November 10, 2008

How to Take the Stress out of Choosing Christmas Gifts

Filed under: Online Shopping Resources, Collectors Corner, Guidance — admin @ 5:31 pm

Christmas shopping can be a very stressful time for people, especially if they have dozens of people to buy gifts for and hundreds of things to do before the holiday season starts.
The best way to manage this is to make a list of all the people you need to buy gifts for well in advance of Christmas. You must also note down the ideas that you may have about gifts for specific people. If someone has a hobby, or is a collector these are perfect opportunities to help choose appropriate gifts, perhaps on eBay or other online auctions.
Once you have your list, take a good look at it to decide what you can buy online. Most major department stores now have online websites and look out for Christmas promotional codes for an extra saving.
Buying online means you can buy gifts without stepping outside the warmth of your home and you may also be able get these gifts wrapped and delivered to save you even more hassle.
It’s also worth considering novelty gifts for teenagers and young adults and there are plenty of options for these both online as well as in the stores. Young couples and students always need fresh fruit and vegetables check out the fruit baskets and weekly fresh produce deliveries available from online grocery stores.
Another useful Christmas shopping tactic is to group together with friends and relatives and buy a joint present. Perhaps a spa weekend break for mum and a friend too if your budget will stretch that far.
After you’ve completed your online shopping it’s time to take your list and hit the high street stores. Gifts for nieces and nephews can be easily solved in the local toy store where you should be able to find gift ideas for all of them at the same time.Large stores usually set up Christmas displays that highlight Christmas gift ideas you may like to give to your family members.
While Christmas shopping can be stressful with a little of preparation you can shop well in advance, take advantage of early bird christmas shopping discounts, and minimise those desperate last minute shopping dashes. You did remember to stock up on wrapping paper didn’t you?

May 22, 2008

Master Cleanse: Fitness Daily Liver Kidney Detox

Filed under: Medical Resources, Health Center, Guidance — admin @ 4:37 pm

Full Body Toxin Cleanse
Combine the above with removing from your diet what you know is bad for you i.e alcohol cigarettes and caffeine and you will compound the feeling of well being. However our bodies are quite remarkable and have been built in such a way as to protect itself from these harmful intruders, and diet with Master Cleanse. The toxins might not only be from processed foods or preservatives used in the food we eat daily but alcohol cigarette smoke perfume oral contraceptives cleaning supplies and pesticides! The theory behind the Detox Diet is that when toxins build up in your body sickness disease and cancer can result. Master Cleanse program is highly popular with celebrities in Hollywood. Our bodies simply cannot cope with the normal day to day ingestion of chemicals. Most these chemicals come from foods as mentioned before but also have a wide variety of other sources, which is the reason why you must be on the Master Cleanse

Why Use Master Cleanse Program
Nuts are a great source of vitamins B and E, magnesium, potassium and the invaluable antioxidant selenium while fish provides essential omega 3 oils and a good supply of protein. See more on Master Cleanse at Master Cleanse The procedure works by attracting charged toxic substances in the body and then drawing them out into the water. Apparently this method might only be effective in getting rid of charged toxins in the body which are mostly metals.

Master Cleanse Benefits:
Master Cleanse is the world most popular diet program. I always believe that if the person’s energy fields are harmonized and balanced (yin & yang) then his health will generally be good. Pregnant women should consult their doctor before attempting detox. Young children or sick people should not radically alter their diet in any way. Seek medical advice first. So, do start your master cleanse diet today. For internal cleansing we recommend a line of high-quality calcium bentonite clay products called Therapeutic Living Clay from Nature’s Body Beautiful.

April 15, 2008

Time for Change … When your basic systems no longer work for you

Filed under: Guidance — admin @ 11:41 pm

I’ve heard many clients and friends discuss how they just can’t
seem to move beyond their current situations in life. They can’t
find a better job, make more money, find happiness in
relationships, or find fulfillment. The question I usually ask
is, “What is your idea of the perfect, fulfilling situation?”
They usually sputter a few ideas then stop and realize that they
truly don’t know what it is that would bring them fulfillment.

As we grow and change, we eventually run into the outer limits
of our safety zone known as our “belief system.” The belief
system confines our existence, and consists of the knowledge and
experiences that shape who we are and what we value in our
lives. What was fulfilling, is now a burden. What was exciting,
is now boring. At this point, we must learn how to extend, or
change, our belief systems to allow us to move forward and find
new meaning and new fulfillment.

— Spheres of Belief —

A belief system can be viewed as consisting of three distinct,
yet interconnected, “spheres of belief.” Each sphere represents
an area of our lives that we maintain as our own secure zones.
Our core values and beliefs that affect our daily lives are
taken from the combination of these three spheres.

* Sphere One: The first sphere contains relationships and our
interpersonal goals. It represents our interaction with others
in our lives including family and friends. It provides us with a
foundation of security for interpersonal interaction and growth.

* Sphere Two: The second sphere contains professional goals.
This is the area of our life that supports the ability to work
toward a vision with the knowledge to provide security for
ourselves and our family.

* Sphere Three: The third and final sphere contains personal
goals. This sphere contains our knowledge and experiences that
define our personal desires, goals, and direction. This is also
the area in which we store our personal identities.

The primary benefit of building and maintaining your spheres is
that they provide a solid and definable arena in which you can
live and work comfortably. However, the problem is that,
occasionally, these spheres become too confining and eventually
limit your growth. In essence, when you hit the outer wall of
any sphere, you must determine the best way to increase the size
of the sphere to accommodate your growth and still maintain your
security.

— Establishing Core Values —

>From birth, we constantly receive information from which we
build and create a belief system and core values. The
information comes from our environment, parents, people we feel
are in authority, and various other inputs. In some cases, the
environment is positive and in others, it is negative.
Regardless, it is that with which we all learn to cope until it
is familiar and comfortable.

For example, if we grow up in a loving, family environment, then
we learn values that are essential to the creation and
establishment of a loving environment. If we grow up in a
hostile environment, then we will learn the values that are
essential to maintaining a hostile environment. People always
turn to that which is familiar, regardless of how wonderful or
harsh, because familiarity provides security and acceptance.

— Understanding Your System —

In every case, you have to understand the various information
and aspects of your life that shaped your belief system. When
your belief system no longer provides support for your direction
and desires, then you will be aware of what has shaped your
beliefs to limit you.

When you do reach the outer wall of the basic belief system, you
can become stressed, depressed, lost, and unable to move down
your path. In this case, you begin to lose hope and simply
settle into a lifestyle that is “just there” and you cannot go
beyond where your system allows you to go.

You must understand your system to change your system. This is
accomplished by examining the things that are important to you
and determining the things that have shaped your beliefs. Some
of these things, you will find, are no longer important and are
simply holding you back. Other things, of new importance, appear
just outside of your reach and cause you stress because you
cannot reach them—unless you change your system.

— Changing Your System —

It is important to realize that if you always do what you’ve
always done then you’ll always receive what you’ve always
received. To move forward and build on your current foundation,
it is important to continually reinvent yourself and make
changes to your basic belief system.

Reinventing yourself and changing your belief system does not
mean completely eliminating the things that are important. Just
as you would not quit your job without having something else
available, you cannot expect to completely eliminate your
current system and values and expect to succeed. It is a process
of changing or eliminating the things that no longer work, using
the things that are available to suit your direction, and
determining how to acquire the resources necessary to reach your
ultimate destination. It is a process that moves at your own
pace.

— What’s next? —

Once you’re able to analyze your current system and determine
where it is that you ultimately want to be, you will be able to
determine the changes necessary to create a new and workable
system for you. The next step is to implement your changes and
become proactive in your life. You will then be on your way to a
new and fulfilling life!

Good luck!

March 14, 2008

Business Boating Events

Filed under: Guidance — admin @ 11:46 pm

Ondeck Sailing have been in business as a Sailing & Powerboat School for over ten years. The recent investment they have made on Open 60 - Pindar’s means the firm has built on the existing sea school product to make available a full assortment of events aboard high performance ocean racing yachts, for skippered charter, company sailing, race charter, mile building opportunities, cruising, adventure sailing trips, ocean passages & Caribbean charter. Their principal head office is based in Portsmouth at Gunwharf Quays Marina although Ondeck Sailing & Powerboat School do work from Greenwich as well.

Boating can be a sport, hobby, personal challenge or business tool. It is greatly pleasing for all participants that are involved & Ondeck Sailing can cater for persons of all experience from absolute beginners to sailing legends.

Ondeck Sailing provides a wide & inventive selection of corporate activities, and so there can be a bit for everyone to select from. Ondeck Sailing & Powerboat School do not only offer spectating and racing at all of the key events in the corporate yachting diary, Ondeck in addition have the resources to hold outstanding racing or yachting events for corporate hospitality, rewards, celebrations, networking, team & personal building. Ondeck have details on a range of Corporate Sailing Events.

There are corporate & group watersport events that provides unique fun and can be something everyone can join in. In this type of surrounding sailing allows everyone a chance to come together & resolve issues like that of morale, teamwork and leadership all of which can support your firm. Ondeck Sailing School can organise for anything between six to 600 hundred clients & can provide a full flotilla of sailing boats & performance yachts to opt from, depending on your organisations plan.

They additionally specialise in corporate Yachting trips, where you will do a full days corporate yachting work, stopping for provisions and then concluding in corporate and group sailing matches with a number of your team members so you can see how much you have remembered.

How to Upload Photos that will Create Interest

Filed under: Guidance — admin @ 10:19 am

So, you’ve got a great profile but, so far, no one seems
interested. You’ve tried everything: enticing headlines, fun
information about yourself, everything…except a photo. Did you
know that members with profile pictures are 7 times more likely
to receive a message? A picture really is worth a thousand words.

Let’s begin: there are two ways to upload the picture.

If you know the name of your photo, you can simply type it in
the box. If you don’t know the name, however, don’t despair.
Click “Browse” and search through your files until you find what
you want. Click “Open” and that should send the photo to your
management site. Now, click “Upload”. Your picture should,
successfully, be on your profile.

There is much more to this, however, than simply loading the
picture. Here are some universally helpful hints that’ll help
you decide which photo you should use:

If it’s a profile picture, make sure it clearly shows your face.
A blurry photo or one that only shows you in the background is
not effective–showcase yourself! If you want to send a specific
message about yourself, then chose a picture that matches that
message. For example, if you say you are a funny individual but
then select a photo of you frowning, it sends mixed
messages–this can turn potential suitors away. Don’t get lost
in the crowd; never use photos with a large number of people in
them. This can confuse anyone looking at your profile. Try to
find pictures that only display you or, at most, a very small
group of people that you can easily be seen in. Rotate your
photos every few weeks; this will not only keep your profile
interesting but you can also garner attention from people who
had overlooked you before. Use recent photos. A picture of you
from college is fine….but only if you’re still that age. Most
importantly, smile!

Now, once you’ve selected that perfect picture, you might need
to scan it. Here are a few tips that can help this process run
smoothly:

When scanning your image, make sure you do a preview scan first.
This will help the scanner locate the image and ensure you only
copy the picture - not the entire scanner bed. Photocopies often
do not scan very well. If you have a scanner, it is best to scan
the original image to achieve best quality. You might want to
consider, once the image is on your computer, using the Cropping
Tool. Cropping is an excellent way to remove unnecessary and
distracting elements from your picture.

After you have selected and scanned a photo, you can upload it
onto your profile; however, there are certain guidelines to be
remembered before you post a picture. They are as follows:

The picture must be of you; do not try to pass a friend, family
member, celebrity, etc off as yourself. The picture cannot
contain any contact information; this can be potentially
dangerous. Do not include phone numbers, addresses, etc. Do not
include sexually graphic pictures; this rule covers touching
yourself or others in a sexual way (this includes masturbation),
sexual intercourse or the use of bodily fluids. Your picture can
be rejected if it is copyrighted, unless you have permission
from the original artist. Your picture can also be rejected if
it is deemed to be offensive, obscene, or violent.

The photo can, ultimately, be the most important part of your
profile; chose it wisely and see the reactions it gets!

March 8, 2008

Cure Your Addiction

Filed under: Guidance — admin @ 6:06 am

how to permanently quit addictions!!

I am a reformed alcoholic. I am a reformed chain smoker. I am an
ex-fat person. I am also not selling anything. My only wish now
is to help people by passing on my knowledge; I guess this
sounds too good to be true. When you have really nearly died a
few times, money takes on a sort of reduced role in your
thinking. Make no mistake about it, we are all going to die,
even you will die one day. When you are young this seems a long
long way away, I’m fifty now, and it sure seems a little closer
to hand than it did. So it makes sense to make the time I have
left quality time, free of drink smoking and obesity; after all
it is easier to get older if you feel fitter, than if you are
ruining your body daily. I wish I had started earlier in life,
YOU CAN.

You may think I have superhuman will-power to quit drinking and
smoking (and gambling and all other excesses). To a certain
extent that is true; I have a great deal of will power, but I
also have a method, a way of thinking, which helps.

For some reason, and it may have been a good one at the time,
you have a craving, an overpowering addiction. You love
something more than you love yourself at the present time.

Think “myself or my health.”

In this “New Labour” “Tony Blair” type world, certainly in
Britain, everything is explainable in terms of something else
more convenient. It doesn’t detract from the plain fact that the
Emporer really hasn’t got any clothes on at all. In short, it’s
not stretching the truth, it’s really a very big lie(s).

This is what you are currently doing to yourself, you are living
out a lie in order to placate yourself, in order to make what
you are doing palatable. What you are really doing is killing
yourself a lot quicker, and a lot more painfully than is really
necessary; and by and large no-one gives a damn whether you do
or you don’t; they are too busy with themselves to really and
truly bother about YOU. By and large this is correct. The few
people that possibly do care either havn’t a clue how to help,
or are simply hampered by the realisation that it is only YOU
who can cure it.

There are really no excuses: If you are drinking too much you
are a pain of a drunk. If you are smoking too much you are a
pain of a smoker. If you are gambling too much you are a
liability, just as you are if you are on drugs. You probably
nodded to all these, and felt agreement, so why don’t you
realise that you are putting an intolerable strain on the
people around you, to say nothing of the strain on the Health
Professionals.

WHY?

Because you are too self-indulgant to stop for a minute enjoying
yourselves to see if you are bothering other people, too wrapped
up in yourselves to care about others. There is no magic formula
to giving up an addiction: You stop doing what it is that is
costing you, and every one around you a fortune. You stop
paying out what you havn’t got on things YOU DON’T REALLY NEED.

To break that down further, in order to do this you will need to
changeyour whole way of life, permanently. Make no mistake, if
you are really and truly HAPPY with what you are doing, then
fine, go ahead and do it, but acknowledge that most things you
really enjoy overdoing kill you slowly, and painfully, and most
things done to excess bring attendant guilt. Stop reading now
if you don’t want to quit for good and all or else you are
wasting someone else’s bandwidth who has what it takes when you
have not got the moral fibre.

What it takes is a modicum of will-power combined with a hell of
a lot of common sense. I have had a lot of addictions, I am an
excessive natured person. I find the first step in losing any of
them is to look at them as a phase I have grown out of. I have
matured to such an extent I no longer need their crutch to carry
me onwards.

Generally speaking, most addictions are to make up for or act as
a distraction from the world as it is. We have to learn to face
up to life instead of running away from it, and hiding behind
false barriers built up on the shaky foundations of fleeting
happiness bought at great actual and mental cost via addiction.

We have to move on and grow up and mature; Much as we ourselves
look at kids and feel, “that’s wrong, but they’ll grow out of it
in time”. And they usually do, don’t they, because they see that
long-term they are better off without doing what they are
doing. Why don’t we tell them at the time? Because we know
they’ll tend to do the opposite, and that only they can learn to
be wise in the fullness of time.We can but advise, and sow the
seeds.

Thus it is with ourselves.

We have established that we can expect NO HELP FROM OTHERS. Why
should anyone else help us anyway, it’s our problem. If someone
came to you with “Ive got a terrible problem with my lawyer, and
my cat isn’t eating, my mother-in-law is being funny and I’ve
got the results of my x-rays tomorrow” you might well be a
little concerned, but I bet your first thought would really and
truly be “how can I get away as quickly as I possibly can
without causing offence? “.

So why the hell should others be expected to listen to you
bleating on about helping you to quit your problem.

IT’S YOUR PROBLEM.

Also you will never stop doing anything you really LIKE DOING.
You have to really want to stop for good and ever, not just when
you attain a certain level, because you will only gradually go
back to what you were before, a PAIN.

If you hear an alcoholic say after a year off the booze “I’m ok
for a pint now” what do you REALLY think will happen if he/she
has a pint/short?? You know as well as I do.

So really you have to :

a) Realise it is just you that matters and does anything b)
realise you have to really WANT to quit c) Realise no-one else
is going to do it for you magically. d) realise that it was a
phase you had to live through e) realise that it will definitely
kill you, very very painfully f) realise that you will have
gained from your descent into hell

There are many ways to quit addictions for different people. If
you are reading this they have probably all failed.

Wrong.

YOU HAVE FAILED. MOST of the methods work if you WANT them to
work. I suggest that you treat it as a phase of your life, and
you have learned from this phase and wish to move on and prove
to everyone that you aren’t stupid. Because anyone who knows
that something is killing them and alienating people, and still
does it, is stupid; has not learned one iota from what they have
done have not progressed one jot in their mindset.

Water, pure little tap water, fills you up and is needed more
than you think. Eighty per cent of the human body is water, so
it makes sense to drink it. This is a good start to purifying
your body and mind. Drink a few litres a day. And KEEP BUSY.

Remember, I make zero money out of this article, but it is
probably the best common sense you’ll ever read.

Most articles you will read have a hidden agenda, TO MAKE MONEY
OUT OF ADDICTED PEOPLE. If you quit forever, they’d lose your
money in the future, wouldn’t they? They plan on you quitting
EVERY YEAR. Why not just do it ONCE; I sure as hell would not
want to quit smoking and drinking on a yearly basis!!

WHAT I GAIN:

I just get to have a few more people visiting my website, if you
stop for a second or two to read this article, as I get a kick
out of getting visitors from all over the world, and seeing my
site visitor numbers rise. I guess you could think of it as an
obsession, or a phase I’ll probably grow out of in time!

But it is also very nice if you can help people, and I’ve been
places you really do not want to go, and had things done to me
you really and truly WOULD NOT LIKE. I SHOULD BE DEAD, I am not.

We all KNOW what we should and shouldn’t be doing by and large,
and no-one can make a difference but ourselves.

It is a sad fact of modern life that everyone expects to be able
to do what the hell they like and then someone will bail them
out at the last minute.

Fact is, if you don’t quit, you’ll die young, in pain and alone.

YOUR CHOICE, YOUR LIFE,

but you WILL die sooner than most.

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will teach you how to set up your website whilst slimming!!

malco may 2003

February 25, 2008

Never Sell Again: Get Repeat Business and Avoid the Need to Prospect

Filed under: Guidance — admin @ 4:54 pm

If you’re a business owner, you know that repeat business
is critical to your success. It also makes your life much
easier because you can count on ongoing business without
having to continuously find new prospects and convince them
to hire you.

Here are seven ways to keep your customers coming back:

1. Take time to build a relationship

Learn to “visit” instead of being so professional that you
appear rude. Pay attention when you meet with your
customers. Learn about them and their lives. Notice what they hang on their walls and place on their desks. And don’t just notice, comment on them. For instance, if your prospect or customer has a huge marlin hanging on his wall, you could say, “I’ll bet there’s an interesting story that goes with that fish.” Your client will be thrilled to tell you about it, and he’ll be flattered that you asked. And it would be like ignoring the elephant in the room if you DIDN’T comment on it. Learning about your customer will pay off every day of your relationship.

2. Set realistic deadlines and either meet or beat them.

Nothing impresses a client more than when you follow through
with what you say you will do. Do it fast. Do your best. And
do it right. Clients always want it “yesterday,” but if you
know it can’t be done that quickly, or it won’t be done
correctly because there’s not enough time, then speak up
right at the beginning. It’s better to set a realistic
deadline and then beat it by a day or two, than accept an
unrealistic one and make the client wait.

3. Make it easy to work with you.

Extend your service hours to cover when your customers want
to talk to you. If your business is tech support or Internet
marketing, remember that peak Net usage is 10 pm. If you’re
a night person, you can impress your customers by being
available during their “off” hours.

4. Offer credit card payment options to make it easy for
your clients (and the government!) to pay you.

Today, businesses need payment options. If you’re able to
allow them to pay with credit cards, you’ll have more
clients. And if you’re interested in government business,
this is an easy way to get some of it since most government
agencies are now using credit cards for purchases valued at
less than $2,500.

5. Be flexible–offer to meet for breakfast.

Just like you, your clients are very busy. They have
meetings all day and often during lunch, so it’s hard to
find a time to get together. Offer to meet for breakfast
when you and your client are both fresh, or meet after normal work hours to accommodate their schedule.

6. Provide added-value service at no charge.

Give them something they aren’t expecting. If you go the extra mile, your customers will notice. You’ll soon be the one they turn to when they need a problem solved. It works when your vendors do it for you, doesn’t it? It sure does for me! For example, I recently began doing informational teleseminars with industry experts, and I not only needed a bridge line to do them, but I also needed someone to record the seminars for me so I’d have a good finished product to sell through my website. I got one-stop-shopping with Dan Janal at Great Teleseminars, which was perfect. And, when he confirmed the information, he sent me a free copy of two of his ebooks to teach me how to do a good teleseminar! Now that’s added value.

7. Refer business to your customers.

If you send business to your customers, it shows how much
value them. Connect one customer with another, if possible.
It’s the ultimate thank you.

Lois Carter Fay, APR, is a 30-year veteran in the P.R. and marketing field. She now produces three marketing ezines, Brainy Tidbits, Brainy Flash, and Success Secrets of Women Entrepreneurs. All are free. She’s also the co-author with Jim Wilson of “Sales Success! Strategies for Women,” a quick-to-read ebook containing 52 easy-to-implement sales tips. The ezines and ebook are available through her websites.

Visit http://www.MarketingIdeaShop.com or http://www.WomenMarketing.com to learn more sales ideas and subscribe. Claim your free special report when you subscribe.

February 9, 2008

“How To Use The Power Of Focus To Build Massive Momentum In Your Business”

Filed under: Guidance — admin @ 12:58 am

Getting focused on what you want to achieve and creating an action plan for making it happen are critical skills for you to master.

As bestselling author Napolean Hill once said, “Every well-built house started with a definite plan in the form of blueprints.” In other words, having a focused plan of action is the best way to ensure that you will reach your goals.

In last week’s newsletter, you were asked to answer some basic questions as part of the action exercise. Hopefully, you completed this part and wrote down which 90-day goal is most exciting to you. The rest of this article assumes that you have already set this goal. So if you haven’t done that yet, please re-read the previous article called “Why Clarity Is Essential To Building Massive Momentum In Your Business” and do it right now.

Now that we got that clear, let’s jump right into it!

Once you’ve determined the big goal that you want to accomplish in the next 90 days, one of the secrets to making it happen is breaking up that big goal into small, bite-size pieces. Successful entrepreneurs all across the world use this technique to bring more profits into their businesses year after year after year.

In a minute, we’ll cover a simple approach to create these bite-size pieces for your own goals. But let’s first think about why this is so important to goal achievement.

Have you ever wondered why many entrepreneurs don’t achieve their goals, even though they are passionate about their business and spend long hours working every week?

One reason this happens is that these business owners set a big goal they want to achieve in the next year, but they don’t create a detailed action plan containing bite-size pieces. And without knowing what “bite” you can take next to move you closer to your goal, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the big goal and feel like you will never get there.

As the famous Chinese proverb says, “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

And if you haven’t laid out a map for your thousand mile journey, you won’t be confident in which step you should take next, right?

So what is the easiest way to create your map and determine which steps you should take today, tomorrow, and the next day? Here’s a simple step-by-step procedure that you can follow right now to create a list of bite-size steps for reaching your big goals:

1) Write down your big 90-day goal in a notebook. This is the same big, exciting
s-t-r-e-t-c-h goal that you set for yourself in last week’s newsletter.

2) Break up this 90-day goal into three specific monthly goals. Ask yourself “What is the most important task or goal that I need to complete in Month One to be on track for achieving my 90-day goal?” Then ask the same question for Month Two and then again for Month Three.

3) Break up each monthly goal into four specific weekly goals. Begin by looking at Month One and breaking that up into specific weekly goals, starting with this week.
Ask yourself this question:
“What is the most important task or goal that I need to complete this week to be on track to achieving my goal for Week One?”
And then ask yourself the same question for Week Two, for Week Three, and finally for Week Four.

4) Look at the goal you set for Week One and break it up into a number of smaller tasks or sub-goals that you need to do in order to reach that weekly goal. The resulting list of tasks becomes your most important objectives for this week.
And when you have completed this for Week One, repeat this step again for Week Two, for Week Three, and then for Week Four.

And those are the simple steps for creating a focused plan made up of small, bite-size, achievable goals.

Here’s an example of how this can work.

Remember our friend Cindy from last week’s newsletter about Clarity? Cindy is the proud owner of Cindy’s Teddy Bear Company and she set a goal to gain 100 new customers
in the next 90 days. She has never accomplished this much before, so this is really an exciting, stretch goal for her.

Let’s go through the four steps listed above with Cindy to see how she breaks up this big, inspiring 90-day goal into bite-size pieces.

1) Gain 100 new customers in the next 90 days.

2) Month One: Gain 20 new customers
Month Two: Gain 40 new customers
Month Three: Gain 40 new customers
Cindy chose a smaller goal for Month One because she knows that she will be planting a lot of “new customer seeds” in Month One which can be harvested later during Month Two and Month Three.

3) Week One: Identify two local area communities and two non-local communities to target. Create a draft of a marketing campaign which targets these community areas.
Week Two: Finalize the marketing campaign and launch it in the first local community.
Week Three: Follow-up on every lead and get ten new customers.
Week Four: Finish following up on leads from this first campaign and launch another campaign in one of the non-local areas. This should result in another ten new customers.

(I’m sure you get the idea at this point with Cindy’s example, so let’s move on to Part Four of the action step formula.)

4) Week One Task List (to achieve Week One goal):

a) Order research report with income levels for local communities. Remember that Cindy’s ideal customer is a child of an upper class family, so income demographics are important for her to know.

b) Order research report with income levels across the nation.

c) Choose two local and two non-local upper-income towns based on the research reports.

d) Create a marketing campaign that will apply to all four of the chosen towns.

And that’s all there is to it! You can harness the power of focus in your business right away by creating an action plan that acts as a laser-focused step-by-step blueprint for achieving your 90-day goals.

Yes, this exercise will certainly take you some time to complete, but it will save you a lot of time and money in the long run. In addition, it will increase your confidence and belief in your ability to achieve your big 90-day goals. And you will achieve them!

This will become a simple, straightforward exercise once you have done it several times and you make it a consistent habit.

Once you get this focused action plan written down, you will be on your way to achieving massive momentum in your business! When your plan is in place, you’re ready to dive into the topic of next week’s newsletter — which is Action!

Set aside some time this week to go through the action planning exercise shown above. It’s very important that you break up your big goals into small, bite-size pieces. As you make this into one of your consistent habits, you will begin to realize all the big profits and time freedom that comes from creating massive momentum in your business!

Matt Zembruski (aka “Mr. Momentum”) is the author of this article and publisher of the Massive Momentum Now newsletter. Subscribe today to get your free audio special report called “The #1 Reason Why Businesses Fail and How You Can Avoid It!”. You will also discover a proven step-by-step system that gets you results…guaranteed. Free subscription if you visit our site today. ($197 value) http://www.mrmomentum.com

February 1, 2008

Top 10 Ways to Identify a Successful Reverse Auction Opportunity

Filed under: Guidance — admin @ 1:03 am

“What can I reverse auction” is a typical question that we hear nearly everyday from our clients. This article will define and explain the Top 10 criteria that we look at to make a decision as to whether or not an item or service is a good reverse auction candidate. We have found all of these topics to be very important and they will provide a guideline to help you along the sometimes bumpy reverse auction road. While these points are not rules written in stone, they are based on research and our experience in helping reverse auction clients.

Here is eDynaQuote’s Top 10 List:

1) “The dollar amount should be sufficient to generate the interest of potential suppliers.” The sufficient dollar amount will be relative to the market, but larger dollar volumes will generate a lot of interest from many suppliers. And the more interested suppliers you have in a reverse auction the better.

2) “You should have at least two qualified suppliers.” Have a documented supplier qualification requirement process in order for the vendors to know that their competition is legitimate and to validate your selection process. Qualifying your vendors is extremely important since you need to have your competition on a level playing field, and you do not want sub-par products or services.

3) “Write clear and complete purchase specifications.” You should know exactly what you want, how much you want and when you want it or your suppliers will not be able to bid apples to apples. A reverse auction is not an RFP where some details can be left to figure out later. You should be able to clearly specify your purchase before you choose to run a reverse auction.

4) “Define and document award criteria.” Since most commercial purchases are based on factors other than lowest price, you should define, document and make available to the suppliers your award criteria. You should be able to accurately tell your vendors exactly what they need to do in order to win your business.

5) “Supplier change-over risk is low.” Look for areas where the cost to change suppliers is low. Keep in mind that costs are not just a hard dollar figure for the product or service you want to reverse auction. Think of all the other costs involved such as training, compatibility issues and what the learning curve looks like.

6) “Have a good forecast of the quantities and dollar volume.” Be sure to aggregate accurate data on how much you currently spend. You should be able to clearly document what and how much you are buying so you can provide those details as historical data to potential suppliers. You could be short-changing yourself and not getting as big a volume discount as you could be.

7) “Only include similar items in the same bid package.” While you can have many similar line items in a reverse auction, you do not want unrelated items in the same lot or bucket. Keep dissimilar items separate to avoid confusion. This will also allow suppliers to focus on their core competencies, and not disqualify them from bidding if they do not provide one item in the lot you are reverse auctioning.

8) “Keep reverse auctions below ten line items.” You want to keep the bidding simple, so do not over-complicate it by adding too many line items to the reverse auction. You can say “see attached spreadsheet” and include many similar items for them to bid on in one overall line item. Once you get too many line items, the suppliers will lose their focus and not be as competitive.

9) “Clearly define an alternate submission process.” If alternates, substitutes or options are allowable, you will need to clearly define what the submission process is and make those alternates available for all suppliers to bid on. You still want an apple to apple comparison when using reverse auctions, so be as clear as possible as to what you will or will not accept as an alternate. You do not want to leave a potential supplier in the dark about what alternates you are willing to accept, or you run the risk of not having a successful reverse auction.

10) “Are there compressible margins for the suppliers to compete on?” Stay away from using reverse auctions on items that have a market traded price such as oil and natural gas. You can reverse auction the distribution of these items though. The idea here is to reverse auction items that have prices set by the decisions of people and company pricing policies, and to avoid reverse auctioning items that have a freely traded market price.

Doug Luthringer is a Client Development Manager at eDynaQuote (http://www.eDynaQuote.com) with over two years of strategy, implementation and training experience in online reverse auctions and over six years with online forward auctions such as eBay. Doug has also been invited to be a guest speaker to talk about how to properly use reverse auctions to small and medium size business, as well as university students.

January 29, 2008

Ten Things to Avoid for Success in Business

Filed under: Guidance — admin @ 11:40 pm

“If one advances confidently in the direction of his
dreams and endeavors to live the life which he has
imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in
common hours.” - Henry David Thoreau

1. No focus and commitment.

You need to decide what you will be doing and when you
will do it. You need to evaluate the price of the
achievement, what it will cost you in time and effort.
Is it worth it to you?

2. No short term and long term goals.

Without clear cut goals there will be no progress.
Set goals that are attainable on a daily, monthly
and yearly basis.

3. Indecision.

Make that decision quickly. Take time to change
your decision.

4. No action.

Of course we know where most couch potatoes are. Right!

5. No mentor.

Find a mentor in areas that you are working on.
Every successful man and woman has had mentors.

6. No clear cut dream or future reality, destination.

Make sure you dream cleary and specifically, making
it real.

7. No plan to finance income production or startup
be it large or small.

Even the smallest enterprises need some financing on
a regular basis such as small ads, printing or postage.

8. Lots of opportunity tire kicking but no true desire
to go for it.

Its ok to evaluate several enterprises that you may
want to begin, key word BEGIN. You must narrow it
down to your top ten list, then top five, then pick the
best out five of begin.

9. Getting ready to get ready.

Once you have the vehicle, get in, start it, put it in
drive and go.

10. No marketing or salesmanship

You must market your business. If you do not then your
not in business. If you do not sell well, enlist some help.
The internet is a great place to start inexpensively.

About The Author:
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© 2005 Bryon Zirker
Bryon Zirker is an Entreprenuer who is interested in
starting internet businesses. Bryon has owned offline
and online businesses for over ten years.
http://home-business-tactics.blogspot.com
http://www.easyworkathomebiznow.com
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