Give Back To The World The Internet Makes It Easy And Free

Writen by Jesse Somer

A week or so ago I wrote an article entitled, 'On-line charities are a perfect place to see how people help the world, and inspire you to join a good cause.' This is a little follow-up article just to tell you about an amazing site that a friend told me about after reading the first article. It's called www.thehungersite.com and it's an incredible concept that has obviously struck a chord with many people, as there are now several links for five other similarly constructed sites. The main concept is that if visitors go to the site and simply click on the button 'Give free food-Click here', 1.1 cups of staple food will be given to undernourished and starving human beings in the world. How can this be true? All we have to do is click a button and food is given to hungry people? Yesterday alone the site had given a total of 148,735 cups of food. Since its inception on June 1, 1999 (6years in existence), over 417 million cups of food have been given by the site's sponsors and supporters.

This is how it works. The site is sponsored by many organizations, the two main ones being the Mercy Corps and America's Second Harvest. The sponsors have to pay to have their banners advertised and all of the proceeds go to the charity. After you make a click the many sponsors' ads come up and one has the opportunity to buy merchandise or give donations that go directly to the cause. To give food you don't have to buy anything, just click, but I figure that people who buy things and give a little extra are what make the system work. I don't really know exactly how it does function, but the site stipulates that you can go back every day and just clicking on the button gives people food. They want you to tell your friends and colleagues of course, and I guess the more visitors the site receives, the more chance that people also purchase a few items from what looks to be like very reputable organizations.

So One click gives 1.1 cups of staple food to the hungry. Well, at one of the affiliate sites (similar concept) www.therainforestsite.com, click on the button called, 'Save Our Rainforests: Click here', and 'Thank you! Your click has funded the preservation of 11.4 square feet of endangered rainforest. Please click every day and support the sponsors below, who pay for your gift.' comes up on the screen. On June 01 alone, visitors who clicked on this button protected 1,025,008 square feet of endangered land. The site stipulates that they give 100% of collected revenue from sponsor banner advertising to their charity partners, who use it to protect wilderness land. Since the site's advent in 2000, 1.2 billion square feet (29,000 acres) of endangered forestland has been protected and preserved.

There are four other sites built out of this same construct: www.thebreastcancersite.com who fund free mammograms, www.thechildhealthsite.com who help provide basic health services to children around the world, www.theliteracysite.com who provide books for children, and www.theanimalrescuesite.com who give food and care to rescued animals in shelters and sanctuaries.

I really think that these sites are an incredible step forward in showing that people in our society are becoming more aware and compassionate in relation to the world around them Have a look at some of these sites and see just how easy it has become to lend a helping hand to the Earth and the marginalised people and creatures who share its magical life force.

Jesse S. Somer M6.Net http://www.m6.net Jesse S. Somer hears a lot about how people do wrong in life, but after seeing the ingenuity that humanity used to make these websites, you have to admire the wisdom and compassion that many of us are learning.

Safety Training Videoes

Writen by Jason Gluckman

Safety training videos are made so that we don't panic in a crisis and put our lives in danger. These show us how to handle a fire, an earthquake, an accident or a natural disaster. They also include ordinary things like safety tips on climbing a ladder, driving or housekeeping. Countless websites and video production units make and sell CDs and DVDs of video clips on almost everything under the sun. If you do a Google search on safety training videos, you will come up with a minimum of 7,530,000 hits in less than .2 seconds. To choose a good video from this list is not easy. It is advisable to buy videos after having a short preview of what they contain.

Here are some websites which produce safety training videos for everyday purposes, and the categories of videos they sell to the public.

Safteytrainingnetwork.com has videos on almost all day-to-day situations. They have videos on alcohol and drugs, human resources, electrical and kitchen safety, infection control, healthcare, head protection, solid waste management and even employment law. Their videos are widely varied, covering topics from blood-borne pathogens safety and asbestos safety to ordinary things like recordkeeping and first aid.

Coastal.com specializes in producing instructional videos on safety training in coastal areas.

National Safety Compliance is an organization that looks into safety training from all aspects. Their training programs include videos and instructional material. Their videos include crane and hoist safety, transportation, ergonomics, fire safety, hotel safety and office and school safety. These cost anywhere from $200 to $500, and can be ordered online.

Trainingprofessionals.com focuses more on individual safety training, rather than group situations. These include construction safety, confined spaces, personal protective equipment and defensive driving.

Training Videos provides detailed information on Training Videos, Management Training Videoes, Police Academy Training Videoes, Safety Training Videoes and more. Training Videos is affiliated with Worker Compensation Insurance.

The 3 Vital Steps To Online Success Part 1 Of 4 An Overview

Writen by Robbie Pugh

Since its inception the Internet has brought fame and fortune to many individuals. For example, news broke not so long ago, of a couple from the UK who, in double-quick time, grew an online dating agency from zero to an income of hundreds of thousands. The value of their business is reckoned to be in the multi-million dollar range.

Since then, I heard of one gal who has struck gold selling bras and underwear and a guy who is making a nice living with his website on fly-fishing. Fly-fishing for heavens sake! Who would have thought there was any money in that? But there most certainly is. It's a niche site offering a niche product. The perfect ingredients for online success!

More often than not the product or service is so simple, we ask ourselves: why didn`t I think of that? I`ll bet many of you can recall similar success stories. Indeed, anyone with a spark of life inside them will think: I can do that. That is when the dream starts; to emulate these successful entrepreneurs; to make a good living and be truly independent.

This, of course, is the sheer beauty of the Internet. The small guy can succeed. If you do it right you do not have to compete with the big guys, in fact if you try you will surely fail. But before I get ahead of myself, let me ask you a couple of questions:

Firstly, why should you start an online business?

Without doubt the Internet provides a wonderful opportunity to set up your very own business at a minimal cost, capable of reaching a potential audience of countless millions.

Compare this with the cost and time in setting up a traditional business: the costs of premises, purchasing and stocking inventory, employing staff, overheads... the list goes on. The potential reach of your customers is also very limited with an off-line business by comparison with the Internet. The world really is your oyster. I think we can safely conclude there is no comparison.

Secondly, is it easy?

No, it most emphatically is not! But I tell you, it is a darn sight easier than starting a regular business! And it requires far less capital. But it still necessitates work, lots of work. And be in no illusion about one daunting statistic, namely that 95% of all new online ventures fail! You read that right, the odds are stacked against you! There, what do you think of that for a bit of honesty?

But now that you have been warned I can promise you one thing: with application, diligence, determination and a lot of perspiration you CAN succeed. And, it is to be hoped, beyond your wildest dreams. You can build a business for the future. And remember this, once you have built your site, it can go on creating income for you for years to come! Many have, why not you?

So, how do you go about getting online in the first place and then building your very own successful online business and, furthermore, with no Internet experience. This is where you are going to need help. Did you know there are three vital steps you must take to succeed with an Online Business? Well, that`s where this series of articles really begins.

Over the next three articles I shall elaborate on precisely these three steps. So, watch out for Part 2, which deals with the options open to you for getting your very own website up and running.

© Robbie Pugh - All Rights Reserved

Robbie Pugh offers you honest, down-to-earth advice on how to build your very own successful online business. If you are really serious about an online business, or maybe you are already online, this is a site you must check out. http://www.grabonlinesuccess.com

Internet Euphoria

Writen by Moreah Vestan

Recently, I got to help a friend who'd never been on the Web log on. It was probably even more exciting for me than for her. My great pleasure, my mission, is to stimulate discovery and focus on fulfillment. For example, I'd cooked black-eyed peas in the crock pot last week and couldn't find a recipe in my cookbook. Then I went to www.google.com and did a search and found hundreds of recipes in less than a minute! Where can a person discover more than on the Internet? I don't compare that delight with the glory of Nature or the intimacy of friendship, but all that knowledge at one's fingertips is intoxicating!

For me, part of the joy is in finding resources that I can pass on to various people in my life. On my coaching web site I have links to about 150 sites on several topics that are important to me. I've often thought it would be great to be on retainer and be a clipping service. If you were my client and wanted more information on career choices or home loans or hormone replacement therapy—you name it—I'd play hide and seek on the Web and tell you what I found. Being on the Internet makes me feel part of the larger world. I rarely watch the evening news, but when I log on, the welcome screen always gives the top news in the world, with places you can go to check on stocks, weather, entertainment and more. The feeling I get when I open my Personal Filing Cabinet and read Incoming Saved Mail is akin to my response to a letter from a loved one in the mail box. It's like a gift I wasn't expecting, a spontaneous offer to go on a two hour outing. Some of the emails are unwelcome, but I can hit delete or tuck them unread into an appropriate folder. I have folders for my weekly AskYourself newsletter, Puget Sound Coaching Association, Humor, Web Resources, Stock Market, Events, Travel, Writing, and other areas of interest.

For me, the email folders are comparable to a photo album— something I can revisit to tickle my memory muscle. Sometimes reading just the subject line puts a huge grin on my face—I remember the joke or scenario. Loving to share as I do, I have to restrain myself from forwarding wonderful humor and great lists to everyone I know. People who know me well appreciate my desire to be useful, and forgive me when I get carried away. It's hard for me to believe there are people who can afford a computer web access who don't rely on the Internet for quick communication. Perhaps I'm a bit addicted to it, but no more so than to snow-covered mountains, intimate talks with friends, a good book, a Handel concerto, or popcorn with butter by the fireplace. I'd be proud to introduce the Internet as my friend to anyone, and I value my friends. You'll have to pardon me; it's time for me to go there!

Moreah Vestan Communication Trainer, Life Coach, Columnist http://communicationcoaching.net Author: Pleasures and Ponderings: From Nun to Nudist to Now http://www.pleasuresandponderings.com 206-938-8385

Why Resell Rights Products Are The Simplest Way To Own Your Online Business

Writen by Sheridans Student

Resell right products are the hottest products on the internet right now. Why? Well, there are lots of reasons. Let's break it down for an easier explanation. This is the list that you have to do to have an online business:

· Find a product to sell. Not just a product but a product that can sell itself. In other words, products that people are looking for each and every day.
· Design your sales page. If you are not a web designer, then you have to hire someone who can do it for you. Their rate is about $40-$60 an hour.
· Set up a Credit Card processing on your website. It is a must for anybody selling anything online.
· Find a web hosting company. You have to upload your website so that people can see your sales page.
· Promote your website and products. This is the most important part. How successful your business is going to be depends on how you promote your products.
· Watch the orders come in. After you do all the things mentioned above, then you can relax a little bit and watch the orders come in.

Seems to much work for you?

If you buy Resell Rights Products, you OWN your own products. You're not selling other people's products. Most of resell right products come with ready-to-take-order website. You just have to plug-in your information. That's right. You be the boss!

The products AND the websites are provided for you. They're automatically taking orders from your very own customers. All you have to do is wait and see orders coming in to your bank account.

Sheridans Student is the owner of http://www.ebizbest.com. Please visit his website for the best deal of resell rights collection. Lowest price guaranteed or your money back

10 Steps To Successfully Sell Your Business

Writen by John Reddish

Getting your best deal when you sell your business is a major challenge. Unfortunately, it is a process all too many business owners take too lightly. They end up settling for less when they fail to employ strategic business thinking to all elements of the selling process and transaction. To help you get your best deal; I have developed a ten-step process you can follow to help you achieve your goals.

One thing I've found is that getting your best deal often depends on recruiting and using the right team of advisors. These advisors include your attorney, accountant, financial planner and consultant and/or investment banker. These professionals comprise the team you will need to achieve the most dollars and the best terms. Each has his/her own specific skills and you will need them all. The few dollars you spend for professional assistance (usually 10%, or less, of what you receive from the sale (as you receive it) will more than pay for itself in getting you a better outcome. The steps in this process appear deceptively simple but require discipline, hard work and sometimes painfully honest self-assessment. They are:

#1 Develop two written lists of goals -- your lifestyle goals and your business goals. In short, what do you want to happen in your life once you've sold the business? Develop each set of goals separately. This helps you keep perspective. Compare both lists. Don't be surprised to see conflicts. Resolve all conflicts between the two goal sets and prepare a coordinated list, keeping business and personal goals separate but on one sheet of paper. Share the list with your leadership team. They will, in most cases, be staying on (and locking them into their jobs may be key to achieving your objectives). Ask them for their opinions -- in writing -- of both the goals and the potential impact of attaining the goals on their areas of responsibility.

#2 Use your lists of goals to generate a criteria checklist. Items for this checklist include: minimum selling price (see #3 below) required to close any gaps in your financial (estate) plan and ensure success in your retirement or in your next endeavor; type of buyer most suitable to run the business; timetable for sale; objectives to achieve prior to any sale (including employment contracts, shadow equity or equity for key team members); transition period and contract for you; desired terms and conditions; and, other financial issues. Divide your completed checklist into MUST items, those things a buyer and/or sales transaction must have for you to close a deal, and LIKE items, those which while nice to have are not essential to the sale. A good, solid checklist takes time to develop, but it will keep you on target.

#3 Pricing is important. While you MUST get your minimum-selling price, you will almost certainly want more. In addition, you probably want to establish an asking price that allows some room for negotiation. You should have your consultant or one of the other team members prepare (or commission) an independent valuation of the company. The valuation will give you a good starting point in establishing a realistic pricing strategy. Ideally, the valuation should allow you to compare several valuation approaches to the company's worth. These computations can be based on: multiples of earnings approaches; asset value plus goodwill; or some of the many sophisticated cash flow models. Knowing how much to ask and under what terms are central to your success.

#4 Take a look at all the preparations completed to date BEFORE even looking for a buyer or dangling a tantalizing "carrot" in front of an eager prospect. Be brutally honest with yourself. Have you considered all the contingencies? Have you reviewed and considered all your financial plans? Would strengthening the business over a short period result in a greater selling price or better terms? ARE YOU READY TO LET GO AND WALK AWAY?

#5 Evaluate specific potential buyers against your checklist. Prospective buyers for small- to medium-sized companies can be found in local and regional publications, as well as The Wall Street Journal, under Business Wanted or Business Opportunity. Investment bankers, venture capitalists, local banks, accountants and attorneys, in addition to many business brokers, are all potential referral sources for transactions. Your management team may be ready and willing to make you an offer. A family member might want to continue the business. Customers and/or vendors and/or competitors might have interest. Research companies and individuals whose business interests fit your criteria, but don't make any announcements until you are truly ready to go public and tell the world. (Once you announce the company is for sale, there will normally be more "tire kickers" than you want to deal with.) In addition, some competitors will almost certainly use such information as a way to attempt to "raid" your key accounts. Match every prospect against your MUST's. If you discover a "must" missing, move on the next prospective buyer.

#6 Develop a short list of prospects composed of those who inquire, those whom you feel might make a good match and those whom you feel might make a good transaction. Rate them on their potential attractiveness on their potential ability to complete the deal, grow the company and complete all payments to you. Once you have a working list to go with your criteria you, or preferably a member of your team, can begin making contacts. A significant show of interest results in the prospect signing a Confidentiality Agreement. It is at this point that you will normally begin to disclose financial and other data to the prospective buyer.

#7 Once the Confidentiality Agreement is in place and as you prepare to disclose information, have your team conduct a thorough due diligence review to qualify any prospective buyers -- companies or individuals -- identified above BEFORE releasing your own information. Serious buyers should insist on reviewing records, tax returns, financial statements, public disclosures and other documents. They should speak with your accountants, attorneys and advisors. They should want to speak (and this needs to be handled very sensitively), with your vendors, customers and employees. They should also be prepared to prove they can complete the transaction. Due diligence is essential to both sides in crafting a win-win deal.

#8 Begin the challenging task of negotiating the sale. My advice to clients (buyers and sellers, alike) is to strive to control the terms rather than the price. Several years ago, I negotiated a deal in which the seller and buyer were far apart in their estimates on what the company was worth. We structured the agreement of sale so that the net present value, the cash value today, equaled what the buyer wanted to pay, but the total dollars for the transaction over time were more than the seller originally asked. Both sides felt like they won. Other advice I give my clients is to go gently into negotiations. Realize, particularly in the initial discussions leading to the transaction that you may be perceived as an entrepreneur more interested in having the business "adopted" than in sold; or as a large, inflexible, corporate type intent only on selling a product line or division before a certain date or at a certain price; or as shareholder representatives who don't know the business or its potential or future and just want out. Getting past these perceptions is key to enhancing deal value. All require different approaches and great sensitivity.

#9 Identify and align your options in relation to being paid at closing and after the sale. Knowing what you want is critical to getting it. A brief list of options includes: a strictly cash sale due at closing; a tax free exchange of stock; cash plus a promissory note plus an employment contract; cash, a promissory note and a non-compete agreement; venture capital. The list goes on. Be sure at closing that you have removed yourself from any contingent liabilities arising from transactions in the old company. Such transactions may include: unpaid taxes; unexpired leases; lender UCC's (Unified Commercial Code filings) that have not been satisfied. Failure to clear these items could result in costly comebacks at a later date. Allow an average of from 2-6 months for serious buyers to identify and line up funding sources.

#10 Closing can be tricky and unfortunately has been the unraveling of many deals. Again, go gently. A deal isn't done until all parties have signed off on the transaction. One deal I witnessed fell apart at the closing table when one of the advisors, claiming he was "emotionally moved" by the integrity exhibited by both sides, read a poem he had written for the occasion. After the closing, your new life begins. You are either out the door or an employee who will (probably) be out the door once the new ownership gets a handle on running the business. (Employment contracts notwithstanding, most former owners are asked to leave long before their due date.) More importantly, the "buck" now stops somewhere else. Remember that and stand aside. Whatever your choice, good fortune and good luck to you as you explore your options.

If you explore selling your business, getting the right professional help can mean the difference between a successful sale and the frustration of time, effort and hope wasted. Solidify your standing in the sale by completing your research and consultations with your advisory team members in advance. With proper planning, you can get the very best deal when you sell your business.

Copyright 2006 John J Reddish

John Reddish works with and speaks to entrepreneurs and top executives who want to master growth, transition and succession, helping them to get results faster, less painfully and in ways that work for them. Author, speaker, consultant and mentor, John is a member of the National Speakers Assn. For booking and product information: http://www.getresults.com. Or call 800.726.7985 in the US, 01.610.388.9335 internationally, or at johnr@getresults.com.

Vested Business Brokers

Writen by Steve Valentino

Hiring the expertise of a vested business broker is a good strategy, especially when doing business. If you are thinking of buying or selling your business, the foremost thought on your mind is, of course, how you will be able to optimize your sale or purchase. Getting the services of a reliable and knowledgeable vested business broker can make a huge difference.

Vested business brokers act as the middlemen between buyers and sellers. They may have ready resources, such as a long list of clientele who are ready to make purchases or people who are itching to sell businesses or properties. Vested business brokers may also be in contact with a wider network that, in turn, can put you in touch with more possible buyers and sellers.

Aside from these perks, the services of vested business brokers usually include some form of promotion, like advertisements and publicity, which can speed up the sale or purchase of your item.

Business deals, such as the buying and selling of a business or property, usually includes a fair amount of paper work and can take up a lot of your time. If you do not want to be bothered by the technical details, then you can hire a professional to address your needs. Vested business brokers can take care of everything from setting up meetings, making credit inquiries and even doing your paperwork. With these people at the helm, all you need to worry about is getting a fair deal.

The buying and selling process can be complicated. Many of the business dealings involving buying and selling can be taxing. That is why you need someone reliable who will take care of your assets and your money. You want someone who is smart enough to know a good deal when he stumbles upon one and turns away from a bad deal as soon as the warning signs flash.

Business Brokers provides detailed information on Business Brokers, Small Business Brokers, Business Loan Brokers, Business Broker Network and more. Business Brokers is affiliated with Internet Businesses For Sale.

Succeeding In Business 15 Ways To Assure You Come Out Ahead

Writen by Alicia Smith

There are a number of things you can do today to create a successful business. The key to success is founded in adopting a positive attitude and investing your time and effort to take consistent daily actions. Here are some great ways to get started.

1. Take action. Successful business owners are people in action. They don't sit around waiting for things to happen. Instead, they make things happen. Adopting a mindset of taking action is key to maintaining and sustaining the momentum you need to be a business success. Sometimes we don't feel like doing anything. But, an idle business can mean financial disaster. You should always keep a list of simple things you can do to either market your business, improve your skill set or to make your business operations run more smoothly. Taking any action, even one small step each day, will keep you moving forward towards accomplishing your business goals.

2. Make sales calls. Closing sales is the lifeblood of your company. First you must create a process for generating prospects. Making direct sales calls, implementing direct mail or email marketing campaigns, offering teleclasses or giving speeches are some of the best ways to build a pipeline of interested prospects. Craft a well-scripted sales presentation that addresses the prospect's needs, introduces the features and benefits of your product or service, and handles any objections that might be posed. Finally you need to close the sale. While strong skills are required in all of these areas, the most critical part is developing relationships with your prospects and customers. There is no substitute for a face-to-face conversation with an inquiring prospect, and no better way than to begin building a personal relationship with a potential client.

3. Network. The best way to make sales is to create relationships with others who want to buy from you. Get out and meet others. Join groups that you enjoy that include members who would most likely be interested in your products and services. By mingling with others, sharing about yourself and your business, you'll feel more alive and energized. Not only will you have the chance to meet new people, but you might also create some opportunities that can propel your business to a new level. Networking is a great tool for increasing your visibility and a necessity for anyone who desires success.

4. Complete the 90-Day Marketing Marathon. One of the quickest ways to jumpstart your business is to enroll in the 90-Day Marketing Marathon E-course (www.90daymarketingmarathon.com). Available in editions for both coaches and micro business owners, this intensive program will motivate and inspire you to take daily actions to market and promote your business. Each lesson is carefully crafted to teach you something about marketing that you can implement immediately. You'll learn about crafting and sending letters of introduction, writing a top ten article or e-course, asking for referrals, networking, writing press releases, and many more marketing tactics. You'll also be able to enjoy additional helpful resources that accompany many of the lessons.

5. Write articles and publish them online. Writing articles and publishing them online is one of the easiest things to do to generate business. Not only do they add to your credibility, but also they increase your visibility as they are disseminated all over the Internet. Go to websites like www.eZineArticles.com or www.topten.org to get ideas about articles currently being written. You can write a simple top ten article and post it on any number of free or fee article submission sites. These articles, along with your full contact information, subsequently find their way to various websites or are included in published newsletters. Writing articles is a wonderful way to get known far and wide in a short period of time. They also create "links" back to your site giving you increased web traffic and exposure.

6. Teach teleclasses. One of the best ways to build your business is by offering free or fee teleclasses. A teleclass provides a way to share what you know with others while at the same time giving the audience an opportunity to experience your "live performance." By offering a course through a teleclass format, you can extend your reach to a global audience, opening up the opportunity to gain clients from near and far. Teleclasses also offer other benefits in that they can be taped and repackaged for sale, showcased as a "special offer", or even posted as content to your website. As an added benefit, teleclasses are both time and cost efficient.

7. Send out 10 letters of introduction each week. A letter of introduction is a great way to introduce you and your business to your local community or target market. If you are just starting out, you can mention the grand opening of your business and perhaps include a free offer for a complimentary consultation or a free product sample. You might consider enclosing a copy of a recent article you have written or a complimentary assessment. Include a note that you will be calling in one week to follow up. This will give you a reason to make telephone contact, which might be the beginning of building a relationship with a future customer.

8. Update your website. One way to stay "fresh" in the eyes of prospects and current clients is to update your website at least weekly. Change something on your home page. If you make use of quotes or testimonials, change them or move them around. Add a new article or delete old content. Make sure that any time sensitive information is properly updated. If you don't have new content to add, ask your colleagues if they have something that you might be able to use. If you need articles to post, you can go to any number of online article banks, or even try www.topten.org Finally, don't forget to check all of your links to make sure they are functioning properly.

9. Return phone calls promptly. Now more than ever, time is of the essence when it comes to doing business. You never know when you might be missing a time critical opportunity. Always return phone calls as soon as you can. Your prompt response demonstrates to prospects and your current clients that you value serving them and that you respect their time and their deadlines. In today's competitive environment, if people don't get the prompt attention they desire, it's easy to do business elsewhere. In order to make it easier and more time efficient to return calls, set aside one or two times during the day when you can do so without interruption.

10. Respond to emails promptly. Today, email is a more common method of communication than the telephone. As with returning telephone calls, emails left unattended can send negative messages about you and your business. When you don't answer emails promptly, you are perceived as not on top of things, that you aren't detail oriented or worse, that you don't care about your customers. Don't hesitate when it comes to communications. As with telephone calls set aside a couple of times each day to respond to email.

11. Get involved in your community. Successful business owners get involved with their community. You can donate your time, services, or products to local charities or social programs. You can offer to speak for free to various community groups like the Optimists, Lions, and Rotary clubs. You can even start your own group to benefit the community and its members. Not only is this a great way to network and create visibility for your business, but also it's a wonderful way to give back and help those who need it most.

12. Engage in public speaking. Public speaking is a wonderful way to build visibility and credibility for your business. Whether you are speaking for a fee or for free, speaking engagements are a great way to introduce your products and services to others. More importantly, they provide a way for you to establish a personal relationship with prospects by providing a face-to-face opportunity to interact. Consider public speaking engagements as "instant networking" opportunities with you as the featured guest.

13. Be customer centered. Successful business owners are 100% customer-centric because they know they will be out of business without customers. Being customer-oriented means that you design, develop and market products and services that meet the specific needs of your clientele. You design customer service programs that address questions and concerns efficiently and effectively. You answer emails and return telephone calls promptly. Adopting an attitude of service to others is the best way to ensure that everything you do is for your biggest fans – your customers.

14. Surround yourself with terrific people. Business owners who want to be more than average, associate, partner and network with other highly successful and exceptional people. The best way to learn the ropes of success is to surround yourself with those who have already achieved it. By learning from the knowledge and wisdom of others, you will reduce your own learning curve and make your own success much faster and easier. Consider partnering with others who have a complimentary service and product or choose to create something new from which both of you can benefit. Or you might engage in fusion marketing opportunities where you market and promote each other's offerings.

15. Adopt a learning mindset. Successful business owners are knowledge seekers. They are on a continual quest to improve themselves personally and professionally. You've probably heard the phrase "Knowledge is power". Seeking out new knowledge, whether by reading a book, taking a teleclass, or learning from the feedback you receive from your customers or clients can be invaluable when it comes to moving your business forward. An attitude of learning from everything we encounter is what keeps our perspective fresh and our ideas flowing. We need new input to create new output. Surround yourself with interesting people, things, and ideas. These are the roots from which successful businesses are born.

© Copyright 2004 Alicia Smith Consulting & Training. All Rights Reserved.

Alicia Smith is a Coach and Trainer whose specialty is helping business people to Make Money Now. She has taught over 10,000 people how to improve their business bottom lines. To learn more about her courses, products and services, please visit http://www.AliciaSmith.com

Are You An Underearner

Writen by Jaya Schillinger

One of the main topics business owners want me to coach them on is profitability. For the most part, the kind of people I work with don't have money as the #1 thing on the list of values. It's important to them of course, but usually they're more motivated by personal or spiritual values, like making a positive difference in the world. I'm a person like that myself. But as a business coach, I'm also privy to the inner- dialogue, the self-esteem issues, and the confounding defense systems that cause roadblocks to financial solvency. These deep wounds and doubts can sabotage business profitability far better than a failing economy, a poor job market, or a competitive marketplace ever could. Chronic "underearning," a habitual pattern of an otherwise healthy, bright person who does not earn enough money to pay for life's basic necessities, is a type of self-sabotage.

The term "underearning" became popularized by the book, "Earn What You Deserve" by Jerrold Mundis. That book is probably 10 years old by now, but the topic is always relevant, particularly for self-employed people. There's a bit of a chicken-or-egg quandary when you look at underearning and self-employment. Many underearners unconsciously gravitate towards entrepreneurship because it provides freedom from accountability, therefore allowing an underearner say "no" to success, or "yes" to business activities that don't make financial sense. But I've also seen formerly successful people start their own business and get stuck in a cycle of struggle and poverty that didn't plague them before. So perhaps an underearning pattern can be developed as a result of starting up a new business as well. It's so prevalent, that there's a 12-Step group called Business Owners Debtors Anonymous (BODA) where entrepreneurs who struggle with money gather for support around financial responsibility. There isn't a BODA national website yet, but if you're curious you can probably find a meeting through their parent organization Debtor's Anonymous. Here are 10 Common Traits of Underearners:

1.Chronic pattern of not earning enough to meet your needs.

2.Being close-minded about work that offers financial stability.

3.Avoiding contact with people that want to hire you.

4.Working for trade, deep discounts, or pro-bono, instead of money.

5.Distracting oneself with romantic intrigue to avoid career issues.

6.Changing jobs/careers after startup, but before income begins.

7.Compulsively saying "yes" to work or clients that don't pay enough.

8.Compulsively saying "no" or being afraid of opportunities that pay well.

9.When money is abundant, compulsively over- spending or creating debt.

10.Having a core belief system that says you are bad, and/or money is bad.

So what do you do if the word, "Underearner," describes you? Besides taking a look at Mundis' book, or checking out a BODA or DA meeting, you can start with self-observation. Be careful not to go into self-judgment. Most underearners feel enough shame already. Simply notice how you act when it's time to make decisions or take actions that might help you earn money. Do you pull back? Get sick? Find some other distraction to throw yourself into, or work harder at the wrong tasks?

The good news is that you have a choice as to whether you continue to underearn, or change the dynamic. Every day, you have a choice. You can make those follow up calls to prospects, or not. You can take work that will pay enough for your bills, or you can try to "get by" a little longer. You can say yes to the right clients, and no to situations that are bad for you. You're innately powerful, but when underearning shows up in your life, some part of you has lost touch with that power. Increasing profitability isn't just something that you do. Indeed, there are systems and accountability structures that will help you make more money. But sometimes, the biggest breakthroughs happen when you change what you believe.

Copyright 2006 Jaya Schillinger

Jaya Schillinger "The Turnaround Queen" at http://www.InspirationInc.com is a certified life coach & small business consultant with over 20 years of business ownership & management experience in the fields of personal development, health, and beauty.

Nonprofit Incorporation Services

Writen by Eric Morris

An organization that has a large number of employees and a steady flow of cash will benefit by becoming a nonprofit corporation. Incorporating will save employees from paying the debts of the organization, and will increase the organization's chance of getting government funds.

The first step in incorporating a nonprofit organization is to file nonprofit articles of incorporation with the relevant clauses on tax exemption duly filled in. The next step is to apply for tax-exempt status at the state and federal level by filing Form 1023 with the Internal Revenue Service. There are many online and offline companies that help you through the formalities and incorporate your organization in no time.

Bizfilings.com offers incorporation services for nonprofit organizations and helps them conduct directors' meetings and follow the formalities of a corporation. The basic package costs just $99, exclusive of the state fees, and includes document preparation and filing, registered agent service free for six months, and online access to their Corporate Status Center round the clock. Standard and complete packages with additional services are charged at $229 and $349, respectively.

Pacific Corporate Filings helps you incorporate a nonprofit organization in California. Services provided by this company include name search and reservation for your company, filing of nonprofit articles of incorporation, providing custom stock certificates, IRS forms and CDs and a monthly newsletter, all for $125 and the state fee for incorporation. You can fill out their online form and rest assured your organization will be a corporation in the next few days.

Personalized services like setting up a nonprofit corporation, filling out the tax forms at the federal and state levels and creating corporate bylaws are offered at the Non-profit-services.org. They promise to do all the paperwork on your behalf and ask only for the necessary information needed to carry out the task.

Incorporation Services provides detailed information on Incorporation Services, Online Incorporation Services, Business Incorporation Services, Nonprofit Incorporation Services and more. Incorporation Services is affiliated with Incorporate Business.

Networking Is A Learned Skill

Writen by Nancy Roebke

Ok, really. How tough can networking be? It involves TALKING to people and I talk to people every single day. Why do I constantly need to learn how to network? Why do I need to constantly develop networking skills? Why is it recommended that I participate in GROUPS that only have a focus on networking? It just can't be that tough.

Networking is a LEARNED skill. It involves developing strong relationship-building techniques. These are taught. Just like mathematical skills and verbal skills. It is a common misconception that you should "know" how to network. After all, it's believed, networking is not brain surgery or rocket science.

But that IS a misconception. Without constant exposure to new relationship-building ideas, without exposure to different people, and different communication styles, without training in the field of networking, a business professional would suffer from some serious business development challenges. These challenges included but are not limited to:

1. A lack of ability to get past "gate keepers". A very common way to get past gate-keepers is through a referral from someone the gate keeper knows and respects. Without strong networking skills, a business professional will be unable to generate such referrals.

2. Once past them, a challenge with getting an appointment with a decision-maker. Here, without strong listening skills and precise presentation techniques, the busy decision-maker finds it easy to end a conversation before it's started.

3. Once an appointment is made, difficulty communicating features and benefits to your prospect. People relate to different styles of communication in different ways. Usually, someone likes to be related to in the same manner that they relate to others. To use a different style can not only cause a delay in the presentation process, but can actually lead to the termination of an otherwise mutually-beneficial business relationship just because the STYLE was offensive to the recipient.

4. Even if all the above can be handled successfully, a difficulty in closing the sale. In an ideal networking relationship, both parties are concerned with learning about each other so they can best help each other. This skill makes closing a sale easier, since you have learned how to best help your prospect and your prospect has learned how you can best help them. The close is much easier then.

There appears to be no formal courses someone can take on Networking. (Although I personally would LOVE to change THAT!)The closest thing to a networking course is participation in networking groups. Here, a group of like- minded individuals meet with common goals in mind-the over- all goal being increased business revenue for all participants.

Any readers interested in furthering THEIR Networking education may want to read a series of articles on the topic (including articles on Networking groups)that I have available by autoresponder. For a list of the titles of these articles, send a blank email to: mail to: files@profnet.org An autoresponder will return a list of the available files WITH descriptions so you can continue YOUR networking education by choosing the articles that are of interest to you. Copyright c 2004 Nancy Roebke

How To Find Wholesale Sources

Writen by Paul Taylor

In my last article "How To Open a Business," I wanted you to answer questions that needed to be answered before opening your business. Everyone at one time or another has said to themselves "I want my own business." But is it enough just to want your own business?

Your answers to the questions should give you an idea if you are the type of person that can handle the stress of owning your own business.

Since you have decided to open your own business, "NOW WHAT?"

Let's say that you decide to open a dollar store – where everything is a dollar. You have found what you believe is the perfect location. You have talked with the landlord and are working out a lease. You have gone to your county and bought a business license. And you have applied for a tax id in your state.

Now the next big question is "where do I buy my items wholesale?"

This morning I googled the term "wholesale" and there were 231,000,000 sites listed. Look at that number again - 231 million sites listed for "wholesale." How does one begin to search through that many sites to find what they want to sell? And how do you know that the companies that are listed are reputable.

I have owned several businesses – some successful and some not so successful. And one of the biggest problems that I faced was finding good wholesale sources at a good price. I now sell on ebay and finding wholesale sources that were cheap enough to make a profit and compete with others selling the same things was difficult.

Most business owners know that to make a profit, you have to find items at great wholesale prices. I have always been told "you make your money when you buy the items, not when you sell them."

Some of the so-called "wholesale sources" prices that I have found were more than I could have bought the same item for on ebay - including shipping. If you have ever tried to find wholesale sources, it can be a daunting task. So where to begin is the biggest question.

One of the ways that you can check and see if a company is reputable is by checking a website called alexa.com. This site lets customers review other sites. Some of the sites may not have any reviews about them, but some of them may. And just because someone else didn't like the company does not mean that it is a bad company.

You can also check the page rank at google; however, if a site is relatively new, it will probably have a 0 page rank. This rank is a rating that tells how important google thinks that a website is. However, many of the most visited websites on the web only rank a 0 or 1 or 2.

Finding wholesale sources is easy. Finding "good" wholesale sources takes a lot of work and patience.

Another question to research is the shipping costs. I found one wholesale source that had very good prices, but the shipping costs was too high. I think that this company was trying to make their profit on the shipping. Most of the reputable companies will cap the shipping costs with a minimum purchase. Many of the ones I have dealt with cap the shipping costs at 10% with a $1000 minimum order. However, with gas prices rising and shipping rates rising, companies may have to raise the minimum requirements in order to cap the shipping costs.

Educate yourself about what items are available. Many of the name brand companies will not sell to small business. They already have their distribution channels set up and if you want to sell these brands, you may have to find a middleman that will sell them to you. You may have to pay a little more for the items, but if it is important to you to have name brands, it just might be worth it.

Another way to find good wholesale sources is to go to the merchandise shows. These shows have thousands of wholesalers at one place and you can browse all the booths until you find what you are interested in. Some of the biggest wholesale merchandise shows are located in the larger cities such as: New York, Las Vegas, Chicago, and Atlanta.

Traveling to these wholesale merchandise shows is time consuming and can be expensive. However, usually the wholesale shows have special rates arranged with hotels.

Well, that is all for now. Visit my website: www.wholesalemap.com for more information about finding "good" wholesale sources. It is free. Also, I have just begun a blog and if you have any ideas or wholesale sites that I need to review, let me know.

Paul Taylor is a business owner that helps others to find wholesale sources. To find the best wholesale sources for starting a business, visit http://www.wholesalemap.com.

Paul Taylor is a business owner that helps others to find wholesale sources. To find the best wholesale sources for starting a business, visit http://www.wholesalemap.com.

Think The Unthinkable

Writen by Arvind Kumar

What the people in business think they know about customer and market is more likely to be wrong than right. There is only one person who really knows: the customer. In his book "Managing for results" Peter F Drucker has pinpoint very justifiable who is the king of market. Brand managers and owner think themselves the leader of market. They let them think that they decide the fate of market and they can carry their leadership in one segment to another segment easily with there brand name. Many have jump into this rat race.

When Xerox saw a big opportunity in PC market they planned to jump into this market with the brand name 'Xerox'. They let themselves in thinking that both are of same kind of product. Customer will buy in their thinking and they will buy Xerox name in PC. But to their surprise and million of dollar write off, they realized that customer take PC a very apart product from the photocopier business. To them, Xerox represent photocopier. Xerox means photocopier.

Business people think that they know their customer genes. But customer's genes are not hard and fast stable jeans like human genes. They keep changing. 'Our engineers had to suspend the law of nature to make this or that possible. "But customer has a very unique and different way of mind set. They can , very much possible, think that if it so much difficult, there may be a big chances that it will not work at all. End result would falter of the product. Peter Drucker states, "No one company and brand is important to market". Market defines rules for the game. A lot of play the game and efficient player in all the department become the leader. But she is the leader not the market itself. If an organization goes down it can at most affect it employees, owners, shareholders and the government. But not at all the customer. Customer has a vast option to decide on. He will switch his vendor, Simple and straight as bamboo.

But brand owner has a very unique way of market view. They see themselves not as leader of market but the leader of customers. They themselves decide that customer will buy anything that they produce given the following in one segment of market. While deciding on these strategies, they ignore the huge amount of data and facts available to them and fancy themselves with speculations.

Billions of dollars has gone under drain only due to defocusing and fancy mind of mindless CEOs of big boys of corporate world. And to my best of knowledge, these so called intelligent guys are not learning fast enough.

Arvind Kumar is an internet marketer and consultant for last 3 year. He is founder and CEO of http://www.nuttymarketer.com. You can reach him at arvind@nuttymarketer.com.

Productivity The Greatest Tv Story Ever Told

Writen by Robert Abbott

The gains we get from increased productivity come to us in two main ways: higher wages, or less expensive products. Let's take a look at one product that costs less and delivers more value because of higher productivity:

When I grew up in the 1950s, everyone in the neighborhood took notice when a new television set arrived. The cost of a set represented a big portion of a family's income.

And then there was upkeep. In those days, we could count on our TV sets to make a funny noise and go black just before the car chase came to a climax, just before the big wedding on a soap opera, or just before the championship game. So we called a TV repairman, who came to the house, replaced a tube or two, and gave us a bill for which we hadn't budgeted.

On the other hand, when you go to a discount store and buy a new TV set, the cost likely represents less than a day's pay, and you'll probably never call a repairman (assuming you could even find one). Your set will last for many years, and when it shows its last commercial, you will simply throw it out and buy a new one. In effect, TV sets have become so inexpensive they're a disposable product.

Our television sets are just one of the many products that cost less, at least in real dollars, because of productivity improvements. If we look through our houses we will see many products that effectively cost less and do more than they did a generation ago.

We might even say that the greatest television story ever told is one you won't see on the screen; it's the story of a half century of improvements that pulled the real prices of television sets way down, and pushed product quality way up. And that's true of many household products, especially electronic products.

Robert F. Abbott is the author of the forthcoming book, Ownership Revolution: How Working People are Buying Up Big Business, from which this article is taken. If you contribute to a pension fund, mutual fund, or whole life insurance policy, you're probably one of the new owners of the big corporations. Find out more at http://www.TheNewOwners.com.

Corporate Travel Managementpost 911

Writen by Dan N

When terrorists shook America and the world with the September 11 attacks of 2001, they didn't just hit the travel industry hard but also changed the way corporate travel management functioned. Post 9/11, corporate travel management in the U.S. has become as much about security as it is about booking low-priced tickets and hotel rooms. Though the terrorists could not deter business travelers too long despite using airliners to hit prominent targets in New York City and Washington, they certainly prompted corporate travel management firms to rethink strategy.

As business spreads to new and at times unstable parts of the world, corporate travelers are crisscrossing the globe more frequently and are becoming vulnerable to a greater variety of threats including terrorism, natural disasters, crime and unrest. Post 9-11, American companies are exercising stricter control over executives and employees' business travel plans, discouraging them from making their bookings online individually and urging them to go through the corporate travel managements firms they have hired. That is because when a corporate travel management firm is in charge, the company always knows where its business travelers are in case of an emergency.

In the aftermath of 9/11, most corporate travel management companies have launched round-the-clock emergency services so that a business traveler finding himself/herself in a difficult situation in a foreign land doesn't feel completely stranded. Many have crisis management mechanisms in place for better co-ordination during emergencies. Travel departments within most companies have also begun to link travel policies with security policies. Coupled with stricter security measures put in place by governments across the world - especially in areas receiving a large number of business and leisure travelers – travel has in many ways become safer post 9/11.

The Travel Team, Inc understands the increased security concerns for the business traveler post 9/11, which is why we have included a 24/7 worldwide emergency service among the facilities available to our corporate clients. Our comprehensive corporate travel management service strives to ensure that your executives and employees travel safely and at the lowest possible price, but without any compromise on quality of transport, board and lodge.

Visit http://www.thetravelteam.com for more information and contact us for details.

"Dan is a well know author in the field of finance and investment. He has authored many articles which are very popular in many of the portals over the internet. "

Doing Business Online Does Skin Color Really Matter

Writen by Lance Winslow

Recently I had been conversing with a gentleman online about a business endeavor that he thought was worthy after he read one of my articles on a new personal technology device concept I had dreamed up. As we shot back nearly 50 pages worth of text in emails and forum discussions, it never occurred to me that we might be different races. Not that it makes any difference anyway, however the subject came up and I though I should ask. Turns out he is a Black American and I am white. My question was simply; BTW are you black? In his reply he said, he is a man who happens to be black (smile). And I did, because it doesn't matter.

So I said to him in my email reply; "Well stated Sir." And since he is a Black American Man, well then I thought we ought to use this to his advantage, because god knows there is still a bit of adversity that comes with a different color of skin, even if not all in our country are willing to admit that. He is considering on forming a new business, which will need lots of funding. You see I take an online newsletter, which comes from The Black Chamber of Commerce, which often lists all the programs available from the government to help small business. Some but not all look as if they could be a very good thing. I would not consider it a crutch, but hey if someone is going to help streamline the process of funding a business, any business regardless of who owns, well it is time to say; "Thanks, I can use that!"

In thinking on this gentleman's comments, it was hard to top his answer to my matter of factly asked question, but I gave it a shot and said; "Well I am a teenager at heart who happens to be white. But what the hell?" I decided to let him in on a personal secret of mine and told him;

"I can tell you this from sports, there were certainly times in Track, when I envied some of the other athletes for their agility in sprinting. Because at the end of a mile run, I sure as hell wish and would have given anything to have had some of the faster twitch genes in my body, because getting passed in those last 30-yards is worse than death, it truly sucks."

Indeed in sports the best athlete usually wins; that is to say the best trained, strongest willed, best genes and skill; it is the combination that counts. Luckily in sports I was able to make up for my inferior genes in sports, often enough, thru countless extra hours of beating my body into submission, it was something I overcame and it was not easy. You see while there are some differences in genetics, it is ever so slight and usually not enough to ever be noticeable. In fact in being white, I am not really sure what my genes are good at, but molecular genetic professors tell me that my earwax is greaser? So, What the hell? Not sure that does me any good in any other human endeavor. Its all good! So let's not sweat the small stuff, we are all on the same planet and therefore we are all on the same team. Think on it.

Lance Winslow - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Medical Billing Ya0 Record

Writen by Michael Russell

In our previous installment on medical billing and the electronic transmission of claims, we briefly touched on multiple batches and why they're required when billing. In this installment, we're going to cover the batch trailer record and the individual fields it contains.

The batch trailer record is the YA0 record and comes at the very end of the batch for a provider, immediately after the last XA0 record for the last patient in that batch. If this record falls out of sequence, the whole claim file for that batch will be rejected. In some cases, the carrier will reject all batches in the file.

YA0 field 1, positions 1 - 3, is the record type. This needs to be filled in with YA0 otherwise the batch file will be rejected by the carrier.

YA0 field 2, positions 4 - 18, is the provider ID number. This must be the same provider ID number that is transmitted in the BA0 record in field number 2. If these numbers don't match, the whole batch will be rejected by the carrier.

YA0 field 3, positions 19 - 21, is the batch type. This field tells the carrier what type of batch is being sent. There are only two valid values for this field. The number 100 is transmitted for all batch types except dental. For dental claims, the number 200 is sent. This must also be identical to the number in the BA0 record, field number 3.

YA0 field 4, positions 22 - 25, is the batch number. This is the number of the batch being sent to the carrier. Any value between 0001 and 9999 is acceptable. This must match the batch number in BA0 field 4.

YA0 field 5, positions 26 - 31, is the batch identifier. This field is used to communicate information between provider and carrier for problem batches.

YA0 field 6, positions 32 - 40, is the provider tax ID number. This field simply transmits the provider's tax ID number to the carrier. This can either be an EIN number or a SSN.

YA0 field 7, positions 41 - 46, is reserved space. This is unused record space that is being reserved for future use. As of this article, this field is still not in use.

YA0 field 8, positions 47 - 53, is the batch service line count. This field transmits the number of line items to the carrier that are contained in the whole batch.

YA0 field 9, positions 54 - 60, is the batch record count. This field tells the carrier how many records are contained in the batch.

YA0 field 10, positions 61 - 67, is the batch claim count. This field tells the carrier how many claims are contained in the batch.

YA0 field 11, positions 68 - 76, is the batch total charges. This field tells the carrier what the total charges to them are in the whole batch.

YA0 field 12, positions 77 - 32, is filler national and must be filled with spaces.

This concludes our medical billing review of the YA0 batch trailer record.

Michael Russell Your Independent guide to Medical Billing

24 Key Factors To Investigate When Analyzing Any Business

Writen by Jeremy Gossman

It doesn't matter what business or investment you are looking at...it all comes down to analyzing a few key factors.

The higher each of these factors rate with you, plus the combination of them all, the better your potential for return.

Industry - Is the business's industry expanding or contracting?

Trends - Will you be ahead or behind the trends?

Timing - Are you early or late in the product & industry life cycle?

Products - Do they provide value for money to the end user?

Uniqueness - Does the company have any exclusivity, patents, etc?

Demand - How big is the market for the products & services?

Longevity - How long could the products last in the market?

Future - Are there more products "in the pipeline"?

Competition - Who else are you marketing against?

Profitability - Are there good profit margins?

Compensation - How much can you earn?

ROI - How soon can you return your initial investment?

Leverage - Do YOU have to do all the work or can you earn overrides?

Company - How long have they been in business?

Management - Who's running the company?

Legality - Does the company trade legally in all aspects?

Public or Private - Is the company listed on the Stock Market?

Marketing - How, what, why, when, where?

Global or Local - Does the company market worldwide or only local?

Internet - Are they "On the Net" and E-Commerce enabled?

Tools - Are you supplied with business tools to make your life easier?

Training - Will you be trained?

Commitment - how much time and/or money is required from you?

Lifestyle - Will you be able to live the lifestyle you planned?

(c)2004 All rights reserved.

About The Author To Learn More about how Jeremy's partner company matches up to these 24 Factors go to: http://www.ultimatewealthcreation.com/24factors.html jeremy@ultimatewealthcreation.com

What Are Intelligent Numbers

Writen by Kieron James

Marketing Numbers UK

Marketing numbers, already prolific in the United States, are quickly gaining popularity in the UK. They are emerging as a powerful business tool that many organisations should not be without. These are special telephone numbers which may be used to eliminate geographical barriers, generate revenue and strengthen brand presence.

The major advantage for businesses of marketing numbers is that they are generally supplied with powerful number translation services such as voice and fax to email, time of day routing, call and fax broadcast, follow me or hunt group facilities and other valuable call handling functionality. Information about inbound calls (date, time, geographical area, duration) provides valuable marketing information to the business.

Freephone Numbers

Freephone numbers - typically with the 0800 prefix - are free of charge to callers within UK and to callers on some mobile networks. The charges of the call are borne by the organisation using the phone number, but can be as little as 2p per minute. Research has demonstrated that 61% of UK callers are more likely to call these numbers than standard charge numbers. 0800 marketing numbers offer an excellent opportunity for businesses to dramatically improve lead generation.

0845 Numbers

These have been described as local rate, but were actually introduced as ""LoCall"" numbers. Customers can call them from anywhere in the UK for just 3.95p per minute during the day and 1p per minute in the evenings and at weekends. Though some operators charge the business for inbound calls received on its 0845 marketing number, Numberstore offers 0845 marketing numbers with no ongoing line rental or call charges – a compelling reason for Internet Service Providers and companies to make themselves more accessible to their subscribers and customers throughout the UK.

0870 Numbers

0870 marketing numbers, historically referred to as ""national rate numbers"", offer all the advantages of 0845 numbers, though calls are charged at slightly higher rates. This means that businesses may also share in the revenue earned by the operators from their inbound calls.

Premium Rate Numbers

While these are not necessarily marketing numbers, premium rate numbers (090), are an excellent option for technical support, chat lines, phone-ins and competitions. The market for these services alone is valued at around £2 billion in the UK. Here the charges for the call are borne totally by the caller while the revenue generated from the call is split between the telephone operator and the business receiving the phone calls.

Alpha-numeric Numbers

Any of the ranges described above may be used to generate memorable alpha-numeric numbers – eg 0905 057 HELP for a business support number or 0905 057 CHAT for a chatline.

To find out more about marketing numbers, visit www.numberstore.com which offers a wide range of tariffs and numbers, instant set up and online number routing services.

I write articles for http://www.numberstore.com Numberstore is a trading name of Zimo Communications Limited, a UK digital communications company established with quality of service as its principal objective.

Advertising Your Home Business On A Budget

Writen by Stone Evans

When you are starting out in a new home business and no one knows who you are, one of the greatest challenges you will face is how to drum up new business.

If there were not people in your community or marketplace that you knew who needed your products or services, you probably would not have started your business to begin with. But, once you have talked to those who you personally knew who needed your what you offer, then your next task is to find others who will help keep your doors open.

Many people know that they must turn to advertising at some point in the future, but they hope that day will be long down the road. For some, this utopian concept will come to fruition. But for the rest of us in the real world, we must come up with creative solutions for meeting our home business advertising needs while working within our budget.

Most people have a misconception about having to spend lots of money in order to advertise their home business. When you start out, you honestly will not have much money available for advertising, and if you do, you should still spend it wisely.

Before you jump headfirst into the world of advertising, let me share some of the lessons I have learned concerning this most important topic.

LESSON #1

It does not have to cost an arm and a leg to advertise your home business, unless you fail to plan and fail to test.

As much as is possible, you should always test your advertising. If you jump in and start dumping tons of money in to advertising without first testing your advertising, you might find yourself broke and without sales at the end of the road. Most people who commit this error write off their failure on the home business they chose or the economy or any of a hundred other excuses. But, if they are unwilling to take responsibility for their mistake, they will never learn from their mistake. Don't let this be you.

LESSON #2

All testing should be done in blocks. If you begin to advertise simultaneously in newspapers, radio and television, how will you know which advertising is bringing people to your cash register? You won't. All you will know that something might be working, but you will not know what is actually doing the trick.

Even if you tell people in your advertising to tell you how they found you, my experience shows that fewer than 10% of the people ever will tell you anything --- and those people who do may not even get the facts straight! You cannot rely on your customers to tell you what advertising is working for your home business. You must put in the extra effort to know for yourself.

LESSON #3

Only when you have a proven and solid advertising portfolio should you venture to drop big bucks in an advertising campaign. Even then, you should be careful to keep further measurements to determine how much the maximum advantage of an ad would be. Sometimes you might be able to reach ten times as many people, but depending on the kind of media and other factors, the additional exposure will only generate twice as many sales. Keep your eye attuned to situations like this to get the most from your advertising dollars.

LESSON #4

As Lesson #3 illustrates, sometimes your best advertising investment may actually cost you less money. When you are first starting out, whether you are running a home business or a business outside of your home, you need to be able to get people talking and thinking about your business.

If you are busy testing ads in media's such as the newspaper, magazines, radio, and television, you need to learn ways of promoting your business that do not require large cash expenditures. A few examples are:

· Word of Mouth
· Business Cards
· Press Releases
· Non-Primetime Ads on Radio and Television

Here is more information about each type of low-cost advertising:

WORD OF MOUTH

This of course is the cheapest kind of advertising on the planet --- it does not cost you anything. Ask your customers if they know anyone who could also use your products or services. When they are happy with your offerings and service, they will be willing to tell you whom you can contact, and they will pass the word for you.

BUSINESS CARDS

You can usually pick up 500 business cards for about $20. When you do, hand them out. Do not give more than a couple of cards to each person. If they need more cards from you, they will ask.

Some people are known to network with others on a regular basis. Some of these people are also known to be always looking for an extra few bucks. With these people, you can suggest to them that if they write their name on the back of one of your business cards and the card is presented to you, then you will pay a referral fee to them. You do not have to offer much --- sometimes one dollar is enough. Look at your home business and your offerings and decide how much would be a good referral fee.

PRESS RELEASES

Press Releases are a good source for generating news about your home business. The business editor at your local newspaper is always on the lookout for a good business story to fill the business news section of the newspaper.

Of course, the business editor understands the economics of running a paper and is more inclined to run your story if you buy advertising in his/her publication, but will still print stories for special events and openings.

The important thing to remember about Press Releases is that it must be constructed in the form of a news story. Even if you are a sole proprietorship, quotes from you should be written in a third person format: John Doe said, "Your quote here."

A Press Release should pack the most important information at the beginning of the copy, and leave extra details towards the end.

You should always provide the reporter who gets the task a simple and easy way for him/her to contact you directly. Often the reporter will want to contact you to get details that will enhance their take on your story.

To learn more about creating Press Releases, you may check out Rusty Cawley's site: http://www.PRrainmaker.com/

NON-PRIMETIME ADS ON RADIO AND TELEVISION

Believe it or not, some of the best rates for radio and television are on the overnight and non-primetime venues. These target times are not a total waste as they can easily keep the infomercial people in business.

These off-hours are just less populated than the primetime hours.

Don't be afraid to check your local radio and television rates for non-primetime hours to see what bargains may exist. With television, primetime is 7pm to 10pm. With radio, primetime is 8am to 5pm. This sure leaves a whole lot of hours available to advertise your home business at discount rates!

IN CONCLUSION

When it comes down to it, there is a lot to understand about advertising, but when you have the basic knowledge down pat, everything will fall into place and bring more dollars to your bank account.

Copyright 2004 Stone Evans

Stone Evans Will Personally Build A Money Making Website Just For You That's 100% Ready To Take Orders And Pull In Massive Residual Profits. Get Details And Signup Today At: http://www.PlugInProfitSite.com

Why Ticket Design Matters

Writen by Joshua Francis

Ticket design is often overlooked. Event planners and organizers plan how many tickets they will need for a given event and how to distribute those tickets, but stop short of putting much thought into the ticket design itself. From a branding perspective this is a lost opportunity. Branding is, after all, managing all of the different touch points that an organization has with the public and your tickets are one touch point that all of your customers will come in contact with.

I have kept several tickets from events that I attended including one from the 2002 Winter Olympics and four from the 2003 Notre Dame vs. Navy football game. I, like most people, keep tickets from events that meant something to me, but there is another factor in determining whether or not I keep the ticket: what the ticket looks like.

The Salt Lake Olympic Committee (SLOC) went so far as to produce two tickets for each seat, one that would get you into the door and another that was just for souvenir purposes. While the Olympics have a budget that dwarfs most other events, it shows that they have realized that tickets themselves have value. Check out the season tickets for any professional or college sports team and you will see that someone has made a conscious effort to create value through the design of that ticket. An attractive ticket sells for more than a generic ticket because people associate value with the look and feel.

Cost is probably the biggest factor when choosing a generic ticket. Attractive tickets do cost more than generic ones. They usually run $0.03-0.08 cents more per ticket than a generic ticket does. However, if you charge 25 cents more per ticket (and you easily can), that becomes a profit of 17 cents per ticket ($170 for each thousand tickets that you sell). That profit is on top of the marketing and advertising benefits that you gain from having an attractive ticket. If people like the tickets to your event they are more likely to show that ticket to their friends (this is starting to sound like free, and viral, advertising). Most of the marketing classes that I have taken, focused on getting the most results from the smallest budget possible, if that is your goal, then making money with your tickets and getting marketing value is as good as it gets.

The bottom line is that the time, effort and money spent designing tickets generally pays for itself. It may not be cost effective to hire a full time graphic designer to create tickets for you, but it does deserve your attention as you plan your future events.

Josh Francis, Business Development, http://www.TicketPrinting.com Josh spent three years working at Brigham Young University's Ticket Office before recieving an MBA in Marketing and Technology at the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business. While at Notre Dame, Josh won the McClosley Business Plan Competition with FlashSeats, a company that is revolutionizing lifecycle management of tickets to events. Josh currently works for TicketPrinting.com located in Bozeman, Montana.

More Wasted Online Real Estate

Writen by John Reese

In a very recent newsletter (two days ago) I wrote to tell you about maximizing the income from your web sites by making sure you use every available piece of "online real estate".

It's time to tell you about another "place" that you can use right now to make more profit from the traffic you are already receiving.

Unless you've been living under an Internet Marketing rock, you've integrated email into your marketing. You have an opt-in list, send emails to your customers, send automated messages -- such as email receipts when someone orders a product from you, etc.

Email messages that you already send to prospects and customers on a regular basis are GOLDMINES for producing additional profit.

Here's how...

It's simple. At the top of many of these emails you can simply add a little text "box" that has a small ad promoting another list, one of your other products, or an affiliate product.

That's right, you can put an AD in many of the emails you already send as a part of your business.

Just create a little box and say, "Today's Sponsor" and create a little ezine-like sponsor ad.

That's all there is to it. You'll INSTANTLY produce more opt-ins for other lists you want to promote, sales of your other products, or affiliate commissions.

Here are some specific types of emails that you can easily ad this "sponsor ad" to:

- "Thank You" emails. Such as confirmation emails you send to all the people that subscribe to your ezine or opt-in list.

- Email receipts. If you aren't already sending an email receipt everytime someone orders from you, you need to. This is the perfect place to promote something else.

- "Unsubscribe" emails. Do you send an email to confirm that someone has been unsubscribed after their request? Why not use that email to hit them with one last offer as they are "on their way out"? :-)

You don't always have to use a blatant "sponsor ad" type of ad. You can also include creative endorsements. Here's an example...

Let's say you have an ezine about copywriting. In the email you send to new subscribers to confirm their subscription request you could include something like this...

"Thank you for subscribing to the 'Copywriting Tips' ezine. You will be receiving your next issue very soon. In the meantime, if you're interested in studying some copywriting techniques, I highly recommend you grab a copy of Yanik Silver's 'Web Copy Secrets' ."

It's just that easy! This is a very powerful and effective technique especially for ezine subscription confirmation emails. People subscribe to ezines to learn more about a specific topic. This is the perfect opportunity to give them some "recommended reading" resources -- i.e. affiliate links. :-)

My good friend, Stephen Pierce, is a fantastic marketer that uses the "Recommended Reading" technique really well anytime he promotes affiliate products. This technique works just as well in emails as it does on web pages.

If you don't yet have a copy of Stephen's incredibly popular ebook, "The Whole Truth", you can get your own copy here: http://www.the-whole-truth.com

----------------------------------------- John Reese is an Internet Marketing pioneer that has been actively marketing online since 1990. John has sold millions of dollars worth of products and services online and his network of Web Sites have received over 1.4 BILLION Web Site visitors since their inception. You can learn more about John, his home study courses, and subscribe to his free ezine by visiting: http://www.marketingsecrets.com (c)2003 MarketingSecrets.com. All rights reserved.

How To Build Your Party Plan Business Online

Writen by Jeanine Byers

Are you like me?

You've joined a party plan business but you'd really like to build it online? If you'd rather concentrate most of your efforts on the Internet, there are a lot of resources available and strategies that will help you succeed.

Here are some ways to automate meeting your monthly minimum purchase requirements, finding partners to join you in the business and attracting customers to your website…

(1) Use online parties to build your business--this is a great way to invite people from all over the country. Here are a few tips for a successful online party…

Set a date and invite your guests, but leave enough time to send each one a catalog and a couple of email reminders.

Plan some games that they can do online by exploring the corporate website or your own personalized one. Customers can race each other to find out whether or not you have a cucumber melon shower gel or how many different gourmet soups you offer. You can even offer a prize to the person who answers the most questions right.

Here is a website that offers free online parties… http://networkwahms.com

(2) Join groups or clubs to take care of monthly minimums. These are groups where consultants agree to buy from each other to help each other build their businesses.

Some switch months and everyone buys from the "consultant of the month", and some are designed so that each person has her own group of people buying from her each month.

Here is one example… http://hometown.aol.com/shopperscorners/

(3) Join coops or leads groups to build your team online--networking groups can work really well offline and now, this same principle is being used online.

These coops are created so that when someone comes into the system, she indicates what she is looking for and gets referred to the appropriate person in the coop.

For more information on referral coops, go to http://tinyurl.com/6dguh

(4) Generate curiosity and provide information to bring more people to your website. One great way to attract people to your website is to create online quizzes that makes them curious about the results. You capture their email addresses, send them the results and make recommendations based on them.

For example, if you sell skin care and cosmetics, you could create a quiz that helps them identify what their skin type is. Then, you can recommend the appropriate skin care system. You can even offer a free consultation, in case they have any questions.

If you're interested in quiz-making software that is reasonably priced, try the Assessment Generator, at http://www.profcs.com/app/aftrack.asp?afid=176939&u=www.assessmentgenerator.com

Another good way to get your name out there and bring people to your website is to write articles. You can make them related to your business, or not.

Similar subjects that support using your products may help, but you'll be putting contact information at the end of whatever you write, and as long as they like it, and find it helpful, they'll want to know more about you and what you do.

Here are a couple of websites that accept article submissions (find more by doing a search on Yahoo or Google)…

http://www.ideamarketers.com

http://www.wahmarticles.com

About The Author Jeanine Byers is an elemental home style consultant and a certified healing coach who helps women create homes for their souls. Take her elemental home style assessment and sign up for her free 7-day e-course so that you can create a warm, welcoming, nurturing sanctuary and retreat. Go to http://www.createsanctuary.com She is also a founding presenter with Northern Lights at Home, building her business online with the methods described above. Visit that website at http://www.candleconsultant.biz Reprint with Resource Box intact healerintuitive@yahoo.com

How To Match Web Site Content To Visitors Decision Making Stage

Writen by Bobette Kyle

An important question to answer when creating or revising a Web site is "What are my visitors' needs?" The answer will drive your site design and marketing decisions.

Customer Decision Making Process

One way to understand visitor needs is to think in terms of the customer decision-making process. Visitor needs vary depending upon their stage in the decision making process.

Karon Thackston, copywriter and proprietor at Marketing Words (http://www.MarketingWords.com) explains by breaking the customer decision making process (i.e. buying process) into at least four stages: Need/Want Recognition, Information Search, Evaluation, and Purchase.

If a visitor has already made the decision to purchase a product or service, for example, she needs easy ordering options. If the customer is early in the decision making process, however, she needs more general information.

Information or Sales Oriented Content?

Dee Kreidel, owner of Dax Development Corporation, recommends identifying a site as either an information site (for early decision stages) or a sales site (for late decision stages), but not both:

"Our experience with our clients demonstrates that most people will not shop at a site if they see it as an informational site because their state of mind/focus is different when they are there -- they aren't necessarily looking to shop, they are wanting information."

Attracting the Right Visitors

By understanding your site visitors' decision-making process and providing them with the right information, you can convert more visitors to purchase. Attracting more of the right visitors can improve conversions as well.

Managing a Sales Site

If you own a sales site, those early in the decision process are not likely to buy from you. Logically, attracting visitors who are late in the decision making process will increase conversion rates.

One way to do this is to have a presence on information sites that attract visitors in your target customer groups. On the information sites, visitors are gathering information and evaluating options. In other words, they are preparing to make a purchase.

Michelle Horstman, owner of Choice Promotional Products ( http://www.choicepromotionalproducts.com) says, "I do get hits from advertising on 'informative' sites such as www.barmitzvahfindit.com, where they have a vendor area."

For those on a limited budget, Michelle suggests purchasing advertising on sites that participate in pay-per-click programs like Overture or Google AdWords.

"When you list with Google and others on your own, you may have to pay more than your ROI would justify." She explains. "However, when you advertise with an informational site, that site can afford to pay more for the clicks, since they are supported by multiple vendors/advertisers. Ask the site if they'll offer a trial period so you can see how much traffic it is producing."

Managing an Information Site

If you run an information site, the majority of your visitors will be too early in the decision process to purchase. So how can you both attract visitors in the early decision stages and earn revenue?

You can attract information seekers by structuring each page in your site so it gives information on a specific topic. This expands the list of key words through which searchers can find your site.

Other ways to earn revenue from an information site:

- Participate in a few select affiliate programs, which you can promote on topic-specific pages in your Web site.

- Join a targeted advertising network such as Google's AdSense.

- Sell your own advertising space.

In any case, coordinating your Web site marketing and site content to match visitors' stage in the decision making process creates a win-win situation. Your visitors find the information they need and you profit -- through sales, advertising, or affiliate revenue -- by meeting those needs.

About the Author Bobette Kyle draws upon 12+ years of Marketing/Executive experience, Marketing MBA, and online marketing research in her writing. Bobette is proprietor of the Web Site Marketing Plan Network, http://www.WebSiteMarketingPlan.com, and author of the marketing plan and Web promotion book "How Much For Just the Spider? Strategic Website Marketing For Small Budget Business." ( HowMuchForSpider.com/TOC.htm ) Copyright 2003,2004 Bobette Kyle. All rights reserved.