The Top Gambler Destination – Las Vegas

Formerly, the marketing angle of the Las Vegas tourism board had the nickname of “Sin City”, then in the 1990’s it was touted as a family-friend destination, and after that it went back to Adults Only with its new tagline, “What happens here, stays here”. City advertisers want to attract people from all over the world to their own adult playground, filled with endless gambling, alcohol, food and entertainment. It is a kind of magical place that will cater to every need and fulfill every fantasy.

Las Vegas is a true feast for the eyes, in spite of all the neon. The skyline is amazing, with all of the shining lights and massive shapes competing for attention. All the hotels struggle to top the next one with its own distinctive theme, imposing entrances, rollicking casinos, luscious restaurants, and exciting entertainment. Las Vegas does not have one single boring bone in its whole body.

Hotels are what distinguish the city of Las Vegas, since they are so unique and have very original themes. They are truly incredible to behold. They reverence other unique cities, like New York, Venice, and Paris, by recreating smaller versions of them. The New York, New York hotel reconstructs the bubbly streets of Gotham. The Paris hotel experience comes complete with a replica of the Eiffel Tower. The Venetian hotel has a huge indoor canal with gondolas and gondoliers.

There are tributes to other themes as well, including Hollywood (MGM Grand), ancient Rome (Caesar’s Palace), Arabian nights (Aladdin), pirates (Treasure Island) and several more. However, there are fine hotels with no specific themes, such as two of the nicest hotels with casinos in Las Vegas, the Bellagio and the Wynn Las Vegas Hotel, but they do offer accommodation with opulence and luxury.

Vegas entertainment has always been a huge draw, from the Rat Pack of the mid-20th century to Celine Dion today. Magicians, such as Siegfried and Roy, entertain crowds with their incredible optical illusions. Comedians like Danny Gans and Carrot Top perform regularly in Las Vegas and are very popular with their use of sight gags and extravagant props. Veteran Vegas entertainers, like Tony Orlando and Wayne Newton, still command crowded houses night after night with their well-loved selection of musical favorites.

Two more favorite past times in Las Vegas are shopping and eating. Most of the hotels display numerous great shops inside their lobbies. And in case of being hungry, there is no shortage of fabulous food in Vegas. Las Vegas is no longer a city of .99 all-you-can-eat-buffets.

But obviously, the most popular reason for visiting Las Vegas is for the gambling casinos. There is a place for every budget, from the nickel slot machines to the rooms of tables reserved for starting bets over 00. Games like blackjack, craps, and baccarat attract millions of people a year to try their luck at the tables, accompanied by eye-catching cocktail waitresses handing out free drinks abundantly.

Amateur gamblers who visit Las Vegas recommend deciding how much money to play with before starting, and stick with that perimeter. After all, Las Vegas is a fun destination for vacationing and conventions, and it has a lot to offer visitors when they practice some self-control in the gambling arena.

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Completely In The Canal (Cic) Hearing Aids

Completely in the canal hearing aids (also known as CIC hearing aids) are, as the name suggests, hearing aids which fit entirely within the wearers ear canal. These revolutionary devices are the smallest hearing aids on the market and are invisible to the average observer who doesn’t know they are there. Most major hearing aid brands and manufacturers now offer this inconspicuous alternative to traditional behind the ear, or BTE, hearing aids.

CIC hearing aids are custom made to fit deep inside the individual wearers ear canal and are said to mimic the natural auditory process more closely then any other style of hearing aid. They are best suited to people with a mild to moderate hearing loss. There are a number of advantages and disadvantages that should be taken into consideration when deciding between CIC hearing aids and the BTE models.

For audiologists, otologists, speech therapists and other hearing professionals, the primary appeal of CIC hearing aids are their acoustic advantages. They are able to closely simulate environmental, and more importantly, speech sounds, patterns, nuances etc. This is imperative to a hearing impaired individual’s competency with the spoken word. Additionally, since CIC hearing aids are worn closer to the eardrum then their BTE counterparts, their microphones are better able to amplify and therefore give a boost to any residual hearing the wearer may have. The advantage that is most often touted by the wearers of CIC devices, however, is their cosmetic appeal and inconspicuousness.

Conversely, it is important to keep in mind that CIC hearing aids also have some drawbacks. If financial constraints are a part of the picture, it should be noted that completely in the canal hearing aids are somewhat more expensive to purchase then behind the ear hearing aids are. Another issue that may make them cost prohibitive to those on a tight budget is that increased susceptibility to ear wax build up puts CIC hearing aids at higher risk for damage, therefore necessitating pricey repair bills or replacement hearing aids.

Whereas BTE hearing instruments are appropriate for almost all hearing impaired individuals regardless of the type or degree of hearing loss, CIC hearing aids are not recommended for individuals with certain kinds of hearing loss. They are also unlikely to be prescribed or advised for children. First of all children tend to be less able to tolerate the discomfort and irritations that sometimes come along with the use of CIC models, especially in the beginning.

Plus children’s ear canals aren’t done growing, so they will need to be refitted and replaced much more often for them then for adults. The size of CIC hearing aids and their even tinier batteries make them difficult to manipulate for the elderly, arthritis sufferers and others with conditions and diseases which effect fine motor control. Feedback and no volume control are two more drawbacks often mentioned by CIC hearing aid users.

Audiologists are the best resource hearing impaired individuals have to help them objectively decide whether CIC or BTE hearing aids are better for them. They can also point wearers in the direction of the best CIC hearing aids provider. Research on the pros and cons can also be done at the library or on the internet.


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The Benefits (And Drawbacks) Of Buying Designer Kitchenware Products

If you are in the market for kitchenware, you may be considering making the purchase of designer kitchenware products. As you debate the purchase of designer kitchenware products, you may be wondering what are some of the pros and cons to making the purchase of these types of products in this day and age. As with so many things in the 21st century, there definitely are pros and cons to making the purchase of designer kitchenware products.

Of course, for many people, one of the downsides to making the purchase of designer software is the price. In many instances, these types of products can be rather pricy. Indeed, depending on what type of product that you are considering making the purchase of, when it comes to the designer brands, these items oftentimes can be budget busting propositions.

By shopping around -- including surfing around the Internet -- you can (on occasion) save at least a bit of money on designer kitchenware products. Many people in this day and age have found themselves living on very restrictive budgets. Thus, if you want to attempt to save a bit of money on designer kitchenware products, you will want to spend the time shopping around. Again, keep in mind that deals that might be available in regard to designer kitchenware are to be found both in cyberspace and in the brick and mortar world. You will not want to limit your shopping to only one of these two important shopping venues.

Even considering the price issue, there are many benefits to be had by purchasing designer kitchenware. The greatest benefit to be had through the purchase of designer kitchenware is the fact that you will be able to stylish kitchenware products in your own home. Because the kitchen really is the room that most people spend a great amount of their time, it is important for many people to have attractive and appealing kitchenware included in their overall kitchen décor. If you are such a person, you definitely will want to take a close look at the purchase of designer kitchenware.

Finally, one of the benefits of designer kitchenware is the fact that these products usually are of high quality. While you will end up spending a bit more for designer software at the outset, because these are well built products as a rule, they will be around for a long period of time.




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Gold and Silver Maple Leafs Get New Packaging

Gold Maple Leafs and Silver Maple Leafs are receiving packaging makeovers, changes clearly mandated by investor disfavor with packaging that the Royal Canadian Mint has used since the coins were introduced. Gold Maple Leafs debuted in 1979, Silver Maple Leafs in 1988. The changes appear to be good moves, which should increase sales of Silver Maple Leafs and help keep Gold Maple Leafs the preferred pure (.9999 fine) gold bullion coins.

Since inception, 1-oz Gold Maple Leafs have been packaged ten to a tube. Because Maple Leafs are 24-karat, pure gold, they are "soft," relative to alloyed gold coins, such as American Gold Eagles and Krugerrands. Further, because of the design of the coins and the tight-fitting tubes, it is difficult to remove, inspect, and reinsert 1-oz Gold Maple Leafs in their tubes without scratching the coins.

Actually, reinserting Gold Maple Leafs without at least some scratching is nearly impossible. Further, if the persons inspecting the coins do not know how easily the Gold Maple Leafs are damaged, needless damage often occurs while the coins are out their tubes.

Gold Maple Leafs carry the image of Queen Elizabeth II on the front, with a flat, clear field alongside the image. The backs have the outline of a maple leaf, hence the coins' names. The problem arises from the coins' really sharp milled (reeded) edges. When the coins are reinserted in their tubes, the milled edges often scratch the fields.

Then there is the problem with investors who like to "heft" their coins "to get a feel of them." If they put four or five Gold Maple Leafs in the palms of their hands and "clang" them, the damage can be quite severe. Should a Gold Maple Leaf be dropped, rim damage is almost guaranteed.

As Gold Maple Leafs have been sold into the secondary market, damaged coins have become such a problem that Gold Maple Leafs have lost popularity with investors. The problem has become so widespread that many wholesalers bid only "melt" for Gold Maple Leafs, regardless of their condition. By paying only "melt," wholesalers can profitably resell the coins for industrial or jewelry purposes if no buyers are found for the coins.

Gold Maple Leafs, like the Gold Eagles and the Krugerrands, are bullion coins, which trade for the value of their gold content, plus small premiums. Damaged Gold Maple Leafs do not mean a loss of gold; they contain an ounce of gold regardless of the scratching or rim nicks. Still, buyers do not like to receive damaged coins. This means that Gold Maple Leafs sold into the secondary market have to be evaluated for the degree of damage.

Some wholesalers refuse to take the time to individually inspect Gold Maple Leafs and separate them according to their condition. These are the wholesalers who generally will pay only "melt" for 1-oz Gold Maple Leafs, regardless of condition. Fortunately, the free market being what it is, there are still some wholesalers who will buy according to condition.

Yet the handwriting is on the wall: 1-oz Gold Maple Leafs in tubes will continue to lose popularity and probably will join Krugerrands, Mexican 50 Pesos, and Austrian 100 Coronas as basic bullion coins, which carry the smallest premiums in the bullion coin market. Still, the packaging makeover should fillip sales of new Gold Maple Leafs.

With the new packaging, each 1-oz Gold Maple Leaf will be encapsulated in plastic and suspended in the middle of a plastic card, somewhat as 1-oz gold bars are packaged. However, the plastic protecting the Gold Maple Leafs will be heavier and more durable than the plastic used with 1-oz gold bars. The new packaging should keep the coins from being easily damaged.

With the new packaging, the Royal Canadian Mint made another big change: 1-oz Gold Maple Leafs will now come 25 to a box, whereas the old packaging is ten to a tube. This change could further increase sales as 20 coins are common ordering units for gold bullion coins, because the world's most popular gold bullion coins--American Gold Eagles--come 20 to a tube. As a result of the change, investors wanting "complete original packaging" will move up to 25 ounces.

However, orders for small quantities mean the coins will have to be removed from their mint boxes--but still individually encapsulated--and put in other containers. The new packaging also will require more storage space for Gold Maple Leafs than for 1-oz gold coins that come in tubes.

Although 1-oz Gold Maple Leafs will be a little more cumbersome to handle, a large segment of the gold coin bullion market prefers pure gold coins. Gold Maple Leafs have long been the most popular 1-oz pure (.9999 fine or 24-karat) gold bullion coins on the market, and the new packaging should keep Gold Maple Leafs as the preferred 24-karat gold bullion coins. (The market for pure gold bullion coins is estimated to $2.4 billion annually.) The new packaging is expected to debut sometime in August.

New packaging for 1-oz Silver Maple Leafs has already been introduced. However, Silver Maple Leafs in their old packaging are still available. Since Silver Maple Leafs were introduced in 1988, they have been packaged twenty coins to a sheet, 200 coins in a box. Each coin was individually enclosed in plastic. The new packaging will be similar to the U.S. Mint's Silver Eagles packaging.

Silver Maple Leafs will now come 20 to a tube, 25 tubes to a container, and 500 coins to a "mint box." The new box will be made of durable heavy plastic, whereas the boxes of 200 are cardboard. The new packaging should make Silver Maple Leafs more competitive with American Silver Eagles, presently the most popular 1-oz modern silver bullion coins being sold.

Bill Haynes heads CMI Gold & Silver Inc, one of America's oldest precious metals dealers. See CMIGS' website at http://www.cmi-gold-silver.com

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What is CPM, CPC, CPA and CTR ?

CPM

CPM means Cost Per Thousand. (M is the Roman numeral for thousand - and so Cost Per Thousand).

This is the amount you will pay the ad-network or website publisher to show your ad a thousand times on their website or across their ad-network.

Whether your ad is shown only once to each visitor (Unique Impressions) or any number of times - is something that you will have to work out with the nad-network or the website.

CPM rates were once (pre yr 2000 bubble-burst era) as much as $75, but have now dropped to as little as $1 CPM.

CPC

CPC means Cost Per Click. This is how much you would pay the ad-network or website every time a visitor clicks on your banner. CPC rates can be as high as $3 per click or as little as 5 cents per click. It depends on your product and your market - amongst other factors, the more competition there is - the higher you will probably end up paying as you compete with competitors.

CPA

CPA means Cost Per Action. The Action could be any of the following types of actions - A visitor clicking on your banner coming to your site and filling up a simple enquiry form (CPR - Cost Per Registration) , or if the visitor makes a purchase (CPS - Cost Per sale). It could be a flat fee or a percentage commission of the sale made. Affiliate-Networks like commissionjunction , linkshare and clickbank have very good software systems in place to track all this and provide statistics to online merchants and publishers on their network of websites.

I have explained in detail what an Affiliate Network is, in another section. They basically, allow publisher websites to sign up for free so they can start earning commissions on sales arising out of the traffic they send to online merchants. The Affiliate Network tracks all this using their system and code merchants and publishers are required to place on their website. Publishers can sign up for free mostly, and in some cases online Merchants are required to pay a one time setup fee and possibly a monthly fee with commissions - eg. As in commissionjunction. A very popular site that is free to Merchants is Clickbank network.

CTR

CTR is Click Through Rate. This is the percentage rate at which people click on your ad banner. If your banner ad is seen by 100 people but clicked by one person - then it's CTR is 1% or .01

Similarly, if your ad banner is seen 100,000 times and in the same time period it is clicked 2000 times - then your banner CTR is 2% or .02 .

This is how we calculate CTR ...

(Number of Clicks / Number of impressions) x 100

Example, for above case it would be -

(2000 / 100,000) x 100 = .02

CPM, CPC or CPA ... which is best for my ad campaign?

Your choice will depend on various factors. Sometimes companies such as Pepsi, would just like to enforce their brand and be seen across many websites, without any need for the user to click on their banners. This is a brand hammering strategy, and a CPM deal would be preferred.

Apart from the above mass branding effort, the decision to go for a CPC, CPM or CPA ad becomes a calculated decision when you have a product that you want to sell on your website.

Would you pay the publisher for only visitors he sends you? or would you pay him for every thousand ads he displays for you?or would you pay him a commission on sales from visitors he sends you?

This is tricky. You may need to read the paragraphs below slowly, or even several times over to get the gist of what I am saying ...

To help you decide, you should first run a pilot CPM campaign that will help you gauge results. Your CPM campaign and number of Clicks on your banner, will let you know exactly what your CTR (Click through Rate) is for your banner.

Your CTR will help you decide your campaign type - CPM or CPC ? If your CTR is high, you should go in for a CPM, if its low you should go in for a CPC.

The reason for this is simple. If you have a low CTR then you would rather only pay for the low traffic that comes to your site. If your CTR is high , then you don't mind paying CPM - because your cost will not escalate for more and more visitors that come to your site, but will remain the same.

I will explain the above, with a couple of examples -

Example 1

Lets suppose a website that you want to advertise on charges a CPM of $5.00 and a CPC of 50 cents.

And, you need to decide if you should go in for CPM or CPC ?

Lets suppose you first buy 1,000,000 impressions.

This works out to $5000 ($5 per 1000 impressions x 1000)

Now lets suppose your CTR is not good and is 0.2 % (or 2 clicks per 1000 ads)

Now, you need to calculate the amount you will pay of you had bought a CPC.

If your CTR is 0.2% and you display 1,000,000 ads, then this works out to ...

.002 x 1,000,000 = 2000 clicks.

So essentially you have paid $5000 for 2000 clicks or $2.50 per click!!

This means that I am better of buying on a CPC basis, because one click there costs me only 50cents! And if I go for CPC, then I will get 10,000 clicks for $5000 ... which is 5 times more than the clicks i get in the CPM model (2000).

Example 2

Lets assume that your banner ad turns out to be very good and gets a very good CTR of say 5%

Now you need to decide ..CPM or CPC.

Lets analyze as above -

I paid $5000 for 1,000,000 ads at 5% CTR

That means 5% x 1,000,000 ads were clicked on , which equals

= .05 (5%) x 1,000,000 = 50,000 clicks!

So for $5000 i got 50,000 clicks.

Now, if I had bought on a click basis, then at the CPC rate of (50cents) I will pay

50,000 x $0.50 amount for 50,000 clicks, which is $25,000 (5 times what I would pay with CPM, for the same traffic)

So, I am better of buying with a CPM system for this banner ad campaign

What about CPA ?

I have dedicated a separate chapter for this. This system is gaining popularity slowly. It seems to be the fairest system of all the three methods - specially when you are selling a product or service. Both Google and Yahoo are leaning towards taking their CPC system into a more fair and measurable CPA system. Google has recently launched Google Analytics and Google's version of PayPal (Google Checkout) - that is a positive and firm step towards its CPA plans.
Selling ad-space on your website - how much can you charge?

Nowadays CPM rates have fallen from highs of $50 to $10 to $2 in many cases.

If you have high traffic you may approach ad-networks, and they will serve out the ads for your website. They will give you a piece of code to insert into the pages of your website. You will get a Username and Password to login to a control panel area on the ad-networks main website, to see how your site is performing. Ad-networks pay you based on CPM or CPC, depending on what their client (the advertiser) opt for. They will take from 40% to 60% commission. This is acceptable, considering the fact that they get you the clients and revenues, and they have to manage all the advertising technology and payment systems.

Most of these ad-networks require that you have a certain number of impressions per month to qualify to become part of their network of websites. For example, DoubleClick requires at minimum 5 million monthly page impressions. There are many mid sized networks, like Advertising , fastclick , ValueClick (only CPC, owned partially by DoubleClick) and even smaller ad networks like, burstnet . You should visit adbalance to get a complete list and brief on popular ad networks.

Banner Management Software

If you would like to manage your own Clients and their banner ads for your website, you will need to develop an ad-serving engine or license a third party engine and install it on your website. You can get a list of free and paid software scripts that you can install on your website from cgi-resources.com or hotscripts.com

I've spent 15 years in online Internet marketing. During this period i've read and learnt a lot from others - professionals and amatures. I've also devised many of my own ideas and experimentations. I've spent plenty of money purchasing and downloading ebooks that teach you specific techniques relating to making money online. Visit my blog for your free ebook and email course at SuccessOnline.IN

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Maverick Money Makers

The Ultimate Guide to Dog Health

Knowing when to take your dog to the vet and when to let him "self-regulate" is a pretty tricky business - how do you tell when he needs to see a professional? After all, it's not as if you can rely on your dog to let you know.

Nobody likes forking out $80 for a needless visit to the vet, but then again no conscientious dog-owner can bear to contemplate their dog's suffering, either! Frankly, it's a bit of a quandary.

I've owned dogs on and off my whole life, and this is still something that I've never been 100% comfortable with: of course, I'd always rather be safe than sorry (a viewpoint which has resulted in many, many unnecessary trips to the vet over the years, just to set my mind at rest) ... but I've also always wished for the kind of solid grounding in canine medical basics which would enable me to confidently decide for myself when my dog needs to see the vet - and when I can save both him and myself the hassle!

Stress-Free Dog Care

You can imagine the relief I felt when I happened across The Ultimate Guide to Dog Health (by Malcolm Fields - dog-care professional) on the Internet. It was uncanny: this guide is exactly what I was looking for. It's complete and detailed, covering all the common health problems (both serious and not) that dogs suffer from; the overall focus is on being prepared and taking preventative action; it teaches you how to accurately self-diagnose (with the assistance of step-by-step flowcharts which tell you whether he'll be fine by himself, whether he needs to see the vet, and how urgently the vet should be seen); and, while it's packed with knowledge and advice from veterinarians and trained dog-care specialists, it's easy on the eye and reader-friendly ... you can actually understand what they're trying to say!

In a nutshell, it's detailed (but not dauntingly so), comprehensive (covering all the common ailments and illnesses), knowledgeable (while retaining a conversational, easy-to-understand tone) and it gives you the kind of introduction to canine healthcare that'll allow you to take good care of your dog - without spending unnecessary time and effort trying to absorb the jargon of a veterinary textbook!

What's Actually Covered?

The book deals with all the common problems and ailments suffered by dogs. It covers issues like toothache and dental trouble, ear infections, skin rashes and chafing, eye irritations, worming issues, and lameness; chronic problems like vomiting, diarrhea, coughing, asthma, breathing trouble, and liver problems; more severe issues like arthritis and cancer; and symptomatic "alerts" like hair loss, lethargy, and behavioral changes.

On top of that, you also learn how to pick up early warning signs by identifying and accurately interpreting your dog's body language; how to groom your dog quickly and effectively; how to take good care of his teeth and gums; how to administer medicine safely and easily; and how to recognize the early warning signs of health trouble through behavioral and physical changes.

All this information is fully supplemented by full-color diagrams, photographs, and illustrations.

My Favorite Part

While it's great to learn about canine anatomy and medical problems, the thing that I wanted to know more than anything else was: How can I tell how serious the problem is, and when do I need to take my dog to the vet?

So I was particularly happy to note the presence of the many and detailed symptom charts, which were designed especially to help owners make solid decisions about their dog's health-care. Each chart starts from the specific symptoms of a particular ailment (you just follow the "branches" of the flowchart, depending on the symptoms that your dog has) and tells you the recommended path of treatment for each one, as well as advising whether veterinary care should be sought - and if so, how urgently. Pure genius!

Something for Nothing

In addition to the fully-illustrated, 240-page guide itself, you also get a handful of tempting freebies: specifically, four bonus books.

There's "The Ultimate Guide to Dog First Aid", which is an incredibly useful resource for those situations requiring an immediate response (including how to perform the canine Heimlich maneuver and doggie CPR); "180 Gourmet Recipes for Your Dog", which really teaches you how to indulge your pooch's taste buds; "101 Ways to Spoil Your Dog for Under $10", detailing all kinds of luxuries-on-a-budget and activities for you and your dog to enjoy together; and "20 Super-Healthy Recipes for Your Dog" - which proves that doggie health-food is as delicious as anything else! These books have a combined value of over $80 - not a bad freebie!

The Ultimate Guide to Dog Health: Summed Up

All in all, I couldn't be happier with this product. It's exactly what I was looking for - and even if I hadn't spent the last decade or so wishing for a book just like it, I think I'd still snap it up in a second: it's that useful.

This is an information resource that every responsible dog owner should have access to. Not only does it enable you to make good decisions about the more serious health issues commonly suffered by dogs, but you learn a lot about the minor, day-to-day ailments and afflictions that almost every dog will encounter from time to time, as well as a host of useful facts on preventative care.

This comprehensive guide to dog health will help you to spot little problems before they become big ones: truly indispensable.

Emy Atijera is an advocate and a volunteer of "Healthy Pets Make People Happy", an organization of more than 750 dedicated community members who come from all walks of life to donate thousands of hours of their time in helping thousands of animals in different areas of the Philippines.

http://www.peoplewithhappypets.blogspot.com/

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Should You Use an LLC for Your Real Estate Investing? Probably-and Here's Why

Accountants and attorneys love limited liability companies. But do limited liability companies--LLCs for short--really make sense for real estate investors. Probably they do for two almost unknown reasons.

The Big Legal Benefit of an LLC: Limited Liability...

The big legal benefit of an LLC is that limited liability companies provide all the same liability protection as a corporation--but with much less red tape. A regular corporation, for example, requires regular stockholders meetings, a board of directors, regular board meetings, and of course records of all these activities and bodies. But a limited liability company doesn't.

This legal liability protection provided by an LLC can be extremely valuable. One local attorney I often collaborate with, for example, tells his clients that an LLC protects real estate investors from the worst case scenario--which in his mind is a "slip and fall" accident on the investor's property.

With an LLC as the property owner, so says my attorney friend, the "worst case scenario" is liquidation of the LLC. That liquidation means the people who own the LLC wind up with nothing--which isn't good. But all the owners lose is what they've invested in the LLC.

In comparison, without an LLC, the real estate investor's "worst case scenario" if there's a "slip and fall" accident is that the owner or investor can lose almost everything they own. In other words, the business owners or investors could lose not only their investment in the real estate property but many other assets.

Let me issue a caveat here, however. You may not get as much legal liability protection from an LLC as you want or hope. Say, for example, that you're repairing the roof on your apartment house and that, unfortunately, you happen to drop a hammer onto the tenant's head during the roofing project. Your LLC probably won't protect you from that sort of tort liability. In other words, the tenant can probably look not only to your LLC for payment of damages related to the dropped hammer but also to you personally.

And here's another example, which unfortunately makes things even murkier. What happens if someone working for you, one of your employees or subcontractors, drops a hammer on the tenant's head? The LLC may offer you some protection in this case. But you may still be personally responsible. The tenant might reasonably argue that you should have done a better job managing the employee or subcontractor, for example.

If you're extremely concerned about the asset protection features of setting up and operating an LLC, get an attorney involved in your real estate investment planning. An attorney knowledgeable in LLC and real estate law can help you increase the liability protection that you gain from using an LLC for your investing. And this consultation doesn't need to be particularly expensive. You may be able to buy an hour or two of time from a good local attorney and get all your LLC- and liability-related questions answers.

The Big Tax Benefit: Enormous Tax Flexibility...

A second benefit of LLCs relates to the income taxes that investors pay on profits and capital gains. A limited liability company can be almost whatever tax entity it wants to be for income tax purposes. A limited liability company that is owned by one person can be a sole proprietorship, a C corporation, or an S corporation. A limited liability company that is owned by two or more persons can be a partnership, a C corporation, or even an S corporation (if the LLC meets the S corporation eligibility requirements). This second benefit of the limited liability company means that an LLC can choose to be taxed in whatever way is most favorable to the investment or the owners.

For example, a very small real estate business with a single member (LLC owners are called "members"), might decide to be treated as a sole proprietorship for federal income tax purposes. This decision to be treated as sole proprietorship would keep the business's accounting very simple--and it would also mean that unique tax planning opportunities available to sole proprietorships can be used.

A larger real estate investment fund--perhaps one with several partners--might decide to operate as a C corporation or as an S corporation in order to take advantage of some of the unique tax planning advantages of these entity choices. A C corporation, for example, often lets businesses provide rich tax-free fringe benefits to employees including shareholder-employees. And an S corporation often lets a business dramatically reduce the self-employment, social security and Medicare taxes paid on the owner's profits.

Note: While a limited liability company is not difficult to set up by yourself--you can have the paperwork done less than a quarter hour from now--you should be aware that paying a few hundred dollars to an accountant to pick the right taxation for your new LLC might be the best investment you ever make. It's common that the right taxation choice for a new LLC can save the owner or owners of a small business $10,000 to $20,000 annually.

The Drawbacks of the Limited Liability Company Choice

When you consider the two big benefits of a limited liability company--limited liability but with less red tape and tremendous tax flexibility--you have almost the perfect investment entity choice. So an obvious question is "Why wouldn't every investor use an LLC or limited liability company?"

Perhaps predictably, there are some costs and headaches associated with operating as an LLC.

An LLC may increase your banking, accounting and insurance costs. For example, while the bank account for a sole proprietorship or informal partnership may be free if you keep a large-enough balance, the bank account for a limited liability company probably won't be free. The bank may charge $10, $20, even more each month.

While a sole proprietorship or informal real estate partnership may be able to keep its bookkeeping and income tax return preparation very simple, an LLC probably needs to file its own tax return if the LLC operates as a partnership, a C corporation or an S corporation. And this LLC tax return may cost anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars annually.

Finally, it's worthwhile to note that an LLC may involve several hundred or even a few thousand dollars of startup expense. For example, you may spend money on publications like this. You may buy the services of accountants and attorneys. You will need to print new letterhead, business cards, and envelopes (if you use these) that use the new LLC's name in order to show the world that you're now operating as a limited liability company.

So where does all this leave you? How should you balance the big benefits of forming an LLC with all the costs and drawbacks? Unfortunately, I can't give you a one-size-fits-all answer. You'll need to carefully consider the benefits and costs as they add up in your specific situation.

I will share these thoughts, however. In my opinion, an LLC is uneconomical for very small real estate investments--unless there is only a single owner. For example, a real estate investor who owns one single-family home may not want to shoulder the hundreds of dollars of cost (or more?) incurred in setting up and operating an LLC. (Remember that this investor can use liability insurance to reduce his or her risk, too.)

On the other hand, any time you've got a large real estate investment--say multifamily housing--or any time you've got substantial wealth, an LLC economically reduces investment risk and as an added bonus can even save the owners thousands of dollars a year in income or payroll taxes.

Bellevue WA accountant Stephen L. Nelson is the author of both Quicken for Dummies and QuickBooks for Dummies and an adjunct tax professor for Golden Gate University’s graduate tax school.

LLC formation | Limited Liability Company Formation