Griselda spent hours polishing up her resume. No detail was too small: type face, layout and spacing. She weighed each word, counted each comma. She sent out 200 resumes and received no responses.

Reginald spent even more hours designing the most perfect website for his new business. Working with a highly recommended web designer, he chose colors, graphics, and layout. He agonized over products to offer his clients. After the site was launched, nobody came -- and visitors flew away, like bumblebees from a flower, taking free honey and moving on.

Griselda and Reginald are intelligent, motivated people. They turned their intelligence and motivation to designing a perfect product -- not conducting research on what the market wants.

Why? Testing the market is difficult -- sometimes impossible. Ideally, you will find at least six people who resemble those in your target market. I encourage clients to choose people who can offer you candid opinions. When you keep hearing, "This is wonderful," you haven't found the right resources.

Some newbie entrepreneurs hold focus groups or idea parties, complete with refreshments. That's a great idea if you can pull it off. Communication is contagious. When one person begins to be critical, the rest will follow.

Career-changers need to network (there's the n-word again!) to identify experienced managers who can help them evaluate their job campaign. You need to convey the message, "I'm one of you! I belong in your industry."

o Here are some questions to get started:

o Who are your ideal clients -- or employers, if you're changing jobs?

o How do they make decisions? Impulsively? Over time? After consultation with others?

o What information will influence the buying decision?

o Imagine that your ideal client (or employer) has just hired you and is absolutely delighted with your services. How will she or he describe you to a colleague?

o What are the hot buttons to use -- and to avoid?

How to Get Started:

NewAsk a quick question
Free weekly Your Next Move Ezine
Hire Cathy Goodwin as your writing coach
Promote Your Website Free: A do-it-yourself workbook
Mastering Five Writing Challenges: a free ecourse
Cathy's Self-Help Book: Making the Big Move

About The Author

Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., is an author, speaker and career/business consultant, helping midlife professionals take their First step to a Second Career. http://www.cathygoodwin.com.

"Ten secrets of mastering a major life change" mailto:subscribe@cathygoodwin.com

Contact: cathy@cathygoodwin.com 505-534-4294

Tags:
absolutely agonized bumblebees business campaign career/business challenges: changing clients communication complete conducting consultant consultation contagious critical decisions? delighted describe designer designing difficult

If you're creating a community web site or a business web site, one of the first things on your agenda will be finding good, dependable, affordable web hosting for your site. In most cases, a free hosting service isn't going to work. You'll quickly discover that there's a wide range of prices in what's considered affordable, and in what services come with your web hosting package.

What to look for in an affordable web hosting package

Before you make any decisions, it's important that you know what you'll need. Sit down and plan what you'll be using your web site for, and what your server will need to provide for you in order for you to do it. As an example, if you plan to host a web-based community forum, you'll probably need a web host that provides PHP and an SQL database. If, on the other hand, you're planning on running Active Server Pages, or .NET applications, you'll need a server running Windows rather than a UNIX or Linux code base.

Know what you're looking for before you start looking. It will be far easier than having to change once you get started.

Watch Out for A La Carte Plans

Add-ons can turn an affordable web hosting package into an expensive proposition before you know it. Most hosting packages will allow you to add on a la carte items as you need them, but it can get pricey quickly. If the web host you choose charges a setup fee for the shopping cart you didn't think you'd need, it could easily be the equivalent of several month's hosting fees. Instead, you should decide what you'll need, then get more than you think you'll use.

Even the cheapest web host should provide 24/7 support.

Ideally, your web hosting provider should acknowledge any request for help within an hour with an estimated time of completion. They should provide you with a searchable knowledge base and tutorials to guide you through most common tasks you'll need to do, and support desk help should be available to you online at all times.

No matter how low cost a web host is, if it's not working, then you're paying too much. Before you sign with a web hosting provider, monitor them for a while, or ask around on forums about their record. A hosting service MUST be reliable. A hosting service that can't keep your site online and available will only lose you business and money.

To view our top recommended companies for web hosting, visit: Recommended Web Hosting Companies Online.

Carrie Reeder is the owner of eZerk, an informational website with articles and the latest news about various topics, including web hosting.

Tags:
acknowledge affordable applications articles available business cheapest community companies completion considered creating database decisions dependable discover equivalent

You've put a lot of work into your garden, from planning to digging to weeding to all the little tasks that keep it looking beautiful. Sharing your garden with others is the next step, and doing that requires more than pretty rows of plants. You created a garden to enjoy, didn't you? Imagine your garden in use - garden benches and patio furniture to provide places for people to sit and enjoy the fruits of your labor. Choosing garden furniture can be the ultimate expression of your pride in the garden you've grown.

When choosing garden furniture, you should take into account the kind of use that your garden will get. Is your garden meant to be a relaxing haven for just you? A place where you'll read and sip iced tea, away from the bustle of the modern, busy world? In that case, what better piece of garden 'furniture' is there than a classic hammock, slung between trees or on its own stand? And of course, if you put up a garden hammock, you'll need a small garden table close to hand to hold your iced tea and book when you pull your hat down over your eyes to snooze in the sun.

Perhaps you picture dining al fresco in your garden. In that case, you'll be choosing garden furniture that includes patio or garden table and chairs. From beautiful white-painted French bistro sets to elegant glass and wood dining sets complete with parasol and side tables.

The garden furniture that you choose can set the tone for your outdoor space in the same way that your choice of sofa, chairs and tables defines the style of your living room. A stone garden bench with urns gives a completely different ambience than a pair of rustic, unpainted Adirondack chair with a small table between them. A pair of sun loungers (or chaise lounges) with comfortable cushions invites your guests (and you!) to relax and enjoy the lazy pleasure of the outdoors. Park benches with black cast iron accents can lend a touch of turn-of-the-century Parisian charm to a simple garden, or fit right into a smooth expanse of lawn.

When you're choosing garden furniture, you'll find a wide variety of styles and materials. Molded PVC furniture is a popular choice, in colors that harmonize with the natural surroundings. Wood picnic tables with benches are a standard, and classic redwood tables, benches, chairs and loungers are still one of the most chosen types of garden furniture in the world.

Whatever your choice, just remember the reasons that you grew a garden to begin with - the pleasure and beauty of nature. Choose garden furniture that enhances both your garden's beauty and your enjoyment of nature.

Matthew Anthony has produced articles on many furniture related topics such as garden furniture and childrens furniture.

Tags:
adirondack ambience articles beautiful benches choosing comfortable complete completely cushions different enhances enjoyment expression furniture

In his 1968 seminal novel, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Arthur Clark introduced HAL, a spaceship computer with artificial intelligence. Mission engineers designed HAL to carry out an array of technical orders to safeguard the ship's mission. HAL operated flawlessly until it reported the failed operation of a ship system that was operating perfectly. Rather than correct the mistake, HAL's logic dictated that it would be more efficient to kill the ship's crew. Ever the polite computer, HAL killed quickly and quietly until it was unplugged by the sole remaining crewmember, Dave Bowman.

Many small business owners believe that HAL's progeny are carrying out HAL's murderous mission in the small business credit arena. Computers now make important credit decisions for major banks and financing companies. Each day in the U.S., computers with fancy algorithms score thousands of small business credit transactions. Though credit-scoring models work well for most small companies, many believe these systems, like HAL, have run amuck. Routinely, transactions with low scores are turned down and applicants are notified of the decision by computer-generated rejection letters.

By gaining a better understanding of the credit scoring process, you may be able to help your firm maneuver in the new world of credit scoring. Here are some key points about business credit scoring worth noting:

1. Credit scoring automates the credit evaluation process. Credit providers use these systems to speed up loan processing, to cut processing costs, to quickly adjust rates and terms to match credit risks, and to add a high degree of objectivity to credit decisions.

2. Credit scoring is a predictive system based on statistical modeling. Scoring systems are designed to forecast whether borrowers will be successful in repaying loans. Many systems use up to 20 factors to evaluate credit worthiness.

3. Many lenders and leasing companies use credit scoring for business transactions under $100,000. Over 90% of major credit providers use credit-scoring systems on transactions below $ 50,000.

4. A pioneer and leading credit scoring service, Fair Isaac and Company, researched statistical credit modeling in the 1980s. They determined that the personal credit behavior of a company's key principals/owners is a strong predictor of their business credit behavior. Simply stated, a business owner who pays personal bills on time generally will cause his/her company to pay bills on time.

5. The Fair Isaac scoring model produces business credit scores ranging from 50 to 350. Credit providers usually consider a business credit score above 220 to be a good risk. They consider a score of less than 175 to be a high risk.

6. The overriding factor in business credit scoring is the credit history of the business owners or the key principals. In addition, there are other factors related to the owners'/principals' personal credit profiles used to score small business transactions

7. Business-related credit factors scored include: the company's time in business; company size; industry; form of company organization; history of paying bills on time; business net worth; average bank balances; ratio of debt service to cash flow; and recent judgments, bankruptcies or agency collections.

8. Many large lenders, such as Well Fargo Bank and Bank of America, have developed their own predictive business credit models. Several have even fine-tuned the Fair Isaac model to better meet their needs and preferences.

9. If your firm is rejected for credit based on a scoring model, ask the lender to explain the rejection. Some lenders will reconsider if requested, but may require additional credit information.

10. Some lenders have special pools for higher risk credits. They usually charge higher rates and offer terms that are less advantageous than for high-scoring transactions. Others may ask for credit enhancements to grant approval, such as additional collateral or outside guarantees.

11. Here are ten ways to improve business credit scores:

* Improve the credit habits and profiles of the key principals or business owners

* Pay all back taxes

* Settle outstanding liens and judgments

* Pay bills on time and be consistent with payments

* Eliminate supplier disputes by settling with any suppliers or former employees

* Sell or factor accounts receivable to improve cash flow

* Establish your firm's credit record by registering with the Secretary of State where your business is incorporated

* Try to improve individual and company credit for at least twelve months

* Buy from vendors who report activity to the major credit bureaus

* Set up automatic account debiting with creditors to help eliminate the possibility of paying slow

Credit scoring is not designed to predict individual loan performance with certainty. Rather, these systems do a great job of quantifying risks for groups of borrowers with similar characteristics. A disadvantage of credit scoring systems is that they are easy to misapply. If the lender's customers don't share characteristics and behavior patterns with the model's underlying base group of credits, then reminiscent of HAL, many transactions with great potential may be eliminated.

If your firm doesn't score well under a scoring model used by a major lender, you may face an uphill battle for credit approval. Some smaller credit providers try to differentiate themselves by not using scoring models. Instead, they actually listen to borrowers, sort out unusual circumstances and use old-fashion human judgment to make credit decisions. One of these lenders might make sense for your firm.

George Parker is a Director and Executive Vice President of Leasing Technologies International, Inc. ("LTI"). He is responsible for overseeing the company's marketing and financing efforts. One of the co-founders of LTI, Mr. Parker has been involved in secured lending and equipment financing for over twenty years. Mr. Parker is an industry leader, frequent panelist and author of several articles pertaining to equipment financing.

Headquartered in Wilton, CT, LTI is a leasing firm specializing nationally in direct equipment financing and vendor leasing programs for emerging growth and later-stage, venture capital backed companies. More information about LTI is available at http://www.ltileasing.com.

Tags:
$100000 "lti" accounts activity actually addition additional advantageous algorithms america applicants approval articles artificial automates automatic available balances; bankruptcies behavior

Here are five feelings we all experience in changing times. Check these out for yourself by thinking about times when you were experiencing significant life change, either personal or professional.

1. We feel that our personal security is being threatened;

2. Our conventional expectations are disrupted;

3. Strong "out-of-control" feelings want to take over;

4. Awkwardness and embarrassment occur; and

5. We feel fear that we look foolish - that we're "flailing around."Resistance is normal any time change is occurring, because none of us like these feelings, and yet we all feel them. And the feelings are usually directly proportional to the degree and rapidity of the change that's being asked of us.

In a way, change is a kind of death, because it involves a loss of what has been familiar -- often for a long time. This is true whether or not the change is positive or negative. A terrific new job, for instance, means that an old, familiar job will be lost. A divorce may involve many losses simultaneously - spouse, children, a life style, standing in the community, a home, and so forth.

Don't discount the significance of these losses.

A very important way of looking at resistance is that it isn't something to avoid...it's something to recognize, to pay attention to, to take responsibility for, and to talk about with another person. Unfortunately, many people squash their feelings and thoughts, pretending that things are just going along as usual.

It's far more productive to fully admit the importance of the circumstances, to recognize the losses involved. And if you can find someone else to talk with who's already gone through it, you'll find yourself being supported, because that person has been there, knows what it feels like, and has come out the other side.

Taking responsibility for your thoughts and feelings, and doing the things that honor the underlying emotions that spring from change, will serve you well. The good news is that after a time, your feelings will change and you will begin to move from resistance to the exploration of alternatives.It may be helpful to give you a shot at whatever's going on with you right now. In fact, what's coming up right now may be a reflection of exactly what brought you to the decision to read this article.

On a plain piece of paper jot down these items, then write your answers.

� Item #1: Think about a change (or possible change) in your life. List some of the reasons you feel resistant to this change.

� Item #2: Now list whatever specific ways you can think of to overcome your resistance.

� Item #3: What other thoughts, ideas and feelings are you experiencing right now?

Now, here's what I want you to do with this work. Put aside the paper you've been writing on. Forget it...until tomorrow. Then, look at it again. Ask yourself a couple of questions:

- "Have my reasons changed?"

- "Can I think of any new ways to overcome both old and new feelings?"

Write down your answers, and go do the rest of your day.Do this each day for a week and see what happens!

Copyright 2002, 2005 Optimum Performance Associates/Paul McNeese.Paul McNeese is CEO of Optimum Performance Associates, a consulting firm specializing in transitional and transformational change for individuals and institutions through publication. His publishing company, OPA Publishing, is an advocacy for self-publishing authors of informational, instructional, inspirational and insightful nonfiction. Email: pmcneese@opapublishing.comWebsites: http://www.opapublishing.com and http://www.opapresents.com

Tags:
"flailing "out-of-control" advocacy alternativesit answers around"resistance associates associates/paul attention avoidit's changing children circumstances community company consulting conventional decision directly

In today's world, there's a definite need to be proactive in protecting our health. But that assumes there's something you CAN do to protect it.

See, most people figure they're pretty powerless. That's a good thing for the healthcare establishment. They like that. You're the one with disease and they're the one with the solution.

Only one small problem, though. In 2001, now get this, in 783,000 people died from healthcare-related screw-ups. That's a fact. Imagine that. That's 2,100 people a day. That's 8 jumbo jets going up in flames every day.

Don't get me wrong. Doctors and medical facilities are great when it comes to trauma care, bone setting and that kind of thing. But give me a break: 783,000 dead from medical mistakes? No wonder that's the third leading cause of death in the U.S.

Anyway, most people don't even know that. If they get sick, well, the only thing they know to do is to submit themselves to conventional medical treatment - which of course is all about treating sickness.

But that's not health care. That's sickness care. Real health care is about building health from the ground up. Sickness care is about cutting, radiating, poisoning and taking prescription drugs, which by the way can be very toxic.

So, as I see it anyway, we've only got two options. Be good little medical consumers and go along with the healthcare program that we've all been taught to buy in to - or start thinking things through for ourselves - and no one can make that happen but you. It's your decision - your choice - and your life.

Personally, my advise is: be pro-active. Don't wait in line to get on a train wreck. Consider taking your health into your hands. I know that might be a little scary, but you can do it. You couldn't before because there wasn't an alternative - but now, there's something on the horizon that everyone should know about and it's called 'glyconutrition'.

For the past two years, I've been researching this particular field of nutrition - glyconutrition - and what I've come away with is the sense that glyconutrition is a tool for health unlike anything we've ever seen before.

To give a few examples, people who are on glyconutrition supplements are having very impressive experiences like far fewer colds and flues, recovering from things like asthma, fibromyalgia, cancer, autism, and depression.

A lot of people hearing this for the first time are very skeptical when they hear claims like that. If you happen to be in that group, but are still open minded enough to take in some new information, that's great. It's the first step you can take to reclaiming your power to make decisions about you and your family's health that isn't completely dictated by the medical establishment - you know, that same group of folks that racks up over 700,000 unnecessary deaths a year.

Anyway, the important thing is that now you at least know about an alternative that's working for thousands of people - people who've made the decision to start thinking outside the medical box by adding glyconutrition supplements to the food they eat.

David Lear is a freelance writer whose primary interest is glyconutrition. Testimonials, scientific validation, and other information about glyconutrition can be found at http://www.glycoresults.com

Tags:
alternative anything building completely consider consumers conventional couldn't cutting decision decisions definite dictated establishment everyone examples experiences facilities family's fibromyalgia freelance

Writing performance reviews can be an excellent way to earn a living. Who wouldn't want to go from place to place watching actors, singers, and chefs perform at their best (and maybe their worst)? Getting paid to do something like this just seems like fun, doesn't it? But, in reality, these jobs are not easy to come by nor are they easy to do. A writer will need to have many qualifications and have to write very well in order to establish themselves as worthy candidates of this type of work. Writing reviews is a little more complicated than just telling what you thought of the show.

For example, writing play reviews can be a challenge. Sure, the overall show may be interesting and exciting, but what about the individual characters? In writing the reviews, the writer must have strong understanding of how the play works, who is who, and why certain things are done in certain ways. They must be fluent in the arts and understand what is good and what is bad. It is not simply their opinions that matter but their opinions will in fact determine how well the play does. Who will come see a poorly reviewed play? But, if the writer's ideas are wrong and misguided, who will look to them again for advice on whether or not to see that play?

There is a lot of weight on the shoulders of individuals who do this type of work. Writing reviews for large newspapers and organizations may take a long time to get into. The writer will more than likely start out as a nobody, and often do the work for free long before they earn a single dime at it. Their talents will only be trusted once they have proven their skill and having the right ideas and the writing abilities as well. Many people are who do this work as freelance writers. Often, these writers work for magazines, newspapers, and online.

The field takes much perseverance and a true love and devotion, not to mention experience in the arts to make it come to be.

Visit http://www.FreelanceWritingResource.com for more Articles, Resources, News and Advice about Writing Performance Reviews.

Copyright FreelanceWritingResource.com. All rights reserved. This article may be reprinted in full so long as the resource box and the live links are included intact.

Tags:
abilities articles candidates challenge characters? complicated determine devotion establish example excellent exciting experience freelance freelancewritingresourcecom included individual individuals interesting magazines misguided newspapers

Your web site will be your window to the world. Even if you are not selling any product online still you need your customers to access you 24 hours a day 365 days in a year and you can pass important information to them by hosting frequently asked pages, product descriptions, product improvements etc. Your web site will be your office or interface to the world even when you are away in weekends, sleeping at nights or in an important assignment for your next business expansion. Then how to go about it? We will discuss some basic points here.

Your domain name:
This will be your first step in this direction. Go to www.namecheap.com or www.godaddy.com to book a domain name. Names are not that easy to get so try to get a combination of names best saying about your business or your brand name. If you have a brand name then it is a good idea to book other extensions like .net, .org and other extensions. This way you can prevent cyber squatters from using your brand names.

Your hosting Plan:
To host your website you need some web space. Market is crowed with hosting companies offering you different packages. The price is paid per month basis and rate varies with service and requirements. If you are not comfortable with all the technical terms like bandwidth, GB space, email etc then contact your web designer or the web programmer to handle the issue. Or go for the lowest one and based on the requirements you can ask for extra facility. Any time you can change your hosting provider if you are not happy with them. To start with you can spend less than $5 per month for hosting. If you have plan to store your customer details, newsletter management, member login etc then you will require database support.

Designing your site:
Engage a designer or web developer for your web site. Design of your site will depend on type of business you are. Avoid using graphics heavy animations or images in your site. Keep good content relevant to your business for getting good traffic from search engines. Search engines and particularly google loves good content so content with matching keywords of your business will drive more traffic and customers to your website. Keep a plan to improve or update your web site periodically.

Promote your Site:
Once your site is ready try for both online and offline promotions. Give a good press release; post your sites for review in popular web developer forums, submit your site to directory relevant to your area of business. Try to get some content specific keyword rich back links from different websites by contributing articles, participating in discussion boards etc. Better to have email address like support@mysitename.com than having support_1108@hotmail.com. This way you will be promoting your site brand name and inviting others to explore your site. You can print your site name in your visiting card, your letter pad and in other promotion materials like caps, T shirts etc. Finally this is not an one time job so keep an improvement or expansion plan for your website based on your business needs. There is no single magic formula to have one successful website but it is not difficult with good content integrated with your business plan and with user-friendly features.

Author is part of a team of web designers and programmers. The team works on web site maintenance, development, programming and search engine optimizations. Visit http://www.plus2net.com for programming tutorials, free downloads and articles on PHP, SQL and web design. Participate in forum to discuss all issues of web site development and promotion including site optimizations for search engines.

Tags:
animations articles assignment bandwidth business combination comfortable companies contributing customer customers database descriptions designer designers

Now that we've covered what nymph fly fishing is all about, let'snext take a look at what sort of fly fishing gear you're going toneed to do it. While nymph fly fishing uses pretty much the samegear you use when dry fly fishing, there is a few small itemsthat any successfully nymph fisherman will want to have. Theseitems are strike indicators, some small weights, and a good pairof fly fishing sunglasses.

Strike Indicators for Nymph Fishing

First, you will need some strike indicators. Strike indicatorsare generally bright orange, ungodly looking things that get puton your leader well above the fly or on the fly line itself, atthe junction of the fly line and leader. These strike indicatorsare what you look at when nymph fishing - not the fly itself.With practice and patience, you'll eventually be able to tellwhen "unnatural" movements occur in the strike indicator - whichmost likely indicates that a fish just took your nymph flyimitation.

Exactly where to put the strike indicator is a matter of somedebate, but ultimately boils down to what you are fly fishing forand where you are doing it. Wary Brown Trout in heavily fishedwaters, like the Missouri River, are not likely to be real wildabout seeing a bright orange object just a few feet above thefly. On the other hand, more gullible trout or trout that receiveless fly fishing pressure could probably care less about it. Inshort, use your judgment, erring on the side of caution (placingthe strike indicator as far away from the fly as possible, foryour abilities).

Small Weights for Nymph Fishing

The second thing you'll need for many rivers will be some smallweights to add to your fly line or leader. In many, if not mostnymph fly fishing situations, a floating line is still used.However, to get the fly down to the depth you want it to go willrequire weighting it (at least in faster water).

This is best done with the newer "twist on" non-toxic weightsthat are now available. Using these types of weights, an anglercan put on as much or as little weight as needed to bring the flydown to depth, while at the same time preventing the fish frominhaling toxic lead (which can kill them).

Should you plan on fishing in really deep or fast rivers whereeven a weighted leader will not get the fly down to depth fastenough, then you will also want to look at investing in asink-tip fly line. Sink-tip fly lines have the tip of the flyline weighted to sink, thus allowing it to sink the nymph flymore quickly.

Fly Fishing Sunglasses for Nymph Fishing

Another item of heavy importance is a good pair of polarizedsunglasses. It's absolutely imperative that you be able to seethe strike indicator, and polarized sunglasses are very effective for this.

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/
Who else wants to pull in a bounty of big fish - Every time!
Here's how to AMAZE your friends (and maybe even make them
a little bit jealous) In 'Fly Fishing Secrets' we show you how.
To get your hands on these amazing insider secrets, Click Here:
http://www.fly-fishing-secrets.com
_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

Tags:
"twist "unnatural" absolutely allowing anglercan asink-tip available effective eventually fastenough fishedwaters fisherman fishing floating frominhaling generally gullible imperative importance indicates indicator

In a time when public scrutiny is becoming tighter and more pervasive businesses have learned that they need to be on guard more than ever to ensure they are operating by ethical standards. Though not often mentioned in this discussion, I believe it is especially true of Christian organizations in whom trust is placed by donors. The old adage "heads I win, tails you lose" has a particular bite on this that says ouch. That's not the way it's supposed to be.

John Dalla Costa, in his book The Ethical Imperative, provides numerous examples of businesses that sought to play by this rule. By cutting ethical corners (playing games of delay and dodge when it came to expenses for health and safety requirements) many were "winning" the economic game in the short run, but losing over the long-term through fines, restrictions, and erosion of public confidence. By covering up illegal employee practices and denying basic benefits as a reward for helping to make the company profitable they again "saved money," over the short term only to see the long-term effects of this neglect take an economic toll in the form of low employee morale and employee lawsuits. Many of the business Dalla Costa cites are no longer in existence. For them it was "heads I win temporarily, tails I lose permanently.

What can Christian non-profit organizations learn from this? For one, boards need to be more involved. Many Christian organizations have boards that "trust" the organization's management to operate by ethical standards. They meet and simply listen to the glowing reports of success without asking probing nature. Secondly, Christian organizations need to pay close attention to its employee practices. This is the biggest area of litigation faced by non-profits today. Third, Christian organizations need to exercise care in ensuring donor intentions are adhered to in the application and usage of contributions. Fourth, Christian organizations should put in place appropriate internal control procedures to ensure that financial transactions are handled with care and efficiency.

Many well meaning Christian ministries advertise themselves with lofty Christian ideals, such as-

"We operate at the highest levels of integrity."

"In all our decisions we are guided by the lordship of Christ."

"The worth and value of every individual is given the highest respect."

The list could go on an on. The point is these are all subjective statements that cannot be measured in any rational way. And when perception becomes the guiding instrument through which evaluation of business practices takes place, it makes any challenge to leadership anathema. The landscape of Christian organizations gone sour as a result of focus on short-term gains at the expense long-term effectiveness, and at the expense of honesty and full disclosure, is dotted with embarrassing examples of ministries that have been less than circumspect in their principles of operation.

These kinds of organizations may not have the luxury of changing their business practices based on boards waking up to the realities of what has been happening or leaders realizing they need to be more forthcoming in their standards. New laws brought on by the scandals of Enron and other public corporations are casting their shadows over the private sector as well. When Christian organizations are forced into correction by the public sector rather than by their own policies and governing boards the whole scenario is changed. It is still "heads I win, tails you lose," but the loser becomes the ministry that has allowed itself to sacrifice long-term effectiveness for short-term gain. The other side of the coin, quite literally, is public shame, humiliation, and embarrassment. Trying to beat the odds of the consequences of public scrutiny is a coin toss in which a Christian organization would not want to become a participant.

David J. Moore is Vice President of Research and Development for Compassion Alliance, a humanitarian aid ministry with offices in Nixa, Missouri and Ocala, Florida. He also teaches part-time at a local University. He has years of experience in the non-profit sector, including having served for 8 years as a college president. He holds an MA in Cross-cultural Communication and has completed course work for a PhD in Higher Education Administration. Find out more about his ministry by visiting the web site at http://www.compassionalliance.org

Tags:
"heads "saved "trust" "winning" administration advertise alliance anathema application appropriate attention becoming benefits business businesses challenge changed

Anyone that has a home office or bedroom in the basement knows how valuable a dehumidifier can be. Without it, the basement would be damp and useless, mold and mildew would grow promoting ill health and insects would have a perfect place to live. Your basement is underground, humid and in constant contact with the cool damp earth. If you don't control the moisture and humidity throughout the year through dehumidifiers, your carpet and furniture could be ruined, even photographs can be destroyed. I have always found that I am more comfortable when the humidity is lower. I don't like hot weather, but I would rather have it be dry and hot than cool and damp. What is it they say? "It's not the heat, it's the humidity." You might want to consider installing a ceiling fan to work in tandem with the dehumidifier. They help circulate the air, will dry out the basement even more and you will feel much more comfortable. Ceiling fans don't cool the air, but you will feel better because of evaporation than if no fan were there at all.

Excessive moisture can be present in the air any time of the year, so it is important to have a dehumidifier that can deal with hot and cold climates. In order to dry out all parts of the home, consider a portable dehumidifier with wheels and a handle for ease of movement from room to room. Place your portable dehumidifiers in various positions around your apartment or home. Experiment with the settings depending on the local forecast and the time of day. Generally, the humidity level decreases at night as a result of cooler temperatures. When using a dehumidifier in rooms that are especially damp such as a basement, keep the doors and windows closed as much as possible. Keep closet doors open to dry out shoes and clothing. Also make sure you put only clean clothes in the closet or in enclosed places as just a little bit of soil is enough to breed mold and mildew. You must clean your dehumidifiers on a weekly basis. Mold spores, bacteria, mildew can accumulate in the dehumidifier's grate. Make sure you unplug the unit before removing water or doing any cleaning.

Living in a home with mold and mildew is terrible for your respiratory system. All kinds of allergy symptoms can arise when your home is too humid. When you take control of your environment through the use of a dehumidifier, ceiling fan, air conditioner, or other cooling system, you will have a better place for your family to live and work. Portable cooling systems also reduce the strain on the environment. You are only working with one small space and not a complete home so you are using less energy, saving you money and power usage for the community. If you have a particularly hot and humid summer, this can really make a difference. The technology we have today gives us many reasonably priced options for keeping cool, dry and comfortable.

Mae Marshall is a successful freelance writer offering guidance and suggestions for consumers buying portable air conditioners, dehumidifiers, air filters and more. Her many articles can be found at http://www.portable-air-conditioner-4u.com. She gives information and tips at http://www.portable-air-conditioner-4u.com/dehumidifier.htm to help you save money and make informed buying decisions.

Tags:
"it's accumulate apartment articles bacteria basement circulate climates clothing comfortable community complete conditioner conditioners consider constant consumers decreases

When someone is extremely deep in debt, and he or she has no other options to prevent bankruptcy, debt consolidation can be his or her savior. Debt consolidation can also be a very wise choice for someone who has many debts on high interest credit cards. Debt consolidation, quite simply, is the process of taking loans and debts and bringing them into one low-interest loan that can be paid off over varying periods. This is a very good choice for many people because it saves them from having to file bankruptcy. Debt consolidation merely requires collateral (such as a home or vehicle) for the interest rates to be lowered and the customer to be on his or her way to debt free living.

Most people understand the basics of debt consolidation, however there are several dos and don'ts in the world of consolidating debt. Most importantly, make sure you research the company before you choose to consolidate your debt with it. Some companies will take advantage of unassuming consumers. Here are a few underhanded tricks unfavorable companies will employ when you are trying to consolidate your debt:

1. Some companies will take advantage of high interest loans, and the benefit of consolidating those loans, by charging exceptionally high fees in the debt consolidation loan. These fees can sometimes even be near the state maximum for mortgage fees. Any company with fees that seem unnaturally high should not be your choice for debt consolidation.

2. Watch out for companies that wait until you are "backed into a corner." Some companies will let a customer get further and further into debt until the customer is forced to refinance. Someone who has put his or her house will be willing to refinance in order to save his or her collateral (again, usually the home). The unscrupulous company will then charge an excessive refinancing fee.

3. Lastly, be wary of companies that employ "predatory lending." Predatory lending is when a debt consolidation company allows a customer to be in such debt that they are unable to find another debt consolidator to help them with the debt. The person is forced to stay with their current company and sometimes even file bankruptcy anyway. The company that knowingly led the customer into the dregs of debt comes out on top. Most companies don't use predatory lending, but it is always a good idea to be extra careful when choosing a debt consolidator.

Good debt consolidation companies naturally don't do anything underhanded. On the contrary, a worthwhile company offers the customer all the information he or she will ever need about their loans and interest. The company is helpful and concerned for the financial safety of their customers. Companies that realize that the decision to consolidate one's debt is a weighty one are usually the best companies to opt for. Approaching each case uniquely is the sign of a debt consolidator that understands the importance of every customer.

Debt consolidation can be a weighty decision for many people to make. If you keep in mind the dos and don'ts of choosing a debt consolidation company, you will have no worries. Some companies try underhanded methods to increase their profits, but if you know what to watch out for, those companies cannot swindle you. Debt consolidation is a wise choice for anyone who has high interest credit cards, and substantial loans. Follow my advice, and I'm sure that you'll be debt free sooner than you can say, "Consolidate!"

Mike McDowski writes about a variety of financial matters and advocates debt consolidation with Credit Solutions ( http://www.creditsolutions.com ).

Tags:
"backed "predatory advantage advocates anything approaching bankruptcy bringing charging choosing collateral companies

Perhaps the online community today is not so different from Don Quixote chasing after windmills, mistaking them for giants. Excessive web browsing might yield more or less similar symptoms of lunacy as those displayed in Quixote's mad adventures.

If the web were to appoint godfathers, Michael Saavedra Cervantes, Don Quixote's inventor, would be a very appropriate candidate. Already the founding father of European literature, his one and only book's structure is not too dissimilar to the myriad of modern cyber texts.

For starters, you often don't know where Quixote and his squire Sancho end one adventure or where they begin another. Also, Don Quixote offers an abundance of contradiction, imagination beyond what is ordinary, subplots here there and everywhere. And this is not where the comparison ends. There's even interaction between the author and the characters without it seeming to be a violation of the characters or of the story itself.

It's a bit ironic that despite high technology and the 500 years or so that have gone by since the book was published haven't made us invent a clearer concept of interactivity. Today, people interacting with their search engines are having a hard time actually finding efficiently what they are looking for. At the same time, companies run huge financial risk if their websites fail to secure high rankings in search engines. Where's the interactivity that actually connects efficiently all the time?

To stand out from the crowd in cyber space, you need a well-thought out concept. But where to begin? Researching the status quo of internet marketing is a good starting point because the marketing guys are there to bridge the gap between companies and customers.

The main theme of marketing studies at the moment is customer research. A lot more money gets spent on consumer behavior than before the deflation of the dotcom sector. The trend is driven by companies turning to quantitative analysts to find hard and decisive numbers about their actual consumer markets.

Here goes, the more you can fragment a market, the better one's chances (of controling it). Nothing new. What is new is the way marketers are devouring the data, dissecting it like biologists would owl droppings. Hopefully, interpretations of the findings are not exactly stomach turning but contributing to better interactive patterns.

So this is where we are - at the beginning of an understanding-based approach of customers. The trend has been termed 'new marketing' or 'behavioral marketing'. Wonder how companies are dealing with this? If you may believe the experts, companies are aiming to gradually reach higher click/sales conversion rates from their marketing campaigns, rather than going for quick sales. Apparently, the focus is more long term and on an increased understanding of what brings buyers to their decision.

Marketers say it's back to the drawing board throughout the bank. The very beginnings of the buying funnel are now researched in greater depth. This is good to keep in mind when you are getting to grips with cyber culture. Search behavior is the focus of a lot of market research, if only because so much information that comes out of this has yet to be capitalised on.

But marketers have a hard nut to crack here. Our search behavior is very difficult to describe in words, let alone pour data on it in models and derive a sensible meaning from it. "Searching has become such an intuitive function, we tend not to give the actual search process much thought", writes Gord Hotchkiss from Enquiro, a US firm that specialises in people's search behaviour.

The company's research into the way people browse for stuff is so simple you would think most of the findings would have been included in assumptions some five years ago. Yet many marketers were reported to be astonished at the findings. It appeared that it is very unlikely that two people perform identical searches even if they are looking for the same thing. Other firms confirm Enquiro's experiment. iProspect conducted a survey that pointed out that search engine click through behavior can only be categorised by a few, very vague, denominators; gender, education, employment status. The study also underlines that frequency of internet use and internet experience are factors here.

It makes the frantic hype around getting the search engine top rankings on a handful of keywords look a bit expensive. Yet, half the competion battle is won by being somewhere first. So companies, even though they don't know exactly where they are, will monopolise all those keywords they deem useful. Huge portions of marketing budgets are spent on the purchase of search keywords.

The result is the commercialisation of search engines. This is going on with rapid speed, and they are increasingly seizing significant portions of companies' marketing budgets.

Pay Per Click-only engines are starting to attract large numbers of listings. The main risk is failure of conversion of the increased traffic into sales.

Not everyone is convinced of the merits of Pay Per Click campaigns. Garrick Saito who is one of many small business owners on the web says his company Respree.com, selling reprints of art works, largely abandoned his campaign. "I still use Pay Per Click today for a very limited purpose, bidding on terms that I will only pay $.01 per click on. Of course, the traffic is not nearly as great as if you were to bid $.25 or $.50 per click, but then again, the advertising dollars don't add up nearly as fast either", he says.

Saito is one of many small business owners that are looking to optimise free organic listings by changing search keywords. It is his experience here that enables him to do that somewhat effectively and without the help of an outsider. "I am trying to optimise my pages so my products, categories and artists rank well", he says. Saito is not sure if his own company is representative of his branch. "I can see competitors with deeper financial resources spending money (perhaps a lot of money) on PPC campaigns and other placements. However, [...] the larger players are more the exception than the rule," he says.

So the commercialisation of search engines might not necessarily be succeeding in attracting small to medium size businesses, the vast bulk of the internet population. But the free lunch is probably over very soon come what may. Search Engine Trends reports that demand for free listings has recently risen in relation to what the engines offer; demand for free listings is 80% and what is offered is 75%.

Companies wanting reasonable visibility might soon have to fork out. Further evidence to this point is this; 44% of search engines offers paid listings, whereas demand is merely 4%. Pay Per Click advertising is a similar story with 33% of the engines offering this and demand at 4%. This looks meagre, but if you think of it as a new trend, the 4% is quite convincing.

Meanwhile, one wonders what good the newly emerging order is to customers. How are we going to see the forest amid the trees? A recent study into the various kinds of searches people type into their browsers are indicating consumers still are somewhat overwhelmed by what they are offered, despite some five years or so of experience with the medium.

Apparently, the more questions you type into your browser, the more autonomous a user you are, according to the sponsors of one such study, ComScore Media Metrix. So called 'sophisticated' markets include (in descending order) the UK, Canada, the US, France and Germany. But even in these countries, people are not overfacing their browsers with innumerable questions. In the UK, people entered on average 40 queries per month. And this is the highest scoring country of the list.

Perhaps everyone wonders where to start. Or maybe we've taken the web for what it offers with most of our information sources safely bookmarked and ready for use independently from the search engines.

It's another question whether companies are actually ready for intensified relations with their customers. JupiterResearch found that only one out of five companies that have access to statistics on consumer behavior actually also optimise their targeting.

Perhaps Don Quixote was not so totally outlandish, trying to slay windmills - at least he spotted them, went after them and changed his approach rather than gave up when he discovered he was totally mistaken!

About The Author

Angelique Van Engelen

copyright by contentclix.com, the creative writing service: www.contentclix.com.

contentclix@contentclix.com

Tags:
abandoned abundance according actually adventure advertising analysts another apparently appeared approach appropriate assumptions astonished attracting autonomous beginning beginnings behavior

Many people feel they have everything they need in life, yet happiness remains elusive. What is the key, the missing element when everything seems satisfactory externally? The answer: look within.

Being connected to your inner self is the key to a happy, balanced life. So, what exactly is your inner self? Simply put, your inner self is born from your connection to source. No matter your beliefs about source, spirit, God, you are connected to this source at all times, and you are a part of this source. You are also uniquely individual, with your very own, one-of-a-kind passion and purpose to fulfill. Your spiritual source, your purpose and your passions all comprise the core of your being, from which all other distinctive traits come.

So how do you connect with this inner you? By listening to your feelings and thoughts. Many of us get so busy, we suppress our thoughts and feelings, which is suppressing our inner guidance system and our connection with our true inner self. Make a decision to start listening to yourself, and you will start to catch the fleeting thoughts and feelings that guide you every moment of the day. It is also a good idea to set aside time each day to be quiet, still and reflect. Think of it as a date with yourself. The more you know yourself, the more you love yourself, the better your external life will be. Your external life is an expression of your internal relationship with self. Happiness comes from within. Put yourself first, not last, and bask in the happiness and success that follow.

Copyright 2004, Alexia Alderson Chamberlynn

Alexia Alderson Chamberlynn is the Co-Owner of Prosperity Power Training, LLC, a national training company specializing in e-learning, life coaching and live group training. To contact Alexia or sign up for free services such as a Free 7-Day Training Program, free monthly newsletter and free quote-of-the-day club, visit the website at http://www.prosperitypowertraining.com. Alexia expects to release her first novel in 2005. Alexia lives in Florida with her son Gareth.

Tags:
alderson balanced chamberlynn coaching comprise connected connection co-owner decision distinctive e-learning elusive everything expression external externally? feelings fleeting

How many of us rush blindly through our days, fall into bed exhausted, and wake up the next morning to do it all over again? For many of us, our lives are composed of millions of meaningless moments, all strung together -- perhaps with a sprinkling of sacred moments mixed in. I'm sure you can think of a few sacred moments in your own life. Maybe your marriage, the birth of your child(ren), or perhaps a heartfelt moment of connection with a good friend. These are the moments when we are consumed with joy and awe. At these moments, we are fully present in the moment. We aren't worrying about tomorrow, or trying to rush through the experience to get to the next. We are in the now, and the now is amazing.

Why do we wait for major events to honor these sacred moments? Why can't every day be sacred? Every moment? Each moment is sacred, if we decide to make it that way. I stated above that our lives are filled with meaningless moments, but those moments are meaningless only because we don't honor them. We are hurrying along, focused on other things, not stopping to notice them at all. They come and go without so much as an acknowledgement from us.

Honoring the sacred means simply choosing to make each moment count. It is a tiny shift in perception that assigns meaning and importance to each moment. It means stopping to notice the beauty and love around us, and within us. It means being fully present in each moment, because only the present moment truly exists. So many of us worry about the future, hold regrets about the past, and completely ignore the present. When we give the now our full attention, even mundane tasks can take on an aura of holiness. Then our lives become millions of meaningful moments. Nothing has changed except our perception, but it makes all the difference.

How do we change our perception to one of sacredness? What does it mean to stay in the present moment? Let's use an example: washing dishes. When most of us wash dishes, we hurry through it, often thinking about the million other things we need to get done that day (or the next day). Our minds are scattered all over the place, focusing on everything but what we are doing. Who can blame us? Washing dishes is not the most exciting experience. However, if we choose to make it a sacred experience, we will want to focus on it. We want to take our time and really pay attention to how the water feels on our hands, how the soap cleanses away the grease and grime, and the sense of satisfaction we get as each dish moves from the dirty pile to the strainer, now clean and shiny.

Maybe that still doesn't sound very thrilling. Let's look at what else is happening. As we give our full attention to washing the dishes, we are not only "doing", we are being. Ah, that is the key. It doesn't matter what we're doing or not doing in each moment of our lives, it matters only that we become aware of our own state of Being. In those moments, we are fully alive and conscious. We are connected to everything, and we are One with everything. We are.

Have you ever embarked on a walking meditation? This can be great practice to help you honor the sacred in your own life. Many of us walk for health or recreation, but we can also walk for spiritual awareness. A walking meditation is a slow, focused walk where you give your full attention to each step you take, the feel of your muscles working, your breathing, and even your surroundings. Especially if you walk someplace in nature, a place with lots of trees and wildlife. The trick is to not let your mind wander, but stay focused on the now. It can take practice, but once you accomplish it, you will return from your walks fully refreshed and revitalized.

Imagine every day of your life holding joy, peace and meaning. Imagine miracles consistently happening all around you. Imagine being filled with awe and gratitude each day, and lying down to sleep each night feeling peaceful and relaxed. You can, if you choose it. All it takes is that tiny shift in perception. Choose to make it so, and it will be so.

Wendy Betterini is a freelance writer and web designer who strives to motivate, uplift, and inspire you to make your dreams a reality. Visit her website, http://www.WingsForTheHeart.com for more positive thoughts to help you on your journey.

Tags:
accomplish acknowledgement attention awareness betterini breathing children choosing cleanses completely composed connected connection conscious consistently consumed designer embarked especially everything

The price of dedicated hosting services has really come down in the past couple of years. In fact, prices have dropped so much for the "budget dedicated server" market. While competitive conditions in both the hosting industry and the computer hardware industry have contributed to the reduction in dedicated hosting costs, don't think that prices were that inflated in the first place. Budget servers are fantastic but it takes more than a competitive market to offer services at such great prices.

Much thanks to the great overbuilds of networks, data centers and computer hardware in the dot-com days, companies with a bit of buying power can acquire the hard-resources it takes to provide a good quality un-managed dedicated server for a great price. Finding a dedicated server for $199 a month or less these days is not that difficult. When shopping for your dedicated server, consider more than just price.

Managed Services

Before just lining up the amount of ram, the processor speed, the data transfer and the price ask yourself - what else can this company do for me that I need now, or may need down the road. While there are plenty that do it, a 1 person effort to maintain a mission critical or high traffic server is no easy task. It helps to have others helping look out for your interests as well. Check to see if your host provides managed services such as backups, monitoring, firewalls and intrusion detection. Sometime they may be included in the plan but nearly always can be negotiated in at a reasonable price and can be well worth the investment.

Technical Support

The level of support received with your dedicated services is important as well. Some dedicated hosts offer email only support in order to keep costs down while others flat out charge a fee for a support ticket. Your preferred method of receiving support plus the level and frequency in which you will need it should certainly be considered.

The Quality of Your Network

Most dedicated hosting providers these days have pretty substantial internet connectivity. Nonetheless, it is something you should be aware of. Look for a host that has redundant connectivity via multiple providers insuring as much connectivity uptime as possible. Some of the major connectivity providers these days are Sprint, UUNet, Savvis, AT&T, Qwest and Cogent.

Summary

A very cheap server deal does not simply mean you are dealing with an overly generous hosting company or that another provider is ripping you off at a higher rate. While some hosts do price more competitively than others, there are associates costs that must be covered. When shopping for your next dedicated server just keeps in mind you may not always be comparing apples to apples.

Please refer following web sites for useful resources related to web site hosting:

http://www.vipwh.com
http://www.thehostingguide.com

About Author:

Paras Shah
Chief Technology Officer
VIP PowerNet, Inc.
Phone: (713)787-6501
Email: paras@vippowernet.com
http://www.vippowernet.com

Tags:
associates backups certainly companies comparing competitive competitively computer conditions connectivity consider contributed covered critical dedicated

1. Google love ...

Google and all its programming is not some form of enemy - unless you are a piece of web scum, that is.

Google is based on the idea that it should help people FIND WHAT THEY ARE LOOKING FOR.

That's all.

Sit with the statement above. Meditate upon it if necessary. Use EFT.

But UNDERSTAND that a pointless site that has no unique content will NEVER get ANYWHERE with Googly or any other outfit that is using their techniques and methods.

You can buy books and ebooks until your wallet bleeds on "how to trick Google" this and that - just forget it.

Unless you have SOME THING that SOME PEOPLE will HONESTLY WANT and be grateful for when they find it, there is no hope and there is no point in reading any further.

Also, trying to fight Google or be cleverer somehow is pointless, distructive and the wrong attitude.

Learn to LOVE Google and work WITH IT.

If you have the contents, and you follow the most simplest common spider robot courtesy protocols, then it will come and it will index you.

It will be that mystical bridge between YOUR (customers, people, communities, friends) and your site.

That's what it does, that's what it is, that's it's nature and if you know that, then all is well.

You will get good results following the rest of this.

2. Dressing For Google ...

So now, let's have a DECENT website with DECENT content.

A decent website means:

- All the pages and directories have links that work properly and allow Google to slide with immense ease from one place to the other, without ever hitting an annoying dead end;

- All the pages are cleaned up so that you have the absolute MINIMUM of html instructions and nothing that doesn't need to be there, such as vast and pointless java scripts or the truly appalling "mso" instructions;

- All the pages have the right meta tags which ACCURATELY REFLECT what's on them, and including title, content, description, keywords at the very minimum;

- All your pages have proper headings and descriptions and content WHICH MATCHES your meta tags to a T;

- All your images are title and alt tagged CORRECTLY and resident on your own site.

Decent content means:

- Whatever you've got, it is USEFUL. If it is UNIQUE, so much the better, and that's not hard. All you need to is to be yourself and use your own words, even if you are affiliate - write your own reviews, put your own dog's picture on it, be unique, be YOURSELF.

- Whatever you've got, I'm sure there's some people who want to look at it, read it, do something with it. There's billions of people out there. Just make sure YOU KNOW WHO YOUR PEOPLE ARE and write to THEM.

- Decent content also means that what you've got is presented so that both Google and a human being get it what that is all about.

When your website is up and running, test, test and test again. Try every single hyperlink on your own computer, on someone else's and on all manner of different browsers.

Only when you are happy that it all works as it should, we go to Step 3.

3. Let Google SEE You

You need a minimum of 35 decent links going to your site for Google to take any notice of you and start paying attention.

Please be aware that "one link" is just that - www.snark.net is NOT the same as http://www.snark.net, which is not the same as http://snark.net, nor even remotely similar to any variation including http://snark.net/index.php

All, each and every ONE is viewed as a single separate link - when you need 35 ALL GOING TO ONE SINGLE ADDRESS to do the magic.

So now, to the "decent links" part.

A site that isn't indexed much by Google or doesn't turn up until page 1,993,990 on a Google search for its kind is WORTHLESS to you.

Find HIGH RANKED directory listings for your site and list your site THERE. This goes for any of the many variations on getting a link from another site, be it a guestbook signed or an article placed. Don't waste your time with anything that itself doesn't turn up on Google's own top ten.

Now, you've got a date with Google.

What we need to do next is to BUILD A RELATIONSHIP - prove our value and worth over time, in other words.

That's the next of our Google top tips - seniority and reliability.

4. Be THERE When Google Calls!

Make sure you've got a decent ISP with 99% uptime or better - that's of course elementary.

Don't ever take your site down for whatever reason and make any changes gradually.

Most importantly, get the best tracking software you can afford and find out who is already coming, and what they are coming for.

That's the key to long term success - to find what you're doing well and then expanding on it. For example, if one person came from Google (or any other search engine) for the term "snark", then build on that. Write more articles about snarks, what to do with them and without them, collect snark images - in other words, become the first port of call for any snark enquiry.

Build on your speciality some more with a web directory, guest articles, reviews and then we're more than 3/4 the way to a real web presence and Google responding to changes in your site near instantly, which is what we want.

5. Keep Improving ALL THE TIME.

The final success tip is to keep improving ALL THE TIME.

Pull up the html or php you wrote a year ago - I bet you can do better now.

Review your meta tags and your site copy and improve on both.

Name your pages, images and directories better. Improve the content, structure, navigation of your site.

Keep at it with directory listings and submissions - directories come and go, you need to be always there with the "state of the art".

Keep doing useful link exchanges with matching high ranked sites too and keep adding VALUE and UNIQUE CONTENT to your clean and well presented pages.

That's the most important thing of all - to keep at it with continuous improvement.

Follow these steps EXACTLY with a well named new site with decent content - and you WILL see immediate improvement in your Google rankings.

Good Luck and Good Spirits always,

Silvia :-)

Silvia Hartmann

CEO, The StarFields Network

Author, MindMillion - Rags To Riches In 6 Phases

Silvia Hartmann PhD is an author, NLP, Hypnosis & MET Trainer and international motivational speaker. Her published books include the international best seller "Adventures In EFT", "Project Sanctuary" and "EmoTrance". After a five year research project, she created MindMillion, a unique approach to wealth building and reality creation.

Tags:
1993990 absolute accurately affiliate annoying anything anywhere appalling approach articles billions building cleverer communities computer content contents continuous correctly courtesy customers description descriptions

Have you ever thought much about how some of your past experiences and talents influenced how your life turned out? I sure have and I've found it not only interesting but valuable, too. Whatever the case, I believe we can all find value in reminiscing about our past.

Here's why. If you are not totally satisfied with the way your lifeis going today, no matter what age you are, I believe reminiscing about the past could provide some clues forimproving it.

Let me give explain what I mean. There could be certain talents you had in the past that you no longer use anymore.Could restoring some of them be of value to you now? Think about that seriously. Are you missing out on something in your life today that by using some past talents you couldimprove your lifestyle? Maybe you could even solve a persistant problemyou are having in your life.

Let's review for a moment and see if this joggles your memory:

* What was your profession and how successful were you?

* Did you have any unique talents?

* Were you good at solving problems?

* Were you a good negotiator?

* Were you a team leader?

* Did you have a positive attitude most of the time?

I could go on and on but just let me encourage you to brainstorm about your past. You may have even forgotten about some of you past talents for the moment. It sure happened to me about a year ago.

Here's my story:

I'd been on the internet for years trying to develop an online business without success. One day I saw an ad about a free teleseminar on how to author an ebook. I signed up for it andit excited me about the possibility that I may have the talent to become a published author.

After a personal discussion with the seminar leader I was excited enough to sign up for the entire course. Within a few months I published my ebook directed to senior citzens. Because of this my life has become more exciting and offered me new challenges that stimulate me.

My purpose in writing the ebook, hopefully, will help senior citizens realize that age is no barrier for excelling in life. If they will just follow my directions they can improve their lifestyle dramatically just as I have done.

Now you may be wondering what does my story have to do with reminiscing about the past an then applying talents in the future? Well you see as a past sales supervisor I trained sales persons to develop their territories. I taught them how to set goals and achieve them. I enjoyed watching them excel, too. I also learned why people didn't excel.

I missed doing this when I finally retired. So when the idea of writing an ebook came about I needed to think of not only a subject but alsoa market for it. Click! Click! It soon became obvious that here was a chance to use my talents once more to help others become more successful in life.

Since I was a senior myself with many challenges, why not share my experiences with other seniors. Teach them how I overcame obstacles,and created a new and exciting life for myself. Now my mission was fulfilled once again. What I loved to do in the past came full circle once again.

Give me a chance to help you create more purpose in your life today. Let me help you enjoy your "golden years even more. Get a Free preview of my ebook now by going to: http://www.thesunnysenior.com I guarantee you will be glad you did.

Copyright 2004 All Rights Reserved AbsolutelySenior.com

Sonny Julius is a 74 year old retired sales supervisor, Prior to his sales career he spent 30 years in the family florist business. Becoming dissatisfied with that business he decided it was time to leave it and pursue a sales career. His interest in the internet eventually led him to write an ebook geared to senior citizens. The ebook is a guide for living the senior lifestyle.

In addition he offers a Free 20-minute no obligation phone coaching session to anyone interested in enhancing his or her present lifestyle. Email for more information: mailto:sonnyj@absolutelysenior.com

Sonny Julius, President of S A & Associates, is devoted to teaching senior citizens "How To Have The Time Of Their Life For The Rest Of Their Life" For more information go to: http://www.thesunnysenior.com

Tags:
anymorecould applying attitude brainstorm business challenges citizens citzens couldimprove directed directions discussion dramatically encourage excelling exciting experiences forgotten forimproving fulfilled happened