Business, economic development - the unofficial Chamber of Commerce

1. There are many types of cards you can choose from . Design the ones that you need or that sound the most interesting to you. Try birthday, anniversary, cards for children, wedding, sympathy, holiday or get well.

2. To begin the design you will need good paper. Look for pre-folded cards or use cardstock and fold your own. Using a bone folder is helpful here because it makes a very nice clean fold. There are several sizes to choose from, make sure you have an envelope to fit or be prepared to make one. There are templates galore for this type of thing.

3. Next choose a sticker or rubber stamp for the image on the front of the card. If using stamps, try different color stamp pads until you get the design and color you like. You can layer the stickers or stamped image on other paper to create a more pleasing design. Try using a combination of plain and matching patterned paper for this step.

4. There are embellishments you can use instead of a stamp or sticker. These are often dimensional and add a lot to the design of your card.

5. Make certain you have appropriate glue. Carefully consider the adhesive you want to use. A glue gun works well for heavy items but will wrinkle most papers. Glue dots and strips are handy for many design gluing jobs. I really like the glue stick that says”heavy duty” on the label, it is good for almost any paper and dries smooth and clear.

6. Design the words next. Think about what you want the card to say. Do you want the greeting or message on the inside or on the front of the card? You can use rubber stamps for this, stickers or computer generated greetings. There are so many fonts available that every card can be unique.

7. Lay your design out on the card before you attach the different elements. Check to make sure it all fits and that you like the design. Glue everything down and making sure all pieces are secure.

8. Now look at the inside of your card. If you are going to put a message there think about layering it on other paper to match the design on the front of your card. Attach these pieces to the inside of the card.

9. Check out the whole card now. Are you happy with the design? Does it need anything extra like colored brads or buttons? Is there part of the design that would look nice colored in with marker, colored pencils, chalks or watercolors?

10. I believe a card is not finished until the fiber is added, both inside and out. Matching colors from the design, take two or three strands of coordinating ribbon, yarn, metallic thread or wire and tie into a knot. Trim the ends so it looks the way you want it. Attach with your glue gun and you are done with the card.The envelop please! To put a final touch on your design decorate the envelop to match the card. Use your markers, chalk, stickers and stamps to create an envelop that is as gorgeous as what’s inside!!

In very little time you can create a special and unique card and envelop using your own design.

Robert Michael is a writer for Fhg Designs.com which is an excellent place to find design links, resources and articles. For more information go to: www.fhgdesigns.com

One of the most time-honored traditions of the Ironman is the mass swim start.

It truly is a sight to behold if as spectator you are witnessing your first ironman start. You may wonder how everyone manages to survive out there with the incredible free for all that usually follows within seconds of the start gun.

Some feel its an accident waiting to happen and filled with danger for the beginner ironman. It should be mentioned that normally over 50% of any Ironman race consists of first time starters. Some have never experienced a mass swim start of this magnitude.

The key to a successful swim is to go in with a race plan that will keep you out of trouble and away from the majority of the thrashing arms and legs. Yet time after time, athletes fail to seed themselves properly and just head out with the pack, unaware of what lies ahead.

Its not unusual for some people to just stay on shore, to terrified by what they are witnessing to even get in the water. I’ve been in races where it turns out that volunteers have managed to coax swimmers into the water and eventually everything turns out for them. Its just a matter of conquering the initial fear. Normally, once a swimmer can find some room out there and find a rhythm, they begin to relax and things go smoother.

There are those that feel its time for a wave start just out of safety concerns. It could be done fairly easily considering everyone wears a timing chip anyway.

Start the pros and everyone under 60 minutes first. A minute later start a second wave of everyone between 60 and 90 minutes and then a final wave of everyone else. The theory is that this will eliminate much of the mayhem of the mass start. And most likely it would. It would also make for less congestion out on the bike course as cyclists fight for room on the road during those early kilometers.

Some of the worst accidents I’ve ever witnessed in an Ironman bike leg have been within the first 40 kilometers. Usually this is caused by over-crowding as too many cyclists jockey for position.

Personally, I don’t feel you will ever see a wave start in the Ironman. The mass start is an Ironman tradition that will never be changed easily. It would probably take a disaster of major proportions to have race officials even consider it.

That being said, I feel its up to each individual athlete to go into the Ironman swim prepared.

Go in with a workable plan that will make the swim a safe, stress-free, enjoyable experience.

After many years of messing up the swim start, I finally came up with a plan that really worked for me. Not only did I enjoy it more and avoid the mob, my times became faster.

My name is Ray and I’m a 14 time ironman triathlete. I have created a site for the beginner ironman and it is full of racing and training tips that might be useful to some.

For information on how to plan your ironman swim, visit my site.

The name of the site is “ironstruck”. The address is http://triathlon-ironman-myfirstironman-ironstruck.com

You can also contact me with questions or comments at…

http://triathlon-ironman-myfirstironman-ironstruck/contact-me.html

You’re about to discover something that I honestly believe
can CHANGE YOUR LIFE.

This is a concept that drives my marketing. This concept
continues to make me a small fortune. Today I want
to share this concept with you.

“Crap can make you rich.”

Don’t laugh. Let me explain.

The beautiful thing about marketing online is that we can achieve
RESULTS for anything LIGHTNING FAST.

We can put up some Google AdWords, drive some traffic, and
starting getting results in a matter of MINUTES.

I can essentially write a sales letter, include an opt-in form,
and create a little infoproduct to sell, all in less than ONE HOUR
and have it getting results.

Okay, so the product may completely STINK. i.e. it’s CRAP.
The sales letter may be nothing but CRAP too. And even if
someone DOES order, they’ll be getting that product which
is CRAP and most likely will request a refund. Heck, after all,
I only spent an hour on the entire thing.

But none of that matters. The GOLD is not in the crap itself, the
gold is in the RESULTS.

Everything in marketing has a “Cause and Effect” — everything.

If you put up the WORST CRAP EVER right now on a web site,
something WILL happen. And those results are what eventually
drives a few hundred dollars a month in profit, and eventually
produces several thousand dollars a month, and can eventually
create a small fortune.

Okay, so maybe your conversion rate will initially be 1 out of 1,000.
That’s okay. With enough data that 1 out of 1,000 will become
a solid average and that site will CONSISTENTLY produce 1 sale
out of 1,000 visitors.

Hey, welcome to a CRAP conversion rate.

Hehe, but seriously…

The point is this. There is tremendous value in a 1 out of 1,000
visitor conversion rate — no matter what the price of the product
is. No matter what the offer is. Why? Because it’s GUARANTEED
that you can IMPROVE upon it. You can make it better. You
CAN get MORE people to buy.

All you have to do is improve your marketing. Test small changes.
Try a few little tweaks. Improve it little by little.

Get better and better RESULTS.

Here is something I want you to engrave deep into your brain…

You will NEVER, that’s right, NEVER, launch a site or any
marketing that will be even 10% of “perfect”. You’re never
going to launch a site that starts pulling a 10% conversion
ratio, let alone 100%.

(And before you email me and tell me that a site you
launched pulled a 10%+ conversion rate, I’m not talking about
the results of a strong endorsement someone did for you. I’m
talking about an AVERAGE conversion rate from ALL the
traffic sources you point at your site.)

So why are you spending SO MUCH TIME to get that latest
project launched? What the heck are you waiting for?

Know this… everyday that goes by without you launching
your latest project is a day that you could be using to
test and IMPROVE upon what that project produces.

Yes, that means make you more money.

Your project will never be perfect. You could have always made
it better. You could have always done this or done that.

WRITE THIS DOWN…

“The biggest piece of crap ever created and launched online
makes more money than an almost-perfect project that
was never launched.”

Is my point getting through to you?

The biggest mistake we entrepreneurs make is trying to
make our little projects PERFECT before we are willing
to launch them and see what they will do.

This can be the “kiss of death” for our businesses. Because
until we launch projects we don’t get any RESULTS.

What you need to realize is that RESULTS are the biggest
ASSET to your online business. Even the CRAPPY RESULTS.

Because the results are what tells us what is working and
what isn’t. And believe me, I’ve probably made MORE MONEY
from the results I discovered about things that weren’t working,
so don’t just think it’s all about what works.

So learn to produce projects on an ACCELERATED launch
schedule. Just get the sucker to the quickest version that
will allow you to launch it and start getting ANY results at
all. Then spend your time IMPROVING on the results.

Let’s face it. Many of our projects FLOP. It just happens.
People just won’t buy enough of something to make it profitable.
So we must move on and work on another project. Get it out there
and see if that one starts making money. Repeating the
process again and again.

But think about what I just said and realize something. If you
KNOW the reality that many of your projects will fail, why the
heck are you taking so long to find out?

It’s probably the same reason *I’ve* often delayed things… FEAR.

I’m AFRAID to see my “baby”, my special project, fail. But since
we’ve already come to realize that the reality of business is
that some projects WILL FAIL, we just need to GET OVER IT.

Put that CRAP together and launch it! Unpolished. Unperfected.
Ugly. Yes, I say let the crap fly! (no, not that crap.)

So get your projects launched absolutely, without a doubt, as
quickly as possible. Get SOME results. Any results. THEN
work on improving whatever those results are to increase
your profits.

If you are planning on doing JVs with people for your new
product, or rolling out an affiliate program for it, the
“JOHN REESE CRAP METHOD”
(as I will call it) still definitely works.

Here’s how you use it…

You put together your web site and product as quickly as
possible. Go jump on Google and buy some AdWords traffic
to point at the site. Start tracking the results — no matter
what they are. Make changes and TEST them. Continuously
work to improve the results of the site.

When you’re able to get the site to a satisfactory conversion
level, then and only then proceed with putting together JV
deals and really rolling out the product.

You know, the biggest kiss of death for an online marketer
can be to launch a product with JV partners WITHOUT having
first tested and improved a site’s conversion. Do you think
your JV partners are going to promote your next project
if the initial one completely FLOPS and doesn’t make them
any money? Absolutely not.

SO USE THE “JOHN REESE CRAP METHOD” AND PROFIT!

1. Create and launch crap.
2. Test that crap.
3. Improve that crap.
4. Make money with crap that eventually becomes non-crap.

Seriously. Don’t laugh. This process works. Again and again.
It has made me rich.

Learn it. Live it. Love it. Let crap make YOU rich.

—————————————–
John Reese is an Internet Marketing pioneer that has
been actively marketing online since 1990. John has
sold millions of dollars worth of products and services
online and his network of Web Sites have received over
1.4 BILLION Web Site visitors since their inception. You
can learn more about John, his home study courses,
and subscribe to his free ezine by visiting:

http://www.marketingsecrets.com

(c)2003 MarketingSecrets.com. All rights reserved.

It happened again. I ran into an old friend while registering for the World Masters Games last month and as we were catching up, she complemented me on a necklace I was wearing. When I told her I bought it in South Africa on my last trip there, she exclaimed, “You have to start importing these. You’d make a fortune!”

The Great Import Plan

This is a refrain I’ve heard over and over again and while there is some truth in it, you can make money being an importer, there is a certain amount of naiveté in the plan. First of all, most people don’t take into account the shipping costs, tariffs and insurance involved - though some do sneak through customs with suitcases brimming. But the biggest flaw in the Great Import Plan is distribution. Canada is a vast but sparsely populated country. In order to sell necklaces, or whatever, you need some method of getting it to the people of Lunenburg at one end and Nanaimo at the other. Even if you are only targeting your local market, you need exposure to lots of customers to make the venture profitable. Do you open a retail store? Hit the Farmer’s Market? Find a distributor?

Before I go on, I bet you’re thinking, “I thought this article was all about exporting?” Well, it is. This little scenario is exactly the same dilemma facing exporters - getting your product to the people that need it and will buy it.

After in-depth market research you may be 110% convinced that everyone in Italy will be clamoring for your product and you may have it all figured out with respect to shipping but the big question is, how do you get it into the hands of your customers? Open a retail store? Sell in local markets? Find a distributor?

Finding an effective market entry method that meets your needs is probably one of the most important and time consuming methods of exporting, yet, in my opinion, it is one that companies concern themselves with the least. I’ve seen companies make mistakes in foreign countries equivalent to giving a mom and pop shop in Flin Flon, Manitoba exclusive, nationwide distribution rights to sell African jewelry. Sure, they might sell a few pieces but it’s not likely they are going to penetrate major urban centers. And as far as I can tell, the only reason companies make this error is because they are lazy in conducting their their due diligence.

Star qualities of a distributor

So don’t sign an agreement with the first person to approach you (I call it “accidental exporting” and there are a lot of unscrupulous people out there that do just that - then never deliver, waiting to be bought out of a contract). Be active in finding a distributor that meets your needs and avoid the temptation to sign an agreement with a distributor merely because they are the biggest, most persistent or super-enthusiastic. At a minimum, consider these qualities when evaluating a distributor:

- Proven track record in a similar line, but no conflicts of interest with competing products.

- Mix of product lines that complement your product. Check to ensure that they actually do represent those products.

- Established distribution networks and strong contacts with key buyers. You may have to appoint several distributors in a country like Italy where business is done regionally and there is little consolidation.

- Solid financial history (be sure to do a credit check) and sufficient cash flow in order to extend credit to customers, as well as a willingness to invest in your line.

- Appropriate staff (in terms of numbers but also marketing savvy) to promote your product.

- Storage facilities, showrooms, shops, service workshops and after-sales service as required by your product.

- Knowledge of local import procedures and regulations.

- References from other suppliers and customers.

- Personal rapport - and this may end up being the most important factor in your success!

Finding a distributor

Finding a distributor that meets all of your criteria can be difficult. I suggest that you interview at least five potential partners (preferably in-person) before you appoint a distributor. Unfortunately, there is no one way of finding an overseas partner and it is a time consuming process. Many companies have good luck approaching the Canadian Trade Commissioner service in their target market, though results can vary from country to country and I always caution that this should be only one source of information. Other options include chambers of commerce, asking for referrals from other Canadian exporters, checking with your end customer to see who their distributors are, trade associations and trade shows. Also, your local library (the Business Link in Edmonton is an excellent resource) will have books such as “The International Directory of Agents, Distributors and Wholesalers.”

Show me the money!

It’s not always possible to sign-on with the largest distributor in a country. Sometimes it is necessary to work with a smaller partner, with the agreement that they will grow as your company grows. It’s like the movie “Jerry Maguire” when Cuba Gooding Jr.’s character, Rod Tidwell, signs on with Tom Cruise’s agency, even when no one else would take the chance. By the end of the movie, when Tidwell’s football fortunes were rising, so were Jerry’s - they grew together. Plus, Jerry was able to devote all of his time to Rod. Wouldn’t that be great for your product?

The important thing is to have a systematic method of evaluating each prospect. At a minimum you should prepare a detailed questionnaire that addresses all of the issues I identified above. Companies that take the time to fill it out will be serious. You would be amazed at what a great filtering tool this is and it will help you to more objectively evaluate prospective distributors.

Bronze medal success

As for the Masters Games, I’m happy to report that my basketball team won the bronze medal in our category. I’m in the front row, center, looking a little goofy (there were a lot of people taking photos, it was hard to know where to look). It was a true international event (we had an Aussie on our team) with over 5,000 of 21,000 athletes from outside of Canada, proving that sport is a common unifier regardless of citizenship, language, religion or political beliefs. It was so much fun, we’re thinking of going to Sydney in 2009!

Copyright© 2005.

Cheryl Lockhart of International Strategies Ltd. assists small- to medium-sized Canadian and foreign enterprises navigate the complexities of global business development. Services include international project identification and management, market research and analysis and foreign partner development.

To learn more about exporting and gain access to more FREE e-zines, visit her web site http://www.intl-strategies.com

Basic body movement is essential in any sport. Of course it is also essential for any type of physical activity we do.

As parents, we teach little children how to do the simplest of things. This includes how to move and how to control movements for precision and safety.

Basic body movement also means limiting movement to the essential movement for what you want to do. We control the desired movement. And, we prevent unwanted movement. We learn to keep our movements just firm enough to be coordinated. We also learn to allow just enough relaxation so the movements can flow through their proper range with the most comfort.

For many golfers, if you think about your hands doing something or even have much of your focus on your hands then, usually, you will do something incorrect with your hands.

Basic body movement, under control, is to be your main focus. When you become good at this part of your golf swing then can you try advanced hand movements. But, any of these hand movements should only be done in harmony with the dominant body and upper arm movements.

Even your arm movements need more focus in the early learning stages than any perceived hand movements. And, these arm movements should focus on movements generated in the upper arms which are as close to your body as possible.

A Special Lesson With A Good Golfer

A few years ago I did 2 golf lessons with a man who stood a little over 6 feet tall. He was having trouble spraying his hits with his mid-irons to his woods. I asked him to hit a ball with a wedge. He chose his 64 degree lob wedge and promptly hit a high, 95 yard hit.

What was he doing wanting a lesson from anyone? Answer: He had one wrong move that he wasn’t aware he was doing.

I used my interpretation of Fred Couples’ looping swing to guide him to the correct arm movement. When he tried my idea of Fred’s swing Andy hit the ball higher and 15 yards farther.

He did not want to develop that move but he understood how to correct his error with the proper movement. He hit a lot of good golf balls afterwards and knew why he did so.

Andy’s other problem involved chipping. He had a good hand movement in his chipping effort. He had no idea how to use that good movement with the movements of his body. As well, he had no idea of the importance of his body activity during his chipping.

A few minutes into the 2nd lesson he had learned how to time his hand movements with his body movements. He also learned where his hands should be in relation to his spine as he did the hand movements that he wanted.

His chipping improved dramatically within the lesson. His confidence was as high as possible that he could land a golf ball where he wanted. And, all it took was understanding how his arms and hands were to move in harmony with his body and also in relationship to his body position.

How I Developed My Understanding Of Basic Body Movement

I taught physical education from Grades 1 to 9. In one short span of time I could see the development of movement in all stages of growth. I could also see the physical and mental effort carried out by these children as they learned the skills and the games which I taught.

I used to teach the various Grades a level of a game which they could handle. I taught positional play in slow motion and then introduced body movements which enabled the students to move fluently up and down the playing surface. They quickly learned this and asked for more. That is when I taught the various skills. The game was taught first; and then came the skills.

In golf, there are a number of games played during a round.

• We try to get a better score than someone else.

• We try to get a personal best score during a round.

• We try to play against the golf course to get a par round or better.

• We try to get a better score than par on each hole.

BUT, usually forgotten is the game of playing each golf shot as good as we possibly can. It is this last “game” which I teach in my golf lessons.

The free articles combined with the instruction modules will teach you how to win “the game” of playing each hit during your round of golf.

Relating this to teaching golf swing skills I emphasize basic posture, alignment, control, and body movement. Arm and hand activity do not get taught until my students learn basic movements. Because of this, beginners and students who had never hit the ball in the air soon hit draws with even their short irons when they hit the ball over a fence.

You, The Ground, And The Golf Ball

We stand on the ground. The golf ball rests on the ground (er, usually). Before we try to dislodge that golf ball from its place on the ground we should learn a good method of relating what we do from our “perch” on the ground.

Between our connection to the ground and the ball’s position on the ground we have a lot of body mass and joints along with that “stick” thing. We need movement to make the golf ball move. Therefore, we swing back and forth to make the golf club move the ball. But, those joints want to do all sorts of contortions during our golf swing efforts.

We need to develop an understanding of how to move at the fewest possible joints and how to control or prevent movements of the rest of our joints. This is basic to anything we do. It is very important to this “confusing” skill called the golf swing.

About The Author

Glen teaches his golf program for Ladysmith, BC Parks & Rec.

http://basicbodymovementforanygolfswing.com

golflesson@basicbodymovementforanygolfswing.com

gleno@basicbodymovementforanygolfswing.com

Case Studies can help professional service providers build trust and credibility with clients and prospects. When you are working with intangibles such as services it hard to prove what you can do and why you are the best person to provide the services that your prospective clients need. Case studies can help you shine and prove your worth to potential customers and current clients.

What are Case Studies and Why are they created?

Case Studies are success stories using your product or services. When you create a Case Study you are telling your readers how a client a problem that needed solving. How you solved the client’s problem and turned the client into a happy and satisfied customer.

Once you decide to create your case study. You need to decide which customer’s story would make a good case study. You should choose a customer who has been a client of your business for some time. Ask the client for permission to interview them and create a case study. Try and get quotes that you can use.

When you write you case study try and show how you solved one client’s problem. If you were able to solve other problems, write additional cases studies. You also want to create case studies that set you apart from your competition. This is a great opportunity to showcase your talents and skills.

The case studies that you create should be easy to read and understand, like reading a story. Try to keep your case studies close to one page. You can include figures, facts, diagrams but make sure that they flow easily within the story that you are telling.

Case Studies are broken down into three sections: Problem, Solution and Results.

You being the case study by breaking down a problem that a client was facing. You provide the details of the problem. You give enough background information to tell the problem and the problems significance.

The Problem

Mary and Thomas Dailey a couple in their middle 50″s, faced with the problem of paying for their children’s education and funding their retirement. When they came to see me, their children were 14 and 16 year’s old. They were looking to retire before their youngest child would finish college. They did not want to use up their retirement fund to finance their children’s education and they did not desire to keep working past retirement age.

Once you have stated the problem, you provide the details of how you came up with a solution to your client’s problem. At this point, you tell the steps you took to find a solution to your customer’s problem.

The Solution

I sat down with the Daily’s and we did a breakdown of their finances and future goals. We looked at their children’s grades and interest in and outside of school. The Daily’s had saved enough money for their children to attend public universities. At the time both of their children were looking at attending private prestigious universities.

Their oldest child Maria was an “A” student, on the soccer team and fluent in French. Their youngest child Matthew was also an “A” student, played basketball and volunteered for a wildlife preserve association. We had Maria and Matthew decide what three colleges they really wanted to attend and looked into the financial programs available for families that do not qualify for need-based financial aid.

We were able to determine that the children should be able to receive academic and sports scholarships. We also determined that they could defer saving for retirement for a couple of years to beef up their children’s college funds. When the youngest child entered college, they could then return to saving for retirement. The Daily’s would be able to send their children to college without sacrificing their retirement savings.

Once the solution has been provided, you tell the readers what the results were. Here you get to tell the effectiveness of your solution and the benefits that your client received having used your solution.

The Results

The Daily’s put off saving for their retirement for three years and invested into their children’s education fund. Through careful research and planning the children were able to receive scholarships. The family was able to finance what the scholarships did not cover.

After saving for the children’s education they resumed saving for their retirement. Ten years later Mary and Thomas are happily retired. Enjoying a life of leisure and their children have finished college, without having large student loans to repay.

Case Studies are a valuable resource. It allows you to show your expertise in action. A case study can be more powerful then your brochure or sales literature. Case studies allow you show prospects what you can do for them as you have done successfully for others. If you are adding, case studies to you website. Regularly add new case studies so that readers will keep coming back to your website to check on updates. The more your prospective clients visit your website. The more they will begin to feel as if they know you. Once they get to know you, they begin to trust you and your judgement. We all know that people do business with people they feel they know, not strangers.

It doesn’t matter whether you provide a service or product. Case studies can go a long way toward building trust and credibility with prospects and current clients.

Jennifer Woodard is a freelance Copywriter/Marketing Communications Consultant. If you would like more information, she can be reached at msjenniferwoodard@yahoo.com You can also join her monthly marketing group newsletter at http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/JustWriteMarketingNewsletter

As ebook publishers we constantly strive to develop new information products that we
hope people will find value in, open up their wallets and graciously hand over their hard
earned dollars to us in their hope of learning something new or finding an immediate
solution to fix whatever problems they may be experiencing at that moment in their life. I
call this a hunger for curable knowledge, a fixer upper of sorts. It is often a battle for
many of us to decide on a realistic price that we believe the potential customer will
perceive as fair value. We all know, at times, this can be a painstaking task. We bounce
back and forth between prices, testing out the waters, trying to find just the acceptable
price range to motivate the visitor to make that all important decision. It’s easier said
than done. As marketers we have the temptation of offering bonuses as a way to increase
the perception that this info product we worked hard to develop is actually worth the
price were asking. But when does this strategy reach the plateau of overkill? To the
point where offering so many extra bonuses to entice the visitor to buy at the price of
$27.00, instead are we not actually implanting the emotion of doubt in our visitors mind?
Another difficult question to answer. As we all try our best to try and put ourselves in
our customers shoes, to try and figure out what their thinking when they see our offer, but
were not all psychic. Could our customers be thinking “If the author is offering this
many bonus ebooks in his or her offer to entice me to buy this one ebook is the
information in that ebook really worth the price?”. Then there’s alway’s the argument
that adding many bonuses to an existing offer definitely increases the chances for a sale.
Raises the perceived value of course! I agree that this type of marketing does work, but
only when applied to a book that we are asking a much higher price for, such as $97.00.
Asking people to fork out that kind of cash can be pretty risky simply because many
people can’t afford the asking price, or figure it’s not worth it. Whatever information
that is contained in that ebook had better be hard to come by information or the
percentage of refund requests could be high. To avoid this potential downfall is when
offering bonuses should come into play. But the bottom line is this, if the information
contained in the ebook your offering is truly valuable why bother offering a bunch of
bonuses in the first place, possibly risking making your prospect suspicious? Not
everyone perceives the same way. If they take the risk (and a lot of people who purchase
online feel they do take risks when making a purchase) and buy your info product
without any bonuses and like what they read, as long as it helped them, most of the time
they won’t ask for a refund, and you’ve made a sale and everyone’s happy. Long
extended no questions asked money back guarantees can be a great way of putting your
prospects fears at ease, but sometimes it can backfire to. But even more importantly than
offering bonuses, 1 year money back guarantees and all the rest, it’s absolutely critical
and probably the most important part of closing a sale is to have your contact information
in plain view on your site. A place they can call and to talk to a “real person” before
deciding to buy, and a physical address, not a P.O. Box. More often than not that’s all
that’s required besides good ad copy, but I see many sites in my web surfing adventures who fall short on
providing that information. As a customer would I buy from them…not a chance.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Brian is a freelance writing covering topics of interest in the financial, health, and family arena’s. He’s the owner of www.theebookking.com and invites submissions of free quality ebooks to display in his growing directory.

If you have a website, chances are you would like to increase
your traffic. Well, I have a few simple steps to make this
easier.

#1. Write related articles and post them directly on your
website for viewing. Make sure they are “search engine friendly”.

#2. Submit the same articles to places such as
www.goarticles.com and other free web publishing websites.

#3. Use an autoresponder to create a mailing list so people can
sign up and get the latest article automatically.

#4. Look at your website from your potential customers point of
view. Why should they buy from you? What can you offer that
others do not?

I have used all these tips to bring traffic to my 100+ websites,
and it works great. It takes a little more time, but it is worth
it!

Gaining new customers for your e-commerce website is very important to keep you in business so you are probably considering all the different types of marketing that will bring in new business. Since you have an e-commerce site you have probably considered every possible type of online advertising, but has offline advertising crossed your mind? It may have or it may not, but regardless you are surely interested in knowing whether offline advertising can benefit your website and increase your traffic and ultimately sales.

The answer whether offline advertising works or not depends significantly on where you advertise.

Offline Advertising Options

Advertising your e-commerce site offline can really be a boost to your sales if you know where to advertise. For example, if your e-commerce website sells custom printed t-shirts and you have your web address printed on each t-shirt you sell then there will be plenty of people walking around advertising for you! This is the best offline advertising because you don’t have to pay for it or put in much effort.

Another great offline marketing strategy is billboards. This might seem odd to you, but a strategically placed billboard ad can really garner you some business. For example, if your e-commerce site sells antiques then a billboard advertisement in the heart of antique country with something to the effect of “Didn’t Find it Here? Check Here” with your web address underneath will surely increase your traffic and your sales.

Advertising in newspapers, magazines, and even on television are other offline ads that are effective for your e-commerce business as long as you do some research so you know your market and who you are marketing to with the offline ad.

Advertising, On and Offline, Just Makes Sense

If you advertise online for your e-commerce site then that is great, but advertising offline has some perks as well and you will reach people that are not necessarily Internet savvy. However, if your advertisement is good enough then those individuals might give the Net a try just to check out your site. So, always evaluate all of your advertisement options, even those offline, before deciding on the best advertising strategy. A little bit of online advertisements mixed with a little offline advertisements will really round out your marketing plan and be successful for your website.

SearchArticles.Net features over 13,000 articles including thousands of tips for marketing and advertising. Visit http://www.SearchArticles.Net/marketing.cfm

If you’re a student attending classes, you have probably experienced many moments when it was hard to make yourself settle down and study, even when an important exam was coming up.

If you’re like most students, you put off studying until the very last minute. The night before the exam, you’ll stay up all night cramming, getting little or no sleep. In the morning, you’ll drag yourself out of bed, psych yourself up with lots of coffee and some cigarettes, and go into the exam feeling exhausted, drained and jittery all at the same time. You’ll find it hard to focus or think, and you’ll be cursing yourself for not starting to study sooner.

And not surprisingly, unless you’re blessed with natural brilliance, or you happen to know the subject matter extremely well, you’ll probably do terribly on the test.

If this is your typical method of studying, you already know it doesn’t work. Every time you go through this ritual, you tell yourself that you’re going to smarten up the next time you face a big exam. Next time you’ll start to study weeks in advance, you say. But instead, you keep repeating this crazy pattern. Why does this keep happening? And what should you be doing instead if you want to get better marks?

A big problem for most people, especially those who are young students, is that life gets in the way. If you’re a student, you probably have a part time job, and like most young people, you also want to have a social life.

Studying can seem very boring compared to all the exciting temptations just outside your door. Or the games on your computer. Even watching old reruns of Sesame Street can seem more interesting than the biology text your teacher is expecting you to master!

One reason we often don’t start studying until the last possible minute is that we have misjudged how long it will actually take us to absorb and understand the material. If your mid-term is still six weeks away, that might seem like plenty of time left before you need to get around to studying. You might find however, that the subject matter is a lot harder to understand than you thought it would be, and all of a sudden there’s no time left to ask someone to explain it to you.

Another reason we often put off starting to study is that we are too overwhelmed with how big the project actually seems to be. Somehow we convince ourselves that putting off a tough study project can be the best way to avoid feeling overwhelmed by it.

When we are faced with a study project that seems exceptionally difficult and overwhelming, it can be to maintain a high level of interest and motivation for the duration of the learning process.

If you have been guilty of all these bad study habits, it’s not too late to learn some other habits that will work better for you.

First, remind yourself why you want to do better in your studies. Maybe you need a good mark to get into a good college. Maybe you want a chance at a career that will pay you well. Always keep your end goal in mind.

You can put little cards up around your room with inspirational messages, and attractive photographs that will remind you why you want to do well in school.

If you feel very overwhelmed, you can improve your motivation and your performance by breaking up the project into smaller sections, or “chunks”. Each time you accomplish one little bit successfully, give yourself a meaningful reward.

If you have a deadline looming, decide how much of the project you need to tackle at one time.

Let’s say you have six weeks to master the content of a difficult biology text. Looking through the book you realize that if you study one chapter each night, you can get through the book in 28 days, leaving two weeks in which you can again review the material.

With this knowledge you can pace yourself. You know what your assignment is. You know how much you need to read every night. Concentrate on the immediate task at hand. You don’t need to feel overwhelmed by the entire book at one time. Next, work out a system of rewards for yourself. Give yourself a series of small rewards each time you master one chapter, and a larger reward for completing the entire book.

For rewards to work they must be immediate, and personally meaningful to you. There is no point in rewarding yourself with a new fishing rod if you hate fishing.

Rewards don’t need to be material objects if there is something else that would really motivate and inspire you. How about attending a special concert, or taking a special trip? You decide. Get creative and think of something that will spur you to take action.

It’s very important that the reward take place soon after the work has been accomplished. This creates a sense of positive reinforcement. Give yourself a small reward every time you finish a small part of the job, and a bigger reward when the project is completed. If there is too long a gap between the activity and the reward, it will not have the effect of reinforcing the desired activity.

Besides motivating yourself with a series of external rewards, learn to motivate yourself internally. Tell yourself you’re a good learner. Tell yourself you enjoy learning. Tell yourself you enjoy giving your brain a good work out. Congratulate yourself for your efforts. Tell yourself you love acquiring new knowledge, and let yourself feel a joy in learning. Be proud of yourself for the work you do to gain more knowledge.

For information to sink into your brain and be accessible to you, you need to review it several times, and your brain needs to sleep properly for the memories to be encoded in your neurons. You need to reduce your mental stress. Your brain needs good nutrition and it needs to be in a peaceful, confident state. Drugs and alcohol don’t help the process of learning.

Write out what you are learning in your own words, and find a learning buddy. Practice explaining to someone else what you have learned. This will increase the likelihood that your brain will remember it.

If you start to cram the night before, you are putting your brain at a big disadvantage.

You’re increasing your physical and mental stress, and you’re not giving yourself time to review the material several times. By cutting back on your sleep, you’re not giving your brain a chance to put the information you’ve been studying into the hard drive storage of your brain.

By starting your studies early, and reviewing what you’ve learned, you have a much better chance of remembering and understanding what you need to know when you face a big exam.

Royane Real is a science educator and the author of several books on improving learning. This article is taken from the new short report “Your Quick Guide to Improving Your Learning Ability” You can get the paperback version or download it from http://www.lulu.com/real