Posts tagged: marketing in real estate

You have heard about recruitment agencies, but you may not be aware of what these firms do. Just as the name sounds, recruitment agencies are companies or firms that have a list of job vacancies and a database of people who are looking out for jobs. They match their database of job seekers with job vacancies as and when they come up. These agencies sprung up in America in the year 1893. Fred Winslow started an engineering firm in 1893 and that later on became part of a much broader network called the General Employment Enterprise. The mode of operation of this firm was similar to what recruitment agencies do nowadays. The basic aim of recruitment agencies is to identify, locate and then hire workers on permanent or contractual basis. The temporary agencies handle the recruited people on short term contracts. Many companies like to outsource some of their workload during the peak season or when permanent staffs are on holidays. It is to fill this gap that temporary agencies hire people. There have also been situations where temporary staffs have been upgraded to full time jobs if proved efficient.

There are recruitment agencies that provide services within their country and agencies that provide services to employers abroad. International agencies are known to be present in larger numbers than local recruitment agencies. This is due to the fact that there is always a demand for employment abroad and there are more takers for jobs that come from another country. In fact the highest number of recruitment agencies is sourcing employees for the Middle East, where there is a high demand for foreign workers. The agencies in UAE are on the lookout for persons with varying skills and they usually have a job for people from most backgrounds. With the popularity of internet growing there are many agencies that operate online. Such online recruitment agencies are known to be very successful as the information gets across to the prospective employer and the employee at a much shorter time. There are also many recruitment sites where employers can post their requirement and job seekers can post their bio data onto the website. This gives both the employee and the employee a platform to interact before the final decision is taken. Many such online websites are springing up and are proving to be very successful.

In this modern world, many companies rely on recruitment agencies to find the right person for the job. In general, the agencies do not charge a free from the job seeker. It is the employers who pay the recruitment agencies a fee for finding them an employee that suits their requirement. So as a job seeker you do not end up paying for the agencies services. By going through an agency, you can save time that you would otherwise spend going through classified sections. If you are looking for a job in a particular sector, these agencies are your best bet as they will have a list of jobs that you are looking for and that will help you to land up with a job of your preference. These agencies will also be able to help you in preparing your CV and in preparing for interviews. They can also provide you with valuable feedback on the interviews that you attend and help you by doing mock interviews. Many employers prefer to go through recruitment agencies as they are a one point contact for their recruitment needs. Such employers may not entertain you if you apply to them directly. With so many advantages that a job seeker can avail with the help of a agency, it is a good choice to utilize their services.

With a host of recruitment agencies operating in the market, a job seeker has to exercise some caution before entrusting their future with a recruitment agency. Past records of the agency has to be checked properly and it is better to approach one that has been licensed to recruit people. In the case of online sites, go for reputed sites and check their disclaimer before moving forward. There are many bogus agencies that operate in the market and one has to aware of such agencies. These agencies often request job seekers to pay a nominal amount as registration fee and this is a sign for you to be cautious when dealing with the agency. Be smart and be aware otherwise bogus recruitment agencies can take you for a ride.

Smartphones dominate our attention throughout the day. They have come to change the very nature of how we interact with the world around us, including the way we do businesses.

When it comes to the travel and hospitality space, mobiles have drastically reshaped their functioning, that too in the favor of the consumer. And, with expectations regarding mobile interactivity rising, consumers have become more demanding regarding the kinds of services they have at their fingertips.

Here are some statistics that will help you grasp the extent to which mobile has penetrated the industry:

• TripAdvisor is the travel industry’s most popular mobile app, with more than 230 million downloads and 150 million monthly active users.
• Mobile bookings in travel have grown by 1700% between 2011 and 2015, moving from 1 per cent to 18 per cent of online revenues.
• 40% of travel sales have come from mobile in 2017, which is posited to reach 50 per cent by 2021.
• 88 per cent of leisure travelers will switch to a different app or website if yours isn’t meeting their needs
• More than 50 per cent of travelers don’t have a set destination in mind when planning a trip – and 60% will search their next trip from a mobile device
• 1 in 3 boarding passes will be delivered via mobile by 2019
• 66 per cent users prefer restaurants with a reward scheme, and 78% will use a mobile app if offered discounts.

The bottom line is, mobile is here to stay. In fact, it will only occupy more importance in the consumer’s daily life, so fine tuning your hospitality venture to make to most of mobile is imperative.

The hospitality industry invests heavily in online marketing (about $6 billion in 2016, to give you an idea) and uses it to engage customers and drive conversions. However, online engagement using only paid advertising is fast losing its appeal.

More and more companies are re-looking their strategy and trying to incorporate the mobile experience at each stage of the travel experience – right from research to sharing feedback about the journey and their stay in a hotel.

The Role of Mobiles in the Research Phase

Earlier, your travel research didn’t necessarily involve surfing the net. You’d call a travel agent after a brief search online, and trust him to get you a discount on the whole ‘package’.

Travelers these days pride themselves on their ‘researching skills’ and their ability to curate a great experience while also bagging the best deals for themselves. And a lot of their research takes them to social networking sites, like Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram and user review platforms like TripAdvisor and Lonely Planet.

This means that you have to incentivize your existing customers to share their journey online. Check-ins, reviews, sharing photos, using customized hashtags, and writing blogs are popular strategies to invite contributions.

But don’t just leave it all up to the guests. Hotels should also actively participate in creating and distributing high quality content. Focus on value-driven stuff that gets your potential consumers to think, “These guys seem to know what they’re talking about when it comes to travel, so I’ll check them out!” And don’t forget to optimize the content for reading on smartphones, because looking up on PCs is so old-fashioned. Also, partner with experts, specialists, and influencers to enrich your content and give it credibility.

Now that you’re creating valuable content, ensure that it’s discoverable on Google. Have a robust SEO strategy so that you feature in top search results. Also, get a Google Business Listing for your hotel, and make maintain NAP (Name, Address, and Phone number) consistency across platforms like Yelp, Yahoo, Foursquare, and TripAdvisor.

A virtual concierge is even better. Guests can access this service on their mobile, allowing them to see the amenities of your hotel, check out local attractions, or even look at upgrade opportunities. You should use the power of video to your advantage to give them online tours as well.

From the Booking to Arrival

There is always a time-gap between the time guests make reservation to the time they arrive at your hotel. This period is rarely utilized by businesses, but with some thought, you can reach out to your guest and offer value added services.

Communicate with your guests on their mobiles, but in a way that isn’t considered spamming. Give them useful information about the locality, introduce them to sightseeing options, and inform them of events happening around the hotel. And should they like something, let them reserve seats using their smartphones.

You can even eliminate the check-in line and other procedures with the help of a mobile app. Guests can choose their rooms, opt for add-ons and have a hassle-free check in to give them greater control over their stay. Not only will this free up your staff for other aspects of the business, you will also earn brownie points for being proactive.

The Hotel Lobby & The Stay

People would ignore your lobby because there isn’t anything there to capture their interest, apart from droll seating arrangements and eerie silence. You can change that, and use this space to actually interact with guests, using mobiles.

SoftBank’s humanoid robot Pepper is one of those innovations that really caught my eye. This robot makes a great way of channeling customers to use the gamut of mobile services that you might have in place, while also paving the way for affiliate services and programs.

Pepper can be programmed to chat with customers, answer questions and give directions – its functionality is like Amazon’s Alexa. With Pepper, however, there’s a robot in front of customers that can dance, look around, play music, light up, blush and even take a cool selfie with passersby.

Pepper can even capture email addresses and phone numbers, and can be programmed to send customers messages with links to your mobile app, loyalty programs and other things pre-and-post their stay at the hotel. With Pepper, you can capture the data you need to create a truly personalized experience for your guests, which is the reason for most hotels now looking at mobile favorably.

Finally, your App

Maybe you were wondering when we would get to this, since we’ve covered pretty much everything else. We won’t try and convince you why you need an app, but know that having a mobile site isn’t enough. Apps themselves take your customer engagement to the next level, and given the competition in the industry, you should leverage your mobile advantage as much as possible.

An ideal app should have the following characteristics:

• Ergonomic Design, intuitive User Interface
• Careful selection of essential features
• Brand consistency
• Cross-platform compatibility (iOS, Android etc.)
• Convenient booking options
• News – Local and industry related
• Analytics at the back end
• Image gallery / virtual tour
• Floor plan
• Loyalty program integration
• Event Calendar
• Flight information, weather updates, dynamism
• Social network sharing prompt

As technology becomes increasingly personalized and mobile, your engagement in the realm of hospitality should not fall behind. While these suggestions are extensive, consider implementing a few (if not all) of them to see the kind of boost you receive in your engagement – personal experience is the best teacher.

All things said and done, mobile engagement truly lets you interact with your guests in a personalized and more proactive manner, which does wonders for your brand image. In addition, it also lets you rise above the competitive clutter, which sounds like a win-win to me!

It is vital to take note of the Bali visa requirements outlined below and also contact your local Indonesian embassy before going to Bali to see if there are any changes in the visa requirements as Indonesian countries can be very stern with regards tourists who over stay their visa date. Finishing off your holiday by landing up in a Balinese or any Indonesian jail for a foreigner could be a nightmare come true. With so many Bali tours and leisure activities available when on holiday in Bali it is easy to get tempted to stay longer that you initially intended, but it is truly not a good idea.

Although these countries are quite forgiving to the western way of doing things, you’ll be imprisoned if you can’t pay the hefty fine that may be imposed for overstaying. Overstaying your visa is charged at US$20 each day for over stays up to 60 days, anytime over 60 days are your will be liable to five years imprisonment or a fine of 25 million Indonesian Rupiah. If you do intend to stay longer than your visa allows, then you can fly to a nearby country like Thailand or Vietnam fairly cheaply and re enter Bali to renew your visa.

Before you enter Bali make sure you are familiar with the different money denominations. The local currency utilized in Bali is the Indonesian Rupiah (IDR), The Indonesian Rupiah money denominations are:

Paper Notes: 100, 500 , 1,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, 100,000.

Coins: 25, 50, 100, 500, 1000.

Short term visa free entry of thirty days is available to people holding passports of the following 11countries : Brunei Darussalam, Chile, Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Morocco, Peru, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore. Your passport must be valid for at least six months from the date of entry into Bali and you will need to show an onward of return ticket.

Short term visa on arrival (VOA), 7 day or 30 day visas are available for the following countries at a cost of $10 and $25 respectively. Once again a passport with more than six months left on it and a return ticket must be shown to get the visa. The countries are : Argentina, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cambodia, Canada, Cyprus, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Iran, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Laos, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Maldives, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, Suriname, Taiwan, Holland, U.A.E., UK and the U. S. of America.

All of the countries noted below will need to contact the Bali embassy in their country to get prior permission to enter Bali. Without a visa in advance you will not be permitted to go into the country. The countries are Afghanistan, Albania, Angola, Bangladesh, Cameroon, Cuba, Ethiopia, Ghana, Iraq, Israel, Nigeria, North Korea, Pakistan, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Tanzania.

Apart from the short term visas that are available, there are other more long term visas that may be applied for before traveling to Bali. It is better to make an application for these visas in your own country, even though they may be a little more expensive they will generally be processed faster. You’ll find a Balinese embassy in most countries that you can apply through. Some of the commonest long term visas that people make an application for are, business visa, social-cultural visa, job visa and limited stay permits (KITAS).

When you first arrive at one of the Bali hotels that you have selected to stay in contact your local government agency and tell them you have arrived and once again when you leave. This is recommended by all governments and it is just to ensure that you are safe and they will know if you haven’t left on the due date. This way at least you’d be contacted in the event you forget when you’re supposed to leave, you would be surprised how many times this occurs.

The United States was once seen as the emerging front of the diamond market. It was the land of the American Dream, mass-consumerism, and new money. However, the United States’ economy is lagging behind the high growth markets in the east, namely India and China. While demand for Diamonds in the United States fell after the global economic crises in the past decade, markets have in fact surged in the East, to the point where within a decade, Chinese demand for diamonds could reach the same level as the United States.

De Beers has long been the monopoly holder of diamonds in the world, amassing about 95% of the World’s supply of diamonds at one point. They source their diamonds from Africa and India, and release it through select avenues and retailers on a limited approval basis. In an interview this month with London’s Financial Times, the Managing Director of De Beers, Garreth Penny stated that “What we’re now seeing, with China growing as rapidly as it is, [is] annual double-digit growth compounded over a period of five years.”

However, it appears that the surge of the diamond market in China is not solely due to the solid performance of the local economy and stock markets. A lot of it has to do with the wedding culture and traditions in China. According to Penny, 20 years ago, it was rare for Chinese brides to receive diamond engagement rings. However, today about 50% of couples married in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong buy them.

The growth of the diamond market in China is significant, since in 2009, China only accounted for 6-7% of the global diamond market, while the United States accounted for about 40% of it. De Beers has forecasted the Chinese demand to more than double by the year 2016.

A similar trend is visible in India today, where “the diamond jewelry business has been showing a growth rate of about 15% at a time when [just gold jewelry] has shown negligible growth.”The diamond jewelry market in India has been surging, and is representative of similar activity in India. According to experts, this is because with gold prices at an all time high, consumers are moving from investing in pure gold to diamond jewelry.

According to latest figures, in May 2010 alone, India’s polished diamond exports rose 73% from last year, to almost $1.8 billion. India has long been labeled a major hub of diamond cutting and polishing, and has a hand in 9 out of 11 diamonds that are produced around the world. Apart from India, Honk Kong and Dubai are also emerging as key trading areas.

It will be interesting to see how the balance of power between diamond trading centers shifts over the next decade. While the diamond industry is rebounding well from the global economic collapse of the past decade, there are many issues the diamond industry must deal with over the next decade, especially a decline in the diamond supply in the future. According to Penny, “These great mines that were discovered 10, 20, 30 years ago are not being replaced today. According to the data that is out there, we’re going to see some significant declines in diamonds.”

‘International School’ is the term used to refer to an educational institution that promotes ‘international education in an international atmosphere’ by adopting a required curriculum or syllabus which differs from the country where the school is operational.

Such schools function mainly to teach students who are not nationals or citizens of the host country; they are ideally suited for children of people employed in foreign embassies or missions, international business organizations etc. Local students from the region around the school who wish to obtain a degree or suitable qualifications for further studies or a career, are also given admission into schools.

History

The concept of an international school began in the second half of the 19th century when they were set up in countries like Japan, Switzerland, Turkey and some others for families that travelled extensively, like missionaries, NGOs, embassies etc. These schools were set up with the help and assistance of the particular establishment that required the schools – e.g. defense establishments, scientific communities, diplomatic missions etc. – and based on the specific country’s school curriculum.

In due course, globalization and technology have created a spurt in schools around the world to cater to the increased movement of people around the world for work, business and other purposes; such movement has created generations of children living away from their country of origin and has necessitated the presence of international schools. In this context, improved national schools alone do not spell success; the benchmark for success depends on the educations systems that perform best internationally.

Criteria for an international school

In 2009, the International Association of School Librarianship decreed that an international school had to fit the following criteria:

• Multinational and multi-lingual student community

• A moving population of students

• Transferability of the student’s education – e.g. credits – across international schools

• International curriculum or syllabi

• International accreditation – e.g. International Baccalaureate (IB), Council of International Schools (CIS), University of Cambridge IGCSE (International General Certificate of Secondary Education), Schools Services etc.

• A multinational and transient teacher count and number

• Use of English or French as medium of instruction with the option of adding an additional language

• Non-selective student enrolment

Such schools have more or less the same curriculum as state and national schools – arts, humanities, information technology, language, mathematics, physical education, sciences etc. The method and mode of education is highly systemized and depends greatly on a technology induced classroom environment; periodical tests, assessments and grading of students are done on an ongoing basis.

These schools allow continuity in education for children of expatriate families, especially as they grow older. In many countries, relocation services and assistance agencies help expat families find the appropriate international school for their children.

The Day of the Jackal contains a superb scene that looks like a choice candidate to fulfill the requirements of someone looking for great stand alone scenes – I refer to when the Jackal buys a huge melon at the market, takes it into the woods, paints a smiley face on it, hangs it from a tree, and uses it for deGaulle’s head in target practice. I’m going to leave it alone and refrain from comment. Sometimes in appreciation the old adage that less is more certainly applies. So what I’m going to do here is approach this film in a roundabout, bizarre fashion. Please permit me this indulgence. I’d like to make a weird analogy between an observation a famous film critic once made about movies in general and a somewhat similar state of affairs created by the Jackal in the eponymously titled film.

To this day many consider James Agee to be the gold standard for popular film criticism in America, and I think a good part of the reason why is his empathic identification with the audiences that were reading his columns as he wrote them. In his inaugural column for The Nation on December 26, 1942 he wrote:

“I suspect that I am, far more than not, in your own situation: deeply interested in moving pictures, considerably experienced from childhood on in watching them and thinking and talking about them, and totally, or almost totally, without experience or even much second hand knowledge about how they are made.”

Wow. Of course, he was right. I’d like to put an unusual spin on this observation of Agee’s.

One wonders what Agee would have made of a film like The Day of the Jackal that requires at least some willingness on the part of the filmgoer to acknowledge a parallel between the kind of ignorance of moviemaking Agee references and the sorts of deceptions and illusions the Jackal (played by Edward Fox) creates and weaves throughout the film. Four of the people the Jackal crosses paths with in the course of his plot to kill deGaulle- the forger, the woman he meets in the hotel, Colette, the man who picks him up in the Turkish bath, and the landlady of the building from which he plans to shoot – he kills- the forger because of his attempt to blackmail the Jackal, Colette because the police are questioning her, the gay lover because the man has seen the Jackal, in disguise, identified on television, and the landlady because he cannot have anyone witnessing him inside the building. In other words, all four know too much. In one way or another the Jackal’s concealment of reality has been penetrated.. The fifth such person, the gun maker, is left alone without explanation. Maybe the Jackal trusts him, or perhaps intends to deal with him after he kills deGaulle. In any case, concealment of reality is the operating theme in the plot of the film as much as it is in James Agee’s remark, albeit within very different circumstances. The mysteries of filmmaking exist in order to entertain; the Jackal’s, in order to deceive.

A workmanlike film such as this could probably only have been made by a studio veteran of Hollywood mainstreamers, which is exactly what Fred Zinneman was. (Look, I’m just a casual watcher of movies with a humble, modest collection and by complete chance it contains four or five Zinneman pictures – simply by virtue of the fact that I try to represent various genres of Hollywood films well.) (We can safely disregard Andrew Sarris’ nonsensical observations on Zinneman in – bloviation such as “At its best, his direction is inoffensive; at its worst, it is downright dull.”)

The gun maker – “Gozzi” – is completely and totally aware that the Jackal is an assassin, ordering a gun to kill somebody with. The forger is not – he only remarks that the Jackal must “have a big job” in the works. Too, the Jackal emphasizes – in very threatening, forceful tones, that, once the work is done, he wants the forger to forget everything. Yet he does none of this with the gun maker, indicating that he must have quite a bit more faith in him than he does in the forger. Still, the forger does not take the Jackal seriously and attempts to sell him back documents he had originally agreed to give back for free.

Notice – when the forger attempts to blackmail the Jackal, the Jackal kills him. When the gun maker reveals he had to make the gun out of a totally different material than the Jackal had requested, barely a word is mentioned about it. The Jackal’s response is “Where can I practice?” When the Jackal learns that Colette has been talking to the authorities he kills her immediately, with no hesitation (as he did the forger). Ditto the gay man – the decision to kill him is arrived at with no hesitation whatsoever. Only the landlady’s killing seems to have been planned in advance. But whatever the situation, the concealment of reality is paramount.

“What’s all this got to do with James Agee?” I can hear you screaming. Only this – what would it be like to watch a film in which you got yourself totally emotionally involved – laughing, crying, scared to death – and then could suddenly see the director, the cameraman, the sound recordists, the lighting director, and the rest of the crew, as well as the actors, as the movie was actually being filmed. How would you feel? Would you view the film differently? Of course you would. The necessary concealment of reality that’s required for things to proceed properly would have been removed. It’s something to contemplate, isn’t it?

Most people don’t pay much attention to their credit score, which is easy to do when you’ve always been able to pay your bills on time and haven’t acquired much debt. But even the most responsible consumers can be hit with unforeseen circumstances such as a job loss or medical bills. Credit cards may be able to float the expenses for a while, but eventually the debt can mount up to a point where payments are no longer manageable. Missed or late payments can lower your credit score, but you may avoid bankruptcy, hoping to stop any further damage. However, sometimes bankruptcy is the correct choice, and there are things you can do to rebuild your credit score after filing.

Your Credit Report

If you have a pattern of late payments, filing bankruptcy can discharge many of your unsecured debts and put an end to those late payments. A bankruptcy will lower your credit score, but after you file, you’ll be given a “Discharge of Debtor” document that shows your debt has been forgiven. At this point, negative credit events stop, and you can begin establishing a positive credit history. First, you’ll need to request credit reports from the three credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian, and Trans Union. Review all of the information listed on your report to ensure accuracy, particularly that any debts included in your bankruptcy show a zero balance. You can correct any errors by contacting the credit agency.

Rebuilding

After ensuring you have a clean credit report, you can begin the work of adding positive elements. You will most likely receive credit card offers as soon as your case is resolved, but be sure you review the terms carefully before accepting. You may need to start with a secured credit card with high interest rates and steep fees. While this is not ideal, it’s a place to start, and you can avoid paying any interest by making only small purchases and paying them off completely, on time each month. You might even want to use the credit card for a small monthly bill and set up an automatic payment, essentially ignoring the fact that you have access to credit to avoid the temptation to overspend. As time goes by, you’ll receive better offers for new credit cards or may be able to renegotiate the terms of your current card. Soon, your credit score will improve and you’ll qualify for better and better options.

Moving Forward

Just like most negative events in life, ignoring your credit will not result in improved circumstances. It’s best to be fully informed about your financial situation and take direct action to make changes. If you’re in debt that you feel you’ll never be able to pay off, the first step is to determine if you can revise your budget to get back on track. If this isn’t possible, let me help you explore your bankruptcy options. After making this bold move, the opportunities to rebuild your credit will present themselves, and you’ll get back on your feet.

Lagos is a beautiful city of Nigeria. The city has tradition of short heighted buildings and there is a lot of cars moving on the less wide roads of the city which sometimes cause serious traffic jam. Lagos is one of the most popular place of the Africa people from all over the world come to Lagos to visit that and to see that. People of the Lagos looks like hard and their complexion is dark too. Basically Lagos is a island present in Nigeria but the local government has contract the road so it looks like a city rather than the typical island.

There are many beautiful shopping areas in the city like the Citeco tower. It is a beautiful place to visit in the most popular city of the West Africa. The tower outer look is so much like a luxurious home so one can feel that he or she is going to visit a home. The inner side of the tower is also depict the tradition of the place a lot of fake trees and many other things which show that the tower is build on the island are placed in the inner side of the Citeco.

There is a specific road in Lagos which has sky scrapper on the side, those buildings are build purposefully so that people can go over there and do shopping and feel better. People in Lagos are Muslims as Nigeria is the Muslim country. People of Nigeria like mutton and beef in food, so that it is seen in Lagos that the people sell these kinds of thing open on the roads which sometimes pinch those who are passing from that place. There is no specific place for the market so these kinds of thing cant limitize to one place.

Alaba market is one of the famous market for the scarp in the city. People use this to dump there all types of scarp including electronic scarp. As Nigeria is poor country so that people over there have less chance to educate themselves even the facilities of the education like schools, colleges and universities are also less in number over there. Just because of this people living in African countries start work in very small age. One of the most practical example of this can be seen in the Alaba market of scarp in Lagos. Boys who are less than 18 years in age even less than 16 years are working in the market and they are use to transport scarp from one place to other. Child labor is prohibited in all over the world but no force can omit this from African. It is seems that sometime child labor is promoted due to lack of education and sometime because of financial crises.

Lagos has many beautiful mosques in which the Muslims can prey. Those mosques are also a part of the country tradition so that mosques are decorated in a beautiful way.

It is needless to say that Seattle is a tourist destination. This is not a secret anymore. In fact, this is the fundamental reason why many pleasure travelers head to this bustling metropolis in this part of Washington. However, many business travelers also head to this nice city because of the presence of big named establishment that holds headquarters and factories in the East side of the United States. But besides traveling for either business or pleasure, deciding to relocate in Seattle and find an apartment suitable for you and your needs can also be one of the biggest decisions that you have to contemplate on and prepare with all sincerity.

Spending a vacation in Seattle is fun, but overlooking the preparations that you have to work on could mean real harm to your budget. This is particularly true if you intend to spend your vacation longer. For this case, it is highly suggested that you think of the possibility of renting an apartment in Seattle. While it is a common practice to stay in a hotel when you are on vacation, there are nice ideas that you can benefit from if you decide to search for an apartment.

You see, if you are considering to spend your holiday for several months, think about the buckets of dollars that you would need in order to pay the hotel bills. No matter how rich you might be, you would still feel the pain in the pocket that this expense would bring about. Unlike when you are renting an apartment, which you have to pay depending on the contract or agreement that you have agreed upon with the owner of the place. There are many furnished Seattle apartments and so having no appliances to carry on some of your needs would never be a problem for you during the entirety of your vacation.

It is true that the real estate market in Seattle is really on the go and currently in its most active phase. This means that you would always find a place for you to settle in during your vacation. The city of Seattle is a place where many destinations are available in the same way that there are plenty of activities that you can work on to make your vacation more worth remembering.

Another reason why it is worthy to spend your vacation in an apartment is for you to be able to experience the feeling of being comfortably home. Though the space may not be that big enough, still you are on to enjoy your own kitchen,bathroom, living room and of course your very cozy bedroom. This is where you would always retire after a very busy day of hiking or strolling around the many interesting place in this city such as the Space Needle in the Seattle Center, Eliot Bay, Cascade Range and a whole lot more.

In the playground near where I grew up was a construction we called “stepping stones”. It consisted of a series of progressively taller, cylindrical columns which served as steps leading to an ‘island’ with a tree growing at its apex. When I was growing up those stones seemed huge and I recall struggling to reach the top steps. However, when I visited the playground years later as a teenager, the same stepping stones appeared small and almost trivial. The stones hadn’t changed size; I had. The stepping stones are for me a great metaphor for dealing with life’s problems – grow bigger than them.

People often shun problems in their quest for an ‘easy’ life. Unfortunately, this approach generally backfires because the nature of life is that is that we will experience problems or challenges as I like to call them. The solution therefore is to devise a strategy for dealing with problems as they arise rather than trying to avoid them.

“The first requisite for success is the ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem incessantly without growing weary.”

Thomas Edison

It’s like working through a puzzle book. You start off with the easy puzzles which you whiz through, building your confidence and developing your skills before moving onto the more complex puzzles. While these take longer to complete, the level of satisfaction you feel tends to reflect the level of complexity of the puzzle – the tougher the puzzle; the greater your satisfaction.

When striving towards a particular goal learn to anticipate the various challenges that might arise. Dan Kennedy’s strategy is to prepare negative but think positive. In other words, create your own simulator from which you can view your problem from every angle. Regard your problem dispassionately and objectively and ask the questions that will lead you to possible solutions. Then work through those possible solutions to determine the best solution for your particular situation.

To achieve great success you must be prepared to deal with big problems. The person who gets ahead in life, who achieves phenomenal success is the person who has identified a problem, its solution and knows how to market that solution to those who want it.

Problems = Opportunities = Wealth

Know that life will not present you with a problem that you are not equipped to handle. True you may have to stretch yourself a little but that’s all part of the game. Problems help you to grow and to deal with them we have been blessed with a super computer more powerful than any other computer on this planet – our mind. Okay, so our creator had a sense of humour and didn’t give us a manual, despite this our comprehension of how our mind works is continually increasing. It is estimated that we are only tapping into a small fraction of our mind’s potential and yet look at what we can achieve.

No problem can withstand the onslaught of persistent thought. Take the iconic 7 star Burj Al Arab in Dubai described as a place where “imagination meets reality”. This impressive structure, 321 metres tall, is the tallest hotel in the world. The design was inspired by the billowing sail of a dhow and so the architect, Tom Wills-Wright, wanted the hotel to appear as though it was rising out of the sea. This would require an island to be constructed for the hotel and, at the time of its construction, this presented numerous challenges to the engineers.

In fact, they strongly resisted the idea of building a private island for the hotel. However, Wills-Wright was adamant that, to create the desired effect and fulfil the brief given to them by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum that this was the only solution. The Sheikh, a man who lets nothing stand in the way of his vision agreed.

The engineers overcame the challenges that this presented but there were numerous others throughout the construction including the challenge of building, transporting and erecting those sweeping arches that give the Burj Al Arab its unique shape. Many of the lessons learnt on this project fed into even even more ingenious and innovative construction projects in Dubai such as The Palm Island trilogy and The World.

What goal are you shying away from because it seems too enormous, too complex or too challenging. As Robert Allen says “no thought resides in your head rent-free” so instead of thinking of reasons why something cannot be achieved ask yourself:

“How can I achieve my goal?”

And keep on asking until you find the answer.