Tuesday, December 31, 2013



Time management skills are something that can be learned. Time management is a huge issue for many workplaces and can have a damaging effect on the business as well as on individuals. Sometimes there is bullying in the workplace making people feel their time is not effective, other times it is simply that the employee is unable to manage their time effectively.

Most people struggle with time management until they learn the skills needed to overcome this issue. It is about becoming more productive, less wasting of time and making sure that the right tasks are completed by the right people.

The Issue

Most people struggle with time management at some point in their lives. Work is busy, there are demands from their personal lives, and trying to fit in a visit to the gym seems impossible. For the business, poor time management from employees and managers can mean less work being completed on time, wasted time, increased costs and a lot of stress for everyone involved. For the individual, in the worst cases it can have devastating effects on health and wellbeing.

Step One

The first thing you need to do in order to manage your time more effectively is to define what is important and what actually needs to be done. Is it important as in there will be consequences if not completed. Or is it urgent as in the building is burning down. The issue is that most of us lump a lot of stuff into the urgent box, when actually it is simply important. We have all had experience of a manager who things that proof reading his report is urgent, when actually it can wait until tomorrow and what was actually really urgent was placing the stationery order in time for a large conference. The stationery order may have had far larger negative consequences if not completed in time, yet it got pushed aside for the proof reading report. Now you do not have enough pens for the conference.

Step Two

Plan, then plan some more. Spend some time every Sunday night to plan your week ahead. Or you could debrief on a Friday afternoon, what has been achieved this week and what are your priorities for the coming week. It is amazing how much calmer and in control you will feel once you have written out a to do list and you might actually find that there are less items on there than you thought you would have. Instead of having all these things swimming around in your head you have written them down in a clear format, and now you can work through each item in order of priority.

Step Three
Following on from step two, think about de cluttering your work area. If you can get rid of distractions you can be more productive. It is much easier to focus when things are in order and you know where to find things.

Finally, follow our tips for better time management.

1. Concentrate on one task at a time
2. Delegate when necessary
3. Be careful of paper work being double-handled
4. Set out simple plans and to do lists
5. Be prepared for deadlines to sometimes come out of the blue

Try to start with one thing, and then move through the other steps and tips. Time management can be mastered if you try to can reduce a lot of stress, money wasting and even bullying at workplace and people will be less stressed. Time management skills can be learned they just take some practice and a key factor in their success is getting your friends, family and colleagues involved. Ask for their support while you try to take back control of your time and see how more productive you become. Once you master the skills, you will feel calmer and more productive. This is not to say that there will not still be times when you are under the pump, and stressed or pressed for time. That is life and happens to all of us. But what you can manage is 90 percent of your time and also gain the skills to deal with the tough times when they come along.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Sometimes, people cannot enjoy their life because they think that life is full of risks and unexpected things. To enjoy life to the fullest, we can consider purchasing life insurance. Purchasing insurance is a way to maximize protection and to deal with any unexpected things with ease. Basically, there are two types of life insurance: term life insurance and whole life insurance. People can go for whole life insurance if they want to get the optimum protection but the premium can be very costly. Purchasing life insurance is not wasting our money. It is more like making investments.


There are several reasons why a person should have insurance. The first reason is because we need to make sure that we can be responsible towards ourselves and not become a burden to someone else. If you are a single person and live far away from your parents, you have to at least make yourself get protected or insured with life insurance you purchase. The second reason is to lead you getting a financial freedom. When you get retired in the future, you will not need to be worried about your financial circumstances anymore as all things have been covered with insurance.

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Assisted living providers are frequently integrating other services into their programs. This is especially true with larger programs (25 or more residents) operating in commercial facilities. Included in these living centers are outpatient rehabilitation programs, adult day care centers, counseling centers, geriatric education libraries and more. This provides for a wide ranging approach to serving a community's long-term care needs, especially as it relates to seniors.


Many providers in the contemplative stage and others redeveloping existing initiatives hire professional marketers and public relations professionals to educate the community on what their program has to offer. Others have to write well defined business plans in order to help secure the financing for your growth and diversity campaigns.


We have long recommended that before composing the total picture, isolate your income to operational divisions. In this way you can keep a more defined look on your expenses and income as they are segmented into departments. Some call this the retail approach and it is really meaningful when one area has to financially cover another for a time.


For example let's say that you are operating a 50-bed assisted living program or contemplate doing so. The average monthly revenue per resident is $6000.00 so at capacity your revenue is $300,000.00 monthly with an annual operating gross of $3.6 million from assisted living fees. Having considered the expenses associated with food, staffing, insurances, physical plant operations and marketing you arrive at a monthly expense of $3,720.00 per resident so you need $186,000.00 to break even each month or $6000.00 from 31 residents. It is easy to figure out what it takes to break even.


So what can we rely upon from our other divisions when our resident census is at 25 and we are $36,000.00 away from breaking even each month? Well let's conclude for the moment that our rehab clinic downstairs generates a profit of $75.00 per patient visit. Do you see where we are going?


If we divide $36,000.00 by $75.00 we get how many patient visits are required to offset the deficit this month in our assisted living division, which would be 480 visits for the month. Of course if we are seeing patients an average of 3 times per week each, you need 37 patients to be seen on that schedule. (3 x 4.33 is an average of 13 visits per month, per patient allowing us to arrive at needing 36.9 patients to be seen in order to arrive at 480 reimbursable visits).


You likely also have an adult day care center with its own revenue stream on the premises, a medical transportation service and more. Regardless of how diverse you are, our goal is simply to demonstrate the importance of knowing how each department can rely upon and support the other when needed.


Of course we know you will be busy aggressively marketing the program and ensuring each division operates at capacity most of the time. This will make inter-departmental financial reliance outside of the norm.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

This essay has been written out of three fears: We are experiencing an economic crisis rather than a financial crisis in that the underlying problem is resource depletion; the crisis is world-wide rather than just an European one; And the crisis is much more serious than is generally admitted.


The ups and downs of economic activity have been a concern for a couple of centuries if not for several millennia This essay will try to use the formula from the quantity theory of money to evaluate where the economy is currently at, and then look at how money is created and propose an alternative way of creating money to facilitate the exchange of goods and services. This proposal is to extend local exchange trading systems into a national exchange trading system. It is also suggested we should move our economic structure closer to the perfect competition model.


The quantity theory of money suggests money supply has a direct, proportional relationship with the price level. I prefer to think of it as the connectivity formula because it connects the real economy and the financial economy. The connectivity formula states


MV=PQ


...where M is the quantity of money in circulation, V is the velocity or rate at which money circulates, P is the price level and Q is the quantity of goods and services produced and exchanged. I think it is important to note there are four variables and one should look at the factors which cause all four of them to move.


Generally we want P to remain stable. Inflation or deflation cause undesirable upsets in our lives and prices need to remain stable so that we can have faith in our money.. Changes in individual prices should be signals to change the mixture or quantities of goods and services we produce.


When I took my first economics course I remember the professor talking about scarce resources. However, since then many people appear to assume that the resource base is unlimited and that our economy will be able to continue to grow forever or at least the foreseeable future. I have not noticed much interest in the Q part of this formula.


Through most of the recorded history with which we are familiar there has been a long-term trend for Q to go up. This does not mean that it will continue or that the increase has been steady. It is quite likely there has been a fractal pattern to this trend and that these ups and downs have impacted the economy and our lives.


There are a number of things which could and probably have impacted on Q. Through the ages the most important has been improvements in agricultural productivity which has supported a larger population and released people for work in other fields. Technology has also played a major part in increasing Q through the years.


It is likely the discovery of resources and commodities and their depletion have also been fractal over short and long terms. This too would have impacted the formula.


Wars may also have had an impact. The demand for war materials would cause Q to go up during a war and may cause it to go down afterward as economies recover. Another possibility is a pent-up demand as was the case in North America following the second world war. While the Americans put a lot into the war, they still had tremendous commodity resources at the end of it. They also had the desire and developed the technology to exploit these resources.


Another possibility is changing values such as the work ethic.


Turmoil and volatility in the other side of the equation could cause production to decline. Ian Morris in his book Why the West Rules - for Now (McClelland & Stewart, 2010) identifies what he calls the five horsemen of the apocalypse - famine, epidemic, uncontrolled migration, state failure and climate change which "can turn into disastrous, centuries-long collapses and dark ages." (p 29) Any of these would also show up as declines of the Q in the formula.


All this is further complicated by the existence of seven billion people on this planet most of whom want a modern standard of living, good health care and families.


So what is currently happening to Q?


Too many of the headlines one sees on news articles are compatible with the fear that Q is on a major downturn. Here are three other major pieces of evidence.


Angus Maddison in his book Contours of the World Economy, 1-2030 (Oxford University Press, 2007) identifies five phases of growth since 1820 (Page 69) of which the years 1950 to 1973 he labels the golden age of prosperity. The years from 1973 until the time of publication (2007) were the second most prosperous of that time period. One would have to guess the down trend has continued since 2007.


The second piece of evidence comes from the World Wildlife fund which published the Living Planet Report late in 2010. The report claims we are using resources at a rate 150 percent of that which would be sustainable for the planet. If this is correct then there has to be economic turmoil. Even if the figure is exaggerated we should be taking it seriously. In the last year I have seen no discussion of the possible economic consequences.


The third piece of evidence is a United Nations report published in December, 2011 which claims 25 percent of the world's land is "highly degraded" and 44 percent is "moderately degraded," while only 10 percent was classified as "improving".


Even if these figures are an exaggeration we should treat this report with concern. No matter how many technical gadgets we have and no matter how much of our economy is based on services, if we can not produce enough food for everyone there will be serious economic and social problems. The less we consider this report and how to deal with its implications the more human suffering there will be.


Considering the number of factors which can influence the quantity of goods and services being produced both up and down, to maintain price stability it is important that the money supply can easily be varied.


These points along with most of the headlines I read every day lead me to think the world economy is into a major downturn. The horsemen of the Apocalypse are possibly riding again. Problems in the physical side of the economy are showing up as a financial crisis. This presents us with a policy dilemma. Austerity as is proposed by some people will inflict uneven suffering on too many people and stimulus as proposed by other people will consume even more resources and bring forward a major crash. If a chunk of the money supply should be lost as a result of a financial crisis, then the downturn will be even worse.


Now lets look at the financial side of the formula.


The study of anthropology shows humans do not need money in order to exchange goods and services and that relationships are important in exchanges where there is no money.. Money allows us to exchange with strangers and on a much larger scale. Therefore we should look upon money as a tool, or maybe even a lubricant, which makes it easier to exchange goods and services.. We probably should not be treating it as a commodity.


I want to look at three ways in which money can be created - the gold standard, fractional reserve money and LETS (local exchange trading system).


Through the years many commodities have been used to facilitate the exchange of goods and services. Being rare, beautiful and mostly useless gold has been a favorite. The metal itself can be used or receipts representing gold in storage can be used. The use of gold (or some other commodity) was probably an early step in the transition from an economy based on relationships.


The advantages of money based on gold are that it is easy to establish and it is easy for people to believe in it and have faith that they will continue to have something of value although even gold can change its value relative to things it can be used to purchase.


But gold has some serious disadvantages as money..The biggest is that the amount of gold is limited by what can be dug up or imported or stolen. Thus if there is too much gold in circulation there will be inflation which happened after the Spaniards started importing gold (and silver) from South America. On the other hand if there is not enough gold there will be deflation as happened when the Americans went back onto the gold standard following their civil war.


To some extent the quantity limitation of gold can be overcome by the use of fractional reserve money on top of gold base. The total money supply can be varied with changes in reserve requirements or in what else besides gold can be accepted as high-powered money. But on the gold standard people tend to be emotionally attached to the idea their money is backed by gold.


If there is anything that deserves to be called funny money, it is fractional reserve money. A couple of times I have asked loans officers how it feels to be able to create money, and they cannot believe that they are doing that. Money creation in our economy is just a little complex and it takes a little effort to understand how it works.


Money is created when banks make loans and uncreated when the loan is repaid.


Here is the classic explanation. Suppose $1,000 of money from outside is deposited in a bank in a closed economy of three or four banks where all transactions are by cheque (or these days bank card). This bank is required to hold reserves of 10 per cent (to make the arithmetic easy) and the bank manager now has $900 to loan to his customers. The customers spend the money and it ends up in another bank in this community. The second bank manager can now make a loan of $810. By the time the $1,000 of new money has worked through the system there has been $10,000 added to the money supply of this community. Isn't that incredible? No wonder loans officers won't believe they are creating money.


I've been trying to think up some advantages to creating money this way and the only thing I can think of is that it is what we are used to. Money is such an emotional thing that to suggest something else is seen as treasonous. Change can be threatening.


However, there are at least three disadvantages to fractional reserve money.


The first is that it gives tremendous power to bankers who get to determine which projects go ahead and by whom. They also have opportunities to take cuts for themselves and they get to charge interest on the money they have created. It is no wonder that the economic frustrations of people through the years have surfaced as protests against bankers.


The second problem is that the above model does not take into account that interest is charged on all those loans. Suppose the loans were all for a one year term at 10 per cent interest. On the one year anniversary the $10,000 of new money must be repaid with $11,000 even though no additional new money has been created. In the real world through most of the years fractional reserve money has been used the economy, the high-powered money and the money supply have all been growing so that interest has not been seen as a problem. This is beginning to sound like a variation on a Ponzi scheme.


A third problem is that this model does not look at what happens if something happens to the high-powered money upon which the $10,000 is based. The original $1,000 could be suddenly withdrawn or one of the banks could have to write off $1,000. Either way for the banks to maintain their 10 per cent reserve requirements they are going to have to reduce their loans by $10,000 and that will be $10,000 less money to facilitate the exchange of goods and services in the community. Unless the velocity of the remaining money can be increased either prices will come down or the economy will be forced into a recession as Q drops. The writing off of large amounts of debt and a reduction in high-powered money may be a part of what happened during the financial crisis of 2008. The current Euro crisis could be even worse.


Another problem with fractional reserve money is that the total money supply cannot easily be varied especially downward and deflation is probably more of a problem than inflation.


Through the years, as we saw earlier, there have been ups and downs in the quantity of goods and services the economy can produce. On top of that there are instabilities from the way in which we create money. There's a saying that complex systems fail in complex ways. If we really are going into an extended period of economic decline these financial instabilities and complexities are likely to make things much worse.


Sometimes the promoters of local exchange trading systems (LETS) try to sell it as a form of barter. However, I believe they are just using another form of money.


Rather than talking about creating money it might be more appropriate to talk about assigning credits and debits. Maybe this will help us get used to the idea that money should be considered a tool or lubricant rather than a commodity.


A group of people in a local area agree to trade among themselves. When two parties have agreed to a transaction they record the transaction with the organization. The seller gets a credit and the buyer gets a debit. They then go on to make further deals with others in the organization and over time everything works out. The exchange part of this is really not much different from using bank accounts to facilitate exchanges.


But doing it this way the problems with fractional reserve banking become positives. No interest is charged or received; therefore there is no need for the money supply to be continually increasing and there should be no inflation or deflation.


As money is assigned with each exchange the total amount varies automatically. If the members increase their economic activity the assigned money supply goes up and if some problems force a decline in their exchanges the assigned money supply automatically goes down without impacting prices.


A third advantage is that the velocity of money is variable. Once some money is assigned it can sit in the account until the owner is ready to use it. As money is a tool it can be used when needed. As there is no interest to be earned there is no pressure to do something with it.


There are two disadvantages to a LETS.


The first is that every transaction is recorded. On a national scale this would make social control much easier. One the other hand most of us have embraced debit cards with enthusiasm and give little thought that each transaction is recorded.


The second problem with LETS is that its usefulness is somewhat limited because people have to join and it is local. Most of us want to exchange goods and services on a much larger and wider scale.


Therefore I propose we expand the concept into a national exchange trading system (NETS).


Such a radical change in the way of assigning money would require a radical revision of our whole economic organization. It would also go against a lot of vested interests.


Here are some guidelines for establishing a new economic order.


First, I suggest the goal would be to get as close as possible to the perfect competition or market model.


Because many economists are close to big business or seen as being close a lot of people won't listen to anything from economics. Some of these people go on to propose an economy based on small business. What a shame they don't listen as the first requirement for perfect competition is that no participant in a market is so large as to be able to influence prices through purchasing or selling decisions. A lot of thought has gone into the economics of small business but it appears some people want to reinvent the wheel.


What I like most about the perfect competition model is its equality feature. As the competition is perfect there can be no profits other than wages, a return on investment and maybe something to compensate for risk. The challenge of the future is to organize our economy so that most people will be able to share the available resources. The closer we are to perfect competition the closer we will be to meeting this challenge. However, one has to recognize that not everyone is committed to equality.


As growth is not a part of this model, it is ideal for a steady or declining economy.


As it is important for economic efficiency that prices reflect the true costs of production, subsidies should be given to consumers rather than producers and there should be no protection from international trade. A country making this change should declare unilateral free trade. If other countries want to subsidize our living standards that is up to them.


We should try to limit political influence on economic issues as politicians tend to have goals that interfere with an efficient economy.


A second guiding principle should be that the money supply must be variable. However, we must also ensure there is neither too much or too little. We must take care that no individual or group allows the money supply to increase for their own profit. Prices in general need to remain stable although allowing individual prices to change will provide signals for changes in production activity. Probably the way to deal with controlling moneys supply would be to tie it to a general price index. If the index goes up then the money supply should go down and if the index goes down then money supply should go up.


For some time most of our money has been entries in the books or computers of the banking system. However many people still think of money as having its own value as in gold and it should therefore earn interest. To adopt a NETS system we are going to have to complete the psychological transition to thinking of money as a tool or lubricant that gets its usefulness from facilitating the exchange of goods and services.


NETS money would be based on debits and credits created when people exchange goods and services. Its backing would be the goods and services produced. As no interest is charged on this money velocity should be more variable and this should balance small fluctuations in the value of Q..


There would probably be a need for some currency for small transactions to preserve privacy and to keep police employed. (If there were no currency a lot of crime would be difficult or easily tracked.)


Currently a lot of money goes through government coffers in the form of transfer payments to individuals and subsidies to producers. I believe subsidies should go to consumers rather than producers therefore I propose that these be combined into some sort of universal income scheme to ensure that everyone has a minimum standard of living. This would involve making payments directly into the accounts of individuals probably on a monthly basis. It may be necessary to have some taxation to keep the money circulating.


A major effect of giving out universal subsistence payments would be to transfer power to individuals who would vote with what they chose to do with their money. The power to assign money would be with individuals rather than bankers.


Universal subsistence payments will be needed for the same reasons pensions, unemployment insurance and social assistance are needed - to help people get through those times in their lives when they are not capable of earning a living wage. It would also allow people to choose what they wanted to do with their time and their lives as current technology does not require everyone to work their whole lives. And when there is a probability of an economic downturn this program would ease the suffering from economic turmoil.


Most of the money supply would be assigned in the day-to-day transactions. However, some person or group of people would have to determine the amount of the universal subsistence payments. This amount should be determined so as to keep a price index steady. It would probably be best to keep politicians out of it although I can see giving presidents and prime ministers the right to make a limited special payment on the day before elections. We won't be able to stop this type of bribery so we might as well keep it controlled.


In trying to implement such radical changes it would probably be wise to reevaluate all government functions especially those related to economics.


Currently governments use their powers to pass legislation that restricts the operation of the market so that some people can make profits they would not make if full competition were allowed. This includes patent and copyright, licensing, trade restrictions and regulations. I would like to see governments reverse this role and support the basics of perfect competition. One thing they should definitely be doing is to require the publication of all knowledge relevant to the production and pricing of all goods and services. Producers need to have the knowledge to easily get into an industry and customers should have access to all the information they need to make decisions according to their values.


Another function of government should be to evaluate and publicize what is happening to the Q in the formula - the quantity of goods and services being produced.


Governments should also ensure the production of infrastructure, justice (rather than the rule of law) and education. Please note the word ensure. Governments could ensure the education of all children via a voucher system rather than through public schools.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

While I'm out there both in the real (and virtual worlds) advocating the many advantages of the cooperative marketing business model, I am often asked what I like to refer to as "The BIG Question":
"What is the NUMBER ONE unique benefit of running a cooperative marketing business?"
My answer usually goes something like this...
The biggest benefit that totally sets cooperative marketing apart from every other business model is that you can build a rock-solid monthly residual income WITHOUTever having to do any personal recruiting or selling. (Unless you want to that is! Doing so obviously gives one more "leverage" but it's not required.)
I want to make sure it's perfectly clear that you can come into a cooperative marketing business, never tell anyone about it, and generate a substantial income with very little involvement.
The only variables are your time and financial resources, and the only choice that has to be made is how BIG you want to grow your business, and that can be as simple as acquiring or earning more customers.
By the way, cooperative marketing is NOT about having to follow up on leads that a company generates for you. That is the very definition of a traditional direct sales business.
With a cooperative marketing business, the company handles all the daily operations (the things that most of us DON'T want to do), like stocking product, keeping an inventory of various products in our garage, fulfilling orders, retention, back-end marketing, bill collecting, reselling our customers additional products, and even talking to your customers when they have questions.
There's NO other business model in ANY industry out there that does this. None!
These customers want to order the products and are NOT making a purchase because there's a business opportunity attached to it, which in turn creates a stable and predictable residual income for home-based entrepreneurs.
Over time, this type of business can become an income-producing ASSETbecause:
· Cooperative marketing companies run infomercials and acquire customers for you.
· There's no need to rely on harassing your family and friends.
· It eliminates the headaches of buying leads and prospecting.
· It's an easy business to start up.
· There are easy business management components that are built in.
· You can experience a hassle-free monthly cash flow that equals and exceeds your equity, time and skills.
· There are no inventory costs, hassles or headaches!
· There are no employees or having to provide benefits or pay additional taxes.
· Your business can exist anywhere as long as you have a phone and Internet access.
By the way, in the wake of the Bernie Madoff scandal, The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) loves to pick on (and shut down) companies that are primarily focused on recruiting new associates, distributors, and reps in lieu of retailing their product or service.
Keep in mind that unlike MLMs, there are no "distributors" in a cooperative marketing business because they NEVER distribute product or provide services to their customers because the company handles all that.
What would you rather have?
Would you want to continuously spend time and money on expensive business opportunity seeker leads, face rejection, and do all the "grunt work" of sponsoring distributors that will most likely quit when they're not making money?
OR
Would you rather have a reputable company run television and radio infomercials and do ALL the selling and follow-up to acquire hundreds or thousands of legitimate customers for your business, while you sit back and collect the checks that come in from the customer's re-orders?
The answer is pretty simple and obvious, isn't it?
That's why I refer to this as the primary benefit, because it's that loyal customer base that creates the residual income we're all looking for. And remember, true residual income is ONLY generated ONE WAY: Customer acquisition and customer retention.
In closing, never lose focus on the fact that in marketing, proven systems work, so sadly, it's the people that fail. That being said, lots of marketers claim to have a proven system.
Of all the business "systems" that exist, franchises have been advertised as being the most profitable. But are they? Let's take a look at the numbers:
The average cost to start a franchise is about $200,000 on the low end and only promise you around $50,000 per year in income. So, it would take about four years just to break even and pay off your initial investment!
In other words, you would have to work for four years for FREE! As crazy as it sounds, lots of people still buy into this business model every year, only to find out later that they didn't buy a business at all, they bought themselves a JOB, including all the long hours and headaches that come along with it. No thanks!
Regardless of what we think about franchises, we know that all of the successful ones in the world use some sort of systemized approach.
Look at McDonald's for example... I don't think anyone would disagree that they don't make the best burgers, yet they continue to grow by billions of dollars every year.
Why? Because even though people will continue to fail, the system produces consistent results every time.
So, you've got to have the right vehicle and a system that works for everyone.
Cooperative marketing takes YOU out of the equation, meaning that even you can't mess it up.
That's why it works!
The Back-End
It's not enough for a cooperative marketing company to be able to advertise and acquire customers for you if they don't ever purchase again.
So, it's also critically important to find a company that will do ALL the back-end marketing to get YOUR customers to re-order. It's even more preferable if a company can do this for no additional cost to you. When done properly, a company's back-end marketing can put money in your pocket month after month for years and years down the road.

Monday, December 16, 2013



In this day and age, the global economy is witnessing a dynamic change and, consequently, more and more business organisations are setting up regional branches for greater exposure. This has also resulted in the deployment of a mobile workforce at an unprecedented amount in the corporate sector. Owing to the advancements done in this aspect, the corporate world has witnessed a growing number of mobile personnel, which is set to increase to a whopping 1.19 billion by the year 2013. Due to the increase in the number of remotely located employees at such a high pace, the demand for a streamlined communication platform has also increased.

This calls for web conference solutions, which primarily work on a Software-as-a-Service model that allows three or more group members to meet and collaborate in a virtual conference room. The main purpose of these meetings is to bridge the gap between the headquarters and geographically dispersed offices of an organisation. This greatly helps business firms in Hong Kong to liaise with their associates. Owing to the potential for growth in the productivity of individuals as well as the whole organisation, business organisations of all sizes are steadily deploying these web meeting solutions within their premises.

Nowadays, Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) as well as large enterprises can enjoy the same array of features with advancements in online conferencing. Large firms that are have widespread business operations rely heavily on operator attended solutions with remote desktop sharing, document transfer facility and support for mobility. This type of web based conferencing solution is moderated by Event Managers who help in achieving unparalleled functionality to such firms.

On the other hand, small scale firms mainly access web meetings via desktops and laptops and use them to reduce the costs involved with large scale communications. Of course, companies of all sizes make full use of features like file transfer, enterprise Instant Messaging (IM), desktop sharing, PowerPoint presentations, white board, annotation tools and presence indicator to fill the gap between their professionals.

As an enjoyable web meeting experience is essential for the increase in the rate of adoption of web conferences, a reliable network becomes a necessity for any organisation. High speed Internet, no additional downloads or plug-ins and network security are key attributes that make a suite useful for an organisation. It is important for the business organisations to note that the web meetings network is tuned optimally by dividing the bandwidth on different switches and routes. The codecs used to decompress files, data packets as well as the integrated audio should be updated regularly by the Conferencing Service Providers (CSPs) in order to streamline communications as well.

Saturday, December 14, 2013

Getting the Cheapest and Safest PC Repair Quote
Is it really worth shopping around for the cheapest PC repair quote? Wouldn’t it be easier to opt for the first store you find offering computer repair Chicago has to offer and think no more about it?
Sure it might be easier, but if you value your PC and indeed your pocket, it isn’t advisable.
What appears to be a minor PC repair on the surface can in fact be a huge and delicate job that ends up costing hundreds of dollars. Likewise, what seems to spell the end of the world could be something wonderfully easy that takes seconds and costs cents to put right – but how can you be sure of your provider’s honesty? After all, if you knew what was going on, you wouldn’t need help in the first place, right?
Check Out the Site
Before going any further, use your instincts and better judgement to take a look at their own site and see if they come across as you’d expect. This is after all a computer business you’re looking into so it goes without saying that you could do with a service provider able to present itself well on the web. If you come across sill mistakes, inaccuracies or anything else that doesn’t exactly scream professionalism, ponder whether this is the kind of first impression you were on the lookout for.
Check Out the Competition
And of course, once you’ve decided that they seem up to the job, there’s no harm in taking a look around to see how others in the same industry are presenting themselves. It could turn out that your initial choice is a shining beacon of brilliance to the industry, or it could put it all into perspective in a slightly less positive way. In either case, you should take the time to check out the options available to you before settling on a final service provider – even if time isn’t on your side.
See What’s Guaranteed
It’s one thing to promise you a fast repair and the lowest prices on the market, but another entirely to back these promises with a rock-solid guarantee. There are plenty of providers out there that promise full refunds if you’re not completely satisfied or will refund the difference if you find a cheaper quote elsewhere, which essentially means there’s nothing to gain from siding with one that doesn’t.
See What the Feedback is Like
Perhaps most crucially of all though, it’s vital to find out from the most important people of all whether or not they stand up to the reputation that they have given themselves. This means looking into the ratings and the experiences of those that have taken on their services and products before, in order to evaluate what translated into quality service in a the real-world. A service and site that’s proud of what it does will make this kind of feedback impossible to miss, but even if there’s none to be found right in front of you it take no more than a quick visit to Google to uncover the evidence.
Author Bio
Ilya Elbert is the nationwide account executive of AllIT, a full service Information Technology solutions company that serves to the rest of continental United States. Follow him on Twitter to receive IT news and updates.

Sunday, December 1, 2013



Social networking for business purposes is so popular because it is a very easy medium for business owners or managers to communicate with prospects and clients. People love to take the path of least resistance and there is no path with less resistance than social media. Social networking is one of the most enjoyable activities online and makes the job of networking very fun and easy.

1. Direct messaging may be the best way to contact anyone

Twitter is still one of the places that most people (including some celebrities) manage themselves. One of the biggest secrets is that almost anyone is contactable if they are contacted via a direct message within the system. This used to one of the most underutilized tools in on most social networks. The reason why is that people were used to using the status update tool to keep each other updated about the happenings around the social network mediums. Even now, there are a slew of marketing gurus and celebrities that still answer their own direct messages on the some of the social network platforms.

2. The social networks mimic the way people talk

Social networks also mimic the way that most people talk already. They allow for enjoyable conversations because the systems are very easy to use and fast. This speed allows people to use the networks even when they should not be using them (at works, perhaps?). However, for business purposes, this allows two parties to communicate very quickly about partnerships, joint ventures, or anything else business related.

This is all made very simple because the conversation is turn based. Each party can post a status update to a conversation but the conversation pieces do not overlap or overwrite each other. This allows the parties to talk freely and on a variety of topics without losing their place in the conversation.

3. The newer social media platforms allow the use of videos and images

The platforms also allow the use of videos and images. These images and videos can add an extra element that makes the use of the system more entertaining than its predecessor (online bulletin boards) does. The old bulletin boards were places that were just full of text. They did not feel active and felt very sterile. The newer social media platforms allowed people to use different mediums and made the systems feel like they had more life. This allows a business meeting to be far more interactive as well. Instead of sending presentation slides between the two sides, the presenting company could show a movie instead. This greatly enhanced the usability of the social networks.

Social networking for business purposes is only going to gain more popularity over time. The ease of use will allow it to grow much faster in the coming years until it becomes just as common as business card is for business. Social networking is one of the most popular methods of communication available. In fact, it may have usurped e-mail as the preferred way to contact a person. Social media has become inter-weaved with popular culture and any company or person who does not have a profile is seen as a person who is behind the times.

Audio conferencing, web conferencing and video conferencing services are a powerful and cost-efficient alternative to in-person meetings. All conferencing services offer a vast array of benefits, ranging from significant cost savings to a smaller carbon footprint for your business. That being said, in order to ensure you get the best return on your conferencing investment, it is imperative that you and your team practice good conferencing etiquette.


Audio, web and video conferencing etiquette for effective meeting includes preparation, practice, starting meeting on time, ignoring eating and primping, mute call to avoid disruption.




  • Prepare - As the saying goes, failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Ample preparation is essential to holding an effective meeting. Create an outline you can share with participants either prior to, or at the start of your meeting that lists the topics you will cover as well as your objective(s)

  • Practice - Whether you're new to conferencing or a veteran, performing a few dry-runs before the actual meeting is a smart move, as you don't want to risk losing your participant's interest by shuffling through paperwork while on the call. Moreover, if you're dealing with a new or unfamiliar service, dry-runs will allow you to test all of the available features that aid in conducting a more engaging and collaborative web, video and audio conferencing services experience

  • Start on time - Respect your participants that arrive early or on time and begin the conference at the appointed time noted on the invite

  • Don't eat anything - Aside from a glass of water, avoid snaking or drinking during your meeting. This might seem like an obvious one, but you'd be amazed at the things some participants will do while on a conference call. One of the many ways to ensure your participants stay on their best behavior is to add real-time video to your conference. Many of today's providers offer video via web conferencing (for more information on this service, contact one of our professional account managers)

  • Avoid primping - Following up on our last point, in addition to no eating or drinking, participants and hosts should refrain from adjusting their hair, makeup, clothing or anything else that could be distracting to others. Your hosts and the other participants deserve the same respect that you would show them in an in-person meeting

  • When it doubt, mute it out - A good rule of thumb is to put your line on mute while a presenter is speaking. This eliminates the chance something you do (such as cough or adjust your seat) will disrupt the call

Thursday, November 21, 2013

The earn $5000 a week challenge to make money online in a work from home internet marketing business
This is a series of letters written to those who are thinking about starting a home business to make money online in a work from home internet marketing business. I am going to stretch your mindset and set a earn $5000 a week challenge.
DAY 1 THE FOUNDATION
I suppose there are many businesses one can start from home. So to get right to the point I am not going to deal with all of them, although the principles applied in these letters apply to all new start up businesses.
I am going to deal with one kind of business particularly - the make money online in a work from home internet marketing business.
Firstly why am I particularly aiming at the make money online business.
The work from home internet marketing business is a huge market and it is largely untapped at the moment. 1.5 billion have the internet and to make money online is the place to be.
Many people have tried the traditional Network marketing home business where you grill your family and friends and neighbours. You knock on doors, or have home parties and have this whole face to face business concept and the need to handle rejection. The traditional Network marketing home business has served people well up to now but there have been many who have not made it because they were not willing to put in the work. The traditional Network marketing home business needs a revision and the work from home internet marketing business is there ready to lead the way. 
The beauty to make money online is that there are systems in place that were never really in place in the Network marketing home business. Systems like the sifting and sorting. The distinguishing the tire kickers from the genuinely interested people. In the work from home internet marketing business, these systems are there with auto responders to keep those who need lots of information well stocked. This also builds a trust relationship with seekers. Then those who want to start can do so immediately. So to make money online is where we are going to aim.
So anyone who is in search of a home business should strongly consider the make money online in a work from home internet marketing business 
Secondly why a earn $5000 a week challenge
Anyone who is in search of a home business needs to consider the reward they are aiming for. Why are they going to do a home business. I believe that there is a need to have a reward that makes it worth all the effort of starting a home based business.
The average earnings for people is lower than $60,000 per year and if you want to think about starting a home business which will lead to success you need to think way beyond your comfort zone. 
This will pull you through the tough times. Because lets face it there will be tough times, feelings of being overwhelmed, times of intense frustration, times of despair "will it ever work." That is the reason for the earn $5000 a week challenge. If you think too small then the reward is not worth it and you will quit. 
So lets aim at four times the average. That is how we came to the earn $5000 a week challenge.
This series of letters will inform anyone who is thinking about starting a home business on the foundations of what is necessary to take up the earn $5000 a week challenge, and what they need to know to make money online in a work from home internet marketing business.
We are going to cover the following topics:
- The battle of the mind
- Be clear on what you want.
- Testing the dream
- Putting together a strategy
The 7 days to starting a home business is going to help you make good decisions and help you get started in the earn $5000 a week challenge to make money online in a work from home internet marketing business.
For more information: [http://www.InSearchOfaHomeBusiness.com/?t=ea1]
Who is Leonard Schoots?
In my one role I am an executive director in the health industry responsible for organization expansion. What I do is look for entrepreneurs who want to make money without constantly having to work for it and partner with them in business through leadership development.
In my other role I am a certified personal and business coach responsible for individual and team empowerment. What I do is facilitate a powerful process which highly improves individual and team impact and performance through mind transformation.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013



Innovative and technologically advanced phone systems are an essential part of any business. Prior to the development of these leading-edge phone systems, businesses had to use telephones, which lacked effective features and functions that have become critical to current business operations. With 'normal' telephones that operate over copper wires, you just have basic functions such as call waiting, caller ID, call return, and a few other simple features. With a business telephone system, you have many functions and features that can help a business improve productivity and operations.

Today's business telephone systems are much more advanced than traditional telephones. These modern phone systems have important features and functions that help improve business communications with clients and associates. Features that are available with these systems can include: fax to email, call conferencing, email to fax, voicemail, automatic call distribution, inter office paging, create call queues, call forwarding, custom-menus, auto attendant, music on hold, and much more. Once your company is working with a digital phone system, the possibilities are endless compared to traditional phone systems as new features are being introduced regularly.

When using a business telephone system, you benefit from having everything you need at your fingertips to operate an effective business communication system. All of the features are provided by the business telephone system service provider, which operate over high speed Internet or dedicated telephone networks. The service provided is very economical and is usually billed as a monthly fee. Furthermore with a digital network, your calls will be clearer and connections are quicker than traditional setups. Another key feature to having a digital network is that you can program features for any particular phone without the need for hardware. For example, you can turn certain features on or off for any one particular phone in the office, like the ability to make outgoing calls. With this digital system you retain total control over the entire network.

When a business acquires a telephone system, they benefit from having total control over their phone system. This allows you to direct incoming calls to a specific location, say the front desk or area where the receptionist works. Perhaps you don't want everyone in the company to be able to reach a certain department or individual, so again programming individual phones allows you total control over the operational phone network. Another benefit of the business telephone system is that it is a cost-effective communication system. For example, rates for outgoing calls to local and long distance locations are less expensive than normal telephones. You can even set up virtual phone numbers without acquiring the physical infrastructure.

When it comes to business operations, the reliable and technologically advanced business phone systems on the market today are critical to ensuring your organizations' operations remain productive and successful. Today, there are companies that specialize in offering business enterprises of all sizes and types telephone systems that will facilitate the needs of the company in their efforts to improve efficiency and maintain competitiveness. Most providers will even help a business with training on the new telephone systems as part of the installation service. They can train an individual or a whole team to work the new business telephone systems and ensure their clients are completely confident in using their new business telephone system.

Friday, November 15, 2013



Functional and aesthetic office premises certainly create a positive impression on the employees as well as on clients. Since you and your employees spend most of the time in the office, you need to make sure that your office is designed properly. Moreover, you will not often do major changes in the design of your office. So, it is very important to approach a reputed facility manager to design your office space.

Facility managers take charge of every aspect of the facility - construction, planning, engineering, preventive maintenance and janitorial services. Therefore, they will have a thorough knowledge of the facility design, purpose and function, which makes it easy to design the office for your business operations.

In this article, we will discuss on how a facility manager helps in designing your office.

Being experts in the field of build & design, facility managers make sure that the design of the facility is functional and that blends well with the purpose and external design of the facility. They do interior designing; space planning and workflow systems design. The most important benefit is that they design your office based on your requirements keeping total life-cycle costs of the office in mind.

Renovation
When the need arises to renovate or modify your office to support new systems or work culture, it is always better to take help of professionals. Especially, in case of interiors, they will see to it that renovation results in modern, innovative design which uplifts the look as well as enhances the functionality and flexibility of the office. They also will make sure that while renovation, the HVAC, computers and other mechanical and electrical systems are upgraded with energy saving options and modern designs.

Space optimization
Space optimization is an important characteristic of a good design. It involves maximum use of the available space with least wastage. Here, an experienced facility manager can provide you the plan that reduces wastage of space, enabling you to obtain the maximum value within the available floor space. He also takes care that, in an attempt to make the most of the available space, the need for comfortable working environment is not overlooked.

Good interior design
A facility manager, while designing your interiors takes care of paint, decor, carpets, furniture, upholstery, roofing, fittings, tables, flooring, partitioning, etc., so that all these combined together make up for a pleasing environment that ensures workflow, improved productivity and a lasting impression on the clients and visitors. He will also help you out with the advices on the selection of right workstations, storage, conference room equipment, etc., that are comprehensive and effective. A facility manager can provide customized design and specifications for commercial offices, retail outlets, restaurants, individual offices, reception areas, conference rooms, executive suites, schools, etc.

Good working environment
A well-arranged, clutter-free and beautiful interior space always has a positive effect on the minds of the employees, which in turn impacts their productivity positively. An expert facility manager, designs a quality facility considering the important aspects like traffic patterns, workflow, etc.

Facility managers, with their expertise and experience, can design your office within the specified budget and as per your business needs. They also ensure that the equipment and devices chosen are economic as well as ergonomic.

Saturday, November 9, 2013



A company that offers cheap domain registration is probably the first thing that one should try to find when planning to start an online business. The economic meltdown that is slowly killing many brick-and-mortar businesses has made venturing into cyberspace a logical move. After all, online businesses have been steadily growing over the past decade or so, while conventional commercial establishments have been crumbling one by one during the same period.

Internet-based businesses are far from being surefire money-making machines. Nonetheless, an e-commerce establishment has several advantages over a conventional business. First and foremost, launching an e-commerce establishment is not as complicated as starting a brick-and-mortar business. With a viable product to introduce to the market, a person can easily open an online business. There are many companies that offer to take all the trouble of building a Website for individuals. Hence, e-commerce owners need not worry about the technical aspects of launching a business into cyberspace.

The second advantage is that online businesses require only a fraction of the capital that conventional businesses may need. For instance, a typical e-commerce establishment can be started with more or less $3,000, which can already cover expenses such as domain registration, maintenance, and other overhead costs. Aspiring Internet entrepreneurs can also benefit from the proliferation of companies that offer cheap domain registration for websites. Hence, online business is not only cheap but also convenient.

Third, they can be launched without a need for an actual office or shop. Because of the mobile nature of e-commerce, owners can literally take their business anywhere they want, as long as they have the right gadgets such as laptops and other similar devices. Moreover, they can be managed remotely. As such, owners can continue working on their day jobs.

Aside from the advantages of interent business in the technical aspects, as well as in relation to capitalization, e-commerce also has a clear lead in profitability, based on current trends. This observation is based on the significant increase in the number of people who prefer online shopping over conventional shopping. Indeed, the prospects of online business are so bright that economists project the global e-commerce sector to double in value within the next five years. Currently, internet businesses in the top 20 global economies are worth more than $2 trillion.

With the improvement of the quality of Internet connection in other countries, there is no question that more and more people will rely on e-commerce for their daily consumer needs. Indeed, there has never been a better time to start an online business than now.

To recap, one needs only a viable product to start with. There is no need for a superb product. The requirement is only that the product is viable and legitimate. With the right product and sufficient capitalization, combined with a positive attitude and a sprinkling of business savvy, which includes finding the right company to provide cheap domain registration, there is no doubt that the individual is all set for a profitable online business.

Friday, November 1, 2013



A Clinical trial is a research conducted in human volunteers to assess the protection and effectiveness of the investigational Drug/molecule. It helps investigators to better evaluate the effectiveness, the value of the new therapy and its side effects against various already established therapies in the market.

Different stages of Clinical Trial include the following phases-

Phase I- the researchers test a test medication or therapy in a small individual (20-80) for the first time to assess its protection, determine a safe dose range and recognize its complication.

Phase II- the test research medication or therapy is given to larger individuals (100-300) to see its efficiency and to further assess its protection.

Phase III- the test research medication or therapy is given to large groups of individuals (1,000-3,000) to validate its efficiency, observe adverse reactions, compare it to commonly used treatments, and gather details that will allow the test medication or therapy to be used securely.

Phase IV-it is generally the post marketing studies which give the more details such as the drug's threats, benefits, etc. Before coming into this test, FDA acceptance is essential.

SAS (Statistical Analysis Software) is a solid tool for confirming and analysis. Mr. Jim Goodnight released this software in the year 1976 for the statistical analysis performs. This is generally used to access the details in a different application, adjustment of the details, and removal of clinical details from various resources, analysis and selection of the details. This device is solid in working with medical details. This tool is used to perform modify assessments, cross-form modifies assessments, acceptance reviews, conclusion reviews and transfer of data files per attract requirements, company requirements and Clinical Data Inter Change Standards requirements. The present edition of SAS being used is 9.3.

Role of a SAS programmer is data analysis, validation of the evaluated data sets, data removal, modify assessments, acceptance, and distribution perform.

Clinical Data Inter Change Standards:
Clinical Data Inter Change Standards Consortium is a non-profit company utilized to develop industry requirements to support purchase, exchange, distribution and preserving of scientific test details for medical and bio pharmaceutical service.

Important models are-
i) Operational Data Model (ODM) - it helps the activity of clinical details gathered from several resources to one operational data source. The resources of the details are individual journal, etc.

ii) Analysis Data Model - it describes a standard for analysis data sets that are used to generate mathematical reviews for regulating syndication. The data set should be ready for analysis to be conducted using SAS techniques directly without any further perform on the details.

iii) Study Data Tabulation Model - it describes a conventional framework for data tabulations that are to be posted as part of an item application for a regulating power such as the FDA. The current edition being used is 3.1.1 SDTMIG.

iv) Laboratory Study Model - it works towards the growth of a conventional model for the purchase and the interchange of lab details which is the biggest component of the Clinical Trial data.

Thursday, October 31, 2013

The success of a PPC (pay per click) advertising campaign on Google can be the difference between sink or swim for a small business. The average cost per click (CPC) across almost all verticals has been consistently rising over the past 5 years and in most cases does not seem to have been hit by the recession. I have therefore put together a short series of tutorials to help visitors to this blog achieve success with your Pay per click campaigns.


Tracking & Reporting a PPC campaign


Pay per click is essentially a simple marketing channel - you pay for a click to your website and you then try to convert that person into a customer. It does get more complicated when you start looking at the inter-relationships of similar keywords but that can be a distraction from getting the basics right.


The basic necessity for a successful PPC campaign is good data at a keyword level; this means being able to see the performance of each individual keyword in your account so that you can make a decision on what to do with that keyword in the future.


For this reason I am going to start this tutorial in what may seem like a strange order but, I believe, a logical one as you need to know that your data is solid before you start.


Good data is essential for successful PPC marketing


For most businesses performance will be measured as a sale (conversion) of a product or service on their website so I will assume that this is your goal for these tutorials.


The principal is the same for leads, with the only difference being that there is another level to the conversion funnel - you have to then convert the customer over the phone or through email/mail, so just need to apply your lead to sale conversion rate to this process.


To track a keyword's performance over any date range you need 2 reports; basically your cost data from Google and then your sales data from your database.


1) Within Google AdWords there are a number of different reports that you can run to see how your campaigns are performing. Probably the most used of these reports is the Google keyword report. The Keyword report from Google will give you your cost data - in your Google account click on the keyword tab, then select the date range that you are interested in and look for a downward pointing arrow (download) and hit that button, give the file a name and then press download.


2) You will need a report on your sales data from your database/web analytics tool (if you have one) by keyword with a column in common with the Google keyword report - this could be the keyword with its match type appended e.g. [Google PPC] for exact match or "Google PPC" for phrase match or Google PPC for broad match.


You could also tag all keyword destination URLs with a unique numerical parameter so that they can be easily recognized when somebody arrives on your site so that your database can log the sale against the unique parameter. You can then use this parameter to match your sales data to your cost data.


e.g. yourwebsite.com?AFF=KW12345


With this method you obviously need to know how to query your database based on this parameter to track sales.


Please note that you can add Google conversion tracking to your website to track conversions at keyword level but I have previously found this to be 50% inaccurate (under-reporting) so pretty much no use at all apart from seeing general patterns so I highly recommend you using another form of tracking and of course database conversions is as good as you can get.


That said most businesses do rely on Google conversion tracking and if you do use this to measure your PPC marketing then follow the same report criteria as shown above and you will have conversions in your report (again - you must add the Google conversion tracking code to your website for this to work).


Understand your PPC marketing goals and apply them to your performance


What is the aim of your business this year? Is it pure revenue growth? Is it customer acquisition or brand awareness? Chances are that as a small business you need to see a clear direct return on your advertising spend so it will probably be one of the first two.


• If your goal is revenue growth then a pure ROI model should work well - simply use the formula (revenue-cost)/cost at a keyword level to determine the keywords that are giving you the best return on investment.


• If your goal is customer acquisition then a CPA model will be best - cost/new customer orders = CPA at a keyword level, remember that if your target is customer acquisition then you need to separate out returning customer orders from new customer orders as you will have some keywords that help drive large numbers of returning customer orders and others that drive large numbers of new customer orders and you need to make sure that your model factors this in and optimises the keywords to drive new customers.


*Quality score is also an important factor to judge your keywords performance on - I have just left it out of this tutorial as I only want to focus on the basics. This will be covered in another tutorial.


Many merchants have found that it is not always the same keywords that work for them every month. Of course you will have your consistently good keywords that convert every month, but you will also have new keywords converting each month as well as previously converting keywords bringing you nothing; It is good to plan for this.


If you only reward your currently converting keywords you will probably find that you end up with a very efficient PPC account but one giving your business no growth.


If you have a cost per acquisition (CPA) model then you need to look at your customer lifetime value, factor in the gross margin and fixed costs and then determine how much you are willing to spend to acquire each new customer and then apply this at a keyword level.


The same warning applies on adding some fat to the figures if you are after growth, set your keyword (kw) target lower than you can actually afford so that you have some budget for "future opportunity". You can of course apply your acquisition target cost to all marketing channels so that you can easily judge how efficient they are.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013



Information technology project management, like the economy drastically has changed over the past 20 years. In project management classes, time is spent reviewing the job creation that has taken place in past decades and how that has shaped the role of the project manager position today. Communication is emphasized as the largest part of the job, but with IT today, a stronger point needs to be made as to how to do this communication in a global setting.

In prior years, a link existed between value creation and job creation. When business prospered, employment expanded, processes became automated, and jobs in technology thrived. The cycle was good for business and equally good for IT. In the past, businesses were more industrial and more local than today. When there was an increase in demand for products it eventually created additional jobs in the local companies and eventually filtered to technology to automate these processes. IT project managers dealt with user groups and in-house programmers and analysts who assembled programs to automate many of the tasks that the business viewed as being critical to keep giving them a competitive advantage. The project manager was the person who was the everyday contact for the clients as well as with the technical staff. The PM depended on conference room sessions where all attendees covered their status verbally with all eyes on them. The project manager was also involved with training the groups who would be using the applications doing data entry to create the information within the system. This type of face to face communication at all levels was the foundation for getting things done right.

In today's business the relationship between value creation, job creation and IT is more complicated. Two factors seem to have changed. First, the largest growing companies are internet based and when these organizations grow, it doesn't necessarily translate to a growth in local jobs. Second, technical jobs are being transferred to anywhere in the world in the quest to find the lowest cost regions to get the job done. Project management has shifted from knowing the user groups and programming team on an intimate face-to-face level, to that of dealing with people who will never be seen anywhere but on a web screen. The project manager must still communicate with many levels, but the close interaction is now gone. Communication may still be done in a conference room setting, but people are on phone lines from around the world describing their progress to a crowd that only knows their name. The position must learn much more innovated ways to get to know the personal on the project team, and still be the connection to the business and the true key to success to getting projects done on time and within budget. This isn't always easy, with language and geographic issues, but through constant communication using web meetings, email, and instant messaging the job can be done.

In the world today, the project manager's role is constantly evolving. Communication will always be the heart and soul of the position, but gone are the days of really knowing all the team members and feeling a personal bond with the group. Now the job is one of still delivering projects, but the methods of doing this are far different than years ago.

Sunday, October 27, 2013



Summary

Teamwork is essential to the success of your business. But there's lots more to it than describing your employees as "team members" or using clichés such as "our team is here to help you".

1. First Step: Focus

You must have a specific and well defined business focus and target market. You can't expect your teams to help you if you

  • Don't know exactly "what business you're in"

  • Whom you're trying to sell to.


2. Management Team Dissension

All members of the management team must agree about business focus and target market. Staff will "sniff out" dissension about business goals and markets quicker than you can say "marketing". If management can't agree about business objectives, employees won't bother.

3. Imprecise Expectations

Your teams need to know exactly what you expect of them in four areas:

  • as a team

  • as individual team members

  • as teams operating with other teams

  • as team contributors to business success.


4. Team Rewards

It's good to reward individual staff who perform well. It's even better to reward all members of a high performing team. Do you have team rewards and incentives in place?

5. Personality Conflicts

Do you spend time trying to resolve "personality conflicts" or "interpersonal problems" when you should be concentrating on the source of such problem. It's usually lack of role and goal clarity.

6. Collaboration Clarity

Do you know for sure which teams need to collaborate most closely for business success? Do you stress the need for effective collaboration between those teams?

7. Inter-team System Compatibility

We all know that "if your systems are poor your people will fail". It's essential to have systems in place to enable each team to work well. But it's also essential to have systems in place that enhance effective co-operation between teams.

8. A Culture Of Blaming

Phrases such as "It's not my job", "The girls in the office never get that right", "Salespeople never provide all the details", "we were late because Jack was away ill", are indicative of a blaming culture. Always looking for a scapegoat or an excuse is a reliable indicator of poor teamwork. Do you hear this sort of thing often in your business?

9. Your Role

Are you aware that your role is not only to develop competent and effective individual staff but also competent and effective teams? Do you stress the importance of teamwork and inter-team co-operation? Do you move quickly to defuse inter-team disagreements when they occur?

10. Autonomy

Do you give effective teams freedom to operate under minimal supervision, make recommendations for changes to systems, have direct contact with customers and generally "run their own race" provided that what they do helps achieve business results and benefits the business?

Conclusion

Even with the best of intentions, managers can unwittingly discourage teamwork by failing to do a lot of little things. These things by themselves may not seem vitally important. But together they could distract staff and diminish team effectiveness. If you need a particular starting point I'd suggest that you and your management team have a thorough and detailed chat about items 1 and 2.

Wednesday, October 23, 2013



Many people have over the years formed the habit of keeping their money in banks. Apart from the financial inter-mediation services banks render, they used to be safe havens for money. That is no longer the case. Some banks are now run by crooks and petty thieves. With bank failures a common occurrence these days, many people now crave other places to keep their money outside of banks. In fact, these days, keeping all your hard-earned money in a bank is no longer cool. People have started to look more at alternatives. There is currently a tendency to simply "spread" your money to other areas now that banks are increasingly becoming unstable. You are at liberty to consider the following alternatives depending on how much you have to put away or the dictates of your temperament.

01. A business. You can buy into a business in part or you buy one outright. Businesses like farms, car dealerships, retail outlets, restaurants, bakeries and franchises are good places to keep your money. When the business is professionally and profitably managed, your money will not only be safe, it will yield good returns.

02. Home Vaults/Safes. With improved personal and private security in place in many homes nowadays, people do keep their money at home in well constructed vaults and steel safes. Even in banks where your money is expected to be safest, they too keep their money in vaults. If you can afford one and you know you can provide security, you can keep your money in home vaults. You must however ensure that there are no extant laws against such practice in your own country.

03. Real Estate. Prime land and buildings are some other places you can keep your money. If you choose well, you can earn income from rents as well as capital gains on the property. Some tax laws are more in favor of people who keep their money in real estate than in banks to yield interest.

04. Precious metals. You can also keep your money in precious metals like Platinum, Gold, Silver and Copper. There is a very active market for commodities worldwide. You can buy and sell easily depending on price movements and your cash needs. When these precious metals increase in value, you gain. Conversely, you lose when they decrease in value. A close watch on the price movement therefore helps you to make "buy" or "sell" decisions in collaboration with professional dealers in the metals.

05. Treasury Bills. Treasury Bills or Treasury Certificates are short-term debt instruments issued from time to time by the Central Bank to raise funds for government. The bills are a neat and safe way for government to borrow money from its citizens. Treasury bills are one of the safest places you can keep money and be assured of guaranteed returns on it. Since government unlike a company can not simply disappear, it is always available to redeem the bills when they are due. That grows your money for you as a lender to government.

06. Quoted Stocks. These are paper assets that are traded freely in the stock exchange. You can buy and hold any quoted company stock when you want to keep your money there or sell when you need your money back. When you buy and hold, you can earn dividends on the stock as well as gains in stock appreciation. Alternatively, you can sell off the stock at a higher price. Both ways, your money grows.

07. Precious Collections. These are hard assets which people can buy and preserve. For lovers of art and precious collections, you can also keep your money in them. Precious collections include paintings, vintage cars, watches and jewelry. These collections are assets you can diligently hunt for and acquire. Many appreciate in value over time as they get older and rarer. You can then sell at higher values. Your money grows when the collections increase in value.

Finally, let me advise that no one should dabble into any of these areas without proper guidance and advice from credible professionals. There are many professionals who specialize in all these areas. You need professional advice or assistance before you can deal. This is very important because the different areas have their own peculiar shortcomings which the advice of practicing professionals who specialize in the field can help you to deal with.

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Here is a topic that many online marketers are anxious to know the answer to. None of the marketing training, seminars, conference calls and personal training matters unless online marketers are implementing this one very important strategy into their business. Moreover, without this crucial tip I am going to give you, you can pretty much guarantee to build a business on a foundation of sand and not on solid ground.
A great online marketing tip for driving unlimited qualified traffic to your business would be a dream come true for so many struggling online marketers. What these struggling online marketers do not realize is that the tip I am about to share with you is so simple that it might just make you SICK! Are you ready to hear what the tip is for driving unlimited qualifies traffic to your business is? Well, here goes! Attraction Marketing!
The quickest online marketing tip to drive unlimited qualified traffic to your business is to understand Mike Dillard's concept of Attraction Marketing. First of all, if you have not heard of Mike Dillard and you are in the e-commerce business, I can honestly say that you still have A LOT TO LEARN! Mike Dillard's creation of the attraction-marketing concept has been what many other professional online marketers say to be the very first strategy you must master in order to implement all other online marketing strategies.
In addition, another great marketing strategy I can give you is that you must understand that your business has nothing to do with your company. If you can break through the old mindset and strategy of only marketing your online business and begin to implement Mike Dillard's attraction marketing concept, you will have no control the amount of qualified traffic you are driving to your business. Now isn't this the goal of every online marketer? How would you feel when you are driving an unlimited amount of qualified traffic to your online business website?
Learning these strategies have made just a huge impact for me in my primary online marketing business, not only in regards to the amount of traffic that's being driven to my site, but the dramatic change in the amount of profit now being made in my business. How awesome is that? And you know what, this strategy is something we unconsciously do every day outside of our business lives. All you have do is learn how to implement it towards your business and VAULA, it's like magic!
Therefore, get your very low priced copy of Mike Dillard's Attraction Marketing e-book and study it like if your life depended on it, because it does!

When a consumer in the UK buys mangoes or bananas, coffee or a bottle of wine, they are experiencing the effects of international trade not only in the products that are on offer but often also in the price of those products.


But it doesn't only apply to the products on the supermarket shelves. Increasingly the flat pack furniture a consumer buys at a competitive price, the clothes and shoes they wear, or the toys they buy for the children all have their origins in another country.


The chances are that the furniture originated in South East Asia, the clothes were made in India, the shoes in Brazil and the toys in China.


The same is true for businesses, who manage their overheads by "offshoring" using call centres in India or the Philippines to manage their communications with customers or potential customers, or having their websites hosted and managed, or their R & D carried out in India.


Part of the reason for this is that international trade with countries where production costs are cheaper because wage rates are lower and raw materials widely available means that there is greater competition and this means that the end price to the consumer is lower than it might be for the same goods to be manufactured at home.


It also makes possible a wider choice for consumers about the products that are available to them.


These examples illustrate the importance to the modern global economy of international trade not only to the consumer but also for businesses seeking to develop and grow.


Equally in an inter-connected global economy international trade can be a source of more jobs and therefore income in other countries that have developed expertise in particular areas as India has done with IT support services and China with manufacturing.


While it could be argued that this has increased levels of job insecurity as companies constantly look for locations where there is a plentiful and cheap source of labour and raw materials, it could also be argued that it also creates opportunities.


Rapidly growing economies such as the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) may have cheap labour and plentiful raw materials but as they seek to grow into fully mature economies they may experience skills shortages in certain areas of expertise.


They need time to develop that expertise and this provides opportunities for educational establishments such as universities to market their courses to overseas students. Equally it provides opportunities for consultants to offer their services overseas.


For example, there is a worldwide shortage of engineers in many fields and therefore there will be opportunities for qualified people in places where efforts are being made to improve the transport and energy infrastructures, such as Brazil.


There may not be the in-country facilities for manufacturing the heavy plant and machinery needed for such projects and this too provides opportunities for businesses in other countries.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013



Luxury inspired, extraordinary events are usually achieved by hiring an expert event management company that could bring the extraordinary to life. These days, we have seen enormous growth in the event management industry. This is a business that provides a fantastic way of outsourcing events that are either personal, group, business, social or a combination of two. Such occasions can be as diverse as birthdays, anniversaries, weddings to product launching, press conferences, political rallies, and for any social meetings that anyone can participate.

Recent studies showed that almost $500 billion dollars are spent annually on planned events around the globe. This spectacle alone shows that it is no longer sufficient to have a small catering team providing food at various business events and somebody in house to have everything sorted. Thus, individuals, groups, institutions and companies that aim to celebrate and hold their special events successfully and want to impress their guests often hire a company known for their fantastic event managing styles in order to get the best results.

The range of occasions that event handlers can allocate is pretty impressive. They can put together events for a small group of people or huge events with around 2,000-5,000 people attending. This is because a good management team is well-trained and skilled at doing the job. Most big businesses contact them to take care of the event planning which is time consuming and often stressful. An affair designed, managed and handled by an event management team is usually a costly one, but if you will take a close look at all the expenses incurred, it will prove to be a wise decision to hire professional teams because they have connections within their field. They can get you the best price quotes on top of their excellent and reliable service.

When is the best time to seek help from these professional event managers? You can rely on them to organize a funky, colourful and most unique event for you regardless of size, type of occasion and location. You can also rely on them if you want to throw a party with a theme. It doesn't matter if you want one of those weird trends that are really kind of everything for as long as you know that your guests or everyone will love the idea.

A good event planner can certainly spice up your event with colour, pattern, stunning backdrop and tons of light flashes that will capture everyone's attention. No matter what the size, scope and type of event that you wish to celebrate, it is smart to consider contacting a professional event management company. They are well-equipped at handling conferences, award ceremonies, product launches, gala dinners, corporate activities and personal or private celebrations. When considering hiring an event management team, be aware that it is vital to ask what their qualifications are and demand to see previous events that they have planned and managed.

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