Bankers hate risk. That’s why higher risk means higher collateral and larger transaction fees.

So what can you do to deal with this reality? Approach the issue of obtaining a merchant account as though you were applying for a loan: Be professional, and be prepared. This can go a long way to reducing the demands placed on you. If you convince the financial institution that you are a lower risk, it can help substantially.

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Internet, organizations, phone card

One of the most vexing challenges for any small business seeking to establish a store on the Internet is obtaining the accounts necessary to accepting credit card orders on-line. These are known as merchant accounts.

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business, credit card, phone call

Of the 30,000 fitness instructors today, each has the potential to reach hundreds or more each week with positive messages and education about healthful living. What is it about group exercise that makes getting into a room full of people appealing? “The energy,” says fitness industry innovator Candice Copeland-Brooks, who is well-known for developing a simplified formula for teaching choreography in the 1980s. “The social interaction, group dynamic and energy are the main attractions of group fitness. Those reasons for attending have not changed.” (more…)

exercise program, positive, teamwork

While many health clubs have a commitment to keep their staff on the cutting edge of fitness education, LifeQuest Fitness & Aerobics Club applies that standard to its membership as well. In addition to its daily interaction with clients, LifeQuest is educating members about health and fitness through Vie magazine, a national bi-monthly health and beauty publication the club helped launch last summer. (more…)

competition, facility, magazine

Before recommending a cross-training program, two training principles need to be understood: specificity and the S.A.I.D. principle. Specificity means that specific exercises elicit specific adaptations, creating specific training effects. To improve performance of a particular activity or sport, a person needs to perform the actual actions required in the activity or sport. In other words, mirroring the speed, distances and movements that are common during competition are essential for continued progress. (more…)

adaptations, sport, triathlete

Once we hooked up with a good agency, the process took four months. We found out about our twins two days after they were born (which was on my grandfather’s 80th birthday) and we were in Paraguay four months later.

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biological, getting pregnant, intercourse

Two years ago when my best friend was pregnant, my daughter, then 4, turned baby crazy. She wanted to feel the baby move, to know how it came out and how it would grow. So one day when she asked — for the zillionth time — where do babies come from, I gave her the simplest answer I could: from women’s tummies. She fell silent for a moment and responded, “Or from Paraguay.”

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children, infertility, premature ejaculation

Inactive people at risk for heart disease should be warned about a potentially hazardous winter exercise — snow shoveling. Indeed, four inches of heavy, wet snow on a 50-foot, two-car driveway can weigh as much as four tons — equivalent to the combined weight of lifting and throwing four sports cars. (more…)

cardiac problem, cardiovascular, snow