Turn $50 Thousand Dollars Into $1 Million by Investing in a Franchise

If you want to get rich quick and you have money to invest you can quickly turn $50 thousand dollars into $1 million dollars by purchasing a franchise for a known product. Face it; if the franchise is for the right product, all the bugs have been worked out. All you really have to do is rake in the profit on their hard work.

When you are buying into a franchise, you will be required to follow the rules already set by the business. All you need to do is to provide the business and the workers. If for instance you are purchasing a franchise for a slurpy ice shop the ingredients and the machinery is provided for you. You do not even have to choose the décor for the business because it has already been done for you. A franchise is simply a cookie cutter business; all of the different locations are exactly the same. And if you choose a popular business, you can easily turn $50 thousand dollars into $1 million dollars.

The great thing about this business is you really only have to be responsible for keeping the building up to the standard codes and for your workers. If you have a building that does not have any health violations and hardworking dependable workers the franchise chain provides everything else, even the advertising. So if you choose a good manager for your store, then all you have to do is basically sit back and rake in the money. How much easier could it be to turn $50 thousand dollars into $1 million dollars?

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2010 FIFA Football World Cup

South Africa was awarded World Cup 2010 on 15 May 2004. The main opponents were Morocco and Egypt. The spectacle will be hosted in June/July 2010 in 9 South African Cities in 10 stadiums. Cities include Cape Town, Johannesburg, Durban, Port Elizabeth and Bloemfontein. Building of the stadiums has just started. Tickets for the World Cup tickets will be advertised in 2008.

Although this is still 4 years away, it is best to start making plans now. Whether you are visiting from abroad or live in South Africa, you will need to make plans for when the tournament begins.

South Africa draws thousands of international visitors each year. Combine this with the 2010 Football World Cup – billed as the biggest sporting event of all time – and you have a situation in which masses of people are going to be trying to book a limited number of flights, accommodation, tickets and more. Hotels around the stadiums have already set about 80% of their rooms to officials from around the world and so forth. If you are planning on staying in a hotel or anything of the sorts, you had better book as soon as possible. Even 4 years in advance the hotels are becoming fully booked!

In the 12 years since democracy, South Africa has staged more successful high-profile international events than many developed nations. South Africa hosted the 1995 Rugby World Cup, the 1196 African Cup of Nations, and the 2003 Cricket World Cup.

The World Cup will provide an improved and advanced infrastructure, increased tourism through global exposure and referrals, the creation of permanent jobs and focused entrepreneurship, and probably the greatest benefit being the pride of a nation united under a rainbow.

Keep up to date on the FIFA 2010 World Cup

Top 10 Training Metrics

Is it time for you to measure the effectiveness of your training programs? If you’re not sure where to start, these Top Ten Training Metrics can help.

Measuring the effectiveness of training is a very difficult task, for stakeholders, training departments and end users. If you are a training manager or company stakeholder looking for ways to measure the effectiveness of your programs, these ten metrics are a great place to start.

One: Increased retention. Most Human Resources departments measure the rate of retention in all or various jobs. Many times, the front line, high turnover jobs are the ones that receive the most attention. If newly trained employees feel ill-equipped for the job, they are more likely to leave within their first 90 days. When you measure training success this way, higher retention points to a successful training program.

Two: Increased sales. Many organizations can track efficiency based on sales. If training is heavily geared toward a sales or customer service force, an effective program will eventually increase sales numbers. You can also measure product knowledge training as part of a sales number – poorly educated sales people usually do not make the sale. Dollar figures and unit sales make good metrics, but be sure to balance any metric with other factors that can influence sales numbers.

Three: Increased operational efficiency. In highly regulated or production-oriented businesses, managers look for more efficiency, which raises the bottom line. If your training programs teach skills, look to management’s efficiency metrics, as a baseline, before and after the training intervention. If you are building a new program or product, look at the efficiency numbers to obtain direction on training course content.

Four: Customer service results. Any organization can link training to customer service, which can be both internal and external. Customer service is also one of the easier place to start: one well-written survey can identify a host of customer related issues that can be addressed by training programs. Remember that training may not be the only solution to those issues. If your organization already has a customer survey in place, use those metrics to cross check your programs. When your programs impact the survey items, you can correlate an increase in customer satisfaction back to training.

Five: Company-defined scorecards. Training outsourcers tend to use client-defined criteria to determine training effectiveness. If your organization has a wide variety of possible measurements, sit down with management, and stakeholders, to create a custom scorecard based on expectations and the training programs that need to be in place.

Six: Cost of training. This is an internal training department measurement. In high turnover organizations, lowering cost per student can be used as an effectiveness measurement. Cost of training could also relate directly back to retention – if you’re spending less on new hire training, your retention may be higher. Work with your stakeholders and the HR department to determine training costs and where you want those numbers to be.

Seven: Return on Investment. ROI has long been a “catch all” metric. In some cases, it’s easy to define ROI, but in more cases it’s increasingly difficult. If you deliver soft skills training, it’s hard to put a dollar figure on the return. There are numerous ROI calculations available, so if you’re thinking about using an ROI metric, look for the formulas and plug in what you can. If you are part of a numbers-driven organization, you’ll be able to make friends with the stakeholders by defining and measuring concrete ROI.

Eight: Revenue generation. This metric appears most likely as a combination of sales numbers, operational efficiency, and customer service. If an organization shows increased revenue, a solid training program can be part of that increase. If your organization is rolling out a new revenue generator, such as a product or service, that is generally the best time to use revenue generation as training metric.

Nine: Instructor performance. Instructor evaluation is an important internal measurement. The results can come from student and manager evaluations, and must take into account the instructor’s presentation skills, knowledge of the subject, projection of organizational values, and adherence to instructional guidelines. The good part about instructor performance as a metric is that it can also be used as an external measure. When training is under discussion, training managers should be the first to praise their instructors for delivering quality instruction in every course – and instructor evaluations provide the supporting evidence.

Ten: End-user satisfaction. Your audience can measure effectiveness quicker than anyone else, both immediately following training and after a given time period, such as 30 or 60 days. The immediate results, sometimes referred to as “smile sheets”, can give you a picture of what happened in the classroom. The delayed results can tell you if the material is useful or not. Plus, end-user surveys are great tools for proving effectiveness with management.

Remember that training metrics may take time to put into place and show results. It’s also important to obtain buy-in from your stakeholders while you’re determining how to measure results. Use these metrics to start with – and use them whenever you’re developing or revamping training programs. Once you can prove bottom-line effectiveness, your credibility will go a long way.

Copyright 2008 Bryant Nielson. All Rights Reserved.

Bryant Nielson – Managing Director and National Sales Trainer – assists executives, business owners, and top performing sales executives in taking the leap from the ordinary to extraordinary. Bryant is a trainer, business & leadership coach, and strategic planner for sales organizations.Bryant’s 27 year business career has been based on his results-oriented style of empowering.

Subscribe to his monthly ezine – Lengthen Your Stride! ™ – and learn the legendary secrets of top business achievers at: http://www.BryantNielson.com

Web Design: Signed – Sealed – and Delivered

As a web designer starting out, I encountered this issue on two different projects and pass along the experiences so other designers don’t make the same mistake. The issue is this — when a client agrees to a web site design, be sure they sign off giving their approval in writing. Whether you devise a form or have someone such as a lawyer draw one up for you, the document should state two things. First, it should explain that by applying their signature, your client is approving the design as presented, with minimal revisions anticipated. Second, the document should state that any major revisions requested after the approval stage will cost your client additional money.

The first time this happened, I was designing an initial web site for a non-profit foundation board I was familiar with. There were problems with the project from the beginning, in that no one was offering design ideas or providing feedback on the three prototype sites I developed. Once they did, the board decided they liked a combination of two, explaining how they wanted the designs combined. With deadlines quickly approaching, I and several other board members understood this design was the one and I began building pages. However, as I started constructing the site, three board members met and decided they really didn’t like the design after all. Hours of work had just been wiped out. With approval in writing, everyone is more likely to understand the web development stage is underway and there’s no turning back, at least not without additional cost to the client.

The second instance also involved a non-profit organization with a slightly different twist. Offering my time and expertise as a volunteer, I had provided an executive director with four designs, and he selected the one that best met his needs. Again, I neglected to have the client sign off on the chosen design. In this case I hadn’t actually started building the site when I got a call that it just so happened the director had a niece with training in web design. She had seen the proposed site designs and wanted to give some feedback and revisions. It seemed odd someone was offering feedback after the client had selected their design, but with nothing in writing I had little choice but to go along. Again, had the client signed off as approving the design, he may very well have reconsidered having his niece review the designs or had her do so before choosing one.

Having the client sign off as approving the design applies whether you’re working with a paying client or as a volunteer. As a volunteer, you may not have the option of charging the client extra, but you can make it clear any revisions requested after sign off will mean that you charge the client from that point forward. In either case the outcome is the same – extra time and work is required because the client changed their mind. With nothing documented you have no recourse but to make the revisions at the agreed fee or as a volunteer, to keep working on the project. As a volunteer it’s easier to walk away than from paid work, but you also have to assess if taking such action is best for your business in the long-term.

Once a client has given their approval for a web site design, insist someone in the organization with authority sign off, with the understanding that any major changes will result in additional costs. The person giving approval could be a project or team leader, executive director, manager, etc. Give a copy of the form/statement to the client and keep one for your records. Not only is it good business, should the client decide they don’t like the design you’ve implemented, you have a written statement of approval and a means of financial compensation for your work.

Kathryn Schleich is a writer by training with over 15 years experience. She is in her final year of studies in graphic and web design, and plans to build a business around these three areas. She can be reached at kathrynschlei777@yahoo.com.

Art Workshop Holiday in Thailand?

Most people who vacation in Thailand have a similar pattern with respect to their sightseeing choices; they usually visit the same places and participate in the same traditional tourist activities. Now, this phenomenon can applied to almost any tourist destination, not only Thailand. By no means am I putting down Joe Average Tourist in his choices, but sometimes JAT feels uncomfortable about deviating from the norm and finds a comfort zone in following the pack.

As an example, the typical tourist to Bangkok stays only a couple days in this large metropolitan city; his itinerary usually includes an all day highlights tour visiting the Grand Palace and the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, Jim Thompson’s House and a river boat cruise including dinner on the Chao Praya River. Now that’s comparable to a tourist visiting New York City whose sightseeing itinerary includes the Empire State Building, the Statute of Liberty, World Trade Center, Central Park and Broadway. In addition, the ladies usually love to go on a shopping spree at one Bangkok’s sprawling shopping centers like MBK, in addition to shopping for bargains at Bangkok’s colorful night market.

Now if the tourist were aware of some of the alternative activities available besides the conventional sightseeing expeditions, he would really have an opportunity to have a unique singular experience. For those people with an artistic bent, they may want to consider taking a special 2 day /1 night watercolor workshop with Pe Seenam, an internationally renowned watercolorist from Bangkok The workshop takes place in the rural countryside alongside a beautiful river, about an hour’s drive from Bangkok.

While in Chiang Mai, Thailand’s 2nd largest city and the gateway to Northern Thailand, a good option for the artistically inclined would be a special 3 day/2 night Terracotta workshop at a rustic homestay, located in the mountain village of Mae Rim, about a 30 minutes away from Chiang Mai. While you’re in Mae Rim, you can visit one of the area’s elephant camps and go on a little elephant trek into the countryside. What a thrilling adventure!

As a sidenote, in defense of about JAT (Joe Average Tourist), many times the JAT has a very limited time in a popular destination spot. As.a result, the most viable option for him is to do “the popular city highlights tour”.

Bus Goldberg is a seasoned world traveler and the director of Calypso Island Tours, a travel company that specializes in botanical adventures and nature tours to such diverse destinations as Costa Rica, Thailand and the Caribbean. He also maintains his own travel blog, Calypso Island Chronicles

Insurance Marketing in a Down Economy? 3 Deadly Mistakes Insurance Agents Make in a Recession Part 2

How you can THRIVE During A Recession?

Insurance marketing is the key to any insurance agency’s survival. And in part 1 of this three part series I covered the number one biggest mistake insurance marketing mistake most insurance agents make in a down economy.

So now lets cover the number 2 Biggest mistake made by insurance agents in a down economy.

But first let me say that this BIG mistake is something that most insurance agents make even in a good economy and probably is one of the biggest leverage points I personally used when I built insurance agencies from scratch.

What is the number 2 biggest insurance marketing mistake?

The mistake is Not staying in touch with your clients on an ongoing consistent manner with several types of media and NOT always in a sales motion.

This is a HUGE insurance marketing mistake that far too many insurance agents make. Why is this so important?

Here is an analogy, think of your insurance agency as a brick building and each client represents a brick. Your ongoing, consistent insurance marketing is the communication that is the mortar that keeps the bricks together. And there are several forces trying to separate the bricks and bring your insurance agency tumbling down. I need not name all of the competition that insurance agents face, but one of the subtle constant forces blowing against your agency during a recession is the media.

That is why your insurance marketing machine must stay in touch with your clients. Because you must combat not only the on slaught of the competitions constant poaching of your insurance agency, but you MUST beat down the medias slanted view on the economy. Here is the bottom line. The media loves negative news. Period.

Always has and always will. Why? Well, you would be ignorant to think that it has anything to do with reporting the truth. Truth is way down the totem pole as far as what they are wanting in a story, but the reason they love to promote negative news is one thing and that is it sells. Period.

It is one of those perverse peculiarities of humanity. We all gawk at an accident and it is no wonder the National Enquirer is the number one selling newspaper and has been for years! (If you do not believe me then look it up. I know, shock, gasp, despair – but true).

So you must use your insurance marketing to stay in touch with you clients on an ongoing consistent manner using several types of media and the reason you must use several types of media is because your clients have a short attention span and they get bored faster than a 3 year old watching Hamlet.

Plus, some of them prefer to read, some prefer to listen, some prefer the combination so you must be sure to fill your clients heads with positive counter acting information to overcome and inoculate them from the infectious disease being spread by the negative media. And you must use your insurance marketing to touch base with your clients not only in a consistent fashion, but probably of even more importance you must NOT be trying to sell them in every communication.

So if you are one of the 97 percent of insurance agents who have clients that only hear from you when there is a bill or when you want to sell them something then this is your wake up call.

I hope you have found this information helpful, but more importantly I hope you use this information to implement an insurance marketing system to help you grow your insurance agency.

To get your FREE GIFT and discover more unique and powerful profit producing proven insurance marketing solutions including breakthrough Direct Response Marketing tips to generate Insurance Leads then please visit the Insurance Mavericks at insurancemarketingmavericks.com

Building Self Esteem: An Art’s Great Benefit

If you have never accomplished anything in your life, chances are you have low self-esteem. You don’t know the challenge and you don’t know the great feeling you get from meeting the challenge. You’re not alone. Life doesn’t always afford everyone the opportunity to actually accomplish anything.

Most individuals find themselves lumped into a certain category, following a predestined path. Get a good job. Start a family. Work toward retirement. Raise your kids the right way. Nothing at all is wrong with a life like this. It’s solid. It’s stable. It’s reliable.

But, it has its pitfalls. Psychologically as you grow older, you realize you may have missed a true calling. You might start wondering if there was anything you could have done better. You look at the handful of people who have achieved great things and you wonder why that couldn’t have been you. This is not positive thinking. But, it is normal.

Pick up a brush and stare straight at a blank canvas. Get the feel for an image you have in your mind. If you have to, use this negative thinking that you have for the good. Imagine yourself running across a finish line first. Imagine yourself climbing a mountain. Now, paint that picture that’s in your mind.

You’re on your way to achieving a great thing, the greatest thing. You are creating. Not only that, you are learning that life isn’t over. You haven’t missed a thing. And you did your best, nothing to regret. Instead of wondering why it couldn’t have been you, it is you. Look at your canvas. You’ve achieved.

Kids who start out early in life loving art have a better chance at moving right past those awkward years where they begin to question themselves. Normal childlike thinking has the ability to set kids back and keep them from trying something where there is a chance they might fail. Kids who love art know that there is always another blank canvas and they start to look at life that way. They learn early that you can’t always succeed. The glory is in that you tried.

Adults also benefit from picking up the brush even if they have never done it before. They might catch on to this great benefit a little later in life, but it’s never too late to learn such a great life’s lesson. The sense of achievement proves to us that we can do anything. The loss or failure is taken as a calculated risk, often an enlightening one. Artists are less likely to be depressed although there are a few instances that exist to the contrary. Art breathes life into them. The next conquest, they love the challenge.

There are so many benefits to art that it is too numerous to try to count. Building a sense of self and a high self esteem is one of the better ones. Everyone should feel the feeling of being proud, enjoying life’s challenges rather than cowering to them.

An internationally known artist as well as a mother of six, Rivky Shimon founded Rivkys Art Workshop in New York. Rivkys step-by-step method for teaching children how to create and enjoy art has earned high praise from students, teachers and parents alike. Through her new training series, Rivky plans to teach artists from across the country how to duplicate her success. Not only to ensure that art education remains a vital part of every child’s life, but also to enforce the reality that “The Rivky Method” tm works the same magic for adults as well.

Five Awkward Things You Have to Acknowledge Before Starting Up Your Computer Fixing Business

It is a bold step starting out on your own to become a local computer mending person. You’ll be in competition with others like you, computer stores and larger companies who provide for your market place.

Some of the most sizable challenges you’ll confront nonetheless will be when you are actually on the task. Opposite to what many may believe, supporting domestic and small business enterprise users is rather a lot harder than working in a large scale corporate environment. Here are some of the reasons why, so you can be educated and be more effective – building you a sound reputation and more word of mouth referrals.

Home and small business users can be the most trying customers you’ll ever handle. They will expect extensive value from you and will challenge their bills unless they are 150% content.

1. They will expect you to recognise what a problem is and how to fix it the same way they would a plumber who came round to unblock a waste pipe. It won’t occur all the time but once in a while expect for them to decline to pay for any time you pass ‘working out what the trouble is’.

2. They don’t experience the luxury of being able to swap out their PC with one from the storage room or to work on someone else’s while you work on theirs. Therefore when they are dead in the water, unable to work and losing money because of it – the pressure will be on you. You will decidedly want to be able to deal with this and get used to somebody standing over your shoulder hassling you to hurry up.

3. They will need you to look at all varieties of different things aside from what you’ve booked in to see them about. If you have allocated them a certain measure of time to perform a certain problem then you have to be clear at the starting of the call. See if there is sufficient time left over at the close of the call or schedule another one. The most all-important thing is to express at the beginning of your visit that you are there to do a certain task. A professional looking work order will aid a plenty here.

4. They do not have uniform desktop builds with good antivirus and policies that keep them from downloading and installing whatsoever they wish. This is what makes this type of work so fascinating, and obstructive. Just think spyware, spyware spyware, be braced for it and anticipate to find it everywhere you go.

5. They will fault you for things that have gone wrong that aren’t your error. Ever heard this phrase before?

“Well it was fine until the IT person came and today it doesn’t work (I’m not paying this invoice!)”

Expect this to happen a great deal. Again professional looking work orders and effective documentation of all work carried out will be the proof you need to present precisely what you have and haven’t done. A client once phoned up and shouted at my boss right after a visit because his printer quit working just after I left. Turns out he switched off the PC it was connected to.

Offering computer fixing services to small business enterprise and home users can be a enormously rewardful experience. And of course being your own boss is as good as it gets. I trust the above-mentioned points haven’t put you off, the intent is to educate you for some of the worst parts of the occupation.

You can protect yourself and be disciplined just by setting up an efficient system for work orders, call documentation and routines for particular situations. Do this and you’ll get recognized in your area as the go-to somebody and have too much work to manage.

Now go get ‘em!

Peter Webber is a free lance IT advisor and contractor to large and small businesses. His website focuses on numerous facets of working in the IT industry in particular how to set up your home computer fixing business

Prince Karim Aga Khan – A True Leader of Islam

11th July 2007 marks a landmark in the history of the Ismaili Muslim community, as this day marks the completion of the 50th year of Imamate of the leader of the Ismaili Muslim community, Prince Karim Aga Khan 1V. He is the current (49th) Imam of the Shia Imami Ismaili Muslims. His contribution in the field of education, medicine, architecture, social work, institution building, relief work, etc., is spectacular. He always tried to bring the positive image of Islam in front of others. His attractive personality has influenced many Muslim brothers to work for the welfare of the people. He is the direct descendant of Sir Aga Khan 111, whose contribution for the establishment of Pakistan can never be forgotten.

Prince Karim Aga Khan, the Aga Khan IV is the eldest son of Prince Aly Salman Khan and his wife, Princess Tajudowlah. He was born in Geneva, Switzerland on December 13, 1936. His brother name is Prince Amyn, and sister name is Princess Yasmin Aga Khan. The Aga Khan spent his childhood in Nairobi, Kenya, where his early education was done by private tutoring. The Aga Khan later attended the Institute le Rosey in Switzerland. He graduated from Harvard University in 1959 with a BA Honors Degree in Islamic history. As a modern leader of Islam, he always tried to emphasize to improve the lives of the Muslims.

Following the death of his grandfather, Sultan Muhammad Shah Aga Khan, Prince Karim, at the age of 20, became the 49th Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims on 11 July 1957.

Upon becoming the Imam, the Aga Khan stated that he intended to continue the work his grandfather had pursued in building modern institutions to improve the quality of life of the Ismaili community. The main themes that the Aga Khan emphasized are development, education, interracial harmony, and faith in religion. He elaborated on this concept in a 2006 speech in Germany stating,

“The role and responsibility of an Imam, therefore, is both to interpret the faith to the community, and also to do all within his means to improve the quality, and security of their daily lives.” Throughout the early years of his Imamate, the Aga Khan continued his grandfather’s work through the establishment of institutions such as the Aga Khan hospital in Nairobi in 1958, and primary and secondary schools in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda in the 1960s, The Aga Khan Hospital in Pakistan, and numerous educational institutions throughout the world. We can say that he is the leader of a common man. He is the King of the Muslim community. He always work for the betterment of the lives of the people of the third world country.

The Aga Khan has been particularly interested in the elimination of global poverty; eradication of illiteracy; the advancement of the status of women; the promotion of Islamic culture, music, art, and architecture, upgrading the economical status of the third world country, etc.

Prince Aga Khan always believes in building bridges between religions. He always tried to restore peace in the world and brought the positive image of Islam in the modern world.

In 1977, the Aga Khan established the Aga Khan Award for Architecture, a premier award recognizing excellence in architecture that encompasses contemporary design and social, historical, and environmental considerations. It is the largest architectural award in the world.

He is the founder and Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network, one of the largest private development networks in the world, which works towards social, economic, and cultural development in Asia and Africa. The establishment of the AKDN brought under the same umbrella a number of development agencies and institutions that The Aga Khan’s humanitarian endeavors draw inspiration from ethics of compassion, generosity, sincerity, etc.

Few of the agencies of AKDN are as under:

Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) Aga Khan Agency for Microfinance (AAKAM) Aga Khan Education Services (AKES) Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development (AKFED) Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS) Aga Khan Planning and Building Services (AKPBS) Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) Aga Khan University (AKU) The University of Central Asia (UCA) Focus Humanitarian Assistance (FOCUS), an affiliate of the AKDN, is responsible handling disasters. Recent example includes the massive earthquake in Pakistan, Oct 8, 2005. Prince Aga Khan team handled the prevailing problematic situation effectively.

He is also the Chairman of The Institute of Ismaili Studies, which he founded in 1977. This institute is one of the best Institutes, where different Islamic degrees programmes for our younger generations are being offered. The objective of IIS is to promote scholarship and learning of Muslim cultures and societies, historical as well as contemporary, and a better understanding of their relationship with other societies and faiths.

The Aga Khan has been recognized by several national and international organizations for his service to humanity. Few of them are as follows:

The Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland has awarded him the title of His Highness on July 26, 1957. On August 12, 1957, the Sultan of Zanzibar invested the title of Brilliant Star of Zanzibar. It was his first visit to Pakistan with his wife when the President of Pakistan granted the title of Nishan-e-Imtiaz on January 15, 1970.

The World Monuments Fund honored the Aga Khan IV with its prestigious Hadrian Award for his vigorous and fruitful efforts to preserve and revitalize historic cities in Islamic world on October 28, 1996 at New York.

In 2003, he was named Knight Commander in the Order of the British Empire (KBE) “for services to international development, especially in Asia and Africa, and to UK-French relations.” In 2005, he was awarded the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Philanthropy, the 2005 Die Quadriga and the 2005 Vincent Scully Prize. He was also named Honorary Companion of the Order of Canada. His Highness has been awarded honorary degrees by universities in Pakistan, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He has also received numerous awards and prizes from various professional organisations in recognition of his work in architecture and the conservation of historic buildings. There are around more than 18 million followers of Prince Aga Khan throughout the world. Whatever he has done for boosting the economy of Pakistan by investing in to various sectors like hotel industry, banking, etc., are laudable. His Highness the Aga Khan donated $50-million to support rehabilitation, socio-economic development, and earthquake-preparedness in areas of the North West Frontier Province and Azad Jammu and Kashmir affected by the 8 October 2005 shock. Prince Aga Khan provided a combination of financial and technical support to the urban and rural communities in high-mountain, seismically sensitive areas in Pakistan, Afghanistan and parts of Central Asia. There are many schools, colleges and universities in Pakistan as well, which were created by him for the development of intellects in Pakistan.

Scholars have called his community, the Shia Ismaili Muslims, the most progressive, organized, schooled and financially well-off sect within Islam.

Today, he is working all over the world to eradicate the social problems. His basic concern is of Muslim brothers and sisters, for whom he works day and night for their upliftment. He is creating a positive image of Islam globally for which we salute him.

He is truly the leader of Islam in this modern world. Wish him a very happy Golden Jubilee.

Munir Moosa Sewani is one of the famous, prominent and creative names in the field of Education since 8 years. He is a Master Trainer In Special Education, Post Graduate, Teacher Educator and a Teacher. He is a Freelance Writer and Photographer too. He is an author of the famous self-published storybook for children named as “The MORAL STORIES FOR CHILDREN” and has also written Biology course book for Secondary Classes. He has written almost more than 30 articles on social, health, educational and cultural issues, which are internationally recognized and published on most of the famous world wide websites, magazines and newspapers. He is also a Social worker, private tutor, career counselor, musician, lyrics writer and have multi- dimensional talents. His future plan is to write dozens of informative books and articles and to work for education and media too.

No Degree? No Problem – Four Careers Without a Four-Year Degree

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, workers with four-years of college traditionally make about $1 million more during their working life than their counterparts with high school diplomas–but don’t let that figure fool you. True, many top-paying professional jobs require four years of college (or more)–but you needn’t endure four years of study halls and pub-crawls to land a good job. Here are four excellent careers that can combine paid on-the-job training with classroom work, without requiring a four-year degree.

Radiological Technician
Sure, without a four-year degree, med school isn’t an option–but what if you still want to work in healthcare? Healthcare is one of America’s fastest-growing career sectors, expected to add millions of new jobs in the years ahead. If you want a healthcare career without a four-year degree, radiological technician might be an ideal career for you.

Radiologists and radiologic technicians work with sophisticated imaging machines to help diagnose patient illness. The job requires you to understand the in and outs of computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography (PET). While the technology is complex, you needn’t spend four years at university to land a job. In fact, two-year associate’s degree programs are typically the most common credential. If you already have healthcare experience, enrolling in a one-year certificate program may be all the education you need to land an entry-level position. You can find training through hospitals or colleges. You may learn human anatomy and physiology, radiation physics, medical terminology, and patient care and positioning.

The job offers the opportunity to work with patients, and, like many other healthcare careers, is highly portable. You can also earn a competitive salary. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), median annual earnings for radiologists and radiologic technicians stood at $50,260 in May 2007. The highest-paid workers made as much as $71,600.

Electrician
Looking for a truly high-powered career? Consider working as an electrician. Electricians keep the juice flowing in private homes as well as commercial buildings and large industrial complexes. Although learning the requisite skills–everything from electrical theory, blueprint reading, and mathematics to electrical code requirements, safety, and first aid–takes time and effort, a four-year degree is usually not necessary. Most electricians learn their trade through apprenticeship programs which combine paid on-the-job training with classroom instruction.

As a skilled trade, electrician jobs offer the opportunity to make a comfortable living. According to the BLS, in May 2007, median annual earnings for electricians stood at $44,780, while those in the top 90th percentile earned up to $76,000. Excellent job prospects for workers trained in a wide range of skills (including voice, video, and data wiring), make electrician an attractive choice. The BLS predicts the number of electrician jobs should jump by seven percent, or 52,000 between 2006 and 2016.

Plumber
Although you might think of unclogging drains as unglamorous work, there’s far more to a plumber’s job than you might think. Plumbers install, maintain, and repair entire pipe systems–including the piping that allows nuclear power stations to churn out megawatts of electricity, and the valves that oil refineries use to process crude oil into gasoline.

If you’re attracted to skilled trades, plumbers are expected to see job growth over the next several years. Because the number of open positions should exceed the number of qualified applicants, your job prospects should be excellent. Finally, let’s not forget your wages. Median annual earnings for pipelayers, plumbers, pipefitters, and steamfitters stood at $44,090 in May 2007. The highest-paid percentile of workers made as $75,070.

Although typically you may not need a bachelor’s degree for a career as a plumber, the training can take up to five years. However, the extended apprenticeship program offered by unions or non-union contractor agencies allows you to earn money while training on the job. At the same time, you may take as much as 144 hours of classroom study per year, learning drafting, blueprint reading, physics, chemistry, safety, and building codes.

Auto Mechanic
It’s every motorhead’s dream job. If you’ve ever dreamed of restoring classic muscle or working on economy imports, a career as a mechanic can help you marry your passion to a livable wage. Median annual earnings for automotive mechanics stood at $34,170, according to the BLS, while the highest-paid mechanics earn as much as $57,650.

Although advancing automotive technology has complicated training required for a job as a skilled automotive mechanic, a four-year degree is usually not necessary. You can earn an associate’s degree in two years through a combination of hands-on practice and classroom study. If you decide to take an accelerated course, you can earn a certificate in six months to a year. If you decide to go for an associate’s degree, most likely you’ll spend between six and eight weeks alternating between full-time work for the automotive service department of a participating business (generally under the supervision of experienced mechanics), and attending classes.

Of course, these are just four of a thousand other rewarding careers that dispense with the four-year degree. Whether it’s checking out your local community college, browsing certificate programs online, or speaking with your local union representative, there’s no limit to the places you can go. No degree? No problem.

Kelli Smith is the senior editor for http://www.Edu411.org Edu411 is a career education directory for finding colleges and universities, training schools, and technical institutes.