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Things to Consider When Buying an Older Home

Edward Burke — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 21:54:44 +0000

Do you find the thought of owning an old, historic home alluring? Many homebuyers are attracted to homes with a rich history. While historic homes can be beautiful and full of storytelling material, there are certain characteristics of older homes that some might find very off-putting. Here are some things that homebuyers should be aware of before purchasing an older home:

Homes older than 50 years old were not constructed with heating or air-conditioning in mind. So you may want to consider the additional cost of installing a central AC or heating unit when determining your financial plan. Other additional costs associated with older homes include repairs or reinstallations of the plumbing and electrical systems. Don’t jump into buying an older home without measuring these costs.

Historical homes may pose several health concerns due to the outdated methods used to construct them. The majority of older homes have walls coated with lead-based paint. This paint must be removed before you move in, so make sure to factor in this cost. Also be cautious of homes with popcorn ceilings, as there is a chance that they may contain asbestos. There is no such thing as being too careful about potential safety hazards in a prospective home, especially if you have kids.

You should also be aware of whether or not a home has been registered as a historic place by the local government. While owners of historic homes may benefit from certain tax breaks, they may struggle later on when met with firm restrictions on making changes to or selling the home.

Tags: Bing

How Energy-Conscious Homeowners Earn 2012 Tax Credits

Edward Burke — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 21:28:17 +0000

American homeowners who made energy-efficient home improvements in 2012 will be pleased to know that the federal government would like to reward their efforts. The American Taxpayer Relief Act, enacted January 2, reinstated a tax credit available for home energy improvements. The credit is set at a maximum of $500, which may be disappointing to some since a credit of up to three times that amount was available in previous tax years. Also, the $500 credit is a lifetime maximum credit amount, meaning that homeowners who have previously earned this much in tax credits for energy improvements cannot claim more of these credits on their 2012 tax returns.

The home energy tax credit policy posits several stipulations for eligibility. Energy upgrades must have been made to the homeowner’s primary place of residence. In addition, the credit only applies to improvements made to an existing home – self-built energy-efficient homes do not qualify. December 31, 2012 is the cutoff date for upgrades. Any improvements that were still in progress after this date will not qualify for tax credit eligibility. When calculating your available credit, you can include the installation costs of regular water heaters and air-conditioning and heating units but not those of windows, doors, roofs, skylights, or insulation. Keep in mind that this tax credit is nonrefundable – it can be used to cut down the amount of any tax bill but it is not available in the form of a tax refund.

Homeowners that made more significant energy improvements may be eligible for a larger tax credit. A 30% credit is available to those who installed solar water heaters, geothermal heat pumps, solar energy devices, or fuel cells. While fuel cells need to have been installed in a principal residence, the credit will apply to the other systems even if they were installed in secondary homes.

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How much is a “like” worth?

Edward Burke — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 21:46:54 +0000

While it is not uncommon for a company to use Facebook as a part of their marketing campaign, it raises the question: just how helpful is it, really? Recently, 701 marketers were polled and 85% said that they use Facebook for marketing purposes. Fewer than 30% paid for sponsored stories. 15% were very satisfied with the results, 65% were somewhat satisfied, 15% were somewhat satisfied and 6% were very dissatisfied. I was on Facebook earlier today and noticed a type of advertisement that had never before caught my eye. It was a poll asking whether I remembered seeing an ad for a beach getaway. The poll gave three options: yes, no, or “I don’t know” and claimed that your response would be anonymous. I didn’t feel particularly moved to respond so I left it blank.

I wonder how well marketing on Facebook actually does. My main reasons for going on Facebook are to catch up with friends and to keep up with news. I find myself annoyed at the advertisements on the side, but for what it’s worth, I do not really mind advertisements from pages that I “like” on Facebook. Occasionally, because I am a fan of “Cholula Hot Sauce” on Facebook, I’ll get a cleverly worded advertisement which reminds me of how good Cholula Hot Sauce really is. The power of Facebook lies in the sheer number of users and the ability for customers to pick and choose ads based on his or her preferences.

The sponsored posts, I’ve found, are user segmented, too. When I listed my “Current City” as Paris, France, I found that all my sponsored posts started showing up in French. This shows that Facebook does a pretty good job at determining who to show which advertisements.

What’s a “like” worth? Well, depending on your company’s audience, it could mean the difference between big profits and absolutely no change in income.

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Best Marketing Practices: Personal Social Media

Edward Burke — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 21:45:06 +0000

Twitter has been a part of my life since the very beginning. I have tweeted about restaurants I like and dislike, the sweltering hot, crowded green line trains before and after red sox games, and as a way to easily meet up with multiple friends at once. This summer, sitting at my desk on the 10th floor office of a building in downtown Boston, I took out my phone and started composing a tweet about the lunch I had just had. I had a burrito at Boloco, thinking to myself how chewy I thought the steak was—how the rice was on the dry side. It was still good…but it was still bettered by a burrito from Anna’s. My mental comparison of Boston’s best burritos manifested itself, as many fleeting thoughts do, in the form of “Tweet.”

“Anna’s > Boloco > Chipotle > Felipes > Qdoba”. I hit the send button and put my phone down to get back to work. Minutes later, I heard a little buzz and my phone lit up. I checked my notifications and saw that Boloco had tweeted back at me, saying “I guess second best isn’t half bad.” Overwhelmed with excitement, I ran around the office, telling the other interns about how Boloco tweeted at me. The restaurant that we walked by every lunch break, THE Boloco tweeted at me. I couldn’t be happier. I instantly retweeted their message to me and worked in delight for the rest of the day.

Sure, now I know that it was probably someone’s job to sit on Social Media websites and personally respond to any tweets/Facebook messages. But despite this fact, I still gladly represented the brand and will always remember that Boloco, not Anna’s, not Chipotle, not Qudoba, interacted with me personally.

Interacting with your customers is a great way to turn them into brand ambassadors. Personally, I was quick to retweet Bolocos message to me, sharing it with all of my followers, too. This spread the word—not only does Boloco have delicious food, but it also interacts and cares about its customers. Personal touches like this can be the difference between a good company and a great one.

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How to Build a Content Marketing Empire in 3 Steps

Edward Burke — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:32:38 +0000

According to social entrepreneur and search engine optimization (SEO) expert Neil Patel, content marketing is “the new SEO” in today’s internet marketing environment. SEO marketing strategies ha
ve been more difficult to effectively implement due to Google’s recent steps toward making certain that only the most authoritative sites top its search results pages. Content marketing, however, has opened up entirely new avenues of internet marketing. A company is given tremendous potential for attracting new customers through developing a strong presence on blogs and social media. With this in mind, businesses should be asking themselves, “How can we put ourselves ahead of the curve in the field of content marketing?”
The answer lies in networking. Businesses should be allying themselves with non-competing businesses that they share a target audience with. Allied businesses can then cross-promote each other’s online content and gain customers through each other. Here are three simple steps to follow when developing your alliance marketing campaign:

Find your allies: Determine which non-competing businesses in your network have customers that fit within your target audience. Could these businesses benefit from sharing your content with their audience (or having their content shared with yours)? If so, contact them about partnering up for a marketing alliance.
Create a group or e-mail list to stay organized: Once you have made allies, you need to agree on a way of managing your joint marketing campaign. One option is creating an email list containing the addresses all of your allies. You could also create a private Facebook or Google+ group. Use these tools to communicate with your allies about links you would like them to promote.

Keep track of your results: Keep an eye on the number of likes or retweets your articles are getting and the number of visits to your website. If your allies have been doing their part, you should see a significant increase in these numbers, which should lead to increased customer sales.

Tags: Google, Internet Marketing, Search Engine Optimization

Facebook does it again: Graph Search

Edward Burke — Thu, 07 Feb 2013 14:53:43 +0000

We’ve all done it. Maybe it was looking up a potential job candidate on Facebook before actually meeting her to get a sense of her personality. Or maybe you want to have some talking points before reaching out to that cute guy in your Intro to Cultural Anthropology class. Whatever your reason, Facebook makes it possible to see what music Mr. Cultural Anthro likes and what Ms. Job Interview’s going-out habits are. Facebook stalking has just gotten even easier with the new Facebook Graph Search. Now, search phrases such as “Where have my friends eaten in London?” and “What books are most commonly read among my friends?” will show quick and precise results.

Too creepy? Well in Facebook’s defense, it’s already pretty easy to access information about pretty much anyone you’re connected to on Facebook—it’s just compiling everything to make for instant gratification. Besides, aren’t we more or less trained to enjoy instant gratification? Who doesn’t love getting a notification? There are few everyday things that make you more excited than seeing that globe in the left corner of the screen light up red. Facebook Graph Search will definitely affect search engines with a social media aspect—namely Bing.

One of the only differentiating factors dividing Bing and Google is that Bing takes your social networks into account with your search. For instance, if you’re looking for a good restaurant in Brooklyn, not only will Bing give you a list of highly rated restaurants by random people on the Internet, it will also bring up tweets and Facebook posts about said restaurant. Facebook has already destroyed the once hugely popular instant messaging platform, AIM. Why not take away Bing’s only differentiating factor, too?

Tags: Bing, Google

UNICEF: How to create awareness for underprivilaged-child survival

Edward Burke — Mon, 28 Jan 2013 15:20:53 +0000

For those who don’t know, the most popular Hispanic singer and song-writer Shakira is expecting a baby For those who don’t know, the most popular Hispanic singer and song-writer Shakira is expecting a baby with famous soccer player, Gerard Pique, and they are hosting an online baby shower to help underprivileged children in conjunction with UNICEF. The method being used by the couple and UNICEF to raise awareness for the survival of infants is inspiring, and serves as a perfect example of how famous people can use their status to help those in need. The announcement of the baby shower has been a success, it was announced by the release of pictures of the couple that have never been seen before, which helped spread the word throughout all social media channels.

For the fans interested in helping, they can enter the virtual baby shower at the UNICEF site. Fans will be welcomed by a virtual living room and if they decide to donate, they can choose from five “Inspired Gifts” options in the registry. The gifts include a $5 mosquito net to keep mosquitoes away from children and help reduce the number of cases of malaria, which is one of the leading causes of child death, a $10 polio vaccine, a $37 baby scale to help keep track of their growth and to help spot signs of malnutrition, and finally a donation of $110 to buy therapeutic food that can save a child who is malnourished.

The popularity of both, Shakira and Pique, might make the campaign a success especially if most of their fans decide to honor their child by donating to the cause. Only time will tell if the campaign does recieve the engagement of their fans around the world, but it has certainly won their attention, due to the uniqueness and innovation behind the campaign.

According to UNICEF, about 19,000 children under the age of 5 die from preventable causes. So, being part of the virtual baby shower will help children without resources to come into this world healthy.

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How to Brainstorm New and Creative Email Campaigns

Edward Burke — Sun, 27 Jan 2013 22:38:09 +0000

Sometimes, it can be hard trying to think of an entirely new angle from which to advertise your goods and services. There are moments in business where you become convinced that everyone had done it before you and better. Even your best ideas, those that you were once so taken with, fail to interest you. What can you do in that situation, when the marketing work must obviously go on? Think about it this way: there are infinite ideas out there to be stumbled upon. All that you have to do is widen your imagination and think about tactics and strategies that you may not otherwise have done. Thinking outside of the box truly is the first step to innovative marketing.

One of the best things that you can do, while reevaluating your marketing and advertising approach, is reconsider how you already use the technology available to you. You would be absolutely floored by the ways in which even the simplest technology can be used to create dynamic, interesting marketing and advertising. Especially now, when all different kinds of technology are game to be used in marketing. These days, anything goes when it comes to online advertising, and the most successful campaigns are those that aren’t afraid to get create. Here are some suggestions for brainstorming your next big email campaign.

Rethink email entirely as you embark on this thought experiment. Most people take the idea of email for granted entirely. It’s used in our homes and workplaces with such frequency that we hardly recognize its use on a daily basis. But approaching advertising on the Web with a bulk email sender can be the best idea in the world for a small business. Stop thinking about email like an everyday thing, and start recognizing its value!

There are many different kinds of emails, infinitely so. So before you begin brainstorming too concretely, you should figure out what kind of email will suit your company and your needs. You don’t want to be sending out memos when you mean to be sending coupons, do you? The bulk email sender makes it possible for you to completely customize your emails, something that is really going to help you out in the long run.

Think beyond email to what happens on the other side. Remember that there is a person on the other side of your screen who is intercepting all of these communications. Once you have that person in mind, it’s practically impossible to create anything other than excellent email correspondence. When brainstorming, just think about what this person would like in an email!

Emailing is a fantastic way to spread the word about a service or product, and one of the most cost effective, too. A good email campaign can completely change the way that you do business. Just remember to keep you audience in mind, to personalize as much as possible, and to be creative. With these simple tips, you’ll be well on your way to utter email mastery.

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How to play: Pen & paper games for more than two

Edward Burke — Thu, 24 Jan 2013 14:29:18 +0000

Aim: To communicate a word or phrase through drawing alone

How to play: Dividing players into teams. The “drawer” on the first team has a minute to sketch as many objects as possible (household objects, places, people, for example), which their teammates must try to identify. Answers must be specific.

If the team guesses within the minute, they earn a point. Game passes to the next team who repeats the process. Playing enough rounds that everyone gets a chance to draw. This is best when everyone, including the other teams, can see what is being drawn.

Variations

Instead of a noun, try to depict a well-known phrase or saying, as in the dinner party scene When Harry Met Sally (“baby fish mouth” etc.).

Spice it up

Rubbish at drawing? Raid your children’s art box and fashion the objects out of Playdough

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How to Stay Fit and Get Paid

Edward Burke — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 22:26:15 +0000

Some discussion of personal trainers. Then discussion on how people are getting paid to work-out.

It is true that if Americans were paid to get into shape, our country would look quite different. More and more people are discovering the career of personal training, which makes it one of the fastest growing careers according to the U.S. Department of Labor. This is mostly among twenty and thirty year olds who were enticed by the job because of the creativity and empathy that is involved. Being a personal trainer is kind of like being someone’s personal buddy system. You grow close with your clients and form a bond as the both of you work together to reach specific goals. Nowadays becoming a personal trainer is much easier. You can actually go online and be certified within a month.

Getting paid for getting fit? Well that is definitely something that I would have no qualms about participating in. It is sad to say, but I think that most Americans or just people in general would rather get paid to do something than to just do it because it is good for them or for someone else. Getting in shape should be a top priority for every human being, but unfortunately for most it is like pulling teeth. Health is an issue in this country and obesity rates are rising by the minute. Being healthy should be on everyone’s mind, yet it is far from most. However, if you were to tell every single individual on this planet that they could actually get paid to work-out; I believe that we would all jump at it in a heartbeat.

Life moves pretty fast and most people are busy, busy, busy twenty-four seven. I know when it comes to me: I work two jobs, full-time college student, in a relationship, and I have family to take care of. When it comes time to find time to take care of myself either physically or mentally, the hours seem to be disappearing at a quick rate. The older I get, the more life becomes all about money and I happen to be doing something. At any given time that does not make me some kind of cash, my time is being wasted. Working out, for one, takes time and patience and in this day and age those are two things that are fading away. Don’t get me wrong, I would love to get in shape and feed my body all the healthy food that it desires, but right now that is just not in the cards.

Honestly, I try to eat as healthy, follow Healthy Diet Program as I can, but a college student’s diet is not the best one. I need quick meals since I am on the go most of the time and I also need meals that can be prepared in a dorm room. Living on campus was one of the best decisions that I have ever made and it has made my social life far more enjoyable than it was in high school. The food at my college, though, is mostly unhealthy and fast, which is a major negative. In the four years that I’ve been there I have managed to keep off the weight surprisingly because of all the walking I am forced to do for classes. My dorm is farthest away from pretty much everything on campus, and I have purposely chosen to live there simply because of this fact. In a way, the food I have to eat is canceled out because of the exercise that I am doing every day.

I think that becoming a personal trainer would be a very rewarding and interesting job for one to have. I have often thought about going that career route myself because not only would it benefit me, but others would benefit from it as well and helping people gives me great joy. Being a personal trainer is a “practice what you preach” kind of job, since you, yourself, are like a walking billboard for health and fitness. Not to mention the money aspect is quite a seller…

Tags: money

Know eXcellence in Personal Computing

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