shadow

Articles from September 17, 2011

Three Steps To Success Anyone Can Duplicate

Posted on: by:

Success means different things to different people. Whatever your definition of success, this article will help you realize your goals.

If you define success in terms of a good job or a profitable self-owned business, then this article may become the turning point in your life. As you read, I will share some of my success secrets, which I have been able to execute in my own online business.

What It Means To Be A Leader

During my time in the U.S. Army as an Army Staff Sergeant, I learned valuable lessons about leading teams to the successful completion of projects. I learned that by following the direction of good leaders, one could build the confidence and skill set necessary to become a successful leader.

Good leaders quickly separate themselves from the masses of people who simply live day-by-day doing only the bare minimum to keep their job one more day. In other words, leaders stand out in a crowd of managers and workers.

While the Army tried hard to bring leadership qualities out in all of their people, the truth was that leaders are those who decide to go the extra mile and to create a brighter future for themselves and others around them.

A good leader is simply the person who "helps" you to become the best person you can become, by teaching you how you can "help" other people to become successful too.

One Decision Can Change Your Destiny

Are you waiting?

Are you waiting for "me" to tell "you" the secret to success?

It is time for "you" to make a decision, now.

You must decide to stop waiting for success to come to you. Success simply will not fall out of the sky into your open arms. It does not work that way.

You must "decide" to become successful. If you are waiting for success, then success will never come your way. But, once you understand that success is waiting for you, and you decide to go get it, no matter what, then you will have changed your destiny for the better.

Follow In The Footsteps Of People Whom You Wish To Emulate

While I was in the U.S. Army, I learned how to seek out leaders who were willing to share with me their secrets to success. I actively sought out people who could help me to become a better leader.

Even in my daily life outside of the Army, I found several opportunities to hook up with people who exuded leadership qualities, people who were willing to share with me their own secrets to success.

The truth is that there are people who may doubt their own abilities to have something to share, but if they doubt themselves, they are wrong. Everyone has something important to teach others, but it takes a gem of a person to understand that the role of a leader is to teach others, what "they" take for granted.

A Lifetime Of Learning Over Lunch

Just the other day, I had lunch with a fellow who is probably responsible for selling more cars in our area than anyone else. In our local metropolitan market, if someone asks about a great car dealer, his name will surely be mentioned.

My lunch partner knew that I have a successful website, and he also knew that I had an interest in learning more about what is required to be successful, from him.

To my surprise, his first words were, "Clinton, I don't know if I can offer anything to you that would help you. I sell cars, and that is what I do. You have some kind of online business, and I cannot even venture to guess how you make your money."

My lunch partner went on to say, "I appreciate the offer to share a lunch with you, but your business and my business are so different. I would not even know where to begin in giving advice to you."

Despite his initial hesitation, we went on to have a great meal, and I learned a lot! I could literally spin several articles just on the knowledge that he was able to impart to me over lunch.

If You Want To Be Rich, Listen To Rich People

Online and offline, I like to associate with people who have been successful in their fields. I learn so much about growing my business, by listening closely to people who have defined their industries.

Even online, there are key people whom I pay close attention. With every conversation, I hear some gem of information that I can apply to my own online business. These tidbits of information pieced together have helped me carry my website from one in millions to one that has served more than a million visitors.

Success In Three Simple Repeatable Steps

My car dealer friend finally put aside the idea that he could not help anyone outside his own industry, and we had great conversation.

When I asked him the secret to selling cars, he said he could sum it up in three steps:

* Talk to your customers. When you understand the needs of your customers, then you know how you will best be able to help them solve their problems and achieve their goals.

* Follow-Up. People rarely buy on their first visit, so it is important to follow-up with them. When buying big-ticket items, people tend to shop around a little bit more. When you follow-up, you are frequently creating a relationship with your customer. When all is said and done, if two products are substantially equal, it is often the relationship the customer has with the sales person that will "seal the deal."

* Be persistent. Persistence does not equate to being pushy. Persistence means that you follow-up, once, twice, three times, and more if necessary. If a salesperson is obviously "only" interested in satisfying his or her own interests, then persistence could be construed as pushy. But, when your goal is to be persistent with the goal of helping the customer solve his or her problems and satisfy his or her goals, then persistence is a quality to be appreciated.

Learning Anew Each Day

Bill Platt at The Phantom Writers taught me the same lesson last year. Bill always tells me that the secret to success online is "consistency." He says that we need to talk to our potential customers, and we need to keep the conversation going by consistently talking to potential customer base.

John Reese of Marketing Secrets taught me the same lesson. He emphasized that I need to develop a newsletter or an auto-responder series so that I could create and keep an ongoing conversation with my potential customers. Reese also taught me to track my results (follow-up) on everything that I do for my business.

Since I started my website in 2001, I have noticed that all of my mentors tend to teach me the same lessons over and again in their own terminology.

All of my mentors continue to tell me to talk to my customers, follow-up, and to be persistent in talking to my customers

With so many people who are successful in their own industries sharing with me the same sage advice, I tend to pay attention.

Final Thoughts

It does not matter whether you seek to use this information to help your career or to build an online business.

Make your decision today; decide to be successful. And then follow the golden rule of helping others to achieve what they want to achieve, follow-up, and be persistent in your efforts.

If you play your cards just right, in just a few years, you might be the mentor that we will all want to attentively listen to and appreciate.

Grants for Business

Posted on: by:

There are some Government grants that are available for EXPANSION OF  businesses (but not to establish a new business). When a government agency makes funds available for a grant, it places an announcement in the Federal Register which is issued every weekday. For the major part, these grants are very specialized. Moreover, many Government grants are not available through the year. That is, you can't apply for most of them at any time you wish -- in practical, you can apply for them only when they are announced by a Government agency.

GRANT is not exactly a loan, Attempting to get funds through a orthodox financial institution can be very lengthy and requires loads of paperwork, only to find out that you've been refused. These Government Agencies don't have to work under the same abovesaid requirements that banks do. You work on how much funds you require, as long as it's a legible amount and complies with Government Agencies basis, the fund is yours to keep and you don't have to repay it. This money is interest free and non taxable .None of these plans need a collateral ,co-signers , credit check, security deposits , you can apply even if you have a bad credit or bankruptcy , it doesn't matter, you as a U.S. citizen and tax payer are entitled to these funds.

Anyone planning about going into business for himself, or wishing to enlarge an existing business should head for the world's largest "one-stop-money-hub" where FREE MONEY is being held for you to begin or expand a business by the Federal Government.

It is absolutely amazing that people living right in the United States of America wouldn't know that every year the world's biggest source of free business aids in delivering.

While there are still no direct small business grants that can be borrowed from the federal government, many state development agencies offer direct small business grants and other types of financial assistance designed to encourage and help businessmen in starting or expanding a small business

SOME FACTS:

Over $29 trillion dollars in low-interest loans and free grants;

over one-third billion dollars in obtaining of contracts; and

Around $32 billion dollars in research grants FREE consulting.

With a market that remains unpredictable, and a requirement for even greater economic growth on all aspects, the federal government is more interested than it ever has been earlier to give you the money you need to establish your own business and become your own boss!

Majority of people never try for FREE government GRANTS since they feel it is not meant for them, or simply don't know who to contact or feel there's too much red-tapism.

In spite of the perception that people should not trust the government for aid, the great government give-away programmes have remained so amazingly big that if each of the approximately 9 million businesses applied for an equal share, each would receive over $69,000.

The fact is, however, that people from all aspects of life do receive GRANTS MONEY free and other help from the government, and you are entitled to it.

Trust is Better than Selling in Cold Calling

Posted on: by:

I’d like to introduce you to a radical new thought. In the old sales mindset, you’ve probably been trained to focus only on making the sale. You approach your cold calls with the idea of moving things towards a sales event.

But think about what this does to your cold calls. Before you even say "hello," basically then, you have an agenda.  You want something.

Well, your prospects can sense this immediately, and they put up their guard. As people, whenever we know that someone wants something from us, we automatically move into a defensive place. You probably do, too, if you’re talking with someone who has an agenda.

Can you see that your sales focus actually destroys the possibility for a genuine, trusting conversation? Because it’s focused on yourself – your desire for a sale - and not on the other person.

Salesmanship vs. Relationship

So it’s time to re-think the way you approach cold calls. When your strategy is to make a sale, then you’re someone who has to be "watched." You’re not weighing what’s important to the other person. And so to them, you can’t be trusted.

It’s much better to build trusting relationship into your cold calling process. When the other person feels that you’re relating to them from this place, there’s no need to be suspicious and defensive. There can be a pleasant, productive, truthful dialogue about whether what you’re offering makes sense for them.

So, really, it’s about trust and relationship. Why? Because when given the choice, people always prefer to do business with someone they can trust.

Here are two fundamental shifts you’ll need to make if you want to move away from the old "sale-focused" mindset.

1. Release the Need for Control

Whenever you’re trying to control the outcome of your cold call, you’re not allowing the conversation to have a natural rhythm and flow. You’re trying to maneuver things in a certain direction.

So you’re not building relationship, you’re trying to build sales. You’re focused on things like getting information, finding the decision maker, scheduling an appointment, or closing the sale.

And all of this sets off "alarms" for the other person. Prospects can sense that this kind of interaction is somewhat of an impersonal, pre-ordained process. They know it really hasn’t much to do with them.

So how can you to shift into something more positive? You begin by consciously surrendering to the outcome of your cold call. When you do this, you’re no longer trying to manage things. You can be relaxed and helpful.

This is subtly but powerfully felt by the other person. When they recognize you’re not "pushing" for a certain outcome, there’s an opportunity for mutual exploration, and you can be viewed as someone who’s trustworthy.

2. Focus on the Other Person

When you start your cold calls by talking about your product or service, most people "shut down" right away. You’re talking to someone who doesn’t know you, and you’re trying to get them to step into your world.

Instead, try stepping into their world. Think about what matters to them. Put yourself in their shoes.

The best way to do this is to think about what kinds of problems they may be having. For example, let’s say you provide invoice management systems. You might start with something like, "I’m just calling to see if you’d be open to exploring new ways to solve revenue loss from unpaid invoices."

Now you’ve started your cold call by focusing on the other person’s issue right away. You’re not talking about yourself. You’re "tuned into" their problems and difficulties. This feels really good to them, and you’ll more likely share an open, trusting conversation.

When you don’t have strategies and "pitches" built into your cold calling agenda, you can be a real person talking to another real person. Now there’s an opportunity explore together in a more trusting way whether what you’re providing is a fit for them.  And the difference will astonish you.

5 Considerations for the Home Worker to Make Money Online

Posted on: by:

With a computer and high speed Internet access, the potential for the home worker to make money online is virtually limitless. When it comes to finding the right home based business opportunity, there are several things to consider. Here are the top five:

1. Are You a Salesperson?

Some people have a natural talent for sales, while others couldn't sell water to someone stranded in the desert. For the home based worker who has the ability to sell, network marketing may be the perfect home based business. Network marketing typically involves selling products in one or more niche markets, as well as selling the opportunity. Also known as multi-level marketing, network marketing pays commissions based on a percentage of your sales and on the sales of your "downline," or those you have recruited to sell the product. Each opportunity has its own commission plan, and many pay bonuses on top of commissions.

2. Are You Experienced?

If you have years of experience being a home worker, you probably have a good idea of your strengths and weaknesses. On the other hand, if you're new to being an entrepreneur, you probably need training. Look for a company that offers the tools and training you need in order to succeed. The type of training you receive can encompass everything from weekly conference calls or webinars (Internet-based seminars), to one-on-one coaching from your upline, to training manuals and other written materials.

3. Are You Internet Savvy?

If you know your way around the Internet and know something about setting up and hosting websites, the possibilities are endless. You can create your own websites, for example, and start generating affiliate revenue and Google AdSense revenue.

If you haven't the foggiest idea of how to set up and host a website, be sure to find a company you can partner with who will do the heavy lifting. There are many Internet-based opportunities for the home based worker from companies that provide what are called "replicated sites." They'll design and host your websites for you, so that all you have to do is work on marketing in order to drive traffic to your site.

4. How Much do You Want to Work?

Before selecting a home based business opportunity, honestly assess how much you want to work. If a stay-at-home mom needs extra money, she may only want to work two or three hours a day. If someone wants to quit the rat race and work full time as a home worker, money for moms simply won't be enough income. Sometimes a single home based business will provide all of the revenue a person needs, while other times you have to embark on several opportunities to diversify and multiply your revenue streams.

5. How Hands-On do You Want to Be?

Some home based business opportunities require that you be actively involved on a day-to-day basis, either in order fulfillment and customer service or in marketing your websites or businesses. Other opportunities are more passive in nature, in that you have to spend a lot of time initially, but they become self-perpetuating. If you're a home worker who enjoys being an ongoing active participant, choose an opportunity that requires you to interact with other people. If you prefer to be hands-off, select a business that will basically run itself.

Protect Your Important Computer Data with Offsite Backup Services

Posted on: by:

If you own a business that frequently uses computers to store data, then you probably realize the importance of having a dependable online file backup system. Without sufficient methods of data storage, your files are vulnerable and can easily be erased by power failure, employee mishaps, hackers, natural disasters, or an isolated computer crash.

One solution is to backup your own data using methods such as buying an additional hard drive for backup, or using network or FTP backup. These have advantages and disadvantages, but can be viable solutions if you have the time and capability to do your own offsite data storage.

If you don't have time to do your own backup, however, there are online companies today that offer services to protect your data for you. These are called offsite backup services. Offsite backup services provide the tools and space to store your important business or personal data daily so you can worry about other vital functions of your business.

How Online Backup Services Work

Online backup services offer an easy solution for online file backup at a low cost. The company offering the services will usually charge a monthly fee based on the amount of data storage space you'll need and how often you'll need to transfer data to their system. They will provide a special server and use protocols of their own to transfer and encrypt (or secure) your data.

Why are Offsite Backup Services Safer than Other Forms of Backup?

Offsite backup services are not foolproof, but they do provide a safe way to store your important data. One reason is the company can specialize and keep up-to-date with the latest technologies to keep your data safe from hackers and computer bugs. As a busy business owner, you probably will not have time to worry with this and you might not have the funds to hire a full-time backup specialist.

Another reason it's safer than using your own backup system is your data will be stored in a completely different location. You will have the information on your own system as well as another backup system far away. If and when a computer crash or some other event causes you to lose your data, you will have it stored in a different location to retrieve when you need it.

Choose Offsite Backup Services Carefully

When choosing offsite backup services, be sure the company is dependable and trustworthy. Your stored data should never be compromised for any reason. The company should offer a strict confidentiality standard and enforce it. You can check with the Better Business Bureau (online or off-line) to see if the company has any complaints against it.

Also, be sure the company is dependable. Storing your data using online backup services does you no good if you are unable to access or retrieve your data when you need it. Ask for referral names of people that have used the service before. Test the company with a small amount of data first to see how they operate. Being cautious at the start might save you many headaches for the future.

Using an online file backup solution can save you time and money. You can enjoy freedom from backup nightmares while allowing data backup experts to do the work for you.

How to Avoid Business Disasters

Posted on: by:

Business disasters have a way of creeping up on you when you least expect it. Simon thought he had it all. A great full time job, wonderful partner, three beautiful children, a big home and a young but successful part-time internet business he was intent on building.

When his full time employer fired him out of the blue for poor quality work, he was devastated. He was unable to find another full time job, and his part time business was only young, and not able to support the family. His wife was pregnant with their fourth child, and they had no cash reserves. After six months, his home was going to be repossessed. This can happen to anyone.

Starting a part-time internet based business allows entrepreneurs to “test the water” and check to see if their business idea is viable, while still bringing in a full time paycheck. But you should watch out for pitfalls in this seemingly ideal situation.

Something to consider before you start your internet based business; will this venture conflict with the interests of your full time employer? If you are both looking for the same customers, then the answer is yes, and this is likely to raise problems. There may even be a non-competition clause in your employment contract.

Discuss your plans openly with your boss, assuming you do not pose a business threat to him. Explain how it will not conflict with his business, and that you will not skimp on time devoted to your day job. He may even view your acquiring extra business skills as positive, if you can apply them to your full time employment as well.

Make sure that you choose a business which is suited to a part-time operation. Some businesses, such as retail, are very demanding of your time, while others, such as being a consultant, can easily be managed with less time commitment.

You need to be an excellent time manager. Running a part time business which you are hoping to build over the years, whilst you are fully employed will test your organizational and time management skills to the limit. Family, chores and sleep may be big issues. It is easy to underestimate the commitment required for a successful part time business. Avoid making promises you cannot keep, whether to customers or to family and friends. Make sure that your plans are fully accepted and supported by those nearest and dearest to you. Ensure that they are aware of your time commitment to the project. Support can be as simple as filing, bookkeeping or packing up parcels.

The lure of the internet entices us to undertake multiple small businesses, particularly when we spot a real business opportunity, often in the form of a ‘must have’ domain name. Avoid this situation at all costs, unless you do not have a full time job. Surely better to build one company properly than to undertake five, and not get time to do any of them thoroughly and to the best of your ability.

Keep in mind what you envision as the end result. Are you setting up your company to provide an additional income? Or do you plan to do it full time when it can support the family? If you are planning to quit your day job then set goals. It would be wise to have a cash reserve as a back up to augment income if you do not have the benefit of a regular pay check.

A part-time business, which you develop over time, can be a wonderful way to grow your company. It takes time to build contacts and to gain the trust of your customers. In fact, part-time working may be the best kept business secret. Take a look at Michael Dell, who started his business part-time in his school dorm. It makes you think, doesn’t it?

Ignite Your Massage Therapy Business

Posted on: by:

Everybody 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!

Become a Millionare Selling Custom T Shirts

Posted on: by:

The American dream is to strike it rich as a self made millionaire.  While in theory this is a fantastic idea, the truth is that there are few industries left where people can start from scratch and make themselves a millionaire through nothing but their own perseverance and skills.  Furthering this dilemma is the fact that a lot of those jobs require a very high level of education and more importantly the years spent obtaining that education.  I’ll let you in on a secret, I have a bachelor’s degree, and although I do not down play the importance of education for the vast majority of people (especially my children, who already think they know everything), I did not need that degree.  I could just as easily started doing what I do now with nothing more than a GED.  The wholesale T-Shirt industry is truly a way where a hardworking, motivated, and personable individual can make hundreds of thousands of dollars every year.

How?  I started out selling T-Shirts as a part time job to supplement what can only be considered a dismal income.  I was actually turned on to the idea from a good friend of mine who makes as much as I do now.  All it took to start from scratch was a small amount of money; remember at this point I was living from paycheck to paycheck.  I used this money to buy some business cards and register the name of my company.  I then sat down and started calling local businesses in the phonebook.  A few of these companies went on to be my first customers and many of them continue to do business with me to this day.

With a base of customers, I needed suppliers.  I needed suppliers, textile manufactures.  This wasn’t hard.  They’re in business to sell you their clothing, and they make high quality products.  From there it was a matter of getting a contract screen printer to do the printing for me.

That is the long and short of how my business began.  I bought t-shirts and paid a contract printer to do the screen printing.  I then sold this product to my costumers.  I came to think of myself as adding value to the t-shirts and bringing buyers and sellers together; all the while I was making more than I would have thought possible years earlier.  I needed very little cash because I didn’t buy anything until my customers had committed to buying the custom t-shirts.  If they wanted to pay with credit card it worked even better because I knew I already had the money.  There was never very much risk and the potential for reward was fantastic.

Eventually my company was making enough money and taking enough time that I left my previous job as a trader to do it full time.  I hired a secretary as soon as I could financially justify it and this freed up my time to seek and meet with customers.  My company allowed me to make enough to grow the business and still never worry about my financial situation.  The most beautiful thing about doing it the way I did in terms of growth is that I never felt like I was risking anything I couldn’t afford to lose.

About fifteen years after I started I got to a point where I was making enough money to try another expansion.  I decided I would move into the screen printing myself.  I currently own my own screen printing equipment and have a full time staff to do the contract printing for others that I used to have done for my own customers.  I currently am in the process of setting up other companies that do what I started to do.  I sell these companies to other ambition individuals and work as their screen printer.  They go and get the customers for themselves, and I offer advice and the contract screen printing.  We set up the new companies with their own website that offers pricing and quotes built in to it.  We do the screen printing at special prices because of the special nature of the relationship that we have with these companies.  Our websites allow the companies to decide what price they want to sell the shirts.  This relationship benefits everyone because they don’t need to go thru the hoops of finding the printer and setting up the company and website, and it generates business for our company too.

This is where I currently am in my own business.  I have attempted to show you the evolution of my business.  I have made more than enough money to live comfortably, help put my children thru college, and save for retirement.  The best part is how much I enjoy my job.  I have woken up every day for the past ten years and known that I am my own boss.  My destiny is my own hand and I answer to no one.  I firmly believe getting into this industry was one of the best choices I ever made.  Think about that all of this the next time that you wake up dreading going to work or the next time your boss is any four letter word you’d like.

Sagem Mobiles end joint venture

Posted on: by:

As of March 3rd 2008, (http://www.sagem-phones.com-Sagem Mobiles), a division of French based Safran said that it would end their handset joint venture with China based Ningbo Bird.

The manufacturing venture was set up in 2002, whilst the sale was sparked mainly due to sluggish sales from both brands in China and abroad.

No financial details have been release, but it's believed Ningbo's 50% stake with Sagem Mobiles will sell for around 159 million yuan or $22 million USD.

In 2007, Ningbo and Sagem both dropped out of Gartner's list of the Top Ten Handset Makers.