Getting Into Project Management Within Your Current Organization

If you read blogs and online posts from current Project Managers you will see that most began their career after falling into the job role within a company or moved into a position that was backed up by project management courses. The key strengths a PM are the ability to self motivate, organize and most importantly - lead a team. Natural leaders often find themselves leaning towards management positions and 'accidentally' fall or are encouraged into the PM role.

The first thing you need to do is make sure you do not automatically start looking for PM work outside of the company you currently work for. There are (near) always opportunities to develop your PM skills within the company you work for which is the easiest and simplest option if you're looking to make a change.

Here are some different ways you can utilize your current employer:

- Find the department that deals with projects and think about how you can network with that department. Taking an active role in gaining information about the department and how it relates to the job role you currently have.
- Network across the whole business, speaking to employees in other departments and finding out about other opportunities throughout the company.
- Arrange a meeting with your manager or team leader to discuss if you could be considered for departmental projects coming up. Make yourself available to help and discuss the skills you have that render you suitable.
- Speak to your HR department to see if it's possible for you to find out about up and coming job opportunities through the company.
- Take on extra work - this is the general rule through organizations if you want to prove yourself - look to be proactive and create noticeable change.
- Are you already project managing? A lot of job roles involve project management skills, something you could use to your advantage if you recognize those skills. If you can recognize these skills and develop them, you are then in a position to make informed suggestions on the way projects are managed within your department (make sure you do this within your job role boundaries!).
- Start to think like a project manager reading up on strategy and implementation. Talk to your colleagues and managers with PM terminology in reference to the work you currently do, discussing risk management, time management, resource management and financial management.

Whilst you truly integrate yourself into your company, nurturing your new love for project-management, why not consider some additional education? It's never too late to learn and some companies offer training within the company or subsidized training with a contractual obligation to stay with the company for a set period of time.

If your company does not offer any PM training why not think about asking to shadow a project manager within the company, or look into financing a PM training course for yourself. If you're determined to become a project manager in the company you are in, seeing you invest in a course will no doubt improve your chances of bagging that dream project managers job. The key to becoming a PM is the ability to explore all possible avenues and at all times, have your eye on the end result.

Best Debt Program - How to Find the Best Debt Company to Help You

Finding the best debt program can be quite a complex process, as it partially depends on your particular situation, as well as where you live. The best debt program for one person may not be the best debt program for someone else. In this article I will try to explain how debt programs work and help you understand which type of program will be most suitable for you. I will then explain what you can do to narrow down your search for a good company to work with, and how to ensure that you get the best value program available.

In broad terms, there are two main types of debt program available. The most common option for dealing with fairly large amounts of unsecured debt is a debt management plan. These are known by various other names and the process is also known as consolidating your debts. For more serious situations there is a completely different option which is known as debt settlement or debt negotiation. The only variation on this is that for UK residents, there is a scheme called an Individual Voluntary Arrangement, which achieves the same result for UK residents as debt settlement does for US residents.

A debt management plan is likely to be the best debt program for you if you have a fairly large amount of unsecured debt and a steady income that leaves you some money spare each month to put towards your debts. You will need to approach a debt management company, who will go through your financial situation with your to see whether or not this type of debt program is likely to work for you. If you do go ahead, they will then contact everyone you owe money to, in order to negotiate new arrangements for paying back your debt.

The end result of such negotiation should be that new arrangements are put in place, which make it more affordable for you to repay the debt. When this is done for all your creditors, all future payments are made by the debt company, so you just have to make one single payment to them each month. They then have to share the money out amongst your creditors, and any questions or problems the creditors have will be deal with by the company.

As mentioned earlier, debt management plans are only possible if you can afford to make and keep up with the regular monthly payments required. If your income and debts are such that you could not manage this, that is when you would need to consider debt settlement, or for UK residents, an IVA. The difference between these and a debt management plan is that they are a more radical approach, which usually depends on actually writing off at least half of the debt.

Debt settlement is only appropriate for people who are in a serious situation and really struggling to keep up with payments. Many people who are considering bankingruptcy turn to debt settlement as a less drastic alternative. The process depends on a skilled negotiator getting agreement from your creditors to write off a large portion of your debts, often well over half of the original debt. Creditors are unquestionably agreeing to this if they have reason to think that you could actually afford to repay more than that, but if they think the alternative may be to get nothing at all, they are more likely to agree. This is why it is only suitable for genuinely serious situations.

If you join this type of debt program you will stop making any payments to your creditors and start putting money away into a holding account instead. You keep doing this while the negotiators are working at your creditors, which can take anything from a few weeks up to three years. Your money builds up and can be used to pay off each credit when a settlement agreement is reached.

If you think that either a debt management plan or debt settlement could be the best debt program for you, the first step is to find a reliable and trustworthy company to work on your behalf. Choosing a debt company is no different to making any other kind of purchase, in that you can only be sure you are getting good value if you shop around. The best companies all have simple online forms to get started and you are not committing to anything by applying. You should there before apply to a few and see who makes the best proposal. You can easily avoid disputable companies by following recommendations and reviews for trusted and well established organizations.

Small Business Phone Service

Even with telecommunications revolutionizing the entire manner in which businesses communicate and with the advent of the Internet too, the telephone still remains the most reliable and the quickest mode of communication. The business phone system should be equipped well enough to handle a large volume of incoming as well as outgoing calls apart from directing and re-directing calls appropriately and accurately without mystifying or disconnecting the customers. Any Business Phone Service is the life line of its productivity as well as its functionality. The choice of the most appropriate service provider would go a long way in heralding new clients for the businesses as well as augmenting their businesses.

OPTING FOR SMALL BUSINESS PHONE SERVICES FOR BUSINESSES

Small and medium enterprises are over the year's increasingly making use of small business phone service as they are comparatively more cost-effective than other services. These services are capable enough to look after the communication needs of their businesses and they are increasingly cost-effective as they could be used for businesses of every genre and size that demand small Business phone service.

With the passage of time, telecommunication has revolutionized and incredibly advanced its services technologically. The fact of the matter is that the services of the small telephone phones have been installed in most companies globally. It is far less expensive when compared to other telephone services, especially by those being used by major organizations. A small business phone service could still be useful for small business enterprises because of its reliable and accepted functions and other specialized features. Realizing the fact that top-notch telephone services would be rather expensive, small business services continue to go in for and settle down with small business telephone services.

There have been new components that have been developed in the recent past in the realm of communication and this was what service companies have been making use of in their own services. Some suppliers offer small business phone service that comes with extra services incorporated. A small business would definitely vouch for these services as they come with extra capabilities which would later prove to be priceless assets to the organizations. And it is because of the phone service coming at cost-effective prices, the services of small business phones have not been difficult to obtain.

SMALL BUSINESS PHONES FOR ORGANIZATIONS

Every business needs telecommunication lines to communicate efficiently and effectively. Over the years, business enterprises have been using analogue systems for telecommunications. But ever since telecommunications have metamorphosed the way in which businesses operate and communicate, business has taken giant leap forward too. Installing a phone system would not only ease the work flow but also increase the productivity of the company per se.

Call forwarding facility could be another facility that could be considered by companies when they sign up for a new service provider. This would be useful for small business enterprises as the number of telephone connections as well as the extensions would not create problems for them.

FACTORS TO CONSIDER BEFORE GOING IN FOR A SMALL BUSINESS PHONE SERVICE:

• Whether the company could afford the service.
• The present employee strength of the organization
• The competency of the business
• Would it be the service that your business really needs

It would be better that these questions be evaluated, analyzed and estimated before any company would desire to go in for a business phone provider.

As most service providers come with free customer service toll-free number, service hotlines where they can get round the clock customer support that would help them get their questions speedily redressed.

BENEFITS OF SMALL BUSINESS PHONES:

• BUSINESS OPERATIONAL FROM ANYWHERE

It simply does not matter where you are and from where your business operates out of. An answering phone gives you the convenience as well as the feasibility as of conducting your business from where you are your business takes you. As the service is so programmed as to function as per the operational schedules of the business per se, the calls automatically get forwarded on to the business owner's phones even though they might not be in their offices.

• A BIGGER AND A LARGER CORPORATE IMAGE

A novel business telephone interfaces of small business telephone answering service that offers' efficient customer care, to gain the attraction of the potential customers into your businesses which would mean that all the incoming calls that land on your telephone would be answered and gifted with utmost professionalism. These calls could also be customized to business hours and post business hours greetings. The callers get to listen to melodious and soothing music while their calls get connected. The phones could also be auto programmed to an auto attendant so as to provide additional information about the features and benefits and services to the callers.

• COST EFFECTIVE AND TIME SAVING

Small business phone services could be obtained at extremely cost-effective and affordable prices. As all operations are controlled by the service providers, the service that the client receives is devoid of installation, repair as well as maintenance charges. All that it would need is a dedicated phone line and an Internet connection to have your business be provided with multiple phone line connections within the office network which would otherwise incur huge expenses for each individual phone connection.

A hosted PBX service gives your business the attention and promotion that it so immensely describes. This could happen if the service providers offer a superior level customer support that could not only enhance your company's productivity but also its revenues and client base.

CONCLUSION

For businesses to operate and function efficiently and for the communications to flow smoothly and effortlessly, Small Business Phone Services is the answer as put simply, it would only help increase your profits and your revenues as well as client base in the market even more.

Online Music Course Reviews and Buying Considerations

Sonic Producer

The Sonic Producer online beat machine software is a new kind of music generator that exports MP3s as well as a membership only site with tutorials, loop libraries and videos. It is packaged as an application and course for learning music production in a keyboard and mixing studio environment. It is online software and training that allows non-professional music lovers to create very high quality beats quickly. The lessons provide education for music production using sequencers, instruments, keyboards and multi-track software.

The online classes show you how to make and produce beats for instrumentals, rap and hip hop. It is made for students of all ages and for anyone who wants to learn the craft of making beats. The courses and software work on any computer system including PC and Mac. Technical support is offered with the membership.

Product Specifications:

- Online beat maker with large royalty free library of sounds you can use.
- Export professional sounding instrumental beats online to MP3.
- Learn music production with user friendly software and courses.
- Easy to use and made for any computer and operating system.
- Unlimited beats in all styles available for exporting.
- Contests for members with cash and prize awards.

Buying Considerations:

One of the top alternatives for novices but does not offer the advanced features of more expensive desktop software. You do not automatically make beats with the software, this takes a bit of training.

Music maker software requires gaining an understanding of loop technology and a sense of rhythm. This course makes it much easier, but it will take some effort on the student's part.

Music Master Pro

Music Master Pro is an online music school where you learn how to play music online. Jay Dynasty, a musician with major label credits, is the founder and main teacher. The site's mission to provide musicians world-wide with high quality instruction in musical instruments and audio production. The web-based music institute also provides career support in the way of networking forums and industry listings.

The courses are available for beginning through advanced musicians in guitar, bass and drums. Methods cover multiple styles including jazz, pop, rock and hip hop in a variety of tempos and feels. No prior music experience is required for the courses. Various other tools are included such as instrumental jam tracks, an online beat maker and private forums.

The program includes resources that teach music basics, improvisation, transcribing and reading music. The training is delivered primarily via video and audio download and new lessons are added to the library on a regular basis. Students have access to the entire lesson library at once so lessons start at every level of skill and can be revisited until techniques are mastered.

Product Specifications:

- 200 lessons in audio and video for guitar, bass and drums in all styles.
- 1000 instrumental audio tracks that you can practice improvement with.
- Several thousand scale and chord references for licks, patterns and progressions.
- Additional video courses on music production including scoring and beat making.
- Includes add on lessons in piano and violin in MP3 format.
- Web-based beat generator software for online hip hop and techno styles.
- Industry networking and listings in the private member forum.
- Accessible from Windows PC and Mac OS via an Internet connection.

Buying Considerations:

While this may be the most extensive and acclaimed library of video lessons, keep in mind that learning independently is not for everyone. If you have never even picked up an instrument, consider taking a few lessons with a teacher first before diving into self-learning.

Learning to hold an instrument and getting a sense of the basics from a professional in person can get you off to a solid start. After that a course like Music Master Pro can take you to a level that weekly lessons may not be able to.

The Money System, Why Money Is Not Stable and Why You Should Buy Silver

To explain the money system, we should look at how money is born. In pretty much every country on Earth, one of the ways new money can be born involves a central bank. If the bank notes that an increase of the money supply would help us, it can just make more money. It's that easy. It does not even need to be printed as currency to be born. The next step involves the commercial banks. These are the banks that you and I use to cash checks and deposit money. All the central bank needs to do is buy some things from these banks using the money it just made and now the commercial banks have more money.

There's another way money can be born. It involves commercial banks. If I go to the bank and deposit $ 500, the bank says, "fantastic," we will hold on to this money for you and at any time you want, you can withdraw or spend these $ 500. The thing is, legally, banks only need to reserve a fraction of the money that they are given. This is known as fractional reserve banking. It means that if someone else comes along, say, Bob and he wants to borrow some money, say, 300 dollars, the bank can lend him $ 300. And now, whenever he wants he can spend these 300 dollars. But here's the thing: Bob can spend $ 300 and I can spend $ 500 for a total of $ 800, despite the fact that there are only 500 dollars in the bank. By the way, you can act just like a central bank and control the money supply yourself. It is illegal, but you can technically increase the money supply by counterfeiting and you can decrease the money supply by subtracting money. For instance, burning it.

If you burn your own money, you become poorer, but because you've reduced the money supply, the power of everyone else's money goes up and they become a tiny bit richer. Of course, given the amount of money you could probably get your hands on and burn, your effect will be quite imperceptible. In a world, where nothing was stable and survival was a challenge, food, clean water, antibiotics, and machines of those types of things would be our economy. When what you use as money has an intrinsic value, it's useful in and of itself, it is known as commodity money. It can also include precious metals, like gold, and silver which rarity makes it likely to be accepted by other people for goods and services. Now, when you can safely store all of your commodities in one place and you do not need a defend them or lug them around everywhere, representative money often makes more sense. Store your valuables in a trusted place like a bank and get some slips of paper from them, saying "yeah, I own that stuff." Now you can walk around with some easy to carry slips of paper and use those to buy the things that you want. We are now closer to what we call money today. I say closer, because almost all money that we know of today does not represent any actual useful commodity anywhere on Earth. This note does not represent how much food or water or gold or spices or video games I have stocked up in a bank, it just is money. It's called fiat money

Selecting a Voiceover Artist For Your E-Learning Project

Many elearning projects make use of voiceover to enhance the learning experience. Selecting the right voice for your content is just one thing to think about!

Ensure that you understand who owns the copyright and get your contracts in place
Before you sign any contracts make sure that you are clear about who owns the recorded material and how it can be used. You should be really clear about where you can use the material, how often and for what purposes.

Have you selected the right voiceover artist?
At the start of the project talk to your client about the type of voiceover artist that they have in mind. If possible email the client some sound clips so that they can listen to some examples of voice styles. Most voiceover artists have sound samples that you can use. It is best to include the client in the selection process. If you are requesting voiceover samples talk to the artist so that they can provide you with a good range that you'll be able to listen to.

What will you get at the end?
Do you want mp3, wav, DAT, CD? It's best to agree with the voiceover artist how you will receive your final files. We work with a superb artist who provides all of our clips in mp3 or wav so that we can use them right away. Think about specifying the filenames of the clips, it might cost a little more but if you've hundreds of clips called 1.mp3, 2.mp3 it is going to be difficult to sort them in the future.

You can divide your script and provide your requested filenames, this makes it even easier for the studio.

Make sure your artist understands your acronyms and abbreviations
Do not assume that your voiceover artist will have worked in every business sector! You may have a certain way of speaking abbreviations that you need to get just right. Talk to your artist over the phone or provide them with an example sound file that they can listen to if you have any tricky words!

If you have a section which you think may provide some problems ask the voiceover artist to provide you with a few variations so that you can select at a later date.

Make your script easy to read!
Before you start recording make sure that your voiceover artist had had time to read your script. The voiceover artists that we work with all offer their advice and opinions to ensure that we get the best recording. Take time to listen to their views, what looks good on paper often needs changing before recording.

Simple things like double line spacing and making sure sections do not go over onto a new page will all help your voiceover artist.

Finally let your voiceover artist actually see the project that you are working on. If you can let them have access to project materials it will really help them understand exactly what you are looking for.

Metal DDR Pads - A Good Workout As Well As Being Good Fun

Dance Dance Revolution or DDR is an arcade style video game which is activated by the player's feet. It was first introduced in Japan as an arcade game back in 1998, This game is now extremely popular for use at home. To enjoy the real arcade experience of DDR at home, you will want to get yourself a set of the best metal DDR pads on the market.

To participate in the game, players have to be on a square metal mat with an arrow on each side. The Arrows move around the tv screen to the beat of the tunes, which are chosen by the player. As an arrow moves around the tv screen, the participant steps on the equivalent arrow on the metal platform. The games come with all the tunes incorporated into the software. As you play the game and improve your speed and scores, hidden songs will be uncoovered.

Dance Dance Revolution is perfect for anyone who likes to dance and is also up for a good challenge. DDR is also for anyone who is really fed with using a treadmill, static bike, or cross training machine. It is important to remember that before starting any new exercise regimen, you should get yourself cleared by your Doctor.

So, you have the game and you also have a set of the best metal DDR pads. You start to play the game and suddenly - you find are actually dancing. What else is happening? very likely you will be sweating a lot. This is great news - you are having fun and also doing cardio - how often does that happen?

If you like dance music and you want to add something to your life that is fun yet helps you to lose weight, this is the game for you! Do not waste any time, get hold of the best metal DDR pads and see how good a dancer you really are. As well as achieving a really good workout you will see your dancing skills quickly improving. You will also find that you have much better balance and coordination - all in all its a pretty good result from something which is actually fun to do. You can probably count on the fingers of one hand, how many times you have come away from the gym and have been able to say you had fun ......