What are we all searching for in our lives? Life is not a search for happiness. You don't have to search for happiness, live your life the right way and happiness will be your reward. True happiness is always the by-product of a life well lived. We will also find happiness when we learn to get quiet and listen to our inner selves. We find happiness when we focus less on our personal problems and more on the needs of others. Try this simple one liner. I will let someone in today and feel the rush of happiness.
Faith grows with in our hearts. Life's difficulties are eased when we have faith. Faith is also the ability to grow and change. The way of faith is the way of everybody who really wants to live. This may help from one of the Hazelden Books: "I pray that my faith may be strengthened everyday. I pray that I may find confirmation of my life in the good things that have come into my life".
Also one from Joel Osteen's ~Your Best Life Now. "Choose to be happy. Choose to keep a good attitude. Remember, happiness is a choice you have to make. And even when you don't understand it, know that God is at work in you and He's working through you. Make up your mind that from today forward, you are going to bloom where you are planted and enjoy every single day of your life."
Good luck and may God bless on your daily ventures.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Marketing or Sales - Which is More Valuable?
It may come as a surprise to you but most great salespeople are terrible salespeople! I know that is confusing but it couldn't be more accurate. The one common thread that ties all great salespeople is the fact they are great marketers. If you are a great marketer you can be a lousy salesperson because great marketing makes you a great salesperson. You could have great "talent" for sales but if your marketing is off you will always fail.
It never fails to make me laugh when I hear from a salesperson that all they want to do is sell! It is a sign they haven't a clue how sales really works. This approach to selling is weak and has no chance for long term success. This approach to selling makes firms that provide pre-set appointments flourish. These salespeople will always constantly look for the next best way to lead generation and always be a sucker for a marketing scam.
Using an outsourcing marketing plan will cause nothing but long term grief and it makes the salesperson lazy and totally out of contact with how the marketing world works. If an agent concentrates on marketing and obtaining leads using a system then the sales become easy and natural. By concentrating on marketing first you become the manager of your own success and you will control your own destiny.
How do you learn to become a marketer? First, never use pre-set appointments or anything you do not have total and full control of. Options for obtaining leads are numerous and available with just a little work and investigation. Direct mail, seminars, referrals, the internet, radio and other media are just some of the available sources.
Once you select your marketing method, the one service you do outsource is the telemarketing. I fully believe and agent should see people and generate marketing leads. The telephone should be outsourced and be handled by someone who is trained to make the calls. Remember, the purpose of the phone call is to make an appointment and nothing else. Keep the telemarketer in their box and don't allow yourself to make any phone calls for the initial appointment. Pay the telemarketer by the hour or appointment and NEVER share any compensation with them, it show only weakness to your side of the equation. If a bonus is necessary, pay it as a bonus and make it on the small side. If a telemarketer could sell, they would.
The secret to successful selling is becoming a marketer. Marketing will always win and once you accept the fact that marketing is the key to long term success the sooner you will become a great salesperson.
It never fails to make me laugh when I hear from a salesperson that all they want to do is sell! It is a sign they haven't a clue how sales really works. This approach to selling is weak and has no chance for long term success. This approach to selling makes firms that provide pre-set appointments flourish. These salespeople will always constantly look for the next best way to lead generation and always be a sucker for a marketing scam.
Using an outsourcing marketing plan will cause nothing but long term grief and it makes the salesperson lazy and totally out of contact with how the marketing world works. If an agent concentrates on marketing and obtaining leads using a system then the sales become easy and natural. By concentrating on marketing first you become the manager of your own success and you will control your own destiny.
How do you learn to become a marketer? First, never use pre-set appointments or anything you do not have total and full control of. Options for obtaining leads are numerous and available with just a little work and investigation. Direct mail, seminars, referrals, the internet, radio and other media are just some of the available sources.
Once you select your marketing method, the one service you do outsource is the telemarketing. I fully believe and agent should see people and generate marketing leads. The telephone should be outsourced and be handled by someone who is trained to make the calls. Remember, the purpose of the phone call is to make an appointment and nothing else. Keep the telemarketer in their box and don't allow yourself to make any phone calls for the initial appointment. Pay the telemarketer by the hour or appointment and NEVER share any compensation with them, it show only weakness to your side of the equation. If a bonus is necessary, pay it as a bonus and make it on the small side. If a telemarketer could sell, they would.
The secret to successful selling is becoming a marketer. Marketing will always win and once you accept the fact that marketing is the key to long term success the sooner you will become a great salesperson.
Affordable Disney Vacation - The Magic Kingdom And Cinderella Castle
Spending a day watching Cinderella and her lavish castle will make the holiday memorable and one that the child will cherish all their life. Located in the middle of the two theme parks, this has been around since 1971, giving every visitor something new to look forward to.
During your stay at the magical Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, you and you family members can take a walk through the Cinderella's castle, which has mosaic murals narrating the tale. Each of these is made of Italian smooth glass and rough ones that are made especially by Italian craftsman. One can make out the emotions playing across the faces of Cinderella and her evil step sisters right down to the ball, after which she tries on the glass slippers. There is an attached shopping arena called Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique where young girls can get anything they desire.
In order to enjoy all this, you will need to book your journey way ahead, and this can be done either online or through an agency that will plan your entire itinerary. There is even a Cinderella Suite on the top of the castle which today can house upto 6 guests; this was once intended for Sir Walt Disney and his friends to reside in. Staying here would leave you feeling like a real princess, with the fluffy queen sized beds and rich castle like walls and view from your room. And as you get out of your castle, you can stroll through Mickey's Toontown Fair, where you can shake hands with Mickey Mouse and gang who live right there. A latest addition to the Disney World, this is sure to make your Walt Disney World vacation better.
You can take the train from anywhere in the park and watch the various splendors of their park come alive. What child would not like to check out the various castles and palaces home to their favorite characters? In the Magic Kingdom section, you find Fantasyland, filled with princesses, pixies and little boys who don't grow up. A play area where you spend time with Winnie the Pooh or what looks like scenes from the 20,000 leagues under the sea book is what awaits you.
When you get bored of these, you can take the train to Pinocchio's village which is near the fair lands. You will go through numerous tunnels that take you from Adventureland to the Liberty Square. Housed within these walls are the finest restaurants and souvenir stores for you to indulge in. A fun filled, learning experience is what you take back when you wind up for the day in your comfortable bed on tip the Cinderella's castle.
The Orlando area is famous for its condos and villas that you can pick up to add a bit of spice to your vacation. Fitted with all the amenities and services you could dream off, these make for ideal getaways from the crowd and close enough to spend time during your Walt Disney World Resort vacation.
During your stay at the magical Walt Disney World Resort in Florida, you and you family members can take a walk through the Cinderella's castle, which has mosaic murals narrating the tale. Each of these is made of Italian smooth glass and rough ones that are made especially by Italian craftsman. One can make out the emotions playing across the faces of Cinderella and her evil step sisters right down to the ball, after which she tries on the glass slippers. There is an attached shopping arena called Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique where young girls can get anything they desire.
In order to enjoy all this, you will need to book your journey way ahead, and this can be done either online or through an agency that will plan your entire itinerary. There is even a Cinderella Suite on the top of the castle which today can house upto 6 guests; this was once intended for Sir Walt Disney and his friends to reside in. Staying here would leave you feeling like a real princess, with the fluffy queen sized beds and rich castle like walls and view from your room. And as you get out of your castle, you can stroll through Mickey's Toontown Fair, where you can shake hands with Mickey Mouse and gang who live right there. A latest addition to the Disney World, this is sure to make your Walt Disney World vacation better.
You can take the train from anywhere in the park and watch the various splendors of their park come alive. What child would not like to check out the various castles and palaces home to their favorite characters? In the Magic Kingdom section, you find Fantasyland, filled with princesses, pixies and little boys who don't grow up. A play area where you spend time with Winnie the Pooh or what looks like scenes from the 20,000 leagues under the sea book is what awaits you.
When you get bored of these, you can take the train to Pinocchio's village which is near the fair lands. You will go through numerous tunnels that take you from Adventureland to the Liberty Square. Housed within these walls are the finest restaurants and souvenir stores for you to indulge in. A fun filled, learning experience is what you take back when you wind up for the day in your comfortable bed on tip the Cinderella's castle.
The Orlando area is famous for its condos and villas that you can pick up to add a bit of spice to your vacation. Fitted with all the amenities and services you could dream off, these make for ideal getaways from the crowd and close enough to spend time during your Walt Disney World Resort vacation.
We Swam With Wild Dolphins
Once in a while one's karma or destiny lines one up for an experience of a lifetime. In this case we felt it was more like divine intervention than anything else.
Believe it or not in planning a trip to Tasmania and South Australia last year, I had heeded my daughter's pleas to swim with dolphins by forking out a large amount of money to have us all go out in a boat on a tour, be tethered to a rope, and hope that dolphins would approach us. No guarantees, but money up front; this was to be in Adelaide, after our Tasmanian interlude. It was perhaps the one single planned event that we looked forward to more than anything else. We made our momentous journey over three days, in three planes, and one ferry (great excitement for the kids) over to Tasmania, then to pick up a car and ride across the island to Hobart. Long, but delightful and, yes, I would do it again, frankly.
Meeting up with the cousins in Hobart was no less of an exciting moment that anything up until then. A few days into the holiday, kids mooching around one hot afternoon, my sister-in-law calls out loudly from her deck overlooking Blackman's Bay. Dolphins in the water. Sixty seconds later, cousins, kids were on the beach and wading into the surf. I followed sensing this was going to be something special.
I soon realised we were all slightly out of our depth. Two of the children: my Antonie and cousin Julia could swim less efficiently than the others. Sadly Julia was ahead of me and calling for assistance. Antonie, now behind, wanted my attention also. I knew he could swim towards me easily, and he was closer to shore, so I made for cousin Julia. As I reached her they got to us. At least three swam in and around our legs. I could feel them "brushing" against my skin, yet without touching me at all. The kids were shrieking and all I could think of doing was diving down below the surface to get a glimpse of one, and to perhaps touch one. They were not going to have that happen and their agility and speed simply astounded me, notwithstanding many dolphins shows and demonstrations since a child: nothing can prepare you for the force and power of their physical presence when so near you, and in the water.
Two sped past and around me, deftly ducking from my outstretched arms. They made straight for Antonie. One must have touched him, albeit gently, and he decided this was just too much. He cried out and made for the shore. My daughter Maria, more or less level with me, saw her brother was in mild distress and forfeited a possible closer encounter with her favourite creature and helped him to the beach. My excuse was to stick with Julia, but I must be honest in saying I was more intent on my own personal encounter with a dolphin than going to Antonie's rescue, my main justification being that he had just won his first gala at school that year. All was resolved as Antonie could relate his story to his mother on the beach as she nervously aimed the video camera at our shrieks.
Maria was rewarded by being able to return the our pod of humans, while the dolphins repeatedly visited the children by swimming in and around them. I had taken Maria's goggles from her before she swam to shore, and for those precious, brief few minutes I had been able to focus somewhat on the larger than imagined, highly agile bodies of the dolphins beneath the water surface.
It was breathtaking and humbling. I was constantly aware that these creatures are very much in control beneath the water. And that I was not. As the two that made for Antonie passed me so quickly, they both cocked their heads to check me out. I noticed them swim past him, towards the shoreline. In fact had they not turned when they did, they might have been washed onto the beach. Not likely. I have an indelible memory of their sleek bodies powerfully thrusting forward in order to accelerate madly into the rushing, crashing waves that flowed over them. A sight I shall not ever forget.
My wife stayed faithfully on the beach, until we came out of the water, the dolphins having swam back out to sea. I suggested she swim out and see what would happen. Amazingly, as I filmed her, five dolphins spotted, or sensed her lonely presence from more than five hundred metres out. Even now the sight of them rushing towards her to investigate, filmed from far away, is breathtaking in its sheer moment of excitement and anxiety. She kept her ground and for more than five minutes they swam around and beneath her, before giving a gymnastic display and then disappearing.
Needless to say we cancelled the booked tour in Adelaide.
Believe it or not in planning a trip to Tasmania and South Australia last year, I had heeded my daughter's pleas to swim with dolphins by forking out a large amount of money to have us all go out in a boat on a tour, be tethered to a rope, and hope that dolphins would approach us. No guarantees, but money up front; this was to be in Adelaide, after our Tasmanian interlude. It was perhaps the one single planned event that we looked forward to more than anything else. We made our momentous journey over three days, in three planes, and one ferry (great excitement for the kids) over to Tasmania, then to pick up a car and ride across the island to Hobart. Long, but delightful and, yes, I would do it again, frankly.
Meeting up with the cousins in Hobart was no less of an exciting moment that anything up until then. A few days into the holiday, kids mooching around one hot afternoon, my sister-in-law calls out loudly from her deck overlooking Blackman's Bay. Dolphins in the water. Sixty seconds later, cousins, kids were on the beach and wading into the surf. I followed sensing this was going to be something special.
I soon realised we were all slightly out of our depth. Two of the children: my Antonie and cousin Julia could swim less efficiently than the others. Sadly Julia was ahead of me and calling for assistance. Antonie, now behind, wanted my attention also. I knew he could swim towards me easily, and he was closer to shore, so I made for cousin Julia. As I reached her they got to us. At least three swam in and around our legs. I could feel them "brushing" against my skin, yet without touching me at all. The kids were shrieking and all I could think of doing was diving down below the surface to get a glimpse of one, and to perhaps touch one. They were not going to have that happen and their agility and speed simply astounded me, notwithstanding many dolphins shows and demonstrations since a child: nothing can prepare you for the force and power of their physical presence when so near you, and in the water.
Two sped past and around me, deftly ducking from my outstretched arms. They made straight for Antonie. One must have touched him, albeit gently, and he decided this was just too much. He cried out and made for the shore. My daughter Maria, more or less level with me, saw her brother was in mild distress and forfeited a possible closer encounter with her favourite creature and helped him to the beach. My excuse was to stick with Julia, but I must be honest in saying I was more intent on my own personal encounter with a dolphin than going to Antonie's rescue, my main justification being that he had just won his first gala at school that year. All was resolved as Antonie could relate his story to his mother on the beach as she nervously aimed the video camera at our shrieks.
Maria was rewarded by being able to return the our pod of humans, while the dolphins repeatedly visited the children by swimming in and around them. I had taken Maria's goggles from her before she swam to shore, and for those precious, brief few minutes I had been able to focus somewhat on the larger than imagined, highly agile bodies of the dolphins beneath the water surface.
It was breathtaking and humbling. I was constantly aware that these creatures are very much in control beneath the water. And that I was not. As the two that made for Antonie passed me so quickly, they both cocked their heads to check me out. I noticed them swim past him, towards the shoreline. In fact had they not turned when they did, they might have been washed onto the beach. Not likely. I have an indelible memory of their sleek bodies powerfully thrusting forward in order to accelerate madly into the rushing, crashing waves that flowed over them. A sight I shall not ever forget.
My wife stayed faithfully on the beach, until we came out of the water, the dolphins having swam back out to sea. I suggested she swim out and see what would happen. Amazingly, as I filmed her, five dolphins spotted, or sensed her lonely presence from more than five hundred metres out. Even now the sight of them rushing towards her to investigate, filmed from far away, is breathtaking in its sheer moment of excitement and anxiety. She kept her ground and for more than five minutes they swam around and beneath her, before giving a gymnastic display and then disappearing.
Needless to say we cancelled the booked tour in Adelaide.
Rolex Economics and New Model Marketing Strategy
Rolex has just released for public sale a new model watch called the Milgauss to the public with a MSRP of $6,400. However, you will have little chance of acquiring one from an authorized dealer(AD)for possibly years unless you are one of the select few preferred customs. On the other hand, you can buy one from a auction forum such as E-bay for $15,000. It is a bit of a shock to the system, but that seems to be the price people are prepared to pay for this new model. The price is a function of supply and demand. Demand for the new Milgauss with its unique green tinted crystal is high and the number of pieces released for sale by Rolex are much lower than the demand.
The precise point in time a new model is released for sale is within the sole discretion of Rolex. Rolex can wait until they have 10,000 pieces manufactured and in stock and then release the new model in an orderly fashion to cope with demand. Alternatively, Rolex can release say 100 pieces world wide so that the model is very scarce and demand far outstrips supply.
So what are the real world consequences of a release of sufficient supply V. a small insufficient supply: to the public of a new model such as the Milgauss?
A plentiful supply of a new model to the market means:
(a) all enthusiasts, grey dealers and joe average gets to buy one from an AD
(b) the grey dealers cannot ask outrageous prices (like 1-200% margins above retail) as supply does not permit that to occur.
(c) there will be a quantity of pieces for sale on e-bay and possibly at or a little below MSRP which will not please AD's who will not be able to extol the notion of 'exclusivity' or 'rarity' and who are also under increasing pressure to discount the new piece and reduce their profit margin.
(d) there will not be a false perception that the new model is 'exclusive' or 'limited' or 'rare' and dealers will not be able to tell their big spenders how fortunate they should feel having received such a 'rare' item.
(e) Rolex is still perceived as a luxury brand but when the 'exclusivity' of the new model is lost, it becomes less desirable to those who want something that Mr. Jones doesn't have a few doors down the road.
A scarce or very limited supply of a new model to the market means:
(a) many enthusiasts will miss out the opportunity to purchase from an AD for some considerable time, possibly years or otherwise spend a large sum buying it from a grey market dealer who makes more profit than Rolex;
(b) grey dealers and others who have a quantity buying relationship from an AD will get preference to buying the new model only to put it on the market for at least 100% margin eg ebay;
(c) AD's who favour their big spending customers can use the rarity of the model to illicit additional purchases from their big spenders (not necessarily Rolex) so AD's can use it to increase their total sales volume and profits;
(d) Joe Average has no chance to acquire this model from an AD for what may be a considerable time being possibly years down the track.
(e) Rolex and AD's cannot get any advantage of calling the model 'rare' or 'scarce' and able to promote an image of exclusivity to bump up price and procure collateral sales i.e. you buy a Patek and you can have a Green Milgauss.
(f) Once the item is sold on Ebay for a massive premium and ADs start to foster the orchestrated believe in the rarity of scarcity of the model, they too charge a premium for the sale of the new model.
(g) The enthusiast suffers buy now for 100% above retail or wait for an indefinite period.
Conclusion: Although Rolex does not approve of the selling of new models on ebay sales by unauthorized re-sellers, the notional exclusivity generated by limited numbers and sale prices of more than 100% above retail suits Rolex's marketing strategy and exclusive image positioning. At the same time such unauthorized sales keeps authorized dealers happy by letting them pick and choose who they sell to for to procure their own substantial gain to maximize profits. The Rolex Forums www.rolexforums.com discusses the world of Rolex
The precise point in time a new model is released for sale is within the sole discretion of Rolex. Rolex can wait until they have 10,000 pieces manufactured and in stock and then release the new model in an orderly fashion to cope with demand. Alternatively, Rolex can release say 100 pieces world wide so that the model is very scarce and demand far outstrips supply.
So what are the real world consequences of a release of sufficient supply V. a small insufficient supply: to the public of a new model such as the Milgauss?
A plentiful supply of a new model to the market means:
(a) all enthusiasts, grey dealers and joe average gets to buy one from an AD
(b) the grey dealers cannot ask outrageous prices (like 1-200% margins above retail) as supply does not permit that to occur.
(c) there will be a quantity of pieces for sale on e-bay and possibly at or a little below MSRP which will not please AD's who will not be able to extol the notion of 'exclusivity' or 'rarity' and who are also under increasing pressure to discount the new piece and reduce their profit margin.
(d) there will not be a false perception that the new model is 'exclusive' or 'limited' or 'rare' and dealers will not be able to tell their big spenders how fortunate they should feel having received such a 'rare' item.
(e) Rolex is still perceived as a luxury brand but when the 'exclusivity' of the new model is lost, it becomes less desirable to those who want something that Mr. Jones doesn't have a few doors down the road.
A scarce or very limited supply of a new model to the market means:
(a) many enthusiasts will miss out the opportunity to purchase from an AD for some considerable time, possibly years or otherwise spend a large sum buying it from a grey market dealer who makes more profit than Rolex;
(b) grey dealers and others who have a quantity buying relationship from an AD will get preference to buying the new model only to put it on the market for at least 100% margin eg ebay;
(c) AD's who favour their big spending customers can use the rarity of the model to illicit additional purchases from their big spenders (not necessarily Rolex) so AD's can use it to increase their total sales volume and profits;
(d) Joe Average has no chance to acquire this model from an AD for what may be a considerable time being possibly years down the track.
(e) Rolex and AD's cannot get any advantage of calling the model 'rare' or 'scarce' and able to promote an image of exclusivity to bump up price and procure collateral sales i.e. you buy a Patek and you can have a Green Milgauss.
(f) Once the item is sold on Ebay for a massive premium and ADs start to foster the orchestrated believe in the rarity of scarcity of the model, they too charge a premium for the sale of the new model.
(g) The enthusiast suffers buy now for 100% above retail or wait for an indefinite period.
Conclusion: Although Rolex does not approve of the selling of new models on ebay sales by unauthorized re-sellers, the notional exclusivity generated by limited numbers and sale prices of more than 100% above retail suits Rolex's marketing strategy and exclusive image positioning. At the same time such unauthorized sales keeps authorized dealers happy by letting them pick and choose who they sell to for to procure their own substantial gain to maximize profits. The Rolex Forums www.rolexforums.com discusses the world of Rolex
Is Your Mattress Making You Sick?
Imagine sleeping for eight hours per night, all the while breathing in dangerous and toxic chemicals that have been proven to be toxic and carcinogenic to human beings. Does this sound far fetched and crazy?
Yes, it does. But it is also true.
A new law was just put into effect, on July 1, 2007, that requires all mattresses sold in the United States to be flame proof. This was spearheaded by the ISPA (International Sleep Products Association) with a stated purpose of making mattresses more safe from fires.
At least, that is their stated position. But on closer inspection, it appears as if there is a sinister motive. Sadly, it appears as if this is merely a farce, and the real reason is to limit competition, by effectively pitting smaller mattress companies out of business, because they cannot comply with this new law.
Mattress sales are big business. Over 37 Million new mattresses are sold each year, and smaller, specialty mattress manufactures and imports have been taking away a large share of the Big three sales (Serta, Sealy, Simmons).With this new law, many smaller companies will be forced out of business.
The challenge with making mattresses flame proof is that large quantities of harsh chemicals are needed, such as Boric Acid, which is the active ingredient in Roach Killer. Now, you may be thinking that this is somehow different than the roach killer you can get at the local hardware store, but its not. I checked, and it's the exact same chemical. And there is up to two pounds of boric acid (as finely sprinkled dust) in the average mattress.
As you can imagine, this has caused a consumer backlash, as many people are experiencing symptoms such as severe allergic reactions. The most common ones include rashes, itchy skin, runny nose, difficulty breathing, and light headedness. The long term effects of many of these chemicals have not been determined, and could prove to be deadly by causing various forms of cancer.
There is one caveat, however. People who are adamantly opposed to sleeping next to these chemicals have a way out. The law allows anyone to claim an exemption, as long as they have a prescription from a doctor. And there is only one mattress manufacturer that will still make these types of chemical free beds. That company is Strobel Technologies.
Many mattress manufacturers have been in compliance with this law for the last 2 years, so if you purchased a mattress in that time frame, you could have been affected. Of course, you will never know because there is no labeling requirement. The ISPA made sure of that, as they don't people to know what they are sleeping with.
The solution is either live with it (and risk your health), or purchase a chemical free mattress by getting a prescription from your doctor.
Dr. Masood Kureshi is a chiropractic specialist, and has spoken against the use of flame retardant chemicals in mattresses for many years. He has prescribed chemical free mattresses for hundreds of his patients.
Yes, it does. But it is also true.
A new law was just put into effect, on July 1, 2007, that requires all mattresses sold in the United States to be flame proof. This was spearheaded by the ISPA (International Sleep Products Association) with a stated purpose of making mattresses more safe from fires.
At least, that is their stated position. But on closer inspection, it appears as if there is a sinister motive. Sadly, it appears as if this is merely a farce, and the real reason is to limit competition, by effectively pitting smaller mattress companies out of business, because they cannot comply with this new law.
Mattress sales are big business. Over 37 Million new mattresses are sold each year, and smaller, specialty mattress manufactures and imports have been taking away a large share of the Big three sales (Serta, Sealy, Simmons).With this new law, many smaller companies will be forced out of business.
The challenge with making mattresses flame proof is that large quantities of harsh chemicals are needed, such as Boric Acid, which is the active ingredient in Roach Killer. Now, you may be thinking that this is somehow different than the roach killer you can get at the local hardware store, but its not. I checked, and it's the exact same chemical. And there is up to two pounds of boric acid (as finely sprinkled dust) in the average mattress.
As you can imagine, this has caused a consumer backlash, as many people are experiencing symptoms such as severe allergic reactions. The most common ones include rashes, itchy skin, runny nose, difficulty breathing, and light headedness. The long term effects of many of these chemicals have not been determined, and could prove to be deadly by causing various forms of cancer.
There is one caveat, however. People who are adamantly opposed to sleeping next to these chemicals have a way out. The law allows anyone to claim an exemption, as long as they have a prescription from a doctor. And there is only one mattress manufacturer that will still make these types of chemical free beds. That company is Strobel Technologies.
Many mattress manufacturers have been in compliance with this law for the last 2 years, so if you purchased a mattress in that time frame, you could have been affected. Of course, you will never know because there is no labeling requirement. The ISPA made sure of that, as they don't people to know what they are sleeping with.
The solution is either live with it (and risk your health), or purchase a chemical free mattress by getting a prescription from your doctor.
Dr. Masood Kureshi is a chiropractic specialist, and has spoken against the use of flame retardant chemicals in mattresses for many years. He has prescribed chemical free mattresses for hundreds of his patients.
The Benefits Of Owning A HDTV
A High Definition Television (HDTV) is a digital format for broadcasting and viewing TV programming. Clearer images are received with HD at a much higher resolution than that viewed on a home screen. Due to its clarity, widescreen format, and CD quality sound, it will give you the feeling that a movie theater has been placed in your living room.
There are a wide variety of benefits to owning or purchasing a HDTV. Some of the reasons as to why you should certainly consider making the change to an HDTV are:
• Digital Audio.
• A wider viewing area,
• Increased quality DVD playback,
• Amazing detail,
• Digital superiority,
• Progressive scanning,
• Elimination of ghost images,
• The FCC mandating a switch, and many more.
Listed below, in detail, are the main reasons why a HDTV is enormously beneficial.
Quality of Sound
HDTV's have 5.1 channels of CD quality surround sound:
• left,
• right,
• center,
• left rear,
• right rear, and
• low frequency effects - AKA bass.
It is these multiple channels that supply you with a true surround sound at an excellent quality.
Resolution
An NTSC TV's normal resolution displays 525 scan lines with only 480 actually being visible. A normal TV can only display a resolution of approximately 210,000 pixels per image. HDTV's can reach up to 1920 (horizontal) pixels x 1080 (vertical) pixels, with an impressive total of 2,073,600 pixels per image. As you can see, this is an astounding ten times better resolution and picture quality.
No More Ghost Images
Signal quality is not something that is always perfect when viewing a normal television. This is what is called 'ghost images'. An example of this is when you can see two of the same person next to each other, as if there were a ghost of that person present.
A perfect image is something that will always be received with a digital signal, as long as the television is receiving a quality signal. This results in their being no more fuzz, snow or ghosts.
Progressive Scanning
The signals of an NTSC television are shown as interlaced signals, which means that every other horizontal line on the monitor is shown in one frame, and the other half are drawn in the next frame of the picture. This works by the eye being deceived and believing that only one picture is being shown.
Progressive scanning, however, shows the entire picture in one frame. It is this reason that there is supplied a sharper picture, which is much better than that of an interlaced image with the same resolution. There are two progressive formats available for broadcasters, the 480p and 720p.
The 480p provides a much sharper image than a normal NTSC broadcast. However, it is considered as only a DTV signal and not a true High Definition signal.
The 720p is made up of 720 horizontal scan lines, and is considered to have a true High Definition.
Aspect Ratio
The aspect ratio of current televisions is 4:3, which means that a television with an aspect ratio of 4:3 is three feet in height and four feet in width. The aspect ratio of a HDTV is 16:9, which makes it a considerable amount wider than a normal television.
The new screen is 33% wider, which enables you to view the television as if you were sitting in a theater. Your peripheral vision is being used when viewing a 16:9 screen television, which can make you truly feel as if you are a part of the program.
There are a wide variety of benefits to owning or purchasing a HDTV. Some of the reasons as to why you should certainly consider making the change to an HDTV are:
• Digital Audio.
• A wider viewing area,
• Increased quality DVD playback,
• Amazing detail,
• Digital superiority,
• Progressive scanning,
• Elimination of ghost images,
• The FCC mandating a switch, and many more.
Listed below, in detail, are the main reasons why a HDTV is enormously beneficial.
Quality of Sound
HDTV's have 5.1 channels of CD quality surround sound:
• left,
• right,
• center,
• left rear,
• right rear, and
• low frequency effects - AKA bass.
It is these multiple channels that supply you with a true surround sound at an excellent quality.
Resolution
An NTSC TV's normal resolution displays 525 scan lines with only 480 actually being visible. A normal TV can only display a resolution of approximately 210,000 pixels per image. HDTV's can reach up to 1920 (horizontal) pixels x 1080 (vertical) pixels, with an impressive total of 2,073,600 pixels per image. As you can see, this is an astounding ten times better resolution and picture quality.
No More Ghost Images
Signal quality is not something that is always perfect when viewing a normal television. This is what is called 'ghost images'. An example of this is when you can see two of the same person next to each other, as if there were a ghost of that person present.
A perfect image is something that will always be received with a digital signal, as long as the television is receiving a quality signal. This results in their being no more fuzz, snow or ghosts.
Progressive Scanning
The signals of an NTSC television are shown as interlaced signals, which means that every other horizontal line on the monitor is shown in one frame, and the other half are drawn in the next frame of the picture. This works by the eye being deceived and believing that only one picture is being shown.
Progressive scanning, however, shows the entire picture in one frame. It is this reason that there is supplied a sharper picture, which is much better than that of an interlaced image with the same resolution. There are two progressive formats available for broadcasters, the 480p and 720p.
The 480p provides a much sharper image than a normal NTSC broadcast. However, it is considered as only a DTV signal and not a true High Definition signal.
The 720p is made up of 720 horizontal scan lines, and is considered to have a true High Definition.
Aspect Ratio
The aspect ratio of current televisions is 4:3, which means that a television with an aspect ratio of 4:3 is three feet in height and four feet in width. The aspect ratio of a HDTV is 16:9, which makes it a considerable amount wider than a normal television.
The new screen is 33% wider, which enables you to view the television as if you were sitting in a theater. Your peripheral vision is being used when viewing a 16:9 screen television, which can make you truly feel as if you are a part of the program.
Sony PS3
The new PlayStation 3 is the third home video game console from Sony Computer Entertainment and is a successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. This model game console comes to compete with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles.
Sony launched its third version of PlayStation first on November 11, 2006 in Japan, on November 17, 2006 in North America and Asia, and Europe. The Sony PS3 is capable of playing back content from a Blu-ray Disc(BD) at a rate of multiplex 48Mbps, the maximum bit rate defined in BD standards. It is the third generation of the Sony PlaySation that is making waves now.The official unveiling of the Sony PS3 to the public was held on May 16, 2005, during the E3 2005 conference. A functional version of the system was not present there, as a working system was not readily available due to power failures and hardware problem. On September 6, 2006, Sony declared the delay of the launch of the PlayStation 3 until March 2007 due to a shortage of diodes used in the Blu-ray Disc drive. Later, the release of the PlayStation 3 in Japan was held on November 11, 2006. The PS3 from Sony created a record by making a sale of approximately 600,000 units in its first two days of launch in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Sony later announced that the 80 GB PlayStation 3 would be launched in South Korea on June 16, 2007, in one configuration featuring an 80 GB hard drive. It was for the first time that the Sony PS3 was released with an 80 GB hard disk.
Sony discontinued the 20 GB PlayStation 3 model in North America on September 2007. It was after citing "lack of consumer demand" although the 20 GB model is still on sale in Japan. It is widely speculated that the removal of the 20 GB model from the North American market was to save manufacturing costs, as there is a difference in cost between the two aforementioned models of around $30.
Sony launched its third version of PlayStation first on November 11, 2006 in Japan, on November 17, 2006 in North America and Asia, and Europe. The Sony PS3 is capable of playing back content from a Blu-ray Disc(BD) at a rate of multiplex 48Mbps, the maximum bit rate defined in BD standards. It is the third generation of the Sony PlaySation that is making waves now.The official unveiling of the Sony PS3 to the public was held on May 16, 2005, during the E3 2005 conference. A functional version of the system was not present there, as a working system was not readily available due to power failures and hardware problem. On September 6, 2006, Sony declared the delay of the launch of the PlayStation 3 until March 2007 due to a shortage of diodes used in the Blu-ray Disc drive. Later, the release of the PlayStation 3 in Japan was held on November 11, 2006. The PS3 from Sony created a record by making a sale of approximately 600,000 units in its first two days of launch in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. Sony later announced that the 80 GB PlayStation 3 would be launched in South Korea on June 16, 2007, in one configuration featuring an 80 GB hard drive. It was for the first time that the Sony PS3 was released with an 80 GB hard disk.
Sony discontinued the 20 GB PlayStation 3 model in North America on September 2007. It was after citing "lack of consumer demand" although the 20 GB model is still on sale in Japan. It is widely speculated that the removal of the 20 GB model from the North American market was to save manufacturing costs, as there is a difference in cost between the two aforementioned models of around $30.
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
How To Get Rich Online
Can you really get rich online? The answer to that question would have to be a resounding YES! Thousands of people make a healthy income from online ventures on a daily basis - some of them to the tune of monthly six-figure pay-cheques. Do you want to be one of them? Read on....
The internet is a goldmine! There's no limit to the amount of opportunities to make money online. Sometimes, what you'll find is gold dust or grains of gold. At other times you could come across a gold nugget or two. With a bit of luck - you may even find a gold vein.
There is a possibility as well though that what you'll find is fools gold. Just as it's the case in the real world, there's scammers online, who will happily take you for a ride, and leave your dreams in tatters.
The aim of this article is to point you in the right direction. While I make no claims I've got every base covered - I can promise you this: what ever you find in this article works! It has worked for a lot of people online - myself included!
Now - making money online is no exact science. As I said before - there's a great number of opportunities. Some of them will fit well with your personality - others won't. So where do you start?
Take a minute to think about what you want to achieve. Think about your personal strengths - and how you can best utilise them to achieve your goals. Then - make a plan of how you're going to reach your goals and how? Setting goals and making plans are crucial to your success - so while you shouldn't ignore this step - don't dwell on it so long that you're not going anywhere.
So - what are the opportunities for making money online? Well - I couldn't possibly outline them all to you - but I can point out a few!
Sell something online. If you had a clearout - and everyone should sometimes - maybe you can sell some of your unwanted stuff? Maybe you have your own product you can sell? The internet is your playground!
Build your own membership website. If you have some specialised information - and you know people want it and would be willing to pay for it - set up a website where paid members get special privileges. If you're really good - you can charge monthly subscription fees.
Build an AdSense Empire. Have you ever noticed the Ads by Google sign on any pages you've been surfing lately? Did one of them catch your attention? Did you click the link? Then the website owner made money - and you can too! It's easier than you think!
Become an affiliate marketer. This is possibly the most common way of making money online - and one of the easiest too - but it's not for every one! Basically - what you need to do is to find people interested in buying certain product - find a supplier of that product who will pay you a commission on the sales you make for them - and bring those two groups together.
Start blogging or squidooing. Building a presence on blogging and social network websites can be an extremely profitable - more often than not in a combination with the above mentioned methods.
See? There's enough opportunities - and I haven't even covered 10% of them - just the most common ones.
The main thing though is to take action. Some say knowledge is power. I say knowledge and taking action is power! You need both - not one or the other. Now you know that you can get rich online - act on it - and take the first step on your journey!
The internet is a goldmine! There's no limit to the amount of opportunities to make money online. Sometimes, what you'll find is gold dust or grains of gold. At other times you could come across a gold nugget or two. With a bit of luck - you may even find a gold vein.
There is a possibility as well though that what you'll find is fools gold. Just as it's the case in the real world, there's scammers online, who will happily take you for a ride, and leave your dreams in tatters.
The aim of this article is to point you in the right direction. While I make no claims I've got every base covered - I can promise you this: what ever you find in this article works! It has worked for a lot of people online - myself included!
Now - making money online is no exact science. As I said before - there's a great number of opportunities. Some of them will fit well with your personality - others won't. So where do you start?
Take a minute to think about what you want to achieve. Think about your personal strengths - and how you can best utilise them to achieve your goals. Then - make a plan of how you're going to reach your goals and how? Setting goals and making plans are crucial to your success - so while you shouldn't ignore this step - don't dwell on it so long that you're not going anywhere.
So - what are the opportunities for making money online? Well - I couldn't possibly outline them all to you - but I can point out a few!
Sell something online. If you had a clearout - and everyone should sometimes - maybe you can sell some of your unwanted stuff? Maybe you have your own product you can sell? The internet is your playground!
Build your own membership website. If you have some specialised information - and you know people want it and would be willing to pay for it - set up a website where paid members get special privileges. If you're really good - you can charge monthly subscription fees.
Build an AdSense Empire. Have you ever noticed the Ads by Google sign on any pages you've been surfing lately? Did one of them catch your attention? Did you click the link? Then the website owner made money - and you can too! It's easier than you think!
Become an affiliate marketer. This is possibly the most common way of making money online - and one of the easiest too - but it's not for every one! Basically - what you need to do is to find people interested in buying certain product - find a supplier of that product who will pay you a commission on the sales you make for them - and bring those two groups together.
Start blogging or squidooing. Building a presence on blogging and social network websites can be an extremely profitable - more often than not in a combination with the above mentioned methods.
See? There's enough opportunities - and I haven't even covered 10% of them - just the most common ones.
The main thing though is to take action. Some say knowledge is power. I say knowledge and taking action is power! You need both - not one or the other. Now you know that you can get rich online - act on it - and take the first step on your journey!
Internet Marketing Tips
Internet Marketing Tips - Maximize Strengths, Minimize Weaknesses
You know what drives me totally nuts? People who bang their heads into stone walls and expect it not to hurt. I see this behavior everyday. And the part that drives me crazy is that they don't even realize that they're doing it. You'd think after a while they would notice the blood dripping from their skull. Okay, you have no idea what I'm talking about. I'm not surprised. Well, don't worry, by the time you're done reading this article, you'll know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. So buckle your seat belts and get ready for a ride.
I can't count the number of things that are essential for running a successful business online. There are just way too many. You've got web site design, ad writing, copywriting, article writing, advertising strategies, blogging, technical aspects and the list goes on and on. If I were to look at all the things I do to run my business on a piece by piece basis, I think I'd lose my mind.
And that's pretty much what happens to most marketers...they go crazy.
The reason is because they eventually DO figure out that there are a lot of things necessary for running a successful business online. The problem rears its ugly head when they realize that there are a few things that they just can't do. For example, some of the greatest writers don't have a clue how to ftp a file to their server. And then you have some techno geeks who can't write their way out of a paper bag. Hey, let's face it...not everybody is a great writer like me.
All kidding aside...very few people can do it all. And where they get into trouble is when they try to do it all. I'm talking about the writer who really can't put up a great looking web site but still goes and sinks $700 into Adobe Photoshop thinking that maybe a great tool will turn him into a graphic artist. Guess what? It's highly unlikely that it's going to happen.
But here is what happens when they DO try to do it all. They end up with a site that is either lacking in content or design and the end result is that they have a failed business because their weaknesses destroy whatever strengths they have. It's sad, but it's true and it happens way too often.
Okay, so how do you maximize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses? The answer is very simple, so if you're looking for some complex reply, you're not going to get it here.
Your strengths? Work on making them even stronger. If you're a good writer, work on becoming a great writer. There is always room for improvement. In the meantime, concentrate on those strengths for running your business. That's where the majority of your time should be spent...not doing things that you're poor at or fair at best.
Your weaknesses? Let somebody else do them. That's right. If you can't design a web site to save your life, hire somebody to do it for you. The money you spend will ultimately pay you back in the profits you make from a really great looking site. If you can't write, outsource your writing. Get a professional article writer to write your articles. No, please don't contact me. I have WAY too much work to do as it is.
The point is, none of us can do it all. If we recognize that and have others do for us what we can't do, we stand a much better chance of being successful.
So I want to say a personal thank you to my graphic artists and web site designers.
Who are YOU going to thank tomorrow?
You know what drives me totally nuts? People who bang their heads into stone walls and expect it not to hurt. I see this behavior everyday. And the part that drives me crazy is that they don't even realize that they're doing it. You'd think after a while they would notice the blood dripping from their skull. Okay, you have no idea what I'm talking about. I'm not surprised. Well, don't worry, by the time you're done reading this article, you'll know EXACTLY what I'm talking about. So buckle your seat belts and get ready for a ride.
I can't count the number of things that are essential for running a successful business online. There are just way too many. You've got web site design, ad writing, copywriting, article writing, advertising strategies, blogging, technical aspects and the list goes on and on. If I were to look at all the things I do to run my business on a piece by piece basis, I think I'd lose my mind.
And that's pretty much what happens to most marketers...they go crazy.
The reason is because they eventually DO figure out that there are a lot of things necessary for running a successful business online. The problem rears its ugly head when they realize that there are a few things that they just can't do. For example, some of the greatest writers don't have a clue how to ftp a file to their server. And then you have some techno geeks who can't write their way out of a paper bag. Hey, let's face it...not everybody is a great writer like me.
All kidding aside...very few people can do it all. And where they get into trouble is when they try to do it all. I'm talking about the writer who really can't put up a great looking web site but still goes and sinks $700 into Adobe Photoshop thinking that maybe a great tool will turn him into a graphic artist. Guess what? It's highly unlikely that it's going to happen.
But here is what happens when they DO try to do it all. They end up with a site that is either lacking in content or design and the end result is that they have a failed business because their weaknesses destroy whatever strengths they have. It's sad, but it's true and it happens way too often.
Okay, so how do you maximize your strengths and minimize your weaknesses? The answer is very simple, so if you're looking for some complex reply, you're not going to get it here.
Your strengths? Work on making them even stronger. If you're a good writer, work on becoming a great writer. There is always room for improvement. In the meantime, concentrate on those strengths for running your business. That's where the majority of your time should be spent...not doing things that you're poor at or fair at best.
Your weaknesses? Let somebody else do them. That's right. If you can't design a web site to save your life, hire somebody to do it for you. The money you spend will ultimately pay you back in the profits you make from a really great looking site. If you can't write, outsource your writing. Get a professional article writer to write your articles. No, please don't contact me. I have WAY too much work to do as it is.
The point is, none of us can do it all. If we recognize that and have others do for us what we can't do, we stand a much better chance of being successful.
So I want to say a personal thank you to my graphic artists and web site designers.
Who are YOU going to thank tomorrow?
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Vegetarian Recipes - A Way To Eating Healthy
More and more people are choosing to eat a vegetarian diet because they know that veggies are healthful food. Using low calorie and vegetarian recipes is one of the most important things you can do to protect your heath and the health of your family since obesity is now an epidemic in the United States and other developed countries. Cooking them is still better than the alternatives to a vegetarian lifestyle or a vegan lifestyle, but we receive the most nutritional benefit from ingesting whole and organic raw foods. They will often include many of the vitamins, minerals, and sources of nutrition that every body needs. These low calorie recipes, usually high in fiber, protect against digestive disorders such as diverticulosis and may offer protection from colon and lung cancers. Many low calorie and vegetarian recipes use soy, tofu, dried beans and peas to add protein to meals. Using low calorie recipes will provide a diet rich in vegetables, fruits, grains and legumes, adding high amounts of all the essential vitamins and minerals. Subscribing to vegetarian magazines, scouring newspaper food sections, and visiting veggie websites will bring you a respectable number of recipes, but it's more convenient to have hundreds and hundreds in one place.
Including a few vegetarian recipes into your diet can quickly improve how you feel and can be part of an overall health plan that will improve your life. And contrary to popular belief, these recipes are full of the taste and enjoyment of many other foods you eat. Incorporating vegetarian recipes into any diet will bring variety and give healthy eating options. Plus, vegetarian cuisine is chockfull of dishes that are robust and flavorful, and a match for any standard meat dish. Such treats as squash with tofu, vegetarian paella, and baked figs with dried fruit and anisette may well convert some confirmed carnivores to part-time vegetarians. Many of these recipes cook faster than those made with meat.
As more people juggle trying to eat healthier with their busy lifestyles, they may find that Vegetarian slow cooking provides an answer. What I like best about slow cooker Vegetarian recipes is that the long, slow-cooking process enriches the flavor of the dish in a way that other cooking methods can't match. The gentle slow-cooking process actually draws more flavor out of the ingredients. In addition to convenience, slow cooking also scores high marks for taste and nutrition since the long cooking time allows both flavors and nutrients to concentrate in the food. While the slow cooker was once synonymous with cooking pot roasts and other meat dishes, just as my friend discovered, the Vegetarian cook will find a vast number of ways to use it.
Exploring vegetarian recipes is great simply to spice up the kitchen with something new. Whether you are choosing to eat vegetarian dishes as a permanent diet or as part of a healthier lifestyle, Vegetarian Recipes is packed with ideas to tempt the most committed carnivore.
Including a few vegetarian recipes into your diet can quickly improve how you feel and can be part of an overall health plan that will improve your life. And contrary to popular belief, these recipes are full of the taste and enjoyment of many other foods you eat. Incorporating vegetarian recipes into any diet will bring variety and give healthy eating options. Plus, vegetarian cuisine is chockfull of dishes that are robust and flavorful, and a match for any standard meat dish. Such treats as squash with tofu, vegetarian paella, and baked figs with dried fruit and anisette may well convert some confirmed carnivores to part-time vegetarians. Many of these recipes cook faster than those made with meat.
As more people juggle trying to eat healthier with their busy lifestyles, they may find that Vegetarian slow cooking provides an answer. What I like best about slow cooker Vegetarian recipes is that the long, slow-cooking process enriches the flavor of the dish in a way that other cooking methods can't match. The gentle slow-cooking process actually draws more flavor out of the ingredients. In addition to convenience, slow cooking also scores high marks for taste and nutrition since the long cooking time allows both flavors and nutrients to concentrate in the food. While the slow cooker was once synonymous with cooking pot roasts and other meat dishes, just as my friend discovered, the Vegetarian cook will find a vast number of ways to use it.
Exploring vegetarian recipes is great simply to spice up the kitchen with something new. Whether you are choosing to eat vegetarian dishes as a permanent diet or as part of a healthier lifestyle, Vegetarian Recipes is packed with ideas to tempt the most committed carnivore.
Online Reputation Management
Within days of registering our new website www.reputationfixer.com we were contacted by large and small companies as well as individuals, who had suffered from a negative search result on Google. One caller described how his reputation was being threatened by an article written over 15 years ago which had recently reappeared in a search for his name. He is concerned that when his job performance is under review, this derogatory news item could serve as a basis for dismissal or hamper his chances for advancement.
His concerns are well founded. It has become common practice for people to surf the web for news and information about people, places and companies. Researching new products and services is commonplace. It is expected that a prospective employer will conduct a thorough online search of any serious candidates for employment. Google has become the online manifestation of Orwell's imagined "Big Brother". If the algorithm has dealt you a bad hand, it is best you learn how to confront it rather than hoping it will disappear by itself.
As a service to the companies and individuals for whom a search yields negative results, or may suffer from this precarious condition in the future, we offer insights into the world of online reputation management.
You are Not Alone
With the advent of bloggers, RSS feeds and web sites, anyone can define a person's or company's identity and challenge a website's reputation and integrity. The rise and expansion of consumer generated media offers the public an opportunity to express their views. And this is being done at an unprecedented rate. People are expressing their views unabashedly, often with no regard for the consequences of what they are writing, and with little for concern for the veracity of their comments.
The more a product, brand or company is exposed to public attention and scrutiny, the greater the likelihood that someone will want to challenge its reputation. This can include dissatisfied clients, customers and competitors, who may have legitimate complaints or rumor mongers and vindictive web site wizards, whose sole purpose is to challenge another website's integrity. For example, 29 of the Fortune 100 Companies have at least one negative postings when "Googled". These postings range from bad business practices and discrimination, to accusations that companies are connected to paramilitary death squads.
Negative postings are not only surfacing on large or even medium corporate search results. Stories, rumors and press accounts that date back a decade or more are also traumatizing ordinary people. Seemingly innocent pranks and mischievous adventures that college students may have engaged in, have appeared in top positions of search engine listings seriously damaging their reputations, careers and lives.
You Can Take Charge
Combating the tribulations of a negative Google listing means taking charge of the search results that come up for your name, company, etc. If left to the vagaries of the search engine's algorithm, you can easily fall victim to the whims of arbitrary conjecture, opinions and rumors. When you decide to take charge, you need to confront the search engines in a proactive and forthright manner, rather than adopting a passive or defensive posture.
Online reputation and search engine optimization professionals will tell you that it is no longer an issue of "if" you should be managing your online reputation, the question is "how" you should be managing it. And don't assume that just because you are happy with the results of your own personal search today, that situation will continue indefinitely. Being on guard means:
1. knowing that the situation can turn against you and
2. having the ammunition to combat the rumor mongers when they strike.
Like the proverbial lawyer who, when deciding to represent himself, discovers has a fool for a client, most people, even those who are comfortable in the world of the internet, are not competent to deal with the major league players when it comes to online reputation management. When you are up against a challenger that has Google on its team, you don't want your teammates to be from the minor league, even if they can boast a relatively high batting score.
Working With a Pro
Successful ORM, focuses on having sufficient links to blogs, articles, press stories and allied web sites so that when a search is run for your name, all of the material you have positioned appears. The problem starts when a stubbornly entrenched negative press story or blog, appears on your page, and it overpowers all of the listings you have put in place, how do you dislodge it?
That's when working with a pro makes a real difference. The team at Reputation Fixer has an aggregate of decades of hands-on experience in working in the Google environment, managing successful web site optimizing campaigns in fiercely competitive markets dealing with the complexity and unpredictability of Google's algorithm. Reputation Fixer is the major leagues when it comes to ORM. They are the kind of teammates you want when your reputation is at stake.
Measuring Success
Regardless of who actually manages your ORM campaign, what is required is distribution of positive content and strategic participation in online discussions which results in the creation and posting of positive content on your site. A successful search engine reputation management program ensures that those looking for information about you or your company will see favorable content wherever your name or your company appears as search results.
His concerns are well founded. It has become common practice for people to surf the web for news and information about people, places and companies. Researching new products and services is commonplace. It is expected that a prospective employer will conduct a thorough online search of any serious candidates for employment. Google has become the online manifestation of Orwell's imagined "Big Brother". If the algorithm has dealt you a bad hand, it is best you learn how to confront it rather than hoping it will disappear by itself.
As a service to the companies and individuals for whom a search yields negative results, or may suffer from this precarious condition in the future, we offer insights into the world of online reputation management.
You are Not Alone
With the advent of bloggers, RSS feeds and web sites, anyone can define a person's or company's identity and challenge a website's reputation and integrity. The rise and expansion of consumer generated media offers the public an opportunity to express their views. And this is being done at an unprecedented rate. People are expressing their views unabashedly, often with no regard for the consequences of what they are writing, and with little for concern for the veracity of their comments.
The more a product, brand or company is exposed to public attention and scrutiny, the greater the likelihood that someone will want to challenge its reputation. This can include dissatisfied clients, customers and competitors, who may have legitimate complaints or rumor mongers and vindictive web site wizards, whose sole purpose is to challenge another website's integrity. For example, 29 of the Fortune 100 Companies have at least one negative postings when "Googled". These postings range from bad business practices and discrimination, to accusations that companies are connected to paramilitary death squads.
Negative postings are not only surfacing on large or even medium corporate search results. Stories, rumors and press accounts that date back a decade or more are also traumatizing ordinary people. Seemingly innocent pranks and mischievous adventures that college students may have engaged in, have appeared in top positions of search engine listings seriously damaging their reputations, careers and lives.
You Can Take Charge
Combating the tribulations of a negative Google listing means taking charge of the search results that come up for your name, company, etc. If left to the vagaries of the search engine's algorithm, you can easily fall victim to the whims of arbitrary conjecture, opinions and rumors. When you decide to take charge, you need to confront the search engines in a proactive and forthright manner, rather than adopting a passive or defensive posture.
Online reputation and search engine optimization professionals will tell you that it is no longer an issue of "if" you should be managing your online reputation, the question is "how" you should be managing it. And don't assume that just because you are happy with the results of your own personal search today, that situation will continue indefinitely. Being on guard means:
1. knowing that the situation can turn against you and
2. having the ammunition to combat the rumor mongers when they strike.
Like the proverbial lawyer who, when deciding to represent himself, discovers has a fool for a client, most people, even those who are comfortable in the world of the internet, are not competent to deal with the major league players when it comes to online reputation management. When you are up against a challenger that has Google on its team, you don't want your teammates to be from the minor league, even if they can boast a relatively high batting score.
Working With a Pro
Successful ORM, focuses on having sufficient links to blogs, articles, press stories and allied web sites so that when a search is run for your name, all of the material you have positioned appears. The problem starts when a stubbornly entrenched negative press story or blog, appears on your page, and it overpowers all of the listings you have put in place, how do you dislodge it?
That's when working with a pro makes a real difference. The team at Reputation Fixer has an aggregate of decades of hands-on experience in working in the Google environment, managing successful web site optimizing campaigns in fiercely competitive markets dealing with the complexity and unpredictability of Google's algorithm. Reputation Fixer is the major leagues when it comes to ORM. They are the kind of teammates you want when your reputation is at stake.
Measuring Success
Regardless of who actually manages your ORM campaign, what is required is distribution of positive content and strategic participation in online discussions which results in the creation and posting of positive content on your site. A successful search engine reputation management program ensures that those looking for information about you or your company will see favorable content wherever your name or your company appears as search results.
New Energy was Found
JAWA POS Jumat, 30 Nov 2007
Penemu Blue Energy Warga Nganjuk (BBM Air Laut akhirnya ditemukan)
Berbahan Dasar Air, Dipamerkan dalam Konferensi PBB
NGANJUK- Tak banyak yang tahu, penemu bahan bakar blue energy yang sedang dikampanyekan Presiden Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) ternyata berasal dari Nganjuk. Dia adalah Joko Suprapto, warga Desa Ngadiboyo, Kecamatan Rejoso. Kemarin, tim uji coba kendaraan berbahan bakar tersebut mengunjunginya. Mereka dipimpin staf khusus Presiden SBY, Heru Lelono. Rombongan itu dalam perjalanan dari Cikeas, Bogor menuju Nusa Dua, Bali, tempat digelarnya United Nation Framework Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 2007. "Luar biasa. Ini mobil Mazda Six punya Patwal Mabes (Polri) yang bisa berkecepatan 240 kilometer per jam ini kami coba lari 180 kilometer per jam tanpa ada persoalan. Jadi, moga-moga apa yang kita uji coba ini benar-benar bermanfaat. Insya Allah," ujar Heru begitu turun dari Ford Ranger B 9648 TJ.
Untuk diketahui, pertemuan kemarin berlangsung di salah satu hotel di Nganjuk. Rombongan Heru tiba sekitar pukul 09.00. Mereka mengendarai lima unit > kendaraan untuk menguji bahan bakar berbahan dasar air tersebut. Yakni, dua pikap double cabin Ford Ranger, satu sedan Mazda 6, satu bus, dan satu truk pengangkut blue energy. Sebelumnya, rombongan dilepas oleh Presiden SBY, Minggu lalu, dari kediaman pribadinya di Cikeas, Bogor. Rencananya, blue energy itu juga akan dipamerkan kepada dunia dalam UNCFCCC atau Konferensi Kerangka Kerja PBB tentang Perubahan Iklim di Nusa Dua, Bali .
"Kita ingin membuktikan kepada dunia internasional bahwa kita bukan bangsa kere yang terombang-ambing harga minyak dunia. Bangsa Indonesia bisa menemukan (bahan bakar, Red) sendiri," tandas Heru bangga.
Kepada puluhan wartawan yang sejak pagi menunggu kedatangan rombongan, Heru mengungkapkan bahwa bahan bakar hasil penelitian belasan tahun Joko itu sangat irit. "Sekitar satu lima belas (1 liter dibanding 15 kilometer, Red). Tadi kami mencatat, untuk menempuh 374,5 kilometer, hanya butuh 25 liter," tutur staf khusus Presiden bidang otonomi daerah itu.
Selain hemat dan mampu meningkatkan performa kendaraan, lanjut Heru, keunggulan bahan bakar tersebut adalah rendahnya emisi karbon yang dihasilkan. Ini sesuai dengan pesan UNFCCC yang digelar 3-14 Desember mendatang.
"Sudah dicoba sendiri oleh Bapak Presiden. Beliau kemarin sempat duduk di belakang knalpot bus ini sambil menciumi asapnya. Paspampres (pasukan pengamanan presiden) sempat kerepotan takut Presiden karacunan, tapi tidak. Coba saja," tantangnya.
Penasaran, Wakil Bupati Nganjuk Djaelani Ishaq yang kemarin ikut menyambut kedatangan rombongan langsung mencoba mencium asap dari moncong knalpot bus. "Sama sekali tidak ada baunya," kata Djaelani setelah berkali-kali setelah mengisap
asap tersebut. Ditemani Joko, Heru kemarin juga mengungkapkan bahwa untuk memakai blue energy, mesin tidak perlu dimodifikasi. "Sama sekali tidak perlu ada modifikasi apa-apa. Ini kami bawa mobil berlainan tahun, semua bisa pakai," tandasnya. Bahkan, lanjut Heru, ada yang sebelumnya menggunakan solar dan di tengah jalan langsung diganti 100 persen dengan blue energy. "Mobilnya malah semakin tidak ada getaran," lanjutnya bangga.
Sementara itu, Joko Suprapto yang selama ini terkesan misterius soal kedekatannya dengan SBY, kemarin mulai blak-blakan. Terutama soal aktivitasnya sebagai peneliti dan penemu blue energy. Dia bahkan sempat sedikit membeber teknologi yang mulai ditelitinya sejak 2001. "Intinya adalah pemecahan molekul air menjadi H plus dan O2 min. Ada katalis dan proses-proses sampai menjadi bahan bakar dengan rangkaian karbon tertentu," terang peneliti yang mengaku mengambil ide dari ayat2 Alquran itu.
Untuk mesin dengan bahan bakar premium, solar, premix, hingga avtur, Joko mengaku telah menyiapkan bahan bakar pengganti sesuai dengan mesinnya. "Tinggal mengatur jumlah rangkaian karbonnya. Mau untuk mesin bensin, solar, sampai avtur ya sudah ada," kata ayah enam anak itu.
Yang menarik, bahan dasar air yang digunakan adalah air laut. "Kalau air tanah bisa menyedot ribuan atau jutaan meter kubik. Kasihan masyarakat, paling bagus nanti bahannya air laut," terang pria yang selalu menyembunyikan identitasnya, termasuk almamater tempatnya meraih gelar insinyur, itu. (jie)
Penemu Blue Energy Warga Nganjuk (BBM Air Laut akhirnya ditemukan)
Berbahan Dasar Air, Dipamerkan dalam Konferensi PBB
NGANJUK- Tak banyak yang tahu, penemu bahan bakar blue energy yang sedang dikampanyekan Presiden Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) ternyata berasal dari Nganjuk. Dia adalah Joko Suprapto, warga Desa Ngadiboyo, Kecamatan Rejoso. Kemarin, tim uji coba kendaraan berbahan bakar tersebut mengunjunginya. Mereka dipimpin staf khusus Presiden SBY, Heru Lelono. Rombongan itu dalam perjalanan dari Cikeas, Bogor menuju Nusa Dua, Bali, tempat digelarnya United Nation Framework Conference on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 2007. "Luar biasa. Ini mobil Mazda Six punya Patwal Mabes (Polri) yang bisa berkecepatan 240 kilometer per jam ini kami coba lari 180 kilometer per jam tanpa ada persoalan. Jadi, moga-moga apa yang kita uji coba ini benar-benar bermanfaat. Insya Allah," ujar Heru begitu turun dari Ford Ranger B 9648 TJ.
Untuk diketahui, pertemuan kemarin berlangsung di salah satu hotel di Nganjuk. Rombongan Heru tiba sekitar pukul 09.00. Mereka mengendarai lima unit > kendaraan untuk menguji bahan bakar berbahan dasar air tersebut. Yakni, dua pikap double cabin Ford Ranger, satu sedan Mazda 6, satu bus, dan satu truk pengangkut blue energy. Sebelumnya, rombongan dilepas oleh Presiden SBY, Minggu lalu, dari kediaman pribadinya di Cikeas, Bogor. Rencananya, blue energy itu juga akan dipamerkan kepada dunia dalam UNCFCCC atau Konferensi Kerangka Kerja PBB tentang Perubahan Iklim di Nusa Dua, Bali .
"Kita ingin membuktikan kepada dunia internasional bahwa kita bukan bangsa kere yang terombang-ambing harga minyak dunia. Bangsa Indonesia bisa menemukan (bahan bakar, Red) sendiri," tandas Heru bangga.
Kepada puluhan wartawan yang sejak pagi menunggu kedatangan rombongan, Heru mengungkapkan bahwa bahan bakar hasil penelitian belasan tahun Joko itu sangat irit. "Sekitar satu lima belas (1 liter dibanding 15 kilometer, Red). Tadi kami mencatat, untuk menempuh 374,5 kilometer, hanya butuh 25 liter," tutur staf khusus Presiden bidang otonomi daerah itu.
Selain hemat dan mampu meningkatkan performa kendaraan, lanjut Heru, keunggulan bahan bakar tersebut adalah rendahnya emisi karbon yang dihasilkan. Ini sesuai dengan pesan UNFCCC yang digelar 3-14 Desember mendatang.
"Sudah dicoba sendiri oleh Bapak Presiden. Beliau kemarin sempat duduk di belakang knalpot bus ini sambil menciumi asapnya. Paspampres (pasukan pengamanan presiden) sempat kerepotan takut Presiden karacunan, tapi tidak. Coba saja," tantangnya.
Penasaran, Wakil Bupati Nganjuk Djaelani Ishaq yang kemarin ikut menyambut kedatangan rombongan langsung mencoba mencium asap dari moncong knalpot bus. "Sama sekali tidak ada baunya," kata Djaelani setelah berkali-kali setelah mengisap
asap tersebut. Ditemani Joko, Heru kemarin juga mengungkapkan bahwa untuk memakai blue energy, mesin tidak perlu dimodifikasi. "Sama sekali tidak perlu ada modifikasi apa-apa. Ini kami bawa mobil berlainan tahun, semua bisa pakai," tandasnya. Bahkan, lanjut Heru, ada yang sebelumnya menggunakan solar dan di tengah jalan langsung diganti 100 persen dengan blue energy. "Mobilnya malah semakin tidak ada getaran," lanjutnya bangga.
Sementara itu, Joko Suprapto yang selama ini terkesan misterius soal kedekatannya dengan SBY, kemarin mulai blak-blakan. Terutama soal aktivitasnya sebagai peneliti dan penemu blue energy. Dia bahkan sempat sedikit membeber teknologi yang mulai ditelitinya sejak 2001. "Intinya adalah pemecahan molekul air menjadi H plus dan O2 min. Ada katalis dan proses-proses sampai menjadi bahan bakar dengan rangkaian karbon tertentu," terang peneliti yang mengaku mengambil ide dari ayat2 Alquran itu.
Untuk mesin dengan bahan bakar premium, solar, premix, hingga avtur, Joko mengaku telah menyiapkan bahan bakar pengganti sesuai dengan mesinnya. "Tinggal mengatur jumlah rangkaian karbonnya. Mau untuk mesin bensin, solar, sampai avtur ya sudah ada," kata ayah enam anak itu.
Yang menarik, bahan dasar air yang digunakan adalah air laut. "Kalau air tanah bisa menyedot ribuan atau jutaan meter kubik. Kasihan masyarakat, paling bagus nanti bahannya air laut," terang pria yang selalu menyembunyikan identitasnya, termasuk almamater tempatnya meraih gelar insinyur, itu. (jie)
Monday, December 17, 2007
Make Money Online
Make Money Online by Marketing Info Products - Guide and Tips
If there is one bit of advice I can ever give you, whether it be about marketing or business success in general, it is a quote from Russell Crowe in Gladiator:
“On my mark, unleash hell.”
Yes, you might have heard one or two other marketers quoting this very same line. And with good reason. That one line epitomizes the very core of what all marketing programs teach you. Here’s a break down:
Find your target
Pick a market that is favorable for approach. It doesn’t have to be the perfect idea, just one that works on paper, and most importantly, something that you know you can do while maintaining interest. Also you should do some online research to find out the demand level of your target market. You certainly do want to sell in a market that is poor in demand.
Prepare your approach
Mark out the main spots – what sort of advertising mediums can you use? What is your budget? What is your exact strategy for each medium? No need to go into excruciating details, but you should know, for example, your allocated monthly budget for your PPC campaign, your target keywords and the expected cost-per-click for each keyword. This will at the very least help you monitor your advertising and tune it based on the results.
Intense marketing
There are two different approaches in this regard.
Use the first one if you can afford to spend a lot of money on traffic, use the second if most of your advertising budget will be paid for by your business even at the start.
- All-out marketing, pulling out all the stops at once, complete blanketing of your target market.
- Slow build-up, tackling different advertising mediums one by one, building to crescendo effect where at the end, you replicate the effect in the ‘all-out marketing’ technique.
Taken by itself, the term ‘unleash hell’ is also used to describe another valuable business lesson:
If you have a product, or a business idea, or a service to sell, get it out there! Take your business to the market first, worry about refining and managing later.
Essentially, don’t wait months to find the perfect idea. Pick an idea that’s good enough, and launch your business. If you are a resume writer and want to sell your services online, throw up a website, put up your basic contact and payment information and begin promotion.
Too often people wait too long until they have the ‘finished’ product before starting their marketing campaigns. A newcomer shouldn’t waste their time like that. The product will be developed along the way through customer interaction anyway. On the other hand, there is no way you’ll make any money without traffic. So go get that traffic, and ‘perfection’ will come in due time.
If there is one bit of advice I can ever give you, whether it be about marketing or business success in general, it is a quote from Russell Crowe in Gladiator:
“On my mark, unleash hell.”
Yes, you might have heard one or two other marketers quoting this very same line. And with good reason. That one line epitomizes the very core of what all marketing programs teach you. Here’s a break down:
Find your target
Pick a market that is favorable for approach. It doesn’t have to be the perfect idea, just one that works on paper, and most importantly, something that you know you can do while maintaining interest. Also you should do some online research to find out the demand level of your target market. You certainly do want to sell in a market that is poor in demand.
Prepare your approach
Mark out the main spots – what sort of advertising mediums can you use? What is your budget? What is your exact strategy for each medium? No need to go into excruciating details, but you should know, for example, your allocated monthly budget for your PPC campaign, your target keywords and the expected cost-per-click for each keyword. This will at the very least help you monitor your advertising and tune it based on the results.
Intense marketing
There are two different approaches in this regard.
Use the first one if you can afford to spend a lot of money on traffic, use the second if most of your advertising budget will be paid for by your business even at the start.
- All-out marketing, pulling out all the stops at once, complete blanketing of your target market.
- Slow build-up, tackling different advertising mediums one by one, building to crescendo effect where at the end, you replicate the effect in the ‘all-out marketing’ technique.
Taken by itself, the term ‘unleash hell’ is also used to describe another valuable business lesson:
If you have a product, or a business idea, or a service to sell, get it out there! Take your business to the market first, worry about refining and managing later.
Essentially, don’t wait months to find the perfect idea. Pick an idea that’s good enough, and launch your business. If you are a resume writer and want to sell your services online, throw up a website, put up your basic contact and payment information and begin promotion.
Too often people wait too long until they have the ‘finished’ product before starting their marketing campaigns. A newcomer shouldn’t waste their time like that. The product will be developed along the way through customer interaction anyway. On the other hand, there is no way you’ll make any money without traffic. So go get that traffic, and ‘perfection’ will come in due time.
Sales Skills
Guidance On Sales Skills
A strong sales skills training course may be just the thing that your company needs to increase profits. A program such as this can propel you to the top of your industry and assure you as a leader in your field. Try a sales skill training program and become the business leader you have always dreamed of becoming.
Participation in a sales skill training course can certainly be the recipe for accomplishment for many companies, large or small. They provide skills that produce excellent salesmen and business leaders today.
The programs can also facilitate the development of strategies to separating you from the rest of the pack. This may include innovative marketing ideas and sales techniques for you and your staff to try.
Another skill that is modeled is that of selling your product.
By this it is meant how to show someone what a valuable product or service that you have and how someone will benefit by using this tool.
Leadership skills are further taught during these types of sales skill training sessions. To be a great employer and coworker, one must be a leader. A program such as this can show you how.
Problem solving is critical when running a company. This is another reason why sales skill training can be valuable. Sales professionals can exemplify many of the tools necessary for breaking down problems and designing the best possible solutions.
Critical thinking and problem solving skills will also be taught. It is essential that you learn to dissect problems and make wise decisions for your company in order to lead it to profitability.
Sales skill training can certainly be beneficial for any company. It is a wise choice for anyone looking to increase business revenues and train more diligent and effective employees.
A strong sales skills training course may be just the thing that your company needs to increase profits. A program such as this can propel you to the top of your industry and assure you as a leader in your field. Try a sales skill training program and become the business leader you have always dreamed of becoming.
Participation in a sales skill training course can certainly be the recipe for accomplishment for many companies, large or small. They provide skills that produce excellent salesmen and business leaders today.
The programs can also facilitate the development of strategies to separating you from the rest of the pack. This may include innovative marketing ideas and sales techniques for you and your staff to try.
Another skill that is modeled is that of selling your product.
By this it is meant how to show someone what a valuable product or service that you have and how someone will benefit by using this tool.
Leadership skills are further taught during these types of sales skill training sessions. To be a great employer and coworker, one must be a leader. A program such as this can show you how.
Problem solving is critical when running a company. This is another reason why sales skill training can be valuable. Sales professionals can exemplify many of the tools necessary for breaking down problems and designing the best possible solutions.
Critical thinking and problem solving skills will also be taught. It is essential that you learn to dissect problems and make wise decisions for your company in order to lead it to profitability.
Sales skill training can certainly be beneficial for any company. It is a wise choice for anyone looking to increase business revenues and train more diligent and effective employees.
Management of Life
Ada empat tingkatan, bagaimana orang memanage hidupnya, baik dari segi
perolehan harta maupun perolehan ilmu. Dari aspek perolehan harta :
Ada orang yang memandang bekerja sebatas sebagai bekerja. Pekerjaan
apa nggak penting, yang penting bekerja.
Ada orang yang bekerja atau berusaha, pusat perhatiannya adalah pada
mengumpulkan hasilnya. Keuntungan usahanya selalu ditabung, dan setiap
hari ia melihat dengan senang pertambahan angka-angka pada buku
tabungannya. Saking senangnya melihat uangnya ngumpul, sampai ia
kikir, bukan saja untuk orang, bahkan untuk keperluan dirinya. Jika
sakit ia tidak ke dokter karena takut mahal, berpakaian juga sangat
sederhana karena ia sayang mengeluarkan uang untuk membeli pakaian
yang layak. Puncak kebahagiaan type orang ini adalah pada melihat
jumlah tabungannya.
Ada orang yang bekerja keras, dan pusat perhatiannya adalah untuk diri
sendiri. Berapapun harganya jika untuk kepentingan dirinya maka ia
akan membayarnya. Tetapi jika untuk orang lain, bahkan untuk isteri
dan anaknya, ia kikir. Seluruh usaha dan pekerjaanya dimanage untuk
kesenangan dirinya.
Ada orang yang bekerja dan berusaha keras sepanjang usianya, karena ia
terpanggil untuk berbuat bagi orang banyak. Ia sangat tersentuh
melihat banyak anak-anak tidak bisa melanjutkan sekolah, banyak orang
sakit nggak bisa berobat, banyak orang makan dengan gizi rendah, maka
obsessinya adalah ingin membangun sekolah, membangun rumah sakit,
melakukan budidaya pertanian, yang kesemuanya diperuntukkan bagi
kemaslahatan orang banyak. Ia selalu merindukan untung besar dalam
usahanya, sejalan dengan kebutuhannya yang besar membantu masyarakat
luas. Sedangkan untuk diri sendiri ia mengkonsumsi sekedar memenuhi
standard kebutuhan universal.
perolehan harta maupun perolehan ilmu. Dari aspek perolehan harta :
Ada orang yang memandang bekerja sebatas sebagai bekerja. Pekerjaan
apa nggak penting, yang penting bekerja.
Ada orang yang bekerja atau berusaha, pusat perhatiannya adalah pada
mengumpulkan hasilnya. Keuntungan usahanya selalu ditabung, dan setiap
hari ia melihat dengan senang pertambahan angka-angka pada buku
tabungannya. Saking senangnya melihat uangnya ngumpul, sampai ia
kikir, bukan saja untuk orang, bahkan untuk keperluan dirinya. Jika
sakit ia tidak ke dokter karena takut mahal, berpakaian juga sangat
sederhana karena ia sayang mengeluarkan uang untuk membeli pakaian
yang layak. Puncak kebahagiaan type orang ini adalah pada melihat
jumlah tabungannya.
Ada orang yang bekerja keras, dan pusat perhatiannya adalah untuk diri
sendiri. Berapapun harganya jika untuk kepentingan dirinya maka ia
akan membayarnya. Tetapi jika untuk orang lain, bahkan untuk isteri
dan anaknya, ia kikir. Seluruh usaha dan pekerjaanya dimanage untuk
kesenangan dirinya.
Ada orang yang bekerja dan berusaha keras sepanjang usianya, karena ia
terpanggil untuk berbuat bagi orang banyak. Ia sangat tersentuh
melihat banyak anak-anak tidak bisa melanjutkan sekolah, banyak orang
sakit nggak bisa berobat, banyak orang makan dengan gizi rendah, maka
obsessinya adalah ingin membangun sekolah, membangun rumah sakit,
melakukan budidaya pertanian, yang kesemuanya diperuntukkan bagi
kemaslahatan orang banyak. Ia selalu merindukan untung besar dalam
usahanya, sejalan dengan kebutuhannya yang besar membantu masyarakat
luas. Sedangkan untuk diri sendiri ia mengkonsumsi sekedar memenuhi
standard kebutuhan universal.
Are You Paranoia or Pronoia ?
Apakah Anda Manusia Paranoia atau Pronoia
"Anda menciptakan semesta Anda sendiri saat Anda memulainya."
(Winston Churchill)
Perasaan takut dan khawatir itu lumrah dalam hidup. Tapi, kalau
setiap saat selalu dihantui oleh rasa takut, itu namanya sakit.
Ada orang yang selalu dihantui rasa takut. Sejak bangun pagi, yang
ada di dalam benaknya selalu kekhawatiran. Rentetan persoalan seolah
sudah ada di depan mata. Hidup dirasakan sebagai beban. Tak heran,
jika orang macam ini tidak pernah tersenyum di pagi hari atau
bersyukur atas hari baru. Nah, orang yang selalu dihantui oleh
perasaan cemas dan khawatir bisa bisa digolongkan dalam tipe manusia
paranoia.
Orang-orang seperti itu bisa kita temui di banyak tempat. Di tempat
kerja, kita pun bisa melihat banyak sekali manusia paranoia ini.
Mereka selalu bertanya-tanya dalam dirinya, "Masalah apa yang akan
saya temui hari ini?" Orang paranoid selalu disibukkan dengan pikiran-
pikiran negatif.
Orang ini selalu memikirkan masalah. Bahkan, menganggap hidup adalah
serangkaian masalah yang tak kunjung purna. Hidupnya pun tidak
bersemangat. Keluhan selalu ada di mulutnya. Kreativitasnya pun
tumpul. Termasuk, ia bisa menjadi orang yang sakit-sakitan lantaran
psikosomatis.
Apabila masalah akhirnya menghampiri, pikiran orang paranoid akan
segera mengamini. "Nah, apa saya bilang. Pasti ada masalah." Lantas,
saat hari berlalu dan saat orang lain menyapanya, dengan lesu orang
paranoid selalu berkata, "Seperti biasa. Banyak masalah yang tidak
pernah selesai." Padahal, segala yang negatif itu datang karena
pikiran negatif orang itu.
Dalam DVD dan bukunya The Secret, Rhonda Byrne menegaskan, pikiran
mempunyai frekuensi dan daya timbal balik. "Pikiran yang sedang Anda
pikirkan saat ini sedang menciptakan kehidupan masa depan Anda,"
katanya. Nah, pikiran negatif akan menarik hal dan kejadian negatif.
Demikian juga sebaliknya.
Anda tetaplah manusia merdeka. Anda berhak memilih. Anda bukan budak
dari pikiran-pikiran Anda itu. Nah, Anda pun bisa mengubah pikiran
negatif menjadi sebaliknya. Lawan kehidupan penuh paranoia adalah
pronoia. Rob Brosny mengembangkan gagasan ini dalam bukunya berjudul
Pronoia. Beda dengan orang paranoia, orang pronia selalu memfokuskan
hidupnya pada hal-hal baik. Ia selalu menguasai pikiran positif.
Menyukuri karunia
Saat bangun pagi, orang pronoia akan memikirkan, "Hal menarik apa
yang akan saya alami hari ini? Kejadian menyenangkan seperti apa yang
akan kujumpai?" Orang pronia selalu mengamini pergantian hari. Ia
selalu tersenyum setiap hari baru tiba.
Hidupnya penuh syukur. Hidup adalah rangkaian keajaiban yang
menyenangkan. Orang pronia juga menyadari masalah akan datang. Tapi,
ia melihatnya secara positif. "Kalau ada masalah, baguslah. Ini akan
menjadi pelajaran berhaga bagiku. Tapi, ada hal yang jauh lebih
berharga ketimbang masalah itu, yakni mensyukuri karunia-karunia
sepanjang hari ini," ungkapnya.
Orang pronoia selalu memandang semesta alam ini yang senantiasa
mewujudkan kebutuhannya. Ia memandang alam semesta secara positif.
Lisa Nichols, seorang penulis buku Chicken Soup for the African
American Soul, mengatakan, "Biarkan semesta mengetahui apa yang Anda
inginkan. Semesta selalu merespons pikiran-pikiran Anda," katanya.
Apa yang ada yang kita pikirkan akan terpancar ke alam semesta untuk
direspon. Karena itu, memandang semesta sebagai yang patut disyukuri
adalah hal positif. Orang pronoia senantiasa mensyukuri apa yang
sudah disediakan semesta. Matahari pagi yang menghangatkan tubuh.
Udara segar yang masih bisa dihirup. Transportasi yang mengantar ke
tempat kerja. Air minum yang menyegarkan dan sebagainya. Bila ada
masalah, orang pronia pun akan dengan bijak menyikapinya dengan
optimis.
Mari kita lihat cerita berikut. Ada dua orang pelancong asal Swiss
yang melakukan pendakian di sebuah gunung. Saat pulang, mereka
terpaksa menumpang sebuah mobil rombeng. Jalannya tersendat-sendat
karena mesin tuanya.
Sepanjang jalan, pelancong pertama sibuk mencemaskan kondisi mobil.
Ia terbekap rasa khawatir kalau mobil itu mogok di tengah jalan. Ia
khawatir kalau bensinnya habis dan tidak ada pom bensin di sana.
Sementara, pelancong kedua tampak santai-santai saja. Ia begitu
menikmati pemandangan indah bukit-bukit di negeri cokelat itu. Bukit-
bukit yang pucuknya dihiasi salju putih. Beberapa kali ia
mengabadikan keindahan itu dengan kamera poketnya.
Setelah satu jam berlalu, akhirnya mobil uzur itu pun tiba di kota
yang dituju. "Kok kamu sempat-sempatnya ambil gambar pemandangan itu?
Apa kamu tidak cemas?" tanya pelancong pertama. "Apa yang perlu
dicemaskan. Seandainya ada masalah, pasti ada jalan keluarnya. Aku
suka dengan perjalanan tadi," kata pelancong kedua.
Kisah tadi memperjelas pemahaman kita tentang pronoia. Benar sekali
kata seorang guru kebijaksanaan, "Kekhawatiran tidak akan menambah
sejengkal pada usia kita." Memang, banyak orang hidup dalam emosi
kekhawatiran dan cemas mengenai apa yang belum terjadi. Orang sering
takut dan tidak tahu apa yang ia takuti. Akhirnya, orang yang seperti
ini tidak bakalan menikmati kehidupan. Hidup hanya menjadi milik
orang-orang yang mampu menikmatinya dengan penuh syukur.
Sumber: Apakah Anda Manusia Paranoia atau Pronoia
oleh Anthony Dio Martin, Managing Director HR Excellency
"Anda menciptakan semesta Anda sendiri saat Anda memulainya."
(Winston Churchill)
Perasaan takut dan khawatir itu lumrah dalam hidup. Tapi, kalau
setiap saat selalu dihantui oleh rasa takut, itu namanya sakit.
Ada orang yang selalu dihantui rasa takut. Sejak bangun pagi, yang
ada di dalam benaknya selalu kekhawatiran. Rentetan persoalan seolah
sudah ada di depan mata. Hidup dirasakan sebagai beban. Tak heran,
jika orang macam ini tidak pernah tersenyum di pagi hari atau
bersyukur atas hari baru. Nah, orang yang selalu dihantui oleh
perasaan cemas dan khawatir bisa bisa digolongkan dalam tipe manusia
paranoia.
Orang-orang seperti itu bisa kita temui di banyak tempat. Di tempat
kerja, kita pun bisa melihat banyak sekali manusia paranoia ini.
Mereka selalu bertanya-tanya dalam dirinya, "Masalah apa yang akan
saya temui hari ini?" Orang paranoid selalu disibukkan dengan pikiran-
pikiran negatif.
Orang ini selalu memikirkan masalah. Bahkan, menganggap hidup adalah
serangkaian masalah yang tak kunjung purna. Hidupnya pun tidak
bersemangat. Keluhan selalu ada di mulutnya. Kreativitasnya pun
tumpul. Termasuk, ia bisa menjadi orang yang sakit-sakitan lantaran
psikosomatis.
Apabila masalah akhirnya menghampiri, pikiran orang paranoid akan
segera mengamini. "Nah, apa saya bilang. Pasti ada masalah." Lantas,
saat hari berlalu dan saat orang lain menyapanya, dengan lesu orang
paranoid selalu berkata, "Seperti biasa. Banyak masalah yang tidak
pernah selesai." Padahal, segala yang negatif itu datang karena
pikiran negatif orang itu.
Dalam DVD dan bukunya The Secret, Rhonda Byrne menegaskan, pikiran
mempunyai frekuensi dan daya timbal balik. "Pikiran yang sedang Anda
pikirkan saat ini sedang menciptakan kehidupan masa depan Anda,"
katanya. Nah, pikiran negatif akan menarik hal dan kejadian negatif.
Demikian juga sebaliknya.
Anda tetaplah manusia merdeka. Anda berhak memilih. Anda bukan budak
dari pikiran-pikiran Anda itu. Nah, Anda pun bisa mengubah pikiran
negatif menjadi sebaliknya. Lawan kehidupan penuh paranoia adalah
pronoia. Rob Brosny mengembangkan gagasan ini dalam bukunya berjudul
Pronoia. Beda dengan orang paranoia, orang pronia selalu memfokuskan
hidupnya pada hal-hal baik. Ia selalu menguasai pikiran positif.
Menyukuri karunia
Saat bangun pagi, orang pronoia akan memikirkan, "Hal menarik apa
yang akan saya alami hari ini? Kejadian menyenangkan seperti apa yang
akan kujumpai?" Orang pronia selalu mengamini pergantian hari. Ia
selalu tersenyum setiap hari baru tiba.
Hidupnya penuh syukur. Hidup adalah rangkaian keajaiban yang
menyenangkan. Orang pronia juga menyadari masalah akan datang. Tapi,
ia melihatnya secara positif. "Kalau ada masalah, baguslah. Ini akan
menjadi pelajaran berhaga bagiku. Tapi, ada hal yang jauh lebih
berharga ketimbang masalah itu, yakni mensyukuri karunia-karunia
sepanjang hari ini," ungkapnya.
Orang pronoia selalu memandang semesta alam ini yang senantiasa
mewujudkan kebutuhannya. Ia memandang alam semesta secara positif.
Lisa Nichols, seorang penulis buku Chicken Soup for the African
American Soul, mengatakan, "Biarkan semesta mengetahui apa yang Anda
inginkan. Semesta selalu merespons pikiran-pikiran Anda," katanya.
Apa yang ada yang kita pikirkan akan terpancar ke alam semesta untuk
direspon. Karena itu, memandang semesta sebagai yang patut disyukuri
adalah hal positif. Orang pronoia senantiasa mensyukuri apa yang
sudah disediakan semesta. Matahari pagi yang menghangatkan tubuh.
Udara segar yang masih bisa dihirup. Transportasi yang mengantar ke
tempat kerja. Air minum yang menyegarkan dan sebagainya. Bila ada
masalah, orang pronia pun akan dengan bijak menyikapinya dengan
optimis.
Mari kita lihat cerita berikut. Ada dua orang pelancong asal Swiss
yang melakukan pendakian di sebuah gunung. Saat pulang, mereka
terpaksa menumpang sebuah mobil rombeng. Jalannya tersendat-sendat
karena mesin tuanya.
Sepanjang jalan, pelancong pertama sibuk mencemaskan kondisi mobil.
Ia terbekap rasa khawatir kalau mobil itu mogok di tengah jalan. Ia
khawatir kalau bensinnya habis dan tidak ada pom bensin di sana.
Sementara, pelancong kedua tampak santai-santai saja. Ia begitu
menikmati pemandangan indah bukit-bukit di negeri cokelat itu. Bukit-
bukit yang pucuknya dihiasi salju putih. Beberapa kali ia
mengabadikan keindahan itu dengan kamera poketnya.
Setelah satu jam berlalu, akhirnya mobil uzur itu pun tiba di kota
yang dituju. "Kok kamu sempat-sempatnya ambil gambar pemandangan itu?
Apa kamu tidak cemas?" tanya pelancong pertama. "Apa yang perlu
dicemaskan. Seandainya ada masalah, pasti ada jalan keluarnya. Aku
suka dengan perjalanan tadi," kata pelancong kedua.
Kisah tadi memperjelas pemahaman kita tentang pronoia. Benar sekali
kata seorang guru kebijaksanaan, "Kekhawatiran tidak akan menambah
sejengkal pada usia kita." Memang, banyak orang hidup dalam emosi
kekhawatiran dan cemas mengenai apa yang belum terjadi. Orang sering
takut dan tidak tahu apa yang ia takuti. Akhirnya, orang yang seperti
ini tidak bakalan menikmati kehidupan. Hidup hanya menjadi milik
orang-orang yang mampu menikmatinya dengan penuh syukur.
Sumber: Apakah Anda Manusia Paranoia atau Pronoia
oleh Anthony Dio Martin, Managing Director HR Excellency
Bullying Art in the Office
Mengenali budaya bullying di kantor
Pernahkah anda mengalami rasa enggan yang teramat sangat saat hendak berangkat ke kantor karena anda sudah membayangkan akan mengalami 1 hari yang menyeramkan di kantor. Pernahkah anda merasa mual saat menunggu bos datang dan jantung anda serasa hendak copot saat ajudan bos datang ke kantor dan membawa tas kerja bos anda. Pernahkah anda merasa gembira luar biasa saat mengetahui bahwa bos anda harus menghadiri suatu meeting di luar dan tidak dapat datang ke kantor satu hari penuh.
Jika anda menjawab “ya” untuk semua pertanyaan di atas berarti anda sedang menjadi korban bullying yang dilakukan oleh bos anda.
Atau anda merasa bahwa semua orang mendadak menundukkan kepala dan tidak berbicara dengan jujur saat bicara dengan anda. Di suatu saat, anda merasa bahwa bawahan anda sedang membicarakan keburukan anda di belakang. Atau anda selalu memberikan instruksi dengan suara keras sehingga bawahan tidak mampu untuk memberikan pendapat berbeda.
Jika anda menjawab “ya” untuk semua pertanyaan tadi, mungkin anda sedang menjadi pelaku bullying di kantor.
Bullying yang saat ini sedang ramai dibicarakan karena perilaku beberapa siswa sekolah favorit di Jakarta sebenarnya juga rawan terjadi di kantor. Di beberapa kantor yang mempunyai budaya yang kaku, praktek tekanan terhadap karyawan jamak terjadi.
Praktek menekan yang dilakukan oleh atasan biasanya akan diimbangi oleh budaya gossip di antara bawahan. Praktek gossip ini dilakukan untuk menetralisir suasana hati yang buruk saat menghadapi tekanan atasan. Untuk menambah runyam suasana, yang umum terjadi adalah adanya mata mata yang disusupkan oleh atasan yang merasa bahwa dirinya sedang dibicarakan oleh anak buahnya.
Tiga budaya yang tidak produktif dan saling berkaitan ini (bullying – gossip – espionage) pada akhirnya akan menghancurkan kerjasama tim dan membuat suasana kantor menjadi tidak nyaman untuk bekerja. Produktifitas yang tercapai adalah produktifitas semu yang nampak di peningkatan dan pencapaian target , namun menghabiskan komponen lainnya yaitu turn over pegawai.
Seorang pegawai tidak akan bertahan lama di suasana seperti ini, dan hanya orang orang yang dekat pada atasan saja yang akan survive. Jika atasan pelaku bullying adalah pemilik perusahaan, maka bawahan yang survive akan menjadi orang kepercayaan. Sedangkan jika atasan pelaku bullying hanyalah seorang pegawai yang dapat dimutasi, maka orang yang menjadi mata mata atasan biasanya akan tersingkir dari pergaulan saat terjadi mutasi atasan.
Apakah kantor anda mempunyai suasana yang tidak menguntungkan seperti ini? Jika ya, berarti anda telah terjebak dalam suasana kantor yang tidak menguntungkan. Ada baiknya anda segera menentukan akan berada di posisi mana untuk menjamin karir anda di perusahaan ini.
Atau anda memilih untuk melanjutkan karir di tempat lain?
Oleh Loys Gunawan
Pernahkah anda mengalami rasa enggan yang teramat sangat saat hendak berangkat ke kantor karena anda sudah membayangkan akan mengalami 1 hari yang menyeramkan di kantor. Pernahkah anda merasa mual saat menunggu bos datang dan jantung anda serasa hendak copot saat ajudan bos datang ke kantor dan membawa tas kerja bos anda. Pernahkah anda merasa gembira luar biasa saat mengetahui bahwa bos anda harus menghadiri suatu meeting di luar dan tidak dapat datang ke kantor satu hari penuh.
Jika anda menjawab “ya” untuk semua pertanyaan di atas berarti anda sedang menjadi korban bullying yang dilakukan oleh bos anda.
Atau anda merasa bahwa semua orang mendadak menundukkan kepala dan tidak berbicara dengan jujur saat bicara dengan anda. Di suatu saat, anda merasa bahwa bawahan anda sedang membicarakan keburukan anda di belakang. Atau anda selalu memberikan instruksi dengan suara keras sehingga bawahan tidak mampu untuk memberikan pendapat berbeda.
Jika anda menjawab “ya” untuk semua pertanyaan tadi, mungkin anda sedang menjadi pelaku bullying di kantor.
Bullying yang saat ini sedang ramai dibicarakan karena perilaku beberapa siswa sekolah favorit di Jakarta sebenarnya juga rawan terjadi di kantor. Di beberapa kantor yang mempunyai budaya yang kaku, praktek tekanan terhadap karyawan jamak terjadi.
Praktek menekan yang dilakukan oleh atasan biasanya akan diimbangi oleh budaya gossip di antara bawahan. Praktek gossip ini dilakukan untuk menetralisir suasana hati yang buruk saat menghadapi tekanan atasan. Untuk menambah runyam suasana, yang umum terjadi adalah adanya mata mata yang disusupkan oleh atasan yang merasa bahwa dirinya sedang dibicarakan oleh anak buahnya.
Tiga budaya yang tidak produktif dan saling berkaitan ini (bullying – gossip – espionage) pada akhirnya akan menghancurkan kerjasama tim dan membuat suasana kantor menjadi tidak nyaman untuk bekerja. Produktifitas yang tercapai adalah produktifitas semu yang nampak di peningkatan dan pencapaian target , namun menghabiskan komponen lainnya yaitu turn over pegawai.
Seorang pegawai tidak akan bertahan lama di suasana seperti ini, dan hanya orang orang yang dekat pada atasan saja yang akan survive. Jika atasan pelaku bullying adalah pemilik perusahaan, maka bawahan yang survive akan menjadi orang kepercayaan. Sedangkan jika atasan pelaku bullying hanyalah seorang pegawai yang dapat dimutasi, maka orang yang menjadi mata mata atasan biasanya akan tersingkir dari pergaulan saat terjadi mutasi atasan.
Apakah kantor anda mempunyai suasana yang tidak menguntungkan seperti ini? Jika ya, berarti anda telah terjebak dalam suasana kantor yang tidak menguntungkan. Ada baiknya anda segera menentukan akan berada di posisi mana untuk menjamin karir anda di perusahaan ini.
Atau anda memilih untuk melanjutkan karir di tempat lain?
Oleh Loys Gunawan
Top 10 Steps for Success
The Top 10 Steps for Success and Fulfilment
"You attract not what you want but what you are."
Break through your blocks, unleash your potential, find peace of mind and freedom, and make a difference by using these top keys for success and fulfilment. If you're really serious about change, follow these 10 key steps:
1) Develop personal discipline
It takes discipline --commitment, effort and time -- to learn and grow and change. We often know what is best for us, but then stay with old ways because they are familiar. Change requires that we pass through a stage of discomfort until we adjust to new ways of being. Learn to focus your mind and your time on your goals, and to persevere until you succeed. Master willpower and you can master anything.
2) Master time management principles
Get the very most from your time. Continually evaluate whether what you are doing serves your greatest purpose. Value your time and your life as priceless commodities. Own your power to live your life your way.
3) Tap the power of daily journaling
All you need to know -- all the answers and the wisdom you could ever need -- lies within you. And journaling offers the best tool to access that wisdom.
4) Set meaningful goals
Goals help us identify what we want, set priorities, create action plans and attain results. As you plot targets and achieve them, you will take control of your life. Your self-esteem, happiness and fulfilment will grow. Success breeds success.
5) Stimulate your creativity to expand your options
Every mind is creative. All you need is the training and practice to get your mind working in new and different ways. With enhanced creativity, you will solve problems faster and more easily, and have more fun doing it!
6) Develop your awareness and intuition
When we depend solely on rational thinking, we lose access to a valid and highly valuable source of knowledge within us – our intuition. With simple awareness exercises, you can significantly expand the information available to you for improved decision-making. You can work through the blocks and connect with imagination and inspiration.
7) Empty your mind regularly
Only when you have a quiet mind can you truly be stress-free, creative and intuitive. With rest and recreation, you can let go of worldly pressures and connect with the essence of who you are. Practice meditation or periods of relaxation daily. Do not compromise your holidays. Allow your mind to take a break.
8) Know your life purpose
As we align with our life purpose and unlock our inner power, life becomes easier and more meaningful. We become more focused and energetic, and we attract synchronicities and gifts of abundance that help us fulfil our mission.
9) Track your growth and success
It's so easy to get caught in busyness, doing what's urgent rather than what's important. Tracking tools help you focus on what's most important. They offer measuring sticks so you can monitor your growth and successes. With this regular discipline, each year will just keep getting better!
10) Accept yourself fully
It's only when we truly accept who we are right now that we can change. Why do you want change? If it's because you think you aren't good enough now, this lack of self-worth will undermine your efforts to grow and achieve success. Love who you are, with all of your strengths and weaknesses. This gives you a solid foundation to make your life even better! You will turn your dreams into reality!
"You attract not what you want but what you are."
Break through your blocks, unleash your potential, find peace of mind and freedom, and make a difference by using these top keys for success and fulfilment. If you're really serious about change, follow these 10 key steps:
1) Develop personal discipline
It takes discipline --commitment, effort and time -- to learn and grow and change. We often know what is best for us, but then stay with old ways because they are familiar. Change requires that we pass through a stage of discomfort until we adjust to new ways of being. Learn to focus your mind and your time on your goals, and to persevere until you succeed. Master willpower and you can master anything.
2) Master time management principles
Get the very most from your time. Continually evaluate whether what you are doing serves your greatest purpose. Value your time and your life as priceless commodities. Own your power to live your life your way.
3) Tap the power of daily journaling
All you need to know -- all the answers and the wisdom you could ever need -- lies within you. And journaling offers the best tool to access that wisdom.
4) Set meaningful goals
Goals help us identify what we want, set priorities, create action plans and attain results. As you plot targets and achieve them, you will take control of your life. Your self-esteem, happiness and fulfilment will grow. Success breeds success.
5) Stimulate your creativity to expand your options
Every mind is creative. All you need is the training and practice to get your mind working in new and different ways. With enhanced creativity, you will solve problems faster and more easily, and have more fun doing it!
6) Develop your awareness and intuition
When we depend solely on rational thinking, we lose access to a valid and highly valuable source of knowledge within us – our intuition. With simple awareness exercises, you can significantly expand the information available to you for improved decision-making. You can work through the blocks and connect with imagination and inspiration.
7) Empty your mind regularly
Only when you have a quiet mind can you truly be stress-free, creative and intuitive. With rest and recreation, you can let go of worldly pressures and connect with the essence of who you are. Practice meditation or periods of relaxation daily. Do not compromise your holidays. Allow your mind to take a break.
8) Know your life purpose
As we align with our life purpose and unlock our inner power, life becomes easier and more meaningful. We become more focused and energetic, and we attract synchronicities and gifts of abundance that help us fulfil our mission.
9) Track your growth and success
It's so easy to get caught in busyness, doing what's urgent rather than what's important. Tracking tools help you focus on what's most important. They offer measuring sticks so you can monitor your growth and successes. With this regular discipline, each year will just keep getting better!
10) Accept yourself fully
It's only when we truly accept who we are right now that we can change. Why do you want change? If it's because you think you aren't good enough now, this lack of self-worth will undermine your efforts to grow and achieve success. Love who you are, with all of your strengths and weaknesses. This gives you a solid foundation to make your life even better! You will turn your dreams into reality!
Simple Promises Of Your Life
Seven Simple Promises That Will Change Your Life
Worth reading….
Monday's Promise: Responsibility
I will take complete responsibility for my health, my happiness, my success, and my life, and will not blame others for my problems.
Tuesday's Promise: Accountability
I will not allow low self-esteem, self-limiting beliefs, or the negativity of others to prevent me from achieving my authentic goals and from becoming the person I am meant to be.
Wednesday's Promise: Determination
I will do the things I'm afraid to do, but which I know should be done. Sometimes this will mean asking for help to do that which I cannot do by myself.
Thursday's Promise: Contribution
I will earn the help I need in advance by helping other people now, and repay the help I receive by serving others later.
Friday's Promise: Resilience
I will face rejection and failure with courage, awareness, and perseverance, making these experiences the platform for future acceptance and success.
Saturday's Promise: Choice
I will have faith that, though I might not understand why adversity happens, by my conscious choice I can find strength, compassion, and grace through my trials.
Sunday's Promise: Faith
My faith and my gratitude for all that I have been blessed with will shine through in my attitudes and in my actions.
Worth reading….
Monday's Promise: Responsibility
I will take complete responsibility for my health, my happiness, my success, and my life, and will not blame others for my problems.
Tuesday's Promise: Accountability
I will not allow low self-esteem, self-limiting beliefs, or the negativity of others to prevent me from achieving my authentic goals and from becoming the person I am meant to be.
Wednesday's Promise: Determination
I will do the things I'm afraid to do, but which I know should be done. Sometimes this will mean asking for help to do that which I cannot do by myself.
Thursday's Promise: Contribution
I will earn the help I need in advance by helping other people now, and repay the help I receive by serving others later.
Friday's Promise: Resilience
I will face rejection and failure with courage, awareness, and perseverance, making these experiences the platform for future acceptance and success.
Saturday's Promise: Choice
I will have faith that, though I might not understand why adversity happens, by my conscious choice I can find strength, compassion, and grace through my trials.
Sunday's Promise: Faith
My faith and my gratitude for all that I have been blessed with will shine through in my attitudes and in my actions.
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Get the Broadband Now
Broadband: Understanding the Jargon and How to Get the Best Plan
If you find yourself reading this article online, then odds are you are no stranger to the vast wilderness that is the internet. Uploads, downloads, blogs, videos, podcasts, pictures, forums, games, news, email, animation, flash, webmail, webcams and music can all make for a vast and limitless real-time environment that is constantly changing. It is often the seemingly inexhaustible amount of resources that has many net users tearing out their hair due to strolling performance and extended loading time for content. However, in many cases, the real culprit is not the content or the website itself, but rather the combination of an ill-equipped connection speed and an internet plan that does not adequately address specific user needs.
Before roaming free in the World Wide Web, every internet user must first choose a connection plan and connection speed that will be able to accommodate both their budget and their user needs. The following article seeks to outline some of the basic areas that novice users should address when deciding to connect to the internet. For some, it may seem like commonsense, but for those suffering easily avoidable headaches and long load times it may just make a world of difference.
Connection Speeds
Before beginning it would first be wise to explain the two types of connection speeds and how they fundamentally differ. All methods of internet usage around the globe only use either one or the other of these types of connections.
Kbps: Is the common acronym for ‘Kilobits per second’. A Kilobit is one thousand bits of data – a ‘bit’ being the most fundamental form of binary code that makes up all information available both online and on your home PC. Essentially, a ‘bit’ is the building block of all computer technology and communication. In layman’s terms it is simply the combination of 1s and 0s that form the language of computers.
Mbps: A much larger unit of data, Mbps refers to the term ‘Megabits per second’. A Megabit is one million ‘bits’. This form of data transference is used by every internet connection above Dial-Up speed.
Types of Connection
Dial-Up: The most basic connection available, a Dial-Up connection uses the existing phone line in a business or household to transfer data at around 56Kbps. This is the slowest connection currently available in Australia and is in the process of steadily being outdated due to faster connections being more widely and readily accessible for a lower cost.
ISDN: Is anIntegrated Services Digital Network and is twice the speed (at 128Kbps) of Dial-up. It can be difficult to obtain due to its reliance on what is fast becoming outdated technology. ISDN was essentially the technological stepping stone between Dial-Up and ADSL.
ADSL: Stands forAsymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, also most commonly referred to when the term ‘broadband’ is used, and is a one-way connection where the download speed is much faster than the upload speed. This is a common trap for the average consumer because the speed of the connection is always referenced in terms of the maximum download speed (i.e how fast a page loads up / time it takes to save a file), rather than the much slower upload speed (i.e how long it takes to send an email / send a file to another computer)
Cable: The fastest connection available for both business and residential use (Fibre Optic connections, which are the next level up, are currently exclusive to business due to the high cost of installing and maintaining). Cable internet uses a similar system of connections to most pay television providers. It is completely separate to the household phone line and connection speed is substantially faster for both uploads and downloads. However, speed can be compromised by the number of separate households located in close proximity that use the same cable as only one cable is generally provided for a whole neighborhood. Generally cable runs at around 1.5 – 6 Megabits of bandwidth which is substantially faster than ADSL.
Connection Plans and Common Traps
To maintain a steady and consistently fast connection you need to take care in the selection of your plan. Having selected the telecommunications company with which you wish to subscribe for the service you then need to select a plan based on the cost of installing and maintaining your connection, the type of connection you wish to have installed, the speed of the connection, the download limit, if any, and the consequences if that download limit is exceeded.
The download limit or ‘shaping’ of your plan dictates how much information you can access from the internet within a month before being subjected to either additional costs (which can be significant) or slower connections (usually Dial-up).
According to Miles Humphrys, IT Manager for Corporate Executive Offices, one of the largest international chains of serviced offices throughout the Asia Pacific Region, a common pitfall when deciding on your internet plan is, “not knowing what it is that you, or your business, wish to use the connection for”. According to Mr Humphrys, “Before connecting the business or user must first decide what their primary methods of usage will be. Will they be sending a substantial amount of emails? Downloading live videos or music? Or simply surfing for information? All these factors must be weighed up before signing up to a limited connection or one with a capped amount of usage. Nothing is more frustrating for a business, or home office, than being crippled by an incredibly slow connection because they have gone over their download limit during the day-to-day requirements of the business or user.”
If you are unsure of the amount of data which you are likely to download in a month make sure you select a plan that gives you sufficient download capacity to enable you to then monitor your usage without fear of exceeding your limit. Make sure that your plan is flexible enough to then change if your download requirements are either substantially less or more than you expected.
“The one piece of advice that I would give for anyone looking to connect to the internet either now or in the future, above all, is to - read the fine print! The things to look out for are capped plans, download limits, shaping and especially ‘extra charges’. If you see anything that looks a little odd, always ask questions or consult an IT Professional”, concluded Mr Humphrys.
by: Karen Vosjan
If you find yourself reading this article online, then odds are you are no stranger to the vast wilderness that is the internet. Uploads, downloads, blogs, videos, podcasts, pictures, forums, games, news, email, animation, flash, webmail, webcams and music can all make for a vast and limitless real-time environment that is constantly changing. It is often the seemingly inexhaustible amount of resources that has many net users tearing out their hair due to strolling performance and extended loading time for content. However, in many cases, the real culprit is not the content or the website itself, but rather the combination of an ill-equipped connection speed and an internet plan that does not adequately address specific user needs.
Before roaming free in the World Wide Web, every internet user must first choose a connection plan and connection speed that will be able to accommodate both their budget and their user needs. The following article seeks to outline some of the basic areas that novice users should address when deciding to connect to the internet. For some, it may seem like commonsense, but for those suffering easily avoidable headaches and long load times it may just make a world of difference.
Connection Speeds
Before beginning it would first be wise to explain the two types of connection speeds and how they fundamentally differ. All methods of internet usage around the globe only use either one or the other of these types of connections.
Kbps: Is the common acronym for ‘Kilobits per second’. A Kilobit is one thousand bits of data – a ‘bit’ being the most fundamental form of binary code that makes up all information available both online and on your home PC. Essentially, a ‘bit’ is the building block of all computer technology and communication. In layman’s terms it is simply the combination of 1s and 0s that form the language of computers.
Mbps: A much larger unit of data, Mbps refers to the term ‘Megabits per second’. A Megabit is one million ‘bits’. This form of data transference is used by every internet connection above Dial-Up speed.
Types of Connection
Dial-Up: The most basic connection available, a Dial-Up connection uses the existing phone line in a business or household to transfer data at around 56Kbps. This is the slowest connection currently available in Australia and is in the process of steadily being outdated due to faster connections being more widely and readily accessible for a lower cost.
ISDN: Is anIntegrated Services Digital Network and is twice the speed (at 128Kbps) of Dial-up. It can be difficult to obtain due to its reliance on what is fast becoming outdated technology. ISDN was essentially the technological stepping stone between Dial-Up and ADSL.
ADSL: Stands forAsymmetric Digital Subscriber Line, also most commonly referred to when the term ‘broadband’ is used, and is a one-way connection where the download speed is much faster than the upload speed. This is a common trap for the average consumer because the speed of the connection is always referenced in terms of the maximum download speed (i.e how fast a page loads up / time it takes to save a file), rather than the much slower upload speed (i.e how long it takes to send an email / send a file to another computer)
Cable: The fastest connection available for both business and residential use (Fibre Optic connections, which are the next level up, are currently exclusive to business due to the high cost of installing and maintaining). Cable internet uses a similar system of connections to most pay television providers. It is completely separate to the household phone line and connection speed is substantially faster for both uploads and downloads. However, speed can be compromised by the number of separate households located in close proximity that use the same cable as only one cable is generally provided for a whole neighborhood. Generally cable runs at around 1.5 – 6 Megabits of bandwidth which is substantially faster than ADSL.
Connection Plans and Common Traps
To maintain a steady and consistently fast connection you need to take care in the selection of your plan. Having selected the telecommunications company with which you wish to subscribe for the service you then need to select a plan based on the cost of installing and maintaining your connection, the type of connection you wish to have installed, the speed of the connection, the download limit, if any, and the consequences if that download limit is exceeded.
The download limit or ‘shaping’ of your plan dictates how much information you can access from the internet within a month before being subjected to either additional costs (which can be significant) or slower connections (usually Dial-up).
According to Miles Humphrys, IT Manager for Corporate Executive Offices, one of the largest international chains of serviced offices throughout the Asia Pacific Region, a common pitfall when deciding on your internet plan is, “not knowing what it is that you, or your business, wish to use the connection for”. According to Mr Humphrys, “Before connecting the business or user must first decide what their primary methods of usage will be. Will they be sending a substantial amount of emails? Downloading live videos or music? Or simply surfing for information? All these factors must be weighed up before signing up to a limited connection or one with a capped amount of usage. Nothing is more frustrating for a business, or home office, than being crippled by an incredibly slow connection because they have gone over their download limit during the day-to-day requirements of the business or user.”
If you are unsure of the amount of data which you are likely to download in a month make sure you select a plan that gives you sufficient download capacity to enable you to then monitor your usage without fear of exceeding your limit. Make sure that your plan is flexible enough to then change if your download requirements are either substantially less or more than you expected.
“The one piece of advice that I would give for anyone looking to connect to the internet either now or in the future, above all, is to - read the fine print! The things to look out for are capped plans, download limits, shaping and especially ‘extra charges’. If you see anything that looks a little odd, always ask questions or consult an IT Professional”, concluded Mr Humphrys.
by: Karen Vosjan
Health and Delecious Food
Fun, Healthy, Delicious Food – Can You Really Have it All?
Is there really such a thing as food that is fun, healthy, and delicious? So many people think grub that’s good for you automatically takes all the fun out of eating. After all, healthy food can’t possibly taste good, can it? Of course it can!
I have been busy gathering some ideas for fun, healthy, delicious foods to share with you. If you have kids, these are recipes I think they’ll like too. And here’s another bonus – they are all easy to make:
• Have you seen those “Flatout Mini” soft wraps? I love these! They are small-size wraps that are low in calories, convenient, and very versatile. Try this easy recipe – all you need are the wraps, cooking spray, Mrs. Dash, and Parmesan cheese. Cut each wrap into 16 wedges and place on a cookie sheet coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with a little Mrs. Dash and a bit of Parmesan. Bake at 350-degrees for about ten minutes or until lightly brown and crisp.
• Fruit kabobs – This is a fun alternative to a plain old bowl of fruit. Just pick a few of your favorites – maybe apples, pineapple, bananas - and cut them into chunks. Slide the fruit onto a skewer. Next, roll the skewer in a plate of nonfat yogurt… then roll again in a plate of shredded coconut. Voila! A fun, healthy, delicious snack!
• Sandwich kabobs - Cut whole-grain bread, low-fat cheese, and your favorite deli meat into cubes. Slide them onto skewers along with some veggies like grape tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, and olives. Dip into fat-free or low-fat Italian dressing.
• For a quick mini-pizza, top an English muffin (go for the whole grain ones) with spaghetti sauce and a little shredded low-fat mozzarella. Broil until the cheese melts.
• Pop a frozen waffle or pancake into the toaster and top it with warm applesauce and cinnamon. Too easy, huh?
• Freeze some grapes, bananas, cherries, or maybe peaches and blend with yogurt for a fruit smoothie.
• Yogurt pops – fill paper cups with your favorite non-fat or low-fat yogurt and put a popsicle stick in each cup. Freeze and enjoy!
• Creamy Coolwich (from Nabisco World) - put 2 tablespoons of sugar free Cool Whip in between graham cracker squares. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze for three hours or until firm. Yum!
• Blueberry Cracker Bites (from Kraft Foods) – spread 1 teaspoon light cream cheese on a reduced-fat Ritz cracker and top with 5 frozen blueberries. Too fun!
So, you see – healthy foods can be fun and delicious.
Now, I am a firm believer that the key to a successful, healthy lifestyle is to choose fun good-for-you foods and exercises when you can. It’s a tough enough fight out there whether you’re trying to lose or maintain weight. But enjoying the journey is half the battle.
by: Sahar Aker
Is there really such a thing as food that is fun, healthy, and delicious? So many people think grub that’s good for you automatically takes all the fun out of eating. After all, healthy food can’t possibly taste good, can it? Of course it can!
I have been busy gathering some ideas for fun, healthy, delicious foods to share with you. If you have kids, these are recipes I think they’ll like too. And here’s another bonus – they are all easy to make:
• Have you seen those “Flatout Mini” soft wraps? I love these! They are small-size wraps that are low in calories, convenient, and very versatile. Try this easy recipe – all you need are the wraps, cooking spray, Mrs. Dash, and Parmesan cheese. Cut each wrap into 16 wedges and place on a cookie sheet coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with a little Mrs. Dash and a bit of Parmesan. Bake at 350-degrees for about ten minutes or until lightly brown and crisp.
• Fruit kabobs – This is a fun alternative to a plain old bowl of fruit. Just pick a few of your favorites – maybe apples, pineapple, bananas - and cut them into chunks. Slide the fruit onto a skewer. Next, roll the skewer in a plate of nonfat yogurt… then roll again in a plate of shredded coconut. Voila! A fun, healthy, delicious snack!
• Sandwich kabobs - Cut whole-grain bread, low-fat cheese, and your favorite deli meat into cubes. Slide them onto skewers along with some veggies like grape tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, and olives. Dip into fat-free or low-fat Italian dressing.
• For a quick mini-pizza, top an English muffin (go for the whole grain ones) with spaghetti sauce and a little shredded low-fat mozzarella. Broil until the cheese melts.
• Pop a frozen waffle or pancake into the toaster and top it with warm applesauce and cinnamon. Too easy, huh?
• Freeze some grapes, bananas, cherries, or maybe peaches and blend with yogurt for a fruit smoothie.
• Yogurt pops – fill paper cups with your favorite non-fat or low-fat yogurt and put a popsicle stick in each cup. Freeze and enjoy!
• Creamy Coolwich (from Nabisco World) - put 2 tablespoons of sugar free Cool Whip in between graham cracker squares. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet and freeze for three hours or until firm. Yum!
• Blueberry Cracker Bites (from Kraft Foods) – spread 1 teaspoon light cream cheese on a reduced-fat Ritz cracker and top with 5 frozen blueberries. Too fun!
So, you see – healthy foods can be fun and delicious.
Now, I am a firm believer that the key to a successful, healthy lifestyle is to choose fun good-for-you foods and exercises when you can. It’s a tough enough fight out there whether you’re trying to lose or maintain weight. But enjoying the journey is half the battle.
by: Sahar Aker
Preparing to College
Basic Steps in Preparing for College
Maybe you or your child or just someone you know is still in high school or even in middle school. It is never too early to prepare to receive and higher education to further your success in life. Have a better education usually means a higher salary and studies have proven that those with a college degree earn more than those with just a high school diploma or a G.E.D.
So now that we are clear that more education means more money down the road in life, what do you need to make that happen? First off we need to make sure we clear up some misunderstandings. Not all colleges are the same, each and every college or university is the same. Each one has their own strengths that they excel in, so before you decide where to attend you first need to decide on what you wish to major in. Once you've decided on what you want to be in your future then you can decide on which campus you wish to attend. And don't limit yourself to just 1 school. Try to pick a variety of places that you might want to attend because the more you try to shoot for, the more chance you will have into being accepted into some college or university.
As mentioned before, not all colleges and universities are the same. This also applies for how much attending a certain university or college charges a student to attend their classes. Some places like community colleges charge a very low amount for their classes and private universities charge extremely high priced amount for just a quarter. But don't get discouraged, there are still ways to pay for them. By applying for scholarships, student aid programs or getting student loans, you can pay for an education that you could have only dreamed of.
So now that you've decided on what you wish to learn about, which campus to attend and how to pay for that education, what's left? Everything else. Before you can even go and get that Bachelor's you first need to quality before your application is to be even reviewed by the committee. And that means your high school education. High school is usually where the acceptance committee will usually start looking at. From your academics to your extra curricular activities they will account into everything that you may have done during your high school year to see if you are even eligible to attend their most prestigious place of learning.
Academics usually mean your grades that you received in your high school classes. From math to English, you first need to learn the basics before you can try and learn the higher forms of these subjects. Academics also include the tests that just about most universities require like the SATs and ACTs. There are after-school programs for students to attend to learn and how to analyze these tests so they can score higher for these exams.
Colleges and universities also pay attention on what activities you may have been involved in during your high school year. From school clubs to after-school community service programs that you may have volunteered for, they will take into account on what kind of activities you participate in to have a much better understanding of you.
So now that you understand the gist of what needs to be accomplished, get out there and jump start your brain of yours so that you can make a better person of yourself.
by: James Freman
Maybe you or your child or just someone you know is still in high school or even in middle school. It is never too early to prepare to receive and higher education to further your success in life. Have a better education usually means a higher salary and studies have proven that those with a college degree earn more than those with just a high school diploma or a G.E.D.
So now that we are clear that more education means more money down the road in life, what do you need to make that happen? First off we need to make sure we clear up some misunderstandings. Not all colleges are the same, each and every college or university is the same. Each one has their own strengths that they excel in, so before you decide where to attend you first need to decide on what you wish to major in. Once you've decided on what you want to be in your future then you can decide on which campus you wish to attend. And don't limit yourself to just 1 school. Try to pick a variety of places that you might want to attend because the more you try to shoot for, the more chance you will have into being accepted into some college or university.
As mentioned before, not all colleges and universities are the same. This also applies for how much attending a certain university or college charges a student to attend their classes. Some places like community colleges charge a very low amount for their classes and private universities charge extremely high priced amount for just a quarter. But don't get discouraged, there are still ways to pay for them. By applying for scholarships, student aid programs or getting student loans, you can pay for an education that you could have only dreamed of.
So now that you've decided on what you wish to learn about, which campus to attend and how to pay for that education, what's left? Everything else. Before you can even go and get that Bachelor's you first need to quality before your application is to be even reviewed by the committee. And that means your high school education. High school is usually where the acceptance committee will usually start looking at. From your academics to your extra curricular activities they will account into everything that you may have done during your high school year to see if you are even eligible to attend their most prestigious place of learning.
Academics usually mean your grades that you received in your high school classes. From math to English, you first need to learn the basics before you can try and learn the higher forms of these subjects. Academics also include the tests that just about most universities require like the SATs and ACTs. There are after-school programs for students to attend to learn and how to analyze these tests so they can score higher for these exams.
Colleges and universities also pay attention on what activities you may have been involved in during your high school year. From school clubs to after-school community service programs that you may have volunteered for, they will take into account on what kind of activities you participate in to have a much better understanding of you.
So now that you understand the gist of what needs to be accomplished, get out there and jump start your brain of yours so that you can make a better person of yourself.
by: James Freman
A Small Piece of Paper
More Than Just A Small Piece of Paper
Whether you use them as reply cards, notices, announcements, newsletters, or even greeting cards, your color postcards have many benefits compared to other marketing collaterals.
As a matter of fact, your postcard is more than just a small piece of paper. It is a strong little piece of print marketing material that gets your message to your target clients without having to spend so much on postcard printing and even mailing.
With your postcard design and message already there in plain sight, your target clients are more than likely to read them. No more envelopes to open before they could even get a glimpse of your first sentence. What’s more, your color postcards are more convenient to fill out and return than any other need-response forms.
Postcard printing have been very valuable in more ways than I can count. In many aspects, custom postcard designs can be used to complement other promotional materials such as newsletters, magazines and other published periodicals. They can also be made to support order sheets and subscription forms for any type of merchandise.
Postcards can even be made to become newsletters themselves with articles and features that could really entertain your target clients. They can also enhance and emphasize your call-to-action in your surveys, notices and announcements.
To optimize your results from these marketing postcards, here are some of the techniques that can be applied to your print postcards:
Provide a prepaid return postage. Make it easy for your readers to respond to your call-to-action. If you need them to fill up and return your form, then pay for the postage yourself.
Pre-addressed card or envelope. And don’t make your audience look for your address. If you can provide a prepaid return postage, you definitely can also include a return pre-addressed return card or an envelope, if you happen to have one.
Colored paper. Instead of paying for a more expensive full color postcard, cut costs by using colored paper. They usually attract attention, more than the usual white paper.
Quick-fill order forms. Not only should you have plenty of room to fill in the necessary information from your target clients (e.g. name, address, phone number, etc.), your color postcards should also have easy-to-answer forms or surveys. You can always use tick-boxes for filling out the forms.
FREE. People are generally attracted to anything they can acquire for free. If you want your readers to return your custom postcards immediately, include free gifts or prizes that they can have in exchange.
Consistency. Whatever marketing campaign or message you have in your print postcards. Be sure to repeat them in the rest of your marketing collaterals. Consistency is the key to get your readers to remember you.
The last time I looked, my custom postcards were able to have the results I wanted. I hope your color postcards would be as successful.
by: Lynne Saarte
Whether you use them as reply cards, notices, announcements, newsletters, or even greeting cards, your color postcards have many benefits compared to other marketing collaterals.
As a matter of fact, your postcard is more than just a small piece of paper. It is a strong little piece of print marketing material that gets your message to your target clients without having to spend so much on postcard printing and even mailing.
With your postcard design and message already there in plain sight, your target clients are more than likely to read them. No more envelopes to open before they could even get a glimpse of your first sentence. What’s more, your color postcards are more convenient to fill out and return than any other need-response forms.
Postcard printing have been very valuable in more ways than I can count. In many aspects, custom postcard designs can be used to complement other promotional materials such as newsletters, magazines and other published periodicals. They can also be made to support order sheets and subscription forms for any type of merchandise.
Postcards can even be made to become newsletters themselves with articles and features that could really entertain your target clients. They can also enhance and emphasize your call-to-action in your surveys, notices and announcements.
To optimize your results from these marketing postcards, here are some of the techniques that can be applied to your print postcards:
Provide a prepaid return postage. Make it easy for your readers to respond to your call-to-action. If you need them to fill up and return your form, then pay for the postage yourself.
Pre-addressed card or envelope. And don’t make your audience look for your address. If you can provide a prepaid return postage, you definitely can also include a return pre-addressed return card or an envelope, if you happen to have one.
Colored paper. Instead of paying for a more expensive full color postcard, cut costs by using colored paper. They usually attract attention, more than the usual white paper.
Quick-fill order forms. Not only should you have plenty of room to fill in the necessary information from your target clients (e.g. name, address, phone number, etc.), your color postcards should also have easy-to-answer forms or surveys. You can always use tick-boxes for filling out the forms.
FREE. People are generally attracted to anything they can acquire for free. If you want your readers to return your custom postcards immediately, include free gifts or prizes that they can have in exchange.
Consistency. Whatever marketing campaign or message you have in your print postcards. Be sure to repeat them in the rest of your marketing collaterals. Consistency is the key to get your readers to remember you.
The last time I looked, my custom postcards were able to have the results I wanted. I hope your color postcards would be as successful.
by: Lynne Saarte
America's Profiles
America: The Presidents, The Politics And The Wars
The United States of America used to pride itself on a reputation for diplomacy and integrity. The world's largest economy, land of the capitalist dream. Immigrants would flock to America looking for their chance in life, looking to make a go of it all for their family. Then something went wrong. The global perception of the US changed, and suddenly the ethical and moral high ground was destroyed by needless bloodshed and political interference beyond the scope of their global role.
The Vietnam war - a tragedy of greed and senseless aggression. Vietnam wasn't an American war, yet it was this involvement that started the cycle of distrust and negative feeling towards the United States and everything it stood for. And that's not to mention the horrendous loss of life, and the destruction of lives caused by politically motivated violence. You'd think we'd learn our lesson, huh?
In 2003, George W. Bush with the support of Tony Blair sent hundreds of thousands of troops to invade Iraq on the premise of 'illegal weapons programmes' and 'imminent threats'. A chip off the old block, some would say. George H. W. Bush's invasion of 1990 failed to overthrow the regime or gain control of the wealth of oil in Iraq. His son was more fortunate.
One of the most controversial American authors of our time, Bob Miller has been a staunch campaigner against the Bush administrations of now and then, since back in 1976. A Veteran of the Vietnam war, Miller has been cast as a pariah, a renegade, and has even been taken into custody by the US Secret Service for his outspoken approach to American politics. Nevertheless Miller has continued his relentless attack on the Bush regime and everything it stands for, traveling the country to deliver his opinions on the real motives of the Bush family.
A Republican himself, Miller is no stranger to the world of political activism. Yet his controversial branding in the mainstream media has seen him cast aside as yet another extremist, unpatriotic and senseless. However, with his latest book "Kill Me If You Can, You SOB", Miller aims to express the true horrors of the Vietnam war, without descending into the same old 'this and that' of the Bush dynasty and their own brand of extremism.
Without forming opinions for the reader or giving a blow by blow account of the war and the politics behind it, Miller's latest effort is based on diary entries from his time in the war, telling the tale more graphically than could otherwise be possible of the horrors behind the wars and foreign policy of the Bush administrations.
As Miller was quoted as saying, "Bush has spent the lives of thousands of young Americans and billions of dollars for oil, not terrorists, and everyone knew it. To have participated in this needless savagery in any way is not only hypocritical, it's blasphemous. And to blame the son, and not the father, is like blaming the puppet, not the puppeteer. Like his father Prescott Bush, George H.W. Bush's epitaph should read, 'Here lies incomprehensible evil.'"
by: Nick Carter
The United States of America used to pride itself on a reputation for diplomacy and integrity. The world's largest economy, land of the capitalist dream. Immigrants would flock to America looking for their chance in life, looking to make a go of it all for their family. Then something went wrong. The global perception of the US changed, and suddenly the ethical and moral high ground was destroyed by needless bloodshed and political interference beyond the scope of their global role.
The Vietnam war - a tragedy of greed and senseless aggression. Vietnam wasn't an American war, yet it was this involvement that started the cycle of distrust and negative feeling towards the United States and everything it stood for. And that's not to mention the horrendous loss of life, and the destruction of lives caused by politically motivated violence. You'd think we'd learn our lesson, huh?
In 2003, George W. Bush with the support of Tony Blair sent hundreds of thousands of troops to invade Iraq on the premise of 'illegal weapons programmes' and 'imminent threats'. A chip off the old block, some would say. George H. W. Bush's invasion of 1990 failed to overthrow the regime or gain control of the wealth of oil in Iraq. His son was more fortunate.
One of the most controversial American authors of our time, Bob Miller has been a staunch campaigner against the Bush administrations of now and then, since back in 1976. A Veteran of the Vietnam war, Miller has been cast as a pariah, a renegade, and has even been taken into custody by the US Secret Service for his outspoken approach to American politics. Nevertheless Miller has continued his relentless attack on the Bush regime and everything it stands for, traveling the country to deliver his opinions on the real motives of the Bush family.
A Republican himself, Miller is no stranger to the world of political activism. Yet his controversial branding in the mainstream media has seen him cast aside as yet another extremist, unpatriotic and senseless. However, with his latest book "Kill Me If You Can, You SOB", Miller aims to express the true horrors of the Vietnam war, without descending into the same old 'this and that' of the Bush dynasty and their own brand of extremism.
Without forming opinions for the reader or giving a blow by blow account of the war and the politics behind it, Miller's latest effort is based on diary entries from his time in the war, telling the tale more graphically than could otherwise be possible of the horrors behind the wars and foreign policy of the Bush administrations.
As Miller was quoted as saying, "Bush has spent the lives of thousands of young Americans and billions of dollars for oil, not terrorists, and everyone knew it. To have participated in this needless savagery in any way is not only hypocritical, it's blasphemous. And to blame the son, and not the father, is like blaming the puppet, not the puppeteer. Like his father Prescott Bush, George H.W. Bush's epitaph should read, 'Here lies incomprehensible evil.'"
by: Nick Carter
News of Bali Bombings
Bali Bombings Cover-Up: New Documentary
Released on Youtube and Googlevideo this week, FOOL ME TWICE, exposes the cover-up of the Bali bombings and provides evidence that it was a Falseflag Operation.
The film begins by documenting the Australian government’s prior knowledge of the Indonesian military’s plan to use violence to maintain autonomy over East Timor. Contrary to The Howard Governments claims they argued against peacekeeping forces allowing the Indonesian Special Forces to carry out their campaign of fear and suppression.
Within 24 hours of the 2002 Bali bombings a team of FBI, UK special agents and Australian federal police started arriving in Bali. The investigation team continuously claimed different explosive devices were responsible for the main blast. Days after the attacks, Indonesian Police Chief, General Dai’ Bachtier, announced that the FBI had discovered C4 pointing the blame towards Jemaah Islamiah, JI (“SE Asia wing of Al qaeda”). Eventually, investigators concluded that the main explosive device was a potassium chlorate car bomb. C4 was never included in final reports.
The main explosive device was so powerful it seriously damaged buildings in a 2/400 metre radius and left a 1 metre deep, 10 metre wide crater. 202 people perished in the blasts, the majority incinerated from the main explosive device. Investigators quickly excavated the crater contents and dumped the remaining debris off the coast of southern Bali, including completely stripped concrete reinforcing bars. Potassium chlorate is a low velocity explosive and does not have the overpressure force to create a 1 metre deep crater or completely incinerate humans, let alone strip concrete. Only a high-tech explosive device has the power to strip concrete.
FBI claims of C4 announced by General Dai’ Bachtier, ensured Jemaah Islamiah was immediately blamed for the Bali bombings. All prior intelligence of the Bali bombings came from so called JI leader, Omar Al-Faruq. Omar Al-Faruq was secretly handed over to the US by Indonesia months prior to the bombings under the CIA’s extraordinary rendition program. Australian intelligence agencies reported that intelligence obtained from captured “JI suspect”, Omar Al-Faruq, warned of possible terrorist attacks in Bali. After the attacks the Bush administration denied access to Al-Faruq for questioning in the Bali bombing trials. When Omar Al-Faruq was suddenly called by US court to provide evidence in a trial of another terrorist suspect – he had “escaped high security prison”. No JI leaders have ever been brought to trial.
Prior to the Bali bombings the Indonesian government denied the existence of terrorists within Indonesia and opposed US anti-terror operations in Afghanistan. After the bombings President Megawati signed a joint statement – “Agreeing that terrorism poses a continued threat to international peace and security, and that the two Presidents are committed to enhancing their bilateral cooperation in the fight against terrorism”. The Bush administration provided funds to the Indonesian police and military and setup a national terrorism unit under the control of national police chief, General Dai’ Bachtier.
by: Glen Clancy
Released on Youtube and Googlevideo this week, FOOL ME TWICE, exposes the cover-up of the Bali bombings and provides evidence that it was a Falseflag Operation.
The film begins by documenting the Australian government’s prior knowledge of the Indonesian military’s plan to use violence to maintain autonomy over East Timor. Contrary to The Howard Governments claims they argued against peacekeeping forces allowing the Indonesian Special Forces to carry out their campaign of fear and suppression.
Within 24 hours of the 2002 Bali bombings a team of FBI, UK special agents and Australian federal police started arriving in Bali. The investigation team continuously claimed different explosive devices were responsible for the main blast. Days after the attacks, Indonesian Police Chief, General Dai’ Bachtier, announced that the FBI had discovered C4 pointing the blame towards Jemaah Islamiah, JI (“SE Asia wing of Al qaeda”). Eventually, investigators concluded that the main explosive device was a potassium chlorate car bomb. C4 was never included in final reports.
The main explosive device was so powerful it seriously damaged buildings in a 2/400 metre radius and left a 1 metre deep, 10 metre wide crater. 202 people perished in the blasts, the majority incinerated from the main explosive device. Investigators quickly excavated the crater contents and dumped the remaining debris off the coast of southern Bali, including completely stripped concrete reinforcing bars. Potassium chlorate is a low velocity explosive and does not have the overpressure force to create a 1 metre deep crater or completely incinerate humans, let alone strip concrete. Only a high-tech explosive device has the power to strip concrete.
FBI claims of C4 announced by General Dai’ Bachtier, ensured Jemaah Islamiah was immediately blamed for the Bali bombings. All prior intelligence of the Bali bombings came from so called JI leader, Omar Al-Faruq. Omar Al-Faruq was secretly handed over to the US by Indonesia months prior to the bombings under the CIA’s extraordinary rendition program. Australian intelligence agencies reported that intelligence obtained from captured “JI suspect”, Omar Al-Faruq, warned of possible terrorist attacks in Bali. After the attacks the Bush administration denied access to Al-Faruq for questioning in the Bali bombing trials. When Omar Al-Faruq was suddenly called by US court to provide evidence in a trial of another terrorist suspect – he had “escaped high security prison”. No JI leaders have ever been brought to trial.
Prior to the Bali bombings the Indonesian government denied the existence of terrorists within Indonesia and opposed US anti-terror operations in Afghanistan. After the bombings President Megawati signed a joint statement – “Agreeing that terrorism poses a continued threat to international peace and security, and that the two Presidents are committed to enhancing their bilateral cooperation in the fight against terrorism”. The Bush administration provided funds to the Indonesian police and military and setup a national terrorism unit under the control of national police chief, General Dai’ Bachtier.
by: Glen Clancy
Make Money Without Scammed
Making Money Online Without Getting Scammed!
When I evaluate a company, I look for these key points. Keep in mind, when I join a company, my #1 goal is to make money and to do it legitimately. I do not want to hurt anyone or rip anyone off. This is what I've learned and these guidelines will help you determine what company is right for you.
1. If you are not making at least 75% of the upfront commission when you make a sale, forget it. This means that you are doing all the work and the company and/or the person above you is making all the money. Guess what that is called having....a JOB!
2. If you have to have 1000, 10,000 or 20,000 people in your organization before you make any real money, DO NOT Join. Most people will NEVER get there.
3. If they teach you to hold home parties and invite all your friends. Run away fast. Trust me I have been there done that. Now when my friends and family see me coming they scatter!
4. If they have a sales pitch 2-3 times a day and only 2-3 training classes per week.
This means that the company is more interested in selling you than training you how to make money long term
5. If you can't break even or get into profit with 3 sales, forget it.
6. If you can't speak with the owners or the corporate office via phone or web-in-ar,
Forget it. I like to know whom I'm doing business with before I will do business with them.
7. If it is a start up or in pre launch, forget. The chances of these companies becoming the next Amway are about as good as winning the lottery. At least with the lottery, you have a chance to win once or twice a week. You might as well go to Vegas and blow your money on a good time. At least you'll have some great memories, see a great show and have a great meal.
These are not all the rules for success on the internet, but this is a great guideline to follow when evaluating an internet company. Use these guidelines to help you narrow down your choices for choosing a company that best fits yours goals.
by: Gary Lamb
When I evaluate a company, I look for these key points. Keep in mind, when I join a company, my #1 goal is to make money and to do it legitimately. I do not want to hurt anyone or rip anyone off. This is what I've learned and these guidelines will help you determine what company is right for you.
1. If you are not making at least 75% of the upfront commission when you make a sale, forget it. This means that you are doing all the work and the company and/or the person above you is making all the money. Guess what that is called having....a JOB!
2. If you have to have 1000, 10,000 or 20,000 people in your organization before you make any real money, DO NOT Join. Most people will NEVER get there.
3. If they teach you to hold home parties and invite all your friends. Run away fast. Trust me I have been there done that. Now when my friends and family see me coming they scatter!
4. If they have a sales pitch 2-3 times a day and only 2-3 training classes per week.
This means that the company is more interested in selling you than training you how to make money long term
5. If you can't break even or get into profit with 3 sales, forget it.
6. If you can't speak with the owners or the corporate office via phone or web-in-ar,
Forget it. I like to know whom I'm doing business with before I will do business with them.
7. If it is a start up or in pre launch, forget. The chances of these companies becoming the next Amway are about as good as winning the lottery. At least with the lottery, you have a chance to win once or twice a week. You might as well go to Vegas and blow your money on a good time. At least you'll have some great memories, see a great show and have a great meal.
These are not all the rules for success on the internet, but this is a great guideline to follow when evaluating an internet company. Use these guidelines to help you narrow down your choices for choosing a company that best fits yours goals.
by: Gary Lamb
Thursday, December 13, 2007
Get Money with AdSense
Making Money With Your 1st Or 50th Website Using Google Adsense
If you are just starting online with your first website, you have quite a learning curve in front of you. I know that your learning curve is still long, because I have been making money online for years, and I am still learning new stuff everyday.
Every year, more people are coming online. And every year, people struggle to figure out how to tap into the economic engine powered by the Internet. The one thing that newcomers to the Internet frequently fail to realize is that those of us, who are making the most money online, spent years learning our trades.
The good news is that Internet newcomers have one major advantage that my mentors and myself did not have when we started our online enterprises. The newcomers have people like us who are willing to teach others what they have learned.
First And Most Important Lesson To Learn
There are three kinds of commercial websites on the Internet: product/service merchants, advertising providers, and non-profit websites.
Now, the Red Cross and the United Way are non-profit websites by choice and mission. But, the majority of non-profit websites on the Internet were designed to be for-profit websites, but the website owner will have been lucky to have earned enough to pay their web hosting costs.
By the end of this article, I hope that I will have provided you enough information to be able to turn any non-profit website into a profit generating machine.
Merchants sell services. They also sell products made by others or themselves. Some merchants produce their own informational books and e-books, on a wide variety of topics.
Many people make the mistake of assuming that they do not know anything of value that other people would want to know. But, that just isn't true. Call me an optimist if you will, but I believe everyone knows something that other people would be willing to pay a certain amount of money to learn.
Ii is a fact that some of the smartest online entrepreneurs I know make a lot of money by writing and selling books and e-books, on topics ranging from cryptograms (http://www.cryptogramsbylouise.com/), to how-to cure acid reflux (http://www.refluxgoneforever.com/), to finding the hero within (http://www.herosoul.com/), to how to be more successful with an online business.
I have bought many e-books and I have to say that some were better than others, but all of them helped me to learn what I needed to know in order to be successful with whatever endeavor I was undertaking.
Advertising Providers build websites with the intent of attracting a huge and loyal audience, so that advertisers will consider their website to be a good place to spend their advertising dollars.
In those dark days before Google Adsense (http://adsense.Google.com) and Yahoo's Publisher Network (http://publisher.yahoo.com/), we little guys were just tough out-of-luck if we wanted to sell our advertising space through a larger network of advertisers.
I remember having a website that was finally serving one thousand unique page views per day, or 30,000 page views per month. I remember thinking that it was time for me to see whom I could sell advertising space. So, I started doing my research.
I looked at one advertising network, and then another, and another. Without fail, most advertising networks required one million page views per month in order for a website to participate in their network. I was just poop out of luck.
So, I started advertising space on my site to my visitors. I sold some advertising, but I did not make a living doing it. The main issue here is that the people on my site are looking to learn about travel and other things, and advertisers generally spend their time on sites learning about doing business online.
Then in 2003, it all changed with the rollout of Google Adsense. Suddenly, all I needed to do was to apply to participate in Google's program. On approval, I could add one little piece of javascript code to my website, and I could start earning money from Google immediately, by making their client's advertising available on my own website.
Finally, my information website had a method for earning money that did not require for me to spend all of my waking hours chasing one sale after another.
Some Background
When I started my first online business, I had set up an Yahoo store (http://www.yahoo.com). I did very well with it, but after a couple years, I realized that I did not want to keep doing the same thing for the rest of my life.
Three rooms of my home were committed to storing merchandise that I was buying for resale. When I made a product purchase, I had to take photos and then sit down to my computer, upload the image and make an appropriate product description. Then I had to spend all of my spare time, making new listings at Yahoo and running to the post office to ship the merchandise I had sold.
One day I realized that the reason I had started my business is to provide my family a better standard of living. I had accomplished that goal, at the cost of time with my family. I was literally working from the moment I got out of bed, until I collapsed into my bed at the end of the day.
After parting ways with Yahoo, I researched other profit models and settled on a membership site. In order to be successful with a membership website, one must be willing and able to add new good quality content to the website at least three or four times per week. That is a job in itself.
While my membership site did well monetarily, I found myself in a position similar to when I had my Yahoo store. I was spending all of my spare time with my business and not my family.
Finally, I Wrapped My Head Around The Solution
What I needed for myself was a website where I could sell other people's products and services, then let the other person handle the entire process of collecting the money and delivering the product or service. I needed to build my business in such a way that I could build my website, when I wanted to invest the time, and I could collect my checks at the end of the month.
The advertising website is the best kind of site to have when your goals are the same as mine.
So, I embarked on building a website that had information on a wide variety of topics.
Three years after I started my current website, Google launched their Adsense program. I applied to Google's Adsense program and was accepted within just a few days. I then applied my Google Adsense code to my website.
Over the years, I have been building links to my website so that people could find me. The articles and directory links have produced good traffic results for me on a consistent basis, since I started the process of building them.
The Next Lesson Can Literally Double And Triple Your Income
When you undertake to design a website that will host advertising, don't be shy about it!
• Don't stick your advertising in a corner somewhere; • Don't design your advertising to look like something other than an advertisement; • Don't be afraid to test your advertising placement; • Don't be afraid to tell people that they can buy advertising on your website; • Don't be afraid to charge good money to advertisers to have a placement on your website.
Don't be afraid and don't be shy. Your reason for putting advertising on your website is to give YOU a way to make money from your work. But, in order to keep your advertisers happy, you need to make sure that they get a good return for their investment.
When you can help your advertisers make money, then you will by extension earn money from your website. It is a beautiful concept; when I help put money in my advertiser's pockets, they put money in my pocket.
Specific Tips To Maximize Your Advertising Click-Through Rates (CTRs)
The default link color on the Internet is blue; so make the links in your advertising blue.
The default text color on the Internet is black; so make the text in your advertisement black or whatever color is the default text color on your website.
Make your advertisement block stand out from the rest of the content on the page. Putting your ads directly in your visitor's face is good. Within a text block, I have found the 300x250 to be the most effective ad block size. To see an example of the 300x250 text block in action, view my blog here: http://www.clintondouglasiv.com
Other ad block sizes that we have seen good results include: the 728x90 leaderboard, 468x60 banner, and the160x600 wide skyscraper.
Be The Next Advertising Success Story
I advised a friend of mine to make these kinds of changes on his own website. He already had great traffic, but he was not making as much money as I thought he should be making.
On my suggestion, he changed his Google ads from the bottom of his left sidebar to the main part of his pages. He told me that his CTR increased from 0.8% to 2.4%. I told him to change his ads from the 468x15 link unit to the 468x60 banner ad. He told me that his CTR increased from 2.4% to 4.7%. Then I told him to change his links from black to blue. Within just a few weeks, he reported back to me that his click-through rates jumped again, this time from 4.7% to 7.8%. He even reported that on some individual days, his new layout generated as high as 11.4% CTRs.
On my friend's website, his CTR jumped from 0.8% where it had been for a couple years, since he started using Google Adsense, to 7.8% on average. While most webmasters will see an average increase of two- to three-times, my friend has experienced a nearly tenfold (+9.75%) increase in his advertising revenue through that website.
What could you do with ten times more advertising revenue from your website? You will never know until you implement these kinds of changes on your website to increase your own advertising revenue.
If you are just starting online with your first website, you have quite a learning curve in front of you. I know that your learning curve is still long, because I have been making money online for years, and I am still learning new stuff everyday.
Every year, more people are coming online. And every year, people struggle to figure out how to tap into the economic engine powered by the Internet. The one thing that newcomers to the Internet frequently fail to realize is that those of us, who are making the most money online, spent years learning our trades.
The good news is that Internet newcomers have one major advantage that my mentors and myself did not have when we started our online enterprises. The newcomers have people like us who are willing to teach others what they have learned.
First And Most Important Lesson To Learn
There are three kinds of commercial websites on the Internet: product/service merchants, advertising providers, and non-profit websites.
Now, the Red Cross and the United Way are non-profit websites by choice and mission. But, the majority of non-profit websites on the Internet were designed to be for-profit websites, but the website owner will have been lucky to have earned enough to pay their web hosting costs.
By the end of this article, I hope that I will have provided you enough information to be able to turn any non-profit website into a profit generating machine.
Merchants sell services. They also sell products made by others or themselves. Some merchants produce their own informational books and e-books, on a wide variety of topics.
Many people make the mistake of assuming that they do not know anything of value that other people would want to know. But, that just isn't true. Call me an optimist if you will, but I believe everyone knows something that other people would be willing to pay a certain amount of money to learn.
Ii is a fact that some of the smartest online entrepreneurs I know make a lot of money by writing and selling books and e-books, on topics ranging from cryptograms (http://www.cryptogramsbylouise.com/), to how-to cure acid reflux (http://www.refluxgoneforever.com/), to finding the hero within (http://www.herosoul.com/), to how to be more successful with an online business.
I have bought many e-books and I have to say that some were better than others, but all of them helped me to learn what I needed to know in order to be successful with whatever endeavor I was undertaking.
Advertising Providers build websites with the intent of attracting a huge and loyal audience, so that advertisers will consider their website to be a good place to spend their advertising dollars.
In those dark days before Google Adsense (http://adsense.Google.com) and Yahoo's Publisher Network (http://publisher.yahoo.com/), we little guys were just tough out-of-luck if we wanted to sell our advertising space through a larger network of advertisers.
I remember having a website that was finally serving one thousand unique page views per day, or 30,000 page views per month. I remember thinking that it was time for me to see whom I could sell advertising space. So, I started doing my research.
I looked at one advertising network, and then another, and another. Without fail, most advertising networks required one million page views per month in order for a website to participate in their network. I was just poop out of luck.
So, I started advertising space on my site to my visitors. I sold some advertising, but I did not make a living doing it. The main issue here is that the people on my site are looking to learn about travel and other things, and advertisers generally spend their time on sites learning about doing business online.
Then in 2003, it all changed with the rollout of Google Adsense. Suddenly, all I needed to do was to apply to participate in Google's program. On approval, I could add one little piece of javascript code to my website, and I could start earning money from Google immediately, by making their client's advertising available on my own website.
Finally, my information website had a method for earning money that did not require for me to spend all of my waking hours chasing one sale after another.
Some Background
When I started my first online business, I had set up an Yahoo store (http://www.yahoo.com). I did very well with it, but after a couple years, I realized that I did not want to keep doing the same thing for the rest of my life.
Three rooms of my home were committed to storing merchandise that I was buying for resale. When I made a product purchase, I had to take photos and then sit down to my computer, upload the image and make an appropriate product description. Then I had to spend all of my spare time, making new listings at Yahoo and running to the post office to ship the merchandise I had sold.
One day I realized that the reason I had started my business is to provide my family a better standard of living. I had accomplished that goal, at the cost of time with my family. I was literally working from the moment I got out of bed, until I collapsed into my bed at the end of the day.
After parting ways with Yahoo, I researched other profit models and settled on a membership site. In order to be successful with a membership website, one must be willing and able to add new good quality content to the website at least three or four times per week. That is a job in itself.
While my membership site did well monetarily, I found myself in a position similar to when I had my Yahoo store. I was spending all of my spare time with my business and not my family.
Finally, I Wrapped My Head Around The Solution
What I needed for myself was a website where I could sell other people's products and services, then let the other person handle the entire process of collecting the money and delivering the product or service. I needed to build my business in such a way that I could build my website, when I wanted to invest the time, and I could collect my checks at the end of the month.
The advertising website is the best kind of site to have when your goals are the same as mine.
So, I embarked on building a website that had information on a wide variety of topics.
Three years after I started my current website, Google launched their Adsense program. I applied to Google's Adsense program and was accepted within just a few days. I then applied my Google Adsense code to my website.
Over the years, I have been building links to my website so that people could find me. The articles and directory links have produced good traffic results for me on a consistent basis, since I started the process of building them.
The Next Lesson Can Literally Double And Triple Your Income
When you undertake to design a website that will host advertising, don't be shy about it!
• Don't stick your advertising in a corner somewhere; • Don't design your advertising to look like something other than an advertisement; • Don't be afraid to test your advertising placement; • Don't be afraid to tell people that they can buy advertising on your website; • Don't be afraid to charge good money to advertisers to have a placement on your website.
Don't be afraid and don't be shy. Your reason for putting advertising on your website is to give YOU a way to make money from your work. But, in order to keep your advertisers happy, you need to make sure that they get a good return for their investment.
When you can help your advertisers make money, then you will by extension earn money from your website. It is a beautiful concept; when I help put money in my advertiser's pockets, they put money in my pocket.
Specific Tips To Maximize Your Advertising Click-Through Rates (CTRs)
The default link color on the Internet is blue; so make the links in your advertising blue.
The default text color on the Internet is black; so make the text in your advertisement black or whatever color is the default text color on your website.
Make your advertisement block stand out from the rest of the content on the page. Putting your ads directly in your visitor's face is good. Within a text block, I have found the 300x250 to be the most effective ad block size. To see an example of the 300x250 text block in action, view my blog here: http://www.clintondouglasiv.com
Other ad block sizes that we have seen good results include: the 728x90 leaderboard, 468x60 banner, and the160x600 wide skyscraper.
Be The Next Advertising Success Story
I advised a friend of mine to make these kinds of changes on his own website. He already had great traffic, but he was not making as much money as I thought he should be making.
On my suggestion, he changed his Google ads from the bottom of his left sidebar to the main part of his pages. He told me that his CTR increased from 0.8% to 2.4%. I told him to change his ads from the 468x15 link unit to the 468x60 banner ad. He told me that his CTR increased from 2.4% to 4.7%. Then I told him to change his links from black to blue. Within just a few weeks, he reported back to me that his click-through rates jumped again, this time from 4.7% to 7.8%. He even reported that on some individual days, his new layout generated as high as 11.4% CTRs.
On my friend's website, his CTR jumped from 0.8% where it had been for a couple years, since he started using Google Adsense, to 7.8% on average. While most webmasters will see an average increase of two- to three-times, my friend has experienced a nearly tenfold (+9.75%) increase in his advertising revenue through that website.
What could you do with ten times more advertising revenue from your website? You will never know until you implement these kinds of changes on your website to increase your own advertising revenue.
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