The Medical Mutual Liability Insurance of Maryland?
If the Med-Mutual does not give you the equivalent protection under the law despite the huge premiun that you pay. Can you file a lawsuit against Med- Mutual for giving bad advices and providing incompetent lawyers to your case?
What does that mean, they don’t give you “equivalent protection under the law”. The protection they GIVE you is outlined in your POLICY CONTRACT. You need to READ THE CONTRACT. You can get sample policy forms, BEFORE you buy the policy.
Are they really giving you ADVICE? I doubt it. Regarding incompetant lawyers – if they have many of them, they’ll lose most of their cases. Just because you don’t like what the lawyer is doing does NOT make them incompetant. Most insurance companies FIRE incompetant lawyers, as they cost them too much money.
Here in the US, you can sue anyone for anything. But you’ll have to pay your lawyer up front. Good luck on that. And remember, there aren’t exactly a ton of insurance companies just dying to write med mal coverage, in ANY state. MOST states have three OR LESS. It’s not exactly a profitable line of coverage – that’s why your PREMIUMS are so high.
In current business arena when every business is leading to globalization, the requirement of having an own website is must for every organization. Having a well designed and maintained website can drastically increase your business and profit. Basically a website is used to describe more about your business to your target users, and thus your website must have every possible ingredient to attract the visitors. Web design is the key component of any website which plays an important role to attract visitors; even it is a real fact that if you have a good web design then the chances of your success got double itself. You can embed from simple images to videos and flash into your web design to make it more and more attractive.
Basically, Web design of any organization’s website based on the business in which they deal, so that their website can reveal more about the business perspectives and goals. You can either go for a premium web design or for economical website design templates. A web design template is a ready to use and easily customizable template which can be customize according to your website layout. If your budget is not too high then economical web templates are the best option for you to build an interactive and eye-catching website. You can find out a wide range of web templates at 22websitedesign.com, which may make your website better than you ever think.
At 22websitedesign.com Web design templates are categorized under website templates, flash templates, flash intro templates, swish templates, and dynamic flash photo gallery template for better understanding the user requirements. Web design of your website might be depend upon your website development technology as there are many website development technology provide their own default web designs. Even if you are using any content management system technology for building your website, there are still a ton of web design templates available for almost every content management system technology.
You don’t have to worry about the professional skills, because these pre-designed ready to use web design templates are quite easy to use for getting a dazzling and remarkable website. So if your budget does not allow you to spend more on expensive website design solutions then 22WebsiteDesign’s ready to use templates is a better opportunity to start the ball rolling of your business in online business world.
About the Author
22 Website Design a website designing company based in India, provides high quality design solutions customized according to your organizational needs. While providing website design Templates, we keep in mind the essential details of your products or services and furnish to your requirements with great efficiency and innovation. Our highly skilled and experienced teams of professionals work with commitment to provide you with website solutions of the highest industry standards.
Customizing your themes/ templates of a website at Imagetogo.net – Part 1
Raptivity Web Expert is a software which helps you quickly create interactivity such as flip book, 3D cube, panning cards and add it conveniently to your web pages. You can leverage the pre-built library of interactions to create interactivity rapidly. Each interactivity can be completely customized without any programming. The interactivity is output to a single Flash file which can be easily emb…
In this book, noted expert Ryan Irelan walks you through creating an online news site, Engine City Times. You’ll get hands-on experience working with dynamic content, categories, an RSS feed, site search, and more as you build your news site. You’ll further improve your ExpressionEngine skills with advanced techniques for creating powerful and manageable templates, effectively managing site files …
A complete guide to understanding and using TypoScript, TYPO3′s powerful configuration language. Powerful control and customization using TypoScript Covers templates, extensions, admin, interface, menus, and database control You don’t need to be an experienced PHP developer to use the power of TypoScript In Detail Free, open-source, flexible, and scalable, TYPO3 is one of the most powerful PH…
If business proposals were judged solely on their weight and volume (rather than content and focus), then most of them would be very successful.
The problem is that, somewhere in sales folklore, there are two fairy-stories about proposals that, most proposal writers appear to believe, will cast the magic ‘buy-this-one’ spell over any prospective customer.
The stories are:
1) Lots of ‘bumph’ is better than too little.
2) The first thing proposal-readers are looking for is information about us.
Driven by an almost universal belief in these stories, the assembly order of most business proposals tends to be as follows:
- Title page - Information about ourselves- how long we’ve been in business etc - Pictures: Our directors (with career backgrounds), Our office/ warehouse - Detailed Information about our services and products - Confirmation of the amount of product/service the customer wants to buy - The Price the customer will have to pay - The Installation and implementation requirements - Terms and Conditions and copy of our contract - Conclusion
The first, horrible truth I have to set before you, in an effort to wean you off this mythical-magic-proposal- template, is written below. It is so fundamental to the whole sales process that I would like you to do this for me right now: (write, print, draw, daub the following words on a very large piece of paper and place it over your desk where you can see it every day:
“NOBODY CARES ABOUT YOU AND YOUR BUSINESS”
The word ‘I’ (alongside its close companion words, ‘We’ ‘Me’ and ‘Our’ ) is the weakest and least persuasive word in the World. And yet it is the commonest word in all business communications. Yes, despite the fact that every bit of research on business-persuasion says that, ‘stuff about you and what you think’, has no positive effect on the selling process, business people still cram their proposals full of it.
If you want to read up on the research and books about why this is not the way to do it, you can start back 75 years ago with Dale Carnegie’s seminal work: “How to Win Friends and Influence People” (still a best seller and still in print) and work through to all of the most recent business books. But they will ALL tell you the same thing: (Apart from your family and close friends) Nobody cares about you….nor what you are…nor what you do….nor what you think. And ‘no’ your business is NOT different. And ‘yes’ this does apply to YOU too.
So, if you kick-off your proposal with a whole lot of guff about you and your business, it will soon have a key position in the pile labelled: “Same As All The Others”.
Not only do the majority of proposal-writers pad out the first few pages of their proposals with stuff about themselves (“Yeah-this is what they want to know…this’ll impress them!”), but they go into tremendous detail about it too. You will find full ‘Bios’ and CV’s of all their key players, smiling head-shot photos, photos of the premises, pictures of warehouses and offices and even photos of the trucks and vans used for delivery.
As the reader ventures further into the proposal, in a vain search for that which he truly seeks, he is next confronted by ‘the product brochure’. This usually consists of a description and/or pictures of the products the customer is interested in, plus – for good measure- all or nearly all the other products and services offered (just in case). This is several pages long and often includes detailed technical specifications.
After that comes the price list and bottom-line quotation for the job in hand. Plus a full description of payment terms and penalties for not paying on time and other ancillary costs.
Finally comes the killer conclusion: “Do not hesitate to call us if you require any further information. We look forward to hearing from you soon.”
OK You’ve got your wish: You’re dead.
So what’s to be done?
Would you like me to show you how your proposal can go in the rare pile marked “Winner.”
OK it’s not difficult…here goes:
First let us remind ourselves about the reason your business exists. It exists, like all businesses, companies and commercial organisations, to solve at least one problem. That’s it!…If you are not clear about the problem your business solves then you probably don’t have a business.
When your customer made contact with you -or responded to an overture from you- the only reason they did it was that they thought you might be able to solve at least one problem for them. What that specific problem is (and there maybe more than one) depends on the type of problem your business is set-up to solve.
So the first thing that needs to appear in your proposal is something about ‘the problem’. Because the first thing your prospective customer will be saying to himself, as he opens the pages, is: “My problem.. where is it?…Was this person listening when I was telling him about all my problems- the ones he might be able to fix?… Does he show, somewhere here, that he understands my problems and the effect they are having on me?”
To satisfy this basic customer need, the first few pages of your proposal must therefore feedback to the customer, in his/her own words if possible, that you were listening and have understood all the problems that your customer wants fixing. There should be nothing ‘problem-solving’ in your early words. It should be a mirror-summary of what the customer said to you.
Immediately following this opening section, start at the top of a new page.
In this next section you will be outlining what, ‘might’… ‘has’… ‘could’ happen if these problems are not fixed. Enlarging on the knock-on effects of not fixing a problem, starts a process of psychological reinforcement which increases the desirability of your service. This is especially powerful if you have previously managed to get the customer to tell you what he thinks could happen if the problem rolls on unchecked. And it is even better if he has revealed how much the problem is costing or might cost him. If he’s told you put it in (but don’t invent anything).
So in these first two sections you have shown the customer that, unlike probably ALL the other proposals on his desk, YOU were listening to what he was saying. This is as rare as a ’90 cent Bill’
Only at this point is the customer sufficiently ‘softened-up’ and therefore open to read about how your service and/or product will be able to address the previously described problems. Having been reminded of his problem he is ready for the solution.
But beware; DO NOT at this stage be tempted to talk too much about what the product ‘is’ or about your company and its background. Rather set out the way and manner in which your product or service will solve the problem. In other words concentrate on the solution (‘the benefits’) rather than the raw-facts (‘the features’)
And DO NOT be tempted into the common trap of adding-in a load of other features and benefits which don’t address the specific problems given to you by the customer. Spurious bits and pieces added in, like sprinkles on a cake, in order to give a proposal substance (and generally pad it out a bit), will usually not have the desired effect.
Far from making a proposal more desirable, research shows that there is a direct correlation between loads of unrequested bits and pieces and the prospective customer complaining about the price!
Yes, sometimes, despite your huge arsenal of products, they only want ONE thing from you…that’s it; and in that case, that’s enough!
So if, for some vague masochistic reason, you want to generate price objections, do add in more un-asked for stuff. If you don’t want them then DON’T.
Having now taken the trouble to pay the customer the compliment of clearly having listened to their problems and shown how you can fix them, he/she will be looking for the price.
So, in the next section (new page) set it out very simply. And always endeavor to have already given them a good idea of what it will be in previous conversations. The proposal should ,whenever possible, NOT be the first time the prospect learns about the price. If there has been no opportunity to do this, you must do everything in your power to deliver the proposal in person and go through it with the customer face to face.
If your proposal is actually a response to a Request for Quote (RFQ) or Request for Proposal (RFP) received from a potential customer out-of-the-blue (no prior face to face discussion possible), then I have to tell you something rather alarming: You are probably very late to the table and the whole deal is more or less sown up with someone else. You are being used!
Invariably another preferred supplier has already quoted. But during the decision making process the boss asked for a few comparative quotes just to cover himself if anyone asked. The problem is that the tender document is based on your competitor’s existing quote (and strengths) so you are, from the outset, fighting a very tough battle.
Most out-of-the-blue requests (with no discussion possible) will result in a massive amount of time wasting and mostly no deal.
Well here you are…the bulk of the important work is now done.
You may, if you wish, now add, towards the back, some brief sections about you, your company and how long you’ve been in business, but DO keep it short. People don’t have time or the interest to wade through loads of stuff…would YOU? And, as a general rule, no pictures of warehouses, factories or trucks…one looks like another. Nobody’s impressed.
It is often good to offer references at this point but only if they have asked for them. Remember that the proposal reader has usually and subconsciously made a decision by now. This is because people (your customers) primarily accept ‘you’ based on the amount of interest you have shown in them.
The final part in the compilation of your ‘Winning Proposal’ should concentrate on telling the customer what he needs to do next. This should be expressed in very positive terms with none of the usual, ‘Please do not hesitate to call me’, stuff which accompanies the majority of business offerings and covering letters. Remember that the human brain can’t hold a negative thought and fails to register the ‘do not’ leaving only the, “Please….hesitate to call me”, as the final message.
Make sure too, that you print and bind your proposal with a decent front title page and a see-through front cover. Do several top-copies too in case your prospect wants to distribute it to her colleagues; much better they all have a top-copy rather than a misaligned, gray copy, of a copy, of a copy. If you can’t do it take it to your local copy-store, on a memory stick, and ask them to do it for you. If you do this DO check that the pages look the same on their P/C and that there are no formatting differences that cause words, titles and sentences to leak across on to the next page.
Now print it on very good quality paper (Not the usual 60-80gm copier-stock). Check for spelling mistakes -especially people’s names- and use a good clear font (NOT ‘Comic Sans’ it makes you look ‘stupid’ not ‘quirky’). And do number the pages and, after the front title page, add a contents page….it makes the document look more professional.
There is nothing more I need to add and it isn’t difficult to do.
- Title page - Contents Page - Problems in need of fixing - Knock-on effects of not fixing - Our Focused Solution - Price - Who we are/experience/background - References - Any other relevant material (keep it short and simple) - What to do next
Following the method outlined above is going to make your proposals more interesting, readable and effective when presented to you customer.
It is also going to differentiate your offering from the many, even if your product looks very much like your competitors. And best of all it will bring you more business. That’s not a fairy story.
My name is Bob Etherington and I can make your customers buy from you. Whether your customers are internal (bosses, colleagues or partners) or external (customers and investors) the rules of human persuasion are universal and you can learn them. Selling is simple it is just not very easy because people insist on making the same fundamental mistakes over and over again. My experience goes back nearly 40 years and my current relationships with the World’s top business and academic institutions mean that you benefit from the latest research into what works and what is fatal in the 21st Century. For selling, public speaking, presenting and negotiating this is where you learn what to do, how to do it and when to do it. Our main objective is to put more confidence into you and more money into your bank account. Judge us by results.
Our websites are www.bobetheringtongroup.com and www.skillsforbusiness.co.uk
Benedix CV, Interview & Application Mastery Programme PART 2 of 3
Blogs have increased popularity over this past months. Many people have started to create their personal blogs to express their thoughts and feelings. Internet companies have also started their blogs to inform consumers on the latest product news and reviews.
Because of this, blogs are also being used as internet marketing media. Before, internet marketing is done by placing banners and links on popular websites, such as news and information sites. Links were also included on newsletters and marketing letters sent to the members of their mailing lists.
Many people spend time reading blogs. People read their friend’s blogs, their favorite author’s blogs, blogs on topics that they are interested in, and blogs on product reviews. With the increasing popularity of blogging, it is even feared that people rely on blogs to get the latest news.
While getting news reports from blogs isn’t reliable, some people look for product reviews through blogs. In some cases, this is more dependable. While it is true that some media persons are being paid to write good reviews about a certain product, blog writers write about their actual experiences on products and services from a company.
Since there are many people who read and start their own blogs, blogs are a good medium to market a product. With the increasing blog traffic means increase in product sales.
Blog traffic can be increased by joining affiliate programs and sites, which will list your blog under a certain search category or name. You can also have your blog advertised in popular websites. This, however, will cost some money and is not advisable if you have just started blogging.
A writer who has just launched his/her blog will want as much traffic as possible to increase advertisements on the site. Also, some advertisers pay every time their link is clicked or the page that has their link is viewed.
When you have increased traffic on your blog, you should try to keep you visitors coming back and recommending your blog to friends and colleagues.
This can be done by having informative or amusing content and good blog layout and design. You may develop your blog’s content or you can also acquire the services of a web content writer to provide you with the blog articles.
The blog’s layout and design also plays a big role. While most of the companies offering free blog hosting offer pre-selected templates, there are also some that allows customization that if you utilize this feature correctly can increase your blog’s traffic.
Here are a few tips to make your blog stand out from the millions of blogs out there that have standard designs.
* Customize the banner
The banner usually has the most generic designs that are common to the blogs from a blogging company or service.
You can personalize this banner by having a graphic with the dimensions of the banner. You can also edit the graphic so that it will also include the title of your blog.
In this case, you can create your own graphic or you can purchase professional looking graphics online for less than $10.
* Personalizing photos
Of course, most of the photos that you will be posting will be your own. However, if you don’t customize the photos before posting them, you may miss maximizing the enhancing benefits graphics can add to the page. Adding photo borders can help the photo stand out from the page.
It can also add to the design of your blog. You can choose a standard border or you can also create your own border which can be associated with your blog’s templates.
* Add a favicon
Don’t you think sites with icons on the address bar before the website’s URL are cool? Many people do. These favicons add a professional look to the URL. These easy to do using photo or graphic editing softwares.
* Check out blog templates, layouts, backgrounds, textures and skins from sites
There are sites that offer free blog templates, layouts, backgrounds, textures and skins. You can make use of these so your blog will not look generic like most of the blogs hosted by the service provider.
* Include RSS feeds
This is a cool way to inform people with newsreaders about your blog headlines. Tutorials on RSS feeds are available on the internet.
* Audio makes your blog more personal
Not only does audio personalizes the blog; it can also keep your visitors coming back. You can try having streaming radio stations, mp3 file or playlists loading with your blog.
* Advertisements
If you have signed-up with Google Ad-Sense, which I am sure you would like to do, make sure that the ads are conveniently placed that these will not hinder your readers’ ease in accessing the information on your blog.
Try using these tips and you can definitely increase and retain traffic on your blog. see my blog: http://www.123computermaster.com/apps/blog
About the Author
Name: Rahul Raj
Education: B.Tech C.S.E
Online Reputation Management Blogging Best Practices- Part 3
THE INS AND OUTS OF BUILDING YOUR OFFICIAL BAND WEBSITE
For an indie musician, having your own official website is the single most important online marketing tool in today’s music industry. While Social Networking sites provide benefits like pre-existing pools of targeted fans to connect with, they are also unreliable. Social Networking Sites have the right to delete your profile for almost any reason they choose under their terms of agreement. For instance if your band name is the same as a major movie they are promoting on their site, they can delete your site. If for instance, they interpret your promotional efforts as spam, if they or other profiles have reason to believer your profile is assumed under a false identity they can delete your site. The thousands of fans and connections you have built can instantly be deleted. In addition, Social networking sites are subject to changing user trends. First Friendster was the place to be, then Myspace, now Facebook and Twitter. However, the best Social Networking Site should be YOUR OWN!
Having your own official website offers a steady and centralized location for your fans to go to. A good tactic is using it in conjunction with the latest Social Networking Sites and the all important Mailing List. You can filter your profiles to your new website and collect their contact information. Having them on the mailing list provides a form of insurance in case any of your sites go down, as well as an aggregate collection of all your fans gathered which you can then create demographic reports from. And by continously filtering them to your official site you acclimate your fans to going there as the defacto source for all information.
There are many different ways to set up your own website.
First, you need to pick a domain name like www.YOURBANDNAME.com Make sure it’s something memorable and intuitive. A shorter name is better because your fan can type less and recall it. Having it be intuitive is important as well. If YOURBANDNAME.COM is taken then another option could be something along the lines of YOURBANDNAMEMUSIC.COM because it will show up in google search for people looking for your music that might type something like: search: “yourband name + music” or you could also go with YOURBANDNAMEOFFICIAL.COM for someone searching for your official site instead of the dozens of others you are associated with and other definitions your band name may take. It’s also good to choose a recognizable extension. Right now .COM is universally known and accepted. But every band is unique. If you live in Germany or if your target demographic is German it might be beneficial to use the .DE extension. If the .COM is taken and you don’t want to add a bunch of extra words to your site name, you could always get the .NET version. Some bands are choosing .TV as their extension of choice because it’s recognizable, forward thinking, and suggests an enriched multimedia experience. Taking the time to choose the right domain name and extension can increase your online visibility especially within search engines. Not to mention it’s a great way to express what your band’s unique style.
So how do I get a domain name?
You can purchase your domain name at Domain Registrars. There are hundreds of registrars out there. And names cost from a range of around $7(for .coms and .nets) – $40 (.tvs) a year. Some offer discounts for multi-year deals or buying it along with other services they offer like hosting and site builders all in one shot. In some cases if the name you want is already taken by someone else they can sell it to you through the registrar or through a domain name aftermarket. But keep in mind some of these people have been sitting on these names in the hopes an end user like you might want them and they often charge a lot of money for it- sometimes in the thousands. Godaddy.com is an excellent place to buy a domain name. They are the most recognizable registrar and offer 24 hour customer service:
Ok, I have a domain name. Now what? How do I get my content up on there?
From here there are many different ways to build a website. Here are some ways in no particular order:
-Hire a Graphic Designer to build you a website. A graphic designer can charge anywhere from a few hundred to thousands of dollars depending on the complexity of the site you want to build. Or if you luck out and know someone they can do it for free! It is important to do your research before hiring a graphic designer. Do they have experience making band websites? Do you like their design style and aesthetic. Do they have working examples and testimonials from clients?
You should be able to articulate what you want on your website as well. Look through other bands websites that you would like to emulate. Do they have flash (moving) graphics, a mailing list form, a music player, a store, a video player, a personal logo, a blog, a live tour schedule, a photo album, fancy backgrounds and headers? Having a list ready should make it easier to get a realistic pricing estimate. You should also have your content ready like your bio, content copy, and have some basic idea of how you want your fans to navigate through your page menu.
Next, you’ll definitely need a hosting account dedicated to your domain name. Your domain name is simply that- a name you bought. It doesn’t come with much else besides the ability to change its server location and where it will be forward to. A hosting account is necessary because allows your domain name to host the files that your graphic designer made for your website. A cheap place for hosting is HOSTAGATOR. Godaddy provides hosting as well. Often times, graphic designers have a deal with a particular hosting company. They may offer you a cheap rate or even offer hosting as part of their services along with domain name registrations too. It’s good to inquire and talk to as many graphic designers as you can before committing. It’s also best to find a graphic designer who will allow you to manage your own website after it’s built through some kind of CMS (Content Management System). This way you don’t have to rely on them for updates and you don’t have to keep paying them. However, they may charge for support after they’ve built your site- when you have further tech questions on updating it yourself. Also make sure you are clear on the terms of your contract. It’s always good to have complete ownership rights and to read the fine print.
If you’d rather take another route you can also go with..
-Online Site Website Builders.
For those of you that want more control over your website, without having to go through a graphic designer and transferring files, Online Website Builders might be a good option. They allow you to choose from different design templates and just upload the content you want through their Content Management System. There are so many builders to choose from like Homestead, Band Vista,Host Baby, Godaddy Website Tonight..etc. Some you can buy in a package along with your domain names and often times hosting is a part of the builder so you don’t have to worry about it.Take a look at the templates and musician related features they offer. See which ones work best for you. The PROS of going with a website builder are: You have control over building your website and you don’t have to pay for a graphic designer. The Cons are: You still pay a monthly fee to use the builder, and you have a set number of templates and customization options to choose from. Some of these builders let you try it out free for a while with option to buy. That may be a good way to see if it’s for you.
If you like the idea of building your own, but want even more customization options then..
-Building on a Software builder like iWeb (for Mac) might be a good way to go. But keep in mind there is a learning curve for going this route. You can find basic guides on how to do this online or at your local bookstore. You will still need a domain name and hosting.
iWeb software program for Mac comes with a bunch of different templates as well but the difference is that you can customize most parts of it or you can build one from a blank page. You can mix and match their pre-existing design elements or make your own shapes. You can even drag and drop your own pics and media you have stored on your computer to incorporate into the content and design framework.
Once you’re ready in the case of iWeb for Mac, you don’t need to know how to do FTP (File Transfer Protocoll). You just type in your hosting destination and password and iWeb will connect and upload for you when you choose to update your site.
iWeb is just one type of software builder. There are so many out there to choose from for both PC and Mac like dreamweaver and frontpage, etc.
If you don’t want to have to buy software but like the control of more dtailed customization you can always:
-Build your website on an online blog platform. A lot of people are now choosing to build their websites on WordPress.com from novices all the way to professional graphic designers. You can build on here and point your domain name or servers to these as well. WordPress is not limited certain styles and themes. You have the ability to change the code and even build a website generally “from scratch” but within the framework of the blog. Again there is a bit of a learning curve involved. If you don’t want to do that, there’s a huge amount of free WordPress Template codes to choose from online that you would just install. There’s a large community of people online you can hire at affordable rates (sometimes as low as $25-$50) who are dedicated to building custom wordpress sites or altering a template you have chosen. This could be a cheaper alternative to hiring a graphic designer.
Lastly Tumblr.com is a newer blog platform that more and more musicians and artists have been using as of late. You can work with html codes and choose templates in a similar fashion to wordpress but the difference is that it’s easier to use, looks a lot cleaner and sleeker, but most importantly it’s beter equipped to handle web 2.0 applications and. You can seamlessly integrate video, links, social bookmarks, audio, photos, and even upload your content from mobile devices!
Conclusion: As you’ve read, you have so many options for building a great looking official band website on any skill level and budget! Take complete control of your online presence today and share your music with new fans from around the world!
