This is the second part of an article series in which you'll find many tools that you can use to monitor your site's search engine position and see how your do-it-yourself search engine optimization efforts are coming along.
The following tools are for monitoring your search results in the three major search engines. It isn't an all-inclusive list, but rather a highlight of some of the tools you can use. (I'll point you to one of the master lists when we get into more general tools in part three.)
Using Your Google Site Information Page
I've covered this in an earlier article, but just in case you missed it, we'll go over it again briefly here. (If you need more help following along, you can listen to one of my recent podcasts for a convenient audio walkthrough.)
Open up your browser and go to Google's home page. Type in info:yoursitenameandsuffix. So if your site was ExactSeek.com you'd type info:exactseek.com. You can also use site:yoursitenameandsuffix to find out which pages have been indexed by Google's search engine spider.
This search will tell you pages that Google considers similar to yours. It will also show sites that it considered linked to you, and show sites that carry your full url, hyperlinked or not. It's not 100% accurate as far as telling you all the sites that are linked back to yours, but what you can learn from this is which backlinks matter.
From here you can also see the last day Google spidered your home page.
To see this in action, click on the first group of information links, "Show Google's cache of yoursitename.com" If you look next to the word "cached" one the first line, the date is expressed also.
Sometimes it seems that the cached time for yoursitename.com and http://www.yoursitename.com - www.yoursitename.com are different, so be sure and check both.
Finding Information About Your Site In Yahoo
http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/tips/tips-08.html - http://help.yahoo.com/help/us/ysearch/tips/tips-08.html
This document will tell you how to find out what sites are linking to you, give you the results for how many pages of your site are in Yahoo, and more. Once you get to the results page, you'll be able to view your cached pages, etc.
Discovering Your Site's Status on MSN
http://search.msn.com/docs/siteowner.aspx - http://search.msn.com/docs/siteowner.aspx
As the page in the help section states, you can use site:www.yoursitehere.com to find out if a document at your site has been indexed. The results page will also give you the date of last caching.
Google Rankings
http://www.googlerankings.com - http://www.googlerankings.com
You'll need a free Google API key for this one, and the site has the direct link telling you where to get one. You'll have to enter this key in order to query the site for information on Google.
With Google Rankings, you'll be able to see where you rank within the top 40-1000 results in Google for a given keyword. I recently noticed that it also displays results for MSN and Yahoo, with links to each search engine.
They also have some other tools that will track your keywords over time, as well as one they call the "Ultimate SEO Tool" that will measure your site's keyword density.
Google Backlinks Checker
http://lilengine.com/tools/backlinks-tool.php - http://lilengine.com/tools/backlinks-tool.php
LilEngine.com's Backlink Checker will measure the number of links you have pointing back to your site against competing sites. Handy if you just want a quick comparison of how many links you have versus others, though how much getting more links back will help varies, depending on other factors.
Yahoo Search Rankings
http://www.yahoosearchrankings.com/ - http://www.yahoosearchrankings.com/
From the same folks who brought you Google Rankings, using Yahoo Search Rankings, you'll be able to see where you rank within the top 1000 results in Yahoo for a given keyword. If you just want to see your Yahoo rankings, it's quite helpful.
You can find more Yahoo tools that use the Yahoo Web API at their developer's site : http://developer.yahoo.net/wiki/index.cgi?ApplicationList - http://developer.yahoo.net/wiki/index.cgi?ApplicationList .
In the next part of the article, we'll take a closer look at other tools that give you more specific information about the links pointing back to your site, keyword research, and more.
Home » Archive for September 2016
MLM Lead Generation
In Multi-level marketing (MLM), or network marketing, the business owner recruits other independent distributors into his or her network. These prospects are known as MLM leads because they have shown some interest in the business opportunity.
The MLM leads are, at first, usually comprised of the business owner's friends, family, and acquaintances. Once these resources have been exhausted, the business owner must uncover new prospects to recruit into his or her network. This process, known as MLM lead generation, can be time consuming and quite costly.
Through this process, the business owner mines demographic information for viable MLM leads, which are then contacted through standard direct marketing tools, including telephone and email. The target lists may be acquired from advertising campaigns that promote the product or service to potential customers or recruits, and they can also be obtained through MLM lead generation tools. MLM business owners typically utilize a couple of different methods, during MLM lead generation, to attain these viable MLM leads.
If executed correctly, a MLM lead generation program should bring together all of the most effective offline and online tools in order to ensure that leads progress efficiently from initial contact through sales closure and recruitment. This includes purchasing or licensing lead lists, which the distributor utilizes in his or her email, telemarketing, or direct mail campaigns.
An MLM lead batching or distributor gathering program is a more inclusive process for MLM lead generation. In this process, the business owner will work the leads through advertising campaigns that not only attract customers and recruits, but also invite them to build their own network. Through this comprehensive program, the business owner is building his or her network and helping recruits build theirs as well.
The MLM leads are, at first, usually comprised of the business owner's friends, family, and acquaintances. Once these resources have been exhausted, the business owner must uncover new prospects to recruit into his or her network. This process, known as MLM lead generation, can be time consuming and quite costly.
Through this process, the business owner mines demographic information for viable MLM leads, which are then contacted through standard direct marketing tools, including telephone and email. The target lists may be acquired from advertising campaigns that promote the product or service to potential customers or recruits, and they can also be obtained through MLM lead generation tools. MLM business owners typically utilize a couple of different methods, during MLM lead generation, to attain these viable MLM leads.
If executed correctly, a MLM lead generation program should bring together all of the most effective offline and online tools in order to ensure that leads progress efficiently from initial contact through sales closure and recruitment. This includes purchasing or licensing lead lists, which the distributor utilizes in his or her email, telemarketing, or direct mail campaigns.
An MLM lead batching or distributor gathering program is a more inclusive process for MLM lead generation. In this process, the business owner will work the leads through advertising campaigns that not only attract customers and recruits, but also invite them to build their own network. Through this comprehensive program, the business owner is building his or her network and helping recruits build theirs as well.
MLM Lead Generation: An Overview
Multi level marketing is a type of business where a distributor receives commissions on their own sales as well as the sales of people the distributor recruits. MLM lead generation drives the industry.
Multi level marketing, abbreviated as MLM, is known by a number of names such as referral marketing and network marketing.
The idea behind MLM is that people not only try to sell their product, but try to recruit others to sell the product as well. The original distributor receives a percentage of their recruits' commissions, and the recruits receive a percentage of the commissions of the people they recruit, and so on. Some types of multi level marketing are known as pyramid schemes, in which recruits end up buying a lot of products they have no way of reselling. It is advisable for potential MLM participants to fully research the program before investing any time and money in it.
Many people are fascinated by the idea of multi level marketing, and so there are many multi level marketing lead generation services. These companies help network marketing businesses find recruits. People at any level of a MLM program can use these services. The world is filled with people who want to get rich without working very hard, and many of them view network marketing as the best way to do so.
Multi level marketing lead generation services find these people and connect them with MLM companies. Many MLM lead generation companies sell their lists to MLM businesses. The businesses can either buy the whole list once, or they can subscribe and receive an updated list at a set time interval. The subscription option offers warmer leads and is often the best idea. Other MLM lead generation techniques involve seminars or speeches designed to convince potential MLM participants that a program is right for them.
Many MLM companies offer a great potential for wealth to competent and motivated recruits. Despite their reputation, MLM opportunities can be a good idea. It is strongly advised, however, that potential recruits research every aspect of the company before committing to it.
Multi level marketing, abbreviated as MLM, is known by a number of names such as referral marketing and network marketing.
The idea behind MLM is that people not only try to sell their product, but try to recruit others to sell the product as well. The original distributor receives a percentage of their recruits' commissions, and the recruits receive a percentage of the commissions of the people they recruit, and so on. Some types of multi level marketing are known as pyramid schemes, in which recruits end up buying a lot of products they have no way of reselling. It is advisable for potential MLM participants to fully research the program before investing any time and money in it.
Many people are fascinated by the idea of multi level marketing, and so there are many multi level marketing lead generation services. These companies help network marketing businesses find recruits. People at any level of a MLM program can use these services. The world is filled with people who want to get rich without working very hard, and many of them view network marketing as the best way to do so.
Multi level marketing lead generation services find these people and connect them with MLM companies. Many MLM lead generation companies sell their lists to MLM businesses. The businesses can either buy the whole list once, or they can subscribe and receive an updated list at a set time interval. The subscription option offers warmer leads and is often the best idea. Other MLM lead generation techniques involve seminars or speeches designed to convince potential MLM participants that a program is right for them.
Many MLM companies offer a great potential for wealth to competent and motivated recruits. Despite their reputation, MLM opportunities can be a good idea. It is strongly advised, however, that potential recruits research every aspect of the company before committing to it.
Minding Your Global Manners
Guidelines to help you find your way through the maze of international etiquette rules that apply whether you work on-line or in an office.
To say that today's business environment is becoming increasingly more global is to state the obvious. Meetings, phone calls and conferences are held all over the world and attendees can come from any point on the globe. On any given business day you can find yourself dealing face-to-face, over the phone, by e-mail and, on rare occasions, by postal letter with people whose customs and cultures differ your own. You may never have to leave home to interact on an international level.
While the old adage "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" still holds true, business clients and colleagues who are visiting this country should be treated with sensitivity and with an awareness of their unique culture. Not to do your homework and put your best international foot forward can cost you relationships and future business. One small misstep such as using first names inappropriately, not observing the rules of timing or sending the wrong color flower in the welcome bouquet can be costly.
There is no one set of rules that applies to all international visitors so do the research for each country that your clients represent. That may sound like a daunting task, but taken in small steps, it is manageable and the rewards are worth the effort. Keeping in mind that there are as many ways to do business as there are countries to do business with, here are a few tips for minding your global P's and Q's.
Building relationships: Few other people are as eager to get down to business as we Americans. So take time to get to know your international clients and build rapport before you rush to the bottom line. Business relationships are built on trust that is developed over time, especially with people from Asia and Latin America.
Dressing conservatively: Americans like to dress for fashion and comfort, but people from other parts of the world are generally more conservative. Your choice of business attire is a signal of your respect for the other person or organization. Leave your trendy clothes in the closet on the days that you meet with your foreign guests.
Observe the hierarchy: It is not always a simple matter to know who is the highest-ranking member when you are dealing with a group. To avoid embarrassment, err on the side of age and masculine gender, only if you are unable to discover the protocol with research. If you are interacting with the Japanese, it is important to understand that they make decisions by consensus, starting with the younger members of the group. By contrast, Latin people have a clear hierarchy that defers to age.
Understanding the handshake: With a few exceptions, business people around the world use the handshake for meeting and greeting. However, the American style handshake with a firm grip, two quick pumps, eye contact and a smile is not universal. Variations in handshakes are based on cultural differences, not on personality or values. The Japanese give a light handshake. Germans offer a firm shake with one pump, and the French grip is light with a quick pump. Middle Eastern people will continue shaking your hand throughout the greeting. Don't be surprised if you are occasionally met with a kiss, a hug, or a bow somewhere along the way.
Using titles and correct forms of address: We are very informal in the United States and are quick to call people by their first name. Approach first names with caution when dealing with people from other cultures. Use titles and last names until you have been invited to use the person's first name. In some cases, this may never occur. Use of first names is reserved for family and close friends in some cultures.
Titles are given more significance around the world than in the United States and are another important aspect of addressing business people. Earned academic degrees are acknowledged. For example, a German engineer is addressed as "Herr Ingenieur" and a professor as "Herr Professor". Listen carefully when you are introduced to someone and pay attention to business cards when you receive them.
Exchanging business cards: The key to giving out business cards in any culture is to show respect for the other person. Present your card so that the other person does not have to turn it over to read your information. Use both hands to present your card to visitors from Japan, China, Singapore, or Hong Kong. When you receive someone else's business card, always look at it and acknowledge it. When you put it away, place it carefully in your card case or with your business documents. Sticking it haphazardly in your pocket is demeaning to the giver. In most cases, wait until you have been introduced to give someone your card.
Valuing time. Not everyone in the world is as time conscious as Americans. Don't take it personally if someone from a more relaxed culture keeps you waiting or spends more of that commodity than you normally would in meetings or over meals. Stick to the rules of punctuality, but be understanding when your contact from another country seems unconcerned.
Honoring space issues: Americans have a particular value for their own physical space and are uncomfortable when other people get in their realm. If the international visitor seems to want to be close, accept it. Backing away can send the wrong message. So can touching. You shouldn't risk violating someone else's space by touching them in any way other than with a handshake.
Whether the world comes to you or you go out to it, the greatest compliment you can pay your international clients is to learn about their country and their customs. Understand differences in behavior and honor them with your actions. Don't take offense when visitors behave according to their norms. People from other cultures will appreciate your efforts to accommodate them and you will find yourself building your international clientele.
(c)2005, Lydia Ramsey. All rights in all media reserved. Reprint rights granted so long as the article and by-line are reproduced intact and all links are made live.
Article Tags: People From Other, First Names, People From, From Other, Other Person, Business Cards
To say that today's business environment is becoming increasingly more global is to state the obvious. Meetings, phone calls and conferences are held all over the world and attendees can come from any point on the globe. On any given business day you can find yourself dealing face-to-face, over the phone, by e-mail and, on rare occasions, by postal letter with people whose customs and cultures differ your own. You may never have to leave home to interact on an international level.
While the old adage "When in Rome, do as the Romans do" still holds true, business clients and colleagues who are visiting this country should be treated with sensitivity and with an awareness of their unique culture. Not to do your homework and put your best international foot forward can cost you relationships and future business. One small misstep such as using first names inappropriately, not observing the rules of timing or sending the wrong color flower in the welcome bouquet can be costly.
There is no one set of rules that applies to all international visitors so do the research for each country that your clients represent. That may sound like a daunting task, but taken in small steps, it is manageable and the rewards are worth the effort. Keeping in mind that there are as many ways to do business as there are countries to do business with, here are a few tips for minding your global P's and Q's.
Building relationships: Few other people are as eager to get down to business as we Americans. So take time to get to know your international clients and build rapport before you rush to the bottom line. Business relationships are built on trust that is developed over time, especially with people from Asia and Latin America.
Dressing conservatively: Americans like to dress for fashion and comfort, but people from other parts of the world are generally more conservative. Your choice of business attire is a signal of your respect for the other person or organization. Leave your trendy clothes in the closet on the days that you meet with your foreign guests.
Observe the hierarchy: It is not always a simple matter to know who is the highest-ranking member when you are dealing with a group. To avoid embarrassment, err on the side of age and masculine gender, only if you are unable to discover the protocol with research. If you are interacting with the Japanese, it is important to understand that they make decisions by consensus, starting with the younger members of the group. By contrast, Latin people have a clear hierarchy that defers to age.
Understanding the handshake: With a few exceptions, business people around the world use the handshake for meeting and greeting. However, the American style handshake with a firm grip, two quick pumps, eye contact and a smile is not universal. Variations in handshakes are based on cultural differences, not on personality or values. The Japanese give a light handshake. Germans offer a firm shake with one pump, and the French grip is light with a quick pump. Middle Eastern people will continue shaking your hand throughout the greeting. Don't be surprised if you are occasionally met with a kiss, a hug, or a bow somewhere along the way.
Using titles and correct forms of address: We are very informal in the United States and are quick to call people by their first name. Approach first names with caution when dealing with people from other cultures. Use titles and last names until you have been invited to use the person's first name. In some cases, this may never occur. Use of first names is reserved for family and close friends in some cultures.
Titles are given more significance around the world than in the United States and are another important aspect of addressing business people. Earned academic degrees are acknowledged. For example, a German engineer is addressed as "Herr Ingenieur" and a professor as "Herr Professor". Listen carefully when you are introduced to someone and pay attention to business cards when you receive them.
Exchanging business cards: The key to giving out business cards in any culture is to show respect for the other person. Present your card so that the other person does not have to turn it over to read your information. Use both hands to present your card to visitors from Japan, China, Singapore, or Hong Kong. When you receive someone else's business card, always look at it and acknowledge it. When you put it away, place it carefully in your card case or with your business documents. Sticking it haphazardly in your pocket is demeaning to the giver. In most cases, wait until you have been introduced to give someone your card.
Valuing time. Not everyone in the world is as time conscious as Americans. Don't take it personally if someone from a more relaxed culture keeps you waiting or spends more of that commodity than you normally would in meetings or over meals. Stick to the rules of punctuality, but be understanding when your contact from another country seems unconcerned.
Honoring space issues: Americans have a particular value for their own physical space and are uncomfortable when other people get in their realm. If the international visitor seems to want to be close, accept it. Backing away can send the wrong message. So can touching. You shouldn't risk violating someone else's space by touching them in any way other than with a handshake.
Whether the world comes to you or you go out to it, the greatest compliment you can pay your international clients is to learn about their country and their customs. Understand differences in behavior and honor them with your actions. Don't take offense when visitors behave according to their norms. People from other cultures will appreciate your efforts to accommodate them and you will find yourself building your international clientele.
(c)2005, Lydia Ramsey. All rights in all media reserved. Reprint rights granted so long as the article and by-line are reproduced intact and all links are made live.
Article Tags: People From Other, First Names, People From, From Other, Other Person, Business Cards
Microsoft walks Halo to the bank
Half a decade after acquiring the independent developer Bungie Studios and enjoying record-breaking sales with the Bungie megahits Halo 1 and 2, Microsoft is poised to cash in on Bungie's
monumental success by contracting out a Halo movie to Universal Studios and Twentieth Century Fox.
Microsoft has also requested that the Halo movie be finished as early as possible, and wants to release it before the 2006 release of the highly aniticipated Halo 3, but the film studios have made no such promises.
Alex Garland, producer of 2003's "28 days later", has been recruited by Microsoft to produce a script for the Halo movie, but Microsoft has made it clear that the company wants to protect the halo franchise. Close cooperation with Bungie will ensure that "the Halo franchise is protected and is something Halo fans can be proud of", Microsoft says.
Video game movies have had a rough track record - the very best have scraped by as mediocre summer sleepers, and some, like Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, have bombed in Box Office Sales, but Microsoft is confident in the weight the Halo franchise has over the 13-34 demographic, and expects ticket sales on the order of the first two games, Halo 2 alone generating $125 million in revenue on launch and causing dozens of Halo forums to pop up in its wake. The profits are secure, the fanbase is eager for the Halo story to unfold, and merchandizers are ready to cash in, but dedicated Halo fans can only hope that the Halo movie will be done right and live up to the lofty expectations Bungie has never failed to achieve and surpass.
Article Tags: Halo Movie, Halo Franchise
monumental success by contracting out a Halo movie to Universal Studios and Twentieth Century Fox.
Microsoft has also requested that the Halo movie be finished as early as possible, and wants to release it before the 2006 release of the highly aniticipated Halo 3, but the film studios have made no such promises.
Alex Garland, producer of 2003's "28 days later", has been recruited by Microsoft to produce a script for the Halo movie, but Microsoft has made it clear that the company wants to protect the halo franchise. Close cooperation with Bungie will ensure that "the Halo franchise is protected and is something Halo fans can be proud of", Microsoft says.
Video game movies have had a rough track record - the very best have scraped by as mediocre summer sleepers, and some, like Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, have bombed in Box Office Sales, but Microsoft is confident in the weight the Halo franchise has over the 13-34 demographic, and expects ticket sales on the order of the first two games, Halo 2 alone generating $125 million in revenue on launch and causing dozens of Halo forums to pop up in its wake. The profits are secure, the fanbase is eager for the Halo story to unfold, and merchandizers are ready to cash in, but dedicated Halo fans can only hope that the Halo movie will be done right and live up to the lofty expectations Bungie has never failed to achieve and surpass.
Article Tags: Halo Movie, Halo Franchise
MicroCap business cashflow stabilization: ERP System, Divestitures & Spin-Offs
Company restructuring, merging & acquisition should be done in concert with ERP system tuning up or building up. Sometimes you should consider switching to cheaper and more efficient ERP solution
The MicroCap space may be viewed as a jungle containing many hungry predators who may view you and your company as just another meal.
Within six degrees of separation from nearly everyone in the American business community, unfortunately, you are likely to meet someone who has been victimized in a reverse merger transaction or some other transaction that was poorly structured, ill conceived and designed to fulfill the selfish interests of a few.
Divestitures or Spin-Offs may substantially improve you cash flow:
Sometimes companies can be burdened by assets or divisions that are not relevant to their current business focus.
This can cause financial problems and can create a lack of clarity on the part of their shareholder base.
What is the solution? Maybe your company should consider getting operationally and financially back into focus by spinning out a division or divesting itself of an asset?
Usually you need specialist to assist in identifying a target for divesting or spinning off, valuing the asset, finding a buyer and/or assisting in a public or private spin-off of the asset to your shareholders.
ERP System - structuring your business processes. It is not a secret that when you are trying to sell the company - first potential buyer question would be your ERP system and structuring around it.
Do you have Accounting/Inventory/Supply Chain management automation system?
How expensive is its annual support?
Is it general industrial ERP or custom made one (risks to lose IT support)
It is common scenario when your IT budget is overburdening and you can switch to ERP system which is cheaper in software licenses cost and annual support. We saw successful scenarios:
Switch from expensive ERP: Oracle Financials, PeopleSoft, SAP to budget ERP: Microsoft Great Plains, Navision
Switch from legacy CRM solution, such as Siebel to budget CRM: Microsoft CRM
More advanced expense reduction scenario might lead you to your Business Processes Outsourcing (BPO) - this is when you have your accounting and data processing done from countries like India.
You can always have the option to call us: 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918, mailto:help@albaspectrum.com - help@albaspectrum.com
The MicroCap space may be viewed as a jungle containing many hungry predators who may view you and your company as just another meal.
Within six degrees of separation from nearly everyone in the American business community, unfortunately, you are likely to meet someone who has been victimized in a reverse merger transaction or some other transaction that was poorly structured, ill conceived and designed to fulfill the selfish interests of a few.
Divestitures or Spin-Offs may substantially improve you cash flow:
Sometimes companies can be burdened by assets or divisions that are not relevant to their current business focus.
This can cause financial problems and can create a lack of clarity on the part of their shareholder base.
What is the solution? Maybe your company should consider getting operationally and financially back into focus by spinning out a division or divesting itself of an asset?
Usually you need specialist to assist in identifying a target for divesting or spinning off, valuing the asset, finding a buyer and/or assisting in a public or private spin-off of the asset to your shareholders.
ERP System - structuring your business processes. It is not a secret that when you are trying to sell the company - first potential buyer question would be your ERP system and structuring around it.
Do you have Accounting/Inventory/Supply Chain management automation system?
How expensive is its annual support?
Is it general industrial ERP or custom made one (risks to lose IT support)
It is common scenario when your IT budget is overburdening and you can switch to ERP system which is cheaper in software licenses cost and annual support. We saw successful scenarios:
Switch from expensive ERP: Oracle Financials, PeopleSoft, SAP to budget ERP: Microsoft Great Plains, Navision
Switch from legacy CRM solution, such as Siebel to budget CRM: Microsoft CRM
More advanced expense reduction scenario might lead you to your Business Processes Outsourcing (BPO) - this is when you have your accounting and data processing done from countries like India.
You can always have the option to call us: 1-866-528-0577, 1-630-961-5918, mailto:help@albaspectrum.com - help@albaspectrum.com
Michael O. Brickell, Holistic Junction's Visionary Extraordinaire
Michael O. Brickell, CEO of Holistic Junction has been the driving force behind the revolutionary site, Holistic Junction -- geared toward positive community awareness; a portal to alternative & holistic education, and a plethora of healthcare information resources and the arts.
I had an opportunity to speak candidly with Michael and asked him what inspired him, and why he wanted to create an online holistic journal with such a wide array of topics:
Michael O. Brickell, Holistic Junction's Visionary Extraordinaire: A Glimpse into the Soul behind the Site
Michael O. Brickell, CEO of Holistic Junction has been the driving force behind the revolutionary site, Holistic Junction -- geared toward positive community awareness; a portal to alternative & holistic education, and a plethora of healthcare information resources and the arts.
I had an opportunity to speak candidly with Michael and asked him what inspired him, and why he wanted to create an online holistic journal with such a wide array of topics:
[C. Bailey-Lloyd] Good Morning Michael. Tell me a little about yourself, personally -- Where were you born, a fond childhood memory, or perhaps what makes you -- you?
[Michael O. Brickell] First of all, let me say how appreciative I am of all the work our team members, including those not directly connected to Holistic Junction, have done. So much positive energy has gone into this challenging and wonderful endeavor. Every single contribution regardless of size and detail, was and still is so very important. Each one of our team members bring certain talents to the table and everything we have accomplished and continue to do is done with such cohesiveness and great attention to detail. Everyday in some way there is an improvement within the site and it's such a joy to see all of the integral pieces of this giant puzzle come together as it does.
Most of the improvements have been program related but in the very near future we will also begin to see notable changes in the site design itself. It's all very exciting to me and I look forward to these visible changes as they occur. It's something that we will all be able to see and share.
Now before I get carried away, you wanted me to talk a bit about who I am. Well, being that I really am an introvert at heart, I am not always comfortable talking about myself, but I'll give it a go here...
I was born in Seville, Spain in 1956. When I was 2 days old I was taken to a Spanish orphanage where I stayed until I was about 3 and half years of age at which time I was adopted by a very charismatic couple who at the time were not able to have children. My Father, now deceased, was from Colorado Springs and my Mother is a native of Canada. My Father was a Civil Servant, which gave us the opportunity to live in various countries including France, Greece, Turkey and Germany. I graduated from high school in Wiesbaden Germany.
My fondest childhood years were those years I spent in Greece from age 10 to 14. I have felt for a very long time that my heart and soul belong in the Mediterranean. I love the life style, the culture and spent many summers on the Greek Islands Mykonos and Crete with young Swiss friends. I also remember on one separate occasion while visiting Crete with my Mother, actually sitting on the throne of King Minos of the Minoan civilization and secretly thinking how I would have liked to be King of such a colorful and advanced culture and society.
Wonderful memories while on the mainland too, of standing on the cliffs at Sounion overlooking the great and beautiful Aegean Sea, visiting the mighty Acropolis in Athens and of course one of my favorite pastimes, going boating on weekends during the summer with Scandinavian friends also stationed in Greece at the time. I remember how beautiful and clean the water was. Swimming in that turquoise colored water was such a joy. I remember very well going snorkeling with my Father and actually seeing the ruins of ancient civilization right there on the ocean floor. I even remember falling in love for the first time with a beautiful Swedish girl with whom I shared many swims in Greek waters. Still to this day, I think about her with great fondness. I have so many great memories of my childhood, but those are a few of my favorite.
[C. Bailey-Lloyd] Thank you for that. I have always wanted to ask you -- why did you decide to create an online journal, and what made you choose it to be holistic, in nature? Is there any particular reason that stands out?
[Michael O. Brickell] Yes there are numerous reasons. I have worked with many different people and organizations throughout my life. Much of my work has been in public relations, advertising and marketing. I gained a tremendous amount of experience and knowledge from all of this, and I wanted to parley these experiences and knowledge into work that I felt would be more interesting, exciting and meaningful to me.
I have always had a thirst for knowledge and truth. I certainly don't claim to have the answers to all of the mysteries of life, but I have always had a deep desire to understand the truth behind all that we call `reality'. Much of what we call reality it seems to me, are really illusions so it's interesting to look at life from a metaphysical and holistic perspective- things such as cause and effect, the physical and metaphysical organizational structure of the universe and the role that we as individuals play in all of this. I have felt for a very long time that to truly understand life and one's self, it is important to view life from metaphysical and holistic points of view because it takes into account everything to do with the God Source.
Traditional schools don't typically teach this. We live in a very fast paced world so staying grounded is vital. I believe it is important for those interested in these points of view, to have access to the information Holsitic Junction provides. Some of the available information can be very helpful in making sense of life and realizing just how purposeful and miraculous life really is.
Life is an evolutionary process and much of the information available on Holistic Junction does help define and give purpose to our lives and the world in which we live. Holistic Junction offers people from all walks of life a place to come and share philosophies, truths, opinions, art, poetry and more. I also wanted to include on HJ the opportunity for trade and commerce so that schools, practitioners and retailers may join as business members and promote their services and products. To me, that is what a true on-line community is.
It's interesting to note that even at this point in the evolution of Holistic Junction with over 5 million page views and more than 300,000 visitors annually, it is still in it's infancy! There is so much more growth potential. Things like more submissions, greater traffic to the site, improved navigation and site design, higher page rankings and everything else associated with the expansion of an established website such as ours.
We have received some very constructive feed back from members and visitors to the site and we now know what areas to focus on for overall site improvement. We are working on many of those improvements as we speak. As a matter of fact, we are scheduled to go live with our new homepage design sometime in August of this year (2005). The results include a streamlined homepage and easier site navigation. Very exciting indeed!
[C. Bailey-Lloyd] I'm certain that others may have told you that Holistic Junction simply offers way too much information, what is your response to that?
[Michael O. Brickell] Frankly, I don't believe that is true. Holistic Junction is an online community that integrates all of the resources that human beings need or desire at various times in our lives. The resources we offer are vast and are all tied together in one way or another to some facet of life, thus the name, `Holistic Junction'. The resources on the site are an integral part of the whole, which does not allow us to leave much out, including consumer products and services. Our primary focus is targeted to topics that fall within the scope of those things considered to be holistic, metaphysical and even scientific in nature, however, one of the true functions of a community, online or otherwise, is to provide its members with what ever there is a demand for. Holistic Junction is no different. The consumer resource directory is one of those.
We attract many kinds of people, blue and white collar consisting of artists, teachers, scientists, doctors, lawyers, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, grand parents, people who are just curious and others who are looking for something specific. The point is this...It does not matter what type of person you are or what background you have, we all have something in common, and that is our needs. Those needs are what we as an online journal and online community, focus on, whether it be information on alternative medicine or a new car! Holistic Junction offers something to just about everyone, if they will take the time to look around and discover what we are about. As you know, we currently have over 800 topic categories that are split into various directories, specifically the holistic, metaphysical, healing arts, vocational and consumer resource directories. In reality, that number is still quite small when you consider the number of additional categories that would actually be needed to cover the entire spectrum of information available on Metaphysics and Holistic topics alone. We continue to add new categories as needed.
Back to the consumer resource directory for just a moment. Some people have wondered why we chose to include the consumer resource directory to the mix of things we already have. The consumer resource directory is not a focal point, but it has great value. The idea there is very simple. It's to provide everyday consumer products and services for those of us who simply want them! Many of us may want to buy a home, a car, change insurance carriers, purchase health insurance, find a lawyer or subscribe to a particular magazine. HJ offers retailers the opportunity to invest in a business listing for that purpose. It's there for convenience and it just so happens that we actually generate quite a bit of traffic there as well. Our site statistics tell us this.
Kind of a long winded answer to your question as to whether or not we offer too much information, but no I don't believe that we offer too much of anything on HJ. It really boils down to what our visitors and members are interested in and what they want to look at, as opposed to what we want them to look at. What we have available are lots of choices, and those choices in this instance, are a good thing!
(For Complete Interview, please visit: http://www.holisticjunction.com/displayarticle.cfm?ID=4447 - http://www.holisticjunction.com/displayarticle.cfm?ID=4447
Michael O. Brickell, Holistic Junction's Visionary Extraordinaire: A Glimpse into the Soul behind the Site)
© August 2005 - All Rights Reserved
Michael Brickell, Holistic Junction's Visionary Extraordinaire: A Glimpse into the Mind behind the Site Interview by C. Bailey-Lloyd/LadyCamelot
C. Bailey-Lloyd/LadyCamelot is the Public Relations Director & Writer for Holistic Junction -- Your source of information for Holistic Practitioners; Acupuncture Schools, Chiropractic Schools, Massage Therapy Schools, and Reflexology Schools.
I had an opportunity to speak candidly with Michael and asked him what inspired him, and why he wanted to create an online holistic journal with such a wide array of topics:
Michael O. Brickell, Holistic Junction's Visionary Extraordinaire: A Glimpse into the Soul behind the Site
Michael O. Brickell, CEO of Holistic Junction has been the driving force behind the revolutionary site, Holistic Junction -- geared toward positive community awareness; a portal to alternative & holistic education, and a plethora of healthcare information resources and the arts.
I had an opportunity to speak candidly with Michael and asked him what inspired him, and why he wanted to create an online holistic journal with such a wide array of topics:
[C. Bailey-Lloyd] Good Morning Michael. Tell me a little about yourself, personally -- Where were you born, a fond childhood memory, or perhaps what makes you -- you?
[Michael O. Brickell] First of all, let me say how appreciative I am of all the work our team members, including those not directly connected to Holistic Junction, have done. So much positive energy has gone into this challenging and wonderful endeavor. Every single contribution regardless of size and detail, was and still is so very important. Each one of our team members bring certain talents to the table and everything we have accomplished and continue to do is done with such cohesiveness and great attention to detail. Everyday in some way there is an improvement within the site and it's such a joy to see all of the integral pieces of this giant puzzle come together as it does.
Most of the improvements have been program related but in the very near future we will also begin to see notable changes in the site design itself. It's all very exciting to me and I look forward to these visible changes as they occur. It's something that we will all be able to see and share.
Now before I get carried away, you wanted me to talk a bit about who I am. Well, being that I really am an introvert at heart, I am not always comfortable talking about myself, but I'll give it a go here...
I was born in Seville, Spain in 1956. When I was 2 days old I was taken to a Spanish orphanage where I stayed until I was about 3 and half years of age at which time I was adopted by a very charismatic couple who at the time were not able to have children. My Father, now deceased, was from Colorado Springs and my Mother is a native of Canada. My Father was a Civil Servant, which gave us the opportunity to live in various countries including France, Greece, Turkey and Germany. I graduated from high school in Wiesbaden Germany.
My fondest childhood years were those years I spent in Greece from age 10 to 14. I have felt for a very long time that my heart and soul belong in the Mediterranean. I love the life style, the culture and spent many summers on the Greek Islands Mykonos and Crete with young Swiss friends. I also remember on one separate occasion while visiting Crete with my Mother, actually sitting on the throne of King Minos of the Minoan civilization and secretly thinking how I would have liked to be King of such a colorful and advanced culture and society.
Wonderful memories while on the mainland too, of standing on the cliffs at Sounion overlooking the great and beautiful Aegean Sea, visiting the mighty Acropolis in Athens and of course one of my favorite pastimes, going boating on weekends during the summer with Scandinavian friends also stationed in Greece at the time. I remember how beautiful and clean the water was. Swimming in that turquoise colored water was such a joy. I remember very well going snorkeling with my Father and actually seeing the ruins of ancient civilization right there on the ocean floor. I even remember falling in love for the first time with a beautiful Swedish girl with whom I shared many swims in Greek waters. Still to this day, I think about her with great fondness. I have so many great memories of my childhood, but those are a few of my favorite.
[C. Bailey-Lloyd] Thank you for that. I have always wanted to ask you -- why did you decide to create an online journal, and what made you choose it to be holistic, in nature? Is there any particular reason that stands out?
[Michael O. Brickell] Yes there are numerous reasons. I have worked with many different people and organizations throughout my life. Much of my work has been in public relations, advertising and marketing. I gained a tremendous amount of experience and knowledge from all of this, and I wanted to parley these experiences and knowledge into work that I felt would be more interesting, exciting and meaningful to me.
I have always had a thirst for knowledge and truth. I certainly don't claim to have the answers to all of the mysteries of life, but I have always had a deep desire to understand the truth behind all that we call `reality'. Much of what we call reality it seems to me, are really illusions so it's interesting to look at life from a metaphysical and holistic perspective- things such as cause and effect, the physical and metaphysical organizational structure of the universe and the role that we as individuals play in all of this. I have felt for a very long time that to truly understand life and one's self, it is important to view life from metaphysical and holistic points of view because it takes into account everything to do with the God Source.
Traditional schools don't typically teach this. We live in a very fast paced world so staying grounded is vital. I believe it is important for those interested in these points of view, to have access to the information Holsitic Junction provides. Some of the available information can be very helpful in making sense of life and realizing just how purposeful and miraculous life really is.
Life is an evolutionary process and much of the information available on Holistic Junction does help define and give purpose to our lives and the world in which we live. Holistic Junction offers people from all walks of life a place to come and share philosophies, truths, opinions, art, poetry and more. I also wanted to include on HJ the opportunity for trade and commerce so that schools, practitioners and retailers may join as business members and promote their services and products. To me, that is what a true on-line community is.
It's interesting to note that even at this point in the evolution of Holistic Junction with over 5 million page views and more than 300,000 visitors annually, it is still in it's infancy! There is so much more growth potential. Things like more submissions, greater traffic to the site, improved navigation and site design, higher page rankings and everything else associated with the expansion of an established website such as ours.
We have received some very constructive feed back from members and visitors to the site and we now know what areas to focus on for overall site improvement. We are working on many of those improvements as we speak. As a matter of fact, we are scheduled to go live with our new homepage design sometime in August of this year (2005). The results include a streamlined homepage and easier site navigation. Very exciting indeed!
[C. Bailey-Lloyd] I'm certain that others may have told you that Holistic Junction simply offers way too much information, what is your response to that?
[Michael O. Brickell] Frankly, I don't believe that is true. Holistic Junction is an online community that integrates all of the resources that human beings need or desire at various times in our lives. The resources we offer are vast and are all tied together in one way or another to some facet of life, thus the name, `Holistic Junction'. The resources on the site are an integral part of the whole, which does not allow us to leave much out, including consumer products and services. Our primary focus is targeted to topics that fall within the scope of those things considered to be holistic, metaphysical and even scientific in nature, however, one of the true functions of a community, online or otherwise, is to provide its members with what ever there is a demand for. Holistic Junction is no different. The consumer resource directory is one of those.
We attract many kinds of people, blue and white collar consisting of artists, teachers, scientists, doctors, lawyers, fathers, mothers, sons, daughters, grand parents, people who are just curious and others who are looking for something specific. The point is this...It does not matter what type of person you are or what background you have, we all have something in common, and that is our needs. Those needs are what we as an online journal and online community, focus on, whether it be information on alternative medicine or a new car! Holistic Junction offers something to just about everyone, if they will take the time to look around and discover what we are about. As you know, we currently have over 800 topic categories that are split into various directories, specifically the holistic, metaphysical, healing arts, vocational and consumer resource directories. In reality, that number is still quite small when you consider the number of additional categories that would actually be needed to cover the entire spectrum of information available on Metaphysics and Holistic topics alone. We continue to add new categories as needed.
Back to the consumer resource directory for just a moment. Some people have wondered why we chose to include the consumer resource directory to the mix of things we already have. The consumer resource directory is not a focal point, but it has great value. The idea there is very simple. It's to provide everyday consumer products and services for those of us who simply want them! Many of us may want to buy a home, a car, change insurance carriers, purchase health insurance, find a lawyer or subscribe to a particular magazine. HJ offers retailers the opportunity to invest in a business listing for that purpose. It's there for convenience and it just so happens that we actually generate quite a bit of traffic there as well. Our site statistics tell us this.
Kind of a long winded answer to your question as to whether or not we offer too much information, but no I don't believe that we offer too much of anything on HJ. It really boils down to what our visitors and members are interested in and what they want to look at, as opposed to what we want them to look at. What we have available are lots of choices, and those choices in this instance, are a good thing!
(For Complete Interview, please visit: http://www.holisticjunction.com/displayarticle.cfm?ID=4447 - http://www.holisticjunction.com/displayarticle.cfm?ID=4447
Michael O. Brickell, Holistic Junction's Visionary Extraordinaire: A Glimpse into the Soul behind the Site)
© August 2005 - All Rights Reserved
Michael Brickell, Holistic Junction's Visionary Extraordinaire: A Glimpse into the Mind behind the Site Interview by C. Bailey-Lloyd/LadyCamelot
C. Bailey-Lloyd/LadyCamelot is the Public Relations Director & Writer for Holistic Junction -- Your source of information for Holistic Practitioners; Acupuncture Schools, Chiropractic Schools, Massage Therapy Schools, and Reflexology Schools.
Mental Fitness For Confidence And Winning In Life
Studies show that men and women profit most with having self-confidence and by building up their psychological strength. Self-confidence is the hallmark of great achievement for individuals from all w...
Studies show that men and women profit most with having self-confidence and by building up their psychological strength.
Self-confidence is the hallmark of great achievement for individuals from all walks of life and from all industries and many times spells the difference between success and failure.
Look around you'll easily identify people with a sincere self-confidence who impel and influence others with ease. You have witnessed people who were promoted to highly paid position while others with better training, are not.
Upon close study, you will observe that those who advance in life believe strongly in themselves and in their ability to succeed. They radiate pose and assurance and seem to have a constant access for wisdom and expanded vision. Others just naturally follow them, whereas, the person who lacks self-confidence, repels others, rather than attracts them.
Self-confidence is the faith in one's innate abilities and talents to overcome procrastination, fears, phobias, inhibitions and adversities for taking action. Lacking self-confidence affects every aspect of your life. You may have all the skills, training and mental abilities to become successful in your career, but, if you lack self-confidence your life will be like an eight cylinder motor vehicle running on one cylinder - struggling and sputtering to function well in all areas of your life.
Your losing a job, low sales results, having a loved one pass on, filing bankruptcy, having your car repossessed, being passed over for a position, fail an exam, being called fatty, stupid, ugly, and bad news from the doctor are just a few causes for programming a lack of self-confidence.
We come into this world with self-confidence. Look at any child's actions and reactions before they become filled with the fears, phobias, inhibitions of thoughts and adversities as adults.
Like an athlete who trains to exhaustion, every day, to prepare their bodies for having strong muscles and lungs -- must also discipline their minds for control, concentration and self-confidence. Also, just like elite athletes, in most sports, are equal in skill and physical prowess -- business people mirror each other in skills and talent leaving mental thoughts and feelings as the edge factor.
You can develop your edge factor of self-confidence and your ability to succeed through daily activities with "Mental Fitness" (call it mental gymnastics or mental workout to push beyond your own limits).
Being an elite athlete is not much different than being a pro-salesperson, manager, entrepreneur, actor, writer, musician, doctor or any other professional. Each has their own skills, education and physical abilities that are require handling the task at hand.
The biggest difference is that the elite athlete finds mental training indispensable - and not just for performing on game day but for getting the most out of their daily workouts.
Regardless of the profession you're in, developing self-confidence can be achieved through a daily routine of "Mental Fitness". A sales person can build up their physical and psychological strength for reaching the top of their game with the same "Mental Fitness" techniques athletes' use.
Top performers in any profession and all industries face constant deadlines, communication challenges, fear of rejection, exhausting hours, work related stress, unexpected and uncontrollable conditions.
With a "Mental Fitness" program you condition your mind to respond in more relaxed, confident and productive way. You can transform complex motor procedures into automatic movements and greater mind control. You can rebound from the physical and psychic stress of personal and work related task. You can develop the ability to shut out the pain of exhaustion and learn how to tolerate the intensity of your daily routine.
Self-confidence is the solution for achieving a balance in life and higher performance in your career with less stress and "Mental Fitness" is the vehicles to arrive at self-confidence.
Engaging in a "Mental Fitness" program requires a commitment and the desire to win in life. But just imagine changing your thinking to get anything you want and propel your life forward. There is no hocus-pocus involved in "Mental Fitness" and the ONLY tool you will need is your MIND. Sound too easy? Prepare to be amazed both by the power of your mind to shape who you can become, and by the power you have to guide it.
"Mental Fitness" is indispensable for living a life of joy, happiness and prosperity.
Here are 5 mind shaping (mental fitness) exercises you can do each and every day for having greater confidence and control with less stress in your life.
1. Write down in fine detail as to what you want to accomplish. Remember this statement when writing out your goal "When you stop arguing for lack and limitations you will experience greater success in your life." 2. Relax yourself by assuming a position either reclining or lying down with your legs uncrossed and your arms held loosely at your side. Make sure that you will not be disturbed by turning off your radio, television, cell phones and removing any animals such as a dog or cat from the room. And remove your shoes or any apparel that will interfere with your physical comfort in any way.
Note: Relaxation doesn't mean taking a nap or falling asleep. It means becoming deliberately relaxed in mind and body, escaping momentarily from the cares of the day, to create the receptive state necessary for autosuggestion and reprogramming your subconscious mind.
3. Using your imagination, visualize, touch, hear, feel, and smell though your minds eye the desired outcome and new results you want to achieve. All things are first imagined in the unformed world before you can manifest its' equivalence in the formed world.
4. Inwardly, silently and repeatedly use self talk that supports your imaging in your mind and act as if your have already accomplish your objective. Pretend that you are creating a motion picture of yourself and you are the director, actor, set dresser, script writer and costume designer.
5. Practice daily, just like an athlete, so that you can develop your edge factor of self-confidence and your ability to succeed
We live in a world that can and is being transformed through human imagination; a world of mind, where at first, all things are only a concept, idea or image in the mind of a person.
"Mental Fitness" is indispensable for living a life of joy, happiness and prosperity.
********************end********************
Studies show that men and women profit most with having self-confidence and by building up their psychological strength.
Self-confidence is the hallmark of great achievement for individuals from all walks of life and from all industries and many times spells the difference between success and failure.
Look around you'll easily identify people with a sincere self-confidence who impel and influence others with ease. You have witnessed people who were promoted to highly paid position while others with better training, are not.
Upon close study, you will observe that those who advance in life believe strongly in themselves and in their ability to succeed. They radiate pose and assurance and seem to have a constant access for wisdom and expanded vision. Others just naturally follow them, whereas, the person who lacks self-confidence, repels others, rather than attracts them.
Self-confidence is the faith in one's innate abilities and talents to overcome procrastination, fears, phobias, inhibitions and adversities for taking action. Lacking self-confidence affects every aspect of your life. You may have all the skills, training and mental abilities to become successful in your career, but, if you lack self-confidence your life will be like an eight cylinder motor vehicle running on one cylinder - struggling and sputtering to function well in all areas of your life.
Your losing a job, low sales results, having a loved one pass on, filing bankruptcy, having your car repossessed, being passed over for a position, fail an exam, being called fatty, stupid, ugly, and bad news from the doctor are just a few causes for programming a lack of self-confidence.
We come into this world with self-confidence. Look at any child's actions and reactions before they become filled with the fears, phobias, inhibitions of thoughts and adversities as adults.
Like an athlete who trains to exhaustion, every day, to prepare their bodies for having strong muscles and lungs -- must also discipline their minds for control, concentration and self-confidence. Also, just like elite athletes, in most sports, are equal in skill and physical prowess -- business people mirror each other in skills and talent leaving mental thoughts and feelings as the edge factor.
You can develop your edge factor of self-confidence and your ability to succeed through daily activities with "Mental Fitness" (call it mental gymnastics or mental workout to push beyond your own limits).
Being an elite athlete is not much different than being a pro-salesperson, manager, entrepreneur, actor, writer, musician, doctor or any other professional. Each has their own skills, education and physical abilities that are require handling the task at hand.
The biggest difference is that the elite athlete finds mental training indispensable - and not just for performing on game day but for getting the most out of their daily workouts.
Regardless of the profession you're in, developing self-confidence can be achieved through a daily routine of "Mental Fitness". A sales person can build up their physical and psychological strength for reaching the top of their game with the same "Mental Fitness" techniques athletes' use.
Top performers in any profession and all industries face constant deadlines, communication challenges, fear of rejection, exhausting hours, work related stress, unexpected and uncontrollable conditions.
With a "Mental Fitness" program you condition your mind to respond in more relaxed, confident and productive way. You can transform complex motor procedures into automatic movements and greater mind control. You can rebound from the physical and psychic stress of personal and work related task. You can develop the ability to shut out the pain of exhaustion and learn how to tolerate the intensity of your daily routine.
Self-confidence is the solution for achieving a balance in life and higher performance in your career with less stress and "Mental Fitness" is the vehicles to arrive at self-confidence.
Engaging in a "Mental Fitness" program requires a commitment and the desire to win in life. But just imagine changing your thinking to get anything you want and propel your life forward. There is no hocus-pocus involved in "Mental Fitness" and the ONLY tool you will need is your MIND. Sound too easy? Prepare to be amazed both by the power of your mind to shape who you can become, and by the power you have to guide it.
"Mental Fitness" is indispensable for living a life of joy, happiness and prosperity.
Here are 5 mind shaping (mental fitness) exercises you can do each and every day for having greater confidence and control with less stress in your life.
1. Write down in fine detail as to what you want to accomplish. Remember this statement when writing out your goal "When you stop arguing for lack and limitations you will experience greater success in your life." 2. Relax yourself by assuming a position either reclining or lying down with your legs uncrossed and your arms held loosely at your side. Make sure that you will not be disturbed by turning off your radio, television, cell phones and removing any animals such as a dog or cat from the room. And remove your shoes or any apparel that will interfere with your physical comfort in any way.
Note: Relaxation doesn't mean taking a nap or falling asleep. It means becoming deliberately relaxed in mind and body, escaping momentarily from the cares of the day, to create the receptive state necessary for autosuggestion and reprogramming your subconscious mind.
3. Using your imagination, visualize, touch, hear, feel, and smell though your minds eye the desired outcome and new results you want to achieve. All things are first imagined in the unformed world before you can manifest its' equivalence in the formed world.
4. Inwardly, silently and repeatedly use self talk that supports your imaging in your mind and act as if your have already accomplish your objective. Pretend that you are creating a motion picture of yourself and you are the director, actor, set dresser, script writer and costume designer.
5. Practice daily, just like an athlete, so that you can develop your edge factor of self-confidence and your ability to succeed
We live in a world that can and is being transformed through human imagination; a world of mind, where at first, all things are only a concept, idea or image in the mind of a person.
"Mental Fitness" is indispensable for living a life of joy, happiness and prosperity.
********************end********************
Measuring The Success Of Your Outsourcing
"If you can't measure it, you can't manage it." - Peter Drucker Many people fear that outsourced software development means having little or no control over the development process. They think there ...
"If you can't measure it, you can't manage it." - Peter Drucker
Many people fear that outsourced software development means having little or no control over the development process. They think there is no need to measure while the programmers are there in the same room. Or is there?
When I worked as a programmer in the 1980s, my boss used to joke that he was going to hire a guy with a kettle drum and put him in the corner of the room. Every time the kettle drum was hit, we had to have written a line of code!
Today, outsourcing promises huge cost savings and executives are less concerned with lines per minute than with dollars per hour. But in the end, it is important to know the money you spend is fueling real progress in the development of your software. How can this be done?
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) provides an example of outsourcing that can be successfully measured. Business processes such as accounts receivable and outbound sales calls can be so well defined that you can accurately measure how efficiently and effectively they are implemented. New software tools not only help you detect problems and inefficiencies, but can predict and fix the problems before they even arise.
To measure new software development you track how many new features are added over time. Some metrics split the programming required into work units and then track how many units are completed over time. It is best to measure results daily and at least weekly.
Engineers are notoriously optimistic about their ability to create working software. So another metric measures how accurate their estimates are for the time required to finish the software development. Initially, their ability to estimate will likely be poor. You can set a goal for the engineers to improve this skill as your development continues so you improve the predictability of your process.
For maintenance programming you need to track the work units or bugs fixed over time. In addition, you should measure the amount of re-work required for bugs that fail the QA step after bug fix attempts.
Your outsourced team should commit to a schedule for completing the programming work. As part of this their commitment, they must also agree to the definition of work units and the productivity level they believe they can achieve. Their commitment makes them independent and liberated from requiring specific instructions for all their daily work activities.
You typically measure the throughput of your outsourced team as a whole. A team is typically a combination of junior and senior members. Junior engineers will need guidance and mentoring from the senior engineers. This is normal and should be expected and encouraged. But it should also be measured over time. A senior engineer can be expected to spend from 5% to 25% of his/her time with junior engineers depending on the complexity of the project and prior experience of the junior engineer.
Today most people use simple software tools like spreadsheets and Microsoft Project to track the metrics of their outsourcing. More sophisticated tools are also available but are expensive and best applied when you have a large portfolio of software development projects. New tools are being developed to automatically compute your metrics as your software is developed.
For example the amount of time source files are checked out of your source code control system can be used to help measure the productivity of your engineers. Other on-line techniques to track progress and measure results will be coming soon.
You can use metrics as the basis for a Service Level Agreement (SLA) youre your outsourcing vendor. But remember: the purpose of an SLA is to help guide your software development to success and to detect and correct problems as they arise. It is not to support micro management, a blame game or to create an adversarial relationship with your outsourced team.
Will software development become as predictable as BPO and enable you to fix problems before they occur? I doubt we will ever have this much control over the creative software development process... but who knows? That guy with the kettle drum may not be far off!
Article Tags: Software Development, Kettle Drum, Over Time, Work Units, Outsourced Team
"If you can't measure it, you can't manage it." - Peter Drucker
Many people fear that outsourced software development means having little or no control over the development process. They think there is no need to measure while the programmers are there in the same room. Or is there?
When I worked as a programmer in the 1980s, my boss used to joke that he was going to hire a guy with a kettle drum and put him in the corner of the room. Every time the kettle drum was hit, we had to have written a line of code!
Today, outsourcing promises huge cost savings and executives are less concerned with lines per minute than with dollars per hour. But in the end, it is important to know the money you spend is fueling real progress in the development of your software. How can this be done?
Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) provides an example of outsourcing that can be successfully measured. Business processes such as accounts receivable and outbound sales calls can be so well defined that you can accurately measure how efficiently and effectively they are implemented. New software tools not only help you detect problems and inefficiencies, but can predict and fix the problems before they even arise.
To measure new software development you track how many new features are added over time. Some metrics split the programming required into work units and then track how many units are completed over time. It is best to measure results daily and at least weekly.
Engineers are notoriously optimistic about their ability to create working software. So another metric measures how accurate their estimates are for the time required to finish the software development. Initially, their ability to estimate will likely be poor. You can set a goal for the engineers to improve this skill as your development continues so you improve the predictability of your process.
For maintenance programming you need to track the work units or bugs fixed over time. In addition, you should measure the amount of re-work required for bugs that fail the QA step after bug fix attempts.
Your outsourced team should commit to a schedule for completing the programming work. As part of this their commitment, they must also agree to the definition of work units and the productivity level they believe they can achieve. Their commitment makes them independent and liberated from requiring specific instructions for all their daily work activities.
You typically measure the throughput of your outsourced team as a whole. A team is typically a combination of junior and senior members. Junior engineers will need guidance and mentoring from the senior engineers. This is normal and should be expected and encouraged. But it should also be measured over time. A senior engineer can be expected to spend from 5% to 25% of his/her time with junior engineers depending on the complexity of the project and prior experience of the junior engineer.
Today most people use simple software tools like spreadsheets and Microsoft Project to track the metrics of their outsourcing. More sophisticated tools are also available but are expensive and best applied when you have a large portfolio of software development projects. New tools are being developed to automatically compute your metrics as your software is developed.
For example the amount of time source files are checked out of your source code control system can be used to help measure the productivity of your engineers. Other on-line techniques to track progress and measure results will be coming soon.
You can use metrics as the basis for a Service Level Agreement (SLA) youre your outsourcing vendor. But remember: the purpose of an SLA is to help guide your software development to success and to detect and correct problems as they arise. It is not to support micro management, a blame game or to create an adversarial relationship with your outsourced team.
Will software development become as predictable as BPO and enable you to fix problems before they occur? I doubt we will ever have this much control over the creative software development process... but who knows? That guy with the kettle drum may not be far off!
Article Tags: Software Development, Kettle Drum, Over Time, Work Units, Outsourced Team
Maximizing the Use of Autoresponders
If you're using an autoresponder and have been for some time, you understand the astronomical benefits of following up with your prospects -- especially when they're hot and willing to buy. If not, you're in for a treat! Let me briefly explain... A visitor sends an email to a specific address or fills out a form on your website... And boom! An instant email reply is shot right away. That's what most typical autoresponders do.
Autoresponders are a perfect way to increase traffic to your site. They can save many valuable hours by automatically answering emails concerning frequently asked questions about a service or product or by sending a welcome letter to new members of your program. There are many ways that autoresponders can help your business. One of the most important is their ability to track the effectiveness of your promotions. Since autoresponders are one of the most popular marketing tools available today, they are being used by a lot of different kinds of business and websites. Some of these take advantage of the system to use the autoresponders in a negative manner. You should be aware of some of the "Golden Rules" when using autoresponders.
Thou Shalt Not Use an Autoresponder Address When Submitting to Search Engines.
Since you will most likely submit your site to search engines such as Google or Yahoo!, directories, classifieds, and free for all sites, you should be made aware of the fact that these sites commonly use an autoresponder as well. If you were to use your autoresponder to contact these companies, their autoresponder will reply to yours and so on and so on. Thus creating a cycle of autoresponses that will flood your email box and theirs as well.
Thou Shalt Not Use an Autoresponder to Subscribe to Ezines or Discussion Forums.
Since most of the time an Ezine will send you updates and new information regularly, your auto responder will send them a message each time. In a discussion forum, every person in the discussion forum will receive your auto response. This can be irritating and most of the time you will be unsubscribed. It is often hard for the administrators of the forum or ezine to determine who is using the autoresponse and therefore it is simply common courtesy to never use an autoresponer in this manner.
Thou Shalt Not Use an Autoresponder to Take Advantage Of Unsuspecting Individuals.
Some very unprofessional companies will use autoresponders to respond to an automated message when this is done the address in the "from" field will be automatically subscribed to their mailing list. This is a extremely un ethical use of autoresponders and those who do it are in jeopardy of creating a very negative image of themselves and their company. Rather than promote their service or business, this usually leads to people becoming very upset and spreading a negative word about your company rather than a good one.
The Internet can be a great place to do business and autoresponders can be an excellent way to save time, however when used in an unprofessional way, they can lead to frustration and aggravation for others. Your company will suffer the loss of much business if you choose to participate in these abusive practices. The appropriate use of auto responders can generate a large amount of business, while inappropriate use can drive away that business.
Autoresponders are a perfect way to increase traffic to your site. They can save many valuable hours by automatically answering emails concerning frequently asked questions about a service or product or by sending a welcome letter to new members of your program. There are many ways that autoresponders can help your business. One of the most important is their ability to track the effectiveness of your promotions. Since autoresponders are one of the most popular marketing tools available today, they are being used by a lot of different kinds of business and websites. Some of these take advantage of the system to use the autoresponders in a negative manner. You should be aware of some of the "Golden Rules" when using autoresponders.
Thou Shalt Not Use an Autoresponder Address When Submitting to Search Engines.
Since you will most likely submit your site to search engines such as Google or Yahoo!, directories, classifieds, and free for all sites, you should be made aware of the fact that these sites commonly use an autoresponder as well. If you were to use your autoresponder to contact these companies, their autoresponder will reply to yours and so on and so on. Thus creating a cycle of autoresponses that will flood your email box and theirs as well.
Thou Shalt Not Use an Autoresponder to Subscribe to Ezines or Discussion Forums.
Since most of the time an Ezine will send you updates and new information regularly, your auto responder will send them a message each time. In a discussion forum, every person in the discussion forum will receive your auto response. This can be irritating and most of the time you will be unsubscribed. It is often hard for the administrators of the forum or ezine to determine who is using the autoresponse and therefore it is simply common courtesy to never use an autoresponer in this manner.
Thou Shalt Not Use an Autoresponder to Take Advantage Of Unsuspecting Individuals.
Some very unprofessional companies will use autoresponders to respond to an automated message when this is done the address in the "from" field will be automatically subscribed to their mailing list. This is a extremely un ethical use of autoresponders and those who do it are in jeopardy of creating a very negative image of themselves and their company. Rather than promote their service or business, this usually leads to people becoming very upset and spreading a negative word about your company rather than a good one.
The Internet can be a great place to do business and autoresponders can be an excellent way to save time, however when used in an unprofessional way, they can lead to frustration and aggravation for others. Your company will suffer the loss of much business if you choose to participate in these abusive practices. The appropriate use of auto responders can generate a large amount of business, while inappropriate use can drive away that business.
MasterCard: Then, Now and Why
MasterCard is the most widely-accepted credit card in the world. Here's how it started, how it grew, where it is today and what's special about it.
Then
Way back around 1947, many banks in the US started doing their premium customers a favor. The banks gave them a piece of paper for the customers to flaunt at stores. The paper said, " We, the bank, will pay you on behalf of the customer. Just send us the bill."One can imagine how privileged and special those customers felt. One can also visualize how those customers would stay bonded for life to their respective banks, as would their succeeding generations.
This practice of banks really caught on because it promoted customer loyalty and brought in new accounts. Which is why in 1951, The Franklin National Bank, New York, offered the first credit card as a formal financial instrument.
Throughout the fifties, this idea was franchised; a single bank in each large city would allow chosen merchants to accept cards instead of cash. The Interbank Card Association (ICA), which later became MasterCard International, evolved from this situation in August 1966.
ICA was a member-run organization, and banks formed the majority of members. They elected governing members and committees from amongst themselves to frame rules for ICA's functioning and to implement those rules. In short, ICA was and is run like a true corporation.
In due course, like a typical corporation, ICA put plans in motion to expand internationally. The first steps took place in 1968, when ICA signed agreements with partners in Mexico, Europe and Japan.
By around 1978, ICA had practically covered all the continents. It changed its name to MasterCard to reflect its international stature. 1987 was a watershed year: MasterCard arrived in the People's Republic of China, where no other credit card had stepped foot in the history of banking. The very next year, the Soviet Union fell to that smart little piece of plastic.
Now
The situation now, to quote MasterCard Incorporated, is simple: "No other payment card is accepted in more locations around the world than MasterCard.
"MasterCard presently has a staggering 25,000 shareholders. A list of MasterCard's largest current shareholders with their holdings reads like this:
1. JPMorgan Chase - 11.7%2. Citigroup - 6.2%3. Bank of America - 6%4. Euro Kartensysteme - 5.2%5. Europay France - 5.0%
Why
So why do millions of people carry MasterCard?Well, to start with, and as mentioned earlier, it is accepted by more merchants the world over than any other credit card. Add to that the fact that wherever you may be on earth, you have an ATM nearby that will disgorge you cash if you have a MasterCard. How many ATMs are we talking about? Just 780,000!Also, the intermediate and premium cards, Gold and Platinum, carry attractive value-added features. Such as "Road Assist", which provides access to emergency service to travelers anywhere in the US. Or "PayPass", which is a smart MasterCard that you just tap on the PayPass reader at participating locations for your card account to be debited (no swiping or giving your card to checkout counter staff).
If you are in the US, you also have MasterCard's famous zero liability benefit: you are not liable if your card is stolen and misused.
Conclusion
MasterCard offers customers one of the greatest advantages in today's commercial world: cashless transactions. Coupled with all the benefits mentioned above, it is very difficult to prove why you should not acquire one! Count on MasterCard International to evolve beyond plastic into state-of-the-art personal technology, like credit-loaded mobile phones… stay tuned!
Then
Way back around 1947, many banks in the US started doing their premium customers a favor. The banks gave them a piece of paper for the customers to flaunt at stores. The paper said, " We, the bank, will pay you on behalf of the customer. Just send us the bill."One can imagine how privileged and special those customers felt. One can also visualize how those customers would stay bonded for life to their respective banks, as would their succeeding generations.
This practice of banks really caught on because it promoted customer loyalty and brought in new accounts. Which is why in 1951, The Franklin National Bank, New York, offered the first credit card as a formal financial instrument.
Throughout the fifties, this idea was franchised; a single bank in each large city would allow chosen merchants to accept cards instead of cash. The Interbank Card Association (ICA), which later became MasterCard International, evolved from this situation in August 1966.
ICA was a member-run organization, and banks formed the majority of members. They elected governing members and committees from amongst themselves to frame rules for ICA's functioning and to implement those rules. In short, ICA was and is run like a true corporation.
In due course, like a typical corporation, ICA put plans in motion to expand internationally. The first steps took place in 1968, when ICA signed agreements with partners in Mexico, Europe and Japan.
By around 1978, ICA had practically covered all the continents. It changed its name to MasterCard to reflect its international stature. 1987 was a watershed year: MasterCard arrived in the People's Republic of China, where no other credit card had stepped foot in the history of banking. The very next year, the Soviet Union fell to that smart little piece of plastic.
Now
The situation now, to quote MasterCard Incorporated, is simple: "No other payment card is accepted in more locations around the world than MasterCard.
"MasterCard presently has a staggering 25,000 shareholders. A list of MasterCard's largest current shareholders with their holdings reads like this:
1. JPMorgan Chase - 11.7%2. Citigroup - 6.2%3. Bank of America - 6%4. Euro Kartensysteme - 5.2%5. Europay France - 5.0%
Why
So why do millions of people carry MasterCard?Well, to start with, and as mentioned earlier, it is accepted by more merchants the world over than any other credit card. Add to that the fact that wherever you may be on earth, you have an ATM nearby that will disgorge you cash if you have a MasterCard. How many ATMs are we talking about? Just 780,000!Also, the intermediate and premium cards, Gold and Platinum, carry attractive value-added features. Such as "Road Assist", which provides access to emergency service to travelers anywhere in the US. Or "PayPass", which is a smart MasterCard that you just tap on the PayPass reader at participating locations for your card account to be debited (no swiping or giving your card to checkout counter staff).
If you are in the US, you also have MasterCard's famous zero liability benefit: you are not liable if your card is stolen and misused.
Conclusion
MasterCard offers customers one of the greatest advantages in today's commercial world: cashless transactions. Coupled with all the benefits mentioned above, it is very difficult to prove why you should not acquire one! Count on MasterCard International to evolve beyond plastic into state-of-the-art personal technology, like credit-loaded mobile phones… stay tuned!
Marketing Revolution with Blogs and RSS
Do you know that there is a ... ... ... online this very ... that, let's go back in time and take a look at the major ... or 'waves' that has occured when the Inter
Do you know that there is a marketing revolution happening online this very moment?
Before that, let's go back in time and take a look at the major revolution or 'waves' that has occured when the Internet became a business or marketplace.
First there was the Search Engine revolution, with Alta Vista, Yahoo and now Google coming onto the scene and with webmasters busy tweaking their pages for high ranking on these search engines which means more traffic.
Then there was the email marketing revolution, when people discovered the use of email as a means for follow up selling and is still being widely used today.
Finally, there was the affiliate marketing wave, popularised perhaps by Amazon, and with most businesses following using this model to distribute and sell their products.
And today, we have blogs and rss feeds being used as a new form of marketing for businesses. Blogs appeared few years back, and in a way was similar to a forum, except that with blogs, you call the shots and can write and talk about anything under the Sun.
When it first appeared, blogs were thought of nothing more than just a tool for people to express their rants, feelings, emotions and so forth. However, soon savvy marketers recognized the use of blogs as another channel of marketing - be it branding, selling, promotion etc.
Today, blogs have taken on a whole new meaning and become sophisticated in look and content to the extent that it has become a powerful way to market products and services. There are so many ways you can earn money with blogs, which is discussed in my multimedia e-book.
RSS Feeds are basically a way of distributing/circulating/syndicating your contents, which can come from your blogs, your newsletters, and so forth. In my multimedia e-book, "Marketing Rampage with Blogs and RSS" I show you in video how easy it is to create a feed in under 10 minutes!
Think of a giant sea octopus. Imagine its long tentacles with suction pods all over reaching out to grab food. RSS Feeds is like a giant octopus, with UNLIMITED tentacles and UNLIMITED REACH for you to "grab" your prospects.
Does that send shiver down your spine?
Article Tags: Marketing Revolution
Do you know that there is a marketing revolution happening online this very moment?
Before that, let's go back in time and take a look at the major revolution or 'waves' that has occured when the Internet became a business or marketplace.
First there was the Search Engine revolution, with Alta Vista, Yahoo and now Google coming onto the scene and with webmasters busy tweaking their pages for high ranking on these search engines which means more traffic.
Then there was the email marketing revolution, when people discovered the use of email as a means for follow up selling and is still being widely used today.
Finally, there was the affiliate marketing wave, popularised perhaps by Amazon, and with most businesses following using this model to distribute and sell their products.
And today, we have blogs and rss feeds being used as a new form of marketing for businesses. Blogs appeared few years back, and in a way was similar to a forum, except that with blogs, you call the shots and can write and talk about anything under the Sun.
When it first appeared, blogs were thought of nothing more than just a tool for people to express their rants, feelings, emotions and so forth. However, soon savvy marketers recognized the use of blogs as another channel of marketing - be it branding, selling, promotion etc.
Today, blogs have taken on a whole new meaning and become sophisticated in look and content to the extent that it has become a powerful way to market products and services. There are so many ways you can earn money with blogs, which is discussed in my multimedia e-book.
RSS Feeds are basically a way of distributing/circulating/syndicating your contents, which can come from your blogs, your newsletters, and so forth. In my multimedia e-book, "Marketing Rampage with Blogs and RSS" I show you in video how easy it is to create a feed in under 10 minutes!
Think of a giant sea octopus. Imagine its long tentacles with suction pods all over reaching out to grab food. RSS Feeds is like a giant octopus, with UNLIMITED tentacles and UNLIMITED REACH for you to "grab" your prospects.
Does that send shiver down your spine?
Article Tags: Marketing Revolution
Marketing Myth #1: Marketing is Just Another Word for Advertising
What is the number one most prevalent - and potentially the most dangerous - marketing myth of all? It's the mistaken belief that marketing is just another word for advertising... This couldn't be further from the truth! Read more...
This is perhaps the most common marketing myth and must be debunked right away if you have any hope of accomplishing your business goals.
A belief in this myth necessitates a view of marketing as a tactical function rather than the series of cross-functional processes, approaches and activities that it really is. Yes, advertising (marketing communications) is an essential component of your overall marketing plan, but it is not THE plan - and ideally should account for only 1-2% of your entire marketing efforts.
If you devote all of your attention and efforts on advertising activities (e.g. ad copy, sales channels, websites, media, etc.
) you're putting the cart before the horse and are missing critical issues that may be having a negative impact on your business.
Advertising should never be substituted for the marketing process as a whole. No amount of advertising is going to make up for shoddy workmanship; rude employees or an unpleasant customer experience. It's like building a house of cards… it may hold up for a little while, but it most certainly will come tumbling down.
You've heard of the 'domino effect', yes? If all of the dominos are set up correctly then one push and they will all fall into place… achieving the expected result. It all begins with that first domino… it sets up the chain reaction for all the rest. Moreover, if any of the others are out of place the ones after that will not drop. This common, but vivid analogy clearly demonstrates how one element can significantly alter results.
The marketing function can be broken down into two distinct parts - Strategies and Tactics. Strategic marketing defines who you are… It spells out how you differ from your competitors so that your prospects and customers can make wise choices. Additionally, it serves as the working foundation for your entire company. It is the content of your marketing message: what you say, how you say it, and who you say it to.
Tactical marketing (Advertising, Promotions, Sales Materials, etc.
) involves the communication of your strategic plan. In other words, it is the vehicle(s) for delivering your message.
Strategies and tactics will be discussed in much greater detail in Chapters Three through Seven.
Bottom line: You cannot advertise your way to success. If you choose to tell the public how great you are… make yourself great first.
The quickest way to kill a bad product, or business, is to advertise it.
Classic Symptoms of a Myth #1 BelieverThey…
Ignore essential research, analysis, and planning
Act like a "show horse" instead of a "plow horse"
Think/Say things like, "advertising works" or "you can make a fortune on the Internet"
Don't believe in giving anything away for free
This is perhaps the most common marketing myth and must be debunked right away if you have any hope of accomplishing your business goals.
A belief in this myth necessitates a view of marketing as a tactical function rather than the series of cross-functional processes, approaches and activities that it really is. Yes, advertising (marketing communications) is an essential component of your overall marketing plan, but it is not THE plan - and ideally should account for only 1-2% of your entire marketing efforts.
If you devote all of your attention and efforts on advertising activities (e.g. ad copy, sales channels, websites, media, etc.
) you're putting the cart before the horse and are missing critical issues that may be having a negative impact on your business.
Advertising should never be substituted for the marketing process as a whole. No amount of advertising is going to make up for shoddy workmanship; rude employees or an unpleasant customer experience. It's like building a house of cards… it may hold up for a little while, but it most certainly will come tumbling down.
You've heard of the 'domino effect', yes? If all of the dominos are set up correctly then one push and they will all fall into place… achieving the expected result. It all begins with that first domino… it sets up the chain reaction for all the rest. Moreover, if any of the others are out of place the ones after that will not drop. This common, but vivid analogy clearly demonstrates how one element can significantly alter results.
The marketing function can be broken down into two distinct parts - Strategies and Tactics. Strategic marketing defines who you are… It spells out how you differ from your competitors so that your prospects and customers can make wise choices. Additionally, it serves as the working foundation for your entire company. It is the content of your marketing message: what you say, how you say it, and who you say it to.
Tactical marketing (Advertising, Promotions, Sales Materials, etc.
) involves the communication of your strategic plan. In other words, it is the vehicle(s) for delivering your message.
Strategies and tactics will be discussed in much greater detail in Chapters Three through Seven.
Bottom line: You cannot advertise your way to success. If you choose to tell the public how great you are… make yourself great first.
The quickest way to kill a bad product, or business, is to advertise it.
Classic Symptoms of a Myth #1 BelieverThey…
Ignore essential research, analysis, and planning
Act like a "show horse" instead of a "plow horse"
Think/Say things like, "advertising works" or "you can make a fortune on the Internet"
Don't believe in giving anything away for free
Market leader has the ball in your court
Only the market leader should consider playing defense. This might seem straightforward, but it's not. We've never met a company that didn't consider itself a leader. But most companies base their le...
Only the market leader should consider playing defense. This might seem straightforward, but it's not.
We've never met a company that didn't consider itself a leader. But most companies base their leadership positions more on creative definitions than on market realities. Your company may be the leader "east of the Mississippi on Monday morning," but the customer doesn't care.
Companies don't create leaders-customer do. It's who the customer perceives as the leader that defines a true category leader.
Furthermore, we're talking about the leader, not a leader. There are many leaders in the computer industry, but only one IBM, the true leader in the mind of computer customer and prospects.
Then there are the pretenders to the throne. Some business people actually believe you can "will" your way to the top. They believe in the power of positive thinking. First, you have to convince yourself you're the leader before you can go out and convince others.
Torpedo the thought. Pretender ship has no place in the development of a marketing strategy. It's one thing to engage in hyperbole for the benefit of the sales force. It's another thing to delude yourself into making a strategic error. A good marketing general must have a clear picture of the actual situation so that he or she can lead from truth. Fool the enemy, never fool yourself.
Only the market leader should consider playing defense. This might seem straightforward, but it's not.
We've never met a company that didn't consider itself a leader. But most companies base their leadership positions more on creative definitions than on market realities. Your company may be the leader "east of the Mississippi on Monday morning," but the customer doesn't care.
Companies don't create leaders-customer do. It's who the customer perceives as the leader that defines a true category leader.
Furthermore, we're talking about the leader, not a leader. There are many leaders in the computer industry, but only one IBM, the true leader in the mind of computer customer and prospects.
Then there are the pretenders to the throne. Some business people actually believe you can "will" your way to the top. They believe in the power of positive thinking. First, you have to convince yourself you're the leader before you can go out and convince others.
Torpedo the thought. Pretender ship has no place in the development of a marketing strategy. It's one thing to engage in hyperbole for the benefit of the sales force. It's another thing to delude yourself into making a strategic error. A good marketing general must have a clear picture of the actual situation so that he or she can lead from truth. Fool the enemy, never fool yourself.
Mark Anastasi Interview
Mark Anastasi is a walking, talking, self improvement dynamo and his entrepreneurial journey has been a fascinating one.
He is the kind of guy that is only too willing to share his knowledge and experience for the benefit of those around him.
He shares much of this experience through his financial freedom seminars. He also has a separate company that promotes other personal development speakers called Inspired Events...
The Interview
DS: What inspired you to set up the Life Quest Partnership?
MA: All the good I have in my life I owe to the considerable investment I have made in my 'personal development', through books, CDs, DVDs, and seminars I have attended.
The LifeQuest Partnership, Inspired Events, or The Online Marketing Group are ways for me to share these tools, strategies, and insights that have made such a difference in my life.
DS: Did you have any help setting up the company or were you going it alone?
MA: I have always set up my companies on my own, though I have been blessed in having attracted extraordinary and invaluable mentors, as well as staff of the highest calibre.
At the end of the day, your success as an entrepreneur will depend on your TEAM.
DS: What was the biggest challenge you faced in bringing your idea to fruition? How was it overcome?
MA: Lack of adequate funding in the initial stages was frustrating, though we pulled through in the end without the need of external investors.
DS: What makes you most proud about your achievements with the Life Quest Partnership?
MA: Hearing the testimonials of our Success Partners or of attendees of our events fills me with joy every time, and also, I am proud and grateful for the amazing people that selflessly devote their time to this business.
DS: How did you actually fund your business to get it off the ground?
MA: I funded all my businesses - at least initially - from the sale of my ebooks on the Internet. I am currently looking for $250,000 in capital, from investors, to take The LifeQuest Partnership to the next level, in view of a stockmarket floatation in 2008.
DS: What attributes make a successful entrepreneur?
MA: Passion, Drive, Vision, Total Self-Belief, Courage, a desire to help people & solve problems, great people skills, and a solid grounding in Marketing.
DS: What do you believe are the necessary elements for a business venture to succeed?
MA: Marketing, marketing, and then more marketing. Spend 90% of your time on the marketing. Other than that, making sure there truly IS a market for your product or service in the first place.
DS: How essential do you see a University education in achieving success as an entrepreneur?
MA: Not at all. Zilch. Nada. Niet. Nuh-huh. If you are at Uni at the moment... leave.
DS: What are the three most important lessons you have learned about business and entrepreneurship?
MA:
(1) The Entrepreneur's Golden Question: "How Can I Serve/Help More People?"
Business and entrepreneurship is about adding value to people's lives.
(2) Absolute integrity is a MUST.
(3) Having a grand vision is great, but you still must take care of the details!
DS: What advice would you give to an aspiring entrepreneur?
MA: Start.
DS: What's the number one book you would recommend to aspiring entrepreneurs?
MA: Study Robert Kiyosaki's "Choose To Be Rich" (CD), Michael Gerber's "The e-Myth Revisited", and Richard Parkes Cordock's "The Millionaire MBA" (CD)
DS: What memorable mistakes, if any, have you made in business? What did you learn from them and how can they be avoided?
MA: Not keeping an eye on cash flow was definitely a mistake I learned the hard way!
Good book-keeping & accountants... vital.
"In order to Think Big... you've got to 'Think Small'" - Robert Kiyosaki
DS: What are the best and worst things about being an entrepreneur?
MA:
The Best: Freedom. Creativity. Self-Expression. Unlimited Wealth Potential.
The Worst: You carry the awesome responsibility of being accountable for the livelihood of other people. The buck stops with YOU.
DS: Are there any other thoughts, insights, or advice for aspiring entrepreneurs that you'd like to add?
MA: We live in the age of the entrepreneur. It is much safer than being at the mercy of an employer! There is nothing to fear. You can never fail - only LEARN. Being an entrepreneur is synonymous to being ALIVE! Just Do It!
Money Is Nothing But The Measure Of The Value You Create For Other People, and you go about adding value to people's lives BY BEING AN ENTREPRENEUR!"At the end of your life, you won't wish you'd spent more time at the office..."
He is the kind of guy that is only too willing to share his knowledge and experience for the benefit of those around him.
He shares much of this experience through his financial freedom seminars. He also has a separate company that promotes other personal development speakers called Inspired Events...
The Interview
DS: What inspired you to set up the Life Quest Partnership?
MA: All the good I have in my life I owe to the considerable investment I have made in my 'personal development', through books, CDs, DVDs, and seminars I have attended.
The LifeQuest Partnership, Inspired Events, or The Online Marketing Group are ways for me to share these tools, strategies, and insights that have made such a difference in my life.
DS: Did you have any help setting up the company or were you going it alone?
MA: I have always set up my companies on my own, though I have been blessed in having attracted extraordinary and invaluable mentors, as well as staff of the highest calibre.
At the end of the day, your success as an entrepreneur will depend on your TEAM.
DS: What was the biggest challenge you faced in bringing your idea to fruition? How was it overcome?
MA: Lack of adequate funding in the initial stages was frustrating, though we pulled through in the end without the need of external investors.
DS: What makes you most proud about your achievements with the Life Quest Partnership?
MA: Hearing the testimonials of our Success Partners or of attendees of our events fills me with joy every time, and also, I am proud and grateful for the amazing people that selflessly devote their time to this business.
DS: How did you actually fund your business to get it off the ground?
MA: I funded all my businesses - at least initially - from the sale of my ebooks on the Internet. I am currently looking for $250,000 in capital, from investors, to take The LifeQuest Partnership to the next level, in view of a stockmarket floatation in 2008.
DS: What attributes make a successful entrepreneur?
MA: Passion, Drive, Vision, Total Self-Belief, Courage, a desire to help people & solve problems, great people skills, and a solid grounding in Marketing.
DS: What do you believe are the necessary elements for a business venture to succeed?
MA: Marketing, marketing, and then more marketing. Spend 90% of your time on the marketing. Other than that, making sure there truly IS a market for your product or service in the first place.
DS: How essential do you see a University education in achieving success as an entrepreneur?
MA: Not at all. Zilch. Nada. Niet. Nuh-huh. If you are at Uni at the moment... leave.
DS: What are the three most important lessons you have learned about business and entrepreneurship?
MA:
(1) The Entrepreneur's Golden Question: "How Can I Serve/Help More People?"
Business and entrepreneurship is about adding value to people's lives.
(2) Absolute integrity is a MUST.
(3) Having a grand vision is great, but you still must take care of the details!
DS: What advice would you give to an aspiring entrepreneur?
MA: Start.
DS: What's the number one book you would recommend to aspiring entrepreneurs?
MA: Study Robert Kiyosaki's "Choose To Be Rich" (CD), Michael Gerber's "The e-Myth Revisited", and Richard Parkes Cordock's "The Millionaire MBA" (CD)
DS: What memorable mistakes, if any, have you made in business? What did you learn from them and how can they be avoided?
MA: Not keeping an eye on cash flow was definitely a mistake I learned the hard way!
Good book-keeping & accountants... vital.
"In order to Think Big... you've got to 'Think Small'" - Robert Kiyosaki
DS: What are the best and worst things about being an entrepreneur?
MA:
The Best: Freedom. Creativity. Self-Expression. Unlimited Wealth Potential.
The Worst: You carry the awesome responsibility of being accountable for the livelihood of other people. The buck stops with YOU.
DS: Are there any other thoughts, insights, or advice for aspiring entrepreneurs that you'd like to add?
MA: We live in the age of the entrepreneur. It is much safer than being at the mercy of an employer! There is nothing to fear. You can never fail - only LEARN. Being an entrepreneur is synonymous to being ALIVE! Just Do It!
Money Is Nothing But The Measure Of The Value You Create For Other People, and you go about adding value to people's lives BY BEING AN ENTREPRENEUR!"At the end of your life, you won't wish you'd spent more time at the office..."
Manufacturing Sector Public Speaker TR Cutler is Ranked #1
Ranked as the nation's leading manufacturing journalist and an editor, TR Cutler (http://www.trcutlerinc.com - www.trcutlerinc.com) is now booking 2006 speaking engagements for manufacturing conferences and corporations with manufacturing clients. Cutler tells the extraordinary stories of manufacturers. According to Cutler, "There are great companies making great products. There are too many manufacturers and companies serving the manufacturing sector that have simply neglected to tell their story. My goal is to tell these stories in an interesting, dynamic, understandable, and relevant way. My goal is to provide a checklist for manufacturers to determine what is and is not newsworthy."
- Cutler founded the Manufacturing Media Consortium™ in the same year. This is a group of more than 2000 journalists worldwide writing about trends, data, case studies, profiles, and features in the manufacturing and industrial sector. Cutler worked with hundreds of media outlets to expand the coverage and importance of the manufacturing media coverage.
- Cutler created the "Mass Marketing Manufacturing Media Blitz", a comprehensive 90 - 180 day program allowing manufacturers with little web presence or with a new product introduction to go from zero to sixty in a short-term PR campaign.
- Cutler authored The Manufacturer's Public Relations and Media Guide in 2000, which quickly became the key media resource guide for manufacturers seeking coverage.
- Cutler has been the spokesperson of the ETO (Engineer-to-Order) Institute, since 2004. The organization has quickly become the key resource for non-repetitive manufacturers. http://www.etoinstitute.org - www.etoinstitute.org.
- Cutler was recently named a Contributing Editor to InMFG magazine and IndustrialLeaders.com in 2005.
Cutler's speaking engagements are presently booked into the fourth quarter of 2005 due to high demand. Ranging from one hour presentations to two day manufacturing PR coaching session, TR Cutler is ensuring that manufacturers get their message out to the media.
TR Cutler
954-486-7562
http://www.trcutlerinc.com - www.trcutlerinc.com
e-mail protected from spam bots
- Cutler founded the Manufacturing Media Consortium™ in the same year. This is a group of more than 2000 journalists worldwide writing about trends, data, case studies, profiles, and features in the manufacturing and industrial sector. Cutler worked with hundreds of media outlets to expand the coverage and importance of the manufacturing media coverage.
- Cutler created the "Mass Marketing Manufacturing Media Blitz", a comprehensive 90 - 180 day program allowing manufacturers with little web presence or with a new product introduction to go from zero to sixty in a short-term PR campaign.
- Cutler authored The Manufacturer's Public Relations and Media Guide in 2000, which quickly became the key media resource guide for manufacturers seeking coverage.
- Cutler has been the spokesperson of the ETO (Engineer-to-Order) Institute, since 2004. The organization has quickly become the key resource for non-repetitive manufacturers. http://www.etoinstitute.org - www.etoinstitute.org.
- Cutler was recently named a Contributing Editor to InMFG magazine and IndustrialLeaders.com in 2005.
Cutler's speaking engagements are presently booked into the fourth quarter of 2005 due to high demand. Ranging from one hour presentations to two day manufacturing PR coaching session, TR Cutler is ensuring that manufacturers get their message out to the media.
TR Cutler
954-486-7562
http://www.trcutlerinc.com - www.trcutlerinc.com
e-mail protected from spam bots
Manufacturing Public Relations Firm, TR Cutler, Inc. to Launch New Division in Q3
Ranked as the nation's leading manufacturing public relations firm, TR Cutler, Inc. (http://www.trcutlerinc.com - www.trcutlerinc.com) based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is launching a new affinity program providing intensive Manufacturing PR Media Blitz' to members of manufacturing associations.
According to Cutler, "Manufacturing Associations have been seeking ways to drive additional revenue streams. Over the past few years membership revenue has decreased and service revenue has been one of the few ways in which these associations have been able to survive. Due to the leadership role that TR Cutler, Inc. has in the manufacturing public relations arena, we have decided to introduce a program that will allow manufacturing associations to offer their members deeply discounted PR services starting in September 2005. There will be no cost for the manufacturing associations to participate in the program."
Cutler founded the Manufacturing Media Consortium™ in the same year. This is a group of more than 2000 journalists worldwide writing about trends, data, case studies, profiles, and features in the manufacturing and industrial sector. Cutler worked with hundreds of media outlets to expand the coverage and importance of the manufacturing media coverage.
Cutler created the "Mass Marketing Manufacturing Media Blitz", a comprehensive 90 - 180 day program allowing manufacturers with little web presence or with a new product introduction to go from zero to sixty in a short-term PR campaign.
Cutler authored The Manufacturer's Public Relations and Media Guide in 2000, which quickly became the key media resource guide for manufacturers seeking coverage.
Cutler has been the spokesperson of the ETO (Engineer-to-Order) Institute, since 2004. The organization has quickly become the key resource for non-repetitive manufacturers. http://www.etoinstitute.org - www.etoinstitute.org.
Cutler was recently named a Contributing Editor to InMFG magazine and IndustrialLeaders.com in 2005.
The manufacturing associations that become early adopters of this Affinity Program will receive the highest rebate level from TR Cutler, Inc. Cutler expects more than 200 manufacturing associations to participate in the program by the end of 2006, serving more than 4000 manufacturers in North America.
TR Cutler
954-486-7562
http://www.trcutlerinc.com - www.trcutlerinc.com
e-mail protected from spam bots
According to Cutler, "Manufacturing Associations have been seeking ways to drive additional revenue streams. Over the past few years membership revenue has decreased and service revenue has been one of the few ways in which these associations have been able to survive. Due to the leadership role that TR Cutler, Inc. has in the manufacturing public relations arena, we have decided to introduce a program that will allow manufacturing associations to offer their members deeply discounted PR services starting in September 2005. There will be no cost for the manufacturing associations to participate in the program."
Cutler founded the Manufacturing Media Consortium™ in the same year. This is a group of more than 2000 journalists worldwide writing about trends, data, case studies, profiles, and features in the manufacturing and industrial sector. Cutler worked with hundreds of media outlets to expand the coverage and importance of the manufacturing media coverage.
Cutler created the "Mass Marketing Manufacturing Media Blitz", a comprehensive 90 - 180 day program allowing manufacturers with little web presence or with a new product introduction to go from zero to sixty in a short-term PR campaign.
Cutler authored The Manufacturer's Public Relations and Media Guide in 2000, which quickly became the key media resource guide for manufacturers seeking coverage.
Cutler has been the spokesperson of the ETO (Engineer-to-Order) Institute, since 2004. The organization has quickly become the key resource for non-repetitive manufacturers. http://www.etoinstitute.org - www.etoinstitute.org.
Cutler was recently named a Contributing Editor to InMFG magazine and IndustrialLeaders.com in 2005.
The manufacturing associations that become early adopters of this Affinity Program will receive the highest rebate level from TR Cutler, Inc. Cutler expects more than 200 manufacturing associations to participate in the program by the end of 2006, serving more than 4000 manufacturers in North America.
TR Cutler
954-486-7562
http://www.trcutlerinc.com - www.trcutlerinc.com
e-mail protected from spam bots
Manufacturing Public Relations firm TR Cutler, Inc. Increases Staff
Ranked as the nation's leading manufacturing public relations firm, TR Cutler, Inc. (http://www.trcutlerinc.com - www.trcutlerinc.com) based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, announced a 25% growth rate over the past twelve months. According to Cutler, "Manufacturing has seen a huge rebound over the past two years and the influx of young, business savvy manufacturing CEO's, Marketing Directors, Communications professional, have given way to a huge increase in PR business. The vital role of telling the manufacturing story has caught on and we expect to see continued revenue growth in excess of 50% in 2006."
Cutler founded the Manufacturing Media Consortium™ in the same year. This is a group of more than 2000 journalists worldwide writing about trends, data, case studies, profiles, and features in the manufacturing and industrial sector. Cutler worked with hundreds of media outlets to expand the coverage and importance of the manufacturing media coverage.
Cutler created the "Mass Marketing Manufacturing Media Blitz", a comprehensive 90 - 180 day program allowing manufacturers with little web presence or with a new product introduction to go from zero to sixty in a short-term PR campaign.
Cutler authored The Manufacturer's Public Relations and Media Guide in 2000, which quickly became the key media resource guide for manufacturers seeking coverage.
Cutler has been the spokesperson of the ETO (Engineer-to-Order) Institute, since 2004. The organization has quickly become the key resource for non-repetitive manufacturers. http://www.etoinstitute.org - www.etoinstitute.org.
Cutler was recently named a Contributing Editor to InMFG magazine and IndustrialLeaders.com in 2005.
TR Cutler, Inc., now has forty associates and is ranked as the largest manufacturing public relations firm worldwide.
TR Cutler
954-486-7562
http://www.trcutlerinc.com - www.trcutlerinc.com
e-mail protected from spam bots
Cutler founded the Manufacturing Media Consortium™ in the same year. This is a group of more than 2000 journalists worldwide writing about trends, data, case studies, profiles, and features in the manufacturing and industrial sector. Cutler worked with hundreds of media outlets to expand the coverage and importance of the manufacturing media coverage.
Cutler created the "Mass Marketing Manufacturing Media Blitz", a comprehensive 90 - 180 day program allowing manufacturers with little web presence or with a new product introduction to go from zero to sixty in a short-term PR campaign.
Cutler authored The Manufacturer's Public Relations and Media Guide in 2000, which quickly became the key media resource guide for manufacturers seeking coverage.
Cutler has been the spokesperson of the ETO (Engineer-to-Order) Institute, since 2004. The organization has quickly become the key resource for non-repetitive manufacturers. http://www.etoinstitute.org - www.etoinstitute.org.
Cutler was recently named a Contributing Editor to InMFG magazine and IndustrialLeaders.com in 2005.
TR Cutler, Inc., now has forty associates and is ranked as the largest manufacturing public relations firm worldwide.
TR Cutler
954-486-7562
http://www.trcutlerinc.com - www.trcutlerinc.com
e-mail protected from spam bots
Manufacturing Public Relations Firm to Launch Affinity Program for Manufacturers
Ranked as the nation's leading manufacturing public relations firm, TR Cutler, Inc. (http://www.trcutlerinc.com - www.trcutlerinc.com) based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, is launching a new affinity program providing intensive Manufacturing PR Media Blitz' to members of manufacturing associations. According to Cutler, "Manufacturing Associations have been seeking ways to drive additional revenue streams. Over the past few years membership revenue has decreased and service revenue has been one of the few ways in which these associations have been able to survive. Due to the leadership role that TR Cutler, Inc. has in the manufacturing public relations arena, we have decided to introduce a program that will allow manufacturing associations to offer their members deeply discounted PR services starting in September 2005. There will be no cost for the manufacturing associations to participate in the program."
- Cutler founded the Manufacturing Media Consortium™ in the same year. This is a group of more than 2000 journalists worldwide writing about trends, data, case studies, profiles, and features in the manufacturing and industrial sector. Cutler worked with hundreds of media outlets to expand the coverage and importance of the manufacturing media coverage.
- Cutler created the "Mass Marketing Manufacturing Media Blitz", a comprehensive 90 - 180 day program allowing manufacturers with little web presence or with a new product introduction to go from zero to sixty in a short-term PR campaign.
- Cutler authored The Manufacturer's Public Relations and Media Guide in 2000, which quickly became the key media resource guide for manufacturers seeking coverage.
- Cutler has been the spokesperson of the ETO (Engineer-to-Order) Institute, since 2004. The organization has quickly become the key resource for non-repetitive manufacturers. http://www.etoinstitute.org - www.etoinstitute.org.
- Cutler was recently named a Contributing Editor to InMFG magazine and IndustrialLeaders.com in 2005.
The manufacturing associations that become early adopters of this Affinity Program will receive the highest rebate level from TR Cutler, Inc. Cutler expects more than 200 manufacturing associations to participate in the program by the end of 2006, serving more than 4000 manufacturers in North America.
TR Cutler
954-486-7562
http://www.trcutlerinc.com - www.trcutlerinc.com
e-mail protected from spam bots
- Cutler founded the Manufacturing Media Consortium™ in the same year. This is a group of more than 2000 journalists worldwide writing about trends, data, case studies, profiles, and features in the manufacturing and industrial sector. Cutler worked with hundreds of media outlets to expand the coverage and importance of the manufacturing media coverage.
- Cutler created the "Mass Marketing Manufacturing Media Blitz", a comprehensive 90 - 180 day program allowing manufacturers with little web presence or with a new product introduction to go from zero to sixty in a short-term PR campaign.
- Cutler authored The Manufacturer's Public Relations and Media Guide in 2000, which quickly became the key media resource guide for manufacturers seeking coverage.
- Cutler has been the spokesperson of the ETO (Engineer-to-Order) Institute, since 2004. The organization has quickly become the key resource for non-repetitive manufacturers. http://www.etoinstitute.org - www.etoinstitute.org.
- Cutler was recently named a Contributing Editor to InMFG magazine and IndustrialLeaders.com in 2005.
The manufacturing associations that become early adopters of this Affinity Program will receive the highest rebate level from TR Cutler, Inc. Cutler expects more than 200 manufacturing associations to participate in the program by the end of 2006, serving more than 4000 manufacturers in North America.
TR Cutler
954-486-7562
http://www.trcutlerinc.com - www.trcutlerinc.com
e-mail protected from spam bots
Manufacturing Public Relations Checklist key to TR Cutler Presentation
Ranked as the nation's leading manufacturing journalist and an editor, TR Cutler (http://www.trcutlerinc.com - www.trcutlerinc.com) has issued a PR Checklist for manufacturers. Cutler tells the extraordinary stories of manufacturers. According to Cutler, "There are great companies making great products. There are too many manufacturers and companies serving the manufacturing sector that have simply neglected to tell their story. My goal is to tell these stories in an interesting, dynamic, understandable, and relevant way. My goal is to provide a checklist for manufacturers to determine what is and is not newsworthy."
Newsworthy Manufacturing Checklist
The following Checklist should be reviewed weekly to determine the events and circumstances that might merit Media Coverage.
I. New or Updated Product Information
II. New Customer Information
III. New Strategic Alliances/Partnership Information
a. Software Vendors (ERP, CRM, SCM)
b. Professional Services (Law Firms, CPA's, PR firms)
c. Co-op Bundling Sales Program
IV. New Facility or Manufacturing Operation
V. Company Data Announcements
a. Sales Data (Increased sales)
b. Growth Announcements (by employees, sq. ft., revenue)
c. Marketshare Announcements
VI. Industry Sector News
a. Competitive Analysis
b. Comparison within the sector
c. Leadership Position within the sector
VII. Local/Regional News
a. Jobs/Local Economic Impact
b. Community Service/Goodwill
c. Sponsorships/Participation
VIII. Events, tradeshows, conferences, awards
IX. Association/Organization Memberships
a. Manufacturing Association
b. Industrial Sector Association partnership
c. Other key Organizations/Association
d. Political Affiliation
X. Cross-Reference Media
a. Radio
b. Television
c. Photo Opportunity
Cutler's check list is used in conjunction with the proprietary Manufacturing Media Consortium of 2000 journalists writing about trends and data in the manufacturing sector.
TR Cutler
954-486-7562
http://www.trcutlerinc.com - www.trcutlerinc.com
e-mail protected from spam bots
Newsworthy Manufacturing Checklist
The following Checklist should be reviewed weekly to determine the events and circumstances that might merit Media Coverage.
I. New or Updated Product Information
II. New Customer Information
III. New Strategic Alliances/Partnership Information
a. Software Vendors (ERP, CRM, SCM)
b. Professional Services (Law Firms, CPA's, PR firms)
c. Co-op Bundling Sales Program
IV. New Facility or Manufacturing Operation
V. Company Data Announcements
a. Sales Data (Increased sales)
b. Growth Announcements (by employees, sq. ft., revenue)
c. Marketshare Announcements
VI. Industry Sector News
a. Competitive Analysis
b. Comparison within the sector
c. Leadership Position within the sector
VII. Local/Regional News
a. Jobs/Local Economic Impact
b. Community Service/Goodwill
c. Sponsorships/Participation
VIII. Events, tradeshows, conferences, awards
IX. Association/Organization Memberships
a. Manufacturing Association
b. Industrial Sector Association partnership
c. Other key Organizations/Association
d. Political Affiliation
X. Cross-Reference Media
a. Radio
b. Television
c. Photo Opportunity
Cutler's check list is used in conjunction with the proprietary Manufacturing Media Consortium of 2000 journalists writing about trends and data in the manufacturing sector.
TR Cutler
954-486-7562
http://www.trcutlerinc.com - www.trcutlerinc.com
e-mail protected from spam bots
Navy Seal Starts Successful Online Real Esate Company
Navy Seal Launches Successful Online Real Estate Advertising Company (http://www.newcondosonline.com - www.newcondosonline.com)
http://www.newcondosonline.com - www.newcondosonline.com advertises new condos, pre-construction condos, town homes, and lofts for builders/developers across the country.
Former Navy SEAL Brent Gleeson, who served in Iraq, and his two partners Brandon Fishman and Michael Scafuri have successfully launched http://www.newcondosonline.com - www.newcondosonline.com. The three founders have backgrounds in real estate, finance, IT consulting, and publishing; all have Masters Degrees in real estate from the University of San Diego.
About Our Service
NewCondosOnline.com is a national advertising service for builders of new and pre-construction condos, condos conversions, town homes, and lofts. We drive home buyers directly to the developer's in-house sales team. Builders place ads on the various city pages appropriate to their project's location. These ads include a small picture of the project and information about pricing, units, and location. Included is one link to the builder's website, and two links to the property-specific website (if the project has one). The user may then click on the "More Details" link and will be directed to an additional full page of information. On this page the builder may include additional photos, renderings, or floor plans as well as a full description of the project and amenities. Here there are three more links to the builder's website, property-specific website, or sales information.
The builders advertising with NewCondosOnline.com will also have space on the "Current Builders" page where they may place their contact information, short company profile, and logo. This space will have an additional link to the builder's website as well as a link to view all of the properties they are currently advertising on the website.
In addition to advertising, we offer other internet marketing solutions such as website design, maintenance, and hosting for builders. We also offer full-scale resources and consulting for condo converters. Our goal is to be the premier resource for home buyers and builders of new and pre-construction for-sale attached housing.
How Home Buyers Find Us
NewCondosOnline.com attracts potential buyers through our comprehensive search engine marketing campaign. Our campaign utilizes organic search engine optimization and pay-per-click services to ensure that our website appears in the top listings of all major search engines. Through these marketing techniques, we will ensure that we are the premier online resource for new and pre-construction condos. We accomplish this by researching the popular key terms that home buyers search which provide the most effective results for new and pre-construction properties, and then optimizing our site for those terms.
Newcondosonline.com has secured several large contracts in San Diego and Las Vegas. The company is expanding to new cities every day. Visit http://www.newcondosonline.com - www.newcondosonline.com for the latest information on new condo, town home, and loft developments across the country.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Brandon Fishman
NewCondosOnline.com
Email Us
4046683165
http://www.newcondosonline.com - http://www.newcondosonline.com
http://www.newcondosonline.com - www.newcondosonline.com advertises new condos, pre-construction condos, town homes, and lofts for builders/developers across the country.
Former Navy SEAL Brent Gleeson, who served in Iraq, and his two partners Brandon Fishman and Michael Scafuri have successfully launched http://www.newcondosonline.com - www.newcondosonline.com. The three founders have backgrounds in real estate, finance, IT consulting, and publishing; all have Masters Degrees in real estate from the University of San Diego.
About Our Service
NewCondosOnline.com is a national advertising service for builders of new and pre-construction condos, condos conversions, town homes, and lofts. We drive home buyers directly to the developer's in-house sales team. Builders place ads on the various city pages appropriate to their project's location. These ads include a small picture of the project and information about pricing, units, and location. Included is one link to the builder's website, and two links to the property-specific website (if the project has one). The user may then click on the "More Details" link and will be directed to an additional full page of information. On this page the builder may include additional photos, renderings, or floor plans as well as a full description of the project and amenities. Here there are three more links to the builder's website, property-specific website, or sales information.
The builders advertising with NewCondosOnline.com will also have space on the "Current Builders" page where they may place their contact information, short company profile, and logo. This space will have an additional link to the builder's website as well as a link to view all of the properties they are currently advertising on the website.
In addition to advertising, we offer other internet marketing solutions such as website design, maintenance, and hosting for builders. We also offer full-scale resources and consulting for condo converters. Our goal is to be the premier resource for home buyers and builders of new and pre-construction for-sale attached housing.
How Home Buyers Find Us
NewCondosOnline.com attracts potential buyers through our comprehensive search engine marketing campaign. Our campaign utilizes organic search engine optimization and pay-per-click services to ensure that our website appears in the top listings of all major search engines. Through these marketing techniques, we will ensure that we are the premier online resource for new and pre-construction condos. We accomplish this by researching the popular key terms that home buyers search which provide the most effective results for new and pre-construction properties, and then optimizing our site for those terms.
Newcondosonline.com has secured several large contracts in San Diego and Las Vegas. The company is expanding to new cities every day. Visit http://www.newcondosonline.com - www.newcondosonline.com for the latest information on new condo, town home, and loft developments across the country.
CONTACT INFORMATION
Brandon Fishman
NewCondosOnline.com
Email Us
4046683165
http://www.newcondosonline.com - http://www.newcondosonline.com
Mystery Shopping - An Excellent Way To Make Extra Money
Mystery shopping (sometimes called secret shopping) is an excellent way to make extra money. It is very easy to do, you need no previous experience, no special knowledge and no expensive equipment. Mystery shopping can be performed by anyone who is able to go shopping.
Mystery shopping (sometimes called secret shopping) is an excellent way to make extra money. It is very easy to do, you need no previous experience, no special knowledge and no expensive equipment. Mystery shopping can be performed by anyone who is able to go shopping. The mystery shopping companies employ men and women of all ages and descriptions as secret shoppers in order to obtain feedback from a wide range of different people on a wide range of services. Some mystery shopping assignments have to be undertaken by people who are accompanied by children in order to report back on specific facilities in places such as theme parks or family restaurants. (If you don't have children of your own in the right age group, don't worry: you are allowed to borrow them from relatives or friends.) If you enjoy shopping, mystery shopping will be a fun way for you to make extra money.
Mystery shopping consists of getting paid to go into a business (eg a shop or restaurant), without the employees knowing that you are anything other than an ordinary shopper, and reporting back to the mystery shopping company. A focus group is when you get paid to sit down with other people who are also getting paid and discuss new products or services, many focus groups are actually held online, so you don't even have to leave home for carry out the assignment.
The reason mystery shopping companies and survey companies exist is to provide companies with impartial feedback on their employees, products and services. That way they can see where there might be problems and make the necessary changes to improve things.
Mystery shopping companies will pay you to shop, eat at restaurants, have a drink at a bar, visit the cinema, take a trip and take part in focus groups. If you are sent out to do mystery shopping, you might be required to visit a particular shop and just make enquiries about an article to test the staff's customer service level but, if you are instructed to make a purchase, you are allowed to keep the articles and will be reimbursed for the cost. If you are sent to do mystery shopping at a restaurant or bar, you will be given a budget figure to spend on your food and drink and that money will be reimbursed to you by the mystery shopping company on top of your fee for the assignment. You might be asked to sample new products and these items will be sent to you free of charge. As part of your mystery shopping, you might find yourself receiving free samples to test of anything from detergent to chocolate. (This can also happen if you join survey companies.
)Mystery shopping jobs are obviously easier to find if you live in or near a fair sized town where there are a large number of shops, restaurants etc but, if you live in a rural area, you can still earn money taking part in online focus groups which can be found through online paid survey companies.
After you do a mystery shopping assignment you answer some questions on a form provided by the mystery shopping company and file your report with them. These reports are usually set up as a series of questions with a box for you to add any relevant details the company might request. The reports can usually be completed very quickly and it is best to complete your report straight after you finish your mystery shopping so that you don't forget any detail. Some mystery shopping companies require you to report to them by phone immediately after you have completed the mystery shopping assignment but, generally, the companies expect you to submit a written report by post or email.
The way to approach mystery shopping is to remember that basically you are like a reporter. You must never add your feelings or recommendations to a mystery shopping report. Your job is to just answer the questions, report the facts and describe what actually happened during your mystery shopping expedition.
If you accept a mystery shopping assignment but then are unable to complete it, make sure you immediately notify the mystery shopping company so that they can make alternative arrangements to avoid letting down their client.
When you start doing mystery shopping, make sure you accept all suitable assignments including last minute jobs and any less than glamorous assignments you might be offered. The top class assignments will be offered to reliable mystery shoppers so you will need to prove yourself and build up a good reputation by making a good job of the lower quality assignments and getting your report in on time. At the start, you might find yourself being asked to do mystery shopping a the local fast food outlet or department store. Once you build up a reputation as a reliable mystery shopper, you can look forward to assignments where you are paid to visit expensive restaurants and designer shops. You might even be lucky enough to get a free trip and hotel accommodation as a mystery shopper.
Always keep in mind that, although mystery shopping is a fun and easy way for your to make extra money, it is a business and you need to behave in a businesslike manner when carrying out your mystery shopping assignments and reporting the results to the mystery shopping company. Your mystery shopping reports will be helping to shape the future of the businesses you visit and you have the chance to make a positive impact on decisions relating to improvements to services and facilities which will be of benefit to you.
Mystery shopping (sometimes called secret shopping) is an excellent way to make extra money. It is very easy to do, you need no previous experience, no special knowledge and no expensive equipment. Mystery shopping can be performed by anyone who is able to go shopping. The mystery shopping companies employ men and women of all ages and descriptions as secret shoppers in order to obtain feedback from a wide range of different people on a wide range of services. Some mystery shopping assignments have to be undertaken by people who are accompanied by children in order to report back on specific facilities in places such as theme parks or family restaurants. (If you don't have children of your own in the right age group, don't worry: you are allowed to borrow them from relatives or friends.) If you enjoy shopping, mystery shopping will be a fun way for you to make extra money.
Mystery shopping consists of getting paid to go into a business (eg a shop or restaurant), without the employees knowing that you are anything other than an ordinary shopper, and reporting back to the mystery shopping company. A focus group is when you get paid to sit down with other people who are also getting paid and discuss new products or services, many focus groups are actually held online, so you don't even have to leave home for carry out the assignment.
The reason mystery shopping companies and survey companies exist is to provide companies with impartial feedback on their employees, products and services. That way they can see where there might be problems and make the necessary changes to improve things.
Mystery shopping companies will pay you to shop, eat at restaurants, have a drink at a bar, visit the cinema, take a trip and take part in focus groups. If you are sent out to do mystery shopping, you might be required to visit a particular shop and just make enquiries about an article to test the staff's customer service level but, if you are instructed to make a purchase, you are allowed to keep the articles and will be reimbursed for the cost. If you are sent to do mystery shopping at a restaurant or bar, you will be given a budget figure to spend on your food and drink and that money will be reimbursed to you by the mystery shopping company on top of your fee for the assignment. You might be asked to sample new products and these items will be sent to you free of charge. As part of your mystery shopping, you might find yourself receiving free samples to test of anything from detergent to chocolate. (This can also happen if you join survey companies.
)Mystery shopping jobs are obviously easier to find if you live in or near a fair sized town where there are a large number of shops, restaurants etc but, if you live in a rural area, you can still earn money taking part in online focus groups which can be found through online paid survey companies.
After you do a mystery shopping assignment you answer some questions on a form provided by the mystery shopping company and file your report with them. These reports are usually set up as a series of questions with a box for you to add any relevant details the company might request. The reports can usually be completed very quickly and it is best to complete your report straight after you finish your mystery shopping so that you don't forget any detail. Some mystery shopping companies require you to report to them by phone immediately after you have completed the mystery shopping assignment but, generally, the companies expect you to submit a written report by post or email.
The way to approach mystery shopping is to remember that basically you are like a reporter. You must never add your feelings or recommendations to a mystery shopping report. Your job is to just answer the questions, report the facts and describe what actually happened during your mystery shopping expedition.
If you accept a mystery shopping assignment but then are unable to complete it, make sure you immediately notify the mystery shopping company so that they can make alternative arrangements to avoid letting down their client.
When you start doing mystery shopping, make sure you accept all suitable assignments including last minute jobs and any less than glamorous assignments you might be offered. The top class assignments will be offered to reliable mystery shoppers so you will need to prove yourself and build up a good reputation by making a good job of the lower quality assignments and getting your report in on time. At the start, you might find yourself being asked to do mystery shopping a the local fast food outlet or department store. Once you build up a reputation as a reliable mystery shopper, you can look forward to assignments where you are paid to visit expensive restaurants and designer shops. You might even be lucky enough to get a free trip and hotel accommodation as a mystery shopper.
Always keep in mind that, although mystery shopping is a fun and easy way for your to make extra money, it is a business and you need to behave in a businesslike manner when carrying out your mystery shopping assignments and reporting the results to the mystery shopping company. Your mystery shopping reports will be helping to shape the future of the businesses you visit and you have the chance to make a positive impact on decisions relating to improvements to services and facilities which will be of benefit to you.
My Company's Leadership Sucks!
Today's company's are filled by people who are bored and unproductive. If North American businesses are to compete effectively in the 21st century; business leadership needs to get it together.
Maybe it's the season or just a more buoyant job market; but lately I'm sure involved in a lot more discussions about leadership. I'm receiving more requests for help defining the key characteristics which make a great leader; and I'm hearing a lot of negative stuff from clients about their bosses. Most leaders die with their mouths open.
I recently read an article in Fast Company magazine which reflected on the issue of leadership. In it, they quote Ronald Heifetz, the founder of Harvard's Center for Public Leadership, who made the above comment back in 1999. He followed it up by saying that, "leaders must know how to listen - and the art of listening is more subtle than most people think it is. But first and just as important, leaders must want to listen." You'd think this is simply basic stuff, right? Like what we learned in Management 101. I doubt there's any exec in business today who wouldn't say they 'know' this already. But in my experience, in many cases, leaders don't seem to think it applies to them. And yet, I'm continually told by executives and professionals that they don't feel 'heard' enough by their superiors. And here's the really interesting thing about it - I hear this frustration cited by people at every level within organizations! < What this means that managers at every level, are busy looking 'up' the organization chart for someone to listen to them - but they're not giving their own managers and staff 'below' them the same benefits! So we have the situation, in many companies, where the managers go around telling those who report to them what to do & how to do it but rarely ask those same people for their input. How dumb is that?
Our North American companies are pretty inefficient
OK - this is a random poll: Please raise your arm if you believe that your company is at least 90% efficient. Based upon what I hear from clients, there aren't many arms raised out there, I'd guess. In fact, most executives tell me that their own organizations are actually inefficient. Many are concerned that their employer is getting less competitive on a global scale. Some worry about cutbacks or reduced investment spending which may result. At the same time, they'll often tell me that they personally are bored, unchallenged, stale, and losing interest. So, let's review: Inefficient businesses - no one is listeing to those closer to the real action - and stale managers who are worried about global competitiveness. Is this a coincidence? Not likely. We can fix this situation. And it's not that hard. Remind yourself once in a while about that lesson of Management 101 and become a better leader by becoming a better listener. Simply start asking - and here I mean showing that you really want to hear your team members' ideas about making your department or organization more efficient. Show clearly that you are on a new mission and want to make 'listening' a priority. When your direct reports start to believe that you are serious - watch out. I guarantee that you'll start to hear new ideas which will kick-start your organization's success. With that will come renewed enthusiasm for the job. And the cycle of success will build from there. You don't need to die with your mouth open.
Today's Tips
1. Give your team credit for having the same basic needs and expectations as you have yourself.
2. Shut up once in a while.
3. Ask your subordinates how they'd deal with a problem or situation.
4. Get enthusiastic for the game again. There was a reason you took this job.
If you thought this article was worthwhile, you many want to take a free 7 part mini coaching course, "7 Secrets of Leadership Success" by signing up at http://www.BusinessSuccessCoach.net - http://www.BusinessSuccessCoach.net
Maybe it's the season or just a more buoyant job market; but lately I'm sure involved in a lot more discussions about leadership. I'm receiving more requests for help defining the key characteristics which make a great leader; and I'm hearing a lot of negative stuff from clients about their bosses. Most leaders die with their mouths open.
I recently read an article in Fast Company magazine which reflected on the issue of leadership. In it, they quote Ronald Heifetz, the founder of Harvard's Center for Public Leadership, who made the above comment back in 1999. He followed it up by saying that, "leaders must know how to listen - and the art of listening is more subtle than most people think it is. But first and just as important, leaders must want to listen." You'd think this is simply basic stuff, right? Like what we learned in Management 101. I doubt there's any exec in business today who wouldn't say they 'know' this already. But in my experience, in many cases, leaders don't seem to think it applies to them. And yet, I'm continually told by executives and professionals that they don't feel 'heard' enough by their superiors. And here's the really interesting thing about it - I hear this frustration cited by people at every level within organizations! < What this means that managers at every level, are busy looking 'up' the organization chart for someone to listen to them - but they're not giving their own managers and staff 'below' them the same benefits! So we have the situation, in many companies, where the managers go around telling those who report to them what to do & how to do it but rarely ask those same people for their input. How dumb is that?
Our North American companies are pretty inefficient
OK - this is a random poll: Please raise your arm if you believe that your company is at least 90% efficient. Based upon what I hear from clients, there aren't many arms raised out there, I'd guess. In fact, most executives tell me that their own organizations are actually inefficient. Many are concerned that their employer is getting less competitive on a global scale. Some worry about cutbacks or reduced investment spending which may result. At the same time, they'll often tell me that they personally are bored, unchallenged, stale, and losing interest. So, let's review: Inefficient businesses - no one is listeing to those closer to the real action - and stale managers who are worried about global competitiveness. Is this a coincidence? Not likely. We can fix this situation. And it's not that hard. Remind yourself once in a while about that lesson of Management 101 and become a better leader by becoming a better listener. Simply start asking - and here I mean showing that you really want to hear your team members' ideas about making your department or organization more efficient. Show clearly that you are on a new mission and want to make 'listening' a priority. When your direct reports start to believe that you are serious - watch out. I guarantee that you'll start to hear new ideas which will kick-start your organization's success. With that will come renewed enthusiasm for the job. And the cycle of success will build from there. You don't need to die with your mouth open.
Today's Tips
1. Give your team credit for having the same basic needs and expectations as you have yourself.
2. Shut up once in a while.
3. Ask your subordinates how they'd deal with a problem or situation.
4. Get enthusiastic for the game again. There was a reason you took this job.
If you thought this article was worthwhile, you many want to take a free 7 part mini coaching course, "7 Secrets of Leadership Success" by signing up at http://www.BusinessSuccessCoach.net - http://www.BusinessSuccessCoach.net
Multiply Your Sales Through Affiliate Programs
You can earn 5 streams of residual income simply by sharing the Plug-In Profit Site™ with others. In fact, it's possible to earn over $10,000.00 a month from our affiliate program. You'll get all the support, training and tools you need,including pre-written email ads, classified ads, banner ads, brandable ebooks and a whole lot more! It's all pre-written, tested and ready for you to profit!
What could be better than exceeding your personal sales goals for a given month or year? How about doubling, tripling or even more of you sales goal for the month? This is exactly what affiliates can do for you. The amount of growth potential through affiliates is unlimited; the more affiliates you have the more money you can make, after all, if Sam Walton tried to run every Wal-Mart store, he obviously wouldn't be very successful. You must realize that for maximum growth you cannot do it alone. Think of the success of companies such as Avon or Home Interiors. Their success is based on two things; a great product and excellent affiliate programs.
To attract affiliates to your company you should make it worth their time. Offering one percent of sales, is not an attractive offer, the higher the commission that you are able to offer your affiliates the more affiliates will be tempted to join your team. You should also provide your affiliates with the tools that they will need to successfully market your product such as banner ads, articles, and anything else that will help them to better market the product. You should provide the affiliates with updated product information through newsletters, new promotional campaigns and other things to motivate and inform the affiliates.
You can choose to run your affiliate program in a few different ways, both of which are beneficial to your business. A one-tier affiliate program allows you to generally offer a larger commission and pays on one level. The affiliate will receive a predetermined amount for each sale. Using a two-tier affiliate program, affiliates are paid on two different levels. This is done by allowing the affiliates to recruit others to sell under them. In this situation, the top level affiliate would receive a slightly larger commission than the recruit or second level affiliate. For example if the top level seller makes 20% of the sale, then she/he would make 15% giving the second level affiliate the 5%.
Setting up the affiliate program can also be done in two different ways. One way is to do it yourself through an affiliate tracking software. This software will provide you with a way to track affiliate sales as well as allow the affiliates to view their progress. The downside to this option is that you are responsible for making payments. You can also choose to hire an affiliate tracking company to do all the work for you. These companies will allow the use of credit cards and completely run the affiliate program from billing customers, paying affiliates, and also pay you. This is a great option for the busy business owner or the beginning business owner and it is affordable as most affiliate tracking companies charge a small one time fee. However you choose to run your affiliate program it is sure to increase profits for your business.
What could be better than exceeding your personal sales goals for a given month or year? How about doubling, tripling or even more of you sales goal for the month? This is exactly what affiliates can do for you. The amount of growth potential through affiliates is unlimited; the more affiliates you have the more money you can make, after all, if Sam Walton tried to run every Wal-Mart store, he obviously wouldn't be very successful. You must realize that for maximum growth you cannot do it alone. Think of the success of companies such as Avon or Home Interiors. Their success is based on two things; a great product and excellent affiliate programs.
To attract affiliates to your company you should make it worth their time. Offering one percent of sales, is not an attractive offer, the higher the commission that you are able to offer your affiliates the more affiliates will be tempted to join your team. You should also provide your affiliates with the tools that they will need to successfully market your product such as banner ads, articles, and anything else that will help them to better market the product. You should provide the affiliates with updated product information through newsletters, new promotional campaigns and other things to motivate and inform the affiliates.
You can choose to run your affiliate program in a few different ways, both of which are beneficial to your business. A one-tier affiliate program allows you to generally offer a larger commission and pays on one level. The affiliate will receive a predetermined amount for each sale. Using a two-tier affiliate program, affiliates are paid on two different levels. This is done by allowing the affiliates to recruit others to sell under them. In this situation, the top level affiliate would receive a slightly larger commission than the recruit or second level affiliate. For example if the top level seller makes 20% of the sale, then she/he would make 15% giving the second level affiliate the 5%.
Setting up the affiliate program can also be done in two different ways. One way is to do it yourself through an affiliate tracking software. This software will provide you with a way to track affiliate sales as well as allow the affiliates to view their progress. The downside to this option is that you are responsible for making payments. You can also choose to hire an affiliate tracking company to do all the work for you. These companies will allow the use of credit cards and completely run the affiliate program from billing customers, paying affiliates, and also pay you. This is a great option for the busy business owner or the beginning business owner and it is affordable as most affiliate tracking companies charge a small one time fee. However you choose to run your affiliate program it is sure to increase profits for your business.
Multi-Level Marketing with Email Leads
The Multi-level marketing independent distributor continually faces the challenge of contacting new leads that may result in a customer for the company's product or service. An MLM Email Lead is just like any other lead, except that the business owner (independent distributor) contacts this lead via email, rather than using standard offline methods of contact. Email leads should not be confused with a generic email list.
The difference is that an actual lead has expressed some interest in the product, service, or business opportunity that an MLM business owner has to offer. An email list can be acquired through various channels, including internet spiders that retrieve email addresses from web sites. These types of lists often result in "spam" or unwanted emails.
Like all other MLM leads, the business owner may purchase a list of MLM email leads from any number of companies that offer these types of services to MLM companies. The business owner can also generate his or her own list through a variety of marketing methods. The simple exchange of business cards between the MLM business owner and a potential lead is a good way to guarantee that the lead was interested. The business owner can also create a web site explaining the product or service and business opportunity.
A web site is valuable in generating MLM email leads, because the web site visitor will probably already be interested in the company. The web site can require registration in order to navigate to some of the more informative areas. The registration process can include the visitor's email address, physical address, and phone number.
The difference is that an actual lead has expressed some interest in the product, service, or business opportunity that an MLM business owner has to offer. An email list can be acquired through various channels, including internet spiders that retrieve email addresses from web sites. These types of lists often result in "spam" or unwanted emails.
Like all other MLM leads, the business owner may purchase a list of MLM email leads from any number of companies that offer these types of services to MLM companies. The business owner can also generate his or her own list through a variety of marketing methods. The simple exchange of business cards between the MLM business owner and a potential lead is a good way to guarantee that the lead was interested. The business owner can also create a web site explaining the product or service and business opportunity.
A web site is valuable in generating MLM email leads, because the web site visitor will probably already be interested in the company. The web site can require registration in order to navigate to some of the more informative areas. The registration process can include the visitor's email address, physical address, and phone number.
Mortgage vs. Real Estate Lead Generation
It is fairly common for real estate companies and mortgage brokers to use leads. There is a difference between mortgage lead generation and real estate generation. Mortgage lead generation deals with people who need to refinance their homes or apply for loans, while real estate lead generation is a service that connects potential buyers with real estate agents.
Mortgage leads are generated in a number of different ways. One way to create the leads is for the lender, that is the mortgage broker, to appear in a paper or online directory. This lets potential customers make the first contact. The lenders give information about themselves, like the interest rates they charge and types of lending programs they offer, along with their contact information. This allows potential borrowers to search out the lender that is best for them.
Real Estate lead generation is somewhat different. It involves connecting prospective buyers to real estate agents. It is usually a good idea to use a real estate lead generation service that uses only inbound leads, meaning that the buyer contacts the lead generator looking for a real estate agent. This way, the lead generator can get the most information possible from the buyer in order to find the most appropriate real estate agent. Many lead generation services use tricks to lure prospective buyers.
Mortgage lead generation helps lenders and borrowers find each other. This service benefits everyone involved. Some of the most successful businesses on the Internet are lead generation agencies.
Article Tags: Real Estate Lead, Estate Lead Generation, Real Estate, Estate Lead, Lead Generation
Mortgage leads are generated in a number of different ways. One way to create the leads is for the lender, that is the mortgage broker, to appear in a paper or online directory. This lets potential customers make the first contact. The lenders give information about themselves, like the interest rates they charge and types of lending programs they offer, along with their contact information. This allows potential borrowers to search out the lender that is best for them.
Real Estate lead generation is somewhat different. It involves connecting prospective buyers to real estate agents. It is usually a good idea to use a real estate lead generation service that uses only inbound leads, meaning that the buyer contacts the lead generator looking for a real estate agent. This way, the lead generator can get the most information possible from the buyer in order to find the most appropriate real estate agent. Many lead generation services use tricks to lure prospective buyers.
Mortgage lead generation helps lenders and borrowers find each other. This service benefits everyone involved. Some of the most successful businesses on the Internet are lead generation agencies.
Article Tags: Real Estate Lead, Estate Lead Generation, Real Estate, Estate Lead, Lead Generation
Motivation, Quality and Individual in Third wave Companies
Second wave and Third wave companies has lot of dissimilarities. Author is describing how the world is moving towards more individualistic and more specialized world.
Second-wave companies are in the business of getting bigger. Size is their religion. Third-wave companies are more interested in finding a better way.
This leads to a primary third-wave goal: to make yourself and your own products obsolete. No one should be more competent at that than you. Our Macintosh replaced the Lisa; Apple IIgs was designed to replace the earlier Apple IIs. What we do is find ways to give people a growth path - upgrade - to the next product, to the future, not abandon customers who have bought the now-obsolete product. The way we renew ourselves is to supply our customers with meaningful differences. In second-wave companies, the product objective is generally meant to give customers better sameness - an improved version of their same old product.
This is a very contrarian's idea. Second-wave companies' do everything they can to defend what is already theirs. They will spend more and more money to do so or acquire a company to control the competition.
Second-wave people are motivated by promotion, salary, and bonuses. Third-wave people are motivated by commitment to an ideology, by the chance personally to change the world, the chance to grow as a person. The second-wave company does not offer this as a possibility, not in the promise of lifetime employment and the lure of a pension. As a result, third-wave people are more likely to take risks, to court failure. They are playing according to a different standard - their own, not the company's. Their attitudes are based on the possible rather than the actual. They must, as a result, be given high rewards for their high risk, especially in stock options.
In this new wave, quality takes on a broader definition. It doesn't apply only to the product; instead, quality is pervasive throughout every part of the organization. Quality, without compromise, is expected in every function and every department, from finance to sales. It's everyone's job. And it's defined by anyone who wants to compete - not just who is bigger and has more clout.
That's one of the reasons why so many American companies fell into trouble. They measured quality in terms of what was affordable, rather than insisting upon perfection at the start. The proof of this is in some of the gains traditional corporations have registered in quality since the early 1980s; the increases are shocking not for their improvement but because thy reveal how bad things actually had got.
So what does all this mean? The differences between second- and third-wave companies required vast revolutions in attitude and behavior. These differences are worth nothing during the time of transition we are in currently. The third wave is a model we would do well to being implementing.
Second-wave companies are in the business of getting bigger. Size is their religion. Third-wave companies are more interested in finding a better way.
This leads to a primary third-wave goal: to make yourself and your own products obsolete. No one should be more competent at that than you. Our Macintosh replaced the Lisa; Apple IIgs was designed to replace the earlier Apple IIs. What we do is find ways to give people a growth path - upgrade - to the next product, to the future, not abandon customers who have bought the now-obsolete product. The way we renew ourselves is to supply our customers with meaningful differences. In second-wave companies, the product objective is generally meant to give customers better sameness - an improved version of their same old product.
This is a very contrarian's idea. Second-wave companies' do everything they can to defend what is already theirs. They will spend more and more money to do so or acquire a company to control the competition.
Second-wave people are motivated by promotion, salary, and bonuses. Third-wave people are motivated by commitment to an ideology, by the chance personally to change the world, the chance to grow as a person. The second-wave company does not offer this as a possibility, not in the promise of lifetime employment and the lure of a pension. As a result, third-wave people are more likely to take risks, to court failure. They are playing according to a different standard - their own, not the company's. Their attitudes are based on the possible rather than the actual. They must, as a result, be given high rewards for their high risk, especially in stock options.
In this new wave, quality takes on a broader definition. It doesn't apply only to the product; instead, quality is pervasive throughout every part of the organization. Quality, without compromise, is expected in every function and every department, from finance to sales. It's everyone's job. And it's defined by anyone who wants to compete - not just who is bigger and has more clout.
That's one of the reasons why so many American companies fell into trouble. They measured quality in terms of what was affordable, rather than insisting upon perfection at the start. The proof of this is in some of the gains traditional corporations have registered in quality since the early 1980s; the increases are shocking not for their improvement but because thy reveal how bad things actually had got.
So what does all this mean? The differences between second- and third-wave companies required vast revolutions in attitude and behavior. These differences are worth nothing during the time of transition we are in currently. The third wave is a model we would do well to being implementing.
Moral Armor On Materialism And Profit
The author of Moral Armor refutes the claim that materialism and profit are evil, showing the exact opposite to be true.
Desiring to get the most out of life, life's lovers intend to earn and therefore deserve the best the world has to offer. Materialism is an anti-concept which damns this desire as a spiritually bankrupt, destructive pursuit. In the most rudimentary separation, it considers the body and mind to be two halves of a man with no interconnection, and more often than not, declares them to be fiercely at odds-the modern equivalent of religion's "man fighting for his soul." They claim they can put him back on track, exclaiming that spirituality can only be achieved by renouncing all material interests and necessities. The anti-concept is further narrowed as no intellectual pursuit is considered spiritual, omitting whatever could offend the non-thinking, non-producing man. In true Fear-driven fashion, they look down on the physical world where they have no power, and look up to the spiritual where they have no responsibility.
In their world, spiritual pursuits must yield no hard-earned clarity or material advantages, just some empty, unquestionable, eternal bliss. Has anyone ever asked why? Why is that spiritual; because it's the Hindu's answer? Centuries of monks have passed through time, sitting Indian-style in silence with steepled hands and have brought to the world a value amounting to exactly…nothing. Their credo is mindlessness as the price of spirituality and stagnation as the price of peace-not a healthy pattern to follow. Why renounce the material world? "Man's greed" would be their response, and the only way around wanting something improperly-as the Fear-driven see no alternative-is to want nothing, the only way for them not to harm is not to move. But greed or any desire, great or small, is only wrong when one seeks the unearned. Greed as defined by Webster's dictionary, is "an excessive desire for getting or having; a desire for more than one needs or deserves." It has a very negative connotation, yet can simply mean as stated under greedy, "intensely eager." It's a word twisted to draw a moral conclusion in advance; to assert that a strong desire is wrong in itself regardless of whether its means of fulfillment is honest or dishonest.
Are people that "never have enough" truly evil? Beginning with the obvious, a human being is an entity of matter and consciousness, requiring material and spiritual products to sustain itself. Should we damn our bodies because they are never done consuming food? Every day, on and on, nourish, expel, nourish, expel-the simple nature of the entity. Did it ever occur to you that Man's spirit runs the same cycle? Spirit Murderers often deny this nutritional cycle, reaching a point where they decide they are done learning-what I call the Finished Product. They stifle the expansion of their knowledge, yet expect to continue to gain spiritual values, never seeing its link to their unhappiness. Man can no more settle for a fixed amount of achievement, than he can exist with a single breath of oxygen. Happy people do not seek or settle for an intellectually or physically static state of being, at any age. There is no such thing as a mindless body or a bodiless mind, and a man cannot live lacking either. To survive, he must continue to feed both. You may hear about their wonderful out of body experiences, but what do you think their body was doing while they were off floating in no-man's land? Keeping them alive is all.
They dispense with our ambition, saying "There are non-material ideals to consider." That's true. The non-material ideals are the abstract ideals of a Self-made Man, which make grasping and seeking the material ideals possible. With our own neurobiological understanding, it is becoming clear that there is no real separation between mind and body at all. All living organisms have specific nutrients they must pursue in both realms. But how is this done? Proper spiritual nutrition is found exactly in the creative activity of bringing abstract ideas into material reality, which they damn, not first in buying the goods, but in producing them. It's exciting to come up with an idea and see if the world will go for it. Win or lose, I keep running this process over and over-I love it! I love the opportunity to buy the products of another's genius-simple inventions like my tool-grabber, things I've imagined but haven't the time to develop, and revolutionary new ideas from people who've spent passionate time out on an epistemological limb I'll never have to walk alone. The passionate endeavors of others have brought such wealth into my life, that in my thankfulness, I don't know where to begin. Maybe from the harnessing of fire, to the invention of the wheel, to Aristotle's laws of logic, to the founding fathers of America, to Benjamin Franklin's experiments with electricity, to Thomas Edison's light bulb, to Henry Ford's Model T, to IBM's personal computer and its unlimited applications, to the exotic cars I treasure-these are all products of Man which I benefit from greatly, and had no part in designing. All were considered foolish ostentation or evil upon their inception, in malicious fear of the creative faculty from which they came, by those whose productive significance history never seems to record.
Very few people are wrapped up in "over-consumerism" -shopping themselves silly as a manic attempt to replace spiritual fulfillment. Such an addiction is an aversive dependency just as alcoholism or gambling, but in these others, the remedial push is to get their act together. There is rarely a call to separate oneself from oneself, and reformers focus on those afflicted; they don't declare it to be a worldwide epidemic. Their solution for this supposed rash of greed is only to relegate our time to idle prayer or to a cruder material pursuit they can understand, such as farming. Only in socialist slave-pens such as China, does a society need to focus solely on the preservation of Man's body, a need their political system consistently fails to meet. Freedom translates into innovations for efficient farming requiring less labor, releasing individuals to create new products and new markets. Those who want to stop men from producing whatever comes to their mind as a salable product, then dictate to them how they will spend their time, their money and on what, are the ones to be criticized. America's wonderful bounty of products is the result of every man's right to exist being recognized, and that's all. Breathe easily when a man is after money and luxuries he is willing to earn, because when he isn't, he is after control. The Spirit Murderers are the ones responsible for wanting the unearned in both realms; the problem was created by them, in self-restraint supposedly solved by them, and the Finished Product was its result. This cold, mindless, dead relation to matter and spirit has nothing to do with us, so we should leave them to it.
Self-made Man can and does act without harming. He can want properly. Most forget that those accused of being materialist, often put many unpaid years into their fields before any profit is realized, if at all. And profit, damned for centuries, is the basic necessity of life, the requirement that one stays ahead of even-in body and spirit. It is the third step of cognition, the act of creation-the hope of prosperity in any realm in which one dares to dream-that brings the human spirit to life. It is the fourth step of cognition-validation, whose equivalent in work is profit, which determines whether one remains on course. Whether one's interest is commercial, romantic or both, profiting is not evil or wasteful as the Spirit Murderers claim, but essential: the very fiber of our self-esteem, and the key to the deepest spirituality a man can ever hope to reach-and they know it.
To know that one's divine inspiration has a productive purpose-that it brings joy to others and prosperity to ourselves, that our energy serves a sum, not to be lost in the past, but a value to be brought forward with every day of our lives-develops an inertia that will supercharge our exhilaration for living. This moral awareness is the whole point of Moral Armor. As a result, all thought and action becomes tied to prosperity, as it should be. The structure of every mind assumes the correct hierarchical order and gains the capacity to project across the span of its own existence, bringing to fruition a height of personal significance, almost too precious to contemplate.
Desiring to get the most out of life, life's lovers intend to earn and therefore deserve the best the world has to offer. Materialism is an anti-concept which damns this desire as a spiritually bankrupt, destructive pursuit. In the most rudimentary separation, it considers the body and mind to be two halves of a man with no interconnection, and more often than not, declares them to be fiercely at odds-the modern equivalent of religion's "man fighting for his soul." They claim they can put him back on track, exclaiming that spirituality can only be achieved by renouncing all material interests and necessities. The anti-concept is further narrowed as no intellectual pursuit is considered spiritual, omitting whatever could offend the non-thinking, non-producing man. In true Fear-driven fashion, they look down on the physical world where they have no power, and look up to the spiritual where they have no responsibility.
In their world, spiritual pursuits must yield no hard-earned clarity or material advantages, just some empty, unquestionable, eternal bliss. Has anyone ever asked why? Why is that spiritual; because it's the Hindu's answer? Centuries of monks have passed through time, sitting Indian-style in silence with steepled hands and have brought to the world a value amounting to exactly…nothing. Their credo is mindlessness as the price of spirituality and stagnation as the price of peace-not a healthy pattern to follow. Why renounce the material world? "Man's greed" would be their response, and the only way around wanting something improperly-as the Fear-driven see no alternative-is to want nothing, the only way for them not to harm is not to move. But greed or any desire, great or small, is only wrong when one seeks the unearned. Greed as defined by Webster's dictionary, is "an excessive desire for getting or having; a desire for more than one needs or deserves." It has a very negative connotation, yet can simply mean as stated under greedy, "intensely eager." It's a word twisted to draw a moral conclusion in advance; to assert that a strong desire is wrong in itself regardless of whether its means of fulfillment is honest or dishonest.
Are people that "never have enough" truly evil? Beginning with the obvious, a human being is an entity of matter and consciousness, requiring material and spiritual products to sustain itself. Should we damn our bodies because they are never done consuming food? Every day, on and on, nourish, expel, nourish, expel-the simple nature of the entity. Did it ever occur to you that Man's spirit runs the same cycle? Spirit Murderers often deny this nutritional cycle, reaching a point where they decide they are done learning-what I call the Finished Product. They stifle the expansion of their knowledge, yet expect to continue to gain spiritual values, never seeing its link to their unhappiness. Man can no more settle for a fixed amount of achievement, than he can exist with a single breath of oxygen. Happy people do not seek or settle for an intellectually or physically static state of being, at any age. There is no such thing as a mindless body or a bodiless mind, and a man cannot live lacking either. To survive, he must continue to feed both. You may hear about their wonderful out of body experiences, but what do you think their body was doing while they were off floating in no-man's land? Keeping them alive is all.
They dispense with our ambition, saying "There are non-material ideals to consider." That's true. The non-material ideals are the abstract ideals of a Self-made Man, which make grasping and seeking the material ideals possible. With our own neurobiological understanding, it is becoming clear that there is no real separation between mind and body at all. All living organisms have specific nutrients they must pursue in both realms. But how is this done? Proper spiritual nutrition is found exactly in the creative activity of bringing abstract ideas into material reality, which they damn, not first in buying the goods, but in producing them. It's exciting to come up with an idea and see if the world will go for it. Win or lose, I keep running this process over and over-I love it! I love the opportunity to buy the products of another's genius-simple inventions like my tool-grabber, things I've imagined but haven't the time to develop, and revolutionary new ideas from people who've spent passionate time out on an epistemological limb I'll never have to walk alone. The passionate endeavors of others have brought such wealth into my life, that in my thankfulness, I don't know where to begin. Maybe from the harnessing of fire, to the invention of the wheel, to Aristotle's laws of logic, to the founding fathers of America, to Benjamin Franklin's experiments with electricity, to Thomas Edison's light bulb, to Henry Ford's Model T, to IBM's personal computer and its unlimited applications, to the exotic cars I treasure-these are all products of Man which I benefit from greatly, and had no part in designing. All were considered foolish ostentation or evil upon their inception, in malicious fear of the creative faculty from which they came, by those whose productive significance history never seems to record.
Very few people are wrapped up in "over-consumerism" -shopping themselves silly as a manic attempt to replace spiritual fulfillment. Such an addiction is an aversive dependency just as alcoholism or gambling, but in these others, the remedial push is to get their act together. There is rarely a call to separate oneself from oneself, and reformers focus on those afflicted; they don't declare it to be a worldwide epidemic. Their solution for this supposed rash of greed is only to relegate our time to idle prayer or to a cruder material pursuit they can understand, such as farming. Only in socialist slave-pens such as China, does a society need to focus solely on the preservation of Man's body, a need their political system consistently fails to meet. Freedom translates into innovations for efficient farming requiring less labor, releasing individuals to create new products and new markets. Those who want to stop men from producing whatever comes to their mind as a salable product, then dictate to them how they will spend their time, their money and on what, are the ones to be criticized. America's wonderful bounty of products is the result of every man's right to exist being recognized, and that's all. Breathe easily when a man is after money and luxuries he is willing to earn, because when he isn't, he is after control. The Spirit Murderers are the ones responsible for wanting the unearned in both realms; the problem was created by them, in self-restraint supposedly solved by them, and the Finished Product was its result. This cold, mindless, dead relation to matter and spirit has nothing to do with us, so we should leave them to it.
Self-made Man can and does act without harming. He can want properly. Most forget that those accused of being materialist, often put many unpaid years into their fields before any profit is realized, if at all. And profit, damned for centuries, is the basic necessity of life, the requirement that one stays ahead of even-in body and spirit. It is the third step of cognition, the act of creation-the hope of prosperity in any realm in which one dares to dream-that brings the human spirit to life. It is the fourth step of cognition-validation, whose equivalent in work is profit, which determines whether one remains on course. Whether one's interest is commercial, romantic or both, profiting is not evil or wasteful as the Spirit Murderers claim, but essential: the very fiber of our self-esteem, and the key to the deepest spirituality a man can ever hope to reach-and they know it.
To know that one's divine inspiration has a productive purpose-that it brings joy to others and prosperity to ourselves, that our energy serves a sum, not to be lost in the past, but a value to be brought forward with every day of our lives-develops an inertia that will supercharge our exhilaration for living. This moral awareness is the whole point of Moral Armor. As a result, all thought and action becomes tied to prosperity, as it should be. The structure of every mind assumes the correct hierarchical order and gains the capacity to project across the span of its own existence, bringing to fruition a height of personal significance, almost too precious to contemplate.
