Is the call of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in the Philippines within the principles of the true meaning of Jihad.
I come from Mindanao where five percent of its population is composed of Muslims of diverse ethnicity. This is something for me. As a Christian, I have experienced living with them. It was difficult for me to understand their manner of living and customs. It was perfectly all right with me. But when the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Mindanao, a conglomerate of separatist group of Muslims, started to hostage and bomb innocent civilians away and justify it in the name of Jihad, I began to become more confused understanding the word. While the situation in Mindanao became worse than ever, my own understanding of Jihad has been more clouded by biases.
It is along this objective that I wanted to make my own inquiry as to the real meaning of this word. This paper is divided into two parts: First part is the discussion on Jihad. I would utilize and cite some authorities in order to know the meaning of the word. My analysis would be carefully intertwined along the presentation. The second part of the paper would eventually lead to analyzing the activities of the MILF vis–vis the ideals and principles of Jihad. Each section of this paper would be introduced by a categorical question to guide me in my discussion.
What is the basis of Jihad?
For me, the best way to understand the meaning of a word is to understand the basis of its existence. Knowing what the word means identifying its literal and closest translation and to find where it is being anchored. According to Islam.Net Jihad is defined as “a sincere and noticeable effort (for good); an all-true and unselfish striving for spiritual goodness.”
Based on my readings, there are two forms of Jihad: internal struggle and external struggle. The internal struggle means the daily struggle of oneself to be good. This is called Jihad fi sabeel Allah or the struggle in the path of God. It could be interpreted therefore as a struggle towards oneself — the struggle to be good, in words, actions or deeds. For example, when I do my prayer, go to temple, do good, then I am doing Jihad. It is the self-purification. It is a constant daily struggle to do well and avoid sin or amr bi al-ma’ruf wa nahy ‘an al-munkar. According to Kaltner (1999), “Jihad comes from an Arabic root whose primary sense refers to the act of putting forth effort to achieve some objective, [such as] the effort each person must exert in order to live his or her life as a good Muslim and avoid the temptation to sin.”
The literal translation of Jihad is that it is “a sincere and noticeable effort (for good); an all-true and unselfish striving for spiritual goodness.” It is interesting to note however that many dictionaries supply a lot of definitions on the word. Mostly it is now commonly considered to mean ‘holy war.’ But, I would not utilize it as my starting definition. I personally believe that it is merely a form of misinterpreting Jihad and merely puts the word under a bad light. I would be explaining this misguided definition later.
The second basis for Jihad is the use of physical force or fighting. It means every Muslim must reach out to anyone outside himself, whether he is Muslim or not. It is his obligation to show his responsibility to others and guide then to the path of Allah. For example, it is a Muslim’s obligation to show others their misdeeds, and bring them to the right path.
Based on my own understanding, guiding others to right path could be done in two ways: one is through “soft persuasion” and the second is “strong persuasion” or persuasion by force. What do I mean by soft persuasion? Soft persuasion includes those ways wherein one tries to show others the path to Allah by means of words (preaching) and writings (literary). For example, in order to show to others the path to Allah, he must utilize the might of his speeches or writings. He is able to encourage others to exercise Jihad, which is directed within oneself.
The second type of persuasion in Jihad is the utilization of force. For example, when words and writings fail, one maybe able to go to the extent of utilizing one’s physical force (al qitaal) in order to prove one’s point and achieve justice. For example, when one person’s dwelling has been plundered and his rights as a person has been trampled by others, then it is his obligation to wage Jihad, which would utilize force in order to get what is due him. This could also be applicable to nations. When a particular state or country is being attacked or invaded, then Jihad may be called upon.
As Perrazo (2003) considered, the only circumstance under which Jihad might utilize the use of warfare is when it is only a defensive response to an attack.
Moreover the Islamic Online gave the foundation of launching a Jihad only on two accounts: First, when in self-defense, especially when Muslim Ummah are being attacked. Second is when another state is oppressing a portion of its people.
Therefore, in my own analysis, the second type of Jihad, which is a struggle to persuade others to the path of Allah by allowing the use of force, has now been the root cause of many misinterpretations. This has become the interesting part of the issue.
The subjective element of the interpretation could be shaped by one’s frame of mind, environment (culture and society), and even ethnic affiliations and so on. For example, a Muslim guerilla in Mindanao or in Aceh may have a different interpretation of the struggle to fight under given circumstances. Even scholars and cause-oriented groups fashion their own interpretation of the word in order to justify their own cause - be it political, military, cultural, religious or personal in nature. The error however is based merely not only in limiting and thwarting the most noble and pure intention of the word. What happen is simply trying to do act and make the definition later on rather than the other way around. No wonder why you see people blasting innocent civilians away and interpret it as a form of Jihad. For example, the Ahlus Sunnah Wal Jamaa’ah Association in Australia has been strongly insistent that Jihad does not involve daily struggle rather it is only al qitaal. The group gave the linguistic origin of the word to be al-Juhud and al-Jihaad which is “to sacrifice to ones utmost according to a person’s ability with strength, in order to obtain the beloved or to avert the hated.”
Does Jihad mean ‘Holy War?’
According to Hassan (2001), there has been a misinterpretation by many scholars to equate Jihad with “holy war.” This also verified by the Islamic Organization who contends that Allah has never been promoting Jihad by means of war. Islam promotes peaceful means in order to bring order in the society. Fighting is only a last recourse when there is not anymore a possibility of eliminating oppression but by force.
In Surah 22, verses 39-40 of the Koran, it is stated:”Permission [to fight] is granted to those who are being persecuted, since injustice has befallen them, and GOD is certainly able to support them [with victory].” They were evicted from their homes unjustly, for no reason other than saying, “Our Lord is God.” If it were not for God’s supporting of some people against others, monasteries, churches, synagogues, and masjids [mosques] - where the name of God is commemorated frequently - would have been destroyed. Absolutely, God supports those who support Him. God is Powerful, Almighty.
Under the above category, I could see that the first requisite for utilizing al qitaal is only when there is an imminent oppression. In this case, when force is employed it is merely because of self-defense and not to ultimately to initiate fighting. Therefore the only war condoned by the Quran is a war of self-defense.
In Surah 4, verses 74-75, it is stated:” Those who readily fight in the cause of God are those who forsake this world in favor of the Hereafter. Whoever fights in the cause of God, then gets killed, or attains victory, we will surely grant him a great recompense. Why should you not fight in the cause of God when weak men, women, and children are imploring: “Our Lord, deliver us from this community whose people are oppressive, and be You our Lord and Master.”
The second requisite for utilizing force is to guarantee that there should be no mere brutal and barbaric atrocities of any human being. This goes to say that civilians should not be included in the attack, on the condition that they do not attack, provoke or share directly in the war. The third requisite is that Muslims may never initiate hostilities, and God forbids aggression [2:190]. While the fighting continues, Muslims must dedicate themselves wholly to the war in order to bring things back to normal as quickly as possible, but the second the enemy sues for peace, hostilities must cease. [2:192]
The Misinterpretations on Jihad
Jihad does not actually mean war. Allah does not allow war. However, since many gave their own interpretations, the real meaning of the word tended to have been loosened. More often accounts of Western invasions and aggressions to the Muslim world intensified even more the position that the Jihad largely deals with a struggle to fight the invading forces and to bring an end to an injustice. The most recent examples we could get are the US led invasions on Afghanistan and Iraq. Because of this the military concept of struggle in Jihad had been called for and utilized in order to boost the morale of many Muslims.
Along this area, Jihad had been as an avenue to pursue once nationalistic interests over religious. They tend to consider Christians, Jews and any Muslim leaders seen to be too pro-Western and thus a threat to their interests. This has never been a new phenomenon. According to Philps (2001), historians say that the concept of Jihad as war died out during the flowering of Islamic civilization, but was awakened by the arrival of the crusader armies in the 11th century. Since then Jihad has focused on defending Islam from the assaults of the Christian powers or the godless communists who ruled the Soviet Union.
Therefore, I could not blame many Muslims for utilizing Jihad to justify their cause because of the history of oppressions coming from the Western World. The sad thing however was the Western World has been so much identified as a form of religious conquest.
Because of this, many Muslims today have turned themselves to become successful practitioners of Jihad interpreted with the political and military objectives. As a matter of fact, the United States capitalize on the word Jihad when it helped the Afghans took up arms against the Soviet army when it took over the country in 1979 and drove them out 10 years later. It was interesting to note that the Afghan mujahideen - it means those who wage Jihad - were hailed in the West as Cold War freedom fighters. Surprisingly, the militant Palestinians in the Gaza Strip during the 1970s, the PIJ-Shiqaqi faction, currently led by Ramadan Shallah in Damascus, are tagged as terrorists since they have been fighting for the cause of Palestine.
It should be noted however that what forced these Muslims to wage war and misuse the principles of Jihad is because of the imminent oppressions to their land. A classic example is the Israel-Palestinian conflict. Sheikh Faysal Mawlawi (2003) Deputy chairman of the European Council said that Jihad in the Cause of Allah against the Zionists who usurped the Palestinian lands and forcibly expelled the Palestinians from their own homes is an individual duty or Fard `Ayn on every capable Muslim in Palestine and its neighboring Muslim countries. The reason for that is to unify the stand in resisting the aggression launched by the Zionists who usurped the blessed land. Thus, Jihad is an individual duty on Egyptians, Syrians, Jordanians, Lebanese as well as all Muslim Arabs and non-Arabs till the Jewish occupation is brought to a halt. Personally, I think the call for Jihad by the Palestine in this sense may prove to be in the right tract. I am sure various accounts in the history of the Muslim world could attest to this.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front and Jihad
Calling for Jihad has been the prevailing call of many oppressed Muslims in the East. I believe the Palestinians may have the proper cause to do Jihad. However, there may have been groups that justify their wrongdoings under the struggle for Jihad.
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in Mindanao (southern part of the Philippines) has been struggling in the name of Jihad. They also justify their cause and objectives under it. The question it whether under the principles of Jihad are the MILF actions within the Jihad’s values? What is the founding principle of their Jihad?
The Moro Islamic Liberation Front started as a factional group after Hashim Salamat, its founding chairman, denounced the ways its mother group, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) made a bargain to create an Autonomous Region for Moslem Mindanao (ARMM) in 1996. More so, when Nur Misuari, his contemporary official in the MNLF, became the governor of the region, Salamat started to create his own party, the MILF. As of the moment, the group boasts its 12,500 active armed members.
Under the MILF, the call for the “Islamic State in Mindanao” was resurrected. Salamat outlined the group’s objectives, such as to 1) make supreme the Word of Allah, 2) gain the pleasure of Allah, 3) strengthen the relationship of man with his creator, 4) strengthen the relationship of man and man, 5) regain the illegally and immorally usurped legitimate and inalienable rights of the Bangsamoro people to freedom and self-determination, and 5) establish an independent state and government and implement Shari’ah (Islamic Law).
Salamat justified the struggle of the group as a result to the Philippines’ “illegal usurpation of their legitimate rights for freedom and self-determination of the Bangsa-Moro people. For them, they were the legitimate native inhabitants of the islands of Mindanao, Basilan Sulu and Palawan, independent hundreds of years before the Spain and the United States colonize the country. He also claimed that the United States helped the Philippines to create the newly created imperialist puppet succeeded in her plot to annex the Bangsamoro homeland when she was granted independence by the USA in 1946. For Salamat, the “Philippines has inherited and developed a deep hatred against Islam and the Muslim people.” The MILF group has not recognized the Philippine government in Mindanao to be legitimate, and they do not consider themselves Filipinos, instead Bangsa-Moro.
In a separate interview with Salamat, he claimed that the MILF group is stronger; ready to take up arms. The group had already acquired more sophisticated arms and trained more people to fight. According to Salamat, the Bangsa Moro consultative assembly attended by more than two million people vowed to arm their own selves. Salamat revealed that they are in the third phase of their “Moro Jihad.” The first phase was during the Spanish Invasion (1521-1898) 377 years; the second phase, against the American colonizers (1898-1946) 47 years; and against the Philippine crusade (1970 - present.) This has been the clear guideline of the group to wage an all out war against government of the Philippines. The MILF Jihad: An Evaluation
I would like to go back to the question whether the Jihad of the MILF is justifiable? Is it going along the principle of the Jihad posited by Islam? To answer these questions, there is a need to evaluate the actions by the MILF vis–vis the principles of Jihad initially presented. In order to carefully evaluate, I would like to go back to the two justifications to justify the launching of Jihad. First, there should be an element of self-defense or oppression. Second, no barbaric atrocities should be launched to innocent civilians, and third, there must be an avenue for conflict settlement and peace. Self-defense and oppression have indeed been the two favorite words of Salamat and Ed Kabalu (spokesperson of the MILF). Whenever there is an attack perpetrated by the groups, which slaughtered innocent civilians, they always tried to consider it as a form of self-defense and retaliatory measures to the offensive military strikes. MILF has been launching a series of attacks not only to military posts but to civilian communities as well. So far, more than ten bombings were attributed to the MILF group. In Davao City alone, the recent airport and seaport blasts killing and injuring around 200 civilians have been attributed to them. Then they tried to justify these acts as a form of self-defense. Although it has to be taken into considerations that most of the perpetrators of the attacks to civilian communities were the deployed station commanders whom according to Kabalu, they do not have control of. In this case, the actions by their field commanders are seen in the context of their own free will and volition to launch the attack. The objective to destroy is imminent, however the justification of the act to be in line with the principle of Jihad is rather obscure.
The third requisite goes for the avoidance of hostilities and aggressions. Simply there reasons for their acts of atrocities have been borne out of their quest for an independent state in Mindanao. The government has earlier accommodated the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) and thus formed an autonomous region in Mindanao. When Salamat did not gain the attention but Misuari, he made his own faction group the MILF and resume the call for an independent state resurrecting the issue all over again.
As earlier provided, if the enemy looks for peace, hostilities must cease. It could be recalled that the MILF once negotiated with the government in 1997. But for Salamat, it was aimed to expose the Philippine government’s deceptive design during the negotiation process. This particular rationale reflects their assumption that the Philippine government was not honest in helping the Muslims in Mindanao. When the government was busy trying to solve corruption problems (such as the embezzlement of funds by government leaders, including Misuari), the MILF group became busy recruiting Muslims to join his cause. There were even speculations that the MILF was only utilizing the cease fire period to give them more time to train and recruit young Muslims (16-60 years old) in the area.
As of today, efforts by the government to win their sympathy and calls for peace and dialogues have proven futile. Although, they have been calling for ceasefires on the others, they are seen to be attacking towns and military posts within these periods. House national defense committee chairperson Congressman Prospero Pichay said peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) are proving futile and the government should finally decide on branding the Muslim secessionist group as a terrorist organization. He said “all indications” showed the MILF, which had been embroiled in intense fighting with government troops since Feb.11, are “terrorists.” The documents seized form a fallen rebel camp in Pikit, North Cotabato showed the MILF was “definitely strengthening their arsenal” by buying mortars and rocket propelled grenades.”.
One idea traces back to the group’s objective shifting from “negotiating” to “destabilizing” and “humiliating” the Arroyo government in which the group believed to be identified with the American interests. The group has been a witness to what happened to the Moro National Liberation Front (MLF) did. It views earlier efforts by the previous group to be useless especially when it just ended up MNLF’s key leader, Nur Misuari, to be charged with corruption and mismanagement of government funds. This time they become paranoid to any government negotiations. Ironically, despite the rhetoric ultimatums made by the Philippine government, and the tactical truce made by the MILF the seems to be a deadlock in this sense.
Conclusion
It is true that “Muslims are called by the Qur-an and the example of the Prophet of Islam to struggle for peace through all available means. However the struggle being brought forth by the MILF is a politico-military one, i.e., under the guise of Jihad. It has already alluded into the principles and values of the real Jihad when they started to kidnap civilians to be used as human shield, bomb civilians and attack towns in the region. They are merely doing terrorism activities.
It should be remembered that Jihad does not bear any action relating to terrorism. It is to be emphasized that terrorism against the innocent civilians, whether through aggression or suicidal means, is under no circumstances permissible in Islam. Islam encourages the oppressed people to struggle for their liberation and it commands other Muslims to help those who are oppressed and suffering, but Islam does not allow, under any circumstance, terrorism against non-combatants and innocent people. Terrorism is not Jihad, it is Fasad (mischief). It is against the teachings of Islam.
They are indeed examples of people who use their twisted arguments to justify terrorism for their causes, but it has no justification: Allah says: “When it is said to them: ‘Make not mischief on the earth,’ they say: ‘Why, we only want to correct things.’ Indeed they are the mischief doers, but they realize (it) not.” (Al-Baqarah: 11-12).
References
Dixon, Jeff “What Does Islam Say about Jihad, Holy War?” Touch and Change.Com, Available. Online 06/06/03.
Garrido, Marco “The Evolution of Philippine Muslim Insurgency,” Asia Times, March 6, 2003. Online. Available 05/03/03.
IISCA: “The Meaning of Jihad: Both from Linguistically and from the Shariah,”2003 Annual Dawah Conference, May 2003, Available. Online 05/27/03.
Islam Online Net, “Ask About Islam,” Available. Online 05/30/03.
Islamanswers.net: “What is the Meaning of Jihad?” 06/05/03.
Perrazo, John. “The Meaning of Jihad,” Frontpagemag.com. November 2002, ” target=”_blank”>http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=4758> 06/05/03.
“Vantage Point: Meaning of Jihad Gets Lost,” October 11, 2001. 06/05/03.
Philips, Alan “How God’s struggle became a war,” Available. Online 05/04/03.
Terrorism Resources, Available. Online 05/06/03.
Islam Online: Is it an obligation to join Jihad in Palestine. Available. Online 05/06/03.
“Interview with Hashim Salamat,” 23rd issue of Nida’ul Islam,, March 14, 2003. Online. Available. 05/4/03/
“Salamat Hashim Speaks The Muslim separatist rebel leader wants ‘The East Timor Formula,’” AsiaWeek, Volume 26, No. 12, March 31, 2000, Online. Available. 05/4/03.
Mahmood, Kazi “Interview: Hashim Salamat, Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Leader,” Islam Online. Islam Org, February 07, 2001, Online. Available 5/5/03. Sheikh Abu Zahir, “The Moro Jihad: Continuous Struggle for Islamic Independence in Southern Philippines,” Islam Org. Online. Available. March 14, 200305/4/03. MILF raids Zambo town, seizes mayor’s family, Suntar, Available. Online 06/05/03.
Solon Orders Government to Decide on MILF Terror Tag,” Inq7. March 14, 2003. Net. Online. Available. 05/04/03.
US Warns Against U.S. Citizens To Use Caution in the Philippines,” CNN. March 7, 2003. Online. Available. 05/5/03.
About the Author
Currently a Monbukagakusho (Japanese government) scholar; about to finish his second masters degree in International Relations (IR) in Japan. His first masters degree program was on public administration (MPA) focusing on the area of Social Capital Formation of the Families of Overseas Filipino Workers. He hopes to achieve a greater understanding on international labor migration in particular, taking into consideration an assessment of Philippine Labor Migration. His current thesis is on the socio-economic security of Overseas Filipina workers in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Japan and Singapore. His current courses in the International University of Japan (IUJ) prompted him to have a better understanding and perspective on the diverse issues in the field of peace, security, and international relations.
Are you one of those people who claim ‘not to have a creative
bone in your body?’ If so, you’re going to love this newsflash:
Yes, you ARE creative!
Why am I so confident in telling you this? For the simple fact
that I’ve observed countless people in my life friends,
family, and co-workers make this same claim only to later
realize how wrong they were! Oh, and guess what? I used to be
one of those “I’m not creative” people too.
I’ll tell you what. If you still don’t believe my claim that,
Yes, you ARE Creative!, I challenge you with the following
exercise.
3 Ways to Explore Your Creativity
I’m a firm believer that you can easily tap into your creativity
by expressing yourself through creative arts, crafts, or
writing. I want you to choose any one of these mediums for this
exercise.
Next, I’m going to prompt you with a project idea that you must
agree to spend at least 15-30 minutes of your time on.
Okay, are you ready? Here goes…
If you choose:
ART
Draw, sketch, paint, or collage a picture that incorporates
these five elements (realistically or abstractly):
- Door
- Water
- Animal
- Time
- Currency
CRAFTS
Using craft sticks, papers, yarns, fabrics, or found objects, do
one of the following:
- Design an easy craft project for a pre-school class.
- Pretend you’re a world famous artist and build a 3D sculpture
for an upcoming gallery show. (Keep in mind that anything you
create will be adored and snatched up by your fans, even if you
think it looks like junk.)
- Create an abstract ornament to be auctioned off at your
favorite charity.
WRITING
Using up to 100 words, write about the following:
- Your autobiography.
- A major event that altered your life course.
- Give advice to your ten-year-old self.
Now I’m going to sit here and wait until you get back from doing
one of these creativity-inducing exercises. Once you finish,
read on…
(ah, ah no looking ahead!)
What Happened?
Did you really do it? Did you sincerely put forth the time and
effort (15-30 minutes) on one of the creativity exercises I
prompted you with above? What happened when you did? Did you
have fun? Did you create something new and unusual? Did you come
away from it thinking, “Wow, I didn’t know I had it in me!”
Chances are that the process was positive and you gained some
interesting insight into your ability to be creative. See what
happens when your mind is focused and you’re open to new
creative experiences? Amazing things take place once you stop
believing that you aren’t creative, and start practicing new
ways to allow your creativity to surface.
So now what? Well, after you stop jumping up and down for joy,
this new insight into your creative self should encourage you to
keep moving forward to discovering your true creative potential.
Revisit some of my creativity exercises if you need more prompts
to keep you going.
I guarantee that the more attention you put towards your
creativity, the more amazing results you’ll get in return. No
‘bones’ about it!
Copyright Chris Dunmire 2005. All rights reserved.
www.creativity-portal.com
About The Author: Chris Dunmire is the driving force behind the
Creativity Portal Web site, where visitors are encouraged to
explore and express their creativity through free art and craft
projects, writing prompts, and other creativity-inducing
activities. To learn more, visit the Creativity Portal at
http://www.creativity-portal.com and subscribe to its
muse-tickling newsletter.
For some inspirative art check out
http://kickside89.freestarthost.com
Selling your home may be the most daunting project that you’ll ever undertake! But did you know that these 10 steps to selling your home can add thousands of dollars to the selling price and save you headaches in the long run? You should have a checklist of things to do in preparation for selling your home-from the time you make that all important decision to the moment you sign your name on the dotted line. Here’s a ten step plan that will help selling your home go more smoothly.
Step One: Have Your Home Formally Inspected and Appraised By a Professional
Any Realtor will tell you that the key to selling your home is to offer it at the right price, and the best way to come up with that price is to get a professional to tell you what your house is worth. An initial home inspection will also help you determine what, if any, problems you will need to repair before your house is marketable.
Step Two: Readjust Your Thinking
The moment you decide to sell, you need to stop looking at your home as YOUR home. In other words, you’ll need to put aside your sentiments and emotions and see your home as a house - a piece of merchandise that you’re preparing for sale. Take a brutal, honest look at your home, inside and out, and make a note of anything that is less than perfect.
Step Three: Make Repairs and Improvements
The number one rule of thumb in doing work on your house is: improve when you buy, repair when you sell. In most cases, you won’t come anywhere near recovering the cost of any major improvements that you make just before you sell. This is the time to take care of those repairs that you’ve put off, such as fixing broken roof tiles, repairing gutters and trim, or taking care of that loose hinge that makes the shutter on the bedroom window hang crooked.
Step Four: Take Care of the Cosmetics
This is also the time to consider repainting, inside and out. You’ll get the biggest return on your investment on cosmetic improvements - a new paint job, new carpeting, or new landscaping.
Step Five: Decide If You’re Going to Sell Your Home Yourself, Or Hire a Realtor
There are definite pros and cons to either option. In general, if you need a quick sale, or if you don’t have the time to put into marketing your home yourself, a Realtor will likely be your best option. Realtors have the expertise to market your home to the right buyers, and the time to do it right. If, on the other hand, you have time to sell, or want to save the commission fee that you’d pay a Realtor, there are many options available to the sell-it-yourselfer.
Step Six: Do Some Market Research
Whether you’re selling your home on your own or contracting with a Realtor or real estate agent to sell for you, you should do a bit of market research. The price you list your home for will be the single most important factor in how quickly it sells, or if it sells at all. Find out how much similar homes in your neighborhood have sold for in recent weeks, and adjust your expectations accordingly. Remember, even if your home has been appraised far above the prevailing community prices, pricing it according to the appraisal rather than the neighborhood is a poor business decision. Buyers buy location as much as they do ‘house’.
Step Seven: Set the Stage
Depersonalize your house. Put away all personal memorabilia. Take family photos off the walls and mantelpieces and tuck knick-knacks away out of sight. After you’ve put away all your personal accents, take a look around. If it’s bare, perk things up with a few potted plants or ‘neutral’ accents. Remember, the more potential buyers can visualize the house as “theirs,” the better chance you’ll have for a sale.
Step Eight: Advertise Your House for Sale
If you’ve decided to sell on your own, you’ll need to advertise. Get your house listed in local ‘Home for Sale’ magazines, place ads in the local newspaper, put up a sign on your lawn and at the end of the street, and put your home up on the web on a sell-your-own-home site. See ( forsalebyowner.com ) as an example.
Step Nine: Hold an Open House
Open houses are a great way to have your house seen by many people at once. Plan a weekend open house when you first put your house on the market, and make sure that the Realtors in your area are aware of it so that they can bring their buyers to see your house.
Step Ten: Have Inspections Done Beforehand So That You Will Have All the Paperwork On Hand
While some buyers will still insist on having their own inspections done, many will be grateful to be spared the expense and time. It’s one more thing that can expedite the selling process once the offer is made.
It’s not impossible to have smooth transaction throughout the process of selling your home-it only takes a little planning and organization!
Brian Shelton makes it easy to sell your house fast. To claim your free
report entitled “How To Sell Your House In 7 Days or Less”, visit the http://www.HouseSoldIn7Days.com/
Let me ask you a couple of questions -
* Would you like to be able to offer your customers hundreds of quality products that are related to what you currently sell without physically stocking or shipping them yourself?
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* What if your store was open 24 hours every day of the year and made sales to customers all over the World without you having to lift a finger?
You would be making money while you slept…
Wealthy people get wealthy while they sleep.
They do certain things during the day in order to set up systems that allow them to make money 24 hours a day, every day of their lives.
This is true Financial Freedom!
Well maybe we had better look a little deeper into how to set up some affiliate programs on your website, and even in your offline marketing.
Affiliate Programs are one of the most powerful methods ever devised for the average entrepreneur or Business person to make a fortune with ease. The trouble is, most people fail to make any serious money because the don’t follow some simple principles that work consistently when they are applied correctly.
So what is an Affiliate Program and why would you want to use them in your local business?
It is a system of marketing products and services that enables a merchant to sell to a much bigger market than they could ever hope to reach on their own from their local shop-front.
By paying a commission ranging from 1% for hard goods (Books, pots and pans, mobile phones, etc.) to 70% or more for digital products (eBooks, downloadable software, etc.), the affiliate merchant can have potentially thousands of sales people all over the World selling their products or services for them, and who are only paid when they actually make a sale.
This differs from a regular sales force, where many sales people are paid a retainer and/or commission - they are paid (but not for long, usually) even if they produce no results.
Plus, the market for the merchant’s product or service covers millions more people than if they were restrict themselves to a local geographical area thanks to the global reach of the Internet.
To make sure you always get paid, most affiliate programs are administered by a third party such as Clickbank.com or Commission Junction.com. This way, you know you will get paid for any sales you make as long as you put your affiliate links into your marketing correctly.
The big affiliate networks have too much to lose to try to scam a few dollars out of you, so you know your checks will always arrive when they are due - wouldn’t it be nice if everyone paid up when they were supposed to?
In part 2 of this article, we’ll look at how to integrate affiliate marketing into your local business to increase your sales and profits…
Rocky Tapscott is the author a free 7 Part Mini Course “How To Build The Perfect Home Based Business Around Your Favorite Hobby, Pastime, Sport Or Skill” which uses 6 real life case studies to show how others have used a proven system to build profitable businesses around their favorite hobby.
Drop by http://www.hobbyandlifestyle.com/ecourse.html to grab your free copy.
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Thinking about buying that course how to get rich, how to market on the web, most of the courses you buy have information that you can get for free look around do diffrent searchs. 9 times out of 10 you will find what you are looking for without paying for it.
Most of the information they are trying to sell you, they give you for free in the emails they send you. Then when the course you paid for comes it is basically the emails all over again with some websites that advertise for free, and are automated to send to lots of websites all at once. Don’t pay for the infomation do a search its fast easy and free.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
David Lee is the owner of a new website who has done alot of rescearch in marketing on the web. He is a Senior Mortgage Specialist so all of his Marketing information is free, and supported my his mortgage bussiness.
www.d-r-l.com
Since I am not much of a fundamentals trader, I tend to stay away from government statistics. To me, they have very little value. As far as I can see, they are full of errors. Let me explain.
What’s wrong with traditional statistics? They fail to measure what is really going on in the economy because the measurements that are being taken today are completely out of synchronization with reality. In fact, it has become virtually impossible to measure some things, which if not measured, render a variety of economic conclusions virtually worthless. Let’s see what these “immeasurables” are.
Service Orientation
As some economies become service rather than production oriented, it becomes increasingly difficult to measure output. When a nation is primarily a producer of goods, it is relatively easy to measure work output in terms of tons of steel produced, number of automobiles manufactured, miles of road paved, board feet of lumber shipped, etc. But how do you measure the amount of information services provided? How do you measure the output of a think-tank? How do you measure the output of an accounting firm, a legal service, a bank, a financial adviser, or even a trader of futures, options, or shares? Does a trader have an output? Would you measure a trader’s output by the number of round turns he makes? What about the ones where he loses?
Technological Advances
New technology - leading to improvement in quality, quantity, or both, render it extremely difficult to measure productive output. Let me give you an example of what I mean. Forty years ago, Ford Motor Company employed 600 men at their plant just outside of Kansas City, Missouri. Today that plant is operated by just 6 men. What happened to 594 jobs? They have been taken over by robots. The use of robots has created a shorter but improved product cycle. A friend of mine, who is one of the 6 men who work in that plant, sits around doing nothing. He is bored stiff. He takes a notebook computer to work and plays games. But he has to be there in case one of the robots breaks down. The question is, how do you measure his productivity?
At the time I was born, it was common for women giving birth to stay in the hospital for ten days. Today they send women home after a day or two. I would consider that to be an advance in technology, and knowledge, wouldn’t you? Yet when a statistician looks at figures for hospital bed occupancy, he would see a decline.
I have another friend who operates a package delivery service. By careful use of a computer to monitor the amount of traffic on delivery routes at various times of day, his company has been able to increase the number of deliveries made while at the same time decrease the number of delivery vehicles and drivers needed to make those deliveries. Now I happen to think that’s a great improvement. Certainly it is making my friend a more wealthy and successful businessman. But his company’s productivity, as measured by delivery miles driven, would show a drop, and since he used fewer vehicles, that fact would show up as fewer vehicles sold, and less steel produced. Do you see where this is going? We are looking at a problem to which there is no solution. Our concept of a unit of output is all wrong, and there is no way to make it right. Technological advances, especially when they result in rapid quality improvements, are increasingly difficult to measure. Because of our inability to measure real output, our statistics will fail to reflect what is really happening in the economy.
Yet another problem created by technological advances is seen in the flood of new products and services being produced. Many jobs did not exist a few years ago. Neither did the products or services that produced those jobs.
If you are a trader, you probably have had first-hand experience with technological obsolescence. The computer you purchase for your trading is obsolete almost the day you purchase it. Within a year, the trading software you use has also become obsolete. Did you know that the average life of a computer model is now less than 12 months? And this is true for most consumer electronics. Thirty percent of sales are for products that did not exist a year earlier.
Years ago I gave up on the idea of buying a camera. No sooner did I obtain one than it became obsolete. The manufacturer came out with a new model that had more capabilities than the one I just purchased. It was maddening. It caused me great frustration. Worse than that, it irritated my lust gland (the lust gland shares a common duct with the greed gland). I wanted to buy a new camera at least once a year. The only cure was to not own a camera at all. I wonder what that does to the Gross Domestic Production figures. It is the same way today with software. I have had to learn two new operating systems in the past four years. I had to learn to use three different word processors in that same period of time. Is this progress?
Certainly I have made Microsoft Corporation’s output look better, but it has cost me a great deal of precious time to do it. I was able to write “Trading Optures and Futions” in just nine months, but it took me 1-1/2 years to produce it. Why? Because I had to simultaneously learn a new word processor and operating system to produce that manual. Both the operating system and the word processor are now considered obsolete. Is the struggle and fight to learn the quirks in software productive? My assistant and I have spent (wasted) numerous hours trying to get Microsoft Word to produce in a format we can live with. How do you measure all the lost time and money from the many conversions that have to be made because of the use of computers? In fact, many have questioned why all the billions of dollars invested in computers have failed to boost productivity and growth in the way they were supposed to.
Does anyone really know the answer?
Cyberspace
Next may be the most difficult output of all when it comes to measurement. How in the world do you measure productivity in cyberspace? Countless hours are now spent by workers who are using the Internet and various company “intranets.” Are these people being productive or not? In fact, the closer an individual or company is to the cutting edge of technology, the more time and energy are wasted in attempting to learn how to use that technology. Do we count this time as productive, or is it simply lost time? We are dealing here with intangible economic factors.
Economic statistics fail miserably at capturing many of the benefits of information technology and much of that information exists in cyberspace. Information technology, while costing us time and effort to learn such new terminology as the word “cyberspace,” has the potential benefit of rendering improved quality, savings of time, convenience, and increased consumer choice. At least, so we are told. Can such improvements be measured?
When you use an ATM (automatic teller machine), saving time, the anguish of standing in line, and the frustration that can be caused by a human teller; does that in any way show up in your nation’s GDP figures? And what if you’re robbed while using that ATM? Does that add to the measure of the thief’s productivity?
What I’m saying here is that at least part of any global stock market rise or fall may be because the GDP of many nations is being badly understated (or overstated), and official GDP figures are increasingly in error. They are leaving out an ever growing part of the economy which defies measurement. But there’s more.
The Global Economy
A steadily growing portion of trade and investment decisions are being made by multinational companies. An example would be in the merger of a major telecom in one country with that of a major telecom in another country. Is the first country’s GDP correct in counting the output of the merger in its economy or should the second country count it as part of its own GDP? Is Japan’s economic output more accurately measured by counting its US Toyota production as part of its own economy or should such output be considered part of the US economy?
How would you measure the productivity of firms making international mergers? There have been a number of these around lately.
Conventional statistics were originally devised for keeping account of the production of physical goods. But more and more, the output of some societies is not the production of material things. The US is fast becoming a producer of ideas and information. Large segments of output of the wealthier nations take the form of services. Ideas, information, and services are less visible, and equally less measurable. Statisticians are far behind in their ability to measure the realities of today’s economies. They continue to turn out masses of figures that measure material output. In fact, they produce more of such figures than ever before. But these figures fail to take into account such fast-growing sectors as telecommunications, computer software, cyberspace, health care, and financial services. We are being flooded with a wealth of misinformation. Is it any wonder that prognosticators relying on such information have been horribly wrong about the equity markets?
Joe Ross has been trading for more than 47 years, and is a well known Master Trader. He has survived all the up and downs of the markets because of his adaptable trading style, using a low-risk approach that produces consistent profits.
Joe is the creator of the Ross hook, and has set new standards for low-risk trading with his concept of “The Law of Charts.” Joe was a private trader for most of his life. In the mid 80’s he shift his focus and decided to share his knowledge. After his recovery, he founded Trading Educators in 1988 to teach aspiring traders how to make profits using his trading approach. He has written 12 major books on trading. All of them have become classics and have been translated into many different languages.
Joe holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from the University of California at Los Angeles. He did his Masters work in Computer Sciences at the George Washington University extension in Norfolk, VA. Joe still tutors, teaches, writes, and trades regularly. Joe is still an active and integral part of Trading Educators.
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Consumers consistently rate Honeywell air cleaners as one of the better models available in today’s air purification market, combining a number of features, such as HEPA filtration, near silent operation and portability in one easy to use package. With filters that require changing only every one to three years, the Honeywell air cleaner combines low maintenance and effectiveness in one simple unit.
Honeywell air cleaners offer a wide selection of features, ensuring that you will be able to find exactly what you are looking for in their extensive range of products. Honeywell offer a comprehensive choice of air purification systems, from whole house air cleaners, to portable air purifiers that you can move from room to room as required. Embracing a wide variety of air purification technologies, Honeywell air cleaners are available in electronic or HEPA air purifier systems, allowing you to choose the model that will best meet the needs of you and your family.
One of the biggest selling points of Honeywell air cleaners is the near silence with which they are said to operate, allowing consumers continue with their usual activities, such as watching television or talking on the telephone, while their air purifier goes about its work. Some reviews, however, report consumers who have been less than happy with this claim; be prepared for your Honeywell air cleaner to contribute some ‘white noise’ to your household.
Honeywell air cleaners are deemed one of the better systems on the market, offering many choices, such as that between a whole house system and a portable air purifier, or between an electronic or HEPA air purifier, in a package that is reliable and reasonably priced. Using filters that regular users of the system report require changing only as often as once a year, a Honeywell air cleaner might be the ideal choice for the family who wants cleaner air with the minimum of fuss!
Honeywell Air Cleaners, a comprehensive choice of good quality air cleaners.
For a website totally devoted to Air Purifiers visit Peter’s Website Air Purifiers Explained and find out about Room Air Purifiers as well as The Best Air Cleaners and more, including Electronic Air Purifiers, Hepa Air Purifiers, Ozone Air Purifiers, Room Air Purifiers and Whole House Air Purifiers.
There is nothing more relaxing than a fish aquarium. You can actually sit and watch it for hours. The key behind a beautiful aquarium is the proper lighting. This will not only show off you fish and corals better, the right aquarium lighting will keep your tank environment stable and free of algae. When putting together all the equipment you need for your fish tank, aquarium lighting is one of the most important items especially for those of you who are tackling a reef aquarium. Lighting is critical to the plants, corals and other invertebrates for them to stay healthy as they require photosynthesis to generate required energy. Without the proper aquarium lighting, these will likely die over time. An aquarium light timer is the perfect way to control your tank’s lights without you having to be there to either turn them on or off.
If you want an aquarium with coral, reef aquarium lighting is critical to the longevity of certain types. Species requiring low to medium lighting will do just fine with VHO fluorescent or Power Compact fluorescent lighting systems. Corals that require intense aquarium lighting will do best with metal halide systems. The rule of thumb with metal halide lighting is 1 bulb for every 2 feet of tank you have. Larger tanks will require more lights of course to help with some heating as well as controlling algae. Metal halide lighting systems are designed to run 12 hours a day so this is where a good aquarium light timer can come into play.
Aquariums require a number of different supplies including heaters, chillers, air pumps, filters, ornaments and decorations. Aquariums can be quite expensive to put together so we always recommend putting a budget together before you get going. If you can plan out your fish tank, you can buy items such as aquarium lighting that you can grow into. You can find some excellent products at discount prices if you shop around and watch for sales. You may start out with fish only, and continue to add plants and corals to someday have an outstanding reef aquarium. Just remember, the most important thing about any aquarium is keeping the environment stable for your fish. The water temperature must be held constant at all times at the right temperature as too hot is just as harmful as too cool.
Amy-Jo Strutt is an expert author and regular contributor to http://www.aquarium-lighting-lights.com/index.html. For more information on aquarium lighting, reef aquarium lighting and aquarium supplies, check out:
http://www.aquarium-lighting-lights.com/aquamedic-aquarium-lighting.html
Over the last two weeks, events have unfolded that have reminded me of an important truism in real estate investing.
“Always have a back-up!”
This was played out in dramatic form with a deal I’m closing tomorrow. A wholesaler friend of mine brought me this great little three bedroom one bath home tucked away on a dead end street where pride in ownership is alive and well. The electric and plumbing is already upgraded and this rehab is cosmetic with the exception of adding a bath.
I’m buying it for $52,500 and the as-repaired appraisal came in at $86,000. Not a bad spread. This is the kind of deal I like!
When I called my hard money broker, she was delighted and we moved quickly toward closing. I was only waiting on the closing time…
That’s when the wheels fell off.
It seems my broker’s money source decided he was only going to invest in property valued at $250,000 or more. Yikes!
So, I went to back-up hard money broker number 1.
The broker took his time…about 5 days…to finally tell me that he only wanted to loan about 60% of the as-repair value. No way. Not when I can do better (70%) with back-up hard money broker number 2.
Back-up broker number 2 is probably who I should have went with in the first place. I’ve borrowed from this source before. It took one phone call, and the money is there and I close in a couple of days. Wham-bam, the deal is arranged.
It looks like it’s time to shift around the players in my core team a bit. Back-up number 2 is now my starter. Back-up number 1 (foot-dragger, doesn’t-loan-the-70%-he-said-he-would) is benched.
I tell this story to illustrate that it’s absolutely CENTRAL to your business to have back-up plans in all aspects of the business.
I strongly recommend having two or three:
- Hard money brokers
- Appraisers for quick value assessments
- Rehab crew leaders
- Plumbers
- Electricians
- Roofers
- HVAC techs
- Realtors
In fact, have two or three of any trade or profession lined up, ready to spring into action as a moment’s notice. Sure, I have my favorites in each of these areas, but I am striving to have 3-deep hot back-ups in each. Thing happen. Life happens! Be prepared for it.
Don’t stop there. Have back-ups when you rent or sell a property. A property isn’t rented until the rent and deposit (or lease/option fee) is paid and the keys are in the hands of the new tenant. So, encourage back-ups until the money is in your hands (in cash).
I’ve had appointments set up to sign leases, and the potential tenants never show up, no call, and they quit answering their phone. This is despite being hot for the house an hour earlier! If you are in this business long, you will learn that people will disappoint you and they will fool you. So, establish policies and make one of them “it ain’t rented until it’s paid for!”
Encourage back-up offers to purchase. Deals fall through all the time! Take as many back-up offers as you can.
Having back-ups is a mental frame of mind that fits within being a big-picture thinker portion of the Mind of the Real Estate Investor. In addition, rearranging your core team is thinking big and long term. It’s a constant process of improvement and adjustment. This approach is crucial to your business! Apply this principle and profit!
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Bruce W. Ford publishes the “Nothing Held Back” newsletter, a free service of Rehab Real Estate Central. Get a free copy of his mini-course entitled “The Mind of the Real Estate Investor by clicking here!.”
Digital TV’s refer to the transfer & receiving or moving pictures & sound by way of separate signals which is dissimilar to the analogue signals used by analogue TV’s. Made accessible in the back end of the 1990’s this technology was of substantial curiosity to the TV communications industry and consumer electronics outlets as it unlocked needed investment opportunities. Don’t miss huge discounts on plasma Widescreen TV’s. Visit the Sound and Vision UK site today!
Digital television is more flexible & valuable when matched up to analog television. If properly exercised by television broadcasters, digital TV gives the prospect for added quality pictures and audio as well as offering programming programmes than analog can. Still, even though digital television can give improved technical quality a digital signal may perhaps not inevitably carry a higher quality image or audio than an analog signal.
There are a number of different ways to get your hands on digital telly. One of the oldest means of receiving digital telly is via an aerial; this is marketed as digital terrestrial TV. In the middle of the more well-known methods there is the opportunity to get your hands on a digital cable & a digital satellite receiver. Lately not considering of how viewers get hold of digital television generally most will get digital TV’s using a set-top box, which works out the digital signals into signals that analog televisions can make out.
The most recent in & easiest technique to receive digital TV is in fact to buy a telly that comes with digital TV already integrated within the system. A large percentage of TVs have this now as between two-thousand and eight and 2012 TV’s services within the UK is expected to go totally digital, TV district by television district. Digital TVs are not that pricey at the moment, in actual fact you should most likely find that Digital TV’s will be identical in price as you would think to pay for a typical telly. So, all you have to think of digital being is merely a further added element that is in actual fact going to help you when it comes to the additional assortment of television programmes you will soon get.
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