Archive for February, 2009
February 28th, 2009
by James T. Maxwell
When you buy something, you often get exactly what you pay for. Private Label Rights content is one of those areas where there’s a very real relationship between the amount of money you’re willing to pay and the value of your purchase.
As someone who’s in the market for PLR content, you need to learn that phrase and shop around with it in mind.
It’s a wide market out there, and like with any type of product, you’ll have to know exactly what you want to increase the chances that you’ll leave a satisfied customer.
Back to business
Do you know what to look for in PLR Memberships?
Try weighing
Restrictions
You probably thought that buying PLR content will automatically give you the right to use it any way you please. Not so. There can be very strict rules regarding use. Inspect licensing agreements. Verify that you’ll be able to use the PLR in the way you want to use it before buying it. Fine print is small and annoying to read, but it’s there for a reason.
Sales methods
What is your preferred method of obtaining PLR? Many business owners like to buy single PLR pieces while others like to purchase them in large groups. There are others who have preferred other ways to purchase them. What’s the right way for you? What are the PLR sources’ payment guidelines? What do their memberships look like? Are they monthly and do they require maintenance and licensing fees?
On the Shelf
Do the companies provide niche material? How often do they get fresh content? How many people are allowed to purchase the same content? Who are their writers? What kind of research goes into the articles? All of this will inform the quality of the PLR.
Sale Cut-offs
Like in any market, there’s a product number limit. Many PLR sellers only let business owners purchase a specific PLR product a set number of times. That means that every time a business owner gets hold of a specific piece of PLR, your chances of getting your hands on it dwindles. Limits are set to protect the value of the content. After all, if you’re trying to resell some PLR content, you won’t have much luck if a lot of other people are selling it for lessor give it away for free as content on their websites!
Last words
Ask yourself: are the membership sites straightforward? Do they provide samples or some other indication that they actually sell good PLR? You’ll probably find that many PLR websites are incredibly long and really only function as sales letters. You may have to do something before gaining access to the PLR, like providing your email address. This shouldn’t be required. A PLR website should be simple, to the point and valuable- like the type of content that you want. So keep these things in mind when looking for a membership.
February 26th, 2009
by Jason Kendall
Were it not for a continuous flood of qualified computer and network support workers, business in the United Kingdom (as elsewhere) would surely grind to a halt. Consequently, there’s an on-going requirement for technicians to support systems and users alike. Industry’s need for larger numbers of commercially qualified individuals is growing, as society becomes consistently more dependent upon PC’s in these modern times.
Be under no illusions, the IT industry provides impressive possibilities. However, to properly investigate, which questions do we need to raise, and what are the most important factors?
Throw out the typical salesperson who pushes one particular program without an in-depth conversation to assess your abilities as well as experience level. Always check they have access to a wide-enough range of products so they can solve your training issues. An important point to note is that, if you’ve got any work-experience or certification, then you may be able to commence studying further along than someone new to the industry. Working through a basic PC skills course first can be the best way to start into your computer training, but depends on your skill level.
You have to make sure that all your certifications are commercially valid and current – you’re wasting your time with studies which end up with a useless in-house certificate or plaque. Only nationally recognised accreditation from the top companies like Microsoft, Cisco, Adobe and CompTIA will mean anything to employers.
One thing you must always insist on is full 24×7 support through dedicated instructors and mentors. Far too often we see trainers who only provide support to you inside of office hours (typically 9am-6pm) and sometimes a little earlier or later (but not weekends usually). some companies only provide email support (slow), and telephone support is usually to a call-centre that will chat nicely with you for 5 minutes to ask what the issue is and then simply send an email to an instructor – who’ll call back sometime over the next 1-3 days, when it’s convenient to them. This is no use if you’re stuck and can’t continue and only have certain times available in which to do your studies.
Keep looking and you’ll come across professional companies which offer online support 24×7 – including evenings, nights and weekends. Never compromise when it comes to your support. The vast majority of IT hopefuls who throw in the towel, are in that situation because they didn’t get the support necessary for them.
We can guess that you’ve always enjoyed practical work – a ‘hands-on’ type. Typically, the painful task of reading endless manuals is something you’ll make yourself do if you have to, but it’s not ideal. Consider interactive, multimedia study if you’d really rather not use books. We see a huge improvement in memory retention when we use multiple senses – educational experts have expounded on this for years now.
Top of the range study programs now offer interactive discs. By watching and listening to instructors on video tutorials you’ll absorb the modules, one by one, by way of the demonstrations and explanations. You can then test yourself by utilising the practice lab’s and modules. It makes sense to see some examples of the kind of training materials you’ll be using before you purchase a course. What you want are video tutorials, instructor demo’s and interactive modules with audio-visual elements.
Often, companies will only use just online versions of their training packages; and while this is acceptable much of the time, consider how you’ll deal with it when you don’t have access to the internet or you get intermittent problems and speed issues. It’s much safer to rely on physical CD or DVD discs that will not have these problems.
Exam ‘guarantees’ are sometimes offered as part of a training package – inevitably that means paying for the exams before you’ve even made a start on the course. Before you jump at this so-called guarantee, think about this:
These days, we have to be a bit more aware of hype – and usually we grasp that we are actually being charged for it – it’s not because they’re so generous they want to give something away! Should you seriously need to qualify first ‘go’, then you should avoid exam guarantees and pay when entering exams, focus on it intently and apply yourself as required.
Sit the exam at a local pro-metric testing centre and find the best deal for you at the time. A lot of current training colleges secure huge profits because they’re charging for all the exam fees up-front and hoping that you won’t take them all. Additionally, many exam guarantees are worthless. Many training companies will not pay again for an exam until you’ve completely satisfied them that you’re ready this time.
VUE and Prometric examinations are currently clocking in at an average of 112 pounds in Great Britain. What’s the point of paying huge charges for ‘Exam Guarantees’ (usually wrapped up in the course package price) – when good quality study materials, the proper support and a commitment to studying and the use of authorised exam preparation tools are actually the key to your success.
OK, why might we choose commercially accredited qualifications rather than more traditional academic qualifications gained through schools, colleges or universities? Corporate based study (in industry terminology) is most often much more specialised. The IT sector is aware that a specialist skill-set is essential to cope with an increasingly more technical commercial environment. Microsoft, CISCO, Adobe and CompTIA are the dominant players. Vendor training works through honing in on the skill-sets required (along with a relevant amount of associated knowledge,) rather than spending months and years on the background ‘padding’ that degrees in computing often do – to fill a three or four year course.
If an employer understands what they’re looking for, then they just need to look for the exact skill-set required to meet that need. Syllabuses are set to exacting standards and don’t change between schools (in the way that degree courses can).
Discovering job security in this economic down-turn is very unusual. Businesses can remove us out of the workplace at the drop of a hat – as and when it suits them. But a quickly growing market-place, where staff are in constant demand (as there is a massive shortfall of properly qualified people), provides a market for true job security.
Using the computer market for example, a key e-Skills study demonstrated massive skills shortages throughout the United Kingdom of over 26 percent. It follows then that for each four job positions in existence across Information Technology (IT), organisations are only able to locate properly accredited workers for three of them. Achieving proper commercial computing exams is thus a quick route to succeed in a life-long as well as gratifying living. Unquestionably, it really is the very best time to retrain into IT.
About the Author:
Jason Kendall has worked in the Computer industry for 20 yrs. He should understand what he’s talking about by now. To find out more on
IT Courses, visit LearningLolly
IT Training.
February 25th, 2009
by Jason Kendall
The Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator course is a great basis for men and women looking to get into network support. So if you’re just about to join the IT industry or already have knowledge but need to improve your CV with a recognised qualification, it’s possible to achieve your goals with the right training. If you want to get into the world of computers and this is your first experience, you’ll probably need to pick up some skills before tackling the 4 Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) exams required to achieve MCSA certification. Search for a training organisation that’s willing to create an ideal program to suit your needs – you should be able to discuss this with an advisor to analyse the most suitable direction for you.
Seeing as the computing industry grants some marvellous job possibilities for everyone – what questions do we need to raise and what factors carry the most importance?
Of course: the training itself or a qualification is not what you’re looking for; the career that you want is. A lot of colleges seem to over-emphasise the qualification itself. Students often train for a single year but end up doing the actual job for 10-20 years. Ensure you avoid the fatal error of opting for what may seem to be an ‘interesting’ course only to spend 20 years doing a job you hate!
Make sure you investigate how you feel about career progression and earning potential, and if you’re ambitious or not. It’s vital to know what will be expected of you, which particular accreditations they want you to have and in what way you can develop commercial experience. It’s worth seeking help from an experienced person that knows the commercial realities of the market you’re hoping to qualify in, and who can give you ‘A typical day in the life of’ outline for that career-path. All of these things are incredibly important as you’ll need to fully understand if you’re going down the right road.
Of all the important things to consider, one of the most essential is always proper direct-access 24×7 support via expert mentors and instructors. Far too often we see trainers who only provide office hours (or extended office hours) support. some companies only provide email support (slow), and telephone support is usually to a call-centre which will make some notes and then email an advisor – who will attempt to call you within 24-48 hrs, when it suits them. This is no use if you’re stuck and can’t continue and only have a specific time you can study.
The very best programs provide an online access 24×7 facility pulling in several support offices over many time-zones. You will be provided with an easy to use interface which seamlessly selects the best facility available irrespective of the time of day: Support available as-and-when you want it. If you accept anything less than 24×7 support, you’ll quickly find yourself regretting it. You might not want to use the service in the middle of the night, but you may need weekends, early mornings or even late evenings at some point.
We can guess that you probably enjoy fairly practical work – the ‘hands-on’ personality type. Usually, the unfortunate chore of reading reference guides is something you’ll force on yourself if you absolutely have to, but it doesn’t suit your way of doing things. Consider interactive, multimedia study if book-based learning really isn’t your style. We see a huge improvement in memory retention with an involvement of all our senses – learning experts have been saying this for as long as we can remember.
Fully interactive motion videos utilising video demo’s and practice lab’s will forever turn you away from traditional book study. And you’ll actually enjoy doing them. You really need to look at courseware examples from any company that you may want to train through. It’s essential they incorporate instructor-led video demonstrations with virtual practice-lab’s.
Avoiding training that is delivered purely online is generally a good idea. Ideally, you should opt for CD and DVD ROM courseware where possible, as you need to be able to use them whenever it’s convenient for you – and not be totally reliant on a quality and continuous internet connection.
‘In-Centre’ days can be offered as a great feature by many training schools. When you chat with many computer industry students who’ve attended a few, you’ll likely realise that they’ve now become a difficulty to be ‘got round’ because of many things:
* All that travelling – frequent visits and usually over 100 miles a pop.
* Access to classes; frequently weekdays only and sometimes two to three days together. This can be difficult to get the leave of absence.
* Let us not forget the lost vacation days. Usually we’re lucky to have 4 weeks annual leave. If at least half is sacrificed to learning, then we aren’t going to be doing much vacationing.
* Training workshops often become over full.
* Often trainees want to work as quickly as possible, others want a more steady pace and not be pushed beyond their comfort-zone. This breeds tension and difficulty on many workshops.
* Tot up the cost of all the fares or petrol, accommodation, food and parking and you may be surprised (and not pleasantly). Students talk of increased costs mounting to several hundred and sometimes thousands of pounds. Break it down – and you’ll see how.
* It’s important to maintain privacy. We wouldn’t want to run the risk of throwing away any lift up the ladder at our current place of work because our employer knows we’re retraining.
* It’s quite usual for trainees not to put a question forward that they would like answered – just down to the fact that they’re amongst other classmates.
* Working and living away – many trainees have to work or live away for part of the programme. Classes are therefore hard to get to, yet the monies have already been handed over with your initial fees.
Why not watch a video and learn with teachers one-on-one through filmed modules, taking them at your convenience – not somebody else’s. You can study anywhere you want. If you own a laptop, you could catch a little fresh air in your garden at the same time. Any issues that arise just logon to the 24×7 support facility. Lessons and modules can be repeated whenever you feel you need to – memory is aided by repetition. And there’s no need to take notes – everything’s prepared ready. Could it get any simpler: You avoid travelling and wasting time and money; and you end up with a more comfortable learning atmosphere.
There is a tidal wave of change coming via technology over the next generation – and it becomes more and more thrilling each day. Technological changes and connections through the internet is going to noticeably alter the direction of our lives in the near future; remarkably so.
The average IT employee across the UK will also receive noticeably more than equivalent professionals in another industry. Average salaries are some of the best to be had nationwide. It would appear there is not a hint of a downturn for IT sector increases throughout this country. The industry is still growing quickly, and as we have a skills gap that means we only typically have three IT workers for every four jobs it’s most unlikely that there’ll be any kind of easing off for decades to come.
About the Author:
With 20 yrs experience, author Jason Kendall, battles for cheaper, superior multimedia training in the UK. To find out more on
MCSA Training, visit LearningLolly
Computer Training.
February 24th, 2009
by Jason Kendall
What might you expect the top of the range training companies certified by Microsoft to offer a student in this country currently? Clearly, the most supreme Gold Partner Microsoft certified training tracks, providing a portfolio of courses to take you into a selection of professions with IT. It’s a good idea to look for a person who’s got industry experience, who might give you help to sort out what sort of job would be right for you, and the kind of responsibilities that are suitable for someone with a personality like yours. Having selected the area you want to get into, an applicable training course must be singled out that’s a match for your current level of knowledge and ability. Make sure it’s well designed for you.
The world of information technology is one of the more thrilling and changing industries that you can get into right now. Being a member of a team working on breakthroughs in technology puts you at the fore-front of developments affecting everyone who lives in the 21st century. We’re at the dawn of starting to get a handle on how all this change will affect us. The way we communicate and interact with everyone around us will be profoundly affected by computers and the internet.
And keep in mind that the average salary in IT in the United Kingdom is considerably more than average salaries nationally, which means you’ll be in a good position to receive a lot more once qualified in IT, than you’d expect to earn elsewhere. It’s evident that we have a significant nationwide requirement for trained and qualified IT technicians. And as growth in the industry shows little sign of contracting, it seems there’s going to be for years to come.
It’s indisputable, the computer industry promises marvellous opportunities. But, to investigate fully, what questions do we need to be posing, and what are the sectors we need to investigate?
It’s important to understand: a course itself or the accreditation isn’t what this is about; the job or career that you want is. Far too many training organisations over-emphasise the actual accreditation. Never let yourself become one of those unfortunate people who choose a training program that on the surface appears interesting – and end up with a plaque on the wall for an unrewarding career path.
It’s essential to keep your focus on what it is you’re trying to achieve, and build your study action-plan from that – don’t do it back-to-front. Stay focused on the end-goal and begin studying for a career that will keep you happy for many years. Always seek guidance and advice from an experienced industry advisor, even if you have to pay – as it’s a lot cheaper and safer to find out at the start if your choices are appropriate, instead of discovering following two years of study that you’ve picked the wrong track and have to return to the start of another program.
Students who consider this area of study can be very practical by nature, and don’t always take well to classrooms, and struggling through thick study-volumes. If this could be you, go for more modern interactive training, with on-screen demonstrations and labs. Where we can study while utilising as many senses as possible, then we normally see dramatically better results.
Study programs now come via DVD-ROM discs, so you can study at your own computer. Video streaming means you can sit back and watch the teachers showing you precisely how to perform the required skill, followed by your chance to practice – via the interactive virtual lab’s. Any company that you’re considering should be able to show you some samples of their courseware. You’re looking for evidence of tutorial videos and demonstrations and a variety of interactive modules.
It’s usually bad advice to choose training that is only available online. Because of the variable quality and reliability of the ISP (internet service provider) market, it makes sense to have actual CD or DVD ROM’s.
Training support for students is an absolute must – look for a package providing 24×7 full access, as not obtaining this level of support will severely hold up your pace and restrict your intake. Many only provide email support (too slow), and phone support is often to a call-centre who will just take down the issue and email it over to their technical team – who will attempt to call you within 24-48 hrs, when it suits them. This is not a lot of use if you’re stuck with a particular problem and can only study at specific times.
We recommend looking for training schools that have multiple support offices across multiple time-zones. All of them should be combined to give a single entry point and also access round-the-clock, when you need it, with the minimum of hassle. Search out a training school that gives this level of learning support. Only true 24×7 round-the-clock live support gives you the confidence to make it.
It’s essential to have authorised exam simulation and preparation programs as part of your course package. Some students can be thrown off course by trying to prepare themselves with questions that aren’t recognised by the authorised examining boards. Sometimes, the question formats and phraseology is unfamiliar and it’s important to prepare yourself for this. A way to build self-confidence is if you test how much you know by doing tests and simulated exams to prepare you for taking the real thing.
Commercial certification is now, undoubtedly, already replacing the older academic routes into the industry – so why is this? Key company training (to use industry-speak) is more effective in the commercial field. The IT sector has realised that such specialised knowledge is vital to meet the requirements of a technologically complex world. Microsoft, CompTIA, CISCO and Adobe are the big boys in this field. Vendor training works through concentrating on the particular skills that are needed (alongside an appropriate level of related knowledge,) rather than going into the heightened depths of background ‘extras’ that degrees in computing can often find themselves doing – to pad out the syllabus.
Imagine if you were an employer – and you required somebody who had very specific skills. What’s the simplest way to find the right person: Go through a mass of different academic qualifications from several applicants, having to ask what each has covered and which commercial skills have been attained, or pick out specific commercial accreditations that specifically match what you’re looking for, and then choose your interviewees based around that. Your interviews are then about personal suitability – instead of long discussions on technical suitability.
Any program that you’re going to undertake really needs to work up to a nationally (or globally) recognised exam as an end-result – not some little ‘in-house’ diploma – fit only for filing away and forgetting. Unless your qualification is issued by a conglomerate such as Microsoft, Adobe, CompTIA or Cisco, then it’s likely it won’t be commercially viable – as it’ll be an unknown commodity.