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Do it yourself auto repair goes beyond acquiring auto mechanic

tools, auto repair manuals,

auto parts etc. You need careful planning to avoid failure. Learn here what to avoid to succeed

in Do it yourself auto repair jobs.

I have seen a lot of frustrated faces of car owners who have tried their

hands on Do it yourself

auto repair jobs and did not succeed, just because they stumbled on it on the internet and

dabbled

into it without making adequate planning and preparation.

From my observations and from the answers I got when I tried to interview

them, I found out that

there failure is hooked to one or more of the following points, any vehicle owner who wants to succeed in

Do It Yourself auto repair should take note of them.

Do it yourself auto repair requires serious planning. You need to first identify

your goals, why do you want to be a Do It Yourselfer. The right answer to this will help

you to

determine your limit of operations and help you to focus on achieving your goals.

You also need to identify your level of knowledge of auto repair, and approach your goal from

the point of acquiring enough information that can help you succeed.

This is common to those who are trying their hands on Do It Yourself auto repairs for the first time and

they lack adequate know-how. If you have

planned very well, and you have a good well illustrated, simplified manual to

follow as a guide, then

you don’t have anything to fear.

Try your hands on a simple job like; changing of oil, spark plug etc, as

done in the manual, and from there move on to something bigger.

Some Vehicle Owners buy Do It Yourself auto repair manual but

they don’t study it enough, and they don’t pay attention to little details which matters.

Let your manual be your guide, read the portion you need at least twice, ahead of the job you want

to do to get a good knowledge of the job.

There are some Do it yourself auto repair sites that you can register with

at a very minimal fee, and then you can enjoy, guidance, one-on-one, on whatever

you want to do. I highly recommend this especially for starters.

These sites also have forum where you can interact with other car

owners and learn from their mistakes and success. The keyword here is

determination. Whatever you have chosen to do in your Do It Yourself

auto repairs, be determined and you will get it done at the end.

Remember the story of Henry Ford.

Tope Olawumi is a seasoned auto-infopreneur, his site at http://www.all-about-auto-part.com/Do-It-Yourself-Auto-Repair.html shows you how to be a good Do It Yourself auto repair expert.

You can also get the latest in cheap car part blog from http://www.all-about-auto-part.com/Auto-part-blog.html

Tennis is a world known sport since the 1800s. It originated from France and has become widely known in Europe although the sport has been known to have existed in the 12th century, but without using Tennis Racquets. Today tennis grand slam events the US open, French Open, Australian Open, and Wimbledon are annually anticipated by tennis enthusiasts.

World renowned players such as Andre Agassi, Billie Jean King, Margaret Court, and Roger Federer are some of the greatest players of all time for they each have won multiple Grand Slam tournament titles.

Before playing tennis you should be aware that there are some tennis equipment that you will need beforehand, first of all you will need a tennis racquet, especially made tennis shoes, and of course proper tennis clothing.

Because of its grown popularity more and more people are encouraged to join this event, what they do not know is that there is more to tennis than they thought they know. Did you know that tennis is one of the most recommended sports by most doctors? This is right although there are a lot of sports out there keep your body healthy yet tennis remains to be the only one that promotes discipline, as well as physical, mental, and emotional well being all at the same time.

Here are some of the benefits that one could get by playing tennis:

1. It is a proven fact that people who engaged themselves into three hours of tennis every week cuts their possibility of death caused many different natural causes of diseases.

2. A study have also shown that people who plays tennis in good mood have higher chance of winning as compared to angry or depress players.

3. Tennis is also a game that requires mental alertness and strategic thinking which means that you continuously develop new connections from the brain into the nerves and vice versa, which means that even if you grow old your brain continues to develop.

4. Tennis also promotes positivity in terms of personality development.

5. The process of playing tennis promote both aerobic and anaerobic fitness that helps in burning more fats at the same time give your muscles enough time to rest.

The world of tennis has indeed been developed ultimately and because of this development there are more than enough stores worldwide that continuously come up with various tennis equipment to keep players at their best.

It is very important that as you follow the rules you also follow the basic guidelines of tennis in terms of clothing and accessorizing. There are tennis accessories such as sunglasses, that helps you stay in focus even with the sun towering high over you, some people simply miss the ball just because the sun hit them directly into the eye.

Other accessories such as tennis caps, allows you to cover you face from direct sunlight without hassles. Tennis clothing on the other hand are especially made for players to move freely inside the court. Tennis is a great sport but takes courage and determination to be good a good player just like any other sports, except you get more benefits more than anything.

If you are looking for great tennis equipment such as tennis shoes, tennis raquets, or clothing, visit thetennisshop.com.au. They offer the best tennis accessories from equipments to tennis apparels. Everything about tennis will be available to you in just one click.

What Are Movie Download Services?

Movie download services are exactly what they sound like: a service that allows you to download movies from the Internet onto your hard drive or a DVD. Though this isn’t a new concept, it is relatively new to the legal world of consumerism. Though ‘pirates’ have been making free download of movies available for quite some time, movie studios are now getting in on the action and offering access to their movies for download the day they hit the stores in DVD format – for a fee, of course.

Who’s Who In Movie Download Services?

In the relatively new world of legitimate movie download services, there are surprisingly many players, but only a few of them are major. There’s Movielink and Sony’s CinemaNow which offer old and new movies for purchase or 24 hour rental. Rental fees are comparable to the local video store but purchase is more expensive than if you were to buy the DVD. ClickStar, backed by Danny DeVito among other big names in Hollywood, is another up and comer in the world of movie download services, but this one’s draw is that it will offer movies for download while they are still showing in the theater. It will also feature a streaming channel devoted to documentaries.

AT&T is teaming up with Vongo, another movie downloading site, to offer its DSL service in concert and duo promotions. Different from Movielink and CinemaNow, Vongo is a subscription service offered for a monthly fee which allows its members unlimited access to movies, videos, and a streaming Starz channel. Pay per view movies are available as well for an additional fee.

Movie Download Services: The Nitty Gritty

• Price – Ranging anywhere from $10-$20, the irony is downloading movies legally isn’t cheap. In order to appease the retailers who make big bucks on DVDs released in stores, the online downloading services are keeping their fees in the clouds. Which of course, doesn’t hurt their pocketbook, either.
• Availability – It depends. Different services have different deals with different movie studios. As for old movies, those are being added all the time. But the nice thing is, if they have it, you can get it – instantly.
• Space – You will need between 1200 and 2000 MBs of free space to store your movie. Depending on your system, this may be a lot or a little. Some services may allow you to burn your download to a DVD, but only if you’re buying the movie and even then, most won’t.
• Download Time – This is no time for dial-up, that’s for sure. Anything DSL and faster should get you your movie in under an hour with an average of 35 to 40 minutes, and that’s if you want it fast and grainy. If you’re willing to wait a little longer, say, up to two hours, you can download a higher quality version. A nice feature that some services offer is the ability to start watching the movie while it’s still downloading.
• Technical Requirements – At least Windows Media Player 10, fast Internet connection, Internet Explorer 6.0, Windows XP. You might be able to get away with older versions, but it isn’t recommended. And yes, did you note – it’s all PC and no Mac. That’s right. PC users only, please.
• Computer Viewing Only – Currently, that’s the state of things. That is, unless you choose a service that allows you to download it to some other electronic handheld device of your choosing, like PSP or iPod. Of course, you could always use an S-video jack to hook your computer to your TV and watch it on the big screen. Some services allow limited DVD burning, but they may restrict the DVD to playing only in the computer to which the movie was downloaded, allowing your fancy DVD player to gather dust.
• Buy Versus Rent – It’s a strange situation at this point, but different studios offer different services different licenses to different movies. So, you may only be able to rent a title through one service that another is offering for sale. Other services may not have any access to certain titles while others do. There’s no standard just yet, so it’s a bit of a crap shoot.

What’s the Benefit of Movie Download Services?

Convenience! Forget long lines at the theater, the video store being out of a new release, or waiting in virtual queue to get your mailed DVD through a subscription service. No more concern about court cases and legal fees for downloading movies illegally or spyware from file sharing applications that will slow down your computer if not cripple it beyond repair. Then, of course, there’s the fact that you can watch the newest movies as many times as you like on your personal computer and instantly upon purchase – no waiting and no driving to the store.

What’s the Downside of Movie Download Services?

At the moment, cost and restricted viewing access. You may not necessarily want to watch a movie on your computer when you just invested $2000 in a big screen HDTV. And you may not want to invest $20 in a movie that you can’t even resell online if you don’t like it. If you have a slow internet connection, the download time may be a bummer, too, especially if you’re trying to use your computer for other things while the process slows your computer to a painful snail pace. And if you use a Mac, well, obviously, the downside is that movie download services simply don’t exist. Then, what if a virus infects the computer where all your movies are stored? Yup. Have to buy them all over again.

Movie Download Services – Yay or Nay?

The state of affairs being what they are – that is, in their ugly braces and zits prepubescent stage – probably nay. Remember the first BETA machines? Or the $700 CD players back in the ’80s? When movie download service lowers their prices and speed up the technology, allow for actual DVD burnings that include the extras and TV viewings as well as access to films that are still in theaters, then yay! In the meantime, sticking with higher quality DVDs that don’t discriminate against Mac users and big screen television sets and allow for resale later on. Unless you have to see the movie This Very Second, movie download services are not yet the incredible service they have the potential to be in the future.

Madison Lockwood is a customer relations associate for ApolloHosting.com. She brings years of experience as a small business consultant to helping prospective clients understand the ways in which a website may benefit them both personally and professionally. Apollo Hosting provides website hosting [http://www.apollohosting.com], ecommerce hosting [http://www.apollohosting.com/e-commerce], vps hosting, and web design services to a wide range of customers. Established in 1999, Apollo prides itself on the highest levels of customer support.

WHAT ARE “UNTAPPED PROSPECTS?


Untapped prospects are a) accounts and sites with the same characteristics as your best customers, but are not in your marketing database, and are therefore invisible to you, and

b) unidentified key player contacts within accounts and sites

you are already targeting who are in the decision-making group for your product or service. These contacts are especially

significant, because they represent a segment of your market you may now believe is visible to you but in fact, is not.

HOW THE STAUTS QUO CREATES BLIND SPOTS


Many marketing and sales techniques in use today practically assure that your company is overlooking major parts of

your available market, missing viable prospects in the part of

the market you are actively targeting.

DATABASE BUILDING BY DRIVE-BY


Sales people, including those that work for channel companies, generally build market knowledge through referrals and drive-bys. A “drive-by” is a situation in which a sales person

is on their way to an appointment and notices a large building

with an impressive logo and thinks, “They must buy what I sell somewhere in there.” The sales person adds the company name to a list of cold-call accounts. When business is slow, they might pull out that list of cold call accounts. Sales management works diligently to keep sales people from spending any time on untested accounts, and that is an absolutely correct posture for them to assume. Ideally, it is a salesperson’s job to close deals, not find and cultivate new opportunities.

RELYING ON LISTS


Rented lists are one of the most common ways that marketing tries to build market knowledge and generate leads on behalf of sales. Have you ever taken the time to look at those lists? Massini Group has, and what we see is not encouraging. We’ve found that even list sources with relatively strict selection criteria can be 50% or more off target from how they were described. If you doubt this, look at the list of respondents

to your latest email or direct mail using rented lists. In one particular case, an enterprise software company found 53%

to 76% of its respondents were “off target”. In another, a

storage systems company found that eight in nine of the respondents was “off target” even though selection criteria were very strict and the source deemed credible. Worse

yet, you have absolutely no leverage to push list owners to develop contacts at accounts that are not presently in their list.

Another appealing source of information to tackle the problem of gaps in market visibility is a commercially compiled list or database. However, like rented data, in and of themselves they are not comprehensive.

A computer hardware company that uses a major provider of IT-installed base data recently estimated that the source had detailed information for just one third of its market.

COMMERCIAL DATA SOURCES ARE AVAILABLE TO YOUR COMPETITION TOO


Also remember that your competition has access to the same commercially available sources. And so does every other company that is marketing and selling any product even remotely similar to yours. This translates to a massive amount of competition for mindshare among the unfortunate individuals whose names appear in those databases.

“AUTOMATING THE PROBLEM” WITH CRM AND SFA


A growing number of companies are investing in CRM or SFA solutions with the expectation that they will improve marketing and sales operations. Unfortunately, these tools generally

only increase the velocity of the status quo. If no specific effort is made to change the culture, improve the methodology

or advance the science of market penetration, then a system

to automate the processes will not help–it will only automate and accelerate a flawed and ineffective process.

In our experience, these tools take significant time to implement and are initially focused on late-stage pipeline accounts and customers, thereby providing no assistance at all to individuals trying to grow their business, generate leads, or meet aggressive sales targets beyond the installed base.

SHEER NUMBERS ARE NOT ENOUGH

No single source of market information can assure you

comprehensive market visibility, coverage and penetration.

But even a variety of sources of accounts, profiles, attributes

and contacts do not necessarily solve the problem. If all of

the sources that you acquire essentially offer overlapping

views of the market, you have not gained a thing, except maybe a false sense of security. For instance, having 100 contacts

at one account and none at 99 other accounts is not helpful.

In another scenario, having detailed knowledge of 10% of

the installed base of a complementary product is necessary,

but not sufficient.

The key is to develop a single data set built from multiple sources, and then develop metrics that illuminate the gaps, both in terms of overall scope and of depth of knowledge. This is an on-going process, and additional sources should be reviewed and added as they become available. The biggest returns are realized as gaps are filled and marketing and sales efforts are directed at the newly discovered accounts and untapped prospects.

FINDING BETTER POINTS OF ENTRY


Tired of fighting to get past gatekeepers? Wouldn’t it be better for you to locate a different individual within the same target company that is not constantly subjected to such a barrage? The response rates that most email, direct mail and telemarketing generate might suggest so. Massini Group definitely believes so. This is not to say such sources of information are not useful. Use them to clarify your vision of the available market, but seek a more fruitful path of entry into the target company.

Most sales process training available today makes it a point

to differentiate between the individual within your target

company that can make the decision and those that prepare

the decision maker to do so. Called the point of entry, or

point of receptivity, this individual lives every day with the pain that you seek to remedy.

Depending on the industry, this individual is probably not

someone whose name appears in SEC filings. But they are

the key to your ability to get your foot in the door. They can identify all of the players in the process and provide your

sales people with the internal intelligence needed to advance the process. Your challenge is to find them. This is where

alternative sources and data gathering techniques should

be used to fill in the gaps left by commercially available

sources of information. For example, by first seeking the

individual with operational responsibility for the solution they were offering, a data warehousing company increased its appointment-setting rate five times over, making it possible

to utilize a face-to-face, scheduled meeting to get past the

CIO’s phalanx of gatekeepers.

INCREASING MARKET VISABILITY: THE MASTER TARGET SITE LIST


The key to successful market penetration lies in exposing untapped prospects by improving the quality of the data

upon which you base your programs. This is not accomplished simply by “buying a better list.” It is done by qualifying existing data, verifying it, identifying and filling in the gaps, and engineering an improved system that allows you to continually improve and augment the data throughout the sales cycle–all while furnishing your sales force with higher-quality, on target leads. The result is greater market visibility in the form of a Master Target Site List that accurately represents your full potential market.

Creating a Master Target Site List is a process, not an event. If your current marketing practices are based on sales-force or third-party data sources, the steps are straightforward:

o Build a comprehensive list of members (sites) in each market segment.

o Assign a value to each member that is shared by sales and marketing.

o Identify and quantify additional information gaps (e.g., incomplete data in title field).

o Methodically gather data to fill the gaps.

o Maximize the value of new visibility to untapped prospects by aggressively communicating to those companies and individuals.

Once developed, the Master Target Site List provides the following critical benefits:

o Guarantees the list contains only those companies your sales force agrees are valuable. Therefore, any time or money spent to develop a lead or sale will be on target in terms of company/site.

o Guarantees you are seeing the entire list of companies or

sites within a given geography that correspond to your target

market criteria. Thus your untapped prospects are minimized, and you are calling on a much greater percentage of the overall market. Each lead will be truly incremental to the current sales force funnel.

o By knowing your entire universe through your Master Target Site List, you are taking a critical step toward being able

to market efficiently and effectively, and in alignment with

the needs and expectations of your sales force.

o Sales force resources are not wasted qualifying leads;

the sales force can concentrate on converting quality leads into sales.

The payoff potential is enormous in terms of the efficiency and

effectiveness of marketing operations, alignment between

marketing and sales, and the ability to rapidly sequence actions based on an objective understanding of the gaps in your

knowledge base.

PROOF: MASTER TARGET SITE LIST = BETTER RESULTS

Example #1: Fortune 1000 Storage Company

ASSIGNMENT: This company was seeking to substantially

increase penetration of their storage products among the

4,000 largest hospitals in the U.S.

MEASURE: Gain initial responses from qualified targets in order to initiate a marketing dialogue.

KEY STRATEGY: Compare traditional direct marketing with the Master Target Site List approach while gaining initial responses. The incumbent approach involved use of direct mail targeted using rented lists. The rented lists had exactly the selection criteria they wanted and were generally known to be the best sources available. The direct mail seemingly produced good results, generating a 4.5% response in a market generally known to produce only 0.5% response. However, of the 450 responses, only 100 actually hit the target list of 4,000. The remaining responses were from a) hospitals that were too small, or b) allied industries (companies selling products to hospitals). Of the 100 in the target list, 50 were from hospitals with previous sales processes underway and thus did not present new sales leads. This left only 50 new hospitals that would be considered “good” prospects for the sales force. Thus, the “successful” direct mail program really only generated that same anemic 0.5% response the market “expects.”

ENGINEERED PROCESSES: Using the Master Target Site

List approach to achieve the same objective, the company purchased an unlimited-use list of contact names and cross-

indexed them with the target 4,000 hospitals. There were

2,500 of the contact names that connected to the target

hospitals. The remaining names, those not on the target list, were discarded for a lack of fit (prior to any further investment by marketing or sales). A telemarketing effort was directed at the 2,500 names, and 900 offers were accepted, representing 600 of the target 4,000 hospitals. All 600 sites were in the Master Target Site List of 4,000 hospitals and none of them had a prior sales force relationship (both of those factors were confirmed prior to the telemarketing effort).

RESULTS: The Master Target Site List approach resulted in

12 times the number of accepted offers by qualified prospects, compared to the previous direct marketing approach.

To further emphasize the value of the Master Target Site List

approach, the cost of the rented list approach was three times the cost of the Master Target Site List of 4,000; therefore, the overall benefit of the target universe base approach in terms of cost-per-outcome was 36 times better than the standard approach.

The tremendous improvement experienced by this company exemplifies the rationale for using the Master Target Site List approach. If you allocate some of your marketing funds to developing and maintaining the complete target universe, your marketing programs will perform better in terms of achieving sales goals, and will easily pay for themselves.

Further Proof: Fortune 500 Computer Company


ASSIGNMENT: A leading direct-sales computer manufacturer had been given aggressive new objectives for the expansion of PC and server sales in several markets: K-12; higher education; state, local and federal government; and healthcare. This

directive came on the heels of this business unit having achieved only 91% of their revenue objective in the previous fiscal year. Massini Group helped their marketing team discover

untapped prospects–the set of prospective customers who were currently not being engaged by their direct sales force. The challenge was to first identify these customers, then form

viable relationships with them, and bring them all the way through the sales process–into the company’s online store

to purchase products.

MEASURE: To meet or exceed sales goals by growing the revenue from the small/midsize segments in excess of targeted levels.

KEY STRATEGY: Rapidly increasing visibility to untapped

prospects through the use of Master Target Site Lists focused on each key market segment.

ENGINEERED PROCESSES: Overall, the company needed to gain control of their complex sales process, and Massini Group teams worked with them to accomplish this goal. A four-phase, end-to-end marketing and sales funnel program was implemented, based on the Massini Group’s Dialogue Strategy.

1. Created Master Target Site Lists (master list of target sites), starting with an extensive analysis of the business unit’s existing sales database. This process confirmed 69%

of their target sites were untapped opportunities–target sites and contacts with which they had not established a measurable relationship.

2. Identified key decision-makers at a much higher

percentage of the Target Sites, using telemarketing assets

(the idea is not to use inside sales resources to create your

Master Target Site List, but to use them later to exploit it).

3. Secured email opt-ins among known decision-makers, by using a combination of telemarketing, direct mail and

email, supported by a Web-based resource center.

4. Followed-up the opt-ins with aggressive e-marketing,

to either cause interested prospects to visit the online store,

or motivate the prospect to establish a relationship with an account manager for near-term sales.

RESULTS: Since the Dialogue Strategy methodology was

implemented in mid-2001, our client has increased their

coverage of targeted sites to 100%, and their

contact coverage (identification of at least one decision-maker at a target site) from 31% to 88%.

Additionally, they converted high percentages of their untapped prospects into partially and fully engaged relationships* with target accounts over the six measured quarters. A significant percentage of those relationships converted into business, and their all-important revenue performance ballooned to over

130% of target.

CONCLUSION


Many companies are experiencing underwhelming sales figures because their database marketing programs only effectively target and sell to one third of their market potential. The remaining untapped prospects must be identified, targeted

and cultivated to produce the sales figures necessary to keep companies competitive.

Developing a Master Target Site List, which includes previously unidentified accounts and sites, and previously unidentified key players, is the key to:

o Increasing market visibility.

o Developing programs that yield a greater number of higher quality leads than traditional marketing and sales-funnel strategies.

This is true whether companies depend on ad hoc sales,

drive-bys, rented lists, internally developed marketing lists,

or automated sales-funnel systems. Combined with the

Massini Group Dialogue Strategy, the Master Target Site List

methodology enables strong ROI, and sales growth superior–by orders of magnitude–to other industry practices.

The net result of this engineered approach is greater market visibility, increased operational efficiency, improved alignment and relations between marketing and sales, and clear action directed by concrete gap analysis.

ABOUT MASSINI GROUP
Massini Group is a full-service Business-to-Business database and relationship marketing firm specializing in complex marketing and sales processes. The company enables clients to gain control of complex marketing processes through the development and improvement of key marketing methods. “Engineered processes” developed by Massini Group can dramatically improve the results of database marketing initiatives, in both implementation time and execution. Massini Group has a proven track record of significantly improving sales results for its clients.

To learn more about how Massini Group helps companies engineer marketing and sales processes for maximum results, visit massini-group.com, or contact Sarah Harrington (503-274-7335) to schedule an introductory meeting with a Massini Group partner.

What is an estimator?
An estimator is a person that writes auto repair estimates on vehicles that have been involved in an accident. The estimator must understand the basic car design and know the nomenclature of a vehicle. The estimator must also have good communication skills as they deal with customers on a daily basis. Not only does the estimator have to communicate with customers, but they will also be the contact person for the insurance companies, shop managers, and the shop foreman or technicians. Therefore, communications is a must for an auto estimator. This career pathway is definitely for a people person. In fact, I would even say that a person that writes auto repair estimates for a auto body repair center needs to be part salesman. It is their job to sell them self, the company, the technicians, and the service that the shop provides. Not all technicians make good estimators, but it is a good idea for the estimator to have experience as a technician. Although, there have been people hired without experience and trained by the shop to write estimates.

Who Hires Estimators?
There are two different industries that hire auto estimators. One is auto body repair shops and the other is insurance companies. This can also split into other categories in each industry. Collision shops can be dealerships, franchise shops, or independent shops. Some insurance companies hire their own auto estimators, while other insurance companies hire independent auto estimators. When you write estimates for the insurance company your title may be an auto appraiser instead of an auto estimator.

What Can An Auto Repair Estimator expect to earn?
This can vary on your experience and if you work for a small body shop or a insurance company. However, according to O*Net the national median for an Auto Damage Appraiser is $53,440 and had a growth rate of 7% to 10% in a ten year period. (2006 – 2016) Some collision repair centers will pay their estimators a salary and a percentage of every job that they sell. Therefore, the more estimate sales that the estimator produce, the more income he or she can earn if on one of these types bonus incentives.

What is the first step to becoming an auto estimator?
The first thing you will need is to learn is the basics. You can do this by enrolling in a collision repair program. Many local community and junior colleges offer these programs. This will allow you to learn the basics about the entire industry. Everything from the body repair, structural or frame repair to painting. Most programs incorporate a basic estimating course within the auto program. This will give you a taste of the industry and determine where you fit in best at. You may decide to become a collision or paint technician instead of a person that writes auto repair estimates. Whatever you decide, this training is the first step to securing a job in the auto collision repair or estimating careers. Some insurance companies require that you have a bachelor degree, but many do not. Experience hold a lot of weight with insurance companies as well. The training is your foundation and how you build the building is up to you. What I mean is, once you have your basics down, you have many opportunities and directions to explore.

Where do I find a facility to gain the training?
The best training for your money is going to be at a junior or community college. Community colleges normally focus on smaller groups, which offers lower student per instructor ratio. This leads to a deeper level of learning. They also receive state and federal funding, which allows them to offer quality programs at a much lower cost to the student. Other training facilities include technical schools and private owned schools. Check with your local community college to see if they offer collision repair. If not, ask them if there is a nearby tech school that does. Chances are that they will know where to point you in the right direction. Once enrolled in a collision repair program, you will be on your way to a career as a person that writes auto repair estimates or many other career pathways that collision repair has to offer.

If you have questions about Auto Body, Paint Repair or Estimating visit Collision Repair Training We’ve have many industry leaders that can help. For all of you Collision Repair News Collision Repair News I invite you to stop by and visit us at CollisionBlast.com

Bowls is a sport that is played and followed by millions throughout the world. It is a game of skill and precision rather than physical fitness and has therefore often been associated as a game for the older generation. However, many of the upcoming champions are becoming increasingly younger and the sport has spent recent years making its competitions quicker and more colourful to encourage followers.

Bowls can be played indoors or outdoors, and the rules are the same for both. Put simply, the aim of the game is to get your bowls as close as possible to a small white ball called the ‘jack’.

In the singles competition, one of the two opponents flips a coin and begins a segment of the competition by placing the mat and rolling the jack to the other end of the green to serve as a target. Once it has come to rest, the jack is aligned to the canter of the rink and the players take turns to roll their bowls from the mat towards the jack.

When all the bowls have been played, a competitor or team gets one point for each of their bowls that is closer to the jack than the opponent’s closest bowl.

After all the bowls have been played, the direction is reversed which signals the end of an end.

In group games, the team captain always plays last and has a key role in directing the team’s shots and tactics.

Although it sounds easy, the fact that the bowls are not completely round and do not therefore travel in a straight line, means there is a great level of skill and tactics involved to win a match.

The game of Bowls has a distinctive history, dating all the way back to the Egyptians. Based on artefacts found in tombs dating circa 5,000 B.C, it appears that the Egyptians used to enjoy playing a version of skittles using round stones.

Different versions of this form of game then spread throughout the world and can be seen in the many types of bowls games played today. In Italy the game Bocce developed, which is a precision sport closely related to bowls with a common ancestry from ancient games played in the Roman Empire. In France the famous game of Boules arose from Bowls. This is a game that is played using metal balls, often on unusual and challenging terrain such as sand. The aim of the game is to get your large, heavy balls as close as possible to the small, white ‘jack’.

The traditional game of bowls, also known as lawn bowls or lawn bowling, has particularly developed popularity throughout England, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and more recently, Denmark. The oldest recorded bowls green is in Southampton, England, which dates back to 1299.

There are also many famous bowling fans throughout English history. Perhaps one of the most infamous in bowls folklore is Sir Francis Drake who, according to legend, insisted on completing his game of bowls in Plymouth before setting sail to confront the Spanish Armada in 1588.

King Henry VIII and King James I were also said to be keen lawn bowlers and even introduced bowling legislation for their subjects!

In 1903, the English Bowling Association was officially founded and began to organise and direct clubs and competitions. Previously competitions had always taken place but for the first time an extensive league and organised contests sprang up.

Indoor variations of the bowls game also appeared, largely due to the problem of the English winter stopping outdoor play. Indoor Bowls is simply the indoor version of Lawn Bowls, which is played on strips of artificial green a similar length to Lawn Bowls rinks.

All versions of the sport have now grown enormously and there is a wealth of leagues, clubs, amateur and professional bowling leagues and competitions throughout the world.

World Bowls grew out of the Commonwealth Games when it was first held 70 years ago (then known as the Empire Games). It was originally intended that only athletics would form part of the games but bowlers successfully convinced the organisers to have bowling included and it has been played at the games ever since. Top stars from both indoor and outdoor formats now come together to play lawn bowls at the Commonwealth Games.

One of the largest bowling event organisers today, is the World Bowls Tour (WBT) – a limited company formed in September 1996 by the Professional Bowls Association, and the two major governing bodies for world flat green bowls, World Bowls Ltd and the World Indoor Bowls Council (WIBC).

The primary object of WBT is to set up a series of premier bowls events at which the top players in the world can play.

One of the most exciting competitions in the UK World Bowls Tour calendar is the World Indoor Bowls Championships that take place at Potters Leisure Resort in Hopton, Norfolk. The event has been hosted at Potters for the last eight years (since 1999) and 2007 will see the event take place there once again for the ninth year running.

As on other previous years, 2007 will see professional players come together from throughout the world, to take part in televised matches including singles, pairs and mixed pairs.

The World Indoor Bowls championships take place at Potters Leisure Resort (more details can be found at pottersholidays.com)

Peter Joyner who regularly writes for www.pottersholidays.com

Overview

Textile quotas were eliminated among WTO members at the first day of 2005 in accordance with the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC). However, resistance to quota removal spread in the US and EU. Subsequently, China reached agreements with the EU and the US in June and November 2005 respectively. The China-US agreement, effective from January 2006, governs the exports of a total of 21 groups involving 34 categories of Chinese textiles and clothing products to the US during 2006-2008. The China-EU agreement, effective from June 2005, covers 10 categories of Chinese textiles and clothing exports to the EU during 2005-2007.

On the other hand, the mainland and Hong Kong agreed in October 2005 to further liberalise the mainland market for Hong Kong companies under the third phase of the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA III). Along with other products of Hong Kong origin, the mainland agreed to give all products of Hong Kong origin, including clothing items, tariff-free treatment starting from 1 January 2006. According to the stipulated procedures, products which have no existing CEPA rules of origin, will enjoy tariff-free treatment upon applications by local manufacturers and upon the CEPA rule of origins being agreed and met.

Hong Kong clothing companies are reputable for ODM and OEM production. They are able to deliver quality clothing articles in short lead time, as foreign importers and retailers request clothing suppliers to tighten up supply chain management to ensure the ordered merchandise reaching the store floor at the right time. Increasingly, Hong Kong clothing companies, the established ones in particular, have shown enthusiasm for brand promotion.

Hong Kong’s total exports of clothing rose year-on-year by 9% in the first 11 months of 2005. While Hong Kong’s re-exports of clothing rose by 20%, domestic exports fell by 14%. In the first 11 months of 2005, Hong Kong’s clothing exports to the US and EU rose by 11% and 18% respectively. While Hong Kong’s clothing exports to Japan levelled off, those to the Chinese mainland declined by 11%.

Industry Features

The clothing industry is a major manufacturing sector of Hong Kong. Its gross output is one of the highest among all manufacturing sectors, amounting to HK$35.9 billion in 2003. It is the largest manufacturing employer in Hong Kong, with 1,673 establishments hiring 28,752 workers as of June 2005. It is also the leading earner in terms of domestic exports, taking up 40% of the total in the first 11 months of 2005.

Hong Kong’s geographic boundary has never constrained the development of the forward-looking clothing industry. The majority of clothing manufacturers have set up offshore production facilities in an attempt to reduce operation costs. Relocation of production facilities offshore has however resulted in a steady decline in the number of clothing manufacturers in Hong Kong.

Hong Kong is not only a leading production centre but also a hub for clothing sourcing globally. Companies doing garment trade in Hong Kong are experienced in fabrics procurement, sales and marketing, quality control, logistic arrangements, clothing designs and international and national rules and regulations. The professionalism that they command and the combined services offered are not easily matched elsewhere. With a total of 15,190 establishments hiring 95,889 workers, they form the largest group involved in import-export trade in Hong Kong.

Performance of Hong Kong’s Exports of Clothing

Hong Kong’s total exports of clothing rose year-on-year by 9% in the first 11 months of 2005. While Hong Kong’s re-exports of clothing rose by 20%, domestic exports fell by 14%. The contrasting performance of Hong Kong’s re-exports and domestic exports was basically ascribed to the increasing relocation of garment manufacturing to the Chinese mainland, resulting from the removal of quotas under WTO’s Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC). But the declining trend of domestic exports has been reversed somewhat in recent months, due to the re-imposition of quantitative restraints on mainland-made textiles and clothing by the US and EU.

Retail sales in the US held firm in the first 11 months of 2005, rising by nearly 6% from the same period in the previous year. In the first 11 months of 2005, Hong Kong’s clothing exports to the US rose year-on-year by 11%.

In the first 11 months of 2005, Hong Kong’s total clothing exports to the EU surged year-on-year by 18%. Clothing exports to major EU markets like France, Germany and Italy recorded growth rates in excess of 20%.

On the other hand, Hong Kong’s clothing exports to Japan levelled off in the first 11 months of 2005 partly due to the trend of direct shipment. On the back of the rising income however, Japanese consumers tend to resume their spending spree on premium clothing items. Meanwhile, Hong Kong’s clothing exports to the Chinese mainland dropped by 11% in the first 11 months of 2005, compared with the same period last year.

Product-wise, Hong Kong’s exports of woven wear rose by 12% in the first 11 months of 2005. While woven wear for women/girls grew by 13%, those for men/boys recorded a growth of 8% from the same period in the previous year. Knitted wear grew by 2%, with women/girls and men/boys rising by 1% and 6% respectively. While clothing accessories declined by 3%, other apparel articles, for their part, increased by 13%.

Sales Channels

Hong Kong’s clothing manufacturers have forged strong relationships with their customers. They are able to understand and cater for the preferences of very broad customer bases. Exporters also have good knowledge of international and national rules and regulations governing clothing exports, such as rules of origin, quota restrictions, tariff rates and documentation requirements. Cut, make and trim (CMT) arrangements are common although many Hong Kong manufacturers have moved to higher value-added activities such as design and brand development, quality control, logistics and material sourcing.

A few well-established local manufacturers have entered into the retailing business, either locally or in overseas markets. Many of them have retail networks in major cities around the world including Beijing, London, New York, San Francisco, Shanghai, Singapore, Sydney, Taipei and Tokyo. Some well-known manufacturing retailers include Baleno, Bossini, Crocodile, Episode, Esprit, G-2000, Giordano, JEANSWEST, Moiselle and U-2.

As a global sourcing hub in Asia, Hong Kong attracts a number of international trading houses and major retailers. Buyers sourcing from Hong Kong include American and European department stores (e.g. Macy’s, JCPenney, Federated, Karstadt Quelle, C & A), discount stores (e.g., Sears, Target and Carrefour), specialty chains (e.g., The Gap, The Limited) and mail order houses (e.g. Otto and Great Universal Stores). Many international premium designer labels — such as Calvin Klein, Donna Karen, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Yves Saint Laurent — source clothes in Hong Kong through their buying offices or other intermediaries.

Hong Kong’s fashion designers have been gaining worldwide reputation for their professional expertise, sensitivity to current trends and ability to blend commercialism with innovation. Medium to high-priced fashion clothing bearing Hong Kong designer labels is being sold/have been sold in renowned department

stores overseas such as Bloomingdale’s, C & A, Harrod’s, Isetan, Macy’s, Marui, Mitsukoshi, Nieman Marcus and Seibu.

Trade fairs and exhibitions remain common places for buyers and suppliers of clothing to congregate. To establish connections and explore market opportunities, Hong Kong manufacturers and traders have involved themselves actively in international shows led by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (TDC), including the ones in Beijing, Chengdu, Dalian, Dubai, Dusseldorf, Hong Kong, Moscow, Mumbai, Paris and Tokyo. ‘Hong Kong Fashion Week’ is organised twice a year and attracts international suppliers and buyers to participate in the exhibition. Organised by TDC, ‘World Boutique, Hong Kong’ is the first independent event in Hong Kong dedicated to promoting designers’ collection and brands from around the world.

Industry Trends

Changes in retail landscape: In the US and EU, large-scale retailers are undergoing drastic restructuring and consolidation, in particular, the growing prominence of hypermarkets such as Wal-Mart. To strengthen competitiveness, Sears and Kmart have merged to form the third largest retail group in the US.

Growing importance of private labels: Private labels, in essence, have become an increasingly effective marketing tool among garment retailers. In order to differentiate as well as upgrade the image of their products, major retailers have started to put a stronger emphasis on their own labels. According to Cotton Incorporated, private labels accounted for 45% of total US apparel sales in 2003, up from 39% in 2001. In some adult apparel categories, such as skirts, private labels accounted for as high as 76% of the total sales. It is also estimated that 45% of products sold in the EU are sold under private labels. Renowned retailers such as H&M, Marks & Spencer, Orsay, Palmers, Pimkie, Springfield and Kookai have owned their private labels. As consumers desire to have private labels on everyday garments like jeans, accessories and T-shirts, the doors are also open to the supply of these clothing items to private label owners.

Growing interest in China’s domestic market: The rapid expansion of mainland’s economy has attracted great interest of Hong Kong clothing companies to explore its clothing market. A TDC survey on mainland’s garment shoppers indicates that Hong Kong brands are ranked number one by the respondents in the mid-range segment. While international brands are most preferred in the high-end segment, mainland brands dominate the low-end. In addition, the same survey finds out that in the eyes of mainland consumers, Hong Kong companies are very strong in casual wear, as they are generally of good design and quality. In essence, many mainland consumers have developed a stronger awareness of Hong Kong brands through tour to and shopping in Hong Kong. Therefore, Hong Kong’s casual wear has successfully projected a positive image to mainland consumers.

CEPA

On 18 October 2005, the mainland and Hong Kong agreed to further liberalise the mainland market for Hong Kong companies under the third phase of the Mainland and Hong Kong Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA III). Along with other products of Hong Kong origin, the mainland agreed to give all products of Hong Kong origin, including clothing items, tariff-free treatment starting from 1 January 2006. According to the stipulated procedures, products which have no existing CEPA rules of origin, will enjoy tariff-free treatment upon applications by local manufacturers and upon the CEPA rule of origins being agreed and met. But non-Hong Kong made clothing products will remain subject to tariff rates of 10-25% when entering the mainland.

The promulgated rules of origin for clothing items to benefit from CEPA’s tariff preference are basically similar to the existing rules governing Hong Kong’s exports of these products. Generally speaking, the principal manufacturing process of cut-and-sewn garment is sewing of parts into garments. If linking and/or stitching is/are required, such process/processes must also be done in Hong Kong. For piece-knitted garment, if it is manufactured from yarn, the principal process is knitting of yarn into knit-to-shape panel.

If the piece-knitted garment is manufactured from knit-to-shape-panels, the principal process is linking of knit-to-shape panels into garment. If stitching is required, it must also be done in Hong Kong.

Trade Measures Affecting Exports of Clothing

According to the ATC, textile quotas were eliminated among WTO members at the first day of 2005. However, resistance to quota removal spread in the US and EU. Particularly in the US, China-specific safeguards on 10 categories of clothing items from China were invoked. Against this background, China reached agreements with the EU and the US in June and November 2005 respectively.

The China-US agreement, effective from January 2006, governs the exports of a total of 21 groups involving 34 categories of Chinese textiles and clothing products to the US during 2006-2008. It allows an annual growth of 10-15% in 2006, 12.5-16% in 2007 and 15-17% in 2008. The China-EU agreement, effective from June 2005, provides for an annual growth of 8-12.5% in 10 categories of Chinese textiles and clothing exports to the EU during 2005-2007. In addition, both EU and US agreed to exercise restraint in invoking China-specific safeguard against Chinese textiles and clothing that are not covered in the agreements.

Product Trends

Formal Dressing: While casual wear accounts for the bulk of clothing sales, a general trend towards stricter corporate dress codes has led to a rising demand for formal dressing, particularly suits. According to a survey by Cotton Incorporated in late 2004/early 2005, 38.5% of respondents believe that people dressed too casually at work. This is a 6.5 percentage point increase over the same year-ago.

Teenager: One of the major driving forces of clothing market appears to be the teenagers in the coming years. The number of teenagers in the US expects to increase from 31.6 million in 2001 to 34.1 million in 2010. A recent survey by Teenage Research Unlimited found that teens are saving money by value shopping. While JCPenney is their favourite department store, Target and Wal-mart are their favourite hypermarkets. In addition, Old Navy is their choices among specialty apparel stores.

Silver Market: Ageing population becomes a common phenomenon in many developed countries in Europe as well as Japan and the US. Elderly people constitute a major market segment called ‘silver market’. Supported by savings, social security benefits and pensions, many elderly people have rather strong spending power. It is estimated that the age group of 65 year and above accounted for about 21% of Japan’s consumption expenditure in 2000. A survey conducted by the Japanese government also shows that people who are 60 years old and above possess almost three times the financial assets of those in the 40-50 age group. In the US, those aged at or above 65 amounted to 18.1 million in 2001, and the number is expected to swell to 26 million in 2015.

Plus-size Market: The plus-size market has been an area of growth for many years, and the trend is expected to continue in the coming future. It is estimated that 65 million women in the US wear size 14 or above. This group represents one-half of the US female population. It is reported that some renowned brands have already responded to the trend by offering merchandise of larger size; these companies include Liz Claiborne, Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger.

Easy-care Clothes: Clothes made of stain-resistant and wrinkle-free fabrics are well received in the market. It is estimated that about a quarter of apparel is now made of easy-care fabrics, and its popularity is expected to continue in the next few years. While major apparel brands like Dockers and Liz Claiborne have already marketed extensively easy-care clothes, major hypermarkets, like Wal-Mart, also offer more merchandise of such quality.

Source: Hong Kong Trade Development Council

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