Where to Find Clients and Customers for Your Business

September 22, 2012 by admin Leave a Comment

Whether you are a new business owner, wanting to start a business, or have been in business for a while, you may be wondering: How do I get customers or clients for my business? The following article contains a list of various ways that you can build your business including Networking Groups and Sites, Directories and Databases, People You Know, Seminars, Print Advertising, Cold Calling, Business Websites, and Online Marketing. You can find which of the strategies work best for you and combine the ones that work best for maximum results.

Join Some Networking Groups and Sites

Join as many organizations as you can. Network with others in your field and area and let them know what services you offer.

1. Meetup.com
Meetup.com lets anyone organize their own group online and these groups meet in person. There are many different types of Meetup groups ranging from hobby groups, social groups, and business groups. These groups are great for getting to know people face to face and they allow you to introduce yourself and your business to people.

2. Your Chamber
Your chamber usually has a website and lists all the contact information for their members, allowing you to connect with other businesses. You can also check out your Rotary.

3. Your City’s Website
Your city’s website lists local companies.

4. Idustry-Based Association Events and Sites
Join these types of events to meet people in the industry of your interest and spread the word about your business. If you are looking to connect with lawyers, architects, engineers etc., go to their industry websites where they list members.

5. Business Groups for Women or Other Groups
Some examples are Ladies Who Launch, POWE, Women Can Do Anything (These are local biz events).

6. Networking Websites
You can find networking sites such as www.4networking.biz to help you grown your network.

7. Authority Websites
Authority websites such as QuickBooks Pro Advisor have a lot of traffic and might be good places to connect with potential clients.

8. Free Websites
You can find some free websites to advertise your business on such as free classifieds.

9. Dinner Parties
For some businesses, dinner parties are great for taling about your business or for doing demonstrations related to your business.

Search Available Directories and Databases

1. Yellow Pages
You can get information on businesses by looking at the yellow pages. You can also advertise yourself there.

2. List of New Biz Openings in Your Area
Your county might have a website that has listings of the new businesses that have registered each month. You might try checking with your local tax collectors office or business registration office and ask them. You could gain some new clients by contacting these new businesses.

3. Reference USA Database
ReferenceUSA.com provides information on over 20 million businesses, 222 million consumers, U.S. new businesses, U.S. new homeowners and movers. Your local library might also have access to this database. ReferenceUSA helps researchers, students, and job-seekers.You can select a location and do a radius search to look up the number of similar businesses in the area or check the strength of competition with years in business and credit rating. You can look for businesses to buy or network with other businesses. You can also search based on business size, number of employees, sales volume, home-based, etc. Another database you might want to use is DEX.

4. Scott’s Directory
If you have access to the Scott’s Directory, which is used in Canada for searching business contact details, via your local library, you may be able to use it to send out e-mails by copying each e-mail address into a database or spreadsheet.

5. Office Space for Lease Websites
Office-space-for-lease websites list current tenants, which can help you find information about businesses.

Use Traditional Marketing Methods

People You Know
Ask family, friends, associates, former co-workers, and neighbors for assistance in spreading the word about your business. Perhaps you can give them a reward like coupons for their help.

Hold a Seminar or Workshop
Holding a semminar or workshop that relates to your business can be a good way of attracting potential clients and customers and marketing your business while providing valuable information to people. I once went to a free semminar on goal-setting where the speaker asked eveyone to email him and ask him about how he is doing with writing his book. This was a great marketing strategy for his book.

Print Advertising
1. Printing business cards and giving them to potential clients is a common strategy.
2. Creating large postcards can work well for advertising your business.
3. Find a trade magazine for a group, such as women, and place an ad, or contact those that have ads to let them know about your business.
4. Create flyers and post them in libraries, grocery stores, or give flyers or business cards to potential clients. Also, places like grocery stores often have job boards for sale/rent/buy where you could advertise your business.

Cold Calling
Cold calling is a strategy that might work well for you, depending on your strategy and your business.

Volunteer
You can volunteer your services to organizations in a variety of ways. For example, you can offer to help a church write a newsletter, help update someone’s website, help with graphic design or spreadsheets etc. You don’t even need to be at the organization’s location to help them; you can assist them from the comfort of your home. By helping out others, you can gain experience, confidence, and references and referals that you can use on your business website. When you give with an open heart, you will often get more than you expected back in return.

Check Out Some Job Sites

You might find some clients for your business on sites that have job postings. Be aware of scams.

Set Up a Website and Market Your Site

In today’s world, setting up a business website for your business is essential. Your website is where people can go to learn about your business and you can show your expertise by having a blog that is relevant to your business with content that your potential clients or customers would be interested in. Your website is also a place where you can promote your social media sites such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook. These sites provide more ways for people to network with you. Doing some SEO (Search Engine Optimization) for your site can help you to get traffic to your site. There is a lot of information out there about this. Also, here is a great resource that lists ways for how you can Increase Your Website Traffic Below are some common stratagies for getting the word out about your business. On your site, include a “Contact Us” page where people can easily contact you and also include an “About Us” page which will let people know who you are.

Forums
You can join forums that are related to the clients or customers that you want to attract. Interact with people on forums and give them useful information, but do not directly advertise yourself because this can make you look like a spammer. If you wan to connect with real estate agents, for example, go to ActivRain, join the forum and answer questions that are being discussed. Your profile shoud include information about your business and direct people to your website where they can learn more about you and your business.

Social Media
Social Media sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook can be great for gaining new clients. One of the best ways to attract people is to offer free tips, products or services. You might, for example, invite your clients to Twitter and give them tips on how to use Twitter for their business. Encourage others to contact you and ask you questions if they need help. If you have a Facebook page, make it interactive. Join groups on LinkedIn that your customers and clients are a part of. For example, if you want clients that are authors, find a group of authors and give them tips on questions they have.

Blogging
Blogging can have many benefits; it creates unique content for your site and clients and customers have a chance to get to know you as an expert from reading your posts. Blog about topics that your cutomers or clients would be interested in. Guest blogging can also be a great way to get traffic to your site and can lead to referrals. Posting comments on the blogs of others or linking to client’s blogs on your blog can also work well with time.

You Tube Videos
Make video tutorials and post them on YouTube and embed them in your blog. Usually, videos that do well include how-to videos, videos involving animals or children and videos that are funny.

Newsletters
Set up a newsletter to get contacts through them. You can sign up with a service such as Mail Chimp and copy the newsletter box to your site to begin collecting email addresses from people who visit your site. Think about what relevant information you can provide to your target audience in your newsletter. You might provide important tips.

Referrals
Refering other people is a great way to gain friends; they willl often refer you too if you refer them first. Send a message letting someone know that you referred them, and many times, they will refer you back to return the favor. You can also encourage referrals from current clients and have Google alerts set up. You might also have referral exchanges where you ask people to refer you in exchange for refering them.

Press Releases
Writing press releases can be a good way to get exposure for your business. You can write a press release and put it on a few of the free press release sites and then take that link and post it on your social media sites, blog and website.

Your Signature Line
You can use your signature line in forums, posts, and your personal email to help attract clients. In your signature, you can include your website and social media addresses and include a line about the launch of your new company or other relevant information.

Link Exchanges
You might exchange links with others to help build links to your site.

Pay Per Click Advertising (PPC)
If you have some money for advertising, you can use a pay per click program such as Google Adwords to advertise your site.

Do you have any other ideas? Feel free to share in the comments below and we can add your idea to the list!

Filed Under: Money and Business Tagged With: how do I get clients, how do I get customers, where to find clients, where to find customers, where to find prospects

How to Create a Static Front Page in WordPress and Remove Double Home Page Link

September 12, 2012 by admin Leave a Comment

The default settings in WordPress display the current posts on your home page. You can change this if you want to have a static home page for your site. (Some themes have options for setting up front page features, in which case you can use those features instead of this article.)

1. CREATE A HOME PAGE

In the WordPress panel, go to PAGES and add a new page. Name this page “Home”. Under the “template” option, choose the default option or a custom one. Add any content you would like to add to the page and publish it.

2. CREATE A PAGE FOR YOUR BLOG
(you only need to create this page if you will be using blog features.) You can title the blog page “blog”, “articles”, “news”, or whatever else you want to name it. This page will be the page that shows your blog posts. Do not add content to this page and do not use a custom template. Publish the page.

3. ADJUST SETTINGS FOR YOUR NEW PAGES
Go to SETTINGS -> READING and set the front page displays to “static page”. Set the “front page” option to the home page you created, and if you will be using a blog, set the “posts” page option to the blog page you created. Save.

Enable PERMALINKS to display the page title in the address.

4. REMOVE DOUBLE HOME PAGE IN WORDPRESS NAVIGATION BAR
Some themes already have a “Home” link at the top navigation bar so if you created a “Home” page, you may now have two home links at the top of your navigation bar. To fix this, go to APPEARANCE -> EDITOR -> HEADER. Search for the word “Home” and find and delete the code below, which contains the word “home”. Save.

Click Here To Sign Up For Web Hosting

Filed Under: Web and Technology Tagged With: How to Create Static Home Page WordPress, Make Static Front Page WordPress, Remove Double Home Page LInk WordPress

How to Change the Header in WordPress Using FTP

September 9, 2012 by admin Leave a Comment

1. IDENTIFY THE HEIGHT AND WIDTH OF YOUR HEADER
You can find the size of your header in WordPress by going to APPEARANCE-> EDITOR -> click on Style.css on the list of Template choices. Search for the word “header” in the template. When you look at the codes surrounding the word “header” you will find code like the code listed below which shows the height and width of your header:

/***** PAGE FORMATTING *****/
#header {
width: 1000px;
background: url(images/header.gif) top center no-repeat;
height: 100px;
margin-top: 0;
color: #fff;

2) FIND THE LOCATION OF THE HEADER AND WHERE IT IS STORED
To find the location of your header, you can go to the home page of your site and on the toolbar click VIEW-> source. Search the word “header” and find code that contains the term “header” that looks like the below code:

(“http://www.abundantideas.com/wp-content/themes/eximius/images/header.gif”)

The above code is the path that leads to your image file. You can see that the end of the code says “header.gif”. This is the name of the picture that is your header.

3) CREATE A NEW HEADER
Using the name of the header that you found in step 3 and the size of your header in step 1, create your new header using the same header name and size. (You can also change the size of your header in Step 1 by changing the height and width in the code shown in step 1. If you cange the size in this code, create a new header based on this new size.)

4) OPEN AN FTP FILE TRANSFER PROGRAM
For this example, we will be using the client version of FileZilla. You can download this software for free onto your computer.
When using FileZilla, enter your HOST name USERNAME and PASSWORD using the hosting account that hosts your site. For example, if your host is Hostgator, for the host field, enter the server address for server1. For USERNAME and PASSWORD, enter your Hostgator username and password for the hosting account that hosts your site. For the port field, enter 21.

The top left section of FileZilla shows the files on your computer and the bottom left section of FileZilla shows the folder contents after you click on a folder in the top left section. The top right section of FileZilla shows the files on your FTP server. These are the files for your website. The bottom right section of FileZilla shows the folder contents after you click on a folder on your ftp server.

5) TRANSFER YOUR NEW HEADER INTO THE FOLDER THAT CONTAINS THE OLD HEADER
Using the right side of FileZilla, browse for the old header. Find the header using the path you found in step 2. Using the top right section of FileZilla, follow these steps: Go to the folder called “public-html”, then the folder with your site’s name, then “wp-content” folder, then the “themes” folder, then go to the theme that is activated on your site and click on it’s folder. Next, click the images folder and browse to find the old image. You will see the image in the bottom right section of FileZilla

Using the left sections of FileZilla, browse for the new header your created and move it to the folder that contains the old header. FileZilla will say that a file with the name you want to transfer already exists in the folder. Override that old file to replace it with the new one.

5) MAKE YOUR WORDPRESS HEADER CLICKABLE
If you want to make your WordPress header clickable so that when you click it, your home page shows up, Go to Appearances -> Editor -> click header dot php file, then do the following:

Change from <div id="header">

to: <div id="header" onclick="location.href='http://example.com/';" style="cursor: pointer;">

Filed Under: Web and Technology Tagged With: How to Change the Header in WordPress Using FTP, How to Find Size of Header WordPress

What is The Difference Between a Post and a Page in WordPress?

September 8, 2012 by admin Leave a Comment

When you are first starting to use WordPress, it can be a challenge to understand the differences between posts, pages, categories and menus and which of these go in your top navigation and left and right navigation. This article will help you to understand the differences and help you to know when you should use a post versus a page in WordPress. Knowing this difference is important for setting up your site and getting started with using WordPress.

Features of Posts

1) INCLUDES DATES
Posts are date driven which means that when you use a post, you will see a date at the top of the post showing when the post was written. Posts are most often used for content that is date sensitive such as blog posts, news stories, status updates etc.

2) USES CATEGORIES AND TAGS
You can make different categories for your posts and put your posts into them. For example, you can put a post about business into a business category on your site. Your different categories can be listed on your left or right hand navigation. To create a category, go to CATEGORIES and enter the information for creating a new category. When you write a post, you can easily select which category to put it into from a menu that is provided.

To place your categories into your left or right hand navigation, go to APPEARANCE-> WIDGETS, and drag the categories widget into your left or right hand navigation. If you click the down arrow on the categories widget, you will also see that you have the option to display the categories as a dropdown menu on you site, show the post counts in each category, and show hierarchy.

You can also create subcategories. To create a subcategory, go to POSTS-> CATEGORIES -> fill out the information for adding a new category. To make it a subcategory, under the “Parent” option, choose the category that you want to be above this subcategory.

You can also add tags for your posts when you are writing the post.

3) COLLECTED IN ARCHIVE PAGES
Posts are collected on archive pages (the archive pages include date, category and tag archives.) For example, you might have a dropdown menu on your page that lets a visitor select posts that you have posted for different months. To display archives on your site, go to APPEARANCE-> WIDGETS and drag the archives widget into your left or right navigation.

4) INCLUDED IN RRS FEEDS
Unlike pages, posts are also included in RRS feeds. When a visitor subscribes to a feed, updated information from the feed is downloaded to their computer. This information will include your posts and updates on your posts. To display RSS feeds on your site, go to APPEARANCE-> WIDGETS and drag the RSS widget into your left or right navigation.
Features of Pages

1) DO NOT INCLUDE DATES
Pages do not include dates at the top of the page so pages are better for content that you do not want to date.

2) DO NOT USE CATEGORIES AND TAGS
Pages are not included in categories or tags.

3) HIERARCHICAL
As with posts, pages can have sections and subsections in your navigation (the sections are the parent pages and the subsections are the child pages). Sections and subsections are used more often for regular sites than for blogs. They are good for managing corporate or business sites with broad component but static pages. For example, a corporate site might have a section for a department and subsections under that for sub-departments. If you want to create a subpage, when creating that page, under the “Parent” option, select which page you want the subpage to be under.

You can place your hierarchy of pages in your left or right hand navigation by going to APPEARANCE-> WIDGETS and dragging the Pages Widget into your left or right navigation. If you click the down arrow on the widget, you will also see that you have the option to sort the pages by title, page order, page id, and to exclude page ids. Also, if you go to APPEARANCE-> MENUS, you will see a section called “Pages”. This box shows the pages that are displayed on your top navigation.

4) USED FOR TRADITIONAL WEB CONTENT
Pages are used for traditional web content such as the “about us” page or “contact us” page. They are good for building the navigation for a site. They are often used for the top navigation on sites.

Click Here To Sign Up For Web Hosting

Filed Under: Web and Technology Tagged With: Difference Between Post and Page WordPress, Posts Versus Pages WordPress, When to Use Post or Page WordPress

Key Points of the Secret Law of Attraction

September 3, 2012 by admin Leave a Comment

1. To get from point A to point B, focus on point B.

2. To get what you want, your desire must be stronger than your fear and doubt.

3. When trying to manifest what you want, don’t pay attention to the outside world because you create the outside world from the inside.

4. Identify and let go of any resistance to things that you desire.

5. Make positive meaning out of all experiences.

6. Remember that you are in charge of your reality and you can have, do or be what you want; reality must morph to match your vibe. Keep asking for what you want until you get it. You may need courage to shift into your new reality. You must feel worthy of having what you want now and feel like it is coming soon. Visualize it as already yours and feel the feelings of having it now.

7. Do not think about or concentrate on things that do not serve you, ignore them. Think perfect thoughts to get perfect outcomes. To focus, visualize your ideal outcome, make a list of arguments for why you are worthy of having what you want, or use affirmations. Ask for things you want often, to create more abundance in your life.

8. You need to get into energetic alignment with what you want. Don’t act on what you want until you are in alignment with it.

9. Don’t get too attached to your creations. If one dream falls apart, build a new dream.

10. To get love, give as much love as you can and love everything you can.

Filed Under: Relationships

Cheap Bunk Beds For Kids! – Top Inexpensive Loft Beds

September 2, 2012 by admin Leave a Comment

Loft Beds for Kids: Are you looking for a bunk bed that is good quality, fun, and inexpensive? Look no further!

Space saving bunk beds are great for having extra room for fun, play, and sleep. It is also great if you can get the best and most inexpensive bunk beds or loft beds for kids. In this guide, the best cheap bunk beds have been thoroughly evaluated by reviewing the beds and customer satisfaction, including tips on bunk bed assembly.

You may want to bookmark this page for future reference to help with the bunk bed assembly of your bed. We hope your find the best bunk bed for your needs at the best price. Check out some great ideas below!

Cheapest Bunk Beds

Black Walker Edison Twin-Over-Twin Bunk Bed

Starting at just $199!

PRODUCT DETAILS

Product Dimensions: 80 x 44 x 68 inches
Shipping Weight: 96 pounds
Color: Black (available in black or white)
Assembly: required. Tools, on-line support and toll-free help number included
Finish: lead-free powder-coated finish
Design: Steel Tubular framing with clean geometric design and full-length guardrails with integrated ladder
Mattress: 9 inches is maximum recommended mattress thickness (Mattress NOT included)

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

This modern twin-over-twin bunk bed by Black Walker Edison has the advantage of converting to two single beds. The stylish design includes steel tubular framing with a clean geometric style, full-length guardrails on the top bunk, and integrated ladder. The bed adheres to the latest consumer safety standards. Assembly is required but is made easier with included tools, online support and a toll free number. The suggested mattress thickness is nine inches for this bed. This bed is also one of the cheapest bunk beds in price and one of the most popular twin over twin bunk beds or loft beds for kids.

STRENGTH

1) Very strong; It’s sturdy and stands up to climbing and jumping.
2) It tends not to wiggle when getting on and off the top or bottom bunks.

EASE OF USE

1) There is a lot of space between the top and bottom bunk beds. It is tall enough so you can sit on the bottom and not hit your head.
2) A great bunk bed, especially for small spaces.; it takes up a little less room than wooden ones.
3) The ladder is attached so the kids can’t remove it, which provides added safety.
4) Regular twin mattresses fit perfectly well, so there’s no need to buy a special mattress.
5) The ladder has round steps not flat ones, but you can add your own padding to the steps.
6) The white metal is easily wiped down.
7) Slats are really close together, and you won’t need boards under your mattresses.

BUNK BED ASSEMBLY

Pretty easy to assemble, especially if you have assistance. The bed has a lot of parts but the product pieces are well-marked and easy to identify. Assembly takes about 2-3 hours. Instructions could be a bit more detailed, so we cover some tips for assembly here.

Make sure you have all the side bars in the right place before you get to the little plastic pieces that fit into each support rod. It is important for pieces to be put together on the right sides. Avoid getting the bars upside down where the screw holes for the ladder goes. You might use adjustable pliers or a hammer to push in the little tabs. Each bed has 22 slats and the slats need to be assembled into the bottom of each bed. Each slat has 2 ends and you have to pop a plastic piece in each to securely keep it in place. .It may be best to skip the slats until the end and assemble the whole frame first (sides and ladder). This way, you will not need to change the slats if you make a mistake.

Cross bar H (one of the cross bars that make up the long side of the top bunk, has five big holes on one side and five large holes and two smaller holes on the other. You are told to connect the end supports of the bed with the cross bars in STEP 3. Make sure that you connect the upper cross bar H with the side that has seven holes FACING DOWN. If you do not do it this way, you will be unable to connect the ladder.

OVERALL SATISFACTION

1) This is one of the loft beds for kids with, good, sturdy quality and should last for a long time.
2) It has excellent strength and is easy to clean.
3) The bed provides extra space in a kid’s or guest room
and is one of the cheapest bunk beds and one of the most popular.

View More Cheap Bunk Beds Under $300!

Espresso Bunk Beds – Inexpensive Bunk Beds

Espresso Stork Craft Long Horn Bunk Bed

Starting at just $264!

PRODUCT DETAILS

Product Dimensions: 78.4 x 42.6 x 61.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 125 pounds
Assembly: Fully Ready-to-Assemble format
Packaging and Shipping: Compact packaging and shipping
Finish: Beautiful non-toxic finish
Safety: Designed for safety and Meets current U.S and Canada Safety standards
Construction: Stylish solid wood and wood components
Features: Stable design: full length guardrails, sturdy fastened ladder
Accessories: Stork Craft dresser, chest, hutch, armoire

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

The Long Horn Twin over Twin Bunk Bed by Stork Craft has a stylish solid wood design and evokes the Longhorn cattle national symbol of Texas. Bring this ranch adventure theme into your child’s bedroom today for lots of fun games and sleepovers. This smaller bed is a space saving bunk bed and a great addition to your home. Some loft beds for kids can be easily transformed. The Long Horn Twin over Twin Bunk Bed can be easily changed into two separate twin beds as your child grows. The bunk bed is designed with security in mind and features full-length guardrails and a sturdy fastened ladder. This is one of the most popular espresso bunk beds and cheap bunk beds. Complete your bed with matching accessories from Stork Craft including a chest, dresser, hutch or armoire. If you are looking for a nice-looking and inexpensive bunk beds, this is a good choice.

STRENGTH

1) The two beds are very sturdy and the sturdiness remains when they are stacked together.
2) The top and bottom bunks are firmly held together by the ladder.
3) The steps on the ladder are thick and solid.

EASE OF USE

1) The top bunk can be used as a toddler bed. It already has the rails.
2) When the beds are used together as bunk beds, the ladder can be removed to keep small children off the top part of the bed.
3) 1mm cork pads can be added to the lower bunk feet to prevent the bed from sliding on the hardwood floors. For added safety, you can also add an earthquake strap to bolt the bed to the wall.

BUNK BED ASSEMBLY

1) Assembly is straight-forward but a bit time consuming (with over 100 screws). It takes about 3 hours for one person to assembly it and it is recommended that 2 people assembly it. It can then be assembled in 2 hours.
2) Instructions are relatively clear. It is similar to assembling Ikea furniture, with pictographic instruction. Be sure to match the picture for a step to the correct leg pieces. It may take some time to figure out where everything goes if all the pieces are not labeled.
3) It is easy to take the bunk bed apart and turn it into 2 twin beds.
4) The box is big and heavy, so it is best to have delivery arrive where you want to put it together.
5) If you want to store the bottom bunk, it is suggested putting it together at the same time as the top bunk. You can then separate the head board and the foot board from the frame and store them as three easy pieces.

OVERALL SATISFACTION

Overall, the bunk bed is a good value for the price. Other stores might sell a similar bed for $499. It is sturdy, looks good and has a nice color.
Kids love to sleep in it and to switch bunks from night to night. This is one of the most attractive loft bunk beds for kids.

View More Cheap Bunk Beds Under $300!

Contemporary Cheap Bunk Beds

Twin-Over-Full Futon Bunk Bed – Dorel Home Products

Starting at just $209!

PRODUCT DETAILS:

Product Dimensions: 78.9 x 70.1 x 41.7 inches
Shipping Weight: 137.5 pounds
Color: Silver or Black
Finish: Silver or Black Metal
Assembly: Some assembly needed
Futon and Bed mattresses sold separately

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION:

This is a great space saving bunk bed and one of the most modern loft beds for kids. One of the best contemporary bunk beds, it is stylish and practical. It has a lower full size futon bed and top twin size bed, which maximizes space. The bottom futon transforms quickly into a full size bed. For added safety, the upper bunk includes full-length guardrails. This bed is great for sleepovers and siblings. If you are looking for a bunk bed with futon on the bottom, this is a good value.

STRENGTH:

1) Very sturdy; it’s constructed out of a steel and is well designed.

EASE OF USE:

1) The futon mechanism works very well.
2) The rungs to the ladder are perfectly round metal bars and there’s no gap at the top of the ladder to make flopping into the bunk easier, but overall it is a good design.
3) Loft beds for kids are best when they provide plenty of room for comfort. The bed is taller than most bunk beds so your head does not get hit while sleeping underneath.
4)This modern loft bed is one of the most popular bunk beds with futon. If you are looking for futon bunk beds for kids, this is a good value.

BUNK BED ASSEMBLY:

1) Assembly is time consuming, but relatively easy. Much of the bed requires assembly, but the pieces are labeled and the instructions are relatively easy to interpret.
2) It is advised that you re-read directions a couple of times before taking actions to make sure you are clear about the instructions.
3) It is suggested that you have at least 3 hours to assemble the bunk bed.
4) The package is very heavy so it may be best to be home when delivery comes.
5) Having 2 people for assembly makes assembly faster and easier.

OVERALL SATISFACTION:

Overall the bed is a good buy; it looks good and is an affordable price and sturdy.
It’s comparable to items in stores at almost twice the price. It is also a good value if
you are looking for contemporary bunk beds, cheap metal bunk beds,
or cheap futon bunk beds.

View More Cheap Bunk Beds Under $300!

White Bunk Beds

Twin over Full Bunk Bed – Walker Edison

Starting at just $248!

PRODUCT DETAILS

Product Dimensions: 80 x 59 x 68 inches
Shipping Weight: 111 pounds
Color: White
Assembly: Required. Tools included; on-line support and toll-free help number
Mattress: Not included; 9 inches is maximum recommended mattress thickness. Bed fits 2 different mattress sizes; the bottom fits a standard full mattress, the top fits a standard twin mattress.
Finish: Lead-free powder-coated
Design: Tubular steel framing and clean geometric design with full-length guardrails and 2 integrated ladders.

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

This Modern twin-over-full bunk bed is both practical and elegant and is a great addition to a kid’s room or guest room. The stylish space-saving design is created with durable steel framing and with safety in mind. Full-length guardrails and a sturdy integrated ladder are included.
This is one of the best-selling white bunk beds and twin over full bunk beds or loft beds for kids

STRENGTH

Solid, well built and very sturdy like a tank. Top bunk can support at least 200 pounds without any problems. The bed is also very comfortable.

EASE OF USE

1) Practical; no waste of space and the bed has a nice solid feel.
2) There is a limited amount of squeaky noise when person on the top bunk moves around.
3) The bottom bunk has a spacious feel. There is plenty of headroom for the person sleeping on the bottom bunk.
4) The ladder runs straight up instead of being slanted so you might need to put more effort into climbing. And you have to climb over the rails to get into the top bunk.
5) The ladder may be a little hard on the feet since the rods are small but it is okay for most kids and the bed is still a good buy. The rods on the ladder can be wrapped up in half inch foam padding to create cushioning on the rods or buy 3/4″ pipe insulation and gorilla tape, if your buying black to create a ladder with padding for the feet.

BUNK BED ASSEMBLY

The bunk bed is moderately easy to assemble. It takes a while to put together because it includes a lot of pieces, but instructions are very clear for the most part and the parts are labeled. Make sure that parts are facing the correct direction before you assemble parts together – that the holes that will have pieces fitted to them later are facing the right way. Make sure the screw holes line up to avoid having to unscrew components that you previously assembled. It is helpful to lay out the pieces before inserting any bolts to avoid mistakes. It is difficult to snap all the plastic pieces together for the support rods with your fingers so use the handle of as screw driver or a rubber mallet to pop them in. Assembly takes about 2-3 hours.

OVERALL SATISFACTION

1) Good engineering, very sturdy, and good headroom.
2) Among the loft beds for kids, this is not the cheapest bunk bed but not expensive for the quality you get.
3) Great for having guests over because it has a full size bed on the bottom and single on the top.
4) Provides a lot of extra sleep space for visitors and is comparatively very stable and great quality for the price.
5) White bunk beds for girls or boys are a great addition to your home and blend in well with white rooms.

View More Cheap Bunk Beds Under $300!

Army Bunk Beds

GI Child Bunk Bed with Slide and Tent, Twin Size – Coaster Kid’s

Starting at just $269!

PRODUCT DETAILS

Product Dimensions: 115″L x 100″W x 50″H
Ship Weight: 132 pounds
Materials: Metal, Cloth, Vinyl
Color: Army Green, Camouflage
Pieces: 3
Finish: Gloss Paint
Assembly: May require some assembly.
For: Kids and Youth

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

Kid’s Army-themed twin size bunk bed with slide, tent and side ladder, made with strong steel tubing. Army loft beds for kids will provide years of army camouflage fun for children. The bed mattress can be purchased separately. This is one of the most popular cheap loft bunk beds for kids.

STRENGTH

1) The army bunk beds are strong, sturdy, and well built
2) The slide is very strong and has railings that keep your child on the side as he/she goes down.

EASE OF USE

1) The layout is practical; it provides plenty of room to keep toys in the area under the bed frame and still enough space to play in the tent.
This is one of the best loft beds with storage.
2) You can put the slide and tent on the front of the bed and the latter on the left or right of the bed.
3) Climbing up and down the ladder is easy for most kids.

BUNK BED ASSEMBLY

1) In general, the instructions and installation are easy for the army bunk beds.
2) Make sure that you put the correct bolt with the right hole because some are similar in size and the bolts and holes are not labeled correspondingly.
3) When adding the support bars (long angled ones) to the underside of the slide, the holes for the railing need to be visible and the crossbars go on the same time as the railing.

OVERALL SATISFACTION

1) The army loft bunk beds for kids are inexpensive compared to other bunk beds and are worth the purchase.
2) The bunk bed provides great entertainment for kids; they love to play army on it, and watch movies.
3) Kids love the camouflage tent and sliding down the slide; they enjoy the indoor adventure soldier theme.
This is one of the most popular kid bunk beds and is one of the cool bunk beds for boys.

View More Cheap Bunk Beds Under $300!

More Inexpensive Bunk Beds:

Filed Under: Shopping

10 Ways Kids Are Well-Equipped for Using the Law of Attraction

September 2, 2012 by admin Leave a Comment

I have realized that a child may actually be better equipped to create his or her reality than an adult due to a child’s active imaginations, high energy levels and generally happy, excited, playful, and harmonious moods. Kids also often ask for what they want and believe that they can have, do or be what they choose. Most of us have these qualities as children but they gradually fade as we become adults and we begin to believe that we can’t have, be or do all the things we want in life.

So, adults that retain some child-like qualities are actually better equipped to create things in their lives. So the next time a wife calls her husband a “big kid”, he should take it as a big compliment! There are good reasons for not being a completely mature grownup and for thinking more like a child. Here is a list of qualities that kids have that make them well-equipped for using the law of attraction:

1. KIDS HAVE AN ACTIVE IMAGINATION
Having the ability to imagine and visualize is important for manifesting your reality.
A child usually has a very active imagination that he uses all the time.

2. KIDS HAVE A HIGH ENERGY LEVEL
A higher energetic vibration is more joyful and it destroys or modifies a lower energetic level.
A child is usually very energetic.

3. KIDS BELIEVE THEY CAN HAVE WHAT THEY WANT
It is important to believe that you can have what you want in order to attract it into your life and to ask for what you want until you get it, and to ask for things often to have an abundant life.

Kids don’t doubt that they can get the things they want in life- until they start being told that they can’t.

Kids often declare what they want and they don’t give up asking for what they want until they get it.

Kids are not afraid to take what they want when they want it. They don’t question their worthiness or whether they have earned it. This is a good trait to have because great opportunities don’t last. Adults often lose good opportunities by feeling that they are not worthy or by fearing failure.

4. KIDS QUICKLY GET BACK INTO THE ZONE
Being in the zone as much as possible is important for getting what you want in life because your energy is most positive when you are in the zone, which will attract more positive energy and create the positive things that you want in your life.

5. KIDS OFTEN PLAY AND “ACT AS IF”
Play is fun and creates positive energy and acting “as if” you already have what you want helps to attract it into your life.
Kids play a lot, which is good for learning and developing the imagination and visualization.
Kids know how to “act as if” they already have something through play.

6. KIDS ARE JOYFUL
Kids are generally very happy and excited about life and many things in life are new to them so they strongly anticipate getting what they want and they feel the feelings of having it now. These factors are important for manifesting your reality. Kids also laugh and smile a lot and attract more things that make them laugh and smile.

7. KIDS DO NOT FEAR FAILURE
Not having fear or the fear of failure is important for creating opportunities in life and for seizing them.
Kids naturally like to experiment with new things as they learn about the world and they don’t fear failure because the mistakes that come with learning are a normal part of their learning process. There are lots of new things for them to try; the world is new and exciting for them. This, and the other reasons listed for why kids are well-equipped for manifesting are reasons why, I believe, young people are often successful in business.

8. KIDS TEND TO LIVE IN THE MOMENT
Living in the moment helps you to get what you want because it eliminates worry about the past or future which can keep you from enjoying life in the present.

Kids tend to live in the moment and not worry about the past or future. They also don’t delay getting what they want-they go for what they want now. One of the rules of the Law of Attraction is that you should take what you want when you want; don’t delay or second guess.

9. KIDS ARE OPEN-MINDED, NATURAL EXPLORERS
Kids see the world with wonder and are open-minded about learning about their new world without pre-judgments.

10. KIDS TEND TO HAVE AN ABUNDANCE VIBE AND PROJECT LOVE
Kids usually project a lot of love, which is the highest frequency. The more you love, the more love will come back to you. Kids naturally love themselves, others, and the world. Kids tend to feel that life is abundant because they are experiencing many new things in life, so they have an abundance vibe that can attract more abundance to them.

I realized that it is good to maintain a child-like perspective even as an adult for manifesting the things we want in our reality. So, if your child is disappointed to find out that there is no Santa, you can explain that there is something bigger called the Law of Attraction, and that ironically, kids are often better equipped to use it than adults.

Filed Under: Relationships

What is the Vlookup Function in Excel? – Your Easy to Understand Guide

September 1, 2012 by admin Leave a Comment

HOW TO USE VLOOKUP IN EXCEL-EASY EXAMPLE

Below is the anatomy of the Vlookup function in Excel. In this article, we clearly explain VLOOKUP with a simple example and the elements of VLOOKUP including LOOKUP_VALUE, TABLE_ARRAY, COL_INDEX_NUM, AND RANGE_LOOKUP. In this example, we will be using the formula: =vlookup(D2;A2:B8;2;FALSE).

LOOKUP_VALUE

The lookup_value is the value that you have in one part of your document, whose corresponding value you want to find in another part of your document.

EXAMPLE:

You might have a product name in one part of your document, and you want to find its corresponding price in another part of your document. In the example below, the Lookup_Value is “Chair” in cell D2. We will want to look up the word “Chair” in the range A2:B8, find the value that is next to Chair, which is $115.54, and place it into cell E2 next to the word “Chair”. To get $115.54 in cell E2, the formula that we will enter into that cell is =vlookup(D2;A2:B8;2;FALSE). In this formula, D2 is the Lookup_Value.

NOTE: The lookup_value can be a value (such as number, text, or logical value) or it can be a reference such as A2.

TABLE_ARRAY

You set the table_array range to specify the range of cells that you want Excel to look thru to find the value you are looking for and then to find it’s corresponding value. In the example we used above, in the formula =vlookup(D2;A2:B8;2;FALSE), the table_array is A2:B8. The image below, shows the table_array selected.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The lookup_value you are looking for in the table_array range should be in the first column of the table_array range. In this example, our lookup_value is “Chair” and it is in the first column (column A) of the table array_range of A2:B8.

NOTE: If you use an absolute reference ($A$2:$B$8), instead of a relative reference (A2:B8), it will be easier to copy the formula to other cells. Or else, name the lookup table, and refer to it by name.

COL_INDEX_NUM

Within the table_array range that you specified, which column do you want Excel to look thru to find the corresponding value that you want returned?

In the example above, the table_array range is (A2:B8), and you want Excel to return a value from column B of that range (you want Excel to return $115.54 into cell E2), so your col_index_num would be 2 because Column B is the second column in the range A2:B8.

1) If col_index_num is less than 1, VLOOKUP returns the #VALUE error.

(this is because you must specify at least one column)

2) If col_index_num is greater than the no. of columns in table_array, VLOOKUP returns the #REF! error.

(this is because you can’t use a column no. more than the no. of columns you have.)

RANGE_LOOKUP

Range_lookup specifies whether you want an exact or approximate match returned.

In our example, in the formula =vlookup(D2;A2:B8;2;FALSE), we used FALSE to get an exact match.

1) If you use TRUE for Range_lookup:

● (TRUE is most often used to find numeric data)

● An exact or approximate match can be returned.

● Sort the first column of the table_array in ascending order, otherwise you may not get the results you want.

2) If you don’t use Range_lookup:

● (This is most often used to find numeric data)

● An exact or approximate match can be returned.

● Sort the first column of the table_array in ascending order, otherwise you may not get the results you want.

3) If you use FALSE for Range_lookup:

● (FALSE is most often needed when looking for a text match)

● Excel will look for an exact match only.

● The values in the first column of the table_array do not need to be sorted.

● If there are two or more values in the first column of the table_array that match the lookup_value, the first value found is used.

● If an exact match is not found, the #N/A error is returned.

Filed Under: Web and Technology Tagged With: col_index_num, compare two lists in excel, lookup_value, range_lookup, table_array, vlookup false, vlookup function excel, vlookup true, what is the vlookup function in excel