Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2008 Willie Crawford
Many online marketers wake up one day to discover that what they have built it not a business but an all-consuming job. They've built an entity that totally depends upon THEM to keep it running, and it demands that they devote practically no time to family, fun, and things that make life more meaningful.
Many of them discover that they spend 2-4 hours per day just responding to emails. They spend another 1-2 hours per day responding to "customer support issues."
They often spend another 1-2 hours per day just procrastinating because they feel that they have so much to do that they don't know where to start for fear of getting side-tracked working on "the wrong thing." Like the squirrel crossing a busy highway, they freeze for fear of making the wrong decision, often with devastating results.
How do you end this insanity, and regain control of your life?
I'll tell you how I did it when I basically found myself in the EXACT situation described above.
First of all, I awoke one day to find myself spending MOST of my day just analyzing the email, and figuring out how to keep from drowning beneath over 20,000 daily emails... mostly spam.
I HAD to sift through this email because it contained important communications from customers, clients, potential joint venture partners, affiliates, assistants, family members and friends.
The problem grew to be that there was so much email that at times my email client couldn't even download it all without crashing. Just the process of downloading the email and "indexing it" would cause my email program to CRASH repeatedly.
To start regaining control, I had to begin better directing the flow of communications. My solution to that problem was a helpdesk. I set up a helpdesk and then asked clients, joint venture partners, and staff members to funnel most of their communications through that one secure, centralized node.
I use the Three Pillars Help Desk System, and set up a process where:
1) A person visits the helpdesk and submits a ticket in an appropriate category. They are not required to register, just click on "Submit Ticket," select the appropriate "Category," and explain what they need.
2) Based upon the category, I or one of several appropriately trained individuals get an email, and desktop notification, of a new ticket being filed. "Admins" are assigned specific categories of tickets.
3) The appropriate admin logs in, views each ticket, and for 90% of them, selects a pre-composed answer from a drop-down list of responses. Answers to common questions regarding urls, getting replacement products, alternative payment methods, getting a program installed, being unable to open a file, getting a refund, where to find affiliate tools, etc., are handled this way.
Most of the tickets take less than 2 minutes for admins to respond to. Others require the admin to write an individualized answer. If they don't know the answer, they create a new ticket letting me or an assistant know this is a problem that they haven't been trained to handle.
4) As we get frequently asked the same questions over and over again, where appropriate, we add the answer to those questions to an FAQ file that is accessible right from the main helpdesk screen.
Just installing that helpdesk gave me back 1-2 productive hours of each day. It gave me back roughly 12 hours per week!
I looked at perhaps 30 different help desk software, testing out approximately 10 before settling upon Three Pillars Help Desk. I liked that software so much that I even eventually BOUGHT the company :-)
After redirecting a major percentage of important communications through my helpdesk, where I didn't have to worry about having important customers communications blocked by email filters, I then turned to my biggest productivity bottle neck.
To tackle that problem, I turned to Brad Semp, a systems engineer. Brad showed me his amazing system that he had developed and refined that allowed him to go from 2 1/2 hours per day of dealing with email down to only 20 minutes per day.
Brad's system involves looking at your email flow, controlling that flow, largely unplugging from checking email every few minutes, and forcing the system to only show you emails that you really need to deal with.
I met Brad at a JV Alert Live Seminar in Las Vegas, Nevada, and when he proved to me that he honestly spent less than 1/2 hour per DAY responding to email, without missing anything important,
I set aside a little time to learn his system.
I spent about 3 hours thoroughly learning and setting up his system, which he calls Email CashMaps. After that, I was also down to spending less than 30 minutes per day responding to MY email, and I NEVER miss anything really important.
You can check out Brad's system at http://TamingTheEmailMonster.com
The final big issue that I had to deal with was information overload, leading to indecision and procrastination. I solved that problem by first of all putting a value on each hour of my time. I set that value based upon my annual income goal, and how many hours I was willing to spend to reach it.
Since I wanted to spend less time working, that meant that I had to value my time at MUCH more than the average person has the audacity to do so. As an example, if you check out http://WillieCrawford.com/mentoring.html you'll see that I actually charge $800 for a 1-hour telephone consultation.
Properly valuing your time keeps you from wasting it stuck in endless Skype chat sessions or listening to a telemarketer. If you consider your time worth $800 per hour, then you also view that telemarketer as costing you over $13 per minute. That makes it very easy to end uninvited conversations.
Regaining control of your time hinges upon identifying where you waste a lot of time and upon insisting that your time is YOUR time. That means that you choose how you spend each limited hour that you have. You can't regain control of your time until your acknowledge that you've lost control of your time, and of your life. Once you reach that realization, taking back control is fairly easy as I've just demonstrated.
About the Author:
Willie Crawford is an internationally-acclaimed speaker, author, seminar and radio show host, and leading Internet marketing expert. When not out fishing in the Gulf of Mexico, Willie can be found sharing his 12 years of online marketing experience with members of The Internet Marketing Inner Circle. Join them at: http://TheInternetMarketingInnerCircle.com
Friday, November 28, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
The Relationship Between The NASA Space Shuttle And The Struggling Auto Industry
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2008 Arlo Mooney
With all of the talk in the news about the potential failure of U.S. automakers, many have begun to talk about the far-reaching effects of the auto industry on the U.S. economy.
Few people realize the reach of the auto industry and how integral it is to the whole of the U.S. economy. It has been said that one-of-ten jobs in the United States are connected to automotive manufacturing, sales and maintenance.
It is hard to track down with any certainty how many U.S. cities would be directly affected by the failure of a single automobile model, let alone an entire company or industry. To put the impact of the potential failure of the auto companies into better perspective, it is easier to study the economic reach of another vehicle in which we are all familiar: NASA's space shuttle.
Manufacturing The NASA Space Shuttle
Since NASA is an enterprise of the U.S. Federal Government, its employees tend to create reams of reports and make those reports available online, for the person willing to hunt them down.
While a car is not nearly as complex as the space shuttle to build, the manufacturing base behind the space shuttle is nearly as far-reaching as the manufacturing base behind the automakers.
The space shuttle program relied upon hundreds of manufacturers, located in 165 U.S. Cities in 32 states, with one component built in Canada and one other component built in Paris, France.
These manufacturers create parts as small as the screws used to hold components together, to the parts that make wings and the shuttle fuselage. But NASA projects cannot stop with the building of the flight components, since life support systems are also essential to NASA missions.
Most space shuttle components were built in California and New York, but components were also manufactured in nearly every state in the southwestern, south-central, and southeastern U.S., including: California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida. Other states that filled out the remainder of the list include: Washington, Utah, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Tennessee, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, New Hampshire and Vermont.
When the space shuttle building era ended in 1988, a vast number of companies had to return to the process of working in the private sector to keep workers employed.
The Coming End Of The American Automotive Manufacturing Era?
The U.S. Congress is trying hard to find ways to finance a bridge to the future for General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.
Some argue that the U.S. auto industry is handicapped by the retirement plans it had set up for employees in past decades. Whereas the U.S. automakers have large sums of money set aside for the retirement of their employees, European and Asian auto manufacturers who have set up plants in the United States do not have the same kinds of long-term financial commitments to their employees.
Financial gurus argue that the combination of retirement fund commitments and UAW contracts prevent American automakers from competing with foreign automakers on a level playing field. This is the reason why some are suggesting that the best thing that could happen to GM, Ford and Chrysler is to go under, and have other companies pick up the broken pieces of these legacy auto companies to start again from scratch.
But as shown in the NASA space shuttle example, the effects of this outcome will have far-ranging and deep effects on the stability of the U.S. economy.
Perhaps failure will be good for the auto business, but it seems likely that Congress and the soon-to-take-office President Obama will prevent this from happening.
The greater question for General Motors is whether they will be able to survive until January 20th, when Obama takes the reigns of the country from George W. Bush. It is rumored that GM only has enough cash on hand to keep them afloat until December of 2008.
Final Thoughts
My gut tells me that it may be a bad idea to let any American automotive manufacturer fail. My gut tells me that the Chrysler bailout of the 1980's proved to be a good investment that the U.S. taxpayer eventually got back with interest paid.
But my gut also tells me that it is a bad idea for the U.S. government to be in the business of bailing out every company with a hand extended to Congress. Maybe it would be best to let the carmakers fail, so that whatever company rises from the ashes could compete with foreign automakers on a level playing field.
In the end, whether Washington D.C. comes to the rescue of the automotive industry, in time or not, America will survive and eventually thrive once again.
About the Author:
Arlo Mooney has dedicated himself to helping people properly manage their personal finances, by helping them to understand the gravity of their personal financial decisions. With his background in economics, he strives to help people understand complex economic principles, by explaining conditions in ways that few people have the patience or skill to do. Read more of his work at: http://cash-advance-payday-loans.org/blog
Copyright © 2008 Arlo Mooney
With all of the talk in the news about the potential failure of U.S. automakers, many have begun to talk about the far-reaching effects of the auto industry on the U.S. economy.
Few people realize the reach of the auto industry and how integral it is to the whole of the U.S. economy. It has been said that one-of-ten jobs in the United States are connected to automotive manufacturing, sales and maintenance.
It is hard to track down with any certainty how many U.S. cities would be directly affected by the failure of a single automobile model, let alone an entire company or industry. To put the impact of the potential failure of the auto companies into better perspective, it is easier to study the economic reach of another vehicle in which we are all familiar: NASA's space shuttle.
Manufacturing The NASA Space Shuttle
Since NASA is an enterprise of the U.S. Federal Government, its employees tend to create reams of reports and make those reports available online, for the person willing to hunt them down.
While a car is not nearly as complex as the space shuttle to build, the manufacturing base behind the space shuttle is nearly as far-reaching as the manufacturing base behind the automakers.
The space shuttle program relied upon hundreds of manufacturers, located in 165 U.S. Cities in 32 states, with one component built in Canada and one other component built in Paris, France.
These manufacturers create parts as small as the screws used to hold components together, to the parts that make wings and the shuttle fuselage. But NASA projects cannot stop with the building of the flight components, since life support systems are also essential to NASA missions.
Most space shuttle components were built in California and New York, but components were also manufactured in nearly every state in the southwestern, south-central, and southeastern U.S., including: California, Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Alabama and Florida. Other states that filled out the remainder of the list include: Washington, Utah, Colorado, Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Tennessee, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, New Hampshire and Vermont.
When the space shuttle building era ended in 1988, a vast number of companies had to return to the process of working in the private sector to keep workers employed.
The Coming End Of The American Automotive Manufacturing Era?
The U.S. Congress is trying hard to find ways to finance a bridge to the future for General Motors, Ford and Chrysler.
Some argue that the U.S. auto industry is handicapped by the retirement plans it had set up for employees in past decades. Whereas the U.S. automakers have large sums of money set aside for the retirement of their employees, European and Asian auto manufacturers who have set up plants in the United States do not have the same kinds of long-term financial commitments to their employees.
Financial gurus argue that the combination of retirement fund commitments and UAW contracts prevent American automakers from competing with foreign automakers on a level playing field. This is the reason why some are suggesting that the best thing that could happen to GM, Ford and Chrysler is to go under, and have other companies pick up the broken pieces of these legacy auto companies to start again from scratch.
But as shown in the NASA space shuttle example, the effects of this outcome will have far-ranging and deep effects on the stability of the U.S. economy.
Perhaps failure will be good for the auto business, but it seems likely that Congress and the soon-to-take-office President Obama will prevent this from happening.
The greater question for General Motors is whether they will be able to survive until January 20th, when Obama takes the reigns of the country from George W. Bush. It is rumored that GM only has enough cash on hand to keep them afloat until December of 2008.
Final Thoughts
My gut tells me that it may be a bad idea to let any American automotive manufacturer fail. My gut tells me that the Chrysler bailout of the 1980's proved to be a good investment that the U.S. taxpayer eventually got back with interest paid.
But my gut also tells me that it is a bad idea for the U.S. government to be in the business of bailing out every company with a hand extended to Congress. Maybe it would be best to let the carmakers fail, so that whatever company rises from the ashes could compete with foreign automakers on a level playing field.
In the end, whether Washington D.C. comes to the rescue of the automotive industry, in time or not, America will survive and eventually thrive once again.
About the Author:
Arlo Mooney has dedicated himself to helping people properly manage their personal finances, by helping them to understand the gravity of their personal financial decisions. With his background in economics, he strives to help people understand complex economic principles, by explaining conditions in ways that few people have the patience or skill to do. Read more of his work at: http://cash-advance-payday-loans.org/blog
The Effect of Hotel Vacancy/Occupancy Rates on Your Travel Dollar
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2008 Anson Werner
When times are tough, many people wonder how and if they will be able to take a family vacation. I know that because my wife and I had the same conversation just recently. But given my knack for uncovering travel deals, I was able to show my wife a way that we could take advantage of the hard times in the economy right now, to get a lot more fun for much less money.
How To Stretch Your Travel Dollars, By Paying Less For Hotel Rooms
In economic boom times, hotels typically have 95%-98% occupancy rates. When hotels are running at such capacity, the hotel's management is fat and happy with profits.
But in recessionary periods like we are experiencing right now, hotels find occupancy rates running at 60%-65%, making it hard for the hotel's management to make ends meet.
Hotels make money when they can fill their rooms, with paying customers. When running at 95%-98% occupancy rates, filling those final rooms are pure gravy on the hotel's bottom line. With high occupancy rates, hotels tend to hold empty rooms for people desperate for a room, enabling the hotel to maximize its profits.
But when occupancy rates are low, hotel managers are desperate for customers instead of customers being desperate for a room. Herein lies the secret to getting more bang for your travel dollars.
Full rooms are a sellers' market, and empty rooms create a buyers' market. When in a buyers' market, the buyer has a lot of control over the final price the customer will pay.
If you go to the front desk of the hotel and demonstrate to the satisfaction of the hotel proprietor that you may be willing to walk out the front door of the hotel and shop for another room, then you will have strengthened your hand for negotiating a better price for a room. My experience has been that many hotel proprietors believe that if you are standing in their lobby that you are more inclined to buy from them, rather than to go down the street, so the proprietor will hold more firm on his or her price. However, if you are willing to call the hotel on the phone - even from the hotel's parking lot - you will find that you have a lot more leverage to get a better deal.
The simple truth is that if hotels are struggling to fill rooms, hotel proprietors are more often willing to negotiate a better rate for their rooms, with any person willing to ask. So ask.
Not every hotel proprietor will be willing to reduce the price of a room, but frequently, proprietors who reject a lower price will offer extra amenities to sweeten the deal. So ask for the better price to see what you can get.
You have nothing to lose by asking, and you could very well negotiate a much better deal if you would only be willing to ask for a better deal. So speak up, and see if you can find a better deal than the advertised price for that room.
About the Author:
As a travel hound, Anson Werner searches for incredible travel deals and tricks to help him save money and stretch his limited travel dollars. Recent finds include a 3-day/2-night vacation for two in Las Vegas for $49, and a trick for getting a free cruise for his family. Friends and family are always asking about his new finds, so he has decided to share his knowledge and discoveries in his travel blog at: http://www.shoppingtraveldeals.com/blog/ Anson's work also appears at: http://travel-and-destinations.blogspot.com
Read this other article by Anson Werner, before traveling to Europe.
Copyright © 2008 Anson Werner
When times are tough, many people wonder how and if they will be able to take a family vacation. I know that because my wife and I had the same conversation just recently. But given my knack for uncovering travel deals, I was able to show my wife a way that we could take advantage of the hard times in the economy right now, to get a lot more fun for much less money.
How To Stretch Your Travel Dollars, By Paying Less For Hotel Rooms
In economic boom times, hotels typically have 95%-98% occupancy rates. When hotels are running at such capacity, the hotel's management is fat and happy with profits.
But in recessionary periods like we are experiencing right now, hotels find occupancy rates running at 60%-65%, making it hard for the hotel's management to make ends meet.
Hotels make money when they can fill their rooms, with paying customers. When running at 95%-98% occupancy rates, filling those final rooms are pure gravy on the hotel's bottom line. With high occupancy rates, hotels tend to hold empty rooms for people desperate for a room, enabling the hotel to maximize its profits.
But when occupancy rates are low, hotel managers are desperate for customers instead of customers being desperate for a room. Herein lies the secret to getting more bang for your travel dollars.
Full rooms are a sellers' market, and empty rooms create a buyers' market. When in a buyers' market, the buyer has a lot of control over the final price the customer will pay.
If you go to the front desk of the hotel and demonstrate to the satisfaction of the hotel proprietor that you may be willing to walk out the front door of the hotel and shop for another room, then you will have strengthened your hand for negotiating a better price for a room. My experience has been that many hotel proprietors believe that if you are standing in their lobby that you are more inclined to buy from them, rather than to go down the street, so the proprietor will hold more firm on his or her price. However, if you are willing to call the hotel on the phone - even from the hotel's parking lot - you will find that you have a lot more leverage to get a better deal.
The simple truth is that if hotels are struggling to fill rooms, hotel proprietors are more often willing to negotiate a better rate for their rooms, with any person willing to ask. So ask.
Not every hotel proprietor will be willing to reduce the price of a room, but frequently, proprietors who reject a lower price will offer extra amenities to sweeten the deal. So ask for the better price to see what you can get.
You have nothing to lose by asking, and you could very well negotiate a much better deal if you would only be willing to ask for a better deal. So speak up, and see if you can find a better deal than the advertised price for that room.
About the Author:
As a travel hound, Anson Werner searches for incredible travel deals and tricks to help him save money and stretch his limited travel dollars. Recent finds include a 3-day/2-night vacation for two in Las Vegas for $49, and a trick for getting a free cruise for his family. Friends and family are always asking about his new finds, so he has decided to share his knowledge and discoveries in his travel blog at: http://www.shoppingtraveldeals.com/blog/ Anson's work also appears at: http://travel-and-destinations.blogspot.com
Read this other article by Anson Werner, before traveling to Europe.
Friday, November 21, 2008
Getting Better Research Materials By Using Better Search Tools
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2008 Trey Pennewell
150 years ago people who dreamed of becoming rich often went to the mountains and streams of California searching for gold. Their tools were shovels; pick axes, and metal pans. A few became rich - most did not. Today, for those seeking to discover riches, or at least a decent living, there is still gold lying around for those who can find it - but most of it exists as information accessible over the internet - and the tools you need to find it are web browsers and search engines.
In doing research of any kind you have to be able to find and access information and materials. This used to mean books, papers, etc. collected and organized in a library. Catalogers reviewed materials, classified them, assigned a number, created a "card catalog", and arranged the materials in sections containing like materials. Finding information was a slow, and often arduous, task.
You had to "look up" the subject in the card catalog. If you didn't find what you wanted under the word set you selected you had find other words - the word or words that occurred to the cataloger, might not be the ones you were considering. There was never a consistent thread of analysis that one could rely upon for finding the right books, because as you and I might think of different words to find what we want, the book catalogers all have their own personalities and therefore, they would frequently select words to describe a book through their own colored lenses of analysis.
Sometimes a thesaurus, or a reference librarian, was able to help you find the book you wanted. And the catalog cards gave only a hint of the actual contents of a book. Then you went to the shelves, found the section, and looked at what else was near your specific item of interest. Often you found "other things" nearby, which were exactly what you were looking for in the first place.
The computer allowed the development of electronic databases and automated searches. The Internet allowed access to many databases. Search Engines are able to accomplish, in seconds, what a person could not complete in a lifetime. But always we are at the mercy of what is in the database, and how the analysis tools interpret the database. Nonetheless, these Search Engines are powerful tools, which you can use to accomplish market research to find information that can help build and grow your business.
Most people today are familiar with, and spend some time on, the World Wide Web - the Internet. So we know a little about web browsers and search engines (sometimes very little). When you go looking for information, it is the search engine that does most of the work, and like other tools, they don't have the same talents and skills.
In doing a web search you first have to ask a question that contains one or more "key words", words you hope will lead you to the information you seek. Common search engines include Google, Yahoo, and MSN - and there are dozens of others. They access different databases and are optimized for different kinds of searches. Their designers create various features to find, sort, arrange and display the search results in a comprehensible fashion. When I did a Google search for "keyword research" it reported 456,000 results; Yahoo reported 20,700,000 results. Braggart! But how in the world can the program, or the user, ever find what they are after in that many results?
One method that helps people find information that is more relevant to what they need is clustering, which is simply a feature of some search engines' design, which combines different parts of the results together based on specific principles. Clustering can also provide built-in features, which provide a set of related terms, almost like a thesaurus, including in the results words related to your search keywords. Using clustered search terms will allow you to broaden the specific search and perhaps find something like that book on an adjoining shelf that is exactly what you need.
Search engines find web content using key words or phrases to locate items in databases. Both when doing market research, and when building web sites and web content, key words are extremely important. And clustering search features help you (or your potential customers) find similar terms, which will lead you to related (and possibly very important) information.
Using a search engine with clustered search features will lead you to these related items that may greatly enhance the results of your market research. Similarly, using appropriate keywords in your web materials can enhance traffic to your site or articles. One search engine that has clustering search features is http://widow.com/
Widow Search has a simple user interface. Doing a sample search by entering "keyword research" gave some interesting results. On the left side of the results page is a box displaying the results of the "clustered search feature". Below this box is a second box titled "Similar Terms", their suggestions for extended items beyond the keywords you entered. To the right of the boxes is a list of "Resources" which resulted from the search. The first 10 items found by the search are displayed, with brief descriptions, the URL and a link to the target site. Buttons between the screen header and the Results list gives access to subsequent items found.
The clustered search results for this case were as follows:
"Keyword Research":
Search Engine Analysis Services Review Worldtracker Blog Right Keywords Competition Complete Discovery
Some items have a plus sign (+) in front of the listed item and that plus sign indicates that the listed word has a sub-list, which can be displayed by clicking the (+) button. For instance, clicking "Search Engine" displays a list of 8 sub-items.
The "Similar Terms" box listed seven sub-items. This display is slightly confusing since the box uses word wrap and some links are split between two lines. Focus on the type font size - they toggle through 3 different font sizes - when the size changes, you are seeing a different link. Click on a link and it will take you to another list of items keyed to the specific similar term.
Widow Search (http://widow.com/) is a meta-search engine with significant research capabilities that produces excellent results. However, it still requires work, thought and judgment to achieve your goals. But, give it a try. You might just find that you will never have a need to go to any of the Big Three search engines ever again.
About the Author:
Trey Pennewell is a writer who assists the content creation and helps write ClickBank product reviews for: http://www.TrafficAndSubscribers.com If you are spending at least $1000 per month on PPC Advertising, please take the time to review our Pay-For-Results SEO service at: http://www.linksandtraffic.com/seo-services/search-marketing.html
Copyright © 2008 Trey Pennewell
150 years ago people who dreamed of becoming rich often went to the mountains and streams of California searching for gold. Their tools were shovels; pick axes, and metal pans. A few became rich - most did not. Today, for those seeking to discover riches, or at least a decent living, there is still gold lying around for those who can find it - but most of it exists as information accessible over the internet - and the tools you need to find it are web browsers and search engines.
In doing research of any kind you have to be able to find and access information and materials. This used to mean books, papers, etc. collected and organized in a library. Catalogers reviewed materials, classified them, assigned a number, created a "card catalog", and arranged the materials in sections containing like materials. Finding information was a slow, and often arduous, task.
You had to "look up" the subject in the card catalog. If you didn't find what you wanted under the word set you selected you had find other words - the word or words that occurred to the cataloger, might not be the ones you were considering. There was never a consistent thread of analysis that one could rely upon for finding the right books, because as you and I might think of different words to find what we want, the book catalogers all have their own personalities and therefore, they would frequently select words to describe a book through their own colored lenses of analysis.
Sometimes a thesaurus, or a reference librarian, was able to help you find the book you wanted. And the catalog cards gave only a hint of the actual contents of a book. Then you went to the shelves, found the section, and looked at what else was near your specific item of interest. Often you found "other things" nearby, which were exactly what you were looking for in the first place.
The computer allowed the development of electronic databases and automated searches. The Internet allowed access to many databases. Search Engines are able to accomplish, in seconds, what a person could not complete in a lifetime. But always we are at the mercy of what is in the database, and how the analysis tools interpret the database. Nonetheless, these Search Engines are powerful tools, which you can use to accomplish market research to find information that can help build and grow your business.
Most people today are familiar with, and spend some time on, the World Wide Web - the Internet. So we know a little about web browsers and search engines (sometimes very little). When you go looking for information, it is the search engine that does most of the work, and like other tools, they don't have the same talents and skills.
In doing a web search you first have to ask a question that contains one or more "key words", words you hope will lead you to the information you seek. Common search engines include Google, Yahoo, and MSN - and there are dozens of others. They access different databases and are optimized for different kinds of searches. Their designers create various features to find, sort, arrange and display the search results in a comprehensible fashion. When I did a Google search for "keyword research" it reported 456,000 results; Yahoo reported 20,700,000 results. Braggart! But how in the world can the program, or the user, ever find what they are after in that many results?
One method that helps people find information that is more relevant to what they need is clustering, which is simply a feature of some search engines' design, which combines different parts of the results together based on specific principles. Clustering can also provide built-in features, which provide a set of related terms, almost like a thesaurus, including in the results words related to your search keywords. Using clustered search terms will allow you to broaden the specific search and perhaps find something like that book on an adjoining shelf that is exactly what you need.
Search engines find web content using key words or phrases to locate items in databases. Both when doing market research, and when building web sites and web content, key words are extremely important. And clustering search features help you (or your potential customers) find similar terms, which will lead you to related (and possibly very important) information.
Using a search engine with clustered search features will lead you to these related items that may greatly enhance the results of your market research. Similarly, using appropriate keywords in your web materials can enhance traffic to your site or articles. One search engine that has clustering search features is http://widow.com/
Widow Search has a simple user interface. Doing a sample search by entering "keyword research" gave some interesting results. On the left side of the results page is a box displaying the results of the "clustered search feature". Below this box is a second box titled "Similar Terms", their suggestions for extended items beyond the keywords you entered. To the right of the boxes is a list of "Resources" which resulted from the search. The first 10 items found by the search are displayed, with brief descriptions, the URL and a link to the target site. Buttons between the screen header and the Results list gives access to subsequent items found.
The clustered search results for this case were as follows:
"Keyword Research":
Some items have a plus sign (+) in front of the listed item and that plus sign indicates that the listed word has a sub-list, which can be displayed by clicking the (+) button. For instance, clicking "Search Engine" displays a list of 8 sub-items.
The "Similar Terms" box listed seven sub-items. This display is slightly confusing since the box uses word wrap and some links are split between two lines. Focus on the type font size - they toggle through 3 different font sizes - when the size changes, you are seeing a different link. Click on a link and it will take you to another list of items keyed to the specific similar term.
Widow Search (http://widow.com/) is a meta-search engine with significant research capabilities that produces excellent results. However, it still requires work, thought and judgment to achieve your goals. But, give it a try. You might just find that you will never have a need to go to any of the Big Three search engines ever again.
About the Author:
Trey Pennewell is a writer who assists the content creation and helps write ClickBank product reviews for: http://www.TrafficAndSubscribers.com If you are spending at least $1000 per month on PPC Advertising, please take the time to review our Pay-For-Results SEO service at: http://www.linksandtraffic.com/seo-services/search-marketing.html
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Hopefully President Obama Will Break A Few Campaign Promises
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2008 Arlo Mooney
Although I did not vote for President Barack Obama, I wish him well and I hope that he is as successful as President Bill Clinton. If Obama governs as a centrist as Bill Clinton did, he should not have any problem getting a second term. But if he chooses to govern to the left, he will have a troublesome and short four years as Jimmy Carter once had.
Why John McCain Failed...
John McCain failed in his quest for the presidency for a number of reasons, but primarily because he could not or would not explain the underlying problems with Obama's economic policies.
Perhaps he could not explain the problems of Obama's campaign promises regarding the economy, because he did not understand them himself. Perhaps the problems simply could not be explained in a sound bite.
But I believe that John McCain failed in his quest for the White House, because he would not accept advice from the faithful who were not part of his internal campaign team. Perhaps his people shielded him from outside input.
My wife says that the McCain team probably thought of me as a stalker in the wild. I had sent explanations of the problems of Obama's economic plans several times, but it would seem that my help never escaped the email box. ;-)
Great presidents of years past were great because they surrounded themselves with really smart people. The measure of a great president - be it Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt and others - can be succinctly described by their ability to find and get people who best understood the needs of the nation and how to solve those problems faced by average Americans.
In the end, the American people were worried about the economy, and yet, John McCain could not show us why his approach to the economy would be better than Barack Obamas. That is why he lost his bid for the White House.
What Is In It For Me?
Barack Obama understood something else that John McCain seemingly could not. President-elect Obama understood that people vote on the premise of what is in the deal for them.
A tax cut for 95% of Americans and a tax increase for the richest Americans is something that resonated for many people.
So long as the tax payer thinks that they will gain more than they lose, they are frequently happy to hear promises of this type.
This is where the McCain campaign failed to understand the marketing of a politician. Jumping up and screaming about how the 42% who do not pay taxes now will receive a check from Obama, as if that were a bad thing, alienated the 42% who do not pay taxes. To argue that this was the equivalent of "welfare" was to stomp on the hopes and dreams of 42% of the electorate.
To have told the story to the American people in a way that could have swayed the electorate to McCain would have been to explain the underlying economy of Obama's plan. But John McCain could not or would not do so.
The rich voted on principles different than the economy, because the rich understand what I am getting ready to show you now.
Shifting The Tax Burden To Business
Under the basic structure of Obama's tax plan, he is going to eliminate most taxes paid by those who work for a living. On the surface, that seems like an awesome plan. Even I would benefit from lower taxes under Obama's plans.
But here is the problem...
The Republicans utterly failed to tell us this story, so that most of us could understand the fallacy of this plan.
Higher taxes for business will not eliminate jobs directly, as described by the Republican brand! As a business owner, I have a hand's on understanding of this scenario.
Businesses will do what is possible to bring the same amount of after-tax profits they have seen previously. Especially when the business is a sole proprietorship like mine, our profits become our incomes. So, if I need $70,000 per year to sustain my lifestyle, I will find ways to increase my business back to the level I need to be at to sustain my standard of living.
Taxing my profits only ensures that I must earn more money, so that I can maintain my standard of living. Laying off people is not an acceptable option, because fewer staff will ensure a shrinking ability to earn the money I need to keep my standard of living.
Since I am not willing to lower my standard of living and laying off people is not an option, I will have to find other ways to make the difference. The only way that I am going to be able to maintain my business is to increase my prices. And so long as the consumer feels that my products and services are necessities in their lives, my customers will pay the higher prices.
How This Affects You...
The bakery company will not cut its profits or lay off people; instead, it will increase the price of a loaf of bread.
The lumber store will not cut its profits or lay off people; instead, it will increase the cost of lumber.
The oil companies will not reduce its profits or lay off people; instead it will increase the cost of gasoline.
All in all, the prices of all products and services will increase to reflect the new tax environment.
As prices eventually increased to reflect higher fuel prices during the summer of 2008, so will all prices increase to reflect higher business taxes and the increasing prices of all raw materials, due to higher business taxes. Increasing prices for any reason will increase the rate of inflation for everything in the United States.
Amazingly, the 42% who did not pay taxes under George Bush will now be paying the new taxes on everything they buy. And you will pay those taxes, because you cannot stop eating or buying goods and services.
Whereas 42% of Americans do not pay taxes now, all Americans will soon be paying for Obama's "new taxes on the rich".
Maybe that check that Obama will send the 42% who do not pay taxes now will offset the increase in the cost of living - maybe it will not.
Will Obama's Economic Policies Reflect A Net-Gain Or A Net-Loss?
If the tax cut for the middle-income and the checks for the lower-income families are greater than the increased cost of goods and services, then this plan will be a net-gain for all middle- and lower-income families home finances.
If the tax cut fails to add enough money to the budgets of families to offset the increased cost of goods and services, then the American people's personal finances will experience a net-loss.
It is all about standard of living. Will you in four years have a better standard of living under Obama's tax cuts? Or, will you find that the increased cost of products and services have eaten away the benefit that you received from Obama under his tax cut for 95% of American taxpayers?
In Conclusion...
I am not very optimistic about middle- to lower-income families finding a net-gain under Obama's tax plans... But, I hope that I am wrong.
Many pundits suggest that Barack Obama will not be able to keep all of his campaign promises, and it is still my hope that in four years we will be able to look back to see that Obama's tax plan was one of the promises that Obama did not keep.
About the Author:
Arlo Mooney has dedicated himself to helping people properly manage their personal finances, by helping them to understand the gravity of their personal financial decisions. With his background in economics, he strives to help people understand complex economic principles, by explaining conditions in ways that few people have the patience or skill to do. Read more of Arlos' thoughts at: http://cash-advance-payday-loans.org/blog
Copyright © 2008 Arlo Mooney
Although I did not vote for President Barack Obama, I wish him well and I hope that he is as successful as President Bill Clinton. If Obama governs as a centrist as Bill Clinton did, he should not have any problem getting a second term. But if he chooses to govern to the left, he will have a troublesome and short four years as Jimmy Carter once had.
Why John McCain Failed...
John McCain failed in his quest for the presidency for a number of reasons, but primarily because he could not or would not explain the underlying problems with Obama's economic policies.
Perhaps he could not explain the problems of Obama's campaign promises regarding the economy, because he did not understand them himself. Perhaps the problems simply could not be explained in a sound bite.
But I believe that John McCain failed in his quest for the White House, because he would not accept advice from the faithful who were not part of his internal campaign team. Perhaps his people shielded him from outside input.
My wife says that the McCain team probably thought of me as a stalker in the wild. I had sent explanations of the problems of Obama's economic plans several times, but it would seem that my help never escaped the email box. ;-)
Great presidents of years past were great because they surrounded themselves with really smart people. The measure of a great president - be it Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan, John F. Kennedy, Franklin D. Roosevelt and others - can be succinctly described by their ability to find and get people who best understood the needs of the nation and how to solve those problems faced by average Americans.
In the end, the American people were worried about the economy, and yet, John McCain could not show us why his approach to the economy would be better than Barack Obamas. That is why he lost his bid for the White House.
What Is In It For Me?
Barack Obama understood something else that John McCain seemingly could not. President-elect Obama understood that people vote on the premise of what is in the deal for them.
A tax cut for 95% of Americans and a tax increase for the richest Americans is something that resonated for many people.
So long as the tax payer thinks that they will gain more than they lose, they are frequently happy to hear promises of this type.
This is where the McCain campaign failed to understand the marketing of a politician. Jumping up and screaming about how the 42% who do not pay taxes now will receive a check from Obama, as if that were a bad thing, alienated the 42% who do not pay taxes. To argue that this was the equivalent of "welfare" was to stomp on the hopes and dreams of 42% of the electorate.
To have told the story to the American people in a way that could have swayed the electorate to McCain would have been to explain the underlying economy of Obama's plan. But John McCain could not or would not do so.
The rich voted on principles different than the economy, because the rich understand what I am getting ready to show you now.
Shifting The Tax Burden To Business
Under the basic structure of Obama's tax plan, he is going to eliminate most taxes paid by those who work for a living. On the surface, that seems like an awesome plan. Even I would benefit from lower taxes under Obama's plans.
But here is the problem...
The Republicans utterly failed to tell us this story, so that most of us could understand the fallacy of this plan.
Higher taxes for business will not eliminate jobs directly, as described by the Republican brand! As a business owner, I have a hand's on understanding of this scenario.
Businesses will do what is possible to bring the same amount of after-tax profits they have seen previously. Especially when the business is a sole proprietorship like mine, our profits become our incomes. So, if I need $70,000 per year to sustain my lifestyle, I will find ways to increase my business back to the level I need to be at to sustain my standard of living.
Taxing my profits only ensures that I must earn more money, so that I can maintain my standard of living. Laying off people is not an acceptable option, because fewer staff will ensure a shrinking ability to earn the money I need to keep my standard of living.
Since I am not willing to lower my standard of living and laying off people is not an option, I will have to find other ways to make the difference. The only way that I am going to be able to maintain my business is to increase my prices. And so long as the consumer feels that my products and services are necessities in their lives, my customers will pay the higher prices.
How This Affects You...
The bakery company will not cut its profits or lay off people; instead, it will increase the price of a loaf of bread.
The lumber store will not cut its profits or lay off people; instead, it will increase the cost of lumber.
The oil companies will not reduce its profits or lay off people; instead it will increase the cost of gasoline.
All in all, the prices of all products and services will increase to reflect the new tax environment.
As prices eventually increased to reflect higher fuel prices during the summer of 2008, so will all prices increase to reflect higher business taxes and the increasing prices of all raw materials, due to higher business taxes. Increasing prices for any reason will increase the rate of inflation for everything in the United States.
Amazingly, the 42% who did not pay taxes under George Bush will now be paying the new taxes on everything they buy. And you will pay those taxes, because you cannot stop eating or buying goods and services.
Whereas 42% of Americans do not pay taxes now, all Americans will soon be paying for Obama's "new taxes on the rich".
Maybe that check that Obama will send the 42% who do not pay taxes now will offset the increase in the cost of living - maybe it will not.
Will Obama's Economic Policies Reflect A Net-Gain Or A Net-Loss?
If the tax cut for the middle-income and the checks for the lower-income families are greater than the increased cost of goods and services, then this plan will be a net-gain for all middle- and lower-income families home finances.
If the tax cut fails to add enough money to the budgets of families to offset the increased cost of goods and services, then the American people's personal finances will experience a net-loss.
It is all about standard of living. Will you in four years have a better standard of living under Obama's tax cuts? Or, will you find that the increased cost of products and services have eaten away the benefit that you received from Obama under his tax cut for 95% of American taxpayers?
In Conclusion...
I am not very optimistic about middle- to lower-income families finding a net-gain under Obama's tax plans... But, I hope that I am wrong.
Many pundits suggest that Barack Obama will not be able to keep all of his campaign promises, and it is still my hope that in four years we will be able to look back to see that Obama's tax plan was one of the promises that Obama did not keep.
About the Author:
Arlo Mooney has dedicated himself to helping people properly manage their personal finances, by helping them to understand the gravity of their personal financial decisions. With his background in economics, he strives to help people understand complex economic principles, by explaining conditions in ways that few people have the patience or skill to do. Read more of Arlos' thoughts at: http://cash-advance-payday-loans.org/blog
Successful Article Marketers Help Readers Solve Problems
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2008 Bill Platt
Every week, I have the opportunity to speak with people about the benefits and challenges of using article marketing to promote an online business. Of course, article marketing is about getting your sales message in front of potential customers and to get links to your website, from the page where an article is posted online.
Where most people get confused with article marketing is with the idea that "it is a method to promote one's website." Many interpret this to mean that an article should directly promote the writer's website within the article, but that approach is wrong and will reduce one's success using this methodology.
Understanding The Overall Article Marketing Strategy
Consider this. Television has been a successful advertising medium for more than six decades, because TV stations understand the importance of providing content to anchor the advertising. In every television hour, there are 42 minutes of content to provide an anchor for 18 minutes of advertising. People tune into the content out of a desire to receive the content, and they accept the advertising as a necessary price to pay in order to get the content for free.
Article marketing works best when the writer emulates the television-advertising model, by anchoring a sales message to content that people want to consume.
The role of article marketing is to capture an audience for the writer's website advertisement, which should be presented in the "resource box" / "about the author" information that appears in the paragraph immediately following the actual article. But, in order to capture that audience, an article needs to tell a story that publishers and webmasters desire to share with their readers.
How To Capture An Audience
When people ask me what they should write about in their articles, I always ask them a set of three questions to help them to define a successful strategy. Those three questions are as follows:
1. What do you sell?
2. Who is most likely to buy what you are selling?
3. What types of problems are common to those people that you may be able to answer?
Publishers and webmasters have a responsibility to their visitors to provide the kind of content that people actually "want" to read. I have heard publishers and webmasters state that if you want to sell to their readers, buy advertising. But if you were willing to teach something of value to their readers, then by all means, they would be happy to give you an advertisement in the "about the author" section at the end of your article, as payment for allowing them to share your information with their readers.
So, if you want an audience for your website's sales message, you should strive to give publishers the kind of information that they would like to share with their readers. If you give readers what they want, publishers will be willing to give you what you want - a chance to share the story of your business with the publishers' readers and website visitors.
Give Readers What They Want
When people go to a search engine, a website, a newsletter or blog, people are looking for information that will help them to address a problem they face. In short, people go online to find solutions for problems.
Since I desire to reach the people most likely to buy my products or services, I want to write content that will appeal directly to those people. When I sit down to write, I try to identify a problem that many people might have, and then I strive to locate and offer a solution to the problem.
When publishers and webmasters agree that the problem addressed is real and my solution is sound, my articles find huge audiences.
When my articles answer a reader's problem, my "about the author" information gets read. When my "about the author" information appeals to the reader, my website gets a new visitor. And for every new visitor my website gets, I have one more chance to sell my products and services to another potential client.
In Closing
There are certain people online, whose articles you have seen frequently on many websites and in some of your favorite newsletters. If you read those articles with an analytical eye, you will soon realize that what I tell you is true. Those people who put the focus of their articles on helping others to solve problems are the people whose articles are published most often and in the largest range of newsletters and websites.
Article marketing works well for those of us who seek to help readers solve problems.
For those who are looking to escape this tried-and-true method of article marketing, I wish you well. But I stand firm in the belief that if you put more focus on helping people solve more problems, you will benefit from article marketing in ways that other people can only dream.
About the Author:
Bill Platt has owned and operated http://www.thePhantomWriters.com article distribution service since 2001, and he has published more than 125 articles in his own name. Article marketing is the perfect advertising system for small businesses, but if you find yourself spending at least $1000 per month on PPC Advertising, then you owe it to yourself to review Bill's Pay-For-Performance Search Engine Optimization (SEO) service at: http://www.linksandtraffic.com/seo-services/search-marketing.html
Copyright © 2008 Bill Platt
Every week, I have the opportunity to speak with people about the benefits and challenges of using article marketing to promote an online business. Of course, article marketing is about getting your sales message in front of potential customers and to get links to your website, from the page where an article is posted online.
Where most people get confused with article marketing is with the idea that "it is a method to promote one's website." Many interpret this to mean that an article should directly promote the writer's website within the article, but that approach is wrong and will reduce one's success using this methodology.
Understanding The Overall Article Marketing Strategy
Consider this. Television has been a successful advertising medium for more than six decades, because TV stations understand the importance of providing content to anchor the advertising. In every television hour, there are 42 minutes of content to provide an anchor for 18 minutes of advertising. People tune into the content out of a desire to receive the content, and they accept the advertising as a necessary price to pay in order to get the content for free.
Article marketing works best when the writer emulates the television-advertising model, by anchoring a sales message to content that people want to consume.
The role of article marketing is to capture an audience for the writer's website advertisement, which should be presented in the "resource box" / "about the author" information that appears in the paragraph immediately following the actual article. But, in order to capture that audience, an article needs to tell a story that publishers and webmasters desire to share with their readers.
How To Capture An Audience
When people ask me what they should write about in their articles, I always ask them a set of three questions to help them to define a successful strategy. Those three questions are as follows:
1. What do you sell?
2. Who is most likely to buy what you are selling?
3. What types of problems are common to those people that you may be able to answer?
Publishers and webmasters have a responsibility to their visitors to provide the kind of content that people actually "want" to read. I have heard publishers and webmasters state that if you want to sell to their readers, buy advertising. But if you were willing to teach something of value to their readers, then by all means, they would be happy to give you an advertisement in the "about the author" section at the end of your article, as payment for allowing them to share your information with their readers.
So, if you want an audience for your website's sales message, you should strive to give publishers the kind of information that they would like to share with their readers. If you give readers what they want, publishers will be willing to give you what you want - a chance to share the story of your business with the publishers' readers and website visitors.
Give Readers What They Want
When people go to a search engine, a website, a newsletter or blog, people are looking for information that will help them to address a problem they face. In short, people go online to find solutions for problems.
Since I desire to reach the people most likely to buy my products or services, I want to write content that will appeal directly to those people. When I sit down to write, I try to identify a problem that many people might have, and then I strive to locate and offer a solution to the problem.
When publishers and webmasters agree that the problem addressed is real and my solution is sound, my articles find huge audiences.
When my articles answer a reader's problem, my "about the author" information gets read. When my "about the author" information appeals to the reader, my website gets a new visitor. And for every new visitor my website gets, I have one more chance to sell my products and services to another potential client.
In Closing
There are certain people online, whose articles you have seen frequently on many websites and in some of your favorite newsletters. If you read those articles with an analytical eye, you will soon realize that what I tell you is true. Those people who put the focus of their articles on helping others to solve problems are the people whose articles are published most often and in the largest range of newsletters and websites.
Article marketing works well for those of us who seek to help readers solve problems.
For those who are looking to escape this tried-and-true method of article marketing, I wish you well. But I stand firm in the belief that if you put more focus on helping people solve more problems, you will benefit from article marketing in ways that other people can only dream.
About the Author:
Bill Platt has owned and operated http://www.thePhantomWriters.com article distribution service since 2001, and he has published more than 125 articles in his own name. Article marketing is the perfect advertising system for small businesses, but if you find yourself spending at least $1000 per month on PPC Advertising, then you owe it to yourself to review Bill's Pay-For-Performance Search Engine Optimization (SEO) service at: http://www.linksandtraffic.com/seo-services/search-marketing.html
How Parents Can Save Tons of Money
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2008 Kathy Winters
Times are tough right now especially for parents. It can be hard to know how to cover things like constantly increasing energy bills and the high cost of fuel. It can be easy to become discouraged and think there is no way I can save money right now, however there are a few changes you can make in your everyday life that will make a huge difference.
Ways To Save Money
One of the easiest things you can do to save money is to revise your grocery shopping. It has gotten more expensive than ever to buy everyday things so a person must be extra conscious of what things cost. To trim some fat off the grocery budget follow some of the tips below:
1) Make a 7-day menu before you go shopping. This will keep the weeks purchases on task for supplying your needs.
2) Use the competition matching offered by your local Wal-mart, they guarantee the lowest price and will honor any competitor ad within a specified mile range. Check with your local store for details.
3) Only use coupons on things you would by anyway, this may sound like a no brainer but the number of people who will buy a more expensive item than normal just because they have a coupon would surprise you.
4) Consolidate errands so that they can all be done on one or two days instead of three to five. This will save on fuel costs as well as streamline your schedule.
5) Cut back money spent at convenience stores and star bucks. It is much cheaper to make coffee at home and buy Coke and gum at the grocery store. You would be amazed how much money you actually spend on these items.
These are just a few tips that will save you big money on everyday items. The key is to put aside the money you have saved with these changes. Spending the savings on a new outfit is fine if that is what you were saving for, however the better idea would be to put the money into a savings account for emergencies.
Small Inexpensive Things To Do
We all want to spend time with our children doing fun things that make them smile. The problem is most activities geared toward children are not cheap. Even going to the movies can quickly shoot through fifty dollars for a family of four. Instead, take your kids back in time with a visit to a drive-in theater! This blast from the past is much cheaper than conventional theaters and the best part is you can bring your own food and drink! If you do not have a drive-in close by, make it a redbox movie night. Redboxes are cropping up all over the nation and allow you to rent a movie for one night for a $1. Where else can you get that kind of deal? As an added bonus, you can look up and reserve a movie from home then go to the location at your convenience, swipe your bankcard and receive your movie. Now take the other forty dollars you would have spent and you guessed it, put it in savings too.
Children
Children want all the latest gizmos and gadgets and as loving parents, we want to give them. Nevertheless, video games and toys have become so technologically advanced that they can be extremely expensive. So what is a parent to do? A lot depends on the age of your child, younger kids will be much more easily convinced that a trip to the library is just as good as buying the latest kids book, plus they will enjoy your time together. If you live in a rural area where fishing abounds this can be a relatively inexpensive activity you can do with your children. Many states have free days where licenses are not required while fishing with children. When you take the time to look around many activities you can do together are relatively inexpensive. Moreover, if they just have to have video games check out resell shops and eBay, the cost should be a fraction of the new price and have a short-term guarantee, and again put the difference in savings.
Discussing Things With Teens
Be honest with your kids without worrying them; with older children make this a time for teaching them about responsible spending. When they want, cell phones and gadgets show them the cost and perhaps allow them to work part time to pay for them. When my children started working and it was their money they had to spend on frivolous things attitudes changed quickly.
Teenagers will not admit to wanting to spend time with you but they do find activities you both enjoy that do not cost large amounts of money. Do you have a tent stuck in the attic? Break it out and spend some time camping, sites are generally inexpensive and lakes are a great place to have fun and get some exercise at the same time.
Young Children
Young children are much easier to please with cheaper alternatives. Instead of the latest Spiderman toy grab an inexpensive kite and got to the park. It can be wonderful fun showing a young child how a kite works and watching their eyes light up when theirs is flying high! The park is also a fun cheap activity to do with young children. Most cities and towns have free access parks with play equipment.
Conclusion
We can all find ways to save money even in tough times. It may be more of a struggle now than a few years ago but it is an achievable goal. Use your time wisely and be creative you can throw a super birthday party with items found at the dollar store, it is all going in the garbage anyway so why spend a fortune on Barbie plates? The most important aspect of all this is to approach it in a way that does not scare or worry your children. Make saving money a challenge or game with them, and who knows you could start a lifelong habit in them that will change their entire life.
About the Author:
Kathy Winters writes for ParentingFun411, a national directory of parenting-related providers such as nurseries, day care, pediatricians, colleges, summer camps, nannies and much more. ParentingFun411 also offers a wealth of information for parents including a parenting blog. If you're a parent, you ought to visit us at: http://www.ParentingFun411.com
Copyright © 2008 Kathy Winters
Times are tough right now especially for parents. It can be hard to know how to cover things like constantly increasing energy bills and the high cost of fuel. It can be easy to become discouraged and think there is no way I can save money right now, however there are a few changes you can make in your everyday life that will make a huge difference.
Ways To Save Money
One of the easiest things you can do to save money is to revise your grocery shopping. It has gotten more expensive than ever to buy everyday things so a person must be extra conscious of what things cost. To trim some fat off the grocery budget follow some of the tips below:
1) Make a 7-day menu before you go shopping. This will keep the weeks purchases on task for supplying your needs.
2) Use the competition matching offered by your local Wal-mart, they guarantee the lowest price and will honor any competitor ad within a specified mile range. Check with your local store for details.
3) Only use coupons on things you would by anyway, this may sound like a no brainer but the number of people who will buy a more expensive item than normal just because they have a coupon would surprise you.
4) Consolidate errands so that they can all be done on one or two days instead of three to five. This will save on fuel costs as well as streamline your schedule.
5) Cut back money spent at convenience stores and star bucks. It is much cheaper to make coffee at home and buy Coke and gum at the grocery store. You would be amazed how much money you actually spend on these items.
These are just a few tips that will save you big money on everyday items. The key is to put aside the money you have saved with these changes. Spending the savings on a new outfit is fine if that is what you were saving for, however the better idea would be to put the money into a savings account for emergencies.
Small Inexpensive Things To Do
We all want to spend time with our children doing fun things that make them smile. The problem is most activities geared toward children are not cheap. Even going to the movies can quickly shoot through fifty dollars for a family of four. Instead, take your kids back in time with a visit to a drive-in theater! This blast from the past is much cheaper than conventional theaters and the best part is you can bring your own food and drink! If you do not have a drive-in close by, make it a redbox movie night. Redboxes are cropping up all over the nation and allow you to rent a movie for one night for a $1. Where else can you get that kind of deal? As an added bonus, you can look up and reserve a movie from home then go to the location at your convenience, swipe your bankcard and receive your movie. Now take the other forty dollars you would have spent and you guessed it, put it in savings too.
Children
Children want all the latest gizmos and gadgets and as loving parents, we want to give them. Nevertheless, video games and toys have become so technologically advanced that they can be extremely expensive. So what is a parent to do? A lot depends on the age of your child, younger kids will be much more easily convinced that a trip to the library is just as good as buying the latest kids book, plus they will enjoy your time together. If you live in a rural area where fishing abounds this can be a relatively inexpensive activity you can do with your children. Many states have free days where licenses are not required while fishing with children. When you take the time to look around many activities you can do together are relatively inexpensive. Moreover, if they just have to have video games check out resell shops and eBay, the cost should be a fraction of the new price and have a short-term guarantee, and again put the difference in savings.
Discussing Things With Teens
Be honest with your kids without worrying them; with older children make this a time for teaching them about responsible spending. When they want, cell phones and gadgets show them the cost and perhaps allow them to work part time to pay for them. When my children started working and it was their money they had to spend on frivolous things attitudes changed quickly.
Teenagers will not admit to wanting to spend time with you but they do find activities you both enjoy that do not cost large amounts of money. Do you have a tent stuck in the attic? Break it out and spend some time camping, sites are generally inexpensive and lakes are a great place to have fun and get some exercise at the same time.
Young Children
Young children are much easier to please with cheaper alternatives. Instead of the latest Spiderman toy grab an inexpensive kite and got to the park. It can be wonderful fun showing a young child how a kite works and watching their eyes light up when theirs is flying high! The park is also a fun cheap activity to do with young children. Most cities and towns have free access parks with play equipment.
Conclusion
We can all find ways to save money even in tough times. It may be more of a struggle now than a few years ago but it is an achievable goal. Use your time wisely and be creative you can throw a super birthday party with items found at the dollar store, it is all going in the garbage anyway so why spend a fortune on Barbie plates? The most important aspect of all this is to approach it in a way that does not scare or worry your children. Make saving money a challenge or game with them, and who knows you could start a lifelong habit in them that will change their entire life.
About the Author:
Kathy Winters writes for ParentingFun411, a national directory of parenting-related providers such as nurseries, day care, pediatricians, colleges, summer camps, nannies and much more. ParentingFun411 also offers a wealth of information for parents including a parenting blog. If you're a parent, you ought to visit us at: http://www.ParentingFun411.com
The Bizarre History Of The HOLLYWOOD Sign
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2008 Morris Timlen
The most famous sign in the history of mankind is the one that graces the side of the hill above Hollywood, California. As famous a landmark as the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio De Janeiro, the Eiffel Tower in Paris France, the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, The Church of the Savior on Blood in Saint Petersburg Russia, and the Statue Of Liberty in New York City, the Hollywood sign is known around the world as the symbol of the American movie industry.
The Early Years of Hollywood
Mrs. Daeida Wilcox, the wife of the town's founder, Harvey Wilcox gave Hollywood its name in 1887. Mrs. Wilcox had met a lady on the train, who had explained that the name of her summer home in Florida was called, "Hollywood". Mrs. Wilcox took a real fancy to that name and so Hollywood California was born.
Hollywood remained a small farming community until 1907, when a Chicago film company left Chicago due to bad weather and went to Hollywood to finish shooting its movie. Soon after, the Nestor Film Company from New Jersey moved to Hollywood and converted a barn into Hollywood's first movie studio.
Soon the word got around about Hollywood's year-around good weather and the diverse landscapes in the area, and the early players in the fledging movie industry flocked to Southern California to make movies. By 1912, there were 15 movie studios situated in Hollywood.
Between 1915 and 1920, many independent film studios started operation, and after a few cutthroat years, many of the small film companies merged to create many of the big studio names we recognize today.
Hollywoodland Is Built
Hollywood's rapid growth was fueled by the astronomical growth of its film industry and the 40 million Americans who went to the movies each week. The region also owes its existence to the Owen's Valley Aqueduct and its designer, the famous William Mullholland, head engineer of the Municipal Water Authority, who ensured that the water would continue to flow into the City of Hollywood and the Los Angeles basin.
The Los Angeles Times publisher, Harry Chandler, began to use his wealth to invest into real estate developments. In 1923, he built a development in Hollywood called Hollywoodland. In order to promote his new housing subdivision, Chandler built a sign on the side of Mount Lee in the Hollywood Hills, which read HOLLYWOODLAND, at a cost of $21,000. Even today, $21 thousand is a lot of money, but back then it was a huge amount of money.
Each of the 13 original letters of this billboard was 30-feet wide by 50-feet high. The original sign was lighted by 4,000 20-watt light bulbs, and there was a dot at the end of the word, as if the word was punctuated by a period. During the Roaring Twenties, the night sky of Hollywood was first lit by the word "HOLLY", then "WOOD", then "LAND", and punctuated by the period. Then the lighting sequence would repeat itself.
When it was originally built, the HOLLYWOODLAND sign was only intended to remain on Mount Lee for 18 months.
Ownership Transferred To The City of Hollywood
After the Roaring Twenties crashed with the stock market, the Great Depression, and the United States' entry into World War II, the Hollywoodland real estate development went bankrupt. The Hollywoodland sign that went without maintenance for most of the years of the Great Depression quietly passed its ownership to the City of Hollywood in 1944.
In 1949, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce came to the rescue of the sign. It repaired the "H" that had toppled over, removed the "LAND" and its period from the site, and restored the billboard to its current glory in the form we now know it to be.
The "Weed" Generation
During the 1960's and 1970's, the Hollywood sign nearly came to an ugly end once again.
The late 1940's and 1950's took a toll on Hollywood, as many of Hollywood's top film stars were blacklisted during the McCarthy Era. During the 1960's, many of the film studios moved operations to the San Fernando Valley. By 1970, Paramount Studios was the only major film company to still call Hollywood home.
The exodus of the film studios from Hollywood left the city in a state of decay and depression. The city simply could not afford the upkeep on its iconic sign, and the weather began to take its toll on the billboard known around the world.
In 1973, the City of Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Board got the sign declared as an official historical landmark. But this declaration did not slow the destruction of the sign.
During the 1970's, the "D" and the third "O" collapsed and fell down the mountain. Shortly thereafter, an arsonist set the second "L" on fire. Then protesters, who wanted California to loosen their marijuana laws, changed the second and third "O" to an "e". In an evening, "HOLLYWOOD" was transformed into "HOLLYWeeD".
The sign was changed one more time, in 1987, this time for the visit of Pope John Paul II. As a temporary salute to the Pope, the sign was changed for the Pope's visit to read, "HOLYWOOD".
The Revival Years
During the late 1970's, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce set out to restore the sign once again. During the exploratory period of this potential restoration, it was determined that it would take one quarter million dollars to restore the sign to its original pristine form.
Facing a seemingly insurmountable challenge, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce wondered how they would be able to raise the money. Then some of the biggest names in entertainment came to the rescue of the sign.
The rock band Fleetwood Mac started things off by offering a benefit concert. But, Fleetwood Mac was prevented from performing in Hollywood due to local residents stopping the show.
One year later in 1978, Hugh Hefner hosted a gala fundraiser at the Playboy Mansion, and raised the money by auctioning letters for $27,700 per letter. Among the contributors were Glam-Rocker Alice Cooper, singing cowboy Gene Autry, and Andy Williams.
For three months in 1978, the HOLLYWOOD sign was missing from the Los Angeles skyline, while the old sign was torn down and a new sign was built. With 194-tons of concrete, enamel and steel, the sign was reconstructed to survive well into the next century.
Entering The 21st Century
To prevent a repeat of the past, the California Attorney General assigned rights and responsibilities to three government agencies in 1992 for the sign. The City of Los Angeles owns the land where the sign stands. The City of Hollywood owns the licensing rights for the image of the sign. And the Hollywood Sign Trust was assigned to maintain, repair, and perform capital improvements to the sign for the benefit of the public.
In 2000, the Hollywood Sign Trust hired Panasonic to install a state-of-the-art security system, with a large closed circuit, Internet-based surveillance network, which can be monitored 24/7 over the Internet, to protect the sign from vandals and fire. The security system was upgraded again in 2005. Since the security system is Internet-based, anyone on the Internet can watch over the sign 24 hours a day on its live web cam, located at: http://www.hollywoodsign.org/247.html
About the Author:
Morris Timlen maintains the Bronze Plaques Blog, which specializes in the study of the history and style of commercial signs, and the many materials used in architectural lettering, including bronze, plastic, neon, acrylic, aluminum, brass, zinc, stainless steel, wood and glass. If you are in need of commercial signage for your business, please visit Morris's website for more information: http://www.bronzeplaquesblog.com
Copyright © 2008 Morris Timlen
The most famous sign in the history of mankind is the one that graces the side of the hill above Hollywood, California. As famous a landmark as the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio De Janeiro, the Eiffel Tower in Paris France, the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt, The Church of the Savior on Blood in Saint Petersburg Russia, and the Statue Of Liberty in New York City, the Hollywood sign is known around the world as the symbol of the American movie industry.
The Early Years of Hollywood
Mrs. Daeida Wilcox, the wife of the town's founder, Harvey Wilcox gave Hollywood its name in 1887. Mrs. Wilcox had met a lady on the train, who had explained that the name of her summer home in Florida was called, "Hollywood". Mrs. Wilcox took a real fancy to that name and so Hollywood California was born.
Hollywood remained a small farming community until 1907, when a Chicago film company left Chicago due to bad weather and went to Hollywood to finish shooting its movie. Soon after, the Nestor Film Company from New Jersey moved to Hollywood and converted a barn into Hollywood's first movie studio.
Soon the word got around about Hollywood's year-around good weather and the diverse landscapes in the area, and the early players in the fledging movie industry flocked to Southern California to make movies. By 1912, there were 15 movie studios situated in Hollywood.
Between 1915 and 1920, many independent film studios started operation, and after a few cutthroat years, many of the small film companies merged to create many of the big studio names we recognize today.
Hollywoodland Is Built
Hollywood's rapid growth was fueled by the astronomical growth of its film industry and the 40 million Americans who went to the movies each week. The region also owes its existence to the Owen's Valley Aqueduct and its designer, the famous William Mullholland, head engineer of the Municipal Water Authority, who ensured that the water would continue to flow into the City of Hollywood and the Los Angeles basin.
The Los Angeles Times publisher, Harry Chandler, began to use his wealth to invest into real estate developments. In 1923, he built a development in Hollywood called Hollywoodland. In order to promote his new housing subdivision, Chandler built a sign on the side of Mount Lee in the Hollywood Hills, which read HOLLYWOODLAND, at a cost of $21,000. Even today, $21 thousand is a lot of money, but back then it was a huge amount of money.
Each of the 13 original letters of this billboard was 30-feet wide by 50-feet high. The original sign was lighted by 4,000 20-watt light bulbs, and there was a dot at the end of the word, as if the word was punctuated by a period. During the Roaring Twenties, the night sky of Hollywood was first lit by the word "HOLLY", then "WOOD", then "LAND", and punctuated by the period. Then the lighting sequence would repeat itself.
When it was originally built, the HOLLYWOODLAND sign was only intended to remain on Mount Lee for 18 months.
Ownership Transferred To The City of Hollywood
After the Roaring Twenties crashed with the stock market, the Great Depression, and the United States' entry into World War II, the Hollywoodland real estate development went bankrupt. The Hollywoodland sign that went without maintenance for most of the years of the Great Depression quietly passed its ownership to the City of Hollywood in 1944.
In 1949, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce came to the rescue of the sign. It repaired the "H" that had toppled over, removed the "LAND" and its period from the site, and restored the billboard to its current glory in the form we now know it to be.
The "Weed" Generation
During the 1960's and 1970's, the Hollywood sign nearly came to an ugly end once again.
The late 1940's and 1950's took a toll on Hollywood, as many of Hollywood's top film stars were blacklisted during the McCarthy Era. During the 1960's, many of the film studios moved operations to the San Fernando Valley. By 1970, Paramount Studios was the only major film company to still call Hollywood home.
The exodus of the film studios from Hollywood left the city in a state of decay and depression. The city simply could not afford the upkeep on its iconic sign, and the weather began to take its toll on the billboard known around the world.
In 1973, the City of Los Angeles Cultural Heritage Board got the sign declared as an official historical landmark. But this declaration did not slow the destruction of the sign.
During the 1970's, the "D" and the third "O" collapsed and fell down the mountain. Shortly thereafter, an arsonist set the second "L" on fire. Then protesters, who wanted California to loosen their marijuana laws, changed the second and third "O" to an "e". In an evening, "HOLLYWOOD" was transformed into "HOLLYWeeD".
The sign was changed one more time, in 1987, this time for the visit of Pope John Paul II. As a temporary salute to the Pope, the sign was changed for the Pope's visit to read, "HOLYWOOD".
The Revival Years
During the late 1970's, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce set out to restore the sign once again. During the exploratory period of this potential restoration, it was determined that it would take one quarter million dollars to restore the sign to its original pristine form.
Facing a seemingly insurmountable challenge, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce wondered how they would be able to raise the money. Then some of the biggest names in entertainment came to the rescue of the sign.
The rock band Fleetwood Mac started things off by offering a benefit concert. But, Fleetwood Mac was prevented from performing in Hollywood due to local residents stopping the show.
One year later in 1978, Hugh Hefner hosted a gala fundraiser at the Playboy Mansion, and raised the money by auctioning letters for $27,700 per letter. Among the contributors were Glam-Rocker Alice Cooper, singing cowboy Gene Autry, and Andy Williams.
For three months in 1978, the HOLLYWOOD sign was missing from the Los Angeles skyline, while the old sign was torn down and a new sign was built. With 194-tons of concrete, enamel and steel, the sign was reconstructed to survive well into the next century.
Entering The 21st Century
To prevent a repeat of the past, the California Attorney General assigned rights and responsibilities to three government agencies in 1992 for the sign. The City of Los Angeles owns the land where the sign stands. The City of Hollywood owns the licensing rights for the image of the sign. And the Hollywood Sign Trust was assigned to maintain, repair, and perform capital improvements to the sign for the benefit of the public.
In 2000, the Hollywood Sign Trust hired Panasonic to install a state-of-the-art security system, with a large closed circuit, Internet-based surveillance network, which can be monitored 24/7 over the Internet, to protect the sign from vandals and fire. The security system was upgraded again in 2005. Since the security system is Internet-based, anyone on the Internet can watch over the sign 24 hours a day on its live web cam, located at: http://www.hollywoodsign.org/247.html
About the Author:
Morris Timlen maintains the Bronze Plaques Blog, which specializes in the study of the history and style of commercial signs, and the many materials used in architectural lettering, including bronze, plastic, neon, acrylic, aluminum, brass, zinc, stainless steel, wood and glass. If you are in need of commercial signage for your business, please visit Morris's website for more information: http://www.bronzeplaquesblog.com
How You Can Benefit from All The Foreclosures
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2008 Bob Johnston
Foreclosures are at an all time high and people are getting scared. One look at the markets over the last few weeks will tell you the tale. Is it possible that a person could actually prosper in times like these? Are there opportunities in the foreclosure market that we are missing? It is possible; there have been many people who started their fortunes during tough economic times. So what are some ways to go about this and what are some things you should be wary of? Let's take a few minutes and look at some possible ways to enter real estate during an economic downturn. Disclaimer: The following is opinion only and should be followed at your own risk.
Foreclosures
Foreclosures being sold on the courthouse steps are numbering in the thousands. Latest numbers released have the figure of ten thousand foreclosures a day and counting. That is a lot of real estate hitting the market. When these properties are sold at the courthouse through auction you can be assured that, someone from the lending institution will be there to bid up to the amount they are owed on the property. Never doubt that the bank will get at least the principle left owed on a property. The myth is that you can buy homes for pennies on the dollar, which is simply not true.
There are primarily three ways you can purchase a foreclosure; at the auction like detailed above, from the homeowner before the auction or from the lending institution after the foreclosure sale.
Buying From Homeowner
This is by far the preferred avenue for buying distressed property; however, it is likely the hardest. Owners who are bitter and upset probably will not be happy to talk with you about their home. This takes great interpersonal skills and a good amount of empathy. If you can win the confidence of the homeowner and assure them, you are not there to rip them off but to save their credit from further harm you will have an inside track on a potential investment. In addition, you will get the chance to inspect a property when otherwise you might not. Put together a win/win offer, your goal is to get the property with as much instant equity as possible but temper that with a willingness to be fair. There is a middle ground to be had in this situation, one that provides you with a good profit margin and leaves the homeowner with some dignity.
Auction
As stated above many homes are ending up on the courthouse steps for sale by auction. This avenue may render you a property well below appraised or market value. When you go be prepared, have your financing firmly in place, have a predetermined bid cap, and do your homework on the property. There can be hidden costs to a foreclosure and we will discuss these further on. This can be an opportunity but remember other investors are aware of the some opportunity so at this point competition could be stiff.
After the Auction
Lending institutions have to protect their interest in a property. That is why they will attend the auctions and place bids up to their investment amount. Sometimes they end up owning the property. Move quickly and you can still get the property at a fair price.
Buyer Beware
Foreclosed property is an opportunity but for the inexperienced, they can lead to financial problems. It cannot be stressed enough that you must do homework on a property before you buy it. Here are some common pitfalls to purchasing foreclosures:
1) Check for hidden liens on the property, owners probably will not tell you about them and if it is a first loan, the bank does not have to disclose prior liens and they will survive the sale. This will mean you are responsible for paying them off, usually immediately. A full-blown title search can cost big money, however some companies will give you a quick search that yields raw data you must comb through.
2) You may also have to pay past utility bills or IRS liens on the property.
3) A few states allow a grace period for homeowners to buy back their property. This means they must pay the auction price plus a percentage to redeem the property. Be aware of anything like that in your area and the time frame it encompasses before you do extensive remodeling.
4) You may not receive access to the home for inspection before purchasing. This will have to be a judgment call on your part. I would reserve these types of purchases for well-established neighborhoods and keep the price well below comparable property. Know that you could still get burned on this deal, roof or foundation problems not to mention termites will eat away exponentially at your profit.
Financing
If you have excellent credit this may be the time to cash in on it. You could turn a fantastic profit by flipping these homes or by holding them as rentals. Be sure you are prepared for the cost of holding the property in either situation, as it will take time to see cash flow from either alternative.
The best funding source you can use is other people's money. Get all your facts together and pitch your idea to other investors. You may be turned down at first but when you find a good deal someone will recognize it.
Conclusion
Many a fortune has been made in the foreclosure market. If you are savvy and motivated you too could come away with a nice portfolio of real estate or a nice balance in your bank account. Both ways this is a buyer's market, be smart and you can walk away a winner.
About the Author:
Bob Johnston writes for HomeGuide411, a nationwide directory of home-related businesses such as plumbers, contractors, electricians, realtors, landscapers and much more. http://www.homeguide411.com
Copyright © 2008 Bob Johnston
Foreclosures are at an all time high and people are getting scared. One look at the markets over the last few weeks will tell you the tale. Is it possible that a person could actually prosper in times like these? Are there opportunities in the foreclosure market that we are missing? It is possible; there have been many people who started their fortunes during tough economic times. So what are some ways to go about this and what are some things you should be wary of? Let's take a few minutes and look at some possible ways to enter real estate during an economic downturn. Disclaimer: The following is opinion only and should be followed at your own risk.
Foreclosures
Foreclosures being sold on the courthouse steps are numbering in the thousands. Latest numbers released have the figure of ten thousand foreclosures a day and counting. That is a lot of real estate hitting the market. When these properties are sold at the courthouse through auction you can be assured that, someone from the lending institution will be there to bid up to the amount they are owed on the property. Never doubt that the bank will get at least the principle left owed on a property. The myth is that you can buy homes for pennies on the dollar, which is simply not true.
There are primarily three ways you can purchase a foreclosure; at the auction like detailed above, from the homeowner before the auction or from the lending institution after the foreclosure sale.
Buying From Homeowner
This is by far the preferred avenue for buying distressed property; however, it is likely the hardest. Owners who are bitter and upset probably will not be happy to talk with you about their home. This takes great interpersonal skills and a good amount of empathy. If you can win the confidence of the homeowner and assure them, you are not there to rip them off but to save their credit from further harm you will have an inside track on a potential investment. In addition, you will get the chance to inspect a property when otherwise you might not. Put together a win/win offer, your goal is to get the property with as much instant equity as possible but temper that with a willingness to be fair. There is a middle ground to be had in this situation, one that provides you with a good profit margin and leaves the homeowner with some dignity.
Auction
As stated above many homes are ending up on the courthouse steps for sale by auction. This avenue may render you a property well below appraised or market value. When you go be prepared, have your financing firmly in place, have a predetermined bid cap, and do your homework on the property. There can be hidden costs to a foreclosure and we will discuss these further on. This can be an opportunity but remember other investors are aware of the some opportunity so at this point competition could be stiff.
After the Auction
Lending institutions have to protect their interest in a property. That is why they will attend the auctions and place bids up to their investment amount. Sometimes they end up owning the property. Move quickly and you can still get the property at a fair price.
Buyer Beware
Foreclosed property is an opportunity but for the inexperienced, they can lead to financial problems. It cannot be stressed enough that you must do homework on a property before you buy it. Here are some common pitfalls to purchasing foreclosures:
1) Check for hidden liens on the property, owners probably will not tell you about them and if it is a first loan, the bank does not have to disclose prior liens and they will survive the sale. This will mean you are responsible for paying them off, usually immediately. A full-blown title search can cost big money, however some companies will give you a quick search that yields raw data you must comb through.
2) You may also have to pay past utility bills or IRS liens on the property.
3) A few states allow a grace period for homeowners to buy back their property. This means they must pay the auction price plus a percentage to redeem the property. Be aware of anything like that in your area and the time frame it encompasses before you do extensive remodeling.
4) You may not receive access to the home for inspection before purchasing. This will have to be a judgment call on your part. I would reserve these types of purchases for well-established neighborhoods and keep the price well below comparable property. Know that you could still get burned on this deal, roof or foundation problems not to mention termites will eat away exponentially at your profit.
Financing
If you have excellent credit this may be the time to cash in on it. You could turn a fantastic profit by flipping these homes or by holding them as rentals. Be sure you are prepared for the cost of holding the property in either situation, as it will take time to see cash flow from either alternative.
The best funding source you can use is other people's money. Get all your facts together and pitch your idea to other investors. You may be turned down at first but when you find a good deal someone will recognize it.
Conclusion
Many a fortune has been made in the foreclosure market. If you are savvy and motivated you too could come away with a nice portfolio of real estate or a nice balance in your bank account. Both ways this is a buyer's market, be smart and you can walk away a winner.
About the Author:
Bob Johnston writes for HomeGuide411, a nationwide directory of home-related businesses such as plumbers, contractors, electricians, realtors, landscapers and much more. http://www.homeguide411.com
What Failing Marketers Miss In Requesting Joint Ventures
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2008 Willie Crawford
As I travel from seminar to seminar, and meet people new to internet marketing, I witness a lot of people quickly discovering the power of setting up joint ventures. Many of these people understand that if they could get large list owners (and people with busy websites) to recommend their products, they could make a lot of sales really fast.
They understand that one big joint venture partner can make or break a product launch.
They understand that one successful product launch can propel them to an incredible level of success.
So the light bulb comes on, and the marketers start trying to figure out how to set up join ventures. They start tracking down prospects left and right, and frantically trying to set up those lucrative joint ventures.
However, most of the newer internet marketers completely miss the most important part. They neglect to consider what the wants and needs of their potential joint venture partners are.
They "know" that they have a great product (or a great product idea) and they believe that a lot of people will want and benefit from it.
They also believe that all of the potential joint venture partners on their "hit list" will absolutely love their joint venture proposals.
What they fail to consider is:
1) These potential joint partners already have projects that they are launching -their own or their clients.'
2) These potential joint venture partners already have their own products that they are trying to sell and are even looking for joint partners for.
3) These joint venture partners are often constantly being approached by dozens of others seeking the same type of joint ventures that you seek.
4) These potential joint venture partners, if they are in the same niche, may already have a product that competes directly with yours.
Identifying these all-to-common mistakes, you can now avoid making them, and in the process dramatically increase your chances of getting a "YES" to your joint venture proposal.
Just having that knowledge gives you a huge potential advantage over the hordes of others seeking joint ventures with the same potential joint venture partners. However, having that knowledge is not enough - you need to actually use it.
Setting up lucrative joint ventures is not really an insurmountable challenge. It just involves framing your offer in terms of how it will benefit your potential joint venture partners.
It has to answer the question "Why would I spend time promoting your products rather than focusing on my own?"
Very few less-experienced internet marketers answer that question, or are even aware that this is what's really on potential joint venture partners' minds.
Now you have a distinct advantage. You know what many marketers miss in requesting joint ventures. Your next step is to use that knowledge. It really is that simple.
About the Author:
Willie Crawford is a joint venture brokers who has been launching products over the internet for 12 years. For more of Willie's joint venture tips and strategies, register for his teleclass at: http://WillieCrawford.com/JVTeleseminar/
Copyright © 2008 Willie Crawford
As I travel from seminar to seminar, and meet people new to internet marketing, I witness a lot of people quickly discovering the power of setting up joint ventures. Many of these people understand that if they could get large list owners (and people with busy websites) to recommend their products, they could make a lot of sales really fast.
They understand that one big joint venture partner can make or break a product launch.
They understand that one successful product launch can propel them to an incredible level of success.
So the light bulb comes on, and the marketers start trying to figure out how to set up join ventures. They start tracking down prospects left and right, and frantically trying to set up those lucrative joint ventures.
However, most of the newer internet marketers completely miss the most important part. They neglect to consider what the wants and needs of their potential joint venture partners are.
They "know" that they have a great product (or a great product idea) and they believe that a lot of people will want and benefit from it.
They also believe that all of the potential joint venture partners on their "hit list" will absolutely love their joint venture proposals.
What they fail to consider is:
1) These potential joint partners already have projects that they are launching -their own or their clients.'
2) These potential joint venture partners already have their own products that they are trying to sell and are even looking for joint partners for.
3) These joint venture partners are often constantly being approached by dozens of others seeking the same type of joint ventures that you seek.
4) These potential joint venture partners, if they are in the same niche, may already have a product that competes directly with yours.
Identifying these all-to-common mistakes, you can now avoid making them, and in the process dramatically increase your chances of getting a "YES" to your joint venture proposal.
Just having that knowledge gives you a huge potential advantage over the hordes of others seeking joint ventures with the same potential joint venture partners. However, having that knowledge is not enough - you need to actually use it.
Setting up lucrative joint ventures is not really an insurmountable challenge. It just involves framing your offer in terms of how it will benefit your potential joint venture partners.
It has to answer the question "Why would I spend time promoting your products rather than focusing on my own?"
Very few less-experienced internet marketers answer that question, or are even aware that this is what's really on potential joint venture partners' minds.
Now you have a distinct advantage. You know what many marketers miss in requesting joint ventures. Your next step is to use that knowledge. It really is that simple.
About the Author:
Willie Crawford is a joint venture brokers who has been launching products over the internet for 12 years. For more of Willie's joint venture tips and strategies, register for his teleclass at: http://WillieCrawford.com/JVTeleseminar/
These 10 SEO Tactics Bring Me Over 2000 Visitors Daily
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2008 Titus Hoskins
No matter how hard some people try to mystify SEO, it is not as complicated as many would lead you to believe. Despite all the techno jargon that many in the field will throw at you: SERPs, SEM, PageRank, Keyword Density, Vertical Search, Algorithms... SEO is really simple to do if you understand some basic concepts and follow some easy steps.
Search Engine Optimization is getting your content listed in all the top positions in Google, Yahoo and MSN for your targeted keywords. When someone does a keyword search in a search engine for your particular subject or niche - you want your site or content to be at the top of the list.
Here are 10 SEO tactics that have worked and are working for me at this moment in time. I make this clarification because you must understand search engines, especially Google, are constantly redefining how they rank pages. Here are my favorite tactics and strategies:
1. Quality Content is and always will be your number one factor for getting high rankings and keeping them. You must understand search engines are simply businesses who supply a product like any other company. That product is information. They must offer quality results to anyone using their service to solve a problem, answer a question or to buy a product. The more relevant, the more targeted the search solution they return, the higher the overall quality of their product and the more popular their search engine will become. Providing quality content is vital for SEO success.
2. Keywords are your number one tools for achieving high rankings. You must understand keywords and how they work on the web. You must know how many searches are made each day for your chosen keywords. Sites like Wordtracker and Seobook will give you a rudimentary number of searches. Design your pages around your targeted keywords and don't forget to do some deep-linking to these pages on your site. Find and build backlinks to these interior keyword pages and not just to your home page or domain URL. Picking keywords with medium to low competition has worked out well for me. So too has using the more targeted and higher converting "long-tail" keywords been very beneficial for me.
3. Onpage Factors and site design will play a major role in the spidering and indexing of your site/content. Make sure all your pages are SEO friendly, made sure all your pages can be reached from your homepage and no pages should be no more than three levels away from it - keeping a sitemap listing all your major pages makes the search engines happy. Make sure you have all your meta tags such as title, description, keywords... are all optimized. (Title = around 65 characters, Description = around 160 characters) Remember, your title and description should not only be keyword targeted but these are the first contact/impression anyone will see of your site - make sure you use them to draw and entice interested visitors to your site and content. Also make sure your title and URL are keyword matched for maximum effect. Having your major keyword in your Domain Name also helps, using a pike | to separate different elements of your title has helped my rankings, so too does having your keyword in the first and last 25 words on your pages.
4. Google will send you the most qualified traffic so concentrate the majority of your SEO efforts on Google. Don't ignore Yahoo! or MSN but Google is king of search so give it the respect it deserves. With its new browser, Google's influence will only grow stronger so you must optimize your pages for Google. Use Google's Webmaster Tools and Google Analytics to fine-tune your pages/content for Google. I also use Google Alerts to keep up on my niche keywords and for comment link-building on the newly created pages Google is indexing.
5. Link Building is still the most effective way to boost your search rankings. Make sure you get backlinks from relevant sites related to your niche market and make sure the 'anchor text' is related to your keywords but don't ignore the text and overall quality of the content linking to you. The anchor text is the underlined/clickable portion of a link. Don't forget linking is a two-way street, make sure you link out to high quality, high ranked relevant sites in your niche.
6. Article Marketing is a well established method of getting quality backlinks and it still works. Writing short 500 - 700 word informative helpful articles with your backlinks in the resource box is still very effective for getting targeted traffic and backlinks. Longer articles have also worked for me and I use an extensive network of distribution including SubmitYourArticle, Isnare, ThePhantomWriters... plus other major online sites. Don't forget the whole element of blogging and RSS feeds in your article distribution. And always remember you're also using these articles to pre-sale your content or products. Don't forget to leverage sites like Squidoo, Hubpages... to increase your rankings and traffic.
7. Onsite Traffic Hubs have worked extremely well for me. These traffic hubs are whole sections of your site devoted to one sub-division of your major theme. For example, if you have a site on Gifts, then wedding gifts could be a separate section. This would be fully fleshed out with extensive pages covering everything dealing with wedding gifts - a self-contained keyword rich portion of your site on wedding gifts. Works similar as a sub-domain but I prefer using a directory to divide it up, such as yourdomain/wedding_gifts. (Most experts suggest always using a hyphen in your urls but underscores have worked fine for me.) Search engines love these keyword/content rich hubs but keep in mind you're creating content to first satisfy your visitors.
8. WordPress blog software is extremely effective for SEO purposes. WordPress software is easy to install on your site even if you have no experience with installing server-side scripts. Besides search engines love these highly SEO friendly blogs with their well structured content and keyword tagging. I have at least one of these on all my sites to draw in the search engines and get my content indexed and ranked. I also use Blogger (owned by Google), Bloglines and other free blogs to help distribute my content.
9. Social Bookmark/Media Sites are becoming very important on the web. These include a whole range of social sites like MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter... media news sites like Digg, SlashDot, Technorati... you must get your content into this whole mix if you want to take full SEO advantage of Web 2.0 sites. You should be joining these sites and using them. It's time consuming but it will keep you in the swing of things. One simple thing you must do is to put social bookmark buttons on all your pages so that your visitors can easily bookmark your content for you. You can use a WordPress plug-in or I like using a simple free site/service from Addthis.com which gives me a simple button to put on all my content.
10. Masterplan! Many webmasters and site owners forget to develop or have an overall masterplan/strategy when it comes to SEO. You must have an understanding of what SEO is and what it can do for you and your site. More importantly, you just don't want SEO - you want effective SEO. In order to achieve effective SEO you must have three things: Relevance, Authority and Conversions.
First, your content/site must be relevant to the topic or niche area you're pursuing - your content must fit in and be related to all the other sites in your niche. That's why closely themed sites do so well in the search engines, they give only relevant content to what's been searched for or discussed.
Second, your content/site must be perceived as an authority site on your subject or niche. Establish this authority position and the search engines will love you and your content. One way is to develop this authority, besides offering superior content, is to form links/partnerships with other perceived authority sites in your field. Always strive to make your site an authority site - tops in your niche - the one site everyone has to check before drawing or forming a conclusion.
Third, conversions should be your main goal of any SEO efforts because you want to convert your targeted traffic into site members, subscribers, buyers or just repeat visitors. If you're into online marketing, conversions will be the most important element of the whole SEO process because you want buyers, not just visitors coming to your site.
Most of all, you must convince yourself Search Engine Optimization is not difficult, nor is it the equivalent of the online bogeyman as many would like you to believe. Used effectively, SEO can give you the targeted traffic you're seeking, just follow some of the outlined steps/tactics listed above and you will have SEO working for you and your site in no time at all.
About the Author:
The author is a full-time online marketer who has numerous websites. For the latest web marketing tools try: Internet Marketing Tools (http://www.bizwaremagic.com). If you liked the SEO tips above, why not try this Free 7 Day Traffic Course here: Internet Marketing Course Copyright (c) 2008 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.
Copyright © 2008 Titus Hoskins
No matter how hard some people try to mystify SEO, it is not as complicated as many would lead you to believe. Despite all the techno jargon that many in the field will throw at you: SERPs, SEM, PageRank, Keyword Density, Vertical Search, Algorithms... SEO is really simple to do if you understand some basic concepts and follow some easy steps.
Search Engine Optimization is getting your content listed in all the top positions in Google, Yahoo and MSN for your targeted keywords. When someone does a keyword search in a search engine for your particular subject or niche - you want your site or content to be at the top of the list.
Here are 10 SEO tactics that have worked and are working for me at this moment in time. I make this clarification because you must understand search engines, especially Google, are constantly redefining how they rank pages. Here are my favorite tactics and strategies:
1. Quality Content is and always will be your number one factor for getting high rankings and keeping them. You must understand search engines are simply businesses who supply a product like any other company. That product is information. They must offer quality results to anyone using their service to solve a problem, answer a question or to buy a product. The more relevant, the more targeted the search solution they return, the higher the overall quality of their product and the more popular their search engine will become. Providing quality content is vital for SEO success.
2. Keywords are your number one tools for achieving high rankings. You must understand keywords and how they work on the web. You must know how many searches are made each day for your chosen keywords. Sites like Wordtracker and Seobook will give you a rudimentary number of searches. Design your pages around your targeted keywords and don't forget to do some deep-linking to these pages on your site. Find and build backlinks to these interior keyword pages and not just to your home page or domain URL. Picking keywords with medium to low competition has worked out well for me. So too has using the more targeted and higher converting "long-tail" keywords been very beneficial for me.
3. Onpage Factors and site design will play a major role in the spidering and indexing of your site/content. Make sure all your pages are SEO friendly, made sure all your pages can be reached from your homepage and no pages should be no more than three levels away from it - keeping a sitemap listing all your major pages makes the search engines happy. Make sure you have all your meta tags such as title, description, keywords... are all optimized. (Title = around 65 characters, Description = around 160 characters) Remember, your title and description should not only be keyword targeted but these are the first contact/impression anyone will see of your site - make sure you use them to draw and entice interested visitors to your site and content. Also make sure your title and URL are keyword matched for maximum effect. Having your major keyword in your Domain Name also helps, using a pike | to separate different elements of your title has helped my rankings, so too does having your keyword in the first and last 25 words on your pages.
4. Google will send you the most qualified traffic so concentrate the majority of your SEO efforts on Google. Don't ignore Yahoo! or MSN but Google is king of search so give it the respect it deserves. With its new browser, Google's influence will only grow stronger so you must optimize your pages for Google. Use Google's Webmaster Tools and Google Analytics to fine-tune your pages/content for Google. I also use Google Alerts to keep up on my niche keywords and for comment link-building on the newly created pages Google is indexing.
5. Link Building is still the most effective way to boost your search rankings. Make sure you get backlinks from relevant sites related to your niche market and make sure the 'anchor text' is related to your keywords but don't ignore the text and overall quality of the content linking to you. The anchor text is the underlined/clickable portion of a link. Don't forget linking is a two-way street, make sure you link out to high quality, high ranked relevant sites in your niche.
6. Article Marketing is a well established method of getting quality backlinks and it still works. Writing short 500 - 700 word informative helpful articles with your backlinks in the resource box is still very effective for getting targeted traffic and backlinks. Longer articles have also worked for me and I use an extensive network of distribution including SubmitYourArticle, Isnare, ThePhantomWriters... plus other major online sites. Don't forget the whole element of blogging and RSS feeds in your article distribution. And always remember you're also using these articles to pre-sale your content or products. Don't forget to leverage sites like Squidoo, Hubpages... to increase your rankings and traffic.
7. Onsite Traffic Hubs have worked extremely well for me. These traffic hubs are whole sections of your site devoted to one sub-division of your major theme. For example, if you have a site on Gifts, then wedding gifts could be a separate section. This would be fully fleshed out with extensive pages covering everything dealing with wedding gifts - a self-contained keyword rich portion of your site on wedding gifts. Works similar as a sub-domain but I prefer using a directory to divide it up, such as yourdomain/wedding_gifts. (Most experts suggest always using a hyphen in your urls but underscores have worked fine for me.) Search engines love these keyword/content rich hubs but keep in mind you're creating content to first satisfy your visitors.
8. WordPress blog software is extremely effective for SEO purposes. WordPress software is easy to install on your site even if you have no experience with installing server-side scripts. Besides search engines love these highly SEO friendly blogs with their well structured content and keyword tagging. I have at least one of these on all my sites to draw in the search engines and get my content indexed and ranked. I also use Blogger (owned by Google), Bloglines and other free blogs to help distribute my content.
9. Social Bookmark/Media Sites are becoming very important on the web. These include a whole range of social sites like MySpace, FaceBook, Twitter... media news sites like Digg, SlashDot, Technorati... you must get your content into this whole mix if you want to take full SEO advantage of Web 2.0 sites. You should be joining these sites and using them. It's time consuming but it will keep you in the swing of things. One simple thing you must do is to put social bookmark buttons on all your pages so that your visitors can easily bookmark your content for you. You can use a WordPress plug-in or I like using a simple free site/service from Addthis.com which gives me a simple button to put on all my content.
10. Masterplan! Many webmasters and site owners forget to develop or have an overall masterplan/strategy when it comes to SEO. You must have an understanding of what SEO is and what it can do for you and your site. More importantly, you just don't want SEO - you want effective SEO. In order to achieve effective SEO you must have three things: Relevance, Authority and Conversions.
First, your content/site must be relevant to the topic or niche area you're pursuing - your content must fit in and be related to all the other sites in your niche. That's why closely themed sites do so well in the search engines, they give only relevant content to what's been searched for or discussed.
Second, your content/site must be perceived as an authority site on your subject or niche. Establish this authority position and the search engines will love you and your content. One way is to develop this authority, besides offering superior content, is to form links/partnerships with other perceived authority sites in your field. Always strive to make your site an authority site - tops in your niche - the one site everyone has to check before drawing or forming a conclusion.
Third, conversions should be your main goal of any SEO efforts because you want to convert your targeted traffic into site members, subscribers, buyers or just repeat visitors. If you're into online marketing, conversions will be the most important element of the whole SEO process because you want buyers, not just visitors coming to your site.
Most of all, you must convince yourself Search Engine Optimization is not difficult, nor is it the equivalent of the online bogeyman as many would like you to believe. Used effectively, SEO can give you the targeted traffic you're seeking, just follow some of the outlined steps/tactics listed above and you will have SEO working for you and your site in no time at all.
About the Author:
The author is a full-time online marketer who has numerous websites. For the latest web marketing tools try: Internet Marketing Tools (http://www.bizwaremagic.com). If you liked the SEO tips above, why not try this Free 7 Day Traffic Course here: Internet Marketing Course Copyright (c) 2008 Titus Hoskins. This article may be freely distributed if this resource box stays attached.
Essential Sales Tips - Emotions Are the Key to Sales Success
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2008 Larry Pinci and Phil Glosserman
What REALLY drives people to do business with you? You might think it's your expertise, product knowledge, great service, or even competitive pricing. Sure, all these factors are important, but in today's crowded marketplace they are not enough to distinguish you from the others who offer the same products or services as you.
The Number 1 Factor in Successful Selling
There is one powerful distinction in sales that gives certain professionals a profound advantage: Regardless of what you're selling, whether it's products, services or advice, people buy based on feelings. They decide to buy when they experience certain feelings about a product or service AND the person offering it.
Those who put this distinction into action consistently produce excellent results--they seem to be born with "the golden touch." On the other hand, those who don't know how to evoke feelings in the selling process constantly struggle with inconsistent or mediocre sales.
Your prospects may analyze the quality of your product, service, or price, but in the end, feelings are the juice that motivates them to decide whether to do business with you. If you already have great products and services and you want to take your sales to their true potential, you must "sell the feeling."
Most salespeople are aware that buyers are driven by emotions, but very few know how to evoke the right emotions intentionally. The so-called "natural-born salespeople," who consistently produce great results, are able to do so because they know how to 1) create great rapport with their buyers, and 2) reach them on a feeling level with respect to what they are selling.
The 3 Feelings that Motivate People to Do Business
Take a moment and recall a great sales experience where you were the customer or client. What made it great and what did you feel as you interacted with the person providing the product or service? More than likely, you felt the three feelings, universal to human experience, that people need in order to feel motivated to do business with someone:
Trust - People feel they can depend on you--that you mean what you say and you'll do what you say.
Confidence - They feel you have the goods, the know- how, the competence, and expertise to meet their needs.
A feeling of being taken care of - They feel you have their interests at heart and that you'll take care of them throughout the transaction, and beyond, if necessary.
In our Sell the Feeling sales seminars, we routinely ask attendees to tell us about their most positive experiences as a customer or client. Invariably, the experiences they recount were with a salesperson or provider who evoked the feelings of trust, confidence, and a feeling of being taken care of.
How to Sell the Feeling
We want to leave you with something that will help you get to the heart of the matter and sell the feeling. As soon as you use this it will start working--not in a week, a month, or a year--but right away!
Every salesperson worth his or her salt knows that questions are one of the most important tools in sales and are key to personalizing any sales conversation. However, most professionals only ask what we call "information questions"--the standard questions designed to find out what your buyer wants with regard to your product or service. Information questions are essential, but they rarely get to the heart of what motivates someone to buy.
In our book, http://www.sellthefeeling.com/>Sell the Feeling, we focus on three kinds of questions that evoke the feelings that motivate people to do business with you. One of these is what we call "emotional needs questions." These questions are designed to elicit the feelings your prospect anticipates having as a result of owning or using your product or service. When you address emotional needs, your prospect will feel trust, confidence, and care, at a level that goes way beyond what normally occurs in a typical sales conversation.
The most powerful emotional needs question is: "What's important to you in (or about) x?" For the x, you would substitute your product, service, or you as the provider. For example:
What's important to you in a car?
What's important to you in a computer service plan?
What's important to you in a financial adviser?
Since you are looking to evoke positive feelings, we recommend you tag on some language about the product or service that will trigger a more emotional response as your buyer considers your question:
What's important to you in a car that you would absolutely love?
What's important to you in a computer service plan that would be ideal for your company's needs?
What's important to you in a financial adviser who would be your first choice to work with?
It's important that you ask the emotional needs question BEFORE launching into any detailed description of your product or service. Once your buyer answers the question, you may want to ask, "What else is important?"
Finally, when you describe your offer, address the emotional needs the buyer has given you, using his or her words. These words are keyed into their emotions, and when you use them you will tap into what they want and need to feel in order to do business with you.
Remember: People buy based on feelings. Find out what they need--what's REALLY important to them--and sell the feeling!
Copyright 2008, Larry Pinci and Phil Glosserman
About the Author:
Larry Pinci and Phil Glosserman are business coaches and corporate sales trainers based in Los Angeles, California. They work with companies and individuals in a variety of industries throughout the U.S. Their book, Sell the Feeling: The 6-Step System that Drives People to Do Business with You, was awarded U.S. Book News Best Business/Sales book of 2007. Participants in their corporate sales and business referral-building seminars have seen their sales volume increase 24 to over 250 percent in just one year. For more information, go to http://www.sellthefeeling.com
Copyright © 2008 Larry Pinci and Phil Glosserman
What REALLY drives people to do business with you? You might think it's your expertise, product knowledge, great service, or even competitive pricing. Sure, all these factors are important, but in today's crowded marketplace they are not enough to distinguish you from the others who offer the same products or services as you.
The Number 1 Factor in Successful Selling
There is one powerful distinction in sales that gives certain professionals a profound advantage: Regardless of what you're selling, whether it's products, services or advice, people buy based on feelings. They decide to buy when they experience certain feelings about a product or service AND the person offering it.
Those who put this distinction into action consistently produce excellent results--they seem to be born with "the golden touch." On the other hand, those who don't know how to evoke feelings in the selling process constantly struggle with inconsistent or mediocre sales.
Your prospects may analyze the quality of your product, service, or price, but in the end, feelings are the juice that motivates them to decide whether to do business with you. If you already have great products and services and you want to take your sales to their true potential, you must "sell the feeling."
Most salespeople are aware that buyers are driven by emotions, but very few know how to evoke the right emotions intentionally. The so-called "natural-born salespeople," who consistently produce great results, are able to do so because they know how to 1) create great rapport with their buyers, and 2) reach them on a feeling level with respect to what they are selling.
The 3 Feelings that Motivate People to Do Business
Take a moment and recall a great sales experience where you were the customer or client. What made it great and what did you feel as you interacted with the person providing the product or service? More than likely, you felt the three feelings, universal to human experience, that people need in order to feel motivated to do business with someone:
In our Sell the Feeling sales seminars, we routinely ask attendees to tell us about their most positive experiences as a customer or client. Invariably, the experiences they recount were with a salesperson or provider who evoked the feelings of trust, confidence, and a feeling of being taken care of.
How to Sell the Feeling
We want to leave you with something that will help you get to the heart of the matter and sell the feeling. As soon as you use this it will start working--not in a week, a month, or a year--but right away!
Every salesperson worth his or her salt knows that questions are one of the most important tools in sales and are key to personalizing any sales conversation. However, most professionals only ask what we call "information questions"--the standard questions designed to find out what your buyer wants with regard to your product or service. Information questions are essential, but they rarely get to the heart of what motivates someone to buy.
In our book, http://www.sellthefeeling.com/>Sell the Feeling, we focus on three kinds of questions that evoke the feelings that motivate people to do business with you. One of these is what we call "emotional needs questions." These questions are designed to elicit the feelings your prospect anticipates having as a result of owning or using your product or service. When you address emotional needs, your prospect will feel trust, confidence, and care, at a level that goes way beyond what normally occurs in a typical sales conversation.
The most powerful emotional needs question is: "What's important to you in (or about) x?" For the x, you would substitute your product, service, or you as the provider. For example:
Since you are looking to evoke positive feelings, we recommend you tag on some language about the product or service that will trigger a more emotional response as your buyer considers your question:
It's important that you ask the emotional needs question BEFORE launching into any detailed description of your product or service. Once your buyer answers the question, you may want to ask, "What else is important?"
Finally, when you describe your offer, address the emotional needs the buyer has given you, using his or her words. These words are keyed into their emotions, and when you use them you will tap into what they want and need to feel in order to do business with you.
Remember: People buy based on feelings. Find out what they need--what's REALLY important to them--and sell the feeling!
Copyright 2008, Larry Pinci and Phil Glosserman
About the Author:
Larry Pinci and Phil Glosserman are business coaches and corporate sales trainers based in Los Angeles, California. They work with companies and individuals in a variety of industries throughout the U.S. Their book, Sell the Feeling: The 6-Step System that Drives People to Do Business with You, was awarded U.S. Book News Best Business/Sales book of 2007. Participants in their corporate sales and business referral-building seminars have seen their sales volume increase 24 to over 250 percent in just one year. For more information, go to http://www.sellthefeeling.com
Can Branding Ever Be Heart Centered?
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2008 Mark Silver
Sometimes the world delivers up vocabulary words that are just plain wrong. Painfully wrong. Words like "branding," which the world of marketing seems to love, but regular folks and cows just seem to hate.
And it's because of how branding has often been used. Companies have done psychological studies on how to craft an environment that gets you to react in the way they want you to. It's like herding cattle into the searing-hot iron--ouch.
Of course you don't want to use branding. Why would you ever want to do THAT?
Is There Anything Redeeming About Branding?
When you take the manipulation out of it, branding isn't that bad. It's just a poor word choice to describe this: how a person experiences your business. And, it can be powerful. Let me give you an example.
After last year's Path to Profitability Retreat, we were discussing Starbucks in our marketing class. Starbucks which, despite recent stumbles, grew 14,000% in ten years. Yes, that's not a typo--fourteen thousand percent.
What's more, one of my clients admitted to preferring Starbucks over another coffee shop, even though she didn't really like Starbucks' coffee that much.
Shock. Amazement. She knowingly spent a couple hundred dollars a year at Starbucks, even though she didn't really like Starbucks' main product.
Why Such an Irrational Choice?
One word: "home." Home? Yup, home. My client said that she preferred the "homey-ness" of Starbucks, how comfortable and dependable it was compared to this other place.
That is to say, you can be great at whatever it is you do, and clients that love what you offer may still avoid you. Huh? That doesn't seem to make any sense. But it does if you understand branding.
But let's not call it "branding." Some macho, "business is war and war is hell," person must've picked that word to describe what is, essentially, the job of a gracious host(ess). No need to be flinging the stuffed olives and salmon croquettes at anyone. Let's pick a different word.
Let's Call It "Worldview"
When you are in the business of making things better for people, no matter how you do it, you are helping to presence, to bring into being, a better version of the world. More love. More peace. More effectiveness. More connection.
Accounting, real estate, naturopathic medicine, consulting--whatever you do, you're presencing a world.
So, it's a good idea if all parts of your business help to presence that world. If the look, feel and how you deliver your invoices has a similar effect on your clients as your healing work, your world feels congruent to them, and they can fully rest into it.
When this happens, people feel safe. They feel at home. They feel as if they are stepping into the better world they are striving toward.
This is why you want to be clear about your worldview, and apply it to all aspects of your business. Because every single aspect of your business can be healing, and can play a part in supporting your clients.
If this seems abstract, let's take a look at how this would work for you.
Keys to Applying Your Worldview
How do your clients feel when they've gotten your best work?
When you are in the zone and you are delivering great work to your clients, how do they feel? What are some of the words they use to describe that feeling? Calm? Inspired? Jazzed? Rested? Relieved?
Identify three or four words like that.
What's the opposite of your best work?
Pick some aspect of your business that you avoid, dislike, or that just feels troublesome, which also touches your clients. For instance, billing, setting appointments, or your website.
What don't you like about it? What are the three or four words you would choose to describe your experience with it?
Transform the worst into the best.
Now, time to presto-chango shine up that troublesome part with the qualities of your best work. Should your invoices be on cool paper, with a fun font and graphic, and use friendly language? Should the door to your office be decorated differently? Would it be a good idea to replace that utilitarian notepad with something that reflects the better world?
Starbucks pays extreme attention to the decor in order to create that "homey" feel my client likes so much, and that attention to detail has skyrocketed their business. You may not be dreaming of 14,000% growth, or world domination (hopefully not), but the lessons here are real.
Pick one aspect of your business' world at a time, and step-by-step transform it so that every part of you and your clients' experience is helping to presence the world you are wanting to live in. Your clients will love it, feel safe and come back.
The best of my business to you and your business,
Mark Silver
About the Author:
Mark Silver is the author of Unveiling the Heart of Your Business: How Money, Marketing and Sales can Deepen Your Heart, Heal the World, and Still Add to Your Bottom Line. He has helped hundreds of small business owners around the globe succeed in business without losing their hearts. Get three free chapters of the book online: http://www.heartofbusiness.com
Copyright © 2008 Mark Silver
Sometimes the world delivers up vocabulary words that are just plain wrong. Painfully wrong. Words like "branding," which the world of marketing seems to love, but regular folks and cows just seem to hate.
And it's because of how branding has often been used. Companies have done psychological studies on how to craft an environment that gets you to react in the way they want you to. It's like herding cattle into the searing-hot iron--ouch.
Of course you don't want to use branding. Why would you ever want to do THAT?
Is There Anything Redeeming About Branding?
When you take the manipulation out of it, branding isn't that bad. It's just a poor word choice to describe this: how a person experiences your business. And, it can be powerful. Let me give you an example.
After last year's Path to Profitability Retreat, we were discussing Starbucks in our marketing class. Starbucks which, despite recent stumbles, grew 14,000% in ten years. Yes, that's not a typo--fourteen thousand percent.
What's more, one of my clients admitted to preferring Starbucks over another coffee shop, even though she didn't really like Starbucks' coffee that much.
Shock. Amazement. She knowingly spent a couple hundred dollars a year at Starbucks, even though she didn't really like Starbucks' main product.
Why Such an Irrational Choice?
One word: "home." Home? Yup, home. My client said that she preferred the "homey-ness" of Starbucks, how comfortable and dependable it was compared to this other place.
That is to say, you can be great at whatever it is you do, and clients that love what you offer may still avoid you. Huh? That doesn't seem to make any sense. But it does if you understand branding.
But let's not call it "branding." Some macho, "business is war and war is hell," person must've picked that word to describe what is, essentially, the job of a gracious host(ess). No need to be flinging the stuffed olives and salmon croquettes at anyone. Let's pick a different word.
Let's Call It "Worldview"
When you are in the business of making things better for people, no matter how you do it, you are helping to presence, to bring into being, a better version of the world. More love. More peace. More effectiveness. More connection.
Accounting, real estate, naturopathic medicine, consulting--whatever you do, you're presencing a world.
So, it's a good idea if all parts of your business help to presence that world. If the look, feel and how you deliver your invoices has a similar effect on your clients as your healing work, your world feels congruent to them, and they can fully rest into it.
When this happens, people feel safe. They feel at home. They feel as if they are stepping into the better world they are striving toward.
This is why you want to be clear about your worldview, and apply it to all aspects of your business. Because every single aspect of your business can be healing, and can play a part in supporting your clients.
If this seems abstract, let's take a look at how this would work for you.
Keys to Applying Your Worldview
When you are in the zone and you are delivering great work to your clients, how do they feel? What are some of the words they use to describe that feeling? Calm? Inspired? Jazzed? Rested? Relieved?
Identify three or four words like that.
Pick some aspect of your business that you avoid, dislike, or that just feels troublesome, which also touches your clients. For instance, billing, setting appointments, or your website.
What don't you like about it? What are the three or four words you would choose to describe your experience with it?
Now, time to presto-chango shine up that troublesome part with the qualities of your best work. Should your invoices be on cool paper, with a fun font and graphic, and use friendly language? Should the door to your office be decorated differently? Would it be a good idea to replace that utilitarian notepad with something that reflects the better world?
Starbucks pays extreme attention to the decor in order to create that "homey" feel my client likes so much, and that attention to detail has skyrocketed their business. You may not be dreaming of 14,000% growth, or world domination (hopefully not), but the lessons here are real.
Pick one aspect of your business' world at a time, and step-by-step transform it so that every part of you and your clients' experience is helping to presence the world you are wanting to live in. Your clients will love it, feel safe and come back.
The best of my business to you and your business,
Mark Silver
About the Author:
Mark Silver is the author of Unveiling the Heart of Your Business: How Money, Marketing and Sales can Deepen Your Heart, Heal the World, and Still Add to Your Bottom Line. He has helped hundreds of small business owners around the globe succeed in business without losing their hearts. Get three free chapters of the book online: http://www.heartofbusiness.com
Several Ways to Optimize and Tweak Your Expired Domains
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2008 John Khu
Trading and dealing with expired domains offers several opportunities to make decent income online. It is no wonder people call this business as online realty because of its exciting business concept. Talking about expired domain business is just like dealing with those premium properties in a big city filled to brim with fiercely competing realtors. Experienced realtors have the habit of promoting and advertizing their premium properties in an efficient manner so as to make them saleable at equally premium prices. Expired domain industry is almost similar to a real estate industry where you will be competing with thousands of competitors to sell your expired domain names.
Along with those magnificent expired domains and their superb opportunities, you can also use the exciting search engine marketing techniques to optimize and tweak your expired domain names as well. Right now, every domain marketer has a limited availability of 21 top level domain names to choose from; .com, .net, .biz, .org and .info are some of the most famous top level domains in the expired domain name industry.
Expired domain traders choose to buy domain names that can yield better online profits. However, buying such domains could be a lucky affair because of the uncertainties and imponderables involved in the business. Keyword enriched domain names are the most desirable names that can offer you a number of benefits while combining a newly purchased domain name with an efficient search engine optimization (SEO) technique will help you launch the domain to very high search engine ranking.
All search engines simply love and adore keyword rich domain names because seeking to find a precise keyword in a domain seems to a very firm indicator of the domain
's usefulness and relevance to a search command. When you flip your expired domains by making them relevant to search engines and later supplement high quality inbound traffic and links, then it is possible to sell your domains at a very high and premium price.
Simply speaking, keyword enriched domain names and the actual URL paths may not relate to each other. But careful tweaking of these parameters will help you achieve better organic ranking on top search engines like Yahoo and Google.
For example: When you search for keywords like "fresh flowers" on the major search engines, you may reach
www.proflowers.com on both Yahoo and Google, both returning the top raking for the site. Obviously, there is a visible tweak carried out here to make the site appear on top of the search engines.
If you own non-keyword optimized expired domains, you can still tweak it for better rankings by supplementing a number of keyword enriched page names. For example, a simple search on Google for search words. "Diabetes cure" will take you to pages like
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/Diabetes-Cure.html or http://www.diabetes.org/for-parents-and-kids/what-is-diabetes/cure.jsp
Incidentally, both of these pages sit on top of the search engines to reach prospective customers within no time. Using these techniques, you can build an inventory of highly useful expired domains that can provide you a chance to earn very decent income. Let us assume that you have plans to build an inventory of expired domain names over a niche keyword like "fresh flowers". It is easy to find useful domains centering on this keyword. Some of the useful keywords could be:
Fresh garden flowers
Fresh annual flowers
Fresh roses
Fresh flower boutique
The major benefit of enriching your expired domains with useful keywords is the branding ability and capacity to reach top of major search engines.
About the Author:
John Khu is an author and also a seasoned professional with vast experience in expired domain name business. He is also the owner of the path breaking web sites called http://www.expireddomainsecret.com and http://www.expireddomaingains.com which provides complete and up-to-date information on expired domains and their eternal secrets.
Copyright © 2008 John Khu
Trading and dealing with expired domains offers several opportunities to make decent income online. It is no wonder people call this business as online realty because of its exciting business concept. Talking about expired domain business is just like dealing with those premium properties in a big city filled to brim with fiercely competing realtors. Experienced realtors have the habit of promoting and advertizing their premium properties in an efficient manner so as to make them saleable at equally premium prices. Expired domain industry is almost similar to a real estate industry where you will be competing with thousands of competitors to sell your expired domain names.
Along with those magnificent expired domains and their superb opportunities, you can also use the exciting search engine marketing techniques to optimize and tweak your expired domain names as well. Right now, every domain marketer has a limited availability of 21 top level domain names to choose from; .com, .net, .biz, .org and .info are some of the most famous top level domains in the expired domain name industry.
Expired domain traders choose to buy domain names that can yield better online profits. However, buying such domains could be a lucky affair because of the uncertainties and imponderables involved in the business. Keyword enriched domain names are the most desirable names that can offer you a number of benefits while combining a newly purchased domain name with an efficient search engine optimization (SEO) technique will help you launch the domain to very high search engine ranking.
All search engines simply love and adore keyword rich domain names because seeking to find a precise keyword in a domain seems to a very firm indicator of the domain
's usefulness and relevance to a search command. When you flip your expired domains by making them relevant to search engines and later supplement high quality inbound traffic and links, then it is possible to sell your domains at a very high and premium price.
Simply speaking, keyword enriched domain names and the actual URL paths may not relate to each other. But careful tweaking of these parameters will help you achieve better organic ranking on top search engines like Yahoo and Google.
For example: When you search for keywords like "fresh flowers" on the major search engines, you may reach
www.proflowers.com on both Yahoo and Google, both returning the top raking for the site. Obviously, there is a visible tweak carried out here to make the site appear on top of the search engines.
If you own non-keyword optimized expired domains, you can still tweak it for better rankings by supplementing a number of keyword enriched page names. For example, a simple search on Google for search words. "Diabetes cure" will take you to pages like
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/Diabetes-Cure.html or http://www.diabetes.org/for-parents-and-kids/what-is-diabetes/cure.jsp
Incidentally, both of these pages sit on top of the search engines to reach prospective customers within no time. Using these techniques, you can build an inventory of highly useful expired domains that can provide you a chance to earn very decent income. Let us assume that you have plans to build an inventory of expired domain names over a niche keyword like "fresh flowers". It is easy to find useful domains centering on this keyword. Some of the useful keywords could be:
Fresh garden flowers
Fresh annual flowers
Fresh roses
Fresh flower boutique
The major benefit of enriching your expired domains with useful keywords is the branding ability and capacity to reach top of major search engines.
About the Author:
John Khu is an author and also a seasoned professional with vast experience in expired domain name business. He is also the owner of the path breaking web sites called http://www.expireddomainsecret.com and http://www.expireddomaingains.com which provides complete and up-to-date information on expired domains and their eternal secrets.
How Anyone Can Actually Build A Six-Figure Income
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2008 Willie Crawford
At a recent job fair, I watched an endless procession of retiring military personnel, and contract civilian employees, parade past a dozen employers. Many of them filled out applications and handed them in to several of the bigger employers.
Many of them also talked to me, and I explained that when I retired from the military, I stepped right into a six-figure job that I had created, which has since grown into a seven-figure income.
The six-figure salary range was something a few of them "dared" dream of, but most saw it as impossible.
To an Internet marketer who understands the power of residual income, I know that earning six-figures per year only takes putting forth the effort to find fewer than 200 customers.
My secret is simply that I market items that offer a residual income. An example is the all-in-one video, audio, article, and press release submission service at http://EasyPushButtonTraffic.info
This service sells for $97 per month, and I earn 50% commission. To earn six-figures per year from that, I need a mere 172 customers (172 customers x $48.50 per month commission X 12 month = $100,104). If I gave myself a year to get those 172 customers that would equate to me just needing to find one customers every two days... with a few "fishing days" built in.
Given a quality product, any Internet marketer who couldn't find one customer every two day isn't really trying. Given a quality product, finding one customer every two days can be as simple as:
- Writing and submitting a few articles on the problems that the service solves.
- Creating and submitting videos on the problems that the service solves. Let those videos actually show you using the product to solve the problem. Nothing sells like proof that they can watch unfolding!
- Doing a press release on the problems that the service solves... pointing out a new and exciting solution.
- Visiting discussion forums where your ideal customers hang out, and just engaging in conversation, but posting links to the product that you're promoting in your signature files.
- Writing short reports (ebooks) on the problems that your service solves, spending a lot of time explaining why the readers really DO want to solve the problem, and then pointing out that your product is the perfect solution.
- Creating a blog on the topic of the problem that your product solves, and then frequently discussing the problem, your product, and people who have benefited from using your product.
- Writing articles and ebooks on related topics such as time management, website traffic generation, branding, marketing a product, etc., and in the articles and ebooks explain how your product is ideal for solving problems related to those topics.
As you can see, making one sale every two days is as simple as getting rid of all of your excuses, and then getting into action.
Yes, you do have to take actions that produce results, but most people running affiliate programs will even share with you what has proven to work best in promoting their products.
I actually market SEVERAL products that provide me with a six-figure annual income. These are all products that pay a residual income... products such as my shopping cart system, web hosting, and the video submission service mentioned earlier.
Getting back to those soldiers that I mentioned at the beginning of this article. ANY of them could easily take the product at http://EasyPushButtonTraffic.info and build a six-figure income.
I say that because I am a product of the same training that they've had. I know that they have the discipline, tenacity, perseverance, and resourcefulness to accomplish some very difficult jobs. Getting in front of one customer every two days, who is ready to buy, should be child's play to them :-)
Anyway, I've just shown you how anyone can actually build a six-figure income if they are willing to just drop the excuses and implement a simple plan already laid out for them. The only thing really stopping most people is that "very natural" 4-letter word... F-E-A-R.
We all have it. That's why many of us prefer working for others and letting the company assume the risk. Many of us also have courage though, which I define as nothing more than the ability to take action despite the fear!
Fear paralyzes many of us. Taking action lets us walk though that fear, and then look back and see that it has vaporized.
If you're ready to take action, and walk through your fears... instead of selling Internet marketing products that offer a one-time commission, consider the wisdom in offering the ones that pay a residual commission.
Remember that a $48.50 commission per month, times 172 customers, equals $100,104 per year. By the way if you'd like to market that specific product, sign up at: http://easypushbuttontraffic.com/epbtaffiliatepage.html
If you are just interested in using the product, then don't register as an affiliate since you CAN'T earn a commission on sales that you make to yourself. Allowing that wouldn't be fair to people who actually want to go out and build that six-figure business.
I HAVE just shown you how easy it really is. If you "hang out" with me at seminars and conferences, I could prove to you that I do this all of the time. However, this isn't about me, it's about whether you're ready enough to take the necessary action.
"It's decision time, soldier!"
About the Author:
Willie Crawford has been marketing over the Internet for 12 years. During that time, he has written over 1100 articles. Recently he has added multi-media and more press release to his marketing mix, with very notable results. Willie now loves, and highly recommends Easy Pushbutton Traffic at: http://EasyPushButtonTraffic.info
Copyright © 2008 Willie Crawford
At a recent job fair, I watched an endless procession of retiring military personnel, and contract civilian employees, parade past a dozen employers. Many of them filled out applications and handed them in to several of the bigger employers.
Many of them also talked to me, and I explained that when I retired from the military, I stepped right into a six-figure job that I had created, which has since grown into a seven-figure income.
The six-figure salary range was something a few of them "dared" dream of, but most saw it as impossible.
To an Internet marketer who understands the power of residual income, I know that earning six-figures per year only takes putting forth the effort to find fewer than 200 customers.
My secret is simply that I market items that offer a residual income. An example is the all-in-one video, audio, article, and press release submission service at http://EasyPushButtonTraffic.info
This service sells for $97 per month, and I earn 50% commission. To earn six-figures per year from that, I need a mere 172 customers (172 customers x $48.50 per month commission X 12 month = $100,104). If I gave myself a year to get those 172 customers that would equate to me just needing to find one customers every two days... with a few "fishing days" built in.
Given a quality product, any Internet marketer who couldn't find one customer every two day isn't really trying. Given a quality product, finding one customer every two days can be as simple as:
- Writing and submitting a few articles on the problems that the service solves.
- Creating and submitting videos on the problems that the service solves. Let those videos actually show you using the product to solve the problem. Nothing sells like proof that they can watch unfolding!
- Doing a press release on the problems that the service solves... pointing out a new and exciting solution.
- Visiting discussion forums where your ideal customers hang out, and just engaging in conversation, but posting links to the product that you're promoting in your signature files.
- Writing short reports (ebooks) on the problems that your service solves, spending a lot of time explaining why the readers really DO want to solve the problem, and then pointing out that your product is the perfect solution.
- Creating a blog on the topic of the problem that your product solves, and then frequently discussing the problem, your product, and people who have benefited from using your product.
- Writing articles and ebooks on related topics such as time management, website traffic generation, branding, marketing a product, etc., and in the articles and ebooks explain how your product is ideal for solving problems related to those topics.
As you can see, making one sale every two days is as simple as getting rid of all of your excuses, and then getting into action.
Yes, you do have to take actions that produce results, but most people running affiliate programs will even share with you what has proven to work best in promoting their products.
I actually market SEVERAL products that provide me with a six-figure annual income. These are all products that pay a residual income... products such as my shopping cart system, web hosting, and the video submission service mentioned earlier.
Getting back to those soldiers that I mentioned at the beginning of this article. ANY of them could easily take the product at http://EasyPushButtonTraffic.info and build a six-figure income.
I say that because I am a product of the same training that they've had. I know that they have the discipline, tenacity, perseverance, and resourcefulness to accomplish some very difficult jobs. Getting in front of one customer every two days, who is ready to buy, should be child's play to them :-)
Anyway, I've just shown you how anyone can actually build a six-figure income if they are willing to just drop the excuses and implement a simple plan already laid out for them. The only thing really stopping most people is that "very natural" 4-letter word... F-E-A-R.
We all have it. That's why many of us prefer working for others and letting the company assume the risk. Many of us also have courage though, which I define as nothing more than the ability to take action despite the fear!
Fear paralyzes many of us. Taking action lets us walk though that fear, and then look back and see that it has vaporized.
If you're ready to take action, and walk through your fears... instead of selling Internet marketing products that offer a one-time commission, consider the wisdom in offering the ones that pay a residual commission.
Remember that a $48.50 commission per month, times 172 customers, equals $100,104 per year. By the way if you'd like to market that specific product, sign up at: http://easypushbuttontraffic.com/epbtaffiliatepage.html
If you are just interested in using the product, then don't register as an affiliate since you CAN'T earn a commission on sales that you make to yourself. Allowing that wouldn't be fair to people who actually want to go out and build that six-figure business.
I HAVE just shown you how easy it really is. If you "hang out" with me at seminars and conferences, I could prove to you that I do this all of the time. However, this isn't about me, it's about whether you're ready enough to take the necessary action.
"It's decision time, soldier!"
About the Author:
Willie Crawford has been marketing over the Internet for 12 years. During that time, he has written over 1100 articles. Recently he has added multi-media and more press release to his marketing mix, with very notable results. Willie now loves, and highly recommends Easy Pushbutton Traffic at: http://EasyPushButtonTraffic.info
How to Attend TV Show Tapings
Article Presented by:
Copyright © 2007-2008 Jordan McAuley
Celebrities are the most accessible, oddly enough, when they're at work. If you're a Jon Stewart fan and you show up at his favorite deli while he's eating, chances are you're probably going to disturb him. But if you get tickets to a taping of The Daily Show that he hosts in New York City, your chance of shaking his hand and getting him to sign something is much better.
The stars who work in live television depend on the audience to help them do their job. For sitcoms, the audience provides the laugh track. If the audience doesn't laugh at a joke, the writers will scramble to modify it or come up with a new one. So when you watch a television sitcom like "Friends," you're hearing the actual audience laugh that was at the taping that day and know that they had some input into the final version as well. For late night shows like Stewart's, the host needs you to laugh at his jokes or he'll be left high and dry on national TV. And on talk shows like "Ellen" and "Oprah," the host and producers need to be able to feel out the audience so they know what's working or not working.
Most TV shows that have a live audience also have a "warm-up guy" whose job is to tell a few jokes, lay out the ground rules, maybe do some audience participation and get everyone in the studio totally warmed up for the show. If there's a delay or a break in shooting, this guy has to keep things going so the audience doesn't get bored and leave. He's also your best bet to get to the on-screen talent and sometimes will even bring a star up to the audience section.
Some stars will hang around after and talk to the audience one on one. Some won't, but the warm-up guy will talk to anyone, and if you can make him feel important, he can quite often help you get to the people you really want to get to.
Don't ask the producer if you can go backstage--he'll say no. Don't ask an intern if he can get something signed--he'll say no. But that warm-up guy is usually working so hard (and is maybe even a little annoyed that he's not the star of the show) that you can sometimes get him to do you a favor if you play your cards right.
TV show taping tickets do not cost money, except for special circumstances like concerts, awards shows and sporting events. Sitcom tapings and game shows are free of charge. Often the audience will be much small than you expected ("The Daily Show" seats maybe 100 people) while half the audience noise in a "Wheel of Fortune" taping is from the crew itself.
The peak television production season is generally August through March for most of the major networks. These include ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, UPN, WB, TNN, Disney Channel and Nickelodeon. Situation comedies, reality specials and game shows are the ones most likely to require a live audience since dramas don't require audience interaction. Remember that a TV show taping is not a quick prospect. You're not there for just the half hour you see during the final product. You've got to be there early, you've got to sit around while things are getting set up, you've got to go through the "warm up" then the cast will likely do one rehearsal from start to finish. Then they'll film several takes for each scene so the editors have plenty of options. This can take a long time (often up to eight hours) and they're not going to serve lunch or dinner partway through (although of course the actors can eat all they want from the catering table backstage...and often come out on stage eating to rub in the fact that they're eating and you can't). But it's still fun. Just make sure to eat before you go in, make sure to use the restroom before you take your seat, and turn off your cell phone!
Often the funniest part of a live TV taping isn't the acting itself, it's what goes on behind the scenes. If an actor is making a joke, the actors off camera will often react to what he or she is saying in an unexpected way. People will crack up, others will adlib, shots will get messed up and have to be repeated. It's an interesting look at what goes on behind the scenes of television, even if you don't get to meet the star of the show.
To get a ticket, see the resources below. You normally have to make reservations for popular shows months in advance because they fill up quickly. If all else fails, you can sometimes find studio workers handing out tickets in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard (where the famous handprints are) and in front of the Hollywood and Highland shopping complex next door.
Once you have your ticket, the rules are simple--applaud when you're told to, laugh when you think something is funny, don't yell out at random times, don't curse, don't disrupt other people around you, stay seated until the end of the show (toilet breaks come before the show, not during) and don't take photographs.
Remember, if a scene has to be redone, you're going to have to laugh all over again. Know going in that this isn't so much about your entertainment as it is your assistance in putting together a good show. If you get bored easily by repetition or having to sit for a long period of time, attending a live TV taping probably isn't for you. On the other hand, if you enjoy watching how television shows are created and don't mind following the rules, you'll have a lot of fun, learn a lot, and maybe even get to meet (or at least watch for a long time) your favorite star!
To Attend TV Show Tapings:
ABC Network Live Shows
212-456-7771
netaudr@abc.com
Audiences for most ABC shows are handled by an outside entity, but they can direct you to who you need to talk to via the information above.
CBS Network Live Shows
212-975-2476 (New York)
323-575-2458 (Los Angeles)
To get tickets for a CBS show by mail, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:
CBS Tickets
7800 Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90036
NBC Network Live Shows
212-664-3056 (New York)
818-954-6000 (Los Angeles)
Tickets for NBC shows with a live audience are normally not available through NBC. You can, however, find tickets for many of their shows at http://www.TVTickets.com which is run by Audiences Unlimited, Inc. and not affiliated with NBC.
To Attend TV Show Tapings in Los Angeles:
Audience Associates
323-653-4105 or 323-467-4697
tvtix@tvtix.com or groups@tvtix.com
Audience Associates regularly recruits for crowd scenes in movies. Web site reservations are given the highest priority.
Audiences Unlimited
100 Universal City Plaza
Building 153
Universal City, CA 91608
818-753-3470
tickets@audiencesunlimited.com
Audiences Unlimited Web site includes show schedules, previews, show changes, studio maps and more.
CBS Studio City Tickets
7800 Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Free tickets to live tapings of CBS TV shows can be acquired at CBS' ticket window on the west side of CBS TV City facing Fairfax. The ticket window is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., although it is sometimes open on the weekend if a show is being taped then. For tickets by mail, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to the address above.
HollywoodTickets.com
818-688-3974
tickets@hollywoodtickets.com
This Web site allows you to print your own TV taping tickets off on the Web site and also allows you to browse TV taping line-ups so you can find the best shows to fit your schedule.
Paramount Show Tickets
323-956-5000 (General)
323-956-5575 (Information)
323-956-1777 (Reservations)
To Attend TV Show Tapings in New York City:
Good Morning America
If you want to watch Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson do their thing, call 212-580-5176 or just turn up weekday mornings to Times Square at 44th Street and Broadway, from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Saturday Night Live
Ticket requests are only handled in August and are given out in a lottery system. Send a postcard with your name, address and phone number, as well as the number of tickets to:
NBC Tickets
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112
Standby tickets are available from 9 a.m. every Saturday at the GE Building. These are given on a first-come, first-served basis and are strictly limited to one per person.
Today Show
Just show up between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. at 49th Street and Rockefeller Plaza if you'd like to get on the "Today Show." It will probably help your chances if you dress like a chicken, have a cute child in your arms, or construct a twelve foot sign that says "Kansas Loves Al!"
TRL
Call one month before the show you want to attend by calling 212-398-8549. Alternatively, try going on a standby ticket by arriving at 2 p.m. or earlier at MTV Studios, 1515 Broadway at 43rd Street. Young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 are preferred by the producers.
To Attend Talk Shows in the U.K.
BBC
The BBC is always looking for people to take an active part in their game shows, comedy audiences, and even documentaries. More information can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/whatson/beonashow. For free tickets to BBC TV and radio shows to http://www.bbc.co.uk/whatson/tickets
TV Recordings
If it's shot in London, you can probably get tickets at this Web site. Registration is required.
BeOn Screen
Search BeOn's directory of TV programs and register for email updates. This site is also used as a resource for TV producers who often place ads for the projects on this site.
More TV Show Taping Resources:
Audience Associates
On Camera Audiences
Studio Audiences
This site brings together a whole bunch of other Web site's information together in one place. You can find the contact information for any show right here.
New York TV Show Tickets, Inc.
This site lists New York television shows as well as discount Broadway tickets, starving artist tickets, secret discount codes, TV locations and city tours.
About the Author:
Jordan McAuley is the author of The Celebrity Black Book and the Founder of http://www.ContactAnyCelebrity.com located in West Hollywood, California. His exclusive online database provides accurate celebrity contact information including the best mailing address, agent, manager, publicist, production company, and charitable cause for over 54,000 celebrities and public figures worldwide to fans, businesses, authors, nonprofits, and the media. Affiliate Program at http://www.contactanycelebrity.com/affiliates and earn 50% monthly recurring commissions!
Copyright © 2007-2008 Jordan McAuley
Celebrities are the most accessible, oddly enough, when they're at work. If you're a Jon Stewart fan and you show up at his favorite deli while he's eating, chances are you're probably going to disturb him. But if you get tickets to a taping of The Daily Show that he hosts in New York City, your chance of shaking his hand and getting him to sign something is much better.
The stars who work in live television depend on the audience to help them do their job. For sitcoms, the audience provides the laugh track. If the audience doesn't laugh at a joke, the writers will scramble to modify it or come up with a new one. So when you watch a television sitcom like "Friends," you're hearing the actual audience laugh that was at the taping that day and know that they had some input into the final version as well. For late night shows like Stewart's, the host needs you to laugh at his jokes or he'll be left high and dry on national TV. And on talk shows like "Ellen" and "Oprah," the host and producers need to be able to feel out the audience so they know what's working or not working.
Most TV shows that have a live audience also have a "warm-up guy" whose job is to tell a few jokes, lay out the ground rules, maybe do some audience participation and get everyone in the studio totally warmed up for the show. If there's a delay or a break in shooting, this guy has to keep things going so the audience doesn't get bored and leave. He's also your best bet to get to the on-screen talent and sometimes will even bring a star up to the audience section.
Some stars will hang around after and talk to the audience one on one. Some won't, but the warm-up guy will talk to anyone, and if you can make him feel important, he can quite often help you get to the people you really want to get to.
Don't ask the producer if you can go backstage--he'll say no. Don't ask an intern if he can get something signed--he'll say no. But that warm-up guy is usually working so hard (and is maybe even a little annoyed that he's not the star of the show) that you can sometimes get him to do you a favor if you play your cards right.
TV show taping tickets do not cost money, except for special circumstances like concerts, awards shows and sporting events. Sitcom tapings and game shows are free of charge. Often the audience will be much small than you expected ("The Daily Show" seats maybe 100 people) while half the audience noise in a "Wheel of Fortune" taping is from the crew itself.
The peak television production season is generally August through March for most of the major networks. These include ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, UPN, WB, TNN, Disney Channel and Nickelodeon. Situation comedies, reality specials and game shows are the ones most likely to require a live audience since dramas don't require audience interaction. Remember that a TV show taping is not a quick prospect. You're not there for just the half hour you see during the final product. You've got to be there early, you've got to sit around while things are getting set up, you've got to go through the "warm up" then the cast will likely do one rehearsal from start to finish. Then they'll film several takes for each scene so the editors have plenty of options. This can take a long time (often up to eight hours) and they're not going to serve lunch or dinner partway through (although of course the actors can eat all they want from the catering table backstage...and often come out on stage eating to rub in the fact that they're eating and you can't). But it's still fun. Just make sure to eat before you go in, make sure to use the restroom before you take your seat, and turn off your cell phone!
Often the funniest part of a live TV taping isn't the acting itself, it's what goes on behind the scenes. If an actor is making a joke, the actors off camera will often react to what he or she is saying in an unexpected way. People will crack up, others will adlib, shots will get messed up and have to be repeated. It's an interesting look at what goes on behind the scenes of television, even if you don't get to meet the star of the show.
To get a ticket, see the resources below. You normally have to make reservations for popular shows months in advance because they fill up quickly. If all else fails, you can sometimes find studio workers handing out tickets in front of Grauman's Chinese Theater at 6925 Hollywood Boulevard (where the famous handprints are) and in front of the Hollywood and Highland shopping complex next door.
Once you have your ticket, the rules are simple--applaud when you're told to, laugh when you think something is funny, don't yell out at random times, don't curse, don't disrupt other people around you, stay seated until the end of the show (toilet breaks come before the show, not during) and don't take photographs.
Remember, if a scene has to be redone, you're going to have to laugh all over again. Know going in that this isn't so much about your entertainment as it is your assistance in putting together a good show. If you get bored easily by repetition or having to sit for a long period of time, attending a live TV taping probably isn't for you. On the other hand, if you enjoy watching how television shows are created and don't mind following the rules, you'll have a lot of fun, learn a lot, and maybe even get to meet (or at least watch for a long time) your favorite star!
To Attend TV Show Tapings:
ABC Network Live Shows
212-456-7771
netaudr@abc.com
Audiences for most ABC shows are handled by an outside entity, but they can direct you to who you need to talk to via the information above.
CBS Network Live Shows
212-975-2476 (New York)
323-575-2458 (Los Angeles)
To get tickets for a CBS show by mail, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to:
CBS Tickets
7800 Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90036
NBC Network Live Shows
212-664-3056 (New York)
818-954-6000 (Los Angeles)
Tickets for NBC shows with a live audience are normally not available through NBC. You can, however, find tickets for many of their shows at http://www.TVTickets.com which is run by Audiences Unlimited, Inc. and not affiliated with NBC.
To Attend TV Show Tapings in Los Angeles:
Audience Associates
323-653-4105 or 323-467-4697
tvtix@tvtix.com or groups@tvtix.com
Audience Associates regularly recruits for crowd scenes in movies. Web site reservations are given the highest priority.
Audiences Unlimited
100 Universal City Plaza
Building 153
Universal City, CA 91608
818-753-3470
tickets@audiencesunlimited.com
Audiences Unlimited Web site includes show schedules, previews, show changes, studio maps and more.
CBS Studio City Tickets
7800 Beverly Boulevard
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Free tickets to live tapings of CBS TV shows can be acquired at CBS' ticket window on the west side of CBS TV City facing Fairfax. The ticket window is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., although it is sometimes open on the weekend if a show is being taped then. For tickets by mail, send a self-addressed stamped envelope to the address above.
HollywoodTickets.com
818-688-3974
tickets@hollywoodtickets.com
This Web site allows you to print your own TV taping tickets off on the Web site and also allows you to browse TV taping line-ups so you can find the best shows to fit your schedule.
Paramount Show Tickets
323-956-5000 (General)
323-956-5575 (Information)
323-956-1777 (Reservations)
To Attend TV Show Tapings in New York City:
Good Morning America
If you want to watch Diane Sawyer and Charles Gibson do their thing, call 212-580-5176 or just turn up weekday mornings to Times Square at 44th Street and Broadway, from 7 a.m. to 9 a.m.
Saturday Night Live
Ticket requests are only handled in August and are given out in a lottery system. Send a postcard with your name, address and phone number, as well as the number of tickets to:
NBC Tickets
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112
Standby tickets are available from 9 a.m. every Saturday at the GE Building. These are given on a first-come, first-served basis and are strictly limited to one per person.
Today Show
Just show up between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. at 49th Street and Rockefeller Plaza if you'd like to get on the "Today Show." It will probably help your chances if you dress like a chicken, have a cute child in your arms, or construct a twelve foot sign that says "Kansas Loves Al!"
TRL
Call one month before the show you want to attend by calling 212-398-8549. Alternatively, try going on a standby ticket by arriving at 2 p.m. or earlier at MTV Studios, 1515 Broadway at 43rd Street. Young adults between the ages of 18 and 24 are preferred by the producers.
To Attend Talk Shows in the U.K.
BBC
The BBC is always looking for people to take an active part in their game shows, comedy audiences, and even documentaries. More information can be found at http://www.bbc.co.uk/whatson/beonashow. For free tickets to BBC TV and radio shows to http://www.bbc.co.uk/whatson/tickets
TV Recordings
If it's shot in London, you can probably get tickets at this Web site. Registration is required.
BeOn Screen
Search BeOn's directory of TV programs and register for email updates. This site is also used as a resource for TV producers who often place ads for the projects on this site.
More TV Show Taping Resources:
Audience Associates
On Camera Audiences
Studio Audiences
This site brings together a whole bunch of other Web site's information together in one place. You can find the contact information for any show right here.
New York TV Show Tickets, Inc.
This site lists New York television shows as well as discount Broadway tickets, starving artist tickets, secret discount codes, TV locations and city tours.
About the Author:
Jordan McAuley is the author of The Celebrity Black Book and the Founder of http://www.ContactAnyCelebrity.com located in West Hollywood, California. His exclusive online database provides accurate celebrity contact information including the best mailing address, agent, manager, publicist, production company, and charitable cause for over 54,000 celebrities and public figures worldwide to fans, businesses, authors, nonprofits, and the media. Affiliate Program at http://www.contactanycelebrity.com/affiliates and earn 50% monthly recurring commissions!
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