If you find travelling the world to be a rejuvenating experience, you don’t have to strain your budget to stay young and kicking on the travel circuit.I’m sure you’ll agree, It’s a lovely planet we live in, and Lonely Planet guides can show you the best treats, eats and retreats which some luxury tours choose to overlook as they sometimes only show you only the glossy, well worn parts of the country that you have chosen to visit, and leave you with the feeling of a somewhat ‘plastic’ holiday experienceIf you are planning a backpacking trip of your own, then the correct use of Lonely Planet guides and various travel blogs are a great way to familiarise yourself with your chosen travel destination before you ever leave home. They are a great option since they include some of the best kept travel secrets, helping you to travel further & longer with confidence.Just because you want to travel doesn’t necessarily mean that you have burn a whole pile of cash to get an amazing travelling experience.Backpacking from place to place can give you the chance to meet locals, as well as other travellers, and learn more about the planet we live in and the diversities of other cultures.The famous Lonely Planet Guides have provided tourists with useful and practical information for many years.Created after its founders splendid honeymoon during which they travelled across two continents and an ocean with borrowed money.I always liked how the Lonely Planet guides are packed full of practical travel information and advice about the places I want to visit, however, I sometimes have found the guides to be outdated on more than one occasion.The Guides are laid out beautifully with helpful maps & various photographs from local attractions.Combine the photos with descriptions of cities & countries from around the globe and you have a great book that will inspire you to plan your next travel adventure.What I enjoy most about the Lonely Planet Books is they can help to generate fresh ideas of new places to travel and things worth doing when I’m in need of some travel inspiration.The books are full of lists. Top 10 Countries, Top 10 Regions, Top 10 Cities and so on.I don’t know if I agree with the top 10 in each of these categories, and you might not either, but that is not the point.Use the book to inspire you to travel to new places you haven’t yet been, and to generate ideas and travel inspiration.Even if you don’t travel to the locations listed in the Lonely Planet Travel Guides, they will help you create awareness of what’s out there, and of the places that are available for you to explore.If you enjoy traveling, you will enjoy looking through the Lonely Planet Travel Guides for fresh new backpacking ideas.In 2007 approximately seventy five percent of the Lonely Planet was acquired by BBC Worldwide who resolved to continue creating travel guides as they have always been created in the past, providing trustworthy advice to independent travellers and backpackers.Each year approximately 500 new Lonely Planet guides are published for travellers.You can either purchase them from bookstores all over the world, or online directly from the company’s official website.In addition, you can even download the guides now as an audio book.Wandering from one distant place to another, allows you to experience the diversity of the world’s cultures, and the world-renowned Lonely Planet Guides have been helping tourists with their itineraries since it’s founders went on their own life-changing adventure, spending borrowed money and savings on an unforgettable travel experience across two continents.Lonely Planet Publications is one of the world’s largest travel guidebook publishers, founded by Tony and Maureen Wheeler, who cashed in on their wanderlust.Tony came up with the company name, having misheard the phrase ‘lovely planet’ in Joe Cocker and Leon Russell’s song, ‘Space Captain.’Of late, Travel Blogs have become one of the more popular ways to learn about the mighty world of travel.Backpackers, travellers on the move, and jet setters who love to travel the world can find a bunch of relevant information on travel blogs especially information that may not be available in a standard printed travel book or guide.First hand information about a possible travel location can come in very handy for the regular traveller, especially if it concerns local travel, hotel and food information, local weather information and travel maps etc.Don’t depend on a single source for travel information. Flick through the Lonely Planet Guides, find a good Travel Blog with relevant & accurate information & even use Google to find helpful useful travel advice & tips.
Debt Management Advice
Debt issues can be very dangerous for an individual or even a company and there is definitely a great need of managing debts as soon as it is possible. The good news is that there are trained professionals who can help through the management system of debts thus offering plans which have the potential of helping you deal with and clear the debts that you could be having.Debts can be as a result of overdrafts, loans and even credit limits which are overstretched. In the case where the monthly expenditure exceeds the monthly income, it can also result into debts and people in such situations will need professional advice if at all they are to manage dealing with the financial issues that they are facing. Using credit cards is another aspect that can lead to debts especially when the individuals use the cards to clear other pending debts or pay for items. The fact is that different situations can lead to debts and without proper management, they can ruin you.There is therefore a great need for all people to know just how to manage their debts. With proper debt management and a plan that is well laid out by the professionals, you will have the financial serenity that you have been longing for. One of the benefits that come with the management plans is that you will manage to work with a onetime payment every month thus keeping creditors controlled. The debt management experts will also help in reducing the interest charges that could have accumulated as well as the penalties thus giving you the chance to clear debts at very affordable rates.The debt management professionals will take care of all the telephone calls and letters from your creditors, solicitors and collection agencies so you can rest easy. They also will come in handy in ensuring that you avoid bailiffs and court actions that could otherwise leave you penniless. They will always find a debt management plan that will help you in dealing with the current debts that you have without putting you into a situation whereby you are tempted to incur other debts.Financial management is one of the best ways of keeping debts at bay. Most people however still find themselves in debts but with proper debt management, you will easily get over the debts and manage to live a life that is free from any kind of debts.
Trends in Ecommerce Are Showing Right Now is the Time to Develop a Quality Ecommerce Site
eCommerce is proving to be the choice of many businesses due to the apparent downturn in the economy and consumer demand. With expected continued growth it may be time to measure up the pro’s and con’s of developing an eCommerce presence and what steps are necessary to experience growth within this proven strategyAccording to Forrester Research, 2007 online sales experienced a growth of 21% over 2006 and future trends show a continued growth of around 14% p/a over the next 5 years, despite the current wavering economy.The Dilemma of developing an eCommerce site that performs -How do you build a good eCommerce website that delivers profits to the bottom line? One of the great challenges for Australian Businesses deciding to tackle the on-line world, is in the style of site they believe they need to design to generate any real profits.Director of retail Phil Bonanno from The Leading Edge said, “Many websites in Australia are a basic catalogue pages placed on their website. There isn’t really a good demonstration of integration between websites and other technologies. A Majority of websites lack innovation, offer nothing new or exciting and fail to engage their visitors,”This identifies an untapped market in Australia, where anyone with vision can establish themselves as the market leader in their niche.Successful eCommerce websites are built by using Proven Techniques -The key to a successful eCommerce site is in establishing a solid foundation and planning the future success. It’s important to understand the message you want your potential customers to interpret from your business and how a customer will buy a product or service from you.Think of creating a new website like the opening a new outlet or store.Would you expect to have a high performing store if your customers had to walk through an unidentifiable maze to find your cash register? Or even worse, would you design a physical store where you customer is ready to buy only to discover they can’t complete their transaction as they are shopping in a display only store?It is critical for your customers to find their shopping experience simple and enjoyable.It is possible to achieve this through a combination of proven web design and eCommerce techniques.eCommerce offers a Measurable Return on Investment -One of the greatest challenges in marketing is through understanding what does and doesn’t work. Different marketing strategies can take months to come to fruition and you may not even understand if they are actually achieving a return on investment. eCommerce is proving to break free from the mould offering a medium that allows successful measure of campaigns through applications such as Google Analytics.As David Trewern from marketing agency DTDigital was quoted as saying “You are able to prove your return on your investment – it is pretty difficult to find that level of information and data from other methods of measurement. You no longer have to guess what is working which gives you an upper hand in a bad economic environment, when people want to ensure they are achieving a result.”eCommerce offers the opportunity for all businesses to compete on a level playing field -In the world of Bricks and Mortar there is a huge difference between small and big business. Myers, David Jones and Woolworths hold the obvious upper hand over smaller independent retailers. This translates across many different industries and identifies a necessity to consider other mediums in order to grow business.Any business with a solid eCommerce plan are proof anyone can out perform their competition in the on-line world.vroomvroomvroom are one of many examples of sites that demonstrate how a business can compete on the same playing field with websites like Avis, Hertz and Budget car rentals through smart design that make their eCommerce solution intuitive and easy to use.They currently have only 10 employees, and through well thought eCommerce strategies and implementation of technology have established themselves as market leaders in the Australian car hire industry. By redeveloping their eCommerce strategy they managed to grow their revenue by 121% in 12 months.Do I need to take out a second mortgage to get a piece of the eCommerce action?With expected growth of 14% p/a it is important to ensure you have a well thought eCommerce strategy to establish yourself as a leader in your niche. This will obviously involve an investment, but will not cost you anywhere near the price of setting up a physical shop and hiring a team of people to run it. Think of an eCommerce presence like a sales person servicing your customers 24/7, reducing your time and expenses you’d normally have to spend.In today’s economic climate it is critical to ensure you are adapting to the market place. What better way to do that then to become a market leader in your niche through the development of an eCommerce strategy that will outperform your competition.