The LuxMob Info Tags

This is a question that has been asked of me and a thousand (million?) other herp keepers. I think it’s almost a case of once bitten, twice as determined. But seriously, it is something I have pondered but not really found an adequate answer for. They are not cute and cuddly. They bite (when young), they feel cold (not really) and they have funny eyes. And scales.

As a little tacker I was always into animals – frogs, lizards, tadpoles, butterflies, beetles, spiders – you name it, I went looking for it.

I don’t think I ever got over it. It’s hard to explain to people who do not have a fascination with animals, what the attraction is. It’s just there. I think most people actually have it but for a variety of reasons they do not act upon it or ignore it.

Snakes are particularly intriguing. The way they move, the way the eat, the way their metabolism is so brilliantly attuned to the particular environment they inhabit, their ancestry, the development of venoms so potent that that can kill in minutes, all of these things interest me and make me want to know more about them.

There is some part of you that has to overcome a natural fear in the first instance to want to own and keep a reptile. For some reason, I’m not sure if it’s instinct, we fear snakes and many reptiles. Witness a small child when you show them a snake. They instantly recoil. It’s only when you show them that they have nothing to fear that they can then ‘pet’ the snake and overcome their own fears (well, as long as it’s not venomous).

Where I live, every snake is venomous. There is no such thing as a snake that is not dangerous. Copperheads, red-bellied black snakes, mainland tiger snakes and eastern brown snakes all inhabit my local area, so it’s understandable that people fear them. We have no pythons or non-venomous snakes in my area. Just the other day one of the painters doing my house remarked to me that he nearly leapt out of his skin when he saw what looked to be a snake in the grass near where he was painting. It turns out it was a blue tongued lizard, but nonetheless, his fear was well grounded. Living in the area makes you wary of snakes.

I think this is somewhat unfortunate. Snakes are more scared of you. How big you must appear to a snake. Standing still when you see one will prevent an attack. They only attack when threatened. Slowly backing off is also a good thing to do.

So why keep them? I think it is a duality of fear and fascination. And the trouble is that once you have one, you want two, and then three etc. If you have them, you know the feeling.

Another aspect is the actual act of managing to keep an animal that is not naturally suited or normally kept as a pet in an artificial environment. Learning about its needs, how to maintain optimal health, how to breed it, how to ‘tame’ it and how to enjoy it for what it is. These are challenges that herp keeping offers that few other pets do.

Mark Chapple is the Author of “How to build enclosures for reptiles”
Find out how to build snake and other reptile cages as well as arboreal cages. Full color pictures, detailed diagrams and easy to follow, step-by-step instructions.

http://www.reptile-cage-plans.com

There are 3 easy proven steps to get website traffic. Free or paid.

1. PPC (paid-per-click) advertisement on major search engine such as Google and Yahoo. I prefer Google because it is easy and less expensive. You can bid for an ad for just $0.03. All you need is to find a good keyword related to your website. Just imagine, you can get 1000 quick visitors just paying for $30. But make sure you can generate traffic more than that.

2. Involve in forum discussion. Place your website URL at the bottom of your message or as your signature. Make sure the forum get heavy traffic and the topic that you are posting in is viewed by lots of people. But don’t spam. Write a related question or answer or suggestion to the discussion. People hate spam and spammers.

3. SEO (Search Engine Optimization). This is the best continous traffic you can have. But you need to work extra miles to achieve this. But there are still tips on doing this bit easier. What you can do is.

- Write an article and post it on free article directory such as goarticles.com, ezinearticles.com, articlecity.com because those article directory is visited by people and also search engine crawler quite frequently.

- Write more contents on your website. This will improve your chance to get listed on search engine first page.

- Make sure your page file name and title includes your keyword. If you observe when you search on search engine. The keyword usually is bold in title (page title) and file name/domain name. If your keyword is “web hosting business”. Then you have a choice

Good name: http://www.web-hosting-guide.com/web-hosting-business.htm

Not so good: http://whateverdomain.com/article1.htm or http://whateverdomain.com/content.php?cat=3&id=22

The most important thing is to start implementing it. You never know the result until you start doing it.

Ahmad Azwan is an IT consultant and an internet marketer. Has been doing good jobs in giving advice for small business to make their online existance a success. More resources on getting traffic at http://www.ez-steps.com/seo

So you’ve worked hard in creating your website, regularly adding content to it, and building links and increasing search engine placements. The next step, that many overlook, is to capture your visitors by using an autoresponder.

Here’s a scenario for you to consider. A visitor finds your site through one of the many ways that you have been carrying out to generate traffic, and finds just what they are looking for and is about to make a purchase. They are distracted while at their computer and leave the site.

Although the example above is hypothetical, the reality is that visitors may leave your site for a number of reasons without you making the most of your opportunity. That is unless you are using an autoresponder.

Capturing the email address of this visitor would have allowed you to contact them at a later date to potentially make the sale that you originally missed out on. Autoresponders are remarkable, flexible programs that do much more than just automatically answer your emails. I’ll outline below a number of ideas that you can use to creatively and productively use your autoresponder to transform the casual visitor into a profitable customer.

1) Publish a newsletter.

High quality autoresponders will manage subscriptions and follow-up with those interested prospects that have signed up. This allows you to keep your autoresponder list updated about your products or services, and also build your reputation as an expert in your chosen business area.

2) Contact affiliates.

If you have an affiliate program you can easily contact your affiliates to inform them of any offers you may be running, or to provide them with promotional material that they can use to increase their commissions and your sales. You could provide any tips and advice that you feel would benefit your affiliates.

3) Promote advertising opportunities.

You may provide, or plan on providing advertising on your website, ezine or newsletter. You could setup your autoresponder to send out information about the cost of advertising, and how to find out more information. Of course you could also notify your list of any advertising discounts or offers that you may have.

4) Write reviews.

Write reviews on products and services that you found to be useful. Send this review out with your autoresponder along with your affiliate link to the product.

5) Provide email courses.

Provide valuable information in the form of email courses. These can be setup to send out each lesson at certain intervals. It is important not to solely provide a sales pitch but to provide quality content. You can then provide a paragraph at the end of the email course to entice the prospect to make a purchase of your product.

6) Distribute free reports.

Give your visitors a taste of the information that you provide, and the quality of your product and service. Again, do not make these out to be sales letters, or you stand to lose customers instead of gain.

7) Product tasters.

Provide your prospects samples of your product, whether it be an ebook, software, course, membership, etc. You can capture email addresses from your website this way, and follow-up to make the complete sale.

Provide hidden links to pages.

In exchange for a visitors email address, you could provide a link to an affiliate page containing promotional material. You can then gather a list of visitors that are interested in becoming your affiliates.

9) Order page autoresponder.

Provide a form on your order pages that allows visitors to be kept notified of special offers or discounts. This offers a great opportunity to create a mailing list that contains the names of people who are already your customers, and who are interested in any future products.

10) Distribute articles.

Allow visitors to sign up to your autoresponder in order to receive articles. There are many ezine publishers and webmasters looking for content, and this allows you to provide this content whilst including your bio and description of your service or product in a resource box.

Here I’ve provided ten examples of how autoresponders can be used creatively, but there are many more. Autoresponders are valuable to all internet marketers, and you should seriously consider using one if you do not already.

http://www.autoresponderinfo.info is our recommended resource for a wealth of autoresponder information. Take a look at the site and find out how autoresponders can improve your internet marketing efforts. For useful content from hundreds of topics, check out http://www.articleblotter.com.

Microsoft has used this online sales secret to become a
giant, and the greatest software company in the world.

How about you?

What are you waiting for?

The secret is bundling your products.

An effective way to increase your profits and sales is
to bundle many products or services together into one
package. This gives people more reasons to buy your
products and services.

People also have come to believe package deals are a
better value. You want all the products or services to
be closely related.

For example: if you’re selling a computer you could add in
software, hardware, computer furniture, etc.

There are many ways to go about choosing the right
products or services to bundle into one package.

You could survey your customers and see what products
or services they would like you to offer in the future.
Spy on your competition and see what products and
services they’re offering or not offering.

If you would like to, bundle unrelated products or
services together, ask your customers which ones would
be of interest to them.

Bundling can also increase your target markets which
in return would give you a larger audience to sell your
products and services.

For example: if you’re selling a baseball magazine you
could add a free baseball when someone buys a subscription.

You’re now targeting people who want the baseball
magazine and those that want to play baseball out in
the yard.

Some people buy a package deal just to get one of
the products.

There are many sources where you can find products
and services to create a package deal.

You can buy them from wholesalers or drop shippers.

You can buy the reproduction/resell rights to other
people’s products.

Team-up with your competition to create
a package deal.

You could joint venture or cross promotion deal with
other businesses.

You could also create your own products and services.

Be creative!

May you succeed in your online sales and make a lot
of money.

Warmly,

I-key Benney, CEO

I-key, a Millionaire CEO from New York City is the creator of “Mscsrrr: Millionaire Secret Cash System”, (internet income) program, which has helped thousands of ordinary people from all over the world to attain financial security and shining success during the past 2 yrs.

Mscsrrr Millionaire Cash System helps you to generate $1,500+/Week for life, from home or office, part time or full time. No large investment or hassles. Win $1000-$2000 free “cash”…

Catalogs are great marketing tools, especially for retail shops. If you run a retail business of any kind you should consider marketing your products with a print and an online catalog.

The U.S. Postal Service conducted a study and found that one of the biggest factors to generating online customer orders is a print catalog. According to the study, consumers who receive a print catalog in the mail enter into 15% more online transactions than consumers who don’t and also spend 16% more money.

The Direct Marketing Association says the typical catalog shopper is a married woman in her early 50’s living in the suburbs, employed earning about $53,000 and her husband is also employed.

Fifty-seven percent of catalog shoppers purchase apparel, 51% purchase gifts, 48% purchase books, music and videos, 31% purchase home furnishings, and 27% purchase home electronics. Other high percentage categories of catalog purchasers include sporting goods, travel services, sports and entertainment tickets, flowers, gardening supplies, pet supplies and food.

A simple conclusion can be deducted from these figures: If you own a retail store of any kind, you could increase your sales by targeting your customers with a print catalog. But not just any customer.

The best customer to target with a print catalog is your existing customer - the customer who shops at your store on a regular basis. If you don’t have a web site, you are behind in satisfying the needs of these customers already. Add a web site and send a print catalog to drive your existing customers online, making it more convenient for them to buy your products (which they are already spending money on), then you focus the rest of your marketing efforts on gaining new customers. This strategy can increase your profits while cutting your costs so you win on both ends of the profit-cost equation.

And you don’t have to spend a lot of money on a catalog. A small catalog that is attractive and used effectively can be produced for about $2 per catalog. And you don’t even have to mail it. Give one to your best customers the next time they visit your store and tell them to visit your web site. You’ll be surprised at how quickly they convert to online shoppers, saving themselves time and, in many cases, spending more money.

A magalog is similar to a catalog and can be even more effective, even making you money on its production. Some retail businesses can benefit tremendously from this high-powered and effective marketing tool.

It is much like a catalog except that it also includes some editorial copy, like a magazine, and some advertising from noncompeting companies.

For instance, let’s say you own a bookstore. Each month you could produce a magalog that you send to your best customers. You could include book reviews, columns of prominent book publishers who discuss upcoming titles and a list of best sellers. You want to include copy that your customers will find valuable. But you can also sell advertising to businesses that compliment yours. For instance, you could partner with the video store down the street and sell them an ad to promote their business while helping defray some of the costs of publishing your magalog. If you sell enough advertising to noncompeting, complimentary businesses then you could have your entire magalog paid for before you print it; then you only reap the results of your sales.

If you own a retail store, you should seriously consider using a catalog or magalog to market your products.

The world is full of people who’re afraid of reaching for their dreams in case they’re disappointed.

A lot of parents teach their children to be modest in their expectations. It’s understandable for them not to want their sons and daughters to be hurt, so they teach them to have “reasonable” ambitions — to aim for the things they know are well within their capabilities. That way, they’ll avoid the pain of failure, or the embarrassment of having other people know they’ve failed.

The trouble is, a “reasonable” ambition dooms you to a life of mediocrity.

Just getting by is not abundant living. Doing a job you don’t enjoy, solely because it pays the bills and is considered socially acceptable, is not a definition of success or happiness.

Suppressing your real ambitions, talents, dreams and wishes is a recipe for unendurable frustration — and over time the pain of that frustration will get worse, not better.

Your particular mixture of interests, talents, dreams and inspirations is unique. It’s not appeared before in human history, and it won’t again.

That means that you (however unlikely it might seem right now!) can achieve something no-one else has ever done before you — and if you don’t go for it, no-one else can.

It might be years, or even centuries, before someone takes another route to make the same discoveries, to write the books, to sing the songs or sell the products that it lies within your power to achieve — and till that happens, the whole world must do without them. What’s so very “reasonable” about that?

If this sounds far-fetched, think of Thomas Edison. Born in 1847, this was a man who in all his life had only three months’ formal education, but he planned to make a light-bulb that could offer bright, safe light in people’s houses. Most people laughed at him. After all, it wasn’t “reasonable”.

At first he couldn’t do it, but he wouldn’t give up. He couldn’t, because he had a big, ambitious dream that went a long way further yet.

Once people had electric lighting in their houses, they’d need power — and once they had the power, they could use it, too, for other things, like heating, cooking, cleaning… even entertainment. Once he had his light-bulb, he could change the world.

It’s said he tried 10,000 times to make a light-bulb. When someone asked him how he felt about his many failures he replied, “I haven’t failed. I’ve ruled out ways that don’t work, that’s all. Each try brings me closer to the one that will.”

Eventually, he was rewarded — and with his light-bulb in production, set to work on even more ambitious dreams. Just a couple of his successes led to the beginning of the record industry and cinema.

Edison was granted over 1,000 patents — more than anyone in history. To this day that record’s not been broken. He formed a company to develop his inventions, and became one of the richest men in America.

What’s important’s not just that he achieved the seemingly impossible, or even that he persevered despite 10,000 disappointments. What matters most is how he did it.

He had ambitious dreams that totally inspired him. They energized him. The knowledge of the benefits that he could bring the world, as well as to himself, fuelled his commitment even when the road was hard. He wasn’t “reasonable”.

If you want to reach your goals, it pays to be creatively unreasonable.

Choose a dream that totally inspires you, one you can enjoy however hard the going gets.

Write down exactly what you’re aiming to achieve, and how it can help others (the way to get the things you want’s to make sure other people get what they want, first — that’s the only way they’re going to pay you for your efforts).

Now list the steps you need to take to make that happen. Spend some time working on those tasks each day (you don’t need give your job up till you can afford to!), and watch the magic start to happen.

Above all, keep your outlook absolutely positive. Learn from your mistakes and adjust your plans accordingly, but remember the 10,000 light-bulbs and keep going.

See yourself always as on your way to great success. Thomas Edison succeeded — so can you.

The way to be quite certain that you’ll fail is not to try.
Shoot for the moon — for even if you miss, you’ll reach the stars.

Aislinn O’Connor is a motivational writer and personal development consultant. You can read more of her articles at http://www.Access-Your-Peak-Performance-zone.com.

As eCommerce purchasing trends have matured over the last four years, it has become abundantly clear that consumers leverage multiple channels when making a purchase decision. To meet continuously rising consumer expectations, retailers of all shapes and sizes need to understand and embrace the power of delivering a consistent and integrated multi-channel experience. Any retailer that utilizes more than one channel to sell merchandise - be it a catalog, brick and mortar store, or eCommerce store, can gain tremendous business benefits by effectively executing multi-channel initiatives.

In a nutshell, the term “multi-channel” is primarily used within two concepts in retail:

• Multi-Channel Marketing

• Multi-Channel Integration

This article is meant to be an introduction to the overall topic, with a focus this month on multi-channel marketing. Next month, I will follow with content related to multi-channel integration and how it can also be leveraged.

Multi-Channel Marketing

Multi-channel marketing is the tactic of reinforcing your brand messaging by utilizing multiple sales channels to communicate with customers. It’s been proven in numerous studies that when retailers facilitate the behavior of consumers to shop via multiple channels, they become more valuable from the standpoint of lifetime value. Look what JC Penney discovered when they starting testing and measuring multi-channel behavior a few years back.

• The company found that internet only shoppers spent $121 per year, retail only spent $194 per year, catalog only spent $242 per year, and a customer who shopped all three spent over $1000 per year (source: ebusinessiq.com)

• “We want to go out and aggressively introduce J.C. Penney.com to our catalog and retail customers and get them to shop online because we know it is going to increase their purchases across all channels” (JC Penney eCommerce Executive)

Why do these incremental gains happen? It’s not always an easy question to answer, but in my opinion, it is primarily because the consumer now has the capability to purchase in the channel which best suits their needs (ie. most convenient), while still receiving messaging from the other complimentary channels. A real life look makes it more simplistic.

Let’s take for example that you are a high-end electronics retailer. You operate 12 physical stores, send out a catalog four times a year, and operate an eCommerce store. The key to multi-channel success is to leverage the strengths of each sales channel by coordinating messages and driving customers to all three sales outlets. Each of the channels is different – and your multi-channel strategy should capitalize on the strengths of each channel to best represent your brand.

The catalog serves as a great tool for browsing but is not the most effective when it comes to comparing products. Its tangible nature makes it readily available for shopping (judged by the number of catalogs my wife has on our dining room table), but its space constraints within the pages make it limited from a product information standpoint.

Retailers should leverage the catalog to create initial interest, but encourage shoppers to go to the web to learn more and ultimately purchase. One standard tactic to achieve this is by heavily promoting the URL within every page and by providing unique “catalog quick shop” numbers for each product. A retailer can also message the customer about “web only” specials, or closeout products that are not available in the catalog, but are only available from the website.

When a consumer then comes to the website and types the provided product number in the “catalog quick search” box, a retailer then has the option to either send the visitor directly to the product page, or send directly to the shopping cart with the product pre-populated in the cart. Both options have their pros and cons – with the latter option being a more direct and aggressive approach to convert a visitor by reducing the number of clicks to purchase.

The potential negative consequence about sending traffic directly to the shopping cart from the catalog quick search is that consumers may still be in “shopping” mode and may be turned off to such a direct approach of merchandising. Monitor your analytics to see which path is more effective from a conversion perspective.

A plethora of other tactics can be leveraged by retail businesses in an effort to promote cross channel purchasing behavior. Retailers can have catalog sign up forms within their online store to allow site visitors to receive their catalog via standard mail. Email marketing campaigns can message in-store promotions that are in the vicinity of the user’s physical address and include coupons or discounts that can be printed and brought to the store for redemption. In-store associates that utilize a web-based POS should ask each and every person who purchases for their email address so that they can receive “member benefits” sent via email. Online versions of the catalogs and circulars should be live on the eCommerce store and can be tailored to a visitor location. All of these tactics increase the level of customer interaction with the brand and are extremely valuable in driving repeat purchase behavior.

Craig Smith is the founder of Trinity Insight LLC (http://www.trinityinsight.com) a consultancy that helps online retailers better execute eCommerce strategies

Set against the backdrop of sparse mountains and the region’s distinctive red earth, Alcala la Real offers a unique opportunity to enjoy traditional Spanish life and culture

Alcala la Real and its surrounding villages are located in the province of Jaen, a sweeping landscape of green vines that stretch as far as the eye can see. Part of the Andalucia region, Jaen borders the provinces of Granada, Cordoba and Ciudad Real. It has a blend of Moorish and Renaissance culture, with many historical sights, such as the baths in Jaen city and the palaces of Baeza and Ubeda.

Jaen produces ten per cent of the world’s olive oil, and it is said that there are over 150 million olive trees here, scattered around a number of whitewashed villages and traditional townhouses. For those seeking striking scenery, a traditional lifestyle and bargain prices, this is the place to be.

Why buy there?

Alcala la Real is the province’s main property hotspot. Boasting a population of just over 21,000, there are plenty of amenities, such as schools, restaurants, bars, doctors and swimming pools. The scenery is striking, with La Mote castle overlooking the cobbled streets, and views stretching away over the olive groves to the Sierra Nevada. The locals are extremely friendly and life here is as traditionally Spanish as it gets. There’s also a significant cultural presence. The El Llanillo district, which surrounds the town hall, is noted for its historic buildings, such as the convent, which dates back to 1639.

Given the relatively isolated location of Alcala la Real, which is situated 25 minutes drive away from Granada, the cost of living is much lower. Crime rates are low, there is a good education system with small class sizes and an excellent healthcare service. The lifestyle is healthy and generally al fresco and the province is dotted with cherry groves, natural parks and mountains.

Only 90 minutes from Malaga and 40 minutes from Granada airport, it is possible to travel here for a long weekend in the sun. There are also a number of areas of interest close at hand: Granada, Alhambra Palace, the ski slopes in Sierra Nevada, Cordoba and Jaen, as well as the natural parks, such as Parque Natural de Cazorla, with its woodlands and lakes. Distant from the lager louts and Costa del Fish and Chips phenomenon, this is a peaceful and rural region, untouched by foreign cultures.

Where to buy

It’s not just the town of Alcala la Real that offers fantastic prices. Many agents are also recommending villages within a 30 kilometre radius. Some of these have experienced price appreciation of up to 60 per cent in recent months, and demand has recently intensified.

The town of Alcaudete is built on a series of springs, situated on a hill around the 13th century castle. Surrounded by two natural reservoirs, the village offers bargain prices, with a four bedroom townhouse going for as little as 40,000 Euros.

The village of Frailes, only ten minutes from Alcala la Real, is built around the church of Santa Lucia and has been the site for a number of important archaeological finds. Home to only 1,800 people, property here can cost from as little as 26,000 Euros for a ruined two bedroom townhouse.

Castillo de Locubin is a pretty whitewashed village, located in the foothills of the Sierra Sur. With a Moorish castle and 16th century church, the village is famed for its locally produced pottery and cherry fair. With only 5,000 inhabitants, three restaurants and a few bars, a one bedroom apartment can be purchased from 90,000 Euros.

Other areas include Moclin in neighbouring Granada, famous for its castle, where a country house can be purchased for 160,000 Euros; Puerto Lopez, where you can buy a townhouse with two bedrooms and a garden for somewhere between 100,000 Euros and 160,000 Euros; and Bobadillo, where a townhouse can cost under 100,000 Euros.

The property market

The Jaen region offers property prices 65 per cent below the national average, at 123,981 Euros, and is the only Spanish region to offer consistently low prices. Compared with much of Spain, which has experienced price hikes of up to 17 per cent, Jaen property prices have stayed remarkably stable.

In relation to prices on the coast, this area sees property retailing at a mere 30 per cent of the average selling price on the Northern coast and the Costas. Around the Alcala la Real area, some villages have experienced price hikes of up to 56 per cent over the last eight months; in Alcala la Real the average has been 12 per cent.

With an increasing number of budget flights into Granada, this trend is set to continue as the area is discovered. Agents report that they are selling an average of two properties here a week. Property prices range from 17,000 Euros to 300,000 Euros, and on average, 100,000 Euros will secure you a townhouse with four bedrooms, a garden and a garage.

Typical properties

The hilltop towns have steep streets flanked by whitewashed houses, offering a mixture of historic architecture and small apartment blocks. Generally, you’ll be looking at resale homes to renovate in this area, with very few newly built properties cropping up. Property tends to fall into two distinct groups, terraced village houses, which boast a patio or roof terrace, or country properties, which are sold with land. There are also a number of apartments available in Alcala la Real and the nearby villages.

The rentals market

Andalucia attracts Spain’s largest number of tourists, receiving 14 per cent of the country’s 50 million foreign visitors every year. Jaen itself isn’t recognised as a popular rentals market, especially as it borders the region of Granada, where there are a number of popular resorts.

However, the area’s rural tourism market is up and coming, and Andalucia accounts for 7 per cent of this market, with 14,080 visitors every year, an increase of 7.2 per cent on 2004. Combine this with increased flights into Granada from Liverpool, Stansted and Gatwick, and with more flights planned, tourist numbers are guaranteed to rise.

People’s perceptions are also changing. Many no longer want to be crammed onto a beach with thousands of other Brits, especially since Jaen offers easy access to ski resorts and outdoor pursuits such as walking, cycling and birdwatching.

The Sierra Nevada is only a 90 minute drive away, and the low investment outlay for purchasing in the area makes setting up a tourist based industry here a shrewd move. There is also a significant increase in people holidaying in the region of Jaen and in Alcala la Real. Many are locals or city dwellers from Madrid seeking a rural holiday.

Living here

Agents in the area say they are mostly selling to permanent relocators, the majority being couples in their 30s and retirees. However, there has been a trend for families seeking a home in Jaen, with parents seeking to bring their children up in a safer and healthier environment.

As mentioned, this is traditionally a Spanish destination, and Jaen has Andalucia’s lowest number of British residents, with approximatley 200 times more foreign residents in the nearby Malaga province. However, there has been an increasing number of British buyers interested in the Alcala la Real area.

As with many places, there are downsides to living here. Many properties will need some work to bring them up to date, which is an important consideration if you’re seeking to let your property out. There are also very few English speakers in the region, so it’s important you get a grip on basic Spanish and make an effort to integrate. It’s also impossible to find English products in the shops, so you need to be prepared to adopt a Spanish diet and learn how to cook Spanish style! Of course, locals claim that you can buy anything at the weekly market.

Some of the villages can also feel remote, especially during the winter months when the weather is very cold. Finally, you’re 90 minutes from the coast, which can be a drawback for those who are keen on Spain’s beach culture.

Of course, there are many positives to living here. The region offers a traditional lifestyle, coupled with low property prices and low cost of living. There’s also an excellent infrastructure and daily budget flights, making it easily accessible. It’s easy to see why an increasing number of British buyers are being seduced by the traditional appeal of inland Spain.

Valerie and George Whincup retired to Alcaudete from Liverpool, paying 54,000 Euros for a five bedroom family house in June of this year. They decided to buy in Alcaudete as they had spent over a year looking to buy on the coast of the Granada region, but they had problems finding anything within their budget, prices having inflated rapidly over the last couple of years. They’re now busy getting a swimming pool fitted in their spacious garden. Valerie says: “I’m totally happy with the house and the locals have been fantastic.” Valerie and George are quickly adapting to village life and both feel very settled in the area.

Jaen statistics
Unemployment rate 19%
Population 654,458
Population density 48.01/km2
Area 13,484 km2
GDP per capital 12,892 Euros 14.2%
Number of foreigners 602 (registered)
Average house price 123,981 Euros

Martin Dell is Managing Director of Kyero Media S.L. - publisher of the largest English-language property portal in Spain, http://www.kyero.com

Title: WHY DOES GOD PERMIT WICKEDNESS & SUFFERING ? (Part 2)

Author: Arthur Zulu Contact Author: mailto:
controversialwriter@yahoo.com Copyright: Copyright © Arthur Zulu
2002 Word Count: 600 words Web Address:
http://www.1stbooks.com/bookview/10975

Publishing Guidelines: Permission is granted to publish this
article electronically or in print as long as the bylines are
included. A courtesy copy of your publication would be
appreciated.

WHY DOES GOD PERMIT WICKEDNESS & SUFFERING ? (Part 2)

By Arthur Zulu

Wickedness has a long history. As old as the history of man on
this planet — 6,000 years.

So, in a sense there is nothing happening now that has not
happened before. Long before the Twin Towers collapsed, long
before the war on terrorists, and long before the Israelis and
the Palestinians began to send each other to untimely graves,
the history of man right from Bible times has been a tale of
misery and woes.

Consider our first parents, Adam and Eve. Their suffering knew
no bounds. Adam was to till and plough the ground before he
could eat. (0nly God knows how he made his farm implements). And
Eve was to suffer terrible pains during child birth. That was
not enough. They would have to die!

Murder also was present in the beginning. Cain killed his
brother Abel. His offence? God accepted his sacrifice. David,
the King murdered Uriah and took his only beautiful wife,
Bathsheba. And this, despite all the many wives of David! Add to
this the killing of Christian martyrs like Stephen, and God’s
prophets to make the homicide scenes complete.

Also violence is not new. Nimrod the great hunter was a violent
man who opposed God. He even initiated the construction of a
mighty tower in Babel. And then came the Nephilims. These were
violent giant offsprings resulting from the marriage between
angels from heaven and beautiful women on earth. In fact
wickedness was so rife in those days that God regretted making
man in the first place.

What of rape? When you hear about a serial rapist, that one may
be borrowing a leaf from Lot’s daughters. These beautiful girls
had their father, Lot, drunk with wine, raped him and had
children for him (what a shame!) And beautiful easy-going Dinah,
too, was raped by Schechem. And her brothers went on a killing
spree!

Even oppression and injustice are not new. The Egyptians made
the Israelites slaves in the land of Egypt. They were makers of
bricks and builders of cities. And in order to suppress the
Israeli population, their male children were killed at child
birth! Naboth, a property owner in Israel also experienced
oppression and injustice when King Ahab and his wicked wife,
Jezebel had him killed, and seized his vineyard.

What about hatred? Is it a new phenomenon? No. Two fleshly
brothers, Esau and Jacob hated each other to death. And do you
know the origin of the hatred? Jacob buying Esau’s first born
birthright with a pot of porridge. Ridiculous? Maybe.

Further down in this list, Joseph’s brothers hated him, sold him
into slavery, and was taken to Egypt because of jealousy. King
Saul hated David to death because he got more praises for war
victories. And Haman plotted the extermination of the Jewish
race in Persia during the reign of Ahaseurus. Why? Because
Mordecai, the Jew refused to bow down to him.

Even war as one historian said, has been “a constant in history”
. God himself destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha. The Israelites
fought many wars against the inhabitants of Canaan and occupied
their lands under God’s direction. Even God allowed the nation
of Israel to be later destroyed by Babylon, and Babylon itself
was later destroyed by the Persians. Again, when the church Holy
Fathers abuse children, newsmen go to town. But do you know that
the sons of high priest Eli — Holpni and Phinehas, who also
were officiating priests, were having sexual intercourse with
women right before the temple? The Israeli men abused,
maltreated and divorced their wives on flimsy excuses in Bible
times. Even some burnt their children in sacrifice to idols,
while others killed and ate theirs!

What is more? Of course the list is endless: Delilah betrayed
Samson, her husband to the Philistines; Achan stole dedicated
spoils of war in Jericho; the sons of Korah rebelled against the
leadership of Moses; the Gibeonites tricked the Israelites, and
Ananias the thief and Peter the Apostle, lied.

Now God has permitted and is still allowing these bad things to
happen in our time. Why does he permit it? But before we answer
that question, let us first find out if God exists. (To be
continued)

Copyright © 2002, all rights reserved

House insurance is among the most important insurances you can
get - and in the case of buildings insurance, most mortgage
lenders make it compulsory. This is because your home is your
biggest asset and if you lose it because of fire, flood or
another disaster and you have a mortgage outstanding on it,
there may be nothing tangible to repay back your mortgage with.

There are two types of household insurance - buildings and
contents. These can also be purchased as individual plans or
combined. If you buy the insurance combined (ie from one
insurer) they you tend to get an overall discount.

Buildings insurance gives your property (and it’s fixtures and
fittings which are permanent fixtures such as fitted kitchen or
built in wardrobes) financial protection in the event of damage.
Unless your mortgage provider insists you have cover, this
insurance is still strongly recommended as it protects probably
your most major asset.

Contents insurance - while not compulsory - is just as important
as buildings cover. Again, it offers protection against fire,
damage, loss etc. and will cover most of your possessions in the
home from baby clothes to DVDs to audio equipment to valuables
(up to a set limit which your insurer will define).

If you have something particularly valuable (such as an
expensive watch) - or something you take outside the home and
that is more liable to damage or theft (eg a bicycle or a
laptop) contact your insurer to see if you need to upgrade your
policy. This should only mean a small increase in your house
insurance premium and will give you the peace of mind that the
item is covered.

As with all insurance products, when looking for house
insurance, do shop around for the most competitive premium.
Online insurance brokers, where you enter your details and
requirements just once and the search engines goes off and finds
the best deals for you, are free and easy to use and give you a
good idea as to how much you should be paying.

As with all product comparisons, when it comes to house
insurance, do compare premiums on a like for like basis to
ensure you get the level of cover you need.