Online Customer Service Software

With the growth of online business, more and more people prefer to sell their products / services on the internet rather than opening physical shops. There is a huge risk of failure if you are not able to meet customer demands or give them proper service. Studies have revealed that e-commerce is an easy as well difficult way of making money. While getting new customers is always a difficult task, serving them right and interacting with them is the key to success. This is why online customer service software has become a must have for upcoming business.

With such software, you will be able to interact directly with your customers and understand their frequency. Without you really understand what they are looking for, it is almost impossible to satisfy them. A fully furnished and glossy site without customer service might be less successful with a not so glossy but adequate service oriented website. So, you should focus more on reaching your customers rather than spending more on marketing. Remember, one satisfied customer can bring you many more potential customers while one dissatisfied customer can cause you 100 times more damage.

If the chat agents supporting the online customer service are trained, they can really bring a lot of difference to your business. With the ability to generate metrics, you being the site owner can easily determine which product is most attractive to your customers. Following that, you can strategize your business and increase your sales. Remember, interaction with the customers is the key to success. So, you should be providing sufficient education to the chat agent son how to talk to the site visitors and how to show them around the site. There may be instances where the customers may be interested in customizing few orders that is difficult through email conversation. However, this can be done easily by live chat help with direct instructions from the customer.

Most of the services offering online customer chat service offer free trials, so you can experiment them and see the difference it brings to your sale. With the reduced cost, you can not only effectively make money; you can also monitor your website and keep a track of each and every visitor entering your website. So, take this opportunity and grab the unexplored part of internet marketing and website promotion. You never know, this small step may bring a huge difference in your business perspective and can open new gates of success for you.

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 ~

Mesothelioma Lawsuit

People suffering from Mesothelioma are provided with the legal right by Maryland law to file a Mesothelioma lawsuit. Mesothelioma is a rare cancer that happens because of asbestos exposure. You are much more susceptible to this illness if you've worked wherever the chance of inhaling asbestos debris was high. For those who have been diagnosed with Mesothelioma, you may get compensation from the celebration accountable for your publicity to asbestos by way of a Mesothelioma lawsuit.

Mesothelioma is a critical disease; oftentimes generating its presence felt 20 or thirty years following exposure. You would like to commence the healthcare treatment immediately in order have more than a one year|twelve months survival rate. When submitting Georgia Mesothelioma lawsuits, you should have a correct comprehending of all of the intricacies which are associated with filing lawsuits. Make sure you employ a qualified and skilled Mesothelioma lawyer because only then are you able to attain success in your lawsuit.

Mesothelioma, the disease of mesothelium, is a painful one mingled with costly treatment. Mesothelium is the overlaying made across the heart, lungs and different essential organ of human body. It protects the organs from injury when beating towards the body wall. Generally in case of involuntary muscles in human body, as located in heart, stomach, lungs etc, the mesothelium performs essential role.

In the course of respiration system the air is taken in, get purified in lungs and once again the contaminated blood filled with carbon-di-oxide is taken out. In the course of the mentioned purification process if any small or even microscopic particles are inhaled unexpectedly then those debris can't come out effortlessly from lungs and linger caught within the mesothelium. If such particles debris get accrued in big quantity in lungs, then it causes a lot kind of lungs related or cardio-thoracic problems. In numerous cases it eventually results in cancer, known as mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma is a infrequent cancer kind that occurs because of asbestos exposure. It's got an effect on the liner of the lungs and abdominal cavity. Mesothelioma is a deadly illness with a mean survival time of simply twelve months following diagnosis. Your survival rate may easily increase if it is diagnosed early. Mesothelioma litigations in Baltimore offer you an opportunity to file a case against a party that's accountable on your situation.

No just one expects go to hospital following working with a firm that use asbestos within the manufacturing process. No one wish to handle an expensive lawyer in courtroom as it will take time, energy, productiveness time, not pointed out losses in all probability that would make employee pay additional money to organization who employ their situation much more over whether it is associated with Asbestos mesothelioma case before the courts claim.

Mesothelioma is a malignant tumor of the mesothelium the result of publicity to asbestos fibers. There is several fundamental details just one ought to be mindful of if he is thinking about pursuing an asbestos mesothelioma lawsuit. Previous to pursuing a lawsuit, he ought to search advice from a respectable mesothelioma lawyer for a better comprehension of mesothelioma law. A mesothelioma lawsuit give you just one with enough compensation that will assist cover his legal, medical, and on-going bills related to the mesothelioma cancer.

Federal US entitles people identified with mesothelioma to file a lawsuit against the errant company or companies. Mesothelioma, being a deadly sort of cancer, ruins the prospects of victims and their families. This efficiently signifies that mesothelioma lawsuits are essential something that may mitigate the sufferings of the family

In the past, as a consequence of being exposed to an asbestos material, there have been circumstances when the mesothelioma melanoma sufferers have gotten thousands in reparation for their cancer diagnosis. Lately, mesothelioma lawsuits help those who have become unwell with this cancer by supplying a array of reimbursements. Several of those litigations have answered people who have been in touch with asbestos linked substances at their workplace, and corporations are obliged to pay damages to their existing or former staff members for non-disclosure of the hazard entailed in touching asbestos and linked materials.

Some fundamental elements must be taken under consideration by victims discovered to endure mesothelioma cancer and are capable of file a mesothelioma lawsuit.

What are mesothelioma lawsuits and just how do they arise?













$5 million continues to be recovered from your mesothelioma litigation filed on behalf of a 70-year-old man who passed faraway from malignant mesothelioma. The man was exposed to mesothelioma causing asbestos at work. His profession called for fitting asbestos that contains ceiling tiles. He breathed in asbestos fibers launched by the tiles everyday. The fibers have been launched whenever he reduce and in good shape the tiles. In addition, he was also exposed to asbestos from working alongside drywall installers who produced asbestos dust from using only asbestos that contains joint compound.

Is mesothelioma curable? The straight answer to this query is 'No'. Well, you will find drugs and treatments that assist in easing the pain sensation and should aid to extend life, however these remedies aren't sufficient to save life. Mesothelium refers back to the wrapping structure of nearly all of the bodily organs in our system and mesothelioma is the cancer that occurs in mesothelium.

It has been reported that deaths attributable to mesothelioma cancer in England is increasing. According to at least one estimate, 2,249 men and women died from malignant mesothelioma in 2008 whereas 2,156 died from the sickness in From 2006 to 2008, northeastern England was the geographic area with the very best incidence of mesothelioma deaths. The male demise rate was 1 per million. Southeastern England adopted having a male death rate of 74 deaths per million people.

The asbestos cancer mesothelioma is a threat to the lives of many Navy veterans. This really is as the Navy used asbestos-containing items extensively. Several instances of asbestos-containing goods are gaskets, adhesives, cables and valves. The areas of a ship wherever asbestos may have been present are several and take on boiler rooms, mess halls, engine rooms and navigation rooms. Ships involve a too high risk of asbestos exposure due to many areas on board ships are closed, which means that asbestos fibers can't escape. As such, asbestos fibers on board a ship are likely to dealt with by ship personnel.













You or a loved just one has just been diagnosed with Mesothelioma. Your mind and emotions are on a curler coaster ride, not understanding much if anything about this deadly cancer, and never knowing wherever to show for Mesothelioma monetary help. There is assist in the storm. Listed here are many methods to locate Mesothelioma monetary aid whenever you require it after being diagnosed with Mesothelioma.

Mesothelioma is a deadly cancer that's the result of exposure to asbestos fibers, and this cancer can cut lifespan to a point of months from the onset of symptoms. Over recent years, the amount of mesothelioma instances coming to light has risen quite dramatically, as well as in line with this, the amount of mesothelioma litigations being filed has also increased. Due to mesothelioma lawsuits became such huge business, a lot law firms and lawyers now specialize during this area, generating it simpler for all those affected by this disease to obtain the legal assistance they have to file a mesothelioma lawsuit.

A diagnosis of mesothelioma because of industrial asbestos exposure may be daunting, both emotionally and logistically. A myriad of questions show up that may appear at initial difficult to locate answers for. This article serves as a guide to those most-often requested questions regarding mesothelioma and submitting a litigation coping with mesothelioma.

Work From Home And Make Money With Your Own Online Business

Start Your Own Online Business- Top Reasons Why You Should













It isn't easy to start an online business. Some people may lie to you and say it is the easiest thing they have ever done, but they are being at best unrealistic. Running an online business is as the name implies, "a business that is online". So there are certain rules you must follow in order to earn cash online (and do it the right way).

Even though there are challenges to running a business online there are benefits to it as well. In my view it is better to start a business online. Below I have listed some of the top reasons I believe this to be true.

The Traditional Way To Get Cash Is Becoming Outdated













There are a lot of people who have great ideas, but can never seem to the get them off of the ground. Many times this is due to lack of resources or the ability to properly fund their business. With the traditional business model there is normally a substantial investment. An internet business does not require this major investment (though there could be a small one).

Using the example of a brick and mortar store an owner must invest in their business only to have their money at times locked in the business itself for years. Many times it takes years for the store owner to recuperate their entire investment. With an online business model you would have less overhead and other means to store your inventory (such as drop shipping or as an affiliate). This means that inventory is not a requirement allowing you to ship product upon demand versus investing in the goods upfront.

Each Industry Dictates It's Threshold To Make Money













Certain industries require you to invest money to make money. Depending upon the industry itself starting small may be out of the question. The reason? In order to compete you must be competitive. To be competitive in the traditional sense may require a significant investment of funds from the beginning. This is not even mentioning physical location(s), staff and security issues.

However, a home based business that exists on the internet can grow as you grow. We all want to grow. With a smaller investment you can leverage your advantage for greater profits. If staff is required, the positions are minimal and physical security becomes one less thing for you to worry about (especially if you are an affiliate or you don't house your products in-house).

The Internet Is Becoming The Standard For Communicating A Business













The day is coming where if you're not online you don't exist. Even traditional brick and mortar organizations are now vying for a presence on the web.

The level of innovation new technologies are providing the entrepreneur online are endless. You are limited by your imagination and ambition.

With the internet you can make as much or as little as you want. This is determined by your willingness and effort to take your business to the next level. Will you press forward the wheel of innovation a success and become the next internet millionaire (or billionaire)? Or maybe you're not as ambitious and are only looking to take care of your needs (and maybe your families too)? An online business can provide you with this ability.

An Inspiring History of a Small Business

In 1980, a husband and wife, purchased their first home in Arizona. The husband was managing a vacuum cleaner store, and the wife was a cashier at a grocery store. The husbands only day off was Sunday, and the wife was off 2 different days of the week, so, they never had much time together. They had no children, but the wife was breeding Afghan Hound dogs.

The husband was watching TV one peaceful Sunday afternoon, and all of a sudden the TV sparked, smoked, sputtered, and lit on fire. He jumped off the sofa, opened the front door, unplugged the TV, picked it up and thread it in the front yard.

Even with both the husband and wife working, they did not have enough money to buy a new TV. The new house had eaten up all of their extra money, and there were a lot of new expenses in owning a new home.

The husband was talking to a friend of his about his financial problems. His friend stated that his father used to own a vacuum business, and said, "Why do not we go to the Flea Market in Phoenix on weekends and sell vacuum cleaners, bags, belts, and parts." I told him that it sounded like a good idea, but my only day off was on Sunday. We agreed that he would work Saturday, and we would both work on Sunday.

The only other problem was that this person had no money for inventory, so his friend said that he would put up the money for some inventory to get their business started. They both agreed that they would put all the profit into buying more inventory, and vacuum cleaners that they would both rebuild and sell.

They followed through with their plans, and their new business was a success. They were selling huge amounts of bags, belts, and parts, as well as buying old vacuums, fixing them up, and reselling them. All of the profit they made went back into the business, and they started doing more and more business. It was all very exciting, but the only problem was that one of the partners was now working 7 days a week, and still did not have enough money to buy a new color TV.

After about 2 months, the one partner mentioned that he would like to get a little money from the business to buy a new color TV. He was kind of surprised when his friend said, "No Way". He tried to talk his friend into it, but his friend was totally against the idea of ​​taking any money out of the business. His partner said that he would rather just buy him out of the business that they started, and have the business all to himself. They agreed, and the one partner was paid about $ 800.00, for his share of the business.

Finally the one partner was able to go out and by a new color TV. Then, he thought of what he could do with the other $ 400. Well, right or wrong, he called the vacuum parts distributor that they were both buying from and ordered $ 400.00 worth of bags and supplies, and the following Sunday, he went to the Flea Market, and started his own business. His friend ran into him and kind of smiled and said, "Oh well, I guess we did not talk about you doing your own thing out here." The other partner said that all he wanted was some money to get a new color TV, and that he was the one who wanted to split up the partnership. They both laughed and remained good friends and competitors that helped each other for many years.

The one partner continued to buy more and more supplies, and soon had a huge display of parts, bags, belts, and new and used vacuum cleaners. He was so busy that most of the time, he had no way of going to get lunch, or a coke, or anything. After a couple of months of suffering alone, he needed help so badly that he asked his wife to quit her job which she did, so that she could help out with their new business.

During the next several years they continued to grow, and soon they had a 30 foot trailer and 4 employees helping them at the Flea Market, and at their home, where they were repairing and rebuilding vacuums during the week. They got to know all of their neighbors at the Flea Market, including the ones who sold futons behind their stand.

After a few more years they became friends with their futon friends, and they decided to rent a store together. It was their first actual store, and they split the store space and rent. I all seemed to be going well for both of them, but one morning, after a couple of months, the vacuum people went to open their store, and all of their futon friends things were gone. All of their futons, desks, computer, everything was gone. They had vanished in the night. All that was left was a note explaining that they were not making it, and that they felt bad, but they had to abandon ship and move to Seattle. This was quite a surprise to the vacuum people, who were left with all of the expenses of the store, but luckily their business was able to handle the bills.

The first day that the futon people were gone, they had 2 or 3 people come into their store and ask them where are all of the futons were? They could have told them that the futons were gone, and that all there were now were vacuums. Instead, they asked the potential customer what size they wanted and what color, and they knew enough about futons, and where to get them, that they were able to make a couple of sales without any futons in the store at all.

This was the beginning of a kind of a strange combination that was not planned at all, but it worked, and they had many customers who bought both a vacuum cleaner and a futon. Sometimes the futon part of our business was so busy that they had less and less time for the vacuum part of the business, so they ended up selling it to one of their competitors. This futon business has continued to grow year after year, but was never planned.

That is a story of how 2 people started a business on the side, which developed into a full time business, and then completely chaged to a different business altar. It shows how in business you must be able to adapt, and to go with the flow, in order to survive.

Lessons In Business Success From Muhammad Ali

Whether you like boxing or not there is no question that Muhammad Ali still remains a respected figure when it comes to becoming a champion and achieving great success. So what can you learn from him and apply in your own business in order to realize your own great success?

Let's look at two quotes from Muhammad Ali:

'He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.'

I hated every minute of training, but I said, "Do not quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion."

This does not mean that you have to suffer to succeed and build a great business, but these quotes should make you consider what achieving success is worth to you?

Is it worth putting in a few extra hours a few week to start your own venture that can then give you the freedom you have dreamed about for so long? You may have been afraid to just up and quit your job and start your own company so far for fear of financial security and income. Though today you can realistically kick off a new enterprise in a few hours a week, and wait until your revenues start rolling into tell your boss what you think of them. Many entrepreneurs today, armed with the right business models are making incredible incomes in just a few hours a week, while having plenty of time to enjoy life to the max.

Is achieving true financial freedom by having a business that works for you instead of your working for it worth a small investment. It really does not cost a lot to start your own business today. In fact it has never been easier to launch your own start up. With a little coaching, a website and a reasonable marketing budget you could finally be able to be free from your corporate chains and be confident in being able to enjoy a comfortable retirement.

Sure you may face a little criticism and doubt from coworkers and those close to you. Although is not it worth it to be able to craft a business and lifestyle that these critics have only dreamed of, yet have been too afraid to attempt themselves. Make them eat their words.

Starting your own company may take a little hard work in the beginning, but is not that more than a fair trade for being able to have money working for you for the rest of your life instead of you having to work for your money and depend on your boss' good moods to bring home the bacon?

Fundamentals Of Successful Business App Development

Nowadays, the web & mobile apps serve manifold advantages to businesses. Industrialists introduce these apps to facilitate their customers, employees, & occupy dominant brand position in the global market sphere. Either to carry out official tasks or manage your projects smartly, you rely on business app development to make your efforts in a right way. Whereas customers install these apps to enjoy better services like online shopping, booking, traveling, & more.

Our deviation towards mobile app technology indicates its significance in business promotion & brand recognition. Several local business owners, startups, SMEs, eCommerce firms trust their business app developers who create innovative application that can increase their sales & build their brands.

So, if you aspire to go for business app development, here are some fundamentals you need to consider for fruitful outcome:

Know your audience- Your customers reflect core value of your business and you need to prioritize their interests, choices, or other options regarding their likes & dislikes. Never leave any question that may harm your app's user retention and therefore, you must make sure to analyze your customers' preferences right from the beginning your app development process.

Convey right message- Either you want to sell specific products or facilitate customers with exceptional services, it's completely up to you. You already know that marketing always rules in the corporate world & hence, make sure to transform your app idea specifically for business promotion. Just concentrate on your message to adorn your app with something specific & original. Try to add relevant content that can inform your customers & promote your brand via promotional blogs on popular social media channels.

Focus on your business goals- Enlist your business objectives prior to the business app development. Business owners lay down certain expectations from an app & they mend their futuristic steps if it successfully interacts with the users. You must clear your business intentions & make your mind to strengthen its potential to steer heavy traffic within a short span of time. You can determine the success of your app idea considering the factors like user-engagement, customer response, popularity of content, app searches & downloads, and more.

Device compatibility is a win-win- Business is more profitable when you don't take risk to lose out even a single customer from your reach. Your business app development will double your revenues if your app is accessible on cross-platforms. So, you need to launch your business app for all devices as there are millions of Android & iOS app users. Communicate your Android or iOS app developer if you aspire to get a cross-platform app to uplift your brand image.

Strategize for business app development- Research work will help you know your competitors & their strategies to generate leads. Small-scale & mid-sized businesses innovate apps to make their footprints in the industry & plan to dive in the ocean of success.

Every business faces several ups & downs while struggling to keep a pace ahead in the corporate globe. Therefore, you must go for business app development as it serves a commendable contribution to get established & maximize your revenues.

The Easiest Way Grow Your Online Business Opportunity With Article Marketing

Whether your website is selling a product or a service you need constant exposure to get new visitors to your site. The only way you'll move up the search engine ladder is to learn how to grow your online business opportunity with article marketing. It's really an easy way to find new customers and make more money on the internet!

Search engine optimization, also known as SEO, is essential for moving your site into the top ranked postings on every popular search engine. After all, what's the point of listing keywords and key-phrases associated with your business if you're not going to optimize them?

Your friends are right! Article banks are filled to the brim with back-linked articles that not only get more visitors to the originator's website or blog, but also serve to increase and optimize their site's all important search engine rankings. Aside from providing a greater chance for your business to turn into a viral online success story, marketing through social networks and article data banks just makes good sense.

Article marketing began to gain strength as more business owners began using self produced prose to help promote their business. News editors began frequenting article databases for story leads and the number of hits to the sites grew to enormous proportions.

Article marketing services will write and post informative prose for you all over the web! You won't have to become an internet or SEO-guru to figure everything out. Article marketing services can have the articles written for you and post them to all of the popular article banks.

In fact, simply by providing a keyword or key-phrase, these fee-based services can have a professional writer prepare your articles in as little as twenty-four hours for proofing. Then the article marketing service does the rest of the work.

In fact, there are many services available now that will write your articles and post them for you. All you need to do is supply a small fee and a keyword or key-phrase and Voila! In a day or two your articles are appearing all over the web and your search engine rankings increase accordingly.

You'll get all of the important backlinks needed to get your site noticed for just a few dollars. It's like getting big business level assistance for the price of a few Venti Lattes! What could be better than that?

Article writing and submission services range from $15 per unposted article to as much as $3,500 or more per posted article or prepared press release. There is a service to fit every budget and meet every unique marketing objective.

Whether your enterprise is large or small, you can grow your online business opportunity with article marketing. If you know how to write using keywords and key-phrases properly, the process can cost you nothing more than a little time. But if you would prefer to concentrate on your core business, there are many cost-effective article marketing service approaches that are available.

The Shame of the Nation: A Summary, and Analysis

Jonathan Kosol's interest for teaching profession and activism was triggered after the killing of three young civil rights activists in Mississippi in June of 1964 while he was working as a grade four public school intern intern in Boston, Massachusetts. His experience as a teacher in one of Boston's urban segregated schools has made him an insight to the sight of children of minorities, which motivated him to address the issue of segregation, and inequalities that exist in public schools that has continued to plague the nation till the present day.

School Segregation
According to him, he visited approximately 60 schools in 30 districts in 11 different states. Most of his visits were in the South Bronx of New York City, Los Angeles - California, Chicago, Detroit - Michigan, Ohio, Seattle - Washington, Boston - Massachusetts and Milwaukee. In the schools he visited, he observes that the conditions have grown worse for inner-city children in the 15 years since federal courts began dismanting the landmark ruling in Brown v. Board of Education. He notes that the number of white students in urban public schools have increasingly declined with the shifting pattern of white middle class families from urban to suburban communities since the 1960's (white flight). He talks of the irony of school population in relation to the leaders of integration, which the schools bear their names, like Thurgood Marshal Elementary School in Seattle Washington with 95% minority students. According to him, the overwhelming majority of students in urban public schools in the United States are students of color. In Detroit for example, 95% of students in public school are either black or Hispanic. In Chicago, the figure is 87%, Washington is 94% while New York is 75%. He pointed out the cynicism in the "small school initiative" like the Center School in Seattle that was perceived as a "tie-breaker" of school segregation that "attracted 83% white and 6% black enrollment when it opened in 2001, in a city where whites are only 40% of high school students district-wide ". (p. 277). In comparing the Center School with African / American Academy in another section of the city where black students make up 93% and whites make up 3% of the enrolment, the location of the center school and its curriculum offers many opportunities to students. "The Center school which is sited in a cultural complex known as the Seattle Center, offers an impressive academic program to prepare its graduations for college while also provides a wide array of opportunities for students to participate in science projects, theatrical productions, music, ballet , and other cultural activities ", (p.278) while such opportunities are lacking in the African-American Academy. "The school in a sense represents a local version of 'your own Liberia' ... the African American Academy is using a highly direct method of instruction that, in some respects similar to the approach used in Success for All" (p. 279) . He argues that after decades of persistent struggle against school segregation by educators and civil right activists, social and economic policies have continued to aid the growing trend of school segregation.

Inequities
Kozol laments the lack of basic resources and amenities in the urban public schools - restrooms, clean classroom, hallways; appropriate laboratory supplies, up-to-date books in good condition and classroom supplies and material. According to him, this lack of resources moves some teachers to spend between $ 500 - $ 1000 of their own money every academic year to purchase the supplies and materials in the case of Winton Place elementary school in Ohio. He argues the overcrowding of students in a classroom. For instance in Chicago, it's not uncommon to see classrooms with as many as 54 students coupled with the fact that most of the teachers are unqualified.

Kozol also points out the issue of lack of pre-school opportunities for a large number of students because the federally funded head start programs were denied them. He also shows the disparity for money spent on a student, and its effect on state testing. In the case of New York State, the average spending on a student in the city is $ 8,000 while that of the suburb is $ 18,000. Also in New York, the inequities in expenditure between 2002 and 2003 are: NYC $ 11,627, Nassau County $ 22,311, Great Neck $ 19,705. The salitudes of teachers in poor and wealthy school districts follow the same pattern. While the average salary of school teachers in poor communities is $ 43,00, the salary of teachers in the suburb like Rye, Manhurst and Scarsdale in New York ranges from $ 74,00 to $ 81,000. Even the issue of fundraising is a factor in the disparities among schools in poor and wealthy communities. Whereas schools in wealthy neighborhoods could raise up to $ 200,000, schools in poor districts could only raise $ 4,000.

Adaptive Strategy Curriculum
Kozol questions the ratione behind the scripted programs that have been adapted into the minority school system. "Authentic Writing", "Active Listening", "Rubric for Filing", "Accountable Talk", "Zero Noise" etc., according to teachers account, they are meant to follow the scripted lesson to bring formality and structure to the learning environment which raises the anxiety levels of both students and teachers. The high standard language and higher expectations with little support, has taken over the moral and ethical values ​​that use to be the integral part of the curriculum. "used by most schools has become part of the daily rituals and practices that are fashioned to boost students moral. Students from the under-performing schools are encouraged to memorize phrases like" I am smart "," I am confident "to raise their self -confidence and academic performance. This according to him has formed the framework used to identifying the causes of the under-achievement of students of color. encouraged to use "strict Skinnerian controls" to manage and teach students in their classrooms, and which job it is to pump some "added-value" into undervalued children. (p. 285)

In close semblance to the above is the business-like outlook "work related themes" that is being created in these schools, "market driven classes", "sign contract", "take ownership of their learning", "pencil manager", " classroom manager "," building managers "," learning managers "etc. This kind of corporate outlook portrays students as "assets," "investments," 'productive units,' or 'team player' according to Kozol.The knowledge and skills, which the students acquire, are seen as "commodities" and "products" to be consumed in the "educational market place." Kozol argues that educational administration should in no way be equated with factory production line, and advices that "teachers and principals should not permit the beautiful profession they have chosen to be redefined by those who know far less than them about the hearts of children. "(p. 299)

High stick testing
The issue of teaching for testing has replaced the essence of teaching for learning in public schools. According to Kozol, "In some schools, standardized testing begins in the kindergarden. Courses that are not included in the high stake testing are often not taught any more or they are completely removed from their school curriculum, like arts and music. , naptime and / or recess has been reduced or taken out completely to allow more time for the preparation of state standardized test. Even teachers meetings are geared towards the discussion of effective strategies to prepare students for quarterly assessment tests or reviewing state and district standards. Teachers are encouraged to attend workshops and conferences in regards to the testing to acquire more knowledge on how to integrate their teachings to the state testing standards.

In the bid of all the educational superiority imposed on the students, they are also tracked and labeled. Labeling the children from level one (lowest) to level five (highest) places them into categories supposedly for further instructions. Instead of being given adequate attention regarding their labels, it is used as a description of their academic stance. "She's gone down to level two," "She's a level one." The issue of academic tracking and labeling in these schools poses a huge obstacle in creating equity and democracy in a learning environment. According to Kozol, learning is taught as "a possession" not something one "engages" in. Students are encouraged to select "a career path" during their freshman year, so as to tailor their course work. Neverheless, there is little encouragement on the career path of college education. For example, the case of Mireya who attends Fremont High in Los Angeles, while she aspires for a college education, she is rather placed into voluntary classes - sewing and hairdressing. She tells Kozol "I hoped for something else." "Why is it that students who do not need what we need get so much more? And we who need it so much more get so much less?" She questioned.

In view of all these structured teaching strategies imposed on the urban public schools by the administrative body, both teachers and students exhibit robotic behaviors in order to achieve the set goals of the planners. Teachers who tend to veer out on these stipulations face disciplinary actions and could possibly lose their jobs. Students who do not adhere to the rules and follow the prescribed pattern face the risk of not passing their tests. Overall, there is loss of creativity and ingenuity in the classroom. Kozol points out that it would rather take a reflection than a miracle to set the schools on the right track again. He argues that desperate schools can not be turned around by the arrival of a charismatic, tough talking principal. "There are hundreds of principals in our urban schools who are authentic heroes ... but there is a difference between recognizing the achievements of able school officials and marketing of individuals as saviors of persistently unequal system".

Ray of Hope
After questioning and critiquing the re-segregation of urban public schools in America, Kozol pointed out a few schools, teachers, principals, administrators and human rights activists he had met in the course of his study that gives hope to the feasibility of school integration. According to him, "Virtually all the truly human elements of teacher motivation have been locked out of the market misperceptions that control so much of education policy today. But when we go to the schools in which these market ideologies have been valiantly resisted, we are reminded of a set of satisfactions and devotions that are very different from the ones that dominate the present discourse about urban education. " (p. 297) ... "These are the schools I call" the treasured places. "They always remind us of the possible." (p. 300).

He acknowledges the definitions made in most school districts since after visits over three years. At PS 65, a new curriculum that focuses on the need of the children had been introduced. The hand-held timers and scripted lesson plans have been taken out, and actual writings of children are displayed in the walls. He also recalls the efforts of some school districts in Milwaukee and Louisville where school leaders have promoted desegregation across district lines.

Kozol sees every hope in teachers and administrators like Louis Bedrock (which he dedicates this book to), Miss Rosa the retired principal of PS 30, Fern Cruz the new principal of PS 65 and others for their dedication and persistence in fighting for the right course of education for the minority. He also acknowledges the contribution of black activists like Congressman Lewis who have voiced out publicly and written books that expose the persistence of segregation in America.

In his epilogue, he wrote "A segregated education in America is unacceptable". "Integration is, it still remains, the goal worth fighting for" (p. 316).

The Shame of the Nation: An Analysis

I find this book very revealing, intriguing, insightful, and at the same time one sided and opinionated, but in summary, it is very informative. This book is an outcome of a good ethnographic researcher who not only puts energy in his work but also has passion in the subjects of his work - the students. The empirical analysis of this book rests in the inequality that is salient in the American society. Race, class, culture, gender and economic status which have formed the measuring tape of individuals' worth in the American society have become the bedrock of the administrative bodies in the formulation of policies. Policies like education, housing, income and property taxes, transportation etc. have been so carefully formulated to include and exclude some members of the society. These policies of course favor the dominant group, which are whites and disfavor the targeted group which is mostly blacks and Hispanic.

It takes a critical mind to understand the game in the policies. Taking for instance the funding of community urban schools from property taxes from the community, one has to first, think of the nature of the properties in such a community, who owns them, what shape, and of what value they are. If the majorities of those properties are individually owned and are of good shape and value, the expectation is that they will yield good tax for the community. On the other hand, when the government owns such properties, little can be realized in property tax in such a community, and that in turn affects the sourcing of the school. This is the game of politics in perpetuating inequality as we have seen in this book.

Who would expect that the administration that tends to speak in favor of equal education has a hand in making it unequal? That the prophecies of "No Child Left Behind" and "Equal Opportunity for All" are only frivolities? Who would imagine that some teachers and education administrators could be so robotic that they question their ingenuity and creativity in the face of manipulation, except for a revealing book like this? In addition, how can anyone comprehend the damage that has been done by these administrative inconsistencies over the years?

There is an insight into the social, economic, and cultural capital powers of the society in this book. Parents who are more informed, educated, with good jobs and better means have more say in the education of their children than those with little or no education and means. They surf for good schools for their children, organize themselves as the parent bodies of the school, and intervene in matters that are not favorable to their children, for instance, they raise money to employ more teachers and advocate for less number of children in a class. They come up with one voice to exclude others from integrating into their children's schools and sometimes take out their children from a school that are getting more minority enrolment as the case may be. They are less dependent and more challenging to the school administration and government than the parents with fewer capitals. The parents of the minority who have fewer capitals, complain and rarely mostly on the school administration and government to make the necessary adjustments in their children's schools. The system fosters posterity of family status.

In this atmosphere of stratification, while the dominant group acts up to maintain its status, and the targeted, subordinate poor group agitates its position, the children suffer the struggle. A wider gap is created between the rich and the poor. While the children of the dominant group perceive themselves as fortunately, they are less 'educated' than the poor children who see it all. They face lesser chances of integrating and facing realities of multiracial society and as such are less likely to accommodate differences in future. On the other hand, the minority poor children get more skeptical and cynical when matters of equity arise. In the case of the little Bronx boy who wrote Kozol, "You have all the things and we do not have all the things," and the high school student from California who told his classmate "You're a ghetto, so you sew. " The disparities in their educational experiences raise innumerable questions in their heads, which only the government can comprehend in that while their parents may be 'guilty' of not possessing the where-withal, the students are innocent. Kozol's study goes to predict that going by the present pace in educational strategy in America, inequality will persist; integration will be minimized, and desegregation will not only be a nightmare in schools but would be nipped in the bud in the society in future if they are not addressed now. He goes to say, "This nation needs to be a family, and a family sets down for its dinner at a table, and we all deserve a place together at that table."

Having enumerated the classical work of Kozol in diagnosing the blatant, ugly passion inequities in our public urban schools that plagues America today, I need to point out the one-sided, opinionated view of the issue. In a situation like this, no one person can be all right and the other all wrong, there needs to be a balance of 'a little to right and a little to the left'. In the entire book, Kozol addresses the structural approach to educational inequality that sees the school and government administration as the factor that has perpetuated the problem, little suspicion if any, of the cultural approach to the discourse with parents and students contribution. Although there were a few reasons of all white public schools, there was little emphasis on their interactions, though one might argue that they have all the necessary amenities available for them in comparison to the minor schools that have little amenities.

I call this one sided and opinionated in the sense that the subjects of the matter visa vie poor minority parents and their children, are not addressed as potential input to the problem and as such potential contribution factors to the solution. If in a capitalist society like America where opportunity is laid down for everyone for grabs, the 'majority' of the minority group keeps complaining of marginalization of resources, there is a problem somewhere permanently imposed limits. The problem could be in derivation of comfort in dependence or reliability on false sense of security. The core word is value. As regards to the parents, many of them depend on the system and can not walk their ways out to independence and instill that value of independence in their children. A culture of poverty has evolved among this minority group and they seem very comfortable in such a zone. So who makes the extra money for their children's comfort?

The children as well due to lack of role models from their parents, do not deem it fit to strive and conquer the inevitable, they embrace violence and they keep on finger pointing like their parents instead of realizing that education not agitation is their only access to high status in the society. I believe that a focus on re-orienting the children of the minority group in exploring educational opportunities no matter the limitations that they face would help in getting them back on the right track. On the other hand, if they should be contented, respectful, curtail violence, and love themselves, that would attract more empathy to them from whatever administration that is in place and they can be in their own schools without any white and feel good just the same. Understandably, the structural approach often times shape the cultural, which is unstable based on economic resources that yields self-support and autonomy.

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.

The 7 Natural Laws of the Universe

The Law of Perpetual Transmutation-

* Energy moves into physical form.

* The images you hold in your mind most often materialize in results in your life.

The Law of Relativity-

* Nothing is good or bad, big or small... until you RELATE it to something.

* Practice realting your situation to something much worse and yours will always look good.

The Law of Vibration and Attraction-

* Everything vibrates, nothing rests.

* Conscious awareness of vibration is called feeling. Your thoughts control your paradigms and your vibration (which dictates what you attract).

* When you are not feeling good, become aware of what you are thinking, then think of something pleasant.

The Law of Polarity-

* Everything has an opposite: Hot - Cold ... Up - Down ... Good - Bad.

* Constantly look for the good in people and situations. When you find it, tell the person. People love compliments and the positive idea in your mind makes you feel good. Remember, good idea - good vibrations.

The Law of Rhythm-

* The tide goes out ... night follows day ... good times - bad times.

* When you are on a down swing, do not feel bad. Know the swing will change and things will get better. There are good times coming - think of them.

The Law of Cause and Effect-

* Whatever you send into the Universe comes back. Action -- re-action are equal and opposite.

* Say good things to everyone; treat everyone with total respect and it will all come back. Never worry about what you are going to get, just concentrate on what you can give.

The Law of Gender-

* Every seed has a gestation or incubation period. Ideas are spiritual seeds and will move into form or physical results.

* Your goals will manifest when the time is right. KNOW they will.

So ... why am I bringing these up?

Because YOU can utilize these Laws of Our Universe to bring UNTOLD wealth into your life; wealth in health, wealth in relationships (spiritual, family, personal, business), and financial wealth.

Wallace D. Wattles (the author of the book written in 1910 entitled The Science of Getting Rich) states "Getting rich is the result of doing things in a certain way." That is the largest truth I can share with any of my family and friends (this includes You, who are reading this). That statement, and these Laws have already done so much for me with their use value. I've experienced an enlightening, in the sense that I no longer dread debt. I no longer have astranged relationships with my family and friends that at one time I had. I no longer see life as being a "half empty glass" now it's "abundantly full".

I first learned about The Secret through my sister, back in February of this year, and caught a special on Oprah about it on my birthday that month. The show was very uplifting and had me researching the Teachers in the program, and beginning to read their books. After a few months I decided that this was undoubtedly for me. At the time of my learning and research my son and I had a rather strained relationship and we had not been close for over a year and a half; and through the power of Positive Thinking, and applying the Law of Vibration and Attraction to my life, we were able to rediscover and strengthen our relationship. We've now embarked on this journey together.

We are now on Myspace, Facebook and several other social networking sites, meeting like minded people who are either currently applying the Laws of the Universe to their lives, or are interested in learning how I (and my son) are utilizing these Laws in our daily lives. This site has already paid for its worth in gold with the genuine interest and relationships we are building here. We are Attracting people, and letting them Attract us. We are not spammers, we don't want to impose anywhere where we've not been asked. But imagine applying these Laws to your life, and how abundant things can be when approaching the same situations with such a different mindset. This is a truly mind encompassing, re-wiring of sorts, to put all your negative thoughts, emotions and energy to rest, and instead allowing you to control the positive thoughts, emotions and energy out into the world to start Attracting everything your heart desires.

By now most people have heard about The Secret and The Law of Attraction, but very few people KNOW them, and even fewer that are applying them. But I can honestly put out there, that this way of thinking and acting is the way to living the full, happy, abundant, wealthy life we all have undoubtedly dreamed of at some point or another. So ... don't you think it's about time You begin to realize everything You visualize?

Well ... what do I mean by that statement?

I mean that everything that You put out into this Universe, through the power of your thoughts and dreams and actions, can and will come to fruition, if given the time. I am most certainly NOT saying "you'll get rich if you wait for it". But what I am saying is, starting today, RIGHT NOW, start changing your outlook. Visualize sitting on the beach, or in the rain forest, and don't think "oh I don't have the time to take off" or "that takes too much money" instead, visualize and realize that sand can be in between your toes, that ocean can be lapping at your feet, with your eyes closed, and the sound of the waves crashing. Doesn't that just wet your lips? I know it does mine (I personally LOVE the ocean and the beach).

All it takes is the knowledge, and though I can give you a gateway to that knowledge, You have to want it, you have to walk through that doorway, BUT I am here to provide you with that first step. These are my "promises for a sweet life" promising myself that day to day I will reaffirm everything I already know, and continue utilizing these tools, and spreading the word of their use to people of all ages who are willing to listen. I want to offer You a FREE Gift that opened My eyes and has started me on this journey of personal growth and development ... because that's exactly what this is.

To begin learning the Natural Laws of the Universe, including the Law of Vibration and Attraction, click here with this Free Gift of 7 lessons emailed to you, in a non-spam format. Each one of these lessons is HAND crafted to teach you step by step how to go about this mindshift so to speak.

To Your Vast Success,













Marcy