Monthly Archives: February 2010

The Hustle and Bustle of Relocating: 10 Things to Remember When Moving to New York

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lady liberty of new york

So you’ve decided to take a chance on moving to the Big Apple—are you prepared?

To some, it is a daunting challenge to become part of the dynamic hustle and bustle of this famous concrete jungle of skyscrapers, dazzling lights, and busy people. We’ve asked several people who moved to New York from a while back to give us some advice. What do people who’ve done what you are still about to do, have to say to New York movers? These are the top ten things to remember when moving to New York:

1) Bring a map – yes. You may ask around but you definitely cannot do that all the time.

2) Hypochondriac? It would be good to have a bottle of hand sanitizer with you. This city is filled with different people who have different habits. What’s clean for you might not be the same to the perception of cleanliness of the person next to you.

3) How much cash to bring? Bring lots of it but below $10,000 though. If you bring more, you could be held for questioning, thus causing unnecessary delays. This is because $10,000 is the limit set by federal law. If you bring too much cash, you would raise suspicion among the authorities.

4) How much will you set aside for rent? That depends on how much you would like or able to spend for it. You can get a decent apartment for about $500-600 per month. You could cut costs if you have someone to split it with. There are also places that are a lot cheaper but the usual cost that people shell-out is more or less $500.

skyline patio dining in Manhattan Skyline patio dining in Manhattan

casual dining in new yorkThe casual lunchtime in New York 

5) Food during lunchtime in Manhattan could go for $10-20, however, if you are adventurous enough to find great but inexpensive food spots, you could get good food for $6. Should you decide to go for a nice dinner for two, you could get these at $75-150.

6) Let’s talk weather. Weather in New York is a balance of extremes. Winters here are really cold and summers are as imaginably sultry. Rains make New York City hot and humid. This would give you an idea on what clothes to bring–which brings us to the next thing to remember.

7) If you want to blend in, black is a safe color of choice for clothing. Make sure you have enough clothes to wear for the different seasons. You would not want to catch pneumonia or freeze your toes off because you are wearing inappropriate clothing.

8 ) The fun is in finding your way in and out New York, so you’d make things easier and better for you when you settle in. Do not be afraid to take some time to “get lost” in order to know your way around. Just be sure to heighten your senses so you will not get into any unpleasant surprises. Should you really get lost, you can always go to the subway and get a subway map. Subway maps are free and you can get it from the subway booth. Of course, take some time to read your map and be familiar with it.

new york subway trainNew York’s primary mode of transportation – the subway train 

9) For transportation, the subway runs 24/7, the whole year. You should get a monthly swipe card called the metro card. It costs $89 and you can use it for 30 days. You might want to bring an iPod or a music player, because some destinations take up to more than an hour (for example: you are working in a company that is an hour and half away from where you live) and you might want the company of your playlist to break the boredom.

10) Last but not least, bring a camera. There are so many things to see and do in New York and what better way to document your thrilling beginning than shooting the sights with your handy camera. Of course, you have to know camera etiquette when you decide to be trigger-happy in a city that is a melting pot of people coming from different races. You would not want to deal with people who would get mad because they are thinking that you are taking their pictures.

Moving to any new place needs careful planning. New York movers have to learn to be street-smart and be able to think on their feet. You should already have an outline or a general idea on where you should go, who your contacts are, and everything on this list would then be useful to you, once you get to New York.

Moving to New York is a big and exciting decision—and you can make the most out of it while having fun.

Personalized Teddy Bear: A Great Valentine’s Day Gift

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personalized teddy bear for valentines day

Along with chocolates and long-stemmed, deep red roses, soft and adorable teddy bears are a traditional gift for the ladies during Valentines’ Day. So show your girlfriend, fiancée, lover, lady-friends, mother and the many ladies in your life how much they mean to you with especially personalized teddy bear gifts from online teddy bear stores this Valentines’ Day. Cute and cuddly, the girls—both young and old—in your life will love and treasure these little guys they received from you.

The Internet provides you a wide array of choices for which teddy bear to give your significant other. Teddy bears purchased online can be personalized by adding the receiver’s name and your own message for them that can be written on the greeting card it comes along with. Personalized teddy bears make a unique and meaningful Valentines’ day gift because part of the effort—not just the purchasing but the personalizing too—in preparing the gift coming from you.

Shopping online comes with ease, comfort and guaranteed satisfaction for the clients. Purchasing from the online sites offers a lot of benefits. First is that it is relatively easy to browse through the sites. The sites are accessible from the comforts of home and anywhere else with Internet connection. You can browse through the different kinds of teddy bears displayed on the sites until you find one which you think your loved one is going to like.

Included in the display picture of the teddy bears are their descriptions. These make shopping for the perfect Valentines’ day gift easier. Then you can personalize the teddy bear before you bag it and virtually head to the check-out counter. You can choose from the different the modes of payment offered on these sites. In a matter of days after you have made your purchase, your especially personalized teddy bear gifts will be sent right in front of your door. There is no need for a trip to their store to claim it.

Second, if you and the recipient of the gift find the product unsatisfactory, you can get your money back after airing your complaint and concern to the staff. The online teddy bear gifts shopping sites guarantees you your money back if you find the gift purchase unsatisfactory. The comments and complaints from their clients help them spot what needs to be improved in their products and services. This way, they can give out even better services to their most loyal and even the prospective clients.

Not only does online shopping offers a stress-free shopping spree, shopping in the teddy bears online sites also are risk-free.

As leaders in the teddy bear- and gift-personalizing industry, purchases made online may come with delightful freebies. The freebies may also be teddy bears or something equally delightful.

If you want a wonderful, comfortable and easy Valentines’ Day gift-online shopping experience, go online and start browsing! Personalize your teddy bear gifts to show your special someone how important they are to you.

Who Says SEO Is Dead?

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Who Says SEO Is Dead

When it comes to search engine optimization, or SEO, you may have heard the criticism that any Web site could be number one if you pick a keyword that is obscure enough. There are also a lot of criticisms that say that SEO is not effective in putting your Web site in a higher search engine ranking and in bringing in sales and customers to your site; that everything is just based on pure luck.

What adds to the confusion are companies and services that claim to be able to put your site on the first page or top spot of any search engine for any keyword you specify and then they use black hat techniques composed of deceitful and underhanded tactics to put you on top only as long as you keep paying them. Once you have stopped paying, your rankings fall, sometimes it becomes worse off than when you started. What is more, these black hat techniques can prove to be a bane to your ranking because search engines are very dynamic and are constantly updated and be able to detect these sooner or later. There is always the possibility that your site would be banned for using these techniques.

Over the years, people have come out with pronouncements that SEO is dead. They claim that you cannot influence how your sites would be ranked by search engines with its algorithms being constantly updated. Additionally, they say that SEO companies are just guessing at how search engines rank sites because these algorithms are closely guarded secrets in the first place.

The truth of the matter is that SEO works. It is not dead. It is not an art, but a science. SEO companies and experts have made educated guesses and made changes to Web sites that have seen better rankings than when left alone. The process is very much like how scientists and academics have their own theories and they do experiments to test it out. SEO experts and scientists strive to prove causality between one process and its results.

Done right, SEO can help your site get good rankings on keywords that are used by your customers and potential buyers. What this entails is that, like other marketing initiatives, you should know who your customers are in order to find the keywords that would give you the most benefits. More than this, you should also know the various techniques of SEO and how to execute them. This includes learning how to implement white hat techniques like on page optimization, off-page SEO, link building, creating better content that is both SEO-friendly and natural sounding. Over and again, companies that implement these techniques have reaped rewards after rewards.

Critics could easily dismiss it as fluff and nothing but putting in a good word for a dying man. A look at how real world companies approach their SEO, however, proves another point. In June 2009, Forbes Magazine released its study of Ad Effectiveness. The Magazine found that:

  • SEO, along with e-mail and newsletter marketing remains to be the most popular form of e-marketing among senior marketing executives.
  • 48% of these executives said that SEO was most effective in generating sales and conversions.
  • 92% of marketing executives will keep their existing SEO budgets or increase it within the succeeding six months.

What these marketers are saying is that SEO is effecting at not only putting your site where your customers are, but it works so well that they are willing to bet their money and keep on spending for it.