Using the Marketing Mix to Maximize Customer Returns

The traditional marketing mix used by businesses comprised of 4 key elements thought to be vital to the success of any business. However, with the passage of time and the variations in the kind of products and services offered, there are 7 key elements today in the marketing mix that require constant evaluation to ensure the best possible results. These 7 P’s are:
Product

Price

Placement

Promotion

Physical Evidence

Process

People

Businesses use a unique combination of all these elements in an attempt to achieve the highest customer satisfaction levels.In this article, we will discuss all the 7 elements in detail and will explain how businesses can make constant variations in their product mix to maximize their goals.Product
What distinguishes your product or service from other products? While there are standard quality and service components to establish performance, the product or service needs to be somehow unique, some way better than its competitor. This “unique selling proposition” is mission-critical to the business’s success. Customer satisfaction with your product or service is of utmost importance. Though it’s important to offer a high quality or a more economical price, better availability or quicker delivery time, it is also essential to make sure that your product or service has something that is unique and that sets it apart from the competitors in the market.Price
Consider if the target market sees the price of your product or service as affordable. If the target market is not willing or able to buy, there is no chance to build your business successfully. If the price of your products is higher than competition, it is imperative to convince the market the value of the price premium.Placement
In order to capture the market, make your products and services accessible and easy to buy. If the customer can’t find you, they can’t buy from you. If you offer online sales, carefully consider the process customers must go through to buy online. A difficult purchasing process is a barrier to sales. Know where your target audience lives and shops in order to put your product in front where they can see and learn about it.Promotion
Promoting your product through the right channels to ensure highest exposure is essential to the marketing process. A promotion on broadcast TV or radio is expensive compared to other channels; they will reach people who may have no interest or not be qualified to buy your products. The costly reach of broadcast media can waste valuable marketing dollars with little return. If the channel is online, use the internet – and search engine optimization – to your advantage. Find out the keyword search terms that will bring the most amount of traffic. Leverage the content and position of the websites that feature your product to its best advantage. If promotion is direct mail, give careful consideration to a targeted mailing list. Direct mail can be more focused and waste less resources, resulting in a more exacting approach to your target market.Physical Evidence
Think about all aspects of your organization that your prospective customer encounters. From the cleanliness of the selling floor and lavatories in a brick and mortar location to the ease of website navigation, the visit should be a pleasant and hassle-free experience for the customer. Polite, courteous and well-trained staff should be a priority to convey an image of quality from the product to the people who help sell and re-sell the product. The primary and secondary packaging can elevate a simple useful product and make it more desirable. Everything that the customer comes in contact with comes under the physical evidence.Process
A lead generation process happens from the time your marketing is seen or heard by the customer until they take advantage of your call to action. The sales process starts from that call to action until the product or service is successfully delivered and paid for. Is the process well-tested and reliable? Is the experience the same from the customer’s point of view each time they interact with your company? How efficient is the sales process? If the process can be delivered from lead to sales in the optimum amount of time, conserving resources and expense, it can be replicated over and over to build more sales revenue.People
From the people who answer the phone, greet the customer, handle problems, process payments, follow up on the sale, and manage the team to the president of the company, all actions contribute to an image of quality and service. It’s common to hear companies say we have great customer service in today’s world, but how they deliver the great service is what holds great significance to the customer.How Companies Use the Marketing Mix
The marketing mix experiences a lot of variations throughout a product’s lifecycle stage. For example, if we look at the category of health supplements, a lot of the brands started off as delivering nutritional supplements to men and women in the market. However, in the development stage of the product’s lifecycle, brands were focusing more on gaining exposure through lower introductory prices and different promotional packages. As the brands crossed the Introductory stage and moved on to growth stage, businesses started catering to more specialized categories such as Teens, Men, Women, and the above 50 and began developing more products for each category. These line extensions are typical of a business in the growth stage. When a company is in the mature phase of their lifecycle, it is common to re-launch their products with innovation to capture the surge of business experience in the development stage. In the category of health supplements, many brands identified the opportunity of attracting customers looking for exercise and athletic supplements for enhance performance. This new market segment opened the doors of a completely new marketing niche for businesses that focused on diversifying the market and on increasing the market for this new category.Conclusion
Experienced marketing consultants such as 1st Straw Marketing ask a lot of questions to dive deep into the different aspects of business. Getting to know the perception of the market and the internal workings of the company selling products and services is essential to developing a strategic and tactical plan that can be successful. Depending on each stage of the product’s lifecycle and the influence of the market, business leaders and professional marketers are constantly evaluating their marketing mix and making changes to serve their target market better. Planning, review, evaluation and research goes into determining every element of the marketing mix and is vital to the overall success of a business.

SEO Book – Can You Learn SEO From Scratch by Reading Books?

If you’re reading this article, most probably you already know (or at least suspect) that Search Engine Optimization is like a key to Fort Knox for any online entrepreneur. Why? Because proper SEO opens your website the door to leading positions in search engines. The higher your website ranks in search results pages, the more ready-to-buy users find you, not your competitors first. And they buy from you, not from your competitors. Your top position in Google multiplies the dough you get twofold, threefold and (pardon my play on words) Google-fold.OK, SEO is a rock-solid way to make your on-line business flourish. But what if you hadn’t even heard the word “SEO” till yesterday? The Internet sea abounds in screaming “SEO in two days” and “SEO book for noobs” headlines. But can you really zero-base learn SEO – for which SEO companies charge up to $5,000 a month – on your own? By simply reading about it? The answer is YES. SEO is no rocket science if you have the right source to ladle out your knowledge.So where is the knowledge treasure-house for a self-taught SEO?Some old hand SEOs would claim – the only way to get on-the-nose SEO tips is searching through forums and blogs, where professionals share their real-life experience.Well, digging deep into these sources can be very informative. This is a perfect way to enrich your SEO wisdom: pick up some useful know-hows and savvy tricks and techniques. But only if you already have your SEO-mindset stable. I mean, if you’ve already learned the basics of SEO science. If not, how can you tell a worthy piece of advice from useless scribbling by muddle-heads who often swarm on such forums and blogs? Besides, it’ll take you ages to gather the pieces of SEO-puzzle together and get a complete picture of how to SEO your website.SEO books are another pair of shoes. All you need is packed together for you. No surfing through dozens of websites. But here you should also keep in mind several important points:- The Internet world and SEO principles are changing at supersonic speed. What was good for website promotion yesterday may turn out to be a complete waste of time today. In what way would the authors keep up with this speed of changes? In no way, unless their SEO book is a day by day updated e-book. That’s why the SEO book you can really trust is an e- book- Does “Search Engine Saturation” or “Traffic Referral Rates” sound clear to you? Would you like your SEO book to speak the language you don’t understand? Definitely, no. You need SEO things made easy as ABS. So you need an SEO book that speaks plain English- The ultimate goal of your learning SEO is being able to actually optimize your website, not only use some SEO terms, isn’t it? If so, a solid-cheesy-theory book is a waste of your precious time. Make sure your SEO book gives practical advice and step-by-step guidance for your page optimization- On the other hand, learning something parrot fashion is also no good. You are to UNDERSTAND WHAT, HOW, and WHY you are doing. Otherwise, a small deviation from a studied scheme – and you are deadlocked. Pick up the SEO book that not only orders you what to do, but explains why you should do thisThese criteria considerably narrow your range of choice. One of the books I’ve recently come across that perfectly hits the spot is “SEO in Practice”. It is an all-round online SEO guide by a 9-year experienced SEO pro Dan Richmond. He leads you by the hand into the world of Search Engine Optimization, pointing each step you should take and clarifying all whys and hows so that a child could understand.To top it all, keep in mind: whatever way to dig into SEO you choose, it’s your zeal that grows the fruits to reap. There is no one but you to knock in the knowledge into your head.

How to Get the Most From a Business Counselor

The one trait all successful business owners have in common is that they ask for help when they need it. And the good news is help is readily available. You can find a business counselor or coach in just about any location not far from you and sessions are often at no charge, especially if you’re planning to start a business.Whether you see a business counselor through a free service or choose a fee-based business coach, here are some tips counselors and coaches want you to know to get the most from their sessions.1. Come with something, rather than nothing. I recently had an ideal business client, at least that’s how I viewed him following our counseling session. He wanted to start a lawn care and landscaping business and was employed fulltime doing just that for a local municipality. He had already asked his supervisors if it would be OK to start a business on the side, one that he could do in the evenings and weekends. They gave him the OK, had him sign the necessary secondary employment documents and were pleased that he was making plans for his professional future (after all, jobs with government entities are not as secure as they once were).He already had his own equipment, a business license, name and business cards. He came to me to find out how to reach business owners in his local community. We talked about his target market, his services, how to gather the information needed to set prices, his competition, how to ask for business-a myriad of topics that ended in steps he would take to launch his business.He felt energized afterward, and I felt refreshed, thinking, “Why was that session so productive and how can I have more clients like that?” Here’s the answer. He came with something. He had experience in the industry, a current job and savings to fund start-up expenses, equipment, and an idea of his target customer. I contrast him with another client who came in recently wanting to start a business “to help women with things like housing, childcare, life skills, because I know so many women who really need help.” You get the point.2. Trust the counselor. Confidentiality is important and business counselors will honor it. If it makes you feel better for them to sign a confidentiality statement before reading your business plan or swear they won’t steal or share your business idea, fine. But trust me. Business counselors have been exposed to all types of business ideas and very little is unique to them. Even so, they’ve chosen a career as a business counselor and are not looking for a unique idea to pirate.3. Be open and honest about your financial situation. A business counselor can be a great resource to find funding and they can help you put together a funding proposal, but you must be open and honest about your financial situation and the earlier the better. A business counselor, especially in the first session, may not want to come right out and ask “How much money do you have to start this business?” or “How much do you have to put toward a loan?” but it’s important for them to know early to help you find appropriate funding resources. Vague statements such as “I should be OK in getting a loan,” or “I should have enough collateral to apply for a commercial loan” really doesn’t help. Provide details to the counselor and the earlier you do this the further along you’ll be.If you’re an existing business owner and the counselor asks to see financial records, avoid responding with, “My accountant takes care of all that, so we’re good there.” Financial records can reveal quite a bit about management of the business. Use the counselor’s expertise and tools for financial analysis. The counselor can save you money by examining your records.In additional to your financial situation, Warren Williams, head of Turning Point Business Coaching in North Carolina adds, “Be open to what the coach can teach you. A good coach truly has your best interest at heart, for they genuinely want to help you (as well as your business) be successful. Remain open to the opportunity to make your business better by making yourself better”4. Do your assignments. Business clients tend to disappear or play “hide and seek” once the counselor gives them an assignment. An assignment might be to do some market research. If you’re not familiar with what or how to do it, simply say so. Don’t nod as if you understand. Avoiding follow-up calls from the counselor or not responding to emails because you didn’t complete your “homework” just delays the process of reaching your business goals. Let the counselor know you’re having difficulty with the assignment and could use more guidance. No need to feel embarrassed.5. Understand the counselor’s role. As with any type of counseling, the idea is to help you discover solutions as opposed to telling you what to do. “Counselors provide a sounding board for you. They’ll challenge you and help you see situations in new ways. They’ll help you find solutions, not impose them,” says long-time North Carolina business counselor Maggi Braun. Don’t feel frustrated because you didn’t get the “answers” you were looking for.6. Be willing to consider many ideas. Whether you’re a new or established business owner, keep an open mind. This is closely related to the previous point. Think of your time with a business counselor as an exploration session. Many ideas or solutions may come to the surface. Be willing to consider them and then winnow out the best. If you have to do a pros and cons sheet to find the right one for you, do it. Being wedded to a particular business name, idea, process, procedure, etc. can keep your business from moving forward. Be willing to approach the business from a different perspective and be prepared to spend time after each session digesting the ideas discussed.7. Plan for more than one session. One session with a business counselor really won’t do justice to the counseling experience. At least three sessions will give you a good foundation on how to proceed. As mentioned at the beginning, cost shouldn’t be an issue because you can find free business counseling services at your local colleges and universities. Your local library, chamber, business license office, or even a web can provide a referral.Barbara L. Hall is director of the Small Business Center at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College in Salisbury N.C. She is also currently enrolled in the Masters of Entrepreneurship Degree Program at Western Carolina University. Webmasters and other article publishers are hereby granted article reproduction permission as long as this article in its entirety, author’s information and any links remain intact. Copyright 2014 by Barbara L. Hall.

MMA Clothing and Apparel

MMA Clothing isn’t just for fighters anymore. With the sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) now more popular than ever, MMA Clothing is becoming increasingly popular with the fans of our great sport as well – and with so many brands to choose from, everyone will surely find a piece of MMA Apparel that will compliment their wardrobe.Types of MMA Clothing:Fighter Shirts – By purchasing signature fighter shirts not only are you supporting the sport of Mixed Martial Arts, but you’re supporting the fighters as well. Many fighters gain royalties from such shirts, so be sure to support your favorite fighters by purchasing a tee from their signature line.Hats – Just about every MMA Clothing line contains at least a few different caps. These range from the standard baseball hat to a winter beanie hat. I prefer the beanie hat myself since where I live it’s rather cold for up to 9 months out of the year, but also own a Full Contact Fighter (FCF) baseball hat as well.Hooded Sweatshirts – What better way to stay warm in the fall and winter months than with your very own MMA hoodie? Though they tend to cost a little more, hooded sweatshirts are extremely comfortable and never go out of styleT-Shirts – By far the most popular piece of MMA attire, there is no shortage of great brands and designs to choose from. In fact, MMAOverload.com alone carries well over 30 brands at the time of this writing!Women’s Apparel – Though Women’s MMA clothing is typically much harder to find, it does exist and has its own important sub-niche within the sport.I hope that my write up on MMA Clothing has helped enlighten you to the various types of clothing that are available to consumers in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts.

Natural Oily Skin Care

When you have oily skin, there is nothing more important to looking healthy than good natural skin care. While dry skin needs intense moisture, those who suffer with oily skin are plagued with too much moisture in the form of oil and the problems that come along with it. The good news is that natural oily skin care can solve these problems.One commonly overlooked advantage of oily skin is that it does not show signs of aging as quickly as dry skin. This is due to the extra moisture provided by the overactive oil glands. Oily skin care strikes a balance between the anti-aging advantages of oily skin and getting rid of excess moisture. Oily skin care will also make your skin radiant.People with oily skin have to clean their face often and they are usually prone to suffering from acne. Overactive oil glands can lead to acne if you do not practice good oily skin care. Grime and dirt collect quickly on oily skin, blocking pores and promoting the growth of bacteria and the formation of acne.By removing the excess oil through oily skin care cleansing, you can help prevent acne. Cleanse your skin with a natural cleanser made from natural ingredients and warm water for best results. A homemade natural cleanser can remove dirt and grime and will work miracles on oily skin.After cleansing with a natural cleanser, rinse your face with warm water and then apply a toner, or astringent, made with natural ingredients from a recipe. A natural toner will get rid of excess oil without disturbing your skin’s pH balance or stripping your face of essential moisture.Natural oily skin care made with natural ingredients is much better than using harsh products containing chemicals that may irritate your skin. In fact, chemical skin care products can often promote a serious oily skin condition called Seborrhea. In Seborrhea, the oil glands below the surface of the skin over produce oil to compensate for the loss of skin moisture through the use of chemical skin care products that over dry. The top layer shrivels due to the dehydration promoted by the chemical skin care product. It restricts the oil flow from the oil glands, which clogs pores and promotes acne. Natural oily skin care made with recipes using natural ingredients is best for oily skin and will help you avoid the condition of Seborrhea.Those suffering from oily skin that is also scaly should consider an oily skin care scrub made from natural ingredients. A natural scrub will exfoliate your skin without stripping away necessary moisture.Another great option for oily skin care is a natural facial mask. Natural clay masks will gently remove excess oil. Apply a natural mask containing natural ingredients from a recipe and then rinse with warm water. Then apply a natural oily skin care moisturizer.Experiment with natural skin care by making your own oily skin care products at home with recipes and natural ingredients. By doing a little experimenting with different recipes, you will find the natural ingredients that work best for your oily skin. The more you experiment with ingredients and recipes, the better your natural oily skin care.

My Buddy Mario – A True World Traveller and Conoisseur of Intercultural Experiences

In the 16 years that I have known my friend Mario I have heard many different tales of his world travels and he is one of those people who have lived, worked and hitchhiked through different exotic countries. Mario is a Toronto high school teacher and teaches French and world issues. He spent time living and working in places like Thailand, Indonesia, Mexico and Quebec and came face-to-face with often vastly different cultures.Mario is also an immigrant in two different countries, Australia where he moved as a small child in the 50s, and Canada, where he arrived as a teenager. Here is his story, the story of an immigrant, traveler and global adventurer.1. Please tell us a bit about your background. Where were you born and where did you grow up?I was born in San Vita al Tagliamento in northeastern Italy in the province of Friuli. But my parents are of Calabrese origin from Southern Italy. After his military service in the north of Italy my father decided to stay there due to his fondness for Friuli culture. In 1953 my father moved our family to Australia where he worked with a French contracting firm and we settled in Brisbane, Queensland when I was 2.5 years old. It was there that I had my first memories of the immigrant reality which was a very simple house made of wood. The roof leaked into our house and we had plants growing through the floor in the kitchen. The conditions were very basic, but this would set the stage for 11 years of a very challenging cultural adjustment period, following which my father moved us to Canada in 1964.At that time, Italians faced a lot of discrimination, even harassment or sometimes violence in different forms, physical and psychological. My family was actually the target of a number of different forms of attack because we were immigrants. It made for a rather paranoid existence, constantly having to looking over your shoulder.Remember, this was the 50s and Australia was still governed within the framework of the “White Australia Policy”, a form of institutionalized apartheid. I witnessed various acts of brutality towards Australian aborigines with whom I was often mistaken, given the darkness of my skin. The proximity to the sea, however, made me appreciate the beauty of Australia in its purest form. During this time I developed a strong sense of self-reliance and I learned the importance of defending myself.In the mid 70s I returned to Australia and I noticed that the work of many of those earlier immigrants had born fruit in the form of comfortable lifestyles and accomplished middle-class experiences. Italians had finally become mainstream and accepted. This also corresponded with Australia’s new multi-cultural policy. Australia started to open up to different nationalities, which made for a more tolerant society.2. You are a gifted multi-lingual individual. How many languages do you speak and what are they?English and Italian are my first two languages. I also speak French, Spanish and Portuguese at a pretty high level. In addition, I also get by in Indonesian and I speak basic German and some phrases in Russian. The sound of different foreign languages fascinates me and I also appreciate that speaking the language is the key to these foreign cultures. Apart from the initial period during high school when I was exposed to English, French and German for the first time, the rest of my languages were acquired through living in the culture.3. What was it like when you first came to Canada?I remember it being very very cold since we arrived in Canada on February 16, 1964. My first observation was a very abrupt introduction to the Canadian climate. For a good several years I found it very difficult to adapt to the climate. On the other hand, as far as culture went, I could finally tap into my Italian-ness. It was actually in Toronto that the whole notion of being an Italian took on a new meaning for me because I felt accepted. I felt embraced here and felt that I could express my Italian heritage which led to me perfecting my Italian, considering I had suppressed speaking Italian in Australia. Once we came to Toronto I felt a desire to further go into the language.High school in Canada was an appreciation of many other languages. We were offered courses in French, German, Latin and Spanish at the high school level. The school I went to reflected the transitional nature of Toronto at that time, which had been very WASP (white, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant) until the 1960s and from then on started to change into a more cosmopolitan environment. There were people of different backgrounds which made you comfortable expressing yourself. By the time I went to university I was fairly at ease with my own intercultural identity.My appreciation for Portuguese started on a construction job in Tecumseh, Ontario, where 2 gangs of construction workers, one Italian, one Portuguese, were confined to a very small house, provided by the construction company and were forced to live and interact with one another. I started to appreciate the similarities and differences with Portuguese culture, which I found absolutely fascinating. This was my initiation into the Portuguese language.4. What were your earliest travel experiences?Apart from the immigrant boat travels, my first travel memories were when I hitchhiked to Niagara Falls and Barrie, a medium-size town 90 minutes north of Toronto, when I was 15 years old. This gave me a sense of independence and the ability to design my own path on any trip. I felt in control and decided where I wanted to go. We did not realize that we needed a passport to cross into the United States, so we learned the lesson that you need your documents in order when traveling to foreign countries.The next big trip was at the age of 17, crossing Canada with a fellow student in a VW beetle. We went to Vancouver for one month, picking strawberries, working on farms to survive. The second leg of that trip was to Mexico via California. This was the period of Height-Ashbury, the Summer of 68, and we truly experienced Flower Power in San Francisco. This left a lasting impression on me because of the freedom and the camaraderie among the youth. Anybody would open their house to you and you felt a bond with many young people.The paradox of this period was that it was during the Vietnam War. So just as you had young people bonding with each other, believing that peace was the answer to the world’s dilemmas, people were getting killed on the other side of the globe. The administration in Washington believed that war was the answer and these young people had in effect opted out of the system.Mexico in itself was an eye-opener. It was my initiation into Latino culture and decrepit third world conditions of the masses. This was my politicization when I realized the plight of the majority of humanity and it made me even more curious to go back and get in contact with these people.When I came back from Mexico it was very difficult to adjust to mundane middle-class values, just fitting into my place into my system. So I dropped out of 2nd year university and continued traveling without a set itinerary.I went to Europe first, starting with London, worked in a hospital, and then spent 2 months traveling Europe on a Eurail pass. After Spain I visited Morocco where I met a guy called Giovanni Pozzi who turned me onto images and illusions of Afghanistan, a place he had been to before. This created a great desire in me to also discover that part of the world.After Morocco I intended to meet up with Giovanni and travel with him from Brindisi, Italy, overland to Afghanistan. In September of 1971 I visited him in Milan after having gone back to discover my Italian heritage, and I then linked up with him in Brindisi from where we took a ferry to Greece and began our overland journey in the direction of Afghanistan.We made it to the Turkish-Iranian border after a harrowing incident on a Turkish train which derailed. Unfortunately I had not learned the lesson of my teen years and had not checked out visa requirements for Canadians. Iran required a visa for Canadians, so I had to return to an Iranian consulate on the Black Sea where I obtained my Iranian travel visa. Somehow Giovanni and I got separated and this was the beginning of true independent traveling. I learned never to depend on other people’s information, always double-check everything yourself.3. Please tell us of your experiences and impressions during your first trip to Asia.After traveling through Iran for about a week, which was during the repressive reign of the Shah, I hitchhiked with 2 Pakistani truck drivers from Tehran to Mashad, the site of the Blue Mosque, one of the most beautiful mosques in the Islamic world. From there we went to Herat, Kandahar and Kabul in Afghanistan, where I was privy to some of the most fantastic images of Afghan culture. I saw horsemen in bright green silk pants, in attire suited more to the Middle Ages than the 1970s. Afghanis appeared to be a very proud people, dignified and ferociously independent.After a short stay in Kabul I went through the Khyber Pass into Peshawar in Pakistan. This too was an amazing view into the gun culture of this region. Every man had a gun 4, 5 feet long and it was truly an overwhelming sight to see this much weaponry on display. Unfortunately this was to continue since a war would erupt between Pakistan and India at this time, and after leaving Pakistan I ended up traveling through India during a time of war.I was traveling on trains with a mobilized army, a people in frenetic motion not knowing what to do. The whole country was in a state of tension. Foreigners were asked to leave the country, so after a month in New Delhi I had to change my plans of visiting Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka) and take the next flight out of Calcutta in the direction of Bangkok. The flight ticket at that time cost US$80 one way in 1971. Calcutta was also the site of millions of refugees pouring in from what would eventually become Bangladesh. They literally overtook Calcutta. I was about to sleep outside when I was approached by a couple of Anglo-Bengalis who insisted that it was absolutely improper for a European to sleep on the ground that way. They then insisted that I go and stay with them for a couple of nights. Their only requested favour in return was to send them a Levi jacket when I’d get back to Australia.4. From India you moved on to Thailand. Please tell us about your experience in South East Asia.In Bangkok of 1971 I would stay at the Atlantic Hotel for $1 a night, Bangkok was still a relatively small capital at that time. I left Bangkok and headed south, hitchhiking where I was brutally initiated to Thai culture. I was at the back of a pickup truck and dangling my feet out of it, the pickup truck was passed by another vehicle whose occupants got out and threatened me, pointing to my feet. Luckily a young Canadian from Saskatoon, Murray Wright, was sitting in the front of my pickup and explained that it was a big mistake to show the soles of your feet. This is a major insult in Thai culture. I then realized that when traveling it is very important to understand non-verbal communication as well. This was a major lesson for me.This meeting with Murray was fortuitous. He had had an accident building a Japanese sugar factory and asked me if I would take over his job as a carpenter. This led to one month working with Thais and understanding to some degree Thai culture. It was also my first experience of amoebic dysentery, a tropical disease, which nearly killed me. This is how I was initiated to eating conditions in the developing world.

When Payday Loans Could Come in Handy

Payday loans are simple. Often referred to as payday advance, this is a type of loan used to address unexpected expenses that crop up before the next payday. In other words, it can be your fast and easy solution to your immediate needs.While there are countless criticisms against this type of financial grant, there are numerous advantages as well. Probably the most important of all is the fact that it don’t need collateral and they do not require a bagful of documents. As such, getting a Canadian payday loan, for example, might be a great idea. As long as you have the discipline to pay off your loan on time, then you don’t end up suffering from enormous finance charges.Here are a couple of instances when payday loans would come in handy:Medical BillsYou cannot predict when you – or your loved one – will get sick. Sometimes, regardless of how well you take care of your body, and how many kinds of vitamins you use, sickness catches you right in the face. And in a time when prices have been surging, saving for medical expenses will be your last priority.This is when it would be a wise move for you to take advantage of payday loans. Anyway, by availing of this service, you promise to pay up your loan on your next payday. So, as long as no complications will come your way, you will once again be debt-free after your payday.Household BillsYes, household bills are supposed to be part of the monthly budget. You will be pathetic if you don’t set aside a certain percentage of your salary to take care of electric, water, phone and internet bills. So you would ask: why should you need payday loans to pay off household bills when they are supposed to be budgeted?Simple. Remember that payday loans are only – ideally – used for emergency. So when you’ve been billed way larger than the usual amount, then that’s the time when a payday loan will come in handy.For example, before, it is okay for you not to use air-conditioning units during summer. With global warming, however, it’s impossible for you to breath inside your home without the aid of these appliances. Naturally, if you’ve been using your aircon units more than usual, your electricity bills will go up. And this is something that you’ve not properly forecasted. As such, you will be over your budget and you would need additional funds to cover for the “over-sized” bills. And where can you get quick and easy cash than through payday loans?Payday loans are not that deceptive. Critiques label them as such because they lure low-income families to quick money in exchange for high interests. If they don’t have other sources for additional funds, naturally, they are prone to fall prey to payday loans.But this need not be the case always. As long as you know how to control yourself and as long as you can logically and sincerely distinguish “emergency” from “quasi-emergency,” then you won’t have to deal with financial problems emanating from payday loans.Payday loans are specifically made to address emergency needs. Only when you abide by this “rule of thumb” shall you be able to protect yourself from ridiculous finance charges!Money Loans Company – Payday Loans and Cash Advance20 Eglinton Ave. EastToronto, Ontario, CanadaM4P 1A9

Essential Garden Tools For The Avid Gardener

Gardening is potentially a very rewarding task. There is nothing more satisfying than looking out your window and seeing a beautiful flower bed in full bloom or bountiful vegetable garden ripe for the picking. However, these beautiful gardens don’t just spring up on their own. They need a lot of careful tending and hard work to make them flourish. There are certain garden tools that are essential for any avid gardener. Here is our short list.A garden or digging fork is one of the most useful and versatile tools in a gardener’s arsenal. It is useful for turning soil, mixing in nutrients and aerating soil. A spade can also be used to carry out these tasks. However, the tines on a fork come in handy for breaking up clods and raking out weeds and stones. Most gardeners will have both a digging fork and spade.There are several types of garden hoes available to use for weeding and creating seed furrows, including the heart-shaped and diamond-shaped hoe. Every gardener has his or her own favorite type of hoe based on personal preference and the type of gardening being done.Pruning shears, loppers and a pruning saw are all essential items for keeping a garden neat and tidy. Pruning shears are useful for dead heading flowers and cutting back unwanted vegetation. Loppers come in handy for cutting off twigs and small branches as well as for pruning bushes. A pruning saw is useful for cutting off dead branches from large bushes and trees.A hori hori knife is a very versatile tool. This multi-purpose knife has a sharp, heavy serrated blade with a semi-sharp point. It can used for many gardening chores, including cutting open bags of soil, planting, weeding and light digging.A garden cart or wheelbarrow is very useful for transporting bags of soil and plants as well as other gardening supplies and materials. A cart can also be used at harvest time to transport ripe vegetables back to the house.Gardening trowels are another versatile type of tool that are used for a variety of garden chores. They are especially useful for weeding, planting, digging up plants and mixing fertilizer into the soil.It’s always a good idea to have a sharp-pointed shovel on hand for digging holes and breaking up dirt clods. If a flat blade or scoop is better suited for the task, you will want to use a long-handled garden spade instead.Use a watering can or garden hose to keep plants watered. For a more automated solution, a drip irrigation system could be used instead.When shopping for garden tools, always choose the ones made by respected manufacturers with high quality materials such as strong steel and sturdy wood. Ash hardwood is the best material for handles. It is a very strong wood that still has a bit of give to it. Also pay attention to the length, weight and angle of the tool. It needs to feel comfortable to use and fit your body type. Not every tool will be the right fit for each gardener or every gardening task. You may need to experiment before you finally come up with the perfect set of tools that fit your gardening needs. The good news is, once you do find them, quality gardening tools will last for many years to come.

S&P 500 Rallies As U.S. Dollar Pulls Back Towards Weekly Lows

Key Insights
The strong pullback in the U.S. dollar provided significant support to stocks.
Treasury yields have pulled back after touching new highs, which served as an additional positive catalyst for S&P 500.
A move above 3730 will push S&P 500 towards the resistance level at 3760.
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Pfizer Rallies After Announcing A Huge Price Hike For Its COVID-19 Vaccines
S&P 500 is currently trying to settle above 3730 as traders’ appetite for risk is growing. The U.S. dollar has recently gained strong downside momentum as the BoJ intervened to stop the rally in USD/JPY. Weaker U.S. dollar is bullish for stocks as it increases profits of multinational companies and makes U.S. equities cheaper for foreign investors.

The leading oil services company Schlumberger is up by 9% after beating analyst estimates on both earnings and revenue. Schlumberger’s peers Baker Hughes and Halliburton have also enjoyed strong support today.

Vaccine makers Pfizer and Moderna gained strong upside momentum after Pfizer announced that it will raise the price of its coronavirus vaccine to $110 – $130 per shot.

Biggest losers today include Verizon and Twitter. Verizon is down by 5% despite beating analyst estimates on both earnings and revenue. Subscriber numbers missed estimates, and traders pushed the stock to multi-year lows.

Twitter stock moved towards the $50 level as the U.S. may conduct a security review of Musk’s purchase of the company.

From a big picture point of view, today’s rebound is broad, and most market segments are moving higher. Treasury yields have started to move lower after testing new highs, providing additional support to S&P 500. It looks that some traders are ready to bet that Fed will be less hawkish than previously expected.

S&P 500 Tests Resistance At 3730

S&P 500 has recently managed to get above the 20 EMA and is trying to settle above the resistance at 3730. RSI is in the moderate territory, and there is plenty of room to gain additional upside momentum in case the right catalysts emerge.

If S&P 500 manages to settle above 3730, it will head towards the next resistance level at 3760. A successful test of this level will push S&P 500 towards the next resistance at October highs at 3805. The 50 EMA is located in the nearby, so S&P 500 will likely face strong resistance above the 3800 level.

On the support side, the previous resistance at 3700 will likely serve as the first support level for S&P 500. In case S&P 500 declines below this level, it will move towards the next support level at 3675. A move below 3675 will push S&P 500 towards the support at 3640.

SPDN: An Inexpensive Way To Profit When The S&P 500 Falls

Summary
SPDN is not the largest or oldest way to short the S&P 500, but it’s a solid choice.
This ETF uses a variety of financial instruments to target a return opposite that of the S&P 500 Index.
SPDN’s 0.49% Expense Ratio is nearly half that of the larger, longer-tenured -1x Inverse S&P 500 ETF.
Details aside, the potential continuation of the equity bear market makes single-inverse ETFs an investment segment investor should be familiar with.
We rate SPDN a Strong Buy because we believe the risks of a continued bear market greatly outweigh the possibility of a quick return to a bull market.
Put a gear stick into R position, (Reverse).
Birdlkportfolio

By Rob Isbitts

Summary
The S&P 500 is in a bear market, and we don’t see a quick-fix. Many investors assume the only way to navigate a potentially long-term bear market is to hide in cash, day-trade or “just hang in there” while the bear takes their retirement nest egg.

The Direxion Daily S&P 500® Bear 1X ETF (NYSEARCA:SPDN) is one of a class of single-inverse ETFs that allow investors to profit from down moves in the stock market.

SPDN is an unleveraged, liquid, low-cost way to either try to hedge an equity portfolio, profit from a decline in the S&P 500, or both. We rate it a Strong Buy, given our concern about the intermediate-term outlook for the global equity market.

Strategy
SPDN keeps it simple. If the S&P 500 goes up by X%, it should go down by X%. The opposite is also expected.

Proprietary ETF Grades
Offense/Defense: Defense

Segment: Inverse Equity

Sub-Segment: Inverse S&P 500

Correlation (vs. S&P 500): Very High (inverse)

Expected Volatility (vs. S&P 500): Similar (but opposite)

Holding Analysis
SPDN does not rely on shorting individual stocks in the S&P 500. Instead, the managers typically use a combination of futures, swaps and other derivative instruments to create a portfolio that consistently aims to deliver the opposite of what the S&P 500 does.

Strengths
SPDN is a fairly “no-frills” way to do what many investors probably wished they could do during the first 9 months of 2022 and in past bear markets: find something that goes up when the “market” goes down. After all, bonds are not the answer they used to be, commodities like gold have, shall we say, lost their luster. And moving to cash creates the issue of making two correct timing decisions, when to get in and when to get out. SPDN and its single-inverse ETF brethren offer a liquid tool to use in a variety of ways, depending on what a particular investor wants to achieve.

Weaknesses
The weakness of any inverse ETF is that it does the opposite of what the market does, when the market goes up. So, even in bear markets when the broader market trend is down, sharp bear market rallies (or any rallies for that matter) in the S&P 500 will cause SPDN to drop as much as the market goes up.

Opportunities
While inverse ETFs have a reputation in some circles as nothing more than day-trading vehicles, our own experience with them is, pardon the pun, exactly the opposite! We encourage investors to try to better-understand single inverse ETFs like SPDN. While traders tend to gravitate to leveraged inverse ETFs (which actually are day-trading tools), we believe that in an extended bear market, SPDN and its ilk could be a game-saver for many portfolios.

Threats
SPDN and most other single inverse ETFs are vulnerable to a sustained rise in the price of the index it aims to deliver the inverse of. But that threat of loss in a rising market means that when an investor considers SPDN, they should also have a game plan for how and when they will deploy this unique portfolio weapon.

Proprietary Technical Ratings
Short-Term Rating (next 3 months): Strong Buy

Long-Term Rating (next 12 months): Buy

Conclusions
ETF Quality Opinion
SPDN does what it aims to do, and has done so for over 6 years now. For a while, it was largely-ignored, given the existence of a similar ETF that has been around much longer. But the more tenured SPDN has become, the more attractive it looks as an alternative.

ETF Investment Opinion

SPDN is rated Strong Buy because the S&P 500 continues to look as vulnerable to further decline. And, while the market bottomed in mid-June, rallied, then waffled since that time, our proprietary macro market indicators all point to much greater risk of a major decline from this level than a fast return to bull market glory. Thus, SPDN is at best a way to exploit and attack the bear, and at worst a hedge on an otherwise equity-laden portfolio.