1. Don't make the story about you. The media care about, and want to use, your knowledge and expertise. Build your med...]]>

There are all kinds of smart moves professionals can make to raise their media visibility. Here are ten things not to do if you’re aiming to heighten your public profile.

1. Don’t make the story about you. The media care about, and want to use, your knowledge and expertise. Build your media pieces around the topics that the public, and the media, want to learn more about – not around announcements about the latest award you’ve won.

2. Don’t misunderstand the process. The media will quote and feature you if you can deliver information their audiences need. They have no obligation to use you because you took out an ad, or because you play golf with the publisher.

3. Don’t bite off too much at once. Keep it simple, and focused. Every media piece you send out should be about just one topic. Don’t try to impress them with everything you know, or every possible angle. They can only do one story at a time, and they are deadline-pressured. Subtlety and complexity are usually your enemies.

4. Don’t wander, or help reporters wander. In every interview, walk in knowing by heart your main point or message, and two or three key facts that support it. Make sure you say them, repeat them, and be sure the reporter gets them. Don’t drift all over the topic’s landscape.

5. Don’t hold back. Don’t withhold your “best stuff” for another day, or for paying clients. This is your spotlight, your moment – use it! Share the best of your knowledge with the media – they’ll value you more.

6. Don’t be leisurely. If a reporter calls, return the call promptly – within an hour or two, at most. They’ll find someone else to use if you don’t.

7. Don’t overreach your knowledge. Talk to the media only about what you know best. If it’s outside your core expertise, give it a pass – better yet, steer the reporter to a more appropriate resource. You’ll score big points. Who wants to come across sounding ill-informed?

8. Don’t send the reporter down an unproductive trail. Sure, you want to help a reporter do his or her job better. But that doesn’t mean you have to coax them to interview a direct competitor, or someone else in the field who is likely to oppose or contradict you in print.

9. Don’t try to fool a reporter or hide key facts. They usually find out anyway.

10. Finally, don’t forget who gave you good coverage. Remember and reward reporters who feature you – not with gifts or anything inappropriate, but with kind thank-yous, and frequent suggestions and information for future stories, even if they may not involve you directly. Reporters value information and ease of access to it – deliver that, and you’ll be a media favorite.

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele’s MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.

Relocation Myths

"Big cities are unfriendly."

Any place will feel hostile to newcomers. I'v...]]>

You’ve probably been taught not to stereotype people based on race, religion or sex. But when you make a career or other life choice, do you still make decisions based on stereotypes?

Relocation Myths

“Big cities are unfriendly.”

Any place will feel hostile to newcomers. I’ve lived in several of the largest cities in North America and found helpful, caring people everywhere. Often businesses are more helpful simply because there’s more competition.

“The desert is all sand and cactus.”

In the high desert of New Mexico, where I live, we have green trees, flowering plants, and snow in the wintertime. We have abundant fruit trees and sometimes we have to rake leaves in fall.

“Small towns are conservative, you have to join a church and country club, and you must be married.”

Probably some are. My town has less than twenty thousand people, yet I know lots of very happy residents who forego churches and country clubs in favor of coffee shops and art galleries. We have many single people and a sizeable gay population. Generalizations? Well, nearly everyone has a dog or cat and you’ll find numerous multi-pet households.

Career Stereotypes

“Insurance sales reps must be gregarious.”

Hal, a successful insurance agent for many years, has developed a portfolio of loyal, happy clients. Hal can be described as an introvert. He rarely speaks unless spoken to, and then he speaks briefly and softly. His clients have learned that he’s a caring, dedicated agent who never misses a detail.

“Accountants sit quietly and crunch numbers.”

These days, accountants, especially those in the large firms, have to become experts at client relations. Often they’re expected to steer business towards the firm’s consulting division.

“Want to travel? Be a travel agent!”

Once upon a time, when nobody worried about security and airlines gave us more than an inch of legroom, I loved to travel. When I sought ways to combine my love of travel with a career, I would often hear, “So become a travel agent.”

Surprise! Travel agents rarely travel. After all, someone has to stay in the office and answer calls from clients. A major perk involves the “fam” or familiarization trips, when agents are invited as a group to preview a new resort or discover a new locale. There’s rarely time for leisurely sight-seeing.

These days, a corporate travel agent is more like a traffic cop than a friendly guide, charged with enforcing regulations of the company who pays her commission: “The non-stop flight is two hundred dollars more than the connecting flight with the two-hour stopover. Looks like you’ve got two hours in Cleveland.”

After dealing with hundreds of less-than-thrilled employees, one agent told me he was quitting the industry, probably for the more serene life of a bill collector.

How can you avoid stereotypes?

Traditional career tests often are based on outdated or stereotyped visions of careers. Stereotypes of locations tend to be perpetuated by folks who have never visited, let alone lived there.

I encourage anyone contemplating a life change to follow the Rule of Six. Talk to at least six people who have real, hands-on experience on the path you want to follow. If they clam up and say they’re too busy to talk, you’ve learned a great deal already.

Most people will begin with a happy, party-line spiel. Dig deeper till you start uncovering negatives and warnings.

On the rare occasions you hear a lot of negatives, keep going until you discover a positive.

Harry almost gave up on his goal when four people talked about problems getting clients for a unique consulting business. After we talked, he realized they had all used the same time of marketing — and they weren’t very good at it. He broadened his search to gain a new perspective.

The Bottom Line

I’m always amazed at how many “experts” base recommendations on stereotyped versions of careers and places to live. That’s why you may be advised to become a funeral director or a florist when you really belong in outside sales.

There’s no substitute for gathering your own information from people who have been there and back. If something sounds too good — or too bad — to be true, it probably is.

About The Author

Cathy Goodwin, Ph.D., is an author, speaker and career/business consultant, helping midlife professionals take their First step to a Second Career. http://www.cathygoodwin.com.

“Ten secrets of mastering a major life change” mailto:subscribe@cathygoodwin.com

Contact: cathy@cathygoodwin.com 505-534-4294

Your benefit-driven headlines are your 24/7 sales team working ...]]>

Headlines are short vital statements to stimulate your potential customers and clients to take action. That means sales! Since you only have 10 seconds to attract your visitor or reader, create headlines to make ultimate sales.

Your benefit-driven headlines are your 24/7 sales team working for your while you relax your favorite way.

Without them, your ezine ads, email promotions, special reports, eBooks, book and article titles, chapter titles, ezines and print newsletters, and Web site will not pull visitor attention, trust, credibility, traffic or sales.

Headlines bring far more sales than the copy following them. Perhaps you are a skimmer too. Skimmers usually just read the headline.

How to Use Headlines

1. EZINE ADS

Many businesses write ads and place them in strategic ezines or Web sites. They lose contacts and sales because they don’t use a benefit-driven headline at the top of the ad. For instance, “YOU CAN WRITE A PROFITABLE BOOK IN LESS THAN 30 DAYS! or HIGH TRAFFIC=HIGH WEB SALES.”

Start with the benefit in capital letters. Make a free offer to get people to visit your Web site. Include contact information in hyper links. Make your ad 5-7 lines. Don’t pitch what you are selling in the ad–this doesn’t motivate.

2. SUBJECT LINE IN YOUR OUTGOING EMAIL

Make sure your headline includes a benefit for the product, the teleclass, the seminar or service you are promoting. Over 50% of outgoing messages are never opened because the subject line doesn’t inspire or stimulate the audiences’ curiosity.

So many professionals just put an announcement in the subject line such as “Upcoming Programs.” Not specific enough, nor motivating enough to make me want to open the email.

Here’s a few winners: Quadruple your Sales in 4 Months with Articles Teleclass, FREE report: Online Marketing is 10 Times More Powerful than Traditional, or for an ezine, don’t just put its name in subject line, put its feature article in with a abbreviated ezine name and ….

3. FREE SPECIAL REPORTS AND ARTICLES

These 2-6 page informational, how-to pieces help promote your business Online. Send one every month or so to follow up your email group lists.

Your article title is your headline. Best titles include a benefit and audience. People want to know what’s in for them before they invest their valuable time to read it. Don’t lose them with a weak title. Which of these are powerful? “10 Tips to Promote your Product with Flyers.” “Shorten your Journey to Business Success with Teleclasses.” “Want a Web Site that Turns Lookie Loos into Buyers?”

Within the body of the piece use headlines to inspire and motive the reader to keep reading to get their questions answered. The reason they read your article is to learn how to solve their problem. Headlines organize and guide your reader to make it easy for him/her to read. With appreciation for your useful article they may click on your product or service to buy you offer in your signature file at the bottom.

Within “The BIG 3 Marketing Machine” report, this headline pulls reader action: “Leverage your Sales Through a Short Headline.”

When you add zesty, power-packed headlines to anything your write or use to promote yourself and your business, you will attract your target potential buyers who evolve into buyers. Part two of this article is available; contact Judy@bookcoaching.com.

Judy Cullins ©2004 All Rights Reserved

Judy Cullins, 20-year book and Internet Marketing Coach, Author of 10 eBooks including “Write your eBook Fast,” and “How to Market your Business on the Internet,” she offers free help through her 2 monthly ezines, The Book Coach Says…and Business Tip of the Month at http://www.bookcoaching.com/opt-in.shtml and over 155 free articles. Email her at mailto:Judy@bookcoaching.com

So if you're one of the many women or m...]]>

These days, though, more and more men are choosing stay at home jobs and stay at home work. And while some men are pursuing stay at home jobs and stay at home work to get out of the corporate rat race, many of them are opting to be stay at home dads.

So if you’re one of the many women or men, moms or dads, who would love nothing more than to stay at home and work, you’ll be happy to know that the options for stay at home jobs and stay at home work are practically endless. And probably the best way to make your dream of a stay at home job a reality is to create your job.

Now how exactly would you create your own stay at home job? Consider starting your own home based business that will enable you to stay at home and work. This greatly increases the options for your stay at home worksand ensures you’ll probably enjoy your stay at home job more.

And there are many home based businesses that work well for moms or dads who want to stay at home. You need to first decide, though, just what you’re looking for in a work at home job. Do you want to have flexible hours? Do you want to truly stay at home and work as opposed to having a home business that’s based in your home, but has you frequently out and about?

If so, then you probably shouldn’t start a home based business like an office cleaning service that would require working a fairly strict schedule and being away from home a lot rather than allowing you to stay at home for most of your work. These are also really important considerations if you have children at home because if your stay at home job or home based business has you frequently on the go, then you’ll need to have dependable childcare.

This is why more and more couples are opting to stay at home and work together in a home based business. That way, one parent can cover for the other when the stay at home job requires you to be away from home part of the time. Also, many couples share the responsibilities of stay at home jobs and home based businesses. One partner may do the books and paperwork involved with their stay at home job, while the other partner provides the service or product.

Some home based businesses that work great for these couples are catering, craft and hobby related home based businesses, and product sales of some kind. Many men dream of having their own garage or car cleaning service, for example, and these types of home based businesses often provide their significant others stay at home jobs involving accounting and marketing for their home based business. With home based businesses that involve sales, both partners often share the selling and paperwork which means that each gets some time to work at home and some time to interact with other people.

Be careful, though, not to romanticize having a stay at home job or home based business. When you’re stressed out by your conventional job or you’re yearning to spend more time with the kids, it’s easy to get caught up in a fantasy that isn’t true. Because stay at home jobs and home based businesses are still work, and it’s sometimes are actually harder because it’s easier to get distracted from your stay at home job. Too, you need to be sure you’re well suited to staying at home and working before you jump off the corporate ladder. But when you are and you find the best stay at home job or home based business for you, you’ll never regret taking the leap.

Charles Fuchs http://www.charlesfuchs.com

I grant permission to publish this article, electronically or in print, as long as the bylines are included, with a live link, and the article is not changed in any way.

Copyright © 2006, Charles Fuchs, President of Vision Management Enterprise Inc., is an established online marketer who specializes in helping people start their very own
Work at Home and Home Based Business.

This means that you borrow the stock from your broker to sell to a third party. The idea is to buy back the stock at a lower price, returning the shares to your broker while leaving the remaining cash in your account as a profit. Put another way, a short ...]]>

What does it mean to short a stock?

This means that you borrow the stock from your broker to sell to a third party. The idea is to buy back the stock at a lower price, returning the shares to your broker while leaving the remaining cash in your account as a profit. Put another way, a short seller does not own the stock before they sell it. Instead, they borrow it from another investor who already owns it. At a later date, the short seller buys back the stock they shorted and returns the stock to close out the loan. If the stock has fallen in price since they sold short, they can buy the stock back for less than they received for selling it. The difference is your profit.

Short selling is a transaction made on margin. This means that you must open a margin account to sell short. Most online brokers allow you to open a margin account if you qualify according to their rules and regulations. Criteria related to minimum balances and cash reserves may apply. You will sign an agreement with your broker to open a margin account, this agreement says that you will maintain a cash margin or pledge your stocks as margin. (Note: Call your individual brokers for additional questions that you may have).

Shorting can be difficult even during a bear market. The conditions must be exactly right for a stock to be considered a short. Just because a stock looks overvalued or high doesn’t mean that it is time to sell this stock short. As I have said before, what looks high to one investor may still be low to another. Two things to take into consideration would be dividends and thinly traded stocks. A stock paying a dividend must be paid by you the short seller when this position is on. Low volume stocks can be very volatile and market makers and money managers can run up the price quickly crushing your short play and adding to your overall loss.

If the stock rises above your sell price, eventually you will have to cover your short for a loss. If you have not placed a stop loss, the stock can continue to go higher as your portfolio heads for disaster. Theoretically, a stock can rise infinitely, meaning your losses can rise infinitely. Imagine shorting NVR at $200 a share because you though it was overvalued, only to see it go to $700 per share. I am sure this type of trade would wipe out or leave a big dent in anyone’s portfolio.

Many great shorting opportunities come from the same small and mid cap stocks that were once high flyers in previous months or years. For example, TZOO and DCAI were high flyers in 2004 before they became red flags and shorting opportunities. Even large cap companies such as eBay, SBUX and HD can present shorting opportunities at certain points.

Ideal shorting candidates will have built several bases over a long period of time resulting in faulty late stage bases as the stock starts to fall. We look towards stocks that have built four or more bases over a few years although this is not always necessary. Stocks such as the mortgage lenders (LEND & CFC) have built many bases since 2002 and have run up several hundred percent. Home builders also fall under this category but have not made our shorting lists as of yet. They have been showing some red flags but support has been noted at or slightly above the 50-d moving averages.

Additional criteria for shorting candidates will be decelerating earnings and sales and a relative strength line heading down. Basically take the characteristics that we use for long positions and reverse the criteria to develop a list of possible short candidates. Even familiar chart patterns can be used to spot shorts; the reverse cup shaped base, the head and shoulders pattern and/or the flat base with a stock breaking out to the downside on above average volume. Industry groups that are becoming weak or are showing multiple stocks falling and breaking through key trend lines should be noted on a watch list. If one stocks looks like a short candidate, look for additional sister stocks that may have the same set-up. Remember, stocks usually move in groups whether they go up or down.

I tend to look for stocks that are below both the 50-d and 200-d moving averages. Once they slice through both of these lines, I then look for a strong down-trend and a failure to break above the 200-d moving average. This is my ideal time to short a particular stock.

Always have a sound exit plan in place with a predetermined stop loss to protect your capital. We typically use a 7-10% stop loss for our long positions depending on the market strength but I would advise a larger buffer for short candidates. A stop loss placed 10-12% from your sell point would be ideal as most stocks have a natural tendency to go up or contain volatility near the shorting sell point.

Shorting stocks can be more difficult to learn than buying stocks because a whole new set of rules and bearish short patterns must be learned, on top of your buying rules and chart pattern skills. Shorting can take many more years to master and can provide a shorter window of opportunity as bear markets typically don’t last as long as bull markets do. No matter what strategy you develop with shorting or buying long, you must always stick to strict sell rules. Never argue with a position that goes against you, emotions and pride mean nothing in the market, especially in the short market. Sell all losers immediately before they devastate your portfolio and your confidence going forward.

The next article from this two part series will detail the strategies or reasons why you may want to short a stock and a few examples of how shorting stocks can benefit a portfolio during bear markets or sideway corrections, similar to our current situation.

Chris Perruna – http://www.marketstockwatch.com

Chris is the Founder and President of MarketStockWatch.com, an internet community that teaches you how to invest your money with solid rules. We don’t stop at just showing you our daily and weekly screens, we teach you how to make your own screens through education. Through our philosophy, you will be able to create your own methods and styles to become successful.

Getting to know producers, and giving them reasons to showcase you on air, is a very doable for most ...]]>

Radio is a powerful publicity tool. Most stations offer news and talk programming. Those shows are put together not necessarily by the voice you hear on air, but by people called producers.

Getting to know producers, and giving them reasons to showcase you on air, is a very doable for most people in most towns. How? The same way you’d contact a print reporter, which I discuss in my other articles for financial planners.

Getting on the radio is possible in huge markets like New York and L.A. too, but it’s not for the weak or the timid.

Radio stations love to team with community resources – like you – on promotional activities. Call your station’s promotion department and tell them you’d like to explore ideas. Need an idea or two? Don’t worry – tell the promotion folks what you do, and they’ll probably think of the rest. (Hint: yes, as a successful professional, you can do this with appropriate dignity. You might offer free screenings or consultations; you probably don’t want to sponsor a beer float at the big parade)

Always remember that radio’s two best words are “drive time – the morning and evening commutes. Try your best to get on radio during these peak listening times.

Ned Steele works with people in professional services who want to build their practice and accelerate their growth. The president of Ned Steele’s MediaImpact, he is the author of 102 Publicity Tips To Grow a Business or Practice. To learn more visit http://www.MediaImpact.biz or call 212-243-8383.