The Pleasures of Sharing Information

With the proliferation of the Internet, the meaning of the word “marketing” has also proliferated. There seem to be as many definitions of marketing as there are marketers. Many see marketing as a series of tactics or gimmicks. Some push pyramid programs [multi-level marketing (MLM) or network marketing] as the way to successful Internet marketing. Others may say the Web has made traditional marketing obsolete. I believe that the Internet has expanded our capabilities, created new ways of doing business, and radically changed business dynamics. It has not, however, changed the basics of what we do.

Basic, traditional marketing is as relevant as ever. The Four P’s - product, price, place (distribution), and promotion - are still very much alive. Strategic thinking, segmenting, and targeting can still earn you a competitive advantage. Marketing is still a process of a) determining what our customers need and want, b) planning how we are going to meet those needs and wants, and then c) implementing our plan. We still have products, services, and ideas to sell at some price. We still deliver to our customers via some means of distribution. We still promote and we still advertise. Those are the basics. The basics still exist and always will.

What *has* changed is the business environment. Companies compete with more efficient technologies. Customers have better access to their cost options and they communicate to each other in a way never before possible. In some industries, the Internet has lowered the cost of entry so that entrepreneurs, with little more than a home office, have entered the competition. The changes in competitive environment are numerous.

What have also changed are the specific marketing strategies and the tactics we take to implement those strategies. These have changed, but basic marketing has not. Superior marketing is and always has been analysis, then action. It is strategy development, then logical and thought-out tactical implementation. It is the way to customer satisfaction and increasing profit. It is the process of:

1) Analyzing your customers and the business environment in order to

2) Identify key opportunities to better and more profitably meet customer needs,

3) Figuring out how to act on those opportunities, and then

4) Implementing your plan.

The process doesn’t have to be cumbersome. Five-year plans and novel-length documents are not required. The logic of the action is what’s important. By applying the basic marketing process both online and offline, your chances of success skyrocket.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bobette Kyle is author of “How Much For Just the Spider? Strategic Web Site Marketing.” She used techniques detailed in the book to bring her own site, WebSiteMarketingPlan.com, from a ranking of 17 million to 59 thousand+ in less than four months. http://www.WebSiteMarketingPlan.com/sr.htm
~~~~~~
Copyright 2002 Bobette Kyle. All rights reserved.

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Is there such a thing as cheap home insurance? There may be a
better question. Is home insurance really that expensive?
Homeowner’s insurance may very well be the consumer’s best buy
when it comes to insurance. There are multiple benefits and
features that make the home policy unique. Most everything that
the homeowner owns including the dwelling can be covered in some
way by homeowner’s insurance. When you think of the magnitude of
the coverage afforded by homeowner’s insurance versus the
premium paid then you would have to agree that homeowner’s
insurance is a very good buy. The rates on property insurance in
general, have increased over the last ten years. Much of that
has to with increased catastrophes like the hurricanes in
Florida. The toxic mold problem that originated out west has
also caused premiums to increase on a national basis. The home
insurance buyer really needs to focus on a few areas to get the
most for the premium dollars paid.

Accurate Dwelling Amount - This is the first most critical
decision that you will make. The square footage of your dwelling
has to be correct in establishing the replacement value of your
home. The market value is of little use to you when you purchase
insurance to rebuild the structure. Replacement cost is better
for homes that have been built within the last 40 years. Check
with your insurance company underwriting guidelines.

Replacement Cost or Actual Cash Value - This facet of your home
insurance policy should be clearly understood. Replacement cost
insurance on both your dwelling and its contents means that the
insurance company will rebuild or replace your loss with like
kind and quality. Actual Cash Value will calculate the
replacement cost and then subtract for depreciation. The actual
cash value policy is cheaper but you will have to come up with
the depreciable amount out of your own pocket.

Deductible - Higher deductibles bring your premium down
substantially. $500 to $1000 deductibles are common. This is a
huge savings to you over the years and is your most valuable
tool in lowering the cost.

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Unsecured personal loans are personal loans designed to be
undertaken without the need to secure the loans against
collateral, such as a property or a car. This makes unsecured
personal loans ideal for people who do not own their own home
and for people who have no other type of collateral to secure
personal loans against.

The extent of borrowing on unsecured personal loans is generally
less than on secured personal loans, and the APR on unsecured
loans is often higher than on secured personal loans. But,
having said this, unsecured loans of up to £25,000 are possible
from some personal loans companies. You can also obtain personal
loans with repayment terms on unsecured borrowing of up to 10
years, and an APR of between 5.5% and 8% on unsecured loans.

Who qualifies for unsecured personal loans? Unsecured personal
loans have a wider reach than secured personal loans. Both
tenants and homeowners can take out unsecured loans, as well
young people who have no verifiable personal credit history.
Additionally, unlike secured personal loans, unsecured loans are
also open to people who have a poor credit record. If you have a
record of defaulted mortgage payments, arrears on other loans
payments or have CCJs filed on your personal credit record,
making you ineligible for secured personal loans, then personal
unsecured loans may be for you.

To successfully apply for personal unsecured loans, the
applicant for the unsecured loan must have a regular source of
income. Proof of income from the unsecured loans applicant is
likely to be requested by the personal loans companies, and many
loans companies will also carry out background checks on other
loans, secured or unsecured, that the personal loans applicant
holds now or has held in the past. Personal unsecured loans
applicants who have been resident at the same personal address
for more than three years and personal unsecured loans
applicants who are married and have stable employment are those
most likely to be successful in obtaining personal unsecured
loans.

For homeowners, personal unsecured loans are ideal should the
homeowner wish not to have personal loans officially secured
against their property. The most successful applicants for
unsecured loans in these cases are people who have equity in
their property and no other unsecured loans. These factors above
all else will help the homeowner applicant acquire unsecured
loans, even if the homeowner has a bad personal credit history.

Loans companies offering unsecured borrowing in general do not
limit what the funds from unsecured loans can be used for, so
long as the person taking out the personal unsecured loans does
not use the unsecured loans funds for illegal purposes. With
unsecured loans, the sky really is the limit!

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Does your prosperity seem to never come? Do you ever feel
like your prosperity is just within reach and then seems to
slip away? Do you look around and it appears that everyone
else has everything and you do not? Does it seem as if some
people just fall into “good luck”, and if it weren’t for
“bad luck” you wouldn’t have any luck at all? Do you notice
that no matter what happens to some people, they always seem
to come out on top, it appears that they just can’t lose?

For the most part, these people know and more important use
the five steps to prosperity. Once you have the same
knowledge, your prosperity will flow to you as well.

The five steps are:
1. A clear and open mind.
2. Ready to receive and accept your prosperity.
3. Believe “it is so”.
4. Maintain a positive attitude.
5. Give back to the Universe.

1. You’re not alone in your thinking by any stretch of the
mind, but if you want your prosperity (which by the way you
are entitled to) you have to change your way of thinking,
your thoughts. The most proactive way of changing your thoughts, the way you think, is by positive affirmations. 2.
Once, your way of thinking changes it becomes much easier to
receive your prosperity, it becomes natural to accept your
prosperity. You would be surprised at how many people do not
know how to accept their prosperity (prosperity comes in
many different forms not just money, financial prosperity is
included but by no means exclusive). 3. Once, your way of
thinking changes it becomes natural to you to just “believe
it is so”, by that I mean you will always know/feel that all
is going to work out just fine. You will never doubt that
your goals, dreams, and desires are anything but achieved.
You will just “believe it is so”, remember “like attracts
like”. 4. Once, your way of thinking changes it becomes
much easier to maintain a positive attitude, a must for your
prosperity flow. I am not saying, you will never have
another negative thought, what I am saying is, it just
becomes much easier to counter those negative thoughts with
positive thoughts, thereby increasing your prosperity flow.
5. Giving back to the Universe is very important, it’s fun,
easy and believe it or not, something you will actually look
forward to! Many people give to charity, others tithe (10%
of your income to spiritual support that is to say;
whatever/whoever you feel helps you spiritually. This does
not have to be a church, nor does it have to go to just one
place, it can be divided among many), and still others do
both. If you want the Universe to send you your entitled
prosperity, you must be willing to send some of it back.
Remember “what goes around comes around” and “you have to
give to receive”. Once your way of thinking changes you will
never question or fear giving back to the Universe.

Here are the steps again:
1. A clear and open mind.
2. Ready to receive and accept your prosperity.
3. Believe “it is so”.
4. Maintain a positive attitude.
5. Give back to the Universe.

So, are you ready to take the steps to start your prosperity
flow?

Linda Kleist is a prosperity mentor/coach.
Also the author of
“Thoughts Empowered Positive Thinking through Affirmations
to achieve your Dreams”

http://www.thoughtsempowered.com
admin@thoughtsempowered.com

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Once the European Masters get under way in September, young Hawaiian sensation Michelle Wie will be again taking to the field that includes some of the most dominate players in the world. Not only will she be on a pro course that will be held in Crans-sur-Sierre Switzerland, she will be competing against the men of the PGA, and one PGA star, Ernie Els, thinks highly of Wie.

Wie did however, get a strong endorsement from a high profile player, it was Ernie Els himself that believes Wie will do well in the event. He further believes that she will make the cut once again, as she did earlier this month in a men’s event in South Korea. Els believe that this course is just what 16-year-old Wie needs to excel. The European Masters course is short, and there is a great turn around for Wie as the event is sponsored by Omega, whom just happens to be both Els and Wie’s sponsor as well.

Els, the winner in this very event in the year 2003, feel that this is a perfect fit for Wie. Els tips his hat to Wie, feeling that she has the drive and the guts to go it against the men on their circuit. She is attempting to play against the best players in the world, anyone as young as her deserves accolades as this is a very nerving endeavor, all the best to her. Wie’s short game is definitely going to shine on this course; this could be a very interesting event where Wie shocks all.

Read more exciting sports articles at Suite101

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California Proposition 74, the teacher tenure initiative
proposes to change the California education code (i.e., CA law)
to make it easier to fire K-12 public school teachers.

It is being touted in California as a reform in that it claims
teachers need to work for a full five years (as opposed to 2
years) before K-12 public school teacher supposedly get “tenure”
and thereby have a “job for life” wherein K-12 public school
teachers cannot be fired, even if they are unprofessional and
poor teachers.

I am a public school teacher in So. Cal. and want to point out
we do not get tenure. This is not just a
play on words, but we actually do not get tenure.

The Governor claims that Prop. 74 is needed because (a)
the school are under-performing in significant part because of
bad teachers, and (b) bad teachers cannot be fired
because they have “tenure.”

There is no such thing as tenure for K-12 public school
teachers. For the first two years of our employment, we are on
temporary, probationary status where (a) we can be
fired mid-year without cause, and (b) our contracts
expire at the end of the year unless the school district
chooses to re-hire us.

However, if we pass our evalutations for those two probationary
years and we are re-hired, we then get permanent teacher
status, which only means our contracts do not expire
every year.

Once we get permanent status, public school teachers can
be (and are) fired for the following reasons according to the
California Education Code (i.e., CA law) section 44932:

href>http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=edc&gr
oup=44001-45000&file=44930-44988

(1) Immoral or unprofessional conduct.

(2) Commission, aiding, or advocating the commission of
acts of criminal syndicalism, as prohibited by Chapter 188 of
the Statutes of 1919, or in any amendment thereof.

(3) Dishonesty.

(4) Unsatisfactory performance.

(5) Evident unfitness for service.

(6) Physical or mental condition unfitting him or her to
instruct or associate with children.

(7) Persistent violation of or refusal to obey the
school, laws of the state, or reasonable regulations prescribed
for the government of the public schools by the State Board of
Education or by the governing board of the school district
employing him or her.

(8) Conviction of a felony or of any crime involving
moral turpitude.

(9) Violation of Section 51530 or conduct specified in
Section 1028 of the Government Code, added by Chapter 1418 of
the Statutes of 1947.

(10) Knowing membership by the employee in the Communist
Party.

(11) Alcoholism or other drug abuse which makes the
employee unfit to instruct or associate with children.

In addition, the only permanency we have to our positons is
that, if we are to be fired, we are entitled to 90 days notice
(cf. Ca Ed. Code section 44939) in which we are allowed to a
hearing to determine whether such charges are actually true.

That’s it. That’s the sum total of teacher “tenure.”

The Governor in proposition 74 wants to extend our propationary
status from 2 years to 5 years, longer than any other civil
servant, and then wants to remove our right to have a hearing
before we are fired.

WHY?

Jarrod J. Williamson, Ph.D.

We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready in
the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm.

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Huge Mistake #1: Creating a Website with Flash — Did you know in a recent study, top internet marketers discovered that having a website created with Flash, actually decreased the response from prospects and customers by as much as 370 percent?

Here’s why: Your prospects and customers are most likely visiting your website using all types of different computers, connection speeds and internet configuration settings…

What may look great to one visitor may not even appear for another! You could very easily have shelled out hundreds or even thousands of dollars to have a website created using the Flash technology, only to find out that some of your visitors will never see it! (Not to mention the loading times can cause your visitor to close your site, never to return again.)

Huge Mistake #2: The “Internet Catalog” Approach — You see this everywhere. Good, honest and hardworking businessmen and women get online to sell their products or services, and have a site created for them that contains a link to just about everything they offer on one page. Their thinking goes along the lines of, “…well, I don’t want to leave anyone out. If they come to my site, I want to make sure I have what they’re looking for…” — This way of thinking could not be further from the truth.

Here’s why: There’s an ancient rule that goes back to the very beginning of direct-marketing on the internet, taught by the richest, most legendary and well-respected internet marketers of all time…

“When you give your prospects too many choices, they become confused and aren’t sure what to do next. Confused people never buy anything.”

Huge Mistake #3: Optimizing Your Sales Site for the Search Engines — You’ll see this taught in nearly every “internet marketing” course, manual or eBook out there… “You must optimize every page of your website for the search engines!” — In fact, this false teaching is accepted as ‘gospel truth’ so often that most web designers will offer to do this for you at no, or little extra cost…

What they don’t understand is that certain words and phrases must be either re-worded (to make it “keyword rich”) or taken out completely, just to be looked upon highly by the mighty search engines — and this could kill your sales, literally overnight.

Here’s why: When you or a hired web designer optimize your sales page (i.e. any web page designed to sell your products and services) to get a higher listing in the search engines, you’re going to have to sacrifice the pulling-power of your sales copy (i.e. written sales material) just to get those higher listings. Sure, this can bring you more traffic — but what good is all the traffic in the world, if your visitors arrive at your website and aren’t compelled enough to read why they should order your product?

For years, it has been taught that you should always try to find a “balance” of SEO (Search-Engine-Optimization) mixed with promotional copy designed to sell your products and services…

Wrong Again! — The truth is that you should never optimize your sales page for the Search Engines. Instead, you should create tiny “entry pages” for each keyword related to your product or service, (highly optimized for the Search Engines) and have them link to your main sales site! (We can show you exactly how to do this quickly and easily and get *massive* targeted traffic from the Search Engines - without ever *touching* your sales site!)

Huge Mistake #4: Having a “Graphics-Based” Website — Sure, graphics can certainly help us to visualize a particular situation or circumstance, product or service… But did you know that having a graphically-driven website can actually distract your visitor away from your sales message?

After all, your sales message (or “web copy”) is The #-1 most important factor in a website that makes money. If your visitors are paying more attention to your “professional graphics” than your sales message… you’ve just lost another sale.

Here’s why: You’ve got approximately seven seconds from the time your visitor arrives at your site, to the time they decide whether to buy your product, get more information or leave. If you’ve got a graphically-intensive website, your website will most likely still be loading past your seven-second time limit.

That’s a “customer-killer” in and of itself - however, the real reason lies within the fact that the bigger, brighter and more beautiful your graphics are, the more they will distract your visitor from your sales message. And if your visitor is distracted even for one second, it could mean the difference between getting a sale, and losing a customer.

Huge Mistake #5: Designing a Website with Zero Marketing Experience — Most web designers have no idea how to make money on the internet, with anything other than their design services. It’s not their fault - they simply have no or very little marketing and sales experience. After all, they’re just website designers…

However, having your website designed by someone with Zero internet marketing experience is like buying a street-car without an engine… it won’t go anywhere, and it’ll just waste your time and money!

For help on website design please visit www.onlinewebconsultants.com

The author of this article is a certified SEO expert specializing in search engine marketing and search engine optimization. He also has a back ground in web design and website linking services. For help with any of this please visit www.onlinewebconsultants.com .

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Did you select the right online business to pursue? People that are struggling find it difficult to admit they are possibly in the wrong business. Fortunately for everyone, many bad decisions can be corrected if recognized early enough. This article is intended to help you understand the available opportunities and hopefully improve your chances for future success.

Supply And Demand!

Everyone knows that the Internet is huge. Commerce (”buying and selling”) on the Internet is growing by leaps and bounds. It is controlled by the actions of the buyers and sellers. There is no traffic cop that makes decisions for each buyer and seller. The buyers and sellers are fr*ee to make their own decisions and pursue their own self-interests.

The Internet market is held in check by the economic principle of “supply and demand.” Buyers behave (demand) in a way to make buying decisions that will maximize their satisfaction. Sellers behave (supply) in a way that will maximize their profits. In a completely fr*ee market economy, buyers and sellers interact to determine the price of the product being exchanged.

Why Do People Buy On The Internet?

In order to understand the actions of buyers and sellers on the Internet, the following question needs to be answered: “Why do people buy on the Internet?” Simply stated, People buy on the Internet because of the ease, efficiency, availability, price and fun of purchasing the product or service online.

What Internet Opportunities Exist?

There are many types of profitable business opportunities to consider on the Internet. The major opportunities considered in this article are:

• Join and promote an affiliate program.

• Write and sell your own electronic book (”ebook”).

• Start an electronic newsletter (”ezine”).

• Open an online store.

What Is Included In Each Internet Opportunity?

The following is a summary level review of each opportunity:

1. Join and Promote an Affiliate Program:

In this business, you establish a relationship with the owner of an existing online product or service for sale. You become an affiliate of the owner. As the affiliate, you are allowed to promote and sell the product or service for a commission on the sale. This can be an easy business to start. It is a good choice if you do not have your own product to sell. The owner is happy to pay the commission because your sale is revenue they probably would not receive without your help.

2. Write and Sell Your Own eBook:

In this business, you sell the ebook that you wrote. Most people believe they do not have the ability to develop a topic and write an ebook. This is an incorrect belief. You have the ability if you can think, speak and read. The basic requirements to write a successful ebook are:

• Need an objective.

• Need to identify a niche market.

• Need a killer topic.

• Need the desire to write your thoughts.

If you do not have the appropriate knowledge, you can develop an ebook by using the help of an “expert.” The “expert” provides you with content for the ebook and you write the ebook.

3. Start an Electronic Newsletter:

In this business, you become the publisher and editor of an electronic newsletter (”ezine”). The newsletter can be published as often as you like whether it’s daily, weekly or monthly. The frequency depends on how often you can deliver content of value to your subscribers. Distribution of the newsletter through email is generally based on an “opt-in” list of subscribers. The typical newsletter will contain: editorial by the publisher, tips and recommendations, featured article, advertisements, and links to specific affiliations.

4. Open an Online Store:

In this business, you either setup your own website store or rent a storefront site in an established Internet mall. The Internet store requires a website, products to sell, a shopping cart and the ability to accept customer payments. It is possible to have built-in traffic if you are part of an Internet mall.

Conclusion!

Each business has a definite set of activities to be performed in order to be successful.

Your success in a specific business is dependent on how well you perform these activities.

You should select an online business to pursue based on your:

• Interests

• Motivation

• Time

• Energy

• Commitment

Make a complete evaluation of the opportunities available before you make a decision.

Do not expect great results if you do not get excited about your business and put the necessary time and energy into your online business!

Low interest, low motivation or low commitment will lead to bad or less than acceptable results!

Examine closely what you want to achieve out of your online experience.

Take the extra time now and it may make a big difference in your future success.

Make the right decision and you have a very good chance to succeed!

Make the wrong decision and you probably will fail like so many others!

Get my FR*EE 8-day “Internet Business Mini-Course” for a close-up look at each business opportunity discussed in this article.

Best wishes in your future online business success.

Copyright © 2003 F. Terrence Markle - All Rights Reserved

FR*EE 8-Day “Internet Business Mini-Course” at http://www.QuikSystems.com/BMC/FreeBizCourse.htm

About The Author

F. Terrence Markle has worked for over 20 years with public and private companies. He has an MBA in marketing and finance. He has been involved with Internet-related businesses for over 3 years. His primary focus is the marketing of affiliate programs: tmarkle@quiksystems.com

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Here are 3 easy ways to reduce your risk of serious illness. 5 of the biggest nasties in the UK and USA are Coronary Heart Disease, cancers, stroke, obesity and Alzheimer’s disease, but research suggests that all of these terrible diseases can be helped or avoided to a certain extent by upping our intake of antioxidants. Source your antioxidants from brightly coloured fresh fruit and vegetables. Here are 3 to try this week;

Lower your blood pressure by drinking pomegranate juice; an Israeli study by Dr Aviram showed a 20% decrease in blood pressure by a group drinking pomegranate juice daily. The group also experienced lowering of their unhealthy blood cholesterol and an improvement in the arteries of their heart. Healthy blood pressure reduces the risk of heart attack, stroke and other heart complaints. Team drinking and eating pomegranate with healthy activity and you will protect your heart and circulation. Pomegranates with dark skins and flesh are richer in fruit-chemicals. Make your own juice by rolling the fruit along your chopping board before slicing in two and using an orange juicer. Tesco now sell Pomegreat which also comes with added blueberries for an extra potent punch of antioxidants (see below).

Eating citrus fruits can lower your chances of stroke, cardiovascular disease, cataracts and cancers. Eat Oranges as a snack, drink freshly squeezed juice, keep some tangerines in your bag, juice pink grapefruit or add them to a salad, and squeeze lime and lemon juice over salads and into sparkling water. These fruits contain vitamin C, Folates, fiber, antioxidants, and other chemical goodies. Make sure you eat some citrus every day to reap their health benefits, but don’t be too fussy about the white bits and the rind; these are also packed with goodness. Try not to pick all of the white stuff off your tangerine, or buy some Kumquats which you eat with the skin on. Cook fish with grated lemon and lime rind, or add grated rinds to cakes, salad dressings and marinades.

Blueberries may fight Alzheimer’s disease; lab tests on rats at Tufts University Boston, showed that eating blueberries improved age-related brain degeneration, with aging ‘blueberry rats’ outperforming their younger counterparts who didn’t eat blueberries. Further research suggests that rats with a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s, maintained memory function despite developing the disease; it seemed that the blueberries prevented expected memory loss. Many other tests on humans show many beneficial effects of eating blueberries and other dark coloured foods; maintain healthy youthful skin, and guard against heart disease, cancers, cataracts and macular degeneration (age-related sight loss). Buy fresh, frozen and dried blueberries and add them to juices, pies, crumbles, breakfast cereal, fruit puree to eat with yoghurt, and blueberry jam on whole meal toast, snack on a punnet for an ultra-low calorie mega-healthy. Buy a blueberry bush on-line at www.dorset-blueberry.com (in the UK) and grow them yourself!

So these are 3 fruity ways to a long and healthy life. Make sure that you try one of these wonder fruits this week, even the most reluctant fruit-eater must be able to force some blueberry jam down!

Happy eating,
Vikki

Do you have any friends and family who could benefit from getting fitter and feeling better? E-mail getfitter@yahoo.co.uk subject: newsletter request.

Vikki Scovell BA(hons) PG DIP is a fully qualified Personal Trainer and Fitness Coach. She is a qualified Nutrition Adviser and runs successful Community Exercise classes. Vikki is a consultant in Healthy Eating and Exercise initiatives to schools in the independent sector and publishes School and General Healthy Living newsletters.

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Forex option brokers can generally be divided into two separate categories: forex brokers who offer online forex option trading platforms and forex brokers who only broker forex option trading via telephone trades placed through a dealing/brokerage desk. A few forex option brokers offer both online forex option trading as well a dealing/brokerage desk for investors who prefer to place orders through a live forex option broker.

The trading account minimums required by different forex option brokers vary from a few thousand dollars to over fifty thousand dollars. Also, forex option brokers may require investors to trade forex options contracts having minimum notional values (contract sizes) up to $500,000. Last, but not least, certain types of forex option contracts can be entered into and exited at any time while other types of forex option contracts lock you in until expiration or settlement. Depending on the type of forex option contract you enter into, you might get stuck the wrong way with an option contract that you can not trade out of. Before trading, investors should inquire with their forex option brokers about initial trading account minimums, required contract size minimums and contract liquidity.

There are a number of different forex option trading products offered to investors by forex option brokers. We believe it is extremely important for investors to understand the distinctly different risk characteristics of each of the forex option trading products mentioned below that are offered by firms that broker forex options.

Plain Vanilla Forex Options Broker - Plain vanilla options generally refer to standard put and call option contracts traded through an exchange (however, in the case of forex option trading, plain vanilla options would refer to the standard, generic option contracts that are traded through an over-the-counter (OTC) forex dealer or clearinghouse). In simplest terms, vanilla forex options would be defined as the buying or selling of a standard forex call option contract or forex put option contract.

There are only a few forex option broker/dealers who offer plain vanilla forex options online with real-time streaming quotes 24 hours a day. Most forex option brokers and banks only broker forex options via telephone. Vanilla forex options for major currencies have good liquidity and you can easily enter the market long or short, or exit the market any time day or night.

Vanilla forex option contracts can be used in combination with each other and/or with spot forex contracts to form a basic strategy such as writing a covered call, or much more complex forex trading strategies such as butterflies, strangles, ratio spreads, synthetics, etc. Also, plain vanilla options are often the basis of forex option trading strategies known as exotic options.

Exotic Forex Options Broker - First, it is important to note that there a couple of different forex definitions for “exotic” and we don’t want anyone getting confused. The first definition of a forex “exotic” refers to any individual currency that is less broadly traded than the major currencies. The second forex definition for “exotic” is the one we refer to on this website - a forex option contract (trading strategy) that is a derivative of a standard vanilla forex option contract.

To understand what makes an exotic forex option “exotic,” you must first understand what makes a forex option “non-vanilla.” Plain vanilla forex options have a definitive expiration structure, payout structure and payout amount. Exotic forex option contracts may have a change in one or all of the above features of a vanilla forex option. It is important to note that exotic options, since they are often tailored to a specific’s investor’s needs by an exotic forex options broker, are generally not very liquid, if at all.

Exotic forex options are generally traded by commercial and institutional investors rather than retail forex traders, so we won’t spend too much time covering exotic forex options brokers. Examples of exotic forex options would include Asian options (average price options or “APO’s”), barrier options (payout depends on whether or not the underlying reaches a certain price level or not), baskets (payout depends on more than one currency or a “basket” of currencies), binary options (the payout is cash-or-nothing if underlying does not reach strike price), lookback options (payout is based on maximum or minimum price reached during life of the contract), compound options (options on options with multiple strikes and exercise dates), spread options, chooser options, packages and so on. Exotic options can be tailored to a specific trader’s needs, therefore, exotic options contract types change and evolve over time to suit those ever-changing needs.

Since exotic forex options contracts are usually specifically tailored to an individual investor, most of the exotic options business in transacted over the telephone through forex option brokers. There are, however, a handful of forex option brokers who offer “if touched” forex options or “single payment” forex options contracts online whereby an investor can specify an amount he or she is willing to risk in exchange for a specified payout amount if the underlying price reaches a certain strike price (price level). These transactions offered by legitimate online forex brokers can be considered a type of “exotic” option. However, we have noticed that the premiums charged for these types of contracts can be higher than plain vanilla option contracts with similar strike prices and you can not sell out of the option position once you have purchased this type of option - you can only attempt to offset the position with a separate risk management strategy. As a trade-off for getting to choose the dollar amount you want to risk and the payout you wish to receive, you pay a premium and sacrifice liquidity. We would encourage investors to compare premiums before investing in these kinds of options and also make sure the brokerage firm is reputable.

Again, it is fairly easy and liquid to enter into an exotic forex option contract but it is important to note that depending on the type of exotic option contract, there may be little to no liquidity at all if you wanted to exit the position.

Firms Offering Forex Option “Betting” - A number of new firms have popped up over the last year offering forex “betting.” Though some may be legitimate, a number of these firms are either off-shore entities or located in some other remote location. We generally do not consider these to be forex brokerage firms. Many do not appear to be regulated by any government agency and we strongly suggest investors perform due diligence before investing with any forex betting firms. Invest at your own risk with these firms.

John Nobile - Senior Account Executive
CFOS/FX - Online Forex Spot and Options Brokerage

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