Ezy Net Articles

Result Oriented Business Networking

2010-03-16T16:56:00.002-04:00

When you start networking knowing that networking is all about building relationships, and only secondarily to sell products and services, your focus will be on what you can do for the people you meet rather than what they can do for you.

This means you have something valuable to offer the people you meet. Some information to solve a problem or answer a question that you are able to provide them without expecting immediate reward. Over time, you will build credibility as someone who truly cares about other people, is trustworthy, and reliable. That’s when you begin to reap the benefits.

Building an effective network of qualified contacts takes time, and requires making an upfront investment in other people without immediate return. Your first contact with a prospective customer is not the occasion to make a ‘sales pitch’ or attempt to impress him or her with your qualification, experience and what you can do. It is an occasion to gather information.

Ask about the business the other person is engaged in, ask if you can stay in touch, and actually follow up the next day with a note or a phone call referring to few of the things you discussed the day before, with an offer that he subscribes to your free newsletter or blog. Keep in touch at least once a week with useful information touching on problems he mentioned in your discussion, and how you could help.

The quality of the free information you provide your prospective customers will determine whether they become actual customers in the near future, and that in turn, depends on how attentive you were during your discussion and how much of the detail you are able to recall. Therefore, immediately after the discussion and you have parted with your contact, write down the problems he talked about while it is still fresh in your mind.

It may take a while before someone you met the first time at a trade show or an informal gathering to respond positively to your correspondence. It may well be that he already has a company handling the problem he talked about, or is waiting to get additional information from you about your company before making the switch. It may also be that he has a contract with another company and must wait until the contract ends before doing business with your company.

For these reasons don’t get discouraged if things do not happen as quickly as you expect. Your focus should be on learning all you can about your prospective customers line of business, the effect of new technology on the business, future trends, and how you could be helpful in solving their existing or future problems.

The temptation to start networking by trying to meet and give your business card to as many people as you can find is hard to resist. Instead, aim for quality contacts, meaning spending more time developing relationships with people who have shown interest in your line of business. It is better to have few contacts who respond to your letters or phone calls than to have a large number who do not.

The benefit of having quality contacts is that everyone you meet knows on average 250 people. Your initial goal in networking is not to get the people you meet to become your customers, but to become part of their network, and for them to become part of yours. Every positive impression you make on a quality contact puts you in reach of potentially another 250 people, who in turn, will put you in reach of potentially tens of thousands other people. The trick is to keep in touch with your contacts, and be a resource they can rely on.

Networking has become an important part of every sales strategy, but many have failed at it because they began networking initially to sell products, rather than selling themselves. When you can sell yourself to the satisfaction of your prospective customers, they will trust and respect you, and that in turn, will translate into purchase of the products you recommend or sell.

Natural Weight Loss: The Best Way To Lose Weight Permanently

2010-03-01T08:32:00.002-05:00

Let face it, the size of our bodies is determined by the type and quantity of food we eat, and only secondarily and to a lesser degree by genetic. If you want to maintain a healthy weight, controlling the type and quantity of food you eat is your best chance.

All food and beverages have calories, which are units of food energy. By the metabolic process, the body converts calories to energy to fuel cellular and muscular activities, to eliminate toxins and unnecessary nutrients in the form of waste, and to store glucose from carbohydrates as glycogen in the muscle and liver for future use.

Beyond a certain level, though, excess calories that are not used up by cellular and muscular activities are stored as body fat. When body fat is not burnt off by vigorous physical exercise, it accumulates overtime, and becomes the source of our overweight and obesity problems.

Everybody has a family member or friend who eats any food he or she desires, yet is not overweight. Well, some people are genetically predisposed to remaining slim, regardless of what they eat. But even with such people, once over 40 they begin putting on some weight in the face, although their bodies remain slim. Unfortunately, the majority of people are not that lucky, and must be watchful of what they eat.

And there lies the problem. Many of us have difficulty controlling what we eat because foods and beverages are simply delicious and irresistible, not to mention the subliminal effects of thousands of advertisements seducing us to buy them. For relief with their overweight problems many have turned to weight loss supplements, dieting and the gym, but have largely been disappointed because the failure rate there is over 90%.

There is no weight loss system, except natural weight loss, that can permanently reduce your weight to a healthy level. The reason is that weight loss systems such as dieting and weight loss pills only reduce the water content of your body and give you a false sense of weight reduction, but once you stop using them, as many people tend to do after a while, the weight will come back with a vengeance.

Some weight loss supplements can provide the body with the necessary nutrients, and cut back on food craving when accompanied with at least two sensible meals a day. But the effectiveness of weight loss supplement depends on how much of it the body can absorb. The less the body is able to absorb the less the supplement will provide the nutrients the body needs to maintain a healthy weight.

Physical exercise is another natural way to reduce weight, but unless you are physically able to exercise vigorously for more than an hour everyday, you will burn only the glycogen in your muscle and leave the body fat untouched. This is because the muscle always has stored glycogen for activity, and only when that is used up will the muscle begin converting body fat to energy. Consequently, a 30 to 45 minutes physical exercise is not going to use up the muscles glycogen to begin reducing body fat. However, in itself, physical exercise is useful for blood circulation, which is a plus for maintaining good health.

The most effective and sustainable way to reduce overweight and keep it off is to change your eating habits regarding the type and quantity of food you eat. Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables every day. But owing to bulk you cannot eat enough of those to get the required daily nutrients your body needs. Get a juicer and extract the juice from the fruits and vegetables. The juice is both delicious and chuck-full of nutrients. When you need a snack choose a fruit, instead of processed and semi-processed snacks.

Along with the fruits and vegetables eat two sensible meals daily. If you must eat fish, poultry or meat, eat it broiled, steamed or in soups. Stay away from fried or processed animal flesh, sugar and salt. The point here is to gradually change what you eat until it becomes a habit and a lifestyle you can keep for the rest of your life. This way you are able to maintain a healthy weight without starving yourself, or constantly craving for food.

To be sure that you are loosing weight consistent with your age, body type and health condition; consult with your doctor before starting any weight loss program.

Crisis Management In Small Businesses

2010-02-22T07:11:00.002-05:00

Crisis Management is how a company deals with a major unpredictable event that threatens to harm its reputation, public image or business operations. When Crisis Management procedures are being implemented the unfavorable event has already occurred, which underscores the importance of creating a risk management plan to assess potential crisis and the best ways to avoid them.

Before planning for a crisis, management should be clear about what constitutes a crisis. A crisis must be a threat to the business, it must possess the element of surprise, the time needed to decide on what to do will be short, and it must necessitate changes to prevent the same crisis occurring again.

The types of crisis likely to be dealt with in a small business include, the ‘acts of God’, also known as Natural Crisis. They include earthquakes, flood, hurricanes, etc. A Technological Crisis is caused by human application of science and technology. For instance, when a company’s computers crashes or its machines break down.

A Confrontation Crisis will occur in a small business when discontented individuals or groups seek to pressure the company to accept their demands by using boycotts or picketing. Crisis of Malevolence is another unfavorable event a small business may encounter when individuals or groups use criminal or other extreme tactics to express hostility or anger toward a company by tampering, malicious rumors or espionage.

Crisis of Deception occurs when management conceals or misrepresents information about itself, or its products when dealing with customers or other stakeholders in the company. A small business may also have to deal with workplace violence when an employee or former employee commits violence against other employees over business related disputes.

The aforementioned crisis’ are few examples of the types of crisis management may have to deal with, however, depending on the size and nature of the business others may be added. But, regardless of the type of crisis, all crisis’ go through four phases. According to the crisis management model created by Gonzelez-Herrero and Pratt in 1995 the phases are: issue management, planning and prevention, the crisis, and post-crisis.

When creating a crisis management plan, under which falls risk management, the issues involved in each crisis should be identified, and strategies designed specifically for those alone, since crisis’ are different and will require different crisis management strategies to prevent or manage each.

Planning and Prevention involve preparing contingency plans in advance to best respond to each crisis. The crisis management team needs to periodically rehearse the crisis plan by developing simulated scenario to use as a drill to ensure that team members are adequately informed about the possibility of crisis and how best to prevent or manage them.

Despite the efforts to prevent a crisis from occurring, if it does occur, the crisis management team will provide the skills and techniques required to identify, assess, understand and contain the crisis, from the moment it occurs to when recovery procedures start. Crucial to this phase is for the company to designate an employee as spokesperson, and every effort made to truthfully inform customers and other stakeholders about the issues involved in the crisis and what is been done to correct them. Putting out untrue statements will harm the company, because the truth will eventually come out.

The debate is still unsettled on whether a company should apologize for the effects of a crisis on its customers, employees and shareholders, for fear it may open the floodgate of legal actions against the company. Still the value of an apology cannot be overstated. When a company apologizes for a crisis, it is telling its customers that it identifies with their pain and suffering, and is ready to make good what has been damaged, and where necessary to pay compensation for harm suffered.

All the planning and rehearsal of the crisis management plan will achieve very little if the company does not have adequate internal and external resources to call up when a crisis occurs. Also crucial is the free flow of timely information to responsible individuals within the company, to enable them inform the public truthfully about the crisis, what is being done to solve it, and steps taken to continue providing quality services to customers.

Dating - How To Be Noticed And Find Out If He Is Mr. Right

2010-02-03T07:02:00.003-05:00

If you are single and feel that men do not notice you, then you have found the solution to your problem. The problem is not with the men at the office, the ones you see in the supermarket, or the ones you walk or drive by along the street; the problem is elsewhere. A change in attitude and body language is your solution.

First thing first, give close attention to your personal hygiene. If you are in your twenties you already know what good personal hygiene is all about: keeping in mind that offensive body odor turns men off, food particles stuck between the teeth is another turn off, and food stain on your clothes is yet another.

Often we are caught up in our own thoughts, or listening to the radio as we walk or drive along the street that we do not notice those attractive individuals walking by us or in the cars next to us. Want to know a great secret? If you notice people they will notice you back.

Let your body language say you are available, you are willing to talk, you are friendly. This means uncrossing your arms, not hiding behind objects such as a book or a laptop, and not hunching your shoulders. You don’t need to be seductive, simply be friendly.

If you want to be noticed, a great opportunity is lost when an attractive guy looks at you and you turn your eyes away. This tells him that you are not interested. If you are interested, meet his gaze. The right eye contact can say more than the hottest verbal conversation.

When a guy looks at you and you look back, but do not smile you are sending a mix message. Unless he is a daring young man, he may think you don’t want to be bothered. And quietly he will melt into the crowd or hide behind something. Relax your jaw and smile more, especially if you want to be noticed. Men will smile back, look your way, and ask you for a date.

After you have been dating at least for a year, if your guy continues to love going out and staying out late, then all is not well: especially if you want something different. A year is just about enough time for you and your guy to settle in and get closer in the relationship, enjoying romantic dinners and quite nights at home, just the two of you. At this early stage in the relationship if being alone with you doesn’t give him a good enough time, imagine what will happen in two or three years.

If your guy cannot commit to a date a couple days ahead, and must always wait the last minute to commit to one, it is a sure sign that you are not the only girl in his life. Men with several girlfriends like to keep their option open. Committing to a date too soon may rob them of a better choice later in the week. If you can deal with waiting for hours for the phone to ring, or spending weekend nights alone by yourself, then you’ve found your guy, but if you cannot then its time to move on.

If your guy is not making an effort to become a part of your world by getting to know your family and friends, it’s an indication that he doesn’t want people to know that he is your man. You will also hear ridiculous excuses from him why he cannot go to events that are important to you. If this is happening, he is hiding something from you, and is the type who will leave at the first sign of problem, or when he meets another girl.

If your guy continues to need his single friends in his life after you have been dating for a while, that’s a sign of trouble. You don’t want him to immediately give up his friends because he met you. He might be a very sociable person and people naturally gravitate toward him, but you want to gradually help him become independent of them while you fill in the space as they become less important in his life. If he insists on hanging out with his buddies, you may choose to ride along, but once you find he is taking you nowhere get off that bus.

If your guy can see you only once a week, something or somebody is keeping him from seeing you often. But before you make any rush decision, find out if the nature of his job is the reason he cannot see you more than once a week. If his job is the reason, arrange to meet him twice a week when he is about to leave work. If you can do so safely and without breaking any law, by all means do so. Do something creative to surprise him when you meet so that he cannot wait to see you at the appointed time; keeping in mind it is for good reason that a bait is put on a hook.

If you have been dating this guy for a while, and you know his family and friends and he knows your family and friends, and you feel safe and happy with him, but you have agreed to live in separate homes, you should have the keys to his apartment and he should have yours. If he is not ready to give you the keys to his apartment that’s a sign of problems ahead, heed it.

You are beautiful, and there are attractive men out there waiting to meet you. Change your attitude and body language and be noticed.

Increase Your Business Profits With A Strategic Business Plan

2010-01-27T16:24:00.003-05:00

A Strategic Business Plan involves putting your vision for your business into words, deciding where you want to go with your business, and developing strategies to get you there. Generally, when deciding on writing a business plan, entrepreneurs often focus on listing the goals of their businesses, with little emphasis on how those goals are to be achieved.

Writing a Strategic Business Plan will nudge you to ask questions such as: How do I turn my vision into the desired result? How do I get my employees to perform optimally? How do I attract new employees with the skills that my company needs? How do I attract new customers or clients? How do I obtain the finance to run my business? All these questions point to implementation.

However, implementation rings hollow if it is not backed by a well thought out strategy. In simple terms, a strategy is a plan of action designed to achieve a particular goal. While it is clear that the primary goal of a business is to make a profit, the drivers for achieving that goal are the kind of strategies chosen, and whether or not they are implemented.

A Strategic Business Plan will require that you evaluate the market you are planning to enter. What is the level of competition in the market? Are existing companies in the market doing well? What is the future prospect of the market? Do you have the right product and prices for the market? Is your organizational structure adequate to succeed in the market? Are your financial resources sufficient to maintain your business operation?

When satisfied that you have chosen the right market, develop your organizational structure, taking into account the vision, values and mission of your business. Key departments in your organizational structure will include the office/home, raw materials procurement, manufacturing, Warehouse, Purchasing and Sales, Transportation, Accounting, etc.

You will set goals for each of these departments. You will call them ‘secondary goals’ to differentiate them from the ‘primary’ goal of your business, which is to make a profit. The secondary goals define what each department should achieve, within a given period, with its available financial, material and manpower resources. These goals are broken down into ‘objectives’ with each objective assigned to an individual or a team for implementation.

As mentioned earlier, implementation is driven by well thought out strategies or a plan of action. What strategy is chosen will depend primarily on the objective, then on the internal and external resources of the business, as well as any known limiting factors that may interfere with implementing the objective. In the end, the strategy chosen should ensure full implementation of the objective; otherwise the objective will have to be modified to fit the strategy, or the strategy modified to fit the objective.

Implementation of the objectives must bend toward achieving the secondary goal to which they are linked. To ensure that this happens, the relationship between strategies and objectives should be actively evaluated to produce evidence that implementation is achieving the secondary goals as planned, and where such is not happening corrective action promptly taken to bring implementation in line with objectives.

Once the secondary goals are being achieved, and all the departments in the business are operating optimally, the conditions are created for achieving the primary goal of the business, which is to make a profit. Under a Strategic Business Plan, strategy and planning are brought together where planning produces attainable objectives, and strategy provides the action to implement them toward achieving the primary and secondary goals of the business.

A Strategic Business Plan can be drawn up for any type of business regardless of size. For instance, a Home-Based business with only one employee could represent the various departments in the business with individual files: digital or physical files. The secondary goal and the objectives of each department are put in one file. The entrepreneur will develop strategies depending on the nature of the objectives to be implemented, and his or her resources to achieve them. Achieving the objectives and secondary goals of each department will move implementation toward achieving the primary goal of the business, which is to make a profit.

A Strategic Business Plan does not only press for the formulation of attainable business objectives and strategies to achieve the primary and secondary goals of the business, but it is an ‘action document’ designed to assist in the application for government grants or loans from the bank, as well as an indicator of an effectively managed business.

Because of limited space, only an overview of a Strategic Business Plan can be provided here. Contact a financial consultant for detail information on how to write one for your business.

Customer Service - Your Ticket To Increase Profits In A Competitive Market

2010-01-24T12:10:00.001-05:00

“The customer is always right”, is a cliché repeated so often that its significance tends to elude us while busy organizing and managing our businesses. Yet it is one of the most important drivers to success in a competitive market.

On the other hand, there is the temptation for management to become so obsessed with the cliché that employees are made to feel like non-persons. Where this has occurred, employees resentment has been abated by appropriate customer service training to empower employees with the knowledge that they are not servants whose sole purpose is to be at the beck and call of customers, but professionals trained to provide specific services, as a physician or a college professor is called upon to do.

The success of a customer service training program depends on hiring customer-oriented employees with the right temperament to serve all customers, and able to ask relevant questions and listen carefully to the answers in order to provide customers with what they want.

Customer service will include training employees to answer the telephone on the third ring with a cheerful voice and willingness to be helpful; treating customers respectfully and courteously at all times; greeting customers by name, if known; promptly answering their questions, and, if you cannot, getting back to them with an answer as quickly as possible; and knowing the benefits and features of the product you are selling.

While company policies and procedures are necessary to maintain quality standard, they should be flexible to allow employees to improvise in situations where customer service guidelines offer no help. For example, a customer in a clothing store may want information on a restaurant in the area. The employee should be able to provide that information without fear that she would be reprimanded for doing something outside her normal job.

According to Customer Service Institute, 65% of business comes from existing customers, and it costs five times as much to attract a new customer than to keep existing ones satisfied. Additionally, losing an existing customer is very expensive. Studies from the Technical Assistance Research Program Institute show that 91% of unhappy customers will never again buy from the company that displeased them, they will also tell at least 7 to 11 other people about their dissatisfaction.

These statistics show customer service is an important part of doing business, so important that customer service is now included as part of the product: meaning without it the chain of production, from the procurement of raw materials, through the production processes and into the retail store, will not provide the end user with the best product at the lowest possible price. Not to mention low sales and profits for a company lacking in effective customer service.

Critical to customer satisfaction is understanding customers and the way they think. To keep your existing customers happy you must give them what they want, not what you think they want. Customers do business on the basis that they want what they want when they want it. They expect you to be true to your word, and to deliver on time. Customers tend to go to businesses they like and trust. Most customers stick with businesses they are familiar with, and slow to change buying habits unless dissatisfied with the service.

In the present competitive environment, providing average customer service is not enough. You need to do something extra that your competitors are not doing. Find ways to speed up your service by eliminating redundant processes, give out discount coupons, stay open longer hours, provide home delivery, take calls at night when your customers are home from work, and offer a free subscription to your newsletter with updated information on your products.

Survey your customers regularly. Ask them to fill in customer questionnaire forms. Display the questionnaire forms where they are easily reached, and thank the customer for taking the time to fill it. Follow up on the comments, analyze them, draw a chart, correct and improve where needed to meet or exceed your customers expectation.

During our busy working day, we sometimes forget that our businesses continue to exist because of customers. We tend to see them as faceless and nameless entities that buy our products: numbers that bring us income. Times have changed. Today’s customers are more sophisticated, and they want a say in the way a business is run, because they see business as being there to service their needs, and they want those needs met with quality service and promptly.

How To Use Pay Per Click (PPC) To Make Money On The Internet

2010-01-20T10:34:00.000-05:00

Pay Per Click or PPC is paid advertisement, offered by Google Adwords, Yahoo Search Marketing, MSN AdCenter, MIVA and others. It can be expensive, but if done right it should make you lots of money. Since your account will be charged within 48 hours of signing up, when you begin receiving clicks on your ads, it is important to have everything right before you sign up.

Avoid keywords and keyword phrases that are too general or highly competitive. These will bring only curiosity seekers to your website, or be so expensive as to empty your bank account in just a few weeks. Select keywords and keyword phrases that will bring to your website people who want to buy the specific product you are selling. For instance, don’t choose a general keyword phrase like ‘weight loss’ when you are selling weight loss equipment. Choose ‘weight loss equipment’ to bring to your website visitors interested in weight lose equipment, not weight loss drink or weight loss magazine.

Your keyword or keyword phrase is the foundation of your ad. To be effective it needs to appear in your ad title, the message of the ad and in your URL. The function of PPC ad is to get the attention of the reader, draw him into reading it, and hopefully click on the ad. It is not enough for the ad to merely introduce your product, it has to motivate and inspire readers to slow down and look at what you have to offer. All this has to be done in few words. This can be a challenge, so learn the words that sell, attract or grab attention like “Quick results”, “Must see”, “Groundbreaking”, “Instant ..”

Another function of the PPC ad is to bring visitors who are interested in your product to your website or blog. When they click on your ad, they expect to go to a landing page with information about the product mentioned in your PPC ad. If you take them to a landing page with scanty or no relevant information about the item advertised, you will lose them, and that means losing money. If your aim is to make money on the Internet, link you PPC ad to a landing page choke full of relevant information that will motivate visitors to buy your product.

A properly organized landing page will do two things: provide relevant information about your product, and lay the groundwork for a lasting business relationship with your visitors. The PPC ad has completed its task when it brings a visitor to your website or blog. It is now left to you to give your visitor ample reason not only to buy your product, but to come back again. In other words, encourage your customers to become repeat customers by giving them something of value. Offer them a discount on their next purchase, a free subscription to your newsletter, or free membership to your priority after-sale service club.

While PPC ads will bring targeted visitors to your website or blog, if that’s all you do, the gradual increase in your cost per click will overtime make it unaffordable, especially if you are on a tight budget. How to get around this is to keep unchanged the amount you want to spend each day, and live with a reduction in the daily clicks. This means your PPC ad will be taken off the Internet when the amount for the day is used up, which is why it is important to attract visitors to your website by other means including ‘linking’ of which are two: reciprocal and one-way linking.

When someone links to your website, it is an expression of his vote of confidence in the quality of your content. If the website linking to yours has a high ranking, it gives a boost to your website ranking on the Internet. Although generally, it is thought that reciprocal linking is not as valuable as one-way linking for search engine optimization (SEO). Still, swapping links with sites in a related, but non-competing business to your business can be a significant traffic generator. You can also swap links with web directories that require a reciprocal link, but be careful not to link to a major competitor. If you do there is a good chance you will lose visitors to your competitor.

One-way linking is considered the best form of link for generating traffic to a website. There are a number of ways of getting one-way links. One way is submitting your website to free web directories. Another is writing articles relevant to your site or industry, putting a resource box with your name and contact information at the bottom, then submitting the article to ezine publishers. Webmasters and ezine publishers are always in need of fresh content, and will publish your article for free. Yet another way is when other webmasters voluntarily link to you. This doesn’t happen often, unless you are providing a valuable tool, service or resource that other webmasters believe their visitors will benefit from.

Again, while PPC can be very expensive, if used strategically, you can leverage the exposure from it to generate a ‘multiplier effect’ to increase traffic to your website and still remain within your budget. For instance, if you attracted 20 targeted visitors to your website who were impressed by your content, they will tell their friends, and their friends will tell their friends, and soon 100s, perhaps 1000s of visitors will come directly to your website using your URL instead of clicking on the PPC ad. This additional traffic will cost you nothing, yet the reward will be increased sales and profit. What more could you ask for?

What You Need To Know To Avoid Failing In A Home-Based Business

2010-01-17T10:12:00.000-05:00

When you decide on starting a home-based business you need to have a working knowledge of the difference between a business and a hobby. You will pursue a hobby for pleasure or relaxation with no intent to make a living from it. You start a business to make a profit.

To make a profit requires that you have a business attitude and run your business as a business. Decide whether you want to engage yourself as a full-time worker or a part-time worker. As full-time worker, you will need to put in at least 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Being your own boss doesn’t mean you should work any less than when working for someone.

If this is your first time starting a home-based business, you will notice how quickly and easily your business and home activities can interfere with each other. To prevent this from happening, create a comfortable working space where you can go to focus on work, free from distractions. Provide your working space with all the stationary and equipment you need, so that you don’t have to frequently leave your work to search for stationary or equipment you might need.

Develop a time schedule that works for you, your family or partner and your business. Let those who have a claim on your time, such as your children and husband be aware of the hours when you are working and cannot leave what you are doing, except in an emergency. Your schedule should not be overly ambitious or rigid in order to allow you time to engage in family and social activities.

Create a concise one or two sentence description of your business that someone can easily say to describe your business to family and friends. A unique tag line will also help immensely to promote your business. Something like this is a good example: Ezy Net Articles: get only the facts, no fluff.

After you select the product or service you wish to sell, spent some quality time on gathering information about it. Find out how the product will benefit the buyer, how it is made, where it is made, what is the price of the product, can your target buyers afford the price, are there lower priced substitutes to the product in your target market, is there an existing demand for the product? Know your product ‘inside out’, and if you provide quality information to your customers, you will become their preferred supplier.

When satisfied that your selection is the best product for your target market, the next step is to introduce the product to your customers. Since you may not want customers to come to your home to do business, an Internet presence will provide a space where you can introduce your product: its benefits and features, prices and discounts, how to order and pay for it, the method of shipment, your returns policy, and after sales services.

You may already know that to create a website you need to register the domain name of your business with a reputable registrar like GoDaddy, or any domain registrar of your choice. You will be provided with a URL, which is your business’ website address. With the URL, your customers can access the website for information about your product.

Because there are millions of websites on the Internet, nobody will know that your website exists unless you tell people about it. You can do so either by word of mouth, or by free and paid advertisement. After a few weeks on the Internet, you will find that the quickest way to bring visitors to your website is through paid advertisement like Google Adword or pay-per-click (PPC). You will need to know about keywords, keyword phrases and search engine optimization (SEO) in order to benefit from pay-per-click ad.

Once your business is on the Internet, your computer becomes the lifeline of your business. You need to protect it at all times to maintain communication with your customers. You will need a virus scanner, personal firewall, anti-spyware and anti-adware and preferably an email scanner with the ability to delete spam email from the server before it is downloaded to your computer. Reputable companies like Norton and McAfee are two of the best in the anti-virus and computer protection field.

When you begin to sell your product, and the money starts rolling into your bank account, find a reputable accountant to advice you on good record keeping practices and on your tax obligations. Relying on your own knowledge, or on your cousin Joe to perform these professional services is the surest way to financial ruin and problems with the IRS.

Of course, before you decide on starting a home-based business you would have thought about where to obtain the initial capital to finance your business. For some useful information on business loan application, read my articles: 9 Tips To Maximize Your Chances Of Obtaining A Small Business Loan.

Weight Loss. Is Low Carbohydrates The Answer

2010-01-12T08:12:00.000-05:00

The hype about low carbs has been blown out of proportion. At best it fails to reduce body fat as fast and as permanently as promised, at worse it could be harmful to your health if started without supervision by your doctor.

The human body holds 2.4 gram of water per 1 gram of carbohydrate consumed. Cutting back on the consumption of carbohydrates will cause your body to hold less water and lose weight, but very little or no loss in body fat, which is the actual cause of overweight.

The weight loss from a low carb diet is as deceptive as it is dangerous. The body stores carbohydrates as glycogen to fuel the muscles. Under a low carb regimen, as the body loses water, it depletes the glycogen in the muscles making you to feel sluggish when trying to be active or workout.

Again, since the brain uses carbohydrates for energy, with a sharp cut in carbohydrates intake the brain will not function optimally. You will suffer from repeated lightheadedness , unable to fully concentrate on, or retain information. You will always feel that something is missing, and to be sure it is glycogen.

You may have read or heard, ad nauseum, that carbohydrate is stored as fat in the body, but so do all other foods. Foods and beverages have calories, and calories that are not used up through activity are stored as fat. Hence, a low carb diet will not end the storing of fat in your body if you continue eating high calorie food.

All carbohydrates are broken down into sugar or glucose, which is the body’s source of energy. Research has shown that carbohydrates are rich in vitamins, minerals and nutrients not found in other foods. Carbohydrates are of two kinds, generally referred to as good and bad carbohydrates, and each affects the body differently.

Good carbohydrates are foods in their natural state, such as fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, whole grain bread, cereals, pastas and the like. They are high in fiber, give the body energy over long periods of time, lower cholesterol levels and aid in the removal of toxin from the body. They also have low glycemic index that prevents a spike in blood sugar.

Bad carbohydrates are foods that have been refined and processed by man or machines such as candy, baked foods with refined white flour, white pastas and sodas. They are loaded with coloring, flavoring, preservatives, and have high glycemic index. High consumption of bad carbohydrates lead to weight gain and increased risk of diabetes, heart disease, obesity, etc.

What this information means to you is carbohydrates are fine when eaten in small to moderate amounts, even if you don’t workout, because your body needs them to function optimally. Focus on eating carbohydrates high in fiber such as fruits, vegetables, beans and whole grains products.

Vary the amount and type of carbohydrates you eat depending on your daily activities. For instance, after a vigorous workout, you may eat that bowl of spaghetti and meatball or pizza you’ve been wanting, or even some ice cream. On days that you don’t workout, eating carbohydrates with low glycemic index will be fine.

A low carbohydrate diet will mainly reduce the water content of your body, leaving largely untouched your body fat, which is the main culprit of overweight. Additionally, if overdone, a low carb diet can be harmful to your health. To be sure you are on the right path, consult with your doctor before getting on a low carb diet.

Infidelity, Its Causes And Solution

2010-01-07T07:35:00.003-05:00

Infidelity is a betrayal of the core shared values that define an intimate relationship. It comes in two forms: physical and emotional infidelity, but in common usage infidelity usually refers to physical infidelity.

Two people once madly in love with each other,who eventually get married suddenly wake up one day and discover they have changed from the loving, caring, forgiving, and non-combative persons they were before to hiding an affair from their spouse and then lying about it.

When confronted by their conscience or spouse, they rationalize their behavior in these words: "My marriage is dead. I have lost interest in sex. There is no excitement in my marriage. We have grown apart. We do not share the same interest. My days were dead ends, I needed a way out and the affair just happened."

Traditionally, we put the blame for a divorce on the husband for having done something wrong, but statistics show that 70 - 75% of divorces are initiated by women. Four years into a marriage things begin to change. At least two children may have arrived. The household chores increase. The husband stays at work too late; either to avoid the household chores or simply is working too hard.

The wife feels left to do all the chores alone. She begins to build resentment for her husband's perceived care-free life. At first to a lesser degree, almost unnoticeable, then it begins to show and escalates if her husband continues with his care-free lifestyle.

If she has a full time job, her condition is worse; as she alone has to get the kids ready for school, prepare their breakfast, lunch, take them to school or to the school bus, pick them up from school, drop them off at after school programs, pick them up again, prepare dinner and get them ready for bed; only to start all over again the next day.

If her husband does not notice the stress under which she is running the home and help with at least 50% of the household chores, she will let him know her displeasure in short order. At the end of a long day, she is exhausted and doesn't want to be touched. Her husband takes that as a rejection and recoils. A wall begins to rise between them. She is occupied with the household chores and the children, and loses interest in sex.

Conversation between the two is reduced to perfunctory remarks, monosyllabic responses and sudden outbursts of anger or tears. Both feel trapped in a condition of unhappiness. Knowing it is unhealthy and wanting a way out, they begin to look to friends for the happiness they cannot find at home. The spouse under the most pressure is the first to be attracted to someone else.

When the opportunity presents itself she will start an affair. Happy days are here again, fireworks light up her life, and once again she is riding on the crest of those giddy emotional highs. Still doing the household chores, though, she is happiest when with her lover. Soon she is telling her husband they need time apart to recharge their love for each other.

A husband who doesn't see this as the beginning of the end has himself to blame when his wife asks for a divorce. Infidelity can be caused by things other than household chores. A wife may lose interest in sex with her husband, because he did not take care of himself, became overweight and sexually unattractive, he spends most of his free time away from her, or he stops supporting the family financially.

Whatever the cause, her boredom, frustration and unhappiness will push her into the arms of another man, just as - short of being a pathological philanderer - a husband who is not happy with his wife will be attracted to another woman. To hold onto your husband read How To Bring Passion Back Into Your Relationship.

Similarly, a husband who shows genuine interest in what is happening in his wife's life, supports her emotionally and financially, willing to help at all times with the household chores, and maintains a healthy weight is most likely to steer his wife away from infidelity. If the infidelity persists, be sure to see a marriage counsellor.

How Do I Stop My Business From Failing

2009-12-20T11:59:00.003-05:00

Why is my business failing? Thousands of businessmen and women have asked the same question at one time or another, especially during the early days of their businesses. To be sure, the marketplace is a high-tech jungle where only the fittest survives.

The bottom line reason your business is failing is that you are not selling enough of your product (goods or services) to cover your operating expenses and make a profit. But the problem is not with the product, it is with the elements that make the product what it is. What are those elements?

Do you have the right product for your target customers? Obviously if you don't they will not buy it, at least not in the quantity that will make you a profit. Choose a product that already has a demand, but emphasize a unique benefit of the product that your competitors are not. It should be a product that is consumable, so that your customers will come back to buy more.

Is your product quality and durability comparable to your competitors? The quality of your product is the primary element to which all the other elements are anchored. If you do everything right but have a bad product you will not have repeat customers. Majority of your customers will be one-time customers, and the bad news about your business will spread like a virus.

Is your product easy to use or consume? Customers are irritated when they spend their hard-earn money on an item, but cannot get it to work. Next time when they go out shopping they will choose an item that they won't need the brain of a biochemist to get it to work. Choose products that are customer friendly.

Is the price of your product competitive? If a customer can buy your product at half the price from your competitor two block down the street, why would he buy your product? Look around and do some comparison shopping to check on your competitors prices and adjust your price accordingly.

What is the platform from which you sell your product? Do you sell your product on the Internet or in a brick and mortar store? If you sell on the Internet, is your website or blog pleasant to the eyes, easy to read and navigate? Being mindful that if a visitor to your website is not able to solve a problem he encounters on your website in 3 seconds you've lost him.

If you sell in a brick and mortar store, does the layout of the store give customers easy access to your product? Are the price tags conveniently displayed to avoid having the customer to ask for the price of each item? Are your salespeople informed about the product enough to answer customers questions? Your aim is to give your customers a pleasant experience in the store to make them want to come back again.

Once you set up your website with quality content and products, nobody will know that you exist until you advertise it. How much it will cost to do so will depend on the type of ad, and the competition in your line of business. You may choose to submit your website to the major search engines like Google, Yahoo and MSN or Bing, and wait for months to have your website pages indexed, or buy 'pay per click' (PPC) ads that will send visitors to your website within 24 hours of signing up.

You will need to know about keywords and their placement on your website. When a visitor goes to the Internet for information, s/he types in a word or phrase. The search engine checks through its indexed web pages for websites and blogs with keywords or key-phrases that match the visitor's query, and present them in order of relevance. Search engines are scrupulous in their selection, because if they provide the wrong information they will lose the visitor, and that is bad business.

Advertising a brick and mortar store normally involves running ads in the local newspapers or on TV. Since this can be expensive, you may want to set up a website or blog and encourage your customers to go there for discount prices and information about your product.

When you attract customers to your website or store, and they buy your products, the next step is turn them into repeat customers. Ask for their names and email or postal addresses. Because this information is valuable to your customers, offer something for it. Give them a discount or a coupon in exchange for their personal information.

You can stop your business from failing by selling more of your product to satisfied customers who will buy from you again and again because you sell the right product, high quality product, easy to use and at competitive price; because they know where to find you from the weekly information you provide them by email, letters, on your website or blog about new products, discounts and coupons. Shall we get to work now?

If You are Not Networking You Are Losing Thousands Of Potential Customers

2009-12-15T08:08:00.001-05:00

Let me say from the onset that networking is not multilevel marketing (MLM) or a pyramid scheme. Having said that networking is the building of business relationships. Note that the primary focus is on building relationships.

Sales and business connections are often developed from the relationships we have with other people, and networking provides the opportunity to meet people and expand your contact list.

Choosing the right group to join or event to attend is crucial, otherwise you will meet people who have very little or no interest in what you have to say. Focus on the quality of your contacts not on quantity. Getting two quality contacts who will answer your phone calls or read your letters are better than having ten who will not.

The first impression your contact gets about you could be what cement the relationship or take it apart. A firm handshake, a pleasant facial expression, a demonstration of interest in your contact, and attentiveness to his/her name and line of business will convince your contact that you are not only there to sell some product, and quickly move onto your next victim.

Your first meeting with a contact should be about understanding his problems, needs and concerns and collecting contact information. Clearly state what you do in 15 seconds and in 30 seconds what you have done to help people with similar problems. Don't use the initial meeting to promote your credentials. Your contact is not interested in your credentials, not yet, but in how your solution can solve his problem.

The follow up after a networking event is where many small business owners come short. Send a handwritten card to the people you met the next day, referring to the networking event where you met. Within two weeks send them letters arranging to meet for lunch or coffee to learn more about their businesses and how you can help.

If a month goes by with no communication between your contacts and you, they may forget about you, and potential customers may be lost. You may talk to your contacts by phone, but you will get better results by using a letter, newsletter or articles in your blog to demonstrate your expertise or the value of your product by sending them useful ideas and suggestions they can use immediately.

The average person is estimated to know about 250 people. This means each person you meet has the potential to connect you with over 60,000 people. The more people you meet, and the quality of your relationship with them will take your name and products to places where alone you could never have reached.

This reach will allow you to become a powerful resource for your contacts. The quality and regularity of the ideas and suggestions you send to them will keep your product on their minds, and be the first person they come to when they need help.

Your contact list will further expand when you follow up on referrals that others give you. Contacts who give you referrals have confidence in your expertise, reliability or the quality of your product. They have found your solution to their problems helpful, and would like to share with their family and friends what they have found. Be sure to follow up on your referrals.

Social medias like facebook, twitter, myspace and linkedIn are providing networking opportunities for millions of business people on the Internet. But you will agree that eventually you have to meet your contact in person and shake his/her hand before you feel comfortable enough to sign that $100,000 contract.

If you are not networking, you are losing thousands of potential customers who have money to spend and need your service or product, but do not know that you exist. Go to events where you will meet large number of people. Initiate conversation with people you meet. Ask to be introduced to people you don't know. Express genuine interest in your conversations. Give out your business cards, and follow up on your contacts.

The primary purpose of networking is the building of business relationships; the buying and selling of goods and services are its byproducts. Only when you have developed those relationships will you get their byproducts in increase sales.

Did Nature Program Man/Woman To Eat Specific Foods

2009-12-09T12:50:00.003-05:00

Did nature have a diet program for humankind? Boyd and Konner in their 1985 report agreed that such a program may have existed, at least by implication, when they wrote, “From about 24 – 5 million years ago fruits appear to have been the main dietary constituent for hominids”. And might I add, fruits did not create overweight and obesity problems for our prehistoric ancestors.

For almost 20 million years, as far as the records can show, prehistoric men and women ate mainly fruits to maintain their health, growth, activity and reproduction. The large variety of fruits and the ease of reaching them provided our prehistoric ancestors with the required protein and essential amino acids to maintain life. The question is, what transformed man into a meat eater?

Human anatomy and physiology are poorly adapted to the processing of a meat diet. The gastric juices of humans have less active antiseptic and germicidal properties, thus eating raw meat would have caused prehistoric man severe abdominal discomfort, and was the reason they ate mainly roots, barriers, fruits, nuts and grains.

The fact that raw meat had to be cooked to denature the protein, melt the fat and break down the fibrous tissues to make it palatable, easily chewable and digestible suggests that man did not eat a significant amount of meat until he was able to harness fire about 500,000 years ago. Before then man was almost entirely a herbivore.

The jump from being a herbivore to a carnivore might have been forced upon man by climatic changes, or a natural disaster that destroyed the forest along with the fruit bearing trees. A large fire could have done that leaving in its wake charred animals. With their main food supply destroyed, and starving, prehistoric man ate the charred animals, and found them to be palatable. After that they increasingly included meat in their diet.

Natural carnivores like lions and tigers are anatomically and physiologically adapted to processing a meat diet. They have short intestinal canals, strong secretions of hydrochloric acid to quickly digest and expel the waste products of the meat they consume before putrefaction - the catalyst for degenerative diseases - can occur.

The intestinal track of humans is 4 times longer than that of a lion or tiger. While the natural carnivore’s intestinal track is smooth to dissolve meat quickly and pass it out of the system, man’s intestinal track is corrugated to keep food as long as possible in the intestines until all nutrients are extracted from it.

Because man’s intestinal track is poorly adapted to processing meat, it takes too long for the waste product of meat to pass out of the intestines allowing putrefaction to occur. This results in toxemia, which is the beginning of degenerative diseases like obesity, gallstones, colon cancer, hypertension, stroke, heart disease, gout, tooth decay, piles, peptic ulcers and hardening of the arteries.

In spite of the known health risk, having eaten a diet including flesh foods for more than half a million years and enjoyed it, it is understandable why man is not in a hurry to return to a totally vegetarian diet; not to mention the deficiencies of iron, vitamins B12 and D that tend to result from a vegetarian diet.

Meanwhile, the human anatomy had changed in response to eating cooked foods. Our jaws and teeth have become smaller, and our stomachs have shrunk. These changes have made man less adapted to living entirely on fruits, vegetables, roots and nuts; and suggest that man will continue to eat cooked flesh foods in the foreseeable future, in order to more easily extract the protein and essential amino acids necessary to maintain life.

In addition to animal protein, man is consuming increasing amounts of salt, sugar and saturated fat. The consequences of the consumption of such high calorie diet are all around us. The rates of obesity are rising in the general population. The percentage of children who are overweight has doubled in the last 20 years. The percentage of adolescents who are obese has tripled in the last 20 years.

We have a war on our hands, and it’s a war against ‘calories’. A calorie is a unit of energy. A food with 250 calories means that your body will derive that much energy from eating or drinking it. The body needs calories for energy, but if you eat more calories than you can burn through activity, the excess calories are converted to fat that lead to overweight and eventual obesity.

Certain thyroid problems and genetic factors are involved in weight gain and obesity, but their effects are magnified by the quantity and type of foods we eat. Work with your nutritionist on healthy food choices, appropriate portion sizes and new ways of preparing food.

Effective weight control is a function of vigorous physical exercise on the one hand, and the amount of daily calories intake on the other. Check your daily recommended calories intake and take the necessary steps to maintain a healthy weight. The control of calories intake through our food choices may well be Nature’s diet program for humankind.

Planning For Success In A Small Business

2009-12-01T07:42:00.002-05:00

Planning is the ingredient that makes success possible. Not planning is analogous to attempting to catch a fish by throwing a spear into a river. In this case, success will depend on hope, and certainly, the vast majority of humankind will be dead if for our dinners we depended on catching fishes with spears.

On the other hand, the desire to be successful while we are still alive makes planning all the more important. It gives us a road map to where we want to go, and makes clear what is possible and what is not, helping us optimize our resources toward goals that make success possible.

Planning involves setting up clear direction for a system, then guiding the system to follow the direction to achieve its purpose. By merely going through the motion of planning does not lead to success, until strategies are developed to achieve goals that show progress toward attaining the purpose of the system.

The system to be guided by planning could be a business, a department, a production process, a family, or the condition of life. Whatever it is, the system should have four principal elements. It should have inputs, processes, outputs and outcomes.

The inputs include raw materials, technologies, money and labor. These inputs go through specific processes that coordinate them to achieve the goals set for the system. The outputs are the physical results produced by the processes, such as goods and services. Improvement in the quality of life of customers and employees brought by the use of the goods and services represents the outcomes or values of the system.

Once the system is selected, planning begins with working back through the system to guide it. Starting with the outputs and outcomes, the planners will set up the processes by which identifiable results and values can be attained. They will also arrange for inputs or resources to carry out the processes. The inputs are usually presented in the form of a budget.

Goals will be set for each element in the system. These goals will be specific so that no question arises as to which element each is assigned. The goals will be measurable so that progress toward planned results within the system can be evaluated. They will be attainable as well as realistic, and the time frame within which goals are to be accomplished will be clearly stated.

Planners will develop strategies to optimize the processes by which to achieve the goals within the system, and objectives selected to be time sensitive and show progress toward the goals to which they relate. Responsibility for achieving these objectives will be given to persons with the experience and skills to carry them out.

What strategies are chosen will depend on the extent to which the business can afford them, how practical they are in achieving the goals of the system, and how efficient resources within the business are used, building on its strengths and taking advantage of its opportunities.

Planners should not lose sight of the purpose of the planning process. This is important because all plans run into some difficulties during implementation. Parts of the plan may need rethinking to bring in new information in response to changes on the ground; therefore, the plan should be flexible and adaptable to unforeseen changes.

Additionally, there may be internal or external resistance to the plan that renders its implementation too costly, or lead to irreparable damage to the reputation of the business. In both cases, a rethinking of the purpose and values of the plan will bring to light information that was overlooked or given less weight in the planning process.

The final plan will be written into a document, and distributed to all employees responsible for its implementation. Where the plan is successful, management should acknowledge and celebrate it, so that employees will see the fruit of their efforts, and be appropriately rewarded.

Knowing the purpose of your business plan will ask, what are the processes by which to achieve it? How will you get the money to finance the processes? What are your strategies to achieve the goals set for the system? Are your objectives timely and show progress toward your goals. Are the elements in the system properly coordinated to achieve the purpose and values of your business? If your answers are ‘yes’ you are on the road to success.

How To Finance A Small Business Without Going Into Debt

2009-11-27T15:06:00.000-05:00

Unless your parents are wealthy, or you have a rich uncle or aunt from whom to borrow money, once you start a small business you will quickly find that you need more money than you have to keep your business going.

Many entrepreneurs seek financial help from their local banks. Those with good credit, go into debt using their homes as collaterals for loans to finance their businesses. An alternative source of financing not often thought about that does not require going into debt is called ‘account receivable financing, or factoring’.

Account receivable financing is available only to businesses that have been in operation for at least a year, and have sold goods or services to customers on credit – usually on 30 – 90 days credit terms. The sum of the face value of the unpaid invoices is the ‘account receivable’: or said another way, money that the small business owner must wait 30 or more days to receive.

Factoring enables a small business to receive immediate cash for its unpaid receivables by selling them to a factoring company. The factoring company pays cash for the receivables to the small business owner less a fee called a ‘discount’, as well as interest where applicable.

Factoring differs from a bank loan in 3 ways: emphasis is on the value of the receivables not on the credit worthiness of the company selling them, factoring is not a loan – it is the buying of a financial asset, and a bank loan involves 2 parties, but factoring involves 3 parties: the factor, the seller and the debtor.

Ownership of the receivables is transferred to the factoring company upon conclusion of the sale, indicating that the factor accepts all the rights and risks associated with the receivables. Usually the factor sends bills to the debtors and receives all payments. If the debtors are unable to make payment due to bankruptcy, the factor cannot seek payment from the seller where a ‘no recourse’ factoring was agreed to.

The cost of ‘no recourse’ factoring is higher because the factor assumes the entire risk of non-payment by the debtors. However, the seller can reduce his factoring cost by entering into a ‘recourse’ factoring agreement where in the event of non-payment the seller must buy back the bad invoices with good ones.

A factoring transaction has 3 major parts. The ‘advance’ is a percentage of the total receivables paid to the seller on submission of the application. The ‘reserve’ is the balance of the receivables held until the debtors make full payment. The ‘fee or discount’ is the cost of the transaction that is deducted from the reserve before final payment to the seller.

The factoring company may also charge the seller interest based on how long it must wait to be paid by the debtors. An estimate also made for the amount that may not be collected due to non-payment is added to the mix in determining the amount the seller will receive.

The objective of the factoring company, as all businesses have, is to make a profit; so it is vigilant in avoiding losses due to non-payment. Consequently, the factor thoroughly examines the credit worthiness of the debtors, buying only those invoices with a reasonable chance of been paid.

Factoring is a trade off between the return the seller hopes to receive from using immediate cash to pay suppliers, rent, meet payroll, expand production or boost sales promotion, and the cost of using the funds raised by factoring. Obviously, where the cost of using factoring is higher than the return on investing the funds, it is not a favorable trade off for the small business.

A small business may also use the funds from factoring as bridge financing while it waits for approval of venture capital, or a loan from a bank, as some of these financial transactions take weeks to release cash to the borrower. Usually, a factoring company will release cash to the seller within 48 hours.

The benefits of factoring is that many small businesses do not meet the financial requirements of traditional lending institutions, but have a roaster of financially strong customers that they can leveraged to get immediate access to cash without going into debt.

While factoring is an attractive alternative of raising operating capital, the costs associated with it may be higher than traditional loans, since the factor’s risk is higher, and has to provide others services including credit check and collection services as part of the total transactions.

Therefore, use factoring with prudence. Do you need cash immediately? Can you arrange credit terms with your creditors that allow you time to collect your receivables before paying them? Does the return on the funds raised by factoring justify its use? A small business consultant can provide answers to these questions. Be sure to talk to a consultant before signing a factoring agreement.

How To Be Strong After A Break Up

2009-11-23T23:29:00.006-05:00

One of the few things with a high probability of occurring in contemporary life is that a marriage may not last “till death do us part”. As you will not depend on working with the same company till you retire, so too, regrettably, remaining married to the same person for the rest of your life is fast becoming a thing of the past.

Up to 60% of all marriages in the U.S. end in divorce within a year: not to mention the millions of break ups that occur among unmarried couples. For some the wounds of their broken hearts are still too fresh to forget, and for others the pain still lingers on years after the break up.

Should we go into marriage convinced that it will end, and therefore, be preparing for the inevitable, even as we say our wedding vows? No, that will take away the excitement, and change the nature of marriage. We should rely on our inner strength, personal character and the life we have lived to fortify us at the time of a break up to endure it, learn from it and triumph over it.

Should you feel rejected, hopeless, shut all the doors and windows and crawl into a dark corner after a break up? If you feel that way, not only has your marriage come to an end, but your life will soon too. Pick yourself off the ground, dust off your sleeves, and know that a break up is not an end, but an opportunity for a change in habit. Start doing things differently, from today forward.

Stop thinking about the great moments you had with your ex: they cannot help you now. Write down on paper the reasons for your break up. Make them as detailed as you can. When you write down your thoughts they stop floating around in your head, and cease to hurt and frighten you.

After your break up with the one person you sacrificed all others for, you will be lonely: if not physically, then emotionally. It is time to socialize and make new friends. Join a poetry club, an art club, or a sports club. Ask questions, make conversations, exchange phone numbers with people who share your interest and keep in touch.

If you are feeling empty and need emotionally support; offer to help a friend or neighbor with some project. Give your time and effort to help others solve their problems. In doing so, you will become involved in their lives, and in turn they will become involved in your life.

Meantime, check your body mass index (BMI) to see if you are overweight or not. It is a fact of life that when we feel overweight, we feel less sure of ourselves, and often fail in our relationships when we should succeed. Talk with your doctor or dietitian to recommend a weight loss program for you, and once you get the weight off, make it your priority to keep it off.

When news about your break up reach your family and friends, you will get advice from all quarters. Be polite and listen to all the advice offered, sift them, keep those that are relevant and helpful to your present condition, and throw out the rest. Spend more time with people whose conversations motivate you to be strong and live your best life.

Sometimes the pain of a break up is so excruciating that we are absolutely convinced that our best life is behind us. We look at ourselves and see nothing but the empty shells of our former selves. Nothing could be more wrong. Our best life is always ahead of us. Think about all the things you are passionate about and wanted to do, but never got around to doing. Learn a new skill. Take cooking lessons, get involve in sports, try painting, find a hobby: the opportunities to have fun and be happy again are endless.

It is a human trait that when we are very happy with our lives, truly happy: we are unable to keep all that happiness to ourselves. Soon we begin to look for someone with whom to share our happiness. Even after an excruciating break up, after time has passed and the dust has settled down, you will begin to date again. Be prepared when the time is right.

Don’t get too emotionally involved in your new relationships. Keep the relationships light and simple. You will need up to 2 years to heal the emotional wounds caused by your break up. Rushing into a serious relationship too soon will be setting you up for another disappointment that will open old wounds, and make your condition worse than before.

Your children, if you have any, will also need time to understand why dad left home and didn’t come back, and to begin their own emotional healing process. You and your ex would have had time to reflect on your mutual faults and strengths, and on whether coming back together is what you need to do to heal the whole family.

New Management Strategies For Small Businesses In A Tough Economy

2009-11-20T08:11:00.002-05:00

If you have not identified your business Critical Success Factors, you are certainly not using them to optimize the internal processes of your business. CSFs are action oriented management tools aimed at making clear your business goals, and the strategies to achieve them.

Fifty years ago, a business could run on automatic pilot, and yet be profitable. Today, even with a life pilot a business may fail. The adverse changes in the economy followed by the recession of 2008 and 2009, is believed by many to have changed the economy, perhaps, irreversibly. The old ideas no longer work; the formulation of innovative ideas has become imperative.

In the forefront of these innovative ideas are what we called the Critical Success Factors of a business. The performance measures within them link daily activities of the business to its goals. By identifying, understanding, measuring and managing the CSFs, a business has a better shot at surviving these turbulent times.

To arrive at the CSFs, you should do a brainstorming session with your employees where you put down on paper all the success factors you can think of. Depending on the enthusiasm and exuberance of the participants you may come up with 20 or more new ideas to help increase performance. Pare down these 20 success factors to about 8 critical success factors crafted to bring immediate positive effect on your business.

Improving the quality of your product or service is one of those critical success factors. All the effort you make on advertisement, price changes and enhanced customer service will come to nothing, if your competitor next door sells a better product or service than you do.

Delivering in full and on time to your major customers. If your customers are confident that you will always supply them with the specific items they ordered, and on time, you will become a reliable partner in the success of their own businesses, and that means more business for you.

Give priority to those activities that collect cash quickly from your major customers. You can have the best quality product or service and deliver on time, but if your price is unreasonably high, your cash intake will be low. Reduction in prices with strategic discounts and enhanced customer service will help encourage your major customers to begin spending again.

While the satisfaction of the customer is the prime reason for the existence of a business, you need a safe, happy and healthy workforce to achieve that. Many small businesses have had to learn the hard way that making adequate investment in the well-being and happiness of their employees has a direct positive effect on customer satisfaction and prosperity of the business.

Your employees are in direct daily contact with the customers. They are the frontline information gatherers, and as a consequence, have relevant information about customers’ preferences that you may not have. Quickly refining and implementing innovative ideas from your employees could turn a bad business year into a good one.

In a tough economy where cash flow is slow, invest only in value adding projects that quickly make your product or service more attractive to customers, and increase your cash intake. Put off the long-term projects for later.

Training your employees to do more than one task within each department will enhance their adaptability and flexibility. For instance, if for any reason an employee is unable to come to work, there will be another employee adequately trained to performed his task, and avoid a slow down in your business operation.

How an employer treats his employees regarding pay, benefits and safety issues get around fast, and soon a body of information will exists that informs high quality job applicants to either stay away from, or gravitate toward that employer. As the quality of your employees has a direct effect on customer satisfaction, and in turn on the profitability of your business, attracting quality employees is a critical success factor.

Fully informing all your employees about the CSFs is important to enable them organize their daily activities to maximize their contribution, particularly in providing feedbacks on the implementation of the CSFs.

Some will argue, for instance, that a low quality product or service can be improved with dedicated effort, and poor customer service can be corrected by training the workers, but in an economic recession when customers are not spending: what can a businessperson do?

There is an old Oriental proverb that says: you can go only so far into the forest before you start coming back. Similarly, the economy can get worse only for so long; soon it will start getting better. Small businesses that have identified their critical success factors, and begun implementing them will be the first to reap the benefits of an upswing in the economy.

Things You Should Know Before Applying For A Home Equity Loan

2009-11-17T07:24:00.012-05:00

For many Americans their most useful and valuable possession is the home. It is not only a safe place to live, but also a financial symbol that you are living the American dream. Embedded in the home is an added value called ‘equity’.

The equity is the amount you have already paid against the value of the home. To determine your home net equity, subtract the amount of the mortgage balance and any liens or second mortgage from the current fair market value of the home.

For example, if your home is appraised at $350,000 and you owe $200,000 on the mortgage, including liens or second mortgage, the net equity in your home is $150,000. This is like actual cash in the bank from which you can withdraw in two ways:

A Home Equity Line of Credit is a revolving fund secured by your home. It allows you direct access to about 75% of the appraised value of your home minus the balance due on the existing mortgage and any other liens. In determining how much cash you can withdraw, the lender will consider your ability to repay, by looking at your income, debts and other financial obligations and credit history.

Home equity line of credit typically involves variable rates of interest, based on a publicly available index, such as the prime rate published in major daily newspapers. As the rate will change with fluctuations in the value of the index, it is important to know which index is used, because most lenders base the interest rate you will pay on the value of the current index plus a ‘margin’, say 2 percentage point.

Typically, the best use of a home equity line of credit is when you need immediate cash to cover operating expenses in your business. The income generated by the business will enable you to repay the loan. Spending it on consumer items that will lose value with time is a misuse of a home equity line of credit, and probably will cost you your home.

The other way to withdraw cash from your home equity is by a Home Equity Loan. It allows you to get a loan from the bank by using the equity in your home as a collateral. But, unlike a home equity line of credit, a home equity loan is paid to you in a lump sum, and may involve a fixed rate of interest. The annual percentage rates (APR) for both ways of withdrawing cash from your home equity are calculated differently, and the methods of repayment may also differ.

Typically, a home equity loan is used for debt consolidation, home repairs and improvement, medical bills, or college tuition for family members. Resist the temptation to use the proceeds from a home equity loan for a vacation, a wedding or to buy a luxury car, because once the money is spent you will find there is not enough left to make the monthly payments.

You could use your home equity loan to start a new business, buy an existing business, or perhaps buy a second home. The bottom line is that the loan be used on something that will improve your financial position, as you will have to repay the loan with interest.

The interest charged on a home equity loan is usually tax-deductible, if the loan is used for its primary purpose. The interest rate is also low because as a secured loan it reduces the lender’s risk. Additionally, the borrower cannot hide the home or legally stop the lender from selling it in the event he defaults on the loan.

The costs of setting up a home equity loan, or a line of credit are similar to those paid when buying a home, such as property appraisal fee, application fee, up-front charges based on points, closing costs, including fees for attorneys, title search, mortgage preparation and filing, property and title insurance and taxes. Therefore, examine the terms and conditions of several plans before making your final decision.

In which way you decide to withdraw on your home equity, be fully informed that it is a loan secured by your home. There should be no question as to your ability to repay the loan. You may want to consider getting an insurance policy to cover the monthly payments if something happens, and you are not able to make the payments.

A home equity loan, or a line of credit will result in the loss of your home if you are unable to make your monthly payments; consequently, use it only to improve your financial position, or to raise funds in a true emergency situation. For additional information that could make the difference between losing your home and keeping it, go to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation website.

Straight Talk About Home Based Business

2009-11-12T22:41:00.000-05:00

Do not be carried away by the ‘pie in the sky’ promises made by home-based business promoters that you will become financially independent in 90 days or less if you buy their ebooks or training programs. Nothing could be further from the truth.

First, you need to know that the marketplace is ruthless. It does not pay you simply for showing up, according to your needs, or for how many hours you work. It pays you for the value you bring to the marketplace. That value may take the form of a new product or service, or a significant improvement in an existing product or service.

Do not invest a cent in a home-based business until you are clear in your mind about what value you can bring to the marketplace. Once you’ve made that decision be encouraged by the fact that giant corporations like Hershey Chocolate, Ford Motor Company, Mary Kay Cosmetics and Apple Computers started out as home-based businesses. In fact, over 50% of all US businesses are based out of an owner’s home.

Are you ready and able to run a business? How much do you really want to change your life? How much does it mean to you? How much do you want a future different from the one your current life has install for you? What sacrifice are you prepared to make to achieve it? Are you receptive to new ideas and new ways of thinking and doing things?

If you want to have more than what you have now, you must become more. Are you prepared to read long hours to learn new skills and use them in your business? Are you prepared to work tirelessly to improve upon the value you bring to the marketplace, since what is valuable this year may not be so next year?

Hold onto your regular job, and use the home-based business as a second job. This is an advice worth heeding. It takes 2 years or more to begin making any significant income from a home-based business. Unless you are an independently wealthy person, you will have difficulty supporting yourself and your family on a home-based business in the first 2 years of operation.

Lack of planning, insufficient financial backing and poor management are the main reasons many home-based businesses fail. Certainly, your will need to put your business on the Internet. Have you decided on your website design; on the source of its content, and the advertisement modality to inform the public about your product or service?

Have you thought about not only the advantages of being your own boss, but also the challenges inherent in running a home-based business, including the lack of guaranteed employee wages and benefits, lack of job security, frequent interruptions arising from close proximity to your family, long working hours, legal requirements including zoning regulations, insufficient time to go out with family and friends.

Will your business be a public corporation, partnership or sole proprietorship? Not forgetting your responsibilities of acquiring licenses, complying with regulations, paying taxes, obtaining insurance policies, maintaining good record, advertising campaigns, pricing your product, and your financial obligation to your creditors in the event the business fails.

Do you have a support network to help you through the tough times: for there will be many. Your support network would include your family, business associates and friends who have had similar experiences in business.

Are you one who easily gives up when things get really tough, or are you going to hang in there and see what you started through? Are you prone to tantrums when something doesn’t go the way you wanted, or are you patient, self-disciplined and focused at such time?

Once you complete setting up your home-based business, within 3 months, give or take, you will find a difference emerging between your plan and the actual events in your business. You will have to constantly refine your business plans taking account of what is happening on the ground, in order to achieve your business goals.

A home-based business has the potential to make you a very rich person, but the path to that wealth is littered with the remains of millions of broken dreams. Be sure not to add your dreams onto that pile. Go to the Small Business Administration website, or talk to a small business consultant for advice on your potential market, your product or service, its sales promotion, delivery and profit potential.

Why Is It Easy To Lose Weight But Hard To Keep It Off

2009-11-09T22:31:00.004-05:00

It is easy to lose weight, but difficult to keep it off. All who have tried over the years to lose weight can attest to this, including our celebrated friend Oprah Winfrey. I will explore why this is, and how you can finally keep off the weight you lose.

For starters, being overweight is not a disease in itself, but it is the gateway to some serious diseases such as: high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, esophageal cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, kidney cancer, congestive heart failure, heart enlargement, stroke, pulmonary embolism, erectile dysfunction, gallbladder disease and the like.

Consequently, you need to treat overweight with the same seriousness as you would treat a heart attack or cancer, meaning you should immediately consult your doctor and dietitian once you feel that you are overweight. With less effort and expense you could solve the problem of overweight, and not have to suffer the uncertainties of a heart attack or cancer.

The first thing to do is to confirm if you are actually overweight in relation to your height by measuring your body mass index (BMI) at www.nhlbisupport.com/bmi. Below 18.5 you are underweight, 18.5 – 24.9 normal weight, 25.0 – 29.5 overweight, and 30 or greater, you are obese.

Once you determine that you are overweight call in the professionals because you cannot solve the problem on your own. The reason is this: if the body does not have a mind of its own, it certainly has a memory. If you have lost 10 to 50 pounds before, you will have experienced the relentless effort the body makes to return to its previous size.

For instance, if you weighed 240 pounds before, and through physical exercise or a change in diet you lost 40 pounds; by some biochemical process the body knows exactly the type and quantity of food you ate that got you to 240 pounds, and it will inflict upon you splitting headaches and dizziness to force you to return to that meal. As your weight begins moving toward 240 pounds the headaches and dizziness will stop: a strong indicator that the body has a memory.

You can keep off the weight that you lose by changing the memory of your body by daily physical exercise, and/or a change in diet and lifestyle. We have a choice, either to make that change, or wait like sitting ducks until we get hit by heart attack, type 2 diabetes, cancer and God knows what else.

On examining how difficult it is to keep off the weight that we lose, it appears there is an ongoing conflict between the ‘self’ and the ‘body’. The ‘self’ is the essence of who we are and the expression of our personality. The ‘body’ gives us our physical presence. The ‘self’ wants us to be happy and confident, look physically beautiful, be free to do the things we desire. On the other hand, the ‘body’ simply wants to be fed, repair itself and grow in size.

You are moving toward the danger zone when your body mass index consistently stays above your normal weight level. If so, now is the time to exert control over your body, otherwise it will control your life, move you toward obesity, take away your happiness, and put your life at risk.

Some helpful physical activities you could begin doing right away to exert control over your body are: jogging and walking, swimming, bicycling, tennis, dancing, triceps press, abdominal crunches and squats. You will find that these physical activities will produce better results when you go to the gym. If the circumstances of your life do not allow you to do so, focus your efforts on diet and lifestyle changes.

While the body mass index has been around since the 1850s, some argued that it does not actually measure the percentage of body fat. It merely arrives at a figure obtained by dividing an individual’s weight by the square of his height. Still, when you combine the BMI and the measurement of the waist circumference, the result is a good indicator of abdominal fat, and an effective predictor of the risk of heart and other diseases.

There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution to every overweight problem. Consult with your doctor and dietitian for a weight-loss program specifically designed for your health condition, body mass index and financial means.

How To Bring Passion Back Into Your Relationship

2009-11-06T08:40:00.004-05:00

Couples in long-term relationships, whether married or dating, often complain about getting into a rut. The relationship that started off with passion and excitement has begun to wane, as work and the ordinary chores of making a living wear us out as time goes by.

If you are in a marriage that seems to be in a rut, or are wondering why you can't keep a long-term relationship exciting anymore, you need to stop and begin finding new ways to refresh the relationship with exciting activities.

Some have suggested that the dinner-and-a-movie routine has lost its excitement in the first year of a relationship. Do something different like: playing paintball, rent a classic car, go skydiving, or have a picnic. Do something outside the box like, start a water fight, or surprise your partner just when he is about to leave work.

Relationships fail for many reasons. One of the saddest reasons is that people simply drift apart because the other person doesn't excite them anymore. The hidden secret why couples drift apart is not so much that they have changed physically, as their attitude toward the relationship has changed.

The nature of things dictates that when a couple gets marry in their twenties, they will continue to be physically attractive to each other until the children are in their thirties, as long as they make themselves irresistible to each other.

Here the wife or girlfriend must take the lead, as it is universally agreed that of all things created, the “female is the beauty of creation all”. She has the power to attract that a man lacks. If she has failed in keeping a long-term relationship with the man she loves, it is because she has not sufficiently accentuated both her internal and external beauty to make herself irresistible to him.

One of the important things that both parties should give particular attention in making themselves irresistible to each other is to avoid being overweight. Couples who are presently overweight should consult with their doctors and dieticians, and put their advice into practice.

The wife or girlfriend should make sure that the couple goes out, at least once a week. They could attend a party, go watch a play, attend a poetry reading, or go play pool. They may stop at a diner or a restaurant and buy ‘take out’ food. Eat in their car or at a friend’s house. The purpose here is to do something different from the routine.

Often, in a marriage relationship, the wife will say, there is so much to be done: cooking, laundry, cleaning the house and caring for the children that there is no time left to go out. If you think about it, it is precisely because of the children that the couple should go out at least once a week to recharge their love, for inner strength to maintain a wholesome home.

Of course, arrangement should be made with friends or relatives to take care of the children whilst you are out. If the children have to sleepover be sure to pick them up from your friend’s or relative’s house early in the morning so as not to unduly burden them.

On the day of the outing, spend some time on yourself. Look in the mirror and identify all the things that you like about yourself. For example, if you have full shinny hair make the most of it. Let it flow down your shoulders. Men have a fascination with hair. If you have a full pouty lips, apply liner around the edges then fill in with a deep gloss that accentuates your skin tone.

Because you are out with your husband or boyfriend should not stop you from flirting with him. Play up your eyes. Flirt with him with your eyes. Look at him then look away. Use your eyes to tell him everything that you are feeling, everything that you would like to do with him.

Wear clothes that accentuate your assets. Hint at your curves without exposing them. Remember less is more. Incite his curiosity. Make him want to see more.

Wear a delicate scent. Apply your perfume twenty minutes before you go out the door. A woman’s scent is enticing. Overpowering perfume, on the other hand, is a major turn off.

Take care of your whole body, not just your face. Use a good sugar scrub on your body and follow with a rich moisturizer. If your body feels silky smooth, you will feel and act sexier, which is the point in going out in the first place.

Don’t make the preparation of your outing a big event. Do not disrupt the normal routine at home with an announcement that you need to look pretty for the day. Your husband and children will not like that. Instead, keep the preparation for the night in the background until you drop off the kids where they will spend the night, then pull all the stops and bloom like a flower before the man waiting to take you out.

How To Get A Car Loan With Bad Credit

2009-11-03T07:50:00.004-05:00

Banks are in business to accomplish two main objectives: to give out loans, and at the end of an agreed period to get back the amount loaned plus interest. A lender who fails in these two areas will soon cease to be a bank, which is why banks view the loan applications of people with bad credit as forbidden fruit.

Anyone with a bad credit tag to his name is assumed to have demonstrated that he is financially irresponsible. It does not matter if the assumption is rightly or wrongly applied. A lender who is willing to consider a bad credit loan application is, in fact, facing an actual rather than a potential risk that the borrower may default on the loan.

Still, a bank may agree to give a car loan to a person with bad credit if he will convert it into a secured loan, where the borrower agrees to offer a collateral in physical property such as a house, or financial instruments such as shares and bonds to secure the loan.

People with bad credit are expected to pay higher down payment and higher interest rate on unsecured car loans, in order to reduce as much as possible the loss the lender will suffer should they default on the loan.

Depending on how bad the borrower’s credit is, the down payment required can range from 20 – 50% of the car’s selling price, interest rates from 5-26%, and amortization - the duration of the loan - anywhere from 2-4 years. The amortization for a buyer with good credit is 5-7 years.

While it may appear that those with bad credit are really in for tough times, it may not be all that bad. 25% of Americans: a little over 75 millions people, in one form or another, have credit problems. The mere size of the number has mutated into an opportunity for companies, which have figured out ways to make money from car loans to people with bad credit. In effect, those with bad credit will always have access to car loans.

There are some bad apples among these companies though. Car dealers who specialize in bad credit loans will take a car selling for $6,000, inflate the price to $9,000, take a $2,500 down payment and then finance the $6,500 at 24-26%. This will put the buyer in debt to the auto finance company for an inflated price that is higher than the vehicle’s real value.

A way to avoid being swindled by these sneaky bad credit car loan dealers is to first check the real value of the car you are looking at, and then only pay $200-500 extra then what is listed. Only in exceptional cases would you ever pay more than this price for a car.

With the coming of the Internet economy, two ways have emerged to provide car loans to people with bad credit. In the Dealer Network System, the buyer selects a car on a website and answers some basic questions. This information is passed onto a dealer specializing in bad credit car loans.

In the Multiple Submission Networks, the person with bad credit applies online for a car loan, and his financial information is then sent to several lenders at the same time, with the hope that one or more will agree to take the credit risk.

Review your credit report at least 3 months before applying for a car loan, as any correction you make will take that long to show up in your credit report. Know how much you can comfortably afford to pay both on the down payment and monthly payment, and have proof of employment and income.

Your best chance of getting a car loan, with a bad credit history, is to start preparing at least a year before your application. Assuming you have a stable job, apply for a gas station or departmental store credit card. Pay your bills on time for 12 months: paying $10 –$20 more than the minimum monthly payment. With a 12 months clean history of paying your bills on time, the bank will look at your car loan application differently.

9 Hiring Tips For Small Business Owners

2009-10-31T07:52:00.004-04:00

When starting a small business the last thing on your mind is hiring someone to work for you. The reason is simple, you will not have begun making enough money to even pay yourself a decent wage, let alone paying someone else. You work long hours including on weekends, driven by your passion to succeed.

Meanwhile, you are overlooking some important things in your life. When did you last visit your doctor for a medical checkup? When last did you have an uninterrupted weekend out with your family? Soon you will have to stop and find some help.

The following tips will help you get started, whether you want to bring on a team of 20 or one employee to share the workload.

Don't expect to hire a replica of you. Applicants you interview will have their own habits, mannerisms and even ideas. This is fine, so long as they follow your lead, instead of blazing their own paths. They should complement your way of working, and do the things that you may not have the time to do.

Before advertising for help, write down a job description of what you expect from your new employee. If you can clearly explain your goal to all applicants, they can decide if the job is a good fit for them. Do you want someone who can fill in on short notice when you need to take a day off, or do you want someone who can work a regular schedule? Do you want someone who can meet with clients, set their own schedules and attend meetings and events on your behalf or do you simply need someone who can pick up your overflow? Be specific.

Know the type of manager you are. For instance, if you say you want an independent thinker, but cannot help checking-in frequently that your instruction is followed then you will end up with an unhappy and unproductive employee. Differently, an employee who needs a lot of feedback from you will feel abandoned if you did not give such feedback.

Allow yourself sufficient time; say 3 months, to plan your advertisement, interview and training of applicants. Once you find the person with the qualities you want, hire him right away. Most likely another employer has seen the qualities you admire in the new hire, and may be thinking of hiring him

Ask your health insurance provider about your responsibility for insuring your employee. Be clear about your time-off policy. Just like you, your employee will need time off from work – whether to recover from the flu or be present at a child’s birth. How will you handle the workload in the absence of your employee?

Issues on poor performance or absenteeism may arise. Have a policy in place to handle such issues when they arise. Questions to address may include: How many emergency absences are acceptable in a given period of time. How you will deal with customers’ complaints and concerns. How will you reward outstanding performance? How will you communicate with your employees regarding these matters?

Find a reputable company for conducting background checks. If your company’s product or service requires your employees to access clients’ homes, children or possessions, be sure to conduct such background checks. Contact your local police authority for recommendations on reputable private investigation firms. But first, obtain the applicant's signature, and understanding that you will have a third party conduct a background check as a condition of employment.

In addition to the application form, provide the applicants with a Fact Sheet covering the basic job description, expectation, hiring process, wages and salaries policies of your company.

Create an effective training program. Whether a detailed manual or one-on-one training for a specified period of time, make sure you have a written outline. Your training program should include all aspects of the job you expect your new hire to complete. Done properly, a lot of misunderstanding and frustration will be avoided.

By following these tips, you will lay down a solid foundation on which to build a productive working relationship with your employees.

Alternative Natural Remedies For Erectile Dysfunction

2009-10-27T07:39:00.002-04:00

Erectile Dysfunction, formerly called impotence is the consistent inability to attain and maintain an erection sufficient for sexual intercourse. The American Foundation for Urologic Disease estimates that 30 million American men are afflicted with ED, and of that number 50-70% are over 40 years old.

There are many reasons for ED. Experts believe that 80 to 90% of ED cases are related to physical conditions, such as neurological disease, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and prostate cancer treatment, and 10 to 20% to psychological causes including stress, anxiety, depression, fear of sexual failure or a feeling of inadequacy.

When an erection becomes limp, blame it on phosphodiesterase type 5 or PDE5. It is an enzyme which convert cyclic guanosine monophosphate or cGMP - a key biochemical component of the erection process - from its active state to its inactive state. When the function of PDE5 is inhibited, the concentration of cGMP in response to sexual stimulation helps the smooth muscles in the penis to relax and widen, allowing more blood to enter it to maintain an erection.

PDE5 inhibitors such as Viagra, Levitra and Cialis have been on the market for some time now. They increase the concentration of cGMP in the penis by inhibiting PDE5, and have become the remedy of choice for many men seeking oral remedies for erectile dysfunction. All three pharmaceutical drugs take about 30-40 minutes to become active, and tests have shown that they work.

Since Viagra, Levitra and Cialis do not require surgical procedures, or lengthy hospital stay they are sometimes referred to as natural remedies for ED, leading some to assume they are alternative natural remedies for ED. As we shall soon see, there are specific herbs and root extracts which qualify as alternative natural remedies for ED.

L-Arginine is found naturally in foods such as meat, dairy, poultry and fish. It is also available as oral L-arginine supplements. It is an amino acid that the body uses to make nitric oxide to signal the smooth muscle surrounding blood vessels to relax, allowing the blood vessels to dilate and increases blood flow. Relaxation of smooth muscle in the penis increases blood flow, to maintain an erection. Common side effects of high doses of L-arginine are increased stomach acid and alteration in potassium levels in the body.

Ginseng Panax is a distinct species of slow-growing perennial plants with fleshy roots. It grows mostly in northern China, Korea and eastern Siberia. The root is often available in dried form. Extracts from the root are taken orally as treatment for type II diabetes, as well as erectile dysfunction in men.

Gingko Biloba is effective in managing ‘cerebral insufficiency’ characterized by impaired concentration, confusion, decreased physical performance, fatigue, headache, depression and anxiety. It is also used for erectile dysfunction, particularly in people who experience sexual dysfunction as a side effect of antidepressant drugs. It appears to relax smooth muscle and enhances blood flow to the penis. The active medicinal compounds are found in both the seed and leaves of the gingko tree.

The Ashwagandha herb (Withania Somnifera) is sometimes called Indian Ginseng because it is thought to have similar effects, as ginseng on the body. It is believed to increase energy, stamina, and sexual function. However, no known studies have examined its effectiveness for erectile dysfunction in men. Side effects of ashwagandha may include drowsiness. It should not be combined with sedative drugs.

The bark of the West African yohimbe tree is a source of yohimbine, a compound believed to stimulate blood flow to the penis, increase libido, and decrease the period between ejaculations. Side effects may include dizziness, anxiety, nausea, severe drop in blood pressure, abdominal pain, fatigue, hallucinations, and paralysis.

Additionally, lifestyle Changes enhances the effectiveness of natural herb and root extracts in the body. Reduced alcohol consumption, eating fruits and vegetable, quitting smoking, regular physical exercise to control overweight, and stress reduction are important lifestyle changes in solving erectile dysfunction.

The effectiveness of alternative natural remedies on erectile dysfunction is still under investigation by the medical establishment. It will be some time before a definitive conclusion is reached. Therefore, consult with your doctor or a licensed specialist in holistic medicine before using any alternative natural remedies, as all have some side effects.

Don't Allow Your Computer To Intimidate You

2009-10-23T20:48:00.003-04:00

When you know your computer parts and how they work, it will lose its power to intimidate you. Pay attention to these 6 major parts namely: processor speed (CPU), VRAM, RAM, hard drive, optical drives and USB port.

The processor speed is measured in MHz and GHz, typically from I.0 MHz to 2.66 GHZ. For example, a 1 MHz CPU can accomplish one million “central processing units” in one second, meaning it can do a task or calculation at that speed. The higher the CPU the higher is the processing speed. Though a faster CPU will not necessarily load your web pages any quicker. The loading speed is limited by the speed of your connection – telephone line or broadband.

The VRAM is the memory set aside to store and access graphic and image data. The higher the VRAM the faster the computer can display images. For normal word processing and Internet browsing 256 MB to 512 MB is adequate, for heavy graphics and games use 512 MB and higher.

The RAM is the computer memory, and dictates how much the laptop or desktop can do at once. It also determines the size of the task it can perform in terms of file size. Since the RAM determines what you can do on your computer, if you have to choose between a high-speed processor and a high-capacity RAM, choose a high-capacity RAM. Typical range of RAM is 256 MB to 1 GB.

The hard drive is the physical hard disk of the computer. It is where applications and data are stored. More capacity is better, especially when you use music, digital photographs and movies files. Typical range of hard drive is 60 GB to 320 GB.

There are different types of optical drives, among them are:

CD-ROM: it reads CD but not DVD.

CD-RW: it reads and writes on CD but not on DVD. It is useful for data backups and archiving of music, digital photographs and videos.

DVD-ROM: it reads CD and DVD.

DVD-RW: it reads and writes on CD and DVD. Check if your DVD writer is compatible with your computer as they come in different standards.

The USB port on your computer connects you to the broadband via a USB cable. Other peripherals such as printers, scanners and external hard drives are connected to the computer through the USB port. An upgrade in the USB cable called USB2 allows faster data transfer to external hard drives, CD or DVD drives, but it is more expensive.

Now that you know the parts of your computer and how they work, you can talk about computers with confidence, and the next time you go out to buy a new computer, you will certainly ask more questions and get a better laptop or desktop for your money.