It is not always who you know, but what you know. That is why obtaining Microsoft certification can be a valuable asset to your career. Of course, it does depend on what career path you want to take as to whether you want to get either MCSE training or MCP training or anything else for that matter. So what do those abbreviations MCSE and MCP stand for anyway?

MCP stands for Microsoft Certified Professional and MCSE is an abbreviation for Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer. What exactly does having a Microsoft certification mean anyway? We know that it looks good on a resume and opens new doors in your career. Did you know that being certifiable – in Microsoft anyway – sometimes will also boost your pay? Experience counts for a lot, but having a Microsoft certification or two does not hurt either!

So what does it take to be and MCP or MCSE? Lots of studying! The MCP courses and MCP exams are geared toward a more rounded technical professional. Candidates for MCP must pass one current certification test from Microsoft. Passing one of the exams demonstrates that the candidate has a consistent level of technical expertise.

With the Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer path, there are MCSE boot camps that help prepare candidates for the MCSE exams. These MCSE boot camps are intense classes often packed into a full two week period instead of the traditional weekly MCSE training classes in preparation for the MCSE exams. This path is more involved. MCSE certification is standard in the IT field and prepares you for anything from the design of a system’s infrastructure to analyzing the company’s needs before implementing a design.

Unlike those individuals who take the MCP training to prepare for MCP exams, students of MCSE have a course of study that is more intense. Instead of one test to prepare for, they have seven tests that they are required to pass to get their Microsoft certification. Yikes! Seven! They have five main exams to take as well as two electives. The five required MCSE exams are broken down into four operating system exams and one design exam. The two electives typically deal with other issues in design and implementation not covered in the five core tests.

After learning a few basics, it is easy to see that the MCP or Microsoft Certified Professional is really just a stepping stone to bigger and greater things in the world of Microsoft certification. The individuals who go for the MCP have a leg up on those peers who have no technical experience. They will have a better grasp on technical issues and usually stay a step ahead of trends. The MCSE is more specialized and appeals to the techno geek with a penchant for design and implementation. They like knowing how stuff works. So market yourself and become certifiable!

James Croydon, Microsoft Certified Professional and MCSE Certification Online advisor – focusing on MCSE Courses Online and Boot Camp MCSE

Georgia Insurance Laws

GA is a 25/50/25 kind of state when it comes to car insurance. For Georgia car insurance, 25/50/25 is simple short form meaning $25,000 coverage per person involved in an automobile accident, $50,000 insurance coverage per accident for two or more people, and $25,000 coverage for any damaged property during an accident. People that do not uphold this nominal amount of car insurance can be fined or worse.

GA works under the Tort system, meaning that, unlike other no-fault states, one of the drivers must be found at fault in any given accident. Responsibility for financial restitution lies in the hands of the person found at fault as well as their car insurance firm. In Georgia, motorists are not required to extra coverage such as personal injury protection (PIP) or uninsured/underinsured car insurance coverage. These policies, while not called for, are not a bad option to add onto your car insurance. There are many people in GA who decide that they want to add PIP and underinsured/uninsured coverage to their car insurance coverage. These regulations were made to protect individuals and their vehicles on the Georgia roads. Ruling these laws, the State of Georgia Dept. of Revenue has a statewide database that insurance underwriters are mandated to keep up to date with a driver’s insurance information. drivers are encouraged to carry proof of car insurance coverage at all times. If you are have not received an actual card from your car insurance underwriter, you should maintain a duplicate of your policy’s declaration page in your vehicle. You will be asked to show this evidence of coverage if you are stopped for a traffic violation, involved in a collision or stopped at a roadblock.

Georgia is not a no-fault state, but instead, they operate under Tort law. This implies that for all car accidents, one of the involved drivers must be found to be blamable and they, along with their insurance firm, will be held accountable for liabilities resulting from the accident.

Personal Injury Protection – This type of incremental coverage covers extra medical damages and other expenses that are not covered under a standard policy.

underinsured Coverage – This optional car insurance covers you in the event you are in an accident with an underinsured driver. Since the individual doesn’t have an car insurance firm to pay for damages, this car insurance coverage will help pay for them.

Georgia insurance companies are called for by law to input the details of your car insurance coverage into a statewide database. This database is sustained by the Georgia Dept. of Revenue. To protect yourself in the case you are in a accident or are pulled over by a law officer, you should always carry proof of your insurance with you whenever you are driving. Failure to due so can result in fines or you could have your license suspended

There are seven fundamental reasons that some books succeed and others collect dust on the author’s bookshelf. These seven keys to success as an author are simple, obvious even, and yet in the midst of our writing many of us forget them.

We get so focused on the idea of the book that we forget the mechanics. Here is the strategy that award winning authors use:

1) Create a hero that your audience can relate to.

Examine your target market honestly. Who will be reading your book? Just because you think that your main character is funny, charming and brilliant doesn’t mean that they will or even that that is what they care about.

2) Write for your audience, not your highschool English professor. There has already been a Shakespeare. Most genres do not require you to write like him. You will just turn your audience off if you write at a level beyond their comprehension.

3) Give your reader a problem that he or she can empathize with.

Ex. Are you writing for teenage girls? Then something to do with the pains of adolescent romance, or lack thereof, might be a good start.

4) Provide a nemesis that makes sense. The antagonist in your story should appear to be everything that your main character is not. Then go back in and give him or her some good qualities as well.

People are not good or evil. Your characters should have the same character traits, as the rest of humanity.

Ex. A Thief with a Conscience or who hates everyone except his little sister, who he has taken care of since their mom died.

Give all your characters depth.

5) Provide obstacles for your main characters. Both your hero and antagonist need to have a few bumps in the road. Life isn’t smooth. Let them both screw up and figure their way out of their messes.

6) Your hero, at the very least, must learn a lesson about himself or herself. Is he braver than he thought he was? Is her nerdiness actually an asset?

Your characters should have some type of self-realization. It can be subtle. You do not have to go into a five chapter monologue on it, just give the readers some clues that he or she has changed.

7) Begin and end your story with a bang. Grab your reader’s attention in the beginning and have them hoping for a sequel in the end. The rest, no matter how much work you put into it, will probably be skimmed until they hit the next seat gripping scene. Your job is to make that skim time as short as possible.

Caterina Christakos is the author of How to Write a Children’s Book in 30 Days or Less. For more information about her book and writing tips go to: http://www.howtowriteachildrensbook.com

To customize your bio for consideration for a speaking engagement, start with your basic boilerplate bio that covers all the essentials. Remember I don’t care where you went to school or how many years you have been in business. I want to know “what have you done for me lately.” Are you savvy with today’s current “hot button” issues? Convey that in your bio.

Spice it up with names that create resonance. For example, I have spoken at the White House (twice). That always opens doors for me. Have you been involved with some household name recognition project or company? Make sure to mention that in your bio.

What impresses you in someone’s bio? For me it’s always if they have written a book (not self-published -although that is a great way to start.) Give me strong sound bites without the fluff. There are certain compelling phrases the will always generate interest. Look at the action words in your cheat sheets. See if you can work these words into your verbiage. Keep thinking about words that will move someone to action-that is hiring you to speak.

Your basic bio should be no longer than three well thought out paragraphs. Remember you can always tell me more if I am interested in hearing more later. Start big and get smaller. Record important achievements so that you can cut and paste them into your bio as needed. This is an important part of customization. Create relevance to the reader by inserting key phrases that will pique their interest.

Now give some serious consideration to the topic you will be addressing. The secret is to be able to create a speech that you can spin into myriads of other programs. Think about the core message of your bio. Who are you targeting? If it’s only one very specialized niche, you need to go back to the drawing board and create a broader audience base. Use the news to see what issues are in the forefront. Identifying with current news issues will help you keep your bio contemporary.

You don’t want to continually reinvent the wheel. When you have a bio that works, add some spin for different audiences that makes it seem as if you wrote your bio just for them. Keep it continually updated too. Nothing cries “out of touch” more than an old bio that reads like a resume. People simply don’t care what happened to you five years ago, so don’t waste their time. If you can’t get to the core message in three paragraphs or less then they aren’t going to read any more anyway.

Remember your short bio is an important part of your professional repertoire. Don’t just slam something together. Take time to craft your message and then rework and rework until it sounds like the real you.

JoAnn Hines’ specialty is PACKAGING PEOPLE.
Whether you want to be paid more, you just lost your job, or you want to progress in the one you have, Ms. Hines advice and expertise can help you transform your personal brand. She can show you how to package yourself and make your brand a hot commodity. It’s easy once you know the ropes and begin to utilize her insider’s secrets. She shows you step by step how to increase your visibility, credibility and marketability with easy to use tutorials and templates.

Other articles on similar topics are in the “Packaging Yourself Workbook.” The “Packaging Yourself Workbook” is $29.95 plus shipping and handling. Place your order @ http://packaginguniversity.com/pkgustorefront.htm

Topics include:

How to prepare an Elevator Pitch,

How to Make the Most of those First 30 Seconds,

How to Speak your way to Fame and Fortune,

How To Promote Yourself and Your Company,

How to Become an Expert in Your Field.

Order now @ http://packaginguniversity.com/pkgustorefront.htm or email me @pkgcoach@aol.com for more details.

Have you given up on getting your book out of your heart into
the hands of your readers? Don’t give up. There’s an easy way to
do anything and a more difficult way. The easy way usually
includes getting helpful advice from someone that’s been there
and done that. The author has written five of those ten books
that were stuck in her heart a few years ago. Here’s eight steps
that will speed you on your way to getting your book out now:

1. Setup a regular writing schedule.
Think about your
priorities right now. Can you fit 7-10 hours a week in? If you
have to let something go that is not high on your priority list,
do it. Now is your time. Later is not better. Set yourself up
for a successfully written book this year by committing to a
regular schedule. After it’s done, remember to reward yourself.

2. Plan a short book first.
Many aspiring writers overwhelm
themselves with goals of a 365 page book first. Shorten your
book to 25-90 pages the first time or divide your large book
into a smaller book one and two. Though you shorten it, still
fill it with useful information by using the question and answer
format for each chapter. Using the same format and length for
each chapter and answering all your readers’ questions will not
only speed your writing process but it will result in a
successful book.

3. Let your passion lead you to a topic.
Passion will not only
stir your readers when your book is done but it will keep you
motivated to do the work involved. Yes, I did say work. Passion
will make your work easy. Passion will lead you to develop all
the profit centers (seminars, articles, or consulting services)
your message deserves.

4. Choose what’s interesting to you.
If you are interested in
what you are writing about you will happily write all you know
and research to know more about your subject. You will easily
spice your writing with interesting tid-bits that will delight
your readers and keep them reading until the end of your book.

5. Get to know your reader before you write.
Target your
audience and your copy will be focused, interesting and
compelling. As a method of writing personable copy, write and
post (somewhere in your work area) your reader profile including
their sex, their top interest, what they spend money on, what
books they want and read. Your subject must benefit your
audience to capture their interest. After all who wants to pay
for a book that doesn’t help them in any way?

6. Develop a plan for each chapter before you write.
Using a
format plan including headlines throughout will organize your
chapters. Organized chapters become easy to write and fill in
the blanks. Additionally, organized chapters are easy to read
and your readers will love it and tell all their friends about
it. Don’t forget to weave the questions and answers that benefit
your audience into your text.

7. Design your book to market well while you write.
Incorporate
the top market spots designed to sell more your book is
completed. The hot spots are the title, cover, thesis, audience,
benefits & features, mini sales letter written as introduction
and back cover copy of each book.

8. Select your non-fiction topic first.
You may be like the
author wanting to write novels. But start with the profitable
book first, so you can finance your dream efforts. Write a short
book first and satisfy the busy people that want useful
information fast and easy. Remember answering 5 questions about
one chapter topic will create a 5 page chapter.

Get your book out of your heart to paper fast. If you wait you
could be this time next year with the same desire to get your
book out. Use the eight easy steps of committing to a regular
writing schedule, planning a short book first, choosing a
passion-led topic, picking an interesting to-you subject,
getting to know your reader first, developing a plan for each
chapter, designing your book’s top market spots, and choosing
your non-fiction topic first to become a successful author
sooner. The world is waiting for your important message to
answer their questions and help them become successful.

© Earma Brown, 10-year author, entrepreneur and book coach
eBk: Jumpstart Writing Your Best Book
Helps Writers and Entrepreneurs realize their book dreams
P.O. Box 612, Wylie, Texas 75098
Visit http://www.writetowin.org
To receive free ezine iScribe
& mini-course “Jumpstart Writing Your Book”
mailto:iscribe@writetowin.org
Ph: 877-846-9908

Want to write an article or book, but are stuck for ideas? Here are a few practical ways to awaken that muse.

- Keep a writer’s journal. A hardcover notebook will do nicely for keeping entries on a variety of topics including, but are not limited to: problems, daydreams, quotes, bits of conversations from “real life” or your characters, character sketches, anecdotes about you, your family and friends, jokes and quotes that caught your attention, names of books that you plan to read and have read, the newest craze, letters that you wish you wrote to the editor but didn’t, reasons why something did or didn’t work out, musings about trends, the good old days, cute quotes from the kids, frustrations, interesting stuff that you heard on the radio or TV. For example, I heard about a guy who was shaving his head while driving at 80 mph on the highway and another who was changing his wardrobe while driving at about the same speed on a radio talk show. These tidbits might be great triggers for a short story or novel, especially if you can create answers explaining why and/or how these guys could do that.

- Visit the bookstore. But carry a little notebook and a pen. Then browse, taking note of books whose titles grabbed your attention. What else would these books’ audiences appreciate knowing? What bestsellers attracted your attention? What are the names of the newest magazines? What aisles haven’t you explored yet? What kinds of books do people seem to pick up and read? What book might you have been looking for, but couldn’t find? Did you ask the bookstore’s customer service about ordering it? And while you were at it, did you remember to ask the sales associate if books like that are popular?

- Take inventory of your life and experiences. Where did you go to school? What were your best and worst subjects? What kinds of jobs have you held? What subject did you major in and what degrees did you earn? What do you love to do and would do it for free? What are your hobbies? What sports do you enjoy? What do you do especially well? What kind of work experience do you have? What were your favorite jobs? What were your least favorite jobs and why? What problems did you and your colleagues solve? Were you ever fired? Are you working now? Are you an entrepreneur? What clubs and associations have you joined? Are you married or single? How many children do you have? Have you ever traveled, and if so, where?

As you take inventory and gather information, think about who else would be interested and why. While you are at it, make a list of possible audiences, such as bosses, colleagues, friends, lawyers, teachers, and so on. Give yourself time to think about what you have and how you can capitalize on it. Create a few titles just for fun, then choose one that excites you the most and start freewriting. Who knows? You may be creating that next article or book!

Dorothy Zjawin has capitalized on her teaching experience and has had 30 articles published by Instructor and a book, Teaching Ideas for the Come-Alive Classroom published by Parker Pub. Co./Prentice-Hall. Her website, http://www.profitable-pen.com, has other ideas and a free forum. Have a question about writing? Feel free to contact Dorothy!

Writing for websites — content, as it is called — is an important task for webmasters. Your site must be current, relevant, and interesting in order to attract and retain visitors. The following are some tips I have successfully employed in order to keep my websites relevant:

1. Write with Passion. There is nothing worse than reading a dull article! If you aren’t interested in what you are writing about, then please don’t! Better yet: Join one of the excellent content producting sites on the internet. Ezinearticles is a leader in this category.

2. Write with Clarity and Brevity. Do your articles make sense? Are you using too many complicated and arcane terms? Remember, the internet is visited by people for whom English is not their primary language. In addition, our attention spans online are very short. Needlessly long, verbose articles will lose your reader’s attention. If you lose your readers, you will lose readership [members]!

3. Write with Purpose. If you are trying to sell a product, then sell it. Stay focused on the subject at hand and do not go off into tangents. If there is something else you want to mention unrelated to the subject, then write another article. Link it to the primary article if they are related. Never confuse or frustrate your readers!

4. Write with Style. Everyone has their own style of writing. Effective content writing engages the reader and piques their interest. Write as if you are having a conversation with your readers. Why do you think blogs are so successful?

Every successful writer knows when to quit… writing that is. Your point[s] have been made and it is now time to come to a conclusion and allow your readers to absorb what was written. Just like I am doing now!

Matt writes on a variety of topics including, aviation related issues, business, travel, health, and finances. His two top performing websites are: Corporate Flight Attendant Community at http://www.corporateflyer.net and http://www.cabinmanagers.com and Aviation Employment Board at http://www.aviationemploymentboard.com

Riding on the fumes of potential, you take pen to paper or keyboard to monitor. Endless hours of creativity intermingle with apprehension, but your need to write engulfs your spirit. You swim high on the waves of excitement and trudge forward through the waves of doubt. Finally, your manuscript is complete.

Looking back, the process becomes a blur, it’s difficult to recall the point at which your first draft transformed into your final draft, but it happened. For a moment, you allow yourself to be still and bask in the glory of your completed manuscript. But only for a moment. Now a new process must begin.

As if going from concept to page isn’t enough, the aspiring writer must now bravely pass his or her cherished manuscript along for opinion. Opinion is actually too light of a word; the writer must submit to, and endure the critique. For those faint at heart, the critique can be a frightening experience, rearing its ugly head of self-doubt to the highest position. But ultimately, it’s what makes you stronger, better at your craft, and prepares you to for the next phase on your quest to publication.

Family and friends only hinder the critique process. Although supportive, their opinions are bias and counter productive unless they are professionals. So where do you turn if you are not fortunate enough to have a local writing group or personal mentor in your life? The modern writer turns to the cyber world.

As you make your way through search engines and dodge pop-ups ads in pursuit of an answer, message boards and writer’s forums abound. Your ultimate goal, to find that band of brothers and sisters, bound together in their somewhat solitary pursuit of a writing career. A nameless group of competitors hooked together by modems, monitors, keyboards, nicknames, and electricity, generously willing to share advice. A group you can trust.

I have found such a writer’s haven. A speakeasy filled with poets and prophets, editors, agents and journalists. A space where the published and unpublished exist together. By invitation only, I secretly found the backdoor into this cyber club. Over two hundred members and growing strong, this forum has everything from professional guest visitors to idle chatter. A place to receive feedback on your work, ask questions, share information, make contacts, friendships and share your successes and defeats.

Now that the secret code to this cyber club has been lifted, Backspace – The Writer’s Place is open to the public. Why not click open the door and lurk for awhile? After you get to know the posters, reach out for some feedback on your work. Then you can move to the next phase with confidence. For after the dreaded critique process, you must endure another hurdle, the query letter. Why not tackle it with the help of your new cyber friends at Backspace? http://www.bksp.org/index.shtm

————————————— Publishing Guidelines: You are welcome to publish this article in its entirety, electronically, or in print fre.e of charge, as long as you include you include the full byline, hyperlinks and Resource Box.

E-mail or courtesy link appreciated when you publish mailto:Joyful-Productions@comcast.net —————————————

Writers Turn to the Internet for Support, Friendship and Advice Author: Patricia Gatto Copyright 2004. All Rights Reserved. Category: Writer’s Resources, Internet Word Count (including Resource Box): 575

Cal Tech along with the Universities in Japan are on the leading edge of this new technology and it is quickly becoming a reality. Soon we will know months in advance of an expected quake and the precise time maybe known hours or minutes before it actually comes. Arthur C. Clarke discussed early Earthquake warnings in CA, in a couple of short essays and stories and then again in a two of his most famous novels. If you will recall the book, “Richter 10;” in this book they could predict the Earthquakes months in advance.

Well it looks as if we maybe on our way to pin pointing the quakes. Here is technology, which lets you know almost 30 seconds, enough to get away from things which may fall on your head. What people may not realize is that the technology is nearly hear and will be nearly as good a tornado predictions

http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/research/parkfield/

http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/research/parkfield/sciadv.html

A lot of work goes into this stuff and it should be noted that we are approaching a new level of science in these fields. Every year we get better at it. The folks in the research lab at CalTech are using state of the art science and bleeding edge technologies and one has no option but to be thoroughly impressed,

http://www.wsspc.org/home.html

which allows our populations to feel safe as well. There is a lot being done to prevent these things and this will improve in the future. We are just now being able to cause Earthquakes through the use of harmonic resonance. It appears to be possible to use certain frequencies to mitigate the excessive damage of Earthquakes while still allowing for the natural flow of plate tectonics. With proper sensors we will be able to know when and where and which active faults are ready to slip or give. Those at Cal tech are certain it will not be long now.

http://www.gps.caltech.edu/users/jkirschvink/pdfs/earthquakeprediction.pdf .

I hope everyone appreciates the work being done there at Cal Tech, it will save billions in rebuilding and an potentially human millions of lives. We should continue to invest in research monies to this emerging science, because its future ability to predict with pin-point accuracy is right around the corner. Think about it.

“Lance Winslow” – Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

1. What is the single most compelling subject from your experience or knowledge that you want the world to know about? If there are several topics, consider which one you are most passionate about.

2. Can you identify the single most outstanding thing you want people to know? Think about whether it is a new skill, perspective, attitude, or expansion of general knowledge.

3. Why do you want to write a booklet? It may be an altruistic gesture to spread the word about something. It might be a marketing tool for a business or book you have or want to have. The booklet can be a profit center for you. Maybe you would you like it to be both a marketing tool and a profit center.

4. How would you divide your subject into segments? Look at the possibility of those segments becoming additional booklets to develop into a series, or as mini-chapters of one booklet.

5. What are you often surprised by that people do not know about your subject area? There could be something that seems so ‘common sense’ to you, while being highly helpful or enlightening to others.

6. Does your information need to be presented sequentially or can it be random? Notice if specific entries stand-alone or if they need whatever came before to cause the entry to make sense to the reader.

7. What do you want people to do and not to do, be or not be as a result of your booklet? Think about how this information will benefit the reader.

8. Who besides the reader can benefit from this material? There may be manufacturers, suppliers, or distributors whose business activities can profit by distributing your contents. Those will be large-quantity buyers of your booklet.

9. Is there jargon or language that is peculiar to your topic? Consider how you will monitor and treat that in your content.

10. What surprised you most when you learned about your topic? That is probably useful to pass along to your readers in some way.

11. Which resources are needed to implement any of your suggestions? Look for the easiest ways to accomplish what you are recommending to your reader.

12. What is it that people need to know about you? Tell what gives you the credential to write about this topic.

13. What other products and/or services would also make sense to develop to assist the reader in this topic? Decide whether it is important for those to be products and services of your own, of someone else’s, or both.

14. How would short anecdotes be useful in supporting your materials? The anecdotes could get in the way or enhance your content.

15. Do your tips need visual support with graphics to allow them to be more fully understood? Clip art could be adequate or you might decide to use original art.

Are you ready to get started? Or were you already making notes as you were reading this article? Take as little or as much time as you’d like in creating your first tips booklets. You’ll be amazed by the results. Everyone has something they want the world to know about. What’s the starting place for you?

Paulette Ensign has personally sold almost a million copies in four languages of a tips booklet called “110 Ideas for Organizing Your Business Life,” all without spending a penny on advertising. She has had clients match and surpass her results, worldwide.

She has learned her business by doing it, never having taken a formal business course in her life. Her San Diego, California -based company, Tips Products International, offers a range of products and services to support your success regardless of your budget of time or money. Phone 858-481-0890 or visit http://www.tipsbooklets.com