Smarter Market Info

One of the best locations for stag do is Nottingham, the first UK city to relax its drinking laws thus having the highest density of licensed premises in the country filled with party loving crowd. Stag weekends in Nottingham are filled with thrilling stag activities like quad biking, off road karting, clay pigeon shooting, greyhound racing, five a side football matches and much more!

The Thrill of Quad Biking

A fully automated 250cc Polaris Trailblazer quad bike, which is twice as powerful as the 125cc Yamaha Breeze quad bike with a speed of over 40 mph – sounds exciting! Well, you can surely ride one if you are on a stag weekend in Nottingham. You will be given some initial driver briefing and then you will have 70 acres of woodland before you to enjoy the thrill of quad biking. A maximum of five people are allowed per session accompanied by one instructor. This stag weekend activity lasts for 1 hour including the briefing, and each rider gets to experience the thrill for at least hour.

You start this exciting stag weekend activity by taking a few laps of the dirt speed oval to get used to the powerful 250cc Polaris Trailblazer. Then starts the fun as you travel through the gorge crossings, the swamps and the woodland passages. Are you ready for the big challenge?

Benefits of Stag Weekends in Nottingham

If you are in love with adventure and exciting outdoor activities, stag weekend in Nottingham is the best option for you. You indulge in thrilling and challenging stag do like the quad biking and off road karting. Chillisauce brings for you all types of ideas for the perfect stag weekends, stag parties and stag nights. The quad bike trekking in Nottingham serves the purpose of a stag weekend as promised by Chillisauce – it drives away the monotony from your daily life and fills you with fresh energy to face the world with a smile.

chillisauce.co.uk/stag-weekends/nottingham/quad-biking/

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The use of free, relevant and meaningful content can single handedly grow your business into seven figures while making you the star of the lives of thousands of raving fans (customers and clients).

Using free content is not a new concept. However, out of the thousands who actively send out free content to their list, less than 1% actually get it right.

Building a Learning Relationship with your market by offering free relevant and meaningful information and content can take you to the higher ground of outstanding profits.

One of the most effective ways to prove your expertise, showcase your skills, toot your own horn, and prove that you’re not just good …you’re the best (and your not only deserving of their paid business, but at a premium price) is to invite your market into a “learning relationship”.

A learning relationship is designed to scratch an immediate itch without providing total relief. You do this by providing meaningful information and content that they can use immediately to experience some level of satisfaction.

[Note: All of the basics of identifying your market, targeting a niche within that market, identifying an existing problem and understanding the desired solution must already be done.]

It’s critical that you deliver meaningful and relevant information to your market.

Not all information is created equal. Information that is theoretical, pitchy, vague, and incomplete and doesn’t give specific action steps will not work well for this strategy.

For a learning relationship to be an effective marketing strategy for you, the information and content you provide should…

Excite – Make your information compelling and interesting. This will keep their attention and gives you the opportunity to capture that “mental real estate”.

How often do you pay attention to anything that doesn’t excite you? Not often, right?

Your market is no different. From the very first word, you need to grab them and hold them captivated with what they are getting. To do that, you need to quickly answer three questions…

1. WHY should I read this?
2. WHAT is in it for me?

3. WHY should I believe you?

One way to create instant excitement is to make a big compelling promise of what they can expect after they read, digest and use your content.

Educate – Make your information informative and educational. Make them say “Wow, I didn’t know that!”

The world is drowning in information and yet it craves more knowledge… so give it to them.

However, give it to them in a way that they get it… they understand it and they can use it.

And where possible make a huge impact by sharing something that will make them say, “Wow, I didn’t know that!”

Encourage – Your information should provide actionable steps that you can encourage them to take to experience a measurable difference.

The best kind of information is usable information.

Telling is not helping. You need to break down your information into useable, actionable steps that are clear, concise and doable.

Give your readers a cookbook, how-to recipe for accomplishing one simple task that your information suggests. When you do this, and they use it and they get a small win from it… you become their hero… you build up the expert status that will move them from free to fee.

Endear – Your information should close gaps, build bridges and bring attunement between you and your market.

Build in any personal stories that they can possibly relate to. Allow them to experience emotion and feel like there is synergy with you and attunement with your mission.

When your readers feel like you understand them and you are like them you build bridges that can bring together a very long lasting mutually beneficial relationship.

So be sure to deliberately aim to connect with your market on a heart level and not just on a head and wallet level.

Entice – Your information should entice them to want more from you. This will make scaling them up from free information into premium paid products and services much easier.

Leave your market wanting an encore… wanting another appearance from you. Leave them chanting your name standing in there chairs pumping their fist in the air in celebration of you and what you have given to them.

Like 50,000 raving fans at a rock concert that don’t want the show to end… have your readers begging for more. So much so they decide to purchase your products and services …bright eyed and smiling.

Copyright 2005 Stephen Pierce

Stephen Pierce is a business strategist, certified innovation facilitator, author and speaker. He provides strategies that make growing profits in your business a fast reality. You can now get free online video business coaching from Stephen at: http://www.stephenlive.com

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So why do so many people cry and pull their hair out when it comes to building an email list? It’s really simple – they don’t know how to do it.

Before you start building an email list you need to know one thing.

What I’m about to tell you is so paramount you will want to stop
reading this email and get a post-it note and pen ready so you can write it down.

What is this one thing that is so important?

If you have your post-it note and pen ready I will tell you!

Hmm, I sense someone is still looking for their post-it notes in
their desk.

Ok, now we are ready…

The one thing you need to know before you start building an email list is:

****People like to be asked before you put them on a list****

I know it is not much of a novel concept but some people don’t seem to understand why this is important. Here are a few reasons:

-People don’t like getting emails unannounced (if a person does notask for something, then gets it, he/she won’t expect it. The email will be a surprise. People don’t like surprises unless it is a new car.)

-People will stay on an email list longer if they actually decided to go on the list in the first place.

So asking people to join is key. In the industry, it’s called
Permission Email Marketing or Opt-in Email Marketing.

Sounds pretty simple.

When you start building your email list you have to ask people to join (or rather, you would be wise to ask people to join). It’s up to you.

Lots of companies don’t ask people to join their email lists. I
experience these types of emails everyday and always treat them the same – I delete them before I read them.

So let’s talk about your email list.

-How will you ask people to join?

-Are you operating online? If so, what tools can you use on your

website?

-Are you operating offline? If so, what tools can you use at your place of business?

Here are some suggestions that will help point you in the right
direction:

1. Ensure you are clear about the frequency of your e-newsletters.

For example: If your e-newsletter will be weekly, say so. If you
intend to send five emails a day make sure your signups understand this.

2. Once the above is covered, clearly ask people to join your list.

and

3. Don’t ask people to un-join your list if they don’t want to join.

Un-join?

If you are wondering if un-join is a word, it isn’t.

If you are wondering what the heck my last point means, you’ll have to wait until Email Marketing Lesson: How To Build An Email List, Part Two of Two.

Joan Pasay is a dynamic e-marketing coach & the author of:

Email Marketing Made Easy: How To Get Your Customers To Give You More Of Their Money.

Check out Joan’s one on one coaching here: http://www.emailmarketingmadeeasy.com/coaching

Check out the Email Marketing Club: The Only Place On The Internet Where Email Marketing Is FUN! Join now and receive a gift – guaranteed to increase your status with your friends, co-workers and boss. Click below: http://www.emailmarketingmadeeasy.com/email_marketing_club

Earn good karma for all the bad things you have done (including not building your email marketing list). Forward this article to everyone you know.

Copyright – Joan Pasay 2005

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With so many loans available it is quite difficult to find the best secured loan deals. Finding the right loan for you and your financial needs is important, after all, you don’t want to pay any more for your loan than you absolutely have to.

Secured loans are so called because they use collateral as security to guarantee the repayment of the loan. As a result of the collateral that is used to secure the loan, banks and other lenders are usually more willing to grant lower interest rates for secured loans.

By applying for a secured loan and offering property as collateral to guarantee the loan you can substantially speed up the lending process. Since secured loans have something to guarantee the repayment of the loan, they are generally much easier to come by than an unsecured loan.

Secured loans are suitable for when you are trying to raise a large amount; are having difficulty getting an unsecured loan; or, have a poor credit history. . This doesn’t mean that secured loans are used exclusively by individuals with bad credit; many people with good credit still choose to use secured loans for their needs because they can get a lower interest rate that way.

Secured loans are also worth considering if you need a new car, or need to make home improvements, or take that luxury holiday of a lifetime.

When looking for a secured loan, consider getting a loan quote from online lenders. It can easily be done from the comfort of your home. Just a few clicks of the “mouse” and you are there. They can often offer good loan rates even to individuals who have poor credit so long as they have the proper collateral.

The interest rate offered depends upon the credit rating of the person applying for the loan as well as the value and ease of finding a market for the item used as collateral.

In order to find the best secured loans, you will need to shop around as the interest rates and terms will vary from each company. Compare interest rates and the terms that each one offers before deciding which company to use.

You may freely reprint this article provided the following author’s biography (including the live URL link) remains intact:

About The Author

John Mussi is the founder of Direct Online Loans who help homeowners find the best available loans via the http://www.directonlineloans.co.uk website.

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I am so grateful that you’re taking steps to take control of your life. You will be amazed when we work together how much you’ll uncover about yourself. You’ll understand how your thoughts have contributed to your being overweight and you will take daily steps to put together a new plan of action for yourself. I imagine that you are tired of living like this and want some new, something better for yourself. I am here to help you and I know you can do it!

As an integrative body therapist, I work with energy and thought processes. With this in mind, we’re going to begin this lesson with a discussion on energy and how you attract excess weight.

Everything is made up of energy. The couch you’re sitting on, the table, even money is made up of energy. Our bodies are nothing but pure energy. Since everything is made up of energy, these things are affected by the Natural Laws of the Universe. These Laws are designed to manifest whatever we put our thoughts on. In simple terms, whatever you put your mind on, is what you’re going to get.

We’re going to look at one of the Natural Lawsthe Law of Attraction. How does this apply to being overweight? When you hold negative thoughts in your body, symptoms appear based on those thoughts. In your case, you hold excess weight. You may be experiencing other symptoms as well, but your main focus right now is your weight. You hold negative thoughts in your body and this attracts excess weight. According to Louise Hay, author of You Can Heal Your Life, outlines weight issues in her book and anger is the driving force underneath the weight. It can be anything from anger at being denied love, anger at the parents or anger at one specific parentoften the father. In my case, I was angry at both parents, but more so my father.

Now, I’ll be giving you homework assignments because I like this to be interactive and have you contribute as well. So here’s your first homework assignment. It’s very simple. Identify who you’re angry with? You can include yourself. Once you’ve done this then describe why you’re angry with the person(s) you’ve identified and be specific.

We’ll be peeling back layers and these are simple steps to uncovering some layers. I will then address how you can release this anger so you can experience pure joy and love. In your case, especially of your body.

You are great just the way God intended you to be! You just need to peel back a few layers to reveal the wholeness that is already there. Thank you for letting me be part of your journey.

Tami Close
Weight Loss Expert
http://www.tamiclose.com

Tami Close is an Integrative Body Therapist. She is certified in Rapid Eye Technology and has a basic and advanced certificate in Emotional Freedom Techniques. She is also a Reiki Master. Tami is a recipient of a grant from the Sumasil Grant Foundation in her work with RET and EFT. She is a master trainer and has a B.S. in Training and Development. She is a #1 best selling co-author, Wake Up…Live the Life You Love Finding Personal Freedom. The other authors include Mark Victor Hansen, Wayne Dyer and Deepak Chopra and others.

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Have you been thinking about leaving your job and starting a work at home enterprise? If you have mentioned your desire to anyone other than another entrepreneur you may have been discouraged. For many people it is hard to understand why anyone would want to leave “the safety and security” of a job and “risk their lively hood.” But if you have ever been hit by an entrepreneurial seizure there is something that happens which is unexplainable.

If you are willing to respond to this deep emotion you will never be happy living your life by a job description. You want more. A cubicle will feel like a prison and until you create something you can call your own you will feel like each day a part of you is making a deal with the devil.

For most people starting a business is a scary proposition. So how do you create an environment that pulls you towards success? What can you do to inspire yourself to take your life back and build wealth from home? Creating a purpose driven home based business is the winning combination that blends living your passion and profiting from it.

Here are 7 seven steps you can take towards a purpose driven work at home career:

1. You can create a vision and mission for your home based enterprise that inspires you. Life is too short. When you make the decision to leave the rat race you don’t want to create a business that’s simply another job. So why are you taking this journey? What do you want your business to look like?

For example, I am clear that my home based venture is as much about lifestyle as it is profit. When ever I work on my business I look at my mission that includes income developed through passive income and working no more than 25 hours a week.

Why? Because after 15+ years in Corporate America I learned that what are important to me are my personal relationships. I no longer wanted to trade my time for money. At the end of my life I don’t want to remember how many hours I worked for someone else or the sacrifices I made for a company. As a result, my vision is to create a lifestyle that allows me to enjoy life with the people I care about.

What is your vision for your business? Try to include all of your senses. What will it look like when you get there? How will you feel? Who will be there to celebrate with you? With you smell the breeze of the ocean water or the pungent fragrance of swaying honeysuckle? The more you connect with your vision the more you will be inspired.

2. Create your business based around something you are passionate about. There is something magical that happens when you are operating in something you love to do and are uniquely good at. Have you ever had a job you hated? How did you feel? You will never live a life of purpose doing something you don’t like. Discover your passion and give it all you’ve got.

For years I worked in jobs that I was good at but hated. However, when I struck out on my own I wanted to have a life I loved. I uncovered my unique talents and went to work. And what happened for me can happen for you.

When you start to live the life you were born to do the universe makes all of the resources available to you that you need to be successful. So what are you passionate about? What skills and talents do you have you can create a life and business around? Write down two or three skills have that would be utilized in your purpose driven business.

3. Make your business a business that is bigger than you. What would it feel like to know that your business was directly responsible for impacting the world in some way? How would you feel to know that when you passed on people from around the world would thank you for the part you played in creating something of value that was important to them?

At first, this line of thinking can be overwhelming. However, not when you start to think of what is at the core of any business. Your goal is to find a solution to your customers’ problems. And in exchange they are willing to pay you for it. To the extent that you get to know their hopes, desires, dreams and pains and you help to successfully maneuver the maze of life they will be forever grateful.

So how can your venture make its mark in the world? My goal is to help people discover their passion, monetize it and live a life they love. I personally want to help 1000 people in the next 3 years take their life back and build wealth from home. The very thought that I could play a small part in helping someone else do this gives my business a purpose much bigger than me.

Write down one goal that you have for your business that is bigger than you. Make sure you keep the goal in front of you where you can see it everyday.

4. Develop a business plan that supports your values and beliefs. Whenever you are working to accomplish something great you must have a plan. The creation of your business plan is the map that you will use to guide you through your journey. One of the keys to a successful plan is to make sure everything you do is consistent with your values and beliefs.

For example, if you have a family and want to spend more time with them you don’t want to build a business that requires you to spend long amounts of time away from them to build.

Don’t get me wrong. You will make choices and sacrifices. However, those should be things that are short term and spelled out. You want to be clear what you are giving up or making adjustments and what you will get in return.

“Strive for integrity–that means knowing your values in life and behaving in a way that is consistent with these values.” —author unknown. When you are building something that is consistent with who you are as a person your daily actions will feed your soul.

5. Consider giving a percentage of the profits to an organization you love. I love the quote, “No one has ever become poor by giving.” –Anne Frank. Actually our lives are enriched when we give.

For example, maybe you have a religious organization you would like to tithe to. Or you might like to help a cause that is close to your heart. One of my favorite charitable organizations is the Junior Achievement.

Junior Achievement uses hands-on experiences to help young people understand the economics of life. This organization partners with business leaders and educators. The mission of Junior Achievement is to bring the real world to students and open their mind to their potential.

I chose to contribute to this organization because I love to see young people find their passion and follow it early in life. I feel like my life is enriched when I can help a young person discover their passion and avoid the rat race.

Do you have an organization you would like to contribute to? Think about how you would feel if your company was contributing to an organization that was helping to make a difference in the world.

6. Extend your hand to help someone who wants to do what you do. One of the ways to give purpose to your business is to teach, coach or mentor a person. There are people who would love to benefit from the knowledge and expertise you have acquired.

You might want to teach a class or create a coaching club. You can impact several people at once and leverage your time.

Who can you reach out to and help? What vehicle will you use to make a difference for someone else? Write down 3 ideas and implement one immediately.

7. Create a community by enrolling others to make it happen. Have you ever experienced the power of what happens when several people are committed to one goal? There is a powerful force that happens when you speak your purpose out loud and invite others to become a part of it.

Look for opportunities to have customers, friends, family and colleagues to become a part of the mission of your business. Your company could become a cause for change in the world.

For example, who would ever imagine that the purpose of a greeting card company was to change peoples lives one card at a time? Well it’s true. I had the privileged of hearing the CEO of this greeting card speak.

He told the story of how he had a prompting to say goodbye one more time to his brother when he was moving and failed to do so. Shortly after the move he got a phone call that his brother had died tragically. He was haunted by the fact he had failed to say good bye.

Later he was inspired to create a greeting card company that allows people to act on their promptings. Never again, would anyone miss any opportunity to send someone they care about a card. His passion and commitment about his business is contagious. He truly embodies the characteristics of a purposed driven home based business.

So the choice is yours. You can create a business that focuses solely on making a buck and during the difficult times it might not be enough to get you through. Or you can create something with purpose. These 7 traits are a winning combination. Life is truly a joy when you can have a home based business with purpose and profit from it.

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Yes, you can sell your business yourself, but you have to do it the right way! As a professional business intermediary, I have many clients with quality businesses who come to me after failing to sell their businesses on their own. The flaw in their effort to sell always comes down to the same four basic things: no professional presentation of the business; poorly presented financial information; pricing the business wrong; and not understanding how to find buyers, work with those buyers and get a deal to closing. If you want to sell a business yourself, you can, but you have to put the right pieces in place, including:

-An effective presentation for selling a business

-A business valuation to help you understand your company’s value

-Customized strategies and resources for finding the best buyers

-Resources to help you work with those buyers and get a deal to closing

A Professional Business Sales Presentation

This is the centerpiece of your marketing effort. When a potential buyer contacts you, you don’t want to simply fax over some scattered scraps of paper. First impressions count. You need a genuine, professional marketing presentation of your business. At the very least, it should include an Executive Summary, a Business Overview, a Facilities Profile and a Financial Summary. The financial information must be in an intelligent format that emphasizes the cash flow value to a new owner.

What’s Your Business Worth?

This is the most important question you will ask yourself in the selling processand you will probably have the wrong answer. Many of us have an idea of what we think our companies are worth but, unfortunately, we are usually wrong. Pricing your business is one of the most important steps in the process. Price it too low, and you’re stealing from yourself. Price it to high and you’re kidding yourselfbut no one elseand you won’t achieve the goal of selling your business. Any business valuation, regardless of the method used or who completes it, will have an element of subjectivity to it, but it can give you some reasonable guidelines and expectations for value and suggest a proper pricing strategy.

Finding the Best Business Buyers

This is where the rubber meets the road. It doesn’t matter if you have a great presentation and the right price on your business if you don’t know how to find qualified buyers. It takes more than a couple of classified ads in the local paper or online if you want to get the best price from the best buyer. Multiple strategies including online ads, newspapers, direct marketing and industry publications must be employed. And you must write your ads the right way with the right information.

Closing the Deal

This is where a good business intermediary earns his keepkeeping the deal together until you get to the closing table. But business owners are smart, hardworking people. If you know and pay attention to the details along the way, you can make it happen, effectively paying yourself for the work by keeping the commissionoften tens of thousands of dollars. You need a good outline of the selling process, access to critical documents like letters of intent and asset purchase agreements and, before committing yourself to a binding contract, the advice of an attorney and a CPA with experience in business sale transactions.

If you put the right elements in place, you can sell your business yourself. Be sure you price it right, package it professionally, and make your buyer search a thoughtful, systematic process.

http://www.bizbyowner.com

Donald L. Beezley is a professional business intermediary and COO of BizByOwner, LLC. BizByOwner offers The Complete Solution for Selling A Business including a dynamic suite of online tools for packaging your business for sale and performing an online valuation. BizByOwner Resource Centers give you the buyer search and transaction management resources you need including selling process checklists and business sale contracts.
http://www.bizbyowner.com

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I have previously written:

I absolutely g-u-a-r-a-n-t-e-e that if you focus on your dream – THAT YOU REALLY FOCUS ON YOUR DREAM, that you believe in your dream – THAT YOU REALLY BELIEVE IN YOUR DREAM with total confidence – that you be committed to your dream – THAT YOU REALLY BE COMMITTED TO YOUR DREAM – that if you do all this, YOU WILL EMPOWER YOUR DREAM.

What exactly did I mean by “focus”? What is focusing all about? Why is being focused so powerful? Baseball gives us many examples of the importance of being focused. One of those many examples is Hall of Famer Steve Carlton.

Steve Carlton, for those of you who are unaware of his identity, was a pitcher who spent most of his 24-year career with the Philadelphia Phillies. In 1972, Steve was traded from the St. Louis Cardinals to the Phillies and proceeded to win 27 games for the hapless last place Phillies, which total by Carlton accounted for almost half of the hapless Phillies grand total 59 victories. That year, he won the National League’s Cy Young Award, which is baseball’s award for the league’s best pitcher. Steve Carlton proceeded to spend the off-season that year on the banquet tour and making endorsements and granting interviews, etc., etc. The 1973 season saw a reversal for the lefty pitcher. He went from 27 wins to 20 losses! His ERA shot up! What happened? Steve Carlton, in his own words, “lost” his “focus”. He failed to concentrate on his job, which was pitching baseballs and winning games.

In retrospect, though, 1973 turned out to be a blessing for Steve. He went to work on his attitude. He decided that worrying about the reporters and the endorsements were a distraction to his job. They were a distraction to his career and if he permitted them to continue, these distractions would divert him from the task at hand and ultimately reduce him to mediocrity. So, instead, he focused only on his physical conditioning and baseball. He shunned the distracting reporters and the meaningless banquets. The reporters tended to brand him as aloof, as a selfish player who refused to talk with them. Fans cheered his pitching but they didn’t take to him personally, as he stayed away from most autograph opportunities and speaking engagements. Steve Carlton, however, knew the secret. He knew that his mind needed to be focused on pitching if he was to achieve the pitching success he wanted, if he was going to be able to Empower His Dream.

Did Steve Carlton EMPOWER HIS DREAM? Judge for yourself. After that disastrous ‘73 season, Steve Carlton proceeded over the next 14 seasons to amass a total lifetime victory count of 329, a total of 4,136 career strikeouts (most ever by a left handed pitcher), 2nd lifetime only to the legendary Nolan Ryan. He became the 1st pitcher in the history of Major League Baseball to win 4 CY Young Awards. In his first year of eligibility, Steve Carlton was voted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame. Steve Carlton EMPOWERED HIS DREAM by concentrating his focus on his dream.

That is what focus is about. It is a mind set on your dream. According to the well known motivational speaker and late night TV infomercial star, Anthony Robbins, 80% of success is figuring out why to succeed, of directing your focus. Robbins asserts that the “how” to succeed, the actual tasks, are only 20% of the equation. That’s what Steve Carlton learned and that’s what each one of us needs to understand and employ. Discard the distractions. Put them aside. Decide ahead of time what your desired result is and keep THAT as the only element in your mind. The “how” will come. Don’t worry about the “how”. The “how” is unimportant. The actual steps to the realization of your dream will emerge on their own if your focus is on your dream and nowhere else. Missouri is known as the “Show Me State”. Talk to a Missourian and they will tell you to show them first, and then they will believe. I dare to say that show me first is a formula for defeat. Show me first is a formula for losing.

Believe and then it WILL happen. BELIEF comes first. And, belief is developed through focus. Steve Carlton’s team mate on the World Champion 1980 Phillies, Tug McGraw, coined a phrase for the 1973 National League Pennant Winning New York Mets, “Ya gotta believe!” Tug McGraw didn’t say, “Let’s win and then we’ll believe.” Tug said, “Ya Gotta Believe!” In other words, he instructed the Mets fans, and later the Phillies fans, focus on the winning and we will win! Ya Gotta Believe was and is more than a slogan. Ya Gotta Believe is a way of life. And the belief I am talking about is not a hope. It is not a “I wanna.” The belief I am talking about is a true and committed belief that there is absolutely no way that your dream will not be realized. The belief I am talking about is a true and committed belief that your dream IS reality!

Do you want to empower your dream? If you answered yes, then you must focus on that dream and understand that no other reality exists. You set your eyes and mind on that dream and the reality of that dream and allow absolutely nothing to distract you from the physical realization of your reality. That is focus. And “focus” will EMPOWER YOUR DREAM!

© Copyright 2003. ABOUT THE AUTHOR: J. Kevin King, J.D. is a Personal Life and Business Coach, and the Founder and CEO of The Empowerment System Network, which publishes the very unique weekly Success & Motivational ezine Empower Your Dream. Kevin has over 30 years experience in business and personal coaching.
http://empower-your-dream.com

http://iattracteverythingiwant.com/

http://www.empower-your-dream.com/esn/mall.html

E-Mail – JKKingJD@empower-your-dream.com

You may reprint this article in its entirety with the above ABOUT THE AUTHOR included.

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The American Flag is a testament of hard work, perseverance and determination. It represents a country that prides itself on helping those who need help and by providing for those who are less fortunate. It is a symbol of unity to millions and a sign of peace, a sign of friendship and a sign of honor. Those who see it know they can be safe under it.

For many, the flag is something that needs to be in their presence. Most businesses within the United States will show their support by having a flag out in front of their building or by displaying the flag someplace within it. This is a sign that they are American or American supportive. And, while any other flag can fly with it, allegiance should hold that the American Flag be at the very top and at the highest of honor.

Perhaps you have seen the times when the flag is lowered. In these times, the flag represents something very much moving and sensitive. It allows for individuals to grieve and respect those who have died or have been hurt in the name of the United States. In periods of grief, the flag will stay at half staff. This can happen for any number of reasons but usually it is a sign that someone that believes in and has earned the respect of the United States has fallen.

There is always going to be division within the United States. That is due many times to the simple fact that the democracy that the country holds true is designed to allow everyone to have an opinion and to have rights. And, although not everyone will agree with every move that is made, all will stand up and defend their beliefs in a country fights for them to have the ability to disagree. The American Flag, with its stripes and stars is a symbol of freedom.

for more information please see http://www.american-flag-deals.co.uk

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The way I hear it, the “typical” annual rate of inventory shrinkage in the retail industry is in the order of 3 to 5% – let’s split the difference and say 4%. “Industry Experts” (whoever they are…) suggest that of that total inventory shrinkage, 50% is due to external theft; 30% is due to internal theft; and 20% is due to “messed up paperwork”. Other reasons for business losses, such as breakage, robbery, and vandalism, are separate problems that we’re not going to deal with here.

Do the math in your head – what’s 4% of all the stock you’ve ordered this year worth? Pretty grim numbers. If you’re still with me, I’d like to suggest a way to reduce these figures by almost half – a way to reduce inventory shrinkage to a more manageable 2%! I work for a company that develops an integrated point of sale software system that ties together the front end point of sale with inventory control and back-end accounting, so it should come as no surprise that I’m going to suggest such a system as a solution to reduce inventory shrinkage. Many of our clients have reported a dramatic savings, enough to pay for the software and then some in less than a year.

What I’m not going to do is suggest that our Windward System Five is the only quality product that does what I’m going to cover – so do your homework and consider any POS system that measures up. A good Point of Sale system can help eliminate internal theft and “messed up paperwork” that accounts for 50% of the total inventory shrinkage.

In this article, I’m going to show how a Point of Sale system can be used to reduce internal theft by using various positive measures. Following articles will deal with reducing internal theft through increased security measures, while the last article will address how eliminating the “paperwork mess” can help reduce inventory shrinkage.

“Why would my staff steal from me!” you say? The retail industry attracts unskilled workers, often at minimum wage. Some will be tempted steal, for whatever reasons. What we will try to do is shift the Risk/Benefit ratio to a point where the risk of being promptly caught is much greater than the minimal benefits they can gain. Think of it as the ol’ “carrot and the stick” approach. The “carrot” includes things like fair compensation, a good working environment, employer-sponsored activities that improve morale, good communication and concern for the success of a company.

The only way to reach some employees is through a “stick” of an effective security program and a straightforward policy of prosecuting any employee caught stealing. A good Point of Sale system should balance between carrots and sticks. This article will out line some carrots, while the next in the series will be the sticks. Note: Any additional cost from “carrots” will be more than made up by savings from reduced inventory shrinkage.

• Reward good salespeople by paying commissions. Even a small percentage sends a good message. Your Point of Sale system should be able to easily track and report on commission sales

• People like discounts, and to save yourself from the “five fingered discounts”, set an Employee pricing level for some or all of your inventory. Your POS should help identify the profitability of inventory items, letting you set a variety of pricing levels. You can even expand on this by allowing staff to sell a certain amount of inventory at Employee discounts to friends and family (it does wonders for their ego). Monitor these amounts through your POS

• Move old stock and improve staff morale with the use of SPIFs (Sales Promotion Incentive Fund). A couple of movie tickets or a gift certificate awarded with a little bit of ceremony can go a long way. Any cost is more than made up by having moved stale inventory. Your POS should be able to easily report on specified SPIF-eligible sales

• Profit sharing is the quickest way to make all staff feel they have a vested interest in making the company profitable. Think about re-investing the money saved from a successful inventory shrinkage reduction program back in to the company in the way of a profit sharing program. Your POS system should integrate fully with an Accounting backend, so profit can be monitored on an ongoing basis, rather than a month or two after year-end

• Good communication goes a long way to make staff feel they’re part of the company. Use the CRM part of your POS to keep track of employee birthdays and special events. Use the e-mail features to keep in touch with all the staff

Jim Hawkins works at Windward Software, developers of Point of Sale software, and is passionate about promoting “best practices” in business. For more information about how Windward Software can help your business improve its processes, visit us at http://wws5.com

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