There is a lot of articles on the internet about what NLP is, how great it is for improving just about everything and why we should all learn something about the subject. Whilst I agree with all of this I think that there is a need to sometimes explain what makes NLP so great. This article sets out some of the reasons why every sales professional would do well in attending a NLP practitioner course. Selling with NLP Any good NLP Practitioner course would be great for a sales professional either front line selling or a sales manager. In NLP there are techniques that are applicable in face to face or telephone sales situations and can be applied to product or service sales. I can confidently say that any sales person attending an appropriate NLP practitioner course will increase their performance by at least 20% and probably much more. For most sales professionals this is a significant number, but imagine the scale you can get the sales manager or a sales trainer who can then deliver this to the rest of the team. There are two reasons I can say this is a typical result for sales people attending practitioner courses. The first and most obvious is direct observation of sales people graduating courses. Over the last 12 years I have attended, assisted and delivered hundreds of practitioner course and my general experience of sales people is that 20% is a conservative estimate of what can be achieved. A friend and colleague of mine changed his web copy as a direct result of attending a NLP practitioner training course and instantly increase conversions by 400% The other reason is having worked in highly sale driven environments as a training consultant I know something of their needs. On the right practitioner courses a lot of those needs are answered. How NLP meets the Needs of Sales People There are unique sales challenges for specific products and services but sales issues can be simplified to key areas that include: • Staying focused and motivated. Every sales professional knows the value of staying motivated, energetic and positive when dealing with prospects, but perhaps after a string of rejections this is not the easiest thing to do. • Building rapport. Most sales trainings will start with the idea that the customer buys the sales person before they buy the product or service. You probably instinctively know the truth of this as most people have had the experience of not buying something you actually wanted because you were put off by the sales person. • Finding the prospects deep needs. Every purchasing decision we make is based on our values even for the smallest, most inconsequential things. A personal example would be the way I always by Heinz beans. If you fed me beans from a variety of different manufacturers I would unlikely to be able to tell the difference but I buy Heinz beans and wouldn’t normally consider changing. This is just based on values, experiences and beliefs that I hold and if I wasn’t writing about it now would probably been completely unaware of this for the rest of my life. • Objection handling. There are physiological reasons why prospects will raise objections that are independent of their need for the product. A good sales professional needs to be able to understand what is creating the objection and then handle it. • Closing the sale. This is a difficult area for many sales people because this can be a crunch point for another rejection. Some sales people will put off closing because of their fear of rejection and the problem here is that unless the prospect is highly motivated towards the product they may not buy simply because no one has asked them to. There are obviously many other areas and personal development needs for any individual working in sales, but if I take this as a general list of common areas, a NLP practitioner course addresses all of this and a lot more. A good practitioner course will specifically give a sales person these tools: • Emotional management techniques to stay focused, motivated and on target despite anything else going on around you. • Techniques to build rapport face to face and on the telephone that work at a deep and unconscious level as well as conversation management techniques that allow you to capture and lead a prospects imagination to the point where they are living happily with the product. • Questioning techniques that will quickly give you a deep understanding of your prospect and their needs in relation to your product or service. • Hypnotic language patterns that you can use to overcome objections before they are even framed in the mind of your prospect as well as specific patterns to deal with objections if they should come up. • Processes that can be integrated into any sale area that automatically close the deal as well as techniques to get rid of the fears that might have dictated your decisions in the past. On top of this there are tools, techniques and processes that would be useful to any one working in business, for example: • Reading at least twice as fast and retaining more than you were originally. • Modelling best practise and installing that in yourself as a habit or training others. • A deeper understanding of your personally motivations as well as that of others. It is for these reasons that I am confident that any sales person attending a course should easily be able to increase their performance by at least 20% and probably much more. Another friend and colleague straight from his practitioner course trained a team of sales agents selling mobile phones in a high pressure, cold calling sale environment and doubled their sales within a month, complete outstripping their original sales targets. I hope this article has explained a little more about NLP for the uninitiated and perhaps given you some good reasons why it is a useful body of knowledge for, at least, the area of sales.

One of the trickiest types of MLM leads is the MLM email lead. A MLM email lead is something that a person has to be very careful with because of the laws and regulations about SPAM. SPAM is basically unsolicited junk email. If a person does not specifically sign up or ask to receive email from a source then the email sent from that source would be considered SPAM. SPAM is a lot like telemarketing calls; however, with SPAM there is no list you have to sign up for to be protected from it. Most email providers and internet service providers are very strict about SPAM. If a person is found to be sending SPAM they will likely lose their email account and could even lose their internet service. In order to get a legitimate MLM email lead a person has to collect them themselves. It is not wise to buy email leads because of the risk of them not being legitimate. Collecting a MLM email lead can be simple. It can be done through putting up a form on the website for a request for more information or to sign up for a newsletter or free information. When the people enter their name and email address then the marketer can then legally send them emails. Therefore, this is the best way to build an MLM email lead list. Many times email marketing can be quite profitable. It is also very easy and a person is not spending any money on it, so it is well worth the try. A MLM email lead is something every MLM marketer should try out. As mentioned, it is free and easy. The whole process is something that will take very little time or effort and could produce great results. There really is not anything to lose my giving a MLM email lead a try.

It is common business practice never to aid your competitor. Having your competition gain the upper hand is one thing. Handing it to them would be another. Some people claim that helping out your competitors would be tantamount to signing your own enterprise’s death warrant. You’re paving the way for your business’ downfall. This isn’t true… not always, at least. In online marketing, there is a way by which you could benefit from extending aid to your competition. Amazingly, you could even manage to grab some of his website’s page rank, as well as steal his traffic. And you could do these without being antagonistic at all. It’ll all be accomplished while helping him sell a product or two. What is this strategy? It’s called testimonials. Every internet marketer is faced with the gargantuan task of having to overcome the lack of consumer confidence. It is the World Wide Web, after all. The anonymity in these virtual halls makes it difficult for any online businessman to win the trust of his prospective customers. Yes, the online businessman may pay thousands of dollars for a truly engaging and convincing sales page, but as often is the case, these words are not enough to win a sale. Why? Because these words will still be associated with the online businessman, and people do not expect him to badmouth his own products. That he will talk favorably about his offers is a given. But what if a third party would share some favorable words about the online businessman and the product he is offering? Surely, his statement would bear more weight than the sales pitch of the businessman himself, right? After all, the third party has no stakes on the success of the campaign. Such is the importance of testimonials for most sales pages. They greatly contribute to the conversion rate the sales copy would manage to pull off, essentially because of their seemingly objective nature. Almost every online businessman – your competitors included – will be on the lookout for people who will be willing to provide for them some generously written testimonials. To gather these, online marketers even go to the extent of giving away free samples of their products for review purposes. Now, here’s the trick. One of the incentives to encourage favorable testimonials is the mention of the testimonial giver’s link on the sales page itself. There are many benefits to this. • If your link can be found in your competitor’s sales page, then chances are, you will be targeting the same market. Since the people who will be reading your competitor’s sales page are already there, we could assume that they are highly targeted leads. Once they see your link, there is a great chance that they’d get transported to your own sales page, which would only work wonders for you. • If your competitor’s sales page has a higher page rank (PR), having your link in the said copy would provide a boost to your own website’s PR. • In any event, it is an additional back link for your website which would only increase your link popularity. Yes, by giving a favorable testimonial for your competitor’s campaign, you’d be helping him bag more sales. But then again, internet marketing is not really a dog-eat-dog kind of business. His success can make the industry very healthy. And the fact that your link will be prominently displayed on his sales page could only mean that you could share his success, eventually. So, the next time someone asks you for a testimonial, take some time to prepare for him a good one. You’ll gain immediate results for your own business. And who knows? Someday, he might even return the favor with a testimonial of his own. NOTE: You have full permission to reprint this article within your website or newsletter as long as you leave the article fully intact and include the “About The Author” resource box. Thanks! :-

Starting a business of your own is very exciting and challenging. Depending on the type of business you want to start, it may be the best decisions you can ever make in your life. This is because having your own business will provide you with the convenience and flexibility that you cannot enjoy when you are a regular employee. You are in full control of your time, set your own budget and develop your own business plan. But before you take the plunge and decide to set-up your own business, you must realize that this endeavor is not that simple so it is recommended that you start small at first, set your own budget and at the same time think big on what you want to achieve. A lot of businessmen actually started out on their own backyard, that’s right, they started out on their own homes. Here are practical tips that will enable you to start your home business right: 1. Separate your personal space and your working space- just like in your regular job; it is important to set aside a space that will enable you to work properly without any distraction. Setting aside your own working space will also allow you to concentrate on the task at hand so you can achieve your dreams. 2. Identify the Market – research on the market that you want to focus. Focus on the niche or market, which you have knowledge on. If you are selling products online, research on the products for competitions, and the market that you want to target. 3. Have all the materials you need- this tip may sound simple but you may be surprised by the number of people who started their home business without thinking of buying the right materials for their endeavor at the start of their operations. 4. Manage your time- set your priority, since you are on a home business setting, it is very easy to become distracted and slack off from work. To avoid this, you must determine the days and number of hours you will really work. It is important to be committed to this decision. 5. Plan your strategies- it is essential that you plan your tasks properly to achieve your goals and meet client requirements. It is recommended for you to create a step-by-step plan for you to meet these requirements. Set the amount of budget and quarterly target objective. 6. Network- this term says it all, it is important to establish connections that will make your business become known to the community. Networking is one of the key ingredients that will contribute to the success of the home business. In Online Business, Networking would means to drive traffic to your website or products which you are selling on the Internet. 7. Create an image of professionalism- for you to be treated as a professional; you must first create a professional image for your business or products. This means that you need to set-up a business bank account, a new phone line, and a fax line. You also need to be courteous and sound professional to all your clients. If you promoting a products on your website, be sure to have a name, personal contact or photo and a support system to offer before and after sales services. 8. Automate routine tasks as much as you can- Set Day 1 to Day 7 tasks and habits when a business is just starting out, business owners usually have a lot of time to take care of all the details of their businesses. This is probably the reason why they do not think of automation at the start of their operations. But automating routine tasks may be essential later on as your business becomes bigger so doing this now will save you a lot of time and effort in the future.

The internet has transformed the way many people do business. Twenty years ago the internet did not even exist and now if your high speed broadband connection is down you feel unconnected to the world, as if something is not complete in your life. All big businesses now need to have a web presence not only to market their products but also to create brand awareness. Distance no longer matters in many types of businesses. The world is your oyster but this also leads to more competition as somebody overseas can provide the same service but at a potentially lower price. Communication is so quick and easy on the web that great new products spread like wildfire as people blog and chat about them on online forums. Buyers have more power now to compare prices before they shop in their high street shops. Many do their ordering online and avoid the retail outlets completely. I always check online prices before making a decision where to buy. Lead times are getting shorter as big companies fight to deliver your order within a couple of day for today’s just in time society. All the major manufacturers and retailers conduct business on the web. Some huge companies like Dell only sell their computers through their website. They have abandoned the normal retail channels completely. Recently, in the last thirty days I have purchased a new mobile phone (next day delivery), a new computer (delivery within 4 days built to my specification) and purchased some airplane tickets (delivery instantly via email). Did you know that the largest online retailer in the UK is Tesco? Social networking sites are all the rage now. People no longer need to leave their home to interact with family and friends. Not only are they keeping in touch with people close to their hearts they are also building relationships which are just as strong as people they meet in real life. So whether it’s employment, business or socializing – the internet is here to stay. The real internet explosion is happening now – not ten years ago as most of the pundits had predicted. Many people assume that everything that could have been created has been made and that the opportunity to exploit and do business on the web is now over. Far from it! Over the next twenty years we are going to see new giants emerging… companies that have not even been born yet. This is the fastest moving medium and also offers the most opportunity to young entrepreneurs.

Writing copy for your own website is a complex business. Not only do you have to write good copy to publicise your business and sell your services but, if you want your website to get seen, you have to understand a little about how the web works. SEO, Search Engine Optimization is the buzz word. Big businesses will pay for specialist SEO services, but what can small business owners do, if they are writing and building their own websites? The first thing to look at, before you even start writing, is the choice of keywords. Keywords are the words that search engines pick up on, the words that people type in to the Google Search Bar. You can purchase programs that research keywords and rate their effectiveness and if your business is internet based with multiple websites it is an excellent investment. If however you have one small website and just want to do the best you can yourself, there is still a lot you can do in a low-tech way to improve your chances. Think about your business. What words would someone type in if they were searching for the type of services or products you offer? If you are a specialist supplier or technical expert, catering to other knowledgeable clients, then the terms they are likely to type in to search might be quite technical and specific, but if your business serves the general public then you may need to exercise your imagination. Try it for yourself. Use a search bar to type in a few keywords that you think relate to your business and see what results you get. If the selection on the front page represents mainly businesses similar to yours then you are on the right track. If not, keep trying new words and combinations of words. Spend plenty of time on this research. Have a look at what keywords your competition are using. What words recur in their titles and sub-headings, what search terms find them? Try to get the balance right between too general a term and too narrow a phrase: eg typing in just ‘travel agents’ would produce such a huge mass of results that you are unlikely to feature on the front page ever. Typing in rather ‘travel agents San Diego’, would narrow it down to a geographical area, and typing in a specialist area as well, would again narrow down the search results. So look for your specialist areas and find a phrase that covers them, but one that people might realistically think of and be able to spell. This is another area to consider. There are loads of misspelt words that make good search terms, just because people frequently spell them wrong when searching. So you could decide to misspell a word on your website on purpose to attract that traffic. This has to be offset against the detrimental effect of misspelt words to your professional image. Only you can decide that – it depends on your area of business and likely clientele. Once you have found a few keywords that reflect your main areas of business, select two or three of the most relevant and start writing your home page copy. Your chosen keywords need to be used several times each, but you must be careful to use them in natural language. Resist the temptation to over-use them. Search Engines get suspicious if you pack in keywords in artificial language and will mark you down on it. Use the keywords in the first sentence and in the last sentence of each page and, when they fit naturally, about once in each paragraph. Use your prime keywords in headings in bold too. This adds to their impact, weighting the importance and relevance that the search engines give to them. If your website is several pages long, choose different keywords according to the main subject of each page. Search engines value content above all and content that is regularly updated will maximise your chances of being seen. Build a text space into your home page that you can update every week, with latest news, a new article or whatever is relevant to your business. Do remember that Search Engines are looking for relevant content, so splashing an article about travel when your business is in catering won’t help your ratings – choose to feature latest food trends rather. After you have written up your copy with keywords in mind, read through it afresh. There is no point in perfect keyword research and placing, unless that copy also speaks to your potential clients. Your copy needs to appeal to humans as well as search engines! Copyright 2007 Kit Heathcock

Are you marketing natural products as a direct sales representative? Are you gathering your own leads and marketing yourself with a website? If so, congratulations. You’re going to get a huge jump on the competition. If you’re not, give me a few minutes to convince you why not having a website of your own, or relying on a company replicated site, is a huge mistake. Two Words: Free Traffic, Free Leads Ok that’s four words, but the point is the same. When you’re an online marketer, traffic is the name of the game. Free traffic is especially nice! If you have your own website, you can design it to be search engine friendly so that it will get lots of visitors from natural search results. Replicated sites generally don’t get listed in search engines. Why turn down a wonderful source of new recruits and sales? And if you’re currently paying out cold hard cash for recycled leads, forget that! You can generate tons of leads for free with your own website. And they’re actually interested in what you have to say instead of just having filled out some “work at home” form somewhere that they quickly forgot about. Branding How are you going to separate yourself from the hundreds of other people marketing natural products online? By establishing yourself as an expert and developing your brand. An excellent example of this is my friend Diana Walker. She markets Chinese herbal food products made by a direct sales company, but to make herself unique she is branding herself as the Cravings Coach. Now isn’t that just a touch more interesting and memorable than “xyz company rep?” You can do the same thing if you have your own website. Leaving Money on the Table If you have a website of your own, you can make money even when people don’t buy your products or join your opportunity. How? One way is through affiliate marketing. If noone wants your essential oils, they might still be interested in an ebook on massage, which you can offer them and get a commission on the sale. You can also earn money with the Google AdSense program… but not on a replicated site! Changes What if your company goes out of business? It does happen you know… and if you’re using a replicated site, there goes your marketing efforts down the drain. You might also decide to change companies at some point if the company makes some decisions you don’t agree with. If you’re gathering leads for yourself, they stay with you no matter where you go. Every direct sales company has different policies on marketing the business online. Check with your company and see what they allow. And then get your own virtual storefront going today.

Diamonds are formed under very specific conditions that require materials bearing carbon to be exposed to high pressure though low temperature (relative to most parts deep inside the earth.) The pressure should be somewhere at least 45 kilobars and the temperature a minimum of 1652 degrees Fahrenheit. There are only two situations that provide these settings in the Earth. They are at the site of a strike by a meteorite or in the earth’s lithospheric mantle and where it is below continental plates that are relatively stable. Diamonds are only formed deep inside the earth, at least 90 miles down, to a maximum of 120 miles deep. Of course, this depends on the geographic area as the rate of temperature change relative to depth is different in different regions. Under oceanic plates, for example, the temperature will rise more quickly as you go deeper in the earth. The only place where you will find just the right combination of pressure and temperature are the oldest, thickest and most stable parts of the earth’s continental plates where lithosphere regions called cratons are found. The longer the diamond crystals reside in the cratons the larger the diamonds that result. The carbon that we find in diamonds comes from a combination of both organic and inorganic matter. Scientists have determined this by studying ratios of carbon isotopes, a method somewhat akin to carbon dating. Some diamonds, called harzburgitic, have been formed from carbon that is inorganic and found in the deepest parts of the earth’s mantle. Eclogitic diamonds, in contrast, contain organic carbon that comes from organic detritus being pushed by subduction from the surface of the earth. Diamonds that rise to the surface of the earth are at least one billion years old and may be over three billion years. Sometimes diamonds form in other events that also have high pressure and low temperature settings. Nanodiamonds and microdiamonds, the very smallest of the diamond family, have been discovered inside impact craters, the result of meteors striking the earth. The shock of the meteor strikes actually creates the ideal temperature and pressure conditions that create these diamonds. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diamond

Disputes over domain names can be a part of online business. When a dispute over a domain name occurs you can always turn to the courts. Although courts have the authority to award control over domain names, don’t expect a quick resolution. As usually, courts act slowly. Therefore, many businesses avoid the courts and turned to the name registrars for help. Companies that do bring a court action must be prepared to spend a significant amount of money on legal fees. Your company is going to have to prove in court why a domain name needs to be transferred to another business. In reaction to strong lobbying from trademark owners and famous individuals, Congress passed the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act in November of 1999. This act made it easier for individuals and companies to take over domain names that are confusingly similar to their names or valid trademarks. To do so, however, they must establish that the domain name holder acted in bad faith. Web Site Terms of Use From a legal standpoint, it is important to have a “Terms of Use” page on every business web site that describes the terms and conditions that govern the relationship between the visitor of the website and its publisher. Properly written “Terms of Use” can be an invaluable tool in protecting your businesses from misunderstanding, frivolous lawsuits, and crippling legal exposure. Terms of Use pages contain similar content, but there is no one size fits all solution. Each online business has a unique relationship with its customers that must be considered in its “Terms of Use”. Common Elements Of Terms Of Use Choice of Forum – Choice of Forum provisions permit the parties to a contract to choose, with some limitations, the jurisdiction in which any disputes pertaining to their relationship are resolved. In many cases, a web site’s Terms of Use purports to require any legal action pertaining to the web site to be brought in the jurisdiction in which the online business is located that may be very inconvenient for a distant customer. Choice of Law – Choice of Law provisions permit the parties to a contract to select, with some limitations, which particular jurisdiction’s laws will be applicable to their relationship. Usually, a web site’s Terms of Use will apply the law of: (1) the jurisdiction whose laws are most favorable to the publisher; (2) the jurisdiction in which the publisher is physically located; or (3) the jurisdiction whose laws are most familiar to the attorney who drafted the contract. Limitation of Liability – These provisions allow one or both parties to place certain limitations on their liability for breaching the agreement of the parties. Properly drafted, Limitation of Liability provisions can cap a party’s legal liability for certain conduct. Indemnification – Indemnification provisions permit a party to shift the burden associated with an projected loss to the other party. In many cases, a web site’s Terms of Use require the visitor of a web site to indemnify the web site’s publisher toward any losses associated with the use of the web site’s content. Attorneys’ Fees and Costs – In general, a party is required to pay his own legal fees and expenses, win or lose. Nevertheless, parties to a contract may, with some limitations, require that a party who loses in a legal action brought pursuant to the agreement pay the attorneys’ fees and costs sustained by the prevailing party. Your Terms of Use is one of the most important content created for your Web site; therefore, it is advisable to have an attorney look it over prior to posting. A well drafted Terms of Use contract can reduce your legal exposure while a poorly written one can increase your liability.

Many who choose to work at home do so for noble reasons. They hate their jobs. They have completely burned out in their former line of work. They see their kids growing up before them, and yet they do not know them. Regardless of the reason, our world has made working at home increasingly easier, and thus many jump at the opportunity when it arises. However, working from home requires three main components for a successful venture. Those who choose to work from home must first prioritize their lives. They must consider why they chose to work at home in the first place and then keep those priorities in mind. They may even write the list down and review it everyday, using it as a filter for decisions that might affect their at-home status. For example, those who came home to spend time with their children will want to keep their children at the top of the list. Discipline also leads to a successful venture of working at home. Working at home and being at home are not the same thing. Many times those who choose to work at home fail to implement the discipline that brought them success in the traditional workforce, and they fail at their at-home venture. Successful at-home workers are disciplined enough to know they need to schedule regular hours instead of just working when they feel like it. Those with kids will work during their children’s naptime or scheduled play dates. They will take advantage of the children’s early bedtime and put in a few hours between 8pm and 10pm. Finally, communication is key to a successful at-home venture. Those who work at home should communicate their schedule and work needs weekly with their spouse and children. If they have a project due that week, they should let their family know that they will need some significant work time. If they have an easy week, they should make plans to spend more time with their kids and spouse. Ultimately, working at home can be a great experience. To make it a successful venture, however, the at-home working should maintain priorities, discipline, and communication. If these three things fail, then the dream of working at home will turn into an inescapable nightmare.

Let me share with you a very little known fact: it’s possible to generate a very good income from eBay Australia (as well as other eBay sites) without having to have any stock on hand and its not even from drop-shipping. In fact you never have to even have any relationships at all with any suppliers and you can sell some of the most profitable items on eBay. You may be surprised to find out that eBay itself runs its own Affiliate Marketing program. It’s one of the most productive ways for eBay to drive lots of targeted traffic to its sites and capture buyers who are already interested in purchasing a particular product to buy through eBay. Essentially eBay’s Affiliate Marketing program pays affiliates when visitors to their sites click on a link to eBay and become an active registered user – this means that they have to buy something in a set amount of time. Better still, if a visitor goes to an active auction on eBay through an Affiliates’ link and then purchase the item, eBay will give you between 40-65% of the revenue earned from that auction. The revenue here is the final value fee that eBay makes, not the final bid price as this would obviously be making a loss for eBay. If you already know about eBay’s Affiliate Marketing program, still read on, as I am about to show you a way that can make you a great extra income from this program that is different to what a lot of eBay’s affiliates are doing and that has proven success to generate a healthy passive or full time income even for Australians. This is a great method of really cashing in on eBay’s Affiliate Program. Instead of having the odd link from your site or blog to some products on eBay, why not create an online store that predominantly sells items from eBay. This way you never have to own any stock at all to sell, nor do you even have to drop-ship items which has it’s own inherent problems. To do this really right, you need to do some research on eBay and find items that are “nichey” and that also sell for a good amount. Its no use promoting low cost items as you’d have to sell volumes in order to realize any revenue. You also want to find products that are popular but typically harder to find in online shops. It’s not as effective promoting iPods for instance, as the chance of someone finding your site is very low as the competition out there is huge. To ensure that you do really well, you’ll need to do a bit of research on finding niche keywords that people are searching for. I won’t go into this here as that is a huge separate topic on its own, but if you know how to do this already, this method can be very profitable for you. Pro’s: * This method has all the pro’s of making money on eBay plus the added pro of never having to own/purchase any stock to sell and not even having to drop-ship which has it’s own inherent problems; * Because you are not limited by having to purchase any stock, you are not limited as to the amount you can sell. You can also sell high price items which will generate the best money for you; * You can sell whatever you like whenever you like; * You don’t have to worry about putting together auction listings yourself – no need to research items, put together lengthy auction listings, you don’t even have to have an eBay account! * You’re not the one that has to worry about delivery nor returns, nor warranties on the item, nor anything like that! Con’s: * The success of this method depends on how many people find your site – that is, you need to generate traffic to your site so that people can click through your eBay affiliate links. To be very successful you need to have a good knowledge of things like Search Engine Optimization and Traffic Generation. Of course you can generate traffic through Pay Per Click ads and other means, but you need to know what you are doing in order to make sure you are making more than you pay for these; * You need to know how to build a website and then make it attractive enough for visitors to stay and click on links * You need to find profitable niches that aren’t saturated by competition * Because you are getting a percentage of the revenue eBay earns, you are obviously not getting the same amount of profit if you actually listed your own item. For Australians: I see no impact (good or bad) at all for Australians who want to use this method to generate income. You can promote either Australian eBay auctions or from the US or from anywhere you like. It’s actually recommended that you have a mixture of listings from different countries and this could in fact enhance the visitor’s experience with your site. Naturally you have to make sure that the sellers will post things internationally if you are promoting multiple countries.

There’s no better time than the New Year to re-evaluate your product sourcing strategy. You can’t look at your product sourcing in 2007 the same way that you did in 2006. Consumer trends cycle and change—you need to understand what buyers want NOW. According to seasoned trend-spotter Lisa Suttora, of http://WhatDoISell.com, there are five specific strategies you should be incorporating to see your E-Biz succeed in the coming year: •Niche Down The first strategy is to source vertically, or focus in on your niche. Explains Suttora, “Online shoppers want depth of inventory and a selection they can’t find down the street or at Wal-Mart. Last year, the small online sellers who concentrated on their specialty and became the go-to place for their specific sub-niche, far out-sold the larger, more generic online stores.” Rather than carry a few selections of many various types of lamps, try drilling down and getting specific with your offerings, such as kerosene lamps for power outages or natural lighting lamps for home offices. This allows you to leverage your inventory capital and marketing efforts. You can focus your product sourcing efforts, rather than investing in different product categories or attending trade shows for multiple industries. •Don’t Limit Yourself Use multiple supplier channels. Even though you’re purchasing in a narrow niche, you don’t want to limit yourself to only using one supplier, or one type of supplier. Various product sourcing methods bring different strengths to your business and provide you with different opportunities. Drop shipping is a great way to test out new products, while liquidation and overstocks provide excellent loss leaders and add variety to your lineup. Using different channels gives you a well-rounded supplier list, and the most diverse product line possible. •Think Locally Regional Sourcing can give you a unique position in the market and eliminate a lot of competition. Look for products that are exclusive to your region, but that people from around the country might be interested in. While you don’t need to build your entire product line around regional sourcing, you can supplement your existing line with products that buyers in other areas don’t have access to. For example, if you sell decorative lamps, you might look for local artisans that make uncommon lamps. Unique products that have a story often go for a much higher price online. •Share the Knowledge Bundle information with products. Customers are reporting that they want more than just a product—they want to know how to use it. So create a tip sheet or small eBook, or find someone from a site like http://elance.com or http://craigslist.com to create one for you. For instance, if you sell special garden tools, you might buy some little books on Japanese gardening tools that people don’t know how to use. You could then sell your tools with the book telling customers step-by-step how to use them. By constructing a One-Stop Shopping experience for your customers, you’re adding value to your product and eliminating your customers’ ability to comparison shop. •Be Proactive Act on your knowledge. It doesn’t do any good to assimilate great suggestions and ideas on sourcing products more effectively, if you don’t actually implement the tips and information you learn. Product sourcing is an ongoing effort. Encourages Suttora, “Don’t just think about it—take action. Put these things into play and get outside that box. You will be amazed at the kind of business you’re going to be able to build this year.”

Blogs are a gift from the Internet gods for those of us who would like to have an online presence, but don’t know the first thing about setting up websites in the traditional manner, and have neither the time to learn nor the finances to pay someone else to do it for us. There are two ways in which we enterprising bloggers can find ourselves making money blogging. 1.) Making Money Blogging By Giving Your Blog A Job To Do Blogs exist because some people love to express themselves and be heard, and because other people love to learn and just maybe to snoop on somebody else’s thoughts. By starting a blog, or series of blogs, you can put your voice out there, expressing you opinions, or sharing the knowledge you have accumulated over a lifetime. If you are interested in making money blogging, promoting a product in which you believe by discussing related topics, and then adding you affiliate links to the companies which sell that product. Making money blogging by giving you blog a job to do can also mean applying to Google AdSense so that you can have AdWords related to your blog topics posted in your blog, where your readers may be inclined to click on them and earn you some money in doing so. Or it can mean using your blog to sell informational products. If your blog is about growing flowers, why not write your own ebook about your secrets to having a beautiful blooming garden and offer it to your readers for a small price? You can put a link to the download site in your blog. If your blog is about growing flowers and there are some Internet sites whose flower growing products you highly recommend, why not see about becoming an affiliate for those sites and posting your affiliate links in your blog? Just one more way to make money blogging by giving your blog a job to so. 2.) Making Money Blogging By Building Interest In Your Offline Business The second way in which some people make money blogging is by turning their blogs into advertising venues for offline businesses they have. Many, many businesses have related websites, and use their websites to sell the same products they do in their brick-and-mortar stores. While you wouldn’t actually make money blogging by turning your blog into a second storefront offering its own inventory and ordering system, you certainly can use your blog to talk about whatever your offline business does or sells, getting your readers interested in it, and you can build even more interest by inviting your offline customers to visit your blog by leaving flyers with your blog’s url at your business registers. If enough interest is generated in your offline business from you blog, you might even consider establishing an online store, and you can link it to it in your blog so that your readers will get the same great service that your offline customers do!

Home base businesses have grown tremendously with much television advertising and the availability of Internet Websites. Many people are learning a new way of making a large income for their families. The average job and wage can only go so far in providing the necessary money needed to live in our inflated economy. Gas prices, food and the over all costs of living are constantly increasing. The current income for most families is not sufficient to pay all of the bills. What is the answer? People are looking for a different way of making money without using all of their time working. Working for someone else uses much of your time and the money you earn may not be suitable for your families needs. Having your home business could give you the freedom that you are looking for. What if you could control the amount of income you desire to earn? Some people have dreams of a better life with an extraordinary income that will provide the things in life without having to borrow from a bank. Many people would like to have a bigger house with more yard room to entertain family and friends and have a new car that that does not need constant repairs. People who have these kinds of dreams should pursue them. There are many ordinary people who go to work everyday and do the same mundane things week after week being exhausted and feeling out of place because they are not using the creative skills that they naturally possess. Is it possible to work fewer hours and make more money then your average go to work job by having your own home base business? With the entire home based businesses there are to choose from where does a person start? You find these businesses advertised on television and all over the Internet but which ones are legitimate and which ones are scams? Can a person really make a great income working from their home and working fewer hours then a normal job? What does a person look for when pursuing a home base business? I have few rules that I use when considering which home base business is really a legitimate one. The first thing to look for is how large is the company or organization? If they have offices and representatives all over the country and even worldwide then maybe they are a profitable business that has proven itself with the kind of success that you want. Do not work for a loosing company. There are other things to look for when considering a home base business and that would be how open are they about there practices. Do they have a phone number in which you could talk with someone about the business during normal working hours and how available are they when you call? How informative are they about the business and are they truly able to help you with their products or services as well as the operation of the business itself? Having a personal contact that you can talk with everyday if necessary until you are operating your own home business successfully would be great. A personal mentor or business partner could make things in your own business function much better. Having a teacher who has started their own home base business and has achieved success would be a great access to your own business success. You can learn much from someone who has been at the beginning of a home base business right to being financially successful. Pursue your dreams and do not let anyone stop you from doing the things that you love. You already know the kind of work that you would like to do the rest of your life. What really brings you pleasure and interests you most when it comes to earning an income? These are your dreams! Make the most of your life and live the kind of lifestyle that brings you the most joy.

Are you happy with your work right now? Are you so caught up with its demanding tangles? Do you find it hard to launch away from it? Are you one of those professionals who suffer from low wages? Gather your thoughts and make a move as soon as possible. You don’t have to stay on the shore when you can explore the waters, right? Are you a neophyte who is just about to enter the real world? Feeling the cramps already? You ought to ask professionals how the world of business works. You can’t just stay with your parents forever. Like what I said, make a move now. Going to a new job line is not easy. It takes so much time and patience. You need to do some research about the company’s structure and employment terms. It is better if you know someone who works for that certain employer and ask him or her about the details of the establishment. Aside from that, you need to prepare some papers, certificates, clearances, and all those kind of stuff. Most if not many even require a medical examination and a clearance to assure them that you won’t break an epidemic in their firms. But these requirements are secondary to your resume, the most important requirement of all. This has to be submitted prior to everything stated above. This is utilized as an evaluation source to consider you for an interview or directly reject you. In short, your future partly depends on this sheet of information. However, with the technology today, you don’t have to worry about a single thing. With the famous, though overused internet access, there now exists a resume writing online service. You don’t have to use all of your power to write a convincing vita and you won’t be spending too much time worrying about this matter. To start, you could ask friends who have already taken advantage of this service from reliable sites. Or, you can use your search engines and click the link that you think shall serve you best. When you have already chosen a site, you should read their terms and conditions because they may require heavy payments for your request. Read as well the instructions they will present on how to process your online written resume. Make sure to give them all of your details necessary for job application so you won’t have errors in your vita. Declare your personal data, family and educational background, skills and interests, and work experience/s, that is if you have one. You also have to inform them your character references and their contact details. With this online help, you just won’t have a resume but a professionally-written and convincing one. For beginners, you won’t be stressing out too much in risking your application for a poor resume. For those who have substandard jobs, you won’t have extra burdens and worries for a new job application and can slowly sever the ties with your present company. With your online hand, it is hassle-free and successful!

The introduction of analytics programs integrated with online registration systems represents a great leap forward in thinking for the event planning industry. The availability of website statistics for online registration forms will help event planners be more effective marketers of their events. One component of website statistical reporting that will be particularly useful to event planners who host their forms online is URL parameter tracking. URL parameters are an easy way to pass information from one page to the next. They enable newspaper sites to host many tens of thousands of articles, or ecommerce stores to list thousands of products. Typically, you can spot URL parameters on websites you are browsing by checking for a ‘?’ somewhere in your browser’s address bar. After the ‘?’ in the URL you will probably see a mess of words, letters and numbers. This alphabet soup consists of each URL parameter and a corresponding parameter value. For example, when viewing your favorite ecommerce website you might see an URL that looks like: http://www.example.com?productSKU=123-ANH. To the right of the ‘?’ you can see the parameter ‘productSKU’ (probably defining the stock number of the product), followed by an ‘=’ which tells your browser that the following characters are the value of the ‘productSKU’ parameter. So what will a web browser do with this information? In this case, there is probably some code on the web page which will take the parameter and lookup the SKU number in a product database. Without the use of URL parameters many large sites would need to create one page for every product they carry. But web parameters are useful in other ways as well. For a meeting planner, the ability to track URL parameters provides additional marketing opportunities. An affiliate program can be a great way to increase sales. The way an affiliate program typically works is through paying a percentage or flat fee per sale to individual marketers, in exchange for driving conversions on your website. Event professionals can use a program like this to pay marketers in different channels and verticals to drive additional attendees to their events. Because they are pay-per-registration, there is very little risk associated with affiliate programs. However, the cost can be prohibitive as many established affiliate software packages can cost hundreds of dollars per month to use! Integrated web analytics reports provide a simpler, more cost-effective solution for event planners wishing to get started with affiliate programs without spending a large portion of budget on expensive software. Providing your affiliates with unique URL parameters to use allows you to run your own in-house affiliate program right alongside your event registration. For example, you can provide each affiliate with a 4-digit number, and ask them to use it in any emails or web-links they use to direct visitors to your site. All they need to do is add ‘?AffID=1001’ to your event’s URL and your reports will reflect the parameter. At the end of each billing period, you simply run a URL parameter report to see which affiliate referrals resulted in registrations and pay out fees based on that figure. By letting others assist you in your marketing efforts you gain access to additional marketing channels, as well as allowing you more time to concentrate on important matters like event content, registrant concerns, etc. And because analytics reports are now being packaged with event registration software, it doesn’t have to cost you anything extra to run a successful affiliate program.

Aikido is one of the oldest form of martial arts. Founded by Morihei Ueshiba, aikido came about through the studies of many different kinds of traditional martial arts. In fact, is often perceived as a form of exercise or a dance because of some of its forms. It is also viewed by some quarters as some form of martial mesmerism. Aikido is even confused with Daito Ryu Aikijutsu, it is different in its essence. Still, its founder attributed his creation of aikido to the way, his master Sokaku Takeda, grandmaster of Daito Ryu, opened his eyes to the nature of Budo. What is aikido? Despite its many perceived forms, aikido is a Budo or martial arts. It is the refinement of the techniques that are being taught in traditional martial arts and is combined with a philosophy that calls on for the power of the spirit. In its essence, it is a blending of the body and the mind. Its philosophy is basically derived from the belief that deceptions and trickery or brute force will not make us defeat our opponents. Instead, concentration that involves the spirit will be enough to strengthen us. Aikido is also used as a way to discover our true paths so that we can develop our individuality. It also teaches its practitioners to unify their body and their mind so that they will become in harmony with the “universe” and with nature. Their power and their strength will come from this balance and harmony. The word “universe” in aikido is not some obscure concept that one cannot achieve. It is actually quite concrete and is even within the grasp of the person. In aikido, “universe” can be achieved through actual experiences and everyday life. Aikido’s movements and techniques are circular. When a circle is created in aikido, the person is said to be protected from a collision from an opposing force. A firm center, however, is needed to create this circle http://www.animals5.com An example of a firm circle is a spinning top that turns at fast speed. Without a firm center, the speed of movement will only create imbalance. The stillness of the spinning top while in speeding motion is what is called sumikiri in Aikido language. This is achieved only by what Aikido founder calls “total clarity of mind and body.” However, this is not so easily achieved. It takes a long time of study and practice in order to find this intense concentration and centeredness. Training is important in aikido as well as concentration because while it may be easy to create a centered being when inside a martial arts gym, the same cannot be said of situations and circumstances outside. It will not be easy to keep one’s composure when faced with extraordinary circumstances. This is actually one of the goals of Aikido training. It aims to teach its practitioners to maintain their composure and their centeredness even in panic situations such as danger and calamities. One method taught in aikido is to breathe with what is called the seika tanden point. This is the part of the body that can be found two inches below the navel. Controlled breathing is one key to being one with the universe and to center oneself with nature. When a person learns to do this, he or she will feel extraordinary calmness that they can use in the practice of aikido.