Where to Put Bird Feeders in Your Yard

The best way to enjoy your bird-feeding experience is to make sure you have chosen the best location for your feeders. First you should decide what type of birds you want to attract. You want to make sure you are placing your feeders in a place that provides maximum comfort and safety for your birds. They should be away from where pet's and children play. You will also want to make sure that the placement of your feeders help birds avoid cats and other threats, most of all squirrels. Read on for further recommendations about how to avoid squirrels eating from and scaring away your birds.

General Recommendations

There are many companies that sell squirrel deterrents. However, I have found that they do not always fit the poles I use to hang my bird-feeders on. You can make your own by using 2 liter bottles. Just slit them open place around your pole and tape closed with duct tape. This works wonderfully. You may think that just keeping your bird-feeders away from trees will help, but the squirrels will climb up any feeder. When placing your bird-feeders, you also want to make sure that you are not placing them close to anything that a squirrel could climb on and then jump over to and then onto your bird-feeder. It is also helpful to have a bird-bath close to your bird-feeder, but not so close that the birds throw seeds into the bath, as this will then require more work on your part to keep the bird-bath clean.

Ground feeders:

Sparrows

Juncos

Towhees

Mid-height and shrub feeders include:

Finches

Cardinals

Some examples of tree feeders:

Chickadees

Titmice

Woodpeckers

Landscaping

To help attract birds to your feeders, use a diversity of plant species and heights. This will help attract more birds (and even butterflies) to your yard. Think about letting a part of your yard go natural to help provide more cover and additional food for birds. Always use plants native to your area. Using birdhouses can also help attract birds to your yard and feeders. Plus if placed correctly, you also get the added bonus of watching the birds build nests in your birdhouses and the babies coming out of the nest and eating at your bird feeders.

Hummingbird feeders

These feeders need to be in a shady spots that will not be too disturbed by the wind, which will cause unnecessary spillage of the food.

Windows

Windows have been notorious for causing the death of millions of birds each year. This is because they can see their reflection in the windows and it can startle them, as well as male birds may see themselves and think they are seeing a rival bird, thus attempting to attract it. I have found that finches like to attach to the screens on our windows and look into our house, especially if their feeders are empty, as if to tell us that they need filled.

Other predators including cats

Make sure to be on the lookout for these predators and if noted, you should discourage them to hanging out around your bird feeders. Do not feed stray cats as this may encourage them to linger on your property.

Last but not least, create an enjoyable place for yourself to be able to relax and watch these most wonderful creatures as they can be very entertaining.

Tips on Using Google Keyword Tool

Successful marketing online is dependent on Keyword Research. While after doing keyword research is not real difficult it is one area that will help you increase your traffic online. To become proficient at keyword research takes practice and lots of trial and error but as you continue to do your research you will become more and more skilled at finding the keywords that the search engines are looking for and thus increase your traffic.

In beginning to do keyword research the best tool you can use is Google Keyword Tool. This is a free tool and is available to everyone but to get the maximum benefit you need to sign in to Google, this is easy to do if you have a Gmail account or other Google services account. The difference in logging into the Keyword Tool or not is with a Google account when you do a keyword search you will get up to 800 keyword ideas instead of just a few.

Once you login start by entering your keyword or phrase such as make money online. Then on the left side of the page scroll down to where it says Match types. Now depending on what you are doing if you have to choose between broad, exact or phrase. Lets say you are wanting to target a specific phrase to use in a PPC ad on Google or Microsoft/Bing, then click on the box next to "phrase" and go to the next step. I will use Phase for this example.

The next step is to go to the area that says advanced options and filters and depending on whether you want to search keywords for just US searches or all countries or some other specific country or even language then you would click on the appropriate box and choose for my example I will use all countries and English.

Then click search. You will get two different options one is keywords and the other is ad group ideas which you could use to put together different ad groups for your blogs, PPC or SEO advertising. Lets use the actual keywords found. In our example of Make Money Online the tool brings up 800 different keywords related to the Phrase. You then choose the keywords you wish to use for your blog or advertising that will get you searched by the many search engines.

One thing you could look at is the number of Global Monthly Searches or Local Monthly searches. If you are wanting to get ranked Globally then look at the Global Monthly Searches. Now here is a little tip if you are wanting your ad or article or blog post ranked high on say Google for a particular keyword phase look at the number of searches for a particular keyword and look for hidden gems that are searched say 1000 to 3000 times and experiment using those as the competition will be less and the chances of getting placed on the first page of Google for that search will be greater.

Making YouTube A Good Marketing Tool For Your Online Business

You can really turn up the traffic and sales that your business gets from YouTube. YouTube is a website that is phenomenal for helping you to get more new customers and clients, all for 100% free. They even offer advertising models if it's something that you want to pursue.

Some folks on YouTube are having incredible success with their video marketing efforts. These are typically the people who already has a lot of subscribers, hits coming from outside of YouTube, and they post new videos on a regular basis. With that being said, I think it's safe to say that it's in your best interest that you start using YouTube right away.

Now you will want to find ways to boost your videos rankings in the YouTube search results. Many people say that YouTube is the "second largest search engine" on the internet behind Google. Even though YouTube is owned by Google, I wouldn't go as far as to say that. There's still Yahoo and Bing that gets a ton of traffic to their website everyday.

YouTube is more a social community. 80% of people when they start their search online, they go directly to Google, Yahoo, or Bing... all search engines. The other 20% go to a site that they already have in their mind, and that they visit in their "favorites" bar - or simply by typing the website address in their search bar.

Even if YouTube is in the "20%" group, they still get a huge amount of traffic that you can bank on. Make sure your videos are of high quality, that they deliver helpful information, that your information is loud and clear, and that it provides a good experience for your viewer.

One thing that you will want to make sure to do when marketing on YouTube is to provide links to your website so that they can visit your site easily. Make sure you have your site's URL at the bottom of the video, in the description box, and even on the description section of your YouTube account. These are all ways to get promotion to your YouTube videos.

The more videos you post, the more traffic you will get. It's as simple as that. I urge you to take this seriously as your business life depends on it. Not using YouTube is something that you don't want to do - as it can provide you with endless free traffic for the long haul of your business.

It's very easy. You can get a good camcorder or use an on-screen recording device to record your videos. Some tools are free, but the better ones you will have to pay for. But they're not expensive. I suggest you seek out these recording devices and see if you can create YouTube videos that can get you traffic back to your website.

These tips in today's lesson are enough to help you to earn the kind of money that you're looking for in your business. Video marketing is very popular, and it's essential that you utilize YouTube today. Be sure to get on it right away.

Good luck with marketing on YouTube today.

Answering a Civil Complaint in California

The topic of this ex-zine article is a brief discussion of filing of an answer to a civil complaint in California.

There are two general types of civil complaints in California, unverified and verified. Most complaints are unverified unless a particular statute or code provides otherwise, although any complaint may be verified at the option of plaintiff. The rules discussed here also apply to cross-complaints.

If a complaint is verified the answer must be verified. And any answer to a complaint by a governmental entity must be verified. See Code of Civil Procedure Section 446. Note that this rule only applies to unlimited civil cases, where the demand of the complaint exceeds $25,000.00.

A verified answer must admit or deny each and every paragraph of the complaint, and must also contain a verification signed by the defendant or defendants stating that they have read the answer and everything contained therein is true and correct to the best of their knowledge. The verification must be signed under penalty of perjury. Note that failure to file a verified answer when one is required will subject the answer to a motion to strike on the grounds that it is not verified.

As stated earlier, defendant must admit or deny each and every paragraph of the verified complaint. Admissions or denials generally consist of the following which are examples only:

A. Defendant denies the allegations of paragraph 1.

B. Defendant admits the allegations of paragraph 2.

C. Defendant has no information or belief that the allegations of paragraph 3 are true so defendant denies them.

Any allegations of a verified complaint that are not specifically denied are deemed admitted.

An unverified complaint may be answered by a general denial in which the defendant(s) generally deny all of the allegations of the complaint.

An answer should also contain specific affirmative defenses tailored to the individual case. An answer that contains nothing but "boilerplate" affirmative defenses is vulnerable to a general demurrer on the grounds that the answer fails to state facts sufficient to state any defenses to the complaint.

The various affirmative defenses must be separately stated; and must refer to the causes of action to which they relate "in a manner by which they may be intelligently distinguished." Code of Civil Procedure section 431.30(g).

Failure to separately state the various affirmative defenses and refer to the causes of action to which they relate could be grounds for a special demurrer on the grounds of uncertainty.

A California Court of Appeal has ruled that the affirmative defenses pled in an answer to a complaint must be pled in the same fashion, and with the same specificity, as a cause of action in a complaint. Because conclusory allegations are not admitted by demurrer, and because conclusory allegations have no pleading value, conclusory and "boilerplate" affirmative defenses are insufficient.

Code of Civil Procedure Section 430.10 states, in pertinent part: "The party against whom a complaint or cross-complaint has been filed may object, by demurrer or answer as provided in section 430.30, to the pleading on any one or more of the following grounds... (e) the pleading does not state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action. (f) The pleading is uncertain. As used in this subdivision, "uncertain" includes ambiguous and unintelligible. (g) In an action founded upon a contract, it cannot be ascertained from the pleading whether the contract is written, is oral, or is implied by conduct." Thus the answering party may use the same objections as can be raised in a demurrer to the complaint in their answer to the complaint.

An answer should contain whatever denials or affirmative defenses are necessary to controvert the material allegations of the complaint. Its function is to put the case "at issue" as to all important matters alleged in the complaint that defendant does not want to admit. An answer cannot be used to claim affirmative relief; a cross-complaint must be filed. See Code of Civil Procedure Section 431.30.

In pleading the statute of limitations, "it is not necessary to state the facts showing the defense, but it may be stated generally that the cause of action is barred by the provisions of Section (giving the number of the section and subdivision thereof, if it is so divided, relied upon) of the Code of Civil Procedure." Code of Civil Procedure Section 458.

The answering party should be sure to cite the specific statute and subdivision when pleading the statute of limitations in the answer as a pleading that fails to specify both the applicable statute and subdivision "raise(s) no issue and present(s) no defense."

Failure to specify a statute's subdivision has been overlooked, however, where it is the only subdivision "that could by any possibility be applicable to this case."

If you enjoy this article, tell others about it.

Yours Truly,

Stan Burman

Please note that the author of this article, Stan Burman is NOT an attorney and as such is unable to provide any specific legal advice. The author is NOT engaged in providing any legal, financial, or other professional services, and any information contained in this article is NOT intended to constitute legal advice.

These materials and information contained in this article have been prepared by Stan Burman for informational purposes only and are not legal advice. Transmission of the information contained in this article is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute, any business relationship between the sender and receiver. Any readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel.

Should You Use Video on Your Website?

Video is not for everyone but when it's used well, video can be more effective in getting your story across, than a paragraph of text.

Video online is growing at a phenomenal rate. YouTube is now the second largest search engine after Google. Internet users are even bypassing Google in favour of YouTube and other websites all together. So instead of reading about a festival, you can watch the bands on stage yourself. Whilst Google gives you information fast, YouTube gives you the information first hand.

For example, if you want a demo on how to use something, you could find a product page and go through the step by step instructions. But rather than trawl through lots of websites to find a page of text, you could search directly on YouTube and watch a video showing you how to use the product. Next to it, you'll find another video giving you tips on getting the most out of it and you'll probably find a customer review on there too.

Video can explain your services and show off your products far more effectively than pages of text. Provided your video is concise and well thought out, it can engage an audience like no other medium. When you communicate in writing, your vocabulary shifts, your tone changes and you're more likely to ramble. Using video will allow you to speak to your customers on a personal level, creating a more relaxed and modern approach to the business/customer relationship.

Studies have shown that the human brain finds it easier to understand visual communication over the written word. There's more in body language than you think. Plus, everyone is busy. We're all doing two or three things at once and you've got much more of a chance of reaching people through a multi-sensory experience like video than anything else. Instead of reading a paragraph on your site, which let's face it can be a bit of a chore, your customers can click on a video, kick back and watch it without having to do any of the work themselves.

Whilst text can sometimes read flat and uninspiring, a video will always make an impact. It's far easier for you to make an informative and entertaining video than to do the same with text. As a marketing tool for any business, video is the fastest and most effective way to communicate your personality, your product and your promise.