10 Easy Saddle Fitting Tips

If you want a good fit take a few minutes and answer these basic questions.

1. How much does your horse weigh? If a 1000 lbs or more, look to a Full Quarterhorse Bar (FQHB)/wide saddle.

2. What kind of withers does your horse have? Mutton-withered? Look to a FQHB if your horse is anywhere close to a 1000 lbs. i.e. 900 lbs or more.

3. Consider your horse’s back. Is he wide or narrow? Can’t tell? A wide back will require a FQHB. A narrow back will need a semi-quarterhorse bars.

4. Is your horse short backed? Look for a shorter skirt or round skirt saddle. You don’t want the saddle skirts to rub the horse’s hips.

5. Is your horse gaited? Seriously consider a gaited saddle. Gaited saddles have more rock with wider bars in the front and are smaller in the back to allow for the movement of their shoulders.

6. What is your budget? Be reasonable in your expectations. Leather saddles cost more than cordura saddles. You will find few leather saddles for under $500, so be realistic. Most of the time you will get what you pay for.

7. Consider what you are going to do with this saddle. Yes, the trail saddle looks nice, but you won’t rope off of it for long.

8. What seat size do you need to look for?

9. What saddle pad will work? Most horses do not need special pads, but some horses do. Think about what will work, and do the necessary research.

10. Answer all the questions. All these questions need to be considered to insure a good fit. If you don’t answer all the questions you may find a saddle that fits and you might not.

Video Marketing: 7 Reasons You Should Post Videos to Market Your Business

The number of small businesses using video email marketing is trending upwards. Are you on the bandwagon?? If not, you should jump on it – now.

With the technology and various tools that we have at our disposal, there is no reason for any business owner to not think of posting videos online. Quality videos can do wonders for your business and bottom line.

Here are seven reasons to start adding videos to your marketing toolbox.

1. People Love Videos

It’s only natural that people love watching videos. Humans are visual creatures. Being able to deliver a message through a captivating video is a marketing homerun.

Many people would prefer to watch a well-produced video than to read a bunch of text. You’ve probably noticed many business owners using videos instead of (or in combination with) long form sales letters. The reason is because in many cases, split testing has shown higher conversion rates with video sales letters.

2. They’re Inexpensive to Make

You don’t need a big budget to produce videos; an inexpensive camera works just fine. Of course, you can also pay for a top notch expensive camera and professionally produced video, but that’s your choice. It’s not necessary.

A well done cheaply made video will beat out an expensive but mediocre video every time.

3. It’s Easy To Distribute Online Videos

Your videos can easily be posted to sites like YouTube, Vimeo, DailyMotion and others. They can also easily be shared via social media sites once they’re uploaded.

4. Videos Decrease Bounce Rates

One of the metrics that Google uses to rank webpages is bounce rate – the percentage of users who land on a webpage without viewing other pages. You want to do everything you can to reduce your website’s bounce rate.

You should add your videos to your website as well as the video sharing sites. They can help lower your bounce rate which can result in higher search engine rankings and more sales.

5. Mobile Device Users Prefer Videos

More and more people are using mobile devices to surf the web. Due to the smaller screens on handheld devices, many people prefer to watch videos rather than read a bunch of text.

6. Videos Can Boost Your Brand Credibility

Producing videos is one of the best ways to boost your brand credibility. To take things further, one of the most effective ways to popularize your brand is by producing good videos that generate buzz.

Your credibility can get a huge boost if viewers see that your videos have lots of views and shares on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media sites.

One more point: YouTube videos now occupy many top spots at the search engines. Even if your website doesn’t rank well, your videos just might. If your videos and website can both rank well, your business will gain an incredible amount of visibility and all the good stuff that can come with it.

7. Videos Allow You to Give Product or Service Demonstrations

Videos allow you to visually explain and demonstrate your products or services. This way, people can more easily see themselves using whatever it is that you have to offer.
If you’re not sold yet, consider this: viewers are many times more likely to buy whatever it is you’re selling after watching a video.

Video Is Here To Stay

The signs are clear: video marketing is not going anywhere. It will only continue to grow in popularity. The question is will you grow with it or will you be left behind?

How to Make Your Shop Decor Shout

Decorating the walls of your shop. The first thing you need to attack is the walls. A bare wall gives out one simple message…which is blank. In fact, without proper office or shop décor on the walls, it makes the place very unwelcoming and dull. Who do you think would walk into a shop that has bare walls that sings an uninviting song? To entice your customers to walk into your shop and purchase something from your shop, you’ll need to use the right color for the walls…some shade or color that attracts the right customers. If you want the walls décor to give out a warm and welcoming feeling, you can use a darker shade; on the other hand, if you want to make your customers feel happy to be in the shop, color your walls with a lighter shade. Then use some clever slatwall panels to decorate and display your products.

Give your shop décor an alive feel. Apart from decorating the shop’s walls, you’ll have to add plants into the shop décor as well. Having a couple of potted plants will instantly give the place an ‘alive’ feel and your staff and the people who walk into your shop will feel less removed from the outside world. Each type of plant gives out different signals, so play with the type of plants that you use to decorate your shop. If it’s within your budget, assign someone to come into your shop to work out the décor and accentuate the placement of the plants with lighting. Having plants as part of your shop décor can be tricky, though because plants require maintenance. However, you can hire people to take care of your plants for you or you could actually ‘rent’ the plants for your office décor.

Don’t mix and match concepts and furniture in your shop. Maintain a consistent look throughout your shop’s décor. It would give the customers a very mix-and-match feel when they walk into your shop when the furniture don’t match. For instance, you can’t very well decorate your shop with an antique piece together with a modern looking sofa in your shop. It would give the customers a really odd feeling. What you want to avoid with your shop décor is to give it a ‘thrown together’ feel…you want it to shout, CLASS ACT instead of ‘last minute thrown in together’.

Clear the clutter. And of course, just as any professional shop décor artiste or designer can tell you, clutter is an absolute no-no. It’s been said before so keep this clear in your mind…a clear desk clears the head even before you sit down and start your work. This principle applies to your shop décor. Keep things that should not be seen in your shop tucked away in a storeroom…for instance, stuff that you don’t use very often or products that you don’t intend to sell. Don’t leave boxes of products lying strewn all over the place. Ask your staff to regularly check and rearrange the products on the display areas, the desk, the slatwall display unit and of course, the walls. Some customers tend to pick up products and then leave them somewhere they don’t belong. Your staff should make it a point to return the item back to where they belong.

H-1B: What Does My Employer Have to Do?

Most people who are applying for H-1B work visas often ask about what their employer has to do to make the employment process go smoothly. This article will briefly discuss what your employer can expect to ensure the H-1B process is filed and reviewed without delay.Overview of H-1B ProcessFirst, let’s start with a primer of the H-1B process. Understanding how the process works will eventually help to understand why H-1B works the way it does.The H-1B visa is essentially broken into two steps, involving two government agencies: the Department of Labor (DOL) and the US Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS). Now, this two-tier system applies to most H-1B visas and is not always the case, but it is for most people. Step one involves filing a Labor Condition Application (LCA) with the DOL. After the LCA is approved, a separate application is filed with USCIS to allow and document the applicant’s employment and residency within the US.More About the LCAThe LCA serves a couple different purposes. First, it provides the DOL with information about the job offer and its qualifications. Certain EB categories, such as EB-2 and EB-3, require the job position to have a minimum education level or experience level to ably perform the job duties. The LCA determines if that job offer is legitimate with respect to the applicable EB category.Secondly, the LCA is used to determine if the employer pays the employee the “prevailing wage.” Basically, the DOL wants to ensure that employers are not underpaying temporary workers as a cost saving measure.There are some nuances for employers who are considered “dependent employers.” Dependent employers are those whose workforce consists of 15% or more H-1B employees.Employer’s RoleNow that we covered the H-1B process, we can cover what the employer’s role in both of the DOL and USCIS fronts. First, with respect to the DOL, the H-1B applicant (or the attorney representing the applicant) must cooperate with the employer to accurately report the information above to the DOL. Additionally, the LAC must be signed by the employer or an agent of the employer. The employer’s attorney does not qualify unless he/she is an employee of the employer. Without the LCA, there is no H-1B visa.Furthermore, on the immigration front, the employer also has an added role if the H-1B applicant is seeking a green card based on the H-1B visa status. The green card possibilities of an H-1B holder have been discussed in a previous article if you are looking for further information on that subject.

Are Nocebos Harming Your Health and Fitness Efforts?

What the heck are nocebos you are probably wondering and what do they have to do with your health and fitness? They are the evil cousin of placebos. You know that placebos are used quite a bit in testing of drugs and supplements.The test is set up so that one half of a group gets the actual drug and the other half gets a placebo. The placebo is usually some kind of sugar water and it doesn’t have any of the drugs in it. In a double blind study neither the participants nor the researchers know which group gets the drug and which group gets the placebo.The idea of the placebo is that it isn’t the real drug and that it is not harmful in any way. This way the researchers can get an accurate measurement of what effects the drug actually has. An interesting thing happened during testing. Both groups responded to the drug.This shows the power of the mind. If you think you are getting a drug that is going to help you, you respond as though you are getting the drug and that it is helping you, even if you are in the placebo group and only getting sugar water.This effect is called the placebo effect. Many people have taken this placebo effect and used it in a not so positive manner. The nocebo effect as mentioned before is the evil cousin of placebo. It is when someone tries to affect a negative and harmful effect in you by using the power of the mind to control your response.This might make more sense if you think of a witch doctor. There have been many documented cases of where witch doctors have actually killed people just by using the power of suggestion.They do their incantations on someone and that person, because they believe the witch doctor, fall violently and sometimes fatally ill. That is the nocebo effect taken to the extreme.So what does this have to do with you and your health or fitness goals?Plenty. How many times have you said you are going on a diet, or going to start eating healthy or start going to the gym only to be met with a round of laughter and put downs from your friends and family?That is a milder form of the nocebo effect. And it does affect you. Very few people are able to overcome such negative and harmful statements.It has taken a lot of strength for you to admit you need to change your lifestyle to become healthier. It takes even more strength to admit it to others.When that strength is met with derision, scorn and laughter, it is like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders.It is almost too much to overcome. Does that mean you shouldn’t tell anyone? Well, maybe. Or maybe you need to be pickier in who you tell. One of the best things you can do to help you in your health and fitness goals is to find others that are trying to reach the same goals. You can go to a gym or you can go for walks in the park. You will see and meet others doing the same thing you are doing.Surround yourself with other like minded people and you will be able to easily overcome the nocebos in your life. One place where you won’t meet any nocebos is at Val’s health and fitness site. Check it out – see below.

How To Choose The Best Photography School & Course For Yourself?

If you want to make a career in photography, it will be best to start by enrolling in a reputed photography school. It can not only provide you certification, you will also gain knowledge and exposure that would otherwise be difficult to find. When you attend a school, you are able to learn from experienced professionals. The knowledge and experiences shared in such an environment can prove to be valuable in driving your career in the right direction.But how can you choose the best photography school and courses for yourself. The following tips will help you make the right choice.1. Program DurationDetermine your goals so that you can decide how long your program should be. There are photography courses that last years and then there are brief courses that can be completed within a few weeks. If you are a professional, all you may need is to attend a few classes to improve your knowledge or skills on a specific topic. There are schools that offer highly accessible courses and there is no need to commit to several years of study. If certification is on top of your mind, then you should consider joining a longer program.2. Consider the CostsThis starts by determining what your goals are and how much you can afford on your photography training. The costs can vary based on the duration of the program. It can also be different based on which school you choose. You can however get access to certain scholarships to make your education cheaper. It is not essential that the most expensive school can provide the best education and training. Do some research to compare the different schools. You should also contact other students to learn about the different courses and institutions.3. Consider Your NicheAs someone aspiring to become a professional photographer, it is important that you choose photography courses based on the niche you want to specialize in. It is easier to excel in a specific niche. When you target a specific field within photography, you can build your presence more effectively. However, choosing the right niche can be a challenge in itself.Consider your interests when choosing your photography niche. Find out what you enjoy doing. If you don’t enjoy a niche, you will find it hard to excel in it. For example, landscape photography is more suited for photographers who have lots of patience. If you want quick results, it is not the niche you should train in. So look for something that you enjoy doing even if it means toiling for hours. Some of the most popular niches in photography training include the following:
Stock photography
Portraits
Weddings
Photojournalism
Landscape
Fashion
Sports
Fine art
Families & children
Nature & wildlife
Travel
Product
Architecture
There are even more niches and you should do some research to find the one that interests you more.So if you are going to choose photography courses or school, make sure to consider all these factors. Remember, what may be the best course for you may not be the same for another person. It all comes down to your goals and interests.

Automotive Attorney to Repair Your Problems

Automotive industry has a great effect on the world economy. There are many production and service industries which support this industry. There has been a major increase in the number of automobiles in the past decade. Therefore, the repair shops have also increased. Many issues can arise during repair and thus there is a need for an automotive attorney.IssuesSome of the major issues can include protection of intellectual property and safety concerns. The clients for an automotive defense attorney can include suppliers of component parts, domestic and foreign companies, original equipment manufacturers, automotive trade associations, and consulting firms. Whether the clients are facing regulation, litigation, prevention and counseling, or legislation there is a lawyer to help them.These lawyers are well-versed with different case scenarios and have vast experience in representing clients who are dealers, suppliers, or trade groups. A defense lawyer will be able to serve the interests of all the repair facilities and technicians. Clients prefer attorneys who have a familiarity and understanding of the common issues that repair shops and technicians usually have to deal with.What Does the Law Say?According to the Automotive Repair Act, there are certain rights for the consumers. It is advisable that the repair shops and technicians should know and understand these laws first before they approach a Bureau of Automotive Repair attorney. The Required Disclosures law says that the repair shops must furnish the client with a written estimate. The estimate should include price charged for parts, diagnostic test, and labor. It should also include details like date, duration, and odometer reading. The price should be charged according to used or new parts used. A statement should be there to show if the repair is actually needed or whether it is only recommended.The repair shops and technicians should know that the consumers have a right to a written estimate. It can either be an itemized or a non-itemized estimate. However, an automotive attorney can tell the client that sometimes the consumers may not want an estimate. They can just ask the shop to do the repairs but the total cost should not exceed the amount set by them. In that case, the technician can get this written and signed from the consumer in case of any issues that may arise later. A customer also has a right to a copy of invoice. The invoice is an itemized list of the price of parts and labor, total price, warranties, and the odometer reading.The technicians should know that they are prohibited from asserting lien charges for any unauthorized repairs. Consumers have the right to pick up a vehicle from the facility if they pay according to the charges disclosed to them before repairs. Auto repair shops have to, by law, post consumer rights at a place where they are easily visible. The post should tell the consumers that they are liable to a face-to-face contact, a written estimate for repairs costing over $100.There are many other laws which prohibit the repair shops to perform unlawful practices. An automotive attorney can guide the technicians and repair shops about other laws. These include guiding them about laws relating to non-business hours and unforeseen repairs.

What Are Education Portals?

An education portal is a website specially designed to provide a range of educational services. It is a comprehensive place to find a number of educated related things. Portals are multi-functional websites which include personalized content, data submission and retrieval tools and links related to educational systems or services.The key element in an education portal is to provide personalized and user-specific content to its users. The content manager is responsible to review and publish the content which is accurate, relevant and easily available. The users can refer to such portals where they can find comprehensive information about the schools, course, admissions and programs. They can find a lot of general information related to education on these portals. Students can register for one such portal and they are provided with a username and password to get complete access to the website where personalized content is available. You can find different education portals for different states where you can find all education related content concerning that particular state.Students and teachers can benefit from these portals as both learning and teaching are assisted through available educational content. Parents also get access to information related to educational activities, school contact information, schedules and curriculum. They also have the advantage of communicating with people within the local education community. Education portals provide maximum access to resources and information related to improving existing teaching, learning and research practices in education. They act as a bridge students, teachers, parents and administrator to improve interaction and communication to facilitate collaborative work and research.The field of education needs a lot of reforms and education portals have helped a lot by providing people with accurate and relevant information. Creating and maintaining such a portal is a new technological development and has led to the creation of new jobs and career paths. To start a portal you need the knowledge of computer system and content management. A dedicated web server is required to support public and private sections. There is a mechanism to manage request for user identification and password and also the ability to remind users of their passwords and allow them to reset their passwords.Education portals are very beneficial for students. It saves them from the trouble of calling different institutions or schools for information. They can easily find all the information on any of these portals. You can find a lot of education portals where you can find all relevant information.

Dany Bahar – The Story Of A Brand Guru

Brand awareness is the buzz phrase of the 21st century’s marketing philosophy. A few decades ago we didn’t talk brand we talked ‘make’. What ‘make’ is your new television… what ‘make’ is your new car… we’d eagerly ask – in an era where brand recognition was not such a fundamental part of our lives as it is today.

But brand – a word which, funnily enough, is derived from the Old Norse ‘brandr’, meaning ‘to burn’, is defined today as a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that identifies one seller’s good or service as distinct from those of other sellers’, according to the American Marketing Association. In actual fact the legal term for brand is trademark.

Conversely, in the auto industry, brands were originally called ‘marques’, a word which is still used in reference to motor vehicles. Creating a brand and then making people aware of it to the point that they immediately identify its logo, advertising jingle or such like because of associations in the memory, is what every brand guru sets out to achieve from day one.

Brand gurus are a special breed of people: they have generally created and then grown a ‘make’ until it has become a household name and is respected – even coveted – in the market. Real brand gurus are few and far between – there are probably over 100,000 brand managers for just one ‘guru’ in today’s market and their specialist knowledge, their determination to rise above all others is not the result of training, it’s the product of instinct.

One such man with this special instinct is Dany Bahar, Group Lotus’s CEO, whose career this writer has followed for some years. Regarded by some in the industry as an enigma, Bahar is nonetheless one of the finest brand gurus around today. Why has he been called ‘an enigma’? It’s probably because he has, through much of his recent career, managed to keep his background and private life quiet while at the same time, promoting some of the world’s most recognisable brands.

But these brands were born out of his enthusiasm and nurtured until they became phenomenal global successes. Already a seasoned marketing professional in the field of sports marketing before he was headhunted for Red Bull by Dietrich Mateschitz in 2005, Bahar has nonetheless become known as the man who took Red Bull by the horns and made it a global brand. One of his first moves on joining the company was to negotiate a deal for Red Bull Racing to use Ferrari engines.

During the two years he spent with Red Bull, he had built up such an enviable reputation for – and a global awareness of – the brand, that it remains today hugely successful.

He moved from Red Bull to Ferrari in 2007 where, as Senior VP for the Commercial and Brand Department, he set up a new division within the company, which managed and developed the Ferrari brand around the world. He headed sales and service on the production side as well as marketing, licensing and merchandising for the F1 team. Bahar shaped and tweaked in his inimitable way and the name Ferrari today trips off the tongues of enthusiasts the world over who, if they can’t afford the real thing, have at least some item in their home or wardrobe branded with the famous prancing horse logo.

And now he is at Group Lotus where he is working to a five year plan designed to rejuvenate the company and put the Lotus image, brand and reputation as a world-class sports car and engineering outfit back where it belongs – on a winning streak.

I once asked Bahar to explain his philosophy on branding. “I believe that the brand should influence the people working for it, not the other way around,” he told me. “I also don’t take the traditional approach to brand awareness. With Lotus we don’t do traditional advertising with the exception of one or two special markets. Instead, we focus on brand experience activities – our motorsport engagement is the perfect example of this,” he explained.

And then almost as a throw-away comment, he added: “People should feel our brand and want to become part of it.”

There, in a nutshell, ‘become part of it’ epitomises this guru’s brand philosophy. He has helped to build dreams for people – the carefree and fun image of Red Bull which he created, the aspirations of consumers to want to own a prancing horse, and now the desire to re-ignite enthusiasm for the famous Lotus roar.

Already he’s on track with his plans for the whole brand – just a year into the five year plan, he’s been able to achieve results so far, despite the challenges which faced him when he took over as CEO at Group Lotus just 21 months ago. And just so people get the message that Bahar the brand guru means business, the company’s motorsport side announced in July that it had formed Lotus Sport USA.

In fact, Bahar’s keeping the Lotus brand well in the forefront of motoring circles at the moment for there has been serious talk this week that it will unveil a new LMP2 racer at next month’s Frankfurt Motor Show with the aim of competing at Le Mans next year, starting with ALMS, the American Le Mans.

On top of this, Group Lotus has also just confirmed it will be entering the Lotus Evora GTE in a full North American and International schedule for 2012, with a testing programme starting later this year.

There’s a certain ring around things at the moment Chez Group Lotus – there’s a positiveness at Hethel which, to a seasoned motorsports’ writer like me, tells me that Bahar, the brand guru, is definitely in business – and it’s been a good news week for him as he ploughs through his five year plan, 21 months down and just 39 to go till that final goal is achieved!

Build Your Brand With A Marketing Strategy

The majority of small-time online businesses do not bother with branding, thinking that the latter is only for large companies or those with a big marketing budget. However, applying the habits of a big business to your own small website by developing a brand marketing strategy can help your sales to climb, and help you to make a bigger profit this year than in any other year. By designing and applying a brand to your own company, no matter whether you are selling products or offering a service, you can encourage potential clients into your website, and persuade them to stay long enough to make a purchase. Brand building can also help you to develop long-term relationships with your clients, a significant step when you want to make a living from a business website.

The first steps towards promotional branding of your product involves developing an action plan and setting aside a reasonable budget. This often means creating a brand marketing strategy, beginning with working out what your customers want from your brand, and moving towards an appropriate brand for your website, complete with a ‘brand promise’, a set of ideals and values which visitors to your site will associate with your brand. In most cases, it is a good idea to employ an expert to create this brand for you, as they are more likely to be able to spot gaps in the market which your products can fill, and will also ensure that the brand matches your website’s themes.

One of the most important early stages in your brand building strategy will involve the creation of an image. Many small businesses start with a picture. This can be a photograph of yourself, or perhaps of a pile of books, or maybe even a hand-drawn image by a friend or relation. This picture should represent exactly what you want the clients to think about you, and represent the products or services that you are offering. For example, if you work from home and offer IT services, you may want to consider a brand marketing strategy image that involves a photograph of yourself sitting at your computer, perhaps with books or computer DVDs on a shelf behind you. This image will help to represent you at your work, and your client will not have to look at the text to understand that you are offering a from-home internet based service.

Short and simple messages like this form the basis of any great brand marketing strategy. You should not need a lot of text or content to get your brand’s message across to the client, and if you are finding it hard to create a brand that does this easily, then you may want to consider talking to an expert and asking them for advice or tips about how to create the brand perfectly. Once you understand how to get your message to the client without having to write them an essay, you should find that your brand evolves naturally to suit your own needs and what you want to offer to potential customers.

There are so many different ways to extend your brand marketing strategy once you have developed the design and color scheme of the brand that you can sometimes be spoiled for choice. You might want to look into promoting your website through audio and video messages, and there are plenty of places on the web that provide free hosting sites for these brand messages. With this method, you can get attention for your website from people who like to use video hosting services or listen to audio broadcasts.

You should also concentrate upon the basics of any brand marketing strategy, including regular creation of different content for your website. Content for your site is essential, and you will have to make sure that you regularly write new texts in order to be interesting to visitors of your website. Once you have rewritten content for the site itself, you can also work at spreading that content to other areas, including writing essays for article directories, with a link back to your site.

Any modern brand marketing strategy should also try and make an impact through social media networks. These allow a brand greater access to the general public, and can also bring in new clients through connections to your social media pages.