MLM The Easy Way - KAl Update http://www.blogmoneymiracle.com en-us EasyRSS
by Gil De Palma

Burning Man is a simple HTML website that tells the story of a 23-year-old artist afflicted with a mysterious chronic burning disease who discovers that the flames killing him little by little have miraculous healing powers.

Many people have said that this Website is really weird and ugly, but they keep on coming back just the same.

They read the compelling stories. They view whimsical art works. They join blog campaigns. They react. They leave comments. They buy stuff. They recommend it to others.

And they even profit from the FREE success secret it revealed!

But, really, the Website is the secret. It is like some kind of "curiosity central." It is a potent people magnet. And, yes, it is the stuff of super affiliates. It gets thousands of hits daily without really trying.

Perhaps being weird and ugly is really its revenge for being so.

You can learn a lot from its success. Discover the secret right now...

"Frankly, it’s technically weird and ugly."

Although no one can say exactly what it looks like when a Website is weird and ugly, a Web designer actually E-mailed 23-year old artist Burny Madden with an offer to "beautify his Website technically."

Indeed, in the Internet – where the word "techie" is synonymous to godling, and the word "newbie" is almost an insult – a "technically cool" Website seems inevitable.

Whether a Flash eye-candy Website with animated buttons, titles, images, streaming video, cinematic sound effects, pop-ups, and techie cool what-have-yous is visually distracting is beside the point.

Never mind what you’ve heard about beauty in simplicity. In cyberspace, techie cool is what’s beautiful.

Burny and his best friend Nona have built a Website to tell his life story to the world. Burny is afflicted with a mysterious chronic burning disease that causes parts of his body to ignite at random. Burn scars constellate his body. He walks with a limp. He is too mortified to be with people. Some even call him a freak.

Then, he discovers that the flames killing him, little by little, have miraculous healing powers. His life has never been the same again, especially after going online.

But, now, Burny and Nona feel that if a Website is called weird and ugly; it probably looks a lot like their Burning Man story site.

It certainly feels that way when people say the Website will have tremendous potential if they show a short animated feature about the story. It certainly feels that way when they receive e-mails asking in so many ways why the site is "sooo static." And it certainly feels that way when they read this message from a returning site visitor: "Hey, no offense guys, but I think your old Flash Website looks a lot better than this dead mind-numbing stuff."

Burning Man is an offshoot of a fancy Flash Burny Madden Website, their newbie attempt at being Webbies. It was an absolute "techie beauty." Cinematic intro. Scrolling text. An array of moving thingies. Even an animated page-turner. All this plus some Hollywood-style effects. It gave that peculiar feeling of watching a mystery movie.

But where’s the rest of the story? That was the question of most site visitors.

Burny and NonaI intended to tell the Burny’s story in that Website. Trouble is, the animated page-turner limited them to a maximum of sixteen pages – about 106 pages short of the site’s designed content.

Their first Website became some kind of an unfinished visual treat that people would visit once or twice at the most, and then never again. Adding more animated effects served like a one-time adrenaline boost for the site, that’s all.

Requesting those who purchased the ebook to recommend it to others led some people to accuse them of spamming. They even tried using sophisticated linking software to increase its exposure to no avail. Webmasters would visit, but only a handful would link to it. Their Website traffic seemed to trudge to a dreary drumbeat – one…two…bye.

They built it and they came, and they left forever.

It took an unusual degree of humility for them to accept that the techie beauty they were so proud of did not actually work for them. After all, it revealed to them the extent to which people responded to the Website’s story more than its looks.

They discovered that, although head-turning imagery and special effects raise Web design to a higher level, they will only work if they are built on a good concept. The cool stuff is in the content. When an idea translates into a compelling content with which audiences can relate, it causes them to hook up psychologically to the Website. When it makes an emotional bond by showing people an idea or experience they’ve had, an idea or experience they’d like to have, or the information they’ve been looking for, real cool content stuff happens.

The Website connects to the audience.

In this case, the premise of Burny’s story connected to the audience. And it turned out that they wanted more.

You never really appreciate a story until you enter the door of a character’s head and walk around in it. But, Burny’s original Website was a beautiful door that opened up to nothing!

So, Burny and Nona said "goodbye" to the techie beauty and built the Burning Man Website. Simple HTML. No cool effects. It only uses Burny’s original artworks to illustrate the story. The only thing that moves in it is the visitor’s cursor.

In this new Website, they continue telling the story, revealing that while Burny’s mother insists that his burning condition is a symptom of demonic possession, his stepfather is forcing him to burn and heal others for a huge fee.

Because of this, Nona has launched an online campaign to save Burny from burning to death.

Here’s Nona’s Save A Burning Man message:

"PLEASE HELP ME SAVE MY BEST FRIEND WHO IS AFFLICTED WITH A MYSTERIOUS BURNING DISEASE.

"PLEASE READ HIS STORY, POST A MESSAGE TO HIS CRUEL STEPFATHER WHO WANTS TO USE HIM TO MAKE MONEY, OR SIMPLY FORWARD THIS MESSAGE ON.

"I hope that if people pass this on, his stepfather will get tons of petitions asking him to stop this madness before he forces my friend to burn to death.

"My childhood friend, Burny Madden, is a young artist who is burning little by little to death. Something unexplainable is causing parts of his body to ignite for no apparent reason at all.

"Burny usually bursts into flames when he is too upset or too excited. And the burnings are getting worse every time. Now I’m afraid that if he burns again – he might die.

"A few weeks ago, a weird incident involving a dead dog that has allegedly sprung back to life when Burny touched it with his flaming hand, caused his stepfather, Stanley "Stan" Lucierno, to conclude that the fire has some kind of healing power. Stan is now trying to force Burny to burn – threatening him, hurting him, abusing both him and his mother in sickening ways – so he could cash in on it.

"I built a Web site for Burny and published his story so that, through the Internet, people may know about his terrible situation and help me save him.

"PLEASE HELP ME STOP BURNY’S STEPFATHER.

"Please visit Burny’s Website, read his story, and E-mail Stan. I will make sure that your messages get to him.

"Also, please drop Burny a line, if you can. He is in pain, afraid, and very lonely. He really could use a kind word right now.

"I WILL GIVE A FREE T-SHIRT (MADE BY BURNY HIMSELF) TO THE ONE WHO WILL SEND THE E-MAIL THAT BURNY WILL LIKE BEST. I will even pay for delivery to anywhere in the world. It’s the least I can do for a childhood friend.

"PLEASE FORWARD THIS E-MAIL TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW. IT WILL ONLY TAKE A FEW MINUTES TO SAVE A BURNING MAN.

"Thank you very much.

Nona http://www.burning-man.palmagick.com/index.htm"

The Burning Man Website generated five times more hits in just one month than what the old Flash Website made for an entire year. This time, people are coming back to the Website several time a week. They are sending Burny and Nona E-mails. Some of them post messages on the blogs. A lot of them are buying Burning Man stuff.

It’s almost a real success story, except for the fact that Burny and Nona are not real persons.

I am a writer, an artist, and a filmmaker. Burny Madden and Nona are just characters from my screenplay "BURNY." I decided to put them online to help me develop their characters and write the story. I am also a newbie and the real owner of the Burning Man Website.

Burny and Nona still do not know that they are just fictional characters. They are still running the Burning Man Website, posting new content, reading and answering E-mails. If you visit the Website and click the "author" button, you will understand why.

I passed on Nona’s letter to a few friends who got so amused by it – they passed it on to others. Without really trying, it became a form of word-of-mouth advertising via E-mail. The Website got over 50,000 hits the next day!

So, if you receive Nona’s letter from someone you know, he or she probably got this forwarded E-mail from a friend or colleague or even a family member who also got it from someone, who also ... well, you know.

Here’s a little secret. As a Psychology major back in college, I have understood that people have a subconscious desire to communicate about things that have no relevance to their primary needs for existence. The urge to tell others about the Burning Man is actually working for the Website.

I think Nona’s letter has gone round the world much farther and faster than any advertising I could hope to do at the moment. Now people are asking if Nona has new letters. It still amazes me.

I am yet to hear somebody say that Burning Man is a beautiful Website. People keep on giving Burny and Nona tips on how to improve it, instead. One site visitor even gave a link to a free Flash tutorial! Nice guy.

I’ve seen the word "ugly" in several E-mails, though.

I guess a techie beauty is not a bad idea at all. Stretching one’s imagination to push technology far beyond its comfort zone to create the coolest visually stunning Websites in cyberspace is certainly a big thrill to the senses. Hey, I like them, too. But I’d like them even more if they fulfill what I believe is the primary mandate of a Website – to connect to the audience.

The Burning Man did it with a simple interactive story. It may be weird and ugly, but I guess it is its own revenge for being so.

"You’ve got great content," the persistent Web designer said in his recent E-mail to Burny, "even I keep on coming back to know what happens next. It’s a shame that you didn’t give its overall design much thought."

"Yeah, it’s a shame," I thought to myself.

Burny did not hire him.

Palmagick http://www.palmagick.com/burnymadden/index.htm

Gil De Palma is a writer, artist, filmmaker, and the CEO of Palmagick Entertainment. He is the author of "BURNY" (http://www.palmagick.com/burnymadden/) and creator of the superhero pack TAEKWONDOGGS (http://www.taekwondoggs.com/).

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by Audrey Burton

The experts say you need benefit statements in all your marketing – on your Website, on your brochures and flyers, in your 30-second introduction and in all types of advertising. This is true.

There could be so many benefit statements for your business, how do you choose?

Marketing is the process of communicating to people about your product or service so they can make a purchase if they perceive they want or need it. If they are not aware of it, don't know how to purchase it or don't perceive it fulfills a want or need, there can be no sale.

The key word in that paragraph is 'perceive.' Your marketing, and therefore your benefit statements, should focus on the perception in the marketplace, not necessarily the actual benefit.

For example, in my business, one of the greatest benefits many of my clients realize AFTER working with me is confidence. My clients' confidence in their business abilities sometimes skyrockets. So why don't I market based on this?

Confidence is so important in business ownership. Prospective customers will often decide against making a purchase because they sense a lack of confidence in the seller.

When prospects are considering hiring me, they do not perceive that they have a confidence problem! Therefore, if I am marketing to my target market based on increasing their confidence, my marketing will fall flat. It will not connect with my target at all.

My target market comes to me mostly because they lack certain business knowledge or are overwhelmed by all the business stuff and need an advisor as well as a coach.

Here's another example. A couple is having love life issues in their relationship, and a couples therapist is looking for clients. The actual problem may be that the man is not saying anything remotely romantic, and the woman is too critical. They don't see it that way before they have gone through the therapy, so if the therapist markets herself based on men and women not communicating well, she won't get these clients.

If, on the other hand, the therapist markets herself based on improving couples' love lives, that will make an emotional connection and pique interest because that's the perceived benefit they need. The actual benefit they receive is improved communication, but using that benefit in her marketing will not entice her target market to call.

Here's your homework. List all of the benefits of doing business with you, then reexamine them to identify perceived vs. actual benefits by putting your feet in the shoes of your target market. Go get'em tigress!

Audrey Burton, Small Business Coach, is "The Tigress." Get her FREE Special Report, "Closing the Sale is Not Complicated!" and her FREE monthly E-mail newsletter at http://www.TigressCoaching.com .

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by John Young

"I’m amazed at this! I put very little effort into this online business, and already I’m making over $14,000 a month!"

We’ve all heard these testimonials in ads for “starting your online business.” We are then offered a "turnkey" Website already designed and filled with widgets to sell on the Web.

The ads lead us to believe that hordes of customers will flock to our site, wallets in hand, ready to avoid the downtown mobs. We’re promised an overnight fortune with little or no effort. We purchase the site and set up the store, only to find that reality falls well short of expectations.

The "SNAFU" Of Online Marketing:

Perhaps one of the greatest disappointments for the novice online marketer is to discover that the effort she has put into designing and publishing a monetizing Website may very well be wasted because no one comes to it.

In the real world (as compared to the virtual one), a business is generally set up by first renting space (hopefully in an area with heavy traffic, such as a shopping mall or on main street), designing and setting up the store, filling it with inventory, displaying the merchandise, and advertising to bring in customers with wallets ready to buy.

While location is important, most effort is directed at bringing the customers to the site, not the other way around.

In the virtual world, however, one has to bring the Website to the customer. Every potential customer sits in front of the same computer – essentially the same physical location for ALL businesses on the Web.

The business that can effectively bring itself to that customer will succeed. All others will fail.

7 Ways To Bring The Store To The Customer

Let’s say you do a search for a Google keyword such as “luggage.” You’re likely to come up with tens of thousands, if not millions, of potential Websites, some selling luggage, others giving product reviews.

Will your site be among the ones Google or Yahoo finds? Not too likely, and if your site doesn’t appear in the top 10 or 20, on page one or two, the potential customer is not likely to go to page 3. Expecting her to find your site on page 150 is pretty much out of the question. She simply isn’t going to go there to find your store.

Consequently, you MUST bring it up in the search ranks … to her, where she is sitting, in front of the computer.

Ranking Your Site

Today, most people find what they're searching for using Google.

Google ranks your site primarily by how many links are located on other sites pointing to it, and the context in which your link is found. For example, if your site is about dogs, and your link is found in the context of dogs, that link will be more valuable than if it is found in some other context or in no context.

Bringing your store to your customers by improving your rankings requires a few techniques, and a lot of hard work. Here are seven suggestions for methods that are not “Catch-22,” i.e. don’t require traffic to get traffic.

1. Writing and marketing articles.

Google and other search engines rank a Website by how many “one-way” links point to it from other sites. Writing an article and publishing it in the many E-zine barns (and having it picked up by online E-zines specialized for your keywords) is an excellent way to get these one-way links

2. Reciprocal linking.

Find other Websites with similar subject matter to your own. Contact the Webmaster and arrange to post a link to your site in exchange for reciprocating -- posting a link to theirs on your site.

3. One-way links.

Do a search on your keyword and “add URL” or “add your site.” You will find sites you can add your link to.

4. Join a forum.

You can get banned by putting a link to your site in your posts, but if you put it in your bio and then post information frequently on the forum, you can go up in Google rankings.

5. Blogging.

Set up your own blogs with links to your sites to gain Google rank. Free software exists to do this.

6. Search Engine Optimization

Make your site “keyword rich” by including a written introduction with searchable keywords in it, optimize the site and submit it to the minor search engines. Software exists to help you with search engine optimization. Google analyzes rankings in minor search engines when assigning site rank.

7. Advertising with Google Adwords.

Adwords can put your site in front of the customer – on the right side of the search page, not on the left. People read from left to right, and will see the results of their search on the left first. Depending on your bid for the keywords, your ad may appear at the bottom of a stack of Adwords advertisements. Adwords can bring in sales, but costs can get out of hand and ultimately be disastrous.

Work Smart ... and Hard

Ninety-five percent of all Internet businesses fail. Articles have been written simply stating that this is due to lack of “hard work” on the part of the owner, who thought she was going to have a “turnkey” business that would immediately reap “astounding profits.”

While this may be true, there’s an old saying: “Work smart, not hard.” In the case of an Internet business, you're going to have do both. You're going to have to work smart by knowing the most effective means of bringing your store to your customers, and work hard …

John Young is a writer and editor living in Santa Barbara. He is inviting submissions to his new E-zine, Explode Your Affiliate Checks at http://www.explodeyouraffiliatechecks.com devoted to all phases of online marketing. He has a second site at: http://www.ebook-marketing-software.com .

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by Tellman Knudson

One question that people often ask me is, "Tellman, I want to start list building like you suggest, but I don't know where to start."

OK. Let me give you the 7 simple steps to follow:

1. Choose your niche: What are you passionate about?

I mean, what really gets you going? What can you get excited about and what will keep you that way? It could be anything from knitting to knees. It really doesn't matter, as long as people are searching for terms that surround your niche, you should do well. First, figure out what it is you have a passion for.

2. Do some research: Write a list of words that are used in your niche and then, go to http://inventory.overture.com/ .

Type the words into the blank, one at a time, and see how many searches are done for the terms. If your primary keywords generate 3,000 searches or more per month, you probably have a niche to work with. If you see there are 20,000 to 30,000 searches, then you definitely have a winner.

Just be aware that the very heavily-searched niches are probably very competitive. You may want to start list building around a smaller niche

3. Create a unique domain name: Your domain name should have something to do with what you're list building around.

For instance, my site, MyFirstTraffic.com, is for my beginner's traffic course. Makes sense, right? It makes it easy for people searching to find my site and buy my product, and it makes it easy for the search engines to figure out what my site is about for indexing.

Just be sure the name you choose isn't too long or difficult for people to remember.

4. Choose a web host: The most important factor here is dependability.

Don't ever base your choice of Web host on price because the cheapest hosts may just close shop and leave you hanging. You also want to be sure they have nearly 100% uptime. It's impossible for a host to have no downtime at all because upgrades and repairs are always needed. Just be sure that they have a good uptime reliability factor.

You may want to delay buying your domain name until you choose a Web hosting company, too. Many of them include a domain name or two with your hosting package. If you're just starting out, you may not need a very complicated plan, but if you're starting a membership site, say, where you'll need to use PHP extensions, then, you'll want something a bit more expensive.

If you don't know what you need, you'll probably have a tech person working with you anyway, so you can always ask them for a recommendation.

5. Build a squeeze page: Now that you have an idea about the niche you want to pursue, you want to start list building.

In other words, you want to gather a group of people who are hungry for information or products in your niche. To do that, you need a squeeze page, which is nothing more than a great headline, 3-5 bullet points of copy detailing the benefits of joining your list, and an opt-in box, which leads to...

6. Your autoresponder: Autoresponders are services that collect and house the names from your E-mail marketing list.

They also send out your confirmation messages. When someone signs up for your list, they have to click on a link in the confirmation message, which verifies that they actually signed up to your list. Once they do this, you can send email to them anytime you want.

This double opt-in process is important. If someone accuses you of spamming, you can get yourself into trouble. You can lose your ISP or, worse, face charges for violating the CAN-SPAM act of 2003, if you're in the U. S.

Autoresponders protect you from spam complaints. Choose a service that you can afford, but also find one that provides uninterrupted service and maximum deliverability. If nobody gets your E-mail, how can they read it to buy something from you?

7. Put your list building page on your server: The easiest and quickest way to put your list building page up is via FTP because it makes uploading quick and easy.

Wise FTP and Cute FTP are two programs that you can use, but there are many others. Using FTP is something you should learn more about if you plan to do business online.

If you follow these 7 steps you'll be list building in no time. Choose a great niche, create a memorable domain name, build a squeeze page, get an autoresponder, and upload your page and BOOM! You're list building.

How easy is that?

List building master, Tellman Knudson, is CEO of OvercomeEverything, Inc. and he has built a massive, responsive list in a short time. Learn his "Get a List Quick" system when you visit MyFirstList.com at http://www.myfirstlist.com/)

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by Tellman H. Knudson

How important is list building? I know I ask that question a lot, and some people just don't get it. List building is everything! Without a list, you probably won't make much money. But with everyone out there asking for names and E-mail addresses, what are the chances you'll be able to compete, if you've just started out online?

Very bad. You have to snatch people's attention away from the newest product or program and get them to join your list instead of theirs, right?

A really great way to do that is with video. You may say to yourself, "Are you nuts? I'm not putting my face out there for the whole world to see." Well, why not? Almost every video I've seen has average people in it, just like you and me.

If you're worried about how hard it is or installing the software, get over it! You're wasting time. Pay someone to do it for you and to show you how it works.

I probably don't need to tell you how hot video is online right now. I mean, if it wasn't, would Google have spent $1.65 billion to buy up You Tube? No! Forget the doubts. And if you're shy, don't worry. You can even stay off camera and make video work for you.

But, if you're going to be in the video, you need at least a Webcam, or a camcorder. Even some cell phones have video cams in them these days. It doesn't have to be a Hollywood-quality film; the information has to shine. Just get a way to record your film. You can also use a program like CamStudio to do a Webinar-type presentation. Once you have the recording equipment, then hit the button, you're ready to go!

When you're finished with the video, you'll probably want to edit it. If you're on a PC, no sweat. You already have Windows Movie Maker installed because it's an accessory in Windows. It's pretty straightforward and very easy to operate. Play with it a while and you'll soon see what you can do.

After editing, you'll want to upload it to Google Video and You Tube, at least. Because those sites get the most traffic, they're prime, but you may also want to upload to places like DailyMotion, Flurl, and Blip.tv. There are actually a ton of sites out there, but it does take a while for a video to upload, so decide how much time you want to spend.

The more times your video is seen, though, the better off you'll be.

"Are we list building yet?" you wonder. Well, yes. Now, we'll be list building because with every video, you also upload "tags," as you do with any other Web 2.0 site. So, if your niche is baseball, you'll have a video about a batting stance, for instance, and your tags will be "baseball, sports, etc."

Those tags are how people will find you. Be sure the URL to your list building page is in the video, too, either by way of captioning, or even, hold a sign with the URL on it in front of you while you're speaking. Just be sure to use that list building page address. It's vital.

But, if you're still shy, you don't need to show your face at all. Use pictures. A static picture can make a nice backdrop for your video. Or use a slideshow. They work well, too. Still, don't forget to include the URL to your list building page on each picture. You can edit that into your picture in a program like Photoshop.

The audio doesn't necessarily need to be fresh, either. If you've done any teleseminars and recorded them, you can just snatch a clip of one for video. Be sure to keep the length of your chat to about three minutes, though, or you'll lose some of your audience. Things move fast online.

Be sure to track your visitors, too. See how effective your video is. I think you'll be surprised. But you have to try new things. Don't let the technology stop you. Otherwise, you'll be left far behind with no list at all.

Tellman Knudson is an Internet Marketing coach and CEO of Overcome Everything, Inc. Find more of his incredible list building secrets at http://www.myfirstlist.com/ .

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by Erich Sweaney

Newbies and Expert Internet Marketers all have one thing in common: Trying to get their Websites indexed through the top three major search engines quickly. For larger Websites, the task is even more daunting, and there are a few small but effective techniques that can assist in the indexing process.

Patience is a virtue and in today's internet marketing world patience and planning is a key.

Smaller one- or two-page Websites, also known as sales pages, are the easiest and quickest to get indexed in the three major search engines. Almost anyone can generally succeed by just manually submitting through each search engine's submission process.

Websites with a considerable number of pages will often immediately get their first page indexed, which therefore requires small effective planning strategies and a little bit of patience to become completely indexed.

Effective Key Planning Strategies:

(1) Prior to submitting your Websites to the search engines, establis link partners, which will cause the search engines to start indexing your Website.

Start planning out the basic Website structure so that search engine robots can easily flow through your Website and index each page.

(a) Have a sitemap linked from you main index page that thinks throughout your Website.

(b) If possible, ensure that each page is linked together, not just back to the main index page. This has been a successful technique in the past.

(c) Build and submit a Google Sitemap.

(2) Test your Websites design and structure using Google Sitemap Software such as SOFTplus GSiteCrawler (Freeware) that will try and index your entire Website.

If you're unsuccessful building a index of your entire Website, then further planning and design changes may be in order, to index your entire Website. If the software cannot index your entire Website, how will the search engine robots index your entire Website?

(3) Instead of manually submitting your Websites, submit your Website through directories and establish link partnerships. This will improve how often your Website is crawled by the search engines and how fast your Website is indexed.

Also, when establishing link partnership and directories, the higher their Google Page Rank, the quicker your Website will be indexed and more often your Website is crawled.

(4) Patience. The process the search engines will go through while indexing your Website is: First, the search engine will have to find your Website (hence, establishing partnerships with high Google Page Rank), then crawling through your Website and absorbing all the information contained, then ranking each individual page and, finally, your Website will appear in the search engine result pages (SERPs).

Erich Sweaney has been marketing online since 1999. http://www.es-solution.com - Discover the Power of Internet Marketing!

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By People Building

I find it fascinating that as people, we are drawn to the idea of being part of something bigger than ourselves. We want to find unity and yet still be unique. We want to have similarities but not be the same.

For me, religion is a classic example of where people can find unity and common ground, or common beliefs. A couple of weeks ago, I tried out the whole religion thing. I've not been bought up in a religious family, nor was my school particularly religious- although we sang hymns such. Prayer time was more of an opportunity to sit with my eyes half shut whilst sneakily looking around to see who was genuinely into this praying malarkey, and then usually discovering that the rest of the school was doing the same.

So this was my experience. My boyfriend has been bought up in a very religious family and for him, popping off to church for the evening, was probably equated to the ease at which I could pop off to the pub. But church for me was quite an event, so I took the plunge one week and went with him.

We got fed (great!) and it was cheap (very great!), but I have to say I was quite surprised to see a bunch of Christian grandma's dishing out rice and vegetables, with a decent sized lump of chicken breast on each plate. “That's funny”, I thought, “They've managed to get God’s permission to eat his creatures. There must be some sort of arrangement, where they spread his love and he lets them know it's ok to eat chicken”. Still I know that Jesus ate fish and if it's good enough for him….

After the food, the vicar got up and did a presentation about Jesus and how we can know that he really existed. It was a good presentation. The vicar was quite charismatic and pretty funny, too. Afterwards, we sat at our tables having a chat about what the vicar had talked about. It seemed all the regulars were pretty sold on what the vicar had said. I felt like a troublemaker by throwing some new ideas into the agenda. It's not that I didn't believe that Jesus walked the earth, in my opinion, he probably did. But I don't think he was the only smart spiritual being to have ever set foot on our planet. There's a lot of convincing stuff about other religious folk from other religions. This concept wasn't welcomed I found. Now, don't get me wrong, they were a nice bunch and no one accused me of being in cahoots with the devil, when I told them that I'm a hypnotist (although that has happened since!) When they began to discuss the power of prayer, and I linked this to a higher consciousness rather than a higher being, I knew I was pushing my luck.

Life is filled with possibilities, all the time in everything that you ever do or say. You have an abundance of other possibilities you can take. How then, could anything you ever do, be wrong or sinful? Would someone so great, powerful and majestic as God really spend his time watching a DVD of each of us throughout our entire lives, ready to place judgment on us when our time is up, and tell us if we're spending the rest of eternity in his kingdom or in the fiery furnace of hell? That's a tough call. How would He ever decide? Some people have done some really bad stuff, but they might have done it with a positive intention.

You're probably guessing by now that I am in no way qualified to speak about religion. I don't claim to be, but bear with me.

My other concern for a long time has been that there are a lot of good people in the world. Surely then, heaven must be suffering from over crowding, not least from the vast array of rabbits, hamsters, and goldfish I've had over the years, that my nan told me had all gone to heaven when they'd popped their clogs. I guess there are dead architects up there, god must have gotten them to create a high rise building like they have in China. Especially since Jesus said that the entire kingdom of heaven is smaller than the mustard seed.

If you were married and your partner died, then you met someone else and got married again, which partner do you end up spending the rest of eternity with when you die?

In my confusion, I decided to relate what I'd learned to the presuppositions of NLP, since they have for me for the last few years, been my bible.

This is what I came up with.

Everyone has a unique model of the world. This could mean that what you absolutely believe to be true is true, (for you at least), so if one person has absolute belief in god, then he exists, and if someone else believes that he doesn't then, for that person, he doesn't.

The map is not the territory. In quantum physics, the whole contains the part and the part contains the whole. In the same way that an apple contains a part, which is just a seed, the seed contains all the information required growing into a tree and creating further apples. So I could be god (it has been said!) at the quantum level. When I die the tiniest quantum part of me that remains, could be god, who has the power to create further things.

The meaning of all behavior is dependent upon the context it exists in. This might means that there is no judgment at death.

All behavior has a positive intention and everyone one is doing the best that they can with the resources that they have available. No hell maybe?

Everyone has all the resources they need to succeed and to achieve their desired outcome. Knock and the door shall be opened unto you.

There is no failure only feedback. My flesh and my heart may fail, but god is my strength forever.

I'd never thought about NLP as a spiritual tool before, more as a series of change techniques, but this ever-evolving subject continually inspires me to take on new perspectives in my life. I'm thinking now about starting up a spiritual group- no not a cult! - Something where people can meet together and discuss their ideas about the meaning of life, etc. It will probably create more questions than answer, but what's the harm in that. When we think we know the answer to something, we become cut off from all of the other possible answers. When we have only questions, we also have the wealth of possible answers - you might like to call that confusion! Possibilities create many opportunities. I suppose the one thing that I discovered about my introduction to religion, is that sometimes religion is about stating what you can and can't do, say or believe, how you should or shouldn't behave, and this could limit life's opportunities. I'd like to be part of something that is open to limitless possibilities of being. I think that that's the way god would like me to be.

Welcome to People Building, a self-development company dedicated to inspiring growth, progression and better results in your life. The mind, body and human behaviour have fascinated us for many years now. It is our privilege to present to you authentic NLP and Hypnosis training for the betterment of your skills in Business, Education, Therapy and many other areas. Our unique trainings have been designed as one of the most innovative trainings available in the NLP field of learning. We will never cease to evolve, and it gives me great pleasure, to invite you with us on this epic adventure.

http://www.peoplebuilding.co.uk
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By Paul Levesque

All businesses that out perform their competitors have two key characteristics in common: a highly energized workforce, plus hordes of delighted customers that keep coming back. Two nice things to have - but of course everyone knows the reason so few businesses enjoy a clear competitive advantage is because these two things are so difficult to achieve. If it’s really that difficult, shouldn’t those few businesses that manage to pull it off be absolutely exhausted by the effort? When you take a closer look, (as I have), at those rare businesses that consistently achieve both objectives - flashpoint businesses, as I refer to them - what you invariably see is just the opposite. Employees at all levels seem perpetually fired up, as if every day they’re engaged in some kind of fun group activity. Is there some big secret about "energized workers" and "delighted customers" that these flashpoint businesses understand, and everyone else seems to have missed?

There most certainly is. It has to do with what most people consider the basic difference between "work" and "play". The first step on a shortcut to competitive advantage is to understand the specific elements that make play so much more satisfying than work.

Play Element 1: Challenge

Achieving better bowling scores would be easier if the bowling pins were closer. On the other hand, who would pay to go to a bowling alley where anyone could knock down all the pins every time with ease? Knocking them all down over and over again would quickly begin to feel like the kind of repetitive, pointless activity most bowlers experience at their jobs, and go bowling precisely to get away from it. To be fun, it has to be a real challenge—that’s key.

In most workplaces, there is not one single well-defined “mission” that takes precedence over everything else. Instead, there are all kinds of tasks, objectives, and deadlines that often make workers feel they’re being pulled in a dozen directions at once. For many, the only real challenge on the job is resisting the temptation to quit.

Contrast this with flashpoint businesses, where the one crystal-clear overriding mission is to draw business away from competitors by attempting to delight every customer every time. In these businesses, the reason it looks like workers are having fun is because in many ways their work feels like a game with a single, challenging, shared objective.

Shortcut to Competitive Advantage, Part One: Challenge everyone in your business to think of -outperforming the competition through superior “customer care” as the primary objective that overrides all others at all times.






Play Element 2: Rules

Every play activity has it own elaborate set of rules. In a new game, even before play begins, all the rules are carefully spelled out. These rules add to the challenge, and keep the game fair for all.

In the work setting, the rules are often vague and unclear. They may even seem to shift and change from time to time, based on different situations as they arise. Workers often feel reluctant to take initiatives, unsure if doing so will later earn them praise (for “thinking outside the box”) or rebukes (for “breaking the rules”). They tend to adopt a play-it-safe approach.

By comparison, most flashpoint businesses spell out their values and their priorities—the rules—over and over again. “Your goal is to delight the customer, but not by doing anything that harms the organization in any way.” “We want to pull business away from our competitors, but never in an unlawful or underhanded way.”

Shortcut to Competitive Advantage, Part Two: Ensure that your workers understand how the game is to be played—how, for example, you will be giving them opportunities to come up with their own ideas for enhancing the customer experience. Clarify what constitutes a “foul” or a violation of the rules.

Play Element 3: Scoring

In play activities of every kind, there exists some sort of scoring mechanism that lets the players know immediately how well they’re doing. This immediacy is critical. How popular would bowling be if the pins were in the dark, and players never found out their score, how well they played, until it arrived in the mail weeks later?

This is what it feels like for most workers on the job. They don’t find out how well they’re doing until the “quarterly reports” come out, or until their annual performance evaluation meeting.

Things are different in flashpoint businesses. There, spontaneous positive feedback from happy customers becomes the number-one scoring mechanism. At the same time it also serves as the number-one employee motivator, the basis for endless internal celebration and recognition.

Shortcut to Competitive Advantage, Part Three: Harvest immediate positive customer feedback by every means at your disposal, (especially informal face-to-face conversation), and direct as much of this feedback as possible to your workers.






Play Element 4: Satisfaction

Bowlers know before every game that they won’t succeed in knocking down every pin every time. Players in every kind of game know they’ll never achieve a perfect score—but this does nothing to diminish their attempts to do so. When their score tells them their performance has moved closer to the unachievable goal, their feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment is profound. There’s shouting, ‘high-fives’ and every kind of exuberant victory dance imaginable.

Flashpoint businesses also know they won’t succeed in delighting every customer every time. When the feedback indicates they’ve moved closer to that unattainable objective, the same kind of cheering and celebration erupt. It’s something that’s almost never experienced in the majority of workplaces, and it’s something that’s almost routine in flashpoint businesses. They once again have beaten the opposing team, once again the dance of victory unites all of them in their shared accomplishment—and in their shared determination to repeatedly play the game, and strive together to win another round.

Shortcut to Competitive Advantage, Part Four: Create a culture of celebration that maximizes workers’ sense of accomplishment with every “rave review” from delighted customers. This is the motivational fuel that quickly gains the most powerful competitive edge in any business—and helps sustain it over the long term.

Customer-focus consultant Paul Levesque’s latest book is, Customer Service From The Inside Out Made Easy (Entrepreneur Press, 2006).

Copyright Paul Levesque. All Rights Reserved.

Paul Levesque is available for speaking engagements through http://www.keynoteresource.com 1-800-420-4155. Paul Levesque has more than 20 years' experience as an international customer-service consultant. He has helped hundreds of corporate and small business clients become more customer-focused.
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By: Gary Foreman

Gwen writes: “What’s going on? This month on two separate credit card statements, there are notices informing us that as of October 1, we may be charged ‘more than two’ late fees or ‘over the limit’ fees per month.”

It is estimated that Americans have charged $1.8 trillion in 2005 on the 690 million credit cards outstanding. According to a Government Accountability Office study released in September 2006, 13% of credit card users were assessed over-limit fees and 35% were assessed late fees in 2005. So Gwen has a lot of company.

Let's try to do three things. First, understand what these fees are. Second, see how fees are changing. Third, what can Gwen do to keep from being hurt?

Credit cards have always had fees, such as, late payments. This is understandable. Other fees came along as credit cards took on new capabilities; cash advances and balance transfer fees. Still others should not seem possible; like over-limit fees. You would think they would not allow you to borrow more than your limit.

There are also 'penalty interest rates'. If you're late with a payment or go over your credit limit you could see your rate bumped to 30% or more.

The 2006 GAO study looked at fees and penalties. It said that not only were fees increasing, but also the credit card companies were doing a lousy job of informing consumers about those fees.

The credit card companies are obligated to tell you about any fees or penalties and how they're triggered. Some fees, like paying your credit card bill by phone, are sometimes not clearly disclosed. What Gwen received with her statement was a notice of a change in how fees would be charged. As long as she is notified, they can get by with almost anything.

Late fees have nearly tripled in the last 11 years. And many cards have adopted a 'universal default clause' that says a late payment on any card will trigger the penalty interest rate.

Credit card companies say that the higher interest rates and fees are appropriate based on risk factors. If it weren't for the higher fees, they claim that they wouldn't be able to offer credit to riskier consumers.

In fairness, the GAO's survey found that (at least among 6 of the largest card issuers) 80% of accounts paid interest rates of less than 20%. So the vast majority of card users are not paying penalty rates.

The study also found that the disclosures were written well above the eighth grade reading level and (surprise!) featured small print. They recommended that the Federal Reserve Board revise rules on credit card disclosures.

Now that we understand what's going on, we can try to help Gwen avoid problems:
1. Recognize the card issuers get to make most of the rules. Whether those rules are fair or not isn't relevant. The best she can do is to avoid getting hurt by those rules.
2. Get familiar with each account. The only way to know exactly what's allowed is to read and understand the "Card Member Agreement." Tough duty, but necessary!
3. Watch out for unexpected fees; like balance transfers or increasing your credit limit. Know what could trigger fees or penalty rates.
4. Know exactly when your payment is due. Keep a list of due dates for your credit card accounts. If you don't get the bill, it is your responsibility to contact the company and still make a timely payment.
5. If possible, the best thing is to join nearly half of the cardholders who paid little or no interest. That's because they do not carry a balance.
6. Obviously, for many people that's not immediately possible. It is important to send in your payment as soon as possible. Being seven days early is better than being one day late.
7. If you find it difficult to get your payment in on time, you might want to authorize the credit card company to automatically debit your checking account for the minimum payment each month. You'll probably pay for the service, but that way the payment can't be late.
8. Talk to your card issuer. If you’re due date falls at a bad time of the month, they'll move it.
9. If Gwen is near or over the limit on any card, she should try to shift part of the debt to a different card. Some fees are even being assessed when an account is merely getting too close to the limit. Your best bet is to keep balances to less than half the available credit.

Although the higher late fees are infuriating, they do minimal damage. The real problem is in the universal default clause. Most credit card accounts now have a universal default clause.

Suppose your rate went from 15% to 30% on every open credit account. For every $1,000 you owe, an extra $150 interest would be charged each year. So if you're the type of person carrying a $10,000 balance, that one late payment could cost you $1,500 per year. For as long as you have the balance!

Gwen needs to pay close attention to her credit card accounts. With newer fees and penalty rates in place, it becomes more important to manage your credit. In fact, it's critical to your financial ‘well-being’.

Gary Foreman is a former financial planner who currently edits The Dollar Stretcher website. If you'd like to stretch your day or your dollar visit today! You'll find hundreds of articles to help you "live better...for less". View their website at: http://www.stretcher.com
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By Wiley Long

The year 2007 is here. There are several issues to consider if you currently have a Health Savings Account (HSA), or are planning on getting one in the near future.

The deposit you place in your HSA is 100% deductible on your federal income taxes. HSA contributions are tax-deductible on state income taxes, except in four states. If you’re looking to reduce your 2006 tax burden and put more money away for retirement, your HSA is the first place to consider putting your money if you have not yet maximized your contribution.

The maximum that can be contributed to your HSA in 2006 is the lesser amount of your deductible, or $2,700 for single persons, and $5,450 for families. Individuals, who are age 55 or older, may contribute an additional $700. Be aware, the contribution limits are pro-rated, based on the number of complete months during the year in which you have a qualifying HSA health insurance plan.

The deadline is April 15, (or later if you file for an extension), to make your 2006 contribution. If you do not fully fund your account for the current year, you can’t make a “catch-up” contribution for 2006 after this deadline. However, you can reimburse yourself in later years for qualified expenses incurred in 2006, even if you don’t have the funds in your account to reimburse yourself at this time.

In 2007, the maximum annual HSA contribution will go up to $2,850 for individuals and $5,650 for families. Individuals 55 or older will be allowed to contribute an additional $800.

It is also important to have your HSA-qualified health coverage in place no later than January 1, to maximize your tax benefit for 2007

To pay for a medical expense from your HSA, it must be a qualified expense. Some of these qualified expenses include: dental expenses, eyeglasses, chiropractic visits, over-the-counter medications, and sometimes even nutritional supplements.

Make sure you have an accurate record of your medical expenses for the year. Separate the expenses for which you have reimbursed yourself from your HSA from those that you have paid for out-of-pocket. Keep receipts for all medical expenditures paid from your HSA with your 2006 tax records. Place the "non-reimbursed medical expenses" in a separate file, and keep these receipts with the concurrent year's tax records with the year you decide to reimburse yourself.

There is a 6% penalty for over-funding your HAS. You have until April 15, 2007 to withdraw excess funds for the 2006 tax year to avoid this penalty. Your HSA administrator may notify you of any over-funding, however, they are under no obligation to do so. It is your responsibility! Make sure you check into this if you think your may have over-funded you account.

The minimum deductibles for HSA-compatible health insurance plans in 2006 were $1,050 for individuals, and $2,100 for families. This amount will increase to $1,100 for individuals, and $2,200 for families in 2007. If you currently have an HSA-qualified plan with the lowest eligible 2006 deductible, this deductible will automatically go up on January 1 to the new minimum.

Strategies to Maximize Your Tax Benefits

There are basically three different strategies you can take to decide how to fund your health savings account:

1. Put no money in the account, except when you incur a medical expense. This strategy allows you to legally "launder" any money used to pay medical expenses. By depositing money into your HSA, then immediately withdrawing it to reimburse yourself for medical expenses, you’re making all your medical expenses tax-deductible. Use this strategy if you are on a tight budget and need to keep your cash outlay as low as possible.

2. Fully fund the account, or put in as much as possible, based on your budget. When medical expenses are incurred, take money out of the account to cover your costs. Then let the rest grow tax-deferred. This strategy will maximize your tax deduction, while making your HSA funds available to pay any non-covered medical expenses before your deductible is met.

3. Fully fund the account, but pay all medical expenses from a non-HSA account. Reimburse yourself for medical expenses at a later date. This strategy will allow you to maximize your tax deduction, and also allow you to maximize the tax-deferred growth of your HSA. You can reimburse yourself, tax-free, at any time in the future for medical expenses incurred over the ensuing years.

To maximize the potential growth of your funds, you may want to make your 2007 deposits as early in the year as possible. Any growth in your account is tax-deferred, like an IRA. If possible, plan to make your deposits the first week in January.


Wiley Long - President, HSA for America (http://www.health--savings--accounts.com) - The nation's leading independent health insurance firm specializing in Health Savings Plans that works with Health Savings Accounts.
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