Tag: Starting

  • Better Customer Service Through Effective Time Management

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    Being able to manage and prioritize is an important skill when servicing customers. Planning events, activities, and tasks on a yearly, monthly, weekly, and daily basis-that is, prioritizing time-can be rewarding from the standpoint of allowing you to be more proactive in preparing to deal with situations. Such planning can reduce your need to be a crisis manager. It is important on and off the job because, if you do not manage your personal life well, you may carry over personal stress into the workplace. This is not only inefficient; it is also unfair to your employer, peers, coworkers, and external customers.

    After you have scheduled key events and tasks using some type of scheduling system (e.g., time management software, written planning system or calendar, or electronic scheduling device that can download information into your computer), review the information regularly to avoid forgetting something.

    One way to manage events, rather than having them manage you, is to create a list of activities each day and assign a value to each based on importance. The key is to be consistent and prioritize each day. Some people make planning the last activity of their workday. When they arrive to work the next morning, they are ready to begin rather than spending time preparing.

    Guidelines for Setting Priorities

    Three guidelines can help you in determining what tasks to do first. These can help you create a realistic and achievable list of daily tasks. As you learned when you read about goal setting in other chapters, goals must be attainable. Use the following standards as a guide when setting priorities.

    Judgment. You are the best judge of what you can accomplish in any given day. You know your strengths and what has to be done. When selecting priorities, remember that the ones having the most impact on customers and others should be placed high on your list. On the other hand, do not put so many priorities on a daily list that you will not get them done. If this happens, you might become discouraged and give up.

    When you find that you have more high priorities than you have time, you may need to ask for help or guidance from your boss. Many times, simply asking for assistance helps develop your relationship with others. They feel respected and trusted by your gesture, as long as you do not abuse their help or appear to be unloading your tasks onto them. Also, consider other resources that you might use to accomplish tasks (e.g., technology, outside vendors, or customers).

    Relativity. Assigning priorities is a matter of relativity. Some tasks and projects are readily rated higher than others. You should be guided by the question “What is the best use of my time?” Many people fill their daily schedule with frivolous or easy tasks and with tasks that they like to do. This produces a hollow feeling of accomplishment. They may get a lot done throughout the day and enjoy doing it, but they have not added a lot of value to customer service or aided in accomplishing organizational goals. Keep in mind when setting priorities in the workplace that your primary focus should be your customers and activities that support them.

    Timing. Reality and deadlines have a way of dictating priorities. The starting time of a project or task also may establish priorities. Once you begin a task, there must be enough time to finish it. If this is not possible, you may have to re prioritize or seek assistance.

    Be realistic about the time it will take to complete a task. Make sure that you schedule that much time, plus a little extra, on your daily planning sheet. Also, consider your peak time period for performance. Each person typically has a period of the day in which he or she has more energy and can get more done. Capitalize on your peak period and schedule high-priority tasks during that time, if possible.

    Prioritizing System

    To set up your own priority system, list all of your pending activities and then group them according to their level of importance. How you assign value to a task is not as important as long as you use the same format each day. Many people use an A, B, C system, and others use a 1, 2, 3 format. Here are suggested criteria for assignment:

    Priority A-Must do or critical items. Some things must be done because of management directives, local, state, or federal regulations, importance to customers or clients, deadlines, or opportunities they provide for your success or advancement (e.g., state tax reports, actions requested by a customer, or application for a position in the organization with a specific cutoff date for submission).

    Priority B-Should do. Items in this category are of medium value. Although they may contribute to customer satisfaction and improved performance, they are not essential or do not have critical deadlines (e.g., mailing an unsolicited information kit to a customer about a new product or developing a proposal for changing an existing system or process).

    Priority C-Nice to do. This is the lowest category and includes tasks that are not a direct link to customer satisfaction. They may even be fun or interesting, but could be omitted or left undone. Postponing or scheduling such priorities until a slower time period will likely have little or no impact on customer service (e.g., meeting with team members to brainstorm ideas for a more efficient layout of cubicles, cleaning old e-mail files, or neatly lining up the products on a shelf).

    Note: As you go through your e-mail and voice mail messages at the times you have scheduled throughout the day, prioritize them, and add them to your list of things to do.

    The key to effective time management is to have a plan and work that plan. If you control your time, you and your customers both stand to gain from your efforts.

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    Source by Bob Lucas

    Views: 0

  • Where to Invest 300 Dollars and How to Double It

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    There are many good reasons why doubling your money is a good idea, but by far, the best reason is that if you can sustain such a feat, you can make a large fortune very fast and compounding is the key and the answer to rapid wealth accumulation.

    One example is starting with just $300; you could literally have over $1 million dollars in 14 events or compoundings. If you took out a calculator now to prove it to yourself you will see how quickly $300 dollars turns into a million dollars if you double the result every time.

    The question and the whole point is however, how long will it take you to double your money the first time and how will you do it. Furthermore, the question is whether the process you came up with is scalable. It is relatively easy to double $300 dollars quickly but how will you double $500,000 dollars.

    The answers to these questions are detailed and convoluted but not difficult. Look at it this way, if you can add just 20% to your $300 dollars in one week, you can double it after four weeks. So if you can sustain that for 13 months you could indeed have your first million in just over a year.

    We are talking theory and this by far, would not be as simple as it sounds, but in actual fact it is specifiably possible. The math shows it. Putting together the circumstances that would create this situation would not be hard in the beginning. Lets consider a quick model.

    Buy a $700 dollar mountain bike you found cheap selling for $300, sell it by the end of the week for $600

    $600 buys a very very cheap little car. You clean the hub caps and vacuum the interior. You get $1250 for it in a week and a half.

    Your $1200 buys you another car worth $3000 you pick it up cheap and give it some attention and sell it for $2800 in under 2 weeks.

    Your $2800 makes a great down payment for a lot of land. A corner block that you have subdivided. You paid $30,000 now the two lots are worth $25,000 each. After sale you have $50,000 minus a loan of $27,000 leaves you with $23,000

    Repeat the above block subdivision a few times, until you get to $100,000 then possibly begin building on the lots. In a few more translations, you will be done.

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    Source by Terry Hart

    Views: 0

  • Weight Loss – How I Went From 340 to 199 Pounds, Part 1

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    I spent two years losing over 140 pounds the old fashioned way: proper diet and exercise. No fads. No pills. No surgery. No crazy machines. I was 30 years old and 340 pounds. With a history of heart disease and obesity in my family, I decided it was time to shed the pounds.

    Almost every day I get people I haven’t seen in years coming up to me saying “Wow! You look great!” and then the next question… “What have you been doing?” That’s why I wrote this article.

    Disclaimer

    Now, of course, as a general disclaimer, I have to say that the tips I’m sharing with you here are just from my own personal experience. I’m not a professional health expert – although over the past couple of years I’ve read dozens of books, and hundreds of articles on nutrition, exercise, and weight lifting. I’m not a doctor. You should, of course, seek your own doctor’s advice before starting any kind of a weight-loss or exercise plan. I firmly believe that with the right diet and proper exercise, almost anyone should be able to lose weight and get fit safely.

    Tip 1. It’s All About Calories

    First, the bad news. Weight gain and loss is directly tied to the amount of calories you eat versus the calories you expend through exercise. What’s a calorie?

    A calorie is a unit of heat energy. Specifically, it’s the amount of heat energy required to raise 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius. How this relates to your body is that when you eat food, the food molecules are broken down chemically and that energy is either used by your body to perform work (like building muscle, or constructing new cells) or is stored (as fat). If you take in more calories than you burn, you will start to get fat.

    Now, in the world of calories, it takes 3500 calories to equal one pound of body weight. So, if you take in an extra 3500 calories in your diet this week without exercising, congratulations… you’ve just gained one pound (probably all body fat). The good news is that you can lose one pound of fat by either removing 3500 calories from your diet, or adding 3500 calories of exercise to your weekly schedule, or a combination of the two.

    What’s 3500 calories? It’s actually not much if you’re eating the wrong kinds of food. You can consume 3500 calories in one meal if you eat two Double Whoppers (1010 calories each), a King Size order of french fries (590), a King Size onion rings (600), and a chocolate shake (440). Don’t laugh… this is what I used to eat for dinner if my family went to Burger King… or something similarly outrageous.

    So the bottom line here is that if you want to lose weight, you have to create a calorie deficit. That means you have to burn off more calories than you eat. You had to eat more calories than you burned to get fat… now you have to reduce the calories to get lean. It’s that simple. In order to know how many calories you’re taking in and burning off, you need to write them down.

    Tip 2. Eat Frequently Throughout the Day

    Think of your body as a furnace. You want your furnace to burn fuel as efficiently as possible. In order for that to happen, you need to let it burn hot and steady throughout the day.

    You need to stoke your fire often to keep it burning. Keep your metabolism running all day long by eating every 3 to 4 hours. My personal tip: I eat on hours evenly divisible by 3. That means breakfast at 9am (if I’m up that early), lunch at noon, a snack at 3pm, dinner at 6pm, a snack at 9pm, and if I’m still up another snack at midnight.

    Now, I personally work late (I usually get most of my “real work” done between the hours of 10pm and 2am) but if you need to eat at different hours, that’s fine… Just take the total number of calories you’re going to eat throughout the day and divvy them up into 3-hour intervals. Keep that fire stoked! If you can’t take a break at work to eat every 3 hours, bring a protein bar with you.

    If you skip breakfast, then you’re extremely hungry by the time lunch comes around. Skip lunch, and you’re more likely to gorge yourself at dinner. Why? Your body is saying, “Hey! I need food badly!” If you feed yourself often, throughout the day, your body doesn’t go into shock, and you won’t get those wild cravings and hunger pangs when it’s time to eat.

    Tip 3. Start a Food & Exercise Journal

    Don’t just dismiss this section. I did! The first couple of times I read about doing this in fitness and weight-loss books, I said to myself, “I don’t have the time to do this.” But you know what – it really works!

    I cannot stress how important it is to write everything down that you eat. All you need is a little notebook. Make four columns: what you ate, how much of it you ate, how many calories were in it, and what time of the day you ate it. It’s that simple. Also write down any exercise or other activities that are more strenuous than just sitting around.

    Taking the time to recognize what you’re eating is the first step to losing weight. A lot of people truly don’t realize how much crap they’re eating. When I first started doing this – and writing down everything I was eating – it really opened my eyes to the volumes of junk food I was eating before. I was a slave to cookies, chocolate, chicken wings, and pizza. When I first took the time to look up the fact that a chicken wing has 150 calories in it (yes, one wing), I was astounded. I used to eat 20 wings and 2 or 3 slices of pizza for dinner.

    Now you can get yourself one of those little calorie counter booklets from your favorite book store. Sometimes you’ll even see them in the grocery store. They’re invaluable. Once you get to know the foods you eat on a regular basis, keeping track of what you eat is really quite simple. You will gain a better appreciation for what you’re putting in your body.

    So please, please, please, take my advice and journal everything you eat. You do NOT have to do this for the rest of your life… just until you hit your goal weight. By that time, you’ll be able to keep a good mental track of what you’re eating, and you’ll be more aware of what you should eat, and how much exercise you should be getting every week.

    Also, you do not have to obsess over every little calorie! Counting your calories can be as detailed as you like. If you want to track every last celery stick, by all means do so. However, you can just round your calories off to the nearest 10, or 20. Don’t worry whether or not something contains 24 or 26 calories. In the end, it doesn’t make that much of a difference… but whether something has 100 or 200 calories does.

    The important thing… and I cannot stress this enough… is write everything down!

    Tip 4. Eat The Right Amount of Calories

    We’re not going to starve ourselves! In fact, proper weight loss is best accomplished by eating more frequently than you’re probably used to! Let me say that again: you’re going to eat more food than you are right now. You’re going to eat better food, more often, but at a lower calorie intake. If you’re like I used to be, you’re probably skipping breakfast. This means that when lunchtime comes around, you’re starving, so you probably overeat the wrong kinds of food (like pizza, wings, Chinese, etc.) for lunch – and I’ll bet it’s fast food or takeout. Then, you don’t eat anything again for six to eight hours, and pack in a monster dinner.

    Now here’s what happens: your body isn’t getting any food first thing in the morning, so your metabolism isn’t getting started. Your “calorie-burning fire” doesn’t get started in the morning, so you’re not really burning as many calories as you should be. Also, your body is saying, “uh, oh – I’m not getting any food. I better hold on to whatever body fat I can because we’re starving!” This is bad. If you don’t eat enough food, often enough, your body will basically go into starvation mode and hang on to whatever body fat it can.

    The key to unlocking your stored fat is to feed yourself enough good food so that your body doesn’t need to store any additional fat, while at the same time getting plenty of exercise and strength training to burn whatever fat you currently have and build muscle.

    There are a bunch of factors that go into calculating metabolic rates and all that jazz, but you can use this chart as a basic measurement of how many calories you should be eating as part of your weight-loss diet. Notice it’s based on your current weight and your gender. Women need fewer calories then do men. Also, if you’re a smaller person, you need less energy than a larger person. Use this chart to determine how many calories you should be eating on a daily basis.

    WOMEN

    Under 130: 1000 Calories

    130-150: 1200 Calories

    151-200: 1400 Calories

    201-250: 1600 Calories

    251-300: 1800 Calories

    301-350: 2000 Calories

    351-400: 2200 Calories

    MEN

    Under 130: 1200 Calories

    130-150: 1400 Calories

    151-200: 1600 Calories

    201-250: 1800 Calories

    251-300: 2000 Calories

    301-350: 2200 Calories

    351-400: 2400 Calories

    Now here’s something that’s vitally important… you want to make sure you get enough calories every day, otherwise your body will go into “starvation” mode. You want to make sure that you eat your meals at least four times a day to keep your metabolism running. If you don’t eat, your body will go into starvation mode. It will realize that it’s not getting enough food, and will hold on to body fat. It’s important to get enough calories spaced throughout the day to keep your fire stoked. Don’t think that by starving yourself you’re going to lose weight. It will be the wrong kind of weight. Remember, your body will eat it’s own muscle tissue first before burning fat if it doesn’t have enough protein.

    Tip 5. Send Yourself to Boot Camp

    Now, if you want to jump start your body on its way to fast weight loss, here’s what you’re going to do. Ignore the charts above, and drop yourself right down to a 1000-calorie-per-day diet immediately. In addition, make sure you get at least 15 minutes of walking (or some other easy, basic, extra exercise) in every day as well.

    You will do this for exactly two weeks… no more… no less. Then, you will go back to eating the normal amount of calories as indicated on the chart above.

    It’s not going to be easy. You won’t be able to eat any junk food for these first two weeks. You can, however, eat plenty of good foods – chicken, salads, whole grain breads, etc. It won’t be easy, but once you get through it, you’ll be able to add lots of calories back in to your diet, and feel more normal again… in fact, after eating only 1000 calories for two weeks, you’ll probably have a hard time bringing yourself back up to 2000 calories (or whatever you should be at).

    Here’s why this works: dropping your calorie intake down to 1000 calories will shock your body into new eating habits. You will cleanse your body of toxins (like those monster grease burgers you’ve been eating) and get some good, healthy food in you. You will notice weight loss after the first couple of days, but you’ll be keeping your energy up by eating good foods at regular intervals. You can stop any cravings you’re having with water, or add some extra veggies in there – you can eat just about as much green vegetables as you want.

    Tip 6. Don’t Think “Fat Free” Means “Calorie Free”

    Everywhere you look, it seems that “low fat” foods abound. While there are certain low-fat or no-fat foods that we are going to eat, you don’t want to restrict yourself to a totally no-fat diet. There are certain fats that are good fats, and other that are bad fats. We’re going to want to eat good fats because they are necessary for proper health. Bad fats, however, will make you fat.

    There are tons of fad “no-fat” diets out there that have promoted the whole “low-fat” mentality. What’s happened? People are still continuing to get fat eating “fat-free” foods. They eat fat-free cookies, fat-free chips, and fat-free dairy products, yet they keep getting fatter. Why? Many fat-free foods have nearly as many calories as their full-fat versions.

    Now, you start eating “fat free” potato chips thinking to yourself that you can splurge… hey, why not? They’re “fat free.” Well, you still load on the calories with fat-free potato chips. It’s the calories that make you fat. In fact, when food manufacturers remove fat from their products, often times they replace the fat with sugar to improve the taste. Guess what… by adding sugar, they’re bringing the calorie count almost back up to where the full-fat product was.

    We need fat. Fat forms lining of the cell membranes in almost every cell of our bodies. Your brain is composed primarily of fat. If you don’t eat enough of the right kinds of fat, your brain will not get the proper nutrition to function. Eating too little fat can also reduce your testosterone levels (equally important for women as for men).

    Tip 7. Know Your Fats

    Saturated Fats are bad for you. They are found mostly in beef, milk, cheese, deli meats, butter, and some tropical oils. Saturated fats increase your risk of coronary artery disease, diabetes, and obesity. Avoid or minimize saturated fat intake. Try to eat low-fat meats like chicken and turkey without the skin, and reduced-fat dairy products. If you’re eating red mean, get the lowest-fat, leanest meat you can.

    Trans Fats are saturated fats that are extremely bad for you. You should completely eliminate all foods with trans fats in them from your diet. These types of unnatural fats are created during food manufacturing processes such as the hydrogenation of vegetable oil. They are usually found in pastries, buns, chips, doughnuts, shortening, and other such foods. If the label says “trans fat” put that product back on the shelf. If the ingredients of any product say “partially hydrogenated” anywhere on it – put it back. One example: margarine! It’s evil. It’s loaded with trans-fatty acids. Avoid it at all costs. Also avoid vegetable shortening, commercial pasties, deep-fried food, and most prepared snacks, mixes, and convenience foods.

    Studies have shown that saturated and trans fats are actually addictive and make you want to eat more. They have also been linked to all kinds of health problems from cancer and heart disease to diabetes.

    Unsaturated Fats, on the other hand, are generally good for you. These types of fats are usually found in nuts, seeds, fish, and grains. Mono-unsaturated fats, such as the types found in olive and canola oil, will actually protect your cardiovascular system from disease. These are the types of fats we’re going to load into our diet.

    – Good fats: almonds, avocado, cashews, flax oil, olive oil, olives, peanut butter, peanuts, fresh fish (salmon, mackerel, tuna)

    – Bad fats: butter, coconut, corn oil, cream cheese, half-and-half, lard, mayonnaise, shortening, sour cream

    Keep in mind that you need fats in your diet, but even the good fats listed above have a good amount of calories in them – so take it easy! A tablespoon of olive oil, for example, as 100 calories. Almonds (which I love to snack on) have 6 calories a piece. Nuts are a great, healthy-fat snack – but just make sure to take a small handful not the whole bag!

    Tip 8. Add Omega 3 Fatty Acids to Your Diet

    Omega fats are unsaturated fats that are not only good for you, but they’re essential for your health. Your body cannot create these fats, so you must get them totally from your diet. Omega fats are helpful for many reasons, plus they are necessary for normal cell growth and development.

    First, Omega fats are an excellent appetite suppressant. Part of the reason why people binge on “fat-free” foods is because fat is what makes your stomach “feel full.” If you aren’t eating any fat in your meal, your stomach never tells your brain that you’re full. Add a little good fat to your meal, and you’ll feel full with less food.

    Eating Omega fats helps your body to unlock stored fat so that you can use it for energy. Omega fat balances your body’s ratio of insulin to glucagon. When you eat sugary foods, your body releases insulin to remove the excess sugar from your system. If you do this too often, the insulin will block the hormone glucagon – which is another hormone that functions to help your body burn fat. Too much sugar = too much insulin = not enough glucagon = little fat burning. Plus, you are at risk for diabetes. Omega fats help to balance this ratio.

    Omega fats help to boost your body’s metabolic rate. This also helps you to burn more calories. Omega fats are the building blocks of your cells. Your cell membranes consist of Omega fats. Since they cannot be created by the body, you must get them from your diet.

    A specific fat, Omega 3 Fatty Acid, is obtained from flax seeds or flax seed oil. This will be the primary fat that we’ll add to our meals. You can use it on salads and in breads, add it to soups and yogurt. Don’t cook with it, however, as the heat will change it’s chemical properties. You will also find good doses of Omega 3 in most seafood, green leavy vegetables, fatty fish (salmon, tuna, trout, mackerel), walnuts, olive, and canola oil.

    Have fish for dinner at least twice a week – and I don’t mean your beer-battered, fried haddock that the local pub serves on Fridays. Pick a fish like salmon, tuna, or mackerel. Bake or grill them – don’t fry them. They have very high concentrations of Omega 3 fatty acids in them. Add flax oil to your salads instead of fatty dressings. Snack on walnuts or almonds instead of cookies and chocolate. You will feel full sooner, and you’ll be adding essential fatty acids to your diet to help burn calories!

    Tip 9. Get Plenty of Protein

    Proteins are the building blocks for your body. You need to eat lots of protein for your body to build, repair, and maintain your muscle and other lean tissues. If you don’t eat enough protein, your body will break down muscle tissue, which is bad, to maintain itself. As a result, your metabolism will slow, and you won’t burn body fat. Unlike fat or glucose, there’s nowhere in our bodies to store protein (aside from building muscle tissue) so you have to get a lot from your diet.

    How much protein should you eat? Most people should eat about 0.4 to 0.8 grams of protein per pound of body weight. Therefore, if you weigh 200 pounds, you should be eating between 80 and 160 grams of protein per day. This isn’t hard to do. Eat two eggs for breakfast, and an 8-ounce serving of chicken for dinner, and you’re at 60 grams of protein right there.

    What kinds of protein should you eat? I like fish, chicken (white meat), turkey (white meat), soy products, beans, legumes, and eggs (whites only – yokes have a lot of fat). Soy products are a great source of protein… once you get used to the taste. I have totally switched from regular milk to soy milk. It has all the calcium, much less of the saturated fat, and none of the cholesterol of normal milk (even skim milk!)

    Eat fish twice a week, chicken twice a week, turkey once a week, a vegetarian meal once a week, and then on that seventh day, go ahead and splurge with the pork or beef… just take it easy. Just make sure you choose lean sirloin cuts. Trim off any fat. Beef has a lot of saturated fat in it (it’s marbled throughout the meat so you can’t just cut it off). Beef is the worst meat for you – as compared to the other popular meats.

    – Good protein: beans (any kind), eggs (preferably whites – yolks have a lot of fat), chicken (white meat, no skin), turkey (white meat, no skin), salmon (preferably not farmed), tuna (packed in water, not oil), mahi mahi, any shellfish, any soy products.

    – Bad protein: bacon, ham, hot dogs, beef, pork, lamb, veal.

    In part 2 of this article, you’ll read about nine more tips to lose weight.

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    Source by Richard Rost

    Views: 0

  • Small Business Owner, What Happened To Your Initial Business Enthusiasm?

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    Starting a small business can be exhilarating, and it all starts with an idea. Oh yes, the idea grows and grows, and before you know it, that idea becomes so powerful that you can’t resist the thought of implementing it. So there you go, off to the races in full force!

    You started your business, but things didn’t go as well as you hoped, so your enthusiasm waned. How do you get that excitement back up and running?

    Following are five tips to help you get back on track and get excited again, but before you start, you’ll need a comfortable, quiet space, an alarm clock, a writing tablet, writing or coloring utensils, and most importantly, your original business plan (or ideas folder).

    (1) Pull out the original business plan you created some time back. Yes, the one you haven’t looked at for a while. This is the easy step, the next ones are harder to do.

    (2) Find a comfortable quiet space, set your alarm clock (on gentle sound) for forty-five minutes to an hour. Allow yourself to contemplate on your initial purpose of your business.

    (3) As you read each line of your original plan, focus on the words and ideas you wrote. Circle your main initial goal, the purpose of starting your business. What inspired you?

    (4) Allow yourself to feel that wonderful and strong emotion you felt when your idea first sprouted. Read and re-read your original plan. Can you feel it? Will you allow that enthusiastic smile to return? It just takes a few seconds!

    (5) Take a deep breath and on a piece of paper, jot down two action steps you will take within the next 24 hours, for example, reply to that email you’ve been putting off.

    The waning of enthusiasm is a common happenstance with many small business owners and may happen at any stage of their business operation. These waning of interest may last days, weeks, months, or even years. Best advice, take action once you’re aware of it.

    The steps above may look like simple steps, but sometimes that’s all a small business owner needs to get back on his or her feet. You’d be surprised at how far simple steps can take you once you get up and going again. That said, let’s get you up and running again, exhilarated, and growing with your original business purpose.

    So, there you go… It’s off to the races and back in full force!

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    Source by Krystalina Soash

    Views: 0

  • How To Start a Wood Working Business From Your Garage

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    Starting a woodworking business from your home could be an excellent way to earn an income. With right business plan and woodworking training system you could reach your financial goals with little or no woodworking skills.

    As we all know financial times are tough in many areas of Canada and The USA. Their seems to be no stability working for various companies. Even if you employed the income you receive is poor. Consider starting a home based business that will create products that you can sell with very little effort. This home based business will be fun and easy to start.

    Consider starting a business constructing and selling wooden furniture. Many people are often interested in purchasing wooden furniture for their homes. Good quality wooden furniture always has a way of being sold. Home owners will pay top money for this type of furnishing. This type of furnishing looks good and gives the customer a product that indicates that their money was well spent.

    With proper business plan and correct construction method you might even be able to make money in your spare time building furniture and related products.

    Of course you will need a place to work such as your garage. You could even construct a shed in your backyard to start your woodworking business. Constructing a shed, made of wood, could be a way of starting your woodworking business. After successfully building a shed in your backyard you could have people paying you to build a shed in their backyard.

    There are a number of resources that will give you step-by-step instructions with regards to construction of various woodworking projects including numerous backyard shed plans. Types of sheds to consider are the pent roof shed and clerestory style shed.

    The pent roof style shed is simple to build. It is a mono roof shed, which consists of a one piece roof sloping in one direction. It can be attached to your house or barn, giving it increased structural strength

    The clerestory style shed ideal for use a place to work. The roof of this shed consists of row of windows which allows natural light to beam inside of the structure. Because of the roof its structure will mor complicated to build when compare with the pent roof style shed. However designs can be found on the internet that will help the construction process less problematic.

    This type of business will require that you purchase various tools if you do not already own them. Their a number hardware stores likely in your area that will help you purchasing the tools needed in starting your woodworking business. You will also likely be able to purchase used woodworking tools in good working order.

    Best Regards

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    Source by Paul Luciw

    Views: 0

  • Timing Counts In A Relationship

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    Human beings are social animals. Most of us crave the comfort and warmth of sharing life experiences and love with others. Most of us crave the intimacy of a love relationship, with shared hopes, dreams, and adventures of life.

    We want deep and loving relationships, and they are a lot of hard work to make them happen. A friend of mine said, the dream is on the other side of the hard work.

    Having the dream is worth it. That makes the hard work worth it, too.

    Part of the hard work is being realistic about timing.

    Timing matters about dealing with things within a loving relationship.

    If your partner has had a lot of external conflict or stress in the day, it is probably not the best time to bring up talking about a new challenge you are interested in. It may be time to listen, to just be together, and to nurture, rather than a time to bring up additional conversation that may be stressful.

    Timing also matters in starting a new relationship. Being in a healthy place and relationship with yourself first gives a better chance of relationship success.

    What kinds of timing issues could there be?

    1. Work Stress. If your career is at a point where it is demanding 70 or 80 hour weeks, where you are exhausted the rest of the time and your mind is full of work challenges and solutions, it's probably not the best time to try to start a new relationship . Your date may very well feel neglected and overlooked. What can you do? Make some changes in your specify if you can. Or have a conversation, let the person know you're interested and that you need a bit of time to straighten things out. Either he or she accepts that and is willing to wait a bit, or not. You've taken responsibility, and need to accept both your situation and the response.

    2. Financial Difficulties. Tough financial times are not a good time to begin a relationship. Your partner could feel used as a money resource. You could embroil your partner in your problems rather than find common interests.

    3. Recent breakup. No matter how well you broke up, you will have some loss to deal with. It's best to heal from the baggage of your loss before you try to enter into a new relationship.

    4. Recent trauma. It could be a death in the family, an illness, the loss of a job, even being in an accident or a crime victim. The best idea is to work through your emotions over the trauma before investing in a new relationship. Things are going to come up until you deal that will interrupt and strain the exploration and fun you want to have.

    5. Long Distance. Relationships are hard enough without adding long distance. In a new relationship you want to get to know one another, spend time together, and share experiences. The honeymoon phase of a new relationship is precious. Resentments may occur that wouldn't happen without the distance challenge.

    Timing in Relationships is crucial. Stresses are going to happen. If you are in a committed relationship, seeking good timing counts, for dealing with life issues.

    Setting a time together to talk can be a good idea. For a new relationship, diving in when the timing is wrong is a set-up for failure and disappointment. The goal is love and happiness. Be mindful of timing.

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    Source by Annie Collyer

    Views: 0

  • Affiliate Programs For Beginners

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    Starting out, you need only two affiliate programs, one to recommend physical products, the other for information products.

    The clear winner for physical products is Amazon. For information products, the best one used to be ClickBank, but JVZoo has overtaken it this year.

    Here’s why Amazon and ClickBank are the two best options.

    Amazon Associates

    The Amazon Associates program is very well known. You use their links to promote certain products and you get a cut for every item bought through your links. Commission varies between 2% and 8%, depending on the product.

    But every time someone lands on Amazon trough your affiliate link, you get a cut of everything they buy during that visit, not just the product you recommended.

    This makes using the Amazon Affiliates program really powerful.

    The way to leverage the program is to write product reviews on your blog. It is the simplest way to make money online, especially for beginners.

    Once you’ve started making some money through your first few sales through the program, you can start to scale by reinvesting that money, and up your income.

    JVZoo

    There are loads of information products online. You could even consider the internet an information product. People, simply, use the internet to find information.

    Much of that is free, but people are willing to pay for information that will make their lives better.

    The commission you get by recommending these products can go up to 75% – a huge increase on what you get for physical goods.

    It is much harder, however, to sell information products. Commissions are higher, but coversions are lower.

    I would have recommended ClickBank before this year, but JVZoo has taken over for one reason.

    There are more product launches on JVZoo.

    Easy Way to Sell Information Products:

    Product launches make it much easier to sell information products.

    You do essentially the same thing as for physical goods, you write reviews and include an affiliate link people can use to buy the product.

    Product launches are specific days when a new one goes on sale. You choose a product to review, you can see upcoming launches through MunchEye, write your review, include your link and use the hype of the first day to generate traffic and sales.

    Since there are a lot more product launches on JVZoo this makes it much easier for someone starting out to make their first bit of money and attract traffic.

    People searching for a review are nearly ready to buy something. That makes it easier to sell to them. And a good review helps them. It helps them not waste money on products not fit for them or time having to research all the details themselves. You’re also not competing with the people who put out the product, in fact you are helping them.

    Those things make reviews great for affiliate marketing.

    You will have to work hard, but your reviews could be passively earning you money months or years down the road.

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    Source by James Pierce

    Views: 0

  • MLM Training – How To Answer the 30 Most Common Questions And Rejections In MLM or Network Marketing

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    Ok, so you’ve made the call, initiated the invitation, but things didn’t go as smoothly as what you expected.

    Your prospect started to ask some tough questions.

    Gulp, all of a sudden your tongue got tied up! You panic and said something stupid.

    Just yesterday, one of my downlines asked me after she made her first few calls to some prospects.

    What do you say when they ask you, Is this MLM? or Do I need to sell stuff? or Do I need to spend a lot of time?

    Here are your answers to the 30 most asked questions in MLM or Network Marketing.

    1. What is this business all about?

    Answer 1 (refer back to your website): Well, everything is explained on my website. Can you check it out today?

    Answer 2 (if your company does not provide a website): Well, I can’t explain it over the phone, so the best way is to meet up either today or tomorrow so that I can show you the details.

    * Now, the reason why we do not want to explain over the phone, is simply because there is no way the prospect can see the full big picture with some words transferred over the phone! Remember, our responsibility in MLM is to pass the message on and the clearer the message, the lower the chance of rejection or misinformation.

    2. Is this MLM?

    Answer: (Answer a question with a question) Why do you ask that? Have you done MLM before?

    * In this case, we answer a question with a question because we want to know if the prospect is NEGATIVE towards MLM. If the prospects answers your question with a negative response eg. Yes I have and I failed terribly or No I have not, but my relative/friend was involved with some MLM and failed, then you must be more tactful and answer Well, its not what you think or have seen. Check out my website or I can show you the details when we meet up today or tomorrow.

    3. Is this one of those pyramids or money games?

    Answer: No, of course not. Why do you say that? Did you have a bad experience with something like that?

    *Again, we want to find out if the prospect had a negative experience and we want to reassure them that our business is nothing like that.

    4. So do I need to sell anything?

    Answer: No, this business is not about being a super salesperson if you do not like sales.

    *The reason why we say this is because more than 90% of the worlds population does not like sales. However, its more of a fear of having to sell stuff because they do not see the benefits or whats in it for them.

    5. Do I have to sell stuff to my family and friends?

    Answer: No, you do not have to if you do not like doing that.

    * Most people fear peddling products to their family and friends, however most of the time, their opinion will change when they realize how good the products are and how they can benefit from those products.

    6. Do I have to make cold calls?

    Answer: No, you do not need to make cold calls if you do not want to.

    7. Do I have to spend long hours to do this business?

    Answer: Well, its actually flexible and totally up to you. The more time and effort you put into the business, the more you will earn as there is no limit to the amount of money you can make.

    8. I don’t have many friends.

    Answer: Its ok. You do not need to depend on your friends and relatives to succeed in this business.

    9. So what do I need to do?

    Answer: You need to go through our company training and learn the basics of the business, then follow our step by step system to guide you towards success.

    10. Do I need to invest a lot of money?

    Answer: That’s the beauty of this business. You do not need to invest a huge sum of money to start the business. How much will you need to start a McDonald’s or Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise?

    *The idea here to make a powerful reference to a business like McDonald’s which everyone knows or has heard about. Then, inform the prospect that a McDonald’s franchise takes something like US$1 million dollars to start. However, our business just needs a few hundred or thousand dollars to get started. Comparatively, that’s not a huge investment at all!

    11. I can’t talk as well as you.

    Answer: In this business, its not about being able to talk well. Besides, well be guiding you with our step by step system that does not require you to talk well or be a good salesman.

    12. I am just too busy.

    Answer: Will you like to have more time freedom then?

    *Explain to the prospect the ideas I shared in WHY MLM about exchanging your time for money and exchanging OPT(Other peoples time) for your wealth. Many people think they are doing well, but they don’t realize they are still caught in the rat race.

    13. I don’t think MLM or Network Marketing is a professional career.

    Answer: Have you heard of Donald Trump(ultra rich billionaire property mogul in the hit show THE APPRENTICE) or Robert Kiyosaki (World famous author of the book RICH DAD POOR DAD)? If both of them strongly recommend network marketing or MLM as one of the best businesses for people to get rich with, do you think that they will risk their reputation on something that is not professional?

    *The best way is to show them Donald Trump and Robert Kiyosaki’s book which they co-wrote together, Why We Want You To Be Rich? and flip to that one entire chapter where both of them recommend that we join network marketing in order to get rich!

    14. Have you made any money yet?

    Answer(if you just started): No, I just started the business and any business takes time to generate income. However, I can introduce to my upline who has made money already and is very successful. You can check out his website or I can arrange a 3 way call for a conversation with him.

    15. How long will it take for me to make any money?

    Answer: Its up to how much time and effort you put into the business. However, give yourself at least 3 months to learn the ropes first.

    16. What if I run out of friends?

    Answer: As I mentioned, you do not need to limit yourself to your friends and family. We will guide you step by step how you can have an unlimited number of people to share the business with.

    17. I don’t think I can afford the money to start.

    Answer: Do you really seriously want to achieve your dreams? If yes, figure out a way you can get the money to start. You can start saving up now so that you can start later.

    18. You are already successful, that’s why you can do it but I am not like you.

    Answer: Do you want to change your life then? If yes, start by being a good student and learn how to do it. We are willing to guide you towards success.

    19. Do I have to become a products expert?

    Answer: No, we are only the messengers who pass the information on to others. We do not need to become doctors, or nutritionists or product experts.

    20. Can I build my business overseas to other countries?

    Answer: Yes, of course. With the internet, we are able to share our business opportunity with anyone in any country around the world. So long we are able to deliver the products there, anything is possible.

    21. Can I start part time and still succeed?

    Answer: Yes, of course. Many of us start part time and build up a significant income before we go full time.

    22. How long will it take to achieve a full time income?

    Answer: Just like any business, give yourself at least 6 months to 1 year to build up a significant income.

    23. Can I register a company to do this type of business?

    Answer: Yes of course. You are already considered a self employed business owner by starting this business, so you can register a sole proprietorship, partnership or incorporated company to do this business and enjoy all the tax benefits.

    24. Can I do this business together with my spouse?

    Answer: Yes of course. In fact, we have seen many success stories of couples who work together as partners in this business and it not only helps with their finances, but their marriage as well.

    25. The money in network marketing is too slow for me.

    Answer: Well, if you’re looking for fast money, usually its associated with high risk. However, if you want low risk, but highly leveraged passive residual income i.e. income that grows while you sleep without risking high investments, network marketing will give you that if you work the business for 1 to 2 years.

    26. Too many people fail in MLM.

    Answer: Isn’t that true in any industry? Example, insurance, property agents, even 9 of 10 traditional businesses fail in any given year. Be it in MLM or in any industry, the only people who fail are those who give up. And those who succeed are those who never ever GIVE UP.

    27. I hear too many horror stories and negative comments about MLM.

    Answer: There is nothing wrong about MLM as a business model. Its just misunderstood by the general public. However, did you know that when franchising first started in USA, everyone said it’s a scam? The same thing happened when personal insurance policies were first introduced to the general public. It took more than 20 years before the public started to accept that personal insurance wasn’t a scam to cheat your money but a necessary protection instead. But if you had been one of those pioneering leaders in the Insurance industry, today you will be very rich! So its the same situation for MLM, when less people understand it, that’s when the opportunity is BIG.

    28. Do I need to convince people to buy products?

    Answer: No. Your responsibility is to pass the information to them so that they can review the DVD, website or magazine so that they can convince themselves if they are interested. You do not need to do any convincing at all.

    29. I have no extra time to do this.

    Answer: If today I told you that I’m selling my ferrari sports car for $1000 and you only have until tomorrow to grab this limited time offer, will you find the time to get $100 to me right now? If yes, it means that the point is whether you really want it bad enough to find time to do it. So do you really want to succeed or are you just fooling around?

    30. I have no idea where or how to start.

    Answer: No problem, let me guide you step by step with our new distributor orientation training system and quick start checklist.

    * By this time, your company or your organizations training system should have a simple step by step checklist or training guide that you can use to duplicate your new downline to get started.

    So there you have it!

    The 30 most common questions, answers and rejections in MLM or Network Marketing.

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    Source by Dennis Bay

    Views: 0

  • Find Fail Safe Project Success With These 4 Simple Tips

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    Getting your project — even a large one — off to a successful and quick beginning is a major key to success.

    So, here’s some help. Read on for 4 tips to help you move your project into the “Fail Safe” zone. As you use your skills and power to think ahead, your results can far surpass what a traditional approach to project management offers.

    1. Open to new possibilities for structuring your project.

    Start by clearly defining your desired outcome, and then build around it. Beginning with your goal stimulates your creativity and moves you away from automatically following a standard protocol. Let fresh ideas bubble up.

    2. Refine the image of your goal. Make it comprehensive and specific.

    Keep working at your project definition. Having a crystal clear image of your desired outcome before you begin helps in lots of ways. For one thing, it’s motivating. And vague descriptions may result in confusion for those who need to understand your project or those whose help you may need in order to be successful. The clarity of your goal will also help you strategize more effectively when you’re structuring your action steps.

    3. What about the scope and complexity of your desired outcome? If you’ve bitten off more than you can chew, remember that you hold the power to make your project manageable.

    Realistic planning at the outset greatly reduces your chances of having to scale back your original goal. A doctoral dissertation or strategic plan without a feasible-to-achieve outcome can easily become a project that is impossible to manage. Learn to marshal your resources by simplifying.

    4. Work backward.

    Start from your outcome and work back. This helps you identify each necessary action step. When you do this, you’re more likely to maintain a realistic pace and scale throughout the project.

    In contrast, beginning at the beginning can mire you in too much detail or overwhelm you with the enormity of your task.

    It’s deeply rewarding to plan a project effectively when first starting out. You will proceed with more confidence and develop a stronger base of support.

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    Source by Paula Eder

    Views: 0

  • Entrepreneurship – Benefits Of Taking An Entrepreneurship Course

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    Are you tired of your regular job? Are you thinking of starting a business of your own? Do you want to enhance your ability to create wealth? Do you want to be your own boss? Do you want to have control over your decisions? Are you a risk taker? Do you have a high expectation of yourself? If the answer to the above questions is yes, then all you need to do is to channel your energy in the right direction.

    While passion is important for any business venture, the know-how is equally important for success. Many entrepreneurs who started out very passionate end up losing steam due to the fact that they do not have the proper entrepreneurial skills to make their business succeed. Entrepreneurship education is therefore key to a business growth and success.

    According to research, entrepreneurship education contributed to the growth of firms especially smaller emerging firms. On average, emerging companies that employed entrepreneurship graduates had greater than five times, the sale and employment growth than those that employed non-entrepreneurship graduates. This means that taking an entrepreneurship course would definitely lead to an increased sale of your product or service.

    In addition, it was observed that larger firms paid entrepreneurship graduates significantly more than they paid non-entrepreneurship graduates. In the United States, entrepreneurship graduates working for large firms earned approximately $23,500 more per year than did other business school graduates. This all goes to show the relative importance of an entrepreneurship education.

    So as an individual seeking to start a business venture, taking an entrepreneurship course would benefit you and your business in the following ways:

    • It will enhance your ability to create wealth from your own business
    • It makes you become a champion of innovation.
    • It gives you the ability to create greater opportunities for yourself with advancing technologies
    • It makes you self-sufficient and enterprising
    • It gives you community understanding skills which is good for your business
    • It enhances your business management skills
    • It gives you an orientation to change that can help your business keep up with the ever changing times
    • It gives you a better understanding of the market economy that your business must thrive in
    • The education obtained leads to your ultimate personal growth
    • Your decision making skills are improved
    • It expands your creative thinking

    As a result of these outlined benefits, many experienced leaders, economists and educators believe that fostering a robust entrepreneurial culture will maximize individual and collective economic and social success on a local and global scale.

    TAKE AN ONLINE ENTREPRENEURSHIP COURSE TODAY

    It is interesting to know that you can take this amazing course online. As an entrepreneur, leaving your business to attend a traditional institution of learning might not fit well with your plans. If that is your situation, then be rest assured that you are covered. With the steady growth of online education, a lot of online institution of repute that offer this course are available to choose from. In fact one unique institution stands out – The Swiss E-learning Institute. Apart fro other amazing benefits you are bound to enjoy, this institute also offers entrepreneurship students the opportunity of earning passive incomes just by enrolling and activating this course. Find out more by visiting the link on the resource box below.

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    Source by Kelechi Nwachukwu

    Views: 0