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Binary option trading is still a relatively new form of stock market investment. This type of trading has only been available to the masses since 2008 but since its inception, it has become very popular with both experienced and beginner traders alike.

What is Binary Option Trading?

Binary option trading allows you to profit from predicting price fluctuations on stock market instruments, such as commodities, stock options, indices and world currencies. The basic concept is simple, if you think that an asset will finish above a certain price you place a “Put Option”, if you think it will finish below a certain price then you place a “Call Option”. If your prediction is correct, you earn a fixed return, often in excess of 70% of your investment. However, if your prediction is incorrect you lose your investment!

Where can you trade options?

Option trading is conducted through online platforms or brokers. Such websites give you access to stock market assets and provide you with the tools and resources necessary to trade successfully. However, not all of these websites are the same and some are far from reputable, so it is important that you choose one that you can trust.

Binary options trading with anyoption.com or one of the other major online platforms or brokers is recommended as this gives you peace of mind that your investments are been handled by a well-known and trusted trading partner.

One of the main reasons why options trading is so popular is down to the trading platforms themselves, and a top platform will lay everything on for you; enabling anyone to trade regardless of experience or knowledge.

How to trade Binary Options successfully:

Not for the faint of heart, these high-risk/high-return stock market options offer quick cash gains to those who have the savvy and skills to anticipate stock market pricing patterns and trends. The best way to get great results while placing “puts” and “calls” is by educating yourself.

Those who take the time to analyze preferred assets over the short and long terms, while also educating themselves on the overall factors that affect the prices of assets – such as social and political events will have the most success. Luckily, getting educated requires no special skills.

You simply need to familiarize yourself with the hourly, daily and weekly price shifts of commodities or other stock market instruments. Many brokers and online stock market trading platforms provide their valued clientele with access to valuable learning tools, such as charts, articles, advice from experts, podcasts and webinars.

Is this just gambling?

There are those who say that binary option trading is nothing more than glorified gambling, and if done incorrectly then this is true. As I mentioned above to trade successful you have to educate yourself, and once you take the time to do this then you are no gambling but investing based on real knowledge and insight of markets and assets.

If you just trade blindly and take Call and Put options on a hunch then you only have a 50/50 chance of been correct – having knowledge gives you the inside lane, and greatly increases the odds of making successfully trades.

Binary option trading is not for everyone and there is risk associated with it, however, this is true for most forms of investment.

How to get started:

Getting started is easy, you simply sign-up to a trading platform or broker and make an initial deposit – this can vary from $20 to $200 depending on the company you choose to go with. Once you make a deposit, you can start trading! The more reputable companies will offer demo accounts or demo features that allow you to practice without investing real money – it is highly recommended that you spend time in a demo environment until you are confident that you know enough to trade for real.

Have you heard that it is possible to earn money online? Maybe you have heard that it is possible to make money on the internet with the skills that you have. This could be with photography, writing, creating jewellery or even making websites. Here are some ways to help utilise your skill and start earning money today.

1. Figure out Which Skills to Utilise : Not all skills are great for setting up businesses so make a list of all the skills that you have. Do you enjoy gardening? Maybe you’re an excellent baker but have never had the courage to work at a bakery. By making a list of your skills, you will be able to go through them and put a mark against those that you can utilise and sell online – that doesn’t mean the deliveries have to be done online, just that it gives you the place to sell!

Now that you have some ideas, it is time to move onto the next step.

2. Do Some Research into Your Skills : Find out how others are using the same skills to make money? This will help you determine whether it is a profitable business or whether there is just too much competition to get work. You will also get some ideas about marketing and how to show off your talents to start earning money. You may find a hidden niche that is extremely lucrative for you.

This research will help you narrow down your list and choose one to start earning money. You may find that you have a couple but start slow and build your way up.

3. Create a Website : All sellers need to have a website, whether you have a store or you are doing everything out of your own home. Without a website, there will be limited ways for people to contact you and it will be much harder to make the money you are dreaming about. You don’t have to spend a lot and there are free options available to help you get started – however, free domain names aren’t the most professional looking.

You may find that hiring a website developer is the best thing to do. However, you will be on short funds and there are content management systems to help you do it all yourself. Think about the type of functions you will need for your website to do to determine whether you need to hire a professional.

4. Market Your New Business Everywhere : Think all the hard work is done? That’s where you’re mistaken! Just because you have a website doesn’t mean that people will be able to find you. You will need to market yourself and make sure people know that you exist. The first part of this step is to set up a marketing plan. Who is your target audience and what marketing options do you have? Which forms of promotion will be better for your type of business.

The more marketing you do, the more you will become known. You can’t just stop when you’ve spent a week doing it. This is an ongoing thing. You will need to track your progress, determine if parts of your marketing plan are working better than others and then concentrate on those.

Earning money from your skills is possible but you need to do some work. This is like starting a business and you need to find the lucrative markets. Spend some time researching before you decide on this journey to make sure you have something valuable to offer.

Any parent will understand the need for careful financial planning to safeguard future prospects. Investing in the future of our children, whilst sometimes can be a financial strain on the household budget, can also teach them about money and all things related. The lack of education surrounding money matters leads to an unawareness of the value of money and how financial planning can assist day to day life and future endeavours. It is the role of the parent, to begin early, to ensure a brighter future possible for their child.

Money Education –

Educating children on all things money related can be quite difficult. Whilst they may want to spend their readily available cash on a new computer game, a parent can teach their child about finances early on with the help of a savings account. Whilst the child may not be overly enthusiastic about this idea at first, the long term possibilities of having a good financial start to their future will stand them in good stead.

A savings account for a child is an important tool to help them see how money can grow. The decision to put a little by every month into this account should be budgeted for, but money received for birthdays and holidays can be deposited too. Whilst the overall control of the account would remain with the parent, the child can be shown how their little ‘nest egg’ is growing, building a possible university or first car fund.

Invest in Child Education Plans –

With the cost of attending university running into tens of thousands of pounds, it has never been more important to begin a fund as soon as possible; to enable your child to have more options. Whilst this financial planning may have been reserved for the upper classes at one point, it is now deemed as an essential part of investing in your children’s future, regardless of class. It is true that unfortunately some parents may not be able to afford this planning, which is now considered a luxury. Any small amount adds up to ensure your child can have a brighter future.

Make Provisions –

The cost of raising children can run into hundreds of thousands. Whilst it is true that it is not always possible to plan for all eventualities, an emergency fund can come in pretty handy. School trips, hospital stays, computing equipment and extra tuition can all add, to an already tight budget. Unfortunately, they can all come with very little to no notice. By putting a little aside every month, a parent can provide for many eventualities in life which haven’t been planned for.

Children Learn by Example –

A child will often see many things that may not be actually said. They are increasingly aware of their surroundings, the atmosphere and any potential conflict or stress. Parents often do not realise that children take many memories of their childhood with them, often shaping who and what they become. If a parent is a careful money planner, explaining the reasons behind it, a child will grow to be aware of the importance of money and financial planning.

Children may not understand when they are little, the value of money and how to plan for the future. That is expected and understandable. Subconsciously, the lesson will be taught through the actions of the parents, how they cope financially, how they save and how bills are paid. Saving for a treat over a period of time can be a valuable lesson to children about the importance of money and how it can grow. Planting the seed early can ensure a well educated and finance ready child growing into adulthood.

While all things seem to change at one point or another, the business world seems to be stuck in a state of constant transformation, with new businesses being spawned and old businesses either prospering or falling into failure. With such a huge wildcard being thrown up, if you want to survive contemporary business, then it is absolutely vital that you keep with the times, adapting to the ever-changing environment and taking advantage of new technology.

Speaking of technology, if you have not noticed, you see that more and more business is being conducted through mobile and virtual means; in other words—smartphones, computers, and tablets such as the iPad. These nifty devices are now home to a world of helpful resources and tools, but most people refer to these aspects as “apps,” short for applications. Whether you find yourself playing a few rounds of bingo over at www.partybingo.com during a long, boring business flight, or you simply need to use your iPad to give a brief presentation, as common media puts it, “there’s an app for that.”

However, as far as business-oriented apps are concerned, there are several out there that can make an array of tasks much more convenient for business owners. Three of these apps can be found below:

Keynote: If you are a business owner, as well as a Mac-user, then chances are good that you have a little (or a lot) of experience with the Keynote app. The techies over at Apple have been working hard though, now being able to offer Keynote for iPad users as well.

Keynote is a presentation app, and a rather powerful one at that. Using this app, users are able to do everything from full-color presentations equipped with transitions, to building a pie chart to show expenditures.

Numbers: Also debuting on a Mac, but being completely reworked to coordinate with iPad users, is the Numbers app. If there is one thing business owners probably see too much of, it is the dreaded spreadsheet. As dreaded as it can be sometimes, it is vital to create important financial reports and charts compiled from inputted data that has been collected.

Boasting more than 250 features and functions, the Numbers app offers users a variety of charts, tables, graphics, and photos, making any spreadsheet go from bland and boring, to sleek and edgy. Need to distribute a spreadsheet or two? Not a problem for the Numbers app as it allows user to export data to Excel, convert to PDF, or simply send it as an email.

Roambi Analytics: What is more important to a business owner, small and large alike, than the status of his or her business? Luckily, the Roambi Analytics app allows users to do just that. Even better, this app is not just for iPad, but it also works on the iPhone too, allowing one to become even more mobile.

The Roambi Analytics app is capable of converting important statistics and other data from Excel, Google Docs, and other financially-oriented program, into nifty little visual “presentations” for you to view on your iPad or iPhone. Pretty simple, eh?
There you have it folks! The three apps mentioned above are sublime at making the complicated, and broad, task of business, and making it much more convenient. Naturally, the three above are just a tiny portion of the literally thousands of apps available to business owners. Plus, should you find yourself with some free time, you could always play Angry Birds or some other game.

Strategy #1: Expand by Contracting

While it may initially appear counterintuitive, for many small businesses, the best way to expand is to contract. The logic of this strategy is fairly straightforward when we recognize that the number one metric owners want to increase is profitability (as opposed to simply adding growth for growth sake), as additional sales can often be closed, but at the expense of margins.

Two of the ways that businesses can expand profitability include adding more high-profit work and subtracting more low-profit work. By reviewing their client base and actively pruning those projects which take up large amounts of resources yet yield a small amount of profit, firms can better optimize their workforce to pursue higher margin work and expand their profitability for 2013.

Strategy #2: Specialize

An off-shoot of Strategy #1, specialization challenges companies to narrow their brand messaging and business model to focus on going deeper within a specific domain, and thereby becoming more valuable and dominant in their sector. The proliferation of advanced technology, and a connected, worldwide workforce means that competition will only increase in intensity in the years to come. By choosing to double-down on specific verticals riddled with complexity, small business owners can increase barriers to entry for potential competitors and buttress their reputation within the industry.

The effective implementation of this strategy will initially involve entrepreneurs scrutinizing the current offerings of their firm, aligning them with the expected trajectory of the industry, and then making the tough decisions to refine the product mix from trying to be a “Jack of All Trades” towards becoming a highly specialized industry expert commanding top dollar. By applying the 80/20 Rule and determining which 20% of their clients are responsible for 80% of their financial success, small business owners can better customize their offerings, and selectively cater to the most profitable niche of their marketplace.

Strategy #3: Embrace Daily Deals

Over the past 24 months, there has been a meteoric rise and fall of the “Deal of the Day” or “Flash Sale” phenomenon. While the frenzied euphoria of this business model is now behind us, the measured and pragmatic benefits of a correctly applied Daily Deal approach can serve as a valuable arrow in the quiver of entrepreneurs seeking growth. Whereas earlier, small business owners would look at Daily Deals as a profit maker, today they are leveraging this model as an inventory management tool (facilitating rapid turnover of aging products to make way for new shipments), as well as utilizing the visibility of these deals to complement ongoing marketing initiatives and build brand awareness. While many firms still can and do generate profit from Daily Deals, the true business value of this marketing strategy must be taken in total with these other organizational benefits.

Strategy #4: Offer Self-Serve Options

For years, the Internet has offered individuals the opportunity to peruse and purchase products 24/7, yet many companies have still not structured their business to accommodate this environment. By designing a website and ecommerce system with a wealth of information on request, as well as FAQ’s and standardized order forms, businesses can leverage the power of automation to take some of the burden off of their staff using highly refined online content to advance prospects through the marketing funnel and engage them precisely at the critical time they are making a buying decision.

Strategy#5: Go Big or Go Home

While Strategies 1-4 provide solid expansion options for 2013, for those small business owners for whom incremental growth is just not enough, private equity funding is the way to go. By providing the founder with the security of cash in his pocket, plus sufficient capital to pay off all outstanding debts, expand internal systems and infrastructure, add more top leadership, and scale the organizational footprint to bigger markets, a private equity investment offers the fastest way to get there. By removing the month-to-month financial pressures of payroll and production costs, business owners can enjoy a renewed focus on making the strategic decisions that will position the firm for accelerated growth in 2013 and beyond.