How to Finance Your Small Business Start Up

It all starts with a great idea, an idea that has probably been in your mind for a long time. You have the product sorted out, how you are going to deliver your service, where you are going to set up your office and how you are going to market your new business. But the stumbling block always seems to be the finance to get you going.

Finding the finance to get a small business off the ground is a major issue for any potential small business. Some new businesses lend themselves to very little start up capital because the main selling point is the owner's skills and knowledge, for example consultants, web designers, PR specialists. Businesses which require stock holding, plant and equipment and other investment, face the real challenge of getting their start up finance together.

So what sources can you tap into to ensure your business gets off to a solid start?

Your Savings
The first port of call! If you have been in employment for some time then before going it alone you should hopefully have some spare cash behind you. Whether this be in the form of cash in a savings account or shares and unit trusts, this is a good start to your fund raising exercise.

You can be more focused in saving cash if you have had the goal of setting up your own business for awhile. Knowing you need to save to get your business off the ground will make sure you don't spend your future nest egg on unnecessary items. Whilst a new Plasma TV or the latest DVD Recorder may seem to be an essential purchase, knowing that you have a business to set up in the future will be sufficient a deterrent to keep the cheque book firmly locked away!
  

Keep Your Job
Some business owners are lucky enough that during the early days of the business they can keep the day job while working on the business during the evenings and weekends. This has two benefits. Firstly, they are still earning thereby allowing more time to build up a cash reserve. Secondly, it's an opportunity to test out the business to make sure there is a market.

Make sure that you can realistically keep both balls in the air at the same time otherwise you will end up doing justice to neither your job or your new business. The support of your family is also essential if you are to follow this strategy. They have to accept that what used to be 'family time' may have to take a back seat until you decide to concentrate on the business full time.

Family and Friends
These can be a useful source of finance for any start up. If you have harboured ambitions to run your business for some time, then many of your family and friends are already likely to know about your idea. You should therefore have an indication who is for it and who is against it.

If you haven't shared your secret desire then it's time to be slightly devious! If you are in the early planning stages start drip feeding your ideas to key people whom you think are likely to support you. Tell them your ideas, share your ambitions and goals and on a regular basis update them with your progress. The plan is to get them sold on you and your future business at an early stage.

Once you get to the point where you are ready to start asking for contributions hold an Investor Evening. Prepare a presentation outlining your plans, the business, the market etc. Show the potential investors what their return will be in recognition for supporting you.

Invite as many people as you can and promise an interesting and fun evening, Be bold at the very start; tell them exactly why they are there, so there are no misunderstandings. After you have done your presentation gather all the names of the people who may want more information or even a one-to-one with you.

Whilst this group are people who know you and so are more likely to trust you, don't forget that you are developing a very different relationship which can quickly turn sour. Be prepared for rocky times!

Bank Line of Credit or Loan
Now you're getting into the serious stuff! Getting support from a Bank for a new business is tough, as many entrepreneurs will testify. One sneaky way is to apply for an unsecured loan while you are still in employment. If you have planned things right you will know when you are starting up, so a few months before you pack your job in, apply for a loan based on your salary. However, make sure that you can comfortably meet the repayments. There is no grace period; you will be expected to pay back immediately, so your business will have to start earning very quickly.

The alternative is a business line of credit facility. There is no fixed repayment date, although they will be for periods from 6 to 12 months, and all you have to do is ensure that you keep within the overdraft limit. You will have to write a business plan to present to the Bank which outlines your idea and the business.

Mortgage or Equity Release
With the way house prices have been increasing over the last few years, the vast majority of people now have substantial equity in their homes. The cheaper alternative to a Bank overdraft or loan is a mortgage. The interest rate is lower and, as the repayments are spread over a longer period, the monthly repayment is less (although you will end up paying more interest in the long run).

The disadvantage of raising cash this way is that your home is potentially at risk. If meeting the monthly repayments is dependent on what the business can generate then a slow start could cause cash problems. So be very sure you can meet the repayments even during a lean period.

Credit Cards
If you haven't got any savings, can't get support from family or friends, or a Bank loan or mortgage, then there are your credit cards! However, whilst it's easy to draw down on your card, be wary! Credit cards are the most expensive form of debt.

They are ideal because all you may have to do is pay the minimum amount but card debt, as most people have found out, can be a long term burden. But, if you need a cash lump sum to kick start the business and you know you can pay it off within a few months, then it's an alternative source of finance worth considering, if somewhat unorthodox!

Business Grants

Business grants are available for specific industries, sectors and reasons. Grant providers will usually only give a portion of your requirement, so they cannot be used to totally finance a start up. However, they can be useful in filling a funding gap.

Business Angels
A popular way to fund a business are Business Angels. These are people, usually retired or successful business people in their own right, who are looking for opportunities to invest in new businesses.

In exchange for an investment they will typically look for a shareholding in the business and some hands-on involvement. They will have a vast business experience and so are useful people to have on board. However, you will have to accept an element of loss of control but that needs to be balanced against your desire for funding.

Getting finance for your new business can be a challenge but there are a number of avenues to explore and so with dedication and focus you could soon be on your way to launching your own small business.

The 3 Most Prominent Personal Growth Barriers

What's the deal with all this personal growth and self development business? Why bother in the first place? Charles Atlas who earned himself the title as the 'the world's most perfectly developed man' had this to say: 'Truest SUCCESS is but the development of self.'

It's so easy to treat personal development as 'optional' and so few people ever take the time to actively improve themselves. Your personal growth and self development is arguably one of the most important thing you can do with your time. You can even argue that to actualize your true potential is the purpose of being here. In many ways all your actions are geared towards 'self improvement'. Everything you do, you do with a positive intent. This, however is mostly unconscious and for the majority of people it's a case of pursuing 'things' and 'stuff' with the (all to common) assumption that when they get enough stuff they will be happy. 

You don't have to search too far to find just how wrong this theory really is. Every day we read about 'extremely successful' people who end up in rehab or who kill themselves. Why? To return to Charles Atlas – true success is but the development of your 'self'. At no point in your life can you just stop and say 'now I am successful – I think I'll take the next 10 years off'. Unfortunately this is 'the dream' that so many people aspire to.

The key to a lifetime of happiness lies in personal growth. Real and lasting fulfillment in life comes from consistently improving the quality of your life. Life is dynamic and it has to keep moving. Like in nature, everything that does not grow, dies! You will either grow or die, and although you probably won't die a physical death, you most certainly will suffer a psychological death. Depression is but one example of the effects of failing to grow as a person. If you are not growing you will feel like you are dying.

Every day life hands us opportunities to grow. They are mostly disguised as problems and unfortunately most people curse them instead of seeing the wonderful opportunities that they present. Earl Schoff once said 'Don't wish for less problems. Wish that you were better'. This is where personal growth comes to play and you must do it on purpose and with an active state of mind.

So why do people fail to actively participate in their own personal growth? Well, there are certain personal growth barriers that prevent them from actively progressing in any area of your life. The key word being 'actively'. The three biggest personal growth barriers are three interrelated behaviours that tend to keep us immobilized and locked up in inaction. The result being the failure to progress with our lives.

Personal Growth Barrier #1: Procrastination

Procrastination is the irrational delay of tasks, especially important ones. On a conscious level you might want a specific result and you know what course of action to take, but still you remain immobilized. The failure to act is what keeps you where you are. It is likely that what you are procrastinating about is what you MUST do as this will help you grow in your ability to take action and just do it. Keep in mind that you only procrastinate about tasks that you value and at some level you know you will benefit from it. 

Personal Growth Barrier #2: Indecision

Every single action is preceded by a decision. The ancestor to every action is a decision and the failure to act can be traced back to the failure to make decisions. The ironic thing is that not making a decision is a decision - isn't it? Indecision is like a disease that you have to eradicate from your life. Indecision is simply the result of a fear of failure and by not making a decision you can't fail – right? Realize that nothing in the future has happened yet and fearing the worse possible outcome will almost certainly keep you from making the decision. If you don't make the decisions you won't take the actions and you will remain immobilized.

Personal Growth Barrier #3: Comfort Zones

Comfort zones are all those things that you are too familiar with – and often to the point where you don't even attempt anything else. Inside your comfort zones everything is known and you have this sense of certainty that you can comfortably deal with anything that comes your way. You've done it before and you feel 'at ease' with it. Stepping outside your comfort zones challenge your beliefs and it challenges your perceptions. Stepping outside your comfort zones however, challenges you to grow as a person – you have to grow to get comfortable outside your old comfort zone. Most of your limitations are self imposed and controlled by what you belief you can or cannot do, what you like or dislike, what you think is right or wrong. You have to keep stretching your 'self' physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually to avoid standing still and remaining imprisoned by your comfort zones. Oliver Wendell Holmes once said 'Man's mind, once stretched to new idea never goes back to it's original dimensions.'

All barriers are only that – they are barriers. It often strikes me how these typical vehicle barriers at boarder check points are so 'flimsy'. They can hardly stop a bicycle, yet they stop big sixteen wheelers. The barrier is more psychological than actual. So are the barriers to your personal growth. They can stop you, but they can't keep you unless you allow them to. Simply acknowledge them and then move on. Personal growth is a choice and it's an active process. To ensure a happy and fulfilled life that is filled with joy and appreciation you have to consistently grow and expand your 'self'.

Ceremonial Magic Some Secret sources of Energy

Many systems have been developed over the ages to help us control our thoughts. A great amount of dogma too has been kicked around in an attempt to make us into better people. Magick (the occult kind, spelled with a 'k') is one of the oldest and most general of these systems. Magick is the study and application of psychic forces. It uses mental training, concentration, and a system of symbols to program the mind. The purpose of magick is to alter the self and the environment according to the will 

Most of the magick we see today comes to us from ancient Egypt and Chaldea. The Chinese, Hindus, and Tibetans developed their own unique types of magick.  

Western magick was locked up by the Egyptian priests for thousands of years and then suppressed by the rise of Christianity. It was not until medieval Europe that the alchemists and Cabalists rediscovered magical knowledge. Only during the past hundred years or so has western culture been open minded enough to permit widespread investigation of the subject. Only since the start of the twentieth century has science shown much interest in it al all. 

Parapsychology and Psychic Phenomena

Through parapsychology, we are gaining insights into the hidden nature of man. Parapsychology is a branch of psychology, which studies psychic phenomena. It remains something of a frontier, even today. Perhaps one reason for this is that psychic phenomena are somewhat inconsistent. Nevertheless, there is strong evidence from numerous cases and experiments in support of psychic phenomena. Somehow, under the right conditions, the mind can directly affect the environment.

We may theorize that the human mind and body broadcasts a kind of psychic energy or force, much like a radio station. Kirlian photography, temperature effects, cloud chamber tests, and other experiments tend to support this theory. Although the exact nature of this psychic force is subtle and unknown, it is undoubtedly the energy behind all psychic phenomena and magick. However, it is not a radio wave, since it behaves somewhat differently. The psychic force is too weak to be measured directly (at least so far as we know). Everyone has some psychic ability. There are numerous types of psychic phenomena. Parapsychology separates them into two groups: ESP and PK.

What is ESP?
ESP, the abbreviation for extra sensory perception, means the reception of information through paranormal means (ie. not regular physical senses of sight, sound, touch, smell, or taste). In theory, this is accomplished by receiving psychic force from outside the body. Here are some examples of ESP:
Clairvoyance, or Remote Viewing -- the ability to sense or 'see' (non-physically) distant objects, places, and people. Individuals who see ghosts and spirits are probably clairvoyant.

Clairaudience, or remote hearing -- the 'hearing' of paranormal information.
Astral Projection (OOBE) or Travelling Clairvoyance -- Full experience at a remote location while the physical body sleeps.
Psychometry -- the reading of information by the touch of physical objects.
Telepathic receiver -- the ability to directly receive thought (communication) at a distance, with no physical connection to the sender. There are many everyday examples of this, in which we think something just as another person is about to say it. This is an easy one to test for through experiment. Very dramatic cases of telepathy have been recorded; there is often an emotional element in such cases.
A 'channel' or medium, as in a science who is in direct communication with a 'spirit' or entity.
Experience with a Ouija board, pendulum, or automatic writing.
Precognition -- to foresee the future. Again, highly emotional events are the ones most likely to be 'tuned in'.
Retrocognition -- knowledge of the past, by paranormal means.  

What is PK?
PK, the abbreviation for psychokinesis, is the active or sending side of psychic phenomena. The theory here is that psychic force is sent out from the individual. Examples of PK include:
Telepathic sender -- the transmitter in the telepathy just discussed.
Psychokinesis (or telekinesis) proper -- the ability to move objects by means of psychic force.
Somewhat along the same lines are poltergeist (noisy ghost) phenomena in which objects move of their own accord or noises are heard. There is always a human agent involved -- frequently a teenage girl -- who appears to be the source of psychic energy.
Psychic healing -- the ability to heal various illnesses and infirmities. There are many documented cases of this. Usually it involves a healer and a subject, although there are recent cases involving cancer patients learning to heal themselves.
Teleportation, asportation, and levitation.
Some occultists feel a magician producing PK effects is simply a channel for universal energy. Others think the force originates some way directly within the magician.
The Subconscious

Postulated by Freud and others, the concept of the subconscious mind is an important one. Basically, this is the idea that part of the mind normally operates below or outside of ordinary consciousness and awareness. Dreams and hypnosis are examples of this. Also subconscious are the many automatic functions of the physical body such as respiration and digestion

How To Be Successful At Interviews

No matter how expert or experienced you are, when you are applying for a promotion in your own organisation, or a post in another organisation, being fully prepared for the interview is critical. Your expertise, knowledge, reputation, experience, and appearance, will help you, but it is highly likely that the other candidates will have similar attributes.

Here is list of actions that you should carry out in order to be fully prepared. Gather information about the recruiting organisation (this includes your present employer if it is an internal interview): before you decide whether to attend the interview, it is essential that you gather information about the organisation and analyse this. You need information on its recent and forecast performance, the condition of the business sector in which it operates, and the post that it is offering. If the organisation and sector are healthy, and the post looks secure and has potential, then you can move on to the next stage. If your findings are negative then it is almost certain that the best decision would be to reject the opportunity. You need to gather information about the condition of yourself, looking at how your personal and career plans are progressing, focusing on how the prospects in your current job match with your personal and career objectives, and then how the new post could help you to achieve those objectives.

Decide to attend or not to attend the interview. You need to make an objective decision as to whether taking up this new post is the right decision for you, at this time. Armed with the information that you gathered earlier, you can assess the merits of being appointed to the new post, against staying in your current post, albeit perhaps until a more appropriate opportunity arises, and make your decision confidently. It is, of course, tempting to apply for a job which appears to offer a higher salary, more responsibility, more status, and new directions, and if this is so appealing that you are confident that you can adjust your development plans to match it, and be happy with that decision, then yes, attend the interview and perform to the best of your ability. However, be warned that the interviewers may well reject you because it will become obvious to them that the position they are offering is not a natural fit with your career to date, and worse, they may well ask you how this new opportunity fits with your future personal development plans, and be disappointed with your unconvincing response.

Gather details of the job itself. You need as much information as you can gather about the nature of the job, the role, responsibilities, reporting relationships, location of the workplace, working conditions, and conditions of employment such as working hours, holidays, and corporate policies and procedures that apply to the position. Some of this information will be given to you in the information pack sent to you by the interviewing organisation, or department, but often, sadly, the quality of information sent out is poor. Most professional organisations will have HR departments that will answer your questions on these issues, or pass you on to the appropriate line manager.

Research the interview format: you need to do some basic but essential research on the practicalities of the interview. Again, some of this information will be sent to you. You should be clear about: how to get to the organisation and the specific interview location (don't rely on asking for this information when you arrive, as this adds to the stress of the occasion); who is on the interview panel (their titles will give you important clues as to their relationships to the post); what format the interview will take (there is nothing worse than arriving expecting a traditional face-to-face interview and finding that it is a day-long series of tests, group activities, and interviews).

Timing of arrival. Make sure that you arrive in good time, allowing time to tidy your physical appearance after your journey, and sufficient time to become calm before the actual interview.

Your appearance. Do not make the mistake of thinking that it is only your history, qualifications, skills, and knowledge that will win you the job. Most other candidates will have similar attributes, so you need to make an impression, to look professional, smart, and appropriate for the post. In many cases, there will have been a previous holder of the post that the interviewers may be using, albeit subconsciously, as a benchmark. You can't guess what the interviewers want, or don't want, in terms of physical appearance and personality, but don't for one second believe anyone that tells you this doesn't matter (it shouldn't, perhaps, in certain circumstances, but you are being invited into their world, and they will be looking for someone who they will be comfortable with (even if the role requires you to be an aggressive change-agent). Yes, in some countries there is legislation that says the job should be offered to the most appropriate person, regardless of appearance, but in real life this isn't what happens. The answer to this dilemma is to research the culture of the organisation that you are joining, so that you are aware of how people, in positions similar to the one you are being interviewed for, dress and behave, and you can comment on or ask questions about this during the interview. However, don't go to the interview in jeans and t-shirt, even if that's the day to day standard. You need to look as professional, as serious about obtaining the job, as possible. For men, that almost certainly means a business suit, or jacket and trousers, with or without tie. For women, a business suit or business outfit. For both sexes, smart-casual can be acceptable, if, but only if, it is that type of environment. In most situations, for most posts on offer to professionals, specialists, managers, experts, consultants, a business outfit is expected at the interview, even if, after appointment, they would never again expect you to come to work in anything remotely as formal.

Your approach. In a word, think positively. You are offering your talents, your experience, your time, effort, and energies, to this organisation, and you need to give the impression that you would be a valuable asset that they would be foolish to reject. This doesn't mean being aggressive, over enthusiastic, pompous, or pretentious, but it does mean showing the interviewers that you are a confident, assertive, pro-active, flexible, professional who would perform successfully if appointed.

Prepare for, and practice answering, the interview questions: think about questions that you are likely to be asked. Brainstorm this with a colleague, friend, or partner, and practice answering. Practice using the interview questions to strengthen your argument that you are the best person for the job. For example, you will be almost certainly be asked about your experience and qualifications, even though this will be shown in your CV. Your response should be phrased in such a way that you relate your experience, knowledge, and qualifications, to the role and responsibilities of the new post, showing how these existing attributes will give you the confidence and skills to successfully handle the tasks that lie ahead. With luck you will not be asked questions such as - What do you think are the main benefits that you could bring to this job, if appointed? However, it still happens, so you must be prepared for them. Again, practice responding in a way which links your experience and existing skills to the demands of the new role. If you are asked - What would you say are your biggest strengths and worst weaknesses? then talk mostly about your strengths, giving examples of how these have been effectively used, and be very, very careful talking about your alleged weaknesses. Choose a relatively harmless weakness that could be interpreted as a strength, such as being over-zealous about quality criteria being met, or insisting on deadlines being met which can upset some team members. Don't, under any circumstances, negatively criticise your present or past employers, or colleagues. Even if the organisation that you work for is known to have faults or bad practices, don't criticise it or any personnel within it. This is almost always a fatal mistake. You will almost always be asked some questions about the interviewing organization. Again, use these as an opportunity to show you have researched the organisation, but also to explore what the organization is planning (at least in the area that you will be working in), and-or what they are expecting of you. For example, you could mention new markets that the organisation has recently entered and ask if that will impact on the post that you are being interviewed for. If you are asked about hobbies and interests, don't give a list of twenty, keep it simple and don't try to impress with esoteric hobbies that you don't actually have. Imagine saying that you enjoy watching French films and then being asked a question about this, in French, by one of the interviewers who is fluent in the language!

Questions asked by you. Most interviews will close with the interviewee being asked if they have any questions to ask. The answer should always be - Yes. Have two questions ready, and either ask these or ask one of them and one that has arisen because something raised in the interview. Make sure that your questions are ones that reinforce your suitability for the post. You could, for example, ask questions about personal development opportunities, explaining, briefly, what you feel would be a potentially useful development activity (of benefit to you and to the organization) if you were to be offered the post (this should be an area that you have considered whilst researching the organization and the job itself).

General behavior: remember, you are being assessed at all times, possibly from when you enter the building and approach the receptionist, certainly from the moment you walk into the interview room to the moment you leave. You must be as natural and relaxed, physically and mentally, as possible, but also professional, polite, and courteous. Never argue, unless you have been given a direct instruction to give your opposing views. Be alert, show an interest in each interviewer as the ask questions, and answer directly to that person, but occasionally look at the others during your answer. In answering questions, don't be evasive, be confident, and use your answers to demonstrate how you would make a good match for the position on offer.

Final word. As the interview ends, thank the interviewers for their time and questions. Say that you would be very pleased if appointed to the job and that you look forward to hearing from them. Even if you have doubts at that moment, this is a courteous and wise way to end the interview. You may later decide that you would like the job and if you have appeared negative as the interview ended you will have reduced your chances considerably.

In summary, the key to being successful at an interview is to treat it as a project that needs to be planned and executed in as professional a manner as possible. Changing jobs, moving into a new position, changing organizations, changing the direction of your career, perhaps moving into a different business sector, leaving behind friends and colleagues, meeting, working with, managing, new colleagues, is a major change in your life. The interview is your doorway into a new world, into the next stage of your personal development. It is a major event, a major opportunity, and must be treated as one. 

Explode Your Sales With Good Communication

These are simple and effective methods to increase your sales. You may think that you know what your customer wants, but do you really? Instead of assuming that you know, why not listen to the customer and ask questions to find out what it is that they REALLY want.

01. Give your customers benefits, not features. Your customers don't want to know the ins and outs immediately of your products, they want to know how it benefits them! Save the details of the product for a secondary page that's NOT on your home page. You can give some main selling points, but keep the minor details off the home page and just list benefits.

For example, let's say you've got a strategy to get your clients out of debt. Don't tell them step-by-step how it works on the front page, be vague and leave the small print for another page. Instead tell them how they can imagine a life with riches and being debt free! That's a benefit, not a feature!

02. Keep in communication with potential buyers. I read somewhere that it takes at least 7 views of your products to get interested parties to buy them. They're obviously interested if they've gotten to your site and requested information, why not keep them informed about your news and updates to the site? You just may have a future customer.

It's also a good practice to use a "bookmark this page" and "tell a friend about this page" tool so you can get potential buyers for the future. Even if they're immediately not buying it doesn't mean they won't be back! 

03. Encourage your site visitors to ask questions. Some people may think they're bothering you or wasting your time to ask you a question. Extend your open arms to each and every surfer that comes into your site and encourage them to ask about your site!

However if you see the same question coming up over and over again, it will benefit you and the client both if you create a "Frequently Asked Questions" page. People usually want immediate answers to their questions and it saves you the tedious same responses over and over again.

04. Make the buying experience easier. Don't ask for information that you don't need. Instead, ask for the bare minimum information from the customer so they can "get in, and get out". And then later on, you can send them a quick thank you note and a follow up to see how they liked your website.

Don't make your customer jump through hoops to buy your products. They'll only get frustrated and put it off for later - and later may never come!

By keeping these lines of communication open with your site visitors and potential customers, you'll find you gain more trust and credibility with them and in turn, more sales!

Leadership Skills: Delegating Responsibility

Support Strategic Objectives, by: identifying roles and responsibilities necessary to support strategic objectives; defining roles, responsibilities, and degrees of authority, needed by individuals and teams; designing policies and procedures for the management of delegated activities. The purpose of this is to review the distribution of roles and responsibilities at the senior level. The aim of the review is to ensure that the distribution is balanced and appropriate. This is also an opportunity to make certain that the senior, executive level management structure is appropriate for the strategic direction being taken. If mismatches are discovered at this point, then the leader(s) have an opportunity to adjust the organisational structure, at this level, to better match the demands of the strategies.

Make Decisions On Activity To Delegate, by: deciding which areas of work, routine activity, stand alone projects, absence cover, key operational decisions, emergency or business disaster events, and strategic level decisions, should have responsibility or authority delegated to specific managers. This is an essential stage, but a difficult one. It involves forecasting and scenario planning, in order to determine which activities, and in which circumstances, should responsibility and authority be given. It requires the delegating leader(s) to analyze thoroughly the planned activity and potential events, in order to identify where delegation should take place, and to whom it should be given to.

Selecting Managers And Specialists To Delegate To, by: identifying the current roles, responsibilities and authority of those individuals and teams; evaluating the skills, abilities, and development potential, of existing (senior management) individuals and teams; assessing the degree of responsibility and authority that can be given to individuals and teams; identifying coaching and-or training needs to prepare individuals and teams for delegation. Carefully profiling the existing senior management individuals is critical, because delegation will not be effective if it is given to an individual who is not capable of using the delegated powers effectively. Where gaps in capability are identified, training or coaching should be provided to fill that gap. If the corrective action needs to be long term, then the delegation should be delayed until that process is complete.

Agree Responsibilities, Levels Of Authority, And Objectives, by: identifying delegated responsibilities and levels of authority for each individual manager, specialist, and team; discussing these with the individual managers and specialists; agreeing the degree of delegation; agreeing the objectives delegated to the individual. One of the most critical stages, this is where the details of the delegated responsibility and authority are explained, discussed and agreed. It is at this point that the leader(s) should aim to gain commitment to the delegated responsibilities and authority, to targets and deadlines, both qualitative and quantitative.

Clarifying The Boundaries, by: defining the limits, the boundaries, of the delegated powers; discussing and agreeing these boundaries; agreeing action that should be taken when the boundaries are reached. This must be treated as a separate stage in the process, and applies to both the leader and the manager being given delegated powers. The leader must understand and accept that delegation does not mean abandoning responsibility. The ultimate responsibility lies with the leader, the one delegating to others. Delegated powers must be managed and supported by the leader. The individual being given delegated powers must be clear about the limits of those powers, and understand that when that boundary, that limit, is reached, they should refer back to the one who delegated to them.

Remove Or Reduce Barriers To Effective Delegation, by: identifying organisational policies, procedures, structures, practices, or cultural aspects, which work against effective delegation; discuss ways in which barriers could be weakened or removed; implement changes or adjustments to reduce or eliminate identified barriers. Most organisations have visible and hidden barriers that inhibit and hinder effective management. The role of the leader(s) is to introduce direction, strategies, structures, policies, procedures, and influences, into the organisation, so that managers and specialists can operate in a culture which encourages creativity, innovation, high quality performance, and success. In parallel with this, the leader(s) must also encourage managers and specialists to take local responsibility for activities and decision making. To do this, barriers and constraints must be reduced to a minimum, leaving an appropriate level of controls in place. 

Provide Support For Delegated Activity, by: discussing and agreeing the level and nature of support needed; adopting a leadership style that provides appropriate availability, support and guidance to those with delegated responsibilities, but also allowing them the freedom to carry out the delegated powers without unnecessary interference; reviewing levels of personal support and adjusting that support appropriately; consistently behaving in a manner that inspires and motivates those who have been delegated to. There are two most common reasons for delegation to fail. One is that the analytical and decision making process was not thorough enough, leading to the degree of delegation being inappropriate. However, the other most common reason for failure is that the leader delegates and then does not provide appropriate support to the manager being delegated to. Once the leader has delegated, they must then provide an appropriate level of personal support, encouragement, and resources, to the individual. This support should include: publicizing the delegated powers to relevant individuals and teams internally; informing other stakeholders such as suppliers, customers, clients, of the delegated powers; coaching, mentoring, providing training, as appropriate.

Reward Performance, by: openly praising consistently high quality operational performance and exceptional event performance; building performance on delegated powers into the organization's performance appraisal system. An important part of the process because delegated powers are, by default, in the highest group of demands made on the individual, and when performed well, are deserving of recognition and praise. Rewards do not have to be substantial, nor monetary in nature. Recognition and praise will be appreciated by the receiving individual and by their teams and other observers. The leader who delegated the powers must ensure that, when appropriate, high levels of performance in delegated areas, are achieved.

Monitor, Review, And Adjust, by: implementing regular reviews of the delegation process and of individual instances; reviewing the appropriateness of current and planned delegation, against the most current strategic objectives; taking corrective action where necessary. The leader(s) delegating powers to others should implement a monitoring and review process that requires them to review the whole process, and individual performance. Individual performance should be monitored continuously, with formal review points at least quarterly. The overall process should be reviewed at least every six months, at which point the success of the process should be evaluated against the original objectives and then adjusted to take into account changes in operational activity and in strategic direction.

In Summary: Leaders must delegate, but must delegate effectively. The most successful leaders treat delegation as an essential strand of their leadership approach. Senior management structures, processes, and objectives are reviewed to ensure suitability for delegation to take place. Areas of work, activities, routine and event-specific decisions, are analyzed, evaluated, and where appropriate the decision is made to delegate responsibility and authority. Delegated powers are explained, discussed, and agreed, and measurable objectives set. The leader then builds on this by adopting a consultative, supporting, coaching, role, as appropriate for each of the individuals delegated to. Individual performance on applying delegated powers is monitored and adjusted as necessary. Finally, the performance of the delegation process itself is monitored and reviewed by the leader(s) and the senior management team, to ensure that it remains compatible with the strategic direction being taken by the organization.
 

The four sins of advertising

 

Advertising is a very precise science. It finds its bases in many different fields including copywriting, psychology and even math. In recent decades, we have observed a slow but steady beautification of advertising.

For marketing experts this can work. For less savvy advertisers, it is a huge pitfall that draws attention away from the much more important aspects of a successful selling proposition. Faulty advertising costs its makers billions of dollars a year, and almost all are guilty of it, even the huge corporations.

You will see many of today's internet marketing "gurus" recommending volumes several decades old. There is a good reason for this. Many of those volumes were written by direct marketers that engaged in extremely costly mailings.

These ads have to produce optimal results or they produce losses. The upside is that results can be measured and broken down to a ridiculously precise extent. In fact very small fluctuations in these figures separate success from failure.

First and foremost is the written word. Nothing replaces a captivating headline and solid advertising copy. For headlines, the goal is to grab attention and qualify. Prospects must immediately recognize that the ad is Addressed to them and they must also be drawn into the main copy. Ad copy should be as abundant as needed to tell the whole story, or however much of the story is needed to lead to the action you are soliciting. Here are the four biggest mistakes you can make in advertising.

01) Being pretty instead of selling. This is really deadly. You don't need to impress with your design, you need to make a sale, and words sell.

02) Not following a formula. Formulas exist because they work. Use them.

03) Forgetting, even for a single instant, to concentrate on your MDA, Most Desired Action.

04) Not testing different models. This is one of the most painful shortcomings of many marketers. They try an ad and if it's not profitable the first time, they drop it entirely. If it is profitable, they continue to run it. Here, there is usually an enormous amount of room for improvement. Fluctuations in sales of the order of 500 to 800% are not uncommon…

Advertising comes in many shapes and sizes, with different costs associated to them. Do your research, purchase and read books by the likes of David Ogilvy and follow formulas that are aimed towards direct mailings. The results you get will far outweigh any effort you expend or money you invest.

Trying to define criminal law

We hear about law everyday whether we realize it or not. It's in our Government, in our work, and even in our houses. One type of law is Criminal law, which is also known as Penal law. This is "The body of statutory and common law that deals with crime and the legal punishment of criminal offenses."

Inside of criminal law there is four major theories of criminal justice:
- Punishment
- Deterrence
- Incapacitation
- Rehabilitation

This form of law is essential in many cases because it can distinguis between crimes from civil wrongs. Criminal law has been around for ages, and is seeing as the fundamental system of regulating the behavior of individuals and groups relatively to what is defined as the social norms. This differs between civil crimes, where the difference is between two individuals and their individual rights and obligations under the law which is ruling the entire society.

An example of a civil law case is a dispute between two individuals over a contract that they made to for example sell an automobile. In that case one individual feels that their individual rights for a fair automobile sale have been breached by the other party. Where as in a criminal case, you would have for example a murderer, who is infringing on the right of safety that we all have. Given those two examples I'm sure you can appreciate how important Criminal law is, and the important role that it plays in everyone of our societies.

Making Everyday a special day

The same sun, the same sky, the same home, and the same routine. Life is boring. Every day is same. How to carry on from day to day? Why does a week not have seven sundays? Don't you find yourself saying - 'I want to enjoy life. I am getting bored with my schedule that never changes. There is no excitement in my life.' Ask few friends around their life and they will say something similar. Why is life becoming a bore for them and how to make it exciting?

Can one escape work? No sensible person can? Can a parent stop caring for his/her children? No. Can an executive stop taking decisions? No. Then how to make life exciting? There must be some way. Yes, there is a way and it is very simple. Just look out of your window and watch the sky. Do you observe any clouds? Look at them. Look at the different shapes? Who made them? From where did they arrive and where will they go? Look at some flowers in your home. Observe the symmetry. Touch and feel the softness. How lovely! We are surrounded by treasures, but we have no time to look at them. A child's smile can make today a different day than any other day. Try to make a child smile and feel the joy.

Look at the night sky. Observe the stars and think about the distances. Some are so far away that it takes light, hundreds of years to reach us. How many millions of years you will take to walk and reach them? What is beyond them? Observe, think and get excited. Life need never be dull for any of us. Take another example. While sitting on your table, have you ever wondered about the wood that was used to make it? Have you thought about the life of the tree? A small seed grew into a gigantic tree.  

How exciting. What of the tar on the road? It comes from deep inside the earth, goes to refineries and is laid on the roads.

How deep must the oil well have been? How did they locate the oil and what will happen after we finish all the oil?

The world is full of objects that can make us think and wonder. It is our attitude that makes our life. If we adopt a child-like attitude towards things, we will bring joy back in life. I am not asking you to give up your work and enjoy. But find time during the day to look at things and wonder. Bring joy back in your life. You can begin right now. Look at your screen. What happens to the text after you shut down your computers? Where do they all go, when you close the browser? Isn't life full of excitement? Live it.

How Leaders Create Trust

People buy from you, offer help, and grant rewards based on trust. Here are ways to increase your success by creating trust. While we do most of these things, missing even one of them can ruin it all.

> Be Dependable
* Deliver what you promise and promise only what you can deliver. Report delays immediately. * Be on time. Leave early for appointments. Set realistic deadlines allowing for the unexpected. * Show courtesy by returning phone calls. * Be predictable. Use self control: anger repels and scares others.

> Listen
* Show interest and respect by paying attention to what the other person is saying. * Ask questions. Then make it easy to answer them. * Accept the other person's ideas as valid, even if you disagree. Avoid listening through filters of what you want to hear. * Be open to new ideas. Realize that you could always know more.

> Be Honest
* Tell the truth. Lies demean the teller more than they fool the listener. * Act with integrity. Make decisions as if you had to deal with all of the consequences, treat others with respect, and choose actions that add value for everyone.

> Provide Data
* Tell stories that show past achievements. Quote compliments. * Collect data. Keep a victory file of successes, testimonial letters, and other good news. If necessary, ask for testimonials, references, and compliments. * Create data. Plan good deeds that lead to complimentary stories.

> Take the High Road
* Help others perform at their best. Give without expecting a return favor. * Do good things because that makes the world a better place. * Show courage during uncertainty. * Seek the good in others. * Trust others, because this shows that you expect to be trusted.

Are You Too Old To Go Back To School.................?

You want to go back to school and continue your education. Perhaps you'd like to earn your first degree or ou'd like to earn a new degree in a different field. You've been dreaming of that degree but haven't dared  believe your dream can come true because you think you are too old.

You aren't. It really is that simple. I don't care what your age is, as an experienced college-level educator I can assure you that you are not too old, because there are many nontraditional students on college campuses today (and likely some of those are older than you are), your life experience gives you many advantages over
more traditional students, and with the growing nontraditional population many colleges have programs and services especially tailored for the nontraditional student.

I went back to school in my 30s and today I teach college. Yes, I have many traditional students in my  classroom but every semester I have a large percentage of nontraditional students as well. I have students in their late 20s as well as 30s, 40s, 50s, and up. I have students who have retired from one career and are looking to move into another. I have students whose children (or grandchildren) have left the nest so they are looking to enter a new stage in their life.

I also have many students balancing school with work and family. I have students who are the traditional age but are in nontraditional circumstances including children and family, work and military service, as well as  sports and other activities. You are a unique person, but your situation is not as unique as you might think.

In many ways, your age, or rather your life experience, will be a tremendous asset for your return to school. Nontraditional students understand much better than traditional students how to manage their time and prioritize tasks. In addition, nontraditional students are often much more motivated and goal-oriented than their more traditional counterparts. Finally, your life experience also gives you a great deal of knowledge and experience to fall back on or pull from when it comes to understanding, applying, or adapting the new knowledge you gain through college. I regularly see my nontraditional students outperform traditional students in many ways, but it ultimately comes down to a maturity of thinking and reasoning that can only come with growing up. I know when I returned to college as a student after working for a number of years that I did much better in the classroom and also handled my work load much better than I did when I was a more traditional student

Today colleges recognize they have a changing student population and offer classes in a variety of formats including on campus, off campus, televised, and internet as well as a range of schedules including days, nights, weekends, and accelerated. In addition, there are now support services available for students who fall outside the traditional student role. Many financial aid and scholarship programs also exist specifically for the nontraditional student.

In the end, it really comes down to your own gut feeling. Do you really want that degree? Are you ready to change your life? You can do it and there will be help and support available for you. Don't use your age as an excuse not to pursue your dream. 

Problem Solving Games For Groups

Problem solving games are a natural when you want brain exercise and fun. Some of the best problem solving games can be played as a group. The added element of competition and "showing off" can stimulate some truly creative ideas. These games are especially good for long trips in a car, or for bored kids trapped inside by bad weather.

Best Ideas Game
This game uses a problem solving technique called "random presentation," and might even lead to some good money-making ideas. First, have someone look out the window or around the room and choose any object at random. Don't put any restrictions on this. It can be a rock on the side of the road, a stick laying in the yard, a truck, or anything at all.

Now everyone in the car or room can try to come up with the best way to make money with the chosen object. A street sign becomes a place to advertise, and trees are to be sold door-to-door. A truck can be used in a hundred ways to make money, but look for the best new way for the sake of the game maybe a traveling grocery store?

There is no winner or loser in this game. It is just an opportunity to let your imagination run wild, and to exercise your creativity. You may get a few laughs out of it too.

Concept Combination Game

Another good problem solving game for a group involves using a specific creative thinking technique, called "concept combination." You basically take two concepts or objects and combine them in some novel way. As a group game, the point is just to see who has the best idea.

What can you come up with from the combination of a chair and a microwave? Perhaps an easy-chair that has a cooler and microwave and television built in. Or microwaveable "couch potatoes" - a potato snack in the shape of a couch.

Change Of Perspective Game
You can also try the "change of perspective" technique for problem solving games. One way is to just take a topic ranging from morality to having a job, and see who can come up with the most unique (and perhaps coherent) new perspective? Could there be a world where there were no jobs? What would morality be to a virus if it had consciousness?

Once again, there are no losers in this game, or any of these types of games. It is just a chance to get creative and work that mind power. You could vote on the best idea if you want some sort of score keeping, but either way you'll enjoy these problem solving games.

Aida And Dagmar - Models For An Advertising Agency

 

 

An ad agency or advertising agency is a business or service dedicated to planning, handling and creating advertising for clients. These agencies are independent of clients and provide their skills and views to sell client's services or products.

Advertising agencies can also manage branding strategies, marketing and sales promotions for its clients.

 For an advertising agency, it is very important to realize that they can increase sales with their effort. Truly speaking, advertising agencies are minds working on the other side of the internet to increase sales. For a person working as an advertising agent, it is very important to know about the buyer's psychology.

Those who are working in an advertising agency should know about the various thought processes that go in the mind of a reader or a viewer, a potential buyer. This will definitely help to build your business better.

There are ample of theories to explain the process that goes in the buyer's mind when he/she goes to purchase anything.

The process is not the same for each buyer and it is sequential.

One of the popular features followed by ad agencies is AIDA.
AIDA is a acronym stands for:
A – Attention
I – Interest
D – Desire
A – Action

The AIDA model states that advertising agency should know how to draw attention of a buyer to get the customer interested by exhibiting its advantages, benefits and features. Interest is followed by desire. It is advertising agency's duty to create a desire in a buyer to buy a specific product. All three steps of the AIDA policy will help you to stimulate the action towards the purchase of a product. AIDA theory guides and leads you to build a better advertising business. BIG B's of advertising world have followed AIDA to generate good advertisement campaigns.

Another model called DAGMAR has now increasingly become more popular and comprehensive than AIDA. DAGMAR steps are more defined and easy to apply.

Term DAGMAR is an acronym for Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results. According to DAGMAR, a sale must carry a potential customer through four stages:

I. Awareness

II. Comprehension

III. Conviction

IV. Action

Suppose you are having a service or product and your customer knows nothing about the product. As your client is unaware of the product, the first step is to make him aware of your product by posting advertisement regarding your product on respective websites.

Comprehension is the second step of DAGMAR. Try to know the answers to these following questions.
a)What is your product about?
b)What are product's potential features and benefits of product?
c)What will your customer get from your product? And how?

Answers to all these questions will help you to get a potential customer.

Next stage is conviction and this is very important. Convince your customer by telling him the benefits of your product. After convincing, your next step starts i.e. action, which is not controlled by you. You have to depend on the customer. However, your previous actions will have a major role to play.

If you have been able to convince, the customer ad have answered him satisfactorily and then you will definitely be the winner of the day.

Choosing the Perfect Baby Name

Names are important because they represent a person's identity. The names we are given typically stay with us for a lifetime. This is why prospective parents struggle so hard to find the perfect baby name.

But, choosing a name can be difficult. After all, there are many different ways to go about it. Names can be chosen based on origins, meaning, uniqueness, or something else. This leaves many people wondering exactly how to get started. If you're looking for the perfect baby name, here are some baby naming tips that may help:

Popularity
Though there have always been extremely common names, most baby names tend to follow some sort of trend or cycle of popularity. Some parents prefer choosing a baby name that is rare, while others try to find a name that is fairly popular. Think about how you felt as a child. Did it make you feel special that nobody shared your name? Was it frustrating that others had the same name as you? Your child may end up with many of the same feelings if given a unique or popular name. Carefully consider these feelings before choosing a baby name.

Boy Names vs. Girl Names
Many of today's popular names are ambiguous. For example, names like Riley, Madison, Jaden, and Taylor can be used for a boy or a girl. While some parents only choose names that provide clear gender identification, others feel this is of little importance. If clear gender identification is important to you, make sure you choose the name carefully. As mentioned, many of the most popular baby names are now interchangeable.

Meaning
Baby names are words, and every word has a meaning. If you need help choosing the perfect name, you may want to look up the meanings of a few baby names. Many parents choose a name based on a meaning that reflects qualities and traits that they hope their child will possess.

Opinions
When it comes to baby names, everyone has an opinion. Some people may even suggest that you name your baby after them. Try to take these opinions in stride. It's impossible to please everyone and it is absolutely impossible to choose a name that everyone will like. You will be much better off choosing a baby name that makes you happy.

Spelling and/or Pronunciation
Spelling and pronunciation is an important factor to consider when choosing a baby name. Because every name can have an alternative spelling, baby name possibilities are virtually endless. Before you decide to go with an alternative spelling, think carefully. Though there is nothing wrong with being unique, your child may have to spend a good number of years correcting people on the spelling and/or pronunciation of the name.
 

Movies - The Natural Way To Learn a Language

Have you ever wondered how it is possible that you can speak your native language so easily? When you want to express something, correct phrases and sentences just come to you. Most of this process is unconscious.

Stephen Krashen, a professor at the University of Southern California and a linguistics expert, has developed a hypothesis to explain how this is possible. He used his Input Hypothesis to design what he calls a "natural approach" to learning a language.

Krashen uses "input" in this context to describe the words and sentences that you read and listen to. If you understand these sentences, they are stored in your brain. More specifically, they are stored in the part of your brain that is responsible for language.

Krashen uses his hypothesis to explain how a child learns his or her native language. The child listens to his or her parents and other people. As the child's brain collects these words and sentences, he or she gets better and better at producing sentences on his or her own. By age 5, the child can already speak quite fluently.

According to Krashen's theory, the way to learn and improve is to feed your brain with a lot of input - correct and understandable sentences, written or spoken.


Some cognitive scientists say that watching movies is one of the most natural methods of improving your language skills at any age. Learning English by watching movies is an example of "learning by input.

ReadEnt Reading Movies from SFK Media Specially For Kids Corp. apply this natural method of learning with an innovative tool called "Action Captions." As a child or adult watches the movie, each spoken word appears on the screen as text directly from the person's mouth as it is spoken.

"From the point of view of children and adults learning to read English fluently, especially if it's not their native language, these movies feed the brain with a lot of input," said Len Anthony Smith, chief executive officer of SFK Media. "They learn how to say these words and sentences naturally and, therefore, improve their pronunciation, grammar, vocabulary and comprehension quickly and easily."

ReadEnt's Reading Movies are available as interactive DVD programs for use on the TV, computer, video-game console or portable DVD player. They include such classics as "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," "Tales of Gulliver's Travels" and "The Trojan Horse." They also come with interactive quizzes and games to make the learning experience even more enjoyable for children from kindergarten through eighth grade.

Offsite Backup

If your business works on critical databases that are too important to lose, offsite backup technology can save it safely on remote places. This means complete safety of your data from local calamities, fires, and other  natural factors that can corrupt or destroy your valuable database.

Go For Professional Offsite BackupThe business world runs on information and data – customer profiles, reports, charts, analyses, accounting reports, or documents and files that store text, audio, and video in various formats. This valuable data needs to be backed up in case there is a local eventuality such as power breakdowns, fires, and system failures that corrupt and destroy database files.

An offsite backup service works as follows. Client's data is first encrypted, compressed, and then transmitted to an offsite high-security data center. The storage is done using mirrored RAID servers. Data retrieval can be done during any emergency using either Internet or other data restore lines. Added Features of Offsite Backup

An offsite backup service run professionally can include the following services – client account management, support over telephone, linked accounts billing, large storage capacities running into terabytes, central management for multiple locations, and backing up of both email and normal databases. What can Off site Backup deliver to you?

Apart from ensuring your data is safe and secure at an off site location, a well managed off site backup service
can offer the following advantages –
• Automated backup operations.
• Cross Platform Technology – No matter what system you run: Windows, Linux, Mac OS, etc.
• Data Encrypted Network Connections – For complete confidentiality of your business data.
• Web Interface – Manage backup histories and preferences with convenience.

Global Data Vault can provide you with information and access to various off site backup services, online
backup solutions, new backup services, sql replication solutions, and other backup solutions to meet all your
business requirements.

How Do Wireless Networks Work?

Wireless networks work using radio waves instead of wires to transmit data between computers. That's the  simple version. If you're curious to know what's going on in more detail, then it's all explained in this article.
 

Ones and Zeros.
I'm sure you know that computers transmit data digitally, using binary: ones and zeros. This is a way of  communicating that translates very well to radio waves, since the computer can transmit ones and zeros as different kinds of beep. These beeps are so fast that they're outside a human's hearing range -- radio waves that you can't hear are, in fact, all around you all the time. That doesn't stop a computer from using them,  though.
 

Morse Code.
The way it works is a lot like Morse code. You probably already know that Morse code is a way of  representing the alphabet so that it can be transmitted over radio using a dot (short beep) and a dash (long  dash). It was used manually for years, and became a great way of getting information from one place to another with the invention of the telegraph. More importantly for this example, though, it is a binary system, just like a computer's ones and zeros.You might think of wireless networking, then, as being like Morse code for computers. You plug a combined radio receiver and transmitter in, and the computer is able to send out its
equivalent of dots and dashes (bits, in computer-speak) to get your data from one place to another. All About Frequencies.You might wonder, though, how the computer could possibly transmit enough bits to send and receive data at the speed it does. After all, there must be a limit on how much can be sent in a second before it just becomes useless nonsense, right? Well, yes, but the key to wireless networking is that it gets around this problem. First of all, wireless transmissions are sent at very high frequencies, meaning that more data can be sent per second. Most wireless connections use a frequency of 2.4 gigahertz (2.4 billion cycles per second) -- a similar frequency to mobile phones and microwave ovens. As you might know, though, a frequency this high means that the wavelength must be very short, which is why wireless networking only works over a limited area.