analytics website blogs by yudha

ciri-ciri uang palsu

2010-01-14T09:39:00.002+07:00

# Mengetes uang Rp 100.000 - 50,000 dan 20,000 an
1. Lipat menjadi 4 bagian secara simetris memanjang
2. Tekan uang tersebut dengan perasaan secukupnya
3. Buka perlahan-lahan lipatan uang tsb
4. Bila kacamata Bung Hatta,WR Supratman atau Ki Hajar pecah berarti palsu
5. Khusus 50.000 an, periksa teks lagunya, kalau bukan Indonesia raya pasti palsu

# Mengetes uang Rp. 10,000
1. Lipat menjadi 4 bagian secara memanjang
2. Tekan uang tersebut dengan tekanan secukupnya
3. Kalau uangnya jadi basah karena kawahnya tumpah; atau kalau konde Cut Nyak lepas

berarti palsu

# Untuk uang Rp.5000
1. Ambil sisir rambut di rumah, kemudian gesekkan pada uang tersebut.
2. Apabila jenggot Imam Bonjol rontok berarti pa lsu. Apabila tambah panjang berarti

palsu juga!!

# Untuk ngetes palsu-tidaknya seribuan - 1.000
Cari SD Negeri terdekat, cukup taruh di trotoar depan sekolah, kalau hilang berarti

asli….

# Uang 500 an kertas agak susah dites, karena anak-anak SD aja sudah nyuekin,

satu-satunya cara adalah remes kenceng2, kalau monyetnya teriak berarti palsu..

“Selamat Mencoba!”

Profesor vs Mahasiswa

2010-01-14T09:39:00.001+07:00

Seorang Profesor dari sebuah universitas terkenal menantang mahasiswa-mahasiswa nya dengan pertanyaan ini, "Apakah Tuhan menciptakan segala yang ada?".

Seorang mahasiswa dengan berani menjawab, "Betul, Dia yang menciptakan semuanya".

"Tuhan menciptakan semuanya?" Tanya professor sekali lagi. "Ya, Pak, semuanya" kata mahasiswa tersebut.

Profesor itu menjawab, "Jika Tuhan menciptakan segalanya, berarti Tuhan menciptakan Kejahatan. Karena kejahatan itu ada, dan menurut prinsip kita bahwa pekerjaan kita menjelaskan siapa kita, jadi kita bisa berasumsi bahwa Tuhan itu adalah kejahatan".

"Mahasiswa itu terdiam dan tidak bisa menjawab hipotesis professor tersebut. Profesor itu merasa menang dan menyombongkan diri bahwa sekali lagi dia telah membuktikan kalau Agama itu adalah sebuah mitos.

Mahasiswa lain mengangkat tangan dan berkata, "Profesor, boleh saya bertanya sesuatu?".

"Tentu saja," jawab si Profesor,

Mahasiswa itu berdiri dan bertanya, "Profesor, apakah dingin itu ada?"

"Pertanyaan macam apa itu? Tentu saja dingin itu ada.

Kamu tidak pernah sakit flu?" Tanya si professor diiringi tawa mahasiswa lainnya.

Mahasiswa itu menjawab, "Kenyataannya, Pak, dingin itu tidak ada.
Menurut hukum fisika, yang kita anggap dingin itu adalah ketiadaan panas. Suhu -460F adalah ketiadaan panas sama sekali. Dan semua partikel menjadi diam dan tidak bisa bereaksi pada suhu tersebut. Kita menciptakan kata dingin untuk mendeskripsikan ketiadaan panas."

Mahasiswa itu melanjutkan, "Profesor, apakah gelap itu ada?" Profesor itu menjawab, "Tentu saja itu ada."

Mahasiswa itu menjawab, "Sekali lagi anda salah, Pak.

Gelap itu juga tidak ada. Gelap adalah keadaan dimana tidak ada cahaya. Cahaya bisa kita pelajari, gelap tidak.

Kita bisa menggunakan prisma Newton untuk memecahkan cahaya menjadi beberapa warna dan mempelajari berbagai panjang gelombang setiap warna. Tapi Anda tidak bisa mengukur gelap. Seberapa gelap suatu ruangan diukur dengan berapa intensitas cahaya di ruangan tersebut. Kata gelap dipakai manusia untuk mendeskripsikan ketiadaan cahaya."

Akhirnya mahasiswa itu bertanya, "Profesor, apakah kejahatan itu ada?"

Dengan bimbang professor itu menjawab, "Tentu saja, seperti yang telah kukatakan sebelumnya.

Kita melihat setiap hari di Koran dan TV. Banyak perkara kriminal dan kekerasan di antara manusia. Perkara-perkara tersebut adalah manifestasi dari kejahatan."

Terhadap pernyataan ini mahasiswa itu menjawab, "Sekali lagi Anda salah, Pak.

Kejahatan itu tidak ada. Kejahatan adalah ketiadaan Tuhan. Seperti dingin atau gelap, kajahatan adalah kata yang dipakai manusia untuk mendeskripsikan ketiadaan Tuhan.

Tuhan tidak menciptakan kajahatan. Kajahatan adalah hasil dari tidak adanya kasih Tuhan dihati manusia. Seperti dingin yang timbul dari ketiadaan panas dan gelap yang timbul dari ketiadaan cahaya."

Profesor itu terdiam.

Nama mahasiswa itu adalah Albert Einstein

anonymous prayer

2010-01-14T09:38:00.000+07:00

Ketika kumohon pada Tuhan kekuatan,
Tuhan memberiku kesulitan, agar aku menjadi kuat.

Ketika kumohon pada Tuhan kebijaksanaan,
Tuhan memberiku masalah, untuk kupecahkan.

Ketika kumohon pada Tuhan kesejahteraan,
Tuhan memberiku akal pikiran, untuk berpikir.

Ketika kumohon pada Tuhan keberanian,
Tuhan memberiku kondisi bahaya, untuk kuatasi.

Ketika kumohon pada Tuhan cinta,
Tuhan memberiku orang-orang bermasalah, untuk kutolong.

Ketika kumohon pada Tuhan bantuan,
Tuhan memberiku kesempatan.

Aku tak selalu menerima apa yang kuminta,
Tetapi aku menerima segala yang kubutuhkan.

Mau Jantung Sehat? Ngeseks Minimal Dua Kali Seminggu!

2010-01-14T09:37:00.002+07:00

Manfaat seks bagi kesehatan memang tak terbantahkan. Buktinya, dari sekian banyak khasiat yang telah dipublikasikan, selalu ada studi baru yang mengungkap manfaat berhubungan intim.

Temuan terbaru yang dimuat American Journal of Cardiology ini misalnya, menyatakan bahwa pria yang berhubungan seks sedikitnya dua kali seminggu dapat terhindar dari risiko penyakit jantung. Hasil studi itu menunjukkan, mereka yangberhubungan seks secara rutin memiliki 45 persen risiko lebih kecil mengidap penyakit jantung dibanding mereka yang berhubungan seks hanya sekali sebulan atau lebih sedikit.

Studi yang melibatkan 1.000 orang ini menunjukkan, seks memberi dampak protektif bagi jantung pria, tetapi penelitian tidak menguji apakah efek yang sama berlaku pada wanita.

Setiap tahun, sekitar 270.000 orang di Inggris menderita serangan jantung, dan penyakit jantung koroner menjadi pembunuh paling besar. Meski seks sudah lama diketahui sebagai aktivitas yang menguntungkan kesehatan mental dan fisik, tetapi masih sedikit bukti ilmiah yang menunjukkan betapa seks rutin memberi manfaat besar bagi penyakit serius seperti jantung.

Dalam risetnya, ilmuwan di New England Research Institute di Massachusetts, mendata aktivitas seksual pria usia 40 hingga 70 yang terlibat dalam riset jangka panjang bertajuk "Massachusetts Male Ageing Study", yang dimulai pada 1987.

Setelah sekitar 16 tahun, peserta survei ditanya seberapa sering mereka melakukan seks dan lalu dicek gejala-gela penyakit jantung. Para peneliti juga memperhitungkan faktor-faktor risiko lain seperti usia, berat badan, tekanan darah dan kolesterol.

Hasil riset menunjukkan, pria yang melakukan seks sedikitnya dua kali seminggu berisiko lebih kecil mengidap penyakit jantung dibanding mereka yang ngeseks sebulan sekali atau lebih sedikit.

Dalam laporannya, peneliti menyatakan seks memberikan manfaat baik secara emosional maupun secara fisik bagi kesehatan. Pria yang memiliki hasrat berhubungan seks lebih sering dan mampu memenuhinya adalah kelompok yang lebih sehat. Namun seks dalam beberapa wujud memiliki komponen aktivitas fisik yang secara langsung dapat melindungi kesehatan pembuluh darah dan jantung.

Pria yang rutin berhubungan seks boleh jadi memiliki hubungan intim yang suportif dan hal ini memperbaiki kualitas kesehatan melalui penurunan kadar stres dan dukungan sosial.

Seks Itu Bikin Sehat

2010-01-14T09:37:00.001+07:00

Kepuasan di ranjang berkaitan erat dengan kesehatan. Tapi tahukah Anda, kegiatan seksual juga memberi efek positif bagi kesehatan, terutama bila kegiatan yang satu ini terus dipelihara sampai tua? Asal tahu saja:

- Seks membakar lemak dan meningkatkan kekebalan tubuh.

- Seks mendorong otak untuk menghasilkan hormon endorfin, "obat antisakit" alami yang diproduksi oleh tubuh.

- Seks mengendurkan stres dan memberikan rasa senang.

- Orang yang aktif secara seksual memiliki tingkat hormon seks alami yang lebih tinggi ketimbang yang tidak aktif. Semakin aktif, semakin Anda ingin terus rajin berolah seks.

- Perubahan fisik akibat proses menua pada orang yang kehidupan seksualnya terus aktif tidak akan sebesar pada orang-orang yang tak aktif secara seksual. Gairah seksualnya pun tidak begitu dipengaruhi oleh proses penuaan.

- Jangan batasi seks hanya pada penetrasinya. Ada banyak variasi cara untuk mengakrabkan diri secara fisik dan semuanya baik bagi kesehatan.

- Energi yang dihabiskan saat berhubungan seksual setara dengan berjalan mendaki dua buah tangga, sehingga jarang sekali membahayakan. Namun, kalau Anda menderita gangguan kesehatan tertentu periksakan diri ke dokter.

- Menjadi aktif secara seksual memang menyehatkan baik secara fisik maupun emosional, tapi tetap saja mesti berhati-hati terhadap penyakit yang menular lewat hubungan seksual.

Hati

2010-01-14T09:36:00.000+07:00

jika hati sejernih air jangan biarkan ia keruh

jika hati seputih awan jangan biarkan ia mendung

jika hati secerah matahari biarkan ia tetap bersinar

jika hati seindah bulan hiasi ia dengan cinta

Dongeng Untuk Sahabat

2010-01-14T09:35:00.000+07:00

suatu hari CINTA dan KAWAN berjalan di desa. Tiba-tiba CINTA terjatuh ke dalam telaga. Kenapa ? Karena CINTA itu buta.

Lalu KAWAN pun ikut terjun ke dalam telaga. Kenapa ? Karena KAWAN akan melakukan apa saja demi CINTA.

Di dalam telaga CINTA pun hilang. Kenapa ? Karena CINTA itu halus, mudah menghilang. Kalau tidak dijaga sulit untuk dicari. Apalagi di dalam telaga yang gelap.

Sedangkan KAWAN masih mencari-cari dimana CINTA dan terus menunggu. Kenapa ? Karena KAWAN itu sejati sebagai KAWAN yang setia.

“Online credit card usage” – convenience at its best

2009-07-01T22:55:00.003+07:00

Commerce and technology, combined as a one package – this is what online credit cards are.
With the advent of internet, the knowledge and communication barriers were broken. Also, with internet, came the concept of e-shops or virtual shops that existed only on the internet. You could shop at these shops by making use of their online credit card payment-acceptance ability. Once the online credit card payments were verified and approved, the goods got delivered to your door. This is what we call convenience at its best.

With more and more e-shops getting setup everyday, online credit card usage is becoming even more popular. The possibility of receiving online credit card payments has given a totally new dimension to shopping. Now, you can not only shop from the comfort of your home, you can even get discounts on these products. This is really amazing. No need to bother about the weather, no need to worry about the traffic jams or any other thing. Just go to an e-shop, select a product, make use of their online credit card payment-acceptance facility to make the payment and be ready to receive the goods at your doorstep.
With online credit card processing facility, starting a business (an online business) has become just unbelievably easy.

However, there is nothing without pitfalls. One of the pitfalls of online credit card usage is the possibility of online credit card fraud. This online credit card fraud can happen in two ways. The first one is related to the company, on whose website you made online credit card payment for purchase of goods; this company itself could be fraudulent i.e. it could take the online credit card payment from you but not deliver the goods to you. Moreover, they could use the details of your credit card (received through the filling up of online credit card payment form by you) for fraudulent purposes. The second type of fraud is committed by fraudsters who use various softwares/devices to capture the details of online credit card payments (as you enter them on the online credit card payment form of a website). These softwares are popularly known as spyware and these fraudsters as online spies. The spyware works by capturing keystrokes or taking screenshots of whatever you do on your computer and then passes it on to the spy. However, there are anti-spyware softwares available which can be used to counter such spyware.

So, the advent of online credit card usage facility is a boon to us. However, you must exercise caution when making online credit card payments e.g. don’t access your bank accounts or make online credit card payments from internet cafes (unless you are absolutely sure about the credentials of the internet café).

Reduce credit card debt

2009-07-01T22:55:00.002+07:00

“Reduce credit card debt and eliminate it before it assumes a horrifying shape” – This is really the gist of the story. So, how do you reduce credit card debt? Well, you reduce credit card debt by preventing it from increasing and by paying off what it is currently. Simple, isn’t it?

Not really. If it was that simple to reduce credit card debt, then we wouldn’t have had so many people with credit card debt related problems. We would have been able to reduce credit card debt problems and finally eliminate them (or reduce them significantly). There are all kinds of advice available on how to reduce credit card debt, but still nothing much seems to change. The problem still seems to persist and in fact, worsen. However, it’s not that difficult to reduce credit card debt. As we just said, there is a lot of advice available on how to reduce credit card debt and the only thing you need to do is put that advice, on how to reduce credit card debt, to practice in real life. Well, no one but you will benefit if you reduce credit card debt.

So the first step to reduce credit card debt is to prevent it from taking dangerous proportions. The 2 most important ways of implementing this step are – balance transfers and use of cash.

Balance transfer is often treated as the number one measure to reduce credit card debt. This is really something that can help reduce credit card debt by slowing down the pace at which your credit card debt is getting built. It also provides you relief in terms of the APR being 0% for initial 6-9 months (and hence helps reduce credit card debt faster). To reduce credit card debt using this mechanism, you need to transfer your balance from your current credit card(s) onto another credit card that has a lower APR than your current card. Thus you reduce credit card debt by preventing it from increasing so rapidly.

The other preventive measure to reduce credit card debt is to use cash instead of card (as such, hard earned cash is difficult to get out of pocket as compared to just a credit card). So you reduce credit card debt by not adding more to it. That is the simplest way to reduce credit card debt.

However, you can reduce credit card debt only if you stick to your resolution to reduce credit card debt; otherwise it will fail miserably.

Rejection of credit card application

2009-07-01T22:55:00.001+07:00

As time progresses, more and more people are joining the revolution called ‘Credit card’. Yes, it’s really a revolution. Now you don’t need to worry about how much cash you have in your pocket when you go shopping, just carrying this small piece of plastic (credit card) is enough to assure you of a good shopping treat. You can use your credit card to order things from the comfort of your home (on the internet). So the number of credit card applications seems to be on the rise. However, not every credit card application turns into a physical credit card. Some credit card applications get rejected too.
Let’s check why a credit card supplier would reject a credit card application when he has spent so much time and energy (and money) on wooing new customers.

One obvious reason for rejection of credit card application is human error i.e. the error committed by you in filling up the credit card application. These can be small mistakes like a wrong telephone number or wrong name or the postal code might be wrong. It’s normal to make mistakes, after all we are human being and no human being can be termed as perfect. Another strong reason for rejection of a credit card application could be missing mandatory information i.e. when you forgot to fill-in some mandatory information in the credit card application form. Sometimes, the credit card application could be rejected because the credit card application form has been filled-in in a handwriting that is illegible to the people processing your credit card application. At other times, the sales representative (of the credit card supplier) could have made a mistake in either depositing the form correctly or in guiding you in the filling of the credit card application form (newly hired sales representatives can make such mistakes).

However, these human errors are just minor errors that can be corrected later on and hence the only impact would be in terms of the delay in receiving your credit card. The main and the most important cause for rejection of credit card applications is bad credit ratings i.e. a negative credit history. If you have been using other credit cards or if you have taken bank loans/mortgages in the past, you would have already build your credit rating. If you have been making your bill/instalment payments in time (and in the correct amount), you would have already acquired a good credit rating. However, if you have been irregular or if you have been defaulting on your payment dues, you would have developed a bad credit rating. This credit rating is calculated by credit bureaus who receive feeds from various credit suppliers. All credit card applications are checked for the credit rating of the requestor and if it comes up as negative, the application is rejected outrightly.

So, these are the 2 most important reasons for rejection of credit card application and you must pay heed to them (especially the credit rating).

What is a ‘good credit card deal?’

2009-07-01T22:50:00.001+07:00

You must have heard people say – ‘I got a good credit card deal’. So if you happen to be looking for a credit card at that moment, do you just go with what your friend has told you as a good credit card deal?

Let’s check what one can term as a good credit card deal. A credit card deal is good if it works for you. So, if the credit card fits into your lifestyle in a way that rakes in maximum benefits for you, that is a good credit card deal. The most important thing to realize here is the word ‘your’ as in ‘your lifestyle’. So logically speaking there is nothing like a good credit card deal. What it is - is good credit card deal for ‘you’ i.e. the individual who is going to use that credit card. This is because the lifestyle and the needs differ from person to person (and that is precisely the reason why every credit card supplier offers so many different kinds of credit cards). It might be true in some cases (where the lifestyle of two individuals/friends is similar) that the credit card deal which is good for one be good for the other too, however, this is just in a few cases.

You can always check with your friend who has recently got a credit card deal, since that might cut down the time needed for researching/hunting-for a good credit card deal. However, it’s really a matter of evaluating your own needs. If you travel a lot and to far off places by air, a card that offers you good rewards/rebates/benefits on travel would comprise a good credit card deal. Sometimes the airlines themselves have their own credit card issuing/supplying company from where you can get a good credit card deal. For people shopping at a particular retail store or a shop, a good credit card deal would be a card that offers discounts, rebates and rewards on shopping. Again, the retail stores themselves might have credit cards on offer that could be beneficial to you. Then there are credit card deals that are linked to gasoline stores or big grocery chains. If you don’t have any specific needs, you might use a general purpose credit card that gives reward points on every purchase you make on your credit card. These points can then be redeemed for cash/rewards. Hence, this card could become a good credit card deal for you.

Good, for credit card deals, is really a relative term and there is no credit card deal which is equally good for all.

Should I apply for a credit card and how?

2009-07-01T22:49:00.011+07:00

Are you pondering on whether you should apply for a credit card? Well, the answer quite simply is – ‘Yes’ - you should apply for a credit card (this is true for most people). The credit cards seem to have transformed our lives. In fact, one can term credit cards as a revolution. Today, you find ads in TV/newspapers/website/shops and almost anywhere and everywhere; all asking you to apply for a credit card. When you look around, you see that most people have credit cards. In fact, most people have multiple credit cards. Everyone seems to apply for a credit card. So, why should you apply for a credit card?

There are a lot of benefits associated with credit cards; however, the most important benefit is the convenience that they offer. For most people, this is the prime and the sole reason that instigates them to apply for a credit card. This wouldn’t have been the case a few years ago, when not many merchants accepted credit cards. However, today, most merchants do accept credit cards. So, instead of carrying a lot of cash on you (which is both inconvenient and unsafe), you can just carry a small piece of plastic with you. Moreover, you get interest free credit i.e. you don’t have to pay the bills till the next monthly billing cycle. So, you can buy now and pay later (when your salary arrives) – a great reason to apply for a credit card. To add to that, there are certain merchants that offer interest-free instalment payment plan i.e. you can make a big purchase today and pay for it in instalments on your credit card. So credit cards works as instant long term loan too (not just a monthly loan). Yet another reason to apply for a credit card is the discounts on shopping. This is made possible by the tie-ups between credit card companies and the merchants. So credit cards offer many benefits.

There are various ways in which you can apply for a credit card - you can apply for a credit card in person, you can apply for a credit card on the internet and you can apply for a credit card on phone too (by asking the representative to meet you). You will as such be approached by a lot of sales representatives, all asking you to apply for a credit card with their company. To apply for a credit card, you will need to fill-in a credit card application form (which is easy to fill and the representatives of the credit card company will assist you in that). When you apply for a credit card, you basically enter into an agreement with the credit card supplier (the form that you fill when you apply for a credit card is actually an agreement). After you have submitted your application, the credit card company conducts certain checks to determine your credibility; and if everything is fine, you receive the credit card.

So, applying for a credit card is easy and to apply for a credit card or not to apply for a credit card is a matter of personal choice. However, for most people who don’t have any credit card, the recommendation is “Apply for a credit card”.

So many credit card offers, what to do?

2009-07-01T22:49:00.010+07:00

Just browse through the daily newspaper and you will be overwhelmed by the number of credit card offers advertised. Move around the town and you will find credit card offers being advertised everywhere. Same is the case is with television which seems to host a number of credit card offers too. So, the credit card offers are there everywhere. Why are there so many credit card offers? Well, quite simply because credit card business is a highly profitable business for the credit card suppliers.

In this situation, when there is no dearth of credit card offers, which is the best credit card offer?

There is nothing like a best credit card offer, really. A better question to ask would be – ‘Which credit card offer is the best for me?’ The spending habits of one person are different from that of another person. Their living styles vary and hence their needs vary too. So for deciding on which credit card offer is best for you, you need to evaluate your needs vis-à-vis your lifestyle and your spending habits (and not go just by the recommendation of someone). For example, if you frequently travel by air, a co-branded airline credit card might be more suited to you than the general purpose one. These airline credit cards offer discounts, rebates and other kind of rewards when the credit card is used for making payments (the rewards are even higher when these credit cards are used for paying for the airline tickets or other airline products). Similarly, if you have a favourite retail store where you do a lot of your shopping, it would be beneficial to check if the retailer is a credit card supplier too and if there is a credit card offer that suits you. A lot of big retail chains do offer co-branded credit cards to their customers and these credit cards offer rebates/discounts etc when they are used for making payments at the retail store. As such, you get reward points for making payments at any place but the rewards are higher on the payments made at retail store. On similar lines, we have credit cards for gas stations and grocery stores too, which you can opt for if you have a favourite gas station or a favourite grocery store where you shop a lot.

So, if you look around, you will find a lot of lucrative credit card offers. However, this doesn’t mean that you enrol for all the credit card offers. You need to first evaluate your needs and rank them. Then you need to evaluate what all credit card offers suit your needs. And finally you can make your choice and go for a credit card offer that covers most of your needs and gives maximum benefits.

Southwest airline credit card

2009-07-01T22:49:00.009+07:00

Southwest airline credit cards are a good example of co-branded credit cards. Southwest airlines and Chase have teamed up to bring the southwest airline credit cards to you. At the time of writing this article, there are two popular southwest airline cards which are also collectively called as southwest airlines rapid rewards Visa cards. One of these southwest airline credit cards is for personal use (this is called Southwest Airlines Rapid Rewards Visa Signature Card) and the other southwest airline credit card is for business use. Both these southwest airline credit cards are aimed at getting you a roundtrip award faster.

There are a number of ways in which you can earn reward points using Southwest airline credit cards. Southwest airline credit cards have two kinds of reward points i.e. there are two denominations in which you can earn reward points - rapid reward credits and rapid reward dollars. The rapid reward credits are a much higher reward denomination as compared to the reward dollars (e.g. at the time of writing this article, 1200 reward dollars is equal to 1 rapid reward credit).

So how do you earn and redeem the reward points on your southwest airline credit card?

You get bonus reward credits after your first purchase on your southwest airline credit card. These purchases needn’t be on southwest airlines products/services, these can be just any purchases made using the southwest airline credit card. You earn reward dollars for any expenditures you make using your southwest airline credit card. There are additional reward dollars, when you use your southwest airline credit card on southwest airlines (i.e. when you use your southwest airline credit card to spend on southwest airlines products/services). By additional we mean, the reward dollars are more as compared to those earned on other, non-southwest airline, purchases. As you keep collecting reward dollars, you keep moving closer to getting a round trip award. Generally, the roundtrip awards are based on rapid reward credits. So, you can convert the reward dollars, earned on your southwest airline credit card, into rapid reward credits; and convert rapid reward credits into your roundtrip award. Another way of earning rapid rewards credit on southwest airline credit cards is through balance transfers.

Southwest airline credit cards are surely a good option for people who travel frequently by air using southwest airlines. Since the network of southwest airlines is pretty widespread, you will find that you are able to get southwest airlines flight to most places you want to travel to and hence get an opportunity to use your south west airline credit card to earn reward points (or reward dollars, as they call them).

Student credit cards

2009-07-01T22:49:00.008+07:00

For students, the student credit cards are the best way to enter the fascinating world of credit cards. Student credit cards help the students in taking advantage of the various benefits associated with credit cards in general e.g. convenience, safety, rebates etc., much earlier in their life. Moreover, student credit cards act as training ground for students, most of whom haven’t had any experience with credit cards. The student credit cards help the students in gaining hands-on knowledge about the various aspects of credit cards and their use. Most credit card suppliers also include a small guide that helps the students in gaining a good understanding of credit cards, upfront. The students learn more and more with every transaction on their student credit card and as they experiment with the various benefits associated with the student credit cards using their student credit cards in various ways. Another important benefit is in terms of the time that student credit cards save for the students. As we know, time is very valuable for students and by using their student credit card to order things online, they can actually save a lot of time too. Moreover, the students might require short term loans (in case there is a delay in the arrival of funds in their account, for whatever reason); and student credit cards facilitate this very easily taking the burden off from the student (so students can use their student credit cards like a loan for making payments in the meantime). As such, money is the other critical thing for students. Student credit cards again become handy here by saving them some money in terms of rebates from retail stores, grocery shops etc. Moreover, the students also receive additional rewards/benefits from the members reward programmes that come with all credit cards (including student credit cards).

As students use their student credit cards, they keep building their knowledge database. This knowledge becomes handy when they are out of college and into their job and looking for a full-fledged credit card (i.e. credit cards which have lesser restrictions, more credit limit etc as compared to a student credit card). Hence the student credit cards help the students in making a knowledge-based decision rather than a fancy-based one. Such decisions and the knowledge about using the credit cards in a disciplined manner, acts as a deterrent to one of the most serious problems being faced by credit card industry i.e. the problem of credit card debt.

With so many advantages on the plate, the student credit cards are really an essential for every student.

Taking a step towards credit card debt elimination

2009-07-01T22:49:00.007+07:00

So you have decided to go for credit card debt elimination and are wondering on what the methods for credit card debt elimination are. As they say, let’s take the bull by its horns and lay it all flat on the ground. There are generally 2 recommendations that are most common for credit card debt elimination: controlling the expenditures and consolidating debt. Let’s check both of these credit card debt elimination recommendations and check the list of things that you can do for achieving credit card debt elimination using these recommendations:

1. Control your urge to spend: The first thing to do for credit card debt elimination is to control your expenditures. Here we are talking about the payments you make using your credit card. Remember that the main reason being your getting into credit card debt is uncontrolled expenditures using your credit card. So if you are really serious about credit card debt elimination, this is one thing that will help in credit card debt elimination by preventing accumulation of further debt. Here is what you can do to control your expenditures:
a. You need to stay away from attractive offers that are put-up by various shops and stores. Don’t buy anything that you don’t really-really need. After all you are looking for credit card debt elimination not supplementation.
b. Leave your credit card at home. If you really-really need something, then you can fetch your credit card from your house. This will prevent you from yielding to the too-attractive-to-resist sale offers (that are actually there all the year round). This credit card debt elimination technique, again, works on the principal of ‘prevention is better than cure’. This will prevent unplanned expenses from happening.
c. Prepare a monthly budget and stick to it. This is really a very important credit card debt elimination measure. This budget will form the basis of your credit card debt elimination plan. So if you deviate from your budget, your credit card debt elimination plan will go for a toss.

2. Debt consolidation: Debt consolidation or moving from high APR credit cards to a low APR one is generally the first step (the first reactive step) for credit card debt elimination. Here are a few things that you need to do:
a. Do not go for the first balance offer you come across. Analyse various offers and choose the one that best suits you. This will be an important thing on you credit card debt elimination plan. Initial APR, Initial APR period and standard Apr, all need to be considered.
b. Read the fine print on the balance transfer offer and check the terms and conditions on these. These might affect your overall credit card debt elimination plan.
c. Compare other benefits e.g. rebates, reward points, etc, before you actually decide to go for one of the offers.

Credit card debt elimination is about proper planning and discipline. So make your credit card debt elimination plan and stick to it.

What do the teen credit card debt statistics tell?

2009-07-01T22:49:00.005+07:00

Well, you don’t really need to look into the teen credit card debt statistics to tell what’s going on. The teen credit card debt statistics would probably look very similar to any other. I think I read somewhere about teen credit card debt statistics and those teen credit card debt statistics indicated that a lot of teens in US had a significant amount of balance on their credit cards; something which they shouldn’t have (considering their limited needs for credit). Though these teen credit card debt statistics would give you a fair idea of how our teens are faring in the world of credit cards it’s really not so important to talk about teen credit card debt statistics as it is to talk about the ways of bettering the teen credit card debt statistics (I mean bettering the teen credit card debt statistics in a positive way).

So how do you better teen credit card debt statistics?

Well, the bettering of teen credit card debt statistics would, as you must have guessed, start with education. This education has to start early in the life of the teens. Here we are not talking about just credit cards related education but the education about managing their finances in general. Teen credit card debt statistics cannot be improved without explaining the actual value of money to the teens (and also teaching them how to use it). So, for bettering teen credit card debt statistics, we need to give them an all round education on managing money and finances. This can start with asking them to maintain a record of their pocket money and how they spend them. Also, engage them into education related to money management (of course, you have to customize the discussion to suit their level of knowledge and maturity). The next step would be to open a bank account for them and teach them the various aspects of managing it. Teach them what debt it and when it is considered bad. Debit card could be the next step for them. Once they start becoming comfortable with doing their bank transactions by themselves, you can get a prepaid credit card for them (something that has a preset limit of $200-250). You could also use a low limit credit card (with $250 credit limit) and teach them how to use it.

Thus you can follow a step-by-step approach to ensure that your teens learn the best practices (and hence you can keep them out of those horrifying teen credit card debt statistics, thereby contributing to bettering the teen credit card debt statistics).

The benefits from Credit card debt consolodation

2009-07-01T22:49:00.004+07:00

‘Credit card debt consolodation’ seems to be the most talked-about term in the world of credit cards. It’s true that credit cards have been very useful and convenient for us and we, in fact, treat the credit cards as a necessity. However, with every good you have evil too. In the world of credit cards, ‘Credit card debt’ is that evil and ‘Credit card debt consolodation’ is often regarded as a medicine for treating credit card debt.

Anyone who has read any newspaper articles on ‘Credit card debt’ would already know what credit card debt consolodation is. However, just for the benefit of others, credit card debt consolodation, in simple terms, is the process of consolidating debt which you hold on various high APR credit cards onto just one low APR credit card. Thus, the main benefit of credit card debt consolodation is realised in terms of APR reduction (and hence reduction in credit card debt growth rate). This is touted as the most important benefit (and sometimes the sole benefit) from credit card debt consolodation. However, credit card debt consolodation comes with few more benefits as well. Some of these credit card debt consolodation benefits are widely publicised by the credit card suppliers and some not so much:

Initial APR: As mentioned above, lower APR is the biggest benefit from credit card debt consolodation. Since credit card debt consolodation is used by credit card suppliers as a tool to attract consumers, they generally offer a 0% APR for a initial period of 6-9 months of you joining their credit card debt consolodation programme i.e. first few months after you get the new credit card.
Standard APR: Lower standard APR (i.e. the long term APR) is the other important benefit from credit card debt consolodation. Though not all credit card suppliers offer a lower standard APR with credit card debt consolodation some do design credit card debt consolodation programmes with good standard APR. These credit card debt consolodation programmes offer a trade-off between initial and standard APR rates.
0% on purchases: This is another common benefit from credit card debt consolodation. The 0% interest (or some lower percentage) on purchases is offered as an incentive for credit card debt consolodation. This credit card debt consolodation benefit is again applicable only for a short initial period.
Easy management: This credit card debt consolodation benefit is not as discussed as others. However, one benefit of credit card debt consolodation (from multiple to single credit card) is the fact that you need to track and manage a lesser number of credit cards.
Other benefits: The credit card debt consolodation exercise might bring you some more benefits in terms of rebates, discounts and reward points (especially if you move to a co-branded card as part of credit card debt consolodation)

UK credit cards and balance transfers

2009-07-01T22:49:00.003+07:00

Credit cards are pretty popular and in widespread use in UK. Credit cards are accepted at most shops and other merchant stores/outlets. As in the US, UK credit cards too are on offer from various banks and financial institutions. Again, UK credit cards too offer a number of benefits which vary from one UK credit card to another (though there are a lot of common benefits too which are same across various UK credit cards).

Due to the fierce competition in the UK credit card market, various UK credit card suppliers offer attractive balance transfer schemes too. There are some UK credit cards that offer 0% balance transfer for 9 months and there are others that offer 0% for 6 months. However, the catch here is that these UK card credit suppliers differ on their standard APR rate i.e. the APR rate which comes into effect after the expiry of the introductory 0% balance transfer offer. Further there are some UK credit cards that do not offer a 0% balance transfer but instead offer a better standard rate (APR) throughout. Some UK credit card suppliers combine 0% offers with accrual of points on a rewards programme. Another popular thing among UK credit cards is to combine cash back offers with balance transfers. Then there are some very attractive offers which give 0% not only on balance transfers but also on Purchases (for a short period like 5 month or so). You also have a few UK credit cards that can be procured by people with bad credit history too (of course, the decision on approval of such a credit card application will lie with the credit card supplier).

So what does one do if one wants to transfer balance to another UK credit card. Well, it’s quite simple. You need to take stock of your current financial situation and determine if a period of 6 months or 9 months (or maybe even 12 months) would be sufficient for you to fully payback the dues on your UK credit card. If the answer is in the affirmative, just go ahead for the UK credit card that offers 0% balance transfer for this period (even if the standard APR rate is a bit higher). However, the assumption here is that once you payback the debt on your UK credit card, you will stick to controlled spending and will pay your credit card bills in full amount by the due date for payment; otherwise, the choice of a higher standard APR will hit you very hard and you will be in deeper trouble. However, if you think that 9 months is not sufficient to pay back the debt on your UK credit card, then you should look to strike a balance between the zero APR period and the standard APR rate, and choose a UK credit card which leads to the least total outgo (you will need to sit with a calculator and calculate the total outgo on various UK credit card offers).

This is the most basic aspect that you need to consider before you decide on which UK credit card is the best for transferring balance. Other things like 0% on purchases, reward programmer points etc are secondary things.

“We accept credit cards”

2009-07-01T22:49:00.002+07:00

“We accept credit cards” is a statement that you must have come across multiple times at various shops, grocery stores and other merchant outlets. This statement is generally accompanied by a few stickers (Visa/Master card etc). Credit cards have transformed the businesses and our lives to a great extent. A few years back there were just a handful of shops that would accept credit cards but today you will find that most of the shops accept credit cards. In fact, some shops (like those belonging to a big retail chain) not only accept credit cards but also supply credit cards. These credit cards entitle you for rebates when you use them at any of the stores of that retail chain.

With credit cards around, a lot of people have stopped carrying any cash with them or just carry a very small amount of cash with them. That means that any shop that doesn’t accept credit cards is potentially losing customers. In fact, this is one reason why almost every merchant accepts credit cards.

With the evolution of internet, credit card industry too took a new turn and up came ecommerce and e-shops. So, those stickers of “We accept credit cards”, moved on to the doors of internet shops. Thus came the era where almost every online-shop would accept credit cards (directly or indirectly). In fact, this was the premise on which the complete online-business industry was based. This is convenience at its best.

Fraud is associated with almost every financial instrument. So there came fraudsters too, who too said that “We accept credit cards”. These fraudsters use a lot of techniques to commit credit card related fraud. Some of them disguise themselves as online merchants who accept credit cards as mode of payment (the actual motive being extraction of critical credit card details). Others are people who work at merchant shops that accept credit cards. These fraudsters either clone the credit cards or just note critical information from them (and use that for online-shopping). Some other fraudsters lure innocent people into revealing credit card details in chat rooms. And then there are tech-savvy fraudsters who use computer programs/softwares/devices (called spyware) to spy on the people who use their credit cards for online payments. The spyware capture their credit card information and get it transmitted to the spy using internet.

So a lot of merchants and service providers do accept credit cards but keep in mind that the fraudsters too welcome/accept credit cards. This is something you surely need to be careful about.

What do you mean by a ‘secured credit card’?

2009-07-01T22:49:00.001+07:00

What do you mean by a ‘secured credit card’?

Secured credit cards are another very popular breed of credit cards. Secured credit cards, as their name suggests, are secured. Well, they are secured for the credit card supplier, really. Secured credit cards require you to open an account with the credit card supplier and maintain some cash balance in that account. This cash balance acts as a security for the supplier of secured credit card. Your credit limit is dependent on the amount you hold in the account that you have started with the supplier of secured credit card. This is generally between 50 to 100% of your account balance. So in that sense, secured credit cards are not really credit cards (since they don’t offer you any credit really). For this reason, the secured credit cards are sometimes also referred as debit cards.

Why is the concept of secured credit cards so important?

As we know, credit card debt is a raging problem which is caused by improper usage of credit cards. Such people end up spoiling their credit rating to an extent where they cannot get another unsecured credit card (that is what we call the commonly used credit cards). Even after they have paid off their dues and cleared their debt, their credit rating still haunts them. For such people, secured credit cards are a boon. Secured credit cards present them with an opportunity to not only get a credit card in the first place but also to improve their credit rating by using the secured credit card in a disciplined way (paying their dues in time, controlled spending, utilizing a maximum of 70% credit limit etc etc). As they continue with these good habits, their credit rating gradually improves over a period of time. Hence secured credit cards provide them with the means of rectifying their mistakes (credit rating).

It’s not just the people with bad credit rating who go for secured credit cards. Some people go for secured credit cards because they don’t want to bother themselves with the bills etc for credit cards. They don’t like to even fill-up application forms for unsecured credit cards.

Then there are some who just don’t like to borrow money (even if it means borrowing from a credit card supplier by using their credit card). However, such people are very rare to find.

Some people just go for secured credit cards because they have heard a lot of horrifying stories on credit card debt – maybe someone from their family or one of their friends was devastated by credit card debt and they don’t want to repeat the mistake. So they decide to go for a secured credit card.

Whatever be the reason for going for it, the secured credit cards are surely popular too.

What is a Credit Card?

2009-07-01T22:49:00.000+07:00

Put simply, a credit card is just a small piece of plastic that easily fits in your wallet. Well, it’s not ‘just a piece of plastic’; it’s a very powerful piece of plastic which can be regarded as a compressed form of cash. We can define credit cards as a credit system that allows the consumer to borrow money on the fly from a bank or a financial institution and use it to make payments to the merchants.

In order to obtain a credit card, the consumer needs to fill-in an application form that is actually like an agreement between the credit card supplier and the credit card consumer. The credit card supplier approves the application form and provides the consumer with a small piece of plastic (i.e. the credit card). This plastic (or credit card) contains electronically encoded security information in the form of a magnetic strip (which is generally located at the back of the credit card). This information is used for authorising payments whenever the consumer uses the credit card. The consumer can use the credit card for shopping at merchant outlets or on the internet etc. Of course, this is subject to merchant’s capability to accept credit card payments. Accepting the credit cards is, however, not enough. The merchant should be able to accept payments made through the credit card provided by that credit card organization (of which you hold the credit card) i.e. VISA, MasterCard etc. You can also use credit card to withdraw cash from ATMs (automatic cash machines) – also known as cash machines or Day/Night machines.

There are eight main credit card organisations and most of them operate in a lot of countries world wide. These are American Express, Citi, Diners Club, Discover, JCB, MasterCard and VISA. Master card and VISA are probably the most popular ones. Then there are credit card suppliers or issuers who have tie-ups with these organisations and issue credit cards on their behalf e.g. you have various banks that issue VISA cards (like HSBC VISA card)

To make a payment using a credit card, the credit card has to be either swiped into special credit card processing machine (when shopping in person at shops) or the details of the credit card have to be entered on the merchant’s website (when shopping online). The credit card supplier sends across the bill for these transactions to the consumer who is then required to pay either the full amount or a partial (minimum) amount. If you pay in full, the credit card supplier doesn’t charge any interest on the amount you owe, otherwise the pre-agreed interest rate is charged. If you don’t pay even the minimum, you might land up with a late fee too. Moreover, the credit card supplier generally puts a limit on the maximum amount you can spend per month using your credit card.

Credit card debt settlement

2009-07-01T22:46:00.007+07:00

‘Credit card debt’ is the worst of all nightmares. A successful credit card debt settlement is like getting a new lease of life. Credit card debt settlement is a wonderful stress relieving mechanisms. Once you are done with your credit card debt settlement, you are assured of a much better life. All those nagging phone calls and mails will become history and all that surmounting tension would be gone. That’s why credit card debt settlement is so essential.

You can approach credit card debt settlement in 2 ways. You can either go for credit card debt settlement all by yourself or you can take advice from a credit counselling company or a professional. Any of these credit card debt settlement methods are fine, as long as they work for you and help you get debt-free quickly. If you go for credit card debt settlement all by yourself, you will need to analyse the various options available to you e.g. checking on various balance transfer offers available in the market, checking the short term loan options with the banks etc etc. However, if you want to take credit card debt settlement advice from a professional, you should be able to trust the advisor fully. So you need to check the credentials of the credit card debt settlement advisor/company. There are hordes of people and companies that advertise “credit card debt settlement in one day” or something of that kind which will look just fantastic. Such credit card debt settlement offers/advice are generally not genuine. Moreover, you need to understand that credit card debt settlement cannot happen overnight (unless you win a lottery or something like that). So, beware of such agencies. That said it’s important to mention that there are a lot of good credit card debt settlement advisors/companies available too who will not only give you genuine credit card debt settlement advice but will help you throughout until you are finally out of debt. Their advice may, in fact, more than compensate for the fee that they charge you for credit card debt settlement. These credit card debt settlement companies/advisors will be able to help you in the best way if you tell them your current financial situation correctly. Your future plans are important too, as they might influence the decision on ‘What route for credit card debt settlement would work the best for you’.

Moreover, once you are done with your credit card debt settlement, you should also take measures to avoid falling into that pit again.

Credit card processing

2009-07-01T22:46:00.006+07:00

It comes as a surprise how credit cards have found their way into our lives (and out wallet). Credit cards have gradually turned into becoming a necessity (rather than luxury). You can find credit card processing machines in almost all the shops today. With the advent of internet, online credit card processing has become popular too. ‘Credit card processing’ as such is a really interesting topic. This article tries to put into perspective the people, systems and the equipment that go into credit card processing.

First, let’s check the equipments used for credit card processing. So, there are credit card processing softwares for online credit card processing, there are credit card processing machines (i.e. the credit card reading machines at shops), there are data verification/validation devices/softwares that verify the security information on credit cards, there are communication devices/systems that enable safe transfer of credit card information from one point to another, and then there are other credit card processing equipments like the credit card processing equipment that is used for the preparation of the actual plastic (credit card).

Then there are various service providers that provide services related to credit card processing. There are suppliers for credit card processing equipment and suppliers for online credit card processing services. Then there are postal and courier service that help deliver credit card bills in time. There are merchants/petrol-bunks etc which provide facility of payment collection boxes at their premises (another important aspect of credit card processing).

Besides that there are complete systems for processing credit card applications, there are systems for credit card bill processing/generation, there are people at call centres who help in addressing the queries from credit card holders and, very importantly, there are people (sales representatives) who help you in filling the credit card application forms. Another important entity with regards to ‘credit card processing’ process is the credit rating bureaus. Credit card bureaus maintain a database of credit ratings for individuals and businesses. This rating is based on the data received from various credit providers over a period of time. This rating is the most important part of credit card application processing and a bad rating can lead to rejection of the credit card application altogether.

Thus, credit card processing involves a coordinated effort from a lot of professionals and service providers. In that sense, we can also say that credit card processing is an industry in itself that has generated a lot of employment.

Credit card services

2009-07-01T22:46:00.005+07:00

Credit cards have gained so much popularity amongst the masses that no business can be termed as complete and efficient if it doesn’t use credit card services. Really, without credit card services, most of the businesses would end up losing a significant chunk of business opportunities. Some people go to the extent of classifying such businesses (which don’t use credit card services) as non-serious businesses.

So what are these credit card services that we are talking about?

In simple words, by credit card services we mean the ability to accept credit cards as a mode of payment. Well, we can also term the use of credit cards as a credit card service. However, generally, credit card services will include the services that enable acceptance of credit card by a merchant. So, for a shopkeeper, use of credit card processing machines to accept credit card payments, is a credit card service that he is providing to his customers (and he himself is receiving this credit card service from the provider of credit card processing machine and others involved in making this process so smooth). Since carrying cash is no more a common practice, any shop that doesn’t use/provide such credit card services would end up losing a lot of customers because customers can’t pay with anything other than a credit card. So, for most merchants, providing credit card services (or credit card processing services) to their customers, has become very essential part of business.

With the internet boom, came a lot of online businesses. These businesses were in the form of virtual shops (or e-shops) that existed either only on the internet or were a virtual extension of physical shops. All these businesses (some selling goods, some selling services), needed a way to accept payments from their customers. This gave birth to online credit card services. The simplest use of these online credit card services is in the form of a simple webpage/web-form that asks you to provide your credit card details. These details are then verified and processed to debit the amount from your credit card and credit it to the merchant’s accounts. Since credit card details are sensitive information, these websites started implementing mechanisms/technology to secure it and prevent it from getting in the hands of fraudsters. Such sites are now called secured websites and form the backbone of e-commerce.

Besides these basic ways of implementing credit card services, the credit card services are provided in some other forms too e.g. over-the-phone payments using credit cards, use of third party online credit card service providers who provide you with an interface to accept credit card payments.

So, there are a lot of different ways in which credit card services are implemented and as the time goes by, the expanse of these credit card services is sure to increase.

It is easy to eliminate credit card debt

2009-07-01T22:46:00.004+07:00

Well, anyone who makes this comment is sure to be labelled as a moron. However, let me remind you of a famous quote “Where there is will, there is way”. So that is how easy it is to find a way to eliminate credit card debt. What you really need in order to eliminate credit card debt is “Will Power”. No matter what method you adopt to eliminate credit card debt, no matter what debt assistance company you approach (for advice on how to eliminate credit card debt), no matter what your friends tell you, “Will Power” is essential if you want to eliminate credit card debt. In fact, this starts from the word go. Just examine the last part of my previous statement “… is essential IF YOU WANT TO eliminate credit card debt”, this statement itself implies that “IF YOU WANT TO” or we can rephrase that as “if you have the will power to” eliminate credit card debt.

Will power is what you need to control your urge to buy everything from the market. Will power is needed to persevere. Will power is needed to analyze your current financial situation. Will power is needed to sit and plan the ways and means that you can adopt to eliminate credit card debt. Will power is needed to approach a credit card debt assistance company. You also need will power and patience for researching the market for the best balance transfer plans. So really, will power is needed for every aspect of credit card debt elimination. Since “Will Power” is the only thing you need to eliminate credit card debt, we can say that it is easy to eliminate credit card debt. However, this is easier said than done for will power for anything (be it will power to eliminate credit card debt or something else) is hard to come by. One way of strengthening your will power, that is required to eliminate credit card debt, is to portray the life after you successfully eliminate credit card debt. Portray the peace of mind that you will get after you eliminate credit card debt. How much fun it would be!! Moreover, the sense of achievement would be no lesser either (after all not everyone is able to eliminate credit card debt). Just think about all these good things and build your confidence and your will power to eliminate credit card debt. There is really nothing as powerful as will power. And remember “Where there is will, there is way”.

Excessive credit card debt

2009-07-01T22:46:00.003+07:00

Most people advocate the case of credit cards, quoting the benefits and convenience that arises from them. However, there is another group/line-of-thought that strongly opposes credit cards. The reason being ‘Excessive Credit Card Debt’, which is one of the most serious problems faced by the credit card holders and credit card industry. However, you can’t pull the shutters on the credit card industry just because of a few irresponsible people (or even if it’s more than few). That is not a solution for beating excessive credit card debt. Moreover, you can’t overlook the benefits associated with the credit cards.

The issue of excessive credit card debt can be looked at from 2 angles. First is addressing of the excessive credit card debt problem at the industry level and second is the addressing of the excessive credit card debt problem at the individual’s level i.e. at the credit card holder level. The first method involves increasing awareness of the excessive credit card debt problem to the masses. This is more or less being done currently too. However, there should also be an effort to tackle this problem of excessive credit card debt at an even deeper level. This means trying to devise a mechanism to nip the problem (of excessive credit card debt) in the bud. This mechanism should actually be a part of the overall system. A lot of thought needs to go into devising such a mechanism. Case studies should be taken up, statistics gathered and a proper forum formed (with representatives from the credit card holders and from the credit card suppliers). As of now, the credit card suppliers just seem to be engaged in coming out with new products and getting customers enrolled to those products. There is little attention paid towards addressing the problem of excessive credit card debt in the real sense. Something like attending mandatory seminars on the root causes of excessive credit card debt could be made part of the credit card application process. Another way of dealing with the problem of excessive credit card debt could be: developing a system for calculation of applicable credit card limit at the individual level i.e. no standard/product-based credit limits. Then there could be mechanisms for proactively warning the users about excessive credit card debt (based on their credit card usage) or even imposition of early restrictions on noticing the first signs that lead to excessive credit card debt At the individual’s level, the treatment of the problem of excessive credit card debt would include following of best practices (on credit card usage and avoidance of excessive credit card debt) by the individuals themselves. A checklist or a set of questions could be provided to individuals for recognising the first signs of excessive credit card debt.

So, the problem of excessive credit card debt can surely be dealt with by putting together some serious thinking at a broader level together with discipline at the individual’s level.

Can I get out of credit card debt?

2009-07-01T22:46:00.002+07:00

Yes, you can get out of credit card debt. If you are determined to get out of credit card debt you surely can get out of credit card debt. Though it’s a bit difficult to get out of credit card debt, it isn’t impossible. All you need to get out of credit card debt is determination and planning. Both are equally important (or maybe determination is even more important). Determination doesn’t come without proper reason. So, you need to first ask this question to yourself – “What will I get if I am able to get out of credit card debt?”, “What difference will it make”, “What’s in it for me” or “Is it really beneficial to get out of credit card debt”. Use the answers to build your determination. The fact that all the nagging via mails/phone (by the credit card supplier and/or their collection agent), will be gone, should do good to strengthening your determination and should provide you with a reason on why you should endeavour to get out of credit card debt. Think about the stress-free life after you get out of credit card debt. Try to link various reasons together and try to see the benefits through them. All these collectively will help in bolstering your determination and prevent it from getting weak at any point in time.

The second thing that you need to get out of credit card debt is planning. The planning to get out of credit card debt will start with making a list of the credit cards that you currently posses and noting the debt and the APR for each of them. The sum total of all these various credit card debts, will give you the total credit card debt. You also need to check if you have been defaulting on payments on some of these credit cards (and hence incurring a late fee). You will need to avoid that and put it on the plan you have prepared to get out of credit card debt. The next step in getting out of credit card debt is to check your current financial position and make an assessment of what you expect your future financial position to be. Next comes the research to check the various balance transfer offers available in the market; to see if one of these can prove beneficial to you. Use all this information to calculate how much time you will require to get out of credit card debt and how you will distribute the debt payment across your various credit cards (ensuring that you payoff the debt that is hitting you the most and also ensuring that you don’t incur late fee on any credit card payments)

Is business credit card helpful?

2009-07-01T22:46:00.001+07:00

‘Yes’ –is the answer that’s comes out almost immediately. That is true at least for most businesses (especially small businesses). Before we delve deeper into how business credit cards are helpful, let’s try and understand what a business credit card is.

Put simply, a business credit card is a credit card that is owned by a business and not an individual. To understand this better, you can simply draw an analogy between the business credit cards and business bank accounts, which are in the name of the business as well. Other than that, business credit cards work in pretty much the same fashion as the personal credit cards; with a few exceptions. These exceptions are in the form of flexibility in credit limit, low APRs and some other additional benefits that are available to business credit cards only.

Even from just that, business credit cards seem a good proposition. However, business credit cards would be attractive even without those benefits because the main benefit lies elsewhere. The big-big benefit from a business credit card is realised in terms of business expense accounting. For most small businesses, business expense accounting is a big overhead. With business credit cards, this is handled very easily – you just have to ensure that you make all your business expenses on your business credit card and let the personal expenses be on the personal credit card i.e. segregation of business and personal expenses is all you need to do. So the bill for your business credit card will have all the business expenses on it and you wouldn’t need to collate all the various bills or sort out the items from your personal credit card bill. The key here is to make sure that you use your business credit card for all your business expenses (or as much as you can). Moreover, a lot of business credit card suppliers realise this need of small business and even organise the business credit card bills in a way that meets the accounting requirements of these businesses. So mostly, they will appropriately group the expenses on the business credit card bill so as to facilitate business expense accounting. In fact, some of the business credit card suppliers go to an extent of providing the bills in a format that can be downloaded and exported to an accounting system i.e. you don’t need to enter the data manually in your accounting system. In case the format is not suitable for your accounting system, you can hire a software professional to write a small quick program to convert it into a suitable format.

Thus just one reason - ‘facilitation of business expense accounting’, is enough to support the case of small business credit cards.

Is consolidating credit card debt a good option?

2009-07-01T22:46:00.000+07:00

Well, the answer will more often be yes than no. Consolidating credit card debt is often regarded as the first step towards credit card debt elimination. However, even before you move to take first step towards consolidating credit card debt, you must understand that consolidating credit card debt (or balance transfer) is an action that you are taking to eliminate credit card debt. Consolidating credit card debt is not a means of deferring the problem for later.

Consolidating credit card debt is indeed a good option in more than one sense. Not only do you get relief from the rapid increase in your credit card debt, but also get other benefits too. Offers for consolidating credit card debt are in abundance and are very attractive indeed. Almost all the offers for consolidating credit card debt have an initial low APR period during which the APR is generally 0% (or some low figure). In fact, this is one of the main things which make consolidating credit card debt a very attractive option. Besides this low APR, the offers for consolidating credit card debt also include things like no interest rate on the purchases made during first 5 months (or some other initial period) of balance transfer. This is another thing that lowers the speed at which your credit card debt gallops. So these are the two most important benefits that credit card suppliers deploy to attract people into consolidating credit card debt with them. Then there are other benefits which include things like additional reward points on the member’s reward program of the credit card you are consolidating credit card debt to. These reward points can be redeemed for other attractive goods/rebates/rewards etc. Sometimes, the new credit card (i.e. the one you are consolidating credit card debt to) might be a credit card that caters more to your current spending needs both in terms of the credit limits and the way you spend your money. For example, the new credit card might be a co-branded one offered by an airline that you have started travelling with very frequently in the recent times and consolidating credit card debt on such a card may open up much more benefits as compared to your current credit card which was based on your needs at the time of you applying for your current credit card. The credit card you are consolidating credit card debt to might open up discount offers to you.

Looking for a solution to your Credit card debt problem?

2009-07-01T22:45:00.000+07:00

First of all, you can take comfort in the fact that you are not the only one fighting the credit card debt problem. There are hordes of people who might have an even worse credit card debt problem compared to you; all of them seeking to eliminate the credit card debt problem. So what is the solution to credit card debt problem?

Well, the solution really is to smash the credit card debt problem with full force and eliminate it completely. Now how do you do that?

There are many ways in which you can tackle credit card debt problem. Different people suggest different ways of tackling credit card debt problem. However, here is a simple step by step account of what you can do to get rid of credit card debt problem.

Take stock of the situation i.e. draw up a table with the following fields – Credit card name, balance, payment due day (the day of the month by which you are required to make payment of your credit card bill), APR, reward points earned, redemption offers applicable for your reward points balance, remarks.
Fill the table up with data from your various credit cards.
Figure out which credit card is contributing the most to the credit card debt problem i.e. highest APR and highest balance.
Check if reward points can be used to make partial payments or cover any kind of fees or if the points can be bartered for something you need (spending less means preventing the credit card debt problem from getting worse).
Draw a comparison table of offers available for eliminating credit card debt problem (i.e. consolidating credit card debt).
First eliminate debt on the credit card that is contributing the most to the credit card debt problem.
Practice controlled and healthy spending habits (after all you are looking to get rid of credit card debt problem and not aggravate the credit card debt problem).
Look for alternative means of adding to your income (more money means earlier termination of credit card debt problem)
See your debt reduce with time and celebrate the day when you finally put an end to your credit card debt problem.

Remember this is just one of the ways of tackling credit card debt problem; you might devise your approach for doing away with credit card debt problem. Any and every approach is good if it fulfils the objective i.e. eliminates credit card debt problem.

Low interest credit cards

2009-07-01T22:44:00.001+07:00

A lot of people just look at low interest credit cards when they are looking to get a credit card for themselves. The credit card suppliers too advertise low interest credit cards more that any other kind of credit cards. However, should low interest credit cards be the only ones on your list when you are hunting for a credit card? Probably not. For some people, interest rate or the APR is probably the most important thing to look for when selecting a credit card. However, that doesn’t hold good for everyone. Low interest credit cards are good and should surely be on your list, but APR is not the only thing to look for.

Let’s start with understanding what an APR (annual percentage rate) is and where its importance lies. APR is simply the interest rate that is used to calculate interest on the balance in your credit account with the credit card supplier. There is no interest charge if you make the full payment of your credit card bill (by the due date). However, in case of a partial payment, you will need to pay an interest on whatever you owe the credit card supplier. The APR is backward calculated to get a monthly rate and the same is applied on your balance to calculate the interest for the applicable period.

That means, people who are not sure about being able to pay the full amount, every time, should surely look for low interest credit cards. A low interest credit card helps in reducing your total outgo by curtailing the interest you pay on your balance. So, low interest credit cards help in slowing down the rate at which your credit card debt builds up. Thus low interest credit cards are surely important for a particular group of people, as stated above.

Besides this group, there are others who don’t really need low interest credit cards. These people are capable of (and intend to) pay off their credit card bill in full every month. Their purpose in using a credit card is convenience and other benefits associated with the credit cards. So, be it low interest credit cards or high interest ones; it really doesn’t matter for them.

So the need for low interest credit cards is more felt by a particular group of people. However, even if you go for a low interest credit card, you need to pit the various low interest credit cards against each other (vis-à-vis the other benefits they offer) and then select the low interest credit card that is best suited to your needs.

So, first you need to evaluate whether you need to go only for low interest credit cards and then select the low interest credit card that fulfils your needs. After all, you don’t go hunting for a credit card everyday.

Credit card debt reduction

2009-07-01T22:43:00.000+07:00

Getting into debt is easy but getting out of it really a difficult task. This holds good for any kind of debt and includes credit card debt too. Credit card debt reduction needs planning and discipline in the way you spend money.

Credit card debt reduction starts with reduction in the expenditures you make using your credit card. So, the first trick for credit card reduction is to go for shopping without your credit card (carry some small amount of cash). This credit card reduction technique isn’t asking you to stop shopping, instead it’s just asking you to seriously evaluate the need of anything you want to purchase and not just purchase it on the spur of the moment. So, if you really-really need to buy it, you will go back to your home to fetch your credit card thus introducing a delay that is instrumental in killing spur-of-the-moment purchase (and hence helping in credit card debt reduction). It gives you time to evaluate if it’s really worth going back home and getting the credit card for purchasing that item. So, in this case, credit card debt reduction is achieved by preventing the debt from building up further. It’s a very effective credit card debt reduction measure.

The other effective way of credit card debt reduction is debt consolidation i.e. consolidating debt from high APR credit cards to a low APR one. So this credit card debt reduction measure works by reducing the rate at which your credit card debt grows. Moreover, this way of credit card debt reduction also gives you a breather in the form of a short initial period when the APR is 0%. Besides credit card debt reduction, debt consolidation also brings some additional benefits which are basically in terms of rewards etc offered by the new credit card supplier. Thus this method of credit card debt reduction is really more than just a credit card debt reduction method – it’s a benefit provider too. If you are not comfortable in taking forward this method of credit card debt reduction, you can seek the help of a credit card debt assistance company.

Besides these two credit card debt reduction measures, which are really the most important credit card debt reduction measures, there are other methods too for credit card debt reduction. Another one is to ask your current credit card supplier for help in credit card debt reduction i.e. by lowering the APR. It might work out for you (as it does for some people).

Also remember, that there are people (professionals) out there who provide advice on credit card debt reduction (just in case you need them).

Credit card debt negotiation

2009-07-01T22:42:00.004+07:00

Credit card debt is really a menace and a lot of people are facing it around the globe. Credit card debt consolidation and bank loans are well known as ways of reducing and eliminating credit card debt. In all this confusion, credit card debt negotiation almost gets forgotten.

Well, credit card debt negotiation starts right from your credit accounts where you have the most hard-hitting credit card debt. This means credit card debt negotiation has to be taken up with your current credit providers. Before you misinterpret it, let me clarify that we are not talking about chucking off a portion of your debt through credit card debt negotiation. We are talking primarily about using credit card debt negotiations for getting the APR on your current credit cards reduced to some lower figure. So, credit card debt negotiation is about talking to your current credit card suppliers for informing them about your intention to clear off your credit card debt and using your skills (credit card debt negotiation skills) to agree a lower APR rate with them. Basically, credit card debt negotiation is about asking your current credit card suppliers for help/assistance in clearing off your credit card debt. If credit card debt negotiation is successful, it will save you not only money (due to reduction in APR) but also the hassle that is associated with looking for a new credit card (to transfer balance).

However, if the credit card debt negotiation, with your current credit card supplier, doesn’t yield the desired results, you will have to look for other credit suppliers who can help you in consolidating your debt. Again, you will need your negotiation skills (rather credit card debt negotiation skills) to get a good deal from them. If your credit card debt negotiations work out well, you might be able to get a really low standard APR or you might get a longer term on 0% APR (or you might get both). These are really the most important things and your credit card debt negotiations should concentrate more on these than anything else. The other thing to include on your credit card debt negotiation would be the credit limit and other benefits. Here, you are basically trying out the possibility of getting a better credit card as part of your credit card debt negotiation. For people with really bad credit rating, getting an unsecured bank loan or getting another credit card (for balance transfer) is really difficult. For them, getting an unsecured bank loan or credit card is what you would term as credit card debt negotiation.

So, don’t hesitate in going for credit card debt negotiation. It is surely an option available for all.

Credit card debt management

2009-07-01T22:42:00.003+07:00

Though a lot of people are comfortable with going forward with credit card debt management all by themselves, not everyone is. There are people who don’t really want to tread into the territory of financial issues (credit card debt management included). Such people generally prefer going to debt assistance companies for advice on credit card debt management or for getting the credit card debt management done through them. However, even before we talk further on this topic of credit card debt management, it’s imperative to understand that any external person or agency can only do a proper credit card debt management for you if you strictly follow the advice/guidelines that they formulate as part of credit card debt management. These credit card debt management guidelines are generally related to controlling your spending (which basically means perseverance and contentment).

Going to a credit card debt management company or a credit card debt management advisor/professional is not meant only for people who are foreign to financial topics but is sometimes fruitful for other people too (who are going with credit card debt management all by themselves). This arises from the fact that these credit card debt management professionals (as any professional) would have more knowledge in that field than anyone else that is not from that field/profession. So, firstly, you wouldn’t know all the tips and tricks that the credit card debt management professional would know (and in fact this is something that you cannot read and learn overnight). And secondly, it will save you a lot of time; because the person who practices credit card debt management as a profession would know about all the latest offers etc that are available in the market e.g. balance transfer offers etc (and hence you don’t need to go looking for all this stuff all by yourself). All in all, a credit card debt management professional can help get you a better deal that might more than compensate for the fee charged by that professional. If you look around you will find that there are hordes of companies and professionals offering credit card debt management services. However, the key here is that you choose someone whose credentials are already established (or who can prove his credentials to you). One good way of selecting a credit card debt management company/ professional is to check with a friend or someone from your family, if they have used any such service in recent times. After all, references are the best way of building trust.

Is ‘credit card debt counseling’ really beneficial?

2009-07-01T22:42:00.001+07:00

Not everyone believes that credit card debt counseling is beneficial and there are various reasons for that. Some people just read articles in the newspapers or find advice on the internet and take that as the final thing. So they don’t feel the need for credit card debt counseling. Some others feel that credit card debt counseling companies are just trying to make quick money by telling you the obvious i.e. by telling you something that is being advertised everywhere. However, the most important reason arises from the fact that not all credit card debt counseling companies are genuine and of those that are genuine, not all credit card debt counseling companies provide good advice. So, choosing a proper credit card debt counseling company becomes a critical factor in determining the success of credit card debt counseling. Always go for a reputable credit card debt counseling company, even if their fee is a bit higher. Remember that a proper credit card debt counseling can help you in not just eliminating your credit card debt, but eliminating your credit card debt in a way that is so cost effective as to more than offset the fee credit card debt counseling company is charging you. Moreover, proper credit card debt counseling can save you a lot of time and energy that you would have otherwise spend in studying all about credit card debt, gathering information about various credit card debt elimination measures and comparing these measures. Further, these credit card debt counseling companies can present more than one solution to you from which you can choose whatever appeals the most to you. These credit card debt counseling agencies can also get your credit card debt settled much quicker than if you were trying to do it all by yourself (and without any credit card debt counseling). Also, credit card debt counseling could bring to light things which you would not have been able to see e.g. risks with the approach you were thinking to adopt or a futuristic view of things. Moreover, a person who earns his/her bread by practicing credit card debt counseling as a profession, would know the tricks of the trade which no one else would even have an inkling to e.g. pitfalls of a particular debt consolidation offer, or advantages of another offer etc etc.

There is no doubt with regards to the benefits that credit card debt counseling can bring to you. However, you need to be careful and avoid the fraudsters and pick up someone who has a good reputation.

Credit card debt consolidation loan

2009-07-01T22:41:00.004+07:00

Credit card debt consolidation is regarded as the first step towards getting rid of credit card debt. Credit card debt consolidation loan is one of the ways of consolidating credit card debt. Besides, credit card debt consolidation loan, you can also go for balance transfer to another credit card. In fact, due to the publicity by credit card suppliers, balance transfers seem to be more talked about than credit card debt consolidation loan. Some people kind of forget about credit card debt consolidation loan being available as a method of credit card debt consolidation. However, credit card debt consolidation loan too is important to consider when going for credit card debt consolidation.

So what do we mean by credit card debt consolidation loan?

Put simply, credit card debt consolidation loan is a low interest loan that you apply for with a bank or financial institution in order to clear off your high interest credit card debt. So credit card debt consolidation loan too is based on same principle as balance transfers i.e. moving from one or more high interest debts to a low interest one. The credit card debt consolidation loan has to be paid back in monthly instalments and as per the terms and conditions agreed between you and the dispenser of credit card debt consolidation loan.

Credit card debt consolidation loan, in general terms, is an unsecured loan i.e. doesn’t require you to pledge any security. However, if you have a really bad credit history and you want go for credit card debt settlement using credit card debt consolidation loan, the credit card debt consolidation loan will take the form of a secured credit card debt consolidation loan. This type of credit card debt consolidation loan requires you to pledge a security e.g. the home owned by you or something else that has a value which is comparable to your credit card debt consolidation loan amount. So, worse the credit rating, the more difficult it is to get a credit card debt consolidation loan.

Though balance transfers and credit card debt consolidation loans have the same objective behind them, the credit card debt consolidation loans are sometimes considered better because you end up closing most of your credit card accounts which have been the main culprit in landing you in this difficult situation. However, balance transfers have their own advantages which are not available with credit card debt consolidation loans. Choosing between credit card debt consolidation loan and balance transfer is really a matter of personal choice.

What is ‘Credit card debt consolidation’?

2009-07-01T22:41:00.003+07:00

‘Credit card debt consolidation’ is a phrase that you must have come across many times. There are hundreds of sites with advice on credit card debt consolidation. Every now and then your favourite newspaper will also contain an article or advise on credit card debt consolidation. TV channels host discussions on credit card debt consolidation. Moreover, there are numerous consultants and companies that provide professional advice on credit card debt consolidation. So what is this “Credit card debt consolidation” that everyone is talking about? Why is it such an important topic?

“Credit card debt consolidation” refers to consolidation of the debt on various credit cards into a single credit card (or a couple of credit cards). Generally, you move from a higher APR credit card to a lower APR one. You might ask ‘why?’ If you look into how the vicious circle of credit card debt works, you will immediately understand the logic behind that. Credit card debt grows in 2 ways. One is due to addition of new debt on account of fresh spends on your credit card and the second is due to addition of interest charges to the existing credit card debt. The first one is due to your use of credit card but the second one is due to interest charges which are calculated on the basis of the interest rate or the APR applicable to your credit card. So a lower APR rate means that your credit card debt will grow at a slower pace and hence switching over to a card with lower APR makes perfect sense.

The process of credit card debt consolidation is also referred to as balance transfer process (you transfer the balance or debt from one credit card to another).The credit card debt consolidation (or balance transfer) offers are made even more attractive by the credit card suppliers by associating various benefits with them. The simple logic behind offering these benefits is the fact that such a customer would be defecting from one of their competitors. The biggest benefit offered by these credit card suppliers is 0% interest on balance transfers (or credit card debt consolidation). This 0% APR is generally applicable for a short period of time i.e. 3-6 months, after which the standard APR is applicable. Other credit card debt consolidation offers include things like interest free purchase for a short period, reward points, etc. These credit card debt consolidation offers make the exercise of credit card debt consolidation even more logical and meaningful.

Credit card debt consolidation seems to be a good way of tackling the problem of credit card debt and that is the reason why there is so much of discussion on the topic of Credit card debt consolidation.

Credit card debt

2009-07-01T22:41:00.001+07:00

‘Credit card debt’ is a much discussed topic in the commercial and social circles. A big section of the population has been bit by this bug called ‘credit card debt’. Can’t blame them much; as such, it’s pretty easy to fall prey to this bug.

The main reason behind so many credit card casualties (rather credit card debt related casualties) is that many people don’t understand the concept of credit cards properly. They treat credit card as free money that is never to be returned. Thus all the discipline, which would otherwise have been exercised with spending hard-earned money, goes for a toss. That means people overspend and get into credit card debt. They keep spending till they reach the credit limit on their credit card. Some people go to the extent of treating that like a game and consider it a defeat (or consider their credit card under utilised) if they don’t hit the credit limit quick enough. These unnecessary spends result in a situation where they are not able to payback their credit card bills and end up paying interest on the amount they owe. This keeps building up their credit card debt and they soon find that the interest component has become a regular feature in their monthly expenses and it is there even if they spend nothing on their credit card. That is credit card debt on the prowl. Soon they find that their current credit card can no longer handle their needs and start looking to get another credit card. With the new power of credit, they let themselves loose again and follow a ‘shop till you drop’ routine. Soon the credit limit of the new credit card is reached too and they again default on payments. This is how credit card debt builds. Soon they learn about credit card debt consolidation and other credit card debt elimination techniques. They are quick to grab such credit card debt reduction techniques, but that’s not because they are serious about reducing their credit card debt but because of the attractive low APR offers. As if it were booty, they again get back to building up their credit card debt. All the while they are spoiling their credit card rating and they soon realise that no one is ready to lend them money because of their credit history. They can only get a secured credit card now (where you first deposit money into your credit account and then only you get the privilege of spending it (50-100% of it) using their credit card. Credit card debt collection agencies, auction of their goods and bankruptcy is the next thing that hits them and their dream run is blown away in a moment.

The moral of the story – “Understand the concept of credit cards and treat credit card debt with all seriousness”.

Consolidate credit card debt

2009-07-01T22:40:00.002+07:00

We know that it’s good to consolidate credit card debt (at least that is what we keep hearing from everyone). In fact, the first step towards addressing the problem of credit card debt is to consolidate credit card debt. Now, what do you do to consolidate credit card debt? Should you just go with that attractive ad in the newspaper that says ‘...the lowest APR in the town is available here’?

The first thing, really, is to keep your eyes and ears open. There are always a number of offers available for you to choose from. The credit card suppliers keep coming with new and more attractive offers asking you to consolidate credit card debt with them. However, you must note that the APR quoted in bold, e.g. 0% APR, is applicable only for a short term (3-9 months). The long term (or the standard) APR is different. So, when you go looking for a credit card to consolidate credit card debt, you must be keenly looking for these 3 things (in terms of APR) – introductory APR, introductory APR period and the standard APR. Let’s see how each one is important.

Introductory APR is probably the most attractive thing to look for when you are looking to consolidate credit card debt. If you consolidate credit card debt to a card that has a low introductory APR e.g. 0%, the first thing you get is a breather/relief in terms of the rate at which your credit card debt has been growing. Based on how long that 0% APR period is (generally you will look to consolidate credit card debt with a credit card supplier who offers 0% initial APR), you will at least be able to temporarily break the growth rate of your credit card debt. More the introductory period, the better it is. However, you should not ignore the standard APR when you consolidate credit card debt. This is the interest rate that will be applied to your balance after the expiry of the introductory low APR period that was given to lure you to consolidate credit card debt with that credit card supplier. If the standard APR is too high and you know that you will not be able to clear off the entire credit card debt during the low APR period, that credit card is probably not the best for you to consolidate credit card debt to. However, if you think that you will be able to clear off the entire credit card debt during that period, you can make some compromises on the standard APR of the credit card to which you consolidate credit card debt.

The card that synchronizes with your current and future financial position (and needs), is the one you should consolidate credit card debt to.

College student credit card debt

2009-07-01T22:40:00.001+07:00

Credit card debt doesn’t shy away from anyone who doesn’t want to shy away from it. It treats everyone equally irrespective of whether the person is a seasoned professional or just a college student. So college student credit card debt isn’t uncommon either. Since the credit limit on college student credit cards is much lower, the college student credit card debt cannot rise to the levels it does for other credit cards. However, college student credit card debt is an even bigger menace because a lot of students are already in debt due to the loan they have taken for their education. If they pass out of college with college student credit card debt, they will have to payback not just the loan they taken for studies but also their college student credit card debt.

Since most of the college students are inexperienced in the usage of credit cards, they can easily fall prey to what we call as ‘college student credit card debt’. In fact, college student credit card debt is one reason why the credit card suppliers keep a lower credit limit on college student credit cards. The solution for avoiding college student credit card debt is similar to what it is for avoidance of any type of credit card debt. So, the first thing for avoiding college student credit card debt is to understand the concept that credit card is not free money and that whatever you pay-for using your credit card has to be paid back to the credit card supplier when your credit card bill arrives. So don’t treat credit card separate from hard cash. Avoid overspending e.g. do not buy things just because they are on sale, sales keep coming and going and there are always better offers each time; buy only those things that you really need. A good thing to do is to prepare your monthly budget and follow it religiously. Never budge from your budget. Another very important preventive measure for avoiding college student credit card debt is to avoid going for a second credit card. Some students have a tendency to go for multiple credit cards just because the credit limit on college student credit cards is very low. However, this is a perfect recipe for getting into a college student credit card debt. This is how college student credit card debt builds up. One credit card is more than enough for any student.

College student credit card is really meant to be treated like a training ground for learning more about credit cards. It should not be make an instrument of debt (college student credit card debt).

Chase.com credit card offers

2009-07-01T22:39:00.002+07:00

Online credit card applications seem to be the in thing and Chase too offers online credit card application facility. Here, ‘Chase.com credit cards’ refers to the chase credit cards that can be applied for online. Just for those who don’t know, ‘Chase’ is a brand that is owned by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (a leading global financial services firm).

By ‘Chase.com credit card offers’, I mean the credit card offers that are available at chase.com. Obviously, ‘Chase.com credit cards’ would be regulated by chase. Again, as with any other credit card supplier, ‘Chase.com credit cards’ on offer would be changing too.

Anyways; one night, before going to bed, I thought of just checking the chase.com credit cards section. Here is what I found:

There is a separate Chase.com credit cards section. As I browsed through the Chase.com credit cards section (the online application ones), the first one I encountered was called ‘Chase Cash Plus’ or the ‘Chase Cash Plus Rewards’. These promise faster rewards and offer 5% earnings on gas and on purchases made at grocery-stores/drug-stores. For other shopping venues, it offers 1% earnings. These earnings can be in the form of gift certificates or cash.

The next on the Chase.com credit cards section was the ‘Flexible rewards Visa signature card’. Here you earn a point for every purchase of $1. You can keep collecting these points and then finally redeem them for your choice of things (like cash, travel, gift certificates or some kind of merchandise). The redemption can start at 2500 points (and you get a bonus of 1000 points once you make the first purchase). Moreover, this one doesn’t have any annual fee either. So that was the second one in the Chase.com credit cards section.

Moving on in the Chase.com credit cards section, I found ‘Free Cash Rewards Platinum Visa card’. This one, as the name goes, offers cash rewards. You can get a $25 check or a gift certificate on redemption of 2500 points. Since there is one point earned for every $1 spend, this mean that you effectively get 1% cash back on these cards.

I had started loving browsing through the Chase.com credit cards section. So I moved on to the next one in the Chase.com credit cards section. The next one on the Chase.com credit cards section was ‘Chase Perfect Platinum MasterCard’ which doesn’t limit you to getting rebates only on a particular brand of gasoline; instead, you get rebates everywhere. ‘

Chase Platinum MasterCard’ was the next one in the Chase.com credit cards section. This one offers online account management i.e. monthly statements, bill payments etc can all be done online (also you don’t have any annual fee on this one).

There were few more cards on Chase.com credit cards section and one especially caught my attention. This one was at the bottom of Chase.com credit cards section and was called ‘Check Gallery Platinum Visa Card’. Here you could choose the design of your card from those available e.g. cowboys, smileys etc.

By now, I was so sleepy that I really had to shut down my computer and go off to sleep.

Note: The information given in this article was correct at the time it was written. However, the author does not guarantee the correctness and completeness of this information at any time.

Chase credit cards

2009-07-01T22:39:00.001+07:00

Credit cards have become almost a necessity in today’s world. There are hordes of credit card suppliers who issue thousands of credits cards every day. Chase (of the JPMorgan group) are a well known credit card supplier. Chase credit cards are pretty popular among the masses.

Chase credit cards come with various different benefits and accordingly chase credit cards are classified into various categories. There are general purpose chase credit cards which promise great rates and excellent service. Then there are chase credit cards for people who shop regularly with some retailers. These are termed as rebate cards since they offer rebates on shopping when you shop with certain retailers. These also offer cash rewards. There are entertainment credit cards for people who wish to get VIP access to some concerts, events etc.

Another category of chase credit cards is the travel cards where the credit card holders get travel related discounts and rewards. This category of chase credit cards is very suitable for people who travel a lot. Yet another set of chase credit cards is grouped as auto and gas cards which offer rebates and rewards on everyday purchases. Retail cards are another kind of chase credit cards where you receive points on purchases made using this chase credit card. These points can then be redeemed for shopping certificates, entertainment etc. For students, there is a separate breed of chase credit cards which is called student cards. These student cards help the students in building a (good) credit history and also offer some special benefits for students. Similarly there are college & university alumni cards for supporting your alma mater. There is another set of chase credit cards that operate on similar lines. These chase credit cards are called ‘cards to support organizations’. The organization can be something like a charity or any other organization that you want to support. Then there are military cards that are meant for the members of military (both past and present). You can support your favourite teams or sporting organizations by getting a sports card. Finally, there are business cards which can be used by businesses for organizing their expenses, availing low interest rates and getting other benefits related to business.

Thus chase offers a lot of different credit cards which cater to the different needs of various people. By comparing the features of these chase credit cards and by understanding the main objective behind them, one can easily zero-in on the chase credit card that is best suited to ones needs.

Note: The information given in this article was correct at the time it was written. However, the author does not guarantee the correctness and completeness of this information at any time.

So tired that I typed ‘card com credit debt en language site’

2009-07-01T22:38:00.004+07:00

Credit card debt can really disturb the peace of your mind. You keep hearing stories about people who run a debt on their credit card debt. Some of these stories are serious and some others are amusing. Here’s an amusing one:

The other day I heard a guy tell his story about how he went on his mission to eliminate his credit card debt. He started with reading the advice on various websites and trying various search engines and he was astonished at the number of results he got. One night he was so tired that he typed in ‘card com credit debt en language site’. After he typed ‘card com credit debt en language site’, he realized that he had made a slight typing mistake in typing ‘card com credit debt en language site’. His actual intention behind typing ‘card com credit debt en language site’ was to search for only English sites (.com sites only) that offered credit card debt related advice. His search amused him even more when he found that ‘card com credit debt en language site’ did actually get him some results. Though the search engine did recommend changing the ‘en’ to ‘in’, there were still some results for ‘card com credit debt en language site’. He just went on to search for ‘card com credit debt en language site’ as just one term. For ‘card com credit debt en language site’ as a single term, he got lesser results than he had got for ‘card com credit debt en language site’ typed in without quotes. He wondered, if a lot of people were making similar searches as he was doing on ‘card com credit debt en language site’ i.e. using random terms with a bit of mistyping. He went on to typing ‘card com credit debt en language site’ on some other search engines, just to check that. Soon, it kind of became a research (and fun) of different kind i.e. searching for ‘card com credit debt en language site’ and checking if ‘card com credit debt en language site’ actually meant something. He thought that it was a bit unusual to have some other people too that were searching for or using the same term ‘card com credit debt en language site’ (especially such a long term as ‘card com credit debt en language site’). When ‘card com credit debt en language site’ was used without quotes, the search for ‘card com credit debt en language site’ did yield some useful yields. So he went on to examine these results that were returned for ‘card com credit debt en language site’. However, that was just the fun part of it and he soon went off to sleep.

Yes, he did have a laugh with his friends the next day.

Before you go for credit card debt help

2009-07-01T22:38:00.003+07:00

Generally you will find that there is more credit card debt help available than is actually needed. Just flip through the newspaper and you would be surprised by the number of advertisements related to credit card debt help. Every now and then, there are articles on credit card debt and credit card debt help. Television channels are full of ads related to credit card debt help. There are websites and magazines that are dedicate to credit card debt help. You also hear about the topic of ‘credit card debt help’ being discussed in parliament. There seem to be policies/laws being formed for credit card debt help. All kinds of suggestions seem to be floating for credit card debt help. Everyone, even some of your friends, have a piece of advice related to credit card debt help. All banks seem to offer credit card debt help in term of various loan types (generally short term loans) at low rates.

So, credit card debt help is readily available and in fact even unwanted credit card debt help or advice will flow into your ears. However, not every one offering credit card debt help is proficient enough to be able to provide proper credit card debt help that will suit you. So you do need to understand some basics about credit cards and credit card debt, before you actually go looking for credit card debt help or before you start helping yourself out with your credit card debt. So you should try and understand how the credit card suppliers bill you, how the interest is calculated on your credit card balance and how your credit card debt grows. Understanding all about APR, goes without saying. Even if you think that you had gone through all this stuff at the time of choosing your credit card, you should revisit these concepts to make sure that you still know them. If you decide against going for professional credit card debt help, you will need to understand these concepts in even more detail. All these concepts will become handy when you are comparing various balance transfer offers (for example). Moreover, the knowledge of these concepts will also be helpful in making the discussions with credit counsellor more fruitful.

So credit card debt help really starts with developing a better understanding of credit cards and other concepts related to credit cards (irrespective of whether you go for external credit card debt help or not).

‘Bad debt credit card’- what’s that?

2009-07-01T22:38:00.001+07:00

Bad debt credit card is basically a credit card that the credit card suppliers offer to the people who have bad debt. Did that astonish you? Well, don’t let your thoughts run just yet.

You can classify bad debt credit cards into 2 categories based on what you understand by bad debt credit card. The first category of bad debt credit cards is those credit cards that are secured (and are also known as secured credit cards). These bad debt credit cards require a security i.e. you have to open (and maintain) a bank account with the bad debt credit card supplier. The credit limit on your bad debt credit card is calculated as a percentage of the balance you hold in the bank account you have opened with bad debt credit card supplier. Generally, this is 50-100% of your bank account balance. So, this bad debt credit card enables you to spend the amount you hold in your bank account; only the way you spend it changes (i.e. instead of spending that as cash you spend it using your bad debt credit card). So bad debt credit card lets you enjoy the convenience and other benefits that are associated with credit cards, even with a bad debt. This security is as such important for the bad debt credit card supplier; after all how can you trust someone who has a bad credit rating.

The other category of bad debt credit cards are nothing unusual, they are the same cards that we know of most commonly; the only difference is in the way you get them and the objective behind getting them. Here, we are talking about the credit cards that you use as a debt consolidation mechanism i.e. consolidating bad debt (as such any debt is bad). So we can call them bad debt credit cards too. These operate by transferring of the balance you owe on your current, high interest credit cards to these bad debt credit cards that have a lower APR (at least for some initial period). Hence, these bad debt credit cards help you in consolidating your debt and getting some relief from the higher APR that you were experiencing on your current card.

Some people accept both of the above categories of credit cards as bad debt credit cards while others tend to go with one or the other. So, what you regard as a bad debt credit card is really a matter of personal choice.

Credit card debt relief

2009-07-01T22:37:00.002+07:00

Credit card debt relief is what every debt-struck credit card holder is looking for. Credit card debt relief is not just about reducing or eliminating credit card debt; credit card debt relief is also about getting de-stressed. Credit card debt relief is about working for oneself and not just for the credit card debt that you have on you. Yes, it’s unfortunate but true. In fact, you can hear statements like “I have got a better job, now I can pack up my credit card debt even faster”. So, in that sense, credit card debt relief is really about getting your life back on the normal track.

The most important credit card debt relief comes in the form of de-stressing you. Everyone knows about the harmful effects of stress; so, if credit card debt relief means postponing your purchases for later, you should do so. There are no goods out there that can give you as much joy as credit card debt relief can. Besides postponing the purchase of your favourite goods, there are few more things that you need to bring into practice in order to get credit card debt relief. Most of these credit card debt relief mechanisms advocate restraint spending e.g. preparing a (tight) monthly budget and sticking to it. Using cash instead of card for making the payments for your purchases is another advice. Debt consolidation is another popular way of getting credit card debt relief. You will find a lot of advice (and you can even hire a consultant) for ways to achieving credit card debt relief. So, there is no dearth of advice on credit card debt relief or credit card debt consolidation or credit card debt elimination. However, what is not so common is the advice on how to act in the post ‘credit card debt relief’ period i.e. after credit card debt elimination. It goes without saying that if you don’t exercise care in the post ‘credit card debt relief’ period, you might again fall a prey to credit card debt. So, if you have been refraining from making purchases, you should not, all of a sudden, start purchasing all those favourite goods that you had been avoiding. The recommended guidelines for post ‘credit card debt relief’ period are not much different from the ones for achieving credit card debt relief. Here are the top 5:

Plan your expenses using a monthly budget
Do not buy anything that you don’t need
Do not go for too many credit cards (just one or two should be sufficient)
Always make full payments of your credit card bill and do it before the due date
Never use more than 60-70% of the credit limit available to you.

Is it ok to apply online for credit card?

2009-07-01T22:37:00.001+07:00

With the fast pace of our everyday lives, we don’t have time for anything really. This is where the combined power of commerce and technology comes in. The capability to apply online for a credit card is one such example. Yes, you can apply online for a credit card. The revolution behind providing you with the ability to ‘apply online for credit card’ is called ‘internet’. You can not only apply online for credit card but also use your credit card to do online shopping (and get the goods delivered to your door at no extra cost compared to the local store).

So, it is possible to apply online for a credit card. To apply online for credit card, you just have to fill-in an application form that is presented to you on the website of the credit card supplier (who provides the capability to apply online for credit card). This application form is very similar to the one you would have filled-in in person – the details asked are same and the processing of the application is same too. You will find that a lot credit card companies encourage you to apply online for credit card. This is because they save on the costs related to salary of representatives, paper, etc. Moreover, when you apply online for credit card, your details can smoothly flow into the database of the credit card supplier i.e. the manual intervention is minimal when you apply online for credit card. This will in turn lead to faster processing of your application. Though it is not necessarily true, if you apply online for credit card, your credit card might reach you much faster. Moreover, if you apply online for credit card, you save on all the time and hassle associated with approaching a credit card company etc etc. You can compare the credit cards (again online) before you apply online for credit card.

Some people don’t like to apply online for credit card. The main reason is their discomfort in giving out the personal information online. One quick check, before you apply online for credit card, is to see if the website address of the page (where you are required to enter your details) starts with ‘https’. ‘Https’ indicates that it’s a secure website (you might also check if the security certificate is provided by a reputed organisation e.g. Verisign). If you don’t see an https, you should not apply online for credit card of that company. Besides that, some people don’t apply online for credit card because they are not comfortable in filling up the form all by themselves. In such a case, you might either not apply online for credit card (and apply in person instead); or you might just go through the form, note down your questions/problems and seek the answers by calling the customer service centre of the credit card company.

So, applying online for credit card is surely a good option.

All about credit card rate

2009-07-01T22:35:00.002+07:00

What’s the thing that is most prominent on any credit card ad? Well, it’s the credit card rate (or the APR, as we know it). The credit card rate is the most publicized thing in the world of credit cards. A lot of people just compare the credit card rate of various credit cards and just go for the one that is offering the lowest credit card rate (or APR). Credit card rates are, in fact, one of the most important factors in the selection of a credit card (though not the only factor). Therefore, a proper understanding of Credit card rates is even more necessary.

So, what is a credit card rate or APR? Very simply, credit card rate is the rate of interest that the credit card supplier will charge you with on the amount you owe them. The credit card supplier will charge you an interest only if you don’t make full payments in time. When you receive your credit card bill, it specifies the full amount you owe the credit card supplier. It also specifies the minimum payment that you must make (by a particular date), in order to avoid incurring a late fee and other inconvenience. You have the option of making either a full payment or just the minimum payment. If you make a full payment (by the due date), you are not charged any interest. However, if you decide to go with the minimum payment or some amount that is lesser than the full amount, the credit card supplier will charge interest based on the credit card rate and the balance amount. This credit card rate is the interest rate that you agreed with them at the time of applying for the credit card. The credit card rate or the annual percentage rate, as is obvious, is an annual interest rate. The credit card suppliers use this annual credit card rate to calculate the monthly credit card rate and then they calculate the interest on the balance amount that you owe them. The balance amount here is simply = Full amount – (payment made by you). This interest is added to your balance for the next month (at the time of next billing cycle). If you again make a partial payment, the new balance is calculated again and the credit card rate (monthly one) applied to it for calculation of new interest; and it keeps going on and on until you make the full payment.

That’s how credit card rate acts in this vicious circle. Hence, credit card rate is termed as the most important consideration in choosing a credit card.

All about college credit cards

2009-07-01T22:35:00.001+07:00

College credit cards are the credit cards that have been specially designed for college students. College credit cards are more popularly known as student credit cards. College credit cards allow the students to experience the benefits of credit cards much earlier in their life. Through college credit cards, the college students are able to learn more about credit cards and their use. In fact, for most of the students, their college credit card is their first credit card that acts as a gateway to the world of credit cards. Some other students might have previously used supplementary credit cards linked to their father’s credit card account; however, for such students too, their college credit card is the first one that is truly theirs.

College credit cards are not very different from other types of credit cards in the basic sense; they function in the same way as any credit card would. However, there are some differences, which basically arise from the fact that college credit cards are used by people who have no prior experience with credit cards and who perhaps don’t understand the concept of credit cards completely. Hence, the credit card supplier is at risk with issuing credit cards (college credit cards) to such people whom he is not sure about. Most of the students don’t have a credit history either. In such a case, the supplier of college credit card cannot be sure of receiving the credit card bill payments in time (and even receiving them at all). To counter such risks, the supplier of college credit card requires the parent of the student to co-sign the college credit card application form as a guarantee. Moreover, the credit limit on college credit cards is generally around $500-$1000 per month, which is lower than what it is for other credit cards (this credit limit is generally sufficient to fulfil the typical needs of a student). Another risk mitigation instrument used by the college credit card suppliers is the interest rate or APR. The APR on college credit cards is generally higher than that for other credit cards. Again, this is done to dissuade the students from overspending on their college credit card (and finally not being able to pay their credit card bills).
However, if we were to look at these impositions in a positive sense, we would find that these are actually in favour of the student (who is still getting trained to take on the real world of credit cards). Moreover, college credit cards also help the students in establishing a (good) credit history which is another important benefit that becomes handy when the student needs any type of loan at a later stage in his/her life.

So, college credit cards are really something that every student should consider going for.

Should I use an agency for credit card debt settlement?

2009-07-01T22:34:00.000+07:00

Some people like to deal with their credit card debt all by themselves. However, some people do use credit card debt settlement agency. There can be various reasons for going for a credit card debt settlement agency. Some people use a credit card debt settlement agency because they are not comfortable in dealing with credit card debt settlement by themselves. Some go for a credit card debt settlement agency because they don’t have the time to do the research and evaluate options for credit card debt settlement. Others just want professional advice and hence they contact credit card debt settlement agency.

Whatever be the reason for employing a credit card debt settlement agency, a good credit card debt settlement agency would surely be of help. However, it’s important that you select a good credit card debt settlement agency. Do not fall for ads of credit card debt settlement agencies that promise to wipe off your debt overnight. No credit card debt settlement agency or anyone else can do that. You should select a credit card debt settlement agency which has verifiable credentials or a credit card debt settlement agency that you know has a good reputation. If some friend has been through this process previously, they might be able to recommend a credit card debt settlement agency to you. Sometimes you will find ads that promise impossible things and ask you to call a telephone number that’s a premium line. So beware, or else you might end up paying heavy phone bills that would just add to your debt. Some credit card debt settlement agencies might be having a very low fee but no reputation. These are again the credit card debt settlement agencies that you should avoid. However, once you find a reputable credit card debt settlement agency, do not try to hide debt related information from them, no matter how bad your debt it. That is another reason for looking for a reputable credit card debt settlement agency. If the credit card debt settlement agency is not a reputable one, you would not be able to trust them; and trust is very important here otherwise you will neither be able to tell them the full story and nor follow their advice. That said, it’s important to note that no credit card debt settlement agency will be able to help you if you are not ready to help yourself. So, follow the advice given by credit card debt settlement agency and practice good spending habits.

After you pay off credit card debt

2009-07-01T22:33:00.002+07:00

Credit card debt is a very big problem that is being faced by a lot of people who have been irresponsible and undisciplined in the use of their credit card. Though some might have landed up with credit card debt due to some unfortunate event/emergency in their life, most people carry a credit card debt due to their own wrong doings (i.e. wrong usage of their credit card debt). There are a lot of ways to pay off credit card debt and a lot of people do achieve this feat (i.e. are able to pay off credit card debt). Surely, to be able to pay off credit card debt is really a great achievement in itself for not everyone is able to pay off credit card debt. It takes a lot of discipline, restraint, planning and perseverance to finally pay off credit card debt. However, there is more to paying off credit card debt then just being able to pay off credit card debt.

Here we are talking about the life after you pay off credit card debt successfully. As mentioned before, of all the people that try to pay off credit card debt not everyone is able to pay off credit card debt i.e. there are some failures too. However, some people fail after they have succeeded in paying off credit card debt. These are those people who let themselves loose and go on a spending spree as soon as they pay off credit card debt. Soon, these people again land up with a credit card debt and are again trying to pay off credit card debt. So, it’s not enough to just pay off credit card debt, it’s equally important to maintain a debt-free status even after you pay off credit card debt; only then can you enjoy a stress-free life in the world of credit cards. So learn your lessons well and do not let yourself loose on the path to another credit card debt. Most of the rules that you followed when you were trying to pay off credit card debt, will also hold good after you have paid off your credit card debt. Here is a quick synopsis of things that you should take care of even after you pay off credit card debt:

Do not overspend. Yielding to the sale offers for something that you don’t really need, is a big mistake that leads to overspending
Always remain within 70% of your credit limit.
Make credit card bill payments in time and in full.
Don’t hold more than 2 credit card accounts (two are enough for anyone)

These are just very basic things; you can add more based on your own experience and knowledge.

A problem called ‘Credit Card Debt ‘

2009-07-01T22:33:00.001+07:00

Credit cards are no more a luxury, they are almost a necessity. So, you would imagine a lot of people going for credit cards. In fact, a lot of people posses more than one credit cards. So, the credit card industry is growing by leaps and bounds. However, the credit card industry and credit card holders are posed with a big problem called ‘Credit Card Debt’. In order to understand what ‘credit card debt’ actually means, we need to understand the workflow associated with the use of credit cards as such.

Credit cards, as the name suggests, are cards on which you can get credit i.e. make borrowings (your credit card debt). Your credit card is a representative of the credit account that you hold with the credit card supplier. Whatever payments you make using your credit card are actually your borrowings that contribute towards your credit card debt. Your total credit card debt is the total amount you owe credit card supplier. You must settle your credit card debt on a monthly basis. So, you receive a monthly statement or your credit card bill which shows your total credit card debt. You must pay off your credit card debt by the payment due date failing which you will incur late fee and interest charges. However, you have the option of making a partial (minimum) payment too, in which case you don’t incur late fee but just the interest charges on your credit card debt. If you don’t pay off your credit card debt in full, the interest charges too get added to it. So your credit card debt keeps on increasing, more so because the interest rates on credit card debt are generally higher than the interest rates on other kind of loans/borrowings. Further, the interest charges add on to your credit card debt each month to form the new balance or the new credit card debt amount. If you continue making partial payments (or no payments) the interest charges are calculated afresh on the new credit card debt. So you end up paying interest on the last month’s interest too. Thus your credit card debt accumulates rapidly and soon you find that what was once a relatively small credit card debt has ballooned into a big amount which you find almost impossible to pay. Moreover, if you don’t still control your spending habits, your credit card debt rises even faster. This is how the vicious circle of credit card debt works.

Bad credit credit card

2009-07-01T22:31:00.000+07:00

“Bad credit card card” is used to refer to credit cards that can be obtained even with a bad credit rating. The bad credit card cards provide opportunity to people (with bad credit rating) to improve their credit rating. In that sense, bad credit credit cards act as rescuer for such people. So, bad credit credit cards also act as necessary a training ground for people who have not been able to control their spending urge in the past.

Bad credit card cards are commonly known as secured credit cards. The bad credit card card (or secured credit cards) requires the individual to open up an account with the credit card supplier and maintain some cash balance in the account. Why is that required? Well, credit cards are a business for the credit card suppliers; so how can they trust someone who has defaulted on his/her payments in the past? After all, a business is about profits and such risks are a threat to profits. The bank or the credit card supplier will generally pay interest on the balance in your account. However, it’s best to check this with the bad credit card card supplier/bank. The credit limit on the bad credit card card is determined by the cash balance in the account and is generally between 50-100% of the cash balance. These bad credit card cards are also referred to as debit cards, owing to the fact that they work less in a credit-giving manner and more in a debit-giving manner.

There are plenty of bad credit card cards available in the market. When searching for the bad credit card card that is best suited to you, you should consider 4 things in particular: the minimum balance that you are required to maintain in the bank account, the credit limit that you will receive (i.e. the percentage of your bank account balance that you are allowed to spend on your bad credit card card), the fees/other-charges applicable to the procurement of bad credit card card and the rate of interest that you will receive on the balance in your bank account. An ideal bad credit card card would have no fee/other-charges associated with it and would require zero or a very small amount as minimum bank balance. It would also have something like 90-100% of bank balance as its credit limit. Moreover, an ideal bad credit card card would also offer a good interest rate on the bank balance.

Bad credit card cards are really a good concept that provides respite to people with bad credit rating by letting them enjoy the benefits of credit cards while they mend their credit rating.

http://www.friendfinder.com/go/g1105045

2009-05-15T10:31:00.003+07:00

Friendfinder adalah situs pertemanan juga Disamping Anda akan mendapatkan penghasilan, anda juga bisa mendapatkan kartu debit Master Card dari Bank Royal Scotland. Tetapi jika anda mau. Kartu debit ini bisa anda gunakan untuk verified di PayPal. Verified berguna untuk pencairan dana anda.Caranya daftar dulu dengan Klik DISINI
Join Now

I am a : Man (laki-laki) atau Woman (perempuan)
Interested in meeting a : Man jika ingin mencari/berteman dg laki-laki, woman dg perempuan atau bisa anda pilih dua-duanya.
For : Friendship (berteman), Dating (ketemuan), Serious relationship (hubungan serius), Marriage (menikah), bisa anda pilih lebih dari satu, pilih semuanya juga bisa.
Birthdate : Tanggal lahir
Country : Negara
Zip/Postal code : Kosongkan saja, khusus Amerika (US only)
Email Address : Isikan email andaUsername : username anda antara 4 sampai 16 karakter
Lalu klik Click Here and Have FunSelanjutnya masukan data anda seperti berikut:
City : Kota tempat tinggal
Closest City: Sama seperti diatas
State: Propinsi
Your Height : Tinggi badan
Your Body Type : Tipe badan
Your Race : Ras atau suku. Kalau Indonesia adalah AsiaMarital Status : Status pernikahan Anda
Your Religion : Agama
Your Education : Pendidikan terakhir
Your Occupation : Pekerjaan
Introduction Title : Judul tentang diri anda, bisa anda buat misalnya : I am a good Man atau I like Travelling dll minimumnya 10 karakterTell others about yourself : Ceritakanlah tentang diri anda, sebaiknya dalam bahasa inggris, misalnya I am a good women, I like travelling and my hobby reading, computer, sports, and others, i love new friend men or women, buatlah suka-suka Anda, minimumnya 50 karakter.

Jika anda sudah memiliki foto uploadlah foto anda, klik browse lalu carilah file yg berisi foto anda. Jika Anda belum punya foto bisa Anda kosongkan dulu, nanti dikemudian hari bisa anda isi kembali.
Lalu klik Click to Join FriendFinder

Anda akan menerima e-mail untuk konfirmasi. Bukalah email anda, lalu aktifkan keaktifan keanggotaan anda dengan klik Activate Now Anda sudah diaktivasi. Jika ingin login, isilah dg username dan password yg ada di email anda. Selajutnya log off.

Pendaftaran di FriendFinder sudah selesai. Selanjutnya bila anda berkeinginan memiliki kartu debit, begini caranya :

Klik disini jika tidak ingin repot mengetik alamat ini http://friendfinder.com
Pilih Affiliates
Klik Affiliate Signup
Preferred Program : Pilihlah no 1
First Name : Nama pertama
Last Name : Nama akhir
URL : Website/blog Anda, wajib anda isi, jika anda belum punya buat saja http://www.elangnet.tk, http://www.uang-dari-friendster.blogspot.com, tapi ini hanya untuk sementara nanti bisa anda ganti.
Desired Password : Password anda
Preferred Newsletter Language : English
Email Address : Isikan e-mail anda
Secondary Email Address : Email anda yg lain, boleh juga dikosongkan
Checks Payable To : Nama lengkap anda sesuai KTP
Street Address : Alamat anda sesuai KTP
City : Kota tempat tinggal
State/Province : Provinsi tempat tinggal
Country : Negara
ZIP/Postal Code : Kode Pos
What is your business tax classification? Kosongkan, hanya untuk warga Amerika
Tax ID or Social Security Number : Kosongkan, hanya untuk warga Amerika
Phone Number : Format penulisan. Misalnya No telp 0532xxxxx, cara menulisnya 62532xxxxx
Which Instant Messenger do you use? Pilih saja None
Use ePassporte : Pilih saja No
Please give us your comments : Buatlah komen Anda misalnya Thank You, Heloo
klik Click Here for the Last Step
klik Yes, I have read and accepted the Affiliate Agreement, dst …
klik Submit
klik Account Information
Lalu klik here yg warna biru di tulisan Here is your account information. Click here to update your information
klik Payoneer : Signup to be paid by Prepaid MasterCardÂ®.You will be directed to a FriendFinder page hosted by Payoneer, where you can sign up for a card.

Isilah data-data anda di Payoneer tsb, setelah anda isi tunggulah kira-kira 20 hari kerja atau kira-kira 1 bulanan. Bila aplikasi anda disetujui, 2 minggu kemudian anda akan menerima e-mail pemberitahuan bahwa order debit MasterCard disetujui.

Saya mendaftar tanggal 25 Juli 2008 dan kartu saya terima tanggal 26 Agustus 2008 yang dikirim via POS sesuai dengan alamat anda waktu mendaftar. Selanjutnya kartu debit anda di aktivasi. Ikuti petunjuk yg ada di dalam surat yg dikirim bersama dengan kartu anda.

Gimana? Mudah kan ….Hanya dengan menjadi member FrindFinder anda bisa dapat kartu debit dari payoneer. Jika anda langsung daftar di payoneer, anda tidak bisa mendapatkannya karena country untuk Indonesia tidak ada. Lihatlah kembali e-mail anda, anda akan diberi informasi username dan password untuk affiliate. Login sebagai member dengan login sebagai affiliate itu beda.

FYI (For Your Information) :

kartu yang udah diterima blom bisa langsung dipakai, karena harus aktivasi terlebih dahulu. Langkah aktivasi terlampir dalam surat yang kita terima dari payoneer.
pada saat memperoleh karu sebaiknya di load pake Western Union saja tinggal isi ke account payoneer kita sebesar 10$ saja sekali seumur hidup, soalnya kalo nunggu komisi friendfinder minimal 75 $.
Kelemahan mendasar dari VCC adalah masa berlaku yang hanya 90 hari setelah itu kita harus membeli VCC yang baru. Jika untuk membeli VCC per 3 bulan adalah Rp75.000 (kira2 7$) maka dalam setahun kita harus mengeluarkan 21 $ atw lebih dari Rp200.000
harga VCC tersebut merupakan estimasi paling murah, karena rata2 VCC dijual seharga Rp100.000
Bandingkan dengan Payoneer yang hanya mengeluarkan 10$ sekali seumur hidup.(moga2 kita diberi umur panjang, amien)

Promotional Web Hosting

2008-11-24T11:54:00.001+07:00

I think this information can be useful for you. If you plan to get your website, here is one good free web hosting provider to choose - 000webhost.com

They provide hosting absolutely free, there is no catch. You get 1500 MB of disk space and 100 GB bandwidth. They also have cPanel control panel which is amazing and easy to use website builder. Moreover, there is no any kind of advertising on your pages.

You can register here: webhost

Web Hosting Service

2008-11-24T11:53:00.000+07:00

I would like to tell you about free web hosting service I use now.
Register here: webhost

They give 1500 MB of disk space and 100 GB data transfer. I am now using them for about 3 months and never seen any downtime of server problems. There is no any kind of advertising on my pages too, so I think its worth to signup.

Professional Shared Hosting

2008-11-24T11:52:00.000+07:00

If you wish to have a professional shared hosting quality in a free hosting package, come and host with 000webhost.com and experience the best service you can get absolutely free.

Founded in December 2006, 000webhost.com has a trusted free hosting members base of over 60,000 members and still counting! Offering professional quality hosting, support, uptime and reliability, we have a great community of webmasters, you’d love to be a part of!

Register now and get it all free:
*** 1500 MB of disk space
*** 100 GB of data transfer
*** PHP and MySQL support with no restrictions
*** cPanel control panel
*** Website Builder
*** Absolutely no advertising!

Join us now: webhost

Web Hosting Package With Advanced Ffeatures

2008-11-24T11:51:00.000+07:00

Free cPanel Web Hosting with PHP5/Mysql - no advertising!
Register now: webhost

We can offer you a free web hosting package packed with advanced features for hosting & building professional dynamic websites. We provide secure free web space with all the web hosting tools you could possibly ever need.

Our package includes:
- 1500 MB of Disk Space, 100 GB Bandwidth
- Host your own domain (http://www.yourdomain.com)
- cPanel Powered Hosting (you will love it)
- Over 500 website templates ready to download
- Easy to use website builder
- Free POP3 Email Box with Webmail access
- FTP and Web based File Manager
- PHP, MySQL, Perl, CGI, Ruby.
- And many more..

Click here to visit us: webhost

Free cPanel Web Hosting

2008-11-24T11:50:00.000+07:00

We offer completely ad-free cPanel web hosting. No ads will ever be forced onto our users webpages. There are no catches, no setup fees, no forced advertising, no banners, no popups and no hidden charges. Only totally free hosting service.

Register now, here is what waiting for you:
* 1500 MB Disk Space
* 100 GB Data Transfer
* cPanel Control Panel
* Website Builder
* 5 MySQL Databases
* Unrestricted PHP5 support
* Instant Setup!

This service is perfect for starting a new online community, blog or personal website! More info at webhost

Web Hosting With No Advertising

2008-11-24T11:49:00.000+07:00

We offer Free Web Hosting with no advertising, there is no catch, so what you see is what you get. Here is our offer to you:

1500 MB Disk Space
100,000 MB Bandwidth
Free Subdomain or Your Own Domain
Automated Scripts Installer (20 Popular Scripts)
FTP Access and Web Based File Manager
Easy to use Website Builder
5 MySQL Databases with Full PHP Support
Zend & Curl Enabled
IMMEDIATE Activation!

Signup Now with Instant Activation - webhost

Free Host

2008-11-24T11:48:00.000+07:00

Today I just found this free host with:

- 1500 MB of Disk Space
- 100 GB Bandwidth
- Your own domain hosting
- cPanel Control panel
- Website Builder
- Over 500 website templates ready for download
- Free POP3 Email Box and Webmail access
- FTP and Web based File Manager
- PHP, MySQL, Perl, CGI, Ruby.
- No Ads at all !

Check it out Here: webhost

Automated Bots: A Problem for Web Analytics

2008-11-17T08:04:00.000+07:00

Anyone who has spent time analyzing web logs to a great extent as I have understands that automated bots, or web robots, create an enormous challenge for those who try to make a good business decision based on traffic trends.

An automated web robot is simply a crawler: a program that reads web pages and follows links on those pages to the next set of pages. These robots crawl the web from page to page to page gathering information. Robots have many different purposes for crawling the web:

* indexing web pages in a way that a search engine can find web pages relevant to the search being performed,
* gathering information from web pages (also known as screen scraping),
* learning business relationships between sites by understanding who is linking to whom,
* malicious gathering of email addresses for the purposes of sending unwanted email (spam), and
* for many other applications that the developer of a crawler has designed.

The problem that these robots create is that they leave "tracks" on your web site -- log entries created by your web server indicating that a visit to a web page on your site has occurred. These entries confuse your web analytics engine into thinking that this is an actual human visitor visiting your site. If you try to make a business decision based on behavioral patterns of visitors to your site, these tracks from automated robots, when mixed with tracks left by real visitors to your site, have potential to introduce enough bad data to lead you to a wrong decision and consequently wrong actions.

These robots are very easy to develop and as a result, they are everywhere. Unlike human visitors to your site, they are not going to make a purchase on your site, purchase from your advertisers, or subscribe to your newsletter or RSS feed. You basically want to eliminate these robots from your web analytics engine. However, this is not so simple.

The Internet community introduced an advisory standard in 1994 known as the Robots Exclusion Protocol (see Wikipedia definition) which introduced rules that all web robots must follow. One such rule is to read the "robots.txt" file on your server which has the opportunity specify which pages should never be read by the robot. Placing such an exclusion file on your server is, however, impractical for the purposes of improving web analytics for a couple of reasons:

* Restricting robots prevents the Google, Yahoo, and other search engine robots from crawling and indexing your site. This prevents your pages from being listed under natural search, which is a problem far larger than the confused web analytics.
* Many robots, especially those that have malicious intent, will completely ignore the robots.txt exclusion file. Since the Robots Exclusion Protocol is advisory in nature, robots can simply ignore the file completely.
* If your site is on a public hosting site, such as blog-hosting service, you may not have permission to create your own robots.txt file and place it there.

Furthermore, robots take many steps to make their visits look just like visits from human visitors. While Google and other search crawlers identify themselves by placing an unambiguous User Agent (see Wikipedia definition) which web analytics engines can strip out, many web robots identify themselves as a typical browser, such as Internet Explorer or Firefox. This spoofing makes it especially difficult for your analytics engine to differentiate between a human and a robot visit.
Despite being very clever in their attempt to be seen as human visitors, robots typically have one significant limitation: the vast majority of the robots do not interpret JavaScript present on your site. This limitation is largely due to the fact that developing a JavaScript interpreter is far more complex than simply developing a crawler that traverses HTML links. The ramification of this limitation is that while a standard browser being used by a human visitor will load the HTML of the web page and then immediately load all other resources, including those served by JavaScript, robots will load the HTML of the web page, perhaps graphics on the page as specified by HTML and that's it.

As a result, if you implement your web analytics using a JavaScript-based tool, you are likely to all but eliminate the problem of web robots polluting your analytics data. Analytics Wizard from AnalyticsWizard.com is an example of a free JavaScript-based web analytics tool which I developed and suggest you try.

Keep in mind that even the JavaScript solution to preventing robot polution is short-lived. If browsers have the technology to read JavaScript, eventually, robots will obtain such technology as well and we will need to find better means of filtering them out. However, it is a good bet that there will always be far more robots which do not read JavaScript than the ones that do.

Web Analytics is Recession Proof?

2008-11-17T08:01:00.000+07:00

For the past few weeks I have been thinking about the economy and trying to reconcile two seemingly contradictory observations:

1. The economy sucks, and it doesn’t seem likely to improve anytime very soon
2. The web analytics sector is reportedly recession-proof and, in fact, predicted to grow in 2009

While I hardly need to provide any proof of the first observation, evidence for the latter has been emerging from a variety of voices in our community for the past few months. Case in point:

* In January, the Web Analytics Association reported that nearly 70% of companies planned to continue to invest in new tools and staff throughout 2008
* Back in July, Corry Prohens from IQ Workforce wrote in a guest post in this blog that “74% of practitioners expect that spending on web analytics will increase at their company during the recession”
* In September, my good friend Jim Sterne surveyed the web analytics crowd and found that 87% of practitioners plan to maintain or increase their budgets for web analytics tools and services in the face of the current economy, and that nearly twice as many respondents indicated they planned to increase budgets for web analytics (21%) as planned to decrease same (13%)
* Last week, the fine folks at E-consultancy splashed all across the news with the headline “Web Analytics: A Silver Lining in the Recession Cloud” by reporting that web analytics was poised to grow in 2008 by 12%

In the E-consultancy report, the organization’s head of research Linus Gregoriadis was quoted as saying: “The profile of Web analytics continues to grow as it becomes more integral to business decision-making and organisational strategy. The credit crunch is putting the spotlight on analytics as organisations work harder to understand where they are getting the best return on investment and where real value is being added.”

Recently, Josh James, the CEO of Omniture said something similar during the Q&A portion of the company’s Q3 earnings call in response to a question about whether businesses saw web analytics as discretionary:

“Every dollar that a marketer has, I think everyone has in every organization is under pressure right now and certainly marketing spend is where CFOs like to look and see if they can cut. But, what we’ve seen with our customers is their online channels are the ones that are performing the best. Their online channels are the ones that are giving the most direct impact within that quarter that spend is also taking place.

In terms of the way that they think about Omniture, even if they cut let’s say 10% of their marketing spend, they’re going to use us to a) identify the 10% they’re going to cut and b) use us to optimize the other 90% to try to get back up to the same results as they had with the 100% the year before. These kinds of times actually drive usage of our product.

When things are good it’s a lot easier when you want more sales just to throw more money at the top of funnel and to generate more leads and go through the process. When things get bad people try to focus on of everyone that’s already coming to our store, what can we do to keep them more attracted? What can we do to get them to look at other things? What can we do to get them to read additional articles? All of those behaviors drive uses of our product.”

All of this sounds absolutely spectacular. Except for one thing …

I’m not sure I believe any of it.

I think that we are collectively starting to suffer from the echo chamber effect, essentially reiterating that web analytics will be fine in this lousy economy because, unsurprisingly, we are all making money off of web analytics and we would very much like to continue doing so. The WAA, IQ Workforce, my friend Jim, E-consultancy, Omniture, me … our collective businesses are all more or less explicitly tied to continued investment in the sector. So why wouldn’t we look for data that suggests that the picture continues to be rosy and the future bright?

Why indeed.

In terms of the data presented above, as a former researcher I would offer this assessment: many of these surveys appear to suffer from sample bias. Asking the Yahoo! group, members of the Web Analytics Association, or the audience attending Emetrics about their interest, investment, or organizational focus on web analytics is kind of like asking your average Democrat in Portland, Oregon how they feel about Barack Obama. The problem is not the audience, the problem is the interpretation: I think it is misleading to extrapolate the responses from a non-random sample of businesses and business people to the larger audience.

This kind of sampling leads to claims like “52% of online marketing managers are currently engaged in A/B or multivariate testing …” Fifty-two percent implies that tens of thousands of online marketing managers are testing. Which sounds great, except that when Offermatica and Optimost were acquired by Omniture and Interwoven they had a few hundred customers between them, and Stephane Hamel’s WASP tool reports that 0.4% (zero point four percent) of the Top 500 online retailers are using easily detected A/B or multivariate testing tools.

Don’t get me wrong, I too have been guilty of sampling biased audiences, although in the past year I have stopped conducting primary research due to both the sampling issue and the plethora of free research that suddenly appeared in the marketplace.

Ultimately I’m suspicious of this optimistic data that we’re seeing, especially in the context of statements like this one made by Mr. James made on the earnings call referenced above about the effect the economy is having on Omniture’s ability to forecast Q4 and 2009:

“Towards the end of September however, it became apparent that the challenging macroeconomic and financial environment may have some impact on our business going forward although it remains difficult to quantify the uncertainties specifically.”

Mr. James and his CFO specifically don’t want to talk about 2009 on the call. Which makes sense to me, since here are some other data points:

* The economy sucks, and without belaboring the obvious, it appears that this suckiness will stay with us for quite some time;
* While I don’t question Mr. James assertion that his best customers make excellent use of web analytics, in my personal experience this is not universally true;
* Some of the largest consumers of web analytics products are starting to struggle;
* Despite the conventional wisdom that dictates that brilliant analysts are safe when times are tough, I am getting more and more calls from brilliant analysts who are being laid off or being offered severance packages to walk away.

It is this last point coupled with something I learned at Emetrics that has me the most concerned. In D.C. at Emetrics I heard Liz Miller from the CMO Council say that most CMO’s are a few years away from fully understanding the value of web analytics. If Liz is right, and her credentials are impeccible when it comes to the CMO’s office, then given the anecdotal evidence that continues to come in I wonder if web analytics is slightly more discretionary than we’d like to believe.

Don’t get me wrong, I sincerely hope to be wrong in this assessment. As an author, public speaker, evangelist, consultant, and conference co-producer focusing on web analytics I honestly hope to be able to write a follow-up post in six month saying, “Wow, I was really super-wrong about where the web analytics industry was going …”

But what can you do if I’m more right than not? What if you work in an affected sector or work for a company known for their web analytics acumen that is suddenly faced with bankruptcy or worse? What if the folks you work for who profess a great love for data-driven decision making are really HIPPOs in their heart and when the real bloodletting begins are just as likely to look for savings in areas that can be easily cut (human resources, for example) as opposed to those that would require breaking contracts?

What indeed.

If you’re in any way concerned about the current economy and your personal employment situation, here are five tips that I would offer to help you best prepare for the worst.

Tip #1: Focus on Increasing Profits, Not Minimizing Spend

My friend W. David Rhee just published a great response about the relationship between web analytics, sales, and marketing in a down economy. To paraphrase Dave, if the bosses begin to panic, you don’t want to be in a situation where you appear to be an expendable marketing cost that can be cut. It is far better to be focusing your analytical efforts on how the organization can be increasing profits, even if you have to fight to spend more time conducting analysis and less time generating reports.

Essentially you want to take Mr. James statement above to heart and work your butt off to optimize the lower-levels in your conversion funnel, working with what you already have, not what you might be able to attract. The good news is that the technology supports this analysis; the bad news is that more often than not, the deeper you get in the funnel, the more difficult optimization becomes for a variety of reasons, not limited to the business, IT, and “the way we’ve always done it!”

Be a profit center, be big picture, become truly invaluable.

Tip #2: Don’t Be a Report Monkey

The unfortunate reality about web analytics work is that far too many smart people spend far too much time generating far too many reports that far too people actually read and even fewer actually derive real value from. Sound familiar? When I started the conversation about process in web analytics in 2006 at Emetrics, over 80% of the audience said they spent too much time on “reports” and not nearly enough on “analysis” … sadly I’m not confident that things have changed much in the past two years, especially on a percent-of-practitioners basis.

There are any number of great posts about why reporting is over-rated and how the real value in web analytics comes from careful, business-focused analysis of the data, there are still too few companies that have put the hub-and-spoke model into practice and are able to effectively leverage web analytical resources.

My advice to to step-up and find the real value in your data, even if you have to conduct the analysis on your own in the wee hours. It’s not as if you can just stop generating reports (tempting as that may sound) but if you’re a good analyst, taking the time to figure out where the real opportunities to increase revenue are is the work you want to be doing anyway. Taking the initiative to make data-powered recommendations and presenting them is a good way to demonstrate your skills and commitment to the business (but don’t stop doing the job you’re being paid to do!)

Analysts conduct analysis and make recommendations. Be an analyst.

Tip #3: Start Watching the Job Boards

Even if you feel pretty good about the situation you’re in you have to admit that the most accurate term to describe the current economy is “dynamic.” In situations like this the worst thing you can do is be caught off guard and so I would offer that spending a little time surfing the Web Analytics Demystified Web Analytics Job Board (also see the WAA’s version) would be time well spent.

According to the nice folks at SimplyHired the number of job postings looking for “web analytics” experience of some kind continues to increase.

How to achieve success with web analytics

2008-11-14T11:16:00.000+07:00

challenges of current web analytics

The successful implementation and execution of web analytics programs is challenging, especially in larger organizations. Web analytics success depends strongly on clearly defined business goals and because many organizations lack a clearly defined web strategy with clearly defined business goals, web analytics programs often suffer. This is an ongoing issue at the business level.

Common issues within organizations respect to web analytics.

* Management doesn’t want people to spend time on web analytics
* Management tends to think: purchase, install and read reports (aka analytics is magic)
* The discipline is rarely a dedicated operation — it’s a part time gig in many orgs
* Many practitioners are still struggling to make the business case.

it’s very bullshit, but true..
Concrete vs. Magic with Analytics

The perception that web analytics work by magic is prolific and problematic. Combating this need not be difficult, but some internal education is usually necessary. The following list of tasks is a solid way to start a web analysis project:

1. Collect business requirements
2. Define metrics and methods of collection
3. Find or make data available (e.g., coding tags, systems integration, etc.)
4. Calculating metrics — development of models
5. Build reports and conduct analysis
6. Educate stakeholders as to how to use the resulting analysis

Wise Use of Web Traffic Reports
Traffic Data Needs Context

Traffic reporting is not always useful, nor is it always wise to distribute such reports. When used well, traffic reporting provides snapshot views of important website activity. These reports serve to answer the question “how is the site doing” at a glance.

But traffic data has a context and that context is the previously defined web business goals. So for such reports to be useful one needs to provide as much context as possible: What are the goals? Which higher numbers are better? Which lower numbers are better? What does the vocabulary mean? Etc.
Big Numbers are Not Always Good

High traffic numbers are not necessarily a sign of success. If you’re running a portal and have 1.25 pages per visitor session, this could be a sign of success — users might be finding exactly what they need, quickly. But if you’re running a publishing site, then seeing 4 page views per visit would be a tremendous success — users are discovering interesting content and continuing to read and interact with the website.

Context is essential. Distributing traffic data without supporting contextual information can be worse than meaningless, it can distract from core business goals. Many traffic reports require deeper analysis to understand the implications.
Traffic Reporting is Not Analysis

For web analysis professionals, it’s important to differentiate (in the mind of the report consumers) the difference between web traffic reporting and web analytics reporting. And it’s important also to have good reasons, e.g., business goals, for distributing traffic reports.

Web analytics analysis typically goes far beyond traffic reporting and provides answers only available by drilling down into traffic reports integrating more sophisticated business data. For example, with a “Top 10 Search Terms (internal)” report, one very often wants to know what happened after the search was executed — …was the content found? …was there an exit event? …what happened next?
Analytics Dashboards Are Over Rated

Following from the discussion of web traffic reporting, Phil took a few swings at the use of web analytics dashboards. Like traffic reports, the point was made that dashboards often fail to be useful in terms of making business decisions. Dashboards tend to suffer from the following problems:

* They don’t often contain a proper explanation of use
* Context tends not to be explained well
* Reports get “thrown over the wall” without discussion or follow-up
* Baselines and goals may not be present
* They often are more about traffic than business activities

So what’s the answer? Identifying the stakeholders, understanding both their business interests and the way they consume information, and then delivering specialized reporting and/or data that fits them. One size fits all reporting can be self-defeating.

Doing better web analytics

By focusing on business goals, patterns and needs for information consumption, and deeper analysis, web analytics projects can deliver enormous value. Phil provided some guidance for how to succeed.
7 Business Questions Analytics Can Address

Keeping a focus on business questions is the foundation of a successful web analytics process. Some examples of these are:

1. What gets funded?
2. Which content or functional areas to deploy/fund human resources?
3. What projects to prioritize?
4. When is it time to redesign?
5. When to change content?
6. What navigation elements are working?
7. What search terms to purchase?

5 Questions for Web Analysts

When web analysts strive to refine their practice, Phil proposes that they ask these questions of themselves:

1. Who should be seeing raw data versus the resulting analysis?
2. When should we be analyzing versus reporting versus performing calculations on data?
3. How should we be presenting data and analysis to the different stakeholders?
4. What what data do we need to analyze?
5. Why are we analyzing this data?
6. Are we analyzing the key financial metrics (money talks at all levels)?

Explorative Web Analysis is a Must Have

Explorative web analysis is the process of understanding how people interact with a website or application. Our presenter today asserts that this level of analysis is key to the business value of web analytics. This form of analysis, according to Phil, involves drilling down on data sets to a level of detail that goes beyond standard traffic reports.

He states that typical analytics tools — such as Omniture, WebTrends, Unica, Nedstat and Google Analytics — may be adequate for this, but there are also often cases where one will need to access and manipulate raw data. This type of analysis involves activities like:

* Answering many of the typical questions raised by traffic reports
* Segmenting visitor activity to better understand the performance of content and the results of marketing campaigns
* Painting more rich pictures of how users are interacting with applications, content and navigation

Typical Explorative Analysis Exercises
General - All Types of Sites

Some broadly applicable explorative analysis operations include:

* Homepage analysis (e.g., content placement optimization)
* Internal search analysis (e.g., assess search usage and usability, identify ways to monetize search)
* Funnel and workflow analysis (e.g., identify fall out points and recommend process changes)
* Landing page analysis (e.g., analyze effectiveness of entry points with regards to moving visitors to and through key action funnels)

For Publishers

Online publishers have specialized needs. They are focused on driving visitors into specific content hotspots and optimizing the monetization of their content. Phil highlighted a few exploration examples for publishing contexts:

* Ad real-estate analysis — identifying the best locations for ads to be placed on a page
* Functional analysis — categorizing key site areas by function and create baseline measurements of each functional area
* SEO analysis — examine site entrances and site path behaviors segmented by key phrases.

Search Engine Marketing

2008-11-13T09:13:00.001+07:00

Search engine marketing is different from other internet marketing techniques. It is a passive form of advertising, requiring little outreach effort on your part. By choosing the right keywords and writing persuasive copy, you can effectively bring to your site potential customers who already want to buy.

The advantage of search engine marketing is that it allows consumers to find your business themselves. You don't have to pay for marketing to people who are not interested, and you don't risk getting a reputation for aggressive marketing techniques. Customers trust companies that they find on their own.

Search engines have gotten more sophisticated and continue to improve. Marketing through search engines is therefore evolving as well. Many of the improvements are rooted in new research about consumer behavior. Search engine marketing campaigns are increasingly targeted and effective as the technology and the techniques advance.

A successful web site will continue to draw customers after the first visit. If the content is engaging, traffic will increase through repeat visitors and word of mouth advertising. As traffic increases to your website, your organic search engine listing improves. As more people find your site through direct links or the unpaid search engine listings, your pay per click budget will decrease.

Most internet consumers turn to search engines to find or compare products they want. Create a strong search engine marketing campaign to tap into that market of buyers.

Even with a small budget and limited time, your business can find new customers through search engine marketing.

Market Research

2008-11-13T09:12:00.004+07:00

Internet marketing is all about targeting your customers for the greatest return on your advertising investment. To target your market, you have to understand how consumers choose the products they buy.

Market research gives you the information you need to effectively appeal to your customers. It gauges consumer interest in your product and helps you identify where and how to advertise your product. Effective market research relies on collecting and analyzing reliable data about consumer habits and opinions.

You can perform your own market research by surveying your existing customers or inviting potential customers to participate in evaluating your products. By communicating with your customers, you can improve your products and service while building customer loyalty.

You can also install software that will track how users view and use your web site. Understanding the behavior of your web site visitors helps you advertise more effectively.

There are several types of market research that focus on the product itself. Demand estimation tells you if your product is sellable and how much competition you face.

Commercial eye tracking research determines how your product appeals to consumers. Test marketing lets customers try out your product and make recommendations for improvement.

Other market research methods focus on the consumer's perception of your company. Brand name testing, usually through surveys, evaluates your name recognition and your appeal with potential customers. Ad tracking, the most quantitative research method, evaluates whether viewers respond to your marketing techniques by following through or abandoning the sale.

Before investing in your internet marketing campaign, take time to really learn your market. Know what your customers are looking for and what they like. Targeting your customers through market research will prevent the waste of precious advertising resources.

Online Marketing - Decreasing Costs

2008-11-13T09:12:00.003+07:00

The goal of online marketing is to have a high return on your investment. In other words, you want to make more money than you spend. An effective online marketing plan will help you do just that. Your marketing plan identifies your customers, your message, and your delivery.

The key to being successful in online marketing is to know your customers. Know what they want, where they are, and how to reach them. Offer them products or services that fit their lives and their consumer philosophy. For example, selling spangled thong bikinis to grandmothers over 80 through email written in an 8 point font is not likely to get a lot of response, or, at least, not a positive one.

Understand what products appeal to your chosen market, or conversely, which market wants your chosen product. Online marketing is not effective if you do not correctly identify your customers and create your message specifically for them. You may find that your customers fall into several distinct groups. In that case, create several different marketing packages, each targeted towards a specific group.

Make it easy for potential customers to find you. Use search engine optimization techniques to update your web site content and increase your search engine ranking. Implement a blogging for business plan to increase your expertise and the number of links to your page. Research affiliate marketing programs to see if one can get you higher exposure to your target customers.

The number of people buying products or services through the web is steadily increasing. An effective online marketing plan will help you tap into that growing market while keeping your advertising costs low.

Who are Your Website Visitors and What Are They Doing On Your Site?

2008-11-13T09:12:00.001+07:00

One of the keys to being able to market your website is to know whose going there and what they are doing.

When armed with this information, you are able to market your site more effectively. You can also see which pages are getting hits and which pages are not. Simple Site Analytics

First and foremost you will want to check with your web hosting service to see if they offer site analytics with their hosting packages.

Many web hosting providers offer this with your hosting package and all you have to do is set-up your password.
These are generally very basic programs that let you know how many people visited your site on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. They can also provide you with hit information on various pages and the types of browsers that were being used.

Google also offers an excellent and free site analytics program. This program is very useful as it is web based and will even show you what parts of the country people are located in.

They can also provide you with information on visits by source. For example, 33% of your traffic may be coming from Yahoo! and another 33% is coming from a referral site, 16% is coming directly to your site, etc. This information is useful in helping you to determine where your marketing is really working at. The information You Receive

We'll use Google's Analytics as an example here. This program provides you with a visitor summary in four charts. Here you get a quick snapshot of the visits to your site. You see how many total number of visits and page views you have received as well as the number of first time visits and returning visits. You can also see which cities your visitors came from.

The marketing summary is also very useful. Here you will find your top five sources of traffic. You will also find the top five keywords that have been getting you traffic as well as your top five marketing campaigns. These will tell you which area is up and working good for you as well as which areas have seen a decline. These are known as conversion rates.
The marketing summary will also tell you the difference between organic, referral, not set and direct hits on your website. These are very useful tools when determining which of your marketing efforts have been working for you the best. Many programs will provide you with very similar information such as this.

You may also consider using more than one website analytics program so that you can get an even better view of whether or not your marketing campaigns have been working and where. Some programs may include better features than other and you can combine the information from them all to get a good overall view of your website.

Action Steps For Using Site Analytics

1. Determine the type of information you would like to receive from a website analytics program.

2. Begin searching for products that will fulfill your requirements.

3. Compare your marketing efforts to your traffic and page views.

Important Points About Site Analytics

* Don't forget to set your free site analytics up through your hosting service if it is available.
* Google offers many tools that can give you a different view of your traffic.
* Combine multiple services for the most information.

What Will Meta Tags and Robot.txt Files Do To Your Website?

2008-11-13T09:10:00.002+07:00

As the web grows and the search engines are continuously getting smarter, we find that we need to learn as many tricks as possible to get our sites indexed. This tool allows you to pick and choose which pages are and are not indexed by the search engines.

Robot.txt File Versus Meta Tags

A meta tag is a tool that we use to choose which pages we want the search engines to index.

Many web developers will use the meta tag to also tell the search engines which pages they do not want to have indexed.

This code generally looks like this:

Some search engines do not use this tag and will completely ignore it. This is where the robot.txt file comes in hand. In this file you are able to list specific pages that you do not want to have indexed. These pages may include password protected folders and pages or images, for example. How Do I Make a Robot.txt File?

Begin by creating a simple Notepad text file and name it robot.txt. There are two conventions that you will use in the file to tell the search engines what you do not want them to index.

These are:

User-agent:* : The asterisk (*) is a very important part of this code. By using the asterisk you are addressing all of the robots that are trying to index your site. This is the easiest way to ensure that the files are not being indexed. You can target individual robots if you have the specific name or IP address for them, but in general you will want to stick with this form.
Disallow: / : After the disallow statement you will list any folders that you do not want to have indexed by the robots. If you do not list the files or folders have the slash (/) then that code tells the robots not to index any part of the website. You do not necessarily want to do this. All files and folders listed after this code will not be indexed.
Robot.txt File Example

Here is an example of how you would use both of these commands. User-agent: *

Disallow: /tutorials/meta/
Disallow: /documents/images/
Disallow: /pages/404redirect/

In this example the asterisk is a sort of wild card. It addresses all of the search engine robots that would be indexing your site. Using the disallow command we are telling the search engine robots to not index the meta files, images, and 404 redirect pages in our site.

These files can be substituted for any files that you do not want to use. It is important to note here that tutorials, documents and pages are all folders, while meta, images and 404 redirect are files or actual web pages. If you do not use folders when developing your site you can leave out the folder name and only use the file name such as:
Disallow: /images/

This would direct the search engine robots to not index this file. On the other hand, if you have folders within folders and files within the inner folders, your command may look like:

Disallow: /documents/images/picture1.jpg

These files are very simple to use and would be added to your website directory with your regular website files.

Check out this sites for more robot.txt files examples

Action Steps For A Robot.txt File

1. Determine if there are any pages that you do not want the search engine to index.

2. Create a simple file using these simple commands in Notepad.

3. Upload the file to your website's file directory through your hosting company.

Important Points About Robot.txt Files

These pages will not be indexed. Therefore, any information or keywords on these pages would be irrelevant.
Most individuals choose to use this file to protect any information that they do not want the public to see.
Be sure to use the asterisk to ensure that you are addressing all search engines.

Use Search Engine Listing Services to Create a Bigger Web Presence for Your Site

2008-11-13T09:10:00.001+07:00

When we think about search engines we usually think about the big guys. You know, Google, Yahoo! and MSN. These search engines are great, however, they are not the only ones that are used. There are actually several hundred search engines and you may be missing out if you are not getting yourself listed in as many as possible.

Search Engine Listing Services

There are numerous free search engine listing services available that will submit your site to about ten to fifteen different search engines.

This is great, but the problem here is that it can take a lot of time for the search engines to crawl around to your site, especially if it's not generating a whole lot of traffic.

So, what you may have to do is spend a little money. There are several search engine listing services that will submit your website on a monthly basis to these search engines in order to create a sense of urgency about getting to your site. Sites that tend to be popular tend to get the most attention.

You can submit your site to the search engines yourself by using their submit form, but how many search engines do you know of? You might be able to think of six or so search engines, but there are actually hundreds of them out there.

Sure Google is one of the most popular along with Yahoo! and the other big guys, but what about the search engines in different countries and the others such as Alta Vista that don't get used as often.

Some Internet users still prefer these search engines over the others as you can sometimes find more interesting sites that the big guys weren't interested in. These are the sites you are going to be targeting when you use a search engine listing service.

Getting Listed Doesn't Mean You Will Get a High Ranking

When you are first listed, you will not automatically receive a high rank for your particular keywords. This simply means that the search engines know you exist, which is the first step in the entire process. Search engine listing services are able to provide you with an easy to use tool that will get you listed and noticed initially and will continue to get you noticed. But, you have to continue to keep working at moving yourself up the list. You Get What You Pay For

You can use the free services and this is good to get you started, but you are almost always going to see more traffic from the paid submission services. These services also speed up the process of getting you submitted because you are a paying customer.

This means that you are going to need to set up a budget. This will depend on how fast you want to get listed. If you have a small budget, then you will find that Yahoo!'s human-compiled directory is one of the best to ensure that the major search engines pick you up. Paid placement programs are also an option. You are often able to get listed quickly, if you are willing to pay a monthly fee.

Essentially you are setting up a paid advertisement programs such as AdWords in Google and then as your site gets more hits from advertisements you can end up in the natural listings. After a good while and a lot of traffic you may be able to drop your paid advertising and you'll get noticed due to traffic to the site.

Important Points About Search Engine Listing Services

Just because you submit your site doesn't mean you are going to end up near the Top 10.
You will need to continually add and change the content on your site to keep the search engines coming back to you.
You may have to budget a good sum of money in order to be placed more quickly.

Who are Your Website Visitors and What Are They Doing On Your Site?

2008-11-13T09:09:00.000+07:00

One of the keys to being able to market your website is to know whose going there and what they are doing.

When armed with this information, you are able to market your site more effectively. You can also see which pages are getting hits and which pages are not. Simple Site Analytics

First and foremost you will want to check with your web hosting service to see if they offer site analytics with their hosting packages.

Many web hosting providers offer this with your hosting package and all you have to do is set-up your password.
These are generally very basic programs that let you know how many people visited your site on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. They can also provide you with hit information on various pages and the types of browsers that were being used.

Google also offers an excellent and free site analytics program. This program is very useful as it is web based and will even show you what parts of the country people are located in.

They can also provide you with information on visits by source. For example, 33% of your traffic may be coming from Yahoo! and another 33% is coming from a referral site, 16% is coming directly to your site, etc. This information is useful in helping you to determine where your marketing is really working at. The information You Receive

We'll use Google's Analytics as an example here. This program provides you with a visitor summary in four charts. Here you get a quick snapshot of the visits to your site. You see how many total number of visits and page views you have received as well as the number of first time visits and returning visits. You can also see which cities your visitors came from.

The marketing summary is also very useful. Here you will find your top five sources of traffic. You will also find the top five keywords that have been getting you traffic as well as your top five marketing campaigns. These will tell you which area is up and working good for you as well as which areas have seen a decline. These are known as conversion rates.

The marketing summary will also tell you the difference between organic, referral, not set and direct hits on your website. These are very useful tools when determining which of your marketing efforts have been working for you the best. Many programs will provide you with very similar information such as this.

You may also consider using more than one website analytics program so that you can get an even better view of whether or not your marketing campaigns have been working and where. Some programs may include better features than other and you can combine the information from them all to get a good overall view of your website.

Action Steps For Using Site Analytics

1. Determine the type of information you would like to receive from a website analytics program.

2. Begin searching for products that will fulfill your requirements.

3. Compare your marketing efforts to your traffic and page views.

Important Points About Site Analytics

Don't forget to set your free site analytics up through your hosting service if it is available.
Google offers many tools that can give you a different view of your traffic.
Combine multiple services for the most information.