Students Of Success

It’s really not hard to be successful. (Although it does require having some guts and not being lazy.) Simply be willing to do what most people aren’t. You’ve seen the ads “Make big money- No selling, no telephone calling, no work, etc”. The point is if you really want to stand out from the crowd and be very successful, then do the things other people won’t. Think about how little competition you will have.

I have been involved working in home businesses for over 10 years now and one thing has stood out in my mind. When I looked at people in this business who were very successful they weren’t supermen or women. Oh sure a few have stood out with better skills then average, but for the most part they are relatively average people with one main characteristic. Each one has been successful because they were willing to do things the crowd wasn’t willing to do.

It’s an amazing feeling of confidence you get when you are willing to do things you are afraid to do. Sure you may be scared at first to pick up that phone and call someone but it gives you an amazing feeling of confidence after you do.

Have you ever noticed the most successful people also seem to be the most confident. Not necessarily in an obnoxious ego way (although some are), but in a way that you just sense something is different about them.

Some people mistakenly think that people are confident because they are successful. They say, “I would also be confident if I were successful!” However, people who think like that are wrong, those people became successful, because they were confident first and believed they would be successful. I have yet to meet the first person born successful.

You want to be confident and successful? Step out from the crowd and take on those exciting challenges that others are afraid to take. That’s why the crowd at 65 is living on Social Security instead of the few who are cruising the Caribbean on a regular basis. It’s a lot less crowded out there.

Nick A. James offers informative tips and information on nutrition, health and working from home. Get the Exclusive Free Report! -6 Steps to Simplify Your Life, Improve Your Health & Give You Dynamic Energy! His many years of Internet Marketing expertise puts him in unique position to help others starting a home business.

For free advice, health blog, and cutting edge info contact him at: http://www.health-goji-juice.com

Effective Marketing For The Webmaster (Free Advertising Methods)

Throughout my experience in Marketing, I have found that simply placing ads in free classified sites, FFA (free for all), and participating in safelists does not work anymore. It used to, but that is not the case any longer. I also have found out that you do not have to pay for any advertising for it to be effective.

The key to “Effective Marketing” is creativity. If you start really thinking about how you might go about promoting your business/website, then you might be surprised at what you come up with. Here are some free methods to get you started. You need to make Google/Yahoo/MSN or any favorite search engine a good friend. Use these to your advantage for finding the following places below.

1) Work At Home/Business Forums or Message Boards: Find and create accounts at various work at home or business message forums. After creating your account then proceed to create your signature. A signature is a block of text at the end of a message that states your name and your business/website/affiliate program. Please read the posting rules at all forums. Some do not allow signatures…and some do not allow posting your business ad. Always be careful of these rules…you could be banned. Signature advertising in forums/message boards has found to be very effective.

2) Directories: Find and sign up with various business directories. Add your business/website to them. There are tons of these that do not require a reciprocal link back. You will find the occasional ones that require a fee…just pass those up and go on to the next one, as there are several. For the ones that do require a link back, it is advisable to choose the ones with a high page rank.

3) Link and Banner Exchanging: There are many, many webmasters that are willing to exchange links/banners with you. This method of advertising is called networking and is really a great free way to promote your business. You can let webmasters know that you would like to exchange links with them through various forums, OR…you can look up websites (that relate to your business), and simply email the webmaster (site owner) and propose that you would like to exchange links or banners. Always keep up with your emails and follow up with a polite reply. You will be pleasantly surprised at the responses you will get.

4) Ezines and Newsletters: Ezines and newsletters are basically online magazines. You can subscribe to them and enter your ad and affiliate program or website URL. Most of these are free to subscribe to, and also free to enter your ad. These ezines/newsletters have a large membership base. By using this method of advertising, your business/website would reach a large audience.

5) Offline Advertising: This is where you will use your creativity. There are literally endless offline advertising ideas that you can use. You can make up flyers, business cards, letters, and give them out to friends and relatives. You can post them at grocery stores, laundry mats, department stores, libraries, theatres, schools…basically anywhere where it is allowed. One example of an idea: If you are at a theatre…leave some of your business cards in the restroom. You might be surprised at who will look and pick them up. Just use your imagination…have fun and be creative.

6) Articles: You might try writing some articles that relate to your business or website. Many ezines and newsletters that you subscribe to let you post your written articles. And again, this method would be free of charge. At the end of your article, mention the URL of your business or website.

Article written by Tammy Embrich Owner of: (Work At Home Opportunities) http://www.onestopwebemployment.com/

Reprints are allowed only if you include the author’s name and information.

My 5-year-old grandson is getting his own room. He’s very excited at the prospect and quite determined to put his own personal stamp on the decorating process. I like to listen to him explain why certain things must be certain ways; it’s an entertaining and charming view of the world through his eyes. I listened when he shared his decorating ideas, and this is what he taught me (my poor adult interpretations are in parentheses):

You should use your favorite color a lot (if you like pink or green or red, don’t be afraid to use it as much as you can).

If you don’t like a color, don’t use it (doesn’t matter what anyone says is popular, if you don’t like it, don’t use it).

You need room to put all your good stuff out where you can see it and play with it (don’t store your treasures away, display them).

When you get tired of something, hide it somewhere, and then when you find it again, you won’t be tired of it anymore (rotate your treasures so you can admire and enjoy them equally).

Moms like fancy pillows. Kids don’t unless they can throw them, and then you get in trouble (decorate a room for the person living there).

You should be able to push your cars on the wall without messing up the paint (buy good washable paint).

What’s wrong with jumping on the furniture (what’s wrong with jumping on the furniture)?

You have to have a light by the door that you can turn on to check for monsters at night (good lighting is very important).

Flashlights are cool and you need someplace to put one where you can always find it if you remember to put it back (organized storage is effective if you use it).

If you put too much stuff in your closet, you don’t have room to sit on the floor with your flashlight and hide (plan for all uses and don’t overstuff the closet).

If the drawer on your dresser keeps getting stuck, put your clothes on the floor (maintenance matters).

Sometimes you change your mind about what you like (and that’s okay).

Actually, these are pretty good ideas, whether you are decorating a room or contemplating life. Maybe I’ll go jump on the bed.

LaJoyce Kerns is the creator of the website: http://www.Decorate-Bedrooms-For-Less.com where you will find information and tips on decorating when the decorating budget isn’t as hefty as it could be.

Remember back when the ability to create a slide show
presentation using PowerPoint was cutting-edge technology?
PowerPoint presentations changed the way that companies and
seminars did business. It was easy to take along your
presentation material; just grab your laptop and go. Sound and
visual effects, fancy screen designs, bulleted features -
presentations had it all.

Everybody had a PowerPoint presentation. Those who didn’t use
this type of presentation material really felt the pressure to
conform. Plus it wasn’t difficult to see how bored their
audiences were becoming with nothing visual to hold their
attention.

When the technology bubble burst a few years back, and the
after-effects of 911 dealt a serious blow to the economy,
business travel budgets became practically non-existent. At the
same time, globalization was becoming the new buzzword. To stay
in business and be better able to conduct business globally, more
and more companies developed websites. Other advances in
technology helped reign in and at the same time expand the global
marketplace.

Today, slide show presentations still are valuable sales and
marketing tools used by all types of large, small and even
home-based businesses. They’re also a favorite of anyone giving a
seminar.

In an effort to keep up with today’s fast pace of business and
its global nature, many marketing departments are realizing the
benefits of emailing their slide show presentations. That’s
right. Presentations that used to be viewed primarily in a room
full of marginally-interested decision makers can now be directly
posted on a website or delivered via email instantaneously to the
right person. Viewing PowerPoint presentations sent via email is
as easy as reading your email. But it’s even better because you
get sound and animation, too.

Using a powerful conversion program called PowerConverter, you
can quickly convert your PowerPoint 2000, XP or 2003 slides to
browser-friendly Flash. Simply install this software, push a
button and save the presentation as a .SWF or a .EXE file.

Select .SWF file formats for fast streaming viewing on a web
site. Save as a .EXE and the conversion will include the Flash
viewer as well as the presentation. That way, those receiving
the file won’t need any additional software to view it. This
format is great for distributing smaller, self-running CD-ROMs.

No longer do you have to wait forever to get your marketing
materials into the hands of the right person. No longer do you
have to worry that your marketing materials will be out of date
before those you are sending it to even have a chance to look at
it. Files can be instantly updated, saving businesses time and
money - the two most important things that a business needs to
stay competitive.

Plus, there’s no need to worry that the picture clarity will
diminish after the conversion process, even as the slide show
presentation is compressed by as much as 97%! You do have an
option to improve the picture quality should you need it. Just
note that this will increase the size of your file.

PowerConverter is available in three different versions, each
optimized for a different version of PowerPoint. There’s the lite
version optimized for PowerPoint 97. PowerConverter 2000 is
optimized for PowerPoint 2000 and the XP version of
PowerConverter is optimized for PowerPoint 2002, XP and 2003.

Remember, for your business to survive, you’ve got to always stay
one step ahead of your competition. The folks over at
PresentationPro understand this. They had the foresight to
develop a product that could take PowerPoint 2000 presentation
materials to the next level. If you’re not already taking
advantage of this impressive slide show conversion technology,
don’t wait any longer.

Copyright © 2004 Cavyl Stewart. Get the most out of the software you use everyday. Check out the add-in software directory for more information on PowerConverter and other great time saving PowerPoint add-in tools. Visit: http://www.find-small-business-software.com/powerpoint-addins.html - Also, be sure to check out my Exclusive, 100% free, 100% original content ecourses.

The numbers of people working from home utilising the talents of the Internet continues to grow at breakneck pace and one of the largest areas of growth in Britain is Online Trading, both in sports and miscellaneous markets.

There are numerous advantages of setting up and running a sports or miscellaneous trading operation from home. Firstly overheads are kept to a minimum, there is no need for expensive office accommodation or expensive staff, and there is no requirement to buy stock or any possibility of bad debts. Secondly, any and all profits are completely tax free (in Britain presently at least, though you would need to check that stat in your area.)

The markets that you can trade from home are far too numerous to mention here, but are not confined solely to sports. Political appointments and results, stock markets, even reality TV show results are avidly followed by the growing army of online traders.

So what is the difference between online trading and gambling? Simple, in gambling you back a horse or a team in the hope that it wins. In online trading you buy a bet because you believe it to be of good value, and then you can sell it to someone else for more money if you wish, thus locking in a guaranteed profit regardless of the outcome of the race or event or whatever it is. Alternatively if you believe a bet to be overvalued you can sell it first, with the idea of buying it back at less money later on to make your profit. This operation was totally impossible with a traditional bookmaker prior to the invention of betting exchanges.

So what is the difference between trading the Dow Jones closing price on the stock market, to trading the same thing on a betting exchange? In my view, absolutely nothing at all, except of course the ridiculous advantage I previously mentioned that all your profits on the betting exchanges are untaxed. Little wonder then that serious businesses and serious money have been pouring into the betting exchanges in the past few years.

They also offer a hedging vehicle to balance existing trading in more traditional markets and here too the influx of business has been heavy and sustained.

Already there are countless books and courses available supposedly to tell you and teach you how to effectively trade these exchanges. As with all business books and manuals, some are brilliant and rapidly become bibles, while others need leaving in the nearest public convenience poste haste.

All this interest in online trading has brought a huge surge in liquidity that makes it so much easier to trade. On one exchange alone during a recent cricket match in excess of forty million pounds was matched, that’s about seventy million dollars. On one game!That’s a stat that is bound to make anyone think seriously about online trading.

Incidentally you can still get a free thirty-dollar bet with Betfair.com, the London based exchange, if you enter the code 6CHE3VPWJ when prompted. Take a look too at Betdaq.com, an Irish exchange based in Dublin that is going from strength. They have a very nice website packed with interesting markets and a comprehensive help section.

Betting exchanges are gaining credence and influence all the time and with each month that passes seemingly another country legalises the entire operation, and it would seem that it is only a matter of time before the large exchanges are completely legalised and accepted worldwide. The exponential growth in this sector is sure to continue, governmental interference being the only possible obstacle to their onward worldwide popularity. Little wonder then that this is one of the largest growth sectors for new start-up businesses, a fact that is bound to attract even greater interest as it continues to grow.

If you are thinking of starting a new online business from home, and if you have a talent for maths, you could do a lot worse than check out the whole business of online trading. Best of luck.

David Carter’s latest published work is SPLAM! Successful Property Letting And Management. Splam! Contains over 240 pages of hints and tips on how to start your own property business on a limited budget, and how to successfully let residential property. You can view actual extracts of the book at www.splam.co.uk and order a download or hard copy at this site. He also runs a holiday cottage website where you can access over 7,000 cottages, apartments and villas worldwide at www.pebblebeachmedia.co.uk You can contact David on any matter at supalife@aol.com