Questia Celebrates Ten Years with Free iPhone App for Online Research

Chicago, IL (PRWEB) February 28, 2011

Questia, the largest online library and part of Cengage Learning, celebrates its tenth anniversary with a free iPhone app available to users. Designed to support college students and online researchers, the app can be downloaded free along with a one-day free trial of the subscription service to access Questias more than 20 million pages of content including books, journals, magazines, and newspaper articles. One of the first services to offer full-text, copyrighted digital books, and a pioneer provider of vetted online research, Questias resources are invaluable to researchers looking for quality materials at their fingertips.

Questia has recently achieved several major milestones, including the introduction of its new iPhone application which enables mobile access to Questias entire online library.

As we look back on our first ten years in the market, we recognize success through our subscriber base of more than 400,000 people to date from more than 200 countries, said David Guttman, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Open Web Programs for Cengage Learning. The needs of those subscribers have evolved over time and we must continue to adapt to meet their research with tools such as the iPhone app which allows for mobile access twenty-four hours a day from anywhere in the world.

The Questia library features copyrighted books and articles selected by professional librarians. In addition to research works, Questia has a full suite of tools to create project folders, quote and cite publications, generate automatic biographies, bookmark pages, add items to a bookshelf, take digital notes, and highlight text. Users can also share notes while researching, rate and review publications and easily share materials on their personal blogs and websites.

Questia was founded with the goal of making critical research material available in digital form, customized to the needs of the user, said Guttman. Over the years, our subscription-based business model has allowed us to reach an audience of students and educators at a price that works for them as well as our publisher partners. Were looking forward to an exciting future as the appetite for digital learning tools continues to grow.

To download Questias mobile iPhone app, visit: http://www.questia.com/questialibraryplus

About Cengage Learning and Questia

Cengage Learning is a leading provider of innovative teaching, learning and research solutions for the academic, professional and library markets worldwide. Questia, part of Cengage Learning, serves undergraduate, high school, graduate students, and Internet users through 24/7 access to the world's largest online collection of books and academic journal articles in the humanities and social sciences, and magazine and newspaper articles. For more information, visit http://www.cengage.com or http://www.questia.com.

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5 Ways to Make Your Online Property Rental Ads More Effective - RentClick.ca

Calgary, Alberta (PRWEB) January 5, 2010

So what happens when the landlord has posted an online ad for their rental property and they still get no calls? No landlord wants their rental properties to sit empty. Renters are not going to call the owner unless the ad catches their attention. There are ways to improve the content of the ad and its visual and competitive appeal.

The following tips will improve an ad's effectiveness when posting online on a site such as on RentClick.ca.

Tip #1: Write a Catchy Heading

"Apartment for rent" websites present filtered results to the user by summarizing the key data on properties that fit their criteria. To sort through all of this information, users typically scan the property's heading and photo to see if something interests them. Property owners have the ability to label their property with a catchy heading, so this is their first chance at making an impression. Use descriptive words and focus on one key unique feature or benefit that the property offers. That unique feature could be its open layout, bright rooms, spacious entranceway, underground parking, in-suite laundry, cul-de-sac location, etc. Which of these headings is the catchiest?

Bungalow for Rent
2 Bedroom, 2 Bathroom Bungalow
Come Home to an Inner-City Spacious Bungalow on Quiet Cul-de-Sac
Tip #2: Less is Not More

Why would the landlord skimp out on words if they can write a ton of information about their property and it won't cost them anymore than writing just one line. The cost of advertising in a traditional newspaper might limit landlords to just a few lines and using numerous abbreviations, like D/T, N/S, N/P, N/C, and D/D. While we do not suggest that property owners need to write a book about their property, they do need to provide sufficient, useful and concise information about their property and focus on its unique selling features and the benefits it would offer to its occupants. Be specific rather than general. For example, instead of writing "Located close to public transportation," try, "Located one block away from bus route #10 which will take you to the university in 15 minutes."

Tip #3: Landlords Must Include Photos!

A picture speaks a thousand words and it can powerfully convey to the audience what the landlord is selling. There is no excuse for not having photos of the property when advertising online. The owner increases their chances of having their property clicked on if they show photos. The chances that the renter can recall the property in their mind is greatly improved with photographic images. Most websites allow unlimited photos to be posted. The landlord should ensure that they are selective with the photos that they post. Their photos should feature the most attractive aspects of their property (whether it be the beautiful hardwood floors, the cool lighting fixtures, or that new washer and dryer). Remember to edit the photos by using the cropping tool, correcting the exposure and re-take blurry photos to ensure that they are in focus.

Tip #4: Know The Customer

It is important for landlords to have a good understanding of their renter profile. Certain locations and property types tend to attract certain renter profiles and landlords should have an understanding of what is important to them. What's important may be proximity to public transit and schools, very good security, luxury finishes, full-time concierge service, in-suite laundry, utilities that are included in the rent, a lively neighborhood or perhaps a quiet neighborhood. Depending on the renter profile, the landlord may want to emphasize certain property features and benefits in the online property ad.

Tip #5: Check out The Competition

Business would be easy if we had no competition! Prpperty owners should have an understanding of the quantity and quality of other properties, either by location or by target market. For instance, the landord may notice that there is an abundance of properties just like theirs, that their price is relatively high or low, that the subject property has the best curb appeal, or that they are the only one offering a negotiable move-in date. If the house for rent is competitive, make sure that is emphasized in the ad.

Time is valuable and landlords should not waste it by listing their property and not getting a ton of response on it. Marketing is a numbers game in that landlords want to generate a lot of interest, and then filter prospective renters even further. The odds of a landlord finding the right renter are improved when an effective ad is written.

Contact:

Linda Chan, Marketing Director, RentClick.ca

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/rentclickcgy

Website: RentClick.ca

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Leading Online Appointment-Scheduling Software Reaches 60 Million Appointment Mark

Scottsdale, AZ (Vocus/PRWEB) February 28, 2011

Appointment-Plus, an industry leader in online appointment-scheduling software, has announced that its Web-based booking system has been used to schedule over 60 million appointments and reservations in the United States, Canada and 10 other countries. Scheduling these appointments were over 4,500 large and small businesses, Fortune 500 companies, medical practitioners, colleges and universities, government agencies and other organizations.

The company reached the milestone in late February.

Attaining the 60 million appointment mark is the latest benchmark of our cutting-edge scheduling technology, and this number really drives home the point that a growing number of service-oriented businesses, educational institutions, agencies and other entities are turning to Appointment-Plus for their scheduling needs, says Bob La Loggia, president and founder of Scottsdale, Ariz.-based StormSource Software, the developer of Appointment-Plus. Were helping them improve their appointment-scheduling and reservation-booking procedures so they can focus more of their time and resources on other important tasks.

Used to book over 1.5 million appointments and reservations each month, Appointment-Plus is online scheduling software that offers businesses and organizations such functionality as online customer self-scheduling, whereby individuals can schedule and manage their appointments and reservations from any Internet connection; automated e-mail and text message reminders sent prior to a scheduled appointment; online payment options that allow them to accept customer payment right through the scheduler; robust record-keeping and report-generating features; and e-marketing capabilities through iContact. Other popular features include gift certificates, service packages and repeat-customer reminders.

Because of its versatility, Appointment-Plus is the perfect fit for all types of industries and organizations. Users of the online appointment-scheduling software range from photography studios and massage therapists to universities, Fortune 500 companies and distributors and manufacturers who rely on it for dock and delivery scheduling. These groups can tailor the systems functionality to best meet their specific needs, while allowing them to create an overall appearance that mirrors their company or organizations colors, Web site, logo and other marketing images. Additionally, the softwares application programming interface (API) allows for specific custom programming and integration into existing systems in such areas as Web services and single sign-on for student information systems (SIS), in which a student logs in once to gain access to multiple school-administered programs without being prompted to log into each of them individually.

Notable clients that use Appointment-Plus online appointment scheduling software for their booking needs include:

Ecolab
Georgia-Pacific
Harvard University
Johns Hopkins University
Procter & Gamble
Time Warner Cable
Weight Watchers

Appointment-Plus is also the perfect scheduling solution for Groupon, LivingSocial and other deal-of-the-day campaigns, as it enables businesses to better manage the immediate increase in new customer appointments and reservations. Businesses that utilize the online scheduling software for this purpose will receive a special coupon code to provide customers to enter when booking their appointment or reservation, which will prompt the system to not charge the registrant. Additionally, a growing number of businesses and organizations are incorporating it into their social media pages, such as Facebook and Twitter, to allow their customers, students and patients to book directly through these sites.

Because its Web-based, Appointment-Plus online appointment-scheduling software is accessible from any Internet connection and is ideal for individuals who manage their appointment schedules and customers when away from their home or office. Additionally, the online scheduler does not require a Web site, expensive hardware or any installations to incorporate and use.

Pricing starts at $ 39 per month with no long-term contracts, along with free set-up assistance with a dedicated coach.

Cloud-based technology such as Appointment-Plus is becoming more and more common in the daily operations of businesses and organizations alike, La Loggia continues. Our leading scheduling software takes the effort out of this tedious and time-consuming task by completely automating and streamlining the entire process.

To learn more about Appointment-Plus and how it can improve your appointment- and reservation-scheduling needs, click here.

About Appointment-Plus: Appointment-Plus supplies over 4,500 clients throughout the United States, Canada and 10 other countries the tools they need to efficiently, accurately and automatically schedule appointments and sessions, book rooms, accept registrations and many other services. The flagship product of Scottsdale, Ariz.-based StormSource Software, the online application has scheduled over 60 million appointments since its launch in 2001. Geared primarily toward small businesses such as medical offices, spas, health clubs and massage therapists, users of the service also include Fortune 500 companies, colleges and universities, healthcare agencies and facilities, federal and local government, and freight and delivery services.

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Webgility Releases eCC v3, a Comprehensive eCommerce Integration Solution for Online Retailers

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) July 22, 2011

Webgility, LLC, a leading provider of QuickBooks

Landscape Designer Breaks Digital Ground with App and Online Design Service

Saxtons River, VT (PRWEB) June 02, 2011

Today Julie Moir Messervy Design Studio (JMMDS) announced it is going digital by offering two online tools that make the landscape design process approachable and attainable for everyone. The first, the Home Outside Design (HOD) iPhone app, enables homeowners to place the pieces of their front and back yard landscapes; the other, a new online design service called Home Outside Design, gives cost-conscious clients with small properties design help from the experienced and creative professionals at JMMDS.

Both tools are based on Messervys book Home Outside: Creating the Landscape You Love (The Taunton Press), which has been changing the way Americans think about home landscapes since its release in 2009. This award-winning book is geared towards helping every homeowner jump-start a process for extending the presence of home out into the landscape by transforming a lackluster property into a beautiful and personal home outside.

More people are realizing that home begins when you set foot on your property, not just when you enter your front door, said Messervy. By teaching homeowners and professionals about landscape design in my books, blog, app and design services, Im empowering them to create the spaces they love and go outdoors to enjoy them.

New Home Outside Design iPhone App Makes Landscape Design Fun and Easy; $ 2.99 at the iTunes App Store

Messervys Home Outside Design (HOD) app, created in collaboration with software design studio All Dreams Digital, is different from all other garden apps. It enables homeowners to select from more than 280 beautifully hand-drawn landscape elements and move them around on a virtual property. Users can mock up their own site, including locating their house and existing landscape features, and then add in a new shed, patio, deck, paths, planting beds, and landscape features such as pools, stones, and play structures.

The app also highlights green features such as clotheslines, vegetable gardens, solar panels, a green roof, and a compost bin. Homeowners can even e-mail their designs to friends or to the Home Outside Design (HOD) app Web site, where they might appear in an online slideshow of inspiring Home Outside Design creations. Besides being an excellent design tool, the Home Outside Design (HOD) app is fun, offering everyone an opportunity for creative play.

New Online Design Service Brings Landscape Design Home

Not everyone feels comfortable designing their own backyard, so Messervy and her team created the trademarked Home Outside Design service to help. Specially tailored to meet the needs of small-scale residential properties, Home Outside Design allows homeownersno matter where they liveto access the award-winning design services of JMMDS in an interactive and cost-effective way.

How Home Outside Design Works: You measure. We design. You enjoy.

To begin the Home Outside Design process, JMMDS sends homeowners a Home Outside Design kit, complete with a Home Outside DVD, measuring tape, pencils and a workbook that walks them through the steps for measuring their property. The workbook includes questionnaires that help homeowners determine their designer personality and aesthetic preferences and uncover their significant landscape and nature experiences.

The result: two design plans drawn as birds eye views that map the flow and major landscape features of the property, including planting beds, walkways, seating areas, and special features. Once a preferred design is chosen, the homeowners can continue partnering with JMMDS to create the finished landscape, work with a local landscape designer or contractor to develop the property, or execute the design on their own.

Home Outside Design plans start at $ 500 for a front or backyard design of 5,000 square feet. To begin the Home Outside Design process, visit http://www.jmmds.com/create/home-outside-design. Information on full-service designs for residential or institutional properties is also available at http://www.jmmds.com.

About Julie Moir Messervy

With three decades of experience, numerous high-profile lectures and six books, including the award-winning Home Outside: Creating the Landscape You Love (The Taunton Press, 2009), Messervy has emerged as a leader of a movement in which landscape design is as much a personal journey as it is about leaving a unique imprint upon the earth. Her latest book, The Toronto Music Garden: Inspired by Bach, was released in November 2009. Messervy is the principal of Julie Moir Messervy Design Studio (JMMDS) in Saxtons River, Vermont. More at http://www.jmmds.com and http://www.jmmds.com/inspire/blog.

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Carpe Diem Now Utilizing uBoosts Online Motivation Tools to Recognize Student Achievement

Bellevue, WA (PRWEB) November 07, 2011

uBoost, the nations premiere student motivation program, announced its partnership with Carpe Diem, a charter secondary school in Yuma Arizona. Carpe Diem completed a pilot program during the Spring of 2011 and has expanded the use of uBoost to 5 locations, including its virtual school program, to boost course progression and completion rates.

Students will receive recognition for their scores as they progress through each course in the form of redeemable points, achievement badges, and status. Students may level up by earning points and badges which are viewable via online leaderboards and user profiles.

uBoost provides a collection of motivational levers designed to increase the student activities our clients find most valuable, says John Bower, CEO of uBoost. Our underlying principle of automating frequent and consistent feedback support Carpe Diems efforts to foster meaningful relationships between students and their teachers; set high expectations; and make the academic experience student-centric. By distilling seemingly insurmountable goals like course completion and content mastery into achievable tasks and recognizing students as they progress, learners feel supported and develop the confidence necessary for academic success. Whether its competing with peers on leaderboards; achieving short and long term achievement milestones; helping others through charitable giving; or earning merchandise and gift cards, uBoost delivers relevant feedback that appeals to each type of learner.

Rick Ogston, Founder and CEO of Carpe Diem says, Carpe Diems approach to education leverages technology, students interests, and skills to make their learning experience positive, enriching and empowering. In addition to teachers providing encouragement, uBoosts automated positive feedback loops provide daily evidence to our students that they are indeed making progress and can become competent in the subject matter.

About uBoost

uBoost provides educators with an automated solution to deliver relevant recognition for positive behaviors and incremental academic achievement to keep students motivated to earn their diploma. Working with all age groups, curricula and achievement levels, uBoost partners with publishers, school districts, online schools, tutoring companies and private education companies to design and implement customized recognition and rewards programs that foster student motivation, improve classroom behavior, and encourage parent engagement.

uBoost appreciates that students are unique that they learn differently and that intrinsic motivation varies across subject areas. uBoosts platform encourages students to put forth their maximum effort by recognizing their individual academic achievements in the form of performance-based badges, coveted spots on achiever leader boards, daily email alerts, and award points redeemable for rewards including forty charitable giving opportunities and access to games only available on uBoost. Clients may also offer merchandise and gift cards in their customized rewards catalog ranging in value from $ .01 to $ 200.00.

New recognition tools, rewards, and contests are added regularly to keep up with students' changing interests and to ensure relevancy throughout the school year.

For more information about uBoost, call 866-921-4480810 or visit:

http://www.uBoost.com

http://www.youtube.com/uBoost100

http://www.twitter.com/uBoost

http://www.slideshare.net/uBoost

About Carpe Diem

The mission of Carpe Diem is to Educate, Empower and Equip their students for life. Their focus remains razor sharp: Carpe Diem is satisfied with nothing less than providing each student with an individually crafted, state-of-the-art, educational experience from enrollment to graduation, and beyond. Carpe Diem understands the unique opportunity that digital learning provides, and has now embraced the online virtual world. Offering on-campus and online options provides students the power to choose the best option for them. Students who require the flexibility that online education affords can now study quality, college preparatory courses at home, at their own pace, while focusing on sports, theater, the arts, or whatever it is that moves them. Whether on-campus or online, throughout their course of study, Carpe Diem students will have mastered all the content and learned skills that will position them to succeed in college, or in the world economy. Students who earn their diploma will be able to confidently refer to a transcript that reflects the excellent reputation and NCA accreditation of Carpe Diem Collegiate High School.

About Education2020, Inc.

Education2020 is a leading provider of core and elective instruction in a virtual school setting for students in grades 6-12, creating innovative, rigorous, standards-aligned courseware and online virtual instruction programs to help students recover and accrue credits for graduation and prepare for state, end-of-course, and standardized exams. Education2020s web-based model, teacher-led video delivery, and innovative instructional approach offer engaging and individualized virtual online instruction solutions to public and private schools for use in traditional classrooms, blended school, and online programs. e2020, Inc., has implementations in 39 states with over 800 schools districts and 2500 + schools served. Founded in 1998, last year education2020, Inc., provided courses for more than 335,000 students. For more information, visit http://www.education2020.com.

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Photoswarm.com Launches Innovative Online Service for Photographers of All Stripes

London, England (PRWEB) June 02, 2011

Photoswarm.com, a pioneering online service for photographers, has today announced the launch of their unique web service. Photoswarm is committed to helping photographers showcase their works within the online environment, whether they are professionals, semi-pros or amateur photographers.

Visitors to Photoswarms site will find themselves presented with perhaps the best place in which to house their photography work. Photoswarm gives users the ability to create stunning, professional quality photography portfolios within mere minutes. Traditional online portfolio creation can require hours of work and an in-depth knowledge of web programming code. However, Photoswarm takes the confusion and time consumption out of the equation. According to Aidan Kane, Lead Developer, Our photo portfolio sites are so easy to use a 5-year-old could create one.

Of course, Photoswarm is also obsessive about providing the best possible customer service to their users. According to Will Jennings, Operations, Customer support is absolutely essential to what we do. Were proactive rather than reactive, and actively look to help our users build the best online photography portfolios around. The firm is so committed to providing outstanding service and support that every email receives a personal response.

Visitors will find that Photoswarm offers three tiers of service. New users can take an unlimited test drive with the free package, and host up to 50 photos with no advertisements. The Light package offers unlimited photos and traffic, but also includes a Contact Page and an About Page, as well as access to Google Analytics.

However, the true gem within their offerings is their Pro package. For less than $ 10 per month, users receive all the benefits of the other two packages, as well as their own domain name, email address and the ability to sell photos from their own photography portfolio. All packages on offer come with no advertising to distract the visitors eye and detract from the photo gallery experience.

Regardless of a photographers skill level or reason for sharing their photographs, Photoswarm offers an effortless way to share, sell and add a professional touch without hassle or fuss.

To find out more about what Photoswarm offers or to sign up for an online photography portfolio, visit the company at http://www.photoswarm.com.

About Photoswarm: Photoswarm was founded by two friends (Aidan Kane & Will Jennings) who direct, run and develop the company. Will is fanatical about Photoswarm's customer support and takes care of design, marketing and the general running of the business. Aidan, a web development professional, takes care of all aspects of back end technology, code and web infrastructure in order to make Photoswarm's sites run as fast as possible.

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QOOP Powers Online Purchasing of Print-On-Demand Public Domain Books from Google Books

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) October 27, 2010

QOOP announced today that Google has added links to QOOP so customers can easily order print-on-demand editions of over 2 million public domain titles available from Google Books. Google Books users can look for the QOOP link in the Get this book section on any public domain listing on books.google.com.

Phil Wessells, QOOPs President, said, QOOP is excited about the opportunity to help with the Google Books project by making many of the public domain titles available for purchase through our print-on-demand services. This is a natural extension to make the works universally available with inexpensive print editions for anyone to purchase.

If you want a print copy of a public domain book that we have scanned and indexed, QOOP has now made it easier for you to get one, said Brandon Badger, product manager, Google Books. We will put any proceeds we receive from QOOP towards not-for-profit book digitization efforts.

Joseph King, Executive Director of the National Institute for Technology in Liberal Education (Nitle.org), noted, Google is doing some fantastic work preserving the content of books through their digitization program and this should be an excellent way to help support the scanning effort. Some truly fantastic old titles will be back in print. Ive just ordered a wonderful old edition of Whitmans Leaves of Grass.

QOOP will initially offer paperback books for purchase. Single edition paperbacks are limited to 700 pages and longer titles will be broken into multiple volume sets. During the next few months, the purchase options will expand to include wire-o bound and smythe-sewn case-bound hardbacks with dust jackets.

About QOOP Inc.

QOOP is a free social commerce community for authors, artists, photographers, designers, stock image libraries, publishers, and document libraries. QOOPs site includes a community galleria and tools to set up and share online storefronts anywhere on the web. The amplified distribution of stores and listings allows the social network to act at the traffic engine to drive greater marketing awareness and sales to store listings on QOOP. On demand product sales include ebooks, stock image downloads, photo prints, framed prints, greeting cards, postcards, business cards, photo mugs, photo gifts, photo books, mini photo books, hardback books, paperback books, wire-o reports, and more. For more information visit http://www.qoop.com. QOOP offices are in Mill Valley, California.

About Google Inc. and Google Book Search

Googles innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. Google Book Search was launched in 2004, and today enables the full text searching of millions of books online. More than 35,000 publishers and 40 libraries around the world currently work with Google to market their books through the service. Google is headquartered in Silicon Valley with offices throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit http://www.google.com and books.google.com.

Contacts:

QOOP: Phil Wessells, phil (at) qoop (dot) com, 415-381-2008

Google: Jeannie Hornung, press (at) google (dot) com, 650-253-5680

(c) copyright 2010 QOOP.com, QOOP and the Q and QOOP logos, and related trade dress are registered trademarks or trademarks of QOOP in the United States and other countries and may not be used without written permission. Google, Google Book Search, and Google logos, and related trade dress are registered trademarks or trademarks of Google in the United States and other countries and may not be used without written permission. Other trademarks and company names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

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