Welcome to Michael's Article Collection

When It Comes To Investing, Leave Your Emotions Out Of It

When it comes to investing, leave your emotions out of it. When it comes to many areas of your life you can rely on your emotions and instincts or gut feelings. But when it comes to investing in the stock market this is a big mistake. Not many people are able to use their instincts to make successful trades. So if the professional investors can’t do it then you shouldn’t fool yourself into thin. . .

Advertising Made Easy

How You Can Make Advertising Pay Big Dividends (source: www.chetholmes.com)McGraw Hill once commissioned an extensive study to determine what marketing weapons make a company famous in it’s market or community. The study went on to show that advertising created more product, service, or brand awareness than all other marketing weapons combined. The fact is, we know that Coke is “The Real Thing. . .

Top 10 Lessons for Small Business Success - As learned fr...

Small business success is very similar to learning to walk, talk and spell. The basics have to be understood before moving on to the next step. I am blessed to have twin 2 year old girls in my life and am amazed constantly how much I learn from them on a daily basis. As I watch them run around and explore, I find myself realizing just how much my observations apply to being successful an. . .

Handling Debt in 2005

Debt is a problem that is ever increasing in our society today. Offers for credit cards coming in the mail is happening more and more often, interest rates are appearing low, and borrowing money seems like the “smart” thing to do at times. However, it seems that going into debt is not that good of an idea after all, and now many people are stressed to get out of debt. Are you caught in debt you. . .

10 Ways You're Ruining Your Chances Of Getting Free Publi...

There's more than a few ways to get your name in the news. Extravagant claims, incredible altruism, unique twists on old themes. But even the best laid plans of a top-notch publicity effort can be sabotaged by any of the following 10 deadly mistakes of the publicity business. 1. Never Leave A Job Half Done Don't decide half way through the planning phase of a publicity campaign that it isn't wo. . .

Will your home business succeed or fail?

You may operate a home business selling services or products, but no matter which kind of business you're in, there's always a question in the back of your mind: will my home business succeed or fail, or do I have the motivation it takes to keep it afloat? Whichever type of home business you have, it's important that you know ways that you can keep your business going during slack times and/or . . .

Perserverance for Home Business Success

What is required to be successful in your home business? Before we can answer, you must understand what "success" means and what common characteristics successful people have. If you are reading this article, you probably want to be successful and possess a strong sense of perseverance which will pay off in achieving your dreams. The truth is that only a small percentage of people will ever ach. . .

Getting Started in Home Business

If you're like most people, it's hard to make ends meet with just one income. If you are married, both partners must work, spending countless thousands of dollars on childcare and business clothes. To offset their monetary deficit, many people are looking into getting started in their own home business. Both full-time and part-time home businesses can be operated from the comfort of your own ho. . .

Three Big Mistakes that Cost You, and Your One Person Bus...

Most one-person businesses don't flounder because their products or services are below par. They struggle because their owner's lack of business skills or business practices gets in the way of being profitable.Are you making these big mistakes?1. You don't tell people what you do in a way that helps them buy. People buy when they understand what they get, what problem you'll solve for them, how. . .

Dealing with Difficult People

You know, this would be a great business if it weren’t for having to deal with people all the time…OK, so maybe I’ve exaggerated things a bit, but we’ve all certainly heard that saying before. Why does that sentiment ring true for so many folks? Obviously it’s because of all the people challenges we’re presented with in our business. Virtually every one of my clients over the years has broug. . .

10 Days to Making More Money

Most of us overcomplicate things. Selling is pretty simple. True we need systems in place, support materials and a contact manager, but when all is said and done what stops us from selling is usually in our head, not in our office. There are 4 actions when taken everyday for 10 working days with unswerving commitment will increase your sales and put more money in your pocket. Guaranteed!1 - Se. . .

Top 10 Strategies to Boost Your Business for 2005

1. Blog- blogs are easy to use and maintain and give you the freedom of updating as little or as much as you want. You can have blogs where you write, create audio or even video if you want. 2. Power PR- More women business owners are understanding the power of Public Relations and making sure News Releases about them or their businesses go out about 5-9 times a year.3. Mentoring-women are gett. . .

Your IR is Essential to Your Market Position

Often people look for the latest and greatest bells and whistles to market their company. Fact is, one of the most powerful marketing strategies is one that many folks overlook. Something that can make or break a person’s reputation and their ability to gain and maintain strong position is their IR or the Integrity Reading. The IR determines their level of integrity. My definition of integrity . . .

Refund Anticipation Loans -- More Harm than Help

If someone offered to give you a loan for $2100 at interest rates of up to 222 percent you’d probably laugh at them and walk away; but, this spring, 1 in 10 Americans will do just that: for the privilege of borrowing their own money, over 12 million tax filers will pay interest rates as high as 744 percent to borrow their own money thru refund-anticipation or “rapid refund” loans.Refund anticip. . .

The Great Stock Market Secret

When the stock market is going up and all your stocks and mutual funds are making money you feel like a genius. It is too bad that some folks don’t remember what happened in 2000. Of course, right now we are in one of those genius phases. Your broker and financial planner are encouraging you to buy, buy, buy. And I can’t fault that at this time. You remember back in 2000 how many times they tol. . .

Mental vs. Physical Activity in Marketing

This article addresses the issue about whether one can attract or magnetize circumstances without taken "action." Its intention is to create better understanding in your minds about the use of mental and spiritual laws for success and the relationship between mental and physical action and work.Let's Get Mental Yes, indeed, marketing your business is an activity. But that does not mean that the. . .

Cosmic Relief

The Universe Revealed The Universe as we know it, see it and experience it, is not all there is. The Universe is always in motion - it is a vibrating, pulsating, resonating, magnetizing force and at the molecular level everything is in motion. It is pure energy. What we are talking about here is the pure formless substance of the Universe - we can think of this in spiritual terms as God, Higher. . .

PR: Am I Getting a Good Deal?

You are getting a good deal when you accept the fact that the right PR really CAN alter individual perception and lead to the changed behaviors you need. Especially when you recognize that people really DO act upon their perceptions of the facts they hear about your operations, and about you as a manager. Meaning you have little choice but to deal promptly and effectively with those perceptions. . .

Free Lotto Wheeling System

A lottery wheeling system means you choose a base 'subset' of numbers, for example in a 6 number lottery, you might choose the numbers 1 to 7, and then combine them in ways ensuring that all 7 numbers 'get a go' in the 6 number lines. By playing combinations of a set of numbers, you are doing something similar to the 'permutations' in football pools, says Noah Faulkner at www.bet4less.com Let'. . .

Equipment Leasing Blunders That Can Cost Your Firm a Mint

Rod McHenry, the financial vice president of a document imaging company, thought he had great cause for celebrating. He had signed an unbelievable $370,000 lease proposal covering computer servers, workstations, software and other networking equipment. McHenry believed he had snared an incredible lease rate, capping off weeks of negotiating an acceptable equipment price with the equipment vend. . .

Setting Financial Goals, The First Step In Turning Your D...

I decided to resurrect this article (with some changes due to events that have happened this year) from my website because of the time of year it is. With New Year’s Day being less than a week away, this is the time of year where many of us reflect on the past year, re-examine our dreams, desires and goals and make resolutions for the upcoming year.Some of us are more successful at keeping tho. . .

Setting Financial Goals, The First Step In Turning Your D...

Setting financial goals is the single most important thing you can do to take control of your finances. Your life can’t go according to plan if you don’t have a plan. You will continue to spend every penny you earn if you don’t plan for where you want that money to go.Now more than ever we have to plan for our own futures. Approximately 70 million baby boomers will reach retirement age within t. . .

Knowing Your Credit Rights

There is an old statement that holds true when trying to restore your credit rating, and the statement is “knowing is half the battle.” This statement exemplifies what consumers who have had past credit problems should do, and that is to learn everything they can about credit repair. Repairing or rebuilding your credit is not a simple task, and knowing what laws protects the consumer and how to. . .

What Should Your Service Fees Be?

You must decide for yourself whether you will charge for your services or not. Should you decide to charge, the next question is "what should my fee be?"1. Determine What You Need To MakeWhen setting fees, part of the calculation is how much you need (and want!) to make. If you first decide how much profit you need to make, you can then determine what to charge in order to make that profit. It'. . .

The 5 Biggest Blunders in Business Development

Effective communication skills are essential to successful business development. Yet they’re often under-emphasized and sometimes completely ignored. Why? Because we communicate so much and so often (approximately 20,000 words per day) we often take it for granted. But regardless of how good your product or service is and how much expertise you have in your area, it all goes to waste unless. . .

Slice and Dice

Many financial services power-houses—e.g., Fidelity, CitiBank, Merrill Lynch and MetLife, have adopted a marketing positioning strategy that portrays them as leaders in virtually all segments of the market. As a result, their financial sales and marketing campaigns focus on casting a very wide net in order to attract the largest possible market.The practices of these industry “Goliaths” have sp. . .

7 Pitfalls of Using Email to Sell

Are you sending e-mails to prospects instead of calling them? Is e-mail your selling medium of choice because it lets you avoid the rejection that you dread when you make real cold calls? Do you wait and wait for return e-mails from prospects that will give you the green light to move the sales process forward? Sad but true, these days most people who sell for a living spend 80% of their time t. . .

Web Conferencing is a Friend of the Environment

Video conferencing is a friend of the environment. It helps reduce the volume of CO2 emissions from cars and reduces traffic congestion on our roads (as well as improving company productivity and reducing costs!). As governments throughout the world look to cut their CO2 emissions to meet global treaties, such as Kyoto, companies can use video conferencing as an easy means of achieving just tha. . .

Day Trading Checklist

Here's a bunch of important things you should know about day trading before you start. First off, can you daytrade if you don't have the requisite $25,000 plus? Yes. You can start Day Trading with as little as $750 if you decide to trade using a spreadbetting account rather than a standard broker, allowing you to ignore most day trading regulations about trading frequency. To day trade stocks u. . .

Creating Effective Corporate Blogs

The terms “blog” and “blogging” have become part of the new economy dictionary and are an extremely cheap and efficient way of disseminating information through the web. A blog is best described as an online diary that readers can also post their thoughts. Many subject experts and academics have created open blogs (free access) that are read by thousands of readers and futurists are predictin. . .

The Future is Now

One of the missions of ChartWatchCentral is to inform our readers of opportunity before it mainstreams. There is tremendous opportunity in the futuristic field of Nanotechnology. Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary defines nanotechnology thusly: “the art of manipulating materials on an atomic or molecular scale especially to build microscopic devices.” A more proper working definition is: t. . .

How To Get Online Press Releases On Your Stocks Before Ot...

It is a fact of life that press releases influence the current price of a stock. People react emotionally and buy stocks on good press releases, and sell stocks on bad ones, regardless of the validity of the press release. If you can get the news first, you can be in a favorable position to take advantage and gain financially. This article describes how to obtain online stock press releases . . .

How to Build a Business Ethics Program

Recent corporate financial scandals have highlighted the importance of business ethics and legal compliance. Yet a recent National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD) survey of 280 corporate CEOs and directors found that "only one of three directors felt that they were highly effective in ensuring legal compliance". Building an Ethics and Compliance ProgramMost companies realize that they. . .

Starting a Tutoring Business at Home

A couple of days ago, my son took a practice SAT. He's always been an Honor Student (at least for the last few years) with an A/B average in all of his subjects. Sometimes he slides in English, but we always thought that was because of his lack of interest rather than a lack of ability.His scores on the verbal section were low, and his scores in the math section were not high enough to compen. . .

You Can Start A Successful Catering Business From Home

Have you ever said to yourself: How do I start a catering business out of my house?Well, the short answer is yes, you can open a catering business with little more than your delicious homemade recipes and a little business know how. Perhaps you’ve been cooking for years as a hobby and are used to getting many compliments on your culinary creations.Opening a catering business may be something y. . .

7 Secrets to Writing Inventory Procedures

With 1 Million would you: Pay off debt? Purchase new equipment? Invest/save for the future? Give yourself a bonus? 1 Million Waiting in the WingsWhat do you and your business need that you have been putting off because you don’t have the money today? 1 Million certainly would fill those needs. But where do you find 1 Million just lying around your business right now? Well, you probably hav. . .

Is it time to stop filling your Landlord’s Wallet?

Is it time to stop filling your Landlord’s Wallet?As a renter, you are subject to the whims of your landlord. They work at their own pace, and improve their property as they see fit. You have no control over the property that you reside in. Do your floors need to be resurfaced or your carpets replaced? Sit around and wait for your landlord to do it. Do your walls need to be repainted? Ask the l. . .

Orthodox Jew Next Oil Baron?

H. Sam Hyams, a Toronto businessman and Orthodox Jew, is on his way to becoming a major player in the world oil markets with his company Strat Petroleum, Ltd. A well respected businessman in Canada, Hyams has a strong network of contacts in the U.S. and especially Russia.His company is investing in the development of oil fields in Russia through direct investment or the establishment of joint . . .

How To Use A Powerful Leadership Tool To Step Up Sales Re...

Good sales people can close, but few “step up” for even more sales from that close. Yet stepping up should be one of the easiest accomplishments in sales — that is if you know how to build the staircase. Do it by applying a leadership tool I have taught thousands of leaders worldwide during the past 20 years. The tool is simply to foster a particular viewpoint, which is this: Challenge people n. . .

6 Surefire Ways to Achieve Your Goals for 2005

Hope you had a good rest and are all fired up for the year ahead. Whilst you were sitting on the beach or lazing around during your time off, which of the following changes to your life did you decide to make this year? To have the body of Elle McPherson or Nathan Buckley Find a stimulating job Take up a sport or hobby Buy your dream home Travel to an exotic destination Have more time with your. . .

The Wrap Up of 2004

This is it. The end of another year. For some of you the next few days will either be frantic or quiet, depending on the business you are in.I hope those of you who are quiet are spending your time wisely planning what you want to achieve for 2005.For the rest of you no doubt, January will be the time when future plans will be made.Regardless of when you do it, you need to plan where you want t. . .

How to Stay Positive... Avoid Negative People

Have you noticed how you feel when you're around positive people? You feel uplifted, refreshed and energised. You learn that life is what you make it and that you make your own 'luck'. Consequently the opposite is true when you're unfortunate to be with negative people. They drain your energy, are usually unhappy and seem to attract sickness and misfortune in their lives.Gail's StoryGail is a f. . .

Why You Need To Buy and Sell Gold Coins (Part 2)

Time has proven that collectors tend to make the most money in rare coins because they search out "undervalued coins" and buy during market lulls. Buying in today's market climate offers you superb upside profit potential.PUT IN PERSPECTIVE – Rare coins have an extremely limited, fixed supply which has historically increased in value when demand overwhelms availability. This fact is docum. . .

Why You Need To Buy and Sell Gold Coins (Part 1)

The Value of Gold in a Era of Paper Assets, Stocks, Bonds and Mutual Funds...The facts behind the increasing demand for gold and silver, rare coins, and historic collectibles from the U.S. Mint...No other substance on Earth embodies the unique characteristics of gold. Its yellow lustre and beauty are unsurpassed. Since the earliest days of man, it has been admired, molded, shaped, and worn as a. . .

Why Foreclosures Happen

A combination of lenient lending policies, low interest rates, and high house prices has created a situation where many people have overextended and unable to pay mortgage payments for high-priced homes they really couldn't afford. The Mortgage Bankers Association of America says that home foreclosures are at an all-time high, with some areas experiencing increases in the number of foreclosures. . .

Reduce Your 30 Year Mortgage To 10 Years Using Mortgage C...

With all the talk lately about Mortgage Cycling versus Bi-Weekly Mortgages which one is really right for you? Choosing the correct one could literally save you thousands of dollars and shave off approximately 20 years on the life of your 30 year mortgage.So a little background on the principal of each program needs to be told. Bi-weekly mortgages became popular a few years back when interest ra. . .

Developing A Credit Rebuilding Strategy

Everywhere you look credit seems to be an essential part of our daily lives, it is used if we want to buy a house or rent an apartment, buy a new car, or even go shopping for large item merchandise. With credit being such an important factor in our lives, the number of consumers that have poor to bad credit is astounding, but these people can rebuild their credit to a good or excellent status i. . .

Looking To The So Called Specialist?

Looking to the so called specialist for your financial guidelines? Perhaps you’ll desire to look again. At the commencement of the year, along with the New Year's resolution, came the new predictions for what will be a high-quality buy and what to avoid. This doesn’t give us enough information actually, so we also get cable news channels giving us information every twenty minutes. The financial. . .

Trends in Long-Term Incentives

Upper Saddle River, N.J. – March 8, 2004 - Compensation Resources, Inc. released the results of a study they recently conducted of 642 companies covering the usage of Long-Term Incentives (LTI). Since 2001, the US business sector has been shaken by disclosures of mismanagement, poor corporate governance and outright criminal acts, all revolving around and involving the apparent excesses of Exe. . .

Is Turnover Back in Vogue? One Trend to Pay Attention to ...

Upper Saddle River, N.J. - January 10, 2005 - With the start of the year, a flurry of articles have appeared, talking about what we can expect in the way of business trends during 2005. One of the most alarming issues is the intention of many employees to seek new jobs now that the economy is starting to improve. A recent joint survey by Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) and CareerJ. . .