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I know what you’re thinking…this isn’t a small business tip…

Oh yes it is!

Well not really a tip, but more of a call for advice – which will lead to tips from the blog viewers…or at least that’s what I’d like to think.

Many of us small business owners have taken to “smartphones” so that we can run about doing our business on the go. I have the Treo, many of my colleagues are using the Blackberry and I have friends and several family members (my nephew works at Apple) who are sporting the iPhone.

I remember when the first one came out – my business partner and I were salivating. We are both in love with our Macs and iPods. The thought of a phone incorporating it all was nirvana. (I’m not even kidding here.) The cost of the phone as you remember was a bit pricey but we didn’t care, we wanted that bad boy. We almost paid the penalty on our Verizon plans and went for it. Common sense got a hold of us and we decided we should wait. Apple always comes out with something better.

Sure enough, it’s here – the 3g.

I’m on the fence. Should I dump Verizon and go with the iPhone and AT&T? Or should I stay with my current Verizon plan ($165/month) and upgrade to the new Blackberry? What to do???

One thing is for sure, my Treo is done! This is my second one and I have to say, my Treo is a disappointment – I continually miss important messages, sometimes my phone goes straight to VM without even ringing (and no it’s not Verizon, because I’ll be sitting right next to someone else with the same plan and no problems). It’s always been a little glitchy, automatically restarting on its own – not letting me know I have text messages unless I pull out the battery and put it back, (and then they come flooding in). Email downloads stopping and freezing.

Last month we were in Palm Springs and we were heading to a wedding and we got lost. My nephew whipped out his iPhone and GPS and wham we were on track within minutes. My phone…sadly…just a mere disappointment.

I won’t bore you with the new features, but instead I’ll share this funny sarcastic video with you:

I definitely need a smartphone to operate my small business effectively. My clients count on being able to get a hold of me and I take pride in being available for them. What about you? Are you using an iPhone, Blackberry, Treo or another brand for business or personal that you’d like to recommend?

Please post your comments and opinions, and in fact…I’ll put up a poll over on the right hand side of the blog. Weigh in, let me know what you think!

Thanks,

Joanne

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Homeowners who are considering re-financing their home may have a wealth of options available to them. However, these same homeowners may find themselves feeling overwhelmed by this wealth of options. This process doesnt have to be so difficult though. Homeowners can greatly assist themselves in the process by taking a few simple steps. First the homeowner should determine his refinancing goals. Next the homeowner should consult with a re-financing expert and finally the homeowner should be aware that re-financing is not always the best solution.

Determine Your Goals for Re-Financing

The first step in any re-financing process should be for the homeowner to determine his goals and why he is considering re-financing. There are many different answers to this question and none of the answers are necessarily right or wrong. The most important thing is that the homeowner is making a decision which helps him achieve his financial goals. While there are no right or wrong answer to why re-financing should be considered there are, however, certain reasons for re-financing which are very common. These reasons include:

* Reducing monthly mortgage payments

* Consolidating existing debts

* Reducing the amount of interest paid over the course of the loan

* Repaying the loan quicker

* Gaining equity quicker

Although the reasons listed above are not the only reason homeowners might consider re-financing, they are some of the most popular reasons. They are included in this article for the purpose of getting the reader thinking. The reader may find their mortgage re-financing strategy fits into one of the above goals or they may have a completely different reason for wanting to re-finance. The reason for wanting to re-finance is not as important as determining this reason. This is because a homeowner, or even a financial advisor, will have a difficult time determining the best re-financing option for a homeowner if he does not know the goals of the homeowner.

Consult with a Re-Financing Expert

Once a homeowner has figured out why they want to re-finance, the homeowner should consider meeting with a re-financing expert to determine the best refinancing strategy. This will likely be a strategy which is financially sound but is also still geared to meeting the needs of the homeowner.

Homeowners who feel as though they are particularly well versed in the subject of re-financing might consider skipping the option of consulting with a re-financing expert. However, this is not recommended because even the most educated homeowner may not be aware of the newest re-financing options being offered by lenders.

While not understanding all the options may not seem like a big deal, it can have a significant impact. Homeowners may not even be aware of mistakes they are making but they may here of friends who re-financed under similar conditions and receive more favorable terms. Hearing these scenarios can be quite disheartening for some homeowners especially if they could have saved considerably more while re-financing.

Consider Not Re-Financing as a Viable Option

Homeowners who are considering re-financing may realize the importance of evaluating a number of different re-financing options to determine which option is best but these same homeowners may not realize they should also carefully consider not re-financing as an option. This is often referred to as the do nothing option because it refers to the conditions which will exist if the homeowner does not make a change in their mortgage situation.

For each re-financing option considered, the homeowner should determine the estimated monthly payment, amount of interest paid during the course of the loan, year in which the loan will be fully repaid and the amount of time the homeowner will have to remain in the home to recoup closing costs associated with re-financing. Homeowners should also determine these values for the current mortgage. This can be very helpful for comparison purposes. Homeowners can compare these results and often the best option is quite clear from these numeric calculations. However, if the analysis does not yield a clear cut answer, the homeowner may have to evaluate secondary characteristics to make the best possible decision.

This film about Belgium is intended for the world of business. It turns the spotlight on five major assets of Belgium: highly developed R&D, Belgiums strategic location, the know-how available there, its status as the ideal test market and the countrys quality of life.

Video conference is the current technologies that have been invented to make all the business matters get easy to handle. This kind of technology has important roles to make all the business things get a smooth way and get the agreement. There are many advantageous of video conference considering the time and distance. If we talk about the time, this kind of technology could make the time get effective. The effective time could be as effective as the distance. Before the video conference was being invented, many business men get travelling to meet their business partner. In fact, it will increase the cost to travel to other areas. This kind of technology should be supported by technological system which requires a regular treatment from the person who is in charge with. However, sometimes, the company feels reluctant to spend the cost to the recent technology.

They prefer to have their employee to have the old systems, meeting the business partner to other areas. However, the technology will have some obstacle. One of them will be the treatment and caring to its technology. It requires some people who have a special requirement or we can say an expert to handle those things. If you do not have internal video conference capacity, make sure too book video conference rooms with an external provider. Cliftons is a great meeting room and video conference provider in Australia. If not, the technologies would not be effective as it has been expected. One of another invented technology is the internet live conference. This kind of conference is using the technology of web cam and can present all the result in a second. This kind of technology has been occupied by many important people and those gain benefit from it. The cost can be more reduced and the participant that joins the conference could be more than the other. If you are interested on using this kind of technology, you could search on some search engines that provide this to the users.