10 Ways to Blog Your Book to Increase Sales Without Being Pushy or Annoying (Part 1)

10 Ways to Blog Your Book to Increase Sales Without Being Pushy or Annoying (Part 1) A lot of people think that once a book is written, the work is done. Often times, especially if you are a self-published author, the work is just beginning. After the brainstorming and drafting, writing and revising, editing and publishing comes the†¦ selling. There are only so many times you can say, buy my book! But the fact of the matter is, you need to continue placing your book in front of your audience if you have any prayer of selling copies. To help, I’ve come up with a list of ten ways you can blog about your book. I am breaking this article up into two parts, so read on for the first five suggested ways to blog about your book and then check back in next week to learn the second set of ways to increase your book sales through your blog without being pushy or annoying. The Inspiration Every story has to start somewhere. If you write about the inspiration behind the story, you don’t even have to wait until it’s published to engage your audience. Readers will feel like they are getting a behind the scenes sneak peek at your work in progress and endear them to the project right from the start. In this post, I shared all about how I turned my friend’s reality into inspiration for a fiction story. Writing Tips   Another topic you can talk about before you publish are the techniques you are using to write the story. For example, for my most recent book, I wrote about outlining, writing sprints, and using YouTube for research. First Chapter and Cover Reveal   A few weeks before you publish, give your readers a little teaser Music Play Lists   Mark Parsons wrote Road Rash, a â€Å"band-on-the-road† story about growing up- and growing into yourself. There probably isn’t a better scenario on the planet for a novel playlist. Being both a writer and a musician, Mark wrote this article for Huffington Post: 10 Best Road Trip Songs. Your book doesn’t have to be about music though to pull this off. Wisconsin based author Valerie Biel created playlists for her YA historical fantasy novels. Playlists are a great content addition to her website and also an excellent way for readers to create the atmosphere of the book to enhance their reading experience. Book Trailers Another way you can engage readers is â€Å"As authors, we want to give readers as much information as possible about our books so they can decide if it’s worth their precious time and money because let’ face it, this is a busy and expensive world. A book trailer can do this in 60 seconds or less using visuals and music. If a picture says a thousand words, adding tone and music says ten thousand.† – Teri Case, author of the award-winning novel Tiger Drive and forth-coming title, In the Dog House Once the trailer is finished, you can write a post about the creation process, including how you chose the images and music, how you scripted the video and any tips and tricks you’d recommend for other’s looking to give a book trailer a try. Okay! That’s it for today! Be sure to come back next week for the second half of the list!! (Click here for Part 2)

How To Create Opt-In Forms 5 Ways To Convert Traffic Like Crazy

How To Create Opt-In Forms 5 Ways To Convert Traffic Like Crazy Without a doubt, everyone wants to turn their website visitor into a customer. But did you know that  95% of first-time visitors  are not ready to purchase from your website right away? In fact, it takes on average three to four visits to your website for prospects to actually think of buying from you. This means if you’re selling a product or a service on your website, you could be losing many potential customers unless you build an email list and nurture them to purchase your products. Nonetheless, persuading visitors to submit your opt-in forms is key to the success of your business. Now, opt-in forms require various elements to attract leads and encourage completions. Each  of these elements is essential for boosting sign ups by reducing friction. In this post, let us discuss various key elements of high conversion opt-in forms, and how each element can contribute to improving your conversion rate.How To Create Opt-In Forms: 5 Ways To Convert Traffic Like Crazy1. Make Your Lead Generation Form Visually Appealing Studies show that  55% of visitors  spend fewer than 15 seconds on your website. Evidently, if you’re looking to increase conversion rate, you’ll need to grab the attention of your visitors as quickly as possible with a beautiful opt-in form. While prettiness of your form can be pleasing to eyeballs, the primary goal should be to make your form stands out from the rest of the content of your page, so it easily grabs the attention of your visitors. QuickSprout’s lead generation form is one of the perfect examples of a visually appealing opt-in form. Wondering what makes the QuickSprout’s form stands out? Let’s take a look at them below. Subtle shadow: You can notice a subtle shadow below the bottom corners, providing the form a little popping kind of effect. Directional cues: Using a directional cue has an inevitable role in designing a high converting opt-in form. It shows your visitors where to focus in your form. In the QuickSprout example, the header points downwards where the fields and button are placed. Recommended Reading: How To Write Landing Pages That Will Boost Your Conversions The below example of Constant Contact’s form is another example of using directional cue that points CTA button. Use directional arrows on opt-in forms to direct user actions.Actionable Tips for Creating a Visually-Appealing Opt-in Form Design When it comes to from design, below are a few tips that might help you: Create pretty opt-in forms using a form generator: You don't  necessarily have to be a designer in order to create an eye-catching form. If you’re on WordPress, you may use a free plugin like  Optin Forms  or use a premium SaaS solution like  OptinMonster. Visually appealing landing pages: While opt-in forms are an essential element of your landing page, make sure all other elements are also optimized for conversion. WordPress offers  various landing page plugins  for designing a page. Here are some other popular options to consider: LeadPages Unbounce Instapage 2. Increase Perceived Value With Compelling Content Upgrades What is the most important thing that encourages people to subscribe to your list? If you ask me, it is the opt-in bribe you offer your leads for subscription. Undoubtedly, visually appealing design attracts eyeballs to your opt-in forms. However, design alone is not sufficient to encourage people to subscribe to your list. It doesn’t matter how pretty your design is, unless you convey the benefits of subscription you can’t expect many sign ups. In order to encourage sign ups, make sure you offer something valuable which your prospects can’t refuse. That being said, you shouldn’t necessarily offer something huge as an opt-in bribe, but make sure it should be perceived as high-value. Encourage signups via opt-in forms by offering something prospects can't refuse.Again, let’s take a look at the QuickSprout’s opt-in form and its title copy. It says â€Å"Free Course: Double Your Traffic in 30 days + Secret Bonus (Valued at $300)† Let’s see how it increases perceived value with this compelling content. It focuses on solving a pain point: Solving a common pain point is one the best ways to encourage leads to subscribe to your list. In this case, QuickSprout offers a guide that tells how to double traffic in just 30 days. Because gaining traffic is a time-consuming task, this is an undeniable offer. Images: Another thing I liked about the form is that it shows the free course as a bundle of books and CDs, which definitely raises the perceived value of the opt-in bribe. Specifying dollar value: It also mentions how worthy the offer is by specifying its dollar value- yet another great way to increase perceived value. Recommended Reading: 10 Stunning Examples Of Visual Content Marketing Content Upgrades: Increasing Actual Value vs. Perceived Value While it is always possible to raise the perceived value of your content upgrade, one of the drawbacks of this approach is that since more and more marketers are offering generic opt-in bribes like ebooks, it is hard to differentiate yours from your competitors. And this is the primary reason  why the team at CopyBlogger launched a free paywall for MyCopyBlogger rather than a generic opt-in bribe such as an ebook. They wanted to offer both perceived as well as actual value than traditional methods. If you haven’t heard about MyCopyBlogger yet, it is a premium content library consisting 15 eBooks and a 20-part internet marketing course. In order to access the content, subscribers are required to log in to the site by entering their email address. Below are the results of this approach. This strategy of increasing perceived value and actual value boosted the sign up rate by 400%. Besides the sign up rate, the lead quality remained high and it helped to generate $300,000 in Authority  sales in their first month. This video from Jeff Sauer of  Jeffalytics shows how to build content upgrades to gate behind your opt-in forms: Recommended Reading: How To Use Social Media Analytics To Create The Best Content 3. Reduce the Number of Form Fields Undoubtedly, reducing the number of form fields is one of the easiest ways to increase sign up rate. And it has been proven by many studies. By analyzing contact forms of 40,000 of their customers, Dan Zarrella at HubSpot  found  that conversion rates improve when unnecessary fields are eliminated. Blivakker.no  found  an 11% rise in sign up rate when the number of form fields is reduced. Expedia eliminated just one field  resulting in a $12 million profit. These results make sense because shorter opt-in forms make submission easy and convenient for your prospects, which in turns encourage more sign ups. Increase signup form completions by eliminating unnecessary fields.So when creating an opt-in form, always double check whether each field is necessary and try eliminating the fields that are not critical for your marketing strategy. Number of Fields: Lead Quantity vs. Quality With that said, do keep in mind that the quality of your leads  is as important as the conversion rate. For that reason, if you’re eliminating the number of fields for boosting conversion, make sure to test the quality of your leads  as well. For instance, while auditing the lead flow, the team at B2B software company Iron Mountain found that eliminating number of form fields tremendously reduces the quality of leads. For them, in order to qualify a lead, simply gathering name and email address are not just enough. So, instead of reducing the number of form fields for boosting sign ups, they focused on improving qualified leads. A form submission is considered qualified if a lead submits accurate information for sales inquiry. At the end of the test, the A/B test with form design variations  improved qualified leads by 140%. Below are a few lessons you can learn from this case study. Validate fields: Leads submit accurate info if the fields are validated. This can help improving lead quality. Qualified leads improve efficiency  of sales teams: If you’re a B2B business, qualified leads help your sales team to focus on selling rather than researching contacts. Capturing more info: Gathering more info helps in personalizing follow up emails tailored to the lead’s industry. Two Additional Actionable Tips Aside from validating form fields, below are a few tips to follow. Add help text: Provide helps tips next to each field explaining why each info is being collected. Use ghost text: Ghost text helps users to identify in what format each field should be filled in. However, if you insist users to insert irrelevant fields, for example, dashes for a phone number, chances are it will create friction, which in turn reduces conversion rate. 4. Make the CTA Button Stand Out Make sure your users can easily differentiate your CTA from rest of the opt-in form elements. This strategy can help to grab the attention of your potential leads and encourage clicks. In one case study,  Dmix tested  comparing green and red button colors in their CTA. After testing 600 subjects, they found that conversions increased by 34% when they used red button. The reason why red button outperformed the green in the above example is that the red stands out from the rest of the design. So it draws attention and encourages click. Recommended Reading: The Ultimate Guide to Using Color Psychology In Marketing + Free Color Schemes Below is another example of using a button that doesn’t blend into the design. Additionally, make sure your CTA is actually a button. This separates the button from other elements placed on your page, which persuades visitors to click on it. For example, RIPT tested their original call to actions against a new CTA button. When the control is tested against the original, they immediately saw a rise in sales. The copy of your CTA button is as important as the color. According to a  survey by Formstack, little changes in button copy can help boosting conversion rates tremendously. With that said, you shouldn’t blindly follow someone else’s test on your opt-in form. The only way to improve conversion is to conduct a test on yours and learn how various CTA versions resonate with your audience. Recommended Reading: How To Write A Call To Action In A Template With 6 Examples 5. Place Forms Above-the-Fold Placing an opt-in form above-the-fold is a common practice to grab the most attention of your visitors. Entrepreneurs-journey.com offers a good example of a form that is placed above-the-fold. The best thing about this leaderboard sized opt-in form is that unlike popups, it grabs attention without annoying visitors. In fact, visitors can also choose not to display the form if they wish not to view it. Such placement is advisable,  especially because  Google recently announced  that they’ll start penalizing "intrusive interstitials" like popups on mobile devices from Jan. 10, 2017. So if you’re currently using any kind of intrusive opt-in forms for growing your list and are concerned about receiving a Google penalty, you might want to remove it from your website and place it above-the-fold for mobile devices. While above-the-fold placement can be an easy tactic to grab the attention of your visitors, it is not a "one size fits all" solution for driving more conversions. Let’s take a look at when you shouldn’t place your form above-the-fold. Should opt-in forms be above-the-fold? It depends.When Above-the-Fold Isn't The Best Option Did you remember the age old marketing lesson AIDA? AIDA stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. Remember the AIDA formula when building opt-in forms.When it comes to the placement of your opt-in form on your landing page, this means before asking your potential lead to complete a form, you’ll need to explain about your offer and convince them to subscribe to your list by explaining its benefits. Various sales pages have been using this AIDA tactic for boosting conversion. Optimize Your Opt-In Forms And Drive More Conversions! I hope this article gives you some insights on creating a high converting opt-in form for your next list building campaign. Every website and its audiences are unique. It is always better to test what brings better result before making assumptions. What is your favorite tip for creating a high-conversion lead generation form? Share your thoughts with us by dropping a line below in the comments section.

Safety and Efficacy of Resveratrol Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Safety and Efficacy of Resveratrol - Assignment Example Adversarial effects of drug in humans have ever been experienced. Longstanding side effects remain unknown (Barclay 2007). A negligible and short-lived clinical experiment performed few years ago among the obese patients provided 150 mg each day of the compound manifested no dangerous reactions (Sarubin-Fragakis & Thomson 2007).Resveratrol can act as an enhancer or antagonist to the estrogen according to Linus Pauline institute. As a result it might promote or discourage the development of cancers that depend on estrogen among individuals. However, there is no proof that the drug promotes or discourage cancer development among women.MedicationsConsumption of large quantities of pure resveratrol might elevate drug levels in blood which are normally metabolized by CYP3A4 (Barclay 2007). Such occurrences imply that calcium particular immunosuppressant drugs, channel blockers as well as erectile dysfunction might increase quantities of blood. Critical caution is necessary when administer ing the pure resveratrol together with the drugs such as the anti-coagulant as well as the anti- platelets (DyBuncio 2012). Before taking the drugs, kindly refer to the labels and ensure that you abide by the requirements such as not being a child or pregnant. Pharmaceutical advice is necessary in all situations (Polycarpou 2013).Resveratrol may enlarge blood vessels besides decreasing the action of cells essential for clotting the blood. Some studies proposes that resveratrol has frail estrogen influences.

Economics coursework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Economics coursework - Essay Example Interpretive method is used to understand the meaning of the given information that was assigned to the researchers. Critical research as the name implies concentrates more on the critical view of the subject. It highlights the critical viewpoint of the situation that has to be analysed. Feasibility study is an important phase in the development process. It enables the developer to have an assessment of the product being developed. It refers to the feasibility study of the product in terms of outcomes of the product, operational use and technical support required for implementing it. Economic Feasibility: It refers to the benefits or outcomes. We are deriving from the product as compared to the total cost we are spending for developing the product. If the benefits are more or less the same as the older system, then it is not feasible to develop the product. The development of the new product should greatly enhance the accuracy of the system and cuts short the delay in the processing of the product. The errors can be greatly reduced and at the same time providing great level of security. Hence, we do not need any additional equipment except memory of required capacity. Operational Feasibility: It refers to the feasibility of the product to be operational.

Communication Differences in Gender

Communication Differences in Gender Communication is an important part of any genders, with verbal and nonverbal communication styles used on a frequent basis. Both types of communications can be independent or used together, and it can be confusing for both men and women if not used correctly so it is important to make sure miscommunication do not by learning. We will be discussing different communication styles in verbal and nonverbal communication used by men and women, and looking at miscommunication that may occurs between genders. To help and explain this and personal experience will be used, and show various strategies to avoid miscommunication, and find possible solution to miscommunication and keep them to a minimal. Communication Styles Communication will be different when it comes to genders and these differences do not relate to any specific personal experience of a gender, and research as shown men will typically be direct, succinct, personal and instrumental in their communication, while women will try to relate to things, use emotions, and gain understanding in a personal way. This research fact shows how men will engage in a conversation using information, while women will try to build a relationship. With this in mind it has led perception of gender communication whether it is verbal or nonverbal communication. General terms and a use of a function standpoint are typical of male’s verbal communication. A functional standpoint is all about exchanging information and reinforcing relationship. With males being more dominant in communication, women until more recently were stereotyped as being submissive in conversation, but differences in language the gender uses are common and communication in relationship with both genders show a contrast in written and verbal communication not related to anyone gender specially. Verbally both gender show differences in communication, with males in some cases using adjectives that may seem judgmental, and women intensive adverbs. Though many also forget that pitch is common communication difference even if the pitch is not gender specific, it can related to one gender more than the other. Typically speaking women are stereotyped to have higher pitch, while men will have lower pitch sound, even though we know that pitch is not related specifically to a gender. Both gender have specific stereotypes on pitches, like when male uses a higher pitch to not sound feminine, and women using lower pitch when want sound more dominant and credible. Vocabulary use is a noticeable between genders, and seen easily when women are speaking as they will use more diverse vocabulary, while men may not have diversity in vocabulary they will use numbers. Women using communication will commonly divulge information with emotions, attitude, and beliefs, but men will avoid this when po ssible. According to GenderSpeak â€Å"An overabundance of tentative forms of expression in one’s communication can be interpreted as a sign of uncertainty and insecurity. But tentative language may also indicate politeness (Watts, 2003) and may have positive, facilitative uses; these kinds of expressions need not be identified with one sex or the other† (Ivy Backland, Ch. 4, p. 174). Both gender will have similarities and differences in their verbal communication, but so will their nonverbal communications. Women are much better at catching nonverbal cues in compared to men, and interpreting cues. Women will commonly use more person nonverbal cue including leaning forward, excellent eye contact to whom they speaking too, while showing more emotional expressions. Men will try change conversation to something with an angle when possible while using less eye contact that shows women will be better at nonverbal communication and staying attuned to them. Miscommunications and Causes Miscommunication experience between both genders may vary, but both gender will have their shares of miscommunications. Males will be more direct when it comes to looking for answers and communications, and they typically will avoid feedback, and not looking multiple option when possible. Females like to using expression, relationships, emotions, and feelings when communication will not have solution, with typical closeness in their communication. Women also do not want advice even if they look like they look like they may need it. It quiet common for males to use conversation to find social order, and try to show their dominance to other in a conversation, but female do not engage in dominance instead they use conversation to be more intimate. Men and women use conversation different and it is important to understand that women tend to have close relationships in their conversation, and will typically seek though, feelings and beliefs, and men want to dominate and find solution in conversation. These differences in communication between the two gender is one of the main causes of miscommunications, as both gender forget to realize that other gender may not communicate in same styles as their gender. With men using communication to dominate socially and get results when communicating, while women will typical use relationships communication, it leads to both gender needing to realize the difference in communication between them so that miscommunications are left to a minimal. Personal Experiences Miscommunication is common occurrence and happen to everyone at some point between men and women, and is also seen quiet often in our societies. IN my personal life I have experience miscommunication and many occasion, and one that would help better understand miscommunication is an argument over a trip needing planning with my girlfriend. Trip planning is an interesting thing as requires a place to go, cost, duration, and other things that will be needed before a trip can be made. With a male and female planning a trip miscommunication is common thing as both may have different ideas, thought, and communication styles to give their ideas. Though stereotypes for genders can be applied in this type a situation, it is not a factor in this situation that will be discussed. In planning a trip with my girlfriend there were miscommunication involved, as both wanted to have control of the conversation, and I would be direct about what I wanted, my girlfriend was not direct and try to bring emotions and relationships into the conversation to convey her points. In the process of deciding on location to go, I was more about going towards a natural and exciting place, while she was wanting a romantic quiet place to go, and we would start arguing over this as we were miscommunicating why we wanted to go to these style of places. With this argument we both had different viewpoints and used different communication styles which we were not understanding, and while I would be direct, she always tried use emotion and relationship in the communicating. This went on for a while until we both realized that neither of us were listening to each other and we need a way to communicate that we both could follow and understand. With us having communication issues we decided to take a breather and try to look at the other person point of view before starting discussion again. In this process I realized she was trying convey her emotion in her communication and bring in relationship, and I may not looked at communicating in this fashion causing miscommunication. After realizing this issue I determine I most try to look at emotional parts of communications, while she realized that try to be more direct would also help and miscommunication were limited on restart of the trip planning discussion. While I was usually more dominate and taking control of discussion in first try, this time around both us try to be equal and my girlfriend took a more dominate role, while I learnt to listen for subtle cues on why she wanted go to a romantic quiet place. In the example above we both realized that we had issues in communication and how we were trying to get our point across, and adjust our communication to come up with solution and clear communication that would work for both of us. Though we still had some miscommunication that were not uncommon in most cross gender relationships it was excellent learning experience. With the change in communication and understanding our communication were not in sync it help us better understand the other and also be more comfortable without worries of hurting other feeling, while adjusting our communication styles so the other could understand and avoid miscommunication. As stated by GenderSpeak â€Å" In expanding their repertoire of communication behaviors, the sexes can learn from each other’s listening tendencies and unlearn some habits and sex-typed conditioning. While listening to support a speaker is an admirable approach, women can expand their listening ability to more thoroughly t rack facts and comprehend information, rather than reading into a conversation more than the facts or trying to â€Å"take the emotional temperature† of the other person (Beebe, Beebe, Ivy, 2007, p. 120)† (Ivy Backland, Ch. 5, p. 203). Effective Strategies With any communication misunderstanding will happen and it not bad idea to have strategies should be available to use to solve these miscommunication. From the personal experience above taking break or pause can be excellent way analyze why communication is not working and work on ways to avoid miscommunications, while helping making a communication move forward so future miscommunication can be avoided before they happen. A pause or break is good way to reflect back on the communication see how you will try re-communicate a thought or idea, though this not the only effective strategies. The pause and break method is great strategy as it does give both side the opportunity to reflect on previous communications and while they failed and how they should proceed to communicate so miscommunication can be avoided. This type strategy also make us all realize that both men and women may have different ways to communicate, whether it is verbally or non-verbally, and look for similarities tha t may be used to help in communicating. It is important in this type strategy to understand that our genders will communicate differently and how we can communicate in the future so less miscommunication will occur. As stated â€Å"A limited amount of information about the sexes and listening behavior exists, but a few key sources agree on a major difference in how men and women listen. It’s not that members of one sex don’t listen as well as the other, but the sexes tend to listen for different purposes.† (Ivy Backland, 2008, Ch.5) The effective strategy above is not the only strategy that is available, to use when having issues in effective communication between genders. Other good ways to effectively communicate include more contact, relationship negations, social support and assistance, increased rewards, and directional definitional. Each strategy can help keep in keeping miscommunication to a minimal, but it should be realized sometimes it not going to work. Even with many different effective strategies to become more effective at communicating, they’re no set strategy that will work best with any communication and situation, and the strategy required can vary to allow for more effective communication. It not uncommon to look at the best solution to answer and with communication the same rule does apply, but it may not work in a communication situation. Conclusion Each gender will communicate differently and it is important that we do understand that sometimes the way we communicate from gender stereotypes and it may not work with the opposite gender. With the many communication styles used by both men and women, and with many of them being similar and different in non-verbal or verbal communication. With women typically using relationships, and men using a more direct approach, both men and women will have miscommunications as they are not realizing the differences in their communication styles. Throughout this paper it has pointed out the various communication styles used by genders and help explain why miscommunication occur who we may avoid them in the future by using various strategies, and learn how each gender may communicate. With many strategies to help with avoid miscommunication it is important to realize that their no guarantee the strategies discussed will avoid the miscommunication completely as sometimes our subconscious may cau se the miscommunication which we will not realize. References Sapiro, V (2002). Women in American Society. An Introduction to Women’s Studies (5th ed.). Manhattan, NY: McGraw-Hill. Ivy, D.K. Backlund, P. (2008). Gender Speak: Personal effectiveness in gender communications (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson: Allyn Bacon Rawluszko, M. (2009). Communication in the conditions of diversity. Kobieta, Biznes, (1-4),53-56. http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/docview/230449979?accountid=458 Gore, J. S. (2009). The interaction of sex, verbal, and nonverbal cues in same-sex first encounters. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 33(4), 279-299. doi:10.1007/s10919-009-00741

Fin 516 Quiz 1

1. | Question 😠 (TCO C) Blease Inc. has a capital budget of $625,000, and it wants to maintain a target capital structure of 60 percent  debt and 40 percent  equity. The company forecasts a net income of $475,000. If it follows the residual dividend policy, what is its forecasted dividend payout ratio? (a) 40. 61% (b) 42. 75% (c) 45. 00% (d) 47. 37% (e) 49. 74% | | | Student Answer:|   | (d) 47. 37 Equity required (Residual income) = $625,000*40% = $250,000 Dividend paid = $475,000 – $250,000 = $225,000 Dividend payout ratio = 225000/475000 = 47. 37% |   | Instructor Explanation:| Answer is: dText: pp. 570-572 – Residual Dividends, Chapter 14 Capital budget $625,000 Equity ratio 40% Net income (NI) $475,000 Dividends paid = NI – (Equity ratio)(Capital budget) $225,000 Dividend payout ratio = Dividends paid/NI 47. 37% | | | | Points Received:| 10 of 10 | | Comments:| | | | 2. | Question 😠 (TCO F) The following data applies to Saunders Corpora tion's convertible bonds: Maturity: 10 Stock price: $30. 00 Par value: $1,000. 00 Conversion price: $35. 00 Annual coupon: 5. 00% Straight-debt yield: 8. 00% What is the bond's conversion value? (a) $698. 15 (b) $734. 89 (c) $773. 57 (d) $814. 29 e) $857. 14 | | | Student Answer:|   | (e) $857. 14 Conversion ratio = Par value / Conversion Price= 28. 5714 =1000/35 Current share price= $30. 00 Therefore, conversion value of the bond= $857. 14 =28. 5714Ãâ€"30 |   | Instructor Explanation:| Answer is: e Chapter 19: pp. 770-774 Conversion value = Conversion ratio x Market price of stock = $857. 14 | | | | Points Received:| 10 of 10 | | Comments:| | | | 3. | Question 😠 (TCO B) SA – Your firm has debt worth $350,000, with a yield of 12. 5 percent, and equity worth $700,000. It is growing at a  seven percent rate, and faces a 40 percent tax rate.A similar firm with no debt has a cost equity of 17 percent. Under the MM extension with growth, what is its cost of equity? ( a) 19. 25% (b) 21. 75% (c) 18. 0% (d) 17. 5% (e) 18. 4% | | | Student Answer:|   | | | Instructor Explanation:| A is correct. Instructor Explanation: M & M Extension with Growth – Section 26. 4 (pp. 1011-1015) rsL = rsU + (rsU – rd)(D/S) 19. 25% = 17% + (17%-12. 5%)(350,000/700,000)| | | | Points Received:| 10 of 20 | | Comments:| this is you emailed solution – 4. (TCO B) SA – Your firm has debt worth $350,000, with a yield of 12. 5 percent, and equity worth $700,000.It is growing at a seven percent rate, and faces a 40 percent tax rate. A similar firm with no debt has a cost equity of 17 percent. Under the MM extension with growth, what is its cost of equity? My answer is: (d) 17. 5% rsL = rsU + (rsU – rd)(D/S) 17. 5% = 15% + (15%-10%)(200,000/400,000 I am not sure where you got the 15% number for the rsU or the 200,000 for D or the 400,000 for S the calculations and formula are correct but you used all incorrect inputs so I will give you 1/2 cr edit A is correct. Instructor Explanation: M & M Extension with Growth – Section 26. (pp. 1011-1015) rsL = rsU + (rsU – rd)(D/S) 19. 25% = 17% + (17%-12. 5%)(350,000/700,000) | | | 4. | Question 😠 (TCO B) Firm L has debt with a market value of $200,000 and a yield of nine percent. The firm's equity has a market value of $300,000, its earnings are growing at a  five percent  rate, and its tax rate is 40 percent. A similar firm with no debt has a cost of equity of 12 percent. Under the MM extension with growth, what would Firm L's total value be if it had no debt? (a) $358,421 (b) $377,286 (c) $397,143 (d) $417,000 (e) $437,850 | | Student Answer:|   | (c) $397,143 VTotal = VU + VTS, so VU = VTotal – VTS = D + S – VTS. Value tax shelter = VTS = rdTD/(rsU – g) = 0. 09(0. 40)($200,000)/(0. 12 – 0. 05) = $102,857 VU = $300,000 + $200,000 – $102,857 = $397,143 |   | Instructor Explanation:| Answer is: c Chapter 26, pp. 1011-1 015 Debt: $200,000 Equity: $300,000 rd: 9% rsU : 12% T: 40% g: 5% Firm L has a total value of $200,000 + $300,000 = $500,000. A similar firm with no debt should have a smaller valu(e) Here is the calculation: VTotal = VU + VTS, so VU = VTotal – VTS = D + S – VTS. Value tax shelter = VTS = rdTD/(rsU – g) = 0. 9(0. 40)($200,000)/(0. 12 – 0. 05) = $102,857 VU = $300,000 + $200,000 – $102,857 = $397,143 | | | | Points Received:| 20 of 20 | | Comments:| | | | 5. | Question 😠 (TCO A) Which of the following statements is CORRECT? (a) An option's value is determined by its exercise value, which is the market price of the stock less its striking price. Thus, an option can't sell for more than its exercise value. (b) As the stock’s price rises, the time value portion of an option on a stock increases because the difference between the price of the stock and the fixed strike price increases. c) Issuing options provides companies with a low cost method of raising capital. (d) The market value of an option depends in part on the option's time to maturity and also on the variability of the underlying stock's price. (e) The potential loss on an option decreases as the option sells at higher and higher prices because the profit margin gets bigger. | | | Student Answer:|   | (c) Issuing options provides companies with a low cost method of raising capital. |   | Instructor Explanation:| Answer is: d Chapter 8, pp. 306-310 | | | | Points Received:| 0 of 20 | Comments:| Companies do not issue Options – they are a trading vehicle of the exchanges – no capital from options go to the firm | | | 6. | Question 😠 (TCO F) Suppose the December CBOT Treasury bond futures contract has a quoted price of 80-07. What is the implied annual interest rate inherent in the futures contract? Assume this contract is based on a 20 year Treasury bond with semi-annual interest payments. The face value of the bond is $1000, and th e semi-annual coupon payments are $30. The annual coupon rate on the bonds is $60 per bond (or 6%).The futures contract has 100 bonds. (a) 6. 86% (b) 7. 22% (c) 7. 60% (d) 8. 00% (e) 8. 40% | | | Student Answer:|   | (d) 8% Quote: 80’07 0. 80 0. 07 N: 40 PV = (0. 80+0. 07/32) ? $1,000 = -$802. 1875 FV = $1,000 PMT = $30 I/YR = 4. 00% Annual rate: I/YR ? 2 = 8. 00% |   | Instructor Explanation:| Answer is: d Chapter 23, pp. 917-923 Answer Detail: Quote: 80-07 0. 80 0. 07 N: 40 PV = (0. 80+0. 07/32) ? $1,000 = -$802. 1875 FV = $1,000 PMT = $30 I/YR = 4. 00% Annual rate: I/YR ? 2 = 8. 00% | | | | Points Received:| 20 of 20 | | Comments:| | | | | |

Race, Ethnicity, & Prejudice

Race, Ethnicity, and Prejudice-Online Project At one point in time the U. S. Census defined someone as a â€Å"negro† if they were one-sixteenth black. That is, if one of your sixteen great-great grandparents was of African descent (and the other fifteen were of â€Å"white† European descent), you were defined as â€Å"negro†. In Jamaica, people believed to be of â€Å"pure† African descent are described as black. People who are bi-racial are usually described as â€Å"colored†. In Brazil, there are even more differentiations of those believed to be of African descent.The point of all this is that our definitions are culture-bound and socially constructed. They are, therefore, not particularly scientific and change over time. This does not mean that race and ethnicity have no real meaning. They have meaning because we give them meaning. 1. What method do census enumerators use to classify people according to race? A census enumerator is a person who collects census data. Before 1960, census enumerators were themselves responsible for classifying people according to race. However, in 1960 there was a switch to self-reporting.From this point on, individuals were in control of classifying themselves. It was no longer the census enumerators who classified individuals, but individuals who classified themselves. Census enumerators would just compile the results. 2. Which categories of ethnicity are used by the census bureau? The categories of ethnicity and race used by the census bureau have undergone numerous changes over the years. At first, from 1790 to 1880, the census recorded only â€Å"color. † During this time period it was a person’s skin color that was of importance and there were three categories: White, Black, and Mulatto.The categories expanded in 1890 and consisted of five gradations: Black, Mulatto, Quadroon, Octoroon, and White. It was in 1900 that the word â€Å"race† actually appeared in the ce nsus. The question now asked for each person’s â€Å"color or race. † At this time the census used only two categories: White and Black. It wasn’t until 1950 that the word â€Å"color† was completely dropped and the census only asked for the person’s race. In 1960 people were able to classify themselves. Shortly following the census added the category â€Å"other. In 1977 there were four racial categories established: American Indian or Alaskan Native, Asian or Pacific Islander, Black, and White. Plus there was the â€Å"Other† category. Also, the census added two ethnicity categories: Hispanic origin and Not of Hispanic origin. 3. How have categories changed for the 2000 Census? Since 1977, the racial and ethnic makeup of the country changed significantly. There were no questions as to whether the previous standards still reflected the diversity that was present in the United States. So, with that, the categories for the 2000 census were r evised.The categories now consisted of: American Indian or Alaska Native; Asian; Black or African American; Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander; and White. The category of â€Å"Some Other Race† is also included. In regards to ethnicity, there are two categories: Hispanic or Latino, and Not Hispanic or Latino. Aside from changes in the categories, another significant change for the 2000 census is that respondents are allowed to check off multiple â€Å"race† boxes. 4. What problems do you see with the Census definitions? The diversity in our society is increasing.Putting people in categories is becoming more problematic because the categories are arbitrary; none of the groups have clear or unambiguous boundaries. Classifying people into a certain category is restrictive and doesn’t take into account that â€Å"people classified as â€Å"Asian and Pacific Islander† represent scores of different national and linguistic backgrounds, and â€Å"America n Indian or Alaska Native† includes people from hundreds of different tribal groups† (Healey 13). The census definitions are very limiting and they don’t do diversity justice. Also, there is still no place for a number of groups among the categories listed. For example, where should we place Arab Americans and recent immigrants from Africa? † (Healey 13). I understand that it is unrealistic to have a category for every single group, but we should realize that the definitions used by the census, the classification schemes, have limited utility and application. In addition, there is a growing number of mixed-race individuals for whom there are no categories. Although currently that number is relatively small, it is projected to increase rapidly due to a growing number of marriages across group lines.How should those individuals be classified? Sources: Healey, Joseph F. (2010). Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Class: The Sociology of Group Conflict and Change. (5th Ed. ). Pine Forge Press, an Imprint of SAGE Publications, Inc. Sweet, Frank W. (2011, Feb. 25). A Brief History of Census â€Å"Race†. Retrieved from http://knol. google. com/k/a-brief-history-of-census-race U. S. Census Bureau, Population Division. Racial and Ethnic Classifications Used in Census 2000 and Beyond. Retrieved from http://www. census. gov/population/www/socdemo/race/racefactcb. html