June 2008
Wood Counter Tops, A Consistent Choice for the Modern Kitchens
Wood countertops are becoming popular again in modern kitchens. We now know that wooden countertops, when properly cared for, are both long lasting and sanitary. The modern adhesives are strong enough to keep the wood staves bonded together even the butcher block is submerged into the water. The finishing oils (mineral oils) are safe in contact with food products and preserve the wood surfaces.
The solid wood, as a material of choice for counter tops, exhibits incontestable advantages such as:
Aesthetics
Imparting a warm, relaxing feeling, the wooden top is the natural complement of any solid wood or veneered cabinetry. The wooden tops will wonderfully go together with hardwood floorings, moldings, cornices and mantels, conferring a genuine sense of balance to your kitchen space.
Functionality
A hardwood top is very easy to cut to templates and even easier to install. Unlike the solid surface or laminate, wood tops have a minimum of chemical components, which make them extremely safe in contact with foods. Unlike the other countertop materials, any occurring scratch can be easily removed by sanding the area; the wood tops actually constitute the only known surface that can be renewed without employing special tools or requiring special skills. Hardwood surfaces can be used as kitchen island tops, inserted sink covers, sections of countertop, or as butcher block hidden under the countertop that can be pulled as drawer or cart. Your imagination will surely find plenty of other interesting, visually attractive applications.
Durability
If properly sealed and installed, a wooden top can literally last a lifetime. Unlike marble, granite or tile, the wooden tops have a great shock absorbing capacity that further assures considerable life span.
Hygiene
For a quite few decades, the plastic and laminate surfaces, due to their non-porous structure were considered much safer than wood for applications such as chopping meat or slicing vegetables. The wood, because of its porosity was thought an ideal surface for harmful bacteria like Salmonella, Staphylococus or Escherichia coli to thrive. However, a study undertaken in 1993 by the microbiologists of Wisconsin Food Research Institute and another one carried out in 1998 at university of Florida discovered the strong antibacterial properties that wood surfaces exhibit, properties that no other cutting surface appears to possess.
According to these studies and to others that followed them, on wood surfaces, bacterial populations disappear quite fast, without external intervention, while on plastic surfaces they persist and actually multiply. Although these properties vary among wood species, the wooden cutting surfaces are increasingly accepted as the first choice of health-conscious individuals.
Price
Hardwood is usually priced higher than laminate but are far less expensive than stone, granite, solid surface, tile or steel.
The butcher block counter tops supplied by Lafor Wood Products come in beech wood, cherry, walnut, oak, whitebeam (hickory look), acacia (black locust) or hard maple with a large variety of dimensions and grades. Mineral oil is supplied for free along to the purchase and helps to finish and preserve the butcher blocks. Availability is immediate and they offer samples of butcher blocks free of charge. Details at www.lafor.ca
Adrian Laza.
Lafor Wood Products,
Phone: 604-522-7667
Email: infolafor@shaw.ca
http://www/lafor.ca/
Lafor Wood Products, http://www.hardwoodcountertops.com 15+ years experince in manufacturing butcher blocks, wood kitchen islands and wood countertops.
The Market Is the Master
A critical principle every business needs to grasp while marketing is to understand and accept that a majority of your success is out of your control.
You must recognize that your prospects and clients possess ultimate authority over your business success or failure. The only factors within your power are the opportunities and resources to influence the actions that lead to purchasing your product or service.
This is a strange notion when you think about it. You’ve carefully researched, designed, and marketed your product offering, but you don’t maintain control of it? How can this be?
It simply boils down to one fundamental concept: the market is the master.
It’s the market that will ultimately decide your fate in your business venture. They have in their possession two powerful tools to determine your success: the freedom of choice and authority over their money. If the market doesn’t like your offering and decides not purchase it, you will not succeed.
It’s a terrible misconception to believe that just because you think your product or service is the best in the world your clients and prospects will believe the same. You must diligently explain the reasons it will benefit them and why they should risk their time and money on what you offer.
Understanding the Process
At its core, the marketing process is about meeting the value your clients desire with the perceived benefits that your product or service offers in return.
You must understand that it’s not about you or how great you believe your product. It’s about their needs and what they want. They are the master; they decide if you live or die, so you better be clear on how you will meet their needs!
People don’t buy what they don’t need. Many think otherwise, but it’s the truth. What about a compulsive shopper? They buy stuff they don’t need.
Yes, some consumers impulsively purchase products they will never use. However, these people are purchasing to fill an emotional need, not a physical one. It has been proven in numerous studies that there is an adrenalin rush that occurs during the buying process. It’s the thrill of the purchase and the emotional high that drives these shoppers. In these cases, an emotional need is motivating them to take action and make a purchase. They are not fulfilling a tangible need which improves their condition, but it is a powerful need nonetheless.
As a marketer, the challenge you face is to positively influence the decision making process and guide the buyer to select your offering. You must show buyers that you have the product that meets their needs they desire to fulfill. These needs are not always logical or obvious on the surface. Typically, they are deeply rooted in the subconscious mind of the purchaser. Even a solid, tangible need follows a thought process that must be considered when developing your marketing strategy.
Understanding the Master’s Method of Choice
At the heart of this marketing challenge is communication. When you fail to communicate the key benefits to fill their need, they will utilize their power of choice and reject your offer as an unworthy option. It sounds harsh but it happens every minute of everyday in every marketplace.
To understand this, think of how someone chooses your product. As humans we naturally deselect an offer based on what we don’t want rather than choosing the option with the best qualities we desire.
To experience this personally, the next time you are shopping for apples at the grocery store, notice how you make your final choice by process of elimination. You start by looking at all the apples in the bin. You then mentally assign a list of optimal standards for your ideal apples you wish to purchase; red or yellow, big or small, sweet or tart, etc. This list is formed by your past experiences, personal taste, and your accumulated knowledge of apples that you possess at the time. Sometimes it is very complicated list of desires; however, you will utilize these standards until you have selected your best apples.
You pick up an apple and decide it’s too small, so you put it back. The next one doesn’t look ripe enough. That one has a bruise. The next one has a strange color. This variety costs too much. Finally, you pick one that looks just right and put in the bag. That’s going to be one delicious apple.
But you want to purchase more than one apple, so you continue to find the second best and the third best and so on. At this point, you should feel like Goldilocks. But you don’t because this selection process is occurring deep in your subconscious. Essentially, what you have done is selected the best apples by deselecting the lesser, unworthy apples.
This happens all the time when you are deciding to purchase products as varied as apples to automobiles. You journey through a process of evaluation of options until you find the one that closely matches your criteria you have assigned to your standard.
Test this powerful tool on yourself to give you an insight into the buying process. It’s also a valuable exercise to use as you are developing your product offering. Knowing how your master makes decisions and what criteria they use during the process is a vital component of your marketing.
When you carefully uncover the market’s needs and match your benefits to them, you put yourself in a position of influence that gives you more control of the process. The market is the master but you can persuade them to select your product offer in a positive manner by being attentive to their needs.
Find more small business marketing articles, resources, ideas, and tools at the The Small Business Marketing Hub. Ron Abbott is a marketing coach, entrepreneur, speaker and author of the The 24 Carrot Marketing System. Ron is focused on helping businesses that are ready to grow, but struggle with how to consistently market their business.
This article is available for reprint in your opt-in ezine, web site or ebook. You MUST agree not to make any changes to the article and the RESOURCE BOX MUST be included. (c) 2005 Rabbott Creative. All Rights Reserved
FOREX Trading Strategy – The Secret of Timing
Once you’ve identified a trading opportunity, the next step is to decide EXACTLY when to buy – and this is where many traders go wrong.
Here we explain how to incorporate better market timing into your FOREX strategy – so that you can make bigger profits.
Most traders time their entry levels incorrectly, so here’s the right way to do it:
Using Support and Resistance Correctly
A basic wisdom of market timing is “buy low, sell high” – well, the reality is, if you try this in FOREX trading, you’ll end up losing money. First, let’s define what support and resistance means
A support level is a historical price that traders come in, and buy to “support the market” – and the more times it’s tested, the more valid the support will be.
Conversely, a resistance level is a level on the charts that “resisted prices from moving higher”- again the more times it’s tested, the more significant it becomes.
Why Buy Low and Sell High doesn’t Work
“Buy low, sell high” is accepted wisdom by the majority of traders – but this logic is fundamentally flawed – use it in FOREX trading, and you’re asking for trouble. Why? – If you wait for a pullback, you’re going to miss some of the biggest moves.
Think about it – what if a currency starts to trend and doesn’t pullback? (How often have you seen this?) If you’re waiting for a pullback that never comes, you’ll never get in on the trade – and you’ll miss a major opportunity.
You Need to Feel Uncomfortable
When Trading in the FOREX market, you should usually feel uncomfortable (and that’s why most traders don’t make these trades) – as no one likes to buy or sell after the market has started trending – but doing this will make you money.
The fact is, the more comfortable you feel when entering a trade at support, the less likely the trade will be a big winner.
During any given year, most of the big moves in currencies, take place from new MARKET HIGHS with NO pullback.
If you base your FOREX Trading strategy around waiting for a warm comfy entry, at key support, you’re going to miss the biggest and most profitable trades – so step away from the losing majority of traders.
Your FOREX trading strategy should give you a different mindset – most traders “buy low and sell high” – so you should “buy high and sell higher” – i.e. you should be doing the opposite of what the crowd are doing.
Don’t worry – most traders lose money, and their FOREX Trading strategy is based on the flawed logic we have just discussed – so not doing what they do makes total sense. Therefore, look for breakouts through support and resistance – and sell and buy respectively.
Its Tough Mentally – But it Makes Money!
Sure, it’s hard to do – the majority don’t agree with you – and no one likes to go against the majority. However, it’s the right thing to do, to make your FOREX trading successful. Think about what we’ve just said, and you’ll see it makes logical sense.
Has this Happened to You?
How many times do traders buy into support, and the market breaks support, stops them out and continues to decline. On the other hand, another common scenario is, price never get to support – it simply goes higher – and the trader misses the chance to get in on the trend.
This type of trading is tough mentally – that’s why 90% of traders don’t do it – they want to be comfortable – well being comfortable is great, but you’ll lose money.
Breakouts work, and if you use them in your FOREX Trading strategy, you won’t be comfortable on entry – but you’ll make money – and that will more than compensate.
The way to succeed in FOREX trading is to do what the losing majority don’t do – then you can join the elite 10% of traders who make the big profits – try it and see!
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BMX – Biking
BMX bikes are a special kind of low bike, with smaller wheels than normal, that can be used for racing. They are designed to be very light weight but also very robust, as well as streamlined for speed. They are also known for being easier to perform tricks with than normal bikes.
BMX stands for bicycle motocross, which refers to the origin of the sport: children saw motocross races on the TV in the ’70s and wanted to emulate them. Since they had no motorbikes of their own, they used their bicycles to race around similar dirt tracks to the ones they had seen. Today the sport is notable for being one of the few sports that is taken part in almost exclusively by the under-10s. Although there are a few older professional BMXers, most good ones move on to other cycling or motorcycling sports.
Among children today, BMXes remain one of the most popular kinds of bikes around, even if they do not compete in competitions, and BMX magazines are some of the biggest-selling hobbyist magazines. This was a surprise to many, as the sport was considered pretty much dead in the ’80s and early ’90s, only to undergo a dramatic revival in the mid-’90s that is still going on now.
BMX is now one of the range of extreme sports like skateboarding and snowboarding, and similar tricks can be performed with the bikes to the ones the boarders do. The sport of Freestyle BMX was invented to allow BMXers to concentrate on doing tricks in skate-parks instead of racing, and has since arguably outgrown the popularity of BMX racing altogether – this is the style that the most famous BMX bikers, Mat Hoffman and Dave Mirra, compete in.
John Gibb is the owner of bmx guides, For more information on bmx’s please check out www.bmx-guides2k.info
What You Always Wanted to Know With Respect to Net Gaming Houses + Games of Chance
The distress of going to a meat space betting hall should suffice to drop the idea if it’s not unavoidable. All those traffic jams, the distress, and tasks at hand cannot really vindicate the trouble only for the opportunity of gambling at meat space betting hall, still, should you happen to be the kind who totally craves card-playing then going for card playing exploiting the web will likely be the answer for you. You do not have to move outside to go for online gambling for everything will be conducted from your home if you possess a fully functional personal computer and a reliable Internet connection. Even so, don’t start off yet because there’s a good many details that you must totally understand in regards to online gambling, notably if you’re still inexperienced.
The top priority that a knowing online risk taker like yours truly will be certain to hunt for is an online gambling Web page of the type which has high winnings. Take care the online gambling Web page is scrutinized by a trustworthy auditing firm so as to evaluate the referenced wagers’ payouts regularly. Always make certain the online wagering Web page holds an authenticated license, such as by probing the officially certified authorization on the casino site’s pages. Should you fail to locate any officially certified authorization on a given online wagering Web page, don’t even think of gambling with this website. Don’t be shy! Learn top no deposit casino games from home!
Yet another major tip would be to place your wager at first with small amounts rather than expend too much straight off. First of all, check the status of this particular online wagering outfit rather than triggering some grave injury, notably in terms of money… And here’s another guideline in regards to virtual casino gambling. It is, expectably, this: to never ignore that online casino betting should be about amusement rather than becoming rich. Gambling in an online casino is not a profession, rather, it is a pastime that is supposed to make you joyful and living fun. After observing the above recommendations, you can go ahead succumb to the temptation of online wagering!
Are You A Beginner Serious About Fitness?
I’ve been barraged with inquires asking how best to set up fitness programs. I thought it might be appropriate to go over the basics of how best to design an effective fitness program. Any sensible body renovation plan need include three elements: progressive resistance training, cardiovascular training and nutrition/diet. Hemingway once quipped, “Quality writing is not interior design, it’s architecture.”
And so it is with physical renovation, we aren’t rearranging the deck chairs on the cruise ship, we’re erecting massive column and moving mounds of earth. The three core elements need be practiced in an even, balanced way: better to do a bit of each then emphasize one element to the exclusion of the other two. The Sisyphus-like mistake fitness acolytes repeat over and over, to their eternal detriment, is to grab onto one of the three core elements and dive into it with a frenzy that lasts about three weeks. Then frustration, boredom and above all else, lack of results, causes the fitness Sisyphus to chuck the whole effort yet again. It doesn’t have to be this way. By structuring your fitness effort in a balanced way, tangible, irrefutable, unarguable results, measurable not imagined, can and will occur.
Elite athletes know that when all three core fitness elements are in place and practiced with due diligence, a physical synergy occurs and results exceed all rational and realistic expectations. The key to progress is balanced application. A plan without implementation is worthless and this approach is set into motion by intense physical and psychological effort. The entire fitness procedure is set into a time frame and through a process of reverse engineering; we start with a realistic goal and work our way backward to a starting point. Effort is synonymous with intensity. When we train we train hard. Effort, intensity, requires we bump up against current physical capacity in some way or another. There are a variety of ways to achieve this. Psychological intensity manifests itself as we apply discipline to adhere to the program guidelines: discipline is used to determine and regulate what we eat, how much we eat and when we eat it. Discipline is used in training to generate a heightened mental attitude during the actual physical training (psyche). When the three elements are present and applied evenly, a wonderful ebb and flow occurs, after a few weeks effort melts away and the process develops a momentum of its own. As results pile up enthusiasm supplants willpower.
The question is, how best to construct a customized training template that synchronizes fitness with the realities of my life? How best to construct a nutritional game plan? How much time will this require each week? How long will this take? How do I structure the actual workouts? How do I deal with the food preparation? All are issues necessary to consider. Before considering details first design a skeletal structure.
Progressive Resistance Training: Optimally done with free weights (for a variety of physiological reasons) progressive resistance training, lifting weights, is not an option. There are 600-plus muscles on the human body and weight training is the best way to tone, strengthen and build muscle. Weight training is critical for muscle health and function. Free weight training is better than training with machines. The idea is to devise an exercise sequence, a series of exercises that purposefully targets as many muscles as possible within the time confines of a session. Train the target muscle intensely and thoroughly then rest that muscle until its healed and recovered before training it again.
Muscle tissue is an active, living tissue and requires fuel in the form of calories to live. Since a pound of muscle requires 30-40 calories per day to survive, by adding 10-pounds of muscle (quite doable, particularly for a beginner) the body will burn an additional 300 to 400-calories per day. This is the number of calories a person would burn in a 30 to 40-minute aerobic session. Adding muscle boosts the basal metabolic rate and a fast metabolism trumps a slow one every single time.
Cardiovascular Training: Separate and a distinct, aerobic exercise builds and strengthen our innards, the internal plumbing. The efficiency of the pumping and cleansing organs are improved by repeated cardio exercise. As a direct result of the increased heart rate arterial pathways are flushed and scoured as torrents of blood are forcibly pumped through the veins. Heart and lungs pump oxygen-saturated blood, nutrient enriched, to living tissue. On the return trip, blood removes muscle waste products, toxins and fatigue-inducing lactic acid.
Purposefully elevate the heart rate to a predetermined target and once the increased HR is achieved, maintain the elevated rate for a specified period of time. Repeated aerobic exercise bestows a multitude of benefits. Endurance and stamina increase dramatically. Digestion and food assimilation improve and when a regular cardio regimen is combined with a performance-eating program, excess body fat is mobilized and burned as fuel. As with progressive resistance, the idea is to systematically increase our performance ceiling. By continually seeking to improve, regardless the cardio mode selected, we trigger the adaptive response and reap real results.
Performance Eating: This phrase is better than ‘dieting’ as dieting implies depravation, starvation and destructive denial. If you train hard, as hard as you are supposed to, you need to eat enough calories to support the level of intense effort. The mistake most personal trainers make is to overwork their clients then underfed them. Too much effort combined with too few calories trigger the continual secretion of cortisol into the bloodstream. This catabolic hormone signals the body that a starvation situation exists and gives permission for the body to start cannibalizing muscle tissue to cover any caloric shortfall.
This is why crash dieters might lose tremendous amounts of body weight but still end up fat. They have become miniaturized versions of their old fat self – just considerably lighter. Optimally we eat high quality nutrients continually throughout the day. Optimally the trainee hovers right at the caloric breakeven point (everyone is different) and optimally the caloric cost of exercise pushes the trainee ever so slightly into negative energy balance. Done this way, stored body fat is called up from caloric storage depots around the body. Muscle mass is built and body fat is systematically oxidized. Again, calorie control is the initial goal. Once caloric content is gotten to the breakeven point, exercise creates a slight deficit. Fat is burned off while muscle is built.
Balance is the Key: In order to generate initial momentum available training time should be allotted equally. The beginner should divide available training time in half. If, for example, a person had four cumulative hours per week available for the body renovation effort, a realistic training split could be structured as follows:
Day I weight train 60-minutes
Day II cardio 30-minutes
Day III cardio 30-minutes
Day IV off
Day V weight train 60-minutes
Day VI cardio 30-minutes
Day VII cardio 30-minutes
Total weights 120-minutes
Cardio 120-minutes
Structure first – then content: Devise the template before beginning to tinker with the actual content. In the progressive resistance portion of our training, our hypothetical beginner would devote two cumulative hours per week. Twice a week this individual would perform a progressive resistance routine one-hour in length that would attack as many muscles as possible, hopefully using a well-thought out free-weight program consisting primarily of compound multi-joint exercises. Cardio would be performed four times per week in 30-minute sessions.
The initial goal could be to elevate the heart rate, regardless to the cardio mode selected, to perhaps 60-70% of age-related heart rate maximum. Over each subsequent week for between 6 to 12 weeks, all benchmarks are pushed upward. Poundage or reps would be conscientiously increased and simultaneously the baseline heart rate would be stair-stepped upward. The adaptive response is triggered as a result of applied intensity and effort. The number of daily feedings is increased. By spreading the day’s calories out over 5-6 feedings the metabolism increases and nutrient assimilation is vastly improved. Stored body fat is mobilized and oxidized.
Who ever said it would be easy? The physical transformation process is not easy but it is doable – assuming you can muster the discipline and gumption. First devise the game plan then allot your time, line up your tools, visit the grocery store and pull the trigger. The devil is in the details but unless you understand the training template and grasp the requisite balance between the three irreplaceable elements, nothing of much physical significance will occur. Architecture first (synergistic balance) then deal with the interior design (component content) – otherwise you’ll become immersed and tangled in one area to the exclusion of the other two irreplaceable elements.
Like Sisyphus pushing that boulder up the steep hill, sooner or later willpower fails and it all rolls back down the hill. Think hard about the architectural structure of our fitness effort and after everyone absorbs the concept of balance into his or her marrow, then consider content specifics within each leg of the Fitness Triad.
Marty Gallagher is a former fitness chat columnist for washingtonpost.com. He is also a former world champion powerlifting coach. Marty has written for publications such as Muscle Media, Muscle & Fitness, and Powerlifting USA. His website, http://www.martygallagher.com, assimilates years of accumulated knowledge from the athletic elite and makes them accessible to the common person. The “Purposeful Primitive” way has been proven effective time after time after time for weight loss, building muscle, increasing strength, and improving health.
No Doc Mortgage Loans – How This Mortgage Could Help You
If you are struggling to find a traditional mortgage loan because you cannot document enough of your income to qualify, you could benefit from a no doc or low doc mortgage loan. Here is what you need to know about this unconventional type of mortgage loan.
Traditional mortgage lenders require documentation of income when applying for a loan. This documentation typically comes in the form of pay stubs from your employer and bank statements showing your assets. Documenting income is difficult for some individuals who or self employed or are paid on a commission basis; these individuals could benefit from no doc mortgage loans.
No doc mortgage loans differ from traditional mortgages in that they require much less documentation of income and assets to qualify. The lender assumes a higher risk in lending; this risk is passed on to the borrower in the form of higher interest rates and lender fees. The no doc mortgage lender may require a higher down payment or points paid to qualify for this loan. No doc mortgages fall into three categories: No Income/Asset loans, No Ratio loans, and Stated Income loans.
Income/Asset loans do not require information about your income, assets, or employment status. The mortgage lender will rely on your credit score and the appraised value of the home to make a decision on your loan application. If your application is approved you can expect your interest rate to be as much as 3% higher. These loans are ideal for individuals with superb credit.
Ratio loans do not require you to state your income; because of this the lender does not look at your debt to income ratio. The lender will require documentation of your assets, debts, and employment status to approve this loan. The interest rate you receive for a no ratio loan is higher than a traditional mortgage, but not as high as a income/asset no doc mortgage loan.
Stated income mortgages enable you to declare your income without providing documentation. The only requirement for this loan is that you document your employment history and state a reasonable income for the type of work you do. The lender will use your assets and debt-to-income ratio to qualify you for the loan; because of this the interest rate you can expect to pay is typically only half of point higher than traditional mortgage financing. You will need excellent credit and a sizeable down payment or up front points to qualify. This type of mortgage is ideal for the self-employed.
To learn more about your mortgage financing options and how to avoid common mortgage mistakes, register for a free mortgage guidebook.
To get your free mortgage guidebook visit RefiAdvisor.com using the link below.
Louie Latour specializes in showing homeowners how to avoid common mortgage mistakes and predatory lenders. For a free copy of “Mortgage Refinancing – What You Need to Know,” which teaches strategies to find the best mortgage and save thousands of dollars in the process, visit Refiadvisor.com.
Claim your free guidebook today at: http://www.refiadvisor.com
Discover the Joy of Inflatable Trampolines this Summer
Big trampolines can be considerably exciting in addition to being able to keep your youngsters attentive & entertained for a lot of hours. Various trampolines aren’t simply manufactured for children, as many can additionally be used by mature people as an aerobic work-out as well as a way for tightening and building leg muscles in unison. Therefore, a trampoline has oodles to provide yearly for the complete family and it’s of no bolt out of the blue that trampolines are such a much loved product during the sunny holidays.
The foremost thing to remember when finding a bouncy trampoline is to make sure it is correct for both the age and ability of those who will likely to be testing it, be it the kids’ or the mature people.
An extra thing to make not of is of course going to be the position of the trampoline. Numerous trampolines these days can require up a considerable degree of space considering you will require about 3 feet of grass roughly around the exterior of the trampoline in order for the youngsters to get off in one piece if they unintentionally fly off.
It is also vital to keep in mind that many garden trampolines will require to be installed on even ground otherwise the durability & safety of the trampoline can be greatly affected. Therefore, quite a few trenches will possibly need to be produced in order for the garden trampoline to stand-up correctly. Toy Shopper has details on a whole range of outdoor trampolines. Therefore let Toy-Shopper.co.uk help you find the trampoline you’re looking for.
Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway
Just like the successful self-help book written by Susan Jeffers, feeling the fear and doing it anyway is one of the secrets to achieving success in business. In fact, it is one of the key secrets to succeeding in almost anything you ever want to do in Life.
In case you weren’t aware of it, you a salesperson. Before you deny this fact till you are blue in the face, let me explain. You are a salesperson if you:
* Promote your own business to others
* Promote the business you work for to others
* Promote yourself to others
Everybody, at any point in time, fits into one of these categories. You are either drumming up sales for your business or one you work for through direct sales or convincing others that the company you work for is a good company. Or you are convincing others about a point of view you might have toward a subject. So, everyday we are all trying to persuade another human in one area of our lives or another.
What does this have to do with fear?
Let’s take the act of persuading somebody to make a purchase from you or your company. This can also include trying to get them to agree to a meeting where you have the opportunity to show a new product to them. For the experts – those of us that do this everyday – this may seem like a walk in the park. But for the rest of us, this can be very intimidating, especially if you are new to the job.
So how do you cope with these feelings? To put it simply, feel the fear, and do it anyway.
It is important to acknowledge the Fear as being real. It is unwise to try and pretend that the feelings are not there, because they are. You know it when your stomach does back flips or your palms start sweating. Instead of trying to convince yourself that those feelings don’t exist, accept that you are having them, and this is the reason why.
*** The moment you face Fear head on, you destroy the power it has over you ***
Your first step in this process is to acknowledge your feelings as being real, BUT not having control over you.
Often our brain’s tendency to fabricate what the other person (client, prospect, friend, etc) will say or do when you present your ideas to them comes next. Will they reject you and slam the door in your face, or slam the phone down in your ear? Will they think that you are wasting their time, and that they wished you had never contacted them?
Truthfully, you might get some people who may think that way, but the reality is, most people are so concerned about what is happening to them and how people think about them, that thoughts about what they will say to you don’t enter their minds.
So, instead of giving your brain time to imagine and dwell on these fantasies, raising the level of fear in your mind even more, get moving. And here is the second secret to feeling the fear and doing it anyway.
*** Action destroys the energy of fear, and motivates you into a definite outcome ***
You may have heard the acronym for Fear? FEAR = False Events Appearing Real. The first time I heard that I was listening to a CD by Anthony Robbins. False events = fantasies, or your imagination.
By stepping up and taking action, everything you do begins to destroy these false images, as your actual reality is vastly different to your imagined one. You will find that your offer to help that company, provide them a new product, or to help show your friends a better way of completing a task, will be received with an open mind. Now this does not guarantee the result you want, but it will guarantee a result. They will either accept your offer, want more information, or decline it.
Let’s look at these results for a second.
* If they accept, then you have achieved your outcome.
* If they want more information, then you can still achieve your outcome.
* If they decline, then you can move on to the next person to achieve your outcome.
99% of the time they will be respectful and courteous to you, even if they really don’t want to hear what you have to say. Not mater what the results though, the imagined events in your head (the Fear), is always ten times worse than the actual events. Now that can be guaranteed.
So next time you start getting nervous about anything you want to ask of someone, be it a sale, a favor or a date, remember this – destroy the fear by taking action. Acknowledge your feelings and decide to change them, not ignore them. One more thing – the people you are talking to have exactly the same fears, and when you truly understand that, then you will know that your actions will help to eradicate their False Events too!
Matthew Tibble is passionate about helping small businesses achieve online business success. With 10 years experience in sales and marketing, he has developed an enlightened approach to business that combines proven philosophies with practical implementation. For more information, email info@businessplanningmadeeasy.com, or visit http://www.businessplanningmadeeasy.com
7 Reasons Why eCards Suck!
As a fan of both the classical and the modern, I interchange between both. However I believe there are certain times when each has its place – and I have to say that today I decided eCards suck at Christmas!
Here’s 7 reasons why:
- They’re lazy. [They say… "I was in a hurry, and forgot to get you a real card."]
- They’re cheap. [They say… "You're not worth a couple of dollars for a card and a stamp."]
- They get blocked by email spam filters. [Oh joy!]
- They’re impersonal. [Nothing says "Your special" like a handwritten eCard. It just warms the heart doesn't it?]
- They require the reader to work for your “special gift.” ‘Dear Bob, Simply visit our online eCard store to download your eCard [number 898323232423] using pass code TRX46546′.” Golly, just thinking about logging onto yet another online retail store to be bombarded by promotional messages while trying to find my “special gift” just makes feel so festive!
- They’re temporary. And who wants to print out their eCard on the office laser printer anyway? Whoever said that ‘Toner Black’ is the new green & red was seriously disturbed! [My wife likes to put our Christmas cards on display to show friends how popular we are
Just try that with an eCard!] - And lastly… Email is ‘quick’ and ‘convenient’ – Christmas cards shouldn’t be…Take a moment a show someone you really care.
And if you’ve missed the mail, just pickup the phone and call them instead. At this time of year you should connect… AND DON’T YOU DARE LEAVE VOICEMAIL!
Happy Christmas… and YES… I did send real cards this year.
JAMES BURCHILL is an experienced Internet Marketing & Business Development consultant providing strategic and tactical services to select clients seeking to architect their on and offline marketing success. James is a published author, a passionate advocate of technology and the Internet, as well as an avid study of classical advertising and marketing strategies. Prior to establishing his own consulting practise, he served as VP of Professional Services and VP of IT & Consulting and implemented multi-million dollar solutions for Oracle, the British and US Governments, Rolls Royce UK and many others. James even taught Computer Science at one of Toronto’s leading colleges and continues to coach private clients on a select basis. For more articles and information visit James’ blog at http://blog.jamesburchill.com or checkout his main site at http://www.jamesburchill.com