daily blog

It time again to revisit alternative financing strategies for business owners needing money. Whether your business needs capital to grow, meet payroll, or to just simply survive, there are numerous alternatives for your company when banks so ‘NO’.

Personal loans are no longer viable options for business owners. Banks have tightened their purse strings on personal credit just as they have with business credit. This tightening typically does not have anything to do with the state of your credit or the value of your collateral. But more reflects their past indiscretions with their depositors’ money. Further, most business owners, over the last two or three years, have already encumbered all of their personal assets, leaving nothing of value to collateralize.

The following lists many alternatives that may still be available to your business. These alternatives allow business owners to capitalize on their previous hard work; be it from building relationships with suppliers and other business partners to closing sales and building a strong customer base:

Using Your Business Relationships!

Trade Credit: It never hurts to work with your suppliers. Ask for better terms; either more discounts or longer time for payment. Here you can reduce your overall costs or allow more time to collect money from your customer before payment is due to these suppliers. Now, your suppliers may baulk at this discussion as they are probably feeling the same pinch as you are. However, impress upon them that it does their business no good (short term or long-term) if you go out of business, have to cut back your standard orders, or are forced to find other suppliers who offer better terms.

In conjunction with trade credit, do all that you can to collect your receivables from your customers, as soon as possible. If your suppliers offer you discounts for early payment, offer the same to your customers (just maybe not at the same magnitude) or offer discounts for cash. This allows you to collect payments faster as well as reduce you costs by paying less for the goods you need to run your business. Just remember, in this type of economy, cash is king.

Using The Strength of Your Customers!

Receivables and/or Purchase Orders: If your business has accounts receivables sitting on its book just waiting to be collected, you maybe able to get cash for those assets NOW. There are cash advance companies (not banks) that specialize in purchasing your receivables. Companies like Bridgeport Capital Service, RTS Financial Services, or Paragon Financial Group. These companies will purchase your invoices for up to 90% of their amount. They will then work with your customers to collect these receivables (saving you both time and money on collection). When the invoices are paid, these companies will refund to you the remaining 10% of the invoice amount. This type of funding is great for struggling companies as these cash advance businesses will focus more on your customers’ credit and business strengths than your.

Many of these same companies will also finance your purchase orders. If you place an order with your suppliers and agree to pay for their goods over time, these cash advance companies will finance these agreements. This could allow your business the opportunity to take advantage of trade discounts (percentages off the purchase amount) as your company will have immediate cash to satisfy your supplier. This is very similar to having a line of credit with your bank but as an individual credit facility for each purchase.

Credit Cards: I not saying go out and get more credit cards. If your business accepts credit cards, there are companies (again, not banks) that may advance cash to your company based on your FUTURE credit card receipts. These facilities are only paid back when your business generates credit card sales. Thus, if you have a slow month, you are not stuck with a huge monthly loan payment. As your credit card sales ebb and flow, your repayment of these advances will ebb and flow in tandem.

Using Your Character!

Need just a small amount of cash to get you by? Try social lending sites like All World Private Funding!, Zopa, Prosper, or Lending Club. These sites create peer-to-peer lending in which ordinary people, who have additional cash, can review your request and contribute to the funding of your loan. The benefits of these programs include getting the money you need, possible lower rates and better terms than most banks offer, and you get to tell your story directly to the lenders.

Similarly, there is Micro-Credit companies. The largest in the US and around the world is ACCION USA. Micro-finance companies limit their total out lay to a maximum of $25,000 per loan. However, most micro-credit funders like to build relationships first with their borrowers. Thus, they may only approve smaller amounts in the beginning and increase your loan amount as you pay back each facility. These companies will also work with startup firms or those that have been turned down by traditional banks and other financial institutions.

Never forget your friends and family. These are the people who know you best and may better understand what you are trying to do with your business. There are many cons with borrowing money from those closest to you but new companies like Virgin Money will help you manage this new relationship. Companies like Virgin will help you keep everything in a business like manner.

Now, while there is a lot of focus these days on traditional banks, most communities also have Credit Unions. Credit Unions are not-for-profit organizations. Thus, they do not have to worry about Wall Street or shareholders. While the majority of Credit Unions have yet to fully adopt commercial lending departments, they should have lending programs in place that will meet your business needs.

Some of these alternative options maybe a little more expensive, overall, then having a single credit facility with a bank. But, they are a sure fire way of leading your company through our current credit drought. The key to success is to do your homework. Find the program that best fits your needs and that will provide the greatest benefit at the lowest cost to your business. Some business owners tend to panic a bit when they begin to feel the credit pinch. It is only natural as raising money for your business is time consuming, time that can hardly be spared in these trying times. But, remember to think about the long term. Don’t just settle on the first source that gets approved, find the best fore you. Be diligent!

Joseph Lizio holds A MBA in Finance and is founder and owner of http://www.businessmoneytoday.com

There is gender inequality in global wealth. Men earn more money. Men invest more money. Men save more money. Men run more companies. Yet women live longer and 50% of marriages end in divorce, so women will be alone at some point in their lives. 3 out of 4 elderly women live in poverty, but most weren’t poor when their men were alive. With the economy slowing down, it is more important than ever to become wealthy. Here are 10 reasons you need to become a rich woman.

1. Independence. Learning to create and control money will release you from dependence on any one person, or the government.

2. Self-esteem. If you learn how to be financially independent, you will grow in self-confidence and this will enhance your relationships at all levels. You can look after yourself and your family financially.

3. Protection of you and yours. In these times of economic doubt, protection of your home and your assets is critical. Creating wealth and understanding money will help protect what you have already.

4. Providing for your family. New ways of creating multiple streams of income can help you enhance life for all the family.

5. Live the life of your dreams. With the wealth you create, you can have that fantastic house, amazing new car and travel when you like. You can send the kids to the best college, and have that new wardrobe. You can live the life of your dreams.

6. Equality. Why should men make all the money? Women are good investors and money managers, as well as great entrepreneurs. We just have some catching up to do.

7. Giving. When you have money, you can give more away. Bill Gates and Warren Buffett gave more to charity than whole countries can earn. The richer you are, the more you can give.

8. Freedom and choice. If you are wealthy, you have the choice over what you do with your time, and your life. You have the freedom to work at what you want, to travel when you want, to spend what you want. You have choices that you do not have now.

9. For your future. There won’t be a government pension for most people, or it will be so little it will mean life on the poverty line. If you want to have a future worth looking forward to, you need to ensure you are financially secure.

10. Just to prove you can do it! Maybe you have always wanted to be rich, you just didn’t know how to do it. Challenge yourself. Find out how and take action!

Joanna Penn is an author, speaker and consultant.
Get your Free “7 Secrets of Millionaires” audio and report at http://www.GirlsCreateWealth.com

Many business people don’t know that equipment leases can be negotiated. They do a quick read-through of the contract, see that the monthly payments are what was represented, and sign where indicated. Not carefully reviewing each paragraph of the agreement can be costly. Long, drawn-out contracts are often developed by leasing companies to gain added revenues and advantages for themselves. Consequently, in this situation, it is to the detriment of the lessee.

This article discloses some of the terms and conditions that are contained in lease contracts, but can often be negotiated. A properly trained lease broker can be invaluable in helping the lessee discern the points of contention and negotiate a fair and equitable agreement.

1. Credit or commitment fees: Some leasing companies will charge you a fee simply to process the credit application. Others may charge a fee to keep the credit commitment open after the application has been approved. These are ridiculous fees that I would advise never paying.

2. End of term option: This is a critical point in the contract. Beware of language that allows you to buy the equipment at a “mutually acceptable price” as opposed to fair market value. When a lessor states they will sell you the equipment at a mutually acceptable price, they can back you into a corner by charging just about what they want. Fair market value and $1 buyout leases are legally defined and more quantifiable.

3. The never-ending lease: Some leasing companies try to lock you into a leasing situation forever and the only way to escape is to pay an inordinate fee. Beware of a lease that gives you three options at the end of the term: a. Buy the equipment at a “mutually agreeable price”. b. Extend the contract at a mutually agreeable price, or c. Return the equipment to the lessor and strike a new deal at a mutually agreeable price. These are all poor options for you, the lessee and only serve to benefit the profit of the leasing company.

4. Equipment pass title fees: These are fees that some lessors charge when the lessee chooses to buy the equipment at the end of the lease term and obtain clear title. These fees can be as high as $250 or more.

5. “Put” at end of lease: Make sure that you have an option to buy the equipment at the end of the lease and not a put. A put may result in lower monthly payments, but requires you to buy the equipment, as opposed to an option, which gives you a choice.

6. Delayed payment to vendor: Some leasing firms delay payment to the vendor for the purpose of increasing their yield. This is unethical, creates a hardship for the vendor, and makes your company appear in a bad light.

7. Up-front broker fees:Some lease brokers charge an up-front fee at the onset of the relationship. I have never charged such a fee because my compensation is based upon a successful completion of the transaction and is a percentage of the amount funded.

These are some of the items to look for when reviewing an equipment lease. Keep in mind that competition among leasing companies is intense and they do not want to lose your business. Do not be shy about asking that these fees be taken out of the agreement.

Kent Harlan has been a CPA since 1984 and has provided consulting, accounting and financial services to several industries. He is the owner of Ozarks Capital Funding, LLC, a Springfield, MO based company offering business and heatlhcare financing.

Does your company need to finance new equipment or refinance your existing inventory of equipment? click here to apply.

EMAIL: kenth@ocflink.com
WEB: http://www.ocflink.com
PHONE: 417.849.7394

As the credit crisis deepens, many borrowers are realizing that working with a commercial mortgage broker makes a lot of sense and is more important than ever. Virtually all banks and lenders have severely tighten their credit standard to the point that most borrowers are having a very difficult time finding any banks that will even consider their loan request.

Bottom line, 95% of all commercial mortgage loan requests are being turned down cold. So one of the keys here for the borrower is to figure out which banks are still really funding deals and how to structure the loan request so that it has the highest likely hood of closing. And good commercial mortgage brokers knows both.

Tapping the experience and resources of a commercial mortgage broker is an excellent way to do this. A knowledgeable commercial mortgage broker is in essence shopping banks and lenders everyday and everyday for years. The good ones know what is going on behinds the scenes with banks as they have long term relationships with associates that inform them of any internal issues. The folks in the bank know how important the broker is to their personal success and will not miss lead the commercial mortgage broker, in fear of destroying future business. So a commercial mortgage broker worth his “salt” should be able to take you to a bank or lender that’s in a valid position to fund your loan.

An important point here is that commercial mortgage brokers are in essence on the same side of the table as the borrower. They get paid when the loan closes. Most do not make hourly consulting fees, etc. They invest their time, effort and resources into your deal and are betting they can get it done. If they are experienced, they will only take your deal to a bank that can really close it.

Keep in mind one of the annoying problems out there for borrowers shopping banks on their own is that many bank loan officers have many quotas besides closing loans… most of these quotas go against the borrowers goal of closing their loan. For example, bank loan officers have weekly meeting and loan application quotas. So they may try to schedule a meeting with you and get you to fill out a loan application and send in all tax returns/financials even though they know they can’t get the loan funded.

They are trying to save their job. Again, they get to justify their job with their manager at your expense and your time.

Good, experienced, commercial mortgage brokers can save you a lot of time and energy by taking you right to the most viable banks from the beginning. And, believe it or not, they can also save you a lot of money as well.

Jeff Rauth is President of Commercial Finance Advisors, Inc out of Birmingham, Michigan a national commercial mortgage brokerage firm. 248 885-8797. He also has a STORE for commercial loan brokers. Contracts, spreadsheets, books, etc. Products starting at $5. Check it out commercial real estate loans or commercial mortgage brokers

I love it when I read forum entries from people suggesting trading strategies along the lines of:

- Enter long when the RSI(14) is above 50, the stochastic (14,5,3) has crossed positive, and the Williams %R(14) is rising from the oversold area
- Enter short when the RSI(14) is below 50, the stochastic (14,5,3) has crossed negative, and the Williams %R(14) is falling from the overbought area

(Disclaimer: I just made up that strategy, so don’t trade it without testing it first – the fact is though – I seriously doubt it works)

Look, there are many problems with calling something like this a strategy, but the one I want to discuss today is simply that each of these indicators belongs to the same class of indicator. The RSI, the stochastic and the Williams %R are all oscillators.

An oscillator is a momentum based indicator that moves above and below a horizontal axis representing a position of neutral momentum.

Now each of these three oscillators measures momentum slightly differently. RSI measures it through comparing the magnitude of higher closes to lower closes over a set period of price bars. The stochastic measures it showing where the current close fits relative to a high/low range over a set period of price bars. The Williams %R works on the same concept as the stochastic, showing the relationship between the current close and the high/low range set over a period of price bars, however it does so through a different formula.

Basically, all are measuring the same thing. Quite likely, you’ve added some extra complexity to your strategy that serves no useful purpose at all.

Is there ever a need for more than one oscillator? Possibly, yes. It depends on what you’re trying to achieve. You might use one for indicating oversold or overbought price areas, and a different one for indicating increasing or decreasing momentum. You might even use one indicator twice, with different parameters, to represent momentum over both a shorter and longer time period. In this case, it’s fine.

However, I suspect many traders when developing their trading approach don’t really think about it to this degree. I suspect most just slap an indicator on their chart for no other reason than their platform provides it, and then look through the price history to see whether it shows potential for profits.

In this case, they can probably benefit from removing any redundancy.

So, what indicator classes are there? With some exceptions, the majority will fit within one of these four classes:

1. Trend indicators, such as moving averages, directional movement or trendlines.
2. Volatility indicators, such as bollinger bands, average true range or standard deviation.
3. Oscillators such as RSI, stochastics and Williams %R.
4. Volume / Market Strength indicators, such as volume, on balance volume or money flow index.

Generally you shouldn’t need more than one indicator to determine trend, one to determine volatility, one to determine momentum, and one to measure volume. In many cases, through a study of price action, you can even eliminate those single indicators and determine trend, momentum and volatility through price alone. Of course, that’s not for all people.

What I encourage you to do is to look carefully at the indicators you’re using. Do you have more than one indicator from any of the indicator classes? If so, is there a valid reason for it, or is it simply redundancy that has slipped unnoticed into your trading strategy? More often than not, I’d suggest your strategy could benefit from removal of that extra redundancy. Trading is one business where ‘simple really is best’.

Happy trading,
Lance Beggs

Would you like to learn more about how I trade the forex and equity index markets? Check out the articles, videos and trading resources on my website right now at http://www.YourTradingCoach.com

I’m sure there are many men out there who will agree that there are certain things a woman should never ask their husbands and boyfriends. Not only do men prefer not to deal with these annoying questions, women usually don’t want to hear the answers… not honest answers, anyway!

Here are some of the top things you should never ask a guy:

1. Does this make me look fat?
Please don’t take this the wrong way, but if you’re worried that an outfit makes you look fat, it probably does. Don’t wimp out by asking for a guy’s opinion. Any man who doesn’t want to get his head bitten off is going to lie and say, “Of course not, honey.”

2. What are you thinking?
Personally, I don’t buy into the rumor that men only think about sex. They think about other things too, like pizza and dinosaurs. They’re probably not thinking about you, though, at least not at the precise moment when you ask this rather blunt question. It puts them on the spot, possibly even making them forget what they were thinking about in the first place. That, or they’re thinking about something they’d rather not discuss. If your guy is thinking about Christina Aguilera’s boobs, do you really want to know about it?

3. Which do you like better?
Whether you’re talking about shoes, dresses, or jewelry, most men don’t care. And if he’s one of those men who actually has an opinion on what looks more fashionable, you probably won’t agree with him anyway. You’ll both be a lot happier if you trust your own judgment.

4. Do you think she looks pretty?
This is a loaded question. We of course know that the only correct response is, “She’s not as beautiful as you, honey.” But he might shoot himself in the foot and answer honestly: “Yeah, she’s pretty hot!” This is an insecurity issue.

In short, never ask a question if you’re not prepared to hear an honest answer!

Wishing you joy in your relationship,

Dana Rhinehart

Want to enjoy a happy marriage like I do? Want to find out for sure if you and your partner are compatible? Visit http://strongrelationships.info to get a list of pre-marriage questions you need to ask your partner.

Although honesty is generally taught as the best policy, I would propose that it is the only policy to follow in 99% of cases. The other 1% could be called “white lies.” How are you to know the difference, that is, when someone is telling the whole truth as opposed to a white lie? Here are some tips that will help you spot a liar.

There was an old Hollywood movie starring Charles Bronson as a buffalo hunter and Will Sampson as an Indian Chief. They are in a cave together, hunting the same killer white buffalo, when they engage in a conversation about truth. Bronson, known to the Indians as “the shooter” because he is a skilled hunter, has his version of the truth and the Chief has his. The Chief asks – “Tell me Shooter, what is the true truth?” I ask you the same question. For me, the true truth is the whole truth, no shading. What is it for you?

As we go about our interaction with each other, the white lie is employed more than any other form of communication with those closest to us. We are more apt to shade the truth in order to avoid hurt feelings or, when we know a person really well, we tell a white lie because we know they really don’t want the true truth. They have their version of the true truth and that’s the version they want to hear.

When we deal with strangers, telling a lie is easy because we likely will never see them again but what about that stranger we may see again? You need to decide if what you are lying about is worth what you will gain as opposed to the potential consequences if your lie is discovered. It is a personal decision. You need to be realistic with yourself. It is easy to become a compulsive liar and ruin your life. Under what circumstances are you willing to risk damaging relationships, reputation, and future opportunities. Ask yourself. Do the benefits of telling the lie outweigh the risks?

For example: A teen boy tells his parents he’s going to the movies with a friend but he’s really going to a concert with his girlfriend. Logically, the parents are going to ask what the movie was about and if he enjoyed it. Now, beforehand, the teen could Google a summary of what was in the movie; along with the climax so he can be ready for the questions. Such a young man may not consider the consequences if he is caught in the lie. He does not realize that his parents will be emotionally hurt by his lie and will take a long time before ever trusting him again. His lie has destroyed the parent-child relationship for a long time to come.

Telemarketing has taught us that it’s relatively easy to lie to someone over the phone because the sense of personal connection is very small. You can’t see them; they can’t see you. As a result, you are less likely to feel guilty and, therefore, give visual clues that you may be deviating from your normal behavior. If you were closer to the person physically, you would have a greater personal connection. Consequently, you would be more likely to reveal, in some way, that you are engaging in deceptive behavior.

The same reasoning applies to being close to a person psychologically. If you try to lie to your girlfriend or boyfriend, there are numerous psychological pressures. For example, you’ll think about what happens if you get caught, feel guilty about lying to someone you care about and it will be more difficult to focus on mimicking your normal behavior. This phenomenon is often called “liars’ remorse,” and it’s usually what people are talking about when they say a liar “wants to get caught.” Those closest to us know when we are lying and when we are shading the truth a bit.

Most strangers will not have a clue if you are an accomplished liar. It takes years, by the way, to develop a liar’s mentality. An amateur liar will not look you right in the eye when lying. They may touch their head with their hand, or hold their palms up as they spin the lie. These are both giveaways. An accomplished liar does the opposite. They look you in the eye, their hands at their side. An amateur liar will use the strongest adjectives and a voice level that are above normal pitch and speed. A friend of mine says – “I can tell when someone’s lying. They talk faster than I can listen.”

Most professionals employ specific tactics to catch liars. The cops will make small talk with you to establish what your “normal” behaviors are. When they get down to the serious subject matter, they look for cracks in that normal behavior. Polygraph machines work the same way. There are mental and physical drives that can be detected by skilled interviewers, as well as machines.

There are many more subliminal messages people send when lying. Do some research and learn what they are and how to avoid them.

Jim DeSantis

Jim DeSantis is a retired investigative journalist who is now a full time blogger. Grab Jim’s Free Report “How To Spot A Liar” (click here). No email is required. Visit Jim’s blog about the Workplace (click here) for more free information.

Promoting affiliate programs can undoubtedly produce great financial returns, but unfortunately most people never see these kinds of returns because they never figure out how to effectively promote their affiliate programs. Well this article will hopefully solve this problem as listed below are ten of the best methods you can use to start earning regular affiliate commissions.

1. Forums

Forums are one the most effective ways of marketing your affiliate programs if done correctly. By posting in relevant forums that allow sig files (where you can link to your own affiliate site, or directly to the product you are promoting if this is allowed) you can reach a targeted audience quickly and easily. As long as you post constructive comments, then you should see plenty of people clicking on your sig files to learn more about you, and the products you are promoting.

2. Articles

Writing articles is another cost-effective way of reaching your targeted market. By writing quality articles (that contain your resource box where you can link to your affiliate site) and submitting them to the various article directories, you can gain enormous exposure for your offers. A few people will come across your article in the article directories themselves, but it’s when website owners and ezine publishers pick up your article that you can really reach a massive target audience.

3. Press Releases

Press releases are similar to articles in that they provide a quick and easy way of reaching a large target audience. They can best be used when you have something newsworthy to say about either your own site or the actual products you are promoting. All you do is write the press release (in a journalistic style) and submit it to one of the larger online (or offline) press agencies.

4. Search Engine Optimization

This is probably the optimal form of promotion, but it’s also the most time-consuming, and it can take many months before you start to see any results. Nevertheless, if you can take time to optimize your website, and gain a lot of backlinks to your site using relevant keywords (including long-tail buying keywords) as the anchor text, you can receive a lot of traffic to your website when you start to obtain high search engine rankings.

5. Pay Per Click Advertising

This is a highly effective way of promoting your affiliate programs, either directly, or by using your own website to pre-sell the visitor. Pay per click advertising gives you the ability to advertise on the first few pages of results of the search engines for the exact keywords that you choose, so it’s no wonder that so many affiliates swear by this form of advertising. The main thing to remember is that you have to keep testing as much as possible and make sure you don’t spend too much per click on any of your keywords, so you maintain a positive return on your investment.

6. Advertising On Other Websites

You can buy advertising space or text links from numerous websites in all types of niches, so there’s plenty of opportunity to advertise your offers on other websites. The only downside is that it can be tricky finding websites that will give you a positive return on your investment, but if you can do this then there’s definitely good profits to be made.

7. Free Reports And Ebooks

Writing free reports and ebooks provide an excellent opportunity to access your target market, particularly if you add a viral aspect to them. All you do is write your own content, based around the product you are promoting, and include your affiliate links within this content. If your information is of a high quality, you can get massive exposure for your affiliate links as people pass it on to other people, and share it with their list of subscribers if they have one.

8. Blogs

Promotional blogs are a modern and extremely effective way of promoting your affiliate programs. Because they often contain fresh content on an ongoing basis, they are loved by the major search engines, and can therefore attract high levels of traffic.

9. Email Marketing

Advertising in relevant ezines has traditionally been a good way of promoting affiliate programs. Although not as effective as it once was due to strict spam filters, a well-written solo ad or an attention-grabbing classified ad in a targeted high readership ezine can still get great results. For best results, however, you should aim to build your own list of subscribers so you can send out your emails whenever you want, and can actually build a relationship with your list, which will increase your affiliate sales.

10. Offline Advertising

This is the final of form of advertising I want to discuss. Most online marketers ignore offline advertising completely, but there’s no doubt that offline advertising still works, and can even outperform online advertising in some cases. Business cards, flyers, magazine and newspaper advertising are just some of the ways you can effectively promote products offline.

James Woolley is a full-time marketer who runs a number of profitable websites. His latest site is essentially an affiliate program directory that reveals his best high paying affiliate programs.

Build your reputation by helping others build theirs. (Anthony D’Angelo)

In today’s global economy, we have the opportunity to impact, via the internet, people half the world away as well as those down the street. However, because of the multitude of messages we are subject to as a result of this media, distrust among consumers is more pervasive than ever.

How do we overcome this distrust to make the sale of ourselves or our product?

We foster relationships to build our online reputation. We work on relationships with visitors to our blogs, and relationships with customers at our websites. We stand behind our word, and behind our product. We become a trusted resource, a guide, a coach to encourage others trying to make a go of an online business, or a mentor to others already with a business online working to improve their lives.

We work on relationships with other online business owners, trading ideas and insights, promoting each other’s website or product. We prove ourselves to be reliable and trustworthy. We look out for the interests of others as well as our own.

Once these relationships are solid, we can invest in them and spend them like currency. Confidence flows back and forth between such parties because each “trust account” has a positive balance. Credit in each account has been earned by value proven, promises kept, and deadlines met. The benefit of a good reputation cannot be understated, and is thought by some successful internet marketers to be the greatest asset their businesses have.

Glass, china, and reputation are easily cracked and never well-mended. (Proverb)

Ben Curtis has “Ben there, done that” and likes to help newbies avoid the pitfall of spending hundreds of dollars before making any! He is a firm believer in the importance and value of a good reputation. Ben has his favorite online mentors, people who have proved their worth, and he aspires to be able to give like they do. His website is packed with useful free reports and ebooks for sale at ridiculously reasonable prices. Other resources include low-cost web design, and a money making plan he calls a no-brainer that works even without a website. Find him at: http://www.bestebooksbuy.com

This article may be used freely provided the link to bestebooks is included.

The way we communicate with each other keeps changing. Once, we relied on letters, telephones and fax machines but now we prefer speedier and sometimes less intrusive forms of communication like email or instant messenger. Even more popular, however, and a phenomenon of communication experienced worldwide, is sending SMS text messages to each other via cellphones (also known as mobile phones or cellular phones).

So, what is SMS?

Short Message Service (SMS) is the general name for the technology which enables people to send and receive text messages via cellphones (or mobile phones).

The GSM digital mobile phone standard (popular in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Africa and some parts of North America) state that: “Messages partnership be up to partnership characters of text in length”. CDMA networks allow greater message size and operate in North & South America, Asia (China, India, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Hong Kong, etc).

(In actual fact, most modern cellphones using the GSM standard send messages larger than 160 characters, but they do so by sending multiple messages of 160 characters. That means that when you send a message of 330 characters in length, you have actually sent two messages of 160 characters and one message of 10 characters.)

SMS messages can comprise of words, numbers or an alphanumeric combination; binary format is even supported.

Technically speaking, SMS is a store and forward service. This means that messages are not sent directly from sender to recipient, but always via an SMS center instead. You have a limited time to download or receive your messages (this happens automatically when you switch your cellphone on), otherwise the messages are removed from the SMS center concerned.

Message delivery (or failure) can be confirmed, too.

Note: this is a limited definition of sms. A fuller explanation can be found at
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texting

How Can You Send SMS Text Messages For Free?

Sending SMS is a great, quick way to communicate with friends and family. Unlike sending email, though, sending SMS messages is often not free. In the United Kingdom, for example, messages often cost £0.10 per message. And with people sending tens or hundreds of messages each day, costs can mount up.

So mobile phone companies design payment plans that allow you to send a certain number of text messages free per month. Or, if you pay enough of a monthly fee (or top-up your pay-as-you-go phone often enough) you may even be allowed to send an unlimited number of sms messages for free.

Still, this is a costly way to send ‘free sms’.

A much better way is to use so-called ‘free sms sites’.

Yes, there are many, many websites that allow you to send free SMS text messages online. Simply type in your message at such a website, then the cellphone number you wish to send a text message to, and click the send button. Sometimes the messages are delivered immediately, or within the space of an hour or so. Also, quite often there is no need to register to use the free sms service.

Example free sms sites include sms.ac, cbfsms.com and Fonetastic, and you can now find free sms on myspace.com too.

Like anything else on the web, some free SMS sites work better than others. For example:

* Some open for business one week and are closed the next, unable to recover their costs of delivering thousands of sms text messages. (There is always a cost associated with sending sms text messages online for the sms site concerned.)

* Some free sms sites work in one country but not another.

* And, most worryingly, some free SMS sites are simply not free — either it costs the person to send the sms messages, or it costs someone to receive them.

Basically, a lot of free sms text messaging sites start out free, then either stop working or start to charge.

That’s why a visit to a free SMS directory, where sites are reviewed or commented on, is recommended. For example, there are more than 150 free text messaging sites currently listed at TextMeFree.com .

Is Sending Free SMS Really Safe?

Yes. Usually.

It should be safe to send free text messages using a text messaging site, but many people have been caught out by services that sneakily get you to first join a subscription service, that often costs several dollars per week. It can be quite difficult to unsubscribe from such services, too.

Generally speaking free SMS sites profit from the advertising on their websites or in the actual text messages being sent; these sites don’t normally abuse their relationship with the people doing the SMS texting. It’s also generally true that text messages get sent quickly and people do not receive so-called SMS spam on their cellphone or mobile phone afterwards.

Again, a good free SMS directory will provide enough information about a free sms service or site for you to be able to decide for yourself.

Sending SMS text messages to your friends and family is quick, easy and fun. But it doesn’t have to cost you anything, if you find and use a free SMS text messaging site that lets you send text messages to the country where they partnership Happy texting.

Steve M Nash is the owner of TextMeFree.com, a directory of free sms text messaging sites. Find user free sms reviews, sms jokes and poems and lots more at TextMeFree.com