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The Internet has changed our lifestyle to such a great extent that we rely on it for every little thing we are involved in. In fact, it is one of the best ways to get connected with our family and friends, as we are constantly swinging between the pendulum of time and work. The latest method of staying connecting is social media optimization. It is, in fact, a perfect way to churn out endless profits. Moreover, the internet is a huge platform for sharing information and interacting.

Social media optimization has become one of the most popular methods through which one can interact and gain knowledge on various serious and miscellaneous topics and issues. It has, in fact, raised the level of internet services by enhancing the visibility of the site and at the same time getting the site a higher rank amongst the famous search engines like Google, MSN and Yahoo. Social media optimization, however, involves carefully planned and laid-out strategies that help many websites in gaining popularity and more business. What exactly is social media optimization? Well, it is a set of methods that generate publicity through the internet and connect online communities and websites together.

Social media optimization is possibly the best method to attract traffic to your website. Today, many businessmen prefer business conducted through social media optimization as it gives an edge over various other publicity methods. In fact, search engine marketing firms have certainly made social media optimization an excellent medium of interaction. With the evolution of information technology, net savvy people frequently visit a number of websites to get knowledge and the appeal of social media optimization is that it acts as an interactive platform. You have most likely come across videos uploaded on various sites that also offer blogging services, forums and discussion panels that further enhances the effect of social media optimization. In addition, social media optimization uses viral marketing techniques that spread their word across the web.

In this instance, the sole purpose is to get people talking about a product, service or an idea. The conventional method of word-of-mouth serves as the publicity vehicle that in turn popularizes the website amongst the users. The various other techniques utilized by social media optimization include video and photo sharing, social bookmarking and blogging. In social media optimization, the emphasis is laid upon the elevation of the link-ability of the website that encourages the inbound links. Social media optimization additionally creates tags and book marks for the website so that it becomes user friendly and is accessed 24 hours a day. With this, the user is able to bookmark it easily as well as go back to it whenever required without any hassle or trouble. Hence, the visitor attains a comfort level with the website. As a result, the website will get recognition and simultaneously gain popularity amongst the internet users. The purpose of social media optimization will be achieved. Therefore, the website will be able to create its own space amongst various search engines and also earn a rank as a top website.

Steve Waganer has specialization in Web Marketing. He is expert in Search engine optimization,Search engine marketing, [http://www.cometsearchenginemarketing.com/social_media_optimization.html]Social media optimizationTo get the SEO tips from SEO firm for your website to get high rank and top position in major search engines visit http://www.cometsearchenginemarketing.com.]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_CNa_311/user/index.php
By Jenn Richards

If you are looking to make money online, or to make more money via the net, it is important to make sure you are getting the highest possible amount from every sale you send. The payment variations between the programs you choose can mean the difference between a successful online marketing career, and a frustrating waste of time and effort.

The differences in affiliate programs' payouts can be immense. Some will pay a tiny percentage and will not credit you with further sales. Others pay commissions in the hundreds of dollars for a single sale, and credit you with any further purchases from the customers you send to them. Generating quality traffic is not easy, so why push those hard-earned visitors towards sponsors who will only pay you a few dollars per sale.

Contrary to the old business cliché, in internet marketing, "what you know" is very important indeed. Finding the amazing opportunities is not easy. It is a competitive market. When marketers strike a golden niche, they are going to keep quiet about it. So how do you find the high paying niche products? You can check industry forums, hoping for a generous soul to give up the goods, but it is not likely to happen. The good news is there are affiliate membership sites designed to inform you on the latest, most profitable opportunities. Successful affiliate marketing is dependant on three factors:

1. The market potential - The size of the market, the competition, and the quality of the offering
2. The profit potential - What is the cost per sale? What is your commission?
3. The support you receive to promote the product.

A site addresses these factors head on. A team of e-commerce professionals guide affiliate marketers towards some of the most profitable products to promote on the net. It has produced www.MakingYouRicher.com (MYR). MYR Membership comes with a guide to create sites that sell, and how to profit from just about any niche. The members' area updates with highly profitable offerings, as they find them, and they supply all the tools required to start.

The products they find can pay as much as $175 for a single sale, and with free website templates and professionally written content, you do not need to be an expert in the niche to get started. MYR's reputation is impressive, with some of their members making up to US $80k per month in commission.

If you are interested in learning more about affiliate marketing, or are experienced, but looking for something extra, visit their site today - www.makingyouricher.com

Visit www.MoreNiche.com or
Email MN at support@moreniche.com for more info.

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By Angela Bailey

Bill finished college in May. It was a beautiful ceremony, and the culmination of many hard years of study. “So what are you going to do now?” I asked him, over a cup of coffee in a local cafe. “Get a resume together and start looking for jobs” he replied. That’s the reply of about 99% of the people graduating from college. It’s the way we are socially programmed to think. It’s the same thing everybody else does. This doesn’t necessarily make it the right thing to do. I believe if you have a reasonable amount of intelligence and an entrepreneurial spirit, there are far better ways to make a living. People have the attitude that I need to work hard to support my family. In my opinion, it’s all for nothing, if you can only enjoy time with your family a small portion of your life. When I am gone, I don’t want my kids to know me as a good provider, I want to be remembered as a good father. I cannot be a good father when I am a serving and making another person wealthy and I am never around to interact with them.

Goals

The first thing you need to accomplish is to set some goals for yourself, I can’t stress enough how important goals are in your life, set personal goals and spiritual goals. Goals will give you something to shoot for. Write them down and read them everyday. Don’t set unrealistic goals (i.e. I want to make 20,000 a month in three months). Start small young man and meet the reachable goal. Then set another one and meet that. Be specific in your goals and structure the steps to meet them; don’t write a goal like…I want to be a millionaire. We all want to be millionaires, but we have to be a thousandaires first. There are plenty of books and articles on writing goals. Your first assignment or goal will be to write down a set of goals, the steps to reach them, and read them everyday. It will be the motivation to keep you on track.

Your Passion

What is your passion? What do you have or what can you create that others will pay you for? Can you create art that people would love to have hanging in their home? Can you create music that others would love to listen to? Can you write computer programs that others just can’t live without? Can you make beautiful websites? Can you write informational articles? There are no limits, choose something that you are very passionate about that others will pay you for, and then monetize it. At first, you might have to get a job while you monetize your passion. Take baby steps to start a goal to make an additional $10.00 a month with your passion. Once you reach it, bump it up to $50.00, keep this momentum going until you are able to quit your regular job and do your passion full-time. Then you will be successful






Obstacles

Ponder these next seven words carefully, “As you think, so shall you be.” Thoughts are things, if you think you can, then you will. If you think you can’t, then you won’t. Get rid of the obstacles that you have conditioned yourself to believe. It drives me crazy when you hear people sabotage themselves by blaming things that have happened in the past for the reason they cannot succeed in the future…I’m not smart enough, I never had a chance, I was raised in the ghetto, I’m too poor, I’m too short, too old, too young… enough with the excuses. Quit using other people and other events for excuses why you can’t do something or are unable to succeed; it’s all too easy to do this. The other choice takes a little effort and in reality the person down deep inside really doesn’t want to change or improve themselves, they just want to use excuses. Think about this parable; imagine yourself in the back of a truck riding down a dirt road. You are now standing in the bed of this truck looking out the back seeing the trail in the dirt from the tires. These tracks in the dirt are your past. Now think about what is moving the truck forward, it’s the engine. Consider this engine as the driving force of YOU, to improve your life, to become successful. Now ask yourself, do the tracks the tires are leaving in the dirt make the truck go forward? The answer, of course, is NO; so enough with the excuses of things that have happened in the past. It is now time to start moving forward.

Residual or Passive Income

When another company owns you, in other words trading your time for money, you only get paid while you are working. Wouldn’t it be nice to make money all the time? This is the definition of passive or residual income. The simplest example of this is having money in a mutual fund drawing interest. It doesn’t matter if you’re sleeping, eating, playing with your kids, or whatever, you are always making money. This is what you must set in place to make a living and be able to do what you enjoy doing. Again, going back to your passion; write a software program and put it on a web site where people can pay for it and download it, so it will generate money at all times. Put some photographs on a site that people can buy, create a web site that generates a massive amount of visitors and sell your ad space. There are thousands of ways to create residual income, try them out to see which ones work for you. Generate multiple sites, put different items on them, and get rid of the ones that don’t work, and keep and duplicate the ones that do.

Success and Failure

“Before success comes in any man’s life he is sure to meet with much temporary defeat and, perhaps, some failures. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and most logical thing to do is quit. That is exactly what the majority of men do.” - Napoleon Hill

“Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.”- Roger Crawford

“Defeat never comes to anyone until they admit it.”- Josephus Daniels

“Develop success from failures. Discouragement and failure are two of the surest stepping-stones to success.”- Dale Carnegie

Keep in mind if you are not failing, then you are not moving forward, so don’t get discouraged, keep the ‘strong will’ going and you are destined to succeed. One of the biggest fears that will go through your mind is…I don’t have anything to offer others, maybe, getting a job is the best option for me. Don’t fall into this line of thinking; it is part of the social programming you are accustomed to. You already know that getting a job is not the option you want to take. Don’t listen to others who try and discourage you, “That is crazy talk, that won’t work, just get a job!” The reason so many people, including family members, try to discourage you, is that when you try to do something to better yourself, it makes others feel guilty. You’ve heard the old saying, ‘Misery Loves Company’; they try to discourage you. Learn to trust your Intuition, even if the whole world is telling you it can’t be done. Years from now, when you look back as a successful Work at Home entrepreneur, you will be grateful you had the intestinal fortitude to stay on the straight and narrow and become a success.

Angela Bailey lives in Houston, TX with her 4-year-old son. She does freelance writing and Internet Marketing for a living. Her hobbies include Yoga, Meditation, and Cooking. Angela's Blog lists legitimate work from home opportunities go to http://findworkfromhome.com.
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By Robert Wilkinson

This article is geared towards small and medium enterprises requiring runs of 100,000 pieces or less. The same advice applies to larger runs too, but it's not quite as big an issue. On the larger runs, the high setup costs I mention below are more easily absorbed into the entire costs of the job and may only contribute 10-20% to the job cost. On smaller runs, tooling and setup costs can easily make up over 50% of the cost of envelope production.

Having worked in the direct mail industry for a number of years, I've seen many mistakes made, some avoidable, some not so. I can honestly say that one of the most frequent and most avoidable errors I've seen made is not applying any thought to the envelope until the last minute. A little forward planning in this respect can save a lot of frustration, and ultimately a lot of money. You can also achieve a lot more with envelope design if you have time and some good advice from your friendly envelope manufacturer.

There is a primer on envelope production here, which will give you an indication of why it's a bad idea to leave it until the last minute. In brief though, envelope machines are big! They can take hours to set up, and it's still very much a case of Allen keys and spanners to adjust them. Special sizes can be enormously expensive to produce unless the quantity of envelopes required is very large.

Many disciplines make up a direct mail pack of which envelope production is only one. When compared to other areas, such as copywriting or printing of the inserts, the production of the envelope can seem insignificant. Thinking this way has the potential to be a big mistake.

The envelope may seem insignificant, and in terms of cost, the envelope quite possibly is one of the most insignificant parts of the pack. Realistically though, you can't send the pack without an envelope. Your carefully designed, printed, and copy written pack has very little value until you have an envelope because you can't send it until you have one.

So, when you plan your pack, think about the envelope at the same time and ask yourself a few questions.

Does the size of the pack that you have designed correspond with a slightly larger sized envelope available from a wholesaler? If it does, then good, but you're still not home and dry yet.

If a stock envelope is available, do you need to print it? You almost certainly will if it's a bulk mailing. Overprinting is a cheap option for stock envelopes but is your design suitable to overprint? Some considerations and compromises must be made for overprinting envelopes, and especially for overprinting envelopes in four colors. These are too numerous to mention, but any professional envelope overprinting company will be able to advise on this.

At this stage, you may have established that your envelope design can be overprinted, and that you have a stock envelope easily available. If that's the case, you can rest easy.

You may, have discovered however, that a stock envelope isn't available, or your design isn't suitable to overprint. If that's the case, you need to be thinking about a special making of bespoke envelopes. In this instance, pre-printing your envelopes as flat sheets becomes a possibility and you can also overprint on bespoke envelopes, but the actual making is now a major consideration.

There are two main kinds of envelope production, reel fed and blank (pre-cut envelope shapes) fed. It's unlikely that you will be able to make the envelope from the reel since you have already established that there isn't a stock envelope available, or that you can't overprint. In either of these scenarios, it's likely that you will need to produce an envelope from blanks.

With blank fed production, you need to check for availability of a cutting tool. These are extremely expensive to make, and there can be very long lead times. If you want to avoid the cost of this tooling, then early planning will see you obtaining a list of cutting tools from your envelope supplier, that are close to the size you need. Provided tooling is available, you then need to ensure your envelope is ready in good time.

Again, the simplest advice is to plan. Find yourselves a reliable and knowledgeable envelope producer and ask their advice at the earliest opportunity. If they know their onions, then they will be able to advise how to stay within any budget you may have, artwork specifications to work with, and when you need to think about ordering. Lead times can be surprisingly long in the envelope world, and you don't want to be the unfortunate soul who has to order bespoke envelopes at the last minute. You can bet it will cost you extra to do so.

Robert Wilkinson is the owner of http://www.arhiann.com, a design, print and direct mail company specializing in direct marketing and envelope production for SMEs.

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by Tywford Lamai

If I were to hazard a guess, I'd wager on the likelihood that you have come across the word "ClickBank" during your foray through the jungle of Internet affiliate marketing, right?

So -- just who or what is this "ClickBank"? That's what we are here to discover today!

ClickBank is the Internet's leading retailer of digital products. ClickBank is also the Internet's largest digital marketplace, where thousands of the Web's most popular digital products are sold every single day.

Whether you're looking to buy, sell, or promote digital products, ClickBank is for you!

Affiliate marketing is one of the most popular businesses online. This is a business where you earn a right to share profits with a merchant (product owner) -- in the form of affiliate commissions -- for sending targeted traffic to his/her product sales page.

The most common and popular type of affiliate marketing is called Pay-Per-Sale: This is a form of affiliate marketing where you are paid for every sale generated from a customer/visitor who lands on a product sales page via your affiliate link. This is very simple in theory -- find a very good converting product, market this product, and collect/cash your commission checks!

"Make $10,517! -- in 24 hrs -- Guaranteed!" -- You see adverts and promotions like this on the Internet DAILY! Success stories that describe a from-rags-to-riches miracle which happened by peddling a "highly converting" digital product!

Needless to say, not all such stories are true, but that is not to say that affiliate marketing wealth is impossible either! -- it is very possible to become very wealthy selling other people's products. All you need is the "know how."

How do all of these people link to ClickBank? And who are ClickBank's private army?

Promoting products and receiving commissions for sales is made possible and relatively easy by ClickBank! Currently boasting an "army" of well over 100,000+ affiliate marketers, ClickBank is a force to reckon with if you are hoping to carve a niche in the dangerous and highly-competitive terrain of Internet affiliate marketing!

ClickBank also boasts of a list of over 11,000 products with affiliate commissions as high as 75%! You'll also appreciate their fast & accurate tracking system and dependable payment services -- every two weeks without fail!

They've never missed a scheduled payment!

Not an affiliate marketer but a product owner you say? Well, check this out:

You can sell your digital products today hassle-free! Just leverage over 100,000 ClickBank affiliate marketers to find customers for your digital products and multiply your profits. Account setup is simple & fast. If you try them out, you'll find out why over 10,000 publishers/merchants already trust ClickBank.

When it comes to customer support, ClickBank has established an experienced support team dedicated to your success. Their customer service representatives are available to quickly and effectively resolve your account setup, maintenance and order related support needs.

Army huh? How do they keep track of who is who?

Clickbank uses a technology aptly named "hoplink" -- you know, like people use your hoplink to hop onto their Website :) This is how they ensure that an affiliate is properly credited for his marketing efforts.

To take advantage of the highly lucrative offers from all the merchants registered with ClickBank, you must first register. To do this, you will go to ClickBank.com and click on the signup link.

After you sign up, you will be given a username (chosen by you) and you can then begin the process of choosing what you want to market/promote. You are now officially a member of the highly elite affiliate marketing/combatant force of clickbank!

Welcome!

You will have noticed that becoming a member of ClickBank's army is not difficult. Now, what is difficult is making those affiliate checks consistently. If you can't achieve this no-mean-feat, you won't remain an affiliate marketer for long because you will give up out of frustration and throw in the towel!

But thank God there are many ways to promote the products listed in the ClickBank marketplace!

How do you find those products? Well that's why I am here ain't it?

How about I make a deal with you? Interested?

Alright. I know a guy who is in the business of helping affiliate marketers earn their very first commission and continues helping them until they become tired or bored! I am willing to introduce you to him IF you are really interested (***Please only for interested affiliates or to-be affiliates!)

For more details on this offer please see the resource box...

Happy affiliate marketing to you. Chao!

Why settle for promoting only ONE product when you can make BOAT-LOADS of CASH marketing 100,000+ products with ONE affiliate ID Guaranteed!? Did I mention that it IS FREE? Visit http://www.brainboxcorp.com/index.html NOW to claim your FREE ClickBank Portal!

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by James White

If you're reading this article, there is a big chance you're part of the 95%. The good news is -- you don't have to be. The problem is, most people don't PAY ATTENTION.

Let me explain.

When you surf the Web, you click on sites that catch your eye. Even when you surf for credits, when you come across a site you like, you may opt in for their E-mail newsletter.

This is were you should be paying attention!

What was it that made you click that link, opt in for the newsletter or even join up? Take note of what phrases they used. What message did they portray to get you interested?

Then, create your own slogan or cover letter portraying the same message, but written differently. Doing this will help you become a better marketer and create better ads for whatever purpose you need -- for opt-in lists, E-zine ads, articles, cover pages, etc.

It is almost impossible to market something online unless you offer a free product, special offer, or a free E-mail course.

Where most people seem to fail is getting at their target market, such as Internet marketers or people already searching for a product to buy.

Trying to covert Internet marketers into your down line for any System is extremely hard. The reason for this is that they most likely already have a system that they are promoting and have their hands full. When marketing, try targeting a different market other than Internet marketers. This would include people new to Internet marketing or looking for an opportunity that really works, with testimonies or a free trial offer.

This sort of thing applies in ad words. This is something you will have to think about for yourself.

Another marketing technique is to relate to your customers or potential downline members. Slogans such as, "I was a broke loser, sound familiar?" "I tried this technique, now I earn 2000+ a day."

This WAS a good marketing strategy, but it has been overused lately and a lot of people have seen it. Now, a lot of people do actually make that much money online.

Letting people know how easy the system is and a brief honest overview of how it works and why it will work for them usually does the trick. Making things sound too good to be true doesn't usually work, as a lot of people are not easily convinced.

Say you actually have people in your downline, but it's not really going anywhere. This problem has a simple solution -- but it will also take a little work on your part.

Get in contact with them and I don't mean make an awkward phone call. E-mail is fine. Tell them one of the things that helped you build your downline then, at the end of the E-mail, say, "If this helped you, or if you need more assistance, please don't hesitate to contact me at example@emailsite.com.

Helping your prospects and customers succeed is the best possible thing you can do.

Sure -- you're giving away free information that may have taken you years to learn. The point of this is, by helping them succeed, you are improving your downline's success rate, ultimately increasing your own success.

This technique is very important and will keep people in your downline and hopefully increase their recruiting ability.

Hope this helps you break out of the 95% barrier.

This site brings me in a full-time income -- a realistic proven opportunity. Join now, and I will personally coach you http://www.recruitprofits.com/pips.html . After you join, just E-mail me at support@recruitprofits.com I will be more than willing to help you.

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This morning, I was contemplating the question of how many ezines (electronic magazines) were currently in circulation. So, I tried to do a bit of detective work.

* Newsletter Access (http://www.newsletteraccess.com/) has nearly 10,000 ezines listed in their database.

* PubList.com shows 150k in their database.

* The ISSN (International Standard Serial Number) database has so far registered more than one million periodicals, many of those being in the electronic format. (http://www.issn.org/)

No matter which set of numbers you follow, there are a lot of ezines competing with yours for the same set of readers.

With so much competition in the marketplace for ezine subscribers, it is imperative for us to learn how to develop a loyal following among our own subscribers. In this article, I examine a three ezines that are excelling in the marketplace and building a large and loyal following of readers. I will also look at three reasons why these three e-zines are doing so well.

The Electronic Newsletters That We Will Review...

1. Travel by Vasrue Weekly E-Magazine (http://travel.vasrue.com/newsletter/index.html)

2. Your Membership (http://www.yourmembership.net/)

3. SiteProNews (http://www.sitepronews.com/)

Original And Exclusive Content

All three of these electronic newsletters utilize original content at one level or another.

* Travel by Vasrue uses only exclusive, original travel content in their E-Magazine.

* The Your Membership newsletter, owned by AEO Publishing, Inc., provides a section of their newsletter for webmasters to submit websites for review, and then they print some of those reviews for their readers to consider. They also allow individuals to submit questions, and then they print the best answers submitted by their readers.

* SiteProNews, owned by Jayde Online, Inc., utilizes a lot of first-run, original content written by members of their staff, including articles written by Jim Hedger and Mel Strocen. Some of this content can be seen in other publications later, but you will always see it in SiteProNews first.

Exclusive content allows your ezine to stand far above all of your competitors. While free reprint articles (like this one) are a good source of information, most of your competitors rely solely on other people to create the content for their newsletters.

For most readers, this is not a big deal, except when the particular article used may have been read in competing ezines previously.

Readers tend to favor ezines that utilize exclusive or first-run content in their issues.

A Winning Formula

Successful ezines always have a specific format and formula for their publications.

* Travel by Vasrue focuses on giving their readers specific information that they can use to make good travel decisions. They also provide specific information regarding a choice of vacation options within the context of their currently discussed travel destination.

* The Your Membership newsletter focuses on offering their readers an opportunity to ask questions and to have those questions answered by other readers who have the knowledge to share.

* SiteProNews prefers to provide content that will point you to third-party resources that are related to the current topic.

Once an ezine has found their winning formula, that formula will become their trademark.

They Understand Their Readers

If you do not understand what your readers want from your newsletter, you will never be able to develop a profitable mailing list.

* Travel by Vasrue doesn't leave it to chance. They ask their readers what destinations they would be interested to find specific information. Then they deliver exactly what their readers have asked to receive.

* The Your Membership newsletter is offered on a dozen or so websites that cater specifically to the needs of webmasters who are looking to develop a commercially viable website. While the source of the subscription pretty much defines what their readers want to see in the newsletter, the fact that they rely on the Q&A process to fill their issues helps them to select articles that would be of real interest to their readers.

* SiteProNews is offered to the people who use Jayde Online's many free webmaster tools. Their newsletter caters to the needs of those commercial webmasters who are already utilizing their free tools.

In Conclusion...

Successful ezines are those that are willing to cater to the specific needs of their readers, and then they deliver their information in a consistent format. Successful ezines are also those that are willing to invest the extra time, effort and money into creating one-of-a-kind, original content for their readers to voraciously consume.

While those reprint articles are often very informative, I am sure that you hate it when you see the same article appear in a number of the ezines that you read. A once-in-a-while repeat article is all well and good, but if one ezine is consistently following in the footsteps of another ezine you read, then why would you want to keep reading the second?

The Your Membership newsletter has shown us that utilizing mostly reprint articles can prove successful, when you are willing to mix some other kinds of exclusive content with the free reprint articles. SiteProNews has shown us that you can be successful when you are willing to mix original, first-run articles with reprint articles.

By following the lead of those who have been successful before you, you might just find that you can build your mailing list to be a very profitable aspect of your overall enterprise. It is my hope that this free reprint article has given you some food for thought as to how to follow in the steps of those before you.

Bill Platt owns http://thePhantomWriters.com, which specializes in distributing free-reprint articles to ezine publishers and webmasters. He has been providing his services since 2001. You can reach Bill by phone at 405-780-7745 between the hours of 9am and 6pm CST, Monday through Friday. To learn about some of Bill's other services, please visit http://www.PlattServicesInc.com]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_CNa_311/user/index.php
by Dean Mercado

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While websites are a key component of Internet marketing, they are not the“be all, end all”. So here are 7 killer Internet marketing tools that you can implement on a shoestring budget without having to have a website of your own.

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When most people think of Internet marketing, they think solely of Websites. Are they right or wrong? Well -- both. While Websites are a key component of Internet marketing and, in many cases, they are the only Internet marketing tool businesses use, they are not the “be-all, end-all”. They are not required for Internet marketing. I do highly recommend them as they are best-suited to sit at the core of your Internet marketing plan, the hub. so to speak -- but that’s a topic for another conversation.

Here are 7 killer Internet marketing tools that you can implement on a shoestring budget without having to have a Website of your own:

1. E-mail Marketing – When properly implemented, there probably isn’t a quicker, better, and less expensive way to stay in front of your prospects and clients than to leverage the power of E-mail. You can literally touch an unlimited amount of prospects and clients with a single click – how’s that for power?!

2. Blogs – Blogging is a great tool when you would like to step it up a notch and stay in constant contact with your prospects and clients. Some ideas on how to use a blog: post what’s new with you or your business, post informative content as a value-add to your clients, or hold an interactive forum with your clients geared towards understanding how to better serve them.

There are a handful of free or low-cost blog hosts out there that really make this process simple (e.g. Blogger and TypePad).

3. Article Marketing – This is a phenomenal approach to bringing notoriety, interest and, ultimately, leads for many types of businesses. You can use article marketing as a major differentiator or value-add, literally telling the readers why they should buy from you, instead of your competitors. Whether your clients are local, regional, national or global -- articles are portable and usable in all situations -- that's part of their charm.

4. eZines – Much like blogs and article marketing, eZines are a great way to stay in touch with your prospects on a more scheduled basis. They are probably the forerunner in helping you develop a list of prospects, so you can easily market and sell your wares.

5. Affiliate Programs -- Get others promoting and selling for you. This tool can become the equivalent of having both a full-blown marketing and a sales staff that gets paid only on performance. If they don’t promote and directly lead to a sale for you, they don’t get paid.

For the do-it-yourselfers, there are plenty of tools to help you set up this type of program. For everyone else, there are excellent service providers who can coordinate and manage this process for you (e.g. Clickbank and Commission Junction).

6. Viral Marketing – Again, a great approach for getting others to promote and help create a buzz about you, your business, your products and/or your services. The best, most genuine way to get this started is by creating raving fans out of your existing clients and then helping them help you spread the word.

7. Public Relations – If I tell you I’m the best at what I do, you’ll take it with a grain of salt. Maybe you’ll believe me, maybe you won’t. However, people tend to believe what they read. If a respected publication tells you that I’m the best at what I do, that usually holds more weight and adds instant credibility to me.

Spend some effort here. Become a resource for the press. You help them and they can significantly help you.

I highly recommend you spend some time with these. Explore how you can implement one, some, or all of these Internet marketing tools to help explode your business.

© 2005 Online Marketing Muscle -- All Rights Reserved.

Online entrepreneur Dean Mercado, "The Motivational Marketer," is creator of the acclaimed 'Pumped-Up Networking' system geared to explode your business through professional relationships. To learn more about it and to sign up for his FREE eZine, the 'Marketing Minute' – a weekly multimedia eZine designed to give you a jolt of marketing wisdom in less than 5 minutes, visit www.OnlineMarketingMuscle.com.

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by Julia Gulevich

You own an online business and you know that, to make money, you need a list of people, a list of passionate buyers who are hungry for your offer and will devour it when you send it out.

How do you create such a list? And, even more important, how do you maintain your list of prospects? It's not as easy as you probably thought at first.

You must have a "squeeze page" where people opt-in to your list. On that page, you should tell your prospects that the information they provide will be kept private and that they will receive only the newsletters they subscribe to, but not a whole lot of spam from different sources.

Don't forget to use the double opt-in model, because people may not remember that they opted in to your list. Using the double opt-in method, you ensure that all people on your list gave you the permission to send them your E-mails.

Your auto-responder E-mail messages should be mini-sales letters, including a solid content, to keep your list subscribed. And, finally, you want to send the E-mails at a regular basis, but not too often, so your subscribers don't forget who you are or get overwhelmed by your messages -- even worse!

It requires time, testing and measuring to choose the right E-mail marketing strategy and set it up in the right way, but it is well worth the effort in the end.

Here are three simple-but-incredibly-important rules, to set you on the right path with an E-mail newsletter:

1. Keep the line width up to 65 characters.

Most people read many E-mails every day. Your purpose is to compose your E-mail message so that it is not boring or fatiguing to read. The last thing your recipient wants to do is scroll his eyes from one side of the screen to the other. No matter how good your content is, if it is fatiguing to read, it risks being abandoned after just a few lines.

The optimum width of the line is around 65 characters.

You just type 65 symbols, for example, asterisks or dashes, across the top, and then measure your text returns against this. MS Outlook Express, NoteTab and some other E-mail programs allow you set the line wrap to any character width you require, so you don't have to hit "enter" every time you think you need to.

Another thing to keep in mind is that some E-mail programs force line-wrapping at 60 to 65 characters on E-mails received. So, if you send an Email wrapped at 100 characters, your reader will receive an E-mail that is broken down and looks strange. This makes it look unprofessional.

2. Don't write in ALL CAPS.

It's bad E-mail etiquette. It's like you're shouting at your reader. Nobody likes to be shouted at and, if you are trying to sell something at the same time, you won't make any sales. Even worse, you may lose some subscribers.

Some caps, underlining and bolding is necessary -- but don't abuse it! Too many caps, exclamation points, underlining and bolding work against you. An E-mail all in caps would destroy the reader's confidence very quickly.

3. Check your spelling and grammar.

Have you ever seen a Website, sales page or E-mail with spelling mistakes? What do you think about the professionalism of the owner or E-mail sender?

Some people may not pay attention to the mistakes, but for some people, one spelling mistake will completely destroy the credibility of the message.

It is very important to spell check your messages before sending them. If you have someone else to proofread your message before you send them out it's even better. A fresh look always helps discover the slips and mistakes that you might miss.

Your reputation and sales are in direct proportion with your messages. The better your message is, the higher the credibility of your readers and, thus, more sales you make. So, take the time to get it absolutely right.

Julia Gulevich is a technical expert associated with development of email marketing program: Email Marketing Utilities. Did you find those tips useful? You can learn a lot more here HTML Email Newsletter Guide (http://www.htmlemailguide.com/).

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Everybody wants to make more money. In fact, most people would like to hit upon something that makes them fabulously rich! And, seemingly, one of the easiest roads to the fulfillment of these dreams of wealth is mail order or, within the professional circles of the business, direct mail selling. What scares most people away is the expense...but what if it could be done for Free?

One way is to write an article relative to your particular expertise and submit it to all the publications and media dealing in the dissemination of related information. In other words, become your own publicity and sales promotions writer. Get the word out; establish yourself as an expert in your field, and "tag-along" everything you write with a quick note listing your address for a catalog, dealership opportunity, or more information.

Another really good way is by becoming a guest on as many of the radio and television talk shows or interview-type programs as possible. Actually, this is much easier to bring about than most people realize. Write a letter to the producer of these programs, then follow up with an in-person visit or telephone call. Your sales copy should emphasize that your product or service would be of interest to the reader -- perhaps even saving them time and money.

Other ways of getting free or very inexpensive exposure include the posting of advertising circulars on all free bulletin boards in your area, especially the coin-operated laundries, grocery stores, and beauty and barber shops. Don't dismiss handing out circulars to all the shoppers in busy shopping centers and malls, especially on weekends. You can also enlist the aid of the middle school students in your area to had out circulars door-to-door.

Having a promotional ad relative to your product or service printed on the front or back of your envelopes at the time you have them printed with your return address is another of the more basic methods.

It is important to make note of all the trade journals or magazines that carry your type of advertising. Many mail order publications just getting started offer unusually low rates to first-time advertisers; a free-of-charge insertion of your ad when you pay for an order to run three issues or more; or special seasonal ad space at greatly reduced rates. And there are a number of publications that will give you Per Inquiry (PI) space--arrangement where all orders come in to the publication, they take a commission from each order, and then forward the orders on to you for fulfillment.

Many publications will give you a contract for space. In this arrangement you send them your ad, and they hold it until they have unsold space, and then at a price that's always one third or less the regular price for the space need, insert your ad. Along these lines, be sure to check in with the suburban neighborhood newspapers.

If you send out or publish any kind of catalog or ad sheet, get in touch will all the other publishers and inquire about the possibilities of exchange advertising. They run your ad in their publication in exchange for your running an ad for them of comparable size in yours.

Here's how to generate all the leads you'll ever want foryour network marketing business completely on autopilot andwithout talking to one single person. This is a breakthrough as admitted by some of the industry's top recruiters. If you're not using these secrets then you are working too hard. If one 26-yr old rookie could bank six-figures this year using these EXACT methods then this could be the break you've been looking for. http://chrissllvn.truemlmwealthonline.com]]> http://miraclemoneyblog.com/homebiztips/HomeBusinessTips_CNa_311/user/index.php
By James MacArthur

Seller financing opens your home up to an entirely new segment of prospective buyers. The more buyers viewing your home, the quicker you will find that one qualified buyer. Specifically, you will attract more buyers who don't want to or would have a problem getting a bank loan, or those who want a quicker closing or more flexible payment plans than banks offer. Such buyers include the self-employed, who may be great candidates, but are not viewed as favorable by banks, as are W-2 employees. Also, those with credit blemishes, which may be going down the long road of credit repair. Real estate investors are another large group, since they may own many properties with mortgages, which make it difficult to get another mortgage from a bank.

Banks typically take 30 days to close a loan. With seller financing, YOU make the decision, and it can be done much quicker, thereby removing a buyers contingencies faster, and in effect, leading to a much faster home sale. Make sure you use "Seller Financing" in your marketing and advertising, be it in newspaper ads, flyers, or in the MLS description, regardless of whether you are selling FSBO (For Sale By Owner), or with a real estate agent.

Other Ideas to Sell Your Home Faster

Number 1: PRICE IT RIGHT! Not too high, not too low, check comparables and local agents to get the right number. If you are not getting any action after a week or two, you probably have it priced too high.

If you will be selling FSBO, use a flat rate MLS open listing. For under $500 you can get listed in MLS with no frills. Check the newspaper or call agents to find one who offers this. It will give you much broader exposure and is advertising well spent. Also, strongly consider offering a buyer agent commission of 2-4%, depending on how quick you want to sell and how hot your local market is.

Put up lots of signs around the neighborhood, especially on weekends. Hold regular open houses. Prepare your house for sale. Keep it neat & tidy. Remove the clutter.

Sell Your Home for Full Price

1. Normally a seller will accept a lower price (below market) for all cash, no contingency fast closing.

2. It will sell for market price if the buyer needs 30-60 days to close escrow, will need to qualify for a loan at a bank, and do a home inspection.

3. You as a seller should charge even more (above market) if you will be giving seller-financing terms, maybe 5-10% higher than Case 2, or more depending on the terms.

A Good Investment

Taking back a note can be a very good investment since you will be making interest on your money, which is usually better than CD's, or money market rates. In fact, you can select the interest rate you want! This is especially appealing if you have no need for the money right now.

In fact, it is such a good investment, that many investors buy seller carry-back notes. If you have no interest in holding a note, it is common for a home seller to carry-back a note and sell it at the same time as the home closing occurs. This is called a simultaneous closing.

We Buy Real Estate Notes and can facilitate simultaneous closings, call for more info on this. We can also assist in setting the terms of the note so you get the best price.

Tax Benefits

When selling a home, under current tax law, if you lived in your home for 2 of the last 5 years, your capital gains will be exempt up to $250,000 (twice that if married). Otherwise, your capital gains will be taxed in the year that you collect the capital gains. If you will have significant taxable capital gains on your home sale, it may be very good for your tax situation to take back a seller carry-back note and spread your sale proceeds over several years, or postpone it for several years. Talk to your tax adviser.

Steps for Successful Seller Financing

1. Pull the prospective buyers’ credit report. Their permission will be needed. Always review a credit report on each borrower. It is a small expense.

2. Can they afford the home, job, income? If they can’t afford it, or have a shaky job or income situation, a foreclosure will be much more likely.

3. Use a professional to draft the paperwork. Each state has various laws regarding real estate sales, contracts, and mortgages. Use an experienced attorney to draft the promissory note, mortgage, or deed of trust.

4. Down payment - Sellers usually ask for 10-30% down payment to protect themselves in case the buyer stops making payments and the seller has to foreclose on the loan, and take the property back. The larger the down payment, the more equity protection you, as the seller, have. The buyer will also consider how much money he has put down, if he is in foreclosure and can’t make the payments, and wants to walk away from the house. Zero down is very little encouragement for a buyer, should he hit a rough patch.

5. 1st position or 2nd position - A first position note is much safer for the seller than a second position note.

6. Set the interest rate above current bank rates. This will encourage the buyers to refinance down the road.

Also Read this Article: "Tips for Creating a Seller Carry-back Real Estate Note" at http://www.jmacfunding.com/articles.htm

Other Alternatives to Seller Financing

1. Land Contract / Contract to buy

2. Lease Option

Disclaimer:

I am not an attorney, nor a tax accountant, laws vary from state to state, and any advice implied by this paper should be checked with an attorney and/or tax adviser.

JMAC Funding
PO Box 91472, San Diego, CA 92169
jmac@jmacfunding.com
http://www.jmacfunding.com
(619) 846-1550

James MacArthur, http://www.jmacfunding.com, is a real estate broker-licensed in the State of California, as well as an investor of real estate and debt instruments. We buy real estate notes and real estate contracts nationwide and make private and hard money loans on real estate in California. Feel free to contact me with any feedback, or if you are contemplating selling a real estate note.
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By Grant D. Robinson

Are you on pace to accomplish your important sales and financial goals this year?

The truth is, a good majority of US Organizations have been unable to grow their businesses this year. They are not reaching their sales and financial goals. Many have all but given up.

Is this you? Are you now looking to next year to be the year you shatter previous productivity, sales and revenue records?

It is a great idea to start preparing for your best year ever, regardless of whether you are on pace to meet your goals or not. You will need to prepare!

You have realized that it takes more than just setting a goal to accomplish it. The mere act of putting the goal on paper, sharing it with your managers, and giving the extra effort to accomplish the goal is really secondary to the preparation required.

Before you begin to work toward an objective, you must insure all of the past barriers that stood in the way of prior goal accomplishment are eliminated. If they aren't, the unfortunate fact is, you will fail to meet the objective once again… for the same reasons as before.

The following are the three keys market-leading organizations have used to grow their businesses. Consider these in order to take your organization to the next level of success.

A. Operational Systems

There are two types of systems in your organization. The first is your operational systems, including:

1. Vision & Mission 2. Financial & Budgeting
3. Production, Manufacturing & Distribution 4. Sales & Marketing

All four of these systems are in place for one reason: to efficiently grow your business. They are the standards to how your organization operates from day to day. More importantly, they are the standards to how your workforce operates from day to day.

To improve productivity this quarter and prepare for your best year ever, it is vital to analyze your operational systems. In the next month, recognize what current productivity barriers must be eliminated, what operating expenses must be reduced, what unique cultural standards must be maintained, and what marketing promises must be upheld.


B. Managerial Systems

In answering the previous questions, most organizations realize an important fact: Changes to operational systems are almost always made to improve the productivity of their workforce. But the truth is; these changes alone rarely help.

Organizations failing to accomplish their goals tend to make irrational decisions. They feel if they rewrite a vision, increase spending on technology, reorganize production procedures, or alter their marketing messages, workforce performance and profits will magically improve.

However, the opposite is usually the case. The changes usually end up harming efficiency, production and morale. The usual outcome is, those employees who performed the job they were hired to do before the changes, still do. Those who failed to produce before the expensive operational modifications, still underachieve.

The second type of system in your organization is your managerial systems. The five most important processes of your managerial systems are: recruiting, hiring, training, developing and retaining (productive employees). When you create a successful managerial system, your hiring success rate, employee motivation, and the effectiveness of your leaders will naturally improve.

To prepare for your best year ever, there is only one question to ask yourself: Why haven't we been able to hire, develop and retain TOP-Performing employees in every position.

C. Focus on People

Market leading organizations realize "people" are the key to growing a business and meeting goals. The more productive their individuals are, the more productive their teams have become.

A recent study of over 2,200 managers, by Watson Wyatt Worldwide, in Human Resource Executive Magazine found, “Of the hundreds of management functions, ‘Selecting Staff’ and ‘Retention’ are the second and third most important management functions in business today.” Recruiting was ranked fifth.

Since three of the four new hires fail to meet our expectations within the first year, managers are forced to constantly replace underachievers. Recruiting is the number one management expense in business today. Although selecting staff and retention are rated very important, they rank 36th and 44th in management effort and spending respectively.

Although executives understand the importance of Top Performers in every position, their time, energy and financial priorities have become operational. With the amount of organizations failing to meet their goals or grow their businesses, it should be apparent that this strategy just doesn't work.

Hiring Top Performers for every position in your company, the first time, is the only way to insure your productivity and profits will improve. Traditionally, Top Performers are five to eight times more productive then their counterparts.

You've probably learned the hard way; that no modification to an operational system will ever increase your organization's performance five to eight times. If you are like the most effective executives, you'll understand this and will double or triple the productivity and profits of your organization by giving your managers the tools to hire, develop and retain your greatest asset; your people.

Great customer service, work ethic, motivation, productivity, and sales success comes from employees that fit your culture, their team, and the job they were hired to do. Whether it takes developing your underachievers or replacing them with someone who will naturally produce; now is the time to focus on your people to prepare for your best year ever.

Grant D. Robinson is the President of People Values and the Author of the Market Leadership System. To improve your “Hiring Success Rate” of TOP Performing Employees, watch a free, 5-minute, on-line video at: http://www.peoplevalues.com.
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By Wally Bock

For centuries people have debated whether leaders are born or made. Several decades ago researchers started trying to answer this question. The debate goes on, even though we know the answer.

It turns out to be a little of both. Leaders are ‘sort of’ born and they are always made. Knowing the details will help you develop effective leaders for your company.

Leaders are ‘Sort of’ Born

There's only one thing a person needs to actually be born with in order to be a leader later in life; that is intelligence. A leader needs to be smart.

Effective leaders are not necessarily the smartest people in the room, or the company, or even on the team. They have to be smart enough to do the job they are assigned.

The kind of person the potential leader is when he or she becomes an adult is very important. The person who emerges from adolescence into young adulthood has the psychological and character traits they'll demonstrate for the rest of their life. Some of those characteristics matter for leadership.

By the time a person reaches adulthood, we can tell if they know how to help other people achieve results. That, after all, is what we expect leaders to do. We expect them to achieve success through a group. We expect them to help their subordinates grow and develop.

When a person becomes an adult, we can tell if they want to achieve objectives or if they just want to go along and take it easy. We expect leaders to be responsible for achieving results. You can have a marvelous life without a results focus; however, if you're going to lead successfully, you have to have the drive and willingness to be measured by the results of your leadership.

Upon reaching adulthood, we can tell if they are willing to make decisions or not. Lots of people wake up every day and let the world happen to them. Leaders must be able and willing to make decisions that affect themselves and others.

When achieving adulthood, we can tell if they have the basic qualities that we expect leaders to have. We can determine if they're smart enough to do the job. We can tell if they are willing to help others to achieve results as a group. We can tell if they will make decisions.

Those things are essential. People who have those qualities can learn the multiple skills it takes for them to become effective leaders.
No one emerges from the womb or from adolescence with all the skills in place to be an effective leader, no matter how they measure up on the key essentials. Everybody has to learn the job. That's why leaders are always made.

Leaders are Always Made

Leadership can be learned by anyone with the basics. There is a lot to leadership that cannot be taught.

Leadership is an apprentice trade. Leaders learn about 80 percent of their craft on the job.

They learn from watching other leaders and emulating their behavior. They choose role models and seek out mentors. They ask other leaders how to handle situations.

Leaders improve by obtaining feedback and using it. The best leaders seek feedback from their boss, their peers, and their subordinates. They modify their behavior so they are able to obtain better results.

Leaders learn by trying things out and then critiquing their performance. The only failure they recognize is the ‘failure to learn from experience’.

In their book, Geeks and Geezers, Warren Bennis and Robert Thomas identify the special power of what they call "crucibles." These are trials that teach hard lessons which leaders use as the basis of their strength in later crises. Many of these events can be called "failures," but leaders turn the bad situation to good by learning from it.

Effective leaders take control of their own development. They seek out training opportunities that will make a difference in their performance.

Effective leaders look for training programs that will help them develop specific skills they can use on the job. Then, when they return to work, they devote specific, deliberate effort to mastering in real life what they have learned in the classroom.

Marshall Goldsmith and Howard Morgan studied the progress of 88,000 managers who had been to leadership development training. The people who returned from the training, talked about it, and did the deliberate learning applications, were judged as becoming more effective leaders. The ones, who didn't, showed no improvement.

If you're responsible for leadership development for your company, you should structure your support for your leaders to recognize that most leadership learning happens ‘on the job’. Help people develop leadership development plans. Help them select specific skills training. Then work on transferring skills from the training to the job. Help them find role models, mentors and peers to discuss leadership issues.

Help your leaders get feedback from their boss, peers and subordinates. Work to create the culture of candor that will make that feedback helpful and effective.

Don't stop there. Make sure you evaluate your leaders on their leadership work. Reward them. Hold them accountable for accomplishing the mission through the group. Hold them accountable for caring for their people and helping them grow and develop.

A Leader's Growth is Never Done

Leadership learning is a lifetime activity. You are never done. There's always more to learn. There are always skills you need to improve.

Effective leaders seek out development opportunities to help them learn new skills. These might be project assignments or job changes. This develops knowledge and skills that can be used elsewhere.

Effective leaders seek out opportunities that will increase their visibility. Great performances alone will not propel you to the top in your career. You also have to be visible to people who make decisions about promotions and assignments.

If you are responsible for developing leaders in your company, set up programs to give your leaders both kinds of development opportunities over the course of their careers.

There is no magic formula for developing quality leaders in your company. By selecting potential leaders with the essential traits, supporting them with training, feedback, on-the-job learning, developmental experiences, and holding them accountable for results, you will have the leaders you need to shape your company's future.

Wally Bock is an author, speaker, and coach who help leaders improve the performance and morale of their teams. Wally is the author of Performance Talk: The One-on-One Part of Leadership (http://www.performancetalk.com/) and the Three Star Leadership Blog (http://blog.threestarleadership.com/).
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By Allison Thompson

People will find themselves in difficult financial situations, at times. It may be because their business has not worked out and is on the verge of becoming bankrupt or it could be for personal reasons (a divorce settlement is not what it should have been). At any time, the need for financial support is important. When faced with situations such as shown previously, a loan to help them recover is hard to find. There are many reasons why getting a loan could be difficult, it may be they have a poor credit rating or they have no equity to act as security on a loan that lenders will normally provide. However, now there are moneylenders around called ‘bad credit’ lenders who can assist these people when their state of financial affairs is so dire.

You will find that ‘bad credit’ lenders are institutions or organizations that are able to provide loans to people who are in desperate need of financial assistance. One type of option that these kinds of lenders provide is a private loan (also known as a hard money or ‘bad credit’ loan). This type of loan does not require the borrower to have any equity, and as a result, are able to provide such loans but at an increased rate of interest.

Different types of ‘bad credit’ lenders exist, and banks are one source. Should you need to arrange a ‘bad credit’ loan, you could first consult a bank. Many banks require some sort of equity against the loan that you are looking for. It is advisable that you seek assistance from a bank where you have been a customer from some time. This provides the bank with a guarantee of knowing who you are and they will have full details of your banking records.

If this does not work out, there are a number of companies around which also act as ‘bad credit’ lenders. Such companies will provide you with a loan proposal, but be aware that they will often charge much higher rates of interest than usual.

Many financial experts say that when looking for the right sort of ‘bad credit’ lender, it is wise to do as much research as possible. Obtain all the information you can on each lender. Make sure you are aware of what sort of loan programs these lenders have and what the interest rates are that they offer on their loans. After getting this information, it is wise to compare each one. See which ones suit you and the one you will not have difficulty in making repayments to.

Allison Thompson, an expert author, after becoming a work from home mum, runs a small real estate company in Spain. Due to her involvement in the property market she has carried out extensive research relating to all financial matters. If you would like to learn more, please visit http://www.centrallendingservices.com.
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By Tim Sales

There is one very specific quality you must have, whether leading just a few or a few thousand people in your MLM business. Achieving MLM success will be A LOT easier when you develop this one quality, tell the truth.

If you do not tell the truth, your downline may be friendly to you...but they probably won't follow you.

Truth means: that which is factual based on observable data.

There has been much written about truth, a lot having to do with philosophy and religion. My only interest in the subject (as it pertains to the MLM industry) is that we, as a group, stop destroying our income and our reputation by not telling the truth.

Being truthful should go without saying, but I have to discuss it because it is one of the Ten Communication Qualities that make up a great communicator. It’s also a major problem in the network marketing community needing correction for the MLM industry to grow to its fullest potential.

My income dropped in 1991 - like a brick falling from the top of a building - from a monthly gross of $68,000 to $16,000 - just because people were not telling the truth.

A media member sneaked into my colleague's business meeting and recorded the dialogue that occurred. Although it was a painful experience for me, the biggest loss stems from the CONSTANT number of people we repel because of not telling the truth.

Every time we (I'm talking about me and you) don't tell the truth, we feel icky inside. Observe a dog that has done something wrong - do they come strutting into the room? Not at all! They actually hide under the couch. Their ears and tail hang low. They don't feel worthy. The same is true for us. That ickyness actually causes us to not feel worthy that others follow our advice...and so they don't.

Five broad categories of not telling the truth have gotten individuals and/or companies in trouble. It stopped them from growing to their fullest potential. They are listed below.

1. False income representation or suggesting others can earn a stated level of income.

2. Stating that a product or service can do something that has not been substantiated.

3. Promising someone (or yourself) something and not doing it.

4. Gossiping about others. Passing information to another that does not add value.

5. Building the business in a way that is not truthful...such as suggesting distributors create fictitious accounts or positions.

Let’s consider, category one, false income representation. If you don't know what your upline earns, don't say what you think it is. If through the grapevine you've heard its "X" amount, and you feel you must state it, say: "The rumor is that he/she earns $ amount; although I've not verified it."

Say nothing you don't know is absolutely true. This gives you tremendous credibility!

When you discuss income, discuss what the prospect wants - NOT what someone else is earning. If the prospect states an income they desire, tell them it's achievable, (provided it is). Then state, "Some people go to school and become the President. Some become billionaires, some sell illegal drugs and some draw a welfare check. It would be impossible to know what you're going to do with what I teach you, but there is the potential to earn a substantial income if you choose to fully apply what you're taught."

Category two from above is unsubstantiated product claims; which, in the past, have also gotten the network marketing industry into trouble. If you market a nutrition product, the current law (in the USA) is the DSHEA Act, (Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act), which states you can discuss what a product does, provided THAT PRODUCT is what has been proven to get results.

Most often an INGREDIENT has had some studies done on it (such as vitamin C) but your company's product (that contains that ingredient) has NOT. Therefore, it is against the law to claim your product does ANYTHING!

Now, that doesn't mean you can't promote your product truthfully. You simply say something like, "The active ingredient (vitamin C) in Potent-C (an example of your company's product) has demonstrated to increase/decrease ________ by X amount." That way you're not claiming your product does anything.

Telling stories of your success or others' success with the product or the MLM business is also common. Just keep in mind that the common way people get in trouble is from questionable claims reported by the media after coming in with hidden recording devices and capturing what you say. Make sure you are not claiming anything that isn't the truth.

If a friend went on your company's product and stopped having migraine headaches, you honestly wouldn't know if the reason was the product or the fact that she increased her water intake to take your product! You can't determine what really helped her - so be very careful what you represent.

Category three is to keep your word once given. If you say you will be at a meeting at 6:45 - be there at 6:45. No excuses, just be there. If you say you're going to help someone, - help them. Keep your word! If you're unable to keep your word, make it up to the person. Do something that shows you want to help.

The most important person you must keep your word with is yourself. If you say you are going to bed at 11pm - go to bed at 11pm. If you say you will call five prospects a day, call five prospects a day!

When you're honest with yourself and with others, people will trust you. This trust is what helps your MLM business to grow and be successful. My experience is that people will not follow someone they cannot trust.

Tell the truth always and you will be on your way to experiencing passive income and time freedom in your MLM business.

Tim Sales helps network marketers gain the confidence and skills to be an MLM success. Discover what you must know to become a true network marketing professional. Sign up for his free MLM training newsletter and listen to free training at http://www.brilliantexchange.com.
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By Clarence Binayu

More and more people are lured into affiliate marketing. You might be one of them. Affiliate marketing is one of the most effective means of generating a full-time income through the Internet. It’s a fair deal between the merchandiser and his affiliates, as both benefit from each sale materialized. Like in other kinds of business, a great deal of the profits in affiliate marketing depends on the affiliate’s advertising, promoting and selling strategies. Everyday, as the affiliate marketing industry expands, competition heightens, also, so an affiliate marketer must be creative enough to employ unique and effective ways to convince potential buyers to purchase or avail themselves of the products and services offered.

Compared to traditional advertising practices, affiliate programs are more effective, risk-free, and cost-efficient. Why do many people still fail in affiliate marketing? There are many reasons and many areas in the program to look into. The most critical aspect in the affiliate program is advertising. Many affiliate marketers’ fail in this aspect because they lack hard work, which is the most important thing in affiliate marketing and in all other kinds of business. Although it pays to be lucky, you cannot merely rely on it. Affiliate marketing isn’t as simple as directing customers to the business site. If you want to earn big, you have to invest time and hard work in promoting the products. As earlier mentioned, the competition is very intense. Customers nowadays are very wise. After all, who doesn’t want to get the best purchase—that is, to pay less and get more in terms of quantity and quality?

Another reason why one fails in affiliate marketing is the lack of preparation, whether he is a merchandiser or an affiliate. Part of the preparation is researching. The merchant has to be highly selective in choosing the right affiliate websites for his affiliate program. To make the best choices, he must have exhausted his resources in looking for highly interested affiliates whose sites are a sure fit to his products and services. The affiliate sites must match his targeted customers. Also, the affiliate marketer must research on the good-paying merchandisers before he signs up for an affiliate program. He must ensure that the merchants’ products and services match his interests so he can give his full attention and dedication to the program. He can get valuable information by joining affiliate forums, comparing different affiliate programs, and reading articles on affiliate marketing where he can get tips from experienced affiliate marketers on how to choose the best merchants and products with high conversion rate.

The website is a very important tool in the whole affiliate program. As an affiliate marketer, you should plan how your site is going to look, from domain name, to the design, the layout, the content, and ads. Some users are particular about what they see at first glance. If they find your site ugly, they won’t read through the content even if your site has many things to say and offer. In contrast, there are those who want information more than anything else. Affiliate marketers with “rich-content” web sites are usually the ones who prosper in this business because the content improves traffic to the site. Websites with high quality contents—with relevant keywords and more importantly, right information about the product and not empty hyped-up advertisements—allow you to earn big in affiliate marketing even when you’re asleep. If you aren’t able to sustain the interest of your site visitor, you won’t be able to lead him to the merchants’ site. No click-through means no sale and thus, no income on your part.

Selecting a top-level domain name is also crucial to the success of the affiliate program. A lot of affiliate sites don’t appear in the search engine results because affiliate managers deem them as personal sites. Major search engines and directories would think of your site as transient ones and thus, they won’t list it in the directory. Before you decide on the domain name, know first what you are going to promote. Many fail because their sites are not appropriately named. When they feature the exact products the customer is looking for, the customer might think the site is not relevant and will not enter the site.

An affiliate marketer must be willing to learn more. Certainly, there are many things to learn and so an affiliate marketer must continue to educate himself so he can improve his marketing strategies. Many fail because they don’t grow in the business. They are merely concerned about earning money quickly. If you want long-term and highly satisfactory results, take time to learn the ins and outs of the business. Continue to improve your knowledge especially with the basics in affiliate marketing ranging from advertising to programming, web page development, and search engine optimization techniques. Study the needs and wants of your site users and how different merchandisers compete with each other.

Keep on trying!

Clarence B. is the founder and Webmaster for http://www.virtual-guides.com. Here you can find FREE information on many subjects including business, automobile, travel, vacation, affiliate marketing, advertising, internet, sports, entertainment, technology, communication, fashion, home improvement, culture, education, society, science, politics, fitness and health. http://www.virtual-guides.com provides you with helpful guidance, tips and news update, from basic to the latest skills, knowledge and information, about these subjects.
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By Vernon Anthony Johnson

Many people today are looking to own and run their own business. To do this they have three main choices.

1. Buy a franchise
2. Start from scratch to develop one’s own business.
3. Buy an existing business.

When speaking of capital to start or buy a conventional business, we are not talking peanuts. All these types of businesses will require a substantial sum of capital, perhaps in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

They usually require suitable staffing, computer expertise for accounts and wages, and also people skills are required in the workplace. There are always some problems with staff that can cause difficulties.

In a conventional business, you will require a building. If you have bought an existing business, then probably rates and maintenance are your two main expenses. If you need to rent a building, then you may require a refit for your purposes, which may cost tens of thousands of dollars. Depending on the type of business, it may require new machines or electronic devices that are very expensive. You would need computers and office furniture. Considerable costs are involved when starting a business. Some of these will be ongoing, which involves, interest on the loan, staff wages and rent, etc.

Look at what you might lose if the business fails. The equity that was used to finance the loan - most likely the property you own, because you couldn’t pay off the bank overdraft. The fixtures and fittings that you purchased which now would be of no use to you and any equipment you purchased which may have to be sold, invariably at a loss.

Everything was lost to try and pay off your debt. This wasn’t enough, so you have to leave the home you love and look for rented accommodations. Many years later, you might work your way back to where you were before the time of the crash. The statistics for new conventional type business successes are not good.

With a conventional business, if you need advice, you usually have to pay for it. Some advice is available free with a franchise. With a franchise, business mentoring is usually not included. So if it’s new to you, you may have to pay for that help. In MLM home based business with a good company, the marketing help comes as part of the deal.

Why you may ask?

Well, because the MLM I am recommending is structured so that the person who does the recruiting also helps the people they recruit. In making them successful, all will benefit financially. This team building is the essence of success in MLM marketing. People who have done this for a few years reap large rewards without having to take a huge gamble to raise equity.

When looking at a MLM business which costs less than $2000 initially and potentially enables you to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars a few years down the road, why wouldn’t that be more attractive to you than risking your house?

There is a company that excels in all respects and is ideal for MLM people:

1. It is debt free
2. Publicly listed on the NASDAQ
3. Achieved 1.5 billion turnover in the first five years
4. Is a global business operating in ten countries and six more in 2007.
5. Ranked number 5 in the 200 Best Small companies by FORBES.

If we summarize the benefits, then we are talking about a business which:

1. Does not require a large amount of capital
2. Does not require you to hold stock.
3. Does not require staff.
4. Does not require you to rent or buy expensive property because you can work from home using one room as your office.
5. Enables you to make an income relative to your efforts that could be in the six-figure bracket after a few years.
6. Does not confine you to office hours - you can work at a time convenient to you and your family.
7. Will still function once established without loss of income if you decide to take a long holiday.

Why then would anyone wanting to start a business not want to take the least expensive option?

The MLM choice comes without all the financial risk and headaches.

You can have the same earning potential as the conventional business with total support as part of the deal.

For more information, contact Vernon Johnson, 11/134 Hill Road, Runcorn, Brisbane 4113 Australia, biohealth@aapt.net.au . Vernon Anthony Johnson is a former electronic engineer, professional actor. Interested in making movies and making money from home business.
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By Paul Levesque

Some businesses remain that manage to consistently deliver superior customer service year in and year out, while howls of protest over poor customer service continue to fill the air. These are the places where turbo-charged employees pursue customer delight with a passion, places that ignite a flash point of contagious enthusiasm in employees and customers alike. Foremost, to be learned from such flash point businesses are the ‘blunders’ to avoid—fatal mistakes that trip up just about everybody else.

First Blunder: Making Customer Service a Training Issue.

Businesses of all kinds invest huge amounts in training programs that do not—and simply cannot—work. The function of this training is to identify the behaviors workers are engaging in, and then coax, bully, or legislate these behaviors into the workplace. At best, this is almost always a recipe for conduct that feels mechanized and insincere; at worst, it intensifies worker resentment and cynicism.

The better approach is to give workers opportunities to brainstorm their own ideas for delivering delight, instead of dictating what workers should be doing to delight customers. Management’s role then becomes to help employees implement these ideas, and to allow workers to savor the motivational effect of the positive feedback that ensues from delighted customers. This level of employee ownership and involvement is a ‘key’ cultural characteristic of virtually all flashpoint businesses.

Second Blunder: Blaming Poor Service on Employee De-motivation.

Businesses looking for ways to motivate their workers almost always are looking in the wrong places. Employee cynicism is the direct product of an organization’s visible preoccupation with self-interest above all else—a purely internal focus. The focus in flashpoint businesses is directed outward, toward the interests of customers and the community at large. This shift in cultural focus changes the way the business operates at all levels.

The reality is that employees are de-motivated because they can’t deliver delight in most business settings. The existing policies and procedures make it impossible. Instead of “fixing” their employees, flashpoint business set out to build a culture that unblocks them. Workers are encouraged to identify operational obstacles to customer delight, and participate in finding ways around them.

Third Blunder: Using Customer Feedback to Uncover What’s Wrong.

Surveys and other feedback mechanisms are used by businesses to get to the causes of customer problems and complaints. Employees come to dread these measurements and data-gathering efforts, which often lead to what feels like witch-hunts for employee scapegoats, formal exercises in finger pointing and the assigning of blame. Flashpoint businesses use customer feedback very differently. In these organizations, the object is to uncover everything that’s going right. Managers are forever on the lookout for "hero stories" - examples of employees going the extra mile to deliver delight. Such feedback becomes the basis for ongoing recognition and celebration. Employees see themselves as winners on a winning team. In this type of workplace, there is always some new "win" being celebrated.

Fourth Blunder: Reserving Top Recognition for Splashy Recoveries.

It happens all the time; something goes terribly wrong with a customer order or transaction. The dedicated employee goes to tremendous lengths to make things right. The delighted customer brings this employee’s wonderful recovery to management’s attention. The employee receives special recognition for his or her efforts. This is a blunder?

It is when such recoveries are the primary—if not the only—catalysts for employee recognition. In such a culture, foul-ups become ‘almost a good thing’ from the workers’ point of view. By creating opportunities for splashy recoveries, foul-ups represent the only chance employees have to feel appreciated on the job. Attempts to correct operational problems won’t win much support if employees see these problems as their only opportunity to shine.

Flashpoint businesses celebrate splashy recoveries, of course—but they’re also careful to uncover and celebrate employee efforts to delight customers where no mistakes or problems were involved. This makes it easier to get workers participating in efforts to permanently eliminate the sources of problems at the systems level.

Fifth Blunder: Competing on Price.

It is one of the most common (and most costly) mistakes in business. Price becomes the deciding factor in purchasing decisions only when everything else is equal—and everything else is almost never equal! Businesses compete on the perception of value, which includes more than price. The total customer experience—and aspects such as “helpfulness,” “friendliness,” shapes it and “the personal touch” often gives the competitive advantage to businesses that actually charge slightly more for their basic goods and services.

Businesses that deliver a superior total experience from the inside out (that is, as a product of a strongly customer-focused culture) are those that enjoy a long-term competitive advantage—along with virtual immunity from the kinds of headaches that plague everybody else.

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 Jeff Mowatt

See if this applies to you or the team members in your organization: You've been working in your industry for several years. Your responses to requests from customers, prospects and co-workers are fast and accurate. You know your stuff and your product knowledge is one of your greatest strengths. If this is the case, then the bad news is that your extensive knowledge may also be one of your greatest weaknesses. The reason…you may inadvertently be coming across as being arrogant and insensitive.

This is not suggesting that you have a ‘holier-than-thou’ attitude or that you are unfriendly. Because you are quick with your answers and recommendations, others feel you have not really been listening to their needs (even though you have). The greater your expertise, the more likely it is that you are unintentionally rubbing people the wrong way. The good news is that there is an easy way to prevent this misconception that I call The Humility Advantage©.

Working with over a hundred sales and service teams over the years, I've found there are at least seven key opportunities where a little employee humility pays-off substantially. Here are three that I often share in my Influence with Ease® speeches and seminars.

1. Mention your Homework

Several years ago, a couple of branding consultants approached me about enlisting their services. My first thought was these folks knew nothing about my company or my industry, so why should I pay their sizable fees. I only agreed to meet with them because a colleague said they had done good work for his firm.

When I sat down with the consultants, they did not start asking me lots of questions about my industry and me. (This would have confirmed to me they really didn't know my business world and it would have ended their chances of selling me their services). By way of preparation, they began the meeting explaining, they'd been chatting with some of my colleagues and customers to find out their impressions of my company's services. Then, they asked if I would like to hear the ‘word-on-the-street’. That got my attention! The ensuing conversation led me to engage their services.

When talking with potential customers, do you begin the conversation by mentioning the homework you've done on their company? If not, you are missing the opportunity to let them know you are truly interested in them.

Try commenting on something you saw on their website or read about them in an industry journal, rather than starting a sales conversation by asking about their needs. It's a powerful way to confirm to others that you are knowledgeable without coming across as one who brags. It is one of the first steps in applying the ‘humility advantage’.

2. Confirm your Understanding

As an audience member participant at one of my live presentations, you may have seen me step off the stage pretending to be a restaurant waiter taking food orders from several audience members. During this skit, rather than order directly from a menu, each patron has a special request such as, “I'll have the salad with the meal.” or “I'd like to have fruit instead of fries,” etc. As the waiter, I don't write anything down, and when I walk away, the patrons assume that there is no way I'm going to get all the orders straight.

There's the problem! I may have listened accurately to each request, but the emotions I left with my customers are worry and lack of confidence in my service.

As an experienced professional in your industry, you may be a great listener, but are you perceived as such? Being regarded as a poor listener is a surefire way to kill a sale or curtail your career. Fortunately, by using a little humility, this is easy to correct. In the waiter demonstration, I redo the same order-taking scenario, except the second time after taking the orders, I say, “Let me make sure I've got this straight. You would like yours with fruit instead of fries...” (I then confirm everyone's special request accurately).

Suddenly, the restaurant patrons feel good about the quality of my service. Here's the KEY; I repeat my understanding of their needs with the phrase, “Let me make sure I've got this straight.” Fact is, I knew I had it straight, but the customer didn't. The catch is, if my ego were running my life I'd never say, “Let me make sure I've got this straight.” Hence the Humility Advantage.

Here's one more application:

3. Ask Permission to Present

Have you heard the expression that ‘people don't like to be sold-to, but they love to buy’? Before you present the benefits of your products or services, remember to ask for permission. When threading these techniques together, sales conversation might start by pointing out the homework you've done on the other person. Then ask about their needs, confirming your understanding with, “Let me make sure I've got this straight…” Later, ask permission to present with, “Based on what you've told me, I do have some thoughts. Would you like to hear a couple of options that I think would fit for you?” Once the other person agrees, they will feel less like they are being forced, and more like they are being helped.

Business strategist and international speaker Jeff Mowatt base this article on the critically acclaimed book, Becoming a Service Icon in 90 Minutes a Month. To obtain your own copy of his book or to inquire about engaging Jeff for your team, visit http://www.jeffmowatt.com or call 1-800-JMowatt (566-9288).
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By Colleen Kettenhofen

"Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don't quit." Conrad Hilton

1. Get rid of clutter. Too much "stuff" in your office and inside your home clutters your mind, creates confusion and exacerbates stress. Start by cleaning one area at a time. What items do you have that need to be donated, sold, or put back where they belong? As you're cleaning and putting things away, repeat to yourself, "Everything has a place." I often heard my dad repeat this phrase while we cleaned house. It still rings in my ears every time I clean.

What clothes do you own that you haven't worn in a year? Are you hoping to fit into them again? Donate these items to a local charity. What piles of paperwork are lying around that need to be filed? Studies show that 85% of everything that gets filed away never gets looked at again. Consider starting an archives file. You'll feel more energized, less stressed, and more self-confident when you eliminate clutter.

2. What's going on outside you is a result of what's going on inside you. What self-limiting beliefs do you have about your skills, aptitudes and abilities? Be honest with yourself. Write them down! You don't have to share them with anybody. The average person has 50,000 to 60,000 thoughts a day. When we talk to ourselves about ourselves, much of that self-talk is negative. As the saying goes, "How many times in a day do we ‘should of ' all over ourselves with everything that we should be doing?!" Get rid of the "should of' ." Become more aware of your thoughts, change them into positives, and you'll start achieving more success.

3. Enroll in a sunrise semester. First thing in the morning spend 30 to 60 minutes a day reading motivational, inspirational, or other pertinent information related to your chosen field. Your subconscious mind is most amenable to suggestion the FIRST hour upon arising, and that LAST hour before bedtime. As John Wooden once said, "If I am through learning I am through." Stay current and constantly upgrade your skills.

Learn more to earn more and to improve performance. Much of this is material we already know. Yet, often we need to hear it again because we don't "do" with what we know. Invest at least 3% of your income in personal and professional books, CD's, e-books, and teleseminars. When pressed for time, listen to CD's in your car on the way to work, picking up the kids, or driving to and from the supermarket. Attend seminars and conferences no matter what the distance. It is worth the investment in keeping you motivated.

4. Become more self-disciplined. The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is that successful people make themselves do things unsuccessful people don't want to do. It's that simple. Once you start an important task, discipline yourself to keep going. Focus on it single-mindedly until it's complete.

Be more aware of your every day habits and what distracts you. Make a list of the activities you engage in that are a waste of time. Resolve to eliminate them altogether or delegate them to someone else. Start by determining which activities only you can do. These are the ones you must do. Outsource everything else. The ability to determine where you should spend the majority of your time and then complete those tasks can have more impact on achieving your goals than anything else.

5. To improve performance and productivity work faster. Compete with yourself. Make it a game. Resolve to work more effectively and efficiently throughout your workday. Try arriving to work earlier and leaving a little later. Many business people in my speaking engagements tell me they get more work accomplished when they arrive to work at the crack of dawn. No one else is in the office and there aren't distractions. Try this at lunch as well. Everyone leaves from noon to one in the afternoon. Cut back on frivolous time wasters such as talking with co-workers around the water cooler and other idle chitchat. This will free up your time for the things you really enjoy, like spending time with your true friends, family and loved ones.

6. Review your values and priorities. Make sure your goals are consistent with what's important to you. Otherwise, no matter how much you think you want something, you won't work hard to achieve it if it's not in line with your core values. Write down each individual goal you think you want. Is it consistent with giving you greater peace of mind and happiness?

For example, values that are important to me in terms of work are helping others, freedom, creativity and flexible hours. A corporate job where I'd sit in an office all day would make me unhappy no matter how much it paid. So start by clarifying your values.

Success means many things to different people. In powering up your performance for greater success, first determine what you really want…and why. For example, do you really want a new car out of necessity, or is it to compete with the neighbors next door? No matter how much effort you put into achieving your goals, if they don't fit in with what's really important to you, you'll find ways to procrastinate or sabotage yourself. It's easier to be self-disciplined when you're passionate about something and it fits in with your core values.

"The biggest mistake people make in life is not trying to make a living at doing what they most enjoy." Malcolm S. Forbes

Colleen Kettenhofen is a motivational speaker, workplace expert, & co-author of "The Masters of Success," as featured on the Today Show, along with Ken Blanchard and Jack Canfield. For free articles, e-newsletter, or to order the book visit http://www.ColleenSpeaks.com Topics: leadership, management, difficult people, public speaking. Colleen is available for keynotes, breakout sessions, seminars. (971)212-2412.
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By Tim Sales

It is very difficult to achieve real MLM success if you are afraid of talking to people about your business. Use these four guidelines to achieve confidence when talking with prospects. They've worked for thousands in my own MLM business. I know they will work for you.

Why do you have a "chicken list?" Because you fear you don't communicate easily or well.

A "chicken list" is the list of prospects that you're afraid to call. Often people think they will call their "chicken list" after they get successful. But, they need these people in their MLM business to create the success.

This is a "Catch 22."

The phrase "Catch 22" is from a novel by Joseph Heller, written in 1961. The pilot was afraid to fight in World War II. He feigned insanity. But the doctor said that if he were truly insane, then he wouldn't mind endangering his life by going into the war.

If he were sane, then he would be capable of following orders to fight the war. Thus the phrase "catch 22" came to mean, "a situation that trips one up no matter which way one turns."

You need the people on your chicken list to create the success you need in order to contact your chicken list. How do you get around this catch-22?

Your fear of the chicken list is based on your feelings that somehow, people are above you because of their status. If you were to examine this more closely, you would discover it is not that the people are any better than you; it's lack of confidence in your ability to communicate easily.

If you knew you could communicate easily and effectively without making any mistakes, you could...and would...call anyone without hesitation. You would have confidence. You would have certainty. And there's NOTHING more rewarding than having that feeling.

Communicate means: a. To convey information about; make known. b. To reveal clearly.

Easily means: a. Free from worry, anxiety, trouble, or pain. b. Requiring or exhibiting little effort.

The reason I bring this up is there are a group of characteristics an MLM business professional must have in order to truly have success in speaking with prospects. I call these characteristics the 10 Communication Qualities.

Having full knowledge of these qualities and having the proper and correct MLM training to learn them, you will be amazed at how much smoother conversations will go with your prospects.

The fifth communication quality on my list is to, "Communicate easily - no tension, strain, fakeness, sounding rehearsed, stuttering or hesitating."

Let's look at each one of these issues:

Tension & Strain: (The definition for tension and strain is very similar so they are
combined here.)

a. To be subjected to great stress. b. A great or excessive pressure, demand, or
stress on one's body, mind, or resources.

When communicating, tension and strain are stress created by the mental activity of feeling unprepared, or fear that you will sound "stupid" to others. If you've ever been asked to suddenly speak in public, you know what this mental activity feels like.

It creates a very uncomfortable feeling, of "being on the spot", and not knowing what to say. It’s the reason someone's voice "squeaks and quivers" when talking. This communicates an unprofessional, “new to the subject”, uncertainty to the prospect.

The solution to tension and strain is to familiarize oneself with all situations that can arise on a call when talking to prospects. Be familiar with all situations regarding your MLM business opportunity and also the products you sell.

Know what you are going to ask the prospect to do; invite for product, invite for business, send to a website, or get on a conference call, etc. When you are clear about what you're going to do and say, you will greatly reduce tension and strain.

Fakeness: a. To represent falsely; pretend to. b. To fabricate.

People sound fake when they use a lot of fluff words like, awesome, incredible, unbelievable, fabulous, wonderful, special, state-of-the-art, etc. These types of adjectives demonstrate a clear bias on your part. I'm not suggesting you be a boring communicator; by all means, be excited. You don't have to use fluff or puff words to describe your excitement. This normally indicates a cover-up of real content.

Sounding rehearsed: a. One that is not authentic or genuine.

Rehearsing what you're going to say is NOT WRONG. However, if you talk with a prospect before you've rehearsed enough - you will sound rehearsed; which IS UNPROFESSIONAL. When you've received a phone call from a telemarketer, you could tell he was reading from a script. It didn't sound very genuine and when you detected that he was reading from a script. You wanted off the phone. That's what you want to avoid with your prospects.

Stuttering and hesitating: a. If you hesitate, you do not speak or act for a short time, usually because you are uncertain, embarrassed, or worried about what you are going to say or do.

Stuttering and hesitating loops us back to the first issue I discussed above which is Tension and Strain. It is the fear of saying or doing something the prospect won't agree with that causes us to hesitate and stutter. The solution for stuttering and hesitating is similar to the solution for tension and strain; is very familiar with all the situations that can come up on your invite call.

Have you realized the simplicity of this yet? Your willingness to talk to your “chicken list”, or lack of, is based on your ability to communicate easily. You need to become familiar with all aspects of your MLM business and company to communicate easily.

Tim Sales helps network marketers gain the confidence and skills to be an MLM success. Discover what you must know to become a true network marketing professional. Sign up for his free MLM training newsletter and listen to free training at http://www.brilliantexchange.com.
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By Joe Leech

Let's face it: you’re probably working for far less than you need to. The sad thing is you may not even be aware of it or the options that are available! We're going to change that for you, and share, not only a thought, but also a vehicle that can change your financial life.

We’re going to show you how to get so much more out of your sales time investment.

This may apply more to the part time, home based business person than the professional...but we have seen, met, and talked with professionals who really are under- valuing their return on time investment. The phrase “time investment” is used repeatedly, but you MUST consider it just as important as you value cash or a money investment.

It is even more important because once spent or invested, you can never get that particular moment or minute back. It's gone! You can always invest more money, but you only have so much irreplaceable time. Your sales time investment is one of the most precious investments you can ever make.

As we look at business models, we find on one end, the model that proposes high volume but low profit per sale.

Wal-Mart has certainly shown this model works. Many, many supermarkets work this same way. If you have the ability to create large volumes of sales, it will work; the question is, do you? If you are an individual sales rep, or a small business, just how much of an opportunity do you have in creating large volumes? The appeal to the small businessperson is to do this by creating some type of a multi-level sales organization, (probably incorrectly referred to as a pyramid); and in the ideal world, ‘IF’ you can do this, you can create volume. This could take years to accomplish, and still never guarantee any income or security because: (1) The company behind it could go out of business, be taken over, or any number of things. (2) The pay plan could change. (3) The group suddenly dissolves, particularly if or when a heavy hitter or group leader decides to switch to another business taking his distributors or sales force with him. Do you make a good sales time investment if you choose this model?

Of course, you still have the ability to sell the product or service yourself, but (1) can you do the volume, and (2) is the profit per personal sale worth your time?

The second business model, at the other end of the spectrum, is one that provides a relatively high profit or earning per sale. Often, in this category, we think of real estate people and car sales people, as well as, sales people of specialized capital equipment, but that's not the majority of us.

The downside is, if we are thinking about selling a high ticket/high profit item, we have to ask (1) is there a large market and prospect base, and (2) if we are thinking in terms of the ability for a part time person--possibly a "stay at home mom", can this high ticket, high profit product or service be first mastered in terms of the technology, and is the customer prospect base readily accessible?

In most cases, the answer to those questions is "no, not available". But if it is, or was, then here's a fact that can be virtually carved in stone:

IT TAKES NO MORE TIME OR SKILLS TO SELL THE HIGH PROFIT PACKAGE THAN IT DOES TO SELL THE MASS PRODUCT WITH ONLY PENNIES OR DIMES IN PROFIT!

Think about that! This is ALL relative to your sales time investment. It's the MOST IMPORTANT investment you have to make. Ask yourself: "Am I working for pennies or dimes, when instead with the right vehicle I could be working for dollars?"

If the answer is yes, and this is so true of particularly home based business entrepreneurs who are involved in the sale of nutritional supplements, skin care, fad gadgets, etc., then ask yourself, "Am I doing this because I want to earn a nice income, and do it as quickly as possible... or am I kidding myself about that goal and do I just want to get products wholesale or discounted and have some fun?"

There is nothing wrong with that, if you have an honest assessment of what you are doing and why. But...if your goal is $4000 to $5000 a month or more, and you do not want to spend all your waking hours "working your business", then it is time to change!

This article is written from the school of hard knocks. It is one that really had us very emotionally involved with the businesses; rah, rah, rah, recognition pins, etc.…Amway…Free Life…Primerica…Herbal Life. Been there, done that! Made some money? Yes, but far, far less than in other options. This represents the part time side of things we did to supplement our “real” job. We made some money, but had no security, and worked for far less than we could have been doing. Plus, we just sold our time for money, no residual income…that is a subject for another article.

We hope this has helped you focus your thinking and our resource block will point you to one tool that will let you change your life.

Joe Leech has been involved in both conventional and home-based businesses for over 40 years. He offers sound advice from his experience and at his website at http://www.wideworldinfo.com/abundant/opty.html he offers a way to do what he writes about.
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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