Make The List

5 Amazing Tiny Animals to Spot (If You Can)

List Guy — Wed, 22 May 2013 14:07:55 +0000

In the animal kingdom, being tiny can have its perks: you’re hopefully too small to be seen by any predators. Unfortunately, if you do get spotted, chances are you’ll be too small to put up much of a fight. Luckily, we all love small cute tiny things, and therefore ensure the existence of many pygmy creatures that may not have high survival rates out in the wild. The 5 animals below are without doubt some of the smallest cutest tiniest things to roam our planet.

Pygmy Owl

Everyone loved the happy, yet completely hopeless owl, Pigwidgeon, in the Harry Potter series, and so they should: he is a tiny owl. Tiny enough to sit on your finger. Probably not very useful if you have a large parcel to send home from Hogwarts, but in a world where we can use Royal Mail, these little birds are very useful indeed. Useful for being cute. Pygmies are a common occurrence in the owl kingdom, with around 25 – 35 different separate species.

Pygmy Marmoset

If you ever needed any reassurance that notebooks are better than computers, it’s got to be the idea of a tiny monkey sitting on your pen while you write. Pygmy marmosets are around 15cm long, with a 20cm tail, and live in the rainforests of South America. Sadly, a rise in tourism levels in their rainforests has led to an increase in their capture, pushed them into higher, more unwelcoming levels of the trees, as well as disrupting their vocal habits. Despite their sharp teeth and claws, the pygmy marmoset is relatively docile, meaning it has become a favourite in the exotic-pet trade.

Fairy penguin

Just when you thought that penguins couldn’t get any cuter, we bring you the fairy penguin. These guys live on the south coasts of Australia and New Zealand, and also go by the name of Little Blue Penguins. They grow to be about 33cm tall, and weigh around 1.5kg. Sadly, because of their size and the introduction of new predators, these little penguins have had their numbers cut drastically. Animals such as cats, foxes and stoats feast on the birds’ eggs at night. Their depleting numbers have resulted in a group of snipers being deployed in Sydney to help watch over a colony and protect them from harm.

Miniature Horse

Miniature horses have been a firm favourite ever since the days of Egyptian pharaohs, where rulers were often buried with their little ponies. Now the breed is a popular choice as a family pet, as well as having its own competitive showing circuit. The tiny horses are remarkably intelligent, and are growing in popularity as an alternative to assistance dogs. They stand at around 34 inches, though horses slightly bigger (up to 38 inches) or smaller (down to 19 inches) are common. From the pampered pets of kings and queens, to working pit ponies, and therapy animals, the miniature horse may be small, but it is versatile and well-adapted to many more jobs than its bigger counterpart.

Mini-Hippo

Standing at a maximum height of 83cm, these tiny hippos live in the jungles and wetlands of West Africa. Due to their mainly nocturnal behaviour they were not discovered by people outside of their habitat until the 19^th Century. Their numbers in the wild are dwindling, with only 3,000 estimated to still exist, due to logging, poaching, hunting, natural predators, and war. However, the mini hippos are doing well in captivity, and are the focus of many zoo conservation projects around the world.

Author Bio:

This article was written by David Lewzey of helpucover who provide pet insurance cover for cats, dogs and rabbits in the UK. helpucover is a trading style of Pinnacle Insurance plc.

The 5 most prolific bats resident in the UK

Make The List Staff — Fri, 17 May 2013 21:57:44 +0000

In the UK there are 18 species of bat, 17 of which are definitely known to breed here. This total represents nearly one quarter of the UK’s mammal species. All bats native to the UK are insectivores, with different species having various foraging behaviour and preferred insects for prey.

The smallest Pipistrelle species can eat up to 3,000 insects in one night. Bat populations have declined dramatically over the last 100 years, with the loss and fragmentation of suitable habitat, and the recent changes in agricultural practices reducing insect availability appearing to be the most important factors in this decline. We at Total Ecology regularly undertake bat surveys to help protect the species from changes to their habitat through modern developments in agriculture and property.

Read on for a breakdown of the most popular British bats resident to the UK

1. Common Pipistrelle

There are 2.4 million of these resident in the UK. They’re around 4cm long and weigh less than a 2 pence coin. While flying, this species of bat can seem quite jerky and fast in motion due to them dodging and pursuing small insects. They can eat up to 3,000 of these tiny insects in just one night. This species of bat is the one you’re most likely see in the wild.

2. Soprano Pipistrelle

There are 1.3 million of these resident in the UK. Similarly to the Common Pipistrelle, they are of the same body length and mainly eat midges. It was only in the 1990′s that they were both identified as separate species. The main difference between the two is that the Soprano Pipistrelle echolocation calls are different.

3. Daubenton’s Bat

There are 560 thousand of these resident in the UK. This bat tends to be about a centimetre larger than the Pipistrelle species. It still mainly feeds on midges, though it characteristically forages on the water surface of rivers and lakes, using its feet to pick up insects. In the summer season, they tend to roost near water, using bridges and trees. The Daubenton’s bat is fairly widespread across Northern Ireland and Scotland, as well as mainland UK. Compared to the Pipistrelle, the flight movement of this species is a lot more steady, tending to glide within centimetres of any waters surface, much like a hovercraft!

4. Brown Long Eared Bat

There are 245 thousand of these resident in the UK. This species of bat is easier to distinguish from the others due to their (you’ve guessed it) ears, that are almost as long as their bodies. Their ears aren’t always easy to see though, when at rest, they curl their ears back, tucking them under their wings. They’re more likely to be found in woodland, gleaning for insects such as moths, beetles and spiders, using their ears to listen to the sounds of their prey. These bats have gained the nickname “whispering bats” because their echolocation calls are much quieter compared to other species.

5. Natterer’s Bat

There are 148 thousand of these resident in the UK. Many of this species are found in old stone buildings with large timber beams. A distinguishing feature of theirs is the trail of stiff bristles that go along the tail membrane. Their limbs are also more pinkish than their similar counterparts. This species of bat doesn’t tend to fly much higher than 5 metres from ground level, unless they plan on settling in a tree canopy.

A list of all 17 species of bat that are resident in the UK, ordered alphabetically:

Alcathoe bat (Myotis alcathoe)
Barbastelle (Barbastella barbastellus)
Bechstein’s bat (Myotis bechsteinii)
Brandt’s bat (Myotis brandti)
Brown long-eared bat (Plecotus auritus)
Common pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pipistrellus)
Daubenton’s bat (Myotis daubentonii)
Greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum)
Grey long-eared bat (Plecotus austriacus)
Leisler’s bat (Nyctalus leisleri)
Lesser horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus hipposideros)
Nathusius’ pipistrelle (Pipistrellus nathusii)
Natterer’s bat (Myotis nattereri)
Noctule (Nyctalus noctula)
Serotine (Eptesicus serotinus)
Soprano pipistrelle (Pipistrellus pygmaeus)
Whiskered bat (Myotis mystacinus)

Plus the occasional resident!

Greater mouse-eared bat (Myotis myotis)

This species was declared extinct in 1990, although a solitary male has been recorded hibernating in Southern England since 2002!

6 Common Bankruptcy Myths

katelyn — Tue, 14 May 2013 21:17:53 +0000

Bankruptcy sounds extreme, but in some cases it’s an unavoidable solution to a personal financial crisis. There’s a lot of misinformation floating around the world about what bankruptcy is and what it isn’t, how it can benefit you, when it’s a good idea and when there’s a better solution to your immediate crisis. Here are six common myths about bankruptcy, and the real deal behind each belief.

Bankruptcy Only Happens to Frivolous Spenders

One of the most common beliefs surrounding bankruptcy is that it’s something that only happens to financially irresponsible individuals. People associate bankruptcy with individuals who have made poor financial decisions, such as maxing out your credit cards through non-essential shopping sprees, making a really bad business investment or blowing your life savings in Vegas.

The fact is that bankruptcy can happen to anyone. Even the savviest investors can end up filing bankruptcy, through no fault of their own, if the stock markets take an unexpected turn after unforeseen events.

Bankruptcy Gives You Free Spending Reign

Speaking of frivolous spenders, some consumers who plan to file bankruptcy make the mistake of thinking they can go on a massive spending spree right before they file. The misconception here is thinking that maxing out those credit cards immediately prior to filing will ensure that you can wipe out all that recent debt.

Trying this tactic is nothing short of a horrible idea. If you get caught trying to pull a fast one, you could end up being charged with fraud.

Filing Bankruptcy Wipes Out All Your Debt

Bankruptcy is often thought of as an “easy-out,” or a way to wipe out all your bad debt in one fell swoop. Bankruptcy is not an easy-out, and it doesn’t automatically wipe out all your past debts and financial obligations. Certain types of debt are excluded from bankruptcy filings by default, such as alimony and child support, and student loans in some cases. Back taxes are often excluded from bankruptcy discharge, as well, depending on the circumstances.

Bankruptcy Means You’ll Lose Your Home, Car and Other Possessions

Bankruptcy isn’t a comprehensive solution to your financial troubles, but it doesn’t have to mean that you’ll be forced to forfeit your home, your car and other possessions. Working with a reliable bankruptcy attorney can help you maximize the benefits of bankruptcy while minimizing losses. Depending on whether you file Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 and whether you’ve been making payments, you can avoid losing your home and vehicles in the bankruptcy process by working out agreements, such as a reaffirmation agreement, and continuing to make timely payments.

Bankruptcy is a Credit Killer

One of the primary reasons many consumers hold off on filing bankruptcy as long as possible is that they fear they’ll never be able to rebuild their credit. You might think things like buying a home or a car, even if it falls within your means, will be impossible for you if you’ve filed bankruptcy. While bankruptcy does affect your credit and may remain on your credit report up to 10 years, it is possible to build your credit back to a gold standard with some effort.

In fact, you can start rebuilding your credit almost immediately after filing bankruptcy by obtaining a secured credit card and making regular, on-time payments. It’s even possible to purchase a home within a few years after filing bankruptcy.

Bankruptcy is Only Possible for Significant Debts

Most people opting for bankruptcy have amassed substantial debts. But you don’t have to have hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt to file. Even if you have a mere few thousand dollars of debt, you can file bankruptcy if it exceeds your financial means to repay it. However, bankruptcy should be considered only if there isn’t another viable solution for repaying your debt.

Filing for bankruptcy is a serious decision, and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly or used as an easy way to get out of repaying your debts. Talk with an established and reputable bankruptcy attorney to get the facts you need to make an informed decision, and have a plan for reestablishing your credit if you do choose to file.

Author Bio

Katelyn Roberts works with Kathleen Martins who is associated with the Riverside Lawyers who is experienced in the court room and enjoys learning new tactics. Hire Kathleen on your side today.

5 Tips for Using Facebook Safely and Responsibly

kcooper — Tue, 14 May 2013 16:09:48 +0000

The Internet is an amazing thing — within seconds we can connect to unlimited amounts of information or someone clear across the globe. Facebook, the social media giant, has singlehandedly changed the landscape of social networking dramatically. It can be a great tool for business, keeping in touch with friends and family and connecting to like-minded people that share the same interests. But, it can also pose serious problems for people; for example, many schools and employers are now checking out Facebook profiles to get a better idea of candidates, and a few crazy pictures may come back to bite you. Sharing certain types of information may compromise your safety. Here are some tips for using Facebook safely and responsibly.

Keep Personal Information Limited

Identity thieves do not need much to go on when it comes to targeting their next stolen identity. Keep personal information to a minimum. Do not post phone numbers,your address or your birthday. Posting this type of information makes you a target for these unscrupulous individuals who are itching to open a new line of credit in someone else’s name—the more information they can get on you, the easier it will be to get the rest they need to steal your identity.

Know That Nothing Is Truly Private

The Internet and privacy do not really go together; even if you have fashioned your Facebook settings to only allow “friends” to see your pictures and updates, anything on the internet is vulnerable to intrusion. Should you be a party to a lawsuit, you might even be required to allow access to your Facebook account if it is believed it contains information relevant to a claim or your credibility. Lawyers have noted information gleaned from Facebook accounts being used in courts.

Accept Friend Requests With Caution

When it comes to friend requests, simply confirming anyone that comes down the pike can potentially lead to a host of problems. While I do not want to be a nervous Nelly, there have been instances where kidnappers and sex offenders have created fake profiles to gain access to potential victims. Private investigators might also take a similar tack to get some dirt on you. You can cut down on total strangers requesting you by limiting requests to “friends of friends,” though you should still exercise caution.

Think Before You Post

Seeing some of the stuff posted by some of my “friends,” I often shake my head. I often feel embarrassed for the person, whether it be a completely inappropriate rant or a drama-laced posting that seems fit for a high school student and not a person in their 30s. While most of us are using Facebook recreationally, stop and think for a second how your “wall” and photos would appear to someone checking you out for a potential job interview or a spot at their University.

Consider an ‘’Alternative Identity’’

If you want to make it harder for other people, such as your boss or potential employer, to gain access to your profile and potentially unsavory photos and postings you may have, you might consider altering your identity a bit. Instead of your full last name, perhaps your Facebook name could be your first and middle name or a nickname. It may make it more difficult for people to find you, but you can simply take a more active role in seeking out friends.

About the Author: Kelli Cooper is a freelance writer who blogs about various social media topics. If you are curious about who has been looking for you online, she recommends visiting MyLife.com.

Photo Credit

The top 5 uses for expired train tickets

phoebe — Tue, 07 May 2013 16:18:52 +0000

Train journeys can often have a love/hate relationship in the British consciousness, from crowded commuter trains to journeys home to see your loved ones. But what to do with a collection of old rail tickets? Well here are some great ideas on what to do with them when your journey is over.

1. Artwork

There are lots of different ways to produce artwork from spent train tickets, placing them neatly in a frame and maybe even arranging them in chronological order. It can brighten up any room and create a personal and meaningful piece of art. Especially if the journey is somewhere you get proposed to or a journey to see your best friends or family.

2. Bookmark

A definite obvious use, train tickets are the perfect size to keep the page in your book safe from being lost. They are also good as bookmarks because trains are the perfect place to sit down with a good book and get lost for an hour or so.

3. Origami

It is really easy to turn train tickets into super cute jumping origami frogs, a cute toy for a child or an ornament. You can even make a whole family of frogs out of larger pieces of paper! You can then create games for your little ones, like who can get their frog to jump the farthest and even decorate them with little gems or feathers (although this may inhibit their jumping skills).

4. Homemade Business Cards

Cash strapped business person? Use old train tickets as the base for a super money saving and unique way to share your contact details with business associates. Whilst you may need to do some repurposing to make one side one colour, it will be worth it for a memorable first meeting. It would also be especially effective if you work in the automotive, creative or recycling industries.

5. Journaling

A sweet way to record your journey details, use the back of the train ticket to record small excerpts of what you saw, felt, thought or heard. It would also be a great idea to then display your memos in a portrait for a personal piece of art for your house and show off your journaling talents!

6. Revision Cards

For students taking their Spring exams in a month or so, buying revision cards can be an expensive task and many of them are quite large and not the best for writing concise notes on. However smaller train ticket sized ones are simply perfect for jotting down important notes on Shakespeare’s Othello! Simply stick some white paper over one side et voilá.

7. Use them as kids toys

Do you have a budding ticket collector in your midst? Collected train tickets are great pretend tickets for children to play with and pretend to have their very own train line. It’s a cost free way to keep your kids occupied for a while and they can then be recycled once they have finished playing with them.

8. Bunting

You can make personalised bunting using old tickets. You will need a piece of long thick ribbon, a sewing machine and the tickets. Fold the ribbon over the tickets so that the sewing machine attaches the full top side of the ticket to the ribbon, but make sure it’s level so that the ticket is at a perfect angle along the ribbon. Like the one in this picture you could always use a pair of zigzag scissors to make the sides of the tickets more presentable and polished. Hang above a fireplace or in your front hallway to signify travel.

9. Make them into playing cards

If you are desperate for a new set of playing cards for no cost, here is a really quick and easy way to make a set. Make sure you have 52 old train tickets to create a full set and then write in black and red felt tip each card value.

10. Special journey phone case

For another memorable journey mentioned above in the artwork section, you could always photocopy the ticket and send it into Ideal Cases and have it made into a phone case. This will enable you to always have a reminder of a special day with family, friends or lover.

Train ticket Bunting – Nellie and Elsie

5 of the Messiest Celebrity Divorces on Record

jlee — Fri, 03 May 2013 17:41:16 +0000

They say in Hollywood that “all press is good press,” but does the saying hold true for messy celebrity divorces? There are certainly a few cases in which it seems obvious that both parties are truly miserable, truly loony or just plain jaded and looking for revenge. In these cases, the world follows their insult-hurling steps as each party vows to destroy one another, sometimes both in and out of the courtroom.

From Mel Gibson’s now-characteristic racist and sexist slurs against his ex-wife Oksana Grigorieva to Hulk Hogan’s questionable affair with his daughter’s best friend, there are more than a handful of cases where once-happy couplings end in disaster for the entire world to see.

Here are the top 5 messiest celebrity divorces on record, in order of lowest to highest sleaze factor. (Britney Spears, though not on the list, gets an honorary mention for her divorce with Kevin Federline, if only because it triggered her infamous hair-shaving, car-bashing crazy phase.)

Kim Kardashian/Kris Humphries

Currently underway is a highly publicized divorce case between reality TV star Kim Kardashian and her husband-du-jour, NBA player Kris Humphries. Already a year and a half in to their settlement case, the divorce is lasting longer than the marriage. Wed at a multi-million dollar party in 2011, their trip to paradise only lasted 72 days before Kardashian filed for divorce based on “irreconcilable differences.”

Some sources speculate that she wasn’t too fond of her now-unemployed basketball husband dipping into her coffers, but Humphries isn’t going down without a fight, arguing that the marriage was “fraudulent” and Kim only wed him for publicity. Before Humphries, Kim had been married once before to a music producer. Her divorce records aren’t perfect, but she’s still moving forward in court, while he’s actually just not showing up. Their case of April 12, 2013 has been rescheduled for May 6, since Humphries failed to appear. Perhaps Humphries really is just having a hard time “keeping up” with this Kardashian.

Alec Baldwin/Kim Basinger

Married for 8 years to the famous actor Alec Baldwin, Oscar-winning actress Kim Basinger started their divorce trial in 2001, stating “irreconcilable differences” as the reason for separation. This particular divorce case went down without much further ado, at least publicly, until an infamous voicemail was leaked to the public 6 years later during their drawn-out custody dispute over their only daughter, Ireland. In this voicemail, Daddy Baldwin apparently called his then-11 year old daughter a “rude little pig” and said she needed to “straighten her ass out.” That’s some sleaze. This amicable 30-Rock star has more anger problems up his sleeve, later saying he wanted to kill his ex-wife’s lawyer and wished a slow, violent death upon the TMZ producer who leaked the voicemail. Basinger, however, isn’t without verbal tarnish herself, calling her ex-husband “Saddam Hussein” and a “tyrant”; while no child loves their parents divorcing, Ireland probably knows that two vitriolic Hollywood parents can be the worst.

Sir Paul McCartney/Heather Mills

This messy divorce caught the world’s attention back in 2006 during the Sir Paul McCartney and Heather Mills stand-off. It was the Beatle who first announced the split after four years of marriage and one daughter, but it was the former model who had her name run through the mud. The media attacked first, delving into her past and accusing her of things like prostitution and gold digging, and when she defended herself, calling McCartney an emotionally and physically abusive husband, the world basically came to his rescue for the sole reason that he is Paul McCartney. At one point in the trial, she poured water all over one of McCartney’s lawyers and throughout the whole proceedings pretty much got branded as a nutcase. That’s what happens when you try and mess with one of the most famous and beloved rock stars alive.

Liza Minnelli/David Gest

What began as a spectacle ended as a spectacle. The famously flamboyant actress wed the Hollywood music promoter in a 2002 wedding that was lavish enough to have been likened to the Grammys, culminating in a kiss that some spectators have compared to a shark eating his prey. After only 16 months of marriage, the couple started some of the most turbulent divorce proceedings that the entertainment world has ever seen. After three previously unsuccessful marriages, Minnelli’s divorce records weren’t exactly spotless. During the four years of accusations hurtling back and forth, Gest sued Minnelli for assault, claiming she beat him so badly during drunken rages that it caused nerve damage. Minnelli counter-sued him for stealing her money. Then Gest sued for psychological damage because Minnelli withheld that she had the herpes virus and had unprotected sex with him. Minnelli accused him of drugging and poisoning her. Both seemed to have stepped off the crazy wagon, but finally ended their dispute with a no-fault divorce in 2007.

Charlie Sheen/Denise Richards

Was anyone surprised when actress Denise Richards filed for divorce from the infamously misogynistic and unstable Charlie Sheen back in 2006? Probably not. What is more surprising is that she married him in the first place. It should also come as no surprise when she accused him of cheating on her, and being addicted to drugs, gambling, hookers, and pornography. Those all seem about right. She also accused him of physical abuse and threatening to kill her. The dirty details continued when Richards publicized Sheen’s pornography habits, outing him for liking underage girls, underage boys and surfing the net for women to sleep with. Some nasty words were exchanged between the two, and some blowout fights made the press, but what else would be expected of the Two and a Half Men lunatic? After the couple divorced, they became amicable enough again to work together to co-start in Anger Management, but this divorce will go down in history as one of the most explosive. Moral of the story: Don’t marry Charlie Sheen. Duh!

5 Top Tips for Putting on an Event in a Foreign Country

List Guy — Thu, 02 May 2013 18:14:35 +0000

Putting on events in a country other than your own can be a tricky task and the last thing you want is to be left high and dry as a result of poor planning, hundreds of miles away from home. The following tips will stand you in good stead when holding and marketing events in international locations.

Be aware of your dates

Whilst you may be well aware of important or difficult dates in your own country, it pays to be on top of public holidays, festivals, school holidays and times of year with potentially difficult weather conditions in the country you have selected. Use this information to either plan your event around one of these occasions, or more likely avoid these dates completely. It is worth bearing in mind that in certain countries national holidays do not just represent a slight slowing down of life, but in some cases a complete shutdown – which may not be conducive to the holding of an event, in terms of travel and amenities.

Budget conservatively

A conservative eye to your budget is even more essential when venturing off into the unknown of a foreign country. Be realistic with your costing before you leave, allowing for site inspections, transfer flights and all those little things that will ultimately add up into one big thing. Whilst some potential destinations may seem considerably cheaper, with great deals available on hotels, favourable exchange rates and lower tax rates – you must not forget that you need to get everyone (and everything in some cases) there in the first place.

A good rule of thumb is to allow around a 15% contingency in your budget for all the last minute surprises and emergencies that are impossible to plan for but will inevitably crop up.

Get creative with locations

Whilst the lure of a tried and tested location can be difficult to resist, playing it safe may not always be the best policy when picking a location for your event. Get a team together at the earliest stages of your event planning to try and come up with some out-of-box locations.

For example a rather cooler location than you might consider normally, such as the Scottish Highland, will have a unique charm of its own that others might overlook. Think log fires, whiskey and beautiful landscapes and this may start to get your imagination flowing.

Bring in some local knowledge

Whilst planning ahead and proper research can certainly go some-way towards getting you fully prepared for hosting an event overseas, you simply cannot beat the in depth knowledge of a local. By hiring a specialist destination management company in the destination you are planning on hosting your event, you can ensure that you get information that only the locals know. This can range from advice on local tax rules all the way down to street-smart tips.

Another way that ‘going local’ can help you when putting on your event is the use of local suppliers wherever possible. For example use a local printer for your event literature and you can save yourself a large amount in shipping fees.

Before you leave

Perhaps the most vital tip in this list is to make completely sure that all the essential – yet boring compared to sourcing your dream destination – details are taken care of before you leave.

Do you event attendees or speakers need specific visas? Will you be requiring vaccinations before you leave? Have you arranged the necessary insurance? These are all questions that it is vital you ask yourself BEFORE you leave, as in many cases cannot be arranged when you arrive and as such could undo many months of great planning.

This article was provided by corporate event management specialist Banks Sadler, who have managed and sourced venues for events all over the world.

5 Furniture Style Ideas for Your Dining Room

List Guy — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 14:56:01 +0000

Scandinavian Style

Scandinavian style has been gracing our homes since the 1950s. Characterized by simplicity, minimalism and functionality, this design movement champions the ideology that beautiful furniture shouldn’t just belong to the wealthy. Traditionally Scandinavian furniture is made from blonde woods such as beech and birch and uses lines, shape and form for emphasis. The color palette mirrors that of the Scandinavian landscape with the only splashes of colors being in the accessories.

A Scandinavian inspired dining room will bring calm and serenity to your home, with its understated look and simple functionality. Choose a light wood dining room furniture set that has a striking shape, as it oozes the easy elegance associated with this style.

Rustic Oak

Oak furniture is as synonymous as being an English classic as our famed breakfasts. This wood has always been easily available, and it’s extremely easy to work and craft. Oak has a close wood grain, which is not only beautiful but makes the wood strong and durable. The oak tree’s wood grain is unique, so each piece of furniture really will bring individual character to your home.

A dining room furnished in oak will create a warm, rustic atmosphere that will exude sophistication. If this style appeals to you then you can’t go wrong with an oak dining room furniture set with matching display cabinet, bookcase and sideboard.

Cool Contemporary

The turn of the 20^th Century saw an end to ornate, gilded furniture and the birth of Contemporary Style. Fussy, complicated designs were replaced sleek, clean ones. Contemporary style celebrates both the traditional and modern in its bold designs. It mixes the traditional organic wood materials with non-organic man-made materials such as glass and faux leather. Glass is used to both frame and showcase the design, whilst the mixing of wood and faux leather adds texture.

There is a wide a choice of contemporary dining sets thanks to the creative nature of its design. There are sets that have glass table tops with faux leather legs that effortlessly match their upholstered chairs. If you’re feeling more daring why not go for a white gloss table accompanied by bold shaped chairs. The combinations of dining room furniture in this style are truly endless.

Deliciously Decadent

A decadent dining room will never date or tire as its dark tones have always been an unspoken sign of luxury. Dark wood panels have been decorating gentleman’s clubs and palaces and even now it still adorns the chambers inside the Houses of Parliament.

If you want to create a sumptuous dining room in your home dark wood dining furniture is the choice for you. A walnut dining set paired with a matching sideboard, display cabinet or even a bookcase will create a decadent dining experience for your guests. The most popular dark wood is walnut but if you’re on a budget then we would recommend stained rubber wood. Like walnut, rubber wood is a hard wood so you don’t have to worry about compromising on quality.

Retro

Retro style concerns the bold, brash designs that swept over the UK during the 1950s and 1960s. Influenced by the postmodern art movement of Andy Warhol, homes and furniture became more than functional to the masses they became a creative outlet to express themselves. This is when kitsch became kitsch and tin of a tomato soup became beautiful.

A retro dining room is about embracing bold colors, designs and patterns. First pick the bold color you want to be the theme of your dining room, reds and oranges are the most popular choices. You can use this colour on your walls and then coordinate your chairs to match. Next pick a boldly designed curvaceous chair. Here’s a clue to the type of thing you should look for – the egg chair was born during this movement. Contrast your curvy chair with a sleek, square dining table to complete the look.

By Nicola. Nicola is a home furniture enthusiast and writes on behalf of Wedo Dining Room Furniture.

Are These 5 Payment Mistakes Costing Your Business Big Time?

List Guy — Mon, 22 Apr 2013 04:01:34 +0000

Do you know that a single mistake could be costing your business $12 million every year?

It could be more or less depending on the size of your business but the reality is that just one simple mistake did indeed cost Expedia, an online travel firm, $12 million annually. Now imagine what will happen if you’re making 5 similar mistakes in your business. How much will you be losing?

If you sell any kind of product or service in your business, especially if people have to make payments on your website, you won’t want to be making the mistakes below. If you do, they could cost you your business!

1. Don’t Make the Checkout Process too Difficult

A recent Webcredible survey revealed that around 10% of online buyers abandon the checkout process on a website because the checkout process is too long.

A recent study by Expedia, an online travel firm, revealed that they were able to increase revenue on their website by $12 million annually just by removing a field from their payment form; the field in questions is the “Company” field and a lot of their users find it confusing. Removing it resulted in a significant boost in revenue for Expedia.

What this has shown is that when people find it difficult to complete your checkout process, they would rather not buy; unless your product is a life and death option, you can’t afford to make the mistake of having too many fields or a complicated checkout process.

2. A Slow Site Won’t Help

Recent data has shown that most online buyers expect a website to load in less than two seconds and that around 40% of people won’t buy on your website if it is slow. The same report also revealed that it could cost you 7% in conversions for every 1 second delay in your site speed.

In other words, as bizarre as it sounds, your website speed influences to a great extent how people pay on your website; if your website is too slow, you’ll keep losing sales.

Some very effective techniques are:

Minimize the use of images on your website; if you have to use a lot of images, compress them with a service like Yahoo! Smush.it
Make effective use of Content Delivery Networks to serve a faster version of your website to users from different parts of the world
Use sites like Spriteme to combine your website layout images into CSS sprites to reduce server requests and as a result improve website speed
Limit the use of plugins and third-party tracking codes on your site

The above steps are very simple to implement and they could save you minutes or seconds in how fast your site loads; that could translate to thousands or even millions of dollars for your business depending on how big it is.

3. Your Website is not Very Credible

According to recent data, 40% of all frauds relate to credit cards and 60% of credit card fraud happens online; this fact was further solidified by data from the Unisys Security Index that says that the number one fear Americans have amidst the global financial crisis is the fear of being a victim of credit card fraud; this fear is even bigger than the fear of terrorism, computer viruses and the fear for personal safety.

One thing is clear; if your website isn’t credible to an extent that buyers can trust you with their credit card details then you’ll lose sales; while you won’t be collecting the credit card details yourself, it doesn’t really matter to most customers.

You can make your website more credible by getting listed in the Better Business Bureau and having its seal on your website, by having the seal or logo of your payment processor on your website and by assuring people that they can trust you with their details.

4. There’s too much Risk Involved for the User

Business is all about risks; your customers will have to take risks just as you would and there’s nothing really wrong with that. However, the problem starts when there is too much risk involved for the customer.

This is especially important if you sell high-ticket products; you can’t sell a $10,000 product online and expect people to take your word for it that it’ll work for them. Instead, you can make more sales by taking things further:

You can offer special support for those who use your offer by promising to walk them through, assign a personal agent to help them with using your product or even offer to personally help them configure and prepare your product for use.
You can offer a money-back guarantee where you return their money back if they’re not satisfied after 30, 60 or 180 days. Chances are the more liberal you are with your guarantees, the more sales you’ll make. This was effectively demonstrated in this case study by Charlie Gaudet.

5. Your Payment Call to Action is too Weak

Does a payment call-to-action really matter?

Most people are of the idea that as long as you can get people to read your copy, pull out their wallets and fill in their payment details on your payment form then sales is guaranteed. No, it isn’t!

We make uncountable decisions every second and your customer could very well decide that they no longer need your product right before they click the checkout button; this was effectively demonstrated in this case study on ContentVerve.com.

The case study explains how a company was able to increase conversions by 31% just by changing the checkout button from “Create My Account” to “Create Account & Get Started”; in other words, very simple changes like this one can give you a nice revenue boost!

Karl is a professional marketer who has lately been digging into payment research and psychology. If you’re looking for the best ACH processing service, make sure you visit ACH-Payments.com

5 Simple Ways to Create a Professional Website on a Budget

List Guy — Sun, 21 Apr 2013 21:19:36 +0000

Good design is a key part of creating a professional website and let’s be honest, good web design isn’t usually cheap.

According to this article published on top design blog, Inspiredmag, here’s what is said to be the optimal pricing for getting good design:

Basic Website – $1000 – $2000
Custom Website – $2500-$7500
Content Management System (CMS) – $3000- $8,500
The Grand Slam Package– $15,000- $100,000+

Having a basic website costs at least 1 grand and if you’re looking for something functional that runs on a CMS like WordPress or Drupal, you could get it for $3,000 upward.

If you have the budget and can hire professional design firms like HindSite Interactive or Blazersix.com to help with your design, this shouldn’t be a problem.

However, if you want good websites designed for you but do not have the budget or are not ready to spend; this article will share ways you can create a professional website. Some of the tips in this article are contrary to most people will tell you about creating a website, but you can get a professional website without having to spend a fortune by following these tips.

1. Don’t Use a CMS

Be it WordPress, Joomla, Drupal or any other major CMS, the first step you should take when trying to create a professional website on a budget is not to use a CMS.

Taking a look at the pricing examples included earlier in this article, you’ll notice that the second most expensive option is the CMS design package, only superseded by the Grand Slam Package designed for social media networks or advanced sites.

With over 70 million users worldwide, and growing every day, WordPress is today the biggest CMS in the world. It powers most websites online and you will often hear people recommend it; Drupal is also very big but you don’t have to use it to.

In fact, there are a few issues that will constantly require your attention should you go with a CMS:

Potential security vulnerabilities as a result of plugins you install
Constantly updating your CMS to avoid being hacked
Having to update your design as your CMS advance etc.

So building your website on a CMS not only requires a significant upfront investment if you want to build a great website, it also requires constant financial attention to ensure your website is running effectively.

2. Design Your Website in HTML

If you shouldn’t build your website on a CMS, what should you do? You could consider several other options, but an effective option is to build an HTML-based website.

This is probably the last thing you’ll want to read in a design-related article, considering all the rage about WordPress and other CMSs lately, but this can be very powerful if you do it right.

Contrary to what most people have been made to believe, though, designing a website in HTML isn’t all about pulling all-nighters in front of your computer trying to tweak your website in Dreamweaver or Microsoft Frontpage.

The web has evolved and a lot has changed with it. There are dozens of quality website builders online that make it extremely easy to design a good website, sometimes rivaling what you pay a thousand bucks to get on a CMS like WordPress.

EasyWebContent.com is a great example; with a web based html editor that makes editing existing HTML websites easy and an online website builder that creates a WYSIWYG website, having a professional website is no longer expensive.

There are also popular options like Wix.com, Yola.com or Weebly.com and you’d be surprised to see how HTML websites compare to websites built on a CMS.

Since most people are creating a blog these days, it’s also worth noting that most of the popular HTML site builders today will give you the option to create a blog.

The advantage to using HTML web builders is that they’re relatively cheap and cost-effective; you’ll get good-looking, fully-functional websites.

3. Bartering Your Services

Since you want to put up a professional-looking website online, then you probably already have something to offer.

One of the best, but rarely discussed, ways to build a professional website on a budget is by bartering your services.

If you’re a content writer, for example, you could work with a designer to help her write web copy for her clients; this will be content that will have to be on the homepage, about page and other similar pages of her client’s websites and that he helps you design a professional website in return.

If you’re good at SEO, you could help a designer optimize the website of some of her clients and the designer in exchange helps you create your own website.

In most cases, the designer will be paid for this by her client so it’s actually like you’re the one paying for the design.

You can barter almost any service and sometimes, it’s as easy as asking.

4. Learn Web Design

If you’ll be creating a lot of websites or if you can see yourself tweaking your website a lot in the future, another option is to learn web design.

Learning web design today is as easy as ABC, especially if your focus is on building a good-looking website for yourself.

There are thousands of resources online that can help you learn how to design a website using any platform of your choice – just do a Google search – and this blog has several posts to give you design inspiration or help you become better at design.

5. Install and Customize a Free Template

Depending on the platform of your choice, there are thousands of free website templates online that you can install and customize to have a good-looking website.

While this is the least recommended option, it can be used for a start if you don’t have money to spend on design at all.

Some resources are:

Conclusion

What other tips or web design resources do you have for those who want to build a great website on a budget? Kindly share with us in the comments!

Joseph is a professional marketer with 3 years of experience; he helps people build websites that get results online and he’s in charge of marketing for Easy WebContent.