Monday, June 16, 2008

Married Couples

By Ross Bainbridge Marriage between a man and woman is considered sacred by most societies, and is a legal union - an agreement to live together for a lifetime. Society favors marriage because of its positive effect on the family. Traditionally, it serves as a tool to preserve morality and civilization. Married couples commit themselves to each other throughout a marriage. In the past, the duty of the husband was to provide for his family and home. The duty of a wife was to serve the husband or family. The husband would provide the family with necessities and protect the family. The wife maintained the home and reared children. With changing times, roles have changed considerably. Women have increasingly joined the work force, and contribute a lot in terms of providing for the family. They are no longer chained to the home and are able to venture out and lead an economically productive life. There are instances where the man has taken the onus of maintaining the home or rearing children. Financial independence in women has brought about a lot of changes in the duties and status of married couples. There are married couples that enter into anti nuptial agreements in contemplation of a break up in the relationship. This is basically done when there is property involved in marriage. Separation agreements are entered into before marriage. This takes care of child rearing, visitation rights and alimony. The reason that these agreements are allowed by law is to protect the parties involved. In the US, marriage is governed by the state. It is not necessary for the couple to go through a marriage ceremony to be actually married. If the couple enters an agreement of marriage, they are considered married. A man and the woman have to be a marriageable age according to the law. Couples provides detailed information on Couples, Celebrity Couples, Interracial Couples, Couples Counseling and more. Couples is affiliated with Relationship Advice . Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ross_Bainbridge http://EzineArticles.com/?Married-Couples&id=304438 sba loan for women
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Thursday, June 12, 2008

Effective Marketing: 5 Tips TV's Apprentice Candidates Could Use to Win

By Debbie LaChusa I've watched the original Apprentice with Donald Trump's business overachievers since last season and I just caught my first episode of The Apprentice, Martha Stewart last night. And I must say I've noticed a common theme brewing. The tasks are usually lost, and an apprentice candidate fired, due to a lack of marketing and sales. These teams of bright, creative and talented people develop new products, put on events and face other very challenging assignments every week. They don't always work well together as a team (that's another story and another article altogether!), but they are generally very proficient at successfully completing their tasks. And they usually impress their high-powered, potential bosses, too. That is until they get to the results of the weekly contests. Even with all their smarts, talent and great new products and ideas, in the end it is revealed they are often missing THE most important ingredient in any successful business venture: an effective marketing plan. More often than not, the team that loses is the team that didn't market well; the team that didn't sell as much product. Because in the end that's what it's all about. It doesn't matter how great the product or event is. If no one buys or shows up, it's a bust. And Donald Trump and Martha Stewart, two of the most successful businesspeople in the U.S., know this. And they make decisions every week on national TV about who to fire because of it. So why is it that all these highly educated, talented people can't market well enough to get the job done and get themselves a job - which is ultimately what they're all striving for? My guess is because they were never taught how. And therein lies the reason many bright, talented and creative small business owners and entrepreneurs, with great products and services, also fail in business. In fact, according to Entrepreneur Magazine, 80% of all new businesses fail within the first five years. Ouch! So what's the solution? Does someone need a degree in marketing to succeed in business? Well, no. But some basic marketing know-how and the ability to put together a marketing plan is a must if a business is to succeed. So what are the marketing basics a new business owner or entrepreneur needs to know? Here are 5 marketing basics that are the cornerstone of any effective marketing plan: 1) Know and understand who you are marketing to, usually referred to as your target market. If you want your marketing message to be effective, it has to speak to YOUR audience. They have to connect with it. It has to be important and meaningful to them. 2) Know why this specific group of people would want to purchase your product or service - the old marketing acronym: WIIFM or "What's In It For Me?" Focus your marketing message on these key reasons or benefits. 3) What's your competition look like? You're not operating your business in a vacuum. Your potential customers have many choices. You need to be aware of and understand what those
choices are. 5) And last, but probably most important, you need to understand how your product or service stands out from the competition. How is it better, or different? Why should someone buy your product or service instead of any of their other choices. Give them a compelling reason that ties in with what's important to them, and you've got a much better chance of winning the marketing game. And in the case of The Apprentice candidates, winning the job. (C) 2005 Debbie LaChusa Debbie LaChusa created The 10stepmarketing System to make marketing your own business as simple as answering 10 questions. Learn more about this unique, step-by-step system and get a free 10-week Marketing E-Course when you subscribe to the free, weekly 10stepmarketing Ezine at
http://www.10stepmarketing.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Debbie_LaChusa http://EzineArticles.com/?Effective-Marketing:-5-Tips-TVs-Apprentice-Candidates-Could-Use-to-Win&id=84911 project payday login
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Saturday, June 7, 2008

Is Your Legal Team On A Collision Course With GAAP?

By Richard Hall It seems as though the accounting rules that just a few short years ago seemed to be carved in stone and generally accepted by almost all businesses, are now more like accounting questions that are subject to ongoing challenge, discussion and debate. It also appears that rules governing the once sacrosanct relationships between corporate counsel and senior-level corporate executives are also now open to ongoing discussion. These new rules, established under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and enforced by the Securities and Exchange Commission, require both in-house and outside lawyers who see evidence of any "material" wrong-doing in businesses to report it up the corporate ladder. This rule is causing quite a stir in the executive ranks, where all business-related discussions between corporate executives and corporate counsel were previously considered protected under the attorney-client privilege. Senior-level executives, who were once comfortable discussing sensitive legal matters and tough business decisions with corporate counsel, arent quite as conversational anymore. These now tight-lipped corporate executives feel that frank and open discussions with their corporate counsel may not be in their best interest, and at some point could be used against them in a court of law. The fear of being dragged into court, or worse, being dragged in front of their Board of Directors, has many of them taking a vow of silence. The Securities and Exchange Commission meanwhile, contends that theres no need for concern over issues of attorney-client privilege between senior executives and corporate counsel, because the privilege never existed. The SECs position is that corporate counsel works for the corporation and shareholders, not the senior-level managers. Former SEC chairman Harvey L. Pitt left no doubt as to where corporate lawyers should pledge their allegiance. "Lawyers for public companies represent the company as a whole and its shareholder-owners, not the managers who hire and fire them. This tidbit of information comes as breaking news to many senior executives who for years have openly discussed sensitive legal matters acting under the belief that they were protected by the attorney-client privilege. Im sure that most corporate attorneys wouldnt argue against the idea of protecting shareholder interest. Its just that by placing attorneys in the role of corporate whistleblower, the SEC has created an adverse relationship between corporate counsel and the senior-level executives theyre hired to represent and advise. In addition to making waves in the corporate boardrooms, these new rules of attorney-client conduct also seem to directly challenge states rights governing attorney-client conduct. Some argue that Sarbanes-Oxley and the SEC have overstepped their bounds in an overzealous attempt to regulate business conduct, and in the process have taken regulation of corporations and their corporate counsel away from the states and turned it over to the federal government. That question is still open to debate, and will be for quite some time. But what is known, however, is that in the new Sarbanes-Oxley world, accounting rules and regulations are subject to change and should be considered an ongoing work in progress. You can expect new and revised rules to keep showing up every month or so at the federal, state and local levels, and while the SEC appears willing to consider some minor changes to existing regulations, possibly scaling back rules affecting smaller companies, dont expect any sweeping changes. And with the new rules being added and existing rules being revised, expect both legal spend and accounting costs to continue to soar for many years to come. Richard A. Hall is founder and President/CEO of LexTech, Inc., a legal information consulting company. Mr. Hall has a unique breadth of experience which has enabled him to meld technology and sophisticated statistical analysis to produce a technology driven analytical model of the practice of law. As a busy civil trial attorney, he was responsible for the design and implementation of a LAN based litigation database and fully automated document production system for a mid-sized civil defense firm. He developed a task based billing model built on extensive statistical analysis of hundreds of litigated civil matters. In 1994, Mr. Hall invented linguistic modeling software which automatically reads, applies budget codes, budget codes and analyzes legal bill content. He also served as California Director and lecturer for a nationwide bar review. Mr. Hall continues to practice law and perform pro bono services for several Northern California judicial districts. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Richard_Hall http://EzineArticles.com/?Is-Your-Legal-Team-On-A-Collision-Course-With-GAAP?&id=360431 undecured personal loan
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