Often taken to treat ailments like colds, arthritis and osteoporosis, and
sometimes taken to offset issues like stress, nervous tension and even memory
loss, vitamins are commonly misused and their benefits misunderstood. Vitamins
are not wonder drugs and should not be taken with that belief or hope. Vitamins
are organics compounds that assist in various metabolic functions of the body
and most of us get our recommended doses of essential vitamins from our dietary
intake. However some of us need to supplement our diet with vitamin supplements.
Here are some commonly asked questions which will dispel the confusion that
surrounds vitamins.
Is there a recommended amount of vitamins that I should consume?
Many people assume that vitamins can be taken in any quantities, blindly going
along with the logic that if small amounts of vitamins are good for you then
larger amounts must be even better. The Recommended Dietary Intakes (RDI) of
vitamins is not the recommended amount to take daily, but rather the minimum
amount required per day by the body to prevent a deficiency. The general rule of
thumb to follow is less is usually more. Our bodies are capable of storing fat
soluble vitamins like vitamins D, E and K. High does of these vitamins can
result in toxic levels in the body. Even high doses of water soluble vitamins
can cause toxicity in the body and is linked to health damaging side effects.
How soon should I address a vitamin deficiency?
Vitamins A, D, E and K, which are fat soluble, are stored in the fat content in
our body for a long period of time. Even water soluble vitamins like vitamin C
and B- complex are stored albeit for a shorter period of time. So a deficiency
can take weeks and sometimes months to manifest itself, and affect your health.
So you won't just contract rickets or beri beri suddenly; it will take months of
no vitamins for you to reach that stage. The conclusion is that a random lapse
in good eating habits will not damage your health as long as you aren't
consistently erratic.
Will vitamin C cure my cold?
No. This is a myth. There has been extensive research done on this subject and
there is still no evidence to suggest that vitamin C prevents common cold.
Studies do show that taking vitamin C in large may ease the symptoms, and may
even curtail the duration of the cold, but it does not prevent the onset of the
cold. Our body requires only 40 mg of vitamin C in a day. The rest of it is
excreted. Excessive doses can cause a wide range of health disorders.
Will taking vitamins alleviate my stress and anxiety?
Again, the answer is no. Deficiency of some vitamins can lead to emotional
disturbances but the answer to most peoples' angst lies in overcoming personal
and emotional problems and changing lifestyles. Taking vitamins will not help
the cause. About the Author
Logan Rokwild writes about various topics. This article is free to re-print as
long as nothing is changed, all links remained intact, the bio remains in full
and the rel="nofollow" tag is not added to any of the links. Thank-you - Ever
wondered what to give the "Person Who Has Everything"? A Gift Basket could be
just the thing. Have you been from shop to shop and thought "Yes This is It" and
then discounted the gift because it wasn't really what you wanted.My best
friend has everything and when I say everything, "I Mean Everything". She has
either been given or purchased every conceivable gadget available in the last 5
years. She loves to shop. One of her motto's is "Shop Til you Drop, Spend Til
the End". And she lives by that rule!When it comes to gifts for my friend -- she
is "The Hardest Person to Buy For". Oh did I tell you, she even has a kitchen
sink on her car key tag !It was while looking for a present for my friend that I
thought "What About A Gift Basket". I was in a specialized shop and the sign
said "For the Person Who Has Everything" and the light turned on.I'm not sure
if you are aware but these days gift baskets have changed. No longer are they
the old style cane baskets (although there are some very attractive cane baskets
available on today's market). Today Gift Baskets came in all shapes and
sizes. In fact, it is basically up to your imagination as to what a "Gift
Basket" should be. You can use old shoes, buckets, calico bags, pot plant
holders in fact anything that holds what items you purchase to fill the basket
with.Gift Baskets are lots of fun to create and very easy to make. Gone are the
days of saying... oh I'm not creative enough to make a professional looking
basket. Anyone can make a professional looking basket -- as long as you have
some imagination and a willingness to give it a try.If you are stuck for a
present for that "Person Who Has Everything" then a Gift Basket is for
you!Firstly decide on a theme or if you aren't sure then write down the
interests of the recipient ie. golf or tennis, shopping etc. You could even base
it around a coming event. Once you have made the list, work your way through it
until you find something that stands out that would fit into your Gift Basket
"theme".For today's basket lets say your friend loves to entertain and one of
her favorite meals is "Italian" food.You could choose a selection of baskets for
this theme; today we will use a large pasta bowl as our "basket" or a large
cooking pot. Our basket needs to be large enough to hold the goodies that we are
going to purchase so that we can then turn this into a Professional Looking
"Gift Basket". If neither of these ideas appeals to you, let your imagination
take over and choose something that fits into your theme selection.Next take
yourself down to the local supermarket or deli who specialize in gourmet foods.
Set yourself a budget as to what you want to spend and then go about buying
non-perishable items to fill the basket. Speak to the shop attendant to ensure
that the items you are purchasing fit into your theme. Buy different colors and
types of pasta to give variety of color and shape to your basket.Next take
yourself to a department store or kitchenware shop and purchase some really
great utensils to go with the other items that you have purchased.You could also
add an "Easy Step by Step Guide" if they need cooking help, or send them to a
"Cooking Lesson" for something extra.Once you have gathered these items, it is
time to begin to assemble your gift basket.Depending upon the type of basket you
have chosen you may need to fill the bottom of the basket with some shredded
paper, as this will give the basket height. Place the items in the basket to
give a layered effect. Layering items at different heights in the basket makes
the overall design more pleasing to the eye.Use small pieces of tape to hold
items in place. Next wrap clear cellophane around the outside of the basket and
tie the top with wired ribbon or curling ribbon to match the color scheme of
your gift.To finish off our basket make a gift tag and tuck a small item into
the ribbon around the basket to give a professional look.Congratulations,
you've done it... "A Present For the Person Who Has Everything" -- A Gift
Basket!Copyright Donna HamerAbout Donna: Donna Hamer is the author and
publisher of 101 Gift Basket Ideas. For a Free 5 part Mini Course on how to
create your own "Personalized Gift Baskets", visit
http://www.101giftbasketideas.comWe've all felt stress in our lives. And
we're left wondering what's the best way to try and deal with it.Some
exercise, others veg out in front of the TV, I however have discovered the
amazing zen of charm bracelets.Charm bracelets are both a way to collect
memories without large obtrusive knick knacks everywhere and is also a fun hobby
for people that like collecting things.It's almost like a treasure hunt
looking for new charms to add to your collection and display like a trophy to
everyone you come in contact with for them to admire your work and your chance
to tell them all about the history of each charm.See, it's not just about
collecting the charms simply to collect them, it's about what they mean to
you.Much like someone that gets many tattoos, there's a story that goes
behind them and a memory of when they got it.It's the same with charms, there
is a certain story, a certain reason for having the charms you have and
everytime you look at them, they remind you about the things that are special to
you.You can collect charms that remind you of a trip you went on, of a certain
belief you have, or a special time in your life. And best of all, these can all
be worn on your wrist.You can even make multiple bracelets for different periods
in your life or for different moods.It's a relzxing, almost theraputic hobby
that will help you relieve stress and live your life with great joy and
happiness. And all those memories are a short glance away.I would reccomend this
hobby to anyone, and once you've got you're very first charm, you'll
know what I mean.The charms are endless just like your memories. Carry them with
you always.Copyright Juliette AdamsAbout Juliette: Juliette is the nation's
leading expert on the creation of charm bracelets and rare charms. Her site is
http://www.coolcharmbracelets.comOne of the biggest and hottest growing trends
in the art of tattoo design is Hawaiian arm or leg band tattoos. As this trend
goes a lot of people think to themselves, well of course." At least that is what
I said to myself at first. You can hardly drive more then 10 minutes on the
freeway in southern California where I am from and not see a big SUV like a
Lincoln Navigator or a Cadillac Escalade and not see a Hawaiian sticker. Things
with flowers designs, or turtles, dolphins. Ya see it started off with the
sticker and then the car seat covers with hibiscus flowers everywhere and it
just grew from there.This trend of Hawaiian design has then met it's match
with the whole tribal tattoo movement. Tribal tattoos have been the hottest
thing in the tattoo world since sliced bread or the old school WWII era Hula
dancer. You see these influences have been all around us for a long time my
grandpa even has one of those Hula Girls tattoos still. Granted it is a little
saggy and faded now but he still has one on his forearm nonetheless.So the whole
tribal tattoo and the growth in interest for Hawaiian designs have combined to
make a hot and growing market for Hawaiian tattoos. This is really an up and
coming thing and it not huge yet. However many tattoo artists are spotting the
trend and jumping on it already.Of course there is a lot of controversy on this
subject also like anything. If you look on the internet there is a controversy
about getting Kanji and Japanese Tattoos also. Anytime you try and take the
designs of a culture and do not depict them accurately it creates a sense of
bastardization or what I call the "Disney Effect" towards the culture. I mean
how would you feel if you were in China and someone said, oh you should try this
hot new restaurant out it serves this great food that is really American. They
have fried chicken and apple pie that is the best." Well, at first you would be
excited right? Sure it would be nice for a good home cooked meal if you have
been out of the US for a long time. However once you get there you see the place
has really tacky and awful reproductions of 50's art and the all the food
tastes kind of strange. It would probably bee kind of close or resemble what you
were thinking of but it would be missing something or a few key ingredients. I
bet this would leave you feeling a little sad and like your culture was not
totally understood.Well, I can not speak for you and maybe you will feel
different but I was pretty sad when after staying in Japan for 3 months I was
invited to a 1950's classic hamburger joint. When we got there it was Elvis
with a funny accent playing on the jukebox and when my hamburger came it had a
fried egg on top of it with teriyaki sauce. WOW what a surprise that was for me.
I kind of felt weird about being in the place that had tried to recreate
something from my own culture.So, the same controversy rolls on in the world of
tattoos. Anytime you get a tattoo design from another culture just make sure you
go with a professional. Do not have your friend trace out some Kanji in a book
for a tattoo and don't go and rip some design of the internet because it
states that it is Hawaiian. Go to a real custom tattoo designer and have them do
the research and come up with some designs. After all this is going to be on
your body for the rest of your life and since Hawaiian arm band tattoos and leg
tattoos are typically big it will be a significant investment in pain, time and
money to get the thing done. So you should consult with a professional and get
top notch work done.Copyright 2005 Chris RyersonAbout Chris: Chris is the owner
and webmaster of http://www.designmyattoos.com where you can find custom tattoo
artists waiting to design a tattoo for you. Either a Hawaiian Arm Tattoo or some
other tattoo design.This success mistake has cost me so much money that I'm
almost embarrassed to tell you."So Mike, why are you telling me?"Because I know
that if you can steer away from this success mistake, it can help you improve
your income and change your life. That's my goal.Here's how this came
about:Yesterday, I was reading a book about investing from the very successful
money manager Peter Lynch.Even though he was talking about 'investing', he
zeroed in on a success principle that so many people miss.I did.for 7+ years and
it cost me a fortune.And it caused me a bunch of stress.What's so interesting
is that Warren Buffett used this same success insight to become the 2nd richest
person in the world.Here's the deal:I used to be so 'short-sighted' and
wanted immediate gratification.If my new 'business idea' didn't work
out in 30-60 days, I quit.Then I'd try something else and, after a week, I
went onto something else.This downward spiral happened for a while because I was
'ruled' by a short-term vision and the desire for immediate
gratification.This is how 98% of the world operates.THIS is why only 2% of the
world live their dreams.Here's what Peter Lynch was saying and what Warren
Buffet knows.Also, Michael Dell knows this, Bill Gates, Donald Trump, Oprah and
others all know this.***One of the biggest 'secrets' to success is taking
the LONG-TERM VIEW.(Let me say that again)***One of the biggest 'secrets'
to success is taking the LONG-TERM VIEW.When Warren Buffett makes an investment,
he's looking 5-15 years out, sometimes more.All great entrepreneurs
understand that in order to WIN BIG they must take the long-term view.3-years,
5-years, 15-years, 20-years+.You need to give yourself time for your idea or
business to grow.Most people never do this - it's unfortunate. AND it's
also never too late to start.You need to EXPAND your horizon.Change your
perspective.You need to take the NEXT STEP today and keep in mind your long-term
view. Not necessarily a specific long term goal, but a longer term
VIEW.There's a season for everything.Take the time to plant the seeds, water
them, and be patient for your harvest.Stay disciplined.I know you can do
it.Copyright 2005 Mike LitmanResource box: If you're scattered, if you
procrastinate too much, and if you want to 'rev up' your income, see Mike
Litman's site at: http://www.powerofconcentration.netOnly about 20% of your
copy is going to get read. The rest will simply be scanned. I'm sure
you've heard the statistic before. It's nothing new. While it might sound
frightening or frustrating, it's a fact of copywriting life. So what do you
do next? Give up? What difference does it make if only about 20% will be read
anyway?It makes a world of difference. Especially if you understand that there
are some sections of your copy that are practically guaranteed to get read. If
you know what these are and work to reinforce them, you'll see your
conversions increase dramatically whether your copy is geared toward online or
offline promotions.HEADLINESHeadlines have always been and will always be the
most important section in any copy. They are the first thing to get read and
have the greatest impact on whether any of the other copy gets read. Those
stories you've seen floating around the Internet about marketers who have
made minute changes to a headline and tripled their conversion rates are true.
It happens all the time. In fact, it's happened to me.Headlines and
sub-headlines can guide your visitors to read deeper into your copy. If you set
up a structure of progressive headlines
(http://www.marketingwords.com/articles/articles_progressheadlines.html),
you'll have a better shot getting your point across. Pay a lot of attention
to your headline. It's the powerhouse of your copy.CAPTIONSCaptions started
with newspaper journalists. When they would run a picture with a story, they
would add a few words underneath to explain what or who the picture was of.
People got into the habit of looking for the captions in order to relate the
importance of the image with the information they were receiving. This still
holds true. Captions in advertising pieces are highly read. Don't waste the
space!FIRST SENTENCESWhen you scan something -- an article, a book, a newspaper,
a magazine, a website -- what do you read? Almost everyone reads the first
sentence of each paragraph. These sentences are vitally important in order to
get your potential customers interested enough to keep reading. If you create
exceptional first sentences, one of two things will happen. One: The prospect
will be more likely to continue reading the copy. Two: The first sentences in
each paragraph will be enough to convince him/her to buy.FIRST IN BULLETED
LISTJust as with the first sentence in each paragraph, people also almost always
read the first entry in a bulleted list. If it hits home, they might keep
reading. But, knowing that you have their attention for at least one second,
always make sure your first bullet point is extremely powerful and
enticing.PS'sWriting a direct mail or Web sales letter? The PS is another hot
spot. Take advantage of this real estate. Repeat offers, remind readers of
bonuses, reinforce guarantees or recap limited-time offers. This section is the
final pitch before your reader either acts or trashes your copy so make it
count.Have you noticed something about these five sections? Why do you think
they are virtually guaranteed to get read in any piece of copy? They are
unusual. They are limited. They stand out. They are eye-catching.You only have a
limited number of headlines and sub-heads in copy. They are almost always offset
by bolding or underlining so they easily catch the eye of the reader. Captions
only appear when there are images. They do not appear all throughout the copy.
First sentences are also rare. Only one sentence in each paragraph can be the
first one. This tells the reader to keep going or jump to another section that
might be of more interest. First entries in bulleted lists are unusually
formatted and catch the eye of the reader. PS's? There's only one, and
since it's the last thing on the page, most often, it stands out too.These
rare elements give you five guaranteed shots at building curiosity, promoting
benefits, generating interest and closing sales. If you haven't done it
before, now is the time to review your copy to be sure you're making the most
out of these opportunities.Copyright 2005 Karon ThackstonAbout Karon: Karon
Thackston is a veteran copywriting pro who specializes in SEO copy. Learn how to
write SEO copy that impresses the engines and your visitors at
http://www.copywritingcourse.com. Get more tips on incorporating keyphrases into
your copy with Karon's latest e-report "How To Increase Keyword Saturation
(Without Destroying the Flow of Your Copy)" at
http://www.copywritingcourse.com/keyword.I began the journey of owning a home
based business several months ago. Like many others, I found the task of
marketing my business overwhelming and frustrating. Without marketing, you
don't make sales, and without sales, you can't profitably run your
business.After spending countless hours on the computer and throwing many
dollars down the drain, I learned one very important thing: You must combine
mass marketing with a personal touch.There are many great marketing tools you
can use to achieve mass marketing including pay per click engines, placing ads,
buying leads, banner advertising, and exchanging links just to name a few. While
these methods can produce positive results, they lack the personal connection
many new business owners need to build a true customer base.On the other hand,
personal touch methods such as emailing your family and friends about your new
business can be a great way to start spreading the word, but this approach may
not help you reach enough people to give your business the jump start it really
needs.So where did this lead this flailing entrepreneur? Message boards.I
initially visited message boards to get help with my marketing dilemma. In the
process, I realized this was not only a place to exchange valuable information
with other home business owners, but this was also a great place to market my
own online business.Not only did I find plenty of message board group members
willing to give information, I found many interested parties for my own
business. Soon, I realized that not only was I becoming a more educated
marketing guru, I was introducing my new business to many new friends (and
customers).By joining message board groups, not only will you find a new outlet
to advertise your business, but you will also build credibility among your
peers.Follow these simple steps to begin utilizing message boards to market your
home business today:Visit a search engine and do a search on message
boards.Click through to the message boards and search for forums related to work
from home and/or your specific type of business.Join a few message board groups.
(Note: Some message board groups will allow you to post without being a member,
but membership increases your credibility).Post information about your business.
Remember to give specific instructions about how to reach you including email
address, Web URL, etc.Message boards are an efficient and effective way to reach
a targeted market with direct contact, and, best of all, they are free. As you
will soon see, these message boards are quite powerful as there are thousands of
subscribers who receive posts from message board groups in their email boxes
each day.Start joining message board groups now and take your home business to
new heights!Copyright 2005 Leslie McGuirkAbout Leslie: Leslie McGuirk is a CPA
and holds a Masters of Business Administration. For additional information on
home business and marketing ideas, subscribe to
mailto:buckyshome@getresponse.com or http://visit www.buckyshome.com. If you are
interested in getting a free website to market your own home business, visit
http://www.buckyshome.com/pips.html.Too often, when we say we are "taking care
of business", we think about the paperwork, the accounting, the inventory,
etc... the trivial things that are important to get done in order for our
business to run smoothly and efficiently. While necessary, they are not the most
important.We need to change our thinking about what "taking care of business"
means. We need to make sales in order to have a profitable business, and we know
without our customers or consultants, we don't have a business. They are our
lifeblood, they are what keeps us moving forward, and meeting their needs should
be our primary mission.Without consultants or customers, there are no sales.
Without sales, there is no revenue... without revenue, there is no business and
we might as well go back and get a j.o.b. It is crucial that we take care of our
customers and consultants. CRM (customer-relationship management) is a buzz-word
in "big business". Many large corporations have implemented systems and
technology to supposedly create customer care. Some have been successful, many
have not.Most of these systems simply give the illusion of customer care, but
have failed miserably in actually providing it.How many times have you been
through the "round robin" of "press 1 for this" and "press 2 for that", only to
spend an hour or more and never actually speak to a live person or get your
problem solved? You hang up in the phone in frustration and vow never to spend
money with XYZ Company again. This approach to customer care continues to baffle
me as to why large companies believe this is effective. How can they possibly
think that customer relationships can be created and nurtured by a recording?Are
those who make these decisions that far removed up the "corporate ladder" they
can't see this isn't customer care at all and having the opposite
effect?Each and every one of our customers and consultants should be made to
feel like they are our most important one. If we don't take care of them,
someone or some other company will. Small and home businesses have an incredible
opportunity to take back customer care and relationships the way it is supposed
to be. We are in an incredible position to "take care of business".Technology is
wonderful. Without technology, there would be no internet and many of us would
not be in business. However, there is no technology on this earth that can
replace human connections. Technology will never replace our customers knowing
that there is someone who truly cares about their needs.So, how about you? Are
you taking care of business?Copyright 2005 Patty GaleAbout Patty: Patty Gale is
a successful entrepreneur who specializes in personalization and customer care
for all her clients. She exchanged her suits, hose and heels for working at home
in her "jammies" and is on a mission to empower other women to do the same. She
can be reached at: http://www.CommuteInYourJammies.com or
http://www.PattysPrettyPaper.com10 Classic E-zine Advertising TipsKen Hill1.
Target your advertising.The more targeted the e-zine is for your offer, the
greater your response will be for your proven ad.2. Track your ads.Don't
leave your ad campaigns to guesswork. Use ad tracking to show you exactly which
e-zines and ads are most profitable.3. Run your ad for multiple issues.You'll
get a better response, and possibly save money as many publishers offer special
deals on bulk advertising.4. Spend lots of time writing your headline.An
effective headline will successfully grab your reader's attention and target
your audience.Your winning headline will also get people to read the rest of
your ad, leading to more traffic and sales.If you're new to writing
headlines, and need some help check out my "9 Power Packed Headline Formulas"
at: http://www.scstats.com/r.cfm?i=56525. Don't try to sell your product from
your ad.Write your ads to create interest and get people to visit your site.From
here, your powerful sales page will do the selling for you, and you'll be
able to get people to join your e-zine or mailing list for successful follow
up.6. Don't use all caps in your headline.You'll appear like your yelling
at your reader, and your ad will come off as amateurish.7. Include a "call to
action."At the end of your e-zine ads, include a call to action that tells your
reader what you want them to do next (i.e., visit your site or subscribe to your
e-zine).8. Don't be cute or funny with your ad.You might put your reader in a
good mood, but don't count on that translating into more visits to your site
or more sales.9. Offer something for free.Provide an incentive for visiting your
site such as a free ebook, sample chapter, or trial.10. Subscribe to or view the
archives of thee-zines you would like to advertise in.You'll be able to see
the quality of the content provided, how many ads are published in each issue,
and you'll get a good idea of the products those readers are interested in by
the ads being run.Copyright 2005 Ken HillAbout Ken: Ken's articles have been
published in numerous e-zines and web sites all over the net. Keep up to date on
his latest articles, and get more new valuable tips by visiting him at:
http://kenhill.blogspot.com11 Creative Ways You Can Use AutorespondersShery Ma
Belle Arrieta-Russ1. Pick 4 or more articles you've written that have a
common theme and put them in an autoresponder series. Announce it on your site
as an e-mail course on the go.2. If you have a page for related links, create a
related links file and put it on autoresponder. This can be a one-page e-mail
containing 15-50 links that are of interest to your visitors. Put your own
promotional texts or blurbs at the top, middle and bottom of the e-mail.3.
Create a fun or trivia quiz, put it up on your site and put the answers in an
autoresponder that your visitors can request. This way, you'll know the
people who took your quiz.4. Write reviews of books, music, e-books, sites,
software or anything you can think of and put each review (or related reviews)
in an autoresponder. If what you are reviewing have affiliate programs, use your
affiliate links in the autoresponder.5. Run a contest on your site or e-zine,
then have your visitors or subscribers send their responses to your
autoresponder. This way, you won't have to worry about manually sending them
a confirmation receipt.6. Create a frequently updated autoresponder and let your
visitors and/or subscribers know about it. You can put in weekly tips or links
to useful resources in the autoresponder and a reminder to the people who
request it that you update it every week or on a regular basis (e.g. tell them
to request for the same autoresponder again a week from now). You can use this
method instead of using autoresponders with limited follow up messages.7. If
you've written 20 or more articles and you have them on separate
autoresponder accounts, create a master list for your articles. In this master
list, list the titles of your articles, their autoresponder addresses and their
short descriptions. You can then just promote this master list.8. Put excerpts
or free chapters of your e-book, book or paid e-mail courses in an autoresponder
series, then include your follow up sales letters at the end.9. If you're
selling your own products, put your testimonials on autoresponder, along with
the description of your products, an excerpt or a free chapter. This will
increase your credibility.10. Keep track of people who download your free
e-book, e-report, or free software by putting their download links in an
autoresponder. When you promote your free product, you can just promote the
autoresponder address.11. Put links to your hidden pages on autoresponder. A
hidden page could be the affiliate page where you have all the graphics, text
links, promotional articles that interested affiliates can use. Let people know
they can have free access to your affiliate page by requesting the
autoresponder. This way, you can have a list of people who are interested in
becoming your affiliates.Copyright 2005 Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-RussAbout the
author: Shery is the developer of creative, motivating and fun e-mail courses
for writers at http://WritingBliss.com. She also authored the e-book that lets
you create your own original and profitable E-mail Workshops, eCourses and
Tutorials in only 3 days. Visit http://EmailWorkshopsHowTo.com for more
info.Running a contest for your e-zine subscribers or web site visitors is one
way you can generate interest and give more exposure for products or services
you want to promote.A contest could be as simple as spotting a word or a set of
words within an e-zine's issue or searching for a graphic on a site. A
contest can run for one issue, or it can last for a month or more.If you plan to
run a contest, make sure you have a "contest management response system" in
place.This could be as simple as an automated e-mail receipt to let your
participants know their entry has been received.Run a contest that asks your
participants to send their responses to specific e-mail addresses. Then create
an automated receipt confirmation for each account. Include a link to your
products, affiliate links, or services in your confirmation receipt. Every time
someone enters your contest and sends her entry, she receives a confirmation
message. Thus, you've just exposed your products to your contestant.Encourage
multiple entries and your contest participants get exposed to your promotional
texts multiple times.Ok, what about contest prizes?If you publish an e-zine and
you sell advertising space, you can give away free ad space to the winners.If
you have your own product, or a product you have resell rights to, you can give
away free copies of it to your winners.If you have a service, why not put that
up as a prize?In any case, though, let your prospective contestants be
interested in the prizes. Yes -- put the complete prize descriptions, along with
the contest mechanics, on autoresponder too.And then include links where they
can purchase the prizes. Hey, some people might not want to wait to win your
contest! So it's good to cover all bases.Run a contest that lets
autoresponders handle entries and confirmation receipts and you'll have a
promotional tool that can bring in profits for you!Copyright 2005 Shery Ma
Belle Arrieta-RussAbout the author: Shery is the developer of creative,
motivating and fun e-mail courses for writers at http://WritingBliss.com. She
also authored the e-book that lets you create your own original and profitable
E-mail Workshops, eCourses and Tutorials in only 3 days. Visit
http://EmailWorkshopsHowTo.com for more info.For many people, interviewing is
not a natural act any more than going on a blind date is. You are asked a bunch
of questions about your work. You answer them. They ask a bunch more; you answer
them. Youre graded on your performance (you receive a job offer or not). Yet
interviews are predictable processes and as such can be planned forWhat does an
employer want to know about you?Do you have the skills to do the job that needs
to be filled?How will you fit in with my company?If I hire you, are you someone
I will need to worry about?How does this get determined in an interview?By
asking questions about what you have done and how you did it or decided it
should be done.By asking behavioral questions that will give an employer a sense
of the scope of your experiencesBy asking concrete questions to ascertain your
knowledgeBy observing your body language or physical response to questioning to
observe whether it is consistent with a successful person.The fourth way
(observing body language or physical response to questions) is particularly
interesting because it is not skill or experience based and is completely
subjective and emotional. AND it is part of the decision process.And want are
firms trying to find out about you? Leadership. Honesty. Trustworthiness.You can
practice with a friend or family member but they may not be much better than
you. So how do you practice you presentation and get immediate feedback in order
to improve your presentation and demonstrate these attributes?Toastmasters
(www.toastmasters.org) offers people an opportunity to practice how to speak
throughout their program. Whether you answer extemporaneous questions off the
cuff for 1-2 minutes in Table Topics ("Its warm! Its summer! People start to go
to the beach and spending time outdoors. Tell us about a time you had fun at the
beach, Jeff." Notice that you only find out when you will speak at the end when
you hear your name) or by doing actual 4-6 minute speeches, Toastmasters offers
concrete opportunities to get used to being "on the spot" as happens in an
interview. It also gives you an opportunity to observe others and learn from
them and from the evaluations that are given.There are Toastmasters clubs
throughout the world. To find one, you can go to
http://www.toastmasters.org/find/.Copyright 2005 Jeff Altman, Concepts in
StaffingAbout Jeff: Jeff Altman has successfully assisted many corporations
identify management leaders and staff in technology, accounting, finance, sales,
marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is also co-founder of Your Next
Job, a networking group focused on assisting technology professionals with their
job search, a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit
organization that assists men with life issues, and a practicing
psychotherapist. For additional job hunting or hiring tips, go to
http://www.newyorkmetrotechnologyjobs.comIf you would like Jeff and his firm to
assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job
change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If youre looking for a new
position, include your resume).I've got good news and bad news. The good news
is that 98% of businesses are small businesses. That bodes well for the
entrepreneurial spirit that has made our nation great. The bad news is that 80%,
that's right, four out of five new businesses will fail in their first five
years.After years of building my own companies and consulting growing
businesses, I've come to the realization that too many business owners
can't see their business through an objective eye, which often leads to their
demise. It takes an incredible amount of intense drive, determination and a
strong ego to breathe life into a business and create products from scratch, but
it's also that same ego that won't let a business owner be objective about
what their business needs to succeed. The business is up and running at
light-speed and management doesn't have the time or willingness to stand back
and take a real look at what they have created. They are too close to the
problems to see them. Just like a proud parent, they have spent sweat and time
creating this "baby," and they refuse to believe that it might be less than
perfect.I call this the "business parent trap." It is in this trap that business
owners often create and introduce products that would not test out in the
marketplace. There's an attitude of "Hey, it's gotta be great because I
thought of it."I've found that there are usually two basic things wrong with
a business: the product (the Baby) and the management (the Breath).So how do you
assess your business? Are your employees going to tell you that you're headed
in the wrong direction? Not likely. Occasionally a consultant will be brought in
to review the company's performance in a given area. Unfortunately, when
management does bring in a consultant, they often are really looking for
affirmation not straight-forward constructive criticism. Sadly, some
consultants are more than willing to "affirm for a fee."If you're going to
succeed, then someone needs to tell you if your baby's ugly or you've got
bad (corporate) breath. So here are some blunt yet truthful thoughts for your
business, and perhaps you: GET OVER YOURSELF: Know yourself, trust yourself,
believe in yourself...then Get Over Yourself. You're really not the smartest
person in the world. You built the business and know it better than anyone else,
but no one else really cares how much you know. SPECTATOR SPORT: Conversation
with you should not be a spectator sport for others. Remember that there's a
huge difference between listening and merely waiting for your turn to talk. You
hired your employees and perhaps a consultant because you assumed they had
brains, so let them use them. Ask questions and listen to answers. JUST ANOTHER
PRODUCT Realize that even though you think that your new product or service is
the greatest thing since the flip-top beer can, the world just sees one more
product and must be convinced. You created this product and you know every
function of it, but customers do not buy functions, they buy only benefits.
Whether your product is a high tech internet service or office furniture, you
must show how it is uniquely beneficial to your customer. Functionality makes
your products work, Benefits make them sell. PAPER WEIGHT: If you have the high
tech inventive skills to create a product, chances are that you don't have
the skills to market and sell it. Many small business owners think that
marketing and sales are the simplest part of their business, so it is almost an
afterthought. There is only one reason that inferior products outsell better
ones; and that is successful marketing. Think of your marketing plan as the
complete story book that sells your product. If your story book is a best
seller, then your product will be a best seller. Without the right story that
will build sales and distribution, your wonderful product is just another paper
weight head for a land fill. STAND BACK: Your competitors are not all stupid.
Guess what? They think their babies are cute too, and they may tell better
stories that make them look even better than yours. So stand back and look at
yourself and your baby and try to look through the eyes of a disinterested
party, because believe it or not, the world is a disinterested party.Remember,
there's an 80% chance that you will not be in business in 5 years. As busy as
you are, and successful as you think you are, you must set your ego aside and
realize that there are things beyond your control. Successful companies know
that the secret to success doesn't lie in knowing everything; it lies in
knowing what you don't know, and finding those who do.I wish you good luck
and great success.Copyright 2005 Steve BakerAbout Steve: Steve Baker is a
business advisor who has founded successful start-up companies and specializes
in market development. He founded a company that did $500 million the first year
and he was sued for $1.4 Billion. He speak on How to be a Successful Failure,
and he is the author of the award winning book, PUSHING WATER UPHILL With A
Rake; Memoirs of a Successful Failure. He lives in Colorado where he is an avid
poor golfer. He can be reached through his website
www.PushingWaterUphill.comMake your products sell quickly by adding a lot of
bonuses. You could get the free bonuses for little or no cost by joint venturing
with other businesses. You could go to the "freebies" directories and find
things. Then you could ask the legal owner's permission to use the item as a
free bonus for your product.Keep your loyal customers happy because they are
your future profits. Give them discounts and free gifts as often as possible. If
you are thoughtful and loyal to your customers, most of them will be your
customers forever. They will make up about 80% of your business and profits.Test
different web site color themes to see which combination will sell your product
better. You can also test the size and style of your web site text. For example,
red usually signals: stop, anger, excitement, love, sex, fun, etc. Another
example, blue usually signals: relaxation, authority, coolness, etc.Promise your
readers an end result or outcome in your ad. You must give them a solid
guarantee that your product will solve their problem. For example, you could
say, "I personally guarantee you will get over your shyness in 10 days or less
or your money back."Increase the perceived value of your free things or bonuses
by including the retail dollar amount the freebies would normally sell for. For
example, you could say, "Bonus 1# Marketing Tips Newsletter (a value of $120)."
Another example, "Get 7 Bonuses With A Retail Value Of $345! That more than pays
for your purchase!"Give your customers free shipping. If you can't afford
that, you can give free shipping to customers who buy over a certain dollar
amount to raise profits. You could also charge other businesses for inserting
ads in your product package. This will make up for your free shipping
losses.Copyright 2005 Ed HammenAbout Ed: Ed is the owner of a couple of
websites that provides valuable information on how to retire early by using your
computer in the comfort of your own
home.http://www.online-home-based-business.bizhttp://www.ezinfocenter.com/8614146/SIMhttp://1269187225.freestoreclub.comCash
advance loans are a quick and hassle free way of obtaining some much needed
cash. The loan is generally meant to be repaid in the short term.Cash advance
pay day loans is helpful for those people who have run out of money before the
end of the month and need some assistance to sustain them until their next
paycheck.A cash advance agency will usually pay between $200 to $1000 in
increments of $50 or $100. When you repay your loan there will be a fee charged
depending on the amount of money loaned.Choosing the right cash advance agency
requires shopping around to make sure you are getting the best deal. Not all
agency offers will be equal. When selecting a firm for cash advance loans you
need to find out the following items:Will the amount of money you receive be
enough to cover your immediate financial needs?What fees and interest rate will
be charged after obtaining the loan?How long with the loan approval process take
and how long until the money is made available for you?Usually such companies
have instant approval and can provide instant money since most of their
customers require the cash in a hurry. A majority of cash advance services will
not check your credit history before making a loan.Using cash advance
wiselyMisusing cash advance loans can be deadly for any individual and can
increase their debts and ruin their credit ratings. Cash advance is meant to be
short term, convenient loans to get people out of tough situation and not as
long term loans. They should be paid off with the next pay check.Those people
who are unable to pay the loans when they are due will be paying a huge chunk in
interest fees. If you know you will not be able to fully repay the loan by the
due date, cash advance might not be a good choice and can lead you into a cycle
of debt accumulation.If you require a long term loan, you should look for other
sources for acquiring this loan.Many people still find it a valuable source for
obtaining much needed cash. Even though there is a fee to pay to borrow the
money, it might be helpful for people who are in an emergency. If the costs of
the loan are offset by the benefits, such as keeping your phone line or your
electricity from being cut, then payday cash advance loans become a viable
option for many families.Now you can even apply for online cash advance.
Borrowing money has become even easier. Cash advance payday loan agencies work
hard to make the process of borrowing money easier for their clients and to
reduce the amount of red tape surrounding the loan process.Copyright 2005 Jakob
JellingAbout Jakob: Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.cashbazar.com.
Visit his website for the latest on personal finance, debt elimination,
budgeting, credit cards and real estate.Many individuals have been helped by
consumer credit counseling to take control of their finances and to eliminate
debt. Consumer credit counseling can work for you by teaching money management
skills which can help you throughout your lifetime.Consumer credit counseling
can help you better understand your credit situation. It can help you understand
the costs associated with misusing a credit card and make you a more informed
consumer.Consumer credit counseling is especially useful for people suffering
from huge debt burdens. They can benefit from consumer credit counseling as it
can help them find a way out of their present financial crisis. If you have a
weak credit history and low credit ratings, consumer credit counseling can show
you ways to repair your credit.By making an appointment with a credit counseling
agent, you can get all of these advantages and find out what more the agent can
do for you.Many debt management companies provide consumer credit counseling
agents to advise and help individuals find a way out of debt. Debt management
agencies help you reduce and consolidate your loans by negotiating with your
creditors. Their credit counselors are the ones that teach their clients better
ways of avoiding debt in the future and to find ways to saving money to pay back
their current debts.When selecting a debt management company, be sure that they
have qualified credit counseling personnel.Their teams of expert and experienced
credit counselors, who have wide knowledge in the finance field, can help the
layperson better understand their credit situation and how to improve their
financial standing.The consumer credit counseling agent will first understand
the situation you are in. Then they will formulate ways in which you can save
more money, become debt free and start on your way towards financial
freedom.These are just some of the things consumer credit counseling services
can do for you:They can teach you how to better manage your household
expenses.They can help you deal with harassing collectors.They can teach you
understand relevant financial issues surrounding your credit.They can advise you
on how to reduce your debt burden.They can help you avoid situations where you
may have to declare bankruptcy.The counselors can work with you to create
financial plans such as a savings and budget plan, and help you find ways to
sticking to them. Comprehensive plans can lead you to better manage your cash
inflows and outflows.Taking some time for consumer credit counseling can help
you get rid of your debt problems and start you on your way to a secure
financial future.Copyright 2005 Jakob JellingAbout Jakob: Jakob Jelling is the
founder of http://www.cashbazar.com. Visit his website for the latest on
personal finance, debt elimination, budgeting, credit cards and real estate.For
reasons that escape me now, I kept sort of a diary during my first full year of
working at a home based business. It was nothing close to being a complete daily
diary, but was more of a collection of scribbles about things that I felt were
worthy of note at the time. Since quite a bit of time has passed since then, I
decided to revisit these notes.In no particular order, here are some of the
things that I had made note of.Choosing the path...in the beginning, my
enthusiasm was very high (perhaps too high?) and I was chasing off on several
different home-based business opportunities at the same time (exhibiting the
"dog in a meat market" syndrome, I suppose) and not focusing my efforts enough
to be successful at any single one of them. I finally reigned myself in and
focused on a single work at home business opportunity.In other notes I find
reference to emotional and/or psychological issues that I experienced and are
probably typical for most people when starting a home based business. When
working at home a person can, at times, experience a feeling of isolation which
is probably brought on by the lack of interaction of a work force
environment.There were also periods of doubt in the early going...did I pick a
viable business opportunity?...am I doing the right things to develop my
business?...when will I start making a profit?, and so on.Many of the entries in
my so-called diary had to do with the proverbial "two steps forward and one step
backward" thing and the ever-looming temptation to become discouraged. Although
I didn't appreciate it at the time, it is now obvious that as long as you
have more steps forward than backward you will eventually get ahead! Isn't
hindsight wonderful?Other entries reflect the fact that relatively minor events
can seem huge in the early stages of developing a work at home business and can
really contribute to an emotional roller coaster ride. For example, if you are
just starting out and you have two customers/clients and you lose
one...that's a 50% drop! However, if you fast-forward in time to the point
where you have hundreds of customers/clients and you lose one...that's just a
mere fraction of 1%! Same event, just at a different point in time.Looking back
on it now, some of the stuff I recorded now seems humorous, but I'm pretty
sure that I was not amused at the time I made the notations.Copyright 2005 Kirk
BannermanAbout Kirk: Kirk Bannerman operates his own successful home based
business and also coaches others seeking to start their own home based business.
For more information visit his website, Proven Work At Home Business, at
http://www.home-based-business-team.comOverviewIn the Pre-Budget Report of
December 2003 the Chancellor Gordon Brown announced proposals to levy an Income
Tax charge from 6th April 2005 in those circumstances where the transferor of an
asset retains and interest or continues to benefit from that asset. In the
instance of real property, the 'benefit' envisaged is the transferor
continuing to reside in the property he/she has allegedly given away.How the
Charge AppliesThe Government refer to such assets as 'pre-owned assets'
and, broadly speaking, its intention is to tax the 'annual value' of such
assets as a benefit-in-kind on the former owner still enjoying the use of the
asset. The annual value on which the charge is based will be the open-market
rental for a property or a fixed percentage of the capital value of most other
assets to which the new charge applies. Any amounts which the transferor pays
for the use of the asset - rent for example - will be deducted from the annual
value in arriving at the taxable benefit.The charge will also apply if a person
provides the funds to purchase an asset which they go on to enjoy the benefit of
after 5th April 2005.Rationale Behind the ChargeThe charge is intended to
counter many Inheritance Tax planning schemes, but unfortunately, it will also
impact many innocent and unintended victims. Thankfully, the legislation has
included some exceptions to the application of the charge. The charge will not
apply if;The asset was gifted before 8th March 1986The asset is owned by the
transferor's spouseThe asset is, in fact, still caught by the 'Gifts with
Reservation' rules and as such Inheritance Tax applies instead (hence, the
Income Tax charge will not be levied on top).The asset was sold at an arm's
length price for cash (even if to a connected party).The transferor of the asset
had themselves inherited it and their ownership had ceased as a result of a Deed
of Variation affecting that inheritance.The transferor's continued enjoyment
of the asset is merely incidental or has arisen only as a result of an
unforeseen change in family circumstances.The annual taxable benefit (after
deducting any contributions by the transferor, where necessary) does not exceed
2,500.The Inland Revenue have also confirmed that the charge will not apply in
most cases where a taxpayer has funded life insurance policies held on trust.
Finally, there is also an 'Opt Out' option whereby the transferor can opt
not to pay the charge provided the asset is included back into their estate and
therefore consequently being subject to Inheritance Tax.The Implications of the
ChargeMost of the Inheritance Tax Planning techniques usually involve a widow or
widower having continued enjoyment of their former spouse's share of the
property and thus it would appear on first inspection that in the majority of
cases the charge would not apply as the transferor themselves would not be
around to continue to enjoy or benefit from the property. However, a problem
seems to arise where a couple own their property as joint tenants prior to
commencing their tax planning strategy and subsequently changing their ownership
title to tenants in common. Where the widow or widower formerly owned the
property as joint tenants they had a share in ownership of the whole property.
This means that the new Income Tax charge could conceivably apply to their
continued occupation of the property after their spouse's death.A possible
consequence of this for the future might mean that instead of acquiring property
as joint tenants which has been the general rule, the wise policy would be to
own the property as tenants in common instead. But how many people are aware of
this distinction? Will legal advisors be prepared to explain the tax
implications of acquiring property with the different legal titles?ConclusionHow
far will the new charge impact on current Inheritance Tax Planning schemes? As
yet, it is too soon to tell, as the rules have not been fully fleshed out and as
yet, it is too soon to say with any certainty what will happen and which schemes
will be affected.But it seem fair to argue that the current Labour Government is
doing its utmost to tax its citizens at every possible turn. Inheritance Tax
avoidance schemes - indeed any tax avoidance scheme -are not unlawful. Planning
for the future does not mean that people are engaging in tax evasion - which IS
unlawful. But the policies being employed leave an uncomfortable impression of
an angry parent chastising their child simply for being astute and planning for
the future!Needless to say, the whole approach leaves a somewhat bitter taste in
one's mouth.Copyright 2005 Janine Byrne, LLB (Hons) LPc.About Janine: Miss
JsByrne holds a Bachelor of Law degree with Honours & a post-graduate diploma in
Legal Practice. Also gained qualification in Wills Writing & is the owner/author
of www.Draft-Your-Will.com and DYW Wills & Estate Planning NewsletterThere are
numerous reasons why people choose to start a home-based business. Some of those
reasons include:1. Dissatisfied with their present employment situation.2. Out
of work due to being laid off or downsizing by their employer.3. A need to be
home more with young children, an infirm family member, or aging parents.4. A
yearning to be their own boss.Whatever your particular reason for exploring a
home-based business, there are a few common steps you need to take in order to
launch your business.First off, you need to come to grips with reality...be
realistic in your expectations. Far too many folks read advertisements that are
hype and imply quick money, and lots of it, from a home-based business start-up.
It will certainly take a year, and in some cases it may take up to three years,
before you begin to truly make a significant profit from your business.I have
helped a large number of people start up their own home-based businesses using
the Internet. Over time, I have come to recognize two of the most important
factors for identifying people that should NOT start a home based business. If a
prospective entrepreneur says something like..."I'm broke and need to make
some money, fast!"or,"I want to start a home-based business, but I don't want
to spend anything on it until after I start earning some money."...it is certain
that they have not addressed reality and, with that mindset, they will most
certainly fail.It takes a lot of time to successfully market and promote a new
business. If you are planning a home-based business in order to spend a lot of
time with young children or care for the elderly, a full-time business (and
income) may not be a realistic objective.Second, spend some time researching
your business idea. Make sure there is truly enough of a market for your product
or service. It's easy to fall into the trap of having a hobby or passion for
something that you like to do and just assuming that you can turn it into an
economically viable business.Third, learn as much as you can about small
business. There is a wealth of information available on this topic and the US
Small Business Administration is probably as good a place to start as any. Just
go to http://www.sba.gov/ and navigate to the sections dealing with home based
businesses.Fourth, write a business plan. It is your roadmap to reaching your
objectives. There are numerous articles on the Internet and in libraries that
can assist you in developing your business plan as well as addressing the many
other issues involved with starting and operating a business from home. As a
starting point, here are a couple of Small Business Administration website
locations that should prove
useful:http://www.sba.gov/starting/indexbusplans.htmlhttp://www.sba.gov/library/pubs.htmlAnd
last, but not least, seek the advice of a tax professional. Your first reaction
may be that you can't afford such expenses right now; but, in reality, you
can't afford not to seek such advice from the very beginning of your home
business start-up. They can advise you about ways you may be able to reduce the
amount of taxable business income at the end of the year. Paying for an hour or
two of consultation with a tax professional at the beginning will probably save
you much more than that amount later on down the road.I never cease to be amazed
at the number of people that seem to think that some magic is somehow created
when you put the words "home based" in front of the word "business". It's
still business...it just happens to be based in the home.Copyright 2005 Kirk
BannermanAbout Kirk: Kirk Bannerman operates his own successful home based
business and also coaches others seeking to start their own home based business.
For more information visit his website, Proven Work At Home Business at
http://www.home-based-business-team.comWhy is it some people are incredibly
successful at utilizing the power of the Internet in their marketing while
others can't seem to figure out the winning formula?How often do
entrepreneurs and salespeople look for that next magic formula to build their
business and increasing revenues, never quite making any of it work? Many people
make it much more difficult to succeed than it need be while others know exactly
what to do -- and they do it.Ask anyone who has effectively integrated the use
of the Internet into their overall marketing strategy and they will tell you
success in building your business, both online and off, is about systems. Simple
as that.Developing and utilizing systems is nothing new. Yet, the great search
for the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow and getting rich quick
continues.The place you'll find more gold than virtually anywhere else is in
doing something many people just don't find appealing. It is in developing
and maintaining a solid database. Unfortunately, many people don't find
database management sexy enough. So they continually buy into that next secret
formula.Fact is, with a well-groomed database you can increase your revenues and
decrease your marketing costs. You can build customer relations and keep your
name fresh in the minds of your market by keeping in touch. This establishes
excellent position within your market.Most people would be amazed at how simple
it is to build an incredibly profitable database by applying a few simple
strategies. Remember, simple is not always easy. It will take time, commitment
and focus.Bigger is not necessarily better when it comes to your database.
Depending on your industry and what you sell you may be well served to focus on
the few dozen or few hundred who want to buy from you rather than thousands who
don't care about what you offer.On the other hand, there will be situations
where building a massive list is exactly what you need to do. Especially if you
have mass quantity products you are selling at a very low price. Then you may
want to go for the numbers.Driving traffic to your site is an ongoing process as
is building and maintaining your database. If you are serious about using the
Internet in your marketing you need to lay the groundwork to optimize your
opportunities.Develop a fully operational web siteHave a way to capture contact
information such as a sign up formGive people a reason for leaving their contact
information such as an Ezine, free report or ebook, an article of interest to
your target market or anything that is of benefit to the readerDevelop a series
of content driven messages that address your customers' needsKeep your name
in front of your market consistently without being annoyingWrite and distribute
articles to various online resources that are pertinent to your marketCreate a
byline that contains your web addressDo not make the articles a hard sell.
Rather, provide information that positions you as a resource before you are a
vendorDevelop a list of forums and discussion groups you can participate
inCommit to the long-term.By focusing on developing a solid database and
providing incredible value to your market you can and will achieve success in
your business. Guaranteed!Copyright 2005 Kathleen GageAbout Kathleen: Kathleen
Gage is an award winning keynote speaker, author and business advisor
specializing in marketing and promotions. She is the recipient of the Utah 2004
Giant Step Award for business creativity and success. Access Gage's FREE
eBook Street Smarts eMarketing Tips Guaranteed to Jump Start Your Internet
Presence to Put You Miles Ahead of the Competition at
http://www.streetsmartsmarketing.com/free-ebook.htmNot having enough money for a
comfortable retirement tops the list of financial concerns among aging
Americans, according to a recent Gallup Poll. It even outweighs peoples'
worries about having a serious illness or accident.With statistics showing that
Americans can expect to live 20 or more years after reaching retirement age and
our longevity continuing to inch upward, these fears could be well founded.Three
out of 10 American workers haven't saved at all for retirement, and among
those who do, many have not saved enough, according to another study. The study
showed that three out of 10 workers age 55 or older have saved less than
$25,000.Many of us plan to work past the normal retirement age. But at this
rate, we may not have a choice. Some of us in the Baby Boom generation can
expect to work beyond age 65, whether we want to or not.There is an alternative
to having to work full-time until we're in a wheelchair. It's also a smart
choice as we get past age 50 and want to slow down a bit, but still stay active
andstimulated. And that's to gradually make the transition from working
full-time as an employee to being in business for ourselves on a contract or
per-project basis. By planning ahead,you can gradually turn your job skills into
a "microbusiness" while you are still employed.If you have worked in a specific
industry for 10, 15 or more years, you are ideally suited for this type of
transition. You can set up a home office in a spare bedroom of your home,get the
equipment you need and gradually establish your business.When the time comes and
you want to make the change, you can do it on your own terms often by
negotiating a contract with your existing employers for 50 percent of your time.
There are other ways to make the change, such asnegotiating with your employer
for a reduced work week, or working from home as a "teleworker" for a few days a
week.Still others have begun their private practice by moonlighting doing a few
projects for other clients on the side at night or on weekends in the year
leading up to their departure, andbuilding up a clientele that way. Provided
such work isn't prohibited by your full-time employment contract, it's
another smart way to get started.Enjoy The freedomBeing your own boss means you
get to choose how hard you work and how much you are compensated. If you want to
earn extra cash for an upcoming trip or purchase, you can work a few extra hours
per week or take an extra project. If you want to take four weeks off and visit
friends in Florida, simply plan ahead,keep your clients informed, and off you
go.Perhaps that's why people over 50 are much more likely to be
self-employed, according to a study commissioned by the American Association of
Retired Persons (AARP). The study showed that 16 percent of people over 50 were
self-employed, compared with 10 percent of the general workforce. Plus one-third
of self-employed seniors were first-time entrepreneurs who began their business
after turning 50 and spending many years working for other people.Being in
business for yourself especially after a lifetime of being an employee for a
larger organization is the next best thing to being financially independent
while still earning a living.You can scale back your hours worked per week to
ease into retirement. Or work in bursts of activity to earn extra money for
special purchases or travel. And the best part is it often doesn't even feel
like "work" anymore.Copyright 2005 Barnaby KalanAbout Barnaby: Barnaby Kalan is
an award-winning copywriter and direct marketing consultant who also helps
people launch and build their businesses. His book, Outsourcing Yourself,
reveals the safest, smartest ways to turn your current job skills into a
six-figure income as a self-employed freelancer or consultant. For details,
visit www.outsourcing-yourself.comOne of the most effective ways to help your
staff succeed is to provide regular, consistent coaching throughout the year. A
Progress Review is a specific kind of coaching discussion, tied to the
employee's Annual Objectives and Standards. It is an informal discussion in
which the manager coaches the direct report to meet any unmet goals that are
below target, and praises him or her for goals that are being met. Conducting
progress reviews are a very important role for being an effective leader or
coach. It is suggested that each of your direct reports receive a progress
review discussion from you at least 2-3 times per year.An outline of process for
conducting a Progress Review is below:1. Refer to the annual objectives and
standards previously developed. Give a copy to the employee.2. Ask the employee
to review his or her progress to date.3. Praise the employee for all on-target
performance.4. For below-target performance, ask the employee for suggestions to
improve. After all the employee's suggestions have been made, contribute any
additional ideas you may have.5. Revise and change the standards or objectives
where necessary.6. Set a date for the next progress review session.If you
schedule progress reviews with each of your direct report at designated
intervals throughout the year, you will find that it helps you remember to
conduct these very important coaching discussions. The end result is that your
staff will be more productive, and you will be an excellent leader. Don't put
them off! Schedule progress reviews today!Copyright 2005 Susan CullenAbout
Susan: Susan Cullen is President of Quantum Learning Solutions, Inc., based in
New Jersey. She has over 15 years experience in Organizational Development and
is considered an expert in the use of blended learning methodologies for lasting
organizational change. For more information go to http://www.quantumlearn.com or
you can reach us at (800) 683-0681.Definition of affiliate marketing:Affiliate
marketing is taking someone else's product or service and advertising it
using your own affiliate website or link in order to make money. The owner of
the website/product/service will pay you a percentage of each sale generated
through your unique affiliate link or website. Sounds a bit confusing, but in
reality is a very simple process with a win/win situation for all parties
involved and a fun way to make money online.How to get started:You have two
options to consider when doing affiliate marketing, whether to have a website or
to simply advertise using your unique affiliate link. Many affiliates will
create an informational website to be used as a basis for related affiliate
links. This can be a great option, due to the fact that you would only need to
advertise one website in order to make money.To go this route, think of
something that you are passionate about or something that is a hot topic right
now. Once you have determined your theme you need to decide on a website name.
To find ideas and keywords to be used as a URL, or domain name, I would
recommend using http://wordtracker.com to find appropriate popular keywords
related to your theme. It is good to use a popular keyword as your website and
domain name so that you will rank higher in search engines.Once you have your
theme and have chosen a name, you need to register your domain name and obtain
website hosting. I recommend using Yahoo for your website hosting needs. They
offer a free domain name and website builder that does not require knowledge of
html when you purchase website hosting. They also allow you to pay monthly
rather than having to pay a year in advance which helps you save with upfront
costs.Your next step would be to build your website and fill it to the brim with
great information related to your theme. A great and easy way to do this is to
get articles from free article websites like the ones listed
below:http://www.1st-in-articles.com/http://www.advertisingknowhow.comhttp://www.amazines.comhttp://www.articlecity.comhttp://www.ArticleHub.com
http://www.articles911.com
http://www.articletrades.comhttp://www.marketing-seek.comhttp://www.parentclicks.comhttp://www.zongoo.comThen,
once you have a great website full of information about your theme, your next
step is to work on search engine optimization. Do a search on Google for SEO and
you will find lots of free information on how to do this. You also need to offer
a free newsletter so that you can establish repeat visitors.When your
informational website is complete and fully optimized, submit it to all of the
major search engines. Google's "submit a URL" can be found under "About"
Google. This is the main one and the best place to start. Yahoo charges a fee to
submit your website to them so this would be something you could do later.Now
you are ready to start adding affiliate links to your website so you can earn
money! Sign up at these free websites and find appropriate websites to affiliate
with:http://www.LinkShare.comhttp://www.CJ.comhttp://www.ShareASale.comhttp://www.Clickbank.comAlso,
add Google Adsense to your website for added revenue. Advertise using Pay Per
Click such as Google.com/Adwords and Overture.com. Continue to add a page of
information to your website daily. The more information you have, the higher
your chances of ranking with more keywords on the major search engines. Have fun
maintaining your website and watching your traffic...and your revenue grow!
Affiliate marketing is a great way to make money and your earning potential is
almost endless. Affiliate marketing is something you can get started doing today
to earn money online.Copyright 2005 Monica FairclothAbout Monica: Monica
Faircloth is a freelance writer and a work at home mentor as well as the owner
of: http://www.TheMommySite.com, http://www.HomeBasedMommy.com and
http://www.Work-Online.org.Many students start becoming consumers of credit when
they get their first student credit card in college. Student credit cards can
give them a highly convenient way of making purchases; however this is also a
time of great responsibility as they start their first endeavor into money
management.You need to be careful when using your student credit card. This is
the time you start building your credit report which will come into play when
you start needing money to buy a house or a car. It is very easy to misuse
credit in college. Usually it is very expensive being a college student nowadays
and it can be hard to keep track of bills and pay them on time.However a student
credit card can also be very convenient. It can teach you better money
management skills. If you work hard you can start building a solid credit score.
Students can also avoid carrying around cash. Many student credit cards offer
protection incase the card gets stolen or lost.There is much choice for students
when it comes to selecting a card. The first thing when choosing a student
credit card is to find one with a low APR.Many student credit cards will even
allow you to accumulate points from your purchases which you can redeem for
DVDs, books, CDs and other cool rewards.If you misuse your student credit card
and keep making late payments, you will be under a huge debt burden when you
graduate and need to buy a home or a car. Student credit cards are not a student
loan. Consider them as high interest loans which you should pay off
immediately.On the other hand by properly managing your payments, you can have a
good credit score when you graduate. If you make your payments on time, you can
also avoid the interest charges. Be careful of the late fees on your student
credit card.Student credit cards generally have low interest rates but they
might have a smaller maximum credit limit.If you are a college student, you may
have received a lot of student credit card offers through the mail. Credit card
companies want you to get hooked on their card early in life, so that you remain
their loyal customer in the future.Online applications have made it very
convenient to apply for a student credit card. In addition the Internet can let
you shop around from a wider selection of cards right from your home. Usually it
is a secure way to apply if the online site has a secure server.You can qualify
for a student credit card if you are at least 18 years of age.Copyright 2005
Jakob JellingAbout Jakob: Jakob Jelling is the founder of
http://www.cashbazar.com. Visit his website for the latest on personal finance,
debt elimination, budgeting, credit cards and real estate.Everyone can be put at
a disadvantage if they have poor credit. Lenders are less likely to loan to
people with a poor credit history, therefore it becomes a huge handicap for
people looking to buy on credit.If you want to buy your car or house on credit,
poor credit can be a huge obstacle. Even if you are approved for the loan, it is
hard to secure competitively low interest rates in the industry.Anyone with a
Fico score under 600 is usually considered a person with poor credit. Many
people end up with poor credit due to misuse of credit cards. People are usually
uninformed about how late payments can negatively affect their credit report. In
fact a lot of bankruptcies in the United States are caused by mishandling of
credit cards.Fixing Poor CreditTired of being rejected for loans? Tired of
sky-high interest payments? It is time to repair your poor credit.One way you
can fix your poor credit is to try to regain control over your debt situation.
There are many agencies that can provide debt consolidation or complete debt
elimination services. Once you are able to make your debt payments in time, you
will reduce the deductions taking place on your credit score.Poor credit can be
caused by not properly planning your expenses so that you do not have enough
money left over to pay your bills on time. By creating financial plans such as a
household budget and a savings plan, you can get control over your expenses.
Proper organization can help you get rid of your poor credit.Credit cards
available to people with poor credit usually have lots of fees such as an annual
fee and a high APR. However these cards can give you the chance to start
repairing your credit. With a good credit score you can become eligible to lower
interest rates and fees on any loan you take out, therefore it is certainly very
desirous to start fixing your poor credit.If you need money in an emergency and
are hindered by your poor credit, you can look into a cash advance payday loan.
Cash advance agencies usually do not carry out credit checks. However these
loans are meant only for the short term and could cost you dearly if you delay
the repayment.Good credit is not built in a day. It will take persistence on
your part to repair your credit. With a good credit you can finally be able to
buy the house or car of your dreams. You will find many more doors open to you
after you have fixed your poor credit.Even with poor credit you may find
agencies willing to loan to you. Search the advertised offers from home mortgage
companies, auto dealers and credit card agencies where they say they will
provide loans even to people with poor credit.Copyright 2005 Jakob JellingAbout
Jakob: Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.cashbazar.com. Visit his
website for the latest on personal finance, debt elimination, budgeting, credit
cards and real estate.12 Tips For A Successful Affiliate ProgramKen Hill1. Look
around at other competing businesses that offer affiliate programs, and think of
ways that you can make your affiliate program more attractive.2. Pay your
affiliates well for their efforts.If you're thinking about offering a 10%
commission for sales of your product and a competing business is paying a 50%
commission for referrals, you'll lose affiliates to yourcompetitor.3. Make
your affiliate program more lucrative by offering residual commissions.This is
an excellent choice if you offer a product that is paid for on a residual basis
such as webhosting or access to your membership site.4. Offer lifetime
commissions.Your affiliates will see the power of lifetime commissions, and work
hard to promote your business and send you more sales.5. Make your affiliate
program two-tier.Reward your affiliates by giving them a commission on the sales
of people they refer to your affiliate program.6. Don't leave your affiliates
out in the cold.Provide your affiliates with lots of sales items that they can
use to successfully promote your products.Some items you could offer your
affiliates:- e-zine ads (sponsor ads, classified ads, 2 liners)- signature file
ads- sales letters/solo ads- brandable ebooks- sample recommendations- email
courses- your articles that they can reprint with their affiliate URLs in your
resource box.7. Be quick to respond to your affiliates' emails.An easy way to
lose your affiliates is to not respond to their questions in a timely manner, or
to not respond to their e-mails at all.It shows that you don't value them,
and since their are tons of other affiliate programs, you would be losing
potentially very good affiliates to other businesses.8. Provide your own tips
and advice.Follow up with your affiliates with tips and strategies that they can
use to increase their commissions.9. Reward your top affiliates with higher
commissions and bonuses.You'll be able to achieve more sales over the long
term because your top affiliates won't jump to another affiliate program
where their efforts are more appreciated.10. Publish an affiliate's
newsletter.Your affiliate's newsletter will help you to share your tips with
your affiliates, and keep them going in the right direction.You could also use
your newsletter to keep your top affiliates excited about your program.Some
effective ways to do this are:- Share what your top affiliates do to earn big
commission checks.- Showcase their sites and tell why their sites sell.- List
your 5 or 10 highest earning affiliates for the month.11. Track your
affiliates' sales accurately.Your affiliates will find out if they send you
customers and you don't credit them with their commissions.Your affiliate
program will lose credibility and you'll end up losing your affiliates as
word gets around.12. Participate in affiliate marketing forums.Share your
valuable advice and expertise with the members of the forums you participate
in.Include your signature file that promotes your affiliate program, and always
follow the rules of the forums you join.Copyright 2005 Ken HillResource box:
Want To Start Your Own Profit Driving Affiliate Program? Power packed solution
has what you need. Includes affiliate program software, shopping cart, ad
tracking and easy e-zine management. Automate your online business today at:
http://www.scstats.com/r.cfm?i=5029Here's a quiz question (Not trick
question):What attracts online success?Success is attracted to speed.Speed
attracts success.In fact, because I want to get this message across to you as
fast as possible, you'll find grammatical errors because it's not been
proof read yet. I just thought of this and you're reading it right now after
this tip was manifested from my mind.Do you know that ...There are millions of
other people having the same ideas you have in mind this instant on how make
money on the internet?Let's say, you saw an opportunity in an online niche
market.Maybe, you think that writing an ebook about 'A Guide To Breed Persian
Cats' would be a profitable info-product to sell online.If this is true, do
you think that you are the only person who found or realized this potential?I
doubt it.On the internet, it's not the big that swallows the small, but the
fast that beats the slow.If you delay your online income stream ideas you have
in mind, it's just a matter of time before someone else around the world
'steal' it away.Those who had pioneered the profitable online niche will
be the leader of the market. And the leaders will take home big fat checks each
month.The more time you delay from launching your excellent ideas you have, the
higher risk you are exposing yourself from 'losing' it to someone
else.Here's another example:Have you notice that when a product is
'hot' in the market, you'll see many marketers promoting it as an
affiliate?If you are promoting the same product, do you think you'll get more
sales if you are the first one who promotes it or the 10th person to do
that?It's a no-brainer question. The earlier you get to promote it BEFORE
EVERYONE ELSE, the higher your chance of getting more sales.In a nutshell, speed
is very important to be successful online.So, if online success is attracted to
speed, how are you going to use this to your advantage?Always use leverage to
save your time whenever you can because the LONGER TIME you take, the SLOWER
you'll start your online income stream.Like, instead of me thinking on how to
write more business tips or create marketing content, I've purchased Viral
Article Tool Kit that allows me to use the content in it. This way, I save time
by using other people's time and knowledge.Viral Article Tool Kit package
includes 199 prewritten articles and 900 business tips that you rebrand or
rewrite for your own use for
free.http://www.internetcoachingprogram.com/vat/index.htmlOr you can always hire
a ghost writer if you do not have enough time to create content for your
website.But the most important part is to be able to absorb internet marketing
knowledge and information as much as possible at THE SHORTEST PERIOD of
time.This can be done by using speed-reading strategy. I've recently tested
it and it works.If you like a recommendation from me, I'll recommend 'The
16-Minute Speed-Reading Audio Program' because I've used it personally.You
can now DOUBLE your reading speed for all of the internet marketing ebooks that
you have. Go to:http://www.internetcoachingprogram.com/speedread/index.htmlNow
that you realized that speed is very important to attract online success,
don't you feel an urgency to start making money online today?Copyright 2005
Patric ChanAbout Patric: Patric Chan is a direct response expert, internet
infopreneur, marketing strategist and author. At the age of 24, he had achieved
many extraordinary results in the internet marketing world. He had
joint-ventured with many famous internet marketing experts in product creations
and selling online. http://www.InternetMarketing-Tactics.comThere's good news
for public relations execs, marketing professionals and even one-man-band
entrepreneurs: journalists are surfing your sites looking for news.It's true
- while some PR people spend months trying to win over cynical reporters in
order to wrangle a company profile or CEO interview (and get nowhere), an army
of journalists are proactively hunting for facts, figures and interview
candidates.Now the bad news: these same journalists say most online press rooms
suck. Big time. If you're thinking to yourself: 'We don't have a press
room,' chances are you're missing out on important media opportunities. If
you're thinking 'What's a press room', you need to act fast.In an
ideal world, a press room is a vibrant, constantly updated section of your
corporate website including company backgrounders, executive profiles, news
releases (with a comprehensive searchable archive), media mailing list and -
perhaps most importantly - clear and concise contact information if journalists
need to get in touch.Want to see a great press room? As usual, Google pulls it
off by keeping things nice and
simple:http://www.google.com/intl/en/press/index.htmlIf you haven't got the
time or resources to put together a world-class press room like that, here are a
couple of strategies that can help you in the short-term. But keep in mind these
are suggested as temporary measures - an accessible, professional press room is
no longer a luxury for a company that considers itself professional, it's an
absolute necessity. Blog It!Sign up for a blog at one of the big free providers
such as Blogger (http://www.blogger.com). These services are template based and
you can have their standard layouts look and feel like your own site in a jiffy.
To be honest, even if you use the standard template, change the title and give
it the odd tweak here and there you've still covered the important bases.Then
place a link on your corporate website to the new blog (perhaps label it as
'News Blog' or plain old 'News Room' or 'Press Room') and
you're ready to promote your news. Be sure to include full contact details in
the blog's bio section - remember, journalists are always on one deadline or
another and they want your input NOW! If you're worried about spambots
gathering your email address, include them as 'name <-at-> domain dot
com'. If a journalist can't work that out you probably don't want to
hear from them anyway.Once your blog is up and running, turn it over to one or
two key members of your staff. Have them post news releases - and shorter news
updates - to the blog as often as possible. The beauty of this solution is that
you get free XML/RSS feeds thrown in via the Blogger engine. If you don't go
for Blogger, be sure to check on XML/RSS feeds before you select a suitable
service. The Single-Click Press RoomEven if your corporate website is a few
pages of plain HTML a friend knocked together as a favour and you're
unwilling to make any drastic changes to it in order to add a press room, you
can still provide visitors with a full list of your press releases with the
addition of a single link to your main site.First of all, ensure you're
making full use of one of the free press release distribution services. For the
sake of this example I hope nobody objects if I use our own, ClickPress
(http://www.clickpress.com).Enter your company name in quotes as a search term -
for example: "Vegetarian Society". Hit search and you will be presented with the
results: press releases about or including references to your company. Click on
the link below for a live example using "Vegetarian
Society":http://www.clickpress.com/cgi-bin/releases/search.cgi?query=%22Vegetarian+Society%22A
search for "Your Company" will look something like
this:http://www.clickpress.com/cgi-bin/releases/search.cgi?query=%22Your+Company%22Copy
that URL (with your own company's name, of course) and there you have it.
Well, almost, you still need to add it to your site. Add a link to the URL,
label the link 'Recent Press Releases' and every time you add a new press
release to the news distribution site it will be included in the dynamic search
- you've got an automatic, single-click press room. Contacts, Contacts.
ContactsPerhaps the most regular criticism made by web-savvy journalists is a
lack of media contact info on most corporate sites. If you do nothing else to
your site you should add a few lines explaining who journalists should contact
at your company and how they should do it.If you're worried about spam,
encrypt email addresses as explained above or include them as a graphic rather
than a hot link. Provide a landline number and explain between what hours
someone will be available to take calls (and be sure to include your time zone,
unless you're happy to field calls at three in the morning from a journalist
half way around the world).There are a wealth of additional cost-free additions
you could make to your site to make it media friendly (a press release mailing
list hosted by Yahoo! Groups or Topica perhaps), so be sure to check out what
other companies are doing.Best place to find them? In the results of a news
search engine, because they're the ones that have secured media coverage
thanks to a proper press room.Copyright 2005 George HopkinAbout George: George
Hopkin is a freelance journalist and CEO of ClickPress
(http://www.clickpress.com), a free press release distribution service which
distributes content to some of the world's most influential news and web
search engines. ClickPress is a propery of Pressventures, a provider of free and
fee-based services to PR professionals.Reel them in!Think for a moment about
newspapers. Have you ever heard the phrase, "the headline screamed...?" This
will probably give you an image of a headline that says, "Town demolished by
flood", or, "Strange virus discovered in water supply". Doesn't it make you
want to read on, to find out the details of the story?For the purpose of your
headline, you do not have to proclaim disaster in order to get attention. In
most cases, you won't want "disaster" mentioned in connection with anything
having to do with your business, unless you fix disasters! You also don't
have to be overly clever or humorous. The direct approach works best, and is
appreciated the most.When prospective clients are at the door, invite them in.
Here are some steps to help you put together a winning headline, and create not
just a reading audience, but a buying audience.Define your target market.* Who
is your target audience?* What are the hopes, dreams, wishes, and needs of this
audience?* Who do you think would buy from you? Are they business people,
teenagers, or marriedcouples? Are they spiritual, health-conscious, or
disorganized?* Why is your product a good fit for this market? Provide a
hook.Targeting your target market.* Speak directly to your audience, as this is
the market that will purchase from you.* Use specifics. "Tired moms",
"time-challenged business owners". Let them know you are talking right to them.
Generally, retired people will not be interested in the trendiest t-shirts for
the in-crowd at the local high school. Aim for your audience.By boiling your
business down to its essential parts, you will be better situated to make sure
you are reaching the right audience, and grabbing their attention. A buyer needs
to feel right away that you are talking directly to them and that you can
improve their life in some way, or else they will give you neither their time,
nor their dollars.On the web, you generally have only one opportunity to not
only get someone's attention, but to keep it. If you lose them at the
headline, you have just lost your opportunity to convince them why it is such a
great idea to do business with you. Grab their interest. If you don't,
it's doubtful they will come back again, and you may have lost a great
prospect. Make your headline count.Copyright 2005 David GeerAbout David: Visit
David Geer's Web site for eBusiness marketing information and
resourceshttp://www.cashflowseller.com/index.htmlWhen you step into a room, you
get one free moment. In that moment colleagues and clients are making
assumptions of who and what you are all about. If your visual integrity does not
reflect your capabilities, it may take many further meetings to undo that first
impression.Call it impression management, style or good grooming, the business
professional knows the power of a positive image. Savvy business style requires
more than an expensive suit! Details from your shirt to your shoes, and your
hairstyle to your accessories can reveal an approachable, professional harmony
or compromise your credibility in the blink of an eye.In todays highly
competitive market, your image is an investment. Whether corporate or business
casual, suitable clothing enhances your personal silhouette, colouring and
reflects your current business environment. Business casual does not mean
weekend wear. Good quality separates can stretch your wardrobe and still polish
your professional look.William Thoroulby was the Marlboro man; he became one of
Americas first male image consultants. His favourite phrase was "you are what to
wear." Something to seriously consider...Copyright 2005 Shelley
Brown-WilliamsAbout Shelley: Shelley Brown-Williams is a professional speaker,
author and the founder of The Style File Image Consulting System Inc. Visit
www.stylefilesystem.com or email info@stylefilesystem.com for more
information.Are you unable to pay your bills? Pick up your phone and call your
creditors; you will be surprised at the goodwill most creditors and collectors
give the persons who bothers to pick up the phone and make an agreement.You
should not loose your night sleep or turn into a nervous wreck because of your
inability to pay some bills. In most cases you do not even need help from others
to solve the problems, a phone call to the bill collectors is usually enough.
Yes, you will feel embarrassed when you call some stranger and tell them that
you are unable to pay your debt and you will most likely feel like a beggar. The
short moment of embarrassment is however, a low price to get your financial
issues straightened.Here it was you should do. Find your invoice that you are
unable to pay, if you have more than one invoice and are unable to pay all of
them, choose the invoice with the lowest amount. Find the phone number to the
invoice issuer, you will most likely find the phone number at the invoice, and
call it. One important notice: you will most likely be transferred between two
or more people before you reach someone who can help you. Be prepared to explain
your situation more than one time and be prepared to be waiting on hold for a
long time. Surprisingly many people give up because of these small, maybe
irritating, details. Do not give up; explain, wait, repeat, wait, etc. Accept
that this is how it works and don not get frustrated, your mission is too
important.When you finally reach someone who has the authorities to help you, be
humble. Explain the person that you have some economical difficulties this month
and that you are unable to pay your debt. Note that you will have a much
stronger case if you are able to pay some of your invoiced amount immediate.
Here are some of the possible outcomes of your conversation:1. You will not
reach any agreement. You most probably fear this outcome. You should not;
nothing has changed. Your situation has not been worsening, but you have
eliminated one solution.2. You will make an agreement to pay your invoice later.
Most probably, you will have to pay a fee due to the delay.3. You will make be
able to split the invoices into several smaller invoices.You should know what
kind of deal you want before you make your call. However, be prepared to accept
a deal that is poorer than your suggestion. Most important do not accept a deal
that you are unable to fulfill.Why does this usually work? There are many
reasons, but I will give you three:1. Your creditors want the money, and they
see that they will get the money faster if they cooperate with you.2. The
creditors are humans too, and they have no intentions to make your living hard.
Most people do not realize this.3. You are practicing engagement. You are
telling your creditors "I have difficulties now, but I do not ignore you".
Nobody want to be ignored, especially not when it comes to money.There are still
a lot of possible solutions if you do not succeed to make an agreement, but you
should always try the simple solutions first. I wish you good luck.Copyright
2005 Fredric JohnsonAbout Fredric: Fredric Johnson is a contributing writer for
Pluto Loans (http://www.pluto-loans.com/), an information site on loans and
credits.Don't you just hate junk mail that screams at you about supposed
secrets to success that can be yours for a mere $9.95, $19.95, $99.95 or
whatever? Well, here are some real "secrets" for you -- and there's no price
tag attached.Ever wonder how other companies keep their sales momentum going?
Smart marketing and communications programs are critical. Here are three key
marketing strategies you can put to work for your business.1) VISIBILITY
Awareness is where the selling process starts. After all, it's hard for
someone to buy from you if they don't know you exist. Or let's say
you're Apple Computer. Your name may be well known, but you need to let
people know about your newest product -- the iPod.Advertising creates visibility
on a broad scale, but it may not be right for your company. To find a tactic
that fits, start with these questions. Who's your audience? How can you get
your company in front of them? What can your company spend? What return are you
looking for?2) CONSISTENCY Brand and brand management are major buzzwords in
marketing and communications. But what do they really mean? If you're a
company like Target or Goodyear, it can mean complex product naming schemes and
identity standardsFor many other businesses it boils down to consistency.
Determine your message, look and tone and then stick with it. It's a way to
increase cost efficiency, plus it's easier to make an impression if you look
and sound the same over time.3) REPETITION Forget everything you've heard
about the evils of redundancy. The truth is that human beings learn through
repetition. In this highly saturated environment it can take seven or more
repetitions for a message to sink in.Copyright 2005 Clairvoyant Communications,
Inc.About Claire: Claire Cunningham, president of Clairvoyant Communications,
Inc., has 20+ years' experience developing and implementing successful
marketing and communications programs. Sign up for Claire's monthly
e-newsletter, Communiqu, at http://www.clairvoyantcommunications.com. Claire can
be reached at 763-479-3499 (Fax: 763-479-2809, e-mail: claire@claircomm.com)Your
investment club will need to decide what type of entity you're going to adopt
for business purposes. You'll have to decide whether you're going to be a
corporation, a general partnership, or limited liability partnership. Each of
these business models has their own advantages and disadvantages. Corporation.
Most investment clubs will avoid becoming a corporation. This is because
corporations are taxable business entities that require knowledgeable accounting
skills to make them run smoothly and in accord with government regulations. A
corporation generally means a lot of paperwork. This paperwork can be avoided by
choosing another business model for your purpose of running an investment club.
General partnership. This type of business model requires less paperwork and
knowledge about taxes and other financial issues. Most investment clubs choose a
general partnership as their choice of a business entity. A general partnership
has nominal paperwork and costs associated with it because the taxes are passed
to each partner's tax returns. This type of business model will let you
accomplish what you need to do to run your investment club with the least amount
of tax influence. Limited liability corporations. This type of a business model
is much like the general partnership but it gives individual members of your
investment group a bit more liability protection. Keep in mind that this type of
business entity can be expensive and will need more paperwork.Members of your
investment group will have to decide which of the above business models works
best for your club.You will have to make a decision one way or the other since
establishing a business entity is a requirement for tax purposes.Copyright 2005
Robert SmithAbout Robert: Robert Smith owns a full info site about investment
clubs. Check out his site at http://www.ez-investment-clubs.comWhen an employer
decides to conduct an interview with you, there are certain things that they are
looking for from you. Naturally, you are likely to focus on these things during
an interview, but you should remember all of the tips in this manual because
following those tips is what is going to make the employers see all of those
things in you.Since everybody wants to have a leg up when it comes to an
interview, it naturally seemed to be appropriate to let you in on what the
employers are evaluating you on during an interview. So here is that list.Your
Enthusiasm : Employers want to know that you are willing and eager to be a part
of their company. Being fully stocked with knowledge about the company is a sure
fire way to show your enthusiasm.Your ability to speak clearly : If you approach
an interview mumbling and speaking slang, a prospective employer will not see
you as a professional.Showing your teamwork skills : You should show an example
of your ability to work as a team during your interview.Leadership skills : You
should show your leadership abilities by approaching your interview with an
offensive train of thought.Problem solving ability : Employers needs to know
that you can handle yourself when a problem arrives.Work related experience :
You definitely want to show that you have some experience in the field already,
so that the employer knows that you will not be overwhelmed.Community
involvement : Employers love to see that you have done volunteer work. It shows
that you take pride in your community, and a willingness to be a team
player.Company knowledge: Again, this stipulates that employers like to see that
you have done your research about their company. It shows that your interest in
working for them is sincere.Flexibility : Employers want to know that you are
able to go with the flow. It proves that they can depend on you later.Ambition
and Motivation : Ambitious people are generally motivated enough to make great
improvements in the company as they are working their way up the ladder.
Ambition usually means more money for the company.People skills : Your ability
to get along with others is very important to an employer. They need to know
that you won't ruffle any feathers when you are hired.Professional appearance
: Nobody wants a slob working in their office. Be certain to dress appropriately
for the job that you are applying for.Ability to Multitask : This is getting to
be a very necessary skill in the workplace. Most days, you will be required to
multitask. Even if you are not, employers need to know that you can do it
without freaking out on them.Computer ease : These days, just about every
company in the world is running on computers. The ability to work a computer
with at least minimal amount of ease is important. It is best to keep a leg up
on the most common software like MS Office, Quark Express, and Linux.Reliability
: Employers want dependable and reliable people to work for them. Your ability
to arrive on time is a good place to start when trying to prove that you possess
this quality.Copyright 2005 Robert SmithAbout Robert: Robert Smith owns a site
that will teach you how to prepare for your job interview step by step. Check
out his website at http://www.job-interview-prep.com"We don't have any
competition. We're a truly a one-of-a-kind company." I've heard that line
from clients for years. I wish it were true, but it's simply not. In fact, it
wouldn't matter if you held a monopoly on your particular product or service;
you'd still have competition. How? Because your competition doesn't come
from a singular source.There may be no other businesses that sell the product or
service you sell, but you still have competition. Once that's understood you
have a greater advantage when it comes to copywriting. You can recognize the
other options your customers have before them and can position yourself as the
only logical choice.Know Who Your Competition IsCompetition comes from a variety
of sources. Yes, there are those who sell the same things you sell, but there
competition comes in other forms, too.The Same But DifferentCharitable
organizations are a good example of "same but different." Your group may be the
only one raising funds to save the purple spotted toad of northern Antarctica
but that doesn't mean you'll receive a flood of contributions from
everyone you call. Why? Because there are a million and a half other charitable
organizations out there all vying for the same money from the same people.None
of these other groups is trying to raise funds to save the purple spotted toad
of northern Antarctica, but they are trying to get individuals to donate to
their causes. That makes them all your competition.How do you get around this
problem? Assuming your traffic generating efforts or your mailing list is highly
targeted, you'll want to make a strong case for this little toad. In your
copy, let the readers know why the purple spotted toad is important to the
environment (he's the only toad in existence that carries antibodies that can
cure cancer). Tell them why the world would be a much sadder place without our
bouncing little friend. (In addition to being the only purple toad in the world,
this guy is the only food the frosty wilder beast will eat so he's vital to
the food chain).Just like with any other type of copywriting, list the benefits
of the purple spotted toad. Why is he important to nature, how will the ecology
suffer with his demise and what will happen to the rest of Antarctica if he
becomes extinct? All of these are vital to convincing your audience that they
should favor you with their contributions instead of some other
organization.Everyone In the Search ResultsGo to your favorite search engine and
type in "copywriting course" (without the quotes). What do you see? There are a
lot of options listed on the search results page. Are all these products the
same? By all means no!Some are live workshops, others are e-courses, some focus
strictly on one type of copywriting leaving all others by the wayside, some are
correspondence courses while others are downloadable. But because they all
appear in response to the query "copywriting course," they all have the
potential to take sales away. Even if your site falls into the coveted #1
position, the others on the page could potentially grab some of your sales.So
how do you get surfers to click on your site's listing? Your title and
description have to be first rate.If your copywriting course has a specialty
(sales letters, search engines, catalogs, etc.) say so. Choose the most powerful
benefit and a way to set yourself apart (your USP) and use those in the tags for
your search results along with your keyphrases. Simply having keywords in your
title and description might get you ranked with the engine but it sure won't
entice anybody to click to your site.Other OptionsThere are options and
substitutes for practically everything in the world. If people don't want to
pay for a computer and Internet access so they can send email, they can write
letters or call their friends and family. If customers decide the cost of
groceries is out of control, they can plant a garden and eat a vegetarian diet.
There are even alternatives to cars: taking a cab (as most do in New York),
bicycling (very popular in London) or walking (great exercise). All of these
alternatives can be competition for you.To overcome the pull of other options,
when you write copy be sure emphasize why those other options really aren't
viable. The sheer act of writing letters takes time in and of itself. Then you
have to mail the letter and wait. If the person wants to respond, they have to
get motivated enough to sit down and write a reply and mail it. Then you wait
again. The phone? Yes, people could use the phone to talk like they always have,
but what about when you want to show the person you're talking with
something? A picture of your new grandchild or your new car can't be shown
over the phone. You get the idea.Drop the egotistical viewpoint that you have no
competition and take a good, hard look around. Once you've realized that
there is always an alternative to buying what you offer, you'll be in a
better mindset to write copy that outlines why yours is the only option the
prospect should consider.Copyright 2005 Karon ThackstonResource box: Tired of
endlessly searching the 'Net in hopes of finding the latest copywriting
techniques? Need an up-to-date directory filled with the best ways to learn
copywriting? Visit http://www.learn-copywriting.com today for the widest
collection of the most popular copywriting resources available.So you have
entrepreneurial aspirations, but you're stuck in a job working for someone
else. You wake up, commute to work, work hard, pay your bills and then come home
exhausted. You repeat the pattern for another four days, becoming increasingly
tired as the week progresses. By the time Friday night comes around you are
absolutely shattered requiring every second of your weekend just to recover! And
just as you start to feel as if you have your life back, your alarm clock goes
off on Monday morning, you drag your feet out of bed and you repeat the cycle.
Does this scenario sound all too familiar? Is this the way you want to spend the
rest of your working life?Controlling your thoughts.So how do you start to break
this monotonous existence? You do so with a single thought. It is said that each
one of us has 60,000 thoughts a day, 55,000 of which were exactly the same
thoughts as we had yesterday. So I am going to place a simple thought in your
mind right now:" You have the potential to create a profitable business that you
are truly passionate about, that fulfils you creatively and that delivers a lot
of good in the world. "If that message resonates with you, you may like to
re-read it and hold the thought in your mind for a second time. Really try and
experience the meaning in this message. Not just intellectually but emotionally
as well. You may also like re-think this thought again tomorrow. And if it feels
good tomorrow, you may like to add it to your habitual thoughts.Give your new
thought some support.Once you have held the thought of running your own business
in your own mind and you are comfortable with it, you need to start expanding
the dynamics of the thought. Ask yourself the following questions: What sort of
business would you like to run? Would it be a full time business or just a part
time one? What would you call it? How much time would you like to devote to it?
Who would be your target market? Who can you get involved to help you get it
started?Take some action.Once you have a few answers for the questions above,
you've got to take some action straight away! Start off small. Get some
business cards printed up (vistaprint.co.uk will give you 250 colour business
cards for free!) and you may also like to register a web site domain name (you
can register web names from as little as 2.59 per year through 123-reg.com).
Once you've got the ball rolling you can start thinking about the bigger
action steps that you will need to take.Seek out other business people.Take a
look at your social network. If all your friends and family are employees,
chance are any conversations about work will be about the 9-5 grind. If this is
the case, start adding a few small business people to your social network. Buy
them lunch, ask them questions about how they started out in business. I am sure
that you will find plenty of inspiration as well as some words of advice about
how to run a business. You may also like to consider joining up with groups so
you can network with like minded individuals (Toastmasters is excellent start
and for online Networking check out ecademy.com)The most important
consideration.One of the most important things to consider when setting up a
business is to choose a business that you are passionate about. There are so
many different ways you can make money so you might as well do something that
excites you.Copyright 2005 Damien SennAbout Damien: Damien Senn is a Life and
Business Coach as well as a fully qualified Chartered Accountant. He helps
professionals, artists and entrepreneurs create compelling futures. He is the
author of the 'Senn-Sational Success Journal' and has developed his own
coaching model called the 'Senn-Sational Success System'. For your free
life coaching tool 颽 things to do before you die', please click the
following link: http://www.senn-sational.com/freeresources.htmAny time you make
changes in your life you are going to be met with opposition from people who
would prefer you to stay exactly as you are. Sadly, these people are often the
ones that love you the most; your family, friends, partners and even work
colleagues. However, in your moments of entrepreneurial seizure, the greatest
opposition that you will experience (particularly if you're a seasoned
employee) will come from within yourself.What's your great business idea?They
say that each one of us has an unwritten book lying within us. It's my belief
that each of us also has a great business idea lying in the depths of who we are
as well. However, the reality is that very few of us actually dig deep enough to
uncover this aspect of self. Of those who do, fewer still are prepared to inject
the passion and enthusiasm necessary to bring these ideas to life.Understand
your entrepreneurial process.If you hold aspirations of transitioning from paid
employment to running your own business, I think it is important to understand
the mental and emotional process you go through when you experience moments of
entrepreneurial inspiration. When you get a business idea, do you immediately
think of all the ways you could make it work or are you someone who
automatically sabotages yourself by thinking of all the ways it could
fail?Pushing through entrepreneurial sabotage.If you are someone who experiences
entrepreneurial sabotage, start to note down your habitual opposing thoughts.
Here are some examples of sabotage you may already be familiar with;- if the
business idea was that good, why hasn't someone thought of it before?- how
can I start a business - I don't have any money?- what will people think of
me if the business fails?- I'm too old / young to start a business.- how can
I start a business if I don't have a business degree?Once you have an
awareness of your own internal resistance you can start to counteract it. You
may like to try experimenting with the following self empowering questions:- how
can I start this business using none of my own capital?- what partners do I need
to attract to make this business a success?- how can I communicate my vision to
attract a skilled workforce?- who successfully runs a similar business?- what
would I have to do to imitate their success?Leap of faithEstablishing any kind
of venture requires a 'leap of faith' as there are no certain outcomes in
business. When you are starting out spend most of your time focusing on
'why' you want to run your own business rather than the 'how'. The
how will follow naturally once you understand the why.There is never a
'perfect time'.If you are waiting for the perfect moment to launch your
business you'll be waiting a very long time. The only perfect time to start a
business is right now. If you've got a great idea that you are passionate
about, don't delay! Immerse yourself into it right now! You don't need any
money to start planning and visualising your dream. If you can feel, touch and
taste it, all you have to do is get out there and start sharing your vision with
as many people as you possibly can. And if you do it effectively and with
passion you will attract the right business partners and customers.To quote
Goethe, "whatever you can do or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius,
power and magic in it. Begin it now!"Copyright 2005 Damien SennAbout Damien:
Damien Senn is a Life and Business Coach as well as a fully qualified Chartered
Accountant. He helps professionals, artists and entrepreneurs create compelling
futures. He is the author of the 'Senn-Sational Success Journal' and has
developed his own coaching model called the 'Senn-Sational Success
System'. For your free life coaching tool 颽 things to do before you
die', please click the following link:
http://www.senn-sational.com/freeresources.htmFor the sake of your long term
survival and your short term profitability online, you've got to think of
your business as more than just one or more products or services. Getting
customers is the hard part, so the best strategy is almost always to gain their
business long term.Ask yourself or find out from your subscribers what wants and
needs they have in common. It's commonly known that the online environment is
especially suited to this because it costs you nothing to keep in touch with
them. When done correctly, these contacts can be very profitable to you for a
long time.What's not as well understood is that for this very same reason,
your survival may easily depend on how well you execute this strategy. When
online businesses get more out of their traffic by doing this, they're
willing to pay more for the traffic and so the cost of traffic increases
overall.And it doesn't matter whether the traffic is free or not. Because
when it's free, there will be more businesses out there willing to put in the
time to get this free traffic, which leaves less of it for you, at least for the
time you put in. All other things being equal, if were to continue to get the
same amount of traffic, you would have to put in more time.And on-line
businesses WILL be doing more of this as word gets around that this kind of
strategy is the way to go. So your survival online will increasingly depend on
how well you do this.For those reasons, opt-in marketing done correctly -- where
relationships with your prospects and customers are a top priority - becomes
more important every day. These relationships are not much different than any
other. They require time. They require the trust of your opt-ins. And they
require that the opt-ins see more value in what you send them than most other
things they run into online or in their inbox.That last part can be pretty
tricky without the personal element. As an individual, even if you do have
people working for you, you're able to use this to your extreme advantage.
When you throw this into the mix, everything you do carries more value - both to
you and your subscribers and customers. It becomes easier for you to develop
trust and establish credibility this way. These are important because as a
marketer, the highest level you can attain is that of a trusted advisor.You
personally become be most important element in your marketing when your
subscribers rely on you for your recommendations and your guidance.All of a
sudden, the role you take on with your list allows you to take on a whole new
perspective in your daily life because if you're tuned in, many things in
your work or life outside of that could be informative or serve to illustrate a
point to your subscribers. This is stuff your readers just can't get anywhere
else!When the sight of your email in your subscribers' inbox triggers the
idea of you as a person in their minds, you'll naturally get more of your
emails read -- which translates directly to more sales. This happens naturally.
Your messages will have more of an impact because the readersaren't putting
up their defenses as they normally would. The message can be taken at face
value.You might think you have to be an expert to attain this kind of position.
You really don't. You can still bring value without overstepping the bounds
of your knowledge. Anyone can use these elements to build these highly
profitable relationships in their list.Although I'm limited to what I can
show you in this article, I cover these things in more depth in my ebook "How to
Win More Customers That Buy More Product More Often," which is completely FREE.
You'll find the link in the resource box below.Copyright 2005 Laurence
BakerAbout Laurence: Laurence Baker is the author of "How To Win More Customers
That Buy More Product More Often," presenting a solution to the biggest obstacle
in making more sales on the internet -- a lack of trust. To download a FREE
copy, visit http://www.netmarkhome.com?RALack of trust for online businesses,
being the biggest problem marketers have, also translates to the biggest
opportunity.The power in this lies in the fact that affiliate programs have
given us easy access to a huge variety of products and services that we can
present to potential buyers, opening up an endless number of possibilities.And
really, you're not limited to affiliate products. Many businesses would be
happy to compensate you for bringing them sales.But too many people have no
reason to believe that out of the multitude of marketing messages they see every
day, yours is one they need to pay attention to. You have to provide them with
something they'd have a hard time finding elsewhere.Usually, the easiest,
most effective, and most permanent way to first is to earn their trust -that
something they'd have a hard time finding elsewhere.Here's the key thing
you must remember...Your readers can only benefit from you and you can only
benefit from them to the extent that they can trust you!These days, not many
marketers handle this well. Not because they don't know enough, or don't
have certain skills, it's just that, their focus is in the wrong
areas.That's where you come in. You can grab an early advantage, but
marketers will always adapt. It's part of the process. And when they do
adapt, it won't be as easy to stand out anymore.Not only that, but the ones
who don't take advantage of this aren't likely to survive. So the sooner
you take advantage of this, the better.Everyone has the ability to earn trust,
that is, if they're worthy of it. By following these tips, you'll put
yourself in a position of influence with your subscribers... and that's a
powerful thing!1) Keep your focus as narrow as it has to be for you to bring the
most value. In other words, focus on those areas where you have something unique
to contribute. What your readers will probably read elsewhere... let them read
elsewhere.2) Find ways to over deliver, exceeding people's expectations. This
creates the element of surprise. People will tend to remember this, and by
association you. That means better recognition and more influence -- a recipe
guaranteed to make sales.3) Make your subscribers feel like they know you. By
doing this, you make it much easier for them to trust you. It's like adding a
third dimension to your marketing. It helps to complete the picture. And no
matter how many people you write to, always use a personal, one on one type of
style. It should sound like you're talking directly to them.Let yourself show
through in your marketing, including your opinions, insights, stories, humor,
etc. and your intentions will show through, whatever they might be. If that's
a bad thing, then you're reading the wrong article.4) Don't try to please
everyone. This is the biggest mistake you can make. You'll forfeit anything
interesting or unique about your marketing if you do this. In other words, you
lose your edge and your marketing becomes ineffective. Don't worry about the
subscribers that drop off. You're better off connecting with a smaller group
on a deeper level.5) Through your actions, you have to demonstrate to your
subscribers that you don't sacrifice their best interests in the name of
profit. Become their trusted advisor. Do what you can to steer them in a
direction that's right for them, as individuals. Educate them to be able to
make better decisions on their own.These are powerful elements, and yet most
marketers make compromises or loose sight of them because they see them as a
conflict of interest with other profit seeking motives. The problem is, these
things will lose their power when any one of them has been compromised. And
earning the trust of your subscribers is never a conflict of interest.The
benefits of a responsive list are tremendous. To start with, you'll make more
sales with more profit in each sale. Then, word-of-mouth marketing, always the
most effective method, becomes easy, and even more effective. You also put
yourself in a position to sell bigger ticket items. Translation - a lot more
money from a lot less effort.If you have a passion for or enjoy learning about
the things that your market values, then developing the kinds of relationships
you need to make these sales won't seem like work at all.All the while,
you'll be growing and becoming more influential.All of these things will work
together to build your influence at an exponential rate, and your income is sure
to follow. Essentially, if you use your power wisely, you'll continue to have
more of it in the future.And that's for the long run, because these
relationships will still be there no matter what might happen with your business
in the future. In fact, these relationships really ARE your business.Copyright
2005 Laurence BakerAbout Laurence: Laurence Baker is the author of "How To Win
More Customers That Buy More Product More Often," presenting a solution to the
biggest obstacle in making more sales on the internet -- a lack of trust. To
download a FREE copy, visit http://www.netmarkhome.com?RADifficult People:
Understanding WHY, not WHATSusan Dunn, MA, EQ and Life CoachWhat makes another
person difficult? When we don't understand where they're coming from. They
yell at us in an argument when we want to quietly reason; or they disengage when
we want to talk it out. They say they want a vacationand then plan a full agenda
while you it was sitting on a beach veging that you wanted. People don't make
sense. That makes them difficult.The success of relationships depends how you
deal with the other person's "difficultness." You can learn some
action-points (when X does Y, do Z), in which case you're basically
book-bound, or you can learn how to figure out what's going on at a deeper
level, so that you can applyyour knowledge to the myriad of situations you'll
be confronted with in real life that will never fit what you learned in the book
or seminar, with the host of people you encounter, all of whom are difficult
unless you have anidentical twin.I'll admit I have an edge here. Not only
because I study and teach emotional intelligence, but because I have an
identical twin sister. Identical twins have the same genes. We tend to think of
genes in terms of physical things, and IQ, but they relate to EQ as
well.We're aware that genes determine that X can be a great basketball
player. He's over 6' tall and athletic. Genes also allow Y to be a
physicist. She's got an IQ over 150, conceptual ability and a knack for
numbers.However, in perhaps the more important aspects of life, your personality
and temperament, we're talking about the emotional workings of the brain, or
the emotional brain. The neocortex is where we think, analyze and reason, and
our IQ is largely determined at birth. The limbic brain is the seat of the
emotions, and if people's IQs vary, so does their EQ - how they work
emotionally. But our EQs are not set at birth; we can always develop our
emotional intelligence.Our understanding of the functioning of the brain has
escalated tremendously in the past few years with the new research tools. We
can't peer into the brain and see cognitive intelligence, but we can see what
happens when emotion happens in the brain. For instance, brain scans show that
the emotional parts of a neglected orphan's brain work differently than a
"normal" baby's, i.e., one that's been well care for and had its emotional
needs met.That having been said, you aren't likely to find someone who
functions emotionally the same way you do. Close with an identical twin, but
even then there are fluctuating hormones and individual past experiences
("nurture") which influence our emotional makeup. And it's emotion that
motivates all our behavior.So accepting that no one else works quite the way you
do is the beginning. The unhappiest people I know - and I'm a coach who works
with people around EQ - are those who think the world should be a certain way,
the way they think is right, and that they can't be happy until everyone does
it that way, their way. It's almost easier to be with someone insensitive and
not tuned in, than the intense individual convinced they have a message for you,
and you'd better listen up, right?So what's the same about everyone, and
what's different? We all want pleasure, and to avoid pain. The catch is, we
all use different means for getting pleasure and avoiding pain, and we each
define the concepts differently. That's way to "relax," Alison plays two sets
of tennis, and Sharon goes to the day spa.If you want to figure someone else
out, then, you need to move to the meta level. We can understand "meta" better
by examples than definitions. It comes from the Greek "with,after, or among."
You can see the problem already. It can also mean "change or transformation," as
in "metamorphosis," changing shape, like the caterpillar that becomes a
butterfly. It also means "more comprehensive, or transcending," and that's
what we're after. (And in physics it means something else.)Now in emotional
intelligence, we work on applications: Learning the facts or theory, and the
applying it to situations in your life non of which will ever have been covered
in the lesson in class, if you know what I mean. For instance, let's take
"people want pleasure and not pain". Why, then, does Emily spend 14 hours a day
at work and then pursue a graduate school program at night and on the weekends?
This would be your definition of "pain". Emily has a different definition of
"pleasure." The plot thickens.Here's another example of getting it at the
meta level.Harry said when he retired he wanted to get away from it all. He
retired to Comfort, Texas (great name isn't it, and a place where many people
retire), bought 12 acres of land and turned 11 of them into a natural habitat.
He can see the stars at night, and hear the birds during the daytime. He putters
around the house listening to music, reading, spending time on the Internet. His
social life consists of his wife and occasionally his grown children. He rarely
leaves his land.Martha, too, wanted to get away from it all when she retired.
She bought a house in an active retirement community in Alabama's Gulf Coast,
and bought a catamaran. She fills her days with volunteer activities,
entertaining on land and on sea, daycaring her grandchildren after school, and
taking commercial cruises every several months, traveling all over the world on
group tours.What's up with that? Harry have been a primary care physician,
his days filled with people, demands and crises since his medical school days.
He wanted what he called "peace" - no people, nothing he had to do.Martha had
lived with someone like Harry, rather isolated as a full-time homemaker who did
bookkeeping part-time from her home. She rarely saw people, and they entertained
infrequently because of her husband's demanding schedule and reclusive
nature. In retirement, when her husband died, Martha wanted lots of people and
activities, and getting out and going places.They both said they wanted to get
away from it all, yet one fled to exactly what the other was avoiding. The meta
level would tell you they wanted to get away from - what they had been doing
before. Since each "before" was different, each "after" was different. So while
they were doing different particular things, at the meta-level, they were doing
the same thing.It's the common thread. They both wanted to get away from it
all, but they each had their own definition. Was it different from your
definition? Each person's definition is uniquely different; how different,
you'd be surprised.Men are from Mars and women are from Venus, but it's
more complex than that. Each of us lives in our own little planet, and it's
in our heads!And by the way, if understanding what's going on with other
people doesn't interest you, that's a given as well. I find all the time
in training EQ coaches, that some people are interested in insight and
meta-cognition, while others aren't at all. Some want only the WHAT, and not
the WHY. Either route can take you to home base. However, getting the WHY allows
you to navigate by the stars, while only knowing the WHAT keeps you map-bound.It
may be easier to accept that other people are different, that to accept that YOU
are different. We're all after the same thing, but our means of getting it,
and the particulars of what it looks like, could hardly be more different. If
you're the kind of person who seeks to understand the "why" of other people,
look to the meta level. Find the common thread.When you see something different,
ask yourself how it's the same. And if you don't understand at any given
level, inquire. I remember planning a vacation with a friend some years ago.
"And let's not get a car," she said. "I'm sick of all the hassle."At the
time I had a job 20 minutes from my home where I sat at a desk all day, ate
lunch in the building cafeteria, and then went home and stayed home, as my
husband was on-call most of the time. It wasn't until years later, when I
took a job in marketing (which is what my friend did at the time of the
vacation) and was in my car all day and night that I understood just what a
hassle "a car" can be.Now when someone asks me to take a "vacation" with them, I
check it out. If I'm after Broadway shows and fancy restaurants and they want
to climb mountains and wear Birkenstocks, we're in trouble. Using your EQ
means understanding the emotions that are our motivating factors and learning to
work with them.Copyright 2005 Susan DunnAbout Susan: Susan Dunn, MA, EQ & Life
Coach, ttp://www.susandunn.cc, coaches individuals in emotional intelligence for
life improvement, and trains and certifies EQ coaches. She is the author of "How
to Live Your Life with Emotional Intelligence," and "How to Develop Your
Child's EQ." She offers Internet courses, ebooks and individual and group
work. She trains and certifies EQ coaches. For more information about coaching,
or about this fast, affordable, comprehensive, no-residency program, e-mail
sdunn@susandunn.cc. For free ezine, email and put "ezine" for subject line.
Visit the best ebook library on the Internet
--www.webstrategies.cc/ebooklibrary.html Like preparing a great meal,
interviewing requires preparation. Get good ingredients and give yourself time.
Prepare the food on the plate to make the meal attractive. All of these go into
a great meal. Taking the time to prepare for an interview will give you a huge
leg up on your completion.1. Schedule interviews at times that work for your
metabolism. Are you a morning person? Why would you accept a 6PM interview? If
you are a person who functions best in the afternoon, try not to accept early
morning appointments. If you are a person who needs to be conscious of their
blood sugar, try to schedule your appointments at times when you are at your
peak. If forced to accept one of your less ideal times, have a quick bite prior
to the interview to avoid "fading." Avoid overeating.2. Give yourself extra time
to get to their offices. There are few things worse than getting to an interview
late.3. Arrive at the office building 7-10 minutes early. If it is summer, you
want to wait in the lobby to cool off; no one likes shaking sweaty hands. If its
winter, warm up; you don't want someone's early impressions of you formed
by shaking a cold hand. Take a few minutes in the lobby to get focused on what
you will say. Allow a few minutes to get through building security so that you
actually arrive at your interview on time and ready to go.4. Properly introduce
yourself to everyone you meet by saying. "My name is __________ and I have a
1:30 interview with ________________."5. If you are asked if they can hang your
coat, accept the offer; if offered a beverage, accept a beverage. You don't
have to drink coffee or tea. Soda, bottled water or water is fine. Thank whoever
helps you. Declining the offer may be rude in some cultures.6. Take your seat in
order to face the greatest number of entry points into the room so tat you can
see someone approaching you. Being startled is not a good way to start a
meeting.7. If you are given an application, complete it and complete it
accurately and neatly. Do not attach your resume and write, "See attached
resume." An application is a legal document and failure to complete it
accurately can be grounds for termination.8. If you are not sure about the month
you started a job or your exact salary, write "approx" (for the word
approximately) next to the item. If asked, indicate you are not absolutely
certain of the exact month and don't wish to deceive anyone. Obviously, if
you can ascertain your salary or starting date prior to interviewing, do so; for
some people, the date or salary may be so far in the past to make it impossible
to determine.9. Write legibly (or as legibly as you can). This may be the
twelfth application you've completed, but it is the first of yours that
they've seen. In many professions, sloppiness is seen as a flaw.10. When you
hear your name announced, stand, and smile, shake the hand of your interviewer
and immediately size them up as a person. Are they smart (or not). Aggressive
(or not). If you were meeting this person socially, I'm sure your instincts
would be right. Unfortunately, because people think interviews are important,
they think they have to feel the interviewer out. Doing that is a mistake. Hard
and fast impressions of you will be formed during the next ten minutes that will
be difficult to change. If you tend to be right in social situations about the
people you meet, trust your instincts in professional ones, too.Using these ten
steps as a check list will get you started better than your competition. What
you do after that is up to you.Copyright 2005 Jeff AltmanAbout Jeff: Jeff
Altman, Managing Director with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, has
successfully assisted many corporations identify management leaders and staff in
technology, accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since
1971. He is also co-founder of Your Next Job, a networking group focused on
assisting technology professionals with their job search, a certified leader of
the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization that assists men with life
issues, and a practicing psychotherapist. For additional job hunting or hiring
tips, go to http://www.newyorkmetrotechnologyjobs.comIf you would like Jeff and
his firm to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a
strategic job change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you're
looking for a new position, include your resume).Starting a business to operate
on the internet alone can be a rewarding experience, but it can also be
daunting. Many resources are available to assist you, but information overload
can cause paralysis and keep you from moving forward.Keeping it simple is often
the best way of maintaining the momentum necessary to get your business started.
Every year, several thousand people develop an interest in "going into
business." Many of these people have an idea, a product or a service they hope
to promote into an income producing business which they can operate from their
own homes. If you are one of these people, here are some practical thoughts to
consider before hanging out the "Open-for-Business" sign on the web.Whether
you're selling products and services or providing resources and downloads,
you need eye-catching content for your Website. You might run a wonderful
advertising campaign; develop viral marketing tools and attractive affiliate
programs. But unless your Website is rich in content, the traffic that results
from your efforts will only be transient. Content that is useful, valuable,
informative, educational or just plain entertaining can attract and retain an
audience better than anything else. Admittedly, designing a web site can be a
complex task, Site aesthetics are important and image and design are probably
the first things to register in consumer awareness, but content is the most
important part of the online merchandising and sales process.Write powerful and
instructive sales letters by letting it all flow out. Write down everything that
enters your mind as you are writing your sales letter. You can edit it later. If
you just sit and start writing everything you know about your product or service
and how it will benefit your customer, you will be amazed at how much
information floods your mind. Write it ALL down. Then read through it -
you'll be able to add a lot more detail to many of the points. Edit it after
you have exhausted all of your ideas.Establish a marketing method and an
advertising campaign. While it's agreed that the best e-commerce site in the
world is worthless if no one can find it, but, too often, e-commerce start-ups
either rely on search engines alone or use shotgun marketing, simply by
advertising everywhere, to everyone, in the hope that a fraction of a percent of
those who see the ads will respond. Promotion on the Internet has many methods,
is complex, yet as with more traditional advertising requires that you
understand where and how you will spend your marketing budget and what results
are to be expected, as with any marketing campaign.Create your own newsletter
and start building your database. To be successful with a newsletter, you have
to specialize. Your best bet will be with new information on a subject not
already covered by an established newsletter. Regardless of the frustrations
involved in launching your own newsletter, never forget this truth: There are
people from all walks of life, in all parts of the world, many of them with no
writing ability whatsoever, who are making incredible profits with a simple
newsletter. Plan your newsletter before launching it. Know the basic premise for
its being, your editorial position, the layout, art work, type styles,
subscription price, distribution methods, and every other detail necessary to
make it look, sound and feel like the end result you have envisioned.In
Conclusion- all successful businesses offer their customers something of value,
but that's not enough. Customers constantly evaluate what they get against
what they pay, and their criteria for making repeat purchases are very simple.
They want everything: better, faster and cheaper! Even if you're clever
enough to build a perfect business the first time and your product or service is
ideal for your customers, your position will eventually erode because the
marketplace is not static.Your product or service may be unique, but it's not
as though someone blew the whistle and stopped innovation. Sooner or later, and
very soon if you're noticeably successful, other businesses will copy you. If
they can provide a similar product or service better, faster or cheaper,
they're going to surpass you.Never forget that as a business owner you'll
be in a constant race against an ever-improving marketplace and no matter where
you are in the hunt, making improvements is a daily necessity.Copyright
2004-2005 MarketersEmporium.comAbout Andy: Andy Cooper is the owner and operator
of a successful online business. Andy has over 15 years in corporate business
operations which include savvy marketing skills, customer service and
Professional networking abilities. http://www.marketersemporium.comFailure is
only a matter of perspective. Change your perspective and change your outlook of
failure.Have you had a challenging day or week?Maybe you're feeling a little
tired or feel discouraged with a current situation.Maybe you are ready to throw
in the towel and quit something.We all go through times of feeling that
something in our life sucks, and all we can see and feel is the mess we are
in.When you feel that deep discouraged feeling, take a look at this report and
reflect on this man's record of failure. It is a testament to how we as
humans can learn and grow and win despite the losses and defeats we
encounter.Failed in business-------------------------------------1831Defeated
for legislature------------------------------1832Failed in business
again----------------------------1833Elected to
legislature---------------------------------1834Sweetheart
died----------------------------------------1835Nervous
breakdown------------------------------------1836Defeated for
speaker----------------------------------1838Defeated for land
officer------------------------------1843Defeated for
congress--------------------------------1843Elected to
congress-----------------------------------1846Defeated for
re-election-------------------------------1848Defeated for
senate------------------------------------1855Defeated for vice
president--------------------------1856Defeated for
senate------------------------------------1858Elected
President--------------------------------------1860Who was he?A simple
uneducated country boy who refused to allow his uncongenial circumstances stop
him. He refused to be a victim. He refused to accept failure. He refused to
listen to people who told him he was crazy. He refused to stay down when he felt
like nothing was going his way.Simply put, he picked himself up no matter what
and kept on going after his dream.He educated himself and did whatever it took
to keep moving in the direction of his passions.Who was he? Abraham Lincoln.If
you reflect back on your life, I am sure that you can see a pattern of the times
you grew the most. Many of those times are probably a result of some kind of
previous 'failure.' Maybe even a series of them.I would like to suggest
that a child doesn't fail when they are learning to walk. They fall down over
and over again. It is the falling that teaches them and strengthens them.Each
time we fail is a learning experience, and the faster we pick ourselves up,
reflect on the past occurrence and go on again, the faster we can achieve our
goals and dreams.So with this in mind, choose the one thing that may not be
going exactly as you wish right now and do one thing to move you closer to
achieving the result you want!And remember, life is about learning and
growing.Have fun and create a masterpiece!Copyright 2005 Dr. Jamie
FettigResource box: Sign up for your FREE "Optimum Performance" Report (a $197
value), a weekly report to receive the most advanced thinking for achieving
extraordinary results in your life and business. The key to a lasting change in
anything is to change the way you think. Learn how to literally change the
neurology and hardwiring of your brain in as little as 15 minutes a day for 30
days. To register and for more details go to
http://www.bazuji.com/havingitall.htmlOh, this is a great topic!I remember when
I was younger and in school, fear stopped me from asking out a girl I wanted to
date.I didn't understand it then but I certainly do today.Do you ever have
any thoughts of fear that cause you to not to move ahead with any of your dreams
or goals?Every human on earth at one time or another feels this "fear" and
reverts back into their "safety" or comfort zone. The system was created to
protect us in times of real danger but we must learn when danger is real or
caused by our imagination of what may happen...again.What ability causes one
person to face and overcome possible rejection at work, in school or in a
relationship, vs. someone who is paralyzed by the mere thought?A man who goes
after business like a tiger may be uncomfortable with women and therefore not be
able to approach a woman for fear of rejection.A woman who is miserable in a
relationship may be petrified at the thought of saying anything to her spouse in
fear of the potential discussion or backlash.A child may not seek out other
children to play with at school in fear of rejection.The list can go on and on,
from fear of leaving your job, to fear of hurting yourself if you try something
new.So, what is really going on, and how can we stop this once and for all?First
and foremost, understand that fear is a very common feeling and we all have one
fear or another. The "feeling" of fear is almost solely based on what we think
may happen if we try and fail. It is different than actually knowing that we
will hurt ourselves, if we fall 20 stories from a building.Most fears are
illusions we create in our own head, based on past conditioning and not based on
what is possible. As children we are natural born risk takers and for the most
part we are fearless. The meaning we give an experience when we do not achieve
the result we want, determines how we "see" and "feel" when a similar
opportunity presents itself.If we experience rejection more times than we care
to, we tend to mentally label the experience a negative one. Over time, this
becomes our belief, and our beliefs, as you already know, becomes our
reality.What would happen if we changed the meaning of an experience we
didn't like?What if we learned to label the experience a learning one or an
interesting one? Do you think your tolerance level would increase for trying
again?I have learned that people who really succeed in various areas of life
often frame their experiences differently than those who quickly label the
experience as a negative one.When we feel fear, we are playing a mental track
that is not conducive to growth. All growth comes from stretching oneself past
the comfort zone that limits us. Risk is a necessary part of the reward. You
cannot have one without the other.Let me suggest that you start to label your
experiences in a way that serves you rather than limits you.We have very few
limits except the ones that we set on ourselves. And those are mostly out of
fear from the past. Do not let your past control your present thinking. Step out
and grow. Step out of your comfort zone and be free again!And remember...Create
a Great Day!Copyright 2005 Dr. Jamie FettigResource box: Sign up for your FREE
"Optimum Performance" Report (a $197 value), a weekly report to receive the most
advanced thinking for achieving extraordinary results in your life and business.
The key to a lasting change in anything is to change the way you think. Learn
how to literally change the neurology and hardwiring of your brain in as little
as 15 minutes a day for 30 days. To register and for more details go to
http://www.bazuji.com/havingitall.htmlI received a very good question from a
subscriber and I wanted to share it with you:"I have almost 500 people signed up
to receive my newsletter but each time I send it 8-9 open it and 1 =3 click onto
the website. Now what do I do?"Honestly, there could a lot of factors involved
in the low open rate. If 8 or 9 actually open it and then you get 1-3
click...that's pretty good. But the problem here, seems to be with getting
people to open the darned email.Here's a couple things to think about:1. How
much of your email is getting through? Could your email or the service you're
using be blacklisted by certain ISPs? I would check and see if you can see how
many of your emails are actually going through.2. How about a compelling subject
line? Test out different subject lines to see what grabs your subscribers
interest. If you're still writing:"MyDomain.com Newsletter Issue 1 Vol
14"Then cut it out!:) That's not going to get people to open it. Try to give
them a quick glimpse of what's inside and make it interesting. You'll
probably find certain things grab your subscriber's attention than others.3.
What are the contents of your newsletter like? Is there a reason for people to
open it if they don't have their wallet ready to buy something? I know that
many people who sell products only place information about product specials,
etc....but if your subscriber is not in a buying mood, they may not open your
email.Go the extra mile and provide them with VALUE in your newsletter. Give
them special tips and advice related to your product that will help them solve
problems.For example, if you sell corporate gift baskets - give tips on
developing client relationships or anything related to the goal of corporate
gift giving.4. If you reach a broad audience, customize your mailing lists. I
happen to know the lady who submitted this question does sell gift baskets...but
she sells all kinds of gift baskets. What kind of value can you deliver to your
customers / prospects if some of them:- buy new baby gift baskets- buy corporate
gifts- buy Valentine's giftsIt's tough. I'd look to Amazon as the
ultimate model to emulate -- they customize information for you based on your
interests. They know what you looked at when you visited their website and they
also keep track of what you buy. Then they deliver relevant products and content
to you. You can apply the same plan to your mailing lists.You can give opt-in
subscribers tell you what topics they are interested in or if you are putting
your customers on your follow up list -- make sure that follow up list is
related to what they bought.Keep working at it and learning what your
subscribers WANT and deliver it to them. Don't give up...just get better.
Also, do yourself a favor to help you in this process. Sign up for Alexandria K.
Brown's (The Ezine Queen) Free Report:"3 Simple Secrets to Publishing an
Ezine That Makes You Money"http://www.aliceseba.com/ezinequeen.htmlCopyright
2005 Alice SebaAbout Alice: Alice Seba is a full-time online business owner that
thrives on helping others say good-bye to their J-O-Bs forever. Sign up for her
"Internet Marketing Prescriptions" to cure what ails your online business:
http://www.AliceSeba.comLast week, this e-mail from Jack arrived in my inbox:To:
Ari GalperFrom: JackSubj.: Help! I need to get more appointmentsDear Ari,I've
just coined a new disease for the medical books, and I'm hoping you can help
me cure it.Have you ever heard of "freezing-up-on-the-first-call paralysis"?
It's brought on by the stress of selling!I'm new to sales, and, as I've
been starting out, I've studied all the programs from all the "sales
masters."They all insist that, when I call new prospects, I should be
laser-focused on getting appointments.The problem is, when I make that first
call and lead the conversation toward the goal of getting an appointment, I hit
a "wall."I know that if I can just get face-to-face with prospects, they'll
see the value of my solution -- but I can't even get there because they shut
me down.When they tell me "I'm not interested" or "I'm busy now" or "We
already have a vendor," I'm left with nowhere to go.What's worse, I
can't even come up with what to say next.Can you recommend some "medicine"
that will help?Always open-minded,Jack"Whew!" I thought when I read this.
"That's an intense e-mail!" Jack's e-mail started me thinking about the
hundreds of conversations I've had with many of you who are out there selling
your solutions day in and day out.I realized that his "disease" is so pervasive
that those of you who are suffering from it could probably use a "prescription"
from the Unlock The Game pharmacy.This was my response to Jack:To: JackFrom: Ari
GalperSubj.: RE: Help? I need to make more appointmentsDear Jack,First of all,
thank you so much for being open to sharing your painful selling challenge.You
articulated so beautifully what so many other people are experiencing, and I
hope you won't mind if I share your e-mail and this response with my
newsletter subscribers.Here's why you've been afflicted with this
"disease"-- and what you can do to cure it.The "wall" you hit when you try to
get the appointment is the prospect's reaction to you putting your own
objectives ahead of the crucial trust-building process that would actually allow
an appointment to emerge.By laser-focusing on getting the appointment, you're
sabotaging three factors that are vital if you're going to build trust.To
build trust, you need to:1. Focus the conversation on your prospect's
problems, while holding off on offering your solution.2. Create a two-way
dialogue instead of a one-way monologue.3. Determine whether you and your
prospect are a "fit" in terms of being in sync about putting resources toward
solving the problems.All three of these elements must happen in the most natural
way possible...and you can help them to come about. Here's how:*Invite your
prospect into the conversation naturally and comfortably -- not by making a
mini-introduction about yourself (that only triggers the "wall"), but by asking,
"Can you help me out for a second?"*Toss out your selling scripts and create a
dialogue path around the specific problems that you know your product or service
can solve.For example, rather than saying, "Our solution lowers costs," try,
"Our solution solves three specific problems that you may be experiencing."Then,
state exactly what those problems are.Identifying and agreeing on the
prospect's problems is crucial but not enough to build the trust and
commitment you're seeking.You can continue the conversation with something
along these lines: "Sounds as if these issues are important for you, but, if we
can just take a second, are they considered a priority, given what else might be
on your plate right now? I mean, are these problems immediate enough that your
company can put resources into a solution at this point?"You see, Jack, the
basic cause of your "disease" is that you're not focusing your calls on your
prospect's perspective. But if you simply expand your mindset and begin
implementing new problem-solving language, you might be surprised when your
prospect suggests making an appointment.Warmest regards,AriThe next day, Jack
replied:To: Ari GalperFrom: JackSubj. Re: Help! I need to make more
appointmentsDear "Dr." Ari,Thank you so much! Your reply gave me a huge sense of
relief.All of a sudden, I'm feeling "healthy" and motivated again.Your
relieved patient,JackP.S. Sure, please do share our conversation with your
subscribers so they don't have to suffer the way I have.Try this medicine and
see if it works for you.Copyright 2005 Ari GalperAbout Ari: With a Masters
Degree in Instructional Design and over a decade of experience creating
breakthrough sales strategies for global companies such as UPS and QUALCOMM, Ari
Galper discovered the missing link that people who sell have been seeking for
years.His profound discovery of shifting one's mindset to a place of complete
integrity, based on new words and phrases grounded in sincerity, has earned him
distinction as the world's leading authority on how to build trust in the
world of selling.Leading companies such as Gateway, Clear Channel
Communications, Brother International and Fidelity National Mortgage have called
on Ari to keep them on the leading edge of sales performance. Visit
http://www.unlockthegame.com to get his free sales training lessons.Have you
ever thought about how much better you could be doing in your business or
career?What about your relationship with someone you love or the state of your
health right now?I have to admit that at any point in my life, one or more of
these areas needs more attention than I give it.There seems to be so much to do,
so much to accomplish if 'more' is the focus.Let me suggest that the quest
for more is a trap. It never stops.Optimum performance is about playing life at
the highest possible level. If we are so full of potential, then why are most of
us not living up to that potential in every area of our life?There are a couple
of very good reasons that make perfect sense and we'll start with desire,
passion and fun. Do you remember when you were a kid and all you wanted to do
was play?What was one thing you loved to do that you could do for hours and
never want to stop?Ask yourself why?If you are like me, then it's because it
was fun and exciting and you felt good doing it. It made you happy and you never
wanted to stop doing it until you dropped.We all knew that we could get hurt
running, playing, and challenging ourselves. But the reward of having fun,
feeling free and the sense of accomplishment was worth the price.We were born
natural risk takers back then. What happened and why is it relevant to optimum
performance?Part of the reason you enjoyed what you did was the 'positive
feedback' you received from others.The other more important part is because
it was what you wanted to do. It didn't really matter how 'good' you
were. The 'how good' was secondary to just having fun.It was the times you
chose to do what you wanted that was the most fun and exhilarating. It wasn't
when someone else said you needed to do or should do something.Optimum
performance can only truly be achieved when 'all of you' is in the game.
And believe me, life is just a game. You loved playing as a kid and it's time
to start playing again.Just going through the motions in your relationship is so
mediocre and not fun. Working in a job or career that you tolerate is not fun.
Not earning the income you want is not fun. Not having the energy or health you
want is not fun.What's NOT FUN in your life right now?So the real question
you are now faced with is this...do you want to have fun again? Do you want to
play?How great would the results be in each area of your life if it were fun
again? Well it can be...and will be!Do not confuse having fun with not putting
in effort. You will achieve results in every area of your life in direct
proportion to the effectiveness of the effort you put in, not the effort. Do not
confuse activity with results.In the coming months my focus will be to help you
think about WHY you are getting the current results that in your life right now
and how to significantly enjoy yourself more, so that the results are the
by-product of having fun and doing what you love and want to do.The game of life
is about choosing what you really want. The real trick in having more is in
becoming more and having fun. It is natural to grow and become more, when we do
what we love and what we want.Optimum performance is about doing the 'right
things' really well.Copyright 2005 Dr. Jamie FettigResource box: Sign up for
your FREE "Optimum Performance" Report (a $197 value) A Weekly report to receive
the most advanced thinking for achieving extraordinary results in your life and
business. The key to lasting change in anything is changing the way you think.
Learn how to literally change the neurology and hardwiring of your brain in as
little as 15 minutes a day for 30 days. To register and for more details go to
http://www.bazuji.com/havingitall.htmlHere come those flying pigs!Does it ever
end? I've been involved with Internet-based home businesses for some time and
I continue to be exposed to a seemingly endless barrage of offers (all costing
me money, of course) claiming to be "the secret" for making a fantastic income,
in a very short time, and with very little effort involved.I must admit that I
may have a slightly self-serving reason for addressing this topic. My articles
are published on my home-based business websites for the purpose of trying to
give prospective team members a true sense of what is really involved with
starting and developing a successful home based business. The self-serving part,
I suppose, is that I want people joining my team to have the straight scoop
going in so that we don't waste each other's time. I admit to being
selfish in this regard (I don't want to waste time working with people that
have unrealistic expectations), but it is also very efficient for both parties
involved, so it is not a totally one-way thing.Now, back to the topic at hand.
There's no magic here, folks. Once you have selected the home business that
you are going to pursue, there are no substitutes for time and effort in
developing your business. A dream of being an "overnight success" is just that,
a dream.I can tell you from personal experience, that once you "pay your dues"
and begin to have real success with a home based business, it is really
terrific. Think about Nirvana or Valhalla, take your pick, but in any event
it's really sweet.When I started developing a home based business, making a
good income was obviously an objective, but I also had other sub-objectives. One
of the most important things was to have nearly total time flexibility (I mean,
if I was willing to continue to wear the 9-5 Mon-Fri collar I could just have
just stayed in the previously "traditional" work force).Time flexibility was
(and still is) a "biggie" for me. Many people working at home have the same need
for various reasons. For work at home moms, a home business can be a real
godsend to accommodate the hectic time pressures, particularly when the kids are
quite young and mom is also spelled "transportation".In my own particular case,
the reason is not quite so noble...I just want (need?) to be able to pick up my
fly rod and go fishing at a moments notice (sometimes I'll be gone for a week
or two at a time, but now the business has enough momentum that it keeps on
operating just as well as if I were here tending to it on a daily basis).Bear in
mind, I am only able do the breakaway thing now that I have put in all the
up-front time and effort and now have developed enough kinetic energy in my
home-based Internet business to be able to enjoy the fruits of my
labor.Copyright 2005 Kirk BannermanAbout Kirk: Kirk Bannerman operates his own
successful home based business and also coaches others seeking to start their
own home based business. For more information visit his website at Proven Work
At Home Business (http://www.home-based-business-team.com)There are many
situations in life that will require you to take out loans. Finding the right
money lenders will allow you to get the loans that are best suited to your
particular need.First place to turn to in an emergency is your own family. Maybe
they can help you out in emergency cases.Bank loans are a safe and secure way to
borrow money. You can find banks that offer various types of loans such as auto
loans, home loans and student loans.Many people want to start their own small
business but back away since they do not have the start-up capital. Business
loans are useful in helping such people start their own business. When starting
your business, you should have a business plan ready, and then you can go out
searching for small business money lenders. You can go to commercial lenders,
banks or venture capitalists, give them your best sales pitch of your business
idea and convince them of your future success.Cash advance money lenders can
help you get money in emergency situations. If you have run out of money before
the end of the month, and need some quick cash to make sure your electricity or
heat is not turned off, cash advance money lenders can help. They often do not
carry out background checks and so it doesn't matter if you have bad credit.
However these loans are meant to be only for the short term and if you do not
pay them off on time, they can be very damaging.Hard money lenders are a
resource to turn to when you have bad or no credit and cannot find anyone to
loan out money to you. They are private lenders who lend out money on homes and
property, for private or business use, to finance the cost of buying or
repairing the property. The advantage of hard money lenders is that they have
little qualification requirements and will lend to you even if you have bad
credit. Hard money lenders, however, often charge higher interest rates on their
loans.Any money lender you do business with, you should make sure is legitimate
and can provide you with his credentials. Well known and reputed lenders are a
safer bet.If you get turned down by money lenders you can ask them why. Also you
can acquire a copy of your credit report to see where you can make improvements.
With a good credit score more money lenders will be willing to loan to you, and
thus you will have more choices and offers available.Copyright 2005 Jakob
JellingAbout Jakob: Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.cashbazar.com.
Visit his website for the latest on personal finance, debt elimination,
budgeting, credit cards and real estate.If you do not understand consumer
credit, you will be far more likely to misuse credit, and ruin your financial
situation. That is why the subject of consumer credit is so important.A lot of
people get their first experience with consumer credit when they get their
student credit card. This is where their study of consumer credit begins. Credit
card users need to be knowledgeable in credit terms such as APR, rewards,
balance transfer and cash back.You can also get department store cards specific
to one brand name store. A department store card has its pros and cons. A lot of
offers are advertised if you sign up for a card, such as discounts and free
gifts. However the APR on these consumer credit cards is often considerably
higher than most regular credit cards.When you are a consumer of credit you need
to know your legal rights so that you can protect yourself. For example if you
are being hassled by collectors, you should be aware of the Fair Debt Collection
Act, which lays out the rules that limits the actions a collector can use to
retrieve his money.You have a legal right to view your credit report. Your
credit report is a history of your financial transactions and if you are turned
down for a loan, you can view your report to determine why. You can get your
credit report from a credit reporting bureau. You may be eligible for a free
credit report to view your consumer credit status. How good your credit score is
will determine what loans you can get and on what interest rates.Consumer credit
counselingMisuse of credit can often lead to a high amount of consumer credit
loans which can in turn lead to bankruptcies. If you are facing an overwhelming
debt situation, it may be advantageous to seek out consumer credit counseling.If
your credit situation has deteriorated, consumer credit counseling may help.
Counseling can help you determine your financial situation and help you find
ways to repair your credit. Counseling can help you better manage your finances,
so that you can stay out of debt and become a more informed user of consumer
credit.Copyright 2005 Jakob JellingAbout Jakob: Jakob Jelling is the founder of
http://www.cashbazar.com. Visit his website for the latest on personal finance,
debt elimination, budgeting, credit cards and real estate.I am going to show you
a way to easily get an extra 40 hours a month and what you need to earn per hour
to achieve your yearly financial goals.Have you ever asked yourself what your
highest income producing activity is?If you're like most people you probably
go about your day-to-day business never really thinking about the
moment-to-moment activities that consume your day. Here is a way to help you get
a perspective on where to spend your time365 days minus all holidays and
vacation days leaves us with 238 days that most people work in a year.That
leaves each one of us with approximately 238 days in order to earn the income we
desire. If you figure an average of working 10 hours a day you absolutely must
be doing activities every hour that line up with this chart.$25k = you must be
earning $10.50 for every hour of work.$50K = $21 per hour$100k = $42 per
hour$250k = $105 per hour$1 M = $420 per hour$5 M = $2100 per hour$10 M = $4200
per hourWhat are you spending your time doing? Are you focused on the real money
makers or the real time wasters? Are you making it easy for yourself to be a
high-income earner or are you doing the things that can be done by someone whose
income goal or ability is less than yours?If you pay someone $5-$10 an hour for
10 hours a week to do everyday tasks for you, you will end up with an extra 40
hours a month that only cost you $200-$400 to get. How much more money could you
earn with 40 extra hours a week? How much more time could you spend with your
family and loved ones. Would that be worth $400 to you?I can tell you that when
you start to look at each hour this way, you'll stop doing the small stuff
and you'll start doing the real high producing stuff that yields results.
Just look at your most recent 3-5 days and count the number of hours you spent
really making the big bucks vs. all the stuff that creeps up on all of us. What
you discover will amaze you.People often asked me what the next step would be if
they wanted to achieve more income so here are just a few thoughts for you to
ponder.1-What skills must I now learn in order to command that income per hour?
Please be brutally honest with yourself.2- How long will that take?3- Am I
committed to doing that?4- What beliefs about myself must I have in order to
achieve a higher income?5- Am I committed to changing my internal beliefs?6- Am
I prepared to take action now?7- Who can guide me the fastest to reach my
desired income/revenue?The secret is putting it all in the right order and right
sequence now!To You Having It AllCopyright 2005 Dr. Jamie FettigResource box:
Sign up for your FREE "Optimum Performance" Report (a $197 value) A Weekly
report to receive the most advanced thinking for achieving extraordinary results
in your life and business. The key to lasting change in anything is changing the
way you think. Learn how to literally change the neurology and hardwiring of
your brain in as little as 15 minutes a day for 30 days. To register and for
more details go to http://www.bazuji.com/havingitall.htmlAs you read every word
of this article, you'll be stunned by how quickly and easily you can build a
massive list of opt-in subscribers without spending a fortune. (The idea is to
make money, not spend money. Right?)I'll get right to the point...It can be a
real pain in the butt trying to build an opt-in list using the "old school"
methods of list building that every Internet marketing guru out there is
teaching these days.They tell you... "Use pop ups and pop unders, delayed pops,
and exit pops", "Put a subscription box on every page of your website", "Use
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) search engines to drive traffic to your opt-in page", etc.
etc. etc.Those methods are OK, in my opinion. If you're using them now and
they are effective for you, continue using them. If you're not, I'd
suggest that you at least experiment with them to see if they work for your
situation.---> THE BIG PROBLEM IS THIS...The two biggest problems you'll
face using the "old school" methods are... either it takes way too much of YOUR
TIME or it costs way too much of YOUR MONEY to build a list of any respectable
size.(In the BizOp, MLM, and Internet marketing arenas, many potential joint
venture partners won't even talk to you unless your list has at least 50,000
- 100,000 subscribers.)---> WHAT'S THE SOLUTION?Very simple...Instead of
waiting for customers to come to you (which you have to do even with PPC search
engines)...You can BUY subscribers.That's right! There are companies out
there that will sell you the names and email addresses of people that have
REQUESTED information about business opportunities.---> WARNING: NOT ALL LEAD
SOURCES ARE CREATED EQUALThere are 8 things you want to look for from any
lead/subscriber source.Here they are:1. 100% Opt-In: You want to buy the contact
information of people that have actively requested more information. There are
various methods of capturing contact information. Some leads sources sell you
names that came from CD-ROM that has 12 million names on it. Some lead sources
pre-check the subscription box, so many of their leads didn't know that they
were going to be sent any information from you. You want to make sure that all
the names you buy have explicitly requested the information that you are going
to send them.2. Targeted: You want Business Opportunity Seekers ONLY! What good
is it if the names you buy really just wanted to be on someone's joke list or
recipe newsletter? I'll tell you... Absolutely NOTHING! Actually, less than
nothing if you get a lot of SPAM complaints and your ISP bans you from sending
emails or your email addresses ends up on blacklists all throughout the
Internet.3. Only "Fresh" Leads: Plain and simple... The older the list, the less
responsive it will be to your offer. As time goes by, people become less and
less interested in what they requested information on. The more time between
their initial request and your first contact, the easier it is for them to
forget that they even requested information. My personal recommendation is that
you never buy leads that are over 30 days old, unless you can get them at a
steep discount.4. Quick Turn-around: You don't want to wait months for your
leads source to fulfill your order. Many smaller sites aren't able to keep up
with the demand for leads so you could be waiting months if your order is large.
You want a source that can fulfill large orders in a timely basis. Time really
is money... especially when someone has yours, and you're left waiting months
for your list.5. Accessible & Effective Support: You want to be able to ask a
question any time, day or night, and get a fast, courteous, and most
importantly, effective solution to your concern. With some companies, you send
them an email and it takes them days to get back to you, if they reply at all.
And, speaking bluntly, many of them use incompetent people for their support
because they're only after a quick buck. Their motto, "Grab the money and
run... They should be able to figure it out."6. CAN-SPAM Compliant: If you buy a
list that has been harvested from websites, forums, newsgroups or any number of
other places, you could get in serious trouble just for sending them your email.
It's just not worth it! Please, only send your information and promotional
material to people that want to hear from you.7. Exclusivity: You don't want
to compete for your leads attention any more than you have to. Spam filter,
blacklist, and unexplainable Internet "glitches" cause email marketers enough
grief. You want to know that your list is not going to be resold to a dozen or a
hundred different marketers. My personal recommendation is that you NEVER
purchase a lead that is sold to more than 5 marketers. The quality of response
will be horrible if you're competing with that many people for your
prospects' limited time and attention.8. Alternate Means Of Communication: If
you can get them, you also want their home address and home telephone number. If
you're really serious about promoting your opportunity, you should be
communicating with your prospects with more than just email. Postcards and short
phone calls/message have been proven to increase response to almost any offer -
especially offers where people are naturally skeptical at the outset.BTW, some
websites (I won't name any names.) make it sound like they're doing you a
favor by "giving you their name at no additional cost". Give me a break! Names
are MANDATORY!ACTION STEP:Now that you have the criteria, you should evaluate
your current lead sources and check out a few new ones.Copyright 2005 Dan
KellyAbout Dan: Dan Kelly is the CEO and webmaster of BizOpListbuilder.com -
"Helping entrepreneurs build and profit from their single greatest marketing
asset - their list." To see how inexpensive it can be to get your very own list
check out http://www.BizOpListbuilder.com/ today. You'll be glad you did!If
you work for yourself, the odds that you will still be in business in the year
2005 are only 1 in 5. In today's workplace swirling with change, one million
people will start a new business this year. The UGLY truth is that 800,000 of
those will be out of business in the year 2005.If you work for someone else: It
is likely you won't be with them in five years. Even major corporations lack
staying power in today's international economy. Years of experience can
become obsolete overnight. In fact most will change careers (not jobs) five to
seven times over the next 40 years.Security is no longer in the job, company, or
industry. The only transferable skill is your ability to express yourself
persuasively and convincingly. These skills never become obsolete. Research
studies prove that a strong command of the English Language is directly linked
to your career advancement, your earnings, and also social success. The same
studies show that in hard times those laid off first tend to be those with poor
communications skills.Michael Leaven, in his book, Guerrilla P.R., tells us that
the ability to use language persuasively is arguably the most important
attribute for success.FUTURIST Rolf Jensen, director of the Copenhagen Institute
for Future Studies, says, "We are in the twilight of a society based on personal
communication skills. Companies will recruit people based on how they express
their ideas."Oscar Bruce, in his book, WINNING WORDS WINNING WAYS, asserts:
"With a strong command of language you will go farther and get ahead
faster".Give Yourself The Edge: Stack the deck in your favor professionally and
socially. Give your conversation an upgrade.Copyright 2005 Oscar BruceAbout
Oscar: Oscar Bruce's books are considered the ultimate field manuals for
managing conversations with power and persuasion. His website offers verbal
strategies that will add power to your persuasion. His free newsletter is also
available at the website. http://www.oscarbruce.comOnce you have made your
choice, the two most important things are to stay focused and not to get
discouraged...it takes a long time to become an overnight success!I've had
many active and enthusiastic business team members that were their own worst
enemies because they exhibited the classic "flea on a griddle" behavior pattern
and jumped around chasing one business opportunity today, and then another one
tomorrow without ever putting in enough sustained and focused effort to
reasonably give themselves a chance to succeed at any of them.I can really
relate to this situation since I briefly fell prey to this same "dog in a meat
market" syndrome when I first started my own home based business a few years
ago. I caught myself trying to chase several different opportunities at once and
not being very successful with any of them.There are so many home business
opportunities (some real, some not) that it takes real personal discipline to
avoid the scattergun approach...you know, throw enough against the wall and
something is bound to stick. In the early going, it is really important to
resist this temptation and to stay tightly focused on a single business.Some
will argue that "I don't want to have all my eggs in one basket". To those
people I say, diversification is fine, but only after you have achieved solid
success with your initial business. A premature attempt at diversification will
quite likely cause a loss of focus and actually slow down your success rate.If
your main marketing vehicle is a website, you can fairly easily leverage your
initial success and effectively promote a few other complimentary and closely
related home based business propositions from the same website.However, it is
important not to go overboard and offer too many choices to visitors to your
website. If you do, there is a good chance of confusing your visitors to the
point where they will take no action and you have, in effect, diluted the
effectiveness of your website.Whatever you decide to do, you will need to stick
with it for a reasonable length of time (give it at least one year) and put in a
solid and sustained effort. Stay focused and don't get discouraged. As much
as you would like it to be, starting and developing a real home based business
is certainly not an instant gratification situation.Copyright 2005 Kirk
BannermanAbout Kirk: Kirk Bannerman operates his own successful home based
business and also coaches others seeking to start their own home based business.
For more information visit his website at
http://www.home-based-business-team.comGoogle has always been the search
industry's innovator and that's just what Google's aging delay
symbolizes, the evolution of search innovation... yet another significant step
forward for Google. Google's success as a search engine can undeniably be
attributed to its ability to consistently return the most relevant search engine
results. That's what kept the search giant on top of the pack and leading the
multi-billion dollar search industry & that's what's going to keep them
there! Now that said, is it any wonder why Google incorporated the infamous
aging delay into their ranking criterion? The simple truth is, Google's aging
delay is a full frontal assault on artificial link inflation. With the induction
of multiple clever off-page reciprocal-linking strategies engineered to
artificially inflate link popularity and PageRank, Googles aging delay wasn't
only necessary and long overdue; it was the next logical step in the evolution
of search. The confusion and misunderstanding of the aging delay among site
owners is nothing short of amazing. Many of my clients are confounded because
their new sites are well positioned in Yahoo, MSN & the other large search
engines while they're site is no where to be found in Google's search
engine result's pages (SERPs)... except for perhaps on the most obscure
search terms. Current and unconfirmed speculation has been misplacing the blame
on Google's 'sandbox' effect. While this is a possibility I believe
it's also highly improbable. The sandbox holding period is typically anywhere
between 90 to 120 days, the aging delay appears to be much longer. I've seen
new sites delayed for up to 6-8 months. The premise of the sandbox delay theory
suggests that new sites are being penalized for gaining too many links too fast.
To date I haven't seen a scrap of evidence to support that claim. The sandbox
theory is further disproved by the fact that newer sites engaged in procuring
relevant links experience the same delay in climbing Google's SERPs as other
new sites utilizing scores of purchased text links. This lends credibility to my
thought that new sites are not being penalized on the premise of acquisition or
quantity of inbound links and; supports my theory that it's the reciprocated
links that are being delayed by an aging filter. It just doesn't seem
'reasonable' for Google to penalize sites for acquiring legitimate
directory listings & building an optimized reciprocal link based network. In my
opinion, mainstream SEOs are confusing the existing sandbox effect, with
Google's new 'aging filter' that arrived on the search scene earlier
this year. It seems more likely that Google's aging filter is weighing the
'maturity' of inbound links and not the new site itself. Meaning that in
addition to the traditional ranking criterion, the age of a sites inbound links
are also now considered. My own theory is that newly acquired inbound links are
placed on a 'probationary' status until they've 'matured' before
they're considered. For example, a new and relevant inbound PR 6 link would
not be given the same weight or consideration as a 'grandfathered' PR 6
link until the aging delay expired. By placing newly acquired links on a
probationary period and delaying the ranking of newer sites Google has
effectively offset the instant free ride to the top of their SERPs. Purchasing
volumes of brokered links to that end is now a moot point. After all, your site
will still be delayed regardless of the amount of links you purchase and you
won't see any return on investment (ROI) for at least 6 - 8 months. Existing
Site owners interested in immediate (ROI) are now strongly motivated to build
new pages or expand existing sites in order to avoid Googles lengthy aging
delay. With the 'all-the-rage' mini-network strategy shifting to more of a
long-term commitment it seems likely that's exactly what will happen! Whether
by clever design or not, the only alternative to riding out the aging delay that
produces immediate results in Googles SERPs is to advertise through Google's
AdWords Program. So it seems that Google's solution vis--vis the aging delay
has turned out to be an excellent vehicle to promote Googles own AdWords Program
as well. Hmm... How do you survive Google's aging delay? By taking pro-active
action! I haven't seen any new sites with new domains appear at the top of
Google's (SERPs) since early to mid 2004. I've consulted with and tracked
many of my clients' new sites and despite the fact they have hundreds of #1
positions in Yahoo, Alta Vista, AllTheWeb & MSN for their keywords I've yet
to see any remarkable results in Google until the 6 - 8 month period. The trend
I've noticed suggests that new sites are initially indexed; ranked
accordingly in Google's SERPs for a week or so and then literally vanish from
the SERPs for several months. In most cases they can't even be found with the
most obscure search terms... including their own name and address. If you're
launching a new site don't panic. Once you've registered your domain name
and configured the hosting, you should set up a few temporary pages. Obtain
links to them from other sites in Google's index to start the aging delay
count down. I recommend launching a site immediately with enough content to set
up and facilitate the requirements for directory listings to start. The sooner
Google is aware of your domain the better. Just don't hold your breath
waiting to see results... It could be as long as 6 - 8 months! Gauge your
optimization efforts by where your site ranks in the other search engines.
Provided you're not engaged in unethical practices and followed Google's
Webmaster's guidelines this should give you a ballpark indication of where
Google will rank your site after the aging delay, just be patient. To that end,
don't keep tweaking and changing your pages source code and trying to
manipulate your rankings until your site has been in Google's index for at
least 6 - 8 months. In other words, there's no need to reinvent the wheel
here because it doesn't seem to matter what you do, your site will still be
delayed regardless. Don't keep submitting your pages to Google either! It
won't make any difference. Check your server logs to confirm Googlebots'
crawl and then forget about it. Googlebot will find your site again if you're
actively reciprocating links so your time would be better served building an
optimized reciprocal link network to get your site out there and linked to as
early as possible. If traffic from Google is crucial to your marketing and
promotion plan, and I don't know anyone who would argue otherwise... budget
to run an AdWords campaign for a few months until the site is indexed and
positioned. You might even consider running an Overture campaign as well! If you
purchase non-directory links, reallocate that budget to Adwords advertising.
It's pointless to purchase links when you can invest in an AdWords or
Overture campaign. Purchasing links is an investment you won't see a red cent
ROI for at least 6 - 8 months while an Adwords campaign will drive targeted
traffic to your site that can convert immediately. Keep in mind that Lycos,
HotBot, AOL, Ask Jeeves, Iwon, Netscape & Teoma also receive paid results from
Google! MSN, AllTheWeb, AltaVista & Yahoo receives paid results from Overture.
Do other search engines have an aging delay? Google provides primary search
results to other search engines. It only seems reasonable to expect that your
site may be delayed in Google's partner sites as well. One-way you may be
able to work around this, and I can't emphasize this enough; is to make sure
you submit your site to DMOZ, the open source directory. Google, in addition to
the other major engines, receives directory results directly from DMOZ. Yahoo
and its partner sites don't seem to be utilizing an aging delay, nor does
MSN, so focusing your early efforts on these search engines might give you a
competitive edge in the Yahoo network. At the end of the day when it's all
said and done surviving Google's aging delay is just a matter of time. The
days of purchasing instant link popularity and PageRank are over and in due
course you will see Google give your site the recognition it deserves. Copyright
2005 Lawrence Deon About the author: Lawrence Deon is an SEO/SEM Consultant and
Author of the popular search engine optimization and marketing model Ranking
Your Way To The Bank. http://www.rankingyourwaytothebank.comI'm literally
inundated with questions on the subject of invisible text & hosting so I thought
I'd debunk some myths and give you the facts straight up. What is invisible
text? Invisible text is the body text that's the same or similar color to the
background. You know, the stuff you can very easily see on a page if you press
Ctrl-A or highlight everything on the page with your left mouse button. Will
invisible text hurt your search engine rankings? Undoubtedly! If you attempt to
use the same color text as the background color of your web pages the search
engines will penalize you. Why? The use of invisible text is commonly considered
black hat seo by the search engines and a blatant spam tactic. If your visitors
can't see or read the text then what good is it anyway? It's deceptive
period. Trust Google when they say in their Quality Guidelines & Specific
recommendations to avoid hidden text or hidden links.
http://www.google.com/webmasters/guidelines.html Now here's why this topic is
so interesting... and I know you're saying, why should I worry or care about
invisible text if I've never used any on my web site? Well the answer is
simple. You may be hosting invisible text on your website right now & not even
know it. In fact you were never intended to know it... That's why it's
invisible! WHAT? Yeah... you may be getting duped! So just what exactly am I
talking about? I'm talking about your hosting company (usually the free ones)
leeching your Google PageRank & building link popularity for their clients off
your web pages & bandwidth. If you don't think they do it... guess again.
It's a lucrative business. Now with that said I'm not going to name or
badmouth any specific hosting service. What I am going to do is tell you how to
determine if you're an unsuspecting victim. Here's an invaluable tool to
help you detect search engine spam penalties!
http://tool.motoricerca.info/spam-detector/ Secondly, double-check your cached
pages to see what the search engine robots actually see when they index your
page. Look for additional links & advertising in the source code that isn't
in your original source code. If you find additional advertising or links that
aren't on your current pages... your host MAY be killing your search engine
rankings. The simple solution to this problem is to immediately transfer your
domain to a trusted service provider.
http://www.tkqlhce.com/click-1604302-10294265 Now let's talk about the
invisible text you can't see at all on a page. Yes, you could still be
hosting invisible text. Even if you press Ctrl-A or highlight everything on the
page with your left mouse button & nothing shows up! Just for the record
you'll find some content management programs employing this very technique.
Imagine my surprise when I discovered my PageRank 5 realty site had two sets of
Meta keywords on my pages, easily seen when I view Google's cached
versions.... I was choked... especially since their user agreement didn't
disclose this fact! Is using invisible text in cascading style sheets good?
Nope! There's a new school of thought claiming you can use an alternative
cascading style sheet (CSS) approach to placing invisible text on your web pages
without penalty. The theory is predicated on the premise that you could employ
an external style sheet in another directory. There you' d simply define a
special class for a tag like < P > where the font and background colors
are identical. The claim is there's no way for the current search engines
algorithms to distinguish the color codes and penalize you. While this may or
may not be the immediate situation it's fundamentally WRONG! Invisible text
is invisible text & it's spam. Since many invisible text tricks utilize CSS
positioning properties to hide their contents, you'll soon see (if not
already) the search engines employing advanced algorithms to find hidden text in
CSSs. If you subscribe to the CSS theory you'll undoubtedly be revisiting
your strategy or paying later by being blacklisted or removed entirely from the
various search engine indexes. Incidentally, before you roll the dice on this
one you might want to consider the fact that the tool I just referred you to is
only the beta version and the developer is already planning to add support for
identifying invisible text in CSSs! Just how much more advanced and further
ahead do you think the search engine techs are? So what does it all mean to you
& what should you do? Check your cached pages for invisible text. If you find
Invisible text or advertising determine it's origin Read every user agreement
very carefully Take action & do something about removing it! The bottom line
lesson here is simple. Trying fool the search engines with Spammy tricks or
hocus pocus schemes has never worked for long in the past. Don't employ
unethical spam techniques and don't become an unsuspecting victim yourself.
Copyright 2005 Lawrence Deon About the author: Lawrence Deon is an SEO/SEM
Consultant and Author of the popular search engine optimization and marketing
model Ranking Your Way To The Bank. http://www.rankingyourwaytothebank.comLet me
preface this report by citing advertisers in 2004 have spent 4 Billion dollars
on search engine marketing according to the Search Engine Marketing Professional
Organization (SEMPO). Website marketers cited Search engine positioning was the
top method to drive traffic to their sites (66%), followed by email marketing
(54%). Source: Direct Marketing Association. Accordingly, the most cost
effective way to market your web site online is to obtain several top 10-search
engine rankings in the major search engines for your keywords. According to a
recent Jupiter Research Survey, searching on the search engines is one of the
main uses of the Internet among 79% of users. Source: September 2002 Jupiter
Research Survey. So that being the case, whatever your promoting you'll want
to make sure it can be found on the first page of the search engines results
page. The reason is numerically simple. An Iprospect Survey in 2002 reported
that 78% of web users abandon their search if the first 3 pages don't provide
an answer to their question, and 28% don't scroll past the 2nd page of
results. Source: Media Post article reporting results of Spring 2002 IProspect
survey. Combine those facts with the Internets explosive growth rate of 1.8
Million people worldwide going online every week for the very first time,
Source: Official Guide To Internet Promotion and you can soon appreciate what a
top 10 ranking can mean to you. Google receives approximately 39.4% of all
search engine traffic. Yahoo receives approximately 30.4%. They're simply the
largest search engines being utilized online today. Bringing up the rear is MSN
at 29.6%, and AOL 15.5% then Ask Jeeves with 8.5%. Source: Nielsen//NetRatings
January 2004 How much traffic is that? Well, Google and its partner sites were
reporting a whopping 250 million searches a day in February 2003. Overture and
its partners were reporting over 167 million searches per day. Inktomi reported
80 million followed by LookSmart with 45 million per day. FindWhat reported 33
million while Ask Jeeves reported 20 million, Alta Vista reported 18 million and
finally Fast reported 12 Million searches per day. Source: Searchenginewatch.com
2004. With all said, you can easily see how your search engine rankings are
directly proportional to the traffic your web site receives, and your site
traffic is directly related to your potential to profit online. Oh, and in case
your wondering how much money is spent online; a recent Forrester Research
Report indicated that online spending reached $95,700,000,000 million in 2003!
That's a cool 95.7 billion dollars. Projected online spending is estimated to
grow to $229 billion in 2008! A whopping 139% increase in online spending!
Source: Forrester Research Now with these facts in mind I'm confident you can
clearly see what a top 10-search engine ranking can mean for your bottom line.
Although it does leave a question unanswered in my mind, what has a higher
ROI... organic search engine optimization or paid search? According to
SEMPO's key analysis, the U.S. & Canadian SEM Industry Size Estimate by
tactic in 2004, organic SEO accounted for 12% of the market share or
$492,057,200 while Paid Placement accounted for $3,341,878,176 or 81.8%.
Interestingly, 9 out of 10 respondents are actively engaged in organic SEM
marketing programs accounting for 89% of the respondent advertisers. This trend
can be contributed to the average cost of popular keywords continuing to
escalate. If the escalation continues to rise it could make paid search engine
advertising exponentially cost prohibitive for all but the largest
advertisers... the 900lb gorillas! Simply put, ROI is outpacing inflation:
SEMPO's key analysis indicates advertisers could afford to pay on average 33%
more for their keywords and remain profitable, while they say prices have gone
up 26% on average in the last 12 months. That's leaves a 7% advertising
margin to maintain current profits for 2005! SEMPO's data also noted that
advertisers will get smarter about managing their paid placement programs before
they cut back on spending. This is also consistent with a report released by
Nielsen/NetRatings indicating that the growing demand for search engine
advertising is outstripping the supply of currently available advertising space.
These findings seem to indicate the inventory of keywords is approaching a
critical demand problem however; most advertisers felt they still have some
degree of price flexibility in their paid placement programs before they will
reach the threshold of diminishing returns. Is there any wonder why organic
search engine positioning has gained popularity for online marketers in 2004?
Could it be higher (ROI) return on investments? SEMPO also cites that 43% of
advertiser respondents have shifted their budgets away from other marketing
programs for Organic SEO. So what does it all mean? Let the numbers speak for
themselves. Organic SEO is undeniably gaining favor over the lower ROI paid
advertising. This is evidenced by virtue of the fact that paid advertising is
becoming less profitable. Although paid advertising will continue to hold a
large portion of the market share, as paid advertising returns diminish and
keyword costs soar my early 2005 forecast is for the materialization of a
progressive organic SEO market trend to facilitate the need for advertising
space. Copyright 2005 Lawrence Deon About the author: Lawrence Deon is an
SEO/SEM Consultant and Author of the popular search engine optimization and
marketing model Ranking Your Way To The Bank.
http://www.rankingyourwaytothebank.comTime.As a small business owner, it's
the commodity you covet most but never seem to have enough of.If you had more
time, you could complete all the administrative chores required to operate your
business.With enough time, you could do more marketing, more networking, more
planning and systemizing.If you had just a little more, you'd be a whole lot
less hurried and stressed.But how on earth do you create more time to do all the
things necessary to run smoothly, build business, and create revenue?The obvious
answer is to increase your manpower. But hiring staff is not always an easy or
affordable proposition for the small business owner. Fortunately, there's an
outsourcing alternative - Virtual Assistance.Virtual Assistants provide office
support on an independent contractor basis. They primarily serve small to
mid-sized businesses who have smaller workloads, need only occasional help, or
who don't have the budget or space for in-house office staff, much less the
time to train and manage them.A Virtual Assistant (VA) works from their own
office utilizing computers and other technology to deliver their services and
communicate with clients.They provide just about any secretarial service you can
think of: word processing, transcription, data-entry, database management,
spreadsheet creation, proofreading you name it.Many VAs offer additional
specialties such as bookkeeping, web design, desktop publishing, writing and
legal support services.The savings can be huge compared to the cost of an actual
employee because there are no payroll taxes or benefits to pay, and no extra
office space or equipment needs.Not to mention that not all employee time is
productive (think breaks, sick leave, vacations and other downtime). With
Virtual Assistance, clients pay only for the time the VA spends working on their
behalf.That's 100% productive time; you can't get more efficient than
that!The Virtual Assistance profession has been around well over 10 years now,
and has its own industry associations and certification programs.Virtual
Assistants operate their businesses as professional service providers. They come
from a variety of business backgrounds, but the common denominator is that they
are typically overachievers with extensive administrative experience and
superior skill sets and training.Virtual Assistants are not temps. They are
highly-skilled entrepreneurs who love what they do and in business to provide
consistently top-quality work to clients to whom they are committed.Virtual
Assistants are commonly interested in establishing long-term partnerships with
their clients. As the VA learns about the owner and his or her business,
supporting the client becomes more intuitive.The ideal is to achieve a very
simpatico working relationship where the VA's support not only instills more
efficiency and productivity, but is key to helping the client create more time
to concentrate on the roles they love most while growing their business
successfully.Although Virtual Assistants are able to serve clients from anywhere
in the world, you can find a VA near you by referencing your local Chamber of
Commerce directory, or searching the Internet using keywords Virtual Assistant
or Virtual Assistance + your city or state. There is also a great Virtual
Assistant directory sorted by country and state located
at:http://www.mediamage.com/links/pages/United_States/Copyright 2005 Danielle
Keister, The ReliefAbout the author: Danielle Keister is the owner of The
Relief, a virtual assistance practice located in Tacoma, Washington, that has
been delivering expert, personalized office support services to businesses large
and small since 1997. She has over 20 years administrative management experience
in both the private and public business sectors. Her areas of expertise also
include bookkeeping, desktop publishing and web design. For more information,
visit www.TheRelief.comWoolen jackets, paper rolls, light up teddy bears, clocks
and DVDs there is tremendous potential to make a very good profit from all of
these products and countless others just by knowing the basics of one of the
worlds oldest trades.Importing & exporting may not be the first thing that leaps
into your mind when you think of home based businesses. However, there are few
genuine opportunities that offer better prospects big profits, subsidised
travel and a good work-from-home lifestyle are just a few of the benefits
you'll enjoy once your import/export business is up and running. The set-up
and operational costs can also be accommodated on a total shoe string budget.So
is importing/exporting from home right for you? Here are a few factors you need
to consider before taking your first steps into this lucrative business:1.
Creating Contacts You will need to contact many different importers and
exporters and this can be difficult for some. In the internet age just about
every contact you need is already online. There are hundreds of free bulletin
boards you can visit to see who wants to buy or sell any number of products, in
addition to several specialist websites and trade magazines.2. A fair level of
attention to detail is required by keeping your customers satisfied and
providing them with exactly what they request you will be setting yourself up
for a good stream of future business.3. You will need to create a detailed plan
to identify your own desired goals and objectives from your business. We all
know the saying "if you fail to plan then you plan to fail" ask yourself the
difficult questions that many shy away from. Here are just a few of theseWhat do
you have going for you to make this a success? Will you start full time or part
time? Can you get any help (family/friends) in the beginning? What type of
products will you trade? In which countries? What mode of transport will you use
to get your goods from A to B? How will you learn about international trade
regulations? What method of international payment will you use? What foreign
regulations must you be aware of? Again, these are just a sample of the
questions you need to ask get some paper and scribble down everything you could
possibly think of.4. You will need to decide on your form of organisation will
you operate as a sole trader, partnership or limited company? Each form has
it's own distinct advantages and disadvantages.So how do you go about finding
products to import and export once all the nuts and bolts are in place? One
great way is actually by travelling around there are literally millions of
products out there that have the potential to make you a small (or large)
fortune once you import them into your domestic market. To illustrate my point,
last year while on a holiday to India I stumbled over some delightful glow-up
keyrings that were being sold for 10 rupees each (about 40 cents) instinct had
told me there was enormous profit potential here and upon returning home I found
the same key-rings selling for $7.95 in a popular department store. Do you think
it would be possible to profit from this situation? Of course it is, and there
are countless other opportunities like these simply waiting to be discovered. It
is also possible to write off your travel expenses (flights, hotels, dining
costs etc) against your profits which gives you a great chance to travel the
world at a heavily subsidised rate.You can also find ideas on what to sell by
sifting through specialised publications & websites, investigating trade shows
and by browsing national trade statistics (eg via the United Nations Yearbook Of
International Trade Statistics). But above all, be alert when you see something
interesting, ask yourself "can I import this thing in my home market?"Now a word
about marketing whether you like it or not, the long term success for any
product depends to a large degree on the way it is marketed. Get this right and
you could make a lot of cash very quickly. Get it wrong and you could struggle.
Like most things marketing technique can be acquired and refined but you should
come up with a marketing plan in addition to your general plan. Encouragingly
from a work-at-home perspective there are any number of marketing methods that
will bring you success, some at very low (or no) cost.OK, what we have gone
through is just the tip of the iceberg. A profitable work from home import &
export business is more possible than most could envisage but as with any
worthwhile venture you will require some level of persistence and willingness to
learn. If you're willing to put in the effort the rewards are far greater
than you could possible imagine.Copyright 2005 Tukshad EngineerResource box:
Start up your own outrageously profitable work from home import/export business.
Everything you need to set-up including the best low cost trade sources all over
the world, contacts and step by step blueprint to profit.
http://www.global-ebooks.com/importexport.htmFrom an employee's perspective,
management often conducts itself in ways that make no sense. When the economy is
slow, jobs are few and far in between or people are fearful, staff will tolerate
management behaviors and policies that are nonsensical (in their eyes) or they
judge are harmful.But when staff gets together for lunch and they start
critiquing management, these are the Top 10 Reasons Why Staff Quit.10. "My boss
is arrogant and believes his own press clippings." As a result, staff feels
taken advantage of..9. "My manager micromanages rather than trusting staff to
perform." Staff hates the boss and looks for ways to resist being over
controlled.8. "My manager is crushing my drive and desire." Hired because they
were smart and energetic, the manager is afraid that she will not be seen as the
shining light (the reason for success) and crushes the very qualities that made
the new employee attractive to hire (and desirous of joining).7. "My boss
guesses what is needed without resorting to data or facts." Maybe he has the
facts, but they sure aren't being communicated leaving the impression of
"It's my way or the highway." There are a lot of new roads being built in
this country and staff will leave rather than be abused.6. "I'm treated like
a child." Look, there are often generational differences between how managers
and employees work. Younger workers may have "know-it-all" attitudes and
unfamiliar techniques using technology to accomplish tasks. Staff feels
misunderstood and resent their boss.5. "Manager promotes someone from a
different function who does understand the job and how to be successful." Staff
does not believe they can learn from this person, judges her to be an anchor
around their department and resents that they were passed over for promotion.4.
"My boss is extremely critical." The only way they interpret their boss is
pleased is in the absence of nit picking.3. "I get ideas lobbed at me with
little clarity and I have to figure out what is really wanted." Staff is caught
between a rock and a hard place and doesn't know the target of the task or
have a clear idea of what needs to get done.2. "I don't have sufficient
resources to get the job done." Fitting 10 pounds of stuff into a five pound bag
is pretty tough. Imagine you're the ten pounds and have to get squeezed in
there! Staff often believes they have inadequate resources to get a job done.And
the number one reason your staff wants to quit:"My company is grossly
underpaying me." Show me the money! Staff can read job ads online and learn what
their real value is. As much as they may love you and their work, eventually
people realize they need to pay their bills and start to think of leaving.Your
staff, the ones you are mistreating or taking for granted are your
competition's staffing solution (just as theirs is for you). Rather than
taking their continued employment for granted, motivate them, excite them, coach
and encourage them and they will go do anything for you (at almost any
price).Copyright 2004 Jeff AltmanAbout Jeff: Jeff Altman, Managing Director
with Concepts in Staffing, a New York search firm, has successfully assisted
many corporations identify management leaders and staff in technology,
accounting, finance, sales, marketing and other disciplines since 1971. He is
also a certified leader of the ManKind Project, a not for profit organization
that assists men with life issues, and a practicing psychotherapist. For
additional job hunting or hiring tips, go to
http://www.newyorkmetrotechnologyjobs.com. If you would like Jeff and his firm
to assist you with hiring staff, or if you would like help with a strategic job
change, send an email to him at jeffaltman@cisny.com (If you're looking for a
new position, include your resume).Spruce Your Environment, Spruce Your
SpiritPatricia TwitchellAfter a long winter, this is the time of year to spruce
up your environment with a good Spring Cleaning. It's amazing what doing this
can do for one's state of mind.Not only does a good spring cleaning seem to
lift our spirits, it has actually been proven to preserve our home and office
environment. Additionally, people tend to be more productive after a good
cleaning.Although the inclination is to want to be outside as soon as the great
weather begins, by doing a good spring cleaning you are actually creating the
feeling of spring inside your home and office. It is also a great way to get the
entire family involved in doing something together. To do this though, it has to
be viewed as a fun experience rather than drudgery.If it is your office you are
giving a good cleaning to you will find this to be a great team building
opportunity. With the pressures all businesses experience day in and day out,
doing something out of the ordinary will allow for a unique bonding opportunity
that is sure to strengthen communication skills and team unity.To make it
enjoyable your attitude will set the tone. If you view the experience as fun,
those around you are more likely to do the same. Something that is sure to help
is to start from a place of gratitude. Yes, gratitude.For The HomeLook around
your home and realize you have a home to clean. What a gift this is. It
doesn't matter the size of your home. What matters is what your home gives
you. It gives you a place to enjoy time with family and friends. It gives you
shelter from the elements. It gives you a space to relax in. That is of course
if you have created it to offer these things.For the OfficeThink about all the
ups and downs your business has been through in the last few years. Ups and
downs many businesses have not survived. And yet, you have. Get your team
involved in the process of acknowledging what it took to get to the point you
are at. It is amazing the positive impact this can have.The ProcessBefore you
begin, find some good music you can enjoy while you clean. It's amazing what
lively music can do for the spirit.You will be most effective if you have all
your cleaning materials available before you begin. Gather what you need ahead
of time so that you don't have to stop midstream to run to the store for a
bottle of window cleaner or furniture polish. Also make sure you have plenty of
garbage bags, storage boxes and anything else that will make your job
easier.Give yourself a break from the phones, especially if you are making this
a family experience.As you clean each room, organizing what you have, be willing
to let go of what you no longer need. There are plenty of people who would find
incredible use from something you haven't touched in years.You can either
give the items to a family you know, a charity or you can have a garage sale. In
the case of a business, do you have old equipment it is time to let go of? What
about multiple items that are simply taking up space or collecting dust?When you
release what you no longer need or want you create the space for something new
in its place.You may want to focus on one room at a time cleaning and
rearranging from top to bottom. One of the most exciting parts of spring
cleaning is the joy you feel as you remember how special items came into your
life.I often hear stories from people who have gotten a teddy bear from my shop
and relived the original feeling they had when they first got the item. I have
been told what an incredible feeling they get when they spring clean and
carefully rearrange their bear collection. They have a renewed feeling of pride
over their collection because of the care they are taking in preserving the
precious gifts.In each room it is recommended to begin from the top and work
down. This is true for cabinets, dusting, and washing.When you are done, enjoy
what you have just accomplished. Sit back and look around, take in the fresh
fragrances and appreciate a job well done. Reward yourself with a good meal and
quiet time.For the office project, take the team out for a fun meal or order in.
Acknowledge the gift of a fresh, inviting home or office you are blessed to
enjoy. You will be glad you did.Copyright 2005 Patricia TwitchellAbout
Patricia: Patricia Twitchell, aka The Teddy Bear Lady of Myrtle Creek, is the
proprietor of Just Bears and Stuff, a unique gift shop located in Myrtle Creek,
Oregon. As one of the main Boyd's Platinum Bear Dealers in Oregon, Just Bears
and Stuff has one of the best selections of specialty gifts for family, friends,
co-workers and customers. Receive "Beary Special Moments" a free online teddy
bear facts and tips e-zine by visiting www.justbearsandstuff.comWorking a
room...if only it could be fun...or at least guaranteed productive. I am
referring to that mandatory event that requires us to mix and mingle, to meet
and greet.Command performance events like a cocktail party, a business dinner,
or a charity event can feel stiff and uncomfortable. Very few people actually
enjoy walking into a room full of strangers.So why put yourself through that
torture? Well for one thing, Nathan Keyfitz, professor of sociology at Harvard
observes, "Social skills will be of even greater importance for economic success
in the future. The most successful people will be those who can communicate and
connect best."Put another way, it's free advertising, and you control the
entire message. Is it sometimes uncomfortable? Absolutely, but the upside is
huge. The more you put yourself in networking situations, the easier it becomes
and the greater the professional, social, and personal benefits.Here is a
condensed guide for working a room:Approach every networking opportunity with
the attitude that it is going to be fun. While no single event is guaranteed to
change your life, any single event could. Remember, success is measured by
percentages, not perfection. Who isn't attracted to someone who is smiling,
laughing, and enjoying him or herself!Be Prepared. Be clear about your
objectives. Keep focus on your purpose in being there. Don't be easily
distracted from the outcome you have in mind.Next, don't wait for others to
approach you. Yes, I know it is a bit uncomfortable for some, perhaps you. So
think about how great you feel when someone takes the initiative to walk up to
you and introduces themselves. Then you do the same.Acquire and practice several
good conversation openers. The best technique is art of asking intelligent
questions that convey the impression there is depth and style to your
personality. Show them that they could benefit by getting spending more time
with you.When you make an interesting contact, focus all your attention on that
single person. Don't let your eyes wander around the room. Keep eye contact
and actively listen. Give that person the sense that you have been waiting all
evening just to meet them. In other words, make them feel important.Learn the
art of small talk. Call it chit chat or even foreplay if you like. Its purpose
is to put people at east. It starts with finding an area of common interest.
This means knowing just the right questions to ask, and at precisely the right
moment. Always remember, small talk doesn't teach, preach, or try to impress.
It is just light and easy conversation.Do your homework. If possible review the
names of the people attending, their spouses or partners, their affiliations. If
you can recall any prior contacts, refer to that to open the conversation. That
will appreciate the fact that you remember.Finally, common sense tells us not
arrive late, drink too much, dress too casually, or push your agenda
excessively. Don't glue yourself to one person the whole night just because
they are fascinating, mingle.Few things personally or professionally happen by
accident. Consider going to your next command performance (that's what it is)
totally prepared. Then watch how much fun you can have when you know why you are
there, and can tell your story with style and humor, persuasively.Copyright
2005 Oscar BruceAbout Oscar: Oscar Bruce is considered the ultimate personal
communications guru. His dynamic books are field manuals for managing
conversation or confrontations. His website offers verbal strategies that can
add power to your conversations. His FREE newsletter is available at
http://oscarbruce.comCredit scores are the most important aspect that determines
your financial future. Carrying a good credit score is an asset and can pave
your future towards greener pastures. On the other hand a negative marking on
your credit report can be ruinous for your future dreams. However, "There
Isn't Much anyone can do for those who will not Do Something for themselves."
The same is applicable for credit scores. Your prime aim is to maintain a good
credit score and lead a planned life.How to assist myself to have a good credit
scoreTo have a clear knowledge about your credit score, it is a good idea to get
your credit report from the credit bureaus once a year. This will ensure your
credit is being reported correctly. Usually the credit scores are within 400 to
850. If your credit scores are higher, your eligibility to get approved in a
loan also gets higher in priority.Credit scores consider 5 main categories for
scoring consideration and are rated according to importance:Payment History
-35%;Length of History -15%;Amounts Owed -30%;New Credit -10%;Types of Credit
-10%.Correlation between the Credit Score and DefaultersMost lenders consider
people having credit score above 650 to be prime borrowers. This means they will
most likely be approved at favorable interest rates. According to credit report
from Equifax, 71% of the people with a credit score from 500-550 will default on
their credit. Another 51% of buyers with a credit score from 550-600 will also
default on their credit. Those individuals having credit scores of 650 or more
is considered to have a decent credit score.More than 2 million credit reports
are issued each business day in the United States, allowing millions of
consumers to purchase homes, cars and other durable goods and services on
credit.In the only statistically valid study conducted to date, Arthur Andersen
concluded that in only two-tenths of one percent of the over 15,000 cases
studied, where consumers denied a benefit based on an error in their credit
report.- Experian's credit files contain records on approximately 205 million
credit-active consumers.- Each month, there are more than 4.5 billion updates to
credit report information throughout the U.S.- The American credit databases are
the most accurate and secure in the world.- There are over one billion credit
reports issued annually.- Credit reporting saves the average person from 200
basis points on their mortgage loan.In any part if the world it is very easy to
stack up a large debt. Private debts on homes, cars and credits have ballooned
through the sky. At such a juncture when people are undergoing the syndrome of
easy to pile up and difficult to clear like dirty linens, one should be overtly
conscious of their credit score.For better insight on the effect of credit
scores please
view:http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/credit-score.htmlhttp://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/credit-counseling.htmlCopyright
2005 Janet WilliamsAbout Janet: Janet Williams is a contributing writer to
http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com and is currently working on a special
section in the site called do it yourself where you can eliminate your debts and
become debt free. Email: sarah@debtconsolidationcare.comIn the new millennium
plastic money or credit cards has rendered a new zing factor to your pocket.
This has not only made you economically more flexible but subsequently added
glamour to your financial image as well. No more bulging out hip pockets with
excess of liquid cash. Instead, the slimmer your pocket; the smarter you look.
But behind all these inviting attributes of credit cards there seems to be a
trap laid out for people who are impulsive and careless
(http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/avoidcardtraps.html)The usage of credit
cards have been on the highest spree this decade and along with the usage, the
debt rates has also somersaulted sky high. Majority of the citizens of the U.S.
owe thousands of dollars as credit card bills. While gross dollar volume on bank
credit cards has increased 2.5 times since 1994, the average transaction has
increased about 16% over the past decade. The average transaction on a general
purpose credit card, carrying the VISA, MasterCard, American Express, or
Discover brand, is now approaching $102, compared to $87 in 1994.23rd Dec. 2004
is termed as Black Thursday and is poised to be a voluminous day in credit card
usage in 2004. On this day Americans have used credit and debit cards to pay for
nearly $12 billion. This computes to an average of more than $8 million per
minute; however it could easily top $20 million per minute during peak hours.In
the present era credit card debt carried by an average American is about $8,562
(Approx.). The total U.S. credit card debt in the first quarter of 2002 was
approximately $60 billion (Approx.). Total finance charges Americans paid in
2001is $50 billion (Approx.).Recently, the New York Times examined how the use
of credit has taken off dramatically in the United States since 1990. While the
number of people holding charge cards grew about 75 percent. This went up from
82 million in 1990 to 144 million in 2003 and the amount they charged during
that period grew by a much larger percentage. It is approximately 350 percent,
from $338 billion to $1.5 trillion.Nellie Mae, the nation's largest maker of
student loans says that the average undergraduate student has $2,200 in credit
card debt. That figure jumps to $5,800 for graduate students. David Sandor, a
vice president at Visa USA, says that only 54 percent of college students pay
off their credit card balances every month.The average credit card interest rate
is around 18.9%. Approximately half of all credit card holders pay only their
minimum monthly requirements. There are a total of 1.2 billion credit and retail
cards in North America. The number of credit card holders who declared
bankruptcy last year was a huge 1.3 million.Credit cards have undoubtedly given
us better mileage in handling our finance; it has made us mobile and flexible in
cash handling. But it is extremely important to make proper utilization of this
plastic money. There lies a big black trench of debts if you use it recklessly.
These slim plastic cards can often be the cause of bulk debts if one is
impulsive or unwise.For better insight in this topic please
view:http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/card-starter.htmlhttp://www.debtconsolidationcare.com/card-counseling.htmlCopyright
2005 Janet WilliamsAbout Janet: Janet Williams is a contributing writer to
http://www.debtconsolidationcare.com and is currently working on a special
section in the site called do it yourself where you can eliminate your debts and
become debt free. Email: sarah@debtconsolidationcare.comFHA offers the most
popular home loan programs among first time home buyers. This is mainly because
of the low down payment and easy qualifying criteria.FHA, which stands for
Federal Housing Administration, is a governments backed loan. Most people are
not aware that FHA does not provide loans. Instead, the loan which your lender
provides to you, will be backed up and insured by FHA.In other words, if you
default on your loan, your lender will be covered by FHA insurance funding. This
represents the main reason why it's easier to qualify for the FHA Loan
Program.Normally the only criteria's that a lender will request in order to
qualify for the program include:* 1. Credit Score. A credit score above 575,
which is poor but moderate credit. Also, they will expect you not to have any
derogatory accounts on your credit report. All past collections should be paid
off upon submission of loan application.* 2. Good and stable employment history.
You will need at the least two years at your current position and or two years
of employment history in the same line of work.* 3. Down payment. You need
funding to pay for closing cost and down payment cost. The closing cost normally
range from 2-3% of home value and the down payment averages around 3% or more of
the home value. There are FHA programs that offer zero down loans.The amount
your lender will lend to you depends on your income and the amount of your
current debt. FHA figures your loan amount based on your monthly income and
total debt combined with future mortgage expenses. They request that all of your
debt not exceed 45% of your monthly income. This amount includes PITI
(principal, interest, tax, and insurance.For example:If your gross monthly
income is 4500.00, your monthly mortgage and debts can not exceed 2025.00. If
you current debt averages 1000.00, you will only qualify for a monthly mortgage
not to exceed 1025.00 including PITI.Most lenders are strict with this criterion
and will ask to see two years of W2's and six months to a year of pay stubs;
in order to verify your monthly income is stable and does not fluctuate per
month.To get the best benefits of the FHA loan program find a lender that is
most compatible with your current financial and credit situation.Copyright 2005
John WilliamsResource box: A great, low interest mortgage rate can be found, if
you know where to look. Discover useful information and advice on Mortgages for
home loans. Click ==> http://www.mortgagerates-info.com/Considering filing
bankruptcy? If your finances are in ruins and you're considering filing
bankruptcy, there's a few things you should know.Bankruptcy is not your only
option. Millions of people credit is devastated by bankruptcy every year. Though
filing a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy will clear you of any obligation to creditors, it
is devastating to your credit and will ride your credit report for ten
years.There are several alternatives to bankruptcy depending on your current
situation. You may consider:Debt Consolidation- Debt Consolidation is an easy
and timely alternative. A Debt Consolidation Counselor will evaluate your
current situation and past debt and develop a budget for you.They will negotiate
payment options with your creditors and simply provide you with the alternative
to make one easy monthly payment to them and they will disburse the payment
among your creditors. The benefits include:* Usually, a lower monthly payment*
Lower percentage rates* Debt payoff in a timelier manner* Less contact from
creditors or no contact from creditors* You will be able to keep your credit at
satisfactory standards versus the harsh impact a bankruptcy would have on it*
You're able to obtain new credit* And with the money you save with the
advantage of a lower monthly payment plan you can contribute to a Savings
Account or Retirement AccountThe above benefits are just a few of the benefits
of Debt Consolidation versus Bankruptcy.Another alternative is a Personal Loan
or Debt.Consolidation Loan. This is one large loan to pay off smaller loans or
debts. With one large loan, you will normally have a lower percentage rate and a
longer pay off period. The benefits include:* The ability to pay off debts in
full* No more harassing phone calls from creditors* Your credit will be saved
from derogatory accounts and collections * Low percentage rateHowever, in order
to obtain a Personal Loan or Debt Consolidation Loan you will need satisfactory
credit. Though there are alternative to filing bankruptcy; in some cases,
bankruptcy is the only option.Before deciding whether to file bankruptcy or
consolidate, consult a financial advisor. He or she should be able to give you
advice after evaluating your situation and current credit standings.Copyright
2005 John WilliamsResource box: Discover the debt consolidation alternatives to
Bankruptcy. Find out useful advice and information. Click ==>
http://www.debtconsolidation-easy.com/Managing money and paying creditors on
time is difficult for most people. There's temptation every where we look. In
most cases, it is unexpected expenses or events that impair our budget. Such
as:Illness, followed by doctor bills; death of a loved one, car troubles, home
repairs, braces for the kids and the list can go on and on. The fact is, no one
expects to become financially troubled. It seems to sneak up on you at the worse
of times.You may believe that bankruptcy is your only option. It is true, filing
a Chapter 7 Bankruptcy will clear you of any obligations to creditors; however,
bankruptcy is devastating to your credit and time consuming.There's other
options available, such as, debt consolidation.Debt consolidation is a broad
term. There are different types of consolidation that may be compatible to your
needs, such as:* Government Debt Consolidation* Debt Consolidation Loans* Non
Profit Debt Consolidation.Depending on your situation and financial stability
will determine the most appropriate consolidation program for you.Debt
consolidation is the process of using one large loan to pay off smaller ones.
Normally, you will receive a lower interest rate, lower monthly payments;
however, you may have a longer repayment period.On the other hand, you will not
have your daily life interrupted by harassing creditors. You can use the money
you save with debt consolidation to pay your current living expenses.You may
decide to invest the money you have available into a Savings Account. Other
benefits will include:* One low monthly payment,* Lower interest rates,* No
negotiating with creditor or making paymentarrangements,* Less stress,* Less of
your personal time used on creditors,* Credit score not impaired by bankruptcy*
And best of all the satisfaction of being able to pay your bills and work your
way out of financial ruins.So don't despair if your debts seem too much to
handle. Debt consolidation can be your way back towards financial
freedom.Copyright 2005 John WilliamsResource box: Discover the debt
consolidation alternatives to Bankruptcy. Find out useful advice and
information. Click ==> http://www.debtconsolidation-easy.com/It's no
surprise that thousands of Americans are victimized by identity theft each year.
What are we actually doing to protect ourselves from identity theft?Many of us
don't think about it and some may not even know what it is. The fact is it
happens. Identity thieves victimize thousands of people each day. Causing havoc
and destruction to all it seeks.Last year over 9,000,000 people suffered
devastation caused by identity theft; averaging over 45 billion dollars
yearly.As modern technology advance and become more sophisticated; identity
thieves advance and become more sophisticated. By taking advantage of expensive,
yet adequate technologies and software, these introducers are able to become
undetectable.By the time the average person realizes they have become a victim
of identity theft; it is too late. By this point, the victim financial stability
and credit ranking may be impacted significantly.The truth is that the number of
victims is growing everyday and there is no absolute solution; however, there
are simple steps that can be taken to limit your chances of becoming a victim.*
The most important step in guarding yourself from identity theft is to keep your
confidential information confidential. Social Security Numbers, Credit Card
Numbers, Bank Account Information or any other confidential information should
never be given to unknown companies or unidentified individuals.Never tell
anyone your personal information over the phone or send it through email, nor
fax. Most legitimate companies will not request this information from you via
phone or any other unprotected source.If you are an online consumer, always make
sure that you have a secure connection with the online eCommerce site, before
submitting your credit card information and other identifiable information.
Irresponsible credit card usage is the most common way to fall victim of
identity theft.* Monitoring your credit report monthly is a great step in
stopping introducers in their tracks. By keeping close tabs on your credit
activity you may be able to prevent major damages to your credit and financial
wealth.* Important documents containing your confidential information should be
kept in safe, unexposed places. Even in the privacy of your own home, documents
with such content should not be exposed. You may opt to use P.O. Box or Private
Mail Boxes to send private documents.By following these steps you can lower your
risk of becoming an identity theft victim. Being informed is the most valuable
protection against identity theft.Copyrights 2005 John WilliamsResource box:
Discover useful advice and information about low interest credit cards. What to
look out for, and how to find the best low interest deals. Click ==>
http://www.lowinterestcreditcardsinfo.com/While most people use the phrase "bad
debt" to refer to a lot of debt, or just owing a lot of money, this phrase
actually has a very specific use when it comes to financial issues. Bad debt in
this case is a debt that cannot be collected. This usually happens when the
person who owes the money goes bankrupt, and does not have the ability to pay
toward the debt.If you are a creditor and the person who owes you money declares
bankruptcy, this bad debt can be a problem. After all, even though a good deal
of the remaining estate will be separated out to the many different creditors,
you will probably not get all of the money that you are owed. For this reason,
most creditors try to work with the debtor in order to make it possible to pay
back the debt - that way, they'll get all of the money back, instead of just
a little.If you owe money and you do not believe that you can pay it, it might
sound like a good idea to have that debt declared as a bad debt. However, this
is not the case, as declaring bankruptcy can have lasting effects on your
financial situation, whereas being in debt and working to pay off your debts can
actually be beneficial in the long run.When you have a bad debt, it makes a big
hit on your credit history. This can be a big problem, especially if you need to
get a credit card or a loan. In fact, the credit history can effect pretty much
anything you do in the financial world, including mortgages, buying a car, and
being able to take out a much needed loan. Therefore, you should do whatever you
can to make sure that you'll be able to pay off the debts you have.To prevent
bad debt, you should first minimize the number of debts you incur to begin with.
For instance, if you can possibly avoid buying something, then you should wait
until after you've saved the money for it, instead of buying on credit. If
you already have a lot of debt, then you should look at some of the debt
solutions, for instance, debt consolidation.Copyright 2005 Jakob JellingAbout
Jakob: Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.cashbazar.com. Visit his
website for the latest on personal finance, debt elimination, budgeting, credit
cards and real estate.Chase Credit is an important company if you're thinking
about starting any sort of a credit reporting company. The reason for this is
that this company offers all the technology that you need at a price that your
business should be able to afford. Not only that, but the company does not
require for you to purchase any special software or hardware - you can use their
technology with the computer and software that you already have.Therefore, if
you're going to start a credit reporting agency, you should get in touch with
Chase Credit right away. This technology is so easy to use that once you've
learned it, you won't need to learn anything else. Not only that, but the
usage plans are very flexible. Either your company can maintain the system
pieces that you intend on using - or you can let Chase Credit do all of the work
for you so that you only have to worry about dealing with your clients. Finally,
this plan is set up so that you can change the way information is processed to
lower the amount of time it takes for you to process credit reports.If you're
not looking into starting your own credit reporting agency, there is a different
Chase company that you should look into. This company offers Chase credit that
might be right for you or your small business. These credit cards are easy to
apply for. Not only that, but the website even offers you tools to find out
which credit card will be right for you. Don't apply for a card that you
won't be able to use. Instead, compare the credit cards that are offered by
Chase to find the one that will work for you.If you're not necessarily
looking for Chase credit cards either, don't worry. The Chase company also
offers several other services that you may need. For instance, if you're
looking to get a mortgage or student loan, then Chase probably has what
you're looking for. You can even go to Chase if you need help with your
retirement planning - and you definitely don't want to be without proper
planning in that area of your life!Copyright 2005 Jakob JellingAbout Jakob:
Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.cashbazar.com. Visit his website for
the latest on personal finance, debt elimination, budgeting, credit cards and
real estate.One of the worst things that can happen to you is credit card fraud.
This is even worse if you don't pay very much attention to your credit
reports, since you may not find out about the fraud until there are very serious
problems to deal with. Even if it's possible to get out of paying for most of
the fraudulent purchases that are made on your card, you will often have to pay
for some of them - and you will have to go through the hassle of dealing with a
stolen credit card if you're not careful.One of the major places where credit
card fraud happens now is online. Therefore, you should be very careful about
the companies that you give your credit card number to. Ideally, you should
figure out a way to avoid giving out your credit card number at all. There are
several payment services online that will help you make your online payments
without giving out your credit card number to unauthorized parties.You should
also make sure that if you are entering your credit card number that it is being
entered into the right field on the right page, and that it is being sent over a
secure connection. If the connection is not secure, then anybody online might be
able to find the information that you sent.Another place where credit card fraud
is common is over the phone. For this reason, you should avoid giving your
credit card number to people or companies over the phone if at all possible. You
should also listen to your instincts regarding the phone and internet. If you
have any doubts about the safety of giving your credit card number, then you
should probably not do so. After all, when it comes to things like fraud,
you're much better off safe than sorry.If you do find that there are charges
on your credit card that you don't remember making, then you might be a
victim of credit card fraud. Luckily, there are a lot of options to people who
think that their credit card might be stolen. The first thing you should do if
you think that your card or card number has been stolen is to call up your
credit card company and immediately cancel the card. This will keep the person
who has stolen your card from using it anymore. While you'll still have to
deal with what has already been done with your card, you will at least have
limited the damage.To keep yourself from being a victim of credit card fraud,
however, the most important thing to do is just to use common sense. If
something seems shady, then it probably is, and you shouldn't risk your
credit card number if you are unsure of the situation.Copyright 2005 Jakob
JellingAbout Jakob: Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.cashbazar.com.
Visit his website for the latest on personal finance, debt elimination,
budgeting, credit cards and real estate.You ask, "Okay, I'm starting a small
homebased business, not a huge million dollar International Conglomerate! But
should I incorporate or keep it a proprietorship?" Actually, there are arguments
in favor of either decision. This argument will be in favor of the
proprietorship.The first thing is that you need to know there is a totally
different set of laws, regulations and tax law that governs proprietorships and
corporations. And for the small business entrepreneur the tax advantages offered
during the first 5 years are enormous. After 5 years you are expected to begin
showing a profit but this is not necessarily "written in stone". Let's take a
closer look at some of the advantages of a proprietorship.If I were to show you
how a one-time $439 USD investment could gain you from $1000 to $2500 in tax
refunds and write offs per year would you be interested in learning more? Okay,
here goes.If you are a blue or white collar worker, a doctor, lawyer or other
professional, can you write off on your taxes the gas and other travel and
parking expenses you accumulate driving to and from work? Your lunch expenses?
Your home office? Travel and vacations? Any part of your household utilities
expenses?The answer is NO - you cannot write these expenses off your income
tax.If you start a business, a proprietorship, working out of your home, call it
"your name consulting" or whatever seems to fit best, you are now able to write
off all of the following:Automobile mileageGasolineOther car maintenance% of
automobile depreciation*Home office (as a % of your home)% of home utilities
expenses& of your home telephone billEntertainment expensesVacation
expensesMeals*100% of a Leased CarAnd more, these are just the bigger ones.There
are, of course, conditions. You cannot go on vacation and simply "write off" all
of your vacation expenses. You must "share the information" about your product
or service with others while you are on vacation --- more than just "passing out
business cards --- and you must also keep records of every contact you make.
This will also help you with follow-ups.These contacts, with whom you are
sharing the details of your business service or product, are the contacts that
will validate your write off. You should have at least two a day while on
vacation. Who? The barber, your golfing partners, beautician, people you meet in
the store or casually just about anywhere? All you have to do is talk to people,
share your information and you have succeeded. You will be surprised, also, by
how many will want to join you? But you must keep records of these contacts.The
same goes for your gasoline, insurance, depreciation and repairs and maintenance
write-offs. You must keep accurate records of mileage. Your start mileage,
destination(s), people contacted or business conducted, and finish mileage.
Then, at the end of the year, you need to compute what percentage of your
automobile use (based upon business and total mileage) was business. That is the
percentage of total automobile expenses you are able to write off.For the
telephone you have a different situation altogether. You must get a business
line. This can be accomplished one of two ways. Either by a cell phone or by a
second phone line installed. There are several arguments for both but the most
telling one is the convenience of the cell phone. With a separate "business
phone" you are able to write off the entire expense.But with the cell phone you
must keep track of all personal calls. The advantage of the cell phone is that
you have it with you and can advise your clients that you are on the way,
running late because, etc. And keep in touch with your home base while you are
out and pick up any messages which may have been left at your home number.This
applies, also, to your home. You are allowed to write off all home expenses in
the amount that your business office at home is a percentage of your total home
space. So if your home is 2000 sq. ft., and your office is 200 sq. ft., you may
write off 10 percent of your total household expenses. This includes rent or
mortgage payment and all utilities.If you keep your meticulous records, take
your "working vacation" every year and "do your business" all the time, you
stand to save from $1000 to $2500 on your income taxes every year, for at least
the first 5 years.If you can start your business for under $1000, and keep your
business going for under $1000 a year, you are in a plus situation where your
business is actually making you a profit --- even though it is technically a
loss --- every year for at least the first five years.Copyright 2004 Windy Dawn
Marketing and Windy WindbladAbout Loring: Loring Windblad is a published author,
columnist, freelance writer and successful HBB entrepreneur over the past 40
years. His latest HBB involvement is with Organic Greens.
http://www.organicgreens.usIt's great to have a challenging and interesting
hobby such as origami, papier-mch sculpting, fine art painting and/or
sketching, rockhounding, photography, or jewelry making. It's even more
exciting to have a specialty in one of these fields that no one else has, and
then to turn your special talents into a successful home-based business. It's
gratifying indeed to be able to take two or more of these and combine them into
a paying proposition.That's exactly what Loring Windblad of Sierra Vista, AZ,
did.But these aren't isolated stories. Men and women across the country are
joining the ranks of entrepreneurs converting hobbies into moneymaking
propositions. It's important to note that none of these women originally
planned to start a business. On the contrary, interest by others in their
hobbies convinced them to sell their work.LORING WINDBLAD'S CUSTOM-BUILT
COMPUTER BUSINESSLoring Windblad spent 20 years in the US Army in Electronics,
and retired from that position on January 1st, 1976. But in the course of those
20 years additional skills were picked up including teaching (electronics),
typing (over 100 wpm), general writing and technical writing (electronics and
communications, lesson plans, etc), photography and even SCUBA diving.Years and
miles later (read on below, also) found Loring in Canada playing in a major
bridge tournament but also renewing acquaintance with his first love, whom he
met in 1952. Strange things happened and they got married in June of 1990 and
began their own business in July of 1990. The business took on a form of its
own, evolving from humble beginnings into a Desktop Publishing and Graphic
Design endeavor by September, when they purchased their own computer and landed
their first big job starting October 1st.That same Friday night, September 30th,
was portentous in several ways. Loring played his baseball games for his
computer baseball league and then shut the computer down at midnight and went to
bed. When the computer was turned on at 8 am to start the new job, nothing
happened. Dead. No computer working. Obviously a dead power supply? No? Actually
yes. The computer was two weeks old, under total warranty, but nothing could be
done warranty wise over the weekend. So Loring called around to every computer
business in the area and found one open on a Saturday morning, drove there,
found a power supply that looked exactly like the one in the computer at home,
made a deal to "rent it" for a week until a replacement could be gotten on
warranty, took it home and put it in the computer.It worked! The job began, a
few hours late but on the day it was supposed to begin. And a new career was
launched, even though we didn't know it at the time.Calling upon his 20 years
of experience plus lots of long talks with the Custom Computer Builder who had
sold them their first computer, Loring slowly learned about computers and how to
build them. Then, in 1992, a friend of a friend wanted a new computer. Loring
"custom built" a computer for him, a brand new 486 CPU "screamer" type. The
client was well satisfied. Time passed. Friends later in the year wanted
computers, so Loring built them new computers. By 1994 Loring was building 5-6
custom computers a month, most months, in the "high profit" days of computers
when they paid $400 or more profit per computer.One of the biggest things was
finding wholesale suppliers for a new computer builder to purchase quality
components from. With a little help from their original computer salesman, i.e.,
making careful notes on everything he told them, June and Loring developed a
list of possible suppliers, then applied for re-seller status. And sure, there
were periods when no computers were sold as well as months when 6-8 were sold.
It was obviously a struggle, but a good one.Networking became a way of life.
June joined all the women's networking groups and Loring joined all the
missed networking groups. Both made presentations and work came in, both desktop
publishing and new computers. From 1995 to 1998 Loring sold an average of 25-30
computers a year. However, by 1998 the profit margin was falling out of
computers, the days of $400 were gone. By 1999 the margin was down to $100 a
computer and when you are servicing a computer for 3 years warranty service on a
total of $100 it starts getting pretty old pretty quick.The sales kept up for a
while, but by 2001 new technology, low profits and pending retirement for June
and Loring caused a re-think of priorities. By the end of 2002 building custom
computers was a thing of the past and a new era of life retirement was upon
us. But the trip to and through building computers has been a fascinating
one.LORING WINDBLAD'S PHOTOGRAPHY VENTUREWay back when Loring first met June
he learned that June knew how to not only take pictures but to develop and print
those pictures in her basement darkroom. Never one to take a back seat when he
could be learning something new, when Loring a few years later went to Vietnam
in the Army he took up photography, including learning how to develop and print
his photographs. This was 1965 to 1967. And in 1966 Loring helped to establish
and run the unit photo hobby shop in Vietnam.When Loring returned to the US he
became an electronics instructor at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, and he quickly
made contact with the Post Photo Hobby Shop and got a part time job, thus
learning more about photography for himself but also helping to teach others the
fine art of photography.Loring's next posting was to Panama where he
continued with the local Post Photo Hobby Shop as a Photo and Color Printing
Instructor for 2 years, and also picking up work as a free-lance photographer.
Loring soon began photographing such things as kids visiting with Santa, then
developing and printing and delivering the photos, Then action work such as
youth Karate matches, Pop Warner football games, Little League baseball games,
and both team and individual photos. And, of course, weddings. All these photo
endeavors paid surprisingly well, and Loring was soon not only very busy but
making enough money to more than support his photography needs. And teaching
helped keep Loring up with everything in the photography field so soon everyone
with a question about cameras and photography was coming to him.Being around
military bases there was always opportunity for youth sporting event
photography. And wedding photography. From 1970 thru about 1977 Loring did a
pretty brisk business in photography, made a lot of friends and took a lot of
pictures. And made a pretty good "extra income" that not only paid for all his
cameras and supplies but provided a lot of extra money supplementing his
income.But it was hard work and long hours and Loring's son, silver smithing
and rockhounding were getting in the way. The transition was made leaving
photography behind and embracing a new business jewelry making and silver
smithing.LORING WINDBLAD'S SILVER-SMITHING BONANZALoring was always a rock
collector. This gave him an eye for rocks that were different everywhere he
went. As a soldier in the US Army he managed to live in France for four years,
Panama for five years, and Southeast Asia (Vietnam) for 2 years, as well as
extensive periods from coast to coast across the United States including
California, Georgia, New Jersey, Kansas and Arizona.Loring was divorced while he
was in Vietnam when his son was three. Eight years later, in August of 1975, his
ex- called and said, "I can't handle your son any more. You've got to take
him!" Without getting into gory details."Well, ok", and his son came to Arizona
to live with him.Loring, Jr., was an excellent artist and got straight A's in
art in school. He was now in a new environment and Windy, as a way of keeping
his son's interest up in the arts and new things, began taking Jr. and his
friends out on camping and sightseeing trips in the Arizona desert. Loring also
was taking Geology courses with the local Junior College, and began imparting
that knowledge to his son and his son's friends while on their outings in the
desert and mountain country of SE Arizona, the Basin and Range
country.Rockhounding gave the desert jaunts with his son extra meaning.
Identification of various kinds of rocks and geological formations soon were
followed with explorations of the old turquoise mines and an education in the
copper-related gemstones of turquoise, malachite, azurite and chrisocolla. Use
of the Army's lapidary hobby shop led to cutting slabs of the stones,
revealing hidden patterns, then cutting the stone slabs into cabochons enhancing
the pattern intricacies.What are cabochons without jewelry? Silver smithing
classes followed and then Junior turned his cabochons into some jewelry pieces
for his mother and sister. Then came wax carving and lost wax casting, running
the full gamut of classes and skills available. In order to keep expenses down
Windy located wholesale outlets which supplied him with components to assemble
jewelry such as chains, pendants, findings, etc.After two years, Junior decided
it was time to move back with his mother and Windy was left with all sorts time,
of jewelry skills and pieces of original jewelry building up, some pieces rather
unique. He turned to the local flea market and soon established himself as a
regular jewelry maker, attending almost every weekend. Sales increased, and soon
Windy began his jewelry business, The Stonewerkes, Southwest Originals in Wood
and Stone. He was attending weekend flea markets and Art in the Park and Craft
shows all over Arizona to sell his products. And he built up a chain of 8
businesses in two states which also handled his jewelry on consignment.Loring
actually took his "rockhounding" hobby turned jewelry business a large step
further. He subscribed to all the commercial and trade magazines as well, and
then combined his talents as a photographer and as a writer, photographed his
silver smithing and lapidary projects, wrote photo-journalism articles on "how
to" silver smithing projects and then sold them to the magazines.Loring says
"You never know when what you do as a hobby can end up being a very profitable
business. Over the past 40 years I have had the rare pleasure of turning three
hobbies into professions: photography, electronics and now rockhounding. And
using other skills such as technical writing and typing in those endeavors. From
humble beginnings."Copyright 2004 http://www.organicgreens.us and Loring
WindbladAbout Loring: Loring Windblad is a published author, columnist,
freelance writer and successful HBB entrepreneur over the past 40 years. His
latest HBB involvement is with Organic Greens.http://www.organicgreens.usIf you
spend any time online surfing the Internet or any time reading magazines that
deal with business topics, you will more than likely run across countless
business opportunity offerings --- the headlines will scream out at you "FREE
this and FREE that and FREE! FREE! FREE!"Here's one such ad (copied directly
from a published articlethere's many more).Free home based business by Mehdi
HeidariIt is completely free home based business. We make your website free and
teach you through our internet marketing course, secrets of internet
millionaires, get out of debt system and much much more to promote your
businessAbout the Author Mehdi Heidari was born in 1979 in Aarhus Denmark and
then immigrated to Canada. He is a successful man in his home based business and
helps the other people to make their home based business for free.His headline
is "Free Home Based Business. His first explanation is "completely free home
based business. We make your website free" OK, so everything's "FREE"!Not
quite,,,,,,Remember, there's no free lunches left in the world anymore. They
even shut down the free meals in Las Vegas.His hook? The very next statement is
"and teach you through our internet marketing course." They're giving away a
free home business, yes, and they're giving away a free internet web site,
yes (it'll cost later, of course). But they pay for this through sales of the
course, a course which you purchase. Not free.I used to have my web site hosted
"Free" on well, I won't mention them because I'm not interested in giving
out free advertising. But while it was "free" to me, someone was paying the
hosting fee and in a way I was "paying" for it too.I "paid for my 'free'
web site" with pop up ads which came up on my web pages every time you moved to
a new page or every 30 seconds, whichever came first. I paid in inconvenience,
someone else paid in the cash it took to host the web site --- the persons who
were putting the pop-up ads on. Hey, they had a good deal with me. I had nearly
200 pages up there. That's a whole lotta pop-up ads to be seen. A whole lotta
advertising paying for my little ol' web site.When anyone offers you
something for free, you are going to pay for it sooner or later --- there
aren't any free lunches left.So how much is the "free" going to cost? Well,
figure it out. Figure out how much the item really costs the person who is
giving it away. Then multiply that figure by at least 2X to 5X.. This will give
you a pretty good idea of the range of how much it's going to cost you.Just
as a "for example", I've spent my lifetime developing a "certain flair", a
"certain skill" as it were, both as a bridge player and as a writer. I'm
almost 70, so its most of my adult life that I've been learning to write
effectively. How much is that worth? Let's say I write a booklet sharing my
bridge secrets with you, teaching you how you can learn to play bridge as well
as I play. How much is that worth? Maybe $20? How about $15? For sure at least
$10. Now I give it away --- why? Only because you have purchased something from
me which pays me what I believe is fair value (a good profit for me) and I want
to "give you a gift that has extra value to you"!Are you beginning to get the
picture? No, I wrote my bridge book way back in 1968 and maybe I should write
another one now? But the point I was illustrating is that, if I did write a book
and if I then gave it away it would be to make you feel good about something you
were buying from me, something which made enough profit for me that I could
afford to give you something of value, something created out of my life's
experience.There are no free lunches -- and any time someone tries to convince
you that there is, look for the real cost of what you're getting and make an
educated decision on whether its really worth it. Is what you are paying for
what you are buying worth what you are getting "for FREE"?Oh, yes. I'm off of
the "free" hosting --- and I no longer have those annoying pop-up ads coming up
on my web site. Make sure that the next time someone offers you something "for
FREE" that you check it out and make sure it really is worth what you are paying
for it. Because you will be paying for it.Copyright 2004
http://www.organicgreens.us and Loring WindbladAbout Loring: Loring Windblad is
a published author, columnist, freelance writer and successful HBB entrepreneur
over the past 40 years. His latest HBB involvement is with Organic
Greens.http://www.organicgreens.usBy now you have heard the whole story about
marketing your products, services, or programs from someone who has been through
it all, just like you and I have.Yes it is very important to write articles, and
link with other websites, post messages and fill out all of your classified ads.
And don't forget about submission to search engines.It is so easy to get
turned around in a million different directions trying to make a profit.Just
keep in mind to be successful in your marketing strategies and to be able to
increase your sales, you must know "What Works For You".Whatever your business
provides, the internet is certainly full of successful business that knows "What
Works For Them", and have the ability to make people believe.I wish you all the
luck in developing your marketing strategies and in increasing your sales
positioning.It will take time; it will take effort; but done correctly with the
ability to make people believe it will be very rewarding.Copyright 2005 Rachel
HathornResource box: For more home business opportunities and a chance to become
more successful, visit:http://www.EasyImprove.org/pips.html9 Highly Effective
Marketing TipsBob LeducHere are 9 low-cost but highly effective marketing tips
to help you boost your sales and profits fast.Tip 1:Look for some low-cost ways
you can enhance the perceived value of your product or service. Then test
raising your price. Don't be surprised if both your sales and your profit
margin go up.Tip 2:Try to limit your customer's decision making to either
"Yes. I'll buy." or "No. I won't buy". Don't risk losing them by
including "which one" decisions. The more options you offer, the more likely
some customers will procrastinate and never make the decision ...causing you to
lose a sale needlessly.Tip 3:You can demonstrate a low cost for your product or
service by breaking down the price to its lowest time increment. For example,
"Enjoy all of this for less than 90 cents a day" (for something priced at $325 a
year).Tip 4:Add an unexpected bonus to every sales transaction just before
completing the sale. It prevents customers from developing any last minute
hesitation ...and changing their minds about buying.Tip 5:Print your best small
ad on a postcard and mail it to prospects in your targeted market. Postcards are
inexpensive and easy to use. Most recipients who ignore other types of
advertising will read a brief ad when it's delivered to them on a
postcard.Tip 6:Prospects who ask questions are usually close to buying. Take
advantage of this. Don't just answer their question. Include a reason for
them to buy as part of your answer. Then ask for the sale ...or tell them
exactly what to do to place their order.Tip 7:Collect testimonials from your
customers and use them in all your advertising. Testimonials provide evidence
that your product or service delivers the results you promise. For maximum
impact, use only testimonials that describe specific results the customer
enjoyed.Tip 8:Include "benefit rich" headlines on all your web pages. Many
visitors arrive at a web page then immediately click away ...unless something
instantly catches their attention.Tip 9:Continually test and evaluate everything
you use or do to promote your business. Allocate 80 percent of your advertising
budget to proven promotions. Use the other 20 percent for testing new
variations. Most businesses using this system continue growing - even in highly
competitive markets.Bonus Tip:Handle customer complaints quickly and with a
positive attitude. Strive to preserve your relationship with them instead of
your immediate profit from the transaction. They will reward you with repeat
sales and referrals ...instead of punishing you by telling everybody they know
about their unhappy experience and causing you to lose future customers.Each of
these marketing tips provides a simple, low-cost way for you to boost your sales
and profits quickly. All you have to do is to put them into action.Copyright
2005 Bob LeducAbout Bob: Bob Leduc spent 20 years helping businesses like yours
find new customers and increase sales. He just released a New Edition of his
manual, How To Build Your Small Business Fast With Simple Postcards ...and
launched *BizTips from Bob*, a newsletter to help small businesses grow and
prosper. You'll find his low-cost marketing methods at: http://BobLeduc.com
or call: 702-658-1707 After 10 AM Pacific Time/Las Vegas, NVThere's several
criteria a lender will use before deciding to lend to a borrower: especially, a
borrower with limited credit or credit less than perfect.These items will
include the borrowers:* FICO Score and Credit HistoryA lender will evaluate your
credit history to establish whether or not you are a high-risk borrower. If you
credit report states any derogatory accounts, it may be required by your lender
for those items to be resolved before a loan can be approved.Having a low FICO
Score or poor credit may result in higher interest rates and less than pleasing
loan program options, such as Subprime loans and loans that may require 10-30%
down payment.* Employment History and Current PositionMost lenders prefer to
lend to borrowers whom have a steady employment history. Also, lenders prefer a
borrower who has been on his or her current position for two years or more.This
prospect gives the lender a view of your financial situation and employment
reputation. A lender will be reluctant to approve a loan for an individual who
may have a reputation of changing careers or poor work history.* Current
DebtThough credit history and employment is essential to the approval of your
loan, current debt may be just as vital.Lenders will view your current debt,
such as, loans, credit cards, car note, child support orders, tax liens, etc.,
and compare it to your current income.Most lenders require that your debt not
exceed 40% of your monthly income. Not only will current debts lower the value
of your loan, but may result in denial of your loan.Depending on your situation,
you may find it difficult to meet all of the required criteria's that your
lender sets forth; however, some factors may out weigh others.For example: If
you are employed and have worked the same position for 10 years, have
substantial credit, but your current debt is 53% of your income- In this case,
you may still qualify for a zero down loan, with a descent percentage rate;
however, your lending amount may be lessthan you are requesting.The fact of the
matter is that every borrower is different. Criteria's, Regulations and Rules
will be different according to lending companies.As a borrower it will be your
responsibility to search and observe lending companies. For the best
scenario's to choose a lending company that is compatible with your
needs.Copyright 2005 Paul JohnsonResource box: Home equity loans can be great
way of raising finance. Sometimes you can raise finance, yet pay a lower rate
each month. But you need to know the pitfalls... Click ==>
http://www.homeequityloans-cheap.com/Everyone looks forward to the time they
will purchase their first home. It is a thrilling achievement at most. However,
how do you know when you are truly ready to purchase your first home? How do you
begin the process?There are several advertisements and commercial stating that
there is a home loan ready for you regardless of your situation. Think about it.
Who will give away something for nothing? These are false guarantees.When
purchasing your first home, you want to get the best loan program available to
meet your needs. The last thing you need is an extremely high mortgage due to
over the top interest rates. Before deciding to purchase your first home, there
are a few simple steps you may wish to evaluate:In order to qualify for the loan
that is most suitable to your needs you will need:* Established and Satisfactory
CreditYour credit is most valuable to you when applying for a home loan. With
above satisfactory credit, you will be able to choose a loan package of your
interest.You will be able to lock in on low interest rates and lower monthly
mortgage expense. Lenders will compete for your business if your credit is up to
par. With suitable credit, the lending process will be a breeze.* Stable Work
HistoryYour employment situation is as important as your credit, when applying
for a home loan. If you have stable work history and have been at your current
position for at the least two years, Lenders will view as a low risk and will
not hesitate to compete for your business. Your income also determines the
amount of loan you qualify for.* Current and Past DebtCurrent over extended
credit can actually play as a negative mark against you when applying for a home
loan. Lenders prefer that your current debt not to exceed 40% of your monthly
income. If you have minimum credit cards, car loans, personal loans balances,
you are viewed as a lowrisk by Lenders.By managing your credit and debt
properly, you are taking the correct initiatives and be on your way to
qualifying for the perfect home loan program that is compatible with your
needs.You will soon own your home, without the stress of high interest rates and
outrageous mortgage expense. Many people opt not to educate themselves a head of
time. They become manipulated by the idea that all credit is good credit and bad
credit is okay.The truth is bad credit qualifies you for bad loan programs, and
too much credit qualifies you for bad loan programs. Being educated
pays.Copyright 2005 John WilliamsResource box: A great, low interest mortgage
rate can be found, if you know where to look. Discover useful information and
advice on Mortgages for home loans. Click ==>
http://www.mortgagerates-info.com/Many of us have been there; desperate for cash
due to unexpected expenses or simply low on cash. Your next paycheck is two
weeks away, but your Electric Bill is due now.Sounds familiar? It may be easier
than you think to get the money you need, when you need it. Payday Loans are a
form of small short-term personal loans available through financial
institutions, usually check cashing franchises, until your next payday. Some
lenders may lend out to a month.There are several advantages. Such as:*
Convenience* Online Payday Loans* No Credit Checks* Speedy Turn Around- in most
cases, you walk in, fill out an application, the representative verifies your
information and you walk out with cash.* No long term commitments* No long time
consuming lending application and forms* Funds available immediately* Easy
qualification requirementsHowever, as well as the advantages, there are
disadvantages to Payday Loans. It is a fact that Payday Loans are quick and
convenient, but what about the down falls? Many people become addicted to Payday
Loans convenience and soon become caught up in the system.It starts with the
need for money immediately, and then soon you find yourself getting Payday Loans
from other lenders to pay off previous lenders. The common reason this happens
is because individuals will borrow more than they can pay back.Payday Loans
comes with extremely high fees. Usually, to borrow $50.00, you will need to pay
back $58.50 and to borrow $100.00 you will need to pay back $115.00. The average
fee is $15.00 per every $100.00. If you default on your payment, the lender will
cash the check you provided to get the loan.If the check does not clear, you
will be charged a bad check fee, typically $50.00 and a late penalty fee, which
varies. Not to mention, the fees your bank will charge you.The truth of the
matter is that a Payday Loan can devastate your financial status.If it is
necessary to obtain a Payday Loan, never borrow more than you need. Make sure
you have a strict plan on paying the money back.If you are unable to pay the
money back, speak with your lender and discuss a payment plan option. In most
cases, the lender will work out a payment plan with you, in order to receive
their money back.This solution will be easier and more stable versus the hassles
of collections attempts and paperwork.Copyright 2005 Paul JohnsonResource box:
Payday loans can be a quick and easy financial solution. But you need to know
what to look out for, and how to identify the best deals Click ==>
http://www.paydayloans-easy.com/Global Insight, a leading economic and financial
forecasting company, (formerly DRI-WEFA), states that all levels of government
(federal, state, and local) should see steady increases in the purchases of
goods and services through the year 2009.Vendors willing to make the commitment
to sell to government can reap the benefits of this projected government
spending.By the same token, government agencies able to expand and modernize
their procurement programs can reap the rewards of increased productivity, and a
reduction in the costs of goods and services.If you are a company looking to
efficiently market your goods or services, increase sales and receive targeted
sales opportunities, or if you are a government agency looking to simplify your
procurement process and increase vendor competition, there exist plenty of
opportunities in today's online procurement marketplace.Vendors: Consider
Selling to GovernmentIf you haven't considered selling to government, you are
missing out. With past events like the creation of the Department of Homeland
Security, and the slowing down of the private sector economy, more companies are
focusing on doing business with government agencies. Believe it or not, the most
reliable component of the economy right now is the government.The U.S. Federal
Government is the largest buyer in the world, and state and local governments
often make up a large percentage of their respective marketplaces In many
cities, government employs more people and buys more products and services that
any other entity.Doing business with government isn't just for corporate
giants, either. The U.S. Small BusinessAdministration (SBA) helps to ensure that
small businesses obtain a certain percentage of everything the government buys.
And despite budget crunches in many municipalities, state andlocal government
spending remains the largest in any single market in the nation.Deciding whether
to bid on a government contract can have far-reaching and long-term implications
for companies. It is crucial to reach the right decision - a decision which
contributes to the health of an organization. If a company decides to bid, it is
creating an opportunity to make money, enhance its reputation, gain experience
and cement a relationship with a major new customer.Where do Vendors Start?There
are literally tens of thousands of purchasing agencies to deal with, and it is
difficult to know where to begin. Unfortunately, bidding for lucrative
government contracts is a highly decentralized process. Companies used to have
to be on an agency's bidding list in order to be notified of a purchasing
opportunity.Now, with the expansion of electronic government and recent
government initiatives encouraging agencies to implement online procurement
systems, many agencies are making the move to e-procurement. However, even with
this move to online purchasing, identifying targeted bids can still be very
challenging for companies.Finding and monitoring bid notices is difficult
because they are posted in so many different places, and often not well
organized. Your business can spend a great deal of time surfing from one site to
the next trying to track down the right bid opportunities.In one area of
government bidding, however, an effort to create a government-wide point of
entry web site has resulted in an Internet purchasing marketplace called
FedBizOpps. As of October 1, 2001 the Federal government requires federal
agencies to use this system to post all their opportunities expected to exceed
$25,000.Although no such central web site exists for the over 87,000 state and
local government agencies in the country, there are services available that
match a company's criteria with agency bids on the Internet, then send this
information directly to them via email.The benefits of using a bid matching
service are detailed by Tammy Axlund, a Marketing Manager with Midland Resources
who says, "(Using a Bid) service has helped us build a national database to keep
track of the industry happenings throughout the country, rather than just our
region. We have also been able to win a few bids of which we had no prior
knowledge."Similarly, Teresa Eastman, the Inside Sales Manager for Accurate
Safety Distributors, Inc. states "I no longer have to spend my days looking for
bids individually, a needle in a haystack so to speak, instead (the bid service)
does it all and sends them to me daily."While no service can provide your
company with every bid opportunity from every state and local government agency,
bid matching services greatly reduce a vendor's time and money spent,
allowing for additional time to be used to respond to bids.e-Procurement
Benefits for Government: Save time, Save moneyIn the recent past most agencies
had to copy and mail their bid packages to any vendor who requested them, even
though many would decide not to bid. Using an online e-procurement system allows
agencies to simply provide vendors an electronic notice of their opportunities.
This results in a tremendous savings in postage, paper, and time.There have also
been new efforts to simplify the entire procurement process for government
agencies. For example, many agencies are having procurement systems customized
for them using the Internet, driven by the need to disclose. Agencies used to be
required to advertise all their requests for bid in the newspaper. But in recent
years, the statutes in many states changed to permit advertising on the Web
instead - which meets purchasing departments' requirements to make contract
information public.While posting bid information may seem like a lot of work, it
isn't a duplicate process for government agencies because their sites serve a
dual role as a vehicle for disclosure, and as their primary document archive.
And usually only a minimal staff is required to keep the site up to date.Karen
Storm, director of Purchasing for Albany County, NY, explains that since joining
the Capital Region Purchasing Group, an e-procurement system in upstate NY, "our
municipality has streamlined the bid distribution and vendor notification
processes. This has saved us hours of repetitive clerical tasks and has
significantly reduced our copying and mailing costs. Our vendors love the system
because it provides them immediate access to our information at little or no
cost."The City of Rochester Hills, Michigan, reports similar benefits,
explaining that they have realized a savings of over $355,000 by posting
approximately 85 solicitations from January to June of 2004 on their
e-procurement system, the Michigan Inter-Governmental Trade Network. And, the
Santa Rosa County School District Purchasing Department, which has been using an
e-procurement system since the fall of 2000, says "The biggest benefit we have
realized is that we no longer have to manage our bidder's list. Our old
bidder's list had grown to over 20,000 vendors, most of whom never responded
to solicitations. Managing the list was a burden that we do not miss!"Many
companies have been working with Purchasing Departments, to create customized
e-procurement systems like the ones described above, that simplify and expedite
the entire procurement process. And the best part is, they do this free of
charge.E-procurement systems provide many benefits for vendors as well. Vendors
simply register themselves online with a system and create a profile specific to
their products and/or services. Vendors then receive notices instantly by fax or
e-mail every time bids are issued that match their profile and are given the
ability to respond to quotes by fax or e-mail.Systems like this can save
companies significant amounts of time while increasing sales, it's also a
good way for tax dollars to help grow businesses of all sizes and generating new
profit centers. At the same time, government agencies benefit by decreasing
their spending, gaining more control and simplifying the procurement
process.What are you waiting for? The new era of "e-procurement" is here, and it
has significantly streamlined the entire bidding process for both buyers and
sellers alike.Copyright 2005 Christina DeMersAbout Christina: Christina DeMers
is the Marketing Coordinator for BidNet, a firm that has been providing services
for both government buyers and their vendors, for almost 20 years. More
information about BidNet can be found at their web site: http://www.bidnet.com
or by calling: (800)-677-1997.The source of frustration addressed in his article
may be all too familiar if you happen to work at an Internet-based home business
which relies on personal relationships and/or teamwork.I am often contacted by
members of my business team with a tale of woe regarding a lack of response from
their affiliates. It typically goes something like..."I send out lots of emails
to all of them and I very rarely get any response. What am I doing wrong".If
your particular internet business involves selling well known branded items,
personal feedback is not an issue. Visitors to your website (potential
customers) are primarily interested in selection, availability, and price. If it
is a returning customer, then you can also throw customer service into the
equation. Once the desired item is selected, your mouse does all the "talking"
without any human interaction involved.However, there are many types of
internet-based home businesses where feedback and interaction are quite
important and getting an affiliate or business team member to communicate with
you is a definite objective. It's not at all surprising that this can be a
challenge when you stop to think that what you are trying to do is initiate a
dialog between two complete strangers who have never even seen each
other.Heavily branded websites like walmart.com or amazon.com are household
names and carry an implied trust with visitors. However, the vast majority of
websites are not well known and are found and visited as a result of searches
performed by search engines. In these instances, the visitor is probably
arriving at the website for the first time and human nature often dictates a
sense of fear or suspicion of the unknown which is manifested by a reluctance to
respond to email messages from an unknown party.It seems that there is no pat
answer as to the best way to elicit an initial email response from a person. I
have tried several approaches with varying degrees of success. Individual styles
will vary, but the following four points should be kept in mind:*you need to
build trust & credibility with thorough knowledge of your business and with
straight forward talk about realistic expectations*don't over-sell or indulge
in hype as many people are expecting this and it can be an immediate
turn-off*send messages with at least one open-ended question that requires a
response*keep the messages fairly brief, long winded messages that go on and on
quite frequently will not be readOne other thing to keep in mind is that your
messages may not even be reaching the intended recipient and they have no
opportunity to give you a reply. At the end of your messages you might want to
ask the recipient to send you a return email just saying "got it".We all agree
that spam is a very serious problem. These days, any email providers and ISPs
have appointed themselves to be the information police" and are employing
various schemes to try torecognize and block messages that constitute spam.
Unfortunately, these mail filtering or blocking techniques are often very
inaccurate and many messages that people actually want o receive are arbitrarily
being sent off into the ozone.I have some first hand experience with this
situation. Not long ago, the ISP that my mother was using suddenly decided that
she would not be allowed to receive messages from me! It took us awhile to
figure out what was going on, but once we did, that ISP was going to soon become
history as far as my mother was concerned.In the final analysis, all you can do
is give it your best shot. Some people will respond, some won't...and the
beat goes on. Remember, it's nothing personal, just human nature at
work.Copyright 2005 Kirk BannermanAbout Kirk: Kirk Bannerman operates his own
successful home based business and also coaches others seeking to start their
own home based business. For more information visit his website at
http://www.home-based-business-team.comIt's tough out there, particularly
because of layoffs and our sluggish economy. So what's a small business
entrepreneur trying to make a living to do? Try these low-cost pricing
strategies to keep sales moving.TACTIC #1 -- Never simply slash your prices,
unless you're trying to empty obsolete inventory. Instead, try repackaging
your prices so they're more affordable in the short-run so more prospects can
afford them. For example, rather than pricing your service for the year, "Our
monthly newsletter is only $39 for the year." Instead, try "Our monthly
newsletter is only $3.25 per month." If you accept credit cards, it's very
easy to set up reoccurring monthly charges that are billed to your subscribers
without having to intervene every month beyond the initial account set up. The
upside to offering your subscription on a monthly basis is that you can now
market a $3.25 headline versus a more expensive $39 headline, i.e. you're
able to offer services at a more affordable rate without slashing prices.ANOTHER
EXAMPLEHere's another example. Just last night I was on the phone with a
potential marketing client. As a small business owner she's trying to get
some marketing help and is on a tight budget. My standard hourly consulting fee
is $225, which is not always appealing to some businesses. However, in trying to
work within her budget I suggested that my services could be more affordable for
her if she allowed me to help her through email instead of face-to-face or on
the phone. Let's face it, when you're on the phone with a client it takes
longer to accomplish what you're doing since you're not only answering
their questions, but you're building a relationship and talking about
unrelated topics. It's difficult not to. In fact, you should! No matter what
type of consultant you are, building a successful business is not about the
initial sale, it's about establishing a long-term relationship with
customers. One-off sales don't lend themselves to growing a profitable
business; rather, deep customer relationships do! However, since I was able to
establish a trustworthy and comfortable relationship with my prospect on the
phone, she thought my marketing services through email would be a win-win. Did I
slash my prices? No, instead I found a more efficient way to offer my services,
whereby I could offer them in less time and therefore, my client will pay less
money. This strategy could work for business coaches, fitness experts or
personal chefs, when the latter prepares meals in her home rather than in a
client's home.TACTIC #2 -- Create tightly niched product or service
offerings. For example, if you're operating a personal concierge service,
rather than just offer errand services at $25 an hour, try prepackaging specific
errands with associated lower pricing. Why? Because you can offer a more
aggressive price when isolating your fee to one particular service. If your
customer challenges your reduced price as compared to your higher hourly fee,
your response is simply, "I'm able to offer this lower packaged price because
of economies of scale. While I'm out delivering your bundles to the Post
Office, I'm also delivering packages for five other customers." Ultimately,
your customers will never know how many other customers you're delivering for
that day; however, the key is not to simply slash your pricing because you
believe that reducing your prices will bring you more business. The key is to
provide consistent and professional pricing practices.P.S...Yes, business is
slow for many entrepreneurs right now; however, be cautious with your pricing
methods. Don't simply slash prices; instead incorporate long-term and
short-term strategies that are always complementary to each other. If you offer
a product for $15 today, then again at $35 six months from now, you must have
your reasons in place, otherwise you'll aggravate your customers.Copyright
2005 Sharron SenterAbout Sharron: Sharron Senter is a New England-based
marketing consultant, speaker, writer and founder of Senter & Associates, a
marketing communications firm that helps small businesses deploy low-cost
marketing strategies. Sharron is well known for her free monthly emailed
marketing tips, found at http://www.sharronsenter.com. She's also the
cofounder of http://www.VisitingGeeks.com -- an onsite computer repair,
networking and security company based north of Boston.8 Penny Stocks to
AvoidPeter LeedsJust The Ticket How To Get The Best Seats At Face Value For Any
Sports Or Musical Event!Tukshad EngineerIt should be simple your favourite
team/band/theatre play is just about to perform in a couple of weeks. You've
waited months for this, now you're going to log on, book the tickets for
yourself and your best buddy and bingoyou'll be at the event of the decade
for a night to remember. If only it were that easy you have your credit card
ready but the words that you dreaded flash up on your PC screen.SOLD OUT!You try
a few more ticket websites, but dismay soon blossoms into a magnificent panic as
there seem to be no tickets online or through any of the usual ticket agencies.
Then it strikes youeBayof course should have thought of it sooner. You tap in
the address, sure that you'll be able to snap them up here. You're right
but the bidding has gone insane and the tickets are already selling at 5 times
their face value and there's still a few days till the auction ends. No
chance here, unless you suddenly win the lottery.If this sounds at all familiar,
this article will provide you with some tasty little bites of information to
help you secure just about any ticket you would want to purchase. You may have
noticed that some people seem to be able to get the hottest tickets around ones
that you ordinarily would have no chance of laying your hands on. Interested?
Let's get going.First, unless you have not made the leap into the information
age, let me tell you that your best chances of getting hot tickets is by having
an internet connection and a little working knowledge of the Ticketmaster site.
I cant help with the first but by the time you're done here you'll know
just about all you'll need to about Ticketmaster to becomewella
ticketmaster.The most obvious tip is that your best chances of getting some
premo tickets to that hot event you're after is by trying to buy them within
the first 5 minutes of them going on sale. Don't put it off until later,
tomorrow or next week, as you won't have a prayer. If you are a frequent
purchaser of tickets (or you want to make some nice cash reselling tickets on
eBay) then you will want to register (free) with Ticketmaster. This way when
you're about to purchase tickets you will not waste time frantically typing
in your details before the purchase procedure. If the event you want to get
tickets for is not yet on sale you'll need to know when Ticketmaster will
start offering them. This is not always easy but check out the Ticketmaster
alerts page while keeping up to date with the artists/teams etc website for
details.If you're intention is to profit from reselling tickets then you must
bare in mind what the maximum amount of tickets you're allowed to purchase
are. If you ignore this and try and grab more than the allocated maximum
you'll end up with nothing and that could cost you a small fortune in
profits.It also helps if your internet connection is fast a slow connection
does not exactly give you the advantage when the site opens up ticket sales.
Also, ensure that you do not have too many applications running as it can slow
down the speed of your PC again, because the timing is critical you want to
give yourself the maximum competitive advantage.Here's an interesting little
fact you would think that the best seats are the ones to go first? Well they
may be offered first, but online it's possible to get them later (e.g. up to
half an hour after going on sale) that's because some buyers who get first
priority to these can back out (often unwittingly as they discover there is
something wrong with their credit cards). Oh and that reminds me, ensure your
credit card is working perfectly before trying to get those hot tickets.Now some
advice for the profit-hunters among you. Reselling tickets can be a very good,
exciting and relatively easy way of making a significant amount of extra money.
If you do this, there is one key thing you need to know how likely is it that a
particular event will be sold out. With a little bit of knowledge and research
you can pinpoint several events every week that are likely to be total sell outs
using the information you have just read you can purchase tickets to them and
then profit from them till the cows come home. To state the obvious, eBay is the
best place to sell the tickets you've obtained you're almost certain to
have a huge amount of interested buyers. Like most things it takes a little bit
of effort to get started but this is a good and honest way of making some extra
money each week. I needn't tell you that many are doing this full time for a
living I'll let you discover the possibilities yourself.Well, hopefully the
last few minutes have been highly interesting and useful for you. I wish you all
the best, whether you wish to get hold of the best tickets to the hottest events
for your own profit or pleasure!Copyright Tukshad EngineerResource box: Want to
find out how to make over $200 a day just by getting hold of hot tickets at face
value and reselling them for huge profits? It takes just 12 minutes per day with
this step by step plan, can be done from home anywhere in the world:
http://www.global-ebooks.com/tickets.htmLosing a sale can be disheartening,
especially if you lose it for reasons you aren't even aware of.Traditional
selling approaches tell us that sales are usually lost because of some element
-- price, features, benefits -- having to do with our product or service.So,
when we sell, we naturally focus on what we're selling because we feel we
have to differentiate our product or service so prospects understand what
we're offering that's unique.But...what if focusing all your energy on
WHAT you're selling is actually the main reason WHY you're losing
sales?"Not possible!" you say. No?Let's hear, in my client Ryan's own
words, what happened to him.His story will help you realize why you may be
losing sales without really understanding
why.===================================================From: Ryan Subject:
Unlock My BrainHi, Ari, It's been a while since we've been in touch, and
I'm sure you were frustrated working with me because I was so engrained in
traditional sales thinking. I have to admit that it has taken me quite some time
to shift my selling mindset.I just wanted to let you know that I've finally
unlocked my brain -- and consequently the game!Here's what happened.Recently,
my VP of sales strongly "suggested" that I push for a close with the largest
account that my company had seen. We were all anxious for them to make a
decision, but I knew that they needed to reach a few more milestones in their
own processes first.I tried to convey this to my VP, but the suggestion became a
demand, and we proceeded down "our" path of techniques and whatnot to convince
them to go with us. Of course, I had the VP on every call after this.At the end
of the day, they decided to go with someone else.When I asked them for feedback,
I got a real wake-up call.They said that at first they felt as if I really
understood their processes and problems. Our prices were a little higher than
our competition, but what stood out was my approach to understanding them and
not pushing the sale.They felt as if I really had their best interests in mind,
so they heard me out. But when I started to push for the close, they saw that I
was just like everyone else who sells, so they had to make their decision based
on price, instead of on the value of our relationship.The relationship, and
consequently the sale -- which I invested many hours developing-- died the
moment I put on the pressure. By using traditional sales techniques, I wound up
sacrificing the relationship and the sale.This experience was what I needed to
unlock my brain and realize the impact of traditional selling techniques on
prospects (or should I say, "people").I finally feel as if I've found the
missing ingredients that make selling a natural, productive experience that will
actually bring me sales instead of losing them.Warmest
Regards,Ryan===================================================Ryan's story
points to a very important lesson: if you don't have an approach that is a
perfect balance of nonaggression and effective penetration of your prospect's
core needs, you'll end up asking yourself time after time, "Why am I losing
sales, and why has selling become so painful?"You can risk the relationship and
lose the sale, but with a different sales mindset, you don't risk anything at
all -- because you can preserve the relationship, and make the sale.Copyright
2005 Ari GalperAbout Ari: With a Masters Degree in Instructional Design and over
a decade of experience creating breakthrough sales strategies for global
companies such as UPS and QUALCOMM, Ari Galper discovered the missing link that
people who sell have been seeking for years. His profound discovery of shifting
one's mindset to a place of complete integrity, based on new words and
phrases grounded in sincerity, has earned him distinction as the world's
leading authority on how to build trust in the world of selling.Leading
companies such as Gateway, Clear Channel Communications, Brother International
and Fidelity National Mortgage have called on Ari to keep them on the leading
edge of sales performance. Visit http://www.unlockthegame.com to get his free
sales training lessons.5 Instant Income Streams That No One Knows AboutTukshad
EngineerSomething truly dramatic has happened over the past couple of decades.
The world has made a transition from the industrial age to the information age,
and the income rules that used to apply a few decades ago have now been blown
apart. Possibly the biggest myth in personal wealth creation today is that you
should focus on one thing for your income. We are all trained into believing
that in order to be successful you need to train in a chosen profession. Then
get a "good job" within that industry and slog your way up the corporate ladder.
In other words we are all programmed to compete and succeed at the rat race by
our parents, the school system and our peers. The simple truth however is that
very few people gain either happiness or financial stability by using this
cruel, tired old formula. And whichever way you look at it, the problem with the
rat race is that even if you win, you're still just a rat.If you wish to gain
happiness and financial independence then you need to find new income sources
and this insiders report will help you do just that. I am not advising that you
rush to work tomorrow, throw hot coffee at your boss's face while quitting to
start up new ventures everything takes time. But you should certainly consider
using a wide number of different methods to provide income streams for you. Do
not fall into the trap of depending on one source of income for your livelihood.
Look around and you will discover that there are hundreds of different and very
feasible ways of making money. The key is to educate yourself and then take
action.So what are the five income streams that you can set-up immediately to
earn a constant stream of income? We'll look at these one by one:(1)
Arbitrage Do you know that the internet age has resulted in thousands of online
bookmakers all competing for your money? Now if you are not a gambling man do
not worry because arbitrage is an investment concept that can be used to derive
a guaranteed 5% to 20%+ profit within a few hours with no possible chance of
losing your original cash. How is this possible? Well online bookmakers often
have huge differences in opinion on the same sporting events this creates some
incredible anomalies in the way that certain sporting events are priced between
different bookmakers. This is great news for us because everyday these anomalies
allow us to invest money on all sides of a sporting event so that no matter who
wins/loses/draws we can walk away with a risk free and guaranteed profit. These
arbitrage opportunities are present many hundreds of times each week and the
beautiful part is that you can find them in as little as five minutes per day
once you know how. This is one of the least known and used income sources around
and one that you should certainly set-up and profit from.(2) Recycling Cell
Phones For Profits Last year over 100 million cell phones were replaced. Only a
tiny fraction of those were recycled. Many end up tossed away at the bottom of
peoples attics, or are simply thrown away. Did you know that each old cell phone
is worth up to $70 (although on average this is closer to the $20 mark)? Cell
phones are a multi-billion dollar business and that trend is growing on a global
level governments are beginning to offer incentives for those who are willing
to recycle their phones and recycling companies are now setting up and offering
a decent level of cash per phone that they receive. As an individual there are
some very powerful ways of collecting hundreds of phones per week and selling
these on for some monster profits. The start up costs are practically zero and
this is a business you can operate from home.(3) Importing Goods From India And
China If you want a very solid, profitable and enjoyable work-from-home
business then this is it. Some of the most popular goods cost a fraction of the
cost that they are available for in UK/USA/Europe for example I regularly have
access to top quality items from India that cost me 95% less per item than in
the UK. One of the best things about importing for profits is that once you
setup a product and find a supplier, you have secured an income stream that
lasts, often, for years into the future. There are literally MILLIONS of
products that can be imported profitably into your home country finding
suppliers is not very difficult and you can boost your income further by selling
them on auction sites such as ebay. There are also other benefits when you
operate an import/export business from home you can write off travel expenses
against profits and the set-up costs are actually very low. Get involved
today.(4) Reselling Works In The Public Domain Have you heard of the public
domain? Maybe. Did you know that there are literally millions of books, videos,
plays, courses, music and more that exist within the public domain that you can
legally take, brand as your own and sell to keep 100% of the profits? Did you
know that there are online sites that actually GIVE you text documents of public
domain works you just download the document and you're ready to repackage it
into your own product. Not a lot of people know that Walt Disney created the
Disney empire out of a story that he found on the public domain it is simply a
treasure trove of cash waiting to be discovered.(5) Ebay I know it is hardly
"unknown" but it really had to be mentioned - If you have not ventured into this
incredible opportunity, you really ought to. Receiving over 1.5 billion page
views a month and 9000 new customers everyday, ebay is a seller's dream. No
matter what you wish to sell, there is a buyer waiting for you on ebay. There
are powersellers who are making $100,000 and more per year with ebay and if
they can do it the simple fact is so can you. Simple, addictive and fun you
should setup your ebay income stream today.So there you have it five instant
income streams that you can setup today to earn an immediate online income with
little or no capital. Now that you know about them the next (and most important)
step is to actually start (something that sadly 95% of the readers statistically
will not do). Remember, that once you set-up a new income stream it will derive
cash for you years (if not decades) into the future. Don't be lazy get
started today!Copyright 2005 Tukshad EngineerResource box: Download the
groundbreaking "5 Red Hot Income Streams That No One Knows About" ebook for
F-R-E-E and set-up your internet income streams
today:http://www.global-ebooks.com/incomesecrets.htmPoint of sale software gives
business owners a convenient way of checking out customers and of recording
sales. It can keep a record of the store inventory, updating it when an order is
processed. It can also print out receipts, carry out credit card processing,
track customers, etc. Point of sale software eases the flow at checkout
terminals, while recording all the information that can help you make better
business decisions.Point of sale software allows users to input via keyboard or
mouse, and some even have a touch screen interface. You can install the software
on your checkout register.When checking out a customer you can either input the
sales item yourself or use a bar code scanner. The point of sale software will
look up the item in the inventory and bring up the price. It can also calculate
tax on the item and change for the customer.POS software can print out receipts
and reports. Point of sale software makes your business accounting a lot easier
by creating reports on inventory, sales, customers, etc. Since it is already
recording each sale, it can easily tell you the sales and revenue of the
day.Point of sale software can also help with credit card processing. Credit
cards are the preferred method of payment. People do not want to carry around
cash for all their purchases. Credit card is a convenient method of payment and
if you do not have credit card processing, your business can lose some of its
competitiveness.Point of sale software receives input from the POS hardware,
which is the scanning station for the credit card. The software will process the
credit card payment for you. It can check that the card has not expired and is
valid. You will need a merchant account for the point of sale software to do its
job.POS software is generally easy to install and easy to use. You will need to
know how to update inventory and record a price change for an item. Point of
sale software usually provides an easy to use interface to do this. It can make
the job of the cashier a lot easier by automating the routine tasks of the
day.There is a wide variety of point of sale software available. You can choose
one that fits your budget and meets the needs of your particular business. The
software will have compatibility requirements with the point of sale hardware.
It will also have operating system requirements such as it might need a Windows
or Linux system.Point of sale software can more than pay for itself over time by
making checkout faster and doing your accounting for you. Point of sale software
may be the right solution for your business and can provide you with tons of
benefits.Copyright 2005 Jakob JellingAbout Jakob: Jakob Jelling is the founder
of http://www.cashbazar.com. Visit his website for the latest on personal
finance, debt elimination, budgeting, credit cards and real estate.It has become
increasingly important for businesses to be able to accept credit cards. Credit
cards are the preferred method of payment nowadays. Whether you are an online
merchant or own an on-site business, if you do not accept credit cards you are
missing out on a lot of revenue.To accept credit cards your business needs a
credit card processing system. Creating a merchant account gives you that
ability. Merchant accounts are accounts especially crafted to fit the needs of
businesses to accept money.If you own a store, you will need a card swipe
terminal to accept credit card payments. Your merchant account provider may be
able to provide you with this equipment. There will be a purchase fee or rent
fee associated with the equipment. You can also shop elsewhere for point of sale
equipment. POS terminal software can ease the processing of credit cards and can
ease the job of a cashier at grocery stores, merchandise stores, bookshops, or
any other type of store you own.Once the equipment is in place you are ready to
go. When a customer asks 'do you accept credit cards?' your answer will be
a definite yes. At the Point of Sale terminal, customers can check out their
items and pay by credit. You slide the credit card into the machine and it will
automatically make the payment.To accept credit cards is even more crucial for
Internet merchants. If you only use checks to accept payments, it can be
troublesome for customers to write and mail the check. Online payment methods
such as Paypal and StormPay also have drawbacks since many people do not have
accounts with them. These can be your secondary payment methods but it is
important to be able to accept credit cards.Different websites have different
reasons to accept credit card payments. Some sites ask for a membership or
subscription fee. Some sites may deliver tangible products where the payment
gateway must be integrated with the shopping cart. Others may require a fee for
online consumption of such things as music, movies, etc.You will need an
Internet merchant account to make a payment gateway on your e-commerce Website
to accept credit cards. You have a great choice when it comes to selecting a
merchant account. Things to look for when making your choice are:- Fees, such as
transaction, set up and charge back- Reliable security features- Professional
customer support- The Company's reputation and stabilityIf you are not
skilled in programming, you should seek a merchant account provider that will
set up your payment gateway for you or provide a cut and paste code. Setting up
the payment gateway, to accept credit cards, in the right place and integrating
it into your e-commerce Website is essential to driving sales. The gateway must
be secure and the payment processing time must be fast.Why you must Accept
Credit Cards?For online purchases, a majority of customers pay by credit cards.
Thus if you do not accept credit cards you have reduced your customer base
tremendously. Also credit cards promote impulse buying. You do not want to give
your customers time to rethink their purchase when they are writing a check with
all those zeros.Also it can add credibility and professionalism to your
business. If you accept credit cards, your site will look more legitimate and
customers will have greater peace of mind when making payments. Your payment
processor will be working and making money 24 hours a day, even while you
sleep.The benefits of accepting credit cards are many, even for on-site
businesses. Credit cards are a convenient way to make payments. Customers do not
have to carry cash around. Just slide the card in the processor and the payment
is done. The merchant can potentially see a great increase in sales.Copyright
2005 Jakob JellingAbout Jakob: Jakob Jelling is the founder of
http://www.cashbazar.com. Visit his website for the latest on personal finance,
debt elimination, budgeting, credit cards and real estate.I'm what we in the
business (the "business" being journalism) call a poacher turned gamekeeper --
that is, a journalist turned press officer. As a reporter I spent a huge part of
my day sifting through a slush pile of press releases, all sent out by eager
business owners desperate to get some publicity for their latest project. As a
press officer, I was the one writing the press releases and trying desperately
to get them published.Quite apart from leaving me with some pretty good
conversation openers, it left me with a good understanding of what kind of story
makes the news, and what kind of press release gets filed straight under "bin".
Here's how to make sure your press release is one of the good ones...1. Get
your story straightBefore you even think about writing a press release, you need
to make sure you have the right story. The fact that you've just started a
business isn't a good story. Trust me on this. At the last newspaper I worked
on, I lost count of the number of press releases we received, which basically
boiled down to, "Hey! Guess what! I started a business!" Well, so did a lot of
people. If you want your press release to work, you're going to have to find
an "angle" that your target publication will be interested in. There are various
different ways to do this:- Tell a strange/funny/touching story about how your
business started, or how you helped one of your customers.- Run a competition,
offering your products or services as a prize.- Offer your expertise in an "ask
the expert" feature or column (if your paper isn't running one, offer to
write it for them)- Conduct a survey and present your findings in the form of a
press release.Sponsor a local student or organisation- All you need to get your
"angle" is a little bit of imagination. And once you have a story to tell,
it's time to start selling...2. Writing your press releaseFirst things first,
remember it's a press release you're writing, not a novel. Of course, you
want to make sure you get all of the relevant facts across, but try to do it
concisely. It's worth bearing in mind that the newspaper will probably
re-word your release to make it fit their style or the space available in any
case, so don't worry too much if you're not exactly Stephen King. Focus on
your main points. Tell the reader:WhoWhereWhyWhatWhenHowThese are the building
blocks of any story: as long as you get these down, you're off to a good
start. And speaking of starts...3. Get your opening paragraph rightIt's a sad
fact of life that editors are overworked individuals, and their time is
precious. If the opening paragraph of your press release doesn't grab them,
they probably won't bother to read the rest. In newspaper journalism, the
convention is to make the opening paragraph short and snappy, and to use it to
sum up the story as best you can.4. Use quotesQuotes are more interesting to
read than straight text, and if you don't include some, the journalist who
receives your press release will have to find them for herself. Including a few
ready-made quotes in your press release will reduce the amount of work the
reporter has to do, and that will give your release a better chance of being
used.5. Include your contact informationNo matter how hard you try to get it
right, there will inevitably be some small point which the journalist writing
your story will want to clarify, and to do that, they'll need to be able to
contact you. Making things easier on the journalist, makes it easier for them to
give your business some publicity.6. Follow up!If your press release doesn't
appear in the very next issue of the newspaper you send it to, don't panic!
Sometimes it can take a few weeks for a release which isn't time-sensitive to
appear, but it doesn't hurt to give the paper a quick call to make sure they
received it, just don't go overboard and take up too much of their precious
time...Copyright 2005 Amber McNaughtAbout Amber: Amber McNaught is the
editorial and marketing director of Hot Igloo Productions. Hot Igloo are small
business specialists, offering website design, online marketing, public
relations and more. Their new press release writing service is now available -
visit www.hotigloo.co.uk/publicrelations.htm for details.Poster digital printing
is widely used by several companies that have proven it effective to clasp on
prospect clients and regular customers. They are open to the printing expense of
the poster digital printing because they are certain to get more from their good
investment in having a catchy and effectual poster digital print.Below are some
tips that could be useful in your poster digital printing for it to be worth of
printing. First and foremost, know your desire and goal in thinking of having a
poster digital printing. It must be justified so that there will be no regrets
at the end of the job but just rejoicing to a job well done. The second one is
that, have a style that would surely fit your company. It is recommended to be
simple yet attractive. The more the elements in it will just breakdown the goal
of attracting possible clients for the poster will look sporadic and nonsense.
Third, your company must also consider the text in it. It must not destroy the
whole poster but instead serve as the magnet to let prospects paused and read.
After all, what will be the use of the graphics and photographs if there will be
no text on it.Another consideration is that use appropriate images and
photographs that will enhance the look of your poster and will attract more the
prospect customers. Again, it would be better if images and photographs will
look simple yet gorgeous and attractive. Colors matters a lot in poster digital
printing for it will be the life of the poster. Gloomy colored posters are not
that effective for it connotes a negative impression over it. Colors must be
bright and harmonize with each other to get a total effect.The texture of the
poster material is also essential to be given importance since it will be the
accepting material for the colors and designs. It should be appropriate that
will enhance the richness and sharpness of the colors and images in the posters.
The colors even if it is well blend and harmony is present yet the paper used
does not suit it it will be just a waste of money as well as effort, idea and
time.Most of all, it should be taken in consideration that the whole packaging
of your poster digital printing is worth every detail in it. From the paper,
color, design, ink used and others is necessary to look into to achieve the goal
of having a poster digital printing.Quality matters in poster digital printing
for it will be the frontline of your company and it will serve as the
invitational material for your prospect customers. Poster digital printing as
well as other digital printings should be considered to have a better look and
quality guaranteed.Copyright 2005 Kristine LlabresResource box: For additional
information and comments about the article you may log on to
http://www.digitalroom.com/Poster-Printing.htmlThe modern and latest innovations
in digital technology printing provide higher resolution in picture and images
as well as brighter text certainly hassle-free. What is good with digital
printing is that it is well equipped with modern know-how's that will make
your printing needs really slick and catchy.Below are suggested styles and tips
that would shed a better look for your poster digital printing. Commonly for the
most attractive poster digital prints should possess life and should radiate
positive aura towards the target customers. Meaning if is not necessary to use
dark and gloomy colors then do not since it is not bright and it does not
produce illusions in the eye. What is bright colored attracts the attention of
the eye.But always bear in mind that poster digital printing must be simple and
understandable. It is not necessary to be that gorgeous for it might not says it
all. Comprehension of the viewer towards the poster is the essential thing not
just the attractiveness of it. Poster digital printing is recommended to be
"biting" for it to be efficient and to meet the desired effect of the company.
There must be also the element of uniqueness and identity since it aims to
attract prospect customers who will buy your products or will avail your
services. So, it is but needed to have something from your poster that will make
people remember when they saw it that yes that is your company.Another tip will
be use symbolic things in your poster digital printing that represent your
company. For instance you have a telecommunications company then there should be
an element in the poster that will represent it. So that even if the text was
not given attention but still the elements presented were noticed. It would be a
means of identity somehow for the company. We cannot deny that people would love
to see pictures rather than reading the texts. That is another reason for the
appropriateness of the elements that should be presented on the poster digital
prints.Furthermore, unique concepts and ideas blended with the creative hands
would make a better look for your poster digital printing. Powerful
craftsmanship and enhanced skill in the digital processes would be an advantage
to attain the desired outcome of the digital poster that would draw-in
customers.The success of your business would somehow depend on the quality and
impression of your prospect clients to your poster digital prints since it bears
the advertising edge of your company. Along with that, the polished and crafted
digital poster will show the reliability and authenticity of your products or
services.Copyright 2005 Kristine LlabresResource box: For additional
information and comments about the article you may log on to
http://www.digitalroom.com/Poster-Printing.htmlWhat is affordable is the most
beguiling factor for the companies for it will be less to their expenses. Since
promotion and advertisements are necessary for the company to gain more profit
and increase customer participation. For quite sometime now, companies made use
of posters to advertise new products or services, announce significant events
and many other related concerns.With the growing expansion of technology in
printing, comes now the latest digital printing. Digital printing basically
concerns the technology-wise items like personal computers, digital cameras and
so on that have a large capacity to store pictures and other files. Digital
printing is enhanced with the latest hand of capturing the real image beyond the
contribution of the paper.Poster digital printing need not be that expensive
only to catch up the attention of the target customers rather there must be an
interesting element about your poster that would bring out the best that it can
be and be an effective one. Affordability of the poster is a thing to be
considered but not to the extent of sacrificing the needed aura and effect of
the digital poster. Since poster digital printing can earn more profit for the
business by attracting possible customers with the use of the digital posters,
companies already knew how to spend on with their money for promotional
concerns. After all, even if it is very much affordable but then with no quality
at all that is useless, money, idea, effort and times are just wasted in that
matter.Furthermore, with the modern living of people in our time digital posters
will be much appreciated than the conventional ones that soon to become obsolete
for they were overcome by the digital printing services. Being abreast with
latest innovations of technology does not just provide new knowledge but
promotes better quality living.The look and set-up of the poster digital
printing as a whole should fit-in with the taste of your desired clients. Since
it is their interest that you are trying to win with your digital poster
printings and their longing towards getting to know more your business it's a
must to have the best of poster that your company can produced.Good quality
enhanced by proper production of the material with the appropriate elements in
it should be considered always for it matters more for the target customers than
just by giving less in the expenses to be affordable.Poster digital printing is
always a foot ahead than just the conventional posters primarily in the digital
prints because it has sharp images that are being captured well with so much to
offer in blending and harmonizing colors that will suit the need of the company
and the desired result of the poster.Copyright 2005 Kristine LlabresResource
box: For additional information and comments about the article you may log on to
http://www.digitalroom.com/Poster-Printing.htmlThe most commonly used style in
poster digital printing today are those digital posters with photographs in it.
Since photographs embody life and energy, they seem to attract more customers to
take into further detail in the poster later on be interested in the business
that the digital poster offers. Photographs play vital role in digital posters
for it may make or break the digital poster itself.The quality of photograph
prints on the digital poster will greatly depend on the materials used. The
resolution of the image or photograph must be clear with appropriate light and
texture. Poor picture and image prints just ruin the totality of a poster but
not in the case of digital printing. Since digital printing sees to it that
everything is in its appropriate level with proper coordination with everyone
else.For almost 25 years now, improvements on the photograph prints were
discovered to get the highest possible photographic prints that are far more
clear and precise. These kinds of prints can be achieved with the popularity of
digital photographic prints. This innovation in the photographic printing is a
great tool for the printing companies that print brochures, posters, banners,
business cards and others that need a photograph or images to enhance the worth
of the printing services.Since it is very common now that almost everything and
anything can be personalized just like by putting their pictures on it and do
whatever they wanted to do with it and that is what digital printing is. Digital
printing sees to it that the desires and expectations of the customers are being
met with high quality satisfaction.Poster digital printing can be adjusted with
the specifications that a customer wanted it to be. With the use of digital
imaging and digital printing it is handy, hassle-free and with competitive
prices. It may not be of the same price as to the conventional posters but then
the output of the printing is far enough from each other.Glossy paper and good
quality inks are recommended to achieve the greatest poster digital printing
that you've been dreaming of. Designs and layouts of the elements in the
poster should be in accordance with the company's field and with bearing to
the desire of the company to increase profit. None the less, all of the needed
materials in making digital posters should be given importance for the
effectiveness of the poster depends on each others quality and
precision.Copyright 2005 Kristine LlabresResource box: For additional
information and comments about the article you may log on to
http://www.digitalroom.com/Poster-Printing.htmlSmaller companies don't always
have the budget - or inclination - to retain a PR hotshot to tell the world
about their business success, but that doesn't mean they aren't a ready
source of news.The problem is it's often dull news which is ignored by all
except the industry press and quite rightly so in most cases. If you land a
contract, you issue a press release. If you take on a new senior sales rep, you
issue a press release. Attending an exhibition? Press release, natch. These are
simply announcements that you are doing what you do, that it's business as
usual.With a little lateral thinking, however, you could be issuing press
releases throughout the year which present topics and subjects that'll have
editors from all disciplines chasing you for the full story. Below I've
presented just five brainstormers to get the creative juices flowing.Your Survey
Says...Even though I know nothing about your company, the odds are that you have
the time and resources to carry out a survey which could get you some coverage
if it's implemented and reported properly.Concentrate on your niche, whether
that's your industry or expertise. Keep it relatively simple, but ensure the
final results have the potential to grab headlines. For example, if you're a
butcher, you could ask 100 people if they would give up bacon if their partner
issued an ultimatum. Ɗ Out of 10 Choose Bacon Over Marriage' is going to
get an editor's attention!But be honest about your methodology. If you've
simply polled a handful of your colleagues, don't try to pass it off as a
six-month research project.Some journalists won't touch a survey story with a
barge poll unless it's been carried out with the kind of planning that goes
into a Nasa shuttle launch, but others might find it useful, particularly if
it's a fun subject and doesn't take itself too seriously.Your Opinion
CountsSurf the major news sites - try Google News for
starters:http://news.google.com/nwshp?hl=en&gl=usAsk yourself what you or your
boss would have to say about the main news stories of the day. Or perhaps a
current event impacts directly on your industry. Pretty soon you're going to
have a story to tell.A property solicitor in Scotland did this and the resulting
story is great - here's the intro:"Scottish property solicitor criticises
Gordon Brown's tax U-turn.A leading Scottish property solicitor has
criticised Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown's decision to abolish
without notice the exemption for deprived areas from Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT),
saying that the measure would have an adverse impact upon the commercial
property market in Scotland."Full story:
http://www.clickpress.com/releases/Detailed/542005cp.shtmlYour Opinion Counts 2
- Straight to the Editor's DeskWhile serving as editor of business magazines
in the past, there have been times when PR companies have contacted me following
publication with some kind of gripe regarding coverage of their company or
client.Disgruntled PR people are often being beaten hard with large sticks by
CEOs and senior management who just don't 'get media', so their
persistence is somewhat understandable.But 9.98 times out of 10 the PR exec is
simply not going to get what they want - some kind of full-page, front-cover
apology and glowing testimonial signed by the publisher himself printed with a
photo of the editor's public execution.Every time I let them down I did say:
"Write in - we're always keen to receive letters to the editor." I'd guess
one in 20 actually went ahead and did so, but you know what? If every one of
them wrote in I would almost certainly have printed them all. Good editors
embrace transparency - if you disagree with them or their reporters they're
likely to print your letter.So pick up copies of your favourite industry - or
consumer - publications and fire off some missives to the editors to demonstrate
your knowledge and expertise in your space.Happy BirthdayAt the very most
you're 364 days away from some company milestone and if you put your mind to
it you may find a few anniversaries just around the corner.Don't limit
yourself to the xx years since the company was launched, how about the
anniversary of the company's first profit, a look back at the day the company
took on its 10th employee, or the date a key contract was secured.Then tell the
tale of how your company has developed since this date. Be sure to include some
drama, the good times and the bad, and plenty of meaty quotes from the most
senior talking heads.Make a DateHunt for an angle based on some future date that
is covered in one way or another by local and national press.Browse some of
these major online almanacs for
inspiration:http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory/http://www.scopesys.com/anyday/http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/archive.htmlWhat
you're doing here is following the Happy Birthday strategy, but looking for
external hooks on which to hang your news release.Local newspapers in particular
like to keep an eye on the calendar, so if you can provide your neighbourhood
newspaper with a story, photo opportunity or news release and photo package
related to a particular event, celebration or holiday, you could get some great
quality local coverage.Only Five?Trawl the internet for reasons to write a press
release and you'll come up with dozens of lists. Some of them provide 30 plus
reasons to issue a release, but the vast majority of them require you to have
"done something". They are reactive reasons, rather than proactive.The reasons
given above can be put into action today - you don't have to wait to secure a
new contract or make a high-level appointment to get ink.You might not have
known you were sitting on those news stories, but there's no time like the
present to tip off the press that you have them.Copyright 2005 George
HopkinAbout George:George Hopkin is a freelance journalist and CEO of ClickPress
(http://www.clickpress.com), a free press release distribution service which
distributes content to some of the world's most influential news and web
search engines. ClickPress (http://www.clickpress.com) is a property of
Pressventures (http://www.pressventures.com), a provider of free and fee-based
services to PR professionals.The great majority of business conducted online is
processed with a credit card. Also, credit card sales tend to be four times
larger than a sale completed any other way. Knowing that most people decide to
use a credit card and spend more when doing so, it only makes sense to be able
to accept credit card payments.The first step to being able to accept credit
card payments is getting a merchant account. A merchant account is a special
type of bank account that is able to receive payments from credit card
purchases. Along with your account you will also need a hardware or software
solution to actually process the payments, but this doesn't have to be
supplied by the company providing your merchant account.For online credit card
processing there is one extra step, you also need a payment gateway. A payment
gateway is a company that provides real time authorization of online
transactions. When looking at gateways make sure that they are compatible with
your site's software and your financial institution. You may wish to research
your gateway and financial institution options before signing up for any
services.When researching your merchant account providers you may be surprised
at the number of options available to you. While there are a lot of options,
selecting the best provider for you is easy to do by knowing a little about what
each company offers and how much they charge for their services.The first step
should always be to seek a mentor. Do you know someone who currently is
conducting a similar business? If so ask them who provides their merchant
account and what their thoughts are on that provider as well as others that they
may have tried. After asking around search the Internet for people's opinions
on merchant accounts. While opinions are not a good reason to base a decision,
their accounting of the service they received and the ease of company to work
with are valuable information to know.After determining which companies will be
the easiest to work with you can begin to narrow down your options by examining
the services offered and history. A good merchant account provider should have
extensive experience working with growing businesses. This experience will allow
your merchant account provider to be able to set up your account faster, will
ensure that they can expand their services as your company grows and requires
more options and most importantly, has the experience required to actively
combat fraud and charge backs.Of course nothing is free, and your merchant
account is no exception. The amount that you must pay will vary from company to
company but the basics of your bill should be the same. If the company you are
considering is charging more you may wish to seek another merchant account
provider.The biggest single cost is the set up costs. Your set up costs include
your application fees, equipment costs and deposits. These fees tend to average
about $275 but vary depending upon the options you have selected. For example,
your start up costs will be much higher if you have decided to purchase your
credit card processing equipment instead of leasing it. This may be an
economically viable solution after adding up the amount of the deposit that will
be required if you lease the equipment and the leasing fees for a year.Another
thing to keep in mind is the amount that your merchant account provider will be
charging for each completed transaction. On average you will be charged 2.5% of
the sale and there may be a few more annual fees. Be sure to very closely
examine that amount you will be paying and what additional fees you may have to
pay as each company will be different and the difference may save you a lot of
money each year.Starting and having a business grow is a very exciting time for
any business owner. As you expand into new markets, such as online sales, you
will find a plethora of new options and opportunities. After deciding to expand
be sure to carefully consider your options in order to make your next step as
smooth and cost effective as possible.Copyright 2005 Jakob JellingAbout Jakob:
Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.cashbazar.com. Visit his website for
the latest on personal finance, debt elimination, budgeting, credit cards and
real estate.Debt consolidation is a concept that most people are aware of and
often is a good idea. Basically when consolidating your bills or loans, you
combine the total amount owed and make a single monthly payment instead of many
smaller payments through out the month. While this is often a good solution to
debt problems, there are a few things that need to be considered first.The first
thing to consider is if a consolidation loan is in your best interest.
Regardless of how you end up procuring a consolidation loan the basic facts are
the same, you are borrowing more than you currently owe to get one monthly
payment. Is this convenience worth the extra cost of the fees and interest on a
loan for money than you currently owe?Depending upon your situation there may be
several courses of action to consider first. Step one is to take a serious look
at you personal budgeting. Do you need to make changes to how you are currently
spending your income? If there is too much debt to be repaid at once can you
enter into a payment arrangement with your creditors to allow you the time that
you need to get ahead?If you are not able to work your way out of your current
situation then you need to look at other borrowing solutions. The first option
should be to examine what possibilities you already have. Do you have a
mortgage?If you have a mortgage there may be a few options available to you.
First you may be able to increase the amount of your current mortgage. In order
to increase the amount of your current mortgage you may have to switch lending
institutions and basically re-mortgage your home while other places will simply
add the extra amount to your current mortgage. The other similar option you have
is to take out a second mortgage on your home. In this case you are borrowing
against the equity in your home that you have already built up.If you do not
have a home but do have good credit then you may have other options available to
you such as an unsecured loan. An unsecured loan is a good faith loan meaning
that the business that lent to you trusts you enough to repay the loan. This
type of loan will not impede your ability to buy and sell property since they
will not but a lien on your assets. This may be important to you if you are
planning on selling your vehicle or other assets in the near future.Debt
consolidation can be a valuable tool if you know what you are doing and how you
got to this point. Debt consolidation may offer lower interest rates, lower
monthly payments and only a single bill to pay once a month thus making your
budgeting easier.However, the cost of this convenience can be fairly high. Often
companies will charge you for settling a loan earlier than arranged thus adding
to the total amount owed. Generally consolidated loans payments are less than
what you are currently paying. This is because the term is longer than before.
Another way lenders make money is by offering loan insurance that you may
already have. It always pays to shop around for any product since the company
offering it at the time is usually charging more for the convenience of bundling
it.As you can see a consolidated loan can save you money but may not be the best
option available to you. The key is to shop around and do your homework. Find
out what various companies offer, what kind of interest rate you should expect
to pay based upon your credit rating and what alternative options you have
available to you. For example you may be able to borrow from your 401K plan and
you will not be charged interest on the loan if you make an arrangement to repay
the loan with your employer. A 0% interest loan is a much better option than a
consolidated loan.Copyright 2005 Jakob JellingAbout Jakob: Jakob Jelling is the
founder of http://www.cashbazar.com. Visit his website for the latest on
personal finance, debt elimination, budgeting, credit cards and real estate.At
one point or another everyone of has encountered this situation, not having
enough money to make it to our next payday. A common solution to this problem
that seems to becoming more popular is a payday loan. While a payday loan may be
fast and convenient, it may not be the best solution.A payday loan company
offers to loan you money based upon repaying it and a service fee on your next
payday. This often seems like a perfect solution until you look closer.There is
a simple reason as to why we are seeing more payday loan companies opening up
and advertising so much. Payday loans are very profitable for those doing the
lending due to the high interest rates and often end up being almost addictive
for those borrowing the money. A recent national survey of payday loan companies
found that only 37% of companies accurately reflected their interest rate. At
most places the interest rates varied from 390% to 851% annually with the
average being 474%.Once you get into a payday loan agreement it is often hard to
get out of it due to the amount that must be repaid at once. In fact 77% of
people who borrow money from a payday loan company can not afford to repay it in
full so they roll the loan. When your loan is rolled a portion of the total
amount owed is paid and the remaining amount of the old balance, including the
old service fees, plus the new service fees and interest rates are added on to a
new loan. Obviously it is very difficult to pay down the loan when so much more
is being added on to what is owed.If you can not afford to repay any of your
loan then you may receive an even bigger surprise than the interest rates. It is
common practice for you to sign a wage agreement that allows the payday loan
company to garnish as much of your pay as they wish without having to go to
court. Another option available to most companies is charging you with fraud. In
many areas it is fraud to write a check if you do not have the money in your
account to cover the check and you may receive court order fines or even some
jail time.If you find yourself in a situation where you need to borrow from a
payday loan company then perhaps it is time to pause and reflect upon how you
got to this point. Sometimes situations arise that you have no power over but
more often it is a fault of bad financial planning. Now would be a good time to
review your monthly budget and try to see what went wrong and what you can do to
prevent the problem from occurring again.Depending upon your situation, there
may be better options for you than a payday loan. For example, if you have a
little time to wait, you may be able to use funds in your 401K plan. Funds
withdrawn from your 401K you are only taxed at 10% and if you make arrangements
with your payroll department to repay the withdrawal from your 401K then it is
not taxable at all.Before getting a payday loan make sure you have examined all
of your options. Do you really need this loan? Is there a mistake on your credit
report preventing you from getting a normal loan or credit card? Can you change
your monthly budget to avoid the financial problem you are experiencing? Payday
loans may seem like a convenient option but a steep price comes with that
convenience.Copyright 2005 Jakob JellingAbout Jakob: Jakob Jelling is the
founder of http://www.cashbazar.com. Visit his website for the latest on
personal finance, debt elimination, budgeting, credit cards and real estate.Do
people that are successful in home based businesses share some common
characteristics and, if so, what are the primary ones?The dictionary defines
successful as:* having a favorable outcome, or* having obtained something
desired or intended, or* having achieved wealth or eminenceWhen applied to a
home business, I think the definition of the word successful involves a
combination of financial gain, time flexibility, and being able to call your own
shots (being your own boss). The order of importance will vary from person to
person.I have had the good fortune to be quite successful with home-based
internet businesses. No, that is not completely accurate, I have had success
because I have invested a lot of sweat equity in my work at home business
activities.Having spent many years in the corporate world, I am a firm believer
in the team aspect of business and so I naturally gravitated toward network
marketing instead of trying to go solo selling products/services and competing
with the big players like Yahoo, Amazon and the other well known names.After
doing considerable research, I found a very well established and financially
solid internet-based company to work with. Using my business experience in the
"offline world" and developing my internet marketing skills on the fly in an OJT
(aka: on-the-job-training) format, things have gone very well and I recently
spent some time trying to identify some of the primary traits that are common in
my most successful team members.Whether you're breeding bird dogs, or race
horses, or drafting college football players to play in the NFL...it's
important to develop "markers" that can be very useful in predicting success.
From my offline, traditional, business experience I have known this from the
get-go, but for some reason I was slow to learn (or, was it re-learn?) that
identifying the people with a high likelihood of success is even more important
when developing an online network marketing business that depends upon
teamwork.Reflecting back on many of the truly successful people I have worked
with in network marketing, I made a list of the numerous success factors that
emerged when I assessed each person individually. After compiling the list,
three factors seemed to stand out as being the most common success indicators.
In no particular order, these factors were:* approaching the business with a
long term perspective. It often takes a long time to become an "overnight
success"* exhibiting the tenacity of a pit bull* being able to ride the
emotional roller coaster (two steps forward and one step back) in the early
stages of developing the businessJust because a person has these
characteristics, it does not ensure success and, on the flip side, a person is
not necessarily doomed to failure just because he or she does not possess all
three of them.Copyright 2005 Kirk BannermanAbout Kirk: Kirk Bannerman operates
his own successful home based business and also coaches others seeking to start
their own home based business. For more information visit his website at
http://www.home-based-business-team.comThere are a lot of ways to create and
design your post card, whether in a black and white color or to the stunning
four color print. You can also do it as simple as it is or make it as creative
as possible. Nobody will stop you making your own style of post card because it
is you who will decide for whatever idea you wanted to incorporate in your
card...you're free as a bird to do things the way you wanted it to be.But
most of the clientele would want to express their postcard in an eye-catching
four-color print. They believe that the more vibrant the postcard will be the
more customers will pay attention to it and give cognizance to the postcard.
However, the question is, if you're just starting to use a four-color
postcard what will be the best design to apply? A common question of a beginner
who wanted to bring out the best in his four-color postcards.Before developing
the design of your postcard asks yourself what this postcard is intended for. Is
it an order form, mini-news release, or a general statement of my products
and/or services? Make your postcard in a way that will influence the reader to
take action. Make sure that if your postcard is a form for ordering or
surveying, keep it simple because too much text can be confusing which may cause
the reader to lose interest.When choosing a font make sure you use at least 10pt
text. A sans-serif font (Arial, Tahoma, and Verdana) is best suited for smaller
type size because it has a cleaner sharper look. According to recent marketing
research it is proven that full color postcards are more effective than
postcards printed in one or two colors. The visual cues in full color printing
capture the attention of the reader. Another consideration when designing your
custom printed postcard is what type of card stock you will use: coated or
uncoated. Coated card stock will express your message on your postcard more
vividly since the stock offers a smooth glossy finish adding also its
durability.Choosing your own style of four-color postcards is easy if you are
going to consider the following tips suggested below:Prepaid return
postage.Pre-addressed return address on card or a pre-addressed envelope.Color.
Neon-bright paper, pre-printed paper, or photo-postcards attract
attention.Plenty of room to fill in names and addresses, and easy-to-read large
type.Check-boxes that allow the recipient to quickly fill out order forms or
surveys.Incentives such as free gifts or drawings for prizes to entice
recipients to return surveys or other types of reply cards.Include your mailing
address, phone number, or other alternate contact information on the card.Repeat
any special marketing message that is found in accompanying marketing
materials.Calls to action. Always tell the recipient what to do with the card --
"Fill it out & drop it in the mail" may seem obvious, but say it anyway.I agree
that a great looking card is always picked up, remembered and will stand out on
any desk.So the next time you decided to make your own postcard, try to be very
smart!Copyright 2005 Marlon LudoviceResource box: For additional information
and comments about the article you may log on to
http://www.mypostcardprinting.com/Four-Color-Postcard-Printing.htmlHere's a
fascinating secret about miracles: You can't necessarily always place an
order for magic at will, but you can deliberately create the conditions --
environment, atmosphere and attitude -- that make miracles a thousand times more
likely to occur. Want to know how you can create a miracle-friendly world? By
taking these practical steps, you will bring magic into your relationships,
body, finances and more!Your ability to Make Miracles is in direct proportion to
your willingness to:1. Tell yourself more truth about the situation you want to
transformThe more honest you are about where you're really at, the more
personal power you have to realize your dreams. By aligning yourself accurately
with what is real, you retrieve all of the life force you've invested in
holding together false situations and relationships. This re-captured energy
then attracts the goals you desire. In this universe what's congruent gets
the energy. What's not congruent doesn't get the energy. Where aren't
you being honest or accurate about some aspect of your life? What truth about
your life is right now safe, timely, helpful, nurturing and liberating for you
to acknowledge to yourself?2. Act "outside the box"All magic occurs beyond the
boundaries of your current belief system. What obstacles lie between you and
moving outside your "comfort zone?" Where could you let your vision for your
life be more outrageous? More fun? More of what you really want?3. Withdraw from
collective mass consciousnessStep beyond general consensus to remove the limits
of what's possible for you to have. Many people have changed society -- and
had fun -- by doing "what couldn't be done." You can too. When you withdraw
your energy field from the energy field of the tribal collective agreement, you
can create outside that agreement. Be "in the world, but not of it." Where in
your life could you step a little further outside of mass consciousness
thinking?4. Use the Law of Attraction: Energize what you love with gratitudeOur
magnetic field of energy is always (all ways) attracting exactly what we need to
create our heart's desires. Discover the ancient wisdom of multiplying what
you have with deep thankfulness. As you pour the vibration of appreciation into
the love, health, prosperity and joy that you already have, this vibration will
magnetize more of the same to you. It's the physics of the Universe. What
aspects of your life could you right now be genuinely grateful for?5. Experience
"concrete, physical" reality as energyWhen we choose to experience so-called
"solid" things as the vibrational energy -- fields of energy -- that they
actually are, these aspects of our reality become infinitely more malleable and
flexible in responding to our intentions. Where are you willing right now to
open to experiencing your body -- and other people, conditions, animals, rocks,
emotions -- as an energy field (life force/flow dynamic) rather than as fixed,
static, solid objects?6. Reclaim your Personal PowerAre you energizing ideas and
activities and maintaining relationships that no longer serve you? When you
choose to invest in those relationships and situations that do feed your dreams,
you regain tremendous personal power. When you choose to call back your spirit
from the people, ideas and activities that no longer serve you, you regain
tremendous personal power to invest in those relationships and situations that
do feed your dreams. What are you tolerating, avoiding or denying in your life
right now? Where are you compromising, sacrificing or settling for something
less than what you really want? Where could you invest your time, energy and
attention that would really serve you?7. Relax your grip on your belief
systemWhen you release your vise grip on the rigid, fixed beliefs you inherited
from society, the things can shift that need to shift for something new, fresh,
wonderful and miraculous to happen to you. What are your beliefs about how life
operates? How important are these beliefs to your survival, identity, reputation
(need for approval) and sense of worth? In what areas of your life could you
right now relax your need to control the exact functioning of the people and
events around you?8. Build Your Chi Your Internal Life Force EnergyOur free
attention, time and energy are the lifeblood of our ability to create and
attract what we desire in life. The more we consciously manage and steward these
natural assets, the more we can build a reservoir and reserve of
miracle-producing power. Where could you be more accessible to energy-giving
situations and people? Where could you be more inaccessible to energy-draining
situations and people? How can you naturally and easily "build your internal
life force chi" through activities that are fun for you? What in your life are
you not experiencing as an adventure?9. Connect directly with SpiritYour soul is
in charge of your life! Your spirit has been running the show from behind the
stage curtain since the beginning of time. Open a direct line to the wonders,
wisdom, support and guidance of your own brilliant soul plan. How do you
mediate/pray? Is it as effective as you would like? Have you tried a moving
meditation?10. Align your personality with your soulWhen you're aligned with
your true intentions in being here this lifetime, prosperity flows automatically
with no effort or doingness. Align your everyday lifestyle with your soul vision
and receive all the support, energy and love you needand begin to enjoy the
ride! What actions could you take that would bring your life more in accord with
your life purpose? What changes could you make to be more authentic in your
life?11. Allow yourself to receive from SpiritThe primary joy and purpose of our
spirit friends -- the Ascended Masters, guardian angels, spirit guides, nature
devas, spirit animals -- is to assist us to reach our life goals. Do you
regularly ask for assistance, and let in love and energy from your other
dimensional allies?12. Embrace your ShadowWhat you choose not to see, you
can't change. What weaknesses, faults, fears and shortcomings do you feel you
have -- socially, physically, spiritually, romantically, financially, sexually?
Are you willing to open up to your soul's point of view on your so-called
"dark side"?13. Hang with people who nurture youBy your own pre-arranged
conscious design, old soulmates deliver messages to you that trigger timely
awareness, alchemy and awakening. What people and environments are not entirely
safe, supportive or inspiring for you to be with? Where could you refuse to let
another be reckless with your heart? Where could you be less reckless with
another's heart? Where could you celebrate the success of others?14. Listen
to your bodyOur body is a natural feedback system to keep us abreast of how well
we are dealing with the pressures and demands of life. What lessons is your body
reflecting to you? What wake-up calls from your body have you been denying?
What's the weight you are carrying around? What's your body dying to tell
you?15. Follow the guiding signs and synchronicities Spirit gives you
everydayOur soul is always (all ways) trying to steer us toward our goals. We
live in an interactive, responsive universe that is designed to fulfill our
deepest dreams -- if we would only play along! Allow your intuition to guide you
to the forms and vehicles that will empower your spirit to express fully. What
messages and signals has the Universe been sending you that you have been
ignoring, misinterpreting, or are afraid to act on?16. Choose to be innocent
(free) of the past: Welcome surprise and serendipityOpen the door to more magic,
meaning and money in your world by learning to suspend skepticism and
conditioned responses. Learn to surf through the surprises of life, instead of
being swept away by them. Where could you approach your goals with more
flexibility, openness and sense of play?17. Feng-shui your life: Give yourself a
"spaceshift"Feng-shui is the ancient art of consciously managing matter and
energy within space. By intuitively re-arranging the elements of your daily
life, you create the space to nurture the freedom, opportunities and
effectiveness you desire. By clearing out the old, dead elements of your life,
you create a natural vacuum and an unblocked channel for fresh, new energy and
ideas to come into your private and professional life. How could you unblock
your energy now? Where can you re-arrange the ways you live your everyday life
in a fresh, new, intuitive way?18. Live your life as an experimentConsider your
life as the latest -- and greatest -- experiment by human consciousness to
express Heaven on Earth -- or just to have fun playing in the 3rd dimension.
Where could you lighten up, celebrate and have more humor in your approach to
living?Copyright 2005 Keith Varnum About Keith: Keith Varnum shares his
practical approach to transformation as an author, radio host and "Dream
Workshops" facilitator. Keith helps people get love, money, health and spirit
with his free Prosperity Ezine, free Empowerment CD and free Coaching at
www.TheDream.com.Have you clearly defined your target audience? These are the
prime buyers of your products or services. It is the people or organizations you
are pursuing actively as customers. You don't need every customer in the
world! You need the ones who are a good match for YOU. The more specific you
are, the more effective your marketing campaign will be.But, let's take this
concept one step further. You can develop specific strategies that will attract
your DREAM customers. These are the people who are best suited to purchase your
product or service.A dream customer is someone who: You want to work with and
enjoy. For example, if you're wild about horses, why not specialize in the
riding industry? Needs and values the product or services you provide. Is
willing and able to pay what you need to charge. Views you as an important
resource - an expert. Has problems and goals you care about. Is loyal to your
business and not easily swayed by competitors. Is delighted to do business with
you!I can hear you asking: "Is it really possible to attract dream customers?"
The answer is a resounding YES! The key is to absolutely know what sets you
apart and to make a DIFFERENCE for your customers. In all of your marketing
materials, be professional, creative, and consistent. And, always focus on the
exciting benefits you offer to your customers. Don't fall into the trap of
using boring feature-focused marketing phrases.Here are some examples of boring,
feature-focused marketing: We provide excellent customer service. Our firm has
been around for 25 years. We're a full-service company. The XYZ product is
the best of its kind.Why is this boring marketing? Because there is nothing
unique or remarkable about these statements. They focus on features, not
benefits. And, they are the exact same messages your competitor is using. Yes,
these sentences may be true. However, they do nothing to set your business
apart. These phrases are not going to magnetize your dream customer.Instead, you
have to THINK like your customers. Meet their specific needs and solve their
unique problems. In your marketing materials, tell them about the unique
benefits your company provides. Make sure your business is memorable. If your
customers can't remember you, they can't tell others about your services
or products.Examples of benefit-based statements to attract your DREAM
customers: Sales Trainer: "We will take the fear out of selling." Cosmetic
Dentist: "A smile makeover can make you look years younger." Mortgage Company:
"We'll find the right loan for you at the best price."These statements work
because they are focused on what a customer will get. They solve a problem. And,
they show an understanding of people's challenges and plans for the future.
If you want to be a magnet, ask your current customers what they like about you.
Also, ask them what you can do better. Feedback is a great way to build your
dream customer base.Remember, you only get one chance to make a first
impression. So, be proactive in your marketing. What do your current marketing
materials say about your company? Are they creative? Do they look professional?
Is your branding consistent and based on a theme? If you answer "no" to any of
these questions, your marketing may not be working to effectively pull in your
dream customers.ACTION ITEM: Write down the characteristics of your DREAM
customer and then write down the unique ways your business can meet their needs.
This week, take one step toward making your company a customer magnet.Copyright
2005 Wendy Gray Maynard, KinesisAbout Wendy: Wendy Gray Maynard is the co-owner
of Kinesis. Kinesis specializes in marketing, graphic design, and business
writing. Visit http://www.kinesisinc.com for more articles and free marketing
wisdom. Want to harness the power of kinetic marketing? Sign up for Kinesis
Quickies, a free bi-monthly marketing e-newsletter:
http://www.news.kinesisinc.com Everyone loves a Home Based Business Opportunity.
I love mine and you cannot be an exception I guess! So let us start from the
beginning and explore as to Who, Why, When and Where you could start this
Business Opportunity using the Internet.Who?Anyone with a desire or urge to
start a Home Based Business can venture into this field. All you need is a
computer and who has not got one or access to one these days? An elementary
knowledge of the working of a computer and the Internet is sufficient to get
started. Many things can be picked up as you progress. This is what most of the
people do.The beauty of this Internet Home Business is that Age and Sex, Race
and Religion are no barriers. It is sans borders. Entrepreneurs living in any
part of the world can participate in thousands of Affiliate programs that are
either Regional or Global in nature.There are many programs that are Free to
join! In fact there are several Affiliate programs that provide Entrepreneurs
with Free Websites and Tools too. You could have your own personal website if
you are prepared to spend a few dollars.Why?This is a pertinent question indeed!
Some of the reasons for starting a Home Based Business are:1. A desire to earn
an Additional income to supplement the monthly income.2. A desire to run your
own home business and not depend on your Boss's pay packet3. Dissatisfaction
with your present Boss or your employment.4. Being out of work or laid off.5.
Circumstances forcing you to be with the family or aging parents.6. A Childhood
ambition to have your own business.When?You can start a Home Based Business at
any age. It can be at twenty, fifty or even at seventy. What matters most is
that you have to be sufficiently motivated and have the urge and desire to do
it.Allocating two hours a day for your cherished dream should not be difficult
to start with. In fact about twenty hours a week would be useful and
advantageous. I am aware of people who have retired from active work but are
keeping themselves gainfully occupied by doing an Internet Home Based
Business.To be successful in life you should have a Plan, more so for your
Internet Business Opportunity. Draw up a short term and a long term plan for
what you intend to achieve. Initially draw up a Plan for the first three months
to start with and try to stick with it, come what may.While you are at the
computer, Pop ups and other advertisements can and will divert your attention
from your objective. Do not run after the goose that is going to lay the golden
egg for you and waste your valuable time.Top Marketers are brilliant people who
spend much time and money in researching how to divert your attention and I can
tell you, they are not going to fail! I should know! I have been in the
marketing business for several years though not in the internet field. Hence you
should remain completely focused on your work.Where?Unlike in a brick and mortar
business, to operate a Business from home, the Home Based Business Entrepreneur
needs no separate building. Your physical place of business will be your very
home and no high start up fees is necessary. The computer can be set up wherever
you like so that it is convenient to work with and free from noises and
distraction.Your success will to some extent depend on the support you receive
from the members of your family. The spouse can be of great assistance by
reading and researching resources and articles and doing a lot of other
preliminary work, which can substantially reduce the number of hours you have to
spend on the computer. In other words your spouse can be your partner in your
Home Based Business.The greatest benefit of this Internet Business Opportunity
is that it works twenty-four hours (24/7) a day and is Portable. Wherever you
travel, within the country or to any part of the world your Business travels
with you. You have to carry your laptop along, that's it. Otherwise find
access to a computer. It is as simple as that.Why wait? Start working on your
Home Based Business seriously. Work at Home, Work from Home or Work away from
Home and reap the benefits the Internet Revolution has showered on you, the
Internet Entrepreneur.Copyright 2005 Kanaga SivaAbout Kanaga: Kanaga Siva has
been a Marketing Manager and Business Manager and has a wealth of experience in
Marketing. He now operates his own Home Based Business. For Articles, Resources,
Tips and Ideas to start a Home Based Business from anywhere in the World, visit
his website, http://www.business-fromhome.comThere are many reasons why people
choose to start a home-based business. Some of these are:1. Dissatisfied with
your present employment situation.2. Out of work due for whatever reason.3. You
need to be home to care for young children.4. You need to be at home to care for
an infirm family member or aging parents.5. You really want to be your own
boss.6. You really could use an additional income source.7. You wish to have
more time to spend with family or friends.Over the years I have identified two
of the most important factors in recognizing people who should not be starting a
home based business. If a prospective entrepreneur says something like..."I'm
broke -- I need to make some fast money!"or,"I really want to start a home-based
business but I don't want to spend any money on the business until I start
making some money."...it is certain that they have not addressed reality and,
with that mindset, they will most certainly fail.First, It takes a lot of time
to successfully market and promote a new business and, if it is an internet
business, a whole lot of "savvy" and information and resources you have probably
never heard of. For a pretty good "first start" effort at setting up your
internet business, see my article Tips For A Successful Internet Business.doc,
also available through this resource -- GoArticles.com. If you are planning a
home-based business in order to spend a lot of time with young children or care
for the elderly, a full-time business (and income) may not be a realistic
objective.Second, spend some time researching your business idea. The internet
is a great source of information.Third, learn as much as you can about small
business. go to http://www.sba.gov/ and navigate to the sections dealing with
home based businesses.Fourth, write a business plan. Beyond my own eBook on
starting a Home-based Business, here are a couple of Small Business
Administration website locations that should prove
useful:http://www.sba.gov/starting/indexbusplans.htmlhttp://www.sba.gov/library/pubs.htmlFinally,
seek the advice of a tax professional. See my article on taxes and choosing your
tax man for some valuable tips and insight into this aspect of your Home-based
business.Whatever your reason(s) for starting a home-based business and whatever
kind of endeavor you choose, there are a few common steps you need to take in
order to launch your business and be successful.Right now your first step should
be to learn all you can about beginning a successful Home-based business. I have
written several articles, which I'm turning into an eBook, on all the basic
tips you need to start your own successful Home-based Business, be it truly "at
home" or "on the internet". Check the following article list and pick out all
you believe would be helpful to you:1. Do I Really Need A Business Plan.doc2.
Writing A Homebased Business Plan.doc3. Tax advantages of a homebased
business.doc4. How to Set Up Easy, Efficient Bookeeping.doc5. Should You Pay to
Join a Home Business Opportunity.doc6. There's No Such Thing As A Free Lunch
Anymore.doc7. How to Make Your Hobby Pay.doc8. Tips For A Successful Internet
Business.doc9. Telecommuting, The New Way To Work From Home.doc10. Writing
Effectively Part 1.doc11. Writing Effectively Part 2.doc12. Home Based Business
Time Wasters.docThen email me and request all the articles -- by title -- you
decide you will need or will be helpful to you...and get started on your new
successful Homebased business life. I'll email your articles to you in MS
.DOC format. They're free. Or go to my website and download the complete
eBook -- for free. But give it until April because its not yet written --
it's still just a plan that needs to come together. The full eBook will have
a few more topics and chapters than the article list above.I'm always amazed
at the number of people who seem to think that magic is somehow created when you
put in the words "home based" ahead of "business". It's still a business...it
just happens to be based in the home...and you have to treat it "as a business",
keep regular business hours, and do everything you would do if you went to the
office in order to have a successful "home-based business". There simply are no
substitutes for hard work and focus.Copyright 2004 Loring A. WindbladAbout
Loring: Loring Windblad has operated his own HBBs for nearly 40 years, is a
published author and freelance writer. Loring has written grants, business plans
and resumes that got the job done right. His latest HBB endeavor is
http://www.organicgreens.usLet's take a look at Business and Business
Philosophy. A business exists to 1) provide a service or product to customers
and 2) to make a reasonable profit for the business owner.In the past this took
the form of two kinds of traveling salesman (the itinerant traveling salesman,
working out of his wagon or truck, who brought otherwise unavailable products to
places who simply could not economically travel the distance required to find
those products...and the "drummer", or "route salesman" who went to the various
"fixed location" businesses and sold them their "restocking supplies") and the
"fixed location" businesses (stores) who carried a selection of "most needed"
products in their store for customers to come in, select from and
purchase.Pretty much this mode of operation stayed true from the mid 1800's
to the late 1900's. But by 1990 there was a new inroad into this model of
business -- and business philosophy. Or was there? And just what was that
inroad?The Inroad was "The Internet", in existence since the 1960's, started
"going commercial" by about 1990. It is now 2005 and this commercialization is
an ongoing and evolving process. Business has changed and is changing. Many
fixed location storefronts also have web locations and offer home delivery for
online ordering, even for local customers. But how about "Business Philosophy"?
It is changing, also? Or is it?Right now internet businesses are proliferating
at an alarming rate. I cannot count and possibly no one can count the total
number of internet businesses in the world today. There are probably between 100
and 1000 "new" internet businesses starting every day somewhere in the world,
and this figure could be much higher. There even is a "new category" of business
which has evolved, sort of to keep track of those businesses.No, it is not the
electronic store front which offers products or services to customers anywhere
in the world (though this is a major evolution from a standard "fixed location"
real store front on your local street), nor is it the "hosting service" which
electronically locates and "displays" your electronic storefront for customers
to find. They are not unlike the building owner who sublets space for offices
and stores. The new type of business is the "search engine" which "locates,
catalogues and categorizes" all of these various business enterprises and allows
you to find what you are looking for.It is said that there are hundreds of
different search engines out there, proliferating and multiplying like
lemmings...and, like lemmings, falling by the wayside for various inadequacies.
Except for the best and biggest. The number one "search engine" is probably
Google. However, MSN is gaining and Alexa, All-the-Web, Alta Vista, AOL, Ask
Jeeves, Lycos, Matilda, Scrub the Web and a few others may be considered the
"major" search engines, those which comprise, say, 95% or more of total search
engine use worldwide.There is possible a second type of "new business" brought
to us by the Internet. This is the browser. In fact, the browser and the search
engine work hand in hand and are completely different entities. Basically, they
generally are set to work hand in hand and mutually complement one another. In
fact, in my mind, the search engine is slightly more valuable but less
independent.The Number One Browser is likely to be Microsoft's Internet
Explorer. But there are several more "major" browsers, which include
AOL/Netscape, Firefox and Opera, as well as many more. These four probably
comprise more than 95% of the worldwide "browser use" on the internet.You could
compare them (very loosely) thusly: look at the search engine as an exquisitely
detailed map, showing not only everything that is there by business and
location, but everything that is inside those locations -- the books and other
resources within a library, the entire stock of the local store, all the
services of a print shop, etc. And look at the browser as the vehicle that gets
you from where you are to the resources, products and services you are looking
for. It's nice to have such a detailed map but the map is useless without the
ability to go there and see and use what is there.The search engine, slightly
more valuable in a sense, is not a "stand-alone" item. It requires a browser to
be truly functional. The browser, however, is a stand-alone item which benefits
mightily by the information the search engine provides. Compare the
search-engineless browser to a long trip in a vehicle with an occasional rare
find -- a resource you may or may not have been looking for.So for you to be
successful in your internet business endeavor you must not only be there -- on
the internet -- and accessible to browsers, you must find a way to "be found" by
the search engines and mapped so that the people using the browsers can find
you.To do this you must do several things. You must build your web site cleanly
and meeting the "search criteria" of the various "search engines". Ideally you
will want to use a pleasing layout, probably a cascading style sheet, optimize
your verbal content for the search engine algorithms and engage the services of
someone who really knows how to do this kind of work. You must also carefully,
very carefully indeed, select the host for your web site. More on this in the
next article, but see my #1 web site below.I personally recommend Lawrence Deon
of http://www.rankingyourwaytothebank.com/I have seen several resources out
there similar to what Lawrence Deon provides and they range in price from triple
the cost to more than 10 times the cost...and they don't do anything that
Ranking Your Way To The Bank doesn't do.Organic Greens dot US ranks right up
in the top 10 for nearly 20 different search terms and on most of the world's
major search engines. This is purely thanks to Lawrence Deon. I have this one up
and three more right now in varying stages of construction, all with Lawrence
Deon's help. And I have more web sites up which are designed with thanks to
Lawrence Deon.Copyright 2004 Loring A. WindbladAbout Loring: Loring Windblad
has operated his own HBBs for nearly 40 years, is a published author and
freelance writer. Loring has written grants, business plans and resumes that got
the job done right. His latest HBB endeavor is http://www.organicgreens.us1.
Choose opportunities more wisely and waste less time because I have my plan in
place (P 6)2. A single page can contain all the elements you need to tell your
employees, board of directors, potential partners or banker where you are taking
your business and how you are going to get there. (P 17)3. The most important
reason to have a business plan is to clarify your thinking, regardless of the
size of your company (P 18)4. It facilitates creating and analytical thinking,
problem solving, communication, and teamwork. (P 18)5. It creates hope and
enthusiasm about the future. (P 18)6. It also brings out procrastination,
frustration, differences of opinions and possibly anger. (P 18)7. Somehow
writing initiates the transformation from idea to reality. (P 21)8. The written
word produces a contract with yourself that results in immediate action. (P
21)9. Writing allows others to participate in your dream and give you feedback
(P 21)10. Because your coach, consultant, business builder strategist, friend,
relative tells you that one of the top reasons businesses fail is a lack of
planning! That's why!Quotes 1-9 are from the One Page Business Plan Book, by
Jim Horan. For more information on the One Page Business Plan, visit
http://www.coachmaria.com/events/onepage.htmlCopyright 2005 Maria
MarsalaResource box: Elevating Your Business. Since 1998, Maria Marsala, a
former Wall Street Trader, has worked more than 1000 women (and men) who own
service business to increase their profits, save time, and live rich, fulfilling
lives. Visit www.ElevatingYourBusiness.com to request your 2 business reports
and join our business building newsletter or forum.1. You have the right to
price your business services right!2. You have the right to raise your prices at
any time.3. You have the right to say no to those who only want to "pick your
brain."4. You have the right to set boundaries that are in line with your
integrity!5. You have the right to terminate conversations with others because
you don't feel that your experience is being respected.6. You have a right to
charge clients a late fee for not paying you promptly.7. You have the right not
only to charge more for rush jobs or jobs requested over the weekend - you have
the right to say no to doing them.8. You have the right to make mistakes,
missteps. Learn, and do better next time.9. You have the right to have fun and
enjoy your "business."10. You have the right to say no to someone in order to
say YES to you!Copyright 2005 Maria MarsalaResource box: Elevating Your
Business. Since 1998, Maria Marsala, a former Wall Street Trader, has worked
more than 1000 women (and men) who own service business to increase their
profits, save time, and live rich, fulfilling lives. Visit
www.ElevatingYourBusiness.com to request your 2 business reports and join our
business building newsletter or forum.23 Things To Say When Someone Wants To
"Pick Your Brain"Maria MarsalaMany service business owners these days are
"giving away" their business services -- and then wonder why people aren't
hiring them in droves. In the name of "marketing," business owners are providing
way too much information for free. Some shifts in thinking are necessary if
these business owners expect to be in business years from now.Even trained
coaches, I believe, do too much pro-bono work. Why? They say that they need to
practice, but the bottom line, IMO, is that they don't value their gifts.What
can you say to people who 1) ask outright for free information, or 2) want to
"pick your brain" or 3) just start talking to you about something, and you
realize that they're trying to "borrow" your valuable resources without
becoming a client? Here are some ideas. Try them on to see which ones "fit" you
best.23 things to say when someone asks you - a service business owner -- for
free information!1. My charge for an initial consultation is "x." If we turn out
to be a good match, and you hire me, I'll apply 1/2 of "x" towards your
commitment.2. I'm happy to give you 5 minutes or less of free time, however,
most issues are more quickly & effectively resolved in an undisturbed
session(s). May we schedule a meeting so I can give you my undivided
attention?3. If someone is very persistent, whip out a stopwatch & say "For $2 a
minute I'd be happy to go into this now. May I start the clock & do you
prefer to pay with cash or check?"4. What I can do is refer you to a free
resource on "_______."5. I do work with two pro-bono clients, who are in
desperate need financially. I'll take your card and add you to the waiting
list.6. Yes, I do work with clients on "name the issue." Would you like to set
up a consultation?7. That will cost "x" per hour.8. There's a lot I can do
for you that's similar to the work I did for "xyz" client. Would you like to
get together and build a marketing plan? (And then charge for those services.)9.
Well, I'd love to suggest something; however, my fees are "xxx" per hour.10.
Are you looking to hire me?11. Are you looking to hire _____? Well, I'd love
to talk to you about that; my fees are "x" per hour."12. You may call me for a
15-minute talk, very focused, on that issue.13. "Well, the answer to that
question depends" and then spend a few minutes explaining some of the options
and considerations. For example, I may explain that the best way to identify the
"solution" is to work backward from the desired end result and process. That
provides a natural lead-in to: "If I were to work with you on this project,
here's how we would do it..."14. Sorry, I can't answer that unless you pay
my fee (or hire me).15. A complete answer to your question is going to take more
than 15 minutes over the phone. Would you like me to send you a proposal on
this?16. I have really enjoyed talking with you and would like to help more. May
I send you one of my brochures and a rate card?17. Do you have a time line
and/or budget in mind for solving this problem?18. Have you looked at cost
estimates from others who would like to help you solve this problem or complete
this project?19. It's not a good time for me to begin a session right this
minute. Would you like to briefly discuss session times and fees?20. Are you
seeking generic free information on"the topic" or to work with a "your
profession here" to address your specific situation? [If I have a free resource,
I'll ask for their email address and send it to them.]21. I provide a general
3-4 sentence overview of how I would address their concern with them. Then I say
that I've found that the sorting of the information available and subsequent
application of that information is so specific to each individual that I always
recommend hiring a "your profession here" for getting that one project
completed.22. Well what I can offer you on that subject is an ebook (CD, audio,
etc) called ________. I'll email you the link.23. Refer them to these "free"
or "almost free" resources:- The library has books/tapes/audios/CD/reference
librarians.- To an outsider, your local SBA and SCORE Offices "look" free.
They're really not "free" either.Their classes "cost $" and their advice is
paid for by all of us as part of our taxes.- Find a professional who needs your
services and see about some sort of in-kind exchange or barter. Again, this
isn't totally free, as you do need to report it on your taxes, but in most
cases, there isn't any money exchanged.- Join lots of ezines by experts in
the area you're looking to learn about, but do it quickly while they are
still free. And know that the 'best of the best' contain ads and affiliate
programs, too.Marcia Yudkin, Marketing Consultant, Speaker and Author says this
in Marketing Minute:http://www.yudkin.com/marksynd.htm"You can head off a good
portion of that from paying clients by settingdown in writing what your fees
cover and do not cover. While you don't want to come off as some sort of
dictator with a stringent rulebook, it helps to set forth guidelines for a
productive relationship. For folks who are not yet clients, feel free to copy
what I do. If I can answer a question in five minutes or less, I generally just
go ahead and do so. If a question is more complicated than that, I reply, 'I
couldn't do justice to your question without a consultation. My consulting
rates are ...' Prevent hassles by making expectations explicit!"Remember, as
a service business owner, part of what you "offer" clients and what they value
from you is your knowledge and expertise. It's as much a part of your
"services" as any tangible materials you produce. So make sure to treat it as
such, and get compensated fairly! When you value your services, others will,
too.***With special thanks to members of the CoachU Alumni Helping Alumni List
http://www.coachu.com/, Digital Eve Seattle and Freelance Seattle,
www.freelance-seattle.net discussion lists for sending me their questions and
observations, which contributed greatly to this article.Copyright 2005 Maria
MarsalaResource box: Elevating Your Business. Since 1998, Maria Marsala, a
former Wall Street Trader, has worked more than 1000 women (and men) who own
service business to increase their profits, save time, and live rich, fulfilling
lives. Visit www.ElevatingYourBusiness.com to request your 2 business reports
and join our business building newsletter or forum.You may remember being told
as a child, "Keep quiet!" "Children should be seen, not heard," and "You talk
too much." You were a "good" kid if you kept quiet. However, being quiet when
you are little causes big problems later in life.As an adult, you may have been
punished for communicating. For example, if you admit you committed a crime and
are sorry about it, no one cares. You still go to jail. If you honestly tell
your spouse you are thinking about an affair, your marriage suffers if your
spouse is not very understanding. If you tell someone you feel a little crazy,
who knows what might happen. So you learn to keep your mouth shut.However,
businesses fail when managers do not talk to employees or employees do not talk
to customers. Everyone mistakenly believes telepathy is working. "I thought you
knew I was unhappy with your performance." "You should have known I was
overworked."Marriages are ruined by poor communication. Rather than openly
discuss sex, money, body problems or whatever, couples hint about their concerns
or simply say nothing. But without support and understanding from your primary
teammate, you do not go as far. In fact, a bad marriage can ruin everything in
your life. Both parties in a successful marriage are able to give and receive
communication from their spouse on any subject.Life is miserable if you have no
one to openly communicate with. Friendships are based on communication. The lack
of friends or a spouse to communicate with often leads to mental problems.So the
first communication skill you need is to get out there and talk.Unfortunately,
on some topics, you've learned to watch what you say, to keep it under your
hat, to zip it up."So that is the basic lesson that anybody learns in this
universe. They learn to keep their mouth shut, and it's the wrong lesson.
When in doubt, talk. When in doubt, communicate." -- L. Ron HubbardWhenever you
have doubts about something, COMMUNICATE! Talk, talk, talk until the problem
resolves. When you feel stress, disagreement or resistance between you and
someone near you, the wrong thing to do is ignore the problem. Instead, start
communicating.When you know you should say something, say it! For example, an
employee knows another employee is embezzling money and so says something to the
employee and/or boss. A doctor knows he must talk to a about the patient's
rude behavior to the office staff. An employer knows she must discuss poor
performance issues with some employees.Take the bull by the horns. Move ahead in
life. Spit it out.If you're worried about the consequences of saying
something, you can ask first. Examples: "Lisa, I want to say something about
your driving to help keep you out of accidents, but I don't want to upset
you. Can I tell you what I think or should I keep my mouth shut?""Boss, should I
tell you if I think you are giving me bad advice?""John, our marriage means so
much to me I don't want to say anything that would jeopardize it. But I have
done something wrong and I'm sorry I did it. I think it would be good for our
relationship if I told you. Don't you think it's best if we are 100%
honest with each other?""Can you listen to something unfortunate I have to say
and remain calm? Are you ready?"In the long run, you are always better off by
communicating. Take responsibility and talk. Staying silent solves
nothing.Copyright 2004 Fernando SoaveAbout Fernando: Fernando Soave is the
author of "Cutting Edge MLM News." He has been in marketing for 20 years and is
helping individuals succeed online. Visit his site to find out how you can get
free reports. http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tk or Subscribe to the Free Cutting Edge
MLM Newsletter and receive your +$585 MLM Value Pack.
http://www.cuttingedgemlm.tkmnet@followup101.com (subject: SUBSCRIBE)It is
believed that there are only two ways to ensure customer satisfaction. The first
is quality in the output and second is the affordability of the service or
product. Full color printing companies are now well-equipped to fulfill
customers discriminating needs. In fact, some are even assisting their customers
starting from the conceptualization stage to design, printing and finally to the
mailing of the materials.CMYK or full color printing can be relied upon in
giving the most accurate, crisp and detailed reproduction of your materials. Its
popularity can be concluded in its rampant circulation. Time, People Magazine
and National Geographic are in fact, using it. Aside from newsletters, it is
also widely used by other forms of advertising materials like postcards,
posters, stickers, greeting cards, brochures, flyers and folders.Before finding
an expert printer is a time-consuming and hard task. Now, it's as easy as
flicking a finger. Right at the very confines of your home, you can pick a
printer and order instantly. Regardless of the quantity of your printing needs,
you can have them easily taken cared of online. All you have to do is negotiate
through your computer. Be reminded though that it will cut costs if you order
more.Most, if not all of the printers are very competitive. They give reasonable
and viable prices for the customers to choose from. In connection to colors, the
printing companies are offering a wide variety of colors ranging form one-color
to six-color printing. Instant printing quotes and online approval of the four
color printing job are given for you to preview and select how your printing job
will push through without any hassles and delays. Not only that, the customers
can already have their orders delivered in a matter of days depending if it is a
rush or not.As a rule of thumb, always consider the company image first with all
your printing needs, because it is the most important thing that should reflect
on your materials. That way, people will notice the company's image and the
company per se. another thing to consider is to make the message lasting. To
achieve this, you must first create an impression using full color printing.
That impression will eventually result to retention.With full color printing,
your needs can be delivered quickly and efficiently. Printing made faster and
easier! You don't have to worry about delays because your project will be
delivered just on time!Copyright 2005 Maricon WilliamsResource box: For
suggestions, inquiries and additional information about full color printing
services, log-on to http://www.fullcolorprintingcompany.comHave you been in a
situation where you are sure that you are in dire need of a business card but
then you are perplexed and unable to decide what kind must be chosen? Well, if
you're in that situation, you are on the same boat as thousands of
individuals all over the globe.It is a given fact that black and white has an
aura of elegance and formality. Nevertheless, in the eyes of the majority it can
be perceived as dull and boring. Adding colors to it can make it stand out from
the rest. The business card's appearance is very significant since at the
onset it should grab the attention of the holder, otherwise it will not be read
and the personality of the business or company will not be extended.Full color
business cards create an ambiance of ingenuity and creativity. It can emphasize,
beautify, modernify and boost the design of the business cards. You can even
incorporate it into the background to effect an outstanding work-of-art.In
today's modern environment, color as a catalyst to a successful design and
craft, is just a mouse click away. You can order it online through your trusted
online printing company. They are offering it with fast turnaround. So you can
have it delivered swiftly.Full color printing is somewhat similar to inkjet
printing. In this kind of printing, all the inks are simultaneously printed on
the paper. Therefore, in a matter of one run, cards are already printed -- no
hassles just precision!Nowadays, full color printing is becoming more and more
affordable. It can turn your business cards sharper, jazzier and bubbly. If in
case you have a colored graphic or logo, the least costly remedy is to have it
full color printed.In selecting the right business card look for you, you should
bear in mind that it must project the business or the profession. If you are a
lawyer, an elegant and formal business card is the right for you. You can add in
glitz of gold and black inks. It is noteworthy that lawyers and other
professions use cards to give information and not to solicit business. This is
the bare minimum difference of using cards for profession and business.To sum it
up, you may have price as your most influential decisive factor, however, you
must think first of the image and the resultant output before deciding on the
matter. If you decide on this drastically, without weighing the possible
outcomes, you might end up losing your hard earned resources.Copyright 2005
Maricon WilliamsResource box: For suggestions, inquiries and additional
information about full color printing services, log-on to
http://www.fullcolorprintingcompany.comDoes travel to places like Fiji, Rome,
Italy, Hong Kong, Bora Bora, Paris, London, and Australia sound like something
you want to do? Would you like to stroll on secluded beaches, dine in quaint
little restaurants, or wander around in ancient castles? If so, becoming a
travel agent may be a good choice for you.But can you really make decent money
being a travel agent? Is there a future in it?According to the United States
Department of Labor, "Industry consolidation and increasing use of the Internet
to book travel will result in a decline in the employment of travel agents. The
Internet increasingly allows people to access travel information from their
personal computers, enabling them to research and plan their own trips, make
their own reservations and travel arrangements, and purchase their own
tickets."So as the need for travel agents declines, so too will their salaries.
And salaries of travel agents are already low. The United States Department of
Labor, says that the "Median annual earnings of travel agents were $26,630 in
2002. The middle 50 percent earned between $20,800 and $33,580. The lowest 10
percent earned less than $16,530, while the top 10 percent earned more than
$41,660."So if you had years worth of experience the best you would do is around
$40,000 U.S. a year, which is very well likely to decline. And more likely you
would only be earning $25K or less as a travel agent. That's not a very
attractive salary for most people.So if you become a travel agent you'll have
the benefits of huge discounts on travel, but you won't likely be making
money enough to afford to travel. In fact, you'll barely have enough to cover
living expenses.So does that mean you should look for another more profitable
occupation?There is a solution so you can still become a travel agent. The best
way is to become a travel agent is with one of the new travel-based network
marketing organizations. You become a travel agent of one of these travel
companies and you get all the benefits of being a travel agent.You still make
money on travel commissions, but you also make money by helping other people
become their own travel agents. This enables you to make way more than you could
as an ordinary travel agent. In fact, if you do it right, you can make as much
in a month as many travel agents make in a year.With the trend moving towards
people making their own travel plans, you're just helping them do what they
are going to do anyway. Everyone wins! And you get to see the world in
style!Copyright 2005 Tim BruxvoortAbout Tim: Tim Bruxvoort is the Internet's
Foremost Home-Based Business and Success Coach who helps people create
successful and profitable lives in their own home-based businesses. You can
visit his website at www.homebasedriches.com . If you are interested in becoming
a travel agent, go to www.times10travel.com for a free report.To achieve success
in a home based business it is of critical importance to maintain a laser beam
focus on your target market and to direct your marketing activities to that
specific group. Website traffic is one thing, but targeted traffic is
everything.You have no doubt seen dozens of offers similar to "10,000 hits per
hour driven to your website!". This type of website traffic is completely
untargeted and will undoubtedly result in a very low conversion ratio. It's
basically "throw it up against the wall and hope something sticks". The big
incoming numbers give the illusion of progress, but you will achieve better
results with a lower volume of highly targeted traffic.I speak from experience
because in the early days of developing my home business, I went for the big
numbers instead of focusing on targeting prospects. It took me a while to
appreciate the importance of targeting (quality) instead of just going for the
big numbers, but it was a lesson well learned.Exchanging links has been an
important part of generating website traffic for quite some time, but the vast
majority of people looking to trade links don't understand that just wildly
swapping links with any willing webmaster is not the way to go.For the last few
years, most webmasters have been in a "pleasing Google" mode since Google had
such a dominant position. Now that challengers are emerging, most notably Yahoo,
MSN, and Ask Jeeves, the search engine ranking landscape is becoming much more
complicated than just marching to the tune Google plays.Many website owners seem
to be of the opinion that the sole purpose of exchanging links is to try to
improve the search engine ranking position of their website. While it is true
that links pointing to your website can help your search engine ranking, the
reason for obtaining inbound links goes far deeper than that.In my opinion, the
targeted traffic that relevant links pointing to your site will bring can be as
important as the traffic that comes to your website from people using search
engines. This is where linking philosophy comes in. If you limit yourself to
exchanging links only with websites that have a theme highly relevant to your
own, the traffic you receive from those links will be far more targeted
(valuable) than traffic you might receive from links with websites that have
nothing to do with your theme.Not only do highly relevant links bring you more
highly targeted traffic, but they also play a "customer satisfaction" role for
visitors to your website who arrived there as a result of a search engine query.
If someone arrives at your website after performing a search for, lets say "work
at home" and then finds your website full of links to a bunch of off topic sites
(Viagra, online casinos, hotel reservations, sports betting, etc, etc) the
impression is often not favorable and may actually drive your visitor away
before they consider whatever it is that your website itself is offering.Keep
your eye on the bullseye and develop highly targeted traffic by having good
content on your website and exchanging links with highly relevant sites that
also offer good content. Always keep in mind that...traffic is one thing, but
targeted traffic is everything.Copyright 2005 Kirk BannermanAbout Kirk: Kirk
Bannerman operates his own successful home based business and also coaches
others seeking to start their own home based business. For more information
visit his website at http://www.home-based-business-team.comWith an increasing
amount of scams on the internet posing as legitimate home businesses it is
becoming more and more difficult to find a business opportunity that is not
going to take your money and run.So how do you find a legitimate home business
among all the scams and schemes? Below I have listed some things you should
definitely look for when selecting a home business opportunity...Proven Business
System -- Is there a proven successful business system you can tap into and get
up and running very quickly? You don't want to spend all of your time
reinventing the wheel or trying to make a bad home business system work.Length
of Time in Business -- I would not invest my time, money, and resources into any
home business opportunity that has not been successfully in business for at
least five years. Most scams, schemes, and other bad business opportunities will
not make it to the five-year mark. Therefore, you can greatly increase your
chances of finding a legitimate home business by staying away from those that
have not successfully been around for at least five years.No Hyped Guarantees --
Every home business wants you to think that theirs is the best, so some fluff
and hype can pretty much always be expected. However, you need to watch out for
the business opportunities that overdue it.For example, any home business that
"guarantees" you will make hundreds, thousands, or even millions of dollars, in
any amount of time, is flat out lying to you. There is no way that any business
can guarantee you will earn that much and they certainly can't know how long
it will take you to do it, if it even is possible.Credibility -- I would not
join a business opportunity unless it is in good standing with the Better
Business Bureau and other credible organizations. Plus it should have a good
reputation with current and previous members. I suggest asking around at forums
or doing a search for the name of the business to get some feedback on what
others are saying about the company.Product(s) -- Is the product something that
people will actually want and use often? Look for a business opportunity with
products that are used regularly. This will help you tremendously in getting new
customers as well as repeat business from previous customers.Free to Join -- Not
every legitimate home business is free. In fact, many are not, but it is
definitely a good sign if they at least let you check it out for free to see if
it is for you. It is nearly impossible to build a successful home business
without some monetary investment, so you will probably have to break into your
piggy bank at some point. However, I would definitely be much more skeptical of
an opportunity that does not let you have a free trial.Free Website -- You will
definitely need to get your own website sometime in the future but when you are
just beginning you probably won't have one yet. So the business that you are
joining should provide free websites for you to use. Chances are that you
won't be able to make changes to these or get them into the search engines,
but you can at least send prospects to them.Compensation Plan -- When evaluating
the compensation plan of a prospective business opportunity ask yourself these
questions; How hard is it to get in profit? Can you earn a full time income with
them? Are the income expectations reasonable (not full of hype)? There should be
a clear compensation plan and you should earn commissions from your very first
sale.Lead Generation System -- Until you get more experienced at marketing it
will be very difficult for you to bring in very many leads on your own. Good
business opportunities will have a way for you to purchase high quality targeted
leads for a fair price.Resources and Training -- Every good home business
opportunity should have a resource center that members can go to for support,
training, and resources to help them succeed with their home business.Your
questions should be answered quickly and accurately and there should be more
than one means to get help. Members should have two or more of the following
available to them at all times; upline members, email support, phone support,
live chat, or a forum.Well, there you have it... some very good criteria to help
you in selecting a legitimate home business opportunity. Use the above
information as well as your own instincts when selecting a home business and you
should never get scammed again!Copyright 2005 Trent BrownriggAbout Trent: Trent
Brownrigg is a successful internet marketer and home business mentor. Visit his
website at http://www.work-at-home-jobs-iowa.com and he will personally help you
succeed with your own home business. Please subscribe to his "Biz Tips"
Newsletter by sending a blank email to: workathomebiz@aweber.comGetting low
interest credit to finance your home or car, or to get a low interest credit
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Low interest home equity loans can substantially decrease your monthly payments.
Find out your credit rating before you search for a loan. Next you can locate
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payments.Copyright 2005 Jakob JellingAbout Jakob: Jakob Jelling is the founder
of http://www.cashbazar.com. Visit his website for the latest on personal
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credit services to finance your needs. From buying a home or a car to financing
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your credit use. Financial services can allow you to build household budgets and
saving plans. They offer a variety of other services, from setting up a
retirement account to finding auto insurance.Credit services can help you
navigate the complex world of credit. A credit services company can help you
become a better informed user of credit. They can help you with credit repair if
your credit score is low. A credit service can also help you acquire your credit
report from a credit reporting bureau and help you review it. A credit service
can provide advice if you are unsure of how to handle your credit on your own.If
you are opening your own new home business, credit services can help you acquire
business loans and help you manage your business finances. Credit services
usually employ finance professions who can help you understand your situation
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on your situation. If you have a low credit score you can use a credit repair
service to guide on how to fix your situation. If you end up getting into
unmanageable debt, debt and credit counseling services can help you out.A credit
report service can help you analyze your credit report. If you have mistakes on
your report, a credit report service can help you dispute those items. The fees
may differ from company to company.A credit report monitoring service can
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your own is often difficult and confusing. Many people end up with huge debt
burdens due to misuse of credit. Credit services can help you in whatever
situation you find yourself.Copyright 2005 Jakob JellingAbout Jakob: Jakob
Jelling is the founder of http://www.cashbazar.com. Visit his website for the
latest on personal finance, debt elimination, budgeting, credit cards and real
estate.
Affiliate Marketing is a performance based sales technique used by companies to expand their reach into the internet at low costs. This commission based program allows affiliate marketers to place ads on their websites or other advertising efforts such as email distribution in exchange for payment of a small commission when a sale results.
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