Below is a location map of where you can ship to from Nicaragua.  The United States is 2 hours by plane and 3 days by sea.  I have written about Nicaragua's ports in the past and this map illustrates the ease of shipping from them. The is also a link from that one that shows all of the flight times for coming into the country.  Some tax benefits are as follows:

• 100% income tax exemption.
• 100% exemption on import taxes for machinery, equipment, and intermediate goods as well as transportation or support services for the free zone.
• 100% exemption on municipal taxes.
• 100% value added tax (VAT) exemption.
• 100% capital gains and property tax exemption.
• Unrestricted repatriation of capital.
  
  
  
  

Map of all ports shipped to out of Nicaragua

Using social media to advertise

Many companies in America are using social media to do most of their advertising.  On my Facebook home page is a local realtor who is advertising the best service.  Every time I click to go away from my home screen and back his ad refreshes.  At first glimpse I thought that this type of advertising was not very effective. However, after I realized that his pic never goes away and he is on your home screen for days, I changed my mind.  If I want to see what he is about I can just click the button.  I could also just Facebook his name.  The point is that he is always "in your face" on Facebook.  You will eventually learn his name and someday if he advertises long enough, you will click it to check him out.  I finally did!  The power of advertising, it works!  This will change the way businesses advertise their products and make the first ones in the space the major players.  This will create a fabulous opportunity for people to start small Facebook businesses on the side.  They will be able to design and create all kinds of Facebook advertising for Nicaraguan based businesses. The companies who get into the social media first will prosper the most from it.

Expats and the new iPhone medical apps

The iPhone will be able to perform certain medical tasks that were reserved for very expensive medical machines.  The iPhone is being converted to a small little portable medical lab that is being used in more hospitals everyday.  The latest medical application is called Arrhythmia.  This application allows you to check the patients heart for an irregular beat that can potentially save a patients life if detected early.  This is one of the first practical medical uses for the iPhone.  Most of the top ten medical applications for the iPhone are for health and fitness applications.  There are many other medical uses for the iPhone in development.  I know you are thinking that this is a stretch for a blog on Nicaragua.  Not really, and here is why. Most people would move out of the United States if they could have all the creature comforts of home to bring with them.  If I could I would bring my medical doctor, dentist, and accountant.  Its getting closer by the day and in the not so distant future this will all be a reality.  Your doctor could be just and app button away from you.  It is very possible to imagine the doctor seeing you via Face Time.  You would schedule your appointment and at that time the doctor would examine you over the phone.  Why not, we all have used heart monitors in the gym.  If the iPhone had a pulse sensor on the side it could read vitals that could show the doctor  how we are doing in real time without having to be in his office.  If this technology were to come to market in the near future the United States would see a mass exodus to cheaper tax havens.  Americans greatest fear is losing some part of their health care benefits.  If we were able to move to a place with great medical doctors and cheap health care that we trusted we would.  The latest iPhone applications help us take one step closer to this reality.  

Cell phone microscopes in Nicaragua

Microscope attachments for cell phones are starting to pop up here and there. If you are unfamiliar with what they are it's probably what you are thinking. You can take a blood sample and take a picture of it and be able to see what problems your patient has. It can send the image to the lab where a doctor can view it and get back to the person in the field immediately. This will change the game for medical personnel. Now you can help people by not throwing out that old cell phone so it can be used to save lives. The person using the new microscope phone does not need to be a doctor to use it. This is a small medical lab that goes along with the person who can check patients for AIDS or an everyday virus. Imagine how quickly you could check an entire village somewhere. This type of device will become the new frontier for all medical devices. Just like we have thousands of applications for everything you can imagine we will start to see new apps for the iPhone that can be used in the field. From blood test to cancer all from your cell phone. Imagine the possibilities from expats to African refugees.

Smart phone applications that save big money

Using technology around the globe can be exciting and eye opening.    Many people use the new smart phone for a million different devices these days.  One example that comes to mind would be bug spray.  I have an application on my phone that allows me to sit outside and enjoy the evening without being bitten by a mosquito.  The application produces a sound that repels the mosquitos and allows you to have a nice evening outside mosquito free.  That's the plan in theory.  This is not how it always plays out though.  Technology will continue to improve in this area and the mosquitos will be gone soon enough.  I have a family member who bought a mosquito repellent machine for about $1500.00.  This machine was placed at the corner of the lawn and would keep mosquitos away from your BBQ and attract them to the machine.  One evening I asked if it really worked and we took a walk down there and looked into the catch bag.  There must have been 5000 mosquitos inside already.  I couldn't believe how many were inside. It looked like the machine had captured all of them that were near us.
As I research where to buy this machine I was very surprised by the cost.  The cheapest one I could find besides paying straight retail was for $1200.00.  Not cheap at all.  I looked everywhere for them because my yard was a little bigger and the manufacturer suggested I buy 3 of them.  Wow! That would be about $4500.00 without shipping.
In the end I was looking at $4500 for something that a $5 bottle of bug spray would combat.  This was around $4000 more than I wanted to spend so I decided not to get them.  That was in the year of 1998 and fast forward to 2012 and now they have an application for this.  The application cost $1.  If everyone at the BBQ had this application then nobody would be bitten. Assuming that the application worked properly.  I believe I invited around 25 people to come to my BBQ.  If only 5 of us had this application then the total cost for keeping everybody at the BBQ bite free would be about $5.  The application does not run out however.  You can continue to use it everyday.  When this technology becomes really effective can we throw away those expensive mosquito catchers?  Could this little piece of technology save us $4500 for my household alone?  Quite possibly there are a 1000 stories similar to this one about the future uses of technology in our hand that can save us money.  Thinking of one yourself?  Shoot me an email.  Or leave a comment below.  The photo is of an application on a Nokia phone.

Quick GDP facts

Nicaragua had a gross domestic product (GDP) of $6.55 billion and a per capita income of $1,126. In 2010, the economy grew by 4.5%, according to official government sources, largely due to an increase in demand for Nicaraguan exports abroad and increased consumer spending at home. Official unemployment in 2010 was 8%, but 65% of all workers earn a living in the informal sector, where underemployment is high. In 2010, Nicaraguans received $823 million in remittances from abroad, the majority from the United States and Costa Rica. Total exports are equivalent to 48% of GDP.
This states that there is a large demand for Nicaraguan exports. The country has the capabilities to produce mass quantities of clothing, coffee, cashews, and gold to name a few. The GDP is expected to continue to grow. As the US economy picks back up the economy in Nicaragua will as well. That is also the general sentiment while your down there as well.

Tourist industry video Nicaragua

This video features some of the wonderful tourist opportunities in Nicaragua.  I post it here so that people unfamiliar with the country can see how beautiful it is.   There are several eco tours  that you could attend.     In the states we can use all kinds of technology to help us cut corners and drive our businesses to faster profitability.  For example the Apple iPhone has a new application that can scan credit cards now.  I was speaking to a Apple employee who runs a baby yoga class in Danbury and he charges all of his clients right from his phone.  He can swipe their credit cards right there and he does not have the old machine that spits out the receipt that they need to sign anymore.  This makes payments to him so much simpler and easy to do business with.  Soon this technology will be available in other countries and this will change the way consumers shop there as well.  This puts a new spin on the possibilities of starting a business.  Your clients could pay you and you might not need to ever have paperwork.  You could send them a receipt right to their email account and be done with paper!  Technological breaks like this are everywhere.  Technology like this allows for people to earn more money.  If you own a restaurant and you can turn one of your phones into a cash register then your customers would not have to wait as long. The turnover would improve and you would make more money in your establishment. You coud then use your new found time and money to invest in newer technology and save even more.  

Getting into bed with Facebook

There are over 650,000 Facebook users in Nicaragua. That's over 11% of the total population. There are 51% men and 49% women. Facebook Nicaragua is growing very rapidly but is still 1% behind South Korea. Facebook grew in Nicaragua by over 100,000 users in the last 6 months to give you an idea of how rapidly they are expanding. The social media scene is becoming a fabulous tool for them. Businesses that are starting there now are starting with social media tied into them. This is a huge step for small business. This will allow them to have the most exposure at an early time in their business cycle. Much earlier than most established companies. This gives the small businesses a leg up on their competition and also exposes them to more people quicker. This allows them to save money on advertising and navigate to profitability much quicker than the competition. The more the people of Nicaragua use Facebook as advertising for their business, the more exposure they can capture. They are saving a substantial amounts of money on advertising. They are achieving the same type of success by using less time and money on social networking sites such as Facebook.

High tech retirement in Nicaragua

I recently heard that all new soldiers who join special forces were all given an iPhone. The iPhone keeps them connected and able to communicate
on all levels. The same should apply for a senior center. All seniors can update their status everyday and stay in close communication with the community. They can select wether they will be attending breakfast or not. They can also vote on last nights meal. The possibilities are endless. We could put an interactive television in the residences as well and connect it with the iPhone so it can be displayed on a larger screen. This would allow ease of use and reading for residents. If you don't want to mingle today just select that from your iPhone menu and take a break. As we get closer to retirement with our new technology we will see many more uses that will save time and money. The iPhone will be one of the greatest retirement tools yet. There are countless applications and more and more people are getting them.

Providing expats with retirement options

Lots of Americans are currently thinking about becoming expats! No offense to the states but the currency conversion benefits of going down to Central America can have a strong benefit to someone on a tight budget. Expats can live on less than $30 a day right on the beach. The long waits for certain types of American luxuries are extremely close now. Take for example a few luxuries such as satellite tv, Netflix, Internet, and cell phone capabilities. In the past you would have been forced to unplug and now you practically can't. People are retiring here more because these technological advancements have become common place. It won't be long until the average home anywhere in Central America will have cell phone, computer with Internet, and satellite tv. This is becoming the standard and neighbors even share modems! While I was there I was able to have online access and would surf the web from my iPad in the street. A very nice convenience! Most modern restaurants all had wifi. You must ask them for the daily password. They changed everyday. How long until we can do some shopping online there? Any expats out there receiving Internet orders shoot me an email.

Do I have to speak Spanish?

The short answer in No.  If you can speak a little it will help tremendously.  Many people ask if the Spanish language is mandatory and the short answer is no.  However after returning from a trip and speaking with several people after we came home the majority of the  people said that if they could change one thing about their experience they would have studied more Spanish.  I would not mention it but every single person said the same thing.  All around Nicaragua they have Spanish speaking schools.  They are advertised everywhere.  Most are about $5 dollars and hour for one on  one training. Really good compared to what you would get in the states for the same money.  Most of the population in Nicaragua is young and most speak a little English.  The best part about learning Spanish there is that when class is over you can exit the classroom and start to practice your Spanish immediately.  If you would like to see the school I am going to attend in the summer click  here.  Now you can relax and not worry about being able to speak the language.  If you want to volunteer to teach a class in English many times they will wave the cost of the Spanish lessons.  I did hear however you would have to teach a class in your area of expertise.  If you can cook you would teach a cooking class if you are a business guy you can teach business English.  Sounds like a great deal to me. .  The Spanish school is a little bit different down there. You can pick one with a staff that serves you lunch or even can set up a place for you to stay in.  Pretty good deal if you are looking to learn the language.  You will be able to speak more Spanish in just a couple short weeks than if you studied for years in a classroom in the states.  They see it all the time.  Very common that after just a couple of weeks you can grasp so much of the language you can speak it without thinking.  Stark difference from learning in the states!  Email me with any questions.  Here is a picture of my Spanish tutor over there! Just kidding she is
 Adriana de Lourdes Dorn Rodríguez   miss Nicaragua 2011 from Managua.

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http://ocean-blu.blogspot.com/

iPhone 4 in high demand in Nicaragua

While in Nicaragua I wandered into a cell phone store in the busy downtown Leòn area and asked a Merchant point blank "How much will you give me for my iPhone 4?"  He looked at it and checked it out and looked down at the ground and said "$400."  Okay I said and started to walk away and he quickly said $500.  I turned and asked him how many he would be willing to buy at that price and he said 50 to start.  Wow. That's a fabulous start.  I asked him if I brought a 100 would he be able to move them and he said yes.  I can buy them here for nothing and sell them there for double.  Question is how many can you seriously get in there and how many can they really buy once your standing on the streets of Leòn with a bag full of iPhones?  Great questions. Unfortunately you must risk a hell of a lot to find out the answers.  You would not be able to walk through customs with that type of package either as they are not stupid.  They would like a new iPhone just as well and will help themselves to your bounty!  If a person were able to get the new iPhones into that country they still will need to break the code in all of them as well.  This costs about $20-30 US dollars as well.  Still not too bad.  There are several places that claim they can break the code on the iPhones no problem for that small fee.  So the question is how do you get into the country with a suitcase full of iPhones?  Driving down from Mexico does not count! You would never make it assuming you got past the border.   Happy surfing.  Any questions please shoot me an email.

Look at her getting more money out of me.  I told her two for one and her hand signal says two for two, tough business lady.  I was thinking "should I pay her or just marry her?" I am already getting abused.