Heat Pump Prices - How to Choose a Thermal Unit for Your Home

A heat pump is like an air conditioner that can cool a house yet can also keep it warm. Compared to a regular electric heater, it can produce more kilowatts of heat for every kilowatt of electricity spent. So, you can say that it is more cost efficient even if heat pump prices can be fairly high. It can also be used all year long unlike the air conditioner which is only useful in the summer. In addition, this thermal device provides better comfort than a furnace.

When buying a unit, see to it that you consider a few important aspects. You should decide which size you need for your home. Remember that if it is too large, it will cycle on and off too much. Hence, its parts will be prone to easy wear and tear, and will eventually need parts replacement. On the other hand, if it is too small, it will not be able to maintain the comfortable temperature that you need in your home.

Also, you should choose a unit that has the right efficiency. So, you should consider the area or state where you live. If you live in a place where the climate is usually warm, then you should choose a model with a high Seasonal Energy Efficient Rating. If you live in a place where the climate is cooler, it would be more practical to choose a model with a high Heating Seasonal Performance Factor.

Then again, keep in mind that heat pump prices are higher than air conditioner prices; and if you plan to hire a professional to install the device in your home, you would need to pay more. Installing a window or through-the-wall unit air-source device can range from $500 to $1,500 while installing a geothermal unit can range from $10,000 to $25,000. It can cost more depending on the depth and length of underground pipes and the condition of the soil.

Heat pump prices may depend on the brand and energy efficiency rating. The more efficient and reliable a device is, the more expensive it becomes. More popular brands also tend to be more expensive than the less popular ones. Nonetheless, heat pump prices may also be affected by the size, location, and orientation of the home. A unit designed to cool a small room typically costs less than a unit made to cool a bigger room or an entire house.

Do I Need a Website For My Holiday Home Business?

Having some sort of internet presence for your holiday home rental is a no-brainer! Even by the UK tourist boards conservative figures, over 60% of people use the internet when booking a holiday. In reality, it is probably far more. The real question, therefore, is whether to create your own website or use a well known portal to drive the internet side of your holiday home business.

There are compelling arguments for both. Certainly, you are never going to get as much traffic on your own property website as the big property listing sites. Finding a suitable holiday home and booking online is huge business and the big players attract tens of thousands of daily users to their sites. However, therein lies the downside. The big property listing sites are just that, big! And your holiday home is hidden amongst the rest, just one property in the midst of an excess of others returned in the search results.

Conversely, if someone is browsing for a holiday rental has found your website, with just your property on then there is no competition. Providing you be easily contacted, or better still, the user can book your property online and pay a deposit instantly then you are ten steps ahead of the crowd!

Of course, the difficult part is attracting the surfing public to your holiday home site (and then keeping them interested). All too often, I have clients for whom we build a great property website and they instantly think it is going to start appearing in the search engines. We all know this is unrealistic, unless you're one of only a handful holiday home website in your location (very unlikely these days unless you rent out your own island - not unheard of). To get anywhere near the top of the searches takes focus (on certain keywords), time and a lot of hard work.

The best strategy, in our opinion, is to use make intelligent use of the listing sites to drive custom to your own website and property booking system. This way you are getting the exposure of the big sites, you have your very own property showcase and online booking system, and you are not losing out on the booking commission that a listing site would take if you booked using them. We have a few guidelines on how you can effectively combine listings with your own site:

Choose - choose the listing sites you apply for very carefully. Investigate how many properties they have listed. If they boast 50,000%2B properties then do not list. If they will not give you a link back to your site, again, don't list. If they demand booking exclusivity of your property or if they charge an exorbitant commission, once again, do not list. Ask for website traffic statistics - you want sites that generate a lot of traffic but have manageable number of properties listed.

Location - Try and get listed on sites that serve your area. You are far more likely to get quality referrals on popular sites for your location than on general holiday home booking sites. Alternatively, target your property type; you could be an exclusive villa?

Track - install tracking code like Google Analytics and monitor closely the referrals and bookings you get from the property listing sites. If the sites are not generating bookings, do not renew your subscription.

Link - make sure you get a link from any sites you list with. Not only will this directly funnel visitors to your property booking site, it will improve your own position in the search engines.

Pay - do not be put off if you have to pay for a listing. A one year subscription is more than likely only a fraction of a weeks holiday home rental. But remember to follow the above guidelines: don't go for a big listing site, try to specialise either by area or property type, or both.

Bookings - it is all about bookings! Make sure you invest in quality reliable booking software and that it is fully integrated into your site. Having your own booking system with availability calendar is invaluable, the benefits are too numerous to mention.

Acting Scams

"If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

That phrase, in the acting industry, is worth more than a $20 million-dollar, big-budget film contract. If you haven't experienced a scam yet, you soon will! There is almost no place like the entertainment industry for con and scam artists. That's partly because people can scam you out of your money legally by taking advantage of your dreams and inexperience in the industry.

The scams come in all forms, all shapes and sizes, and from all directions. You can even go to a reputed photographer or agent and find he or she trying to lure you into an acting class, sell you something, or simply being dishonest--all for the sake of making a buck. And for the scammers, there is almost no police involvement, little legal action one can take, and virtually no punishment.

There are many scams out there, but we've picked a few doozies to show you for the next few weeks. Here's one of our all-time favorites.

Scam #1 - "Suckers Wanted"

You see an ad in the paper from what sounds like a reputable agency. In the ad, they rattle off about how they have launched the careers of so many famous people or have booked an unbelievable amount of jobs for their talent. Now, their ad claims, they are looking for new talent and new faces. And, what gets you even more excited: they claim you don't need any experience. All you have to do is go to their office for an interview and you will have a chance to be a big star.

Dead giveaways to look for:

· First, reputable agencies don't have to put ads in the paper. They are so inundated with headshots from promising actors; there really is no need.

· Second, when an "agency" claims to have launched the careers of famous people, it usually isn't true, at least not the way they are portraying it. They may only have had some brief affiliation with that celebrity, brief affiliation with that celebrity's agency, or could just be making the whole thing up. Usually, when an "agency" tells you things like this, it is to get you to dream about stardom--just long enough for them to take your cash.

· Third, most actors need at least some acting experience before going to an agency for representation. Although, there are some exceptions, it is very rare that an agency will work with people who have absolutely no experience, let alone invite inexperienced actors in for consultation. Real agencies need experienced actors who can perform well at auditions and get booked for parts. Once the actor is booked, only then can a legitimate agency get paid.

You Need Regular Termite Inspections (It is the Best Natural Fix)

I see people way too often that have not had regular termite inspections. When I get to see them it is way to late. What is it as a termite professional that I have to do to make people aware that termites are an ever present risk wherever you live in Australia. I meet people every day that are faced with the prospect of paying between 4-6k to treat termites that have attacked their home, that with some small forethought could have been avoided entirely. This is ludicrous when really it can be avoided!

1. Have a regular termite inspection by a professional. 2. Take the termite inspectors advice. 3. Implement any action plan. 4. Review the plan regularly. 5. Repeat.   Unless you have training in termite management do not kid yourself that you know about what termites do. Termite control is a long term profession and should not be approached lightly. Anyone can look for termites, it is so simple. What is it you are looking for again? Oh signs of termites, yeah right they are really minute and hard to see. Anyone can pick that up of course. WELL OF COURSE NOT, please people stop and see the light pest control companies are not just out there to rip you of off. There is great value in having an inspection done. Give yourself a break, if you are not trained, do not try to do it.

A special note to builders! Pest controllers do not presume to be able to build houses, Maybe an equal approach is warranted.

Homeowners please have regular inspections carried out, you will save money!

The Fearful Leader

Denis Waitley says: "Conceit is God's gift to shallow people." I certainly don't think it's God's gift, but I do believe it's a crutch for people with low self-esteem. It's frightening how many managers in the workforce are attempting to lead a team when they themselves are lost in the woods.

Being in the sales training business I speak to generally two types of sales managers; the arrogant egotist and the humble achiever. I am amazed that the leaders who posses a great deal of humility, believe that there's nothing special about their style of leadership. I'll be on the phone with one of these managers and they'll open up...

They'll say something along the lines of: "My team is full of veterans who've been in the business for over 20 years and the lowest producing agent is taking home $90K... I think if they could get better in their line of questioning, they could do more. I believe there's always room for improvement and if they can pick up one or two ideas that'll take them to the next level, I'm all for it!"

I'll usually commend them for being open-minded to training. They almost seem surprised as if to say: "Who wouldn't be open to a fresh perspective?" They couldn't imagine that other managers don't believe in exposing their people to more ideas. It's illogical to them.

Now before we go further, let's not confuse a jaded manager with the closed-minded egotist. Occasionally, we'll encounter leaders who had a negative experience at a seminar or had the misfortune of sitting through a painful presentation from a hokey guest speaker. Every industry has its bad apples.

The professional development field certainly is not immune to mediocrity. Regardless, as far as the steam-rolling managers are concerned, mediocre or not, they could care less if it's Ronald Reagan or Gomer Pyle, they are not letting any outsiders into their sales meetings.

It's interesting, roughly 70% of managers who declined our training (on the basis of already knowing everything about selling) are no longer the sales managers when we come back to town and make our contacts. They were either fired or jumped to the next job, destined to destroy another team's morale. Roughly 80% of all the sales managers we worked with in the past are still there or they were promoted and oversee multiple locations.

How'd they get there? They are passionate about what they do and realize that an inflated ego is unhealthy and counterproductive.

Having a genuine conversation with a manager who is open to share his/her challenges is refreshing. When they openly point out their areas for improvement, they reveal a noble strength. Their awareness reminds me of the old PSA (Public Service Announcement) from the GI Joe cartoon.

- "Knowing is half the battle."

Being consciously incompetent (knowing that we don't know) is necessary in the journey towards wisdom.

When managers check their egos at the door and acknowledge that they don't know, the quicker they are able to escape the downward spiral of denial and foolishness. From there, they begin to look at life in a whole new light. Their Napoleon complex gradually decreases, others enjoy being around them, and they feel excited about all the new information they're able to absorb.

By having an opened mind, the grounded sales manager seems warm, friendly, calm and confident. Although, I'm amazed that the majority of people in management just don't get it! You know who I mean, the people who recklessly deify themselves. They tell you how suave they are. "I don't do seminars. I'm the trainer. I've been selling for years!"

What they fail to share is they probably couldn't pour coffee out of a pot if the directions were on the bottom. Their existence is like the wizard behind the curtain. They puff themselves up and beat others down in an effort to appear powerful and superior. I find it troubling that these managers who seem to possess the qualities of self indulgent dictators actually achieve a certain degree of (financial) success. I have to remind myself that success is subjective, and the Napoleonites are most likely empty inside.

It's frustrating to see that the annoying, incompetent egotists can actually be promoted to leadership roles. I think of them as big babies and the companies they work for as giant pacifiers.

These managers are nothing more than examples of what not to become. Their facades can be a snare for those (especially young people) in the midst of their quarter life crisis. "I guess in order for me to become a manager, I have to brown-nose my way to the top. Then once I get there I'll brow beat everyone into submission." And the saga continues...

Fortunately those with emotional intelligence can see through the posturing and are able to overcome their superficial tendencies. The leaders who lack emotional intelligence are doomed to be the topics of water cooler snickering. They're the joke after the first beer at happy hour. Everyone cringes at the sight of them.

But don't hard-nosed, arrogant people rake in big bucks? Often times, yes. If so, is there anyone significant around to share it with? Is it worth it? You decide.

When giving sales presentations to these managers I used to believe that it wasn't worth my breath. What I've learned is that the subordinates behind the big babies need my help! There are good people out there who need and desire the tools to escape mediocre management.

Unfortunately for these folks, when the egotists feel threatened, they lash out in a fit of fear. They cling to a persona, a facade that projects this mighty and powerful being. Hmmm... -Did I say mighty and powerful? This is what they think their projecting. The only people the egotists are fooling are the other self righteous, lost souls who are too busy with their own fictional existence to take notice.

Ironically, those who thirst to measure up in a world motivated by dominance and status will never be quenched.

The people they're trying to impress don't care about them. All they're thinking is how to one-up the other guy. Sadly, these people never become fulfilled. They rob themselves from experiencing the freedom of being "real". They're grasping for a life that doesn't exist.

What is your motive?

How to Build Your List - 7 Powerful Strategies

If you have been an internet marketer, or had any type of online home based business, for more than a few days, then you will no doubt have heard someone say, "if you want to make money online, you have to build an opt-in list."

Take that advice very seriously, because it's true! It took me a long time to finally let the list building advice sink in, so I didn't start doing it until I had my home business for quite a while. However, once I started building my list, I realized just how important it truly is. My only regret now is that I didn't start a lot sooner.

There are numerous ways to build an opt-in list. However, some are much more effective than others. So, I decided to share seven of the most powerful strategies to build a targeted opt-in list.

Here are seven tips for building your opt-in list, in no particular order:

1) Free Newsletter - Offering a free newsletter from your website is one of the most common, and effective ways to build an opt-in list. It is also one of the best strategies for building trusting relationships with your list.

Pack your newsletter full of useful information, free resources, tips, tools, and anything else your subscriber list will be interested in. Also, be sure to make it fun and add your personality to it. Then your subscribers will enjoy reading it and get to know you at the same time.

2) Make It Easy to Subscribe - To maximize your newsletter sign-ups, you must also have a quick and easy way for people to subscribe to it. The best way to do this is to put a simple form on the top part of the left hand column of your websites home page, and all other pages, if possible.

Put a quick sentence or two telling them why your newsletter would benefit them (i.e. freebies, resources, tips, tools, etc... ) then have a way for them to add their email address and name below it. This simple form will bring in a lot of your subscriber list.

3) Quality Content - Packing your website full of quality content will bring in a lot of visitors. Many of these visitors will then subscribe to your newsletter. Your list will grow naturally and so will your search engine rankings, which will bring even more visitors who can join your list. It will eventually turn into a list building, money making cycle.

4) Forums - There are literally thousands of forums and discussion boards on the internet where people go to discuss all sorts of things and ask questions. All you have to do is find forums related to your particular business and participate in the discussion.

Most of the forums allow you to put a signature line under your post, which is where you can put a link to your subscription information. Do not spam the forums in any way. Make absolutely certain you offer legitimate posts, with useful information, or you will ruin your reputation in no time.

5) Write Articles - This is well-known technique for establishing yourself as an expert in your field and getting inbound links to your site. Furthermore, it is just as effective for building your opt-in list. All you have to do it put a link to your newsletter subscription in the byline of the article and submit the article to websites, directories, and ezines.

I think writing articles is actually one of the best ways to build your list because the readers already see you as an expert. They will think of you as a knowledgeable individual and someone they can trust before they even join your list. Profits will roll in much faster from these subscribers.

6) Co-Registration - This is something you may have never even heard of, but it is used by many top internet marketers to build huge lists in a very short amount of time. I actually first learned of this list building technique after reading an article from one of the top marketing experts on the internet.

7) Write an E-book - Internet marketers are always looking for freebies to give away on their websites, as bonuses for purchases, and to send to their lists. This is a great opportunity for you to build your own list. All you have to do is write an e-book and let other internet marketers give it away.

The e-book doesn't have to be anything too elaborate; you can just make it a collection of your best articles, business tips, and business resources. Of course, you will put links to your newsletter subscription and website. Then, give it away, and watch it turn into a viral list building machine.

There you have it, seven powerful strategies that are sure to build your opt-in list. Putting these list building strategies into play as soon as possible will quickly sky-rocket your list numbers, and increase your profits, more than you could have ever imagined.