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Everyone likes to save money, so if you can save on your insurance by comparing the different companies online then so much the better. When you are thinking of renting out a property, there are a number of expenses you have to cover. You are most likely going to have to spend a certain amount on bringing the decoration up to date. After all, nobody is going to choose a property that looks dated and grubby, so the best thing is to spruce it up with a coat of paint in a fairly neutral colour that will appeal to the majority of tenants.

It’s really important to take out the correct type of insurance when you are a landlord, as if you need to make a claim, it will be rejected if all you have is a standard domestic policy. Landlords buildings and contents insurance is specially designed to cover a number of different events that wouldn’t be covered by other policies. Obviously, the standard events such as damage by fire or flooding are covered but extras such as damage caused by your tenants are also included. Public liability is also covered which wouldn’t be included on a domestic policy, and additional things such as central heating boiler repair or replacement can also be added with some companies.

If you do a comparison online, then it’s easy to see at a glance which is going to be the best policy for you and your needs. Buying online also makes it cheaper in some cases, as you will often find you can get a couple of months free or a discount for being a new customer. Another way of saving money is to manage the property yourself instead of using a letting agency. If you are happy to take on the extra work it involves then this can save you a considerable sum, if not then it’s maybe best to leave it to the professionals.

If you own or run a website, I’m pretty sure you’ve heard about affiliate marketing in one way or another. Essentially, affiliate marketing is where a visitor on your website clicks a link which goes to another. When on the other website (often an online store or service), if they make a purchase, you receive a percentage of this due to being the referral affiliate site. It’s a concept which has caught on quite well in the internet marketing industry and, as such, we thought we’d take a quick look at the main concepts of affiliate marketing and at an example scheme.

First things first; in order to do well from affiliate marketing, you need really to already have an established website. To do well and see a significant amount of referral fees coming your way, you need to be sending a fair bit of traffic and sales the affiliates way. As such, if you already have a busy site which receives a lot of traffic, affiliate marketing is a fantastic way to monetise this site.

To give a better idea of what affiliate marketing is and how it works; we’ll take a look at the RoomBuddies affiliate scheme. In basic, RoomBuddies is an online resource which puts those looking for a flatshare and those with a room for rent in touch with each other. It’s essentially a replacement for a letting agency which lets the two parties discuss and make and arrangements between themselves.

For the RoomBuddies affiliate scheme; the company offers 25% commission on every converted user that affiliates bring to the website. When you look at this percentage share; it’s a very generous one. Companies such as Amazon offer only about 5% but, as you can see, there is higher payers out there…you just need to find them!

All in all; you’re not going to get rich from affiliate marketing unless you do it on a mass scale, however as a way to monetise an existing site which receives a fair bit of traffic, it could see you bringing in a very nice little sideline income.

In recent years, we’ve seen online estate agencies come on in leaps and bounds! Whilst previously, if you wanted to sell your house, you had very little in terms of options other than using high street agents, in 2012, online estate agents are THE way forwards! Such estate agents cost considerably less than high street agents and you still get the same level of service. Why pay over the odds when you don’t need to?
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With communication servers for internal communication now an absolutely vital part of almost all organisations, to allow the utilisation of services such as conference calling, email and chat integration, we thought we’d take a look at Microsoft Lync (previously known as Microsoft Office Communications Server) and the advantages which it offers to businesses of all shapes and sizes. We were lucky to speak with LyncStore, one of the UK’s leading supplier and installer of Lync systems, about their thoughts on the advantages and why it’s important for businesses to use such a system.
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