Japanese Sharp Corporation releases a press statement on 27 August 2008 that did not grab any headlines. But one day, it may be on Page One of every newspaper on earth! Incorporated in its ionic air purifier, the Plasmacluster Ion Technology (more on this in a later post) has just been scientifically proven to be 99.9% effective in destroying the bird flu virus known as H5N1.

Every now and then, the press reminds us that bird flu is the prime suspect to cause mankind’s next pandemic. Pandemic does not just sound terrifying. It is. That’s when a highly contagious and deadly virus goes global, in a very negative sense. History records for us that 50 million people may have died during the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic! That was blamed on the H1N1 virus which was only recently confirmed on 5 October 2005 by the World Health Organization (WHO) to be a bird flu virus.

Red Alert! Time to PANIC?

Not just yet. Updated on 10 Sep 2008, WHO statistics shows the death toll at 245 from 1996 when the H5N1 virus was first identified in China. So what’s the fuss? Mutation of the bird flu virus to achieve human-to-human transmission capability is the ultimate horror of the scientific community. As of now, there has been only one probable case of human-to-human transmission recorded in Thailand in September 2004. But if (it seems the virus has not reached the “when” stage) the dreaded virus mutation takes place, you can expect pandemonium on a global scale.

As the threat grows day by day, countries around the globe are conscientiously preparing for the worse (more on this in a later post). At our individual level, we should start doing some homework too.

Ok, so what’s all this got to do with Sharp’s ionic air purifier. Is it not just another ordinary ionic air purifier? Yes, it’s ordinary in that it takes care of the usual stuff that we look for in an air purifier – dust, dirt, smoke, dander, pollen, cuisine and pet odours, pollutants, allergens etc. If there is really a tested defence shield against a deadly virus, why not? And that is precisely what Sharp is telling us; get the whole package with their Plasmacluster Ion Technology.

The next obvious question for the value-conscious, would be “yes, that makes a whole lot of sense but at what cost”? Per Sharp, not a penny more! Sharp asserts that it is cheaper than any other ordinary ionic air purifier when measured over 5 years. Value for money grabs my attention anytime! How is it possible in this nothing-is-for-free world?

It is entirely possible, says Sharp. For example, there is much better value for money in its Plasmacluster Ionic Air Purifier Model FP-N40CX as there is no filter replacement costs for the first 5 years. At first sight, the typical competitor’s upfront cost of US$160 looks cheap compared to Sharp’s US$399. But add in the annual replacement filter replacement costs of US$100 and the total outlay for the competing ionic air purifier comes to US$560.

If you have relevant data, be it on Sharp or the competitors, I would greatly appreciate your input. Do let me know if you have recent actual data.

In the meantime, I will study the Sharp Plasmacluster Ion Technology more closely. Now is the time to research, while bird flu is still not quite at pandemic proportions.

Join me in my quest. Fear etches itself deep in my psyche. It was like a horror movie that ran for months. Paranoia abounded in crowded places even as people commuted to work on buses and MRT trains. Taxis cruised empty as stories were told of the infected travelling in them to hospital. It was near pandemonium in many Asian cities as pandemic fears took hold. The year was 2003. SARS was a much dreaded acronym. The SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus started spreading in Asia and infected 8,096 people around the world, resulting in 774 fatalities. We all know that being well prepared is half the battle won.

Watch this space as we track exciting developments in our pursuit of safe, pure and clean air with nothing more than an ionic air purifier.

To easily receive updates on new articles, subscribe to The Ionic Air Purifier Blog today.

If you’re looking for ways to take your business in a new direction, but not sure where to start, consider a joint venture marketing partnership. A joint venture marketing partnership is one of the fastest growing and most effective ways to infuse new life into an already successful, but perhaps stagnant business.

To stay on top in the business world, even if your current business is a success, you must always be looking for new ways to gain exposure and new customers. Building and maintaining a solid base of loyal and regular clients will be the bread and butter of your business, but continually gaining new clients and exposing your business to new customers will be central to the future of your success.

A joint venture marketing partnership is created when one or more business gets together to share marketing strategies, ideas, plans and expenses. A joint venture marketing partnership can be so successful because it incorporates experience and expertise from various members of the business community. You may be at the top of your game in your niche, but there is always more to learn, and partnering with another successful business can help give you the extra edge you need.

The Next Step

If you run a small business, it may be difficult to conceive who to approach to enter into a joint venture marketing partnership, or even how to get started. And, if you run a small, online business, chances are that you don’t have a large marketing team or budget to go to for opinions and guidance, so it is likely you’ll have to do the brainstorming on your own, or with one or two other top officers in your company.

Joint venture marketing partnerships are easiest to handle when your business is small and when you’ll approach other small businesses for potential partnerships.
If you are taking this next step on your own, what you’ll need to do is to think of businesses that have a similar client profile to your own, but who will not be offering the same products and services.  You want to seek out businesses that have an existing client base of customers with similar needs, wants and lifestyles to your own clients.

If, for instance, you are a small company that offers pet care products, your client base will obviously not target people who are not pet owners. What you will want to do is to find a company or series of companies that have an existing customer base of pet owners, but whose company doesn’t sell pet care products, or at least not the same pet care products that you do.

In this particular instance, you might want to form a joint venture marketing partnership with dog walking agencies, animal hospitals or veterinary clinics. The idea here is that you would share marketing campaigns with these other business, since each of your existing client bases may have use for the others products and services. Just forming a joint venture marketing partnership with one company has the potential to exponentially increase your client base and website traffic.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing & Consulting firm empowering business owners to discover and implement Integration, Alliance, and Joint Venture marketing tactics to solve specific business challenges and increase profits. To read more articles related to Joint Venture Marketing, please go to his Joint Venture Blog Site. He can be reached at christian@synertegic.com

The new kid on the block these days is the new technological marvel called Satellite TV for PC and to learn more about what is so fascinating about this new way of watching television you would do well to check out a Satellite TV for PC review or two. The fact of the matter is that currently many more people are migrating from watching satellite TV channels to Satellite TV for PC and so the more you know about this new craze the better off you will be.

Proprietary Technology

The first piece of information that you will get from reading a Satellite TV for PC review is that Satellite TV for PC runs on internet technology that is proprietary and this means needing to download as well as install the proper kind of Satellite TV for PC software which fortunately is readily available online and can easily be downloaded via the Internet.

After having downloaded and installed this software you can then enjoy watching numerous channels that are truly international and which come to you from different parts of the world. In fact, a Satellite TV for PC review will also mention that these aforementioned advantages are very similar to what you would get from watching Satellite TV channels – though without the costs and with better quality pictures and sound.

What’s more, a good Satellite TV for PC review will also point out the many advantages that Satellite TV for PC has over conventional satellite TV systems with the main difference being that the former uses internet connection as opposed to a Satellite TV system that requires that you buy and install a dish and use other equipment as well. Furthermore, the former type also offers far more channels than a traditional Satellite television dish system.

Yet another advantage that Satellite TV for PC enjoys over conventional Satellite dish systems is that, according to Satellite TV for PC reviews, the former is easier to install and set up whereas the latter requires buying and installing satellite dishes, decoders, receivers and more. Even when it concerns pricing, you will learn from reading a Satellite TV for PC review that satellite TV dish services are mostly bundled packages and requires paying monthly subscription; in the case of Satellite TV for PC you will enjoy greater mobility and at a lower cost.

Choosing the best Satellite TV for PC software is another aspect that you should pay close attention to because better quality software will help in greatly improving the quality of television viewing.

A good Satellite TV for PC review will teach you about the relative merits and demerits of Satellite TV for PC and also informs you about how you can get more out of choosing to convert your PC into a television rather than remain stuck with cable or satellite TV services.

Why do People Network Over a Network?

People’s lives nowadays are focused on one thing, catching up to everyone else. Everything is fast paced when it comes to career, opportunities and relationships. People barely have the time to stop and look around them to assess what they have and what’s going on in the world. Because of this hyped up and fast paced way of life people are barely connected with the people that matter the most.

Some friends and family never really know what is going on with each other. There is a solution to all of this and it’s what they call social networking, the question is why do people network in a network?

There are a lot of reasons why and here’s a short list of the reasons why: 

1. Know new people. Just about every social networking websites says meet new people and the fact of the matter is that it’s what it’s actually all about. Meeting new people over social networking websites is the primary objective of having social networks. It’s like speed dating, people meet people assess if they like them or not and add them in their network of friends. It’s a great way of finding out how small the world is.

2. Finding lost friends. If there’s a cheap way of finding a long lost friend it’s through social networking websites, it’s because people hate being left behind in all the techie stuff that they make their own network. One of the features that a lot of social networking websites have is the ìhow are you connectedî feature. It shows you the link that goes back to the person who introduced you to that person that you have on your network. Another feature is the ìfriends you have in commonî feature, this allows you to see who are the people you have in common in your network. And chances are if you have someone in common it’s easy to look for somebody else.

3. Chat away. If you got nothing better to do with your life, chat the day away. Forums or discussion boards on social networks are available for those people who have a lot to say but have nobody to talk to. I know it’s sad rightÖbecause of the power of freedom of speech everybody has the right audience to listen into what you got to say.   

4. Be part of an interest group. One of the good things about social networking websites is that there’re always people who share what you like to do. Crazy as your hobby may sound there’s bound to be a few people doing what you do. Not so special anymore right? And all along you think that you’re weird because you like collecting stamps so you can lick them, but on second thought wouldn’t it be better to belong.

5. Blog. Blogging or weblogs are the current replacement of a journal. It’s a little space in cyberspace where you get to rant as much as you like, write poetry, curse at people, curse at the government, curse at the Idol judges, shares your thoughts on almost anything and everything under the sun. 

6. Post your face in cyberspace. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a place where you can put all of those memories for people to envy? Indeed, social networking is a great way of showing off to your friends what you’ve accomplished and what other things you like to have. 

It is a good time to look into a direct sales business opportunity if you wish to work from home. There are many companies presenting such opportunities to people like you and me who would like to work at our own pace and have time to spend with our families. It may sound like a snap, but if you are planning to start a business, you need to be prepared to put in a lot of time and effort to make it work.

How Do I Know If I Can Do It?

The best part about a direct sales business opportunity is that anyone can do it. You need to find the right product to sell and sign up with the company. They will provide you with a starting kit and you will be on your way to becoming a successful entrepreneur. Expect an initial investmnet which will depend on the company you are joining and the tools they provide you with. If you do not want to put in too much money at first then look for a company with minimum investment requirements. There is a multitude of companies offering this opportunity that you are sure to find one which suits you.

When you decide to take up a direct sales business opportunity, you should be aware of what you have to do. You need to sell products of the company directly to consumers without operating a retail store. You will have to contact customers personally and convince them to buy your products. If you sell a product that you believe in yourself then it will much easier for you to convince people to buy them. Some of the popular companies you could sign up with are Tupperware, Home and Garden, and Avon.

What you earn is directly related to the effort you put in. If you think that taking up a direct sales business opportunity means that you can sit back and watch the money roll in, then you are wrong. You have to work hard for it. You are your own boss and your home is your office. You need to sell your products to as many customers as you can to earn maximum commission. The direct sales industry is growing and you need to stay abreast of the times. You should possess the will to succeed as well as possess good communication skills.

You want to make sure that you choose the right product and company. You should do your research thoroughly before you decide to jump into a direct sales business opportunity. Although the opportunities may all look very attractive only a few companies can actually suit your needs. Once you have picked the right company, you will be able to earn a lot of money in the long run.

Click Here For Free Info On Direct Sales Business Opportunity

Every computer user should have the appropriate backup software, but if you are strapped for cash or otherwise just want a basic best data backup software, then you should know that there is the option of getting free data backup software, you just have to look in the right places if you want to get free data backup software.

Hitek Software

This is for sure one of the first places you want to check out if you are on the hunt for effective, high quality, free data backup software. They offer the JaBack automated data backup software, which backups all of your important data, files and folders, and allows you to transfer your backup set to a remote location via FTP or email it to your server.

As well, there is email notification of task failure based on task exit code, local directory monitor which allows you to backup data when a file or folder change is detected, so that you can tell if there is a virus on your computer that you may not have been aware of, and you can copy files and directories using wildcards on schedule.

Free Downloads Center

Another company that you can go through for free data backup software is the Free Downloads Center. They are actually recognized as offering one of the largest free data backup software selections in the world, so no matter what specific software you may be looking for, you will be able to find it or software almost identical to it here.

Their ABF Outlook Express Backup software is very popular, and this is a handy backup tool that is time saving and enables you to backup all important Outlook Express data, including emails, contacts, mail and news accounts, rules, signatures and more.

It can easily be used to transfer and synchronize your Outlook Express between several different computers which can be a great convenience, and the program was specifically designed so that even people with little to no computer experience are able to handle it and manage it properly.

These are just a couple of the best companies that are available and that you will want to check out, but there are certainly many more and so your best bet is going to be for you to take a bit of time so that you can see what else is out there and decide where is going to be the best place for you to get your data backup software from.

Identity theft is a very serious issue in the world today, because it happens so often. In fact, chances are that you already know someone who has dealt with identity theft in the past, and so it is a subject that you should be educated on and really take very seriously.

There are a few important, effective things that you can do to prevent identity theft, and which will be discussed in more detail for you here. If you want to know how to prevent identity theft, you will find the following information very useful.

Tips

There are a few tips in particular that you are going to want to use if you want to prevent identity theft as best you can. Credit monitoring is one of the most effective and necessary processes if you want to be able to prevent identity theft.

This means frequently checking your credit report so that you can make sure everything on there is accurate and that there are no mistakes. If you ever find that there are, you will want to deal with them immediately, and this will not only ensure that you prevent identity theft but as well keep your credit score in as good of standing as possible.

If you have credit cards, you will want to keep a close check on the statements that you receive each month, to ensure that everything that shows up you did in fact purchase, and that there is no one else using your credit card numbers to make purchases.

Another way to prevent identity theft is to shred all important documents. Especially if you own a business, you will want to make sure that as soon as you are done with credit card statements, loan documents, and other important paperwork, you either store them in a safe place or shred them up.

Just throwing them in the garbage will simply not be enough because if someone were to go through your garbage which is what most identity thieves do to get this kind of important personal information, they will easily be able to get it.

By shredding them, there is really no way that anyone will be able to use them against you, and so this is going to be a very important step in avoiding identity theft. You also want to be cautious when you are on the phone, as it is easy for someone to pretend that they are someone else when they are on the phone.

Making it easy for your clients/customers to reach you is very important to any enterprise. A vital part of being easily reached is having a great small business phone system.

A small business PBX system is really the best solution to the business owner’s business phone system needs. A hosted PBX makes your current telephone service seem like a much larger company’s by utilizing cutting-edge telecommunication features.

The front-runner in virtual hosted PBX phone service is RingCentral. As an online, extremely affordable small business phone and fax service, RingCentral brings edge telecommunication features within grasp of the typical business owner.

No extra hardware or phone lines are required to use the RingCentral service. By utilizing your current small business phone lines, RingCentral is very easy to setup and charges no expensive startup costs. To take advantage of the RingCentral PBX service, all an entrepreneur needs is one working phone.

By combining cutting-edge call management services with either a local or toll free main number, you company is able to have a very professional image that sets yourself apart from your competition. A client or customer dials one main number for your small business, and is then directed to the necessary employee using the versatile RingCentral phone auto attendant service.

Regardless of the number of employees your company has, or where they are located in the world, the RingCentral small business PBX service allows your customers to call one phone number and be able to reach anybody in your company.

Cutting-edge telecommunication features come included with most RingCentral service plans. Features include call forwarding, virtual auto attendant, call screening, Internet faxing with dedicated phone number, voicemail with email delivery, and much more.

Turn your existing phone service into an unstoppable sales force with RingCentral virtual PBX service. Unleash the potential of your current small business phone service by giving RingCentral a try with their worry free 30-day trial. You will be amazed at the results you see.

The economic turmoil that has unfolded in recent weeks has begun to trickle down to the consumer arena. In difficult economic times, people hold onto their money, reserving it for essentials.  If you run a small business, you have less revenue turnover than your larger counterparts, and you are likely to feel an economic pinch more quickly than larger competitors.

Developing a joint venture marketing strategy with one or more businesses is a great way to gain market exposure and visibility, as well as reach out to new potential clients, even during difficult economic times. This type marketing partnership is a savvy move to make because it can be a way to gain exposure without putting forth any capital.

Chances are that an economic downturn is not the time you want to be pumping large amounts of money into a new marketing campaign. But to maintain your current clients, which is your company’s bread and butter - and to attract new customers, which is your company’s future - marketing is necessary. A joint venture marketing strategy can be profitable without sinking into your profit margin, effective even during economic difficulties.

Shared Client Lists

One of the most basic ways to engage in a joint venture marketing partnership, which is also extremely cost effective because it has no real costs, is sharing client lists with your partners. As a successful business, you have a number of loyal clients with whom you regularly do business. The best free marketing is to share your client lists with your joint venture marketing partners as they will gain access to your loyal customers and vice versa. 

Email Advertising

Email advertising is another joint venture marketing gem that goes hand in hand with shared client lists. Once you have a list of clients from your JV partners, you may not simply want to contact them out of the blue as people are bombarded with sometimes hundreds of emails a day, and a new email from an unknown company may just slip through the cracks or be filtered directly into the junk folder before the recipient ever sees it.

A more effective way of utilizing your joint venture marketing partnership is to use the emails that your partner companies are already sending out to your clients as a vehicle to advertise your company, and vice versa. Customers are much more likely to read an email from a company that they already do business with or purchase products from. These emails are also virtually guaranteed to reach the recipient and not be sent to the spam folder because the client is a repeat customer, and emails from this company have already been sent to and received by this client.

An extremely effective method for gaining exposure through your joint venture marketing partnerships is to attach an advertisement onto the end of the emails that your partners send to their clients, which advertises your company, and vice versa. This creates a win-win situation that costs nothing for either party!

All members of the joint venture marketing partnership will enjoy increased exposure via a trusted source, with absolutely no up-front costs. This type of joint venture marketing partnership is something that will be music to everyone’s ears, even during these difficult economic times.

Christian Fea is CEO of Synertegic, Inc. A Joint Venture Marketing & Consulting firm empowering business owners to discover and implement Integration, Alliance, and Joint Venture marketing tactics to solve specific business challenges and increase profits. To read more articles related to Joint Venture Marketing, please go to his Joint Venture Blog Site. He can be reached at christian@synertegic.com

As a entrepreneur, you have to have a way for your clients and customers to get in touch with your business. Phones are still the most common and convenient form of communication in business today. Shouldn’t your current small business phone service be doing more for your company?

Allowing your current business phone service to do more for you is all that a small business PBX service is about. Utilizing your existing business phone service, a small business PBX phone system greatly enhances your most simple form of communication.

A business PBX service makes your existing company telephone service behave like that of a large corporation. If you have ever called a bigger company that has an automated telephone system that greets you and allows you to pick an employee or department to talk to, then you know exactly what a business PBX will do for your business.

Utilizing your existing telephone lines, a business PBX gives you either a local or toll-free phone number that serves as your business’ main phone number. Once a person calls this telephone number, they are greeted by your virtual auto attendant and offered the choice of where their call should be routed.

Call routing choices are completely controlled by you. The beauty of a small business PBX phone service is that incoming calls can be sent to any phone in the world, all it needs is a dial tone. This means that you can be vacationing in Maui and receive customer phone calls on your cell phone.

With plans beginning at under $10 per month, you cannot afford to not have a business PBX service for your company. Two of the largest business PBX providers are RingCentral and GotVmail. Our testing has shown RingCentral to be the better choice, offering the best set of features with competitive pricing and an absolutely free 30-day trial.

From powerful call-forwarding features, to call screening ability, to online faxing, a small business PBX really brings a lot of value to your current small business phone service.

If your company relies on telephone service to deal with customers, you have to give a hard look at a small business PBX phone service. You will be amazed at how much one of these communication services can change your current business telephone service.