Online Trade Winds

Writen by Nicholas Dixon

A few bends ago on the online marketing road, I registered and got paid hosting for a website I have been marketing for years. Now some people may say that is minor step, but for someone who lives on a rock in the Caribbean Sea that is a privilege.

I happen to live in a society that is still grappling with technology but is slowly catching on. The average man on the street feels that you are a geek once you are into computers when in fact you were in the same mindset as him before you first started out.

Being on online marketer sets you up for a roller coaster ride which if you are not prepared for, can leave you throwing up before the ride ends. Online marketing is not a go-kart race but is more akin to the Dayonta 500, so you better dig in for a long ride.

I built and ran my first website on someone else's computer for years because I could not afford one. I did this using free hosting services until I could pay for hosting and upgrade my website. That made me feel so vulnerable at times of placing my best interests in the hand of another, but business is a gamble and I took my chances.

Instead of feeling disheartened, I used this as a catalyst for my growth. Here I was hearing complaints from others about the lack of opportunities, yet there was a goldmine right on the playground of the young- the internet.

Online marketing is a great teacher for all. It forces you to forget about me and start thinking about us. It is not a game where you hide behind a computer screen and shoot off emails to thousands hoping that you will get rich. It is all about building relationships which will determine if you sink or float.

Personality is a powerful tool in your marketing arsenal. It is an under used strategy that much has not been written about. Mark you though, just because you have a Brad Pitt personality that means you are already successful, instead it should compliment your other strengths.

The internet is a very powerful communicating and marketing tool that has changed several aspects of our lives. You can shoot off an email to someone halfway around the globe and it arrives quicker than an elevator ride to the first floor.

It pains me daily that persons who want a cheap business tool don't know about it and some who have access to the net use it only to read emails and play Yahoo games. I happen to work at a computer lab and many of the persons who I have recommend the internet to as a business tool never even tried it once. Nothing baffling about that though.

Online marketing moreso the Net are fairly young when compared to most offline businesses and there is still plenty of time and space to hop on board. It will take you some amount of time, strength, courage and persistence to achieve your set goals. But at the end of the day you have something you can call your own.

Though I have not earned my first five figure check, these thoughts are what inspire me daily to help further the growth of the net. Strange huh, the net grows, my business grows, my bank balance grows, your business grows……..

Copyright © Nicholas Dixon

***************************************************** Nicholas Dixon is a Jamaican webmaster, writer and affiliate marketer. Find out how you too can create an online income with our list of highly recommended programs by visiting http://WWW.Oceanroc.com/affiliate-directory *****************************************************

Watch Your Business Vendors Like A Hawk Case Study 2002

Writen by Lance Winslow

In business you must develop a strong team and to do this properly you must be careful whom you pick to be on the team. Vendors are part of that team. It is not as easy as you might think picking vendors. Let me tell you a story. I take issue with some of our vendors who do not walk the talk. I visited several vendors in TX this month and found that their lack of image and un-kept shops and attitude about image was quite inferior to ours. I found that they did not have the same value set when it came to quality of uniforms, signage and building. I am concerned that as the Optimist Club says, we should be work only for the best, associate with only the best and be only the best.

Well, I must say we are the best and we have the best customers and therefore we must demand the best from our vendors. We want ethical and fair vendors and we need proper image. I believe it is totally disrespectful for our vendors to assume that we should be doing business with them when they lack the character and take zero pride in their shops image. I find it appalling for them to constantly toot their own horns and then go on like we do not matter. It is almost like saying; why take a shower we are only going to get dirty again? Well that maybe okay for; John Walker Lynn the Tally man fighter bathing in dirt, but not for our vendors. How can a company say they respect the services we offer yet never clean their tools, shop, building or offices. I toured one vendor and their shop was a disgusting pigsty where there was debris all over the shop, junky equipment everywhere, brand new machines uncovered and 1/4 inch of dirt on them. I saw paper work everywhere, clothes hanging form the door ways, the occasional motivational picture from Successories, Inc. with dirty glass and filled trash cans in the break rooms, with posters of women hung up viable from the open door. I am going to say, you want to work with our company? You want to sell to the best. You want to buy a new house and put a down payment on it with the money you make from our franchisees and then let your shop look like that? What Planet are you on?

We are a first class operation in the cleaning business, if you want our volume and money flow in the middle of this recession you had better start acting like it. I tell you what it looked like something out of the Grapes of Wrath. That was only one of the shops I toured this month. We will be switching vendors. Michael Jackson's song, which tells us to look in the mirror is quite appropriate here. You want in on the cleaning industry? Then clean up your act. It seems everyone can throw stones but no one can walk the talk. It appears that the strong will survive and those who have never been through an economic downturn in this country and think it is okay to skip the details ought not be missed and shut up as they sink. If you do not walk the talk; do not complain when the torpedoes come in. This is why I tour the country and find all the vendors and disallow some of them as approved vendors for our team. Let those scummy vendors deal with our competition. Not us. Either you believe in something or you don't. Either you stand for something or you don't, either you are in business to do it right or you are not. You chose and now live with the results. Thanks.

This is a case study from the mind of an entrepreneur who does walk the talk. Think about it.

Lance Winslow - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Eight Tips For Selecting An Air Brush Compressor

Writen by Bill Wade

If you're looking for an air-brush painting compressor, there are a few things you should consider first.

The big question is to ask whether this is for home or professional use. Home use doesn't require the same dependability or rugged construction while commercial use requires better quality and more reliability. The commercial compressors will last longer under heavy-duty usage but come with higher costs than the for-home use unit.

Both home and commercial applications however require the correct amount of airflow to get the job done right. Understand that the air brush attachment doesn't know if it's a home job or a commercial compressor supplying it - all it understands is if it's getting the right airflow going through the nozzle. Note that your gun should tell you what airflow it requires to operate at the best capacity, and if in doubt, ask at the outlets that sold you the air brush.

And once you know this figure, experts advise to "oversize" that compressor at least a little to smooth out the demands. Remember you can always adjust or downsize the airflow to the brush with a needle valve, if necessary, and the pressure can be reduced by a regulator. Note though that if you have a higher airflow, you can handle a thicker, more viscous paint.

So what's important in air compressors? Noise is. This is particularly true when you're using it all day but even for occasional home use, you're going to want to muffle this baby. If a lack of sound is important, then look for airbrush-specific compressors. They are the quietest form of air compressor on the market but you could wind up paying $1000+ for the privilege of quiet operation. It is far cheaper to buy a compressor from a local box store and build a soundproof box around it if saving money is paramount.

You also require an oil-free compressor. Oil-less compressors cost more but you eliminate "fish-eyes" from your work with the miniscule droplets of oil put out by a machine lubed with oil. And the interesting thing is that oil-less compressors are noisier than similar oil-lubed machines. Oil-less machines run hotter without oil lubrication and they tend to have a shorter lifespan so be aware of this when you are shopping for your compressor.

Water is a pain in the paint. All compressors spit water out the working end. This is a function of compressing air and can't be avoided or ignored. You will have to have a good compressed air filter at the working end of the line to remove the free water. If you are spraying onto a cool surface, you may inadvertently get some water droplets forming on that surface as water vapor in the air condenses. That being the case, you'll need an in-line air dryer as well.

If you're serious about using your airbrush compressor, you're going to want to install a good air regulator. This evens out the airflow and makes life a ton easier. It also enables you to lay paint with a steady flow rather than creating blobs because of uneven airflow due to the normal cycling of the compressor.

A somewhat technical term "duty cycle" means whether the compressor is rated as continuous use or intermittent use. If you buy a compressor from a box store (mostly cheaper intermittent use models) do not expect it to paint an entire van side in one go without giving the compressor a rest, or you risk it burning out. They are not rated for long-term use rather they are better suited for filling up tires.

Eight tips to help in selecting the right air brush compressor; good luck in your hunt!

Bill Wade's experience in compressed air and other industries spans decades, from field sales positions through to the presidential office. His sales agency represents a select group of industrial firms. Mr. Wade writes about all facets of compressed air at http://www.about-air-compressors.com, and welcomes your comments.

Personalized Rubber Stamps

Writen by Alison Cole

In an ever-expanding corporate environment, the need to have an individual identity is a must to stand out from the crowd and get noticed. There are several ways of making this statement such as brand advertising, promotion campaigns and a personalized logo. However, a very subtle yet effective method used to highlight a person or organization's individuality is the use of personalized rubber stamps.

A personalized rubber stamp allows the users to craft their own design, logo, slogan or signature for the stamp. The engravings in the rubber base are made exactly according to the need of the user, adding to the tailor-made approach. These rubber stamps also make the perfect gift for any occasion.

Personalized rubber stamps come in various shapes and sizes and focus on the minutest of details. Wood handle stamps are one of the most unique personalized stamps. Unlike other commercial stamps, these stamp handles are custom made to match the size of the rubber die. Other variations include personal signatures, images and logos. Since these stamps are made for a specific individual or organization, their size and shape can also be customized.

Personalized rubber stamps are usually made with real red rubber using laser engraver process. This process helps create the finest details in any stamp, may it be text based or an image. Personalized rubber stamps maybe used for a variety of purposes, such as stamping important documents, decorating greeting cards and wallpapers, certifying documents, and creating art tabletops.

Personalized rubber stamps are the best way to create a lasting impression of individuality. The stamps can also be designed as gifts for several occasions, including those designed to represent different zodiac signs for a person's birthday. Whether representing an organization, an individual or just an abstract thought, these stamps are sure to leave a positive impression.

Rubber Stamps provides detailed information on Rubber Stamps, Custom Rubber Stamps, Personalized Rubber Stamps, Self Inking Rubber Stamps and more. Rubber Stamps is affiliated with Free Address Labels.

Stop Throwing Money Away In Your It Department

Writen by Dennis Sommer

Companies continue throwing money at IT projects and accept a pathetic 30% success rate. The IT field is filled with complexity and the fast pace seems overwhelming at times, yet we as professionals should adapt to the changing environment and use available best practices to increase the success rate of IT projects. IT professionals need to understand best practice guidelines, processes, templates and how to deploy them in different situations.

Following these best practices is not a silver bullet. They also will not guarantee success everytime. They will however, provide you with the necessary tools that provide you the greatest chance for success.

Today we will review a few best practice IT management techniques.

Align IT and Business
Align IT projects to specific business strategy goals and objectives. Do not start or continue IT projects that are not aligned with the business strategy.

Qualified Leadership
Make sure that each project has a full time leader with overall responsibility and authority for the project. The project leader should be qualified to manage the project size and complexity.

Be Competitive
Use information technology to improve your business competitive advantage.

Define Metrics
Define and track measurable objectives that are necessary for the success of the project. Review these metrics monthly and adjust the project as needed.

Leverage Current Technology
Leverage the investment of your current systems when developing a new system.

Project Organization
Project teams or sub-teams should contain 2 to 7 team members with a mix of technical and business specialists. Keep the project team organization small and agile.

Keep It Simple
Use the simplest possible combination of business processes and technology to achieve your goals.

Work In Small Units
Project work should be broken down into small units. A task should not exceed 80 hours and should not be less than 8 hours. The project should produce workable systems every 30 to 90 days.

Keep It Small
Break the development of big IT system projects into smaller functional projects to reduce the complexity and lower the overall risk of a big system project.

Project Administration
Provide each project team with a coordinator or administrator that help project managers and leads keep project plans and budgets up to date and accurate.

Understand Your Capabilities
Don't take on an IT project when the complexity exceeds the companies capabilities.

Start From Scratch
When restarting failed projects, start from scratch. Don't use the original design and project organization that failed the first time.

Copyright © 2006 Dennis Sommer

Dennis Sommer is a widely respected and world renowned authority on sales, leadership, and strategy performance improvement. He is a leading business adviser, author, and speaker providing clients with practical strategies that improve business and personal performance. Dennis has over twenty years of management consulting, sales, technology and business leadership experience. He has delivered over 200 successful client engagements for Fortune 1000 companies. Please contact Dennis at: dennis@btrconline.com or http://www.btrconline.com

Employment Law Part Ii

Writen by Lance Winslow

Look here it is, this is America for Americans; English is the spoken language. You must be immunized to come here since we have already gotten rid of major diseases like small pox. You must shower and shave and wash your hands if you work in a restaurant, hot water and soap after using the restroom. Why can't we enforce the basics? Are we that naive to think that we have come so far this last generation? Look at what this is in reality. It is a joke; a terrible joke; anyone can do a better job than this. If America wants to not enforce it then we can do that too. But if we are going to tell people that we are doing the right thing then lets do it.

The President said in his speech that he wanted rid of drugs and budgeted for it. If people can sneak over the border then drugs ought to be a cinch. I have to question the DEA now too. If this is all the border patrol can do, then it is not needed. If you are caught sneaking over the border you get tagged just like a shark when we do territory studies. You are here illegally and you have no rights. How hard is this to figure out. First time you are tagged second time hard labor one year. Third time you are shot. You take out the tag and are caught you are shot on the second time. You come in legally or not at all.

That is how all the other people came to the US. If we enforce we enforce if not we open the border. This incident is insane really, shows there are no borders only lines drawn in the sand and lies to the American people. How can our government insure me that we will know when we hire an illegal alien? How can we know that the workers we hire will not have small pox? How can we know that if we hire a worker he is not a criminal from another country who will steal our work truck and take off? How can we know anything?

When is someone going to start telling the American people the truth so we can all vote on this, or take care of the problem so it ends? So many questions, so many promises, so much BS, how does anyone do anything anymore? I am calling the Washington Post, WSJ since Labor ready is the largest public company providing labor to the country and several other politicians. I am hereby removing Labor Ready as an approved vendor of Car Wash Guys and all WashGuy.com systems. Our company will not patronize companies like that.

Profiteering off illegal aliens is no different than slave trading really. They are taking advantage of those coming to this country illegally to find work and then profiteering off small businessmen who need labor due to tight job markets. That is criminal. The biggest and most hurtful aspect of this story is this. Labor Ready has big attorneys, lobbyists and clout. A small businessman hiring the same illegal alien can be find $35,000 which labor ready salesmen who call often warn about. They say they will take care of this through proper screening. They ask for a social security card or green card or work permit and write down a number without verifying it. If the worker is caught they say sorry and tell the INS that they must have given fake information. The INS then deports them and then they come back the next day.

If the INS fines a small businessman it costs minimum $5,000 retainer to tell it to the judge the same thing that Labor Ready told the INS. So this is extortion really. It should be called that. They exploit the Mexican worker trying to make a better life by paying him below average wages of $5.40 scare the small businessman into using their services at $11.95 pocket the difference and no one says anything. Except me I guess. Good thing I talk loud and carry a big stick. And that is the truth; think about it.

Lance Winslow - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/

Government Seized Property Auctions

Writen by Daniel Holmbeck

When people commit crimes, the government seizes their property associated with the commission of the crimes. This means the government seized property becomes auction goods for the general public to bid on. At a government seized property auction, property can include the following:

VEHICLES:

The most common government seized property auction is easily vehicles. Luxury cars, SUVs, pickup trucks – even boats, RVs, ATVs, snowmobiles and motorcycles are government seized auction property available in your area. Since vehicles have a documented value you can check against the Kelley Blue Book, it is easy to calculate your savings when bidding on this type of government seized auction property. Be sure to check out government seized auction vehicles in your area.

REAL ESTATE:

Drug dealers and tax cheats have to live somewhere too, right? Some of the most expensive government seized auction property available for sale is real estate. Vacant land, cabin getaways, suburban houses and mansions are some of the private use real estate available at government seized auctions. Commercial property can include car dealerships and customization shops, restaurants, ranches, retail space, and anything else you can imagine. Government seized auction property often sell far below fair market value. For more information about government seized auction property inside with DEAauctions.com.

HOUSEHOLD HOODS AND FURNITURE:

All those criminals have things they no longer need when they go to jail. You can buy their government seized auction property for pennies on the dollar. Area rugs, appliances, bedroom and living room sets are all government seized auction property you can bid on. Big-screen TVs, video games and pool tables are some of the recreation property available at government auctions. Make crime pay for you! Click here for your helpful hints to bidding at government seized property auctions near you.

ANTIQUES AND FINE ART:

If you like antiques and fine art, but your budget doesn't allow you to indulge this pastime, government seized property auctions were madefor you! Oriental rugs, listed painters, sculptures, Chippendale furniture, Stickley and Tiffany glass could be yours for Martha Stewart Living prices! Government seized auction property includes art and antiques you may not be able to otherwise afford. Be sure to find bargain priced art and antiques at a government auction near you.

DESIGNER CLOTHES AND JEWELRY:

The fabulous designer duds once donned by people now wearing orange jumpsuits everyday can be had for unbelievably low prices. Government seized auction property includes some of the best name brands on the market today. Versace. Prada. Burberry. Vera Wang. Ralph Lauren. Nautica. Jewelry by Tiffany, Harry Winston, Bulgari, and Cartier can all be yours at government seized property auctions. Don't hesitate – click here for more information about government seized property auctions near you.

DIRECT ACCESS TO THE MOST COMPLETE INFORMATION

Some of the more common auction items include:

used autos • marine vehicles • jet skis • aircrafts • homes • real estate • commercial property • farm equipment • industrial • business • electronics • computers • antiques • art • coins • stamps • appliances • guns • travel • collectibles • clothing • crafts • boats • bikes • motorcycles • mobile homes • jewelry • toys • cars • trucks • mopeds • bicycles • cameras • televisions • clocks • furniture • unclaimed property • abandoned property • personal property • office furniture • condominiums • town homes • commercial property • vacant land • single family homes • machinery • tools • hardware • building supplies and much, much more...

Http://DEAauctions.COM is an unchallenged leader in the Auction information Industry and will transform the way you search & locate the Billions of dollars in property that is auctioned off throughout the country every year.

White And Yellow Pages Reverse Lookup Info

Writen by Lee Trauple

Anything from simple to complicated information can be traced by searching on via reverse look up directories. Whether its information regarding people, city or a state, friends or anything, one can get it online. With the help of online databases you can find their long lost childhood friends too! The information can be accessed at databases of 411 white pages, 411 yellow pages, city yellow page, America yellow pages and many more.

There are certain reverse searches that gives information required like delinquencies, names, old address, date of birth, social security, telephones, cell phone numbers, listed telephone numbers, unlisted telephone numbers, 800-900 numbers. Databases like 411 white pages, 411 yellow pages and others provide such information.

Reverse search by cell phones can give information about adoption records, arrest records, attorney records, background checks, bankruptcy records, birth records, child support lookup, court records, correctional files, credit reports, criminal files, criminal indictments, death records and much more.

Information available on reverse lookup includes adoption records, ancestry archives arrest records, attorney records, background checks, bankruptcy records, birth records, boat ownership, child support lookup, contractor records, court records correctional files, court records, courthouses, credit reports, criminal files, criminal indictments, deadbeat locators, death records, dentist record search and much more.

Some reverse lookup directories require service membership which starts with a nominal amount and online registration on the website. Once a person becomes a member he can locate vast information available on these databases.

I write articles on Marketing & Advertising, Yellow & White Pages, etc. For further details please visit the site http://www.411web.com

How To Reverse Lookup Phone Numbers

Writen by Irene Graham

Do you need to locate someone and all you have is a phone number? Did you know that it is possible to take advantage of many online tools, some of them free, in order to do a reverse phone number search and find the name and address of the person that you are looking for.

The first thing you need to do is to determine whether or not the phone number of the person is a landline or a cell phone number. Fonefinder.net is a free tool that allows you to quickly find this out.

The next step is to use Google. One of the best sources to do a free reverse look-up for landline numbers is the Google search engine. If you type in the phone number in the format (XXX) XXX-XXXX, the name and address of the owner will often come up in the search engine results. This is often all that is necessary to find the information that you are looking for but if this does not produce a result then there are other tools to consider.

Some of these services are available for free. Here are a few to consider:

Anywho.
http://www.anywho.com/rl.html
This site also allows you to type in a phone number for free
and search for a matching name and address.

PhoneNumber.com
http://www.phonenumber.com/reverse_phone.xhtml

SmartPages.com
http://www.smartpages.com/whitepages/?wppage=reverse-phone

Whitepages.com
http://www.whitepages.com/1129/reverse-phone

Reverse Phone Directory.
http://www.reversephonedirectory.com/
This site allows you to search one phone number in several different online directories, including "White Pages," "Phone Number," and "InfoSpace."

Please bear in mind that the information is only available of the name of the person to whom the phone number is registered. Also none of these sites provide information for cell phone numbers or unlisted numbers.

Okay, so how then do we go about locating the owner of an unlisted number? And what about cell phones - is it possible to find out who a particular cell phone number belongs to? Reverse cell phone lookup has always been more difficult than reversing landline numbers.

Well you could consider one of the many commercial "private detective services" that will help locate someone for you. Prices vary but typically you could pay $85 or more for this type of service. Usually the company will offer a refund if they cannot obtain the information for you.

There is one another option and that is to become your own private detective! The key here is to learn how to access the various online databases that are used by private investigators, law firms, police departments, businesses and individuals all around the world. Examples of some of these online databases include State and County public records, Court records, credit reports and so on. These records will often yield the information that you are looking for.

Irene Graham writes for http://www.Ist-Web-Detective.com where you can learn more about how to reverse look up cell phone numbers. Please feel free to use this article in your Newsletter or on your website. If you use this article, please include the resource box.

Seven Signs That Work Exchange Site Is Sketchy

Writen by Dina Giolitto

Having some doubts about that work exchange site you pay to belong to? If you're seeing the Seven Deadly Signs, maybe it's time to cancel that membership. Here's what to look for.

1. No one ever answers your emails.

The first clue that you've stumbled upon a quality company is if they've provided customer and technical assistance. If you've sent numerous emails and clicked the Submit My Question button to no avail, that's a good indication that there's nobody on staff. Is this what you pay that monthly membership for?

2. Seems like you're always getting invoiced.

You've contracted a total of one jobs through the site, and yet your credit card is being charged at every turn. First they hit you with your monthly dues, then they get you on the percentage of the total job cost, then they invoice you for the cut they take out of your client's paycheck... when you think about it, who's getting the raw deal here? I suspect it may be you.

3. You often find yourself "lost" on the site.

A good website, even if it contains a large number of pages, should navigate logically and you should always be able to get back where you started. If you've visited the site on more than a handful of occasions and yet you still get Lost in the Labyrinth, maybe you should click your heels together three times and stay the heck out of there.

4. Some of the job bidders give you the willies.

It shouldn't be that difficult to find qualified professionals on a site where you pay $50 a month for a standard membership. Yet, seems like every prospect you come across is some poor-spelling, lousy-detail-giving, weird-screen-name-having, poor follow-upper person who makes you question their skills and integrity.

5. They're sneaky about those "hidden costs."

You may know this feeling. You try to perform an action, such as uploading a portfolio, bidding, or what-have-you. When you click, it appears that you'll soon be carried to the desired page. But then you're launched to a new spot where you're prompted to "Upgrade your Membership... and worse, you can't find your way back to the page where you were!

6. The site doesn't send you email notifications of your money transactions.

If a site is automatically deducting money from your credit card account and not informing you about it with an email, you should be concerned. In fact; maybe it's time to think about cancelling that membership. Who knows what new costs you'll incur that no one will tell you about?

7. The job bidders are offering pay that's so low, it's downright insulting.

Why are you paying top dollar to belong to a site whose members pay bottom dollar for your expert services? Most of these freelance gig sites are not worth it in the long run. The amount of jobs you'll likely land over a course of a year is probably nowhere close to the amount of money you feed them each month to run your piddly basic membership that doesn't even include a portfolio.

In short: perhaps it's time to reassess the real worth of all those job sites you belong to. Just think of all the extra money you'll have coming in when you cancel all those memberships. Probably more than several freelance jobs combined!

Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.

Liked this article? Have more of the same emailed to your inbox each month. Sign up for the Copywriting and Marketing Ezine from Dina at Wordfeeder.com and learn to write search engine friendly web copy and market your web based business for free.

Die Cutting Machines

Writen by Kevin Stith

Die cutting machines are used to convert sheet or web materials into desired shapes. These are used to process rubber sheets, non-woven textiles and woven cloth. Basically, there are two types of die cutting machines - rotary die cutters and clicker presses. Automated die cutting machines are used for cutting dies with precise and minimal tolerances.

Rotary die cutters, also known as roller press die cutters, are used in the high-speed processing of sheet and web material. The rotary die cutting machines press roller-shaped cutting dies against a web. Web materials are inserted into the rotating roller dies and then changed into desired shapes. Clicker presses employ manual conversion of web materials. This press consists of a wide plate or table with a smaller swing-arm head. For more difficult jobs, full head and traveling head machines are used. The cutting speed of the die cutting machine is controlled by an electronic inverter.

Top performance, high-speed, reliable cutting results and high precision are the essential advantages of a good die cutting machine. The machines are available in several sizes and shapes for various die cutting requirements. Most die cutting machines offer a lifetime warranty and are able to provide a maximum pressure of 10 to 20 tons. The new generation machines come with excellent efficiency and high precision. There are high-speed hydraulic die cutting machines that can make 15,000 to 25,000 cuts in eight hours.

Several common technologies are used by die cutting machines. Some of them are driven by pneumatic cylinders or air-powered. Some machines have hydraulic components. Low-cost devices such as manual presses are perfect for simple applications such as creating identification cards.

Die Cutting provides detailed information on Die Cutting, Die Cutting Equipment, Custom Die Cutting, Die Cutting Machines and more. Die Cutting is affiliated with Calibration Services.

14 Tips For Writing An Effective Online Survey

Writen by Dana Fine

Developing a useful, well-written online survey that extracts the information you need from your users can be a challenge. In this article, I will review 14 tips for creating a useful online survey.

1. Write a brief, concise survey. Start with a mental framework that focuses on only what is essential to know. Ask questions only if the answers will give you the data you need and can use. If a question is not important enough to include in your report on the survey's findings, then remove the question. Try to envision each question as its own specific theory that you are testing.

   In addition, research has shown that people skim and skip on the web because it is difficult to read lots of heavily condensed text on a computer screen. Most users do not want to scroll through a long page of text, so your online survey completion rate will be higher if the survey is short and succinct.

2. Try to begin the survey with interesting questions. Interesting questions will inspire the respondent to keep reading and complete the survey.
3. Develop questions with answers in the proper format for your purposes. For example, if you believe your students need more time to complete the questions in your lesson, ask, "How long did it take you to complete the unit and accompanying questions?" with various time intervals as possible answers. This is better than asking, "Do you need more time to finish the unit and accompanying questions?" with yes or no as possible responses.
4. Plan ahead of time how you and your company will analyze the information before you send out the final version of the survey. This may affect your questions and format when you realize that the statistical analysis you need to perform cannot be done with these particular question results.
5. Use the simplest language possible and respect the respondent's dignity when constructing questions. Your survey respondents will undoubtedly come from many different groups, and more often than not, are less expert in the field than you are.
6. Use neutral language. The online survey is being developed to find out what your audience thinks and is not a forum for you to air your perceptions or opinions.
7. Relax your grammar a bit so your questions do not sound too formal. For instance, the word "who" is often acceptable when "whom" is technically correct.
8. Be sure to ask only one question at a time and put them in a logical order. Questions like "If you scored less than 70% on the test and you have taken the test another time previous to this, what do you think would help you receive an 80% or above the next time you take the test?" will be difficult for respondents to answer and even more challenging for you to interpret.
9. Avoid double negatives, difficult concepts, and specific recall questions. Respondents are easily perplexed when trying to interpret the meaning of a question that uses double negatives. Respondents can also become quickly overwhelmed and lose detail of events or circumstances that are farther back in time. Most importantly, if the survey is too complex and/or difficult to fill out, respondents won't complete it!
10. Try to use more closed-ended questions, with no more than one or two open-ended questions. Respondents usually have a better understanding of closed-ended questions because they are more straightforward and offer responses they can choose from.

    Open-ended questions require a written response. An excessive number of open-ended questions can wear down the respondent and reduce the quality of the answers they provide.

11. Scaled response questions should have answers that are at balanced, comparable intervals. For example, offering choices of excellent, very good, good, and terrible would cause you to miss important information in between the values of good and terrible.
12. Whenever possible, responses should be developed as discrete amounts instead of general statements of quantities, with specific options from which to choose. It's better to ask, "How many times a month do you go to the movies?" "0", "1 to 3 times a month", "3 to 5 times a month or more", instead of "How often do you go to movies?" "almost never", "one and a while", "I am there at least once a week", etc.
13. Name your survey and write a brief introduction. Providing a survey name and a brief introduction are good ways to give your respondents some background and a frame of reference. It also prepares them for what is to come.
14. Craft a well-written subject line for the email you send with the survey to capture your respondents' attention.

While not exhaustive, the points listed above are enough to get you started in the right direction. In summary, a well-written online survey has higher completion rates and is an effective method for gathering information.

www.syberworks.com

About the Author: Dana Fine is a Senior Instructional Designer at SyberWorks, Inc http://www.syberworks.com SyberWorks is a custom e-Learning solutions company that specializes in Learning Management Systems, e-Learning solutions, and custom online course development. Dana is also a frequent contributor to the Online Training Content Journal.

Imf Raises Global Trade Rate

Writen by Vasily A. Klimko

The global trade and world economy will possibly increase, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). This statement was in contrast to the report that the group disseminated stating that the global trade will suffer a major downside in the up and coming years. The said increase was .25 percent higher compared to the initial IMF prediction last April.

IMF is a group that is responsible in checking and ensuring that each member country has sufficient funds and orderly financial system. In a recent report of the IMF, it stated that two of the biggest profit-producing industries in the world will lead the global trade to disorder. The incessant increase in oil cost and the depreciating housing market of the US were two of the main causes that degenerate the trade.

However, despite the new prediction, the organization is still pressing on to its caution regarding global trade imbalances. The said imbalances are caused by the depreciation of the US dollar and the increased in China's trade surpluses. The Asian country's weak currency boosts its economy, because the goods that are being imported there cost relatively lower than those that come from other neighboring nations. On the other hand, US, considered as the globe's vast economy, has depreciated its trade for more than $64 billion.

The recent Global Financial Stability report dealing with imbalances in the global trade market was issued at the commencement of the World Bank and IMF yearly conference held in Singapore. Also in the said report, the IMF officials commented that the current global malady is a timely encouragement for finance ministers and bank leaders, coming from variegated regions in the world, to empower and enact macro-economic policies and rules, and to start implementing structural changes.

Meanwhile, the said group forecast that the surpluses coming from oil manufacturing and exporting nations will still be high, and that the economy of eurozone will keep on recouping. However, not all member countries of IMF will have an incessant increase in the global trade. Germany, in particular, is predicted to have a slower growth in its economy because of the surge in the value added tax to 19 percent.

The IMF stated that the countries' central banks should measure the dangers of the continuing growth and price rises, and that restricting more accrual rates might be required. IMF also added that Japan, as another progressive Asian nation, should raise interest rates continually to help ease the inequalities concerning the global trade.

In the meantime, the said Singapore meeting of the World Bank and IMF have already earned controversies after the Singaporean government declined to remove its prohibition on demonstrations and protests on the streets in spite of the clamors from militant and non-government groups who wanted to air their grievances regarding the global trade issues.

At the official commencement of the global trade meeting between World Bank and IMF, civil rights activists were astounded with the narrow protest area that are surrounded by Singaporean officials and police. With the pressure coming from the NGOs and protestants, IMF is beneath the strain and tension to enact changes within the organization, and settle issues concerning the inequalities in the global trade.

For more valuable information on Global trade, please visit http://www.toboc.com

How To Use Color On The Web To Get More Clients Than You Can Handle

Writen by Michael Port

You only have one opportunity to make a first impression, and your website is often the first contact you have with a potential client. As a representation of you and your business, it's important to ensure it conveys the right impression.

Color can impact mood and elicit strong emotional reactions, which can play for or against you, so choose your colors thoughtfully. Choose two or three dominant colors, and choose those that represent the qualities of your service or product, or the emotions you hope to elicit, rather than choosing your personal favorites.

Here's a brief overview of the psychology of color to keep in mind when choosing your colors:

Red elicits the strongest emotional reaction, either positive or negative. It elicits feelings of love, passion, excitement, and strength, as well as those of anger, speed, and danger. Red is also often associated with bargains.

Blue can instill a sense of belonging and trust, reliability, coolness, peacefulness, tranquility, security, faithfulness and dignity. Blue is by far the most common 'favorite' color and is often associated with high quality.

Yellow is most often associated with warmth, sunshine, and happiness. However, yellow can cause eye-strain and so should be used sparingly.

Orange creates a feeling of playfulness, pleasure and warmth and is seen as vibrant and ambitious.

Green depending on the shade can bring to mind nature, healing, freshness, growth, abundance, money and freedom. It is the easiest on the eyes.

Purple is the color of royalty, spirituality, dignity, sophistication, and can feel luxurious.

Pink is soft, sweet, and feminine and can elicit feelings of being nurtured or pampered.

White is considered pure, innocent, clean, youthful, and mild.

Black most often represents sophistication, elegance, authority, and power. It can be seen as seductive, mysterious, or serious.

Gray is seen as authoritative, practical and creative. Dark gray instills a sense of solidity and reliability.

Brown is earthy, solid, reliable, affluent, effective and masculine.

Gold implies prestige and money, as does silver, although silver is also seen as cold and scientific.

Different countries and cultures associate colors with different meanings. Always keep your target market in mind when choosing your website color scheme, and if you have questions, do your research.

Remember, the effectiveness of your website is directly proportional to how solution-oriented your offers are with respect to your target audience. The colors you choose can affect how much confidence you inspire and whether your audience stays long enough to learn about your solution-oriented offers.

Visit http://www.awardwinningwebcourse.com for a simple, step-by-step guide to developing highly effective websites.

About the Authors Michael Port is the President of Michael Port & Associates LLC and is known as the guy to call when you're tired of thinking small. To spend some more time with Michael and to think bigger about who you are and what you offer the world go to http://www.MichaelPort.com. Beth M. Lyons has over 15 years of experience helping the not-so-technical among us get comfortable with, learn, and then master the techniques they need and want to use. She has a gift for seeing implementation and "best-use" strategies, and communicating them in 'real english.' http://www.techiecoach.com.

Inventory Tags For Effective Inventory Management

Writen by Abhay Purohit

Effective inventory management facilitates an organization to achieve its sales targets remarkably, do accurate forecasting, and increase profits. Through the use of various inventory asset tags and inventory labels, organizations can streamline their inventory processes. Inventory management needs to done at various stages, such as production, quality control, sales, and distribution, etc.

Inventory tags are the tags that are used to track the inventory items while they are in production stage, quality inspection stage or when they are moved in or out of the organization. The inventory tags include information, such as company name or logo, product name, product code, status, etc. Besides this information, you can include other important information or instructions like repaired by, rejected, or accepted.

Various benefits of inventory tags are:

• Using Inventory tags you can develop a perfect and useful inventory management system. You can easily know about your current inventory, their status, etc. and help in forecasting sales and distribution as well.
• You can easily track work in progress and manufactured items that are ready for distribution. It leads to overall customer satisfaction and increased profitability.
• Inventory tags help you easily locate a product or item while it progresses through the organization. By including barcodes, you can give numbers to your inventory items too.
• Not just within your organization but it differentiates your items from other similar items outside your company premises as well. In case, you misplace an item, it becomes easy for you to identify which item is missing.
• Inventory tags come in different varieties. Therefore, you can use different types of inventory tags for different types of inventories. For example- if a particular inventory is to be repaired then to mark this inventory, you can use 'Repair tag'. In case the inventory items are rejected, you can mark these items with 'Rejected tags' so as to differentiate them from the accepted and other items.
• The other benefit of inventory tags is that you can create brand awareness among public. What you need to do is simply include your company name or logo. Once you have included these things, your company name or logo goes along with the inventory items with which you have attached your tags.
• A properly designed inventory tag/label saves valuable inventory management and monitoring time as you can quickly go through the details of the item/product written on the tag.
• Besides inventory tracking, sales tracking also becomes easier as you can easily count how many and which products you have sold. You can focus on more important issues of the business rather than focusing on the inventory management problems.

What are the different types of inventory tags available at online stores?

There are various types of inventory tags. All you need to do is selecting a right kind of inventory tag that suits your requirement. Various tags are:

• Manila inventory tags:
  The manila tags come with a tear off stub that can be used for office record keeping. You can fill in the fields provided on these tags.
• Multi-part inventory tags:
  Manila 2 part or 3 part tags are multi-part inventory tags. These tags have tear-off paper forms. These tags are useful when you need to keep a paper copy for office record keeping.
• 3-part carbonless tags:
  The 3-part carbonless tags are used to produce two copies for the office. When you write on the top paper, it gets transferred to the underlying paper sheet and the tag itself.
• Weather proof inventory tags:
  The weather proof inventory tags are best for outdoor purposes. You can even write on these tags with a pen or marker. Mostly these are made of tyvek which is difficult to tear. Thus these tags can be used for long periods.
• One-part inventory tags:
  One-part inventory tags are consecutively numbered and have a perforated stub. These are suitable for indoor purposes and are not recommended for outdoor use.
• Multi-part inventory tags:
  The multi-part inventory tags come with an adhesive strip on the back and have a perforated paper on the top that can be used for office record keeping. You can fill in the fields provided on the tag with a pen or marker.
• OK tags:
  These inventory tags are used with those inventory items which are okay for shipping or sale. Most of the times, these tags have two paper copies. When you write on the top copy, it gets transferred to the second copy and the underlying tag.
• Accepted tags:
  The accepted tags are used to mark the accepted parts of the inventory. These tags provide a wonderful way to differentiate the accepted items from the other items. You can write on these types of tags too.
• Rejected tags:
  These tags are used to mark the rejected inventory parts. These tags also provide a writable surface.
• Inspection tags :
  These tags are used to mark those inventory items which are due for inspection. Thus you can avoid accidental use of those items that are yet to be inspected.

Besides these tags, there are various types of colored blank dots, month of the year label, day of the week labels and more that can used for inventory control and management.

Where to find these inventory tags?

Myassettag.com is an asset tags and inventory tags online store where you can find all kinds of tags mark your valuable assets and inventory. My Asset Tag is into manufacturing, designing, and selling asset labels and tags since the early 80's. You can also place order for custom inventory tags and asset tags/labels too.

Abhay is professional writer, who writes articles on various topics. This article has been written for http://www.myassettag.com. My Asset Tag sells premium metal tags, inventory tags and economy barcode labels, etc. since the early 80's.

How Internet Fax Service Saves Money And Time

Writen by Oliver Turner

Internet Faxing is one of the advantages the World Wide Web has brought to the common man. As the term indicates, it is the way of sending faxes through the internet, without the aid of complex faxing machines. And more importantly, internet faxing is cheap, fast and easy to use. Let us see how it can be a big time and money saver.

The infrastructure one may need so as to use internet faxing is quite simple. A PC, a reliable internet connection, and an email id provided by the service provider. That is, no more dabbling with the complex fax softwares or operational procedures to perform faxing, and that itself saves a lot of your quality time. Further, as one can send or receive fax messages from his/her desktop, there is no need to walk up to where the fax machine is placed and wait for one's turn to get the job done. In fact, waiting in front of a fax machine if you are to receive a particular fax is the most time consuming of the exercises, and that is completely eliminated with web faxing.

On the economic front, the only payment one has to cough up is the monthly fee for the service provider. And that won't exceed $20 a month. Rest of the services is free, and the customer can receive the fax messages in his/her mailbox like any other email. Given the total expense on email faxing, if to consider the average expense per page, it will be as low as 30-35 cents per page, and that is the lowest possible on any counts.

To conclude, online faxing, to a good extent, has effectively bridged the gap between traditional fax machines and web-based communication. It circumvents the complexity of a fax machine and those never-ending paper jams, meanwhile embracing the flexibility, quickness and money saving aspects of internet communication. After all, that's what one expects from technological innovations!

We have tested dozens of internet fax services to find the best one. Find the results only on the Internet faxing research. Find more internet fax info on http://www.leandernet.com

Buy Us Postage Stamps Online

Writen by Lloyd Lewis

For those interested in large quantities of mail, the Internet is offering today great opportunities to buy US Postage Stamps Online at higher volumes and special cost-effective prices.

In order to buy US Postage Stamps Online you must enter one of the many websites that allow users to select their postage stamps and print them from their own computer, no matter the location around the world.

There is a small monthly fee that makes this very new mail service, Buy US Postage stamps Online, more convenient for all industry users.

More than that, when shopping online, user have the special opportunity to buy extraordinary specialty stamps that usually are not available at any post office.

The online services let users print official United States Postal Service postage directly from their own personal computer. All they need is a good printer and special piece of hardware for a business, provided by your buy us Postage Stamps online provider.

You select your postage stamp, print it and put it on the mail package. After that, you have to simply hand it to the mail carrier and your mail is on the way.

This easy procedure and the significant low fees have brought more and more customers to postage stamps websites.

They are satisfied by the easy to follow procedures and the extra options available, such as printing shipping labels or professional looking mail envelopes.

Some websites offer special insurance for their users in order to protect their valuable items. In other cases, the free delivery confirmation allows you to easily keep track of sent mail.

Other common features permit easy tracking of postage spent with client codes and easy reporting. It seems that nothing is impossible with the new online mail services and more and more customers are attracted by them.

Lloyd Lewis Online Postage http://www.pc-postage.com

Used Ophthalmic Equipment Basics

Writen by Jay Stockman

There are many distributors of ophthalmic equipment who offer both new and remanufactured or refurbished machines. Some of the more common types of remanufactured equipment are slit lamps, phoropters, chairs and stands. It is typically higher-end equipment, which are remanufactured or refurbished and offered for resale. The reason being, that they can be offered at a substantially reduced price compared to new ophthalmic equipment, and the distributor still makes a reasonable profit. However, it is generally unwise to consider purchasing used surgical equipment, as many procedures require critical, flawless performance, which used equipment generally does not offer.

New practitioners that want to keep costs down are typically the buyers of remanufactured or refurbished equipment. It is not unusual for these practitioners to purchase more than one piece of equipment, in an effort to set up a fully equipped examination lane. It is quite easy to see the cost savings at this level, and with huge debt to begin with, this is the ideal way of starting out.

It is important to distinguish between used, refurbished, and remanufactured equipment. The bottom line is that whether it is refurbished or remanufactured it's still used equipment and just like buying a used car, you need to protect yourself. Keeping this important point in mind, can you get yourself a good deal? Absolutely! Just do your homework before deciding to purchase any ophthalmic equipment.

Private individuals who sell their used ophthalmic equipment usually offer no warranty so you may be stuck if the used piece of equipment has problems as soon as you set it up in your office. Calibration may be off, as well as unseen worn parts. This is the riskiest way to buy used ophthalmic equipment. In general, unless the equipment is an expensive, high-end machine that is still it the box and offered for next to nothing, you should probably stay away from it.

Remanufactured ophthalmic equipment of any type is taken completely apart, repaired, rebuilt to the manufacturer's original specifications and then reassembled. The end result is generally a used machine that is as good as a new one, but selling for much less. Equipment more than 2 years old are the usual candidates for remanufacturing. It is not cost-effective to go through the process for newer machines. This equipment tends to have a limited warranty.

Refurbished ophthalmic equipment is typically less than 2 years old, and can be done either by the manufacturer or an ophthalmic equipment dealer. The machine is cleaned up a bit, and any broken components are replaced. However, it does not undergo the same rigorous tear down and rebuild that goes into remanufactured equipment. As a result, the machine may look a bit used depending on its original condition.

Remember, when making your decision weigh the final price, quality of the work, and length of the warranty. All things being equal, the best choice sometimes turns out to be manufacturer-refurbished equipment, they offer the longest warrantee, and a competitive price. If you're willing to invest a little time doing some research, used ophthalmic instruments can look, and function just like new.

Dr. Jay B Stockman O.D. is a contributing editor for myEyeNet. Visit http://myeyenet.com/ for more information.

Marketing Is A System Not An Event

Writen by John Jantsch

Small business marketers love the chase. Love the new fangled way to make the phone ring. They love to think of a marketing promotion as a single event. But it's precisely this view of marketing that holds most small businesses back. They fall prey to the "marketing idea of the week" and never fully explore what it takes to create and build a completely functioning, consistently performing, marketing system.

In this article I am going to outline the basic steps that any business can follow on the way to creating their very own marketing system. But first let's explore this word system in the context of marketing. Small business owners have no problem thinking systems when it comes to say, accounting or hiring. When it comes to marketing though, all bets are off. It's as if they are waiting for magic fairy dust to fall upon them with the next great marketing innovation.

Look, effective marketing is little more than creating and operating an effective marketing system. Now, when I use the word system I mean several things. 1) The system is documented – You can't have a system or a step in a system unless you write it down. 2) The system is built on sound marketing principals and 3) You constantly measure, innovate, and refine the system.

Okay, so on to the system building steps.

1) Narrow and define a target market – Small business owners love to say yes. "Sure we can do that." The next thing you know the target market is roughly anyone they think will pay them. You must commit to a narrowly defined target market and you must focus all of your attention upon serving that market like no one ever dreamed of. A narrow marketing focus might be – Estate Attorneys - as opposed to Law Firms.

2) Discover and communicate a core message for that market – Until you can show how your firm is different and offers something unique, you will always compete on price. You must find a way to tell your newly defined narrow target market why you have something to offer that they value. Your core message might be – We show estate attorneys how gain all of the business they can handle - as opposed to: We help law firms.

3) Develop multiple forms of permission based lead generation – No one like to be sold to and more and more advertising is falling on numb ears and eyes. Your lead generation system must be built on several fronts, such as public relations, referral marketing, strategic partnerships, and targeted advertising. Your lead generation message must offer the target market a reason to want to know more. Forget about the sale, look for ways to build trust.

4) Construct a lead conversion and customer reselling process – No amount of leads in the world will help your business if you don't efficiently turn those leads into clients. You must have a plan that maps out what you will do when phone rings, when you make the sales call and when it's time to do more business with the clients you already have. Most small businesses completely ignore this aspect of their marketing, but this is where the real success in marketing lies.

5) Create educational based marketing and presentation materials – Forget about the glossy sales brochure, use your marketing materials to teach how your firm is different, how you solve real problems, how you work, why you work, what you believe and your marketing will be much more successful. Your web site must come from this point of view as well.

6) Define the most important marketing success indicators – Setting marketing goals for such things as leads, appointments, sales, phone calls, referrals, impressions, mentions and anything else you can think to measure is how you turn marketing into a game and how you keep score of the game. Everyone loves and game and the only way to improve something is to measure how well you are doing in the first place.

7) Build an annual marketing calendar and budget and stick to it – Once you have spent the time and energy to think through steps 1-6 you need to commit your plan to a marketing calendar and then allocate (or at least think about) the money it will take to implement your plan. Once you create a calendar it is much more likely that you will look at the tasks assigned to each month like a "to-do" list. So, instead of whining that you should do more marketing, you simply scratch each item off your list and plan for the next. It's an amazingly simple but effective device.

Okay...now the last bit of advice.

Every system needs a champion. Either find someone in your organization who does little else but operate the system or hire a marketing professional and charge them with helping you develop, implement and run the system.

Properly fed and maintained, this little marketing system can become the engine that drives your firm's climb to the top.

Copyright 2004 John Jantsch

John Jantsch is a marketing coach and creator of the Duct Tape Marketing System. You can get more information about the Duct Tape System and download your free copy of "How To Create the Ultimate Small Business Marketing System in 7 Simple Steps" by visiting http://www.DuctTapeMarketing.com

Its Time To Get All Strategic Small Business Marketing Stategy

Writen by J D Moore

So what's your small business marketing strategy? I'm willing to bet that close to 85% of the people reading this are scratching their heads now. Many small business owners fail to create a marketing strategy at all, instead focusing on tactics.

Let me give you one of the definitions of strategy from the fine folks at Merriam Webster: a : a careful plan or method : a clever strategem b : the art of devising or employing plans or strategems toward a goal

So a strategy is a plan and the implementation of that plan. Tactics are merely the methods with which which you carry out that plan.

Planning is important in small business marketing for a few reasons:

-Planning helps insure you keep a consistent marketing effort.
-Planning helps you set goals and move towards reaching them.
-Planning helps you set and stick to a budget.

Many small business owners are intimidated by the idea of a marketing plan. They think it needs to be a huge formal document with financials and charts. It can be that, particularly if you are going for funding. However, if you are just in business for yourself, your marketing plan can be very simple.

Here are some items I think it should include:

-Your overall vision, value proposition, and unique selling position
-A list of your target markets, and what you know about them
-Your budget for marketing
-A list of strengths and weaknesses with the customer facing side of your business.
-A list of steps you are going to take (I recommend a marketing calendar)
-There are three ways to increase your revenue, and your plan should take each into account:

1. Increase your number of customers
2. Increase the amount of your average transaction
3. Increase the frequency at which your customers buy from you

Most marketing efforts I encounter focus only on #1. However #1 represents the most expensive, difficult, and slow method for increasing revenues.

Remember that marketing is not just advertising and PR. Your plan should encompass your customers' entire experience with you. It might include changing the way you answer the phone, more frequent followup calls, cleaning the bathrooms at your store more often, adding plants to your reception area. your plan also might include some kind of customer satisfaction survey, maybe during followup calls or during a visit to your business.

Your plan might also include presenting your products or services better, or repackaging them in different ways. It might have you creating a new brochure, or giving sales training to your staff.

Your plan should include the tactics you want to use, and a budget for each tactic.

There's an old military aphorism that goes: Even the best possible battle plan has not survived first contact with the enemy. This basically means that the unpredictable always happens - it's what makes life interesting. Do not be afraid to revise your marketing plan to respond to changing conditions. However, you still need a consistent and intelligent marketing effort.

You should be able to capitalize on new opportunities and respond to new challenges.

Plan and stay consistent - you will outpace most of your competition.

Copyright 2005 J D Moore

J D Moore Small Business Marketing Coach "helping small business owners inprove marketing results" http://marketingcomet.typepad.com

About To Start An Online Business Read This First

Writen by Steve Shaw

Copyright 2004 Steve Shaw

I recently received an interesting question from a visitor to one of my web sites: "If there is any advice that you wish you would have gotten before you started a business online, what would it be?". Rather than write an extensive email on this subject, I figured my answer would be of use to many people out there about to embark on what for many could be a life-changing experience.

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It takes a lot more work than much of the hype suggests.
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If you think you can put in a couple hours when you feel like it and achieve any level of success, you have been seriously misled. You need to be prepared to put in some very long hours, and to go through a steep learning curve as you find your way.

Establishing an online business is the same as setting up any other sort of business - it takes a lot of hard work and a lot of commitment over a long period of time, with many trials and tribulations along the way. Don't expect instant results, nor to sit on the beach after a couple of weeks while the money flows in - it doesn't happen.

The current success stories on the Internet have got there through months, more likely years, of hard work. You should be prepared to do the same, and to make whatever sacrifices you may need to make in your current life to do so.

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Don't fear failure - just get started now.
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Many people do not start something because they are afraid of failure. They are afraid of looking a fool, afraid of their nearest and dearest saying 'I told you so', afraid of wasting time, effort and expense on something that may not work out.

In fact, the very nature of the question in my opening paragraph above is based on a fear of failure. It is a vain search for that gold nugget of information that will prevent them screwing up.

The truth is that failure should be celebrated, it is a simple milestone on the way to success. It is only through failure that you can truly find the path to any sort of success, right from when you first learned to walk as a small child. Failure teaches you important lessons that make you wiser and will make your business stronger and far more likely to succeed.

Instead of just giving up when something has failed or not worked out like you expected, there is a really simple question you can ask instead that can lead to great success - "What can I learn from this experience?".

Everyone who has ever achieved success has gone through failure first. The difference is that the success stories picked themselves up, learned from the experience, and persisted anyway.

For many people, just getting started is often the hardest part. They will think about it, think some more, and then think again. Often rather than thinking in a focused way, they will end up procrastinating, and never get off the starting line.

The important part is just to get started. Yes, you may be initially doing completely the wrong thing, such as selling the wrong product in the wrong market, but failure is the only way you will learn, and the only way you will reach success. If you don't fail, you can't succeed.

And simply by starting, you have succeeded already, succeeded in getting way beyond the point that most people reach, which is usually just saying, 'One day I will'. Make today that 'one day' - why wait until tomorrow, when tomorrow never comes?

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Focus, focus, focus.
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It is important to maintain your focus on what you actually want to achieve. Are you aiming for an additional income to supplement an existing wage; or are you looking to make an Internet business a full-time occupation?

Whatever your focus is, it is important that you continually work towards it until you achieve it, whatever knockbacks or challenges you receive along the way.

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Be careful what you read - beware of information overload.
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There is so much information out there about how to do business online, much of it contradictory, that it is often difficult to separate fact from fiction.

Rather than read everything and anything you can get your hands on, it is best to find just a few people who you trust, who have a good reputation, and who are actually qualified to give the advice they give, and listen to them.

A little high-quality information can be worth a great deal.

It is also useful to watch what they actually do, and compare that to what they say - sometimes the two are very different, and following what they do is far more useful.

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Don't aim for perfection before you 'launch'.
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No web site is ever perfect, and if you try to reach a high level of perfection before you launch or make your site live, you will lose more than you can achieve. Plus your version of 'perfection' may differ a great deal to what actually works with your market.

Once your site is functional and of a reasonable quality, start promoting it immediately. Start to build up your mailing list by requesting the email addresses of your visitors. Test what works with your visitors and what does not, and alter your site accordingly.

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Listen to your visitors and customers.
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When you have started and got a web site up and running, it is important to listen to your visitors and customers, and to treat them with great respect. Not only will you learn a great deal from them about what the market is actually looking for, you can also earn lifelong customers and friends.

Positive comments from customers can be used with their permission as testimonials on your web site, which will strengthen your online credibility and profit potential.

Be prepared to continually adjust your web site to meet the market demands. A web site is never 'finished', a successful web site must evolve over time on a continual path of improvement.

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But most importantly...
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Decide to succeed - right now.

Steve Shaw of takanomi.com develops software and systems for effective e-marketing. His PopUpMaster Pro software at http://popupmaster.com creates popups that beat the popup blockers and which you can use with Google Adwords.

Telecom Audit Software

Writen by Jimmy Sturo

If you own a business, you also have to install a communication system to run it. It is simply unthinkable to run a business without the right type of communication system, which is the backbone of your business. Each and every member of your staff needs to have a telephone or other communication device for running business operations smoothly.

With as many communication devices as the number of staff in your business establishment, the chances of over-billing and even the misuse of the communication network can never be ruled out. This means your hard-earned revenues may be going down the drain while you are planning and working overtime to increase the efficiency of your resources to maximize your profits.

You need to put a check on this drain. For this, you can contact a Telecom Audit agency to look into your communication network. The agency can offer suggestions for improving efficiency, check the telephone bills, find billing flaws, contact the telephone vendors and help you recover huge overpaid amounts in billing. But all this requires time, effort and expenditure on your part, which you cannot afford to invest. This is where the Telecom Audit Software comes in. A simple piece of software can save labor and costs worth hundreds of man-hours. Telecom Audit Software can check your telecom bill's accuracy very minutely and the moment it discovers a mistake that may result in over-billing, it files a complaint for a refund or a credit the overcharge in your account. The software is so designed that it can automatically audit and verify the invoices and thus saves a lot of time in manual operations. It can also display and keep track of wrong bills. Like every other software, there may be a catch in Telecom Audit Software also, in that it can become outdated, with the new ones coming in the market with better features.

Ultimately it depends upon your individual requirements. If you are a large company with a sophisticated telecom network you need to upgrade it continually with the advancing technologies. You can experiment with the profitability or otherwise of using a software and availing the services of an auditing company.

Telecom Audits provides detailed information about telecom audits, telecom bill audits, telecom audit software, telecom bill management audits and more. Telecom Audits is the sister site of Internet Merchant Services.

Create A Dream Office You Will Love

Writen by Elizabeth Hall

All business owners create their niche in the world of free enterprise. They plant their steak in the American dream; however, the basics are the same for everyone. You must have advertising, you must take care of your bookkeeping, and you must acknowledge you employee's needs. It all stems form one central point in your business, your office.

In order to keep those creative juices flowing, it is important to have an environment that is conducive to your business spirit. Your business spirit is how you see yourself in the business world. Sounds deep, doesn't it? It simply means your office should be unique to your needs and it should reflect your personality as well as being practical. Once you put those three characteristics into play, unique to you, reflect your personality, and practical, then you will be assured of having your dream office.

It can safely be assumed, if you are small business owner you spend more time in your office than anywhere else. The following information will help you to have the office you love.

Some planning is necessary to get to where you want to be. You must asses what your needs really are. Ask yourself the following questions?

 What type of storage is needed?

 What type of space do I have to work with?

 Are there things in my office that work well for me already?

 What items do I need to have easy and fast access to?

 What colors really do it for me?

 Can I consolidate my office equipment?

Those are few questions that will help to get you started.

The next step is inventorying your office to see what you are missing. You may require additional file space. In that case you need to add file cabinets to your list, at the same time keeping your space limitations in mind. Don't be afraid to sketch your dream office on paper.

Now comes the good part. Repaint your office with your favorite colors. Make working in your office an enjoyable experience for you. Rearrange you workspace to be practical, but make sure you include things you love. That could include family photos, your mounted fish (the one that almost got away), the plaques you received for achievements and memberships, and your favorite paper weights. The ideas are endless. Make it your space. Just because it is an office doesn't mean it can't have personality.

On the technical side, you must have up to date equipment and required office supplies on hand at all times. Imagine printing several booklets at one page per minute verse 20 pages per minute or even waiting for your bank statement to load on your computer. Are you using dialup internet access or DSL? I won't get into the technical terms, but the point is, you need to have state of the art equipment to get the job done in an efficient manner. That does not mean going out buying the most expensive equipment. Once you know exactly what your needs are, stick to your guns and get equipment to fill those needs. Expansion is an important consideration, but make sure you are realistic.

Your office furniture also needs to ergonomic meaning it needs to be conducive to your body type. Is your computer monitor at an angle or directly at eye level in front of you? Is your keyboard so high up you look like you are waving to your monitor? If it is, you need to lower it so that your arms are in line with your elbows. Can you rest your feet in a comfortable position? Is your chair adjustable and comfortable? All your furniture should be tailored for you.

A great way to make sure you have the office of your dreams is to get reorganized. Clear your files, purge your databases, restock your supplies and get rid of items you no longer have a need for.

Don't know where to begin? Well great ideas are lurking everywhere. You can get great ideas for magazines, TV, the internet or your best friends, to die for, office.

Don't limit yourself. You can change the look of your office at anytime. If you feel your time should be better spent making money, than outsource. There are companies that specialize in helping you have your dream space. Take the leap and have what you've dreamed of, your very own fantabulous office.

Elizabeth Hall, owner of Smart Office Help, Inc., offers ways for your business to save valuable time and money, by providing administrative and bookkeeping services to busy business owners. Contact Elizabeth Hall at 407-884-7755 for your personalized consultation. Sign up for your FRE*E Business Success Newsletter on our website http://www.smartofficehelp.com or subscribe by sending a blank email to PaperClip@getresonse.com

From A Newbie To An Internet Guru

Writen by Norman Dreamer

Let's face it folks, how long does it take before you become an internet guru from being a newbie. The facts. The internet has been in existence for about ten years. A lot of technology has happened since then.

Phase one. When I first began, I believed everything that was on the internet. Spent hundreds of dollars on software and joined every group imaginable who claimed to make money. Years later, I do it all for free. From putting together a website to putting it up on the web server and promoting it. I don't spend one dime on it any more because I know that success on the internet is not a guarantee on investment.

Phase two. Going through all the things that all internet marketers went through in the last ten years. From pop up makers to different types of traffic tricks, learning about how your ISP cuts you off for bulk emailing to getting banned from forums for blatant advertising. The school of hard knocks. You have to try everything to understand what it takes to become successful.

Phase three. Being knowledgeable about most of what's on the internet these days. Knowing how to differentiate hype from the real thing. Understanding that having a successful website takes years to build from achieving link popularity to building an opt in email list. From joint ventures to understanding why 10% of websites make 90% of the money. It's seeing beyond the computers screen to dealing with real people and real customers.

Now you're on the verge of becoming an "Internet Guru" from being a newbie just years before. Every day there are hundreds of new sites and realizing that the competition of newcomers and the turn over rate is what makes it all worth while.

It's like that janitor who never cleans computers at work, and when I asked him why, he just replied, "It's simple,we don't do windows..."

Norman Dreamer has 2 websites. http://www.MidnightFantacy.com, http://Wxyz.0moola.com

Come Home Corporate America

Writen by Carl Delfeld

Hollow Industrial Base

During the last decade, a hot topic in Japan and America has been the "hollowing out" of their industrial bases. The share of Japanese-owned productive capacity located abroad has grown from 8% in 1994 to 40% today. The United States currently has just over 50% of its manufacturing base located offshore. For both Japan and America, the large outflows of direct investment, especially to China, have caused an uneasy feeling that both countries had bleak futures as manufacturing centers.

Surprisingly, in Japan the pendulum is now moving back as large Japanese multinationals are busy investing in manufacturing plants at home. Here are just a few examples of this trend. Canon is building a large digital camera facility and plans to spend 80% of its $7.2 billion capital budget in Japan over the next three years. This is a reversal from the past ten years when 80% of its capital budget was spent overseas.

Toshiba is building a $2 billion semiconductor facility. Sharp, Matsushita and Nippon Steel are also building major plants in Japan. Overall, spending on plants and equipment in Japan is rising at a 10% clip.

It's not that China is not important to Japan's economic growth. China has passed America to become Japan's largest export market. In addition, it needs a strong presence in China to tap its rapidly growing consumer market as well as a low cost base to manufacture lower tech products. For certain products like cars it is also likely to keep large manufacturing bases in countries like America. For example, Toyota produces more than 1 million cars annually at eight manufacturing plants in America and has two plants under construction in Texas and Tennessee.

But for the more advanced capital-intensive products, the investment is clearly coming home. How can we account for this surprising turnaround and what are the lessons for America?

Lose Now, Lose Big Later

First, Japanese firms have learned the drawbacks of outsourcing. Supply bottlenecks, poor infrastructure, power shortages, uneven quality, difficult inventory management and high employee turnover are just some of the problems. Secondly, even though China's wages are about 5% of Japan's, its increasingly sophisticated factory automation has lessened the importance of labor costs. For advanced high tech products it accounts for only 10-15% of total costs. Having manufacturing closer to home also shortens new product lead times and increases cooperation between R&D and production teams leading to a crucial edge in staying ahead of its nimble competitors. Supply lines of 2,000 miles can be problematic.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, there is the critical issue of protecting intellectual capital. Having research, development and production closer to headquarters better protects proprietary technologies. Unfortunately, here in America the outsourcing trend does not appear to be reversing even in capital-intensive products. Many of the new high tech jobs are for managers to manage the outsourcing process. Microsoft, Intel, IBM and Motorola all have large and growing R&D centers in China to take advantage of Beijing's cheaper pool of talent. Given China's disregard for intellectual property rights, perhaps American executives should pause and reconsider the long-term costs of growing outsourcing programs.

Their offshore R&D staff may very well walk off with proprietary knowledge and the company's future. Many Americans believe the loss of manufacturing jobs is just about lower wage rates in other countries but this is not always the case. One example is Whirlpool which makes its high-end front loading washing machines in Germany ($32/hour labor) and ships them to US ($23/hour labor). The reason given by Whirlpool: trained German workforce, available capacity, and necessary technology. Whirlpool could have produced these washing machines at their Ohio plant and saved the $50 per unit shipping costs while creating high wage American jobs.

Leverage Our Strengths

Then there is America's growing annual trade deficit that exceeds $600 billion a year with $200 billion attributable to our trade gap with China. You have to admit that it is harder to make a strong case against Chinese trading practices when 40% or more of American imports from China come from American multinationals with China-based manufacturing plants. Why not sell more of the stuff we make in China to China's 1.3 billion consumers? If these markets are not open to American companies, let's use the leverage of access to America's vast consumer market to bust them open.

There are some economists and policymakers who claim a strong manufacturing base is not important. I beg to disagree. History shows that manufacturing is the foundation of all wealth and that research and development follows manufacturing rather than the other way around. There are now more American workers in state and local government then in the manufacturing sector, and manufacturing as a percentage of GDP has fallen from 20% in 1980 to less than 10% today. This is not a call for isolationism or rolling back globalization, just a reminder that outsourcing has its downside. How about a little common sense and balancing short-term cost savings against long-term strategic risks?

Stop Accepting the Risk for Short Term Benefits

Instead of just taking the comparatively easy step of lowering labor costs by outsourcing, let's roll up our sleeves like the Japanese, improve manufacturing techniques and reap the benefits of keeping more production and technology closer to home.

Carl Delfeld is head of the global advisory firm Chartwell Partners and editor of the Chartwell Advisor and the Asia Investor Intelligence newsletters. He served on the executive board of the Asian Development Bank and is the author of The New Global Investor (iUniverse:2005). For more information go to www.chartwelladvisor.com or call 877-221-1496

Carl Delfeld is head of the global advisory firm Chartwell Partners and is editor of the "Chartwell Advisor" and the "Asia Investor Intelligence" newsletters. He served on the Executive Board of Directors of the Asian Development Bank in Manila and is the author of The New Global Investor (iUniverse: 2005). For more information go to http://www.chartwelladvisor.com or call 877-221-1496.

Canadian Oil Sands Who Are The Major Players

Writen by Carmen Jackson

The Canadian oil sands represent one of the most lucrative investment opportunities to oil and gas investors. With a reserve life of 35 – 50 years the oil sands will be a major source of crude oil for the years to come and will have a dramatic impact on crude oil prices. From an investor perspective it is valuable to know who the major players are in the Canadian Oil sands. Below are 4 of the major players in the Canadian oil sands.

Syncrude

Syncrude is currently the worlds largest producer of crude oil from oil sands, in 2005 Syncrude produces 78.1 million barrels of crude oil from the oil sands. Syncrde is currently completing the Syncrude 21 project which is expected to increase Syncrudes oil production from the Alberta Oil sands to 350,000 barrels per day. Syncrude spends over $40 million dollars on research and development in an attempt to determine more efficient ways to obtain crude oil from the oil sands. Thirty-two percent of Syncrude is owned by the Canadian Oil Sands Trust, 25% by Imperial Oil, 12 % by Petro Canada and the remainder by other oil and gas companies.

Petro Canada

Petro Canada's oil sands strategy is to grow the business profitably through phased and integrated development of this world-class resource. Petro-Canada is strategically positioned to capture full value from Alberta's oil sands – the largest such deposits in the world. Petro Canada possesses large lease holdings in the Alberta oil sands in additiona to owning a large refinery in the Edmonton area which is in the process of being converted to process oil sands feedstock exclusively. Petro Canada possesses a 12% interest in Syncrude, 100% ownership of the MacKay River Oil sands project. Petro Canada is a 55% owner in the Fort Hills oil sands project where they plan to develop an estimated 2.8 billion barrels of bitumen. Total oil sands reserves are estimated at 5 billion barrels.

Synenco

Synenco Energy Inc. was incorporated in 1999 to acquire and develop oil sands resources in the Athabasca region of Northern Alberta. Since its inception, Synenco has advanced steadily towards its goal of developing oil sands mining, bitumen extraction and upgrading facilities, together called the Northern Lights Project. The independent best estimate of the Northern Lights Project's resources is 1.49 billion barrels of in-place bitumen. In May 2005, Synenco created the Northern Lights Partnership (NLP) with SinoCanada Petroleum Corporation, the Canadian subsidiary of China based Sinopec. Synenco holds a 60% interest in and is the managing partner of NLP. The current cost of the NLP project is $5.3 billion. When fully operational the NLP is expected to produce 100,000 barrel a day of light sweet synthetic crude oil, with first production beginning in late 2010.

Suncor

Suncor began crude oil production from the Alberta Oil Sands in 1967 and has produced over 1 billion barrels of oil in its history. Suncor exited 2005 producing 260,000 barrels of crude oil from the oil sands per day. Suncor expects to reach 550,000 barrels of crude per day from the oil sands by 2012.

A valuable resource for anyone looking for more information on the oil and gas industry is http://www.findst.com which includes detailed oilfield job postings including oilfield jobs in Alberta, and oil rig jobs in Texas.