Archive for November, 2009

An autoresponder is a computer program that automatically answers email sent to it. Also known as an email automatic responder. It is one of the most valuable tools an internet marketer has. Using an auto responder, to multiply your marketing power exponentially, might save your valuable time. After you learn how to use one you will wonder why you waited so long to get it.Here is why it is so important.Any business can use an autoresponder to improve their business. Even businesses that are primarily operated offline can use an auto responder to make their business better by getting the name and email address of their prospects and customers on file.
You will see website owners offer something of value in exchange for a name and email address. They understand the statement “the money is in the list.”By being able to contact your prospects over and over, whenever you want, you can offer specials at different times of the year.People usually only say no to an opportunity if the timing is not right for them. By capturing subscribers on your website and following up with them via your autoresponder, you will still be there when the timing is right for them. And you won’t have to lift a finger to do this. It’s all 100% automated and handled for you 24/7/365!
The system does all the sorting, qualifying and selling for you – automatically.If you are an air conditioning company for example you could offer a preseason tune up to your customers. If you own a hair salon and business is slow you could send out an email and offer 20% off of every haircut in the next 3 days.Autoresponders are a great way to keep in touch with your business partners. If you have a mlm business you could keep an auto responder with all of your down line in it. Whenever you need to get out a training message you type it once and hit submit. You just emailed hundreds or even thousands at one time.You could use your autoresponder as a way to immediately follow up buying you time to follow up on your own when you have time. By having a bounce back message set up you appear to be on top of your business which build up your credibility.Autoresponders can be set up to send out emails in different intervals for months and years. You can program them with content to pretty much run on their own once you have them set up. And they are very easy to work with.So, optimizing your autoresponder is very, very important since your autoresponder is your tireless, auto-pilot salesman working for you every moment of the day to follow-up with your website visitors, build trust, handle objections and ultimately make the sale for YOU.Even if you hired someone and only paid them $10 per hour to do everything that your autoresponder will be doing for you, you have to spend thousands of dollars per month.But, you don`t have to pay thousands of dollars a month for an employee, because you are smart, and you are building an Internet business where 99% of the grunt work can be automated, through powerful technologies, like your autoresponder.Autoresponders are not expensive to operate. For around $20 a month you can get a unlimited number of auto responders with premiere companies .This is a drop in the bucket for the amount of money you can make and the amount of time you will save using them.Next to your website there is no more important tool to your internet presence than an autoresponder. Any smart business person will learn how to use these to the benefit of their business.Tove Kou’s work at home website provides you with articles, information and insider secrets to help you market your business on the internet. To find this and much more, check out her website at:

http://www.TK-cash-flow.biz

Gap 8 Defense

The Gap-8 and 10-1 names are really misnomers. My defense is, at times a Gap-8, a 10-1, and sometimes even a 9-1-1 or a 7-3-1. It depends on the offensive formation. The name gap-8 is from the old days when the offense was almost always in a full house T-formation with two tight ends and the defense was truly in a gap-8. Nowadays, with offenses using multiple formations, the gap-8 is really just a basic concept that gave its name to multiple ?grandchildren? that are not gap-8’s per se, but are related to the original gap-8.

Gap-air-mirror defense

A better name for the defense I advocate would be the gap-air-mirror defense.

?Gap? refers to the fact that you put four down linemen in four-point stances in the A and B gaps. The A gaps are the gaps on either side of the middle offensive lineman. The B gaps are one gap outside the A gaps.

?Air? refers to the fact that you line your contain guys up on air. It is common in other defenses to line them up on the outside shoulder of the tight end or weak tackle. When the contain men are lined up on the outside shoulder of the tight end or weak tackle, they have dual responsibility for both the C (off-tackle) and D (sweep) gaps. But in youth football, the sweep is the dominant play, so you should give your contain men only one responsibility: the D gap or sweep. Lining them up on air (just outside the tight end, wing, or weak tackle) helps them stop the sweep.

?Mirror? refers to where the defensive backs line up and what their responsibility is. The five defensive backs line up more or less on the five eligible receivers. The quarterback is a sixth eligible receiver, but he cannot receive a pass as long as he has possession of the ball. (He must be covered as a receiver if he hands, pitches, or passes the ball to another player as long as the ball remains behind the line of scrimmage.) They are in man pass coverage. That is, wherever their man goes, in pre-snap motion or post-snap play execution, they go with him, until the ball crosses the line of scrimmage, at which time they go to the ball. If the offense bunches backs in the backfield, sound defensive principles warrant converting the gap-8 or 10-1 to a 9-1-1 in the case of a youth pro-set I or a 7-3-1 in the case of a youth single wing. I use the adjective ?youth? here to mean weak passing game.

Must be in man pass coverage

Several defensive principles must be kept in mind. One is that once you have a six-man rush, you generally are forced into man pass coverage. You no longer have enough guys left to cover all the zones. That’s just as well because man is the simplest to understand and suits youth football for that and other reasons.

Must match offensive numbers on each side of ball

Another principle is that your defensive alignment must match the offense in terms of number of guys to the right and left of the ball. That requires rough mirroring. Otherwise, they could always run to the side where they had you outnumbered. The single wing worked so well for us because our opponents stayed in a 5-3-3 balanced on the ball or even shifted one man to the strong side against our unbalanced line, which had four guys on one side of the ball and only two on the other. In addition to our line being mostly to one side of the ball, our backs were all on that long side as well.

For example, in right formation, we had 2.5 guys to the left of the ball (guard, left tight end, and half of the center), but our opponents typically had 4 guys to our left (corner, end, tackle, linebacker). So they had us outnumbered on the side we were not going to run to and we had them outnumbered (8.5 to 7) on the side we were going to run to. Furthermore, all our guys were near the point of attack, but several of theirs were far away (free safety, outside linebacker, corner). It is impossible to stay in a gap-8 or 10-1 per se and remain balanced with the offense as to numbers of players to the right and left of the ball against all offensive formations. If the offense packs one area behind the O-line, the defense will have to stack itself three ranks deep.

Offensive formation dictates defensive alignment

Also, even when you can be in a two-rank defense like the gap-8 or 10-1, you cannot always choose one or the other. Many coaches have told me they use the gap-8 rather than the 10-1 because they are more conservative. It doesn’t work that way in the case of many offensive formations. The only difference between the 10-1 and gap-8 is bump-and-run alignment on wide receivers. Whether you bump or let the receivers release freely is a minor issue. Whether you are in a gap-8 or 10-1 is primarily a matter of the offensive formation, not the conservatism of the coach. I also take issue with this use of the word “conservatism.”

I am trying to win the game when I coach—not be conservative or aggressive. I put the corners in bump and run versus the wideouts because I think that has the best chance of succeeding. Most youth coaches do not practice receiver-release techniques. Also, with the gap-air defensive rush, we force the passer to get rid of the ball quickly, so it makes sense to delay the receivers whenever possible. Running a gap-8 when a 10-1 is permissible increases the chances of the receiver getting a quick, clean release. I do not see that as conservative. Rather it just sounds less likely to succeed than the 10-1. I will agree that the 10-1 is more likely than the gap-8 to be criticized by the parents and other coaches, which I think is the real reason some coaches prefer the gap-8.

The offensive formation dictates which defensive alignment you must be in. For example, against a full-house (fullback and two halfbacks in the backfield), double-tight-end T formation, a 10-1 would be too strong out wide and not strong enough in the middle, where the offensive strength is concentrated. Vacaville won our league championship in 1990 with a full-house, double-tight-end T that never ran outside the tight ends. Most of their opponents were 5-3-3 teams that had corners and linebackers defending the two flanks that Vacaville never ran to.

Prevent inside releases

Finally, when you are in man coverage, you need to prevent inside releases by pass receivers. So in general, the defender covering the receiver should line up to the inside. Against a tight end or wing, you line up nose up because it is a bit crowded in there with other defenders on either side of you. But against a split end (on the line of scrimmage) you line up on his inside shoulder in bump-and-run alignment. (?Bump and run? is another misnomer. The defender waits to see where the receiver goes and gives him a shot with one hand once he commits. Or he can fake that. There are several variations, but none of them has the defender bumping the receiver with his shoulder pads.) Against a flanker (wide receiver who is a yard back off the line of scrimmage), you line up in a walk-away position (at a 45-degree angle to the inside).

Todd Krueger is a former NFL Quarterback that runs a youth football/quarterback website called http://www.footballtools.com

Buying a used luxury car is a smart and economical decision-if you take the right approach. Today’s luxury cars are built better and last longer than ever before. Purchasing the right used luxury car means getting more car and more fun options for your money. But according to one UK based used auto dealer, 3 out of 10 people are dissatisfied with their used car purchase! That means that if you shop for cars like the average person, there’s only a 70% chance that you’ll be happy with one of the largest purchases you’re likely to make all year! Here are some tips to make sure that you’re not one of the “other” 30%.

Get an inspection:
Would you buy a used parachute from an unknown previous owner without having it opened up inspected by a professional first? If so, then you probably aren’t the type to still be reading this article. Most of us just assume that if the car looks great on the outside then it must be fine under the hood as well. No necessarily so!

Though used luxury cars are generally cared for and maintained better than non luxury used autos, there is still a chance that the previous owner caused damage due to poor maintenance. It’s possible that there could be any number of things that have gone awry that aren’t visible to the untrained eye. It may cost $75 – $150 dollars for an outside expert opinion, but this is money well spent.

Choose your dealership wisely:
Who do you think chooses the used luxury cars on the lots you go to visit? Each dealership sets its own tandards about the kind of cars that it will sell on its lot. Just like any company has a decision to make about the quality of products it sells, a dealership does the same.

Just because you see the same used Lexus SUV at two different used car dealerships doesn’t mean that they’re both created equally. The buyer at the first dealership may have higher standards for where they buy their used luxury cars than the one with the multi-colored flags strewn across the parking lot. Even if the used Lexus SUV from the second dealership costs a little less, that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a better deal.

Do your research:
Dig around online for answers about the used luxury cars you’re considering. Don’t just look at the manufacturer sites or reviews published when the car was first released. Look for customer reviews and recalls. Also get the car’s VIN number and visit Carfax.com to check for any prior damage. Oftentimes, the dealership will run and pay for the Carfax report if you ask.

If you know how to shop for used luxury cars, there’s no reason to worry about being in that unhappy 30%. By approaching car buying the right way, you’ll not only be among the 70% that are happy with their used car purchase, but smiling as you cruise by all those other car owners who paid up to 30% more for your same model car new!
About the Author

Christine is a freelance copywriter for AG SelectImports. For information on well maintained used luxury
cars, visit http://www.AGSelectImports.com.

My god are Fantasy Football players fickle!

Week 1 hasn’t concluded yet, but I’ll make some predictions. AT least 3 players that weren’t drafted in most leagues will have significant games. Charlie Batch qualifies for week 1. (Thank you bad refs and uninspired red flag thrower Nick Saban for the Heath Miller touchdown worth 28 points in one of my leagues!)

Remember Frisman Jackson from Cleveland last year? In most cases do some math before making a huge roster change.

In general these are flukes, one week wonders if you will. Consider the defense they played against, and the situation. Was it one long play that padded the stats, was it garbage time with the game out of hand?

Who might not be one week wonders? Someone who puts up numbers against a good defense and is a STARTER or in a committee or on a prolific offense. Usually it’s a rookie running back that is worth a roster move gamble. I picked up Curtis Martin his rookie year in week 1 on the waiver wire and wow did that work out!

I bet a lot of leagues didn’t draft Jerome Harrison the rookie RB of Cleveland, and I bet he’ll have a few big games. Yes it is Cleveland which is why he probably went undrafted a lot.

Laurence Maroney and his mystery knee injury probably scared a few people away. This guy will have some big games.

Jerious Norwood will have some big games.

Well I could go on and on, but I?m trying to make a point rather than be too specific. Don’t dump a mid or high round pick for a one week wonder unless it makes a lot of sense. Consider the schedule before bailing on someone! Did they open against 3 good defenses? Most leagues have 13 weeks of regular season, so pop your Fantasy Football Ritalin and in general wait at least 2 or 3 weeks!

Many Touchdowns!

Big ?Doctor? D

Come ask the Big “Doctor” D for free fantasy football advice for a limited time only.

Come ask the Big “Doctor” D on our Fantasy Football forum. For more articles by our FF Guru Big “Doctor” D come see his blog at our website www.football2006.gasrageblog.com

Technological advancements has brought the world into each individual’s home and, therefore advanced communication among opposite sides of the world.
Email is one of the easiest and least expensive methods of communication that is available in the present day. Because of the ease and low cost, it is also accessible to almost anyone with a computer. Computer swindles are now prevalent, with few safeguards present for those that are easy prey. One such scheme involves the request for a sizable sum of money by someone who claims to be in trouble. The trouble can only be resolved by an investment from the e-mail recipient. The sender of the e-mail promises to repay the kindness of the recipient by giving back a much larger sum of money. These emails appear to have originated in Western Africa, usually Ghana or Nigeria. These scams have created a negative perception of how Africa and Africans are viewed as Internet users. This type of perception does not foster a positive idea of a global ?village?. In fact, the mistrust the fraudulent schemes cause creates a divide between the African nations and those with whom they might like to fairly conduct trade.
Part of propagating the concept of the global village involves commerce, particularly in recent years, the massive amount of consumer goods that are bought and sold via the internet. The United States is marked as the nation that has brought about this mass materialism, and is seen as infecting the rest of the world to bring about a similar way of thinking, a cultural imperialism in which ideas of one culture are spread to another.
It is clear that the world is becoming closer due to the Internet wires that connect it. Given the perception of the global village that is stated in the examples presented, it would seem that this model is not a desirable condition. As a world, the occupants may not be ready to interact as closely as they do without picking up bad habits of others.
Source: Free Articles from ArticlesFactory.com

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

The article was produced by the writer of masterpapers.com.
Sharon White is a 5-years experienced freelance writer and a senior manager of custom research paper services support team. Contact her to get death penalty research paper tips and college term paper tips.

“Mama said there’d be days like this,” are strikingly honest lyrics that should be the introduction to the single dad’s national anthem. What mama didn’t say is that the days would sometimes go on, and on, and on, and on. It’s no secret that being a single parent is a tough job, and being a single mom is next to impossible, but being a single dad, now that is a death defying feat.

Single dads are not suppose to exits, it’s a sort of oxymoron; like marital bliss. Fortunately, any dad who takes on the role of single parent “by choice” should receive an Oscar; okay at least a Golden Globe. The knowledge that comes naturally to women does not exist in the pronominal character of a man.

There is however, basic knowledge that fathers should know if they find themselves under the category of single father.

Note: This list is not all inclusive and you are welcome to add your own words of wisdom, just remember like all families, single or not, your children reflect the type of home they come from, so take pride dad, take pride!

1. Babies are a lot tougher than you think, so be gentle.

2. Toddlers will not listen to you, pick your battles.

3. When feeding children 0 to 6 years of age, keep it simple, real simple.

4. Little children have accidents, get over it, learn to clean it up and wait on the next oops…it will happen.

5. Never leave the house without sending everyone to the bathroom first.

6. Always have a first aid kit. Keep one in the house, in the car and at your place of employment.

7. Child proof your home, every inch.

8. Never leave small children alone in the bath tub.

9. Never leave older children to supervise small children alone in the bath tub.

10. When tending to your children, allow the phone or cell phone to ring, the voice mail will pick up the call. Who ever it is, they can wait. Your children are a priority.

11. Play with your children.

12. Sing with your children. (Sing anyway)

13. Entertain your children. Act silly, tell jokes, have fun with your children.
14. Take pride in how your children look. Clean, well fitting, color coordinated clothing is key. Keep it simple. (Resale is okay…honest)

15. Teach your children that cleanliness is next to….well, you know….BATHE from head to toe

16. Some small children need to use deodorant

17. Talk to your mother, female friend, or female physician about female hygiene concerns

18. Talk to your children about sex, drugs, video games, porn sites and all other issues covered in the newspaper and on television, before they hear it or learn of it outside their home

19. Keep a family photo album

20. Take photos of special events and everyday activities

21. Watch your children play, study, and interact with one another, learn about their personality

22. Don’t ever, ever be afraid to tell your children “NO”…Just say “NO” (Give a short explanation, but don’t renege.

23. Organize your family life, a lack of structure is stressful to you and your children (it’s okay to have a schedule…up at 7 a.m., dinner at 6:30 p.m. lights out at 8 p.m.) You know.

24. Show and tell your children how to behave, set the example

25. “I hate you,” and “I wish you were dead” are common expressions used by all children and teens at least once in their life, expect to hear it

26. Your children are human, they will get angry. Allow a cool down period and then talk, listen, talk, listen, talk, listen, listen, listen.

27. Tweens (children 10-14) are all knowing; always go behind them and check everything they say and do

28. Teenagers are all knowing and all doing, always go behind them, under them, around, them and through them, checking everything they say and do

29. Give your children chores; there are no free lunches in life

30. Insist your teenagers work; it builds character and prepares them for the reality of life

31. Never buy your child a car or any expensive item; they will care for it better if they have invested in it 100%

32. Never get your child a cell phone unless they can pay for it themselves. If you must, use a phone that allows limited calling i.e. a Firefly (I am not plugging this, it’s just an example) if you must provide a method of communicating with your child

33. Do not buy your child anything they want, they will not respect you or appreciate the purchase

34. Tell your daughters the truth about how boys really think

35. Encourage your children to celebrate life and be happy

36. Encourage your children to understand the mind/body connection and take care of both

37. Eat health foods

38. Plant a garden with your children

39. Provide opportunities for your children to succeed, sports, board games, cooking

40. Praise your children from being good, loving caring people when they display those behaviors

41. Expose your children to the possibilities in life, encourage them to dream big dreams

42. Never be jealous of your children

43. Love your children unconditionally, there will be times when this is difficult, or impossible; just do it

44. Learn to let go of your children and let them fail, it really does build character

45. Learn to wait before helping your children out of financial difficulty. Allow them to figure out the solution for themselves

46. Know that children are particularly emotionally dependent on single parents

47. Know that single parents are particularly emotionally dependent on their children

48. Learn to live and love apart

49. Appreciate all the ups and downs of raising your children and know you did the best you could and that was alright.

50. Celebrate a job well done!
About the Author

Detra D. Davis is a certified Parent Educator with the North Carolina Parent Network and has been a writer for over 25 years. Visit her website Supporting Our Children.com, a membership site providing parents and educators with to assist them in supporting parent involvement. Author of several e-books and workbooks
email Detra at: detra_davis@supportingourchildren.com.

Daily vitamins are designed to help our bodies perform important functions. Whatever lifestyle you are engage in, diet and exercise are needed in order to function well and to stay in good health. Vitamins offer a lot of benefits. The most popular are: 1) slows the aging process 2.) offers additional strength of the immune system and 3.) increases the total energy. This article will make it easier for the readers by making it a guide for them to know the daily complete vitamins that are designed especially for them. For MenVitamin B formula such as B6, B12 and the like, increase the energy levels. This is the most common ingredient in any supplement that are made for men. Most of the multivitamins for men has Biotin. This assists in decreasing the occurrence of hair loss. It also contains Folic Acid. This is responsible for the generation of a new set of cells in the person’s body. Other vitamins which men require are magnesium, chromium, selenium, zinc and calcium. Once they have obtained these, then they will have a stronger defense mechanism. There are vitamin formulas other there in the market which also provide a wide range of vitamins, specifically Vitamins C, E and Beta-Carotene.Remember that prostate cancer is a killer in the United States and the other parts of the western world. This is quite popular to American Men. Therefore, a consideration in vitamin intake must put this into account. Daily vitamins targeted for men should also include those that protects the prostate like saw palmetto, lycopene and beta sitoserol.For WomenMost American women do not take enough Vitamin D and Calcium. This puts them in a bigger risk of losing their bones later on in their lives. Therefore, most daily complete vitamins for women are customized to provide them with boosters of Vitamin D and Calcium. Some even have a combination of these two. Other minerals such as Vitamin A and magnesium assist in strengthening the bones. These are offered in complete vitamins for the women. Vitamins for Women should also include Vitamins B6, B12, Zinc, Calcium, Magnesium and Folic Acid in order to develop their reproductive systems. These mentioned nutrients also has antioxidants (particularly Vitamins A, E and C) which decrease the radicals in the system. To put it in layman terms, it helps lessen the signs of skin aging.For ElderlyElder people must have more attention on their nutrition compared to the young or the middle-aged. Vitamin supplements are targeted for the elderly and these include the nutrients that are common in both men and women. Particularly, it has additional elements called Zeaxanthin and Lutein. These assist the elderly in regulating their eyes and also in battling the degeneration of the macular system. This is quite common to the elderly.For ChildrenIt is the children who need vitamins most of all. This is because they are growing and the nutrients they take are quite crucial to the development of their systems. Complete daily vitamins for children must include the following: Calcium for healthy bones and healthy teeth, functioning of the nerves and the muscles; Vitamin C for the maintenance and development of their immune system and tissues; Omega 3 acids for the functioning of the nervous system and the brain. Fiber is also important for bowel movements and to clean out the digestive system.

About the Author: Mario Churchill is a freelance author and has written over 200 articles on various subjects. For information on the best natural vitamin supplements or nutritional vitamin supplements checkout his website.

In recent years, it seemed that you just couldn’t go wrong when improving your home. No matter what renovations were undertaken, or how much was spent, the property ended up being worth more than the original cost plus the cost of improvements.

In fact, many people have been making a living from flipping houses – buying a property, doing a quick make-over, and on-selling for a profit.

On paper, just about every renovation has seemed to be profitable. And yet the reality is that many home improvements are a financial disaster without people realising it. How can this be?

The answer lies in the steadily improving market prices of most properties, particularly those in sought-after areas such as California USA and Queensland Australia. A rising market will tend to hide poor home improvement decisions.

Let’s take an example. Imagine a house bought in 2004 for $400,000. During 2005, $60,000 is spent on improvements, and in early 2006 the property is sold for $500,000. Leaving aside the transaction and holding costs for simplicity, that’s a profit of $40,000 on the renovations, right?

Maybe. Maybe not. You see, what you have to take into account is what that property would be worth in 2006 if no improvements had been done. Let’s say the general market growth had taken the value of that unimproved property to $450,000 during the 2004-2006 period. This represents a profit of $50,000, $10,000 more than the profit achieved through the home improvements being done.

By doing the improvements, the home owners needed $60,000 to fund the renovation costs, as well as all the time required to supervise the renovations and/or do some of the work. And they would have made more money by doing absolutely nothing!

You might be thinking, ?Well, it doesn’t matter really, because the property is still able to be sold at a profit?, and to an extent you are right. The problem occurs when the market stops growing, and the market flattens out.

During 2005, thousands of property renovators on the east coast of Australia were caught out in exactly this way, when the property market in major cities went decidedly flat after a strong boom period ended in 2004. Because the market had stopped going up, many renovators who tried to sell their properties found that the market price of the property was less than the original cost plus the home improvement costs.

Those renovators who did not actually have to sell, had the option to wait for future increases in the overall market to lift the price of their property enough to cover their costs. But those who had to sell after carrying out unwise home improvements found that they were facing losses, in some cases very substantial losses.

The flow-on effect for the Australian market has been that there are few property investors around now, and expenditure on home improvement products is sliding.

The property market in the US is still quite buoyant, but there are many signs that the market’s bull run is coming to an end. This is a time for home improvers to be cautious.

It is still possible to undertake profitable home improvements, but renovators need to follow strict guidelines and be very disciplined in their approach. Home improvements need to make financial sense whether the market is going up or not. After all, no-one wants to be caught once the music stops.

What You Can Learn From The Movie Business

Maybe everything you need to know you can learn from the movies. A friend of mine is a screenwriter in Los Angeles. Over a glass of wine, we were discussing his business and the nature of the beast in Hollywood. Hes a boy from Canada who gave up his much-loved Honda, his life savings, and his broadcasting career to move to Los Angeles to attend the American Film Institute. Not an easy feat in your mid-30s. After 8 years of hard work he is now becoming the new discovery of LA. He said the most difficult thing to adjust to was all the talking.

Collin slouches into his chair. “Everyone lies in this business. It’s all big Cheshire cat smiles but essentially people have the ‘Enough about you more about me’ mentality.”
After our conversation I thought about his last statement.

Are You On A Blind Date With Your Customer?

We tend to love what we do. So we get all excited about it and then proceed to tell everything about ourselves to the potential customer. It just reminds me of a really bad date! A one-sided conversation becomes tired pretty quickly. Customers feel like they are on a bad blind date with you if there isnt a connection to what they need.

Minus the cynicism, our clients are also thinking like the Hollywood set, “ENOUGH ABOUT YOU blabbing about all the wonderful things about your company, your product, your requirements. MORE ABOUT ME and what I need to survive and thrive!”

The Helium Test

Are you talking your face off when you are speaking with your client? When they ask you on the phone what you have to offer do they hear a massive intake of air and then you giving your best “I just sucked in helium and can talk really fast” act?

If so you arent making a connection with your customer. You sound like everyone else, you act like everyone else and you arent positioning yourself as someone who can help. Because at the end of the day what you really do is HELP PEOPLE. The only way this is accomplished is by discovering what your customer needs and researching other areas of need areas your customer may not even have thought of yet!

Questions Are The Answer!

Sounds like a paradox doesnt it? In order to help your customer you first find out what they need. Or THINK they need.
Carrie Fisher, the actress who played Princess Leah in Star Wars said Instant gratification doesnt come fast enough. Now for a girl with cinnamon buns attached to the side of her head this is a pretty profound statement.

Your customers are demanding instant gratification. They want their needs met. In most cases, it just isnt happening. The first thing out of your mouth should be “May I ask you a few questions?”

Remember W5?

Who, What, When, Where, Why and How are the foundation of selling. Customers buy when they feel an emotion NOT when theyve had information dumped on them. How do you do this? By asking questions! Our customers become engaged when they feel curiosity.NOT boredom.

Our customer contact should be handled with this premise Create Curiosity With Questions.
Would the Academy Want You?

Create your own Academy award winning sales success by talking less and listening more. As Collin says, the best agents ask a multitude of relevant questions. Then they listen to the answers and make it happen. Are you acting like a star with your clients or are you being an agent? Your success lies in the answer.

Copyright 2005

About the author:

Kim Duke is Head Training Queen of The Sales Divas a sales training company that believes selling is fun! Sign-up for her free e-zine jam packed full of sales tips for entrepreneurs and anyone who sells! Visit her website www.salesdivas.comor email her at info@salesdivas.com

Christmas international travel
475

[shudder]. No really, a little EQ – managing the attitude, and using the ole noggin’ can make it almost pleasant!

1. Pack your patience and your Emotional Intelligence.

Turn down the emotiong, turn up the forethought. Example – research your destination on the Internet prior for websites where individuals (not paid interests) can tell you what you can ^anticipate^.

2. Pre-arrange everything you possibly can air, hotel, car, restaurant, attractions, plays.

3. Make copies of your passport, travelers checques, credit cards, itinerary, and airline tickets.
Carry one copy with you and leave one copy with your designated emergency-contact.

4. Carry with you the address and phone number of your countrys embassy (consulate) for each country youll visit. if you should need them, you won’t want to be looking.

5. Take any regular medication in your hand luggage and be sure you have more than enough for your trip. (Remember needles and scissors cant be in hand luggage.)

6. Check the US State Dept. advisories, www.travelstate.gov, before your go for immunizations, hazards and other pertinent information; the Overseas Security Advisory Council, www.ds-osac.org, and the Transportation Security Administration site, www.tsatraveltips.us.

7. You’ll know you’ll be eaiting, so use your EQ and figure out how to make it A Good Thing.

Use e-ticket and online checkin when you can.
Bring along that book youve been meaning to read
Bring a pre-paid phone call and catch up with buddies
Bring a neck pillow and plan to catch up on your rest
Dress appropriately for sitting or lying around an airport for a long time loose clothing that can be abused

8. Use your neocortex when you pack, not your brain-stem. (You KNOW the rules, abide by them! Exorcize from the brain-stem another time, another place.)

Pack carry-ons lightly so they can be checked more easily
Check the checked baggage allowance and be sure your name and contact details are on the outside of each bag
Avoid packing anything that looks like a weapon (guide anything you wouldnt give an 18 mo. old free access to nail file, letter opener, knitting needle, and the more obvious hand grenades)
When traveling to and from North America, TSA recommends not locking checked baggage
Check here www.tsa.dot.gov for common items which become hazardous in flight due to temperature changes and pressure, and dont pack them.

9. Be sure you have a valid passport and any required Visas and be prepared to show them at any point along the way.

10. Know the rules of security checkpoints and abide by them.

Only ticketed passengers can proceed beyond it
All electronic items will be screened laptops and cells. Remove laptop from travel case.
Keep ticket and boarding pass and ID within easy reach like on neck chain
Wear shoes easy to remove and as little jewelry as possible

Susan Dunn, MA, cEQc, The EQ Coach, http://www.susandunn.cc, sdunn@susandunn.cc . Would you like to be an EQ coach? We offer training and certification, long distance, no residency requirement. Rigorous programme plus products available for licensing that will prepare you to launch your practice in this fast-growing new field. www.eqcoach.net. mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for FREE ezine.