Archive for February, 2008

Fishing…No Place For Unnecessary Thinking

Friday, February 15th, 2008

By Bob Alexander There’s no place for unnecessary thinking when you’re fishing in the surf on one of the most beautiful beaches in America. I was walking the beach on a beautiful sunny morning at the end of spring, sighing with contentment as I looked out over the Gulf of Mexico. After the serenity of an early morning tide had lessened somewhat and the few early morning beach walkers had drifted by, it was time to throw my bait into the water. I was about to have a ball catching Pompano on the beach at St. George, Island, Florida. I had gotten up at 6:00 AM to get a head start on the fish. I try to think like a fish sometimes, nothing elaborate, just your basic survival thinking. When the sun comes up in the morning, I’m hungry. I suspect fish feel the same way, so thinking like a fish, I try to give them what they like to eat for breakfast. I know that a shrimp to a fish is like bacon and eggs to people. With this knowledge I loaded up on live shrimp at one of the three bait shops close to where I was staying. This was the first day of my vacation on this island and I was determined not to think at all. My brain was on vacation too on this small barrier island on Apalachicola Bay. It boasts that this is the way Florida used to be. If that means there are no huge condominiums, hotels or water parks, then I guess this is the way Florida once was. There are three restaurants that are open during the season and one market. If you don’t get to the market before 6pm, you’re out of luck because that’s when they close up shop for the day. There are hundreds of privately owned homes that you can rent by the week which is what I did last year in mid June. Comparatively, houses on the island seem to cost a little less to rent than those in the rest of Florida’s Gulf Coast. Just down the road a mile from where I was staying is the St. George Island State Park. Still digging out from one of the 2005 hurricanes, the park was only half open when I visited. I only needed an entrance into the park to be able to walk on about 9 miles of uncluttered beach. Along that beach is where I hooked a fish I will never forget! Parking the car in the designated space, careful not to get in the soft sand on the shoulder of the road through the park, I pulled my fishing stuff out of the trunk. This particular morning I carried my rods and reels and tackle box, along with 2 foot lengths of PVC pipe I had cut for rod holders. I also brought along a lounge chair and cooler to keep the fish I would catch. I felt like a pack mule as I struggled toward a particularly inviting piece of beach. Although I was almost exhausted by the time I reach my chosen spot, I had the positive attitude all fishermen have just before they make that first cast! After struggling from the parking lot to the water’s edge, I dumped all the equipment I had carried from the car. I made a vow that the next time I came to the beach to fish; I would have invested in a cart of some kind to carry all the junk I had brought with me through the soft sand of the beach. Getting down to the business at hand, I rigged up my fishing line with a two ounce ball weight, tied on a couple of hooks with one and a half foot leaders. Searching through my bait bucket for the perfect shrimp, I grabbed one that I would have like to see simmering in a garlic-butter sauce and hooked him just behind the head and cast him into the gulf. I barely had time to take the slack out of the line before something practically jerked the rod out of my hand. Right away I set the drag to allow the fish to run without breaking the line. I immediately reset the drag to compensate for the terrific strength the fish seemed to have. I began to get concerned when I looked and saw that over half of my fishing line had already been stripped off the reel. My fish was headed toward Galveston and there was little I could do about it! I was using 12 pound test line and ordinarily I wouldn’t have been concerned about a fish breaking the line, but this one wasn’t acting like a two or three pound Pompano. More line was ripping off my reel so I decided to show this fish who was boss. I leaned back on my reel and started a pumping action the way they do on sports shows on television. The fish didn’t like this maneuver at all! Suddenly my fishing line became limp. I was reeling in an empty fishing line. The line was broken! I caught a few Pompano, and they were delicious, that morning but I never got another chance at the fish that got away. It was a great way to start a vacation. Looking back, I probably lost that fish due to excessive thinking. I should have left well enough alone and let the fish tire itself out. I learned my lesson; no more unnecessary thinking! Bob Alexander is well experienced in outdoor cooking, holiday eating and leisure living. Bob is also the author and owner of this article. Visit his sites at:http://www.bluemarlinbob.comhttp://www.pompanobob.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bob_Alexander http://EzineArticles.com/?Fishing…No-Place-For-Unnecessary-Thinking&id=406788 phentermine on line prescription ordering phentermine online cheap phentermine no prescription phentermine from union pharmacy

Sony Ericsson K750i: A Shutterbug’s True Fantasy

Thursday, February 14th, 2008

By [http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Carly_Charu]Carly Charu The ever expanding mobile world has been experiencing substantial changes in a real quick time. Although, the leading mobile handsets manufacturers are piling up the already congested mobile market, but that’s really a great sign for a common mobile phone user. The new handsets are not only cool in designing, but they are more compact and offers a lot with innumerable features the race goes on and on for the betterment. Every time a new handset is released, you would find numerous reviews and all these exaggerated things contribute well to create a huge hype and then you got all the analytical details about a mobile phone before taking the final decision. Of late, Sony Ericsson released its much awaited camera phone, the Sony Ericsson K750i, which also received a grand reception with mixed reviews. The most fascinating aspect of the Sony Ericsson K750i is its 2-megapixel camera, which is very well supported by its auto focus system, which is further complemented by its macro mode shooting. As such, its camera is quite easy to use, as all you got to do is to slide the lens cover to one side and your camera is on to capture all those defined moments, you always want to grab. The overall designing has been performed in such as way that you can easily hold the handset sideways, just like a digital camera and a dedicated camera button paves the way for easy clicking. Moreover, there is a double LED flash unit to add much needed clarity in your photographs. After clicking, you can store all these photographs in is 34MB of internal memory and if it that is not good enough then, it also comes with a 64MB Memory Stick Duo to provide that additional space. However, the camera features are the main attractions of the Sony Ericsson K750i, but you have got various other functionalities to elevate your mobile experience. For music, you can make the most with its MP3 player and radio. Its radio is further supported by 20 presets and it also comes with RDS support to provide you much needed information about the radio station. As far as music output is concerned, it is good, but you just cannot compare it with Sony Ericsson’s music dedicated Walkman series. In additional features, you get Web and WAP browsing with e-mail management, USB cable and Java support. Clearly, the [http://www.mobilerainbow.org/sonyericsson/Sony-Ericsson-K750i.html]Sony Ericsson K750i scores quite well in the range of middle size phones without boasting about anything. Carly charu is an expert author and the webmaster of [http://www.mobilerainbow.org]Mobile Phones Uk. The website having details of latest phones like Sony Ericsson Mobile Phones and [http://www.mobilerainbow.org/sim-free-mobile-phones.html]sim free mobile phones available in UK. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carly_Charu http://EzineArticles.com/?Sony-Ericsson-K750i:-A-Shutterbugs-True-Fantasy&id=455173 internet pharmacy phentermine phentermine no prior prescription phentermine 37.5 no prescription overnight phentermine forums where to buy

Eliminate The Belief That Your Illness Is Genetic

Wednesday, February 13th, 2008

By Nick Arrizza, M.D. Many illnesses, emotional and otherwise, are often said to be genetic in origin. When one is told that their particular problem is of a genetic nature it often leaves them feeling helpless since, to date, the idea of reversing something that is stored deep within one’s structural DNA, which exists in every single cell of one’s body, is considered an impossibility. So where is one left when one is given such a “genetic diagnosis”. Well apart from feeling helpless one is also given the option to try to correct the symptoms of their problem, and only the symptoms, with some form of medication or other supplementation. This can come from allopathic or alternative medicine sources. The root cause, i.e. the genetic root, is still in place however and apparently can never be eliminated. Hence we have a situation where the treatment is essentially a palliative one. That is, it only tries to stem the symptoms but not eliminate the cause itself. Unfortunately, many individuals accept this as a solution to their problem because of the fundamental belief that the illness is genetic and therefore its complete elimination is accepted as impossibility. In an article entitled “All You Problems Are Based in False Beliefs” I make the point that any problem is essentially the result of deeply held false beliefs. One belief that causes a problem for an individual is the belief that their particular illness is of a genetic nature. Now this may sound strange to you perhaps. You might say, well that’s just a fact, and I can’t change it, so what does the belief have to do with it? Well as I hope to show you here it is the “belief” that your illness is genetic that is the problem. Now I’m not suggesting that you choose to believe that it isn’t. That would just be going into denial. Denial is really a state of trying to lie to oneself about something that they already believe inside. The purpose of such denial would supposedly be about trying to stem the sadness about knowing that the illness is genetic and that nothing can be done about it. What I am suggesting however is a brief analysis of the belief itself. Let me show you what I mean: We choose to believe that a given illness is genetic so that, a) It will allow us to accept that there is little we can do about it other than try to manage it, so that, In accepting it we can feel better, more at peace, happier and so we can live a more contented life. Or that, b) It will relieve us of responsibility for having caused it, so that, We can feel we’re not at fault so that, We can feel better, more at peace, happier and so we can live a more contented life. Or that, c) It will allow us to work hard at finding a way to find a cure, so that, We can find it, be cured and so that, We can feel better, more at peace, happier and so we can live a more contented life. Hence in all three scenarios above the conclusion appears to be that: d) Believing that our illness is genetic allows us to feel better, more at peace, happier and so we can live a more contented life. Now does statement d) above make sense to you? Probably not. However please notice whether you agreed with a), b) or c) above from which d) was derived in each case. So you see, if you believe any one of these and you don’t believe d) you are faced with a paradox, aren’t you? On the one hand you believe something and then in the next breath you say it’s not true. So which is it? If you recognize that d) is not true for you then quietly acknowledge this to yourself and then notice how you feel. Now if you wish, say this statement to your self:”My illness is genetic” and notice how it feels. Does it make you feel good inside. If not then please acknowledge this to yourself and again notice how you feel. You see this belief is actually “toxic” to you, isn’t it. That is because it likely makes you feel helpless, hopeless and sad inside. Do you therefore want this kind of toxic belief living inside you? If you want to take this journey further you may wish to visit the web site below in my bio. Dr. Nick Arrizza is trained in Chemical Engineering, Business Management & Leadership, Medicine and Psychiatry. He is a Key Note Speaker, Author of “Esteem for the Self: A Manual for Personal Transformation” (available in ebook format at: http://www.telecoaching4u.com/ebook.htm), Stress Management Coach, Peak Performance Coach & Researcher, Specializes in Life and Executive Performance Coaching, is the Developer of a powerful new tool called the Mind Resonance Process(TM) that helps build physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well being by helping to permanently release negative beliefs, emotions, perceptions and memories. He holds live workshops, international telephone coaching sessions and international teleconference workshops on Physical. Emotional, Mental and Spiritual Well Being. Personal URL: http://www.telecoaching4u.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nick_Arrizza,_M.D. http://EzineArticles.com/?Eliminate-The-Belief-That-Your-Illness-Is-Genetic&id=48002 canadian pharmacy phentermine buy phentermine online with mastercard phentermine overnight without a prescription phentermine diet pills com

Gardening Can Be Fun

Monday, February 11th, 2008

By Linden K. Walhard Gardening is a lot of fun, and it can be even more fun if you have the right tools to do it with. If you are planning a garden, take a moment to learn about the right garden tools so that you will have the tools that will last long and will make gardening more enjoyable. If you have any kind of physical problems, you especially want to use gardening tools that will assist you. If you have a bad back or knees, or arthritis in any part of your body, you don’t want to bend too much. Get good tools and take care of them properly, and they will last forever. When you go to buy garden tools, try them out. Take each one in your hand and make sure the grip is comfortable and it is not too heavy for you. If you find a tool you like but the grip is too small, you can add padding to the grip. Wider handles are usually easier to handle. To determine the material of the tools, you have to know about your garden. Light materials such as aluminum, plastic or carbon fiber are easy to use, but stainless steel is easier to maintain. Stainless steel may not be as sharp as aluminum, for shears, for example. A Rea solution for many gardeners is to buy one tool with interchangeable tool heads. Now they know they have a grip they love, and they can use it for any tool. These tools can also be used as hand tools. When you are buying secateurs or shears, make sure you get a spring action which is not too stiff, to make it easier to use, especially if your hand are not strong or if you have arthritis. Pruners should have an easy cutting action for both thin and thick branches. If you look for a wheelbarrow, don’t get a cheap one that will be turning in every direction. The classic two wheeled one with long handles is the best. For some jobs, your manual garden tools may not be enough. If oi are going to cut a large hedge, for example, you will need a power trimmer. Just make sure you get tools that you are able to handle easily. You have to decide if you can use a corded tool or need cordless because of where the power is on your house. All too quickly your shed will be filled with garden tools, so be careful about what you choose. You will need forks, spades, rakes, trowels and hoes, kept clean and oiled and ready to go. But you may also want seed sowers, a leaf blower, and weed pullers. Is a watering can enough for your needs, or do you need to install a watering system? All of these purchases will be determined by your budget, how much time you have to spend on the garden, and how large a property you have. But make sure you enjoy your gardening. I can give you a lot of joy and be great exercise as well! Being very excited about battery drills, Linden Walhard was publishing various informative papers on this particular topic. You might find out more about his contributions on cordless tools at http://www.insidewoodworking.com. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Linden_K._Walhard http://EzineArticles.com/?Gardening-Can-Be-Fun&id=444232 pharmacy order phentermine phentermine and pharmacy cheap non prescription phentermine buy phentermine 37.5 online

The Magic Of Botox Treatment

Sunday, February 10th, 2008

By Sky Joe Botulinium Toxin Type A, or BOTOX, as it is commonly known by those who live and breathe it, is not a filler like collagen or fat. In actual fact, it is a potent neuotoxin derived from bacteria that is used in minute amounts to soften wrinkles known as dynamic’ caused by the contraction of a facial muscle. The aesthetic benefits of Botox were discovered quite anecdotally by an ophthalmologist and her dermatologist husbanc in 1988. A wee bit of botox treatment does a really powerful job, but it is never permanent and has to be repeated every 3-6months. When it starts to wear off, muscle activity will gradually being to reappear, so you will not wake up one morning to all of your pre-Botox wrinkles lunging at you in the bathroom mirror. The goal of Botox is a subtle softening, not necessary the complete elimination of facial expression lines. Very small amounts of this precious solution are injected to paralyse the muscle. A cosmetic surgeon who is adept at injecting Botox strives to utilize the least amount of toxin needed to get the job done. Accurate dosages and precise positioning of toxin is critical to freeze the right muscles just enough. Botox is too precious to be wasted. Over the age of 30, there aren’t many women or men who wouldn’t benefit from a dosage of Botox treatment to their frowns and furrows. Botox injected into the glabellar region paralyses the muscles that enable you to frown. By relaxing these muscles, many doctors believe that you can actually slow down your brow descent and prevent the deepening of a glabellar crease. The theory in vogue is to start your Botox before your creases are so deep that they need to be filled up with collagen or fat in addition to your Botox therapy. Botox weakens the facial muscles that create wrinkles and frowns when they contract. The injections take just minutes and are done in the clinic with nothing more than a local cream anaesthetic. Botox comes in a glass vial containing 100 units and is diluted with sterile saline before use. It may take from 2 days up to 2 weeks to have a full effect, and a touch-up treatment may be needed later if the muscles are still active. A small number of unfortunate women have muscles that are resistant to Botox and too many treatments with large amounts of Botox can cause you to produce antibodies to it, although it is rare. For more information on finding safe cosmetic plastic surgery, effective breast augmentation treatment or getting affordable botox treatment, please visit the following website: My Fashion House Skyjoe. All rights reserved. This article may be freely distributed as long as it remains unaltered inclusive of the active links and the copyright notice. No alteration is allowed without express written permission from the author. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sky_Joe http://EzineArticles.com/?The-Magic-Of-Botox-Treatment&id=463652 low cost phentermine no prescription buy phentermine online saturday delivery phentermine pharmacy phentermine without prior prescription

How Not Tracking Your Results Could Be The Road To Nowhere

Saturday, February 9th, 2008

By Oliver Wolter Dear friend, Many times in the past I got emails like this: “Hi Oliver, I just started with my fat loss diet a few weeks ago, but it seems that since 2 weeks I am not losing any further weight - what can I do?” STOP What does it mean to lose weight? What is this weight? Water - muscles or fat? And the letter goes on “It seems I started losing muscles as well, because I already lost inch on my arms” Again - What is this weight? Water - muscles or fat? Probably you will think “is he unable to read? - he lost inchon his arms - so it must be muscles”. But this is not the truth. It can be muscles, but it can be fator water as well. Weight and inches are not the same as muscles Wow - bold statement but this is the god honest truth. Or would you say that if you lost 2 inches on your waist it must bemuscles? Well - I bet you would say “hey if I am losing 2 inches on mywaist it must be fat”. While this is on most cases right it isalso right for your arms and your chest and all other body parts. Look - your body doesn’t store all his fat for the “bad times” on your waist. Probably your body prefers to store his fat onyour waist but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t store it anywhereelse. In fact you will find your body fat all over your body. Okay Iam a real life man and know that only a minority of musclebuilding enthusiasts like me have a problem with some extra inches on their arms even if it is fat. But fact is - you cannot decide where you want to lose fat. It’syour bodies decision and there is nothing you can do about that. But now I want to come back to what you should do if you want tolose fat. It’s really easy and probably you are already doing this: Tracking your body fat levels where your care about Tracking your body fat levels is essential on any fat loss diet.But what is the right way? The right way is always the most reliable way! But what is the most reliable way? To answer this question I want to ask you what kind of body fatyou care about and want to get rid off? Some body fat stored somewhere inside of you or the body fatanybody sees at the surface under your skin? Well I bet it is the second one and this is exactly the pointwhere you should measure your body fat. You should measure yourskin fold thickness by using a body fat caliper. Nothing fancy like body fat scales is as reliable or as cheap asgood old body fat calipers. It seems half of the fitness world is using some kind of electronic body fat measuring tools. But I say - it’s a waste oftime and money if you build up your muscles as well. You can find it in any manual I know of: “this scale is not intended for people involved in a muscle building workout routine”, but anybody seems to ignore this. These electronic tools are calibrated with data of people whohave average body fat and muscle levels. But if you workout withweights you don’t have an average body composition. How will I know? I tested several electronic measuring tools on some of my personal training clients with very low body fat levels andwashboard abs. Depending on this measuring tools - all had morethan 10% body fat - one even had over 27% body fat on one ofthese electronic tools. Could you think of having washboard abswith more than 27% body fat? No way! So I want to come back to the body fat calipers. These are somegreat tools to measure your progress when it comes to losing bodyfat. If you measure - always use the same formula to calculate yourbody fat levels. There are a few different formulas out there and they all give different results. But the most important thingis the measurement itself. So if you lost one millimeter on your waist skin fold - you lost some kind of fat on your waist. Best regards, Oliver Wolter [ Submitted with ArticleSubmitter Pro - http://www.articles.com/article_submitter_pro.shtml ] About The Author Oliver Wolter is a world renowed fitness and bodybuilding expert. He is the author of the X-Size (www.x-size.com) weight training computer software and the Perfect Six-Pack (www.fat-burning-ab-workout.com) fatburning book. He is also the author of different fitness/bodybuilding related sites like Muscle Building Net. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Oliver_Wolter http://EzineArticles.com/?How-Not-Tracking-Your-Results-Could-Be-The-Road-To-Nowhere&id=234120 phentermine 30 mg diet pills blue clear phentermine with a mastercard no prescription phentermine online no prescription required phentermine cheap fast

Herbal Remedies for Depression

Friday, February 8th, 2008

By Milos Pesic With the growing need to approach depression in a more natural safer way, a lot of herbal remedies for depression are now obtainable in the market as well as the internet. However, only a few of these herbal remedies for depression have actually been proven to effectively alleviate depression. The majority of medicinal herbs being marketed for depression have not been investigated at all, and even those who claim to be scientifically proven are most of the time supported by only one or two inadequately designed studies. However, numerous herbs have been proven to effectively relieve depression by various well-designed clinical tests. The most excellent herbal remedies for depression are those that hold these proven herbs in first-rate forms and in proper dosages. One of the herbal remedies for depression supported by the strongest proof is St. Johns Wort or Hypericum Perforatum extract. More than twenty clinical studies have showed that St. Johns Wort extract pharmaceutical grade effectively eases depression. In fact, comparisons in study of the first-class St. Johns Wort to prescription antidepressant medications such as Prozac, Zoloft, and Paxil, show that St. Johns Wort works just as well or better than the prescription drugs, but causes lesser side effects. Hence, the most effective herbal remedies for depression are those that have a full measured quantity of pharmaceutical-grade St. Johns Wort extract. Nevertheless, not all herbal remedies for depression that contains St. Johns Wort extract are equal. A lot of products have a low-quality form of St. Johns Wort or dont offer this herb in the full proven dosage. First-rate St. Johns Wort extracts include at least three percent hyperforin, and the top pharmaceutical-grade products are standardized to a minimum of five percent hyperforin, which is the active antidepressant compound in St. Johns Wort. 5-HTP or 5-hydroxytryptophan is also one of the effective herbal remedies for depression, which is a natural amino acid extracted from the Griffonia Simplicifolia plant. Doses of 150-300 mg per day, when taken alone are effective. Herbal remedies for depression that combines St. Johns Wort and 5-HTP, a daily dosage of 5-HTP in 25-100 mg is sufficient. One such herbal remedy that combines the proven dose of pharmaceutical-grade St. Johns Wort extract with 5-HTP, mood related nutrients, and B vitamins, is Amoryn. Amoryn is a herbal supplement that is an effective depression relief, and can be obtained without prescription. In summary, the best herbal remedies for depression are those that contain proven ingredients in the appropriate dosages and strengths, and produced with strict quality-control procedures. However, it is suggested that anyone considering a herbal or natural approach for depression, should check with a doctor, therapist, or certified nutritional counselor before using any natural remedies for depression. Milos Pesic is a successful webmaster and owner of popular and comprehensive Overcome Depression blog. For more articles and resources on Depression related topics, visit his blog at: =>http://overcome-depression.blogspot.com/ Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Milos_Pesic http://EzineArticles.com/?Herbal-Remedies-for-Depression&id=327120 low cost phentermine no prescription buy cheap phentermine online buy phentermine online no prescription phentermine no prior prescription required

Secrets of a Well-Rounded Rainmaker

Friday, February 8th, 2008

By Dave Wells Whether you are the rain-maker in a small firm, a sales representative, or responsible for a national sales force, its in your best interest to branch out and create alternative ways to reach perspective customers. Having multiple marketing streams is the life-blood of any lead generation and lead nurturing program. But dont count on your companys marketing department to do it for you, its not their job to promote you the sales person theyre supposed to promote the company. Many rain-makers that I know earn well into the 6 and 7 figures. They know what they are good at and they keep to it. It makes sense but the problem is that by focusing on only one or two ways of generating business, it limits their ability to make even more money for their company and themselves. So how do you turn todays salesperson into tomorrows rain-maker? I think companies need to reevaluate how they look at their sales team and how they should be deployed in their sales process. They need to go beyond the limiting aspects of established territories, industry verticals, or product focus and begin to allow the sales person to become special ambassadors mini CEOs if you will, with their own sales, marketing and promotional strategies and systems. Here are the critical areas for becoming a well-rounded rain-maker that will boost your ability to earn more income for the company and for yourself: Self-Branding. You need to become known for something. Go out and create a platform from which you can tie your views into the product or service that you are offering. Most people dont know this, but no matter what suit Gary Cooper wore in public, he always wore green socks. Im noticing today that the bow-tie is making a come back for guests on national news networks. These gimmicks may get you noticed but they wont give you shelf-life. Im thinking more in line with my friend Manny Sanchez, Managing Partner of Sanchez & Daniels, the second largest minority-owned law firm in America. He considers himself the Latino Ambassador for issues and trends that he knows are important to his Fortune 100 clients. The CEOs of these companies rely on him to give them insight into this growing lucrative market. He has created a platform that gets him, and his firm, noticed. Corporate Branding. A rain-maker want-to-be should focus their branding efforts for their specific sales area. They will take out ads themselves if their company doesnt do it. o Sponsorships - Strategic hand-outs that provide money for events, underwriting newsletters, other corporate outings, or even associations can go a long way. While helping USWeb/CKS grow their revenues, we gave out golf umbrellas that had their logo on it at an industry golf outing. It was a hot sunny day. Many people invited to golf outings arent really golfers - we became heroes to those prospects that really needed the shade. Nobody talked about any of the other trinkets that other companies gave out. o Advertising - Advertise where your prospects lurk. Online: buy banners on association and exposition sites before the big event, or at industry magazine sites. Look into broadcast advertising and print advertising. I know a real estate rain-maker here in Chicago. He worked out a deal with a billboard company. Instead of buying just one billboard for 12 months, he worked with them to place his advertisement when they had contracts expire. The result netted him staggered one-month exposures on 12 different billboards all throughout the city of Chicago his market. He paid for it himself. The ads created a huge buzz and a 5:1 return on investment. Networking/Referral. This is where most rain-makers spend the majority of their time. Its extremely effective, but its also the major reason so many of them are missing other potential prospects. You cant reach everyone by networking. Focus on networking with: o Clients Your clients are the most influential salespeople for your company. They can lead you into wonderful new accounts simply by making the introduction. I recommend that your client, your prospect, and you, meet together at the first meeting. Your clients are also the first people you should sell/network with when you launch a new product. My friend Bill Rancic did that when he was on his way to winning the first Trump Apprentice. After his team created a client base for one of their tasks he went back to those same relationships to sell to or get referrals from those clients. His team won both tasks and he went on to win the game. o Alliances Take a good look at how else you can leverage contacts into revenue generating relationships. Look into current partners, vendors, opinion molders, authors, and experts. o Channel Partners - When I was growing a software services company, one of the rain-maker areas included establishing relationships with hardware sales reps. I bought them lunch at their team meetings and showed how I could help present business solutions to their prospects (ultimately my prospects too) that would help sell their hardware and made sure my reps went with them at any part of the sales cycle. It was truly win-win-win. o Friends/Groups I network with people but my outlook is not quid-pro-quo. Recently I helped the COO of a software company help his business associate help his son try to get an internship (did you follow that?). I put the college student in touch with an extremely influential person in my network. Ive made the introduction and Im not sure what will come of the internship thats out of my hands now. But as a result the COO wants to do business with me and my company, unsolicited. This happens time and time again. By the way, I even took the time to coach the student. We discussed what to say, how to say it, and how to follow up with calls and thank you cards. Phone Calls. Phone calls are very important. I believe everyone should do about 30 45 minutes a day of pure cold calling just to keep sharp. Any more and youll be headed for burnout. Most of my calls I try to turn into warm calls in some way. Usually its through using every one of the tips in this newsletter, and more, to gain a warmer reception to my calls. For the rest of the day, phone work should be used to develop relationships once youve met your prospect in some other way. Calling can be used to confirm contact information and to do cross-marketing. Email. No I dont support SPAM. Make sure you understand the wording of the law. For the most part as long as the message in your email serves your prospect, has a viable street address, contact name and phone number, and provides a link for the prospect to get removed from the list, you should be okay. o One-to-Many Create an electronic newsletter such as this to communicate with prospects and clients. Send out announcements with a link to take anonymous polls located at your web site or by using sites like www.zoomerang.com. Its a great way to share content quickly. o One-to-One Create templates for yourself and your sales team. This is a great way to brand yourself. I make sure that my picture goes out whenever it makes sense. It gets me recognized at conferences and expositions. People see me coming before I even see them and they make it a point to say hello. Events. Yes you should make it out to the biggest events for your industry. Even if you dont have a booth, you should reserve a table for 20 at a restaurant and invite clients and prospects to join you. o Seminars Create your own. Youre supposed to have the gift of gab your listening skills should be even better and exercised more than talking however but what better way to make your pitch than one to many? It doesnt have to be elaborate. If you sell to industrial park CEOs reserve a room at the local restaurant and buy your prospects lunch. Establish the menu up front so that it fits your budget but allows prospects a small selection. Make your presentation to them at the luncheon. I know ran-makers that also do this at the Union League Club. o Workshops Get the rest of your company involved in delivering information to your clients and prospects. o Webseminar or Webinar Video record one of your seminars and post it to your web site. Studies show that if you can deliver content when its convenient to your client or prospect, youll have a better hit rate than making them all register and go to their computers at a specific time. o Teleseminar Technology is such that you can record a sales presentation and make it available to your prospects and clients via the phone. There are companies that will let you set up a conference call that your prospects can dial in to. Record it and re market it on your web site or offer it as a giveaway on CD. o Conferences/Tradeshows Show up when you can. Work with industry reporters that will be there and see if there is some way you can help them with newsworthy articles. Make sure you have a plan for getting names, pre-qualifying them and make sure you have a system for following up with prospects. Marketing statistics prove that nearly 90% of all leads do not get a follow up call. Create your own web site or start a weblog blog. Even if you work for a large company you should have your own web page. Get your company to add a few pages for you. If they wont do it then they are not working in your best interest. Go online and get your own web domain setup. Create a few pages that will help to establish your expertise and credibility. Post your articles, post podcasts or webcasts so that your prospects can view them at their convenience thats key. Give them the kind of content that they are looking for such as helpful links. Promote it to your prospects, industry experts, customers, reporters, etc. as a place to get up to date information. o Site design Make it simple and easy to navigate. Let them download information from the site. You can build a prospect database if they give you a name and email address. Test to see if more prospects download without having to give you an email. Latest tests show that requiring a visitor to give up information dramatically reduces downloads. o SEO Search Engine Optimization. Make everything easy to find. Use pay-per-click techniques. Make sure you make all copy on the site and in your download information searchable by key words from your prospects. Lead Nurturing. There are two approaches in this area: o Execution Vehicles these are talked about in other sections of this newsletter such as events, direct mail, email, phone, etc. o Content Creating Creating content that establishes you, the rain-maker, as an expert is where you will leave your competition behind. This is where you make your intelligence shine. Newsletters, press releases, articles with links to your site, case studies, white papers, and special reports are just some of the ways that set you a part and build your credibility. These are the ways the rain-maker promotes him or her self. This information can then be easily repurposed into other promotional efforts. Public Relations. o Write editorials for your local paper or trade magazines. o Public speaking - industry and association events. o Create your own speaking engagements whenever possible. o Strive to become a keynote speaker. o Article placement write articles and get them published in newspapers, magazines, or online. o Press releases make an effort to get at least one release out per month. Find ways to make what you do newsworthy. o Promote yourself as an industry expert to the TV, cable, and radio media. Try to be the local angle to national news stories. o Make friends with reporters and the media in your area of expertise. It takes time but those that keep at it are the ones that get articles written about them and their companies. Direct Mail. Yes direct mail works. Create a campaign that will turn cold calls into warm calls. o Dimensional Mail 3-D mailings work very well. Who doesnt want to open something they got in the mail that looks like a present? Make sure your list is clean and accurate or you will waste money. And have a phone, email, and fax follow up program to increase your response rates. o Self Mailer Have your prospect mail something in to show they are interested in your product or service. o Postcards Use them to remind reporters about your expertise. Keep the message the same repetition breeds success. Prospects will see your message. Most people at least look at the post card compared to never opening junk mail envelopes. Even if you are a sales rep for a fortune 500 company, I know your marketing department is not creating this kind of credibility for you specifically thats not their job. By employing these ideas you will create the momentum of future sales and everyone in the company will be asking you how you do it. David Wells, Founder of http://www.emdco.com, a provider of business-to-business lead creation, data confirmation and integrated marketing solutions. Subscribe to “The Business-to-Business Sales Strategist’s Tips of the Week” ezine at http://www.emdco.com/registernow.html. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dave_Wells http://EzineArticles.com/?Secrets-of-a-Well-Rounded-Rainmaker&id=168880 internet pharmacy phentermine phentermine adipex no prescription overnight pharmacy phentermine phentermine online prescription

Making Career Decisions; Part 1

Thursday, February 7th, 2008

By Waller Jamison Spring is traditionally a time for new beginnings and as we start to springclean our homes, some of us may be considering springcleaning our careers. Why are so many of us unhappy at work? There are probably as many reasons as there are unhappy people, but there are a few underlying factors which influence many of us. Think back to your school days and the careers advice you were given by teachers, advisors and your parents. Just how useful was it? My own memories are of a half hour session with a teacher at the age of 14, when I said I wanted to be a nurse, because it was the first thing that came into my head, influenced by my parents opinions. When I was 18, I had another half hour session with the same teacher, who expected me still to be planning a career in nursing. What was your experience? Parents often influence their children by trying to live their own dreams through their offspring, especially if their kids have similar talents to their own. This might work if the children share their parents’ dreams, but that isnt always the case. Another common scenario occurs when parents are concerned for their childrens financial security and encourage them to do something sensible, by getting a job in an area where there will always be a demand, or where jobs are still considered “for life”. It can be difficult to go against parents wishes, especially if they have provided support, either financial or in the form of board and lodging, whilst you were at college. Some families have strong traditions in a particular field everyone in our family does medicine or teaching, for example. Did you feel pushed into a career by your family? How can a 14 year old, or an 18 year old for that matter, know what he or she wants to do for the next 50 years? In fact, how can anyone know they want to follow a particular career, if theyve never tried it? The answer, of course, is that they cant be sure at least not one hundred percent sure. So, whether you are just starting out or contemplating a career change, its a good idea to try out your new job before committing yourself to years of training. Obviously, it isnt always possible to try out exactly what youd be doing. No-one is going to let you perform surgery or defend an alleged bank robber if you havent got the training and experience. So you must do the next best thing. This will vary according to the career in question, but the aim is to find out as much as you possibly can before signing up for an expensive course of study. There are several things you can do: first of all, read everything you can find about the job, including careers leaflets, books and relevant websites. If after this you are still interested, two of the most important steps you can take are: getting as close to the job as possible and talking to people already doing it. Work experience and work shadowing are usually only offered to students, but that is no reason to reject the possibility if you are older. Contact the HR department of a company which specialises in the area which interests you and explain that you are planning a career change and would like to find out more about the job. Ask if it is possible to spend some time with them gaining experience or shadowing a professional. Alternatively, ask if it would be possible to meet someone doing the job or if the company has open days. In some cases, if you have experience, say in administration or computing, it might be worth considering applying for a temporary job within the organisation to help you reach a decision. This will at least give you an insiders view of the career, even if you cant experience it first hand. In other situations, volunteering would be a good way to find out what a job involves, for example if you want to be a surgeon, working on a hospital ward as a volunteer will give you an insight into medicine and bring you into contact with doctors and medical students. If you are able to volunteer over a reasonable amount of time it doesnt have to be a full-time commitment, just a regular one you will get to know people and, in the example above, you may eventually be able to observe an operation. No-one can ever guarantee that a career choice will be the right one and you mustnt forget that your interests will change over time. So be prepared to change careers at some stage. However, if you do your research thoroughly, you will have a much greater chance of finding a job you really enjoy. Waller Jamison 2006 Waller Jamison is a freelance careers advisor and a writer. For Part 2 of this article go to Part 2 Waller is the author of 9 Steps to CV Success which includes information on UK Job Application Forms. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Waller_Jamison http://EzineArticles.com/?Making-Career-Decisions;-Part-1&id=170661 cheap phentermine no prescription free shipping buy phentermine master card buy phentermine online no perscription cheap phentermine 37.5

Why We Date

Friday, February 1st, 2008

By Andrew Bicknell As human beings we have what can be considered some of the strangest mating rituals in the animal kingdom. Most species hook up with members of the opposite sex to procreate and nothing else. There is no emotional bond that ties them together for the rest of their lives other than the need to continue the species. Now that’s not to say that all animals are like this, there are some species out there that do mate for life, but the overall percentage of those types are small. Sure, you can say that many animals have mating rituals that rival ours. There are male birds that flaunt their colorful plumage trying to attract a female, but is that really dating or just a type of seduction? And in the end isn’t that what going on dates is all about, seducing that someone we’ve had our eye on. Dating is a form of seduction, only for us humans it can sometimes take a much longer time for the desired results to be had. In the animal world there is a specific time of the year when seduction and mating can take place, and with the exception of humans, dolphins and some primates, animals mate to continue their species and not for the pure pleasure of it. For most animals it is the drive to survive as a species. We humans have taken the whole dating/seduction ritual to unforseen heights. Just think of all the things we do to try and impress that special someone. And why do we want to impress them? Because we think we like them and if we don’t do our best to seduce them using all sorts of dating tricks and techniques then someone else will and that’s just not acceptable. So why do we date? To impress someone we are interested in? I would say yes on that one. I can’t think of any other reason to spend that kind of time and money other then to do just that. To continue the human species? This is a far more subjective question. Do we really need more humans on the world? That’s debatable. I think for the majority of humans it’s for a little more selfish reasons and that’s to have somone come after us who carries the family name onward into the future. Just for the fun of it? Now here’s whole another way to look at it. Meeting new people is fun. Particularly if you are attracted to them. Dating is fun and it introduces us to whole new ways of thinking and approaching people. The why do we date question is a hard one to answer, but whatever your reasons may be it’s a part of what makes us human. Andrew Bicknell is a writer and owner of Romancing Hearts.com. Please visit his website for more advice about Online Dating, Romance, and Matchmaking. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Andrew_Bicknell http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-We-Date&id=239335 pharmacy order phentermine buy phentermine in california cheapest phentermine without a prescription very cheap phentermine