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This relatively new, ground breaking concept of taking drug testing to the employee is proving to be a faster, more effective method than using fixed locations. It is also rapidly growing in popularity as the preferred choice for employers.

Drug and alcohol abuse in the work place costs American businesses over $80 billion annually and it appears that the traditional random drug testing is not enough to combat the problem on its own. Statistics from the Dept of Health and Human Services show that a staggering 9.4 million workers are drug abusers. This equates to loss of productivity and income to the employer which also has a detrimental effect on the nation’s economy as a whole.

The USA Mobile Drug Testing (USAMDT) franchise is the first completely mobile organization of its kind and was founded by Joe Strom in Tampa, Florida. The idea was born from his concern about the lack of “on the spot” drug testing available in the fight against drug related crime. As a result he developed an avenue to take the testing to the scene rather than sending the person and/or samples to fixed venues. The idea subsequently rolled out into the workplace environment and plans are in hand to expand nationwide.

Research carried out by the USAMDT shows that there are many advantages to mobile drug testing. Firstly, the significant reduction in loss of man hours using their services due to the elimination of absences from the workplace traveling to fixed drug testing locations by the employee. Secondly, there is a reduction in fraudulent testing where a drug user would send someone in their place to take the test using false ID. Also, this system reduces the possibility of loss of samples and cross contamination during the taking of samples and the subsequent processing. In addition, it is more effective as the drug testers attend randomly and the employees are not given advance notice of the testing.

Mobile drug testing is good economically as with the franchises there is little overhead and no associated building costs, such as rent etc, as operators are able to work from home. It is therefore a great business opportunity for the owner as they can expect to receive a higher profit margin from their investment.

The USAMDT is just one of many organizations set up to combat this widespread problem. Other companies are quickly following the lead and incorporating mobile collection of samples.

Whether you are a professional filmmaker or an amateur just starting in the business, investing in teleprompting software can help to immediately and drastically reduce your overhead. After the initial investment that you make in a quality teleprompter, your production costs will go way down. Not only will the teleprompter pay for itself in a very short time but you will continue to save on filming costs for long after.

Because human memory is not perfect, getting good, usable takes often takes time. Even if all the make-up and lighting has been polished until it shines, the costumes and locations are spectacular, and your actor or presenter is the handsomest man or most beautiful woman in the world, all of that can be nullified by just a single mistake on camera. You can buy all the best equipment in the world and have the best team on the planet but if you are still trying to depend on that imperfect organ, the human brain, you may find that it often lets you down. And the more specific your needs are, the more struggle you will have. There are no two ways about it – filming costs money. Every take that has to be redone because an essential portion of text was omitted or an essential line was deliver poorly represents cold, hard cash leaving your pocket. When you are trying to work using just the actor’s memory, your filming time and costs can be stretched out to their limits. And every time that an actor stutters or uses the wrong phrasing, you may find your stress levels skyrocketing.

With a teleprompter, your filming will fly smoothly by with fewer cuts, fewer garbage takes, and less stress all around. All of this means less days spent on filming, which means less money spent on production. When you are spending top dollar to get your filming done right, you need to be able to depend on your performers to deliver their lines professionally in as few takes as possible. If there are delays, production costs can shoot through the roof. Similarly, if you are on a strict budget, skimping on the luxuries and making do with what you have, it can be frustrating to try to milk quality presentations from your performers in the time frame that your limited budget allows. You can avoid all of this money related stress and hassle by investing in a teleprompter.

Whether you write about coin collecting or rockets, there are key ingredients that go into the creation of a good article. Providing quality content involves providing website visitors and readers with information they find useful and informative. While the details will vary, depending on your topic and article structure, there are some common ingredients of quality content:

Answer a question

What answers are people in your niche market searching for? What are the frequently asked questions in your niche? Are there subject areas in your niche for which few articles have been written? Find out what readers in your niche are looking for and write articles that will answer those questions. Brainstorm a list of questions and topics. Providing the answers that readers (and potential buyers) are searching for will help to establish you as an expert who meets their needs.

Write clearly and accurately

Minimizing – or eliminating – grammatical and spelling mistakes is essential to good, high-quality content. Before submitting any article for publication, run spell check and proofread it to catch any spelling and grammar issues. If possible, have another set of eyes look at the article to catch anything that you missed. Another tip is to read your work out loud to catch awkward phrasing or repetitions.

Include a compelling title

If your title isn’t interesting, no one is ever going to get to your beautifully crafted article. Scan a few newsletters and blogs and see what articles and posts grab your attention. When in doubt, consider possible titles that include “5 Ways to…” or “10 Tips for…” Such titles always attract readers who expect short tidbits and quick reads for their time. Good titles require some effort, but since the title is the first thing potential readers see, it’s worth your time to craft a strong one!

Be concise

Online readers prefer short articles, ideally those between 300 – 500 words. There’s a fine line between providing enough content to answer your reader’s quest for information while not providing such a long article that they don’t make it to the end to click on your resource box.

What makes quality content? It’s content that a reader is looking for, that answers questions, offers information a reader wants and promises more of the same if they click on your link. Quality content is what will attract visitors to your website and make your article marketing efforts work.

In addition to your graphic design portfolio, you will need to create a graphic design resume to outline your skills, experience, and education for prospective employers and clients. The most important thing to remember when creating this is that your portfolio is a separate item. Don’t try to showcase your skills as a graphic designer within your resume by using fancy fonts, graphics or borders. Keep your resume simple, professional, and organized.

Your resume should be tailored to showcase the skills requested for the graphic design opportunity or job offer that you are seeking. It is okay, and actually a good idea, to keep a basic resume on hand, updating it whenever you change positions or complete a significant freelance assignment. However, be prepared to make changes to the organization of your resume if it seems warranted by the opportunity you are seeking.

There are several details you should be sure to include in your resume. First, make sure you list all of the computer software, technologies, and skills you have acquired over the years, your level of expertise, and how long you have been familiar with the skill, software, or technology. You should also list any special certifications or degrees you have received. If you do not have a college degree but do have professional certifications or awards, you do not need to list your high school education on your graphic design resume.

Your graphic design resume should also include information about your previous employers and significant projects projects. This may sound obvious, but many graphic designers are not aware of what information should be included in their experience. Any significant freelance assignments and any industry related work experience should be included in your graphic design resume. Do not list jobs like fast food or retail in your graphic design resume. It should be geared to showcase your talents in the graphic design field, and other jobs you have held on your way to your chosen career as a graphic designer are unimportant.

Your experience section of your resume should show the month and year of employment or the freelance assignment, and the month and year that the employment ended. It should also highlight specific achievements at each position, or ways that the work you did or the freelance assignment you completed benefited the company you were working for.

Make sure that in addition to any educational references and mentions that you list all of your academic and professional achievements, significant projects, awards, and certifications on your resume. Many graphic designers neglect to include specific information in this section of their graphic design resume.

Finally, one of the most important things you can do to make sure that your graphic design resume is perfect is to proofread it. You should always have someone else proofread it as well. If you submit a resume with errors of any kind, you will be seen as not being detail oriented, and you will probably not get the job or project that you are applying for, regardless of your skills or talent.

Companies that offer Internet-connected servers that provide space and bandwidth for a domain, for one or more web sites, are called web hosts. Large companies have private networks that allow them to host domains on their own equipment and IP address range. But for the majority of those who want an Internet presence, a ‘rented’ web host is a necessity.

There are a wide variety of hosting plans available. Some are free, others charge up to a $100 or more per month. Some provide nothing but a tiny amount of disk space and minimal network bandwidth. The web site owner is on his or her own for any thing else. Others offer a range of services, including server and email administration, backups, web site design assistance, troubleshooting and many others.

In the world of web hosting, you may often find yourself sharing a server with anywhere from one to a thousand or more other web sites. That allows the web hosting company to keep equipment and staff expenses lower. Many web sites are simple and low-volume enough that the arrangement works fine. When you or one or more of the others grow, it may be helpful to consider a dedicated server.

A dedicated server, as the name suggests, hosts only your domain. You can put one web site on it, or as many as you wish. You control the access. You may also, as an option, take over much of the server administration yourself. That may save you money on support costs, but cost you considerable time. If you don’t have the expertise, you can end up costing yourself much more than you save.

In order to carry out those administrative functions yourself, even if you hire help, it’s desirable to have some technical knowledge under your belt. Some of that knowledge will be useful, even for day-to-day tasks apart from dealing with emergencies. FTP, email administration, backup methods and other technical areas are among the more common areas you’ll need to be at least somewhat familiar with.

When your web site grows to a certain size and level of complexity, you’ll begin to find it worthwhile to look at implementing a database. But that brings with it a still higher level of ability, both technical and logistical or creative.

Implementing a database can be relatively simple. Designing one that provides what you want, with decent performance and maintenance that doesn’t become a nightmare, will take some careful thought. Not everyone has the temperament for that type of work, especially those who prefer graphical design, content creation or development, and the many other web site tasks that are part of every implementation.

There are other, more low level administrative matters. Managing disk space, maintaining domain names, dealing with registration and changes, and a number of other ‘utilitarian’ tasks are also not everyone’s cup of tea. Some understanding of how DNS works, as well as the design of the Internet itself, are helpful. That provides a good context for understanding the role of some of those tasks.

When you begin to seek out a web host to implement a web site, consider all these factors and look in the mirror. What kind of web hosting you should pursue is determined by a combination of who you are and what’s being offered. Look before you leap.