Recognizing Navigational Tools For the Future of Education

I have to laugh when I think of the times I watched the television program, "Flash Gordon," as he putted through outer space in his make-believe space ship, talking on his make-believe wireless radio, and dressed in his make-believe space suit. Well, I'm not laughing anymore. Today we have shuttled astronauts into outer space, have men living in a Space Station, have space suites that take your temperature and gauge your heart rate, and wireless communication devices that send pictures to Planet Earth. Far fetched from reality? Not anymore. As we speak, the future is starring us in the face, waiting to see how we will promote her in the next 5-10 years.

How did science-fiction become reality over the past 50 years? Let's consider one aspect of innovation: the learning environment - post secondary education. Why post secondary education, you may ask? As post secondary education population increases, programs to accommodate students will develop into curriculum that affords students the freedom to create and design systems they toy with on a daily basis. Are there risks involved in this adaptation process? There are risks involved when change occurs, and leadership should be aware of how to diplomatically confront the risk areas that could slow down progress. Some of the risks that could be encountered due to change are:

o Systems risks

o Subsystem risks

o People

o Financial/economic risks

o Societal/Cultural risks

If communication between systems, subsystems, people, and cultures within the organizational environment has established a strong communication system, risks factors will be at a minimum as long as the creative teams are honest and upfront about their reservations to change.

Let's look into the future through 'futureoculers' and see how the universe of learning can be brought into the present. I want to introduce to you five (5) key trends that I believe affect the current learning environment, can create change, and renovate the perspective of learners and educators for students of the future. These trends could be the key in creating a new perspective in post secondary education for an institution. The key trends are:

o Competitive classroom learning environments - campus on-site/online/distant

o Increase in technological tools

o Teaching/learning environments-more hands on

o Global expansion capability-internal and external

o Student input in the creative learning process

Navigational Systems

Before the five (5) key trends are defined, there needs to be an acknowledgement of how the trends will be supported and regulated through a changing environment. According to de Kluyver, and Pearce, II, having the right systems and processes/subsystems enhances organizational effectiveness and facilitates coping with change. Misaligned systems and processes can be a powerful drag on an organization's ability to adapt. Therefore, check what effect, if any, current systems and processes are likely to have on a company's ability to implement a particular strategy is well advised. Support systems such as a company's planning, budgeting, accounting, information and reward and incentive systems can be critical to successful strategy implementation. Although they do not by themselves define a sustainable competitive advantage, superior support systems help a company adapt more quickly and effectively to changing requirements. A well-designed planning system ensures that planning is an orderly process, gets the right amount of attention by the right executives, and has a balanced external and internal focus. Budgeting and accounting systems are valuable in providing accurate historical data, setting benchmarks and targets, and defining measures of performance. A state-of-the-art information system supports all other corporate systems, and it facilitates analysis as well as internal and external communications. Finally, a properly designed reward and incentive system is key to creating energy through motivation and commitment. A process (or subsystem) is a systematic way of doing things. Processes can be formal or informal; they define organization roles and relationships, and they can facilitate or obstruct change. Some processes or subsystems look beyond immediate issues of implementation to an explicit focus on developing a stronger capacity for adapting to change. Processes/subsystems aimed at creating a learning organization and at fostering continuous improvement are good examples. As an example, processes or subsystems are functional and maintain the operation of the system; the system may be Student Services and the subsystem may be the Financial Aid office or Admissions. Subsystems can be more in depth in relation to office operations, which involves employee positions and their culture; financial advisors, academic advisors, guidance counselors. These operations are functions performed on the human level and could have a positive or negative impact in the development of key trends. If employees are valued and rewarded for their dedication and service, the outcome will be responsible, committed employees for the success of their subsystem.

The Navigator

Every navigator needs a map, a plan, a driver to give direction to for a successful trip. In this case, the driver is several elements:

o Service integrity, reputation

o Affordability with an open door concept

Hughes and Beatty relate drivers as Strategic drivers; those relatively few determinants of sustainable competitive advantage for a particular organization in a particular industry or competitive environment (also called factors of competitive success, key success factors, key value propositions). The reason for identifying a relatively small number of strategic drivers for an organization is primarily to ensure that people become focused about what pattern of inherently limited investments will give the greatest strategic leverage and competitive advantage. Drivers can change over time, or the relative emphasis on those drivers can change, as an organization satisfies its key driver. In the case of post secondary education, drivers help measure success rates in the area of course completion ratio, student retention, and transfer acceptance into a university and/or the successful employment of students. Because change is so rampant in education, it is wise for leadership to anticipate change and develop a spirit of foresight to keep up with global trends.

Drivers can help identify the integrity of internal and external functions of systems and subsystems, as mentioned previously, by identifying entity types that feed the drivers' success. They are:

o Clientele Industry - external Market - feeder high schools, cultural and socio-economic demographic and geographic populations

- Competitors - local and online educational systems

- Nature of Industry - promote a learning community

- Governmental influences - licensed curriculum programs supported by local, state, and federal funds

- Economic and social influences - job market, employers, outreach programs

o College Planning and Environment - internal

- Capacity - Open door environment

- Products and services - high demand curriculum programs that meet, local, state, and federal high demand employment needs

- Market position - Promote on and off-campus activities that attract clientele

- Customers - traditional and non-traditional credit and non-credit students

- Systems, processes, and structures - trained staff and state-of-the art technical systems

- Leadership - integrity-driven, compassionate leadership teams

- Organizational culture - promote on-campus activities promoting a proactive environment for students

According to Hughes and Beatty, these functions can assimilate into the Vision, Mission, and Values statements to define the key strategic drivers for developing successful environments.

Navigating Towards a Destination

With the recognition of systems, subsystems, and drivers, we can see our destination in the distance and their value in building a foundation to support the five key trends. The five (5) key trends will help define strategic thinking in a global perspective; the understanding of futuristic thinking that encompasses: risk taking, imagination, creativity, communication among leadership, and a perspective of how the future can fit into today's agenda. The five (5) key trends are:

1. Competitive Classroom Learning Environments - campus on-site/online/distant

One of the major attractions in education today is to accommodate a student at every level: academically, financially, and socially. These three environments are the mainstream of why one school is selected over another school. Today there is a change in tide. Students who once competed for seats in post secondary schools are becoming a valued asset as post secondary schools compete between each other for students. High schools are no longer the only feeder into colleges. Today, students are coming from home schools, career schools, charter schools, high risk schools, private schools, religious schools, work environments, and ATB tested environments. So, how can the educational system attract students and keep them motivated in an interactive learning environment they can grow in? Wacker and Taylor writes that the story of every great enterprise begins with the delivery of a promise, and every product a great enterprise makes is nothing but an artifact of the truth of that promise. So what great enterprise can be created to attract new students? By creating learning/teaching environments, post secondary schools can prepare students to meet the demands of everyday life and their life in the community. Schools can consider incorporating a learning model to enable professors and/or community leaders/entrepreneurs to team teach in the classroom/online environment. Team Teaching will contribute valuable views into the learning environment, as well as, give students the working community's real-time perspective. In an excerpt from "The University at the Millennium: The Glion Declaration" (1998) quoted by Frank H.T. Rhodes, President Emeritus of Cornell University, for the Louisiana State Board of Regents report, Dr. Rhodes wrote that universities are learning communities, created and supported because of the need of students to learn, the benefit to scholars of intellectual community, and the importance to society of new knowledge, educated leaders, informed citizens, expert professional skills and training, and individual certification and accreditation. Those functions remain distinctive, essential contributions to society; they form the basis of an unwritten social compact, by which, in exchange for the effective and responsible provision of those services, the public supports the university, contributes to its finance, accepts its professional judgment and scholarly certification, and grants it a unique degree of institutional autonomy and scholarly freedom. To experience education is learning, to exercise knowledge is freedom, and to combine them is wisdom.

2. Teaching/learning environments-more hands on

As post secondary educators relinquish hands-on-chalk-board teaching styles and establish group teaching models, students will develop a greater understanding of the theme of the class environment as well as the professor in developing an understanding of the class cultures' stance in learning. Educators are discovering that inclusive learning styles are revamping the teaching model and becoming a positive influence in retention, better grades, camaraderie among students, and a greater respect for the professor. As professors learn to develop relationships with students, interaction will transpire, lecturing will be condensed into a time frame and interactive learning between students and professor will enhance the classroom environment.

3. Global expansion capability-internal and external

Students are surrounded by virtual global environments or are impacted by global elements: the clothes they wear are made overseas, the games they play on their electronic toys are created overseas, the war games they play are created to identify with global war games, etc. The only draw back to this scenario is a truly global learning experience. What they are seeing is not what they are getting; a real time global experience. James Morrison writes that in order to meet unprecedented demand for access, colleges and universities need to expand their use of IT tools via online learning, which will enable them to teach more students without building more classrooms. Moreover, in order for professors to prepare their pupils for success in the global economy, they need to ensure that students can access, analyze, process, and communicate information; use information technology tools; work with people from different cultural backgrounds; and engage in continuous, self-directed learning. Christopher Hayter writes that post secondary schools need to be 'Globally Focused' for the 21st century that includes a global marketplace and be internationally focused. This means ensuring that skills needed to compete in a global marketplace are taught and that the mastery of such skills by students is internationally benchmarked. It may also mean a new emphasis on learning languages and understanding other cultures and the business practices of other countries.

More and more businesses are expanding into the global marketplace, opening corporate offices in foreign countries and hiring and training employees from those countries. Are our college graduates being trained to assimilate into cultures and work side-by-side with employees who may not be able to relate to them? Developing curriculums accommodating social and cultural entities will propel a student into higher realms of learning and create change in the individual student as well as support their career for their future.

4. Student input in the creative learning process

Professors are the gatekeepers in education. However, as Baby Boomer Professors begin to exit the educational workforce and head down the path of retirement, younger generation professors will take their place bringing with them innovative teaching methods that can expand the learning process. Are post secondary educators equipped to prepare for the onslaught of younger generation educators needed to be trained for this mega shift in the workforce? Most important, will those professors caught between Boomers and Xer's be willing to adapt to change in the education industry to accommodate incoming generations? I believe younger generations will impact even the technological industry and challenge change that will equip them for their future. Previous generation students slowly adapted to technological advances. The good news is change can occur, and educators can utilize life experiences from students familiar with technology tools and create fascinating learning environments.

5. Increase in Technological tools

In an Executive Summary written for the National Governors Association in a report called "Innovation America - A Compact for Post Secondary Education," the report reads that while post secondary education in the United States has already achieved key successes in the innovation economy, the public post secondary education system overall risks falling behind its counterparts in many other nations around the world-places where there have been massive efforts to link post secondary education to the specific innovation needs of industries and regions. According to this report, American post secondary education is losing ground in the race to produce innovative and imaginative realms in education. Can this trend be counteracted? With the cooperation of post secondary educational institutions within each community, leadership can create co-op learning environments that can be supported through e-learning and online teaching that can provide virtual reality technology to enhance real-time learning environments. Through Business Development operations currently established in post secondary institutions, a shared technology program can be created that will afford students access to ongoing virtual business environment settings and prepare students with knowledge and insight into a specific industry. As students prepare to transfer, graduate, or seek employment after completing a certification program, virtual experience in the job market can help a student assimilate education and work experience to their advantage. This concept could challenge Human Resource departments to create new mandates in accepting virtual-experienced college graduates as they enter the workforce.

Reaching the Destination

As Flash Gordan lands his Spacecraft on unclaimed territory, you imagine yourself slowly turning the handle to the spaceship with your spaceship gloves, opening the door with explosive anticipation. Your heart racing, sweat running down your brow, and your eyes at half mask waiting to see a new world; a world filled with beauty and potential when suddenly, the television shuts off and your Mom is standing in front of you telling you to get up and go clean your room and stop daydreaming! Ah, Mom, you say to yourself, you just destroyed my imaginary planet! Oh, by the way, did I mention that this was you as a child growing up and using your imagination?

Now that I've created a visual world of potential for you can you see the power within to see the future from the present and help others visualize the potential benefits of change in their lives and the lives of others in an organization? T. Irene Sanders states that thinking in pictures helps us link our intuitive sense of events in the world with our intellectual understanding. Now, more than ever, we need to integrate the techniques of imagination and the skill of intuition with our analytic competencies to help us see and understand the complexities that vex us daily. Visualization is the key to insight and foresight-and the next revolution in strategic thinking and planning.

Can you SEE the systems, subsystems, drivers, and the five (5) trends with a visual perspective in a post secondary educational environment? This is the nature of Strategic Thinking, which can or is taking place in your organization; a cognitive process required for the collection, interpretation, generation, and evaluation of information and ideas that shape an organization's sustainable competitive advantage. The need to stay abreast of progress, technology, and global opportunities will be the change in drivers that will validate the creative elements needed to stay attuned in a global perspective. The author's intention of introducing Flash Gordan into the paper was to create a visual image and demonstrate imagination fulfillment to a present day reality. Is there anything out there that cannot be done if it is fine tuned and prepared for a service of excellence? What are the risks involved by not exercising strategic thinking in the elements mentioned in this article?

Education is not about the present it's about the future. The five (5) trends are only a beginning adventure into an unknown space. Do you remember when you were in college and wished things were done differently, be more exciting, more adventurous? Consider the age groups becoming proficient in technology. Will post secondary educators be prepared to teach/instruct future students? Educators must invite strategic thinking into the system and take the risks needed to build post secondary education back into the global futuristic race of achievement. In an article written by Arthur Hauptman entitled "Strategies for Improving Student Success in Post secondary Education" (07), he concluded his report listing four elements:

1. While there is a growing rhetorical commitment to student success, the reality is that policies often do not mirror the rhetoric. Whether intentional or not, policies in many states are at best benign and often antithetical to improving student success.

2. Policy focus in most states has been to lower tuitions or the provision of student financial aid. This ignores the importance of ensuring adequate supply of seats to accommodate all students as well as providing a proper set of incentives that encourage institutions to recruit, enroll, and graduate the students who are most at-risk.

3. Some progress has been made in developing contemporary practices that have great potential for providing the right incentives in place of redress this traditional imbalance. But much more needs to be done in this regard.

4. Efforts to create incentives for students to be better prepared and for institutions to enroll and graduate more at-risk students have the potential for greatly improving rates of retention and degree completion.

Can the five trends be a stepping stone in rebuilding or strengthening the weakest link in the system? The evidence of deficiency is public, and that's a good start. Educators have the choice to rebuild and prepare for the advancement of our future; our students. I encourage you to take the five (5) trends and see how they can accommodate your institute of higher learning.

Keys to Learn Options Trading

Options trading - maybe you have heard about this and your interest lead you to visit this page. If that is your reason, you are in the right site. From here you will know what does that term means through some keys that will help you to learn options trading.

Way back from the ancient times, people seek different ways to get what they need and want. They engage in different kinds of trade and find ways to exchange their products and services in order to gain things in return, in the form of money, other products or services and others alike. The same thing goes as time passes by.

The concept of trade development synchronizes with the use of modern technology. One component of trade known as the market is highly influenced by this change. The world is known today as borderless due to the advancement in communication, primarily in the use of computers to connect to the internet, helping people from around the world become able to connect with each other. This causes traders to gain a big market not just locally but internationally.

This situation calls for many people to engage in the trade business. They are developing different avenues in order for them to insure success. One way to this is to learn options trading.

Options trading is a unique way to trade. Unlike holding shares in a company, here, you are not holding physical stocks. In here, you are having an arrangement or contract with another trader that one party will send something to another in a particular period of time in a particular price. This trade will become effective based on the strategy and approach that a trader will use. In its years of occasion, options trading already proved that it is an effective form of trade based on its flexibility.

The presence of losses is always present in any form of venturing into trade. People may be limited by this fact and become afraid of trying new things. But an option trader can overcome this attitude by simply finding options trading strategies. This will serve as his weapon to his victory.

Sources where you can find effective trading strategy are freely available in the web. Reading materials such as newsletters are available in some trading sites. You can also seek help from those people who are also in to options trading by reading their blogs and joining a group and participating in some forums. You can also subscribe or join webinars about it if you want a formal discussion about your concerns regarding options trade with bonuses such as handouts, manuals and other reading materials where you can find additional information about the subject matter.

So what are you waiting for? If you want to save more for your future; if you want a worry-free and early retirement; if you want to gain financial security, stability and freedom; this is an avenue for you. Learn options trading and engage into it then you will see yourself enjoying its benefits. It is just a matter of trying a new thing for there will be no loss for you but you will gain from it. Come on now! Lift a finger and reach your success!

The Importance of Hiring a Custom Software Development Company

Advances in technology has made it easier for people to go about their day to day activities. Since computers, mobile phones and other gadgets have become a necessary part of peoples lives, it does not come as a surprise that the demand for applications for these devices has greatly increased. With the advent of smart phones, mobile applications have become an indispensable part of everyone's lives. This is why custom software development companies have become highly in demand in recent years. nowdays, just about anyone can come up with ideas for software or applications and make it a reality.

Creating a computer software program or a mobile phone application can easily make you a lot of money. However, the problem lies in actually designing the software. If you are wondering how you can create a software or application to sell, then it is important to know that it really does not have to be such a complicated process. If you hire a custom software development company to design your software for you, then you can earn a lot of money in the long run. While you may have to shell out a lot of money at the sunset, if you design a good enough application that can compete, then you can get the money you invested back in no time. It does not even end in getting the money you invested back, if you create a decent software, then you should have no trouble selling it to generate more profit.

The key to software development and application development is to come up with an idea for an application that is unique and useful. As a computer and mobile phone user yourself, you must know that it can be quite annoying to see the same applications time and time again under different names. While this certainly presents users with more options, it can also make the decision process a whole lot harder. With hundreds of thousands of software and applications out in the market right now, it can be rather difficult to come up with an idea that is completely original. This is why employing the services of a custom software development company that also specializes in custom application development is a good move. An experienced development team would be able to present a careful analysis of the market trends for these products. This would allow you to choose which categories are mostly in demand. If you are presented with a careful analysis of these facts then it should not be so difficult focusing your time and attention to a software that promises success.

Whether you want to sell these software or you want to use it for your own personal use or for you business, employing the services of a reliable and experienced custom software development company is important if you want the results to be desirable. A reputable company would present feasibility studies, especially if you have plans of marketing the software or application to the public. They should be able to present a comprehensive technical, economic and operational report of the app or software you plan to develop. Being aware of the strength and weaknesses of a product is necessary to ensure success. The feasibility report presented to you at the sunset will give you a general idea of ​​the predicted success rate of the application or software in question.

If you plan to develop an application for the iPhone, you should be able to find a custom software development company that will carefully guide you through the Apple App Stores approval process. You should also be able to market your software and applications easily with the help of a reliable development team. The development of software and applications does not only benefit those who want to develop these items for the purpose of making money. Businessmen who are always on the go can also benefit from this by having custom software and applications specifically designed for their needs.

A lot of businesses, companies and government institutions employ the services of a custom software development company to take care of their technical needs. Whether it is a theme for a website, a specific software to provide for particular needs or applications to cater to those who want to be able to keep track of their businesses and transactions even while they are away, a good development team should be able to provide all these without much difficulty.

If you are looking for a custom software development company; Whether for application and software development, Internet marketing or web development, a good option would be Dot Com Infoway. They have teams of highly trained IT professionals that focus on particular projects for efficiency and for higher success rates. You will be carefully guided by a development team from the development process to the marketing process. There is otherwise no other custom software development company that would ensure that all your projects succeeded both in development and marketing.

Work From Home - Make Money Online With eBay Store

By now you have probably heard plenty of success stories of people that have managed to utilize eBay to make money. The degree of success varies, but generally speaking there are certainly enough tales of financial gain out there to make anyone with even a tiny bit of entrepreneurial spirit perk up and wonder if they too could pad their income through eBay. The problem that most people run into, however, is that even those with a keen business sense and a natural talent for knowing how to find a make a sale do not typically know the tips and tricks that must be used on eBay to get a leg up on the competition.

While it certainly matters what you are trying to sell, there are other factors that will affect your trends of success. Understand that you are essentially using eBay as a store front and many of the traditional rules of making a sale apply. You have to be able to make yourself available to the customers, show that you can offer a better deal, and generally find a way to attract all of these different consumers to your product. Obviously, if you are not selling anything you will not be making any money; very soon you will most certainly need to begin mastering the different tactics that successful sellers use to attract customers to their listings, but before that you must become acquainted with the most basics of eBay.

What you want to do with eBay will determine how you need to approach the entire of your situation. If you intend to mainly use the service to attempt to try and sell a few items that you just have lying around the house then you might be well served simply by creating a few listings with catchy titles and allowing the bidding to resignation. However, if you are going to be using the service often or to sell several items, you may consider some of the other options that eBay offers. For example, one popular option that is offered is the ability to create an eBay "store".

If you tend to offer items along a particular theme, antiques, for example, then a store can provide users a quick, easy way to peruse your wares and to frequent your offerings on a fairly regular basis. This provides you with the opportunity to have a base of interested customers that are constantly updated on your new items and what you have to bring to the table. Additionally, as with most other eBay items, you do not actually have to offer the listing as an auction; it is completely within the realm of possibility to price the item yourself at the amount you would like to charge using the "Buy It Now" option. You can even offer your customers the option to haggle a bit by allowing them to make an offer; you obviously have the option to refuse this offer, but you might find yourself able to make a sell if you are willing to compromise a bit.

This, essentially, is what you need to know if you are new to eBay- that the basic styles of selling an item are a traditional auction style, where the item goes to the highest seller at the end of a set amount of time, and a very store-like option where you set the price and wait for an interested party to come along and make the purchase. Knowing these things is a good start towards making money on eBay, but these are just the fundamentals.

How you present your item could very well be the key factor in whether or not you are able to profit from your eBay venture. As you know, if a customer is unable to find your item they will, obviously, be unable to purchase it. eBay differs from a traditional store front in a variety of ways, but one of the most significant ways is that customers have to find your item by a text search, usually. This means that there are any number of problems that can occur and make someone who is otherwise interested in buying your item unable to find it.

For example, let's say that you make a spelling error when you list your item. This is going to make it significantly more difficult, sometimes even impossible, for someone who is looking for exactly what you have to offer to be able to find it. Basically, this means that you will have valuable equity locked up in an online limbo because no one is able to find your item to purchase it in the first place. You absolutely have to make sure that you do not make any errors such as this listing your product.

There are other aspects of the title, however, that are immensely important. It is not just enough for a buyer to be able to find your item; you need to try and make sure that they see what you are selling before they see the competition's merchandise. This means that you must be selective with the words that you use in your title, and even quite picky in the order of the words themselves. If at all possible, use Terapeak to try and discover what keywords customers search with to find products related to yours. These are the words that you need to use. Remember that you only have 55 characters so you have to use the most relevant keywords in the shortest space; these keywords are what will help you to be towards the highest results. If you need to communicate something else to a potential buyer you can use the subtitle feature; be aware, however, that eBay does not use this section to check for keywords, so keyword spam in this area is fruitless.

Additionally, you should be aware of the amount of time that an item is on sale for. If you have the item listed as a "Buy It Now" item this is not necessarily as relevant; if there is not very much competition on eBay from similar items it may be that you simply need to wait for the right customer; alternatively, lowering your price might be a good idea. However, the aspect in which you really need to be aware of time is the auction. Many sellers choose to put their item up for sale for the entire duration of seven days. This might seem to make the most sense- after all, the longer an item is for sale, the more opportunities people have to bid. This train of thought while being sound, is untrue.

If you pay very much attention to the various auctions on eBay you will notice that a sort of a bidding frenzy begins to ensue as the item approaches the end of the auction period. Once an item has less than a day remaining it becomes more immediate, and therefore more interesting, to a customer. In the last few hours customers are bidding constantly. One reason for this is the way in which eBay displays search results. An item with less time remaining will appear higher in the search results than an item with similar keywords but more time left. This means that you have the option to use good keywords and put your item on auction for a shorter amount of time to move your merchandise up the list of search results; additionally, you will still be able to attract the feeding frenzy type of bidding that occurs as an item nears its end. You can make the same amount of money in less time by making sure that your item is markeded properly.

Marketing is at the very soul of using eBay to make money. The odds are fairly strong that you will not be in a niche market and that you will have to struggle against competition to be able to really get a foot in the ground. If you are just starting out you can be at a distinct disadvantage against sellers that have been using eBay longer. For example, feedback is an important tool that many use when evaluating whether or not to make a purchase. Without good feedback you are fighting an uphill battle. There are, however, some tricks that can help you to overcome these obstacles and make a move on the competition.

Essentially, you must build your reputation as a quality seller from scratch. While it might be tempting to copy what it is that your competitors are doing, approach this from a customer's point of view. Why would a consumer purchase the exact same item from an unknown seller when they could get the guarantee offered by high positive feedback for the same price? It is not enough to simply do the same thing that your competitors are doing; you have to go above and beyond. To make any progress, you must outperform them.

One of the things that you must consider in the beginning is to offer your product at a lower price than other sellers. It does not have to be significantly lower, maybe as little as five or ten percent. However, a lower price can be the perfect way to sway buyers who might have otherwise made their purchase from your competition. This is not the only way to attract positive attention, however.

Depending on what it is that you are selling you might be be able to include a bonus item, something that is not very expensive if you have had the receipt to purchase it at a very low cost. For example, let's say that you are selling a smart phone- well, typically a new phone comes equipped with a charger and the necessary cables, but not a mobile charger. If you so desired, you could invest in a few of these and distribute them as a bonus with the order- you can often get a regular charger for which the owner supplies their own cable for only a dollar or two; it is a small gesture, but one that may influence a buyer to give you their business instead of your more popular competitor.

You can do other things, such as offering free gifts, that can help to build customer loyalty. For example, something as simple as including a small piece of candy with the package can be seen as a good will gesture; people will remember that you went the extra mile to make their experience just a little more pleasant, and if a mistake ever happens they might be more likely to give you a bit more leniency.

Shipping is also of the utmost priority. A common tactic that many eBay sellers attempt to use is to make a profit by charging more for shipping than it actually costs; this is not an encouraged idea. The point is to build up a great reputation among the eBay community to ensure your possible customers that you are trustworthy and will deliver their item, as promised. Padding extra costs into the purchase price very often results in very negative feedback.

You do not have to offer free shipping, but you do need to do everything within your power to make sure the buyer receives their item as soon as possible. Try to ship the item the same day that the offer closes, and be sure to supply the buyer with a tracking number so that they can keep track of their package. If something goes wrong in shipping this allows them to know the mistake was not yours; while they will not be pleased at the delay, most people are basically reasonable and will not hold this against you when leaving feedback.

Along the same idea of ​​customer service comes the feature of eBay to allow a potential buyer to ask a seller a question. If you happen to get a question from a consumer be aware that this person is, most likely, very interested in your merchandise. It is in your best interest to answer this question as quickly, and as honestly, as possible. You must do all of the little things that your competitors do not to build up positive feedback and to get the critical traffic you need as you are just getting started. The way to make money with eBay is to market yourself, market your product, and ensure people that you are a quality seller that makes sure they receive their item quickly and in the promised condition. Once you have established these things customers will be drawn to you; this is where you can begin to make money.

Top 10 Car Drawing Books For Beginner Artists

1. How to Draw Cars Like a Pro, 2nd Edition

In this long-awaited follow-up to the best-selling first edition of How to Draw Cars Like a Pro, renamed car designer Thom Taylor goes back to the drawing board to update his classic with all-new illustrations and to expand on such topics as the use of computers in design today. Taylor begins with advice on selecting the proper tools and equipment, then moves on to perspective and proportion, sketching and cartooning, various media, and light, shadow, reflection, color, and even interiors. Written to help enthusiasts at all artistic levels, his book also features more than 200 examples from many of today's top artists in the automated field. Updated to include computerized illustration techniques.

Author: Thom Taylor

2. How To Draw Cars Fast and Easy

How To Draw Cars Fast and Easy is a 134 page car drawing guide in downloadable e-book format, jam-packed from cover to cover with all the tips and techniques previously known by only a small hand of professional designers. This program contains all the information you'll ever need to draw perfect looking cars quickly and easily that will amaze your friends.

Author: Tim Rugendyke

3. How To Design Cars Like a Pro

This book describes how car design and technology work through the eyes of the most talented and powerful car designers in the world. The interviews give a deep understanding of why we see what we see on the highways of the world. Author Tony Lewin has been a highly regarded magazine editor on the world stage for so long that some of the top young guns revealing all in this book were hanging on his words just a few years ago.

Author: Tony Lewin

4. How to Draw & Paint Cars

This book is not about learning how to draw and paint fashionable cars, super cars, tarted up street or 'cool' cars as referred to by some motoring journalists, it is about drawing and painting all types of cars. The author has endeavored to distill experience from many years creating images on this subject into a book that will help and encourage those keen to draw and paint cars, both for pleasure or as a career. The author takes you through the history of the car from it's conception in 1885 to current models with sketches and paintings created in a variety of mediums, with examples and step by step guides. Readers are encouraged to develop their skills, whether raw beginners or accomplished artists. The road to success will not be easy, but, through this book you will learn all the techniques short cuts accumulated over decades by an accomplished commercial artist. Whether for business or pleasure this book is THE handbook for automotive art. With 185 illustrations and step by step guides this is a must have for any budding auto artist.

Author: Tony Gardiner

5. How to Draw Cars the Hot Wheels Way

This book provides excellent how-to-draw detail that is appealing and easy to follow for Hot Wheels (tm) and drawing enthusiasts from ages 10 to adult. Detailed drawing techniques with descriptive captions allow readers to create their own automated designs. Illustrations emphasize how to draw fantasy, custom, concept, and hot rod cars. Author Scott Robertson uses original Mattel art throughout the book. With real Mattel artwork featured in detail, the bo0ok has great appeal for collectors, even if they are not aspiring artists. Because Hot Wheels (tm) diecast cars are modeled after both real and fantasy vehicles, the techniques and interest to readers is the same as for real-life car enthusiasts. Officially licensed by Mattel.

Author: Scott Robertson

6. H-Point: The Fundamentals of Car Design & Packaging

The ultimate reference guide for car designers and automotive engineers! H-Point was written by the pioneer of the Vehicle Architecture course at Art Center College of Design, Stuart Macey along with the Director of Advanced Mobility Research, Geoff Wardle. Currently used as the educational handout for the transportation design students at Art Center, it will now be available to aspiring car creators everywhere, clearly organizing the packaging standards that apply to car and truck design; along with insightful graphic explanations, this book demystifies the automotive design process and allows designers access to an illustrious careers worth of knowledge.

Author: Stuart Macey

7. How to Design Cars Like a Pro

This comprehensive new edition of How to Design Cars Like a Pro provides an in-depth look at modern automotive design. Interviews with leading automotive designers from Ford, BMW, GM Jaguar, Nissan and others, analyzes of past and present trends, studies of individual models and concepts, and much more combine to reveal the fascinating mix of art and science that goes into creating automobiles. This book is a must-have for professional designers, as well as for automotive enthusiasts.

Author: Tony Lewin

8. DRIVE: vehicle sketches and renderings

DRIVE features Scott Robertson's very latest vehicle designs intended for the video game space communicated through skillfully drawn sketches and renderings.

DRIVE builds upon the success of his prior two vehicle design books, Start Your Engines and Lift Off. Featuring four chapters, each representing a different aesthetic theme, Aerospace, Military, Pro Sports and Salvage, conceptual sports cars, big-rigs and off -road vehicle designs are beautifully represented through traditional and digital media sketches, and renderings.

Author: Scott Robertson

9. How to Illustrate and Design Concept Cars

Beginners will find an easy-to-follow introduction to the topic, while more experienced designers can find new inspirations by reading about the author's workflow process. A very interesting book for everyone who loves drawing and rendering cars.

Author: Adrian dewey

10. Start Your Engines: Surface Vehicle Sketches & Renderings from the Drawthrough Collection (Air Vehicle Sketches)

Start Your Engines compiles works from Scott Robertson's vast archives of ground vehicle drawings and renderings, and features the following chapters: Cars, Bicycles, Snowcraft Mechanimals and selected work from the conceptual design of vehicles for the video games Field Commander and Spy Hunter 2. The Cars chapter reviews about half of this book and features original designs both futuristic and retrospective.

Author: Scott Robertson

Learn and Earn With Affiliate Marketing

Do not Be A Statistic; Learn And Earn Your Way To Success

Having invested four years or more of hard work in a degree, it is imperative that you maintain your skills and have work experience recorded on your resume. Use your marketing skills and earn money at the same time. Affiliate marketing will provide you with the opportunity to learn and earn.

I had been unemployed for a few months; every recruitment agency within a 20 mile radius had been bombarded with e-mails, phone calls and of course, had been provided with several copies of my CV. Never before have I been unemployed for such an extended period of time, and I have an extensive experience in my chosen field. The financial climate gives employers the upper-hand; This is an ideal opportunity for employers to choose the most experienced candidates, leaving those with less than perfect CV's at the back of the queue. I can only imagine what it must be like to be a student or graduate just out of university. I decided to trawl the internet for any home-based opportunities to earn some money, as my savings were being sapped, and my resources depleted. I spent a good week researching; affiliate marketing was the one opportunity that appeared to be legitimate. In the process, I had fallen foul to three scams; I did not lose a fortune, but any amount is too much when lost to a scam.

Affiliate marketing is the most lucrative online opportunity. It is not a get-rich-quick scheme, and you will not become a millionaire overnight; it requires hard work, dedication and motivation, but it is the ideal opportunity for those who might be unemployed, or anyone looking to top up their incoming, to tap into what is fast becoming, a booming industry.

Currently, there is no specific affiliate marketing degree or diploma, although this is likely to change with time. In simple terms, it is where a customer searches online for specific products and is directed by the affiliate to the required product via a link. The user clicks on the link and is driven direct to purchase the product or service on the seller (merchant) site. The seller pays the affiliate commission as a percentage of the total sales value and this can be anything from 15-75%. The affiliate must have the knowledge and know-how to find the right products for the right customers at the right time. Advertisers prefer to have their products marketed in this way because advertising costs only become effective when a sale takes place.

The golden rule of affiliate marketing is finding niche markets. A niche market is defined as a specific targeted product that satisfies the consumers requirements. It is highly specialized and requires much fine-tuning. Research is imperative; finding the right keywords will lead you to the right customers and products for that customer. It is possible to market a product in two ways; either by choosing a consumer and providing the product that consumer wants, or by providing a product and finding consumers to purchase that product. The affiliate finds the niche market, shows the product to sell, then chooses a marketing technique and then builds a campaign leading to action. It is possible to earn money online within any industry but the key is to provide the right product to the right person at the right time and for the right reason. Initially, you should promote a product, service or topic that you know something about, or at least, are interested in. You are more more likely to succeed if you are passionate about your subject; what graduate is not passionate about their subject?

You will benefit from joining an affiliate program initially; An affiliate marketing training program is the easiest and quickest way to lead you to success. There are hundreds of programs, and I have researched them all. Joining is usually free, and a reputable program should provide you with all the expert training, resources, research tools, market information, mentoring and support to ensure your success. The program should be able to turn marketers into sales machines, keep you ahead of the game and make you a force to contend with. Be aware of programs that expect you to pay considerable amounts to find out about what they offer. You would not pay a company to interview you; this information should be free. You will need to pay a membership fee for joining; this the norm, but in return your offer should include all the training and resources you need to start your business.

You will need products to promote, so will need to join an affiliate network. The beauty of affiliate marketing is that you do not need to invest in products to sell; you simply market and sell products already offered by merchants. Networks such as ClickBank, LinkShare and CJ.com are reputable networks. There are many networks to choose from; choose those offering a good rate of commission and confirmed payment method. These networks offer thousands of digital products but you will need to learn quickly how to master these networks and achieve the best possible sales potential.

You are far more likely to succeed in maximizing your potential through the use of your own website. Your website will provide you with an identity wherey you can market your products in your own style. You will also be able to target your products to specific markets and update your product offer when applicable. Your marketing efforts will be automated and therefore your earnings potential will be continuous. Websites can be built using free web development programs and do not need to cost the earth.

There are many marketing strategies you are able to use to promote your products; the affiliate program will train you to master these techniques. There are free marketing techniques and paid-for ones. Article marketing is a free marketing technique to get traffic to your email marketing campaign. By writing short articles and submitting them for distribution in the market you will achieve credibility. You will need to write unique, relevant quality content and also unique content. Every article contains a resource box and by-line, including the author's contact details. Writing good articles can achieve valuable backlinks to your site.

Other strategies include Pay-Per-Click, wherey you use advertising mediums such as Google AdWords to promote your offer. E-mail marketing will quickly build you opt-in mailing lists which are great for targeting specific products to customers at specified times, and you can utilize autoresponders to manage your e-mail campaigns. Search Engine Optimization is key to driving traffic to your website and achieving high page ranking with Google, Yahoo and MSN can bring huge amounts of traffic to your products.

Joining a program has other advantages; it will enable you to earn from the outset if you choose one offering promotion incentives; promote the program you have joined, and you are able to earn from day one. Take advantage of your skills and marketing capabilies; learn and earn to put that much-needed experience on your CV. I wish you the best of luck!

7 Top Tips to Car Salesman's Or Saleswoman's Success

Given that car sales account for 19% of total US sales in 2000 (source: US Small Business Administration), a lot of people are buying cars which mean that they are a lot of people selling cars. Additionally, new car sales have dropped from 63.4% in 1989 to 60% in 1999. Selling cars is not easy given that many still have a negative perception of car salesmen or women. Hopefully, these 7 tips may help you to sell more cars.

1. First and Foremost YOU need to think of yourself as a business. Car sales people work for an auto dealership, but most work on a salary and commission basis. When your compensation is commission based, this means you have more control of your destiny and should view yourself as a business instead of just a sales person.
2. Adopt a Planning Attitude. If you do not have a plan, then you are on some else's plan - usually the successful car saleswoman or salesman. As a practicing performance improvement consultant or coach for the last 10 years, I have observed that most people plan less for their own lives than they do for a simple visit to the grocery store.
3. Learn how to prospect. There exists a fundamental belief that the auto dealership is responsible for bringing traffic through the door because the dealership owners have all those "big bucks" for media advertising. Given that 80% of all new sales comes from referrals, would it not make more sense to prospect individually rather than simply on outside resources to control your destination? Those media efforts usually bring in suspicions, not prospects. Use your time wisely by focusing on prospects those who have a need, dollars and are a decision-maker. Do not rely only on the auto dealer to send out letters. Take the time to write some handwritten notes.
4. Improve your sales skills to make more money. Today's buyers are far more savvy than years ago. Learn how to cultivate and develop long term relationships. Consider a proven buying / selling sales process where marketing and selling skills are united to deliver to the desired results of another sold car. New car sales to used car sales are far more relationship based selling than years ago when car sales was a commodity sale.
5. Establish your sales goals using your great planning attitude. If you are a car salesman or car saleswoman and have 300 customers and the industry average sales cycle is 3 years, then every year you should be selling 100 cars. Focus your efforts of those who will be buying a car this year, but remember to continue to touch those who will potentially be buying another car in 2 or 3 years. HINT: Use the WAYSMARTcriteria for goal setting.
6. Identify the attitudes or beliefs that are obstacles to your success. Working with those in the auto industry, I have heard countless reasons why sales can not be made. However, when these reviews are reviewed, they are usually unfounded reasons based upon existing attitudes and beliefs. For example, "corporate has ruined the car industry by posting prices on the Internet. Everyone knows everything about the car." My response is "if price was a real objection, then everyone would be driving a Yugo or a Chevette. HINT: When you change how you look at things, the things you look at will change.
7. Make managing yourself priority number one. You must learn how to maximize your time especially in the area of ​​time management, ongoing professional development such as through business coaching training and personal life balance. The auto industry is truly a 24/7 business given that cars are with us each and every day of our lives. However, it is important not to lose sight of your personal life including family, friends, physical health, etc.

Yes, you can be an incredible car salesperson who can increase sales through these 7 simple car salesman tips. Just remember, sales regardless of industry is all about knowing your numbers and then multiplying your activity to secure those desired results.

Direct Sales Team Vs Distributor - Which is Better For an International Market?

If you're looking to expand your sales to new markets, then there's one big question you must ask: do I build a direct sales presence or use a distributor? Each method has its benefits and drawbacks, but we're going to make a strong case to use one method over the other in almost every instance.

What's the difference between direct sales and distributors?
A direct sales presence means that your company establishes, manages, and pays a sales team of one or more people in the target market.

An outside agent is any entity that will sell your product in exchange for a service fee. One example is a sales rep, who sells your product in exchange for a percentage of the sale. A distributor is similar to a rep, except they would buy product from your company and sell it directly to the end customer.

Is Direct Sales Better?
For most businesses expanding into new markets, especially international markets, hiring a distributor is a better decision-at least until there is enough return from the market to justify building a direct sales presence.

Sure, there is one major advantage to having a direct sales presence-control. Control over the day to day activities of your sales personnel is appealing to most business owners. But this control comes at a heavy price. To start, you'll need to spend the time to hire someone in that market, then train them, then equip them with sales material and management, if not office space and equipment. These costs are prohibitive for most small businesses looking to expand internationally.

And there are even more costs that we have not mentioned yet. Each market has it's own unique laws, cultures and customs that are essential to master if your company wants to establish a successful sales presence. Japan is a classic example of a marketplace with unique legal structures and business customs that, if not followed, guarantee the failure of any sales efforts. It's hard to pin down an exact monetary value to this learning, but ask yourself this: Can you afford to establish, manage, and pay a sales force in a foreign country for at least a year while they learn the routes and generate no revenue?

What about a Distributor? Is a distributor better for new markets?
Distributors are a cost effective means to enter a new marketplace successfully. Here are just a few of the reasons:

• No Overhead: Unlike running your own sales team, a distributor will take care of the hiring, managing, payment, and optimization of its channel. You're just borrowing their distribution, while they handle the maintenance.
• Established Channel with Local Knowledge: A good distributor will already know all the laws and customs of the market you're entering. You do not need to reinvent the wheel-you can use someone who already has local local knowledge.
• Understanding Pricing and Purchasing Power of Market: Along with knowledge of the laws and customs comes knowledge about the most successful ways to price and market your product locally.
• Cost Effective: Since you will not be paying for the above items, distributor relationships are much more within reach of a small business trying to enter a new market.

Using a distributor has some downsides as well, but they can be minimized by building a good relationship with a distributor.

• Not your own people: You will not be able to directly manage every step of the process. While it may make you nervous to lose some control over the sales process, you can manage the risk by building a transparent relationship with your distributor with constant updates and feedback from both ends.
• Distributor has many products to represent: You may not be the distributor's top priority at any given time, and you want to be sure your product is not getting shuffled to the back of the line. Once again, a well-established relationship with constant contact will ensure that your product is getting the attention it describes.
• Not a "turn key" solution: You can not just give the distributor your products and expect success. You'll have to manage the relationship. This takes time, but it's still less costly than trying to install a direct sales team from scratch.

So what do I do next?
If you are not convinced that a distributor would be better for your organization than acquiring a direct sales team, seek help from a consultant who has experience establishing a presence in new markets. A consultant can use his or her experience to analyze your opportunity and recommend the best course of action.

Before you choose a distributor, you need to know ....
Choosing the wrong distributor will set you up for failure. The wrong distributor simply will not generate sales, and you'll have wasted at least a year finding and setting up an unprofitable relationship.

There are certain things to look for in a distributor, and they are different for every market. The best thing to do is to find a professional, one with experience in distributor relationships, and hire that professional to help you search for and identify the right distributor.

Identifying The Real Journey to Create Wealth

So often when one pursue the quest to create wealth, they do so without really understanding, as well, as appreciating, what wealth creation is really all about. While it is true it may have different meanings for anyone seeking to create wealth, what is equally true is that creating wealth involves a defect meaning that those who have really been successful in creating wealth really appreciate, and understand.

Money, IT's Purpose & Real Value

The pursuit of money is a continous, never ending focus of the majority of people today. This intenet focus on the part of some people, governments, those in the business community, just to name a few, have resolved in many cases individuals, organizations actually operating out of their minds. This coupled with losing the deeper meaning of the role money really play in our lives. So the question becomes what is the purpose of money? Money as we know it, coins, paper notes, or beads is really currency that is a means of exchange. Money in itself has no power. It receives it power through the value we or society assign it. Example, a sliver of printed paper is assigned value $ 1, $ 10, $ 50, $ 100 for the purpose of exchange. At any moment, that paper with assigned value could be declared worthless. So the single pursuit of money in itself, does not guarantee overall prosperity, and abundance.

Understanding Prosperity and Abundance

When speaking or thinking of prosperity, we are really thinking of thriving, flourishing, the good things of life, success, affluence, good fortune. On the other hand abundance, is having a fullness, as well, as an overflow of supply. Both prosperity and abundance, are freed from the limitations that are connected in the pursuit of money. Successful wealth creators really understand their pursuit is really about prosperity, and abundance.

Why? Because both are available with unlimited capacity. Additionally, wealth creators are aware, understand, and appreciate that more, and more of everything is available to be created that lead to prosperity, as well, abundance. They recognize the power of the energies that emit from both prosperity and abundance. The more one's journey is for prosperity and abundance, the more the actual manifestations of wealth becomes a reality. This include manifestations of joy, happiness, wisdom along with physical manifestations that may include wellness, things of value that is intrinsic, extrinsic, or assigned value like money.

What these manifestations do not bring that comes with the singular pursuit of money, is fear & resistance. The singular pursuit of money brings the fear of either not having enough money, the fear of retaining what one have, the fear of being obsessed with money, to mention a few. These fears coupled with the resistance to the pursuit of prosperity, along with abundance. There is resistance to these because the belief of "money pursuers" is that through money prosperity, as well, as abundance is created. They do not see that prosperity & abundance is linked with an unlimited source. They do not see that there are not any errors attached with abundance or prosperity. Sometimes even greater is that they do not see that once one really make the conscious decision to pursue prosperity, abundance they become free to create the unlimited means to complete freedom, wealth, success, joy, happiness. Creating financial freedom, creating the reality of your dreams for your family, yourself, as well, as for others only occurs through surrendering to creation to the pursuit of total wellness, prosperity, and abundance.

The Plan

There are choices that anyone seeking to create wealth must make. First, is deciding how you choose to live? Will you choose the singular path of money, by living below your means? Will you continue to think, live through psycho-midgetis? The pursuit of wealth is not about less. The creation of wealth is not about limitations. Embrace the concept that the physical, including money, will create the fulfillment of your dreams is a course riddle with limitations, fears, resistance. On the other hand, embracing, activating the unlimited course of prosperity and abundance render an ongoing flow of fulfilling, rewarding manifestations. Secondly, you must choose between remaining in the status quo, or breaking free and embracing a higher reality. The status quo is based on controls, riddle with limitations. The higher reality, is based on embracing consciousness of that prosperity, as well, as abundance is anchored on a level that transcends any physical pursuit. Achieving a successful and fulfilling wealth creation plan starts with consciously committing to embracing, growing the energy of prosperity, as well, as abundance. This is the foundation of your overall plan. The stronger you build this foundation, the greater fulfillment becomes. The Plan therefore is quite simple. The real creation of wealth is 'spiritual'. Therefore the foundation of the plan involve these steps:

• Begin the consciousness, awareness, and commitment to transcend from the vicious pursuit of physical manifestations.

• Seek and develop a spiritual consciousness ( this is not a matter of religious membership ), Pursuing prosperity and abundance first and foremost with the clear understanding, as well, as appreciation of the unlimited reserve of both.

• Developing an awareness that this is the spiritual pursuit that produces an endless flow of the physical manifestations, things of assigned value, like money, additional assets. Not the other way around.

. • Finally creating wealth is the growth of prosperity and abundance we individually achieve. The more you grow in prosperity and abundance, the more your physical manifestations grow as well.

With your special talents you have the opportunity to create, as well, as implement your plan.

There Are So Many Ways to Make Money From Home - How Do I Find the Right One For Me?

You have found so many ways to make money from home. How do you find the right one for you? If you've been looking for a way to make money from home, you're probably inundated with tons of sales offers, e-mails, phone calls, etc. There are so many options! How do you know what will work and what will not? What is the right thing to do? You can quickly become overwhelmed and then you will not know which direction to turn or what to do. You can experience "information overload" The best way to get over this is to decide what you want from an online business. Look for something that will fit your lifestyle, your goals, and your schedule.

See if you can come up with a list of things that you want in an online business. Write it down. As you look at different offers, you can then evaluate them by the list you have made and you will be able to eliminate all the offers that do not fit your requirements. To help you get started, here are the things that I looked for when I went through this process.

1. I did not want a get rich quick scheme. I'd seen hundreds of them on the Internet. I wanted a good solid business that I could run from home and make a good living with. I did not expect to get a check in the mail next week for a million dollars after just putting my e-mail address on someone's list. I knew I had to put in some work and some effort. I wanted to earn the money. I was not looking for a lottery ticket. Get rich quick schemes never work.

2. I did not want Multi Level Marketing business. I hate having to sell to friends and family. I did not want to make sales because a friend was tying to help me out because of our relationship. This is no way to run a business. I wanted something I could market on the Internet to people who were looking for whatever I was selling. This is the way a real business works.

3. No personal selling. I'm not a great salesman. I did not want to have to continuously sell people on my product or spend a lot of time on the phone. I wanted people to already be sold. I wanted people to just come to me and say, yes, I want it.

4. I needed a great support system. I was a total newbie when it came to Internet marketing. I knew how to send and e-mail and surf the web, but that was it. I needed help getting an online business up and running and help with marketing online. I wanted to know that there was a real live person I could call for help and advice if I needed it.

5. Great business system. I knew a lot about business, because I've been running businesses for over 30 years, so I know what makes a viable business. I knew what components I was looking for, what would make it a complete system. I wanted a proven system that others had used and been successful with. I was looking for a system that I could just step into and follow and find a winning business plan. When you have a great business system to follow, your chances for success skyrocket. Look at franchises like Starbucks, McDonalds, Subway, they have the business plan all figured out. If you follow their lead, you have a money making machine.

6. Multiple streams of income and back end sales. Any business that has many ways to make money within the same system is going to be that much more profitable. Once you have a customer, if you can turn them into a repeat customer, your business is going to be that much more profitable. You will not have to constantly be looking for new customers. Your old customers will come back and pay you over and over. That is one of the secrets of a successful business.

7. I love helping people. It brings great satisfaction. I'd like to use the knowledge I've acquired over the years to help others. There have been people who have helped me along the way and I've like to pass that along by helping others.

8. I wanted a great product, one that was unique, that people could not buy at the corner store. I wanted a product that I felt would help other people. I did not want to feel like I was ripping anyone off. I wanted to know that people who purchased my product could be preferred by it. It could make their lives better. That was important to me.

9. My family. The most important thing I was looking for was something that would work for my family. I'm a mother of 6 children and I home school. I still have 3 children living at home and one left in home school. But even having one in home school takes a lot of time. I have a home and a husband and I wanted to have the time I needed to be a good wife and mother. This is my top priority. I needed a business I could run that would not take over my life. That would not require all my time and attention. I wanted something that I could work on for a few hours a day, at my convenience, then not worry about the rest of the time.

It took months of research looking at all the ways to make money from home to find the right one for me. I finally found the right one that fit all my requirements. It is the perfect business for me and for my family. I work a few hours every morning, and then I'm free to be a mom the rest of the day. I never have to worry about my business on weekends or holidays. I can go on vacation without a second thought about my business. It keeps on going when I'm away. It is amazing! And it works!

Money is just a tool. Money is not my end goal in life. Money is a means to an end. If you are sick of worrying about money, living paycheck to paycheck, wondering how you are going to pay the bills, then change things! Do it! If you are ready to have a better life for you and for your family, do something about it! I did it and so can you.

How to Create a Business in a Brand

These days many businesses are thriving and chasing hard in order to create their presence and enjoy higher sales. The business branding overall has become an eternal need of every business and without which it would be more difficult for any business to survive.

Earlier, people thought that branding is only required for the large businesses, but as the time moves on it is proved that branding is not just required for large businesses, but also for the small businesses.

However, it does not matter whether you are heading a large business or a small business, but most important is that you should have a detailed strategy of branding your business in order to achieve success.

Below are the steps that will help you to create a better business brand

Follow KISS:
KISS is a most prominent branding term which stands for Keep it Short and Simple. Use Kiss while defining the name of your business because it plays an important role in your business branding. Most of the successful business brands usually have very short and simple names which are easy to pronounce and remember. Just remember the names like BMW, Audi, Intel, Google etc. The longer or complicated business names are much difficult to pronounce and recall.

Use a creative logo:
People usually identify a business not only form its name but also from its logo. A business logo is the identity of every business that why special cares to be taken while designing the business logo. Remember, if somebody takes the name of Mercedes then the immediate thing that comes to the mind is the very famous three heard Mercedes Benz logo. Same is with BMW and Audi. But this is not limited to the automotive brands only, but other companies also like Microsoft, Apple, Nike, Mac Donald's etc.

Choose the right color combination:
It's not just the logo or business name, but the color theme of your business also plays a major role in its branding. Once you have identified your business name and logo then all your branding and promotional material should revolve around the color scheme that you have used in your logo. For example, most of the Mac Donald's outlet uses the shades of Yellow in their interiors and promotional merchandise and even on the food packages because that color represents their business. Same is done by other brands like Dominos, Shell and DHL etc. The color of your business has a psychological impact on the minds of the consumers and that's why it is important not to choose more vibrant or difficult colors. Use solid and simple colors like Blue, Green, Red, Yellow, White and Black in their different shades.

Choose your USP and stick around it:
USP or a Unique Selling Proposition is a small small word but it has made a huge impact on many businesses. These days competition is intense and therefore in order to stand out from the competition, you need to have a USP of your business and your entire branding strategy revolves around the USP. The brand like BMW and Mercedes has its USP, as they offer premium and high safety products. While brands like E bay and Ali Baba has the USP as they offer a wide selection of very affordable products. Similarly, Mac Donald's have their USP of providing the delusions burgers. The USP helps people to identify your business with a product or services. For example, when someone talks about a burger then first thing comes to the mind is the Mac Donald and when someone talks about the sports shoes then brand name comes to mind are the Nike, Reebok, Adidas, and Fila.

Do brand hammering:
One of the most important things for every business is the brand hammering. The brand hammering involved continues to push to the brand to its target audience so that people could easily connect with the brand. Although sometimes a brand hammering proves quite expensive because it requires many promotional and marketing exposures. In order to make your brand stand apart from other brands, you need to create a chain of TV commercial and print advertisements so that it will hammer deep into the minds of the consumers. Although, today in the modern age there are many digital marketing channels which are very much affordable and good for brand hammering.

Bring emotion to your brand:
These days because of the excessive stress and hectic lifestyle people are getting more emotional even for the small things. Anything that connects to their emotion brings out more success to the brand managers. If you have a product or services then create an ad commercial keeping in mind the emotion of the consumer. These types of emotional ads would more connect with the consumer. The people who are emotionally attached to a product or a service were more likely to remain loyal towards them for many years. Example of an emotional connection could be seen in many car advertisements these days in which marketers put more focus on the safety of your family, especially your kids instead of talking about the luxury features of the car. This brings a sense of emotion and responsibility in the parents towards their family and that highly influencing their purchasing decision. Sometimes they even ignore the most important factor ie price while buying a car based on their emotional concern.

Number 1 Secret To Making Money Online

"What is the number 1 secret to making money online?" is a question I get asked a quite a lot. I think it is a fair question to ask, it's something I asked when I first started out trying to make money online. So to save you seeking me out and asking me personally, this article will disclose what the number 1 secret to making money online is.

The secret is actually very simple. Surround yourself with as many successful Internet Marketers and successful Internet Marketing communities as possible. Do not waste your time trying to get rich quick. Surround yourself with success.

It works in the same way as working out with somebody who is much fitter than you. Just to be allowed to work out with them you will have to show massive determination at the start to work hard and learn all they teach you about nutrition and exercise. Then, after time, you will not only be as fit as they are, but you will also have the same level of knowledge. You could then even train somebody else to be as fit as you are now!

Making money online is no different really. The secret to being able to make money online faster than anyone else is to get yourself an Internet Marketing coach, and also to be actively involved in an Internet Marketing community. In the example of working out I used above, it works because you are involved in a peer group which is giving two massive benefits.

ONE. They are providing you with positive peer pressure. This is one of the best things an up and coming internet marketer could have. The pressure to better yourself is a huge benefit you can use to make money online. Definitely better than any of the negative peer pressure you get from anywhere else. The positive peer pressure will be especially productive when coupled with the second benefit below.

TWO. Your coach and your new community will provide you with the exact knowledge you need to be successful. Your coach will be a wealth of knowledge and motivation for you, and that is their job. Your community will provide the same because that is what a good community does. They help and support each other.

So if you are positively pressured into taking action on the knowledge you know will ensure your online business will be a success, then you will make money online, no doubt. This scenario is a win win for everyone involved, and that's exactly how business should be.

Online Money Making Tips

Online businesses are some of the fastest growing businesses in the world. Take for example Amazon, which grows from selling just a few hundred books a month to a multi-billion dollar business. This is just one of the numerous websites that are exploding in growth online.

But is the internet a practical place for the average joe to make money, or does it require a tremendous amount of luck? We think that if you just follow a few easy steps, not only will you reduce the risk of getting scammed, but you will also find your success dramatically increasing.

1. If you find yourself spending much more money than you're making, or if a program requires you to spend $ 1000 to join their "exclusive" money making group, stop. Do not be a victim to these scam artists, who have perfected their predatory ways.

2. Myth # 1: It makes money to make money. We at Joe's say that if you can not make money without money, you can not create money with it. Find ways to increase your revenue without spending a dime.

3. Spend time every day working on your business, even if for just fifteen mintues.

4. Do not just rely on one author's advice. Research a particular claim before testing it out. What one author says may be out of date or even worse, just a scam. Knowledge is power and the more you gain about internet marketing, the better off you will be.

5. Learn from your competition. Your competition is by far the best teacher you will ever have. Do not copy their exact methods, but learn how you can improve on what they did.

6. Patience. Online marketing is just like any other business, it is not a lottery. Sucess does not happen overnight. However, great success can happen and you can be a part of it. Good luck.

Joe's Guides [http://www.joesguides.org]

How To Make Great Money Part Time Buying And Selling Domain Names - Part One

This truly is the business to get into in 2005. It's a red hot opportunity that savvy investors can make a killing on when you know how. And this article will walk you step-by-step through the money-making process.

Don't be put off by the term "investors". I'm not talking big money down here. As long as you've got a spare £5 a week then great money can be made for only half an hour of your time. Like the sound of that? Thought so.

There's a few ways you can make money buying domain names and selling them on for profit. And I mean PROFIT. You'll see why people will be scratching at your door to buy off you in just a moment.

Let's start with the basics.

All domain names are only registered for a limited amount of time.Registrars can choose to use the name for a period of between 1-10 years. After this the rights to these domain names expire and the user has to renew the name again. If they don't do this it will be placed on hold for a short time and then deleted. This means it is then available for anyone who wants to buy it!

This Is Where You Can Cash In!

20,000 expired domain names are made available each and every day. Some of them are very attractive and well-established names.

Example. Last year the owners of Race.com carelessly didn't renew their registration fee. It was grabbed (the term used to describe purchasing an expired name) by a savvy 'investor' for a few pounds and sold for thousands and thousands back to the old owner.

The owner was willing to pay huge sums for to the investor because he had built up qualified traffic over X amount of years and didn't want to lose all the previous custom.

Now I admit that making a sale for thousands is rare, but is certainly possible.

The likeliness is that you can buy a domain name and register it for £5-£50 and then sell it on for anything from £150 - £1000. Do this with five domain names a week, and your looking at a big sum of money for only a couple of hours work.

It's not just businesses that have carelessly let their domain name that will buy off you. It's other businesses too that will buy the name to get the old owners' traffic. It's a legitimate way of increasing your customer base.

And if the old owner and a new potential owner get into a bidding war...well..the sky really is the limit.

So there's two main reasons why people will be willing to pay YOU a couple of hundred pounds for a domain name.

a) They carelessly let the domain name expire. That means that they will pay you to get the name back to ensure that they don't lose their existing traffic that they may have built up over years and years.

B) They are a business in the same field as the one that has let the name expire and therfore will pay you to secure the exisitng custom of a rival.

Here's step-by-step how you go about this fantastically profitable part time business.

There are several sources of expired domain name information and reserach tools, some free and some that require a payment of a fee.

http://www.wehavethem.com supplies lists of names due to be deleted. http://Www.DeletedDomains.com allows you to do some searching free and more extensive searching for a $99 annual fee.You can search for names that are due to be deleted and also allows you to bid on newly deleted names that have already been grabbed by other 'investors'.

What you are looking for is an expired domain name with traffic in the last month of anything over 1500. Ensure that the site is an actual consumer site. There's no point buying a domain name if the previous site wasn't selling any goods.

If you see a site that had tens of thousands of visitors in the last month GET IT. The likeliness is that the previous owners will be itching to get their name back off of you due to its obvious success.

Also if you see a name with a large qualified traffic thats due to expire and has a high traffic volume use an automated grabbing system such as http://www.snapnames.com and http://www.pool.com. These will ensure the second they become available you will have registered them. The cost is about $60 but only if they get the names for you. Definately worth it in my eyes.

Remember you could easily sell the name for hundreds, maybe thousands.

In part 2 we'll take a look at how you go about selling the names once you have acquired them. But in the mean time here's a few domain names which were up for sale at the time of writing this article. Now obviously not all names sell for this much, but it's a very real possibility that you could stumble across a gem in your business.

my.com $750,000

lovelife.com $350,000

fights.net $16,000

diet.us $35,000

askdoctors.com $7,500

dietary.info $6,000

lovemaking.info $10,000

textmeassage.net $17,000

ejobmarket.com $1,800

smokers.tv $5,000

teens.org $22,000

raregifts,com $20,000

The profits in this business are like no other. Now it's your turn to get your hands on your share in the billion dollar industry of buying and selling domain names.

Until next time...

Jonathan Street

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 Money Trading Domains

Domain trading is the buying and selling of domain names and it is a business that has been on for many years. It promises a high yield on investment but can be very risky. You can turn $ 25 into $ 450 or more within a short time and you may buy a domain name without ever selling. It is an interesting terrain to navigate. If you want to make money with this business, you need to get as much information as possible so that you will be able to succeed.

One of the benefits of this business is that you only need to register or buy a domain name and not necessarily developing it or pulling traffic to it. You do not even need to put any content. Just own the domain - that's all. You may be wondering where and how to buy domains. You have two options to choose from and you can use both. The first option is to register through registrars and this is referred to as the primary market. Top registrars include GoDaddy, NameCheap, iPage, 1and1, Dynadot and so on. The price for registration varies from one registrar to another and there may be additional products added by each registrar.

The second option is to buy an already registered name and this is referred to as the secondary market. Examples of secondary markets are Sedo, GoDaddy, Flippa, Afternic, just to mention a few. Pricing at the secondary market is a bit on the high side and this is determined by so many factors like the age, category, number or words, valuation of the names and so many other factors. However, it is important for you to note that a domain is renewable every year and you have to factor this into your plan when making purchase and sale decisions.

Furthermore, choosing the right domain name is very crucial to your success in this business. You do not just go ahead to buy a name you can think of. It does not work like that. It's not gambling and you need to be able to identify marketable names. You can visit news sites like TheDomains, Domaining, DomainInvesting and so on, to know the latest trend in the market. It is not easy to predict a name that will sell but if you get familiar with information about the industry, you will be better positioned to make the right decision. Typically, the best names are short, easy to remember, easy to spell, easy to pronounce and so on.

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 ~