Real Estate

Renters Insurance

Protecting your assets and third party liability risks should be a top concern for all renters simply because accidents happen and we rarely have visibility into them until after the fact. An unattended pot or overflowing bathtub can do great damage to your unit and contents. Renters insurance covers your contents against loss from fire, smoke damage, water damage, vandalism, theft, and many other perils.

What is the specific protection renters insurance can provide?

  • Contents – Protection for the contents of the policyholder’s unit and other personal belongings carried or used by the resident on and off the premises. If you were to flip your unit over and shake it, whatever drops will generally be considered “contained”, while whatever doesn’t drop is part of the building and not covered. Contents may include, but are not limited to, furniture, clothing, televisions, bedding, and dishes. Of course, some restrictions may apply.
  • Personal responsibility – If a resident is found to be responsible for causing damage to another person’s building or property (for example, if a resident accidentally started a fire in his or her room) or caused bodily injury to another person on the premises, the policy coverage will respond up to the insured limit to pay legal expenses and compensatory damages subject to the Terms, Conditions and Exclusions of the policy.
  • Additional living expenses – If, as a result of an insured loss, the tenant’s unit is not fit for occupancy or if a resident has to move out of their unit while repairs are being made, the policy coverage will pay increased expenses up to the insured limit incurred by the tenant. resident to obtain housing subject to the Terms, Conditions and Exclusions of the policy. If a resident has to move to a hotel for a few days while their unit is repaired, these additional costs and increased food costs for restaurant meals may be covered by the Policy subject to the Policy’s Terms, Conditions and Exclusions. .
  • Other Coverages – Additional coverage may be available for earthquake, jewelry, and fine art. Check with your insurance broker as needed.

Coverages may be subject to a deductible. Check with your insurance broker for policy details.

Additional benefits

Some renters insurance policies offer access to value-added services, directly from the insurer, as an added benefit of coverage. Novex Insurance Company, for example, offers Novex Assistance, a program designed to provide renters with services that include:

  • Unlimited legal information telephone helpline for advice on property, landlord/tenant relations, employment, contracts, benefits, licenses and permits, inheritance and family law.
  • Home care services, including cleaning when property is damaged; child care for sick children or grandchildren; child care in case of hospitalization; housework upon return from hospitalization; and visiting nurse.

Please note that home care services are subject to certain limits and conditions. Please ask for details.

Renters Insurance Programs

Renters insurance programs exist for several different types of renters that may offer personalized coverage and preferred, pre-negotiated rates for insurance. These preferential rates can offer cost savings over retail renters insurance offerings.

  • Building renters insurance programs – For the benefit of tenants living in certain buildings.
  • Senior Renters Insurance Programs – For the benefit of older tenants living in certain retirement homes. It may specifically include coverage for hearing aids, wheelchairs, or scooters.
  • College/College Renters Insurance Programs – For the benefit of your students while living in residence at certain colleges or universities.

In most cases, renters insurance programs can be provided at no cost to the building owner, retirement home owner, or university. The general liability and property loss experience may be enhanced for building owners due to the insurer’s subrogation capabilities. This, in turn, may lead to lower commercial insurance rates in the future.

conclusion

Protecting yourself and your contents from liability risk is a wise step, whether you own your home or not. Renters insurance is risk coverage often overlooked by renters, and in many cases can provide significant risk protection at reasonable prices. Ask your insurance broker about the benefits of renters insurance and learn how little it can cost to cover your belongings and liability risk.

Shopping Product Reviews

How to Write an Amazon Bestseller

At the time of writing, my first book is ranked #8 in its category, with 7 x 5 reviews* (I took a screenshot to prove it). I’m excited! I never imagined it would qualify at all!

Amazon’s sales rank is something of a mystery. I oversimplify, but it seems to be based on the number of sales per hour, with a weighting to adjust for long-term bestsellers like Harry Potter.

Okay, so I don’t know how many other books there are in the “sales and marketing” category, or how long it will stay in the top 10 (it’s been in and out at least three times now that I know of, not that I follow it endlessly! ). And to be fair, I still don’t know if that represents sales of 2,000 books, 20 books, or 2 books! My printer, Lulu, prints books on demand (minimum quantity 1) and should send the “creator proceeds” to my PayPal account after 6-8 weeks.

That said, I think it’s still an impressive achievement. In fact, it’s an understatement, since I also sell direct copies, so they are not counted in the Amazon ranking.

‘The Little Fish Guide to DIY Marketing’ is my first foray into publishing – it’s a compilation of the tips and stories that have been published in my newsletter over the years. The book was available starting in June 2010, but people only started buying it when it “released” on Amazon in October. It’s like it suddenly became a reality as soon as it was available on Amazon.

This is how I did it.

Let’s say you already have a good idea, a title, a target market, some writing skills, and someone to design your book for you. Although the content took me about two years to complete, fitting it into everything else I do, I found that to be the easy part!

Get Testimonials

When selling anything, what others say is more convincing than what you say yourself, so I knew my book needed testimonials to print on the inside and back cover. I sent PDF copies to volunteers, but found that less than half of them actually contributed their comments (hopefully due to lack of time, not because they had nothing nice to say!). Of course, it’s hard to ‘chase’ people when they don’t get paid, so it caused another delay in the process. Eventually, I collected some lovely reviews and it was finally ready for print.

The next stage was a huge learning process, with a number of key decision points along the way.

Traditional edition or self-publishing

First, you need to decide whether to find a publisher/agent or self-publish.

If you want to find a traditional publisher/agent to take care of everything for you (and take a cut), your best bet is the latest copy of the Writers and Artists Yearbook (available at all good bookstores) and there are plenty of other resources. online.

If you need help with your content, there are several book trainers/midwives, independent book publishers, and short-run printers/publishers for you to choose from, for a fee (email me for a list of recommendations).

Despite warnings online about deteriorating customer service, I opted to self-publish through Lulu.com. I also found an email address for someone there which was tremendously helpful (although there was always a delay in exchanging messages between the UK and US time zones).

If you do the same as me, then you have to decide whether to post on your own or let Lulu be your editor. Being a bit of a control freak, I decided to become an editor as well as an author.

Buy ISBN numbers (or not)

To do so, you must purchase a block of ISBN prefixes from Nielsen BookData (minimum quantity is 10, currently costing £111.86 including VAT). You have to download, print and fill out a 4 page form, but it’s not hard (except you have to figure out the meaning of unknown words like ‘title verse page’ – it’s the inside page that goes back to the title page and includes publisher’s name, copyright and ISBN details).

Search “nielsen isbn” for everything you need to know.

Be careful, it takes a while for your ISBNs to be issued, so you can’t rush this part of the process. Please also note that as a publisher you are also required to send a print copy of the book to Nielsen and the British Library Legal Deposit Office within one month (they send you the instructions along with the ISBN information) . If/when you make changes, you need to publish another edition of your book with a new ISBN, so make sure everything is perfect before you pass the final proof.

Tip: If you’re also producing an e-book version, you need your own ISBN. When setting your price, keep in mind that print books are not subject to VAT, but e-books are.

If you don’t want to go through all this, let Lulu be your publisher and get your ISBN for free.

designing the cover

Next decision: Are you making your own cover design or are you using Lulu’s cover design wizard? Fortunately, I have access to a talented graphic designer who worked with me on my own beautiful book cover. Lulu automatically produces the barcode for her ISBN, which she then downloads to include on the back; it should go in the bottom right corner with a “quiet zone” around it. Between us, we designed my book cover (using royalty-free images, of course) and uploaded the print-quality artwork to Lulu.

To make a one-piece cover (envelope), you need to download Lulu’s “Cover Image Templates” for the front and back for your book size and overlay them on the left and right sides of your design. Adjust the page size and margins to match. Use Lulu’s ‘Column Width Calculator’ tool and add that measurement in the middle.

There is more information in Lulu’s “Book Cover FAQ”.

Inner page design

Compared to that, handling the inner pages was relatively easy: they were already designed and saved in PDF format (individual pages, not spreads). I just had to make sure the title page and title verse page were included in the front (which changed all my page numbers) and upload the file. If you don’t have access to design skills, you can upload Word files instead, for Lulu to convert to PDF. Then you need to request a ‘proof’ of the book and ‘approve’ it when it’s finally perfect (I’ve done it several times and sold the proof copies at a discount).

Tip: Authors pay a little less when ordering their own books, and Lulu has monthly specials that may be worth the wait.

Get to Amazon

My next decision was an easy one: I wanted the book on Amazon, so I paid Lulu about £50 for Global Reach Distribution. (If you choose Lulu as your publisher, you get a free Extended Reach Distribution instead.)

Here, I ran into a snag. I originally designed my book in A5 size, with beautiful white paper, but it turns out that you can only have a few sizes to distribute, and A5 is not one of them. I had to change the layout to fit the US commercial size. I just added bigger margins and reuploaded it. The problem is that it couldn’t be that size on white paper, only cream.

I found that Lulu’s explanation of sizes is not very consistent. In some places they refer to the name of the size, in others they mention inches, and in others, centimeters.

For more information, search Lulu Help for ‘Which books are eligible for distribution’ and ‘What paper will my book have for the cover and inside?’ The information you need is scattered throughout her online Help, so email me for my handy summary of paper sizes and colors that are eligible for Lulu’s Global Reach distribution.

Once all the sizing, paper, and distribution have been worked out, it takes 6-8 weeks for your book to appear on Amazon. I found that almost unbelievable in this internet age! And then I discovered that it also takes a while to turn on ‘Look Inside’, even after you’ve uploaded another PDF of your entire book to Amazon. But eventually, my book was online and sales suddenly started to increase.

Tip: Other sellers may offer your book as “used” or “like new” at a discount. If you don’t reduce your margin too much, you could also establish yourself as a discount seller to compete with those sellers.yes

Marketing your book

As a self-publisher, you have to do your own marketing. I invited everyone who bought the book to check it out online (happily, everyone has loved it so far). I did marketing online at no cost, using social networking sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. For example, I ran a ‘retweet’ competition on Twitter that promoted it to new followers. I also did local PR and advertised it in my newsletter. And finally, I keep a small stock of books to sell at events I attend (such as training courses and local networking meetups). People love the glossy cover and sometimes even ask me to sign my book, like a true bestselling author!

Disclaimer: Please note that these instructions apply to the UK. Even if you do exactly what I did, I can’t promise your book will become an Amazon bestseller.

Tip: You can track sales on Novelrank.com (it’s fascinating, but don’t get too hung up on it!)

Sports

The best way to prepare for your Fantasy Football Draft in 2013

When I started playing fantasy football years ago, I didn’t know anything. I didn’t have the luxury of searching Google.com or EzineArticles.com for articles on how to get good at it because no one was playing it yet. To this day, it is difficult to find legitimate material that can seriously improve your results and there are literally millions of people who enjoy this fun game. For someone who has never written before, this article will help you look like an expert. For someone who has selected a hundred teams, I’m still going to try to teach you something. Whether you’re new to fantasy football or a veteran of 10 seasons, the fantasy football draft preparation method I use will help! I’m going to cover the routine I use to set up each season that has helped me get tons of top 3 results and a lot of season gains. Here’s what I think is the best way to prepare for your fantasy football draft in 2013:

Get your cheat sheet ready! – If you are going to draft your fantasy football team, you must have your cheat sheet ready. This is going to be one sheet of paper, or maybe 5 sheets of paper, with each player, who is available to be drafted, ranked in their particular position. If you are searching the internet for a set of ratings, find at least 2 unrelated sources to use. No one really has the best set of ratings, so having several will help you get an idea of ​​where players are. I like to find 3 sets of ranks and develop my own rank list, but this is not necessary to build a great team.

Watch out for injuries and free agents! – This could go into your cheat sheets, you could review and highlight players who, at the time of your draft, are injured or not yet signed in the NFL. I like to make a list of currently injured and unsigned players, and then tweak the list until draft time. If any of my default picks (I’ll get to that in a bit) are on the IL/Unsigned list, I absolutely won’t pick that player. For best results, try to update your injury and free agency list up to draft time. If you’re serious enough, you’ll even be checking player statuses between your picks!

Know your league setup! – This is a simple idea that hurts a lot of people on draft day. Determine what your league setup is so you can draft accordingly. Make sure you know if you’re writing for points per receipt (PPR), how many players for each position and how many teams are in your league. It’s also good to know in advance if there will be any point bonuses, like 5 extra points for wide receivers who manage to get 100 yards in a game. Knowing these kinds of things can help you set yourself apart when it comes to preparing for the 2013 draft.

mock drafts – Mock drafts are the best way to prepare for fantasy football in 2013, and probably every other year, as long as there are programmers to provide us with the draft schedules. I suggest you do a minimum of 2 mock drafts, start to finish, for each type of league you’ll join. I know it sounds confusing, but I’ll elaborate. Let’s say you intend to join a point per receipt (PPR) fantasy league that hosts 12 teams. For that league, you must participate in at least 2 mock drafts before the draft. This will help you understand where particular players are being recruited. Doing multiple drafts will show you multiple results to compare. Now, if you also intend to join a standard 10-team scoring league, you must also do 2 mock drafts with that default system. What does it matter if there are 12 teams, 8 teams or 14 teams in a mock draft? The number of teams in each league should determine your strategy to choose from. If you only have to wait 7 picks to pick a running back (RB), you can probably wait. However, if you have 28 picks to make (snake style) and need a RB, you should pick one now, as a good RB might be gone by the time it’s your turn.

Research, research, research! – “But you already told me about cheat sheets, mock drafts and knowing the settings, isn’t that enough?” research?” That lazy easy answer is yes. Those things alone can set you apart. Websites like Yahoo.com, NFL.com, CBS.com, and ESPN.com have great free research tools that I to guarantee to help you not only have a great preparation, an outstanding draft, but also get extravagant fantasy points every season. These free tools help you do things like analyze mock drafts. Yes, the websites save everything you do in these drafts and organize the results for us, FREE! The analysis tool shows you what position players are averaging. For example, last year, Yahoo.com’s analytics tool showed us that Ray Rice was being picked 1.1 overall (first round, first pick) on average by everyone in the world. Very good, huh?

Choose your selections before you can choose them!– When preparing for your fantasy football draft in 2013, have a general idea of ​​who you are choosing before you start drafting, I can’t stress this enough. Check your must-haves against your injured/unsigned list, and once you’ve done this, do some self-analysis. Hear what people in your leagues are saying. It’s a good guess Vikings fans will pick Adrian Peterson first overall (I’m not saying I wouldn’t), and if you don’t pick No. 1 overall, you might be able to write Peterson off. Another tactic I like to try sometimes is to talk about players I don’t want to make them seem more desirable to other fantasy league owners. “Man, did you see how many TDs Jamaal Charles had last year?”

With these 6 steps to prepare for your 2013 fantasy football draft, remember that the harder you work to be great, the better your chances of success. Using the research, analysis and trending tools throughout the season will help you stay on top of your game.. And as I always say, these steps were put in place to help you get better at preparing for your fantasy football draft, that doesn’t mean the same concepts can’t be applied to other fantasy games.

Relationship

History of Japanese Kokeshi Wooden Dolls

Little is known of the early history of Japanese Kokeshi wooden dolls. One school of thought believes that Kokeshi dolls have their origins in spiritualistic religious practice. Wooden dolls were thought to contain the spiritual essence of the dead and were often made for honorary remembrance.

The modern history of Japanese Kokeshi dolls began in the later part of the Edo Era (1603-1867). Originating in the Tohiku region of northern Japan, famous for its rejuvenating hot springs and hot springs, Kokeshi dolls acted as an important source of additional income for local artisans known as Kijiya (meaning carpenter in Japanese), who They specialized in woodworking and the elaboration of domestic utensils such as wooden trays and bowls. In severe winters, these Kijiya artisans began making “Kokeshi Dolls” to sell as souvenirs to visitors who frequented the local hot springs. The dolls acted not only as souvenirs, but also as massage tools used by bathers to pat each other’s shoulders while enjoying the warming benefits of the hot springs.

Kokeshi dolls were very simple in design, originally made on hand wheels. Traditional Kokeshi dolls had common features consisting of a basic cylindrical body without limbs and a round head. Although the earliest dolls may not have been painted, today most Kokeshi are painted in bright floral designs, kimonos, and other traditional patterns. The colors used were red, yellow and purple. As all dolls are hand painted, no two faces are the same. This is perhaps the greatest charm of Kokeshi. Some dolls are whimsical, cheerful and smiling, while others are serious.

Soon their popularity spread throughout Japan and they became the preferred wooden toys for those who could not afford porcelain dolls. Additionally, the dolls’ simple, rounded shapes lent themselves as early teethers for young babies.

Kokeshi dolls traditionally represented girls and quickly became popular for their representation of female beauty. Furthermore, their simple charm and association with childhood meant that they were often given as gifts when a child was born, as birthday presents, or as tokens of remembrance when a child died. Also, Japanese wooden Kokeshi dolls were popular with farmers’ children as they were thought to promise a good harvest as it was believed to create a positive impression on the gods if the children played with the dolls.

The woods used for Kokeshi vary. The cherry is distinguished by its darkness. Mizuko or dogwood is softer and is widely used. Itaya-kaede, a Japanese maple, is also used. The wood is left in the open air to dry for one to five years before it can be used to make a doll. Today, Kokeshi is recognized as one of Japan’s traditional folk arts.

Despite their common characteristics, there are two schools of design, Traditional Kokeshi and Creative Kokeshi.

Traditional kokeshi is still produced for the most part in the six prefectures of the Tohoku region. The twelve schools of design here exhibit distinctive features that allow experts to tell exactly where they have been produced, and often by whom.

Creative Kokeshi does not follow the traditional designs originating in the Tohoku region, but has an unstructured and completely free inspiration in terms of shape and painting, the only traditional limitation being its manufacture using the lathe. Unlike traditional kokeshi, they do not display any of the distinctive local colors or techniques that have been passed down from generation to generation. They simply represent the creative thinking and skill of the craftsman.

Traditional and creative handcrafted dolls have become a cause for celebration in Tohoku and throughout Japan. Every year in early September, people gather at Naruko Onsen, where artisans from all over the country gather to honor Kokeshi in a competition where the number one prize is an award from the Prime Minister.

There are many different styles of Kokeshi, but there is one philosophy that all Kokeshi dolls share, and that is the pursuit of beauty and artistry through simplicity. This philosophy is extolled on the website: http://www.dollsofjapan.co.uk

Gaming

Should I Invest in Online Gambling?

Online Gambling

If you’re looking for a profitable investment, you may be wondering – should I invest in online gambling? If you’re like many, you’ve likely been thinking about this question for a while. Luckily, there are many reasons to get involved. First, digitalization is huge. While most countries still don’t have high online penetration, such as the UK and Nordics, nearly half of all gambling will be conducted over the Internet, and the time it takes to get there varies.

https://mtwhy.com

Another factor to consider when investing in online gambling is its future growth. It’s predicted that the industry will expand significantly over the next few years. Moreover, it’s attracting a younger generation that’s interested in designing games, affiliate marketing for gambling websites, and other aspects of online gambling. Plus, more countries are making online gambling legal, which makes it even more attractive for potential investors. In addition, online gambling is becoming more popular and legal around the world, so if you’re looking for a safe investment, it’s a good time to start.

The online gambling market is exploding. According to one research source, the global online gambling market will grow to $72.3 billion by 2021. It is expected to reach $131 billion by 2027. Golden Matrix Group Inc. has just uplisted to the NASDAQ, and is currently aggressively expanding its international operations. Its recent acquisition of RKings shows that the company’s platform is scalable – its operating cost will be the same whether it has one million players or 100 billion.

Should I Invest in Online Gambling?

Gambling is similar to investing, except that there are fewer ways to limit your losses. If you bet $10 on an NFL office pool, you’re out all of your capital in no time. But with investments, you have much more resources to analyze your decisions. In the long run, the odds are in your favor if you’re able to stick with it. But there are some differences. Investing involves committing capital to an asset in the hopes of generating an income or an appreciation in its price. However, it’s important to note that the terms risk and return go hand-in-hand. Higher returns generally come with higher risks, so the more research you do, the better.

– Online gambling has become a major pass time worldwide. Many people play games online for fun and money and make their fortunes on different websites. However, some countries have banned online gambling and enforce strict rules against the activity. In addition, online gambling has increased in popularity worldwide, despite the strict regulations in place in many countries. If the ban is enforced, it will make online gambling illegal in most areas. The European Commission has the power to sue any member state of the EU to stop people from enjoying the activities.

The IRS recommends that you keep all of your receipts as evidence to support your tax claims. Keep bank and credit card statements, monthly online gambling site reports, and game tickets as proof of your winnings. Additionally, keep receipts, including ATM withdrawal receipts. This will help you substantiate your losses and prove your winnings. And, if you’re a high roller, it is important to keep paper trails.