Study Investment

In today’s competitive environment, companies realize that a good boss is one who can identify and build on the talents of the staff and knows how to retain top performing employees. Take this quiz and see if you are a good boss.

Use the following scale to respond to the questions:
Strongly disagree–1; disagree–2; uncertain–3; agree–4; strongly agree–5.

1. My employees understand the connection between their team or department’s actions and the success of the company.
2. Each employee had clearly-defined work goals and the resources necessary to achieve them.
3. I usually assign the right tasks and amount of work to others.
4. People tell me that I am a good listener.
5. I have created an environment where people get along and work is fun.
6. I know my employees’ career goals.
7. I regularly coach my employees in developing their skills.

Scoring:

26-35: You know your employees’ needs and strengths and use this knowledge to get the results you want.
11-25: Invest some more time in defining your goals and in getting to know your employees, and achieving results will get much easier.
0-11: Are your employees “results challenged?” Get your act together.

Interpreting the results:

• The first three questions assess the ability to make a connection between organizational objectives and an individual employees contribution.
• The rest of the quiz assesses people skills the ability to get employees to care about the company’s goals by giving them room to grow and making the work environment a people-friendly place.
• Pay careful attention to any item with a rating of three or less. Are you too focused on results to take time to build relationships, or are you spending too much time building rapport and net getting anything done?

Marcia Zidle, the ‘people smarts’ coach, works with business leaders to quickly solve their people management headaches so they can concentrate on their #1 job – to grow and increase profits. She offers free help through Leadership Briefing, a weekly e-newsletter with practical tips on leadership style, employee motivation, recruitment and retention and relationship management.

Subscribe by going to
http://leadershiphooks.com and get the bonus report “61 Leadership Time Savers and Life Savers”. Marcia is the author of the What Really Works Handbooks – resources for managers on the front line and the Power-by-the-Hour programs – fast, convenient, real life, affordable courses for leadership and staff development. She is available for media interviews, conference presentations and panel discussions on the hottest issues affecting the workplace today. Contact Marcia at 800-971-7619.

There are many Leadership factors involved in building an mlm downline, but none are more frustrating than the roles a Network Marketing Leader can play when recruiting and engaging a new person in this business.

We have a tendency to go from one extreme to the other. Ignoring the new person to practically living with them, and everything in between.

There are 4 basic “leading” roles that you establish with your new person. As a Network Marketing Leader, you may move through all of these roles with each person you bring into your MLM organization.

1) The Recruiter.

2) The Sponsor.

3) The Baby Sitter.

4) The Mentor.

1) The MLM Recruiter

So what exactly IS the difference between a recruiter and a sponsor?

INFERNO Secret:

I have always taught that recruiting is getting them in, and sponsoring is keeping them in. One is a defined process for getting them signed up the other is growing their greatness in this business.

I never really got into a hairsplitting term. Call recruiting what you want, but understand:

INFERNO Secret:

Network Marketing Recruiting is the Education and Influence Process of getting to the point of when you become their sponsor, and a lot people who recruit folks in this business forget the sponsor part.

MLM Recruiting can be simply running the numbers, but that is how the average distributor does it. A Leader recruits to become a great sponsor and to build a long term relationship. Recruiting is the first phase of the MLM Leader Role, and Sponsoring is the second.

2) The MLM Sponsor, is the second.

When you have recruited them into your business, now you are their sponsor.

INFERNO Secret:

There is a reason why the word sponsor and responsibility have the same root word. It is your responsibility to become the Leader they need to create an environment for greatness, and for creating independence in your people.

That is Priority One!

You must get them trained. A recruiter rarely takes the time for that because recruiters are focused on recruiting, not growing, signing them up, not growing them up. A Leader always grows people first, then the business.

INFERNO Secret:

Growing people produces the biggest MLM Success harvest in this MLM business!

Be a great sponsor and take your new distributors where they want to go, but remember to also take them to the level of success you want them to lead them to.

3) The MLM Babysitter

Ahhh! This is the sponsor who does everything for their downline, and completely disables their distributors and cripples their growth.

You want to do it all. You don’t think anyone can do it as good as you, and so, you do it all. And what happens?

INFERNO Secret:

Babysitting creates a downline of babies. They never grow into their greatness in this business. They crawl through this business, and eventually out of it.

You as a Leader must become a great sponsor, but understand there is a HUGE difference between Sponsoring someone, and Spoon Feeding them.

IFERNO Secret:

Create a GROWTH environment — not a Kindergarten.

As you mature your people in this business, so matures your mlm business ultimately.

4) The MLM Mentor

This is the Pinnacle of the Role you play in the development of your Leaders, but here is a tip:

INFERNO Secret:

Mentor those who DESERVE it — not those who DESIRE it.

Your ultimate goal as a sponsor is to create a non-stop network marketing success machine. The only way you can do that is to choose 4-5 people in your group to mentor for greatness.

Choose people who have really stepped up to the bat and proven they are SERIOUS about their building this mlm business. Make sure they have shown you that they are worthy of you taking them under your wing and paying very special attention to them in Network Marketing.

Take them under your wing for a year and solidify and grow them into their greatness. Not by totally building it for them, as there are some things they must learn from experience, but totally supporting them in all phases of their business and growth through training, building, supporting, and BEING THERE for them. And creating an extraordinary relationship that will last a lifetime.

INFERNO Secret:

Mentoring in MLM is not for the weak-hearted.

In Network Marketing,it takes effort, discipline, a lot of caring, and also a ton of giving on your part.

You will have trying times, just like in any relationship. But you must understand that if you mentor a select few folks, they can create an enormous network marketing business with you, and will be maximized in this mlm industry. And will stay with you during the tough times. (and there will be some.)

The Recruiter grows In-discouragement.

The Sponsor grows Independence.

The Baby Sitter grows Dependence.

The Mentor grows Interdependence.

INFERNO Secret:

The Power of MLM lies in Interdependence.

And, it is true.

ALL great Leaders in this industry have mentored a select few special people in their downline to extreme success, in MLM and Network Marketing.

Blessings… Doug firebaugh

PassionFire Intl (c) 2005/ all rights reserved

http://www.passionfire.com

http://www.passionfire.com/pf_heat_8.html

Doug Firebaugh is one of the top MLM Network Marketing Trainers in the world. Over a million people a month
read his training ezine. He spent the last 7 years traveling the world speaking and training on Success.
He lives in Birmingham Michigan, and you can receive aFREE subscription to his training ezine- The MLM
Success HEAT- at: http://www.passionfire.com/pf_heat_4.html and
http://www.passionfire.com

It’s no great secret!

No great secret that is, unless you haven’t discovered
what many seasoned webmasters and just plain ordinary
folks have found out.

“There’s gold in them there blogs!”

Yours for the mining, or we should say writing.

Many people have discovered and are benefiting from
the connection between blogs and Google Adsense.
A lucrative connection that’s earning them extra
money each month as they receive their checks from
Google. It’s putting a big smiiiiiiile on
their faces.

What’s even more amazing, all this can be set up
at zero-cost to anyone who can use a cursor. It’s
a totally free system that can earn you money each
and every month.

What gives? What’s the connection?

Actually, there is no big secret, anyone can
set up a blog or blogs and put Google’s Adsense
code on them. If you’re new to the Internet or not
a webmaster — these things may have to be explained
further.

Blogs are online journals where anyone can write
on any subject or topic that interests them. Blogs
are extremely popular with Internet users, with
an estimated 60 million or more blogs on the web.
Any and every topic (news, hobbies, sports, etc.)
is covered in these blogs.

Creating a blog couldn’t be easier, there are many
online blogging sites that will let you set up a
blog of your own for free. The two main biggies
are bloglines.com (owned by Ask Jeeves) and
blogger.com (owned by Google). It only takes minutes
to create your own blog.

Or many webmasters who don’t want to go the ‘free
route’ can use a system from wordpress.com and
place or host the blogs on their own sites. It will
give you a lot more options. Regardless which method
you use, once you have your blog up and running, you
will need to get a Google Adsense account here:
https://www.google.com/adsense/

Google Adsense is an advertising system where you
as the publisher places the Adsense code on your site.
Google then uses this code to send targeted ‘keyword
guided’ ads to be displayed on your site. If someone
clicks on your Google ad, you earn a portion of the
ad revenue. These ads come in many formats and sizes.
Chances are you have already seen these ‘Ads by Google’
on many sites that you have visited, you may have even
clicked on one or two!

Advertisers wanting visitors or customers to their sites,
buy these ads using the Google Adword system. Commonly known
as Pay-Per-Click advertising. This system is based on
keywords, these are the words people use to search for
things on the Internet. Because they are ‘keyword based’
– these ads match perfectly with the content on your
site or blog – delivering well targeted visitors to the
advertisers.

Google’s Adsense program is very user friendly. Google
lets you customize your ads to match the ‘look and feel’
of your site. Google also gives you some good advice on
‘where’ to place these ads on your site to increase your
click-thru rate. It would be a good idea to read this
section before you place the Adsense Code on your site
or blog.

Google also lets you track your adsense code on 200
different urls (channels) so you can see which web pages
or blogs are earning you money. As part of Google’s ‘TOS’
Terms of Service, individual publishers (that’s you!) are
not allowed to discuss any Adsense earnings they get from
Google. So mums the word.

However, one of the ‘keys’ to making ad revenue from
your Google Adsense account has to do with ‘keywords’.
Obviously, some keywords are worth more than others,
that is – certain keywords or phrases that people type into
search engines will pay more. For example, which one do
you think will bring in more revenue to your Adsense
program — someone searching for a home loan or someone
searching for a baseball cap.

Many webmasters or bloggers use sites like www.overture.com
to see what advertisers are paying for certain keywords.
Just as important, it will also give you the number of
searches made by surfers for your chosen keywords
or phrases last month.

The real trick is to set up a blog or blogs on popular
(heavy traffic) topics or keywords that pay the most money
to publishers like you. Also, it’s best to create a blog or
blogs on topics that will keep your interest for years to
come. You do have to write interesting stories, facts,
information on your topic in order to bring visitors and
traffic to your blogs… so pick something that you’re very
passionate about.

Submit your blogs to all the blog directories, here’s a
good place to start:www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/

Once you have a regular flow of traffic to your blogs,
you will see a regular flow of adsense income coming to
you each month. The more traffic or page impressions you
get, the more you could possibly earn.

Blogs use RSS to syndicate their content. RSS stands for
Really Simple Syndication, the standard format for syndication
of content from online blogs, news sites, forums and other
web sites. Google has introduced a system where you can
place your Adsense Code into your RSS Feeds. You have to
apply separately to get into this program — it’s only
in Beta yet. But the potential for RSS Adsense could be
very beneficial to bloggers, imagine getting your Adsense
code syndicated to thousands upon thousands of
subscribers or web sites.

Google has also gone so far as applying for a patent on
RSS ads. This patent could give Google control of RSS
advertising. The application was filed by Google employee
Nelson Minar and is currently under review by the U.S.
Trade and Patent Office.

Regardless of whether or not Google is successful in this
application; the potential of RSS Adsense is great and may
have far reaching implications in the very near future. This
could also prove to be a very lucrative system for both Google
and the ordinary webmaster or blogger.

A very lucrative connection indeed.

Everyone is profiting from Google, find out how you can too! Click here: Google Cash File

Copyright © 2005 Titus Hoskins. Get a Free Desktop Calendar & Planner compliments of
the Author and DATEwise. This article may be freely distributed if this
resource box stays attached.

We all know that money doesn’t grow on trees, but we all need it to survive. The use of cash will only go so far in life, as you can’t send it through the mail. Checking accounts are relied upon to manage our finances and to send in payments for cable, phone, mortgages, etc. Even in this new era of ecommerce, it is still necessary to have the resources that a checking account provides.

When is the right time for kids to get their own checking accounts? There is a lot of debate among parents and bankers on this idea. Bankers will open a checking account for anyone who they feel is fit to have one. Parents have two sides to the story. Some parents think their kids should have one as soon as they can because it teaches them valuable lessons. Other parents believe their children don’t need checks at young ages.

There are some good questions to ask yourself in order to find out if the time is right for checking responsibilities:

• Do they need an account? What expenditures do they have?
• Do you have any reservations in co-signing?
• Are they responsible, i.e. hold a job, get good grades, etc.
• Will they allow your intervention when it need be?
• Will you be able to monitor the account on the internet?

Checking accounts and kids really revolve around common sense. You should know if your child is capable of handling the responsibilities of writing checks. What really helps the arrangement is parental participation. Parents should be able to help their kids with any questions they will have and teach them how to balance and reconcile.

Benefits of Child Checking

While there may be some reservations about opening a checking account for a minor, there are some benefits. The child will be able to start managing money, and learn the ways of personal finances. They won’t have to carry around cash with them all the time. An ATM card with access to the account is really the only thing they have to carry around.

The tracking abilities are probably the most welcomed aspect of checking. Banking online has changed drastically in the last few years. If you take advantage of all the possibilities, it is rare that you actually have to write a check. It is also amazing to track where the money goes. Expenditure tracking is good for adults and kids. It is a way to eliminate unnecessary spending.

A relationship with a financial institution starts your children interested in the whole process. Banks offer many other services than checking. They offer bonds and certificates of deposit, loans for cars and homes, and they also offer business financing.

Through anyone’s life, they rely on the bank for many services. Banks are usually a low margin lender, giving customers more buying power. Checking account management at a young age leads to the importance of financial stability, clean credit, and flexibility.

Only you know when your children are ready for their first checking account. Take time to make the decision. Sit down with your kids and talk to them about finances to open up the dialogue.

Robb Ksiazek researches and writes valuable information for Checks-4U.com. His writings discuss topics based on the home and small business office and how to get the most out of your resources.

Whether you’re a coach or a copywriter, an accountant or an architect, there will always be that one icky client who puts your patience to the test. You’ve signed the papers, but with each day that passes, you dread working with this person more and more. Should you grit your teeth and suffer through, or just end it early, like a bad blind date? Here are five good reasons to say goodbye.

1. You’ve done nothing wrong.

Let me guess: the thought of ending that bad client relationship makes you feel like you failed in some way. Who told you to feel that? Your high school counselor? Your mom who stayed in an unhappy marriage? Just because your style and skillset doesn’t jive with another person’s M.O. doesn’t mean that you’re non compus mentus. Not bad, not wrong… just different!

2. Most contracts contain a loophole.

Yes, although it would seem contradictory to something as binding as a contract, most of them contain some contextual wiggle room that allows you to wiggle right out of the deal. If you find the escape hatch in paragraph four, take your cue and get the heck out of there.

3. A poorly matched partnership can hamper productivity.

Forget about who’s right and who’s wrong in this scenario. Instead, focus on output. If you’re not faster and more productive when collaborating with this client, time is being wasted on both sides. Assuming you’ve tried various methods of working together but every solution comes up short, just call a spade a spade and turn the page.

4. A better opportunity has made itself known.

Of course, stick-to-itiveness is an admirable trait, and we should try our best to commit to our promises. But sometimes, there’s just something in the air that’s saying “End it now,” and that something could be the promise of more rewarding work elsewhere. Be courteous, and give your client advance notice so he can find a replacement, then go gracefully and graciously.

5. Damage control is key.

You’ve exhausted every alternative. You find yourself avoiding this person’s phone calls, ready to spit hostile emails, and are teetering on the verge of unprofessionalism because you’re just so darned frustrated at the way things are going. These are the red flags that say, “Time to end a relationship that’s going from bad to worse.” Pull yourself together, arm yourself with the right resources and aftermath solutions, and initiate a departure discussion.

Sometimes, it’s just better to cut your losses and move on to greener pastures.

Copyright 2005 Dina Giolitto. All rights reserved.

Dina Giolitto is a copywriting consultant and ghostwriter with 10 years of experience writing corporate print materials and web content. Trust her with your next e-book, article series or web project, and make a lasting impression on your audience of information-hungry prospects. Visit http://www.wordfeeder.com for more information.

MLM Presence.

Does yours work FOR you, or AGAINST you?

Good question! Many times, in a Recruiting session, your presence totally will set the environment for how the recruiting conversation or appointment goes. Your MLM Recruiting Presence says more to the prospect many times than the words you choose to vocalize. It is the one single influencing factor that many times will determine if your prospect will join you or not. It is that powerful of a factor in Network Marketing recruiting.

I am so honored and blessed to work with a lot of folks around the world, and one of the biggest problems I see with the struggling Network Marketer, is the lack of “Success Presence” in their demeanor. They come across like they are anything but Successful, let alone on their way to Success. You MUST have a Magnetic Presence to recruit effectively.

What exactly is Presence?

It is the “Aura” or “Feeling” that people feel from you and get when they are around you.

It is the “Instinctive Feeling” that is triggered in people when they see you.

It is the “Knowing” that people can have about you, and who they perceive you to be.

Have you ever been around someone that you didn’t know why, but you simply didn’t feel comfortable being around them, something just wasn’t “right?” Something about them made red flags go off in your instincts.

That was their presence that you were feeling.

Have you ever met someone and immediately felt comfortable with them? It was just something about them, and how they looked at you and how they made you feel so good?

That was their presence you were feeling.

One of the Biggest Secrets to MLM Recruiting is creating a “Magnetic Presence” so people are literally attracted to talking to you and want to be around you.

Let’s take a test about your presence and see how you come out:

Here are 10 Insightful questions:

1) Does your Presence have a “warmth” about it that people enjoy being around?

2) Does your Presence say “I am interested in YOU”, or “I am interested in ME?”

3) Do you look people in the eye 90% of the time and stretch you hand out first to shake hands?

4) Is your body language open, and receptive to creating and catalyzing new friendships, or is it closed and expecting people to come to you ?

5) Do your conversations focus on the PROSPECT and what they are interested in, or focus on YOU and what YOU are interested in?

6) Do you have a Confidence about you and your business, and do they hear a sincere BELIEF in your words , or a lack of it when you talk to folks?

7) Do you VALIDATE the prospect, and make them feel good about who they are, or constantly Validate YOU and make you feel good about who you are?

Do you smile easily, and make others smile, or smile rarely, and make others uneasy?

9) Do you have a focus of “helping others” or “hyping others”?

10) Do you come across as a LEADER, or a “Feeder” who feeds their own self interests first?

These are some tough MLM questions!

You must understand that your Presence is what we call: “Your Silent Calling Card”. It is the first thing someone sees and feels about you, and will determine a lot of their first (and probably last) impression. It will determine a lot about the Success in Network Marketing Recruiting.

Well? What did you find out about your presence?

Let me suggest you look at the 10 questions and go to work on your MLM Recruiting Presence.

If you do, Your MLM Recruiting will improve dramatically, almost overnight.

Try it, you’ll see what I mean.

blessings… doug Firebaugh (c) 2005/ all rights reserved

PassionFire Intl
http://www.passionfire.com

Doug Firebaugh is one of the top MLM Network Marketing Trainers in the world. Over a million people a month
read his training ezine. He spent the last 7 years traveling the world speaking and training on Success.
He lives in Birmingham Michigan, and you can receive a
FREE subscription to his training ezine- The MLM
Success HEAT- at:
http://www.passionfire.com/pf_heat_4.html

http://www.passionfire.com

Who couldn’t use a few extra dollars in the bank? Chances are you could be saving more by practicing a few penny pinching ideas. Check out the following list and see which ideas can help you get a little more bang for your buck.

INSURANCE

When you receive your renewal notice it is time to begin comparison shopping. Spend an hour researching insurance rates. Ask your friends from whom they get their insurance. When I took some time to shop auto insurance I reduced my annual rate by $600.00 and retained similar coverage. If you have more than one policy, go through the same agent to receive a multiple-policy holder discount.

AUTO

Keep up with routine maintenance on your car such as oil changes and tune ups. This can avoid costly repairs down the road.

UTILITIES

Keep in mind that when you lower your thermostat by one degree during heating season– you will save around 2% on your bill.

CHECKS

Order your checks through the mail instead of through a bank. My last order from a bank cost $13.50 for plain yellow checks. I got an abstract design on from a mail order company for around $5.00. Current offers a good variety of checks. You can request their check brochure at (800)-426-0822

CONTACT LENSES

Ordering contact lenses from a direct company can be less expensive than ordering through an optician. Call Contact Lens Connection at (800)-695-LENS for more details. But don’t forget to still see your eye doctor regularly for check-up visits.

REFILL PLEASE!

For common household cleaners use refills when available. This way you will not pay for packaging each time you make a purchase.

SKIP THE SODA!

Get rid of soda in your house. Instead find a mixed beverage for your children like Kool-Aid, Tang, or Crystal Light. This will save on soda bills and dentist bills, too! If soda is a must, buy it in liter bottles. It is cheaper and avoids the waste of having leftover soda in cans. If canned soda is preferred, find a store-brand your family likes. These can usually be purchased for .10-.14 cents per can.

GROCERY SHOPPING

When shopping, be armed with a list and don’t stray from it! It also helps to shop the edge of the supermarket where the fresh food and less expensive food tends to be. It is the middle aisles that contain all those items that can magically leap into your cart.

SAVING IDEAS Never spend your change. Use a coffee tin and deposit all your change into it. Let all your change accumulate for a year. Use the money to get something nice for yourself, or add to it for several years and take your children on a special vacation. Pay $5 extra on your electric, phone, water , cable, and gas bills. Do this January through November. Then relax in December to a low-bill month!

The Change Your Life Challenge
http://www.changeyourlifechallenge.com
Take control of your home, finances, relationships, clutter, time-managmenet and more with this 70 Day Program. Sign up for the free Challenge Weekly Newsletter and the motivational daily Good Morning.

What benefits will you get from flyers?

Flyers are much different from postcards in that they convey product sales to the consumer. Safeway, Costco, Albertsons and other grocery chains are excellent at putting out flyers. Many consumers will look at the specials and head out to purchase them either when they need them or simply to stock up. Do flyers work in this respect? Yes, or they would not be doing them. If you are not in a high demand product line such as groceries, then a multiple page flyer may not be what you want to send to your local area. You may want to stick to postcards or one-pagers that have more impact.

You can also be part of a flyer program that is offered by coupon book companies, and that way you are grouped together and your readership will likely be higher than if you try to go it alone. There are many really good coupon companies in most cities; you should try and find out who publishes these in your area. If your business is not consumer products but based on business to business, then flyers in a Chamber newsletter will likely work better for you. You should find out ahead of time who they distribute their newsletter to, if it is members only or if it goes to businesses within their postal code area in its entirety. Businesses that belong to the Chamber will more than likely read all the flyers in the package and your response rate will be better.

We have covered only three different ways to deal with flyers but there are many more that we do not have room to mention. If you want to have flyers produced in any fashion, keep it professional looking and have it professionally printed. Printers are not that expensive and the amount you pay will have a better return on investment than if you do them yourself. Remember that it is your image that is out there all the time; you need to be consistent and look good!

Bette Daoust, Ph.D. has been networking with others since leaving high school years ago. Realizing that no one really cared about what she did in life unless she had someone to tell and excite. She decided to find the best ways to get people’s attention, be creative in how she presented herself and products, getting people to know who she was, and being visible all the time. Her friends and colleagues have often dubbed her the “Networking Queen”. Blueprint for Networking Success: 150 ways to promote yourself is the first in this series. Blueprint for Branding Yourself: Another 150 ways to promote yourself is planned for release in 2005. For more information visit http://www.BlueprintBooks.com

Your ezine builds customer confidence and trust when you give free tips, articles, and resources. Clients and customers buy only when they trust you. Expand your email subscriber list seven ways for eventual big sales.

1. Network offline.

Visit professional like-minded networking groups. These groups usually meet once a month, have speakers, and networking time for you to mix with other professionals. You will get valuable information at these meetings for low cost-yearly memberships run that around $25-$75 which includes free or low-cost meeting attendance. Each meeting is around two hours including networking time and talk. Usually at each meeting you hear a speaker and get a 30-second time to introduce yourself.

2. Speak to groups about your expertise.

You can guest speak for a large association or group, or you can give your own seminars and workshops, where people come to hear your expertise. During each meeting, pass as clipboard that asks your audience for their email addresses. At the top include a reason to “buy”. Make a fre*e offer such as your ezine. Include your Web URL in plain sight as well as your email. You want these people to visit your Web site, to see what you can do for them, see your expertise, then perhaps to buy products.

You can give a teleclass too in the comfort of your office or home. When you introduce yourself offer a benefit of your free ezine along with a free bonus special report.

3. Promote your ezine on your Web site.

Visit various sites and take from them what will make your web pages zing.

Don’t use the pabulum approach such as “Subscribe to my free ezine.” Is this enough to make you buy? Give a reason for your visitor to buy.

Use the passion approach. For my new Web site, I submitted this blurb to my Webmaster: Finish, publish, and sell your book-fast! Receive free articles, tips and resources in the FRE*E monthly ezine “The Book Coach Says.”

Nearby in a box, I put up a strong testimonial from someone highly respected in the business. Dan Poynter, self-publishing guru said, “Chock full of tips, how-to’s, and resources, definitely worth your time.”

You can also offer by autoresponder a free report when people subscribe. People want free information. When you give it to them, they will come back for more, and eventually buy.

Placement is important. For the best response and more subscribers, place your subscribe box before your visitor has to scroll down. Remember the old adage; “Make it easy for your customer to buy.”

4. Promote your ezine through your signature box at the end of every email.

Create a promotional signature in four to seven lines, and add it to the end of each email you send out. Here, you would list your book title, benefits of your service, your FRE*E ezine title with a way to subscribe. Include your email, Web site address, and local phone number for people out of the U.S.

5. Promote your ezine through submitting free articles to opt-in ezines.

Once you subscribe to these ezines, you can submit one or two articles from 400-800 words every week. In each ezine, thousands of other subscribers will read and think about your article.

Each time you submit an articles to ten or so opt-in ezines (all with one click) you will receive 10-25 new ezine subscribers each day. A strong signature file brings you many new visitors a day. These turn into sales eventually, once trust is established.

6. Offer your subscribers a free gift subscription to send to their friends.

You can use another autoresponder to send the gift, plus whom it’s from, and a little blurb about what they will be receiving. Always include a way for subscribers to unsubscribe.

7. Send out press releases via email about your ezine. Press releases by email are different from print ones. They must be short! They must be newsworthy! Don’t pitch your book; offer some skills and how-to’s. Skills Unlimited Publishing sends out over 150 different print releases a year, along with other effective Online promotion.

Media editors will respond to your compelling headline such as “7 Ways to Sell More Books Than you Ever Dreamed of” that brought first a feature in a major newspaper in San Diego. The results? Over 90 people came to a local seminar by the same name. Four new book coaching clients signed up. Twenty came to ongoing weekly seminars, and twenty more to a teleclass. Book sales amounted to over $400.

Send a list of tips and how-to’s to editors. These may prompt a call to do a feature story on you.

Build your business and sell more products through an ezine. When subscribers experience your messages and information in six or more ezines, they will be more likely to buy from you.

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 140 free articles. Email her at mailto:Judy@bookcoaching.com

Using paypal as an International user is highly ineffective. Paypal is an ebay company and it has a reputation as a very effective method of paying and receiving money online! It has received amazing reviesw from people who has been using paypal for a long time. However, this is an honest review from an International user (particularly, Malaysia and some of the SEA region) using paypal for projects and receiving money online.

First off, if you’re a user from the United States or some of the other approved countries that paypal has approved of, using paypal is probably going to be a breeze. I have not had the privilege of using paypal as a US resident (quite obviously) so, I cannot give you a review on using paypal as one! But as an International merchant using paypal, this is what I have to say – YOU MAY NEVER GET TO SEE YOUR MONEY AT ALL!

I am a genuine merchant/freelancer who was using paypal to receive money from my International clients. They have all asked me if I had problems using paypal for payment, and obviously, keen on trying to tie the project in, I said I did NOT have a problem using paypal. I figured that if I DID eventually have a problem, I was pretty sure paypal would help me get my money from the account. After all, it’s MY money in THEIR account and they cannot possibly keep the money that I have earned.

In the beginning stages of using paypal, it’s easy peasy – nothing to it. All a user has to do in order to start using paypal is to register. The registration process is easy enough. They automatically approve your account to make it easy for you to use paypal. Using paypal to get money into your paypal account is simple. Just provide the payer with your paypal ID: your email address. The payer using paypal as a payment gateway will only have to log into the paypal account and then using paypal’s tools to send the money to your account. Simple enough.

Using paypal : here’s where it gets a little tough
Using paypal to receive money posed some problems to me, as an International user.

1. Verification
In order to withdraw money from your paypal account, you need to first verify your paypal account. The point in using paypal as a payment gateway is lost here because in order to verify the account, you need to have a US bank account or a credit card.

If you’re like me, an International user who does not have a means of getting a US bank account, then using paypal can get pretty rocky…ok, well, tricky. I have explored the possibility of opening a US bank account from where I live, it’s possible. But the setup fee was huge. You need to pay USD299 as a setup fee. Yes, SETUP fee, not deposit. I would understand it if they told me that I would need to pay USD100 or USD50 as a setup fee (which translates to about Ringgit Malaysia 380 or Ringgit Malaysia 190) with a certain limitations to a deposit, but having to pay a setup fee of USD299 was too much for me.

You can always get a credit card to verify your account in order to start using paypal to send money and receive money online. Sure thing. Except.I don’t have a credit card. But I got myself a debit card cause I was sure using paypal was the only way to accepting payments from my International clients. But even if you verified your account in order to start using paypal, you cannot withdraw your money from your paypal account STILL. You STILL need to have a US bank account.

2. Sending Limit
If you have not been using paypal for a long time, like me, then you’re not always aware of the small tiny little word ‘unverified – Malaysia’ that sits comfortably right next to your paypal balance. The sending limit is there if you’re not a verified paypal user. For starters, paypal has capped off the sending limit at USD100. USD100 limit on the amount you can ever send through your paypal account until you get yourself verified.

I found myself in a tussle using paypal when I send USD80 to someone and then they told me that I can only send USD20 more to someone before I have to get verified. So, there was a problem using paypal to send money to someone too? And using paypal a payment gateway was also shot because I can’t seem to get the money out.

You see, what I was trying to do was to send whatever money I had in there to someone else in the US and get them to send the money back to me through iKobo. And although I had found the right person for this task, I was still having problems using paypal because I can’t even get my money out of there to someone else so that they can send me the money – so that I can buy milk and diapers for my kids! Sheesh!

In summary: what was my experience in using paypal?

It was the pits! This is a user who is still hoping that paypal will brush up on their system to make it more user-friendly for International users. But unless they finetune their system to make it more user-friendly, I’d rather be shot in the foot before I’d use it again.

First off, the withdrawal process is lousy because I cannot withdraw the money out from the paypal account therefore, using paypal as a payment option means that I will never smell the money that I have earned. I couldn’t even close the account until I got verified, can you believe that? The person I spent talking (long distance) over the phone with for 2 hours couldn’t find me a solution. Secondly, the sending limit. What happens that those people who wishes to send money to someone but don’t have a credit card? What happens to the money in there?

The only way out for International people using paypal is to either get a US bank account or spend the money on ebay.

Which makes perfect sense – paypal is part of ebay, didn’t I say?

I’ll just stick to what works for now – my iKobo account.

Marsha Maung is a writer and graphic designer who has been freelancing for the past 6 years and have spent a lot of time – between feeding her kids and bathing them, researching on ways to work effectively and totally online. She hopes to give aspiring work at home moms the advice, tips and resources they may need to get their business going. Marsha is a mom to 2 wonderful boys, Joshua and Jared, the love of her life.
http://www.marshamaung.com