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By seomul Evans

 Let’s face it, when you look at it on paper, SEO is an expensive endeavor. Whether you do it yourself, use the services of a consultant, or hire someone else to do it for you, the cost can be overwhelming.

In fact, some SEO experts charge as much as $500-$1000 per hour. It is such an involved process that the price tag is understandably pretty significant. As a small business owner, you have to decide whether search engine optimization is worth the expense.

Can you afford to invest in SEO services? Can you afford not to? The key to affordable SEO is an efficient balance of necessities, time, and budget. Here are three things to consider as you decide whether SEO is right for your small business.

Necessities of SEO

Search engine optimization is a huge process, but not every component of SEO is necessary for every campaign. It’s no secret that the most fruitful campaigns utilize every type of marketing available, but doing everything doesn’t necessarily equal success. If you make sure that you’re doing the right things at the right time, then you can save time and effort while still creating a successful campaign.

Time to Invest in SEO

Time is the single most important aspect of SEO. It’s simply a time-consuming process. If you’re not spending your own time doing it then you’re paying someone else for their time.

Because time is your most valuable resource, one of the most important decisions you’ll have to make is which projects you’ll take on first. Prioritizing your tasks will help you make good use of your valuable time. Tackle your top-priority tasks first and save the less-important ones for later.

As you consider your use of time, also keep in mind that SEO is part waiting game. Anytime you think about Organic search engine optimization, you have to remember that SEO results take a significant amount of time to show up online. Make sure you understand just how long it might take and how it will affect your business. Depending on the industry and the competition, better rankings take 4-6 months

SEO Budget

This is the primary factor in determining whether you’ll spend your own time doing SEO or hire someone else for the use of their time. But don’t let budget be your only consideration. Also keep in mind the value added when a professional takes care of your web optimization tasks.

Determine the value added by an SEO professional by considering the quality of work and the potential of the search engine optimization work to get results for your business, however, more money doesn’t always guarantee a better product. On the other hand, remember that you often get what you pay for.

You can only determine the true cost of SEO by looking at your return on investment. Remember that the true value of search engine optimization is greater than the sum of its parts. Even a small increase in time, money, and energy invested can net huge results. By investing whatever you can, whenever you can, and wherever you can, you can potentially see a big difference in your business’ success. Reinvesting your returns can lead to even more success, and SEO suddenly doesn’t look so expensive anymore.

The Cost of Doing it Wrong (Doing it Yourself)

And while it may be tempting to do SEO yourself, small business owners should especially consider hiring an internet marketing agency or search engine optimization expert. Small businesses are already at a disadvantage when it comes to SEO simply because of size and budget.

Don’t risk putting yourself at an even greater disadvantage by doing it wrong or by inadvertently utilizing tactics that could harm your ranking or even get you banned by search engines like Google, Yahoo, or MSN. Even if you choose not to hire an SEO expert to take care of all of your optimization tasks, consider hiring a consultant to check the work you’ve done. This is a good way to keep careless mistakes from happening over and over again.

Seomul Evans is a senior SEO with “SEO 1 Services” a Dallas firm providing Small Business SEO and free internet marketing articles.

Owner Builder Credit Scores and the Effect On Financing Fees
By Chris Esposito

 Owner builder construction loans have become harder to find as the mortgage industry has all but done away with these highly specialized products. The owner builder programs that remain strong are using the industry titan, Fannie Mae, for rates and pricing. How does this affect you? Your loan will have higher financing fees (discount points) wrapped into it if your credit score is not strong.

In the world of owner builder construction, the borrower already expects to pay more for the loan than he would expect to pay for a typical construction loan or certainly than a simple purchase or refinance mortgage. In fact, these higher costs are not of utmost importance, because they are offset against the hardy amount of savings that an owner builder will earn by cutting out the costs of a general contractor during construction of the new home.

However, every little bit helps. And, if an owner builder can avoid additional fees that come with lower credit scores, then it will help to maximize the amount of sweat equity that gets built into the home. Obviously, the borrowers with FICO credit scores above 740 will have nothing to worry about. It is the borrowers with credit scores that fall below 700 especially that will need to be prepared to wrap additional discount points into their loan. So, let’s take a look at why this is happening, and then determine if the construction is still worth the extra fees.

The bulk of the remaining owner builder construction loan programs across the country are selling their end products to Fannie Mae, the mortgage industry titan who stimulates lending by purchasing bundles of mortgages from banks. This is not unusual. In fact, it’s the typical outlet for most lenders in the U.S. The issue for owner builder loans, though, is that Fannie Mae has set some strict pricing guidelines that correspond directly to the borrower’s FICO credit score and loan-to-value ratio.

With owner builder construction, the borrower typically builds his home for less than 80% of the house’s appraised market value. Therefore, when looking at Fannie Mae’s guidelines for pricing, it is very helpful that owner builders don’t have to concern themselves with any loan-to-value ratios above 80%. This truly saves them from a lot of the higher pricing tiers.

However, it is the credit scores that must be closely observed. For example, using the 80% loan-to-value ratio, a borrower who has a credit score below 700 can expect to wrap one extra discount point into their loan. If your credit score is below 680, wrap an extra 1.75 to 2.25 points into the loan. One point is equal to one percent of the loan amount. Therefore, if your loan amount is $200,000, then wrapping an additional 1.75 points into your financing will mean a loss of $3,500 in equity in your home when it is completed.

So, is it worth it for an owner builder with a lower credit score? The answer to that question depends on the amount of equity that he plans to save during construction of his home. For example, on a $200,000, you may save $40,000 by eliminating the costs of an owner builder and managing the project yourself, perhaps even doing some of the minor parts of the labor. In this case, the extra $3,500 wrapped into your loan amount shouldn’t make a big difference to you.

It is important to note that these owner builder construction loans make allowances for a borrower to wrap these fees and closings costs into the loan amount, so you won’t have to pay them out of pocket. In the example above, the extra $3,500 in discount points that occurs due to a lower credit score will not mean that you must pay an extra $3,500 at closing. It simply means that an extra $3,500 is being financing for you. In the long run, you can equate this to $3,500 less equity that you get to build into your home by being an owner builder.

In addition, the extra fees may be well worth it to you if the owner builder construction loan has a one-time-close feature, meaning you won’t have to go through a second round of closings once your home is built. If you can convert straight to your permanent financing without having to worry about a second round of closing costs, then the extra fees in the one-time-closing are not overly troublesome. For an owner builder about to save a lot of money during construction, the financing program that allows him to do so will still be well worth it.

Therefore, if you are considering applying for an owner builder construction loan that will allow you to build your own home without requiring a general contractor, be prepared to have higher costs associated with the loan than you would have if you were buying a house or using a fully approved builder for construction. However, remember to look at the big picture and calculate the overall reward of the substantially lower construction costs for owner builder projects.

Chris Esposito provides owner builder construction loans through the Owner Builder 101 program, designed to help you build your home without paying the costs of a GC. For more info about the process and financing for an owner builder, go to www.OwnerBuilder101.com, or call (877) 876-3688.

How Many Ways Can Your Family Save Water At Home
By Aydan Corkern

 Do you ever give much thought as to how much water you and your family actually uses everyday? Do you even care if you are wasting a large percentage of water in your home just because you do not pay attention to how long you let the faucet run when you are doing everyday tasks? You would be amazed at how many gallons of water you could save everyday if you did pay a little more attention. You should do this no only because it is good for your water bill if you have one, but more importantly it is better for our world.

We waste water like we have a never ending supply and up until now we have had all that we cared to use, but in many parts of the world the luxury of having clean water for drinking and everything else is becoming a hard thing to find. Children are dying in some places because the water they do have access to is far away and they have to travel far distances each day to get it and even when they do, chances are it is not fit for human consumption when they do.

For those of us who do have plenty, even we should not take it for granted. Some states out west are having trouble getting enough to supply their needs and are actually having to do battle with other states to tap into their supplies. It has begun to get a little ugly in some cases. The people who live in these areas where fresh water is becoming scarce have started to realize how important conservation is and how precious a commodity like water really is. When you turn on your tap and nothing comes out, that is a definite reason to worry.

Here are just a few ways that your family can help do your part in conserving water:

1. Do not run water while you brush your teeth.

2. Take baths and showers with less water

3. Do not water lawns or wash cars unless it is necessary.

4. During dry spells do not water lawns or wash cars.

5. Keep a filled water pitcher in the refrigerator so the faucet does not have to be turned on and off.

6. Check you home plumbing, pools, or fountains for leaks.

7. Collect rainwater for yard and plant watering.

Just by doing these few simple things you can be assured to save a lot of the water that can be wasted in every home. You will feel much better knowing that your family is doing their part now to save water and you are teaching your children to conserve in future generations.

Aydan Corkern is a writer of many topics, visit some of her sites, like

water damage chicago and water damage restoration milwaukee.

business website design

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