Online Education Replacing Brick and Mortar Colleges

The internet has revolutionized the way we do business in the world today. It has also changed the way the world communicates and how we organized our days. Statistics show that 77% of American population, about 240 million of us uses the internet. China, having the largest population in the world, has 420 million internet users, which is about 32% of their population. The numbers are increasing by the day worldwide.

Bill Gates, the man who contributed vastly to the internet world made a comment in August 2010 at the Techonomy Conference. He said, education today is inefficient and it is about to go through decoupling by the internet. He is super-optimistic about the internet changing the way we are educating ourselves and our children.

Internet is definitely able to influence the education platform. I believe, online education (for K-12 and also university education) will make education more affordable, more relevant and more effective in today’s changing world economy.
Burck Smith, an internet entrepreneur started Straighterline University, an online college in Virginia. A whole freshman year is only $999 per student. They have options where student can take per course basis, which is $99 per month plus $39 for every course. This is college education at the cheapest and you may not be able to get these affordable prices at a Brick and Mortar College.

Straighterline courses includes free live, on demand instruction, course advisors and tutoring. They also have agreement with more than twenty colleges in the United States were students are allowed to transfer credits and continue in a more specialized education in a brick and mortar college or another online college.

This system proves to save thousands of dollars for students. It is a great way to prevent student from getting into college debt while pursuing a college education.

Our daughter is currently doing part-time online high school and part-time brick and mortar high school (at the local high school). We found this arrangement to be really beneficial because:

1. She gets more done at home on her online school as she gets to schedule her time.
2. She is graduating one year earlier than her peers.
3. She gets to use technology for her education that most brick and mortar student are not using. For example, she uses Tok Box to do video conferences with her fellow online classmates. She also uses Elluminate for online discussions with her teachers, administrators and fellow students.
4. She get more one on one time with her assigned online teachers where she is able to ask questions and pinpoint to her specific needs.
5. She realized that online school subjects are more in depth compared to her brick and mortar school.
6. She is very familiar with the internet and the online community for the purposes of doing school work.

Even at a high school level we see quite a vast difference in educating our daughter. With the advancement of internet and the online communities, we see more advantages than disadvantages in online education.

Business Week reports on November 8th, 2010, that 66 percent of universities and colleges surveyed by National Center for Education Statistics, offer online education programs. Just to name a few of the schools surveyed: University of Nebraska, University of Florida, The State University of New York and Penn State University.

Are you still thinking if online education is real education?

Or are you thinking that it is a more inferior form of college education?

How about getting a college education free and clear? No debt, giving students the freedom to choose. Having freedom to choose where they live, where they work and who they work with?

Guaranteed Auto Financing – Fact or Fiction?

In today’s challenging economy, rising unemployment has meant that many people have found themselves unable to meet their family’s financial needs. Unemployment and inadequate cash flow can damage anybody’s credit reputation. With a bad credit history, your reputation in the financial marketplace becomes questionable, especially when it comes to finding a car loan. However, enter ‘guaranteed’ auto financing to the rescue of those who face these types of financial challenges. Many reputable financial institutions now appreciate that many people are struggling to make ends meet and so have responded by offering different guaranteed auto financing packages to suit various personal situations.

These days it is not necessary to have a perfect credit rating to get a loan and so most people can access car loans even with a bad credit history and irrespective to the size of their income. Of course, guaranteed auto financing is never actually 100% guaranteed. However, several lending institutions now offer bad credit auto loans and with careful research, it’s easy to learn how to improve your likelihood of acceptance.

There is stiff competition amongst lenders in the car financing market. Every dealer tries to please their customers in order to achieve more deals. There are lenders who are specialists in handling particular kinds of credit situations and these lenders can assist you get a loan with sensible terms. Bear in mind that a few dealers might reject your application. However, most lenders will be well informed enough to be able to help you get the loan. Therefore, spend some time researching online to find lenders who are will be able to finance your present economic condition.

Preparing Your Guaranteed Auto Financing Application
Knowing how to approach auto financing lenders is important. Do not give a lot of dealers accesses to your credit history because the more people that inquire into your credit, the worse it looks to the one giving you loan (they are able to see how many times your credit record has been accessed). For that reason you may want to obtain your own copy of your credit report. By understanding this report you should be able to match it to the type of auto financing lender you are considering.

Try not to let every other person know about your credit details. Only talk about it with people who you trust and who are willing to guide you. When you are meeting a lender to arrange guaranteed auto financing, make sure that the person that accesses your credit report is actually the dealer who is selling you the car of your choice. Otherwise allowing to many parties access to your report might end up hurting your credit record.

Repairing Credit History via Auto Loan Repayments
Like any loan, guaranteed auto financing depends upon being able to pay the installments consistently on a weekly or monthly basis. If you are able to demonstrate that you can repay a loan without missing a payment, then your credit rating will improve. However, note that guaranteed auto financing lenders sometimes tend NOT to report your credit to the credit bureaus, so it can be hard to build up a good reputation using this type of loan. It is also worth noting that the loan term for guaranteed auto financing is often short and is typically for purchasing a used car.

Do your research and think carefully before approaching a guaranteed auto financing company. Know that there are ways to obtain car financing if you have a bad credit rating using guaranteed loans – but tread carefully. Finally do not forget that you can trade-in a used car and this can help you to negotiate a lower interest rates.

Online Currency Trading

Modern monetary systems are far superior to the barter system people used in the old days. Inefficiency and lengthy negotiation were the main reason the barter system became obsolete. Later, bronze, silver and gold came to be used as mediums of exchange in trade.Globally, currency trading is a major business, and it is estimated that over US$2 trillion is traded everyday. The system of currency trading is also referred to as foreign exchange, Forex, or FX for short. The currencies traded have a relative value to other currencies. The trading uses the purchase and sale of large quantities of currency to leverage the shift in order to earn profit.Fluctuation in the relative value of a currency is caused by two reasons. The first reason being the “real” market, i.e. in case a foreigner wants to buy a commodity, he is forced to convert his domestic currency into the currency of the visiting place, the currency also fluctuates as it leaves a state.Speculation is another factor on which the currency fluctuates. The heavy buying and selling in the market can drastically impact the value of the currency. This speculation has been responsible for drastic consequences on the national currency, consequently hampering the growth of a country’s economy.Analysts also consider online currency trading a very “fast market” which is highly volatile. An individual has to take into account technical and fundamental data and make an informed decision based on his perception of forex futures trading market sentiments and market expectations to become a successful trader. One of the variables that is most important in currency trading is timing. The trader has to be aware of the happenings in the market, and also has to understand the nuances of the market to play safely.Banking conglomerates and large multinationals were the movers and shakers in trading before small investors entered into the market and changed the face of the industry. Although professional help is usually needed before individuals or companies start currency trading, an individual with good understanding of business can also try his luck in the practice.

4 Main Questions You Need To Ask In Advertising

Your basic principle of advertising requires you to completely analyze the answer some question prior to making an effective advertising decisions. Here are the 4 question you should ask yourself:4 Main QuestionsWhat should my advertising accomplish?Who should your advertising speak to?What should your advertising say?What kind of advertising medium should you use?In many kinds of business conditions, these question can have many answers. As you go through these question you should think about each question you should not accept just any answer until you have reviewed and look in to the complete extent possibilities.What Do You Want Your Advertising To Accomplish?The first thing you want to improve on in your advertising plan is know what your precise advertising goals are. You need to be as specific as you can as to why are you advertising and what do you want accomplish. You will want your advertising to expand your business, for your advertising program to work, you have to be very precise. Here are some goals you may what to achieve in your advertising:You may want to increase familiarity of your business.You want to entice your competitors customers to your website.You want to multiply the good chance of keeping your current customers and building their loyalty.You want you produce instant sales and sales leads.There is a chance you may want your advertising to accomplish all of these goals and even more. You will want to prioritize your goals. Your advertising will work most excellent when it is expanded to meet one goal at a time.Who Should Your Advertising Speak To?Now that you have established your advertising goals, you need to select your purposed audience for your advertising message. Advertising that is aimed at everyone very seldom works. For successful advertising should be written toward a specific customer in mind. You should attempt to picture the individual you need to reach so you can accomplish your advertising goals. You should relate to your targeted customer in all of the following:Demographics: which includes age, income, gender, location of business or residenceBehaviors; your current knowledge of your business, products, services and or vendors they are using, loyalty to your competitors business or your business, etc.Needs, want, or desires: what are the benefits your customer is looking for, the reason on which they will decide if they will use your product or service, and how can your business fulfill there needs.What Should My Advertising Say?Once you have figured out who your target audience will be and what they are looking for. The service or products you offer, you will need to decide what your advertising will say. Your advertising should be written to inform a message that can be seen as something is important by your intended customers. You should write your advertising to persuade your audience, describing the most important benefits of your service or product in your advertising. You should keep in mind Attention, hold Interest, arouse Desire, motivate Action the analog is AIDA.Where Should You Place Your Advertising?You will find that every month, there are new and updated advertising options become available. You can place advertising on television stations, on grocery carts, in airports, buses and any where else you can locate. You want to place your advertising where your target customer will have the highest likelihood of hearing or seeing your advertising. There is no good or bad setting place to advertise. You need to look at your advertising goals, your advertising budget, as you look at your media choices.