Ju Ju Ju

Want to know the secret for keeping your clients forever? And what if you could keep your revenue growing by 25 percent every year, because your clients loved the way you appreciated them? In this article, you will learn how easy it is to develop a powerful client appreciation program. Once in place, an appreciation program will forever change the way you operate and manage your business.

Developing a monthly appreciation plan: At the beginning of each month, develop some fun ideas to “thrill” your customers. Start by planning a short brainstorming session with your sales manager, your marketing director, customer service and your sales team, so you can hear their unique insight about ways to make the program a giant success. Their input is critical as each company has its own special client profile, so customize your appreciation plan accordingly. Once your appreciation plan is finalized, provide a written recap for your team so everyone will know exactly what their role will be. Clear communication makes for perfect implementation.

Tip From The Coach: Consider building your client appreciation plan for six to twelve months in advance. This makes for better financial budgeting, a more thoroughly developed appreciation plan, and your team will have the time to evaluate several competitive proposals for each month’s theme.

Building appreciation themes: As you consider the theme for each month’s appreciation program, start by looking for specific holidays or seasonal times of the year. For example, summer time is perfect for bringing an ice-cold drink to all your clients, as appreciation for their business. Your clients will not care how much you spend on them each month, but they will be very impressed by the way your team shows how much they care. Another appreciation theme, depending on the profile of your clients, might be more educational. For example, have a local computer store give a live demonstration for your clients at your office, focusing on how the Internet can improve their business. Your clients will be thrilled to hear more about this cutting edge technology and the computer store gets to meet lots of potential new customers… a win-win for all. Lastly, hundreds of companies provide all kinds of promotional items you can order in small quantities with your company name imprinted on them, and these items will fit perfectly into your client appreciation program.

Tip From The Coach: Certainly your clients will love the appreciation you show them each month and so will your prospects. If appropriate, include every prospect in your appreciation program. Take this small step and watch your closing ratios double!

Evaluating the success of client appreciation: Start by asking your team to make written notes of any nice comments shared by your clients or prospective new clients. Next, evaluate the number of clients or prospects who attend your educational seminars, as this helps for planning future programs. Of course, monitor your client retention percentages, as this is the critical measurement of how well your appreciation program is working.

Tip From The Coach: Remember, your clients will feel important when they know they are a top priority. Implementing a client retention program will not cost much. But the return on your investment will be significant based on less turnover, happier clients which means more referrals, and more fun for your team. Why? Because The Coach says so! Plus, good news travels fast and so will the sterling reputation you earn with your clients.

Want to hear more about this important topic or ask some additional questions? Fax a note on your letterhead to 435-615-8670 or send an E-mail to ernest@powerhour.com and The Coach will fax/E-mail back to you a free invitation to be a participant on a TeleForum conference call. On this call we will discuss 25 appreciation themes your clients will love.

Author’s note: Ernest F. Oriente, The Coach, is the founder of PowerHour® a professional business coaching/recruiting service and the author of SmartMatch Alliances. He has spent 17,500 hours [since 1995] delivering customized training, by telephone, in leadership, traditional/Internet marketing and sales for fast growing sales companies and entrepreneurial businesses worldwide. PowerHour® specializes in global distance learning by telephone, using their state-of-the-art conference call system for interactive and dynamic TeleForums. Twice-monthly TeleForums link 10-100 executives/professionals/individuals who are geographically dispersed, in a time efficient and profitable format.

PowerHour® is based in Olympic-town…Park City, Utah, at 435-615-8486, by E-mail ernest@powerhour.com or visit their TeleForum website: http://www.powerhour.com. To receive a FREE success newsletter, with subscribers in 74 countries, send an E-mail to: ernest@powerhour.com. Recent PowerHour® articles have appeared in 4000+ business/trade publications and websites.

The Supreme Court heard oral arguments on March 29, 2005 for
MGM v.
Grokster, the landmark case which will broadly effect copyright law
for a
generation, and the future of American technological innovation. (and
also how
law abiding Americans rightfully steal their music)
Napster
was shut down in 2001 in a comparable case,
Aimster, the
file sharing service which used AOL’s Instant Messenger, went down in
flames in
2003, even though they brilliantly changed their name to Madster. But
Grokster is not an ordinary file sharing service, Grokster is KING of
the ‘Sters’,
ruling widely with it’s sub-minions the mighty Morpheus and elegant
Streamcast.
Grokster has won a string of legal victories; first in Los Angles
District
Court, (April 2003) and then in the Federal 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals which
concluded that ever since the player piano, every new method of
duplicating
sound results in a lawsuit. In this case “the defendants are not
liable for
contributory and vicarious copyright infringement…” (August 2004) This means that Grokster is not responsible for
what
people do with it’s software.

Grokster is a family owned business, (I think the Mafia is also family owned) which uses peer-to-peer technology licensed by Fastrack which
is similar but not congruent to Napster. It enables web surfers to
search folders on each others computers over the Internet and copy the
files they want directly to their own computers. College kids used Napster
to trade music files with each other, and the craze spread throughout
the entire world until Napster lost in court for helping teenagers loot
the music industry of every song since Benny Goodman. How many of
those they actually would have paid for, is questionable. “Hey listen to
this one, from “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly!”

The difference in Grokster is that it doesn’t have a centralized
network like Napster which indexed all the illegal downloads, and facilitated
chat lines and transactions through it’s central server. Grokster hears
no evil, sees no evil, does no evil. (Their lawyers can prove it.)
Whatever people do with it’s file sharing software is strictly up to them,
like email. Can Microsoft be sued because a terrorist sends an email
planning to kill thousands, even if they attached an old Cat Stevens
tune along with it? Grokster asserts its software is used for many legal
uses, like sharing original recipes for chocolate cake, and “the Bible, the Koran,
and the Communist Manifesto.” (Some modern versions of the Bible are
actually copyright protected.)

“Your honor, this MP3 service did knowingly allow it’s members to
transmit our New International Funk Jam version of the prophet Isaiah and we
want them PUNISHED!”

Where Would We Be Without Blockbuster?

The lower courts relied heavily on the 1984 Supreme Court decision Sony v. Universal Studios. Sony was sued by Universal because it’s new invention, the Betamax video cassette tape recorder, was used to record TV shows. (omg!) Universal told the world that “the VCR was to copyright as the Boston Strangler is to a woman alone at home” and predicted that it would be “the death of copyright.” (Run for your lives!!!) Radio was also supposed to be the death of copyright because it gave away music over the airwaves.

The narrow 5-4 majority was about to kill the VCR forever until Sandra O’Connor had a sudden mood change at the last minute. The Court then established that the technology inventor is not responsible for illegal uses of it’s product as long as there are credible legal uses. It also ruled that recording a TV show for the purpose of watching it later (time shifting) was ‘fair use’, except if you skip the commercials. This ruling has preserved innovation, and created the video rental empire which the movie industry would have lost had they gotten their way.

Supreme Interpretation

From a brief look at the bloggers who covered the case, below are few
impressions I distilled from the comments of the Justices and Lawyers.

Justice Rehnquist: Voted with Universal against Sony in 1984,
and
asked a few clarifying questions but had to leave many times with the
help of an
aid.

MGM: -He’s a beautiful man, we wish him the best of health through the
end of this case.

Justice O’Connor: She wanted to know exactly what
“rule” the
entertainment industry wanted to propose which would determine whether
or not
the inventors of a technology should be held liable for it’s users
activities.
For example, “Active Inducement?”

MGM: “I don’t know Madam swing voter, how about, ‘They’re
not allowed
to steal our stuff? Is that a good rule?”

Justice Scalia: Questioned whether an innovator of a new product
could
know if he would be sued “out of the box” for a new
invention. He said,
that if ”I’m a new inventor, I’m going to get sued right away…” He
referred
to the company as “Grokster, whatever this outfit is called.”

MGM: “Yeah, Grokster, Theftster, Stealster, whatever.
Thieves
use it to steal 2.6 billion songs, movies and other digital files each
month.
90% of all file sharing is illegal!”

Justice Stevens: Pointed out that if 10% of Grokster file
transfers
were legal, that would mean there are millions of legitimate uses every
day.

MGM: ” But …?”

Justice Souter: By their logic, wondered why they weren’t suing
Apple
for the iPod. (The top iPod can hold 15,000 songs, few people believe
kids are filling them by paying $.99 a song on iTunes.)

MGM: Lawyer Donald Verrilli Jr.,
said that “most iPod buyers are honest
consumers who pay for their digital music…”

Justice Souter: “Uh huh.”

Justice Breyer: Wanted to know if the ruling they
were seeking would have discouraged the inventors of other technologies
that can also be used to
infringe on copyright protected material such as the Xerox machine, the
VCR, Apple’s iPod” and, for that matter, the Gutenberg
press?”

MGM: -holding head in hand, watched the ground

Justice Thomas: Never asks questions in court, didn’t ask any at
this
hearing.

MGM: -best opinion so far.

As Grokster began parading out of court with a 500 mile high stack of
CD’s and DVD’s:

Justice Ginsburg: Became annoyed by Grokster’s lawyer, Mr.
Taranto,
when he suggested that the Sony Ruling …has protected innovation,
…settled
the issue and …should not be altered. Bada boom, bada bing, you may
step down.

Justice Ginsburg: Retorted that the Sony rule was really
not
all that clear.

MGM: -lifted head ever so slightly from a pool of tissues, snot and
despair

Justice Kennedy: Remarked that profiting from illegal activity
as a
way to get start up money for a new business “just seems wrong to
me”

MGM: -slightly raised eyebrows on an otherwise blank stare

Justice Kennedy: Also discouraged that the entertainment
industry did
not propose a test to decide when a neutral technology was liable for
copyright
infringement.

MGM: Mumbling to self, “You don’t like the ‘if you help
people steal
our stuff it’s wrong’ test?”

The chief executive for Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Andrew Lack,
summarized with a witty original assessment of Grokster, which he said,
”doesn’t pass the smell test with a lot of the justices.” (Except maybe
for the justices that ruled on any of his cases.)

Conclusion:

Even though Grokster’s “I’m not actually there when the thefts take
place” defense is transparently self serving, it’s evident that the
Justices are considering the broad implications that their ruling will have
on future technological development and America’s ability to innovate in
a highly competitive world economy. Many inventions of the past that
could duplicate copyrighted material are now an integral part of our
high tech society. For example, your web browser made a copy of this
copyrighted web page, and placed it in your Temporary Internet Files folder
on your computer. But I’m waiting for the Supreme Court ruling on this
case, expected in June, before taking any action.

Rick writes a humor column called,

“Don’t Laugh It Could Happen To You” for
http://sandiego.merchantamerica.com

Do you fit into the mold? Are you in a rut? Maybe you need to
step out of the box. Here is my true story.

In most of America people a trained and pre programmed to act
and work in common ways, known and predictable. This creates
order. Everyone goes down the highway on the right side of the
road. What if you went down on the left? Would you be wrong? Not
if you were in England. I am from Kansas. Another world and and
in another time. I don’t play by the rules for I don’t see them.
I abide by our common laws and moral values but I am wired
differently. I don’t follow your roads. To get out of your ruts,
get of the road.

The best things in life are free is dead wrong. The best things
in life are things that you get paid to collect. For many years
I would advertise to pay for broken mowers. Many people saved my
adds and would call me months after the adds expired. One day
someone called me and asked if I would still pickup mowers,I
said I had so many I didn’t need any more. They then asked how
much would I charge to pick one up. Bingo, I realised that I
should be charging not paying. Immediatly I reran the adds and
announced that would pick them up for a fee. I actually got more
mowers. I don’t know why but people even treated me better when
I went to their homes. I guess they thought I wasn’t under
paying them for the mowers or something like that. This was a
turning point in my life. I realised that I could collect things
I wanted and get paid for it. Like working and enjoying it. I
decided that from now on I would make sure that I turn the table
on all my problems. I would make the problem a solution. I would
make any thing I like to do part of my work. I liked to grow
trees and plants. So of course I raise them for profit and here
is how it came about….

Of course you have heard that, “Money grows on trees”, or, “Buy
land because they’re not making any more of it”. How many times?
I first heard about it when I was 5 from my great uncle, Uncle
Bill. Uncle Bill was wealthy, retired and living the good life
in Sarasota Florida. I was impressed with his big house, boat,
and all his toys that successful people collect. He was a
forestry graduate of Penn State and had made a ton of money. As
I grew up he would visit us once a year. I always listened to
his stories and was convinced that he could never be wrong. He
had made his fortune selling traffic signals (red lights). High
tech for his day. I can remember him telling my father that if
he was starting all over he would buy land in Maine and grow
Christmas trees on it. Listening in and hearing this I thought
it was secret market information that is only repeated to close
friends and family. I thought I would never tell anyone for if I
did, well, it would lose its value and everyone would be doing
it. Sort of like the pig market cycle. One minute trees would be
scarce and bingo, the next minute there would be surpluses and
the market value would crash. As I grew up, some say I never
have, I wanted to do just that. Grow trees and buy land, lots
and lots of land, and of course plant lots and lots of trees. In
1973 I graduated from Juniata College in Huntingdon Pa with a BS
in Chemistry. It was at Juniata that I met my future wife. I
proceded to go out and get a job with in Lahaska, Pa.. I really
wanted to start growing trees. So I bought 160 acres of land in
the mountains of Virginia in Allegehany County. The purchase
price for this mountain land was $150 per acre. I was working in
Bucks County Pa. and felt that if I worked day and night I could
pay for this property in a few years. The older lady who sold me
this property sold it to me for 1/2 down and the balance in one
year with no interest. Making about $6.00 per hour and borrowing
$12000 for the initial payment, I proceeded to go into debt.
During this year I proceeded to start to pay down on the
property. I did get married later in the year and my wife and I
started our real estate purchases. Within 2 years we had paid
off this property. We bought our first house and started saving
money for a Bucks County Farm. We both had our day jobs and at
night and on weekends we mowed lawns. After 5 years we had
enough down money to buy a 38 acre farm in Doylestown Pa.
Keeping our first house as a rental, we moved to our farm. This
farm had a purchase price of $210,000, and a payment of $1493 a
month. We named this property, Highland Hill Farm. It was at
this point that we came up with the plan that we followed that
helped us to fund the purchases of all our farms and properties.
I called this plan,” My dollar a day plan”. We reasoned that
each day we should work on projects that will in the future pay
off with an income stream of $1 per day or save me $1 per day
from my current costs. Each day would be considered sucessful if
that goal was met. All costs and all projects and work was
measured in that manner. If we could set up a low cost plan that
could reap the benifit of $1 a day we would work on it. The goal
of the dollar per day was not important, just the attempt. We
would work on the idea until it would be completed or given up
on. We reasoned that one could spend hundreds of dollars on each
idea, because when it would work out, the pay back would be
hundreds of dollars per year. After many days my income would be
increasing and it would help fund the plan. Our morgage payment
was greater than our combined take home pay. This meant we had
to bust xxx. So we had to work every night mowing lawns and
doing extra work. We started to plant Norway Spruce and White
Pine Trees. We started with the smallest and the cheapest trees
we could afford. We started with 2-4″ seedlings. Since we felt
it would be years before these trees would be saleable we kept
up our lawn route. As our children arrived they went with us on
our lawn route and we back packed them as we mowed lawns. Within
2 years the first batch of trees were marketable! We sold 2-3′
pines and spruces for $8.00 each deleivered and planted. These
trees sold like hot cakes! Thus a few pennies for seedlings
could be converted to many dollars within a few years. This
would add many dollars per day to our plan. We also rented out
barn space. Within one month of ownership we had almost $1500 in
rent per month from barn spaces. We purchased Scottish Highland
cows.I like to eat and I loved having cows on the farm when I
grew up so I figured get paid to raise what you like and eat the
rest. These cows would save us from buying meat. We had a garden
for vegetables and fruit trees in our pasture. When I cleaned up
the dead branches I found a place to sell them for smoking
meats. The garden saved on buying vegetables. Being asked to do
lawn cleanups and remove items from customer properties, we
began to do small hauling jobs. We found that a lot of good
stuff is thrown out so we started collecting used lumber,
plumbing supplies, and anything we thought we could reuse or
salvage. Everything we did was directed towards being self
sufficient, cost saving, and income production. (I know if I
told you all the ways we saved you would not believe me so I
will save the words.) We heated our house with a wood burning
stove. The wood burner saved on fuel for winter heating. We
would turn the burner on only for hot water for showers. Since
our house was old and large, a lot of fuel would be saved in
this manner. Within a few months we realized that this plan was
working. We saw that in aquiring rental properties and placing
them in service, we could buy properties with positive cash
flows. A positive cash flow of $100 per month brought in about
$3 per day. It does not sound like a lot but when you calculate
in expected appreciation of the property and possible rent
increases, this plan looked even better. We thus started to look
for more properties. We found another farm in Bedminster
Township. The cost was $195,000 for 8+ acres, 2 houses, 2 barns
and machinery storage sheds. I estimated that there would be
$3500 per month in rents that would support this price. After
buying this property our first months rent was $3450 !!! With
taxes and insurances, we made at least $1000 per month on this
farm. We also planted trees and shrubs on this property and put
in a few cows. In seeing that this method was working, I went to
the public library. We got books on how to buy and manage real
estate. I read everything I could. The book,”Nothing Down” by
Robert Allen was an eye opener. It confirmed many of our
stratagies. Almost every deal on real estate that we did was
with nothing down or creative financing. Every property had to
make a positive cash flow. We never bought a property to flip.
We became a buy and hold persons. We did buy a few single family
homes, but concentrated on farms and land. Gradually our gross
income and net income allowed me to quit my day job. That took
almost ten years. As we had more and more spendable income, we
would invest it in more types and kinds of trees. During the
early years, we wanted to plant trees that we could market
through newspaper ads. Newspaper ads allowed me to have a store
without hours. People would call in for information instead of
visiting my location. This saves a lot of time. A phone
answering machine acted as my secretary. We would take orders
over the phone and deleiver and plant nursery stock directly to
the homeowner. Our adds targeted customers who wanted screens
and privacy fences. They tended to buy large numbers of small
pines, spruces, and arborvitae schrubs and trees. One could
deliever 20 2- 3′ white pines on a pickup truck and plant them
in an evening. At $8 ea we would gross $160 Our tree cost was 20
cents ea. or about $2.00 per order. We all gained valuable
lessons in planting trees in a wide range of conditions. Without
a doubt I can conclusively say that I now have found that money
does grow on trees. My uncle Bill was right. His secret market
information was exactly as I had thought when I was 5 years old.
Only after enjoying the trees and nurturing them over the years
did I realise that it wasn’t for money that he wanted to raise
trees, it was for satisfaction in the way of life and quality
time that I have been blessed with in following my dream.

Bill Hirst

P.S. 30 acres being cleared

A 30 acre field in Doylestown Has to be cleared this month. We
still have about 150 flowering pear trees to be dug. The field
next to this plot is the next to be bull dozed. We have app. 60
acres of stock there.

Year 2006 Free Stuff:

We will be giving away free bibles that we got out of the trash
as supply lasts. We also want to get rid of some surplus stock.
I will determine how much free stock is given away by the size
of your order. The more you buy the more you will be given. I
want your trucks to go home full so you don’t waste gas.

You can see more of our operations at
http://www.seedlingsrus.com or http://www.highlandhillfarm.com

I have a passion…..save,recycle,buy in volume,go without,and
invest in long range pay out ideas. These ideas really work as
he has demonstrated. His web sites detail many of my ideas. The
sites include seedlingsrus.com zone5trees.com
highlandhillfarm.com and huntingrelics.com

Overcoming shyness can’t be that hard. All you need to do is
just go start talking to people. Ready? Here we go! Any second
now. It’s coming. Just start talking and… right now! Yeah. Okay,
maybe it’s not so easy.

Unfortunately, overcoming shyness is rather difficult. You want
to meet people, mingle at parties, ask out that certain someone.
However, the closer you get to talking to someone, the harder it
becomes until you are so nervous that your confidence fails you
as you try to slip in a word. Then you walk away, feeling like
you are some sort of failure. This feeling of inadequacy does
not actually help you the next time, though. In fact, it just
makes it more likely that you will freeze up the next time,
since you have become used to shying away when you want to be
speaking.

However, through hypnosis, you can rid yourself of these
feelings of inadequacy, boost your self-confidence, and finally
start overcoming shyness. By allowing your mind to help itself,
you can find yourself a more confident person in any social
setting. Instead of backing away at the chance to talk to
someone, you can comfortably converse with them and, if you
like, even start the conversation yourself! Wouldn’t that be a
nice change?

Hypnosis can help you achieve your goal of overcoming shyness
through its method of relaxation and suggestion. First, the
subject is brought into a state of deep relaxation, not unlike
meditation or deep sleep. However, where hypnosis differs from
these two states is by leaving your subconscious mind open to
suggestion. And it is with suggestion that the mind is allowed
to remove the barriers that create fears, phobias, or shyness.
Thus, by visiting a trained hypnotherapist or using
self-hypnosis tapes, overcoming shyness is possible, and it can
happen quicker that you had expected. You are simply allowing
your mind to rid itself of something that it already wants to
get rid of.

Hypnosis is a very useful tool for overcoming shyness. Through
suggestion to an open mind, your anxieties in social situations
can finally be a nothing but a memory. You don’t need to keep
suffering every time you want to meet new people or try to get a
date. By overcoming shyness through hypnosis, you will be
confident and collected in every social situation and setting.
And isn’t that something that we would all want?

The alternative self defense product, stun gun, requires a bit of introduction. A lot of people when they first hear the term “stun gun”, they actually think of the little gadget featured in many science fiction movies. In fact, self defense technology has come a long way.

For a long time, if one wanted to protect themselves, they would have to spend years of time practicing martial arts or self defense techniques. In fact, it is still the ultimate way of self defense. If one can master the skill, it becomes built into your body. You can use it anytime, anywhere and nobody can take it away from you. However, the downside is that it takes a lot of discipline and time to master.

Later, the firearm became a popular way of self protection. Guns are no doubt a very effective method of protection if one is properly trained to aim and shoot accurately, and if one is able to face the permanent consequences of their split-second decision to take a life. If one is unable to shoot with accuracy, a determined assailant can continue to attack. Unfortunately, a fatal shot is the only guarantee to stop an assailant with a gun. A life or death decision must be made in the matter of an instance while knowing the consequences of your actions cannot be reversed.

Non-lethal self defense weapons can be very useful in stopping an assailant while not causing permanent damage. These too have limitations. The personal alarm might be effective if someone was around to hear it. Even so, most of us have grown accustomed to loud alarms and rarely do we act upon them. Pepper spray is another option for non-lethal self-defense. Pepper spray can be very effective if the attacker gets very close and you happen to have the pepper spray aimed to their eyes. The close proximity and limited target area make pepper spray less than ideal.

Our very last option would be a stun gun. A common myth about the stun gun is that when held against an attacker, the attacker will fall to the ground immediately. This is not how the stun gun works. When a stun gun touches both probes against the assailant’s body for second, it will startle the assailant, giving him some pain, muscular contraction and shock. For 1-2 seconds, it will cause muscle spasms and a dazed mental state. For 3-5 seconds, it will cause loss of balance and muscle control, total mental confusion and disorientation, leaving him dazed. (Under no conditions can you suffer a charge back to your own body, even if the assailant touches you while you are using a stun gun on him.) As you can see, it will take 3-5 seconds for a stun gun to knock down the assailant. To be honest, 3-5 seconds is a very long time in a desperate situation. Now, you may ask, why would I need a stun gun then? Well, would you rather have something that would work but take a little time or nothing but your bare hands? Would you want a device that you can use with very little training? Would you rather have a mechanism that is non-lethal or one that causes death? Do you want protection without a license or waiting period?

Like I tell all my customers, a stun gun is your last line of defense. Use it when you have absolutely no choice. The ultimate wisdom to self defense is to be aware of your surroundings. If your gut tells you not to walk around a quiet and dark alley at 3 o’clock in the morning, chances are you should not. Any martial arts master would tell you fighting is not the way to get out of a situation. The best way to get away from a bad situation is not to put yourself into one. RUN! Therefore, my customers are encouraged to be aware of their surroundings. Walk to the car with a friend. Stay in well lit areas. Pay attention to the environment. And do not take any chances with your safety.

Still not satisfied? Non-lethal self defense has recently been taken to whole new level. The Taser. Police departments throughout the United States are starting to deploy the taser for their duty officers. It has been proven that taser is far more effective than any self defense weapon on the market today. The beauty of the taser is in its delivery. It can be aimed anywhere on the assailant’s body dramatically increasing the accuracy of your aiming. Pull the trigger and the taser will shoot tow dots with 50,000 volts to the assailant. A 15-20 foot range provides a great distance from you and your attacker. Taser uses the EMS technology- when the probes touch the assailant’s body, it interferes with the signal of the assailant’s nervous system. Therefore, the assailant has no choice but to fall down regardless of the mind power and body strength. They will stay immobilized for 5 seconds depending on the person. These 5 seconds is ample time to run away to a safe place and call the police. If you do not want to take any chances with your safety, the taser is the ultimate self defense product.

Joe Lau is the founder of Self Defense Products Depot which provides non-lethal self defense products such as stun guns, taser, pepper sprays, and much more self defense products. For more information, please visit http://www.self-defense-products-depot.

Anyone who’s ever been caught in the throes of indecision –and who hasn’t- knows that it can be downright maddening. Thinking about what to do, whether the decision is big … Should we buy this house? … or small … Do I want mashed potatoes or baked? … can become borderline obsessive. It consumes your thoughts until you choose one outcome over the other, and even then may continue to harass you as you worry whether you made the right choice.

Certainly, indecision is frustrating for the indecisive person. But that’s not all. Being indecisive also affects those around you. Your coworkers, your spouse, your family and friends are all influenced by your decision-making, or lack thereof.

What’s Wrong With a Little Indecision?

Being unable to make a decision happens to the best of us. But when being indecisive begins to become more of a regular occurrence than a rare one, your relationships and career may suffer.

“Indecision is a silent enemy that steals many opportunities,” says Caterina Rando, MA, MCC, a success speaker and author of the book “Learn to Power Think.”

That’s because your wavering decision may be overcome by someone else’s quick thinking. Or, you may be so distracted by the very thought of “What should I do?” that you miss out on opportunities that come your way.

“You cannot decide what to say to an employee or co-worker who has lost a relative, so you say nothing, loosing the opportunity to provide support. You put off deciding if you can afford to go to a conference, so you leave the information on your desk; the next time you read the flyer, you learn that the event has already passed. Your lack of decision-making caused you to miss an opportunity to meet with your colleagues and learn about your industry,” Rando explains.

Why Are We Indecisive?

Though it may seem that some people can make a decision in a snap with little or no quandary, many Americans view themselves as indecisive. Most who belong to this category also wish they could become “more decisive.” Interestingly, what’s causing all of this indecision may actually have little to do with us, but instead should be blamed on our ever-more-complicated environment.

We are bombarded with decisions constantly, and most do not have obvious outcomes. For instance, the decision of whether or not to go indoors during a lightening storm is obvious. The decisions of what flavor syrup to get in your coffee, what size to order, what type of milk to use, whether to get it iced or hot, with or without whipped cream, decaf or regular is another story all together.

The bottom line is this: We make many decisions without even thinking about them (turning on your car’s blinker when you’re turning, for instance). But we are now faced with a plethora of other decisions that never-before existed, and it can be overwhelming, if not plain confusing. Where we could once only order coffee with cream or sugar, we now must choose, whether we like it or not, among hundreds, if not thousands, of coffee variations.

And our brains may not be ready to keep up. “The trouble with our brains”, says decision researcher Peter Ayton from the Society for Judgment and Decision Making, “is that they were designed to survive in the relatively simple environment of the African Savannah, thousands of years ago.”

Today, it will no longer suffice just to know whether or not to run from an angry lion. To make it in today’s jungle, you must become a skilled decision maker.

How to Eliminate Indecisiveness with Skillful Decisions

There is no shortage of graduate level business courses designed to teach you how to make decisions, and the processes can get rather complex. You could easily devote a significant amount of time to honing this skill (but you’ll have to decide if you should or not). In the meantime, here are some basic techniques to help you make better decisions and, maybe, become less indecisive while you’re at it.

List your options. Write down all the possible outcomes of your decision, but don’t evaluate them at this point.

If necessary, gather information about the decision by researching or asking friends and family.

Read over your options and think about how they make you feel. Eliminate any that evoke no response from you.

Recognize how each option makes you feel. If a choice is obviously bad, eliminate it, but otherwise keep all options open at this point.

Determine your desired outcome. What would you like to see happen from this decision?

Evaluate your options and choose which are most likely to help you reach your desired outcome.

Make the decision. Choose the option that seems to fit best.

Accept your decision fully. Don’t allow yourself to question whether you made the right choice. Instead, be optimistic and do all you can to help your decision meet your desired outcome.

This article was provided by the world’s #1 most popular and trusted holistic living e-newsletter — FREE to you right now at http://www.SixWise.com! The old way of thinking: “holistic living” pertains only to personal health. The new way of thinking: “holistic living” means prevention of the negative and adherence to the positive in all SIX practical areas of life: relationships, finances, career, home environment, safety and health. With the SixWise.com e-newsletter, you will get holistic wisdom from the world’s top experts in all six of these areas — completely FREE with a simple sign-up (and a guaranteed no-spam policy!) at http://www.SixWise.com.

There is such excitement in this cutting edge technology for laser hair removal. In order to decide if you want to use laser hair removal, you can check online for research and then you would need a doctor consultation.

Why should you use a laser to remove hair?

Lasers can target pigmented hair while leaving the skin around the laser treatment unaffected. With each pulse of the laser, you can treat many hairs. Each pulse only takes a fraction of a second. Compare this with electrolysis and you will see that laser hair removal is much more precise and faster.

Does laser hair removal really work?

The results are quite predictable. 90% of patients usually have permanent hair loss. 10% percent of patients, no matter what you do, hair loss just does not happen. Usually after each session, most of the treated hairs by the laser fallout. After about six weeks the hair follicles that have survived gradually start growing back. But on the average with each session, approximately one third of the hairs’ treated never return back and, therefore, are permanently removed.

The remaining hairs tend to be lighter in color and also smaller in size. Patients typically, on the average, are satisfied with three to five treatments separated by two months apart. Patients that have darker colored skin may need more sessions as their skin may require lower energy levels in order to be a safe treatment.

Will it work for me individually?

A consultation is required to determine if you really are a suitable candidate for a laser hair removal procedure. Dark, coarse hairs on any part of the body usually respond well. As a rule, very fine or very lightly colored hair whether it’s white, gray, or red, do not respond well to treatment.

Patients with dark complexions really need to be treated cautiously because the dark skin interferes with the laser light even before reaching the hair. With the latest technology available, there is some flexibility to treat a wide variety of patients effectively and safely.

What should I do before treatments?

Prior to treatments some protection from the sun is recommended. Usually for at least a month in advance. Tan skin increase the pigmentation and this can compete with the laser light. This can result in less effective sessions with a higher chance of side effects. The hairs in the areas that you want treated must be short but visible. It is very important not to pluck or wax the hair for a month prior to the treatments.

How long does each session usually last?

The treatment is relatively quick but also depends on the amount of hair to be treated. The laser can treat the hairs about the size of a quarter every second. A small area like the upper lip can be treated in less than a minutes, while large areas like the back or the legs may need up to an hour.

Will it hurt?

An anesthetic cream is usually recommended to numb the skin before treatments. This you will need to speak with the doctor and he can discuss with you which cream would be effective. The procedure is usually tolerated well with a mild sensation of heat tingling or stinging.

What should I expect after the Treatment?

The laser hair treatment area looks and feels much like a sunburn that usually last one to two days. You can use a cool compress and moisturizers. The area treated pretty much is usually pain-free the day after. Makeup can usually be used after the treatment unless there are blisters. Blisters, though not common, are more likely to happen in patients with darker skin. The lasered hair falls out over a month period and should not frighten you. Also, you should use sun protection for a month afterwards so it won’t change the pigment in your skin. Changes that sometimes may occur, which are permanent undesirable side effects, are scarring or skin color changes, though rare.

Again you really need to speak with a doctor before you even consider having laser hair removal. This is only general information and not to be taken as the only answers to these questions.

Copyright 2005 Fern Kuhn, RN

Specializing in Diabetes

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It has long been said that caffeine is not good for building strong bones. In fact, drinking more than three caffeinated beverages a day is listed as a risk factor for developing Osteoporosis (porous bone).

But a study reported in “The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition” indicates that the tea may be helpful for keeping bones strong. A study done at the University of Cambridge in England examined the tea drinking habits and bone densities of over 1200 British women age 65 - 75. The researchers found that “tea drinkers “had stronger bones than “non-tea drinkers.”

The tea-drinkers in the study had a 5 percent higher mean bone-mineral density than non-tea-drinkers. This could mean a 10 percent to 15 percent decline in fracture risk! These results are very different from those found among coffee drinkers.

The researchers said that perhaps antioxidants in tea are key players or it may be the flouride found in tea. Flouride has a positive effect on bone.

Researchers from National Cheng Kung University Hospital in Taiwan also found tea to have beneficial effects on bone. The surveyed 1,037 men and women age 30 and older who had bone density tests about their tea drinking habits. Most of the habitual tea drinkers consumed green or oolong tea.

Those who had been drinking tea for at least 6 -10 years had a hip-bone density 2.3 percent higher than in non-habitual tea drinkers and those who drank tea regularly for more than 10 years
had a hip-bone density was 6.2 percent higher than in non-habitual tea drinkers.

Since Asian tea drinkers do not use milk in their tea, these results can not be attributed to any calcium found in milk. So, tea drinking may be a pleasant and easy means of strengthening your bones.

This article was written by K. Lindemann Ph. D. of http://www.osteopenia3.com

Permission is given to reproduce it in whole or in part as long as the author and the url of the web site are included.

It’s all about relationships!

Here is how a popular TV show looks at it:

In a city filled with more than its fair share of players, predators, losers, and creeps, these people need all the help they can get in order to find the one thing that eludes them all - a real, satisfying and lasting relationship. Is such a thing possible in New York City?

Here’s how your customers may be seeing things:

In a vocation filled with more than its fair share of players, predators, losers, and creeps, these customers need all the help they can get in order to find the one thing that eludes them all - a real, satisfying and lasting relationship. Is such a thing possible in Sales City?

Relationship selling, you always hear that, “it’s all about the relationship”. But relationships, like people come in all shapes and sizes, yet most sales people have a very singular approach. Regardless of whom they may be talking to, or more accurately at, they approach things the same way with everyone. Rolling through the same questions, hoping for the same old answers, and ignoring answers they are not prepared for or don’t fit their agenda.

Often it’s not just the sales reps’ fault, but their managers’. They go back to the office and are greeted by: “Did you ask him…..?”; “Did you find his pain?”; “What’d he say to that?”; “Really, what did he mean by that? What’d ya say then? Ah, he doesn’t get it! So, when’s he gonna close?”

As a result some sales reps focus on getting the “right answers” for their managers, account plans and CRM fields, rather than focusing on the prospects’ answers, and what’s right for a long term relationship.

Relationships in life vary from person to person, and to make them work, you have to realize this and constantly adjust. Depending on the people involved, different things will advance and enhance the relationship, while other things will impair them. How many times have you found that after an initial encounter with someone, things really don’t progress? The other person just doesn’t seem to be in tune with your view, needs or interests. No effort is made to understand how to engage you or stimulate you by focusing on your interests or desires. Soon, you realize that the other person is only able to view, understand and value things from a single perspective: theirs. Nothing else counts or is taken in to the equation. Same with sales, each sale has its own characteristics, pace, rhythm, etc. Each interaction between you, the sales person, and the prospect will be different. Sorry, there is no magic bullet, not everyone fits into a magic quadrant; it’s not as easy as “once you know the ‘type’ you are dealing with, all you have to do is……”.

Like your social relationships, each prospect is different. In your personal life, people may have similar characteristics, but they are each different. Each sale is a relationship, in fact with some customers, you’ll have a longer relationship than with some in your non-business life, just ask any successful financial advisor. You can’t afford to take a cookie cutter approach to prospects/clients. Each requires an understanding of what makes them unique. Yes this will require greater effort than pigeon-holing individuals into a “quadrant”.

Take the time getting to know what makes each prospect different, what their unique values are, how to specifically sell to each. Invest a little time and energy in questions that will help you understand the prospect and questions that will help you sell your prospect. Using the answers to shape the interview and work with the prospect. You will find that it is an investment that will continue to pay off in a steady and growing fashion.

After all not all your sales relationships need to be like an episode of Sales and the City! Just ask our clients who are seeing returns from our “Asking Questions, Winning Sales” Program.

For more information on helping your team sell better, write to: info@sellbetter.ca, visit http://www.sellbetter.ca or call 416 671-3555.

Tibor Shanto, is a Principal with Renbor Sales Solutions Inc., with over 20 years of sales experience, from telemarketing to leading a global sales team focused on providing top end solutions. He worked with and helped to improve performance for sales professionals in a wide variety of fields, from financial services to on-line B2B specialists.

Renbor Sales Solutions provides a total approach to managing sales and prospecting activity; building profitable relationships. Helping organizations sell better by effecting measurable improvements in the most critical aspects of the sales process. Programs focus on: Real Prospects - Real Sales - Real Measurable Results.

If you’re goal is to steal a bargain, you need to check out www.propertyroom.com.

This online auction site might just be the most unusual of its kind on the Internet site because it consists of items from police property rooms.

You’ve probably seen police auctions advertised in your local paper, This site takes the concept to the max with items from more than 550 police departments across the country. The auctions are run much like eBay. There’s an opening page with featured items called Hot Pursuit Specials, and a list of categories of items such as Automotive, Cell Phone, Clothing & Accessories, Jewelry, Watches, Computing, Bicycles, Electronics, Photography and so on.

You must register to bid. The sign-up process is,similar to eBay’s. The way auctions work is also almost identical to that of eBay. When you click on an item to bid, you see the current bid, bid increment, bid history and time left. There is also a complete description of the item, its shipping cost and sales tax (if applicable). If the item is not new, there is also a rating of its condition - excellent, good, etc. — and a description of any imperfections.

What kind of deals can you expect?

Naturally, the items up for bid change almost daily as do the amounts bid. However, here were some of the deals as of this writing.

Item - Current Bid - Time remaining

Mustek 8.0 megapixel camera
6 in 1 digital camera - $70.00 - 1 hr. 57 min.

This site will be growing even larger in the future, as its owners are negotiating with 3,000 more police departments to handle their property sales. It also seems likely that the prices items sell for will increase as more and more people discover the site.

So, if you’d like to steal a bargain, there’s no site like www.propertyroom.com and no time like the present

Here’s something that’s also a bargain. It’s a new technology called HD Radio that enables AM and FM radio stations to broadcast their programs digitally. These digital broadcasts provide listeners with radically improved audio quality, more radio channels through multicasting, and new data services — and it’s all free! To learn more about this new technology, just go my Web site, http://www.hd-radio-home.com, to get all the buzz.

Douglas Hanna is a retired marketing executive and the author of numerous articles on HD radio, the Internet and family finances.