August 29th, 2010 | Accounting |
Facebook applications (a.k.a. Facebook apps) are one of the successful ingredients to the one of the most popular social network. In fact, with the increasing number of social groups and active users, these apps can spread virally across friends with the invitation nature. There are 3 major types of underlying revenue models. After reading this article, you’ll discover how you can profit from Facebook apps.
Ad placements are the most direct method to monetize these applications. And as the name suggests, the method involves direct placement of advertising modules within the program interface. These can include Google AdSense, amazon associate program or eBay affiliate etc. You can also place affiliate links from popular networks such as ClickBank or commission junction. You can make money with each click on these ads by your users, or percentage of sales if you get a sale from such affiliation.
Sponsorship is another type of mole where you are partnered with a company to brand the facebook application. This program will be used exclusively to promote another business. The business concerned can be yours or belong to third party. Unlike pay per click, the company will pay you on a contractual basis. While this model may not be seen very often because the application has to be very popular, such cooperative business is still workable.
Virtual currency is another revenue model usually adopted by games related Facebook program. Some examples include Texas Holdem, where you are playing against other opponents using virtual chips. While the chips are available for free when you register initially, these chips are actively traded in marketplace outside the social site. You can see virtual chips for sale in eBay, for example. This model can also be used in conjunction with other monetization strategy such as ad placements.
How you can make money with Facebook apps, too
Are you eager to jump in the wagon and claim your profit share in Facebook applications? You will need some Facebook apps to get you started. I’ll recommend this Facebook applications collection.
August 27th, 2010 | Guest post |
Insurance is a necessary acquisition for any business, representing an agreement between the company and the customer that the insurance company will provide reimbursement for specific types of financial loss against a specified fee the customer will pay on a regular basis.
Insurance can be regarded as a form of cushion that is used to minimize the financial consequences of unfavorable situations that can take place anytime in the future. Insurance is used to protect assets, finances, employees and assure customer liability defense. Any business owner shouldn’t underestimate the importance of having his business protected through insurance. It is simply the best way to minimize the risks connected to circumstances that you cannot control and that can put you out of business for good, threatening even your personal assets.
There are two major types of insurance for small business that any business owner should think about.
Mandatory insurance
The first type of insurance your business will need is the obligatory type of coverage that is required by state and federal law. This type of insurance includes coverage for unemployment, social security as well as workers’ compensation. Unemployment and social security coverage offer certain benefits to the employees and their families, including coverage for aged and disabled, retirement benefits, Medicare, Medicaid and Supplemental Security Income. Worker’s compensation coverage deals with all work-related damage and injuries that a worker sustains at the workplace, and is usually applied for paying for the medical expenses.
Optional insurance
Optional types of small business insurance coverage include protection from different unforeseen circumstances such as natural disaster, catastrophic events, riots, strikes and other types of damage. One of the most popular options in this section is the Business Owner Coverage that is often regarded as an all-in-one insurance solution, protecting from anything starting with flood and fire to wars and technological disasters. Another very popular type of optional coverage is the property insurance, which pays for the damage both the business and personal property of your enterprise has suffered. Liability insurance as you may guess from the name protects you and your business against potential liability by customers and other people harmed by your actions, services or products.
Other types of insurance coverage you may want to purchase depend on the actual type of business you have, local state requirements and other circumstances that you may want to be covered against. These additional types of coverage include product liability insurance, errors and omissions insurance (quite useful for businesses offering services or involved in production of goods), business income insurance (very useful for minimizing the impact of temporary shutdown or limitations on business). There are additional types of small business insurance coverage that will protect you I case of burglary or machinery malfunction.
Remember that you should purchase insurance coverage according to your actual business needs. Do not purchase coverage against risk you are very unlikely to face in your activities. If you don’t know where to start, ask your insurance agent or broker about specific types of insurance coverage that your business may find particularly useful. And don’t forget to shop around when purchasing a policy. There are many insurance companies offering small business insurance, so don’t rush off to get the first policy offered. Consider all your options and choose the most competitive one.
August 26th, 2010 | Guest post |
This type of policy provides coverage for a specific number of years in return for a predetermined premium. Temporary policy is considered to be ‘pure’ insurance and the amount of premium only provides coverage in the event of death, not any other events.
Three main factors should be considered for term insurance:
Face value – the benefit at death, also called the coverage;
Premium due – the insured cost;
Duration of coverage – the term.
Depending on the insurance company you will be offered a various combination of these three factors. The face value may or may not remain constant and the duration (term) can be for any number of years while the premium can also fluctuate in value. Further, there are three types of term insurance – level insurance, annual renewable as well as mortgage insurance.
Level term life insurance is a long-term policy, usually issued for a round number of years, like 10, 15, 25, etc. The specifics of this type are in the fact that its premiums remain constant thus you can plan and budget long-term. In the end it might be renewable or can be converted into another type of policy.
The annual renewable term is a 12 months insurance but with a guarantee from the insurance company that it will reissue a policy of equal or lesser value at the expiry of 12 months, regardless of the insurability of the policy holder and will determine the premium according to the age of the insured at the time of renewal.
Mortgage life insurance is similar to the level term in that it also has a constant premium but declining face amount. The face value in this type of insurance is equal to the amount of mortgage on the insured’s residence, so that in the event of the insured’s death the company pays the mortgage off.
Permanent life insurance
This type of life insurance stays in force permanently, until the policy matures, except if the policyholder breaches its terms, for instance if he does not pay the premium at due date. This policy cannot be cancelled except if there was a fraud in the application. In contrast to the term insurance, permanent policy accumulates cash value, which means that a policy of one million dollars will be cheaper for a young person than to someone in his/her 60s. The built up cash can be accessed by the insured at any time. Further, permanent insurance can be split into four groups – whole life insurance, universal life insurance, limited-pay and endowments.
Whole life policy has a constant premium and a schedule of cash value. It guarantees death benefits, cash accumulation, fixed annual premiums, and the expenses in the event of death will not be deducted from the cash value.
Universal life policy is similar to the whole life but provides more flexible premiums and a potential to achieve a higher internal rate of return.
Limited pay policy provides for the premiums to be paid in specified periods of time, like 10 or 20 years.
Endowments are policies in which the built up cash value equals the benefits in the event of death (the face value). This type of life insurance is considered to be a more expensive one.