Learn To Play The Bass Guitar In Just 30 Minutes Per Week!  Practice Videos Included.

English

Learn how to use this course, and basic music theory

Welcome to the program

Learn the string names, and what all the parts of the bass are called

Learn the notes that make up the A section of the song

Learn the first bass part for the A section of the song using different note value

Learn a part of the melody to connect with your bass part

Learn the bass notes for the B section of the song

Learn the G major scale

Learn how to play the A section melody

Learn how to play the B section melody

Learn how to play a one octave G major scale on one string

Learn how to take your first solo

Learn how to connect your bass parts to each section of the song

Learn how to put all the bass parts and soloing together.

Practice the song at three different speeds with a virtual band

Jam Room - Play with a virtual band

Learn how to play in a duo with another instrument

Bonus: The Music Coach Duo Series

Bass Guitar Lessons For Beginners

Professional Music Educator

Tier 2

Instruments

Music

Learn To Play The Piano In Just 30 Minutes Per Week!  Practice Videos Included.

Piano Lessons For Beginners

Here you will make two projects to boost your portfolio while learning Sketch. Hope you enjoy this fast course for beginners!

Design with Sketch: Beginner to Pro in less than 2 hours!

UX designer

Free Tier

Other

Design

Travel journaling is a fun, unique and deeply personal form of creatively chronicling your travels, usually in a book or diary format. A travel diary can engage and give readers a deeper understanding of your mindset during a travel experience that looking at photos alone just can't accomplish.  In this course I will help you with gathering your art supplies (along with some suggestions on supplies that you should leave at home), coming up with interesting travelogue ideas, finding time to record your thoughts and ideas while on the go and how to utilize a combination of photography, writing and drawing (and more!) to personalize your travels and help you remember them forever.  If you have a special trip coming up or even just want to commemorate a previous trip that was meaningful to you, this class is perfect for you!

A Complete Beginner's Guide to Travel Journaling

Illustrator and Cartoonist

Tier 3

"An image worths a thousand words", what a beautiful and true quote! Images send our message much better, get the attention of our audience, engage them and 99% of the time, when used properly, they convert our potetntial buyers into actual buyers than bring in revenue for us.
&nbsp;<div> </div><div>The problem is that very often you may find yourself either spending a lot of time or money to create images and you may not do it the right way. That can get you frustrated and let's face it, wit less money in tour pockets instead of more.
&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>Actually, it has been proven and tested by social media specialists that images help at increasing conversions into social media posts with up to 150%. That could mean 150% more business and profits for you!
&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>In this course you will see exactly what tools to use for you social media activity to create high converting images for different purposes and platforms without losing tons of time or money on outsourcing or expensive designers and 
freelancers.
&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>So, what you will learn exactly:
&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>Why images are so important for your social media activity</div><div> </div><div>How to enhance and transform your photos for your social media accounts.</div><div> </div><div>What tools to use for free to enhance and resize your photos for social media.</div><div> </div><div>What tools to use to create high engaging images for different purposes in social media.</div><div> </div><div>How to create viral quotes images in a matter of seconds or minutes and what tools to use.</div><div> </div><div>What tools to use to create infographics for bringing more exposure and value in the marketplace.</div><div> </div><div>How to build professional looking mockups for free.
&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>and many other...
&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>Lifetime Access to all other updates!</div><div> </div><div> </div><div>New Methods and Systems introduced in the course!</div><div> </div><div> </div><div>14 Day Money Back GUARANTEE if you feel this course didn't help you at all and you can't apply anything...that is how dedicated we are to your success!</div><div>
 </div><div>All of this in less than 2 hours (out of your busy schedule) of simple to follow lectures that YOU CAN APPLY from TODAY in YOUR BUSINESS for BETTER RESULTS!
&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>Time to take action!
&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>To Your Massive Online Success,</div><div> </div><div>Sorin Constantin</div>

The Social Media Images Creation Guide

Online Entrepreneur And Marketer

Subscription

Learn how to easily sell web development services (website creation services) based on Wordpress without haveing any previous development or marketing experience whatsoever.
&nbsp;<div> </div><div>This is a short but simple and efficient course that will teach you how you can START YOUR OWN BUSINESS in this huge web development niche.
&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>Millions of people want to build websites for their businesses and don't have the time or knowledge to do it themselvs so this makes a GREAT BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY for you.
&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>The best part is that you don't need any previous experience and you don't need to actually know web development to do it.
&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>So, join right now and let's gest started!</div>

How To Make Money Selling Wordpress Web Development Services

Web Design

The online marketing world is continously changing and things that worked &nbsp;3 years ago&nbsp;don't seem to work now anymore.
&nbsp;<div> </div><div>It's harder and harder to get the attention of your audience on Social Media, with the&nbsp;Emails that you send&nbsp;or through the Banners that you have on your website.
&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>That's why you have to learn how to create and use CINEMAGRAPHS. These amazing graphics are your CHANCE TO GET YOUR POTENTIAL CUSTOMER'S ATTENTION!
&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>BIG BRANDS are already using them in their marketing campaigns and they see CONVERSIONS UP WITH 5 TIMES BIGGER!&nbsp;
&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>Netflix uses cinemagraphs to promote their TV shows and series, Calvin Klein to advertise their new collections and even Coca Cola uses them to keep their customers engaged!
&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>The problem is that for most entrepreneurs or marketers, creating a cinemagraph can seem a hard task. You either have to buy expensive softwares or to hire freelancers in order to be able to do it.
&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>THAT IS WHY I'VE CREATED THIS COURSE, to show you how you can easly create a cinemagraph by using Microsoft PowerPoint and FREE Videos that you can find online!
&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>So, if you want to learn how YOU CAN CREATE YOUR OWN CINEMAGRAPHS IN A COUPLE OF MINUTES just by using PowerPoint than join me in this course right now and let's get started!
&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>&nbsp;&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>I am looking forwad to see you inside the course and I wish you maximum success!</div>

How To Create Amazing Cinemagraphs with Microsoft PowerPoint

When it comes to any visual storytelling medium, having lush and emotive backgrounds and interiors for your characters to inhabit can add new life and dimension to your story. A well conceptualized, drafted and executed interior space can serve all kinds of vital storytelling functions; from establishing key settings, painting a fuller picture about the character or characters that use the space and helping to assert story critical themes, messages and moods.  This is a tutorial style class, where I'll walk you through the creation of an original interior space from beginning to end. In this class, we will start by considering the space and asking ourselves five key questions - the answers to these questions will be used throughout the creation of our interior space.  This class is specially for cartoonists, illustrators and animators that want to get a better handle on creating thoughtful interiors that help enrich their stories.  All music in this lesson is courtesy of DJ Quads: https://soundcloud.com/aka-dj-quads

Concept Design: Designing Meaningful Interiors That Tell a Story

<div>Unleash a new illustration style and create a character portrait you'll fall in love with!</div><div> </div><div> </div>Lark Aakarshan, digital artist, magician, designer and creative entrepreneur shares his personal process for creating colourful, stylised portraits in his signature character illustration style. From first sketch to final colour, you’ll learn how to u<span style="font-size: inherit;">se a photo as your foundation for your portraiture process, giving you the freedom to flex your creativity and experiment with a whole new illustration style.</span><div> <div><div> </div><div>His inviting, step-by-step lessons include:&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>Choosing a great reference photo.</div><div>Creating a Skeleton Sketch.</div><div><span style="font-size: inherit;">Laying Foundations with Base Colours.</span></div><div>Abstracting Highlights and Shadows.</div><div>Building Finer Details.</div><div>Finetuning.</div><div>Manipulating Texturing.</div><div> </div><div><span style="font-size: inherit;"> </span></div><div>Whether you’re an accomplished artist looking for an exercise to challenge yourself or just joining the world of digital illustration, this class will provide you with simple, effective techniques that you’ll return to again and again.&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>When you’re done, you’ll have a stylised portrait of you or someone you love, perfect to give as a gift or hang as a custom art piece!</div></div></div><div> </div><div>I cant wait to see what you will create. So let's begin.</div>

Abstract Portraits - Drawing Photos into Masterpieces

Brand & UI UX Consultant, Artist & Mentalist

Stunning presentations, social media posts and videos are the key to online marketing success.&nbsp;If you are not able to captivate your audience's attention by using these elements than you are probably not driving traffic and sales to your products and services.
&nbsp;<div> </div><div>The problem is that to create professional looking media elements like these you need to spend a lot of money&nbsp;on designers, software, images/photos and the list can go on.
&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>The question is: "Can you create them for FREE?" and the Answer is "Yes".
&nbsp;</div><div> </div><div>How? Join this course right now and learn how to do it with Adobe Spark in 2019!</div>

Create Images, Videos And Web Pages Using Adobe Spark

<div>Every artist that I've known (myself included), has had a desire to do better in their work and go beyond the bounds of their creative limitations. At times this can feel daunting or even impossible, but it's important to remember that drawing is a skill; and skills can always be honed and improved upon. There are simple and practical steps you can take to make your drawings better, and this class will help you do just that.  Most of us already know that practice is an important key to improving any technical skill, but what else can be done to help speed up your learning? This class will show you how to critically analyze your work, harness your observation skills and demonstrate a couple of practical warm up exercises that will help your drawing be the best it can be.  If you're ready to start improving your drawing skills, I'll see you in class!  </div><div> </div><div>Music courtesy of DJ Quads -&nbsp; https://soundcloud.com/aka-dj-quads</div>

Using Critical Analysis to Improve Your Drawing Skills

<h2>In this course:</h2>
<ul>
  <li>you will learn how to apply cool web design trends</li>
  <li>you will learn everything about modern design illustrations</li>
  <li>you will find out how to create simple constructions using Adobe Illustrator</li>
  <li>you will learn where to find great website templates and layouts</li>
  <li>you will learn the latest updates in design</li>
</ul>
<h2>Need more inspiration in creating awesome illustrations and designs? Welcome to this beginner tutorial on web design illustration. These free hacks were carefully selected to improve your designing skills.<br>
 <br>
Web design is super easy! Learn the basics of cool web illustrations in Adobe Illustrator! In this tutorial, you will discover different trends in web design and learn great illustration styles, including lots of tips and tricks on how to improve your works! <br>
 <br>
Create stunning prints like a professional! This course breaks down Adobe Illustrator techniques, animation tricks, and useful design advice. Enjoy the video!</h2>

Creating a modern web design construction using Adobe Illustrator

Web Designer 

<h2>In this course:</h2>
<ul>
  <li>you will learn how to apply cool web design trends</li>
  <li>you will find out how to create fantastic illustrations using Adobe Illustrator</li>
  <li>you will learn everything about modern UI design app concepts</li>
  <li>you will learn where to find great website templates and layouts</li>
  <li>you will learn the latest updates in UI and UX design</li>
</ul>
<h2>Need more inspiration in creating awesome art concepts and designs? Welcome to this creative UI app design tutorial for beginners. These free hacks were carefully selected to update your knowledge in Adobe Illustrator design and develop the necessary skills. <br>
 <br>
Start your web design using Illustrator templates! Watch this detailed tutorial and expand new opportunities! <br>
 <br>
UI and UX design with Adobe Illustrator is super easy! In this course, you will discover different trends in web design and learn new illustration styles, including lots of tips and tricks on how to improve your workflow! Enjoy the video!</h2>

UI App design concept with Adobe illustrator | UI and UX Design

How to Crochet Cowls and Bralettes

Crochet

Tier 1

Fashion Design

<p>Want to know how to create a perfect text design in Adobe Photoshop in simple steps? In this digital illustration course for beginners, you will learn up-to-date techniques and get practical tips to apply in real life.<br>
 <br>
In this course:</p>
<ul>
  <li>you will learn how to outline text in Photoshop</li>
  <li>you will learn what is the best samples of texts</li>
</ul>
<p>You will learn useful Adobe Photoshop tips and hacks</p>
<ul>
  <li>you will get cool examples of great text effects in Photoshop</li>
  <li>you will learn helpful logo tips and hacks</li>
  <li>you will learn how to create awesome logos and templates</li>
</ul>
<p>Are you looking for the best professional web design software to create web templates and great text designs in much less time? This online course will answer your questions about creating beautiful text effects in Photoshop and help you improve your skills.</p>

How to design awesome text effects in Photoshop

Designer 

<h2>How does the course work?<br>
 <br>
Blender animation</h2>
<ul>
  <li>you will learn how to make 3d animated videos</li>
  <li>you will learn how to build objects in Blender</li>
  <li>you will learn how to create 3d animated characters and add cool effects</li>
</ul>
<h2>3D animated scene tips and tricks</h2>
<ul>
  <li>you will find out what animation tools and techniques are appropriate for you</li>
  <li>you will learn how to create 3d animated models of person</li>
  <li>you will learn how much time it will take to learn blender</li>
  <li>you will learn what blender animation software to use</li>
</ul>
<h2>Ever wondered how great it would be to see your own creative Blender design in 3D? Wonder no more! This course will teach you simple animation hacks in Blender. <br>
 <br>
Follow easy steps to produce creative work and make your art patterns look more professional. This is the ideal tutorial for beginners.<br>
 <br>
Check out the animation tutorial covering all sorts of new methods to create cool 3D stylized animation!</h2>

Blender beginners tutorial: creating a 3D animated scene using a 2D image

3D Animator

3D Animation

<div>Character design can be tough. Creating characters that are memorable and resonate with an audience in a lasting and genuine way can be even tougher. But there's good news; this class is specially designed to demystify what makes a character unforgettable and gives you practical advice on how to make your fictional characters worthy of remembering for years to come.  </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> This class is visually oriented and made with cartoonists, illustrators and animators in mind, we will also be covering the writing aspects of how to write a memorable character. Cool looking characters are great, but you also need to have a character that feels, thinks and to some degree resembles a real person.  </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>This class includes will not only cover the concept behind creating great characters, but will also give you concrete steps that you can take to move forward. I'll show you a visualization exercise to help you imagine your character's daily life, how to write a character brief, compile a character biography and more!  </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>Join me on this character creation journey, I can't wait to start making some amazing characters with you.  </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div> </div><div>All music in this lesson is courtesy of DJ Quads: https://soundcloud.com/aka-dj-quads</div>

Character Design: Writing and Designing More Memorable Characters

3-d Animation

<p>The visuals created to support your marketing campaigns matter. Whether you’re producing articles, recording a podcast or publishing a report, pairing aesthetically pleasing and professional visuals with your content can help ensure it gets seen.<br>
<br>
Sponsored by Adobe Spark, this course teaches non-designers how to produce attractive designs for their content marketing efforts. Through identifying the key elements to focus on with each type of design and using the mobile design tool, the goal of the course is to help you create appealing visuals more quickly and affordably.<br>
<br>
Join Brian Honigman, a leading marketing consultant and an NYU adjunct marketing professor, to learn how to visualize your content marketing by designing captivating graphics, images, infographics, social media posts and other visuals.<br>
<br>
To improve your design skills as a marketer or business owner, you’ll learn how to:<br>
<br>
- Establish brand style guidelines<br>
- Design visuals for a blog post<br>
- Design visuals for a podcast<br>
- Design visuals for Facebook and Instagram<br>
- Design visuals for Twitter<br>
- Design visuals for YouTube<br>
- Design an Infographic<br>
- Design visuals for reports, guides, and white papers <br>
- Design memes and GIFs<br>
<br>
Redeem an extended free trial of Adobe Spark and 20% off the monthly and yearly subscription plans: https://adobesparkpost.app.link/8gQc1eCbd7</p>

How to Visualize Your Content Marketing

Marketing Consultant, NYU Adjunct Professor

Error

Tier 7

Tier 11

Tier 4

Architect and 3D Artist

Interior Design

Motion Graphic Designer and 2D Animator

Music Fundamentals

Should you spend the time and money to optimize your site to get higher rankings for certain keywords? How much extra sales will you achieve? What's your Return On Investment (ROI)?

When you're trying to predict results you'll get from organic search engine optimization - especially ROI - you find all sorts of complications. Let me outline problems you'll encounter in click-through rate data, personalized search, as well as changes in the search engine results pages: image results, local results, shopping results, and news results. Then, I'll explain where to get the best data to predict your ROI.

Click-through rate data that you find in "industry reports" can be extremely misleading. For example, a study by Danny Goodwin compared the relative number of clicks from the top 3 or 4 positions. But if you try to correlate such ranking data to click-through predictions from Google AdWords Tool, you're not going to get very accurate results.

Here's why. Different types of queries have different kinds of click-through rates. For instance, people often type a URL in Google's search box rather than in the URL bar, sometimes yielding a very different result.

If you're searching for something inexpensive like socks, you might click on the first 2 or 3 listings. The first one to look reputable and have good pricing is probably going to get your purchase.

But if you're searching for some expensive service like "Applicant Tracking Systems" for your company, you might go to page 2 to do your complete due diligence before recommending a solution to your boss? I would.

So, using click-through data as reported in industry studies is misleading if you are trying to predict how many clicks you can get from a specific ranking.

Personalized search, that is, Google deciding what results to show you based on past searches, introduces another complication. Browsing behavior impacts personalized rankings, making it difficult to predict rankings from one person to another.

Complications of Ever-Changing Search Results Pages

Click-through rates are impacted by the various blended search results now being offered by Search Engines. Here are a few examples. It's hard to predict how the images and different types of results surrounding your company's entry will affect click-through rates.

<p>Should you spend the time and money to optimize your site to get higher rankings for certain keywords? How much extra sales will you achieve? What's your Return On Investment (ROI)?</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>When you're trying to predict results you'll get from organic search engine optimization - especially ROI - you find all sorts of complications. Let me outline problems you'll encounter in click-through rate data, personalized search, as well as changes in the search engine results pages: image results, local results, shopping results, and news results. Then, I'll explain where to get the best data to predict your ROI.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Industry Reports of Click-Through Rates</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Click-through rate data that you find in "industry reports" can be&nbsp;<em>extremely</em>&nbsp;misleading. For example, a study by Danny Goodwin compared the relative number of clicks from the top 3 or 4 positions. But if you try to correlate such ranking data to click-through predictions from&nbsp;<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120504093256/https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal">Google AdWords Tool</a>, you're not going to get very accurate results.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Here's why. Different types of queries have different kinds of click-through rates.&nbsp;For instance, people often type a URL in Google's search box rather than in the URL bar, sometimes yielding a very different result.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Consider two other types of queries.</p>
<ol>
  <li>If you're searching for something&nbsp;inexpensive&nbsp;like socks, you might click on the first 2 or 3 listings. The first one to look reputable and have good pricing is probably going to get your purchase.</li>
  <li>But if you're searching for some&nbsp;expensive&nbsp;service like "Applicant Tracking Systems" for your company, you might go to page 2 to do your complete due diligence before recommending a solution to your boss? I would.</li>
</ol>
<p>So, using click-through data as reported in industry studies is misleading if you are trying to predict how many clicks you can get from a specific ranking.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Complications of Personalized Search</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Personalized search, that is, Google deciding what results to show you based on past searches, introduces another complication. Browsing behavior impacts personalized rankings, making it difficult to predict rankings from one person to another.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Complications of Ever-Changing Search Results Pages</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Click-through rates are impacted by the various blended search results now being offered by Search Engines. Here are a few examples. It's hard to predict how the images and different types of results surrounding your company's entry will affect click-through rates.</p>
<p><br></p>

Marketing manager

When you're trying to predict results you'll get from organic search engine optimization you find some complications. You'll learn where to get the best data to predict your ROI.

How to predict results from SEO

Whoever said staying in a hotel was the only way to travel? Now camping may come to mind, but there is a whole batch of new options when traveling, either for business or pleasure, by yourself or with 10 people. And why not travel and stay in style – and like a local? Swap your house, do a homestay, rent a pad, or even stay in a monastery! There’s no time like the present to travel and do it for free.

This is the new ‘sweet spot’ between renting a home, staying in a B&B, and doing a homestay. People will rent out a spare room or their entire apartment or house for a night or a few days. It’s like a one-to-one B&B and allows you to stay in some amazing, one-of-a-kind places around the world for much less than a hotel. You can opt for properties in which you have the place to yourself or others where you’ll stay with the owner.

The options: There are a few places to look, including Crashpadder.com, Airbnb.com, and iStopOver.com. Airbnb is my personal favorite, with a wide selection of unique properties worldwide and a nice interface for browsing. The real value comes in big cities, where accommodation tends to run higher than outlying areas. A recent search found a modern, furnished beautiful loft and one-bedroom apartments in the best neighborhoods in Barcelona for around $70 a night, or as little as $10 for a private room in one, compared with an average room rate of $137. The New York Times has a great piece comparing the leading ‘Virtual B&B’ services.

Tips: Airbnb handles all the payments and arrangements, which means less work for a traveler than a homestay which requires negotiations with the owners, a contract, deposits, etc. Also, if there is a dispute with the place you are staying at, they can act as an intermediary and even arrange another place for you to stay. Be sure to look for properties with positive reviews from other travelers, as this is a sign of a good standing member.

With the economy floundering, the market has filled with owners putting their vacation homes up as rentals. The savings really kick in with larger groups, often of four or more. Sometimes the rates depend on the length of your stay, and locking in a week or more will drop the price significantly. This option is fantastic for both work and vacation travel. For vacation travel, the deals are fantastic. For instance, on a trip to Hawaii, a luxury beachfront home in Maui could be had for $400 a night for 6 people. The cost of getting 3 rooms at a hotel of similar luxury would cost over $800. For a weeklong vacation, that’s a savings of $2800.

The options: Homeaway.com and Vacationrentals.com and VRBO.com. All have the same parent company yet have separate databases. It’s worth checking all three, but homeaway.com has the cleanest interface and an enormous database of over 200,000 properties.

Tips: With most rentals, you will deal directly with the owners, so it’s good to connect with a person whose property has gotten positive reviews from fellow travelers. Expect to pay a deposit and always pay by credit card so if the place isn’t what you expected, the charges can be disputed. Often times there will be additional fees for cleaning, which you should make note of in advance.

Want to stay in a fantastic home for free? If you have your own home, why not swap it with another family home in the place you’d like to visit? Of course, if your house is in a place that doesn’t attract many visitors, it may be tough to find a match. But if you live in or near a popular vacation destination, this option is perfect.

The options: The biggest and best choice is HomeExchange.com. It has the most listings of any site.

Tips: Always check reviews and ratings on sites to see how the people stack up. Secondly, get in touch with the people you are swapping with beforehand to feel them out.

The practice of connecting travelers with a free homestay with people has been around since the 1950s, and is known as ‘hospitality exchange.’ In recent years, the advent of online social networks has allowed the practice to flourish into large networks of kind souls around the world willing to put you up in a room or a couch for free, in the name of altruism.

The options: Couchsurfing.org, with more than 2.2 million members, is the world's largest hospitality network and is hugely popular with backpackers and travelers around the world looking to stay for free with people around the world. The sheer number of options of where to stay and with whom is mindboggling and even in extremely remote corners of the planet, there’s a couch waiting for you. There are also private homestay clubs, like servas.org, that have members around the world that exchange hospitality with free homestays wherever they go.

Tips: The online networks ensure safety and trust by verifying their members' identities and encouraging reviews and recommendations from travelers who have stayed there in the past. Make sure to only stay with members who have positive reviews from at least five fellow travelers.

Hostels and Pensions fly below the radar of most travelers because they are perceived to just be dormitories full of rowdy backpackers. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. There is a high class of hostel and no-frills hotels, in some parts of the world as a pension, that offer clean and safe private rooms and bathrooms, and are often within walking distance of major sites and attractions in a city. Staying at a hostel can save you upwards of $50 to $100 a night off comparable quality hotels in the same area. For instance in Portland, OR, a private room in an upscale hostel (in a cool neighborhood) was only $47.50 a night, compared to the average room rate of $125.

The options: Hostelworld.com has the largest listings of hostels (over 24,000 around the world). It lets you search by location, room type (dorm, shared room, or private room), and price. Also, you can cross-check with Lonelyplanet.com, one of the most respected names in budget travel, for their guide to the best hostels and B&B’s around the world.

Tips: Hostel quality varies widely so be sure to check reviews from other travelers on the Hostelworld.

If you’re traveling within the US or Canada, renting an RV can be an affordable and fun way to both travel and save a bundle on lodging. Renting an RV is best suited for short leisurely trips or family vacations. Five nights in a hotel with two rooms would be around $1000 (for the average room rate in North America), whereas the same trip via RV might be half that, so the savings can be tremendous.

The options: At Cruise America, an RV that sleeps 5 people, for a trip of 5 nights, traveling around 500 miles, only costs $466 from Los Angeles, including all taxes and insurance. Add in the cost of staying in RV parks, about $100, it’s around $550. If you are able to take advantage of special offers and discounts found on the site, the rate can be even lower.

Tips: For trips longer than a few hours away, the price of gas and mileage starts to overtake any savings you might get. Also, be sure to scout out RV parks and campgrounds to park your RV before your trip so you know exactly where you’ll pull in at night. 

Yup, that’s right. Around the world, beautiful and unique monasteries will rent their rooms out, often for a small ‘suggested donation’ of around $50 a night, or less, depending on what you might be able to afford. They are often well cared for, clean, safe, include meals, and are often found in beautiful locations.

The options: While in Europe, monasteries are easy to find out about in guidebooks. Monasteries in the U.S. don’t advertise their facilities, so you have to know where to look. About.com has a decent guide to Monasteries in the United States that offer accommodations. If you are traveling in Italy, this is a very popular way to travel, and you can even book directly at http://www.monasterystays.com/

Tips: Since most monasteries don’t advertise, it’s worth checking with a local church to find out if there are monasteries in the area and if they house travelers.

<p>Whoever said staying in a hotel was the only way to travel? Now camping may come to mind, but there is a whole batch of new options when traveling, either for business or pleasure, by yourself or with 10 people. And why not travel and stay in style – and like a local? Swap your house, do a homestay, rent a pad, or even stay in a monastery! There’s no time like the present to travel and do it for free.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Peer-to-Peer Travel</p>
<p>This is the new ‘sweet spot’ between renting a home, staying in a B&amp;B, and doing a homestay. People will rent out a spare room or their entire apartment or house for a night or a few days. It’s like a one-to-one B&amp;B and allows you to stay in some amazing, one-of-a-kind places around the world for much less than a hotel. You can opt for properties in which you have the place to yourself or others where you’ll stay with the owner.</p>
<p>The options: There are a few places to look, including Crashpadder.com, Airbnb.com, and iStopOver.com. Airbnb is my personal favorite, with a wide selection of unique properties worldwide and a nice interface for browsing. The real value comes in big cities, where accommodation tends to run higher than outlying areas. A recent search found a modern, furnished beautiful loft and one-bedroom apartments in the best neighborhoods in Barcelona for around $70 a night, or as little as $10 for a private room in one, compared with an average room rate of $137. The New York Times has a great piece comparing the leading ‘Virtual B&amp;B’ services.</p>
<p>Tips: Airbnb handles all the payments and arrangements, which means less work for a traveler than a homestay which requires negotiations with the owners, a contract, deposits, etc. Also, if there is a dispute with the place you are staying at, they can act as an intermediary and even arrange another place for you to stay. Be sure to look for properties with positive reviews from other travelers, as this is a sign of a good standing member.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Rent a Home</p>
<p>With the economy floundering, the market has filled with owners putting their vacation homes up as rentals. The savings really kick in with larger groups, often of four or more. Sometimes the rates depend on the length of your stay, and locking in a week or more will drop the price significantly. This option is fantastic for both work and vacation travel. For vacation travel, the deals are fantastic. For instance, on a trip to Hawaii, a luxury beachfront home in Maui could be had for $400 a night for 6 people. The cost of getting 3 rooms at a hotel of similar luxury would cost over $800. For a weeklong vacation, that’s a savings of $2800.</p>
<p>The options: Homeaway.com and Vacationrentals.com and VRBO.com. All have the same parent company yet have separate databases. It’s worth checking all three, but homeaway.com has the cleanest interface and an enormous database of over 200,000 properties.</p>
<p>Tips: With most rentals, you will deal directly with the owners, so it’s good to connect with a person whose property has gotten positive reviews from fellow travelers. Expect to pay a deposit and always pay by credit card so if the place isn’t what you expected, the charges can be disputed. Often times there will be additional fees for cleaning, which you should make note of in advance.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Swap your House</p>
<p>Want to stay in a fantastic home for free? If you have your own home, why not swap it with another family home in the place you’d like to visit? Of course, if your house is in a place that doesn’t attract many visitors, it may be tough to find a match. But if you live in or near a popular vacation destination, this option is perfect.</p>
<p>The options: The biggest and best choice is HomeExchange.com. It has the most listings of any site.</p>
<p>Tips: Always check reviews and ratings on sites to see how the people stack up. Secondly, get in touch with the people you are swapping with beforehand to feel them out.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Totally Free</p>
<p>The practice of connecting travelers with a free homestay with people has been around since the 1950s, and is known as ‘hospitality exchange.’ In recent years, the advent of online social networks has allowed the practice to flourish into large networks of kind souls around the world willing to put you up in a room or a couch for free, in the name of altruism.</p>
<p>The options: Couchsurfing.org, with more than 2.2 million members, is the world's largest hospitality network and is hugely popular with backpackers and travelers around the world looking to stay for free with people around the world. The sheer number of options of where to stay and with whom is mindboggling and even in extremely remote corners of the planet, there’s a couch waiting for you. There are also private homestay clubs, like servas.org, that have members around the world that exchange hospitality with free homestays wherever they go.</p>
<p>Tips: The online networks ensure safety and trust by verifying their members' identities and encouraging reviews and recommendations from travelers who have stayed there in the past. Make sure to only stay with members who have positive reviews from at least five fellow travelers.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Private Hostel Rooms</p>
<p>Hostels and Pensions fly below the radar of most travelers because they are perceived to just be dormitories full of rowdy backpackers. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. There is a high class of hostel and no-frills hotels, in some parts of the world as a pension, that offer clean and safe private rooms and bathrooms, and are often within walking distance of major sites and attractions in a city. Staying at a hostel can save you upwards of $50 to $100 a night off comparable quality hotels in the same area. For instance in Portland, OR, a private room in an upscale hostel (in a cool neighborhood) was only $47.50 a night, compared to the average room rate of $125.</p>
<p>The options: Hostelworld.com has the largest listings of hostels (over 24,000 around the world). It lets you search by location, room type (dorm, shared room, or private room), and price. Also, you can cross-check with Lonelyplanet.com, one of the most respected names in budget travel, for their guide to the best hostels and B&amp;B’s around the world.</p>
<p>Tips: Hostel quality varies widely so be sure to check reviews from other travelers on the Hostelworld.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Hit the Road-Rent an RV</p>
<p>If you’re traveling within the US or Canada, renting an RV can be an affordable and fun way to both travel and save a bundle on lodging. Renting an RV is best suited for short leisurely trips or family vacations. Five nights in a hotel with two rooms would be around $1000 (for the average room rate in North America), whereas the same trip via RV might be half that, so the savings can be tremendous.</p>
<p>The options: At Cruise America, an RV that sleeps 5 people, for a trip of 5 nights, traveling around 500 miles, only costs $466 from Los Angeles, including all taxes and insurance. Add in the cost of staying in RV parks, about $100, it’s around $550. If you are able to take advantage of special offers and discounts found on the site, the rate can be even lower.</p>
<p>Tips: For trips longer than a few hours away, the price of gas and mileage starts to overtake any savings you might get. Also, be sure to scout out RV parks and campgrounds to park your RV before your trip so you know exactly where you’ll pull in at night.&nbsp;</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Stay in a Monastery</p>
<p>Yup, that’s right. Around the world, beautiful and unique monasteries will rent their rooms out, often for a small ‘suggested donation’ of around $50 a night, or less, depending on what you might be able to afford. They are often well cared for, clean, safe, include meals, and are often found in beautiful locations.</p>
<p>The options: While in Europe, monasteries are easy to find out about in guidebooks. Monasteries in the U.S. don’t advertise their facilities, so you have to know where to look. About.com has a decent guide to Monasteries in the United States that offer accommodations. If you are traveling in Italy, this is a very popular way to travel, and you can even book directly at http://www.monasterystays.com/</p>
<p>Tips: Since most monasteries don’t advertise, it’s worth checking with a local church to find out if there are monasteries in the area and if they house travelers.</p>

Lifestyle blogger

Whoever said staying in a hotel was the only way to travel? There is a whole batch of new options when traveling, either for business or pleasure, by yourself or with 10 people. 

Ditch the hotel: 7 ways to stay for cheap or even free

Finding a good deal on travel expenses can make vacations and trips far more affordable. With an overabundance of travel sites online to weed through, it is often difficult to find the site with the best deals and best resources. Simply googling “travel deal sites” will get you over 37 million results.

So what are some of the coolest travel deal sites? Here are our top 6 picks!

Everyone knows that Expedia offers great deals on all travel expenses. But most people don’t know about their rewards program. Every time you book an “eligible” vacation through Expedia, you can earn points towards rewards! This is the only travel website I have come across that offers rewards for booking through their site, so this is a pretty cool perk!

Travelocity offers fantastic savings on airfare, hotels, rental cars, and cruises but sets themselves apart from other travel discount sites with their ExperienceFinder. If you want to take a trip but are clueless about where you want to go or what you want to do, you can use this awesome tool to decide on a trip based on a theme (i.e. romance, adventure, family, etc.) or destination.

Orbitz offers the standard saving opportunities as most other travel sites but what sets them apart is their activities section. Not only do they offer the most thorough list of activities available in certain cities, but you can also get great deals on those activities! Additionally, if you don’t know what activities are available for the city you are traveling to, they have a list of top activities for certain cities. It is very useful!

I bet you didn’t know that JetBlue offers travel deals on flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises, and general vacation packages! The reason JetBlue makes the list is that I find it’s always better to book your flight through the airline you are going to use in case you have to cancel or reschedule your flight. It’s always easier to make those changes when you don’t have to go through a 3rd party. So, if you are thinking about flying with JetBlue, check out their website.

With Priceline, you can name your own price on airfare, hotel, and rental car prices by bidding against other travelers in order to get the best deal. This can enable you to save up to 40% on airfare, 60% on hotels, and 40% on rental cars. It’s like eBay for travel! Priceline also has a useful city guide feature to help you choose the best hotel for your vacation.

The cool thing about TravelZoo is it will provide links to other “recommended sites” for you to check out in order to get the best deals on airfare, hotels, and car rentals. It also has a useful “Deal Locator” tool that you can use to find great deals wherever you are traveling to OR in your hometown.

Next time you are making reservations for your vacation, check out any of these awesome sites! Not only will you get a great deal, but you will also have access to amazing resources.

<p>Finding a good deal on travel expenses can make vacations and trips far more affordable. With an overabundance of travel sites online to weed through, it is often difficult to find the site with the best deals and best resources. Simply googling “travel deal sites” will get you over 37 million results.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>So what are some of the coolest travel deal sites? Here are our top 6 picks!</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Expedia</p>
<p>Everyone knows that Expedia offers great deals on all travel expenses. But most people don’t know about their rewards program. Every time you book an “eligible” vacation through Expedia, you can earn points towards rewards! This is the only travel website I have come across that offers rewards for booking through their site, so this is a pretty cool perk!</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Travelocity</p>
<p>Travelocity offers fantastic savings on airfare, hotels, rental cars, and cruises but sets themselves apart from other travel discount sites with their ExperienceFinder. If you want to take a trip but are clueless about where you want to go or what you want to do, you can use this awesome tool to decide on a trip based on a theme (i.e. romance, adventure, family, etc.) or destination.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Orbitz</p>
<p>Orbitz offers the standard saving opportunities as most other travel sites but what sets them apart is their activities section. Not only do they offer the most thorough list of activities available in certain cities, but you can also get great deals on those activities! Additionally, if you don’t know what activities are available for the city you are traveling to, they have a list of top activities for certain cities. It is very useful!</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>JetBlue</p>
<p>I bet you didn’t know that JetBlue offers travel deals on flights, hotels, rental cars, cruises, and general vacation packages! The reason JetBlue makes the list is that I find it’s always better to book your flight through the airline you are going to use in case you have to cancel or reschedule your flight. It’s always easier to make those changes when you don’t have to go through a 3rd party. So, if you are thinking about flying with JetBlue, check out their website.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Priceline</p>
<p>With Priceline, you can name your own price on airfare, hotel, and rental car prices by bidding against other travelers in order to get the best deal. This can enable you to save up to 40% on airfare, 60% on hotels, and 40% on rental cars. It’s like eBay for travel! Priceline also has a useful city guide feature to help you choose the best hotel for your vacation.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>TravelZoo</p>
<p>The cool thing about TravelZoo is it will provide links to other “recommended sites” for you to check out in order to get the best deals on airfare, hotels, and car rentals. It also has a useful “Deal Locator” tool that you can use to find great deals wherever you are traveling to OR in your hometown.</p>
<p>Next time you are making reservations for your vacation, check out any of these awesome sites! Not only will you get a great deal, but you will also have access to amazing resources.</p>

Finding a good deal on travel expenses can make vacations and trips far more affordable.

The 6 coolest travel deal sites

One of my best friends is on a strict budget. She went to Whole Foods and spent $370 on one grocery trip. Her husband nearly had a coronary. She stood her ground, saying they were set for groceries for the next two weeks. The husband wasn’t placated. He said, “But you bought toiletries there too. You spent twice as much as you would have at Trader Joe’s or Longs. And this won’t get us through two weeks. A week from now, we’ll go back and get crackers, and then, of course, the cheese will look good so we’ll get that…, and so much for ‘grocery shopping’s all done for two weeks.’”

But what if that works? What if macro-budgeting, buying everything all at once and letting it last till it’s time to fill the shelves again, works better than micro-budgeting, telling yourself you have $20 per day to spend on food? If you shop only once or twice a month, and that is literally all you buy, will you spend the same amount that you allotted per week on a micro-budget? I’m thinking about trying another 30-day shopping experiment, just to see if it balances.

Considering that every time you come in contact with a cash register you have the opportunity, and usually the temptation to spend, it might not be such a bad idea. Imagine. You pre-buy even your indulgences. Instead of going to Starbucks daily, you buy the half ‘n’ half and pre-made espresso for the house and purchase five cookies from the bakery for the week. It would save time budgeting, and save money if you could stay away from those cash registers.

Instead of going to the market every few days, spend that time rifling through the cupboards to see what you can make. If you bought enough food on your biweekly grocery run, you’ll be okay. Look through the recipe book for ideas. Dry goods? Have you thought about a risotto or stir fry? Dry beans and spices? Have you thought about making a chili or bean stew? Yesterday I really wanted to make my favorite quinoa muffins. I didn’t want to go out to the market for the missing ingredients, but I didn’t want to give up the craving. So I got creative. I used maple syrup instead of sugar and used kefir instead of buttermilk.

Budgeting at all, macro or micro, is about getting creative. My girlfriend who went on her $370 Whole Foods shopping spree didn’t plan anything. She just bought off the shelf. If you did a great job of meal planning and then promised not to go back to the store, your creativity could give you new dishes every week, and keep you away from the temptations of spending each time you’re in the market. Try the macro-budgeting and see if it saves you time and money. 

<p>One of my best friends is on a strict budget. She went to Whole Foods and spent $370 on one grocery trip. Her husband nearly had a coronary. She stood her ground, saying they were set for groceries for the next two weeks. The husband wasn’t placated. He said, “But you bought toiletries there too. You spent twice as much as you would have at Trader Joe’s or Longs. And this won’t get us through two weeks.<strong> </strong>A week from now, we’ll go back and get crackers, and then, of course, the cheese will look good so we’ll get that…, and so much for ‘grocery shopping’s all done for two weeks.’”</p>
<p>But what if that works? What if macro-budgeting, buying everything all at once and letting it last till it’s time to fill the shelves again, works better than micro-budgeting, telling yourself you have $20 per day to spend on food? If you shop only once or twice a month, and that is literally all you buy, will you spend the same amount that you allotted per week on a micro-budget? I’m thinking about trying another 30-day shopping experiment, just to see if it balances.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p><strong>Reduce Your Exposure to Cash Registers</strong></p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Considering that every time you come in contact with a cash register you have the opportunity, and usually the temptation to spend, it might not be such a bad idea. Imagine. You pre-buy even your indulgences. Instead of going to Starbucks daily, you buy the half ‘n’ half and pre-made espresso for the house and purchase five cookies from the bakery for the week. It would save time budgeting, and save money if you could stay away from those cash registers.</p>
<p>Instead of going to the market every few days, spend that time rifling through the cupboards to see what you can make. If you bought enough food on your biweekly grocery run, you’ll be okay. Look through the recipe book for ideas. Dry goods? Have you thought about a risotto or stir fry? Dry beans and spices? Have you thought about making a chili or bean stew? Yesterday I really wanted to make my favorite quinoa muffins. I didn’t want to go out to the market for the missing ingredients, but I didn’t want to give up the craving. So I got creative. I used maple syrup instead of sugar and used kefir instead of buttermilk.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p><strong>Spend A Lot, Creatively</strong></p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Budgeting at all, macro or micro, is about getting creative. My girlfriend who went on her $370 Whole Foods shopping spree didn’t plan anything. She just bought off the shelf. If you did a great job of meal planning and then promised not to go back to the store, your creativity could give you new dishes every week, and keep you away from the temptations of spending each time you’re in the market. Try the macro-budgeting and see if it saves you time and money.&nbsp;</p>

Budgeting at all, macro or micro, is about getting creative. Try the macro-budgeting and see if it saves you time and money. 

Macro budgeting: the anti-30-day grocery challenge

One of the biggest expenses we have to deal with is our car. From insurance to gas to repairs, our automobiles can be a huge money drain. Unless you are comfortable using public transportation to get around, there is really no way to completely eliminate the expenses associated with your car but there are definitely a few ways to cut back on automotive expenses.

Here are 5 easy ways to reduce the amount of money you spend on your car.

If you and one of your coworkers live close to each other, why not carpool to work? Having a coworker drive one week and you drive the next can cut both your gas bills in half! Better yet, if you live nearby to 2 or 3 of your coworkers, carpooling can make it so you are only paying for commuting gas about once a month. Just think of how much you could save by not having to spend money on gas each week. You are looking at hundreds of dollars in savings each year (maybe more depending on how high gas prices are)!

Many people just pay their auto insurance bill without asking themselves, “I wonder if I can get a better rate.” Next time your insurance bill comes in the mail, call your insurance company and see if you can reduce your rate. Insurance companies have all sorts of discounts, from good student discounts for your kids to good driver discounts for you. Make sure you are getting all the discounts you can get before you pay your next auto insurance bill.

If you are driving a gas-guzzler, chances are you are spending an arm and a leg on gas. Why not sell your gas-guzzler and instead purchase a car that gets better mileage? Or sell your gas-guzzler and get a hybrid or an electric car? Just think of all the money you can save by getting a more fuel-efficient car!

I know the majority of my gas goes towards my work commute. For many professionals, as long as you have a computer you can do your work from virtually anywhere. So why not ask your boss to allow you to work from home one day a week? Be sure to provide proof that you are a hard worker so that your boss will be more inclined to allow you to telecommute once a week.

If there seems to be something wrong with your car, by all means, take it to a mechanic to get it checked out. But before you shell out the money to get it repaired, make sure to call a few different mechanics and get quotes from them on how much they charge to fix whatever is wrong with your car. Then, take your car to the mechanic at the lowest price. This may only save you a few bucks, but it could save you a hundred bucks too.

There you have it, 5 easy ways to save money on the various costs associated with car ownership. Guaranteed if you implement even just one of these tips, you will save money on your automotive expenses!

<p>One of the biggest expenses we have to deal with is our car. From insurance to gas to repairs, our automobiles can be a huge money drain. Unless you are comfortable using public transportation to get around, there is really no way to completely eliminate the expenses associated with your car but there are definitely a few ways to cut back on automotive expenses.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Here are 5 easy ways to reduce the amount of money you spend on your car.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Carpool</p>
<p>If you and one of your coworkers live close to each other, why not carpool to work? Having a coworker drive one week and you drive the next can cut both your gas bills in half! Better yet, if you live nearby to 2 or 3 of your coworkers, carpooling can make it so you are only paying for commuting gas about once a month. Just think of how much you could save by not having to spend money on gas each week. You are looking at hundreds of dollars in savings each year (maybe more depending on how high gas prices are)!</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Call Your Insurance Company</p>
<p>Many people just pay their auto insurance bill without asking themselves, “I wonder if I can get a better rate.” Next time your insurance bill comes in the mail, call your insurance company and see if you can reduce your rate. Insurance companies have all sorts of discounts, from good student discounts for your kids to good driver discounts for you. Make sure you are getting all the discounts you can get before you pay your next auto insurance bill.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Get a Car with Better Gas Mileage</p>
<p>If you are driving a gas-guzzler, chances are you are spending an arm and a leg on gas. Why not sell your gas-guzzler and instead purchase a car that gets better mileage? Or sell your gas-guzzler and get a hybrid or an electric car? Just think of all the money you can save by getting a more fuel-efficient car!</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Telecommute</p>
<p>I know the majority of my gas goes towards my work commute. For many professionals, as long as you have a computer you can do your work from virtually anywhere. So why not ask your boss to allow you to work from home one day a week? Be sure to provide proof that you are a hard worker so that your boss will be more inclined to allow you to telecommute once a week.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Get a Second Opinion</p>
<p>If there seems to be something wrong with your car, by all means, take it to a mechanic to get it checked out. But before you shell out the money to get it repaired, make sure to call a few different mechanics and get quotes from them on how much they charge to fix whatever is wrong with your car. Then, take your car to the mechanic at the lowest price. This may only save you a few bucks, but it could save you a hundred bucks too.</p>
<p>There you have it, 5 easy ways to save money on the various costs associated with car ownership. Guaranteed if you implement even just one of these tips, you will save money on your automotive expenses!</p>

One of the biggest expenses we have to deal with is our car. From insurance to gas to repairs, our automobiles can be a huge money drain.

5 easy ways to cut back on automotive expenses

Improving your e-mail confirmation and follow-up procedures will take a few low-tech improvements, but will make a big difference in customer satisfaction with your company, which leads to greater customer retention and follow up sales. At the moment of "conversion," that is, when someone signs up, buys, or engages with your site, they feel positively enough about your company or product to trust you with valuable personal information. You have convinced them of your value and they are "buying in" to your business in a very real way.

It's time to convince new visitors that their confidence is justified. Failing to do so disappoints your customers. Good, professional follow up can increase this buy-in enough to encourage follow up sales, referrals, "word of mouth" support, and help create a lifelong customer. Even simple "contact us" or support questions give you the chance to create a great first impression and demonstrate how you value your customers. Here's how.

Begin with a sincere (brief) note of thanks.

Always state a specific and realistic time period to expect your follow-up action, for example, 1 to 2 business days or 3 to 4 hours (include time zones). Saying you will respond "ASAP" is meaningless. Our testing has shown that "ASAP" is often more annoying than no answer at all. Customers want answers now -- or at least they need to know when to expect them. If your answer is "within 3 to 5 days," you simply imply that good customer service is not important to your company.

New clients often appreciate making a personal connection with your business. If possible, provide a "real" follow-up contact and avoid "sales@ or info@" addresses. Sign the response with your name and title.

List your business hours of operation with a time zone. Include a chat link or phone number for immediate help.

Provide links to additional resources in the form of FAQs, online forums, manuals, and search features, n case your business is closed when the customer is seeking help,

Make a clear and friendly request to encourage sharing on social media and provide easy to use tools such as social media "share" tools, links to videos, PDF documents or white papers, recent newsletters, or links to easily shared product/info. A substantial percentage of the general population are extroverts. They provide the backbone of viral marketing or "word of mouth" referrals. Extroverts naturally want to share their experiences - so help them. Note: Using a reward to bribe customers to share is rarely effective and usually feels demeaning. It is not considered the same as a free gift.

List what they ordered and what it cost.

Clearly, state when to expect the product - then try to get it there early.

Include shipping information, such as tracking codes, carrier name, and details such as "signature required," estimated shipping weight, shipping insurance, number of packages, and how to handle shipping claims.

Offer links to download assembly manuals or detailed product specs in easy-to-print PDF documents. Suggest that your customer forward these to interested parties.

List anything the product needs to operate, such as batteries, paint, etc. If you sell these necessities - and maybe you should - provide product links.

Summarize your return and guarantee policies along with links to full policy details, including links to related FAQs.

Check with your "help desk" for a list of common customer questions and if possible, use these answers in e-mail replies and FAQs. This will help you cut support costs and improve customer relationships.

Explain when to expect the next issue, how frequently you publish, and offer links to the archives to see recent or and past content.

If you accept suggestions or comments, explain your policies and contact options.

For Contact Us, Help Desk or Support Issues

Respond to all inquiries with a "real" e-mail address and contact information, if possible, to ensure your customers' satisfaction.

Take "the customer is always right" approach, that if your customer has a problem or needs your help, it indicates a shortcoming on the part of the product or your support information. Never imply that the customer is at fault.

Welcome customer e-mails as an opportunity to demonstrate your commitment to good customer service.

Begin with a sincere but brief note of thanks, but ensure that the confirmation page does more than just thank customers.

Provide full navigation with the same header, logo, and branding information that appears on your home page. If it makes sense for visitors to stay engaged with your site after the confirmation, make it easy to do so and encourage it.

Provide links to other products or resources that may be of interest.

Advise them that they can expect a detailed e-mail confirmation in a specific number of minutes. Explain what to do if they don't receive an e-mail.

Offer links to manuals, product information, and data sheets - and make these easy to forward. Invite referrals.

Invite comment on your products, user experience, etc.

Include links to "print friendly" product information or "bookmark/save this" buttons.

All new customers should be part of a follow-up e-mail process.

After a reasonable amount of time, check to see if they are satisfied with your product, e-mail, support, etc.

Solicit information on how you might improve the experience.

Provide information on upcoming offers, sales, upgrades, etc.

Provide links to your support, forums, and newsletters.

If possible, go the extra mile. Find something of value you can give to both new and existing customers that are unexpected. There is a good reason why the bank teller gives out dog biscuits and lollipops, the dentist gives a new toothbrush, and the hardware store gives paint stirrers. When you give someone something they appreciate, persuasion psychology teaches us that it often creates a desire to reciprocate. It doesn't take much. You can implement many of these suggestions with only a few hours of effort. Research is clear that acquiring new customers costs about five times as much as it costs to retain them. By retaining only 5% more customers, per customer profit can increase from 25 to 100%. Taking the time to deliver a good confirmation will set you apart from competitors who are inattentive and less sophisticated marketers.

<p>Improving your e-mail confirmation and follow-up procedures will take a few low-tech improvements, but will make a big difference in customer satisfaction with your company, which leads to greater customer retention and follow up sales. At the moment of "conversion," that is, when someone signs up, buys, or engages with your site, they feel positively enough about your company or product to trust you with valuable personal information. You have convinced them of your value and they are "buying in" to your business in a very real way.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p>It's time to convince new visitors that their confidence is justified. Failing to do so disappoints your customers. Good, professional follow up can increase this buy-in enough to encourage follow up sales, referrals, "word of mouth" support, and help create a lifelong customer. Even simple "contact us" or support questions give you the chance to create a great first impression and demonstrate how you value your customers. Here's how.</p>
<p><br></p>
<p><strong>For&nbsp;</strong><em><strong>All</strong></em><strong>&nbsp;Responses</strong></p>
<p><br></p>
<p>Begin with a sincere (brief) note of thanks.</p>
<p><br></p>
<ul>
  <li>Always&nbsp;<strong>state a specific and realistic time period</strong>&nbsp;to expect your follow-up action, for example, 1 to 2 business days or 3 to 4 hours (include time zones). Saying you will respond "ASAP" is meaningless. Our testing has shown that "ASAP" is often more annoying than no answer at all. Customers want answers now -- or at least they need to know when to expect them. If your answer is "within 3 to 5 days," you simply imply that good customer service is not important to your company.</li>
  <li>New clients often appreciate making&nbsp;<strong>a personal connection</strong>&nbsp;with your business. If possible, provide a "real" follow-up contact and avoid "sales@ or info@" addresses. Sign the response with your name and title.</li>
  <li>List your&nbsp;<strong>business hours of operation</strong>&nbsp;with a time zone. Include a chat link or phone number for immediate help.</li>
  <li>Provide&nbsp;<strong>links to additional resources</strong>&nbsp;in the form of FAQs, online forums, manuals, and search features, n case your business is closed when the customer is seeking help,</li>
  <li>Make a&nbsp;<strong>clear and friendly request to encourage sharing on social media</strong>&nbsp;and provide easy to use tools such as social media "share" tools, links to videos, PDF documents or white papers, recent newsletters, or links to easily shared product/info. A substantial percentage of the general population are extroverts. They provide the backbone of viral marketing or "word of mouth" referrals. Extroverts naturally want to share their experiences - so help them. Note: Using a reward to bribe customers to share is rarely effective and usually feels demeaning. It is not considered the same as a free gift.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>For Product Sales</strong></p>
<p><br></p>
<ul>
  <li><strong>List what they ordered</strong>&nbsp;and what it cost.</li>
  <li>Clearly, state&nbsp;<strong>when to expect the product</strong>&nbsp;- then try to get it there early.</li>
  <li><strong>Include shipping information</strong>, such as tracking codes, carrier name, and details such as "signature required," estimated shipping weight, shipping insurance, number of packages, and how to handle shipping claims.</li>
  <li>Offer&nbsp;<strong>links to download assembly manuals or detailed product specs</strong>&nbsp;in easy-to-print PDF documents. Suggest that your customer forward these to interested parties.</li>
  <li>List&nbsp;<strong>anything the product needs to operate</strong>, such as batteries, paint, etc. If you sell these necessities - and maybe you should - provide product links.</li>
  <li><strong>Summarize your return and guarantee policies</strong> along with links to full policy details, including links to related FAQs.</li>
  <li>Check with your "help desk" for a list of&nbsp;<strong>common customer questions</strong>&nbsp;and if possible, use these answers in e-mail replies and FAQs. This will help you cut support costs and improve customer relationships.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>For Newsletter, E-mail, or Blog signups</strong></p>
<p><br></p>
<ul>
  <li>Explain when to expect the next issue, how frequently you publish, and offer links to the archives to see recent or and past content.</li>
  <li>Outline "unsubscribe" options.</li>
  <li>If you accept suggestions or comments, explain your policies and contact options.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>For Contact Us, Help Desk or Support Issues</strong></p>
<p><br></p>
<ul>
  <li>Respond to all inquiries with a&nbsp;<strong>"real" e-mail address and contact information</strong>, if possible, to ensure your customers' satisfaction.</li>
  <li><strong>Take "the customer is always right" approach</strong>, that if your customer has a problem or needs your help, it indicates a shortcoming on the part of the product or your support information. Never imply that the customer is at fault.</li>
  <li><strong>Welcome customer e-mails</strong>&nbsp;as an opportunity to demonstrate your commitment to good customer service.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>For Web Confirmations</strong></p>
<p><br></p>
<ul>
  <li>Begin with&nbsp;<strong>a sincere but brief note of thanks</strong>, but ensure that the confirmation page does more than just thank customers.</li>
  <li>Provide&nbsp;<strong>full navigation with the same header</strong>, logo, and branding information that appears on your home page. If it makes sense for visitors to stay engaged with your site after the confirmation, make it easy to do so and encourage it.</li>
  <li>Provide&nbsp;<strong>links to other products</strong>&nbsp;or resources that may be of interest.</li>
  <li>Advise them that they can&nbsp;<strong>expect a detailed e-mail confirmation</strong>&nbsp;in a specific number of minutes. Explain what to do if they don't receive an e-mail.</li>
  <li>Offer&nbsp;<strong>links to manuals, product information, and data sheets</strong>&nbsp;- and make these easy to forward. Invite referrals.</li>
  <li><strong>Invite comment</strong>&nbsp;on your products, user experience, etc.</li>
  <li>Include&nbsp;<strong>links to "print friendly" product information</strong>&nbsp;or "bookmark/save this" buttons.</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>New Customers</strong></p>
<p><br></p>
<p>All new customers should be part of a follow-up e-mail process.</p>
<ul>
  <li>After a reasonable amount of time,&nbsp;<strong>check to see if they are satisfied</strong>&nbsp;with your product, e-mail, support, etc.</li>
  <li>Solicit information on how you might&nbsp;<strong>improve</strong>&nbsp;the experience.</li>
  <li>Provide information on&nbsp;<strong>upcoming offers</strong>, sales, upgrades, etc.</li>
  <li>Provide&nbsp;<strong>links to your support, forums, and newsletters</strong>.</li>
</ul>
<p>If possible, go the extra mile. Find something of value you can give to both new and existing customers that are unexpected. There is a good reason why the bank teller gives out dog biscuits and lollipops, the dentist gives a new toothbrush, and the hardware store gives paint stirrers. When you give someone something they appreciate, persuasion psychology teaches us that it often creates a desire to reciprocate. It doesn't take much. You can implement many of these suggestions with only a few hours of effort. Research is clear that acquiring new customers costs about five times as much as it costs to retain them. By retaining only 5% more customers, per customer profit can increase from 25 to 100%. Taking the time to deliver a good confirmation will set you apart from competitors who are inattentive and less sophisticated marketers.</p>

Improving your e-mail confirmation and follow-up procedures will take a few low-tech improvements, but will make a big difference in customer satisfaction with your company.

Bass Guitar Lessons For Beginners

This Course is for You

Course Overview

1. Welcome to the program

2. Learn the string names, and what all the parts of the bass are called

3. Learn the notes that make up the A section of the song

4. Learn the first bass part for the A section of the song using different note value

5. Learn a part of the melody to connect with your bass part

6. Learn the bass notes for the B section of the song

7. Learn the G major scale

8. Learn how to play the A section melody

9. Learn how to play the B section melody

10. Learn how to play a one octave G major scale on one string

11. Learn how to take your first solo

12. Learn how to connect your bass parts to each section of the song

13. Learn how to put all the bass parts and soloing together.

14. Jam Room - Play with a virtual band

15. Bonus: The Music Coach Duo Series

Todd Porter

Piano Lessons For Beginners

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