Author Archive

Tuesday
Feb 12,2008

With the recent explosion in the availability of website domain name extensions (i.e. .com, .net, .ws, and others) it’s never been easier to register a domain name that is highly descriptive of your website’s subject matter.

For example, if you want to create a website about search engine optimization, it would make sense to use a domain name including the phrase “SEO” or “search optimization” or something similar. However, you can bet that many other people have had the same idea, so “seo.com” is no longer available, nor is “seo.net”, .org, .biz, or any other simple domain name with a top level extension.

Additionally, it’s a fact that most people who are searching on the internet are going to give top priority to websites with top level domain names like .com or .net.

This is simply a matter of these being original suffixes, and the average web surfer believes that they have more credibility and authority.

This is especially important if your website is selling or promoting your business or products, as these factors translate into how trustworthy your website may or may not be in the mind of the web surfer.

To put it simply, A top level domain name extension is one of your strongest sales tools.

Many people believe that the search engines will give more weight to your domain when considering your site for search engine rankings. Keep in mind that there should be a clear relationship between your domain name and website theme to increase your chances of ranking well in search engines.

Here are a couple of tips that may help you to bag that all important top level domain name for your site.

First, try a plural version of your key phrase. So, in the example above, you might check out the availability of top level names using “search-engine-optimizers”, rather than “search-engine-optimizer”.

However, when used on its own, this tactic may be a bit too obvious, and more often than not, when the singular version of a phrase is taken, so is the plural.

This second little trick is far more effective and well worth trying if you are looking for a top level name for your site. The trick is - Numbers.

Not numbers at the beginning of the domain name - that’s already been done to death and you only have to look at a list of expired domains to see how many owners of such addresses just allow them to die. Why? Because they don’t work very well with search engines or with real people - and something like “0000seo.com” just looks wierd.

So that’s not likely to be of much benefit to your site. But numbers in the “body” of the domain name itself, especially the numbers 2 and 4, very possibly will be.

Why?

The number 2 is a simple substitute for the word “to” or “two” and 4 can be read as “for” or “four”.

Now combine that with one other little substitution trick. Take the word “You” and substitute the letter “U”, and finding a good top level domain name that still relates very closely to the site subject matter becomes relatively easier.

Let’s take our SEO example to demonstrate how effective a strategy like this can be. Using all three of the highlighted tricks, try searching for “seo4u.com” or “searchoptimizers4u.com”. Still available? If not, how about “seo4us.com” or “searchoptimizers4me.com”?

Even if all of these are now taken, all you need is a bit of imagination to create a “.com” domain name that relates directly to your subject matter. An easy but effective method of grabbing good a top level domains for your websites.
For More Highly Effective Internet Marketing Tactics Visit The Internet Marketing Website. Get Free Internet Marketing Tips, Tools and Techniques: http://www.TheInternetMarketingWebsite.com

Tuesday
Feb 12,2008

Germany hits the bull’s eye once again. Recently, they have been declared as the world’s second top consumer for domain names next to the United States. This is no surprise to a lot of people since Germany holds the title for having the largest number of internet users in Europe. The rules in domain names registration are lenient that is why Germans are so engrossed with domain names registration. The cost of domain names also are so cheap that anybody can avail of this. If you will look at the statistics of domain names and domain names registration in Germany, you will conclude that Germany is really taking advantage of the domain names global trend today. The Germans are taking over domain names and online business slowly little by little.

It was reported that the count of internet users in Germany is about thirty-five million. On the other hand, the registered .de domain name is 6.5 million. Germany has turned itself to a country of domains and it’s people, domain savvy fanatics. Their CNO, which stands for .com, .net and .org, is about two million while Schlunde.de, a German info registrar is by far the largest today. With these statistics to back Germany up, they will surely conquer online business world in a few years time.

The release of .de domain names by the University of Dortmund Internet department in 1991, marked the conception of a long successful domain industry in Germany. Then in 1996 DENIC, the German co-operative was established by German Internet Providers and became the center source for .de domain names registry. DENIC follows the same policies of .com domains. The main rule is that anyone can have a domain name if they have an address in Germany. It doesn’t follow the costumer’s adage “first come, first serve basis.”

In Germany, most of the websites’ homepage have the .de domains which are very popular to them. Those that have a .com, are not really thriving in Germany. Currently, .info is also becoming famous, but the experts say that it would not reach the popularity or statistics of .de users. Despite the downfall of internet worldwide, the German domain industry stood proudly as it continues to grow actively in the global internet market. In the recently posted statistics by DENIC, the German .info sales is higher than english.info sales.

The reason German domain names industry is in motion and on top of everyone else’s is its strong secondary *domain market*. It is supported by sedo.com which is one of the top sellers of domain names. In fact, it has sold more than the combined Afternic and GreatDomains sales which is one-fourth of the market in the United States. Sedo also plays a major part in weaving together the basic and secondary markets in Germany by simply establishing partnerships with top registrar domain names’ companies.

If you’re a domain investor, it is best to try your business in the German market by signing up to Sedo and listing your domains. You can even enlist it on sedo.us or sedo.uk, and they will instantly put your domains in sedo.de as long as you indicate it. Germany is a good market for there are lots of domain names purchasers who will buy your domains in no time. If ever you feel that it’s not going well, you can always resell your domain names in a higher price. In this way, you can gain some income.

In other domain news in Germany, huettenberger-case-fabrik.de becomes the ten millionth domain name. This shows the dramatic increase of domain names in Germany as DENIC’s rules have become lenient just to accommodate lots of domain name registration. On the other hand, United Kingdom also announced that they hit five million domain names with Nominet. Accordingly, they ranked fourth place in the world’s top domain countries today. These news are certainly favorable to the domain industry as more and more countries have increasing domain names. This will surely uplift the domain market to the next level.

As for Germany, there’s a lot of room for growth and development for their domain industry. In fact, if their current sales grow more, the number of domain names will double in just a few years time.

For more valuable information on domain registration, affiliate program (s), please visit http://www.businessanalyst.com

Dedicated and Shared Servers

Tuesday
Feb 12,2008

Why the dedicated server is better that shared server?

Most people pick dedicated servers, this could be because they have some experience using this services or they already read some stories about this content. If we think logically on the word “shared”  this drive us directly to the knowledge that we share some concepts of the server.

We hope that the server we share is totally debugged and with zero problems, we don’t want any kind of downtime on our website, this is never sure for shared websites.

So why is better the dedicated server, you principally have total control on your website, also you can install any kind of application, you can update any kind of software or hardware in your server, it’s made by your specific requirements and only for them.

Also, this option is great for people that need to upload huge amount of data, and need great capabilities for bandwidth.

For the dedicated servers we also can provide the capabilities to manage firewalls and password access, this is for security purposes. If you have big knowledge on dedicated servers, can control any kind of problem

Student Loan Consolidation

Tuesday
Feb 12,2008

Student Loan Consolidation, also called a Student Consolidation Loan, combines several student or parent loans into one bigger loan from a single lender, which is then used to pay off the balances on the other loans. Consolidation loans are available for most federal loans, including FFELP (Stafford, PLUS and SLS), FISL, Perkins, Health Professional Student Loans, NSL, HEAL, Guaranteed Student Loans and Direct loans. Some lenders offer consolidation loans for private loans as well.

How It Works

Consolidation loans often reduce the size of the monthly payment by extending the term of the loan beyond the 10-year repayment plan that is standard with federal loans. Depending on the loan amount, the term of the loan can be extended from 12 to 30 years. (10 years for less than $7,500; 12 years for $7,500 to $10,000; 15 years for $10,000 to $20,000; 20 years for $20,000 to $40,000; 25 years for $40,000 to $60,000; and 30 years for $60,000 and above.) The reduced monthly payment may make the loan easier to repay for some borrowers. However, by extending the term of a loan the total amount of interest paid is increased.

In certain circumstances (for example, when one or more of the loans was being repaid in less than 10 years because of minimum payment requirements), a consolidation loan may decrease the monthly payment without extending the overall loan term beyond 10 years. In effect, the shorter-term loan is being extended to 10 years. The total amount of interest paid will increase unless you continue to make the same monthly payment as before, in which case the total amount of interest paid will decrease.

The interest rate on consolidation loans is the weighted average of the interest rates on the loans being consolidated, rounded up to the nearest 1/8 of a percent and capped at 8.25%.

If a student consolidates their loans before they enter repayment, the interest rate used is the lower in-school interest rate. Thus, although the rounding up of the weighted average can potentially cost the student as much as 0.12%, a student who consolidates before entering repayment can save as much as 0.6%, a substantial net savings. (The in-school interest rate is 1.7% plus the 91-day treasury bill rate from the last auction in May. During repayment, the interest rate is the 91-day T-bill rate plus 2.3%.) This loophole has been confirmed by an excerpt from the Federal Register and direct correspondence with the US Department of Education. Additional details can be found in the interest rate loophole section.

Some graduate students have found it necessary to consolidate their educational loans when applying for a mortgage on a house.

To find out more about Student Loan Consolidation, check with your lender.

Alternatives

Consolidation simplifies the repayment process but does involve a slight increase in the interest rate. Students who are having trouble making their payments should consider some of the alternate repayment terms provided for federal loans. Income contingent payments, for example, are adjusted to compensate for a lower monthly income. Graduated repayment provides lower payments during the first two years after graduation. Extended repayment allows you to extend the term of the loan without consolidation. Although each of these options increases the total amount of interest paid, the increase is less than that caused by consolidation.

Resources Related to Student Loan Consolidation

Still have questions about Student Loan Consolidation? Have a personal education finance advisor from NextStudent answer all of your questions about student loans and loan consolidation at NextStudent.com

More unlimited conference calls

Tuesday
Feb 12,2008

Unlimited conference calls. Does this really exist? Well, believe it or not, there are services out there that will give you unlimited calling, free trials and a host of other “bribes” just to get you to try their services.

There are many consumer products that we are allowed to try out before purchasing. We test drive cars, we try on clothing and footwear, and we can even taste small samples of food at the grocery store. So why not do the same for conference calling solutions?
Fortunately, most conference call services provide a free trial for their services. Many others provide demos. However, there’s really no substitute for using a service as you would in an actual business setting.
One thing to be aware of is that many of the free trial conference calls require that you provide your credit card information when signing up for the free trial. They will not charge your card during the free conference call trial period. However, you then will need to cancel your subscription before the trial period expires or your card will be charged for the next billing cycle of the conference call service. This usually isn’t a problem provided you remember to cancel the service if you don’t wish to become a long-term subscriber.
Once subscribed to the free trial conference call service, you should take advantage of the opportunity. Put the conference calling service through its paces. Spend some time on the vendor’s Website learning about the features of the service. Then recruit some participants from your organization to help evaluate the service by taking part in a conference call.
It helps to have a checklist of the features you want to test out. If the service allows you to share applications over the Web, then make sure that the participants are set up for this. Make note of how intuitive the user interface and instructions for using the service are.
Also observe how responsive the data stream is, especially if using video as part of the conferencing service. Of course a great deal depends on the bandwidth of your connection to the Internet, but the load on the conferencing service’s servers will also influence responsiveness. Time of day and demand will also impact throughput.
In order to keep things manageable you should probably take on one free trial conference call evaluation at a time. It may prove helpful to setup several conference call sessions with each service to get used to the service and try out all of its features. Of course, if after the first session you realize that the service just won’t work for you, then by all means, cancel your free trial and move on to the next free trial conference call evaluation.
As more businesses look to increase opportunities for collaboration with employees and partners and to better connect with prospects and customers, they will be turning to conferencing solutions. It pays to make the investment in time and effort to evaluate potential conferencing solutions. The service provider offers the free trial conference call, but it’s up to you to take advantage of it.

Tuesday
Feb 12,2008

by: Scott Elliott

Microsoft, a leader in the IT industry, has developed a number of certification programs for professionals working in the business. The programs allow you to decide which certification is appropriate and best suited for your career. There are over 2 million IT professionals with Microsoft certification. You can join their ranks and greatly enhance your professional career with Microsoft Certification. It’s important to note that Microsoft has restructured their programs to be very targeted.

Microsoft provides plenty of support as you study for your various certifications. The training includes classroom training, self-study kits, computer-based training, online classes, and books, and certification guides. You can take advantage of the way that you learn best. Depending on the career path you have chosen, you will find a certification that matches your skill set. Microsoft plans to, over time, introduce exams that rely on simulations and performance items.

You start by taking the appropriate entry- level certification. Prepare yourself with the most suitable Microsoft Certification Guides. You need to choose the right guide. A list follows of the various Certification Guides you can choose from. Match you expertise with these guides.

MCSE certification (Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer) is an industry standard targeted at the IT professional and provides the skills and training needed to design and implement infrastructure functions based on the Microsoft Windows® 2000 platform and Microsoft server software such as MCSE Messaging and Security.

MCSA certification (Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator) is for IT professionals who need skills and knowledge to administer system environments based on desktop and server operator systems. This training focuses on managing and troubleshooting system environments. With this level of certification you can now prepare for specializations like MCSA Security and Messaging.

MCDST certification (Microsoft Certified Desktop Support Technician) is for students who need the right skills and training to troubleshoot ordinary hardware and software issues in Microsoft Windows environments.

MCAD.NET certification (Microsoft Certified Application Developer ) provides you with the skills and knowledge that allows you to develop and maintain department level applications for Web clients, desktop client, components, and back-end data services all the way from development to maintenance.

MCSD.NET certification (Microsoft Certified Solutions Developers) is for IT professionals with the skills and knowledge needed for developing and designing leading edge business solutions by using various Microsoft tools, platforms, technologies and architectures. This certification allows you to develop custom .NET-based applications. This training encompasses everything from analysis to design, development, testing and maintenance using Microsoft development tools, technologies, and platforms. You become an expert on all aspects of the application life cycle.

MCITP certification (Microsoft Certified IT Professional Database Administrator) is for IT professionals who need to plan, administer, deploy, support and maintain databases created by using various Microsoft products.

MCITP certification (Microsoft Certified IT Professional Database Developer) gives you the skills and knowledge to plan, deploy, support, maintain and optimize IT infrastructures and databases created by using Microsoft products such as Windows Application Developer, Web Application Developer, or Enterprise Applications Developer.

MCPD certification (Microsoft Certified Professional Web Developer) distinguishes expert professionals who are Windows application developers, Web application developers, and enterprise application developers. Experts with these skills can build targeted applications using different platforms in the Microsoft.NET Framework 2.0.

MCPD certification (Microsoft Certified Professional Developer) is for students who need to distinguish themselves as an expert in comprehensive Windows application development, enterprise application, and Web application development using platforms that use the Microsoft.NET Framework. This certification is a stepping- stone to other Microsoft certifications.

MCTS.NET 2.0 certification (Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist) is designed fir IP professionals who target specific technologies and demonstrate in-depth knowledge of .NET 2.0 and other specialized Microsoft technologies.

MCTS.NET 2.0 certification (Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist) is for IT professionals who work with enterprise environment databases. It provides students with in-depth training and skills for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 product.

MOS certification (Microsoft Office Specialist) is designed for IT professionals who need the skills and knowledge to understand and use the advanced features of Microsoft Office software.

MOS MI certification (Microsoft Office Master Instructor) qualifies you to teach MOS courses.

Microsoft Certified Architect Program is designed for IT professionals who can apply successful frameworks and methodologies to create an architecture from beginning to end, through the IT life cycle.

CLC certification (Microsoft Certified Learning Consultant) is a credential for expertise in designing and delivering customized learning solutions for other IT professionals.

MCBDA certification (Microsoft Certified Database Administrators) are trained to design, implement and administer Microsoft SQL Server databases.

MCT certification (Microsoft Certified Trainers) are instructors who are qualified to deliver Microsoft training courses. MCTs are authorized to deliver Microsoft Official Curriculum (MOC) or Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN).

About The Author

Scott Elliott owns and operates http://www.it-certification-guides.com IT Certification Guides for Microsoft Certifications.

Ways To Reduce Your Car Insurance

Tuesday
Feb 12,2008

As a young driver you’re are always looking for ways to help reduce your performance car insurance premium. This article will discuss a few ways for you to lower your performance car insurance.

Choice of Car - The choice of car can make a dramatic difference on the cost of your car insurance premium. You should make sure that the car you choose is suitable. The higher the power and spec of a car the higher the car insurance will be, therefore make sure the car will suit your needs, don’t let your heart rule your head. High performance cars can often be unsuitable for certain drivers due to increased running costs and the higher car insurance premium.

Type of Car Insurance - The two most popular types of car insurance in this country are third party fire and theft (TPFT) car insurance and fully comprehensive car insurance.

TPFT car insurance covers the insured for loss of the vehicle by theft or fire and damage to a third parties property when involved in an accident. Fully comprehensive car insurance covers the insured for everything that TPFT does with the addition of the insured car in the event of an accident.

The type of cover you decide to take out can change your car insurance premium dramatically. You can Reduce your performance car insurance by taking out a TPFT policy as these are generally less expensive due to the fact that the insured car is not covered in the event of an accident. Be sure that you have taken this fact into account when insuring your car, because for the saving you may make when opting for TPFT cover, and not fully comprehensive insurance could backfire if you are involved in an accident.

Excess - The amount of excess on your policy has an effect on the cost of your performance car insruance premium so varying it can reduce your car insurance costs. Excess is the amount of money that the insured will have to pay out before their insurance policy will cover the rest. When taking out a policy this excess is usually set, but by increasing it voluntarily you can reduce you car insurnace. You should remember that the more you increase this excess the cheaper your policy will become, but the more money you will lose in the event of a claim.

Additional Drivers - Adding drivers to your policy will usually raise the cost of your car insurance depending on the driver. In order to keep your car insurance premium down reduce the amount of additional drivers on the policy to only those who will need to frequently use the car.

Security - Fitting approved immobilisers and alarms to performance cars is also a good way to bring down the car insurance costs. By reducing the risk of theft to your vehicle by fitting these approved security devices your insurance company will often reduce the cost of your premium.

With a combination of all the factors above you can greatly reduce the cost of your sports car insurance, but the cheapest way to keep your insurance premiums down is to be a conscientious driver and make sure you keep a clean driving licence.

blood groups

Tuesday
Feb 12,2008

blood groups, differentiation of blood by type, classified according to immunological (antigenic) properties, which are determined by specific substances on the surface of red blood cells. Blood groups are genetically determined and each is characterized by the presence of a specific complex carbohydrate. About 200 different blood group substances have been identified and placed within 19 known blood group systems. The most commonly encountered blood group system is the ABO, or Landsteiner, system. Individuals may contain the A, B, or both A and B antigenic substances, or else lack these substances (type O). In the ABO system an individual who lacks one or more of these antigens will spontaneously develop the corresponding antibodies (agglutinins) shortly after birth. Thus a person with A type blood will naturally produce anti-B agglutinins, a person with B blood will produce anti-A agglutinins, and a person with O blood will produce anti-A and anti-B agglutinins; but a person with AB blood will not produce any agglutinins in this blood group system. Since these agglutinins are always present in the blood, in blood transfusion the donor blood must be compatible with the recipient’s blood, i.e., the donor’s blood must not contain antigen corresponding to the recipient’s antibody. Other blood group systems, such as the MNSs, Lewis, Lutheran, and P systems, are not as important in transfusion because they act like true antigen-antibody systems, i.e., antibodies do not appear in blood plasma until the individual has been immunized by exposure to the other blood group antigens as in previous transfusions. In general, blood group substances are weak antigens, and antibody formation after transfusion occurs less than 3% of the time. Immunization can occur by pregnancy as well as by transfusion. Thus, in the Rh factor blood group system, an Rh-negative mother carrying an Rh-positive fetus produces anti-Rh antibodies against fetal red blood cells that cross the placenta. Since blood type is a genetic trait that is easy to test and the blood type of an individual is related to his or her parent’s blood types by the laws of Mendelism (see under Mendel, Gregor), blood group typing is used legally to establish paternity. Anthropologists use the frequency of occurrence of various blood groups as tools to study racial or tribal origins.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

The Great Best Buy Gift Card Scam

Tuesday
Feb 12,2008

By Szandor Blestman

It was my birthday a couple of days ago. I’ve gotten well past the point where I make a big deal out of it. Still, it is nice that others recognize the day. It is pleasant that someone else lets you know that they are happy you were born. It’s also nice to get presents. So, it was my birthday and my wife got me a couple of presents, which was nice. She got me single cup coffee maker that brews coffee right into a travel cup, so I can kind of grab and go. She also got me a $100 Best Buy gift card, and that is where my adventure begins.

I used to love Best Buy. I went there often to buy CDs and other products because they had the best deals. They also had a tendency to have the largest selection. Since the advent of the Internet as a shopping venue, however, I find that Best Buy no longer has the best deals. I also don’t like having to deal with the crowds in there at Christmas time. The nearest Best Buy store to me is also quite a bit further away than other big box stores I could go to. But all that didn’t really matter today because I had a $100 gift card and I was going to go spend it on something I wanted, something fun. I was actually going to go shopping for myself. I got in my car and headed to Best Buy.

I arrived at Best Buy and grabbed a little hand held shopping basket. I wondered what there was that I would want for less than $100. I saw some digital cameras, but any that I wanted were more than $100. Besides, I already have a digital camera. I saw some digital camcorders, but they started at well over $200 and I don’t have the extra money to spend on something so frivolous at this moment. I saw a nice pair of binoculars for about seventy five dollars which I thought about because my telescope broke a while back, but I took a pass on it. I walked around the computer section for a while, trying to get a feel for the newest in that technology, but nothing caught my eye and there were certainly no deals that jumped out at me. I settled on the old stand by, CDs and movies. I went down the aisles looking at the Rock CDs, as those were what I was interested in. I picked out about five CDs, including Death Cab for Cutie, The Killers, a couple of old CDs from the Cure that I had never replaced from when my house burned down, and some other CD that I can’t remember. I then went to the movie section to look for something that might interest me. I found a history documentary on Hitler and the occult and some other movie. I wanted to get as close to a hundred dollars as possible. When I had picked out what I felt was enough I proceeded to the cash register.

I waited patiently in line as the cashier finished with the customer in front of me. I said hi to the cashier and asked her how she was doing as I like to do when in that situation. She told me she was fine and we continued to make small talk as she rang up my merchandise. The total of my purchase was $91.51. I felt OK with that and handed the cashier my gift card. I told her I wanted the remaining balance in cash. She told me she couldn’t do that. I asked her why not and she informed me that they couldn’t give cash back for a gift card. I insisted that someone had given her cash for that card and that I should be able to recover the cash I wasn’t spending. The manager quickly became involved. She told me that they could not give change for a gift card unless it was less than five dollars. She told me that if I had the receipt from the gift card that I could get the change from it. Can you imagine? Does anyone give someone a gift card and then give them the receipt to? How ridiculous does that sound? I changed tactics and told her I didn’t get up that way very often and did not want to return to her store to spend what was left on the card. She told me that I could go back now and spend the remaining money. Now my ire was raised. I saw their game. People get these gift cards and then are forced to spend almost the entire amount at the store, and I’m sure that the store hopes the consumer will spend more than what’s on the card. I could feel my face getting red. I grabbed my merchandise and walked out the store.

I was a few steps out the door when an idea hit me. If they weren’t going to give me the $8.49 change for the card, which should not have been that unreasonable a request, then I wasn’t going to give them any money at all. I turned around and went back in. I didn’t need the junk I had bought. Besides, I could probably get it cheaper somewhere else. I would return it and get my money back.

I went to the return counter and told them I wanted to return everything I had just bought. I told them I wanted cash for the merchandise. They would not give it to me. They would only put them money back on the gift card. Again, a manager got involved. This manager had a badge that told me he was a “hiring manager”, whatever that meant. I told him what was happening and that I refused to spend any of my money at his store. He told me that he would have liked to have given me cash for change but that Best Buy had a contract with American Express and that the agreement stated that they would not give change for more than five dollars. I told him I didn’t care about his excuses and that I wanted the money back for the card. He told me I needed the receipt, that if it was bought with a credit card that money would be returned to the card, if it was bought with a check then a check would be sent to me, if it was bought with cash than I would receive cash. The other manager, who had come over to observe the proceedings, said she had told me the same thing. I explained to her that she hadn’t, that she didn’t say anything about a contract with American Express. She told me that she had told me about not being able to return money without the receipt. The point was moot. I was going to have to get the receipt from my wife, who had been thoughtful enough to buy me this gift card which was now turning into more problems than it was worth. This certainly wasn’t the best customer service I had ever experienced.

How to Buy an AT&T Prepaid Cell Phone

Tuesday
Feb 12,2008

Introduction
An AT&T prepaid cell phone allows you personalized control over your cell phone expenditures and the flexibility of paying for cell phone service only when you need it. A pay-as-you-go plan is an excellent way to bypass the credit checks and annual commitment contracts
Instructions
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Steps
1Step OneHead to your local big-box electronics store, cellular retailer, AT&T store or go online to search for prepaid cell phone options.
2Step TwoAsk a salesclerk to walk you through the various options AT&T offers its prepaid and pay-as-you-go customers. If you’re shopping online, your options will be presented in a table on the website. It’s a good idea to check with AT&T customer service when you’re shopping online to make sure the website offering the plan isn’t taking a cut for themselves.
3Step ThreeConsider your options carefully. AT&T prepaid cell phone plans generally charge local calls at a flat per-minute anytime rate and charge a higher per-minute rate for national calling. Generally, the more you pay per month the lower your per-minute rate is, so if you plan on heavy use of the prepaid cell phone, you’ll get the best value out of one of the more expensive plans.
4Step FourPay for your first month’s service. There may be additional charges on top of the cost of your plan for the initial activation of your prepaid cell phone.
5Step FiveActivate your phone. Your vendor can usually do this for you by calling AT&T, confirming your payment and having customer service activate your cell phone. You’ll be assigned your new phone number when payment is received by AT&T.
6Step SixUse your cell phone, staying within the confines of your plan.
7Step SevenAdd additional minutes at the beginning of the next month’s billing cycle if you want continued service by purchasing a new prepaid calling plan. You will have to pay up front to continue to use the service. If you don’t pony up, AT&T will assume you wish to discontinue your plan and will end your cell phone service.