Yes, of course scientific approaches are desirable and essential (as: “No practice without theory”), however, their disadvantage is that they cannot define ‘Suggestions’ for most of the different entrepreneurs running this ‘business world’ – this refers especially to SMEs, who account for more than 90 % of the worldwide companies.

The major reason being that the conditions in individual companies are too specific and cannot be taken into consideration.

… but of course it is necessary to contemplate whether it is more advisable to assign or even subordinate the sales department to the marketing department or vice versa. The ‘market as such’, however, in most cases can’t be schematized or generalized so easily but depends on the specific needs of the clients as well as the producer.

Whilst in a B2C-environment specific processes might suggest to assign marketing to sales, this is completely different in a business producing investment goods.

So what is the ultimate target… YES, the client, whether in B2C or in B2B.

Comparing the distribution structure in B2C is surely more important than in B2B, as more often ‘mass products’ (of any kind) are sold. The competition in that case mostly is quite numerous and the ‘customer needs’ are less specific – and this may lead to the belief that sales are more important than marketing.

Looking to B2B only especially such ‘specific customer needs’ are in the foreground, the competition is less numerous, yet possibly more concentrated to a specific target group – on a worldwide basis.

Theory or not:

As also Marketing-Professor Kotler suggests the sales department should be assigned to the marketing department. Please find hereafter a few reasons – which could also bring interesting aspects / approaches for SMEs who do not yet have fully developed marketing-/sales activities and who need ways for a successful configuration of their future.

· The marketing department has to research the markets in order to clarify which markets/market segments could/should be supplied with which products (whether already existing products, or such to be developed/produced/adapted due to the available core competencies) – either in the home market or in international markets.

· The marketing department determines thereafter the target groups ‘desired/requested’ in order to define the respective distribution ways (i. e. sales routes – NOTE:’ thereafter’). e. g. with or without associated service capabilities, etc. Which kind of distribution – whether existing, newly to be defined, own company office, etc. – is largely depending on the kind of clientele as well as on the financial power of the company – and/or on the products in question.

·… and… it is the marketing department that has to understand first the ‘clients’ requests / wishes’ in order to decide – together with the other internal departments, and based on reliable market data – if such a product has to be newly produced, an existing one to be amended, or even the sales portfolio be supplemented by suitable purchased products.

In any of these cases the actual selling process starts only after the respective ways and decision have been found / made. The sales department then receives the necessary targets/objectives/client data, etc., like new strategic advice, from the market department. This might be completed by questionnaires the evaluation of which allow a further ‘sharpening’ of the sales routes lateron.

Which means again:

Only a close collaboration between both departments will lead to a maximum of success – animosities, as known from the past, are of no value in today’s market environment…

Keywords are the words that web surfers enter in search engines to find websites about their search terms. If you want to get in front of your potential audience, it’s important your web site has good search engine rankings for your keywords that are related to the theme of your website.

Keyword analysis research is important to the success of your SEO copy writing activities! Knowing what your target audience wants and how they are looking online is crucial to your website success. Optimizing your web pages for keywords that nobody uses in the search engines is useless. In addition, in order to get targeted visitors, the keywords must not be too broad or too general. The first step in successful SEO copywriting is choosing the right keywords to make them very specific to your market:

· use keyword phrases containing two to four words

· be specific – geographically, topically, or by product

· only use the keywords that are important to your web business

· avoid very competitive keywords or general keyword phrases

Use focused and targeted keyword phrases that are common enough so the web searcher will use them, but selective enough that they don’t return millions of matches. For example, if you are a dog trainer in Chicago, you wouldn’t target the key phrase “dog training”, but something more specific like “Chicago dog trainer” or “dog training classes Chicago”. Very specific keywords generate highly qualified, targeted traffic that increases your sales opportunities.

Most web surfers use a two to four keyword phrase when they search online, so phrasing is very important. Single words cannot promote ranking or sell effectively, for example you wouldn’t want to target “dog” as a dog trainer in Chicago.

Avoid the most popular keyword phrases or general keyword phrases because you’ll be competing with millions of other web pages for a search engine ranking. It’s unrealistic to think that a new web site could rank number one on a popular phrase like “Internet”. You are better to target “Internet marketing strategies” or even better, “Internet Marketing strategies Vancouver”. More established companies who have been on the Internet for several years will have the advantage of link popularity and a high Pagerank and therefore better rankings in the search results for these broader or general keyword phrases.

By reviewing or crawling your website content and metatags, search engines will find out what your web site is about. As soon as search engines consider your web site relevant to the topic or search, the easier it is to get high rankings for your keywords and key phrases.

In a free conference training on promoting your business via article marketing, the topic of targeted keyword research came up. Since I am relatively new in the industry of internet marketing, I was not sure what this meant so I set out do my own research and this is the basic information that I came up with.

A simple keyword research refers to the act of just doing research on the internet to find general information on a variety of topics. However, a targeted keyword research goes the extra mile of finding specific information to a specific topic or niche. For example, a search for “used cars” would yield a very generalized result while “Honda used cars” narrows it down to a specific brand. A step further, “used Honda cars in New Jersey” yields even a more specific/targeted result.

Now in applying this to a business, a targeted keyword research is when the business owner searches for the actual terms that people apply into search engines when conducting a search relating to the particular business niche. The idea here is that if potential customer does not search for a particular keyword or phrase that business owner would have a hard time trying to drive traffic to their site.
So a word of advice here, you have to choose targeted keywords that are being searched for, in other to be found or find what people are searching for and tailor your keywords accordingly.

The more specific you are on your niche/market, the more you will attract the right people to you.

In doing further research, I came to find out that targeted keyword research could be broken down into various types. The most important divisions I found were short tail keyword and long tail key word research. Short tail keywords are the ones which include one or two words and have very high search volumes; these are the most difficult ones to rank for because it is such a general non specific topic. Long tail keywords usually include three or more words and have relatively lower search volumes, but they can have a higher conversion rate, because people doing these searches are ready to make an investment right away. They are not just surfing the web.

Now that we know the different types of keyword phrases and the differences between them, how do we know which keyword phrases to focus on.

The Google AdWords Tool is the best method for researching keyword volumes for a particular month in the country of your choosing, and there can’t be a more reliable source since this is the search engine where you want to get that top ranking. This is information is free, simply search for the Google AdWords tool and do your research on the keywords you want to use.

So what is its relevance in Network Marketing? Well huge! As you may have imagined. Do you know that according to the Internet World Statistics, 77.4% of the North American population were online as at June 2010 and over 11 billion searches was done in August 2008? Can you imagine what the numbers could be with this economy. Huge! Therefore, it is imperative that targeted keyword research is built into your article marketing strategies.

Medical writing can be divided into 3 broad categories: regulatory, promotional, and educational. Regulatory writing is a highly scientific niche that involves creating documents according to very specific templates and guidelines that report the results of clinical trials and are ultimately submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Mid- and large-size pharmaceutical companies hire medical writers with regulatory experience as contract or full-time employees to work on site. Smaller pharmaceutical and biotech companies often go through staffing agencies and recruiters to hire regulatory writers on a contract basis.

What skills do you need to excel as a medical writer in the regulatory niche? First and foremost, regulatory writers must be adept at working with data management and clinical operations groups to review and interpret clinical trial data. They compile, write, and edit regulatory materials (Investigational New Drug [IND]/New Drug Application [NDA]), with specific emphasis on clinical study reports, investigator brochures, and serious adverse event (SAE) narratives. These documents follow very specific and rigid formats.

Regulatory writers also need a keen knowledge of the drug-development process, FDA regulatory requirements, Good Publication Practice (GPP), and International Conference on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Pharmaceuticals for Human Use (ICH) guidelines, including strong familiarity with the eCTD (electronic common technical document, used now by most companies to submit documents). Attention to detail is a must, since you’ll be working with enormous amounts of data that must be reported accurately. No specific educational degree is required, but most companies look for people who have earned at least a Bachelor’s degree in a science-related field plus 3 to 5 years of experience.

Breaking into regulatory writing as a freelance can be tough, since most companies require writers to have several years of experience. The best way to get into regulatory writing is to work initially as a staff writer rather than freelance. That way you can learn the company’s approach and format and get tips and guidance from fellow writers in nearby cubicles.

If you think regulatory medical writing may be for you, attend one of the introductory meetings hosted by the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society. These meetings provide a look into the “day in the life of” a regulatory writer. You can also take classes to learn to become a regulatory writer. The University of the Sciences in Philadelphia offers a degree program in regulatory writing. Several colleagues have gone through this program and give it high marks.

Like most people, you probably realized sometime during the first week of January that you forgot to change your calendar to the new 2010 you bought last month. It goes to reason that you may not have set goals for what you would like to achieve this year for your practice. Here are some basic guidelines on how to develop goals that create a focus and a successful outcome for 2010.

What is a SMART goal?

Goal setting for every practice is a powerful tool that creates a synergy and focus for the team to achieve great results. People respond better to knowing what they are trying to accomplish, making it easier to reward exceptional performance while redirecting less than stellar efforts. Targets that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time based are consider the basis of SMART goal setting.

Specific

Probably the most important step in setting goals is to eliminate any confusion about what the outcome should be. Stating that the goal is to “get more new patients” is much more vague than “develop a program to increase new patients to 20 per month.” Being specific will help get the team focused on what they should be working toward and avoid distractions.

Measurable

If you do not measure the progress you are making toward the goal, you will miss the opportunity to see if you are on track to achieving your goal. Measuring your results also allows you to celebrate wins or adjust your efforts to make more progress. Keep track of your progress in a visible are as a reminder to the staff on the results you are working toward.

Attainable

It is admirable to dream big, but reality sets in quickly. Goals that are too far of a stretch can actually lower motivation rather than raise it. If you feel you have the resources and the team in place to achieve the goals you want to set, make sure they can be reached with a reasonable amount of extra effort.

Realistic

In the current environment we are working in, the goal must be in line with the realities of the marketplace. If your practice is in an area with many other competing doctors and a major employer has cut back or eliminated certain benefits, you need to consider those factors when setting goals. It would be unrealistic to set a goal of increasing your production by 50% after considering what your patient base is experiencing.

Time based

People often work best when there is a deadline to deal with. Having a specific time that the goal should be accomplished creates accountability as well as the need to evaluate the progress toward the achieving the goal. With a deadline, it becomes easy to put the gal on the back burner and forgotten.

Goal setting is a powerful tool that any practice can use to achieve superior results. It is still early enough in the year to set the stage for a successful 2010. Taking the time to develop goals that are SMART will increase the chance that the next twelve months will be exciting and rewarding for you and your team.

The market trends in dietary supplements reflect current scientific research combined with current health conditions and trends. A look at the neutraceutical market today will show that there are specific products for supporting specific health conditions for the heart, lung, diabetes, pregnancy, supplements specifically for women, men and women over 40, for children and for the aging, those actively involved in sports, body building, for dieters, for skin and digestion, and for hair care. General health products for overall health and nutrition are still available categorized by age groups and gender.

Growing Research and Health Trends

As more studies are done on specific supplements, more customers are looking for health supplement manufacturers they can trust to withstand the rigor of scientific review. The medical community has grown more receptive to nutritional supplementation. The market is continually expanding. As a result, there is an increase in specialty formulations. Supplement manufacturers with high QC processes providing new and efficient solutions for growing manufacturing needs are in high demand.The demand for health supplements that provide preventive health and an alternative to pharmaceutical drugs with its related side effects will continue to grow.

Consider these facts:

• As an aging population continues to rise, there is a strong demand for products that help maintain aging health. These include antioxidant formulas, anti-inflammatories, products that support eye health and brain health, and cardiovascular support products
• There is a continued interest and growth in menopausal support products in reaction to the negative research surrounding hormone replacement therapy.
• The demand for exercise programs, diets and supplements to aid in weight management will continue.
• The glucosamine / chondroitin market is still very active and represents a significant portion of this industry. More people are interested in essential fatty acid (EFA) formulations.
• There is more research being performed on botanicals and the herbal segment of our industry is a hot, growing segment.
• Green foods are another very hot segment.
• The high-protein, low-carb trend is certainly influencing supplements in traditional and powdered forms. These can be found in meal replacement drinks and in mixes targeting the fitness industry.
• Men’s health is finally receiving increased attention. Multiple vitamin and mineral supplement designed to provide specific nutrient support for men is on the rise.
• Sales of vegetable capsules are on the rise. There are consumers who are very vegetarian oriented who like to stay away from animal-based products and prefer a vegetable-type capsule.
• There is even a demand for kosher nutritional supplements.

Some of these products are supported by truly excellent research that have demonstrable benefit and which are not only effective, but also safe and reasonably cheap too.

Easier Consumer Choice

With commercialization of products bombarding the public, the challenge of choice can be quite daunting. Supplement manufacturers can make the choice easier. For instance, in 1994 Bayer’s introduced a line of 8 major specialized health supplements. Jim Kindel, category director of nutritionals at Bayer said, “Consumers will no longer have to sort through a mind-boggling array of herbs and vitamins to try to figure out which ingredients to use to maintain their good health. We’re making it a lot more convenient for consumers. We’ve done the homework – and even the legwork – so they don’t have to.” Using a specific focus for maintaining specific health concerns made Bayer’s One-A-Day different than other vitamin brands that focused on overall total nutrition with a multivitamin.

Consumer Demand

Designer Nutrition is in. Years of research and understanding what consumers need, can help supplement manufacturers to produce supplements that are more specific to the needs of today’s health conscious public. Don Kendall, co-founder and CEO of GreenTree Nutrition said, “We are seeing an overwhelming demand from customers for a wellness solution that is personalized to meet their needs,”In 2000, Acumin’s began SmartSelect, an online system that evaluates the customer’s specific needs to formulate a set of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and herbs designed specifically for that person. Customers’ needs are assessed, and they are given one of over 37 million formulation combinations personalized to meet their exact criteria. By providing more personal nutrition, more specific to their personal health needs, people who used to take a dozen pills a day can take just three or four. Along with the demand for more specialized nutritional supplements, manufacturers are seeing the need to empower consumers with comprehensive and personalized information they can trust to make informed choices about their health and nutrition. Their websites combine objective health information with the cost advantages and convenience of online shopping.

Good Business Strategy

Besides providing the consumer with a more informed and personalized nutritional supplement choice, from a business perspective, having a specific demographic or a specific health product for a specific health condition is imperative to sell a product. A company must know who will be buying the product so that it can market specifically to those consumers. Advertising and marketing becomes more specialized and targeted and more importantly, advertising is more likely to succeed when geared to a specific target consumer audience.

The Future

No two people are alike in their supplementation needs. A one-size-fits-all dietary solution cannot be universally applied. Biological individuality calls us to look for an integrated supplementation approach, one which addresses metabolism, lymphatic function, blood circulation, skin health, detoxification capacity, digestive function, immune function not excluding genetics and heredity, exposure to environmental toxins, and even culture. Other causes of nutritional deficiencies are traced to psychological and physical stressors, activity levels, age, weight, gender, lifestyle, habits and sensitivities.

Therefore, a personalized approach is necessary, which will result in prescribing a combination of dietary supplements for individual needs.During the past several years, the focus of nutritional sciences has shifted from deficiency disease prevention to optimizing health and chronic disease prevention. This research, along with the expectations of the increasingly health-conscious consumer, is leading to more highly tailored food choices and nutritional recommendations to meet individuals’ specific needs. The challenge for neutraceuticals in the near future will be to provide tailored choices for specific health conditions.

Christmas Carols and Holiday Songs tend to exclude, marginalize and insult. Henceforth these songs will be re-written with new titles to avoid any real, imagined or perceived offense.

The word Christmas is exclusive to Christians and must be removed. Since it cannot be replaced with the word “holiday” (Holy Day) we will replace it with the innocuous phrase, “day off.”

“We Wish You a Merry Christmas”

“We Wish You a Merry Non-Religious-Specific Day-Off in Winter.”

Noel is another word for Christmas.

“The First Noel”

“The First Non-Religious-Specific Day-Off in Winter”

Don’t you dare exclude the down and out victims of capitalism at this time of the year.

“I’ll be Home for Christmas”

“I’ll be Home or in a Homeless Shelter for the Non-Religious-Specific Day- Off in Winter”

And let’s not let any covert references to race cloud your celebration (if you do chose to celebrate).

“I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas”

“I’m Dreaming of a Race Immaterial Non-Religious- Specific Day-Off in Winter”

The physically impaired must not be excluded.

“I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day”

“I Sensed the Bells on the Non-Religious-Specific Day-Off in Winter”

If physical disabilities are referred to in other songs, than they must also be performed in sign language, and made available in Braille.

“Do You Hear What I Hear”

“Do You Sense What I Sense”

Angels are spiritual beings, not everybody believes in the spirit life.

“Angels We Have Heard on High”

“Guiding Influences We Have Sensed on High”

Since the mute cannot sing, we shall substitute the term communicate.

“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing”

“Sense! The Herald Guiding Influences Communicate”

The word “holy” has religious connotations. We do not want to offend the secular.

“Silent Night, Holy Night”

“Silent Night, Devout Night”

And

“Oh Holy Night”

“Oh Devout Night”

The secular might also lack faith.

“Oh Come All Ye Faithful”

“Oh Come all Ye of Extreme Loyalty to Non-Material Evidence”

A person shall not feel excluded based on where they live…

“Go Tell it on the Mountain”

“Go Tell it on the Preferred Geographic Location”

…or their climate.

“Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow”

“Let it Perform a Favorite Weather Pattern, Let it Perform a Favorite Weather Pattern, Let it Perform a Favorite Weather Pattern”

Christians are sneaky. They often subtly hijack common terms in an attempt to own the language. The word “manger” has been hijacked to refer exclusively to the nativity of Jesus Christ and it must be replaced.

“Away in a Manger”

“Away in a Trough that Holds Livestock Feed”

The traditional birthplace of Jesus Christ is in Bethlehem, Israel. Since Bethlehem is inside of the Zionist occupied and disputed West Bank we have to apply a tentative name to this song.

“O Little Town of Bethlehem”

“O Quaint Town of Palestinian Joint Rule”

That was a good segue into the use of physical descriptions. The word “little” should never be used. It is demeaning. Especially when used to describe a person. References to a person’s gender shall also be forbidden especially when they help to reinforce stereotypes.

“Little Drummer Boy”

“Vertically Challenged Drummer Child of Undetermined Gender”

Other gender specific songs need to be re-done.

“Frosty the Snowman”

“Frosty the Hermaphrodite Snow Creature”

And

“Oh Come Let us Adore Him”

“Oh Come Let us Adore Him or Her”

This also applies to stereotyped roles in parenthood and heterosexualism.

“I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Clause”

“I Saw My Gynocentric Guardian Kissing a Non-Gender Specific Person who is Known to Wear a Red Suit”

We cannot stereotype overweight people as happy, nor make references to a person’s age. Even if they are saintly (another subtle religious term)

“Jolly Old Saint Nicholas”

“Happy, Plus-sized, Chronologically-Gifted, Highly Virtuous

Nicholas”

We kept the term Nicholas to preserve some tradition. We are not implying that Nicholas has to be a male name and males are the only ones who are capable of amassing enough fortune and possessing the generosity to be able to give presents to masses of people. Nor are we implying that females lack the physical strength and endurance to accomplish such a task. In order to balance this mistaken perception, we shall apply modern day affirmative action in order to level down the male ego and help balance the playing field.

“We Three Kings of Orient are”

“We Three Misogynist Autocrats of Eastern Asia are”

This especially applies to westerners…

“Good King Wenceslas”

“Evil White Male European Misogynist Autocrat Wenceslas”

…doubly, especially if they are Christian

“Good Christian Men Rejoice”

“Evil Narrow-Minded Homophobic Racist Misogynist Men Get Drunk and Abusive”

We don’t take tradition lightly. We actually found one traditional song that we ill keep in its entirety. We feel this song accurately portrays the typical man.

“Mr. Grinch”

Sample lyrics: “Your soul is an appalling dump heap overflowing with the most disgraceful assortment of rubbish imaginable mangled up in tangled up knots!”

Songs of Thanksgiving or, the Autumn Day Off, will also need to be deconstructed.

“Over the River and Through the Woods”

“Over the River and Through the Woods”

Subtitled: “Only after an environmental impact study on the effects of a horse-drawn sleigh upon the woods is conducted. And assuming the gentle vegetarian beast of a horse is not being forced to pull an overloaded sleigh and is doing so on a volunteer basis.”

We realize that this one may lose some of the warmth of its original meaning. This could be avoided if the grandmother (or grandparent) would just move back to the city and help stop urban sprawl.

And last but not least, we need to help swing the cultural pendulum away from the religious holiday and back toward the secular day off granted by the state. We can do this through songs that highlight the true Marxist origins of political correctness

“Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer”

“Rudolph the Red Knows that the State Seizure and Re-distribution of Private Wealth is Fairer than Private Charity and Ensures the Survival and Growing Power of the State”

Louis Vuitton Search Engine Tips:

Right out of the gate, by using model and brand specific keywords relating to the designer in a search engine will help weed out much of the fake handbags clogging up the viral marketplace. This is important when a buyer is challenged with the task of sifting through an endless stream of fake Louis V.

Below is an example of weak and strong keyword entries:

Weak keywords: Louis Vuitton handbag

Strong keywords: LOUIS VUITTON Epi Bowling Montaigne PM Ivory Bag LV

Descript vs. non-descript search titles matter, here is why. When only typing, “Louis Vuitton handbag”, every bag, from the lamest of the Chinese fakes-to every fake in between-will stream down the page from the search engine. And then, the arduous task of picking through them all, one by one, hundreds and hundreds of Louis V. handbags fake and real will begin.

But when the detailed and specific keywords are utilized, most, or at the very least many of the phony handbags will be eliminated from the search.

It may even be reasonable to leave the word: “handbag” or “purse” out of the search completely. It sounds strange, but the logic is simple. Take a shot typing only the model+brand+color, and eliminate completely the general keywords like handbag+purse and so on. The model+style+color specific keywords will offer the search engine plenty of detailed information to locate the specific handbag accurately, and quite possibly cut down on some of the worst of the fake Louis Vuitton handbags from showing up.

This is because, most if not all of the fake LV handbag listings will have these vague keywords.

So if some detail is utilized, filtering out much of the garbage fake bags will save a lot of time and money. Good luck and safe shopping!

When physical damage usually in the form of scratched traces or mask, broken corners, lifted pads or damaged plated through holes comes up, the printed circuit board needs to be physically repaired. If desired or allowed by the customer these repairs require the proper PCB repair tools and techniques. The techniques need to be performed by those skilled in the art with experience in such repairs. Specific PCB repair tools designed to make repair technician’s jobs easier and faster.

There are several techniques, many of which were developed by the military, for use in the repair of printed circuit boards. These techniques have now been assembled and are being managed by the global trade organization the IPC. The IPC procedures for repair are spelled out in IPC-7721 “The repair of printed wiring boards”. This technical “how to” manual describes in detail the repair process, the tools required, the level of skill required-good, better and best- for each of the repair processes. PCB repair techniques in this document go all the way from the replating of gold fingers to solder mask repair to repair of laminate damage. The specifications call for customer involvement if a physical repair as outlined in the repair manual is required. The techniques for repair are broken down in this specification into beginner, advanced and expert PCB repair technician levels. In some cases, there may up to 4 different approved repair methods outlined in the IPC-7721, all of which will get the board back to a functioning PCB.

In addition to the “how to” instructions found in the IPC-7721 “The Repair of Printed Wiring Boards”, the manual also points to the tools required to completed the suggest repair. Each of the repair processes found in the PCB repair tools and techniques manual informs the user of not only the repair techniques but also the PCB repair tools. In most cases, they are very generic tools which can be procured from a variety of sources. The photographs in the standard supporting the documentation of the specification may include a specific vendor of the tool but in some cases, the “how to” section shows a generic sketch of the tool being used. For some procedures, very specific tools from very specific vendors are shown or are referred to in the procedure being discussed.

As an example, one of the procedures found in the IPC-7721 describing PCB repairs tools and techniques, “Repair of Printed Wiring Boards” is the PCB pad replacement technique. The IPC 7721 4.5.1 Land Repair, Epoxy Method and the 4.5.2 Land Repair, Dry Film Method, both get to the same end result-the replacement of a land which has been removed usually after a rework process has been done incorrectly or handling damage. Both methods refer to the following materials: Cleaner, microscope, soldering iron, tweezer, and wipes. Then in each of the methods, specific materials specific to that method-namely adhesive, circuit frames, and adhesive film are spelled out in the detailing of each technique. Each of the process steps is enumerated in detail so that both the PCB repair process steps and the materials can be used to complete the repair.

Let’s face it, when people shop around for Real Estate property (whether a home, vacant land or commercial property) what most people are shopping for is a dream, a lifestyle or a stepping stone that will take them closer to realizing a vision or goal.

No matter whether there is a structure present or not a new owner will most likely build, remodel, refresh or somehow personalize their new purchase.

But how many people are familiar with all the rules and regulations that govern over their property of choice?

Each property and each location throughout the U.S. is very unique and specific to the jurisdiction they are in. As most of my experience has been in Santa Barbara, California, keep in mind that some of this information may vary depending on where the desired property is located.

Generally speaking most properties fall under the jurisdiction of Counties or Cities and they govern over them by means of Zoning Regulations or General Plans (which are blueprints for cities growth and development). These regulations dictate what uses are allowed but also regulates front, side and rear yard setbacks and open space requirements (if any).

In addition to the zoning regulations and land use requirements some jurisdictions may also have Boards or Committees to enforce local aesthetic or historical guidelines that were put in place to convey or preserve special character and value to a whole City or specific neighborhood.

Fire Departments have a strong influence in how a lot can be developed in fact any development must meet their specific standards and in some cases these standards can undermine the feasibility of a project if there are physical site constraints that prevent a specific condition to meet their standard.

Easements are very common. Specific to individual lots they are typically present to allow for construction of public roads and paths, installation and maintenance of utilities or to give access to land-locked lots. They can however also address environmental preservation to safeguard sensitive wildlife habitat or corridors. Specific rules are attached to these easements and most commonly no permanent structure can ever be placed (or even encroach) within its boundaries.

HOAs (Home Owners Associations) often impose their own rules and regulations to properties within specific subdivisions or developments.

CC&Rs (Covenants, Conditions & Restrictions) can be placed upon a property’s title to ensure certain conditions are enforced in perpetuity and they can be imposed upon an individual property or applied as a condition of approval for subdivisions or large developments.

When dealing with older structures, especially in a state like California, one must be aware of the possibility that structural and seismic retrofitting might be required.

In older commercial structures some consideration must be also given to accessibility and any easily achievable removal of barriers for people with physical disabilities.

And what about the current standing of a chosen property with the agencies that governs it? Are all the structures permitted? Are there any known violations? These are very important questions to ask. Most jurisdictions in fact will penalize and fine the current property owner even if he/she was not responsible for such violation and was unaware of its existence at the time of purchase. They normally do not come looking for faults out of the blue but it is quite common that issues like that might surface at the time the new owner applies for a new and unrelated permit.

Let’s hypothesize that you purchased a property and you are ready to build, remodel or add to an existing structure. In addition to complying with all that was just discussed your structure will be required to comply with all the codes that were adopted by your local jurisdiction (building, electrical, mechanical, plumbing, etc., etc… codes).

Professionals work and comply with these codes on a daily basis and it is really not a problem. It is part of the process and designs accommodate for all of these requirements. It is however not always possible to modify certain conditions and restrictions that come with the property. Even physical properties such as slope or terrain, if inappropriate for the desired use, could reveal themselves as obstacles.

It is crucial to ensure that the property that is purchased can allow you to achieve your goal without incurring into costly and prolonged approval processes like requesting zoning variances, conditional permits or re-zoning cases.

As you can see each property can be subject to many regulations and governed by many agencies. This list is extensive but depending on the location of the property of interest there may be more, less or simply different aspects to verify.

It is of paramount importance to complete all the required research ahead of closing a purchase agreement.

This could save a lot of headaches and surprises in the future and it will definitely empower you to make an educated decision in your purchase.

Of course this can feel like a chore and become overwhelming, especially when faced with the rest of the paperwork required in a Real Estate transaction. But there are professionals that deal with these types of researches and property regulation on a daily basis and would be happy to assist you in matching your goals and needs to your property of choice. It is best to find a local professional that is familiar with the regulations in your area and can then proceed in investigating the specifics of a property.