The Poetry Portal Net

Hands up all those who’d like to have a successful writing career.

(What’s that you say? What do I mean by ’successful’?)

All right, I know all writers are individuals. To some, ’successful’ might mean just getting one article published. Others want a string of best-selling novels, recognition in the supermarket and megabucks in the bank account. So, for the purposes of this article, we’ll define ’successful’ as “achieving regular or ongoing publication credits in tandem with a growing income”. That income should increase as you become more recognized and popular as a writer.

Now for the crunch. How do you achieve success? How do you win a growing readership? And the biggie: how do you make sure you get paid for your efforts?

There’s a simple answer. You need to INVEST in your career. Think of your writing as a fledgling business. Wise investment will help it to grow - and help you to get the results you want.

1. You need to spend a buck to make two (or more) bucks

Every craftsperson needs to have good tools to get the best results. A writer is no different.

• You can make do with a typewriter - but a computer is better. (Why? It’s easier to edit your work; you can connect to the wider writing community via the Internet, and editors are increasingly asking for manuscripts and proofs to be emailed to them.)

2. You Need to Prioritise Your Spending

There are three main things you need to think about when you’re prioritising your spending on your writing career.

1. What will help me improve my skills?

Here are a few ideas:

(a) What will help me improve my skills?

Books on writing for your professional library - a writing course - a writing workshop or program - a writers’ seminar or conference - membership of a writers’ centre - writing software - a critique service

(b) What will help me do my job more effectively?

An up to date computer - a good-quality desk and chair - an internet connection - a directory of writers’ markets - a separate room for writing - a reduction in working hours in my outside job - a fax and/or good printer - a better word processing program

(c) What will help me to get known and to market my work?

Attendance at writing talks/seminars/workshops/groups - local functions and social groups - internet discussion lists - my own website - submission of articles to industry magazines/ezines - run my own seminars and workshops - business cards - regular column for local paper - radio chat show appearances

These are just a few ideas. Brainstorm a list of your own, then rank the items on each list in order of importance to you. What is the wisest use of your money at this point in your career?

3. You Need To Invest Time As Well As Money

You have probably already noticed that many of the career-boosting strategies that involve investment of cash also require an investment of your time. The importance of giving time to your career cannot be overestimated.

• It takes time to read up on markets and draw up a submission list.

It’s far easier to find excuses for not doing something than to get out there and do it. With every excuse, your writing career stalls again. Sure, we all have times when everything that could go wrong does go wrong - but we need to be careful that this enforced ‘time out’ doesn’t stretch from weeks to months, or from months to years.

4. You Need To Invest Energy

An energetic approach to achieving success in your writing career is just as important as spending time and money. You can spend thousands of dollars and you can sit down at the computer for four hours a day seven days a week - but if you don’t invest energy then you are diluting the effects of both.

Example #1: You can go to a seminar and sit by yourself the whole time (or nod off because you’re bored/tired)… or you can make an effort to talk to other writers; ask questions of the panel; introduce yourself to an agent.

Example #2: You can skim through the posts on an internet discussion list… or you can join in and toss around a few ideas (and get to know the others on the list).

Example #3: You can sit at your desk for 2 hours and write a page, play 10 games of Solitaire, answer your email and chat on the phone to a friend for twenty minutes… or you can write a scene, print it out, read it out loud for pacing, analyse the dialogue, then rewrite it - in short: be proactive about using your writing time.

5. You Need To Surround Yourself With Wise Advisers and Positive People

It has often been said that writing is a lonely occupation. It certainly can be, if all you do is sit in front of the computer for hours on end, lost in your writing world. It’s even lonelier if you seem to be the only one who believes that you’ve got a chance of making something of ‘this writing caper’.

Am I saying that it’s a bad thing to become really involved in your writing? Not at all - but you do need balance. You also need to surround yourself with the right kind of people to help you move forward - (1) the right advisers and (2) positive people.

Who are the ‘right advisers’? People who know something of the world of writing. Usually, these will be other writers or professionals connected with writing: agents, editors, writing centre personnel, and experienced members of writing groups (online and offline).

What about ‘positive people’? This is easy. Getting published is hard enough without the doomsayers undermining your confidence. If your family is not supportive, look for others who are. Talk about writing with people who care. Beware of published writers who launch savage attacks on the publishing industry without offering any constructive advice (sometimes they have a hidden agenda).

You love to write. You want to make a living at it. You want to know how to make this a reality - not be told how awful and impossible it all is.

Naturally, you shouldn’t close your ears to sage advice. If there’s an editor everyone hates dealing with, you want to know about it. If there’s a publisher who takes ten months to respond to a manuscript, doesn’t take calls and is slow paying contracted authors - you want to know about that too. But overall, mix with positive people. Your enthusiasm and effectiveness will soar.

6. You Need To Plan, Review, and Plan Again

A well-run business reviews its performance regularly. As you invest time, money and energy in your career, stop periodically to review the effectiveness of your strategies.

• What did you learn from that conference/workshop?

By employing these 6 high-yield strategies to investing in your career, you’ll notice a definite change in your attitude and your results.

Does this approach work?

Well, for over a decade now I’ve had a career based solely on writing and writing-related activities. It pays well in both satisfaction and dollars. I’ve always invested time, money and energy in my career. I’ve tried to surround myself with good advisers and positive people. And yes, I do plan, review then plan again! I’m constantly updating my knowledge, tools and contacts.

These 6 high-yield strategies have worked for countless other writers. They’re based on (1) common sense and (2) good business sense.

Give them a try, and watch them work wonders for you.

(c) copyright Marg McAlister

Marg McAlister has published magazine articles, short stories, books for children, ezines, promotional material, sales letters and web content. She has written 5 distance education courses on writing, and her online help for writers is popular all over the world. Sign up for her regular writers’ tipsheet at http://www.writing4success.com/

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How much do we believe that people need to hear the gospel?

Matt 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

We see that when Jesus left the earth to be with his Father, He gave an assignment to the disciples. It is the same assignment that we have today. This assignment was to make disciples of all nations. The word “disciple” literally means “learner”.
The way we need to make learners is to go, the second way is to baptize and then teach to obey.

So let’s take a look at “Going” today. Many times we talk about finding ourselves and finding God’s will for our lives. But guess what? I have good news for you. I have found God’s will for you and here it is. God has called us to fulfill the Great commission.

Let’s take a look a this commission a little deeper:

LOVE MEANS TAKING THE INITIATIVE
When Jesus said “Go”, it was basically the opposite of “stay”. The attitude of God is not a “come and see” mentality but a “go and tell” mentality. How do I know that?

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

God’s answer for mankind, God’s love for mankind, meant that He gave Someone, He sent Someone. He didn’t wait, but He took the initiative. He went and sent his only begotten Son to earth to live and die for us.

Love means taking the initiative
If God is a going God. Then we should be a going people!
About 20 years ago I was waiting for a bus. I was an actor. A woman came over to me and started telling me about Jesus. At the end she said, “Us talking like this is not an accident. God is trying to reach you.” It was a throw away line to her but the Holy Spirit used that on me. She took the initiative to go and tell. Thank God for that woman! Thank God she took the initiative!

Look at the story of the disciples themselves. If we look at the story of the early church, they did not stay put. They went and made a difference.

Acts 8:1-4 On that day a great persecution broke out against the church at Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. …..
v4 Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went

It wasn’t the apostles who were doing the preaching here. No, they stayed in Jerusalem. It was the rank and file who had been scattered throughout the region that preached the word wherever they went. Why? Because, believe it or not, they took the admonition seriously to …

Mark 16:15 …..”Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.

Some of us may look at this culture and get so intimidated, that we become obsessed and paralyzed. We reason that we have to adapt our message and tailor it to the culture. But interestingly, Jesus did not put his emphasis on tailoring. He put the emphasis on communication. He wanted us to communicate the message to as many people as possible.

Mark McCloskey tells a great story: Imagine that you are a skilled physician. Through a research project you discover a new virus. To your shock you realize that the virus is 100% fatal and also that every person on the planet has it. You press on with your research and discover a cure. You hold a press conference to announce your discovery. To your surprise, nobody really cares. What virus? Who me? , I feel fine. Nobody believes they have this virus even though people are beginning to die from it. You think, “how can I convince the sick of their condition. I can’t pour the cure down their throats. They have to want to take it.” So you realize that through persistent reasoning you need to communicate the nature of the disease and the effectiveness of the cure!

Similarly, if we are truly loving and we know that all mankind is infected with the disease called sin, and we believe that this disease is terminal, and are convinced that we have the cure—-would it not be the most unloving thing in the world, to keep the cure from the people. Wouldn’t it be horrible to keep the cure from people, even though we know they don’t want it? We know that they need it! So our only loving alternative must be to patiently reason and share the nature of sin and its deadliness so that they will put on the cure of Jesus Christ!

TRUTHS THAT WILL MOTIVATE US
Men are truly lost and Jesus is the only way
Many of us have succumbed to the culture which says that Jesus is nice but not necessary– “I’m okay Your okay” But the Biblical reality is quite different.

Rom 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

Rom 2:5-6 But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God’s wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed.

The Bible reveals a creation that has become guilty and tainted with sin. Sin is rebellion against God and His ways and because of this, man cannot enter into a right relationship with God.

Rom 3:20 Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

The scriptures portray man as in a totally helpless state. He is unable to earn his own salvation before God. In this age of self help spirituality, not many want to hear that. We think that we can reach God on our own. If we really believed that man was lost without Christ we would be motivated to Go.

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through me” (John 14:6).

“There is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).

Because of our predicament: Jesus is the only way. We didn’t say it . He did. People are offended at this notion. But all you can do is present it as lovingly as you can.

Praise God though we were in sin, though we were lost. Though we were bound. Jesus said he came to set the captives free!

There is a hell.
Mark 9:43-45 If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out.

Hell is a very unpopular subject. But the end of man without Christ is eternal torment.

An evangelist once said this “If you believe that outside of Christ there is no hope, it is impossible to possess an atom of human love and kindness without being gripped with the great desire to bring men to this one way of salvation.

The fact that all men are created in God’s image ensures that every person born into this world will live forever. The question is, “Where?”

In each 24-hour period, over 175,000 people die, many without Christ; the matter is settled for them.

Gen. William Booth, founder of the Salvation Army, could never be accused of mincing words or doing things half-heartedly. He believed if he could hold each of his young Salvation Army officers over hell for a few minutes, he would never have any trouble keeping them motivated about being witnesses to Christ.
Get your eyes on eternity. You are just a pilgrim passing
through. Here is the good news: Jesus defeated death, hell and the grave . Nothing could hold back Jesus. God wants us to snatch souls from the enemy by convincing as many as we can as effectively as we can, as soon as we can, that Jesus is indeed the Savior of the world.

Daniel Jordan is a NYC pastor, speaker and the creator of the “Free Prayer” Table, where he offers Christian prayer to anyone on the streets. He speaks on how to MAXIMIZE the Power of God in your life and the lives of those around you. http://www.livinghopeny.org, http://www.cpwa.blogspot.com, 917-463-3503.

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High Probability Closing is not an event. It’s an integral part of the entire sales process. We define “closing” as Mutual Commitment. Therefore, we request the prospect’s commitment at every step of the sales process, and we make corresponding commitments. We close throughout the entire sales process - typically between 25 and 45 times.

Closing starts when we set the appointment and then ask, “If we can meet all of your conditions of satisfaction for (this product or service), what will you do?” If the prospect doesn’t reply with “I’ll buy it,” or words to that effect, we immediately cancel the appointment, for now. However, we will continue to call the prospect every three to four weeks until he/she is ready to make a conditional commitment.

Most salespeople set out to contact a large number of people who have an apparent need for their products and service.Their objective is to convince every one of them to grant them an appointment.

If we don’t get a commitment at any step of the sales process, we determine whether the commitment that isn’t accepted is a deal breaker. If so, we terminate the sales process (perhaps temporarily) and we leave. Why? Staying and pitching to a prospect who does not make commitments almost guarantees the following:

1. The probability that the prospect will buy on that visit is highly unlikely.

2. You’re wasting your time and the prospect’s, thereby creating resistance to yourself and diminished respect. That leaves them with a negative perception of you.

3. If and when the prospect does decide to buy in the future, it’s most likely that he/she will buy from a competitor.

Think about how you would react if you were the prospect. This salesperson has given you all the information you need to make a decision when you were not ready to buy. Though mildly annoyed, you listened to their entire sales pitch. Now, when you are ready to buy, isn’t it likely that you will check what his/her competition has to offer? If the competitor’s salesperson appears equally competent and seems to have as good a deal, who are you most likely to buy from? Will you buy from the salesperson who is there now, or will you have him/her leave and call back the one who you wouldn’t buy from before?

However, if the prospect is ready to buy and we do arrive at mutual commitment throughout the initial sales process, we hardly ever encounter any “think it over” objections at the end. The prospect has just made dozens of commitments and affirmations of their intention to buy every feature, benefit and detriment of your product or service. At that point the prospect is anxious to consummate the sales process and get the benefits of your products and/or services. They have literally convinced themselves of the practicality of those decisions. The human mind operates like a self-validating computer. It does not doubt its own data.

People who utilize this process attain very high closing averages - per number of prospecting offers and per number of prospect visits.

©Jacques Werth, High Probability® Selling - All rights reserved.

Jacques Werth, author of “High Probability Selling,” is an internationally respected Sales Trainer and Sales Consultant. HPS graduates are excelling as Top Producers in over 70 industries. Visit http://www.highprobsell.com to read more articles, preview the book, and learn more about High Probability Selling.

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As an article author, sometimes you can only pull so much out of your head before you need to turn to a system or a strategy for how to produce more original content.

The following are (7) types of great content sources to help you produce your next batch of 100+ quality and original articles:

Article Content Source #1: Old Ezine Articles

This includes your archives for articles that you sent your ezine from the past 10+ years. If you’ve created multiple articles for each email newsletter issue, I recommend that you break your old ezine articles into single article chunks rather than multi-topic articles. If you have large ezine articles from your email newsletter archive, consider breaking them down into 250-500 word chunks rather than 1,000-3,000 word articles.

Article Content Source #2: Old Original Forum Posts

If you’ve been on the Internet for some time, there is a good chance you belong to a few forums that you might call yourself a “resident expert” on. All of your old forum posts that are greater than 250 words in length will make great new articles that you can put into distribution to create more traffic and sales for your business, if not to enhance your credibility alone.

Article Content Source #3: Old Blog Posts

The whole point of blogging, besides posting frequently, is that you can easily syndicate your blog for others to read via the RSS reader of their choice. Because of the syndication orientation of blogging, your blog posts that are greater than 250 words make great articles that you can slap on a longer title, add a resource box that pitches your blog website and put a fast 250-100+ articles into immediate distribution.

Article Content Source #4: Out of Date Books

Are you an author that has a book that is no longer in print? If you own the copyrights to it, this is an excellent place to create hundreds of quality articles with just a few days or a week of editing.

Article Content Source #5: Your Current e-Books

Grab 10%-20% of your hottest selling ebook and flip it into articles designed to introduce your reader into wanting the whole ebook from you. You still need to deliver real content value here and not get skimpy or tease them with ‘what they could learn if they bought your ebook.’ Just keep the articles short, with bullets or small numbered lists.

Article Content Source #6: Top 10 or Top 7 Articles

Everyone likes content they can read very fast. Why not create top 10 lists (or any number of “Top” things) related to your niche or area of expertise. To begin, just create a headline such as “Top 7 Leaders Strategies For Newbie Managers” and then number the list from 1-7. Come up with a sub-headline for each tip and then do (1) paragraph describing the tip. You’ll find these are easy to produce and crank out 5-10 of them per day.

Article Content Source #7: Keyword Research

Using Google Suggest ( http://www.google.com/webhp?hl=en&complete=1 ) or any keyword research tool, you can enter in keyword relating to your niche and discover topics that people are currently searching for that are related to your expertise. Use this as a springboard to launch another 25 articles that are 250-450 words each related to answering or providing short tips on how to solve or get more out of the keywords they searched for. Example: “Yoga” when entered into Google Suggest tells me that I should write articles about “Yoga Journals or Journaling” and about proper form or different types of “Yoga Poses.”

ps: Would it surprise you if I told you that this very article was created from a compilation of blog entries that I created over the past 2 months? I just stitched together relevant blog posts until I had a brand new article that delivered a single themed message…and YOU CAN DO IT TOO!

About The Author:

Christopher M. Knight invites you to submit your best articles for massive exposure to the high-traffic http://EzineArticles.com/ directory. When you submit your articles to EzineArticles.com, your articles will be picked up by ezine publishers who will reprint your articles with your content and links in tact giving you traffic surges to help you increase your sales. To submit your article, setup a membership account today: http://EzineArticles.com/submit/

Copyright 2005 - Christopher M. Knight. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all of the links active, do not edit the article in any way, give author name credit where credit is due and follow all of the EzineArticles terms of service for Publishers.

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If you ever have an injury and any type of abnormal thing happen to your body, you want to make sure that you have health insurance. Health insurance is insurance for your body, just in case something happens you will be able to get the care that you need. Health insurance is quite affordable for most because it is split up into smaller payments and over a period of time, some don’t have any payments because it is often included in a work payment and part of a compensation plan. Having health insurance does make life a lot easier because of the decrease in stress and worry that comes along with the thoughts of “what if?” when it comes to possible abnormal health.

Being proactive with your health is becoming more popular because it could help prevent any abnormal health conditions. You can do many things to help prevent this, things like eating healthy foods, exercising, supplementing with Acceletrim for weight loss, meditation and relaxation, and laughing and giggling a lot. These can really help you. There are so many proactive activities that you can do to help avoid future problems, doing all of this can help give you more security, but getting health insurance is important, as no one can ever predict the future with one hundred percent certainty.

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With the artistic skillful hands of graphic designers you can merely achieve the kind of design that you want for your projects. Graphic design had been noted to be an exemplary feature that makes any material more good-looking and appealing. On the other hand businesses make use of them in developing attractive promotional tools.

Graphic Design Application
Mainly graphic design is not only applicable for printed materials they can also be applied and utilized for web development projects. The vast changes made in technology had paved more businesses to have their services extended online. However bringing up a web page of your own is not as easy as selling hot potatoes. You have to be creative and wise enough in choosing for the right designs and a right content for a perfect presentation.

Getting started with the designs that you want for your project graphic design San Diego can help you out to deliver an effective design performance. This graphic design company crafts an efficient design workflow of professionalism and accuracy.

Web development companies had simply aided to create a good marketing strategy that had resulted to have:
1. Good branding image - a good image is vital in promoting your companies and services. It would also support to market your service efficiently.

2. Visitor friendly site - it simply pertains in gaining more customers and turning them out to be potential customers and ending up with more sales and profit.

Essentially graphic designs are vital in every material made. Let’s say you wanted to make a design that will stand out. Creating a logo for instance, if you want them to be more attractive, appealing and colorful you have to rightfully choose for the right company suited for your job.

Urging to have a prompt response from your graphic design companies’ graphic design San Diego would more likely to answer immediately customer’s questions. Similarly, providing an abrupt response would impinge on the way customers look at your company.

With the many services that are sprouting at present more businesses are aiming to deal with right company. Achieving to have the right company on hand graphic design San Diego professional designer will develop an idea and end it up with a remarkable design.

Sequentially a well designed web site, web page or promotional material can be a key for a more successful business.

Please visit Graphic Designs Unlimited site at www.graphicdesignsunlimited.com/ for comments and inquiries regarding this article.

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Unquestionably when the word hypnosis pops-up in a conversation or in the mainstream press, nostrils flair, minds conjure up strong reactions of parlor tricks and pictures of late night scary movies where starry-eyed maidens are seduced to carry out satanic acts. Here we are, in modern times, where we have set foot on the moon, (ops - better watch my words - there are people who still think the earth is flat) broke the sound barrier, communicate wireless with the most modern technology and still people see hypnosis has a hoax. Even the well educated are not off the hook from such lack of knowledge and ignorant responses.

Altered states and trance experiences have been around long before the word hypnosis. What is unique about hypnotic communications is that it’s truly magical and at the same time clearly explainable and understandable.

Regardless, of the mystique surrounding hypnotic communication, there is no hocus-pocus involved, and the only tool you will need is your MIND. Sound too easy?

Follow along and prepare yourself to be amazed - both by the power of your mind to shape who you can become, and by the power you have to guide it.

First, Lets’ remove a couple of old misconceptions that you’re supposed to talk in a monotone when you do hypnosis and that you are under control of someone’s power.

A more accurate way to channel the thought that others can control us would be to restate that hypnosis is powerful communication to influence others as well as the self.

That is clearly evident in advertising communications - persuasive salespeople, politicians, religious leaders, and business leaders just to name a few. The hypnotist may take you into an altered state by using a monotone voice for getting a particular outcome or result. Similarly, a more animated approach, just like a glib politician, can wow you into the same altered state through their mesmerizing performance.

And, as for the self - we are masters at entering altered states many times a day - programming with hypnotic communications for what we can’t do rather than what we can do. (Just listen and catch yourself every time you say “I can’t”, “No”, or “That was Stupid”)

Parents are excellent at using hypnotic communications for getting an unwanted response from a child - Don’t spill your milk! - Turn your back and the next thing you hear is the child’s glass of milk falling on the floor.

If I tell you “don’t get to excited about my free no obligation gift offer at end of this article — Or, if I say, “I don’t want you to worry about what happens after reading this article”. You and the child are stuck with trying to understand what was just said. Unsuspectingly, an unwanted behavior occurs in the child — spilling the milk — and you, the reader, somehow wanting to understand what “don’t want you to worry” means, will momentarily fall into an altered state conjuring up in your mind all kinds of possibilities.

Hypnotic communications is a very natural process that we all do all the time — some have just learned to do it more eloquently for positive outcomes and others sabotage themselves. It’s a skill that you can develop to be a very powerful communicator for changing yourself and influencing others.

The challenge that people have is they don’t recognize, understand or notice the natural flow of hypnotic communication. And, therefore is very transparent and goes undetected by the incomprehensible person.

Here is an everyday example: Put yourself in this scene - you’re driving down a freeway or highway and surprisingly you pass an intended off-ramp or street that you were going to exit onto. For a split second you may have been startled upon discovering that you passed the exit and said something like - “dam” or “stupid me” how did I miss that?

Unknowingly you were experiencing hypnotic communications with yourself - an altered state of consciousness - focused in a hyper state of awareness in your subconscious mind on something other than paying attention to your driving - daydreaming as some would describe it.

Watch out for the pink elephant behind you. - Got you! - for a split second did you visualize a pink elephant? Now I can just hear the skeptics saying, this hypnosis stuff doesn’t work. Clearly it works! And, it has programmed you into the person you are today.

Habits of behavior are learned through hypnotic communications and work specifically for changing any unwanted behaviors in life. You can learn to eliminate habits of behavior that would enable you to stop smoking, eliminate weight, overcome fears, and to create new habits of behavior for greater success in life.

The mind is much more malleable than we thought and marketers are learning to understand and capitalize on what influences consumers unconscious minds as much as their conscious minds do.

Learning hypnotic communications through self-hypnosis will clearly help guard your mind against self-sabotaging acts and bring strength and awareness of external influence. And, you will experience harmonious balance and control in your life.

Don Price, Los Angeles, CA
donprice@donlprice.com
http://www.donlprice.com
Don L. Price - Sales/Marketing & High Performance Success Coach, International Speaker, Consultant and Author of Secrets of Personal Marketing Power-Strategies for Achieving Greater Personal & Business Success

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Is lack of sales results, more sales training costs, months of
unearned salary and damage to your company’s image or
reputation your company’s method of NOT finding good
salespeople? For most companies it is!

The “trial and error” method of hiring salespeople is very
costly to a business. Without a viable way to hire quality
sales people everyone in the same organization is negatively
affected. Without revenues there often are not adequate human
and financial resources to best service customers or grow the
business.

“Sales” Pays the Bills

If you’re a seasoned business owner or a manager of a business,
you learn that sales fixes most business problems … in other
words, when sales revenues are strong, you can more afford to
make business mistakes or throw more money at any number of
business problems. However, when sales are down you cannot
afford any level of unnecessary incremental cost.

Zig Ziglar, the famous sales trainer, once said, “Sales people
are really the only people in business who pay the bills!” For
vital, revenue generating positions like sales, businesses
cannot afford a trial and error method of finding quality
sales personnel.

Show Me the Way!

Hiring quality employees has always been a major challenge for
any business owner or manager. Hiring mistakes are common no
matter the business function and most are directly attributed
to six fundamental hiring mistakes:

1) Assuming the hiring manager knows how to qualify people

Being able to effectively interview and qualify people, like
any other skill is not an innate talent. Some people are
better than others at assessing hire candidate’s potential. As
a hiring manager you must seek others perspectives of
candidates and establish an interview team for each open
position, than collectively discuss each candidate for optimum
results.

2) Not defining EXACTLY what you are looking for in a new hire

The adage: “If you don’t know what you want you’ll never get
it” applies in hiring salespeople. When you establish an
interview team, document a comprehensive job description with
duties and responsibilities clearly defined for each interview
team member. Be sure to list desirable talents, skills and
areas of knowledge. If you want multiple perspectives on
candidate traits or experiences, have each person focus on a
limited number of desired skill sets.

3) Assuming specific business functions know how to hire “like”

talent

Do sales people best know how to hire other sales people? Not
necessarily! Just because someone is capable in a specific job
function does not mean they know how to hire people with the
same level of talent.

4) Over emphasizing a hire candidate’s personality or “looks”

This one is obvious, but, one of the most common hiring
mistakes.

5) Not effectively checking previous employment references

If you consistently miss critical insights into a salesperson’s
capabilities, motivations or character prior to hire, it is
generally because you chose not to or did not effectively
investigate a candidate’s previous employment history. Given
the potential cost of a poor hiring mistake, it makes
financial sense to spend a nominal amount of money and have a
professional check out a candidate’s references.

6) Hiring in your own likeness

Everyone likes to hire people who either have their same;
background, education, philosophies, interests, motivations or
friends, but, more often than not, this is a major mistake.
Sales team diversity is critical to long term sales success.

If your organization can establish an effective program to
evaluate potential new sales personnel on a probationary basis
you can also significantly reduce your hire risks. Establish a
legal document whereby the candidate and your company mutually
agree to a 4 to 6 month “mutual evaluation period”. Define
upfront all position performance metrics for the candidate and
a clear financial remuneration to be paid if they do not meet
the performance thresholds. Be sure this agreement is written
by a qualified attorney. If the “honeymoon” is wonderful,
there is a good chance the marriage is going to be a success!

Organizations have a shared responsibility to hire the best
selling talent possible. Whether you seek experienced sales
people or “rookies” with just energy and attitude, a
disciplined approach to PRE-qualifying tomorrow’s sales
superstar is paramount. If you cannot find quality sales
people, don’t compromise!

About the Author:

Mark Smock is President of http://www.business-buyer-directory.com,
the FIRST International business buyer directory of its kind.
Business Buyer Directory provides a non-traditional means for
proactive business buyers to locate businesses for sale
worldwide that meet their exact registered purchase criteria.

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Like any field, excellent writing requires study, practice and mentorship. Very few successful authors ever published their first draft of their first work. Nearly all had to expend considerable effort to improve their craft. Here are some ways to prepare for that moment of publication. These tips also help keep you on your toes after publication for better and better writing results as your career develops.

1) Read, read, read in your field. You can never read too much when you’re trying to excel as a writer. Reading in your field helps you develop a discerning eye. You need this discerning eye for when you step back and look at your own work.

2) Cultivate role models. Know who the top-selling authors are in your field. Find out more about them. How did they get to where they are? Do searches in the Internet (available in most libraries-ask your librarian how to use a search engine) for information about particular authors whose careers you admire. Let your role models inspire rather than daunt you. There is no competition, only inspiration, potential teachers and opportunities for cooperation. That author you envy this year may be writing a blurb for your first novel next year.

3) Research your markets. If you want to publish in periodicals, whether literary fiction, journalistic writing, or anything else, realize publication standards serve a purpose other than to frustrate new authors.

4) Take classes. Many cities offer writing classes through community colleges or local writing groups. Online writing classes are popping up everywhere. If possible, choose a writing teacher who has published in a field you’d like to enter. Even better, find someone you already consider a mentor. Not every published author has what it takes to offer beginning writers what they need, but many do.

5) Join or start a writer’s group in your area. We teach best what we most need to learn. There is no better way to improve your own writing than to help others with theirs.

6) Find a writing buddy with whom to check in on a regular basis. The two of you can be each others’ inspiration, accountability market, guidepost and reality check. Having structure and someone to check in with may help you look forward to your otherwise lonely writing sessions.

7) Play with changing voices. Copy other writers you admire. How does that feel? Pretend you suddenly got an injection of creativity serum or I.Q. booster, then write like mad for ten minutes. What happens to the quality of your words? Is this a possible new direction for you? As creative and intelligent beings, we have so much more within us than we could ever dream.

Accept the reality of rewriting. Unlike other professions who get to rest on their milestones, for writers, a completed manuscript often represents a beginning. The best writing comes after lots of rewriting, even for seasoned authors. You needn’t throw any of it away, but not every sentence belongs in every work. Save the scraps, but don’t get attached to where they go, or the integrity of your project will suffer.

9) Get clear on what you want out of getting published. Many writers move forward without knowing where they want to wind up. As a teacher once told me, “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” The answer to what you want out of getting published will help you determine the best route to take. And in publishing, those routes are many and varied. You can use our Twenty Questions as a self-help guide.

10) If what you want is to get published in the least amount of time, considering hiring a ghostwriter. An extremely common but rarely discussed practice, many successful authors talk to ghostwriters, who put their skills to work on an author’s behalf. Although some such ghostwriters get a cover credit, many do not, hence the “ghost” terminology. If you have more money than time or inclination to toil, ghostwriting may be the option for you. Learn more

You are welcome to reprint this article any time, anywhere with no further permission, and no payment, provided the following is included at the end or beginning:

Author Jill Nagle is founder and principal of GetPublished,
http://www.GetPublished.com, which provides coaching, consulting, ghostwriting, classes and do-it-yourself products to emerging and published authors. Her most recent book is How to Find An Agent Who Can Sell Your Book for Top Dollar http://www.FindTheRightAgent.com.

The Publishers Way | No Comments »

Computer accessible sports wagering internet sites are currently regulated via three organizations. They are the OSGA (the Offshore Gaming Association), the IGC (Interactive Gaming Council) and finally the Fidelity Trust Gaming Association FTGA. Tribe.s Lee outpitches Twins. Liriano

The Offshore Gaming Association are an independent watch-dog agency which presently oversees the modern overseas gaming business, they undertake to offer sports gamblers a way to to locate acclaimed internet organizations to play games of destiny with. The OSGA strives to champion customer’s rights, and in addition they do not impose any association expenses. The OSGA are a proficient and neutral third party agency who reveal impartial information, founded on your feedback, independent investigation, telephone calls, inside advice and offers inside news.

The Interactive Gaming Council is a non-profit-making organization. The organization has been set up to allow a forum for involved parties to discuss subjects also to move forward common interests in the world-wide interactive gambling industry, in an effort to establish scrupulous not to mention duty bound industry guidelines and habits which enhance consumer certainty in internet sports betting commodities and functions, and also to assist as the gaming trade’s public policy defender and in addition it works as a data base of operations.

The Interactive Gaming Council has worked up a reputation for dependability, honorable practise also solidity thanks to its scrupulous ethical code, also its allure for business enterprises of exemplary practise. The IGC regulates offshore sports betting by means of using a characteristic 10 step set of rules and charges gaming web sites a fee to feature the council’s logo. Disillusioned gamblers can also report any of their disagreements to the Interactive Gaming Council.

The FTGA has been established in order to set a benchmark which will improve the actions of computer accessible sports betting operations. The authority believe that through partnering solely with websites of honorable standing, they can make an affiliation of the fairest and professional online gambling companies globally. There are councils which inspect the procedures of online sports betting and which should assist to alleviate any fears because of insecurity experienced by detractors. Machine-accessible sports betting websites are totally harmless, since individual details shouldn’t be needed and the compensation and the gambling odds are generally equivalent to your usual Vegas-style sports bet. These web sites wipe out traveling, but still preserve the ethos of a Vegas style gaming site, however these days you are enabled to game in the comfort of your home.

Wagering, Gambling Luck, Universe Of Sports | No Comments »