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Shop Online And Save Money With our days having fewer hours than we need, online shopping has become a way of life and a time saver. Now you can stay at home, sit in front of the fire, poolside or near your favorite window, enjoying a good cup of coffee or your favorite beverage, and shop till you drop. You can take as much time and compare prices and quality without having tired legs and sore feet.

As gas prices escalate you can use your gas savings money for selecting an extra item or two that capture your fancy. Online shopping will save you time in your busy day. You don't have to rush to the store for that gift you forgot about, hassle with the kids that want to be in the toy department and certainly not with you in the clothes, jewelry and other departments.

We know a woman whose husband thinks it is Christmas all year round! She shops online and gets packages delivered to her door about four times a week. He comes home from work and has a ball opening the packages. For him, it's like Christmas 52 weeks a year!

Not only can you shop online, but you can fine printable grocery coupons that are not available anywhere else but online. Another positive to online shopping is online coupons which the companies display on many shopping sites. These coupons are discounts given to you for shopping at their online stores.

These are just some of the benefits of online shopping. You can read information and tips about online shopping published by the US Federal Trade Commission at http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/online/cybrsmrt.htm and the Better Business Bureau at http://www.bbbonline.org/OnlineShopTips/ . Enjoy online Shopping!
About the Author
Eric Madsen is the webmaster at http://www.glamorousshopper.com
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Earn Money Doing Mystery Shopping - Men Wanted Copyright 2006 Elaine Currie

The art of shopping is something of a mystery to most men. Perhaps, therefore, it is not so surprising that few men realise there is an opportunity for them to earn money working from home doing mystery shopping. There are probably not many men who have even thought about the existence of mystery shoppers. In fact, it would be unusual for a man to spend any time at all thinking about shopping in a positive way.

Mystery shopping (sometimes called secret shopping) is an easy way to earn money: it is very simple to do, you need no previous experience, no special knowledge and no expensive equipment. Mystery shopping jobs can be done as part-time employment in hours you choose to fit in with your current schedule. Mystery shopping companies employ men and women of all ages and backgrounds as mystery shoppers. In fact, just about adult who can manage to go shopping could become a mystery shopper, but most mystery shoppers are women.

Men are not genetically designed to be great recreational shoppers: they find it impossible to grasp the concept of shopping as a form of entertainment and tend only to go shopping when they have a particular purchase in mind. For example, when I tell my husband that I have arranged to go on a shopping trip with my daughter, he will ask me what we want to buy. What sort of a question is that? We can't possibly know what we want to buy until we see what the shops have to offer. Research shows that this is a typical male reaction to shopping. Men have this odd way of deciding they want something and then going to the shops to make the purchase. Strangely, they never come back with anything over and above the item they went out to buy and, if the item is not available, a man will even return from a shopping trip empty handed.

Whether they enjoy it or not men do go shopping. If you look around you will notice plenty of men in supermarkets. Some will just be dutiful husbands reluctantly accompanying their wives but there will be numerous other men who are solitary shoppers actually shopping in their own right. Even if their shopping basket reaches the checkout containing nothing but a six pack of beer and a cd, it's still shopping.

Look around the mall and you'll see plenty of men. Some of these will be driven by the need to buy a gift for a wife or girlfriend but there will be plenty of men out shopping for things they actually want for themselves. Men might rely on female relatives to keep them supplied with socks and underwear but it's a different story when new footwear or outerwear or sports equipment are needed.

Most men exist in a state of denial when it comes to the significance of shopping. If a man and a woman each go shopping on a particular day and they are later asked what they did that day, the woman will reply "shopping" and the man will say "nothing". However, it is this male reluctance to throw body and soul into shopping that will be a great advantage if a man decides to try a career in mystery shopping. A man sent to purchase one specific item at a particular place will be able to do exactly that. A man will not be in any danger of becoming sidetracked so that the mystery shopping assignment takes over the whole day or ends up costing him money because of an attack of impulse purchasing.

The reason mystery shopping companies exist is that companies such as retail chains, restaurants, travel companies, hotels etc need to be able to obtain impartial feedback on their employees and services. Mystery shoppers are employed to provide feedback on such things as the behaviour of members of staff, the quality of customer service and the cleanliness standards of the premises. There is no reason whatsoever for mystery shopping to be restricted to women only and some assignments are only suitable for male secret shoppers.

Apart from general retail mystery shopping assignments that are suitable for either gender, there are also male only areas that require inspection. Companies will employ mystery shoppers to report on such things as toilet facilities, men's fitting rooms in shops, men's changing rooms at gyms etc. Needless to say, a woman secret shopper would not be much of a secret in these surroundings.

When the subject of mystery shopping is considered, people normally thing of women buying dresses or shopping for food in supermarkets but there is a lot more to mystery shopping than this. Mystery shopping companies will also pay you to do things such as eat at a restaurant, have a drink at a bar, visit a cinema or spend a night in a hotel. If you are really lucky, you might be sent on an expenses paid vacation as a mystery shopping assignment.

The companies employing the services of the mystery shopping company need to hear the opinions of both men and women. If you forget actual shops for a moment and consider the people who use restaurants, bars, cinemas, bowling alleys, skating rinks, hotels, theatres, taxi companies, gyms etc, it will be obvious that a large percentage of customers are men. The owners of these establishments need to discover whether men are satisfied with their staff and services, they can't afford to ignore the needs of half their customers.

An assignment to visit a bar, sample a beer, purchase a snack and check out the men's cloakroom is not most women's idea of a great shopping trip but getting paid to carry out such an assignment will sound like a good deal to many men. Perhaps it's just the name mystery "shopping" that puts men off and the companies need to find a suitable alternative title to attract more men into this work.

About the author:

Elaine Currie has a Work At Home Directory at her Plug-In Profit Site to help everyone who wants to work at home: http://www.huntingvenus.com She also has reviews of Online Paid Survey Programmes, Mystery Shopping Companies and Paid Autosurf Sites
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Translation and Your International E-Commerce Strategy Most businesses realize that they are simply a click away from any corner of the globe. Well, actually two if you include the Yahoo! search a potential customer does to access your shopping cart. What most businesses, unfortunately, do not realize though, is that their shopping cart is struggling to make it to the checkout counter. Bill Dunlap, managing director of Global Reach, Inc. notes that "for every $2 million a site is doing in domestic sales, they're leaving another $1 million on the table in international sales if they're not making themselves easily available."

To paraphrase the above, let me draw on a quote from Willy Brandt. The former West German chancellor is reported to have once said: "If I'm selling to you, I speak your language. If I'm buying, dann muessen Sie Deutsch sprechen (then you must
speak German)."

In economics this is referred to as opportunity cost -the cost of something in terms of an opportunity foregone. The opportunity cost of not speaking "German" is a whopping 50%! This simple truth is supported by statistics.

Donald A. DePalma reported in a study conducted for Forrester Research that "Visitors linger twice as long as they do at English-only URLs; business buyers are three times more likely to buy if addressed in their own language; and customer service costs drop when instructions are displayed in the user�s language." (Donald A. DePalma, Strategies for Global Sites, 1998).

Another Forrester Research report, quoted in an article titled "Reasons for Success in International E-Commerce" (webpronews.com) provides statistics that indicate "over 55% of the online world accesses the Internet from countries where English is not the native language."

The message is loud and clear: Do not assume that there is no reason to translate your marketing materials or that English is used in other countries! To be sure, English is the lingua franca of the world, and many people do have the ability to read English. But, faced with a choice, would you pull out your wallet for a company that caters to your needs in your non-native language, or your native language?

If translation is not part of your international e-commerce strategy, then you may be leaving money on the table!

And, if you see the truth in this message, you have a couple of options available: you can develop an in-house translation capability, or you can commission a professional translation service to translate your marketing materials. Developing an in-house translation capability is prohibitively expensive, not to mention that it is a long term effort. An appropriate analogy to illustrate this point is that of an IT department.

So, unless you have deep pockets, buying translation is the way to go.

Buying translation, however, can be overwhelming with all the technical jargon, and frustrating with all the endless marketing hype and "mission statements" that are thrown at you. Fact is, the basics of purchasing translation are easy. Read on.

Your starting point should be the clarification of your translation project requirements. Consider:

• Whether your marketing materials are for internal consumption (including partners) or external consumption?
• Whether cost is more important or quality is more important?
  
• What is the time frame for your project?
• What are your ongoing (long-term) professional translation service needs?

By clarifying project requirements, you are establishing the framework to answer the 2 most important questions that will determine the success of your translation project. Namely, what is the right type of translation, and what is the right professional translation service for your translation project?

There are two types of translation:

1. Machine translation (MT)
2. Human translation

In machine translation, a human translator supports the machine. In other words, a computer program translates the source text (i.e. the "from" language), with the resultant target text (i.e. the "to" language) then being edited by a qualified human translator, if it is edited at all. Machine translation (MT) is employed for "gisting" or, to get the general meaning (gist) of a document which can be useful when marketing material is only for internal consumption.

Is machine translation right for your marketing materials?

"Free online translations, is, well...free-the cost is right, but can you live with the quality?" is a short, informative works on machine translation (MT). Read it before continuing. Consider this recent headline from the Yahoo! Odd News section (2005-07-05)-"The Wurst museum in the world?" You guessed it-it is not a bad museum but one dedicated to...German sausages! If your marketing materials are rich and descriptive, and for external consumption, then machine translation (MT) is not an option.

Commission a professional translation service, and put human translators to work on your marketing materials.

Selecting the right professional translation service can be just as frustrating as selecting the right type of translation for your project. Do you go with a professional translation service provided by a translation company, a translation agency or a free-lance translator?

Review the requirements of your translation project. Now ask yourself "What is the right professional translation service?"

"Free Online Translations Guide-Professional Translation Service"
provides a check list that is helpful in determining what translation service should be entrusted with your marketing materials. While the list is not exhaustive, it will guarantee that you get the most value for your investment in translation in terms of cost and quality.

Establishing a criteria list provided the basis for determining what the right type of translation, and what the right professional translation service, is for your translation project. Now, before you hit the search engines, guarantee the success of your translation project by taking a few more minutes to truly prepare (peace of mind; priceless!). Read "Buying Online Translations Tips and Techniques."

And that is it-it is that simple! Translating marketing materials will ensure that your international e-commerce strategy speaks "German," will ensure that your shopping cart makes it to the checkout counter, and will ensure that no money is left on the table.

Copyright � 2005 Saeculii, LLC. All rights reserved.
Reproduction of this article is permitted with inclusion of the "About the Author" reference as is (including text links, http://www.saeculii.com/), and this copyright information. Articles may not be altered without written permission from Saeculii, LLC.

About the Author
Ivan Vandermerwe is CEO of Saeculii, LLC., the owner of Saeculii Professional Translation Service. Visit Saeculii Professional Translation Servicefor the latest translation articles and news.
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Free Gift Registry SmallWishes.com
Introducing�. Smallwishes.com

Smallwishes.com is a completely free online gift registry site with over 10,000 products to choose from. With stores including Babies R Us, Toys R Us, Target, Bombay, Cooking.com, Sony.com� you are sure to pick out the perfect gift.

We realize how hard it is to go out shopping for someone�s birthday or wedding or another holiday not knowing what to get them. We know all the time that is involved in doing that process. You have to find free time during the week, fight traffic on your way to the store, try to find something they like, stand in line, drive all the way back home only to hope that they actually like the gift that you got them. Wouldn�t it just be easier if they sent you an email of things that they liked, go to smallwishes.com, pick out a gift they have on the list, buy it, and have it delivered to your door in a couple of days? I thought so.

We live in a rushed society with hardly any time for ourselves any more. Why not make it easier on your friends and family and let them know what you would really like and help them save time in the process? You know, even if you said you wanted nothing for your birthday, they are going to get you something anyway so it might as well be something that you want, right?

I invite you to check out smallwishes.com and see for yourself. If you are not interested, maybe someone else you know would be.


Joe Piagentini

http://www.smallwishes.com

email@smallwishes.com




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Online Or Offline, Price Comparison Tools Help Consumers Shop Smart While comparison shopping is nothing new, the way shoppers conduct their research is. Years ago, shoppers combed through retail shelves in pursuit of the perfect deal, an effort that took time, effort and gas. Today, the web fills the gap between time and space with an array of comparison shopping sites that offer customer reviews, large selections and access to prices from well-known stores.

According to ComScore, of the 167 million Americans online in February, almost 53 million of them visited at least one of the top comparison-shopping sites. And, while many of those consumers bought online, many others used the information to purchase the desired product in a retail shop as well. Competition is indeed fierce in cyberspace and in the store; but, the good news is it is consumers who are getting the great end of the deal.

Among the list of popular sites that allow visitors to contrast and compare are Yahoo Shopping, Shopzilla, Froogle and NexTag. In addition, there are at least another ten price comparison sites that boast the best tools and technology to help consumers make smarter choices. Each has distinct features, advantages and, unfortunately, disadvantages. Still, the popularity of such sites and technology means that entrepreneurs and dot-coms will continue to devise ways for consumers to research and buy goods, ensuring that competition among online and offline retailers will remain stiff.

In fact, the top price comparison sites are already getting some tough opposition from companies that take advantage of the other guys� shortcomings. Frucall, which according to the company spokesperson was inspired by frugal shoppers everywhere, for example, is one of the newest services targeted to value-minded shoppers and boasts a quick and convenient way for bargain-hunters to get the best deal, even without the use of a computer.

Launched in March as the first price-comparison mobile service, Frucall allows shoppers to compare retail store prices with prices for the same products on Amazon.com, directly from their cell phone. It�s a simple solution that sidelines many sites that offer price comparison results to be sent via text message to a consumer�s cell phone but fail to offer immediate access to price comparisons when the shopper sees a product he or she didn�t research ahead of time. Even better, is that consumers can actually buy the product directly from their mobile phone, assuming they have registered and have a valid credit card in their profile.

Touted as the easiest and quickest way to price compare, Frucall enables shoppers in the midst of surveying retail aisles to call a toll-free number (888-FRU-SHOP) and input the product�s UPC or ISBN number. Within a few seconds, the caller gets a confirmation of the product name and the price of the item as listed online. Currently, the service compares prices for products from a variety of categories including automotive supplies, books, electronics, jewelry, movies, music, tools and pet supplies. In the future, Frucall says they will generate best price information through Internet-wide e-commerce searches.

Seems the online price comparison wars will rage on.

About the Author :

Click here for more in-depth information about online comparison shopping products and services or visit the comparison shopping blog to post your comments and suggesstions. mailto:michael.brito@comcast.net Source: www.isnare.com
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Thanksgiving, Don't Fence Me Out

Thanksgiving is just around the corner and we all know what that means. We will get together with family members and eat way too much. If you are just a little nostalgic, and many baby boomers are, you will follow with tradition and try to make this year just like last year. I do not know what it is within us that keeps us trying to keep each and every holiday just like it was the year before. Oh! Maybe that is why we call it a tradition.

For the past thirty years my family has been meeting at my sisters' house and celebrating Thanksgiving. Growing up there were the five of us, a rather large family by modern standards. When we were young it was so much fun. All five of us would get together and stay at my sisters' house for Thanksgiving. She lives about a two hour drive from the rest of us, except for Charlie who has at least a three hour drive. My Mom has been divorced from my Dad for over 25 years so naturally she also has been a big part of the tradition at Thanksgiving.

I do not know about your family but mine is real close. The five of us were born between 1952 and 1957. If that seems a bit extreme, do not be quite so concerned because my Mom had twins in 1952. That makes me and my twin brother the oldest. My three sisters followed in three of the following four years.

You can imagine the excitement of getting together as a bunch of newly married brothers and sisters. Believe me when I tell you that the brother and sister -in laws fit in amazingly well. They are just like brothers and sisters to me. To add to our joy, and chaos, each of us were beginning to have our own families.

Well we could not wait for the Thanksgiving week-end. We generally arrived at Brendas' house as soon as hour work schedule would permit us. The men could not wait to show off their athletic ability. We played basketball, pitched horseshoes, tossed the football around, and usually had plenty of energy after dark to get into a great game that I call... brother-in-law poker.

Now the girls at these early marathon Thanksgivings usually had their hands full preparing the meals and catching up on all the latest gossip. Keep in mind that this is just my male version of what they did. In actuality I am probably not the most reliable person to evaluate their behavior. I do know that they never missed shopping on the busiest shopping day of the year on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Somehow or another it seemed like each year we would try to top the year before. That was not hard to do while we were all in our twenties and thirties. We continued every Thanksgiving to exhibit our prowess and competitive nature in any and all forms of competition. Even the women seemed to find sales and stores that kept them busy longer and longer each Thanksgiving.

The truth is though, we built a fence. We painted that fence each and every year with words like pride, selfishness, show off, vanity, and greed. We still visit each and every year at my sister Brendas' house. The fence, it is still there. We are so much more mature now than we use to be. Now we take time to visit with each other. We pray for each other and truly care for what the other person has to say. We would never think of tearing down that fence. We now paint our fence with love, patience, compassion, humbleness, light, and truth.

You guessed it... the baby boomers are all in our fifties now. Thanksgiving is just as important to us today as it ever was. We continue to love each other like we always have, we're just a little better at it now than we used to be.

You see fences are like everything else in life. They can be good or bad. They can keep you out or keep you in. Our fence is colored with a life time of tradition that we just call....Thanksgiving.

Bob Roach Father of one and middle school teacher of literally thousands over the past thirty years. If you are looking for new ways to decorate for Thanksgiving go to:http://www.DecorateYourFence.com

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Malaysia: The Pleasant Asian Dragon

A rapidly growing economy and the so called Asian Dragon, Malaysia is located in the south-east Asia. Two parts form the entire region of this country. The very first one is Peninsular Malaysia which borders Thailand in North and Singapore in south. The second part is East Malaysia which features the states of Sarawak and Sabah that share the Island of Borneo with Indonesia. This country is popular as one of the most happening, pleasant and hassle-free destination in the world.

Diversified societies pervade throughout the region of Malaysia. Malay, Chinese and Indians constitute the social establishments. This country is an interesting fusion of vibrant and interesting culture and customs because of the presence of these diverse societies. You will find Chinese mostly in trade and Malays in government. As for visiting destinations in Malaysia, the Peninsular part of the country is more popular amongst the tourists. Divided into the East Coast and West Coast, by the Titiwangsa mountain range, both the regions have charming attractions. However west coast is more developed whereas East coast has a rustic charm.

Kuala Lumpur is the capital of the country and located on the west coast. It proves to be an ideal point to start the tour. It is a bustling city with lots of activities, shopping arcades and pleasant surprises. You can have a relaxing period in Cameron Highlands away from the hustle and bustle of the city. This place has maintained the charming and cool character of it since its inception. Many other islands and historical places like Langkawi Island, Melaka and Penang have excellent features to stun you. Visitors with adventurous attitude can turn towards the Sarawak or Sabah region which offers great wildlife adventures. As for staying in any part of Malaysia, you do not need to worry about this aspect at all. Malaysian Hotels have all the facilities to make your stay quite comfortable.

Niraj Singh is working as Sr. SEO in Binary Semantics Ltd. Gurgaon, India. He has 5+ yrs. of experience in the field of Search Engine Optimisation. His expertise is in the travel domain make him specialist in the field of Websites related to Travels.

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