Knowing the Power of Positive Thinking – Positive-Attitude
Knowing the Power of Positive Thinking
In the self-help and wellness industry, a mission has been designed to aid those around us to be more fulfilled, more joyful, more confident?you name it. The adage, think positive, be positive is one that millions of people have taken on, at least in thought. And though positive thinking can certainly push aside our negative thought patterns that spiral us to a sense of low self-esteem, helplessness, hopelessness and a pattern of feeling stuck or trapped in a life we would like to change, thinking alone will not help.Without action, your thoughts are merely stepping stones to a dream.
~Gina KovacsSound simple? Because it is. Wherever your thoughts lay will certainly manifest itself by words and deeds. To take a big step forward, begin by changing your thoughts, your words and your actions.I have a client who would like to lose ten pounds. She would like to be, in effect, thinner. In asking her how she would feel by losing ten pounds, she explained she would feel healthy, fit, and attractive. "On top of her game"; I was excited for her. Being "on top of your game" and saying you are on top of your game means that anything you say and do has to be that in which you are on top of your game. Would a person who sees themselves on top of their game eat a Big Mac, French fries and Coke? I doubt it.When an aspect of your life is at a point when you can't stand the frustrations of it one moment longer, you are ready for that change. Let's take losing weight for example. When you are at a point that you can not stand looking in the mirror, angry at the fact that you can not get into your jeans, and frustrated to even look at those infomercials that show before and afters for the hundredth time of people who have successfully achieved their goals, you are at a pivot point for change.Remember: If someone at any time has ever done
whatever it is you would like to accomplish,
then you can do it too.When you have a direction and are excited about that direction, that pivot point has power. Don't ever think for one moment that you can not make changes in your life that will gain you greater confidence, fulfillment, and inner peace. One small step can begin a domino effect. It's that simple.Life coaching has helped many people reach their goals. My company, Living by Design, is the product of my own experiences and of those around me. We are in a world of radical change. If we don't take the time to stop, take a moment to really look at our life and make the changes needed in order to have the most joyful and exhilarating experience possible, life will surely pass us by in a blink and we will have missed out on what "could have been".If you are at a pivot point ready for change in any area of your life or would like to learn more about how you can begin to live your life by your design, please contact me @ 373-2815 or @ gina@livingalifebydesign.comGina Kovacs is a Life Coach, certifying through the Coaching Academy of North America, Inc., specializing in the fields of personal, relationship, spiritual, and weight loss coaching. Gina holds a BA in Philosophy from Siena College and is an author and motivational speaker in the field of personal and life coaching. Please logon to http://www.livingalifebydesign.com for more information on how
Living by Design can help you.
How Knowing Your Customer via Direct Marketing Helps Your Online Business to Prosper – Internet-Marketing
How Knowing Your Customer via Direct Marketing Helps Your Online Business to Prosper
What is direct marketing? Put simply, direct marketing is a process of recording information about your customer's response to a planned marketing activity.Increased computer usage has allowed direct marketing to evolve and to rise dramatically. For your online business, to begin with, you design your sales letter or craft your emails to elicit a certain response. You then test and track your customer's feedback by the actions (or inaction) that he/she takes. The tracking process is easily accomplished via coding your online campaigns and can be fully automated.As you gather more information about your customer's online behaviour, you are able to tweak your sales ad accordingly.In a nutshell, the internet makes it possible for you to track your individual online communication with a customer and to know what happens over time.With direct marketing skills, you will be able to acquire and retain your customers. There is less marketing wastage as you know what, how and where to roll out your online marketing campaign for the best response. Having good knowledge about your customers will definitely put you ahead of your pack!So what are the qualities that constitute a good online customer? He/she is:* Open to your offers.
* Repeat buyer.
* Buyer of your front end / back end products.
* Easy and low cost to maintain.
* High revenue dollar value per acquisition cost.
* Loyal to you.
* Swear by you!The reverse is true of a poor online customer. He/she is:* Not open.
* A complainer.
* A single transaction buyer.
* An easy product switcher to your competitor's.
* Not loyal.
* Quibbles a lot on price.
* Expensive to acquire and expensive to maintain.
* Low revenue dollar value per acquisition cost.How then, do you pinpoint a good customer against a bad one? What kind of information do you need to know about your customers? Here are 8 critical but very basic information that you must gather:1. Who are they?
2. What do they buy?
3. When do they buy?
4. How do they buy?
5. Why do they buy?
6. Where do they buy?
7. Are they satisfied?
8. What is their buying power like?One way of getting the information that you need is to simply conduct a survey on your mailing list. Hot tip! Make it easy for your subscribers to fill up the survey and give them an incentive to do so!The same pareto principle should apply to your online business: the 80/20 rule. The principle just means that 80% of your sales are generated by 20% of your customers.If this is the the case, instead of spending huge sums on customer acquisition, it may be a more prudent measure to spend resources on knowing and understanding more of this 20% segment. Cultivate good relationships with this 20% segment and reward the customers here for staying true to you. (Again, this knowledge is only possible if you have surveyed or kept track of your entire customer base.)All in, having happy, loyal and satisfied customers will result in a business that prospers. And you can achieve this through direct marketing and knowing what, how and where to please your online customers!Evelyn Lim is the publisher of weekly newsletter "Mapping You to Success". She aims to equip her readers with skills to acquire multiple sources of online income. To subscribe to her newsletter, please visit http://www.e-BizMap.com.
Or, read her blog "Online home business journals from Singapore" at http://www.EvelynLim.com for more information.
Knowing Your Boundaries – Public-Speaking
Knowing Your Boundaries
While delivering a speech, it is clear that we will be judged and perceived in a certain way based on our ideas, words, and body language. Taking a risk and really thinking out of the box can be quite rewarding and at the same time, it can be a disaster. The famous quote "there is a thin line between genius and insanity" probably stems from this. In order to remain on the genius side it is important to recognize our boundaries.When I was in University, I had a friend named Ricardo, who was an exchange student from Mexico. One day Ricardo had to present his case study on Giant Tiger, a large Canadian retailer, similar to Zellers. In my four years of University, I had never seen such a lively, compelling, entertaining, crazy, off the wall and extremely humorous presentation. It definitely was not your typical dry business student presentation. It was so different that halfway through his presentation; he stepped out of the classroom for a couple of minutes and returned wearing a tiger costume. Sure it was strange, different, gutsy, and slightly ridiculous; however, for the first time all semester, every single student in the room was paying attention to the presentation. The audience laughed the whole way through and once it was over, every single student applauded with great enthusiasm.Now, let me put more emphasis on the last sentence: every single STUDENT applauded. There was one critical person that was not amused by Ricardo's show ? the teacher. In her eyes, Ricardo acted completely unprofessionally and she believed that he was mocking the case study. She was definitely not happy, and as a result, she gave Ricardo a failing grade.Now, let me introduce another story to prove my point. This is a story I heard from a doctor in New York City. He explained to me that while he was a resident at a reputable University, one of the most popular teachers was fired for making inappropriate comments during his lectures. The news was shocking to all the students because this was the kind of professor that would apparently put his heart and soul into his profession; he was the kind of professor you would be lucky to get once in a lifetime. The students could not believe that the most recognized and remarkable teacher from the faculty had been let go for making too many jokes in his classroom. He was dedicated and committed to transferring his knowledge in a pleasurable way and the students loved him because he had the capability of mixing humour with technical issues. I guess he told one too many jokes because the faculty committee decided to let him go simply because they felt he wasn't adequately representing the university.Both of these stories are quite similar, and unfortunately, they both end in an unpleasant way. The positive thing is that we can learn a lot from their mistakes. Ultimately, they both failed to identify their hidden audience. Each presenter did not consider the effect of their eccentricities. There is nothing wrong with being different; however we must be aware of the boundaries we are about to cross. Remember this when the time comes for you to prepare your next talk and you feel like adding a spark of creativity. I strongly recommend that you remember to consider everyone who will be touched by your presentation. The result will be that you will not cross that invisible line which exists between genius and insanity.Martin Perras, martin@leadersinstitute.ca, is a Management Consultant and President of The Leader's Institute Canada, http://www.leadersinstitute.ca. He offers management training and consulting to companies in the US and Canada. He can be reached at 1-800-872-7830 x103.