Archive for February 7th, 2008

Coastal Vacations Review Scam or Legitimate

February 7th, 2008 -- Posted in Portraits To Art | Comments Off

Coastal Vacations Review - Scam or Legitimate?

There are mixed reports circulating about Coastal Vacations as an earning opportunity. At its best it seems a way for honest people to make big commissions on the packages they sell, while at its worst, some are hawking paperwork on eBay that can leave buyers out in the cold. It is not the most straightforward 2-up opportunity around, so it is in your best interest to research not only the company but also the integrity of the director you are in contact with if you decide to join the program. The emphasis on recruiting more people makes it seem like it could be a scam. This review is meant to help you sort out how the program works and what some of the key benefits and drawbacks might be.

Concept
Coastal Vacations offers discounted travel packages at three levels, beginning at a $1295 membership, going up to $11,000. Thus it offers vacation opportunities to affluent families who enjoy travel, as well as a 2-up business opportunity.

Benefits
- The vacation packages may offer significant value for people who have the time and money to travel. The company reports you can save up to 75%.
- Joining as a Level I, Level II, or Level III director gives you the opportunity to make $1000 to $6500 per sale (after your first two training sales).
-When people sign up under you, the commissions on their first two training sales go to you. The more people you recruit and train, the more training sale commissions should come to you.

Drawbacks
- Many people lack the time and money needed to travel as much as each package includes. Also, the packages are for two people, no more no less. There are also blackout dates and other seasonal limitations on the offers.
- You will have to invest a considerable amount, at least $1295 to join.
- Because the memberships are transferable, some people have figured out how to do an end run around the training sales. This means they can skip the process of training and attain their desired director level without having to give up any sales. This also means that you may not get your supposed commission for training someone who bought their directorship at an online auction site.

Implications
As a business opportunity, this program is not ideal for the novice salesperson. However, if you are person who has the money to invest, enjoys travel, selling, and building contacts with more well to do people, this opportunity might be appropriate to explore further. Care must be taken to fully understand how the business operates and how trustworthy directors that you are dealing with are. Some claim that their sponsor misled them, but those incidents seem most likely related to the people involved, and perhaps not due to the company themselves, which has been operating for 13 years.

Jayne Manziel is a successful Entrepreneur coach and has helped hundred’s of people build their business for over 20 years. Jayne devotes the time, energy, and effort into her team and mentors them to ensure their success. To learn more visit  Jayne’s Making Money Online website. Jayne is a proven leader and offers a Sales and Marketing Strategy for all of her team members in achieving financial success.

Coastal Vacations Review - Scam or Legitimate? / Author : Jayne Manziel

Haunted houses can be great deals

February 7th, 2008 -- Posted in Portraits To Art | Comments Off

Haunted houses can be great deals

If you’re looking for a deal on a home, you might try your local haunted house. Haunted houses are also known as “stigmatized properties”, along with houses that have had murders, gang usage or other unpleasant histories. These properties may be short on reputation, but their price may well make up for it.

Houses with purported ghosts in them don’t do as well on the market as their spiritless neighbors. There are still people who believe in otherworldly entities (or just don’t want to risk that they might be lurking in a corner). This can drop a home’s value by up to 35% in some cases. On average, a house reputed to be haunted will sell for 2.4% less than similar houses in the neighborhood. 2.4% doesn’t seem like a lot, unless you’re dealing in real estate. 2.4% of a $400,000 home is $9600. That’s nearly ten thousand dollars that you could be sinking into that $400,000 home to make it worth $450,000.

Some realtors are understandably reluctant to reveal that the house they are showing may or may not have a non-corporeal tenant. Disclosure could mean that the buyers refuse to consider the property. Also, disclosure means that prices go down. The laws in each state vary as to disclosure of negative aspects of a property. Find out what your state’s laws are concerning properties with a negative incident in their past - sometimes nondisclosure is grounds for legal action.

If your state has no disclosure laws, then you may have a difficult time finding out from your realtor if the house has an unsavory past. If you have an understanding realtor, you can ask specifically for properties with a negative past. Some realtors would be more than happy to show an interested buyer a house that is lingering on the market due to rumors of creepy happenings.

You might have to do some digging for stigma. Or you might go to your newspaper archives and look for creepy stories about houses in the area you’re considering. If you’re looking at a specific house, Googling the address might help. That and asking around the neighborhood. People are usually delighted to tell you any juicy stories about any creepy tales. If there is a property tale that the seller is not disclosing to the public, you could make it a factor in offering a lower price on the property.

Understandably, these properties involve some risk-taking for an investor. Just because you’re willing to take on the negative vibes from a purportedly haunted house doesn’t mean future home investors will be so eager. If the stigma is bad enough, it may well last for years. However, with a little work, it is possible to make current memories erase the ones that stigmatized the house in the first place.

For quality information about Cooper City real estate, visit AllianceRealtyFlorida.com. Lisa Brodeur is a certified Realtor offering a wider range of professional services in the South Florida real estate market.

Haunted houses can be great deals / Author: Lisa Brodeur

Manuka Honey as a First Line of Defense Against Infection

February 7th, 2008 -- Posted in Portraits To Art | Comments Off

Manuka Honey as a First Line of Defense Against Infection

Recent studies have shed some light on the unusual antibacterial activity of a certain type of honey, leading to a greater understanding of its ability to kill pathogenic bacteria and promote healing in wounds and other skin conditions.

Manuka Honey, found in New Zealand and certain parts of Australia, is made from a plant known as Leptospermum scoparium or more commonly known as the Manuka tree. Honeybees use the nectar that is produced from the flowers of the Manuka tea tree to make this special type of honey that has been found to have extraordinary healing properties. Studies show that this Manuka Honey is effective against many different drug-resistant clinical isolates, including the notorious Golden Staph/MRSA bacterium.

There has been evidence for the medical use of honey throughout history. Almost every culture that had access to honey has utilized it as a therapeutic agent, with its use as a wound dressing being particularly common across many different cultures. The use of honey as a wound dressing stems from its antibacterial activity, usually due to the production of hydrogen peroxide. However, Manuka Honey has additional antibacterial activity due to plant-derived components such as UMF and Methylglyoxal. These additional antibacterial and antimicrobial components make Manuka Honey ideal as a topical solution for the treatment of bacterial infections, fungal infections, dermatitis and other skin conditions.

In addition to possing significant antimicrobial properties, Manuka Honey has also been shown to actively promote healing. Researchers have discovered that Manuka Honey directly stimulates human cells that are important in the immune response and in wound healing. When used topically on the skin, Manuka Honey repairs damaged skin and regenerates new tissue. It also has the ability to diffuse into the depth of skin tissue where its anti-inflammatory properties can help reduce pain.

Because Manuka Honey is indigenous to New Zealand, reports of its ability to heal have penetrated the Asian and European markets and is being regularly used in hospitals and by consumers. Recently, the word has been spreading into the U.S., predominately because of its ability to completely wipe out the MRSA bacterium and efficiently heal Staph infections where antibiotics have completely failed. Even doctors who historically prefer the use of pharmaceuticals are beginning to warm up to the idea of using this natural substance for therapeutic use.

“Despite the ancient and modern evidence suggesting an enormous potential for honey as a wound dressing, it is largely underutilized in the U.S.,” says Frank Buonanotte, CEO of Honeymark International, a manufacturer of skin care products containing active Manuka Honey as a healing agent. “With antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria emerging, Manuka Honey may become the only viable treatment solution for severe infections.”

For more information or to purchase Manuka Honey products, call 1-866-427-7329 or visit www.HoneymarkProducts.com.

Manuka Honey as a First Line of Defense Against Infection / Author: honeymark

Getting An Understanding On Intrauterine Insemination

February 7th, 2008 -- Posted in Portraits To Art | Comments Off

Getting An Understanding On Intrauterine Insemination

Reproductive health is not something that many people worry about until they are unable to conceive. Intrauterine insemination, also known as artificial insemination, is one of the advances in medicine that can help with infertility.

Unless the cause of infertility is something extreme, such as tube blockages and damage or bad egg quality, this insemination process is usually a good choice to help with the process of impregnation. If the male partner is the one with the fertility problem, then this is a good choice as well. As long as the candidates are screened and properly tested for the type of infertility they have, this process can be very effective.

The process of intrauterine insemination deals with placing the sperm directly into the uterus. This may sound simple; however, there are many more factors and processes involved. In order to make the most of this procedure, the doctor will make sure the woman is producing multiple eggs by stimulating the ovaries with medication.

It is imperative to make sure that the insemination is timed to coincide with ovulation. The next step is to take the sperm that will be used and to put it through a process called “sperm washing”.

What this washing does exactly is separate the sperm from the semen so that it is more concentrated and allows the woman a better chance to get pregnant. Once this is done, the sperm can be introduced into the uterus.

Intrauterine insemination can be done with the sperm of the woman’s male partner or if for some reason this is not possible, then a sperm donor can be used. It could be that the woman does not have a male partner or that the male sperm is of a poor quality.

There have been instances of a woman being allergic to her partner’s sperm. In these instances, being able to utilize this procedure works wonders for helping the woman to conceive.

Intrauterine insemination is a very effective treatment for infertility and is a fairly uncomplicated medical procedure. It has a high success rate when used in the right medical instances and for the right candidates. If performed correctly, then this process is about as uncomfortable as having a pap smear.

For the chance to have a child, most women do not consider this discomfort too high of a price to pay. A woman can find out if the procedure has been successful, usually as soon as two weeks by conducting a pregnancy test.

Generally, if after three attempts at this insemination process does not work, then the percentages drop that it will work in additional attempts. If this happens, then other courses of action for the woman to conceive will have to be explored.

Mike Selvon portal offers free articles on infertility. Find out more about intrauterine insemination, and leave a comment at the pregnancy blog..

Getting An Understanding On Intrauterine Insemination / Author: MIKE SELVON