exQUIZZme !

If you were to listen to commentators from the last few years you would then be pardoned for thinking that social networking web sites such as Facebook and MySpace had been the sole way people today could commune online. It almost feels that before those two sites came out all we could do was send emails as well as phone each other. But this does the internet a great disservice because way before web 2 . came out there was already a huge, thriving network of like-minded folks conversing and collaborating in many diverse ways.

Possibly one of the most common techniques of discussion and one that is actually flourishing nowadays is the ‘forum’. Forums are essentially discussion boards where individuals can start a ‘thread’ and other people add to it, or maybe just begin a enormous debate about the subject at hand. Because of the substantial range of topics in the world as well as the particular huge quantity of individuals with access to the World wide web, generally there is usually an almost unlimited number of boards that you could be a part of, several being much more popular compared to some.

Boards could be significantly positive to our search engine optimisation campaign simply because they may perform not one but two tasks in your mission. Firstly, they could often be a excellent place to obtain backlinks from (and hyperlinks support our SEO ranking) and subsequently, as a result of social discussion one can possibly acquire fresh leads in addition to brand new customers.

But including hyperlinks to your own online community communications is typically a massive ‘no’ in several boards, so very much not unlike social networking, you need to often be a little bit wise with regards to it.

One area of the website that most forums contain in common is actually the ‘signature’. This is a area of code that gets added to every single post you make and many times you are able to add back links to it. A word of caution though – a few boards scowl on adding signatures in the beginning and it’s really worth getting involved in the community forum initially and getting a little bit of a name for yourself ahead of adding any. In fact, many boards impose a guideline whereby you should have put up a specific quantity of comments before they will permit you to add any kind of signature to your posts.

What you need to remember is that while you are involved in some kind of community, you’re effectively a guest on their system and of course , if you do anything which goes in opposition to their particular policies or integrity, they are quite inside of their own rights to get rid of you from the forum. There is certainly additionally another thing to look for – the ‘no-follow’ tag.

The Internet world of forums is actually divided virtually evenly between those who really like website visitors and their links, along with those who do not. It’s a chicken and egg thing simply because individuals who might positively support you to post links upon their web sites can finish up acquiring lots of visitors and thus plenty of links themselves – increasing popularity, but they would likely will also get an awful lot of junk.

Nevertheless people that don’t like people leaving hyperlinks, or even simply make it really tough to do so may lose out on a lot of visitors. At the end of the day, it really is dependent upon the subject of the site and whether it’s monetised in any way. Some of those that don’t like you leaving links will sometimes give each link an attribute that was introduced only a few years ago, the ‘nofollow’.

By adding the nofollow attribute to a link, it informs the spiders that it shouldn’t be followed and shouldn’t get ‘link juice’.

Now, many SEO experts disagree as to whether this actually means a link using ‘nofollow’ is completely pointless and some will show evidence that shows that it does actually make a difference and shouldn’t be discounted completely, however most will agree that if you’re going to look for links, make more of an effort on those that don’t use this attribute.

You see, it’s really not worth being too picky about these sites because those who don’t allow links probably have a greater value. They are less likely to be full of spam and therefore worth more in general social networking. Also, it could be that they allow links after you’ve given a bit back to the community.

So there you go, this link building lark isn’t as clean-cut and easy to quantify as many would have you think, but it is worth investigating and you could potentially get yourself not only some decent links to affect your rankings, but you may make a lot of worthwhile connections.

We’ve all heard the old saying “throwing good money after bad” referring to losing more money on something rather than cutting your losses and moving on. Laura was doing the same thing in her business  only it was time she was wasting.

After two years in business, she was still networking with the wrong people. As a project management consultant, her ideal target market consists of large corporations with a designated budget for managing the processes in their company. The problem is, she isn’t talking to the right people.

“I feel absolutely defeated. I’m not sure I can do this anymore. Maybe I should be selling something completely different. People either want what I offer but don’t want to pay for it or they don’t see the value in what I offer. I meet prospects at networking meetings and call them to set up a meeting. Then I spend a day researching their industry, so that I can speak intelligently during the meeting. Then on the day of the meeting, I spend half a day driving to and from their office. Within the next few days, I put together a proposal for them and send it off. Then I follow-up with them every week to see if they want to move forward with the project.”

I felt the need to jump in. “Okay, can I stop you for a minute? It sounds like you’re spending a lot of time up-front. Let’s say it takes you 3 hours to drive to/from and attend a networking event, 30 minutes to follow-up with a prospect to set up a meeting, 4 hours to research their industry to prepare for the meeting, 4 hours to drive to/from and attend the meeting, 3 hours to put together a proposal, and 1 hour to follow-up several times. That’s 15 1/2 hours pursuing one prospect.”

“And the biggest issue here is that they may or may not end up being a qualified prospect because it doesn’t sound like you spend any time during your initial conversation making sure they want your service, can afford your service and are the person to make the decision to purchase your service.”

Laura was floored. “I never even thought about it that way. I just need to get more business, so I feel like I need to be out there meeting people and at least getting the chance to send them a proposal. I don’t really have anything else to do at my office sometimes. If I wasn’t doing this, what would I do all day?”

Like Laura, many early-stage business owners feel better if they are busy, making calls, going to networking events, meeting clients, doing proposals, etc. But if you’re staying busy just to stay busy, you end up spending a lot more hours working for a lot less money which usually results in feeling the need to put in even more hours to make the business “work.”

To avoid spending time doing the wrong things with the wrong people, you have to take the time to evaluate your prospecting process. It’s all about defining what makes a good prospect for your business and qualifying your leads as quickly as possible before they get too far into your prospecting process. In Laura’s case, if she formulated just a few questions she could ask leads in order to determine whether they were interested in her service, could afford her service, and were in a position to make the decision to buy her service, she could save numerous hours.

Depending on the complexity of her qualifying questions, she might be able to do this at the networking event itself or on the initial phone call she makes to follow-up. So, instead of the purpose of the phone call being to set up a meeting, the purpose now becomes to qualify whether or not this “lead” is a “qualified prospect.”

In evaluating Laura’s prospecting process, there are several points at which she could potentially save time by:

networking with corporate decision-makers, not entry-level managers or small business owners

qualifying leads on the phone before she sets up meetings

allowing the prospect to educate her about their company by asking them questions

ensuring that the decision-maker is in the initial meeting

streamlining and automating her proposal process to include only what is required at this stage

After overhauling her prospecting system, Laura has freed up 12-15 hours/week to focus on improving the other elements of her sales process, marketing plan, skill development, etc. And, once the sales start coming through, she’ll have more time to allocate to billable work which will earn her more money while working fewer hours.

So, ask yourself – are you throwing good time after bad? Have you ever actually written out your prospecting process? Do you know what steps you go through once you meet someone who might be a prospect?

If not, take 15 minutes right now to write down exactly how you process your prospects. Start by writing down all of the ways in which you meet prospects, including ones that come to you as well as ones you seek out (i.e. networking meetings, trade shows, web site, calling your office, cold calls, current clients).

Now, follow each of these entry points through step-by-step to chart exactly what process you take a prospect through. For example, if you get a lead through your web site, the prospect might receive information from you automatically via email before you’ve ever spoken to them. But, when you meet a prospect in-person, you might not give them anything tangible. You might just verbally describe your business or services.

After you have all versions of your process written down, review them one by one to identify any areas in which you are investing too much time, chasing unqualified leads, not providing information that would convince the prospect to buy, etc.

Once you’ve identified these areas of opportunity, brainstorm about how you can re-vamp your prospecting processes to use your time more efficiently. The less time you waste on unqualified, underfunded, disinterested leads, the more time you’ll have to invest in qualified, paying clients.

The IRS publishes a lot of tax information to help small business owners and there are many ways to get it. You can always visit an IRS office to pick up copies of IRS forms and publications, although the IRS continues to make it easier for you to get these materials without leaving your office or maybe even your home.

The IRS will send you forms and publications free of charge when you call them at 1-800-829-3676 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-800-829-3676 end_of_the_skype_highlighting with your request. Normally, you will receive the materials within 10 days, although there is another way to get tax materials right away.

If you have access to a personal computer, you can browse and download IRS forms and publications from the IRS Web site at www.irs.gov.You also can get interactive help with your taxes while you’re on line. For the latest information on business-related tax topics, click on the “Tax Info for Business” section. You’ll find links to other Internet sites that may be helpful for your type of business.

Tax Fax is another way to get business or individual tax forms and instructions instantly. Dial 1-703-368-9694 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 1-703-368-9694 end_of_the_skype_highlighting from a fax machine and follow the voice prompts to get an index of IRS tax forms faxed to you. From this index, key in the catalog number of the form you want faxed back to you.

Some IRS publications that small businesses may find helpful include IRS Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Businesses, and Publication 910, Guide to Free Tax Services. Publication 910 provides a listing and brief description of 100 IRS tax publications, including publications targeted at specific audiences such as Publication 225, Farmer’s Tax Guide, and Publication 595, Tax Highlights for Commercial Fishermen.

IRS Publication 1518, Year 2001 Tax Calendar for Small Businesses, is a wall calendar designed to remind businesses of key due dates for submission of tax forms and payments. It also provides information on general business taxes, electronic filing options, starting a small business, business expenses, record keeping, retirement planning, and business publications and forms.

Your tax questions often can be answered by reading tax publications and related forms, but if you need more information, you may call the IRS, 24 hrs a day, 7 days a week until April 16 at

As a business, non-profit or association manager trying to get a bang for your PR buck, you could pretty much concentrate on simple print and broadcast mentions or, for that matter, the whole basket of tactical public relations weaponry including old favorites like high-visibility speech appearances and newsworthy special events.

But if you really want premium public relations results, you must use a broader, more comprehensive and workable public relations blueprint to alter your key, external audience perceptions – perceptions that lead to the changed behaviors you’ll need to reach your managerial goals.

In short, you had best take steps to persuade those key external stakeholders with the greatest impacts on your organization to your way of thinking, then move them to take actions that help your department, division or subsidiary succeed. Read the rest of A Great Way to Do PR »

Last month, my featured article was about creating a “Stop Doing” list. Hopefully, if you followed my suggestion, you now have a list of tasks that you are looking to delegate away. It seems a natural progression that I now disclose a few simple steps that will ensure your foray into delegation is a success.

1. Choose the right “delegatee”

Review the task and determine what skills are required. Delegation goes much more smoothly if you match the person with the appropriate skill set to the task you have to assign. Now if you don’t have a candidate that has all the skills you are looking for, decide which is the most critical one (analytical ability, attention to detail, communications skills) and make that match.

One of the rewards of delegation is the opportunity to help someone develop and grow. It is unlikely that you will always have a candidate that you can hand off something to and not have to provide some training or coaching. But learning to empower your employees will reap big rewards as their confidence grows with their abilities, and delegation becomes easier and easier, and your “Stop Doing” list gets longer and longer.

2. State your expectations clearly

When you assign a task, be very clear about the deliverables you expect, and qualify your expectations as much as possible. As a minimum, you need to communicate the “what” and the “when”. For example: “I want these invoices entered into my database by 5pm tomorrow”. Then, start adding qualifications to your request, such as: “Please make sure that the expense categories are correct, and if you are unsure, ask me and I will clarify for you because I want the reports to be accurate.”

In addition to communicating about the “what” and “when” of an assignment, I recommend that you also include information on the “why”. For example: “I need the monthly recap report done by 5pm tomorrow because I have a meeting with client X the following morning and need the information, so it is really critical that I have it.” Often, we assume that others should know what we expect. But if you have a new working relationship with someone, that is probably an unfair expectation. So, take a few minutes to think about what you need to communicate to save both of you a lot of aggravation, and possibly rework.

3. Choose an appropriate oversight level

No one wants to work for a micro-manager, but some managers are too hands-off when it is inappropriate. Note the skills and experience level of your employee and adjust your oversight level accordingly. The first couple of times they handle a complicated task, you may want to check in more frequently. After a few months, you could probably ease off on your involvement as their knowledge and confidence increases.

4. Provide feedback effectively and often

Once in a while, we get really lucky and have someone supporting us who does things perfectly the first time. But that scenario doesn’t happen too often. However, we can get the employee to the perfection level by providing appropriate feedback. Tell them very specifically what they did well (“Your accuracy is great. I rarely, if ever, find a mistake in your work. Keep it up.”), and what they need to improve on (“I really needed the monthly recap report for Company X done yesterday. I had a meeting with them this morning, and was not able to provide them with the latest information. That reflects poorly on my service. I need you to let me know when you cannot meet a deadline I have given you. Will you do that?”)

Specific, constructive feedback is the most effective way to improve performance. Even if you have a “star” employee, you still need to provide the feedback so that they will maintain their high level of performance. Work on giving more positive feedback. If the only time you provide feedback is when you are unhappy, your employees are not going to be very eager to talk with you.

Follow these simple steps and dive right into delegation. As you become more successful in delegating, you will feel more confident in adding to your “Stop Doing” list. Then use your time on something much more impactful for your business, or much more pleasurable for you.

Here in Spain the concept of a mortgage period of 20 or 25 years is something new. The general feeling by the banks is that want their money back more quickly than banks in countries in which they are accustomed to longer periods. The borrowers are also accustomed to the idea that the guiding principle is to pay off the mortgage as quickly as possible.

First Timers

The problem for all those people starting out on the property ladder is the amount of money that has to go out each month to put the roof over one’s head. At least this is true for the early years, but not necessarily as the4 years go by, since the advent of inflation. Cases that we studied showed e.g a couple, whose monthly income was £400, having to pay £150 per month in mortgage payment. Although the interest fluctuations since then have meant varying payments, as a percentage of their current monthly income of £2,000 per month, the mortgage does not now seem so horrendous.

Varying interest rates

The mistake made by many lenders in boom times is to conveniently forget the possible variation in interest rates during the early years. While a doubling of the payment in the case mentioned above would not be a disaster now, had it occurred during the early years it could have lead to foreclosure, and them losing their dream home. In our study we found various examples of interest rates going from 3% to 16% in very short periods of time. Maybe the lenders should have insisted on doing the relevant calculations, assuming a high rate, to check if the borrowers could afford the payment during the first few years in the event of this occurring. Asking the potential borrower would not necessarily have produced a sensible result, as many that we spoke to said, “It’s OK, we’ll manage somehow.” Unfortunately, for thousands of borrowers, this turned out not to be the case. One case showed an initial payment of £269 per month, on an income of £800 per month, which ballooned to £690 per month on an income of £900 per month, with devastating consequences.

How long a repayment period ?

Many years ago, a borrower, my father, tried to convince lenders of the idea of a much longer repayment period. In fact so long that he gave the idea the name, infinity mortgage. The idea was to pay the interest, at whatever the actual rate would be, but not to repay the capital. Naturally in the staid world of banking this fell on deaf ears, and several so called bankers laughed at the idea. Eventually he was able to persuade an institution to go ahead with his proposal, and he purchased a house. He is now nearing retirement and still has not paid off the mortgage, and continues to pay the interest. He is happy with the idea that, when we inherit the house, we will have to pay off the capital, and so are we.

The current position ?

The house is now valued at £280,000. My father’s income is £5,300 per month. And the mortgage payment ? The last time we spoke of the matter it was the mighty sum of £7.92 per month. The capital to be repaid ? The not insignificant amount of £1,900.

Whether your local currency is pounds sterling, euros or dollars, the principle is still the same. While the motivation at the time, as a penniless masters student, was to keep every payment down to a minimum, the capital repayment would not exactly have broken the bank once a few years had gone by. When he reached the point of what would have been the normal repayment period, and received advice from all and sundry that perhaps he might slip into the bank with a bit of loose change, and pay off the capital, he declined. He rather liked the idea of his infinity mortgage being just that, or at least being with him until his death. In that he will succeed, you know what some of these old folk are like.

Internet marketing is a wonderful business, but if you are like me, there are days when you get really down and just can’t seem to get going. This is compounded for some people with the Winter Blues. Sometimes sitting in your lonely corner of the bedroom or living room, it seems like you are the only person on earth. You sometimes feel like you are in a cage and there is no way out! This can also be compounded by a slump in your business sales or successes.

When you feel like this, it is hard to get any work done and can be very counterproductive for you. You must step back, take a break and clear your head.

I have found a few things that can help alleviate these problems and would like to share them with you.

1. Get up and get away from the computer for awhile. Even if it is only for 10-15 minutes. Walk around the house, stretch your muscles, do a few neck and back stretches. These can do wonders!

2. Take a walk. Get dressed, go outside, breathe in the fresh, cool air of winter and take a 30 minute walk. This is one of the most invigorating things you can do to clear your head and get the cobwebs out. Walking is the one activity I would recommend most.

3. Call a friend or family member and talk for awhile. This can also be a great way to lift your spirits and confirm your suspicions that there are other people on this planet! Chat for awhile and laugh a little. Laughter is a great medicine!

4. Have some fun! Put on some of your favorite music and dance around the house for awhile. Let loose and have some fun. Act goofy, crazy or waltz yourself to China. This helps get out some of the frustrations and pent up emotions that can cause the blues.

5. Just relax! Turn everything off, make yourself a cup of coffee, cocoa, or just plain water. Just sit in complete silence and watch the birds outside or put a cool cloth over your eyes. Let your mind go blank for awhile. Forget everything and just relax!

6. Exercise your mind! Show your mind that there is more than just the computer. Do a crossword puzzle, play a few games of solitaire, or read a book. These are all great ways of getting your mind of business and clearing out all the old to make way for the new.

7. Do some housework! This might not be the most fun thing to do, but it helps take your mind of business for awhile and believe me, after about an hour of housework, you will be more than ready to get back to business!

8. Take a TV break! Watch a program that allows you to escape to another world. After you are finished you just might be glad to get back to your world!

If you would like to find out more about beating the blues, you can visit these sites:
http://www.uhs.berkeley.edu/FacStaff/Ergonomics/stretch.html
http://www.divorcekit.com/blues.htm
http://www.smile-publishing.com/tips.html
http://www.lifetimetv.com/shows/strongmedicine/chatroom/1210/1210.html

I hope some of these pointers will help you relax and get back to business. I know that they have been a great help to me more than once. Sometimes when you are feeling unproductive or just plain tired, the idea is not to work harder, but to stop working and give your mind and/or body a well-deserved break!

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I have to laugh at myself as I say that. Because to me I was a Google PR junkie. I had to know what my PR was everyday! Sometimes more than once a day (ok, ok, i’ll admit) everyday I checked at least four times a day to make sure my PR was still the same or maybe to see if it had moved up a notch. Yep I was definitely addicted to Google. I thought Google was the light at the end of the tunnel. If Google said I was a certain PR then by all means it was right. Why? Cause Google said.

To me it was reassuring to see that little green line move across the bar. I always felt like I was in a casino and had just pulled the handle on the slot machine as I sat and waited too see where the little green line would stop. Silly, isn’t it? But yet, I know I’m not alone. There are many of us out there that live by the little green line. Well, I’m here to announce that I have just recently put myself in Google PR recovery. Yes, I am having a few withdrawal symptoms but nothing I can’ t handle.

I know you’re thinking why did I have to put myself in recovery? Well, one day that little green line was not very nice to me. In fact, there was no green line at all. Now of course this had to be a mistake because just two hours before I still had my PR4. So there was no way this was accurate. But after geesh I can’t even remember how many more times I pulled the Google handle it still came up with no green line. At that moment I began to feel betrayed, why was Google doing this to me when I had been such a faithful player.

I couldn’t understand why that would happen. I had been adding content something Google loves. I had been doing my linking. So I was beginning to take it personally that Google just didn’t like me. So after a few days of analyzing (and yes moping too). I decided that I didn’t need Google! Who was Google to tell me that my site didn’t have a PR? I knew I had been working hard on my site and as long as I knew that, that was ok with me.

Well, come to find out I did still have my PR I just had to go about looking for it in a different manner (without the www). Was Google trying to trick me? Well, from what I have understood Google gets confused at times which is acceptable, it happens to the best of us. But I still am keeping myself in recovery. I can see now that my life was being controlled by the green line. I will not allow that to happen again. Besides, I think if maybe I just stop focusing so much on it, It will move up faster.

So my advice to any other Google PR Junkie, don’t worry about the green line. As long as you know you are doing your work and you are getting traffic to your site then you know things are ok. Focus more on the things you can control, and forget the uncontrollable green line.

If you want to become a real estate investor, find a “fixer-upper” owned by an anxious seller. Finding distressed houses at bargain prices, fixing them up, and then selling them on a consistent basis can make you a millionaire.

Why Sellers Sell At a Discount

Homeowners’ problems often prevent them from staying on top of their home’s upkeep, and factors such as job loss, divorce, serious illness, various addictions, or other personal problems quickly overwhelm them. These sellers can’t make the needed repairs because of financial or physical limitations, and when that happens, their home becomes a low priority and sometimes will go into foreclosure.

Look for the “Triple D” Read the rest of Buying and Selling Distressed Houses for Maximum Profit »