Vacation Rentals in the Bahamas

The Bahamas serve as the perfect relaxation destination. With pristine beaches silent, save for the gently crashing waves of the turquoise water, the perfect island can help even the most stressed person to calm down. Many travelers find it more relaxing to have a place to stay a step away from tourist life on the islands, and private beach houses and condos have become extremely popular. These homes can be rented out to those who desire more privacy and independence than a hotel can offer.

There are many alternatives to hotel-stays on the islands, with varying price ranges. Bahamas vacation rentals can run anywhere from $100 a night to $1,000 a night. Regardless of your budget, a beautiful vacation rental can always be found. If, like most modern-day travelers, you use the Internet to book your stay, you can find detailed descriptions and pictures of whatever home, cottage, or condo catches your eye and matches your price range.

The internet has made it much easier for travelers to make these kinds of reservations because it gives access to all kinds of companies, big and small. Also, the renter has the advantage of looking at pictures and knowing exactly what they will be getting. Many websites offer travelers hundreds of rental properties to choose from. From sunny spots right on the beach to inland homes covered by trees, from tiny cottages to massive mansions, Bahamas vacation rentals offer everyone - with every budget - a beautiful place to call their home away from home.

Bahamas Vacations Info provides detailed information on Bahamas vacation packages, rentals, family vacations, resorts, villas, ranging from cheap vacations to upscale retreats. Bahamas Vacations Info is the sister site of Lake Havasu Web.

Joy Of The Lord

The word means different things to different people. Is it simply an emotion or feeling? Do we only feel joy when life seems to be going good, when our circumstances are favorable? Or is there something more? I'd like to explore what the Word of God says about this topic.

Psalm 16:11 says "Thou will show me the path of life, in Thy presence is fullness of joy, at Thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore."

Psalm 43:4 says "Then will I go to the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy...."

Nehemiah 8:10 says ...."the joy of the Lord is my strength".

What these scriptures say is that God Himself is the source of our joy. And that joy gives us strength. Have you ever noticed when you're feeling blue, that you tend to feel weak and tired too?

Here are some promises God offers us concerning joy:

Psalm 30:5...."weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning."

Isaiah 35:10 "And the ransomed of the Lord (His children) shall return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads, they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."

Isaiah 61:3 says "To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that He might be glorified."

Joy is also one of the fruits of the Spirit. He WANTS to give us joy! Sometimes we think of God as

heavy handed wanting to give us a hard time anytime we mess up, but that's not His heart at all, He wants to give us joy. But will we receive Him in order to receive the joy He offers us?

Isaiah 12:3 says "therefore with joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation."

Psalm 51:12: "Restore unto me, the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit."

In salvation (the term used when we ask Jesus to be our God, our savior) there is joy. I found this true as well. As soon as I prayed and gave my life to Him, I felt real joy for the first time in my life. It was like coming home. It is beyond description!

Hebrews 12:2 says "Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God."

This one blows my mind! Jesus had joy in the midst of

facing being crucified, one of the most painful deaths one could endure. His crucifixion was right ahead, he knew it, and he was joyful! Why? Because He saw beyond the cross, what it would accomplish. It would accomplish the right for ANY person to be His child and go to heaven if they want. He did it for us because He loved us so much and wants to give us so much, if only we will receive Him.

Here's some other really awesome thoughts of how God views us:

Zephaniah 3:17 says, "The Lord thy God, in the midst of thee is mighty, he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy, he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing."

God sings joyfully over us?! That's what He says. Have you ever thought that we could make Him happy? All He wants is our Love, because He loved us first.

In closing one more view of God, Luke 15:4-7 says, "What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he lost one of them, would not leave the 99 in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbors, saying unto them, Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost. I (Jesus) say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repents, more than over the 99 which need no repentance."

Jesus cares so much He seeks out to find the ones who are lost, and it gives Him great joy when He finds that one. Even all of heaven throws a party! If you don't know this loving, kind and joyful Jesus of Nazareth, I'd encourage you to simply ask Him into your heart. Receive everything He so wants to give you. Eternal life, joy, and the peace of knowing you're right with God. Just a simple prayer to Him anywhere of what's on your heart will do, and watch the joy flood your soul! And know also that you've given Him great joy too.

About The Author

Valerie Garner - Get a series of no cost traffic builders that work to get traffic to your website, plus a few ideas for earning income too. Many unique resources you'll love! Mailto:Moredetails@quicktell.com

5 Ways to Encourage Impulse Purchases

I just bought six square pieces of spongy fabric for $20 and walked away happy - "victim" of an impulse purchase.

I was at one of those big show events and walked past a demonstration booth. I even knew it was coming. About 50% of the people walking out were carrying two bright yellow cylinder-things.

As we walked toward the convention center, I told Tim (my other half), "There's one of those guys with a microphone in there, doing a demonstration. He gets people so excited they think they have to buy those things. They over-pay then never use them." I said this a bit smugly. I know of such things, so I wouldn't succumb.

Yeah, right. This guy was good. So good, I came away with five ideas for increasing sales from impulse purchases. Next time you evaluate short-term sales and marketing strategies, think about and apply these five impulse purchase lessons...

Impulse Purchase Lesson 1: Demonstrate an impressive, relevant feature.

If the product is chocolate, sold at a retail checkout stand, you have no need for this one. Human nature takes over. When you are selling unrecognizable cylinder things, people need some encouragement.

You would never know it to look at them, but these things were super absorbent shammies. They can suck 8 - 10 ounces of soda out of your carpet in nothing flat AND it makes for an impressive demonstration. When the demonstrator mentioned they could dry a sweater in three hours, I was hooked. Never mind we have about two spills a year in my house and I don't own any "lay flat to dry" sweaters.

This ability to get people to "live in the moment" is one key to a successful impulse purchase demonstration. The salesperson has a lot to do with it, of course. Repetition of an incredible, attractive feature, however, is key as well.

Think of any infomercial or "Billy Mays" product. There is always an "AMAZING!" feature - cooks in minutes, instantly removes stains, easily pulls dings from your car, etc.

2: Try to "time it right".

Quite coincidentally, one of those semiannual spills in my house happened the day before I bumped into the yellow cylinder guy. I was thinking "If I'd had these yesterday, right now we wouldn't have books stacked in the middle of the living room floor." Quite by accident, he had related to something that was top-of-mind for me.

Fortunately, you do not have to rely on coincidence. At any one time, there are usually six or eight generally popular "themes" you could tie into. Better yet, your target audience is likely to have it's own unique interests.

On the Internet, you can "time it right" by associating complementary products or services. If someone is researching monitors, for example, perhaps they need an ink cartridge for their printer.

Showing or highlighting ink cartridges on the screen along with the monitors may incite an impulse purchase. Better yet - and this is impossible unless you have order histories or detailed profiles - show them the exact cartridge they need.

3: Make it easy.

It turns out the cylinder things costs a flat $20. There was no change to mess with, no stopping to fill in order forms, and no multiple pieces of currency. As people pulled $20's out of their pockets, the demonstrator took them and handed over the shammies in a single motion.

On the Internet, you can make it easy in two ways - ordering and delivery.

Make the order process as simple as possible. Amazon's "Quick-Click" links are a good example of making ordering easy. Impulse purchasers simply click on the "Buy from Amazon" button and order straight off a pop-up window. You can see how it works here, in the left column under "Amazon 'Quick-Click' Example": http://WebSiteMarketingPlan.com/Arts/ImpulsePurchase.htm

Easy delivery is another way to encourage impulse purchases on the Internet. Immediately downloadable digital items are an example. For physical items, quick delivery - overnight, same day, or local store pick-up - can increase sales.

4: Give an enticingly presented discount.

A roll of three shammies was $21 something, but the guy was taking care of the sales tax, which made it an even $20 (But wait, there's more!). Because it was early he would throw in another 3-roll for no additional charge. Caught up in the moment, we nodded agreement. We were getting a deal - no sales tax plus three free.

The way a discount is presented can make a deal sound either appealing or "not such a deal". Which sounds better?...

"Buy One, Get One Half Off." OR "Buy Two and Get a 25% Discount."

"3 for $5.00" OR "$1.67 each."

"40% Off Sale" OR "On Sale, $12.00 each." (Assuming $20 item.) Another way to encourage impulse purchases is to give a discount by bundling. Offer to reduce the price on a second, related item (Like in example #1, above.).

Online, I have seen this done with books. Some booksellers offer you a chance to save money on shipping and/or book price if you also purchase a related item.

5: "Keeping up with the Joneses."

Instead of putting the shammies in a bag, the demonstrator rolled them up into a cylinder. This way, people at the show would see others carrying them around and wonder what they were missing.

The same concept can be applied to the Internet. I have seen messages like: "Others who bought 'x' also bought 'y'" on order forms, at check out, and on product screens.

So there they are - five tactics the yellow cylinder guy used to convince me (and nearly everyone around me) to happily walk away with six shammies. By correctly applying these same techniques you can see your sales soar as well.

About The Author

Bobette Kyle has more than a decade of experience in Corporate Marketing; Brand and Product Marketing; Field Marketing and Sales; and Management.

She is author of the Marketing Plan and Promotion Guide "How Much For Just the Spider? Strategic Web Site Marketing", named one of the top 15 books of 2002 by NonFictionReviews.com. Read more about the guide here: http://WebSiteMarketingPlan.com/bookinformation.htm

? 2003 Bobette Kyle. All Rights Reserved.

If Your PR Cant Do This, Bag It!

As a business, non-profit or association manager, why continue a public relations effort that doesn't deliver the key external audience behaviors you need to achieve your department, division or subsidiary objectives?

Time for a change. One that will base your PR effort on a fundamental premise that makes sense. And one that actually leads to outside audience behaviors like these: new proposals for joint ventures or strategic alliances, prospective buyers browsing your services or products, specifying sources or major donors thinking about you, more frequent repeat purchases or a substantial boost in capital donations.

So, you need two things. One, a really personal involvement with the public relations people assigned to your department, division or subsidiary. And two, a new foundation for your PR effort.

A foundation like this: People act on their own perception of the facts before them, which leads to predictable behaviors about which something can be done. When we create, change or reinforce that opinion by reaching, persuading and moving-to-desired-action the very people whose behaviors affect the organization the most, the public relations mission is accomplished.

It will give you a blueprint that will help you persuade your key stakeholders to your way of thinking. In turn, that should move them to take actions that lead to your success as a business, non-profit or association manager.

First and foremost, you need to know how members of your most important external audiences perceive you because those perceptions usually lead to behaviors that can hurt you or help you in achieving your objectives.

So, you and your PR team must list those outside audiences whose behaviors affect your unit the most. Then put them in priority order. We'll use #1 on your list as our target in this article.

Now, you can spend some real money on professional survey counsel, or you and your PR team can do it yourself by interacting with your target audience. Use questions like these to identify opinion, perception problems. "What do you know about our organization? Have you had any kind of contact with us? Was it satis- factory? Do you like our products or services?"

Listen carefully to the responses you receive. Stay alert for evasive or hesitant answers, and be watchful for negativity ? especially inaccuracies, exaggerations, misconceptions or rumor.

These answers are your red meat, the input you need to create the public relations goal. For example, clear up a misconception, kill that rumor once and for all, or fix that inaccuracy. Each of which can lead to target audience behaviors you won't like one little bit.

Reaching that goal is another story. You need a strategy to do it and you have just three choices as you deal with your opinion/perception challenge: create perception where there may be none, change existing opinion, or reinforce it. But take care when you identify your strategy that it compliments your goal.

The heavy lifting in your public relations problem solving sequence will be done by the message you prepare designed to correct the negative perception you identified during your perception monitoring session. You must be very clear about the offending perception, particularly why it is untrue. Remember that you want to change what people believe and, thus, their behaviors so that you can achieve your unit's objectives. Which is why the message must be both believable and compelling.

Getting the message from your organization to the attention of members of your target audience is your next challenge. Luckily, there is a long list of communications tactics standing ready to help you do just that. They range from media interviews, personal meetings and speeches to press releases, newsletters, facility tours and many more. But check carefully that the tactics you employ have a proven record of reaching people similar to those who make up your target audience.

Inevitably, questions will be asked as to whether all this smoke and flame is producing any results. A question that can only be answered back out in the field interacting once again with members of your key outside audience.

While you'll be using the same questions used during your first opinion monitoring drill, this time you're looking for indications that the hurtful perceptions are actually changing, as will the inevitable follow on behaviors.

Incidentally, you can always put the pedal to the metal with additional communications tactics, as well as using them more frequently.

What you have, finally, is the blueprint you need to help persuade your most important stakeholders to take actions that lead to your success as a business, a non-profit or an association manager.

And your cost was "bagging" a PR effort that simply couldn't deliver the key external audience behaviors you need to achieve your unit objectives.

About The Author

Bob Kelly counsels, writes and speaks to business, non-profit and association managers about using the fundamental premise of public relations to achieve their operating objectives. He has been DPR, Pepsi-Cola Co.; AGM-PR, Texaco Inc.; VP-PR, Olin Corp.; VP-PR, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co.; director of communications, U.S. Department of the Interior, and deputy assistant press secretary, The White House. mailto:bobkelly@TNI.net. Visit: http://www.prcommentary.com

Lead with Love:How Mothers Can Use Their Greatest Strength to Manage Around Their Technical Weakness

My wife and I have been working on a video scrapbook for our son now for about a year. The project originally started out as a movie of all of our video clips but it was immediately apparent that this scope was far too great. As time went by and as more and more full DV tapes stacked up, we narrowed the scope to be just the first six months of his life instead.

But even this seemed to be a Herculean task. Where were we going to find the time to go through all of our tapes and catalog clips into their subjects and time indexes? Add this to the time it takes to transfer the footage to the PC, assimilate the clips in order, narrate specific clips, add music, transitions, titles, make a DVD menu and burn it to DVD and you can see that the time costs seem to far outweigh the return.

But this value assessment is only half the story because I saw the determined look in my wife's eyes as she sat at the PC the other night putting the movie together after almost six months of not even touching it.

She wasn't happy about getting back to the project once she opened it up and got going because half the files weren't there anymore. You see, I am anal-retentive about my computer files and about two weeks ago I went through a massive reorganization of my digital photographs. Oops, I forgot that we had about 40 pictures in the video scrapbook and moving them around meant big gaping holes in the movie. It took about an hour of her to repair the damage.

But she did it. And she had fun while doing it.

She went at it for about two more hours after that and she felt completely accomplished after it was over. Now, I find myself remembering back when we made our first movie-a memento of when our two little nieces visited us in Cincinnati. I followed my wife and those little girls around for two days through the zoo, the Cincinnati Museum Center, and our little apartment. We had enough footage by the end of the weekend to put together an hour long video.

I went out and bought a computer movie program and we began working on it right away. She was so uncoordinated with it at first and back then I didn't have much patience explaining programs to people. But we braved our way through it and ended up with a very good film which we were able to transfer to a VHS tape and give it to our nieces as a gift.

But the woman who sat at the computer the other night for three hours was not the same person who cursed the mouse because it wouldn't take her where she wanted to go three years ago. This woman was confident with her computer skills and with the program (although it is not the same program we started out with-they are all essentially the same). She was making production decisions on the fly, not even consulting me anymore about how to do it. She was trimming video clips, adding transitions and titles and she was having fun while doing it.

It just goes to show you that if you truly love what you're doing then the skills and experience will come with time. We started out just wanting to celebrate and share our child with our loved ones and this desire developed into an art form. The computer is our canvas and while we can't pin a video to the fridge, we can make scrapbook pages based on themes from our move and put those on the fridge.

Video Scrapbooking has become a method of communication for us; it allows us to talk about the things that mean the most to us-our family. In fact, we were communicating so well the other night that I got hit up to have another child-soon was the key word in that conversation. Perhaps we had better lay off the scrapbooking for a while and just teach others how to do it. Whew!

Joshua Minton is a father and husband as well as a writer. He currently serves as President and founding partner of Family Bliss Enterprises, Inc. but his background is in the health insurance industry where he has spent the last two years serving as Executive Business Analyst for the Executive Director of the nation's largest health insurer. Josh has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Creative Writing from Bowling Green State University. He has published two novels, a book of poems and several short stories. He has won awards for his poetry and fiction, including the BGSU Alumni Book Award and was included in the 1999 edition of Who's Who in College America. Josh currently serves as President of Family Bliss Enterprise, Inc. and is webmaster and content editor of JOSHUAMINTON.COM where you can view samples of his essays, poetry, fiction and much more.

Are Cellular Phones Just a Fashion Accessory?

Cellular phones are used by millions of people in the United States and around the world. They are such a great device! With a cell phone, you can talk to anyone on the planet from just about anywhere! These days, cell phones provide an incredible array of functions.

One of the most interesting things about a cell phone is that it is actually an extremely sophisticated radio. Cellular phones are more popular in European and Asian countries than they are in the United States -- more than ninety percent of Europeans or Asians own a cell phone, compared to about fifty percent of Americans.

Cellular phones have different plans to use. If you are an infrequent user of cell phones select a low usage plan. In many areas, wireless phone plans are quiet affordable. The competition among the many cellular companies has been a tremendous benefit to the consumer, since it has brought the per-minute costs down. Only get the features you need with your wireless phone plan. Cellular phones and mobile phones are more of a novelty for the younger generation.

Cellular phones provide a wide range of services for security or trouble situations. Since it works in nearly any area you can be reached, you can also call for assistance if needed for any medical or mechanical problem. Prepaid cell phones and prepaid cellular phones are also great options. Cellular service has become so popular mainly because of the reduction in price for airtime.

About The Author

Mike Yeager Publisher

http://www.a1-cell-phones-4u.com/, mjy610@hotmail.com

Loan Officer Marketing - The Power of Positioning

How do you build a marketing strategy that can have real estate agents hunting for your services? Realtors? are bombarded everyday with a continuous stream of marketing messages from loan officers. They cope with this information-overload by ignoring most of them. So how do you stand out in an over-communicated environment? You'll change the dynamics of your marketing when you understand the importance of positioning. Positioning is a communication tool to reach agents in a crowded marketplace.

Positioning means, you position your services in the prospect's mind

A position is a place, a place in the mind of the prospect ? a perceptual location. When you market your services, you're competing for this space. If your position is similar in nature to your competitor's, you're competing in an overcrowded place in the prospect's mind.

Take a moment and consider your current position. Look at your communication pieces, which is commonly how agents position your services in their mind, if it's their primary exposure to your business. Your website, flyers, postcards, newsletters, brochures, advertisements, and business card are often the first communication an agent comes across regarding your services. What position are you communicating?

Not sure? Visit your competitor's website, if you switched your company logo with their company logo, how much difference would there actually be in the content or message? For most mortgage companies the answer is simple?very little.

Positioning means, a simple and singular message

To improve your position, you need to narrow your focus. A position that seeks to be everything to everyone will end up being nothing to everyone. For example, does your messages appeal with the promises' of loans closing on time, rendering superior service, high approval rates, etc.? This position doesn't work. First, it's competing with too many others; secondly, it isn't simple and doesn't focus on a single thing.

Look at examples in other service industries to understand the power of a narrow focus. When Federal Express began, they focused on a single position, a position that hadn't been dominated by other shippers yet. They communicated a single position through every medium ? "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight." This intense focus helped them build a brand identity that associated them with being the best at overnight shipping. And when people had packages that had to be delivered overnight and they weren't going to risk their decision - they chose Federal Express.

Southwest Airlines is another example. Their position of the "low-fare, no frills airline," helped them dominate and achieve prosperity in one of the toughest and most competitive service industries. They went as far as linking the image of peanuts to their brand identity to associate with the position of low cost. This connected successfully with budget conscious travelers.

Positioning means, setting yourself apart from competitors

Since most loan officers have positioned themselves identical, realtors see them as all the same. Mortgage services are indistinguishable. So how do you separate yourself?

The more similar the mortgage services, the more important the details. When realtors have to select a loan officer, they look for differences upon which to base their decision. This means the more identical mortgage services are, the more important each difference becomes. For you to separate yourself, accentuate the trivial.

For years, Domino's never stressed quality, price or value. Instead they relentlessly promoted, "Delivered in 30 minutes, or it's on us." Over the time of this campaign, they owned the position of speed. Consumers' perceived Domino's as fast and reliable.

Find a niche that is unoccupied in the realtor's mind and fill it first. There are numerous opportunities to specialize your services and occupy niches.

You can position around unique products:

Jumbo Loan expert
HUD expert
Interest Only Specialist

You can position around trivial details of processes:

Loans closed 5 days ahead of COE
Loan approvals within an hour or less
Daily file update alerts for realtors

You can position around gender, ethnicity, or geography:

Specialized in exclusively serving single professionals
Specialized in exclusively serving the Hispanic community
Specialized in exclusively serving Town & Country Ranch

Positioning is your competitive strategy for getting noticed. It is an outward expression of how you want to be perceived. It allows you to create a place for your services in an Agent's mind, where the competition isn't.

Jeff Nelson helps mortgage companies and individual loan officers increase loan originations by developing customized relationship-building strategies that secure quality relationships with real estate agents. Click here to get a free copy of the Marketing Planning Guide, a 20-page workbook designed to help you outline a strategy to becoming an Agent Magnet.

Visit us at http://www.loan-officer-marketing.com