Link building
A web directory is a internet web page consisting of categorized
links to other web pages. They specialize in linking to other
web sites and categorizing those links. Web directories often
allow site owners to submit their site for inclusion. One such
web directory is http://directory.google.com/. Some sites may
offer up to 30,000 different categories. Links provided may be
pure HTML- no CGI or PHP. SEO (search engine optimization),
friendly links are considered better then other links and help
you increase the popularity of your page, in terms of the page
rank. The most critical factor effecting the success or failure
of a site is its link building. Most well known sites have an
exhaustive list of categories and allow for the best category
fit.
What these web sites follow is the most effective way of online
marketing- Link Building. Link building is somewhat like word of
mouth marketing. When a trusted site links itself to yours, it
sure acts as a positive recommendation for your site. This is
the way linking works. A well synchronized and linking strategy
will surely bring in a regular stream of qualified prospects to
your site. This not only raises your profile but also boosts
your search engine ratings. Linking is another avenue in online
marketing, capable of boosting your business without costing you
a fortune. Linking can be started from any site, portal, blog
etc, and all have a tremendous potential of driving your
business to new heights. Though linking can be started through
individual efforts, but those looking for sure results in real
quick time for their business, they can help themselves by
taking the services of professional link building. Linking is
not only about having the maximum number of links on the World
Wide Web, but rather about the maximum number of effective
links, Links that shall bring in more business.
The following categories are the most common for any directory
catering to people in general by means of providing links:
Arts (television, music, movies), Business (investing, real
estate, employment), Computers (software, hardware n internet),
Games (Video games, gambling, role-playing), Health (fitness,
medicine, alternatives), Home (consumer information, Family,
cooking), Kids and Teens (teen life, school time, arts),
News(weather, newspaper, media) Recreation (humor outdoors,
food, travel etc), Reference (libraries, maps, education)
Regional (Europe, Canada, UK, US…), Science (biology, physics
psychology), Shopping (clothing, gifts, autos), Society (people,
issues, religion, and spirituality etc), Sports (basketball,
baseball, golf etc).
The working for the web directories is not very complex. Users
are guided through a series of options pertaining to every
option as given on the main page. For e.g.: Business: News and
media: Book Reviews if as a typical line of search you follow,
you shall be taken to the sites short-listed sites, according to
the preferences you have. The above e.g. shall give you results
like the following
• XYZ News Business Index – Business news and commentary
articles. • 123 Asset Management – Information about various
asset management categories. • ABC Business – Information on
setting up in business, managing your money, personal finances
and making the right career move.
The above three results shall be links to the sites which the
directory feels is most appropriate for you search. Thus
similarly, other searches aid you in short listing or reaching
the sites for your search.
Mansi gupta writes about World News.
Life Insurance – Smokers and Overweights pay over 50% more!
The life insurance industry is becoming tougher on smokers and those of us who are overweight.
When an insurance company calculates its premiums, it has to work out the risk of you dying whilst the policy is in force. (Or with Critical Illness Insurance, the risk that you will become critically or seriously ill during the policy’s term.) In this context, smoking and obesity have become increasingly important issues.
The life insurance industry pointedly ignores the views of some Pro Smoking Pressure Groups which argue that smokers under the age of 40 have around the same probability of dieing as non smokers. David Pickett, Life Insurance Manager at Sainsbury’s spoke for the insurance industry when he confirmed “Health risks associated with smoking can have a big effect on life cover costs. It is vital for those who have kicked the habit to review their policies”.
Just how big an effect smoking has on life insurance costs was highlighted in a recent snapshot study by www.express-life-insurance.co.uk. This found that the average smoker paid 56% more than a non-smoker. The study was based on nine of the UK’s top insurance companies and examined the premiums quoted for two men aged 30 asking for £100,000 cover over 25 years. The only difference between the application details was that one was a smoker and the other wasn’t.
The life insurance industry has also recently tightened its belt on the overweight members of society. Previously, only people with a Body Mass Index of 33 or more were considered as overweight. This level has now been reduced by 16%. Now anyone with a BMI of 28 or more is likely to face premiums loaded by 50%. If you’re anxious to know whether that includes you, you’ll need a calculator! BMI is calculated by dividing your weight in kilos by your height in meters and the result squared.
So if you’re intending to apply for life insurance is may be as well to loose a few pounds first – oops kilos – and they’re much harder to lose than pounds!
It’s not quite so straightforward for smokers. To qualify as a non-smoker, most insurance companies insist that you must not have “smoked or otherwise consumed any form of nicotine products during the previous 12 months.” Indeed, some companies go further and extend the qualifying period to 5 years!
Because premiums for smokers and chubbies are so high, it becomes even more important to seek out the cheapest possible prices. As you’re an internet surfer, the odds are you’ll land a good discount. Just search for cheap life insurance and let your fingers do the walking!! You’ll still pay more but the discount will soften the impact on the wallet. Expect online savings of 10% – 15%.
Michael is an exclusive financial writer who writes articles primarily about UK family finance. One of the websites he writes for is Life Insurance Quotes Online.
How to Improve Your Memory by Forgetting the Right Things
Back in 1885, the German scientist Hermann Ebbinghaus made the first experimental studies in remembering and forgetting. What he discovered then still holds true today — that using the common method of memorizing, we forget forty percent within twenty minutes and seventy-five percent by the end of the week! Doesn’t it stand to reason, then, that if you are going to bother to learn things once, you might just as well go to a little extra trouble and protect your investment of time? You can do this easily by repeating briefly what you have learned once a day for a week, and then once a week for a month.
There have been men with a genius for memory, but their feats lie entirely outside the experience of us ordinary mortals. Lord Macaulay could memorize entire books at a single reading, Mozart as a boy wrote down the score of an oratorio after hearing it once, and Dumas pere never forgot anything he had read. My course in memory training cannot claim to teach you to duplicate such miracles. It is based simply on the laws of the workings of the minds of normal men, and its success is due to the fact that few people realize the potential powers of their thinking processes.
You and I remember only what we know, and we know only what we remember. The art I can teach you is the ability to use to the best advantage what you know, to be able to draw upon the great storehouse of your memory when you will, at a moment’s notice. The more easily you can accomplish that seeming miracle, the farther and faster you will travel toward your ultimate success in life.
This brings us to our next important consideration: what shall we take the trouble to remember? We know of course that we neither can nor want to remember everything. To make our memories serve us intelligently, we have to be able to choose the things we want to remember and concentrate on developing a selective type of memory. Dr. R. S. Woodworth, of the National Research Council and Columbia University, after testing the memories of countless subjects, has come to two significant conclusions:
1. That everyone has greater power of memory than he imagines.
2. That although intensive training produces great improvement in memory, training does not develop the general faculty of memory, but simply increases the particular kind of memory job that is practiced.
From this you will conclude that to develop your memory in order to increase your personal efficiency you must first choose the kind of remembering on which you want to concentrate. If you learn to memorize poetry effectively, your friends may consider you more cultured and you may get extra enjoyment out of life, but it will not help you to remember the grocery list. Nor will strengthening your memory for geography or history help you to remember names and faces.
To help you decide what kind of memory you yourself want to cultivate, I suggest that you get a piece of paper right now, and write across the top the business or profession in which you are now engaged. Below that write the answers to the following questions. Take your time, thinking about the answers carefully:
1. Do my activities bring me into constant contact with people?
2. Would cultivating a better memory for names and faces pay dividends in my work?
3. Does my work necessitate my knowing many facts and figures?
4. Is a general cultural background of miscellaneous information important in my work?
5. Outside of business, what specific kind of memory would I like to cultivate for my own enjoyment?
6. Based on these questions, what kind of memory should I go about developing first?
By studying your answers thoughtfully, you will have a pretty clear and definite idea of what things you should make an effort to remember, and what you can afford to forget.
A surgeon, for instance, will want to remember the bones and tissues of the body, the kinds of surgical instruments and their uses, the virtues of the drugs and medicines in his materia medica, the history and development of the art of healing, and most of what he has read or learned of the achievements of other medical scientists.
In addition, he will want to retain enough of his nonmedical reading to hold up his head in a general conversation. If he is fortunate enough to have some outside interest, such as collecting stamps or amateur photography, he will want to develop his memory along that line too. He, like all people, will also find it advisable to remember the dates of his wedding anniversary and family birthdays, as well as personal data about his patients and colleagues.
With all this information and more to remember, wouldn’t it be the height of folly for him to waste energy remembering the precise date of Congress’s approval of the act authorizing the Reconstruction Finance Corporation? You agree, of course, that the chances are a thousand to one against a surgeon’s ever requiring such information. On the other hand, a lawyer, a politician, a banker, or an editorial writer might be called upon to produce such an item at a moment’s notice, out of his head. Inability to do so might even appear a serious reflection on his general qualifications.
So by simply going through the questions above, you are on your way to remembering more by allowing yourself to forget the right information.
A full FREE comprehensive course on increasing your memory at your fingertips. Keys to remembering names, faces, numbers, obscure facts — anything you want! It’s FREE! Click here: www.ImproveYourMemoryFast.com
Anxiety And What To Do About It
There are several subgroups of Anxiety Disorders, with different causes and treatment.
Anxiety disorders are a serious social and financial concern to American business, since they cost the country more than $42 billion a year in healthcare costs and lost productivity, according to “The Economic Burden of Anxiety Disorders,” a study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
More than $22.84 billion is spent on healthcare services, as those with anxiety disorders seek relief for emotional distress and physical symptoms.
Sufferers are 300 to 500 percent more likely to go to the doctor and 600 percent more likely to be hospitalized for psychiatric disorders than non-sufferers.
Anxiety disorders are the most common psychiatric illness and affect both children and adults.
They develop from an interaction of numerous risk factors, including personality, genetics, brain chemistry, and life stress. Approximately 19 million adult Americans suffer from anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders are highly treatable, yet only about one-third of those suffering from them receive treatment.
The main feature of Generalized Anxiety Disorder is excessive, unrealistic and uncontrollable worry about everyday events.
This constant worry affects daily functioning and brings physical symptoms. GAD can occur with other anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, or substance abuse.
It can be misdiagnosed because it lacks some of the dramatic symptoms, such as unprovoked attacks of panic, that are seen with other anxiety disorders. For a diagnosis to be made, uncontrollable worrying occur more days than not for at least 6 months.
The focus of GAD is fluid, shifting unpredictably from job issues, finances, health of both self and family, and smaller issues such as chores, car repairs and being late for appointments.
The intensity, duration and frequency of the worry are disproportionate to the issue and interferes with the sufferer’s daily life. Physical symptoms can include muscle tension, sweating, gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea and/or nausea, cold and clammy palms, the feeling of having a “lump in the throat” and difficulty swallowing.
Sufferers are irritable and complain about feeling on edge, tire easily tired and have trouble sleeping.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is characterized by persistent, recurring thoughts (obsessions) that reflect exaggerated anxiety or fears; typical obsessions include worry about being contaminated or fears of behaving improperly or acting violently.
The obsessions may cause the individual to perform a rituals or routines to relieve the anxiety, such as excessive handwashing, checking appliances, repeating phrases or hoarding.
People with Panic Disorder suffer severe acute attacks of panic for no apparant reason, which may mimic the symptoms of a heart attack or cause them to feel they are losing their minds.
Symptoms include heart palpitations, chest pain or discomfort, sweating, trembling, tingling sensations, feeling of choking, fear of dying, fear of losing control, and feelings of unreality.
Panic disorder is often accompanied by agoraphobia, in which people are afraid of having a panic attack in a public place, so they become afraid to leave the safety of their controlled home environment.
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder can follow a traumatic event such as a sexual or physical assault, witnessing a death, the unexpected death of a loved one, or natural disaster.
There are three main symptoms associated with PTSD: “reliving” of the traumatic event (such as flashbacks and nightmares); avoidance behaviors (such as avoiding places and other reminders related to the trauma) and emotional numbing (detachment from others); and physiological arousal such difficulty sleeping, irritability or poor concentration.
Social Anxiety Disorder is characterized by severe anxiety about being judged by others or behaving in a way that might bring ridicule or embarrassment. This intense anxiety may lead to extreme shyness and avoidance of social situations.
Physical symptoms associated with this disorder include faintness, heart palpitations, blushing and profuse sweating.
Anxiety disorders also include Specific Phobias, an intense and unreasonable fear of specific objects or situations, such as spiders, dogs, or heights.
The disproportionate level of fear is recognized by the sufferer as being irrational. It can lead to the avoidance of common, everyday situations.
Patients often have more than one anxiety disorder, and sometimes other illness as well such as depression or substance abuse.
Treatment of anxiety disorders includes support groups, cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), exposure therapy, anxiety management and relaxation techniques, and psychotherapy.
Drugs therapy used to treat anxiety disorders includes benzodiazepines, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), tricyclic antidepressants, monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) and beta-blockers.
Often a combination of the two therapies is more useful than one exclusively. Up to 90 percent of patients will show improvement of their symptom from medical treatment.
Business Formation
The desire to venture into a business and take it to great heights simmers in the hearts of many individuals. But the task is not as easy as it seems. A great deal of planning and management is required in order to have a successful business.
If you desire to commence a business, the foremost thing to decide is its structure. The structure of the business often tells about the remainder of the business’ needs. Broadly speaking business structure can be of three different types- sole proprietorships, corporations and partnerships.
Sole proprietorships, as the name suggests are those where a single individual is the proprietor or the owner of the business. The proprietor has complete hold and so all the rights of the business. He alone has to take decision in all the legal and tax matters. What is magnetizing about the sole proprietorship business is the autonomy of the owner. It is wonderful to be your own boss and do things at your discretion. Also the profits that are incurred belong to you only and are not to be shared with anyone else.
But there are always two faces of a coin. So if there are merits, there are demerits too. If a proprietor singly reaps fruits of profits, he alone runs the risk of running the business and in some cases even its downfall. The proprietor not just invests the capital but also pays taxes, employs workers; maintain good terms with them etc. In other words he single-handedly bears the onus of managing his business.
The other form of business is a partnership business. Partnerships are basically different types of sole proprietorships where more than one person owns the business. In a partnership business a single individual cannot take any decisions regarding the company without consulting and the consent of other owners. This is because if a business is started by a group of people each one of them invests a fixed amount of money in it. So all the expenses such as capital, management costs etc. are shared in a partnership business. However quite often these businesses fail badly due to disputes amongst their owners.
Somewhat akin to business partnerships yet different from it is a limited partnership. In a limited partnership, a person desires to be a part of a running business by investing a limited amount of money in it. In such a case the investor has limited rights and responsibilities while the owner/s enjoy complete autonomy.
The third type of business structure is corporation. A corporation is a legal structure of a company in which owners and shareholders become one in the ownership of the business. Nowadays many businesses are becoming corporate by filing several records with the state from where they operate. In case of a corporation the debts and losses do not affect the business owners. Also corporations enjoy various tax advantages. But many proprietors dislike corporations for they lose their autonomy, as other people are also involved in taking decisions.
Corporations can be of different forms such as- the limited liability corporation, non-profit and minority owned corporation.
Once you settle the structure of your dream business, make a business plan. A business plan acts as a blueprint of a business. It gives a brief description of the operation, aims, means to achieve those aims, proposed targets etc. of the business. The other significant details of the business such as its location, names of authorities and so forth can also be included in a business plan. Business plan is a great help in arranging finances for your business.
With a perfect business plan, you are ready to turn your dreams to reality.
The Real Meaning Of Debt
Right, what does debt really mean?
Debt is money that someone else lends you, on the understanding that you’ll pay it back. Let’s face it, if you didn’t have to pay it back, it wouldn’t be a debt, would it? It would be a gift or a grant.
But it doesn’t end there. If only it were that simple!
Almost everyone who is willing to lend you money will expect something in return. Yes, you’ve guessed it, interest. Now for those who have forgotten about the effect of interest, let me remind you.
I want you to open your wallet or purse, and take out a bank note (if you have any, that is!). Now hold it out in front of you and set fire to it.
Go on, watch it burn. Watch it shrivel up and disappear in front of your eyes. Think about the effort that it took to earn that money.
Now take another note and repeat the procedure. Set fire to it and watch it disappear. Then do it again. And again! And again!
Not too keen, are you? And I’m not surprised.
But that’s what interest means if you owe money. It’s money that you have to shell out just for the privilege of being able to use other people’s money. And that’s before you think about repaying the amount that you originally borrowed!
You may as well set fire to your money. At least it would keep you warm and give you something vaguely interesting to watch for about thirty seconds!
The interest that you pay on your debts is dead money. You have to pay it just to stand still. So despite all the time and effort you may have taken to earn it, you remain in exactly the same position as you were before.
It’s like repeatedly paying for meals that you’ve already eaten, trips you’ve already taken and entertainment you’re already enjoyed.
Right back at square one!
Interest is the price that you pay for not having enough money to afford the things that you’ve bought. It’s the penalty for having tastes that are more expensive than your means. It’s your punishment for being poor!
But interest works both ways.
If you have money, it can be invested to make more money. You are the master. It is your servant!
But things change when you’re in debt.
Every penny that is borrowed has to be paid back….with interest! You become the servant. Money becomes your master, and it fairly cracks the whip!
I think this example with make everything clear.
Money and debt are like a giant pulley. Okay, imagine you’re standing on the top of a 100 storey building. There’s a giant pulley attached over the edge of the building. Hanging from the pulley is a heavy weight. It weighs the same as you. This weight represents the state of your finances.
You are on the roof of the building holding the rope that supports the weight from the pulley. Now imagine that the height of this weight represents the amount of money that you have. It starts level with the fiftieth floor. That represents break even. No money, but no debt!
The higher the weight rises, the more money you have. The lower it drops, the more you are in debt. Nice and simple, except that’s not the whole story!
The higher you manage to heave the weight, the healthier your bank balance. And to represent the interest your money would earn, for every floor the weight rises, you become 5% stronger (that’s your financial muscle). So by the time the weight rises from the 50th to the 65th floor, you become twice as strong, making the weight much easier to support (and lift even higher!)
But that’s where the good news ends. If you ease up on your efforts to lift the weight any higher, it will start to drop, and the extra strength you had will start to disappear. By the time the weight falls back to the fiftieth floor, you’ll be of average strength once again.
And then it gets even worse! As the weight drops below the fiftieth floor, to represent you slipping into debt, the weight gets heavier. For every floor that the weight drops below the fiftieth, the weight will increase by 5%. This represents the interest that has to be paid on your debt.
So in other words, you have to work harder and harder just to keep the weight from falling any further. The further the weight slips the harder it becomes to stop it dropping any further.
By the time it is level with the 25th floor, the weight would be three and a half times heavier than it was at the start. That means you’d have to work three and a half times as hard just to stop the weight from falling any further. That’s a mighty strain!
And people who are in debt wonder why they feel miserable and full of stress!
Oh yes, one final thing, if the weight hits the ground at the bottom of the building it’s game over! Bankruptcy! You lose everything that you currently ‘own’.
And the sad fact is that millions of people around the world are struggling to hold their weight somewhere around the 25th floor! At that level they can’t afford (no pun intended!) to ease up on their efforts for a moment. One slip and their weight will hit the ground.
If that doesn’t motivate you to get out of debt, I don’t know what will!
by Stuart Laing
Copyright (c) www.icanhelpyougetoutofdebt.com
Learning About Anxiety Disorders
Did you know that anxiety disorders share related or common symptoms of depression? Let’s take a look…
Some common types:
- Anxiety – Panic Attacks
Most often due to over inflated or exaggerated concerns about a number of issues, including but not limited to finances or relationships. Although the worry can be considered normal if it’s for a short time frame and doesn’t turn into feelings of dread which then can become prolonged. Should this occur, it can start to manifest itself into physical issues such as tremors, nausea, heart palpitations and even breathing difficulties. This would then be considered a panic attack.
According to experts, an estimated three out of ten people will experience an extreme panic attack episode and there is a good chance of them having a recurrence. The physical manifestations can be dangerous and medical advice and treatment is recommended.
- Social Anxiety Disorder
Avoiding any type of social contact. A person feels constant fear of criticism and experiences feelings of distress, which can lead to isolation. Normally this will lead to a person totally avoiding any type of social contact such as school functions, attending church or it may even flow over into their business world.
- Phobias
Signs of anxiety can manifest when people have a specific fear of something. Common fears or phobias can include fear of spiders, heights, water and flying. Over 1000 phobias have been documented according to research.
- GAD – General Anxiety Disorder
This seems to be the most prevalent from of anxiety and is referred to as GAD. It’s recognized as excessive worry over common things like your job or family. When a person experiences this form or anxiety it makes it very difficult to function properly in their normal environment.
- Agoraphobia
This is a phobia that can have devastating results. A person that suffers from agoraphobia has the fear of leaving one’s home and being exposed to public places. This completely upsets the normal social function. A person may experience an extreme panic attack with physical symptoms such as breathing difficulties and palpitations.
- Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome
This syndrome is triggered by extreme and/or traumatic events. When a person has been through a traumatic experience they may suffer future anxiety and panic attacks due to the trauma.
Some examples of the above would be wartime. War not only brings out stress and anxiety but can also induce a panic attack. Some other types of trauma include sexual abuse or rape, emotional abuse and even natural disasters such as hurricanes and/or earthquakes.
If you have any of the above conditions you will most likely know it. The difficult part is trying to understand why these disorders have taken such a strong hold of their lives. If you experience any of the above you need to arm yourself with as much information as possible and get professional help. This is the first step in effective treatment and a speedy recovery.
You will most likely know that you have one or more of these conditions. Trying to understand why these disorders have a hold on you is difficult. If you find yourself having any of these symptoms you should consult with a professional and arm yourself with as much information as you possibly can. This is an excellent step toward a faster recovery.
Carlie Edwards publishes articles & useful resources on Today’s Issues & Topics. For info on Anxiety Panic Attack For a variety of topics & issues visit Health And Beauty Worx
Weight: Give Us Something To Shoot For
We have all seen the new Dove commercials that feature “real” women rather than the impossibly “ideal” models that are usually selected. While the Dove girls are universally attractive and fit, they also reflect different sizes and shapes, designed to represent the average American woman. Is that what we want?
Glorifying our diversity seems, at first glance, a positive development which should lead to increased self-content and improved self-esteem. Comparing ourselves to the imperfect bodies displayed is supposed to lessen our self-criticism and sense of inadequacy.
Does it?
We are a race of strivers, constantly seeking to better ourselves. Self-improvement is the biggest marketing niche of the Twenty-first Century, from books and classes to online information products, magazines, and television. The gurus of our day, from Oprah, to Martha Stewart, to Dr. Phil, to Donald Trump, all entice us towards improving ourselves, our looks, our relationships, our finances, our surroundings — our whole life. We are dissatisfied with ourselves as we are because we have caught a glimpse of what we can become.
To keep us motivated in that direction, we need a vision of perfection to work towards, even if we know we’ll never quite get there.
When it comes to weight control, what will keep us riveted on our goal? To look as gorgeous as the cover models on Cosmopolitan or the chunky figures in the Dove Ads? Would a book on diet or health sell if the pictures show fat, flabby participants? Would a gasp of delight and a round of applause greet the appearance of a size 18 model waddling down the runway?
We welcome the lanky, completely fat-free models because, in our mind’s eye, they look as we want to look in every dress or suit we put on. We admire the lines and the cut of designer clothing, not the bulges and rolls that dominate so much of our lives. We see ourselves in our hearts, not in our mirrors.
We don’t want to be patronized by the marketing mavens. We don’t want a subtle reminder that we need to set our sights lower or aspire to something less than excellence. We want a dream that soars, that inspires us to unbelievable heights. We want a vision to move towards, no matter how unlikely it is that we will reach that destination.
So keep your condescending “Go ahead and settle for this” approach away, please.
Robert Browning suggested: “Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?”
Dr. Bola is a psychologist and an admitted diet fanatic, specializing in therapeutic reframing and the effects of attitudes and motivation on individual goals. Visit her at: http://www.DietWithAnAttitude.com/index2.html
Best Cruise Ever – Part 2 Driving To The Port
The real adventure begins with the 35 mile drive from Pointe Noire to Madingo-Kayes, a city on the Kouilou River. Everyone had agreeded that the pirogue would leave Madingo at 6 am. From Pointe Noire, that would be a half an hour drive – plus the unforeseen. Let’s leave at 5 am. In the Congo, that’s a two hour drive plus the unforeseen ! Let’s leave at 3 am… Why so much emphasis on the unforseen? Because of the asphalt. That’s right, let me explain. The road starts with asphalt, but not any kind of asphalt. Some is as old as 20 years, some just vanished. Do you know what a pot hole is? There they call it a cow hole – imagine the difference! Why such bad roads? Lack of finance to fix them, torrential rains that wash out everything – don’t forget that Pointe Noire is only some 330 miles north of the equator.
Quickly the highway becomes a dirt road, well not completely. There is still some reminiscence of the concrete road that was built in the sixties. This part of the road is the worse, the pieces of concrete slab floating on the sand, the road foundation almost hidden. When your front wheels hit one it always finishes with a well known ‘clong clong’ noise and a cost over $500. To avoid this, you have to drive slowly, very slowly. Then asphalt comes back again when you arrive next to the bridge crossing the Kouilou River, it’s still a good quality asphalt for the last 3 or 4 miles. The bridge was built in the late 80’s by an oil company. This concrete bridge is an anachronism compared to the surrounding structures.
This road is tough, very tough, and accidents are frequent. Most are caused by inexperienced drivers and ‘cent-cent’ truck taxis. The name comes from the cost of the ride: 100CFA (some $0.10). These trucks are overloaded, with cargo at the bottom of the cab, passengers on top of the cargo, the whole thing so unbalance that the truck rolls over at the least bump. I rode one once. Just once. It was the most extraordinary and the scariest experience in my life, between the songs, the prayers and the food. I din’t ask what the food was made of, and I’ll never forget the smell nor the indescribable taste. But the scenery was fantastic. We passed by fields of termite mounds, not the huge well known ones, but smaller seaside ones, up to 2 feet in height and a foot in diameter with a characteristic mushroom shape. In dense areas you can find a mound every 4-5 feet, not a good place to build a wood framed home! But the sight of such fields is breath taking.
Well, at 3 or 4 in the morning, you can’t see any of that, it’s too dark. The sun rises at 6 am plus or minus 30 minutes and sets at 6pm plus or minus 30 minutes. So to see the cow holes, concrete slabs, snakes, antelopes and other Sibissi, (no sorry, no elephants in this part of the country) you just have the headlights, nothing less, nothing more.
We arrived around 5:30 am at the bridge which gave us time to stop at the center and look out to sea and the Kouilou mouth’s sand bar, which are oriented west. With the sun rising at our backs and a high tide coming in, we were lucky to see a breathtaking scene. Waves were crashing onto the sand bar a few yards away and the sun lighting up each drop. God’s hand was not far away.
Pierre Merlin writes for VP-Travel which is a travel agency specialized in tours accross the world. Visit European Vacation before any trip to Europe.
Make Your Business Flourish With Unsecured Business Loans
Every business has some targets to achieve. For this the entrepreneurs need to have expertise and sufficient amount of capital to finance the business. If lack of capital is stopping you from using your skills in the business, do not be disheartened. Unsecured business loans can provide you with enough funds and help you become a business tycoon.
Unsecured business loans are solely designed for entrepreneurs to provide them financial assistance so as to start up a new business or expand the existing one. These loans are not tied to collateral. So the borrower’s property is not under the risk of repossession by the lender.
Unsecured Business Loans offer flexibility to the entrepreneurs to use the loan for any purpose. The purposes vary from person to person. The entrepreneur can use the loan for the commencement of business, expanding the existing one, renovating premises and purchasing equipments etc.
Unsecured business loans are usually charged a higher rate of interest because of the absence of collateral. Here the credit score of the entrepreneur plays a vital role. If you have a good credit score, you have chances of getting a cheap and fast loan.
If you have a bad credit history, be honest to reveal all the information to the loan provider. He can even suggest you with certain measures to improve your credit score. If you are able to win the trust of the lender and you promise to repay on time, you can get the loan at reasonable rates.
For obtaining unsecured business loans, the entrepreneur needs to provide his business profile to the lender. Business profile includes details like the type of business, yearly sales, number of employees, profit details etc. If the purpose of taking loan is to start up a new business, then you need to present the business plan before the lender.
Unsecured business loans provide an array of benefits-:
• Fastest way of raising money for business.
• Flexible repayment options.
• No risk of property repossession.
• Retention of ownership of your company.
• Tax-free interest rate.
Choosing the right lender can help in getting better loan deals and interest rates. Collect quotes from various lenders and decide after comparing the loan amount, loan term and the rate of interest. Online lenders are accessed widely nowadays. They provide you a speedy loan procedure. Most websites promoting unsecured business loans appear online.
Online lenders keep you away from all hurdles and nuisance. Filling a simple online loan application form will bring you in touch with the loan provider. Once the lender is able to find an appropriate deal for the entrepreneur, he will contact him instantly.
Unsecured business loans help your business flourish taking it to new heights. They provide sufficient funds to invest in business. Work with dedication and one day you will be recognized among the top businesspersons of the world.