Of all the suffering taking place in America’s recession, the real estate industry is getting slapped the hardest. The mortgage market has all but collapsed, because people are afraid to spend money they might not have tomorrow. Right now, it’s nearly impossible for a homeowner to get a mortgage or even for real estate investors to get traditional mortgages.

This doesn’t mean however, that there is no market. It simply means you have to work harder than ever before. One of the best ways to start reaching potential private lenders for your real estate business is to start doing speeches and presentations. You have to be able to reach private lenders who have money to invest by selling them on your business plan and your credibility.

Speeches and presentations should be 30-60 minutes, a thorough expansion of a much shorter “elevator pitch.” The speech should be educational in slant and give details on all the issues that an investor might have on his/her mind. Here are some important points to remember on crafting a business speech or presentation:

Passion: Be passionate about your business and express emotion where appropriate.

Sense Stress: Have strong highlights throughout the speech, particularly around the introduction, key points and conclusion. Don’t over emphasize every sentence or else it will come across as bombastic.

Create a Theme: Know your audience and create a theme that immediately summarizes the speech in punchy, appealing words. Reiterate this theme throughout the speech. Reemphasize key points that echo the theme.

Use Illustrations: Not only is illustrations fun to listen to, but they also cater to the mindset of your audience, another important factor. You must approach giving a speech with the intention of reaching your audience, communicating on their level, not merely covering your perceptions.

Address the Needs of Your Investors: You know what really captures interest quickly? When it’s all about you. So make your speeches and presentations about the investors you seek, and bring up points that they will inevitably want to know.

Practice: After crafting a speech, practice it frequently. Become your own trainer by analyzing yourself, whether through recording your voice or looking in the mirror. Since you will be talking to investors, it may serve you well to extemporize when appropriate. Your audience may have questions, and though you do ideally want to memorize your speech, you don’t want to be so tied down to notes that you can’t communicate on a one to one basis.

Put some fire into your speeches and make your real estate business thrive.

Special moments of life where all the family members and friends participate to boost the enjoyment make the best part of everybody’s memories. Christmas is one of the events bringing these moments every year. To keep all the memories for the most special day of the year is very hard to maintain. For that matter people tries to capture these events as photographs. With the evolution in printing, many methods and processes have been developed so far to enhance the quality of the photograph.

Recently canvas photo prints are used for elegant photograph printing. Canvas prints have eliminated the size limitation of the photographs. The feel and touch of the canvas photo prints take them in the category of the Christmas presents. Christmas presents are given only once in a year, therefore people give their best to choose a different and exclusive Christmas gift. Canvas photo prints have been used in the ancient time and we still find those classic canvas paintings, however these not shredded by the cruelties of time. This has proved canvas as the most durable material to secure the memories as photographs.

Christmas gifts recall the memories, when you were young and were given a special gift by you father on Christmas. You might be able to recall the gift or the situation but, What if you are still keeping that gift with you? That means you can feel and remember everything about you father his love, you excitement and pleasure. Canvas photo prints help you keep the memories along with you Christmas gift. If you want to be remembered and appraised by you family, friends and peers, canvas photo prints is the best option for Christmas.

Canvas photo prints are printed like other photos however, the canvas material guarantee the life of the photograph consequently your memories. Simple picture taken from the digital camera can be printed on the canvas.

To make the Canvas Photo Prints a great Christmas presents, it is advisable to bring the old memories back into life. For that reason childhood or the old wedding pictures printed on the canvas can be a good Christmas present. However there are certain elements that have to be considered to make the canvas photo print elegant. The quality of the canvas photo print depends on the quality of the ink used for printing. Use the ink that does not shade in sunlight and stay alive for a longer period of time, normally “UV ink” is used to make the print look finest and durable.

Printers with low rates use other ink that may not produce superior canvas photo prints.

Adding frame in the gift will make the canvas photo print more elegant. These frames came in wide variety, an older picture can be placed using a more traditional style of frame. However, canvas photo prints with vibrant colors employ the advanced designs of frames. These frames make use of glass work which giver very fine on the wall. Size of the frame also adds in the specialty of the canvas photo, as you can gift as big as you want.

Handing retiring employees a stack of retirement plaques, shaking their hand and waving them out the door is so last century. Today, long-serving employees want retirement gifts that can be used, enjoyed and truly express an employer’s appreciation for their years of service.

So, get out of the rut of handing out boring, old retirement plaques and serving trays. Instead, choose gifts that will not only be memorable, but also used for years to come. For some great retirement gift ideas, keep reading.

The Classic Watch

While a watch isn’t the most original idea for a retirement gift, it’s one that will be appreciated and used for years. A high-quality watch tells an employee that you truly appreciate all their years of service and dedication. It’s also a practical gift.

That said, do not hand out cheap watches as retirement presents. Little sends the wrong message to a loyal former employee than a cheap watch that breaks after a few months of use.

An Experience

These days, retirees are mobile. They’re traveling, moving or exploring, and the last thing they want is more “junk.” Instead, give the gift of an unforgettable experience.

A trip to Europe, a cruise down the Amazon, a weekend spent learning how to skydive, a white water rafting adventure, an incredible night at a beautiful restaurant, an unforgettable spa retreat – these are all great retirement gifts. They also minimize the waste caused by producing, wrapping and shipping hundreds of thousands of plaques that will inevitably wind up in a landfill.

Golf or Country Club Membership

A one-year membership at a local golf club can be a great gift for the retiree who loves to golf – it gives them a place to play that first year away from work and shows you care about the person’s personal interests outside of work.

Gifts to Avoid

As you search for a retirement present, remember that there are a few gifts that should be avoided at all costs. These include anything and everything that is branded with the company logo. They may love working for you, but staring at a wall clock emblazoned with their former work logo isn’t everyone’s idea of an ideal retirement present.

Next, you should avoid giving any gift that’s tied to the work environment. That means desk clocks are out, fancy pens are out, pocket protectors are out and really anything related to work at all should be rejected as an idea. You’re celebrating this person’s next chapter in life, not chaining their memories to their current one.

Last but not least, avoid high cost gifts or discuss them with the employee beforehand. The IRS has restrictions in place that will actually tax certain presents above a certain monetary value, counting them as “bonuses” rather than gifts. And though retirement plaques may be awful, at least they’ll never be taxed.

Is anyone else having trouble shopping for the holidays this year? I sure am. I’m finding that I cannot buy things. I’m definitely in the spirit of the season, but things just aren’t cutting it. For one, I have too many things myself. For two, I suspect that most everyone I know is in the same boat.

The story of the mad shoppers and the death of the Wal-mart employee stopped me in my shopping tracks. No thing, no matter what it is, is worth a living being. So what’s a girl to do?

Enter Changing the Present — the thought that counts.

I know. It’s what my mother always said when some inappropriate gift would arrive from a well-meaning but misguided relative. Except, I know more these days, and it really is the thought that counts. Another way to say this is: thoughts really do count. A lot.

Thought, in the ideology of metaphysics, precedes manifestation. A whole lot of people thought about Barack Obama as president of the United States, and so he is now manifest as President-Elect Obama. Charles Fillmore, one of the co-founders of Unity, was known to say, “Thoughts are things.”

And so they are. And Changing the Present is a spin on gift-giving that puts our thoughts for goodness, kindness, warmth, light and caring — all holiday staples — to good use. Consider first that a visitor to the site in invited to Choose a Cause. Then look at this remarkable list!

Basic Needs
o Disaster Relief
o Education
o Housing
o Human Rights
o Hunger
o Millennium Goals
o Water

Community
o Aging
o Arts & Culture
o Children & Youth
o Civil Society
o Peace
o Public Broadcast
o Refugees
o Veterans
o Women

Environment
o Agriculture
o Animal Welfare
o Environment
o Global Warming

Health and Safety
o Blindness & Vision
o Cancer
o Disabilities
o Global Health
o HIV/AIDS
o Landmines
o Medical Research
o Mental Health
o Population

Opportunity
o Microcredit
o Poverty Alleviation
o Social Entrepreneurs
o Technology

Do you think about the perils of poverty? Choose Poverty Alleviation.
Do you think about animals? Choose Animal Welfare.
Do you think about HIV/AIDS? Choose that.
Do you think about climate change? Choose Global Warming.
Do you think about water shortages? Choose Water.
Do you think about children’s needs? Choose Children.

And my favorite: do you think about peace? Choose Peace.

Another way to dance through this changing of the need and use for presents at holiday time is: what do the people on your list think about? Choose the issues that mean something to them.

Fillmore is right, dear one. Thoughts truly are things, more valuable things than most things in themselves.

To change our future, we have to change the present.

Here’s one way to give new meaning to the holy-days, and remember Art Buchwald while you’re at it:

The best things in life aren’t things.