Students Of Success

Building any business is difficult. It takes guts, perseverance, dedication, time and money. Actually if you want the truth, it takes a lot more than that. It takes a toll on your life. Your family suffers, your bank account dwindles and your stress levels shoot through the roof. Regardless of all these scary emotions and scenarios, there are some major benefits to starting your own business.

You are in control, you are following your dreams, you are creating something from scratch and you are a leader. You have the ability to hire workers and you alone can create an empire. The feeling of working for yourself can be compared to nothing else.

Personal trainers are used to working long hours for minimal pay. Most personal trainers wake up each morning ready to help their client lose weight and feel great for only 40% of the session fee. Sometimes personal trainers are treated as if they are the bottom of the totem pole.

If you are a personal trainer and you are looking at ways to boost your income without drowning in debt and taking massive chances with starting your own personal training business then read this article closely. It will show you the basic elements of creating a successful online personal training business.

The very first step in creating your online personal training business is to create a fantastic website. This does not mean one that flashes and sparkles with ads. It means creating a website that has a clean, professional look and feel. It means creating a website that has a ton of information about you, your service, and fitness.

It is so very important for your personal training website to receive free targeted visitors from search engines like Google and Yahoo. Many online personal training businesses pay to have their site put in front of thousands of people. Why not create a tightly focused web business that ranks well at the search engines? This gives you warm, pre-sold, targeted visitors for free.

Once visitors find your site, you must impress them. You must tell the more than the standard who, what, where, when and why. You must develop a relationship with them. You must create trust with your potential online personal training clients. There are many ways to do this.

You could create an ezine or a free e-course that explains the best weight loss methods. Providing answers to your customer’s questions will make them trust you. It will also provide you with something rather priceless- expert status. Your visitors will view you as the expert in online personal training and fitness.

Once you have a clean website, free traffic and a trustworthy relationship with your visitors you can begin to let them know about your online personal training services. Of course you do this in a warm and friendly manner. No hard sales necessary because your visitors already trust you. They already want to buy from you so long as you help solve their problem.

Read that last line again because it is the basis of all successful businesses. Your online personal training business will succeed so long as you convince your visitor that you can solve his or her problem.

Many online personal training businesses contract third party programs to create fitness routines and/or nutrition programs. Some business owners like to create their own programs using Excel spreadsheets. Whatever you choose, do what is best for your customer.

The ultimate goal for any personal trainer should be to train more clients, but spend less time doing it. Online personal training is the answer. Starting your own online personal training business is a lucrative business opportunity for many weight loss professionals.

Just remember to start with a fantastic website. Without a successful online personal training website that attracts loads of warm pre-sold visitors you will waste your hard earned cash. Be wary of get rich quick schemes and those hosting companies that offer free or low cost web space. If you want to build an online personal training business that is successful, then do it right the first time. Plan for success and a profitable online personal training business can be the answer to more income and a better quality of life.

My name is Lynn VanDyke and I have successfully used the above process to take my site into the top 1% of all websites in the world! Learn how you can create your profitable online personal training business by visiting:
http://service-selling.sitesell.com/mylife.html

Every time I went to dinner the waiter gave me a loaded gun and held it to my head.

The ridiculous portion sizes restaurants put in front of a person that can’t stop eating is assisted suicide. A study reported in the American Journal of Public Health states that portions of cooked pasta, muffins, steaks, and bagels exceeded USDA standards by 480%, 333%, 224%, and 195% respectively. And I wonder why I weighed 277 pounds.

Just because a person is full doesn’t mean they stop eating and American portion sizes are the very thing that perpetuate the obesity epidemic in this country. In a literature review in the March/April 2003 issue of Nutrition Today (Vol. 38, No. 2), Barbara J. Rolls, PhD, a nutrition expert at Pennsylvania State University and co-author, with Robert A Barnett, of The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan (Quill, 2000; HarperTorch, 2003), summarizes research findings that:

We eat more when we’re given more.

Package size influences us to eat more.

We don’t compensate for eating too much at one sitting by eating less at the next.

Having access to big portions can override our natural sense of fullness.

And don’t think this is a worldwide problem. In this area the American lifestyle is special. This is shown in a study comparing 11 pairs of equivalent eateries in Paris and Philadelphia–including fast-food chains, pizzerias, ice-cream parlors and ethnic restaurants–the team found that mean portion sizes in Paris were 25 percent less than in Philadelphia.

Couple this with a person that can’t control when to stop eating any more than the anorexic can make herself eat and it is easy to see why people are literally eating themselves to death.

So what do we do to combat this epidemic? Sue the restaurants for making America fat? While the American food industry may carry some of the burden of responsibility they certainly do not carry all of it. Americans need to realize they are walking into a battle when they enter a restaurant. Americans need to take responsibility and make proper decisions.

If a person has not yet reached the land of obesity, or they are trying to reverse the direction of their lifestyle, there are things they can learn to do. Order an appetizer instead of an entrée; these are usually as large as a meal. Or, share an entrée with a dinner companion. Those that have come to terms with their obesity and have chosen to have Weight Loss Surgery (WLS) to help them lose the weight and alter the overeating behavior do this out of necessity and economics.

America is the land of bigger is better in everything from cars to meal portions. But, just because you can eat it doesn’t mean you should. By being aware of exactly what one needs for nutrition and to sustain them versus what is put on the plate in front of them, a person can remove the bullets from the gun leaving the weapon harmless.

Sources:
The Contribution of Expanding Portion Sizes to the
US Obesity Epidemic, By Lisa R. Young, PhD, RD, and Marion Nestle, PhD, MPH, American Journal of Public Health, February 2002, Vol. 92, No. 2

Psychological Science (Vol. 14, No. 5) by University of Pennsylvania psychologist Paul Rozin, PhD and colleagues.

Robin McCoy was banded on February 3,2004. She has reached her weight loss goal of 110 pounds. Robin is Vice-President and Senior Writer for Lapband Lifestyle, a resource and support group for LapBand patients. http://www.lapbandlifestyle.com robin@lapbandlifestyle.com

Planning a Party with Wine.

Entertaining can be a stressful event, but one way to ensure a good for everyone including yourself is to plan ahead. By taking care of as many details in advance, you will have time to enjoy your company and take care of the few unexpected things that arise. One area that is especially easy to plan in advance is buying and serving wine.

What to buy.

What types and varieties of wine you purchase and offer will depend on what type of event you are hosting. If you are having a stand-up party with mostly appetizers and finger foods then you will want to offer both red and white wines. For white wine consider having two options, first a good Chardonnay with ample oak tones that stand up to the many different foods that will be offered. A second good white wine choice is a lighter and drier Pinot Grigio or Sauvignon Blanc. For red wines, avoid anything too big and bold. Instead a lighter Zinfandel, Merlot, or Pinot Noir are all great choices.

If you are serving a formal sit down dinner, you may wish consider having both a red and white wines on hand. But you should also consider the food you are serving and match your wine selections accordingly. If you are serving a multi-course dinner event, don’t be afraid to offer different wines with each course. Encourage guests to pour just a half glass of each wine if you will be serving different wines in order to avoid over indulgence.

Many times if your focus is solely on which white and red wines to purchase and another great option is overlooked, Champagne. Sparkling wines accompany many dishes well, and are especially good to sip alone over good conversation. Be sure to keep it well chilled, and don’t open too many bottles in advance or else they will go flat before getting to the glass.

How much to buy.

If you will be serving primarily wine, or you know your guests will be drinking mostly wine by choice, you will want to plan on one bottle for every 3 or 4 guests. If there will be beer and spirits, reduce your wine cache to about one bottle for every 4 or 5 guests. For dinner parties, you will want to make sure every guest can have a glass of each wine served with each course. A bottle pours about 5 glasses of wine, so plan on a bottle for 5 guests. An extra bottle of the main course and desert wine is always a good idea.

How to serve.

First, get the wine to the correct temperature well in advance of the party. Set out all of the glasses where guests can easily access them, in close proximity to the wine. Don’t open it all right away, and don’t set the chilled white and sparkling wine out at once. Just before guests are to arrive, open enough wine to fill glasses of the initial arrivals. After everyone has poured their first glass, you can then open more to replenish based on the rate it is being consumed. Keep sparkling wine chilled in an ice water bath, but white and reds will be fine sitting out at room temperature for 30-45 minutes.

Michael Briggs is a wine enthusiast and a frequent contributor to Winery-Mall where you can learn all about wine

I was reading the latest edition of Adverting Age magazine, an industry pub for us advertising nut-cases. Actually, I’m not real fond of the journal - too much junk about big brands and million dollar budgets. Not really the game most of our clients play in.

But there was an interesting story I thought I’d share with you…

The story is about the battle between Burger King and their National Franchisee Organization.

The two organizations are fighting over pricing and promotion plans, including the chain’s $340 million dollar ad budget!!

Over the last year the new ad campaign had been working marvelously. Same-store sales rose 6.8% last year, the best performance in over a decade for the burger giant. But last quarter numbers weren’t as good, only a 1.1% same-store sales gain.

So now franchisees are starting to voice their displeasure. What’s their main beef?? — no pun intended.

Is the campaign too narrowly focused??

Most of Burger King’s profit comes from the target, Male Teens. So the agency built the Crazy King, Dr. Angus, Subservient Chicken, Coq Roq and all the other wild campaigns round them.

The campaigns have gotten massive attention in this demographic but some franchisees are concerned that they are missing out on other segments of the population, like the women market that McDonalds is focusing their efforts on right now.

So the question I pose you all of you is…Are the franchisees right?

Is focusing your $340 million dollar ad budget on specifically the portion of the population that represents the largest profit center for your company a smart move?

I would have to say absolutely YES!

It doesn’t surprise me that the non-marketing educated franchisees would want to be all things to all people. That is a common mistake among stupid business owners that don’t take the time to learn even the most basic fundamentals of the most important part of their business - marketing.

They are also being resistant to run the specials and promotions that corporate suggests.

You must pick a target and stick to it. Be absolutely for them. Make them love you. Identify them and follow them, grow with them and change as they do. Be fast and agile. Burger King is doing that and it has proved successful for them for the first time in a decade.

None of the franchisees are in the target demographic - so none of them “get” the commercials. So they don’t like them. The funny thing is - they’re not supposed to like them. The commercials aren’t for them.

But their ego is getting in the way. They want to like the commercials. They want to give them their stamp of approval. They think they know everything.

A lot of business owners are this way. Entrepreneurs have big egos. It’s part of being an entrepreneur. But the ones that find true success and wealth are the ones that can put their ego aside and surround themselves with people who know more about all the subjects that they themselves aren’t uniquely and 100% qualified to do.

For every point of ego you add to your marketing you subtract one point of effectiveness. Many small business owner’s ads are 100% ego driven and they 100% fail.

Jimmy Vee and Travis Miller are the authors of “The Ten Tall Tales Of Traditional Advertising That Cost You Tons” and their newest release, “The Small Business Owner’s Guide To The Galaxy: Jim & Travis’s Super-Stellar, Out Of This World, Step-By-Step Guide To Generating Leads, Attracting Customers and Making Sales.” Get FREE small business marketing tips, shortcuts and secrets - RIGHT NOW - at http://www.GravitationalMarketing.com

The internet has taken the job market by storm. With rising insurance and gas prices, more people are looking to work from home. The internet helps to make working from home a reality for thousands of people. In this article we will discuss latest business opportunity idea news; the advantages and disadvantages of telecommuting.

Telecommuting is basically web sites that are set up to assist the would be home worker. They have lots of job postings on them. Jobs range from proof reading, freelance writing and reviewers. Telecommuting is basically the job bank for people who wish to work at home and make money online.

But the telecommuter should beware. Some of the jobs can be scams that are geared towards taking money from the unwary. Never pay to get a job. If the job requires that you pay a fee, it is probably a scam. If they want you to work, they will pay you, not the other way around.

There is also no guarantee that you will get paid. The best way to guard against this is to only do a small amount of work before getting your first pay. If the employer values your work, they will pay you to continue. Never do a large amount of work based on promises to get paid.

Many people make their living by telecommuting. It is even possible to make a good living, but like anything, you must learn the ropes and do some research to meet your maximum earning potential. Making money online may seem easy, but it’s a job like any other.

It is a good idea to pick a specific market to target, when telecommuting. For instance, if you’re talented at proofreading manuscripts, then take as many proofreading jobs as you can, and build up your resume. Other job opportunities include ad placing, this is a great way to make money online and with the hundreds of free ad websites you will never be short of a place to place the ads. Employees usually pay in ad batches and spending just a couple of hours each day can let you make money online you only ever dreamed of.

If you really are serious and want to work from home then you need to start looking on the internet. There is hundreds of legitimate work at home jobs all you need to do is find them.

We have made the most comprehensive research on home business opportunities to find the best ones. Find the results only on the Home business online opportunity research. All about online home business on www.leandernet.com