Exit Signs Buyer Tips
Electrically powered exit signs use either incandescent bulbs, compact fluorescent lamps (CFL) or light-emitting diode (LED) arrays as light sources. Most LED and some CFL EXIT SIGNS meet this Recommendation. Due to their low power draw, LED Exit Sign can be purchased with built-in back-up power supplies (i.e., batteries). With an estimated service life of 10 years or more, LEDs require significantly fewer lamp replacements than exit signs equipped with either incandescents or CFLs.
Non-electrically powered photo-luminescent (PL) exit signs utilize a glow-in-the-dark material to provide illumination. While PL exit signs do not require a direct connection to a source of electrical power to operate, they must be charged by another light source in order to function properly. Therefore, PL exit signs are not suitable for all applications. In locations with proper charging sources, PL exit signs can have an unlimited service life.
To ensure reliability, ENERGY STAR® requires that manufacturers replace defective parts for at least five years from date of purchase and that labled products be UL 924 listed. Be sure to check state or local codes before selecting exit signs.
Exit signs that utilize incandescent light bulbs should not be purchased by federal agencies. In federal buildings where they are still in use, facility managers should replace them immediately. In some locations, it may even be cost effective to replace exit signs that use CFLs with those that use LEDs or PLs
Retrofits
Retrofitting existing exit signs may be more economical than replacing them, but proper installation is vital to ensuring adequate visibility. The ENERGY STAR® program does not cover retrofit kits.
Carpet Cleaners Can Help You Sell Your Home
Aesthetics is the most important thing when a potential buyer is looking at your home to purchase and the cost of carpet is a major exspense to replace and can cause that potential buyer to walk away from your home.
The condition of your carpet tells the potential buyer how the house was treated and will weigh heavy on their minds as they decide if they are still interested in your house.
Pet odors can cause someone to plain out walk out and lose interest instantly, carpets can keep pet odors and other foul odors such a cigarette smoke and cooking odors.
A carpet cleaning company can help to get rid of these odors and should be completed prior to putting your home on the real estate market.
A quality carpet cleaner can also make your carpet look and feel years younger depending on its current condition which will also help sell the home by lifting the nap of the carpet and giving it a fresh look and feel.
Professional carpet cleaning can also revitalize the look of high traffic areas on your carpet.
Floors, cabinets , bath and kitchen are some of the most looked at factors when a potential buyer looks at a new home. Flooring is the most visible and massive of these and proper care and attention should be used to make sure that they are up to par before you let buyers see your home.
With the potential to have to spend an additional 10 to 20 thousand on carpet replacement your actions before they show up could mean the difference between making the sale at all, or getting the price you wanted for your home.
Most carpet cleaning companies also do upholstery cleaning and I would recommend that you use this service also so that the upholstery does not have any odors and also has a well kept look and feel.
A word of caution, be sure that if you allow steam cleaning of your carpet that they do a good job extraction the water after the job is completed. Your carpet should be dry in less than 8 hours at the longest. Leaving too much moisture in your carpet can cause mold and other health and odor problems. Most companies have advance extraction equipment and this will not be a problem as most carpet cleaning companies also do water damage restoration and are well aware of the problems with leaving carpet and fabrics wet or damp
The price is small compared to what you stand to lose by not taking the steps you need to to make sure that you do not have to tell the story about the one that got away. Use some common sense and spend a little now to save loads later.
Jim Corkern is a writer and respected contributor to the New York Carpet Cleaning Industry visit his sites for more information
http://www.rugmasterclean.com and http://www.sherrmikeusa.com/
In A Career Bind? Rethink Your Future With A Powerful New Approach!
Sometimes we get in a career bind when sobering needs for independence, financial security and family limit our horizon and force us to make choices which inevitably narrow our sights. We start to think vertically.
Most of the time we think of our career VERTICALLY. We perceive our job search as moving up (or down) the same ladder. But this can put us in a serious career bind.
For example, Hal graduated from college with a Liberal Arts degree. His sense of independence and the need to make money required him to find a job. His choice of job was further limited by other important priorities — getting married and raising a family.
Hal went to work for a local steel fabrication firm. His job skills became identified exclusively with the steel industry, its procedures, requirement and contacts. This identification, of course, ran deep in Hal’s own mind. Consequently, he unwittingly excluded all other job opportunities. He saw no need for career diversification. He became a specialist.
It all worked well together for Hal. He was a hard worker who gradually moved up the line and eventually found himself a well-paid senior manager.
Until the steel industry collapsed. Hal was suddenly left without long-term resources and the desperate need to find another job.
Now, Hal eventually found another job. But it was for a lot less money. He was forced to look in an industry where he had little knowledge and no experience. It didn’t have to be that way.
If Hal had invested in exploring career diversity early on . . . if he had started out by thinking horizontally . . . he would be prepared for the 21st Century job marketplace where he could be ready to put his talents to work in a variety of job opportunities.
Thinking horizontally means learning how to become a career generalist. It means thinking of ourselves as multi-careered. The 21st Century is changing how we must look at ourselves. If we can’t adapt we’re putting ourselves into a career bind. where we’re destined to settle for jobs that offer no future career or financial growth.
You see, the job search needs and expectations of both employers and employees are changing. It’s time to think HORIZONTALLY! It’s time to diversify our outlook and re-arrange our career profile to match the needs of the current job market.
The talents and skills we’ve grown up with aren’t the product of vertical thinking. They reflect, instead, ideas, preferences and pleasures we have derived from a vast horizon of family, educational and personal experiences.
This is where we can look to broaden our understanding of the diversity of our talents and experiences. It’s the way out of a limiting career bind. It’s time for you to open the door a future where you can realistically look for jobs that take you well beyond the limitations of a vertical job search.
Paul Bowley manages EEI, the world-class pioneer in alternative job search techniques and innovative e-business strategies . . . since 1985. Check out THE WORLD’S FASTEST JOB SEARCH PLAN! And grab our stunning FREE REPORT! http://www.fastest-job-search.com
Surefire Email Marketing Strategy
If you’ve been selling real estate for a while you know that the secret to success is generating leads, and lots of them. Equally important is the ability to replenish them.
Why not simply advertise for them?
For one thing many agents assume that they must have listings to advertise, but that’s the farthest thing from the truth. In fact, it’s as easy to generate prospects with the listings of other agents as it is your own.
Now, I assure you that I didn’t just suffer a bump on the head, but think about it for a second. Do you think agents in your office would be upset with you for advertising their listings? Probably not. In fact, they may be downright ecstatic about it, because they know that the more exposure their listings get the more successful they’ll be selling them.
And most importantly why would they be upset about you spending your money to make them money – you, too of course.
So, they probably won’t care one teeny tiny bit, but to be on the safe side you should ask before doing it.
Email Marketing for Leads
There are many aspects of email marketing that are appealing, including but not limited to it being a relatively inexpensive way to advertise. Also, you can have your marketing messages broadcast 24/7 – almost completely automated; and in some instances once you develop one campaign you can duplicate it for little to no additional expenses over and over again.
Some agents use special reports, while others use electronic newsletters as the foundation of their email marketing campaigns, but have gone low maintenance by using prewritten content. Many agents simply don’t have the time or interest to write their own materials, so they simply buy prewritten content and pick and choose what they want to send to their readers.
If you want some, too you can go to Google and type in “real estate agent marketing reports” or some variation of that.
Advertising and Email Marketing – A Dynamic Combo
The key element of email marketing is to have people request information in exchange for their email address and other contact information and get folk offering up their contact information.
For example, you could advertise the following. “3 Bedroom House – Best Value In West End Subdivision. Won’t Last Long. Email yourname (you) at your name email address for full details.”
Do you think people might email you for additional information. And of course you’re not limited to advertising in a newspaper. You could advertise on flyers and place them on windshields of automobiles parked at the malls and shopping centers in your area.
Another example of this email marketing strategy is to advertise to gather the names and email addresses of renters in your community who might be interested in buying their first home. You could have an ongoing ad that reads something like…”Own a home for the same as rent. Email your name at your name email address for a confidential consultation.”
Again, you should not limit your advertising to just newspapers. Alternatively, you can post flyers in laundromats and simply lying around where people gather; in business offices, stores, college campuses, movie theaters, etc.
Now the point in both of these examples is to build your mailing list, not to make sales. While that might not be exactly what you want to hear you should understand that not many folk are compulsive buyers when it comes to purchasing real estate. It’s much too big of an investment for that. Instead, they typically labor over the process for months, sometimes years.
So, it’s unrealistic to think that you can change that about them and have them buy a home from you just because you want them to…espcially if you just met them. Forget about it already.
However, it is reasonable to expect that if you cultivate a relationship with them that you can be the agent they work with when they are ready to buy That’s the power of advertising for email marketing leads.
So, once you have names and email addresses you are ready to take the next step, which is converting them into paying customers. In fact, you’ll be able to provide useful information and follow-up for as long as it takes – and much of it with a precision like efficiency.
Who knows, pretty soon you could be in the enviable position of having folk on your list buying and selling through you, one by one, and all because you recognized the basic principal of selling – which is building relationships.
Visit Lanard Perry at http://www.real-estate-marketing-talk.com for more business building tips, tools and strategies.
Clone Golf Clubs – Are They Worth It?
Let’s face it, golf can be a pretty costly hobby to get into. And whilst no-one wants to pay any more than they need to, golfers worldwide want to ensure that the tools they use are going to enable them to play to their full potential, thus maximizing their enjoyment of the game, not to mention success.
This is where clone golf clubs have found a significant part of the golf club market.
With the quality and performance meeting the exacting standards of their branded cousins these days, there is no reason to feel concerned that your value-conscious purchase will be anything like substandard. Value, in your golf club purchase, does not mean you have to compromise at all these days.
Certainly, clone golf clubs are now manufactured to the same high standards as the better known brands, with great care being taken from design, through materials sourcing to manufacture and delivery.
From a technological point of view, just as much energy is expended as you would expect for the more well known brands. Yet clone golf clubs are followers of design and not innovators as such. The leading brands set the standards and the clone brand manufacturers follow.
It’s important to recognize that your financial outlay, even though it might be lighter on your pocket, will be still buying an excellent product. It’s just that costs are typically between 50-75% lower than the corresponding brands. Since most manufacturers used shafts and grips from the same sources, it’s down to the club head where the differences are seen.
Remember too, that manufacturers of clone golf clubs have to be very careful to observe patent and copyright laws, so there will be differences.
Legitimate clone golf club manufacturers produce clubs which have similar design elements to branded clubs, but are considered “distinct and different” enough, without breaching relevant registered patents.
In fact, clone golf club manufacturers work closely with the leading brands to ensure that they fight off the worse threat to their industry, that of counterfeit goods, illegally branded and passed off as originals – an increasing problem in many industries.
So, why would you ever buy a well-known brand, if on value and performance terms clone golf clubs are as good as they seem? Here are a few reasons:-
1. You get leading-edge technology, design and materials innovation.
2. You might just feel that you need to have a set of well-known clubs in your bag for reason other than performance, such as status when golfing with your company president.
3. It might just be that some players get extra confidence by spending all that cash on a branded product, in the belief that they will play better using these clubs.
Unlikely, but true!
Enough reason for you? To pay double or more for a quality of club that is second to none and with a posh and well-known brand name? Maybe – it is, of course, up to you.
In truth, as long as you have a reasonable set of clubs, it’s much more likely to be the technique you use, rather than something that costs twice the price, that makes the difference. Clone golf clubs will, without question save you money, without any compromise on quality.
So, if you are considering your next set of clubs right now, but can’t really justify the most well known, then don’t feel that you will be less well served if your purchase is for a brand new set of clone golf clubs, rather than something with a name you might see more on your TV screen.
(c) 2007 “Choosing Great Golf Clubs”. You want some new clubs, yet you don’t know how to choose. Well, there’s all the information you need at Martin Haworth’s golf website, http://choosinggreatgolfclubs.com/clone-golf-clubs-improve-the-game.