Translation made possible by Jana Jerke and Johannes Horstmann

German:

Mit 8,2 Millionen Einwohnern ist New York City die meistbevölkerte Stadt in Amerika. New York City besteht aus 5 Stadtteilen: Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, die Bronx und Staten Island. Manhattan ist das Herz New York City’s wo es viele Sehenswürdigkeiten gibt und man viele interessante Menschen treffen kann. Wenn du auf der Suche nach einem atemberaubenden Abenteuer bist, ist New York City genau der richtige Ort für dich!

Während du in der Stadt bist solltest du auf jeden Fall folgende Dinge besichtigen: die Freiheitsstatue, Ellis Island, die Wall Street, das World Trade Center Memorial, das Empire State Building, den Times Square und das Rockefeller Center. Wenn du keine Lust mehr hast draußen zu laufen gibt es viele Museen (Kunst, Wissenschaft, Technologie) zu besichtigen. Der Central Park eignet sich hervorragend für ein romantisches Picknick oder einen Spaziergang. Der Broadway hat seinen Ursprung in New York City und seine großartigen Shows entführen dich in eine magische Welt.

English:

New York City is the most populated city throughout the entire United States. This city has a population of around 8.2 million people and is full of events, sights to see, and crazy people to meet! There are 5 counties that make up New York City which are Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, and Staten Island. If you are looking for an upbeat adventure, New York City is the place to be!

While visiting the city, you will want to make sure you visit the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Wall Street, the World Trade Center Site, the Empire State Building, Times Square, and Rockefeller Center! There are plenty of art, science, and technological museums to visit too if you get tired of walking around outdoors. Central Park is a beautiful area to sit down and have lunch or talk a romantic stroll through. Broadway was born in New York City and there are magnificent shows here to reveal this magical experience to you!

Combining a trip to Australia and New Zealand is an easy feat, although it must be noted that seeing either of these countries in their entirety is close to impossible. There will need to be some cherry-picking of sights to see but this is certainly true of a visit to each of the individual countries as well and flights between the two last only as long as some domestic flights within Australia. Working on the idea of spending between two weeks and a month across the two countries, here are some things you just have to do:

Australia – New South Wales

New South Wales is the state which contains Sydney and it is full of vibrancy and excitement. You could literally spend an entire holiday in Sydney and see more than you could ever have hoped to. Staying in Port Macquarie hotels will provide you with a wonderful location from which to appreciate the Northern reaches of Sydney. Sydney is a vast region which houses an unbelievable array of scenery. Whether you opt for playing golf in Wollongong or for a tryst into the Blue Mountains, you will be blown away by the array of wildlife and views. In addition to this beauty you will be located alongside the CBD of the city which is perhaps the most iconic area of Australia.

Australia – Gold Coast

The Gold Coast is known throughout the world for Surfers Paradise. This beach is an amazing place for families, surfers and sunbathers alike. In this hive of activity you will find yourself well and truly entertained at all times, day or night. All along the Gold Coast you will find beaches of a similar quality so a trip along this coast is well worth the effort.

New Zealand – Auckland

Visiting New Zealand means visiting Auckland because it offers so much that you will never want to leave. Whether you are after exciting rides on New Zealand jet boats or want to view this beautiful country from the Auckland Sky Tower, there is so much to do that you will find yourself distracted at every turn. New Zealand boasts some of the best meat in the world as all Europeans will know and a visit to the country will leave your mouth watering for more, but don’t worry because there are plenty of walks available to burn off those extra calories. Visiting the Glenfern Sanctuary or diving at Goat Island will offer you visions you can only dream of and allow you to capture that all important holiday photo.

It doesn’t matter if you are selling a consumable, such as a thermal paper rolls, or a service, such as printing business cards – savvy shoppers are becoming more common thanks to the wealth of information available thanks to the internet. Recognising a savvy shopper and giving them the service and advice they are after is the key to getting their business.

Avoid the hard sell

A savvy shopper is already going to be someone who is looking to buy something – just what they buy is largely up to the salesperson. The customer will already have a pretty good idea of what they want so they will be looking for more information to help them make an informed decision.

Pressuring the customer into making a purchase – or even trying too hard to upsell them – will often have the negative result of them walking out of your store and over the road to your competitor.

Many savvy shoppers exposed to a hard sell feel as though they are not being listened too, which is a sure way to prevent a sale.

Respect their knowledge

Chances are that a savvy shopper already has good product knowledge because they have researched their prospective purchase. What they are looking for from a salesperson is that little extra expertise and information to help them make up their mind.

Of course, price is also going to be a major influence in a customer’s final decision, so there is also every chance they have done some shopping around to get a feel for prices. Many consumers use the internet to do their research to avoid any pressure selling and will then visit a store to make a final decision or actual purchase.

The highest standard of service and advice

Many savvy shoppers actually won’t mind paying a little more for quality advice and service and this is where your business needs to stand out from the competition. A savvy shopper will very quickly “switch off” if a salesperson is either too exuberant in their description of a product or if they don’t know enough about it.

Quality training, feedback to your sales team and monitoring of staff can help identify any potential problems before it can affect your sales.

Avoid confusion

Salespeople need to be very careful about confusing their customers. This is especially important when it comes to technology-based products where jargon can quickly bring about a blank face. Quite often the KISS theory – Keep It Simple Stupid – is the best approach. That means keeping it uncomplicated and not overwhelming the customer with huge amounts of information that does nothing more than create confusion.

Other ways customers can become confused is if a salesperson does not have the full information on a product, does not understand the jargon or terminology, or has poor communication skills.

]]> http://globalgoodgroup.com/blog/2012/05/15/selling-to-the-savvy-shopper/feed/ 0 http://globalgoodgroup.com/blog/2012/05/15/how-to-run-a-successful-debt-collection-business/ http://globalgoodgroup.com/blog/2012/05/15/how-to-run-a-successful-debt-collection-business/#comments Tue, 15 May 2012 22:48:05 +0000 sachin http://globalgoodgroup.com/?p=41733 Running a successful debt collection business can be rewarding yet hard work. You’ll find that many businesses use debt collection agencies, especially in times of financial strife. An added benefit of a debt collection business is that it can be run out of your home office. However, there are some key characteristics you’ll need to know about to make your debt collection agency successful.

The Right Personality

Running a successful debt collection business means making sure you (and the employees you hire) are right for the job. Debt collectors are often trying to rectify unpleasant situations and will sometimes need to deal with difficult people. It’s all for the good of your clients, but while your client’s interests may be at heart, you and your staff also need to be patient, empathetic, strong willed and thick-skinned. Someone who can’t handle conflict or stress, or who isn’t skilled in dealing with tough situations may not be suited.

Experience

It also helps when running a successful business to have some experience in the area, so that you have a strong understanding of how the debt collection process works. If not, it might be useful to obtain experience in a larger agency or complete a debt collection course in conjunction with other financial education.

Understanding the Law

There’s no way you can run a successful business without understanding the debt collection laws and practices of where you intend to operate. In Australia, for instance, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) outlines specific practices for debt collectors covering debt treatment, repayment negotiations, statute-barred debts, legal procedures and consumer protection laws. It’s crucial to understand the regulations imposed by your nation to keep your business ‘above board’ and successful.

The Right Equipment

No business can function property without the right equipment. As a debt collector, you will need a computer and broadband connection, as well a phone system or an independent phone line. You will probably find that a fax, photocopier and printer are useful and this can be purchased as an all-in-one machine. In terms of space organisation, you should also look into implementing a solid filing system – filing cabinets are useful for this.

Websites & Marketing

Almost all debt collections agencies out there will have a website – and you should too. With hundreds of competitors, clients need to be able to find you online and also view the main details about your company and services.  List your contact details on the website, including your phone number. Other marketing and advertising materials like flyers, brochures and business cards can also help get your name out there.

Software

If you find your business is gathering steam, or if you’ve employed someone other than yourself in the company, it may be time to invest in a software package. There are several debt collection software programs out there, including Collector!, Sentinel, iCollect, Collexus and QRM. Choose a software program that you feel will be easy to use and that will meet your business needs. Software is great for organising your clients, debtors and all your documentation and will help to streamline your daily operations.

Financing & Income

Just as with any small business, you’ll need to manage your finances and revenue in an effective way. You can either do this yourself through a bookkeeping tool or hire a bookkeeper to help you. Analysing your cash flow and your profit and loss is vital in pushing your business to succeed – without these statistics, you won’t know how well your business is doing or where your money is going. Once you’re able to view your analyses and reports, you’ll be able to identify areas of weakness or inefficiency in your business and work out solutions to make your efforts more profitable and successful.

So when building your blog, a good portion of your design priorities should also go to improving the security of your website, and a few great basic tips to get your started are as follows:

1. Update to the latest blogging tool version, and use the latest plugin versions. Data security breaches often involve the exploitation of vulnerabilities in one or two remote areas of a software or program. By updating the blogging tool and all of its plugins to the latest version, you lower this risk significantly, because the developers could most likely have provided a fix for these possible “programming holes” within the updates.

2. Keep your plugins folder from intruders by hiding it. The plugins folder is like the master control system of the entire blog. If it is clearly seen by other users, then there is a possibility for it to be breached one way or another by a hacker. Hiding it from view is a simple but prudent way to improve blog security. For WordPress blogs, one way to do this by turning Directory Browsing off through the cpanel.

3. Use a strong password, and encrypt data given whenever you login your account. While the choice for a strong password no longer requires reiteration, the encryption part of this tip is for a few blogging tools out there that does not have encrypting functionality for login sessions. As you may have known, without data encryption for a login session, your password could be easily intercepted by a third-party program. Find the appropriate plugin for your blog that would provide this feature.

             So, bulletproof your security by using VPN service, through this service you can protect yourselves from hackers, eavesdroppers and other intruders.

4. Define user privileges properly if the blog is used by multiple authors. If the blog is accessed using more than one user account, then you must properly assign access rights and privileges for each user. Not to say that those authors should not be trusted, but it might be wise if you place a limit on where they could go inside the blog. Who knows, the cyber intruder might use other user accounts of your blog to breach your security.

5. Use plugins that are specifically designed to improve web security. There are many plugins available out there for various blogging tools that are actually designed to help defend your blog against hackers. Such plugins act like auto-configuration or auto-suggestion programs, giving the best security tweak for your blog without the need to research thoroughly about it.

6. Be wise in choosing the plugins that you want to use. Of course, even the features of a specific plugin could greatly improve your blog design or security you should never install it without knowing that it came from a relatively safe source. You’ll never be able to know if those plugins are actually injected with a few lines of script that could expose the data inside your blog.

7. Always prepare a backup data copy of your blog database. Of course, there are some events that could inevitably lead to your data being compromised, even if it is not caused by a security breach (if the host becomes indefinitely offline for example). For these scenarios, it is always wise to reserve a backup data so that you won’t start from scratch.  Backups also needed to be tested regularly because sometimes you need to recover few files, and sometimes you need to recover the whole system. Any laxity on your part can prove to be lethal, so by using the services of iVPN.net, you can attain peace of mind.

English Track and Field Athlete Jessica Ennis

The 26 year-old is a firm favourite for the 2012 Olympic Games, and she currently holds the gold medal for both the European and the World heptathlon. With the likes of global sports brand Adidas firmly on her side, Jessica is often found wearing the latest Adidas designs in clothing and apparel.

These Adidas Evil Eye Halfrim sunglasses are perfect for all light conditions and feature ClimaCool Technology which offers ventilation during exercise. The air is channelled up above the lenses so that vision isn’t impaired whilst training. The sweat blocking feature will help Jessica as she trains and stop her from getting hot and bothered!

Most importantly for Jessica is most likely the SPX Flexibility feature on the Adidas sunglasses. This feature stops the glasses from moving and irritating the wearer during rigorous movement. There can’t be anything worse than taking part in an 800m hurdle dash with glasses slipping down your nose!
The Adidas Evil Eye glasses style has now been around for 10 years, and is popular amongst athletes of all disciplines. What’s more, these glasses can be made to a prescription for those who have eyesight problems and require a prescription lens. So you can have a sunglasses style perfect for training with your prescription inside.

Fastest Man – Usain Bolt

He’s the fastest man in the world for the 100m sprint and a sure-fire winner in this year’s Olympics. At only 25 years of age, he is a five-time World and three-time Olympic gold medallist. Famous for his one hand in the sky pose, Bolt has previously worn these Oakley Radar sunglasses whilst training for his speedy sprints.  These Oakley sunglasses provide polarized lenses to help reduce glare from the sun; something that Usain Bolt probably classes as an important factor when choosing sunglasses for training. The Olympic athlete is often seen out and about in apparel from his sponsor, Puma, who have extended his sponsorship deal to 2013 after promising results from the first sponsorship.

What do you think of this year’s Olympic hopefuls’ style choices and what do you think we’ll see during the Games from our favourite athletes?

Amy writes about fashion eyewear for Direct Sight, helping you buy glasses online.

For over two decades Miami Florida has hosted the annual blast for the dance music industry, Ultra Music Festival. It has always been a huge event, but this year, an entirely different set of expectations was asked from Ultra. As EDM (Electronic Dance music) grows in popularity, Dance music artists such as Skrillex, Avicii, David Guetta, and Datsik are getting increasing amounts of new fans and attention. Worldwide, the entire electronic dance music scene is growing, originally getting a jumpstart from Europe, the trend is rapidly expanding to the United States music capital, Miami.

The 3 Day long event was held in Bayfront Park in Miami, at a beautiful theatre overlooking Biscayne Bay. Looking to their left, music festival attendees see a side view of a towering downtown Miami skyline. Glow in the dark glasses
, and neon Rage Hats seemed as though they were a required piece of the dress code, one of the vendors, RageHats.com, set the feel for the weekend attire.

This year, eight stages filled the event, Carl Cox, an EDM legend, hosted his own stage for one of the days. A few other artists hosted their own respective stages on different days during the weekend. Up and coming artists now became new headliners such as Avicii. Avicii, Skrillex, and Datsik each only launched their first recordings within the past few years. Despite the new artists on the scene, dozens of music legends played both live and DJ sets at the festival.

New Neon Trends

Aside from the music aspect of the festival, new fashion trends were certainly prevalent. Everyone goes to these festivals to stand out and get noticed; one of the vendors sparked the growth of a huge trend of Neon Hats. RageHats.com brought various neon trucker snapbacks with bright catchy phrases. Girls were quick to buy hats that say “YOLO”, You only live once, while many traditional party goers grabbed the classic “RAGE” hats. Over the course of weekend, hundreds and hundreds of hats flew of a small pink rack, onto the heads of attendees.

It can be said the the early rave revival is responsible for the new growth in neon gear as rave gloves and flashing apparel seem to complete the outfits of the average music festival attendee. RageHats.com has sponsored quite a few other festivals, including Electric Forest Festival and Identity Music Festival, however none has ever been as big or popular as Ultra. The festival staff and production team are seeking to reduce the connotation to raves, preventing any sale and vending of flashing rave gloves and LED accessories. Many other festivals across the nation are not as strict, some even promote the led “rave” scene, as it adds to the excitement and light shows of the weekend events.

The future of Raves

Regardless of your thoughts on the new rave scene, one things remains a fact, Ultra Music Festival was filled with neon hats and overtaken by the new neon scene. RageHats.com nearly ran out of hats at the show after an unexpectedly high demand for YOLO trucker hats. Many people enjoy ordering bulk hats, and customizing their own on the website.

With the new growth of people interested in neon hats, it can be said that there is a strong chance that the rave scene is just growing. As mainstream EDM music grows in popularity, so to will the electric music festivals, demand for lasers and flashing accessories, and festivals like Ultra. For example, the new Electric Forest Festival, bases the entire show after the lighted, glowing nightlife scene. Glowsticks fill the air after every bass drop, and nearly everyone wears led gloves, and el wire to stand out from the crowd.

Roy Rageali

Staff Editor – RageHats.com

China was the top market with more than 18 million vehicles were sold. In a nation where there are more than 1.34 billion people and record economic growth, more Chinese citizens are able to buy vehicles. The rate of personal vehicles has been steadily rising, although the ratio of new car purchases to the population (about 1/65) is low by international standards. Sales leaders were GM and VW.

The U.S. was the second biggest market. More than 12 million new vehicles were sold. GM and Ford dominated the market with a combined 55 percent of the market. Toyota maintained a healthy 20 percent. Nissan/Renault claimed more than 13 percent while VW claimed 4.5 percent.

Brazil has become a major car purchaser. In 2011, more than 3.4 million new vehicles were sold in this large South American country. Its market was dominated by VW with 34 percent and GM with 31 percent. Ford controlled more than 16% of the market. It was followed by Renault with 13% and Toyota with almost 5%.

Germany, with less population than Brazil and less land mass as well, rated fourth with 3.1 million cars purchased. Not surprisingly, its market was dominated by VW which claimed 42 % of all new cars sold in 2011. Other auto makers with German market share included GM (21%), Ford (15 %), Nissan/Renault (13.9 %), and Toyota (7.5%).

Jason Lancaster works closely with Toyota Parts Center, who sells TRD performance parts online. In his spare time, he conducts research and likes to produce an occasional Infographic.

The habit of wandering around without conscious control is one that can undoubtedly be dangerous. In fact, in some cases people have been known to partake in activities that put themselves or others at risk.

The latest survey confirmed however that out of the 16,000 adults involved in the study, about 29 percent say they have sleepwalked at some point in their lives. This is the first type of non-laboratory study on the phenomenon as many researchers felt that changing the environment away from where the person normally sleeps could disrupt the behavior and therefore undermine the results of the study.

The study also addressed other situations, such as the use of sleeping pills or heavy drinking, that are known to make people partake in this abnormal nighttime phenomenon. It also appears that those taking medication for OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) or depression are more prone to sleepwalking though it’s hard to prove whether it is the condition or the medication which actually spurs the underlying cause.

For cigars to perform ideally, they need to be kept in a temperature- and humidity-controlled environment. Perhaps your travels will confine you to a hot vehicle. Bad news. Even worse, having to pack your cigars/accessories in your luggage for a flight. Do you put a travel humidor in your checked baggage, or do you stow in your carry-on? Do you take your favorite accessories and risk having them confiscated? Will the pressure and temperature changes effect the cigars in transit? Hopefully you’ll be able to find a local shop instead.

Let’s see how many cigar shops a quick Google search of “cigars + beach name” uncovers in proximity to some of the most popular beaches on the East Coast.

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

• Approximately 15 tobacco retailers
• Of those, 5 are quality brick & mortar specialty cigar shops (33.3%)
• All are less than 2 miles from the beachfront

Virginia Beach, Virginia

• Approximately 9 tobacco retailers
• Of those, 3 appear to be quality brick & mortar specialty cigar shops (33.3%)
• All 3 of those are located within 2 miles of the main beach area

Hilton Head, South Carolina

• Approximately 5 tobacco retailers
• Of those, 4 appear to be quality brick & mortar specialty cigar shops (80%)
• That 80% is located within 1 mile of the beach

Ocean City, Maryland

• Approximately 5 tobacco retailers
• Of those, 2 appear to be quality B&M specialty cigar shops (40%)
• All are virtually next to the beach

Atlantic City, New Jersey

• Approximately 3 tobacco retailers
• Of those, all three appear to be quality B&M specialty cigar shops (100%)
• Close proximity to the beach

Daytona Beach, Florida

• Approximately 8 tobacco retailers
• Of those, there is one quality B&M (12.5%) and it’s a few miles from the beach

West Palm Beach, Florida

• Approximately 9 tobacco retailers
• Of those, 5 appear to be quality B&M (55.5%) shops
• Most are within 2 miles of the beach

Delray Beach, Florida

• Approximately 3 tobacco retailers, all quality B&M shop (100%)
• All are within 1 mile of the beach

Lauderdale Beach, Florida

• Approximately 10 tobacco retailers
• Of those, 7 appear to be quality B&M specialty cigar shops (70%)
• Only 4 are within a mile of the beach

Miami Beach, Florida

• Approximately 11 tobacco retailers
• Of those 8 appear to be quality B&M cigar shops (73%)
• Most land within 1/2 mile of the beach

Hopefully this short list will help point you to the best beach for the cigar-connoisseur in you! Sometimes the best place to find information regarding the “best” local cigar shop is an online cigar forum. They are current and provide more detailed information by locals. Enjoy!

Mike Dean is an aficianado of cigars and regularly reviews music and beer-stogie pairings while also helping wannabe musicians play their guitars much better.