The LuxMob Info Tags

Fishing in Alaska is a dream come true for many an angler. The air and environment is clear and beautiful. The water is sparkling and what lies in that water is what has hundreds of people flocking to the state for the best fishing of their life. It is not unheard of to land a 35 pound King Salmon here and you will be amazed at the fish that are teaming in the waters.

In fact, you can catch that king salmon at up to weights of 50 pounds! You’ll also find huge fish including halibut, northern pike, Graylings, shiner perch, sturgeon, herring, and many, many more. Cod, walleye, flounder, crabs and shrimp are just teaming for you.

As for where to find them, you will need to check out the southeast region of Alaska. There are many locations to fish here and you can target just the fish species you are after. This is a warmer winter area of Alaska as well. But, still summers are cool and excellent for getting halibut on the move. Salmon migrate here to spawn and you’ll find a wide range of trout here too. Head to the locations between Bristol Bay and Cooper River where you’ll find many fish. You can also fish the coastal waters for halibut and ocean fish.

Make sure to check out Lower Cook Inlet. This is a popular location where you will be able to find Dolly Varden, a type of salmon. You’ll also find trout too in this area. You can dig for clams or fish for halibut and salmon off the coast. Another excellent location is in the Western and arctic regions. You’ll catch your fill of trout, pike, graylings, char and burbot here.

What To Take With You

Of course you will need your rods, freshwater and saltwater depending on where you head. Make sure to take twice as much tackle than you think you’ll need. Flies, weights, lures, a net, fishing line of several types, as well as pliers, waders, maps, and a compass are also necessary. Make sure to stock your first aid kit and include enough water in case you can leave the fish! For clothing, don’t forget you are in Alaska and you do need warm clothing, a fishing vest, sunglasses, hiking books, bug repellent and sunscreen. Check on getting the right fishing licenses too. Don’t forget your camera because these are truly some amazing locations not to mention the size of fish you’ll catch!

For bait, take a wide range of live bait. This could be prawns, night crawlers, crayfish, and razor fish. Look for frozen baits too. In artificial, take with you a wide range including lures, flies, streamers, spoons and spinners. Go for natural bit from the area if you can. You’ll find plenty of locations to purchase it in the area and of course you can find your own if you like. Don’t over bait though.

When heading off to fish in Alaska, it’s often wise to take with you a professional or to book a tour. These individuals can help you find the hidden locations where your fish are lurking. And, they can make sure that you see some of the best fish out there. Take the time to check out a few locations online and insure the organization’s quality. Then, head to the beautiful Alaskan country to get in some of the best fishing of your life.

Niall Pesci is a keen fisherman who is always looking at new tools to help him catch more fish. Visit Fish Finder Review for more information and great deals to help you find fish finders or other GPS and Sonar marine navigation systems. www.fish-finder-review.com

This article may be reprinted in full so long as the resource box and the live links are included intact. All rights reserved. Copyright Fish-Finder-Review.com

As a general rule of thumb, I’m very easy going on my students when they are learning street-fighting martial arts.

I don’t push them too far, too fast…and I don’t put enormous amounts of pressure on them and try to make them “crack.”

However, one thing that really ticks me off…that I sometimes even raise my voice over…is when someone only practices and works on their favorite area of combat.

I don’t care if it’s kick boxing, grappling, weapons, mass attack, whatever.

Because if there is a “cardinal sin” of street-fighting, martial arts and self defense, it’s only developing your favorite moves and skills and ignoring everything else.

Why do I say this?

Because in a real fight, you never know who you’re going to be up against, or what the situation is going to be.

You have to be ready for everything and anything. If you excel at grappling, for example, but blow off learning weapons fighting, what are you going to do when
someone pulls a knife on you?

You’ve got to be ready and comfortable with all areas of combat or you’re going to get hurt, crippled, even killed in a real fight.

Now, I realize people have their favorite moves and techniques, and that’s fine. But you have to keep up with everything else you learn, too.

In other words…if you want to be someone who can truly take care of business on the street, then you must train in everything, gain experience in everything, but show commitment to nothing.

What is it?

Most people are familiar w/ NetMeeting and other software that let you talk to others over the internet. VOIP is similar. However, it also uses your phone - the interface we’re all familiar with.

Instead of connecting your phone to the wall, you connect it to a box either the VOIP company provides or you buy on your own. This is the modem. You need highspeed/broadband internet for this. Your modem plugs into your cable/dsl modem and now it can ‘talk’ btwn your phone and the internet.

Your phone lines already do pretty much what VOIP does, just w/ different/older technology (well, some of it’s new w/ optics and such, but…).

How hard is it to setup?

It’s actually very easy. Assuming you have the company send you a modem or you buy a kit at the store, you simply plug the modem btwn your current cable/dsl modem and your computer (e.g., the out from your cable modem now goes to the new box and the out from that to your computer). It also has a phone jack for your regular phone.

Once it is on, it will boot up and configure itself.

What are the benefits?

There are many benefits depending on the company you go w/, but here are a few I have (all of these are free w/ the monthly fee- $14.99 for my setup):

1. Features like caller id, call waiting, call waiting caller id, call forwarding, etc.

2. Voicemail

3. Email alerts for new voicemail.

4. Web access to voicemail - you can play your messages on your computer.

5. Auto-forward - if the phone is ever down or isn’t answered, it’s auto-routed to another number

6. Online management of all features, settings, account, etc.

7. Computer dialing - highlight any number on your computer, hit F6 and it sets up the call from your phone to theirs - very convinient!

8. Keep your regular phone (you don’t need a voip phone)

There are some other cool features available for extra $ like the softphone which lets you use your computer as a phone w/o the modem - this means you can take your laptop w/ you wherever and you have your phone w/ the same phone number everywhere too (you can do this w/o the softphone, but you have to take your VOIP modem around w/ you - not bad if you’re going somewhere for a longer trip).

Another really cool thing is the virtual phone numbers. You can get extra numbers that ring the same phone, but they are local numbers to any area code you want. So if I live in Dallas and have family in New York, I can get a local phone number here and there. That way my family in New York can call a local number (free) and talk to me! Vonage charges $4.99/month for that. I’m not sure about the others.

And the biggest benefit - IT’S CHEAP! I pay $14.99 plus some tax and such, but not the ump-teen taxes, charges, fees, etc. like the phone company charges.

Also, if you do a little research/reading, you can set it up to where every phone jack in your house is wired for VOIP. It’s little more than plugging the output of your VOIP modem into the wall jack you already have. Very little more.

Bottom Line

You get lots of good, free features and options for doing/managing a lot more including a lot over the web and it’s SO much cheaper (at least it is for me!). Being the ‘average guy’ I am, I don’t really use all the features. Fortunately, it’s pretty much a ’set it up and forget about it’ type thing except that I save $40+/month w/ it!

I use Vonage b/c that’s what I was told about first and it was one of the first. There are others and I’m sure they have their strengths, but Vonage has the cheapest base option at the time I did my research.

Bear Cahill is a software engineer in the Dallas, TX area and runs a few websites: The Armchair Geek (thearmchairgeek.com), Webpage Hosting Info (webpagehostinginfo.com), Go To College Online (gotocollegeonline.com) and The Video Exchange Community (videoexchange.org)

Publish freely if this resource box is included and links maintained as links.

Personal debt is not only a very common problem in Western countries; it is a very difficult problem to prevent, or overcome, at an individual level. It is, indeed, very personal. For that reason, many people may want to keep quiet about it, and maybe not even tell close family that there is, or is about to be, a money problem. They would probably benefit from some help, but who do they go to for debt advice?

Prior to actually receiving debt advice, most people will go through three phases: Firstly, acceptance that there is a debt problem; Secondly, deciding whether to seek advice from a third party about the problem; and Thirdly finding out where to get advice and then seeking it.

Acceptance of a Debt Problem

Personal debt is something that many people may not even be aware of as a problem, even when it is. They may be in a revolving debt situation, whereby they keep borrowing more to make repayments on existing loans and credit card debts. As each facility reaches its maximum, they may seek another credit card, to add another creditor to their revolving debt cycle. Eventually, the debt roundabout stops, and creditors come after their money. If acceptance of the problem has not be there before, suddenly a person may be forced into acceptance.

Deciding Whether to Seek Debt Advice

Once the debt problem is accepted, or acknowledged, by an individual, they then have to decide if they need to seek advice.

Some people may be aware that they have a problem, and for a variety of reasons, may think that they can get by without any outside advice. They may think they do not need help as they can sort the problem out themselves. It is also quite common for some people to be too ashamed and embarrassed to admit that they have a debt problem, especially if they live in a country where being in debt has a social stigma attached to it, such as the UK. Others may just think that getting debt advice is either too expensive, or that they will be conned out of their money, or both.

Eventually, though, the weight of the debt burden forces most people to consider seeking advice on their debt situation. The pressures from creditors may become so overwhelming that even the most reluctant may seek some sort of expert debt advice or counseling.

Who Can Provide Debt Advice?

The next stage can be as difficult for many people as the earlier two: finding somebody appropriate, trustworthy and knowledgeable, who can be relied on to provide sound financial advice in a way that benefits you, and will help you extricate yourself from the burden of debt.

As with any problem, it is best to share with those close to you; indeed, with debt, they may well be affected anyway, so they should know. While you have been quietly suffering with debt worries and keeping it to yourself, your spouse or close friend may know somebody who can give free and useful advice, as well as share the emotional burden.

Should there be nobody in your close circle who is able to give you useful advice, which is normally the case, then you need to consider your local options.

The local options for debt counseling and advice will depend on where you live. The local laws may vary greatly, and it is important that you consult somebody who is aware of current regulations on consumer debt, and the treatment of debtors by creditors. That way, you may have your worries eased about your creditors coming to your house, and taking your possessions as a way of recovering their money. You will be aware of any legal protection you may have in your country or state, and act accordingly to protect yourself.

For those who live in the UK, there is a free option for debt advice: the Citizen’s Advice Bureau (CAB). The CAB have specially trained people who concentrate mainly on consumer credit counseling work. They will provide the advice you need on your rights, help you assess the debts, and then write to your creditors on your behalf. Having an advisor who will contact your creditors, and deal with them on your behalf, can reduce the personal pressure enormously.

In other countries, options will vary. What can discourage many from seeking advice about their debt problem is a fear that they will be cheated by an unscrupulous counsellor. Debt is an industry that, unfortunately, does attract some who prey on the unfortunate. They may lure customers with claims of being able to clear a bad credit record, when in fact it is not possible to do so. They may tempt people in bad debt with consolidation loans, demand a high up front payment, and then get a high commission on the loan as well.

Such sharks are quite easy to avoid if you shop around for the best counselling services at a reasonable cost. The following tips may help wherever you live:

1. Check with local and central government agencies to see if there are any free debt advice services. If not, ask if there is a licensing system for legitimate advisors, and stick to those.

2. Be wary of outrageous claims to clear your debt, and requests for large upfront payments.

3. If you decide a consolidation loan may help, shop around carefully, and select the lowest interest rate option, with no upfront charges.

Once you have found an advisor, be sure to take their advice, and co-operate in every way you can to allow them to improve your debt situation. It will be worthwhile in the long run.

This consumer credit counseling article was written by Roy Thomsitt, owner author of the Eliminate Credit Card Debt Now website.

Targeted traffic (or the lack of it) is what determines the success or failure of any commercial website. A site can receive thousands of visitors per day and still fail if most of that traffic isn’t targeted.

What is targeted traffic?

Have you ever clicked on a link or an ad only to discover that the site you land on has nothing to do with what you thought it would? Have you ever been redirected to another website that offers something you aren’t interested in?

If so, your visit to those websites consisted of untargeted traffic because you simply weren’t interested in the item(s) being sold on those sites. You got there expecting one thing but found something different. Or even worse, maybe you got there without even knowing you were going there.

Receiving targeted traffic simply means receiving visitors who are pre-qualified because they clicked on an ad or link that accurately describes your site and/or what it has to offer. If someone clicks on your ad that explains how you sell high quality auto parts, the chances are very high that he/she is actually interested in auto parts, perhaps even looking to buy some!

But if someone clicks on your link that describes auto parts only to discover that your site actually sells golf balls, you not only have just received an untargeted (and probably upset) visitor who has no intention of buying your product, you have also wasted valuable bandwidth and possibly advertising fees!

How to get targeted traffic to your website

Obtaining targeted traffic is simple, but it isn’t easy. Here are a few great ways.

1. Exchange links with other websites that specialize in the same thing you offer. Many webmasters are reluctant to do this because they see it as linking to their competitors. Such an attitude is misguided and short-sighted.

Why? Suppose you have a link for your auto parts site on another auto parts site. Anyone who clicks that link is obviously interested in auto parts and is very likely to buy. Traffic simply cannot get more targeted than this!

But if you’re like many webmasters, you’re probably thinking “But I’ll be sending my precious visitors to a competitor’s website!”.

Yes, that’s true. But your competitor will also be sending his precious visitors to your website! It all balances out in the end.

In reality, it more than balances out because the THEMED inbound link to your website boosts your search engine rankings, which in itself brings you even more targeted traffic from the search engines!

In a nutshell, if done properly, exchanging links with your competitors will always results in a net increase in targeted website traffic and sales! Always!

2. Buy advertising space on high-traffic, relevant websites and ezines. If you sell auto parts, a great place to advertise would be on a site or in a newsletter that reviews autos/auto parts.

3. Build an effective pay-per-click advertising campaign for your main keywords. And be sure to use relevant synonyms to bring in the most targeted traffic possible.

4. Write articles that provide valuable information about the items you sell, then offer those articles to other webmasters for free to place on their site as long as they include your link in the article.
For example, if you sell auto parts you can write an article explaining how to properly pick out high quality auto parts and offer to let other auto parts sites to publish it along with your link.

5. Create an ebook about auto parts with your link on each page and give it away for free. You can even offer to let other webmasters give it away for free (as a bonus, for example)! These ebooks get passed down time and again, extending your website’s reach and boosting its targeted traffic to ever higher levels.

6. Buy Targeted Redirected Traffic from www.BuyExpiredDomainTraffic.com. This high quality targeted traffic is redirected from expired domains and not from popups/unders. Your website will be seen in full page view by real people interested in your product or service and it is the only site they see.

Conclusion:

Lots of targeted traffic is essential for the success of any commercial website. On the other hand, untargeted traffic is very expensive (in more ways than one) regardless of how cheap it is, and it does nothing for your bottom line.

If you’ll spend your valuable time building a great website and getting lots of targeted traffic to it, you’ll enjoy great success in your web-based enterprise!

Kevin Dube
http://www.BuyExpiredDomainTraffic.com

Poison ivy is found throughout southern Canada and most of the United States except Alaska and Hawaii. It is readily found along road sides, fences, railroads, and streams. But it can also be found in your own back yard. It is planted there in bird droppings from the birds who eat the berries of the plant.

So how does one get rid of the rash producing plant? Here are some tips:

• Poison Ivy control is most effective May through July while the plants are flowering.

• Pulling out the plant with rubber gloves is temporarily effective but the plants roots will regrow.

• Never burn it as the smoke from the burning plant can cause very serious respiratory and eye problems.

• Mowing the plant will eventually kill it but be sure to use a mower with a collection bag and don’t touch the remains when emptying it. This method will take several years to completely eradicate the plant from your yard.

• Don’t use a weed-eater as that will only spread the broken pieces of the plant everywhere. Dried poison ivy is just as poisonous as fresh. It is said that even 100 year old leaves can still cause a reaction.

• Suffocation with black plastic has been known to work. This too takes time.

• An organic method consists of spraying the plant with salt water. A ratio of one cup salt to a gallon of water with a few drops of liquid soap added to help the mixture adhere to the plant.

• Broadleaf herbicides work but will kill any neighboring plants. Usually poison ivy is intertwined among plants that you want to keep, including trees. Using selective herbicides like Roundup can be applied to the plant stems as they are cut off to prevent resprouting.

No matter what control method you use, be careful to avoid exposing your skin to the plant. Wear gloves, long pants, socks and shoes, and a long-sleeved shirt.

For more information about ridding your yard and garden of this pesky plant:

http://www.apluswriting.net/garden/poisonivy.htm

Copyright: 2005 Marilyn Pokorney

REQUIREMENTS FOR REPRINT: You have permission to publish this article free of charge in your e-zine, newsletter, ebook, print publication or on your website ONLY if it remains unchanged and you include the copyright and author information (Resource Box) at the end. You may not use this article in any unsolicited commercial email (spam).

You may retrieve this article by:

Autoresponder: poisonivy@getresponse.com

Website: http://www.apluswriting.net/articles/poisonivy.txt

Please leave the resource box intact with an active link, and send a courtesy copy of the publication in which the article appears to: marilynp@nctc.net

About The Author

Marilyn Pokorney

Freelance writer of science, nature, animals and the environment.

Also loves crafts, gardening, and reading.

Website: http://www.apluswriting.net

marilynp@nctc.net

Valentine’s Day approaches — that time of year when lovers (and wannabe’s) are frantic, wondering whether to splurge on the heart-shaped box of chocolates, over-priced flowers, or the predictable greeting cards. Ever wonder how the madness all got started?

The history of Valentine’s Day began with the ancient Festival of Lupercalia which honored the founding of Rome. To insure the fertility of the land, the festival also celebrated the erotic love that was the special domain of Juno, the Roman goddess of love and marriage. The month February was even named in her honor — the word comes from the Latin word “febres”, meaning feverish or febrile.

Held on the hillside near the Lupercallus (”Wolf-Cave”), where Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were raised as infants by a pack of wolves, the festivities were held on February 15 each year. Led by a pagan priest, the activities included “whipping” all the women to ensure their fertility.

Another part of the celebration involved a lottery in which the names of the unmarried females were drawn by the eligible bachelors and the couples were paired for the following year to honor the goddess Juno — obviously a prototype of matchmaker.com.

Turn the clock forward to the third century and you find Claudius II serving as the Emperor of Rome, which by that time had seen its glory days and was now being threatened on its borders by the Goths.

Claudius had a problem on his hands. He definitely needed his army to be at full strength. He felt that married men weren’t very good soldiers, given their tendency to go A.W.O.L. when it was time to harvest the crops or whenever they felt the urge for a conjugal visit.

So concerned was the Emperor that he used his authority to ban the practice of marriage. And he banned the Festival of Lupercalia as well, since it was obviously contributing to the high incidence of marriage that seemed to be destroying his militia.

For the first time, the pagan Emperor and the growing Christian church found themselves on the same side of an argument. The Church was also opposed to the pagan festival of Lupercalia, objecting to its lustfulness, and especially the practice of the lottery.

Yet it was a dangerous time to be a Christian priest. A parish priest named Valentine was part of the Christian underground and, in defiance of the Emperor’s edict, continued to marry couples in secret. He was soon found out and carried off to prison.

There must have been something very “special” about Valentine. The Emperor himself supposedly took the time to visit him in prison and tried to convert him to the worship of the ancient pagan deities. He failed miserably, and Valentine was executed on the February 14, in the year 270.

Church policy in dealing with the ancient religions often included a strategy of incorporating, rather than just banning, the pagan traditions. And it proved to be an effective strategy. Many of our contemporary holiday rituals and traditions are actually based on ancient pagan celebrations.

Anxious to end the lusty Lupercalia that they saw as a “festival of the flesh”, the Church was a bit more subtle than the Emperor in their approach to getting rid of it. Having a “Saint’s Day” celebration for the martyred Valentine, and holding it a day earlier than the pagan festival, was a clever idea indeed.

But like so many other holidays, Valentine’s Day was co-opted once more, this time by secular, commercial interests. And so today we find ourselves sending valentines to all sorts of people, even those for whom we haven’t the slightest marital, romantic, or lustful feelings . . . and wonder where all the passion in our lives has gone.

Sharon Turnbull, Ph.D., is the editor of The Goddess Path, a
free monthly ezine that combines mythology, archetypal psychology, personal growth and just plain fun. She is also the creator of the popular online personality assessments, The Goddess Quiz and The Greek Gods Quiz. You can visit her websites at:
http://www.goddessgift.com and http://www.god-goddess.com

One day I was talking with one of the technicians at Lanier
named Bill Wilbur. We were talking about why people paid more
for some things than others did. Bill said something that I
never will forget; “You can’t pay too much for something you
really want!” Over the years I have found this statement to be
right on the money. If this is the case then how do you get your
prospect to really want your product? The answer is simple. Get
them to see your product solving a major problem for them. How
do you do this? The key is asking the right PAIN questions.

When you go to the doctor they don’t immediately start trying to
sell you on the benefits of what they are going to prescribe.
Before a doctor can help you with your PAIN he has to ask you
diagnostic questions. A great salesperson is like a great
doctor. They know how to ask great diagnostic questions. One of
things I have done to help myself with formulating diagnostic
questions is to use the acronym PAIN. PAIN stands for problem,
anxiety, interests, and needs.

PROBLEMS

Every business in America has problems. For some businesses,
cash flow is a major problem. For other businesses, declining
revenues can be the challenge they are trying to deal with. If
you walk into an appointment with a list of PAIN questions you
significantly increase your odds of success. Ask yourself before
you walk into an appointment, “If I were the CEO of XYZ Company,
what problems would I most likely be faced with?” If possible
talk to vendors you know who call on the account, to see if they
can give you any insight into what problems that company might
be facing.

ANXIETY

A great way to set up PAIN questions is to say to the prospect,
“Because I want to truly become your partner, one of the things
I want to discover is what keeps you up at night?” What keeps
people up at night is what they are anxious about. It may be
meeting the next payroll or paying for a product that has
already been sold. The more anxious your prospect becomes the
greater your chances of an immediate sale.

INTERESTS

Just as you can fairly accurately predict what problems a
business may face, you can also predict what interest they may
have. If you are calling on an automobile dealership chances are
fairly high that they will be interested in trends in the oil
industry. Prices of oil and gas can have a direct impact on car
sales. If you are calling on a shipping company, governmental
regulations can impact their bottom line and profitability.
Being able to discuss outside influences on a particular
industry will separate you from your competition that is selling
only the features of their product.

NEEDS

What is the difference between a want and a need? A want is
something you would like to have whereas a need is something you
have to have. A Company may want a new phone system but be
unable to justify the expense. If you can show a company how
they are losing customers and therefore revenue, then that same
phone system can become a need. Look for ways in which your
product can directly impact revenue or expenses and then you can
show how your product is needed.

I’M NOT FEELING VERY SICK!

A great exercise for a salesperson is to role-play asking PAIN
questions. Have a third person announce after every question how
sick they perceive the prospect is. I might ask a question such
as “How is your business going right now?” To this question the
prospect responds “Pretty well.” At this point I haven’t
uncovered any PAIN and the third person might respond, “Looks
like they are feeling fine to me.” Keep trying until you start
to get comments like, “Uh oh, they’re looking pretty sick.”

TWO REASONS YOU MAKE EVERY DECISION IN YOUR LIFE

Many years ago I attended a training session in Atlanta, Georgia
for IBM. The focus of the training was “Why people buy?” What we
learned is that people make decisions for one of two reasons.
The first reason people make a decision is to avoid PAIN or
because they are afraid they will lose something if they don’t
make the decision. If I am afraid my car is going to keep
breaking down and I may lose my job I may look at buying a new
car. The second reason people make a decision is because they
feel they may gain from the decision. If I am twenty-two years
old and want to look good to the opposite sex, I may also look
at buying a car.

A helpful exercise for a salesperson is to list some of the
negative consequences a prospect may face if they don’t buy your
product. Converse to that, it may be helpful to list some of the
things a prospect may gain if they do buy from you.

WHO IS IN CONTROL?

Most salespeople feel like it is important to control sales
calls. Many times I have asked a salesperson after a call “How
do you think that went?” To this they reply, “I though it went
great.” Then I will ask, “Why do you think so?” Full of
excitement they will say, “Well, it seemed like they really
liked the frame relay we discussed, and the Internet, and the
long distance, and local services, etc.” Then I’ll ask, “Who do
you think was in control of this appointment?” Once again, with
excitement, they will say “Oh I was.” “Who did most of the
talking?” The salesperson replies, “I guess I did.” Finally it
begins to sink in. THE PERSON WHO ASKS THE QUESTIONS IS IN
CONTROL OF THE APPOINTMENT!

GOAL OF A SALES CALL

Your goal as a salesperson should be to find out as much about
the prospect as you possibly can while talking as little as you
can. When I was in high school a very successful local business
man in Panama City, Florida, Tommy Thomas, would give every
graduating senior a copy of the book How to Get Control of Your
Time and Your Life. He said that the number one reason he did
this was because the book clearly communicated the message, “The
person who asks the questions is in control.” Most salespeople
suffer from the old school mentality that sales is “show up and
throw up.” Provide people with so much information they will
have to buy. Invest time getting to know your client.

One of the most exciting things about being in the profession of
sales is the opportunity to learn about so many different types
of businesses. Learn as much as you possibly can about the
clients you are working with. People can sense when you are
genuinely interested in them and their business. Whether you are
in a one call close business or a one-year close business treat
each appointment as a chance to learn something about your
client’s business.

MAKE THEM SICK AND THEN MAKE THEM WELL

The better a salesperson becomes at finding PAIN, the more sales
they will make. Given a choice between a salesperson that can
ask great questions and a salesperson that has great closing
skills, I will take the salesperson with great questions any day.

EXAMPLES OF GREAT PAIN QUESTIONS

Ø What are the greatest challenges you are currently faced with?

Ø If you could recreate your company, how would it look?

Ø What’s the most important priority in you job today?

Ø What other issues are important to you?

Ø How did you get involved in…?

Ø What major projects do you have coming up in the next few
months?

Ø How do you see us moving forward in the best way?

Ø What other items do you feel we should discuss?

Ø What is it that you would like to see accomplished?

ADVANTAGES TO GREAT QUESTIONS

Ø Questions help find PAIN and bring it to the surface.

Ø Finding the PAIN is the foundation of the sales process.

Ø Questions give the salesperson time to think.

Ø Allows the salesperson to be in control of the meeting.

Ø People respect people who can ask great questions.

Ø Helps identify any influencers or decision-makers not in
meeting.

Ø Lets the salesperson know what the prospect is thinking.

BECOME A PARTNER

If I asked you to become a partner in my business what is one of
the first things you would do? You would ask questions to find
out more about my business. If you approach each prospect as a
potential partner then the same thing is true. Sometimes one of
the best things you can do is ask the client tough questions
about how they do business. Many times I will ask a potential
client “If I were a potential customer of yours why wouldn’t I
want to do business with you?” The prospect may feel
uncomfortable with the question but they usually understand the
logic behind it. Do not be afraid to ask tough questions. You
may just end up with the keys to the kingdom!

How are you progressing with the goals you set yourself this year?

Have you made a start? Or are you still thinking about it or caught the very popular “I’m too busy” epidemic?

Mary’s Story

Mary runs her own publishing company employing 5 people. She is married with two teenagers.

When I first met Mary she told me how stressed out she was trying to juggle work and home effectively.

Her business although surviving (just) could have achieved major growth except for one major factor… Mary. She was very disorganised and ran her business that way.

Mary was always complaining about the pressures of running her business and having a life. I suggested to her that by having personal coaching she would dramatically improve her situation…guaranteed, providing she actioned the ideas, insights and solutions she would gain through the process.

She’s A ‘Gunna’

Mary was a ‘gunna’. She was ‘gunna’ do this and ‘gunna’ do that. Unfortunately all she can and still does do is talk about it. She won’t make a decision. Money wasn’t the issue, after all she had invested thousands of dollars attending an American guru’s week long “life changing” bootcamp. She thought that would be her “magic lifechanging pill”. Unfortunately Mary did not action what she had learned. She got caught up in her chaotic life immediately on her return.

It’s interesting to note that many people believe that the more they spend on some of these seminars, the better the results will be.

What they forget to factor into the equation is themselves.

The Latest Crisis

I have spoken with her a few times and suggested the best course of action to take and she always responds with “not right now, I have this to do and that to do (and everything else to do)”. Mary always procrastinates and says to call her back in a few weeks’ time when the current major crisis should be over.

One month her database was completely wiped out. It had mistakenly been deleted by a temporary assistant she had hired. Of course there was no back up. It took many hours to reproduce it.

Mary had to hire an extra person for the next month to establish a new database. In real terms this latest crisis cost her business thousands of dollars in lost productivity, not to mention the effect it had on her stress levels.

People often only think of having a back up when something goes wrong. They don’t worry about their own business and systems. As long as they are ‘busy’, who needs to ‘waste time’ on systems?

Specialist skills are required and they are not just acquired by experience. Mary needs to equip herself with some basic life skills so she can live and work effectively. She has to be able to put those skills into action!

At the rate she’s going, she won’t be living long enough to enjoy the years of hard work she has contributed to her business.

It’s been a couple of years since we first spoke and I’d forgotten all about Mary until I bumped into one of her former employees who had stayed with her for six months. Jan told me it was extremely stressful and unrewarding working for Mary. She could never complete her work as her duties were always changing. Mary made promises to clients which she would often break and Jan, being her personal assistant was the person the clients would go to make sure the work was done on time. She was also the key person who kept the peace with the rest of the staff.

Jan had given Mary one month’s notice when she handed in her resignation, so Mary had plenty of time to find a replacement.

When Jan left, Mary still hadn’t found a replacement as she left it to the week before Jan exited to advertise the position. Of course she did all the recruiting herself, advertised in the local paper and had 50 replies. No doubt she wasted the next month interviewing suitable applicants.

When Is The Right Time?

When is the right time to take action? Is it at Christmas, the new year, the beginning of the financial year, when you’ve got nothing else to do, when your spouse leaves you, when your business is on its last legs, when the kids finally go to school, when the boss leaves or when you become so sick from the stress of your life that you cannot get out of bed?

The Final Word

Henry Ford said “The hardest work known to man is thinking”. I say “the second hardest work known to man is taking action”.

About The Author

Lorraine Pirihi, principal of The Office Organiser (http://www.office-organiser.com.au) is Australia’s Personal Productivity Coach

Lorraine specialises in working with businesspeople showing them how to dramatically boost their productivity, reduce the stress and the mess in their lives and have more time for enjoying their life.

We Offer a Broad Range of Services and Products including: Coaching for small business owners and professionals, keynote presentations and workshops, books, CD’s, DVD’s and on-line learning programs.

Take action today! Contact Lorraine to discuss your specific needs at lorraine@office-organiser.com.au

Digestion is the process of breaking down and distributing food throughout the body. The digestive system comprises of the mouth and teeth at one end and the anus at the other. Between these two extreme ends, a long tube like structure with different names and different functions process the food materials into a usable form. One among them, the esophagus passes through the chest and joins the mouth to the stomach. The stomach extends to the small intestine or small bowel, which is a narrow long tube through which most of the food absorption into the bloodstream takes place.

Let’s start our study with our mouth, which is the starting point of the process of digestion. It’s there that the mechanical breaking down of food takes place due to chewing and the release of saliva from the salivary glands, whose ducts enter the mouth. The importance of chewing is normally ignored by the general public is merely taken for granted. Nevertheless, proper digestion necessitates extensive chewing, so that food is converted in to a liquid form before it is swallowed. Without proper chewing, undigested food particles may find a place in the stool. The presence of enzymes in the saliva helps to break down complex carbohydrates into simple sugars. Therefore, it is always advisable to chew your foods well, as this will lead to healthier teeth and gums and better digestion.

Some of the vital parts of the lower digestive system consist of the pancreas, the small intestine and the large intestine. The appendix, the rectum, and the anus are positioned below these organs. All of the lower digestive organs play a part in processing food. In the absence of lower digestive organs, the human body would not be able to receive the required nutrients. Chemical digestion and the wave like movement, called peristalsis, occur in the lower digestive system.

It is these lower digestive organs that mix nutrients with digestive juices such as pancreatic and intestinal juices and take in the nutrients from the food. The pancreas supplies pancreatic juices and is then passed into the small intestine. The walls of the small intestine produce intestinal juices. Digestive juices constitute of enzymes that allow the process of digestion to speed up. The foods we eat are mainly made up of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins, in which enzymes break down to simpler parts. The fats are reconstituted to glycerol and fatty acids. The carbohydrates, which are also known as sugars and starches, are broken down into simple sugars while the proteins are broken down into amino acids. After this, all these particles are taken or absorbed into the bloodstream. During the process of digestion of amino acids, they are separated and get absorbed into the body cells. These separated amino acids are put into use for building body proteins.

Certain things like water, vitamins, and minerals need not to be digested, only absorbed. At the end of the process, the remaining food substances are converted into feces. The process that involves the feces occurs in the large intestine, the rectum, and the anus. The appendix is placed in the same area as the large intestine, the rectum, and the anus. The pancreas, without doubt, is an essential organ in the human body. It’s a gland that is approximately five to six inches long and is located behind the stomach. The pancreas creates important digestive juices composed of enzymes, which breakdown fats, proteins, acids, carbohydrates, and bicarbonates.

The pancreas is encircled by blood vessels that pump out the hormones glucogen and insulin into the blood. These glucagons make glycogen to change into glucose at a high rate. Another pancreatic hormone, insulin helps glucose to enter into the body cells. It also controls the blood sugar and avoids it from building up. If the pancreas could not turn out the insulin, then the result is diabetes, a sugar build up.

Another essential organ, the small intestine absorbs nutrients from foods and sends them into the blood stream. The small intestine can be further divided into three sections; the duodenum, jejunum, and ileum. It is at duodenum that, partially digested food and chemicals directly enter from the stomach. The section jejunum absorbs nutrients into the blood stream. At ileum, the left over nutrients are absorbed into the blood stream. The small intestine is 18-23 feet long in the average adult and is in the shape of a long coiled looped tube. A type of movement that occurs in the small intestine called peristalsis moves food slowly through the small intestine. These wavelike movements occur once in a while thus, allowing nutrients to be absorbed.

The large intestine, named also as colon, takes control of the food, the water and the fiber that the small intestine is unable to break down. After that, bacteria convert the waste into feces. During this time, vitamins B and K are formed for the body. The feces then proceed through the digestive system towards the anal canal. The rectum gathers and holds the feces until it is ready to be expelled by the body.

About The Author: Kevin Lynch is the owner of My Health n Fitness website, which has tons of resources with a variety of information, news, blogs and more.