It is often observed that many people’s top ranking fear is not death but having to speak in public. The joke is that these people would rather be lying in the casket at the funeral than giving the eulogy. Public speaking for people who suffer from panic attacks or general anxiety often becomes a major source of worry weeks or even months before the speaking event is to occur.

These speaking engagements do not necessarily have to be the traditional “on a podium” events but can be as simple as an office meeting where the individual is expected to express an opinion or give verbal feedback. The fear of public speaking and panic attacks in this case centers on having an attack while speaking. The individual fears being incapacitated by the anxiety and hence unable to complete what he or she is saying. The person imagines fleeing the spotlight and having to make all kinds of excuses later for their undignified departure out the office window….

This differs slightly from the majority of people who fear public speaking because their fear tends to revolve around going blank while speaking or feeling uncomfortable under the spotlight of their peers. The jitters or nerves of speaking in public are of course a problem for this group as well, but they are unfamiliar with that debilitating threat which is the panic attack, as they most likely have not experienced one before.

Public Speaking and Panic AttacksSo how should a person with an anxiety issue tackle public speaking? Stage one is accepting that all these bizarre and quite frankly unnerving sensations are not going to go away overnight. In fact, you are not even going to concern yourself with getting rid of them for your next talk. When they arrive during a speech/meeting, you are going to approach them in a new manner. What we need to do is build your confidence back to where it used to be before any of these sensations ever occurred. This time you will approach it in a unique, empowering manner, allowing you to feel your confidence again. It is said that most of the top speakers are riddled with anxiety before speaking, but they somehow use this nervousness to enhance their speech. I am going to show you exactly how to do this, although I know that right now if you suffer from public speaking and panic attacks you may find it difficult to believe you can ever overcome it.

My first point is this and it is important. The average healthy person can experience an extreme array of anxiety and very uncomfortable sensations while giving a speech and is in no danger of ever losing control, or even appearing slightly anxious to the audience. No matter how tough it gets, you will always finish your piece, even if at the outset it feels very uncomfortable to go on. You will not become incapacitated in any way.

The real breakthrough for if you suffer from public speaking and panic attacks happens when you fully believe that you are not in danger and that the sensations will pass.

“I realize you (the anxiety) hold no threat over me.”

What keeps a panic attack coming again and again is the fear of the fear–the fear that the next one will really knock your socks off and you feel you were lucky to have made it past the last one unscathed. As they were so unnerving and scary, it is your confidence that has been damaged by previous anxiety episodes. Once you fully understand you are not under any threat, then you can have a new response to the anxiety as it arises while speaking.

Defeating public speaking and panic attacks…

There is always a turning point when a person moves from general anxiety into a panic attack, and that happens with public speaking when you think to yourself:

“I won’t be able to handle this in front of these people.”

That split second of self-doubt leads to a rush of adrenaline, and the extreme anxiety arrives in a wave like format. If, however, when you feel the initial anxiety and you react with confidence that this is not a threat to you, you will move out of the anxiety rapidly. Using this new approach is a powerful ally because it means it is okay to feel scared and feel the anxiety when speaking-that is fine; you are going to feel it and move with and through the sensations in your body and out the other side. Because he or she is feeling very anxious, often before the talk has begun, that person may feel they have already let themselves down. Now, you can relax on that point. It is perfectly natural to feel the anxiety. Take for example the worst of the sensations you have ever experienced in this situation–be it general unease to loss of breath. You will have an initial automatic reaction that says:

“Danger-I’m going to have an episode of anxiety here and I really can’t afford that to happen.”

At this point most people react to that idea and confirm it must be true because of all of the unusual feelings they are experiencing. This is where your thinking can lead you down a train of thought that creates a cycle of anxiety that produces a negative impact on your overall presenting skills.

So let that initial “oh dear, not now” thought pass by, and follow it up immediately with the attitude of:

“There you are-I’ve been wondering when you would arrive. I’ve been expecting you to show up–by the way, I am not in the least threatened by any of the strange sensations you are creating–I am completely safe here.”

Public Speaking and Panic AttacksThe key to controlling your fear of public speaking and panic attacks is that instead of pushing the emotional energy and excitement down into your stomach, you are moving out through it. Your body is in a slightly excited state, exactly as it should be while giving a speech, so release that energy in your self-expression. Push it out through your presentation not down into your stomach. You push it out by expressing yourself more forcefully. In this way you turn the anxiety to your advantage by using it to deliver a speech where you come across more alive, energetic and in the present moment. When you notice the anxiety drop as it does when you willingly move into it. Fire a quick thought off when you get a momentary break (as I am sure you have between pieces), asking it for “more.” You want more of its intense feelings as you are interested in them and are absolutely not threatened by them.

It seems like a lot of things to be thinking about while talking to a group of people, but it is not really. You’d be amazed how many different non-related thoughts you can have while speaking. This approach is about adopting a new attitude of confidence to what you might have deemed a serious threat up until now. This tactic will truly help you with fear of public speaking and panic attacks you have associated with them.

If your predominant fear of the speaking engagement is driven by a feeling of being trapped, then I would suggest factoring in some mental releases that can be prepared before the event. For example, some meetings/speeches allow for you to turn the attention back to the room to get feedback etc. from the group.

If possible, you might want to prepare such opportunities in your own mind before the engagements. This is not to say you have to ever use them, but people in this situation often remark that just having small opportunities where attention can be diverted for the briefest of moments can make the task seem less daunting. It my even be something as simple as having people introduce themselves or opening the floor to questions. I realize these diversions are not always possible and depend on the situation, but anything you can factor in that makes you feel less trapped or under the spotlight is worth the effort and can help alleviate fear of public speaking and panic attacks.

I hope you have found this public speaking and panic attacks page helpful. Please give it some careful consideration and you will realize it contains the truth.

http://www.panic-and-anxiety-attacks.com/public-speaking-and-panic-attacks.html

This article is copywritten material. Any requests for reprinting this article must be made to Joe Barry McDonagh

Joe Barry is an international panic disorder coach. His informative site on all issues related to panic and anxiety attacks can be found here:

http://www.panic-and-anxiety-attacks.com/

Most people who are into cooking for the first time prefer taking up French cuisine. Many who plan to take up cooking would like to learn how to make great dishes from French recipes or learn how to make all those delicious pastries and cakes that the French as so famous for.

It is quite common to find many New York residents who are quite interested in learning how to cook French recipes. This is one main reason why you can find many cooking programs being offered all over the United States. In recent times the emergence of a French cooking school amateur in New York speaks volumes about the number of people who are ready to learn French cooking. It is possible for anyone to learn about the various French cooking recipes easily over the internet but it is only when one attends formal classes in a French cooking school amateur in New York that one can learn how to prepare the recipes directly from an expert and seasoned cook at French cuisine. Attending a formal cooking class provides you the opportunity to interact with your teacher and other students while this is certainly not possible when done over the internet. Here you will get a live demonstration on how to prepare and cook the various recipes along with lots of tips and ideas. The teacher is available on hand to make corrections in your recipe while it is being cooked by you under their expert guidance.

A French cooking expert, along with other expert cooks are the ones who teach eager students who want to learn how to cook French recipes in this French Cooking School in New York. These people are more than happy to share their knowledge in French cooking with other students. These teachers are people who have had years of experience in French cuisine.

Many students who pan to join classes in a French cooking school amateur in New York do so because they aspire to become expert French cooks. Here they are able to gain lots of knowledge so that they can gain experience which would ensure that they are guaranteed a job as a cook in any one of the fancy French restaurants or the five star hotels. There are also older people who take up French cooking classes in a French cooking school amateur in New York just because they want to learn how to cook the many delectable French recipes. Here they are given opportunities to cook the various recipes under the expert guidance of master cooks.

These French cooking schools offer programs which help the students to specialize in French Cuisine. Students can gather many useful information and tips which they cannot pick up over the internet or from books. This is because many of the teachers in his school here are expert cooks themselves who have devoted many years in this style of cooking. These teachers have expert knowledge in all the recipes and know thoroughly well how to turn out a recipe just right. Here students are also taught not only to turn out tasty dishes but also how to present them attractively. This is very important as most people are tempted to eat any food because of the attractive way in which it is presented.

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Making money because of affiliate company internet marketing, aka “affiliate marketing” can be one of the uttermost gratifying endeavors you could ever begin. What’s great about this endeavor is that men and women can join and build their way to massive profits. Affiliate company internet marketing has been known to be an inexpensive, assessable system of achieving long-term profits. In reality, you can begin even with a limited budget. And with affiliate company internet marketing, you possess the advantage of working at home and experiencing the liberty and power of working for yourself.

But there are also various people who failed in this type of business. It could be because they lack understanding and tactics. If you are a web site owner and you desire to join in an affiliate company internet marketing business, you have to understand where to find great programs.

Clickbank, The Premier Affiliate Company Internet Marketing Program

Clickbank is a model site to begin. Here, you can discover one of the largest affiliate company internet marketing programs in the world. You simply need to visit their site, CLICKBANK and obtain a Clickbank ID. From Clickbank’s home page, advance to “Earn Commissions” and scan for the products and services that completely fit your goals. These products are normally positioned according to their reputation.

Clickbank is one of the affiliate company internet marketing programs that assists as a 3rd party between the web merchants and the affiliate company internet marketing associates. It is accountable in providing the technology to deliver the vendor’s offers and campaigns. The affiliate company internet marketing manager also does the job of gathering commission fees from the vendor and giving it to the associates involved in the program.

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Becoming a Clickbank Affiliate Company Internet Marketing Vendor

For most people, applying for an account with Clickbank is so simple. All you have to do is sign up at their site for free and they will begin to sell your products. Maintain a web site that provides your potential customers detailed information about your offered product or services. At your website, you must also maintain a comprehensive technical support pages for your product. In return, Clickbank will promote and sell your product, give customer service for your product, allow their affiliates to pass on traffic to your web site, enable you to encourage new affiliates to advertise your web site, furnish real-time sales reporting for you and the affiliates and send you and all affiliates a paycheck twice a month.

Becoming a Clickbank Affiliate Company Internet Marketing Associate

If you’re a future affiliate company internet marketing superstar, you definitely will not have a problem becoming a participant of this network. First, you will need to place their link on your website and if you don’t possess a Clickbank account, you will want to complete the extremely simple affiliate company internet marketing registration form and create your own Clickbank account. Then, after you have created your username, you are at liberty to select whatever merchandising tools you desire to use in order to bring in more clicks and create more sales. After selecting business tools, you can now get your associate link.

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Becoming an Affiliate Company Internet Marketing Superstar

Amidst the secrets to become affluent in affiliate company internet marketing is to come up with great content based website and put your associate links in all your content. Your primary objective here is to present your visitors with great quality content concerning the things they are engrossed in. Set aside the job of selling. It should be done by the sales letter page you are directing them to.

Promote multiple affiliate programs in your website but don’t promote everything the planet has to sell. Just select the affiliate company internet marketing programs that fit your site and concentrate on them. Then, it is smart to automate the entire process, giving you ample time for different ventures. Yes, automation is another key to becoming a top affiliate company internet marketing associate.

Of course, you have to expend more time in reading, learning and taking up the changes in affiliate company internet marketing business. Because of this, you’ll stay on top of the trends. If you are familiar with online marketing, you’ll realize how critical it is to stay up-to-date. In this type of business, what worked and what was accepted few months ago may not work at present-day. So always see to it that you comprehend what’s new in affiliate company internet marketing day-to-day.

Affiliate Company Internet Marketing Can Be Your Financial Vehicle

Even though it can genuinely be hard work becoming a super affiliate, you shouldn’t give thought to quitting. Keep in mind that in affiliate company internet marketing business, you want to develop perseverance, self-control and knowledge. These traits will enlighten you to carry on no matter how difficult the job is. Also, check your affiliate company internet marketing statistics. This will help you find out what is working and what is not. Make important changes if required but do it one at a time and be patient.

Don’t forget that in affiliate company internet marketing, everything won’t take place immediately. And it will not occur without blood, sweat and substantial time commitment. Again, simply encompass patience, persistence and knowledge; then do above mentioned tactics. Once you know it, you will begin gaining profits. Trust me, the benefit of all your efforts here in affiliate company internet marketing shall be way too sweet.

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Do you feel that you don’t have time to cook? Do you like using technology in cooking? Are you a health freak? If yes, this is what you are looking for. Microwave Cooking – The wonder of technology making life in the kitchen easy, healthy and beautiful! As everyone, even I love cooking with a microwave not only because it is easy, but because I have bought one recently. Not every one knows how to use a microwave. I have an aunt who got a microwave as a gift which she uses only to roast ‘Papads’. But it is not designed only for that. Microwave is a gift to cooking. Even I am not an expert when it comes to Microwave Cooking. After some researching, I came up with this mini guide which may come handy and will be useful.

Why use Microwave?

As you might be aware of Microwave cooking is

-Easy

-Healthy, as the nutrients are preserved.

-Quick, hurray! we have more time.

Not all food can be prepared using Microwave. Only few Microwaves well i.e. cooks well. Using food that are not suited for microwaving can not only spoil the recipe, but also damage the microwave oven itself! It is a costly mistake.Take care!

Food that can be cooked in Microwave:

-Fish

-Whole fruits and Vegetables

-All Poultry

-Sauces and custard

Food to avoid:

-Do not try to hard boil eggs. That is not going to happen with microwave oven.

-Batters and Pancakes

-Roasting large turkeys/Hams as it will get cooked unevenly

-Do not try to deep fry!

Cleaning:

This is one of the most important and the most easiest work as far as this appliance is concerned. You can clean in minutes.

-Use Soft Sponges or cloth to clean

-Use dish washing liquid

-Deodorize by keeping the door open for some time and cleaning with baking soda dissolved in warm water.

-Another simple way to deodorize (Which I normally do) is by using the below recipe.

1 cup of water

2 slices of lemon OR few mixed spices (like cinnamon stick,bay leave etc)

Heat on high for 2 to 3 min or until the water is boiling. Now remove the water

and you are left with a fresh smelling new microwave.

Cooking Equipment:

Every time when I use a vessel in microwave oven, I get worried if I am using the right one as using the wrong dishes might spoil your oven. Here are a few you can use,

-Glass-ceramic

-Porcelain

-oven proof glass bowls and dishes

-Casseroles

-Plastic containers which are marked oven/dishwasher safe

Do not use:

-any metal container

-recycled paper

-Plastics that are not marked as oven safe.

Now a days we have even cake pans, loaf pans and baking molds suitable for microwaving.

Mostly round containers are preferred to rectangle or square shaped containers for microwave cooking. The corners get more microwave energy than the center so round is the best shape to cook evenly.

Test your container:

Are you still skeptical in using your container for microwaving? Then do the following test,

Fill the dish/vessel you want to test with cold water

Heat on high for 1 minute

Now check,

If the water is hot and the dish is cold – The dish is safe

If the Dish is hot and water is still cold – No way! Don’t use this vessel

General Microwave cooking – Tips and Techniques that can used to cook any food.

- Cover the food while cooking. It helps in cooking evenly and faster.

- Wrap bread with absorbing paper to avoid moisture on the top.

- Arrange the food so that the center has food that needs less heat to cook and the corners have parts that need more heat to cook.

- Pierce the food with toothpick so that it helps in cooking faster.

- Stir the food occasionally as directed in the recipe.

- Always under cook as food still gets cooked during the standing time.

- Always follow the recipe.

Few How to :

You might be wondering for what else we can use Microwave oven. Do not worry here comes my favorite part which makes our work easy,

How to Peel Tomato:

Pour 2 cups of boiling water in a microwave safe bowl. Add 2 tomatoes and heat on high for 45 – 60 sec till the skin splits. Cool them and peel the tomatoes with ease.

How to Garlic:

Place 2 -3 cloves on oven floor and heat on high for 15-30 sec. Remove and peel with ease.

How to cook beans:

Pre soak the beans as usual and cook them in a large container, giving space for them to expand.

How to Steam vegetables:

Place them in a bowl with little water, they get cooked with the help of the steam. If you use closed bowls, it gets cooked fast.

To Dos for cooking conventional recipe using Microwave:

We generally go with the same recipe for our favorite food and cooking with microwave needs some modification for the taste to come out right.

- Use less water than you will use generally. For example if your general recipe

needs 1 cup of water, for microwave cooking, use 1/2 to 3/4 cup of water.

- Add more spices

- Add salt after the food is cooked

- Reduce the cooking time by at least half.

This is just the basics. There are a lot more to learn for mastering the art of microwave cooking, which , I strongly feel, comes only with practice. So why wait? Buy a microwave oven, cook and enjoy!!!

Iam Sangeeth Raghunathan. I am a software engineer who is now a full time homemaker. I love blogging,crocheting and cooking. My Food Blog helps and tries to inspire people to cook and I also share my views on other topics through Scribbling Scribe, my new blog.

There is a great deal of history behind movie posters and movie poster collecting. Jules Cheret, who created 2 movie posters in the 1890′s, was the artist given credit for creating the first movie posters. By the end of the first decade of the 1900′s, movies had become a great source of public entertainment. In this time period, the movie poster would become a standard size known as the one sheet measuring 27″ x 41″.

In the early days, the names of actors did not appear on the posters, which the movie studios liked, because it meant paying actors less money. It was in this early period in movie history, however, that movie studios realized movie stars were as much of an attraction to the moviegoer as the movie itself. Thus, the movie star was born, and movie posters began showcasing actors’ names along with the title of the movie.

By the 1920′s, the golden age of silent movies, movie posters became more artistic and spectacular, with accomplished artists being hired by movie studios to paint portraits of the stars for posters. By the late 1920′s, movie poster images became sharper due to a new printing process developed by the Morgan Litho Company.

In the 1930′s, also known in the movie industry as “The Golden Age of Movies”, another style of movie poster was created, the half sheet. Major movies would sometimes get more than the two styles. However, due to the depression, many movie materials were being created more cheaply, causing a loss of quality in movie posters.

The dawn of World War II in 1941 saw many of the movie stars heading off to war and war was the major theme of movies at that time. The movie industry cut advertising costs and used cheaper paper for posters due to the paper shortage of wartime.

By the 1970′s, movie posters used photography, occasionally using drawing and painting styles. Movie posters at this time were being printed on a clay-coated paper, which gave them a glossy finish. Star Wars and Star Trek posters were the most popular posters of the time and are still collected by many today.

In the 1980′s, the age of the special effects blockbuster, the mini sheet was invented, and video stores became popular, thus the video store poster was created. Today, reprints of movie posters are mass-produced and sold in many stores or are just a click away on the Internet.There are several types of movie posters. Because of their rarity, the avid movie poster collector has concentrated on movie poster or theater art. These are the posters that are delivered and displayed by the movie theaters and then intended to be thrown away. Another type of movie poster is the commercial poster, which is mass-produced for direct sale to the public. Video posters are distributed to video rental stores for advertising material. Cable and TV posters are use as promotional material for TV stations for their programming. Like theater art, video posters and cable and TV posters are not produced for the public. Although not as valuable as theater art, these types of posters are still popular among collectors. Special promotion posters promote a movie along with a product. Finally, there are anniversary issues, limited editions, and special releases that are released in limited quantities and are gaining favor with the theatre art collector. Other types of movie posters include advance posters that promote a movie well ahead of the movie’s release. The award poster, which indicates that a movie has won an Academy award. The combo poster, advertising two movies instead of just one. The popular double-sided poster that has art on both sides, with the artwork reversed on one side of the poster. There are featurette posters highlighting short films or cartoons, review posters for when a movie gets a good review, serial posters for movie serials, and special distribution posters.

With the popularity of movie posters has come the necessity to create various sizes of posters. The first and most widely used poster is the one sheet, which is usually 27″ x 41″. The subway, also known as the two sheet, is larger but not exactly two times the size of the one sheet. The 3 sheet is three times the size of the one sheet measuring at 41″ x 81″. The 6 sheet is six times the size of the one sheet measuring of 81″ x 81″. There is also a 12 sheet approximately twelve times the size of a one sheet, and the colossal sized 24 sheet measuring 246″ x by 108″. Other sizes include the mini sheet, which is usually much smaller than the one sheet and comes in a variety of sizes, and the stock sheet issued for cartoons or other shorts.

As with all collectibles, condition is a great factor when placing a value on posters. A movie poster’s value is determined by demand, rarity, and condition. Poster collectors use the same grade system used by comic book collectors: mint (perfect), near mint, very good, good, fair, and poor.

For those who want to be serious movie poster collectors, you will need to know some things about taking care of your movie poster art.

Tips to retain the total collectable value of movie posters

Never alter the appearance of a poster. Do not fold, bend, tear, or punch holes in it even to hang it on your wall.

Never place a movie poster in direct sunlight. UV lights can also be harmful.

Don’t write on your poster, even on the back. Marks on the back can sometimes be seen from the other side, taking away from the poster’s value.

Never put tape on the front of a poster even to repair tears. If you do use tape, use acid free tape available from an art supply shop, and place the tape on the back. For expensive movie art take it to a professional to be restored. Posters can be restored the same way rare comic books are professionally restored.

When shipping posters use thick poster tubes or bubble envelopes.

For long time storage, frame, or place the poster in a plastic bag or tube, and keep it in a cool dry climate.

When framing a poster do not dry mount it, and use an acid free backing board.

Now that you know a little more about movie posters and movie poster collecting, go ahead, start collecting!

Posterlovers.com – Search through the world’s largest available collection of posters, fine art prints and photos. Liven up your walls with wall posters and art prints.

The role of the automotive advertising agency has changed to follow the new rules of the road on the Internet Super Highway. Newly empowered consumers are no longer limited to shopping for a vehicle using information provided by self serving auto dealers pushing information to them using conventional media like radio, T.V. or newspaper. Social media has allowed car shoppers to gather information from like minded customers before, during and after their shopping and/or buying experience. These online friends are playing an increasing role in the car shopping process and automotive advertising agencies are using them to influence buyers.

The new pull / push nature of the market powered by the Internet requires automotive advertising agencies to focus on people vs. product or price. Car shoppers are following their own agendas when pulling information from the world wide web that no longer requires them to rely on an auto dealer as the source. Today’s online shoppers prioritize people when selecting a dealership they are willing to do business with. That is not to suggest that product and price aren’t important. It simply suggests that all systems start and end with people and that people are the true asset of any auto dealer, automotive advertising agency or vendor!

The most obvious evidence of the priority that people play in the auto shopping/buying/service experience is the explosive growth that social media has enjoyed as a marketing media vs. conventional radio, T.V. and print that used to dominate the automotive advertising landscape. Automotive advertising agencies recognize that people have always preferred to do business with people that they like and social networking has expanded the spheres of influence of car shoppers/buyers to include their online friends.

The market is a conversation amongst friends before, during and after the car shopping/buying/ service cycle. Auto dealers that have friends in the social networking communities are more likely to be invited to participate in the dialogue. More specifically, automotive advertising agencies realize that it is difficult to befriend a building or a website! It is the people that work at the dealership to support their families that have the story to tell to their friends and who will earn the sale — not the Chevrolet, Toyota, Mercedes, etc. — or the extended service hours and weekly specials. Saturday service hours have no appeal if the customers don’t like or trust the people that they are handing their keys to. Having a friend in the car business is a relief that trumps the best process, product or price for the average car buyer.

Automotive advertising agencies also recognize that people play a role in both the real and virtual world showroom experience which will be reflected in the number of units sold and their job performance at the end of the month. First impressions are irretrievable and they are not limited to a large inventory, clean showroom or a dealer centric selling system that processes customers in sales and/or service. The atmosphere in a well run dealership reflects the morale of the staff in sales and service which directly impacts the customers that an automotive advertising agency drives to the dealership.

A smiling sales person, service writer, operator and cashier can’t be forced as a part of policy — much like customer satisfaction can’t be bought or taken for granted by simply offering the best price; it must be earned. It is earned when a dealer or manager appreciates the individual and team contributions of his staff — and tells them so on a regular basis! It is maintained by HR departments and hiring practices that select personality over prior auto sales experience with compensation plans that reflect individual contributions along with job descriptions and defined areas of responsibility that are managed and monitored by a caring management team.

Employee retention is directly linked to customer satisfaction and customer retention and neither can be taken for granted. Automotive advertising agencies are counseling their auto dealer clients to invest in their people before, during and after they are hired to compliment their investments in automotive advertising. It is their people that will represent their dealership and it is their people who will sell their cars and service to a growing list of friends and customers.

Automotive advertising agencies have extended their areas of responsibility to include their involvement in all aspects of day to day operations at an auto dealership. Most selling systems and related processes include a meeting and greeting, an initial manager T.O. to qualify the customer’s needs, an inventory and facility walk, a test drive, a feature benefit presentation, a desking procedure, a manager T.O., negotiations, an F&I introduction, a delivery procedure and service introduction. All of these steps are then supported by a state of the art CRM/ILM, DMS and follow up system. Unfortunately, all of these well thought out procedures are only as good as the sales person who entered the customer into the system and/or who is expected to follow up if not sold or who is relied on to solicit future service and referrals.

All of these actions reflect on the job performance of the automotive advertising agency and they must be addressed as part of their areas of responsibility. Automotive advertising agencies recognize that sales training is all too often limited to a few weeks immediately after the hire and/or some outsourced trainer hired to pump up the staff. Given the complexity of a well planned selling system — as described above — how can a new hire be expected to retain everything that they need to know? Add product information and an understanding of how human nature impacts the negotiation process and — once again — the investment in the people becomes self evident.

There is a paradigm shift taking place in the way that sales and service training should be applied at a dealership and it is up to the automotive advertising agency to insure that it is understood and applied. Forward thinking automotive advertising agencies have discovered that sales and service training can’t be limited to the new hires and or as needed to motivate the staff. It must start in the hiring process by selecting trainable personalities and then integrated into the selling system in such a way that the processes teach the sales person as much as the customer. Buyers and sellers must form a habit to listen and learn from each other before they can presume to sell or buy anything. A sales person does not need to know everything — they simply need to know where to find the answers that are relevant to the customer to move them through their buying decision.

Automotive advertising agencies often rely on new technologies to provide efficiencies applied to proven old world wisdom. New mobile sales applications are being developed that promise to provide a salesperson with the right information at the right place and the right time which will integrate training into the sales process. The key is to focus on the people part of the presentation supported by the processes, products and the price rather than the other way around.

Philip Zelinger is a former auto dealer principal with an earned reputation as a nationally recognized automotive advertising expert specializing in the technology sector. His philosophy that a rising tide floats all boats motivates him to listen and learn so he can presume to teach. To that end, Philip shares best practices on the respected automotive advertising resource networking portal — http://AdAgencyOnline.Net — as well as the blog talk radio station featured on the site — WAAOL, All Automotive Advertising News All The Time — http://blogtalkradio.com/adagencyonline.

For a complimentary consultation on your automotive advertising needs, or to share your wisdom and insights with the online automotive advertising community hosted by Ad Agency Online, L.L.C. visit the portal and contact Philip Zelinger directly. To quote Philip, “Help is only a click away because — after all, what are friends for!”

Bowling has quite a few unique and special bowling accessory items to pick from. None of the

bowling accessory items are really necessary but can make the sport more fun. Usually every bowling accessory can be found to borrow at your local bowling alley but, if you really are intent on making this a sport in your life, may want to spend some extra money on your own.

The first bowling accessory you might want to consider is your own pair of bowling shoes. Some may find it nasty to use a rental pair. This bowling accessory can be sized for your particular foot and also any problems you may have with it. You can also pick the materials this bowling accessory is made from right down to the bottom of the shoes.

The second bowling accessory you may want to get for yourself is a custom bowling ball. They come in all weights and colors. You can really be creative with this bowling accessory design. The holes of this bowling accessory can be drilled to fit only your fingers giving you a comfortable grip on the ball for better shots.

No bowling accessory is complete without having a shirt to match. Some of the leagues you may join have this bowling accessory as a required uniform. It may also be necessary to add the custom shirt bowling accessory to a special skirt or pair of pants to complete the uniform. Most of the time this bowling accessory is added to a loose pair of jeans or some other bottoms. The right bowling accessory for those wanting to look their best for the game will include all the shoes shirts, and balls in coordination with one another.

You might want to think of a pair of gloves as a possible bowling accessory purchase. They will protect your hands from blisters and also give you a firmer grip on the ball. The ball can be coated with oil used on the lanes so it might be a good idea to use the gloves to ensure that your hand does not slip. Out of all the bowling accessory items, this may be one of the most essential to the bowler.

The final and most needed of the bowling accessory items you can purchase for yourself is a bowling bag to carry the other entire items in. this bowling accessory also needs to be a coordination of the rest of the attire you have chosen. This special bowling accessory bag will have places for the shoes to reside, slots for gloves if you so choose, and can carry many bowling balls at once.

If you are serious about the game of bowling and want to enhance your game by purchasing extra bowling accessory items, make sure they are coordinated with the other. Each needs to be carefully customized to fit your personality and bowling style. It is so important for your bowling accessory items to be to your liking or else tour game will ultimately suffer. If you do not like your bowling accessory items, you will be less likely to use them.

Jordan Matthews is an internet entrepreneur with a 239 average, who enjoys bowling at local ABT tournaments every weekend. Visit Jordan’s Bowling Website for more information about bowling in tournaments and improving your scores.

As teachers and counselors, you know that the elementary school years are important. During the elementary school years, your students build visions of what they desire to do in their lives as they contribute to the workforce. With your help, your students remain open to new career ideas and possibilities. As you work with your students, your students do not make premature career choices or career preparations. For your students, elementary school is a time to build awareness.

As elementary school teachers and counselors, you use career education to promote self-worth, skill development, and decision making strategies. Your activities are designed to build self, family, school, community, and career awareness. You use age-appropriate materials that match your students’ developmental levels. These activities expose your students to a variety of different jobs, career information sources, and the reasons why people work.

When you prepare to develop age-appropriate materials products, tests and tools, you use career models like the National Career Development Guidelines (NCDG). The National Career Development Guidelines (NCDG) have domains, goals, and indicators. Each domain represents a developmental area. Under each domain, there are goals or competencies. For each goal, indicators highlight the knowledge and skills needed to achieve the goal. The National Career Development Guidelines (NCDG) prepares you to make materials that are suitable for your students.

As a elementary school counselors and teachers, you create individual career plans and portfolios. Individual career plans (ICP) -

• Develop self-awareness
• Identify initial career goals and educational plans
• Increase employability and decision making skills

Individual career portfolios summarize career awareness activities and experiences that occur during the school year. In addition to individual career plans and portfolios, you use a variety of resources -

Career days
• Career fairs
• Community speakers
• Field trips
• Information interviewing
• Literary works
• Mentors
• Collages, murals
• Educational games
• Job shadowing
• Dramatic presentations

All of the career activities and tools combine academic work with career pathways. Career activities serve as foundations for future skills. As teachers and counselors, you help students build connections between academics and real life situations. You use career education activities to stress the importance of language arts, mathematics, social studies, and science.

You show students that Language Arts have many uses in the work force:

• Reading
• Writing
• Listening skills

You provide examples that show how people solve problems when they use Mathematics. Different types of Mathematics include:

• Addition
• Subtraction
• Multiplication
• Division

In Social Studies, your students learn how skills that are necessary to be successful in the global marketplace. In Social Studies, your students learn about -

• Countries
• Languages
• Cultures

Your students learn the importance of Science gaining skills to solve problems. You show your students how applications of Science are used in different industries, such as -

• Food
• Media
• Agriculture
• Automotive industry

The connections between academics and real life situations reinforce, develop, and expand previously learned skills. In summary, as a elementary school teachers and counselors, you help students:

• Know and value self
• Build self-esteem and confidence
• Learn and apply the academic material
• Identify interests and build relationships between the school environment and the work force
• Build academic, communication, problem solving, and social skills
• Increase awareness of the need for future jobs skills
• See the connections between learning in school, academic skills, job related skills, and careers
• See career possibilities
• See themselves as a future contributor to the job force
• Receive empowerment
• Build self-determination

As counselors and teachers, you build self-awareness, family awareness, school awareness, community awareness, career/ work awareness, attitude development, skill development, decision making strategies, and self-worth. You use age-appropriate materials that match the developmental levels of the students. Examples of activities include individual career plans (ICP), individual career portfolios, career days, career fairs, field trips, information interviewing, and library book reports.

After completing career education activities, your students are prone to get higher grades, academic achievement, school involvement, and interpersonal skills. In addition, your students are more adept to complete more complex courses and have higher graduation rates from high school. As your students get older, they will achieve their career visions and goals.

References

1. American Counseling Association, Office of Public Policy and Legislation. (2007). Effectiveness of School Counseling. Alexandria, VA: Author.

2. Angel, N. Faye; Mooney, Marianne. (1996, December). Work-in-Progress: Career and Work Education for Elementary Students. (ED404516). Cincinnati, OH: Paper presented at the American Vocational Association Convention.

3. Benning, Cathleen; Bergt, Richard; Sausaman, Pamela. (2003, May). Improving Student Awareness of Careers through a Variety of Strategies. Thesis: Action Research Project. (ED481018). Chicago, Illinois: Saint Xavier University.

4. Career Tec. (2000). K-12 Career Awareness & Development Sequence [with Appendices, Executive and Implementation Guide]. (ED450219) .Springfield, Il: Author.

5. Carey, John. (2003, January). What are the Expected Benefits Associated with Implementing a Comprehensive Guidance Program. School counseling Research Brief 1.1. Amherst, MA: Fredrickson Center for School Counseling Outcome Research.

6. Dare, Donna E.; Maddy-Bernstein, Carolyn. (1999, September). Career Guidance Resource Guide for Elementary and Middle/Junior High School Educators. (ED434216). Berkeley, CA: National Center for Research in Vocational Education.

7. DuVall, Patricia. (1995).Let’s Get Serious about Career Education for Elementary Students. AACE Bonus Briefs. (ED386603). Hermosa Beach, CA: AACE Bonus Briefs.

8. Ediger, Marlow. (2000, July). Vocational Education in the Elementary School. (ED442979) Opinion Papers

9. Gerver, Miriam, Shanley, Judy, O Cummings, Mindee. (2/14/02). Answering the Question EMSTAC Extra Elementary and Middle Schools. Washington, DC: Technical Assistance Center, (EMSTAC).

10. Hurley, Dan, Ed.; Thorp, Jim, Ed. (2002, May). Decisions without Direction: Career Guidance and Decision-Making among American Youth. (ED465895). Grand Rapids, Michigan: Ferris State University Career Institute for Education and Workforce Development.

11. Maddy-Bernstein, Carolyn; Dare, Donna E. (1997,December).Career Guidance for Elementary and Middle School Students. Office of Student Services Brief, v9 n1. (ED415353). Berkeley, CA: National Center for Research in Vocational Education.

12. Ohio Department of Education, Division of Vocational and Career Education, Ohio Career Development Blueprint, Individual Career Plan, K to 5 (ED449322). Columbus, Ohio, 2000

13. Splete, Howard; Stewart, Amy. (1990). Competency-Based Career Development Strategies and the National Career Development Guidelines. Information Series No. 345. (ED327739). Columbus, Ohio: ERIC Clearinghouse on Education and Training for Employment & Ohio State University

14. U.S. Department of Education Office of Vocational and Adult Education. (1994, 2004). National Career Development Guidelines (NCDG). Washington, DC: Author.

15. Williams, Jean A., Ed. (1999, January). Elementary Career Awareness Guide: A Resource for Elementary School Counselors and Teachers. (ED445293). Raleigh, NC: NC Department of Public Instruction, NC Job Ready.

16. Woal, S. Theodore. (1995). Career Education–The Early Years. AACE Bonus Briefs. (ED386603). Hermosa Beach, CA: AACE Bonus Briefs.

Dr Mary Askew specializes in career tests, websites, and books for students. Get information about Holland Code Resources at http://www.hollandcodes.com Contact Dr. Askew at learning4life@qwest.net

Due to the growing number of double-income families in America, the need for childcare providers is constantly on the rise. Just take a look at the statistics: According to the U.S. Department of Labor, in their May 2005 Databook, 11.6 million children under age 5 were in some type of regular childcare arrangement every week.

In the 2004 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau, a whopping 63% of children under age 5 are in some type of regular childcare arrangement every week.

How does this impact our society in general?

These statistics show that more than half of preschool-age children spend a majority of their waking hours in the care of non-family members. According to records, these children spend an average of 36 hours per week in a private or public childcare facility.

These figures become significant when we consider that the first few years in a child’s life are the so-called ‘formative years.’ These are when kids’ brains imbibe a lot of inputs from his environment. Thus, the people with whom he spends much of his waking hours impact his development significantly.

And because childcare is inevitable for double-income families, single parents, and couples who don’t have the luxury of having other relatives to look after their children, childcare providers must be selected with great care.

Quality childcare is important so that the child will be positively influenced intellectually, morally, and socially. A well-trained childcare workforce is important so that the kids left in childcare would eventually perform well in academics as well as have fewer behavioral problems as they grow up.

Childcare facilities must provide quality programs that are both safe and enjoyable for their wards. This means that the overall environment in a childcare center must come as close as possible to the environment that the child has in his own home – surrounded by caring adults who are deeply concerned in his welfare.

Many childcare agencies aggressively encourage childcare providers to obtain early childhood education courses, or at least enroll in continuing childcare education [http://www.bestchildcareguide.com/category/infant-day-care-centers], so that they come well equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary for their jobs.

Even as some teenagers and working students are found worthy to be excellent childcare providers, studies made by the Center for the Childcare Workforce show that the amount of formal education possessed by a childcare provider is still the strongest predictor for his or her ability to facilitate developmentally appropriate activities for children under his or her care.

You can also find more info on child care and childcare center [http://www.bestchildcareguide.com/category/a-childcare-center]. Bestchildcareguide.com/ is a comprehensive resource to know more about child care.

Kichwa Tembo Tented Camp

Kichwa Tembo Tented Camp nestles below the Oloololo Escarpment on the western boundary of the Masai Mara overlooking the endless, game filled plains shaded by dense forest canopy.

Each of the spacious tents affords total privacy and the privilege of sweeping views of the greatest grassland system on earth

Sarova Mara Tented Camp

Sarova Mara Camp has an impressive entrance with exotic gardens and a high thatched lobby with ethnic decor.

The camp’s buildings are attractive and airy with a big dinning area that includes a big terrace with wide-angle views and a swimming pool.

There are seventy-five tents through sizeable grounds offering differing views and many paths winding through lawns and gardens and wooden walkways over wide lily ponds. All tents have a concrete addition for private bathrooms.

Siana Springs Intrepids Tented Mara Camp

Fringed by marshes and surrounded by ghostly Fever Trees, Siana Springs is situated on the eastern edge of the Maasai Mara National Reserve.

Perfectly recapturing the romance of the early pioneers, the camp possess a tranquil atmosphere, with spacious tents and shaded trees offering complete privacy in the lush, unspoiled setting.

All tents have en-suite bathrooms. A convivial dining area offers fine cuisine and the swimming pool is an irresistible oasis on hot days.

Bird life is prolific up to 100 different species can be seen in a day.

Rokero Tented Camp

Rokero Tented Camp is set amidst the teeming mass of wildlife in the Masai Mara area.

Rekero’s tented camp is currently inside the Masai Mara Game Reserve, very close to the confluence of the Mara and Talek rivers.

This mobile camp is ideally situated for the annual migration, which is the movement of nearly a million wildebeest and other animals from the Serengeti through the Masai Mara in Kenya.

The camp is set up seasonally (June -October, December – March) and caters for between four and twelve guests.The spacious canvas tents are equipped with hot showers and toilets together with a large dining tent

Kicheche Mara Tented Camp

Located in the northern Koiyaki Lemek region of the Mara, Kicheche Mara Camp is hidden in a groove of wild cotton trees in a prime wildlife area.The camp is a luxury bush camp with no permanent structures and can accommodate a maximum of 20 guests.The tents have spacious rooms with adjacent private bathrooms with hot water. There are director’s chairs and hammocks slung nearby trees to relax in

Olarro Camp

Olarro Camp is perched on a vantage point in the scenic Loita Hills, offering superb views of the Masai Mara plains.Situated on 150,000 acres of private land. It provides the freedom to walk in the hills and enjoy game drives in open-top land rovers and sip a sundowner in the African wilderness.The camp comprises of 8 African-style cottages tucked amidst the bush with en-suite bathrooms. Olarro camp offers a personalized service in an intimate and homely atmosphere.

Mara Porini Tented Camp

Porini Camp has been set up in the exclusive wildlife conservancy of Ol Kinyei, one of the most beautiful wilderness areas in the Serengeti-Mara eco-system. It is in a pristine wilderness with open savannah plains, riverine forest, springs, streams and rivers, rolling hills and spectacular views across the Mara. Ol Kinyei belongs to Maasai communities who have recently set aside the conservancy as a sanctuary for wildlife.The Camp has 6 guest tents sited in the shade of Yellow-barked Acacia trees along the banks of the Laetoli, a permanently flowing watercourse within Ol Kinyei . The tents are spacious and each has an en-suite bathroom with flush toilet and safari shower. The camp accommodates a maximum of 12 guests, giving the experience of real camping in the bush in an exclusive private wilderness but with all the comforts required by discerning travellers. Food is excellent with home baked bread, fresh salads and high quality meals prepared by the camp Chef.Large Safari tents with a double and single bed, solar electric lights, en suite bathrooms with flush toilet and safari shower.All meals and picnic lunches, free mineral water, sodas, gin, beer and house wine.

Mara Camp

Mara Camp is located on Koyiaki Group Ranch adjoining the Masai Mara National Reserve – west of Nairobi.Mara Camp is a seasonal tented camp. There are 6 spacious double tents with ensuite toilet and shower. Each tent has a private veranda.Here they have re-created the safari camp of “Out of Africa”. Where guests are looked after by attentive staff who bring steaming hot water for your canvas showers, prepare sumptuous meals and offer your favourite “sundowner” cocktail. Every comfort is assured, your every need catered for.

Little Governors Tented Camp

Little Governors Camp was built in 1976 with its own independent structure around a small watering hole that teems with birds and wildlife.It is an intimate camp with 17 tents, all which, are tucked away amongst trees. The tents have en-suite facilities with hot showers and bidets.Verandas in each tent provide constant views of the beautiful rolling plains and wildlife.

Bateleur Camp de luxe Mara

Bateleur Camp is situated on the western border of the Masai Mara, in the South-Western Kenya.

The camp lies at the foot of Oloololo Escarpment on the fringe of the riverline forest looking out over the plains of the Mara Reserve.The camp falls directly on the path of the famous annual migration of the wildebeest and zebras and the central area for guests include a comfortable lounge with viewing decks and a tree shaded swimming pool.The tents have en-suite facilities, spacious area with shingle roofs, wooden doors and hard wood floors and a private veranda.

Joe Mwangi is a Tour consultant based in Nairobi Kenya with http://www.landmarksafaris.com We are able to organise every aspect of planning your Kenya safari ,Kenya business travel, complete with hotel bookings, car rentals, air/rail bookings, activities transfers plus provide you with an itinerary that suits your personal requirements. http://www.landmarksafaris.com takes the hassles out of planning and booking your Kenya vacation.For Mor info Contact landmark safaris http://www.landmarksafaris.com for more info contact landmark safaris info@landmarksafaris.com

Your child has his or her own personality and finding the right furniture and toys to go along with that personality is challenging. The best way to go about this is allowing your child to be the one who picks and designs their own room. Who knows your child better then themselves and it can be a fun and exciting experience you do together. The thing you have to remember when allowing your child to be the designer is don’t be afraid to influence their decision. A childs mind will change over time keeping that in mind is very important and necessary when designing their room. Try and help them understand this point but be careful not to push them to grow up to fast, we already know it happens to fast as it is. Having an understanding of what your child will want before you go about designing the perfect room for him or her will save time and money and allow you to lead the way.

When deciding on childrens furniture remember that your child is going to grow. The bright colors your little one wants today wont be the same tomorrow. The best way to go about colors is walls painted in a neutral color and allow your child to build the accents of the room. Children can be over the color of the bedding, drawer pulls rugs and curtains things that are easy and cheap to change over time. Allowing your child to help will do several things one their room will feel like their room and they will feel that you trust their judgment. Its amazing who much our children look up to and aspire to be like us.

One a final note help your child find things that are built to last. The best way to do this is to shop KidKraft. KidKraft was started by engineers which means that their products are designed to be tough and durable. Durability is very important in childrens bedroom furniture for many reasons the most important is that it lasts. Who are you kidding kids are hard on everything buying items that are designed to last should be and will be the most important part of helping your child design his or her bedroom. It is their room why not let them be a part of the decision making even at a young age the sooner they start the easier it will become to make good decisions.

Jason Quick is an expert in childrens bedroom furniture when looking for the best in childrens furniture look no further then KidKraft

Since we have become such a celebrity driven culture, I thought it might be amusing to imagine what it might be like to be a celebrity. Consider this like taking a vacation from your everyday life. This is not to advocate that you become a celebrity or pursue a lifestyle of glamour and fame, when simplifying your life may lead to more satisfying long term benefits in difficult economic times. Rather it is to enjoy thinking about being a celebrity, much as you might add an occasional celebration or fantasy experience into your life.

It is like putting on a costume or mask so you become someone else on Halloween. Well, this is an experience of imagining yourself as any celebrity you want to be. To do so, you create or imagine events and activities to experience the celebrity lifestyle by yourself or with some friends and associates. Here are some tips to get you started, though written in a somewhat tongue in cheek style, which you can take seriously or not. Just have fun with the idea of being a celebrity for a day.

Creating Your Name and Persona

First, create a name or persona for yourself. Imagine you could be anyone – a movie star, a TV star, a rock star. And in reality, today the transformation from everyday citizen to well-known celebrity isn’t so far away. Just think of how Joe the Plumber got known by asking Obama a few pointed questions at a campaign stop. Consider how an ordinary mother – well, not so ordinary – got known as Octomom by having eight babies. Recall how an eccentric scientist got his fame by sending up a silver helium balloon that looked like a UFO and claiming his son was missing and might be on it. It was a big publicity stunt that backfired – but it got him in the news.

So take a moment to think of who you’d like to be – and think big, like the big names in the news do. See yourself as larger than life, and your name is in lights. And don’t try to think or analyze too hard. Just go with whatever first pops into your mind. Then, whoever that person is, imagine yourself on your way to becoming very famous.

On Your Way to the Top

Next, think about what you might do to get to the top. Some celebrities break through because they are part of a famous family, like Kate Hudson, the daughter of Goldie Hawn. Another is Paris Hilton, the daughter of the Hiltons hotel clan. Though she had help from a notorious sex video of herself with her then boyfriend, having the famous name certainly helped. It wasn’t just a sex tape by anyone.

But most celebrities do something that gets themselves in the news, if they aren’t already famous by having a starring part in the movies or on TV. For example, Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger was just another pilot from Danville California, until he landed a US Air plane in the Hudson River in January 2009, after it encountered a flock of geese – and he was hailed as a hero for saving all 155 people aboard.

So now imagine your own story of what you did that made you famous. It could be something you really have done, or it could be something you’d like to do in reality. Or think of some wild, crazy, and outrageous thing to do to make yourself stand out and make the news.

Next, once you do whatever it is to stand out, you need the press to make you famous. So imagine the press descending and asking you questions about what you have done. They’re yelling and screaming, pushing and shoving, because they want to get near to you and talk to you. For you are the center of this excitement. You see mikes being pushed at you, flashing cameras going off, and it’s very exciting that everyone wants to talk to you.

Next imagine what they are asking and what you might say. Just a line or two. That’s all they want. About a 10-15 second sound clip they can use on the evening news. So think of something short and witty to say.

Then, as a celebrity, the next stop is usually the TV talk show circuit. So imagine you are doing that. See yourself being a guest on all the big shows – you’re on Oprah and everyone in the audience is clapping and cheering. Then, you’re on Good Morning America, and the cameramen are adjusting the mikes. Next stop – the View with Barbara Walters, Elizabeth Hasselbeck, Joy Behar, and Whoopie Goldberg, and they’re oohing and aahing over all you have done. After that, you’re face to face with Larry King, who smiles as he tugs on his suspenders and asks you to tell him about you.

So go on, tell everyone what you have done, what you like, how you’re surprised by your sudden fame, and how much you’re enjoying the experience. The idea is to be humble, while you strut your stuff and celebrate you.

Who You Need Around You

Next, once you’re a celebrity, the deals start pouring in, so see yourself getting buckets of mail at your door from fans and deal makers. Then your phone starts ringing off the hook, with dozens of offers to be on this show, appear at that celebration, endorse this product, attend that gala opening. What do you do?

Of course, you need a lawyer to help you sort through this all, so imagine you are meeting with a series of lawyers. Each one proclaims all the great things he or she is going to do for you or has done for someone else. So now you have to decide which lawyer to choose for better or worse.

And, naturally, the next thing you need is a manager or agent, or maybe both to help you decide what offers to take and for how much. And maybe your lawyer can help you decide what manager, agent, or both will help your celebrity career the most. So imagine you are making your choice, and then your manager, agent, or both are giving you some ideas on what to do next. For example, he or she can arrange some endorsements. Maybe you might appear in a film or in a walk-on part on TV. You can pick out your favorite show and see yourself making a guest appearance on that.

Then, since you’re getting so many offers but still want more, the next logical person you need on your team is a publicist. So see yourself with a parade of publicists coming to your door, telling you how they are going to publicize you. In fact, they, along with your agent, manager, and lawyer may have some ideas about branding, whereby you create a whole package around your name. Your brand will include a line of CDs, maybe clothing or make-up, a doll with your image, a video workshop, even a Happy Meal for kids featuring your smiling face.

And of course, there will be a book. You don’t even have to write it yourself. Just pick a ghostwriter, give him or her the gist of what you want to say, plus a little information about you, and voila. In a few weeks you’ll have your book with your name on it. And if you have time, you might even read it – or let your agent, manager, or publicist do that, so they can tell you if they like the book, and if it sounds like you. Then, besides promoting whatever you did to get famous, your publicist will promoting your book and the rest of your celebrity product line.

Now, since you’re making so much money from your branding campaign, plus your endorsements and book, you need a financial planner and stock broker to help you properly manage all your money. So you meet with them, and they give you all kinds of advice. Invest in this. Invest in that. Don’t buy bonds; stick to stocks. Try a hedge fund. Or how about a mutual fund? Plus now you qualify for a private banker, who will help to manage your funds at their bank.

Your New Lifestyle

This might be a good time to imagine buying a luxury home, too. After all, you have a celebrity image to maintain, so go look with a real estate broker who handles high-priced properties – because now it’s only the best for you. So you go looking for big mansions on a hill or behind gated walls with dozens of acres around them. Your new home will have a huge living room, big patio deck, and an expansive kitchen for all your entertaining. Maybe you’ll even have your own screening room for your private film showings.

And what’s a new luxury house without your first party? So you might imagine that all your celebrity friends are arriving for a big shindig at your house. And since you’re now famous and rich, you’ll see lots of A-list celebrities there – Brad Pitt, Angela Jolie, Donald Trump, Jay Leno, David Letterman – no scratch David Letterman. You can’t have anyone with a touch of scandal, since that could rub off on you. But the best and the brightest names are there. So just enjoy your own celebrity party – and now you have the budget, so you can afford it.

Then the invitations to go to celebrity parties start pouring in, too. You have your pick of the best of the best to attend, or maybe the gala where you’ll make the biggest splash. So go ahead and choose a party to attend for a big film opening or a charity bash, because as a celebrity, it’s good to choose a cause to show you’re not all about money, fame, and glamour, but you have a heart of gold to help others, too.

But wait! Before you go, you have to get the finest fashions. You have to look the part of a celebrity, too. So you head off to Nordstrom’s or an expensive fashionable boutique with a designer name, like Versace, Armani, Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger, Donna Karan, or Calvin Klein. After all, you need to dress to impress now, and the cost no longer means anything to you. So you can easily spend a few thousand wherever you go, whatever it takes to look like the celebrity that you are.

Now you see yourself going to one of these openings or charity galas, and you’re dressed in your finest finery – an expensive tux if you’re a guy, a beautiful gown if you’re a woman. Then, as you walk down the red carpet, the photographers are snapping pictures, the cameramen are rolling film, and the fans are reaching out with their pictures for you to sign. So, of course, you graciously stop, smile, and sign, as the cameras snap and roll away.

Afterwards, you go to a trendy restaurant, where you can order whatever you want. First, a waiter comes by with the finest wines, and you have a quick taste before you decide to order the one you like best. Then, you enjoy all your favorite dishes, brought to you in elegant silver bowls and platters. And across from you is your partner or family members, since they now feel like celebrities, too, because once you’re a celebrity, whomever you see or know well will become newsworthy, too, just by being with or related to you.

Now savor the experience of being a celebrity. Enjoy it. Imagine that you could really have this celebrity lifestyle if you wanted it. Or do you? Would you really like that celebrity life? Or would you rather be back to being who you are now?

Gini Graham Scott, Ph.D. is the author of over 50 books and a seminar and workshop leader, specializing in work relationships and professional and personal development. Her latest books include PLAYING THE LYING GAME, WANT IT, SEE IT, GET IT!, ENJOY! 101 LITTLE WAYS TO ADD FUN TO YOUR WORK EVERYDAY, and 17 TOP SECRETS ON HOW TO KEEP YOUR JOB OR FIND NEW WORK TODAY. She is also a screenplay writer and indy film producer, with several projects under development and in post production. She writes books and script for clients, too.

For more information, her Website for books is at http://www.ginigrahamscott.com, for films at http://www.changemakersproductions.com.

The New Basics of Business

With unemployment continuing to rise, home prices falling due to a surplus of inventory, and small business lending at a standstill, this recession doesn’t seem likely to end soon. The recovery will be slow and Americans will certainly not enjoy the prosperity of a few years ago for a long time to come. It’s not just economists who think this way. “Half the population in [a] new ABC News poll thinks both job security and retirement prospects in the years ahead will remain worse than their pre-recession levels.” (“Poll: Less Job Security is the ‘New Normal,’” ABC News The Polling Unit, June 15, 2009, analysis by Gary Langer) This confidence, or lack thereof, is an integral part of an economic cycle. The analysis goes on to say, “Those diminished expectations – plus the pain of the current downturn – are fueling retrenchments in consumer behavior that could fundamentally reshape the economy.”

Basically, consumers are hunkering down to limit spending, save money, conserve resources, and change the way they’ve been living. The major influence on the health of an economy is the psychological state of its consumers. When there exists a broad belief that spending beyond necessity is unwise, people will change their habits and as a result, some businesses will have to close their doors. The economy is molting into a new, leaner animal. Rather than react in desperation to avoid doom, firms should interact with the current situation with innovative and forward thinking actions.

No matter the economic slump, increasing profits is typically the number one goal of any business. To ensure profitability, a company must demonstrate a competitive advantage over others in its industry, either by cost leadership (same product as competitors, lower price), differentiation (same price, better services), or focusing on an exclusive segment of the market (niche). For long term maintenance of competitive advantage, a firm must ensure that its methods cannot be duplicated or imitated. This requires constant analysis and regular reinvention of competitive strategies.

A recession is the optimal time to reinvent competitive advantage because the pressure of a feeble economy will separate the strong businesses from the weak ones, with the weak falling out of the game entirely. Your business will be strong if you have a plan of action based upon a little industry research, an analysis of what you have and what you want, and continuous monitoring of the results of your plan. This kind of innovation is not only a necessity right now, but it is an opportunity to improve the quality and efficiency in the way you do business.

The three basic actions for growing a business in any economic climate are: improve efficiency (maintain output while reducing inputs, such as time and money); increase volume (produce more in order to spread fixed costs); reorganize the business (change goals, methods and/or philosophy). If you plan to implement one of these, you may as well plan to implement them all. By focusing on one of the above strategies, you will find a ripple effect that causes a need to address the others. This is a good thing.

Right now, growth may sound like an unattainable goal as businesses are grappling just to survive, but hey, “flat is the new up.” If a business can keep its doors open and lights on, then it’s doing better than many others. But lights and open doors don’t make sales, so making changes that attract business is in a sense, striving for growth. It won’t be this tough forever, but for now, putting some growth strategies into action may be what keeps your business alive, if not thriving.

Every Business Needs a Plan

Without a plan, there is little hope for growth, let alone survival. As my small business development counselor, Terry Chambers says, “If it’s not written, it’s not real.” That doesn’t mean it’s unchangeable, but it does show that you mean business. In order to accomplish your strategies of improving efficiency, increasing volume, and reorganizing your business, you’ve got to examine what you have, what you want, and how you plan to get there.

Sometimes it takes a significant event or change in existing conditions for a business to create a written plan. I think it’s safe to say that the state of the economy is a significant change that should prompt business owners to alter the way they’ve been doing things. If you already have a business plan, it’s time to get it out and revise it. Make sure your plan includes answers to these questions:

• What do I want to accomplish?
• What do I have to work with?
• How have I done in the past?
• What might I do in the future?
• What will I do now?
• How will I do it?
• Is it working?

A business plan can be used as a vehicle for accurate communication among principals, managers, staff, and outside sources of capital. It will also help to identify, isolate, and solve problems in your structure, operations, and/or finances. Along with these advantages, a business plan captures a view of the big picture, which makes a company better prepared to take advantage of opportunities for improvement and/or handle crises.

Essentially, the three main elements of a business plan are strategies, actions, and financial projections. In order to cover all of the principle elements, you will engage in other types of planning:

• Marketing plan: Includes analysis of your target market (your customers), as well as the competition within that market, and your marketing strategy. This plan is usually part of the strategic plan.
• Strategic plan: Asses the impact of the business environment (STEER analysis: Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Ecological, and Regulatory factors). Includes company vision, mission, goals and objectives, in order to plan three to five years into the future.
• Operational planning: With a focus on short-term actions, this type of planning usually results in a detailed annual work plan, of which the business plan contains only the highlights.
• Financial planning: The numerical results of strategic and operational planning are shown in budgets and projected financial statements; these are always included in the business plan in their entirety.
• Feasibility study: Before you decide to start a business or add something new to an existing business, you should perform an analysis of its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT analysis), as well as its financial feasibility, then asses its potential sales volume.

The process of business planning does not end when the written plan is complete. Business planning is a cycle, which includes the following steps:

1. Put your plan of action in writing.
2. Make decisions and take action based upon the plan.
3. Gauge the results of those actions against your expectations.
4. Explore the differences, whether positive or negative, and write it all down.
5. Modify your business plan based upon what you learned.

President of Palo Alto Software, Inc. and business planning coach Tim Berry says, “Planning isn’t complete unless you’ve planned for review.” Review is the fundamental action that initiates putting your business plan into action. In his blog at Entrepreneur.com, Berry lists some insightful strategies to making good use of your plan review, a few of which include keeping the review meetings as brief as possible and an emphasis on metrics as key to effective review.

Write your business plan in sessions. Don’t think that you have to produce a business plan before go to bed tonight or you won’t be able to open your doors for business tomorrow. I like Tim Berry’s Plan-As-You-Go method of business planning. The practice of planning is an effective way to really get to know your business and you might end up discovering some important things about your company and about yourself.

There are various strategies and outlines available that will guide you in choosing the appropriate format for your business plan. Check out the collection of sample business plans for a variety of businesses at Bplans dot com. Every business is different, therefore every business plan will be structured differently, but for the purposes of this white paper, I will present the fundamental elements that make up strategic, operational, and financial planning. Here is a basic outline, thanks to NxLevel® for Entrepreneurs (2005, Fourth Edition):

General Business Plan Outline

Cover Page

Table of Contents

Executive Summary

Mission, Goals and Objectives

General Description of the Business

Stage of Development

General Growth Plan Description

Mission Statement

Goals and Objectives

Background Information

The Industry

Background Industry Information

Current/Future Industry Trends

The Business Fit in the Industry

Organizational Matters

Business Structure, Management and Personnel

Management

Personnel

Outside Services/Advisors

Risk Management

Operating Controls

Recordkeeping Functions

Other Operational Controls

The Marketing Plan

Products/Services

Products/Services Description

Features/Benefits

Life Cycles/Seasonality

Growth Description (Future Products/Services)

The Market Analysis

Customer Analysis

Competitive Analysis

Market Potential

Current Trade Area Description

Market Size and Trends

Sales Volume Potential (Current and Growth)

Marketing Strategies

Location/Distribution

Price/Quality Relationship

Promotional Strategies

Packaging

Public Relations

Advertising

Customer Service

The Financial Plan

Financial Worksheets

Salaries/Wages & Benefits

Outside Services

Insurance

Advertising Budget

Occupancy Expense

Sales Forecasts

Cost of Projected Product Units

Fixed Assets

Growth (or Start-Up) Expenses

Miscellaneous Expenses

Cash Flow Projections

Break-Even Analysis

Monthly Cash Flow Projections – First Year

Notes to Cash Flow Projections (Assumptions)

Annual Cash Flow Projections – Years Two and Three

Financial Statements

Projected Income Statement

Balance Sheet

Statement of Owner’s Equity

Additional Financial Information

Summary of Financial Needs

Existing Debt

Personal Financial Statement

Appendix Section

Action Log

Supporting Documents (Resumes, Research Citations, etc.)

Executive Summary

A business plan starts with an executive summary, which is a one or two page summary of your business plan, or an introduction to your business. Although this section is at the beginning of the business plan, it is the last thing to be written. You’ll be able to condense your business plan more succinctly once you have the opportunity to work through the other parts of the plan. The executive summary may be the only thing a potential investor or financier will read, so write it last because it has to be the most compelling.

Start by writing a description of your business, including what stage of development it is currently in (conception, start-up, first year, mature, exit) and your plans for growth. Discuss the nature of your business, the main products and services you offer, the market for your products and services, and how and by whom the business is operated.

Mission Statement

Then work on your mission statement. Here is where you concisely state the focus, scope and hope of your business (or values, vision, philosophy, and purpose). What is the customer pain you are soothing, the need you fulfill? Here’s an example from Coca-Cola:

Our Roadmap starts with our mission, which is enduring. It declares our purpose as a company and serves as the standard against which we weigh our actions and decisions.

• To refresh the world…
• To inspire moments of optimism and happiness…
• To create value and make a difference.

PepsiCo has a different take:

Our mission is to be the world’s premier consumer products company focused on convenient foods and beverages. We seek to produce financial rewards to investors as we provide opportunities for growth and enrichment to our employees, our business partners and the communities in which we operate. And in everything we do, we strive for honesty, fairness and integrity.

This is the mission statement of Inspiration Software, Inc.:

Our company strives to support improvements in education and business and to make a positive difference in our users’ lives by providing software tools that help people of all ages use visual thinking and visual learning to achieve academic, professional and personal goals.

Goals and Objectives

Next, outline your company goals and objectives, including long-term and short-term goals. You will get into more detail on how the goals will be accomplished in your operational plan and annual work plan, so focus on brevity at this stage. There is a difference between goals and objectives and it’s important to know what that is. I like how Andrew Smith explains it in The Business Plan Blog. Objectives are non-emotional, precise descriptions of what is needed to achieve a goal. Goals can involve emotion and don’t have to be as specific as objectives. Objectives are the steps to actualizing the goal. Here’s an example:

Goal:

To increase revenues by 50% by the end of the year.

Objectives:

Add a new product to our line.

Expand marketing outside of local area.

Develop a new customer retention strategy.

Of course, you will need a plan of strategies in order to accomplish each objective, but those details will be expounded upon in your annual work plan. A list of three short-term and three long-term goals, along with the objectives necessary to achieve them, is sufficient for most business plans. Remember to replace the goals and objectives with new ones as you check them off your list.

Background Information

The section that details the background information should start with identifying the industry your business is in. Even if you are not a member or have no intention of becoming involved, you should list any trade associations within that industry; you never know when you made need those connections. Find out what publications, magazines or journals are available to businesses in your industry. Use these and other sources of business information to identify how past trends (economic, social, political) affected the industry, as well as any current or future trends that may have an impact.

How does your business fit in the industry? What is the history of your business, including who started it, what changes have occurred, when was it started, where was and is it located, how was it started and operated, and why it was started? What barriers to entry, if any, have you recognized?

Organizational Matters

The ownership hierarchy of your business, the management structure, and the personnel are described in the section on organizational matters. This part of the plan deals with who, what and how your business runs. Who is in charge of what and how are they qualified? Discuss how the various parts of your business interact together; include details about outside contractors and consultants and what functions they perform. See the example below, thanks to Edraw Soft Vector-Based Graphic Design.

The organizational section of the business plan also needs to include an explanation of your record keeping process, checks and balances, and control management systems. Anyone who reads your business plan should be able to understand the organizational procedures for running your business day-to-day, as well as in an emergency situation.

The risk management plan needs to be fleshed out in the organizational section as well, including your risk strategy, the different types of insurance required, your contingency plans, and problem-solving protocols. What will you do if a natural disaster ruins part of your inventory? How will you handle the sudden illness or long-term absence of a key manager? What happens if you are unable to finish a project on schedule? What are some early warning signs to watch for?

It may not be pleasant to imagine all the “what ifs,” but doing it now and planning for those unexpected events will improve your company’s chances of surviving a storm. For an excellent step-by-step guide on the details of developing a risk management plan, see the article “How to Develop a Risk Management Plan,” by Charles Tremper at wikiHow.com.

Marketing Plan

The next section, themarketing plan, gets into the details of what your business offers and what market it serves. Marketing is the communication of how your products and services “ease customer pain.” Show the problem and how your business solves it. Marketing is a necessity for every business because once your doors are open, you must invite customers to come in. Everything you do in your business that affects customers is marketing because it sends a message about your company.

This part of the plan details the features and benefits of your products and services, their seasonality and life cycle, as well as any future products and services you are planning. It also includes a thorough market analysis, in which you will study your customers, your competition and the market itself. Here you should include a PEST analysis, in which you will consider the impact of various factors upon your business. The factors include combinations of the following, depending upon your business: social, technological, economic, environmental, political, legal, ethical, and demographic.

Studying your market will give you insight as to how you can make your business more appealing to people. Market research is more than just noticing trends in your customers’ buying habits; it’s discovering what motivates your customer to buy. Don’t assume that you already know because you’ve been in this business for years. This study often unearths characteristics about your market that are hidden or new. It’s best to discover these things before your competition.

Another key element to the marketing section of your business plan is an outline of your marketing objectives, strategies, and tactics. Writing down the avenues you travel in order to market your business will afford you the opportunity to record what worked and what didn’t work. You must be able to measure and calculate the results of your marketing efforts, otherwise, what’s the point? If you don’t know if something is working for or against you, then it’s working against you.

Include details about all of the following that are applicable to your business in the marketing section of your plan: location and distribution, and promotional strategies, such as packaging, public relations, advertising, and customer service. As a result of exploring these areas, you will naturally need to consider how much you will budget for your marketing efforts. This question is closely connected to your sales forecast, which leads us into the next section of the business plan.

Financial Plan

The financial plan consists of four sections: Financial Worksheets, Cash Flow Projections, Financial Statements, and Additional Financial Information. All of these components will tell the story of how you plan to start or grow your business from a financial perspective. It is vital that you explain the assumptions under which you have based your projections, for example, “We assume that there are no unforeseen changes in economic policy to make our products and service immediately obsolete.” or “We assume interest rates will stay the same over the next three years.” (both quotes from Bplans.com sample business plans)

I suggest that you construct easy to read tables and graphs for the financial portion of the plan. The worksheets suggested are: Salaries/Wages and Benefits, Outside Services, Insurance, Advertising Budget, Occupancy Expense, Sales Forecasts, Cost of Projected Product Units, Fixed Assets, Growth (or Start-Up) Expenses, and Miscellaneous Expenses. You may find some of the worksheet templates at PlanWare.org to be useful.

The expected revenues and expenses for at least a year should be projected in the cash flow section of the Financial Plan. It’s better to make conservative predictions rather than be too optimistic when it comes to cash flows. As part of this section, a break-even analysis is essential. This is the “amount of units sold or sales dollars necessary to recover all expenses associated with generating these sales.” (NxLevel for Entrepreneurs, 2005) The formula for calculating the break-even quantity is Total Fixed Costs/(Price – Average Variable Costs).

The financial statements section should show the way things are now if you have an existing business, as well as a forward look at your checking account, or projected income statement. The only way a start-up company can provide an income statement and balance sheet is by projecting these figures based upon well defined assumptions. Both start-ups and existing businesses should include a statement of owner’s equity.

An income statement shows revenues minus expenses, in order to calculate net income or net loss. Start-ups should project these expected results for the first twelve months of business, then quarterly for the next two years. A list of a company’s assets (what you own), liabilities (what you owe), and net worth (assets minus liabilities) is called a balance sheet. The statement of owner’s equity shows the owner’s initial investment, additional investments, and retained earnings, minus owner withdrawals.

The additional financial information at the end of this part of the plan should give a summary of your business’s financial needs in order to grow, show its debt position, and state the owner’s financial status.

Appendix

In the appendix, which is the final section, an action plan or timeline for implementing the business plan should be presented. This is where the detailed goals and objectives are expanded in a work plan. Also, include in this section any additional information or supporting documents that are relevant to your business plan, such as important research, marketing materials, product specifications, and owner and employee résumés.

Executive Summary

Now that you have written the hard part of your business plan, it’s time to write the fun part, the executive summary. As mentioned in the beginning of this white paper, this is the most important piece of the business plan because it illustrates the very essence of your business in a captivating and condensed form. If you ever share your business plan with a potential investor or potential buyer, the executive summary may be the only thing that is read.

Make the executive summary brief (no more than two pages), but make sure you showcase the best qualities of your business without glossing over important information; show why yours is a winning business. Write one to three sentences about each of the following:

• General description of the business
• Mission statement
• Management structure
• Business operations
• Products/services, the market and your customer
• Your marketing plan, including the competition
• Financial projections and plans

A clear, concise, and convincing executive summary will intrigue your audience and inspire them to read the rest of your plan. If the plan is never seen by anyone outside of your business, don’t assume it was a waste of time. During the planning process, you will have worked through an enlightening exercise that prepares you to run and grow a better business.

Having this written document available for frequent consultation and review will improve your chances of not only surviving, but coming out strong on the other side of this recession. Most people think that knowing in the back of their mind what they plan to do is sufficient for survival or recovery, but the difference between a written plan and an idea is usually the difference between failure and success.

http://www.universalfunding.com/index.html

Laura Walker is the Marketing Manager at Universal Funding Corporation. She writes articles about the world of business and the economy. Her blog, Factoring Vibe can be found at UniversalFunding dot com forward slash blog. She has written prize-winning business plans, numerous small business advice articles, as well as poems and literary criticism. Universal Funding Corporation is an accounts receivable factoring company in Spokane, WA. Not only is Universal Funding family-owned, but it is family-managed. Working shoulder-to-shoulder with their account associates, customer service, receivables management, and financial staff, the Wozows have daily interaction with their clients, treating them like part of the family.

With a broad spectrum of experience, the family at Universal Funding has roots in all aspects of business. A few staff are entrepreneurs; many have advanced degrees in their areas of expertise; some have been on the front lines of Fortune 500 companies. They have investing, banking, accounting, and legal experts on site and at their clients’ disposal. As long-standing members of the International Factoring Association and the National Association of Credit Management (NACM), Universal Funding offers capital solutions to businesses large and small, local and national. Keeping apprised of trends and new developments in the commercial finance sector is important to them. Staff regularly engages in industry conferences and training courses, such as NACM’s Commercial Credit Convention and the Experian Vision Breakout Sessions.

Providing fast capital funding to businesses for over a decade, Universal Funding has been a leader in the factoring industry since its inception. With over 63 years of combined experience, their financial specialists have expert knowledge of how to help businesses grow and prosper.

According to various surveys and polls, public speaking is one of the most frightening things a person will have to do in his or her life, often more feared than severe physical dangers, even death.

For some people, public speaking is a fairly natural part of life’s routine. Teachers, salesmen, supervisors- all of these do have to speak to crowds of some size on a regular basis. And perhaps certain personalities gravitate toward jobs and situations in which public speaking is a necessity. It is rare to meet a professor, a trial attorney, or a military drill instructor who is meek and shy and afraid to hear their own voice come out of their mouth in front of a group. But it is common to meet scientists, librarians and architects who have such fears. As well as delivery drivers, construction workers and accountants. Anyone who is not required to speak to crowds in an organized, compelling and articulate manner may harbor extreme trepidation at the prospect of public speaking. In fact, even some of the aforementioned people who do speak publicly on a regular basis may not feel that they are up to the level of ease and effectiveness that they would like to be or that they feel is expected of them.

The need to speak publicly often comes up outside of one’s job or profession. Perhaps you need to toast someone at a wedding, or deliver a humorous trip-down-memory-lane speech at a birthday party or anniversary dinner. Maybe at your house of worship you are suddenly called upon to speak to the congregation. Or you join a social or political organization where you unexpectedly find yourself in a leadership role. Maybe you find yourself in court, called to the stand in a trial, and you must rise to the occasion like Jack Nicholson’s character in “A Few Good Men” and deliver a blistering, unforgettable speech capped by the legendary phrase “You can’t HANDLE the truth!”. Whatever the case may be, instances of important public speaking are almost sure to come your way.

Instead of dreading your moments in the spotlight, you can easily follow just a few simple steps and learn to thrive there; to be the bold, assured public speaker that makes everyone feel at ease and who inspires confidence and heightened listening at your every word.

Let’s look at four essential ingredients to a great public speaker. If you only remember what I call ‘The Four C’s', you will be way ahead of the game. In fact, you will be able to come off like a pro. The Four C’s are Composure, Cadence, Communication and Comedy. Let’s find out exactly what they entail.

1.) Composure. This means how you present or carry yourself. Your body is your instrument. You are thinking: “Wait, my mouth is my instrument when I’m speaking.” Yes, but your entire body is physically the vessel that carries your voice, and visually, emotionally and even spiritually, your entire body helps you connect with the people that you are talking to.

Try to stand straight up, and make your spine and your limbs straight. Not ramrod, uptight, stiff straight, but self-respecting, commanding straight. Stand to your full height. If you are much more comfortable leaning over just a bit, or bent slightly, that is OK. The point is, find your “power position”, where your body feels most naturally authoritative and deserving of being looked at and listened to.

Look out and survey the crowd. Develop hand gestures that convey strength and discipline. Perhaps fingers together, facing up , like a “church steeple”, or a very loosely made fist like Bill Clinton used to do, or a flat “karate chop” hand. Some people point. Some give the “thumbs-up”. Some lightly slap the table or podium under them for emphasis. The point is, experiment beforehand and find your “power position” and your “power moves” or “power gestures”.

If you feel nervous at the outset of a speech, take more time before starting, become more deliberate and look around the room and the crowd for a few moments. You know exactly why you are taking time and looking around. Everything you do is on purpose. You are in control. You are leading and the crowd will follow. This is just a law of nature.

2.) Cadence. This means the tempo, rhythm or speed that you are speaking. Most people, most of the time, simply speak too fast. They rush. If you are at all a nervous type who has any inclination at all to speak quickly, especially when nervous, then SLOW DOWN. Make yourself speak a good fraction slower than what initially comes out of your mouth.

Slowing down a bit helps make you seem more deliberate and in control. To the audience, what sounds slow to you probably sounds very coherent and actually easier to understand. Also, if it doesn’t sound hasty and rushed, then almost subliminally the message to people is that: “however long it takes for him to say it and for us to sit through it all, we know that it must be interesting and well worth hearing, because he’s not rushing and not acting apologetic about having to tell it. It must actually be important.”

However, if you suspect that you might be a naturally slow talker, then ask a few friends or confidantes and confirm this. If you really are a very slow talker, then speed up a bit. But most of you will naturally be on the fast side when initially public speaking.

3.) Communication. OK, you know what this word means literally. But what do I really mean by it? It’s so easy to forget when speaking in public, but you are really just having some kind of conversation with human beings. It could be a Presidential address, trial attorney in court, actor thanking the Academy Awards or standup comedian doing his bits. They are all just SPEAKING TO HUMANS. Sure, the audiences don’t literally answer back, and sure the size and scope of the situation is very different from an intimate conversation, but the basic mechanics of intention, emotion and personal need are really the same. And I know that every one of you reading this knows how to talk, how to just talk to a person, be it a family member, co-worker, friend, shopkeeper, what have you. When you talk to another person, you naturally and unconsciously attach real emotion and urgency to what you are saying, because the words really mean something to you. They come from a need, whatever that might be: “Can I have some potato chips?”, “I can’t believe you finished your report.”, “I hate the 405 Freeway!” or “Will you give me a hug?” It sounds simple, and in your everyday life it IS simple.

Being a human being, you are a GENIUS in communicating realistically and compellingly. Now, simply bring that to your public speaking. When you speak, imagine a real person you know, right in front of you, or out in the audience. Speak to that one person if you need to. Connect with that person in your mind. Convince him or her of the importance, the deep meaning of what you are saying. Unless you are just calling bingo numbers, or reciting statistics for half an hour, you are not just saying words. You are saying THOUGHTS, FEELINGS and IDEAS. You are communicating MEANINGS.

Now, of course, emotional doesn’t mean loud, overly dramatic or scary. It means literally that there is some emotional component or feeling attached to it, the way regular people really speak almost all the time, at least regular people that you want to listen to.

Therefore, to summarize Communication, practice public speaking as if you are conversing with close friends or people that do not intimidate you at all. And make personal, emotional associations with what you are saying so that it sounds like you CARE about those ideas. Because you really DO care about them. Because then the audience will care.

4.) Comedy. Humor, levity, funniness, comedy. By whatever name, it is a very potent and valuable weapon in public speaking. Presidents use humor. Corporate CEO’s use it. Law enforcement uses it. So do military brass, athletes, teachers, managers and professionals of every type, stripe and classification.

Human beings use humor, and not just those we think of as being “clowns”, “jokesters” or “funnymen”. Sometimes the most deadly serious character can crack a sharp comedic line and bring down the house, elevating his stature and command to even higher levels. Think about Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character in the Terminator movies. He was a huge, heartless, robotic killing machine. And he had a series of funny one-liners that have become among the most widely used and appreciated in the world. Now you are probably not a heartless, humorless robot. In fact, you probably do already use humor at times in your life. The key is bringing appropriate, razor-sharp humor into your public speaking.

If you feel unable to write clever, appropriate, relevant and gut-bustingly funny lines into your speech or presentation, fear not. There are professional comedy writers out there who can make you hilarous at just the right moments for a reasonable and affordable price, and no one in the audience need be the wiser. In fact, they might all just assume that you were the brilliant comedic mind behind the golden zingers.

I happen to own a company called The Funny Business that creates custom-written comedic content for whatever your need. We’ve done speeches, toasts and roasts for weddings, birthdays, bar mitzvahs and corporate promotions. We’ve done presentations that involve fairly detailed, specific corporate and technical lingo. We’ve done standup material for both top-level and aspiring standup comedians. In fact, if you come to The Funny Business and request something funny to be written, we’ll do it! Unless we can’t do it, and then we’ll tell you so, but probably in a funny way.

Not everybody was born a giant of public speaking- a Bill Clinton, a John F. Kennedy, a Winston Churchill. But with a little work, a bit of preparation and some serious concentration on The Four C’s, just about anybody can become a strong and compelling public speaker.

Adam Gropman is the owner of The Funny Business, which custom-writes comedic material for various public speaking needs. He can be reached through http://www.thefunnybiz.biz

Have you been spending money on countless job boards, only to find that they don’t offer the types of candidates you need? If the answer is yes, don’t fret any longer, you’re about to learn crafty techniques to help you find free resumes on the net. There are numerous free resources online that offer resumes. These include: Free Resume Databases; Free Member Resumes on Association websites; Free College and Alumni resumes on University websites; Free Resume Newsgroups; Free Resume Blaster sites and active and passive resumes hosted on individual candidate websites. All of these resources can be found by using simple search techniques.

You will soon have hundreds of free resumes at your fingertips. The first step is to utilize multiple search engines since they will each offer different sites. The top 10 search engines suggested are: http://www.google.com, http://www.yahoo.com, http://www.altavista.com, http://www.excite.com, http://www.hotbot.com, http://www.alltheweb.com, http://www.galaxy.com, http://www.search.aol.com, http://www.msn.com, http://www.lycos.com. The search engines offer their own search features and they vary slightly. Therefore, it’s important to always read the search tips and check out the advanced search tool for each search engine. The common search symbols used across most search engines are called Boolean phrases.

Using Boolean Phrases

The first step is to choose one of the search engines from the above list and type the address in your Internet browser. Then decide what key words would be effective for finding the type of resource you want. Once you have a list of key words, use the following Boolean techniques to run the most efficient search.

o If searching for a phrase on a webpage, place the statement between quotation marks. Example: “free resume database”

o If searching for multiple words use the word AND between each word. Make sure to capitalize all 3 letters. Example: free AND resumes AND java

o If interested in finding one or more words, use the term OR between your key words. Example: “free resumes” AND java OR oracle OR php

o If looking for resumes that have a specific word with multiple possible endings such as: manager, management, managed, use an asterisk at the end of the base word. Example: manage* This will pull websites with all of the words that start with that base word.

o If searching for specific titles, type the word title: and then fill in the title of choice. Example: title: free resumes. This will pull websites with the words Free Resumes in the html title.

o If looking for URLs that have the word resume in the URL address, type the command URL: resume.

o If looking for a website with specific text such as: free resume search, type the command text: free resume search.

Below you’ll find suggestions of Boolean phrases and keywords to use that will help you find the free resume resources listed above. At the end of this article you will also find a suggested website that can give you access to hundreds of free resume resources instantly.

Free Resume Databases (These sites allow you to search through a database of resumes)

o “free resume database”

o “search for free” AND resumes

o “free resume search”

o text: free resumes

o free AND resume*

Association Websites offering Member Resumes (Many associations or organizations offer sections on their websites where members, who are looking for jobs, can post their resumes)

o “member resumes” AND association OR organization

o url: memberresumes

o text: search member resumes

o member AND resumes

o title: association AND resumes

Free College and Alumni resumes at University websites (Some Universities offer a section on their website where students, looking for internships, can post their resumes. Some also have pages where alumni can also post their resumes, when searching for work)

o “alumni resumes”

o url: edu AND resumes

o alumni OR student AND resumes

o text: alumni resumes

o university AND resumes OR cv

Free Resume Newsgroups (Newsgroups are email lists where people can post various things. There are several free resume newsgroups.)

o “free resumes” AND newsgroups

o newgroup* AND resumes

o url: newsgroup

o text: newsgroup

Free Resume Blaster Sites (These sites send resumes to your inbox after you fill out a form describing the types of resumes you need.)

o “resume distribution”

o “blast your resume”

Active or Passive individual candidate resumes on individual web pages. (There are thousands of personal resumes posted on the web. Some are active and some passive. Using the 4 numbers of the current year in your search can help you find more active resumes)

o url: resume AND 2005

o url: resume AND java AND oracle AND php

o resume AND experience AND education AND java OR oracle

o title: resume AND manage*

Now you’re ready to begin your search for free resume resources. If you find that your busy schedule doesn’t allow enough time for you to run searches to find a substantial amount of free resume resources, you should visit http://www.freeresumesites.com. They have already compiled an extensive list of hundreds of free resume databases, association websites, college resume sites, free resume newsgroups, free resume blaster sites, free job posting sites and links to pages that offer individual resumes. They charge a very minimal fee to access this list. This site can save you time and will provide you with all-of-the free resume resources mentioned in this article.

Remember, the Internet is an amazing resource for recruiters and if you don’t want to spend large sums of money on useless job boards, you now have the skills it takes to find free resumes. Good luck with your recruiting efforts!

Kim Proulx is a professional Internet Researcher with 10 years of experience.

Collector Car Insurance and Classic Car Insurance

If you are fortunate enough to own a classic car – or any collectible automobile – then you want to ensure that your luck does not run out because of having inadequate insurance coverage. Call it covering your butt – or covering your “asset” – but by all means, call one of the major providers such as American Collectors, Haggerty, or Parish Heacock insurance companies and let them put you in the driver’s seat in terms of professional protection of your cherished automotive investment.

How to Kick the Tires on Classic Car Insurance

The whole idea of insurance is that it needs to do what you expect of it in an emergency, when the rubber really hits the road. And classic car insurance is as different from conventional auto insurance as, well, a classic car is from your run of the mill generic vehicle.

When you buy a classic car insurance policy, you are essentially purchasing protection for those times when – God forbid and knock on wood it doesn’t happen – disaster strikes in the form of a fire, a collision, or an act of theft or vandalism. Just as we now have modern airbags to save us in the event of a crash, we also have collector’s car insurance, to protect us with adequate moneybags when calamity throws a wrench in the works.

The time you invest in choosing the right classic car insurance coverage is well worth the value and peace of mind that a quality collector’s insurance policy delivers for owners of classic motor cars.

The Nuts and Bolts of Classic Car Insurance Coverage

Collector car insurance is not the same as the insurance you buy for normal coverage of your daily transportation. Collector car insurance, or classic car insurance, is made especially for the needs of the car collector. And while ordinary insurance does offer some protection, no matter what you drive, it can leave you high and dry in the event of a loss that it not effectively covered by the terms of the insurance contract.

For example, you may have a garage-kept Cadillac Sedan DeVille with swooping fins your grandparents bought for $7,000 brand new back in the 1960s. But dealers have offered you three times that much, and you saw another one sell at an auto show for $35,000. If you don’t have special collector car insurance or classic car insurance, and the car is totaled, you will be lucky to get $7,000 for it. With depreciation calculated in, the insurance statisticians may decide that it is worth only half that much, or less, and you could wind up with two or three grand in exchange for your dream machine.

Stipulations or requirements normally encountered while shopping for collector car insurance or classic car insurance:

• A decent driving record.
• At least 10 years driving experience
• No teen drivers on the policy or drivers with poor driving records
• Secure and out of the weather garage
• Proof that you have another car for daily transportation
• Collector vehicle insurance is sometimes limited by the age of your car, and if your car is too young it may not qualify for a particular policy.
• Limited mileage. You probably don’t want to drive your creampuff car all the time, and your insurance company doesn’t want you to either. Mileage limits have increased recently, though, so if you can live with 250 miles a month you’re probably okay.

Coverage with collector car insurance or classic car insurance: Three kinds of value are important to understand when buying your policy. 1) Actual cash value: This is what you usually get with ordinary insurance, and is based on replacement cost minus depreciation.

2) Stated value:

The insurance company pays up to the stated value of the car, but may not guarantee the full stated value. And deductibles of up to $1,000 usually apply.

3) Agreed value:

In most jurisdictions, those who provide collector car insurance or classic car insurance are allowed to insure for a value that you and your insurer agree upon. And for most autos, there is no deductible. If your $100,000 vintage Rolls get trashed, you get a check for 100 grand, plain and simple – which is exactly why collectors use special classic car insurance coverage.

Do a periodic review of your coverage limits, because classic car prices are rising. What you insured your cherry classic for ten years ago may be a fraction of what it’s worth today. And if you are restoring a vehicle, ask your agent to give you appropriate insurance. There is no need to pay extra based on mileage statistics, if your car is up on blocks with no engine inside it. And as the car’s value increases thanks to your hard work of restoring it, you should raise the coverage to keep up with the added value of the restoration.

Keep all your receipts and paperwork – for everything from parts and labor to expenses incurred to take it to a classic car show – so that you can document the total investment your collector’s car represents. And take photos and keep them updated, for the same reason. And Last But Not Least: Special Savings Opportunities

As long as you meet the criteria in terms of how you use and take care of the car, you can usually buy a policy.

Traditional insurers will either refuse coverage, offer only a replacement value based on the nuts and bolts (minus heavy depreciation) of the car, or will charge you a prohibitive amount for the premium. But many collectors find that special collector’s coverage saves them money – as much as half – while insuring them for higher limits, sometime three or four times what a traditional company gave them.

Yes, it’s possible to get collector’s insurance coverage for full market value for your car, and save up to 50 percent off of the premium you’d pay with ordinary insurance. That makes classic car insurance a must-have for any serious car buff.

Below is information about three of the most reputable and dependable collectors and classic car insurance companies in the USA (All information listed below subject to change, please contact the insurance companies listed to be sure.):

Hagerty Insurance P.O. Box 1303 Traverse City, MI 49685-1303

Email: auto@hagerty.com Toll Free: 800-922-4050

Qualifications:

• Similar to the others listed below, but please contact Haggerty for details.

American Collectors Insurance P.O. Box 8343 Cherry Hill, NJ 08002 Email: info@americancollectors.com Toll Free: (800) 360-2277 Qualifications (subject to change or regional laws so check with the company for specific up-to-date information).

• At least 15 years old
• Garage-kept
• Driven on a limited, pleasure-only basis (up to 5,000 annual miles – available in most states)

You may also qualify by:

• Having at least 10 years driving experience
• Having a good driving record
• Having at least one “regular” vehicle for every licensed driver in the household You may request a policy application either directly from American Collectors Insurance or through your local insurance agent (rates are the same either way).

Parish Heacock Classic Car Insurance P.O. Box 24807 Lakeland, FL 33802-4807 Email: info@parishheacock.com Toll free: (800) 678-5173 Qualifications (subject to change or regional laws so check with the company for specific up-to-date information).

• Each household member of driving age must have at least 10 years driving experience or be excluded.
• Each household member must have a regular use vehicle less than 15 years old that is insured with liability limits equal to or higher than the limits being applied for on the collectible vehicle.
• All licensed members of household and any other drivers of the vehicle must be listed on the application.
• Maximum of two accidents or violations in the household, maximum of one per licensed household member in past 3 years. No major violations permitted in past 5 years.
• A Driver Health Questionnaire must be completed for all drivers over 70 years old.
• Auto must be stored in a locked permanent garage facility when not driven.
• Auto may not be used for commuting to or from work or school, used for business purposes or as a substitute for another auto.
• Autos not covered while on a racetrack or when being used for: racing, speed, driver’s education, or timed events.
• Must display pride of ownership: well maintained, in restored or well-preserved condition.
• Vehicles under restoration must be stored at residence or a restoration shop, with a target date for completion. Agreed value coverage is not available on cars under restoration. Eligibility subject to company review.
• Replica Vehicles and Pro Street vehicles are subject to company review.
• Trucks and Jeeps must be over 25 years old, and not be used for towing, hauling, off-road or utility use.
• Generally do not require appraisals, but may ask for one if vehicle value is difficult to determine.

Michael Modica is an avid musclecar fan. He is the webmaster of the world’s leading Second Generation Camaro resouce, http://www.nastyz28.com

Never before in the history of humanity have there been a time as this when the whole world seems to be realizing finally, the very intent and purpose for creation – collaboration. The stiff competition that often characterized the industrial age is gradually giving way to this new age where passion thrives and information rules. Businesses are beginning to awaken to the fact that unless there’s something SIGNIFICANTLY unusual about their business, there’s no way they are going to remain relevant. It is increasingly becoming obvious, that the businesses that will thrive in this new age are those who are consistently willing to touch a heart before asking for a hand – being helpful.

No longer will the market tolerate businesses that are out to get before giving, no longer will the market tolerate businesses that are not different and making a difference, no longer will the market tolerate businesses that are not unique and being useful, no longer will the market tolerate businesses that don’t stand for something, no longer will the market tolerate businesses that are not contributing to the success of their customers.

In this new age, the law of exchange which states that; ‘to get, you must first give’ is the standard on which every business that aspires to grow must be built. Every site I visit is now giving away something, mostly an eBook in exchange for my email. Everyone is sharing something, whether it’s a link on Twitter, a video on YouTube or a picture on FaceBook. The whole world seems to be in the business of helping someone. To thrive in this new age, being Helpful must become your new business model. Woven under the very fabric of your business must be a strong desire to help. Your business must be built on the principle of helping someone accomplish a particular goal or objective as a result of coming in contact with the product or service your business offers.

What is a Business Model?

Looking at this concept, two words come into play, business and model. For better understanding, I am going to separate them and look at each individually, ok?

The Meaning of Business

A business is a social institution that provides a product or service to a particular group of people known as customers or clients for a particular agreed fee or price.

The first word in the definition that I will like to talk about is social institution. A business at its core is purely built on social interaction. Meaning, everything in the world of business revolves around people. Your employees are people, so are your customers and your suppliers and bankers and lawyers and partners or investors. There’s no way you can do business outside of people. So what does this suggest to you? It clearly means that to succeed in business, you cannot avoid dealing with people and when people are involved, the golden rule must apply; “do unto others how you would have them do unto you.” Underlying the golden rule is the law of exchange [giving before getting] at work.

Going back to the definition, you would see the law of exchange at play again. How do I mean? You would notice that the definition of business clearly states that a business must first provide [give] products or services to a particular group of people who would then pay an agreed fee or price [get]. In other words, you are not permitted to get until you give. Therefore, business is a discipline that involves dealing with people through the provision of goods and services that attract payment in return.

The meaning of a Model

A model by itself is the interpretation, representation or simulation of a theory in real life. It’s how we mentally try to imagine or portray what a theory, principle, concept or idea will look like in practice.

According to Dr. Phil Walker,

“Models are used to help us understand how things might work in real life. They are the mental representation of an outward reality. A good working model must be exact enough to give us answers to how things will work yet flexible enough to allow for adjustments and changes.”

In case all of the grammar in the definition above didn’t sink, here’s one that might sink. I’m sure you are very familiar with models, they come in different categories; we have beauty models, fashion models and role models. Picture a fashion model for example, what do they do? They basically portray how a particular design of an apparel or clothing will look like when worn in real life. They are in other words, the representation of what the cloth will look like on your body. Merely looking at them gives you a clue of how it would look on you even though you haven’t actually worn the cloth or apparel yourself. A model works basically in the same manner.

Looking at another example, role models, we all know what they are meant for. They are the physical representations of what we would like our life to look like when it is finally done. They give us a clue that when we lead our life in a particular way just as that of our role model, eventually we’ll be just like them. The same again, is how models in business work. They give us a mental clue, representation or interpretation of what a concept, idea, principle, thought, philosophy etc. will look like in reality.

The definition of a Business Model

In the words of Seth Godin, an international bestselling author of 12 business books, entrepreneur and agent of change;

“This classic MBA phrase describes how you set up a business so you can get money out of it. A business model is a machine, a method, a plan for extracting money from a system. Without a business model, a company can get publicity, hire employees and spend money, but it won’t make a profit.”

Below are some sample business models extracted from Seth Godin’s groundbreaking manifesto “the bootstrapper’s bible”. See if you can guess which company each comes from:

1. HIRE THE WORLD’S BEST ATHLETES AS SPOKESPEOPLE.Buy an enormous amount of advertising. Use the advertising to get every sporting goods store to carry your products. Make your product overseas for a very little money. Charge very high prices.

2. FIND LOCAL BUSINESSES THAT CARE ABOUT THEIR EMPLOYEES.Offer them a free water cooler if they allow you refill it. Earn money by making deliveries on a regular basis.

3. CREATE THE OPERATING SYSTEM that runs every personal computer in the world. Then use the power you gain from knowing that system, which controls the computers, to create software, web sites, online services, even travel agencies.

These are the business models of NIKE, POLANDSPRING, and MICROSOFT.

Permit me to add a fourth one; I’m sure you would love this one.

4. CREATE A SOCIAL UTILITY that will allow people to socialize by connecting and sharing things with family and friends online for FREE, then make room for businesses, celebrities and organizations to also do the same, but charge them a token for this in form of advertisement to those who use the platform for free.

You must have probably guessed right, Facebooks business model.

Therefore, a business model is the way a company has decided to setup and portray itself in such a way that it is able to attract money [get] by providing specific products or services [give]. It basically serves as a framework, blueprint, or prototype that attempts to describe or capture the underlying, thought, philosophy, idea, concept, principle, or mindset that will drive or guide the operations of a business in real life in a way that will allow it to be profitable. It’s an ideal representation of what the operations of a business would look like in reality woven around a particular mentality or philosophy. That is, it gives a clue about how your business should be done in the real world. A business model is not the same as a business plan. A business plan is a strategic course of action. Meaning, it basically outlines several action steps a business should take as regarding different aspects of its operation.

A business model on the other hand is not a list of action steps, it is not as tangible or concrete as a plan, but rather, it’s a conceptual or mental projection of your business when it is ready. It doesn’t present action steps as a business plan does; it presents the actual picture of the business when the action steps have been executed for maximum results. The business model is what is underneath the business plan. Meaning, a plan is built on a model. So without a model, a plan cannot be created. A model is what guides the creation of a plan. It is the business model that gives a business plan its inherent meaning.

Creating A Plan Built On The Desire To HELP

The desire to help must underlie everything your business represents and does. You can have the best business plan in the world, if it is not built around a strong ideology or philosophy of helping others [those you've targeted to be your customers], then your plan is as good as useless. Your business must be built on and around the desire to sincerely provide help in the form of product or services to those it serves. How you create, communicate and deliver this help is totally up to you, but the key thing here is to understand that help is the new business model. That is, helping people is the new way of looking at and doing business, unless, you don’t want to succeed. Therefore, only those companies who are in the business of providing help will succeed in this new age.

So what then is the meaning of HELP?

Helpin the context of business and in life, means the same thing. A business provides help so do other non-profit making organizations concerned about certain aspects of life too. While a business provides help for a FEE, non-profit organizations provides help for FREE. Whichever way you choose to look at it, they are both in the service of providing help.

Helpmeans Value. Let me be more precise; help is adding Value. Value is anything that is capable of providing satisfaction or gratification in one way or another to an individual or group of individuals. Value is something that is worth something to somebody. Value is anything that can be measured as a unit of satisfaction or gratification irrespective of personal preferences. If it can be quantified, then it has value.

How to make HELP Your New Business Model

1. Definition of HELP: The first step to making help your new business model is to sit down and define what you want to call help in your business. Every business cannot provide the same kind of help, so it’s highly important you define your own kind of help because this is what separates your business from all others who are in similar industries or providing similar products or services. So what kind of help do you want your business to provide? In other words, what kind of value do you want your business to be adding to its target customers? Your first task as an entrepreneur is to identify and define the value [help] your business is offering or bringing to the world.

2. Creation of HELP: the second step in making help your new business model after identifying the kind of help [value] your business wants to offer the world is to ask yourself; how do we create this help? That you have identified your company’s definition of help [value] doesn’t mean your company currently possesses or provides that help. After all, you cannot possibly give what you do not have. So the next step is to create your own version of help [value] which you’ve decided to offer the world in exchange for money.

3. Communication of HELP: no one will ever know that your business has identified and created something of value to the world if it never comes out to proclaim such a thing exists. There are a million and one people in the world who are in need of the kind of help [value] your business has identified and created, it is the responsibility of your business to make the existence of such help known to the world. This is the place of communication. You have to announce the existence of your company’s rare kind of help [value] so that those in need of it can come for it while giving you money in exchange for the help your business provided.

4. Delivery of HELP: the final step in making help your new business model is the actual delivery of the help you have identified, created and communicated to the world that your business offers. In delivering the help [value] you want to be sure that it is exactly as you have communicated. You certainly don’t want to over promise and under-deliver. So make sure you deliver on the same quality and quantity of help [value] you have previously communicated. Doing this makes your business indispensable in the eyes of the world or those you serve.

So over to you my dear reader, how has your business been able to define, create, communicate and deliver help [value] to the world?

My name is Tito Philips, Jnr. I’m a young Nigerian that is MAD -different and making a difference. My purpose in life is to help people, businesses and lives become SIGNIFICANT (unique & useful), so I created an unusual company, http://www.MADphilips.com to help me achieve just that. I also run an unusual blog http://www.naijapreneur.com where I constantly share unusual business development tips for unusual entrepreneurs who want to build SIGNIFICANT (unusual) businesses.

Both parents that are employed have become a common setup in most families today. The society has become open-minded with the need for mothers to help provide for the family. Thus, proper child-rearing has been a strong and primary concern for working parents especially if children have reached the school age. The parents’ responsibility is to find reputable institutions or individuals which will provide the proper childcare that the children needs.

Childcare Options

Childcare refers to the supervision of children in the absence of parents or guardians. Childcare is called for when there are minor children in the house that needs taking care of. When parents are away from work, the childcare provider shall act as the second parent. In some cases, parents require childcare for children when they need to spend quality time together away from home.

Depending on situations of parents and the age of children, childcare may be an every day or occasional requirement. Childcare may be done in the home of the kids, in the home of the childcare provider or in an established childcare or daycare centres.

Most parents choose in-home childcare such as the nanny, babysitter, au pair and governess because of the belief that their home is safer for the children.

The Nanny

In the old days, nannies are employed only by the rich or the aristocrats. Nowadays, many families employ nannies for childcare excluding the traditional concept of a nanny who wears a uniform.

A nanny is an individual who looks after children to provide the necessary childcare. Basic duties include childcare during the agreed hours set by the employer; supports the intellectual and social development of children; protection of children from harm; meal preparations; proper communication with the employers; and sometimes maintenance of cleanliness of the home.

The nanny may be hired as a live-in or live-out employee on a full-time basis. Formal training is not commonly required but advantageous. Parents prefer that a nanny has previous on the job experience.

The Babysitter

Unlike a nanny, a babysitter is hired on a part-time basis only usually when parents are still at work or out on weekends. Babysitting requires no formal training. Mostly, babysitters are teenagers who need the extra money. While training is not required, babysitters should have the right skills in times of emergency.

The Au Pair

A French term which means “equal to”, the au pair is a foreigner, usually an unmarried woman of 18 to 26 years old, who visits a host family for a period of two years. The au pair is intended to be considered a part of the family and receives a personal allowance and a private room. During her stay, the au pair is tasked to help in childcare and household chores of the host family.

Considering the meaning, the au pair is not a domestic helper. An au pair is included in all the daily activities of the family and attends social events with them. Being an au pair is an opportunity for travel and cultural exposure.

The Governess

The governess is a trained and educated childcare provider who is solely employed for the education of children.

Choosing the right childcare option for the family takes considerable time and extensive research. It is noteworthy to consider that parents should never depend on childcare providers alone to support the growth of children. More importantly, parents must remain to balance time to be with the children in the growing up years.

Grunty’s day care nursery is a long established Nursery School based in Blackpool. Grunty’s is part of Partington’s Holiday Centres

Auto repair scams and a dishonest auto repair shop are so easy to find.

First a few facts I dug up about auto repair rip-offs.

The Consumer Federation of America states, auto repair rip-offs are consistently one of the top five most

frequently reported consumer complaints. National figures indicate $20 billion is spent annually on unnecessary or faulty auto repairs.

The California Bureau of Automotive Repair receives around 25,000 auto repair complaints a year.

With that said, I have personally seen so many different ways to rip people off in the auto repair business that it is hard to pick out the most common scams because each auto repair shop has its favorite.

So I will concentrate on the most common scams and rip offs that I have seen and heard about in my 23-year career as a certified master technician in the automotive service retail business.

To get started on the most common scams we have to talk about a few different rip offs as related to the common brake job. Brake job scams are so popular that whole franchise businesses have been built around them and specialize in just doing brake jobs.

These companies have recognized the pure profit potential from performing brake service. Auto repair Brake scams are easily sold to the UN educated consumer do to the safety factors involved.

We all no the importance of being able to stop the vehicle in emergency situation.

Once again the auto repair shop uses this to their advantage and sells you unneeded services in the name of safety.

The most offten used brake service scam is the complete brake system overhaul. I will use a specific example to show you how this works. You go into a auto repair chain store to have your brakes checked. Maybe you heard some brake squeal or brake noise that concerned you.

So you bring your 1999 Chevy blazer that has 75,000 miles on it to an auto repair shop to have the brakes checked. The shop could do a standard brake job or a hang and turn as we call it. A hang and turn is replacing the brake pads and resurfacing the rotors. This service would retail for around $110.00 but the

auto repair shop would prefer to make more. So they recommend a brake system overhaul.

The brake system overhaul will mean different things to different auto repair shops. In most cases they are

talking about overhauling the brake calipers by replacing the seals in the calipers.

A caliper seal kit is very cheap in parts cost and very high in labor costs. The seal kit usually has about 3 or 4 rubber seals in it and cost the shop about $3.00

They then charge you $20.00 for the kit and another 2.0 hours per caliper to install the seals. But here is the scam part.

The caliper seals are internal and it’s hard to verify that they were actually replaced. The outer seal known as the dust seal is usually the only seal that will get replaced during this unneeded service.

The mechanic then throws away the remainder of the brand new seals. The shop usually includes a brake system flush in this service, which I will attack in a moment.

The first auto repair issue to address is do we really need a caliper overhaul. In most cases no we don’t. Why is this true? The manufacturers make fantastic calipers from the factory. The reason being it is an extremely important safety related part.

The manufacture must be sure their vehicle meets stopping distance requirements. They must also be sure that the calipers are over engineered to last for the life of the vehicle. The manufacture cannot afford to go to court for lawsuits on brake system failures.

Now with this being said do calipers ever need to be overhauled? Yes on rare cases this is the case. But

there are warning signs that the service is required. The Number one sign that a caliper is failing is a

strong brake pull.

To explain, this is when the vehicle pulls right or left during braking only.

The harder you brake the harder it pulls to one side. This is because a caliper is binding on one side or the

other. Equal braking force is not be applied. Tell tale sign # 2 is if the red brake warning light is illuminated on the dash. This can indicate the brake fluid is low and may be caused by a brake fluid leak from a caliper.

In any case the way the caliper service should be addressed by the auto repair shop is to replace both front calipers at the same time. I do not trust the individual mechanic to overhaul my calipers.

I would rather replace both front calipers with either new or remanufactured calipers.

This way you are assured you have reliable calipers installed. Some remanufactured calipers come loaded with new brake pads and now you have new calipers and brake pads that the auto repair mechanic can just bolt on.

This requires very little skill from the mechanic and makes for a very reliable auto repair.

Most auto repair shops will do this if requested.If they are not willing to do the repair the right way this should raise a red flag in your mind and moving the vehicle to another shop would be best. Remember That an educated consumer is the auto repair shop’s worst nightmare.

Mark Gittelman Is an ASE Certified Master Technician with 23 Years of front Line experience in the auto repair business. His Web site http://www.certifiedmastertech.com was created to help auto repair shop customers avoid rip-offs and scams. His new book A Mechanics Secrets Revealed is a shocking and in-depth look into the auto repair world. This new book is a powerful tool to help you fight against the dishonest auto repair shop. Visit the free blog spot at http://certifiedmastertech.blogspot.com/

Sony TVs are built to last and often receive higher consumer reviews than other television leaders including Panasonic televisions and Samsung television. Unfortunately, there are many Sony televisions to choose from and choosing the one that best suits your needs takes a lot of consideration.

When looking at either a plasma TVs or LCD televisions, the first consideration that should be taken into account is television resolution. To be considered HD TVs, all televisions must have a resolution above 720p, although today most high-definition televisions come with at least 1080p. The higher the resolution, the better the television clarity will be, although the higher resolution televisions are often twice as expensive. An added benefit of purchasing a television with higher resolution is that you will be able to enjoy all of the benefits which come with Blu-ray DVD players and the latest video game systems.

When you are shopping for LED TVs or plasma TVs, another consideration which must be taken is contrast ratio. A contrast ratio is the measurement between the lightest light colour and the darkest dark colour. The higher the ratio, the more impressive the television will appear. To be safe, you should select a television with a contrast ratio of at least 10,000:1, although several new LCD TVs manufactured by Sony, have contrast ratios approaching 15,000:1.

The next consideration that needs to be taken is the size of the television. Sony high-definition televisions range widely in size from 20 inches up to 60 inches. While most people instinctively want to purchase the largest television they can afford, purchasing a small television may make more sense. If you have a smaller room, and will be sitting within 12 feet of the screen, you should select a television which is 42 inches or smaller. Also, if you do select a larger screen TV, it is quite important that you select the higher resolution option to ensure clarity.

The last consideration when looking at TVs is connectivity. Most HDTVs come with at least HDMI and S-Video connections, but depending on your needs, more connections may be needed. You should also look for televisions which have a composite connection, component video splits, and, DVI inputs.

Find a range of electrical products including; Sony televisions, LED TVs and Plasma TVs from leading brand names.