Author Archive for Terry Stanfield

Prepare for the Unthinkable With Long Term Care Insurance

Published
by
Terry Stanfield
on November 13, 2008
in Health & Fitness
. 0 Comments
by Terry Stanfield

It would be a wonderful world if nothing changed and everything remained the same. We would not age, die or need medical care in any way. However, the sad truth is that the world is a dynamic and ever-changing place, where nothing remains the same. We may hope that things will remain the same, but they never will, and it is up to us to prepare ourselves for the possible future outcomes that can be difficult to envision. One such way to prepare is through the purchase of long-term care insurance, which can be your best bet for a financially stable life when long-term care becomes an issue for yourself, or a loved one.

Long-term care can happen to anyone, either through old age or an accident. Few would have ever thought that the man who played Superman in four movies would ever need long-term care. He was an excellent example of a fit and healthy human being, but at the age of only 42 he fell off of a horse and was paralyzed from the neck down. For the next nine years he required long-term care. So, you see, the unthinkable can happen to anyone, at anytime, anywhere.

With long-term care insurance, you are preparing for the unthinkable by taking your own future in your hands and ensuring your financial stability, as well as the financial stability of those around you. Studies have shown that long-term care costs for individuals are often paid by immediate family. So, when you fail to plan for the future with long-term care insurance, you are not only jeopardizing your own financial stability, but that of your family.

Long-term care insurance is the best option an individual has for planning their future. The future may be one of vacationing, traveling and enjoying life in retirement, or it may be one of long-term care due to problems relating to health and disabilities. Either way, there is no harm to preparing for long-term care scenarios should they happen. When you buy a sports car, you are not planning on crashing it, but you get insurance nonetheless. You are not planning on being sick in your old age, but it can happen so you should prepare for it with long-term care insurance.

Conclusion Long-term care is a sad reality of growing old. As we get older, the need for long-term care becomes greater and greater, eventually encompassing our entire lives. In this scenario, you want to make sure yourself, and your children, will not be financially burdened by your long-term care needs. With long-term care insurance, those financial needs are taken care of, leaving your children, and yourself, financially secure through some difficult times. Don’t leave anything to chance. Take the steps to make your long-term future secure in the case of long-term care needs. Long-term care insurance is your best defense against a destitute and financially-trying retirement. Chance favors the prepared, so don’t leave long-term care to chance. The small price is well worth the huge benefits it can reap.

You should just ask for help from an insurance representative who specializes in long term care insurance to answer any questions.

About the Author:
Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance Quote, ask questions and request a long term care insurance. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options. Get a totally unique version of this article from our article submission service

Six Things You Should Know About Your Four Year Old

Published
by
Terry Stanfield
on October 6, 2008
in Fashion
. 0 Comments
by Terry Stanfield

Parents of toddlers face many challenges, and these challenges evolve as their children get older. Children learn and grow very quickly in their first years building the foundation for learning in the future. Four year olds have very different needs than toddlers as they embark on a journey of learning.

Every child is different, but there are some common traits that most four year olds share. As your wobbly toddler develops into a preschooler you will probably have many questions and concerns about their behavior. Here are six things you should know about your four year old.

Most four year olds begin using more complex sentences and language structure as their vocabulary skills improve. Their vocabulary has exploded over the last year and they have a good grasp on grammar and sentence structure.

Four year olds also begin to adapt their language to the level of their listener, further illustrating their mastery of language. They may say “Daddy goes bye-bye” to their little sister and “Daddy went to the store” to you.

Many children have heard profanity by four years old and if they have they may use bad words on purpose to shock people or get attention. This is normal behavior and usually resolves itself if the child is not given much attention because of it.

Four year olds have very active imaginations and may have difficulty separating make believe from reality. They also have the tendency to stretch the truth or remember things differently than they happened because they get very involved in pretend play.

Many children this age develop imaginary friends as they begin to appreciate the company of others and at the same time develop active imaginations. Sometimes interacting with others can still be overwhelming and imaginary friends help children practice their social skills.

By the time a child reaches four they will usually enjoy playing with other children cooperatively in small groups. Peers become more important to the preschool child as well as developing specific friendships and being accepted as part of a group.

Four year olds are truly amazing with the amount of things they have learned and the skills they have mastered since they started exploring the world as toddlers. Teaching toddlers is different than teaching preschoolers as four year olds have different skills and abilities. Four year olds still have a voracious curiosity and naturally want to learn even more about the world around them.

About the Author:
Visit Trendy Remedy’s site for more information on raising boys, stylish Baby Clothes and Baby Boy Gifts.

Six Things You Should Know About Your Two Year Old

Published
by
Terry Stanfield
on October 1, 2008
in Parenting
. 0 Comments
by Terry Stanfield

Parents of toddlers have watched their children grow at an astonishing rate. The amount of growth from one year to the next is tremendous in young children and the foundation for learning is laid early during this period. Two year olds have very different needs than younger toddlers as they begin to learn new skills and understand the world around them.

Every child is different, but there are some common behaviors that most two year olds share. They are curious, still rely on their parents for security and support, and can have a hard time with social interaction. If you need tips on training and teaching toddlers here are six things you should know about your two year old.

Two year olds generally begin to show an interest in playing with others, but they will mostly play alongside other children rather than with them. It won’t be for another year or so that toddlers have the social skills necessary to play cooperative games with other children.

Parents of toddlers are often warned about the “terrible twos” when tantrums are frequent. Toddlers often have tantrums because they are not able to express themselves and their emotions verbally yet; so help them to verbalize their feelings to minimize tantrums.

Toddlers learn best when they are able to create things on their own rather than copying an adult made example. It may seem important that they color in the lines or make a bunny just like yours, but really it’s the process of creation that is the best teaching tool.

Many parents stress over teaching toddlers how to share, take turns, and interact wih others. While these are important skills that they will eventually learn, do not expect them to share or take turns by two years, they are busy developing physically and verbally, social development will happen later.

Some parents try to train toddlers to use their right hand, but handedness won’t develop for another year or two. So don’t worry if they use both for drawing, coloring and other tasks, it is normal for two year olds to switch hands frequently when doing these tasks.

Two year olds lean best through exploring and experiencing the world around them. Encourage safe exploration by providing many opportunities to manipulate everyday objects in a variety of settings.

Parents of toddlers often worry about how to help their children learn and grow. Allowing your toddler to explore safely and setting realistic expectations of their abilities are the best way to facilitate learning.

About the Author:
Visit Trendy Remedy’s site for more information on raising boys, stylish Baby Clothes and Baby Boy Gifts.

Six Pieces Of Information A Telesales Person Needs From Every Call

Published
by
Terry Stanfield
on September 29, 2008
in Marketing
. 0 Comments
by Terry Stanfield

Making sales as a business to business telemarketer can be challenging. Many people do not react kindly to telesales people and even businesses which are approached with needed products or services can turn away callers. There are many things you can do as a telesales person to make closing the sale easier including knowing what to say and how to approach potential clients and customers.

If you want to be a successful telesales person you will need the right approach when talking to potential clients and customers. There is a lot of important information you should gather during your call that will make identifying your customer’s needs and closing the sale easier.

The first piece of information you should get is to clearly define the customer’s needs. Using open ended questions and suggestions will allow you to access exactly what your potential customer needs and will allow you to better match them with products and services.

Along with determining your customers needs, you also need to find out what problem or problems your potential customer needs to solve. Knowing this information will make it easier for you to suggest the product or service that will solve their problem.

It can be hard for business to business telemarketers to close sales, which is why it is important to find out how interested a potential customer is in your product or service. Knowing a potential customer’s level of interest will enable you to be more aggressive, or back off, of your sales approach to more effectively close the sale.

You will also want to determine the best way to follow up with your customer. Knowing how they prefer to receive further contact, via phone, email, regular mail, or in person will set you up for positive continued communication.

Find out if a potential customer already has similar products or services to those you are offering. If they do you can use this information to offer comparisons or new alternatives.

You should also find out what other interests or needs a potential customer may have. They may need a product or service that your business can offer but that you did not consider offering because you were not aware that the need was there.

Listening to your customer is an important part of business to business telemarketing. Make sure you ask questions and gather information to understand your potential customer’s needs in order to be successful with your sales calls.

About the Author:
Visit VSA Prospecting’s site for information on business to business prospecting and outbound telemarketing.

Who Can Afford Long-Term Care Insurance?

Published
by
Terry Stanfield
on August 6, 2008
in Insurance
. 0 Comments
by Terry Stanfield

Insurance is a wonderful thing. It gives us the peace of mind knowing that someone has our back, and it provides us with the security we need in the event of an accident that can alter the course of our lives. Long-term care insurance is no different, but many feel they cannot get it because they do not know how they will afford long-term care insurance. The question then comes up about who can afford long-term care insurance.

Many will wait for their near retirement to get long-term care insurance, because at that point the prospect of needing help with activities that we take for granted are only a decade or more away. As a result, many of those who get long-term care insurance are past the age of retirement and they are the ones who pay into it.

However, it is important for the young to understand that long-term care insurance is incredibly important for them as well. Anything can happen in the future and nothing is certain. Nearly half of the people who collect on long-term care insurance are individuals who are below the age of 65. This is because accidents or illnesses that require an individual to seek help with day-to-day activities, even for only a few months, are needed at any age.

So, who can afford long-term care insurance? Well, the short answer is that everyone can. When you are young, you will be able to get long-term care insurance at reduced premiums because there is a much smaller chance you will need it before you are 70. However, if you wait until you are 65, you will pay more. You should look at paying for long-term care insurance the minute you can comfortably do so, and when you have enough finances and assets that you want to protect from a possible life-altering disability. You do not want to be in a situation where you cannot afford to pay your premiums, so you need to wait until you can afford to do so, without setting yourself back. Generally, at that point in your life, you will also have enough finances and assets that you will want to protect them in the event that you need long-term care.

Summary Long-term care is an important part of any future planning for an individual and their family. It will ensure that in the event you need long-term care, you will be covered by the long-term care insurance. However, not being able to afford long-term care insurance can be a problem, but there are so many options to go through with long-term care insurance, you should be able to find at least something that will assist you in the event you need it.

Try and get the insurance when you are younger because it will cost much less, but if you can’t, try and get it, even the lowest plan, at some point. Remember, even a little bit of long-term care insurance is better than none, so look into getting the long-term care insurance that will give you the peace of mind you need.

You should just ask for help from an insurance representative who specializes in long term care insurance to answer any questions.

About the Author:
Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance Guide, ask questions and request a long term care insurance quote. We represent 20 of the top LTCi providers. This gives you tremendous options.

Search Engines Paid Search Vs. Natural Search

Published
by
Terry Stanfield
on July 17, 2008
in Advertising
. 0 Comments
by Terry Stanfield

Search Engines

Search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN are really just data bases. When you do a Google Search you are not searching the “world wide web” you are searching Google’s data base. There are two ways to get in to these databases. One is to submit your site to the different search engines. In about 6 to 9 weeks the search engine will index your site. They have software that comes to your site and index every page and adds it to the database. They come into your main web URL and follow the links to all the pages of your site. They capture key elements from the code on your page to the content. These are then stored in the data base. When someone puts a keyword in the search box the “algorithms” determine the best page or links to the best pages for your search.

The other way to get added to the search engines data base is to have the search engine software find you through a link to your site from another web site back to yours. The software, called “spiders” will periodically comeback and re crawl your site to see if you have updated it.

One important thing to know is that each page on your site is indexed individually and each page stands on its own. The ranking are based upon the combination of correct meta tags, relevant content to the keyword they are trying to get rankings for and link popularity. Mostly one way links back to their site from relevant sites.

As long as the search engine can index the site, clearly read the meta tags and content, the better. The big issues come when a site is built in flash with very little content (search engines cannot read or index “flash” sites. Also, if the bulk of the relevant content is in PDF format this is bad because the search engines cannot read PDF. If the search engines cannot index the relevant text there will be no rankings.

You all ready know this but “sites” are not ranked, individual pages are ranked for specific terms found in the content of that page as well as link popularity, (relevant links pointing back to that specific page) for the term that you are trying to get ranked on. This is why each page has to be giving very specific attention. Paid search

Paid search is when your ad shows up at the very top of a Google search or down the right hand side of the results page. These are called “sponsored ads”. You pay for those positions. When every you click on one of those ads the owner of the ad pays the search engine. This is also called “pay-per-click”. The amount you pay is determined by several factors including what you are willing to pay every time someone clicks on your ad.

Natural Search

Natural Search is when you type in a “keyword” and a link and a description shows up on left hand side of the search result page. The only way to get on the first page is to have very relevant content on your web site and links to your site from other relevant sites. This is a long process for people in it for the long haul. There are a lot of companies that claim to be able to get you on the first page of Google. That may be true if the “search term” is very specific and no one else would ever search for it but you or they are using a “black hat” method that could get you site banned from the search engine. Bottom line: Paid Search means you pay for your position. The benefit is, if you have the $$, you will get instant traffic. Stop paying and the traffic goes away. Natural search is free traffic but it is built over time. The advantage is, if done right, it can provide traffic for a long time.

Search traffic (paid or natural) is the BEST traffic to have because you are being found by folks who are specifically looking for what you have. It does not get any better than that.

About the Author:
Before you start an SEO project, go to Terry Stanfield’s site for information on SEO management and more Search Engine Marketing articles.

Search Engine Marketing: Timing of SEO in the Web Design Process

Published
by
Terry Stanfield
on July 16, 2008
in Marketing
. 0 Comments
by Terry Stanfield

If you’re just starting to build your website now is the best time to start planning your search engine optimization and search engine marketing strategy. The best time to introduce the SEO planning of a website is when the site design is ready and the site is ready to be launched but there is no content yet for the site. Just before the site launches is the time to bring in an SEO consultant to provide some SEO services. After the design of the website is done an SEO consultant can give you suggestions about what keywords and key phrases you need to add into the site HTML as Meta tags and where those tags should go. Once the site is tagged and the design and navigation has been tested it’s time to add in content. Having SEO content on your site from the start will give your web site a big advantage over older websites that might already have a bit of a following but haven’t had any SEO services by a professional SEO consultant.

For a new site where that site ends up on the search engine results pages can be critical to its success. In order for the site to get a high ranking on the search engine results pages it’s imperative that a professional and experienced SEO consultant creates search engine optimized content that is ready to be part of a broad search engine marketing campaign. It just makes more sense to get all your ducks in a row before you launch the site doesn’t it? Bring in an SEO consultant when you’re ready to start putting content on the site so that when the site launches your site will be instantly indexed by the search engine spiders and can start drawing traffic from search engines immediately.

If you have an existing site that is due for an overhaul or a design revamping then you should also consult a professional SEO consultant before the site is redone so that you will have a good idea of what SEO services that you need. Cosmetic work on the site is important so that your site doesn’t look outdated but changing up the content on the site will be very important. Most of the traffic that websites get comes from searches done by people who use Google or another search engine to look for website dealing with a particular topic.

You want your site to be at the top of or at least near the top every search that is done by a search engine for the topic that your site is about. In order to achieve that you need an SEO professional to write great search engine optimized content before the site launches. If your existing site has had the same content on it for more than six months you should get an SEO professional to write new content. Changing the content is a great search engine marketing strategy to draw new web site traffic and improve your search engine ranking.

About the Author:
Before you do anything go to Terry Stanfield’s site for information on Search Engine Marketing and related info on Search Engine Optimization.

Long-Term Care Simplified

Published
by
Terry Stanfield
on July 16, 2008
in Insurance
. 0 Comments
by Ray Voelkle, CLTC

What is Long-Term Care? When people consider the subject of long-term care, they often think about nursing homes. In fact, long-term care has little to do with nursing homes. Understanding the difference can help you protect your family and finances.

The Consequences of Living Longer

Long-term care is a continuum of care services and housing that you will need later in life. Think you won’t live a long life? Think back 25 years ago. If you had cancer or a stroke, you simply died. Few ever heard of Alzheimer’s. Today, it is the leading cause for long-term care services. The longer you live, the more likely you are to need care. The question is not who will take care of you, because your family will most often, but rather what will that care do to your family and finances.

Long-Term Care is Usually Custodial Care

Long-term care is defined as needing assistance with your activities of daily living (toileting, bathing, dressing, eating, transferring from one point to another, and continence). It also includes cognitive impairment so severe that the individual needs constant supervision. If you need custodial care, chances are it will be delivered in the community, not in a nursing home. Many of you have heard compelling statistics from The New England Journal of Medicine stating that 43% of those over age 65 will need nursing home care. What the article actually said is that that number may spend some time in a facility. The fact is, few end their days in one. Every study conducted finds that care is overwhelmingly provided at home. The key question, of course, is who is going to pay for it? Who Covers the Cost?

Medicare & VA

Medicare, the primary health care program for retirees pays only for skilled or rehabilitative care, not custodial care in any venue. Medicaid, a federal and state program for financially needy individuals will pay for custodial care, but primarily in nursing homes. Funding for home care and assisted living is very limited and based on availability of funds. Veterans believe that the VA will pay for home care, adult day care, or assisted living. As with Medicaid, funding is limited and generally based on service-related disability. In fact, the federal government has as much said this to veterans by encouraging them to purchase long-term care insurance through the new Federal Long-Term Care Insurance program. The result is that consumers are forced to pay privately for their care. Unfortunately, the best thought-out retirement plan rarely takes into consideration living a long life. Put another way, those assets and income have been allocated to pay for retirement, not for the consequences of living a long life. This results in the need to invade principal and divert income. As a result, one of a seniors’ greatest fear, outliving their assets, literally may come true.

The Role of Long-Term Care Insurance

The use of long-term care insurance thus becomes an important part of planning for disability caused by living a long life. The product has two roles: helping keep families together and allowing your retirement portfolio to execute for the purpose for which it was intended, namely retirement. From a family perspective, who will provide your care? Like it or not, children will play a key role. Long-term care insurance (LTCI) doesn’t replace the need for family involvement in providing care but rather builds on it. It pays professionals to assist the person with the toughest tasks such as toileting, bathing, feeding and continence. This, in turn, allows the family to provide care better and longer at home. That leads to a critical question: have YOU planned for the consequences of living a long life? From a financial point of view, LTCI allows your retirement plan to stay intact. That is particularly important given the recent steep decline in portfolio value. The product, in effect, protects the balance of your account value. LTCI also protects income. Although you may qualify for Medicaid to pay for nursing home costs by transferring assets, your income (pension, social security, IRA and or 401k payout) cannot be protected. When buying this insurance, look for a long-term care specialist. Consider their training, educational credentials, and commitment to help solve your long-term care needs. The key is whether they talk first about a plan or a product. If they are interested in the plan, you are dealing with a professional. If they focus first on product and price, consider getting another opinion.

About the Author:
Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance and read How Does Long Term Care Insurance Work?

Search Engine Marketing: How Search Engines Rank Web Pages

Published
by
Terry Stanfield
on July 16, 2008
in Marketing
. 0 Comments
by Terry Stanfield

Getting your webpage ranked as high as possible on a search engine results page is one of the goals of search engine marketing and using search engine optimization on your website. But do you know how the search engine actually ranks and indexes web pages? Most search engines use a complicated process to index and rank the web pages that the search engine spiders find when they are scanning the web. Using search engine optimization and putting articles written with search engine marketing in mind will get the search engine spiders to your site but once the search engine spiders find your site they have to index your site and then assign your site a ranking within the thousands of other sites that contain information on the same topic that your site has.

Different search engines use different methods to assign a weight or rank to each web page that the search engine’s spiders find so using different methods of search engine marketing and using different percentages of search engine optimization is a good idea. If you do several different types of search engine marketing and utilize more than one kind of search engine optimization tool then it’s more likely that a search engine spider will find your web page and assign it a higher weight or rank.

One of the ways that search engine spiders determine the weight or rank of a particular web page is to index the number of times that a particular word or key phrase appears on a site. The search engine spider will assign a weight or rank to the web page based on how many times that word or key phrase appears within the web page. This is a very common method of assigning rank to web pages that is used by a lot of the most popular search engines so it’s important to use search engine marketing and search engine optimization to make sure that those search engine spiders give your site a high ranking or weight.

Another way that search engine spiders assign a weight or rank to a web page is to take note of where in the web page a particular keyword or key phrase is located. For search engines that use this kind of ranking system just using standard search engine marketing or traditional search engine optimization techniques might not be enough to get your website noticed by the search engine spiders. In order to draw the spiders of search engines that rank web pages based on the location of the keyword or key phrase on the page it’s necessary to use those words to tag your page. Tagging a page is putting that particular keyword or key phrase in the meta tags of your site, using them in the heading or home page of your site and using those words or phrases systematically through the rest of the site. If you think of your website as a tree in order to get the attention of spiders from the search engines that use this type of ranking system you have to have a particular key word or key phrase on every branch of the tree in order to get a higher ranking.

About the Author:
Before you do anything go to Terry Stanfield’s site for information on Search Engine Marketing and related info on Search Engine Optimization.

Beware of Reverse Mortgage Scams

Published
by
Terry Stanfield
on July 16, 2008
in Insurance
. 0 Comments
by Terry Stanfield

Reverse mortgages are being used by more and more seniors in an effort to get a loan that does not have to paid back until they move or die, giving them the funds they need to pay for their own long-term care, without relying on family or insurance. It is an incredibly popular practice for those over the age of 62, who own a home and don’t want to be a financial burden on their families. In fact, they are the most popular type of loan for Americans over the age of 62.

However, seniors who are in need of some loan cash sometimes fall into the traps of reverse mortgages scams through fake websites and reverse mortgage companies who charge too much. This is a horrible situation for a senior to be in, because they may lose thousands of dollars to the scam artists, turning them into a severe financial burden for them family.

Usually, the scam is perpetrated through telemarketing, with the senior being contacted by phone and convinced into giving up their personal information for the ‘loan’. The personal information is then used to steal the senior’s identity, often taking out a loan in their name, but making the senior foot the bill for the interest charges and monthly payments.

In the case where the senior thinks they are dealing with a legitimate company, they may be dealing with a phony reverse mortgage companies. These companies will charge six to ten percent of the entire loan amount just for the senior to get the name of a reverse mortgage lender. This is one of the most common types of scams. You can actually get information on who provides reverse mortgages, free of charge, from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

As a result, if you are looking for a reverse mortgage, you need to be incredibly careful not to fall into the trap of a reverse mortgage scam. You should always make sure that before you sign anything, even if the agent is urging you to, you do your research into the company to find out if they are a) legitimate and b) financially stable.

It is also an excellent idea to sign the contract in the presence of a lawyer, advisor, or your children. This will help to avoid the tactics that have been laid by the reverse mortgage scam artist. However, if you simply want to avoid becoming a part of reverse mortgage scams, then you should simply not do your reverse mortgage dealings over the internet or phone.

Conclusion Reverse mortgage scams are one of the worst scams perpetrated by scam artists because it prays on the elderly and their desire to be financially secure after they have left the workforce. All reverse mortgage scams do is rob them of their money by forcing them to pay large sums up front, or by stealing personal information. To make sure you do not fall into a reverse mortgage scam, do your research and never, ever sign anything under pressure, or pay money up front without consulting an adviser first.

About the Author:
Before you go out and buy a policy go to Long Term Care Insurance Guide and read Simplifying Long-Term Care.