Posts Tagged ‘clients’
Bankruptcy – The New Scarlet Letter
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book The Scarlet Letter states in Chapter 2, “On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A.” The letter A stood for the word adulterer and represented one of the worst insults in society. One would have thought that today we are a lot more civilized than 200 years ago, but unfortunately it is not true. Society has abolished the letter A alright, but it has latched onto a new one, the letter B, which stands for bankruptcy. People do not see it on their chest and think it does not affect them, but it does. Bankruptcy is as insulting and as damaging to one’s financial, emotional, mental, and even physical well- being as any major failure or stigma.
Although lawyers may tell their clients the stigma lasts 7-10 years, the truth is the stigma lasts forever. Ask those that have been through the process and most will tell you how rough and hard it is to get a good job, buy a new car or a home, get a promotion at work, or even lease an apartment. In certain industries, bankruptcy also means instant termination from work. The pains and agonies of bankruptcy will not just end there. Financially the person is haunted with higher interest rates, higher down payments, and outright rejections for many years to come. Emotionally and mentally the person has to endure constant refusals that affect morale, self-esteem, and self-respect. Eventually, the stress could potentially affect the person’s health. Mental stress incapacitates numerous people each and every year and the numbers are staggering.
How does one avoid questions on applications such as this one: “Have you ever filed for bankruptcy?” Please note, it does not say, “Have you filed for bankruptcy in the last seven years?” The way to avoid such applications is usually by walking away from them. In other words, by allowing doors to be closed in one’s face. The bottom line is, bankruptcy has a very real downside that is likely much worse than any postive short-term results. Many consumers are unaware of these potential pitfalls associated with bankruptcy, as countless attorneys often paint a rosy picture.
My Advice through person experience: Avoid bankruptcy, at all cost, and only as the absolute last possible resort. Weigh your decision carefully. I recognize there are certain circumstances where bankruptcy is truly the best option and there may be times where it’s the only option. One should not use bankruptcy as an option simply because it is “easy” or seems to be a quick solution.
Phil Andrews is currently the VP of Business Development for Precept Financial Solutions, a leading debt settlement firm based in Dallas, Texas. For more information, go to http://www.PreceptFinancial.com or call toll free 800-584-0855 and press option 2.
Minding Your Global Manners
To say that today’s business environment is becoming increasingly more global is to state the obvious. Meetings, phone calls and conferences are held all over the world and attendees can come from any point on the globe. On any given business day you can find yourself dealing face-to-face, over the phone, by e-mail and, on rare occasions, by postal letter with people whose customs and cultures differ your own. You may never have to leave home to interact on an international level.
While the old adage “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” still holds true, business clients and colleagues who are visiting this country should be treated with sensitivity and with an awareness of their unique culture. Not to do your homework and put your best international foot forward can cost you relationships and future business. One small misstep such as using first names inappropriately, not observing the rules of timing or sending the wrong color flower in the welcome bouquet can be costly.
There is no one set of rules that applies to all international visitors so do the research for each country that your clients represent. That may sound like a daunting task, but taken in small steps, it is manageable and the rewards are worth the effort. Keeping in mind that there are as many ways to do business as there are countries to do business with, here are a few tips for minding your global P’s and Q’s.
Building relationships: Few other people are as eager to get down to business as we Americans. So take time to get to know your international clients and build rapport before you rush to the bottom line. Business relationships are built on trust that is developed over time, especially with people from Asia and Latin America.
Dressing conservatively: Americans like to dress for fashion and comfort, but people from other parts of the world are generally more conservative. Your choice of business attire is a signal of your respect for the other person or organization. Leave your trendy clothes in the closet on the days that you meet with your foreign guests.
Observe the hierarchy: It is not always a simple matter to know who is the highest-ranking member when you are dealing with a group. To avoid embarrassment, err on the side of age and masculine gender, only if you are unable to discover the protocol with research. If you are interacting with the Japanese, it is important to understand that they make decisions by consensus, starting with the younger members of the group. By contrast, Latin people have a clear hierarchy that defers to age.
Understanding the handshake: With a few exceptions, business people around the world use the handshake for meeting and greeting. However, the American style handshake with a firm grip, two quick pumps, eye contact and a smile is not universal. Variations in handshakes are based on cultural differences, not on personality or values. The Japanese give a light handshake. Germans offer a firm shake with one pump, and the French grip is light with a quick pump. Middle Eastern people will continue shaking your hand throughout the greeting. Don’t be surprised if you are occasionally met with a kiss, a hug, or a bow somewhere along the way.
Using titles and correct forms of address: We are very informal in the United States and are quick to call people by their first name. Approach first names with caution when dealing with people from other cultures. Use titles and last names until you have been invited to use the person’s first name. In some cases, this may never occur. Use of first names is reserved for family and close friends in some cultures.
Titles are given more significance around the world than in the United States and are another important aspect of addressing business people. Earned academic degrees are acknowledged. For example, a German engineer is addressed as “Herr Ingenieur” and a professor as “Herr Professor”. Listen carefully when you are introduced to someone and pay attention to business cards when you receive them.
Exchanging business cards: The key to giving out business cards in any culture is to show respect for the other person. Present your card so that the other person does not have to turn it over to read your information. Use both hands to present your card to visitors from Japan, China, Singapore, or Hong Kong. When you receive someone else’s business card, always look at it and acknowledge it. When you put it away, place it carefully in your card case or with your business documents. Sticking it haphazardly in your pocket is demeaning to the giver. In most cases, wait until you have been introduced to give someone your card.
Valuing time. Not everyone in the world is as time conscious as Americans. Don’t take it personally if someone from a more relaxed culture keeps you waiting or spends more of that commodity than you normally would in meetings or over meals. Stick to the rules of punctuality, but be understanding when your contact from another country seems unconcerned.
Honoring space issues: Americans have a particular value for their own physical space and are uncomfortable when other people get in their realm. If the international visitor seems to want to be close, accept it. Backing away can send the wrong message. So can touching. You shouldn’t risk violating someone else’s space by touching them in any way other than with a handshake.
Whether the world comes to you or you go out to it, the greatest compliment you can pay your international clients is to learn about their country and their customs. Understand differences in behavior and honor them with your actions. Don’t take offense when visitors behave according to their norms. People from other cultures will appreciate your efforts to accommodate them and you will find yourself building your international clientele.
(c)2005, Lydia Ramsey. All rights in all media reserved. Reprint rights granted so long as the article and by-line are reproduced intact and all links are made live.
Lydia Ramsey is a business etiquette expert, professional speaker, corporate trainer and author of MANNERS THAT SELL – ADDING THE POLISH THAT BUILDS PROFITS. She has been quoted or featured in The New York Times, Investors’ Business Daily, Entrepreneur, Inc., Real Simple and Woman’s Day. For more information about her programs, products and services, e-mail her at lydia@mannersthatsell.com or visit her web site http://www.mannersthatsell.com.
How To Start An Internet Business ? Site Layout
The fourth step of how to start an Internet business involves the layout of your site. When organizing it, two audiences must be considered. Obviously, visitors to the site are the first audience. You must also keep in mind the second audience, search engine robots. Both audiences are extremely important and, fortunately, both want the same thing.
Lean, Mean Layout
Your site needs to be clean and quick if you want to be successful. Slow, cluttered sites inevitably fail because visitors and spiders get distracted and leave before taking the action you want. Let’s take a closer look.
Visitors
The layout of your site should allow visitors to quickly find information and solutions. To achieve this, every page should be no more than two clicks from the home page. Have you ever been on a site where you have to hunt to find a particular page? Poor layouts are aggravating and hurt conversion rates.
Make things as easy as possible by interlinking between the site pages. Every page should have links to primary pages and as many other pages as possible. If you look at good site, links to primary pages are listed across the top and bottom of each page. Links to specific services or products are always listed on each page. It may sound like overkill, but make it as easy as possible for your clients to move around.
Spiders
Search engines use programs called “spiders” to surf the net and index sites. When a spider finds a page, it reads the code from top to bottom and left to right. If the code is clean, the spider will index the page and follow the links to the other pages of the site.
If the code isn’t clean, spiders stop indexing pages. If pages aren’t indexed, they do not appear in search engine results. What stops spiders? Following are the most common problems:
1. Bottlenecks ? Make sure each page of your site links to every primary page at a minimum. You do not want a spider to get stuck on a page and miss others.
2. Dynamic Pages ? Your pages need to be static or carefully designed. If dynamic, spiders often will not index them because they aren’t sure of the content.
3. Frames ? Don’t use this antiquated design technique.
4. Poor URLs ? A huge mistake is to put database parameters in the URL. The URL should contain only the domain name and keywords for the page. A good URL reads: http://www.marketingtitan.com/internet_marketing_services. A poor URL with parameters would read: http://www.marketingtitan.com/id#us57486&095783
5. Images ? Don’t overuse images and don’t put text in images. Images slow down your site, so make them small and optimized. Robots do not read text inside of images, thus text needs to go outside of the images or ALT tags need to be used.
Evaluating The Layout
Once the site is designed, TEST IT! Surf the pages and see if you are able to flow through the site. Add internal links wherever possible. Finally, test the load times of your site on a 56k dial-up modem. If the site loads in under 20 seconds, you are headed in the correct direction.
Your site layout is important. Make sure it caters to the needs of the visitors, whether human or spider.
Halstatt Pires is with http://www.marketingtitan.com – an Internet marketing and advertising company comprised of a search engine optimization specialist providing meta tag optimization services and Internet marketing consultant providing internet marketing solutions through integrated design and programming services.
Living Your Brand on the Web – Part 1
OK, so you took the plunge and purchased your internet domain. Good for you! Now what? According to Google.com there are about 8,058,044,651 current web pages. That’s billion with a “B”! So how do you stand out?
The first thing you should do is stop using a free email service. More often than not, a potential client will delete your email if they are not familiar with whom it is coming from. Think about what you do with emails that you are not familiar with. Having your domain name in the “From” field lets them know that it is you and your business that is calling on them. Plus, don’t you want your business name in front of as many eyeballs as possible?
If you use a free or fee-based email service (Hotmail, Yahoo!, AOL, Earthlink, etc.) then at least make it work for you. Having an email named wilsonwidgets@hotmail.com is much more identifiable than wilwid123@hotmail.com and again puts your companies name in front of the client. If you choose to send email via one of these services then most people will assume that you do not have a web presence and that can reflect negatively on your brand.
The best way to present your identity to your clients via email is to make sure that they are reading what you are sending out. If they delete it then they never read it.
In many cases, email accounts come free with standard hosting of your domain, so it makes zero sense to not have your own personalized email account.
Bottom line: If your email address doesn’t convey any meaning about you and your business, every email you send will be a missed opportunity.
Glenn Geiger is the Director of Interactive Services for Pixallure Design LLC, http://www.pixallure.com. Glenn has worked in Web site design, development, systems administration and management since 1987, including work for DynCorp, Accent Software, GlobalKey, Inc., and Digital Equipment Corp.
This article may be freely distributed as long as the author’s bio is included with an active link to http://www.Pixallure.com.
War Time Hiring: 5 Steps to Attract Top Talent
A recent report, titled “The War for Talent” stated that over the next 20 years, employee talent will be what differentiates successful companies from those going bust. The late 90’s gave us a glimpse of the talent war, but was nothing compared to what’s ahead. Here are five ways to bulletproof your company before the battle begins.
Practice What You Preach
Recent studies of America’s largest companies show that a strong reputation for moral and ethical conduct performed better financially in terms of their returns on investment and equity, and their sales and profit growth. How do you begin applying this in your company? At PrideStaff, every time an employee is hired, the owner takes them into his office and goes over the 10 standards of ethical conduct that the company was founded on. We also review these standards several times a year to encourage their daily application in the company.
Why is it so important to employees that they work for a company with strong ethics and values? Because your personal identity is strongly tied to your corporation. People often make assumptions about others based upon where they work. I know it sounds shallow, but what’s the first question you’re often asked after meeting someone? “So?what do you do?” Employees want to be proud when they answer that question.
Make Every Employee a Cheerleader
Employees are the first direct contact between a corporation and its customers. They are also the single most important source of word-of-mouth advertising that attracts other talented employees.
So how do you start making cheerleaders? You can start by buying everyone pom-poms. I’m not kidding! You need to make your company a fun place to work, a place that encourages employees to build relationships. An employee is much more likely to look forward to coming to work if they have a best friend there. I recommend you check out the motivational program called FISH!, based on the world famous Pike Place fish market in Seattle. It provides a step by step guide to building an amazing corporate culture.
Create and Convey a Strong Corporate Vision
Ultimately, your vision tells your employees and the rest of the world what you do and why you’re doing it. But just hanging up a poster with your corporate vision isn’t enough to build your brand as an employer of choice. Your vision should weave through every employee interaction. From your newsletter to your new hire orientation, your vision should serve as a constant reminder of where you’re going and provide the motivation to get you there.
I think it’s important to point out the difference between a vision and a mission statement. Your vision should provide a higher calling to a greater good while your mission statement should provide a framework for your existence in relation to your clients. The former speaks to the heart while the latter speaks to the mind. Your vision answers the question, “what really matters in this world ” and your mission statement answers the question, “what really matters in my clients world.”
Build Partnerships with Other Companies with Great Brands
In every industry, you can point to one or two companies that stand out from the rest of the crowd in terms of their reputation. Your goal is to find those companies with excellent reputations, who don’t compete with your company, and develop strategic alliances with those companies. Online, this strategy is known as affiliate marketing. I’ve heard other companies calling it a formal referral network. Whatever you call your partnerships with other companies, make sure you leverage those relationships with non-competing businesses that sell to your demographic.
There’s a saying that goes, “Birds of the same feather flock together.” When two or more corporations enter into a partnership or work together; their reputations may be attributed to each other. Keep this in mind as your think about other businesses to form partnerships with.
Become World Famous
Becoming world famous should be one of your major objectives in your long term business strategy. Why? Because building a business that draws the best of the best requires a brand that is known around the globe. How many people do you know that want to work at Microsoft just because it’s Microsoft? Building a world famous brand should be your ultimate goal in the visibility of your business. How do you get world famous? You start working on it today. Remember, the journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Mike Nacke is a speaker, author, and consultant to business owners, managers, and recruiters. He has helped companies save millions of dollars by developing unique hiring processes that turn hiring into a measurable science. His clients range from fortune 500 companies to small businesses.
Visit http://www.mikenacke.com for more information on reducing labor costs and increasing workforce productivity.
Mike is currently the Director of Development for PrideStaff, a national staffing and recruiting firm.
Planning Permission Tips UK – Loft Conversions in UK Properties – Do They Add Value?
We get a great many requests to view the potential of Loft conversions. This type of extension has remained fairly popular since I first started designing property & is perhaps even more in demand now than ever before – especially in dense urban areas where the alternative choices for that fourth bedroom are somewhat limited.
Now, the popular press would have you believe that they do not add value or have limited appeal. However, that blanket broad brush, slightly disrespectful opinion does not ring true for most of our clients. So what is going on? As always, the devil is in the detail – the detail in this respect is mainly focussed on two primary areas:
1. DESIGN and 2. DESIGN.
It’s just like the location, location location slogan for house values & desirability. Fortunately, the planners have got to grips with a lot of loft conversions these days & they now have a great more control of schemes that a few years ago could have been built under Permitted Development. This means that they have encompassed ‘good design guides’ in an attempt to stamp out the ugly full width box dormer that turned a beautiful victorian semi into a something that looks like a car sized packing crate trying to escape from a neighbours roof.
Conversely, many people have argued that the ‘chocolate box’ cottage type pointy roofed dormers (as suggested by the planners) are quite simply impractical & do not provide enough space for a fully functional room which in many cases is a very valid & true point. HOWEVER, life is all about compromises & choices have to be made. Fortunately, most members of the public are now becoming far more ‘design aware’ than they ever used to be & slowly by slowly they are beginning to accept that the formation of more space must not be at the expense of a poor external visual impact that simply jars with the whole look of the locality. This type of poor dormer design can not only decrease the value of your own home but that of the neighbours as well.
But yet again there are exceptions. Some suburbs of London for example have a plethora of these types of loft extensions & the ones that have not yet been converted look out of place. These types of areas pay more attention to the internal design of the living space than the grotty externals – goes with the environment I suppose. Also, some areas are 70’s & 80’s built estates where the whole so called ‘architect design’ was for this style of flat roofed box dormer which is a commonly accepted fact for the area & enjoyed by many.
So, back to my original question – Does a loft conversion or extension add value? In my opinion YES in practically all cases baring a few exceptions. Should it be my first choice of residential development if my site has surrounding ground that allows alternative solutions? Well no in my opinion unless your property is a bungalow. A loft conversion for the standard 2 storey dwelling house (detached, semi or terrace) should perhaps be on the ‘last option’ list rather than your first choice – more to do with peoples perceptions rather than anything scientific I could quote.
When we assess a loft conversions viability we run through a sort of assessment check list before we advise our clients & we always steer them towards nice looking, well balanced, recessed type of pitched roof dormers at the sacrifice of some space rather than the ‘ugly duckling’ alternative. However, like all services, many clients do not value the external look as much & they insist on the largest dormer possible especially if it can be constructed under the sites Permitted Development allowances (no planning permission necessary) – Do we still take the job? – yes of course we do its our living but our sign board never goes up during the construction works.
Some people subscribing to our news letter may value our ‘design lead’ approach so we schedule below some of our assessment criteria relating to loft conversions that you may find useful:-
1. Does it need Planning Permission – If so utilising the councils design guides is a must. Some front or side facing dormers may still be resisted even if they are small. Velux windows often overcome these objections. In most cases, big bulky box dormers will not be allowed.
2. What area of new space does the client require – Many clients have overambitious floor space targets & visualise 3 bedrooms for example (all with ensuite of course). They fail to appreciate the loss of floor space caused by the extensive sloping soffits, & the new stairs.
3. Where can the new stair set go – Many clients fail to realise that their preferred location for the stairs does not achieve the required head room within the new floor for example. In most cases some existing floor space of the bedrooms for example will need to be sacrificed.
4. It is better to achieve one or two good sized functional rooms to compensate for the lack of head room in some areas of the new rooms rather than trying to cram in the bedroom numbers for the sake of it where the new rooms can become nothing more than single bed sleeping podules with very little inbuilt amenity value.
5. If flat roofed dormers can only be achieved due to the low ridge height then split the dormers into 2 or three smaller ones with no more than 1200mm (4′) wide windows to break up its bulk. Always, always always recess the dormer into the roof slope to reduce the dormers bulk – DO NOT BUILD THE EXTERNAL FACE OF THE DORMER WALL OFF THE EXISTING EXTERNAL WALL OF THE HOUSE.
6. If a client wants a conversion with only Velux type roof lights then all well & good (much cheaper as well). However an exercise should be completed to explore the possibilities of a strategically located dormer or two that often frees up an extra 30% floor area that the client may not have realised for very little extra money.
7. Dormers are not the only design solution to more light & space – consideration could also be given to a hip to gable conversion of the side roof for example that wont look out of keeping (unless your a semi of course).
8. As a rule of thumb to the practicality of your new room in the roof – if you can already touch the ridge board when standing in the loft (about 2.3M or less), then its normally too small to form useful functioning bedrooms unless a bulky box dormer is constructed (which is what we are trying to avoid) If it is an area just for a play room or a study then all well & good but beware, many people have embarked on tight loft conversions only to realise too late that that they have no where to place the bed or locate a wardrobe.
There are a great many other issues to consider as well when completing loft conversions such as overheating, fire regs, weather protection during the works etc. & these are major discussion topics in themselves that I will leave for another day. However, the points listed above are the main ones relative to the external design & appearance of loft conversions.
Our ‘Maximum Build Planning Guide’ explains further the tactics involved when developing a site with a loft conversion or extension & how to give yourself the best chance of being granted a planning permission or planning approval.
Aerobic Training
How to start your aerobic training program:
Consider first setting your goals for sometime in the future; make sure they are realistic. Start easy, be kind to yourself. Many of us start out joining a gym and telling ourselves that now we will train every day! Six out of ten people going to gyms drop out in the first month. That’s a staggering 60% of the people. The numbers are just as high for those that buy exercise equipment and don’t use it. So you need several ingredients, not necessarily in order of importance, but because you want to be successful in your training.
1. Desire or motivation that is from who you are, not to get something.
2. Energy: This means you need to start thinking about eating better. No matter where you are with nutrition you can always improve (see nutrition for details). You need nutrients as well. Vitamins, power foods, high technology nutrition is available; you just need to make the effort. Without good fuel it’s hard to get the energy to train.
3. Set your goals within yourself and make them realistic. Remember, there is no cause and effect so you can’t cause health; you can only live it.
4. Make the time, create a loose schedule with alternatives, if need be.
5. Stick to it. Remember, consistency is more important than intensity.
6. Understand the basics of bio-mechanics, even for walking (posture, the muscles, the stretching, the meditation and imagery) to get the most from your efforts.
7. If you are in a family or a relationship, you need support and encouragement, not grief for leaving them alone so often. Get them to start with you (that’s really tough sometimes). It’s always easier if your partner is doing a similar program with you.
8. If you smoke, start making an effort to cut down, if that’s really what you want to do. If not, it will not make a huge difference so much as your attitude towards it will. Use coltsfoot, an herb you can buy in health food stores and smoke it. It will cleanse your lungs, and help you to get off tobacco. You will find the desire will slowly fade away as you get healthier. We don’t need to harp about it. JUST DO IT! QUIT.
9. If you eat more than a plate at a sitting, just start eating less, and limit snacks to fruit.
10. Maybe it’s some of the food you eat. Cut down on fats, sugar, liquor, canned food, and packaged food full of hidden fats and sugars. I’m sure you already know the stuff that doesn’t really help your body.
11. Eat more of the good stuff: fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole foods, grains, etc.
12. Drink more water, read more books, and have more fun in your life. Why not?
Of course there is more, but this would be a great start. Remember that when you work holistically you have a better chance at success. You will be working on several levels of health at the same time.
A few days you make it, then you miss one, and eventually another. I know, and I’m a professional trainer, it happens to me. Life is always changing, that’s the beauty of it. That does not mean we give up; just go with the flow. Set some realistic goals, and know that you will miss some days. Make it up again, and don’t beat yourself up about it.
The majority of people drop out of their health programs primarily because it is very hard to get motivated. There are a few myths about motivation for working out — that knowledge will do it, or maybe we feel guilty because we are overweight — but the key is if you don’t have the energy none of that will matter. It’s really about metabolism. Once you get older if you don’t exercise, your own body will start to think you don’t need the hormones and energy. Basically, it starts to shut down. When you do exercise, it’s hard and your body feels like it’s really stressed. It’s not very pleasant, in fact, it hurts many times when you start to train.
To really increase the energy level and have your body and brain work with you, you need to take the nutrients to get your body working again. The food you eat needs to be better quality with more servings of natural fruits and vegetables. If you are eating junky food there is no way your body will be able to have more energy.
You need to consider antioxidants, vitamins, and some form of growth hormone like DHEA or Deer antler extract which is natural (IGF1 which is a pre-curser to HGH). Take care with Human Growth Hormon always consult your doctor. I personally don’t recomend HGH, because if you take it your body stops producing it, there are alternatives. You can’t take very much of this as it turns to testosterone and so you need to consult a doctor for medical advice. (see my web page for more information about this along with other nutrients). Most doctors don’t recommend very high doses of either of these nutrients, so get professional advice. A small amount can do wonders for the human body. These nutrients increase metabolism, build muscle, and help the body to become anabolic (for building and repair of tissue). This is important: to not be catabolic (destructive down cycle) any longer. If you can use these health products, they are the best.
The research necessary to take the vitamin and nutrient business to its highest level is being done with these products. Your success in a fitness program is dependent on your nutrition program.
The minimum goal for an aerobic activity is five times a week for over thirty minutes each session, and even up to sixty minutes if you are only going to walk. Five times a week, not three times as we have heard. That doesn’t mean it has to be all running or all walking. You can play tennis, golf, and walk briskly, or take a nice walk with the family. Families that train together, stay together. Play ball with the kids, for this to be effective and considered an aerobic activity, you need to do it over a half hour and get your heart rate up about 60 to 70% of your max. By then you start to burn some fat. As you increase this ability to burn some fat your brain says “Hey! This person is active. Let’s improve the metabolism.”
As you exercise you also decrease your appetite so you eat less. This is when your body will start to create more hormones, endorphins, and pain-reducing substances called antefolins, which will help you to feel better. Remember, you have to get over the hump before you feel good from exercise. Then weight is not a big problem and you will slowly and naturally level off to your natural weight. This all helps to reduce your stress as well as helping you to feel more successful and some enhanced self- esteem. Balancing your body this way also helps reduce the risk of heart disease as well as diabetes. It helps you create more of HDL, which is the good cholesterol, and reduces the LDL & VLDL, the bad cholesterol.
A moderate exercise program always helps you sleep better. It enhances the digestion and the lymphatic systems (the cleanser of the body tissues). All this helps your body to work at the ultimate level. Remember, this is going to take time. Diets or any fast way will not last. We know now that when you diet or change anything too drastically your body goes into shock. Then the next time you eat, it holds on to it. You gain all the weight back, your body just needs to know you are not a couch patato.
So it’s best to not focus on the weight. When your body is operating at its optimal level, you will be at your correct weight eventually. It all depends on your body type, anyway. You could still be heavy and be incredibly fit and healthy. Isn’t that the purpose of all this?
A sample schedule for the beginner fitness enthusiast: Note you can replace walk for run- if you have been a runner, if not don’t start running unless you are prepared to find all your sore, and injured places coming to the surface.
Day One.
Take an easy twenty-minute walk at a nice brisk pace. (Walk ten minutes from your starting point and turn around.) Find a nice place to walk, away from lots of cars. If your neighborhood is good place well, great. If not, take the extra time to drive to a park, beach, pasture or the country. No sense huffing and puffing more carbon monoxide. (Living in Los Angeles is like smoking ten cigarettes every hour. Cherniscki). You need to be able to keep up a conversation. If you are in oxygen debt you won’t burn calories as well so take it easy at first. Upon returning, spend about ten or fifteen minutes stretching.
Consistency is more important than intensity. If you don’t do it regularly the brain thinks “well, this body doesn’t need much energy so we can store all these extra calories in the thighs or butt.” But if you start with some regular activity, just everyday stuff can contribute the message to the brain saying “hey we need more energy.” The brain begins to think this body is active and needs to increase the metabolism. Every two hours do something for at least ten minutes is another technique. Then your brain will take you to a higher metabolic level. As you increase your exercise program you will have more byproducts called free radicals. This is more reason for us to work with nutrition as well, because you need to increase the antioxidants to keep the body healthy from the free radicals.
Day Two
Just stretch for ten to fifteen minutes. If you are near water, maybe swim for ten to fifteen minutes. Or do a more easy walk if you are sore.
Day Three
Walk briskly for twenty-five minutes. Stretch for fifteen, or if you have it down, it could only take ten minutes to get a good stretch.
Day Four
Swim and stretch for at least twenty minutes and ten, respectively.
Day Five
You might miss one. . .Or walk maybe longer and easy or hard depending on how you feel.
Day Six
Walk a good deal faster for thirty minutes. If you feel tight walking, stop after you break into a light sweat and stretch for a few minutes. Regarding the legs and gluteus muscles. Then continue, finishing up with a good ten minute stretch.
Day Seven
If you didn’t miss one day, take an easy walk, swim or stretch, maybe do something with family or friends. If you got sore at all during the week, then rest and just stretch or swim. Note: I like to add crunchies to all my workouts, strengthen the abdominals is a good way to trim the belly.
Continue this program until you can walk thirty minutes without losing your breath at all. This can take two weeks for most people and up to four weeks for others. If it takes you longer, stay with twenty-five minutes for two months, and then move into the next level. If within two weeks your body serves you well, you can proceed with the next level.
We will have an easy day and then a hard day for the rest of the training. If you miss an easy day, don’t worry about it.
Continue on the following day with a brisk walk for thirty minutes. Now we will start to burn some fat. From now on, you workouts should last about forty-five minutes. So give yourself an hour to work it into your daily routine, if you don’t feel like training don’t know that you can do something easy.
As you get stronger, your easy days become more like your hard days when you first started. Walking can increase to five times per week within the first few months, depending on your body. You have to listen to it and pay attention. If you can get the advice from a certified personal trainer, please do. It never hurts to have more information. At this level it’s not as critical as it will be when we start the strengthening program using weights, running or strengthening exercises.
Six to Eight Weeks
Most bodies will start to enjoy working out from here on out. After six or eight weeks, start your strength-training program. Once again, listen to your body. If you don’t feel quite ready at six weeks, take eight. What’s the rush? You have your whole life ahead of you. At this point is when I recommend the use of a certified personal trainer.
You can go in either of two directions with this addition to your program, with various levels of intensity depending on your body and your abilities.
If you are able and willing to run for your particular goals, you may now start to run. Start with easy jogging for twenty minutes every other day, and weight training every other day. Running at this time should be at least three days a week, the same for weight training. There is some evidence, however, that we could get by with two days of weight training (solid whole body sessions) and still do okay. Include one day of rest. The day you rest could be a very easy workout, either stretching, swimming or family fun.
For weight training we need to start just as easy. Many of us think that weight training will build large muscles. We see all these big bodybuilders, and although some of us admire the dedication it takes to build that kind of body, it is not necessarily true that weight training builds large muscles. It all depends on how you train, how much you train, and your age as well as the system of training. We know that by stressing any muscle naturally (exercises) or unnaturally (weights) we work with the law of irritation and adaptability to produce the result we want.
Basically, this means the body will adapt to irritation. Adapting can mean for size of muscle as well as for the functioning of the muscle. Adapting also can mean the heart and lungs adapting to more stress and improving the functioning of this system (aerobic conditioning). The irritation could be considered the stress exerted on the body (heart and lungs) by running or walking more and increasing time and duration. Then we consider strength in the muscles by more and more progressive exertion (making the body work progressively harder). This can be achieved by doing more and more pushups or other exercises. Using weight training for increasing strength, as well as burning more calories, we would have to build by lifting more times and more weight.
There is another way to use weight training to develop strength as well as endurance. This system works on the premise that using progressively more weight builds size and strength. Starting with more weight and then progressively reducing the weight with longer repetitions, we build endurance in the muscle instead of bulk. This is a good way to shape the body without building mass.
It’s widely known now that for older women weight or resistance training is beneficial to stave off osteoporosis.
Please note: This section is not to take the place of medical advice. I recommend that you speak to your doctor before undertaking any kind of exercise program, especially weight training. See a professional; it will be a good investment in your body.
see web pages http://www.molinamassage.com or http://www.betterbacksystems.com
Othon Molina Ph.d. c LMT has been involved in the health field as a manual therapist and personal trainer for over thirty five years. He has studied with some of the top doctors and healers of our times. His specialty is treating sports injuries, back problems, and teaching others how to improve their health or athletic competition using nutrition and fitness technologies.
One of his specialties is Kinesiology. He has been a runner all his life, and competed in many triathlons, 5k’s, 10k’s and marathons. Competing at an elite level gave him the experience to help train others. Recently he coached and worked with the female champion of the German team of triathletes.
Some of his clients include: Bob Hope, Jane Seymor, Essam Kashoggy, Jim Nabors, Tony Robbins, Mark Victor Hansen, Carol Burnett, San Francisco Ballet, Allvin Alley Dance troupe, some of the top Olympic and international elite athletes, team doc and new trainer for the German professional triathletes. He also trains massage teams worldwide, as well as health professionals in Hawaii.
eBooks With Reseller Rights Are Your Ticket To Online Success
Starting an Online business today is pretty easy and it doesn’t have to cost a fortune, unfortunately being easy to start doesn’t guarantee of success. Not to scare you off, but you need to know. It is a fact that approximately 85% of new businesses are doomed to failure in the first couple of years, for one reason or another.
Knowledge is power!
I know, you hear that all the time, but it is so true. If Online business owners would invest the time it takes to learn a skill along with the time require to learn how to operate an online business they would stay out of the 85% of failed business attempts.
How does one solve this problem? Are you ready for this…
eBooks with reseller rights / resale rights / reprint rights, what ever you know them by they are the solution. To be really successful with them you really should take the time to read them and learn from them. Put that knowledge to good use and you will find that you can learn and earn.
There is a key that has to be use to gain power from knowledge and that key is ‘ACTION’. If you don’t take action you will never gain any ground and without profit you won’t last long. So don’t make the mistake of buying eBooks with resale rights and expect them to sell themselves.
eBooks with reseller rights is an excellent way to learn from experts, which makes applying these skills that much easier, because these ebooks lay it right out there for you. All you have to do is read, learn and take action.
Have I use the word ‘ACTION’ enough yet, are you getting my point? Knowledge + ACTION = Power.
Almost anything people buy comes down to benefits, because people have a ‘What’s in it for me?’ mindset. So it stands to reason that if you were to read these eBooks you would find the benefits and then you could share them with interested people, your target group.
Pick the Minds of the Masters and you will eventually become a master also and at that point you can start writing your own eBooks with resale rights. There are thousands of eBooks online that can be resold for profit. It is your job to find the information products that you are comfortable or willing to learn and then get the benefits those products provide in front of your prospects.
People today are starved for information and they are willing to pay to get the information they want. So what better way to earn a living online than to provide starving readings with digital food that has resale rights so that you can earn over and over on the same products.
There are eBooks with reseller rights on just about any topic you can imagine, and some are not the best, so you need to choose your products wisely. That is where a little bit of research goes a long ways. Like all the way to the bank.
The first step would to purchase an information product, preferably an eBook with resell rights, that will teach you the skills required to operate a successful Online business. This will save you months, even years of trial and error tactics, that destroy so many start up businesses.
Yes, you could go to the Library and sign out books on business startups but when you are done reading and learning the books have to go back to the Library. Not so with eBook with resale rights. You learn from them and you earn from them by reselling them.
Research your target group for each of the eBooks that you want to resell and give them exactly what they are looking for. What does this group type in a search engine text box to find what you want to sell them. This is where you get that great return on investment if you read the products because you will be able to tell your prospects all the benefits this product provides.
Get into the mind of your best prospect. How do your prospects find things?
It bears repeating…
There are eBooks with resale rights on just about every conceivable subject, all you have to do is find them for your target group and you will earn profit from them.
If you are like me you have hobbies and interests so put them to good use. Find products to resell that you are already an expert or at least knowledgable about. It makes it so much easier to find your target group when you are one of them.
You may be saying that so many are doing that now that the market is flooded. Well yes and no. There are a lot of people doing but they are not doing it right and therefore make no money at it.
You see people have a tendency to rush into things without proper preparation and that spells disaster. Instead of jumping in with your eyes closed, take the time to do it right and you can earn multiple streams of income from the many eBooks you will purchase, read and resell.
IMPORTANT!! Don’t just use the sales page that comes with each product. Instead learn the product for yourself and modify the sales page or create your own sales page from your perspective. Use the keywords that your best prospect would use to find what they want and make it personal, people like that.
What are the benefits you received from reading that eBook you just purchased? Right an article or review explaining the benefits and then get that article or review published and placed in front of the eyes of your best prospects.
Use the benefits and keywords to feed the search engine spider so you get a good placement on the search engine results page (SERP).
That is how you produce unlimited streams of income.
eBooks with full reseller rights is a win-win-win situation. You benefited the one that sold you the book, you benefited from the content, and you can benefit others by selling it to them.
Do Not Over Look eBooks With Reseller Rights
James Mann
http://www.ebooks-with-reseller-rights.com/index.html
James Mann has been a computer and software consultant since 1987. After 17 years as a computer instructor James decided to leave the classroom for the Online world where he continues to teach others.
James is also a webmaster and creates and maintains websites for his clients.
How To Take Your Freelance Writing Chances
Your initial freelance writing assignments are the best way to present yourself to your client for repeated work. If you provide for them a good product, at a good price, they are likely to come back time and time again. The goal of any career, particularly as a freelancer, is to have steady business. Instead of continually needing new clients or another job to fill your day, why not utilize repeat business? When you make the most of your freelancing time you are helping yourself to gain more business and maintain that which you already have.
For many people getting that first job is the key to success. It is the hardest part of working because more and more people want quality providers and want to use someone who is proven and worth the risk. You cannot get these jobs if you are new. But look at it another way. When you do get to that point, it is important to make the most out of all assignments so that you get return business from that client. This could be any number of things, but should always focus on maintaining a strong working relationship with the client. Providing them with good work, timely work, and listening and meeting their needs will have them coming back to you time and time again.
There is another, even more important, reason to build your business like this. That is referrals. When you do an outstanding job for people, they return time and time again with more business. But, they also tell people about your talents. This can be an outstanding way to use the jobs you get to create more jobs for yourself.
Now, that is not to say that you can not search for new writing job vacancies in other realms as well. But, you must strive to maintain the employment that you already have. By building strong relationships with your clients, you can help them continuously meet their needs while building your business.
Visit http://www.FreelanceWritingResource.com for more Articles, Resources, News and Advice about Freelance Writing Jobs.
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