Why Are Computers A Necessity Now?

Computer systems now a days are everywhere. We can find that in places we can not see or would not expect to find them. This gadget are no longer specialized tools used only by scientists or engineers like before. They are not hidden behind sealed-walls under a climate-controlled environments anymore. They are a fact of life that companies can not live without and even individuals like us. It is a common thread that ties together our education, work, and home life. Thus, computer literacy becomes significant, with computers touching almost every facet of our lives. But why is it that computer literacy is very cruel?

Why do we need to spend time and energy studying books, enrolling to computer crash course, and becoming "computer literate?" Technically, to be "literate" means to have knowledge of that subject, wherein you understand its basic terms and concepts. We are not born with such knowledge and abilities, but it is hard to imagine living without computer skills today. Considering the fact that Computers are an essential part of business today, whether you are an auto mechanic or a surgeon, a journalist or a pilot. Like cars, that take us to work everyday, we also rely on computers more with each passing year. If there are still who do not use computers regularly, chances are great that you will soon.

But who will be the one to benefit from computer literacy? First, is the increased employability. Here, the basic computer knowledge along with specific job skills are mainly considered by the employers because a person would be more trainable in and adaptable to the computerized work environment. Next, is greater earnings potential, wherein, as you increase your computer skills, you become more valuable worker, especially if focused on high-tech skills like programming, software / network administration, hardware maintenance and many more. However, it does not follow that you must be a computer expert to increase your earnings. Skills that involve application of the computer to specific tasks are highly valued. Another benefit is that, it has a greater access to resources. Always bear in mind that computers are incredible learning tools, especially when you have access to data on CD-ROMs or the Internet. PC can be used to access vast knowledge bases on almost any topic, search archives of information dating back decades, even take online courses for credit.

You will also have a greater control of your assets, by using the power of the Internet and even a little knowledge only of computers, you can manage your personal finances and indulge your interests in ways that were not possible back years ago. Here, you can control of every dollar you earn through online banking and investing. Online shopping as also another benefit that makes it easier to buy something without tiring yourself & spending so much time going to stores with yourself. There are also new technologies that enable you to monitor your entire household via PC - to set your air conditioner or alarm clock, start your coffee maker or sprinklers, and even activate your alarm system. With this range of growth of computer technologies, we can not deny that we now live in an information society - where information is considered to be an extremely valuable community. The key players in this information-based economy are those who control important information, or those who simply know how to access and uses it. Computer knowledge and skills you can build with that literacy are vital to success in this society, not just in our working lives, but in the ways we learn, manage our finances, and improve our standard of living.

Although there are still many professions that do not rely on computers, they are becoming fewer all the time. Remember that computers do not need to take the form of PC, so there is a good chance that your career path will bring you in contact with some type of computer because many of the tools in today's' workplace are computer technology. That's why it is very important to have a basic understanding of computer technology. No matter what your career choice is, you can benefit from a knowledge of computer hardware and software, and how these components function together. Even your job does not require you to work directly with a computer, this knowledge may help you to envision new ways of using computers in your work, that would result in a more productive work environment. This can also lead you to career advancement opportunities. But still, if you think that this case is overstated, that computers are not being used that much, you should consider that computers are popping up in places & professions that my seem unintentionally.

Women's Bodies Are Where We Start Real Change

Women's Bodies seem to be getting a major hit from media coverage these days. The latest I've heard is there are blogs that promote how it is cool to be anorexic. The promotion an obsession with top Hollywood star's diminishing bodies as a form of worship or adulation for fans who wish to emulate those bodies. Some of the statements from participants say if they are going to die, they prefer to die skinny. Another frightening connection between the affect of the media and advertising on anorexia is that in Fij, where women and girls have been naturally bigger for millenia, there was no anorexia until they introduced advertising!

Hmmm ...

There's not a lot of press out there that supports how women WANT to live. Is it my imagination or even since Oprah left the daily television screen There has been an outcry for women to find ways to enjoy women who just love being women, no matter what their size? Oprah's departure has brought me to think that many of us now need to step up and claim the pride in ourselves that she inserted on; while in the same breath expressing her exasperation and pain with being a woman in her body and unable to conquer binge eating habits or those emotional ups and downs.

For me, Oprah was the queen of championing that the ups and downs of being a woman are perfectly powerful, perfectly normal and part of everyday life.

The concept of "perfect" was skillfully destroyed by Oprah's at one and the same time larger than life success and vulnerability.

Women do NOT need to be perfect to be powerful.

But women DO need to accept the power of the imperfection of their body.

Women's Bodies are CONSTANTLY changing through our lives.

Daily - we face the ordinal of having to see new variations in our bodies, thoughts, feelings, and we have pressures to maintain a certain grooming level to keep up appearances. Physically, our body changes depending on our cycle, our mood, the argument we had last night, the worry we have for our kids, the joy of having a new flirtation or a great conversation with a friend. Women's bodies are somehow the most fluctuating thing on the planet! Just smelling a flower can make a woman change!

My question is: WHY ARE WOMEN'S BODIES CONSTRUCTED TO CHANGE SO MUCH?

Sure - biologically we have to adapt to crazy wild painful things like giving birth! And hormonal driven changes like lactating, ovulating and bleeding ... or not bleeding.

Fine - those are some biological reasons why women's bodies fluctuate so much.

But sure - there is something we are underestimating in the POWER of women to change with the demands of nature AND time and so many different influences in their life.

Women's bodies are the place where we SURRENDER to change. When you get - really get - that change is a part of you, change is a DAILY part of your life - that CHANGE can happen in a moment - then you get the power that comes from women's bodies.

WE are not in control of our bodies, our bodies by their very design are designed to change. AND your body is designed to teach the power of change, growth, different experiences, different emotions, strength AND vulnerability, thin and fat, happy and sad, angry and peaceful.

WOW - we need MORE women to come out and just breathe - let their belly hang out and say - it's OK to be a woman and not be perfect.

The media will forever tell women their body should look this way or that way - that's the nature of the advertising beast. Advertising feeds on our weaknesses.

So how do WOMEN - turn their weakness into a strength?

The modern woman spends so much time worrying about wrinkles and getting rid of belly fat that we've forgotten the whole point of being a woman. "Aging" starts from the moment you are an embryo. Think about this: AT ANY MOMENT YOU ARE AGING.

Women's Bodies can embrace that CHANGE, IMPERFECTION and BEING REAL are just as POWERFUL as anything the media, advertising or anyone else is going to tell you.

Face it - you were born with a body to experience change. So ... ENJOY IT! And notice - how do you respond to change in your body?

Ask yourself: Can you accept that even if you are not perfect - you are fine just the way you are?

And more pointedly ask your BODY: HOW can you ENJOY YOUR BODY, even if it is not perfect? What can you do for your body to be it's friend? What does your body truly wish to do?

Just try asking this to yourself and see what answer comes to mind. YOUR BODY is waiting for you to listen to it and treat it as your friend.

There's a lot of people out there trying to make your body your enemy --- do not let them .

Rhetorical Devices in the Inaugural Address of John F. Kennedy

It is according to Aristotle that a speaker or writer has three ways to persuade his audience: The first kind depends on the personal character of the speaker; the second is on putting the audience into a certain frame of mind; the third is on the proof, or apparent proof, provided by the words of the speech itself.

One of the most influential people who made a memorable speech for the past century is President John F. Kennedy, a famous public speaker who wrote an inaugural address that contains a power to persuade a lot of people.

His well-known speech shows how his method of using the art of persuasive written or spoken discourse (Rhetoric) that an author or speaker uses to convey a meaning to the listener or reader contributions to the purpose or theme of his message for his countrymen.

Definition of Terms:

1. Alliteration : Repetition of consonant sounds at the beginning of words that are close to one another.

2. Allusion : A brief or indirect reference to a person, place, event, or passage in a work of literature or the Bible is supposed to be adequately well known to be recognized by the reader.

3. Amplification : An expansion of detail to clarify a point.

4. Analogy : A comparison between two things in which the more complex is explained in terms of the more simple.

5. Anaphora : Repetition of one or more words at the head of executive phrases, clauses, or sentences.

6. Anastrophe : Inversion of word order to mark emphasis.

7. Antimetabole : Reverasal or repeated words or phrases for effect.

8. Antithesis : Contrast within parallel phrases (not to be confused with the ordinary use of the word to mean "extreme opposite").

9. Assonance : Repetition of vowel sounds between different consonants.

10. Asyndeton : Absence of conjunctions.

11. Chiasmus : The reversal of grammatical order from one phrase to the next.

12. Climax : Consists of arranging words, clauses, or sentences in the order of increasing importance, weight, or emphasis.

13. Conduplication : Resembles anadiplosis in the repetition of a precedent word, but it repeats a key word (not just the last word) from a precedenting phrase, clause, or sentence, at the beginning of the next.

14. Consonance : Repetition of identical consonant sounds within two or more words in close proximacy.

15. Ellipsis : Any omitted part of speech that is easily understood in context.

16. Ethos : Makes use of what an audience values ​​and believes to be good or true.

17. Hyperbole : Deliberate exaggeration in order to create humor or emphasis.

18. Imagery : Lively descriptions which impress the images of things upon the mind using one or more of the five senses.

19. Logos : appealing to reason in a measured, logical way.

20. Metanoia : The qualification of a statement to either diminish or strengthen its tone.

21. Metaphor : Meaning or identity ascribed to one subject by way of another.

22. Oxymoron : Contraditory terms or ideas are combined.

23. Parallelism : The technique of arranging words, phrases, clauses, or larger structures by placing them side by side and making them similar in form.

24. Paradox : A statement that appears to contradict itself but that turns out to have a rational meaning.

25. Pathos : Appealing to the emotions.

26. Personification : The attribution of human qualities to a nonhuman or inanimate object.

27. Polysyndeton : Insertion of conjunctions before each word in a list.

28. Repetition : Word or phrase used two or more times in close proximacy.

29. Rhetorical Question : A question asked for rhethorical effect to emphasize a point, no answer being expected.

30. Sententia : The punctuation of a point with an aphorism.

31. Syntax : The grammatical structure of a sentence; the arrangement of words in a sentence.

32. Tricolon : A series of parallel words, phrases, clauses, or statements.

33. Zeugma : Includes several similar rhetorical devices, all involving a grammatically correct linkage (or yoking together) of two or more parts of speech by another part of speech.

Rhetorical Devices That Are Present In The Inaugural Address of John F. Kennedy:

* Alliteration

• "same solemn" (2nd sentence of the 2nd paragraph)

• "man holds in his mortal hands" (1st sentence of the 3rd paragraph)

• "for which our forebears fought" (2nd sentence of 3rd paragraph)

• "to friend and foe alike" (4th paragraph)

• "Whether it wants us well or ill" (5th paragraph)

• "Pay any price, bear any burden ..." (5th paragraph)

• "the survival and the success of liberty" (5th paragraph)

• "faithful friends" (1st sentence of the 7th paragraph)

• "colonial control" (1st sentence of the 8th paragraph)

• "Strongly supporting" (2nd sentence of the 8th paragraph)

• "break the bonds of mass misery" (9th paragraph)

• "sovereign states" (11th paragraph)

• "its writ may run" (11th paragraph)

• "the dark powers of destruction" (12th paragraph)

• "steady spread" (14th paragraph)

• "sincerity is always subject" (15th paragraph)

• "peace preserved" (9th to the last paragraph)

• "bear the burden" (6th to the last paragraph)

• "a grand and global alliance" (5th to the last paragraph)

• "high standards of strength and sacrifice" (1st sentence of the last paragraph)

• "Let us go forth to lead the land we love ..." (2nd sentence of the last paragraph)

* Allusion

• "I have sworn before you and Almighty God." (2nd sentence of the 2nd paragraph)

• "those who foolishly bought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside" (last sentence of the 8th paragraph)

* Amplification

• "Let both sides ... Let both sides ... Let both sides ... Let both sides (Paragraphs 16 to 19)

* Analogy

• "those who foolishly bought power by riding the back of the tiger ended up inside" (3rd sentence of the 8th paragraph)

* Anaphora

• "all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life" (1st sentence of the 3rd paragraph)

• "not because the communists may be doing it, not because we seek their votes, but because it is right" (1st sentence of the 9th paragraph)

• "To those old allies ... To those new states ... To those people ... To our sister ... To that world ... to those nations ..." (Paragraphs 7 to 12)

• "We shall not always expect to find them supporting our view. But we shall always hope to find them strongly supporting their own freedom" (2nd and 3rd sentences of the 8th paragraph)

• "both sides overburdened by the cost of modern weapons, both really alarmed by the steady spread of the deadly atom, yet both racing to alter that uncertain balance of terror that holds the hand of mankind's final war" (14th paragraph)

• "Let both sides ... Let both sides ... Let both sides ... Let both sides" (Paragraphs 16 to 19)

• "Not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need - not as a call to battle, though embattled we are - but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out" (6th to the last paragraph)

• "the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even sometimes in our lifetime on this planet" (8th to the last paragraph)

* Anastrophe

• "Dare not" (1st sentence of the 4th paragraph and 13th paragraph & 3rd sentence of the 7th paragraph)

• "This much we pledge" (6th paragraph)

• "Ask not" (26th paragraph)

* Antimetabole

• "Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country." (3rd to the last paragraph)

• "Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate." (2nd sentence of the 15th paragraph)

* Antithesis

• "We observes today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom - symbolizing an end as well as a beginning signifying renewal as well as change." (1st sentence of the 2nd paragraph)

• "... not from the generosity of the state but from the hand of God." (2nd sentence of the 3rd paragraph)

• "Support any friend, oppose any foe ..." (5th paragraph)

• "United there is little we can not do in a host of cooperative ventures." Divided there is little we can do ... "(2nd sentence of the 7th paragraph)

• "Not because ... not because ... but because ..." (1st sentence of the 9th paragraph)

• "Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate." (2nd sentence of the 15th paragraph)

• "Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us." (16th paragraph)

• "not a new balance of power, but a new world of law" (20th paragraph)

• "Not as a call to bear arms ... not as a call to battle .. but a call to bear the burden ..." (23rd paragraph)

• "I do not shrink from this responsibility - I welcome it." (2nd sentence of the 25th paragraph)

• "... ask not what you country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country." (26th paragraph)

• "ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man" (2nd to the last paragraph)

* Assonance

• "... the steady spread of the deadly atom." (14th paragraph)

* Asyndeton

• "We will pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe ..." (5th paragraph)

• "explore the stars, conquer the deserts, eradicate disease, tap the ocean depths" (2nd sentence of the 18th paragraph)

• "The energy, the faith, the devotion" (4th to the last paragraph)

* Chiasmus

• "Let us never negotiate out of fear. But let us never fear to negotiate." (2nd sentence of the 15th paragraph)

• "ask not what country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country" (3rd to the last paragraph)

* Climax

• "All this will not be finished in the first one hundred days. Nor will it be finished in the first one thousand days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even sometimes in our lifetime on this planet." (8th to the last paragraph)

* Conduplication

• "to help them help themselves" (1st sentence of the 9th paragraph)

• "good words into good deeds" (1st sentence of the 10th paragraph)

• "free men and free governments" (1st sentence of the 10th paragraph)

• "the instruments of war have far outpaced the instruments of peace" (11th paragraph)

• "absolute power ... absolute control ..." (17th paragraph)

* Consonance

• "Whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall ..." (5th paragraph)

* Ellipsis

• "This much we pledge - and more." (6th paragraph)

* Ethos

• "Vice President Johnson, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Chief Justice, President Eisenhower, Vice President Nixon, President Truman, Reverend Clergy, fellow citizens: We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom - symbolizing an end as well as a beginning - signaling renewal as well as change. " (Paragraphs 1 & 2)

• "In the long history of the world, only a few generations have been granted the role of defending freedom in its hour of maximum danger. (4th to the last paragraph)

• "With a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must really be our own. " (last sentence of the last paragraph)

* Hyperbole

• "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burdens, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to secure the survival and the success of liberty." (5th paragraph)

* Imagery

• "The torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans." (4th paragraph)

* Logos

• "old allies which cultural and spiritual origins we share" (1st sentence of the 7th paragraph)

• "new states whom we welcome to the ranks of the free" (1st sentence of the 8th paragraph)

• "people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery" (1st sentence of the 9th paragraph)

• "that world assembly of sovereign states, the United Nations" (11th paragraph)

• "nations who would make themselves our adversary" (12th paragraph)

* Metanoia

• "Now the trumpet summons us again - not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need - not as a call to battle, though embattled we are - but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation" - a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself. " (6th to the last paragraph)

* Metaphor

• "We are the heirs of the first revolution." (1st sentence of the 4th paragraph)

• "Let the word go forward from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Americans ..." (2nd sentence of the 4th paragraph)

• "riding the back of the tiger" (3rd sentence of the 8th paragraph)

• "the bonds of mass misery" (9th paragraph)

• "the chains of poverty" (1st sentence of the 10th paragraph)

• "evolution of hope" (2nd sentence of the 10th paragraph)

• "master of its own house" (last sentence of the 10th paragraph)

• "balance of terror" (14th paragraph)

• "And if a beachhead of cooperation may push back the jungle of suspicion ..." (20th paragraph)

• "The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it - and the glow from that fire can truly light the world." (4th to the last paragraph)

Oxymoron

• "But this peaceful revolution." (2nd sentence of the 10th paragraph)

* Parallelism

• "We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom - symbolizing an end as well as a beginning signifying renewal as well as change." (1st sentence of the 2nd paragraph)

• "born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage" (2nd sentence of the 4th paragraph)

• "Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burdens, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to secure the survival and the success of liberty." (5th paragraph)

• "Let both sides explore what problems unite us ... Let both sides, for the first time, formulate serious and precise proposals for the inspection and control of arms ... Let both sides seek to invoke the wonders of science ... Let both sides unite ... "(Paragraphs 6 to 9)

• "United there is little we can not do in a host of cooperative ventures. Divided there is little we can do ..." (2nd and 3rd sentences of the 7th paragraph)

• "If a free society can not help the many who are poor, it can not save the few who are rich." (2nd sentence of the 9th paragraph)

• "sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond" (2nd sentence of the 13th paragraph)

* Paradox

• "Only when our arms are sufficient beyond doubt can we be certain beyond doubt that they will never be employed." (2nd sentence of the 13th paragraph)

* Pathos

• "To those people in the huts and villages of half the globe struggling to break the bonds of mass misery ..." (1st sentence of the 9th paragraph)

• "he graves of young Americans who answered the call toservice surround the globe" (7th to the last paragraph)

• "The energy, the faith, the devotion which we bring to this endeavor will light our country and all who serve it - and the glow from that fire can truly light the world." (4th to the last paragraph)

* Personification

• "With history the final judge of our deeds" (2nd sentence of the last paragraph)

* Polysyndeton

• "where the strong are just and the weak secure and the peace preserved" (9th to the last paragraph)

* Repetition

• "For man holds in his mortal hands the power to abolish all forms of human poverty and all forms of human life." (1st sentence of the 3rd paragraph)

* Rhetorical Question

• "Can we forge against these enemies a grand and global alliance, North and South, East and West, that can assure a more fruitful life for all mankind? Will you join in that historic effort?" (5th to the last paragraph)

* Sententia

• "undo the heavy burdens ... (and) let the oppressed go free" (19th paragraph)

* Syntax

• "My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." (2nd to the last paragraph)

* Tricolon

• "We observe today not a victory of party but a celebration of freedom - symbolizing an end as well as a beginning signifying renewal as well as change." (1st sentence of the 2nd paragraph)

• "Not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need - not as a call to battle, though embattled we are - but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out" (6th to the last paragraph)

* Zeugma

• "Now the trumpet summons us again - not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need - not as a call to battle, though embattled we are - but a call to bear the burden ..." (6th to the last paragraph)

Encapsulation of Findings:

John F. Kennedy used 33 different types of rhetorical devices in his inaugural speech. The most dominant rhetorical device that he used was the usage of alliteration.

Conclusion:

Through intensive analysis, it can be seen that it is evident that he has a goal of obtaining the audience's attention to listen and to understand his points in a meaningful way in the fields of writing and speaking.

The Secret and the Law of Attraction

The Secret, the movie based on the Law of Attraction has been fantastically successful since it's launch in 2005. The promise is a simple one, by focusing on the things that you really want in life, by using visualization you 'attract' or 'manifest 'them into your life. But are we any closer to establishing whether it actually 'works' or not?

The subject is certainly a divisive one, mention 'The Secret' to someone and you will either get an enthusiastic conversation or else you might find yourself being ridiculed for holding such 'airy-fairy' beliefs.

Many people who believe in the power of the Law of Attraction in manifesting the things that they want in their lives do rather let themselves down in their attempt at explaining how the process works. They introduce quantum mechanics into favor of their argument. This is a major no-no, and here's why.

Do you fully understand quantum mechanics? No, I did not think so, and nor do I. Nor, I am reasonably certain, do any of those people who use concepts that very few people in the world can claim to understand to back up their view-point. The reason they use the 'Quantum Mechanics' arguments to underpin their reasoning is that certain speakers in the movie of 'The Secret' used it. I personally do not think the theory holds any water, and a quick Google on this subject will show you that most of the scientific community would agree with me. so, we will leave it there.

If you have read this far, you could have forgiven for thinking that I am a naysayer, that I am about to tell you that I believe 'The Secret' to be poppycock and a complete and utter waste of time. Not so.

I actually do believe that it DOES work, not in the way that some people would have you believe, but work it most certainly does.

I am not just talking about positive thing here either, it does much, much deeper than that.

The largest question to ask is why the Law of Attraction looks to work for some people and yet others achieve spectacular results time after time. Are these people someone just 'luckier'? Who do they have achieved those results with 'The Secret'?

The answer is a simple one, those people who have failed to make the 'Law of Attraction' work in manifesting money, or attraction a life partner or any one of a million things people wish for is that they lack one vital element.

They do not know how to do it.

Let's face it, if you do something the wrong way once or a hundred times, you are going to get the same results. so they just assume that the 'Law of Attractrion' is a myth and give up. What they do not know is, using a few simple techniques can make the difference between success and failure.

There are an increasing amount of well thought out, intelligent works out there that fill the knowledge gap and can help people to use the Law of Attraction to manifest into their lives the people and things that they really deserve, which anyone struggling to make 'The Secret 'work for them would be well advised to seek out.

Money Or Excuses - How You Doing?

What is difference between those who make money and those who do not. Its been stated by successful people with certainty and congruence, "People can make money or excuses but they can not make both."

This is the truth. All of us come to this world with choices in our financial life. We have the choice to keep moving forward with perseverance and responsibility for every step we take of the process, or just stop and let everything we did go undo or slow down. Well, I am sure you know what path to take for getting the results you want. Unfortunately, most people stop and never dig deep to their dreams.

Well, when people first strive to go for their dreams about making money, they quickly stop when the going gets tough, and they look for people who will agree with them, so they can stop - and they do. Unfortunately, they never reach the level they had in their dreams which was - work on the Internet from home. Think about it, making money or an excuse is a choice everyone has in life. Which legacy would be the best to leave your kids? We are leaving a legacy behind one way or another.

The Internet has open an awesome opportunity to most of the world. As far as financial means, we can earn money on the net. So I could not create an excuse good enough even if I wanted to. I had to put my head down and ignore the comments many people had for me, since I worked so hard and long without making money on the net.

Going back to that quote, I have found so much more truth on "money or excuses" statement. I mean is not that life? I have the tendency to get lazy and listen to the wrong people and I also feel like quitting. I realize the price successful people went through, and I make it a reminder in my own life, whenever I weakened to the common human level.

My question to you - How are you doing? Are you choosing the good life or are you settling for the common one? Have you ever notice that every time we encounter a difficult challenge, we look around for the wrong people, because we are not looking for strength or direction, but we are looking for sympathy. You need to ask this questions. You might find these questions a way to determine your journey.

Am I focusing on success or failure during my progress?

How am I thinking about my future as I follow my progress with the ups and downs?

Do I believe in the system that I am following or am I looking for a good excuse?

I have two ideas that can help you on your weak moments and stop you from derailing into excuses.

Focus on moving forward-lift your partners and update your goals and your system to reach them.

When you look back, just check your improvements and how else can you improve the past - all about improvement.

The people who succeed are the people who prevail, and make no excuses - because there is NONE !!!

Respectfully,

Efren Maldonado

How to Design and Layout a Coffee Shop Or Espresso Bar

If you are planning to open an espresso bar/coffee shop, then developing an efficient store design and layout will be one of the most important factors in positioning your business for success.

Speed of service is critical to the profitability of a coffee business. An efficient ergonomic store design will allow you to maximize your sales by serving as many customers as possible during peak business periods. Even though your business may be open 12 to 16 hours a day, in reality, 80% of your sales will probably occur during 20% of those hours. Coffee is primarily a morning beverage, so your busy times of day (those times when you are most likely to have a line of waiting customers), may be from 6:30AM to 8:30AM, and then again around lunchtime. If you have a poor store layout, that does not provide a logical and efficient flow for customers and employees, then the speed of customer service and product preparation will be impaired.

Think of it like this; if someone pulls open the front door of your store, and they see 5 people are waiting in line to order, there's a good chance they'll come in, wait in line, and make a purchase. But, if they see that 20 people are waiting in line, there is a high probability that they may determine that the wait will be too long, and they will simply get coffee somewhere else. This is money that just escaped your cash register! And, if they come to your store multiple times, and frequently find a long line of waiting customers, they may decide you are not a viable option for coffee, and will probably never return. Poor design slows down the entire service process, resulting in a longer line of waiting customers, and lost sales. So in reality, your daily business income will be dependent upon how many customers you can serve during peak business periods, and good store design will be essential to achieving that objective!

The financial impact of a poor store design can be significant. For the sake of this example, let's say the average customer transaction for your coffee business will be $3.75. If you have a line of waiting customers each morning between 7:00 AM and 8:30 AM, this means you have 90 minutes of crunch time, in which you must drive through as many customers as possible. If you can service a customer every 45 seconds, you will serve 120 customers during this 90 minutes. But, if it takes you 1 minute 15 seconds to service each customer, then you will only be able to serve 72 customers. 120 customers x $3.75 = $450.00 x 30 business days per month = $13,500. 72 customers x $3.75 = $270.00 x 30 business days per month = $8,100. This represents a difference of $5,400 in sales per month ($64,800 per year), coming from just 90-minutes of business activity each day!

So how should you go about designing your coffee bar? First, understand that putting together a good design is like assembling a puzzle. You have to fit all the pieces in the proper relationship to each other to end up with the desired picture. This may require some trial and error to get things right. I've designed hundreds of coffee bar over the past 15 years, and I can truthfully tell you from experience, it still usually takes me a couple of attempts to produce an optimal design.

The design process begins by determining your menu and other desired store features. If you plan to do in-store baking, then obviously you'll need to include in your plan an oven, exhaust hood, sheet pan rack, a large prep table, and perhaps a mixer. If you plan to have a private meeting room for large groups, then an extra 200 sq. ft. or more will need to be designed-in, in addition to the square footage you are already allocating for normal customer seating.

Your intended menu and other business features should also drive decisions about the size of location you select. How many square feet will be required to fit in all the necessary equipment, fixtures, and other features, along with your desired seating capacity?

Typically, just the space required for the front of the house service area, (cash register, brewing & espresso equipment, pastry case, blenders, etc.), back of the house (storage, prep, dishwashing and office areas), and 2-ADA restrooms, will consume about 800 sq. ft. If space for extensive food prep, baking, coffee roasting, or cooking will be required, this square footage may increase to 1,000 to 1,200, or more. What ever is left over within your space after that, will become your seating area.

So, a typical 1,000 sq. ft coffee bar, serving beverages and simple pastries only, will probably allow for the seating of 15 to 20 customers - max! Increase that square footage to 1,200 sq. ft., and seating should increase to 30, or 35. If you plan to prepare sandwiches, salads, and some other food items on site, 1,400 to 1,600 sq. ft. should provide enough space to seat 35 to 50, respectively.

Next, you will have to determine the tasks that will be performed by each employee position, so that the equipment and fixtures necessary to accomplish those tasks can be located in the appropriate places.

Normally, your cashier will operate the cash register, brew and serve drip coffee, and serve pastries and desserts. Your barista will make all your espresso-based beverages, tea, chai, hot chocolate, Italian sodas, as well as all the blender beverages. If you'll be preparing sandwiches, panini, wraps, salads, snacks and appetizers, or will be baking on-site, then a person dedicated to food prep will be necessary. And, if you anticipate high volume, and will be serving in or on ceramics, a bus-person/dishwasher may be a necessity.

After you have determined what you will be serving, the space you will be leasing, and what each employee will be responsible for, you will then be ready to begin your design process. I usually start my design work from the back door of the space and work my way forward. You'll need to design in all of the features that will be necessary to satisfy your bureaucracies and facilitate your menu, before you make plans for the customer seating area.

Your back door will most likely have to serve as an emergency fire exit, so you'll need a hallway connecting it with your dining room. Locating your 2-ADA restrooms off of this hallway would make good sense. And, because delivery of products will also probably occur through your back door, having access to your back of the house storage area would also be convenient.

In the back of the house, at minimum, you will need to include a water heater, water purification system, dry storage area, back-up refrigerator and freezer storage, ice maker, an office, 3-compartment ware washing sink, rack for washed wares, mop bucket sink, and a hand washing sink. Do any food prep, and the addition of a food prep sink and prep table will be necessary. If doing baking, gelato making, full cooking, or coffee roasting, all the equipment necessary for those functions will also need to be added.

After all the features have been designed into the back of the house, you will then be ready to start your design work on the front of the house service and beverage preparation area. This area will probably include a pastry case, cash register(s), drip coffee brewer and grinder(s), espresso machine and grinders, a dipper well, possibly a granita machine, blenders, ice holding bin, blender rinse sink, hand washing sink, under counter refrigeration (under espresso machine and blenders), and a microwave oven.

If serving food beyond simple pastries and desserts, you may need to add a panini toaster grill, a refrigerated sandwich/salad preparation table, soup cooker/warmer, a bread toaster, etc. If you plan to serve pre made, ready to serve sandwiches, wraps, and salads, along with a selection of bottled beverages, an open-front, reach-in merchandising refrigerator should be considered. Serving ice cream or gelato? If the answer is yes, then an ice cream or gelato dipping cabinet will be necessary along with an additional dipper well.

Finally, when all the working areas of the bar have been designed, the customer seating area can be laid out. This will, of course, include your cafe tables and chairs, couches and comfortable upholstered chairs, coffee tables, and perhaps a window or stand-up bar with bar stools. Impulse-buy and retail merchandise shelves should be established, and a condiment bar should be located close to where customers will pick-up their beverages.

A quick word about couches, large upholstered chairs, and coffee tables. Living room type furniture takes up a lot of space. If you plan to be opening evenings, and will perhaps serve beer and wine, and having comfortable seating will be important for creating a relaxing ambiance, then by all means do it. But if you have limited seating space, and are not trying to encourage people to relax and stay for long periods of time, then stick with cafe tables and chairs. The more people you can seat, the greater your income potential!

Features from the front door to the condiment bar should be arranged in a logical, sequential order. As your customers enter the front door, their travel path should take them past your impulse-buy merchandise display, and the pastry case, before they arrive at the point of order (where your cashier, cash register, and menu-board will be located). Exposing customers to your impulse items and pastries, before they order, will greatly increase their sales. Then, after the order and payment has been taken, they should proceed down-line away from the cash register to pick-up their beverage, and finally, the condiment bar should be located beyond that point. Be sure to separate your point of order from the point of product pick-up by at least six feet, otherwise customers waiting for their beverage may begin to intrude into the space of those ordering.

Don't make the mistakes that many inexperienced designers commonly make. They arrange these features in a haphazard way, so that customers have to change direction, and cut back through the line of awaiting customers to proceed to their next destination in the service sequence. Or, wanting to make their espresso machine a focal point to those entering the store, they place it before the cashier along the customer's path of travel. Customers inevitably end up trying to order from the barista before they are informed that they need to proceed to the cashier first. If this happens dozens of times each day, confusion and slowed beverage production will be the result.

On the employee's side of the counter, work and product flow are even more important. Any unnecessary steps or wasted movements that result from a less than optimal design will slow down employee production. All products should flow seamlesly in one direction towards the ultimate point of pick-up. For example, if preparing a particular item is a 3-step process, then placement of equipment should allow for the 3 steps to occur in order, in one linear direction, with the final step occurring closest to the point where customers will be served.

Equipment should be grouped together so that it is in the immediate proximity of the employee(s) who will be using it. Beyond the actual equipment, empty spaces must be left on the counter top to store ingredients and small wares (tools) used in product preparation. Counter top space will also be needed where menu items will actually be assembled. Think of the grouping of equipment for different job functions as stations. Try to keep different stations compact and in close working proximity to each other, but make sure that there is enough space between each so that employee working-paths don't cross, which could contribute to employee collisions.

Creating defined work stations will allow you to put multiple employees behind the counter when needed. When it is busy, you may need to have 2 cashiers, another person just bagging pastries and brewing coffee, 2 baristas behind the espresso machine, a maybe even a dedicated person working the blenders. If you're preparing sandwiches and salads to order, then another person may need to be added to handle that task. Keeping your stations in close proximity to each other will allow one employee to easily access all equipment during very slow periods of business, thus saving you valuable labor dollars.

When you arrange equipment in relationship to each other, keep in mind that most people are right handed. Stepping to the right of the espresso machine to access the espresso grinder will feel more comfortable than having to move to the left. Likewise, place your ice storage bin to the right of your blenders, so when you scoop ice, you can hold the cup or blender pitcher in your left hand, and scoop with your right.

As you create your store layout, the equipment you select should fit your space and the needs of your anticipated business volume. A busy location will most likely require a dual or twin, air pot, drip coffee brewer (one that can brew 2 pots at the same time), as opposed to a single brewer. If you anticipate selling a lot of blended and ice drinks, then an under counter ice maker, one that can only produce 100 pounds of ice or less per day, will not be sufficient. You should instead locate a high-capacity ice maker (one that can make 400 or 500 lbs. per day) in the back of the house, and transport ice to an ice holding bin up front. Plan to bring in frozen desserts and ice cream? Then a 1 door reach-in freezer in the back of he house will probably be inadequate for you storage needs, so you'll need to consider a 2 or 3 door. I always recommend a 3-group espresso machine for any location that may generate 150 drinks per day or more. And, I can tell you from experience, you can never have too much dry or refrigerated storage space!

Make sure that any equipment you select will be acceptable with your local bureaucracy before your purchase and take delivery of it. All equipment will typically need to be NSF & UL approved, or have a similar, acceptable, foreign certification equivalent. Your bureaucracy will most likely want to see manufacturer specification sheets on all equipment to verify this fact, before they'll approve your plans.

ADA (American's with Disabilities Act) compliance will also come into play when you are designing your coffee bar. In some areas of the country, this will only apply to those areas of your store that will be used by customers. However, other bureaucracies may require your entire store to be ADA compliant. Following are some of the basic requirements of compliance with the code:

• All hallways and isle ways must be 5 feet wide (minimum).

• All countertop working heights must be 34 inches high (instead of normal 36 inch height).

• 18 inches of free wall space must be provided on the strike-side of all doors (the side with the door knob).

• All hand-washing sinks must be ADA friendly.

• All bathrooms must be ADA compliant (5 foot space for wheelchair turnaround, handrails at toilet, acceptable clearance around toilet and hand washing sink, etc.).

• No steps allowed, ramps are OK with the proper slope.

• If your space has multiple levels, then no feature may exist on a level where handicapped access has not been provided, if that same feature does not exist on a level where it will be accessible.

You can find the complete regulations for ADA compliance at the following website:

http://www.access-board.gov/adaag/html/adaag.htm

Beyond the basic Equipment Floor Plan, showing new partitions, cabinets, equipment, fixtures, and furnishings, you'll need to produce some additional drawings to guide your contractors and satisfy the bureaucracies.

Electrical Plan

An electrical plan will be necessary to show the location of all outlets needed to operate equipment. Information such as voltage, amperage, phase, hertz, special instructions (like, "requires a dedicated circuit"), and the horizontal and vertical location of each outlet, should all be specified.

A small, basic coffee shop might get away with a 200 amp service, but typically 400 amps will be required if your equipment package will include items like an electric water heater, high-temperature dishwasher, or cooking equipment (ovens, panini grill, etc.).

In addition to the electrical work required for your coffee business-specific equipment, you may need to adjust existing electrical for additional or reconfigured lighting, HVAC, general-purpose convenience outlets, and exterior signs. Also, have your electrician run any needed speaker wires, TV/internet cables, and cash register remote receipt printer cables at the same time they are installing electrical wires. Finally, make sure your electrician makes provisions for lighted exit signs, and a battery-powered emergency evacuation lighting system, if needed.

Plumbing Plan

A plan showing all plumbing features will be necessary. At minimum, this should show stub-in locations for all needed water sources (hot & cold), drains, your water heater, water purifications system, grease interceptor (if required), bathroom fixtures, etc.

While a typical P-trap drain should be acceptable for most fixtures and equipment, some will require an air-gap drain. An air gap drain does not go through the "S"-shaped twists of the P-trap. Instead, the drain line comes straight down from the piece of equipment or fixture, and terminates 2 inches above the rim of a porcelain floor sink drain. This porcelain drain basin is usually installed directly into the floor. The air gap between the drain line from your equipment or fixture, and the bottom of the basin, prevents any bacteria in the sewer pipe from migrating into the equipment or fixture. I drain the following pieces of equipment to a floor sink drain when creating a plumbing plan:

• espresso machine

• dipper wells

• ice maker

• ice holding bin

• food prep sink

• soft drink dispensing equipment

To save on the life of your water filtration system, only your espresso machine and coffee brewer should be supplied by with treated water. Coffee is 98% to 99% water, so good water quality is essential. Your ice maker should only require a simple particle filter on the incoming line (unless your water quality is terrible). There is no need to filter water that will be used for hand and dish washing, cleaning mops, flushing toilets, and washing floors!

Be aware that many bureaucracies are now requiring a grease interceptor on the drain line from your 3-compartment ware washing sinks and automatic dishwasher. A grease interceptor is basically a box containing baffles that traps the grease before it can enter the public sewer system.

Also understand that a typical retail space will not come equipped with a water heater with enough capacity to handle your needs. Unless your space was previously some type of a food service operation, you will probably need to replace it with a larger one.

If cutting trenches in the floor will be necessary to install porcelain floor sinks, a grease interceptor, and run drain lines, then establishing a few general purpose floor drains at this same time behind the counter, and in the back of the house, will prove useful. Floor drains will allow you to squeegee liquids away when spills occur, and when washing floors.

Finally, if you added some new walls during your remodel, you may need to have the fire sprinkler system for your space adjusted or reconfigured.

Cabinet Elevations

Drawing cabinet elevations, (the view you would have if you were standing in front of your cabinets), will be necessary for your cabinet maker to understand all the features they will need to incorporate into your cabinet designs.

These elevations are not meant to be shop fabrication drawings for your cabinetmaker, but merely serve a reference, showing needed features and desired configuration. Where do you want drawers, and under counter storage space; and, where do you want cabinet doors on that under counter storage? Where should open space be left for the placement of under counter refrigeration and trashcans? Will cup dispensers be installed in the cabinet face under the counter top? These elevations will provide your cabinetmaker with a clear understanding of all these features.

While your kitchen base cabinets at home are typically 24 inches deep, for commercial applications they should be 30 inches deep, and 33 inches if an under counter refrigerator is to be inserted. Also, when specifying the size of an open bay to accommodate under counter refrigeration, be sure to allow a couple of inches more than the physical dimensions of the equipment, so that it can be easily inserted and removed for daily cleaning.

Dimensions Plan

You will need to create a floor plan showing all the critical dimensions for new partitions, doors, cabinets, and fixtures. This will, of course, help make sure that everything ends up where it is suppose to be, and will be the right size.

A final thought about design; unless the space you will be designing is a clean vanilla shell (meaning, nothing currently exists in the space, except perhaps one ADA restroom), you will have to make sure that all the features that you are considering keeping, will be acceptable with your local bureaucracy. Many older buildings were not designed to present codes. If the business type remains the same (your space was occupied by a food service establishment before you), then some times any non compliant features will be grandfathered-in, meaning you don't have to bring them up to current requirements. But don't count on this! You need to check with your bureaucracies to make sure. More and more I see bureaucracies requiring new business owners to remodel, so that all features are compliant with codes. This means you may have to rip-out bathrooms and hallways, add fire sprinkler systems, and provide ramps where there are steps. Better you know all these things before you begin your store design!

I always tell my consulting clients, that if I produce a perfect design and layout for them, they will never notice... because everything will be exactly where you would expect it to be. Unfortunately, if you create a less than optimal design for your coffee bar, you probably won't realize it until you start working in it. Changing design mistakes or inadequacies after the fact, can be extremely expensive. Not correcting those mistakes may even cost you more in lost potential sales. For this reason, I strongly suggest using an experienced coffee business space designer to create your layout for you, or at very least, to review the design you have created. Doing so will payoff with dividends.

How to Make Email Marketing Works for Your Business

Topic 1 ~ Your Email Subject Lines ~

How To Write A Good E-mail Subject Lines That Works?

Here are the 5 tips:

1. Ask a question. One of the best ways to get a reader's attention is to ask a question. But like a trial lawyer questioning a witness on the stand, make sure it 'll get you the response you're looking for. "What's the best way to grow your business?" is a great subject line for business owners. After all, what business owner would not want to grow his or her business? Or let's say you run a health club. An e-mail with the subject line, "How can you lose 5 pounds in one month?" would certainly be compelling. It's important your question to be relevant to your audience.

2. Be a tease. A clever subject line can be enticing. When it's done right, reader curiosity is piqued. They want to know more - and they'll open your e-mail. Writing a teaser-style subject line requires some creativity, and your content needs to deliver. A company that sells high-definition TVs could use the subject line, "You're not going to believe your eyes" as a teaser to introduce a new addition to their product line.

3. Tell it like it is. Often, what works best is to say exactly what you want your reader to know. Examples of this straightforward approach are, "Sale on all sweaters this weekend," "Master jazz pianist plays live this Friday" and "The seven secrets of a profitable business." This just-the-facts approach works especially well when you can appeal directly to your audience's interests. It's also the best approach to use when you send a newsletter.

4. Remember "WIIFM". When a person gets your e-mail, the first thing they consider is "what's in it for me?" They have a decision to make. Do they open your e-mail, leave it for later or delete it? If there is not something about the subject line that lets them know why it's worth their precious time to see what's inside, then the choice will be clear. Keep WIIFM in mind when creating every aspect of your e-mails, including the offer, content, images - and most definitely the subject line. It's all about them. They know that; just make sure you know it, too.

5. Get personal. The more you can make each contact feel you're speaking directly to them, the more effective your communication will be. Whatever style of subject line you use, you can make it personal by using the word "you." Professional copywriters know the secret of using this powerful little word. Just look at the advertisements, mail and e-mail you receive. A few examples are, "Find the right swimsuit for you," "You can save 50 percent on travel," and "You're look phenomenal in a custom-tailored suit." "You" is ideal, but "your" works too.

6. Not sure which approach is right for you? Try them all, and then show a friend or colleague to get their feedback. Pick the one you believe will be most effective for your audience. Whichever approach you choose, it's always worth spending the time and effort to write a great subject line. Because if your readers do not open your e-mail, they'll never have the chance to read the important message you've created for them inside.

Topic 2 ~ Increase Click-Through Rate (CTR) ~

How to Increases Click-Through Rate (CTR)?

Here are some guidelines:

1. Include a feature, a benefit, and an advantage in the opening. This needs to be used in a subtle way, but in the opening you're really doing a small marketing job for this issue of your email newsletter. Highlight an article or two that are important, explain what you're providing the readers that they will not get elsewhere, and tell them what the benefit will be. A great example is something like "Nokia and Sprint announced second quarter earnings today. Learn what our Wireless Week experts say about the results, and what effect you can expect them to have on the industry at large."

2. Put the email newsletter in the context of your readers' day. This goes hand in hand with the last point. Your readers are busy, and if you can make a compelling case for why they should stop what they are doing and take a few minutes now to read your email newsletter, you'll get them in. We recommend editors reference important events, upcoming trade shows, or other things that say to the reader "You will find it worthwhile to stop and read this email newsletter now, because the information in it will help you stay on top of your business."

3. Keep it fresh. Do not craft a "perfect paragraph" and use it issue after issue after issue. One of the keys to success is to keep the copy fresh and highlight items in that issue of the email newsletter. If you use the same generic language repeatedly, people will stop reading it and it'll be a waste of your time.

4. Keep it short. This is critical. We recommend no more than two to three sentences - just enough to get them interested and pull them in to read the rest of your email newsletter.

Try it out and see the results! This is just one of the simple things you can do to engage your reader and optimize your CTR.

Topic 3 ~ Killer Email Sales Letter ~

How to Write Killer Email Sales Letter That Get Results?

Here are what we've found works best. Use these tips correctly and your results will skyrocket.

1. Your email "from" sender line should be your brand name or company name and stay consistent. Use your own personal name only if that is your brand image.

2. Send emails only when you have something to say that will benefit the reader. No fluff. No filler. You must be relevant. If you can not be, do not send an email until you have something beneficial to say.

3. Start your emails with the specific benefit the reader can get from your message. You have no more than 3 seconds to pass the crucial "what's in it for me?" test.

4. The copywriting tone and language should be personal and conversational, instead of stuffy and "corporate".

5. Make a specific offer to the reader and, if possible, include a short deadline by which he must respond to get it.

6. Use as much copy as is needed to fully pile on all the benefits the reader will get by ordering, answer objections, create urgency, and close the sale.

7. Test your subject lines and offers on small segments of your list before you send the email to your entire list.

8. Include "Email this to a friend" service in all your communications for pass along and viral marketing.

Topic 4 ~ Good Call-to-Action ~

Get More Clicks With a Good Call-to-Action!

The call-to-action is a determining factor of your click-through rate. It is an important component of your email copy because it answers three important questions for the recipient. They are:

1. What you want them to do

2. Why they should do it, and

3. How to take that next step.

Whatever action you want your recipients to take, you can make it happen more often with a good call-to-action. First, decide what you want them to do:

1. Buy something

2. Sign up for a service

3. Fill out a form

4. Read an article or get more information

5. Visit your website or store

6. Make an appointment

Etc ...

Then, make sure you incorporate these 6 characteristics to get the results you're looking for. Make your call-to action:

1. Visible - People read, react, make decisions and take action differently. Some make decisions right away ("You had me at hello.") And some need more details ("I'm from Missouri."). Place call-to-action links in the beginning, middle and end of the email so that recipients can click whenever they are ready.

2. Clear - Stick to simple words, short phrases, bulleted benefits and paragraphs of 1-3 short sentences. Include appropriate graphics and cut the clutter by making effective use of white space.

3. Compelling - Use action-oriented verbs and phrases: "buy now," "call today," "save" and so on.

4. Rewarding - Offer an incentive or reward for action. For example, "Act now and also receives ...," or "the First 100 responders will be entered into a raffle to win ..." The giveaway, or prize, you choose should be closely related to your product or service. That way, you will be targeting customers who are interested in what you have to offer, not just the latest gadget.

5. Urgent - The longer an email sits in an inbox, the less likely it is to be acted on. Create a sense of urgency to get a more immediate response. Try limiting the offer to a specific time period, to the "first 50 customers," "while supplies last," etc.

6. Direct - Your call-to-action links should go to the appropriate page on your website with more details on the specific product or service you're promoting. If you do not have a website, the call-to-action might be store locations to visit or a number to call for an appointment.

Keep in mind that, in addition to repeating your call-to-action, you can vary your call-to-action to appeal to different types of buyers (and to fit your sales cycle). For example: "Click here to buy now" will naturally work better with loyal customers. The softer, "Click here to learn more" may be better for newer prospects.

Topic 5 ~ Avoid Common Pitfalls ~

Read Your Email Message Backwards to Avoid Common Pitfalls

Here are some common problems to look out for:

1. Misspelled words - It's a good idea to spell-check a document, but it's not enough. A spell checker will not catch every error.

2. Wrong word used - This is why a spell checker is not enough. A spell checker will only flag words it does not recognize. It can not tell if a legitimate word is used incorrectly. Some words commonly confused: accept, except; your, you're; then, than; there, their, they're; cite, site, sight; lay, lie; loose, loosen, lose. Also, look out for missing "r" in the word "your." It's easy to overlook a sentence such as "Visit our Web site now to receive you free copy."

3. Grammar error - Again, if you know you're not a good writer, have someone else look your writing for grammatical errors. Mistakes make you look bad.

4. Punctuation error - This is another area where you'll benefit from a review by someone who knows their stuff. If you're determined to do it yourself, purchase a good grammar or style book. One of the most common punctuation problems: Too many stupid commas!

5. Vague or confusing statement - Make sure every sentence is crystal-clear. You do not want your promotional message to raise more questions than it answers.

6. Ilogical statement - Read over what you have written slowly. At the end of each paragraph, ask yourself: "Did that make sense?" Rewrite so that it does.

Topic 6 ~ Frequency of Sending Emails ~

How Often (Frequency) Should You Send Email?

There's no quick answer to the frequency question. It depends on the goals for your email and the type of content you send. Some rough guidelines:

1. Mail at least once a month. Mail less often than this, and you risk being forgotten by recipients. Monthly is the bare minimum if you want to keep your brand or company name top of mind (a common email goal).

2. Let content be your guide. Look at what you provide readers and you'll get a feel for proper frequency. Analyze how often the information changes and how quickly readers must receive it to act on it.

3. Work within your resources. A daily email requires many more resources than a monthly. Better a well-done monthly email than shoddy weekly or daily. It's recommended to start with a monthly. Once that's going smoothly, they can think about moving to weekly. You need to walk before you can run!

4. Watch for trends. Declining response, open, and click-through rates can be signs of list fatigue. Although some decrease is normal, watch carefully and cut back frequency if you see a problem. Do not assume if the unsubscribe rate is stable you're OK. Many people prefer to forward email directly to their delete folder rather than unsubscribe.

Topic 7 ~ Understanding Spam Filters ~

Understanding Spam Filters to Avoid Your Emails Get Junked!

If you send email campaigns long enough, you will inevitably run into spam filter issues. On average, you can expect 10-20% of your emails to just get lost in cyberspace, mostly due to overzealous spam filters. Unfortunately, there is no quick fix. If you want to avoid getting your emails junked by spam filters, you have to understand how they work.

Generally speaking, spam filters look at a long list of criteria to judge whether or not your email is junk. For example, they might look for spammy phrases like "CLICK HERE!" Egypt "FREE! BUY NOW!". They'll assign points each time they see one of those phrases. Certain criteria get more points than others. Here's a sample of criteria from Spam Assassin, one of the most popular spam filters out there:

o Talks about lots of money (.93 points)

o Describes some sort of breach (.32 points)

o Looks like mortgage pitch (.297 points)

o Contains urgent matter (.288 points)

o Money back guarantee (2.051 points)

o Why Pay More? (1.249 points)

It's easy to use "spammy" keywords in your email without even knowing it. Here are some common ways marketers unwittingly trigger spam filters with their campaigns:

1. Using spammy phrases, like "Click here!" Egypt "Once in a lifetime opportunity!" too many times in your email. Sometimes, you can not avoid phrases like "FREE SHIPPING!" but use them sparingly, and do not do anything else risky.

2. Going crazy with exclamation points !!!!!!

3. USING ALL CAPS, WHICH IS LIKE YELLING IN EMAIL

4. Coloring their fonts bright red, or green

5. Coding sloppy HTML (such as converting a Microsoft Word file to HTML)

6. Creating an HTML email that's nothing but one big image, with no text (since spam filters can not read images, they assume you're a spammer that's trying to trick 'em)

7. Using the word "Test" in the subject line (agencies run into this all the time, when sending drafts to clients for approval)

Topic 8 ~ Why Email Marketing Does not Work? ~

If Your Email Marketing Does not Work, Think Again Why?

Before you arrive at the faulty conclusion that email marketing does not work, let's look at this from a different perspective for a moment that would make your emails ineffective.

First there's what you are writing in the body of the email. If this is your first attempt to get in touch with a prospect, what are you putting in the email? A dissertation? If it's longer than one or two paragraphs, it's too long. Look at your emails like an initial cold call. You need to laser in and deliver a compelling opening statement that's going to grab their interest and stimulate a conversation. Because there's no one to cut you off in an email or stop you from persistent pontification, people have a tendency to ramble on and on in an email, giving the prospect the life story of the product or service they want them to consider. Keep it short and focus on the one or two benefits, opening up the opportunity to have a dialogue. That's it.

Second, are you sending attachments in the first email? No attachments! It's hard enough sending an unsolicited email to a prospect. Now you're adding more barriers and increasing the opportunities of your email winding up in their spam box or junk email folder. Some people have filters on their email that if an attachment is sent it automatically gets deleted. No attachment until that information in the attachment is solicited by the person.

Third, html or text? Once again, with all the email filters people use today, you will increase your odds by sending a text message only rather than trying to get fancy with formatting, graphics and pictures. The prospect really does not care about how beautiful your email looks; they care about the core message. Beside, they will never even get a chance to see your beautiful masterpiece in an html email if it's winding up in the trash.

Finally, you are using way too many spam words. As mentioned, the largest enemy to email marketing or selling via email is the additional security that companies and individuals have on their network or computer. As such, the specific words you are using in the body of the email can be the culprit who is sending your email directly into the trash or spam box. In other words, you are using words that are often identified is spam and in turn, you email is getting flagged and deleted. Not even eye contact! The prospect is not getting a chance to, at the very least, see your email let alone read it and have a chance to respond accordingly.

Ending ~ Please Forward ~

Psychic Insights and Predictions for 2018

We are in for a challenging period with lots of planets in earth signs, a more sober time of consequential events. Closer to home, what if it turns out that people have a lot less voice, less money to spend, and less comfort in the United States? And that might be small potatoes compared to what's happening in Europe! Here's what we can do about it if there's tough times ahead, according to an early December vision:

What first appeared was a picture of Americans' nature and spirit in decline, and people choosing to turn away from the displaced around them, not wanting to encounter them or anyone much - not wanting to connect. Americans, traumatized by the barrage of fear-creating news, beliefs, and new realities coming at them, may choose to defend themselves from it by disconnecting, not letting it really register. However, other messages going back to 1989 show a steady development of grassroots activism. Maybe we will snap out of our trauma and all become activists!

Until then (and ever more), this is the most actionable response: "Be nice. Be nice to yourself, and especially if no-one else has done so - or we have not done so ourselves so far. as a policy. To be nice is to turn the other cheek, to not react to the past, but to choose to be a certain way in the world, to have a certain atmosphere of respect and security and civility around you, which you demonstrate and emanate by being nice. It will raise the vibration of your world, and extremely, at each level you experience the world. "

About grass roots and what the 99% can do in 5 minutes to influence their world: Grass roots are the densest, the strongest weave, and what is akin to that formidable placeholder is if every single person finds a way to communicate with government officials, just Google it, and let their will be known. That unrelenting activity will make representatives always know and feel the pressure of millions of people, creating a grassroots weave in the airwaves.

"Get to work!" is the saying for the year. For those seeking spiritual and professional success, here are words of wisdom from a 14th century Middle Eastern scholar: "Knowledge is a treasure, but practice is the key to it."

The atmosphere surges with energy to put knowledge into action this year - lots of itchy entrepreneurs and innovators! For everyone, a lot can happen and a lot can get done by taking responsibility for your life. Being quick to explore your options and in more areas of your life, will serve you well in 2018.

According to one of the psychic pictographs for the year, Americans may be testing one of Einstein's theories. He states: "All that is valuable in human society depends upon the opportunity for development agreed the individual." As the have and have-nots in America continue to grow farther apart, we'll see a devalued and dispirited people become more of a colorless or muted mass.

Monster Winds in 2018: Raging winds become more frequent ... plus earthquakes. We live as if our well-being depends on our access to money and power. Nature appears to be teaching us differently. "It's not nice to fool Mother Nature", warned the popular ad campaign years ago. Uranus, planet of shocking upheavals, moves into an earth sign on May 15th for an eight year stay. This signifies that powerful and destabilizing earth changes continue to upend.

More about May 15th: Not only does Uranus change signs on that day, it's also new moon in Taurus, and Mars goes into Aquarius, all conspiring to create changes in how we deal with money (Taurus rules money and finances.) People seek new forms of contracts and exchange. Mars in Aquarius also portends an important year for technological developments and innovations. People are going to be bold, try new things, and change fundamental aspects society. Cultural mores change around beauty and romance, and societal standards associated with love and the arts are open to accepting new forms.

Personal guidance from the spirits about 2018 (channeled on 11/11/2017): These messages are not about the society we live in, but describe the raw energy of the year and how we can use it to manifest what we want.

"You've arrived on new ground. And look all around ... make sure you are with people you want to be with ... that's how the year begins, a radical sorting out of your private affairs.

Being one with Nature this year gives great pleasure. Even for people who have not much noticed Nature before. Something wakes up in people about their world, their environment, and how precious it is.

We're all here together for one reason: to be free, and to be able ... you name it when it comes to being able ... what do you want to do? Whatever it is, it will occur to you month by month as the year unfolds: whatever needs to receive to your love. Any part of you can now come forward to be integrated.

Strength! Resilience! Force Power! They're all energized in people this year. Make sure to shepherd your consciousness so this access to power become tools for your benefit and also for others. "

Are Your Managers Ready for Generation Y Employees?

Generation Y or the "Internet Generation" will dramatically change every aspect of your business in the next five years!

Change will be constant, rapid and revolutionary. Want proof?

First, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is putting all of their 1,500 courses on the Internet. MIT believes that the "disclosure of knowledge and information can open new doors to the powerful benefits of education for humanity around the world." That means students, educators and self-learners will be able to audit these courses when and where they want.

Second, Bob Lutz, General Motors Vice Chairman, has a blog to communicate directly with his customers. It is an invaluable way to get important information out to the market. It is also a vehicle for timely and accurate feedback. Other GM executives are setting up blogs to talk directly to and get information from their employees. By comparison, Microsoft has over 1,500 customer and employee blogs.

Third, YouTube is an Internet overnight success story. It allows people to upload and share videos over the Internet. To date they have 100 million videos on their site and receive another 65,000 per day. The company was founded in February 2005, and was never profitable. Yet, Google understands the potential of their technology and purchased the company nineteen months later for $ 1.65 billion.

While Gen X employees understand Internet, multitasking and instant communications, Generation Y members excels at use of these three tools, and they will use them to transform business. They will challenge every aspect of the workplace.

How do the different generational employees look managers?

B oomers: The boss is not always right, but the boss is always the boss. I will put in long hours to get ahead. If necessary, I will do so at the expense of my family.

Generation X: The boss is not always right, but I'm not going to be here very long. I watched my parent's jobs being downsized or outsourced so I do not have the same loyalty to a company they did. I'm not married to the company; I value my life outside of work.

Generation Y: The boss is not always right, but are they open to new ways to do business? Events like 9/11 and the Columbine High School shooting have taught us that life can be fleeting. The Internet as exposed us to new ways of approaching life and work. I want to flexibility, to be valued for my ideas and my work and I want time off to volunteer.

They are called Generation Y, as in "why," because they are constantly questioning the status quo. They are almost as large as the Boomer generation and are over 65% larger than the Generation X group. In the next twenty-five years 80 million Boomers will be retiring. As the Boomers retire, the Gen X employees will become the Gen Y's managers. However, because of their sheer size Generation Y will be the overwhelming influence in the workplace for the next fifty years.

Generation Y fully embraces technology. Today's twenty-year-old college graduate was only five years old when the Internet was developed in 1992. They have always had the world at their finger tips. They grow up with instant messaging, text messaging, cell phones, iPods, PDAs, MySpace, YouTube, multitasking and blogging. They think, and act, in terms of instant communications. While Gen X employees understand and used these vehicles, Generation Y is totally immersed in them.

Baby Boomers changed the culture on civil rights, woman's rights, and gay rights. Their world was shaped by the Cold War. The members of Generation Y were born after the Civil Rights Act was passed (1964), the gay rights movement started (1969), the first woman sat on the US Supreme Court (1975), and the Berlin Wall came down (1990). The struggles many of us remember are accepted facts in their world. Generation Y individuals overlap diversity as an accepted norm and until recently knew nothing about war. Their world has always included diversity.

Each of us has memories of some recent tragic events: the Oklahoma bombing, the Columbine High school shooting, the World Trade Center bombing, and three wars-Iraq, Afghanistan and the War on Terror. If you were a thirteen to fifteen year old, how would these events shape your thoughts about the future? In a practical way These Generation Y's remain optimistic.

Generation Y members are group-oriented, confident, goal-oriented and civic-minded. They have a more worldly view than Generation X'ers. These new employees have been coddled by their parents. As children they received trophies for simply participating on a team. Parents told them were special and capable of doing anything. Their non-school activities were scheduled (eg, karate, soccer, etc.), and their parents were not afraid to call a teacher, coach or boy Scout leader if they did not think their child was being treated fairly.

Generation Y kids have been raised with instant communication, unrealistic feedback and rapid decision making as the norm. They believe they have the world in the palm of their hand. And, with their knowledge of today's technology they do.

So what can your managers do to get ready for Generation Y employees? Generation Y employees want to be heard and valued by their company when they start with your company. They place a high value on family and flexibility and will volunteer their time to cause them feel are important. They are fearless and not intimidated by titles or corporate organizational charts.

They love variety and are not afraid of change. If they think they have a good suggestion they will take ownership of the idea. And, they will not be afraid to take the idea up the corporate ladder to be heard.

Successful companies must find ways to harness the new employee's talents, integrate them into the company and turn ideas into a competitive advantage. Progressive companies understand that learning is a two-way street. Generation Y employees will revolutionize internal and external communications. Companies have a lot to teach the Gen Y's, but they have a lot to learn from them also. That will be difficult in rigid, highly structured companies.

Jack Welsh, former CEO of General Electric, stated that "... ebusiness knowledge is usually inversely proportional to age and rank." Hiring, challenging and retaining good employees have always been the hallmark of successful companies.

Successful companies today must develop a culture of learning, sharing and embracing change. They will employ two-way mentoring, blogging, new training platforms, and new ways of hiring and promoting people.

Training Generation Y employees will change. Boring, all-day seminars will become less frequent. Generation Y employees will text message their friends during those seminars. They need the information in the seminar, but companies will have the training available in different platforms and in smaller "bite-sized" portions. These training modules will be downloadable to an employees' Blackberry, iPod or computer. The employee will view the sessions at home, or on a plane or listen to them in the car driving to an appointment.

This is an exciting and dynamic time for business! Change will be constant, rapid and revolutionary.

Generation Y employees will change how we look at hiring, turnover, mentoring, performance reviews, employee orientation, retention issues, and how we communicate with our employees and customers. Are your managers ready for this new employee?

Questions for Discussion:

1. A new employee takes approximately six months to "learn the routes," and they will probably leave the company within four years. How will your managers take full advantage of the Generation Y employee's creative energies?

1. What systems within your company need to be reviewed to take advantage of these upcoming changes?

1. How can you dramatically change the way you communicate with your customers and your employees?

The Top 20 Breakup Mistakes and How To Get Your Ex Back Even If You'Ve Made Every One Of Them

If you're going through a break up right now then your emotions are super charged and heightened and you're just not acting like yourself, am I right? Here's the top 20 breakup mistakes that are not only driving your ex totally nuts but ensuring that you're never going to get back together. I'm going to reveal what they are and then explain to you how you can completely clean the slate and still get them back.

I've compiled my top 20 break up mistakes after months of counselling both men and women in 31 countries going through a very painful break up. I invite you to read every single one and take notes if you need to and keep reading to the very end where I reveal how you can STILL get them back even if you've made every single mistake on this list!

Mistake #1 - Allowing Your Ex To Totally Control Your Life

You and your ex may not even be aware that they are doing this or that you are actually allowing your ex to do this but after your break up you gut reaction is to totally analyse virtually every facet of your relationship and your break up to the verge of driving yourself nuts.

That's not going to achieve anything and will only keep you stuck in the healing process.

Mistake #2 - Staying Friends With Your Ex

Many brokenhearted people stay friends with the ex for one sole reason - in the hope that one day they'll realize that they're really meant to be together.

WRONG. Once you get set in the friend trap it's very hard to get out of and it's not something I recommend.

Mistake #3 - Bombarding Your Ex With Text Messages

Basically you're not leaving your ex alone because you're not wanting them to get on with their life without you.

This is one of the worst things you can do because often all it does is ensure that they've made the right decision not being with you right now.

Mistake #5 -Firing Off Angry Emails To Your Ex

As above, when you make this mistake you are venting on your ex angry at the pain that they've caused you.

THIS IS A NO-NO because all it will do is drive potentially a permanent wedge between you and will ensure your ex moves on real fast.

Mistake #6 -Firing Off Desperate Emails To Your Ex

This mistake is different to the one in #5 because rather than being angry you're being desperate. You're acting pretty wimpy trying to get your ex to understand how much they've broken your heart and how much you need them in your life.

When you behave in this way you're acting high maintenance and also way too desperate and that is NOT going to be attractive to your ex!

Mistake #7 -Ringing Your Ex Around The Clock

Let's face it, you're not ringing them up with good intentions - you're ringing them up because you want to know where they are, are they home, who are they with, is someone at home with them?

This kind of harassing behaviour could end up with you being served with an AVO so hold off, this is not the way to get your ex's attention!

Mistake #8 -Stalking Your Ex Regularly At Places Where They Hang Out

Right, all of a sudden you have this insane desire to just be wherever your ex goes -- because if you aren't there how are they ever going to think about you now that you are no longer together, right??

WRONG! Not only will this not look like a coincidence but it will really put your ex off, it will put your friends off and your ex's friends off and you could end up with a nice little visit from a policeman!

Mistake #9 - Lending Your Ex Money

So you're throwing good money after bad at your ex because you believe this way you'll be able to stay in contact with your ex and they'll "owe you".

WRONG AGAIN. You're setting yourself for not only an emotional fall but a financial fall here....Once your ex knows they can come to you as their automatic ATM they'll be feeding you with lies and crap to make you feel that you're special to them.....but there will always be a BUT!

Mistake #10 -Staying Friends With Your Ex's Family

While there's nothing wrong with being on friendly terms with your ex's family, if you suddenly start hanging out with them in the hope of accidentally bumping into your ex then that's not a good thing.

Mistake #11 -Trying To Make Your Ex Jealous

The key to making someone jealous is NOT making it obvious. However, many people unfortunately aren't very good at this and make it real clear when they have their cousin's best friend from interstate playing their instant love interest when they come into town on a quick visit.

You'll actually have much better luck by moving on with your life and not being afraid to meet new people.

Mistake #12 -Having Sex With Your Ex

Yep, I had a fellow email me recently saying we've just broken up and we're seeing each other tomorrow to have sex, is that okay?

Why would you think that's okay?

I mean, if you want to be your ex's boyfriend or girlfriend you have got to stop acting like their girlfriend or boyfriend when you're no longer in a relationship with them -- otherwise what incentive will they ever have to get back together with you.

Mistake #13 - Constantly Asking Your Ex For A Second Chance

You can't cope without your ex, that's clear, but you don't need to make it constantly obvious to your ex all the time.

While that will certainly stroke their ego it will also drive them probably totally crazy so lay low and you'll achieve much better results.

Mistake #14 -Bad Mouthing Your Ex to Your Family And Friends

Unless you plan on never getting back together with your ex don't talk badly about him or her to everyone close to you. And definitely don't reveal some juicy tidbits that your ex would die if she knew you'd told them.

You've got to think of the big picture here....Your ex will never come back to you unless she's 100 percent comfortable in doing so.

Mistake #15 - Bad Mouthing Your Ex To Their Family And Friends

It applies even more so to the friends and family of your ex. Don't ever think for a moment that they'll keep their conversations with your ex private from them.

If you bad mouth her you're going to not only get your ex's hackles off side but also those of their friends and family!

Mistake #16 -Throwing Pity Parties

Another desperate effort to get back together - making your ex feel so sorry for you....some people even dare to say that they'll kill themselves if they don't get back together with you.

Not only is that blackmail that's totally childish and an unfair kind of pressure to put onto your ex -- and your relationship, even if you got back together, would have low chances of success!

Mistake #17 - Driving Your Friends And Family Insane By Always Talking About Your Ex

Okay this is going to hurt a little but you did have a life before your ex - and guess what -- you managed to actually carry some interesting conversations before you met your ex. So don't drive your friends and family totally nuts and isolate yourselves from people who really care about you.

Mistake #18 - Coming Across As Needy And Clingy To Your Ex

This may be your gut reaction but all this behaviour is going to do is reinforce your ex's desire not to be with you because you're so high maintenance.

Mistake #19 -Giving Threats And Ultimatums

You're desperate and totally acting irrationally and all you want is your pain to go away so you'll do just about anything to get your ex back.

Dishing out threats and ultimatums isn't going to bring you a happy ending so behave with self-dignity instead and you'll be amazed at the difference.

Mistake #20 -Being Vengeful

You're angry and you want them to HURT so you're gonna pay them back, right??

WRONG! You've got to think long term here.....that is going to not only infuriate your ex but everyone they know and could also land you in a lot of trouble with the law!

Hey, I said 20 break up mistakes but I'm going to throw in one more for good measure, okay.

BONUS - Mistake #21 -Making False Promises That You'll Change

Okay, we all have some little things that we could probably improve about ourselves and some of these may be quite realistic....however, others don't even bother.

While it's possible to spruce yourself up a little there's no use pretending to be someone you're not because your armour will come off when you least expect it and you'll be on your own again anyway.

Now that's quite a list, isn't it?

Do you know why these are so common mistakes?

Because your emotions are completely out of control as a result of your break up and you will do JUST ABOUT ANYTHING to make the pain stop -- and to get your ex back.

You and I both know that acting this way isn't the real you, is it?

You're not a stalker, you're not usually clingy, needy, or desperate or even so obsessed as you've been lately!

Let's put the shoe on the other foot for a minute. If your ex was acting the way you have been recently would YOU want them back?

No.

Let's face it -- you're high maintenance, you're highly emotional, you're clingy, you're desperate, your obsessive -- you're NOT the person that your boyfriend/girlfriend, wife/husband fell in love with?

How To Completely Wipe The Slate Clean

What you need to do first of all is accept right at this second that you ARE broken up (but in your mind it's temporary).

Then what you need to do is heal AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE so you can unleash the real you under all that emotional turmoil that your ex fell MADLY IN LOVE with.