One of the small things we could do to conserve energy is by using energy saving light bulbs. As the names suggest it, energy saving lights saves energy. It can save money too, for their will be less electric bill. So many folks …
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Mobile MVNO Predictions
By Josiah William
This will no doubt be a happy new year for some mobile phone companies, a sad year for some, and a very sad year for others.
The beginning of the New Year is the time for resolutions and predictions. Let me make some predictions on who will be the winners and losers in the prepaid cellular and MVNO arena for 2006.
I will start with the small prepaid MVNOs. Bad press is better than no press; that is at least what I heard. This will probably be my only mention of this list of companies.
Accell, Airvoice Wireless, Beyond Wireless, Extreme Mobile, EZ Link, iwireless, Graffiti Prepaid, PagePlus Prepaid, Omni Prepaid, O Mobile, MobilePCS, M3 Wireless, all either have weaknesses, obstacles, or just no reason for someone to buy their product. Some are in the process of changing from TDMA to GSM technology, others are under funded, others have high costs and others have poor marketing. I wish them well, but my prediction is you have not heard of most of the companies listed above and probably never will.
I have heard some good things about Callwave, Oxygen Mobile, and Liberty Wireless, but they are no longer competitive with the new rush of major players.
Bravo Cellular is small player that has an above average program that is very similar to the larger player, STi Mobile. Bravo and STI both use Sprint and offer competitive direct dial international rates. However, STI beats the Bravo rates, phones, and distribution by a good margin. Sorry Bravo Cellular, you are not good enough, but at least I gave you a paragraph.
I will jump from small to large MVNOs and prepaid programs.
STi mobile is a division of STi. STi is a major player in the prepaid calling card market with over $200 million annually in sales. STi mobile offers nice new LG Flip phones, aggressive rates, and extremely aggressive direct dial international rates. I would have considered them a medium MVNO program, but they stepped up to large with distribution agreements with Staples, CompUSA, and other chains. I predict success for STi.
Boost Mobile offers push to talk, excellent marketing, is owned by Sprint/Nextel and seems to want to be competitive with rates. I have heard they are not always in tune with their distribution and have some technical issues. However, they have 1.9 million subscribers so I predict continued success.
Tracfone and Net10 are the same company. They were the first successful MVNO with a distribution in the Wal-Mart chain. They have a large base of profitable customers and are aggressive marketers. However, they have always been boring to me. They made a major push with the Net10 brand, but it seems to me someone could have thought of a better 2nd brand. They even advertised on American Idol. They lack any hype or great offerings. This will be a good test to see if big distribution, a current profitable base, and aggressive marketing (even though off base) are enough. I predict success this year, but that is about it.
Virgin Mobile is the largest MVNO with over 3 million subscribers. While you can get a better deal and product from other carriers, they are already successful so I predict continued success.
The Cingular Prepaid Go Phone program offers really cheap phones, pretty good service, slightly high rates and invests a ton of money in marketing. I predict success because they can buy success.
The T-Mobile prepaid program offers decent phones, aggressive advertising, competitive rates, and has the backing of T-Mobile. They also have some loyal and satisfied customers. I predict continued success.
Up and Coming Prepaid Companies
ESPN Mobile and Disney Mobile are coming, but I have no information on their programs, so I decline to comment. However, I don’t understand why someone would buy a phone from them. I could see them providing content for other providers, but not function as stand alone MVNOs. They do have plenty of money to throw at this, so see what I know.
Ampd Mobile has a lot of money with $67 million or more in private funding and a $50 million investment from MTV. They were founded by Peter Adderton (I mention his name because he seems to like his name mentioned), also the founder of Boost Mobile. They claim they will offer revolutionary functions, service, and media from their phones, geared toward the youth market. I don’t have the guts to give them a thumbs down prediction, but they utilize Verizon, who has not been a great provider of service for MVNOs. Verizon also publicly has said they can develop their own youth-oriented marketing plans. It seems Ampd has it all, but if they do not have Verizon’s support and best deal, nothing else matters. I think they are exciting and entertaining so I wish them the best.
An interesting company is IDT. They are developing prepaid wifi cellular. IDT is a major international long distance carrier. Their plans in the future are to offer low international rates through cheap wifi mobile handsets. They also currently have a standard MNVO prepaid program called TuYo mobile. IDT has not revealed which wireless carrier’s network it is using to deliver the MNVO services, but has said its partnership is with a “major GSM wireless carrier,” which narrows the field to either Cingular Wireless or T-Mobile USA. Their TuYo mobile program is very similar to STI mobile in regards to service and international rates. It is only offered in four markets and they have started cautiously. I predict IDT will have success in a few years, but looks to be playing it safe this year.
For some reason, I am excited about Helio. It may be the $450 million in funding. It may be the technology of SK Telecom. It may be the CEO who also founded Earthlink.net and Boingo Wifi. I am most excited about what SK Telecom can bring to the table. They are the leading provider in Korea and are cutting edge with high end media offerings through great phones. They also seem to know marketing and pricing. It’s almost a perfect concept, except that I think Helio will be using Verizon as their back-bone provider. As I said with Ampd, it will be interesting to see if Verizon has changed and is now willing to give competitive support and rates to an MVNO. It is not whether they can do it….. it is whether they will do it.
I am a small business owner so I hate to predict the big guys beating the small guys, but it looks to me that enough big players in the prepaid MVNO market have their act together to make it tough for the small guys. However, small business owners should not be discouraged, because it is amazing how often major companies in any industry get tangled up in their own red tape, lose their focus and understanding of their customers and market, and let the small companies clean their clocks.
About the Author: Josiah William works in marketing for aa href=”http://www.cheapphonecards.com” rel=’nofollow’>cheapphonecards.com and aa href=”http://www.dealking.com” rel=’nofollow’>dealking.com.
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IT Networking: Cost-Savings, Productivity And Security
By Joshua Feinberg
By engaging small business decision makers in discussions about their IT networking needs, you can highlight how automating services like faxing will save your prospect’s or client’s company on manual labor, which indirectly translates into substantial salary savings over the course of the year.
At the very least, network-based faxing will free up staff to focus on higher-level activities, rather than “babysitting” an archaic fax machine.
Listen for Other IT Networking Opportunities
As you get to know more about the prospect’s or client’s business, keep your antenna up for additional solution opportunity areas, such as centrally-managed Internet access for each desktop.
Besides faxing and Internet access, a client/server network makes sharing, protecting and securing information much easier. Through permissions and auditing, small business owners can ensure that only those authorized have access to sensitive information.
By centralizing the storage of data, small businesses can also more easily protect data with a tape backup drive, antivirus software, firewall software and an uninterruptible power supply (UPS).
Who Are You Promoting IT Networking To?
Tailoring your message for different audiences and interests is also key. If you’re discussing IT networking with the president or owner of the company, the hot buttons might include costs, the value of proactive technology investments, industry trends, competitive factors and lower labor costs through more automation.
The Bottom Line about IT Networking
If you’re discussing IT networking with middle management or employees in the trenches, make sure to shift gears. Staff and the internal guru will likely want to talk about ease of use and administration, how the network will make their job easier and the amount of training required to become proficient.
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Energy Saving Light Bulbs General Information
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The Cost Of Acceptance: How To Turn The Cost Of Credit Card Processing Into Net Revenue Growth
By J. David Sharp
Have you ever slowed down to ask what comprises the cost of accepting a credit card, better known as the Discount Rate? Why does this cost vary from one transaction to the next? To understand best, I encourage you to step into the shoes of your valued customer, the consumer. The average American carries 4-5 bank issued cards in his or her wallet and utilizes them to finance transactions, expedite the transaction at the point of sale, and in many cases, to take advantage of the benefits these plastic cards give back.
The consumer’s choice as to which card to draw from his or her wallet is generally based upon the answer to one key question…”What’s in it for me?” The list of incentives made available to the consumer by the card issuing banks is extensive. Ranging from signup bonuses and teaser introductory rates to cash back incentives and airline miles, consumers receive tremendous benefit from the issuing banks for their day to day purchases. Financing these incentives sounds like the issuing banks’ problem, right? Not exactly.
The largest component to a merchant account is the cost of Interchange, which the processor collects from you via the discount rate and pays to the issuing banks, in large part to fund the consumer incentives mentioned above. At the end of the day, there is very little that you can do as a small business owner to reduce your cost of credit card acceptance while continuing to satisfy your customers’ need for choice. However, you can leverage this cost and customer-mandated payment type to improve collection processes and payment convenience to your customers.
Just as you provide a breadth of products and services for your customers to choose from, I would encourage you to provide equal choice to them for their form of payment. Choosing a payment processing solution that accepts all of the major credit card types and allows for alternative payment methods, such as ACH direct-debit and eChecks, helps you to minimize your overall cost of acceptance.
By allowing your customers to make payment with the credit card or other remittance type of their choosing, you’re increasing their convenience. In addition, credit cards have other electronic payment benefits that enable your business to set up more flexible payment options for your customers–such as online bill-pay, email invoicing, and recurring billing. You will attract new customers to your business, build customer loyalty, and potentially increase your customers’ average purchase amount. The impact on your net revenue growth will likely offset the variance in Interchange expense and yield maximum growth to your enterprise.
Interested in expanding the payment processing options for your business? PaySimple can help. PaySimple is the premier provider of electronic payment solutions for small businesses and creates platforms that simplify and empower the lives of small business owners. PaySimple provides an on-demand Software as a Service (SaaS) platform that enables small businesses to bill, collect, and manage their customer payments under one user-friendly system. The PaySimple Solution includes: recurring billing, email invoicing, ACH direct-debit, credit card processing, e-check processing, EFT, online payments, and more.
It does not matter whether you are buying LED bulbs , energy saving light bulbs or a new TV these things still apply.
Energy Saving Light Bulbs and the Environment, LED Bulbs
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Common Myths Associated with Energy Saving Light Bulbs
The phasing out of incandescent light bulbs in the EU is due to end in 2011 and many people are worried about giving up their beloved bulbs. However, in this article I will detail some of the common myths that are associated with energy saving light bulbs and tell you the facts so you can make an informed decision.
Myth: Energy saving bulbs do not produce the same light output as traditional bulbs.
Fact: Today energy savers can easily replicate the light output of traditional bulbs using around a fifth of the power. LED bulbs are also becoming more powerful and the new generation are able to produce the same amount of lumens as halogen bulbs.
Myth: Energy saving bulbs are ugly and don’t look good in some of my fittings.
Fact: Energy savers are now available in all traditional bulb styles including classic, candle and spotlights, meaning they will fit in some of your most ornate fittings.
Myth: Energy saving bulbs are not environmentally friendly as they use mercury which is a hazardous material.
Fact: New energy savers use a mercury substitute called amalgam, this is completely safe to handle, transport and store and it is of no risk to either humans or the environment. There is also a recycling charge included in the price of the bulb making them far more environmentally friendly than traditional bulbs.
Myth: Energy saving bulbs trigger epileptic fits.
Fact: A small number of cases have been reported with the older models, however these were never verified. The new models run at a higher frequency and do not have any know health impact.
Myth: Energy saving bulbs don’t light up straight away.
Fact: The new models of energy saving bulbs have an almost instant switch on time and will reach their full brightness straight away. The delay in earlier models was caused by ignition of the gas inside the bulb.
Myth: Energy saving bulbs do not produce the right coloured light.
Fact: Advancements in technology mean that lighting manufacturers can now replicate the light colour of traditional incandescent bulbs. A recent study showed that only 50% of people can tell the difference between energy savers and incandescent bulbs (Pepsi Challenge, EST, 2008).
Myth: Energy saving bulbs will not fit some of my light fittings.
Fact: Today energy savers are available in all four traditional caps (bayonet, edison screw, small bayonet and small edison screw) as well as GU10, MR16 and PAR fittings.
Myth: Energy saving bulbs will not work with dimmer switches.
Fact: New models of energy saving bulbs are available with dimming capabilities
When energy saving light bulbs were first available many believed that they were no substitute for incandescent lighting however technological advancements have ensured that they can match incandescent bulbs in looks and capabilities while being five times more efficient. I hope this article has helped to dispel some myths about energy saving lighting and you can make an informed decision about your lighting needs.
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