Located in the Southern part of the Europe, Albania is considered to be one of the most interesting tourist destinations. It is a place where you can get the glimpse of some of the finest aspects of Europe’s culture, history, tradition and beauty. As compared to other European countries, Albania has yet not seen much of economic development; owing to this, the country’s rustic aura is still intact. This aspect makes Albania an attractive place to visit and explore.There are plenty of low-cost and budget flights available for Albania from UK. Several websites on the internet allow you to make comparisons between various flights available for Albania. Check out these sites to get the lowest possible rates. All flights land at the Mother Teresa International Airport, at Tirana, the capital of Albania.It was 1990 when Albania become one of the best tourist destination in Europe. It is absolutely a safe haven for vacationers. However, before you proceed with your bookings, it is essential to look into some excellent travel tips for Albania, which will make getting around really easy.The locals know English language quite well; therefore English-speaking people do not face any problems while getting around. Nevertheless, if you know a bit of Italian, in addition to English, getting around gets even better.Good, reasonably-priced hotels are easily available in all the major cities of Albania. With a little search, you can get a decent, clean accommodation in a price as low as 15 Euros. In currency exchange, US Dollars and Euros are widely accepted. Euros and Dollar have large value in comparison to Albanian currency. The food here has Turkish influence; the traditional Albanian meal, which is quite cheap and filling, has soup, shish kebabs and meat. This is followed by ice-cream or a cup of hot coffee.Albania, on the whole, is very safe to travel. However, the northern part of the country, near Kosovo, has landmines, which have not yet been cleared. Hence, if you plan to travel to this part, it is advisable to take a local guide along with you.Albanians are very hospitable, but at the same time they are also very traditional and religious by nature. Therefore, it is essential to follows certain norms in Albania. For instance, exchange greetings respectfully, do not offend the locals by discussing topics like politics, religion and personal preferences. Lastly, women should dress in modesty. With the above superlative travel tips, you can not only enjoy the beauty of this untouched land, but you can also fully explore and relish the local culture and traditions. At the end of your vacations in Albania, you will take back fond memories of a time well-spent.
Should You Manage Your Own Rental Property?
One of the more important questions you need to answer before you make your first real estate investment is “just how involved do I want to become in the operations of my real estate investment?”For unlike decisions you might have made in the stock market, which was whether to buy or sell and did not entitle you to make any decisions regarding the operation of the company, with investment real estate, you are in control and must now make the decisions that will affect the operation of your investment.Once you invest in real estate, you become the CEO of your own individual real estate investment company so you have to decide just how involved you want to become.Factors to ConsiderHow much time do you want to spend? Foremost, do you even have any free time to spend? You may have a full-time job with zero hours to spend. On the other hand, you may be retired and have nothing but time to spend; as a retiree, perhaps owning a real estate investment property is what you need to keep active. You get the idea.How much stress can you handle? Maybe you have the time but maybe you hate the thought of talking to your tenants about repair issues, rent increases, late payment issues, agreement violation issues, and so on. In other words, maybe you just dread the thought of confronting tenants, period.How much are you willing to sacrifice to maximize your profits? Yes, we all want to become wealthy, but that’s not likely to happen unless we inherit a fortune. So we should accept the fact that we either devote the time and deal with the stress or leave all the management responsibilities of our rental properties to someone else.Types of Management AvailableIf you own rental income property and prefer to leave it to someone else then you have two phases of management open to you: resident management or property management.A resident manager is someone who is hired that lives in the building and will take care of the day-to-day problems that may arise in owning rental income property. He or she should spend a lot of time at home, be conscientious, maybe something of a handy person, and should get along with the other tenants in the building.In this case, you might want to rely on the judgment of the previous owner or just pick an individual (or couple) who is of retirement age and is usually there, or can perhaps find a young married couple happy to get a break on their rent.A second choice would be a professional management company. Their job would be to find tenants, show the apartments and negotiate leases, collect the rents, pay the bills and mortgage payments, keep bookkeeping records, make sure the building and grounds are properly maintained, and so on. In other words, to run the property as you would.How Much Management Do You Want?Okay, now that you’re acquainted with the management-intensiveness of investment real estate, and see that you can become as active or inactive in the operation of your rental property investment as you choose, how much management do you want?Here’s a suggestion.If you are able to find the time and can cope with the stress level, try managing the property on your own. If you’re working with a knowledgeable realtor who specializes in investment real estate, he or she can give you enough guidance for you to become familiar with the operation and management of your property. Other wise, if this is not your first venture into real estate investing, or you simply cannot find the time to manage it yourself, then consider hiring a professional management company.The important thing is not to let the thought of possible management problems keep you from investing in real estate. Rental property management and the problems of management can be avoided.
Different Types of Direct Marketing Lists
Direct marketing delivers your marketing message directly to a group consumers or businesses on a personalized level (such as a telephone call or via a personal email message). It’s a form of marketing that provides the recipient with a direct call to action. The following are the three main types of direct marketing.Mailing Lists
Direct mail is one of the most common forms of direct marketing and an essential part of an integrated marketing campaign. Companies promote their products and services with a provocative mailer. Direct mail campaigns provide your prospects with a tangible piece of mail to read at their leisure. Direct mail campaigns are extremely effective and when they are personalized and customized to a specific target audience can have great response rates.Telemarketing Lists
Telemarketing is the process of calling prospects on the phone to promote your products or services. This can be done using your own sales staff or by subcontracting out to a call center. Telemarketing is vital in creating brand recognition, building customer relationships, nurturing leads and of course, closing sales.Even with its bad reputation, telemarketing still plays an important part of any direct marketing campaign. Telemarketing is personal and interactive, and capable of providing an immediate response. As effective as telemarketing is, you need to be sensitive to your prospects’ willingness to receiving unsolicited phone calls.Telemarketing campaigns work best when the telemarketing lists are highly targeted, with accurate data that matches your current customer’s profiles.Email Lists
Email marketing is an effective way of reaching out to new prospects or following up with existing customers. Email marketing is extremely versatile, and you can easily customize your marketing messages to various market segments, or for prospects in different stages of the sales funnel.Email marketing can be used to nurture customer relationships, provide company and product information, drive website traffic and to promote direct sales. The emails can be as elaborate or as simple as needed.Most people check their emails on a daily basis, making email a very effective marketing method for your business. However, email marketing should be used responsibly, and it is extremely important to have your customers’ consent before sending emails.The most successful direct marketing campaign will use a mix of marketing methods. Repetition is very important in any type of marketing efforts. The more you can get yourself out in front of prospects, the greater the chance of being remembered. Try a direct mail campaign with a telemarketing follow-up or an email blast in conjunction with a direct mail campaign. A Multi-Channel campaign also allows your prospects multiple ways to communicate back to you.Regardless of the method, the key aspect in any direct marketing campaign is the ability to target the marketing message to a specific audience. With properly defined target market, you can deliver your message directly to those who have a greater probability of purchasing from your business. This allows businesses of all sizes focus their marketing budget and resources where they’re most likely to get results.It’s very important, before starting any direct marketing campaign, that you understand the different regulations governing each method of communication. The responsibility is yours to make sure you are compliant. Legitimate list brokers and managers should be able to confirm that the lists they are providing comply to the various rules and regulations. If you are uncertain, do not hesitate to ask.