Month: May 2018

 
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Learn why over 80% of all e-Books that come with reproduction rights are worthless.

If you’re an entrepreneur looking for a product to sell, I bet you’ve considered buying an E-Book with reproduction rights, or maybe even a set of E-Books with reproduction rights.

For those of you not familiar with what an E-Book is, an E-Book is simply an electronic book (E-Book) that is transferred to you within an electronic file and you read it directly from your computer. The concept is great, and there are many great E-Books out there, however there are also many useless E-Books out there as well.

If you were to look at 10 advertisements offering E-Books with reproduction rights, it is very likely that most (probably 8 or more) of these offers have products that are either:

1) Severely out-of-date. In this popular scenario, the vendor will typically sell you an informational product that has been floating around the Internet for far too long. As a result, the information is typically out-of-date and worthless. Another common practice is to attach a new enticing title to old content and try to sell it as new material.

2) Hidden advertisements with very little actual content. This scenario is also very popular and is beginning to appear much more often. Here the vendor sells a new (or what looks to be new) informational product. There is usually a flashy title that seems like it would have a high degree of marketability. However, once you read through the content, you notice that the information is simply an advertisement directing you to other money making offers.

The typical marketing ploy that you will find associated with E-Books promises to sell you a collection of the hottest-selling E-Books with full reproduction rights that allow you to reproduce (copy) and resell the product. The term “reproduction rights” sounds very valuable to a beginning entrepreneur. The mere thought of having a ready-made product which you do not have to continuously purchase is very enticing. However, in many situations, this is just a ploy to get you to purchase the product. Why would you want reproduction and resale rights to out-dated material, or a big book of advertisements?

The real goal in Internet marketing is to make your customers happy. Why? First, it’s the ethical thing to do, and second, because happy customers are repeat customers. To be successful in Internet marketing, you really need to have repeat customers that value your service and trust the quality of the products you offer. So don’t promote anything that you don’t have confidence in – make your customers happy and they will continue to buy from you, which will make you happy!

How Can You Find the “Good” E-Books?

Study the market and product carefully when buying E-Books (or any info course) for informational or resale purposes. If you’re thinking about buying a particular E-Book, try going to Google and typing in the name of the E-Book, along with the author name and the word “forum”. Then run your search.

Here’s an example of what you could type into Google for your search:

“John’s Excellent Car Tips” “John Smith” forum

You can also try these additional search strings:

“ever tried” or “ever used” or “anyone tried” or “anyone used”

Google will then return listings that match the above criteria. Many of these listings will be forums (one of your search words). These forums typically contain real users (not advertisers) discussing the product. This is great way to get unbiased feedback of a particular product. If the product is offering resell rights, you’ll typically find the users discussing that as well. You can also use one of the additional search strings (like “ever tried”) listed above. This will increase your chances of finding a forum question that is asking if anyone “ever tried” the product.

Keep in mind, there are some awesome E-Book publishers out there. In fact, I buy E-Books on all sorts of marketing topics on a weekly basis – and I have been doing so for years. If I don’t know the author, I will use the same technique described above to research the author/product. However, you can run into someone that doesn’t have much exposure but still has a great product, so you may not find out much about them in your research. But it is still very valuable to know that there isn’t any negative information about them floating around the net.

Remember, E-Books can be some of the best learning tools if the information is up-to-date, accurate and useful. And there are many of these types of E-Books out there; you just need to do a little research to find them. Once you find an E-Book that has proved to be useful to you, inquire with the other on an arrangement to allow you to sell the E-Book to others. The author may very well have an affiliate program where you can advertise their E-Book and make a percentage of the profit on each sale.

More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar

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A Real-time Multiple-cell Tracking Platform for Dielectrophoresis (DEP) based Cellular Analysis,

There is an increasing demand from biosciences to develop new and efficient techniques to assist in the preparation and analysis of biological samples such as cells in suspension. A dielectrophoresis (DEP)-based characterization and measurement technique on biological cells opens up a broader perspective for early diagnosis of diseases. An efficient real-time multiple-cell tracking platform coupled with DEP to capture and quantify the dynamics of cell motion and obtain cell viability information is presented. The procedure for tracking a single DEP-levitated Canola plant protoplast, using the motion-based segmentation algorithm hierarchical adaptive merge split mesh-based technique (HAMSM) for cell identification, has been enhanced for identifying and tracking multiple cells. The tracking technique relies on the deformation of mesh topology that is generated according to the movement of biological cells in a sequence of images that allows the simultaneous extraction of the biological cell from the image and the associated motion characteristics. Preliminary tests were conducted with yeast cells and then applied to a cancerous cell line subjected to DEP fields. Characteristics, such as cell count, velocity and size, were individually extracted from the tracked results of the cell sample. Tests were limited to eight yeast cells and two cancer cells. A performance analysis to assess tracking accuracy, computational effort and processing time was also conducted. The tracking technique employed on model intact cells in DEP fields proved to be accurate, reliable and robust.

 

 

Brinda Prasad, K. Kaler and Wael Badawy, “A Real-time Multiple-cell Tracking Platform for Dielectrophoresis (DEP) based Cellular Analysis,” Measurement Science and Technology, Vol. 6, April 2005, pp. 909-924.

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Why Market ebooks?

Why market ebooks? The internet is awash with all kinds of ebooks. Ebooks about cooking, Ebooks about cleaning,child rearing, golf, cars,prescription drugs and anything else you can think of. Some are long. Hundreds of pages. Some are short. Ten pages or even less.

With all these ebooks out there surely everything has been written about every topic right?

Of course not. Even if another ebook has the same information yours does no one else has your perspective, your style, your voice. Whatever you write about, your ebook will be uniquely yours.

Only you know what you think and feel about a topic. Only you can put it together in your own special way. Your ebook is personal. It’s your take on whatever.

So why not publish a traditional paper book. Well you can. If you choose a topic the publisher is looking for. If you can muster up the minimum number of chapters the publisher requires. If you can find a publisher who thinks your writing will sell. The world of traditional publishing is not for the faint of heart or the person who thinks they might want to be a writer.

Well what about self publishing. A good choice. If you don’t mind paying for editing. Then paying for printing. Then buying a minimum number of you own book. All this is before you even start marketing.

I don’t want to give you the idea that I’m against other publishing methods. In fact, if you have written the great american novel or a great guide on how to do whatever, that meets publisher guidelines then go for it. However, if you are just the averge Joe or Jane who has some home spun wisdom to share with the world an ebook is the way to go.

The internet provides a quick, easy and cheap way to get your book out there. Your book itself. Not simply word about your book. With an ebook, after purchasing software, your only expense is marketing. No printing fees. No editing fees.

You control the length of your ebook, the layout, it’s all you. The ultimate form of self expression. Plus, you don’t have to convince a publisher how great your idea is. You are in total control. You have the first and last say on everything. Every authors dream. Your vision undiluted.

Any topic you can think of, politics, love, email marketing, why the original Star Trek is the best…anything.

So what are you waiting for. Do the research, write your ebook and market it to the world.

More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar

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What is the 80-20 Rule?


The 80-20 rule states that 20% of what we do will return 80% value. This means that if you have 10 items on your to-do list, 2 of them will likely return 80% of the results. Unfortunately, most of us end up working on the 8 tasks that return just 20%.

How do we determine which tasks will give the greatest return? Usually we just get to work and hope we’ll get everything done by the end of each day. Some of us prioritize our lists; others just pick the most enjoyable or easiest tasks first. But even if we do prioritize according to importance and urgency, how do we know for sure that what we are doing is the 20% effort that returns 80% impact?

To determine which activities return the greastest value, we need to use an Impact versus Effort matrix… one that insures that we give priority to the highest impact jobs first… and especially to those which require the least effort 😉

The chart speaks for itself. Go for the QUICK WINS first and then concentrate on your MAJOR PROJECTS. Then, if there is time, do the FILL IN JOBS that need to be done. As far as the THANKLESS TASKS are concerned, I’ll leave that one up to you. But unless they are really important, they are probably best forgotten.

More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar

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The Power Behind E-books

Have you ever wondered what all the hype is about e-books? Why are they so popular? Would you be able to write your own e-book? These are just a few of the questions we will answer in today’s article.

E-books are found almost everywhere on the internet. There are even libraries where you can download free e-books onto your computer. Many of these e-books are free because they are in the public domain, but there are some that have been written specifically to boost advertising.

We are now living in the ìinformation ageî where people want to get valuable input quickly and easily. This is where e-books lead the way in a world where information is so often sought after. The contribution of e-books to the internet marketplace is one of the forerunning advertisement methods in use today.

How is it used to promote your business?

By offering e-books to those people who visit your site, you are allowing your visitors to know a bit more about the product/service you are promoting. By writing on a topic that you are familiar with you set yourself up as an expert in your particular field.

By using a form to capture your visitor’s names and email addresses you are also building up your very own opt-in mailing list. Is it any wonder that so many people are using this as a viral marketing tool?

Perhaps you are wondering how you too can get on the bandwagon of writing e-books to help boost the traffic to your website or organization.

Obviously, first you must write the e-book. What should you write your e-book on? Your e-book should be based on information that you are already familiar with. Do you have a particular niche that you would like to promote? Then write according to your expertise.

For example, if you are a dog lover, you could write a book about taking proper care of canines, or write about a particular type of dog that you are familiar with. It is more advantageous to write about something concerning your particular market but writing about a complimentary market could also bring you leads that you can use to boost your business.

The important point is to get your name out in the public eye of the internet community so that they will look to you for the expert advice that you can offer.

What if you cannot write a book? You may have ideas and know what you want to talk about but you are unable to compose your thoughts in a clear, precise manner. In this situation, all is not lost. You can hire, usually for a small fee, someone else to write the book for you. This is called ìghostwritingî and is actually a very common practice.

To hire a ghostwriter it is your responsibility to make sure that he/she knows what it is you wish to convey in your e-book and they will go about and write the book for you.
You pay them to write the e-book but it is your name that appears as the author.

Once your book is written it must be converted to either an html file or a .pdf file. This is a simple process with a .pdf converter.

More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar

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A new time distributed DCT architecture for MPEG-4 hardware reference model

This paper presents the design of a new time distributed architecture (TDA) which outlines the architecture (ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11 MPEG2002/M8565) submitted to MPEG4 Part9 committee and included in the ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29/WG11 MPEG2002/9115N document. The proposed TDA optimizes the two-dimensional discrete cosine transform (2-D-DCT) architecture performance. It uses a time distribution mechanism to exploit the computational redundancy within the inner product computation module. The application specific requirements of input, output and coefficients word length are met by scheduling the input data. The coefficient matrix uses linear mappings to assign necessary computation to processor elements in both space and time domains. The performance analysis shows performance savings in excess of 96% as compared to the direct implementation and more than 71% as compared to other optimized application specific architectures for DCT.

Published in:

Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, IEEE Transactions on  (Volume:15 ,  Issue: 5 )

Alam, M.; Badawy, W.; Jullien, G.; “A new time distributed DCT architecture for MPEG-4 hardware reference model,” IEEE Circuits and Systems for Video Technology, Volume 15, Issue 5, May 2005, pp. 726 – 730.

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Locating More Virtual Work

Tips on how to find work from home jobs and opportunities that will actually pay you and pay consistently.

If you’re going to go fishing, you have to know where to fish, right? There are several types of job posting sites of which you need to be aware. Each type has its pros and cons. Below; I will show you the different kinds of sites available to freelancers and then discuss the good points and bad points of each.
Paid sites on which clients post their own jobs:
Don’t automatically discount an online job service just because they charge for the service or because you have to “bid” on jobs. I had to learn that the hard way. When Jim and I started seeking more freelance work, I wouldn’t touch those paid sites with a ten-foot keyboard. I figured they must be a scam. Jim says, “Hey, why didn’t you go to this one?” I said,
“I’m not going to pay for job postings! And I’m certainly NOT going to bid against other freelancers to get work!”

After more encouragement, on Jim’s part, I finally checked it out, coughed up the $125 for three months of service, built my profile, and started bidding. Hey, this is business, not a hobby.

In business, there’s competition and you need to be ready for it and deal with it. Now, I’m not saying you should go out and sign up for every paid service that exists – that doesn’t work either. What you should do, though, is pick one or two paid bidding sites. My favorite is eLance.com. They’re expensive and I don’t like using the site for long-term clients. However, it’s a good place to find clients. What you do with them after you’ve earned their business, is, uh, well, none of my business ;-).

Paid sites where the site pulls postings from other sites (uses non-original postings*):
For the freelancer, these sites are not very useful for finding work. If the posting isn’t original, meaning that the client didn’t post the job or the opportunity, you can bet that client is getting so many responses that they’re ignoring the majority of them. This type of site doesn’t do much for you in the way of job postings. They may offer some other good information, but the job postings are likely sub-standard.

Free sites where clients post their jobs
These sites share the same pluses as paid sites with client job listings. Most of the same things apply, except they’re free! One drawback for clients, however, may be the perceived value of the site and their service. Many people feel that if you don’t have to pay for it, it must not be very good. So, it’s possible that you won’t find as many good clients and/or job listings on this type of site. However, if the postings are original and credible, it’s worth a shot.

Free sites where the site pulls postings from other sites (uses non-original postings*):
This type of site gets a double-whammy for uselessness — Unless of course, they can offer you some other kind of information to help you in your job. But, again, if they’re not using original job postings, and are pulling from other sites, their jobs and clients are likely so saturated with responses rendering them useless in finding work.

Staffing agency sites:
Sites like these can be good ones to pursue. Usually, what this type of site or company does is locate its own clients and work and “share” the work with their freelance pool. In fact, this is exactly what Team Double-ClickSM does. The problem, however, is that if they’re good (they pay in a timely manner, work with good clients, and otherwise treat their freelancers well), they fill up quickly and either refuse additional freelancers or have a long waiting list. Persistence is the key here. If you can get in touch with a real human being (not their computer), sometimes it helps to send follow up notes to see if they have changed their acceptance policy.

Sites using non-original postings:
Unfortunately, the fact that a site doesn’t post original job listings isn’t something they advertise. This makes it much more difficult for us, as freelancers, to know whether they’re for real. Most clients don’t post their job openings on multiple sites – they will choose one or two and stick with them. The best way to ferret out the sites who are using others’ postings is a rather time consuming one. You have to surf. Make a mental note (or written if need be) of the sites you visit and the postings you see on them. Then you have to refer back, either by memory or to a log that you create, and watch for patterns. If you run across a posting and remember seeing that same posting elsewhere, it’s a good bet that the site is “borrowing” postings to beef up their site.
The other thing you can do is to send the companies an email before you pay for their service. Interview them, so-to-speak.

Ask the following questions:

Do you borrow job postings from other sites?
If so, how many of your job postings are original? Ask for a percentage.
What does my $29.95 get me – exactly?
How many new postings do you receive per day?
What areas do you post jobs in, ex: IT, Administrative?
Should one of your clients not pay me for the work I do, what is your support policy?
When does my membership expire?

These things will help, but again, there’s no guarantee. You’re a freelancer, which means you’re in business for yourself and there are always risks when you’re in business.

More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar

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My book is a nonlegal guide and it is not an "il-legal" guide

I am in the process of publishing my new book series “the non-legal guide”.  As directed by my publisher, I started the marketing and pre-selling activities.

Last week, I was asked twice about the contents of the book and “Why do you write about an illegal guide?”  As a shocking question, I want to answer, I wrote this blog to describe what is the book about.

In the dictionary “nonlegal” is an adjective and means that  “not related to, qualified for, or phrased in the manner of the practice of law”  i.e. the guide does provide any legal related guidance.
In the dictionary “illegal”  can be an adjective or a noun.   The former one means either forbidden by law or statute, or  contrary to or forbidden by official rules, regulations, etc.
While the later (i.e. as noun) means informal.
My book series are to provide an guide to the court process that are not related to a legal matters, or a legal advices.  In my experience, the legal aspect in dealing with court may fall below 5% of the process.  Filling forms, paying fees and other process and procedures are not related to any legal advices or activities.
My book is written to the Self Represent Litigant and provides a comprehensive guidance to all aspects of the court outside the legal advice.  Moreover, it describes how to seek a legal advice efficiently and  at cost effective.   It is a must read for anyone who is trying to use the court.  
The draft of the guide was used by several Self Representative litigants and was able to save them between $8,000  to  $17,000 per court step, although they have a legal representation.
Please let me know what do you think about this book in the comments below.
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Top 5 Reasons Why Your Small Business Needs a Custom Website

Today, in North America, almost 70% of households have access to the Internet. It has evolved to the point where the Internet has become an integral element in the way business is conducted, and is shaping the way business will be conducted in the future. Most consumers these days research a product or service on the Internet before making their purchase. So, in this day and age, it could cost you not to have a website. Listed below are 5 reasons why you should employ an experienced web designer to construct a custom website for your small business.

Credibility & Identity Building
Like it or not, your potential customers are going to judge the quality of your products and/or services based on presentation and image. Therefore, an aesthetically pleasing web site will give you and your company more credibility in the eyes of you customers or clients.

Lower Your Expenses
Why spend thousands of dollars on static traditional media such as brochures? If there was ever a change in your business, such as an expansion or additional products/services, it would require printing all new corporate brochures. A web site is dynamic and can be changed or updated in a very cost effective manner. Best of all, your clients can access this information from anywhere in the world, without the delay of snail-mail. A properly constructed web site can also reduce the time that you and your employees spend answering redundant customer questions.

Complement Your Existing Marketing Efforts
Most people think of a web site as advertising. Unfortunately, they would be wrong – A web site is a medium which complements and enhances your existing marketing efforts. Your potential customers or clients can easily gain access to information that isn’t suitable to include in other traditional advertising mediums. In less than a decade, a web site will be just as common as having a listing in the Yellow Pages. What would your potential customers or clients think of your business if you didn’t have a web site?

Customer Service
A web site allows potential customers or clients to get to know more about your company, increasing the personal side of doing business. Your business will be open 24hrs per day, 365 days per year, and if someone has a question concerning your product or service, an answer is only an e-mail away. Some people may feel uncomfortable on the phone or in your office / store, and, to these people, e-mail is their preferred method of communication.

Get a Jump on the Competition
A professionally designed web site will make your business appear larger than it actually is, and therefore challenge larger competitors. When it comes to getting listed in the search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN, etc.), the longer your web site has been active, the higher ranking you will receive, and therefore more traffic will be directed to your web site. It is for this reason that you can’t afford delay this important decision any longer.

More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar

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Business Buying Guide – Detail

Business buying process can be easy with following step by step business buying guide. It is always good to check little things as much as possible when you buy business for sale since business buying process takes a lot of details.

Business Buying Process

First, You have to determining your investment. Usually minimum down payment made by the buyer is 30% of the purchase price. For example, if the business purchase price is $100,000 and loan amount is $70,000 (70%), then the buyer’s down payment needs to be $30,000 (30%). Other possible expenses are inventories, supplies, escrow fee, license and permit fees, franchise transfer fee (if applies), etc.

And then you have to set criteria of desired business. Which includes location of business, type of business, price range of business, desired income of business.

After you decide your investment amount and criteria of business, you will need to find a right business that fit your needs. You can search business through online business listing service site Business For Sale, local newspapers, or through local business brokers or real estate agents.

If you find a business that you want to purchase, you will need to evaluate the business through current owner’s income information and your projected income for short term and long term.
And then you need to make decision to purchase business or not. If the business is right for you, you need to write a very descriptive and detailed contract (Purchase and Sale Agreement).

When you are writing an offer, you have to make sure the contract includes the followings: Your offering price, Initial deposit amount, financing terms, closing date. Other terms and conditions that can be added to the contract is buyer’s loan approval, lease and lease approval from landlord, buyer to obtain all necessary licenses and permits, franchisor’s approval of ownership transfer, the buyer’s Satisfaction of books and records, closing cost allocation, buyer training session, business equipment and fixtures in good working condition, inventories and supplies amount, seller’s agreement not to compete, etc.

After you finish writing an offer, you need to present your offer to seller. Negotiate the price, terms, and conditions and settle with final price and terms and condition.

Now you will need to allocate the purchase price of business that you are buying. After you done purchase price allocation, you will need to apply for loan, license and permits.

and then you will need to obtain a lease or sublease. You will need to make sure you obtain the lease or get an approval of lease assignment before close of escrow no matter what happened.

And then on or the day before the closing date, you will need to review the equipment list that is provided at the time of the acceptance of the Purchase and Sale agreement and buy inventories and supplies. And then you can do the closing on the closing date.

More info’s and free registrations (restricted to pros), please join our live seminar