What is Included?

Make sure you know what kind of direct marketing list you are purchasing. Does the list include both names and addresses? Are phones included? What about emails? Don’t assume that because you have asked for a mailing list, that phones or emails will be included. Some mailing lists will include phones, but many will not. Mailing lists don’t usually come with email addresses, but a lot of email lists will have mailing addresses. It’s very, very important that you and your list broker are clear on what type of direct marketing list you want to use.

You should also know what ‘selects’ are offered. A select is an element that can be used to further target a direct marketing list, such as geographic areas, job titles, industries, age, marital status, etc. Depending on how the data on the lists is collected will determine which selects are available. Some lists will have countless selects that you can apply to the list to narrow down the target, while other lists won’t be able to offer any.

How are They Sourced?

It’s important to know where the information on the marketing lists comes from. Obviously, you want to know that the information is legitimate and compliant, but did you know that your response rate may vary on how the list sourced? There is a big difference between direct marketing lists sourced from actual purchasing behaviors and lists that are compiled from public records.

Source can be classified as either responsive or compiled. Each type has its advantages and disadvantages.

• Response – these are individuals who have freely supplied their contact information. They are usually gathered through sources like magazine subscriptions, catalogs and previous direct marketing responses. These lists are often more expensive than compiled lists as the information is self reported and is often very specific. These lists can be sorted by interests, household income, marital status and other factors.

• Compiled – are made up of individuals with similar interests, like real estate agents or dog breeders. These lists are compiled using a variety of public sources, including government databases, vehicle registrations, credit card lists, and phone records. These lists tend to be less expensive than response lists as they are easier to keep updated, and the selections available are not nearly as refined. The household or business contacts on these lists can be further sorted by geographic locations, gender, ethnicity, income and age.

Your list broker should be able to guide you as to which list source would work best for your direct marketing campaign.

What is the actual Cost?

Understanding your list cost is crucial. You don’t want to be in a position where you think you know what the list cost is going to be, only to find out it’s not what you were expecting and now you’re over budget. Your ROI depends on Your list broker should either provide you with a data card or a full-on proposal explaining the full cost of you list. If you don’t understand what your list broker provides you with, or if you have any questions ask!! You can’t afford not to know what you are purchasing.

Direct Marketing Lists will usually be priced out as a base price, with additional select and delivery costs.

The base cost of a list is priced out as a per thousand cost, meaning that you are charged a certain amount for every 1,000 contacts you would like to use. The per thousand cost is expressed as “/M”.

Depending on the list, there may be additional fees for adding telephones or emails. It is very important to make sure you are aware of these charges.

The select cost is also listed as a per thousand cost. The more selects you apply to your list, the more targeted your list will be and the better the results. However, it will also add to overall cost of your list.

Processing and delivery charges are flat fee charged by the list owner to have the data formatted and delivered. The costs vary from owner to owner and can range anywhere from $25 – $100.

So, if the base cost of a list is $95/M and you are looking for 5,000 records, your base cost would be $475. If you would like to target homeowners within a certain area and would phones to be included, there would be additional costs. Selecting just homeowners will cost you $10/M, geo will be included and phones will be an additional $30/M. This makes cost $525. Add $50 for processing and delivery and your cost will be $575. Your list broker should be able to explain all the costs involved.

Be aware that many lists have minimum volume requirements. If the number of records you need fall below the list owner’s minimum, you may be charged a supplemental fee. Conversely, many list owners will offer volume discounts if the number of contacts on your list is large.

Lastly, make sure you know what currency the list is being quoted in. There are list owners all over the globe working in different currencies, don’t assume you are being quoted in your country’s currency.

How Current are They?

How old is the list and when was it last updated? Direct marketing lists go bad with age. People or businesses move, contacts leave or switch departments, people pass away, etc. There’s no shortage of circumstances that will affect the contact information in a list. Most list owners will run a standard update every 30 days removing bad entries. This ensure that the data you are using is accurate and deliverable. There’s no point in using a list if the information on it isn’t accurate, so make sure your list is up to date.

Are They Compliant?

Email and telemarketing lists must adhere to the CAN-SPAM Act and National Do Not Call registry, respectively. If you are planning a direct marketing campaign outside of the United States, you need to be sure the list is compliant to the rules and regulations of that country. The onus is on you, the end user to make sure you are in compliance. Being sold a bad list is not a defence and the fines for violating the regulations can be stiff. Ask your list broker to confirm that your list is complaint.

There are a lot of list brokers out there who are only interested in getting your money. They have cheap direct marketing lists that are non-compliant and outdated. Protect yourself from these shady list brokers by asking the right questions. If they can’t or won’t answer your questions, then steer clear of them. A legitimate list broker will have no problem answering any questions that you may have.

Developing, building and maintaining a buyers list for real estate investors is critical to their long-term success in the business. The power in the buyers list is that it allows the investor to put houses under contract and sell them very quickly to a waiting list of perspective buyers. This means that often the investor does not actually need the money to purchase and close on the property. He simply uses his buyers’ money to fund his deal.

The actual buyers list is developed by finding like-minded investors who are looking for deals or are looking to sell deals they have found. The buyers list works both ways, where the investor who owns the list can use it to sell his own properties or other investors’ properties. Either way the investor with the list makes a profit on a deal.

The most common method of developing the list includes business card swapping at local investment club meetings. This is possibly the least productive method of list building as the other investors are generally not real buyers. There are a few in the group that warrant being on a buyers list. Generally however, the more frequent buyers that are the target of the investor, do not come to these meetings. Frankly, there is little or no reason since they are the pros of the industry and have become successful by using certain tactics that work for them.

These larger investors, who usually aren’t at the meetings, are called “whales” in the industry because of their continuous buying power. Some will be wholesalers themselves who have trained teams of referrers (“bird-dogs”) to scour neighborhoods to find abandoned or distressed properties they can buy and re-sell. Others are contractors who rehab properties on an ongoing basis and sell the finished homes to an end-buyer who usually does conventional financing to buy it. All other types of wholesaling deals are purchased with cash or expensive hard money from another investor.

Following are ten ways most investors find their perspective buyers for their lists:

1. Driving for Dollars – looking in neighborhoods for individuals working on properties who are contractors or investors.

2. Bandit Signs – are roadside signs that are called “bandit” signs because they are generally illegal in most cities, common size is 18″ x 24″.

3. Craig’s List – this is a very popular internet site that attracts hundreds of thousands of loonies. Yes, besides the good and well-meaning people who use it there are many jerks out there so be careful.

4. Eviction Hearings – this is a hot spot for both tired landlords and those hardy souls who keep landlording in spite of all its adversity.

5. Newspaper Ads – print advertising is still effective if your offer is exciting enough to get other investors to call.

The real key to massive success using a buyers list is to keep getting as many new people on it as possible. This includes trying to be creative to add new email addresses every day. If you persist in your list building you will only need properties to sell to become very successful in real estate investing – even if these properties are not your own.

At times, attracting subscribers to your list can seem

as challenging as finding a pool of water in the desert.

Having built several lists over the last year in different

niche markets – all highly responsive, some in the high

tens of thousands, its time to focus in on 3 of the most

productive list building techniques.

Before I list them, the other factor in making money from

your list though is relevance and responsiveness. You can

have a list of 100,000 and it can still be worth less to you

than a list of 10,000 based on relevance and responsiveness.

At the end of the day, its your revenue per subscriber that

is critical to your business – not just the size of the list.

3 Titantic List Building Techniques

1. Writing articles. Trick here is to spend 90% of your time

on the article title (effectively your headline) and toward

writing compelling articles consistently. Send them out to

publishers and directories – but always build a strong publisher

base which you can go back to again and again. Some of my better

articles have been picked up by hundreds of ezines, and have been

seen by millions of eyeballs resulting in very strong traffic and

list signups.

Case in point, my article titled “How To Make Pay-Per-Click

Advertising Payoff!” over at:

http://www.highertrustmarketing.com/articles/ppcpayoff.html

has been run by hundreds of online and offline magazines with

total subscriptions into the millions.

Another example in another niche – this very simple article

on Low Carb foods has been picked up by hundreds of websites

http://www.rapid-weight-loss.com/1201-low-carb-food-list.html

Learn to write articles that attract attention is the single best

way to rapidly build your own responsive list.

2. Use a capture page, often called Namesqueeze for first-time

traffic. Rather than sending traffic right to your sales page,

send them to a capture page first and target the page well to your

market. For example: http://www.infoproductcreator.com/ebook/ is such

a page. Conversion is well over 40% on most days, so as you can see,

any substantial traffic will result in very strong list building

numbers.

3. Joint ventures: You should be seeking out at least 2 new joint

ventures each month – some of these can instantly result in 100’s –

if not 1000’s of signups. Long term joint ventures can also be

repeated for months and months. Think in terms of joint mailings,

interviews, viral ebooks, articles, special reports, etc… to use as

tools to make joint ventures successful.

Finally – if I had to list a fourth, of course your own affiliate

program would be the fourth. Takes a little longer to build momentum,

but when you do – its like placing your list building on auto-pilot.

Did you know that creating a gratitude list is one of the key ingredients used in the Law of Attraction? It can be powerful stuff! And it’s one of the easiest ways to attract more abundance into your life right now.

You may be asking yourself – what would be the point in making such a list? More importantly, how does this really work?

Well, for starters, it would show you immediately all of the different things in this beautiful world that you CAN be grateful about, if you choose to do so.

A gratitude list helps to keeps you focused on what you can be happy and thankful for in the present moment. It changes your mood from one of anxiety and scarcity to one of hopefulness, excitement, contentment.

The most important benefit of this exercise is the powerful way in which it can shift your “doom and gloom” perspective immediately to one where you begin to see all the abundance that’s already in your life. It’s certainly a great way to uplift your spirit!

Yes, I can hear some of you right now, “But, my life’s a friggin’ mess! I don’t have money to pay the bills, everything’s going downhill fast. What can I possibly find to be grateful for?”

I understand where you’re coming from. Been there, done that. It sucks.

So, here’s a few things that I’ve used on my own gratitude lists in the past to get the ball rolling (and they have nothing to do with buying things, paying bills or “having more” of something):

• Beautiful sunsets. The setting sun, no matter where it is, can that take your breathe away with it’s vibrant colors if you’ll just watch it for a little while.
• Gorgeous sunrises. Watch as the rays of the sun begin to creep up over the horizon causing the clouds to become pink, red, orange, and yellow. Clouds look spectacular in the rising sun. Just stop and watch for a few moments. It’s a great way to start your day on a high note.
• Mountain ranges. That’s another picturesque vista that always takes my breath away. Their majestic, snow-capped peaks; the ruggedness of the cliff edges; the intermixed colors of purples, blues, grays, and greens. Mountains are inspiring and powerful in many ways.
• Fluffy clouds. Remember how you used to look for shapes in the cloud formations when you were a kid? Try it again! It’s fun and makes your heart feel lighter.
• The stars in the sky at night. Just look at all those billions of stars out there… and that’s just in our galaxy! There are millions of galaxies with billions of stars and who knows how many planets. Now, there’s a great example of abundance in this universe! The beauty of the night sky is an endless wonder when you stop and really look up!

Why would I include these majestic views on my gratitude list rather than everyday “life” things?

Because they remind me to be thankful for all the beauty and the multitude of objects that are readily available in this world to truly enjoy anytime I want to – things that don’t cost money or involve relationships (triggers that can often illicit depressing or angry emotions).

Sometimes, what we need is to be pulled out of our narrow world view and take a good, long look at the beauty and abundance that actually surrounds us each and every moment – the abundance that we often ignore!

What Are The Other Benefits of a Gratitude List?

You can use a gratitude list to help you cope with a day that may be going wrong. It is designed to take your attention away from the “bad” things and realign yourself with positive energies instead. Even if it’s for a short period, it can make your entire day look brighter and go better.

Other things to be grateful for are having a place to live, regardless of what it looks like. You HAVE someplace to call home. That’s important. That’s special. It doesn’t matter if it’s a run-down shack… it’s still a home to shelter you from the elements.

And who’s to say your “luck” won’t begin to improve down the road? Everything is temporary… everything!

Be grateful for having some food to eat. It may be sparse, it may be bland… but it IS food. And for those of us who have access to a large quantity of food…. be grateful for having so much variety to choose from!

(Contrary to what your parents have told you, eating all the food on your plate will in no way, shape or form help a starving child in Africa. All it will do is make you fat. This is a scarcity mentality… let it go!)

You can be grateful for having electricity to turn on the lights, the appliances and all those electronic gadgets we all so love to buy.

And stop complaining about the cost of everything! Money is just an exchange of energy. It’s our “bartering” system. You’re exchanging one item (money) for another (housing, food, utilities, items). ENJOY what you currently have!

Begin a Gratitude Journal

Begin writing your own gratitude journal at the end of each day. Any sort of plain paper book will do, it doesn’t have to be fancy. Use a cheap Hilroy notebook if that’s all you can afford.

Start by taking a good look around you and write down the things that make you feel truly thankful to have. As the weeks and months pass, go back and read what you have written. You’ll be pleasantly surprised at all the things that are already in your life that make you feel really good.

Feeling grateful – engaging in joyful emotions – that’s the power behind making these lists work miracles.

Make it a point to stop moaning about the past or fretting about the future. Be grateful for your life in this immediate moment – because this moment is all that you truly have. In order to have more, you need to see how abundant and blessed you already are! That’s what a gratitude list can do for you. Why not give it an honest try? It may change your life, but you’ll never know until you begin.

Many of us make to-do lists. Usually, they are long and filled with a variety of tasks. Not only is it essential to prioritize the list of items, but to also estimate how much time each task will take. Often when you do this, you find that you have two days worth of to-dos on your list. One thing that zaps our energy is feeling overwhelmed and getting distracted. When you have long to-do lists that are not even reasonable to accomplish, often much less gets done.

If you take your list, budget how much time important tasks will take, you can then plan them into your day better. If you have a 10-minute task, you can plan that for a 15 minute downtime period. If you don’t do this, people usually take 10 minutes just to figure out what they are going to do and then they only have 5 minutes left to do something, which is not enough time, so then nothing gets done (or they start a project and are stressed and then late for the next appointment).

It also helps you to plan your day to see that you need 2 hours of blocked time to “eat your frog” (the #1 most important item on your to-do list). This way you can plan your day to get that big thing off your plate. I guarantee when you get the weight of a large project off your back first thing in the morning, you will be supercharged and excited for the rest of your day. Then knowing what you will do, how long it will take you and “budgeting” when you will do it, creates a clear focus and drive for you to accomplish many more things in your day.

In order to put this into practice:

1. Take your prioritized list of to-dos and write behind each how much time each will take (always pad with extra time not less).

2. Look at your schedule for the day and plan when you will do which tasks. If you have a large task, see how you can break it down into parts that fit into your day.

3. Write specifically what you will do on the calendar (i.e. budget 1 hour to write a newsletter. Have a 15 minute opening in the AM; plan to write the intro to the newsletter, then schedule 30 minutes later in the day to write the main article. Finally, schedule 15 minutes in the afternoon to edit the newsletter).

The word “mucus” is from the Latin mucus which means “slime, mold, snot, etc.” Mucus refers to a thick, viscous, slippery discharge that is comprised of dead cells, mucin, inorganic salts, water, and exfoliated cells. It also refers to the slimy, sticky, viscous substance left behind by mucus-forming foods in the body after ingestion. The word “pus” is from late 14c. Latin “pus” (related to puter [putrid] “rotten”), from Proto-Indo-European*pu- compared to Sanskrit. puyati “rots, stinks,” putih “stinking, foul.” Pus often refers to a thick white, yellowish, or greenish opaque liquid produced in infected tissue, consisting of dead white blood cells, bacteria, tissue debris, and serum. It also refers to the substance that dead animal flesh is chemically changed to after being consumed or while rotting in one’s digestive tract. The ingestion of meat and dairy products create pus residue in the body, while starchy and fatty foods are mucus-forming.

The word “mucusless,” or mucus-free, refers to foods that are not mucus-forming. Such foods digest without leaving behind a thick, viscous, slimy substance called mucus. These foods include all kinds of fat-free, and starchless, fruits and vegetables.

All foods that are pus/mucus-forming are acid-forming. The word “acid” is from the early 1600s meaning “of the taste of vinegar,” from French acide (16c.) or directly from Latin acidus “sour, sharp,” adjective of state from acere “to be sour,” from PIE root *ak- “sharp, pointed” (see acrid).In chemistry it refers to a class of substances whose aqueous solutions are characterized by a sour taste, the ability to turn blue litmus red, and the ability to react with bases and certain metals to form salts. From a mucusless perspective, pus and mucus-forming foods are understood to be “acid-forming” inside the human body. Such foods create an acidic internal environment that is detrimental to wellness.

The following is a list of pus, mucus, and acid-forming foods:

FLESH (PUS-FORMING)

• Blood of Animals
• Eggs (All Kinds)
• Lard
• Meat (Beef, Chicken, Horse, Dog, Mutton/Lamb, Turkey, Veal, Pork:
• Bacon, Ham, Sausage, Gammon, Chitterlings, Pig Feet; Wild Game: Bison, Buffalo, Ostrich, Rabbit, Venison, etc.)
• Margarine (Made with Animal Fat)

FISH (PUS-FORMING)

• Crustacean (Crab, Crawfish, Lobster, Shrimp)
• Fish (All Types)
• Mollusks (Clam, Oysters, Mussels, Snail, etc.)
• Roe (Caviar)
• Salmon
• Shell Fish

DAIRY PRODUCTS (PUS-FORMING)

• Butter, Cow
• Buttermilk
• Cheese (All Kinds)
• Cream
• Crème fraîche
• Kefir
• Milk (All Animals and Kinds; Raw Organic, Skim, 1 or 2 %, etc.)
• Yogurt

CEREALS (MODERATELY MUCUS-FORMING)

• Barley
• Breads (All Kinds; Barley, Black, Rye, White, Graham, Pumpernickel,
• Zwieback, etc.)
• Cereal Grains (All Kinds; Maize, Farina, Kamut, Millet,
• Oats, Quinoa, Spelt, White Rice, Brown Rice, Whole or Refined Wheat, etc.)
• Cornmeal
• Pseudocereals (All Kinds; Amaranth, Buckwheat, Chia, Cockscomb, Kañiwa, Quinoa, etc.)
• Pastas

BEANS (MODERATELY MUCUS-FORMING)

• Beans (All Kinds and Forms; Black Beans, Black-eyed peas, Fava Beans, Butter Beans, Cannellini Beans, Chickpeas/Garbanzo Beans, Edamame, Great Northern Beans, Italian Beans, Kidney Beans, Lentils, Lima Beans, Mung Beans, Navy Beans, Pinto Beans, Soy Beans, Split Peas, String Beans (Green Beans), White Beans, etc.)

NUTS AND SEEDS (MUCUS-FORMING)

• Nuts (All Kinds; Acorns, Almonds, Brazil Nuts, Cashews, Chestnuts, Hazelnuts, Peanuts, Pecans, Pistachios’, Walnuts, etc.)
• Seeds (All Kinds; Sunflower, Pumpkin, Hemp, Sesame, etc.)

PROCESSED FOODS (PUS AND/OR VERY MUCUS-FORMING)

• Dried Convenience Foods
• Fast Foods
• Frozen Convenience Foods
• Packaged Convenience Foods
• Processed Meat

CONFECTIONERIES/CANDY/SWEETS (PUS AND/OR VERY MUCUS-FORMING)

• Baked Goods (All kinds including pies, cakes, pastries, etc.)
• Candy (All Types; Bars, Caramels, Chocolate, Fudge, Jelly candies, Rock
• Candy, Taffy
• Gelatin (Jello)
• Ice Cream (Dairy and Non-Dairy)
• Marshmallow

ACIDIC, FERMENTED, OR DISTILLED DRINKS/SYRUPS (ACID-FORMING STIMULANTS)

• Alcoholic Beverages (All Kinds; Ale, Beer, Brandy, Champagne, Hard
• Cider, Liqueur, Mead, Porter, Rum, Sake/Rice Wine, Gin, Herbal Wine, Lager, Fruit Wine, Vodka Whisky, Tequila, etc.)
• Syrups (Brown Rice, Barley Malt, Chocolate, Corn, Artificially Flavored)
• Cocoa
• Coffee
• Kombucha Tea
• Soft Drink (Soda Pop)
• Tea (All Kinds from the Theaceae family)
• Vinegar (White, Apple Cider)
• Old-fashioned Root Beer

FERMENTED FOODS AND SAUCES (ACID-FORMING STIMULANTS)

• Fish Sauce
• Fermented Vegetables (All; Kimchi/cabbage and other veggies, Olives
• Pickles/cucumbers. Sauerkraut/cabbage, etc.)
• Miso
• Sauces with Vinegar (Hot Sauce, Ketchup, Mustard, Mayonnaise, Relish,
• Tartar, Barbecue, Salad Dressings, Salsa, etc.)
• Soy Sauce

VEGETARIAN/VEGAN PROCESSED FOODS (MODERATELY MUCUS FORMING)

• Chips (corn, potato, plantain, etc.)
• Frozen Vegan Breakfast Foods (waffels, etc.)
• Hummus (processed chickpeas)
• Lab Grown Animal Tissue
• Margarine
• Nutritional Yeast
• Pasta (egg-free)
• Pasteurized 100% Fruit Juice (potentially acid-forming)
• Plant milks (grains, nuts, seeds, and legumes including soy, rice, etc.)
• Plant-based butter (nuts, seeds, and legumes including soy, peanut, etc.)
• Plant-based creamers
• Soy Lecithin (food additive)
• Tempeh
• Texturized Vegetable Protein (‘mock’ meats including soy, etc.)
• Tofu
• Vegan Baked Goods
• Vegan Confections (All Types; Chocolates, Ice Cream, etc.)
• Vegan Cheese Substitutes
• Vegan Mayonnaise
• Vegan Whipped Cream
• Yogurts (Plant-based)

OILS (FATTY AND MILDLY MUCUS FORMING)

• Oil (All types; Avocado Oil, Chia Seed, Coconut, Corn, Cotton Seed, Cotton Seed, Flax Seed, Grape Seed, Hemp Seed, Nut Oils, Olive, Palm, Peanut, Quinoa, Rapeseed (Including Canola), Safflower, Soybean etc.)

SALTS AND SPICES (STIMULANTS/POTENTIALLY ACID-FORMING)

• Black Peppercorns
• Cayenne Pepper
• Chili Powder
• Cream of Tarter
• Curry Powder
• Nutmeg
• Paprika
• Pepper
• Salt (Celery, Crystal, Iodized, Sea)
• Vanilla Extract

STARCHY OR FATTY VEGETABLES AND FRUITS (SLIGHTLY MUCUS-FORMING)

• Artichoke
• Avocados
• Cassava
• Cauliflower
• Coconut Meat
• Corn
• Durian
• Fungus (Mushrooms)
• Green Peas
• Olives
• Parsnips
• Peas (Raw)
• Plantain
• Plantains
• Pumpkins
• Raw or Baked White Potatoes
• Raw Squashes (Winter, Acorn, Butternut, etc.)
• Raw Sweet Potatoes
• Rutabaga
• Turnip
• Unripe Banana

What are Deceptive Mucus-Formers?

Here is a list of foods that many people do not realize create mucus:

• Rice (great for creating glue to bind books, bad for the transition to a mucus-free diet)
• Avocados (fatty item that may be used on the transition, but are highly addictive. Although technically a fruit, if used it is best to combine them with a mucus-free combination salad or vegetables to aid elimination. However, it is recommended to stay away from them if you are not already stuck to them.)
• Nuts (Mucus-forming, but may be used on the transition. It is best to eat with dried fruits like raisins to aid with elimination.)
• Plantains (Starchy)
• Tofu (Slimy and mucus-forming.)
• Un-ripened fruits like green bananas (the riper the fruit you eat the better).
• Corn (It does not eliminate well. When cooked corn or corn chips are eating it becomes mushy and slimy in the intestines.)
• Corn chips (Some people use them on the transition, but they are very addictive and do not eliminate well)
• Beans (They are starchy and mucus-forming. But, they may be used sparingly on the transition within close proximity to green-leafy salads)
• Starchy Vegetables (Some vegetalbes are starchy and mucus-forming in raw or cooked forms, such as white potatoes. But, many other vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, become almost mucus-free (starchless) after proper cooking.

The Transition Diet

It is very important that people learn how to transition from the most harmful mucus-forming foods to the ones that leave behind the least amount of waste. To learn more about this transitional process, check out Arnold Ehret’s Mucusless Diet Healing System: Annotated, Revised, and Edited by Prof. Spira.

If you are facing a criminal allegation your case will either be heard in the Magistrates Court or in the Crown Court. If your case is heard only in the Magistrates Court then usually your case will be dealt with fairly swiftly. If you are found guilty or if you plead, the Magistrates will often sentence you shortly after you enter a guilty plea or after the conclusion of your trial. Sometimes if the Magistrates think their sentencing powers are too limited they will send a case up to the Crown Court for sentencing. Generally the idea at the Magistrates is that cases are dealt with speedily and effectively.

If you are facing a more serious charge then your case will be heard in the Crown Court. In the Crown Court you can expect your case to proceed at a much slower pace than at the Magistrates Court. Although there is currently an impetuous for cases to move a lot quicker in the Crown Court – with the introduction of the early guilty plea scheme – generally speaking your case will take longer to conclude at the Crown Court than in the Magistrates Court.

If you enter a not guilty plea then the court will set your case down for a trial. This will mean witnesses will need to be brought to Court, including police officers, experts and any defence witnesses.

The Court will either list your case to have a “fixture” or will list your trial to go into the “warned list”.

A fixture is basically what it sounds like – you will have a fixed day to come to Court and your trial will start on that day. The Court will usually give an estimate on how long they think your trial will last, for simple cases this may be 1 or 2 days; for complex cases trials may last many months. The reason why the Courts require estimates of trial lengths is because there is severe pressure on the Crown Court system to get cases managed as effectively as possible so as to not allow any time (and costs) to be wasted.

If the Court does not give a fixture then your case will go into a “warned list”. This means that your case will start on any day during that warned period. Most often a Court will give a two week or a three week “warn period”. If your case does not start during this warn period then your case will go into another warn period – usually a few months down the line. At some Courts they will give a case they have determined suitable to go into the warned list three separate warned list periods before they give a case a fixed hearing date – this can mean some cases go on for many months before they reach trial.

Courts will often put defendants who are on bail in the warned list and defendants who are in custody (prison) will be given a fixed trial date. The reason for this being is that there are custody time limits that the Courts must observe in respect of pre-trial detention and so they strive to conclude custody cases before custody time limits elapse.

If your case is in the warned list and you are anxious that your case proceeds as soon as possible – perhaps because you are worried your defence witnesses may not be available at a later date – then your criminal defence solicitor should apply to the Court to try and get your trial a fixed date rather than being left with the uncertainty of the warned list.

If you’re a birder, you want to keep a list of sightings when you bird watch. Your life lists should be kept in a bird watching journal.

Life List

A life list is a record of the species of birds you’ve sighted over time. Typically, the list is kept in a journal. Each entry notes the bird species, the date, location and any notes you want to add. Depending on your particular bird watching exploits, you can keep one global list or separate lists as you see fit.

For many bird watchers, one life list simply isn’t enough. So, how can you break down your lists? Here are a few ideas:

1. House Lists – A list of birds sighted around your home.

2. Yearly Lists – A list for each year you bird watch.

3. State Lists – A list for sighting by particular state.

4. Trip Lists – Journals for particular bird watching vacations or tours.

5. Wish Lists – A list of birds you haven’t seen, but hope to. You simply cross them off as sightings occur.

Computer Life Lists

You can purchase computer life list programs or use online variations. Each program is different, but most come in a checklist format. You enter information and the program spits out your list.

The problem with using computer programs is…well, the computer aspect. Unless you are willing to lug a laptop around with you, there is going to be a delay between sightings and your journal entries. Using a computer program is also troublesome if you want to keep a collection of sketches of particular species you’ve identified. For most birders, a computer list is a supplement to a good journal, not a replacement.

Bird watching is an extremely personal passion. If you’re just starting, you may think you don’t need to keep a life list. The problem with this approach, of course, is you will regret the decision if you later decide to do so. All those sightings will be gone with time…

If you’re going to start bird watching, make sure you keep a life list journal from the outset. As I like to say, “Preserve the experience!”

A punch list – a short checklist of items that need to be completed, repaired, or replaced – is common in the construction and remodeling industries. It acts as a quick and easy reference to the status of the project and its state of readiness. Keeping punch list items to a minimum can improve customer satisfaction and prevent delays to home closures. Using temporary surface protection on installed finishes such as counter tops, cabinets, floors, door and door jambs has been shown to remarkably decrease punch list items. Preventing scratches and dents to surfaces goes a long way towards ensuring a short punch list. Homeowners may not see what is inside the walls during a walk through but they will certainly notice a huge scratch on their new floors, counter tops or cabinetry!

Contractors should not only invest in temporary surface protection but should also have their own internal punch list to address any items before the final client walk-through. The client should see and know that the contractor has used surface protection as it boosts home buyers’ overall satisfaction. Protected & installed finishes should have surface protection removed prior to the homeowner walk through but remain on the finishes late enough to protect the finish as long as possible during construction.

Contractor’s lists can also be used at almost every phase of the building process to help communicate issues with suppliers and trade partners regarding the quality and status of their work. Often times, builders will use temporary surface protection such as Protecta-Foam or floor protection specified in a subcontractor’s contract. Although the subcontractor may protect their work it is also the responsibility of the builders to ensure that other trades do not remove the protection or that the surface protection used is adequate for the job. Like those created during a final walk-through with a homebuyer, punch lists during construction ensure that the work and quality is first-rate. When a homeowner does notice and identify to the builder any items that need to be added to a punch list, the builder should explain the policies and procedures in place for taking care of everything on the punch list in a timely manner.

Most builders work to cross every item off the list prior to homeowner possession so that the closing process is hassle-free. Depending on the list, a builder may try to schedule the necessary labor to address every item on the same day, rather than over several days, out of respect for a new homeowner’s time and busy schedule. The use of temporary surface protection can help builders achieve a goal of a short list, and keep any needed repairs short and simple. Surface protection leads to short punch lists. A small punch list cuts down on the inevitable repair time and gets a satisfied homeowner in their new home as soon as possible.