My method is always the same “Cost of Living Cost ve Living Standard Index”, this means: Higher Cost of Living does not mean Higher Quality of life.

Therefore, the optimal place will be “Low Living Cost and High Quality of Living”

Is this possible? Yes, I think so, as I have lived in some places which have affordable living cost, yet the quality is pretty good, it’s all comes down to comparisons, let me go through some cities.

Asia:

Generally speaking, the quality of life in Asia is worse than in the west, living cost can also be much higher. People simply work work work and never stop, plus bad traffic, bad pollution and no place for kids to play, therefore, I do not rate Asia highly in terms of “Good Places to Live”, and other reports seem to conform with this. I had lived in Taiwan, some parts of China and Hong Kong; living costs there including China are very high because of the large population, and living in cramped apartments; Hong Kong has very good salary, but the cost of living is just so high! Cost of food is reasonable in most parts of Asia, but utilities can be very high, and transportation cost is especially high, cars in Asia can generally be twice more expensive than USA.

Australia

I grew up in Australia and have lived in all capital cities. Unfortunately, this is a country that I have to move to High Cost and Low Quality Living eventually, which is really a shame. The living cost in Australia has risen beyond imagination, plus its high tax regime means it is now impossible to make a saving in Australia. It is more expensive in many cases to rent than to buy a house. It is especially a hard place for young families in Australia, transportation cost is very high, food cost is very high, even higher than Europe sometimes; and generally lack of entertainment activities for families. It is very sad to see Australia becoming simply too unaffordable for many.

Europe

I had lived briefly in London, also spent sometime in Switzerland and France; also Italy. Overally, this is a place where I call “High Living Cost but also High Quality of Life”, there is no doubt Europe is the most cultural place on Earth, with museums, galleries just everywhere, walking on streets is an enjoyment itself; or simply dashing into a local gallery. It’s not cheap to live in Europe, but income is comparable a reflection to this. I find public facilities such as public toilets and facilities for children in Europe behind of those in North America; some places are not family friendly. Overally, my experience in Switzerland and Italy were the best, if I could have a reasonable income, I would not mind living there.

North America

I had lived in NYC, San Francisco, San Diego, LA, Texas and Vancouver. Overall, I find North America the most affordable and also good from quality of life’s perspective. It is very affordable compared to other parts of the world, my friend is from Charlotte, North Carolina, which you could buy a house for less than US$200,000, and it’s a reasonable sized city. Food is very cheap in North America so is transportation cost.

Medical cost, many argue medical cost is high, the fact is, the system is not really that different from Europe, Asia and Australia if you are on private insurance. In Australia, the waiting time for public hospital can be years, many patients have died during the waiting period; so most people tend to use private insurance and private hospitals anyway.

The good thing about North America is choice, I found NYC and LA too chaotic for me, Texas was good, nice housing, affordable living cost, but it was too hot for me. San Francisco, Seattle, Boston, Vancouver (Canada) are good places that I can live. I did not enjoy the big citis in US, as those places are over-crowded, and crime is a problem in certain areas in NYC and LA.

I know a lot of people will argue on this article, but do travel around and live around, and you will find a place that you know you will find it much better for you.

My choice of cities (not in order of rank)

San Francisco

Seattle

Boston

Vancouver

Florance

Zurich

So, that is a statment already; contrary to what many Australians think (those who have not travelled especially); USA actually has probably larger if not same Australian expat-community as in UK, and in fact, majority of Aussies live in USA are usually highly qualified professionals instead of part-time workers.

To give you some examples; I met 3 people while I was in US 2 months who are from Australia.

1.  A lady now works in NASA, she graduated from high school and university in Sydney, and is now hoping to become an astronaut, she is already doing a lot of training (WOW!) no such job in Australia…

2. A lady based in San Diego and is now a successful interior designer / urban designer; she is from Brisbane originally , and has lived in US for 6 years already.

3. A guy which I met twice on the same week (as I was flying to North America twice in the same week (ouch!), he is doing this every 2 weeks, I can’t believe it, he is a song-writer.

USA is a land of opportunities, let’s not deny that. You may think China, but really, US is as close as you can get as there are a lot of cultural similarities; and it has many industries that other parts of the world simply do not have. The best thing about US vs other big markets like China or Japan are 3 things:

1) Great quality of life, and very cheap as well, US is one of the most affordable places in the world

2) A culture that fosters innovation, business and creativity - this is very different from Asia

3) A place you can really just be yourself, and you can express freely (maybe too free) just about anything and everything.

As usual, let’s talk about 5 pros and 5 cons about living in USA.

1. Opportunities, I think USA is especially a great place for business owners; it encourages and fosters innovation, entrepreneursim, and the society respects small business owners as well.

2. Cost of Living, is amazingly low, yes, there are multimillion houses in many cities; but these are balanced by reasonable houses. You can live in so-called “tier-2″ cities; but these cities like Seattle, San Jose, Atlanta, Charlotte are great cities themselves with 2, 3, 5+ million; they are as big as Sydney and Melbourne!

3. Economies of Scale, just about everything in US is about economies of scale. I passed a port the other day and saw lines of container ships coming in; amazing; this has also helped to ensure pricing to stay low. Competition is another great advantage; which is why food, telecommunications bills are about 1/5th to 1 / 10th of Australia.

4. Very cultural: US has so many cultural places; I don’t why many say US has no culture? It has hundreds of great galleries and museums (and often free); if you are into sports, you can watch NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL and whatever other college sports (personally, I think it’s crazy).

5. Positive Thinking: OK, I know you will say what about recession. By large, US people look up onto successful people and want to become them rather than criticize on them. It is a culture for people with motivations; they are also generally more optimistic.

5 Bad Things about US

1. Too much convenience: I think maybe they can be over-optimistic, even though houses are cheap in US; many Americans simply spend too much money on unnecessary items; there is a culture of waste I feel, and I don’t appreciate that. Free cups, free drinks, free food, free services; people are spoiled and many not be a good thing.

2. Debt: USA and many households have high debts, and they are what we call as “bad debts”, like credit cards and unnecessary spending on useless good. If you want to save money but lack of discipline, better stay away from USA, too much temptation there.

3. Crime Rate: An unfortunate problem, I had personally witnessed just 1 incident (armed robbery); but crime is a real problem in US. Although, every country has the same problem, in US, good and bad areas are very distinctive (same in Australia & Canada anyway); but bad neighborhoods in US can be really bad.

4. Racial Problem: I have not personally experienced any racial issues in USA (thank goodness), the racial experiences I encountered were in Australia back in the 90s and 80s when things were pretty bad in SA and QLD back then. However, it will be naive to say there is no racial problem, the differences between White & Black communities are still there; especially in the Southern States.

5. Highways: If I really want to complain about life-style in US; it’s the Highways! I hate the highways, I hate to drive onto a highway just to get a milk! There are many cities that are not like this, but cities like Dallas, LA, New York, there are highways everywhere; and you can’t just walk to a shop!

So, these are my perspectives about USA. I think overall, it is a wonderful place to be in, especially if you are a business owner. Moving there however, requires stringent visa requirements and can take years; but if you have families there; it will be much easier.

I will talk about Canada on my next article.

In fact, all 3 countries are great countries, and should not be compared simply as “Who is better”, I think those who make some comments are really irrespoinsible, it’s like saying: Germany and France, which one is a better country? How can you make assessments like?

I am therefore, making a better assessment by going through 5 points on each country; pros and cons; and as I have lived all 3 countries; I believe my assessment will be realistic.

Australia:

Top 5 “Props” about Australia and why you should call it your “New Home”

1) It is a growing land of opportunity because of the resources boom and its close ties with China. However, it is not relating to all sectors; not everyone is going to work in the mining industry for example. Nevertheless, Australian economy has benefited from the mining boom.

2) It is a multicultural society just like Canada and USA; and this is really great for childern; as they can expose to different cultures.

3) Landscape is quite nice in Australia, yes, houses do come with gardens, this is a contrast difference to those from Asia & Europe; although I don’t understand why so many choose to live in condos / apartments.

4) Medicare is included. but not entirely free, people are actually relying more on private insurance these days. But at least, if you are sick and unable to pay medical bills, you can still go to public hospitals and see normal GPs; anything extra will require private insurance.

5) Close to Asia; if you need to travel to Asia frequently, Australia is only 7 to 10 hours away, you live in “Western society” in Asia.

Things against Australia as your “New Home”

1. Bloody Expensive: Not as expensive as say UK or Euopre; but certainly catching up, it is significantly more expensive than Canada and US; some items like clothing, electronics can be 3 to 5 times more expensive than North America.

2. A lot of hidden taxes for businesses: For those wanting to run businesses; beware of the multiple taxes; like fuel tax, sales tax, luxury item tax, and different types of levies. In the way, I find Australia is a place for employees rather than employers.

3. Lack of diversity; there are really just 5 cities you can live in Australia, and each city is basically the same as others. Unlike in US, if you find cost of living too high, you can move to Florida or North Carolina, and live much more comfortable life, this is especially attractive for business owners.

4. Weather can be intolerable: Although winters are tolerable as there are no snows apart from in the moutains. Australia has very long summers; some cities can last 6 months in summers. Summers can go up to 45c in most cities; and this is very uncomfortable as well as health risk for many (skin cancer).

5. Too far away from the rest of the world. This has created several problems; transportation cost in Australia is very high; which have been contributed to rising living cost in Australia; very few flights and cruises come around Australia (although improving), this means more expensive airfares and travel costs. Travel costs within Australia is also very high compared to North America.

So there; different points of views; the cost has been a “shocking factor” for many newly arrived migrants; and job prospects sometimes are not as great as what Australian Government have been promoting; as many industries are simply non-existent in Australia.

If you are considering moving to Australia, be sure that you really understand the costs down to details; and also what job prospects are there; you should have Plan B and Plan C, many professionals end up as franchise business owners for instance.

It’s not a bad place to live, although I can be biased, I have lived here for more than 20 years…so I have lost the “exciting factors”, but I do think Australia is one of the most livable countries in the world.

What are the export sectors in Australia? Many have associated Australia being a resources oriented or primary goods driven economy? Is that a correct assumption or shall we also look at other potential sectors? In this article, we will also look at what assistances are available that can assist in your export opportunities.

Australia - a major export economy?

Yes, Australia is a major export economy, because of its relatively small population, Australia is not really a “self reliant economy” and needs to rely on exports to boost its economy. This is why Australian Government has spent considerable amount of investments in boosting Australia’s export opportunities - and diversifying products and services available for export.

Is Australia only exporting primary goods such as resources and agriculture?

This not true, although, they still represent significant proportion of Australia’s export economy. Natural resources which include coal, iron ore, oil & gas, even uranium are in demand.

In terms of agricultural produces, wheat, cotton and cattles are some of the sectors in demand from Australian suppliers.

In addition, seafood is also a major export sector including abalone, lobsters, fish and prawns.

Some immigrants have operated successful export agencies, especially if they have strong connections and distribution channels in Asia already established.

For many Australian suppliers, especially small to medium sized enterprises, finding and setting up distribution channels are very difficult for them, and therefore, they welcome opportunities to work with export agents or distributors based in Australia and facilitate with them to open up new markets.

Apart from primary produces and natural resources, what other sectors is Australia good at?

There are many sectors in Australia that I believe have been overlooked, both by Australians and international business communities. Australia has several key advantages comparing to other major western economies.

First: Australia is a multicultural society, the most recent statistics shows that there are more than 150 ethnic communities based in Australia, literally covering every nation in the world.

Second: Australia is a multilingual society, which means you can source multilingual professionals locally instead of finding them overseas.

Third: Its location, its geographical location is a distinctive advantage, it is very close to Asia and this means significant savings in transportation costs.

One good example is natural resources, South America is another major destination for base metals and precious metals, but because of the long distance from Asia, transportation cost can be 2 or 3 times more, which makes Australian exports more favourable from Asian buyers.

Fourth: Australia is a stable country, which is primary reason why it ranks along with Canada as the 2 most favourable markets for natural resources. The political and soverign risks in Africa and South America are simply too high for many importers.

Let us look at some sectors that you should consider if you are looking to export:

1. Wine Sector

Australia has beautiful wines, it produces top quality red and white wines, and its quality is comparable to those in France. Price wise, Australian wines are regarded as mid to high range wines, although it does have some premium wines, which are mainly for collectors with limited stocks available. 

In terms of the wine regions, NSW, SA, VIC and WA are all wine producing regions in Australia, with each region representing different taste and unique characteristics. If you are looking for exporting opportunities, this is a good opportunuiy to consider, you can approach small to medium sized vineyards, many of are looking for exporting opportunities, but considered too small for large major global distribution companies.

Depending on your distribution channels, each market has different demands, but generally speaking, Australian red wines are in good demand in most Asian markets, and its fair pricing range make them as an attractive option to the more preimum wines from Europe. While wines are also in increasing demand, especially from ladies, and also in Japan and some parts of China to compliment seafood.

2. Healthcare Sectors

This is a sector often overlooked, Australia is actually a global leader in many healthcare related sectors, including e-health, which Australia leads the world in terms of documentation management systems, and has developed products that allow users and professionals to transfer files and review files over Internet. This is a great opportunity for potential exporters to distibute them in new emerging markets especially China and SE Asia, which are embracing new technologies to improve their health systems to reduce man-made errors.

Other health related sectors including other medical devices, which can be exported relatively easily compared to pharmaceutical / prescription based drugs. There are many successful Australian medical devices such as ResMed which is for sleeping apanea (sleeping disorder related diseases), Cochelear which develops world’s most advanced bionics hearing aid implant, Ventractor which develops artificial heart assistance device. There are the big names in global industry, and there are thousands more companies in Australia developing both diagnostics and treatment medical devices.

Exporting is only slowling taking off in Australia for the medical devices sector, and we believe this is an unique opportunity for companies in Asia, as Asia is fast becoming the world’s largest healthcare market including medical devices.

3. Education

Education is one of the top 10 industries in Australia, it is a multibillion dollar exporting industry with over 100,000 overseas students arriving in Australia each year, and this number has been growing steadily despite of the rising Australian dollar and global finacial crisis. At this moment, students from mainland China and India contribute to more than 50% of the total students, with others from Europe, South America and SE Asia.

In terms of exporting opportunities, there are several ways to participate in this fast-growing industry. 

a) You can be an education consultant / agent, and assist overseas students to choose schools in Australia, in return, you will receive fees from educational institutions on placement basis. 

b) There is a growing trend for Australian education institutions opening up overseas campus, you can assist them in terms of marketing and operation and invite local students to enrol into Australian universities or other institutes overseas.

c) English learning is a major business in Australia as well with thousands of students mainly from Asia and Europe arriving each year, some on short-term stay which often refer as “vacation English classes”, they will spend 3 to 6 months to study English. You can partner with English Colleges in Australia and assist these students.

d) Another interesting sector is for coaching and primary school to high school students - there has been increasing number of Australian coaching systems, both for English and Mathematics, some of these courses have already been exported ovesears either as curriculums (in books or as software) or as franchises setting up new coaching centers in overseas markets.  

4. Franchise

As one ofthe most franchised nations in the world, Australia currently has more than 1,000 franchises according to our research, it can be as high as 1500 some have said. Most of these franchises are Australian franchises, and there is quite a few already expanding into international markets such as Gloria Jeans, Jamaica Blue and a property agents which have established successful international franchises.

For exporting opportunities, a good way to do it is through Country Master Franchise, where you can purchase the territory franchise, and any new franchises opening in that country will be under your franchise, this means you can grow your business substantially and entitle to a proportion of their revenue. This is a more expensive investment, but can result in very good investment return.

5. Organic Food  & Health Food

Australia is now a leading producer in organic food and health food, and this has opened new exporting opportunities. Organic food has been in increasing demand over past few years, because of the clean environment, Australian organic food, particularly organic baby food are in constant demand from Asia and North America. Tasmania, also known as the Food Produce capital for Australia is known to have produced a variety of organic food, such as baby products, fruit bars, organic fruit juices and organic honey as some good examples, much of these have been exported to Japan already, and Chinese consumers are also now taking up organic food as well.

In terms of health food, which also includes health supplements, is also a growing exporting business, Australian Health Food & Health Supplements are highly regarded internationally, with same level of reputation as in US and Europe. In terms of product range, they include health supplements, health products, health drinks and products relating to cosmetics and skin treatments.

6. Environmental Technologies and Products

Australia is a leading “Green Economy”, the current Government is particularly supportive to the environmental sectors. There are many exporting opportunities, especially to Asian markets. These include Green technology products, some of them are in good demand in China such as water management products, air pollution products, software for engineers. Also specific waste management products and technologies have also been exported to Asia, mainly Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and China.

What Assistances Can you obtain in Australia?

Austrade is a good starting point, you can visit their website or visit their office to obtain information about suppliers, you can then contact the interested exporters / suppliers to request sample products or visit them for more details.

A second assistance is you should consider applying for export grants, these are also available from Austrade, and also individual State export grants are also available depending on the industry. There are also grants available for innovations and technology related products and services. Grants depends on the item you intend to export, and also destinations, the Australian Goverment is currently promoting certain industries, and take wine industry an an example, grants are available both from Federal and State Governments because it is a key industry for several Australian States.

some grants are designed as dollar-for-dollar funding, this means, the Government will pay for your expenses, and this can be quite substantial, you can claim on expenses such as marketing expenses, business trips, exhibitions, and staffing for sales and marketing activities. Other grans are more designed as a lumpsum payment, and this can range from $20,000 to $200,000, or even more, depending on the industry.

There are only limited grants accepted and approved each year, and most grants are only available once or twice for applications - if you wish to apply for a grant, you do need to go through a thorough application process, where your business plans, marketing plans will be assessed in details including many interviews. Nevertheless, it is a good option for those wishing to enter the lucrative exporting market, and there are also business professionals who can assist in prepaaring for the documents for grant application.

The Australian economy has certainly changed considerably last 10 years, it has moved from primarily a commodities / raw materials country to a diversified economy, over time, we foresee more and more opportunities will arise, especially from the “New Economy” sectors such as IT, heathcare and environmental related industries.

If you are totally bewildered and having difficulty in selling your product after implementing so many marketing and promotional strategies you may want to consider the following reasons why consumers don’t buy.  You should then carefully evaluate how you can do better at marketing your products in a way that converts consumers into your customers which is the true measurement for the success of your marketing strategy.

1.    Your targeted consumers are not fully aware of your product

Consumers cannot purchase products they are not aware of. If you are aggressively marketing, but consumers are unfamiliar about your product, it is time to evaluate why your marketing campaigns are not working and save your hard earned money.

Invest smartly from your allocated marketing budget as this will become a major component of most small businesses’ operating expenses. Firstly ask, are you targeting the right demographics with your message? Is your message reaching a specific audience that would have a strong interest in your product?

It’s important to remember that the answer may not be more marketing as the problem could lie with where you are marketing at, and what marketing vehicles (print, internet, TV, radio, events and trade shows) you are using. All marketing vehicles will have a specific concentration of a particular group of niche audiences (age, gender, occupation, nationality and income level). By talking to the publishers and promotional organisers of these marketing vehicles before you commit to advertising, you should be able to gain valuable insight into what type of medium is best suited for your product as you can narrow down the demographics of your targeted audience.

2.    Perhaps your Consumers don’t understand the benefits of your product

Consumers don’t buy products solely based on price. This does not mean that they don’t factor in price, of course they do. However, the modern consumer will effectively buy based on the benefits your product brings to them.

If you asked your customers what the benefits of your product are, would they know? This is important as it is an indication of whether the marketing messages are getting through to your target market. Your marketing ideas must be centered on the benefits of your product in order for consumers to take an interest in considering purchasing your product. Nobody knows the benefits of a particular product better than its maker or supplier. List the many benefits of your product and for maximum impact only use the top three benefits to capture the essence of what your product has to offer. If you use more three benefits, your marketing messages may become too cluttered and superficial to the consumer.

Make comparisons between the product that you manufacture and with those of your competitors. Then determine whether your product has any comparative advantages over your competitors. This will give your consumers something extra to think about when deciding whether to buy your product or that of your oppositions.

3.    Consumers may feel that your product has no perceived value.

Consumers will not buy if they perceive your product as having no intrinsic value. Many marketers have tried using various clever and obscure messages in their marketing strategy. This does not create consumer interest or curiosity and may often lead to the rejection of the product you are trying to promote.

Most consumers these days are quite savvy and will constantly put a value to your product. You can use the benefits of your product to create a perceived value of quality, reliability and customer satisfaction. It is this perceived value that will eventually drive the sales of your product. If a customer cannot see value they will simply pass by your product without any hesitation.

You must create that perceived value in your marketing message and if you are able to back that up with real value to maintain that perception and you will have successfully established a brand loyalty where your customers buy again and again. Always remember the golden rule of marketing: the first purchase is based on perceived value which may be quite different from the actual value of the product. It is the actual value which influences the customer’s decision to continue buying from you.

4.    Customers do not see how your product meets their needs.

We have talked about benefits and perceived value, now let’s talk about needs. Do consumers know how your product meets their needs? Does it make their life easier (convenient), save them time (faster) and make them feel better (increase in self esteem or social status)? What need does your product satisfy? You must be effective in telling your consumers that product provide solutions to their needs!

Don’t make them guess or come up with the answer on their own, tell them direct and help educate them on why they need your product. Hence when a customer buys your product, they are often buying a moment that has already been visualized in their mind by your marketing message. 

5.    Your product is not accessible to them.

Consumers cannot buy what is not available to them. If they hear about your product but it is not accessible, you can forget these potential sales! This important step may be overlooked by many businesses. Consumers want ease in obtaining and using your product. Do not simply assume that your wonderful marketing message is enough to entice the customers directly to you. You should carefully consider the most cost effective distribution channel for your product. Investigate the profitability of placing your product in different locations using many commission-based resellers to increase your overall sales volume? Perhaps it is more convenient to your customers if you are able to offer the product online or through telesales. Evaluate the accessibility of your product and see if you need to make changes.

What could I do, I sent out thousands of applications went to no less than 100 interviews, but it was really going around the circle, filling in the same application forms even taking assessments, and going through over and over again, it was a frustrating 18 months experience.

I can understand what it feels like during unemployment; as that was ultimately what made me and many people decided to change our career path.

We launched our own business in 2006, it was hard initially, but tell you what, the big difference is expection and the positive attitide. When seeking a job, you would be naturally be more pessmistic as basically you are doing the same thing every day (finding positions on Internet, send out CVs); it’s a routine job, and very disappointed when you found out most of positions advertised were there anyway!

Being a business owner during a start-up phase is different; although equally challenging; you have a much higher expectation and much more passion about what you do, and you will look forward to the new day. The reward is especially different whether big or small, the very first contract you have won, the first sale you have made through your first product, the first customer that walked through your door in the morning.

Starting up a new business, contrary to what many think does not require much (or even any) capital at all, in fact, if you put in the perspective of the time cost; I would say, it is much cheaper than finding  a job. You could spend 3 hours in traffic and waiting time for a 30 minutes interview; or you could spend 3 hours building a new product or send out 100 e-mails to prospective clients.

I am now into my 3rd year of business, we had walked through the tough times of 2008 & 2009 like everyone else, and looking back now, I am glad I have made the decision when I was retrenched, although it was very hard at the beginning; at least I do not need to worry about losing my job everyday now.

<a href=”http://www.creditmagic.org/”><img src=”http://www.creditmagic.org/styles/creditmagic/img/creditmagiclogo.gif” alt=”Creditmagic: Helping You Build up Credit” title=”Creditmagic: Helping You Build up Credit” width=”271″ height=”101″></a>

You must understand why credit score carries so much importance for you. This score is worked out based on items that are listed on your credit report. The higher is your score, the better it is for you. If you have a good score, then it’s simpler for you to qualify for credit at lower interest rates and affordable terms and conditions.

Your credit score is made up of the following information:

• 35% of your score is based on your payment history. The payment history is affected by both timely payments and defaults.
• 30% of your score is based on your outstanding balances. This can be any type of debt that is yet to be paid.
• 15% of your credit score is based on the time frame for which you had a confirmed credit history
• 10% of your score is based on the number of credit checks or credit inquiries made.
• 10% of your score is based on the different types of credit that you carry.

If you have been recently turned down for a loan, the most probable reason is your unsatisfactory credit score. You might even face problems in getting a telephone connection if you are suffering from poor credit.        

You should know why having a good score is essential for you. Lenders would hesitate to extend money to you if you have poor credit. Poor credit results from both non-payments and delayed payments. Whenever lenders come across a faulty payment history, they express doubts about your ability to pay the loan back on time. As a result, your chances of qualifying for a loan go down. A FICO score of 700 or over is considered as a good or excellent score. On the other hand, a FICO score of less than 580 is regarded as a bad score.

Even if you qualify for a loan with poor credit, you would be charged an extremely high interest rate along with other costly fees.    

A good score offers you higher flexibility so that you can save some money. In contrast, a bad score makes it hard to qualify for a loan. You are assumed to be a risky borrower and more often than not, your loan application would be refused by lenders.
It’s always important that you try to improve your score. Pay off your existing balances instead of piling up additional debt. Make regular payments. This would eventually better your score. You can seek the assistance of a credit repair professional. He can tell you how you can enhance your credit by formulating a plan.  

In countries like Australia, the average temperate has been increasing over the past 10 years; we have seen record breaking hot temperatures in Australia almost every year.

A far worse health risk is also emerging in Australia, which is skin cancer. Skin cancer is already one of the most lethal cancers in Australia; despite of the increasing awareness towards sun protection; skin cancer remains as a major health risk in Australia; and it is actually getting worse due to the climate change.

Are Sun Screens really enough?

Although sun screens have used by families for many years; sun screens have limitations in terms of sun protections; many consumers, especially children also find sun screens difficult to apply; some even have skin allergies developed from sun screens.

Moreover, cost is also rising for sun screens; a family can easily spend over $300 a year just on sun lotions; and this is rising simply because summer is getting warmer and warmer, and in many regions.

At the same time, it seems that the UV index has also increased; evidenced by the number of teenagers and young adults dying from skin cancer; which means normal sun screens which offer SPF 30+ protection may not be sufficient anymore.

For many consumers, they also do not realize the difference between UVA & UVB, some cheaper sun screens actually only offer protection to UVA only; unable to block any skin damages fro UVB.

An Alternative to Sun Screens

New innovative products have been developed worldwide; Sunny Sleevez is one of them which has invented a great product that offers more sun protection; and at less cost.

The best way to protect yourself against sun damages is simple; just cover yourself! But as we know, T-Shirts are not really effective; and you don’t want to wear long sleeves shirts in the middle of summer.

Sunny Sleevez’s products are essentially “Long Sleeves” blended with sun protection components; which can offer SPF 50+ sun protection; as opposed to T-shirts which just provide SPF 10 or less protection. Even sun screens can only provide SPF 30 or less protections.

The best advantages are:

·         Sunny Sleevez is very easy to use; you just need to wear them as you go out to the sun; and customers are also using them to offer specific protections such as arms and shoulders while driving.

It is very simple concept; you do not need to spend time applying sun lotions every 2 hours anymore; and you do not need to worry about skin allergies.

Another fact is, sun screens takes 20 minutes to become effective and offer enough barrier on skin; many children & parents do not realize this fact; and only apply them right before the kids go out to play in the sun; in fact, this means they are actually fully exposed.

With Sunny Sleevez, the protection is immediate as soon as you put them on; it is very convenient to use. They also come with different designs, which another unique point about this product; they are also easy to wash; cost-wise, it is close to the cost for one tube of sun screen; and can be used over and over again.

Some consumers are also wearing Sunny Sleevez for partial sun protections; such as Asian female drivers who will wear then while they are driving; and protect their arms to prevent sun tan and sun damage.

About Sunny Sleevez

Sunny Sleevez are chemical free, fabric-based sun blockers that children and babies simply love to wear.

They provide SPF50+ levels of protection from harmful ultraviolet rays in colorful, exciting style. Sunny Sleevez is a Los Angeles based company founded by Dashiel Stainthorp, a mother who was very concerned about the toxicity, messiness and repetitive expenses associated with chemical based sunscreens. Sunny Sleevez provides an entertaining and green solution that allows our young people to safely enjoy the great outdoors. To find out more about Sunny Sleevez please visit http://sunnysleevez.com.

I have always wanted to launch a report dedicated to this industry as it is a fast growing industry, and my guess was correct, out of the 200 firms we have researched on, there are less than 10 companies not hiring at moment, what a big contrast compare to other industries!

Furthermore, many of these companies are both national & international companies; and international recruitment is certainly on the rise especially in Asia and South America.

US environmental companies are global leaders in many segments; especially water resources management; which include planning, development and implementation of water resources technologies. Urban planning, energy management are also excellent areas that US companies are able to export.

Interestingly, and not realized by many; environmental engineering firms are great start points if you want to export or commercialize your green technologies; they are at the front of clients; which include large corporations & government agencies that rely on their expertise. If you have an revolutionary technology, you should certainly contact environmental engineering firms; often, they have new business development divisions even technology development operations to test your products and see if your products have potential to reach the end market.

Our USA Environmental Engineering Companies Guide is now available from http://researchwhitepaper.com

Many have compared Canada & Australia as likely cities, both have made themselves to most livable countries in the world; I am not going to comment on the ranking as frankly speaking, I think the ranking works on some some strange system that nobody understands.

However, Canada has a number unique advantages to Australia. First, I am not afraid of cold, and it’s not really that cold in Vancouver anyway, it did go down to -7 while I was there, and that was as cold as you can get!

Canada, being right next to the big USA has so many advantages (and maybe some disadvantages); on the way coming over from USA; we could see lots of ships lining up, and we are talking about RECESSION!! The scale of economy is amazing; I had counted number of cargo ships arriving; it was a huge line; and Canada had benefited a lot because of the transportation cost from US is bugger all as they say in Australia. This advantage has helped Canada to source goods at reasonable price, the general cost of living in Canada is much lower than in Australia.

You may say property is very expensive, but it’s comparable to Sydney, I will say the property price in Vancouver is somewhere between Melbourne and Sydney, but not as expensive as Sydney, in some areas; it is more like Brisbane price. It has gone up a lot, which means, a lot of folks in Vancouver would rather rent, but if you look at the interest rate, it is much lower than Australia; and bank fees are also lower than in Australia; it is quite easy to switch banks, and quite a few folks here also do lots of business with USA, which means they can get loans from USA which are typically lower than Canada.

Economy wise is very interesting, Australia has been on spotlight for 2 reasons worldwide: 1) Better employment rate, but many do feel that it is a Government’s show, and real unemployment rate in Australia is probably around 9% to 10%; as a lot of jobs accounted for are basically contractor jobs. I think Canada’s unemployment rate is comparable to Australia, it has been impacted more bacause it;s major customer is USA. 2) But inflation in Australia is getting out of control, inflation is not a problem in Canada and USA, and in fact, it has never been a problem in North America; at least not for essential goods and consumer goods. This makes living in North America much easier for families especially.

Australia is a lovely place to live, but cost has gone up beyond one’s imagination! I am very shocked when I arrived in Canada & USA to see the price had hardly changed since 10 years ago when I lived here! People are complaining in Vancouver that bus fare had gone up from $1.00 to $2.00 over the past 8 years! Ha! How about in Australia? Bus fare had jumped 3 times last 8 years! You can’t even find a place to eat-out in Australia for a family for under $30!!! (apart from fast foods), you can have a nice Dim Sum or Japanese Meal in Vancouver for under $30!

So comes to the bottom, why did Australia become so expensive?

The biggest problem is we are being hit by the Climate Change, the drought had destroyed Australia’s agricultural industry. It means we are facing shortage of food supply; plus Australia is very remote, the transportation cost is double if not more compared to from Asia to North America (even though the distance is actually shorter to Australia) - this is hurting Australians.

The 2nd problem is the market size; where we have many duopoly or monopoly industries such as supermarkets and telecommunications; average supermarket item in Australia is one of the most expensive in the world; and telco charges is amongst the world’s top 20 most expensive, and definitely the most expensive in developed worlds. Banking fees in Australia is also the highest in the developed worlds.

Although income maybe slightly higher in Australia, it does not make much difference after tax and all the hidden taxes in our goods and services.

Therefore, out of all these comparions, it seems Vancouver has a reason to beat Australian cities as the world’s most livable cities from the cost point of view; and also lower crime rate, and more culturally harmonious society.

Sydney & Melbourne are also great cities; but when people are struggling to pay grocery bills everyweek; they will not find these cities as attractive as before, it’s a real shame, and we really hope more competition will be allowed in Australia so that they can make these cities more affordable.