Business, economic development - the unofficial Chamber of Commerce

There is something about this electronic medium we operate in every day that makes people skeptical. It’s not just having to enter your credit card number into cyber space, or worry about having your identity stolen. Those problems are all too real and we learn to shield ourselves from them, so that we can carry on. But, even when we do, it’s still hard to make judgments about people, or about another business, when you only deal with them in the online environment.

In the offline world we have the benefit of looking others in the eye and using our experience to make a judgment about them. Even in our initial encounter with someone, we get to size him up - to have a first impression. But, how are visitors to your web site assessing your credibility and integrity? How do you overcome the basic inconsistency that trust is something that you earn over time, with having only seconds to convey it on the internet?

There are studies out there that provide some excellent thoughts about how to design and build a web site to enhance its credibility and foster trust; you can do a Google search under “web site credibility” and see these for yourself. What they will tell you, though, is that there are a few key design things that go a long way to establishing your credibility online and making it easier for site visitors to trust you and your business. Make sure the site looks professional, is easy to navigate, and that everything works properly. Make sure you provide a clear path for online customers to communicate with you. Make sure that your content establishes both your own credibility and that of any other contributors to your site. Make sure that you change your content frequently and keep it up to date.

These are all common sense steps and they are important; any good site designer will advise you on them and implement what he can for you. Spending the time, or the money to build a site that is flawed in the way it works will clearly undermine the credibility of your business over time and site visitors will never trust you as a result. But, there is more to the issue of conveying integrity than site design.

Given the nature of my business, I spend a lot of time online and see many other sites. I am constantly checking to see how others do things and collecting the best information I can find for my customers. I suppose each of us has our own opinion about what constitutes a “good site,” or what makes us distrust any site. There are several things, though, that tip the scales for me and make me immediately suspicious, or not trust the people that are presumably behind the electronic facade they are asking me to use.

The thing that makes me most distrust any online business is feeling “tricked” by them. Some sites are designed to force the user to drill down into the site to find what he wants. When you get to what you’re looking for, though, you discover that you have to register, or provide information about yourself and / or your business, or worse yet pay for something you expected to get for free. When this happens to me, I leave immediately. I don’t mind that someone wants a little information, or charges for a product or service that they provide; they just need to tell me that upfront, if they want me to trust their business.

Second, I do not like to be presented with any obstacles in communicating with an online business. It amazes me how many of them create these roadblocks - not making the contact process obvious on the site, not providing an e-mail address and forcing you to go through the site, not being able to communicate with a person, not having an easy way to follow up with them, if they don’t respond, not having telephone contact available, etc. You know it’s intentional. You know this process is designed to make things easier and more efficient for the company, than for you, the customer.

Third, it frustrates me to no end to be disappointed by the quality of the supporting material on a site. While there is a huge amount of information to be found online, frankly, most of it is useless and it’s there because the business owner read someplace that he should have a lot of “content” on his site to draw people in and to enhance his search engine placement. For me, it totally undermines the credibility of a site, when it provides “articles” that have no substance, or worse yet, when the articles are just blatant commercials for the company’s products. That’s why at Business Advisor Online we read every article before we post it, include less than 20% of what we read, and provide both a summary and a rating of every article, so the reader doesn’t waste his time.

Fourth, when I see a lot of advertisements on a site, my first inclination is to bolt; I try to dig a little deeper, but my antenna goes up when I see that I am going to have to wade through all those ads. I understand that letting other companies advertise on your site is a viable business model and, if it’s done reasonably and the site is still providing me with real value, I’ll tolerate it. But, sometimes the ads are so pervasive that you can’t easily tell what the site can actually do for you, or what its purpose is; and the worst situation is not being able to clearly see the difference between an advertisement and content. Just remember - when you see a lot of ads on a site, the person paying for them is the real customer, not you!

Finally, not being able to clearly discern what the site’s business model is and how it makes money makes me suspicious. I understand that most people are not going to have this one on their list; but, I believe there are only a three reasons to have a web site to begin with - to sell more, to enhance efficiency, and to provide better service - and if I can’t figure out which one the site is trying to accomplish, it makes me a little uncomfortable.

At the risk of oversimplifying this credibility and trust issue, the real solution is to pay attention to it - to make it a point to probe how credible you actually are. As your site changes and evolves, keep testing it and find ways to get feedback from visitors about what they think. Give them a way to “look you in the eye” and you’ll have a better chance of earning their trust.

Introduction
It seems that thinkers, philosophers, social critics, and typically anyone concerned with the plight of those who must endure through misery and suffering, usually make references to the poverty, oppression, and crime of those who must go through a harder life. Throughout the ages, the political leaders of a nation, whom have been elected by their campaign funds or their birth rights, have always given great concern to ending crime. Murder, robbery, and rape have typically been regarded as the greatest crimes in society, each one created in its own nature. Murder is the highest form of vengeance, and in societies where feuds and arguments have been the general discourse, there will be this crime. While men and women live together, they have often neglected the articulate nature of science, art, and learning.

Instead of decided to advance civilization, change the world, and love each other, they have created war among themselves, for their own reasons. Robbery itself is a crime that is as old as the existence of property. Instead of deciding to increase their own wealth, by the labor of their hands, man decided to benefit from the reward of another man’s hand. Rape itself has been detested throughout all of Western Europe, but it is only a recent phenomena that the motive changed. For a great deal of time, rape was simply regarded as expensive property damage. Finally when the people realized that women are themselves capable of independent thought, and a desire to express and experience inner emotions, rape has been changed, from property damage to personal assault. While the monarchs and elected officials of nations, and their countless followers, have endeavored to offer their plans and ideas on ending crime, few have attempted to discover the cause of crime. It has almost always been assumed that the source of crime is a simple disobedience to the law. It was only in the 20th century that the Western world finally discovered that criminal activity was not in fact caused be a diseased brain. It still remains a doctrine of many of today’s politicians and their supporters that crime in caused by savagery, an “evil” nature, or simply a disobedience to the law, and this view is expressed in their speeches, their public reports, and their communication with the public.

It is crime that I shall be investigating within this paper. By crime, I mean a violation of either the laws or social customs (new and old) in a society.

A Profile of Crime in America

Before continuing in this piece, it is probably most important to first note the most common types of crime that occur within this nation. In state penitentiaries, 49% were sentenced for a violent crime, 20% were sentenced for a property crime, and 21% were sentenced for a drug crime (for the year 2000). In city jails, a fourth were held for violent crimes, a fourth were held for property crimes, and a fifth were held for drug crimes (for the year 1996). [*1] However, there are overlapping crimes. Robbery, for instance, for something as small as a few dollars, may go unpersecuted, but the crime of assault or battery may end up with the suspect serving several years. Offenders of violent crimes had used a weapon in 46% of all robberies, as an example (for the year 2002). [*2] With that, I continue in my analysis.

Crimes of Greed

Nature of the Crime

When I speak of Crimes of Greed, I want it to be understood that I am speaking of robbery, of mugging, of theft of property in any manner. The desire to steal property can be understood by all. It is but a human desire, one that exists inside all of us, to have the essentials of life, such as food, shelter, and the like. In fact, it is hardly human, and rather completely natural to all forms of life. This instinct to gather the necessities, at all costs, is wholly normal. I am not attempting to justify it, but rather, only understand it. Humans, however, vary somewhat than other creatures of this planet. For some of us, it is not enough to have what is necessary to life. We must have wealth, we must have financial security. A loaf of bread every day while living in the smallest of apartments might very well meet the necessities. Yet, it is as much a dream as it is a desire to think that one day, you can have luxury, and those things you’ve always hoped for as a child. A loaf of bread and a cockroach infested apartment, sure, they may very well meet your necessities. But what about a television set? A CD player? A DVD player? A stylish wardrobe? A condominium? Maybe your own house? As I said, it is only human to want wealth and possibly extravagance, or the idea that you are “well off” and need not worry about financial insecurities. The instinct to obtain that what you need to survive can be found in all life forms and the desire to become wealthy and even recognized is closer to the human species, though I wouldn’t be surprised if similar desires were found in the other creatures of this world.

The instinct for survival and desire of wealth are apparent parts of human society and have found themselves expressed in culture. The question now is, what are the methods by which people go about procuring these desires? Primarily, there are two methods: legal employment and criminal activity (or, Crimes of Greed, “Property Crimes”). On behalf of legal employment, one must first understand that this hardly signifies something worthy, just, or virtuous. The officials of the Nazi army were well-paid and well-respected — and despite the fact that it may have been their task to persecute those of the Jewish ethnicity, they were legally employed. So, too, were the Roman soldiers, whose task it was to invade foreign lands with the intent to rob and plunder. Only a nominal difference took place when American soldiers are sent world wide, to raid countries like Vietnam, Haiti, Guatemala, Cambodia, Colombia, or others. Millions of lives taken and thousands of homes burned to the ground, all under the banner of legal employment, but not only legal employment, but a job that was respected by society and honored by the government.

These are the two options for a human being’s natural inclinations of wealth: legal employment, and the alternative, the alternative going by the title of “crime.” Of those who commit crime, statistics show that their ability to generate revenue through legal employment is deficient. In federal and state prisons, 63% percent of jail inmates belonged to racial or ethnic minorities in 1996. [*1] The importance of this statistic is the history of racila and ethnic minorities. Less than two hundred years ago, the African race was released from the bondage of slavery, only to be given unequal conditions and poverty. Only some decades ago did they really achieve social, political, or economic equality in opportunity — and still, even though the opportunity is present, they are in the thick sand of poverty. A black family, with two parents working minimum wage, will have a harder time sending their children to a university, than a white family, with two parents working middle class jobs. And then consider the plight of the Native Americans. They owned the land and the resources that make up virtually all property in this nation — and it was stolen. In prisons, altogether, an estimated 57% of inmates had a high school diploma or its equivalent. [*1] And, indeed, there is no denying that lack of a high school diploma will prevent acceleration, either with money-making ability or job opportunities.

Nationally, in local jails, over a third of all inmates reported some physical or mental disability. Altogether, only 54% of inmates had a high school diploma or its equivalent. Thirty-six of all inmates were not employed during the month before they were arrested for their current offense. A quarter of the jail inmates said they had been treated at some time for a mental or emotional problem. [*1] There is no denying that all of these statistics debilitates the inmates from acquiring a legal job. Besides those who fall into the category of debilitated, what can be said of those who are on an equal level with others as far as legal employment ability? It is in only one or two instances where the state minimum wage with a full time job is enough to reach the poverty level. The fact that these individuals are not just randomly committing crimes, and that they are in fact acting based on their conditions, is quite obvious. Of the 272,111 persons released from prisons in 15 States in 1994, an estimated 67.5% were rearrested for a felony or serious misdemeanor within 3 years, 46.9% were reconvicted, and 25.4% resentenced to prison for a new crime. [*1]

The ultimate cause of the Crimes of Greed is poverty. There is no premeditated motive based on disobedience to the law or disrespect for the law — it is based on the ability to make wealth. The economy is the cause of crime. This new realization actually throws responsibility from the criminal to the heads of the economy, or to those who sustain the economy. Tens of millions of Africans, for instance, were born in poverty, because their ancestors were bondaged to slavery without the right to freedom. When an man of African descent commits a crime of theft, it may be less linked to his disobedience than his desire for food. And the same can be said of any man who commits a crime of greed. Though it is hardly deniable that poverty is the cause of these crimes of theft, is it justified to state that the economy is the cause of poverty? Any person who understand basic economics cannot deny this. Capitalism has allowed the most extreme wealth to a few and the most extreme poverty to all. Workers are paid only one tenth of the wealth they create. [*3] The rest of the 90% of that wealth goes into the pockets of the Capitalist class. If workers, in fact, were paid all of the wealth that they labored to create, then their revenue would increase by tenfold — this would mean they could still live in poverty only working 4 hours a week, or double what they are currently making by working only 8 hours a week. More wealth to those who create it, and less work time to the laborers who created all wealth.

There are, of course, various interested players in the system of Capitalism. If the few are the oppressors, and the many are the oppressed, why is it that a revolution has not come? The answer is simple: the oppressed are conditioned to believe that slavery is freedom. From the day a citizen can attend school, they are forced to by law, where they are taught nothing more than lies in an oppressive system that involves torture and abuse. Then the work experience comes where wage-slavery threatens people with starvation if they do not succumb. The media has been purchased by megacorporations and receives grants from the government — never is the truth wholly told. The government lied to the public during the Vietnam War and in fact, few people know today that the war was an attempt to keep Vietnam as a colony of France — the same reason why the colonies of America revolted. The next secret war of the US Army is always around the corner, when the US imperialist government overthrows a democratically elected president and supports their own dictator in South American nations. Poverty has never existed in such prevalence, except those nations touched by contemporary Capitalism, a fact that no economist would be bold enough to refuse. The wars go on and the soldiers die thinking that liberty is what they are fighting for, but when they find themselves in a foreign land burning villages, only those who are free in mind will say, “Is this really for liberty?” The next anti-Capitalism or anti-police brutality is met with rubber bullets and pepper spray, as police officers brutalize and murder citizens — and they think that order is “people not being outraged that 40% of the children here don’t have enough to eat.” [*4] So when people express an anti-government opinion, they can rest in prison cells while the president delivers another address to the people, arguing that invading and destroying another country so we can exploit them for their cheap labor and resources is the same thing as independence. Because when people fight back against their government, they are called “terrorists” — and when a person expresses a revolutionary opinion, they are called an “insurgent.” The media publicizes it and the people buy. From the first day, people are given the mindset that fighting back is futile.

Maybe a police officer will think it’s a lie that “liberty means shooting protestors.” Maybe a soldier will think it’s a lie that “doing your duty means killing civilians.” Maybe a news reporter will think it’s a deception that they refuse to cover the stories of soldiers executing civilians. Tom Hurndall was shot in the head by an Israeli police officer during a peaceful protest. All of the major news networks refused to carry the story. [*5] He was protesting the destruction of a home with bulldozers by a government that oppressed Palestinians. The other 2,500 deaths of refugees, protestors, and political dissidents went uncovered. Carlo Giuliani was shot in the head by Italian police while protesting Capitalism. [*6] Because today, struggling to be free has been labeled as “anarchy and terrorism,” because a movement for and by the people is the equivalent of a “terror cell.” Why talk about the deaths of innocent civilians at the hands of police and soldiers, when we can raise enough support for another war?

Out of sight. Out of mind. The police and soldiers take on the “insurgent” masses while the media convinces the rest that slavery is freedom.

www.punkerslut.com

For Life,

Punkerslut

Resources

1. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics. Criminal Offender Statistics, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/crimoff.htm


2. U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, Bureau of Justice Statistics. Crime Characteristics, http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/cvict_c.htm


3. The mining industry made 174.5 billion in 1997 and paid its workers only 20.9 billion — each worker was paid 12% of the wealth they produced. The construction industry made 834.8 billion and paid its workers 171.0 billion — each worker was paid 20% of the wealth they produced. The manufacturing industry made 3,958.1 billion and paids its workers 595.7 billion — each worker was paid 15% of the wealth they produced. The transportation and public utilities industry made 1,143.9 billion and paid its workers 199.7 billion — each worker was paid 17% of the wealth they produced. The wholesale trade industry made 4,235.4 billion and paid its workers 234.5 billion — each worker was paid 5% of the wealth they produced. The retail trade industry made 2,545.9 billion and paids its workers 290.5 billion — each worker was paid 11% of the wealth they produced. The finance, insurance, and real estate industry made 2,474.9 billion and paid its workers 308.2 billion — each worker was paid 12% of the wealth they produced. The services (taxable firms only) industry made 1,843.8 billion and paid its workers 688.9 billion — each worker was paid 37% of the wealth they produced. [Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 1997 Economic Census, Comparative Statistics, Core Business Stastitics Series, EC97X-C52, issued June 2000.]


4. UNICEF, State of the World’s Children Report, 2003.


5. “Not again”: Eyewitness Joe Smith writes about the shooting of Tom Hurndall. Joe Smith, The Electronic Intifada, 12 April 2003


6. The G8 summit in Genoa, Italy, 7/21/01.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Punkerslut (or Andy Carloff) has been writing essays and poetry on social issues which have caught his attention for several years. His website www.punkerslut.com provides a complete list of all of these writings. His life experience includes homelessness, squating in New Orleans and LA, dropping out of high school, getting expelled from college for “subversive activities,” and a myriad of other revolutionary actions.

Ok, I’m not exactly unfriendly. I am very nice - but I’m not very charismatic. People are not drawn to me, I hate the phone, and I pretty much talk in bullet points (I can take just about any subject down to 5 words.)

But I do see the value of Network Marketing so what do I do? I sign up and fail miserably. After 4 months of hard work I had little to show for it. I did what I didn’t want to do and talked (begged) friends and family. I advertised all over the place and I bought tons of leads. It didn’t matter if they were guaranteed contactable or not because I was awful at it.

Was the problem the business? No, what I had joined was absolutely the best opportunity I have ever run across (and I looked at a lot of them.) I won’t go into details but the basics is that it didn’t cost anything to join, had no products for me to purchase, and there was nothing I had to sell. It was completely referral based. I get my downline to sign up for a fee free credit card (didn’t cost them anything to do) and I got paid for the referral - and it had 10 levels so I got paid when my downline did the same.

So the problem must have been me. After four months I took a step back and looked at what I was doing. The most important question I asked was “Would I have joined myself after hearing the stuff I was blabbing?” Nope. I went back to the drawing board and pulled out the following points everyone has to understand.

1) What you have to offer is valuable.
2) No one cares about your opportunity.
3) You have to keep it simple.

Value
————————————

You should never look desperate. People will think you are trying to get something from them and they will run. If a loan officer cam running up to you and said “Please, I need you to sign up for a loan with me. I’ll pay you 5% a month if you sign up.” You are going to think this guy is crazy, or that it’s a scam and there is some hidden fee someplace.

Think about it - why can two banks across the street from each other have different rates and the one with the higher rate will still have people standing in line begging to be accepted? Desire due to perceived value. People believe the bank has some feature of value that will carry over into the loan, like good service.

What you have is valuable and you should treat it that way. Don’t give it away to just anyone and don’t beg. This is network marketing - you don’t need 100 people in your first level. You only need a few really good people who will make sure they have the same and that it is repeated down line.

You need to create desire for what you have and the best way is to dangle the carrot just out of reach. If people think there is a chance they can’t have something - they want it all the more. If you present yourself as doing them a favor for giving them even a little information, that there is a screening process, and they may not be allowed into your ‘inner circle’ - you have positioned what you have as valuable and created desire around it.

Now the roles have switched. You are no longer hunting people down - they are hunting you!

Forget the Opportunity
————————————

Now even when I had people coming to me wanting to know more about what I had, they still were not signing up after I had explained the opportunity. The solution came in the form of mowing my lawn:

People who bought lawn mowers didn’t want a lawn mower…

…they wanted their grass cut.

If you want to sell lawn mowers you don’t tell people how much horse power it has or how much gas it can hold. You tell them how it will accomplish what they want - cut their grass. After you solve their problem, then you can describe why your solution is better than another.

So if you want to sell something like a business opportunity you need to know what people really want…

Extra cash
More time with the family
Security

Then you can offer a solution to their problem. But don’t go too far and tell them everything about your business op - remember to dangle the carrot.

Keep It Simple
————————————

So what do you tell people about your business? You need to keep it bite-sized so they can remember it yet have enough information they will want more. You will have to push aside all the wonderful points about your opportunity and pick the most important - and the easiest way to do that is to position yourself against the competition.

Think about this: People who wanted their grass cut didn’t have to buy a lawn mower. They could have hired a lawn service.

Make a list of all your competition. The first way you are going to separate yourself from the competition is by listing one benefit you offer. The second way you are going to separate yourself is to list one way you are different.

Using our grass cutting example you could list a benefit as getting your grass cut when you want and the difference is long term total cost. A lawn service could take a couple days to get you scheduled if you call up and long term cost is much better for a mower.

So a way to separate out your business from other opportunities could be similar to the way I separated FCM - earning potential as the benefit and involvement time as the difference. Some businesses could take little time but have little earning potential. Some may have great earning potential but be very time consuming. But perhaps yours is the only one with massive earning potential and take very little of your time to do.

Now I know what you are thinking - but my business has so many reasons why it is better… can’t I list them all? No. If you make it too complicated people won’t remember it. Besides, make them beg for more information.

Do you just blurt this out to everyone you meet? Not exactly - ever hear of the Elevator Test? You and someone you don’t know get on an elevator. They push the button for the 10th floor and ask you what you do. Your job is to tell them enough before they get off the elevator that they want to here more. Can you do that?

There is actually a formula for this:

[product]
is a [problem solver]
by [how problem is solved].
Unlike [competitors], [product]
is [difference 1]
and [difference 2]

Here it is filled in as an example for FCM:

FCM
is a way to financial freedom
by creating an extra stream of income.
Unlike selling cleaning supplies door to door, FCM
is not time consuming
and has a great earning potential

There it is… not so bad was it? Memorize that and you will be doing great.

Putting It Together
————————————

Lets put the previous 3 sections together now. Pretend you are at the mall waiting for your kids to get out of the dressing room. Someone is standing next to you waiting for their kids. You exchange names and then you ask what they do. Eventually they will return the favor and ask what you do. Bingo! Jump into your elevator test:

“I am part of a global marketing team.
It creates an extra stream of income for me
so I don’t feel locked into my 9-to-5.
Unlike other businesses
this has great earning power
and doesn’t take much of my time.”

There you go. Now create desire by changing the subject. Preferable go back to talking about their job so the topic says similar. Curiosity will get the better of them and they will ask you more about what you do. It doesn’t matter what they ask, ignore their question and say the following:

“Well, we are actually looking to expand our team with some high quality people. Have you ever thought about starting your own business?”

Something like 90% of the people out there don’t like their job and want something different. Make sure you find out why they were thinking about starting their own business. This gets them to admit there is something they don’t like about their current situation. Then say:

“Well, I can’t guarantee anything - but if you are interested you can check this out.”

Hand them a business card with your front line web site.

Read more articles by quickstart or learn about FCM
http://www.FortuneForever.info

Fundraising letters are about people. People talk. So your fundraising letters should include the voices of people.

In a novel, the characters come alive only after you hear them talk. What they say, how they say it, when they say it, where they say it, and to whom they say it, deepens the meaning of the story and reveals things about the characters that cannot be explained in other ways.

Even when your fundraising appeal letter seems to be about preserving old growth forests, banning handguns or buying a mobile heart monitor, somewhere in the middle of your appeal are people. They may be staff, volunteers, clients, victims or someone else. Let your donors hear these people talking and you’ll immediately make your letters more interesting and readable.

When you quote people in your fundraising letters, you personalize your ask and lend immediacy, intimacy and authenticity to cold reality. When you capture dialogue and things people have said, you bring your “characters” to life on the page.

Direct quotations in your donation request letters also add credibility to your claims. They give donors another way of looking at your challenge (what novelists call point of view). And they establish tone (anger, frustration, fear, irony) in ways that you cannot without sounding forced.

“Alan,” you are saying, “give us some examples!”

“OK.”

Imagine that in your fundraising letter for your diabetes association you are describing one of your clients, Clara Alveres, who is 71, has lived with type 1 diabetes for 50 years, and is in good health. You could string these facts out in a line as I just did. Or you could instead add credibility and warmth and personality to your letter by quoting Clara directly. Your sentence might look like this:

“Clara Alveres, 71, has lived with type 1 diabetes for 50 years. ‘I’ve never felt better,’ she says.”

Or imagine that you’re telling the story of Bill, who also has diabetes. You could tell your donors:

“Bill avoided diabetes complicationsand ran a marathonby following a simple recipe.”

or you could instead bring Bill alive as a character by letting him tell your story:

“Just because diabetes runs in your family doesn’t mean you can’t run a marathon,’ says Bill, who avoided diabetes complications by following a simple recipe, and completed the Boston Marathon in May.”

According to Philip Gerard, author of Creative Nonfiction: Researching and Crafting Stories of Real Life, quoting people adds texture beyond anything you can communicate as the author. Real voices of real people deepen your story. “Their words make it true,” says Gerard.

2006 Sharpe Copy Inc. You may reprint this article online and in print provided the links remain live and the content remains unaltered (including the “About the Author” message).

—- About the author Alan Sharpe is a professional fundraising letter writer, instructor and mentor who helps non-profit organizations raise funds, build relationships and retain loyal donors using creative fundraising letters. Learn more about his services, view free sample fundraising letters, and sign up for free weekly tips like this at http://www.RaiserSharpe.com.

Action is the Key!

It is true of all business. But that is the gospel for Network Marketing success.

Big dreams are good. They make us ambitious. They give us the big picture. But to achieve those dreams we need to take action everyday. MLM is basically a business of small actions which builds up into big business.

It is all very well to dream about reaching the Himalayas. But to get there we need to start walking. Take those steps one after the other. Every step is taking you closer to your destination. Let us look at all those small things you start with to build your power Network Marketing business.

Have a Plan. If you don’t know where you are going how will you get there? That is why you need a plan. Prepare a plan of action of the direction, the how and the method of reaching there fast. Write down every step you are going to take to reach your goals. Have a separate MLM journal and put everything down. Don’t be vague or leave the action and planning to your memory. Putting your plan to paper in black white helps you take better action.

Implement your action plan. Take those steps every day, small though it might be. Start putting your plan into action. MLM success is simply plan the action and action the plan.

Small Successes Create big confidence. Every little step is an achievement of your action plan. There is a satisfaction when you get results or at least you know you have worked at what you planned. Each little success will build confidence. Like a ripple it will grow bigger and bigger. As your confidence grows, you climb the ladder of success faster and faster in MLM.

Money is a byproduct. If you work for a cause, the effect will be results. Work for the love of your MLM opportunity, your product, your customers and your team. Success, money and fame will follow as a result. MLM is a business of helping everyone you come in contact with to get what they want whether it be the product or financial freedom or social support. When you love to work for the success of your team the results will be really big and permanent. If you work just for money it is one more job. The results will be there but not spectacular.

The key to MLM success - Take Action, Plan your business, implement your plan, achieve successes to gain confidence and help others to achieve their dreams as well. This is the simple and effective key to your MLM success.

R.G. Srinivasan is a Certified Trainer, Writer and Author. He also writes a regular blog on home-business resources which you may check out at http://www.home-businessresources.blogspot.com for online marketing tips, resources, business opportunities and online promotional strategies

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.

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There are many different ways to increase your traffic on the web. Just as there are get rich quick schemes, there are get traffic quick schemes. These can backfire on you just like any other shortcut to results.

As part of your overall strategy, it is possible to create a plan that will get your steadily increasing traffic, increasing visibility and results. The more employees you have that use a computer the better.

Here are the key elements to getting your employees to create some Internet Buzz for you.

# 1 - Prepare

The first key is to create a clear document on what your employees can and cannot say about the company. What is the vision that you want to make public? What is unique about the organization? What stories can they tell? Collect examples of good and bad posts from employees in other companies.

#2 - Coach

Once this is done, have a meeting and explain that if everyone spends a short amount of time each week participating on the web, they can significantly increase the visibility of the organization and all its employees. Clearly state if this is to be done on the clock or outside of business hours.

Explain that this is not sales. Each employee should participate in online communications and add something of value to wherever they are posting information, and work in where they work if they can. Links are the best, but do not force it.

#3 - Set Minimum Goals

Ask each employee to commit to doing a minimum amount of online buzz each week. Some examples of online buzz are:

• Post comments on other people’s Blog
• Create or maintain your own Website or Blog
• Email a friend and tell them something interesting on your organization’s website
• Write an article for another website, with a bio and link back to the organization’s website.
• Set up a profile on a social networking site and participate in discussions
• Email an author or writer that you have read and introduce yourself, and let them know you like their work.

#4 - Collect & Reward Efforts

Have employees email you or record their buzz in a central place. Have someone review each buzz effort and recognize excellent buzz creation. Talk about how buzz effects search engine ranking and traffic. Give rewards to those top buzz creators and publicly thank them for their effort.

#5 - Review and Renew

Periodically give your employees new talking points about the company. It might be an exciting new product line coming up, it could be a great customer service story to work into a forum post, but keep giving them fresh new things to talk about.

If you give employees exciting new buzz-worthy stories they can repeat plus stress the value of their participation, you will find you have more inbound links and internet buzz than any SEO firm could have generated for you in a legitimate way. And it was basically free.

Ron McDaniel, CEO
Buzzoodle (http://www.buzzoodle.com)
ron@buzzoodle.com
330-677-0555

Get your workforce buzzing about you.
Buzz Blog: http://buzzoodle.blogspot.com

Copyright © 2005-2006 Ron McDaniel

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The average pedophile will victimize between 50-150 children before he comes to the attention of law enforcement. A large and growing number of predators have gravitated towards the internet, reasoning that browsing the personal profiles children themselves post on instant message services and anonymously lurking in chat rooms is less risky and more effective than hanging around playgrounds and schoolyards. The number of predators using the internet to groom children for future exploitation rises every month. Winclear is the only software which is capable of removing keylogger programs. I know for sure that you are aware of the words “identity theft and fraud” online phishing and scam. Winclear has been the industry leader in fighting keyloggers for the last 8 years.

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Here are 10 great ways to boost your web traffic:

1.Consider trading links with other websites. Make sure the website you are trading with has the same subject as your site so that you receive highly targeted traffic. Trading links is so effective because those who come to your site through another site of similar content, are sure to be interested in what you have to offer. Also consider trading banner ads, half page ads and classified ads.

2.Write articles relative to the subject of your website. Include your website link and website information at the beginning and end of each article and then submit them to ezines and websites of the same subject matter as your own website. This way you will receive highly targeted traffic, and if your article is well planned and well written, then you will gain respect from potential customers.

3.Give away a free ebook to everyone who signs up to your ezine or becomes a member of your site. This will act as an incentive for browsers to sign up and become potential customers and will also encourage visitors to tell their friends about the freebie on your site.

4.Start an ezine for your website. This will remind people to come back to your site to check for updates. It will also encourage people to tell their friends. Be sure to have a “tell a friend” link in the ezine, which readers can click to recommend your site.

5.Start a recommendation system, where you give out rewards to those who recommend your site. This will give your current visitors and incentive to tell their friends. People listen to what their friends say and think and so will definitely explore your site.

6.Create your own ebook. The ebook should be on a subject relevant to that of your website. Make sure to include links to your site in the ebook but be sure that readers know what they are clicking on; otherwise they are unlikely to click. State clearly that readers may give your ebook away freely to others. This is a sure-fire form of viral marketing.

7.Participate in forums and discussions on the internet relevant to the subject of your website. Give helpful advice to those who need it and if they are pleased with your help, then they are very likely to visit your site. Make sure you leave your website address and website information at the end of every post.

8.Use traffic generating websites to temporarily boost your traffic. This will gain your site fast, free traffic and will guarantee a steady flow of traffic. Make sure the webpage you advertise stands out immediately for maximum results.

9.Hold a contest or competition on your site. This will bring people to your site if there is a good prize and not only will you gain people’s email addresses, you will also have them returning to your site periodically to check whether the results of the competition are out. You will also gain much targeted traffic if the prize is to do with the subject of your website.

10.Participate in chat room discussions relevant to the subject of your website. If you discuss well and interestingly, while adding your link into the conversation every now and again, then people will go to your website with a very positive impression. They will trust you too, and therefore they are more likely to buy a product from your site.

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For more information on this subject or about making money online go to http://www.info-ebooks.co.uk. 100s of free ebooks and software products are also available at this address.

Feel free to use this article on your website or in your ezine so long as it is not altered or modified in any way.

Thank you for reading

William Johnston

About the Author

William Johnston is owner of http://www.info-ebooks.co.uk

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The internet is one of those things in life that borders on the verge of a good versus evil battle. It can be the greatest money making tool in existence, or the most malicious time waster. When people venture into the business of internet marketing, they often think it’s going to be a piece of cake. Most people who decide upon internet marketing as a business venture love the internet to begin with and want to unleash its evident power to their advantage.

Sometimes these web lovers are sorely disappointed because it seems that they work for hours upon hours and don’t get anything accomplished. That, my friends, is the nature of the beast!

If you intend to do business on the internet, you absolutely have to be disciplined in order to manage your time. Here are 7 steps to doing a better job of it:

1. Set work hours

It is so easy to waste time when you should be working and to end up working unreasonable hours. Internet work can seemly turn into an addiction overnight if you don’t set specific work hours and stick with them.

2. Schedule play hours

Don’t spend your work hours playing - surfing the net, visiting internet forums or participating in chat rooms. Set aside leisure time for such activities if you are prone to them.

3. Schedule communications

Set specific times during your work hours to open email. This should usually be the first thing and the last thing you do each work day. If you open your email periodically and respond to it, your work hours can be eaten up in a hurry! Turn off any indicators that tell you you’ve got new email.

4. Block the SPAM

Use a SPAM blocker to isolate or block SPAM email and keep it up to date. Use a separate email address for your business and personal email. Open personal email during your leisure time and business email during your scheduled communication time within your work hours.

5. Make a long-term plan

Make a long-term plan of what you wish to accomplish through your internet marketing. Having a vision with milestones and deadlines will keep you focused and working purposefully day after day.

6. Plan your days

Plan your days ahead of time with a “to do” list that ensures important things will get accomplished. Always plan a little time for unexpected interruptions or demanding little emergencies.

7. Kill the messenger

If you use messenger programs such as MSN Messenger or Yahoo Messenger, log out during your work hours. If you conduct business communications through the messenger program, open separate accounts or block contacts so that only your business associates that you need to be available to can contact you via the messenger program during your work hours.

Implementing these 7 simple tips will help you to master your time and will skyrocket your productivity!

Copyright 2005 Jason Tarasi

Jason Tarasi publishes the reciprocal links newsletter “Elite Links” Learn HOW thousands of other Elite Links members generate FREE traffic and increase their search engine rankings by swapping links. Grab your free lifetime subscription now at: http://www.freeclassifiedlinks.com