Making Money Online: What are you doing?

Author : David Lumsden

Copyright 2006 David Lumsden

If you are doing something that is a lot better than most!!! Let
me put it to you plainly, it is/has been your intention to make
money online, by means of a business venture, an affiliate
program, by an online retail outlet or possibly by selling some
information of which you are an expert(?).

Let us say you started doing this last week, you have good
excuses for not having put the fatted calf on the table. Last
month, you are still ok in my book, a year ago? Oh dear,
something must be up.

Let me guess. You haven't quite got round to doing anything yet,
too many commitments, a full time job, don't understand the
business at all, what is a URL again, my brother's wife got the
summer 'flu, I looked after her, we fell in love and we had to
move to Chicago and my aren't the prices high.

There are also many ways of doing nothing to promote your
business. Obviously you can do nothing, your computer has been
turned to stone and the only thing that shows on the monitor
reflects your personal taste in the movies. Fine, if that's the
way you want it, so be it. I will leave you alone. Next.

Now some of you may be trying to promote your business but are
failing not through a lack of effort, but by what is commonly
called 'Barking up the wrong tree'. Don't worry, I am not going
to shout at you, we have all done it.

I assure you, the lecture is over, I am on your side, why would
I pick holes when you have given it a shot. My task is to help.

Let us say that your product is a good thing, for example you
sell information on how to make wine. (I admit freely I haven't
a clue how to do that, so this is fanciful writing). What do you
need to sell your 'ebook' product?

Interested customers. I repeat Interested customers. You have no
use of someone who wants to knit a jumper, someone trying to
book a holiday online, the worldly Joe who wants to see what
Jennifer Anniston looks like with no clothes on. None of these
are 'Interested' in your product.

I must point out it is not enough to have the best website in
the Internet universe if nobody visits it. And nobody of any
meaning will visit it if it is hidden in the depths. How do you
get your site noticed by the right people, the customers you
need to make a living?

The most basic step is to pretend you are your own customer. Try
finding your site, any site that sells what you are trying to
sell. Do not get led astray, it is the easiest road to failure
in the online world. Find out who is selling your type of
product, look at prices, what exactly is on offer, how can you
compete best and how do you make yours come to the surface.

Sounds difficult? It isn't, you have an interest in your
product, you need to sell it. See what works for others.
Examples: Domain name, erm homemadewines.com
vintryforbeginners.com cheapwine.com You get the idea. Ensure
your domain name is in line with your product.

When you write the copy for your web sales page, make sure you
have all the relevant keywords in there, everything known to
making wine at home should be there. Is it expensive to find all
this out? No, sign up for Google Adword and Google Adsense and
they will teach you how to do it for free. If you need more
help, there are many ebooks on how to achieve success this way.
(I do not pretend to be an expert in this field). But if you
want to sell a product, your website must always be on the
surface. This art must be learnt.

Traffic is traffic is traffic. For those not selling a product
but an affiliate program, your website has been done for you,
you have to learn how to promote it. Oh gosh more learning, true
but it is all laid out for you. A good affiliate program will
teach you how best to promote your business. It is no big deal,
some of it costs others don't, but in reality all you have to do
is follow what has been tried and tested, really I mean it, what
has worked for others who have trod the path in front of you,
will work for you too. That is part of the beauty of a good
affiliate program.

For the present I will leave you to it. I will however remind
you that if you do nothing, that is exactly what you will
achieve.

Category : Commentary

Seven Ways to Waste Your Money on Yellow Pages Advertising

Author : Greg Chapman
Each year there is a Yellow Pages arms race where competitors in each category are encouraged to out spend each other. There is only one winner in this arms race, and it is not you! Too many advertisers waste their money on Yellow Pages advertising without first considering their marketing strategy. Here are seven ways you can waste your money.1. Attempting to outspend your competitorAs soon as Yellow Pages has convinced you to increase the prominence of your ad, they get your competitors to match or outbid you. This becomes an annual auction, with some categories containing pages of half and full page ads. A buyer can be overwhelmed with choice and may make their decision before they even get to your ad. Priority in listing is given to those who have advertised the longest in a category for a given ad size. You can only get closer to the front by upsizing your ad or if someone else closer to the front ceases advertising.2. Putting all your eggs in the Yellow Pages basketAn advertising decision is something you should only make after you have developed a marketing strategy. Many businesses rush into advertising in the Yellow Pages, just because that's what everyone else does. You don't become a leader by following the herd. You need to consider your payback for your investment in this marketing channel. Ask your Yellow Pages consultant how many leads a particular size ad generates in your category. Then ask yourself how many of these leads will you convert into sales, and then decide whether this is a good investment.3. Engaging in destructive Head to Head CompetitionWhen you advertise in the Yellow Pages, not only can potential customers see your ad and your offer, so can your competitors. This can result in price competition that can turn your product or service into a commodity. Yellow Pages make comparison shopping easy for buyers and market research easy for competitors.4. Spending too much on prominenceWhen spending on a Yellow Pages ad, you can invest in size and colour. Size is important, but what you put in the ad, your copy, is far more important. It is better to go down a size and spend the money you save on a copywriter. Good copy can generate up to 20 times the response as poor copy. Colour is also important, but not as important as size, so go up a size rather than go to colour, which is expensive for its return. If your category is cluttered with large ads, investing in your copy is essential.5. Relying on Yellow Pages free design serviceAd design is important. Yellow Pages do offer a free design service, but its worth what you pay. The typical design is done in 15 minutes. As they are designing tens of thousands of ads you can't really expect any special attention- especially as there is no charge for the service! When they design your ad, they will appeal to your vanity rather than to your customers. So they will put "Joe's Plumbing" in the headline. But buyers don't care who Joe is, and are far more interested in why they should use Joe. This requires some marketing analysis of your points of difference and ultimate service benefits, which won't happen in 15 minutes!6. Putting your ad in the wrong categoryIf you are a plumber, the decision of where to place your ad is easy. But if your business is in a fairly specialised market such as oil refinery plumbing, there probably isn't a good category for you. In fact, for many B2B businesses Yellow Pages is a poor marketing tool. Ask yourself the question, where would a buyer look to find out about your business- it might not even be in the Yellow Pages.7. Depending on old technology advertisingEvery year internet advertising increases, with less being spent on print advertising. Yellow Pages is now available online and for certain businesses this is a better option, particularly with a link to their website. When being sold paper Yellow Pages ads, you may be offered complimentary online advertising. However, unless your ad is near the front, you will be invisible to buyers who rarely will browse further than three pages. It is also worth paying for a link to your website.The Yellow Pages consultants are on commission to sell you advertising. They only interested in getting you to spend as much as possible, not on providing the best marketing solution for your business. Advertising is not the same as marketing! Good marketing advice on whether and how you should advertise is money well spent. Not only can this increase sales, but it can save you thousands of dollars in advertising.Before making a decision on Yellow Pages advertising, you should consider all your marketing channels, and make decisions on how much you invest in each dependent on their ability to attract leads. Having determined how much you will invest in Yellow Pages, do some market analysis and invest in your ad copy. This is particularly important for larger ad sizes. Yellow Pages advertising can be rewarding, but should only be considered as just one part of your overall marketing strategy.Copyright 2005 Empower Business SolutionsDr Greg Chapman assists small to medium sized businesses with business planning, business systems and marketing strategy. To find out how you can Multiply Your Profits & Make Your Business Run without You, and to find out How Good Your Business Really Is with a Free Online Business Medical, go to Empower Business Solutions website at:

http://www.empowersolutions.com.au
Category : Business:Advertising

The Majestic Andean Condor

Author : Laurel Thompson

"view_date">May 1st, 2007Download as Text |

Macromedia Flash Work Practices

Author : Steve Happ

I thought I might put together some of my work practices. These are the steps I put in place to facilitate a good efficient work flow in Flash. These are my tips. I have found they have worked for me. It?s a matter of learning these practices so that you do not think about it. Just like driving a car. Then you can concentrate on being creative and working efficiently and quickly within Flash without having to worry about whether you are on the right layer or you have grabbed the wrong Graphic or you have 2 objects to tween on the same layer and you are scratching your head wondering why the tween wont work.Create A Graphic.The first thing you do is to create a graphic in Flash. Say you are going to make a circle. Draw the circle, then go to the select arrow tool and drag around the whole circle including the outline. If you click on the circle to select it, 9 times out of 10 you will select only the fill inside and leave out the outline circle. And then wonder why your tween wont work. Doh! So rule number 1 is :USE THE ARROW SELECTION TOOL TO DRAG SELECT THE WHOLE OBJECT. Then when you have got the drawn item selected by dragging around it. Hit Key F8 (Convert to symbol) and Tick the Graphic Radio Button and name it. I usually use the suffix _gr after a graphic, just so I know that it is a graphic. If I am making a button, I use _btn and a Movieclip I use _mc. e.g. Graphic = redcircle_grButton == stop_btnMovieClip = bigCar_mcNow back to where I was before I went off on a tangent. I hit key F8 to convert the drawing to a graphic. Drawings by themselves are useless. You cant do anything with them , you cant tween or control with programming (Actioncscript in Flash). So make sure you create either a Graphic or a Movieclip so that it is usable. Ok. So now we have created a greenball_gr and it is on its own layer. Make sure that you have one object per layer. If we are going to tween them later, the tweens wont work unless there is only one Graphic object per layer. If you have two or more it just wont work. !!111!!! So , lets tween our little ball. We want to move it across the screen. Click on frame 20 and hit key F6 (Insert -> Keyframe). Now move the ball on frame 20. You should have a keyframe on frame 1 and frame 20. We are going to tween or move the ball between frame 1 and 20. Right click on a frame , say frame 10, between the keyframes and select ?Create Motion Tween?. You should have an arrow going from frame 1 to frame 20 on your timeline on layer 1. Now hit enter Key and it will move across the Stage. Flash. That is what is meant by tweening. Now for the next step which is very important. Double click on your layer name and rename the layer, Call it Green ball or something that lets you know what you are doing on that frame when you come back later and have forgotten what everything is doing. AND, now for the most important work practice in Flash after using the arrow selection tool to select and name your Graphic is ? taaa daaah? LOCK YOUR LAYERSThat?s right folks, Lock your layers. Click on the dot under the lock symbol on your layer and lock it. Why do that ? I hear you say. Well. In flash it gets a bit messy with heaps of layers, so if you lock all the other layers than the one you are currently working on, then you don?t go selecting all the wrong bits of other Graphics. They are all locked so they cant be selected and you are safe working on that particular object on that particular layer only. Now for our next layer. Create another layer in Flash and name it before we do anything else. Lets call it red square. Make sure that your green circle layer is locked before you do anything else !!11!!Draw a red square on our new layer. Drag select the whole object using the SELECTION TOOL, and hit key (which key ?) F8. Tick the Graphic radio box and name it redSquare_gr. Click on frame 20 , redsquare layer and hit the key to make a keyframe. Which key was that again ? Remember these keys , they are very important. F6. Revision TimeF8 ? Convert to SymbolF6 ? Insert A KeyframeBut I digress, again! Now where were we? Oh yeah. We had just clicked on frame 20 and inserted a keyframe. Now move the red square Graphic on frame 20 to where we want it to be. Is the Green Circle in the way? Well hide it by clicking on the dot under the eye symbol in the layers palette. Doing that in Flash will make the layer invisible so that other object don?t get in the way and you can see what you are doing properly on the layer you are working on. Right click on somewhere between frames 1 and 20 on the red square layer and select ?Creat Motion Tween?. Hit Enter key to see it run. They both should move independently. If they don?t, start again and make sure you have all the steps correct. Follow the instructions to the letter and practice the steps until you don?t have to think about it. Flash Work Practices must be ingrained so you don?t think about them. That can be rule number the next.HIDE THE LAYERS THAT YOU ARE NOT WORKING ON.Summary So to reiterate everything I have said so far. Make sure that you use the drag select tool to select your objects and make them into Graphics or a Movieclips. Use the Keystroke functions such as F6, F8, F5 etc rather than using the mouse and selecting menu items. The key shortcuts are heaps faster and more professional. Lamers only use menu items for common commands. Make sure that you only have one object per layer. Lock your layers that you are not working on. Hide the layers you are not working on so that you can see what you are doing on the layer you are working on. MovieClipsThat is it for Graphic objects. When it comes to MovieClips in flash it is pretty similar. Let me go through a process of creating a movieclip in flash. Step the first. Make a separate layer and name it car. Draw a car on that layer. Make sure all your other layers are locked. After you have drawn your car, drag select the whole lot and hit key F8 . Tick RadioBox ?MovieClip?. And name it car_mc. Click ok. When you are taken back to the timeline, make sure that your movieclip is selected and open your Properties window (I always have my properties window open). In the Instance name textbox, give the MovieClip an instance name. Type in ?mycar_mc?. This is very important that you give your MovieClips an instance name , otherwise you will not be able to control them with Actionscript. They are useless unless they have an instance name, They are in a vacuum, unusable, a waste of space. So rule the number the very next..GIVE YOUR MOVIECLIPS AN INSTANCE NAME STRAIGHT AWAY. Steve Happ is a Flash Developer and Tutor. Go to his site at www.video-animation.com for Flash and Web Development Tutorials

Category : How to - Graphics

Free Audio Books Vs. The Old Fashioned Books

Author : Paton Jackson
In the last two decades a new concept has arisen - The concept of listening to a book instead of reading it. The audio book technology is still developing but audio books are getting more and more popular. However, the old fashioned book is still the much more common than any other method. In this article we will elaborate on the differences between these two book methods:1. Size and Weight – The audio book does not have the limitation of the the size and the amount of the printing words. The technology advance imposes the size of the audio book. The newest audio books could be stored as an audio file in mobile electronic devices as Ipod or Palm pilot.2. Convenience - The audio book has the limitation of listening only from certain predefined points or from the exact point one stopped listening the last time. Reading an old fashioned book is much more flexible of course. If you only want to go through a book without reading it from start to end, do not even consider getting an audio book.3. Listening to an audio book could be done anywhere anytime – while exercising in the gym, driving through the heavy traffic to work etc. It helps you make the most of your time. Reading the old fashioned book requires certain conditions like concentration and quiet and relaxed surroundings.4. Price – Surprisingly, in general the old fashioned books costs less than audio books. Depending on the different titles and different methods of audio books it can vary. Among the audio books, audio books on MP3 files are the less expensive ones.5. The experience – the experience of reading a book is unique and can not be the same as listening to audio books. In addition, audio books do not have drawings in them like some of the old fashioned books.Summing up, we believe that audio books and the old fashioned books could exist together one besides the other and not one instead of the other.911 Corp. has executed an independent research to find the best place to get audio books from. Find out the clear results and all about audio books only on the Free Audio books bible.
Category : Business:Audio-Streaming

Taking E-mail marketing to the next level

Author : Marc Singer

Many types of Internet advertising don't work as well as they once did. People have gotten used to banners and don't click on them. Some ezines have failed to keep their readers' interest and ads sometimes get less response. Search engines are overflowing with submissions. Getting your site listed high is almost impossible. More and more businesses and organizations are now turning to email marketing to keep profits rolling in. While an increasing number of people say they rarely surf the Net, the vast majority of North Americans check their email every day. Email marketing is the most effective and efficient way to influence purchases and keep customers informed and happy. It is also extremely inexpensive. Where you might have mailed out one printed customer update every month, you can now email one every week for a fraction of the cost.Increasingly, companies need to embrace email marketing in a big way in order to stay competitive. Those who formerly used a service to send out their newsletters, sales info, and consumer updates are now doing all the emailing themselves. New technology that is powerful yet easy to use allows anyone to handle email jobs that previously required expensive professional help. Many companies are bringing their email campaigns in house in order to have more control, grow their email efforts, and decrease costs. Here are four features you will want to use in your email marketing efforts: 1. Include HTML in your email messages. Most email programs are now equipped to read HTML. Your logo, banner, bullets, and color elements can make your message jump off the screen. You can even include forms that allow customers to order instantly from your message. You take advantage of impulse purchases that can lead to big increases in sales. 2. Use a campaign manager feature to schedule when your email messages will be sent out. You can prepare an entire months' worth of messages and tell the manager which weeks, days, or hours to release them to your list. 3. Take advantage of a POP import feature. It automatically takes the email addresses from messages you receive and puts them on your mailing list. This insures no one who requests information from you is left out of your next update. This also helps you grow your list as fast as possible. You can even use a feature that automatically unsubscribes those who ask to be removed from your list.Many companies say this saves them hours of work each week.4. Make sure the software you use to send your messages includes a walk-through wizard. You get step-by-step instructions on how to do any task you wish to achieve. Instead of waiting for the tech guy to show up, you can speed through the job on your own. Marc Oswald Singer CEO WSP Advertising Inc. http://www.wspromotion.com/

Category : General Site Promotion

Working-Well Personal Massage Chair Fitting

Author : Ben Harvey

At Working-Well we specialize in providing unsurpassed service to our massage chair customers. Our personalized massage chair fitting system offers customized massage chair buyers advice. Whether you are looking for an economical massage chair option or a chair that spares no expense we can help find the chair that is going to deliver the best massage for you.Working-Well offers helpful tips to consider when deciding which model massage chair to purchase. The first and most basic factor that should be considered when purchasing a massage chair is the size of the users. Person?s over 5?8 should only consider a massage chairs that has a stroke length of 26 inches or more. The stroke length is the distance the massage rollers travel up and down your spine. Top of the line massage chairs that offer 30 inch stroke lengths deliver ample massage coverage for anyone. See our top massage chairs and compare stroke lengths.Other decisions that massage chair buyers should make before choosing a chair are the desired features. Working-Well recommends purchasing a chair that offers some or all of the following features.Electronic Body Scanning-This allows the massage chair to scan the measurements of the users back to deliver a personalized massage. Four roller back massage-Four roller massage systems are the most advanced method and deliver the most realistic shiatsu massage. Heat and Vibration-Chairs that offer heat and vibration are better at loosening tight back muscles.Rolling Tapping and Kneading-These are the standard massage features, and a minimum requirement when purchasing a massage chair.Mechanical Leg Massager- Mechanical massagers deliver better leg massages than chairs that use air bags. Mechanical massagers actually knead and manipulate the muscles rather than squeeze them.Print this list for easy reference. Visit our website to see our full massage chair buyer?s guide. Working-WellWith so many massage chair models it is difficult to choose the best one. Decide which features are important to you and let us help find the chair that offers everything you want and more. Working-Well offers a full line of high quality shiatsu massage chairs at the best prices. For a complete list of our inventory click here. Or skip to our recommended chairs, the Premier Health Products PHP-2026 and the Premier Health Products PHP-2022.Contact us at 1-800-608-5488 Ben HarveyDirector of Public RelationsWorking Well1-800-608-5488

Category : General Health

Cardio Enthusiasts: Discover a More Effective Training Method for Fat Loss and Heart Health!

Author : Mike Geary
It is common to hear fitness professionals and medical doctors prescribe low to moderate intensity aerobic training (cardio) to people who are trying to prevent heart disease or lose weight. Most often, the recommendations constitute something along the lines of "perform 30-60 minutes of steady pace cardio 3-5 times per week maintaining your heart rate at a moderate level". Before you just give in to this popular belief and become the "hamster on the wheel" doing endless hours of boring cardio, I'd like you to consider some recent scientific research that indicates that steady pace endurance cardio work may not be all it's cracked up to be.First, realize that our bodies are designed to perform physical activity in bursts of exertion followed by recovery, or stop-and-go movement instead of steady state movement. Recent research is suggesting that physical variability is one of the most important aspects to consider in your training. This tendency can be seen throughout nature as all animals demonstrate stop-and-go motion instead of steady state motion. In fact, humans are the only creatures in nature that attempt to do "endurance" type physical activities. Most competitive sports (with the exception of endurance running or cycling) are also based on stop-and-go movement or short bursts of exertion followed by recovery. To examine an example of the different effects of endurance or steady state training versus stop-and-go training, consider the physiques of marathoners versus sprinters. Most sprinters carry a physique that is very lean, muscular, and powerful looking, while the typical dedicated marathoner is more often emaciated and sickly looking. Now which would you rather resemble?Another factor to keep in mind regarding the benefits of physical variability is the internal effect of various forms of exercise on our body. Scientists have known that excessive steady state endurance exercise (different for everyone, but sometimes defined as greater than 60 minutes per session most days of the week) increases free radical production in the body, can degenerate joints, reduces immune function, causes muscle wasting, and can cause a pro-inflammatory response in the body that can potentially lead to chronic diseases. On the other hand, highly variable cyclic training has been linked to increased anti-oxidant production in the body and an anti-inflammatory response, a more efficient nitric oxide response (which can encourage a healthy cardiovascular system), and an increased metabolic rate response (which can assist with weight loss). Furthermore, steady state endurance training only trains the heart at one specific heart rate range and doesn't train it to respond to various every day stressors. On the other hand, highly variable cyclic training teaches the heart to respond to and recover from a variety of demands making it less likely to fail when you need it. Think about it this way -- Exercise that trains your heart to rapidly increase and rapidly decrease will make your heart more capable of handling everyday stress. Stress can cause your blood pressure and heart rate to increase rapidly. Steady state jogging and other endurance training does not train your heart to be able to handle rapid changes in heart rate or blood pressure.The important aspect of variable cyclic training that makes it superior over steady state cardio is the recovery period in between bursts of exertion. That recovery period is crucially important for the body to elicit a healthy response to an exercise stimulus. Another benefit of variable cyclic training is that it is much more interesting and has lower drop-out rates than long boring steady state cardio programs.To summarize, some of the potential benefits of variable cyclic training compared to steady state endurance training are as follows: improved cardiovascular health, increased anti-oxidant protection, improved immune function, reduced risk for joint wear and tear, reduced muscle wasting, increased residual metabolic rate following exercise, and an increased capacity for the heart to handle life's every day stressors. There are many ways you can reap the benefits of stop-and-go or variable intensity physical training. One of the absolute most effective forms of variable intensity training to really reduce body fat and bring out serious muscular definition is performing wind sprints. Most competitive sports such as football, basketball, racquetball, tennis, hockey, etc. are naturally comprised of highly variable stop-and-go motion. In addition, weight training naturally incorporates short bursts of exertion followed by recovery periods. High intensity interval training (varying between high and low intensity intervals on any piece of cardio equipment) is yet another training method that utilizes exertion and recovery periods. For example, an interval training session on the treadmill could look something like this:Warm-up for 3-4 minutes at a fast walk or light jog;
Interval 1 - run at 8.0 mi/hr for 1 minute;
Interval 2 - walk at 4.0 mi/hr for 1.5 minutes;
Interval 3 - run at 10.0 mi/hr for 1 minute;
Interval 4 - walk at 4.0 mi/hr for 1.5 minutes;
Repeat those 4 intervals 4 times for a very intense 20-minute workout.The take-away message from this article is to try to train your body at highly variable intensity rates for the majority of your workouts to get the most beneficial response in terms of heart health, fat loss, and muscle maintenance.Visit http://truthaboutabs.com/Training-and-Nutrition-Articles.html to receive your own personalized metabolic rate calculator as well as 4 of my secret hard-body workout routines - both FREE, with no purchase necessary.Michael Geary is a nationally dual certified personal trainer (NCSF-CPT, AFAA-CPT), and author of "The Truth about Six Pack Abs" ©2004-2005.
Category : Running

The Universal compatibility and Power Mac

Author : onlineghar

10 July 2006, The combination of Mac hardware and software has been exceptionally consistent over the years, providing an ease of use that Mac users have enjoyed. With a Windows emulator such as Virtual PC, Macs can also run Windows and DOS applications. Since the mid 1980s, it has been essentially a Mac vs. PC world for personal computers, with Linux-based PCs gaining ground after the millennium.Mac mini: - The more recently announced Apple's Mac mini has been turning some heads, even in the PC world. If the iMac G5 is basically a 1U server attached to a monitor, the Mac mini is basically a reorganized laptop without a monitor The Mac mini is especially relevant to this article because a lot of the discussions about performance with regards to Apple's PowerBook will apply directly to the Mac mini, as the two platforms are very similarly configured.OS X Tiger: - The more I read about OS X Tiger, the more interested I become. The two main features that draw me to the update are Apple's system-wide, fully indexed search engine, called Spotlight, as well as the fact that in Tiger, every single pixel on the screen will actually be rendered by the graphics card. For the most part, in OS X Panther, all of the rendering work is done by the CPU, with some GPU accelerated compositing occurring. In Tiger, everything is done through the pixel pipelines of your GPU, increasing the dependency on a graphics card with fast memory access, as well as increasing the flexibility of some of the effects that you're able to do in the OS itself.Given Tiger's reliance on very high GPU performance, I would almost expect Apple to celebrate its release with a new G5 platform - with PCI Express graphics. That may be a bit of wishful thinking. New features included by appleThere are new RAW adjustment controls in the Adjustments Inspector and Adjustments HUD that improves the quality of RAW decodes via custom tuning of parameters. Most noticeably, you can control contrast (using the new Boost tool) and sharpness, as well as color noise reduction from the RAW decoder. Apple gave us a new Color Meter tool that quickly and easily samples any area of an image for RGB, CMYK, or LAB color values. You can use this as a stand-alone tool or as part of Aperture's Loupe tool. Photoshop users who like to sample specific color ranges will feel right at home in Aperture due to this new tool.For those who never felt comfortable with Aperture's printing parameters, the new version has updated image resolution controls. You can specify output resolution in dots per inch (dpi) when exporting images or sending images to an external editor and Aperture 1.1 has increased the maximum size of images displayed in the Browser. You can resize the display of images in the Browser up to a maximum of 512 pixels in height or width. There is an attractive feature included by apple that is Universal Compatibility that means Aperture 1.1 runs natively on both Intel-based and PowerPC-based Macintosh computers. I tested it on both an Apple G5 Dual Core PowerMac with four gigs of RAM and a new Mac Book Pro 2GHz model with two gigs of RAM. I've seen Aperture run on a PowerBook, and there's no denying that it runs much quicker on the Mac Book Pro. I've seen Aperture run on a PowerBook, and there's no denying that it runs much quicker on the Mac Book Pro.The internet is the best place to buy cheap computer parts. Due to increase in demand for many parts in many suppliers find it profitable to sell their products online. The online dealers have their websites, which offer information on the various types of computer parts available for purchase.Go to http://www.dvwarehouse.com, they have one of the most extensive inventory of Digital Video products, Mac Computers & Parts and Pro Audio & Video Equipment, all available at warehouse prices, all of them almost always ready for rapid delivery to you Shopping DV Warehouse means ? Total customer satisfaction. They view every customer as a customer for life. They work hard to make sure your experience is the easiest, most pleasurable shopping experience possible. Author: Harry JohnsonFor Listing visit

http://www.dvwarehouse.com

(Best Online Computer Store) .Just login to http://www.Macmart.com

for all kinds of Used Mac Part. The marketplace for purchasing quality used Macs. Sellamac.com The easiest & fastest way to sell your used Macs .

Category : General Computer: Operating Systems

Ma Po Tou Fu (Bean Curd with Chili Sauce)

Author : Jacklyn Chen
Ma Po Tou Fu is Sichuan's well known characteristic dish. Tradition has it that during the Tongzhi years of Qing Dynasty, there is a small inn at the WanFu (Innumerable Blessings) bridge outside the north gate of Chengdu, Sichuan. The woman owner Chen is pretty good at cooking. She uses bean curd, tiny sliced beef, hot pepper, Chinese prickly ash, thick bean sauce and other ingredients to cook. The dish tastes hemp (a unique flavor from the Chinese prickly ash), spicy, fresh, fragrant, and it is delicious, it is extremely well received by the people around the town. At that time there was no official name for this dish. Because Chen has pockmarked face ("ma" face with "ma" happens to be the same character as the "ma" or "hemp" flavor from the Chinese prickly ash), people then started calling it "Ma Po To Fu". "Po" in this case means woman, wife. So to translate accurately it means "wife of pockmarked face Tou Fu". From then on it became well-known around the entire nation. It is now a world-renowned Chinese cuisine 100 years later. All the Sichuan restaurants must have this dish.Along with the development of Sichuan cuisine, most of the overseas Chinese restaurants (Sichuan style or not) all carry this famous dish. Not too long ago, the Japanese merchants even imitated Sichuan "Ma Po Tou Fu" and produced canned "Ma Po Tou Fu" which sell quite well around the world.Characteristics of the dish: light yellow, tender with gloss, tastes hemp, spicy, fragrant, fresh, and hot. The surface of bean curd is covered with a layer of light red spicy oil, which keeps the heat inside the bean curd so it won't get quickly lost. It always tastes better when you eat it hot, the unique hemp smell comes from the Chinese prickly ash greets the nostrils and that enhances the overall flavor. It is considered the best delicacy for cold winter season.Ingredients: 2 cakes of bean curd 120g (4.2 oz) ground pork 1 tablespoon minced green onion 1 slice ginger 1 clove garlic 2 red peppers 3 tablespoons oil 1/2 cup (100cc) soup stock 1 teaspoon corn starchMethod:Pour hot water over bean curd, drain and cut into bite sizes.Chop green onion, ginger, garlic and red pepper. Heat oil, fry and add meat.Add bean curd gradually into pan. Stir and pour in soup stock. Simmer over low heat.Thicken with corn starch diluted with water and add to ingredients. Serve hot.Cooking time: 10 minutes
Nutritional information:
Yield: 4 servings
Each serving provides:
Calories: 198.5
Protein: 13.6 gNote: You may freely republish this recipe as long as author bio and active hyperlinks are kept intact. Thank you.Jacklyn Chen - Webmaster of news-blogs.com She is a full time mom who works very hard to make living with multiple web sites. For more information and articles about fine living, visit fine-living.news-blogs.com
Category : Security

The Philosophy Of Why Blogging And Publishing Content Online Is So Important And Profitable

Author : Cynthia Minnaar

Most people surfing the Internet are looking for information. In other words, most people are not actively seeking to buy a product and nearly everyone expects to get the information for free.Speaking specifically about the market place of people who are "interested" in having an online home business and/or generating income from the web, most of these people want to find good information about the subject first.Therefore, by becoming a provider of trustworthy information about online home businesses, legitimate work at home opportunities and ways to generate income online, positions you as the source for what people are actually looking for in the first place. Then, when people find your information and get engaged in the articles, they will naturally find the links that point to your sales page and visit them. Now, they have already been pre-sold and have more trust in the link to your sales page because they have already benefited by reading the free information provided in the article on your blog! Also, blogs are the most search engine friendly Internet publishing tool in existence. This means that the pages of your blog can start being indexed by the search engines almost immediately and some of your blog content pages will start showing up in the free listings of the search engines when people search for various keywords. Therefore, adding quality content to your blog on a regular basis can generate free targeted traffic to your website potentially forever.Publishing a blog allows you to instantly create new content-rich web pages. These new pages can be linked to from the home page of your current website and/or promoted separately. By creating additional content-rich website pages and promoting them from your home page or through other means, you will be accomplishing two important things:1) You will provide more value for your website visitors. This increases the "stickiness" of your website making people stick around longer and ultimately trust you more. On the Internet, trust translates to profits!2) Search engines love fresh content created through blogs. By publishing your own blog and adding fresh content to it on a regular basis, you will attract the attention of the major search engines who will list your website in their directories for free. As soon as you have pages of your blog in the search engines, you will start attracting free qualified traffic to your site without paying a dime for it. Imagine running a large and comprehensive Google Adwords campaign without paying anything for it. That is exactly what you can accomplish by publishing your own blog!Anytime you have some news to share about your business, it is a great idea to use your autoresponder to let your subscribers know about it. You could even link your autoresponder to your blog, so that each time you post information on your blog Anytime you have some news to share aboyour subscribers are notified by email. This type of active relationship building can make a huge impact on your business. The more you interact with your subscribers, the more they will trust you and want to do business with you!With a blog, the publishing possibilities are only limited by your own imagination. The point to realize is that, as a blog publisher, you have just unlocked a huge window of opportunity for yourself! Cynthia Minnaar invites you to visit

www.cyns-home-biz.com

for ways to generate income online. Get your own web income generating website complete with 400 day pre-written email autoresponder campaign.

Category : RSS and Blogging

Uggs: Shoes And Boots From Australia

Author : Mike Herman
Uggs are shoes and boots that come straight from the land down under!These super cool footwear are all the rage all year long, but especially during the chilly fall and winter months.However they are surprisingly great in the 'hot' summer months too.This unique footwear became in vogue when spotted on Hollywood superstars tromping around Los Angeles.Everyone from Britney Spears to Jennifer Aniston has been spotted wearing uggs shoes, slippers, and boots.The soft and cozy sheepskin will cushion your feet and make you feel like you are walking on air!Don't miss the chance to buy a sexy pair of your own.If your dogs are barking from days of wearing sexy, spiky heels, these shoes and boots are just what the doctor ordered.In fact, many podiatrists literally prescribe their patients wear these awesome Australian items for soothing a variety of foot problems.Whether you suffer from painful bunions or any other problem involving your feet, legs, or hips, wearing these super cool uggs shoes and boots will all your feet to feel better than they have in years!These comfortable footwear is great for anyone traveling long distances in cars, trains, buses, or planes.Instead of taking your shoes off while traveling, which can be unhygienic depending on your locations, bring along a pair of soft, cuddly shoes, slippers, or boots from down under.Wearing a pair of these sexy and sweet boots can make your tootsies sing!If you are looking a super gift for your friends or family, check out these boots, since anybody would love to don a pair of this comfy footwear.Learn More of the Information You Need in Order to Get Great Quality Ugg Boots at Fantastic Prices - Australian Ugg Boots - Which Ones Are Best?
Category : Cruises

Top 5 Reasons Why Men Don?t ?Get? Scrapbooking

Author : Susan Whitehead

As a woman who has been scrapbooking for over 7 years now, I have quite a nice collection of memories all preserved in various albums with nice stories to go along with photos. I LOVE these albums?they are a tangible piece of my past. But my husband?well, let?s just say that if he had a chance, we?d warm our home with some of them this winter! My husband once asked me how much I have spent on all this stuff. You know, I really have no idea, but it?s probably in the $1000?s of dollars. It?s kind of embarrassing to think I have that much invested, but if my grandchildren can look through an album I made and learn a little about me, it is SO worth it!Now, as to the question of why men don?t ?get? scrapbooking?I?ll give you 5 reasons.1. You know the feeling you get when you open the door of your local scrapbook or craft store? It?s a small, but unforgettable ?rush? to know you are about to embark on a shopping adventure! Now, while your husband is in the car, listening to talk radio, waiting for you to emerge, all he is thinking is, ?I wonder how much she?s spending THIS time!? They see lots of pieces of paper and stickers that are WAY over priced. We see the latest patterned papers and sticker embellishments. Plus, how many men do you know that actually love to shop? Need I say more?2. That leads me to my next reason: scrapbook lingo. I told my husband about how I like to use certain embellishments on my pages. The look he gave me was probably similar to the look he gets when he talks about hunting or anything automotive! Scrapbooking has its own language that men just don?t understand.3. Crops are a big part of scrapbooking that is outside the comprehension of most men. Why would anyone want to get together with a bunch of other women, cut up their photos, write what happened in the photos onto paper and stick them into books that, if you mess them up, you will be subjected to tortures yet unknown to mankind? Men have never really understood the need women have to be with other women, regardless of the excuse. Scrapbooking is just another one of those excuses!4. Now, scrapbook retreats take the crop-confusion to a whole new level. Why women would want to leave the comfort of their own bed to go sleep on a hard mattress to cut MORE papers and MORE photos? And spend more of the family?s hard earned money? Men just don?t understand why we can?t get as much scrapbooking done at home with our 3 year olds constantly running off with our scissors, our 5 year olds using the tape runner on the cat and our teens raiding our sticker stash to spell ?I love Parker? on their notebooks!5. A party for scrapbook stuff? Are you kidding? Yes, even the direct sales parties are a mystery. I guess the name really throws most men off. After all, what kind of party, in the traditional sense, do you leave with less money in your wallet? A party is for free food, not spending money in their minds. They miss the point of chatting with friends, learning a new technique or playing with a new tool. It?s all just frivolity to them.You know, now that I think about it, why do we spend $0.60 on one sheet of paper, $12 on a contraption that is basically a glorified glue stick and $30 on a photo album? You know the answer! WE LOVE IT! Scrapbooking is an addictive hobby and, men, you are allowed to join us, but you better learn the lingo and no sharing my tape runner! Susan Whitehead has been scrapbooking since the birth of her first child in 1998. Her love for the craft has grown exponentially since then and has resulted in her becoming a scrapbook instructor with her own online scrapbook business. Her website is http://www.BarefootMemories.net and her blog is http://www.scrapbookbarefoot.blogspot.com

Category : General Hobbies

Your Will - A Personal Reflection Of Your Life

Author : News Canada

(NC)-Every person is unique, however, people have common needs - air, water, food, shelter, love, a sense of accomplishment. Beyond these, we are also concerned about our current financial needs, our futures and our family's well-being. Our day to day living is stressful enough and preparing a Will is not a subject most people talk about easily. The topic is usually ignored. Unfortunately, that is what almost half of Canadians do. Even among people who have already made Wills, most have not had their Will professionally reviewed every five years as recommended to keep pace with family, tax and legal changes. What is a Will? A Will is a written document, properly dated, signed and witnessed, in which you detail how the things that you own and your money are to be distributed after your death. Why Is Estate Planning So Important?Dying without a proper Will (or one that is out of date) risks needless taxation, legal challenges, delays, and family upset at an extremely stressful time. And your property may not be distributed as you intended. The only way to ensure that the things that you have worked hard all your life to have, will be passed on in a timely, tax-effective manner, according to your wishes, is to have a valid, up-to-date Will. Without a written Will:<ul> <li>If you die 'intestate', that is without a Will, you will allow the province in which you lived to decide the distribution of your estate. <li>Your lifetime earnings could easily be depleted by taxes and unnecessary administration costs. <li>The settlement process will be drawn out and your family may undergo financial hardship. <li>You can not express your choice of a guardian for your young children. <li>Nor will you have a choice of Executors, the individual or institution who will act on your behalf and carry out your final wishes. Without a Will the courts will appoint an administrator, who may not be the individual of your choice. <li>There can be no donations or gifts to your favourite organizations. <li>If you have no or next of kin, the province will take your estate into its own treasury. </ul>A properly drafted Will is the only way to make a statement on your values and provide an orderly and timely plan for the settlement of your life.Your Will is not a "Do-it-Yourself" project. As the laws are ever changing, we strongly urge you seek professional advice. This will ensure your personal situation is considered in the context of your province's estate and trust laws.If you do not have a Will, or if your Will has not been updated recently, perhaps it is time to meet with a lawyer and get the job done. Take the first step; call Ontario March of Dimes toll-free at 1-800-263-3463 x 383 for a free copy of My Personal Organizer - a handy estate planning tool. <a href="http://www.newscanada.com/" target=new>News Canada</a> provides a wide selection of current, ready-to-use copyright free news stories and ideas for Television, Print, Radio, and the Web. <a href="http://www.newscanada.com/" target=new>News Canada</a> is a niche service in public relations, offering access to print, radio, television, and now the Internet media, with ready-to-use, editorial "fill" items. Monitoring and analysis are two more of our primary services. The service supplies access to the national media for marketers in the private, the public, and the not-for-profit sectors. Your corporate and product news, consumer tips and information are packaged in a variety of ready-to-use formats and are made available to every Canadian media organization including weekly and daily newspapers, cable and commercial television stations, radio stations, as well as the Web sites Canadians visit most often. Visit <a href="http://www.newscanada.com/" target=new>News Canada</a> and learn more about the NC services.ily newspapers, cable and commercial television stations, radi

Category : NASCAR

Volunteer Vacations: A Great Way to Contribute to a Favorite Cause

Author : Aldene Fredenburg

Imagine working with a group of new friends, like-minded individuals from every region of the world, on a project close to your own heart. Helping Katrina victims clean up their devastated homes in New Orleans, clearing hundreds of miles of trails for the Appalachian Mountain Club, building houses for Habitat for Humanity in Africa--all are possible activities available to vacationers willing to volunteer their time. If you already belong to an organization, whether it is a hiking club, an environmental organization, or a group that provides affordable sustainable housing, becoming involved in their volunteer activities is a great way to start. Many organizations, especially those with a national or international membership, offer structured volunteer opportunities all over the country and around the world. If you'd like to plan a volunteer vacation but don't know where to start, check out Volunteer Vacations: Short-Term Adventures That Will Benefit You and Others. Written by Bill McMillon, Doug Cutchins, and Anne Geissinger with a foreword by actor Ed Asner, this book gives you an overview of the experiences possible and the costs associated with various trips, and information on the many organizations offering such experiences.These vacations aren't free; you're generally expected to pick up some or all of your living expenses as well as your travel expenses. Some organizations with local chapters have been known to hold fundraisers for chapter members who volunteer abroad to defray some of the expenses.Even if you can't spare the time or money for a week-long volunteer vacation to a distant location, you can probably find opportunities closer to home. Each chapter of the AMC, for instance, has weekend volunteer activities. You spend your whole weekend outdoors clearing trails and getting to know your fellow chapter members. Making new friends. experiencing different cultures. devoting your time and energy to a cause close to your heart-what's better than that? Aldene Fredenburg is a freelance writer living in southwestern New Hampshire. She has written numerous articles for local and regional newspapers and for a number of Internet websites, including Tips and Topics. She expresses her opinions periodically on her blog, http://beyondagendas.blogspot.com

Category : General Volunteer

Free Nursery Stock Offering For Huntingdon Valley, PA Residents

Author : Bill Hirst

We will be making a special offering for residents Huntingdon
Valley Pa. this next week. The only way to recieve it is thru
our email alert. See below what we recently offered:

This is a copy of my most recent email newsletter. This was an
overwhelming success. You must be signed up to our email letter
to get great offerings such as this.
***********************************************************
January 2006

The Early Bird Gets the Worm---Don't Delay Free Tree Day Jan.
28th is a Free Higan Weeping Cherry Tree Day

Greetings! January 28, 2006 is free Weeping Higan Cherry Tree
Day.....All members of our email club can receive a free Higan
Weeping Cherry when you bring your pickup to our 5275 West Swamp
Rd. Fountainville Pa. location. These trees are 10-12' tall and
in 24" baskets. These trees must be picked up on the 28th,
before 5pm. sorry, no rain checks. There is a limit of one per
family and you must have been a member on or before January 27,
2006 of our email club.

Sincerely,

Bill Hirst Free Tree Day Jan. 28th, 2006 is Free Tree Day

5275 W. Swamp Rd. Fountainville, Pennsylvania 18923

January 28, 2006 8:00AM-5:00PM Reasons to Come to this Event We
are selling 150 acres of our nursery and we must liquidate many
trees and plants. Some of of plants are in quantities that would
supply us for many years of sales. But we can't move that number
of trees. Thus they will be either sold at a discount,
destroyed, or given away. I like the last option. Thus if you
bring your pickup to the farm today, Saturday the 28th, we will
give away 1 free Higan Weeping cherry to each email newsletter
subscriber to Highland Hill Farm that picks up the tree by 5PM.
Sorry you must be have be signed up by Jan. 27th, to qualify.
There are no rain checks. These trees are in 24 and 28 inch
baskets and are app. 10-14' tall. We will help load them in your
pickup.

We have a total of 75 trees ready to give away while the supply
lasts. All other trees and plants are 20% off today.

Driving Directions to the Farm Highland Hill Farm 5275 W. Swamp
Rd. Rt. 313 Fountainville, Pennsylvania 18923 myhirst@yahoo.com
http://www.seedlingsrus.com We will have other free tree
offerings each month. So keep in touch.
**************************************************************
Within 15 minutes of this email being sent people started to
arrive to make selections. We would have had no customers on
this day. Yet we sold enough other stock to make this offering
possible. We gave away 52 trees and this was even covered by the
press showing up and giving us exposure in local papers.

To signup for our email and be notified of our specials like
this. Go to our web site http://www.seedlingsrus.com and be
alerted.

Category : Movie Reviews

Dayton, OH; Why your Company needs to expand there

Author : Lance Winslow
In Ohio: besides the 3-Cs you should look at Akron, Dayton, Canton, Toledo, Youngstown and their suburbs. We have been serious studying these areas quite intensely for quite a while, here is what we found; Dayton OH, is looking up after the recent GM Plant received high ratings for productivity being able to beat the Domestic Averages for time to build cars and SUVs, it’s SUV Plant was amongst the top performers in the Country for time to build at an average of 20.7 Hours, much better than the Ford Plants all expect F-150 and Taurus Models. Many new projects are happening in Dayton;http://www.gemcompanies.com/projectlistings.htmand even a visit from the President to kick off their huge Celebration of Inventing Flight with a huge air show featuring aerobatic teams and Blue Angles, Thunderbirds and Snow Birds from Canada. The second most attended aviation event in the United States. The one-cent sales tax hike has put money back on the States Budget but all taxes hurt jobs and sales in such a progressive state. People are upset everywhere and Taxes and Fees abound. Dayton, has pluses and minuses, it does have a new huge Civic Arts and Festival Center downtown, but things have not completely rebounded and there is urban flight to some of the more prosperous areas.Dayton, OH has some big potential for National Companies wishing to expand outlets, some thing you may wish to consider. Of all the second tier cities we like Dayton and Akron the best for outlet expansion. The Southside suburbs of Dayton are really looking up. You will be amazed if you have not been there in a while."Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/
Category : Personal Finance

Color association in logos and designs

Author : Florie Lyn Masarate

If you ask someone what is the logo for Mcdonalds, an instant answer would be given to you in a matter of seconds. Adult and young children alike. Give them just a quarter of a second to make the association and instant answer! Now ask them about its color. What do you get? That same matter of second correct answer. Making the association with colors is not as easy as associating it with the name or logo. But somehow, these people managed to supply the different answers in both same times.
Does this mean that these people have very good memories? Could it be that they have high IQs? Or does this have anything to do with the logos and the colors themselves?
These logo and color association is called business branding. Branding is the strategy in which businesses create and maintain their own unique symbol; can be in terms of a logo, fonts, graphics and most especially, colors. Using this, they are given their own identity, unlike any other business. These things isolate and make them one of a kind. It also serves as something that attracts peoples attention, engraving it in their minds making them remember and the business memorable. This branding should be maintained to every aspect and product of the business as possible. Changes and modifications can also be done as long as the old essence is still there and not completely erased.
You can tell when a branding is effective when people can tell instantly just by looking at the logos or colors what is business name is. Or just by telling the logos and colors, the name is distinguished. These things help them remember you. Colors play an important role in these logos. They add a certain touch and style to would be plain and unattractive logos. What does color have to do with it?
Colors, unlike graphics and prints, are easier to memorize. All people have to do is take a look at it. No more reading, just stare at it then memorize it instantly. People, being visual, have the tendency to see things first before deciding on interest next. The interest on what they see will be the basis for what they will do next. Will their interest be big enough to make them take the next step in knowing more about what they see? Or no interest was piqued at all?
These are the things that color can do in a design or logo. It follows that what they can do to these things can do also for your business. So decide first the colors you need when planning a business. Because colors into prints and logos has something to do with the success and failure of your business.
Whichever comes first.

For comments and inquiries about the article visit http://www.colorprintingwholesale.com

About the author:

Florie Lyn Masarate got her first article printed in the school newsletter in the third grade. Her hobbies include reading any book she can get her hands on.

Category : Web Development

Dieting - Lose Weight Healthy

Author : Micrup

Many of us are constantly in a battle to lose weight, and a lot of us want to discover a diet where we can lose weight and lose weight fast. Not looking at how to lose weight healthy. Dieting is a very hard thing to do. First you must commit yourself to modify the diet or current way you eat, which if not an easy task. Statistics on dieting are not good, so how can we find a diet that is easy and will lose weight and lose weight healthy.There are many good diet plans out on the market today. The South Beach Diet is a very popular healthy diet plan, there is the Negative Calorie Diet, which in my opinion is also a healthy way of eating. There is also the Idiot Proof Diet Plan which is exactly that, and is a healthy plan.One crucial aspect of dieting is to burn fat but also feed muscle as you dont want to lose weight and have a lot of flabby skin.Here are some important tips on dieting:1. Do not ever skip breakfast, your breakfast gets your metabolism going, especially after a good nights sleep. Eat a healthy diet, like whole grain cereals, protein based foods that are low in fat, lowfat yogurt, etc.2. Drink plenty of water, for one drinking a lot of water keeps you feeling full and less hungry, drink less soda and coffee and definitely less alcohol as all of those can add significant calories to your daily intake.3. Make sure you watch your carbohydrate and calorie intake. Make sure you keep track of your intake. Carbohydrates need to be kept low, as well as eating good carbs such as fruits and vegetables, stay away from your refined sugars, flours and processed foods.4. Take your time, dont try to rush losing weight, lose weight healthy means lose weight slow, plus if you do it the right way, you will keep the weight off. Many people who lose weight to rapidly, as soon as they shift their eating habits back they put the weight back on quickly and usually a lot more weight than they originally lost. What happens when you lose weight to rapidly your metabolism will slow down, it slows down the rate we burn energy to survive. A resistance is built up which is called homeostasis, for example when our body heats up, we sweat, which is the response designed to cool down, this is homeostasis. The same principle happens when you lose weight, but when you lose weight to rapidly you will lose body fluid and muscle mass instead of burning the fat.You should also take a regimin of vitamins and minerals. This will boost your energy and your metabolism. To lose weight healthy, you must eat good foods, not just basing them on the caloric or carbohydrate content, and you must do some sort of exercise.If you follow most of these weight loss tips, you can lose weight, lose weight healthy as well as keep the fat off.If you are interested in reading about some of these diet plans, check out the following websites:Burn The Fat Feed The MuscleIdiot Proof DietNegative Calorie DietI lost over forty pounds by following these simple tips. Good luck and stay healthy. Freelance writer from southern region of the US. BS degree in Finance.

Category : General Weight Loss

Teleconferences: 15 Ways to Promote ePrograms Of Any Kind

Author : Catherine Franz
It is true that this article is directly more towardsteleclasses, yet, the ten tips also included hold true forany type of electronic Learning (eLearning) marketing andpromotion.

Teleconferences, also known as teleclasses or teleseminarsdepending on the presentation format, are the second hottestmarketing delivery technique for 2004. This delivery formatsatisfies the yearn to learn and opens an exchange tounbelievable global portions.

Previously called distance learning, the teleclass formatactually began in the mid-1990s through higher learninginstitutions. Now, without leaving your office or easychair, you can put on a headset, lean back and learn. Noparking challenges, gas usage, or travel time required.

Technology is exploding in this part of the communicationindustry. In 2003 this market tripled their servicefeatures for leaders, use and availability in on theincline, and the attendance limitations of 30 a few yearsago now expands to 150. And in 2004, the market continuesto show that it will double even 2003s number.

Teleconference phone numbers are still limited toavailability in only certain states, like Florida andNevada. The pressure for other states to addteleconferencing services at these reasonable rates is notthere yet. The bell is toiling louder every year.

Currently, you can purchase a personal-use 24/7 line in therange of $600 a year. Alternatively, you can rent a line bythe hour from $10 up or even share a line.

You can find no cost teleconference lines, likehttp://www.mrconference.com.

I found these services lessthan desirable. Many times, you get disconnect if you don'ttalk every 10 minutes or you are blocked from entering thecall if their lines are full.

No, teleconferencing will not take the place of "beingthere". Yet, some teleconference leaders can just aboutbring you physically into feeling that same experience.If you have never experience a teleconference, I recommendthat you do, but don't just try one. The greatest benefitto learning by phone is that you listening skills will reachnew heights quickly.

1. If you produce your own e-newsletter or printednewsletter, you can add a teleconferencing announcementsection.

2. Contact other e-newsletter or printed newsletter editorsand ask to have your teleconference announced in theirissues. You can swap for the space (your ad for their ad inyour e-newsletter), barter for a space in your session,offer an affiliate option, purchase the space or pay perclick. You want to advertise with your focus target.

3. You can also run pay-per-click search engine ads. TheGoogle AdWords program is a great place to start. If youpurchase an ad analyzer software (average $100) or a service(average $19.95/month) you will save time and make lessmistakes. It will also save you hours of analyzing yourown. Look for the ads that you pay more than a nickel each.

4. Place notices all over your web site -- especially yourmain page. Remember, this is a passive method (meaning thatyou still need to get visitors to the site before they canread it).

5. Write and distribute Internet articles on the samesubject. Unable to write, hire a ghostwriter. Allow threemonths for this process to begin working. You will also wantto write and distribute at least three articles a month.Don't ignore this marketing avenue. This method is numberfive on the top promotional methods for 2004.

If you are writing marketing articles a great media-postingsite is: http://www.ideamarketers.com.

Each site has it'sown guidelines and speciality topics. To find other media-distribution sites, visit http://www.google.com and searchon "submit article" and "[your topic]". Use your bio orresource paragraph, usually limited to five or less 60-character lines, to entice readers about your teleconferenceoffer.

6. Distribute your information globally. Whether usingInternet articles, advertising or any of the other methodsmentioned in item 2 and item 3 above. Find places in otherEnglish-speaking countries like the United Kingdom, Canada,Australia, and New Zealand.

7. Announce your teleconference calls on other people'steleconferences. You can slip it in with a question, whenyou are responding to a "what do you do" segment, or ask theleader before hand for an opening as a complimentary serviceto theirs, for bartering, or even a commission.

8. Add a promotional paragraph to all your outgoing e-mailsignatures.

9. Do you below to any discussion lists or boards that allowyou to post your teleconferences. Some do and some don't.If you are not sure, ask the group's moderator. Off aspecial price for members on the list.

10. Write a press release for each teleconference. Become amember of PR Web http://www.prweb.com/ -- membership isfree. I found this site to be the best for a Google pickup.

11. Begin a list of all your local newspapers that offerfree community event announcements. Find out what theirdeadline are and submission requirements. Create what theyneed and send it to them about a week or two before theirdeadline.

As you get acquainted with working with your localnewspapers, you can then begin to start expanding to othercities and locations. Choose a city and then do the same.When done, choose another city. Start a binder with all theinformation and set up your Internet browser with categoriesand your e-mail software with a separate "Communitynewspaper" section to keep yourself organized.

Eventually you will want to delegate this over to a VirtualAssistant.

12. Write a telephone answering script and change your voicemail frequently to mention your teleconferences.

13. Use fre*e offers to attract people to come and find outadditional information about your teleconferences. You canuse an ebook, ecourse, special report or even a white paper.A transcript of another teleconference, if the same targetmarket, would also work well.

14. List your class in teleclass directories. Some of theselisting posting sites require that you complete "their"teleclass-leading course. A big downfall in time andexpense. These include:http://www.seminarannouncer.comhttp://www.teleclass4u.comhttp://www.teleclasslive.comhttp://www.teleclass.comhttp://www.thefeelgoodplace.com/freetele.htmhttp://www.Yahoogroups.com has over 30 places to post yourlisting (depends on your topic).

15. If you give speaking engagements or attend seminars,give out flyers on your teleconference program. Works wellin networking groups too. Take the flyers to the libraries,senior and civic centers..Catherine Franz, a Certified Professional Marketing &Writing Coach, specializes in product development, Internetwriting and marketing, nonfiction, training. Newslettersand articles available at: http://www.abundancecenter.comblog: http://abundance.blogs.com
Category : Writing-and-Speaking:Teleseminars

3 'A-Ha' Success Principles That Have Reshaped My Business

Author : Alexandria K. Brown
Over the past two years I've immersed myself in learning. Because my business is marketing, I have mostly attended and spoken at marketing seminars. But I also make time to attend seminars and listen to audio programs on personal development as well.Why?You should actually work harder on yourself than you do on your job. I first learned that from Jim Rohn, whom some call the father of personal development. Some call him America's foremost business philosopher, but I just call him brilliant. (Jim was one of Tony Robbins' first mentors, too.)There are three success principles I learned over the past year that I wanted to share with you. I call them my "a-has" because they put my attention on areas I'd never thought of. And following these guidelines has helped me skyrocket my income.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------1. You are the average of the five PEOPLE you hang around the most.When I first heard this quote from Jim Rohn, it struck a big nerve in me. Robert Allen says something similar, that your income is the average of the five people you hang around the most. (Yikes!) I realized I needed to surround myself with people whom I wanted to be like. I still love my old friends, but I needed to be around people who take risks, think big, and talk about great ideas instead of the latest celebrity gossip or how much they hate their jobs.What first opened up my circle of influence was attending seminars. I continually go to seminars on marketing, business, and personal development. There are so many great seminars going on every month all around the country, at all price points. You have no excuse not to get out there and meet people who are playing big!--------------------------------------------------------------------------------2. Your HABITS create your future.Brian Tracy talks a lot about this. Your daily habits create your long-term results. Your habits today will determine your outcomes tomorrow. If you want to be a millionaire, you've got to have millionaire habits. If you want to be a great leader, you must have the habits of a great leader. If you want to get in shape, you've got to have the habits of a fit person.What new habit can YOU put into place right away? I wanted to put into place a millionaire habit. Because I detest budgets (and enjoy spending), I needed an easy way to save money. So now I have 10% of my income automatically go into a savings account that I cannot touch.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------3. Make sure your ENVIRONMENT supports you in playing big.I recently had the chance to hear a dynamic woman named Artemis Limpert speak at an event in Dallas. There she pointed out that when you have a pet fish that's sick, you treat the water, not the fish. Your success depends more on your environment than you know, but it's extremely important that you give yourself an environment that supports you at the level you want to BE at. (Note that she did NOT say the level you are at now!)My add-on to that is pay attention to these three areas of your environment:First, your physical environment. Do you love your office? Are you surrounded by attractive things? Do you have a nice view or at least a beautiful piece of art to look at? I pay a pretty penny for my waterfront pad, but I can't tell you how inspiring it is every day to look out at the peaceful water, sailboats, blue sky, and palm trees. You don't have to spend a lot of money on your environment. Little touches like candles, flowers, music you love, and photos of friends and family can go a long way. (Even if your office is the kitchen table!)Second, your emotional environment. Are you getting the support you need from your family and friends? It's up to YOU to ask for what you need. If they cannot provide it, find a support group, a mastermind group, or a coach. I recently joined a mastermind with 4 other entrepreneurial friends, and I'm finding it wonderful to have an instant advisory board for support. I can bounce ideas off them, ask for help with problem solving, share my victories, and sometimes just vent!Don't forget your intellectual environment as well. Jim Rohn says, "Are you feeding your brain protein every day, or are you just giving it candy?" Most Americans sustain their brains solely on candy - that is, useless television shows, news, and gossip. Are you stimulating yourself with big ideas and new learning? Again, check out a seminar, take a teleclass, or buy some books or audio programs. (I love listening to programs on CD, so I can learn while driving around in my car.)--------------------------------------------------------------------------------** Do YOU have a favorite success principle? Please share it! **I'd love to know if you have a success principle that's changed your business or your life for the better. Please send it to me at Alexandria@EzineQueen.com with the subject line "my principle".Online entrepreneur Alexandria K. Brown, "The E-zine Queen," publishes the award-winning 'Straight Shooter Marketing' weekly ezine with 20,000+ subscribers. If you're ready to jump-start your marketing, make more money, and have more fun in your small business, get your FREE tips now at http://www.EzineQueen.com
Category : Self-Improvement:Attraction

Credit Cards

Author : Stephen S Alison
A credit card is a plastic payment card which enables the cardholder to pay for goods and services and to obtain cash advances up to a pre-arranged credit limit. The holder may settle the outstanding balance in full or in part by the end of a specified period, or 'roll it over' to the next period, whereupon an interest payment is due.Chances are you have received your share of "pre-approved" credit card offers in the mail, some with low introductory rates and other perks. Many of these solicitations urge you to accept "before the offer expires." Before accepting, you should shop around to get the best deal.A credit card is a great financial tool. It can be more convenient to use and carry than cash and it offers you valuable consumer protections under federal law.It is also a big responsibility and, if used carelessly, you may end up owing more than you can repay, damaging your credit rating and creating credit problems for yourself that can be difficult to fix.Applying For a Credit CardIf you're at least 18 years old and have a regular source of income, you may qualify for a credit card. However, even though you may receive many unsolicited invitations and special offers from card companies in the mail, you still need to demonstrate that you are a good risk before they will grant you credit.The answer lies in your credit report. If you've previously financed a car loan or other purchase, you probably have a record at a credit reporting bureau. This credit history shows how responsible you've been in paying your bills and helps the credit card issuer decide how much credit to extend. Before submitting a credit application, you should get a copy of your credit report to make sure it's accurate.A credit card can provide many advantages for the everyday person:• Convenience – In addition to enabling the purchase of items now, it also allows you to carry less cash and to order out of catalogs. Additionally, it is the only form of payment most online stores will accept;• Emergency Protection – Credit cards allow for emergency car repairs, health care or any number of contingencies when access to savings or checking accounts is not immediately possible;• Budgeting – Buying on credit allows for predictable payments of large-ticket items in installments you can afford. Credit Cards are also a good way of keeping a detailed record of your spending;• Security – Once cash is lost, it is gone. There is no way to get that money back or to keep someone else from using it. If a credit card is lost or stolen you can cancel the credit card. Additionally, a new card can generally be sent to you within a matter of days;• Traveling – No matter whether you're traveling across town or across the country, it is usually easier with a credit card. Most hotels and rental car companies will not take a reservation without a credit card;Getting the Best Credit Card DealFees, charges and benefits vary among card issuers. Also you'll probably want to consider if the credit limit is high enough, how widely the card is accepted, and the plan's services and features. When choosing a card, shop around and compare these important features:• Annual Percentage Rate (APR) - The APR is a measure of the cost of credit and is expressed as a yearly interest rate. Also it must be disclosed, before you become obligated, on the account and on your account statements. Some credit card plans allow the issuer to change your APR when interest rates or other economic indicators - called indexes - change. Also, be sure to check out the "periodic rate," which is the rate the issuer applies to your outstanding balance in determining your finance charge for each billing period;• Grace Period - A 'grace' period or 'free' period is the time between the date of a purchase and the date when interest starts being charged on that purchase. If your card has a standard grace period, you have an opportunity to avoid finance charges by paying your current balance in full. Some issuers allow a grace period for new purchases, even if you do not pay your balance in full every month. If there is no grace period, the issuer imposes a finance charge from the date you use your card or from the date each transaction is posted to your account. If your card includes a free period, the issuer must mail your bill at least 14 days before the due date so you'll have enough time to pay;• Annual Fees - Many issuers charge an annual fee for granting you credit. Some issuers charge no annual fee;• Transaction Fees & Other Charges - Some issuers charge a fee if you use their card to obtain a cash advance, if you fail to make a payment on time or if you exceed your credit limit. Some may charge a flat fee every month whether you use the card or not. In order to avoid surprises and excess costs, you should identify and understand what all the additional fees are before applying for a card;• Customer Service - Many issuers have 24-hour, toll-free telephone numbers where you can contact a person to discuss issues with your account;• Other Credit Card Benefits - Issuers may offer additional benefits, some with an associated cost, such as insurance, card protection, discounts, rebates and special merchandise offers. Look closely at all costs, benefits and rewards to decide if these options would be beneficial to you.Credit Card Do's & Don'tsWhile a credit card makes it easy to buy something now and pay for it later, you can easily lose track of how much you've spent by the time the bill arrives if you're not careful. Here is a summary list of do's and don'ts:• Shop around for the plan that best fits your needs;• Make sure you understand a plan's terms before you accept the card;• Sign your card immediately on receipt to prevent anyone else from using it;• Hold on to copies of sales slips to reconcile charges when your bill arrives. Double check the charges listed against your receipts. If you find a mistake or a charge that you did not authorize, promptly report any questionable charges in writing to your card company;• Don't lend your card to anyone, even to a friend. Your credit privilege and history are too precious to risk;• Keep your account information to yourself. Never give out your card number or expiration date over the phone unless you know who you're dealing with;• Keep a record - in a safe place separate from your cards - of your account numbers, expiration dates and the phone numbers of each issuer to report a loss quickly;• Only carry the credit card you think you'll need;Stephen S Alison is a retired "bean counter" who spent 26 years in middle management positions for major US financial institutions in Europe and a further 10 years as an adviser/consultant to a number of European financial institutions. He owns and operates a number of "hand built" niche websites including:
http://www.24carat-gold.com

http://www.forex-arbitrage.com
Category : Finance:Credit

Photo Checks – A Great Alternative in Checking

Author : Robb Ksiazek
It’s the little things in life that make it interesting. Everyday life can be so boring at times. To make the ordinary extraordinary takes time to explore and to discover. Fortunately, there are some wonderful places online to personalize those ordinary items and make them the pride of you day.We all have checking accounts, many more than one. Most of us buy checks through three different means: the local bank, through the mail, and on the internet. Internet shopping is increasing, due in part to more confidence, and just more people using the web in general.There is a new alternative in check supplies that has begun a new trend. Photo checks are increasingly popular among many markets. It’s a way to personalize checking without having to pick someone else’s design. They are only pennies more expensive than the usual choices, and they come out just perfect.Here’s what happens. Go to your favorite checks supply website and look for the photo checks option. It should be on the home page. You’ll go through the process of ordering the quantities, and all that same old stuff. Then, you’ll get to upload your jpeg photo that you took with your digital camera or retrieved from a scanner.In a week or two, the new checks will arrive the same as they always have. But this time, your personal photograph will adorn them. What photos will you choose?Family. Keep them close to your heart and get the chance to share them with the rest of the world.
Personal photo. Use the service as a security measure. Pretty much any jpeg design will work, and they’ll have some ideas for you.
Man’s best friend. Why have someone else’s dog on your checks?
A picturesque scene. A photo from your vacation or honeymoon spot.
A digital design. As long as it is in JPEG form, you can create your own graphic design. Spread your artwork around.These are obviously only a few of the ideas that might enter into your head with the option of photo checks. Use one photo now and select another for the next order. To get the most out of your checking account, get the best in personal checks.Robb Ksiazek is an author and publisher for Checks-4U.com. He has researched and written about the little things that make a difference in the paper supply industry, from personal and business checks to envelopes and address labels. Turn the ordinary into extraordinary.
Category : Clothing

Business Cards Printing brings out Corporate Identity the Easy Way

Author : Maricon Williams

Business cards significance in the business industry cannot be
over emphasized. In fact, it is the foremost tool used by
businessmen and other business enthusiasts for networking their
products and services.

We cannot deny the blatant fact that competition nowadays is
pretty stiff. Anyone who takes it for granted and not lift a
finger to compete will be way left behind. This is the very
reason why businessmen and their pools of marketing experts are
planning a wise and easy strategy to capture their target
market. They are poring over marketing tools and advertisements.
They want to conquer the mass media. But what is the easiest way
to reach the top? Is it worth spending a lot?

For big companies, spending a big sum is of no worry. Obviously,
they have the finances. Networking and marketing are essential
to them to keep the goodwill and corporate identity. However, to
starting businesses and to those still struggling, networking
and marketing slash the pocket. Thus, making known their
corporate identity is taxing for them. They cannot subscribe to
pompous ads. They cannot spend more than what they have thus, an
inexpensive alternative must be sought. Good thing we have handy
and effective business cards to back them up!

Business cards may seem so tiny but they have the influence to
boost your business. They are not only effective but inexpensive
as well. Compared to other networking and marketing tools,
business cards are far more effectual and practical.
Nevertheless, they must pass quality and meticulous planning,
printing and distribution process so as to achieve their full
potentials. Planning is the key factor why we have effective
business cards. It is the initial phase where we get to
conceptualize what we want to come up. Business cards printing
is an essential phase in the undertaking. The design, colors,
images and logo of business cards must instantly reflect the
corporate identity of the business. The design and printing
process must be of high-quality to have an excellent outcome.
Bear in mind that catchy, meaty and functional business cards
grab the thing that you desire most. Finally, business cards
have to be delivered. But one common mistake interferes in the
smooth-sailing process. This mistake must be avoided at all
cost. And what is this big mistake? It is distribution to the
wrong persons. Hence, give business cards to your real business
leads. Or else you will just be throwing away your hard-earned
money!

Category : Credit

Franchisor Award Programs; Ideas and Innovation

Author : Lance Winslow
Franchisors should also be heavy on the award side of motivational material. Award certificates and plaques should be given out to franchisees who perform above expectations. Each franchisor needs to take a look at their business model and find ways to best motivate the team. In our franchise company we came up with several ideas and continually innovated to find new ways to use awards to strengthen or franchise family. Awards will be given out for:Largest Increase In Customer Base;Highest Credit Card Volume;Largest Corporate Account Volume;No Complaints Award;Best Above And Beyond The Call Of Duty Story;Biggest Community Effort;Most Hours Worked Award;Franchisee Of The Year, Quarter, Month;Most Improved Service Award;Most Dedicated Employee; Etc.The goal here is for each franchisee to receive two or three awards per year on average, which they can hang up in their stores which makes customers feel confident in their abilities. This is a major ego booster, but should not be sent when they are not earned, that will back fire. Here are some more interesting awards we have given out in our franchise:Suggestion Of The Year;Scout Of The Year;Training Crew Of The Year;Competition Crusher Of The Year;Largest Account Sale Of The Year;Best Sales Technique Innovation Of The Year;Most Market Penetration In One Year;Computer Consultant Of The year;Best Publicity Piece Of The Year;Best Supplier Of The Year.The franchisees should give out awards to their employees, customers, schools, public officials, etc. Here are some ideas:$100 Scholarship Program Per High School;Most Positive Customer Of The Year;Most Loyal Customer Of The Year;Best Account Of The Year;Most Referrals Of The Year by a customer, Five Of TheseBest Salesperson Of The year;Best Quality Control Employee Of The Year;Best Image Of Employees; Best Promptness Of The Year.Examples of public officials awards are:Best Environmental Public Servant;Public Safety Award;Best Innovation For Steam Lining Government;Tax Payers Best Friend Award;Small Business Persons Best Friend AwardRemember in franchising it is about promoting brand name, promoting teamwork and communication. You can solve all these goals thru awards as part of your overall strategic plan to build strong family unity in your franchise system. Think about it."Lance Winslow" - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/
Category : Taxes

Ironman Triathlon, Your First One - Should You Have A Race Sponsor?

Author : Ray Fauteux
Having a race-sponsor for your first Ironman triathlon can seem like a pretty good idea. Taking part in an Ironman has become a pretty expensive affair these days and its always nice to have help along the way. Especially with things like expensive bike equipment, lodging, and travel expenses etc.After all, you may only be required to wear their name on your race clothing. It seems like a small price to pay to have yourself a race-sponsor.Few people realize the responsibility that seemingly comes along with wearing a sponsors name.It can often become a trying proposition for many athletes.I know because I've been in that situation. Its amazing the amount of extra pressure you can put on yourself by having a race-sponsor. It was always on the back of my mind that I had to do really well to justify any financial aid I had received.Along with everything else there is to worry about during an Ironman, there was always this nagging feeling that I didn't want to let my sponsor down. Not to mention that I didn't want to fail and embarass myself by having to face my sponsor and tell him that I didn't finish the race for some reasonIts quite amazing the things that go through your mind.I really feel that a first time Ironman hopeful has enough to worry about. In hindsight, it makes sense to me now that having a race-sponsor for your first Ironman attempt is not a really great idea. The last thing you need is the added pressure of trying to justify having a sponsor.My suggestion is to try and forego having a race-sponsor when attemping your first Ironman. See how it goes and if you decide down the road to continue on with an Ironman career, perhaps then, it would make more sense.Whatever you decide, make sure you fully understand what you're getting yourself into when you accept the responsibility of having a race-sponsor.My name is Ray and I have a long career in endurance sports including 14 ironman triathlons. I have created a site full of training and racing tips that I hope will be helpful to first time Ironman triathletes.The name of my site is "Ironstruck".The address is http://triathlon-ironman-myfirstironman-ironstruck.comI'd like to hear from you if you are thinking of or already planning your first Ironman. My contact address is http://triathlon-ironman-myfirstironman-ironstruck.com/contact-me.html
Category : Recreation-and-Sports:Triathlon

Account Management - How to Manage Accounts to Maximize Sales

Author : Alan Rigg
Congratulations! You successfully sold one or more of your company's products or services to a business unit, department, or division of a large organization. Now your manager has tasked you with "account management". If you are not already familiar with account management, you are probably asking yourself the following questions:

What is "Account Management"?
What skills and talents are required to excel in Account Management?
What activities must be performed to maximize Account Management ROI?

Providing answers to these questions is the focus of this article.What is Account Management?Account management is actually a synonym for account penetration. Just because you have sold one product or service to one business entity within an organization doesn't mean your job is done. Think of all the additional opportunities that may exist in the account! For example:

Does your company offer additional products or services that might be a "fit" for this customer?
How many other business units, departments, divisions, and subsidiaries are potential prospects for your company's offering(s)?

Required Skills and TalentsA critical talent for successful account management is the ability to build relationships, as relationship selling is a very effective way to increase account penetration. Another critical skill/talent is organization. If you are going to manage large accounts effectively, you need to be willing and able to keep meticulous records.What kinds of records do you need to keep? Picture a large, three-dimensional spreadsheet in your mind. In the left-hand column is a list of every product and service that you could possibly sell to a customer. Across the top of the spreadsheet are all of the business units, departments, divisions, and other business entities that make up your account's entire organization. Behind each business entity is every contact you know within that business entity.Armed with this mental picture, ask yourself the following questions:

Which business entities are you doing business with?
Which business entities are you not doing business with?
Where are the various business entities located?
Which products and services does each business entity already purchase from you?
Which products and services are they not purchasing from you?
Who do you know in each business entity?
Which of these contacts have you already asked for referrals and testimonials?
What referrals and testimonials have they given you?

Required ActivitiesHopefully your organization has some type of CRM (Client Relationship Management) software application to help you keep track of your answers to these questions. If you don't have access to a corporate CRM system, here are some other options:

You can purchase a software package like ACT! Or GoldMine
You can subscribe to an online service like salesforce.com
You can track information using a spreadsheet, database, or e-mail program

Next, plan your tactics for increasing account penetration by considering the following questions:

What process will you use to regularly expose each of your contacts in the account to your company's entire portfolio of products and services?
Who can provide testimonials that will help you win business in other business units, departments, or divisions in the account?
Who can refer you to new contacts in other business units, departments, or divisions in the account?

Why is it necessary to repetitively expose your contacts to your company's entire portfolio of products and services? Because they forget! I can tell you from personal experience that there is nothing more frustrating than finding out a customer has placed a large order with another salesperson...and the only reason they didn't give you the order was because they didn't know or remember that you could fill it!Is There More to Account Management?There can be, but activities focused on increasing account penetration make up the critical core. Account management does become more complex if a team of people is managing a regional, national, or global account, but most of the complexity pertains to coordinating the activities of the team members.Don't make account management more complex than it needs to be! The basic goal is to maximize account penetration. Look for opportunities to sell every product and service in your portfolio to every business entity (business unit, department, division, etc.) in the account. Make maximum use of referrals and testimonials to help you initiate new relationships. Regularly remind all of your contacts of the full breadth of your portfolio of products and services. Be organized and keep meticulous records. If you do these things, you should be amply rewarded for your efforts!Copyright 2005 -- Alan RiggSales performance expert Alan Rigg is the author of How to Beat the 80/20 Rule in Selling: Why Most Salespeople Don't Perform and What to Do About It. His company, 80/20 Sales Performance, helps business owners, executives, and managers DOUBLE sales by implementing The Right Formula™ for building top-performing sales teams. For more information and more FREE sales and sales management tips, visit http://www.8020salesperformance.com.
Category : Business:Sales-Training