I believe the rationale for this change was two fold:

• If we called it that being selling by a different name people who can’t sell will feel better about selling.
• The desire to remove the slick image of the used car salesman or the pushy salesman.

And, as in physics for every action there is an opposite reaction, the reaction has been that finding competent sales professionals is still very difficult. A recent survey by Manpower revealed that the most difficult position to fill is a sales representative. Also, sales training continues to be a highly searched Internet term and probably a real need for small business to large Fortune 1000 companies.

After coaching sales professionals and working with small businesses that are trying to build a sales force to increase their business growth, the term business development is not helping to develop sales professionals. Why, because the term does not deal directly with the desired end result - a closed sale.

Words have a lot to do with how we perceive the world and ourselves. A job title of Business Development means that you believe that you could be involved in anything from holding the door open for a customer to speaking with the local government or chamber about economic development. However, a job title of sales representative means that you are directly involved and connected to selling a specific good or service. There is no question for yourself or others what you do. You are a sales person. Your actions are focused on securing the sale and not just part of the sale.

What I have also discovered is that the title of Business Development has resulted in a push back to the entrepreneur or business owner. The business development person enjoys meeting the prospects, taking them out for lunch, dropping by to chitchat and the list goes on. However, when it comes to securing the lead, developing the proposal, covering the stalls and objections and closing the sale, in many cases this falls back into the business owner’s lap. Business development people enjoy the relationship building part of the sales process, but fall short in many cases in securing the desired results.

To change this negative trend means to return to calling sales people sales people. After all, isn’t that what they do, make and close sales?

Leanne coaches individuals, small businesses and large organizations to double performance in warp time. If you truly don’t believe doubling your results is possible, read some case studies where individuals and businesses took the risk and experienced unheard of results.

From April 10 to April 15, 2006, Leanne is offering a 30 minute complimentary coaching sesssion to the first 20 Ezine Readers only. Visit http://www.processspecialist.com/ for the email address.

Just imagine, if you could secure one new client or breakthrough that one roadbloack, what would that mean to you? Then, take a risk and give a call at 219.759.5601 to experience incredible results.

Creativity asks of us a certain level of curiousity. Every new piece of art, music or writing is unknown when we sit down (or stand up) to create it.

When we approach that blank canvas, empty stage or notebook paper in a state of curiousity, we’re truly opening the door to the muse - to our “inner artist”, our “higher power” and the creative flow of the universe.

In “How to think like Leonardo da Vinci”, Michael Gelb tells us just how curious Leonardo was. In fact, curiousity is one of the “seven steps to genius” that Gelb walks us through in this fascinating book.

da Vinci suggested three different ways of looking at your own creative work, so that you can approach it objectively and with curiousity.

First he suggested you look at your work in a mirror, so it seems like someone else created it.

This changing of perspective is a very effective avenue into curiousity. I often suggest coaching clients imagine that someone else (a good friend or family member) is coming to them with the very situation they’re having trouble with, and I ask them what they would advise this person.

Immediately they’re spouting all sorts of wisdom that they just couldn’t see when it was their own life they were looking at. They needed to see the situation from a new perspective, and to get curious about it.

Secondly, he suggested that you walk away from your creative work and come back with fresh eyes. In the meantime, while you’re away from it, you’re out interacting with the world, engaging with nature, people, sights, sounds and smells from the familiar and comforting to the exotic and unexpected.

I believe this is what Julia Cameron was hoping for us when she suggested we make regular “artists’ dates” with ourselves. By filling up with new experiences, we have so much more to offer our creative work when we come to it. One short day out in the world changes us, sometimes slightly and sometimes significantly.

And lastly, da Vinci suggested you study the work from a distance. This is similar to another tool I use in my coaching. I invite my clients to imagine they’re atop a great mountain, looking down at the timeline of their life, or maybe at one specific situation. Observing a situation from this unique vantage point, far removed from the reality of the situation, often reveals fascinating and extremely helpful information.

What stops our curiousity?

“You cannot create experience. You must undergo it.” - Albert Camus

1. Making Assumptions

I think we spend most of our life trying NOT to be curious, but instead, to have it all “figured out”. We’d rather have our experiences be laid out neatly, like a screenplay, than actually strap ourselves in for the inevitable surprises, bumps & bruises, embarrassments and pain that accompany a life fully lived.

It feels much safer to assume that we KNOW what’s going on, what’s going to happen, what to do when it does, and what other people will do.

Yet this leaves us in constant battle when people and things don’t behave the way we thought they would (or should).

We spend so much time thinking ahead, or thinking back and evaluating, that we forget about being present in the moment and experiencing life as it comes.

2. Wanting To Be Right

People who are trying to be curious seek out other opinions and perspectives. People who are overly attached to their own assumptions about life avoid other opinions and perspectives, particularly ones that might challenge their assumptions.

How willing are you to be wrong, for the sake of your creativity?

How can getting curious help you express yourself creatively and be more prolific as a creative artist?

In “The Science of Getting Rich”, Wallace Wattles tells us that just like everything else in nature, we humans are always striving to become more, to advance and develop. Once we learn one thing, we want to go on and learn the next. In other words, we have an innate curiousity that, once awakened and given permission to speak, will lead us to the development of our full potential.

Imagine starting the day with one of these two thoughts:

1. How am I ever going to get all of my work done today?

2. I wonder how much work I’ll get done today, where that work will take me, what surprises I’ll encounter along the way, and how my work will fit into the world.

The first thought is very limiting. It shows that I have a very set idea of what I want to (or think I SHOULD) accomplish in the next 24 hours. The underlying anxiety of it shows that I doubt I can do it, and that I see anything unexpected or seemingly unrelated to my work as an unwelcome distraction or hindrance.

The second thought begins with the words “I wonder” and invites curiousity, openness, flexibility and creative flow.

How will you invite more curiousity into your creative life today?

Originally published on the Creativity Portal website (http://www.creativity-portal.com)

© Linda Dessau, 2006.

Linda Dessau, the Self-Care Coach, helps artists enhance their creativity by addressing their unique self-care issues. Feel like your creativity is blocked? Sign-up for your complimentary copy of the popular e-course, “Roadblocks to Creativity” by visiting http://www.genuinecoaching.com.

When we stare at a blank sheet of paper, we often think, “What am I going to write?” A few minutes later, it becomes, “Oh my goodness, I can’t think of anything to write!” And several minutes later, it turns into something like, “Write, dangnabit! Write! Write! WRITE!”

Some writers call this writer’s block. But I call it the “Writing-Muse-Needs-A-Kick” syndrome.

And that’s exactly what we’re going to do with your writing muse gone truant. We’re going to kick her back into gear so you can fill up that blank page.

Here are 7 writing muse kickers for you to try right now:

1. First Line: Begin a story with “There was once a chance I didn’t take…”

2. Cliche Starter: Weave a story or poem around the cliche, “keep your powder dry.”

3. Power of Metaphor: What does “a string of laughter” make you think of?

4. Proverb Mix: “Beauty breaks the camel’s back.”

5. Story Words: Use the words “pianist, pencil, high-rise building, running shoes” in a story.

6. What If? Story: What if you’re going to write a story about betrayal, with a young man as the main character and a locket as the key object? Set your story on a ranch.

7. Quick Prompt: Write about what you’d say to an uninvited guest.

About The Author

Copyright (c) 2003-2004 Shery Ma Belle Arrieta-Russ

For more similar kickers to help start off your writing or even fill up that page you’ve been staring at since yesterday, pick up a copy of Shery’s software for writers, WriteSparks! Lite for free => http://writesparks.com

Well, you could. But you decided to do it yourself.

Where do you begin? How do you put it down on paper?
Use the following tips to unlock your inner vow-maker.

Study The Classics

Do you want completely new vows?
Or a more personalized version of an old favorite?

Using an existing format is much easier than starting from scratch. You can rewrite the words. Or add a few extra sentences.

Investigate vows from other cultures to get more ideas.

Writing your vows from scratch? Here are some suggestions.

Declare Your Love

This is a marriage. Be romantic.
Your vows don’t have to be poetry. Write a simple “John, you’re the most wonderful man I’ve ever met, and I love you.” It’s moving.

Or you could mention a defining moment in your history together:
“Ever since the time you [whatever it was] I knew you were the one for me.”

If you’re still drawing a blank, list your fiancée’s good points.
“John, you’re the kindest, most loving man I’ve ever met.”

Words of Commitment

You’ve declared your love in your vows. Now say how long you plan on sticking to the marriage.

Here are some examples:
“I promise to walk through life with you.”
“I promise to stick with you through the good times and bad.”

Special Circumstances

Are there step-children? Consider including them in your marriage vows.
“I promise to love your children as if they were my own.”

Draw up a list of values you share. Are you religious? Are you dedicated to a cause? Is there anything you would like to vow to do together?

Humor

Hey, it’s your wedding. Liven up your vows if you want.
Just don’t turn the marriage into a big joke.

One joke per person will make your wedding memorable yet dignified.

Don’t get too specific. There is such a thing as too much information.
And don’t promise anything you don’t want to do.

Your spouse might hold you to it!

Examples of marriage-safe vows:
“I promise to share the remote sometimes.”
“I promise to cook at least once every ten years.”

Remember: Hedge hedge hedge.

Keep It Short

In marriage it’s better to vow less and deliver more. Ditto for your wedding.
You might forget long vows during the ceremony. And who wants to go up there with a big sheet of paper?

Writing your own marriage vows is an intense experience. But it doesn’t have to make you crazy. Use these tips and you’ll cover your bases. And create beautiful, personal vows. Even if you aren’t Shakespeare.

Amy Lee Johnson is a freelance writer that often contributes to Wedding Vows 4U - a site that offers information on such topics as writing wedding vows and selecting wedding gowns.

So why is the “Pay for Content” model such an attractive one?

1. Quick and Low Cost Startup: Membership Websites can be up and running in just a couple of weeks, depending on your computer and html skills, maybe less. The cost associated with starting a membership site is pretty small compared to most other business models. In most cases you can start one with just a few hundred dollars.

2. High Profit Percentage: Membership Websites have fairly low overhead and do not necessarily need any employees other than yourself. That means after expenses such as membership software, hosting, etc… you average from 50% to 80%. This extremely high profit percentage.

3. Continual Income: One of the biggest problems business face is maintaining income and cash flow on a continual basis. Constantly seeking out new customers is time consuming and expensive. With a Membership Website you can have a steady income month after month without having to continually get new customers.

4. Quick Turn Around on Investment: One of the biggest advantages of a Membership site is the quick return on investment possibilities. For example… Let’s say it costs you $300 to get started and around $100/month to maintain the site. If you only charged $19.95/month for a subscription it would only take you 16 subscribers to cover the costs of start up. Not only that, but every month after that you would be making $200 a month from the same 16 subscribers… That’s $2,400 a year. That may not sound like a lot of money but what if you had 50 or 100 subscribers. Your income quickly rises to thousands a month.

Don’t think you know anything people are willing to pay for…well you do. Their are membership website on every topic from business to fishing to socks (yes that’s right socks, like the one’s on your feet). The good news is that the smaller niche market is for your information the more likely people with be willing to pay for it. Not only that but it usually means you can charge more as well.

If the leads are of the “they-come-to-you” type, the above description will suffice. But, if the leads are generated by mail, ad or phone, a trained professional is necessary for any predictable success. A trained professional is defined here as one who can paint a logical justification, instill a sense of urgency and handle objections - and get sales!

Compensation for such individuals is a complicated situation. Following are a few sensible ground rules:

1. Sales are the lifeblood of any business, and productive sales people are valuable professionals and should be paid accordingly.

2. Compensation should be based upon the better sales people earning over $60,000 per annum (some earn $200,000 - and deserve it), and as open-ended as possible.

3. Turn-over kills you in two ways - a) retraining is expensive and inefficient, b) consider where the sales person you lost went - straight to the competition! It happens that revenge, as distasteful as it is, is one of the greatest motivators.

4. Sales professionals work for recognition. Money is only one form of recognition, and a necessary one, at that, but most sales professionals would work for approval.

5. Sales professionals who are very productive are not necessarily suited for sales management. Sales management is a particular skill of leadership, for which the average sales professional is not suited. There is a gray area in paying sales people. You will want to pay them well, to keep them, but not necessarily to the point of having their incomes dictate price increases or margin decreases.

The measuring rod is a combination of two factors. One is ease of replacement- what degree of difficulty exists in finding someone who can do the same job for the same or less. The other factor is your ability to weather the negatives of a turn-over, including the impact on morale. All compensation packages should be on a graduated plan, upward. That is, more sales should make for more commission (percentage), not less. There are far too many companies that limit sales professionals to earning no more than a sales manager. This practice is bad management, destined for failure. Sales professionals should be paid both regular commissions and bonuses on a quarterly basis. Having bonuses on a weekly basis dilutes the impact, because they come to be expected. Take care of your sales people!

Sample Compensation - adapt proportionally $350 per sale (or 8%) $50 extra per sale, beginning with three in one week $50 extra per sale, beginning with twelve in one month $50 extra for a self-generated lead, including referrals (if the sales professional sets the appointment) $50 extra if no offer is used (assuming you saved $100+).

Daniel Wadleigh is a nationally published marketing consultant and has programs for start-up and existing businesses including effective web sites, e-mail/database, other non-internet ways to drive them to your website, and low cost ways to get more new customers.

Go to: http://www.more-new-customers.com to get free copy of “Marketing to Men vs. Women- the 8 different responses” and a Free copy of “Market Research- 7 Questions to Ask to Start-up and 7 to Ask to Improve Any Business.”

Yeah - positive feedback from your website visitors is great but let’s face it - we’re all in this ultimately to make more money.

Websites do fail. Lots of them fail. You will see many of them every day. Some of them fail to inspire or enthuse. Some fail to get found at all. Some fail to get completed. Some fail to understand the needs of the people visiting them. But there is an underlying common reason for all these failings..

“A Website? Yeah - We Got One Of Those Three Years Ago”

I guarantee you will have heard something similar to this statement before. Some people take the viewpoint that a website is something that gets done, the box gets ticked and that’s it taken care of. They get a website because everyone else has one and it seems like the right thing to do.

They don’t have a better reason than that. The information they put on the website is copied directly out of their latest brochure complete with company history, MD’s mug shot and crappy photo of the offices. And that’s it. The site goes live and they tick the box..

“The Internet Sucks - We Don’t Get Any Business From It”

That’s what these people say three years after their brochure website went live. It’s been unchanged in all that time, it uses Frames, has a counter on it, has some ‘funky’ scrolling text across the top and an early 90s colour scheme. Why on earth haven’t they got any business from it?!

And this my friends, is the number one reason most websites fail - the business owners treat the decision to get a website like it’s the least important thing they will ever do. A necessary evil that has to be completed to keep up with current trends. Businesses like this will never get any business from their website and they don’t deserve to!

Your Competitor Is Driving A Truck Towards You - Stand Still And You’re Dead

It’s that simple. Keep moving. Developing a website that brings you business is not a task it is a lifelong dedication to ongoing learning, application of new knowledge and continuous improvement. Keep moving, keep learning, keep improving your website, keep it up to date, overhaul it every two years, implement the latest technologies and industry practices.

Just remember what Darwin said;

“It is not the strongest or the bravest that survive. It is those that are most adaptable to change.”

Stand still and you will get hit by the truck. Keep moving and you have a chance to remain in the race for success. Don’t let laziness or fear of change lead to your failure..

Michael Cheney is Author of The Website Marketing BibleTM. Take the Free 7-Part Course “Internet Marketing Made Easy” and get your free sampler of ‘The Bible’ here: http://www.websitemarketingbible.com/marketing/

The translation says: Woon je in Wnseradiel of Heeze-Leende en hebt u BKR verleden. Lenen met en BKR codering is nog nooit zo gemakkelijk geweest. Haal snel een andere caravan met geld lenen met negatieve bkr vermelding, 253498 euro is geen obstakel om te lenen. Van Renkum tot Bellingwedde, geld lenen met en BKR codering is altijd mogelijk.

This is the reason why now you need to check up on and assure if you can have a credit loan at a fine percent rate. Be fresh today to investigate if you have a nice deal or if you don’t with the merchant bank that offers you a loan. 5.4 percent interest rate may appear so fairish but will that be changeless after you’re going to refund your credit loan. Many of the merchant banks wil show you a rate that is looking honest but feels mischievously or so after a period of time.

Keywords What will make people race to your site faster than the speediest Internet connection? Keywords! These words and phrases indicate what your site is about and contain more authority than a novice can imagine. Suitable keywords will feature terms and words used in the text on your home page. Each subsequent page you create should have its own set of keywords. Overture.com has a feature where it will show you just how popular the keywords that you’ve chosen really are. This is updated on a monthly basis, but you can also find the week’s most popular keywords. http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion Also, investigate http://www.nichebot.com

What is your site all about? What words best describe your writing, preferred genre, hobbies, etc.? What words would a person use to find your web site? For example, if you are building a web site to show you have screenplays for sale, the term “screenplay” using the overture site listed above, you’ll see that this term was searched 12,000+ times, followed by “screenplay writing” 3,100+ times. On a highly ranked site these terms will be used along with others containing variations such as: screenwriter, scriptwriter, scripts, TV/Film screenwriter, etc. Thinking like a potential viewer Hollywood insider, producer, potential writing partner, etc., is the key to keywords.

Meta Tags Description When you accurately describe what is on each of your web pages in the meta tags description area on each page of your site, this one or two sentence description will help anyone who discovers it in a search engine. You are doing your viewer a favor and they will return it by stopping by for a visit. For that screenplay site, here is what you might add for the home page: “screenplays in action, drama, romance and horror genres for sale.” Using descriptive keywords is what works. This comes to only 10 words, or 64 characters including spaces. Some search engines accept up to 250 characters, others will allow far less. Keeping it within 100 characters or about 15-20 words is recommended.

Web Page Titles As a writer, you’re used to titles. But they aren’t just for books, articles, movies and royalty. When designing your site you’ll be able to name each page so that online visitors will locate your home page or other pages you’ve created. What you call your web site is as important as what you name your literary masterpiece[s]. Be as descriptive as possible. You probably want your writing site to have the term “writing” or “writer” or “author” in the title. But you also want to be more specific - such as “screen writer,” “technical writer,” “novel writer,” “novelist,” and so on.

The marked lack of understanding page titles has repeatedly shown up as I’ve seen web sites with “New Page” or “Page 2″ appear along the top of my browser. The web designer didn’t fathom the benefits he or she had in naming pages. Naming your pages will get you more online traffic.

Alt Tags These little tidbits of information that are hidden from view are other ways to boost your search engine rankings. In the book ‘Search Engine Optimization for Dummies’ by Peter Kent, he writes: “You use the tag to insert images into Web pages. This tag can include the ALT= attribute, which means alternative text.” You can see them on many sites when you hold your cursor over an image. Mr. Kent explains that originally these tags were used back in the good old days of dialup-only access and connections being so poky that by adding text to the image it adequately described what the viewer was unable to see. Also, these tags are spoken to the visually impaired, so inserting them is a mark of kindness. But, to be frank, the best reason to add those alt tags is to have the search engines read them and decide your site should be ranked even higher than if no alt tags were included in the image[s]. Don’t add too many of them, just enough to be able to describe that photo of you as: “award winning novelist [your name] has new book on bestseller list” or something of that nature.

Links It’s not about having a virtual link farm on your web site; it’s about attracting relevant links. If you want to keep your site within the mainstream and family-friendly sites, be careful of where you are linking. Many search engines and directories won’t accept sites with adult themes, gambling sites, or anything advocating illegal activities, etc. So, try to keep it clean.

Oftentimes you’ll read about a site having a Google PR [PageRank] of a number from 0-10, with 10 being considered the best. When one has reached a page rank status of 3 or 4, the links manager or site owner, might not welcome newcomers. This would mean your site, as that’s what someone with a brand new web site is - a 0 page rank. But all sites begin that way and here you’re learning what Google looks for when it ranks pages so your PR can start moving up. PR is determined by many factors including links coming from ‘other’ sites to yours, longevity of site, quality of information and keywords found within the site, and the number of pages your site contains. In other words, Google’s search engine [or any major or minor search engine or directory] will spot a 100-page site sooner than it will a single web page.

Many web masters create a links page and add anything that comes along. That’s not the best idea and Google doesn’t list more than 100 links per page anyway. Others will separate their links page into subjects so that a gardening web site is grouped in an appropriate category, as would a financial site being with others within the same category.

A better way to add links is to have them on appropriate pages that can be reached from your main page. For example, if you’re designing a writing site that caters to children’s books and have a page devoted to children’s artwork, add links to that page for such related items as: classic children’s stories, art education, art for kids, children’s clothing, baby products, and other topics that are both closely and somewhat-closely related. This would be helpful for both you and the other company’s site you are linking with. It will also ensure that your children’s artwork page will get more visitors than if there were no links listed there.

While it’s advantageous to have others linking to you, this is more difficult to do when you’re an unestablished online presence. But that is why the following three sections should be of assistance.

Announce Your Web Site Analyze your site at http://www.sitereportcard.com Keep statistics on a weekly or monthly basis to monitor your site’s progress.

1. Press Release - Writing a press release is a great way to increase your web site traffic and generate more awareness of your site. Make sure your press release conveys what your site is about and look at the writing tips section at each press release site as to glean information on how to write effective press releases. Your press release will be seen by more people, get your site put into the search engines faster, and you can follow the statistics and upload photos if you pay for the service.

http://express-press-release.com

http://www.free-press-release.com

http://www.i-newswire.com

http://www.openpr.com

http://www.press-world.com

http://www.prfree.com

http://www.prleap.com

http://www.prnuke.com

http://www.prweb.com

2. Write Articles - Getting your web site noticed by writing articles is another effective method for announcing your web site’s arrival. Not only do your articles establish online credibility, you should be able to get your words out there more easily than those with no understanding of what constitutes effective online words. Another huge advantage to writing articles is that links are pointed back to your site from larger, more highly ranked sites.

http://www.articlealley.com

http://www.articleblast.com

http://www.articlecity.com

http://www.articlesbeyondbetter.com

http://www.authorarticles.com

http://www.businesshighlight.org

http://www.e-syndicate.net

http://www.ezinearticles.com

http://www.goarticles.com

http://www.homebiz-direct.com/articleWriting.html

http://www.homehighlight.org

http://www.isnare.com

http://morganarticlearchive.com

http://www.searchwarp.com

http://www.submityournewarticle.com

http://www.womensarticles.com

3. Submit to Search Engines & Directories - This is a way to allow more than your immediate family and friends see your site. When providing information about your site to these directories, you will oftentimes have to include a reciprocal link on your site. There are paid search engines and directories that will get your web site indexed within a matter of days, but many of them will also do the same service, only taking weeks or month, for no charge. Here is a comprehensive one that will get you started: http://www.isedb.com/html/Web_Directories

Web Rings Signing up with web rings can bring you more traffic. There are more than 2000 writers web sites alone on webring.com, so this is an excellent place to begin. Adding your site to a web ring requires basic knowledge and an administrator will first approve your site, a process that can take a few hours or longer, depending upon the size of the community. http://dir.webring.com/rw

Once you have designed and optimized your site for your online audience, revel in the fact that you have accomplished this task and always be prepared to update and expand your web site. After all, you never know who might show up…

As a result, you constantly end up having a mobile phone which is either too high priced or a cell phone which is not perfect for your cell phone call profile. And so we discuss in this article about the two very most principal things that individuals should consistently look at when making cell phone purchases. This might well help cell phone customers land a mobile phone that at least meets the basic criteria folk are looking for.

The total mobile UK market is booming on the basis of spectacular features like cameras that keep getting added everyday. Still, an incredibly large majority of people get mobile phones based on their appearance, brand and breathtaking hype only to regret later when people see that their outstanding cellphone lacks an extremely standard feature like sending emails or ringtones. Innumerable lovely expensive mobiles sell on the basis of marketing, brand image and aesthetics at prices that are unjustified given the lack of features. For example the very latest Apple iphone does not let people forward text messages to all. Unfortunately, Apple Iphones target audience, early 20s, gets to regret the removal of this feature only after spending weeks worth of wages on it. So make sure that your magnificent new mobile phone has all the features like mp3 players you require before buying it. Since mobile corporations will never tell people about the unbelievable features like mp3 players that their mobile phones lack, researching online mobile phone write ups is the very best way to do it.