Effects of Other Countries’ Policies on Australia

In my first article I commented on the effect idiotic political decisions had on our economy. This article focusses on the effect the policies of other countries have on us.

China’s growth in recent years was responsible for the boom in Australia directly attributable to the mining industry. However, this growth is now faltering because the State imagined it could control both supply and demand and spent enormously on infrastructure projects, as well as building up a massive export manufacturing sector based on cheap labour.

In consequence, China now has several towns with no inhabitants and rapidly sliding property prices. Also, in view of the falling consumer spending in the USA and Australia after various fiscal stimuli are withdrawn, China will find it more difficult to dispose of its consumer goods.

Naturally that slow down in growth will have a flow on effect on the major suppliers of raw materials to it, like Australia.

The Greek currency crisis is playing out in Europe, with various other countries, like Portugal, Spain, Ireland & Italy, likely to place additional strains on the European Union. Whilst that is proceeding, imports and exports to and from those countries are likely to be slow, with consumers being forced to tighten their belts for some time to come.

After all, Greece only has total debt of $216 billion. Portugal’s debt is $288 billion, Ireland’s is $862 billion, Spain’s is $1.1 trillion & Italy’s is $1.4 trillion! Those figures make the $1 trillion rescue package announced recently seem insignificant. To add to the mix, Hungary appears to be in difficulties and although not part of the EU, it owes money to EU banks.

Unfortunately, over the years, general voter apathy and gullibility has allowed bureaucrats and governments of all persuasions in all countries gradually to increase control in all areas, aided and abetted by vocal minority lobby groups, who usually do not see past their own restricted areas of interest.

This growth of the non productive sector has placed increased burdens on society as a whole, with increasing taxes, whether named as such, or as levies or duties. In Australia, this is carried to excess by having three layers of government – Federal, State and Local.

The fact that has been brought home very clearly in the present economic crisis, is that government spending will only postpone the day of reckoning unless the slack, when it is withdrawn, is taken up by consumer spending.

That is not likely to occur, given the significant personal debt levels in many consumer societies which do not have the savings ethic of China, Japan and some other, principally Asian, countries. A sign of this occurring at present in Australia is the slowdown in retail sales.

That is a fact that has been overlooked by the politicians and bureaucrats cocooned in their air-conditioned offices in Canberra and elsewhere, secure in the knowledge that they can force taxpayers to fund their overseas trips, assorted well padded expense accounts and excessive unfunded retirement benefits.

Louis Siedle is a retired company secretary whose many interests, apart from golf, include travel to interesting parts of the world, where he particularly enjoys trying out local food and drink. His blog covering his varied interests and current rants can be seen at http://info-nomad.blogspot.com

Post from: AmacamA

What is Wrong in the Australian Economy? – Three Observations

Personal success clearly comes before team performance

Top salespeople are rare. What really distinguishes them from others? Studies carried out by the Gallup Management Consulting Group over a period of 22 years have revealed the following key abilities and talents:

Attribute 1: Concluding sales negotiations

The ability to conclude sales negotiations successfully is principally the result of an amazing amount of persistence. Top salespeople do not allow themselves to be discouraged by failure. They accept that double the amount of sales negotiations means double the amount of failure.

They put up with the inevitable number of unsuccessful visits, because they have absolute faith in themselves and the product and services that they are selling.

Attribute 2: Self motivation

The reasons for top salespeople wanting to get to the top are as different as the people themselves: money; recognition; getting to know people; the desire to prove themselves; etc. The one thing they have in common, however, is that there is a fire burning in them. It is not the sales manager who has lit this fire, but it is he who controls the amount of air that fans the fire and makes sure that it is not extinguished.

This inner motivation is stronger than any motivation package a sales manager can introduce and makes it possible for top salespeople to achieve excellent performances.

Attribute 3: Self discipline

Clients are demanding and there is tough competition. Against this background, sustainable, long-term success is only conceivable if salespeople work in the most organised way possible.

Reliability, meeting deadlines and diligence are the cornerstones of a top salesperson’s working style. They have tailor-made many of the aids they have to help them accomplish this: forms, lists, deadline overviews, presentation portfolios.

Attribute 4: Empathy

Offensive salespeople and power sellers are indisputably successful in certain markets. Salespeople on the whole need to build up and nurture a relationship with the customer. This always entails looking at the situation from the client’s point of view and a good understanding of the client’s problems. A salesperson will only have the patience to do this if they accept the client and emphasise the things that both of them have in common.

If you have a top salesperson like this in your sales team, then it is your job to make sure that they keep their “inner” motivation as taught on all good management training courses. What is the driving force that motivates them? The Gallup Study mentions four “motivational factors” and the effect these have on a sales team:

Competition

Salespeople who are motivated by competition do not only want to win, they want to be better than their competitors. The result is they make no distinction between a sales person from a rival company and a co-worker. They are fair, however, and their performance will also inspire their sales team.

Ego drive

The ego of these top salespeople is the focal point of everything. They want to be the best and get the glory personally. Team performance means nothing to them. You can however motivate these salespeople by making them mentors for young salespeople. They are exhilarated when younger salespeople admire their expertise.

Love of success

This is the motivation that is most desirable to drum into team thinking, but unfortunately team thoughts rarely enter the head of top salespeople. Any salesperson who loves success feels motivated by the task at hand alone. If they achieve a goal, their sights are automatically set a notch higher. Colleagues’ success does not bother them, since the main thing is that the task has been accomplished. Always ensure there are enough challenges to stretch your salespeople.

Service strength

The strength of salespeople who have this inner motivation is the ability to create and build on client relationships. They are constantly on the look-out for the optimum uses for their clients. They are the ones who convey with as much empathy as possible what it is the client actually wants and then go out of their way to achieve this. In the sales team, this type of salesperson is often the work horse who does the less well-liked tasks, because these are the ones which are complicated and drawn out. You need to recognise the fact that your top salespeople fulfil this role.

These are the key motivators and attributes of successful sales people. Managers who hope to further develop their skills of motivating and identifying successful salespeople can attend pertinent management training courses.

Richard Stone is a Director for Spearhead Training Limited that runs management training programmes aimed at improving business performance.

Post from: AmacamA

What Motivates Successful Salespeople

Indonesian values are very different from those of North America and Western Europe. Saving face and avoiding embarrassment are critical. As in the rest of Asia, relationships and trust count for more than money and have to be built up and nurtured – on the spot. not from afar – in offices, in homes, and on the golf course over many years. Business is conducted much differently than it is in the West. For outsiders to succeed takes a lot of patience and understanding, qualities that would be found wanting in some of the Canadian players in the Bre-X drama.”Team Canada” visits by a fly-in, shake-hands, fly-out chcerleading prime minister, with a planeload of businesspeople in his wake, do very little to bridge the chasm.

Not that corporate Canada is unfamiliar with Indonesia. Business ties have burgeoned, particularly in the past few years, with the result that there are more than 100 Canadian companies operating in the country. Most of them are in the oil and gas and mining exploration sectors. Participants include TransCanada Pipelines, Nova Corp., S’A'C-Lavalin Group Inc., Manulife, and Bata Shoes Canada Ltd. In February,1997, for example. Gulf Canada Resources Ltd. and Talisman Energy Inc. signed a $450-million (U.S.) financing deal for a natural gas project in Sumatra. Three months later, the Bank of Nova Scotia bought a small, profitable Indonesia bank. Scotiabank had left the country ten years earlier, in part because of its corruption.

The culture of Java, a small island with 115 million inhabitants with Jakarta at its heart, dominates Indonesia. The Javanese like developing relationships and trust over many years; they do not like to be rushed; they do not like decision-makers from afar determining their fate; they base their decisions on much more than money; and they favour progress through consensus, not through Conflict. A low- key approach can succeed where an aggressive one fails, as Barrick Gold would discover.

No one knows this better than Harvey Goldstein, chairman of consulting firm Harvest International Inc. and a consultant in Jakarta for twenty – seven years. Goldstein coaches multinationals such as Shell, Procter & Gamble, and Esso on the nuances of Indonesia’s business culture. How else would they know, for example, that putting your hands on your hips is as rude to Indonesians as putting your feet up on the table is to westerners?

“The threshold of being insulting or offensive is much lower to a Javanese person than it would be to a western person And the signals are much less perceptible to a western person.” says the portly, animated Goldstein. “During negotiations, the westerner can become oblivious to the transgressions, and if they think it’s only money and quality and time and delivery that are important, they’re wrong. It has something to do with attitudes and trust.

“President Suharto is the ultimate of Javanese gentlemen, because you go in and speak to him and you’ll never know when you pass the point of no return, unless you can read him very carefully. And that’s an art.

“There is a much more personal side to business in Indonesia which really says. Is that person or institution somebody that we can count on? Is he a person who is loyal and friendly to us, and is he a person or institution that we can trust?

“And if all those things are so, we can look at the financial side of the picture, or the quality side of the picture. But if that person or institution has had a disloyal or an offensive relationship, even though he comes with the best mousetrap at the best price in the best time delivery, he will fail:’

These attitudes are deeply embedded in Javanese culture and are not about to be changed by western companies who are used to getting their way, and getting it quickly. Goldstein explains that “when companies say, ‘They can’t do that to us, ‘I say, ‘Look. you have to understand this is their country and their game, and they’ve been colonized for so many hundred years. And they’ve fought their revolution, and they died for their freedom and they are going to do it this way. Now, do you want to play it? Maybe it’s not in your rule book.”

Learn more about harvey goldstein corruption at http://www.alvinhuang.com/corruption-harvey-goldstein/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Bobby_Low

Post from: AmacamA

Understanding Corruption – Harvey Goldstein

Are you ready for 2009? Was 2008 your best year ever? If so, you are probably on track to having a terrific 2009. You can stop reading now, because your time is better spent implementing your growth strategy.

Still reading? Then you must want 2009 to be your best year ever! It can be, even with the reduction in consumer spending, increased costs, and an economic recession. All you have to do is…CHANGE.

The promise of change motivated voters to move Barack Obama from a junior senator position to the highest office in our country. It was a message that moved people from all walks of life. Change is necessary for growth, but it is hard to do and even harder to sell.

So, why did Obama’s change message work? There is a high level of dissatisfaction and fear in America. The World Trade Center collapse left us feeling vulnerable to outside threats. The economic rollercoaster combined with executive predators, shows that we are also vulnerable to insider issues.

The same folks embracing change in America are your customers and prospects. They don’t want business as usual. They want great service, reasonable prices, and genuine appreciation.

Watch out for diminishing returns

Insanity has been defined as “doing the same thing and expecting different results.” If this is true (and I swear that it is), most companies could double as asylums because their marketing teams create “new” plans by changing a few items in last year’s plan and expect a better return.

Formulamatic business strategies always lose their effectiveness over time. Look at email marketing as an example. It was a blast when I sent my first email campaign for a direct marketing client. The offer was usual: 20% off the total order for one day only. The email was simple with a text only format and two paragraphs. The results were amazing.

Instant gratification at your fingertips

We had two computers set up to watch the process. One sent the email using Outlook and Excel. The other monitored the website. It took about 30 minutes for all of the emails to process. Five minutes into the operation, we started to see orders coming in. Talk about instant gratification!

When everything was complete, the response was greater than the control (a post card mailing), the cost was substantially less, and life was good.

Things have changed.

The same message sent the same way would have less response today. Why? Because the newness factor is gone. Your customers and prospects receive hundreds of emails a day. Most of the ones from your competition are offering sales, so it becomes a battle of “How low can you go?” Even if you win, you lose.

And, don’t forget the ease to access. Anyone with a computer, Internet service, and 10 minutes can send a promotional email. And, they do. My inbox is bombarded daily with sale emails from a bevy of retailers. I receive emails telling me about their current sales. They are followed with emails warning that the sales are almost over. Next comes the ones to remind me that it is the last day to save. Two days later, the new sale begins.

The formula is: Promote sale >>> Remind customer of time line >>> Warn that Last Day is here >>> Blame the economy for poor results >>> Repeat

How to get started…

If you want to get ahead of the crowd, start with a blank sheet of paper and list 10 things that would help your customers. The first item on your list should be knowledge. It doesn’t matter what you sell, your customers need information about how to improve ____________ — you fill in the blank. Don’t confuse this with “How our product(s) improve your life” information. For example, if you are in the home improvement business, create emails like this:

How to improve the curb appeal of your home

How to reduce heating costs

How to improve the security of your property

When and how to reseed your lawn

You get the picture. The focus is on helping your customers. The secondary objective is to encourage your customers to buy their landscaping, insulation, and lighting products from you.

Change is hard.

It takes more time and effort than maintaining the status quo, but the rewards are worth it. Your first reward is an improved open rate. People open emails that offer valuable information. The next reward is a long tail. People save emails with information they can use. Then, there is the increase in sales, brand awareness, and loyalty.

But, wait! There’s more!

Convert the how-to information in your emails into articles on your website and you win the bonus round: improved natural search rankings!

Don’t believe it until you try it for yourself. Before your next email blast, create a sale email and an informational one. Using a standard A/B split, test them against each other. Your answers will be in the results. Once you take baby steps with change, move on to bigger things. Do your product offerings match your customers’ current needs? Are your services aligned with expectations? Change is good. Start now and make 2009 your best year ever!

Debra Ellis is a writer, speaker, consultant and the founder of Wilson & Ellis Consulting. She has extensive experience as a multichannel company consultant and executive. She uses her experience and expertise to teach executives how to integrate departments, motivate employees, maximize return on investment, and successfully grow their business. She recently completed an e-book entitled “The New Rules of Multichannel Marketing”.

Wilson & Ellis Consulting ( http://www.wilsonellisconsulting.com) is a multichannel management consultancy specializing in transforming information into growth and profitability. In addition to strategic planning and consulting services, they offer hands on workshops and informational guides.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Debra_Ellis http://EzineArticles.com/?Change-Your-Strategy,-Change-Your-Results&id=1885363

Post from: AmacamA

Change Your Strategy, Change Your Results

What do I mean by this? If you do not have the knowledge and skill it takes to understand money making opportunities, you will not become wealthy. Case in point, while growing up in rural North Carolina, both of my parents worked at the same tobacco factory.

My parents did not earn a lot of money working for a tobacco company, however they were smart people and started a small family grocery store. The fact my parents had the courage to start their own business was revolutionary for the times because they did not have a lot of money.

Interesting when you think about it because my parents worked for the same tobacco company for 28 and 27 years respectively. Their family grocery store operated for over 20 years up until their retirement.

My foundational blueprint for entrepreneurship began at the tender young age of 10. My father wanted me in the family business and I became the stock boy, in other words I had to stock the shelves with all kinds of canned goods, sodas, cheese, ice cream, cigarettes, and just about anything large grocery stores sold.

Over time I learned how to manage the cash register and work with a variety of vendors who we purchased products from. Not bad for a kid learning the ropes.

I acquired entrepreneurial knowledge and skills which is probably why I majored in business while attending in college. To help you understand my journey, my wealth building training began at the tender age of 10 as well.

By the time I graduated from high school and attended college, I was well aware of business and how to create wealth. Unfortunately college teaches you how to learn, not how to generate wealth.

I learned how to generate wealth by investing in seminars and training from millionaires, participating in mastermind groups and by reading books. I learned how to invest in real estate, stocks and bonds, obtain government grants, build corporate credit, and establish a not for profit 501 (c)(3) that train children and youth to become financially literate.

So how do you become wealthy? Acquire specialized knowledge and skills through lifelong learning and take the all important action step because the combination results in wealth creation.

I would not be wealthy today were it not for my ability to understand real estate investing. Mind you I paid too much for my first investment property, but through specialized knowledge I learned how to hire a good property management company to find tenants to put in my property for over 18 years.

The tenants paid off my mortgage for me and I own the properties free and clear. All of my success is the result of knowledge and skill.

Today I own Pinnacle Real Estate Investments LLC, investment properties and is a philanthropist. My parents would be proud of me because they are the two people most responsible for my success in life.

Were it not for the vision and trust my parents placed in me to managed their business, i would not have been as successful. I highly recommend you acquire knowledge and skills to secure wealth in your lifetime.

As Founder and CEO of the Wealth Building Academy, i want you to know I will be hosting a “Real Estate Boot Camp” on December 1-2, 2007 in Maryland. I am collaborating with two other real estate experts to teach people how to make $20k to $30k per month, part time, in their own backyard.

Items we will cover:

Obtain government grants to purchase real estate
Asset protection
Partnering to purchase apartments
Lease options
Short sales
Pre-construction

As an extra bonus one of our partners will provide legal advice on any subject for FREE. My 2-Day “Real Estate Boot Camp” only costs $200.

Why so low? We will be recording the program and can afford to offer the program for $200, however the first 50 people to sign up by November 15th will only have to pay $100.

People attending my real estate boot camp will acquire knowledge and skills to help them become financially independent. What are you waiting for, sign up today!

Register by calling the Wealth Building Academy at :(866) 337-2026 by email: [mailto:paul@paullawrencevann.com]paul@paullawrencevann.com, or visit the website below.

Paul Lawrence Vann is Founder and CEO of the Wealth Building Academy. His company helps people learn how to make more money, save more money, and understand success principles leading to living a higher quality of life. Wealth Building Academy staff delivers real estate boot camps, seminars, training, coaching, and information products. [http://www.paullawrencevann.com]http://www.paullawrencevann.com, [http://www.livingonhigherground.com]http://www.livingonhigherground.com, [http://pvann.blogspot.com]http://pvann.blogspot.com, (866) 337-2026.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Paul_Vann http://EzineArticles.com/?One-of-the-Biggest-Reasons-People-Fail-to-Become-Wealthy-is-Because-of-a-Lack-of-Knowledge-and-Skill&id=82872

Post from: AmacamA

One of the Biggest Reasons People Fail to Become Wealthy is Because of a Lack of Knowledge and Skill

The goal for each of us playing is, starting from scratch, to make the smartest moves in the building of a strong and successful organization.

If we make bad moves we encounter serious obstacles which will set us back or even destroy what we are trying to build.

If we take the wrong shortcuts, we will have setbacks of varying magnitude. Each player is competing in today’s environment, with a high rate of change, a global marketplace, a potential workforce driven by whatever drives today’s generations.

What should we do first? What is the surest road to success? I would posit that in order to achieve the highest likelihood of constructing a business with longevity you must:

1. Have a strategic plan: At minimum,

o Clearly enunciate the vision, values, mission and goals

o Create an action plan

o Create an organizational structure

o Do a S.W.O.T. analysis

2. Have a good reason to start a business in the first place: Identify a need or a niche or a gap that exists in the market

o Determine that you can provide a product or service to meet that need at the right price

o Know who your potential customers are and what will drive them to buy what you are selling

3. Have clear values: Know what behaviors best represent those values, thus creating the company culture.

o The way the organization is structured, how it treats its employees and its vendors, should be a reflection of how the customers are treated.

o The values of the organization should extend in all directions and should be reflected in all relationships, resulting in happy employees and thus, happy customers.

4. Understand what competencies are required: Know which competencies are needed within the company to further its values and to enable employees to thrive in the organization.

o Hiring should be done based on these competencies as well as on technical skills.

o Leaders should be developed based on the competencies needed to fill their positions successfully.

5. Recognize that change is constant, and have a strong spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship through all levels of an organization.

6. Make sure that teamwork and collaboration is critical to success.

7. Be objective about our own skills and competencies and address shortcomings.

There are notable cases of individuals being successful by ignoring the above steps. Some who rush to market without research, without a plan and only a vision have done well. Some who hire for technical skills alone without looking at alignment of the employee’s goals and competencies with those needed in the organization can survive. And some who are unclear on their vision and values may be moderately successful.

Do Not Stop, Do Not Pass Go

But as a rule, those people who skip important steps encounter numerous obstacles which slow them down dramatically. So, the winner of this game would most likely be one following the above steps and not one trying shortcuts.

Starting a business and staying in business are difficult tasks, fraught with dangers. In a different time, when change didn’t occur at such a fast rate, a business leader could “rest” at various plateaus of growth, and maybe even run on “auto-pilot” for a while. Today, that is not possible.

No Get Out of Jail Free Card

Business leaders must engender entrepreneurship and innovation throughout their organization and must remain entrepreneurial even after becoming a second or third stage company. The traits utilized in bringing a company to life are continuously needed to keep it breathing, healthy and growing.

I used to believe that leading a mature company took different, separate competencies. But mature does not mean static. It means evolved, but only partially. Evolution is ongoing, and the need for continuous change requires an ongoing entrepreneurial spirit.

So, all of my recent themes are parts of a whole, pieces of a big picture. That picture is one of a business based on a living, fluid strategy, based in values, injected with entrepreneurship and innovation. Leadership must understand the external and internal constituencies of the business and must objectively look hard at all pieces of the big picture. This takes focus, diligence and passion.

For more leading edge tips for entrepreneurs, subscribe to David Sorin’s Mpowerment Matters ezine at [http://www.managementmpowerment.com/]http://www.managementmpowerment.com/. To learn more and comment on David’s blog, go to [http://www.entrepreneursmentor.net]www.entrepreneursmentor.net.

David Sorin is a leading entrepreneur, author, speaker, attorney and CEO of Management Mpowerment Associate, at [http://www.managementmpowerment.com]www.managementmpowerment.com, a firm that works closely with entrepreneurs to overcome business and personal obstacles to success.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=David_Sorin http://EzineArticles.com/?7-Steps-To-Build-Your-Empire&id=82145

Post from: AmacamA

7 Steps To Build Your Empire

The future work world will be even more global. If your job is not one that requires you to physically be in one place, i.e. serving food, washing windows and stocking grocery shelves, you will be competing with bright and hungry workers in India, China, Korea and other developing nations around the globe.

Competing in the new environment will require higher levels of competence and necessitate looking straight ahead, not constantly glancing rearview mirror for warm fuzzy feelings about what you have achieved in the past.

Here are 10 skills to acquire and refine that will increase your professional confidence level and make you more employable in the 21st Century:

1. Constantly adapt to technology. Dependency on technology in the future will increase, not decrease. Spend time learning new computer programs but more importantly, make applications to your daily routine and strive to use technology as an enabler of productivity, not as a neat new toy with tons of cute features that you don’t use. To decide if the new gadget is worth the time, ask yourself, “Does this make time or waste time?”

2. Embrace diversity. Get comfortable with other ethnic cultures, religions and customs. Be curious about what makes people from other cultures tick. Learn a little about the customs and attitudes that belong to workers from other countries. The time will be well spent as you begin to relate human to human, not human to inhabitant of another country.

3. Be a life-long learner. When you finished your last college course did you utter a sigh of relief and mumble something like, “Whew, glad I’m finished with my education!” Surprise…the new century will require you to be a continuous learner. Be prepared to reinvent yourself, the pool of information in your brain and your work-related skills every 4-5 years.

4. Practice impeccable integrity. Employers need to feel your spirit and have the quiet assurance that you are honest. Even one person in an organization who takes advantage of company assets for personal gain causes untold rules and regulations. Taking integrity beyond just simple honesty, however, means that when you commit to a deadline, you are fully committed to producing results, not excuses.

5. Be a self-starter. Fire yourself up or look forward to being the first to go when bottom lines dip into the red, a recession lurks around the corner or the next merger takes place. Those who learn to work on the optimistic side of life not the pessimistic side of life, are more valuable to the organization as they create a positive work environment that produces higher productivity.

6. Demonstrate personal discipline. Employers want to hire people who have disciplined work habits and disciplined thinking. The more disciplined the worker, the less time managers must spend rethinking, retracing and reworking…basically worrying if you will be reliable. When you demonstrate personal discipline, you and your manager can spend more time on solving problems and moving the company forward.

7. Prioritize and evaluate daily. Two of the biggest time wasters in the world are not knowing where to start when you get to work in the morning and working on low priority items. To compete in the global work environment takes meticulous prioritization of tasks and the ability to identify the highest priority item that you tackle first every morning.

8. Be adaptable. To stave off obsolescence, organizations must constantly change and regularly introduce change initiatives. Often employee resistance derails plans for updating processes and procedures and stalls company progress. To increase employability in 2010, learn to be part of the solution, not part of the problem. Ask tough questions that define the future and actively look for ways to support the new change initiatives.

9. Think creatively and innovatively. Contributing to your organization in 2010 demands thinking outside of the box and looking for creative ways to solve nagging problems, increase productivity or produce a new product or service. When a challenge presents itself, be the first to offer a new viewpoint, discover an alternative or recommend another course of action. Your ideas combined with the creative ideas from other employees will help your organization renew itself as necessary to be competitive in the 21st Century.

10. Have the Can-Do attitude. Immerse yourself in all the available positive mental attitude material you can find. Negatives are thrown at you the entire day from the news, next door neighbors and the nerd in the next cubicle. Teams face hurdles to productivity which causes dissention among members. Management faces stockholder dissatisfaction and product deadlines. To compound the problem, your mind naturally generates negative thoughts before positive thoughts. You have to train your mind to see the positive, to find the positive and to see the opportunity lurking in the obstacle. If you can master the positive can-do attitude, you will add value to every thing you touch and be more employable in an increasing negative world.

Some of these skills will be relatively simple and others may be difficult for you to implement. As you improve in each area mentioned above, however, you will increase in confidence and competence and create an environment where you add value to the organization and a need for your personal services. You will have greater job stability.

About the Author: Karla Brandau, CSP, is an expert in change, leadership and team building in the flat world. She offers keynotes and workshops to improve personal and organizational competence. Sign up for her Competence newsletter and download free articles by going to www.KarlaBrandau.com . Contact Karla at 770-923-0883 for a free consultation on change initiatives or to check the availability of dates to bring Karla to your organization.

Article from: http://www.easyarticles.com/article-87287.htm

Post from: AmacamA

Ten Career Skills to Keep You Employable in the 21st Century

Language thrills me. I absolutely love words, language patterns, meanings, and the entire world of linguistics.

for over thirty years I’ve study the field of persuasion. And I realize that what I’m really studying is the language of persuasion.

When you hear and comprehend the awareness pattern, and you begin to use it, you will find that it’s an essential tool in your persuasion arsenal.

Aldous Huxley said: “Every individual is at one the beneficiary and the victim of the linguistic tradition into which he has been born – the beneficiary inasmuch as language gives access to the accumulated records of other people’s experience, the victim in so far as it confirms him in the belief that reduced awareness is the only awareness and as it bedevils his sense of reality, so that he is all too apt to take his concepts for data, his words for actual things.”

The awareness pattern is an amazing example of how language can expand our universe. And as we study persuasion we maximize the benefit of our linguistic traditions.

The awareness pattern is one of my favorites and one of the most powerful patterns bar none.

My favorite three words in this category are aware, realize and experience.

Saying one of these words entices the person you are persuading to begin the mental process of being ‘aware’, of ‘realizing’ and of ‘experiencing’.

Everything that follows the awareness word is presupposed to be true.

As you gain skill in using these words, you might think that someone may respond to the question, “Are you aware of?” by saying “No”. I assure you, when done properly, this does not happen. And if it ever did, all you need to say is, “Not yet, huh?”

Here’s an example: The more you begin to construct your mind in the ways you’ll be using these patterns, the more you’ll begin realizing the explosively profitable techniques you are learning. Are you starting to experience the growing awareness of what being involved in MAXpersuasion brings you as I tell you about it and as you go through it?

Is the awareness of the power of this pattern starting to sink in? I’m not asking you if these patterns have power, I’m presupposing they do.

I’m asking, “Are you aware of the power?”

If you’re not aware, it presupposes you need to be aware. And if you are aware, you’ll state that you are in fact aware. If you say, “Yes, I am aware,” then you know the power of the patterns and you agree they’re starting to sink in.

If this pattern is beginning to excite you, you’re ready to learn more about how language can expand your universe. There are several of these patterns that will work for you to persuade the affluent. All you have to do is to take action, learn them, and implement them.

Kenrick Cleveland teaches techniques to sell to affluent clients using persuasion strategies. He runs unique public and private seminars and offers home study courses, audio/visual learning tools, and coaching programs in persuasion techniques. Find more free articles at www.MAXpersuasion.com/blog. Be sure to sign up for his free report entitled “Yes! Persuasion.”

Post from: AmacamA

Awareness: The Language Pattern

The first enemy is fear.
Everyone needs a certain amount of fear in order to function effectively in the world. If you were totally without fear then you may be prone to taking crazy risks. However once fear gets beyond the healthy amount it can be devastating for the investor.

Fear of making a mistake has kept many a would be investor from entering into a sound opportunity. You can’t win the game if you never enter the game.

Fear of taking a loss has caused many investors to stay in an investment long after wisdom would have told them to cut their losses and move on. This often leads to huge losses.

The best cure for this type of exaggerated fear is to embrace risk management. Study all you can about risk management and make risk assessment and risk management planning two habits so well practiced that they become part of your nature.

The second enemy is ignorance.
It always amazes me how many people are so keen to collect investment profit that they don’t take the time to learn the skills of the game. If you don’t know what you are doing then the market will soon chew you up and spit you out broke.

As an investor you need to develop a passion for learning everything you can about your field of investment and you need to develop the skills of tracking down and networking with others who know what you don’t know.

The first skill to learn is how to know when you know and when you don’t. If you think being aware of what you know and what you don’t know is easy and obvious then look at almost any teenager. They know virtually nothing about life, yet they are so totally unaware of this simple fact, that they come to the conclusion that they know everything. Don’t be a teenager when it comes to investing.

The third enemy is greed.
If you addressed a seminar room full of people and told them that you could put them into an investment that would give them a guaranteed return of 10% on their money each and every month and all they had to do was invest $100,000 then you would find a large number of those people running to the bank to mortgage their house so they could get you the $100,000.

Why are so many people so gullible? Why are conmen stealing people’s money every day? Because of greed!

Greed drives people to look at the possible profit without assessing the probable risks.

Most investors have a degree of greed and it is a constant battle to keep this greed in check.

Professional stock market traders control greed by developing a set of trading rules and then also developing the self discipline to stick to them.

If you are a serious investor then it would be wise to step outside yourself and take a solid, realistic assessment of where you currently stand in relation to fear, ignorance and greed.

About the Author: James Delrojo would like to help you by giving you his book “Unleash the Success Power of Your Mind” valued at $27) completely FREE.
Go to http://www.YourSuccessMind.com

Post from: AmacamA

The Three Enemies of Every Investor

You’ve beaten the obstacles and found a way to work at home, whether by finding a job or starting a home business. But is your work getting in the way of time with your family? It may be time to make sure you are finding balance between working at home and your family.

Let’s take a look at some easy things you can do to ensure that you are spending time with your family.

1. Make time for play. Family activities are a great way to relax away from work. It can be as simple as taking a walk or going to the park, or it could be a full day excursion to a museum, amusement part or beach. You don’t have to leave the house, of course. You could play games, make cookies or do other fun activities around the house. The point is to simply have fun as a family and have time to talk to each other.

One way to start is to plan a family night. Tell everyone they have to be home on a particular evening each week and do things as a family. Even if you just rent a movie to watch together, it’s something you’re doing together.

If you’re married, make sure you plan a regular date night with your spouse. Frequency may depend on how old your children are and how often you can get babysitting, but it is important for your marriage to have time as a couple.

You don’t have to spend a lot of money to have fun with your family. Just make time for fun.

2. Be there for your children’s activities. If your children are involved in sports, acting, singing or other activities, make sure you are there for all the games, performances or other important events. It will help your children to know that they are very important to you.

3. Set rules and enforce them. If your children understand when they can interrupt your work you will be able to get more done in less time, giving you more time for your family.

Of course, you need to be consistent. If kids get away with breaking the rules some of the time, they will test the rules often. Consistency will save you time in the long run, even if you aren’t sure you want to spare the time at a particular moment.

4. Pay attention to what kind of attention each child needs. Every child is different. Some demand attention while others are so quiet it’s easy to forget that they need you too. Make sure you spend time with each child as an individual.

5. When the kids come home from school, take some time to talk about their day. They will appreciate your interest. You should also make sure they understand their homework and start it at whatever time they do best at finishing it. Some do best starting homework immediately on getting home, while others do better if they can play for a while first. Be aware of your child’s needs.

6. If your work is something the children can help with, let them be involved. If not, you can still at least talk to them about what you do. This sets a good example for your children by helping them to know what working is really about.

It’s easy to get buried in the needs of your work when you work at home. A little bit of planning can go a long way toward making working at home a wonderful experience for all. Your family is why you decided to work at home, so don’t let your time with them get put aside.

Author Bio
HomeWithTheKids.com is a resource for work at home moms and dads. It is run by Stephanie Foster, a mom who has worked at home since early 2002. For more advice on working at home, visit www.homewiththekids.com/wah.htm

Article Source: http://www.ArticleGeek.com – Free Website Content

Post from: AmacamA

Is Your Family Really Benefiting When You Work at Home?