shadow

Panama Gets a New Cruise Port in Colon

Introduction - Today it was announced that Panama is opening a new cruise ship port and terminal in Colon on the Atlantic side. The port will open in Dec. 2008. At the present time there is a cruise terminal in Colon to receive ships for a day stop only. Ships generally not passing through the canal will stop at Colon disembarking passengers for tours, shopping trips etc. The ships will generally pull in during the morning and leave at dinnertime. Colon is the second largest duty free zone in the world second to Hong Kong. It is simple for one to take a tour from Colon to the Panama Canal.

Royal Caribbean Enchantment of the Seas - Royal Caribbean has announced that it will be deploying one of its modern ships by the name of Enchantment of the Seas. This cruise ship is 80,000 tons and was built in 1997 and refurbished in 1999 and again in 2005. It is not a flag ship of the line, yet still quite a respectable cruise liner. The boat was stretched out when refurbished in 2005 and is now 990 feet long, roughly as long as an aircraft carrier. The ship carries 2446 passengers and has a crew of 760. There are 6 hot tubs, three swimming pools, a rock climbing wall, spa, gym, full beauty salon, jogging track, and of course it has a rock-climbing wall. How can you cruise without a rock-climbing wall? There is a casino, 10 bars, and the ship has 11 decks extending above the water. This is no slouch of a boat. The itinerary of the boat will be Columbia, Aruba and Curacao with 17 such one-week cruises planned during the first season.

Discussion - Okay so now Panama is going to become a cruise port. The major ports in the general region, broadly speaking, are Miami, and Ft. Lauderdale. Many people in Central and South America have difficulty getting visas to go to America. To take a cruise starting or terminating in the USA one must obtain a visa to go to the USA unless they are able to travel to the country without a visa. Most of the countries are not this way with Argentina being the exception.

The visa process involves waking up early in the morning to go stand online at the USA Embassy waiting to go in for an interview. Numerous documents are required, reasons for the trip, why you are not a risk for overstaying the visa etc. There are fees involved, which are about $165 a person. Many people do not wish to go through this process. Many others are willing to go through the process but are unable to get the visa for various reasons.

Additionally people have been complaining about the treatment they get from USA immigration being unpleasant when they arrive and depart America. This has been hurting the cruise industry in the USA in a big way. Check cruise prices and it is common to see discounts of 50% most of the time from the USA ports of departure. This will give the cruise companies a chance to recover a market they have been missing out on in recent years which is the Central and South American market. It will also give Panama a chance to gain some tourism dollars. People taking cruises frequently come in a day or two before the cruise and stay a day or two after the cruise to see the local attractions.

The word we got was that the other cruise lines would follow suit and begin originating cruises from Panama as well. One could expect to see a bustling cruise port like Miami in the near future is what we were told to expect. We welcome the cruise industry and see it as having a positive effect.

Remember this port is not designed to attract the USA tourist dollar. While some USA tourists will come here the overwhelming majority of the cruisers will be from Central and South America. It is cheaper and easier for the USA resident to take a cruise departing from: Los Angeles, New Orleans, Houston, Tampa, New York, Orlando, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, or Puerto Rico. This is not going to give the USA some sort of leverage to use on Panama to get them to do what they want like weaken banking laws etc. If the Caymans Islands or the Bahamas did not comply with the USA regarding bank or corporate laws the USA could make like very difficult for anyone cruising to these destinations with lots of searching, long delays clearing customs and immigration etc. Places like the Caymans and Bahamas have heavy cruise and tourism industries that provide many more jobs than the banking industry. If you have ever been to the Caymans not many locals work in the banking sector. The new cruise port in Panama has no applicability to the USA since the passengers will not be subject to USA immigration and customs since the cruise boat will not be originating, terminating or traveling to the USA and the passengers will by and large not be Americans.

We are expecting to see a lot of South and Central American destinations like Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Peru, Aruba, Curacao, and Columbia. On longer cruises of 10 days or longer the cruise ships could travel to some of the popular Caribbean destinations like Nassau, Caymans, and Jamaica etc. Panama has very wisely chosen to go after the Central and South American tourism market. Is there going to be a Disney Amusement Park in Panama? Stay tuned.

Legal Transcription

Legal transcription service is about preparing legal documents from written or dictated information. It is the conversion of the spoken word into a printable form, such as the proceeding of a court hearing. Here, the legal transcription service assist young or experienced attorneys to prepare for trials, documenting relevant facts and information pertaining to lawsuits, organizing and maintaining client files. The persons working for legal transcription service are trained and qualified in the entire range of legal branches, which include:

1. Court proceedings,

2. Licensed appeals,

3. Presentations,

4. Seminars and conferences,

5. Depositions, hearings, and judgments,

6. Evidence or legal argument.

The legal transcription service provides service to solicitors, firms, and attorneys. Legal transcription service includes both legal and paralegal services like transcribing letters, reports, and different types of correspondence that a solicitor firm handles in a day. The objective is accuracy, fast turnaround and quality reporting.

Legal transcription service should be reliable, prompt and cost effective which in turn will save the valuable time and money of lawyers, attorneys, and professionals. Legal transcription service should include:

1.     Competitive pricing

2.     Fast turnaround time

3.     Good accuracy

4.     Confidentiality

The primary responsibility of legal transcription service should be to provide cost-effective, timely response to transcription needs with a high quality finished documents. Clients should be assured of complete accuracy in content and spelling with editing and grammar correction.

Most importantly, legal transcription service should include a high level of confidentiality to assure the safety of sensitive information being held and processed with strict procedure and confidence.

As different areas of the country and different courts have slightly different formats, the legal transcription service should transcribe in all legal formats. For that, legal transcription service provider should be professional and expert in linguistic skills in specialized area.

Eseential Bar Equipment

You really do not have to be a professional bartender to be able to mix original drinks, providing you use the appropriate tools for the job. You will certainly find some of the utensils listed below already in your home, and you can always improvise with everyday kitchen gadgets. If, however, you go shopping to stock up on bar equipment, the important feature to remember is that the utensils should be easy to clean, which is why stainless-steel items and glass are particularly suitable.

A cocktail shaker is an absolute must for your home bar. It is primarily used to mix drinks with ingredients that are difficult to combine smoothly, such as egg yolks, liqueurs, fruit juices, and cream. Any good bar-supply store will stock a variety of shakers and you are certain to find one to fit your budget and needs.

One standard version is a three-part shaker, which consists of a beaker, a lid, and a built-in strainer, to hold back pieces of ice and fruit pits or seeds when pouring the cocktail. Its disadvantage is that the strainer is very difficult to clean and the liquid pours out slowly. The two-part Boston shaker consists of a large stainless-steel beaker and a smaller one made of lead crystal, which fits inside and has the advantage that the glass beaker is also suitable for use as a mixing glass.

I find professionals usually favor a two-part stainless-steel or silver shaker because it is easier to close than the Boston shaker. When you use a two-part shaker or a mixing glass, you will need a round, stainless-steel bar strainer. This features an edge like a coiled spring, and it should fit exactly into the top of the shaker or mixing glass, making it indispensable when straining cocktails so ice and pieces of fruit or pits do not fall into the glass. If necessary, you can use a new tea strainer instead.

You will also need a mixing glass, sometimes called a shaker glass, for every drink which is stirred, not shaken, such as clear drinks and those made from easily blended ingredients. When shopping for a mixing glass, look for one with a capacity of about 1 quart (enough for 3 or 4 drinks). A long-handled bar spoon is a versatile tool used by bartenders to stir the ingredients in the mixing glass, as a measuring spoon to add the correct amount of ingredients to many cocktails, and to crush flavoring ingredients.

Most bar-spoon handles are 10 inches long and made of stainless steel or silver. At the top of the handle there is usually a disc called a muddler used to "muddle," or crush, pieces of I (mil, herbs, or sugar cubes. The spoon on the opposite end holds 1/6 ounces of liquid, or the same amount as a standard kitchen teaspoon. The rounded back of the spoon is also useful for slowly pouring layers of liqueurs into a glass when you do not want the layers to mix. A bar whisk is also useful for whisking and mixing.

A truly indispensable item for your bar is a double-ended bar measure, because exact quantities of ingredients are needed for making a drink. Also called a pony-jigger measure, these are usually made of stainless steel with a 1-ounce cup at one end, called a pony and a 1+1/2 - to 2-ounce measure at the other end, called a jigger. When you go shopping, look for a measure with easy-to-read 1/4-ounce and 1/2 mince markings inside the jigger end. Alternatively, you can use a standard shot glass with markings on it. If you do not have either measure, use a standard set of kitchen measuring spoons—3 teaspoons, or 1 tablespoon, equal 1/2 ounce, 4 teaspoons equal 3/4 ounce and 2 tablespoons equal 1 ounce.

The Secret To Guaranteed Success Online

Get Rich Quick Scams RevealedRead this article before you consider paying for a "get rich quick" program.

From: Success OnlineEverybody would love to make lots of money quickly, working from home, and only doing a few hours of work per week. I've spent the past two years trying to find a great way of doing this. Only over the course of the past few months have I found any "get rich quick" programs worth buying. I've been trying to make money online for a long time. I had a few small websites, but they never made much more than a few hundred per month. It was easy money and didn't require much work on my part, but I knew there were people out there doing better than I was and I knew I could do as well as them. Now, I've seen a lot of "get rich quick" programs. Most of these people make claims about earning $2000/day with Google or something similarly insane. Almost all of these people are complete liars. Even if they were making $2000/day with Google AdSense, it'd be because they had high - traffic websites with a lot of quality content. I'd know, because in one whole month, I never even made half of what they promised I'd make daily with their programs. Maybe you've already been scammed by one of these fraudsters. Anyway, I finally got sick of what was being offered. I decided I'd look through the all of the "get rich quick" programs I could find and see if there were any that were actually legitimate. I found that there were owners selling their programs for well over $100, but the information in them could be found almost anywhere online for free. Additionally, they all contained out-of-date information, had no e-mail support, no money back guarantees, and broken links in the downloads section. In conclusion, almost all of the programs I found were completely useless. The owners knew it, but they couldn't care less about their customers since they didn't offer refund policies! Amazingly, while looking through all of the programs, I actually did find a few legitimate programs. They were run by ordinary people like you and me, and they had found some great methods of making money from their home by doing very little work. I spent some time working with those programs, and my income is now ten times what it used to be. These programs provided a large amount of great information on how to make extra money on your computer doing very little work. Numerous customers had provided great feedback and reviews for their products. Many of them have started to make money just days after buying! Their programs have excellent prices, and the authors have a group of paid staff who are dedicating to helping you or providing assistance if you need any. I must say I was amazed! If you do decide to purchase any of the programs listed below, I recommend you join quickly. Most of the owners tell me they are getting an overwhelming number of sales and plan on raising prices in the near future, so order while prices are still low! To Your Online Success, Success Online

Discounts on online Shopping

Shopping Discount is a great way to cash in on the special offers made by companies and stores offering a whole range of products and services. Discounts range from gift certificates, bargain sales, clearances to free shipping offers to even free product offers. Also available are last minute hotel booking deals and online reservations. People who make their ticket reservations online benefit from a discounted rate as compared to people who book their tickets the traditional way by standing in queues at ticket counters. This is a great way to benefit from discounted rates.

One can purchase almost all kinds of products, online or offline. Because of the rising competition in the consumerist market today, companies want to gain a higher market-share and they offer discounts on all sorts of products and services. Discounts, are however, usually seen on products like food items, grocery items, clothing, consumer durables like mobile phones, electrical appliances, digital cameras, MP3 players, DVD players, services like body massaging, gym memberships, club and resort memberships, face toning, weight loss, etc. Some companies offer discounts on bulk purchases.

While discounted shopping may be available in online stores, gift certificates are usually less available on the internet. Besides, these are not seen on the official homepage of the company often. It is usually an online dealer who offers a lot of discounts.

Benefits of Discount Shopping:

By far, one of the biggest benefits of discount shopping is, of course, the kind of savings you can make on your purchases. Discount Shopping offers you cheap, cut-off prices on even branded products and services that you would otherwise have to spend a great deal more on. It could be that otherwise expensive birthday gift, dream camera, high definition LCD TV, etc. With discount shopping, you get it at discounted prices, and there is no compromise on quality or after sales services.

Be sure to avoid scams, though. Get a clear picture of the actual price – compare the discounted rate, inclusive of the shipping price, taxes and duties, etc. against the market price. Read the fine-print very carefully. Another important thing to remember is to make sure that you read and understand the vendor’s return and money-back policies. Be sure to read these terms very carefully.

Towards the end, we’d just like to tell you that all it takes is a couple of minutes to search and you could soon be saving a lot of money, and even time, if purchasing online. Do your research and act wisely to obtain the benefits.

The most popular search engine today for finding information about different companies

"If anyone today has a general enquiry about business or enquiry about a specific product or service then B2BCompass proves to be the best site for all business requirements. No matter in which part of the world people stay, they can find a company which caters to their exact requirements. People can search for companies located in their cities or even companies that are located in different cities in their own country or cities across the world.

To make search easier, the site is divided into different categories according to the nature of business that the companies undertake. For example, there is the Art, Gallery and Advertisement section where people can find online art galleries from where they can buy paintings. The other sections include health and medical companies for any health enquiries, automobiles for all auto companies, beauty companies for beauty products, etc. Hence people can easily find their way around the site. Information about each company is provided in detail so that the customer can directly get in touch with the respected companies by calling or mailing them.

There are many customers who would like to browse the companies according to the products and services that they offer. B2BCompass has a provision where you can look out for a specific product by browsing through the alphabetical list of products in the products & services section. Hence if someone is looking out to computers, he can simply go to the “C” section of the products and categories section and find out exactly what he is looking for in double quick time. In case a person is looking for a particular company like Arena Animation he can simply visit the Companies section where all the companies are categorized alphabetically. The customer can simply visit the A section in order to find a company by the name of Arena Animation.

The best part of B2BCompass is its powerful search feature where one can simply enter the company or the product that one is looking for in the search text box and then also specify the region where he wants to look for. The online directory will quickly search its database and display results that match the user’s query. One can simply register one’s own company or product at B2BCompass so that people can become aware of it and then simply ask for more information about the product or the company. As a result people can come to know about the company in there area and can also become regular patrons of the company.

B2BCompass has a very user friendly homepage where people can simply find what they are looking for in just a couple of minutes. This saves people a lot of time and effort in the bargain.    "

7 Cold Calling Secrets Even The Sales Gurus Don’t Know

Cold calling the old way is a painful struggle.

But you can make it a productive and positive experience by changing your mindset and cold calling the new way.

To show you what I mean, here are 7 cold calling ideas that even the sales gurus don't know.

1. Change Your Mental Objective Before You Make the Call

If you’re like most people who make cold calls, you’re hoping to make a sale -- or at least an appointment -- before you even pick up the phone.

The problem is, the people you call somehow always pick up on your mindset immediately.

They sense that you’re focused on your goals and interests, rather than on finding out what they might need or want.

This short-circuits the whole process of communication and trust-building.

Here’s the benefit of changing your mental objective before you make the call: it takes away the frenzy of working yourself up mentally to pick up the phone.

All the feelings of rejection and fear come from us getting wrapped up in our expectations and hoping for an outcome when it’s premature to even be thinking about an outcome.

So try this. Practice shifting your mental focus to thinking, "When I make this call, I’m going to build a conversation so that a level of trust can emerge allowing us to exchange information back and forth so we can both determine if there’s a fit or not."

2. Understand the Mindset of the Person You’re Calling

Let’s say you’re at your office and you’re working away.

Your phone rings and someone says, "Hello, my name’s Mark. I’m with Financial Solutions International. We offer a broad array of financial solutions. Do you have a few minutes?"

What would go through your mind?

Probably something like this: "Uh-oh, another salesperson. I’m about to be sold something. How fast can I get this person off the phone?"

In other words, it’s basically over at "Hello," and you end up rejected.

The moment you use the old cold calling approach -- the traditional pitch about who you are and what you have to offer, which all the sales gurus have been teaching for years -- you trigger the negative "salesperson" stereotype in the mind of the person you’ve called, and that means immediate rejection.

I call it "The Wall."

The problem is with how you’re selling, not what you’re selling.

This is an area that’s been ignored in the world of selling.

We’ve all been trained to try to push prospects into a "yes" response on the first call. But that creates sales pressure.

But, if you learn to really understand and put yourself in the mindset of the person you call, you’ll find it easier to avoid triggering The Wall.

It’s that fear of rejection that makes cold calling so frightening.

Instead, start thinking about language that will engage people and not language that will

trigger rejection.

3. Identify a Core Problem That You Can Solve

We’ve all learned that when we begin a conversation with a prospect, we should talk about ourselves, our product, and our solution. Then we sort of hope that the person connects with what we’ve just told them. Right?

But when you offer your pitch or your solution without first involving your prospect by talking about a core problem that they might be having, you’re talking about yourself, not them.

And that’s a problem.

Prospects connect when they feel that you understand their issues before you start to talk about your solutions.

When people feel understood, they don’t put up The Wall. They remain open to talking with you.

Here’s an example based on my own experience. I offer Unlock The Game™ as a new approach in selling. When I call a vice president of sales, I would never start out with, "Hi, my name is Ari, I'm with Unlock The Game, and I offer the newest technique in selling, and I wonder if you have a few minutes to talk now."

Instead, I wouldn’t even pick up the phone without first identifying one or more problems that I know VPs often have with their sales teams. Problems that Unlock The Game™ can solve.

For example, one common problem is when sales teams and salespeople spend time chasing prospects who have no intention of buying.

So I would start by asking, "Are you grappling with issues around your sales team chasing prospects who lead them on without any intention of buying?"

So, come up with two or three specific core problems that your product or service solves. (Avoid generic problem phrases like "cut costs" or "increase revenue." They’re too vague.)

4. Start With a Dialogue, Not a Presentation

Let’s return to the goal of a cold call, which is to create a two-way dialogue engaging prospects in a conversation.

We’re not trying to set the person up for a yes or no. That’s the old way of cold calling.

This new cold calling approach is designed to engage people in a natural conversation. The kind you might have with a friend. This lets you both of you decide whether it’s worth your time to pursue the conversation further.

The key here is never to assume beforehand that your prospect should buy what you have to offer, even if they’re a 100 percent fit with the profile of the "perfect customer."

If you go into the call with that assumption, prospects will pick up on it and The Wall will go up, no matter how sincere you are.

Avoid assuming anything about making a sale before you make a call.

For one thing, you have no idea whether prospects can buy what you have because you know nothing about their priorities, their decisionmaking process, their budget, etc.

If you assume that you’re going to sell them something on that first call, you’re setting yourself up for failure. That’s the core problem with traditional old-style cold calling.

Stay focused on opening a dialogue and determining if it makes sense to continue the conversation.

5. Start With Your Core Problem Question

Once you know what problems you solve, you also know exactly what to say when you make a call. It’s simple. You begin with, "Hi, my name is Ari. Maybe you can help me out for a moment."

How would you respond if someone said that to you?

Probably, "Sure, how can I help you?" or "Sure, what do you need?" That’s how most people would respond to a relaxed opening phrase like that. It’s a natural reaction.

The thing is, when you ask for help, you’re also telling the truth because you don’t have any idea whether you can help them or not.

That’s why this new approach is based on honesty and truthfulness. That’s why you’re in a very good place to begin with.

When they reply, "Sure, how can I help you?," you don’t respond by launching into a pitch about what you have to offer. Instead, you go right into talking about the core problem to find out whether it’s a problem for the prospect.

So you say, "I’m just giving you a call to see if you folks are grappling (and the key word here is ‘grappling’) with any issues around your sales team chasing prospects who turn out to never have any intention of buying?"

No pitch, no introduction, nothing about me. I just step directly into their world.

The purpose of my question is to open the conversation and develop enough trust so they’ll feel comfortable having a conversation.

The old way of cold calling advises asking lots of questions to learn about the prospect’s business and to "connect." The problem is that people see right through that. They know that you have an ulterior motive, and then you’re right back up against The Wall.

These ideas may be hard for you to apply to your own situation at first because trying to leverage calls based on what we know about our solution is so engrained in our thinking.

If you stay with it, though, you can learn to step out of your own solution and convert it into a problem that you can articulate using your prospects’ language.

And that’s the secret of building trust on calls. It’s the missing link in the whole process of cold calling.

6. Recognize and Diffuse Hidden Pressures

Hidden sales pressures that makes The Wall go up can take a lot of forms.

For example, "enthusiasm" can send the message that you’re assuming that what you have is the right fit for the prospect. That can send pressure over the phone to your prospect.

You must be able to engage people in a natural conversation. Think of it as calling a friend. Let your voice be natural, calm, relaxed…easy-going. If you show enthusiasm on your initial call, you’ll probably trigger the hidden sales pressure that triggers your prospect to reject you.

Another element of hidden pressure is trying to control the call and move it to a "next step".

The moment you begin trying to direct your prospect into your "sales process", there is a very high likelihood that you can "turn off" your prospect's willingness to share with you the details of their situation.

It's important to allow the conversation to evolve naturally and to have milestones or checkpoints throughout your call so you can assess if there is a fit between you and the person you are speaking with.

7. Determine a Fit

Now, suppose that you’re on a call and it’s going well, with good dialogue going back and forth. You’re reaching a natural conclusion…and what happens?

In the old way of cold calling, we panic. We feel we’re going to lose the opportunity, so we try to close the sale or at least to book an appointment. But this puts pressure on the prospect, and you run the risk of The Wall going up again.

Here’s a step that most people miss when they cold call. As soon as they realize that prospects have a need for their solution, they start thinking, "Great, that means they’re interested."

What they don’t ask is, "Is this need a top priority for you or your organization to solve, or is it something that’s on the back burner for a while?"

In other words, even if you both determine that there ia a problem you can solve, you have to ask whether solving it is a priority. Sometimes there’s no budget, or it isn’t the right time. It’s important that you find this out, because months later you'll regret not knowing this earlier.

Putting the Pieces Together

Have you ever wondered where the "numbers game" concept came from?

It came from someone making a call, getting rejected, and the boss saying, "Call someone else."

But with the new way of cold calling, it’s not about how many people you call. It’s about what you say and how you come across.

Do you remember the definition of insanity—continuing to do the same thing but expecting different results?

If you go on using the same old cold calling methods, you’ll go on experiencing the ever-increasing pain of selling.

But if you adopt a new approach and learn how to remove pressure from your initial cold calls, you’ll experience so much success and satisfaction that it’ll really change the way you do business, bring you sales success beyond your imagination—and eliminate "rejection" from your vocabulary for good.

How to Get Clients and Fill Your Private Practice Using an Audio CD

In my 20 years of private practice I have found an audio CD to be the single most effective marketing tool for generating prospects and getting clients.

Why? You conduct a very personal, intimate service that requires prospects to know, like, and trust you before they consider becoming clients. In addition, they typically experience some feelings of fear and vulnerability at the idea of engaging your service, which results in resistance and inertia holding them back.

Though YOU know your service is effective, your skills are competent, and you are a safe, caring human being, your prospects don't know that yet. A CD will help your prospects get an experience of you that can motivate them to hire you.

THE COMPLIMENTARY SESSION

Many private practice professionals rely upon the "free initial consultation" or "complimentary session" to get clients. In my experience, from the prospect's point of view, they must ALREADY know, like, and trust you to book this appointment. Being free doesn't erase the fear and trepidation that holds many potential clients back from getting the support they need. An audio CD can be very useful to motivate prospects to contact you for that important initial consultation.

MARKETING VS. ENROLLMENT

One of the biggest revelations I've had about private practice is this-

You can market til the cows come home and not get any clients!

I learned that there is a HUGE difference between marketing and enrollment.

MARKETING is communicating what you do. The primary purpose/outcome is to generate prospects.

ENROLLMENT is the process of building your relationship with your prospects so they hire you or refer to you.

An audio CD helps motivate the people you reach through your marketing to become prospects (to get your valuable CD), and helps prospects make the wise decision to hire you.

SIXTEEEN SPECIFIC WAYS TO USE AN AUDIO CD TO FILL YOUR PRACTICE

A. ATTRACT  PROSPECTS

1. Website - opt-in offer

2. Presentations - hand out in exchange for contact info

3. Referral Sources - give them some to build referral relationship, educate about your services, and to pass along (and they will)

4. Stimulating Referrals - give to clients and prospects to pass along to friends and family

5. Viral Marketing - high perceived value that gets passed around

B. CONVERT PROSPECTS TO CLIENTS

6. Give to prospects as follow up to initial contact

7. Ask prospects if they know anyone who wants one

8. Invoke Law of Reciprocity (more inclined to hire you if you provide value first)

C. BOOST YOUR PUBLIC RELATIONS EFFORTS

9. Print Media - send to editors and reporters who cover your area of expertise

10. Radio - send to radio hosts and show producers likely to be interested in featuring you as a guest on their show

11. Television - send to news and talk show producers likely to be interested in featuring you as a guest on their show

D. PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT AND SALES

12. Easily transform your expertise into product sales

13. Passive income for website

14. Back of room sales for seminars and presentations

15. Develop Self-Study Programs - multiple CD set with manual (see here for an example)

16. Placement in catalogues and Amazon.com (see here for an example)

Private practice professionals are very special people. Most are unique, talented, passionate, knowledgable professionals who love their work and area of expertise, care deeply about their clients, and sincerely want to make a positive difference in the world. An audio CD can be very effective at communicating your uniqueness, passion, and caring to people that don't know you yet to help them like and trust you.  In my 20 years of private practice I've found an audio CD to be the single most effective marketing tool for generating prospects and converting them to clients.

Tips for Choosing the Right Homebased Business Products

Nature abhors a vacuum, so as an increasing number of people seek to start their own homebased business, thousands of homebased business opportunities have sprung up to fill the need. If you're ready to supplement your income or are sick of commuting and want to be your own boss by working from home, how do you find the products that will allow you to generate immediate money, and over time give you the income stream you desire? Here are some guidelines to help you make your decision.

Choose Consumer-Friendly Products

Many of the products available from homebased business opportunities are, in a word, impractical. For example, they may target a very select audience, such as with a suite of Internet marketing software or financial investment instruments. The more broad appeal a product has, the more successful you'll be. Why try to sell a product that one in 1,000 people will find useful when you can sell a product that one in three people will find useful? Homebased business success is, at its core, a numbers game. The more people who need and want your product, the greater the chance that you'll have a ready-made market and can sell the product. So, when choosing a product, select something that relates to an activity that most people engage in regularly. For example, virtually everyone goes shopping on a regular basis, so a product that provides a shopping discount or significant savings with free coupons would be wildly appealing.

Think Twice About Inventory

Many homebased business opportunities require you to stock inventory. Before signing on with one of these programs, think carefully about where you're going to keep your inventory. Do you have enough space for bulky items? What are the chances that the products will be damaged by heat or cold (if you keep them in the garage, for example)? Will you have to lug products from place to place, making it necessary to buy bins and have an office on wheels?

The best products to sell are those that take up little or no room. For example, selling something like a discount shopping card means that you don't have to carry the type of inventory that would interfere with your lifestyle.

Consider the Advantages of Flexibility

Every person who starts his or her own homebased business has a set of needs that the product should fulfill. For example, you may want to see a product with an international flavor, or one that has a global reach, in order to tap into the largest possible marketplace. Perhaps you want the flexibility of selling a product that can also be used for fundraising purposes on behalf of a school or church group. Make sure that the product you choose is flexible enough to meet your needs.

Of course, choosing the right product is only one component of selecting the right homebased business opportunity for you. A solid compensation plan is a must, as is top-notch training to help you succeed and an automated system that does the majority of the work for you. The homebased business company you choose to affiliate with should also be a good fit with your experience level and skill set. There are plenty of opportunities from which to choose, and finding the right company - and the right product - is a must!