E-of-All-Trades

If you think you’re the only one around who’s not trading stocks, mutual funds and other investments via the Internet, relax. You’re not.

At least for now.

To say that online investing has grown extraordinarily fast over the past decade is akin to describing Marilyn Monroe as reasonably attractive. First introduced by Charles Schwab in the mid 1990s, online investing grew to more than 7 million accounts by the end of 1998. Even more impressive, estimates hold that there will be some 18 million online accounts by the end of 2001.

Admittedly, online investing sports an array of advantages. First off, it’s cheap, particularly when you compare e-trade commissions with those levied by traditional brokerage houses. Buying 100 shares of a well-known stock costs about $10 online, whereas the same purchase at a conventional brokerage house could run a couple hundred bucks. Moreover, it’s fast and convenient. Instead of playing telephone tag with a broker, you hop online to a brokerage Web site, place your order and receive confirmation of your trade within minutes.

Online investing has also imbued investors with a sense of control and hands-on involvement that the investing community could never have imagined a couple decades back. Most online brokerage Web sites are loaded with research and analytic tools that allow clients to do their own investing legwork. In that sense, the online investor is more involved and perhaps better informed than his or her predecessors.

But there are drawbacks and caveats to consider when thinking about taking your investing online. First and most important is deciding what sort of an investor you are. If you prefer to do your own homework and keep your own counsel, online investing may be just the thing. If, however, you’re not comfortable with being that autonomous—if a broker’s advice and guidance are important in your decision making process—the independence of online investing may be unsettling. After all, investing online means making your own calls.

The growth of the online investment industry has spawned a hybrid service designed for investors who want to go online but don’t want to make the trip by themselves. Traditional houses such as Merrill Lynch now offer accounts where you work with a live broker to map out strategy—then you execute and track your trades online. The service is more expensive than other online commission structures—it’s based on a per transaction arrangement or an annual fee—but it offers the sort of hand holding that other online brokers don’t.

If you decide you want to go it alone, try to ignore all the advertisements about super low commissions at certain brokerage houses. These days, the cost of online investing is so low across the board that a dollar or two difference in commission really shouldn’t influence which broker you select. Instead, investigate other elements of an online broker. Visit a site and have a look around. Is it easy to navigate? If the site offers a stock or fund buying demo, check it out to see if it’s simple to use. Does the site’s research and news tools seem helpful or will they simply wash over you with a lot of confusing information?

Consider other elements of an online broker’s service. Make sure they offer telephone backup if the system goes down. A great way to investigate this is to try calling customer service in the heart of a busy trading day. If the system seems to move with the speed of a Florida vote count, that’s a fair indicator of poor reliability. By the same token, email a question to the brokerage house and see how long it takes to get a reply.

Other issues to check out:

* How expensive is it to get started? Some brokerage houses have no minimum, while others require $10,000 and even more to open an account.
* Is the commission consistently cheap? Certain brokers change their prices considerably depending on the size of the trade, so make sure that the bargain basement rate applies for the sorts of trades you’ll likely be making. Likewise, see if other types of services such as placing an order on the phone or up-to-the minute ticker quotes are free or if you have to pay extra to get them.
* Can you work with investments other than stocks? Some houses offer thousands of mutual funds while others only deal in a handful. Additionally, see if the broker is a mutual fund supermarket—sites where you can buy mutual funds without any sort of transaction charges.

How you can get an online broker

How to get a broker

It's all about technology

A big requirement in online broking is that the broker has the technological capability to ensure speed and safety of trading. Talk to people and ask them about their experiences with online brokers.

Do they have problems logging on? Is the connection slow? Is the web site 'down' often? Does it hang a lot?

Are market reports provided on a regular basis? Is stock analysis provided? Do they intimate clients when a new issue is being launched? Are mutual funds sold online?

Browse through their web sites. Find out how easy it is to access information and surf.

You can start by looking at the web sites of some well-known online players: Sharekhan, Kotak Securities, ICICI Direct, 5paise and India Bulls.

Why you need a stockbroker

Do you want everything under one roof?

Some brokerages offer what they call seamless services -- they offer the brokerage service with a demat account and a bank account. ICICI Direct, for instance.

HDFC Bank too offers the three-in-one account. It is a normal savings, a demat account and a trading account with HDFC Securities.

In such systems where the broking, banking and demat accounts are completely integrated, your money remains in your own bank account, and does not get transferred to the broker's pool account.

On the other hand, if you have accounts with other banks and don't want to shift, perhaps you would prefer to buy or sell through a reputed brokerage who deals with multiple banks.

If it is not seamless, check whether you can settle payments online, ie instead of writing out cheques for every transaction, will it be possible to transfer amounts electronically to your broker's account through your bank's Internet-enabled account?

How to get a demat account

Opening the online account

After you have chosen a broker, you have to fill out an Account Opening Form before you can start trading.

There are two parts to the form -- the Know Your Client form and the Member Client Agreement.

The KYC form contains details such as your name, address, annual income, depository account details, bank accounts details, and proof of identity and residence through a certified copy of a passport, driving licence, ration card, voter identity card or a copy of filed income tax returns.

The Member Client Agreement is a legal document between the broker and the client setting out the terms of opening the account. After these formalities are complete, the broker will allot you a unique account code. This code will be fed into the stock exchange terminal every time you make a transaction.

Trading online

In online trading, you will be given a password and ID number that enables you to log on to a special screen which shows all the stock prices and through which you can place your buy or sell orders.

You can access your account and see your portfolio 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year.

You will be able to see at what prices you picked the shares, when you did so, how many you have and what the current rate is.

After you buy or sell, the order confirmation can be e-mailed or you can opt to get the usual contract note to be delivered. Contract notes are the documents that record every sale and purchase of stocks. It is absolutely essential that you collect a contract note for every transaction that you make. This is the proof of the transaction.

Even if you trade online, you may still want to retain the offline option of placing orders on the phone. Ensure that your online brokers offer you the choice of trading offline as well. What if the site is down and you want to buy or sell?

Don't opt for an online brokerage just because it seems savvy. If you are not comfortable with the computer and you really would like to deal with a face, then don't consider the online option.

Basic Fraud Prevention for Internet Merchants

This article talks about a very important issue for Internet merchants . . . preventing online fraud. Most of the attention in the press surrounding online fraud is focused on consumers…whether its having their credit card numbers stolen by hackers or being suckered into giving their personal and financial information by a phony email phishing scam. But barely any attention has been given to the other side of the coin…the Internet merchants who are defrauded by crooks posing as legitimate consumers.

One of the first things you need to do as a merchant to prevent fraud is to always verify who the consumer is. On card-present transactions, this can easily be done by asking for a valid photo identification card, for example, a driver's license or state issued ID card. On card-not-present-transactions, this is a much more difficult task for the merchant to accomplish.

There are two basic steps that every online merchant should follow to ensure that the consumer is legitimate.

The first step in preventing fraud in a card-not present environment is called address verification or AVS. The consumer should be required to enter their billing address when they are filling out their credit card information. The payment gateway will then send this information to the payment processor for verification. The payment processor will then pass the address information to the issuing bank who will then match that information with the address information they have on file for that card. The payment gateway will then send back some codes to let you know whether or not the AVS was a match. AVS only compares the street number and ZIP code against the information on file with the card issuing bank. So if the street address was 1234 Main Street and the ZIP code was 90210, the transaction processor would compare 1234 and 90210 with the issuing bank’s information.

Once this process is completed, you will get an AVS code that tells you how well the address matched the bank’s records. If you get an AVS code indicating that the address and/or zip code do not match, it is up to you to decide whether you wish to accept the risk and ship the goods to the customer. We recommend that you do not ship goods in cases where the zip codes do not match. This will not only help to prevent chargebacks but will also prevent problems from occurring if the consumer works during the day. The shipping companies have become so inundated with packages from the ever-growing Internet world that they will drop the package at the door, often times not waiting for a signature. Without a signature, you do not have proof of delivery. And without proof of delivery it is very hard to fight a chargeback.

It is important to know that AVS has some limitations, because this may impact your decision-making about how to treat bad verification results:

The AVS system isn't always reliable; bad results can be triggered unnecessarily because people move, or because some people report five-digit zip codes and some report nine-digit zip codes. This may generate a response stating that the address matches, but the zip code does not match.

The AVS system can't handle addresses outside the U.S., so if you decide to ship only to addresses with good AVS results, you will rule out all international orders.

Online merchants typically do not rely solely on the AVS result to accept or reject an order. Most online merchants use the address verification service as part of an overall fraud prevention program and in conjunction with several other tools to help them prevent fraud.

Now we’ll talk about the second step in basic fraud prevention – Card Code Verification

To help reduce fraud in the card-not-present environment, credit card companies have introduced a card code program. Visa® calls this code Card Verification Value (CVV); MasterCard® calls it Card Validation Code (CVC); Discover® and American Express call it Card ID (CID).. The card code is a three- or four- digit security code that is printed on the back of cards. The number typically appears at the end of the signature panel. This program helps validate that a genuine card is being used during a transaction. Card code verification works similar to address verification. The payment gateway passes the code entered by the consumer to the payment processor who then compares it to what is on file at the card issuing bank. The payment gateway then returns a code to let you know whether the numbers matched. This helps to verify that the person using the card has the card in their possession at the time they place the order.

We advise all merchants to require this code for all credit card transactions to help combat fraud. It is important to note however that these numbers can be obtained by fraudsters just as credit card numbers are obtained if they are stored by the merchant. It is for that reason that the card associations prohibit merchants from storing these codes in their system. The use of CVV2, CVC2 , and CID by online merchants has continued to increase, rising from 44% of online merchants using this tool in 2003 to 66% today. It appears that asking for the CVV2 , CVC2, and CID has become standard practice for the majority of online merchants.

So there you have it. Two very basic and easy fraud prevention tools that every online merchant should use to prevent fraud and eliminate chargebacks.

Top Ten Reasons to Write Articles to Publicize your Business

1. It's free.

Top web sites and article directories want your articles. Thousands of daily visitors come to find out more about different topics. They appreciate your knowledge and unique approach to it. They get the articles free. You get to include your powerful web bio or signature file that attracts new people to your web site where your sales letters for your seminars, products, and service are, as well as any business that needs new customers.

2. You can reach from 10,000 to 500,000 of your targeted audience each day that you submit an article.

Your specific audience surfs the top sites and article directories that offer many categories, including yours. They will read your tips and ideas, and if they like them, will visit your web site to see more. When your articles get published, you will be in the top 10-20 pages of the search engine listings.

Remember Bill Gates' prediction: After 2000, you either take your business online, or you won't have one.

3. You will spend far less time promoting online than more traditional ways.

When you spend about a half hour a day each week writing a short article from 200-800 words, you will collect at least five to start to submit. Then write a new one each week to build your article bank and your bank account. The easy part? You then delegate the submissions to your low-cost office computer assistant. Total time promoting? Less than eight hours a week. This organic, natural way to bring targeted visitors to your site will build your reputation and by six months you'll be a household name in your field. For Six years, your coach has practiced this method-and found it to be far better than pay-per-click and other techie ways.

At first, you'll send out to a list of ten high-traffic sites from a list of over 100URLs well researched and updated each six months by your coach. Then, you will add to that and eventually send five articles out 2 x a week to over 100 web sites that offer your category. Remember, business people buy. They want how tos, travel information, book information and all kinds of services, including personal growth.

As your article numbers and list to submit to grow, so will your bank account. When you Google your name you'll see yourself on many other web sites. Maybe 800 the first six months, then over 129,000 after five years. This organic way is viral marketing at its best.

The more, the merrier, because your articles not only put you in the top ten sites through the search engines, but bring you many new product buyers, potential clients, and new customers.

4. Submitting articles is seven times as effective as any other promotion because when you submit many articles, you become known as the savvy expert in your field. And they attract your targeted market.

You may start with just two or three, but each week after creating a new one with a different angle or audience, this outstanding viral marketing technique will bring many new opportunities because many of the people who read them will contact you to publish your articles on their site. See how the good word spreads?

5. You can raise your own ezine subscribers from 10-25 every day you submit an article to multiple web sites and article directories.

If you submit four or five articles a month to 20 web sites, after six months of regular submissions, you'll get 1000’s of links to your site. When you up level your signature file to send with each submission, readers will click to your URL and your sales will roll on endlessly.

After reading six or seven of your ezines, your targeted audience who came to you through these articles, trusts you more, believes in you, and eventually becomes a client or customer.

6. You reach your targeted audience..

Let's say you are a career coach. You write articles that relate to that topic. You send them to top web sites or article directories each week. Your audience visits these sites because they want and need your information. They notice your fabulous web bio and go for your free offer. Or, you have vacation rentals and want to fill your rooms every week, not just for the weekends and holidays. When they read your interesting, helpful articles, they will think of your web site when they are ready to act.

This personal, but streamlined method of advanced article marketing is far better than article blasting services because you directly hit your targeted audience--wanting what you have to offer. And you know who published your articles by the email the sites send you within a day or so.

Please avoid buyer's remorse and craziness as happened to me when I went against my intuition and got an article marketing service. It just didn't work and I wasted hundreds of dollars and my assistant's time that also cost.

7. You and your web site become a household name.

Once thousands of people have read your articles, they will share your information with their friends and associates. The web sites you submit to want new information daily so their visitors will keep coming back. You'll want to post your articles on your web site too, so your audience will keep visiting you. Once you start hearing from people all over the world who want to know more about your service, you can become an international name.

It's not who you know. It's who knows you. The internet changes your promotion game in ways you'll appreciate, because you will not have to spend much time or money promoting.

8. You can promote straight from your home or office.

Right now, I'm looking out my office window to trees, birds, and sunny skies. Yes, it's San Diego. You too can enjoy promotion more because you don't have to go out to sell or tell. With just a little training on how to write these articles fast and powerful, you'll be creating them like you would a new recipe. Your creativity will expand, and you'll feel good you promote the easy, fun way.

Adapt my life motto "If it isn't easy and fun, I just won't do it." Why should promotion be such a struggle? It's natural to share about our service, but it's easier when we are relaxed in our own setting. Sure, phone conversations and networking are fun, but not nearly as productive for the time and money spent as writing and submitting articles are.

9. This number one promotion technique is viral marketing at its best.

In the beginning months, all ten of my articles got published. Friendly people from all over emailed me asking permission to use my articles on their sites or in their ezines. Thrilled, I kept track of their email address after asking permission to send my new articles straight to their email door.

Remember, the gold is in the list. Keep a list of all people's emails who are interested in you and send articles to them on a regular basis. Now, we have a place where visitors can leave their email and continue to get new articles each week.

When you keep submitting articles you can get that high Google rating, and more importantly, attract your preferred audience to your web site. So you can build your data base and collect three, four, and more times your present income.

The amazing thing is as a newbie and a non-techie, who started in fear of the net, yet with the help of a few mentors, books and teleclasses, I figured out how to play and succeed. You can too.

10. Just the key words you use in your article titles and copy can put you in the top 20 web sites in your field.

Your key words will include your full name, your business category, your city, and other phrases that people will type into Google.com to find out more about your topic. When a web master wanted me to use Overture or Google to buy key words to optimize my web site's position, I wondered why? Articles do the job better, naturally, and don't cost a dime to write.

This list could go on, because as one person sees your articles, they make offers you can't refuse. You will get published in other author's books, in print media, or found by groups who want to use your service or product.

Most web site owners don't write only their own articles, they are constantly looking for your how-to articles. You can be published in thousands of them!

Writing and submitting articles is the friendliest way I know of promoting online. When you are ready, give it a chance.

Article writing and submitting is the best publicity and promotion effort so far.Think of the categories you can write your articles in. Start writing short articles now, and see how this great exposure to eager online readers and web surfers will bring big business success.

Is Your Computer a Sluggish Starter

There are a few factors that could be making your computer run just barely faster than an overweight slug crawling through an Eastern Kentucky mud hole in winter. First, check to see how much hard drive space you have left. If you are getting low, meaning less than 1.5 gigabytes of free space, start looking for stuff to delete. Another potential gotcha that can make computers startup really slowly is the icons on your desktop. Make sure that every icon on the screen is a shortcut to a document, picture, program, game or whatever. You can put actual programs on the desktop rather than shortcuts (a shortcut is a link to an item, not the item itself) and this can cause real problems on startup. A desktop shortcut is a very small file and takes virtually no time to load and display on the screen. If you actually store an image or program itself on the desktop then you could be loading literally several megabytes of information just to show it on your screen when a shortcut would have worked better and faster.

One of the biggest foes to fast computers is the software that starts up automatically when the computer is turned on. Things like Yahoo Messenger, Windows Messenger, the infamous Weather Bug, and Real Player all do this, among others. Once you install the software, it loads itself every single time the computer is started up. Many times you will not even know that the program is running as there is no indication except for a tiny little icon in the lower-right corner of your screen called the Task Bar Notification Area.

These software programs are so egotistical they think that you simply must have them at the ready at any moment. I mean, you never know, it could be a matter of life or death that you send Aunt Sally in Michigan an instant message that little Junior just bit the cat. Surely we don't want to wait a whole 15 seconds for a program to load when we want to use it... Instead it sits there, always ready at a moment's notice. Trouble is, while it is sitting there it is wasting extremely valuable computer resources. I suggest you set those programs to not load up when you start the computer. But how?

The answer to that question may be very easy or very difficult, depending on the application. First, try looking in the Startup folder in your programs menu (click Start --> Programs --> Startup) to see what is set to automatically startup. Often, you won't see anything, but it's worth a shot. Next, open the offending program and look in the preferences/options/tools menu for something indicating that you do not want the program to load on startup. As a last resort, and please be careful if you do this as you can really mess up your computer, you can click Start --> Run, type msconfig, and hit the enter key. This will open an application that will allow you to remove any startup programs. Rather than running msconfig yourself, I do recommend you hire a qualified computer technician as it can really mess things up if done incorrectly.

Setting Up a Live Broadcast on the Internet

Broadcasting live content over the Internet isn't as difficult as people would think. In fact, it's extremely easy. All you need is an audio or video source, a way of getting the audio or video to the PC, a free software program supplied by Microsoft, and enough upload bandwidth to cover the broadcasting of the content.

In this tutorial, I'll attempt to teach you what you need to know so you can broadcast your content over the Internet. I'll primarily show you audio only, but you'll see how easy it is to do video as you progress through this tutorial.

As this is a text only tutorial, you will want to download the free software from Microsoft, and go through the configuration while you read this tutorial. Don't panic though. It's really easy to do. Don't let the length of this tutorial scare you away. The rewards of having your live broadcast up and running should keep you motivated to stick with it.

The only slightly complicated part of this tutorial is to do with your firewall. Due to the number of firewalls out there, I'll be very generic in my approach to telling you what you need to do. I'll explain this in further detail later in the tutorial.

Let's Start

First things first. You need to set up your audio source. In this example I'm using a radio scanner to broadcast Live Police from a radio scanner.

I basically have the radio scanner plugged into my PC's sound card with a cable roughly 2 metres (7 Feet) in length with a 3.5mm mono plug on each end. Of course the length of cable is up to you. Note: if you are broadcasting music, you'll want to use a cable that has stereo plugs instead of mono plugs. You'll also want to ensure your plugs on the cable match the audio device, Some devices may use a 2.5mm plug instead of 3.5mm. If you are broadcasting voice only, mono plugs are better as it ensures sound comes out of both speakers for the listener.

Plug the cable in so that one end plugs into the headphone socket of your audio device, and the other end plugs into the Microphone socket of your sound card on your PC.

Now go to the Microsoft website and download the Windows Media Encoder 9 software. It's free. It's approximately 9.5MB.The software is located at..

Are You Hearing Everything Your Customer Isn't Saying

Only 7% of what we say is verbal! The other 93% is nonverbal! How do you think Dr. Phil got his start? Reading the nonverbal communication of prospective jurors as a jury consultant. And that's why he's not afraid to call someone on a lie on his program! He's reading their body language--their nonverbal communication! And Dr. Phil knows he's right because your body language says so much more than you ever will!

Verbal or written or even sign language talks to "content." You're just listening to the words and that's it! Nothing else enters the picture. This is probably one of the biggest issues with married people. The wife might say, "You never listen to me." The husband says, "Of course I do!" and continues reading the paper. The wife probably wants to see body language from her husband that says, "I am here for you; you are very important to me; I will always take the time to be here for you." If he's reading the paper, he's not communicating this to her in a way she can see and understand.

If you're in sales or have any projects where you have to "sell" someone on something, do you know what your body language is saying to the other person? Try selling something to someone without saying a word! You might say it's impossible but it's not. You probably do more selling with nonverbal communication than you do with verbal. Remember that song about "you say so much when you say nothing at all." Well, that singer/writer was right!

Think of a time when you were feeling upset, frustrated, angry and someone came up to you and asked if you were doing OK. You probably said YES but your body language said NO! Which communication do you think they're going to believe? Scientists have proven that whenever there is a conflict between verbal and nonverbal communication, we tend to put a question mark by the verbal communication and believe the nonverbal communication. You probably don't even think about doing that but that's exactly what you're doing!

Body language has gone underground. In other words, we don't even think about it. We just do it. It has become subconscious behavior to us and when someone points our body language out to us, we seem surprised. When I work with people on body language and point out different "language" that they are using, they might try to justify their actions if they were sending out defensive signals or congratulate themselves if they were using positive signals. The trick here is to know what your body language says about you and then to be able to know what another person's body language says about them. It's the same behavior or actions we tend to react or resist in other people and not even notice in ourselves.

You all have probably experienced stress at one time or another in your life. You might even be experiencing it now as a reaction to this article. Stressed out people have very definite body language. I can spot you a mile away. Other people can too, they just might not know why they are having a reaction to you (your stress!). Look at people around you (at home or at work). If they're eyebrows are raised, their shoulders scrunched up around their ears, the hand clenched--chances are they're stressed out about something. Now, if you're having a meeting with them and don't recognize their body language, that meeting will get tenser because you will tend to mirror the body language of the other person and get stressed out yourself just by being around them. It's not healthy for you and it creates a lot of tension, turmoil, confrontations, frustrations and disagreements--all because you didn't read their nonverbal communication and respond consciously to that. They subconsciously sucked you into their net of stress, worry and upset and THEY GOT YOU!

Now, what about you? Did you know that most Americans hold their stress in the upper part of their body? And because we do, people can read us so easily. Consider the signs I mentioned in the last paragraph. People can "pick" up on us so easily just as we can pick up on them! We like to be in proximity to other people because we can read them as they can read us! I had a marketing consultant that wanted to become a coach. Her biggest goal was to stop traveling so much and at the same time her biggest challenge was to take up telephone coaching where she wasn't in the presence of her clients. She didn't believe she could figure out what was going on because she couldn't "see" the other person or in fact, read the other person's body language. Body language is that powerful. Because it's that powerful, everyone should be familiar with it and understand the positive and defensive postures. When you do, you understand what's really going on with the people around you--either at work or in your personal life--because we all, at some time or the other, speaker in double messages.

It's important to understand double messages, which we hear/see all the time. Why? Because whenever we receive a double message, we tend to put a question mark behind the spoken message and believe the unspoken message. I've said this before and I want to re-emphasize it again! Double messages make us incongruent. How do adults learn best? When they are in a congruent environment. If you're going to be effective, learn the 2 most important languages: the spoken and the unspoken word.

The Art of Starting a Conversation

Meeting new people and feeling comfortable is a learned skill. I’ve found that the more people you meet the easier it becomes and you get better at asking interesting and occasionally provocative questions. And, you have to learn to be an active listener. No one likes someone who interrupts or is preoccupied with getting his or her point across. Conversations are not about winning or loosing, they’re based on learning about another person.

-Prepare your “ask for” questions before you attend an event. Also think about what types of answers you’re listening for. It can be a transition to another topic, business connection, or information that you use in a personal or professional manner.

-What’s you purpose for attending event? Are you there to gather information, get referrals, or seek advice or support? Knowing what you’re after is key to making the most out of attending and your time.

-Introduction etiquette. A les important person is introduced to a VIP. A man is introduced to a woman. A younger person is introduced to an older person.

-Let people know if you prefer to be called Jenne and not Jennifer.

-Talk to others to get them to talk about themselves. Ask follow-up questions and don’t interrupt. A first time question is: How do you know the host or get involved in the organization? Second time at an event: I remembered you from last time, how is business, family, and your vacation?

-Prepare your verbal business card in advance, who are you? Always use your first and last name with action words to describe your business. Mark Nash, sales award winning real estate broker and author of four books. Keep it short, but with enough information that people can ask you follow up questions.

- Remember others names, look at nametags, business cards and use their name when you introduce them to another person. Use their names in your conversation with them.

- If a newcomer joins your group weave them into the conversation, they’ll appreciate it. Don’t ask yes or no questions.

-I always think of a couple conversation starters on my way to a meeting, networking event or dinner party

Colorado Commercial Mortgage Brokers

Commercial mortgages are loans taken for the purchase of property that is, only intended for business or commercial use. Properties like shopping centers, industrial centers, offices, golf courses, resorts, hotels, parking garages, and car washes are termed as commercial properties. In Colorado, the best way to apply for a mortgage for a commercial property is to contact a commercial mortgage broker.

Colorado commercial mortgage brokers are usually a part of the Colorado Association of Mortgage Brokers (CAMB). It is a non-profit organization, aimed at providing assistance to professionals specializing in real estate. Commercial mortgage brokers are provided with training programs to keep them up-to-date with the latest trends and practices through this organization. The Colorado Association of Mortgage Brokers is also a part of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers.

It is necessary to get commercial property financed, at a competitive rate as it directly affects the finances of the organization. Commercial brokers come into the picture once a company decides on the location and price of a property. Usually, organizations opt for a 'commercial interest only' loan, as it provides them with an option of paying, only the interest for the first few years of the loan. A commercial loan can be for period of anywhere between five to thirty years. The rate for these loans can be either fixed or adjustable.

To become a commercial mortgage broker it is necessary to get a license. The appropriate regulatory bodies that are set in place regulate all the brokers. A regulator body will ensure that the broker complies with the laws. However, to know how a broker treats the customers and if the services provided by the broker are satisfactory, it is advisable to get an opinion from other similar business companies.

Commercial mortgage brokers advice the companies in deciding the best loan option. They help their clients understand the whole method of writing a proper loan application, processing the loan file and closing the loan. This helps the companies save a considerable amount of time and money.

How To Measure Search Engine Marketing ROI

According to the Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO), advertisers spent $4 billion in 2004 on search marketing programs and are expected to spend 39% more than that this year.

Search engine marketing appears to be a great way to advertise but is it right for you and your business? If you are not already employing search engine marketing(SEM) for you business is there a way to forecast the return should you decide to invest in it? Is there a way to measure the results you are getting if you have already invested in SEM?

The answer is mostly yes. By utilizing data discovered in recently released research surveys and with the help of a few free online tools you can put begin to take some of the guesswork out of search engine marketing ROI. By using Overture’s free keyword suggestion tool (inventory.overture.com) you can get an idea of how many times a keyword is getting searched each month. Another free tool to use is called Good Keywords and can be downloaded from www.goodkeywords.com.

Let’s say for instance that you are a mortgage broker in the Denver Colorado area and you are interested in getting more leads for your business. You have a website and are considering search engine marketing to bring in some new leads. You get a quote from a search engine marketing provider who can guarantee top 10 positions among the major search engines for 6 months for your keywords for $1,500.00.

The question now becomes is it worth it to you to spend the $1,500.00. To figure this out we need to look at some numbers.

Berrier & Associates estimate that 65% of all traffic generated by a search in a search engine will go to the sites listed within the first 10 results (first page) returned for that search. By using Overture’s keyword suggestion tool you discover that the term “Denver mortgage broker” gets approximately 540 searches a month.

Using this criteria a first page position for “Denver mortgage broker” would bring you approximately 65% of 540 searches a month = 350 visitors to your site each month. Having a compelling title tag in your website’s pages might even boost this visitor number since the title tag is what appears as the clickable link in the search results.

The formula we just used would then be applied to all the other keywords you are targeting such as “mortgage Denver” which gets approximately 2,600 searches a month or “mortgage company Denver” with 466 searches a month. A first page placement for any of those would yield similar results.

So let’s say we just use the “Denver mortgage broker” key phrase as our example with its estimated 350 visitors a month for a first page position. You would now need to know what your website conversion rate is. The website conversion rate is the ratio of leads or sales you get per visitor amount. The average website conversion rate is about 1-2% or 1-2 leads or sales for every 100 visitors according to Shop.org.

If your website conversion rate is average then you would expect on average 2-3 good leads from your site each month for that one first page listing. Then depending on your sales conversion rate which is the number of sales per leads you get on average multiplied by your average sale price you can begin to calculate what your return might be.

So let’s say as a mortgage broker you make roughly $2k on each deal you broker and your sales conversion rate is 1 sale for every 3 quality leads. In any given month then you could estimate 1 sale at $2k out of the 3 quality leads generated from your website which came as a result of the 350 visitors you got from being on the first page of Google, Yahoo or MSN for the term “Denver mortgage broker”.

You paid the search engine marketing company $1,500.00 dollars for 6 months of first page listings. From one of those first page listings you stand to gain $2k x 6 months = $12,000.00. That sounds like a really good return for money invested.

Find Mortgage Savings Online

Many homeowners use the Internet to research their purchases ranging from household appliances to new cars. Why stop there when you can save thousands of dollars each year by researching mortgage products online?

The Internet Makes Researching Mortgage Lenders and Their Products Easy

Using the Internet to research mortgage companies allows you quickly compare loans from literally thousands of lenders and brokers. By taking the time to do your homework and learn about the mortgage industry you will be able to recognize a good deal when you see one. You can even find reviews of mortgage lenders and brokers online that will allow you to avoid the lemons. By shopping online you also minimize the pressure and stresses found by sitting in front of a loan officer.

Utilizing an online mortgage broker allows you exposure to a variety of national mortgage lenders you might not find in your local market. Utilizing an Internet mortgage broker can save you time and frustration.

When comparing mortgage products from online lenders and brokers make sure you are comparing loans of equal term lengths and use the disclosed Annual Percentage Rate (APR) when comparing loans. The term length of a mortgage is the period of time the lender gives you to pay back the loan.

Online brokers and mortgages lenders are an excellent alternative to your local bank. The mortgage industry is a very competitive market and lenders are literally falling over themselves for your business. If you are in the market for a second mortgage or wanting to refinance an existing adjustable rate mortgage you can save a lot of money utilizing the Internet to research your options.

Futures Trading Firms

Futures trading can turn out to be a profitable deal if proper research is conducted. It is therefore necessary to approach the right broker who considers the best interests of the trader, before actually going into futures trading. Research has shown that there are almost half a dozen firms operating. They offer an array of services ranging from full service, discount service, and online services Traders decide upon which futures trading company to approach, depending upon level of comfort with stock markets.

Even if the trader is aware of stock market, futures trading are entirely a different aspect, and it may require an amount of professional advice. A full service broker ideally should have at least six years of experience in the industry. This broker can be an invaluable help for successful futures trading business. He can update his client about the economic trends, and effective methods of trading. They charge higher than most others but these costs are insignificant, in face of profits the broker can bring to business. The broker?s knowledge and expertise can create wonders in trading.

Traders sometimes opt for discounted futures trading firms. It is done to reduce costs, in spite of getting the same services as the full time brokers. It is advisable to keep trading with the old firm, until the reliability of the discounted trading firm is analyzed.

Online futures trading brokers are opted by veteran traders. They need continuous and instant connectivity to carry out different methods of trading. The commission rates for online firms are much lower. That does not ensure profitability, as it is necessary that a professional keep a watch on trade and advise right moves.

While selecting the futures trading firm the cost involved is not always important. Care is required in futures trading, and a firm rich in experience protects the trader, from risky investments that can ruin financial stability. There is no guarantee of this but efficient brokers can minimize and warn traders of possible pitfalls

Business Broker Network

A business broker network is basically a group that has a number of independent business brokers or brokerage firms. These firms could be based in different countries. Such network groups offer a much wider range of business opportunities to their clients. The network groups are able to offer more businesses for sale or purchase. So if you want to buy, sell or start a new business, you could give one such network group a try.

There are several network groups in existence. Some of them specialize in creating business opportunities in certain geographical areas. But many of them are not region-specific, as their network has firms from various parts of the world.

The members of a business broker network readily share their databases with investors, corporate entities seeking mergers and acquisitions, and individuals who could be helpful in creating a business opportunity. The common access to this wide database helps you to meet the demand of your clients, not only at the local level but also at national and international levels.

The advantage of a business broker network is that one does not have to go to a large number of business brokerage firms. The brokers who are a part of this network are often known as affiliates. Many network groups keep on upgrading the technological and financial tools to ensure better co-ordination among its members. It also prepares various professional reports at regular intervals for the affiliates.

If you would like to be a part of one such network group, you can do so by visiting the local office of any of these groups, or by contacting them online. The association with a large and reputed group could give a major boost to your business, as you can expand your client base not only across the nation, but even across the globe.

Online Business Broker: Stress Free Help Selling Your Business

You've spent several months, perhaps years, putting everything you have into building a thriving, high-demand online business and now you have decided to sell your baby.

Thousands of businesses change hands everyday, oddly enough the channels you can use to get maximum price and exposure for your online business are extremely limited.

You have a few options:

1. Ebay. It's perhaps the biggest venue for listing and finding new businesses forsale, but you have to be concerned over the quality of sites listed on eBay. For every quality site listed there are at least 100 crappy, low-priced, cookie-cutter sites that can put the wrong impression in the minds of your prospects.

2. Classified pay-per-listing sites. The leading online business listing site is http://www.buysellwebsites.com run by experienced professional Nelson Bates. This is a super service for sites under $50,000 with proven results and proven demand. A great technique for lower-priced sites, but perhaps not the right option for the site you want to get maximum exposure and price for.

3. Experienced and Focused Business Broker. You've invested heavily in your online business. A professional can help you through the sometimes complex tasks of placing a price on your business, getting it in front of the "right" buyers, helping to separate the tire kickers from serious buyers and take your deal to an optimal close.

Online business brokers can...

1. Get more money for your site

2. Get your site exposed to buyers with money

3. Reduce your stress by only putting you in touch with serious buyers

4. Handling the paperwork and forms associated with securely selling your high-value online business

5. Handling the uncomfortable "selling" role for you - you just decide which deal to accept

6. Let you move on to other things, confident that your online business is being represented by the best

7. Help you through an emotional process - they will be your rock through the entire process

8. Give you the benefit of experience closing many deals, something most sellers do not have

9. Open up new markets and opportunities you may not have even thought of yet

10. Help you wade through legal, tax and regulatory issues that can be quite intimidating.

What To Look For In An Online Business Broker

Finding a great business broker can make a massive difference to the success of selling your online business, getting the value you deserve.

Here are 4 characteristics to watch out for:

1. Experience with selling businesses. This one tops the list. Skillful business brokers have spent years mastering the art of negotiation and undersatnding the market. If you are selling an online business, then it is even more important that you find a specialized online business broker, someone who understands getting maximum price for internet-based businesses.

2. Proven Reputation. You want someone who has a rock-solid reputation with years of experience helping sell businesses. The ideal online business broker will have sold hundreds of online businesses already and can point out some specific examples.

3. Great Communicator. Selling your business can be a lengthy and detailed process, in order to get the most out of your online business broker, they need to be a great communicator - it's absolutely necessary.

4. Must Ensure Your Confidentiality. You can't afford to have your customers, partners and competitors know that you are about to sell your business. Look for a broker that guarantees confidentiality using appropriate protection forms every step of the way.

5. Specialize. Focus on a business broker that understands your type of business. Just as you wouldn't go to foot specialist about your stomach problem, you want to make sure you find a broker that specializes in online business.

Finally, you can take the stress out of selling your online business by using an experienced, professional online business broker. Don't leave the sale of your business to chance, consider consulting your very own online business broker today.

Precautions Necessary for an Online Brokerage Business

Maybe no business requiring little or no capital pays as big as the online brokerage business. Perhaps this also explains why this business attracts so many rogues, dreamers, time-wasters and even mischievous people. Knowing how to avoid these characters is one of the keys to your success.

As a broker you will be putting buyers and sellers into contact with each other. Once the two parties know each other, they may kick you out of the deal. The best way to ensure that you remain a party is to sign a Non-Circumvention and Non-Disclosure (NCND) Agreement with them. The widely used NCND Agreement is the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) NCND 500.

Parties entering into this agreement agree not to circumvent each other on any transactions with any sources and/or principals disclosed by each other’s parties, without prior approval. They also accept not to disclose or permit to be disclosed the identity of any sources and/or principals already identified by other parties. Essentially the spirit of this agreement is to do what is fair and equitable. The NCND therefore will prevent partners from bypassing you to work with each other and so deny you commission.

Get a lawyer to handle your legal matters. You would be surprised to learn how lightly people take contracts signed over the net, especially the NCND, even despite supplying their details, signatures and company stamps. Partners who are not serious will back out if they learn you have a lawyer. Those who agree to go ahead under this circumstance are likely to be serious.

However before signing anything with anybody, you must first check their credibility. Ask all prospects to supply proof of previous performance. By requesting this evidence, you may avoid people who would waste your time. Is this enough cover for you? No!

Let sellers make you offers under penalty of perjury. One disheartening occurrence in the online brokerage business is that people will sell you their empty dreams. Once you are bound by an NCND and the party makes you a phoney offer, you can let your lawyer sue for perjury. You will be forwarding offers to buyers and when the seller is unable to supply, you are accountable to your buyer who, often, do not take kindly to failures to perform. But are all the buyers serious?

Not at all. One of the banes of the Internet is that it can make anyone appear important. Don’t take anybody on their own words. If you have a product and a buyer show up, ask for an LOI (Letter Of Intent) and BCL (Bank Capability Letter). Supplying the LOI only on the end buyer’s company’s letterhead shows the seriousness to purchase the product. The BCL, issued on the letterhead of the buyer’s bank, demonstrates that there are enough funds to cover the payment. Your bank will check the availability of funds from the buyer’s bank. This saves not only a lot of embarrassment but also heartaches.

As a broker you gain is only from commissions. When one is in view, ask for a commission protection agreement, usually called a Fee Protection Agreement, FPA, from whoever is to pay you. It is common to see parties default in the payment. Should that happen, the FPA will be your legal document to sue for your money.

To enable discussions between a buyer and a seller proceed smoothly, they often ask for all parties to sign an NCND Agreement so that the broker can step aside without fear of being sidelined. Making this concession ensures the smooth running of the discussions but could be disastrous for the broker. Yet this does not mean that the broker must stand between the buyer and the seller, wheeling back and forth messages between them. No serious buyer or seller will accept this. A broker, instead, should give a buyer and a seller direct contact to each other but insist that they send him copies of the messages they exchange. This is to enable you follow the discussions. Should the parties fail to comply, you must insist that they do so. If they persist, don’t hesitate to withdraw your offer.

Receiving copies of mails exchanged between your buyer and your seller is crucial for some reasons. First of all, it enables you to know how the business is going. Sometimes matters stall as a buyer or a seller might prefer to give his attention to another business and you will need to prod the discussions. Also, when you don’t participate in the discussions and all of a sudden one of the partners informs you that the deal did not go through, that leads to a lot of suspicion. But the worst doubts come when, worried by the silence, you ask the parties for a feedback only to be told that the deal has fallen through. But that is even better than when you leave a buyer and a seller to discuss between themselves and in the heat of the negotiations they omit you in the apportioning of the commission. If you are lucky, all the parties may decide to give you is a token fee.

Working online means receiving emails, often with attachments. Virus-infested mails abound these days. You must therefore protect your computer and the valuable data stored on it with the latest anti-virus programmes. Many are available, like Norton, McAfee, etc. Buy the one which will automatically remind you constantly to update the program online and free of charge. This will allow you to avoid the attack of new viruses. An outdated virus scan program cannot detect them.

You are serious about your brokerage business and you want to take it far. Your dream is legitimate and achievable. So take these steps so that neither man (or woman) nor virus can disturb it.

My name is Akoli Penoukou. I was born in Lome-Togo (West Africa) in 1953. I went to school in Ghana (West Africa) up to the high school diploma level. I taught French there for one year and then returned to Lome to work. From there I went on "adventures" in Nigeria (West Africa) and Germany. Back home in 1983 I began my business career. This began with a West German import and export company which represented major German manufacturers like Henkel cosmetics in West Africa. I started as Executive Secretary and ended up five years later as Manager. Then I founded my own company in 1987 which I ran part-time. The activities of the firm having increased dramatically in three years, I diversified into imports and exports. The brokerage business and trade representation constitute the main thrust of my buinsess now. I have trained as a freelance writer for children and adults and have published in newspapers and magazines such as "Aim" and "Clubhouse" in America. Hobbies:writing, reading, gardening, languages, music, traveling, and teaching. I am married and have 3 children.

Which Online Brokerage Business Can Pay You Big

Are you already in the international brokerage business or are you thinking of going into it and wondering how to get fat commissions? If yes, you are no doubt looking for the right products to handle, where to find them, and how to propose them.

The products which could assure you huge commissions can be grouped into three categories: energy products; agricultural products; and mineral, metal, and material products.

Considering energy products, we can cite coke, coal, crude oil, fuel oil, jet fuel, Diesel D-2, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The agricultural products of interest can be grouped under three sub-categories: plant oil, grains, and agrochemicals. Under plant oil, we may mention palm oil, sesame oil, rapeseed oil for biodiesel production, sunflower oil, and soybean oil; for grains, we have wheat, rice, and sugar; and concerning agrochemicals, we can mention fertilizers such as UREA, NPK, and DAP.

As for the minerals, metals, and materials, the sub-categories worth considering are metal wastes such as HMS (Heavy Metal Sheets) 1, HMS 1&2, and railway scrap; iron ore; and cement.

Offers for all the products listed above can be obtained on the various business portals. One can also find suppliers online by searching with www.google.com or any other search engine. Just type, for example, “suppliers of palm oil” into the browser window and you’d receive huge search results. You can also find suppliers in exporters directories and from exporters associations and chambers of commerce.

However it is important to know the countries where these products are easily available.

Coal is plentiful in Brazil and India. Coke also. For crude oil, look towards Nigeria for Bonny Light Crude Oil (BLCO), Saudi Arabia, and the CIS countries, especially Russia. Fuel oil, jet fuel, Diesel D-2, LNG and LPG abound in the former Eastern European countries and in the Middle East.

For the energy products, (and of course, for all products) preferably look for offers from end sellers or sellers’ mandates only. Forget intermediaries and facilitators; they will only waste your time. Discounts are often between US$3 to US$5. Ask the seller to send you the Full Corporate Offer (FCO) under penalty of perjury or the draft contract plus banking coordinates.

You can obtain offers for the agrochemicals from Canada, China, the CIS countries (especially Ukraine), and from Russia. Always ask for the specifications of the products since there are different kinds of each. For example, we have NPK 10-20-20, NPK 10-20-15, and others.

Look to Asia, especially Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore, for palm and sesame oils; Canada for rapeseed oil; and Brazil, Argentina, the US, and Canada for sunflower and soybean oils. Concerning grains, the best sources for wheat are North and South America, especially the US and Brazil. As for rice, Asian countries such as Pakistan, India, Thailand, and Vietnam head the list of suppliers. Rice is specified under “percentage broken.” Thus we have 5% broken rice, 10% broken, 15% broken, 25% broken, and so on. Each of these types has ready markets in certain parts of the world. For instance, West Africa consumes 25% broken rice most, principally because it is the cheapest. Basmati is premium rice and has a distinctive flavor.

HMS 1, according to ISRI code 200-202 and HMS 1&2 (80/20), according to ISRI code 200-206, are available in the CIS countries and in African countries such as Congo, Angola, and South Africa. As for railway scrap (R50/R65), either uncut or cut to lengths of 1 or 1.5 meters, the best source is Central Europe, especially Russia. Look for spot contracts of 30,000 metric tons or less or annual ones of 12 x 30,000 metric tons. Avoid any product labelled NHI because it is not serious. Ask for an FCO with performance bond (PB) and proof of product (POP). Offers which grant visits at the loading port for inspection may be genuine. As for iron ore, India, South Africa, Australia, and Brazil are the best origins. Look for iron ore with 64.5% iron content. Offers are usually between 10,000 and 40,000 metric tons. Any grade of Portland cement conforming to ASTM-C-150 is acceptable. Ask for the specification or the grade and the type of packaging. The best suppliers are from China, Russia, and Ukraine.

How can you get buyers for these offers?

The business-to-business portals also serve to sell goods. You can post selling trade leads there or look for buyers who have posted buying leads. But know that as a broker it may be difficult for you to sell on the business websites, especially if you obtained the offers online. For one thing, you can hardly compete with end sellers or their mandates, except where you are getting your commission from the seller’s net price. Secondly, buyers are wary of brokers because many have wasted their time in the past.

You may search for buyers online or look them up in directories of importers or contact importers associations and the chambers of commerce.

For energy products, companies in America and Europe are always looking for them. Asian countries have also become major importers. Crude oil, especially Nigerian BLCO, is in high demand. But no one will consider an offer from a broker. The solution will be to join with a seller or his mandate. Fertilizers, edible oils, and grains are also used worldwide. A little research will tell you which type is right for which region.

The best place to offer HMS, railway scrap, and iron ore is first China, then India, and in the third place Turkey. Cement is a worldwide commodity. Your offer should be as professional as you would expect from a seller. Don’t forget to ask your buyers for proofs of funds (POF) and for proof of previous performance.

Now that you know the products to make your dream of big commissions come true, where to get the offers, and how to get them to the right market, all that is left for you to do is to get down to work

Web Exclusive: More Ways to Get Ahead

A customer's home address is a marketing gold mine. It often reveals volumes about social status, lifestyle, and most importantly, potential shopping habits. The trick is tying this information to your existing customer files. Geographic information systems (GIS) apps like MapInfo Professional and Microsoft MapPoint 2002 ($249) do this work for you.

Champion Printing & Advertising is a commercial printing and presort bureau based in Jackson, Michigan. Rather than watch customers blow big money sending promotional mailings to the wrong prospects, Champion CEO Mike Shutler began using MapInfo Professional to map clients' customer areas and pinpoint the best neighborhoods to target. The software costs $1,495 for a single-user license; demographics for any one state cost $2,590, or $7,995 for the entire United States.

Geographically targeting marketing mailings has lowered Champion Printing's costs and dramatically increased response rates for its clients. "We've used [MapInfo] with 15 or 20 customers so far," says Shutler. "Before, we might send 200,000 pieces of mail to an area where 149,000 recipients were not interested. Now we're seeing response rates in the 15 to 20 percent range compared to a more typical 2 or 3 percent response. This is virtually unheard of in direct mail."

Like MapInfo, Microsoft MapPoint lets you group customers and prospects by demographic criteria and plot them onto color-coded maps. A built-in route planner and GPS navigation mode make it easy to map out territories and take this information on the road. The software can import customer data from a variety of sources, including Microsoft Access, Excel, Outlook, or SQL Server. Geographic and demographic plotting information comes from Claritas.

Whether you're opening a new location or brokering mergers and acquisition deals like Richard Vander Kaay & Associates in Newport Beach, California, identifying promising new business opportunities takes careful research. Vander Kaay uses OneSource Business Browser to watch market trends and get the inside line on more than 280,000 private and public U.S. companies. An annual subscription to OneSource costs up to $3,000 per seat for less than 50 seats. Business Browser is available as a Web service or can be integrated into your intranet.

"Our job is to identify people willing to have a conversation about the sale of a business," explains Vander Kaay. "The challenge is to generate a list of companies we can contact that are on target for the client we're working for." Combining keyword searches with SIC codes and demographic criteria helps Vander Kaay narrow the field. "If I'm conducting a project in the plastics arena, searching by SIC code will find everything from plastic hair pins to plastic bumpers. By using keywords and searching for manufacturers of plastic hairpins, then selecting by size, location, and revenue, we can find the best match," he says. Reviewing the corporate history, financials, and executive leadership of a company prior to approaching it helps Vander Kaay craft a compelling pitch and ups the odds of closing the deal.

Factiva offers another way to stay abreast of your field—and one step ahead of the competition. A joint venture between Dow Jones and Reuters, Factiva puts breaking news, market reports, and corporate summaries at your fingertips from nearly 8,000 global newspapers, news wires, trade journals, newsletters, magazines, and Web sites. Saved searches and tracking tools help you keep tabs on specific companies as well as on news and trends. You can sort results by relevance or date, and a More Like This feature instantly locates similar articles.

The cost of Factiva subscriptions varies based on which resources you use and how many employees use it. The license fee for 100 users, for example, is about $150 per user per month. You can also do individual searches for $2.95 per downloaded article. Factiva's intranet version lets you pull relevant news and documents directly into your company database.

A brief history of information brokering

Information brokering, the business of buying and selling information as a commodity, has been around for a long time. A business historian can make a good case that it started with Gutenberg in the middle 1400s, when what had been a closely held church and government prerogative involving the distribution of "original works of art" gave way to mass production and the business of book publishing.

By the 1700s, faster, time-sensitive techniques for information distribution took hold. First the newspaper and then the magazine made smaller, but timelier, chunks of information available to the public, and venture capital investment opportunities were available for those who wished to back entrepreneurial publishers.

Information brokering as we now think of it as a business opportunity for the individual information professional was begun by the French in 1935.

North Dakota Home Mortgage Loans - Should You Use A Broker Online? Yes!

Depending on your market in North Dakota, interest rates could vary on home mortgage loans. This is where an online mortgage broker could help. In some areas of the state, drought conditions are driving down the price of real estate. Farmers are struggling to make their crops grow, and this is making selling a bit more desirable, especially in light of the fact that Congress recently failed to pass a drought relief bill. However, in some parts of the state, the interest rates are up, such as McKenzie County, where oil leasing and drilling is experiencing a bit of a boom. An online mortgage broker could help you sort out the best rate and places to get a North Dakota home mortgage loan.

A broker online can help you find a variety of mortgage loan deals

An online mortgage broker can help you find a variety of good deals. A broker who is online can allow you to put in specific information to help you get the best return on home loan rate quotes. With North Dakota home mortgage loan interest rates ranging from 5.250 percent to 6.625 percent, a mortgage broker that has access to the latest information, research and loan programs available is an asset. And you will likely find these qualities most efficiently online.

Online mortgage loan brokers are generally less expensive

Another advantage that a broker online has as opposed to one located offline, is that online home loan brokers are often less expensive than their more “traditional,” offline counterparts. Not only will you find a broker with wider connections and access to more quotes, but you will also likely find a mortgage broker that offers services for a lower rate. Without a fancy office to pay for, online brokers can offer their services at a discount. And, as long as you take proper measures to protect your computer, most online broker transactions are safe and secure.

Becoming A Commercial Mortgage Broker

Given that buying, selling and investing in real estate involve complex transactions and high financial considerations, buyers, lenders and investors usually ask the help of real estate agents and real estate brokers. They do so because real estate brokers and agents possess a thorough knowledge of the real estate market. Given this, more and more people are becoming interested in becoming agents or brokers. However, not anyone can become an agent or a broker unless he or she undergoes the necessary training and licensing procedures.

Becoming a broker

To become a commercial mortgage broker, individuals or brokerage owners need to get accredited by the government by getting a license after they have passed a state exam. This license will enable the brokers to own their own real estate or property management office, and to specialize in commercial real estate, or become a franchisee for a national or international brokerage firm. However, before taking the exam, brokers need to undergo education and training that would equip them with the knowledge and skills they would need to practice their profession. There are a number of firms and schools that offer this training, and recently, the Internet has also become an alternative source of online courses that can help brokers get their license. Majority of the courses offered by schools and the Internet cover topics on Property Ownership, Contracts, Agency, Real Estate Contracts, Titles, Leases, Taxes, Appraisal Construction, Escrow Real Estate Law, Real Estate Math, and other required topics that different states may require.

License Renewal

The license that brokers get needs to be renewed regularly, which is usually every one or two years depending on the regulations of a state. Most of the time, the schools that offer classes for brokers also help their students in applying for licenses and having them renewed, which also goes for online schools.

To fill in the demand for competent skills from brokers, an accreditation process has been put in place to ensure that brokers receive the appropriate training that they need to practice their profession. This process involves undergoing training and passing state exams to get a broker’s license. Given this, buyers, lenders and investors can be assured that they will get competent and appropriate assistance with their commercial real estate transactions

Benefits of Using a Stock Broker as a New Investor

If you're new to the world of stock trading and investments, you probably realize that there is tremendous pressure in the financial world today. New investment opportunities are being discovered every day that can potentially bring wealth and prosperity to your portfolio. Also, online stock investing has opened the door wide for overseas stock trading, giving you more investment opportunities than ever.

As a new investor, all these can be overwhelming. So, how do you make wise decisions concerning your finances? How do you manage and invest your money while protecting your assets? As a new investor, a stock broker may be your answer. Continue reading to discover some lucrative benefits of using a stock broker as a new investor.

What is a Stock Broker?

A stock broker is someone who buys and sells stocks for an investor. Stocks, also called equities, are simply shares of ownership in a particular company. If you own 500 shares in a company that are worth $2.00 per share, you actually have $1,000 in equity. Your profits are determined by how much you pay for the equities initially, the commissions paid to your broker, and how much the equities are worth when you sell or trade them.

A broker is licensed and regulated by the federal government or an overseas authority, depending on where they are located. Stock brokers receive a commission when purchasing or selling stocks. This is how they earn a profit. They are also advisors, recommending which stocks to buy or which to avoid.

Recommending a Venture

Stock brokers can assist you by recommending ventures in stock market trading or investing. A venture is a business decision or investment that has the potential to earn profits. You invest initial capital in hopes to earn more profits in return. One benefit of using a stock broker is he/she can recommend ventures based on their research. You might not have the knowledge or time to research the stock market. A stock broker does this for you. It's a full-time job for them, so they are able to recommend ventures that look promising. They can help you discover hidden treasures in the market you would not find on your own.

Managing Your Portfolio

Your stock portfolio shows your initial capital, profits or losses, a record of past stock trades, etc. A portfolio reveals if you are experiencing prosperity or misfortune. Either way, you should always be aware of your financial standing. A stock broker helps by managing your portfolio and keeping it up-to-date so you'll always know where you stand.

Helping you Learn the Ropes of Investing

A stock broker can help you learn the ropes of investing if you're new to stock trading. There are terms and legalities you should be familiar with before you venture to trade stocks on your own. A stock broker will advise you, educate you and guide you through the stock exchange process. This is very beneficial if you decide to trade stocks on your own later.

Overseas Stock Investments

Trading overseas has become commonplace in today's world of online technology. A stock broker who is familiar with overseas trading can help you expand your investment range to stocks around the world. Every day, people are reporting how they made their fortune in overseas stock investing. It's a real way to gain wealth with the right stock investments in place. A stock broker can help you expand to this market easily because they understand how the different currencies are used as well as how and where to invest overseas.

Using an Online Stock Broker

The days of high stock broker commissions are gone. Online stock brokers often charge minimal commissions because of their low overhead costs. Even overseas investments can easily be made with the click of a mouse. You have the benefit of working with a stock broker directly from your home instead of visiting an office or calling the broker. This saves both time and money for you and the broker.

Managing Mutual or Equity Funds

A stock broker can also help you manage your mutual funds, or equity funds. These are funds that are invested in a variety of stocks, thus, spreading your capital among several companies - not just one. Investment opportunities in mutual funds can often result in long-term profits. Many investors use these to build a retirement fund. The benefit of using an experienced stock broker is they have been watching different equity funds for years and know the long-term patterns of these investments. You can benefit from their years of observation, and avoid long-term losses.

There are many other benefits of using a stock broker as an investment and financial advisor if you're new to stock trading. Don't miss investment opportunities that could bring wealth and prosperity in the near future!

Commodity Futures Trading Online

If you would rather sit in the comfort of your own home and play the commodity futures game, then the World Wide Web has a host of possibilities for you to indulge in playing the markets.

Many brokerage firms have set up websites that allow you to trade in commodities. They require you to register for an account and then download a trading platform that will allow you to trade – all at the click of the mouse.

Sites such as danielstrading.com provide four types of commodities trading execution services: broker execution, automated system execution, self-directed online execution and foreign exchange currencies trading platform. All except the latter can be used for commodities trading.

If you are new to the whole commodity trading scenario, then the first service, that of broker execution, is probably the best choice. With this service, you leave all the decisions to the broker, who will execute them on your behalf.

The automated system execution service has been specially developed for online commodity futures trading. If you would rather have a mechanical trading program or a commodities trading system make your decisions for you, then this service would be the ideal choice. Investors can also design their own automatic trading system that can carry out trades on their behalf.

Those investors who deem themselves confident enough to carry out trades and make all their decisions on their own can opt for the self-directed online execution service. With this service the investor can download a trading platform provided by the brokerage services that best describe their experience in futures trading. They will be given full, current information that will enable them to make informed decisions regarding their trades and execute the trades on the trading platform itself. To do this, all that you need is a computer with broadband Internet access and Java software installed, since most of the trading platforms run on Java.

A Guide to Discount Brokers

Discount brokers are individuals or companies that carry out trade executions for a variety of trades. In other words, they execute buy and sell orders at a lower commission rate.

Discount brokers can be categorized as discount stock brokers, discount commodity brokers, and discount real estate brokers. Discount stock brokers open endless opportunities for those interested in stock markets. Discount commodity brokers offer the best trading platforms whereas the discount real estate brokers are committed to provide online and offline services for property sales.

Moreover, there are two levels of discount brokers on the basis of commissions. They are standard discounters and deep discounters. The commission charged by a standard discounter is 50% less than full-service brokers. Deep discounters feature the lowest commission structure, which is 60 to 90% lower than full-service brokers.

Discount brokers offer a wide variety of services. They provide 'no-load' mutual funds, at a lower commission (around 0.5%). Most of them offer free mutual fund purchases through some special arrangements. All discount brokers execute stock and option trades. They trade on AMEX, NYSE, or NASDAX. They also offer free 1-page Standard & Poor's Stock reports.

Touch-tone telephone stock quotes, free check-writing privileges, and dividend-reinvestment services are provided 24 hours a day. Some discount brokerage firms provide information on the current price of stock, volume of the day, current dividend and yield as well as earning forecasts free of cost.

To choose a discount broker, one should consider a couple of things. Cost must be the key factor. The fee schedule may vary depending upon the brokerage firm and the quality of shares handled by them. Always read the fine print and look for hidden costs including transaction fee, postage fee, and fees for late payments.

In most cases, discount brokers do not have local branch offices. So it is crucial to check the background and strategy of the discount broker before hiring one. Make sure that the discount broker is properly licensed and experienced. Stock forums and referrals can help the trader find a reliable discount broker.