors have been written by lawyers or other ‘non-insurance’ professionals. In these cases, the language used may be out-of-date or simply not reflective of terminology used by insurance professionals. When this occurs, it is prudent to revise or replace those clauses with descriptions and phrases commonly used in the insurance industry today. This reduces the chance of ambiguity and difficulty in obtaining evidence of the type of insurance you want the contractor to carry. The most common example I see is the phrase “Additional Insured’ VS ‘Additional Named Insured’.

It is important that this phrase be limited to ‘Additional Insured’. Additional Named Insureds have at least two disadvantages: only Named Insureds are responsible for paying premiums and some policy exclusions apply only to Named Insureds. Benefits to your municipality of being an additional insured are:

 Coverage remains in force for Additional Insureds if a Named Insured breaches a policy condition,
 Reinforces risk transfer agreements in the contract,
 The Additional Insured has a right to claim defense from the insurer, and
 It usually prevents the insurer from subrogating from the Additional Insured.

Certificates of Insurance:

There is much debate amongst the risk management and insurance community about the value of obtaining and maintaining evidence of insurance on contracts. Certificates of Insurance verify the type of insurance that the Named Insured on the policy has purchased and specifies the coverage levels under that policy at the point in time that the certificate is issued. I firmly believe that certificates are of limited value – but they are the best and only evidence available at this time providing some level of comfort that contractors have a source of funds for defined claims situations.

There are two broad categories of certificates, those that you receive coming in and those that your send out to other parties. Municipalities usually receive certificates and infrequently send them to others.

Incoming certificates of Insurance are commonly issued by the contractor’s insurer or insurance broker. To be valid, I want to see the ‘live’ signature of a person authorized by the insurer to issue the certificate. Before issuing a certificate, the insurer wants some information describing reason for the certificate, the length of the subject of the certificate (e.g. a multi-year contract) and specific details of the name of the contact person/mailing address of their and at your organization.

Upon receipt of a certificate in your office, you will want to see at least the following information:

• name and address of the organization to whom the Certificate is being issued,
• brief description of planned activities/work,
• name and address of the Named Insured, (who must match the name on the contract)
• amount and type of insurance in force,
• effective dates of coverage, and
• a statement that your municipality is included as an ‘additional insured’.

When you are asked to issue certificates of insurance you should review the contract to be sure that you provide evidence of the proper type and amount of coverage required. Under no circumstances should you issue a certificate on behalf of any party or other organizations independent of your municipality, no matter how close a working relationship you may have with it.

When reviewing tender or RFP documents and the contracts that arise from them you can effectively use the risk management process to review the proposal and draft appropriate language. Manage exposure in any contract situation by ensuring conformity with generally accepted ‘due diligence’ practices from the very beginning. Be sure that appropriate risk transfer provisions are included at the tender or RFP stage. Finally, once the contract draft is agreed upon, ensure that evidence of insurance (and bonding, if required) is obtained and maintained throughout the life of the contract. As a risk management professional, remember that your training and experience makes YOU an expert who can protect your municipality.

7 Easy Business Optimization Solutions for Your Web Site

7 Easy Business Optimization Solutions You Can Apply to Your Web Site Today

Finding affordable business optimization solutions for your Web site can some time be a challenge. Many of the Web site owners I talk to on a daily bases are small business owners that have a limited budget when it comes to advertising and even smaller when they talk about their Web site. One general consensus is that they all know they need to beef up their Internet presence but they all believe the only way to do that is by hiring a company who specialized in Internet Marketing or Search Engine Optimization. What many don’t realize is that with a little time and effort they can apply some basic optimization solutions to their site themselves and usually for free if they are dedicated to making their Web site succeed.

Being a small business owner myself I know how hard it is to juggle advertising dollars and get the most advertising for my money is important. I am going to share with you a few tips on how you can have a sucsesful on-line presence by just putting a little time and effort into your site.

#1 - For Your Visitor

Lets start by taking a good look at your Web site. We all look at our site so many times often we overlook the obvious. Pick up the phone or drop an email to some of your most loyal customers and ask them what they would want to see on your site to help them be better informed about your product or services. Ask them their thoughts and comments on your site. Ask them to give you their honest opinion. Do they see anything that they could suggest to make it better for potential customers? Is there any specific information they fell would benefit a new visitor? It is amazing how getting the prospective of your customer will often open some windows you may have never thought of before and the greatest thing is it does not cost a dime.

Another great way to see how your visitors are using your site you may want to apply some click tracking software to your Web site so you can see how people are navigating through your site. It may be a real eye opener to how you have your pages set up. It will tell you just where and what your visitors are clicking on. Visit http://www.Crazyegg.com and apply a small piece of code to your Web site and start tracking your visitor’s clicks you’ll be surprised at what you discover.

#2 – For Your Visitor

While you are taking a look at your Web site have you given your customers easy access to your contact information on each and every page? Many Web site owners overlook this important aspect. You need to make it easy for potential customers to contact you. You want them to be able to find a way to contact you on each and every page and not just on a contact page. You’re working with split seconds every time someone lands on your page. Make it easy for them tell them exactly what you want them to do. Rather then just saying Call Now! Give them specific instructions.

For Example:

Go pick up your phone and call us now to hear more about this special rate. Time is limited so call now at 800-555-1234

Buy today to take advantage of free shipping ... delivered right to your front door in 48 hours!

Little things that you may not think are important usually are the things that result in making a sale or not. One important factor in advertising is trying to find ways to make what you say different then everyone else. Those that stand out in a crowd are usually the ones that are making the sale.

What can you do to make your information different? Think of your competitors and what they are doing then you do the complete opposite.

These are just a couple of Web design and layout tips to help with your business optimization solutions that will mostly benefit your visitor. Now lets concentrate on a few that the search engines will favor

#3 – For Your Visitor & Search Engines

You only have 3 seconds to capture someone’s attention so start your business optimization solutions right at your title tag. Go to your home page and make a mental note of your title tag (look in the upper left hand corner of your browser the words listed there are what it says in your title tag.) Now go do a search using your most relevant keyword phrase (what you want your visitors to find you on when doing a search) and look at the results that come up.

Look at the title of each result on the first couple pages. How compelling are they? Do they intrigue you to click on them by reading what is listed there? People are looking for instant gratification and they will read the results and normally will click on those that compel them to do so. For example let’s take a look at these results for coffeehouse:

Out of the following results which would you be more inclined to click on?

• Depot Coffee House
• Discover a Cup of Europe at Eurotazza® Coffeehouse
• DJ’s Coffeehouse
• Coffeehouse – Savor the Flavor of Brazilian Coffee

By addressing the instant reaction of your potential visitor you’re compelling them to click on your ad by writing a good title but you’re also creating a keyword rich
title tag that the search engines will favor.

The first impression most Internet users get of your company is the way you describe your site so use your title tag as the most part of your Web site.

#4 – For the Search Engines

Is your Web site compliant? A quick check of your HTML code will reveal if your site is complying with the W3C. I would recommend running your site through http://validator.w3.org/ to test your website for compliance issues with W3C.

Here is a short definition of what W3C compliance is;
The W3C is the World Wide Web Consortium and basically, since 1994 the W3C has provided the guidelines by which websites and web pages should be structured and created.
• Compliance help insure accessibility
• Compliance helps insure that your website is accessible from a number of different devices; from different browsers to the growing number of surfers using PDA?s and cellular phones.
• Compliance will also help insure that regardless of the browser, resolution, device, etc. that your website will look and function in the same or at least a very similar fashion.

Being compliant doesn’t necessary benefit you in terms of SEO at this point, however many of the processes you go through to get compliant code will automatically improve your “on page” factors and it will rule out a lot of crawling/indexing issues.

#5 – For Your Visitor

Pre-qualification of your visitors is one of the biggest problems many companies make when developing a Web site. Say your Web site is about “cell phones” and you’ve set up your site only for the keyword phrase “cell phones.” Do you know the competing pages for the terms “cell phones” is over 246 million?

Even as a Professional SEO I know it’s going to be pretty hard to compete with those kinds of numbers. Let’s say we break the keyword phrase “cell phones” down to the lowest and most detailed search giving your visitors exactly what they are looking for.

If I was working on this site I would be working on pages that are more concentrated around detailed keyword phrases.

• cell phone – competing pages – 246,000,000
• cell phone ring tones - competing pages 494,000
• custom cell phone ring tones – competing pages 225,000
• make custom cell phone ring tones – competing pages 177,000
• make free ring tones – competing pages – 31,700
• star trek ring tones – competing pages – 5,110
• family guy ring tones – competing pages - 1,950
• like to make my own ring tones – competing pages – 3

By spending just a little research time I was able to find some valuable keyword phrases that could be used to open additional windows into a cell phone site. The key is opening as many windows into your site as possible. Once you have given your visitor exactly what they’re looking for you have already earned their creditability and they most likely will spend additional time on your site looking at what else you have to offer.

Take a look at your site. Do you have a separate page for each of your products or services? Are you breaking it down in the smallest lowest detailed search?

Think of it this way …the search engines goals are to return the most relevant results to its users so break down your keyword phrases into the most detailed result and you are bringing very happy visitor to your site.

#6 – For Web Site Exposure

No one knows more about your product or service than you do so take your knowledge and put it down in writing. Nothing will give you more creditability then having a visitor reading something you have written about your industry. Still the power of the written word is priceless.

There are a number of Web sites on the Internet you can submit your articles to along with posting them on your own Web site. Most Web site owners think their Web site is just a place just to list services and company info. What some forget is most Internet surfers do much research before deciding to hire someone for a service or buying a product. Normally when someone is searching for they are gathering as much information they can about the product first. If they’re coming to your Web site reading valuable information about your industry and products they are immediately going to feel you are an expert in your field.

We are in a world laden with advertising so when writing about a particular product or service by-past the industry hype and stick to the facts. If your readers think you’re writing sales pitches they will instantly hit the back button. Give them detailed information or how to properly use your products something that will be of value to them.

Here is my top list of article marketing Web sites that you can submit your articles and remember the most important place for them is on your own site.

• www.BusinessKnowHow.com
• www.ArticleDashboard.com
• www.Buzzle.com
• www.ArticleBiz.com
• www.EzineArticles.com
• www.ArticleCity.com
• www.ArticleAlley.com

I found a great resource to get your content indexed on Google within 24 hours. Check out http://www.scribd.com. Be sure to read the terms of service Scribd does not like anything that resembles advertising.

#7 For YOU!

Learn learn and learn some more!

One of the best things you can do for your site is to learn as much about search engine optimization and internet marketing as you can. There are a number of free and affordable resources you can use to learn exactly what it takes to perform better in the search engines.

To start with here is a list of Blogs you can subscribe to so you can keep up to date with the latest changes on the Internet:

Angling in Paradise (May 2nd of the Kalum River)

My guests are ready and eager to go. The day before they had a count of four to three each. We make one stop at a convenience store to pick up last minute items and a quick coffee to go. We drive up the Kalum Lake road for five miles, stop at our shop and pick up the 19-foot drift boat then drive the nine miles to the launch site. Everyone’s in great spirits, laughing and joking all the way and only serious topic is sportfishing. What a great way to make a living.

I back the boat to the edge of the river and within 10 minutes we’re drifting. The drift is five miles long. Lines are made ready. Today we’re pulling plugs or using jet planers to pull spin & glow and eggs. The plug we’re using is a #20 hot-shot. Any color is fine as long as they shine and look new. Hook size is a #3 Gamakatsu. I use a size “0” jet planer. Spin & Glow #4 combined with #4 Gamakatsu hook. A little bigger hook is used with spin & glow so that an egg bag can be added, if desired. All hooks are tied with the “egg loop” knot and a four or five foot leader is tied between the jet planer and spin & glow. Reels are usually filled to capacity with quality 20-pound test line.

To keep track of our daily catches when pulling plugs I have devised the following system: If we had an eight to six day, it would mean that we hooked a total of 14 fish and landed six. The number eight on the left is the fish we hooked but lost and the number six on the right is the fish that we landed.

Time 9:20 AM. Three bank fishermen were plunked-out at the put-in, so we floated down to an area we call the pensioners hole, a distance of 100 yards and started fishing there. I told them to let out 60-feet of line. All three rods had hot-shots on. Lines went out quickly and I started to work the hole. As I started my swing to the right - POW - the rod on the left doubled over and we were into our first fish after only 10 minutes. The two other rods were pulled in, clearing the way for Les to play the fish.

Within seconds we all realized we had a powerful Chinook hooked. I slipped the boat down-stream and hit the beach approximately 200 yards from where the fish was first hooked. Les jumped out of the boat onto the shore and continued to fight the fish. Cameras were clicking and videos rolling.

The fish seemed to stop fighting but there was still a lot of pressure on the line as if it has sat on the bottom and decided not to move. This is a common Chinook trait. After 10 minutes we realized it was tangled with some line that had previously been broken off. The only thing we could do was get back in the boat, row out and hope we could get the mess off. Les pulled on the line to its breaking point and to our amazement and delight the other line broke and Les still had the fish. Back to shore we go, Les continued to play this fish and within another 10 minutes he had landed a 30-pound doe Chinook, bright silver, fresh from the ocean 114 miles away. So now our count was zero to one.

We celebrated as I pushed the drift-boat back into the stream and drifted to the next hole. This is a slow moving pool with a rocky tail-out. We started letting the plugs out high in the pool as not to spook the holding fish.

When all three lines are out 100 feet and in the center of the pool, I pull on the oars and they dive under. I start to sweep the pool. After four or five passes we are almost ready to give up and float onto the next pool when rod one doubles over. Instantly the line goes slack. When Les reels in the slack line a powerful Chinook rips off 50-yards of line and goes streaking through the tail-out. In a scramble, the other two lines are cleared out of the way. This fish, landed at the top of the next pool, weighed approximately 35-pounds and since Les already had taken his Chinook for the day, this fish was released, but not before pictures and videos were taken. Time 10:30 AM. The count is now zero to two and off we go.

Since this fish was landed at the top of this pool I decided to fish the lower end. Lines are stripped out on the fast side, and when all were out, I slipped down 50 feet to position the plugs just above the large rocky tail-out and started sweeping to the left. The plugs only fish effectively for one or two minutes because the back-eddy catches them and moves them upstream. After one sweep and no hits, I decide to try one more time. Lines are brought in and let out again. I make the sweep again. The plugs are coming into the slot when line one doubles over with a fish. Seconds later rod three does the same. At first we think its the same fish but we soon realize we have a double-header. We landed two very nice Steelhead weighing about 12 to 14-pounds each. Both were released. What a great day, we had not been fishing for more than two hours and we landed two chinook and two steelhead. The count is zero to four. Time is 11 AM.

We float down a mile passing over a long stretch of low, fast water and around a corner to the kiss hole. While approaching it we can see Chinook rolling on the right side. The kiss hole is a large deep run so I instruct my guests to snap on the jet planers and hook on egg bags. Eggs work well on spawning salmon. We let out 100 feet of line at the top of the run. I start working oars, moving the drift boat to the right, making sure the bait is presented where we’ve seen the rolling fish. It didn’t take long, two sweeps and a very large Chinook took the bait. Rod two was into his first fish. I stayed high in the pool, right side, moved very close to shore and dropped anchor in two feet of water. My guests played the fish from the boat while I went to shore to get some good camera angles. After 30 minutes of pumping Dave finally lands a 50-pound doe.

Score zero to five. Time 12:10 PM. It’s lunch time and I offer my guests the choice of a nice shore lunch complete with camp fire, which takes time, or we all can make a sandwich on board and keep fishing. It was unanimous - keep fishing!

I float down to the next run and keep the planers on because this is a long run too. I started at the very top and worked down. Twenty minutes had passed since I started fishing this run. When were almost ready to reel in, rod two buckles over and we’re into another fish. The fish goes streaking through the tail-out and managed to wrap itself around a rock and broke off. Score one to five. Time 12:45 PM.

We float down through the shoot and slowly I row a long calm stretch. The sun is shining, the fishing so far has been excellent and everyone is in good spirits. As we approach the tail-out we notice Chinook rolling on the left side in a deep slot just above the tail-out. I know from experience that the Steelhead hold on the right side on a gravel bar we call the reds. Planers are taken off in favor of #20 Special Edition (SE) hot-shots. One hundred feet of line is reeled out for all three rods and I start sweeping between rolling chinook and spawning steelhead. Rod three jumps and immediately goes slack. We realize the fish had spit the hook. The hot-shot of rod three starts to shake again. I row the drift-boat to the left and before I get to the middle of the pool rod three rips over, just like the fish had been following it, and almost breaks the rod in half as line goes screaming out. We’re sure that this fish is hooked well but our luck is running out - within seconds the line goes slack, another fish lost and we’re not even sure if it was a chinook or steelhead. Score three to five.

By now we must have spooked the fish so we decide to move on. Everyone is feeling down a bit from losing the last three fish, but we all agreed with the old say, “that’s fishing.”

As we float out of the run I navigate the drift-boat through a shallow rocky section into the next pool called the Jones’s hole. As we float around the corner we observe two bald eagles that I see almost every drift. Hot-shots are left on. We spend another 30 minutes sweeping back and forth fishing but couldn’t raise a bite. Off we go through more shallow water, bumping rocks, trying to avoid getting hung-up.

The next pool is called the double-header and is the half-way point on the drift. The pool got its name from the fact that on one drift we had hooked and landed two chinook at the same time.

The plugs are unsnapped and replaced by the jet planer. This is a short, deep pool whose water circles to the left. Lines have to be kept short to 50 feet and the jet planer is set for the deepest dive. We usually see Chinook rolling here, but didn’t observe any today. After 20 minutes of no hits, we decide to move on in favor of a run that has better conditions for plugging. We kept the jet planers on and adjusted them for shallow dive for the next run. Hooks are checked and sharpened. Fresh egg bags are put on. All this extra attention and good fishing habits didn’t do us any good because we didn’t get a bit after 20 minutes. I float down to the next run and lines are set out again. Ten minutes pass when rod three buckles over just as I was pulling hard on the right oar. Rod three nearly touches the bow of the boat. Panic is on again! After a 30 minute battle a bright silver 65-pound doe chinook is landed on the left shore. The party is on, especially after John released this big fish. Score now is three to six. Time 2:30 PM.

We float a half mile down a stretch of shallow, fast water to a big pool and holding area called the horseshoe. We see chinook rolling everywhere. All tackle is checked and 100 feet of line is fed out. After 10 minutes rod three rips over. John in ecstatic! This is his second fish in 20 minutes. After a short fight he lands a nice 15-pound doe steelhead that also was released. Count three to seven. We normally would spend more time at the horseshoe but since we’ve spent so much time landing fish we had to keep moving.

The next run is usually a very good run and sure enough we had two good rips, one on rod one and the other on rod three - John almost jumped out of his skin! Both fish were lost after a few seconds. Score five to seven. Time 3:30 PM. We’re on the move again to a run called lower rock alley. Once again, we had a good rip on rod three but the fish got off. Count six to seven. We float into a good pool we call the loser hole for the time we lost six chinook in this hole before landing the seventh.

Planers are removed in favor of hot-shots. After three sweeps rod one gets a good hit and the line goes slack. Les winds the reel like crazy but the fish has gotten off. Count seven to seven. Time 4:45 PM.

We make two more sweeps before we pull out of this hole. No more hits. We’re plugging the last hole called last chance. Everyone agreed they didn’t care if they had anymore hits because already the day was fabulous. They no sooner said this when rod two doubles over and the line goes screaming out. Another large chinook is on the hook. I beach the drift-boat and chase the fish. Dave ends up landed it at the drift-boat take-out. A few young kids were there watching the show and were amazed when Dave finally beached this 50-pound doe chinook - and released it. Count five to eight. Time 5:30 PM. My guests all laughed when I said, “Are we all done at five to eight?”

My guests gave me a hearty, “yes, we’re done for today - but there’s still tomorrow.”

We had a pretty good day. We hooked 13 fish and landed three steelhead and five chinook.

Reaching The Top of Page One In Google In As Little As One Week

When you have the right information, climbing to the top of Google in a very short period of time is entirely within your reach. I am living proof. Two weeks ago, I launched my new website, and now I have multiple listings on page one of the Google search results.

An Empirical Truth

Scientists make their way in the world relying upon empirical truths. For those who are unaware, an empirical truth can be defined as, "verifiable or provable by means of repeatable observation or experiment."

In essence, if you can observe it once, then it is interesting. But, when you can repeat the experiment and achieve the same observations multiple times, then you have evidence of an empirical truth.

>From my own observations, what I am about to tell you is an empirical truth, because I have observed it happen again and again.

The Challenge In Exposing The Truth

Anytime someone writes about how to influence placement in the search engines, the writer faces a difficult choice.

In order to light the path of those who come after the writer, the writer must provide some kind of proof as to how the methods work and what kinds of results the writer was able to achieve using the methods.

Introducing The Quandary

In order to believe my story, many people want to see my keywords so they can personally verify my story by reviewing the Google search results. Although you may not be competing directly with my website and the keywords on which I rank, one can almost guarantee that my competitors may stumble over my tutorial at some point in the future.

In other words, if I told you that I was trying to rank for the keyword "cock-a-doodle-doo", then you (the reader) could validate my results. At the same time, my competitor might discover this article and decide to use my methods and my keywords to outrank my own website in the search engines.

This actually happened to one of my mentors. In a public discussion of these same methods, he had given a bone to the readers of the forum where he was participating in a discussion. Within eight weeks, two of his top competitors held the top two spots for his keyword phrase, and after a five-year run at number one in Google, he suddenly found himself sitting in the number three spot.

So, the question is how I tell my story in a way that will help you to also see the light, without giving away the light bulb...

Have A Little Faith In Those Who Are Looking Out For You

Some of you may choose to have faith in the story that I tell. Others will choose to deny my methods, on the principle that they cannot see my results for themselves.

All I ask is that you have a little faith in my story. Then run your own test. Your test will not require a major investment, but when you see your website climbing from nowhere to somewhere in the Google results, you will be glad that you took my story on a little bit of faith.

Some Background

One of my mentors, Bill Platt, has been telling me about these methods for years. But to be honest, the picture just was not clear in my brain, for longer than I would care to admit.

Now and again, I would read something by one of the Internet gurus, and they would tell that they used these methods themselves. When the really rich people on the Internet tell you something about how to perform well on the Internet, it has always been my position that you should listen. I listened; well, I mostly listened anyway.

I hooked up with Bill shortly after having been told the importance of article marketing. Bill seemed to have the answers concerning the article-marketing model, having been in the business himself for a number of years, through his website (http://www.thephantomwriters.com).

Bill always told me that writing articles was about generating traffic and sales from the placement of my articles in ezines. He had also told me that if I played the game right, I could even benefit the rankings of my website in the search engines.

I started using Bill's article distribution service to put my articles into circulation.

Bill had also advised that his clients, who get the greatest benefit from article marketing, use multiple systems to distribute their articles. He advised that Willie Crawford (http://www.gitofftheporch.com) was one of the Internet guru's who used more than one distribution service to put his articles into the wild.

Bill said that using more than one service was a good thing, because most article distribution services have their own unique reach, enabling the writer to get published in more ezines and on more websites. He emphasized that the goal should be to get as many people to your website as possible, using your articles as a method for introducing the reader to your website.

Beware Of Your Own Smartness

After using Bill's article distribution services for a few months, I had the privilege of reading John Reese's Traffic Secrets (http://www.trafficsecrets.com). John offered many useful tips for a successful online business, but one piece of advice he offered I implemented immediately.

John emphasized the importance of tracking our results. He said that in order to see what is successful, we must have a method in place to enable us to track where our traffic came from. Suddenly, I realized that although I knew that my website had been driving a lot of traffic, I had really no idea where that traffic was coming from or its cause.

Let me clarify that a bit. I knew that most of my traffic was coming from the large numbers of articles that I had distributed through Bill's service and the service of one of his competitors (http://www.isnare.com). But, I did not know which articles were generating the bulk of my traffic.

So, I followed John's advice and bought a software package designed to help me track my results (http://www.dynatracker.com). Then, I told Bill that from that day forward, we would need to use tracking URL's with all of the articles I distributed through his service.

Bill agreed that tracking was important, but he suggested that there are better ways to track results than the one I was proposing. I listened to John, but I did not fully listen to Bill's advice. Looking back, I kick myself daily for not listening to Bill in that one moment.

Tracking Your Article Results

Bill had always told me that using the Dyna Tracker was a good product for tracking my results, but it had an inherent problem. That problem is that I would be passing the search engine Link Value from my articles to my tracking software and not to the individual pages of my website.

If only I would have listened... I ran a full-year worth of articles with the Dyna Tracker links in my resource boxes. While Bill was telling me to dump the Dyna Tracker links, I was busy praising the value of the data I collected from the software.

One Test Blew My Mind

On one of my regular phone calls with Bill, I told him that I was launching a new website to complement what I was already doing. I asked Bill if he had any recommendations that he would give me on the new site.

Bill told me that I would not like his answer, but if I wanted to hear it, he would tell me.

I have to be honest, a knot formed in the pit of my stomach as I braced for his comments.

He told me that I should get back to basics. He told me that I already knew from experience that articles would help me to drive traffic to my website. I did know that. Bill recommended that I do two articles per week for twelve weeks. I have done that before, so I knew that I could get good results from that advice. He told me to use more than one article distribution service to put those articles in the wild. I followed that advice as well.

Then Bill got to the stomach punch. Bill told me to throw away my Dyna Tracker and provide direct URL links to my website. He also told me to keyword some of those links to my website, for the purpose of influencing my search placement for those keywords.

He told me to test the idea and to measure my results in just a few weeks. He told me if the methodology did not work for me, then I could start using my Dyna Tracker again.

He also suggested that I should use his Link Building system to develop 100 inbound links to my website, targeting the keywords that I felt would be important to my business. (http://www.linksandtraffic.com) I figured it was worth a try. Bill had never led me astray before, and I did not expect he was doing so then.

The Results

Within just a few weeks, I was getting a good amount of traffic to my new website. Strangely, I found that I was getting far more traffic from the search engines than I ever had before, yet the website was almost brand new! That just flew in the face of that sandbox theory we all hear about.

So, I started testing the keywords that Bill targeted in his linking job on my behalf. Wow. I found my brand new website sitting in the #12 spot in the Google search results on a two-word keyword that is actually pretty competitive. I also found the keywords we targeted in the campaign sitting in the #1, #1, and the #3 spot in the Google search results. I also found many page one results in the Yahoo search results as well.

Cock-a-doodle-doo! The light bulb went on, finally.

Then two weeks ago, I started another new campaign for my newest website. Within 24 hours of completing that website, I had distributed my first article promoting the website. Within 8 days of releasing that site to the public, I also had page one and page two listings for a wide range of keywords that I have so far targeted for my new website.

When In Rome, Do As The Romans Do

I mentioned three of my favorite teachers in this article: Bill Platt, Willy Crawford, and John Reese. I felt all three needed a mention, because all three have taught me things that have helped me to make money online. If you would like to learn from their expertise yourself, just Google their names.

The most important thing that I have learned since starting my website is that if I want to get rich online, I need to listen to those who are already making money online.

My hope is that you will listen to them too, so you can join us at the top.