A Market Spell

If you are finding yourself somewhat challenged by cold calling and you have convinced yourself that you just hate it, then you may need to do a little cold calling warm up practice. Many cold-calling salesmen will set a big goal of cold-calling 20-30 potential customers or prospects in their target market groups per day.

At that rate sometimes they run out of people to call. So they look for ancillary target markets. Many times a salesman will call up the least likely businesses or prospects first to help them warm up. Sound like a good idea right? Well, yes and no; yes as you will get bombarded with rejections and this is good practice to warm up with.

No, because it sets the stage for accepting defeat too easily and also they are the least likely so you need to be of a sharp mind if you really wish to sell them something or pique their interest or curiosity.

You probably do need a warm up, well how about someone you know who is in sales to warm you up and allow them to cold call you too when they need to warm up? Or how about calling an easy sale first or a lead which came in with a customer ready to buy and fall all over you trying to hand you the money? Well, consider all this in 2006; how will you warm up for the big cold calling pitch this week?

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

The Patriarch Prajnatara instructed Bodhidarma, “Tathagata bestowed Mahakasyapa with the absolute dharma-eye, and was transmitted as such until it reached me. Now I shall instruct you: Even though China of the east is vast, there is no other path. The future shall depend upon our uncle’s descendants to carry on. A golden cock is holding a single grain of seed to nourish and feed all the saints and monks everywhere.”

In the temple of Tao, Bodhidarma said, “Coming from the far-away land to spread the wonderful Truth to man. Manuscript and Dharma, I cannot bring, but all are contained in my heart instead. Riding on a reed, I crossed the River Yangtze and people wonder how I could do such a thing. People hope to learn the power equal to this but what a pity that none has achieved. What is the power and how to attain it? When one sees power, power is actually nil. But people hope for power, thereby it grows from the heart. Taking root, it grows into power of a million kinds. Without power, yet power is there. With power yet one cannot find it. To achieve the understanding of the Truth, one must use the right method. Practising the inner heart meditation, one may realize more. All realizations take place from inside and not from outside. When the heart grows, everything will grow. When the heart dies, everything will cease. Passionate desire begins its growth from the seed. The root takes place and one sees the plant. If there be no seed or root, there will neither be newborn nor death.”

Bodhidarma is the Patriarch and founder of Zen Buddhism and master of “Kung-fu”. He also brought tea to China and to keep him falling asleep while meditating, he cut off his eyelids, and where they fell, tea bushes grew. Since then tea has become the beverage of not only monks but also everyone in the Orient. Faithful to this tradition, artists invariably depict Bodhidarma with bulging lidless eyes.

Shortly after Bodhidarma transmitted Tao to Huik’u in China, he died in 528 AD on the fifth day of the tenth month, poisoned by a jealous monk. Three years later, an official met Bodhidarma walking in the mountains of Central Asia. He was carrying a staff from which hung a single sandal and he told the official that he was going back to India. Reports of this meeting aroused the curiosity of other monks, who finally agreed to open Bodhidarma’s tomb. All they found was a single sandal and ever since Bodhidarma has been pictured carrying a staff from which hangs the missing sandal.

This is a true story and not a legend. Spiritual people of the past are very divine. During the time of Confucius, when he needs the answer from Heaven, the Heavenly bird with long beak will descend from Heaven and write on the sand the answers and hence it is called sand writing. In this modern time in the temple of Tao, divine messages are delivered through similar process but instead of divine bird, it is young purified lady used by Heaven to deliver messages on the sand box.

Author: T.A Chew

T.A Chew grew up near a Tao temple where his father was the head of the village with surname Chew. In his childhood days he saw mediums in trance and curing people with sickness. A deity told him that he will one day be able to spread Tao because he has divine bones. Thanks a lot Heaven. Website: http://www.white-sun.com

Who is the perfect salesperson? Your neighbor? Your spouse? Your best friend? Your business associate? Doctor? Dentist? Store Clerk?. We are all salespeople. Each and every day we sell something to someone – a thought, a belief, an idea, a product or service (Example: Your neighbor “sells” you on why you should eat at a specific restuarant; your spouse “sells” you on why they need a new car; your dentist “sells” you on why you should whiten your teeth; the store clerk “upsells” you on getting the perfect tie to go with that perfect suit; etc.). BUT, we don’t consider ourselves to be salespeople. WHY?

What does the perfect salesperson look like?

How old is the perfect salesperson?

How educated is the perfect salesperson?

How bubbly, how outgoing, how gregarious, how attractive?

Male? Female?

What ethnic background?

Where can I find this perfect salesperson?

CUSTOMER view of the PERFECT salesperson:

1. Knowledgeable
2. Solutions Oriented
3. Understanding
4. Helpful
5. Organized
6. Credible
7. Interested
8. Honest
9. Manicured
10. Empathetic

COMPANY view of the PERFECT salesperson:

1. Go Getter
2. Bubbly
3. Outgoing
4. Great People Skills
5. Closer
6. High Energy
7. Aggressive
8. Assertive
9. Well Organized
10. Self Disciplined

REALITY of the PERFECT salesperson:

1. Semi-skilled
2. Pressured by demands and expectations
3. Misunderstood
4. Inadequate administrative support
5. Poor leadership
6. Unrealistic job description
7. High expectations – limited or no respect
8. Unorganized
9. Poor or no planning skills
10. Outdated or ineffective training materials and systems

Why all of the confusion? Everyone has a different image and expectation of the perfect salesperson – even the salesperson! There is no ideal salesperson. Salespeople come in all sizes, shapes, colors, ages, ethnic backgrounds, experience, and education.

However, you could find the “perfect” salesperson at the “perfect” company with the “perfect” client.

Teri Samuels, CEO – United Sales Training (http://www.unitedsalestraining.com), 20 years as a Professional Sales and Marketing Troubleshooter, Trainer, Recruiter, Upper Level Manager, and Consulting Professional. Dedicated to the “keep it simple” approach.

To receive 1 free mini-consultation via email: tsamuels@unitedsalestraining.com

My mother has never had a cell phone and wanted one that she could access the Internet and attend to her stock exchange online. Mother’s day was coming up in about three weeks and my brother and I decided to go together and get her a Blackberry phone. The salesman at the store told us they would be having a special offer in one week and we may want to consider waiting until then. We could purchase on phone at regular price and get 50% off a second one. I decided that I was in need of a new phone myself and this sound like a deal I could not refuse.

Also, Valentines day was a perfect time to give that special someone a gift that is very important. I decided to give my girlfriend a Blackberry for this occasion and went to purchase it. When I got to the store they told me they were out and would have some in about three days. I told them this was suppose to be for a valentine gift which was tomorrow. They called another store to see if they had any available; the manager told us he had one left and would hold it for me if I wanted. I let him know that I could give him my credit card to hold it. He said that was not necessary.

“I don’t sell anything online, I don’t advertise online, in fact I don’t really even know how to use a computer… why should I pay for a website?”

If you don’t feel a website can help your business grow or increase business sales,
or if you’re happy with the site your nephew made for you over half a decade ago…
then you’re not intune with current business trends and business practices.

Fear the unknown no longer!

Don’t feel inferior and don’t let that notion frighten you… that’s why were here! To
educate and help you understand exactly how our design and website services can
help you.

You shouldn’t do something because everyone else is. As far as the internet is
concerned, there are definitely good, sound, solid reasons for having a web
presence. This article will touch on just a few… and none of the following points
have anything to do with selling a product or service of any kind online. All of these
reasons affect your brick and mortar business… in a positive way!

The reasons you should have a website in plain English.

Even if you never use the internet, MOST of your customers do. In early 2005,
Google announced it had over 9 Billion pages in its index. Common sense should
tell us that there must be something to this internet marketing!

By having even a simple, informative website about you, your product or service,
you open an instant, FREE door to perspective clientele that you never had before.
This is the digital information age. The purpose of the website is to give yourself a
billboard in it. Even the simplest website can:

Instant Access to your business Collateral-
Provide Downloadable forms, price lists, sale sheets and brochures to people
researching a purchase. House a forum via email to quickly and easily answer
questions about your goods and services.

Reduce Costs-
A strong enough web presence can eliminate many print advertising and other
campaign costs. Even on the most rigourous web campaigns, the advertising cost
per customer is far, far less by comparison.

Give People What They Are Looking For-
More and more people research a company or product online before face to face
contact. Today people expect to find a web site for a company with at the very least
further information on services or products.

Always On-
Information about your company is available 24/7, locally, nationally, and globally
at no extra cost. Imagine the cost of a direct mail piece through the post office to
every address in the world with a computer!

Cost Effective-
Can easily be the most cost effective advertising and marketing medium of
communication to existing and potential customers.

Showcase What You Do Best-
If your product and service is quality and you’re a one person operation, your
website can focus on your business and open the door to people who might not be
thinking of a smaller business for their needs.

John Krycek — As the owner and creative director of theMouseworks.ca I’ve found the best way to help
people with internet marketing is to first help them understand internet marketing!
Read more articles on the insights and
secrets of web design and search engine optimization in easy, non-technical,
up front English!

A lottery consortium can be a secure and easy means to play the lottery without blowing a friend’s hard earned cash; one only needs caution to set-up plus with the correct lottery contracts in place or maybe an e-lottery consortium. Once in a while though it can be sticky when considering the matter of money and can even get people livid with one another. This is why a 3rd individual who addresses the cash is therefore a good idea.

Therefore, to be the consortium leader and purchase the lottery tickets for the UK Lotto you have to live in the United Kingdom. This does not mean that you must reside in the Uk to take part in the Uk Lotto though. All you need to do to set up or join a lotto consortium and have the lotto tickets purchased in the UK. When the draw takes place then all that’s required to do is check off your lottery numbers. Colleagues, friends and fellow workers placing their money jointly to purchase multiple lotto tickets is not a new concept! There have been various stories of factory employee’s and acquaintances that have won the jackpot. Astonishingly though, yet when they have gained a substantial measure of money they however go back to work as normal.

That’s them, for most of us it seems an e-lottery syndicate is probably the most effective way of winning the lottery. The idea works on one simple rule which is the more lotto tickets your syndicate buys the better your likelihood is of succeeding. There are nevertheless still those individuals that seem to win with just one lotto ticket although they’re exceptional, though a few individuals are capable of winning the jackpot by buying one or two lotto tickets on their way home from work. Nonetheless an increasingly standard process for winning requires the use of syndicates. This procedure presents you with a lot more chances to win by purchasing as many lotto tickets as conceivable.

That’s right. According to a recent study by Nielsen/NetRatings, Amazon.com converts 12.8% of its visitors into sales.

Do you know how they do it? (I do…)

I’m about to let you in on a little secret that 99% of online marketers (even most of the so called “experts”) don’t seem to understand…

The smartest, most successful online marketers and businesses invest as much time and money into improving conversion rates as they do in building traffic.

Now that you know this “secret”, ask yourself:

“Do I spend more time and money building traffic than I do improving my website’s conversion rates?”

If you are like most online marketers, I’ll bet you answered “yes” to that question.

Why do companies like Amazon.com invest so much time, effort and money into improving conversion rates?

It’s simple… They know that even small improvements in your conversion rates can produce huge impacts on your bottom line.

Often, boosting conversion rates by even 1% can double or triple the effectiveness and profitability of your traffic building efforts.

Do you ever wonder how some of your competitors can afford to bid 2 or 3 times as much on certain pay-per-click keywords as you can?

The answer is simple… Their websites are more effective at converting traffic into sales.

Let’s say your site converts 1% of your visitors into customers, and you earn a $100 profit on each sale.

With those numbers the most you can afford to spend on each visitor is $1.00 per click. (And, if you want to make a profit, you need to bid less than that…)

Now, if your competitor is selling the same $100 profit, product and his website converts 2% of visitors into customers. Your competition can afford to bid $2.00 per click to break even. (The worst part is… Your competitor can out bid you at $1.01 per click and earn a $0.99 profit per visitor, while you are just breaking even at $1.00 per click!)

The bottom line is this…

If you double your website’s conversion rate, you double the effectiveness of every marketing dollar you spend.

Want to improve your conversion rates? Eric Graham is the CEO of several successful online companies. Internationally recognized as a top authority on eCommerce, Website Conversion & Internet Marketing, he’s an in-demand speaker & consultant.

Visit http://www.web-site-evaluations.com today for an in-depth evaluation to boost YOUR websites conversion rate!

Get expert tips, advice, news and commentary on improving conversion rates, split testing, web usability, copywriting, internet marketing and more. Just visit Eric’s popular Blog:
http://www.conversiondoctor.com/conversion-blog/

I once created a notepad-like editor. It is possible with this editor to write Russian text on a western Windows without using a Cyrillic keyboard in front of your computer.

This software is equipped with an on screen Russian keyboard which is situated under the text field of the notepad like editor. The keys on the screen based keyboard is displayed with both Latin and Cyrillic characters. The Cyrillic characters are displayed in red and the Latin are displayed in Black.

http://www.russianeditor.com

One day, I got an angry e-mail from one users of the product.

He wrote

Don’t you know that “so and so” many people have one form or another of colorblindness. I can’t read the Russian character in the keyboard. Could you change the color of the letters?

At that time I used a bright red color for the Russian characters and the keys were in gray.

I have since of course changed the color. Now I use a more darker red color to represent the Russian letters.

I myself don’t suffer from this problem, but I while ago I surfed around on the Internet and found a cool website that is all about colorblindness and remembered the e-mail and the adjustment I had to made to the Russian editor.

On that site is a tool which you can use to see how your website would look if you were a colorblind person. The URL is http://www.vischeck.com/vischeck/vischeckURL.php

You just type on your URL and you can then see how your web page will look for a person with different forms of colorblindness.

I learned there that there are different forms of colorblindness.

In fact the term colorblindness is a little misleading, because most people with color blindness don’t see the world in black and white. They can see colors, but not all colors. Total colorblindness is very rare. Color deficiency is a much better term to use.

Different form of color deficiency affects large number of people.

Colorblindness is in a large extent a gender problem, because it is affecting males much more often than females.

Here are some facts, I’ve learned!

About 8 % of males have some sorts of color deficiency.

For females this figure is under 0.5%.

On the http://www.vischeck.com/vischeck/vischeckURL.php you can check for 3 forms of colorblindness:

Deuteranope (a form of red/green color deficit)

Protanope (another form of red/green color deficit)

Tritanope (a blue/yellow deficit- very rare)

There are more types of colorblindness, but these tests will cover the most common types.

They also offer the same color blindness function with a plug-in software for Photoshop.

Colorblindness is not a problem if the text on your web site is in blank on a white background.

But, if you mix text with color on a colored background, this can create a problem with your web site for many viewers.

It is more common to make mistakes if you mix the wrong colors on external images and banners that have text in one color and the background in another, than to mix the wrong color with raw text.

Copyright 2004 Per Strandberg

About The Author

Per Strandberg is a web marketer and software designer!

Explore Web Niches with The Niche Market Database!

at ==> http://www.niche-exploration.com

He has a site on data storage and backup information at http://www.data-backup-and-storage.com

He also has a site on Russian language learning at http://www.homeworklang.com

As a Christian Life Coach and a policeman, one of the worst villains to me is the “Con-man”. I have seen the hurt and pain brought about by such despicable people. Yet these Con-men are so slick at what they do, that many people do not realize that they are being trapped by a lie. These are the sort of people who would take the last dime of a poor grand-mother and never think twice about it. These Con-men also destroy the ethics and personal character of their victims, with no more regard – than if they where stealing their victims last dime.

The term con-man comes from the words – confidence man. It is a person that uses lies to gain your confidence. In short they are swindlers, who use deception and persuasive speech to get people to part with their money, valuables, property, etc. Con-men usually weave their deceptions around just enough truth to make things sound good to their potential victims. They are often both polished in their appearance and personable. Their half-truths and likeability readily gain them entry to their victim’s wealth. By the time their victims find out that they have been swindled, it is often too late and the confidence man was long gone with their wealth.

Con-men also play upon the needs and hopes of their victims in order to extract money or riches from them. For example, many prey upon the elderly who need extra income. The con-artist tells them that with wise investments, you can increase your retirement account. While it is true that with wise investments, one can increase their retirement account, the con-man has no plans to give out wise counsel. Many of these crimes go unreported, because the victim is too ashamed to tell someone.

It is not only our wealth and property that are targeted by swindlers. Our ethics and good name are also prime targets. Swindlers in the business world, universities, schools, etc. will weave deceptions around the truth and destroy ethics that where once sound. As the half-truths of (…no one will ever know; …you can be rich; …go on, you deserve it; etc.) falls on open ears and minds that are receptive to selfishness and greed. The next thing they know, they have sprung the trap on themselves.

In the book of Genesis, the ultimate swindler told Eve that if she ate of the fruit that God had forbidden her and Adam to eat, that she would not surely die. The swindler continued to weave his lies around the truth, by saying to Eve that – …God had forbidden the fruit because he did not want Adam and Eve to be like him. Now God had told Adam and Eve, that to eat of the forbidden fruit would bring death, but that old serpent had planted the thought in Eve and Adams’s heads that they could be more than they were. Not only that, but that God was not being honest with them by keeping something of great value from them. As it turned out, God was the one being honest. Adam and Eve where much more than they believed they where, but choose to believe that they where lesser than they where. They believed that an apple would make them better. That it would make them like God. The trap was sprung as they choose an apple over paradise. This was the first real-estate scam ever in recorded history.

Don’t get scammed. If anything sounds too good, it probably is and you need to examine it before you end up being trapped by a lie. In time past, when several generations lived under one house hold, you could go to your elders. But times have changed and very few house holds have members of more than one generation. Today, many victims never pray to God nor seek out advise from Godly mentors before handing over their hard earned money and valuables to swindlers both in the work place and at home. Neither do the victims pray or seek out advice from Godly mentors before compromising their character and ethics. It is critical that you know where you want to go in your life and create a plan for getting there. Then stick to your game plan. It is more difficult to fall pray to a lie, if you are sticking to a well orchestrated plan. If you don’t know how to get to where you want to go or you are not sure on how to create a plan, you should seek out a good mentor or coach. But be sure to pray about it first. After you pray about it, work with a coach, a mentor, or an accountability partner – which you feel lead by God to work with.

Copyright 2005 Stan Lewis

Stan Lewis is a Christian Leadership & Life Coach. If you liked this article, you should really check out his new “Thinking Style” assessment by Clicking Here or his other FREEBIES at http://www.realleadership4coachinglife.com Questions about this article or you need assistance, please call me at 214-629-7217.

Almost all betting fans may recently have found the expression “offshore sports betting” in recent months, but a few might not be totally sure what that indicates. An offshore gambling internet site basically acts extrinsically to the dominion of any particular land alternatively it can also mean an internet betting site which has the majority of its host computer in a land where computer accessible gaming isn’t currently forbidden. Concisely then, it’s best described as a sports gambling business functioning outside the land of the gambler. Online gaming sites are currently governed with the help of three organisations. They are the OSGA (the Offshore Gaming Association), IGC (Interactive Gaming Council) and the Fidelity Trust Gaming Association (the FTGA).

The OSGA are a non-partisan institute which keeps tabs on the thriving offshore sports gambling trade, they endeavor to also give sports betting fans access to identify trust-worthy web based businesses to play betting games on, without anguish. It endeavors to maintain customer’s rights, also they don’t impose any membership dues.

The agency are a proficient not to mention objective third party company who voice unbiased opinions, built on customer feedback, independent studies, conversations, tips moreover supplies inside gossip.

The IGC are a non-profit-making organization. The organization has been founded to supply a forum for curious individuals to talk through controversies and also to shared interests in the multinational online gambling industry, in an effort to establish conscientious not to mention competent industry standards and systems which strive to raise consumer faith in internet gambling commodities and services, and also to work as the industry’s universal procedure representative and it also operates as a data clearinghouse.

The IGC has developed a reputation for honesty, fairness also plausibility via the ethical standards it stands for, and its appeal to business concerns of honest standing. The IGC regularises offshore betting by means of recommending a special 10-step acceptable procedure rules and in addition charges gaming internet sites license fees for publishing their logo. Frustrated clients may additionally recount their disputes to the Interactive Gaming Council.

The FTGA was established in an effort to set a benchmark to improve the procedures of live sports betting internet sites. The IGC hope that by carrying on trade with sites of good standing, they are able to form a union of the most honest and professional overseas betting companies all over the globe.

To review, there are governing bodies that oversee the behavior of internet based gambling and which should with luck function to assuage some of the concerns due to the insecurity held by doubters. Online betting websites are completely dependable, now that individual details are no longer required and in addition the recompense not to mention the gaming odds are usually as balanced and honest as in a regular Vegas-type sportsbet. They eradicate the traveling expenditure, but retain the atmosphere of a Vegas-style gaming internet site, only nowadays you can game in your own home.

Ovechkin begins .most important week.